Gameplay: How do YOU keep track of sim lifes?
jolrei:
I use the lot sync timer in the MATY hood, just to plan rotations, but in other hoods I play until I'm bored with one house and then move on to the next. I don't plan sim lives. They do what they want, according to their wants and freewill (i.e. contrary to all her interests, Eevilcat likes to toss footballs), or what I whimsically decide they want (i.e. I decide that Jelenedra likes fish, and Reggikko wants to grow tomatoes).
The database/spreadsheet idea sounds too much like work, or keeping a journal.
simsfreq:
I have various notepad files on my laptop, and a random number generator site open at all times.
The notepad files are:
* A "neighbourhood tracker" - every sim from toddler to adult is listed in order of what day (measured by the synctimer) they are due to grow up. This serves 2 purposes - it reminds me what day to age up CAS sims, lets me see how old they are (I have another file which tells me how many years old they are based on days left in age stage) which dictates what they are allowed to do (e.g. teens can't get jobs until they are 16.) and who they are allowed to bring home from school as kids/teens. (I use a TJ hack for this).
At the end of the tracker I have a list of every sim which has the plague, (useful for my apocalypse hood to prevent them from reinfecting each other and wiping out the entire hood AGAIN.) every sim who is gay or bi, and in my apocalypse hood where the criminal family rule, who is mean enough to be friends/breed with them.
* A file for my "special" lots. Currently since my main hood is in its infancy this is just my asylum lot. Sims get sent here when they hit red aspiration failure and see the shrink, and have to stay a minimum of 3 days, or until their aspiration goes green. The file lists mealtimes, and what kind of therapy each aspiration requires. I keep want panels closed on this lot so it's a little mini challenge to get them into green.
When the hood gets more built up I plan on having a prison, orphanage, old peoples' home and possibly a hospital, and a military career lot. These will have their own files indicating things like sentence length, timetable for orphanage (bedtimes, homework, etc).
* A file listing how days left until transition translates into actual age, and markers when specific things happen (e.g. when male sims with the correct genetics start to lose their hair, when the chance of multiples increases for pregnancy, when they have to go to college, when they are allowed to drive, etc.)
* A file which lists what interests and personality combinations I require for each career track. (Because a sim should have to pass an interview, too.) I use this more for my apocalypse hood as it makes it harder, but I might start using it in my other hood too.
* A rich text file with all the apocalypse rules on, colour coded by career track, so I can group them together in sections for easier reference, but they are easy to look up and delete when I unlock a restriction, too.
Some things I keep meaning to implement but am too lazy to:
* Genetics, noted in a sim's bio or perhaps a separate document/spreadsheet about whether they need to wear glasses, go bald at a certain age, go grey young or not at all, cock size, possibly even secondary aspiration etc. I would need expressed and recessive genes for each subject though and a long detailed list so I haven't bothered yet.
* Something to track storylines for each character, note little things about them etc. I don't fancy having a huge notepad file for all my sims so I will probably get the wiki thing someone else mentioned as it should make it easier to keep track. Quite often at the moment I will have a long period where I don't play and it's quite hard to get back into it because I've forgotten all the little characters I have developed - for this reason I like playing with sims of real people. I have most of my family and a couple of my friends in my main hood. I am too lazy though to remember to take photos and/or write detailed stories about all of my characters, though I'd like to for my own entertainment if nothing else.
I use a random number generator a lot - I'd quite like to implement a system where I roll for everything from career to whether they ought to marry this sim, but it seems too rigid. At the moment I mainly use it for decorating/building, because all my houses were starting to look the same and there is furniture etc which I never used to use but now have discovered actually have some fairly nice recolours.
Zazazu:
Quote from: jolrei on 2008 August 28, 19:16:10
The database/spreadsheet idea sounds too much like work, or keeping a journal.
Access and I are having fights now. I am not liking 2007, and apparently forgot half of database creation. But it's a fun challenge, and once I have this database set up I'll be able to use the format for future 'hoods.
cathybb:
I thought I was the only OCD player. Most of you have me looking so unorganized.
I just HAVE to make sure that everyone ages correctly. I hate when a younger brother gets to elder stage before his older sister so I force myself to play several houses and sometimes it is a month before I get back around to a house again. Notes are essential. I can tell from SimPE when I didn't spend enough time on a family.
All my townies are remade with sim surgery so I have no ugly people. I work 'em like dogs to keep fit. If only I did the same for me... ::) I really need to get on the treadmill more. But it is so easy to avoid like I'm doing RIGHT NOW.
AuKestrel:
Quote from: Zazazu on 2008 August 27, 17:13:52
The Oversoul currently endorses electrocution as the punishment method of choice. Playables with low mechanical points will feel the urge to repair broken machinery after misbehaving, while those more gifted may like to stargaze during a lightning storm. Non-playables who dare to touch the newspaper or attempt a trashcan kicking will be chased off-lot and shocked by one of the many sentrybots the founder, Natalee Vitelli, created. Repeated and aggregious offenders might find themselves suddenly in the middle of a corral and smited into oblivion. As always, those who have more children than the pre-ordained limit for their family will be punished in like measure. Also as always, Romance sims are encouraged to keep it in their pants, as cheating on one of the chosen few is a sure way to piss me the Oversoul off.
...I wish you were MY Oversoul.
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