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Mad Poster
#26 Old 22nd Sep 2018 at 7:37 AM
Quote: Originally posted by ElaineNualla
I don't think there's a "wrong way" of playing this game.

Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
You know it is weird, they're just sims... but when I kill an elder and then watch their spouse cry... ahh.. it just makes me hesitate when I have to do it again later.

So... kill couples only, leave no widows.

Feels like I am being baited into saying this, but okay I'll go along with it.

You're playing this game the wrong way.
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Mad Poster
#27 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 11:32 AM
Give them all a shitload of money, a garage full of cars, a mansion, a time travelling portal and more women than they could ever love. And when that gets boring after about 7 years, congratulations, you're ready to start exploring the open world.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Test Subject
#28 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 12:28 PM
There is a big difference going from the Sims 2 to the Sims 3. I remember being excited when I first got it because I loved how different you could make your Sims compared to in TS2 and all the infinite possibilities for clothing and decoration that you could create. I also loved the open world. You can wander over to the house next door or walk around town, no loading screens! But then I was like, hold up, everyone else in town is aging and doing stuff and I must control all the Sims!!! One of the things I liked in TS2 was getting to know all the premade Sims and carrying on their stories. In TS3 if I stopped playing one family to go and play another, all kinds of stuff would happen with the original family while I was away that I hadn't planned for, so it did take me a while to get into the game.

I think you do need to have a different mindset when you play this game. The game is all about your sim and the others in town aren't really there for you to play with, but as props to give a more real world feel. Now I really love this game. There's pretty much nothing that would make me go back to TS2. I played TS4 for a couple of hours and thought it was vastly inferior compared to 3.

I think if you're just playing the base game it's not going to be as fun as with the expansions so I'd recommend getting some if you can. Most places that aren't Origins or Steam sell them really cheaply these days.

I don't mind not having complete control now at all. I think it's interesting to see what everyone else in town is up to. Sometimes I completely ignore them all, depending on what type of game I'm playing. Mostly I'm focused on certain aspects, like having my Sims achieve their life time wishes. With the Ambitions pack there are careers like home designer and fire fighter. Those are fun to do. I also like the collecting aspect, finding seeds and making a garden, and fishing. Even though I've had the game since it came out there are still some things I haven't got round to doing, like owning a resort and the life guard career. There is definitely plenty to keep you occupied.

I'm sure you can do this stuff in TS2 and TS4, but I also like doing challenges or playing scenarios, like ones where you start from nothing, or farming, or seeing how big a family you can have. I'm too easily distracted to do a legacy challenge but those seem popular. If you like story telling then I think people often enjoy reading stories that are based on challenges. It's always interesting to see how other people played them.

Sorry I wrote a novel when all I actually wanted to say was don't give up! It is a different game from TS2 (and TS4) but it's a great game with lots to do.
Top Secret Researcher
#29 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 4:27 AM
I can relate; I play almost exclusively BACC neighborhoods in Sims 2, where I played the entire world in rotation. I had to learn to play and enjoy Sims 3 on its own terms. (Legacy seems to be the "natural" playstyle in Sims 3; or at least the one the game seems to lean you towards.) I have real "control freak" simming tendencies (which is easy to indulge in Sims 2). I've found that relaxing that just a little and letting the Sims tell me more about themselves and what they want helps.

I recommend NRASS mods.

More expansions if you can get them are good. (They're still a ridiculous 20 dollars each at Steam, but the game and its packs goes on pretty good sale at least several times a year there. Not sure what version you have - Steam has the virtue of staying on 1.67 - but sales are always worth looking around for.)
Scholar
#30 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 5:36 AM
Try spying on the local townies along with NRaas Homeopener so you could see their houses without having to get invited. Use the Story Progression mod from thNRaas as well if you hadn't already and set it up to make your town more interesting. It's already fun to see what kind of shenanigans that they're up to next. You can't really get that kind of experience with the other Sims games but I usually rotate between Sims 2 and 3.
Mad Poster
#31 Old 25th Sep 2018 at 11:10 PM
TS3 has lot of diversity, the more content you install. Get an alien that's a celebrity mounted on a horse with a paparazzi on board, while the imaginary-vampire friend you turned into real boy/girl is on the wheel. Experiment, go wild. Yeah, If you really loved and still love rotational play, then story progression could be a real deal breaker for you. Funny, how two of these games being iterations are opposite to one another in this sort of playstyle aspect.

TS3 is suitable for saves that revolve around one family management while all npcs are independent and loose while 'keeping up' with the realistic time that is applied around the whole neighborhood, thus giving the vibe of how the world is growing and changing at a pace without depriving focus and requiring extra work.
TS2 is suitable for managing multiple families in a turn-based manner, as time is frozen outside the lot that is being played, giving you the possibilities to progress every family however you want at a very slow rate.

Those who loathe the idea of townies and neighborhoods being immortal or unable to make huge changes in their life without intervention would much rather jump into TS3, which simulates the life and lives beyond the borders of own backyard.
And the players that detest the concept of sim running around and making choices on their own like the grown man, starting their own families or goals, and wishes to continue the legacy of one and only family at a time would stick more with TS2, an entry where families only make the move once someone's turn as ended (kind of like in a board game).

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Top Secret Researcher
#32 Old 26th Sep 2018 at 12:37 PM
Don't play rotationally in the real sense of it. But you can still switch between households when you want, sporadically, play with one over undefined time period then switch to another. I usually play that way with 3 to 5 households, while still from time to time checking on other townies and what stories game made for them (and that's the most interesting part to me).

NRAAS mods are perfect for tweaking the game to suit your playstyle.
I use Relativity to prolong the time of day almost twice the time of the original game's time. I use mastercontroller to make sims more lively, easily switch between households and fix some glitches and bugs and I use story progression for input into town's story. Sometimes I enjoy EA's story progression too.
And game options also allow to tweak the game to your playstyle. For example controll of aging, lifespans, free will, weather and town's population. I have my own custom sim lifespan that lasts for about 120 sim days so I can play with more families.

Plus, one convenience is that the time and anything stops in the main world while you are with your active household in another world. So you can use that if you don't want changes or aging in your other households. Or just turn off aging alltogether, like few people here suggested.

This comes from a player that initially couldn't enjoy Sims 3 at all, and was all about Sims 2. I still prefer Sims 2 over Sims 3, but both games get me hooked. You just needto find the way YOU can enjoy the game.
Mad Poster
#33 Old 28th Sep 2018 at 1:14 PM
Also, it would help If you write things down that you enjoy and things you don't and find a workaround (tweak, mod, etc.) If possible to enriching at least a little bit of TS3 simming experience.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Top Secret Researcher
#35 Old 29th Sep 2018 at 1:56 AM
Does not matter if the OP is gone or not, the people who are interested in the same thing as the OP (and I'm sure there's a lot of them), will find this thread super useful. Don't be snarky and think further beyond what you wanted to post, then post :D
Lab Assistant
#37 Old 4th Oct 2018 at 1:47 PM
Quote: Originally posted by darlarosa
If you have any ladvice on how to look at it differently or so that the stories I used to be able to micro manage don't feel unwieldy in a new system I'd love to hear it.


@darlarosa
Are you still reading here? I love Sims 2 with all my heart, but since last november it is not playable anymore (pink flashing) and that's why I reinstalled Sims 3.
I totally understand what you are missing. I did too. It is only one month I am playing now, so maybe I'll find more ways to make this game even more fitting to my needs. But for now I can recommend you Awesome Mod. Because during gameplay it let's you clicking on a house and just switch households. And with the right settings it let's only your aktive household progresses in jobs or aging. It is compatible with most NRAAS mods.
And for the Open for Business part, I have installed the Ani mods Produce Stand and Savvier Seller. I have not playtested the Savvier Seller yet, but the Produce Stand works great. My farmer can sell his vegetables now to other sims, and not only to the grocery store. I also use this stand for my toymaker and have plans for an Ambrosia and Angel Food Cake stand.
Field Researcher
#38 Old 4th Oct 2018 at 3:01 PM
Okay, lessee. I started from Sims1, went to Sims 2 and then eventually said "oh what the heck" and tried sims 3. At first, I didn't like it. I thought it was too micromanaging and "quest driven" for me. So I went back to Sims 2 and played around for a long time with the game.

Then I saw the horses in Sims 3; which were sims and not like the kinds of NPC type horses we had in 2 (custom content). I started playing 3 again. I got custom content to change the looks of the sims (though sometimes they still do weird faces).

The amount of modifications I was able to do to sims (body and face-wise, weight, boobs, etc. (by that I mean I was able to make myself more accurately in body type, not... the other things. ew) hooked me in. I'm a wicked control freak, but the game forced me out of that comfort zone. I play houses/families in rotation. There are some times I don't like how the game progresses/does stuff for me when I'm not in a family that I was once controlling, but it's all fixable so it's a minor annoyance.

What sold me on this game was the open world concept. It's like no other. These folks are right when they say Sims 3 is a WORLD simulator and not just the doll house Sims 2 was.

I have never played 4, so I can't comment on it.

I recommend a lot of Ani and Nraas' mods - the biggest being Mastercontroller. You'd also need Save Cleaner. I wrote up a big ol txt for my friend who plays 3 and was wondering how I got my game to look the way it does; if you're interested in it, shoot me a PM and I will give it to you.

I still have old pics of my Sims 2 play, and the characters I made for that game look so much different than the same ones I re-created for 3. It's just so amazing.

Some folks build, some play in rotation like I do, some create worlds. I would just play around with the game, trying new things, seeing what the game can do before making a final judgement on it.

Of course, post wouldn't be proper without one of my own favorite pics - a chateau I recently created in a new world someone had made.

Top Secret Researcher
#39 Old 5th Oct 2018 at 7:45 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Oesau13
... a chateau I recently created in a new world someone had made.
It's quite lovely and large. I hope your Sims don't feel they need to run clear around it when they need to pee.
Instructor
#40 Old 5th Oct 2018 at 9:09 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Oesau13

Of course, post wouldn't be proper without one of my own favorite pics - a chateau I recently created in a new world someone had made.

https://i.imgur.com/45QdV9K.jpg


Hey, the stairs have corners! How'd you manage that? Is it a deco piece? Lovely chateau btw, looks like a grand old place to live in.
Top Secret Researcher
#41 Old 5th Oct 2018 at 4:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by orose
Hey, the stairs have corners! How'd you manage that? Is it a deco piece? Lovely chateau btw, looks like a grand old place to live in.

All I had to know, was that stair corners existed. I'm so gonna use this mod!
Lisen801
http://www.modthesims.info/m/105276

Sims are better than us.
Field Researcher
#42 Old 5th Oct 2018 at 6:37 PM
Aw, you guys, thanks! Yes, that's Lisen's deco stair corner pieces! I use a TON of their stuff for the game!

That bugger is on a 64x64 lot, it is Mahoosive, that's for sure. I have one powder room on the first floor, two on the second and three on the third, but I also have Sandy's bush in the yard, and the wall washer mod (aka pee outside against the wall) so they don't have to run around too much.

Mostly, I play with needs static, so I don't have to worry. The chateau and the world it's in I'm using for mostly storytelling/pictures. Never really thought about just playing it as an actual house to live in. It's doable, though. I should put some internal shots up in the picture thread when I get around to taking more updated ones.
Mad Poster
#43 Old 7th Oct 2018 at 11:55 PM
I've been playing the game with the TS2 style of rotational play for years and the only unwanted things I've had happen to my inactives while I'm not playing them is the house filling up with tons of serving platters of spoiled food all over the house and laundry piling up into mountains all over the place.
I've got almost the entire NRaas Mod collection installed which is 114 Mod files and also use Awesmomod with the automated school assignment override enabled in the config file which is what I've had for at least two years without issues.I got that just to fix the overcrowding and routing fails with the schools.
I noticed that time passes by even for inactives when I focus on one family to get their new house built on the lot.
Lab Assistant
#44 Old 12th Oct 2018 at 6:22 PM
Quote: Originally posted by TadOlson
I've been playing the game with the TS2 style of rotational play for years and the only unwanted things I've had happen to my inactives while I'm not playing them is the house filling up with tons of serving platters of spoiled food all over the house and laundry piling up into mountains all over the place.


If you enable the "RoboticHandOfGod" in Awesomemod, after an hour, clothes are moved to the hamper, bills got paid and dishes are cleaned.
Mad Poster
#45 Old 12th Oct 2018 at 7:42 PM
Quote: Originally posted by BinahLaGoaty
If you enable the "RoboticHandOfGod" in Awesomemod, after an hour, clothes are moved to the hamper, bills got paid and dishes are cleaned.


Where is that for my life? And do the laundry too please! LOL And, and, and...... :D
Top Secret Researcher
#46 Old 13th Oct 2018 at 2:25 AM
Lately, I've found it strangely fun to play evil sims.

Sims are better than us.
Lab Assistant
#47 Old 13th Oct 2018 at 1:59 PM
Quote: Originally posted by daisylee
Where is that for my life? And do the laundry too please! LOL And, and, and...... :D


It is in the Configuration Tool, "Interface & Control Features - General".
Just enable what you want, click "generate", and move the package to where you have your awesomemod installed.

My active and unactive Sims always do their laundry. Maybe it is part of the mod?

For me it doesn't even feel like cheating, because in real life I never use a mailbox for paying my bills, my bank account is enabled to do it for me. Also, when I go outside, I never throw my clothes on the floor. Ok, the dishes... but hey, at least I never place them all around on my floor.
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