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Lab Assistant
#51 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 1:29 AM
Strict Monday to Monday here, although I've occasionally slipped into Tuesday without realizing it.

I'm surprised by how many people play one-day rotations--I assume many of you play mostly on speed 1 or 2? If I did that, each family's rotation would last five minutes at most. I'm constantly flipping back and forth between pause and speed 3, so you can imagine that one-day rotations would interrupt my gameplay with constant (albeit quick) load screens.

As for keeping things in sync, I've found that I don't care about that much. I have sets of multiples who wind up being different ages in their adult stage because they left the nest on different days, and I've just stopped caring. It's too much work to keep them all exactly on the same day. It's the same thing with university: If I have a sim whose parents will certainly die by the time they graduate university, I don't want them to lose the house they'll be inheriting (along with everything in it), so I'll ignore their parents' rotation until they return from uni. I try to keep siblings fairly spaced apart during that time, but if they don't, oh well. I play university two semesters at a time, so at six days it's roughly the same length as my usual 'hood rotations.
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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#52 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 2:17 AM
I play speed 1 and occasionally speed 2. You miss an awful lot on speed 3. Things sims say to each other, cute little faces that babies and toddlers pull, nope never want to play on speed 3 unless the whole house is asleep or out. What does that have to do with load screens?

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
#53 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 2:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I play speed 1 and occasionally speed 2. You miss an awful lot on speed 3. Things sims say to each other, cute little faces that babies and toddlers pull, nope never want to play on speed 3 unless the whole house is asleep or out. What does that have to do with load screens?


If I played one-day rotations on speed 3, I'd have to switch households much more often, thus loading in and out between the 'hood view.

I know I miss a lot on speed 3, but I can't stand the slowness of the other speeds. I use them every now and then, but I'm very much a "get it done" kind of player with Sims. I set them to tasks and off they go until the next set of orders. I like creating stories and drama between my Sims, and I like it to be fairly fast-paced. I admittedly don't explore features much and I sort of stick to the same routine, but when I try new things I absolutely slow down!
Mad Poster
#54 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 2:49 AM
Clickable neighbors. You save, click the next house in the rotation, and bypass the trip to the neighborhood, just like "walk to lot."

The reason I play one-day rotations is that I play intensely. I seldom go to speed 2, much less speed 3, and create extra time in the day for myself with community lot visits. Speed 3 is like flying over the country I want to see; Speed 2 is like driving or taking the bus through it, and speed 1 is like walking through it enjoying every moment, smelling all the wonderful scents and watching the birds and sometimes just sitting down by a creek and watching the wildlife come to drink, the dragonflies and butterflies sucking minerals out of the sandbanks, hearing the frogs plop in and seeing the turtles rise out of the current. The point is not to get anywhere. The point is to really, thoroughly, absolutely enjoy and understand where I am. My sims are characters and I know and love them all.

If I want goals to direct myself toward, I have life and work!

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#55 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 3:01 AM
Yeah, I always play on speed one, I let it speed up when everyone is asleep but on most lots that rarely happens due to pets. If everyone is asleep except the pets I'll go to speed two. I don't like leaving my sims to their own devices and prefer micromanaging them.
Mad Poster
#56 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 4:08 AM Last edited by FranH : 2nd Aug 2018 at 10:14 AM. Reason: Must have been asleep.
I play one day rotations (as explained before) and only play on speed 1.
I also have Chris Hatch's 'half-speed' mod, which slows down the game even more. So in doing just one family, it can take up to an hour just to have one day over.
The only time I ever speed it up is when A) they're asleep (which is the normal speed) or B) there are toddlers in the house alone with the nanny. They're boring to watch and time passes slower than ever. No, thank you. Life is still too short for that..

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#57 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 4:08 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nukk
If I played one-day rotations on speed 3, I'd have to switch households much more often, thus loading in and out between the 'hood view.

I know I miss a lot on speed 3, but I can't stand the slowness of the other speeds. I use them every now and then, but I'm very much a "get it done" kind of player with Sims. I set them to tasks and off they go until the next set of orders. I like creating stories and drama between my Sims, and I like it to be fairly fast-paced. I admittedly don't explore features much and I sort of stick to the same routine, but when I try new things I absolutely slow down!


Oh I get it, you play lots of families in one sitting. My whole play session often only lasts one sim day and loading lots would be for an outing or going to their business or another sims business. To me speed 3 is supersonic speed, I can barely see a thing.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
#58 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 5:23 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
Clickable neighbors. You save, click the next house in the rotation, and bypass the trip to the neighborhood, just like "walk to lot."

The reason I play one-day rotations is that I play intensely. I seldom go to speed 2, much less speed 3, and create extra time in the day for myself with community lot visits. Speed 3 is like flying over the country I want to see; Speed 2 is like driving or taking the bus through it, and speed 1 is like walking through it enjoying every moment, smelling all the wonderful scents and watching the birds and sometimes just sitting down by a creek and watching the wildlife come to drink, the dragonflies and butterflies sucking minerals out of the sandbanks, hearing the frogs plop in and seeing the turtles rise out of the current. The point is not to get anywhere. The point is to really, thoroughly, absolutely enjoy and understand where I am. My sims are characters and I know and love them all.

If I want goals to direct myself toward, I have life and work!


Ahh, I forgot about the clickable neighbor thing! I turned it off as soon as I could because I was constantly clicking on other lots by mistake.

I love your analogy!

On my end, speed 1 is like waiting in line at the grocery store for an hour, with my legs sore from standing still, the cashier hardly in view as the million other shoppers block the way. Speed 2 is being behind one other customer with a cart full of items--not as bad a wait, but still a little annoying, you know? It's been a long day and you want to go home. Speed 3 is seeing a cashier with an empty line, zipping over to them, getting your groceries, and heading home to relax for the evening.

I'm fresh out of high school with no job (which I intend to change soon). I've been playing Sims for a solid 14 or so years now and I've always played to explore as many different stories and possibilities in life. I have no interest in partying in real life, I didn't have the best "high school experience", and I don't currently have any plans to attend college, but all of these things I get to do in the Sims. Better yet, I can see these things through characters with different personalities and new experiences every time. I've always loved creating stories and I do so very fleetingly: My stories come and go, and I've only ever finished one. I lack the dedication and discipline to play Sims at speed 1 and 2 because it's not the pace that the stories in my head go at. I often post in the "what's happening in your game?" thread because I love sharing those stories, but there's a reason why I don't post chapter by chapter in the Stories board: I'd post a few chapters of one story, abandon it, and move on to the next. Speed 3 suits my playstyle because I'm not looking to play for the animations and intricacies, as much as I do love and respect them, they doesn't suit who I am as a player. I'll give a brief glance at my Sims' given personalities/interests and then more or less decide how they are in my own head. I don't feel the need to watch them shower, eat, and chat with each other. I slow down for romance, fights, and other things that spice up the game, but I zip through the everyday aspect of my Sims' lives.

I will say that your mindset very much lines up with how I treat real life. I spend a lot of time taking in the details of the things around me and the beauty of the world. When I sit down to play Sims, however, I want to breeze through, see where their lives go, and if I played on speed 1, I wouldn't make the progress that I want to. I want to be able to look back on generations of Sims and have an idea of who they were, what they became, and how that affects their descendants. I want stories of how great-great-grandma's behaviors changed the direction of the family. Speed 3 allows me to create these sprawling families with rich histories in a matter of months. That's not to say that someone playing on slower speeds can't make stories or Sim families like this, it's just not my preference.

To be blunt about it, speed 1 makes me bored and antsy.

Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Oh I get it, you play lots of families in one sitting. My whole play session often only lasts one sim day and loading lots would be for an outing or going to their business or another sims business. To me speed 3 is supersonic speed, I can barely see a thing.


Yes! When I sit down to play, it's usually for at least 4 hours. I can get through anywhere between 1 and 6 households in a sitting. It all depends on the size of the family and how much they have going on in their lives.
Mad Poster
#59 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 5:44 AM
I feel like I wouldn't know who my sims were at all if I only played on speed three.

Also, you cannot manage large households on speed three, or at least I can't imagine how you'd be able to. There are too many sims and not enough time to switch between them to keep them on track, let alone enough time to develop all of their stories. I prefer to have a lot of sims living on the same lot and play on speed one, rather than make a ton of small households and play on a higher speed.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#60 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 6:34 AM
Me either kestrellyn, I wouldn't be able to get screenshots of funny things they do and say and facial features. I wouldn't know the sim's personality.
Nukk I guess those things don't interest you. Which is fine, if you are satisfied and enjoy your own style of playing. It doesn't really correlate with how long you have been playing through, more your personality since many of us here have played sims 2 since it came out.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
#61 Old 2nd Aug 2018 at 12:46 PM Last edited by Nukk : 2nd Aug 2018 at 1:13 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Me either kestrellyn, I wouldn't be able to get screenshots of funny things they do and say and facial features. I wouldn't know the sim's personality.
Nukk I guess those things don't interest you. Which is fine, if you are satisfied and enjoy your own style of playing. It doesn't really correlate with how long you have been playing through, more your personality since many of us here have played sims 2 since it came out.


It was late in the night and I guess I forgot to elaborate on that point. I mentioned that because when I was playing as a kid, I didn't play on speed three nearly as much as I do now. I was going to go on about how my style has changed over the years but I was tired and didn't quite get there lol. I don't remember exactly what I was going to say but that was the gist.

Quote: Originally posted by kestrellyn
I feel like I wouldn't know who my sims were at all if I only played on speed three.

Also, you cannot manage large households on speed three, or at least I can't imagine how you'd be able to. There are too many sims and not enough time to switch between them to keep them on track, let alone enough time to develop all of their stories. I prefer to have a lot of sims living on the same lot and play on speed one, rather than make a ton of small households and play on a higher speed.


Large households are definitely more difficult but they're absolutely doable for me. As I tend to pause when I'm setting up a Sim's queue, I can focus on one Sim and let the rest do their own thing. I guess that depends on your definition of a large households, though: do you have mods to increase the maximum Sims in a household? My families have no more than eight per home.

Families with quadruplets are a living nightmare but I've done it (often with the help of a few nannies). In fact, those are the families that I like to speed three through the most, because I don't like dealing with four toddlers at once and I can't wait for them to age up!

I'll often set up Focus Days for larger households, where I set a day for each particular Sim to have my (mostly) full attention and I let the rest live autonomously. I say "mostly", because of course if there is a youngin' about, I need to ensure they are being given proper care.

Community lots work out really well for large households as well. Sally the teenager can get away from her chaotic family by going to the teen hangout, or she could take her little sister out to the park for some quality sibling time. I don't use the community time mod, so when my Sims get home, it's the same time they left at. That leaves plenty of time in the day for me to focus on the others in the household.

I agree that with larger households, their personalities don't develop as well, but they end up with enough quirks to work with and once they sprout off into their own home I use what I've got. I'm constantly thinking about the type of home my Sim came from and combining that with their given Personality points to determine how they felt growing up and what direction they're going to go in. Did they love or hate being in a large family? Do they want one of their own, or would they rather only one kid? Do they have any interest in living with other Sims, or would they rather spend the rest of their life with only pets instead?

The more households there are, the more opportunity there is to simmer and learn their personalities, too. I believe Kesry has something like twenty households at the moment. When Sally Sim goes out, she gets to know others in the town, which in turn means I can see them out and about and further develop their personalities based on what they're doing and how they're interacting with others. This is especially true in lots that I have set to certain age stages, like the abandoned house that the neighborhood teens go to.

For example, when my Sim Mila had just turned to the adult stage, she autonomously called Ace Kesry, heir of the founding family, over for a booty call. Ace agreed and they did their thing. I was shocked that he'd cheat on his wife of many years, especially given his kids were around Mila's age, but I suppose that being pushed to take the family business as a teen, and having only ever been with his wife, that he probably wanted some young, hot booty. Anyway, they continued to be friends with benefits until a bit after their oopsy child aged up into a toddler. Mila was always a cunning lady, and she blackmailed Ace. Pretty decent drama that came from a booty call I didn't direct her to make.

There is absolutely opportunity for drama and personality to come out, even playing on speed 3. That said, I have constantly pushed myself to drop the speed more often to see the intricate stuff, but I rarely remember to. I enjoy it in small doses but I could never actively play on speed 1 or 2.
Mad Poster
#62 Old 4th Aug 2018 at 6:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by kittenby
If you play in rotation, how do you deal with the possibility of getting bored of a family? Also, if you play challenges, like the asylum challenge, do you play those in rotation too or do you play them separately from your rotation schedule?

Also, do you have some hoods where you play in rotation and some where you don't, or is your playstyle entirely focused on one of them?

I rush things up If I get bored.with that particular household. I once in my current hood played without the rotation, because they (households) hardly progres in their goal or at least felt slow, so I had one household play till they had eggplants to harvest and the rest reach specific milestone of simoleans. Afterwards, I synch their ages, which wasn't that hard (each new household appeared/settled in at the start after a day has passed in rotation, as well the fact it was easier is because there very little residents living in the hood).

At the moment, I don't play any other hoods. Just one.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Mad Poster
#63 Old 4th Aug 2018 at 6:41 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nukk
Families with quadruplets are a living nightmare but I've done it (often with the help of a few nannies). In fact, those are the families that I like to speed three through the most, because I don't like dealing with four toddlers at once and I can't wait for them to age up!


I mean, the best way to solve that problem is to uninstall the triplets and quads mod. There's a reason I don't have that one, I often wind up with three babies/toddlers in the same house at time as it is.
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