Okay alittle backstory, I know nothing about programming or editing existing programs but from what I've seen of Mods on Mod The Sims and other sites and hell even products you got in the Sims 3 store, it seems like either Modding the Sims 3 is very difficult due to the games original and likely counterintuitive programming OR that making any "professional" changes to the game takes an obscene amount of work.
I'm not sure if I'm RIGHT but that's just how it looks to me an outsider with no knowledge of how these things work.

So with that in mind, I've been wondering for awhile just how difficult it would be to try and take a Sims 2 feature: in this case Turn Ons/Turn Offs and replicate it in the Sims 3? And along with that I'd like to know WHY it would be that difficult. I'm genuinely curious about how modding the Sims 3 works and the challenges faced by people who do sos, I'd like a detailed explanation preferably one I can understand.

So yes this is basically a thread of a curious ignorant person who wants to grill experienced people about things they probably consider obvious, so be gentle, it's my first time. :P

There already is an attraction system in the game- but adding additional aspects could be interesting, and give some use to the trait, color, food and horoscope systems.

I already know it's interesting, I came up with it

What I want to know is if it can actually be done?

If so how? If not why not?

What you describe is on the drawing table for development into an NRaas mod that will enhance or replace the existing attraction system. But it will take quite some time before we have anything usable out of it.

If you would like some details on what's so complex about it and why it's going to take so long (as in at least a couple of years, probably), you are welcome to stop by and ask our developers. But be prepared for an onslaught of information about programming in C#, the game engine, the sloppy starting point that our developers have with the way this game is coded and that it's all held together with discount branded cellotape and string, and the fact that there are 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,336 possible hair and eye colors alone to contend with before we get into more mundane things like body size/shape, slider values, and favorites.

I actually wouldn't mind hearing about that stuff as I've said I'm curious and have always wondered how and why these sorts of things work the way they do.

With the Billions upon Jillions of Colour Possibilities Do You Really HAVE to take all of them into account? Couldn't you just classify all the colours under the colour their derived from on the wheel? So instead of having to Isolate and Categorize a Looong List of Various Blue Shades You just Have to Quantify What's Blue and What's Not Blue.

Or is that not how this works? And or would Quantifying it still requires you to count EVERYTHING first? Like I said I'm curious but also very clueless like this bunny

To be defined areas of and proximity on the color wheel (actually ranges of hex values but it amounts to the same thing) is really how this is going to be approached. I don't seriously think we are going to try to name all 79+ octillion of them manually but we do have software in place already that attempts to do so. We're still finding it making some mistakes here and there. But no, we're not trying to account for sims who love "deeper warm periwinkle mist" but can't stand "medium hearty periwinkle foam" or something like that.

Anyway, to post at NRaas if desired:
http://nraas.wikispaces.com/page/messages/Chatterbox
(free registration required)

I think using the favorite colors trait option in CAS would work as an acceptable substitute.

In my opinion the easiest way to most of this is by letting players decide the "tags" they want their Sims to have. I don't know how it could be implemented but let's imagine one additional tab in CAS similar to the favorites tab but instead it lets you choose your Sims physical attributes (hair color, eye color, body shape, etc). That way it would be less arbitrary because you could consider a hair color reddish brown while I consider it to be brownish red sooo what tag would you give it? Brown? Red? A player could say "but her/his hair is CLEEARLY more red than brown". Of course you could also change these tags anytime you want, so if you change your Sims color hair you can see that reflected in the attraction system.

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but that would match sims whose favorite color is red with sims whose favorite color is also red? What we are doing is matching sims who prefer red hair, green eyes, and large uhm...let's say feet with sims who have red hair, green eyes, and large feet (or something like that). What form this will really take when the dust settles is still very far from being determined.



I don't know about everyone else, but I have hundreds of resident sims plus I never remember how many homeless in each of my worlds. There is no way I'm going to want to tag all of them for their existing hair color and body shape and I'm never going to remember to check if the tags got updated if the sims' hair color or other things have changed as they aged. But at this point who knows, we may end up with something like that as well.

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There are multiple ways to approach anything like this. The tools are out there, Twallan left the NRaas collection of mods as Open Source when he retired, have at it or create a different base to work from. But I've gotta say, and more to the point of the original question, none of this is easy or straightforward even for those who are fluent in the required programming languages (which I am not, I don't even speak them) and have infinite amounts of time (which none of us do).

This is a very interesting thread, thank you DesereiPandemoni for starting it. I'll take, I'm taking?.. great pleasure in reading it.

well, there're a big obstacles on the road, which I suppouse has locked down the actual Nraas-suite team in the progress of this particular enchancement; and I cannot blame them nor anyone for this.

1st - the sims2 attraction system is complete another layer over the relationships.
It is asymmetrical (sim A may find B very attractive while sim B finds A as indifferent or even repulsive; yeah, sims are all for drama! ) and vary in time. As A likes "something" B may grown up for him/her by raising particular "turns ons" I mean: fitness, logic, even beard - just like real life, right? - you've never seen this girl from another class attractive in any way 'till you bump a revelation she loves The Sims too, or she just wore a dress for party, or well... bikini in the Summer School Camp ;p. Whatever.

Yeah - TS2 beats every other game iteration absolutely in this sim-social field.

Simply put - it's really *big* amount of numbers (run the math, it's simple permutation). And while Sims 2 are rather static from numbers perspective - it's only one lot active at the moment, and limited number of active sims on it, it's not a big problem. Even for such outdated software without any sensible data managing implementation (which lack is a real Sims' series heritage in fact, like 'ya know: "war, war never changes" -.-).

Now imagine the same on the whole active world, when for example Story Progression, even if in very abstract way, has to develop constantly chanching "attraction" for each sims known for each it knows. Not only playables, but *any* sim which may be properly interacted with (otherwise implementation has no sense because excludes a lot of potential social interests from the game). Go figure what will happen. And when we throw another worlds into equation (Future, Vacation spots: classic and "nraasified", Uni...) you shall see the big "puff" while loading one.

I do not say it is "impossible" but it is really hard. And honestly I cannot see how it could be done without rebuilding at last a part of original sh*tty programing in the game itself first. Or at last, building a 64-bit wrapper around 32 executable to avoid inavoidable memory crashes.

In the meantime, I found this retuned attraction mod: http://superficialife.tumblr.com/po...-instantly-sims

Not really a turn-on-turn-off, but I think it helps.

I don't like the EA attraction system in the Sims 3. I've never was attracted to anyone because their favorite food was hamburger. I get the concept of it's just a simulation tho. I vaguely remember the "turn on/Turn offs" in Sims 2, but I'm told that in Sims 2 attraction was not equally shared between sims, so one sim can be attracted to a sim who doesn't like them. That would be nice.

I was thinking to scoring friendship and lust separately. Things in common go in the friendship score. Things like "gussy up", "wished for beauty", weight, athleticism, irresistible and certain clothing (at first, simply by stuff pack i.e. "Late Night" clothing, but would like to score by individual items and their child items) would go in the lust score. I think "good kisser" would be added to the lust score, but only after the sims kiss. Wanna woohoo? Check lust score. Build a friendship? Check friendship score. Get married? some factor of both scores.

What would be great if you could pick a "type", like Goth or emo or nerd - and then score on the various types make up dress that gives type points. Realistically, tho', most sims 3 worlds don't have a large enough population for that to be good game play.