I finally got round to writing up how I play "intelligence levels". I attached the document to this post in the form of a Word 1997 - 2003 document so I hope that people will be able to read it!

Comments, questions, suggestions and so on are all welcomed :-)

In my most recent megahood, I was working on a hospital in Pleasantview set up like a hotel, when the neighborhood went crashing down (note to self, use Tarla's solution next time), and I have plans of building two military bases (Sim City Air Force Base and Naval Station Port Simasota) as a subhoods, complete with barracks, commissaries, exchanges, mess halls/galleys, officers' clubs, hospitals and the Simasota Military Academy (a boarding school where both dependent Sims and civilian Sims may attend).

I also had a juvenile detention center in Strangetown, and I've built telephone company central offices, with a store set up much like a CenturyLink store accessible to Sims, and a telecom switch upstairs inaccessible to Sims, though the "switch" was really just a bunch of walls with fancy wallpaper on them. I'm tempted to make a custom telecommunications career path.

Yesterday I tried to do a community lot wedding party. Oh boy, it had been so long since I had done a group outing that I had forgotten how it worked. I think I loaded and exited that lot without saving about 5 times! I invited the guests over for a wedding party and rang for a cab-but it never asked for how many sims it just turned up for the groom who had rung for it. Which seems strange as I am sure it always asks what others will be going, at least those living in the house. I knew that was a mistake as soon as I did it so I deleted the cab and it loaded up the church in buy mode. O_0 Anyway after much trial and error like making the groom ask everyone and not both of them to do join group (that makes two separate groups!) I finally had everyone leave in there own car together because the cab just didn't seem to want to work. Not sure if I have a problem there...
I went to an owned lot and made the owner/minister selectable and start preaching behind the wedding arch and got them married while only 2 watched while standing. No one sat on a pew at all. Then they cut the cake and went back home for another cake, some food and dancing. The party score dropped to disaster but I managed to scrape it back up to okay before it ended.

So one, have just one sim ask the guests to join the group and use your own car. I don't know why no one sat. Probably don't cut another cake back at home but get right on with the dancing, chatting and joking to keep the party score up.

I like playing community lot weddings, but I usually do them as a "Just For Fun" outing so there's no time limit or score. I invite all the guests to the bride and/or groom's home lot, get the groom to ask them all to join a casual group whilst the bride gets ready, then have them all walk to the community lot. Once they are there they have the ceremony and then generally cut the cake, have a buffet and/or dance, whilst also spending time mingling with their guests. Sometimes, especially if I want to take photos, I make all the guests selectable so I can make sure they sit down during the wedding and get them to pose for group photos after the ceremony. I find it more realistic to marry on a community lot - after all, hardly anyone marries at home in RL - and I enjoy playing community lot weddings.

I have a mod that makes Buy/Build Mode accessible on community lots, so I use that to help me arrange sims for wedding photos! :-)

Once I got them there and didn't have half the party leave in the car while the bride stood at the curb it went okay. I did use "just for fun". I just wish people had sat down. That might have been because I had the minister delivering a sermon behind them-but I want the minister up there to 'marry them'. The other mistake is being an owned lot with stock, lots of them went off to buy things. I think I need to move the church shop someplace else, maybe even the ministers house. I decide who belongs to the church if they go and buy a Bible when I'm playing the minsters rotation. The groom had a Bible in his inventory which is why they got a church wedding. I just type 'dorm on' which is shortcut for a longer cheat, I have that is set up in my user cheat file. To make the minister do the wedding I use Dolphin's 'control this sim', told him to 'deliver a sermon' on my pulpit and moved him with move objects behind the wedding arch.

Is there a fix for the keeping of engagement rings glitch? I know I stopped doing community lot weddings because I got tired of married couples having engagement rings for ever. He got a wedding ring while she has kept her engagement ring.

Sanypsia

Oh I don't judge. I like your own personal take on your play style. I was just teasing about the taxes.

Jo

Ahh, yes, that would be the reason! I think that is smart since when things come too easy, the game get's boring. I will check those mods out.

Jo

So true, annoys me big time!

Jo

ha ha ha, funny. I do stuff like that too. But for weddings on community lots I just teleport them in using that mod. The wedding arch when they go to watch forces them into formal. I will also use boolprop to select the sim who is the pastor to do the ceremony and make sure everyone is taking a seat.

Jo

you ask me, I think she got the good end of the deal. Isn't the engagement ring the one with the diamond?

egswanso

How cool, so that is where you found the name. How interesting. My tendency is to create a peaceful, happy, safe place. I think your hood is quite creative with all the drama going on.

NewSimgirl2011

How much do you charge for tuition? Is it per year or degree? You referenced $6,000 as a loan by Jane Stacks. I wonder, do you charge for dorm rent too?

NewSimgirl2011

There are some good hospital builds here on MTS. I downloaded mine from here. If you aren't that great at building then just find builds here that you can tweak to make it what you need.

smellincoffee

I do the same thing. I have the buildings for them to work in as well.

lauratje86

Thanks for sharing. That makes sense that someone who is playful would not appreciate sitting at a desk all day. However, I would think the same for someone who is active. Besides that everything is perfectly detailed.

lauratje86

oooo, do you know where you downloaded it? Sounds like a mod to have.

I've added a lil something to motivation levels. Since I have simblender I constantly add wantsand extra locks & lock wants I want to fulfill that go along with their characters but when i throw in motivation levels I've realized that my normal gamestyle of locking all 4-6 wants was a bit excessive so i've calculated it as such so the amount of locks achieved is a bit more realistic.

Overachievers:
6 total after successfully graduating university
2 as a toddler
3 as a child
4 as a teen
* overachieving adults who didn't go to college (i.e. townies or premades who's calculated as overachieving already) will automatically get the 6 wants/locks

Average:
4-5 total (+ 1 extra if university is successfully completed)
1 toddler/child
2 teen

Underachievers:
2-3 (+1 if university is completed up to the year they drop out)
2 as a teen
1 as a child
0 as a toddler

I've never tried it but if it were possible to take away want/fear panels(before the extra 2 gained in university) I would love to do that as well. I could see so much storyline potential of under achieving toddlers with no want panel growing up badly because they were constantly in the red. Generally I know i can just ignore the panel altogether but it would be fun to not see any of it and wonder what wants/fears they were fulfilling without you knowing it.

I adapted your 'intelligence' scale to that of the motivations scale, and found that you can apply the same scales to both intelligence and ambition:

Ambition
Active Points (A) - Playful Points (P)

-10 to -2 Underachiever
-1 to +6 Average
+7 to +10 Overachiever

Intelligence

(Active Points + ½ Neat Points) – Playful Points

-10 to -2 Low Intelligence
-1 to +6 Average Intelligence
+7 to +10 High Intelligence

It seems that I've got some sims who are dumber than rocks and proud of it! Both low intelligence and ambition-what a combination!

I'm still trying to figure out an 'affability' scale-of how overall engaging or pleasant a pixel will be with others. I think the formula will probably involve the outgoing trait combined with the niceness trait and then modified with the playfulness trait.

I don't have a police station, hospital, or town hall, but I do have a cemetery, a church and an old-fashioned paternalistic charity. Currently the cemetery contains only the graves of the Capps who used to be buried at Capp Manor, but I intend to move the two from the Monty Ranch there too. They will be joined by any Sims who do die in my 'hood nut I do like keeping the little dears alive! :lovestruc: It's a municipal cemetery and very utilitarian, containing only a basic toilet block. (In fact my aim was to make it as unlike Gothier Green Lawns as possible.) I have thought about adding a small chapel, but the cemetery is right next door to St. Simeon's Parish Church.

The church is still very new (although architecturally it looks almost medieval!), and the priest, the Rev. Elspeth Anderson, has shown some Sims round it, she has yet to hold a service in it. It would probably be best to make it an owned community lot owned by the priest, but I don't have OFB yet. If I'm playing the priest's lot, then getting her to the church isn't a problem, but if I'm playing another lot, and want them to go to church, I think I'll do it with a group outing (just for fun), and make sure Rev. Elspeth I always included in the group. I am fascinated by how you play your church, Jo. I presume yours is a lot owned by the minister. Where did you get your pulpit? I am thinking of using one of KevinsHope's crosses, but I've never seen anything like that in a real church.



I have described my charity, The Capp Charitable Foundation for the Assistance of the Deserving Poor of Veronaville and its Environs several times before. So far its funds have all come from Consort Capp's family, but it will accept donations from others. And it will pay out grants and loans to Sims who are able to meet its criteria. So far it has given one grant of 1,000 Simoleons to the Smythe sisters to buy a computer. Craig Royce is also trying to get some help from it to improve facilities at his Teen Townie Hostel. (I suppose that's really a community project too, even though it's residential.) Sims like Consort much prefer old fashioned charity to any form of taxation.

I don't do anything to make life harder for my Sims. Money problems are bad enough in Real Life, without my Sims having them too!

Yes, the lot is owned by my minister. My pulpit is by religiosims, but I think it's gone. There are some others around, probably based on one of the career rewards. My pews which match the pulpit rather well are called 'real Church pews" by angelsways.weebly.com. They even have kneeling prayer rails, hymnals and a cushioned seat. Shame the 'flock' don't sit in them more!

I didn't when I first started playing, but after a few years you will probably find money making to be too easy. Saving and struggling a little keeps things interesting. I have to remember to make my charity shop where better off sims can donate old items for a small return and then they can be sold very cheaply to those in need.

I can't recommend OFB highly enough. If you ever want to have an integrated hood OFB is essential.

I tried both motivation levels and intelligence on your scale. Mortimer scored average intelligence but underachiever motivation I'm not sure if I should use katya scales for both, or leave yours for intelligence because it would serve up so many more possibilities

I like all my rules to be simple. I don't want to be constantly checking my own rules-which I would do if it became too complicated. I simply add the neatness and activity points and subtract the playful points. Then I put the score into the sims bio so I can recheck when I load up a house. But basically if the sim is highly intelligent/gifted/highly motivated (all means the same to me) they get set as smart on the bat box and told to skill a fair amount of the time. If they are average they will skill to any want rolled, and if they are stupid I don't direct them to skill at all. I will send them over to an object like an easel if they are doing nothing, but then it's up to them if they want to use it. That is pretty much it, apart from some extra rules to do with parenting and education. I think you need to find what works for you.

I've been trying to find the mod that allows that and my searches have led to nothing. Do you mind me asking where you got the mod?



For now it is 500 simoleons a semester, and for Jane once she finished university had to take out a further 2,000 simoleon loan in order to pay her deposit for her flat.

But I do think I'll be changing my tuition loans to 600 per semester but haven't decided yet.

It's by cathair2005 and is here on MTS. There is a pre-Pets version here, a Pets version here and the BV+ version (which I use with all EP's and SP's installed) is in the comments of the upload for the Pets version - post #48, here.

I got my learning Centre up and running. Just the bare bones, Julian Cooke (Who is my school principle/ learning guru of my town) needs more money before he can expand it. I have plans for every age group to have access. Right now I have it mostly as a gym with free cafeteria food. I have it set so only playables can attend-although that hasn't stopped the garden club people from turning up. I could not get the customer selector to work so I used the visitor controller. I don't understand that customer selector at all. So far they are mostly using the ballet bar and I have the Simwardrobe training controller set up and working. What I am doing there is I have decided if a playable comes to the centre they are looking to be educated or helped with their job or school work. So I am making them selectable and checking to see if they need a skill for a promotion, a skill want or are having trouble at school and If they are they will be offered a lesson or directed to something to help. With kids or highschoolers I have a table set up with the simlogical school book and if they need help I am calling it tutoring. Even low motivated sims will receive help if they turn up and need a skill point. I figured this was one way of them possibly having a better future. I might also try for a toddlers dance or art class.

<s>Is that TS3? Because Lilith looks a lot different than what I'm used to.</s>
No, that's definitely 2, must have given her a make over, lol.

That is very much Sims 2, how would you even do that in TS3? Yes she has had a makeover, I wasn't leaving her in that horrible Maxis get up.

Something I have done on some lots to add some realism to the game is build a one square foundation, put a half wall on it, paint it a custom gray color, and put a sign on the front with an Embarq logo that says "call before you dig" (the sign is also a custom wall paint). It looks like a telco termination block. In my next incarnation of the game, I'm going to make manholes that say "United Telephone" on them. If I ever bring myself to learn how to create meshes, I'm going to make electric meters and telephone network interface devices to put on the side of buildings.

I have a somewhat integrated play style, though not as integrated as several people in this thread.

There is a six-tier class structure in my neighbourhood (SimHampton, which I treat as a town). This affects many things, not least their taxes. Every day, Sims not in university or the BACC Nehan Vitas Enclave have to pay tax according to their class. The standard SimHampton tax is paid to the High Prince/Princess, or a member of their household. Royals are exempt as they are the highest class. So are Knaves, the lowest class, because they're on the run from the law or otherwise existing completely outside "the system". Otherwise, the lower a Sim's class, the higher the tax. Nobles pay $100 per day per household, Middles $200 per day per household, Yeomen $250 per day per household and Peasants $300 per day per household. It's not fair (especially given there's also wage caps on formal jobs), but it is vaguely realistic and adds a pleasing amount of challenge.

Classes are also limited in what careers they may take. Royals are banned from all jobs. 2-3 of the other 5 classes may do each type of job. "Respectable" jobs such as Intelligence, Historian or the College careers may only be done by Noble or Middle-class Sims. Standard jobs like Science, Culinary or Taxi Driver can be done by Middle-class, Yeomen or Peasants. "Disreputable" jobs like Criminal, Vampire Clan or Magic can only be done by Peasants, Knaves and Yeomen specifically permitted to take a disreputable job by the government. Most "Respectable" jobs require a degree after a certain level, as do some other careers (such as Natural Scientist and Education). Sims promoted above that level have their bonus treated as a golden handshake, and they are required to quit their jobs.

In Nehan Vitas, there is also a tax - a flat $100 per teenage, adult or elder Sim per day, except for very poor Sims (have less than $200 in the bank and haven't paid for anything except bills, chance cards and food) who are exempt. This is donated (the Simoleons vanish into thin air) and the amount recorded. At the moment, the only thing this is spent on is a university scholarship for Cilegia Valgochimica, but that is likely to change as the enclave grows.

In all cases, tax is all-inclusive, incorporating all benefits a Sim is likely to want from a generous government - except unemployment benefit. Instead, there's a form of workfare - Sims may choose to enter a regulated contract with a noble family in exchange for a lump sum of up to $4000 each for the Sim and their household. The noble family is required to maintain the servant(s) until either party chooses to end the contract. A single day's servitude to a noble family (which a punished Sim may convert into a voluntary contract afterwards) can also be given as a punishment for certain money-related crimes, instead of prison.

The government is simulated in my game. My neighbourhood has a High Prince/Princess, who lives in a sort-of-castle with family, advisors, servants and, at the moment, a trainee healer (long story). The High Prince/Princess receives all tax monies and in return is expected to make grants to alleviate poverty, build/maintain infrastructure and commission public buildings via the Chief Architect. Though at the moment there is no Chief Architect, so the Dean of SimHampton University is substituting for now...The High Prince/Princess is permitted to make unilateral declarations on law, promote and demote citizens and commission Sims to perform certain tasks on the royal payroll.

Currently, the tasks that are commissioned and paid for on the royal payroll are:

- governor of SimHampton Prison. If there's a major crime wave, additional governors are appointed to extra prisons in town. All prisons double as police stations.
- the staff of the SpacePort (part of my backstory is that interstellar commerce is a routine matter, but that only certain Sims are capable of the psychic moving of craft and long-distance communication that makes it work).
- the staff of SimHampton University, particularly its Dean but including every lecturer, dorm chef, coach and a stipend for the cheerleading/mascot team
- servants working directly for the High Prince/Princess's household (currently two)
- advisors working for the High Prince/Princess (currently two)
- a stipend for the trainee healer at the Royal Palace
- the staff of the work-in-progress SimHampton Hospital, as well as the construction team building the facility

The High Prince/Princess is also responsible for maintaining the Royal Park (which serves triple duty as a cemetary, formal speech area and mobile phone store). However, no staff are directly employed by the High Prince/Princess, instead relying on outsourcing.

There is also an eight-Sim Planning Council, the democratic element of SimHampton government. Its members are elected from all Sims who are teenagers or older and have not served as Planners since before the previous full election. They decide day-to-day points of law that are minor, or else overlooked by the High Prince/Princess. In theory, elections occur once a year. In practice, only about half of Planners actually serve the entire year. There are no limitations on terms, but nobody has attempted to serve more than two terms and no Sim has been present for two entire years. By-elections are therefore common.

There are no political parties; Planners making up their own minds according to their own affiliations and opinions on each subject. Each Planner is meant to have a specialism, but most of them will give their opinion about pretty much anything, leading to lively debates. They all live in a beautiful big council chamber donated by the community at large (note: not a royal-paid facility. (I built it first, then divided the bill evenly between all Sims with jobs). They cannot make a law that contradicts anything said by the reigning High Prince/Princess, but they may freely ignore any ruling by a previous monarch. On one occasion, a Planning Council has been responsible for unseating a particularly bad High Princess (even now, the whole town takes the day off work each anniversary).

The Council also signs all paperwork for non-religious marriages and joined unions, and is only permitted to block illegal weddings (so no weddings involving close relatives can happen). Religious marriages and joined unions are the responsibility of whichever of the three religions the couple decides to use to officiate.the ceremony, with occasional spot-checks to ensure no illegal weddings are happening.

Public school students are left to their own devices, except that Peasants and Knaves can't attend secondary school, and Knaves can only do 3 days per week (the latter simulates learning done without the assistance a school could have provided). However, I do keep track of private school students. Their subject, progress and grade are all tracked. This is because the "private school" in SimHampton is a university outreach programme. Any Sim accepted to the programme (who can only be a Middle-class Sim or higher) effectively starts their degree then. They can finish their degree in 16 days instead of the 24 it would take in university proper, but many Sims transfer to the university proper before then (in which case they can either start a bachelor degree from a point that makes sense for what they previously studied, or go straight into a Master's). Still, it is one of two ways a student can get a degree without leaving their home, and the only way the High Prince/Princess can do it.

Several businesses are simulated, ranging from several rival hairdressers to a bakery, and in Nehan Vitas it's the only way to buy certain goods (principally book-related items and fish at the moment). Nehan Vitas also has a simulated library and SimHampton proper has an art gallery and museum as separate lots.

I have a homeless Sim as a challenge. Veliaze Aioth, famous cutpurse and antiques theif, is currently in hiding with her two dogs in an abandoned formal maze in a quiet corner of town.

I've just set up an orphanage in my BACC. (Which I've had to restart due to corruption twice already. Sigh.) But I'm quite fond of it and the original bunch of kids. I won't flood you with pics but this one of all twenty(Yes, twenty!!) kids doing their homework at once, in my mind anyway, sufficiently describes everything that the BACC will amount to. Lol. The theory is that Pleasantview (my Pangaea's capitol) has experienced a baby boom, leading to the emigration efforts that paved the way for Trancedale to be founded, and the mass amounts of children born were poorly kept. Efforts to control Pleasantview's population were placed upon the shoulders of Molly and Niel Sloan, who were given a federal grant of 80gs and access to a newly renovated school that had been lifted from its old foundation in the Downtown shopping district and transplanted in the empty city. Molly and Niel were told that they'd get "the first shipment" in a few hours and the "second shipment" the following evening. Of course they were expecting the first shipment to include 12 sims, mixed between teen and child, but they most definitely weren't expecting the second shipment to consist entirely of eight toddlers. Though the first few days were rough, each tot is now a child and all have been transferred to a private school in the nearer town of Strangetown, rather than in the farthest city of Pleasantview, which, for kids, was an 8 hour round trip. The poor, brave bus-driver clocked 16 hours and switched his schedule with another driver throughout the week.

At first the headmaster was reluctant to accept the orphanage's admittance into the facilities of the Strangetown private schooling system, especially when the cost of admittance had been bartered down to nothing more than "IOUs" and promises that Molly and Niel would most likely never be able to keep in their lifetime, but when the government stepped in and pressed their noses into the orphanage's business, the headmaster easily reconsidered. The kids attend private school for free!

That is one huge orphanage. I have 3 toddlers and 2 kids at mine as one child just got adopted.

I started my recycling centre.


The way it's working is Jammie greets anybody who walks by her house-they must be there to drop something off. Make selectable and pull things out of inventory that can be sold at the recycling centre. They need to be things in good nick. Townies of course will have what they come with/bought at other shops. I'm keeping pretty much everything except food right now until she can at least afford floors and windows for her shop. I then roughly add it up and give the sim back 10% of what the items are currently worth with Christianlov's wallet controller. Which is not much. Brandon Lillard was absolutely overflowing with items. I left the cars as she isn't dealing in cars, but the rest added up to close on $10,000 of furniture, plumbing and deco. I think later I will just take the useful items. Writing down how much everything is was the worst part about doing this. Then Jammie takes the items to her recycling centre and marks every item as ridiculously cheap. Because she paid so little for it she is making a profit. The stock clears pretty fast being so cheap but so far I don't think anyone who is in need has come and bought. It seems like the better off sims are recycling their junk around between themselves.

How did you decide on new LTW's? Did you make them up or did you find a list somewhere? A link (or a list if they're your own) would be appreciated :-)

I am using a combination of LTW that I make up and Serisims list which is a mix of Sims 2 and Sims 3 LTW. http://www.generatorland.com/usergenerator.aspx?id=5846 The full bug box is one I made up. I only just started making LTW's up for my test of Time challenge hood. Cave men are not going to top a career and I got tired of the few LTW's that could feasibly be done in such a setting. Then I thought I would do the same for my integrated hood as well. So far I only have a few, like collecting the bug box, topping a couple of custom careers (fire fighter and veterinarian) Writing 20 novels, displaying every caught fish on the wall, displaying every perfect produce, and the last one was becoming a werewolf + breeding 20 wolf puppies. The wolves and plants were more for my cave men but the plants and fish would work for both hoods.

I want to start using extra LTW's as well, it annoys me that they're so limited and that so many sims get career-related ones. I shall write a list myself, I think, and I'll post it on here. Maybe we can share some ideas :-) I'd quite like to do some that require a certain number of gold badges, or gold badges for certain skills. It seems a shame that they're not used for anything LTWwise. I can imagine some sims dreaming of becoming expert craftspeople, for example.

Oh I forgot one, Ginger Newson who grew up into the BV outfit with the backpack I have given the LTW of getting every holiday/vacation memory. I remember when BV came out wondering what getting every memory would do... nothing! Really? That was a downer. So I thought that would make a good LTW. "Be a world traveler." Gaining sewing badge would also make a good LTW as would gaining gold fishing badges and Robot crafting as those got hit really hard when I put on slower skilling. I think it's to do with the sims creativity or mechanical level, but it can take a lifetime for a sim in my game to get gold in those areas.