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#26 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 6:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I added a few townies since my business needed more revenue, and I once I added Moo's Brianania uni I also put on uni shoppers mod, those dormies know how to spend cash.

What is your uni shoppers mod?
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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#27 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 8:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SIMelissa
Ah, this helps a great deal! Thanks!

BTW, I am 58, retired early due to economic downsizing. Now, I have time to learn how to play my Sims with something other than a vanilla flavor. You cannot imagine how excited I was to find others my age (actually of all ages and genders) who continue to play Sims 2--and like to talk about it!


Well I'm 50 and holding onto that number for the next 6 weeks lol. While there are some youngsters here most of us here are of a more 'mature' age. The oldest would be about mid seventies.

Young Adult Shoppers http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,91731.0.html

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#28 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 12:27 PM
I have long ago started dealing with sims in the same career in a different way (I played the vanilla game for so long that I had to .

First, they need to make friends, for I send them on outings (work functions) once in a while. The 4 mayors also have a dinner together to discuss the subhoods (and other things). Sometimes I send co-workers to an outing for a "conference" where they actually have to learn some of their needed skills. These outings are paid for by the employer and Sims get reimbursed for any expenses My business owners who have staff have to take them out as well (some don't always turn up and may be fired the next day).

In my big hood, I also dress them alike - not exactly the same, but alike enough so that I will (hopefully, because I can't always remember) know a Sim's career if he shows up on a lot. They are kind of social groups, for they do share a lot of the same interests and can talk about their hobbies to each other quite often
Mad Poster
#29 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 1:12 PM
It is so YOU that you make the employers pay for the things they do at conferences. I doubt I would even think about it. Yesterday, I made my apartment dwellers in Monopoly start paying damages when the fire department is called. Stupid Gladiolus, with 0 cooking points, decided to fry bananas while napping.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#30 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 1:37 PM
I had so many fires at one stage that I took stoves away - until they could cook (they survived quite well on cereal and sandwiches ).
Mad Poster
#31 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 2:05 PM
I laughed so hard I woke the kitten up and made her cry. Your poor people! At least my Council just issues a fine along with the cost of the stove.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#32 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 2:47 PM
There's nothing like Sims leaving the stove to go ACR and the fire alarm going off in the woohoo cutscene.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
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Original Poster
#33 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 8:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ranagrande
I play BACC, so I havehave lots of limits and rules for careers and businesses. Many of them are taken directly from the links in first post of the challenge thread, but I also have many of my own additions because I use a lot of custom careers. For sims that start businesses, I do take their interests into account when deciding what kind of business it will be.

@ranagrande, I found the BACC thread and glanced over the rules. WOW! That is some detailed play! Way out of my league at the moment. I do plan to go back and look at the rules again. There might be a couple that I'd like to include in my game.
Am I right to assume that the goal of BACC is to quickly build a huge city with thousands of Sims? I do know that is not what I want to do, but I certainly admire those can pull it off.

I do like your idea to attempt to align careers with a Sims interest. I am going to try to do that in my game. Of course, a Sim might have to take a job they don't like (fast food) to pay the bills--at least until something better comes along.

Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
I don't do integrated hoods and I don't track things, but I am trying to play Strangetown with a limited economy.

@Peni Griffin, I am shocked as to how detailed some players can get. At this point, I don't want to do any of the Excel tracking so many others do. This is partly because it's time consuming, but mostly because my Excel skills are limited. I do have a Family Tree Maker software that allows me to include names, photos and a few notes on each Sim. That is enough "tracking" for me, at least for now.

Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Sounds like you are aiming for a type of integrated hood.

@joandsarah77, I am confused by a lot of the verbage. Integrated, Non-Integrated, BACC, etc. I did some reading about Integrated Hoods, and I do believe that is what I am aiming for. But then, the way Peni describes her game, I would have thought hers was integrated as well -- so I'm not really sure what my goal is. I guess the easiest explanation is that I'm trying to set up a hood that is semi-realistic with a few rules and add more as I go along, just enough to keep game play fresh.

I found a thread by Mootilda that says this is possible to turn a main hood into a subhood. I might do that with this one. Right now, only a main hood -- no Downtown, University or Vacation hoods.

Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
My business owners who have staff have to take them out as well (some don't always turn up and may be fired the next day).

@Justpetro, I read this and laughed. I never would have thought about firing a Sim employee for not showing up to an employer-sponsored event. I think it's a brilliant way to open a career slot and keep things fresh!

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Mad Poster
#34 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 8:42 PM
Well, if the employee is outstanding, he or she may get a second chance
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#35 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 11:05 PM
My first integrated hood started as a BACC but for me the rules were too limiting. I wasn't interested in population numbers and some of the other things in the rules. While I was playing that I found Apple Valley and The Isle of Time (well known integrated hood blogs) and that captured my interest more so than the BACC rules, so I morphed. Like anything what you call it is subjective. But like how people define Maxis match and Semi Realistic CC, everyone has their own definition.

The spirit of the integrated hood is that playable sims run the town not NPC's (where possible) that work buildings can be visited and played and that it's economy is based on sim run businesses. So instead of calling service- maid, you have a playable sim come over and clean and you pay them directly. Your household needs food, you go get groceries from a playable owned store. Some people have taxes and other lots of details. Mine is more about the play then the details. I've never done 10% tax because I don't like maths and doing that to me is boring. I jot things down in sim bios and have some rules written down but I don't keep spread sheets. Most of my sims are too broke for tax anyway. Once they can afford it I do charge them for certain things like weddings or schools, but it's just a flat rate. The other major part of an integrated hood is loading up a family and looking in their inventory and seeing what they bought then deciding what that means. Did they buy gifts? Did they buy some plants? Maybe they want a garden. Did they buy medicine? Perhaps they are unwell or hypochondriacs? If they have bought furniture I may take that to mean they want to redecorate. I don't always let them keep what they have bought but often I will let them use the items or decorate with them. I rather enjoy decorating from a sims inventory. A new painting or a cushion might suggest a colour scheme.

In my medieval sims 2 game I have a lot of Sun&Moon CC, so for example I now have a furniture maker so apart from the basics I make sims go buy furniture from the store not the catalogue. I've done that on a small island hood I have as well, they are all very much off the grid hippie types. No bills, no newspaper or power except solar.

Another thing I do there is to substitute one thing for another. So I have a candle maker who makes candles using CC made by Beks at Affinity sims, it looks like a cauldron and it makes candles, but it doesn't make a large enough range. What I do is I will have them make some candles, say 10 of one type then I swap them out for candles from the buy catalogue for their shop. If there is no cc for an item at all I will get the sims to paint a picture of the item and say that they have made 5 or 10 of the item and replace the picture with the catalogue items in the shop. This picture swap idea I took off Nook's Let's Play.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
#36 Old 3rd Aug 2017 at 11:30 PM
In my BaCC, many careers had to be paid for out of taxes. It was a bit of a hassle keeping track of how much money the city had, but it meant I had to choose what positions might be available within the budget. If there are burglaries going on and no teacher, or one teacher for a lot of kids, and only a small amount in the municipal budget, do I hire a law enforcement officer or a teacher? The BaCC had rules about population size for having Sims on the medical career track, but if doctors have to be paid out of taxes, the question is "Do I have a big enough tax base to support one?" Should I hire a construction worker to build more houses and encourage immigration? I didn't have the Job Stopinator then, but it would be very useful for preventing promotions the city can't afford.

I also used municipal funds to "buy" community lots - a playable would look at the cost of a lot, and then I'd deduct the cost from the city's funds. Some jobs required a suitable community lot: there had to be a sports centre before anyone could work in the athletic track, for example, or a restaurant before anybody could work in the culinary track (BaCC rules require a playable business of a certain level, but I don't like playable businesses, so it was enough for me that there was a suitable community lot).

Then, of course, there are some jobs that are just for mavericks. Criminals, adventurers, slackers, psychics...these people find a way to do whatever it is they do without needing any particular infrastructure, so those with a suitable LTW can take a job on these tracks anytime they see one (or any Sim with a degree in Drama can work in the psychic track, since Maxis didn't include that as an LTW).
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#37 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 12:42 AM
Quote: Originally posted by BlueAlien
In my BaCC, many careers had to be paid for out of taxes. It was a bit of a hassle keeping track of how much money the city had, but it meant I had to choose what positions might be available within the budget. If there are burglaries going on and no teacher, or one teacher for a lot of kids, and only a small amount in the municipal budget, do I hire a law enforcement officer or a teacher? The BaCC had rules about population size for having Sims on the medical career track, but if doctors have to be paid out of taxes, the question is "Do I have a big enough tax base to support one?" Should I hire a construction worker to build more houses and encourage immigration? I didn't have the Job Stopinator then, but it would be very useful for preventing promotions the city can't afford.


@BlueAlien, what you've described above is kinda-sorta (not quite) how my son describes the workings of SimCity4. It does not have Sims, but it is all about building the infrastructure of a city and its economy. One of these days, I'll give SimCity4 a try. It sounds like fun. But to combine all that in my Sims game -- while trying to keep everyone fed, happy and healthy -- sounds like more than I can do at the moment.

Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
The spirit of the integrated hood is that playable sims run the town not NPC's (where possible) that work buildings can be visited and played and that it's economy is based on sim run businesses. So instead of calling service- maid, you have a playable sim come over and clean and you pay them directly. Your household needs food, you go get groceries from a playable owned store. Some people have taxes and other lots of details. Mine is more about the play then the details. I've never done 10% tax because I don't like maths and doing that to me is boring. I jot things down in sim bios and have some rules written down but I don't keep spread sheets.


Yes! This is exactly what I want to do! I'll have to track down the Integrated blogs and see what I can learn.

For now, I'm pretty free with giving my Sims money because I don't think of it as giving them Simoleons. Instead, I use the money to put a ton of natural resources on the lot, stuff that came with the land -- land they don't have to buy: coconut, papaya & banana trees, and bamboo from Castaways to TS2; chopping trees from AffinitySims; maybe a pond, etc.). If all goes well, they will turn those resources into food, furniture, fun items and some other necessities. I have one household with a Sim who studied mechanical to level 4 and was allowed to build a much-needed structure for the two toddlers. (every time one of them woke, all the Sims sleeping on logs woke, too. I feared they would die of exhaustion. LOL)

Eventually, I'll figure out how to insert some sort of economics into the game. I'm thinking that one of my Sims will start a trading post, where bananas can be traded for a chair or papayas for a bed. From there, I'm not sure what I want to do. I guess I'll just make it up as I go along.

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Mad Poster
#38 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 12:43 AM
I actually use many of the integrated hood ideas these days, but I still use the game as well (with 152 households, I think I have built a city already - however: my sims have to buy from my business owners; so the only place to buy groceries is at the owned grocery, the only place to buy clothes is at the owned clothing shop, etc. I don't use maids and gardeners, but I do use nannies (counting twins in my game, it is just logical to do so) - and I don't have a school (I may still do that) - but I do have a kind of teaching system. I have given elders in my hood extremely important roles - which I have mentioned in a way already; and I do try to make the most of their skills and talents in my hood. I use the game clock and fit in as much as I can into a day for any family I play.

I also have freelancers who do not work in the usual way; painters, writers, farmers and of course, shop owners, but others do work. I enjoy playing my hood this way, because I try to use everything the game has to offer as well as putting in as many ideas of my own as possible. A number of subhoods work well for me. I am very patient, I intend to enjoy every second that I play, because I don't always have time, so I want to enjoy it when I have.
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#39 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 8:48 AM
Just in case anyone else comes along and searches for the blogs Jo mentioned -- Isle of Thyme is a dead blog. Luckily, the Apple Valley is still up and running, and it has documentation from the Isle of Thyme blog about setting up an Integrated neighborhood here: http://applevalleyblogs.blogspot.co...e-you-step.html

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Mad Poster
#40 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 12:43 PM
[QUOTE=Justpetro]I actually use many of the integrated hood ideas these days, but I still use the game as well (with 152 households, I think I have built a city already - however: my sims have to buy from my business owners; so the only place to buy groceries is at the owned grocery, the only place to buy clothes is at the owned clothing shop, etc. I don't use maids and gardeners, but I do use nannies (counting twins in my game, it is just logical to do so) - and I don't have a school (I may still do that) - but I do have a kind of teaching system. I have given elders in my hood extremely important roles - which I have mentioned in a way already; and I do try to make the most of their skills and talents in my hood. I use the game clock and fit in as much as I can into a day for any family I play.


I've honestly never thought of doing anything like that. So, say you're playing a family, and they need groceries. You send them to the grocery store. The grocery store loads, but you're still playing the same family. When you get to the store, are the other playables, the ones who own the lot, there? And you actually buy from them? Cause that would be cool.

And how do you hire a maid and have her be one of your playables?

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#41 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 2:34 PM
Yes - the grocery owner is always there if I send a Sim there to buy and the shop is in full running mode (it just works that way; it is a game thing) and the shop is in full running mode. (Sometimes it is busy too ). So there is one grocery, one book shop, one clothing shop, one nursery (selling garden plants); one florist and one toy shop. (I plan to build a light shop - I had a Sim doing very well with selling lights in my old (blown up into space) hood, and if a Sim needs/wants/breaks something, off to the shop to buy another one it is. I no longer have a shopping mall either (Well, I do, but it does not have any shops except for restaurants and cafe's). Then there are also those charging admission: the gym, the privately owned indoor swimming pool, a gaming arcade and a spa.

I do have some "municipal lots" - like the park, the swimming pool - open, and of course there is always a storm, but it is free; the library, the sport centre and the unemployment centre (Elder family Sims also serve grandma's comfort soup here ) - which are there for everyone to use; and I don't bother to run restaurants (my Sims go out a lot and I don't find it worth the bother). I cannot bother with clubs either, but I do have a little place with no bar counter, but some games and a coffee machine where the Sim owner charges for admission.

AS for the maids:

Technically, you can teleport a playable in, make the pixel selectable, order to clean and then pay him/her ( me using Pescado's money order). For me, too much trouble, so my neat Sims clean themselves (loving every moment) and my sloppy Sims may influence a townie passing by to do so With the hood having been around for some time, there are many Sims with enough influence points to do that. (The rest may often be found studying cleaning at the library).

I may also move in a Sim from a poor family to clean for a rich one, and the pixel has to be paid by putting stuff in his/her inventory Pixel works hard - has to sleep in the smallest room, get up early to make breakfast and then clean the house, sort out the garden, keep the kids busy and has little time to do something he or she likes. After a week or so, there may be enough stuff in the inventory to move back home and brighten up the poor family's home
Scholar
#42 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 3:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by SIMelissa
@BlueAlien, what you've described above is kinda-sorta (not quite) how my son describes the workings of SimCity4. It does not have Sims, but it is all about building the infrastructure of a city and its economy. One of these days, I'll give SimCity4 a try. It sounds like fun. But to combine all that in my Sims game -- while trying to keep everyone fed, happy and healthy -- sounds like more than I can do at the moment.


SimCity4 is the one version of SimCity I never tried -- sounds like I would like it! I liked Civilization and something else that was similar.

But yes, it is a lot of work. My Sims grew their own fruit and veg, and there was a communal fishpond everyone could go to, which kept the Sims fed and happy (the Sims who moved in as adults were all given a handheld gaming device, too). As for keeping humans and furbabies fed and happy...I had another neighbourhood that I just played as a regular suburban area, so I only played the BaCC when I had time to attend to it. I've set up a new BaCC and created a couple of founding families, but I'm too busy with assignments and exam preparation to start it right now (distance learning, since houses are near impossible to sell around here, so no fixed semester dates). Plus hubby's away so I have the garden to tend and the dog to take out several times a day; I think half the time she's just looking for him rather than needing to go out, but at her age it's not a good idea to make her wait if she's gotta go!
Mad Poster
#43 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 3:17 PM
But, but in SimCity 4 you do have some sims you can move into a house like Bob Newbie and Bella Goth and a few others. other than moving them into a house you can not control them.

They can tell you some funny's every now and then.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Mad Poster
#44 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 4:30 PM
All mine ever do is complain that their house got bulldozed...

Smorbie, the owner and any employees will be at the store, regardless of when the other playables go, but the owner's family members will not be. And you need to have some other means to feed the family of the owner of the grocery store, as they can't buy groceries on their own lot.

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
#45 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 5:26 PM
My grocery owner still orders by phone.
Mad Poster
#46 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 6:33 PM
From his wholesaler, no doubt! Mine grow their own, and in both Strangetown and Drama Acres there's still an unowned grocery store in an emergency.

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
#47 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 7:14 PM
Wholesaler, haha - but of course He does have 3 fruit trees, and there is a couple of places where he can buy food (like at Gilbert's bakery in Bluewater Village) - but, of course, there are restaurants too. And I believe I should begin the Association of Business Owners and they should at least have a free annual gala dinner somewhere .
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#48 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 9:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by smorbie1
And how do you hire a maid and have her be one of your playables?


Too much work for me -- but I've read that some players make their Maid and Gardener NPCs into copies of their playables. That way, when a maid shows up at someone's house, it looks like your playable whose job is maid. I suppose that whatever payment that NPC gets goes into the playable coffers manually -- unless they just have a set daily income.

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Mad Poster
#49 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 9:28 PM
Changing the maid's appearance can work, but for me it will be far less fun I particularly enjoy influencing a townie to clean who has just kicked over the trash can.
Turquoise Dragon
retired moderator
#50 Old 4th Aug 2017 at 9:36 PM
Yes, if he kicks over my trash can or steals my paper, he can just pick up stuff! I control him for a bit, and make him do stuff, no sense in getting my beloved simmies sick from roaches!
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