How does the Attraction System exactly work? I'm kind of confused with how the scoring goes... Is it the same each time for particular sims? Or does it go random every game?

I started my game in Sunlit Tides all over with the same sims in my household to get rid of a glitch I couldn't fix and I noticed the attraction between sims isn't the same as before. Like, one sim was still attracted to Maria Ernest and another sim who used to be attracted to Alana Kahale and 2 other sims in the household isn't anymore...

So I'm kind of confused if it changes randomly per game or does it have to do with their appearance or something else???

Poorly, by the sounds of it. :P

I think the formula is npc desperation + hunger squared

*nods*

dammit, I was gonna say that.

Don't fret pet, I gave you a 'funny' for that, which is more than you'd have got if you'd actually said it.

Rejoice!

Gotcha beat!

Um... As far as I can tell, it doesn't.

If your sim goes within 4 lots of another sim of a similar age then they'll be attracted (I think this works the same as the 'hunted' moodlet you get from 'being near' unfriendly vampires), and then be spammed to death with date requests, random gifts in the mail and letters if you have seasons. Even though your sim has been with their spouse since they aged into a teen, they've been married what must be the equivilent of 20 years for us, and has the 'eternally faithful' moodlet, indicating that they probably won't go on a date with you, so maybe you should quit calling 4 times a day...

Works fine when it is disabled.

The way it works for my female sim is, if there is a male around, she gets the attraction magnet, and a message about how much they love people who try new skills. These have ranged from toddlers to elders. Then they send her a gift of omni seeds that she can't plant and can't delete, thus insuring that she will never be able to finish the omni plant challenge. To retaliate for this, the Sim Deity has decided she will be celibate. And if all the horndogs in town don't like it, they can just lump it and find a different girlfriend.

Harsh Sim Diety...

Okay if you all think the attraction system is "working" now, wait til the UL Irresistible trait hits town.

It's working very nicely for one of my male sims. I got the "no jealousy" and "above reproach" awards for him, and he's picked up enough flowers to open a flower shop. (Now if only he -could- open a flower shop...)

I was a bit creeped out when the mummy who was attacking him wanted to get to know him better, though.

Here ya go.

<Current_Tuning>
<kNumMinutesForPruningSocialAction value="30">
<!--Range: 0 - 100 Description: Number of minutes before social action can be pruned and allowed to be used again-->
</kNumMinutesForPruningSocialAction>
<kBaseRandomAttraction value="0, 100">
<!--Range: Any float values where max > min Description: [Min,Max] The range for the initial random value of attraction score.-->
</kBaseRandomAttraction>
<kTraitModifier value="30">
<!--Range: float Description: Modifier to attraction score. Bonus if matching traits, penalty if opposing traits.-->
</kTraitModifier>
<kCareerBonusPerLevel value="1">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus multiplier per career level. i.e. level 7 would be 7 times this value. (Applies for each sim)-->
</kCareerBonusPerLevel>
<kSkillBonusPerLevel value="0.5">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus multiplier per skill level. i.e. level 7 would be 7 times this value. (Applies for each sim)-->
</kSkillBonusPerLevel>
<kBonusForMatchingOccult value="30">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus to attraction score when both sims have the same occult type.-->
</kBonusForMatchingOccult>
<kCelebrityBonusPerLevel value="2">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus multiplier per Celebrity level. i.e. level 7 would be 7 times this value. (Applies for each sim)-->
</kCelebrityBonusPerLevel>
<kMatchingSignsBonus value="30">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus for matching zodiac signs.-->
</kMatchingSignsBonus>
<kAttractedLTRChangeMultiplier value="1.25">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Multiplier to LTR gains for attracted sims.-->
</kAttractedLTRChangeMultiplier>
<kAttractionThreshold value="101">
<!--Range: positive float Description: AttractionScore threshold for these two sims being considered attracted to one another.-->
</kAttractionThreshold>
<kAttractedRomanticSocialChanceMultiplier value="1.3">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Multiplier to LTR gains for attracted sims.-->
</kAttractedRomanticSocialChanceMultiplier>
<kLikingBonusForAttractedSimsInRomanticSocials value="20">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus added to the relationship's liking value when calculating the suitability of a romantic social.-->
</kLikingBonusForAttractedSimsInRomanticSocials>
<kPositiveBuffList value="FreshClothing, MintyBreath, NiceNails, SmoothSkin, SqueakyClean, VeryFreshClothing, EyeCandy, Stylin, StylinPermanent, Suntanned">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus for having a buff in the bonus list (this is per sim, so if both sims have it, it gets applied twice)-->
</kPositiveBuffList>
<kNegativeBuffList value="GarlicBreath, Grungy, Singed, SingedElectricity, Smelly, Sunburnt, SprayTanBad, SprayTanDiscolored, SprayTanUneven">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Penalty for having a buff in the bonus list (this is per sim, so if both sims have it, it gets applied twice)-->
</kNegativeBuffList>
<kPerBuffModifier value="5">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus/Penalty for having a buff in the bonus list (this is per sim, so if both sims have it, it gets applied twice)-->
</kPerBuffModifier>
<kAttractedMoneyAmounts value="20000, 75000, 150000">
<!--Range: positive ints Description: Thresholds for [low,med,high] attraction based on family funds.-->
</kAttractedMoneyAmounts>
<kAttractedMoneyBonuses value="2, 5, 10">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonuses for having a certain amount of family funds, determined by kAttractedMoneyAmounts.-->
</kAttractedMoneyBonuses>
<kAttractionLifetimeRewardBonus value="20">
<!--Range: positive float Description: Bonus for having the Attractive lifetime reward from base game.-->
</kAttractionLifetimeRewardBonus>
</Current_Tuning>

Sorry about the long post, but you've got to admit it's relevant. xP

Looking through all that, it's no wonder the attraction system is way overboard. Methinks tuning just one variable, the AttractionThreshold, to a higher value would improve the whole system.

Sounds like the tuning I follow when evaluating a prospective romantic interest (I mean, would you want to date someone with a badly applied fake suntan?). Although according to the NY Times last week, for some people, the FICO score is becoming increasingly important in determining a person's eligibility as a potential romantic relationship, which I think removes some of the romance from things myself. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/b...score.html?_r=0

The attraction system under the default tuning has a big RNG component that is the make or break factor for newly-created sims. Since they won't have any score in a lot of the other parameters starting out, I imagine this was put in so new sims wouldn't have to build themselves up before they could get them. That's probably what's behind your attractions being different between the same sims in different games.

However when it comes to existing sims being introduced to it, the system more often than not scores an attraction thanks to all the extra contributions they can have on top of the RNG.

Once tuned it's much less obnoxious, though parameters like skills, celebrity and money aren't very romantic unless you're 50 Cent.

I dunno, I like a man who can cook...

I agree though, some skills are not attractive, or realistic "I see you're very good at logic" Doesn't work. I think we should have been able to pick what our sims were attracted to. Some people are attracted to money and fame, and some aren't.

Obviously, with so many more variables in TS3 than TS2, you'd be less likely to find someone you were attracted to. But I don't think I was attracted to my boyfriend until I actually knew him. At the very least we should have been able to pick what hair colour our sim was attracted to. It would narrow down the annoying popups no end.

For us over-age Trekkies, "very good at Logic" could be a turn on...

(At least for those of us who had memorized every detail of Spock's life as soon as the show presented it... )


But yes, we should be able to filter what our sims are, and are not attracted by.

I wish we could have picked what attracts our sims. What if our sims like pale sims? Or middle class sims? Or they despise fame and fortune and long for a quieter life with someone who has no status? This attraction system and how *EA* picked what our sims like in other sims made me really sad.

I'm assuming things like specifying hair colour preference were rendered out of the question by non-default skins, the fact that additional EA skins are patched in from time to time and being able to CAST hair and eye colour rather than being limited to a few preset ones. Assigning trait/skill/wealth-based turn-ons and turn-offs would still have been possible, though, so it's a pity they didn't include that.

I hope the Sims 4 tags all objects, including Sims and CAS parts, and gives us the ability to edit those tags. They could then have a likes/dislikes system based on matching tags. That could extend to the attraction system, too.

I meant "pale" as in one of the boosting moodlets is the "suntanned" one, which means your sims automatically think a suntanned sim is attractive.

I agree with you about the hair, eyes, etc. Unless there was some way to put it into a sort of "range" where if you picked blue eyes, your sim would be attracted to sims with turquoise eyes, sky blue, light blue, dark blue, etc eyes. However, I doubt that this would be implemented or even possible. I think the only possible way would be that they might be able to detect heterochromia, but that would only be available if they updated CAS to work in similar ways to CAP.

I'm still hoping for some kind of way to set attraction, though, in the future. Maybe the bad feedback will cause them to actually implement it into CAS.

Ah, right, I see what you mean there. I'd agree- personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a mod that removed natural tanning from bright weather entirely, given that I've always found suntans on people who'd naturally be pale distinctly unattractive. The game's assumption that everyone likes suntans is therefore slightly annoying- since all my seasons are set to 28 days, next sim summer will most likely degenerate into four in-game weeks of me more or less playing whack-a-mole with Tanned moodlets and testing cheats with which to delete them.

I don't mind sunburn being in the game, though. Or failed spray tans that turn out orange, because they're at least funny. :P

I use Shimrod's mod to turn it off. So, it works exactly the way I want it to work.

My personal opinion is that maybe there should be a way to chose what traits your sims are attracted to, even if they conflict terribly with that sims' traits. Some people just seem to curse themselves romantically, so sims shall do the same!!!

The INSTANT I get Sims 3 and the expansion packs I'm going to mod the hell out of the attraction system. I honestly don't care what color a person's skin is, so I don't want my self sim or any sim actually caring either, unless they're a terrifyingly shallow.

I have run non human sims ever since the base game. I got more varied with pointed ears by Cmar, euphoria skin sliders, Esmeralda's wings (And then the smaller gargoyle wings on Claeric's site), etc. I know there are oddballs among every race, so a pixie who is attracted to an imp is not impossible. (Although announcing it in public is likely to be a death sentence for both of them...Even if the imp believes the pixie the other dark fey would call it a trap and the other light fey would call it a betrayal.)

I like the attraction system just as it is for running my sim who likes everyone as "just friends" and who thinks a romantic date consists of watching a movie, then beating your date up with a pillow and heading down to the beach to go fishing. (I'm personally wondering why they keep calling him! Especially as they are all actually married to someone else who presumably is a bit more romantic, or at least understands the mechanism whereby you end up with babies.)

But for other cases it does need a fix. (And I don't particularly want to be given a list of potential turn-ons and turn offs and told to pick two from list A and one from list B, either. I want to be able to make sims who are neutral (oblivious) to everything, sims who are attracted to anything that moves if it's the right gender, and sims who are repulsed by everything. And everything in between. Sort of like the attraction system I had before EA decided to help me out by giving me one.)