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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 18th Jun 2021 at 7:50 PM
Default Tips for achieving multiple generations?
Hiya! I'm sure threads like this exist but ah well, I'm making my own.

I recently deleted all my CC and spent the past 2 months organizing my "haul" so now I'm finally ready to create a new family.

But I was thinking about my first ever sims 3 family in 2009 and how it was like 20 something generations, and nowadays I can usually only manage 2 or 3 before I get tired of the family. I've been trying to figure out why this is.
I've came up with a few possible reasons: I play on much longer lifespans now, I'm 25 not 13, and I switch between playing ts2 and ts3 about every 6 months these days and find it impossible to return to an old family, not giving me much time to reach a large number of generations.

So idk if it's possible for me anymore the way I choose to play these days...but I was curious those of you who do still reach the 10-20+ number of generations, HOW DO YOU DO IT?
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 18th Jun 2021 at 8:43 PM
My family was/is about 35 generations and I have built hundreds of lots and done CAW a lot. And I switched to 4 at release to play that a while. If not all that I might be at generation 100 if had played them steadily and kept playing them and not done all the other things. I set goals when started playing them and keep track on an excel. I like to watch the genetics. I still have that family in a save. I have done extensive documentation of them and taken tens of thousands of photos. I play on normal lifespan. Other than for some world testing I have played almost entirely just them.
Forum Resident
#3 Old 19th Jun 2021 at 5:54 PM
This may not answer your question since I do not recall ever reaching generation 10 or above. When I used to play TS2, I would usually go no further than the 3rd generation if I remember correctly. I played with aging off and rarely aged up my Sims because I didn't like having to play all the households just to progress them all in aging realistically. At that time I only had the base game and University so I'm not sure about whatever features may have come after that.

However, in TS3 I love playing with generations with aging on now, though my longest generation is still rather unimpressive which I'm at the 3rd Gen for some families. I have a custom super long life span that matches the 365 days a year TS3 style. So I'm answering this question because I play for extremely long times with the Sims I already have and am quite content. I do wish to speed up sometimes but I would rather keep the lifespan that I have because it gives me a long time to understand more of the intriguing Sim A.I.. Besides, what's really the rush anyway? I'm having fun and I'm not ever bored with the shenanigans the A.I. throws in here and there. It's fun too to create family trees.


Personally I get attached to the Sims and love to see their life stories unfold as they will eventually and hopefully reach their elder stage and die of old age. I think for some, they don't even attempt to get to know all the various Sim A.I. and just rush through everything usually becoming bored because they don't really care about the SIms themselves which are basically the spotlight of LIVE mode or so to me anyway. Sims are like characters in a book or tv series or movie and so on. Typically if one finds themselves not caring about the characters then they tend to not care about their situations or conflicts either.

Also, I read that some micromanage their Sims rarely ever or not at all allowing the Sim A.I. to shine. I have never found TS3 boring and have played with high free-will since day 1. I also do not micromanage and find all kinds of fascinating things about the Sims themselves. Like who they have a crush on, favoring one child over another, finding out past secrets and then getting revenge, intentionally declining an interaction for whatever reason, having grudges, not caring for serious relationships, unrequited love and so on. Those are just some of the A.I. driven stories I've come across and continue to come across brand new ones all the time.

I don't watch many TS3 Let's Players but in most cases they pick up on the A.I. driven stories and the unique personalities and personal motives of their Sims. TS3 is like an ocean. Some only swim on the surface and never truly explore all this game has to offer while others dive deep and see so much more than meets the eye. Apparently, that's my favorite analogy for describing the two types of players in that regard.

Previous Game: Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition (100% riddles completed; now I know why I've always been fascinated with The Riddler, lol.)

Next Game: Batman Arkham City GOTY Edition
Mad Poster
#4 Old 19th Jun 2021 at 7:18 PM
I play with free will on and the fun events and stories seem to write themselves. I have a family tree for all and have a sheet with portraits of all the family members. My excel is pretty much a check off list of goals and what they have done. I have tracked careers finished, traits, life aspirations, tombs explored, what collected, etc., etc., etc, I have a mountain of info on them. A mountain. But fun to do.
Lab Assistant
#5 Old 23rd Jun 2021 at 5:09 AM
Playing multiple generations in Sims 3 is easy, as long as you switch households every now and then. What limits it is the in-game lag. In all the years I play the game, I can only reach 4 generations at a time before it lags out. The most generations I've got is currently 7, across multiple saves. In the case of Sims 2, I reached 6 generations before in-game corruption removed my neighborhood for good.
Mad Poster
#7 Old 25th Jun 2021 at 1:08 AM
I have never had lag but I have moved my family each time a new world came out so that generated a new save I did. I am guessing that helped? I have never touched the family tree.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 25th Jun 2021 at 4:06 AM
I had more problems with lag before I bought this game at Steam, actually getting the game helped significantly. Before, I cannot reach Week 20 without significant problems, now my longest save is at Week 32. (3.5 generations)

But still my point still stands, play other families in town for some time to avoid boredom with your main family.
Alchemist
#9 Old 28th Jun 2021 at 11:00 PM
Here's some things I've done to keep families going from a gameplay POV (I do get bored around the 10-12th generations though, mostly of the world):
  • Don't try to make money fast. Don't push your sims to work hard, or paint/sculpt/collect etc. too much. Adjust their output to a realistic timeframe. For example, I only allow my sims to paint 1 painting per day.
  • Take risks! Get your sims demoted or fired, have them switch careers, give them "bad" traits.
  • Give each sim a distinct personality and style. From clothing, hair, makeup, skills to lifetime wish.
  • Don't cancel "unpleasant" wishes. Does your sim want to insult the sim you've spent 3 hours wooing? Does your sim want to divorce his wife and get a muscle car in a middle-aged-crisis haze? Do it!
  • Play with stereotypes and tropes. Make a black widow who's also a hopeless romantic and has a thing for their spouse...only if they're a ghost. Or an emperor of evil who's actually a big coward and married to a cop. Or a child who's the only fairy in the family and wreaks havoc because they feel lonely. Or a hermit who gets into arguments with almost every sim they meet. Or a sim with a small garden who likes having people over and treating them to cobbler and tea, and tutoring the neighborhood kids and teens. Many, many possibilities!

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Forum Resident
#10 Old 3rd Jul 2021 at 11:19 AM
Quote: Originally posted by CASnarl
But I was thinking about my first ever sims 3 family in 2009 and how it was like 20 something generations, and nowadays I can usually only manage 2 or 3 before I get tired of the family. I've been trying to figure out why this is.
I've came up with a few possible reasons: I play on much longer lifespans now, I'm 25 not 13, and I switch between playing ts2 and ts3 about every 6 months these days and find it impossible to return to an old family, not giving me much time to reach a large number of generations.

So idk if it's possible for me anymore the way I choose to play these days...but I was curious those of you who do still reach the 10-20+ number of generations, HOW DO YOU DO IT?


So my longest family is my Perfect Genetics challenge, where generation 5 are currently toddlers, so I'm not exactly an expert on many generations - but I switch between ts2 and ts3 regularly, and often have a couple of different ts3 saves that get played at the same time. I suppose my secret is that I do go back to old families - the time playing another family/ game helps me have time to get intrigued by them again and go back. The challenge also gives me a target, and I play rotations between 5 households (with all the mods/writing down funds/etc that entails) which helps give variety.
Field Researcher
#11 Old 6th Jul 2021 at 5:36 AM
Don't make boring sims is my tip. The more ridiculous in personality, the more outrageous in looks, the more entertainment they will give you and the longer you will want to love them

Things to avoid when allocating sim traits : Bookworm, No Sense of Humour, Ambitious, Genius, Heavy Sleeper , Workaholic

Try these instead, if you never have : Coward, Dramatic, Evil , Hot-Headed, Inappropriate, Insane, Unstable, Loser, Neurotic, Slob

Give them more than 5 traits with a mod, stuff more than 8 sims in a lot together, make sure you have full autonomy on, and sit back and watch the show.

Look at real life and project that in your game, you'll enjoy yourself a lot more
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