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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 20th Mar 2020 at 12:25 AM
Default Unconventional ways of playing, unconventional playstyle
Though this is more suitable term for it. So, do you have any playstyles and different mean of playing your game, in a way that would be considered 'eccentric way'.
Things include like for example I had witches live without a refrigerator, since they autonomously literally conjure food (apples) out of thin air and survive on those.
And speaking of supernaturals, the neighborhoods next-door are fairies, with their lot consisting only of a pond, a fairy house and all-in-one-bathroom which is sufficient for having them to live without a struggle.
I'm also thinking of modifying existing save where it is has to very few to no rabbit holes in its world. I will see if I can turn that into a new challenge itself for posting new rules.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
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Field Researcher
#2 Old 20th Mar 2020 at 1:28 AM
Since Twinbrook has bloated to an absolute lagfest of a world; I've had to create multiple saves with some of the high-detail lots removed here and there in order to make my shots.

I honestly have not "played" this game in a while; I use it mostly for story-telling and pictures.

Dead Ringers
Discord: RedBaroness13
Lab Assistant
#3 Old 20th Mar 2020 at 7:23 PM
I had one save that was a ton of fun - except going to build mode and placing a single door or window made the game crash! Soo... no houses for anyone! Rather than hunting down the faulty CC that caused this, i ran with it for this save. The sims lived on a lonely island completely outdoors, so I had to get creative with sectioning, placing needed items so it still looked good, privacy, etc. I think i got five generations in before i gave up on it.

omnis mundi creatura
Undead Molten Llama
#4 Old 21st Mar 2020 at 2:00 AM
I'm not sure what counts as "unconventional," but I'm always coming up with different scenarios and ways to play Sims games. Just breeding a suburban family for "X" generations gets old and boring after a while. With TS3, I tend to have different saves in which I do different things. Like, I've got one that's sort of a "Midnight Sun" challenge, only my hermits are werewolves living in a tent and only eating raw fish. And I have mods that allow Sims to pee outside and to use swimming to increase hygiene, so no bathrooms needed. Just a tent. The founder found a mate in China and their kids will eventually do the same, finding partners in other worlds, only when they do they'll move to their partner's world permanently, with the goal of turning all its residents into werewolves. So maybe one day I will have an entire "network" of worlds of all werewolves.

And then I have a "network" of worlds that are all fairy-hybrids, because I like fairies and their long life spans that give me plenty of time to play out a scenario without rushing. So I've got alien/fairies, plantsim/fairies, werewolf/fairies, witch/fairies, etc. Most of them are tiny/small roadless islands, and I plop down small lots wherever I can, put a fairy house on it, sometimes give 'em a basement with an all-in-one bathroom thing or sometimes just cheat those motives. Each world in the network is dedicated to a particular kind of hybrid, and each one I play a bit differently.

Like, the alien-fairies are very un-fairy-like science/tech junkies. I put down the steampunk-looking rabbithole that looks like an observatory (from, I think, Dragon Valley), dug out a big basement under it, and put science stations and chemistry tables and brain-enhancing machines and stuff in it, plus a rug version of the observatory rabbithole from ITF. On ground level, there's a time portal because these guys go to the future a lot to build bots and buy tech and stuff. (Yes, I know you can buy that stuff right out of the catalog, but my rule is they have to go to the future to buy the stuff.) And there's lots of telescopes scattered around. And the next time I play it, I have to remember to add that big science machine thingy from uni. I always forget about that thing. The residents are all male, all geniuses, all scientists/research medics of various sorts (custom careers), and the only way they can reproduce is via aliens.

Meanwhile, the PlantSim-fairies are pretty much the opposite. Anti-tech, living in a pristine subalpine environment full of evergreen trees, with their pretty garden lots placed along a beautiful, clear river. Their goal is to collectively create a massive community garden with perfect versions of every plant I have in my game. (Which is a lot, because I have all those custom recipe/ingredient mods in addition to all the EA stuff from EPs and store sets. ) Each household has their own little garden on which they grow stuff, and when they develop a perfect version of their plants, a perfect seed from it gets planted on the massive community garden lot, which residents of other worlds can pilfer at will. (The Plants don't care, since they don't eat.) They also make wine, and they're also busy making forbidden fruit the old-fashioned way, if you know what I mean, so their population is healthily growing. As anti-techs, they are, of course, Very Concerned(TM) about those weirdo aliens, so the antipathy is strong between their clans.

Meanwhile, the werewolf/fairies are always looking to expand their packs, and they'll do it by birthing litters of cubs (Woe to any who aren't born as werewolves, though...) in their polygamous packs OR they're happy to travel to other worlds and bite people and drag them back to their island. They're like the Borg, only they're werewolves. The rival packs on their island all hate each other with a passion (Thank you, Master Controller!) and will fight each other at the drop of a hat when they cross paths on community lots, and their non-wolf fairy brethren all fear them showing up to wreak havoc in their peaceful lives.

Over in mer-fairy land...Well, they're just a bunch of hippie, scantily-clad hedonists living on a tiny island meant for the Midnight Sun Challenge that has a perfect, paradisical climate. They swim around, travel to other worlds to explore strange new dive spots, eat fish, and screw like bunnies, pretty much. They're pretty insular, loving or hating no one but their own clan, which is growing.

And the genies? They live in normal houses in a normal desert world with all the rabbitholes, and some breed Arabian horses, which are used for transportation and pleasure riding. (No competitions.) They and the witches are the most cosmopolitan of the clans. They associate with each other and the other clans a lot (aside from the fearsome wolves, of course), though the mer-fairies think the genies are stark raving loony for living in the desert while the genies can't comprehend why anyone can tolerate humidity. Those witches, meanwhile, live in a coven that almost looks normal, but for the sparkly wings all over the place, because they too live in normal houses in a world with all the usual rabbitholes. They're artisans and alchemists, though. They just have careers to pay the bills for while. And pay no attention to the spell-casting duels.

So far, there are no vamp-fairies. If I can think of something fun to do with them that isn't just like my werewolf scenario, I'll be happy to add a world for them, too, but nothing's occurred to me so far. Same goes for mummy-fairies.

So I don't know. Is that "unconventional?" That's pretty much all I'm doing in TS3 right now. (And can you tell that Supernatural is my favorite EP? And that that the Traveler and Hybrid mods are my favorite mods? )

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 23rd Mar 2020 at 2:34 PM Last edited by jje1000 : 23rd Mar 2020 at 2:46 PM.
How possible is an Animal Crossing-style of gameplay?

- No rabbitholes (no jobs or school)
- Reduced bills
- Small world with lots of tiny lots and all spawners
- Mod that adds more furniture to the AMB sculpting station and workbench

Or will it get too boring too soon? Probably will be the case, since the AC series is about a slow-but-progressive gameplay loop, while the gameplay loop in TS3 is faster, with more instant gratification.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#6 Old 23rd Mar 2020 at 5:20 PM
It's possible to play without rabbitholes (WA cash registers replace, ticket system with large screen replaces movie theater, etc.), but every Sim would have to be self-employeed. KittiTheSnowcat had made a revamp for the inventing bench that adds more invention from ITF.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Undead Molten Llama
#7 Old 24th Mar 2020 at 2:13 AM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
How possible is an Animal Crossing-style of gameplay?

- No rabbitholes (no jobs or school)
- Reduced bills
- Small world with lots of tiny lots and all spawners
- Mod that adds more furniture to the AMB sculpting station and workbench
.


I've never played Animal Crossing, so I have no idea what it's like, but the above tends to be how I play in general, and I don't get bored. It depends, I guess, on what you like to do in the game. I suppose I don't get bored because for the most part, I don't care at all about careers and the typical urban/suburban life, and I focus on other things. Many of the worlds I play have few rabbitholes and a couple have none at all, aside from a city hole rabbit hole rug hidden away somewhere for the purpose of being able to adjust NRAAS mods. All are small worlds with a focus more on living off the land or the playable professions or the "self-employed" ones like, say, elixir-making for profit. Bills (and, really, money in general) are neither here nor there to me. Usually I use that "No Bills Ever" lifetime reward thingy. I would guess that many people would get bored playing as I do, but I don't. Maybe you won't.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Field Researcher
#8 Old 24th Mar 2020 at 6:24 AM
With the "Children Can" series and heavy use of Nraas mods, you can have a "family" that it is nothing but children. In order to stop Child Services swooping in, you have to be very careful in how you get them started (make the family with an adult then kick the adult out- instead of having the adult move out- or use total annihilation on them) and after that you can't edit the town or switch houses until they become teens.

That sets up the question of how do you pay the bills while they still have school. Gardening, picking flowers, gem collection, painting? For an extra challenge I sometimes start them off in a shack with just the bare minimum to survive and drop their household funds down. It's not the most difficult to pull off once you get the hang of it. The hardest part for me is not being able to edit town.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 24th Mar 2020 at 7:14 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Tacitala
With the "Children Can" series and heavy use of Nraas mods, you can have a "family" that it is nothing but children. In order to stop Child Services swooping in, you have to be very careful in how you get them started (make the family with an adult then kick the adult out- instead of having the adult move out- or use total annihilation on them) and after that you can't edit the town or switch houses until they become teens.

That sets up the question of how do you pay the bills while they still have school. Gardening, picking flowers, gem collection, painting? For an extra challenge I sometimes start them off in a shack with just the bare minimum to survive and drop their household funds down. It's not the most difficult to pull off once you get the hang of it. The hardest part for me is not being able to edit town.

Doesn't the NRaas Mover mod serve to allow households not headed by an adult survive the Edit Town experience?
Mad Poster
#11 Old 24th Mar 2020 at 7:55 PM Last edited by PANDAQUEEN : 24th Mar 2020 at 8:31 PM.
Most of, if not, the bulk of my Sims are based on animation, comic, character goods and gaming characters. Less than 20 are my simself and guys I've crushed on and if there are children in the mix, they belong to Adam Savage, Lee Unkrich or Grant Imahara and my simself who has an alias.

Most of the time, it's a battle of good VS evil as I also included Dr. Eggman, the Dark Kingdom to Shadow Galactica and Disney Villains like the Evil Queen Grimhilde from "Snow White" (she had a name and traditionally for Disney films, even the most minor characters had names.) to Hans from "Frozen" to Organization XIII

It's actually wacky.

Personal Quote: "I like my men like my sodas: tall boys." (Zevia has both 12 and 16 oz options)

(P.S. I'm about 5' (150cm) in height and easily scared)
Field Researcher
#12 Old 25th Mar 2020 at 4:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Doesn't the NRaas Mover mod serve to allow households not headed by an adult survive the Edit Town experience?


Thank you for pointing that out. Edit my statement to "make sure you have children enabled to travel before editing town". Now to have my lone imaginary friend mail herself off on vacation :D
Forum Resident
#13 Old 31st Mar 2020 at 12:44 AM Last edited by MissPat : 31st Mar 2020 at 6:07 PM.
I have a townies-centric gameplay, sometimes I call it a "mayor" gameplay. As @iCad said before, playing the same old family in TS3 for a while gets, well... old.

- I like playing families in rotation using Nraas mods (I have almost all of them installed). I play a family until I've reached a specific goal (testing my custom careers to level 10) or until I'm bored.
- I like that Nraas' StoryProgression takes the wheel for townies' lives because it makes my gameplay all the more surprising and fun. I'd never have intentionally played sims with "insane" and "technophobe" traits for instance, and grew empathy for these fellas. I suddenly found myself researching mods like the "scribbling pad" because I wanted the latter to enjoy writing without a laptop! That was a breakthrough in my gameplay.
- I love it when I switch from a single Vampire with 5 dogs, to a family of 6 with 1 pregnant cat, to families with zero pets whatsoever. Remodeling townies' houses is fun too, after I've switched to them. I try to pick new CC based on their unique traits, needs and needless to say, their fashion faux pas (where's the fashion police in TS3?)

- I call it "townies" / "mayor" gameplay because I keep an eye on ALL the sims in towns, not just my active sims. I switch randomly between households in my town, meaning that all townies are "relatives material" - so naturally, I treat them as such. I'm at generation 7 in my save and I recognize a lot of townies as being the sister / daughter / grand-daughter / niece / cousin, etc. of a sim I loved to play at one point or another. Always warms my heart to see that there's a new baby alien in a beloved townie family tree (!) I find it especially thrilling when Shang Simla, Al Simahara and Champs-les-Sims tourists get married to one of the townies. I always spend extra time looking for build mode patterns, clothing / CAS items and mods with WA flair, when that happens. It's like, it sparks a brand new interest in the World Adventures EP I'd otherwise not feel enticed to explore anymore.

- I use Master Controller to get townies with compatible traits to date, and let SP decide whether the 2 targeted townies are fit for marriage or not. If they get autonomously married, I use MC to get the female sim pregnant. If they divorce, they're not allowed to have another child unless they have the "Surrounded by a big family" LTW (I'm more flexible with that rule now after witnessing some family trees get wiped out of the map forever due to the single heir.esse.s being unsuitable - and insufferable - bachelor.ette.s).
- I have a homeworld university and use MC to assign majors to all townies. I then use MC to assign them their (mostly custom) careers. It got me to research everything I could learn about traits influence on majors success, university performance needs, etc. Again, this gameplay entices me to explore further the University EP which would otherwise be boring and redundant to me.

- The biggest reason why I stick to this gameplay is the insights on sims autonomy. I love discovering and researching what gets townies to act the way they do. Why do some hang out at X or Y rabbithole? Why do some flirt so much (emphasis on "so much")? What would make them do more of X? It gets me to articulate explicitly what can otherwise only be felt at a subconscious, intuitive level: the gameplay dynamic created by the combination of traits, LTWs, skills, scripted events, etc. With 11 themed EPs and a content-packed basegame, there's so much to learn and explore, still in 2020.

Overall, this gameplay allows me to stay inspired and joyful about the game. Everything is a surprise, everything still feels new. I'm sure that because of my personal preferences, a lot of the families I create and play with end up being alike (probably when I start feeling "bored" is when I am back to a routine with a family). But townies? There's no two townies alike (at least using core mods like StoryProgression). They have original combination of traits, they have LTWs I would never have picked, and they live in lots in desperate need of a remodel (from beautifying it, to adding a nursery room because the new alien baby is home, yay). What's not to like about them?

I like townies so much I'm working on a dedicated website and suite of mods for them (autonomy tuning and townies-friendly careers). So... to be continued.
Forum Resident
#14 Old 17th Apr 2020 at 10:46 PM
You rarely see me playing with Romance by myself except when they are doing these actions autonomously.
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