Great video! I feel the same and play in a very similar way - wants can be nice prompts or guidelines, but playing only by wants and nothing else makes for quite repetitive gameplay and doesn't always lead to the most interesting stories. I do like randomising aspiraton though, it is fun for me to have lots of different and/or unexpected types of sims within an aspiration - e.g. having knowledge sims who are also very outgoing and playful rather than most of them being quiet and bookish. But then I will also pick out aspirations myself if I have a particular one in mind for the sim, just being willing to change the "rules" when it makes sense for you makes everyhting a lot more fluid and fun imo! Honestly though I love the idea of picking traits manually - I have been randomising them and often feel like the results are too messy and a lot of the traits clash with their interests/hobbies/etc? But then just having e.g. any sim with the spots/fitness hobby get the athletic trait makes the traits themselves feel a little redundant at times, haha.. Still figuring out the best approach!
Yes I found the same with traits - the catalyst for me as I noted in the video was how many sims would get vehicle enthusiast and I was like… why? 😅 I could see if they were into the tinkering hobby or had high mechanical skill but otherwise…. And that let me down the road of thinking about tying all the traits to different personality aspects. What I did was make a list of all the traits, and next to each the attributes i associated with them, and when I pick traits through the sims life I try to pick one each related to their primary and secondary aspirations, one to their hobby, one to a prominent personality aspect (like shy or active) and then whatever else makes sense - something related to an interest, a skill, or just an observation I made about the sim. I’ve also got wild card ones that I can’t really tie to anything else (like lucky or unlucky).
@@88kayleigh I agree the randomisation of the traits really doesn't seem to work very well, I have traits that my Sims almost NEVER seem to get randomised (like virtuoso) and traits that they ALL seem to get (vehicle enthusiast, neurotic and inappropriate??) - tying the traits to existing personality beats is a fun idea, I might have to try that
@@TeaAddict yes I get the same traits with the randomiser, plus brave quite a lot too! I might have to go ahead and share my list in case anyone finds it useful.
I actually think mean/shy popularity/romance/family sims could be interesting. So can lazy fortune/knowledge sims. Having a personality that conflicts with your goals is an interesting challenge to overcome in life, and I generally think some of your sims not being naturally set up for success (or just not ending up successful in life) allows you to explore all the fail-state scenarios of the game.
I had been noodling around with the idea of making this video since last year, and had even typed much of this out on my gameplay rules page on my Tumblr. Her video was the thing that finally got me to knuckle down and get it done. Glad you found it interesting!
The reason I like randomizing aspiration is because I feel like aspiration is something that can change in life, esp when you find out that it burns out you. I’m the perfect example of a shy person trying to be a popularity aspiration. And I use the aspiration failure as a reason to put them into a mental institution where they reprogram their aspiration. And again I either play with random and see if the next one is also a flop for them, or calculate it to have found their perfect match. I enjoy lazy sims who hate working becoming a fortune sim, a romance sim who is a failure romantically. I see them as story telling opportunities. Also I added saving big fears in. Like a family sim being terribly afraid that the other sim dies, peeing themselves at a party 😂
this was a nice watch! i deffo feel like wants-based is a bit too restrictive. as great as the wants are, they tend to follow a similar pattern depending on your sims' aspiration, age, career, traits, etc. you tend to notice that family sims will constantly roll to have children and, sometimes, i don't wanna have 10 kids in the household. or every child ever will want a puppy or kitten. at times, so many cool gameplay things will never be experienced if you play purely wants-based.
Exactly! You buy a cat and suddenly they want a whole fleet of cats 😂 which can sometimes spur a fun idea for certain Sims, maybe they will become cat breeders or cat hoarders lol! But other times you’re just like no…. I am the Sim God, and that is just not happening.
like a few others in the comments, this is almost exactly how i play too! i feel like its a very natural evolution from pleasantsims-inspired strictly wants based gameplay. personally i realised i had to individualise my sims more when i realised i was bored of my pleasantview, in which about 100 years have passed - all of the premades are long gone, and with them those very strong personalities we all know so well. once i spent some time figuring out who each of my sims were, instead of letting their wants essentially making them all one of six archetypes, i was much more excited to play again! thanks for the video, it was great!
Exactly this! Messy romance sims with many affairs are fun, as are perfect family Sims with lots of kids, but it can become too narrow a definition and having a few more elements to throw in the mix and shake things up a little is key. That Sim isn’t just a baby making machine - they also love to have their band over to play music in the garage on weekends!
I think this is a lot closer to my current style. I don't want to completely ignore wants, but I no longer let them rule my gameplay either. These gameplay style videos that have been popping up have been so fun to watch! I love seeing everyone's styles, it's super inspiring!
Oh wow, thanks for making this and sharing your insight! I think you hit the nail on the head for a lot of us who focus on the sims as individuals, even if we don't all play exactly the same when it comes to things such as picking aspriations, using traits, taking notes etc. 🥰Loved the way you presented everything too - the footage was stunning, everything had a great flow, and I adored how you had your sim self speak to the camera! And wow that private hood you have looks incredible, you made it so cozy!
Thank you very much for making this video! I got major anxiety after quite many people had asked me to share my playing style. Yes, I was ready to share it in the future 100%, but after the number of subs had multiplied by 1,5 (I actually feel like my video got more attention than it should have and now I'm terrified at the thought that I'll fail someone's expectations) I felt like I need to make a video on that asap, but it doesn't really align with my content plan 😂 Now everyone (hopefully) will watch yours and I can lie in peace for a little longer. Your play style is just as good as your builds and the CC you use 😍 I especially like that you even have a name for it, unlike most players (me included). I really like the aspiration calculator you're using, but I guess even 12 aspirations aren't enough for me 😅
Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it! And thank you for giving me the inspiration to finally put this out in video format, I had put it off for so long! I get that it can be hard to sum it all up and put it into words to tell people about it. I was working up to that for so long, my first outline for this video was written last October! I'd written about it a bit on my Tumblr and talked about it in conversation with people sometimes, but this was the next hurdle. I always give my Sims secondary aspirations, so I guess I consider it way more than 12 choices because of all the possible combinations there, and I consider their aspiration to be kind of the sum total of primary and secondary! Plus I'm also putting thought into different ways to read each of those 12 aspirations themselves - like fortune B (shady) might be into kind of criminal ways of making money, but also might just be extremely bad with money, spending it all on wasteful things and unable to pay bills etc. Or family B might want a ton of kids, or a ton of pets potentially. So many possibilities with this game though, that's for sure!
Amazing video! And I love the term 'Character Based' or 'Personality Based'. Your custom hood looks fantastic! If you would ever be interested, I would love to see a tour of it.
I don't personally use any kind of calculator or "system" for assigning aspirations. I used to, but it got repetitive when all of my Libras ended up Romance and all of my Pisces ended up Knowledge (for example). Now I decide based off their Sims 2 personality and 3t2 traits. It means two sims with the same zodiac may be totally different, even if their personalities seem pretty similar on the surface. It does usually end up that the zodiacs have the same aspiration anyway, but at that point it just feels more genuine and not like I'm forcing the personality.
This was fun to watch! I play similarly, more of a personality/story driven style. I take into consideration my sims astrology, interests and personality, paired with the 3t2 traits I either randomize or assign. But I also think about their potential backstory, upbringing, relationships and other factors that tell the story of the sim. I use wants and fears to guide some of the story, but I ultimately flesh out the character enough for their story to feel organic.
It’s definitely the play style that requires a little more work but pays off huge! Before when I would just randomise aspirations and pay attention mainly to wants, I don’t think I had any real grasp on “who” any of my Sims were! It was more like “family Sim A” and “knowledge Sim B” and all the rest of their personality was just a vague thing I paid no attention to.
Wow I feel like you've just described by gameplay style exactly, without me ever putting too much thought into it, explaining it, or writing it down. I agree with everything you've said and play almost exactly the same way, although I use my own aspiration calculator and am currently developing calculators for traits and hobbies, since I also decide traits and hobbies based on various personality factors rather than randomizing. I hate randomizing anything to be honest, and I also hate having to come up with forced storylines, I love letting things flow naturally without being at a completely loose end when that really unhelpful wants panel rolls around so this system is perfect for that. I really like your idea of calculating aspiration as soon as they become toddlers to get more of an idea during childhood, as I always find children the hardest to connect with or see a uniqueness in. I calculate aspiration at every lifestage and change it if I get a different score because I use various mods that allows personality to slightly change (and interests can already change during gameplay, even more so with some mods), such as how well they were trained as toddlers, their school experiences, and the way they were raised as children and teens, so I'd still do that and they might be different when they're about to become a teen than they were as a toddler but I still think its a great idea to give more direction that I'll be adopting. Thank you for this fantastic video👏
I've been enjoying sort of creating a storyline in my mind for a Sim but based around their personality and aspirations, and then seeing where it goes. For example I had two young single girls who were romance/popularity so I thought it would be great for them to rent an apartment downtown and be two young roomies breaking hearts out on the town! But then one of them got risky woohoo pregnant in like, the first round after she moved out haha. So the story changed a little! Which was great because I get to then imagine and play out how she, specifically, would handle that curveball! I like having that direction to go in but also seeing where fate takes them.
I’ve always considered myself more of a wants-based player but I would also focus a great deal on their underlying personalities to further their stories. Honestly all of the info you shared sounds right up my alley & I can’t wait to look more into the calculators you shared! Thank you so much for this ☺️
Thanks for making this video, it really sums up a lot of my thoughts on how my gameplay has evolved over the years. I always found the strict wants play too restrictive for my tastes but I did take parts of it on board as way to realize I don’t need to make all my sims overachievers who max their careers, skills and get perfect grades. I still prefer to choose aspirations without a calculator as I like having odd combinations, I figure an outgoing knowledge sim is eager to share their knowledge with others, a shy popularity sim might want to have a lot of friends but do things one on one or just to be recognized for the awesome stuff they do. One of things I like to do is Taylor each living space to the particular sim including their interests and finances. If a sim has good taste but less money they might have fewer items in their home but it’s all high quality, other sims might have a plethora of inexpensive items and a more cluttered look. I also choose the radio station to suit the sim as it sets the mood when I enter the lot. I love hearing about how others play the game as it adds insight and ideas for my own game play.
Thanks for the video! I was feeling a bit burned out from SIms 2, both on mods and CC I was using. But discovering Nadya's and yours channels and videos got me into a lot of thinking. My burnout actually sparked my creativity and joy to create systems at Sims 4, also based on calculations and character buildings. There are great mod creators on that community too, but I really wanted to avoid them and play somewhat vanilla. So from your video I got very cool references to improve my TS4 playstyle, but also remided me all the joy I have originally with TS2, so I am considering returning :D Thank you for that! Good luck with the channel!
This is definitely really similar to how I have and am evolving to play TS2 too. I still often randomise traits but increasingly as I want to, I will replace them if they make no sense. Taking interests into account is also a big thing for me, especially with some mods that make interests make more sense. Wants are more like guidelines than actual rules 👌🏼 Also thank you for sharing this information in a very open, non-judgemental way, not crapping on anybody's gameplay style. I did not particularly enjoy the way Nadya presented the information in her video even if a lot of it was relevant.
I get what you mean, I think she may have been trying to match the tone of Cindy’s original “let’s plays are dead” video, which was also a little dramatic in tone! But hopefully everyone will feel free to enjoy their own game however they see fit. At this point I could almost see approaching strictly wants based gameplay as more like a challenge than a day to day gameplay style honestly!
this is such an interesting and informative video!! I'm on my 6th rotation of a wonderful custom neighbourhood, Service Area, playing entirely wants based and I'm just now starting to get bored. I feel like I'm ending up with the same kind of sims over and over again. I'm definitely going to try more character based now, especially using the 12 aspirations
Very cool! I'm familiar with Service Area, I watch Sammy Sundog's let's plays of it! I hope this helps shake things up for you and grabs your interest again.
@@88kayleigh Sammy Sundog's videos are what put me onto it! It's an incredible neighbourhood, I think I've probably played it longer than I have any maxis neighbourhoods. The pre-made characters are so interesting, its entirely my fault that I'm getting bored now lol I rely way too much on wants based and it becomes very repetitive
There are definitely things I'll adapt for my own game play, e.g. paying a bit more attention to personality points. But I think that this is something people often forget. You don't have to fully adopt a system, you can pick and choose your own. I mean I adopted rotational game play but never any spreadsheets. All my necessary information is in the family or sim description in game because I'm lazy. Also some things wouldn't make sense in my medieval fantasy hood. I pick up things here and there and as long as it's fun, that is alright with me. But I do recommend everyone to get the Hopeless Romantic trait and mod that surpresses x amount of Woohoo and Kisses because it makes the Romance aspiration much more playable if you do not strive for everyone being cheating Casanovas. For some characters that's great but some of my princesses are just very much in love with the idea of love but do not want a dozen affairs.
Absolutely agree, it’s a buffet not a set menu! I started my hood intending it to be a semi-BACC with some rules dropped and changed, and it quickly evolved even more to being more just rotational with a few “bespoke” rules 😂. Totally agree with the hopeless romantic trait and mod, that’s essential to play out the hopeless romantic archetype in Sophie’s aspiration calculator. I think of them as the Gomez Addams romantics!
@@88kayleigh I always wanted to try BACC but the rules kept me from it and so I just decided to develop my neighborhood as I go and as my mood ditctates. I'm now in my eighth week/fifteenth rotation and I finally decided to introduce magic and a military complex (I had intended to built ever since week 5...which was three years ago). In the end, it's a game and it's supposed to be fun. The police won't arrest you if you don't follow "fandom rules". If I didn't went with my own flow, I wouldn't have stuck with the game for 18 years by now
Definitely! Hopefully this video is helpful either for long term players stuck in a rut who weren’t sure which direction to take next, or maybe newer or returning players trying to decide how to get stuck in to the game.
this video is amazing! these were my exact thoughts while watching naddy's video; wants are not a whole but a plus for gameplay, my play style is pretty much the same as you with the exception I don't really use the TS3 to TS2 traits mod which I've been considering adding for a while now -also, I love how your hood and builds look!
Thank you! I’d definitely recommend checking out the traits system, I held off for a long time too cause I was a bit overwhelmed, but for me it was totally worth it and I can’t go back!
So many good ideas in this video. I dont usually keep spread sheets for my sims but I think Ill start and keep track of their personalities. I've slowly evolved away from wants based, though I would say Im still 90% wants based. 😅For example, I always make my sims go do something on their days off. I usually have my kids work on their hobbies after school. I think I will eventually start doing "clubs" for them. Ive also stopped basing college on their wants. For some sims, sure but knowledge and fortune sims I think would always go and want to do well. I use delijumes calculator for aspirations and hobbies, though I havent been integrating the 12 different aspirations. I think I will though, because the idea of playing a hopeless romance or a strict parent is intriguing to me. 😁 I've wanted to do the traits project for a long time but the whole thing has seemed so daunting to me.
I have dipped my toe in clubs too actually! Since my notes made it so easy to see at a glance who has which hobby, I had one of my Sims invite over about 6 other Sims who shared her hobby so they could talk about it and participate in it together - it was fun! I also found the traits project daunting and I put it off for quite some time, but once I got the mental energy to look into it I never looked back! I’d say start with HB’s original set of traits and mods and just spend a little time reading through it - for me it was getting excited about all those possibilities that finally made me go for it.
I was realy getting tired of the want based systewm and was seeing myself manipulating myself in order to follow it. Its rather restricting when you know your knodwelge sims are going to wish for the mathematican subject in college. I think I am going to give this a try. maybe even start a new neighbourhood for that. Thank you so much for this video!
Do it. And if you want something else than your Sims want, remember that you are literally their God and dictator. Your vote counts more than theirs :D So force the knowledge sim into a different path. Hell if I was a sim, I would probably have a knowedege aspiration and I loved math in school and it still tickles something in my brain. Yet I didn't study math because I'm also a lazy fuck and decided to go with English and history.
I've played similar for a while but ive always struggled to go past 1 generation, but i think the calculator might be a solution for the disconnect i was feeling :oo ty
Good video! I feel like character based gameplay is definitely the natural next step to wants based gameplay but you described it really nicely! I was first inspired by the concepts of rotational and wants based gameplay. I’ve kinda taken off on my own as I’ve played, evolving that style of gameplay into something that works for me (I share my ideas on my tumblr). I like creating calculators and baking in random elements to my calculators for when I can’t decide or need inspiration, but I’m always okay with manually picking stuff if I think it fits better or I have a storyline in mind. The calculators just kind of do what you described and eliminate options that don’t fit the sim’s personality. Everything’s always a work in progress though, evolving as my gameplay (and mods folder) evolves!
I'm not sure how long I played wants based, but I got sick of it pretty quickly when I started to notice the patterns in the wants. The way I play mostly is more "lifetime want" based, but I stray away from it if I want to. I will be working towards their lifetime want if their normal wants they have at that moment are dumb. But if the lifetime want is something stupid like 50 first dates I just ignore it. I actually like randomizing their aspiration when they turn into teens just because I end up with more unique sims that I have to figure out how to play. Super grouchy and shy? Tough shit, that's what the dice decided. Lazy fortune sim? Good luck with that. I also don't have ACR so I roll 2 d6 whenever my sims Woohoo, and if it lands on 10-12, it has to be a try for baby. I do this so there's some risk but it's still only a small chance. I have a balance of planned and unplanned kids in my game that way.
Amazing video!! This came at a perfect time as I’m creating a new neighborhood and was debating if I should give traits a try! I’ve been playing wants based for YEARS so I’m ready for something new lol I’ll never not be in awe at the creativity of ts2 players! Subscribed!
Hey! Top is here: www.patreon.com/posts/skittlessims-p-2-69834113 and skirt is here: www.tumblr.com/deedee-sims/736347741766172672/lucilla-sims-4t2-ep14-skirt-embroidered-short-i?source=share
Hey! I love your channel! I didn't know where else to contact you so I'm trying here. I downloaded your 4t2 T.I.M.B.E.R. Buffet table as it is one of my favorite items from sims 4, and it conflicts with one of my custom foods for some reason? I would delete the custom food but I found out that deleting custom food is tricky. Is it possible to fix this somehow?
@@88kayleigh It's the egg tarts from Chinese Cuisine on The Sims Resource. When the food loads last, the table won't show up when I try to place it in game. And when the table loads last it shows up, but I get an error when a sim tries to take the food out of the fridge.
@@helenemy95 thanks for letting me know, it was a rare GUID conflict! I've updated my files so you can let them overwrite the old ones (make sure you replace all recolours as well as the mesh). www.tumblr.com/kayleigh-83/764557655826120704/kayleigh-83-another-few-4t2-conversions-for?source=share
Great video! I feel the same and play in a very similar way - wants can be nice prompts or guidelines, but playing only by wants and nothing else makes for quite repetitive gameplay and doesn't always lead to the most interesting stories. I do like randomising aspiraton though, it is fun for me to have lots of different and/or unexpected types of sims within an aspiration - e.g. having knowledge sims who are also very outgoing and playful rather than most of them being quiet and bookish. But then I will also pick out aspirations myself if I have a particular one in mind for the sim, just being willing to change the "rules" when it makes sense for you makes everyhting a lot more fluid and fun imo! Honestly though I love the idea of picking traits manually - I have been randomising them and often feel like the results are too messy and a lot of the traits clash with their interests/hobbies/etc? But then just having e.g. any sim with the spots/fitness hobby get the athletic trait makes the traits themselves feel a little redundant at times, haha.. Still figuring out the best approach!
Yes I found the same with traits - the catalyst for me as I noted in the video was how many sims would get vehicle enthusiast and I was like… why? 😅 I could see if they were into the tinkering hobby or had high mechanical skill but otherwise…. And that let me down the road of thinking about tying all the traits to different personality aspects.
What I did was make a list of all the traits, and next to each the attributes i associated with them, and when I pick traits through the sims life I try to pick one each related to their primary and secondary aspirations, one to their hobby, one to a prominent personality aspect (like shy or active) and then whatever else makes sense - something related to an interest, a skill, or just an observation I made about the sim. I’ve also got wild card ones that I can’t really tie to anything else (like lucky or unlucky).
@@88kayleigh I agree the randomisation of the traits really doesn't seem to work very well, I have traits that my Sims almost NEVER seem to get randomised (like virtuoso) and traits that they ALL seem to get (vehicle enthusiast, neurotic and inappropriate??) - tying the traits to existing personality beats is a fun idea, I might have to try that
@@TeaAddict yes I get the same traits with the randomiser, plus brave quite a lot too! I might have to go ahead and share my list in case anyone finds it useful.
I actually think mean/shy popularity/romance/family sims could be interesting. So can lazy fortune/knowledge sims. Having a personality that conflicts with your goals is an interesting challenge to overcome in life, and I generally think some of your sims not being naturally set up for success (or just not ending up successful in life) allows you to explore all the fail-state scenarios of the game.
I watched Nadya video and it honestly woke something up in me, I'm glad to have found this as a followup!
I had been noodling around with the idea of making this video since last year, and had even typed much of this out on my gameplay rules page on my Tumblr. Her video was the thing that finally got me to knuckle down and get it done. Glad you found it interesting!
I am not familiar with that youtuber but interested. Do you mind sharing their YT name / video link?
@@beccaellington6343 it's linked in the video description!
The reason I like randomizing aspiration is because I feel like aspiration is something that can change in life, esp when you find out that it burns out you. I’m the perfect example of a shy person trying to be a popularity aspiration. And I use the aspiration failure as a reason to put them into a mental institution where they reprogram their aspiration. And again I either play with random and see if the next one is also a flop for them, or calculate it to have found their perfect match.
I enjoy lazy sims who hate working becoming a fortune sim, a romance sim who is a failure romantically. I see them as story telling opportunities.
Also I added saving big fears in. Like a family sim being terribly afraid that the other sim dies, peeing themselves at a party 😂
this was a nice watch! i deffo feel like wants-based is a bit too restrictive. as great as the wants are, they tend to follow a similar pattern depending on your sims' aspiration, age, career, traits, etc. you tend to notice that family sims will constantly roll to have children and, sometimes, i don't wanna have 10 kids in the household. or every child ever will want a puppy or kitten. at times, so many cool gameplay things will never be experienced if you play purely wants-based.
Exactly! You buy a cat and suddenly they want a whole fleet of cats 😂 which can sometimes spur a fun idea for certain Sims, maybe they will become cat breeders or cat hoarders lol! But other times you’re just like no…. I am the Sim God, and that is just not happening.
like a few others in the comments, this is almost exactly how i play too! i feel like its a very natural evolution from pleasantsims-inspired strictly wants based gameplay. personally i realised i had to individualise my sims more when i realised i was bored of my pleasantview, in which about 100 years have passed - all of the premades are long gone, and with them those very strong personalities we all know so well. once i spent some time figuring out who each of my sims were, instead of letting their wants essentially making them all one of six archetypes, i was much more excited to play again!
thanks for the video, it was great!
Exactly this! Messy romance sims with many affairs are fun, as are perfect family Sims with lots of kids, but it can become too narrow a definition and having a few more elements to throw in the mix and shake things up a little is key. That Sim isn’t just a baby making machine - they also love to have their band over to play music in the garage on weekends!
I think this is a lot closer to my current style. I don't want to completely ignore wants, but I no longer let them rule my gameplay either. These gameplay style videos that have been popping up have been so fun to watch! I love seeing everyone's styles, it's super inspiring!
Oh wow, thanks for making this and sharing your insight! I think you hit the nail on the head for a lot of us who focus on the sims as individuals, even if we don't all play exactly the same when it comes to things such as picking aspriations, using traits, taking notes etc. 🥰Loved the way you presented everything too - the footage was stunning, everything had a great flow, and I adored how you had your sim self speak to the camera! And wow that private hood you have looks incredible, you made it so cozy!
Thank you so much, my game is a labour of love and I'm glad it came through in the video too!
Thank you very much for making this video! I got major anxiety after quite many people had asked me to share my playing style. Yes, I was ready to share it in the future 100%, but after the number of subs had multiplied by 1,5 (I actually feel like my video got more attention than it should have and now I'm terrified at the thought that I'll fail someone's expectations) I felt like I need to make a video on that asap, but it doesn't really align with my content plan 😂 Now everyone (hopefully) will watch yours and I can lie in peace for a little longer.
Your play style is just as good as your builds and the CC you use 😍 I especially like that you even have a name for it, unlike most players (me included). I really like the aspiration calculator you're using, but I guess even 12 aspirations aren't enough for me 😅
Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it! And thank you for giving me the inspiration to finally put this out in video format, I had put it off for so long! I get that it can be hard to sum it all up and put it into words to tell people about it. I was working up to that for so long, my first outline for this video was written last October! I'd written about it a bit on my Tumblr and talked about it in conversation with people sometimes, but this was the next hurdle.
I always give my Sims secondary aspirations, so I guess I consider it way more than 12 choices because of all the possible combinations there, and I consider their aspiration to be kind of the sum total of primary and secondary! Plus I'm also putting thought into different ways to read each of those 12 aspirations themselves - like fortune B (shady) might be into kind of criminal ways of making money, but also might just be extremely bad with money, spending it all on wasteful things and unable to pay bills etc. Or family B might want a ton of kids, or a ton of pets potentially. So many possibilities with this game though, that's for sure!
Amazing video! And I love the term 'Character Based' or 'Personality Based'.
Your custom hood looks fantastic! If you would ever be interested, I would love to see a tour of it.
I don't personally use any kind of calculator or "system" for assigning aspirations. I used to, but it got repetitive when all of my Libras ended up Romance and all of my Pisces ended up Knowledge (for example). Now I decide based off their Sims 2 personality and 3t2 traits. It means two sims with the same zodiac may be totally different, even if their personalities seem pretty similar on the surface. It does usually end up that the zodiacs have the same aspiration anyway, but at that point it just feels more genuine and not like I'm forcing the personality.
This was fun to watch! I play similarly, more of a personality/story driven style. I take into consideration my sims astrology, interests and personality, paired with the 3t2 traits I either randomize or assign. But I also think about their potential backstory, upbringing, relationships and other factors that tell the story of the sim. I use wants and fears to guide some of the story, but I ultimately flesh out the character enough for their story to feel organic.
It’s definitely the play style that requires a little more work but pays off huge! Before when I would just randomise aspirations and pay attention mainly to wants, I don’t think I had any real grasp on “who” any of my Sims were! It was more like “family Sim A” and “knowledge Sim B” and all the rest of their personality was just a vague thing I paid no attention to.
Wow I feel like you've just described by gameplay style exactly, without me ever putting too much thought into it, explaining it, or writing it down. I agree with everything you've said and play almost exactly the same way, although I use my own aspiration calculator and am currently developing calculators for traits and hobbies, since I also decide traits and hobbies based on various personality factors rather than randomizing. I hate randomizing anything to be honest, and I also hate having to come up with forced storylines, I love letting things flow naturally without being at a completely loose end when that really unhelpful wants panel rolls around so this system is perfect for that. I really like your idea of calculating aspiration as soon as they become toddlers to get more of an idea during childhood, as I always find children the hardest to connect with or see a uniqueness in. I calculate aspiration at every lifestage and change it if I get a different score because I use various mods that allows personality to slightly change (and interests can already change during gameplay, even more so with some mods), such as how well they were trained as toddlers, their school experiences, and the way they were raised as children and teens, so I'd still do that and they might be different when they're about to become a teen than they were as a toddler but I still think its a great idea to give more direction that I'll be adopting. Thank you for this fantastic video👏
I've been enjoying sort of creating a storyline in my mind for a Sim but based around their personality and aspirations, and then seeing where it goes. For example I had two young single girls who were romance/popularity so I thought it would be great for them to rent an apartment downtown and be two young roomies breaking hearts out on the town! But then one of them got risky woohoo pregnant in like, the first round after she moved out haha. So the story changed a little! Which was great because I get to then imagine and play out how she, specifically, would handle that curveball! I like having that direction to go in but also seeing where fate takes them.
I’ve always considered myself more of a wants-based player but I would also focus a great deal on their underlying personalities to further their stories. Honestly all of the info you shared sounds right up my alley & I can’t wait to look more into the calculators you shared! Thank you so much for this ☺️
Glad you enjoyed! Love watching your Sims 2 streams by the way ☺️ I’m often lurking or catching up on the VODs!
@@88kayleigh aww thank you so much!🥹 I appreciate you!
Thanks for making this video, it really sums up a lot of my thoughts on how my gameplay has evolved over the years. I always found the strict wants play too restrictive for my tastes but I did take parts of it on board as way to realize I don’t need to make all my sims overachievers who max their careers, skills and get perfect grades. I still prefer to choose aspirations without a calculator as I like having odd combinations, I figure an outgoing knowledge sim is eager to share their knowledge with others, a shy popularity sim might want to have a lot of friends but do things one on one or just to be recognized for the awesome stuff they do. One of things I like to do is Taylor each living space to the particular sim including their interests and finances. If a sim has good taste but less money they might have fewer items in their home but it’s all high quality, other sims might have a plethora of inexpensive items and a more cluttered look. I also choose the radio station to suit the sim as it sets the mood when I enter the lot. I love hearing about how others play the game as it adds insight and ideas for my own game play.
Thanks for the video! I was feeling a bit burned out from SIms 2, both on mods and CC I was using. But discovering Nadya's and yours channels and videos got me into a lot of thinking. My burnout actually sparked my creativity and joy to create systems at Sims 4, also based on calculations and character buildings. There are great mod creators on that community too, but I really wanted to avoid them and play somewhat vanilla.
So from your video I got very cool references to improve my TS4 playstyle, but also remided me all the joy I have originally with TS2, so I am considering returning :D Thank you for that! Good luck with the channel!
I play my Sims2 much like this but hadn’t flushed it out as much as you did!
I do tend to get a little TOO into it and overthink it a bit XD But that's part of the fun for me!
This is brilliant, thank you for making this video! I foresee I'll get largely inspired by it when I pick up TS2 again
I havent even watched this yet, but yes ma'am 👌🏼👌🏼
Thank you for the early support love! 🥰🥰
This is definitely really similar to how I have and am evolving to play TS2 too. I still often randomise traits but increasingly as I want to, I will replace them if they make no sense. Taking interests into account is also a big thing for me, especially with some mods that make interests make more sense.
Wants are more like guidelines than actual rules 👌🏼
Also thank you for sharing this information in a very open, non-judgemental way, not crapping on anybody's gameplay style. I did not particularly enjoy the way Nadya presented the information in her video even if a lot of it was relevant.
I get what you mean, I think she may have been trying to match the tone of Cindy’s original “let’s plays are dead” video, which was also a little dramatic in tone! But hopefully everyone will feel free to enjoy their own game however they see fit. At this point I could almost see approaching strictly wants based gameplay as more like a challenge than a day to day gameplay style honestly!
this is such an interesting and informative video!! I'm on my 6th rotation of a wonderful custom neighbourhood, Service Area, playing entirely wants based and I'm just now starting to get bored. I feel like I'm ending up with the same kind of sims over and over again. I'm definitely going to try more character based now, especially using the 12 aspirations
Very cool! I'm familiar with Service Area, I watch Sammy Sundog's let's plays of it! I hope this helps shake things up for you and grabs your interest again.
@@88kayleigh Sammy Sundog's videos are what put me onto it! It's an incredible neighbourhood, I think I've probably played it longer than I have any maxis neighbourhoods. The pre-made characters are so interesting, its entirely my fault that I'm getting bored now lol I rely way too much on wants based and it becomes very repetitive
There are definitely things I'll adapt for my own game play, e.g. paying a bit more attention to personality points.
But I think that this is something people often forget. You don't have to fully adopt a system, you can pick and choose your own. I mean I adopted rotational game play but never any spreadsheets.
All my necessary information is in the family or sim description in game because I'm lazy.
Also some things wouldn't make sense in my medieval fantasy hood.
I pick up things here and there and as long as it's fun, that is alright with me.
But I do recommend everyone to get the Hopeless Romantic trait and mod that surpresses x amount of Woohoo and Kisses because it makes the Romance aspiration much more playable if you do not strive for everyone being cheating Casanovas. For some characters that's great but some of my princesses are just very much in love with the idea of love but do not want a dozen affairs.
Absolutely agree, it’s a buffet not a set menu! I started my hood intending it to be a semi-BACC with some rules dropped and changed, and it quickly evolved even more to being more just rotational with a few “bespoke” rules 😂.
Totally agree with the hopeless romantic trait and mod, that’s essential to play out the hopeless romantic archetype in Sophie’s aspiration calculator. I think of them as the Gomez Addams romantics!
@@88kayleigh I always wanted to try BACC but the rules kept me from it and so I just decided to develop my neighborhood as I go and as my mood ditctates. I'm now in my eighth week/fifteenth rotation and I finally decided to introduce magic and a military complex (I had intended to built ever since week 5...which was three years ago). In the end, it's a game and it's supposed to be fun. The police won't arrest you if you don't follow "fandom rules". If I didn't went with my own flow, I wouldn't have stuck with the game for 18 years by now
Definitely! Hopefully this video is helpful either for long term players stuck in a rut who weren’t sure which direction to take next, or maybe newer or returning players trying to decide how to get stuck in to the game.
This is such a great video, thank you for the new ideas! I also love how you got so much information in a shorter video too, much appreciated! 😊
Thank you! for all the time I spent thinking about this and trying to get those thoughts across I was shocked it was as short as it is! 😂
this video is amazing! these were my exact thoughts while watching naddy's video; wants are not a whole but a plus for gameplay, my play style is pretty much the same as you with the exception I don't really use the TS3 to TS2 traits mod which I've been considering adding for a while now -also, I love how your hood and builds look!
Thank you! I’d definitely recommend checking out the traits system, I held off for a long time too cause I was a bit overwhelmed, but for me it was totally worth it and I can’t go back!
So many good ideas in this video. I dont usually keep spread sheets for my sims but I think Ill start and keep track of their personalities. I've slowly evolved away from wants based, though I would say Im still 90% wants based. 😅For example, I always make my sims go do something on their days off. I usually have my kids work on their hobbies after school. I think I will eventually start doing "clubs" for them. Ive also stopped basing college on their wants. For some sims, sure but knowledge and fortune sims I think would always go and want to do well.
I use delijumes calculator for aspirations and hobbies, though I havent been integrating the 12 different aspirations. I think I will though, because the idea of playing a hopeless romance or a strict parent is intriguing to me. 😁
I've wanted to do the traits project for a long time but the whole thing has seemed so daunting to me.
I have dipped my toe in clubs too actually! Since my notes made it so easy to see at a glance who has which hobby, I had one of my Sims invite over about 6 other Sims who shared her hobby so they could talk about it and participate in it together - it was fun!
I also found the traits project daunting and I put it off for quite some time, but once I got the mental energy to look into it I never looked back! I’d say start with HB’s original set of traits and mods and just spend a little time reading through it - for me it was getting excited about all those possibilities that finally made me go for it.
I was realy getting tired of the want based systewm and was seeing myself manipulating myself in order to follow it. Its rather restricting when you know your knodwelge sims are going to wish for the mathematican subject in college. I think I am going to give this a try. maybe even start a new neighbourhood for that. Thank you so much for this video!
Do it. And if you want something else than your Sims want, remember that you are literally their God and dictator. Your vote counts more than theirs :D So force the knowledge sim into a different path.
Hell if I was a sim, I would probably have a knowedege aspiration and I loved math in school and it still tickles something in my brain. Yet I didn't study math because I'm also a lazy fuck and decided to go with English and history.
Love this! This is very similar to how I play as well.
I've played similar for a while but ive always struggled to go past 1 generation, but i think the calculator might be a solution for the disconnect i was feeling :oo ty
Good video! I feel like character based gameplay is definitely the natural next step to wants based gameplay but you described it really nicely!
I was first inspired by the concepts of rotational and wants based gameplay. I’ve kinda taken off on my own as I’ve played, evolving that style of gameplay into something that works for me (I share my ideas on my tumblr). I like creating calculators and baking in random elements to my calculators for when I can’t decide or need inspiration, but I’m always okay with manually picking stuff if I think it fits better or I have a storyline in mind. The calculators just kind of do what you described and eliminate options that don’t fit the sim’s personality. Everything’s always a work in progress though, evolving as my gameplay (and mods folder) evolves!
It’s fun to really dig in with this stuff! I wish I had the brain to create the calculators myself 😅 but I’m so glad other people do!
Great video! I’ve definitely started to play like this more and it’s alot more fun.
I'm not sure how long I played wants based, but I got sick of it pretty quickly when I started to notice the patterns in the wants. The way I play mostly is more "lifetime want" based, but I stray away from it if I want to. I will be working towards their lifetime want if their normal wants they have at that moment are dumb. But if the lifetime want is something stupid like 50 first dates I just ignore it. I actually like randomizing their aspiration when they turn into teens just because I end up with more unique sims that I have to figure out how to play. Super grouchy and shy? Tough shit, that's what the dice decided. Lazy fortune sim? Good luck with that. I also don't have ACR so I roll 2 d6 whenever my sims Woohoo, and if it lands on 10-12, it has to be a try for baby. I do this so there's some risk but it's still only a small chance. I have a balance of planned and unplanned kids in my game that way.
Amazing video!! This came at a perfect time as I’m creating a new neighborhood and was debating if I should give traits a try! I’ve been playing wants based for YEARS so I’m ready for something new lol I’ll never not be in awe at the creativity of ts2 players! Subscribed!
Thank you! I’m glad it inspired and I hope it pays off in your new hood!
love this idea and will use it!
This is a great idea!!
Thank you so much for this video! I was wondering WCIF the outfit on 7:08?
Hey! Top is here: www.patreon.com/posts/skittlessims-p-2-69834113 and skirt is here: www.tumblr.com/deedee-sims/736347741766172672/lucilla-sims-4t2-ep14-skirt-embroidered-short-i?source=share
Fab video!!
Hey! I love your channel! I didn't know where else to contact you so I'm trying here. I downloaded your 4t2 T.I.M.B.E.R. Buffet table as it is one of my favorite items from sims 4, and it conflicts with one of my custom foods for some reason? I would delete the custom food but I found out that deleting custom food is tricky. Is it possible to fix this somehow?
@@helenemy95 hi, I have no idea how it would conflict? What food item is it? And what issues does it cause?
@@88kayleigh It's the egg tarts from Chinese Cuisine on The Sims Resource. When the food loads last, the table won't show up when I try to place it in game. And when the table loads last it shows up, but I get an error when a sim tries to take the food out of the fridge.
@@helenemy95 thanks for letting me know, it was a rare GUID conflict! I've updated my files so you can let them overwrite the old ones (make sure you replace all recolours as well as the mesh). www.tumblr.com/kayleigh-83/764557655826120704/kayleigh-83-another-few-4t2-conversions-for?source=share
@@88kayleigh wow thank you so much!