Disabling Seasions But Keeping its Stuff - Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
Improving Sims 4: The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Teaching a Toddler Values, like how to say to say please and thank you, in The Sims 4 Parenthood Game Pack
The Sims 4 Parenthood Game Pack's core feature is a character values system that effects Sims from the toddler life stage up through teen. As Sims grow into adults, events, actions, and day to day responsibilities will gradually improve or decline one of five core values. Upon aging up to adult, these values may result in a permanent trait that accompanies the regular traits you choose for your Sims. There's a strong tie-in to the Parenting skill, but this gameplay system stands on its own because the youth's actions alone can impact their values. Some Simmers may wish to play parent to young Sims and leave them autonomous, hoping to get a good outcome.
A 'Teachable Moment' chance card often has a positive and negative outcome. Discipline the negatives your child develops, and praise the positives to help them avoid bad traits.
Youthful Sims can gain or lose points in one of five categories, based upon their own behaviors and how their parent reacts to their behavior. These values begin at a neutral level and can go into the positive, but also into the negative. When a Sim reaches the extreme at either end of the spectrum, around 90%, they will get one of two traits for that category upon aging up to Young Adult. This applies as long as those values are maintained or go uncorrected, anyway. Youth is a time of changing behavior, thus there is time to correct bad behavior and reinforce good behavior to get a trait you want, or avoid one that you do not.
Players who have babies and raise them to be good will see those children get useful traits such as responsible or mediator. Those who enforce no discipline may get a child who is irresponsible or argumentative. Since this is somewhat of a leveling system, you would have more time to have a positive (or negative) influence if you raised a child from toddler to adult assuming all goes well. It's possible to age up and get nothing special if the Sim remains neutral. That'd be average in The Sims 4 Parenthood.
Sims with certain traits might start with some positive or negative values by default. It's worth nothing that since these levels change fairly regularly, you might 'lock in' your Sim's bonus trait by using a cake to age up when they are maxed out.
Praising, Disciplining, and Grounding
Parents have access to socials that can greatly influence a young Sim's character values, so doing those things regularly will provide points or deduct them whilst simultaneously leveling the adult's parenting skill. Many options require you to first level the parenting skill, which is probably something you should do while the child is in the baby/toddler phase. You can choose to discipline bad behavior, either by being strict or calm. You may also reward good behaviors by letting the child know they've done the right thing.
Praising will reinforce a good behavior by providing some bonus experience, assuming the interaction succeeds. Telling them (or yelling at them) to stop doing something you don't like, will offset any negative experience. Try to praise or discipline when your parent Sim is in a decent mood to boost success rates. The ultimate way to offset negatives is to use grounding. It provides a lot of correction to a bad behavior, and lasts 24 hours. Parents can choose to restrict certain activities, like having friends over, using the computer, or gaming consoles.
Many socials have an impact on character values, so there are far too many to be listed here - I've copied the lists from in-game and provided details on the traits you receive for each category. In general, they will do what you would expect. The Sims team were thorough in covering the many socials and which values they would increase or decrease. That stated, I'll list some common ways to push the meter positive or negative so that you can get the trait you want for your Sim.
You can get a head start with manners by teaching toddlers and children to say please and thank you. Once they learn, the interactions are no longer available.
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Good Manners Trait - Reward for High Manners
Sims with Good Manners won't want to do any gross manners interactions, at least not in front of anyone. They also have a new Polite Introduction and can gain friendly relationships faster. Good Mannered Sims can also Offer Gratitude to the Host of a house they are visiting. They may get good moodlets from the polite introduction, but that's a side attraction. The increase to friendly relationship gain is a whopping 50%, so this is one you'll want to aim toward achieving for your children. All other benefits from the good manners trait seem to stem from simply not being a Sim with bad manners and all the negatives that entails when dealing with relationships and a clean home.
Bad Manners Trait - Punishment for Low Manners
Sims with Bad Manners can try to be Friendly, but will always fail using certain socials. They will often use gross manners, swear a lot, and never want to do the dishes. They may fail to do other basic things, like flush the toilet, or wash their hands, and in general act like Sims with the Slob Trait.
Having your parent not only encourage a Sim to do homework, but also help them, will kill two birds with one stone. Your Sim's child will finish homework faster, the parent gains parenting skill, and the kid gets some Responsibility. This is one of the easier character values to improve, and also has one of the best rewards. If you end up with an irresponsible Sim, it may good to give them a work from home job as opposed to sending them off into the working world.
| Positive Responsibility | Negative Responsibility |
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Responsible Trait - Reward for High Responsibility
Responsible Sims perform better at their jobs and can teach children and teens how to be responsible. Sims with Responsible seem to work hard by default, and have half the usual chance of getting stressed out doing it. Career chance cards may also be very beneficial to responsible Sims, assuming you pick the good option.
Irresponsible Trait - Punishment for Low Responsibility
Irresponsible Sims are uncomfortable at work, but ignoring bills and slacking off brings them joy. They may also encounter new situations when at work. The +2 uncomfortable moodlet from going to work lasts 6 hours and may be difficult to overcome without a great morning routine. Expect a hit to career performance from this, especially when the Sim is pressed for time.
When your Sim gets into a conflict with another, resolving it is one of the best means of leveling this, while also having the parent encourage it. You can get early experience by teaching a toddler or child to say sorry and encouraging them when they use socials like that.
| Positive Conflict Resolution | Negative Conflict Resolution |
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Mediator Trait - Reward for High Conflict Resolution
Mediator Sims have a higher chance at successfully apologizing to other Sims and can Mediate the Forums. They can also mend differences with Sims they have not been friendly with for a long time.
Argumentative Trait - Punishment for Low Conflict Resolution
Argumentative Sims don't always start conversations on the right foot with Sims they don't like. Successfully apologizing is harder and they do try to assert their correctness more often than not.
It seems much easier to raise Emotional Control than Empathy, mainly since your Sim needs to meet others having a bad day in order to help to improve negative moods and receive the reward trait. Use Cheer Up in that case, and have the parent encourage if it possible. Try helping out other members of the family when they're in a bad mood.
| Positive Empathy | Negative Empathy |
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Compassionate Trait - Reward for High Empathy
Compassionate Sims can help other Sims relieve their negative emotions. They can also empathize with them by Sharing Emotional Burdens. However, these Sims get stressed when being Mean.
Insensitive Trait - Punishment for Low Empathy
Insensitive Sims are able to Question other Sims' negative emotions. They can also Instigate other Sims. Insensitive Sims will have a higher chance of failing socially when talking to Sims with bad emotions.
In general, to improve a Sim's performance in this value, they need to experience negative emotions in which to deal with. Getting to max level may take some time, but less so if you do two things each time your Sim is stressed, embarrassed etc. - Have the Sims do something to chill, and use a parent with experience at parenting to encourage them to handle their emotions in this way.
| Positive Emotional Control | Negative Emotional Control |
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Emotional Control Trait - High Emotional Control Value
Sims who have the Emotional Control Trait can relieve negative moods by jogging, listening to certain music, blogging on the computer, or playing an instrument. In general, their negative emotions will go away faster than other Sims. The rate of decrease for negatives is double the usual value, so these emotions (angry, stressed, embarrassed, sad, bored, and uncomfortable) are far easier to handle. The initial moodlet may be the same, but the removal of negative moods by doing things like listening to music is much faster.
Uncontrolled Emotions Trait - Low Emotional Control Value
Sims with Uncontrolled Emotions won't be able to relieve their negative emotions as fast as other Sims. When they have strong negative emotions, they may have an emotional meltdown. For Sims with Uncontrolled Emotion, the removal of negative moodlets takes substantially longer than the base amount for a Sim without this trait - 40% longer.
We now have a Youtube Channel with over 50 guides in video format to go along with the huge site I've already created. Check it out and consider subscribing if you like my style.
The Sims 4 Seasons expansion now has options! Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Cottage Living Guide! Here is my guide to new features in the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion
You can also find handy Cottage Living Cheats
I have much more to come, since you can actually write a few guides about this pack!
Blender has been incredibly useful in video production, so I made my own Physics and Simulation Improvement Addon that lumps a ton of unique tools into one compact interface.
Snowy Escape Cheats
Lifestyles in Snowy Escape
Climb Mt. Komorebi
Sentiments in Snowy Escape
Rock Climbing
Skiing Skill
Snowboarding Skill
I've released a guide to Sentiments in The Sims 4 & Snowy Escape.
There is a new platform tool in The Sims 4. There's also a new Sentiments system, but it'll take some time to create a guide to that. Players can also use rental lots in any world now by changing lot types of builds in manage worlds.
I've created a massive List of The Best Mods in The Sims 4 that should be very helpful to new players and those who have not yet explored modding and how much it can do for your gameplay.
New - Secrets I have a new guide to secrets in the game. If you prefer, you can also watch a video about secrets in Sims 4.
Nifty Knitting is now available. Learn all about the stuff pack on my guide page here.
NEW - Nifty Knitting CheatsNew features in the Sims 4 June 2020
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle Guide
Eco Footprint: How it Works
Neighborhood Action Plans
How to Cheat in Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Civil Designer Career
Insect Farms & Bio Fuel
Fabrication Skill in Eco Lifestyle
Juice Fizzing NEW
Traits and Aspirations in DLC
Gameplay Ideas for Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Updated
Trait Cheats Updated
Traits List Updated
Aspirations List Updated
Readers who use adblock or those who'd like to thank me for my efforts can now pledge $1/$5 monthly via Patreon. This helps a lot with server costs and provides some stability for my business.
This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
New Lot Traits: Study Spot and University Student Hang Out
New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
New Video The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Tips Video
More videos coming soon!
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Comments (22)
They usually offer some goodies or privileges to their patreons, such as small gifts or early access to content. Some even arrange meetings. Maybe it could help with site and staff maintenance! Anyway, thanks for all the help since TS3. These are the BEST guides ever.
Good Manners: traits.equip_trait GoodManners
Bad Manners: traits.equip_trait BadManners
etc
Note that Insensitive and Responsible are a little different than the rest.
Insensitive: traits.equip_trait LifeSkills_Unfeeling
Responsible: traits.equip_trait LifeSkills_Responsible
Good One!!!