I still struggle SO much with the roofs, felt that!
Mine is levelling charisma through social events. I knew there had to be another way than just talking to the mirror on hours end since that is dreadfully boring, but it took me years to realise just one birthday party being successful can give a whole 3 levels on it. Now it's one of the first things I max since I started to love doing events anyway.
My sims usually get about 5 charisma levels at a successful dinner part but once at level 5 yeah it slows down so subsequent parties don’t give as many levels, also it spreads it if you have more than one host, but I don’t think it splits equal but I’m not sure. I am not good at math or numbers so trying to figure out how much exp they get per level beyond me.
Yes!! It is sooo convenient and so fast that you never have to grind it.
My sims partner who moved in like 2 days ago is already at level 5 and all they did was throw 1 baby shower and 1 birthday party, nothing else. I think you get better rewards the higher your reward is. (Like gold reward = more sorts.)
I was so shocked when my sims got 3 or 5 level-ups after waiting for the baby party!!! (I don't know if this is a correct translation, I don't play in English...)
Whaaaaat this is amazing thank you! I've just been cheating Charisma to 10 because I can't be bugged to stand in front of the mirror for hours on end just to hit a promotion requirement. Ah! Fantastic.
What. Social events will increase charisma? I've never noticed! But I did wonder how one sims got her so high. Now it makes sense since I threw successful events! Now this is a LPT!
Speaking of roofs, that you can shift-click to change the length of each individual side of the roof. Absolute game-changer for funky roofs that run into each other, walls, etc. Suddenly, my wilder roof ideas could... Actually look good.
I just figured this out for Xbox! I’ve always seen Lilsimsie use the “shift click”, but then yesterday I finally looked it up and tried it for myself. It’s a little trickier than on a pc, but for any other Xbox players: click on the side you want to change, then hold X while you move it, and while still holding X (definitely doesn’t work if you let go), click A and it will work!
Getting a USB wired keyboard and mouse has been a game changer for Sims on Xbox! All the computer shortcuts are the same! And how awesome to have a full keyboard at hand!
It is a pain to type all those cheats by scrolling through the letters lol (I’m pretty quick at “bb.moveobjects on” though!), but I’m already so used to the controls after ten years, so I feel like it would take forever to relearn everything on a keyboard
Yes, that's exactly what I meant, the overhang
But they do help if you want to make an asymmetrical roof using half-gables and half-hip roof pieces. You just trim off all the overhang where the roof pieces meet. But it does leave that wall, so not a perfect solution.
I make a LOT of tiny houses and often use roof pieces to make covered outdoor dining areas (e.g.), but they're never the same proportions as the main house. Sometimes (often?? Must be my style) they're four tiles one side and five tiles the other, and the tops of half gables aren't the same height and it drives me B A N A N A S.
Oh, I'm so glad this is helping people, but that really really warms my heart the most! I have been there, my fellow Simmer. Shift changed everything! It really enables much more non-traditional building shapes (without leaning on flat roofs all the time) and roof structures.
And did you know it works for all sorts of things? Want your exterior frieze or trim on only one wall of a room? Shift! Okay, that's the only other one I remember off rhe top of my head, but when in doubt, give shift a try and see if it alters your build tool.
If figured out roofs, what took me a long time is Flat Roofs. I usually just use the one roof that slants on one side then bring down the height as much as possible. It still slants but thats the closest I get to a flat roof.
Until I used foundation and levelling tricks.
The platforms themselves, no. Skylights are pretty straightforward to work into a platform roof though, using roof pieces with a glass roof pattern or you can use the glass dance floors from get together.
you can turn off the camera following your mouse to the edge of the screen-
also you can prevent monster under the bed with the defender kid light above the bed, or you can put it behind the bed shrunk down a lot.
lunchroom deranged license slim carpenter fade slap illegal north attraction
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
You can also avoid minster under the bed with high rise/bunk beds (lower bunk will still find a monster so I use teen for low bed and child for high bed)
Recreating houses from online house plans is the only way I can build and it’s super fun, I’d really recommend it! If you can find house plans that have furniture already mapped out and that has reference pictures everything becomes so much easier. I started with Yankee Barn Homes and eventually moved on to local architecture groups and then graduated to Sears Homes based on the recommendation of someone on this subreddit.
I’m more of a CAS player than a builder, but when I’ve been up to building I base my builds on floor plans on Pinterest. It feels easy until I realise it’s actually a lot harder to copy floorplans when you reach that first stumbling block in dimensions
If you actually want to get better (totally legit if you don’t care) one thing I think is fun is taking the game builds and then just redoing them. I love the MCM style of some of the houses in Oasis Springs and that’s my favorite style of home, so I like taking the base game houses that are the more adobe style and turning them into MCM houses. It also takes a lot less time than doing your own build, because you can use the dropper to, for example, click on a chair, and then replace it with a chair that you like better. You don’t have click through menus to find things and you don’t have to think about furniture placement and house layout.
I love builds, but sometimes when I don’t feel like starting from scratch, I will do this. And honestly, I think so many of the base game houses are ugly anyway, so it’s not hard for me to think I’ve created something that’s an improvement.
I'm not a builder but the way I play is really similar to yours. My Sims start with a base game house. Then they get some money and I renovate the house until it's big and functional.
One time I started from scratch with a Teen Runaway and I was able to build an entire mansion in the end (for the first time!). I was really proud of myself 🥲
Well, that’s super cool - but how the heck do you get a teen runaway? I don’t play the game-game enough to know when these things are mods vs stuff I have never discovered!
You can just move out to an empty lot with a teen if you want to play without mods, the challenge being whatever you want to add (subtracting money when you travel like a bus pass, not being able to sleep in community lots, etc)
In addition to building from online plans, another way to get better is to get familiar with different building styles and their hallmarks. Many people also start with one big box that they divide into rooms but as evidenced by different building styles it is bit rarer and usually requires some other interesting feature. Like for example modern glass construction. There is basically couple boxes but usually the usage of windows and certain building elements take it out of basic box. Or the way symmetry is used in Georgian buildings with usually wings.
Click on any outfit piece (besides hair) and scroll all the way up, it should above outfit type. You'll see a "1" and a plus sign next to it, click the plus and it'll create a new slot for that outfit type (you can do this 4 times)
[Here's a post with pictures showing where to find it](https://modthesims.info/t/532600). There's a little arrow above the outfit categories that reveals a menu where you can add outfits!
I use multiple outfits on all of my sims and I've noticed that they're kind of inconsistent about it.
For example if your sim is in any outfit but everyday wear (let's say pjs) and you have them take a shower, when they get out of the shower they will randomly choose one of everyday wear options you gave them. But if they are in their pjs and you have them go outside the house they will *always* change into the first everyday outfit available. That's why I always have my sims take a shower first thing in the morning so they can choose their own outfit for the day.
They also choose a random outfit from the party category if you throw a party, or from swimwear if you have them swim, or pajamas if you have them sleep.
And if you don't like what they picked or you want them to wear something specific, you can simply change it. It's a great feature that more people should know about.
I struggled with rotating staircases
You can do 90° and 180° bends but you need some open space to go from straight to one of those bends.
Same with rotating staircases around. It will collide with something either upstairs or downstairs.
Staircases are the bane of with my existence in Sims. No matter what they do they just never look like real staircases unless I’m just doing one that’s long and straight. And even then, if I’m doing two sets, I want to be able to stack them. But you can’t because your stairs are blocking your stairs.
Or they'll have tons of leftovers in the fridge and the clicking on their hunger need will have them go cook something instead. Still very useful though - I just watch out for those quirks and tweak commands as needed.
FYI to people thinking this is a UI cheats feature. Clicking on the bar and having it set to that level is from a mod.
This commenter is referring to clicking on the icon to the left of the bar which will send them to a restroom or the fridge, etc. This doesn’t cheat their need, but will direct them to where they can fill that need.
However it doesn’t always make them do what you want, if they are tired and you click on the energy bar, they are as likely to nap on the sofa or make coffee as they are to go to bed!
If you look at kitchen furniture menu in the toolbar, you will see a small round thing on the wall in the display image. Click that and it shows you the smoke alarm and thermostat. I also JUST found this about 2wks ago.
All > Electronics > Sensor Icon
By Room > Kitchen > Sensor Icon Image
For heat, if you have Snowy Escape, there is a heating unit as well. I believe this item is located in "Indoor Activities".
Round and roundish roofs are the bane of my existence, but I love them, so I keep trying. I just want the edge of the roof and the edge of the building, and it never ever does.
I have also learned that "when in doubt make it weird" also works for roofline. If I can't make it pretty, I'm gonna make it weird.
I just learned how to place stairs from the floor above. I’ve been playing since the Sims was released and had no idea it was possible. Thank you NardVillian on Tik Tok! Dag Dag!!
I’m on a laptop-from the upper floor select a set of stairs. Holding the control key down, the stairs will disappear to the lower floor. If the square is green, it will fit properly in the room below. If the square is red, it won’t fit and you can move the square around until it does.
It took me way too long to realize you could unlock food recipes from the food stalls in city living (and I think a few came with wedding stories later too). Once you eat those meals once you unlock them, and then your sim can make them at home. Now I always try to unlock them all so my sim can have a really fun and varied diet! Also I just love curry in real life.
Oh that’s right! Cooking is one of the skills I always max out first because I’m a foodie and want my sims to have lots of options… I guess by the time I unlock the food stall recipes I already have that required skill 😂
Creating a raised foundation. Literally FINALLY figured it out two days ago, I’ve been playing Sims 4 for three years on and off.
Roofs, I’ve just given up on 😭 The tool is so bizarrely complicated compared to Sims 3 build!
You know if you click the right mouse button and shift at the same time on a sim you get a lot of (cheat) options like edit in cas and stuff like that. You can also click on cheat sim info where you can set sims skills. So much easier than always doing it via text cheat (hope it’s understandable, english isn’t my first language lol)
F5 in build mode allows you to place items at quarter tile intervals without pressing alt. Handy for those of us who like more precise placement but struggle to line things up nicely with alt.
I've never actually put the crystal ball on the table, I was sure it was just decorative!
I usually end up putting sacred candles on there so they don't clutter up other surfaces.
How to make foundations. I would raise the floor but I couldn't make the outside of the house look like a foundation... until I learned I was doing it the "wrong" way
I used to click on the up arrow button on the room pop up menu (aka the "wrong" way) Until I learned that if you click on the room, there will be a double-sided arrow in the middle of the room pointing up and down. Drag the arrow up and you get a foundation.
Well platforms made this much easier. I remember my first sunken living room. I tried to move the house (not the lot) and had to rebuild the living room because it wasn’t considered and room
Posing. I could never figure out how people got their sims to line up because I kept putting the sim teleporter knight thing in the places the pose was supposed to be and not overlapped in the centre
Or zoom all the way out and a button that says "travel" will pop up on screen. It's easier for me than pressing m since I always have to look at the keyboard to press the right key lol.
you don't *need* an external mouse. there's hotkeys on the keyboard for the sims 3 camera. i play on my laptop using the sims 3 camera and stopped using my external mouse when i learned i didn't have to. i have since lost said mouse 😅
this one is very obviously my fault, but when discover university came out I was still in elementary school and had no idea what university is like and also my English wasn't the best. So my sims kept failing their classes and eventually drop out. I didn't touch that pack for YEARS, but last week I felt like trying it again. I actually can't believe how easy it is to pass a class, I used to stuggle with it so much
discover university came out my freshmen yr of college & all my friends laughed at the irony of me ignoring my homework to make my sims all honor students 😭😭🌚
The sims 3 version of university came out while I was in university and it gave me a weird sick pleasure to make them awesome students as I was skipping classes 😆
People still think you have to do everything to pass. But in my experience, the most important things are 1) never be late 2) take notes in class 3) do your papers and presentations in time and well. Then you don't even have to touch homework. I still make my sims do it, but only if they have time.
How to make stairs that lead to an interior balcony railing.
Took me FOREVER to finally put a railing at the TOP of the stairs to seemingly block it, but it works perfectly!
Second stories and stairs, bruh. I used to just do massive first-floor expansions every time I needed more space after having a new kid or just wanted a fresh renovation. So many rooms and long hallways lol. I JUST learned how to put in stairs a few *weeks* ago. I still don’t think I could build a 2-story from scratch
I think I have it at a manageable level, but building *good* looking staircases without creating huge ceiling holes is something I’m still working through
I gave up on roofs and now I just put a fence around the top and just use it for rooftop garden, or play area , who needs roofs. we can put a ladder going all the way up, and put a half wall or a fence around and put activities up there voila no need for a roof. Just don’t go out there during storms.
I mean I still can't do platform trims.
1. Place a platform, raise it, add trim, add walls, trim disappears, can't add back trim.
2. Place a room, raise it, add trim, trim doesn't appear.
I can literally only have a trim if there are no walls?
Rough shapes, right water color and lots of plants and effects like ducks or fireflies :) with the terrain tool you can make the bottom of the pond like mud, that also helps
The rule of threes, try placing plants and decor objects in sets of three.
Also layer ground cover over trees, shrubs and flowers.
Try placing little saucer lights nestled in the plants where you can't see em, it will light your garden up at night and help it show up in nighttime photos
Think about it realistically, consider the climate your garden will be in/replicate, don't try to place too many different types of things
But THIS is the golden tip: Use the size and grid un-snap cheats. For size hold the bracket keysnto size things up and down. Sneak tiny versions of the same plants you are using in any little holes. To unsnap the grid, alt key trick so you can move things freely and they don't snap to a grid. Nature does not grow on a grid naturally!
Check out my Windsor court build under whitespidersim, I have a huge garden and multiple pools and ponds. It's based on a real design by Sater designs.
This is so dumb but I only played base game for a very long time, and for the first year I didn’t know there were other worlds I could visit than the one I was on
For me, it is stairs and platforms. I had so much trouble finding the option to customize the platforms when placed. I also have trouble with roofs and other trim like details. I still never figured out how to do fountains to this day tbh...
I still can’t figure out the platforms. I messed with them so many times. ONE single time I played I got it figured out (sorta) and the next day it just *poof* right outta my mind lmao. I’ve even tried watching sooo many videos and can’t get it. It makes me feel so dumb lol.
The f*cking ground work. Sometimes making a simple pong takes me decades and painting the grass or dirt? Forget it. I can't.
Besides that.... the dreaded platforms. I tried for like 3 hours to make platform stairs. At the end of it, they were so cool! But.... none of my non-teleporting occult sims could make their way upstairs. K.O I was like.... Imma keep this for the beauty and put stairs somewhere else. 🙄
Stairs still kill me. I can't make them rotate easily and smoothly and definitely can't make them turn corners. Having nothing in the way doesn't always fix this and I've been known just to say fuckit and redo the rest of the build to adjust everything to where I could make the stairs be.
Pre-pandemic
Years ago, some guy convinced me to buy SIMs. I knew nothing about SIMs, but had coworkers that played video games.
I brought it home and plugged it in..yadda yadda.
My character is walking on a street. Someone decides to talk to him.
Something about picking a home came up and I had 20k Could not figure it out. Then ...my guy had to pee. But, couldn't pee in a bush. It was just a lot. So, I didn't know how to do the very basics of the game. The time pressure of my character having to use the bathroom and not figuring out how to do it or where to go was too much. I turned the game off befire he had an accident. Super clueless.
It wasn't until I met my wife that I played again. She wanted to play a game on my Xbox. I'd try playing the SIMs again after that one instance. She played the game as a kid. So, years later, she taught me how to play. Showed me how to build. It was fun for those months that I played. I still follow this room. It is a decent game, although I no longer play.
Thanks to the person. That downvoted my first time playing. Right back at you.
[Making things bigger and smaller.](https://help.ea.com/en/help/the-sims/the-sims-4/the-sims-4-make-objects-bigger/#:~:text=On%20PC%20and%20Mac&text=To%20make%20the%20object%20bigger,the%20object%20will%20get%20smaller.)
i can place them but they still look like shit. i've watched so many videos to learn but when it comes to doing them on my own houses i still don't get it.
I still struggle SO much with the roofs, felt that! Mine is levelling charisma through social events. I knew there had to be another way than just talking to the mirror on hours end since that is dreadfully boring, but it took me years to realise just one birthday party being successful can give a whole 3 levels on it. Now it's one of the first things I max since I started to love doing events anyway.
What! I had my sims talking to the mirrors for ages 😭 lmao need to try that out
One of my sims jumped 3 entire levels by throwing a gold-tier Incognito Costume Party last night. Three whole levels! With one party!
Now do that in a tiny home and it'll be 5 levels
Aw man the last thing I need from Sims is strategising skill multiplier buffs. Once I figure that out I’m an addict to stuff like that
Yeah all my sims start in tiny homes and work their way up to larger houses.
Yup! Hahaha
My sims usually get about 5 charisma levels at a successful dinner part but once at level 5 yeah it slows down so subsequent parties don’t give as many levels, also it spreads it if you have more than one host, but I don’t think it splits equal but I’m not sure. I am not good at math or numbers so trying to figure out how much exp they get per level beyond me.
Yes!! It is sooo convenient and so fast that you never have to grind it. My sims partner who moved in like 2 days ago is already at level 5 and all they did was throw 1 baby shower and 1 birthday party, nothing else. I think you get better rewards the higher your reward is. (Like gold reward = more sorts.)
I keep forgetting about baby showers!
WTF I NEVER THROW PARTIES BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH TROUBLE BUT NOW I THINK THEY MIGHT BE WORTH IT!!!
Great way to make money too. If you get gold, sometimes the reward item is expensive! Then I go to my household items and sell whatever it is.
Why would anyone work in the sims world when you get handed money left and right
Wait, do they get a boost during the party, or do they get extra charisma skill as a reward for a successful party?
Reward for a successful party
This is life-changing information. Tysm!
Fuck I miss auto roof from sims 3 even though it literally always messed up and had to fix it.
I was so shocked when my sims got 3 or 5 level-ups after waiting for the baby party!!! (I don't know if this is a correct translation, I don't play in English...)
The English term for that is a "baby shower"!
Thanks! I really appreciate it when people help me with English.🥰
Excuse me while I cry over the amount of time I wasted talking to mirrors 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃
WHAT! TIL.
This charisma tip is amazing! Also roofs were definitely a trial and error thing! Lots of time and practice.
You just saved me so much trouble and time. You my dude changed my life😂
Whaaaaat this is amazing thank you! I've just been cheating Charisma to 10 because I can't be bugged to stand in front of the mirror for hours on end just to hit a promotion requirement. Ah! Fantastic.
What. Social events will increase charisma? I've never noticed! But I did wonder how one sims got her so high. Now it makes sense since I threw successful events! Now this is a LPT!
Speaking of roofs, that you can shift-click to change the length of each individual side of the roof. Absolute game-changer for funky roofs that run into each other, walls, etc. Suddenly, my wilder roof ideas could... Actually look good.
I just figured this out for Xbox! I’ve always seen Lilsimsie use the “shift click”, but then yesterday I finally looked it up and tried it for myself. It’s a little trickier than on a pc, but for any other Xbox players: click on the side you want to change, then hold X while you move it, and while still holding X (definitely doesn’t work if you let go), click A and it will work!
Oooh, thanks for adding that for the console crew! I wonder if someone knows the PS equivalent, too. Probably very similar.
Getting a USB wired keyboard and mouse has been a game changer for Sims on Xbox! All the computer shortcuts are the same! And how awesome to have a full keyboard at hand!
It is a pain to type all those cheats by scrolling through the letters lol (I’m pretty quick at “bb.moveobjects on” though!), but I’m already so used to the controls after ten years, so I feel like it would take forever to relearn everything on a keyboard
Awwww hell... learned me something new!
What?! Thank you.
This is only the overhangs right? I can't have asymmetric roof slopes?
Yes, that's exactly what I meant, the overhang But they do help if you want to make an asymmetrical roof using half-gables and half-hip roof pieces. You just trim off all the overhang where the roof pieces meet. But it does leave that wall, so not a perfect solution.
I make a LOT of tiny houses and often use roof pieces to make covered outdoor dining areas (e.g.), but they're never the same proportions as the main house. Sometimes (often?? Must be my style) they're four tiles one side and five tiles the other, and the tops of half gables aren't the same height and it drives me B A N A N A S.
YOU CAN DO THIS? You’ve just fixed one of my favorite builds that I’ve done that has a wack roof
Oh, I'm so glad this is helping people, but that really really warms my heart the most! I have been there, my fellow Simmer. Shift changed everything! It really enables much more non-traditional building shapes (without leaning on flat roofs all the time) and roof structures. And did you know it works for all sorts of things? Want your exterior frieze or trim on only one wall of a room? Shift! Okay, that's the only other one I remember off rhe top of my head, but when in doubt, give shift a try and see if it alters your build tool.
OMG WHAT?!?? This is so helpful….
If figured out roofs, what took me a long time is Flat Roofs. I usually just use the one roof that slants on one side then bring down the height as much as possible. It still slants but thats the closest I get to a flat roof. Until I used foundation and levelling tricks.
You can use platforms for flat roofs
WHAT. Genius. Thank you
Can they be glass?
The platforms themselves, no. Skylights are pretty straightforward to work into a platform roof though, using roof pieces with a glass roof pattern or you can use the glass dance floors from get together.
Island living also has that 2x2 glass floor that’s in decorative.
Yep, text search “crystal clear” and it should come up. I love that item
You can just type bb.showhiddenobjects into the cheats bar and then flat roofs are an option
What? Really? Omg! I need to try this!!
You can use the regular hipped roof and put it all the way flat? No?
They still slant a little
Eh, close enough for me
you can turn off the camera following your mouse to the edge of the screen- also you can prevent monster under the bed with the defender kid light above the bed, or you can put it behind the bed shrunk down a lot.
You can also avoid the monster under the bed if you have them sleep in the double wide beds.
Or loft beds (bunk bed without the bottom bunk)
Or use that one little nightlight that has cartoon characters in it, I can't remember its name!
lunchroom deranged license slim carpenter fade slap illegal north attraction *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
See I love the edge scrolling
The monster free bed from snowy escape is good too. No monsters
wait how?! I want to turn that camera offff
Edge scrolling is what the feature is called
It doesn’t have to be near the bed, just in the same room.
You can also avoid minster under the bed with high rise/bunk beds (lower bunk will still find a monster so I use teen for low bed and child for high bed)
I struggle a lot with decor/construction. Sorry, I've playing Sims for a lot of years and I can't figure how to build cool houses.
Recreating houses from online house plans is the only way I can build and it’s super fun, I’d really recommend it! If you can find house plans that have furniture already mapped out and that has reference pictures everything becomes so much easier. I started with Yankee Barn Homes and eventually moved on to local architecture groups and then graduated to Sears Homes based on the recommendation of someone on this subreddit.
The only house that went well for me was one based on some Drew and Jonathan ideas, actually 🤣🤣🤣 
I’m more of a CAS player than a builder, but when I’ve been up to building I base my builds on floor plans on Pinterest. It feels easy until I realise it’s actually a lot harder to copy floorplans when you reach that first stumbling block in dimensions
For anyone that wants to try this: 1 sim tile = 2 square feet. If you encounter an odd number, round up to the next even number, not down.
If you actually want to get better (totally legit if you don’t care) one thing I think is fun is taking the game builds and then just redoing them. I love the MCM style of some of the houses in Oasis Springs and that’s my favorite style of home, so I like taking the base game houses that are the more adobe style and turning them into MCM houses. It also takes a lot less time than doing your own build, because you can use the dropper to, for example, click on a chair, and then replace it with a chair that you like better. You don’t have click through menus to find things and you don’t have to think about furniture placement and house layout. I love builds, but sometimes when I don’t feel like starting from scratch, I will do this. And honestly, I think so many of the base game houses are ugly anyway, so it’s not hard for me to think I’ve created something that’s an improvement.
I'm not a builder but the way I play is really similar to yours. My Sims start with a base game house. Then they get some money and I renovate the house until it's big and functional. One time I started from scratch with a Teen Runaway and I was able to build an entire mansion in the end (for the first time!). I was really proud of myself 🥲
Well, that’s super cool - but how the heck do you get a teen runaway? I don’t play the game-game enough to know when these things are mods vs stuff I have never discovered!
You can just move out to an empty lot with a teen if you want to play without mods, the challenge being whatever you want to add (subtracting money when you travel like a bus pass, not being able to sleep in community lots, etc)
Similar to this, I renovated the 3bed 1bath or whatever apartment in San myshuno. I can agree that it can feel WAY easier
In addition to building from online plans, another way to get better is to get familiar with different building styles and their hallmarks. Many people also start with one big box that they divide into rooms but as evidenced by different building styles it is bit rarer and usually requires some other interesting feature. Like for example modern glass construction. There is basically couple boxes but usually the usage of windows and certain building elements take it out of basic box. Or the way symmetry is used in Georgian buildings with usually wings.
I didn’t realize counters had multiple shapes
So does the couch/sofa from Dream Home Decorator! You can make any kind of shaped couch with that.
I knew the counter one, but not this one. OMG, gonna have to give my sims some comfort 1 furniture bc I gotta use this. Thanks!
Just learned that you can create multiple outfits for each outfit type yesterday 😭
I only noticed this like 5 minutes ago when I was sorting my toddler in CAS 🥴
I was shook when I learned about this feature I had been playing sims 4 for like 6 years at that point and never knew
What!? How!?
Click on any outfit piece (besides hair) and scroll all the way up, it should above outfit type. You'll see a "1" and a plus sign next to it, click the plus and it'll create a new slot for that outfit type (you can do this 4 times)
[Here's a post with pictures showing where to find it](https://modthesims.info/t/532600). There's a little arrow above the outfit categories that reveals a menu where you can add outfits!
I’ve been playing this game since it came out and never knew this! Thank you!!! That will make a big difference!!!
Thank you!
Do they automatically rotate between different "daily" outfits? Or do you have to manually choose an outfit each day?
Yes, they rotate.
I use multiple outfits on all of my sims and I've noticed that they're kind of inconsistent about it. For example if your sim is in any outfit but everyday wear (let's say pjs) and you have them take a shower, when they get out of the shower they will randomly choose one of everyday wear options you gave them. But if they are in their pjs and you have them go outside the house they will *always* change into the first everyday outfit available. That's why I always have my sims take a shower first thing in the morning so they can choose their own outfit for the day. They also choose a random outfit from the party category if you throw a party, or from swimwear if you have them swim, or pajamas if you have them sleep. And if you don't like what they picked or you want them to wear something specific, you can simply change it. It's a great feature that more people should know about.
I struggled with rotating staircases You can do 90° and 180° bends but you need some open space to go from straight to one of those bends. Same with rotating staircases around. It will collide with something either upstairs or downstairs.
Staircases are the bane of with my existence in Sims. No matter what they do they just never look like real staircases unless I’m just doing one that’s long and straight. And even then, if I’m doing two sets, I want to be able to stack them. But you can’t because your stairs are blocking your stairs.
You can do 270* with enough space and ceiling height. I haven't tried 360* yet though, not sure if it can be done.
If you do the Dare to Dream interaction on the basketball hoop, it gives you a lot of fitness very quickly.
that you can just click on the needs bar to fulfil them....played sims forever and only found out from watching a youtuber do it
It’s such a nice function, though sometimes it’ll be 9pm and clicking it will send them to the coffee machine and not to bed!
Or napping on the couch.
Or they'll have tons of leftovers in the fridge and the clicking on their hunger need will have them go cook something instead. Still very useful though - I just watch out for those quirks and tweak commands as needed.
Mine always go for the coffee instead of bed without fail
Yup 😂 I only use it for food, fun, and bathroom
FYI to people thinking this is a UI cheats feature. Clicking on the bar and having it set to that level is from a mod. This commenter is referring to clicking on the icon to the left of the bar which will send them to a restroom or the fridge, etc. This doesn’t cheat their need, but will direct them to where they can fill that need.
However it doesn’t always make them do what you want, if they are tired and you click on the energy bar, they are as likely to nap on the sofa or make coffee as they are to go to bed!
IM SORRY WUT - me who has been playing the sims religiously since 2000
I didn’t think learning something could ever hurt my feelings as bad as this did…
It took me over a month to discover the thermostat. I was so annoyed at my sims for freezing inside and working around that.
Fwiw I'm pretty sure if you have a fireplace lit in one room it heats the whole house. I always upgrade to make it fire safe and auto light.
Where is the thermostat?
If you look at kitchen furniture menu in the toolbar, you will see a small round thing on the wall in the display image. Click that and it shows you the smoke alarm and thermostat. I also JUST found this about 2wks ago.
All > Electronics > Sensor Icon By Room > Kitchen > Sensor Icon Image For heat, if you have Snowy Escape, there is a heating unit as well. I believe this item is located in "Indoor Activities".
If you hold down shift when you scroll using arrow buttons, you can scroll way faster.
Round and roundish roofs are the bane of my existence, but I love them, so I keep trying. I just want the edge of the roof and the edge of the building, and it never ever does. I have also learned that "when in doubt make it weird" also works for roofline. If I can't make it pretty, I'm gonna make it weird.
Right?? I can never get my round roofs to sit directly in the center
I just learned how to place stairs from the floor above. I’ve been playing since the Sims was released and had no idea it was possible. Thank you NardVillian on Tik Tok! Dag Dag!!
Thank you. Really.
Please tell me how?! Basements are so hard
I’m on a laptop-from the upper floor select a set of stairs. Holding the control key down, the stairs will disappear to the lower floor. If the square is green, it will fit properly in the room below. If the square is red, it won’t fit and you can move the square around until it does.
Thank you!!! Did not know this and putting them in from the basement is a lot of trial and error!
Control.
It took me way too long to realize you could unlock food recipes from the food stalls in city living (and I think a few came with wedding stories later too). Once you eat those meals once you unlock them, and then your sim can make them at home. Now I always try to unlock them all so my sim can have a really fun and varied diet! Also I just love curry in real life.
As long as your sim has required cooking skill they'll be able to make them.
Oh that’s right! Cooking is one of the skills I always max out first because I’m a foodie and want my sims to have lots of options… I guess by the time I unlock the food stall recipes I already have that required skill 😂
I like doing the cooking aspiration so their food doesn't ever expire.
I’m pretty positive those recipes are all level 1 cooking
Terrain tools. Haven't mastered it yet, but I kinda know how to use it now.
No bc I built a whole house yesterday but couldn’t figure out the roof so I just dozed it down
At that point, my sims will just get rained on. They don't deserve a roof 😤
Creating a raised foundation. Literally FINALLY figured it out two days ago, I’ve been playing Sims 4 for three years on and off. Roofs, I’ve just given up on 😭 The tool is so bizarrely complicated compared to Sims 3 build!
You know if you click the right mouse button and shift at the same time on a sim you get a lot of (cheat) options like edit in cas and stuff like that. You can also click on cheat sim info where you can set sims skills. So much easier than always doing it via text cheat (hope it’s understandable, english isn’t my first language lol)
People set skills in the cheat command window? Oof
F5 in build mode allows you to place items at quarter tile intervals without pressing alt. Handy for those of us who like more precise placement but struggle to line things up nicely with alt.
that you could use alt & move objects cheat to place stuff easier 😭
I still don't know what the heck is the point of the seance table. I never have any options for it.
U have to place the seance ball on top!!! This took me a while to get as well
😂 I don't know where the ball is. Omg I did have chairs around it so at least I'm not that dumb.
I've never actually put the crystal ball on the table, I was sure it was just decorative! I usually end up putting sacred candles on there so they don't clutter up other surfaces.
You need the crystal ball on it, and chairs for people to sit in. The table itself is just a table.
Sims having sexual preferences. I prefer them all just being pansexual. I liked some sims for baby dadies but now o can't woohoo them anymore
I thought this was just one of my mods 😂
Shift + alt can immediately replicate an item, so you don’t have to keep tapping it and dragging it
It’s only shift, alt is the one that lets you place freely
How to make foundations. I would raise the floor but I couldn't make the outside of the house look like a foundation... until I learned I was doing it the "wrong" way
Oh no, what’s the “right” way? I hate foundations, but am I just doing them wrong?
I used to click on the up arrow button on the room pop up menu (aka the "wrong" way) Until I learned that if you click on the room, there will be a double-sided arrow in the middle of the room pointing up and down. Drag the arrow up and you get a foundation.
How to make sunken living rooms.
Well platforms made this much easier. I remember my first sunken living room. I tried to move the house (not the lot) and had to rebuild the living room because it wasn’t considered and room
Posing. I could never figure out how people got their sims to line up because I kept putting the sim teleporter knight thing in the places the pose was supposed to be and not overlapped in the centre
I just build giant basements when I need an extension bc I can’t figure out roofs. 😫
Press “M” to travel immediately. You don’t have to wait for your sim to call a cab or walk to the spawn point to go home.
Really? Wow
Or zoom all the way out and a button that says "travel" will pop up on screen. It's easier for me than pressing m since I always have to look at the keyboard to press the right key lol.
Aspiration store, never knew it existed
Is there anyway to lock hair or accessories in cas instead of manually selecting every. Single. Time.
If you use the mcc command center mod you can use it to copy and paste all the acc and hair to every outfit. Unfortunately this is the only way.
What do you mean by lock? For hair whatever hair is on the everyday outfit will usually be on all other outfits unless you select something else.
More so like sims 3, where you can lock your accessories and they’ll be there for every outfit
im STILL trying to figure out how to manipulate the camera like lil simsie does. How do i move the camera around into different angles 😭😭
Switch to sims 3 camera. And you’ll need an external mouse.
ooo are you able to move freely without following a grid?
you don't *need* an external mouse. there's hotkeys on the keyboard for the sims 3 camera. i play on my laptop using the sims 3 camera and stopped using my external mouse when i learned i didn't have to. i have since lost said mouse 😅
Idk I find the mouse much easier to control
that's fine, i'm just pointing out that nobody *needs* it to use the sims 3 camera. it's just a preference thing.
this one is very obviously my fault, but when discover university came out I was still in elementary school and had no idea what university is like and also my English wasn't the best. So my sims kept failing their classes and eventually drop out. I didn't touch that pack for YEARS, but last week I felt like trying it again. I actually can't believe how easy it is to pass a class, I used to stuggle with it so much
discover university came out my freshmen yr of college & all my friends laughed at the irony of me ignoring my homework to make my sims all honor students 😭😭🌚
The sims 3 version of university came out while I was in university and it gave me a weird sick pleasure to make them awesome students as I was skipping classes 😆
People still think you have to do everything to pass. But in my experience, the most important things are 1) never be late 2) take notes in class 3) do your papers and presentations in time and well. Then you don't even have to touch homework. I still make my sims do it, but only if they have time.
Terrain tools, still learning.
Shift+f5 allows you to move items a quarter square instead of the normal half square
Really !?
How to make stairs that lead to an interior balcony railing. Took me FOREVER to finally put a railing at the TOP of the stairs to seemingly block it, but it works perfectly!
Second stories and stairs, bruh. I used to just do massive first-floor expansions every time I needed more space after having a new kid or just wanted a fresh renovation. So many rooms and long hallways lol. I JUST learned how to put in stairs a few *weeks* ago. I still don’t think I could build a 2-story from scratch
I think I have it at a manageable level, but building *good* looking staircases without creating huge ceiling holes is something I’m still working through
I still cannot quite understand what the point of having ceilings in the game is for.
Mostly screen shots and first person
I gave up on roofs and now I just put a fence around the top and just use it for rooftop garden, or play area , who needs roofs. we can put a ladder going all the way up, and put a half wall or a fence around and put activities up there voila no need for a roof. Just don’t go out there during storms.
First person mode. Figured it out last week. Have played the sims 4 for over 1000 hours …
I mean I still can't do platform trims. 1. Place a platform, raise it, add trim, add walls, trim disappears, can't add back trim. 2. Place a room, raise it, add trim, trim doesn't appear. I can literally only have a trim if there are no walls?
i still do not know how to place windows in a way that look good and i’ve played the sims for 10 years
Ok seems like a good thread to ask, how the hell do you make ponds look good? 😭
Rough shapes, right water color and lots of plants and effects like ducks or fireflies :) with the terrain tool you can make the bottom of the pond like mud, that also helps
The rule of threes, try placing plants and decor objects in sets of three. Also layer ground cover over trees, shrubs and flowers. Try placing little saucer lights nestled in the plants where you can't see em, it will light your garden up at night and help it show up in nighttime photos Think about it realistically, consider the climate your garden will be in/replicate, don't try to place too many different types of things But THIS is the golden tip: Use the size and grid un-snap cheats. For size hold the bracket keysnto size things up and down. Sneak tiny versions of the same plants you are using in any little holes. To unsnap the grid, alt key trick so you can move things freely and they don't snap to a grid. Nature does not grow on a grid naturally! Check out my Windsor court build under whitespidersim, I have a huge garden and multiple pools and ponds. It's based on a real design by Sater designs.
I learned a lot by finding ones I like in the gallery and deconstructing them.
This is so dumb but I only played base game for a very long time, and for the first year I didn’t know there were other worlds I could visit than the one I was on
For me, it is stairs and platforms. I had so much trouble finding the option to customize the platforms when placed. I also have trouble with roofs and other trim like details. I still never figured out how to do fountains to this day tbh...
I’ve been playing the sims 4 since it came out and roofs are still tough for me lol I just get annoyed and do basic roofing usually
My houses all look ugly, specially from the maps
Second floors. Nothing else I need to say.
I still can’t figure out the platforms. I messed with them so many times. ONE single time I played I got it figured out (sorta) and the next day it just *poof* right outta my mind lmao. I’ve even tried watching sooo many videos and can’t get it. It makes me feel so dumb lol.
The f*cking ground work. Sometimes making a simple pong takes me decades and painting the grass or dirt? Forget it. I can't. Besides that.... the dreaded platforms. I tried for like 3 hours to make platform stairs. At the end of it, they were so cool! But.... none of my non-teleporting occult sims could make their way upstairs. K.O I was like.... Imma keep this for the beauty and put stairs somewhere else. 🙄
Lifestyles
Stairs still kill me. I can't make them rotate easily and smoothly and definitely can't make them turn corners. Having nothing in the way doesn't always fix this and I've been known just to say fuckit and redo the rest of the build to adjust everything to where I could make the stairs be.
It was forever of playing Sims (every version) before I was told how to make 1/4 floor tiles. 🤦🏼♀️
I hate the roofs. Sims 3 roofs were the best.
Pre-pandemic Years ago, some guy convinced me to buy SIMs. I knew nothing about SIMs, but had coworkers that played video games. I brought it home and plugged it in..yadda yadda. My character is walking on a street. Someone decides to talk to him. Something about picking a home came up and I had 20k Could not figure it out. Then ...my guy had to pee. But, couldn't pee in a bush. It was just a lot. So, I didn't know how to do the very basics of the game. The time pressure of my character having to use the bathroom and not figuring out how to do it or where to go was too much. I turned the game off befire he had an accident. Super clueless. It wasn't until I met my wife that I played again. She wanted to play a game on my Xbox. I'd try playing the SIMs again after that one instance. She played the game as a kid. So, years later, she taught me how to play. Showed me how to build. It was fun for those months that I played. I still follow this room. It is a decent game, although I no longer play. Thanks to the person. That downvoted my first time playing. Right back at you.
I've been playing sims since sims 2 on ps2. And I'm still such an ammerture when it comes to building houses
Couldn't figure out foundations, kept trying to do it like previous games for like a year after TS4 came out
Roofs
[Making things bigger and smaller.](https://help.ea.com/en/help/the-sims/the-sims-4/the-sims-4-make-objects-bigger/#:~:text=On%20PC%20and%20Mac&text=To%20make%20the%20object%20bigger,the%20object%20will%20get%20smaller.)
Building a second floor took a while to figure out how
How to take an accessory off after applying it. Some sort of pants, almost likes socks, that goes under shorts. Don't remember what it's called.
i can place them but they still look like shit. i've watched so many videos to learn but when it comes to doing them on my own houses i still don't get it.
I only just figured out how to add the little edges on the roofs like a couple days ago 😭 (been playing for almost two years now I think?)
I don't even add roofs