WHIMsical Challenge

July 2022 Update: I need to make changes to this whims challenge as TS4 team changed this to a wants-fears system.

Everyone has their own way of handling whims and directing Sims. This isn’t something radically new, but I want to get back to my roots and try the very first challenge I ever did in Sims 4 again. Here’s my version of “rules.”

• Allow ‘Full Autonomy.’ Do not cancel ‘autonomous’ actions unless a situation or whim calls for it.
  • Follow all whims as they pop up and as they make sense to my Sim (i.e. I will not follow all the inane ‘buy this, buy that’ whims)
  • No cancelling whims (wait for a whim to disappear on its own)
• Only direct Sim to take care of their needs if “need” is in the yellow or red. (I click on the need bar directly to see what they autonomously choose, but sometimes this doesn’t work, so I’ll use my best judgment)
• Only advance in skills, career, and aspiration if they roll a whim to do so.
  • Certain whims may not make sense for a Sim at a certain stage in their life and I will use my best judgment. Examples of whims that don’t make sense…
    • already own 6 dogs a.k.a. they don’t need another
    • they want to start a new career and just started a new career
    • they want to buy a pet bowl and don’t own a pet
  • Allow whims to influence decisions like if they want to buy a pet bowl, but don’t own a pet, maybe they save up for a pet or they call up the adoption agency right then and there.
• Allow moodlets, sentiments, preferences, relationship status, hobbies/interests, and lifestyles to influence gameplay direction a.k.a. THEIR PERSONALITY (if my Sim is just standing around).
  I use this option to…
  • Direct conversations (I tend to play by selecting the first option to the left of center or I roll a die at random to see what happens. This also allows for some juicy drama sometimes.)
  • Direct to locations (i.e. fun meter is low and a Sim’s favorite location is a bar or their favorite hobby is music, then I might direct to bar or practice guitar OR they roll a whim to take a soak and don’t own a bath, then I might send to gym or spa).
  • Select what to do on a computer or phone (i.e. they want to play a game on the computer, and they hate sports – then my Sim isn’t playing ‘Incredible Sports‘).
  • Direct friendship, romance, and babies (I let things happen organically, but once a Sim has made their ‘thoughts’ clear, I’ll gently nudge their choices in a certain direction).
  • Direct goaled events (i.e. the date/party may fail if they don’t roll a whim to complete a certain step, but I’ll allow personality to affect their choices).
• No moving other Sims in or out of household without a whim (this could happen autonomously with mods).
• No money, skill, career, satisfaction, motive, or relationship cheats.
  • I do use build/buy cheats to place objects.
  • I will modify outfits in CAS
  • I will allow reset stuck Sims.
  • I may will pick a corresponding Uni degree for Gen 1 only. Gen 2 forward will need to “whim” to go to Uni.
• Roll at random whenever possible (i.e. for choices, future generation traits, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to invites, etc.). I have a set of dice on my desk (a beautiful plum red set) or you can use an online randomizer (especially for odd numbers like 7 or 19).