DISCOVER Classic Sims Revival: Enhanced Needs (Patreon)

In recent years, I've been pondering: "What has changed since I played The Sims 1 to now, playing The Sims 3?" Of course, many things have changed, including my age, play style, thoughts, and actions. Over time, I've become more discerning, like many of us. Yet, something in The Sims 1 remained unchanged, captivating me for endless hours, unnoticed. This thing, often called "magic" (and I agree, it truly is magical), somehow felt tangible.

Analyzing my behavior, reactions, and feedback from other players, I realized that The Sims 1 masterfully dominated a fundamental element: CHALLENGE.

Look at The Sims 4, for example: Even if you don't want to, you'll eventually receive a call granting you 50,000 simoleons. You can do absolutely anything, and there are no direct consequences affecting you or your Sim. Despite all the improvements, I felt that The Sims 3 wasn't challenging me as much as I had hoped, not testing my intelligence or frustrating me enough.

Let me clarify: frustration is that force that makes us want to play again and again until we overcome it. It might be related to our ego or simply a game mechanic, but I've realized that removing frustration also diminishes inspiration. It's like the saying goes: there's no good without bad (even though, in our most utopian dreams, we imagine world peace).

The truth is, as human beings, we thrive on challenges. Some of us are driven by them, and monotony, lack of consequences, or anything of the sort could frustrate not only our experience in The Sims but also in life. Once I "tangibilized" (at least for me) what made The Sims 1 so special, I thought: I want The Sims 3 to be more realistic. In The Sims 1, you could see that the Sim would have three meals, even if they were just snacks, when their hunger need was okay. I wanted to bring back this characteristic because, yes, we have an open world and endless activities to do in The Sims 3, but a blank slate without a touch of challenge or "limit" equals untapped possibilities.

So I sat down and started working on this project. With each step, new challenges arose because adjusting the decay of needs affected not only the main Sims but also NPCs and other Sims around. I faced obstacles that required sacrifices, with some Sims losing their lives to bring this mod to life. Let's take a minute of silence to honor these Sims and move forward.

Minute granted, let's talk about what this mod does and why you should consider it:

🍔 Your Sims and NPCs will be slightly more influenced to go out and eat at the bistro or diner when they're hungry and have no way to deal with it at home. NPCs are already reacting (I'm checking if the same happens in the main core).

🚫 Annoying notification balloons and alerts have been removed. After all, with hunger and bladder dropping faster, nobody deserves their gameplay interrupted every 3 minutes, right? No more going crazy!

⏰ I adjusted the clock speed. Now, be careful when using speeds 2 or 3, as they're almost supersonic! Time will fly before you know it! I did this with all the players in mind who skip mundane tasks for their Sims (like eating, sleeping, etc.).

💕 I added unpredictability to relationships. Some parameters were adjusted to make Sims more open to certain "outings." Get ready for a touch of daring, inspired by the spiciness of The Sims 1!

💭 Buffs: Negative events will have a greater impact on Sims' lives, while positive events will have significantly less impact. All in the pursuit of emotional balance. After all, being happy all the time is more of The Sims 4's thing. Real Sims are self-aware and work towards balance while experiencing the nuances of being human (even if they're just Sims)~

💬 Social: This need used to decay so slowly that your Sim could go 3 days without talking to anyone and still feel great. Now, this will only be possible for Loner Sims. All other types will demand more attention in this area. After all, conversing and interacting are part of the human experience. This will also encourage NPCs to interact with each other as much as they do with objects. Even you will have more fun!

With these enhancements, your game will gain a new dimension of realism and challenge, providing an exciting and immersive experience. But that's not all—dozens of behaviors have been adjusted to work with these modifications:

Specifically, 65 behaviors. I won't list them all; I'll summarize:

📱 Cell phone use, computer use, reading, and viewing decorations and other items Sims were addicted to have now been adjusted to act more realistically. Only Sims with specific traits will have related behaviors.

Remember, I haven't removed these behaviors from the game because they are essential—I simply removed the fun incentive they offered to encourage Sims to find other ways to address their needs.

🍽️ Eating, eating leftovers, storing, and washing dishes: With Sims cooking more, the family's social dynamics were getting chaotic, with everyone feeling hungry and cooking different dishes, resulting in piles of dishes! Now they will more frequently choose to eat a meal already prepared and store leftovers after eating, so the food doesn't spoil.

These and other improvements were made to align Sims' behavior with the new reality of their needs. But, rest assured, there's still work ahead, and I can't do it alone. That's why your feedback is extremely important! With infinite ways to play, receiving feedback is essential to discover other quirks Sims might have in your game, which I may not have in mine. Together, we can create something truly extraordinary!

Now, Other improvements already reported in the previous post:

✅ Needs now decay similarly to The Sims 1 and 2, with hunger and the need to use the bathroom decreasing more frequently, making the game much more realistic. But don't worry, Sims autonomously take care of these issues before their needs reach critical levels.

✅ There's no need to micromanage the Sims' physiological needs anymore, as they actively seek ways to deal with them. Additionally, you can disable their complaining animations, enhancing the immersive gameplay experience.

✅ Personality traits now have a more significant impact, as Sims strive to improve according to their individual characteristics. Athletic Sims exercise more, Charismatic Sims practice in front of the mirror, and so on. Their personalities are more evident than ever.

✅ Significant relational changes can be made without story progression, making positive/negative interactions more accessible. I've seen hilarious results, such as a mother cheating on her husband during a city hall protest and getting caught by her son, or a single woman romantically embracing a married woman at a barbecue festival. It's incredible to witness the decisions Sims make when given a bit more freedom!

✅ Overprioritized interactions are now tracked and reduced. Only geniuses or book lovers will read autonomously, while other Sims will choose alternative actions. The same goes for excessive computer and cellphone use.

✅ By the way, Sims can stay awake for more than a day, up to 36 hours, and the positive and negative effects will affect their emotions, generating buffs. However, autonomously, Sims must go to bed every night to sleep, even if their energy need is almost full. To ensure they don't sleep for only two hours, I reduced the amount of energy the bed provides. This guarantees more hours of sleep.

✅ The same applies to hunger. Even in the most critical stage of hunger, Sims can hold out for about 16 hours before dying. This change adds a greater sense of realism since, like us humans, Sims can also go without food for more than a day.

✅ With my hygiene module, Sims can now brush their teeth before bed and wash their hands before eating. However, I'm currently working on fine-tuning it to properly integrate with my needs mod, so these behaviors don't occur in community lots. I've seen several Sims brushing their teeth in the library or endlessly washing their hands to try to satisfy their hunger! With this mod, the hygiene module undergoes some changes, making related behaviors a bit less prominent.

Before the official release, I will create a topic with suggestions about a New Lot Development Standard because I feel it will be an important step we need to take as a community. Most of us believe we know how to create lots, but when we think in terms of satisfaction, there is much we need to learn so that our Sims can handle all the demands wherever they are. But that's a conversation for the future. Now, it's your turn to try the mod and tell me about your experience, I'll link it below.

DOWNLOAD

The mod doesn't have a date for public release (for everyone), but I hope to do it in early August. Before that, I would like to ensure that the feedback will help me make this mod even bigger and better.

You can watch this mod in action HERE