Maxis wants pregnant sims to waste away?

[Inge]

I had to uninstall inTeenimator cos I found the miscarriage thing too upsetting.  I don't mean the fact of losing the baby, but how long the poor mother went on feeling distressed for.  It was too serious feeling for a game I play for pleasure.

[gali]

I don't play the sims, my sims play me! 

I agree! I am outrageous cheater, and I don't feel guilty at all. I am happy when my sims are happy, and I cry, when they are miserable.

...And JMP can talk until tomorrow that he doesn't cheat. He is the "king of the cheaters" - no what is this, no cheering, no homework, no hugging, no dance with strangers, romance mod, etc - they are not cheats, hah? Just small adds....

The only two cheat he doesn't use are "motherlode" and "max motives", because he likes to torture his puppets....

[Kristalrose]

Well, I cheat and I suck and all of the above and I'm proud of it, so there, My Great Fishy Lord of Hackdom!  Neener-neener-neener!   

For example, last night I moved a college-grad onto a lot with her best friend and her family.  My new grad and her best friend's husband promptly began beating the living crap out of each other beside the mailbox.  Oopsie!  I didn't even know they hated each other.  So, I moved her out.  I have no20Khandouts installed, but still she wound up taking $20,000 of her friend's money along with $4,000 she originally moved in with.  I thought of it as was compensation for whipping her friend's husband's rear end.  LOL  I moved her into a nice townhouse that cost more than $20K, and thought, "Okay, no cheats until she earns them."  I always start a new household that way, unless I really like the sim.  So, she's a popularity sim, she wants to have a party.  Since I installed NL and I never remember to do the Max# of visiting sims cheat, I can only invite 3 sims over.  That's not the decent housewarming party my Sim is wanting!  So, I use Inge's teleporter, and soon have about 9 or so Sims smustling happilly in the living room.  I notice that my sim has developed three lightning bolts for one of the party goers.  I sick her on him with the socailizer, and soon she's wanting to woo hoo and marry him.  I make her wait a couple of days, just so they can have a couple of dates and she can reap the rewards.  He broght her a fishtank, of all things!!  LMAO  Now, they are married, and they have a little one on the way.  I used cheats, used them happilly, and have no regrets.   

[jase]

I had to uninstall inTeenimator cos I found the miscarriage thing too upsetting.  I don't mean the fact of losing the baby, but how long the poor mother went on feeling distressed for.  It was too serious feeling for a game I play for pleasure.

Why not disable miscarriages with the "No Miscarriage" flavor pak?

[Inge]

I suppose I could, but I liked the idea of potential miscarriages, I just thought the reaction was out of proportion to how they usually react to things like death and relationship breakups.  I think the furious state is a bit OTT with the length of time it lasts too.

Actually I'm probably getting a bit old but I could feel my brain frying as I tried to work out what flavour did what and all that.  Much as I complain when users don't read the instructions with my hacks, I am really not at all good at reading instructions for other people's stuff

[syberspunk]

Alternatively... couldn't you just hack the memory for it, and tone down the strength?

Actually, I have a question about that, because I had cloned a memory and while I was toying with it, it seems that memories only have like 3 strengths (IIRC): 100 (64), 50 (32), and 25 (19). At least I think those were the only valid values I was able to set that to. Maybe there was also 0, but I didn't think I tried that. Anyways, am I right to assume that this strength value represents how much it affects the sim, like how often they might "remember" it later, and either use it to brag (if it's a good memory) or gossip or cry about (if it's a bad memory)?

It's a shame that there's only 3 settings. Unless I'm wrong about that. *shrugs* But it's as if there's just extremes, either just too powerful or not powerful at all, and the in between isn't exactly a happy medium either.

Ste

[Swiftgold]

I suppose I could, but I liked the idea of potential miscarriages, I just thought the reaction was out of proportion to how they usually react to things like death and relationship breakups.  I think the furious state is a bit OTT with the length of time it lasts too.

Heh, same with me - I like the possibility but the reaction, while appropriate, seems kinda disproportionate when you consider how the death of a beloved parent or child merits for some an aspiration hit and, oh, a day of crying randomly in between the usual jokes and chatting and smustling? I had a Sim in permaplat who I tested the miscarriage on (she was stuck with a pregnant body, and a real pregnancy sorted that out, but since she'd just had twins I didn't really want her to have any more kids.) She wouldn't use skill-building items for two or three days and kept waking up with nightmares... hmm, actually if the reaction to deaths was more like that, I'd personally like it too, heh. More realistic.

I'm keeping it in, though, since it creates a challenge, and the chance for more random things (especially bad things) occuring appeals to me. Another Sim had two close calls, and it definitely made me pay more attention to what was going on there instead of coasting through the time waiting to see what the kid came out looking like.

[J. M. Pescado]

I can't imagine why a miscarriage is such a fuss. Surely it can't be worse than, say, having your computer crash right before you can save. In this case, perfectly good work is lost, but a mere miscarriage is simply a product failing nature's quality assurance. It wasn't done right anyway, so it's just as well that you have to do it over.

[Swiftgold]

*puts on the Nomex suit, waits on the sidelines*

[Oddysey]

JM, just chalk it up to emotions. Y'know, those chemical/mental things that you don't seem to have? Used by the brain to speed up decision making?

[J. M. Pescado]

JM, just chalk it up to emotions. Y'know, those chemical/mental things that you don't seem to have? Used by the brain to speed up decision making?

I don't think that's such a positive thing, given that it seems to speed up the rate of incorrect decisionmaking. What good is it if it produces hasty, wrong decisions?

[IgnorantBliss]

I can't imagine why a miscarriage is such a fuss. Surely it can't be worse than, say, having your computer crash right before you can save. In this case, perfectly good work is lost, but a mere miscarriage is simply a product failing nature's quality assurance. It wasn't done right anyway, so it's just as well that you have to do it over.

You remind me of a forensic medicine professor, who, upon discussing babies dying in the uterus, went "I don't understand what it is that makes women form such a strong emotional attachment to an unborn baby". You can imagine the buzz in the audience.

Never having been pregnant myself (thankfully) I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine that if you've long waited to have a baby and then have a miscarriage, even an early one can be a shock, even if there is no visible fetus yet. Then not to mention having the fetus die shortly before its due date and having to push out a full-term dead baby. I think I can emphatize with that to some degree even if I haven't been through that myself.

[J. M. Pescado]

Never having been pregnant myself (thankfully) I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine that if you've long waited to have a baby and then have a miscarriage, even an early one can be a shock, even if there is no visible fetus yet.

Beats ending up with a defective one you'll just have to try and RMA anyway. Quality control can be a very good thing.

Then not to mention having the fetus die shortly before its due date and having to push out a full-term dead baby. I think I can emphatize with that to some degree even if I haven't been through that myself.

That sounds unpleasant. But still better than having to try to RMA it.

[IgnorantBliss]

Yes, it's very true that early abortions are also nature's own quality control. There are probably a lot more miscarriages than women themselves are aware of, very early ones due to serious problems like extra chromosomes and such. In that sense, the Maxian pregnancies with a pretty much 100% success rate (unless the mom dies from hunger) are quite unrealistic. Not to mention a 60% chance or so of getting pregnant with each try.

[Paperbladder]

Did they honestly make it that much harder for pregnant sims to eat from UL to NL?  Honestly, if you didn't want them to put themselves face first into food then you would give them some rest before eating.  I believe these complaints came from strategies that barely worked in the base TS2 game, and NL amplified it.  You need the Hunger and Energy meters constantly for those sims, and always try to keep hunger the best it can be.  If all else fails, use the energizer aspiration award.  Either that, or go back to the safety of your mood-refreshing paintings.

I've also noticed that inefficient homes tend to kill pregnant sims.  Try not to make them go up and down stairs, especially ones that are often used.  If possible, keep a bed downstairs near the kitchen.

I don't think I'm going to get into the other side of the discussion since I don't know much about it.  I will say though, that feature of jase's inteenimater mod does prevent the death of the mother due to accelerated hunger and energy decay.

[jase]

Alternatively... couldn't you just hack the memory for it, and tone down the strength?

Actually, I have a question about that, because I had cloned a memory and while I was toying with it, it seems that memories only have like 3 strengths (IIRC): 100 (64), 50 (32), and 25 (19). At least I think those were the only valid values I was able to set that to. Maybe there was also 0, but I didn't think I tried that. Anyways, am I right to assume that this strength value represents how much it affects the sim, like how often they might "remember" it later, and either use it to brag (if it's a good memory) or gossip or cry about (if it's a bad memory)?

It's a shame that there's only 3 settings. Unless I'm wrong about that. *shrugs* But it's as if there's just extremes, either just too powerful or not powerful at all, and the in between isn't exactly a happy medium either.

Ste

To my knowledge, strength can be any value from 0 to 100.  I think 100, 50, 25 are just 3 levels that Maxis chose with each level being half as strong as its predecessor.  This value decays over time.  I believe it is used to give weighting to the selection of thought bubbles/dreams/memories as well as "outbursts".

[Emma]

I can honestly say, I have only had 1 pregnant sim die from hunger, and that was when I tried the ethiopian challenge! I tend to get them into a feed-toilet-sleep cycle, especially since the 'fall asleep at the table' feature. I had trouble when I first got nightlife, but no sims died

[Andygal]

I have had one pregnant sim die from hunger while pregnant and that was Circe Beaker. I l;eft it a bit long before waking her up from her nap. Loki saved her fortunately.

[Gwill]

I think I take too good care of my sims.   
I've never had a sim die of disease (except a pregnant one (who wasn't actually sick), but her husband saved her).
I've never had a teen run away (except for a townie I made selectable in order to kill him off.  And that was yesterday.).
I've never had a student kicked out of school.
I've never even seen the social worker (or is she the ones who delivers adoptees as well?).
In fact, I don't think I've even had a sim die of anything other than old age, except for the ones I've delliberately killed off.  I had one sim scared to death once, but he was saved by his wife.

And I don't cheat!

I think I need to do a tortured sim project just for the heck of it.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I've played without cheats too, (or any kind of hacks for that matter) but everything takes so long!

[Assmitten]

I can't imagine why a miscarriage is such a fuss. Surely it can't be worse than, say, having your computer crash right before you can save. In this case, perfectly good work is lost, but a mere miscarriage is simply a product failing nature's quality assurance. It wasn't done right anyway, so it's just as well that you have to do it over.

Ouch, dude. I think it's just one of those things you have to experience yourself to understand. I have to remind myself every day I come here that MATY is not a place for the thin-skinned.

Back on topic...anyway, I feel like I am totally stating the obvious here, but I just set my Sim moms on cruise control by having them meditate. Of course, you won't want to do that if you're in a panic about them being in the reds and oranges already. It seems like if they're pretty green it's easy to keep them there, and if they're not it's a vicious cycle. I try to combat it also by sending them off to work so they won't have morning sickness at home. That can screw things up right out of the gate.

[ZephyrZodiac]

If you get them to peak fitness before they get pregnant, they rarely get morning sickness badly, if at all!

[Assmitten]

Wow, that's amazing! I wish real life was like that. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Just one of those simthings!

[Process Denied]

I'm here right now because I need a Sim breather.  The house of fallen trees has three pregnant sims in it and I'm going insane.  What's worse is that one of them is having twins.  There is already two toddlers.  Ahhhhhhh!!  I downloaded the All-in-One NPC(the nanny part) that is helping but the eat/hygeine/sleep cycles are getting to me.  The way I handle it is I start the cycle when the meters are down One quarter by the time they have cooked their food--their meter is rearing on the half way mark and by the time they have gone to the bathroom and showered the sleep meter is 75 percent.  I works well but it is aweful for everyone else in the house cause they tend not to get to socialize as much(less time is spent on them).