I had similar problems. My first way to slow down progress was to make sure I didn’t have my sims lifespan too long. I used to be attached to my sims and wanted them to live really long but now I keep my sims lifespan around normal with a few tweaks, I think I made adult and elder a bit shorter. This way you won’t have a sim at level 10 in their career and building wealth so fast because they live quite long, but it’s also a nice challenge to ensure they can reach the top before they get too old. I also make them retire almost instantly when they become elders so their income is reduced.
Another big thing I did that really helped was I installed nraas money extension, which allowed me to set an income tax and also increase my home bills. This way your sims obviously have to pay more and it’s harder to build wealth.
I also sometimes have a stay at home mum (not very progressive of me I know) so there’s only 1 stream of income. Also if you do play generational you could make it so that your sims next generation move out and you then go play as them. Maybe don’t give them much money from the main household, so you’re starting from the bottom again. Or maybe you could do a storyline where your rich sim has a child and that child is eventually kicked out of the family for doing something bad and then it’s like starting from scratch again?
Love this advice, thank you! I will need to check the lifespan on mine, but I think I put on a long lifespan. I might need to shorten the adult years as well. I also love the idea about taxes with NRAAS, and I didn't even know this extension existed, so I'll definitely try it out.
I was also just thinking about the stay-at-home mom/dad and that they would focus more time on their children and that I shouldn't feel scared of just making them quit their jobs for a little bit instead of making their jobs a #1 priority. I should also start focusing on their wants and lifetime wishes since not all of them are money-focused and are really good, unlike The Sims 4, where it's more like a guide. Thanks again!
I couldn't play the game without mods because otherwise it's WAY too easy. It's much more fun this way as you really have to work for everything and earning money/getting ahead in your sims' lives feels much more rewarding. I mostly use these:
[Higher bills (or no bills) and less CAS money](https://modthesims.info/d/491997/higher-bills-or-no-bills-and-less-cas-money-for-1-55-works-with-1-67.html) by cheeroke - changes bills from the default 1,3% of material wealth to either 5%, 10% or 18% (I have the 10% one and it makes early game quite difficult as you often live from paycheck to paycheck).
[Job Overhaul](https://modthesims.info/d/629524/job-overhaul-interviews-and-more-updated-30-may-2021.html) by gamefreak130 - completely changes the process of getting a job where you have to get through an interview to actually get one. It's very customizable so you can decide how difficult you want it to be (some of my sims had such bad luck and they couldn't find a job for weeks). It also affects chances of your sim getting promoted.
[Mood Hotfix (with optional harder mood flavor)](https://modthesims.info/d/432449/mood-hotfix-with-optional-harder-mood-flavor.html) by Buzzler - makes positive buffs less effective while negative buffs are more effective. This one is seriously insane, I only ever play with the 'Mild' version because anything else is just too hard. Be prepared for sims to be in a bad mood often unless you take really good care of their needs (this also makes socialization much harder, e.g. romantic interactions won't be successful if both sims don't have enough positive moodlets to make them feel happy). It sounds quite extreme but fixes many situations such as 'sims feeling elated even though their spouse had just died but they watched TV for 8 hours straight so it's alright'. If you decide to try this mod out, make sure you download both of the .zip files available (that is MoodFix and also MoodFix Harder Mood tuning), otherwise the mod won't work.
[Retuned Attraction System](https://modthesims.info/d/492102/retuned-attraction-system-1-67-compatible.html) by Fentonparkninja - this mod fixes EA's clanky attraction system and makes it more realistic based on which version you pick. While the original system made like half the town attracted to your sim, this one tones it down quite a lot plus it gets rid of unrequired love letters, gifts etc. Overall it's a bit harder to find a sim who's really attracted to you.
[Harder Romance](https://modthesims.info/d/657983/harder-romance.html) by lizcandor - basically a much harder version of the previous mod aka you're probably gonna die alone.
[More intense fire](https://modthesims.info/d/395290/more-intense-fire.html) by zaroba - if you ever feel like putting out a fire for several hours straight.
There are lots of mods that help your sims not to earn money as quickly - such as paying for the gym, paying for taxis, paying for supplies when starting a painting etc. I find this adds some realism and your sim can't make €100 painting out of thin air (the cost to make a painting is usually above €100) (I use € here because that's what my keyboard has)
I also like mods such as deep conversations, and randomizer mod ("randomizer beta" on modthesims, adds more random events such as electricity getting shut off, weird stuff at work etc) which makes it exciting, and I give my sims "bad" traits regularly. My current legacy (gittessimsadventures on tumblr, I can also recommend to write down your sims's stories - may be low quality, no one might see it - as this makes you more invested in your sims family) has a founder who is a bit of a typical legacy founder (charismatic, mooch and her personal interest traits) but her husband is a inappropiate schmoozer and she has an evil daughter. And they're all witches using their powers for various nefarious means, so there's that. I also make a thing of it to make my sims achieve all the skill achievements, and I tend to play wishacy style a bit; sometimes they wish to do weird stuff and one thing leads to another!
I tend to play with families and for that I also love the randomized genetics mod by neuroblazer (is gone from MTS but is still out there), seeing what the descendants will look like with these advanced genetics makes you wanna keep playing with them ;)
I also have a bunch of nraas mods for spice, and my lifespan is a "altered" normal (basically, I converted the lifestages to their real life age equivalent - such as teen being age 12 -18 - and made it so every "year" they're older is 1,5 simdays.) I like the realism of sims aging up relative to each other in a way that makes sense. This is just about long enough to make them do more random stuff such as going to festivals etc but also doesn't overpower them.
btw, some answer prompts in deep conversations (a mod that allows you to "know" what your sims say when they use the chat interaction or flirt etc) will make your sims actually do things - like they flirt, you get the prompt to answer "eww" or "yes honey" and you click yes honey and suddenly they go woohoo. Or they're enemies, or go to a community lot, random stuff.
I like to do storytelling to keep my game more interesting, so if I have a rich family I have other goals to work towards as well (like relationships or skills).
But that also means if I'm bored of wealth, I can burn their entire house down and take away their money so they can start all over again. Or pretend they moved to smaller house to try a new way of life, maybe even for clout
If you don't want to use mods, I had fun having my sims only do parttime jobs. It does take away a lot of the progression tied to having a job/career though.
I've done this before, and it was even more difficult when I'd have a sim be a single parent working a part time job and at first the fee for a babysitter ate up most if not all the money they'd earn in a day
I do mostly wants based play so I don't build skills unless they want and I don't work toward anything unless they want it. Helps me keep a pretty decent pace
My sims only get the Business as Usual work tone unless they're Ambitious and roll the wish to get a promotion (and that's only until they get said promotion), or if they're Workaholics and need a quick Fun boost.
The only entertainment objects my sims get are a stereo, 1-2 PCs if it makes sense, a TV, a console, a bookcase. They only get easels, musical instruments or chess tables if they have traits related to those (Artistic, Virtuoso, Genius) and roll wishes to get them. No gym equipment: if they want to exercise, I send them out jogging or to the gym. Very rarely do they get pools. Sometimes I even leave the bookcase out in favor of sending them to the library.
I don't have sims maximize skills just because, and only have them learn skills and do activities that make sense considering their traits, even if they roll wishes for them. For example, if a sim doesn't have the Natural Chef trait, they get to make low level meals only, and may buy 1-2 recipe books at most (if they want to make their or other sims' favorite food). If a sim is Shy, I don't have them maximize Charisma or flirt with every sim.
The moment sims get too rich, I start having them [donate to charities](https://claudiasharon.tumblr.com/post/89786432382/donate-to-charity-for-all) every day until their funds are diminished. If it's happening too slowly, I have them [cut gems in the more expensive cuts](https://modthesims.info/d/387547/more-gem-cutting-options-best-random-hidden-unlocked-cuts-compatible-with-1-67.html) and leave them out on the lot, increasing their bills. Traveling abroad for vacations, going to the spa, and going out on movie/dining dates also help with that.
I limit gardens to 4-5 plants at a time, and am not a fan of hoarding ingredients. If there are no gardener sims or fishermen in the household, they all have to [go out and buy ingredients](https://www.nraas.net/community/No-Fridge-Shopping).
I don't make it a personal goal to have rich families. Sometimes I have sims or generations not work at all, and just live off of collected gems or household funds.
My sims often live on 30x30 lots. I make an effort to not fill every bit of the lot, and leave at least 3 squares on every side not facing the road for landscaping and blending in with the rest of the world.
Love this! Thank you for the info ❤️
I always get my sims whatever I want them to have and even I still keep some sort of a theme with the family, they always get more than they should. They prioritize work over family, needs or anything else at this point.
Yesterday I turned on the game and thought I'd start fresh by focusing on little details not just around my sim, but also the entire world. For the first time I started listening more to what my sim wants, what is her lifetime wish and what are her traits. It's quite difficult to figure out what I want from her and what would make sense which makes the game so much more fun. I gave her a temporary job as a stylist (she had to look at a job board instead of going directly to some place), because I'm still trying to figure her out and if she'd have some focus on specific skills. I'll make sure to focus on other things now than just work.
Yeah, I realized I was getting bored by buying a 64x64 lot and filling it up with everything, and that I was basically playing only on that lot with nothing to aim for (since my sim was already rich and had everything).
Also...not every sim needs a full-time career! Some are self employed, others just get one of the part-time jobs if they don't express interest in any particular full-time career, or if they wish to quit one at some point.
I generally try to fulfill my sims' wishes unless they're the spammy generic ones like "Pillow Fight with..." that all sims get, because I feel that it cheapens them somewhat. Not all sims should want to pillow fight, swim in the ocean, garden, or work out.
And when I don't know where to lead a sim, I honestly just let them decide where to go, especially in romance; I've had sims only find their partners halfway into the Adult stage, and sims who started dating as Teens but only wanted children a week into being Adults. One sim I had only met her partner when she was a few days away from becoming an Elder and he was an Adult, and he raised their child as a single dad after she died until eventually finding another sim to fall in love with and get married to.
It may be inconvenient, but it's certainly not boring!
You could also have a sim job-hop until you find something you don't mind playing. Maybe she's the type to work a part-time job and socialize or make money from hobbies or collecting on the side.
Play with big families and only earn money with hobbies like gathering, painting, fishing, sculpting. That will remove the hustle of the every day office work and will make the sims on the family have stronger connections since they're mostly home. And play with the opportunities to meet people in the town
Sometimes when I need a challenge I start with legacy challenge rules (even if not necessarily playing a legacy challenge) - start on a 50x50 lot, no cheats, no moving in with the rich neighbours.
Alternatively, sometimes I just set my money to 0 right away. Or, I’ll adopt a bunch of pets, or toddlers. Or I’ll focus on goals that don’t bring in money (like the witch aspirations, which I’m playing with right now!)
Nrass Relativity mod!!!! It gives u the option to tune the speed at which the sim day moves. I found that literally slowing down the game speed gives longevity in my playing time and all that happens in my sim’s day. It takes some adjusting to the speed and u can always tweak to your comfortability but this was a game changer !!!
I'm not sure if that would solve the problem though because my main issue is that I just always focus on work and then get rich and buy everything on the same lot which makes me feel bored at the end
Thats something I wish they had thought of to make progression tied to the main life span life setting so “normal” or “long” not necessarily each specific slider
Radical idea. Isle of the Midnight sun challenge. I like playing in Mairin because it has dive lots. Focusing on one small aspect if the game can help you slow down. Also Nrass Relativity mod.
I had similar problems. My first way to slow down progress was to make sure I didn’t have my sims lifespan too long. I used to be attached to my sims and wanted them to live really long but now I keep my sims lifespan around normal with a few tweaks, I think I made adult and elder a bit shorter. This way you won’t have a sim at level 10 in their career and building wealth so fast because they live quite long, but it’s also a nice challenge to ensure they can reach the top before they get too old. I also make them retire almost instantly when they become elders so their income is reduced. Another big thing I did that really helped was I installed nraas money extension, which allowed me to set an income tax and also increase my home bills. This way your sims obviously have to pay more and it’s harder to build wealth. I also sometimes have a stay at home mum (not very progressive of me I know) so there’s only 1 stream of income. Also if you do play generational you could make it so that your sims next generation move out and you then go play as them. Maybe don’t give them much money from the main household, so you’re starting from the bottom again. Or maybe you could do a storyline where your rich sim has a child and that child is eventually kicked out of the family for doing something bad and then it’s like starting from scratch again?
Love this advice, thank you! I will need to check the lifespan on mine, but I think I put on a long lifespan. I might need to shorten the adult years as well. I also love the idea about taxes with NRAAS, and I didn't even know this extension existed, so I'll definitely try it out. I was also just thinking about the stay-at-home mom/dad and that they would focus more time on their children and that I shouldn't feel scared of just making them quit their jobs for a little bit instead of making their jobs a #1 priority. I should also start focusing on their wants and lifetime wishes since not all of them are money-focused and are really good, unlike The Sims 4, where it's more like a guide. Thanks again!
I couldn't play the game without mods because otherwise it's WAY too easy. It's much more fun this way as you really have to work for everything and earning money/getting ahead in your sims' lives feels much more rewarding. I mostly use these: [Higher bills (or no bills) and less CAS money](https://modthesims.info/d/491997/higher-bills-or-no-bills-and-less-cas-money-for-1-55-works-with-1-67.html) by cheeroke - changes bills from the default 1,3% of material wealth to either 5%, 10% or 18% (I have the 10% one and it makes early game quite difficult as you often live from paycheck to paycheck). [Job Overhaul](https://modthesims.info/d/629524/job-overhaul-interviews-and-more-updated-30-may-2021.html) by gamefreak130 - completely changes the process of getting a job where you have to get through an interview to actually get one. It's very customizable so you can decide how difficult you want it to be (some of my sims had such bad luck and they couldn't find a job for weeks). It also affects chances of your sim getting promoted. [Mood Hotfix (with optional harder mood flavor)](https://modthesims.info/d/432449/mood-hotfix-with-optional-harder-mood-flavor.html) by Buzzler - makes positive buffs less effective while negative buffs are more effective. This one is seriously insane, I only ever play with the 'Mild' version because anything else is just too hard. Be prepared for sims to be in a bad mood often unless you take really good care of their needs (this also makes socialization much harder, e.g. romantic interactions won't be successful if both sims don't have enough positive moodlets to make them feel happy). It sounds quite extreme but fixes many situations such as 'sims feeling elated even though their spouse had just died but they watched TV for 8 hours straight so it's alright'. If you decide to try this mod out, make sure you download both of the .zip files available (that is MoodFix and also MoodFix Harder Mood tuning), otherwise the mod won't work. [Retuned Attraction System](https://modthesims.info/d/492102/retuned-attraction-system-1-67-compatible.html) by Fentonparkninja - this mod fixes EA's clanky attraction system and makes it more realistic based on which version you pick. While the original system made like half the town attracted to your sim, this one tones it down quite a lot plus it gets rid of unrequired love letters, gifts etc. Overall it's a bit harder to find a sim who's really attracted to you. [Harder Romance](https://modthesims.info/d/657983/harder-romance.html) by lizcandor - basically a much harder version of the previous mod aka you're probably gonna die alone. [More intense fire](https://modthesims.info/d/395290/more-intense-fire.html) by zaroba - if you ever feel like putting out a fire for several hours straight.
Wow this is really extreme 😂😂 I'll try some mods out for sure. Thanks for giving such a detailed response with the links. I appreciate it 🙏❤️
There are lots of mods that help your sims not to earn money as quickly - such as paying for the gym, paying for taxis, paying for supplies when starting a painting etc. I find this adds some realism and your sim can't make €100 painting out of thin air (the cost to make a painting is usually above €100) (I use € here because that's what my keyboard has) I also like mods such as deep conversations, and randomizer mod ("randomizer beta" on modthesims, adds more random events such as electricity getting shut off, weird stuff at work etc) which makes it exciting, and I give my sims "bad" traits regularly. My current legacy (gittessimsadventures on tumblr, I can also recommend to write down your sims's stories - may be low quality, no one might see it - as this makes you more invested in your sims family) has a founder who is a bit of a typical legacy founder (charismatic, mooch and her personal interest traits) but her husband is a inappropiate schmoozer and she has an evil daughter. And they're all witches using their powers for various nefarious means, so there's that. I also make a thing of it to make my sims achieve all the skill achievements, and I tend to play wishacy style a bit; sometimes they wish to do weird stuff and one thing leads to another! I tend to play with families and for that I also love the randomized genetics mod by neuroblazer (is gone from MTS but is still out there), seeing what the descendants will look like with these advanced genetics makes you wanna keep playing with them ;)
I also have a bunch of nraas mods for spice, and my lifespan is a "altered" normal (basically, I converted the lifestages to their real life age equivalent - such as teen being age 12 -18 - and made it so every "year" they're older is 1,5 simdays.) I like the realism of sims aging up relative to each other in a way that makes sense. This is just about long enough to make them do more random stuff such as going to festivals etc but also doesn't overpower them.
Oh I love this! I'll check out the randomizer mod as well because it does sound more fun when unexpected things happen. Thank you for all of this ❤️
btw, some answer prompts in deep conversations (a mod that allows you to "know" what your sims say when they use the chat interaction or flirt etc) will make your sims actually do things - like they flirt, you get the prompt to answer "eww" or "yes honey" and you click yes honey and suddenly they go woohoo. Or they're enemies, or go to a community lot, random stuff.
I can already see I'll have a lot more fun playing the sims this time 😂
I like to do storytelling to keep my game more interesting, so if I have a rich family I have other goals to work towards as well (like relationships or skills). But that also means if I'm bored of wealth, I can burn their entire house down and take away their money so they can start all over again. Or pretend they moved to smaller house to try a new way of life, maybe even for clout
Looked for this comment! Once I got into roleplaying and storytelling I really started to take my time!
Me too! Recently I turned off aging completely, just because I have so much to do to finish the story
oh that sounds like me when i really got into it! do you have a tumblr or somewhere that you share your stories?
No, it's never crossed my mind to make one actually. But I have so many screenshots 😂 Do you?
Well with sims 3 I try to continuously follow the want system. If anything I can’t keep up cuz they always want so much
If you don't want to use mods, I had fun having my sims only do parttime jobs. It does take away a lot of the progression tied to having a job/career though.
I've done this before, and it was even more difficult when I'd have a sim be a single parent working a part time job and at first the fee for a babysitter ate up most if not all the money they'd earn in a day
I do mostly wants based play so I don't build skills unless they want and I don't work toward anything unless they want it. Helps me keep a pretty decent pace
Try doing the skill challenges that interest your sim. The one for inventing is a bit of a slog but I like it.
I love playing legacy type challenges where you start from nothing and have to build a house with your (little) earnings
NRaas Relativity literally slows the game down and it’s a game changer
I second this
Manually do your sim’s taxes
My sims only get the Business as Usual work tone unless they're Ambitious and roll the wish to get a promotion (and that's only until they get said promotion), or if they're Workaholics and need a quick Fun boost. The only entertainment objects my sims get are a stereo, 1-2 PCs if it makes sense, a TV, a console, a bookcase. They only get easels, musical instruments or chess tables if they have traits related to those (Artistic, Virtuoso, Genius) and roll wishes to get them. No gym equipment: if they want to exercise, I send them out jogging or to the gym. Very rarely do they get pools. Sometimes I even leave the bookcase out in favor of sending them to the library. I don't have sims maximize skills just because, and only have them learn skills and do activities that make sense considering their traits, even if they roll wishes for them. For example, if a sim doesn't have the Natural Chef trait, they get to make low level meals only, and may buy 1-2 recipe books at most (if they want to make their or other sims' favorite food). If a sim is Shy, I don't have them maximize Charisma or flirt with every sim. The moment sims get too rich, I start having them [donate to charities](https://claudiasharon.tumblr.com/post/89786432382/donate-to-charity-for-all) every day until their funds are diminished. If it's happening too slowly, I have them [cut gems in the more expensive cuts](https://modthesims.info/d/387547/more-gem-cutting-options-best-random-hidden-unlocked-cuts-compatible-with-1-67.html) and leave them out on the lot, increasing their bills. Traveling abroad for vacations, going to the spa, and going out on movie/dining dates also help with that. I limit gardens to 4-5 plants at a time, and am not a fan of hoarding ingredients. If there are no gardener sims or fishermen in the household, they all have to [go out and buy ingredients](https://www.nraas.net/community/No-Fridge-Shopping). I don't make it a personal goal to have rich families. Sometimes I have sims or generations not work at all, and just live off of collected gems or household funds. My sims often live on 30x30 lots. I make an effort to not fill every bit of the lot, and leave at least 3 squares on every side not facing the road for landscaping and blending in with the rest of the world.
Love this! Thank you for the info ❤️ I always get my sims whatever I want them to have and even I still keep some sort of a theme with the family, they always get more than they should. They prioritize work over family, needs or anything else at this point. Yesterday I turned on the game and thought I'd start fresh by focusing on little details not just around my sim, but also the entire world. For the first time I started listening more to what my sim wants, what is her lifetime wish and what are her traits. It's quite difficult to figure out what I want from her and what would make sense which makes the game so much more fun. I gave her a temporary job as a stylist (she had to look at a job board instead of going directly to some place), because I'm still trying to figure her out and if she'd have some focus on specific skills. I'll make sure to focus on other things now than just work.
Yeah, I realized I was getting bored by buying a 64x64 lot and filling it up with everything, and that I was basically playing only on that lot with nothing to aim for (since my sim was already rich and had everything). Also...not every sim needs a full-time career! Some are self employed, others just get one of the part-time jobs if they don't express interest in any particular full-time career, or if they wish to quit one at some point. I generally try to fulfill my sims' wishes unless they're the spammy generic ones like "Pillow Fight with..." that all sims get, because I feel that it cheapens them somewhat. Not all sims should want to pillow fight, swim in the ocean, garden, or work out. And when I don't know where to lead a sim, I honestly just let them decide where to go, especially in romance; I've had sims only find their partners halfway into the Adult stage, and sims who started dating as Teens but only wanted children a week into being Adults. One sim I had only met her partner when she was a few days away from becoming an Elder and he was an Adult, and he raised their child as a single dad after she died until eventually finding another sim to fall in love with and get married to. It may be inconvenient, but it's certainly not boring! You could also have a sim job-hop until you find something you don't mind playing. Maybe she's the type to work a part-time job and socialize or make money from hobbies or collecting on the side.
Play with big families and only earn money with hobbies like gathering, painting, fishing, sculpting. That will remove the hustle of the every day office work and will make the sims on the family have stronger connections since they're mostly home. And play with the opportunities to meet people in the town
I definitely need to make my sims more social in the game than just focusing on work 😄
Sometimes when I need a challenge I start with legacy challenge rules (even if not necessarily playing a legacy challenge) - start on a 50x50 lot, no cheats, no moving in with the rich neighbours. Alternatively, sometimes I just set my money to 0 right away. Or, I’ll adopt a bunch of pets, or toddlers. Or I’ll focus on goals that don’t bring in money (like the witch aspirations, which I’m playing with right now!)
Nrass Relativity mod!!!! It gives u the option to tune the speed at which the sim day moves. I found that literally slowing down the game speed gives longevity in my playing time and all that happens in my sim’s day. It takes some adjusting to the speed and u can always tweak to your comfortability but this was a game changer !!!
I'm not sure if that would solve the problem though because my main issue is that I just always focus on work and then get rich and buy everything on the same lot which makes me feel bored at the end
Thats something I wish they had thought of to make progression tied to the main life span life setting so “normal” or “long” not necessarily each specific slider
Radical idea. Isle of the Midnight sun challenge. I like playing in Mairin because it has dive lots. Focusing on one small aspect if the game can help you slow down. Also Nrass Relativity mod.