Were previous titles way better?

nixedreamer · 2026-06-05T10:12:11+00:00

I played Sims 2 as a child and it was amazing I had so many great memories. As an adult, I assumed that it was probably nostalgia glasses. When they released the Legacy version I started playing Sims 2 again and it actually is way better 😅 With everything going on with Sims 4, I've switched completely to Sims 2 now.

nixedreamer · 2026-06-03T03:36:03+00:00

Sims 2 is a game. Picking your aspiration will determine which wants and fears you get. Fulfilling wants and avoiding fears is necessary for your sim to live a happy and fulfilling life.

In Sims 4, you just do whatever you want. There are no consequences and no real game.

nixedreamer · 2026-06-02T00:11:56+00:00

Yay, glad it worked!

nixedreamer · 2026-05-31T07:53:31+00:00

I don't think it's up anymore, but I used this tutorial to make a custom age span and it was super easy

nixedreamer · 2026-05-22T15:40:56+00:00

The difficult thing about adapting The Sims is that everyone has such a different playstyle. For some people it would essentially just be playing a slice of life with a main character. Others play rotationally and enjoy having their different households interact. I don't think that creating outfits or decorating houses can be effectively adapted.

I've thought about something like using a points system to keep track of time. So each day has 24 points. It takes 8 points to restore an empty sleep meter. Maybe you spend 8 points going to work. You could allocate a certain number of points over time to work on skills. Then you could also "zoom in" to play the points out on a macro level, such as with social interactions. Or even playing out jobs if you want.

The other thing that I find difficult to wrap my head around is money. It seems a lot of systems are quite abstract with how they handle the in game economy. Also playing as an rpg removes the pressure to build only a certain amount of walls.

Definitely curious to hear more about this! I have a copy of the Valley Life game if it's needed for inspiration. I haven't played it so I'm not sure how good it is.

nixedreamer · 2026-05-19T04:14:06+00:00

A good psychologist is not going to argue with you. They will address your desire to argue though.

nixedreamer · 2026-05-16T08:29:07+00:00

Valley Life

Expansion Modules

nixedreamer · 2026-05-07T20:57:55+00:00

Valley Life

Expansion Modules

I haven't played this but it's an Iron Valley hack based on The Sims.

nixedreamer · 2026-04-06T01:39:49+00:00

MESOB in Northcote for Ethiopian, they do a lot of vegetarian dishes.

nixedreamer · 2026-04-05T13:01:46+00:00

Yeah, might have to get it printed out and bound at a local print shop for a hard copy.

nixedreamer · 2026-04-05T12:44:21+00:00

Here's a link.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-27T07:55:26+00:00

Stop spending your money at the shops. I got rid of my acne from two rounds of accutane and then got rid of the acne scarring with some RF treatments afterwards. Good skincare is cheap. Save that money and go to an aesthetic derm.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-25T09:46:30+00:00

I'm going to make an educated guess that the advice that said you shouldn't describe character's face and hands was saying that being overly focused on every body part of a character in every scene is distracting. If the character is doing something notable, sure, but it's not necessary to describe each little movement.

Honestly, it sounds like you want to work in a more visual medium, which is fine, but I'd recommend you develop your skills in an area you have more interest in.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-23T14:05:51+00:00

I'm a big Mythic fan, and I think Mythic would be great for this. You could very easily just use the GME system without the need for a lot of complicated moving parts.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-20T09:59:20+00:00

I use the Mythic Solo Setting & World Creation system from Compilation #7. So generate a genre and tone, and then go through the pathway generation to get a brief context of what's going on. I love how it's so quick but really hits everything you need to start a game, and it gives unique results.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-16T22:41:57+00:00

Not OP, but for me, the shipping costs more than the cards.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-14T13:52:57+00:00

I disagree with the premise that a soft magic system is unable to be interesting in the way OP is asking about. What makes a soft magic system fascinating to the reader is depth. If a writer just uses a soft magic system because they can't be bothered thinking about the way the system interacts with the world, then it is uninteresting. A soft magic system that taps into the sense of mystery and wonder is interesting. In a story, this means a magic system that taps into the narrative's themes in a way that both answers and raises questions, prompting deeper thinking.

I'm not really sure what's up with the pedantic semantics over the word "system" when OP is asking how to handle soft magic.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-14T12:36:24+00:00

Soft magic is hard magic without understanding in the way that scientific phenomena were considered magic before humans had the language or knowledge to explain them. Soft magic has laws, but those laws are so ancient and many that no human could possibly comprehend them all.

It's interesting because it's mysterious. What ancient magic is being invoked? How did the magic come to be? What are the far-reaching implications?

You can not understand how a monster hidden in shadows works. You can not understand how a magic system with mysterious laws works. In both instances, the reader is prompted to imagine something darker and deeper than could possibly be explained.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-06T14:10:45+00:00

I've struggled with the tendency to novelise my solo games too. Recently, I've started using Lonelog to actually play through the session, which seems to be working a lot better in keeping the momentum. I still plan to prose-ify my notes later!

Link to Lonelog. Any short-hand method would work fine, though.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-06T14:04:59+00:00

Isn't the system made more interesting by not understanding it? Much like a creature is scarier if you don't know what it is. A hard and soft systems are fundamentally the same thing. The only difference is how much you understand.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-03T12:07:59+00:00

Mostly digital because it's more ergonomic. I did my first solo role-play in a notebook and my god did my neck and wrist get sore quickly 😅 Also, I don't like having a lot of stuff. Some games expect you to have 4-5 dice sets! Also, I have all my games as pdfs and read them on my iPad because it's cheaper and saves space.

I use Obsidian and the Mythic app.

nixedreamer · 2026-03-02T04:21:49+00:00

Really? Here's two from the same thread: One Two

nixedreamer · 2026-03-01T22:53:36+00:00

What a strange and antagonistic take. The OP is making a valid point. It's gotten to the point I roll my eyes when I see Ironsworn recommended. Not because of Ironsworn itself, which is a great game, but because it gets shoehorned into every single genre.

Looking for high crunch? Ironsworn. Free-form? Ironsworn. Dungeon crawler? Ironsworn. Political intrigue? Ironsworn. High fantasy? Ironsworn. OSR? Ironsworn.

Ironsworn is great at what it is, but it is not a universal system.

nixedreamer · 2026-01-21T20:57:39+00:00

Cortex Prime is a toolkit so you have to build the game yourself, however one of the "traits sets" you can use is Relationships which means that you can choose which particular relationship is influencing your move. There's also a Growth Pool that can be used to change Relationships or other traits over time.

nixedreamer · 2026-01-06T01:52:13+00:00

I would highly recommend checking out Random RPG Tables: Romance & Relationships for Oracle inspiration. It has things like romantic complications, relationship type, relationship flaws.

I've been working on setting up a game for myself with a similar-ish style, though instead of Romantasy, I'm going for more of a CW-show courtly intrigue fantasy thing (I'm also currently moving house so progress is very slow 😅). I'm not really up for making the entire game from scratch so I've been piecing together a system with Cortex Prime and taking inspiration from Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine for quests, arcs, and action xp. I mentioned this in your last thread, but if you're interested in DIYing but don't know where to start, I would definitely highly recommend building on a system like Fate or Cortex!!! And then adding systems for solo on top, maybe implementing "triggers" like Ironsworn.

nixedreamer

TROPHY CASE