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Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Nov 2018 at 11:25 PM
Default How Would You Fix: PLANTSIMS!!!
Hello, All! I'm a bit late in posting this one. Meant to have it out about 20 hours ago. Sorry about that. Long day. Long week.

Anyway, this week's topic is, how would you fix PLANTSIMS!! Plant Sims debuted in TS2: Seasons. They're like versions of the Green Giant, only not as big as him, and not quite as small as his sidekick Sprout. Is there anything that always bugged you about Plantsims? Anything you think could've been done different, or could've been done better? Any objects or items that would've and could've been useful to their lives? Changes in how they function (as we all know, child, teen, YA). In your perfect Sims universe, how would Plantsims function differently?

Please feel free to post your ideas and thoughts, and share them with everybody. Don't forget to 'like' your favorites! Keep in mind, this is a discussion thread, not a request thread... that said, if any modder should take inspiration from any ideas here, feel free to dive right in, and maybe even post about your progress! All the other disclaimers apply. I usually link back to the other "How Would You Fix" posts, but i'm tired. I may update later, for easy access to link back to other supernaturals but they're really easy to find. Each one starts with "How Would You Fix" and ends with the type of creature you're looking for. Going in order, so anything past Seasons, you'll have to keep your pants on, cuz this isn't that kind of site! but you can PM them... >=)

I look forward to hearing your ideas!! Enjoy!


-gE
>=)
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 9th Nov 2018 at 11:33 PM
Make it all age and transferrable through regular genetics if a plantsim has a child the regular way (but still removable through the plantsim potion). Because... plantsim babies? Little sprouts? Saplings? And a very good reason to name a baby sim "Baby Groot" (particularly with that tree-like default replacement skin someone posted a while ago)
Also... teenage Groot
Mad Poster
#3 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 12:41 AM
Mad Poster
#4 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 1:28 AM
I'll start with the one everyone seems to always point to- their hair (and maybe skin and clothes) should change either with the seasons or with their age, just like a real plant does... flowers in their hair and paler green skin and leaves in spring, autumnal colors and fallen leaves in fall, etc..

Beyond that, I think there's a lot of potential to be had in taking more cues from plants in the real world. Yeah, plants are pretty, and they just need sunlight and water, etc, etc, but they can also do a lot more than that! Thorns and needles and poisonous fruits are all areas with some potential for more negative PlantSim traits or interaction options, and I'd like to see more inclusion of things like the long-term ability of plants to shape their environment- maybe the longer a PlantSim lived on a lot, the more likely it would be that Sims would heal from illnesses more quickly, or maybe flowers would randomly appear on the lot (kind of a positive inversion of weeds). I also could envision making them more susceptible to fire at an early age, and then developing a thick enough skin at some point during adulthood or elderhood that they stop being susceptible to it altogether. One of the more outlandish ideas that occurs to me stemming (pun intended) from real-world plants has to do with reproduction- instead of direct sexual reproduction (like normal Sims) or single-parent spawning like they do now (which is accurate for a few species, after a fashion- the quaking aspen trees throughout the mountain west in the US are a clonal species, for example), PlantSims that wanted to have a child would simply release spores into the lot, and then a baby PlantSim would be conceived after another PlantSim did the same thing within a window of time, to more closely mimic the way pollination works for a lot of plant species.

I don't really see PlantSims as having any major shifts that should have been made to them the way Servos or Werewolves or Aliens do, but there's plenty of little one-off things like those that could make them much more well-rounded. I'm sure I could come up with more ideas, but I'm hungry now!

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Scholar
#5 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 2:34 PM
Let's start with child and teen life states! They're some of the most fun parts of a Sim's life (for me) so the lack of those lifestates turns me off from using them.
Alchemist
#6 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 2:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by alljoj
Let's start with child and teen life states! They're some of the most fun parts of a Sim's life (for me) so the lack of those lifestates turns me off from using them.


This is funny to me, that I've never had enough patience with playing plantsims to even realize that they didn't have those stages - meaning I've never even lasted two days with a planttoddler to find out that it wouldn't age as other sims do. There's something about their different needs that just doesn't do it for me. I did have an idea to have a baby farm, though, where a master gardener witch would grow them and then cure them.
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Original Poster
#7 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 3:34 PM Last edited by grinevilly : 10th Nov 2018 at 3:48 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
This is funny to me, that I've never had enough patience with playing plantsims to even realize that they didn't have those stages - meaning I've never even lasted two days with a planttoddler to find out that it wouldn't age as other sims do. There's something about their different needs that just doesn't do it for me. I did have an idea to have a baby farm, though, where a master gardener witch would grow them and then cure them.



Haha! Like little mandrakes? that's funny! So what "needs" would've made them more realistic and playable to you? In my game, i have 2 plantsims who farm and run a farm stand. Over the cash register I have a greenhouse lamp, because that keeps their "light" need up, but I also have a sprinkler. When their "water" need goes low, i have one of them set it off, using the "prank" action, and it feeds them up pretty good! Also, it makes customers scatter so I don't run out of time to check them out before they get pissed off! It's a MAJOR help!

I like how Zarathustra thought they should resemble REAL plants more. It made me think... What if they aged faster? Their three life-states would be Spring (toddler), Summer (adult) and Autumn (elder)... At the end of Autumn, they would die in a heap similar to the piles of leaves, but in the spring, they'd sprout from the pile and begin again. Perennials! Wouldn't that be neat?

Also, i think that instead of going gray in their elder life-stage, they should go brown and brittle. And if a plantsim is born out of season, they simply die at whatever life stage they're in when Winter comes and are born again in the spring. And it'd be seasonally enacted, so if you had a desert, then they'd be permanently in that life state.


-gE
>=)
Mad Poster
#8 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 3:55 PM
I like the idea of somehow making PlantSims perennials... not sure how best to approach that, since I think only allowing them a 9-day lifespan in the base game would be a bit short! But maybe something like a hibernation cycle that they have to enter each winter?

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Alchemist
#9 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 7:17 PM
Quote: Originally posted by grinevilly
Haha! Like little mandrakes? that's funny! So what "needs" would've made them more realistic and playable to you? In my game, i have 2 plantsims who farm and run a farm stand. Over the cash register I have a greenhouse lamp, because that keeps their "light" need up, but I also have a sprinkler. When their "water" need goes low, i have one of them set it off, using the "prank" action, and it feeds them up pretty good! Also, it makes customers scatter so I don't run out of time to check them out before they get pissed off! It's a MAJOR help!
>=)


I think I'm just not patient enough to play a different way with basic needs after all this time. I would probably like them better if their need meters looked the same as normal sims, but they had new or different ways of meeting the needs, but there are lots of aspects of the game that other people like that don't appeal to me, so, generally, I just avoid them. I only try now and then because I'm terribly in love with the gardening aspect of the game, and I keep thinking they must be good for that somehow. Are they even natural gardeners? I mean are they born as master gardeners? Cuz, that'd be cool.
Alchemist
#10 Old 10th Nov 2018 at 8:18 PM
did some changes for Plant sims.
-converted their skins to all ages
-earlier and higher chance of becoming a plant sim from spraying
Mad Poster
#11 Old 11th Nov 2018 at 2:15 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
I think I'm just not patient enough to play a different way with basic needs after all this time. I would probably like them better if their need meters looked the same as normal sims, but they had new or different ways of meeting the needs, but there are lots of aspects of the game that other people like that don't appeal to me, so, generally, I just avoid them. I only try now and then because I'm terribly in love with the gardening aspect of the game, and I keep thinking they must be good for that somehow. Are they even natural gardeners? I mean are they born as master gardeners? Cuz, that'd be cool.

Unless modded, all adult and elder plantsims automatically have gold gardening badges. Ordinary human sims that transform into plantsims get gold gardening badges and keep them if cured.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 11th Nov 2018 at 12:02 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Zarathustra
I like the idea of somehow making PlantSims perennials... not sure how best to approach that, since I think only allowing them a 9-day lifespan in the base game would be a bit short! But maybe something like a hibernation cycle that they have to enter each winter?


I'd love it even if it was just cosmetic, such as their hair becoming fiery red/orange in the autumn and pink blossoms in the spring.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
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Original Poster
#13 Old 11th Nov 2018 at 5:09 PM
I always thought that their mood should be able to sorta rub off on other plants... For instance, a sim in platinum would have a healthier garden, or maybe a better modifier on their chances to improve the garden, whereas a plantsim in the red might drain nutrients from their plants and harm the qualities of their garden.

I also think it'd be hilarious if, after a few days, their hair got kinda bushy, and the gardener could trim it for them... It'd work exactly like the bushes in-game. Perhaps instead of a hygiene motive, they'd need a "trim" motive. Or a "pruning" motive. haha... Maybe "tending"?

I guess having them be able to eat from the compost bin would be a bit off-putting, huh?


-gE
>=)
Mad Poster
#14 Old 12th Nov 2018 at 7:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by grinevilly
I guess having them be able to eat from the compost bin would be a bit off-putting, huh?


-gE
>=)


No more so than having sloppy sims eat out of the garbage haha.
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 13th Nov 2018 at 5:22 PM
>.>
<.<
/shoehorns in my own thread for added attention:
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=620004
make plantsims be able to be refreshed by swimming in lakes!!!!

anyway though ... I agree with most things said in this thread but for me the most lacking feature of plantsims is the ages!! Why do plantbabies spring from little tiny sprouts into giant stalks of adults!!?? Makes no sense; there should be at least one more age stage in between then.

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Alchemist
#16 Old 13th Nov 2018 at 8:44 PM
They should have more power over plants than a regular Sim with a gold gardening badge. They should be able to automatically force plants to produce crops or to wither and die. They should have all life stages. If they get frightened by a ghost, they should get petrified and either freeze up temporarily, or die if their motives are too low.
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Original Poster
#17 Old 15th Nov 2018 at 1:07 AM Last edited by grinevilly : 15th Nov 2018 at 1:55 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Natpop
/shoehorns in my own thread for added attention:



In my opinion, hi-jacking this thread for your own selfish purposes is incredibly rude. Particularly when I was trying to help you out over there. Certainly not at all appreciated.


Quote:
make plantsims be able to be refreshed by swimming in lakes!!!!



That's not an improvement, that's a normal function of a working game. Lakes are NOT swimmable, and have zero impact on plantsims' motives. Making lakes swimmable means hiding a pool under them. Pools refresh plantsims' needs without any modification necessary.

IF it doesn't work in your game, the problem is in your game.


-gE
>=)
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 15th Nov 2018 at 3:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by grinevilly
In my opinion, hi-jacking this thread for your own selfish purposes is incredibly rude. Particularly when I was trying to help you out over there. Certainly not at all appreciated.
I threw a link to my thread in because it seemed relevant; it's something I would improve about plantsims. I didn't just write that though and wasn't aiming to derail or hijack your thread; I also talked about how adding more life stages to plantsims could be a big improvement.

Quote:
Lakes are NOT swimmable

- well they should be! That was kind of my point. If I could go back in time and visit the game developers I'd encourage them to add the ability to swim in lakes to the seasons expansion pack, which is the pack plantsims were introduced. The ability to fish in lakes was a great addition to the game, but they could have made lakes even more interactive. Another example, the pack adds ice-skating to the game and lakes that freeze over - but you can't combine the two and have sims ice-skate on a frozen lake.

Swimming and ice-skating for lakes would have been great nature themed activities, which would be suitable to see plantsims engaging in. Because plantsims are nature lovers. One way I like to show plantsims as nature lovers is to have them live outdoors or in tree-houses; for example somewhere deep in the woods. A man made swimming pool looks a little out of place right in the middle of a dense and wild forest. Lakes fit in much better with the "at one with nature" aesthetic I associate plantsims with, so that's why I'd like to see them fulfill plantsim water needs.

Quote:
Making lakes swimmable means hiding a pool under them.

I've never seen a tutorial for this. Can you show me one? Have you ever made a lake with a hidden pool?

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Alchemist
#19 Old 15th Nov 2018 at 4:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by grinevilly
In my opinion, hi-jacking this thread for your own selfish purposes is incredibly rude. Particularly when I was trying to help you out over there. Certainly not at all appreciated.
I probably shouldn't be posting this, but remember when you sparked a hijack of my thread to make a joke, then you returned, apologized and continued the hijack with a story about your headcanon? I likely wouldn't even remember this, except that it stood out because just before that, you'd sniped at other people for going off-topic in another thread. Tangents happen, sometimes because of you, @grinevilly. That doesn't have to be a big deal. This is a surprisingly busy board for a 14 year old game, and it's usually laid back too, partially because people get that threads drift at times.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 15th Nov 2018 at 5:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by grinevilly
In my opinion, hi-jacking this thread for your own selfish purposes is incredibly rude. Particularly when I was trying to help you out over there. Certainly not at all appreciated.





That's not an improvement, that's a normal function of a working game. Lakes are NOT swimmable, and have zero impact on plantsims' motives. Making lakes swimmable means hiding a pool under them. Pools refresh plantsims' needs without any modification necessary.

IF it doesn't work in your game, the problem is in your game.


-gE
>=)


Don't be an ass.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
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Original Poster
#21 Old 15th Nov 2018 at 7:42 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Bulbizarre
Don't be an ass.


Take your own advice, Bulbizarre. This thread isn't about her issues, and it's not meant for her to hijack traffic. That's rude. She posted her own thread. Leave this one alone. If you dont like it, you don't have to participate either.

THIS THREAD is for discussion of how to improve plant sims, not for her to complain about downloading a borked lot, and not for you to blather in. Talk about the topic, or start another thread.


-gE
>=)
Locked thread | Locked by: gdayars Reason: Thread originator requested
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