Life Stages If you had control over the number of life stages in the Sims 2, what would they be? Newborn - a baby who's very still and whose eyes remain closed Baby - like the current baby Toddler - like the current toddler Tyke - a small child in the early school grades Child - like the child now Preteen - can only kiss Teen - like the teen now Young Adult - like the adult now Adult - like the adult now Middle-aged - the number of times you've gone into aspiration failure determines how much gray hair you have by this time: for instance, if you've gone one, you have some gray strands, if you've gone a second, you have gray stripes on the side of your hair, too, etc. Elder - like the elder now Golden - a very old sim who's confined to a wheel chair or cane - males lose all their hair
That would be cool if we could have all of those options. I like the idea of a "Tyke" especially. Childhood in the sims is much too short. Tykes could still play with the toddler toys (more time to build up those charisma skills), but also with the child toys, and maybe school would be just half a day ... I'd settle for childhood being a bit longer, but I really like your ideas. I agree that we're missing a middle age. Going from hot to droopy seems so abrupt (though it does in real life, too!). If I designed the middle aged sims I'd give them slightly thicker waists as well as a little gray hair. If they weren't in good shape they'd immediately get fat, if they weren't already. They could work it off, of course. I also like the "golden" years idea ... only certain sims would get there, I would imagine. Most of them would probably still die as elders. I like the wizened old guy/gal in a wheelchair idea. Live long enough to be a real pain in the butt, I say.
What if sims that reach their golden years became non-playable? What if they were more like objects: Care For--Bathe Grandma; Care For--Feed Grandma. LOL. That would be interesting, and probably a little tedious. I can imagine ignored golden-year sims just sitting in a wheelchair, radiating green fumes from wetting themselves. Oh my. I think I'm sounding sadistic. :shocked:
Welcome to my world... Anyway, yes, this is a great idea! I also agree that middle-aged is a much-needed stage. I usually change the adults' hairstyles and let them get fat when they've only got a few days left from becoming an elder, but I'd rather have it happen officially. The preteen thing is also good, because I can make myself then! The little kids' heads are just too big to be me.
These are always good topics to discuss. I absolutely agree with the need for an intermediary sim age between adult and elder and I'd love the idea of a semi-decrepit oldster who confuses the mailman with her son and maybe has "potty accidents" without realising. The children thing though ... hmmm. The game engine would need to be much more advanced for me to enjoy the childhood stage. Sims seem to have only one parental instinct and that is simply to hold the nearest baby. As soon as they become children all parental instinct is gone and the child, instead, takes up the baton by abandonning all activity to race and hug a parent freshly returned from work.
