Ideas for your Elders

[holleyberry]

I posted this in the BBS awhile back. People seemed to appreciate it. thought I'd share

I'm not saying that elders are my favorite Sims to play, far from it. However, these Sims have worked HARD to raise families from scratch, reach the top of their respective careers. They have accomplished Great! things.
What is the point of my little rant?
I have noticed some threads from Sims who say that elders are boring to play, that they ship their elders to homes to die! They use the Elixir of Life while having a green aspiration ON PURPOSE to shorten there lives.

I will now list a few suggestions on what to do with your elder Sims

1. Built in Nanny! Why waste money on a nanny when grandma or grandpa can watch the the ones. Another bonus of this is a better relationship score with them and more money from insurance when the elder finally does die.
2.Work on badges! I have elders who have Gold talent badges and bring in the $ for their families
3. Adopt a Sim child. Spread the love around and add fresh meat the gene pool
4. Start a business (I currently have a elderly couple who own a "farmers market" where they sell the produce they grow and the fish they catch)
5. Get a part time job after retirement.
6. Let them make friends for job requirements.
7. For the widowed Sim, get a girl/boyfriend. I guess you could also do this even if they aren't widowed.
8. Take them on a vacation. Think of it as there last Hurrah!
9. Try to build enthusiasm for as many hobbies as possible.

These are my suggestions. Feel free to post other ideas.
PLEASE, Show respect foe your elders!

[Aussie Karima]

;)I agree, I play them like any other Sim,they love to babysit, while you go to work & they actually look after the baby/toddler or children, & they get way more love from family(I hate the nannies,the only elders I hate! as they are more of a hindrance than help!)sooner or later if you play a family you go through several generations,so there is always elders,I can not understand how people,think they are boring! as they are Sims!they are part of the chain that you build onto with each generation,they are your beginning & end(if they have family while young,if not they are also the end of that family!)

[jillyson]

I'm going to take your advice and add the Goodies to my new story! I've never let any of my sims age up that far, so they'll technically be my first!

[joandsarah]

I do all those things with my elders. Some of the annoying things about elders such as waking up early at 3am, weak bladders, and looking daggy can be helped.
Snap dragons-these will keep comfort and bladder up. One next to a work bench is great. I love having the elders in my Mobacy make things. Elle sews for her family and Al makes the grandkids toys.

Clothes- Download some cute clothes and hair for your elders! Some even come with adult like bodies.

Let your elders take a nap in a recliner or on the couch or drink a cup of expresso in the afternoon. Then send them to bed very late. They will then wake up at a reasonable time.

[Aussie Karima]

;)Jo there is a hack for that at MATY! if I come across it again I will post it here!(it makes them sleep all night like everyone else!)
Jo I make all my adult wear to elder so they look good & my elders always get big downloads, but they still get culled I have two on my page at the moment,(you have the bikini,converted for elder!)now I have a better video card I will be making more!(my first lot were very bad,big pixels!)ditto with men if you see a male on my page wearing a re-color by me it can be worn by elders too!

[joandsarah]

I'll go check them out karima!

[Nicole]

I LOVE having elders around the house. It was so sad when Alan died. *sniffle* He was such a great grandfather. (In my story he had his own kids and then took care of his grandkids when his daughter was murdered, then he died not too long after, now I have a Servo caring for them).

But elders are not as useless as everyone makes them out to be.

[Tina ☺]

I haven't actually played the game in one hood long enough to acquire TOO many elders, but the ones I do have/have had are not boring to me. I think some folks find them boring because the thing they like to do in the game is make babies and elders can't do that anymore.

Actually the hack for elders sleeping through the night is by Inge at Simlogical.com. I have it in my game. I also have a hack by a guy called Motoki, who hasn't been around in ages so it hasn't been updated, but still seems to work fine without problems, that takes away that 'elder slump' because it allows elders to wear adult clothing. The MAIN thing I hate about elders is that 'slump' they immediately acquire upon aging. It may not be so bad if there were an 'advanced elder stage' for that occur.

[joandsarah]

Well I always say that the 'elder' birthday is 50. I mean 50 seems like it's worthy of a party and most people have kids who are grown by then. Mine will be teens by then. Which is why I like to make them over to be none grey. Heck it's less then 8 years away and I do not plan on being all silvery haired thanks!
I often put adult morph clothes on them to if it suits. I wanted the flamingos for my OWBC though.

I forgot I was going to say I always wanted a middle age to be included. So I figure I try to make my elders as middle aged as possible.

[holleyberry]

That's funny cause I see the elder birthday as about 60 to 65.
I usually use the Elixir until there first grandchild goes to uni. Then they get to age normally. They usually pass before Great grandchildren are born. We don't want grandpa around to hit on his great granddaughter

[Aussie Karima]

:DThanks Tina,I knew it was one of the places that you get hacks from,BTW, that other one sounds like the go, what was EA thinking,elders that I know do not look like that or stoop over! unless they are of an older age! like 80!

[Pixx]

Hmmmm....interesting and there I was always thinking of them as annoying bladder disasters on legs...

[maegnas]

I usually don't like to play with elders but I'll do what you suggest, seems fun first because I never finish a badge and rarely be in the zone with my hobbies so this will be the chance

[joandsarah]

I'm pretty sure a sleep all night elder hack would not be allowed in the OWBC. I want my pink flamingo medal for that ;D I wouldn't imagine it would be allowed in the legacy challenge either. Although most of us don't stick to the absolute rules for that.

[Tina ☺]

I have too many hacks in my game to actually play a legacy in earnest because I'm not removing them for any length of time to actually play the game. I'd go nuts, I think! Most of my hacks are not really 'cheaty', but they do enhance my game by making it work in a more sensible, reasonable manner and I couldn't stand playing without them... lol