TS4 Gameplay Tips- For Marley!

These tips are for my little niece Marley and her parents.  She has been such a good girl she is getting Sims 4!  I hope she keeps being a good girl so she can play and tell aunt Lacie all about her families!
 

• You can play lots of different families just like in Sims 3 but it doesn't show their pictures when you start like it did in Sims 3.  
• To start a new game click on the plus sign on the top right of the screen that says "new game".
• To load a game you have already been playing click on the disc on the top right that says "load game".  Don't use the green arrow in the bottom right.  People have had problems with using that.
• Load game will show all of your games with the one you played most recently first.
• It will show the map and you have to click on the familie's house to play them.  This is for people who play more than one house in a game file.  I don't suggest doing that yet there are bugs.
• When you are playing you want to save very often.  I save at least once a sim day when they are sleeping.
• When you save you click the 3 dots in the top right corner that say "options menu".
• The first time you want to click "save as" and name your game.  I recommend having more than one save file for each family.  For example I have: Marx Legacy 1, Marx Legacy 2 and Marx Legacy 3 and I rotate them.  The reason I do this is just in case I accidentally save over one of them I haven't lost my game completely just one day.  Two save files per family should be fine I am just really protective of my legacy family.
• You want to have a way to save your save file.  It can be found in start-documents-electronic arts-sims 4-saves.  Right click on that save file and copy.  Then you want to paste it into a safe place like I use an external hard drive.  That way if the game goes corrupt and you lose everything it is not lost you can copy and paste it out of your safe place.  This may sound like going overboard but I have read stories of people losing entire games.  If they had backed up they would have had something to go back to.  I try to do this daily. (The next time you do it you will have to delete the old save file from the safe place and paste the new save file it won't overwrite)
• I suggest starting with one sim but to switch between sims you click on their face on the bottom left of the screen.
• Needs aren't automatically shown.  You click the button all the way on the bottom right to toggle them to show or not show.  If they have a need it will turn a color and show up there even closed.  Like if they need to pee it will show a little yellow toilet paper icon there.
• Next to needs is simology which shows their age and traits.
• Next to simology is inventory this is where things will go like if your sim digs something up.  You can sell the things your sims digs up or fishes by dragging it to the left and selling.
• There is also a family inventory to find this click on the wrench/hammer on the top right and there is an empty box for family inventory.
• Next to inventory on the bottom right is relationships.  This is where you see the sims you know and how well you know them.  You can call them on the phone or invite them to your lot from here too.
• After that is skills and career.
• There are 8 jobs and each job has a different branch to pick on level 6.  Jobs and school require you to do things like "go to school energized" or "view 3 different paintings".  You must do these things to get to the next level and make more money.
• The star next to jobs is aspirations.  This is your sims goal in life.  It might say something like "catch 10 fish"  There are 3 levels in child aspirations and 4 levels in adult aspirations.  You get your adult aspiration when the sim ages to teen.  
• On the aspirations window there is a little present.  This is the rewards store.  You get aspiration points from completing whims too.  These are the little bubbles around the sims head in the bottom left.  If you don't think you will complete the whim you can click the x and a new one will show up.
• Sims have different moods these moods change all the time.  For work and school they should be in a certain mood.  Like taking a thoughtful shower makes a sim inspired.  Telling jokes makes them playful.
• Under the sims picture is the phone.  You can plan parties and different stuff from the phone.  You can travel to other lots using the phone.  Like you can go to the park.  It will show the map and you choose where to go.  If someone calls you it will ring and shake.  They might want to come see you.  You can say yes or no if you want to talk to them or have them come see you.
• When a sim is at work or school you can't do anything but wait for them to come home.  You can click on their picture and make them work hard though.
• You can pause, play, speed up the game and see the time on the bottom middle.  It doesn't show weeks like Sims 3. :(
• There is no family tree like Sims 3 either.  If you want to keep track of who is who in a family you might want to write it down.  I keep a notebook next to the computer.
• To get to the cheats window press cntrl+shift+c all at the same time.  If you don't want to worry about simoleans you can type in motherlode it gives $50,000 simoleans each time.  That would let you have a bigger house faster.
• Bills are much higher in The Sims 4.  If you don't pay your bills all the electric and water gets turned off.  Make sure you pay your bills!
• Most of all have fun.  Make your sims play out stories or just watch them and see what they will do without you telling them to do something.  Sims 4 sims do neat things on their own like give each other hugs.  It is a fun game and I hope you like it.