Relationships & Socialising

New Socials

Snubbing

Snubbing is a new social that affects STC between teens, which in turn affects LTR. Teens can purposefully ignore another Sim with the new Snub social.

The Target of the Snub receives the Being Ignored negative moodlet and the Actor is actually unable to perform an interaction or social on the Target besides Snub.

If the Target of the snubbing attempts socials, they are automatically refused and both Sims suffer from the Insulting STC.

There is a 24-hour cooldown period following a Snub in which no more interactions are available.

Snubbing can be affected by traits. A Mean Sim, for example, is more likely to snub another teen. A Good or Friendly Sim is less likely.

The Actor can use the Stop Snubbing to cease the horrible treatment.

Grouping Up & Dating

Grouping up was introduced in Late Night, but is carried over into Generations—plus it has been augmented with an official “date” grouping that makes it easier for couples to participate in activities together.

For more about grouping up, see the Late Night guide

Now, while dating, you can direct the pair to different locations around town, including venues such as restaurants where they disappear while eating.

If Sims you do not control get into an argument or have a bad conversation, one may exit the group. Non-player controlled Sims can also leave a group if they get very tired or discover they have to go to work soon.

Eventually, the group has to disband. Things like work or exhaustion tend to break up groups.

You can use Ask to Leave Group on specific Sims to thin the herd, but if you just need to leave, select your Sim and choose Quit Group.

You can also scatter the group entirely by choosing the Disband Group interaction on your Sim.

Enhanced Romance

Generations adds new a Romantic Reputation system, which can hound (or benefit) Sims throughout their lives, and a new visibility system that feeds into potential reputations. This expansion also enhances several aspects and introduces new features.

Flowers

There is a new way to express romance in Generations: giving flowers. Flowers are purchased at the supermarket venue, not found in the wild.

Once purchased, they are deposited in the buyer’s inventory. Now, there are two things you can do with flowers. You can drag them out of your inventory and place them on a lot, which automatically puts them in a vase.

The other option is to give them to a Sim. If you are a stranger, this can easily result in an awkward moment. However, on a Sim with romantic potential or a Sim in which you have a romantic relationship, the STC is amorous and positive.

This automatically puts the Target in a romantic stance, which makes her more receptive to further romantic socials (or interactions, if you get our drift).

Watch the Stars

You can use the new Watch the Stars social with a partner (or potential partner) outside.

This is an alluring social with flirty overtones, which means it can be rejected if you use it on a Sim with no interest.

If the social is accepted, the Sims go outside, lay out a blanket, and look up at the heavens, After an hour or so, both Sims enjoy the Romance Under the Stars moodlet.

Romantic Visibility

Generations introduces a new visibility system to romances. If you are in a committed relationship with another Sim, word gets out that you are taken.

This can affect not just how other Sims deal with you, but also with how a “taken” Sim’s action can harm the existing relationship.

Visibility exists along two poles: Virtuous or Cheating. If the visibility is virtuous, that means the active Sim is not engaged in any other romances.

This is the default state of most relationships. The Cheating visibility occurs when a Sim steps out on a romantic partner.

Here’s an example of how that works: Steve and Jenny are in an exclusive romantic relationship. Their visibility is Virtuous/Virtuous. However, let’s say Steve decides to love up on Sarah and even goes so far as to kiss her.

The visibility between Steve and Sarah is now set to Cheating/Virtuous (if Sarah is not in another relationship). Now, if Jenny kisses another Sim, the visibility between Steve and Jenny would be reduced to Cheating/Cheating.

How does visibility work within the community? Well, when Sims engage in public displays of affection or have a public marriage, Sims in the community pick up on the status of the relationship.

When the relationship is new, it is set at zero. When a few other Sims around town learn of the relationship, the level rises to 1. At level 2, it’s accepted that most of the town knows about the relationship.

You will receive messages as visibility increases, but these messages are different depending on whether or not Sims are being Virtuous or Cheating.

At level 2, for example, cheating on a Sim will give you a warning that it is highly likely for another Sim to witness the betrayal and report it back to the victim.

Discovery of Cheating

Without direct confession, there is only one way for a Sim being cheated on to find out about the betrayal: discovery. The most basic form of discovery is for the cheated-upon to witness the illicit kiss or WooHoo.

However, thanks to the visibility system, now an affair can be uncovered by sloppy secret-keeping.

Here’s how discovery works through the community:

When a Sim is being Cheated on by another Sim, there is a chance he will confront the Betrayer with the Accuse of Cheating social. This chance occurs whenever the two Sims are on the same lot.

This chance can occur only once per day per Cheating relationship.

For example, Jenny gets one chance once per day with her cheating partner Steve, but if Steve is cheating on multiple people, each cheatee gets a chance.

The chance of discovery/confrontation is also improved or reduced by LTR between the cheater and cheatee (the lower the LTR, the higher the chance.) The chance is improved per additional cheating relationship.

When the chance succeeds, the cheatee Sim pretty much automatically uses the Accuse of Cheating Social on the betrayer.

This social can be canceled, but all effects of being betrayed still go into effect. This social is also available as a user-directed social when their betrayer’s visibility state has reached level 2.

Betrayal

So, indiscretions have either been directly witnessed or been made public thanks to raising the Cheating visibility, and the wronged partner is now fully aware of the betrayal.

What now? The cheatee, who has just been dinged with the negative Betrayed moodlet, can accuse the other and see what happens.

For sure, there will be no romantic socials right away. If the relationship survives, it can take between 10–16 days for romantic socials to work between spouses or partners.

If between boyfriend-girlfriend, it takes 5–8 days. Depending on the level of free will you set for your Sims, during that period, if your active Sim was cheated on, she will not queue up any romantic socials.