I was very interested in this new feature introduced in Growing Together, so I went to explore the game files to find out more about how it works, including the new Sim Characteristics preferences. And I found quite a few interesting things:
Itās not only the traits that are explicitly mentioned in the description that are taken into account, but also the aspiration related traits (Gregarious, Quick Learnerā¦), liked activities, and even Snowy Escape Lifestyles.
The positive traits in relation to the Characteristic preference all have a high impact on compatibility (all at the same level, while some are certainly more secondary).
Negative traits in relation to the Characteristic preference have a low impact (3x lower) than negative traits.
Some traits are not used at all (Loyal, Squamish, Foodie, Gluttonā¦), thatās also the case for some lifestyles.
Some Characterics preferences have a lot related traits, other only a few.
Thatās why I worked on a small mod to balance that better, include more traits & lifestyles, give relative importance to some of the traits and amplify the negative impact of other traits, and I also added the Character Value traits from Parenthood as I love playing with those. I tried to give more diversity and I based my decisions on the initial descriptions of the Sim Characteristics preferences.
Download here: SimFileShareĀ š§©
I havenāt been able to test the mod for people who donāt have the packs used, but as Lifestyle were already included, and as itās very specific resources that are modified, Iām not worried about that (and it shouldnāt require updates in a while, only if new traits are added)
You can find more detail after the cut about new traits and lifestyles included š
