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Custom Venues and Getaways: Tips and Warnings
🕑 Added 2025-10-05 14:21:33 +0000 UTCPlaying around with Venues and Getaways I've found some important information that I'm gonna throw out there.
No modding spree just yet, I'm still not even in live mode...but I'm gathering intel.
Today we're learning that Custom Getaways do not save to the Calendar if you switch households.
So if you plan a getaway in 2 weeks, then swap to another household and do something there for a week (or even 3 seconds), then come back, it won't be planned anymore.
You will lose your getaway setup entirely in this situation, unless you save it as a preset.
So when planning a Getaway, you may want to always save it as a preset, just in case. I think this is good practice regardless. But this way you can call it back up in case you left the household for whatever reason. It is unclear if this is a bug or intended behavior and if it's intended, why it's intended. But once you know, watch out!
Here's some additional Tips for these sorts of things:
Venues and Getaways are the same system.
A custom venue runs exactly as you design it- the Sims you chose, in the Roles you chose, with the Activities you chose, at the Times you chose- but it does it every single day and will do it when you visit as a normal guest, same as anyother lot.
A custom Getaway uses the exact same systems and features, but only runs when you tell it to. You can use any Getaway setup on any Lot, including Custom Venues.
Think of a Custom Venue as a permanently-running event, and a Getaway as a temporary version. Your Getaway can temporarily change a Campground or a Museum into a Custom Venue for a few days. It will remain a Campground or a Museum when visited normally.
Likewise, your Getaway can override a Custom Venue. You've made a Pizza Place for Parties and it runs in a special way when visited as a guest, but if you plan a Getaway there, think of it like "renting out the space". You can set your own guidelines for behavior and, for the duration of the getaway, the space runs how you tell it to.
Saved Presets DO retain their assigned Sims.
This includes Venues and Getaways- they're the same system, the same presets.
If you plan to use a Getaway for multiple families or again in the future, always save it as a preset. Worst case scenario you will have to re-assign the Sims, which is much better than having to remake the whole thing!
You can save a preset while you're on the Getaway, in case you forgot to.
Open the Getaway menu while it's happening, same as when you want to adjust any activities, and click Save. Note that this has special behavior when it comes to roles-
When at a Venue or on a Getaway, Sims that the game automatically assigned to a role can be saved with it.
Pictured below: I've opened the Venue menu while at the Venue. The visiting Sims are all marked as "Assigned". If I save the venue now, it'll also save those visitors.
Say you've made a Custom Venue, and let the game fill in the blanks for the Roles. If you open Build Mode and edit the venue, the formerly blank roles will now show the currently active Sims in those roles. If you save the preset again, you'll save those Sims with the preset. If you save it as a new preset, you'll get the same result, but the original assigned to the lot will still be "random sims who follow the requirements of the role".
You can use this system to easily auto-populate roles if you want specific Sims to visit a Venue. Make the venue, let it run and gather Sims for the roles, then edit it and you'll have an automatically-selected variety of Sims assigned to the roles, which can then be saved as a new preset or over the existing one to keep that set of Sims as the venue's defined visitors. I know this might be confusing to understand.
Likewise, you can do the same on a Getaway. Forgot to save your Getaway? Open the menu and save it- but notice that your roles are all pre-filled-in by the current attendees. If you'd like these randomized you'll need to un-assign Sims before saving, or un-assign them next time you use that preset.
Venues can be saved and used as Getaways and vice-versa.
Downloaded a custom Camp or something from the gallery? Open it up, save it as a preset. Now not only can you use it for your own custom camps- you can select it as a Getaway preset. They're the same systems in different use-cases.
You can also do the opposite. If you're on a Getaway you like, you can make any custom venue lot you want behave the same way by saving the Getaway as a preset and then loading it up as a Venue.
Roles are not hard-locked to what you've assigned them to do.
Simple example: You've made a Custodian Role. Their activities are Clean and Fix items. That's all you've told them to do.
But if you want, at 6pm, you can have them join everyone else for dinner. Simply set their activity at 6pm to do that- there will be a little yellow light on the activity slot. This means "For this time period, you've overridden the role's normal activity set".
For other time periods, the Custodian will go back to doing cleaning and fixing. You can adjust these whenever, however, you want. This means any role can do any activity at any time of day and is not beholden to the 5 things you assign when making the role.
This also applies to outfits. If your Camp Counselor has a special outfit all day, you can make it change into a more casual outfit before bedtime, or outright swap them into a different outfit category altogether, putting them in sleepwear for the 3 hours before sleep time and 3 hours after waking up, without adjusting the role's defined uniforms.
Free Time and Self Care are different
The "Free Time" activity is "do what you want".
The "Self Care" activity is "do what you need".
Free Time will let Sims make their own stupid choices, same as if they were just left to exist.
Self Care encourages motive-solving above other choices, so Sims will try to fill their motives up, and won't ignore Hunger to play or Bladder to dance, and so on.
The "Main Activity" is ALSO defining anything Sims do.
When a Main Activity is assigned it's changing the name on the time slot, but it's also a special 6th activity assigned to ALL ROLES.
Roles will focus on their personal activity sets BEFORE focusing on the Main Activity.
This is why your special staff roles might be doing something silly when they have no staff work to do- they check if their activities make sense, and if they don't, they check the main activity. Chances are, it makes sense- so they go do that.
Main Activity and Role Activity can be the same. If Main Activity is Swim and every role has Swim assigned, that's fine.
Main Activity and Role Activity can be entirely different. Main Activity can be Swim even if not a single Role has Swim assigned- it just means the roles will use Swim as a backup activity if others aren't as appealing or available.
Roles Diversify Visitors
Don't just make "Kids" and give them "play with stuff". Make different sets of kids with different ideas of what's fun to play with. For example, my party place lot has a playground, arcade, voidcritter battle room, ping-pong and foosball, and some toys outside.
If I make one "kids" role and give them a set of options they might all choose the same general options.
If I make 3 "Kids" roles and make one outdoorsy kids told to play on playground stuff and with toys, one arcade kids who are told to play arcade machines and video games, and one more competition-oriented kids who are told to play foosball and table games, I'll get a more diverse set of behaviors visible on the lot. Be creative!
Likewise, set your Sims up to arrive at different times and create a rolling schedule of visitors. On EA venues, individual Sims leave after a few hours and are replaced and it's really annoying once you notice it. On custom venues, have groups stay for 6 hours, but have new groups come in and out in between, to make things feel more believable.
Save Time on Uniforms with Gender Locked Roles
If you're giving a Role with only a single Sim in it a Uniform...just make them required to be Male or Female. You'll only have to make one outfit. Very small tip but I'm already abusing this to simplify making outfits.
This system is incredibly deep and powerful so there's surely more tips out there but these are the biggest most important ones I've found so far!
Comments
Toni Hawthorne
Wow, thanks! I'm bookmarking this to my sims folder!
Intern Waffle
the excessive explainy-ness is the autism baybeeeee
MyGalFridaySims
I am so glad you make these "Waffles Explains It All" posts! There are some great videos out there but I find I comprehend best when information is presented in words and still images. You are so very clear and well-organized. Thank you.
