Is there a way to make relationships freeze?

[escapedpolarbear]

Is there a way in TS3 to stop relationships dropping by themselves over time? Is there a cheat or any other way to make the relationship bar stay stationary?

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@escapedpolarbear  There is a cheat to change a relationship: testingcheatsenabled true, then go to the relationship panel and drag the bar to where you want it.  To stop the decay by default though, you'd need a mod.  There are several out there, depending on what "flavor" of slower or lack of decay you want.  I've never used any of them though, so I can't tell you for sure how well they work.

The other way to keep friendships from decaying is through the game itself.  If your sim makes 20 friends, those friendships will never decay on their own.  This is a bonus from finishing a challenge associated with the Charisma skill.  I believe that a sim does need to learn the skill in order to get the benefit, but one point is enough.

It's not even difficult to make so many friends either.  A sim who knows 25 others already achieves the Celebrity Charisma skill challenge and will automatically get a relationship bonus when meeting someone; the same goes for a sim with the Attractive lifetime reward (15,000 points).  Combine the two in one sim, and anyone they meet is an instant friend.

My wannabe popular sims just camp out at the bookstore and can finish the challenge in an afternoon.  Or they go to City Hall and take the Charisma class, and if it's a Sunday, they might find a dozen or so sims protesting who knows what outside in the street.

Keep in mind that all this applies to friendships, but not romantic relationships.  Those will decay even if the sims are merely romantic interests.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@escapedpolarbear  There is a cheat to change a relationship: testingcheatsenabled true, then go to the relationship panel and drag the bar to where you want it.  To stop the decay by default though, you'd need a mod.  There are several out there, depending on what "flavor" of slower or lack of decay you want.  I've never used any of them though, so I can't tell you for sure how well they work.

The other way to keep friendships from decaying is through the game itself.  If your sim makes 20 friends, those friendships will never decay on their own.  This is a bonus from finishing a challenge associated with the Charisma skill.  I believe that a sim does need to learn the skill in order to get the benefit, but one point is enough.

It's not even difficult to make so many friends either.  A sim who knows 25 others already achieves the Celebrity Charisma skill challenge and will automatically get a relationship bonus when meeting someone; the same goes for a sim with the Attractive lifetime reward (15,000 points).  Combine the two in one sim, and anyone they meet is an instant friend.

My wannabe popular sims just camp out at the bookstore and can finish the challenge in an afternoon.  Or they go to City Hall and take the Charisma class, and if it's a Sunday, they might find a dozen or so sims protesting who knows what outside in the street.

Keep in mind that all this applies to friendships, but not romantic relationships.  Those will decay even if the sims are merely romantic interests.

[escapedpolarbear]

@puzzlezaddict Thank you! Just wondering, if Sims are friends (not acquaintances), does that mean the relationship will not decay?

[puzzlezaddict]

@escapedpolarbear  In the normal course of things, friendships will decay at the same rate as other relationships, starting two days after the last time they talked.  (It happens just after midnight.)  But for a sim with 20 friends, the friendships never decay.

[escapedpolarbear]

@puzzlezaddict Thank you!