Trait Information

Description & Information Guideline: Trait Information

Appears in: Traits

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Possible Assessments

Approvable	TS4	TS3	TS2	Title	Description
				Unclear/Incomplete	The information given for this trait is either unclear or incomplete.
				Clear/Complete	You have included all required information of your trait, good job! :)

General Guidelines

To really make a trait shine, and appear more realistic, it's important to share what kind of whims and buffs your sim might be getting. Therefore it's important to list:

Which Whims the sim might be getting (even any custom ones).
The changes that Whim might roll.
The buffs that might appear (even any custom ones).
How often this buff appears.
Whether this buff is a negative or a positive one.
The CAS category of the trait.

For more information on the information regarding whims and buffs, see Trait Buffs and Whims.

(Optional but definitely has to be mentioned when you did include it with your trait)

How it might affect their careers.
How it might affect their traits
How it might affect their relationships with others.

Another thing to be aware of is that a trait should not just have 4 whims and one buff - this would be a trait that doesn't really have much value from a gameplay perspective. It's better to have multiple different buffs, to help things be more rounded.

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Examples

Correct - All info possible

WHIMS
Baking:
Bake Something
Level up in Baking Skill
Cooking:
Cook a Meal
Cook an Excellent Meal
Cook an Experimental Meal
Eat and Learn an Experimental Meal
Give Someone Cooking Tips
Level up in Cooking Skill
Make a Group Meal
Talk about Cooking
Watch Cooking Show
Gardening:
Graft a Plant
Harvest a Plant
Level Up in Gardening Skill
Revive a Dead Plant
Spray a Plant
Talk to a Plant
Water a Plant
Weed a Plant
Foodie:
Research Cooking Techniques
Watch the Cooking Channel for Ideas

Occasional Buffs:
Watching cooking show - Happy 3+
Gardening - Focused 6+
Cooking- Focused 6+

Proximity Buffs:
Sims with Cooking Trait - +3 Confident

Skill Increase Rates:
All Mental skills - 1.4x rate
All Physical skills - 2x rate

Career Increase Rates:
Athlete, Detective, Secret Agent, Scientist - all 1.5x rate

Need Decay Rate:
Increases Baking Skill 1.25x faster
Increases Cooking Skill 1.25x faster
Increases Gardening Skill 1.5x faster
Increases Culinary Career Performance 1.25x faster

Relationship Increase Rate:
Sims with the same traits - 2x
Friendship - 0.7x
Romance - 0.7x

Career Performance:
Culinary career increases 1.75x Faster

Why is this correct?

While maybe considered a bit long, this is probably the best way to list all your info about your trait. This way people can easily figure out what the mod is about and which whims it might role, whether it affects relationships or careers, if not if it's something that fits with their gameplay style! :)

Incorrect - All info but a bit cluttered

Baking:
Bake Something
Level up in Baking Skill
Cooking:
Cook a Meal
Cook an Excellent Meal
Cook an Experimental Meal
Eat and Learn an Experimental Meal
Give Someone Cooking Tips
Level up in Cooking Skill
Make a Group Meal
Talk about Cooking
Watch Cooking Show
Gardening:
Graft a Plant
Harvest a Plant
Level Up in Gardening Skill
Revive a Dead Plant
Spray a Plant
Talk to a Plant
Water a Plant
Weed a Plant
Foodie:
Research Cooking Techniques
Watch the Cooking Channel for Ideas
Watching cooking show - Happy 3+
Gardening - Focused 6+
Cooking- Focused 6+
Sims with Cooking Trait - +3 Confident
All Mental skills - 1.4x rate
All Physical skills - 2x rate
Athlete, Detective, Secret Agent, Scientist - all 1.5x rate
Increases Baking Skill 1.25x faster
Increases Cooking Skill 1.25x faster
Increases Gardening Skill 1.5x faster
Increases Culinary Career Performance 1.25x faster
Sims with the same traits - 2x
Friendship - 0.7x
Romance - 0.7x

Why is this incorrect?

As you might probably see it's just a list that is confusing in it's own. It has no headers and therefore it will be quite difficult for the downloader to find specific information! Which, in itself is quite bad given how we want to share everything possible about our traits! :)

Correct - Basic info

Whims: Throw a Tantrum
Smash a Dollshouse
Get into a Fight
Be Mean
Scare a Bird Flock
Hit Stuffed Animal
Wake Up {Sim}
Yell At {Sim}
Troll Web Forums
Hit {Sim}
Insult Someone’s Face
Kick a Trashcan
Mock Someone
Rage Run on the Treadmill
Rant and Rave to Someone
Send an Angry Text
Stomp Trash
Take an Angry Shower
Throw a Fit
Use Punching Bag
Try to Calm Down

Buff
Sims gain a +5 Confident Buff when they use the Mischief skill, or make viruses, hack, steal and sabotage object.

Why is this correct?

It's very common for basic traits to have a few buffs and a few whims. Of course, we'll check if it's not just the minimum (So just 4 whims) because it still has to be somehow useful in-game! :). But when sharing a trait that really only has whims and buffs included, it's good to list them the way they are listed in the example.

Incorrect - Cluttered and missing info

Whims: Throw a Tantrum
Smash a Dollshouse
Get into a Fight
Be Mean
Scare a Bird Flock

Why is this incorrect?

It seems to be missing the buffs. Without this, people might think there are none. This is also an example of a trait that really could use some more spice to it so it really makes a difference

Tutorials - The Sims 4

How to Find Your Trait Information in Zerbu's Mod Constructor

Open Zerbu's Mod Constructor and go to the trait you built using Select Element in the top right corner, then click on your trait. One of the first things you will see is your description and trait category. Put these both in the description for your upload.
Look at the left hand side of the tool, you will see a list of categories, one of which is Whims. Click on that and you will find all the whims you associated with the trait. Put those in your description for your upload, giving it a heading Whims. If there are none there, you didn't put any in. If there a lot, give us a few, or tell us what type of whims they are. For example, all whims associated with Adults and Charisma. Only put something like that in your upload description if you actually entered all the Charisma related Adult whims in your mod. If there are a bajillion whims (awesome!) here are a few ways to put them in the upload description.
1. list them all (feel free to use category headings)
2. list them all in a spoiler (see vB code link below)
3. if you've added all the whims from a specific category, state the category and that all the whims therein apply
4. list a few from each category and mention there are more. This only applies to Whims. All other items such as buffs and such require complete listings.
Above Whims, you'll see Availability. This is where you told the mod constructor to what ages your trait applies. Also put that in the description for your upload.
Click on General to get back to your main trait page, where you found the description and category.
On the top right click on Element Tree. These are all the buffs, commodities, loots, etc. that you told the mod you want in your trait. You must list them ALL in your upload description. Within the Element Tree, you can click on State 0:Loot_Loot and get the list of buffs that you made. You will be able to click on each one in Loot Actions, and get all the information that you need by clicking on all of the sub-sections that pop up, and their sub-sections. We need the name/type of each buff and they're values. For example, Sadness +1 Continuous Loot (which means any sim with that trait will always have a Sadness +1 buff), or Sadness +1 Proximity Buff for Other Sims when near your Sim with this trait. There are quite a few different ways buffs work, so make sure when you put them in your description, that their effects are clear.

To figure out how to make words bold, or in italics, or many other cool ways to set up your description, please look at this page: vB code. Play around with how your post will look using Preview in the Upload Wizard.

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