Can the time go slower in Sims 4?
As a long-time The Sims enthusiast and guide writer, one of the most common questions I see is whether you can make time pass more slowly in The Sims 4. After all, with so much to do, from careers and relationships to skill-building and decorating, there often just doesn‘t seem to be enough hours in the day!
So I‘m happy to confirm, yes absolutely – you can slow down the flow of time in The Sims 4 through several different methods. In this article, I‘ll compare the options and explain how to leverage them to stretch your Sims‘ precious days and really relax into enjoying everything this magical life simulator has to offer.
Adjusting In-Game Settings
The easiest way to make time slow down is directly through The Sims 4‘s gameplay settings. Simply open the Menu > Options > Game Options and you‘ll see a "Game Speed" slider. This controls a global rate that impacts how quickly time passes in your Sims‘ world across the board.
[insert image of game speed slider]By sliding this closer to the turtle icon, you elongate the duration of each Sim minute elapsed. My own preference is around halfway – any further towards the turtle and actions start feeling too dragged out. But play around to see what feels right for your style of play.
One limitation is that this uniformly slows down all elements – from conversational animations to pregnancy length. For more granular control, check out the mods section below. But for a quick 5-second tweak that profoundly impacts tempo, the game speed slider is your best friend!
Cheat Codes for Slow Motion
Hardcore Sims fans know cheat codes offer all kinds of fun ways to bend the game‘s rules. I often use them to unlock hidden objects or boost my Sims‘ skill levels and career progress. Well good news – there are also cheats specifically designed to manipulate the flow of time!
My two favorites are:
clock.set_speed 0.5– Make time pass at half speedclock._set_milliseconds_per_sim_second 2000– Double the duration of each sim second
As you can imagine, entering either of these can make it feel like you‘re controlling your Sims in slow motion bullet time! Agonizingly long work days, pregnancy lasting nearly a week, New Year‘s Eve parties that go past sunrise – Cheat-assisted temporal distortion opens up all kinds of possibilities!
Of course such extreme elongation can also become tedious. So what I like to do is create custom hotkeys to toggle these cheats on and off. This gives me precision control over speeding up and slowing down specific events at will!
Mods for Ultimate Time Control
While cheats are great, to truly master time in The Sims 4, mods are where it‘s at. My personal favorite is MC Command Center by the incredible modder Deaderpool. This adds a full in-game UI allowing granular tweaking of durations for various actions and milestones.
For example, with MC Command Center you can independently configure:
- Pregnancy length
- Rate of skill gain
- Pet and baby aging speed
- Duration of holidays
- How often bills are paid
- Frequency of autonomous actions like cooking, repairing etc
Basically it hands you god-like power to shape time‘s flow precisely to your liking. Do you want skill-building to go faster but pregnancies to last longer? Do you hate how quickly pets grow up or how often your teen Sims autonomously grab snacks? MC Command Center lets you address all these pain points and more with its unparalleled temporal customization options.
While a bit complex, once you get the hang of it you‘ll feel like you‘ve transcended to a higher plane of Sims mastery! So if you really want to bend time to your will, MC Command Center is in my opinion an essential mod.
Impact on Gameplay Elements
Now that you know how to generally slow down time in The Sims 4, let‘s look at the impact on some specific gameplay elements:
Pregnancy Length
By default, Sim pregnancies last around 3 days. While beautiful, this can feel too rushed, especially if you have fewer Sims in your household.
Using the methods above, you can easily stretch it out to 5, 7 or even 10+ days for a more realistic experience. Seeing your pregnant Sims‘ bellies slowly grow bigger and bigger really builds the anticipation and excitement of expanding your family!
Sim Lifespans
Similar to pregnancy, the default Sim aging rates also tend to feel too compressed. Babies grow up into elders so fast, it can seem like you barely had time to experience all life stages.
So why not use cheats or mods to intentionally lengthen lifespans? Some players use this to essentially make their Sims immortal! Watching generations of families unfold can be incredibly rewarding.
Holiday Duration
Some of my favorite events are the special holidays like Love Day and Harvestfest that come with game expansions. But frustratingly, the holiday moodlets and traditions tend to last less than a single Sim day before vanishing at midnight!
By leveraging time manipulation, you can stretch out holidays for much longer to really immerse yourself in their magical atmosphere. Make Spirit‘s Eve last a whole spooky week! Why not?
Skill-Building Pace
One of my favorite parts of Sims 4 is developing my Sims‘ skills like fitness, charisma and programming to unlock cool new abilities and career options. But it can get boring grinding skills nonstop for days even at enhanced learning rates.
Slowing down time is a great way to make skill-building feel more gradual and organic. Instead of my writer Sim suddenly transforming from amateur to master novelist in 3 sleep sessions, I can configure a progression pace that better matches her in-game routine and responsibilities.
So in summary, whether you want more realistic pregnancies, to follow multi-generational sagas, enjoy holidays for longer or pace skill progression better, manipulating time flow delivers huge quality-of-life improvements across nearly all aspects of Sims 4 gameplay.
Comparison of Methods
Here‘s a quick cheat sheet comparing the various options for slowing time we‘ve covered:
| Game Settings | Cheat Codes | Mods (MCCC) | |
| Speed Control | Global only | Global or events | Per category |
| Ease of Use | Very Easy | Moderate | Complex |
| Impact Intensity | Medium | Very High | Very High |
FAQ
Here are answers to some frequently asked related questions on slowing time in The Sims 4:
Does manipulating time disable achievements/trophies?
Using cheats like those shared above will disable unlocking of achievements and trophies. However mods do NOT affect them. So feel free to freeze time to your delight with MC Command Center without worry!
Can making days longer negatively impact performance?
In my experience, modest time elongation has minimal performance impact. But stretching days to very long durations can sometimes tax your system and gameplay may struggle. So test different settings to find the sweet spot your rig can handle smoothly.
Do non-played Sims also experience the slowed time?
Yes! Manipulating the passage of time impacts all Sims globally across the entire game. So your tweaks alter the very fabric of the Sims space-time continuum itself!
Conclusion
I hope this guide has been helpful showing several great options for answering the perennial question – can you make time move more slowly in The Sims 4?
Whether via basic settings, cheat codes or powerful mods, you have all the tools needed to relax and unwind in a stretched out Sims temporal bubble. Customize durations to match your lifestyle and gameplay preferences for maximum enjoyment!
If you have any other questions on manipulating time flow or requests for guides on other Sims tips and mods, let me know in the comments. And be sure to check back on my blog often for the latest news and insights in the world of Sims modding!
