★ TIPS & TRICKS for making your own save file in The Sims 4 - Including FREE template! 

HEY! IMPORTANT PINNED COMMENT Download link in the description always has the most up to date version of the sheet! - PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE FILE AND DON'T ASK FOR PERMISSION TO EDIT IT! (downloading can be done by navigating to File (top left corner) > Download > Select Excel file type) VERSION 5.0 (March 2024) - Fixed some minor errors in lots not counting properly (thanks for those who reported them) - Added the option for 'Life Stages' in the dashboard so you can differentiate between Sims/Pets/Occults - All careers, lots etc. are updated to include packs up until Crystal Creations ADDED IN VERSION 4.0 (August 2023) - Fixed a broken formula which prevented households to show up in the drop down lists for individual sims - Added all the Horse Ranch Pack lots to the list! ADDED IN VERSION 3.0: - Now works in Google Sheets without breaking so people without an excel subscription can also use it - The "lot type" field has been updated to include clearer titles for Residential homes - The career segment for individual sims now also contains an "in school" option so you can give your kids/teens/YA that one, this prevents using "jobless" for everyone in school. The dashboard also includes this option.

One of my BIGGEST tips is to get vendors/employees from the gallery! I place them, evict them and then give them a makeover! They’ll work perfectly as long as you don’t go in live mode with them!!

I don’t remember how many save files I started and deleted. Until I started to keep record of my progress, I made my own save file and now I love the game even more.

As an extremely organized person, I gotta say I love this speradsheet idea. I was originally using a document but that wasn't working for me but THIS SPREADSHEET IS AMAZING 😢😊. Thank you for putting it out for everyone to use that wants it!

You actually can stop new townies generating. Cepzid's no new townie generated mod prevents them spawning, and existing townies and premades will fill all NPC job roles such as mixologist, vendor, etc. The only flaw is that firefighters won't come when you call them for some reason, but other than that existing townies will fill every single other role - even Tragic Clown! My Tragic Clown was the evil mermaid from Sulani lol. It definitely works, I've been using it for ages, it's a must have mod.

i love making my own save files. I have one for alpha cc, one for maxis cc, one unfinished that’s harajuku themed and another one i’m working on that’s completely full of occult sims

This video was perfectly timed. I’ve been working on a few different master save files on and off for a few years now. They’re fun to do but a lot of work. Oddly enough I was just thinking I could organize things better using excel. My tip: Also make sure you turn of neighborhood stories or you’ll end up with extra kids, babies and pets you didn’t plan. Ugh I had to go back and redo a lot when this feature was released and I didn’t turn it off in time.

I’ve finished a few worlds so far: Sulani (vacation world full of rentals, restaurants, beaches and clubs), San Myshuno and Del Sol Valley. They’re my faves 😍 do recommend leaving some empty lots and builds so you can develop your own story (young adults moving out for example).

I never thought about creating my own save file, it always seemed too overwhelming! But this video inspired me. It could be a fun little summer project. Thanks for this video! You gained a new subscriber!

I can't wait to make my own save! I have so many ideas 😂

I couldnt imagine starting a save file without some genius excel tricks because its so much info to manage thank you!

I recently started a 10 generation challenge in your save file. I'm still on Gen 1, so there are a lot of places I haven't been and a lot of Sims I haven't met. But I am really loving playing in this file. My Founder, Leo, started as a teen in Newcrest with very little money, and I did replace some lots there for the story (added a homeless park, a couple of abandoned buildings and a cemetery). The Newcrest Park is really awesome - he's spent a lot of time there. His first friend was Dustin Broke - I really like this version of him - second friend was Aurelia Ricci. He crushed on Violet Barker immediately when he met her, and she's brought a lot of drama into the story. He met the love of his life, Lily Nowak, at the Newcrest Park, and they are now living together in Newcrest. I had to replace the house on the lot with a tiny house because that's a requirement for Gen 1 in my challenge. Their first date was at the Lighthouse Restaurant, which is a really nice build. Leo was planning to ask Lily to prom, but she asked him first, and their amazing compatibility resulted in topped-out green and pink bars very quickly. Lily is now going to Uni, working on a Distinguished Degree in Language and Literature. I do have a story going about them - on Carl and Pam's the Sims 4 Forum here: www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=32876.msg521097#msg521097, if you have the time and any interest in checking it out. If not, no worries . . . just know that your Sims are alive and well and thriving in a Simverse across the pond. I enjoy your stream and your videos - I visit you on Twitch when I can as GlazeyLady - I'm usually working when you stream, but I'm fortunate to work from home, so sometimes I can listen in while I work.

Thanks for sharing your spreadsheet, it's great!

Great video! I will be using all the links because I am starting my own channel soon. And I have been binging all your tips and tutorials! Loving the packs challenge btw too!

This is the best thing I ever seen ! THANK YOU ! I'm not a builder I take everything from the gallery and that's just perfect for me ! For the townie I use MCC with their population setting and it work perfectly and I would add that the mod Sims spawn overhaul make everything even more perfect. Thanks again for this !

i've been working on my own save file probably for a year now 😅 but it's totally worth it! you're really pretty, and your voice made me feel calm, thank you for your video!

I've be thinking about making my own save file for a while, this video has convinced me to try!

Decided I wanted to give a save file a real try and omg thank you so much for this video!! I feel so much better after hearing your tips and having the excel sheet!

You are such a sweetie for doing this and offering up the hard work that you and your bestie spent so much time putting together. Thank you for all of your tips! I thought about doing this once but it seemed so overwhelming to even contemplate building up each world. I wonder if you disable each pack you have and just start with the base and maybe one or two packs at a time if it would make it easier? What do you think?

This is amazing and I'm so excited to try that spreadsheet. I've been usig a bullet journal to help me plan things but a spreadsheet would be so much easier. I personally put in all my favorite builds/families first in every world first just because I knew those were sure things. It also helps me to plan out the worlds a bit in advance. However, I will definitely be working on everything else one world at a time.

your channel just appeared in my feed and I like what you’re doing with this video! I’ll have to check out your other content! A tip I can share is you can use MC command center to limit the townies that the game pulls to Sims that are in your own gallery. It does mean you have to manage the Sims you keep in your gallery a bit- like not keep duplicates of Sims that are already in your save, but this way, the Sims will look normal and not have crazy cc. I’ve created 3 save files and have learned more as I go along! Thanks for the tips! 😊💜

YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PERSON EVER THANK YOU I WANTED TO DO THIS SO BAD

Ahh, I love this! I've had my own excel file with almost all of the things you've listed as well. I've thought I was the only one playing like this and being so "extra" :D

Very informative video, thank you!

wow, just discovered your channel. Love your voice and the content is so well organized. Will download your save file and play soon.

This is SUPER helpful! I just built a new PC and was going to start building my save file. Thank you so much for all these tips!!!

TIP: you can stop random sims from spawning if you use MCCC and say you only want Sims to be generated from your gallery

Very helpful video, thanks!

This was VERY helpful! Thank you! 💝🙏🏽

Thank you so so much for this! This is fantastic 🙂

Thank you so much for this awesome video and spreadsheet! I'm currently buildign up a savefile and even use a spreadsheet. But i switch between the want to build/create sims and play so the building of the savefile is often on hold which makes me fall out of the loop and forget a bunch of plans/visions, even though i have so many notes lol. But your spreadsheet is so incredibly detailed and the dashboard is super useful so I'm really excited to use it and get a way more balanced savefile eventually (sideeyeing my huge amount of farmer families and artsy young adult females lol) tysm!!

I don't know why youtube always knows what I need at a time. I've been thinking of doing this but was overwhelmed on the idea but this helps so much! As an excel girlie, I got waaay too excited seeing you had a spreadsheet. Thank you for sharing! :D

Thanks, this is great. Just downloaded the spreadsheet and seeing if I can update it to include For Rent lots without messing it up. I've had sims for years but have come back to it pretty recently so just getting to grips with it all again!

You’re such a great resource!!!

i've been working on my save file on and off for 2 or 3 months now because i got some new packs when i was basically done😭😭😭 it's not easy but it's fun and some of these tips will actually help with the finishing touches of my save ✨

This is AMAZING

I'm only at the intro, boy i hope this vid helps me get some ideas to elevate my current save file progress. Base worlds are done and moving on to dlc worlds.

One of the best save file tips videos I've ever seen 😉👍

Thank you so much for creating your excel spreadsheet. This is so helpful for an overly organised person like me! *HUGS*

MCCC allows you set skills from 1-10 as well as set their career and promote them.

Ty SO much for this! I have been working on my save file for a couple months now and, nerd that I am, I've created an Excel spreadsheet that links to a OneNote notebook to keep track of sims/families as it's pretty extensive (plan to have multiple generations of fams that all have backstories & many interesting connections, a la Sims 2, with founders being buried in individual-world cemeteries with their own backstories). I can't wait to use the one you've created to help me, also, keep track of lots. This is great, and I'm excited to see I'm not the only one with copious notes and a packed Excel file lol

there's an option in MCCC to stop random generated NPCs and townies and i haven't had and issue with it so far...the game will spawn sims from your library for NPC jobs instead of generating them you just need to have A LOT of sims in your library which you can get from the gallery and give makeovers but it's a lot of work so far all the NPC jobs in my game have been filled by thie sims in my library

I love this! What would be your tips on how to track what you’re adding etc on notion? I love the challenge trackers and want to try and do something similar for my own gameplay. Thanks

I love the template, thanks. I am a software developer and have a suggestion that would make it easier to maintain when new expansions come out as well as people who use mode. Create tabs for entering validation data like LOT TYPE, COMMUNITY LOT TYPE, TRAITS, WORLD, AGE GROUP, PRONOUNS, CAREER, RELATIONSHIP STATUS, LIFE STAGE, CLUB then load the popups from those tabs.

I’m basically always trying to create my own save file but I get distracted and start playing in it 😅 I’ve now downloaded the sims on my partners old laptop and am using that just for building so I don’t get distracted 😂 I hate that the game won’t allow you to assign the npc vendors, I always get distracted and just start playing when I go into live mode so I can make them over

Came for the video title… subbed and stayed because the “sul sul!” at the start 😊

It's like you read my mind. I've been working on a save file for a year and I think I'm ready to share it with others but want to make sure I'm doing it properly. I had to restart the save file because of the "duplicate world" bug from the Werewolf patch. :(

You are a angel

I love your video, very detailed & helpful because I've been trying to make a new save file with the original save file and it sucks. But question, is there a way to make the backstory passage on the world screen longer through MCC? Similar to how you can do for their names?

Hii Rosana, I love this save file SO MUCH, so much thought has gone into it. I'd love to create my own save file using yours as a starting point. Is it possible that you could provide a copy of the spreadsheet that corresponds to this save file specifically? Lots of Love

Im building a save file at the moment, but I made a copy because I just fell in love with one of the families and I couldn't wait to play with them! It's gonna be weird to go back to gen 1 when the save file is finished.

OK, your spreadsheet is much better than mine 😝, thanks, I'll be stealing it now.

This was such a great video! Thank you! How long did it take for you to finish the project? I keep going back and forth with whether I want to make my own save file or not. I'm organized as well and I am great at decorating. Winter is coming and I'll mostly be in the house so I was thinking why not? I would love to see my own lots and all of my own sims. It would be so satisfying. I just don't know! AGH!!!!

Hi, just found your site! Very cool! I was looking at your Legacy Challenge and had a great idea! You should offer a saved game that has a designated lot for each generation that is designed on the rules that you made. I would love to jump right in and have a world already designed for the challenge. I believe you have Gen one as Outdoor Retreat. Would be nice to just load the save and move in my sim to home already setup for the description of the lifestyle you envisioned. Would save me some time and give me some direction for each gen. :) Kinda like the premades we had in TS2. Well, have a great day! I just installed your save into my game! Thanks! I'm sure it would be loads of fun to play!

Literally subbed just for the cool accent. 😂

Thank you for this video and the excel sheet! How should I go about adding “residential, occupied, and furnished” in the excel sheet since the drop down menus do allow for yes, no, or residential to be entered in Worlds/Lots? Thanks in advance!❤

Hey Rosanna! I love the idea of the spreadsheet. I did want to let you know the template link is view only, so if you can walk me through how to utilize the template, that would be great!

I’m in the process of making a save file that has everything in the sims 3 base game, but I’m a console player so you’d have to get the stuff off the gallery lol. The only worlds I’m using are Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, Newcrest, and Brindleton Bay, even tho there’s other packs I’m using that come with worlds. I already made all the families and some NPCs too. I also made the family bin households! Now, I’m working on building the lots, except I’m making them look better 😅 because sims 3 lots look kinda weird if you know what I mean lol

Wow, will be stealing so many tips from this!! Several months deep in my own save and had to double back to an older record of the save do ti a save error. I really like the idea of making a copy of the save for world-by-world test play as I feel like I am just lost in the sauce of building even with mostly doing renovations of buildings from the gallery. I have two spreadsheets currently, one is the worlds spreadsheet (for community lots and public buildings) the other is the families spreadsheet for skills/special interest/jobs/relationships etc. And a biography document. But this makes me think I should adjust a bit and instead of plowing through the checklist if the world spreadsheet and then the family spreadsheet, I instead do world by world. I agree on the NPC jobs thing, no matter what mod I use the game starts generating Sims. I have found some mods that prefer existing sims, but they often become too aggressive and jobs will end up unfilled or filled by sims I don’t want in those jobs and I hate that. So I have decided to literally ignore NPC existence until I get through all the housed/primary families I want to get placed. And I am happy with the base of things I care about. Gonna sub, I think your style of play lines up with my own in many areas.

thats amazing! I think using sims or lots from other creators in the gallery makes ur game for alive too ♥

Some amazing tips, and I will definitely be downloading that spreadsheet! I do have a question though: Is there a way to make save files which keep NPCs like Agnes Crumplebottom? I want to try and work with a blank slate, but there are a couple of amazing NPCs that I feel just need to stay in my game, as well as a few well-known families like the Goths. I know some people will have uploaded them to the gallery, but I'm not sure how this works with NPCs who don't have houses? :)

damn it now i wanna do this 😂😂

I use MCCC to give my sims and the townies randomized traits.

I'm a month late to this video, but I just started building my own save file and this excel sheet is a life saver lol!! I was wondering if there was any way to get rid of the information about other packs that I don't own (for example, I don't have Outdoor Retreat, so I can't make any actual progress on Granite Falls and it's permanently saying that I haven't finished it yet) or will that just completely break the dashboard?

I'm confused about the blank save. Do I download each lot file from Brindleton Bay? As in, the blueprint for club calico and then the next one Chateau Frise? And so on?

This is really useful! I started inputing some of my own sims information into the savefile template, I'm confused about how to add households tthough? As in, I typed in the name but it doesn't recognise it in the general statistics or in the household dropdown. If you have any idea how I could fix this or a video or something explaining it I'd appreciate the help :D

So how did you make it together? did you post the houses and familys to the gallery for eachother to put inti saves or? I prefer making sims where my fruends prefers to build so this would be a perfect idea as we both wanna make savefile

Love your save file! How do I add Horse Ranch to the worlds and lots?

If anyone knows the answer to this I’m all ears. Would you recommend after creating the households, moving them into their lots, go in with mccc to modify relationships, skills and careers or should I finish all the worlds then at the very end, modify their info?

Hey I just have a question about the spread sheet. I want to add coloums for the aspirations, traits, likes and dislikes and I'm wondering how can I make it to where the all the words(ie; for the likes and dislikes) to stay in the one box instead of extending the coloum bigger?

I don't know if you've answered this, but how do I add new lot type? I downloaded the excel sheet when we got high school years. I have 3 worlds finished already. But I would like to add the two other worlds. Not sure how to do that. I would also like to add student as a career option. Can you let me know how to edit the dashboard to include them?

once i backup my saves files, do i remove them in the original folder and then add in the blank save file? i'm confused what to do. I have a Medieval Custom World that I want to use

Mei Prescott, who is the principal of the Copperdale High School, looks nice in the expansion pack. However, I really disliked her default hairstyle and decided to replace it with a pixie cut. She looks so better now…

Hello, I love your videos. Do you have a updated sims 4 empty save file excel sheet that is up to For rent?

Are there any videos how to make a save file for console players

Hello Is your save file completed and without cc?

How many families should you make in the save? Should you make the maximum population or not and does it make a difference to how many NPC are created?

If I start a new game, will it delete my current one? I have it saved but I’ve been so scared to start another one 😅

❤❤❤

Hello! The excel sheet is amazing however I am having one issue. Under the household tab, the lots for Chestnut Ridge and Tomarang are not appearing and when I press "done" for a lot in one of them, the percentage goes up for both.

Can we do save files on consoles ?

maybe a dumb question, but you do have to unpause your game from time to time to give them jobs, right? or does it always have to be paused? started my save file recently and feel a bit weird unpausing the game, as stuff could happen that i don't want to happen yet.

Just a quick question. What do you need to do to NOT have your NPC's going about their lives, (procreating, etc.) as you build your save? Like, how do you "freeze" everything in the game during the save building process????? (I'm a Sims newbie)

Hey ff een andere vraag. mijn c schijf zit behoorlijk vol maar ik wil ook andere packs gaan kopen.. Kan ik me spel nu vanaf me d schijf die veel leger is gaan spelen? Dus kan ik mijn hele spel over zetten naar mijn d schijf? En het van de c af halen? En ik heb je save gedownload maar nu ontbreken er heel veel dingen.. Ik heb dus nog niet alle spellen. Speel ook pas vanaf dec en met 1 familie.. Dus ben nog een groentje met de sims.. Maar ik ben wel al verslaafd haha groetjes Marina :)

I use no random townies mod which is basegame compatible and it no longer generates random townies in my savefile. I just need to make sure I have enough unplayed sims to fill those roles and jobs. I have 300 sims in this savefile.

Hi, I tried to download your save file to my game the same way I have downloaded others and it does not show up under the load game options in game. Do I need to rename it with the slot... or should it work already as is? It looks like a great save and I would love to be able to play with it :)

What puts me off making full/big families is that you can’t save in cas. Too many times my game has crashed during it or after when I’m exiting out of it 💔

Can you include CC in your save file or is it recommended not to?

i probably sound really dumb rn but i’m confused to what a save file is. when i open the game and press the option to create a new sim, is that a save file? bc i literally do that like at least every week lol-

Hi I downloaded your save file spreadsheet so it would be up to date and the drop down lists aren't working so its not showing the options or updating the dashboard. Is there a way to fix this please?

EXCELLENT TIPS but that's to much do for me.🤷🏾‍♀️😁

A Dutch girl who talks like a North American 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 😅 I wonder if she learned English from American tutors/teachers because some people would do that and they would grow up talking like their teachers 😅

that would be a no for me this game is shit and the fact that you have to do all this just to enjoy the game says a lot of things

Oh, thank you for this🙌🏾 much-needed🫶🏽

Me wondering the whole time if you were Dutch and then you were and I was like omg nederlanderssss 🩷 Dankjewel for this video this really helps me a lot cause I was starting to feel overwhelmed but I just needed a more organized way to keep track of things