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Elder
Elder
A life stage · Featured in: The Sims 2 The Sims Life Stories The Sims Castaway Stories The Sims 3 The Sims 4

Elder
Isabella Monty
An elder in The Sims 2.

Elder is the final life stage in The Sims 2, The Sims Stories, The Sims 3, and The Sims 4.

The Sims[]

In The Sims, elder does not exist as a separate life stage, as Sims in this game never age. There are head and body skins which can give a Sim the appearance of being elderly, as with Gunther Goth and Ginia Kat, but it will be no more than an appearance. This means that female Sims who appear elderly in the game, such as Cornelia Goth and Ginia Kat, can still have children.

The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories[]

Elder is the final life stage in The Sims 2. Sims will have grey hair, a hunched back, and their voices will sound noticeably older during this stage. Players with Nightlife or later should note that elder Sims will be considered to have gray hair for purposes of chemistry, even if they have custom hair that is not visibly gray.

Elders have a few special interactions. If two elder Sims were married as adults, they can throw a golden anniversary party. Elder female Sims cannot get pregnant, but Elder male Sims can still impregnate adult female Sims. Sims who held jobs when they aged into Elders can continue working, or can retire and receive a pension. A retired Sim's weekly pension will be half the weekly salary of the job he or she retired from, and the Sim will receive one-seventh of that each day. A retired Sim can take a part-time job alongside their weekly pension for additional income, but they cannot retire from the part-time job.

Nannies, repairmen/repairwoman, gypsy matchmakers, obedience trainer, butlers, cafeteria chefs, hostess, cooks, human statues, professors and coaches are always generated as elders.

A household consisting only of elders can be created. However, if there is a toddler, child, or teen in the household being created, then an adult must be created.

At the end of elderhood, the Sim will die of old age. If the Elder Sim has a platinum aspiration bar when dying of old age, they will receive a special gilded gravestone with an engraving of the symbol representing their aspiration. Sims who die of old age will give inheritances to their family and friends.

Elders are not included in The Sims Pet Stories. Sims in this game will instead die of old age when they reach the end of the Adult life stage.

Elder lifespan[]

The Elder stage is the only age from the base game that doesn't have a fixed duration. An Elder's remaining lifespan will be randomly determined when aging up, but can be somewhat influenced by the Sim's aspiration bar level at the time.

When aging to Elder, a Sim will always be assigned 10 days for their lifespan (PlantSims will be assigned 15 days). A random number of days from 1 to 10 will then be added to this amount, but there is no way to influence the exact amount. The Sim's current aspiration bar level when aging from Adult to Elder will then further modify the total days as follows:

Aspiration level Lifespan modifier
Platinum +10 days
Gold +7 days
Green (high) +3 days
Green (low) No change
Red -2 days

As such, elders can live a minimum of 9 days and a maximum of 30 days. PlantSims can live a minumum of 14 days and a maximum of 35 days.

When Sims become elders, the age bar will no longer show how many days remain in their life stage. Instead, it will display how many days the Sim has been considered to have lived. Initially the age bar will always display their age as 54 days old, regardless of the number of days the Sim has actually been alive. This means that days added by drinking the Elixir of Life, drinking from the Cowplant[TS2:U], or the Give Me A Long Life wish[TS2:FT], as well as any time spent in college will not be reflected in their age.

Gallery[]

The Sims 2 (console version)[]

As in The Sims and console versions of The Sims, elders do not exist in the console version of The Sims 2. However, in CAS, a Sim can be given white/grey hair with old-looking skin. Sims like Patrizio Monty and Isabella Monty look like elders, but are still technically adults (since it is possible to change their looks and make them "younger").

The Sims 3[]

The sims 3 elder

A male Elder Sim in The Sims 3

Elder returns as a life stage in The Sims 3. It is the seventh and final life stage.

As in the previous game, elder is the final life stage before death, and represent Sims beyond retirement age. Elder Sims appear somewhat hunched over, walk slowly and take slightly longer to complete tasks than younger Sims. By default, elder Sims have grey hair upon aging up from the adult stage, but they can still dye it by using the Change Appearance interaction with a mirror if the player chooses to do so. As in The Sims 2, elders have fewer clothes available to them than adults. Female elders can no longer become pregnant, but male elders can still father children with adult and young adult female Sims. Elders still have the option to adopt children.

Unlike other life stages in The Sims 3, the elder stage does not have a set length and can be prolonged through means other than eating Ambrosia. Rather than having a bar on the Simology panel that indicates the number of days left until they age up, the bar for an elder Sim shows the total number of days that the Sim has lived for. On the normal lifespan setting, elders will always live to be at least 90 days old, resulting in the elder stage lasting for a minimum of 16 days before death becomes a possibility. Elder Sims with the Vegetarian trait will live slightly longer than other Sims, as will those that have completed the Marathon Runner challenge at some point in their lives. At the end of the elder stage, Sims will die of old age. If an elder Sim is part of a household that is otherwise composed of nothing but babies, toddlers or children, the other members of the household will be relocated to new homes when the elder's death is imminent.

As in earlier games in the series, elder Sims can retire from their job and receive a pension. Retirement allows Sims to take life a bit easier, and enjoy the time they have left without having to work. This option, however, can put the Sim at a noticeable financial disadvantage to Sims that continue to work in some cases. A Sim at Level 10 in the political career, for instance, will be paid approximately §582 per hour and only work three days per week. With working hours of 9:00 am to 1:30 pm, they will earn around §2,619 every workday, far more than the daily payments of §280 they would gain from their pension if they were to retire. As a result, retirement may not always be the best choice, though this is entirely up to the player to decide. Unlike in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, elder Sims are able to join new careers rather than being restricted to part-time jobs. However, if a Sim who has previously retired returns to full-time work, they cannot retire for a second time. Often when an adult Sim ages up to the elder stage, a wish to retire will appear as one of their wishes within seconds.

If The Sims 3: Generations is installed, an elder Sim may use a walking stick. There are three different cane designs available, and elders using them may be assigned one of two different walking animations while using them, known as the Geriatric Gait and the Southern Gentleman. The former is a hunched-over and rather stiff-looking animation suggesting a particularly old or frail elder Sim, while the latter is much more upright, confident and energetic.

Things that Elders can do that younger Sims can't:

  • Retire
  • Die of Old Age
  • Female Sims cannot get pregnant, but male Sims can still impregnate young adult and adult females.
  • Write a historical book
  • Reminisce about younger life [TS3:G]
  • Boast about grandchildren [TS3:G]
  • Walk with a walking cane [TS3:G]

Gallery[]

The Sims 4[]

TS4 elder

An elder in The Sims 4.

Elders from The Sims 4 are fairly similar to those from The Sims 3. It's the eighth and final life stage.

When adults enter the elder life stage, their hair will turn to gray, although this can be edited by clicking on a mirror or dresser and choosing "Change Sim" or "Plan Outfit". Unlike The Sims 2 and 3, they can wear all the same clothes that teen and adult sims can. When Sims are elders, they will perform tasks at a slower speed compared to younger Sims. When they perform heavy tasks (doing fitness or WooHoo), they may become exhausted, which will cause the "Dangerously Tired" moodlet to appear. If they continue to perform heavy tasks, they will die of overexertion. Just like in the previous games, elders can retire. They can do this with their smartphone and will gain daily pensions. Elders can also still adopt children or have a science baby, as female elders cannot become pregnant anymore. However, elder males can still impregnate younger Sims.

The Simology panel shows the days the Sim has lived, instead of the days until the Sim dies of old age. If the Sim life length is normal (the default length), and the Sim was born in-game rather than being created as an elder, Sims will be 100 days old when becoming an elder. Once the elder Sim's age meter is full, it may take up to 48 hours on normal lifespan for the Sim to pass away. Elders with the Long Lived reward trait from completing the Bodybuilder aspiration will live significantly longer than normal, even to the point where their own children are elders.

Unlike previous games, elders can be set as the parent or child of another elder in Create a Sim, allowing for great-grandparents to be made. However, great-grandparents and great-grandchildren are titled as "roommates" in CAS.

Things that elders can do that younger life stages can't:

Things that elders can't do that younger life stages can:

  • Get pregnant (although elder male Sims can impregnate younger female Sims)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

References[]

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