With reproduction and children being central to much of the human experience, there’s a lot to consider when building a life simulator. I had a few ideas of my own, and then I read a some other posts here … there’s a lot of amazing suggestions. I’ve consolidated them into list form for easier reading and parsing (and hopefully implementation).
Table of Contents:
- Game Settings
- CAZ
- Clothes
- Build
- Purchasables
- Age Restrictions
- Multiples
- Fertility Clinic
- Adoption Agency
- Visuals
- Interactions
- Life Events
- Game Events
- Included Topics
Game Settings
- Selected Household Settings (from city map?):
- Toggle to enable/disable autonomous pregnancies
- Toggle for autonomous “Try for Baby” interaction
- When enabled, will be affected by Life goals mentioned above
- Selected Zoi Toggles:
- Can Get pregnant
- Can Impregnate others
- Descrete Pregnancy stage length setting (along with age group length settings)
- Partially implemented
- Setting Number of Days is more natural to understand
- I didn’t recognize this settings page as doing this until I saw a forum post about it. “playback speed” doesn’t map anywhere close to “Age Stage Length” in my experience
CAZ
- Base fertility/virility traits
- 5+ level slider from (super-fertile/super-virile to barren/impotent)
- Effective level affected by:
- Age
- Birth control
- Life goals (below)
- Number or previous pregnancies
- Types of birth (Natural vs Cesarian, also prior complications)
- Life decision/goals
- Initial Setting Options on creation?
- Wants to have children
- Doesn’t want to have children
- Zoi’s autonomous choice
- Can also be a life choice option/dialog/conversation after an event or when teen or aging after the teen age (for both male and female)
- Can change over time
- Examples:
- Giving birth can often prompt a “Doesn’t want to have more children”
- A bad babysitting experience can flip a “Wants children” to “Doesn’t want children”
- Holding a baby for the first time can change a “Doesn’t want children” to “Wants children”
- Becoming career oriented can change to “Doesn’t want children”
- Becoming financially stable can change to “Wants children”
- Examples:
- Can change over time
- Initial Setting Options on creation?
- Unique/Age-related traits and personality that affect behavior/temperament and Trait biases when aging to Child
- Child traits biased towards their parents’ traits
Clothes
- Functional nursing bra(s)
- Different outfits for each pregnancy stage
Build
(requires purchase)
- Cribs
- Bassinets
- Baby Swings
- Baby Walkers
- Toys (autonomous interaction in crib or on floor)
- Rattles
- Teething rings
- Nurery, furniture, decorations, etc.
- Support/Comfort Pillows (during pregnancy)
- Reduce back/belly discomforts
- Aids sleep
- Various positions
Purchasables
Items to affect baby interaction effects (storable on shelves, has limited uses)
- Diapers
- Disposable
- Reusable/Fabric (needs washing to replenish)
- Bottles
- Clothes (needs washing to replenish)
- Baby Powder
- Etc.
Age Restrictions
(chance of pregnancy adjusted based on health and age)
- Young Adult (Optimal chance, better with health)
- Senior (low chance, better with health)
Multiples
(2-3 is in the 2026 Roadmap)
- 1-4 with realistic rates
- 1-8 with fertility/virility treatments
Fertility Clinic
(Hospital addition)
- Fertility treatments
- Virility treatments
- Regular Scheduled Checkups (ultrasound, health advice, baby health report, baby count/gender (option dialog in second trimester?), etc.)
- Framable sonogram
- Option to choose gender(s) if cheats enabled?
- Baby checkup (vitamins, shots, health report, advice, etc.)
- In vitro fertilization (IVF)
- Paid procedure with chance it won’t work (higher chance of success than the “Try for a Baby” interaction)
- Chance of success with barren Zois
- Option to select future Child’s appearance, personality, skills
- Full pregnancy duration and experience
- Surrogacy
- Be paid to have medical procedure (IVF?), but won’t keep the baby after birth.
- Pay for a surrogate
- Choices for donor’s genetics, appearance, gender, etc.
- Birth Control options (herbal, chemical, mechanical)
- Abortion
Adoption Agency
- Zois available for adoption are randomly generated on game creation
- Randomly add children/babies slowly over time
- Put babies up for adoption
- When a household that looses all members older than Teen an alert/popup is given with options
- Select Teens and below to be added to the Available for Adoption population
- Select Teens and below to be transferred to a relative’s household
- Select Teens and below to be transferred to the household of a good friend of the deceased Zois
- When Child Protective Services takes a child, they are added to the Available for Adoption population (and not allowed to be adopted by the household they were rescued from)
Visuals
- Dynamic Belly
- Distinct size and shape change between stages (and within stages)
- Smaller/lighter mother = belly looks bigger
- Larger/heavier mother = belly looks smaller (current size or slightly smaller)
- Relative size/shape bias differs based on the individual Zoi (random initialization on Zoi creation)
- More babies = bigger and bigger sooner
- Distinct size and shape change between stages (and within stages)
- Stretch Marks - Optional Toggle setting and belly cream to reduce (bonus for mood/pain discomfort if severe)
- Different size/weight/shape of babies
- Age related features (would probably implemented as more distinct age brackets)
- Newborns: smaller, delicate, soft in the face (pudgy), toothless, closed eyes (usually), closed hands, etc.
- Babies: Current stage, teeth start showing, active, plays with toys, rolls around, sometimes crawls
- Toddler: larger, teeth, wide eyes, crawling everywhere, sometimes attempts to walk, interacting with baby toys, etc.
Interactions
- All sex is risky (relative to fertility traits/settings)
- Condoms (with small risk of failure)
- Avoid insemination (success affected by personality and life goals mentioned in CAZ section)
- Autonomous sex/set mood/try for baby has reduced percentage chance of success
- Especially for inactive households
- Especially if household already has children/teens (scales by quantity)
- Ask another Zoi or NPC to be your surrogate
- If accepted, event/option window for trip to clinic to choose donor, get the procedure, etc.
- Ask another Zoi or NPC to adopt baby/Child
- Accept request for adoption of another Zoi or NPC’s baby/Child
- Ask to rub belly (higher autonomy chance from extrovert children or similar)
- Ask to hold baby (friendly relations or higher)
- Give baby-related gift (especially for baby showers)
- Spouse/Family Interactions
- Rub belly
- Listen to belly
- Kiss belly/baby
- Talk to belly/baby
- Cradle/cuddle baby (in rocking chair, couch, bed, etc.)
- Wash baby (in sink or in a baby bath)
- Give pacifier to baby (interrupts crying and temporary mood increase)
- Carry Baby (can still perform limited other actions while carrying a baby)
- Change Baby’s clothes
- Put baby to sleep (in arms or in crib)
- Sing baby to sleep (in arms or in crib)
- Teach to walk (Toddlers)
- Potty train (Toddlers)
- Teach to talk (Toddlers)
- Other Pregnancy stage-based reactions
- Meaningful family support
- Relatives actively visit or stay to help with newborns, cook meals, and clean
- Walk the baby (take babies out in strollers for a walk in the park, etc.)
- Autonomous NPC interactions for compliment babies, etc.
- Baby carriers and car seats for traveling by car (like to a hospital checkup)
- If child is adopted, option to tell them they are adopted
- Reaction depends on age/personality
- Child can gain a life goal to try finding their biological family (family could be from a different city or a non-playable city)
- If baby/child was put up for adoption, parents could try to find them later and build a relationship
- If surrogate, can ask permission of parents to start a relationship with the Child
- Household Scandal reactions - surprise pregnancy with Zoi outside of household
Life Events
- Scheduled Checkups (See Fertility Clinic section)
- Baby Shower Event/Party (with planning and invitations to selected venue/home)
- Maternity Leave (Near end of third trimester and at least a day after or scaled by baby age group span)
- Baby teeth growth (mid to late in the age bracket?)
- Makes breastfeeding without nipple shields painful
- Baby’s First Steps
- Baby’s first words
- Baby’s first skills
- Birthday Parties
Game Events
- Fertility Cycles (affects moods and effective fertility)
- Menstrual cycles (tracked by Zoi/Smartphone App)
- Postpartum
- Menopause
- Hygiene products
- Moods (vary by week of pregnancy)
- Pregnancy/offspring status conflicts with Life decision/goals (detailed in the CAZ section)
- Greater unhappiness or joy while pregnant
- Growing unhappiness if childless (not pregnant) and had the “Wants children” goal for too long
- Less/More invested in building a relationship with their children
- This can mellow over time as the Zoi gets used to the situation
- These can also affect relations/interactions/moods with the spouse/husband
- Affects reactions to (and ability to give) the “Request a baby” intimate action
- Aches and pains
- Morning sickness
- Energy draining more than normal
- Feeling of well being (the pregnant glow)
- Excited/worried/nervous about birth (usually last stage+)
- Goal to prepare a nursery
- Pregnancy/offspring status conflicts with Life decision/goals (detailed in the CAZ section)
- Baby movements (brief interruption and mood change)
- Idle belly cradling animations (with moods?)
- Idle belly rubbing animation (with moods? and chance to trigger baby movements)
- Sing to baby/belly
- Read to baby/belly (baby books in the smartphone store?)
- Nutrition/Diet Planning
- Plan food/nutrition balance for each stage of pregnancy
- Affects mother and baby health and development
- Vitamins & Supplements
- Chance to influence baby genders by eating acidic or basic foods?
- Cravings
- Food/drink selections by single ingredients or/and color, varies slightly based on babies’ genders
- Bad reaction to random foods (bad smell to nausea/fatigue)
- Very rare chance to gain an allergy (medical alert on consumption)?
- Lactation (starts mid third trimester?)
- Moods based on leaking, let-down, presence of a crying baby, and engorgement
- Milk pumping, storing and feeding equipment
- Feeding
- Breastfeeding
- Bottle feeding
- Preparation animation (pouring, mixing, heating, etc.)
- Option to use Stored milk
- Option to use powdered formula
- Option to use liquid formula
- Option to use ‘ready to feed’ formula
- Animations/options for feeding while standing, sitting (couch, rocking chair, bed)
- Puking animation (force outfit change)
- Burping the baby animation
- Pregnancy Stage tracking (Zoi tracks each week with expectations, moods, symptoms, events, etc.) — Smartphone App?
- Similar when tracking a surrogate’s pregnancy
- Overdue
- Moods and higher baby movement rate
- Even Bigger belly!
- Birth
- Home Birth (chance to need emergency transport to hospital if complication)
- Home Birth with medical assistance / doula (scheduled, lower chance of complication)
- Option for transport to hospital — car or ambulance
- Natural Birth
- Cesarean (especially if complications)
- Choose attendee’s (Family, friends, doctor, etc.)
- Attendees get nervous, excited, etc. while waiting depending on age/personality/relationship
- Initial care (set up routines): schedule/assign diaper changes, feedings, sleep routines, baby etc.
- Alien abduction (pregnancy regardless of gender)
Included Topics
Note: I may have missed a few features that have already been implemented, partially implemented, or planned.
Ideas raised for Teens:
The community is vocally divided (weighted against) on this and it conflicts with the developers’ stated goals, so this section is for the modder’s archive only.
Mod Only --- and probably only on 'that' site
- Age Restrictions (chance of pregnancy adjusted based on health and age)
- Teens (After the first 1/2 - 2/3 of the age span?)
- Adoption Agency
- Put babies up for adoption
- Especially for pregnant teens (even more for teens who are threatened with being forced out of the house)
- Put babies up for adoption
- Interactions
- Parent reactions to Teen pregnancy depending on personality/values
- Support (positive) - helps with mentoring, pregnancy, and newborns
- Chide/angry (negative) - no help, ignored (refuses to talk for days), or forced out of house/family
- Mixed (both or neutral/conflicted conversations) - disappointed, negative relations, but can still offer help. Occasionally uses the chide/angry reaction or support reactions.
- Teen Jobs — Unable to get a job at, or continue working at, some teen jobs.
- Parent reactions to Teen pregnancy depending on personality/values
Included topics:
