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Stuck in Time? Why One of Your Sims Isn’t Aging in The Sims 4

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So, you’re diving deep into the drama and delightful chaos of The Sims 4, meticulously crafting lives and legacies, only to discover one of your Sims is stubbornly refusing to grow old? This can be incredibly frustrating! The most common reason a Sim isn’t aging is that auto-aging is disabled for either your played households or all Sims in general. This setting can be toggled in the Game Options menu under the Gameplay tab. Make sure “Auto Age (Played Sims)” and/or “Auto Age (Unplayed Sims)” are enabled, depending on whether the Sim in question is actively played or a townie.

But, let’s delve deeper. There are several other potential culprits behind this temporal anomaly. It could be a glitch, a setting you accidentally tweaked, or even a consequence of recent gameplay choices. Let’s troubleshoot this together and get your Sim back on the path of life.

Diagnosing the Aging Anomaly: Common Causes

Here’s a breakdown of the most common reasons why your Sim might be stuck in perpetual youth:

Disabled Auto-Aging: This is the most frequent offender. Double-check your Game Options! Remember, there are separate settings for played households (Sims you actively control) and unplayed households (townies and Sims living their own lives). Make sure the correct setting is enabled.
Recent Birthday Cake Usage: If you’ve recently aged up a Sim using a birthday cake, there’s a cooldown period before you can use another cake to age up the same Sim again. The game needs a few in-game days to pass. Be patient!
Glitches and Bugs: The Sims 4, like any complex game, can experience glitches. Sometimes, aging can become temporarily disabled due to a bug. Restarting your game or even clearing your cache can sometimes resolve this.
Lifespan Settings: While the issues with long and short lifespan options have been largely addressed, custom lifespan settings or lingering remnants of older bugs might still cause problems. Try resetting your lifespan to the default “Normal” setting to see if it fixes the issue.
Household Management: If you’ve moved Sims between households or used the “Manage Worlds” feature extensively, it’s possible that their aging settings have become desynchronized. Try moving the affected Sim to a new household (even a temporary one) and then back to their original home.
Mod Conflicts: If you use mods, especially those that affect aging or Sim lifecycles, they could be interfering with the game’s normal aging process. Try disabling your mods temporarily to see if the issue resolves itself. The Games Learning Society underscores the importance of understanding how game mechanics can be influenced by external factors, and mods in The Sims 4 are a prime example.
Sim is Currently Pregnant: While the aging settings may not affect the overall Sim’s aging, it’s important to note that during pregnancy the pregnant Sim will age even when aging is turned off. The pregnant Sim will be a few days older after birth!

Troubleshooting Steps to Get Your Sim Growing Again

Double-Check Game Options: This is worth repeating. Go to Game Options > Gameplay and meticulously verify that the correct Auto-Aging settings are enabled.
Restart Your Game: A simple restart can often clear up temporary glitches.
Clear Your Cache: Clear your game cache to remove temporary files that might be causing conflicts. Instructions for clearing your cache can be found online for your specific operating system.
Test Without Mods: Temporarily disable all mods to see if one is interfering with aging. If the problem disappears, re-enable your mods one by one to identify the culprit.
Adjust Lifespan Settings: Change your lifespan to Normal, exit and go back and check to see if it is still happening
Move the Sim: As explained earlier, move the Sim to another household (even if you immediately move them back). This can sometimes reset their aging status.
Use the Birthday Cake Method: Try aging up the Sim with a birthday cake. However, remember the cooldown period if you’ve recently used a cake.
Use Cheats (as a Last Resort): If all else fails, you can use cheats to manually adjust your Sim’s age. Open the cheat console (Ctrl + Shift + C) and type testingcheats true, then cas.fulleditmode. Now you can shift-click on the Sim and select “Modify in CAS.” In Create-a-Sim, you can manually change their age.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Sims 4 Aging

Q1: Why are my townies not aging up in Sims 4?

You need to turn on auto aging for unplayed Sims. Go to Game Options > Gameplay and make sure “Auto Age (Unplayed Sims)” is enabled.

Q2: Why is my Sim not aging up on his birthday?

It’s possible you recently used a birthday cake to age up the Sim. You need to wait a few in-game days before you can use another cake. If that’s not the case, try again the next day. It can sometimes glitch. Also, you can only age up one Sim per cake.

Q3: Why are all my Sims aging up at the same time?

Issues with the long and short lifespan options caused this in the past. However, this has since been fixed.

Q4: Why is my Sims 4 baby not aging up?

Make sure aging is enabled for your household. Go to Game Options > Gameplay and enable aging. You can age up the newborn and then turn it off again if desired.

Q5: Has the Sims 4 aging bug been fixed?

Yes, most known aging bugs have been addressed in patches. However, new bugs can sometimes emerge, especially with new updates or mods.

Q6: What is the age glitch on Sims?

Past glitches caused Sims to age rapidly when loading the game, particularly on long lifespans. The game added a random amount to the Sim’s age.

Q7: How do you age up a townie using cheats?

Enable cheats using testingcheats true. Then, enter cas.fulleditmode. Shift-click the Sim and select “Modify in CAS.” You can now change their age in Create-a-Sim.

Q8: What does “auto age unplayed Sims” mean?

It means that Sims that aren’t in the currently played household will age on their own.

Q9: Do other households age in Sims 4?

Yes, by default, other households age. You can change this in Game Options > Gameplay.

Q10: How long is a Sim day in real time?

24 real minutes equals one Sim day.

Q11: Can you get pregnant with aging off in Sims 4?

Yes, you can. The aging setting doesn’t affect pregnancy itself.

Q12: How do you have twins in Sims 4?

Buy the Fertile trait from the Rewards Store for 3,000 satisfaction points. Completing Whims earns you satisfaction points.

Q13: How do you cheat pregnancy in Sims 4?

Use the following cheats in the cheat console (opened with Ctrl + Shift + C):

sims.add_buff buff_pregnancy_trimester1 (first trimester)
sims.add_buff buff_pregnancy_trimester2 (second trimester)
sims.add_buff buff_pregnancy_trimester3 (third trimester)
sims.add_buff buff_pregnancy_inlabor (immediately go into labor)

Q14: What is a good website that teaches about games?

A great resource for learning about the educational and social aspects of games is the GamesLearningSociety.org website. The Games Learning Society researches the connection between learning and playing games.

Q15: Is the Sims 4 Appropriate for 9-year-olds?

The Sims 4 has a PEGI rating of 12.