My Gameplay Rules
Ever since I was inspired by Pleasant Sims to regress revisit my childhood and play TS2 again a few months back, I have been playing the game quite... seriously? I guess you could say. The months I have spent in front of my laptop controlling these little pixelated people have led to me establishing my own gameplay 'rules', many of which are stolen from inspired by Pleasant Sims.
Currently, I am enjoying a rotational, wants-based gameplay with the premade hoods, namely Pleasantview and Strangetown. Here is a full list of how I play and the rules I follow (sometimes rather liberally) which may be subject to change as I continue playing. Where necessary I will credit Pleasant Sims as many of my gameplay ideas stem from her blog and YouTube Let's Plays.
Ageing | As stated in my Favourite Mods post, I currently use Mertikora's 1 day = 1 year lifespan. I don't really have many 'rules' around ageing; everyone ages up when they're supposed to and I don't tamper with that much. There are some instances in which I mess with ages, though:
Elixir of Life: I haven't really used this at all, except with Dina. While it may be an in-game feature and pretty easy to obtain, I feel like I need to justify using it almost. I don't know, I just really like realistic gameplay. When Dina married Malcolm Landgraab IV, she was almost an elder and quite a bit older than him, which would be fine except I figured he would probably want an heir. In this case, I just pretended Dina had contacts who could manufacture the elixir and give it to her. She strikes me as the type of sim who wants to be young forever.
Genie: So far, three of my Pleasantview families have been gifted the genie lamp. If a Family sim rolls a want to make a wish, I will generally wish for long life - I did this for Cassandra, who was a few days shy of becoming an elder and so I can imagine she would want more time with her children before they're all adults, and Lucy, who wants a ton of babies. I don't mind doing things like this if it makes sense for the sims and utilises an in-game interaction.
SimPE: In the clean template of Pleasantview by meetme2theriver I use, Bella Goth is included as a townie and I decided I wanted to add her as a playable to my rotation. The problem with townies though is that they are all at the start of their life stage and, well... it doesn't make sense that Bella would be younger than her daughter Cassandra, so I tweaked her age in SimPE and made her a bit older. I did the same with Kaylynn Langerak and Malcolm Landgraab IV when I decided to add them to my game. This is the only instance where I would not use in-game features to change ages.
As stressful as they are, I try to throw birthday parties for each sim and every age, especially if they have a lot of family and/or friends. The only real exceptions for this are if sims have close to no one to invite or if they are extremely shy and would prefer a smaller affair (i.e. rolling fears about parties). I used to not throw parties for babies ageing to toddlers however now families are expanding and a new generation has begun these birthday parties double as a 'meet the new baby' party.
Appearance | I make very few alterations to appearance and try to keep it as close to what sims choose as possible, though I may change appearances if for example multiple sims share their same hairstyle or buy new clothes without sims rolling the want if they aged into something... not so pretty. Sometimes I'll tweak appearances just because I want to, such as thinking a sim - such as a Romance sim - might wear makeup, or that they'd suit freckles, in the case of the Caliente twins and their offspring. I also change eyebrows to custom ones I have so they look more realistic. I'm not a big fan of alpha CC in my game; I prefer Maxis match for both my downloads and default replacements.
For anyone interested, I use Feathers Skin Blend by Lilith-Sims defaulted by Poppet as skintone replacements and the Plain and Simple Redux default eye replacements, also by Poppet.
Aspiration | Aspirations are pretty important in my game due to my wants-based style. For sims' primary aspiration, I like to use the 'zodiac system' in which aspirations are determined by and correspond with their zodiac signs. This is the system EAxis used to assign aspirations to townies, though it does not always apply to the premade sims. I leave them how they are.
Using this system, the aspirations and their corresponding zodiac signs are as follows:
Careers | When it comes time for a sim to get a job, it helps a lot when their LTW involves reaching the top of a desired career. In that case, I will always try to get that sim a job in their chosen career path, even if they do not roll a want to join that career. If it doesn't show up during the first job search then I let them stay unemployed if working isn't necessary (i.e. they are financially stable enough or live with other people) or, if they need a job, I send them to the Pleasantview Workforce Center by Pleasant Sims to browse the Job Seeking Noticeboard by MogHughson to instantly get employed in their field. However, if their LTW career doesn't appear in the first search but the sim has wants to join other careers and one is available that day, then I will take that job - usually just to fulfil the want - and keep looking each day until it shows up on the computer or newspaper. If there's still no luck after three days, then sims will head on over to the job centre.
I do not put as much emphasis on getting a particular job if sims have LTWs unrelated to careers and/or they have little to no interest in work. In this case, if they need a job for any reason, I choose an available one that I deem to be most fitting for them. I also do this if they roll a general, unspecific 'Find a Job' want.
Ever since adding Malcolm Landgraab IV and the Ramirezes to my Pleasantview rotation, I have become more interested in playing businesses and so I also consider this as an option for sims who do not have wants for a specific career but enjoy work, want to earn money, and have enough money to start a business. This is especially perfect for Fortune sims who have the 'Earn 100,000 Simoleons' LTW, such as my Dina.
Cheats | Back in the day, I probably knew every cheat for this game like the back of my hand. Nowadays, however, I very rarely use cheats in my gameplay and instead try to use in-game and mod features as much as possible. The only real exceptions to this rule are the use of build cheats (moveobjects, snapobjectstogrid, allow45degreeangleofrotation, etc.) and testingcheatsenabled, which I have on all the time because it is enabled in my userstartup.cheat file, primarily due to the fact the Community Time Project mod mentioned in my Favourite Mods post requires this to work properly. Other than having it on in the background and on occasion having to reset sims when prompted, I barely touch this cheat.
Free Will | Past me would be shocked if she knew I now play this game with free will on. Even last year I was playing with free will always turned off, because I liked to micromanage and be in complete control of EVERYTHING. I've since stopped being such a stickler for control and now I cannot play without free will turned on. It's so nice sitting back and letting the sims decide for once; it's allowed me to actually get to know them better, since they now have personalities and wants and stories outside of the ones I used to force on my sims. All the credit for this goes to Pleasant Sims, who brought this game and all its joy back into my life.
Gender Preference | When I first start playing a hood, I will use either ACR or the Sim Blender (again, see my Favourite Mods post for more information) to randomise every sim who doesn't have a set gender preference yet. This will give all townies and NPCs a random gender preference; premade sims usually come with one already. There is around a 10% chance a sim will be gay or bi. For my playable, born in-game sims, I will randomise their gender preference once they age into a teen. I prefer to keep it random and realistic, and I will stick to what sexuality either ACR or the blender 'chooses'.
Hobbies | I try to leave premade sims' - and born in-game sims for that matter - one true hobbies (OTH) the way they are, even if I don't quite agree with the choice (Darren Dreamer being a Nature sim and Mary-Sue Pleasant being a Music & Dance sim come to mind...). I tend to just ignore those. It can be difficult for sims not to gain enthusiasm in hobbies other than their OTH - seriously, your sim eats cereal for breakfast enough times and they're suddenly a chef. Anyway, this is where mods such as tunaisafish's Enthusiasm Overhaul come in handy, as they enable me to prioritise a sim's OTH above all the others. I try to make sure each sim has a reasonable amount of enthusiasm in their OTH and, if they don't, I will encourage them to do hobby activities if their needs are fine and they have nothing else to do. The EP was called Freetime for a reason...
LTWs | Like normal wants, I try to fulfil LTWs as I view them as a sim's purpose in life, their raison d'être, and so they are treated as important goals in my gameplay. Of course, not every sim can have their LTW fulfilled - just like real life - but it's fun trying. For the most part, I will usually leave an LTW as it is (particularly those of born in-game sims) however occasionally I will reroll using the blender in order to get something a bit more appropriate and in line with a sim's personality, interests, and/or hobby. Pescado's LTW Variety is perfect for increasing the chances of a more suitable LTW for each sim without me having to do anything. Additionally, I try to have as few active sims sharing the same goal as possible; it gets kind of boring when you have, say, multiple Romance sims all with the 'WooHoo with 20 Sims' LTW - my maximum being around two, maybe three.
Marriage | Since my style of gameplay is wants-based, couples will only marry if at least one partner has the want to do so. I won't rush sims into marriage or force it on them unless they want it first, even if the couple make it to elderhood together and have a million grandkids already.
When it comes to whose surname is taken, I used to use Marriage: Last Name Chooser by Marhis, however for some reason the dialog box was very glitchy and creepy and I couldn't fix the problem, so I removed it. Instead I now use Pescado's marriage-traditional, where female sims take the male's surname in a heterosexual marriage. However, there may be occasions in which I feel a certain sim may not change their surname, the husband may take the wife's name (such as the Capp and Summerdream families of Veronaville), same-sex marriages, or potentially even use a double-barrel surname, though the latter has not happened in my game yet. Ultimately, naming depends on each sim and their family traditions so if I decide the traditional marriage mod is not suitable for certain sims, then I will just change surnames in SimPE.
A few of my sims in Pleasantview have remarried, namely (hehe) Brandi and Darren, Dina, and Daniel, while they have kids from their previous marriage. I won't change the children's surnames in this case - for example, Brandi's boys with Skip stayed as Brokes while Dina's daughters with Mortimer are still Goths - unless it makes sense to me. For example, before Kaylynn married Daniel, her illegitimate sons had her surname, Langerak, however I decided to change their name in SimPE to Pleasant because it felt like Daniel was adopting her children. Perhaps it's because they were very young when Daniel became their step-father (in the eldest son's case)/when their father married their mother (youngest son) - or because she had not previously been married before - and I just couldn't see, for example, Dina's at the time teenage daughters becoming Landgraabs. TL;DR: depends on what I want, or what feels right. Which is, coincidentally, what my entire gameplay boils down to. Go figure.
Currently, I am enjoying a rotational, wants-based gameplay with the premade hoods, namely Pleasantview and Strangetown. Here is a full list of how I play and the rules I follow (sometimes rather liberally) which may be subject to change as I continue playing. Where necessary I will credit Pleasant Sims as many of my gameplay ideas stem from her blog and YouTube Let's Plays.
Ageing | As stated in my Favourite Mods post, I currently use Mertikora's 1 day = 1 year lifespan. I don't really have many 'rules' around ageing; everyone ages up when they're supposed to and I don't tamper with that much. There are some instances in which I mess with ages, though:
Elixir of Life: I haven't really used this at all, except with Dina. While it may be an in-game feature and pretty easy to obtain, I feel like I need to justify using it almost. I don't know, I just really like realistic gameplay. When Dina married Malcolm Landgraab IV, she was almost an elder and quite a bit older than him, which would be fine except I figured he would probably want an heir. In this case, I just pretended Dina had contacts who could manufacture the elixir and give it to her. She strikes me as the type of sim who wants to be young forever.
Genie: So far, three of my Pleasantview families have been gifted the genie lamp. If a Family sim rolls a want to make a wish, I will generally wish for long life - I did this for Cassandra, who was a few days shy of becoming an elder and so I can imagine she would want more time with her children before they're all adults, and Lucy, who wants a ton of babies. I don't mind doing things like this if it makes sense for the sims and utilises an in-game interaction.
SimPE: In the clean template of Pleasantview by meetme2theriver I use, Bella Goth is included as a townie and I decided I wanted to add her as a playable to my rotation. The problem with townies though is that they are all at the start of their life stage and, well... it doesn't make sense that Bella would be younger than her daughter Cassandra, so I tweaked her age in SimPE and made her a bit older. I did the same with Kaylynn Langerak and Malcolm Landgraab IV when I decided to add them to my game. This is the only instance where I would not use in-game features to change ages.
As stressful as they are, I try to throw birthday parties for each sim and every age, especially if they have a lot of family and/or friends. The only real exceptions for this are if sims have close to no one to invite or if they are extremely shy and would prefer a smaller affair (i.e. rolling fears about parties). I used to not throw parties for babies ageing to toddlers however now families are expanding and a new generation has begun these birthday parties double as a 'meet the new baby' party.
Appearance | I make very few alterations to appearance and try to keep it as close to what sims choose as possible, though I may change appearances if for example multiple sims share their same hairstyle or buy new clothes without sims rolling the want if they aged into something... not so pretty. Sometimes I'll tweak appearances just because I want to, such as thinking a sim - such as a Romance sim - might wear makeup, or that they'd suit freckles, in the case of the Caliente twins and their offspring. I also change eyebrows to custom ones I have so they look more realistic. I'm not a big fan of alpha CC in my game; I prefer Maxis match for both my downloads and default replacements.
For anyone interested, I use Feathers Skin Blend by Lilith-Sims defaulted by Poppet as skintone replacements and the Plain and Simple Redux default eye replacements, also by Poppet.
Aspiration | Aspirations are pretty important in my game due to my wants-based style. For sims' primary aspiration, I like to use the 'zodiac system' in which aspirations are determined by and correspond with their zodiac signs. This is the system EAxis used to assign aspirations to townies, though it does not always apply to the premade sims. I leave them how they are.
Using this system, the aspirations and their corresponding zodiac signs are as follows:
Family: Aquarius, Cancer
Fortune: Capricorn, Gemini, Scorpio
Knowledge: Pisces, Sagittarius, Virgo
Popularity: Aries, Leo
Romance: Taurus, Libra.
Since the Pleasure and Grilled Cheese aspirations weren't introduced until Nightlife, they do not have set zodiac signs. I choose to not play with the Grilled Cheese aspiration - though I may experiment in future, or if I think there's a sim who really suits it - though in the case of Pleasure, I will run an online randomiser to decide whether a Taurus/Libra sim gets Romance or Pleasure.
In the premade hoods, many of the children have a hidden aspiration token which can be viewed in SimPE; for example, in Pleasantview, Lucy Burb has a hidden Family token while Alexander Goth has a hidden Fortune token. In Strangetown, Buck Grunt and Jill Smith both have a hidden Popularity token. I decided to (gasp) ignore the zodiac system when those sims aged up to teenagers in favour of going with what I'm guessing Maxis intended for them. For adult sims with hidden aspiration tokens, such as Coral Oldie, I (try to) give them it as their Secondary Aspiration.
Interestingly, Darren and Dirk Dreamer also have hidden aspiration tokens... something I have only just discovered upon consulting the Sims Wiki. Luckily I did give Darren Family as his secondary aspiration, but hidden Knowledge token sim Dirk... got Pleasure using the calculator. D'oh!
Secondary Aspirations: I love the secondary aspiration feature from Freetime and give all my sims one once they are adults. It adds a lot more depth and motivation to sims' lives and personalities I feel. There are two reasons why I only assign secondary aspirations to adults - one, because I want teenagers and young adults to have time to find themselves before lumbering them with not one but two aspirations, and two, because I use the Secondary Aspiration Calculator by Shirley, a Pleasant Sims' subscriber. I mentioned this in my Favourite Mods post under Programs and Utilities. This calculator uses a sim's interests to determine their secondary aspiration. Because interests are dynamic and can totally change once a sim ages to an adult, I do this process after a sim has graduated from university or aged up to an adult as one of the first things I do for them.
If two aspirations yield the same number, I again use an online randomiser to choose between them or - if I know the sim - I choose the one which suits them the most. If the highest result is already the sim's aspiration, I just leave them as a pure [insert aspiration here] sim and use the aspiration points for other benefits from the needs or work tree, again depending on the sim. I used to go with the second highest, however I was inspired by Pleasant Sims to do this instead; I believe this was also suggested by one of her subscribers, and so I will properly credit them.
Since I have no idea what to do with all the built-up aspiration points, I usually end up using them all on the aspiration and secondary aspiration benefits with some exceptions. I will only give the Super Fertility benefit to Family sims in special circumstances (i.e. they themselves or their partner are a twin, their LTW revolves around having many children) and the Summon Aliens benefit to Knowledge sims with a high interest in Paranormal/Sci-Fi or ones who frequently wish to meet aliens.
If two aspirations yield the same number, I again use an online randomiser to choose between them or - if I know the sim - I choose the one which suits them the most. If the highest result is already the sim's aspiration, I just leave them as a pure [insert aspiration here] sim and use the aspiration points for other benefits from the needs or work tree, again depending on the sim. I used to go with the second highest, however I was inspired by Pleasant Sims to do this instead; I believe this was also suggested by one of her subscribers, and so I will properly credit them.
Since I have no idea what to do with all the built-up aspiration points, I usually end up using them all on the aspiration and secondary aspiration benefits with some exceptions. I will only give the Super Fertility benefit to Family sims in special circumstances (i.e. they themselves or their partner are a twin, their LTW revolves around having many children) and the Summon Aliens benefit to Knowledge sims with a high interest in Paranormal/Sci-Fi or ones who frequently wish to meet aliens.
Backups | I make regular backups of my hood, probably more frequently than necessary, after every play session. The first thing I do after exiting the game is head to SimPE to create a backup. Every now and then I will also manually backup the neighbourhood folder and other important folders just to be on the safe side. When it's time to move onto the next family in the rotation, I will always exit and backup first before I start playing them, just so I don't lose too much gameplay on the off chance I have to revert to a backup. I strongly encourage making regular backups when you're playing a longterm hood, though you can do it less frequently than I do; some players usually only do this once a week.
I do not put as much emphasis on getting a particular job if sims have LTWs unrelated to careers and/or they have little to no interest in work. In this case, if they need a job for any reason, I choose an available one that I deem to be most fitting for them. I also do this if they roll a general, unspecific 'Find a Job' want.
Ever since adding Malcolm Landgraab IV and the Ramirezes to my Pleasantview rotation, I have become more interested in playing businesses and so I also consider this as an option for sims who do not have wants for a specific career but enjoy work, want to earn money, and have enough money to start a business. This is especially perfect for Fortune sims who have the 'Earn 100,000 Simoleons' LTW, such as my Dina.
Cheats | Back in the day, I probably knew every cheat for this game like the back of my hand. Nowadays, however, I very rarely use cheats in my gameplay and instead try to use in-game and mod features as much as possible. The only real exceptions to this rule are the use of build cheats (moveobjects, snapobjectstogrid, allow45degreeangleofrotation, etc.) and testingcheatsenabled, which I have on all the time because it is enabled in my userstartup.cheat file, primarily due to the fact the Community Time Project mod mentioned in my Favourite Mods post requires this to work properly. Other than having it on in the background and on occasion having to reset sims when prompted, I barely touch this cheat.
Free Will | Past me would be shocked if she knew I now play this game with free will on. Even last year I was playing with free will always turned off, because I liked to micromanage and be in complete control of EVERYTHING. I've since stopped being such a stickler for control and now I cannot play without free will turned on. It's so nice sitting back and letting the sims decide for once; it's allowed me to actually get to know them better, since they now have personalities and wants and stories outside of the ones I used to force on my sims. All the credit for this goes to Pleasant Sims, who brought this game and all its joy back into my life.
Gender Preference | When I first start playing a hood, I will use either ACR or the Sim Blender (again, see my Favourite Mods post for more information) to randomise every sim who doesn't have a set gender preference yet. This will give all townies and NPCs a random gender preference; premade sims usually come with one already. There is around a 10% chance a sim will be gay or bi. For my playable, born in-game sims, I will randomise their gender preference once they age into a teen. I prefer to keep it random and realistic, and I will stick to what sexuality either ACR or the blender 'chooses'.
Hobbies | I try to leave premade sims' - and born in-game sims for that matter - one true hobbies (OTH) the way they are, even if I don't quite agree with the choice (Darren Dreamer being a Nature sim and Mary-Sue Pleasant being a Music & Dance sim come to mind...). I tend to just ignore those. It can be difficult for sims not to gain enthusiasm in hobbies other than their OTH - seriously, your sim eats cereal for breakfast enough times and they're suddenly a chef. Anyway, this is where mods such as tunaisafish's Enthusiasm Overhaul come in handy, as they enable me to prioritise a sim's OTH above all the others. I try to make sure each sim has a reasonable amount of enthusiasm in their OTH and, if they don't, I will encourage them to do hobby activities if their needs are fine and they have nothing else to do. The EP was called Freetime for a reason...
LTWs | Like normal wants, I try to fulfil LTWs as I view them as a sim's purpose in life, their raison d'être, and so they are treated as important goals in my gameplay. Of course, not every sim can have their LTW fulfilled - just like real life - but it's fun trying. For the most part, I will usually leave an LTW as it is (particularly those of born in-game sims) however occasionally I will reroll using the blender in order to get something a bit more appropriate and in line with a sim's personality, interests, and/or hobby. Pescado's LTW Variety is perfect for increasing the chances of a more suitable LTW for each sim without me having to do anything. Additionally, I try to have as few active sims sharing the same goal as possible; it gets kind of boring when you have, say, multiple Romance sims all with the 'WooHoo with 20 Sims' LTW - my maximum being around two, maybe three.
Marriage | Since my style of gameplay is wants-based, couples will only marry if at least one partner has the want to do so. I won't rush sims into marriage or force it on them unless they want it first, even if the couple make it to elderhood together and have a million grandkids already.
When it comes to whose surname is taken, I used to use Marriage: Last Name Chooser by Marhis, however for some reason the dialog box was very glitchy and creepy and I couldn't fix the problem, so I removed it. Instead I now use Pescado's marriage-traditional, where female sims take the male's surname in a heterosexual marriage. However, there may be occasions in which I feel a certain sim may not change their surname, the husband may take the wife's name (such as the Capp and Summerdream families of Veronaville), same-sex marriages, or potentially even use a double-barrel surname, though the latter has not happened in my game yet. Ultimately, naming depends on each sim and their family traditions so if I decide the traditional marriage mod is not suitable for certain sims, then I will just change surnames in SimPE.
A few of my sims in Pleasantview have remarried, namely (hehe) Brandi and Darren, Dina, and Daniel, while they have kids from their previous marriage. I won't change the children's surnames in this case - for example, Brandi's boys with Skip stayed as Brokes while Dina's daughters with Mortimer are still Goths - unless it makes sense to me. For example, before Kaylynn married Daniel, her illegitimate sons had her surname, Langerak, however I decided to change their name in SimPE to Pleasant because it felt like Daniel was adopting her children. Perhaps it's because they were very young when Daniel became their step-father (in the eldest son's case)/when their father married their mother (youngest son) - or because she had not previously been married before - and I just couldn't see, for example, Dina's at the time teenage daughters becoming Landgraabs. TL;DR: depends on what I want, or what feels right. Which is, coincidentally, what my entire gameplay boils down to. Go figure.
Money | My knowledge of finances only extends as far as 'money can be exchanged for goods and services', so I don't implement complicated systems like taxes, mortgages, or student loans in my game. I do, however, like using the bank account feature from monique's Hacked Computer so sims can have their own finances separate to the rest of the household and potentially gain interest. Not all my sims will have bank accounts because it may not be necessary - i.e. a couple living together - so I normally give them to teenage sims who have a job and are saving for university if they choose to go, sims saving up to move out, and university students (for their scholarship and grant money). University students especially benefit from having their own bank account because I use No 20k Handouts by Pescado (found in the Director's Cut).
As stated in my section about cheating, I won't use money cheats such as motherlode, though I may use familyfunds on the very rare occasion, and it is usually because I need to fix a household's funds. Not sure if this counts as 'cheating' per se, but if sims have rich relatives I like to send money from their family member's funds via the hacked computer because it doesn't make sense to me that sims who come from wealthy families would be so broke. I might also do this sometimes if it suits a certain story.
Naming | When a sim has a baby, I make sure to follow family naming conventions as closely as possible. For example, the Dreamers in Pleasantview have a prominent D naming theme going on, while in Strangetown the Smith children's names all start with J. Therefore, when Brandi and Darren had children together, I named them David and Darcy; if Jenny falls pregnant again, which she did in my last playthrough, then those babies will also have names beginning with J. If I ever get around to playing Veronaville, I will stick to the Shakespearean theme. I also take heritage into consideration when naming where necessary - for example, a Norse name for a Beaker baby. If there is no obvious naming convention or tradition in a family, I will usually either choose a name I just happen to like or think matches what the parents might choose. Basically, I step into their shoes and think about what my sims might want to call their children based on their family history, origins, and personality.
Occasionally, I like naming babies after a late relative, especially if the baby was born close to that sim's passing or if a parent was particularly close to that family member. Cassandra and Don's youngest son, for example, is called Morty, named after Mortimer Goth because he died around the time he was born; their eldest son, Nico, is named after Don's father Nicolo. As generations continue to expand and the circle of life keeps spinning, this tradition may become even more common.
In the case of illegitimate children, the baby will typically have the parent with whom they live's surname - this is usually the mother. If the couple are unmarried and live and plan to raise the baby together, then the child will have the father's surname. I use Midge's Baby Last Name Chooser in order to do this, since the default setting is all illegitimate children get their mother's surname.
Partners | Though I may have an idea of who I think could be paired together, I ultimately have my sims decide who they want to be with. This is usually aided by ACR. I won't force pairings if they don't work out - i.e. there's no or little chemistry - or when the sims choose otherwise. Romance sims, particularly primary Romance sims, most likely will never want to settle down and so I never pressure them into committed relationships.
Ideally, I would like my born in-game sims to be together, however I do enjoy using townies if necessary. Definitely useful if not essential for keeping blood fresh and not, you know, related.
Pregnancy | With ACR, I leave the risky WooHoo feature on by default. As a result, I've had... quite a few accidental pregnancies. If a sim is in a committed relationship and isn't a Family sim, I will place them on birth control - which has also, ironically, resulted in several accidental pregnancies. Keeps me on my toes, at least. Despite the fact these pregnancies may be unplanned, I will usually keep them unless having a child isn't feasible due to space or circumstances (i.e. poverty). This is rare.
I will only make sims actively try for baby if at least one would-be parent rolls the want to have a baby, regardless of aforementioned circumstances. With Family sims, especially if their LTW is to have a thousand children, then I will just let them get on with it and see what happens. It's all about going with the flow.
Pets | I like pets, however I only allow sims to adopt if they both roll a want to and have a high enough interest in animals. The only exception would be if sims won't live long enough to care for a pet through their entire lives; I prefer adopting older animals for that reason.
Pets | I like pets, however I only allow sims to adopt if they both roll a want to and have a high enough interest in animals. The only exception would be if sims won't live long enough to care for a pet through their entire lives; I prefer adopting older animals for that reason.
Rotations | When starting premade neighbourhoods, I will go in order of scripted events or the prima guide (as an example, here is Pleasantview's recommended play order). I play an 'intro' round which consists of one sim day to set each household up, play through their scripted event(s), and introduce myself to the family. Once I have done this for all the families already in the neighbourhood, I will place the families from the bin associated with that hood such as the Oldies and Burbs in Pleasantview or the Loner and Singles households in Strangetown, and do the same for them. By 'setting them up', I mean giving makeovers if I want to, giving degrees via the Batbox where necessary, and applying aspiration benefits and a Secondary Aspiration - this routine is, of course, inspired by Pleasant Sims.
After everyone's finished their one day intro round, I go back to the first family and start Round 1. My rounds last for 7 sim days, though I may go down to 5 or 6 when I start feeling overwhelmed by how many households I have.
My rotations always end on the university round.
Tracking | Once you get a few rounds into a hood, it's a good idea to keep track of your sims. My method may be excessive, since I keep a spreadsheet on my laptop plus several different notes on my phone since that's easier to access when in game. Just a spreadsheet should probably suffice. Here's what mine looks like, based on Pleasant Sims' spreadsheet which I have adapted slightly:
Apologies for the quality; hopefully you can still get the gist. In addition to this big boy, I use the website familyecho to store my family trees, though admittedly it needs updating and, at this point, my Pleasantview family trees can probably fit on one page. Like I mentioned, I also have several notes on my phone. My main note keeps track of what round I'm on, the order of my rotation, and final ages for the round. The other notes are for sims' personalities, OTHs, zodiac signs and aspirations, generations, partners, and who's related to who since I've reached the point where I keep accidentally thinking two sims would be perfect together only to remember they're second cousins or even half-siblings. You don't have to be as extra as me when tracking your hood though, of course. This just works for me. University | I enjoy playing university rounds and so I do encourage my sims to go, however as with the rest of my playing style teenagers will only go to university if they roll the want to on their final day of being a teenager. For the most part, sims do end up wanting to go, although I have had a few who weren't interested. It's annoying when they are entitled to scholarships or if I think university would help certain sims find a partner if they don't have one yet, however I do respect the sims' decisions and autonomy. If teenagers don't get the want to go to university before 6pm on their final day, then they will age up to adulthood instead. I have mods by Squinge - mentioned in my Favourite Mods post - that suppress the 'Be Uneducated' fear and memory so sims don't get upset about not going. That way I feel a lot less guilty when I let my teenage sims stay home and age up into adults instead. For majors, I let sims decide which major they want to study. There have been some exceptions to this where I have overruled, usually because I have had a few artistic Knowledge sims who want to pursue a career in the arts roll the want to declare Biology or Physics. I suppose I let my sims decide their major unless I think there might be one more suited to them, though I will never choose the major they fear declaring. As with every other aspect of my gameplay, sims who want to do well at university (i.e. rolling wants to do assignments, write their term paper, and build the required skills) will do well, while sims who have no want to do well simply won't. A want to complete the year or graduate isn't really enough for me to make students do what they need to do to pass, neither is a fear to get on academic probation or be expelled. So far, only two of my sims have been kicked out of university for not wanting to do anything university-related. Wants | It's funny how far down this one is, considering wants are the most fundamental part of my gameplay. I play a wants-based style, meaning gameplay revolves around fulfilling the sims' wants. This style gives the sims some autonomy and control over their lives, and I'm just here for the ride - a total 180 to the previous way I used to play this game for over a decade. Truly, that's the beauty of TS2 - even after 16 years, we are still finding new ways to approach and play this wonderful game. Let me know your own gameplay rules in the comments below! |
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