Gameplay Rules (The Sims 2)

Here are my gameplay rules for the Sims 2 when I am playing the world rotationally, this is ever evolving so check back for more in the future. I hope you enjoy reading this and finding out how I play! 

Wants & Fears​​

• I consider my sims wants and fears when deciding how to play out their life. However, I do not use them 100% exclusively, all the time. I allow myself to make my own judgements alongside wants/fears based on a Sim's personality and for story-telling purposes.  

Rotating

• I usually play 7 day rotations, and switch households in the early hours of Monday morning (usually around midnight). However, for recording YouTube content and keeping the length of the video reasonable, I am now playing 5 day seasons as one rotation.

• I play in a set order of households which is the order the households are in on my tracking spreadsheet.

• I play University for 8 days as I use a mod to reduce the length of University to 8 days.​ I play University at the end of the rotation.

Age Span & Season Length​

• I play with a custom age span I have set up myself -  babies (3 days), toddler (4 days), children (7 days), teens (14 days), adult (42-50 days) and elder (maxis standard).

• If a Sim does not go to University 8 additional days are given to them during Adulthood to sync up their ages with Sims that did go to University. I use a mod by to do this, and then I use an adjusted version of the Sim Blender mod to do this as you can add/remove days to a Sim's life if I need further corrections e.g. a Sim has to repeat a year.

• I play with a 5 day season length and use all four seasons in my current neighbourhood. *Note: Currently I am testing, Spring, Summer, Autumn and then Autumn again as Winter is giving me some lag.
  

Aspirations & LTW​

• All sims born in game have their aspiration randomised when they age up to a teen. For the primary aspiration, I roll a random number 1-6 and work clockwise around the menu of options that pops up.

• Turn on and turn offs are left as they were set on age up (unless they really clash!).

• A secondary aspiration for Adult Sims be chose at random when the Sim has enough aspiration points (roll 1-5, ignoring grilled cheese and the locked out primary aspiration that has already been chosen). Teens don't have a secondary aspiration assigned, until they age up to Adult or Young Adult and go off to college and have enough aspiration points.

• If a Sim passes Sophmore year, I roll for a new aspiration (as described above) and decide if I want to change their aspiration based on the outcome of the roll.

• I will try to leave the LTW at whatever is randomised on age up to teen or what is randomly selected for pre-mades. If a LTW is really not suitable, I use the LTW chooser mod. I select "from personally available" and roll a random number to select from the list.

• I do not use the TS3 traits project.
  

Finances & Businesses​​​

• I have a finance and tax system that I have set up .

• I have a University system that I have set up, which includes fees for University. Sims can pay upfront out of pocket for their fees, or they can take out a loan at the end of college and pay their fees when they get their final bill. Loans are re-paid at 3% interest per day using the loan jar mod.

• If a sim drops out of University they only have to pay proportionally for the year(s) they've completed and get a refund for the rest of their fees if they paid upfront. I calculate this myself and use family funds cheats to give them the refund.

• I use a mod to enable child support payments, the money can be saved in a bank account for the child or kept in the household funds.

• I have a welfare system as part of my finance and tax system. My un-employed Sims can also make money from activities such as painting and other sources of income such as child support.

• I do not use money cheats (e.g. kaching or motherlode) and also use the no 20k handout mod.

• I use bank accounts in game which come with the hacked computer, and I keep track of finances in neighbourhood tracker spreadsheet.

• I allow my Sims to take out loans, and use the loan jar. Loans can only be used to buy a bigger house, pay for a car, pay taxes/bills or pay for their college bill. A Sim can also sell household furniture if they can't afford their bills or tax for example. For the house, Sims must have a job at least level 4 and have 10% deposit for the house they want the loan for. Loans are re-paid with 3% interest per day as set by the loan jar.

• I do not currently have any specific business related rules (except for my Build a City Challenge), I have sims set up businesses if it suits my sims personality, aspiration, LTW and for story-stelling purposes.
  

Adoption & Pregnancy​

• Sims can only try for a baby/adopt if they have the want to - otherwise I use risky woohoo. There are no rules about how many times they can try, they can keep trying until they are elders but their chances reduce with age via the ACR mod.

• I set risky woohoo (chance of getting pregnant from woohoo rather than try for baby interaction) to 5% using the ACR mod.

• I reduce the length of pregnancy to 48hrs using this mod.

• I don't currently use any miscarriage/abortion mods.

• I currently have no limits on the number of children Sims can have, but they must roll the want to have a baby. However, I may introduce rules based on aspiration in the future for population control.

• I have turned off autonomous try for baby for both married and un-married Sims in the ACR mod mod settings.

• I don't get the super fertility reward from the family reward tree.

• I don't do anything to influence the gender of the baby or number of babies.

• I don't use the triplet/quads mod.

• I do use the equal genetics mod.

Careers​​

• Elders, Adults and Teens can have any job they roll a want for or have LTW wish related to.

• Teen Sims can also get a job if they roll the want to get a job to the want to earn some money.

• If a Sim just rolls the want to get a job but it is not specified which one, I chose one based on their personality, LTW, aspiration or for story-telling purposes.

• Career choices are not limited (except in my Build a City Challenge) and career progression is not currently defined by the need for certain levels of education.

• Elders are not required to retire but can if they roll the want to, they can get part-time jobs if they want to after retirement.

• If a Sim rolls the want to quit their job, they can quit their job.
  

School

• Children and teens can do their homework when they have the want to or if they or another household member have the want to help with homework.

• As I have found that teen Sims rarely roll the want to do homework, I have introduced a system based on their interest points for school:

  • 0-3 Interest = Coin Flip Monday, Wednesday and Friday (heads = do homework, tails = don't do homework).

  • 4-7 Interest = Do their homework Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

  • 8-10 Interest = Do their homework every day.

• Teens with a job can keep a passing grade so they don't lose their job, and teens who have the want to get a job but can't due to a poor grade can work on homework to get a passing grade to enable them to get a job.

• Sims can only go to private school if someone in the household rolls the want for it and the household funds are over 100k.

• Sims with a D+ or lower when they return from their last day of high school cannot go to University.

University

• Sims with a D+ or lower when they return from their last day of high school cannot go to University. Otherwise, a Sim can go to University if they roll the want to on their final day of teen-hood before 6pm otherwise they age up to adult. Wants for going to University can only be locked in on the final day of teen-hood.

• If a Sim is eligible for University, they can go if they can afford to or they they can take out a loan to cover their fees at the end of college. Loans are repaid with a 3% per day interest rate.

• I use a University options system to help decide which University my Sim will attend. I make use of all 3 maxis University neighbourhoods and they're all set up different, offering different housing, majors, and have their own seasons and school colours.

• What University a Sim can go to will depend on their grade, and they can also consider their aspiration, if they have a LTW for a certain career and affordability. Sometimes a Sim might not have the grade to attend the University and study for the major they need for their career, but that's life!

• Sims start with an unspecified major at first. Then they can select a major if they roll the want for it.

• If a Sim has a lifetime want that is career based I allow them to choose the major for a course that is good for that career track regardless if they roll the want for it or not.

• If they don't roll a want for a specific major (and don' t have a career based LTW) by the end of Freshman year, I roll a random number and work clockwise around the menu of choices (ignoring Majors not offered at that University according to my University options system).

• I use a mod which revamps the majors associated with different careers.

• Sims work on term papers if they roll the want to. They can do homework abased on their interest points for school:

  • 0-3 Interest = Coin Flip Monday, Wednesday and Friday (heads = do homework, tails = don't do homework).

  • 4-7 Interest = Do their homework Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

  • 8-10 Interest = Do their homework every day.

• Sims can gain skills naturally though gameplay but cannot be forced. However, if a Sim rolls is in their Senior year and rolls the want to graduate I will do what is needed to allow them to get the minimum passing grade which may include skill building.

• To give my Sim a chance all housing options are supplied with some extra items that allow them to gain skills e.g. telescope (logic), dartboard (mechanical) and a piece of exercise equipment (body) that they cannot otherwise do naturally (e.g. cooking/cleaning). I also have a mod that allows creativity to be gained from diary writing. My Sims are not forced to use these items but if they want to or do so on their own they may gain some vital skills.

• I do not consider the want to be on Dean's list a reason to force Sims to do homework, term papers or skill build.

• I do not consider fears a reason to force Sims to do homework, term papers or skill build because if they don't want to do something to avoid the fear that's on them!

• If a Sim passes Sophmore year they are allowed to change their Aspiration if they want to (see aspiration section above).

• Pre-made Sims (e.g. Mortimer Goth in Pleasantview) can have University degrees allocated to them. I do this using the Counterfeit College Diploma mod.

• Sims can fail out of University (and that's okay!).

• I use the University of Life Mod, which means Sims that did not go to University or dropped-out can still earn additional want slots by reaching certain career levels.
  

Cars​

• Sims can purchase a car if they roll the want to and can afford to.

• My Sims must have a driving licence to drive. I let the pre-made adults/elders have a license but any teens that age up need to learn to drive, I use this mod

• Driving lessons cost £150, and 4-5 are required for a Sim to be ready for their driving test (according to the mod). Sims can learn to drive with a family member for free.  

Pets​

• Sims can adopt/purchase a cat or dog if they roll the want. I have a mod to change the wants to cat/dog rather than puppy/kitten and any age pet fulfills this want.

• Sims can train and encourage pets to breed kittens/puppies if they roll the want for a kitten or puppy.

• The above rules apply to all Sims except if I have specific dog breeders living in town, then they can adopt/purchase/train/breed pets at anytime without needing to roll wants for these.​

Romance/Sexuality​

• Sims can flirt, get engaged, get married/joined and even cheat if they roll the want to.

• For break ups as there is no want for this, I allow myself to choose. If I can't decide what I want a couple to do I will flip a coin = Heads they break up, Tails they stay together. I also do this if a Sim leave another Sim at the alter.

• Marriage/Joined costs £500 if held on a community lot, home weddings are free.

• When a Sim ages to a teen I randomise and set their sexuality via the ACR mod.

• I use the in game attraction system, and try (not-essential) to find my Sims a person to pair up for the long term who they have at least 2 bolts with, preferably 3! I allow my sims to date other sims except for those they find or unattractive (red cross through bolt). However, romance Sims can date anyone they want.

• My global setting for jealousy via ACR is set to "in love".

• Romance Sims are the only sims that can have jealousy turned off via the  ACR mod.

• Sims with the LTW want of Golden Anniversary must be set to be Totally Faithful via the ACR mod. Other Sims with the primary Family aspiration can be set to be totally faithful at my own discretion.

• I use custom turn on/turns offs.

• I use a mod which takes into account secondary aspirations for chemistry.
  

Hobbies & Skills​​​

• Sims can build skills if they roll the want to and naturally through interaction with objects e,g, cleaning the sink, fixing the toilet. I don't force them to skill build.

• I consider a Sim's One True Hobby as indicated in game to be their main hobby. I do not currently have specific sub-hobbies, Sims can do anything for their hobby based on their wants.

Occults​​​

• Sims can be abducted by aliens and have an alien pregnancy. I have a mod that allows teens-adults both female and male to have alien babies.

• Plant Sims can be created through gameplay - only Sims with a max enthusiasm in nature as their one true hobby can be turned into a Plant Sim.

• Sims can become a vampire/mermaid/werewolf/witch if they roll the want to.

• Sims can be cured of lycanthropy if they or someone in their household rolls the want to.
  

Prison

• See my blog post for my Prison System Rules.

Retirement & Death​​​

• Elder Sims living alone must move to the retirement home.

• I allow my Sims to plead the grim reaper for another Sim.

• I move graves to a communal cemetery/graveyard.

• Funerals and burials at the cemetery/graveyard cost £500 per young adult or older, and £250 per teen or younger. The urn/tombstone will stay on the household lot until they can afford to pay this.

• I don't make any sims die purposefully and I don't avoid deaths by reloading the game without saving.

• I will allow sims to be resurrected if a Sim has a want to do this, and do this via the Ressurect-o-nomitron. A Sim can also be resurrected, if a Sim wishes it from the genie (see misc section below for genie rules).

• I don't use any mods that alter the in-game sickness system or the spread/danger of fire.

Inheritance

• I allow my sims to inherit money as per the games vanilla settings, I just consider all Sims to have some sort of life insurance policy that pays this out, rather than it coming out of the town's funds.

• I don't have any particular rules about which children can inherit a house after their parents die i.e. I don't follow a patriarchal system or anything like that, I just do whatever feels natural whilst I'm playing.

• I keep track of how much money is given to which Sims as inheritance, and try to remember to have teens and younger in particular put the money in their bank accounts so they can take it with them when they age up and move to college or move out of the family home.

• Adults and Elders pay 10% of the value of the inheritance as tax, and this is added to their tax bill during their next playable round. YAs and younger do not pay tax.

• If a Sim leaves money to multiple Sims, and the game does not tell me how much for all of them but I can see via a Sims memories they received some sort of payment I make my best judgement based on what the other Sims received and their relationship with the deceased. E.g. Cassandra Goth receives £8000, Alexander receives inheritance based on his memories but I don't know how much and can't work it out from the household funds I determine he also received £8000 as both Alexander and Cassandra are children of Mortimer.

Misc​​​

• Sims can use their car or taxi to go to Bluewater Village or other sub-hoods. They can only walk to other lots in their home neighbourhood.

• Only 1 wish is allowed for the magic lamp and it granted to the person who found the lamp (determined by checking memories). I have no rules on what wishes can by made, a Sim can wish for anything.

• When a chance card pops up I choose one option at random using a coin flip (virtually), excluding "ignore" with heads being the first option and tails being the second.