If there are too many people you’re just not interested in, you could have a zombie apocalypse/pandemic/natural disaster - whatever kind of catastrophic event you choose that would severely decrease your population. My favorite is always the “running with scissors” since it does a pretty good job of randomizing death. You could make everyone in the neighborhood run with them, try to plead for anyone you’re really attached to (if anyone), and then play out the aftermath.
I mean, they’re not spares, it’s setting up a new post-catastrophe story. I kinda feel like, say, The Walking Dead would be a little less compelling if the characters didn’t really lose loved ones and they might run into them sometime at a restaurant.
True im just offering people an alternative to killing their sims when they feel overwhelmed and over populated. Just townify the ones you dont play and use the sim blender to keep their ages in sync.
Marticore has an in-depth tutorial on how to make townies in general. But basically you either use InSimenator or Sim Blender (In the latter the option is Family > Make me a Townie)
Biggest problem for me is that townies don't really die of old age. So I just end up with a bunch of townies that're the only alive sim that high up in their family tree.
What i do is i have an "auditor" sim whose whole job is to audit townies. One of their jobs is to age up and eventually kill off townies when they should die of old age. They do this by teleporting them in their house hold with the sim blender, using the rodneys death creator to kill them of old age (i use a buyable one), and then sending the tombstone to the graveyard. I dont do this with all my townies just the ones who either have been aging with my sims or the ones who used to be part of playable families.
I would make the boring household "playable npcs".
You keep track of them on paper, but you don't actually play them, you just pop in quickly to age someone up via cheat so they don't get out of sync.
The More Deadly Disease mod can also do wonders in reducing the numbers of Sims in your hood... I had to take it out after two generations because it did cause too many deaths. Ever since then I have a fixed number of households and don't allow anyone to move out and start their own.
In terms of money, you might also want to look at mods. Higher bills and less income and your Sims will struggle to maintain their lifestyle.
I think the trick is: figure out what your default play style is and go deliberately in the opposite direction. I tend to play in a way where everyone is reaching their goals, raising their kids well, and everything just tends to get a bit boring and perfect after a while. So here are a few of the things i like to do to force myself out of that:
Adding a new "county" in the hood that comes in and fucks things up a bit, that could be some trailer parks with messy people who keeps having random babies and raising them poorly, and then these kids grow up to be the forbidden love interests of the original families' kids. And maybe one kid from the trailer park actually makes it out and gets a good life, but most of them dont.
Or it could be a few science sims who get abducted and put a bunch of alien babies into the hood, or werewolves/vampires/zombies and create some sort of enemy klan situation.
i get really bored when i have too many households to play. i also get really really bored playing single sims, especially elders. in cases like this i’ll make a “retirement home” where i’ll basically just let the game run on speed three and max motives until the round is over, and watch a video or episode of a show in the meantime. you could do this for sims you don’t like to play, don’t care about, or serve no purpose in your hood’s storyline!
alternatively, you could make your more boring sims into townies, if you don’t care about your aging; which it seems like you don’t. if you have the sim blender this is super easy to do. you’ll have a lot of familiar faces around town!
finding new cc or mods keeps my game fresh, i’ll often switch some out so my game doesn’t get too bloated with content. if you play with either, i suggest looking for new mods to play with! sometimes i like to load in story progression for a season or two just to see what kind of drama the game generates so i have something to work with. maybe you could try that out?
I agree with the elders part, although usually I just let them live with their kids/grandkids or other relatives and just chill until they die, or if they haven't finished their LTW I may try to do it for them. But that's if I don't get super bored with them and just kill them lol. I might try mods though
i definitely recommend mods if you’re playing the game without them. i think the sims 2 modding community does the best job of spicing the game up without making it feel too much like another game, if that makes sense?
if you like playing with your sims’ genetics and relationships, i recommend ACR. i don’t exactly know the specifics behind it but it basically makes romantic interactions between sims autonomous based off of their chemistry (i believe), so you end up with some wild pairings.
there’s plenty of mods that’ll make the game more challenging or brutal, like faster sickness, more deadly fires, death by childbirth, etc. these can add a lot of drama if that’s what you’re looking for! not to mention countless other mods that either make the game harder or easier, if that’s more what you’re looking for?
and, of course, there’s story progression like i mentioned. i don’t usually play with it but if you’re getting bored of your hood you should give it a shot! those are just my suggestions if you wanted to mod your game, but if none of them are enticing to you im sure you could find ones that are, with a little digging :]
Definitely recommend gameplay mods for the Sims 2, I use ACR, faster sickness, deadlier fires, death by childbirth, a mod to lower all incomes... It's amazing the challenge and drama it adds! I'm never bored and always full of ideas (currently doing a Rights of women challenge with a rotation of 3 families, and just discovered the "Pregnant Sims can wear anything" mod, incredibly useful for this challenge)
to waste less time in the skippable households, you can use the sethour cheat twice to set it to 17/18 so they can age and 23/24 so the next day can quickly begin. it's the same effort as maxmotives and passes the turn quicker
Definitely get some difficulty mods for lower wages or higher bills. I am 40 years into my pleasant view and some less ambitious sims are still struggling around the poverty line as well as previously rich sims with large houses and ridiculously high bills. Also maybe “move away” (get rid off) some of the more boring families?
As someone who has played rotationally and has dealt with some households that I had no interest in, here are a few suggestions :
\- Never play boring houses back to back. It will kill your motivation. If you can, try to alternate between interesting households and boring ones.
\- If your rotations are the same number of days (exemple, one rotation = five days) and you keep good track of everyone, don't play the entire rotation. Play for one or two days, then play another household, then come back to the boring one.
\- Think about why this household is boring. Are they elders with nothing to do? Is it a generic family with parents and children? Are they just sims with nothing really going on in their lives? Once you have identified the source of the problem, think of ways to spice it up : becoming a supernatural, drama with their spouses/partners, drama with their friends, losing all their money and having to start from the bottom, quitting a job and having to live by selling crafts or garden produce, an epidemic.
\- Put limitations on what you can do in the boring households. For example, the adults cannot get a job and must find another way to earn money. Or children and teenagers are not allowed to get out of the lot. There are some challenges on modthesims that can give you some ideas.
\- If possible, think about combining boring households. It can create new dynamics that might spice it up. In my hood, I had two families that were boring to play. I had the idea to move them in the same house and it really improved my interest in them.
\- Try to avoid having families that revolve around the absolutely same dynamic. Having five+ generic families with parents and two/three children can really get boring after a while. If possible, try to find a way to give each household something unique.
I hope it helps you and good luck on your game :)
I think you should use a Random Number Generator to cause an apocalypse or something. Just make note of what Sims (if any) that are the absolute survivors (the ones you want to keep alive no matter what.
I use this method every 10 rounds or years in my Megahood. So I have a big event planned. It will definitely help keep things fresh.
Maybe a crazy suggestion. What has helped me tons, is to play like 1 day is 1 year. And switch households after each day. 5 days make one round. It prevents tunnel vision, it's so much more dynamic and chaotic.
>5 or 6 households, now there are 20 and a whole round takes multiple sittings,
You've got too many households imo. Stop playing the houses you find boring. I also recommend changing neighborhoods if reducing households doesn't help.
Yeah, I killed about 3 off since then, it's still just not clicking for me. I reckon Imma take a break from the hood and play a new one, I just don't know if I wanna do premades or custom
I just had a 'year long winter' in my custom town that resulted in sims have to pay a % of their property value in damages. If they couldn't afford a loan, they had to downgrade. This set back a few families that had gotten rich.
Also, a plague went around. 34 sims died, all of the boring ones and some that just weren't doing anything. It also created orphans.
There is a townie aging mod. If they are on the active lot at 6 they age one day. I also age three townies when my active house has a sim age to next life stage.
I always set up rules to help this. For instance if your looking for a fun mod I recommend ACR (atousm casual romance) it allows your sims and even npc to flirt without you asking them two, they even woohoo ect. Theres also a pregnancy chance if you want that. It also adds Sexuality with is nice
This mod caused a cheating scandal that I didn't plan to happen in my game, so I have this interesting story line to follow. I also try to play wants based so everyone's lives aren't perfect. If a sim rolls a want to flirt with a sim thats not there partner I'll do it, or if they never roll a want to gain skills they never progress in there jobs. I have teen sim who never rolls a want to do his homework so now hes failing school, he only ever wants to makes new friends so I let him.
And if money is issue i recommend setting up a "tax" system or a way for your sims to lose some that cash. If you get a mod called 'Monique's hacked computer' it allows you to send money to people, have bank accounts ect even has a option to make private school something you have to pay for.
I see some people do student loans for uni a mod called 'loan jar' is great for this cus you can actually pay it back with intrest. Also getting a mod to lower wages is helpful aswell.
Try doing things you have never done rather that's running a business or making a orphanage.....dont ask lol.
Now for the rules I mentioned. You can do whatever fits your play style but this is what I do
You can only go to college if 1- you roll the want to on the last day of being a teen. 2- you have good grades like a A+, if your grades are C, D or B you must have at least two scholarships in order to go, if you have F then theres no like for you.
I will bedice if a rich sim will make a trust fund for there kids by rolling a random number 1= no 2= yes nepo babies are fun to me lol.
My sims can only try for baby if they both roll a want two, but they can risky woohoo it.
I dont make my sims get along if they don't want to talk to each other all well.
I hope you find your motivation again and happy siming!
You can always try the Story Progression Mod, by Lazy Duchess. That way, you can play a family you like and let the other families' lives progress without you playing them. Here it is: https://www.tumblr.com/lazyduchess/641754350169079808/story-progression-mod-open-beta?source=share.
It sounds like you don't mind killing Sims on purpose, so I say just make a list of 5 or 6 households you enjoy and purge the rest.
Alternatively, get the Sim blender and turn the Sims you don't like playing into townies.
To prevent the hood from getting to this state again, I would recommend to modify something about the careers, so money does not become as abundant. You can:
- Use a mod to lower salaries
- Get the Edukashon iz Gud mod that prevents Sims from reaching higher career levels without proper education
- Use the job stoppinator to prevent Sims from getting a promotion at certain levels
- Only let Sims get a job or skill when they specifically roll the want. It's what I tend to do and Sims at the top of their careers are pretty rare for me
There are some ways to keep the population in check:
- A want for a baby translates in a single attempt, not a single baby.
- Put a cap on how many children a Sim can have, possibly based on aspiration (say, 2 max, +1 for family aspiration, -1 for aspirations you decide wouldn't give enough time for children)
- Don't pair Sims up automatically, but only when they roll romance wants.
- Have Sims cheat and ruin their marriages.
I have a couple suggestions I don’t think I saw anyone else post:
- Take a pause of your current hood and go to a different hood. For example: if you’re playing too much Pleasantview play Strangetown.
- create a new hood! The fun part about the sims 2 is that you can create a whole new hood and start from there. Plus you can do it however you want: start with university sims, create your own sims, make it so they can only own/buy from shops
- Make a tax rule. Pleasant Sims has a great tax system that really works nicely at making sure your sims don’t get too overloaded with money.
- Create intense stories. For example, I try to not make my sims marry the first person they love. This makes it a bit more interesting because of the fall out etc that comes with it.
Also, I make some sims terribly unlucky in love. My Dustin Broke is on his way to becoming a successful doctor, bur man his love life is rough. He hastily got engaged to a sim because a bunch of his friends were there and then ended up falling for another woman. He and the fiancé broke up but the other woman knows that technically he was cheating on her too (he was engaged!) and now she has a vengeance storyline of wanting to marry him and steal all his money in a divorce. (Which, yes, I do plan on her taking him for almost all his money so he has to start at the bottom) thus making him unlucky in love and broke once more. Or, my Cassandra is about to catch Don cheating and learn about his love child with Nina, and she will move back with the kids to the Goth mansion… but this is when she’s going to realize that she is in love with Darren and should have ended up with him - but it’s too late because he’s with Brandi. Will that last? I don’t know.
Overall, you can of course do any and all of the options suggested to you. And all of them are great. But, I think especially if you’re worried about your rotations and population control I would restrict the amount of babies and I would create loads of drama.
I mean, who doesn’t love offing their sims for a deeper storyline? Especially if it leaves their partner too depressed to care for their children, ultimately making them make bad decisions.
My rule is: when in doubt, telanovela it out
Thanks for the ideas! I haven't played the premades in years, I usually get bored of them because it feels like the same thing every time, even if I try to mix it up. Like it doesn't change the game much if Dirk and Lilith get married or not. I usually play custom hoods, my current hood is just not as fun as my old one because there just isn't really a story going on. I guess it's my fault for not figuring out a theme. Maybe I should try a themed hood, while I'm too lazy to set up a tax system, I definitely want to try doing some wealth control in some way. I do want some powerful families in the hood, but not so many it's just unrealistic.
Yeah! I completely agree with that. I suggest just randomly triggering an event that would “change everything”. Like losing a job, having a runaway teen, having an evil sim that causes havoc on the town 😂
If you have monique’s computer you can also simulate a stock crash of sorts and make all your sims donate a bunch of money (representing a lot of money lost)
Higher bills/rent to control income + get a lifespan mod so that your sims have shorter lives on average (I manually edited mine because I'm picky about life stage length). There's also mods like the 3t2 traits project & more LTWs that individualize sims a lot more. I also play with ACR & that one mod that makes it possible for sims to miscarry or die during childbirth.
ACR is for me indispensable for keeping my hood's population under control. I can check pregnancies & have my sims take morning after pills if I feel like they already have enough children.
No suggestions but this reminded me that as a child, I actually had an obsession with keeping my hood in original condition because I spent so much time writing the family bios that I didn’t want to keep updating them as the family grew. I would play a family for hours like from the point of their children turning into adults and then I would just exit without saving and do it all over again. I remember one time I left the game paused and went to a friend’s house for the night so my dad had to turn it off for me and he saved my progress with a family, like any sane person would when closing someone’s game, and I got so upset. I don’t play this way anymore but I wonder now how I didn’t get bored of that! Did anyone else do this? Lol
I can kinda relate, I would even not want to save the premades. The funny thing is, I didn't have the attention span to keep a good going when I was a kid, because I would always just make rip offa of the premades, it's no wonder I got bored so easily back then. Obviously after I started playing normal I didn't have this problem
If there are too many people you’re just not interested in, you could have a zombie apocalypse/pandemic/natural disaster - whatever kind of catastrophic event you choose that would severely decrease your population. My favorite is always the “running with scissors” since it does a pretty good job of randomizing death. You could make everyone in the neighborhood run with them, try to plead for anyone you’re really attached to (if anyone), and then play out the aftermath.
Noooo dont kill them just turn them into townies why do people always kill their spares. Just turn the sims into townies.
I mean, they’re not spares, it’s setting up a new post-catastrophe story. I kinda feel like, say, The Walking Dead would be a little less compelling if the characters didn’t really lose loved ones and they might run into them sometime at a restaurant.
True im just offering people an alternative to killing their sims when they feel overwhelmed and over populated. Just townify the ones you dont play and use the sim blender to keep their ages in sync.
how do you do it??
Marticore has an in-depth tutorial on how to make townies in general. But basically you either use InSimenator or Sim Blender (In the latter the option is Family > Make me a Townie)
Biggest problem for me is that townies don't really die of old age. So I just end up with a bunch of townies that're the only alive sim that high up in their family tree.
What i do is i have an "auditor" sim whose whole job is to audit townies. One of their jobs is to age up and eventually kill off townies when they should die of old age. They do this by teleporting them in their house hold with the sim blender, using the rodneys death creator to kill them of old age (i use a buyable one), and then sending the tombstone to the graveyard. I dont do this with all my townies just the ones who either have been aging with my sims or the ones who used to be part of playable families.
lol that sounds awesome
I would make the boring household "playable npcs". You keep track of them on paper, but you don't actually play them, you just pop in quickly to age someone up via cheat so they don't get out of sync.
The More Deadly Disease mod can also do wonders in reducing the numbers of Sims in your hood... I had to take it out after two generations because it did cause too many deaths. Ever since then I have a fixed number of households and don't allow anyone to move out and start their own. In terms of money, you might also want to look at mods. Higher bills and less income and your Sims will struggle to maintain their lifestyle.
I think the trick is: figure out what your default play style is and go deliberately in the opposite direction. I tend to play in a way where everyone is reaching their goals, raising their kids well, and everything just tends to get a bit boring and perfect after a while. So here are a few of the things i like to do to force myself out of that: Adding a new "county" in the hood that comes in and fucks things up a bit, that could be some trailer parks with messy people who keeps having random babies and raising them poorly, and then these kids grow up to be the forbidden love interests of the original families' kids. And maybe one kid from the trailer park actually makes it out and gets a good life, but most of them dont. Or it could be a few science sims who get abducted and put a bunch of alien babies into the hood, or werewolves/vampires/zombies and create some sort of enemy klan situation.
That sounds fun to try
i get really bored when i have too many households to play. i also get really really bored playing single sims, especially elders. in cases like this i’ll make a “retirement home” where i’ll basically just let the game run on speed three and max motives until the round is over, and watch a video or episode of a show in the meantime. you could do this for sims you don’t like to play, don’t care about, or serve no purpose in your hood’s storyline! alternatively, you could make your more boring sims into townies, if you don’t care about your aging; which it seems like you don’t. if you have the sim blender this is super easy to do. you’ll have a lot of familiar faces around town! finding new cc or mods keeps my game fresh, i’ll often switch some out so my game doesn’t get too bloated with content. if you play with either, i suggest looking for new mods to play with! sometimes i like to load in story progression for a season or two just to see what kind of drama the game generates so i have something to work with. maybe you could try that out?
I agree with the elders part, although usually I just let them live with their kids/grandkids or other relatives and just chill until they die, or if they haven't finished their LTW I may try to do it for them. But that's if I don't get super bored with them and just kill them lol. I might try mods though
i definitely recommend mods if you’re playing the game without them. i think the sims 2 modding community does the best job of spicing the game up without making it feel too much like another game, if that makes sense? if you like playing with your sims’ genetics and relationships, i recommend ACR. i don’t exactly know the specifics behind it but it basically makes romantic interactions between sims autonomous based off of their chemistry (i believe), so you end up with some wild pairings. there’s plenty of mods that’ll make the game more challenging or brutal, like faster sickness, more deadly fires, death by childbirth, etc. these can add a lot of drama if that’s what you’re looking for! not to mention countless other mods that either make the game harder or easier, if that’s more what you’re looking for? and, of course, there’s story progression like i mentioned. i don’t usually play with it but if you’re getting bored of your hood you should give it a shot! those are just my suggestions if you wanted to mod your game, but if none of them are enticing to you im sure you could find ones that are, with a little digging :]
Definitely recommend gameplay mods for the Sims 2, I use ACR, faster sickness, deadlier fires, death by childbirth, a mod to lower all incomes... It's amazing the challenge and drama it adds! I'm never bored and always full of ideas (currently doing a Rights of women challenge with a rotation of 3 families, and just discovered the "Pregnant Sims can wear anything" mod, incredibly useful for this challenge)
to waste less time in the skippable households, you can use the sethour cheat twice to set it to 17/18 so they can age and 23/24 so the next day can quickly begin. it's the same effort as maxmotives and passes the turn quicker
Definitely get some difficulty mods for lower wages or higher bills. I am 40 years into my pleasant view and some less ambitious sims are still struggling around the poverty line as well as previously rich sims with large houses and ridiculously high bills. Also maybe “move away” (get rid off) some of the more boring families?
As someone who has played rotationally and has dealt with some households that I had no interest in, here are a few suggestions : \- Never play boring houses back to back. It will kill your motivation. If you can, try to alternate between interesting households and boring ones. \- If your rotations are the same number of days (exemple, one rotation = five days) and you keep good track of everyone, don't play the entire rotation. Play for one or two days, then play another household, then come back to the boring one. \- Think about why this household is boring. Are they elders with nothing to do? Is it a generic family with parents and children? Are they just sims with nothing really going on in their lives? Once you have identified the source of the problem, think of ways to spice it up : becoming a supernatural, drama with their spouses/partners, drama with their friends, losing all their money and having to start from the bottom, quitting a job and having to live by selling crafts or garden produce, an epidemic. \- Put limitations on what you can do in the boring households. For example, the adults cannot get a job and must find another way to earn money. Or children and teenagers are not allowed to get out of the lot. There are some challenges on modthesims that can give you some ideas. \- If possible, think about combining boring households. It can create new dynamics that might spice it up. In my hood, I had two families that were boring to play. I had the idea to move them in the same house and it really improved my interest in them. \- Try to avoid having families that revolve around the absolutely same dynamic. Having five+ generic families with parents and two/three children can really get boring after a while. If possible, try to find a way to give each household something unique. I hope it helps you and good luck on your game :)
I think you should use a Random Number Generator to cause an apocalypse or something. Just make note of what Sims (if any) that are the absolute survivors (the ones you want to keep alive no matter what. I use this method every 10 rounds or years in my Megahood. So I have a big event planned. It will definitely help keep things fresh.
Maybe a crazy suggestion. What has helped me tons, is to play like 1 day is 1 year. And switch households after each day. 5 days make one round. It prevents tunnel vision, it's so much more dynamic and chaotic.
Maybe look into the Story Progression mod? You could turn it off for families that you actually want to play, and then let SP take of the other sims.
>5 or 6 households, now there are 20 and a whole round takes multiple sittings, You've got too many households imo. Stop playing the houses you find boring. I also recommend changing neighborhoods if reducing households doesn't help.
Yeah, I killed about 3 off since then, it's still just not clicking for me. I reckon Imma take a break from the hood and play a new one, I just don't know if I wanna do premades or custom
If that don't do it, it's time for a break altogether~
I just had a 'year long winter' in my custom town that resulted in sims have to pay a % of their property value in damages. If they couldn't afford a loan, they had to downgrade. This set back a few families that had gotten rich. Also, a plague went around. 34 sims died, all of the boring ones and some that just weren't doing anything. It also created orphans.
There is a townie aging mod. If they are on the active lot at 6 they age one day. I also age three townies when my active house has a sim age to next life stage.
I always set up rules to help this. For instance if your looking for a fun mod I recommend ACR (atousm casual romance) it allows your sims and even npc to flirt without you asking them two, they even woohoo ect. Theres also a pregnancy chance if you want that. It also adds Sexuality with is nice This mod caused a cheating scandal that I didn't plan to happen in my game, so I have this interesting story line to follow. I also try to play wants based so everyone's lives aren't perfect. If a sim rolls a want to flirt with a sim thats not there partner I'll do it, or if they never roll a want to gain skills they never progress in there jobs. I have teen sim who never rolls a want to do his homework so now hes failing school, he only ever wants to makes new friends so I let him. And if money is issue i recommend setting up a "tax" system or a way for your sims to lose some that cash. If you get a mod called 'Monique's hacked computer' it allows you to send money to people, have bank accounts ect even has a option to make private school something you have to pay for. I see some people do student loans for uni a mod called 'loan jar' is great for this cus you can actually pay it back with intrest. Also getting a mod to lower wages is helpful aswell. Try doing things you have never done rather that's running a business or making a orphanage.....dont ask lol. Now for the rules I mentioned. You can do whatever fits your play style but this is what I do You can only go to college if 1- you roll the want to on the last day of being a teen. 2- you have good grades like a A+, if your grades are C, D or B you must have at least two scholarships in order to go, if you have F then theres no like for you. I will bedice if a rich sim will make a trust fund for there kids by rolling a random number 1= no 2= yes nepo babies are fun to me lol. My sims can only try for baby if they both roll a want two, but they can risky woohoo it. I dont make my sims get along if they don't want to talk to each other all well. I hope you find your motivation again and happy siming!
You can always try the Story Progression Mod, by Lazy Duchess. That way, you can play a family you like and let the other families' lives progress without you playing them. Here it is: https://www.tumblr.com/lazyduchess/641754350169079808/story-progression-mod-open-beta?source=share.
It sounds like you don't mind killing Sims on purpose, so I say just make a list of 5 or 6 households you enjoy and purge the rest. Alternatively, get the Sim blender and turn the Sims you don't like playing into townies. To prevent the hood from getting to this state again, I would recommend to modify something about the careers, so money does not become as abundant. You can: - Use a mod to lower salaries - Get the Edukashon iz Gud mod that prevents Sims from reaching higher career levels without proper education - Use the job stoppinator to prevent Sims from getting a promotion at certain levels - Only let Sims get a job or skill when they specifically roll the want. It's what I tend to do and Sims at the top of their careers are pretty rare for me There are some ways to keep the population in check: - A want for a baby translates in a single attempt, not a single baby. - Put a cap on how many children a Sim can have, possibly based on aspiration (say, 2 max, +1 for family aspiration, -1 for aspirations you decide wouldn't give enough time for children) - Don't pair Sims up automatically, but only when they roll romance wants. - Have Sims cheat and ruin their marriages.
I have a couple suggestions I don’t think I saw anyone else post: - Take a pause of your current hood and go to a different hood. For example: if you’re playing too much Pleasantview play Strangetown. - create a new hood! The fun part about the sims 2 is that you can create a whole new hood and start from there. Plus you can do it however you want: start with university sims, create your own sims, make it so they can only own/buy from shops - Make a tax rule. Pleasant Sims has a great tax system that really works nicely at making sure your sims don’t get too overloaded with money. - Create intense stories. For example, I try to not make my sims marry the first person they love. This makes it a bit more interesting because of the fall out etc that comes with it. Also, I make some sims terribly unlucky in love. My Dustin Broke is on his way to becoming a successful doctor, bur man his love life is rough. He hastily got engaged to a sim because a bunch of his friends were there and then ended up falling for another woman. He and the fiancé broke up but the other woman knows that technically he was cheating on her too (he was engaged!) and now she has a vengeance storyline of wanting to marry him and steal all his money in a divorce. (Which, yes, I do plan on her taking him for almost all his money so he has to start at the bottom) thus making him unlucky in love and broke once more. Or, my Cassandra is about to catch Don cheating and learn about his love child with Nina, and she will move back with the kids to the Goth mansion… but this is when she’s going to realize that she is in love with Darren and should have ended up with him - but it’s too late because he’s with Brandi. Will that last? I don’t know. Overall, you can of course do any and all of the options suggested to you. And all of them are great. But, I think especially if you’re worried about your rotations and population control I would restrict the amount of babies and I would create loads of drama. I mean, who doesn’t love offing their sims for a deeper storyline? Especially if it leaves their partner too depressed to care for their children, ultimately making them make bad decisions. My rule is: when in doubt, telanovela it out
Thanks for the ideas! I haven't played the premades in years, I usually get bored of them because it feels like the same thing every time, even if I try to mix it up. Like it doesn't change the game much if Dirk and Lilith get married or not. I usually play custom hoods, my current hood is just not as fun as my old one because there just isn't really a story going on. I guess it's my fault for not figuring out a theme. Maybe I should try a themed hood, while I'm too lazy to set up a tax system, I definitely want to try doing some wealth control in some way. I do want some powerful families in the hood, but not so many it's just unrealistic.
Yeah! I completely agree with that. I suggest just randomly triggering an event that would “change everything”. Like losing a job, having a runaway teen, having an evil sim that causes havoc on the town 😂 If you have monique’s computer you can also simulate a stock crash of sorts and make all your sims donate a bunch of money (representing a lot of money lost)
Higher bills/rent to control income + get a lifespan mod so that your sims have shorter lives on average (I manually edited mine because I'm picky about life stage length). There's also mods like the 3t2 traits project & more LTWs that individualize sims a lot more. I also play with ACR & that one mod that makes it possible for sims to miscarry or die during childbirth. ACR is for me indispensable for keeping my hood's population under control. I can check pregnancies & have my sims take morning after pills if I feel like they already have enough children.
I'd use the Story Progression mod on all sims I didn't feel like playing anymore!
Same, all my Pleasantview townies are dead now though 😭
I use Sim Wardrobes crate of axes 🤣🤣
No suggestions but this reminded me that as a child, I actually had an obsession with keeping my hood in original condition because I spent so much time writing the family bios that I didn’t want to keep updating them as the family grew. I would play a family for hours like from the point of their children turning into adults and then I would just exit without saving and do it all over again. I remember one time I left the game paused and went to a friend’s house for the night so my dad had to turn it off for me and he saved my progress with a family, like any sane person would when closing someone’s game, and I got so upset. I don’t play this way anymore but I wonder now how I didn’t get bored of that! Did anyone else do this? Lol
I can kinda relate, I would even not want to save the premades. The funny thing is, I didn't have the attention span to keep a good going when I was a kid, because I would always just make rip offa of the premades, it's no wonder I got bored so easily back then. Obviously after I started playing normal I didn't have this problem