I haven't played the sims 2 for a while, and am trying to get back into the game

I remember giving specific gameplay rules for myself (check the next post if you're curious) ,
& I'm wondering...

What are some unique rules you apply to your sims gameplay?

Here are the rules I usually play with:

In the case of a divorce…
Roll a dice
1 - Parent 1 keeps kids / house
2 - Parent 2 keeps kids / house
3 - Both stay under the same roof

Roll a dice again
1 - Play with parent 1
2 - Play with parent 2

University Fees: (since the mod isn't able to be found online #RIP)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Daily . . . . . | . . . . . Total
College: . . . . . . . $500 . . . . . . . . . . $4000
Dorms: . . . . . . . .$200 . . . . . . . . . . .$1600
Gendered: . . . . .$100. . . . . . . . . . . . $800

Total: . . . . . .. . $700 daily. . . . . .$5600 total

Eviction
3 Repo Men = Eviction

I started a new rule not long ago where every Sim aged adult and up get the cell phone. Maybe in 2006 it made sense for a select few to have one, but no longer is the case.

I have a few simple rules pertaining to the selection of aspirations and the number of kids a couple may have.

Selecting aspirations for a Sim is based on their One True Hobby (OTH):
- Nature/Cuisine = Family (For Cuisine, it could also be a Primary Grilled Cheese with a secondary Family)
- Tinkering/Science: Knowledge
- Sports = Popularity
- Fitness = Fortune
- Music and Dance/Games = Pleasure
- Arts and Crafts/Film and Literature = Romance

As for the number of kids a Sim may have, it depends on their aspiration and Lifetime Want:
- Any aspiration other than Family = 1 kid
- Family Aspiration = At least 2 kids.
- LTW: Have 3 kids Graduate from College = 3 kids
- LTW: Have 6 grandchildren = 4 kids
- LTW: Marry off 6 kids = 6 kids
- Bonus: If both parents happen to roll a want for a baby = +1 kid
- Twins/Triplets/Quads are allowed for any of the above, regardless of aspiration or LTW.

Every teen gets a cell phone as soon as they age up.

Private school requires an initial tuition of $5,000 and daily fees as calculated by Monique's hacked computer.

If a parent got their child into private school, then they have to go to college whether they want to or not. If the child does not have good grades or a talent scholarship, parents must pay $10,000 tuition.

I am pretty happy with my latest iteration of my aspiration-assignment system, except I think there are far too many Pleasure Sims. So any Pleasure Sim who goes to college and makes it to junior year will "grow out of it" and change their aspiration based mainly on their interests and such.

My divorce rule is that a couple who is no longer in love or who uses physical violence against one another will divorce. I am the judge who awards custody of the children, and that parent will also get the family home, but any remaining cash will be split between the two.

I only make them try for baby (through the Casual menu) if both Sims have the want for a baby. But they can autonomously try using ACR if one Sim has the want for a baby or if one has a LTW that requires a certain number of children. Otherwise, try for baby is not allowed and it can only happen through risky woohoo, or if I as the supreme deity decide that a baby would be good for that particular Sim's story or I just really want them to have one.

In my new hood, I have some rules that were different from previous hoods.

- Teens who have a wish to buy a phone or game or any other item must get a job before being allowed to purchase.

- No aspiration benefits! No secondary aspirations! I was fed up of seeing the same wants and full motive bars. It's more challenging when sims have to replenish motive bars.

- No smart milk! I am playing with Whoward's toddler character changes mod that I customised, and am enjoying the challenge of having to make the parents find time to teach the toddler skills or suffer personality detriment. It is difficult!

- Teen aspirations are chosen via random generator, and any gameplay decision I make is determined by wants and a dice roll.

- Always participate in chance cards! I am not allowed to ignore. This is hilariously frustrating when a sim is one level away from achieving their LTW to top career and they get fired!

- If a sim buys a pet whilst non-playable, I must allow them to keep it.

- I don't build a community lot unless a sim has a wish for something (I built a roller rink when a sim wanted to skate). I made this rule because otherwise I will spend all of my time building and none playing!

- I create one new playable sim per generation. And I build them a starter home from scratch on a large lot. I'm not allowed to build houses without a sim to live in it, and sims expand the starter home when they can afford it.

- Sim Sample is not allowed in this hood! Absolutely not. At all.

- All sims must have at least one lawn gnome. I am keeping track of who steals whose gnome, and may use this data to influence relationships!

My rules for all my hoods:

* Every couple can have 2 children. If they end up with more than 1 baby in a pregnancy, that's it. (no more!)

* Every teen gets a phone and gaming thing. (yes, even in the medieval hood. Don't ask me why)

* There will be no acrimonious divorces-no fights or knock down drag outs. I will divorce them civilly and move the offending spouse out of the house.

* There are NO resurrections, ever. Once a death occurs, that's it.

* In the modern hoods, all kids go to university-in the medieval hood, only males. (that's how it was).

I have a few rules:

Death is permanent. No resurrections at all. I do everything I can to avoid premature death (my sims always die of old age.)

All teens go to college. Once there they always get what skills they need, go to class and do homework. They can tell me what major they want (most do, but there have been a few that the game put into the philosophy major because they didn't roll the want for a major before junior year.) I also only have them write a term paper or do research when they roll a want.

All children must learn to study. One of the few times I turn free will off is to have a kid ask their parent to teach them how to study since the interaction tends to drop frequently and I don't want either Sim to get glued to something else.

A rule I don't have all the time, but right now in the Beginning hood when some Sims couples only have 1 child: no sim can buy a vacation home unless they have someone to inherit.

I really enjoy these threads because it gives me so many ideas for my own gameplay.

I thought of a couple more rules around teens and college. The first is that all teens must get either an afterschool job or a school activity (for the activities, I use custom "careers" that are really things like band, drama club, etc.), but they have to roll wants to skill (or get a scholarship) to advance in it.

A teen who has the want to go to college showing (or something equivalent, like a want for a scholarship) will do their homework that night. If a parent has a want for a child to be an overachiever, then they will help them with homework and maybe even lecture them into developing their skills. If a parent has a want for a child to go to college, then that child will go regardless of whether they want to. If they get any kind of scholarship at all and have decent grades, then they go to college for free, but if they have low grades and no scholarships, parents can still get them in by "paying" (donating) $10,000. Someone recently had to pay because both parents were Fortune Sims so college was important to them, but their daughter was Family with no want to go and a D. It's pretty rare for me to have someone skip college, but sometimes they will just because of their life circumstances or character (e.g., Dustin Broke for no opportunities, Lilith Pleasant because of bad grades/rebellion, Tosha because she was on the straight to marriage track).

I lock the want to go to college when they are 3 days from growing up, and I send them the night before they grow up (or that morning). They pick their own major. They will skill and do assignments if they get the want to or want to get on the dean's list, or if it's the night before the final, if they have the fear of failing. I rarely write term papers unless they want to get on the dean's list. They can usually pass without it.

Children pretty much always do their homework since they usually have the want or a want to get an A+ but they must learn how to study first. If a child rolls a generic want to get a skill point, I usually have them concentrate in one skill so they can build up to a talent scholarship, and that becomes like a hobby for them, but some kids are dilettantes who dabble a little in everything.

- teens are not allowed to get a job, date, or sneak out until they're 10 days to aging (for me that puts their age at 14/ 15yrs old)
- no resurrections .. if a sim dies they stay dead
- all monies must be earned .. each sim is allowed to dig for treasure twice a day if they're in need
- if a teen wants to go to college they must have 5,000 in savings
- I usually don't use the genie lamp if it's given .. I won't say it's a never use, just a very rare use
- I have mods that make bills higher, wages lower, promotions harder, NCP's cost more, skill limiter
- If a sim doesn't go to college they're not allowed to advance past between level 5 and 7 .. dependin on the job .. and some jobs college is a must

I know I have more .. but some I'm just so used to doin that I don't think of them anymore .. I just do them

Oh, I forgot the most important rule!

- You MUST backup your neighourhood after each game session, and before opening in SimPE or any other editing tool. (This goes for other important files too, like your game images and sim spreadsheets and custom content).

I'm currently playing a BACC so I have rules like crazy! Some of my non-challenge ones though involve families and use ACR.

- I only set a sim's desired number of children after they've rolled a have a baby want.
- Sims only get engaged/married if one or both roll a want for it. I've had a couple get engaged and stay engaged until one of them died, never getting married because neither rolled a want for it.
- Sims can move in together and have families at any time.
- If a sim is on birth control and they roll a have a baby want, they will go off their birth control. If they have a partner they will stop taking birth control as well.
- If at any time a sim rolls a fear of having baby want they will go on birth control and never stop taking it again, even if they roll a want to have a baby.

I also don't play with secondary aspirations or use aspiration points. I may at some point, but right now there's enough going on trying to build up their town that my sims (and myself) don't have time to worry about that.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for deciding when/if two sims should Go Steady let me know! I'm still trying to figure that part out.

Here are many of the negative rules I enforce:

• Sims are segregated into classes via Inge Jones' keys.
• Sims are lower classed for being undesirable - taking others' places is plainly despicable.
• Sims are banned for good reasons, such as being jailed or menaced by others!
• Earn a place amongst the Pleasant or Burb families and get the privilege to win cases against most losers!

• Sims who misbehave pettily, such as Stuffing Face, kicking garbage cans, blocking path by Playing Scissors, etc., are punishable with a single instance of lightning strike, peeing oneself, or passing out per misbehavior.
• Sims with bad genes or red Aspiration bar may be mistreated, I mean, preyed upon.
• I must blame Maxis for every instance of mismatched genetic expression!

• Sims who want to die prematurely should take Elixir of Life and must not be of great importance, or staying young and hot is their principle importance.
• Sims who have wished to cheat death will be frequently visited by Grim Reapers... At some point!
• Deaths are set and dead Sims stay dead. Untimely deaths can be found unjust and overruled. Becoming zombie is part of being preyed upon.
• Sims may "bargain" to get their genes "fixed" or overrule untimely deaths.

• Cheating and having multiple lovers are acceptable, even encouraged, as Romance is just 1 out of 6 viable Aspirations.
• Sims who want to be losers should have Pleasure as their Aspiration, primary or secondary.
• Child labor is practiced, but only for home gardening.
• Earn money justly, bills are big and brutal, and going above deserved wealth will result in their ca$h wasted, if not "donated".
• Never mistreat a direct Pleasant or Burb family member!

Otherwise, I keep my Sims way too well-cared for all the time, that my reputation for cruelty is questionable at best.

What is a good way to back up a hood? I've never done it but am thinking about starting.

By taking the game folder then zipping it up and storing it on a separate part of your computer under a file name you can remember, you can preserve the game as it is at the time of the save.

If you want you can use a DVD disk (if it has enough space), a flash drive or a separate backup drive.

I used to use CD disks, graduated to DVD disks and now I have the drive from my old computer being used as a backup for my game.

It has saved me more than a few times. It is well worth the effort if you want to keep the neighborhoods intact.

This is somewhat outdated (Winrar! Nero!!! I wrote this a million years ago) but shows the basic principle.
Game Help:Back Ups^wiki
You just need to copy the files you want to backup to a safe place (it can be somewhere else on your computer, or- better still- an external storage device such as flash drive or cloud storage). It is always good to keep old backups, as if you decide you've made a huge mistake by marrying Dina to Don you can go back and play from an earlier point.

Note: I have no idea what the heck that bit about partial backups is about; I think it's bollox and it was put there to cover asses.

i almost never play live mode but if build mode applies to "rules", I have one I solemnly swear by

there must be two tile spaces in front of often used objects and passages
cos these little creatures can't hop over or shimmy away from most things

Basic routing rules right there. Whenever I build, I follow the same rule.

Most of my sims have a shop of some sort selling toilets, BBQs, furniture, house plants etc.
When I opened my magic mushroom shop I wanted to see who bought the most so kept the mushrooms in their inventory to keep an eye on who is the stoner.

But it evolved into, you bought it, you keep it. Basically if a sim I created but not currently controlling walks into a store and buys something then they have to keep it.

Pic is part of the inventory of one sim.

Hoarder!

I have all kinds of rules.

I calculate aspirations and hobbies and motivation/smarts levels.

Aspirations I do on LordCrumps calculator so that each aspiration is divided into two.
For example is the sim a helpless romantic or a serial romantic? Dedicated to gaining money through hard work or more shifty means?
I make sure to give them a 3t2 trait based on this.
https://www.lordcrumps.com/the-crumpulator.

I calculate a hobby based on personality and interests. I also calculate a second and third because I use a longer lifespan and play hobbies quite a lot.

Motivation/smarts levels I calculate as soon as a baby ages up. Neatness, plus activity, minus playfulness. Someone on here came up with this I just tweaked it.
I have a whole bunch of rules surrounding this but basically if a sim scores 8+ they are set as smart on the batbax. They are overachievers and will become the doctors etc.
Sims who score 1-7 are average and for the most part I go by their wants. Sims 0 and below are either a bit slow or maybe on the spectrum or eccentric types. I try and play them a bit more hands off.

Toddler specific rules are each night I roll to see if they have learnt to sleep through. 50+ If they have not they stay in a crib, if yes they move to a toddler bed.
(only exception are if they have the traits light sleeper or heavy sleeper)
Once a toddler turns 18 months they use either a sippy cup and or Beks booster chair and meals.

Average or low children only do homework independently if they have at least 6 interest in school. Below that they need a parent to make sure it is done. If the parent is low aspiration it may not get done at all.

Teens must learn to drive to be able to drive. (Pick N Mix driving mod)
Teens on gaining a want for a hand held device must ask a parent if they can buy one. This means having a chat, if they chat ends with a negative the parent said no, positive + signs means yes. (Unless the teen has a job and their own money)

In my current BACC/Integrated hood my new rule was that no money perks could be taken by shop owners until the town had a mayor. And a sim could not become mayor until they had at least a community hall. The great grandchildren are being born and my sim is level 8 in politics, so its getting close.

He got stoned, so he got hungry and needed to use the grill. The food gave him diarrhea, so he needed the toilet. The flowers are just there to comfort him.

I don't know if I'd call this a "rule", but just about every neighborhood/subhood I make gets the UFO crash decor put somewhere on the map.

I think I've only used that maybe twice in all these years. Most recently I hid one underneath the Pyramids in my Shifting Sands neighborhood I was working on. I just had to...

I have very few rules.
- no money cheats
- two bolts beat one bolt, three bolts beat two bolts. Some Sims never get three bolts, some only after quite a while - they might already be married with children. If that happens I have a problem: no rules then, solution depends on the situation.
- death is final
- when building homes I only use 3x1 or (mostly but depends on terrain) 2x2 lots for starter houses, 3x2 or 2x3 for advanced ones. Only community lots can be bigger.
Otherwise, I just follow my Sims - I always play with free will on (well, that's a rule as well, I guess). If they have one of those practically unachievable life wishes I put them in the custom career that best suits their personality (yet another rule?), but that's it. TS2 is quite capable of creating surprises, good or bad, and I love being surprised.