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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 12:01 AM
What are your rules while playing?
Hello everybody,

I hope I did not overlook a thread like this but I'd really love to hear what are your rules while playing?

I play in rotations meaning every family is played from monday-thursday and thursday-monday.
At the moment I'm in my 5th week Monday-Thursday.
Since I play a monarchy system there are royals/nobles, citizens and citiziens with a low status (farmers etc.)
At the moment I only have a university and the normal hood but two Kingdoms.
Since my story is that the Queen (in her own right) had to flee from her home country (which will be the first subhood) because of war
she and her nobles are welcome but still the King is sceptical so it is very rare that is his nobles marry her nobles.
Talking about marriage every royal can only marry another royal or nobles, while low-ranked nobles are allowed to marry citizen but it is rare.
Every noble/royal has to take the Royal career and has to start their study at university when they are 7 days into teenage age.
Since the start of the week everybody has to pay taxes of 10% to their king or donate it to charity.
At first every title from mother and father went into the next generation but as generations grow the list became way to long
so I decided when marrying the lower person (mostly the women) keeps her title and gets the one of the husband/wife aswell.
But children only get the title of the family name they have.
An heir is always called prince or crown prince (king's child) while the other children are called Lord/Lady or Prince/Princess.
At the moment a lady can only inheritate the thrown or reigning title if no male heir exists but as time moves this will surely change (or end in blood shed)
Everybody has to have a job or do something to get money.
As soon as possible everybody is getting married since times are hard and who knows when you'll die.

I think that is everything I have at the moment.
I'm excited for your rules.
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Forum Resident
#3 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 1:22 AM
Here's some for me just off the top of my head:
-aspirations and turn ons/offs are chosen based on the "Sims 2 Transition to Teenhood Random Generator", including secondary aspirations
-if a sim doesn't meet someone that they have a min of 2 chemistry bolts with by the time they go to Uni, I make a CAS sim designed specifically for them
-every teen goes to Uni 1 day before they age up to an adult
-if a child is taken away by the social worker, a family member will adopt them. If there are no family members that can, then a close friend will
-if a sim dies unexpectedly, I do not revert to a prior save and just let it play out
-LTW takes precedence over anything else
-having a romance aspiration does not necessarily mean they cheat. sometimes I have it where they are very affectionate with the partner they are with instead
-if two sims that are meant to be together do not roll a want to get engaged by the time they are seniors, I get them engaged. the only exceptions are romance and pleasure sims. They must move in with their partner, but don't have to marry them
-any have a baby wish is acted upon, no matter how many kids they already have, or how close the parents are to being elders
-the eldest child inherits the family home when the parents pass away
Scholar
#4 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 2:38 AM
My rules:
All houses in a town get played every time you're on the neighborhood
Houses are played until 6 PM (the time when sims age up a day)
All teens go to university because it's just easier that way.
All Generation One sims in each town are required to reproduce
I decide what my sims do with their life, not their LTW. If the LTW does not please me, it changes.
Chester Gieke, the Larsons, and the Rawaswamis are never played; they just don't fit anywhere
If you come from a prominent family, your career choices are limited to "dignified" careers unless you're a black sheep
In supernatural families, at least one child must carry on the family legacy
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#5 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 2:48 AM
I play in rotations lasting one season, however that doesn't mean I play a family for the whole rotation in one go. It's a new hood and right now the second gen is turning child and my school is taking children every Mon-Wed-Fri so I am jumping around the houses to see who is due to age up. So I may play houses for only a day or so, but I know their rotation is not finished.

When a sim turns into a toddler I work out their motivation level/intelligence level. I add up neatness + activity - playfulness. I then jot down in their bio if the sim is above, average or below. The above average toddler will be directed to skill toys much of the time, the average toddler will be only be directed to a toy if he has a want to gain a skill, otherwise he is free to roam. Parents may choose to keep the toddler in a room with a baby gate so that freedom does not include the toilet and dogs dish. The low motivated toddler is not told to do anything, he may do as he pleases all of the time. The parents motivation also plays a part.
While a baby gate may be used the parents need to be average or above to think of using it. The average parent must roll up a want to train their toddler a skill. The low motivated parent does not think to use a baby gate and does not know how to train. They may wish their toddler was potty trained but have no idea how to do that, so they do nothing. The low motivated adult can be directed to do nothing more than take care of his or her needs. The above average/smart parent needs no such wants, they will carry out all training quickly. The toddlers own motivation level also plays a part in being trained or not. If a highly motivated/very smart toddler is born to average parents, he or she is smart enough to make his parents understand his wants and to make them do his bidding. So if the highly motivated toddler wants to learn to walk he can make his average parents teach him. If his parents have low motivation even his highly developed communication skills will not help because they are simply not smart enough to understand.

All toddlers receive one container of smart milk unless the parents are low motivation and the toddler is low or average. Should a very smart toddler be born to low parents he will be set as smart on the bat box. This smartness continues on over achieving sims as they get older.

Highly motivated parents may encourage their children once per day. This is very useful if they have an average child as they may encourage enough to make the child jump from being average to smart.

Teenagers go to uni if they have at least 3 scholarships and a portfolio or 4 scholarships and no portfolio. They have ten days. 1 day = 6 months in my game, so 10 days = 5 years. 13-18 years of age. Once at uni they will be told to go to class and exam, the rest they must roll want for. If they have a lot of skills and only want to party and make friends they may still get through. Only one academic probation is allowed, two means you must drop out. Teens who do not wish to go to uni or do not meet the scholarship/portfolio requirement will be set as YA and the days marked off as if they had gone to uni. They may own a business, travel or just bum around. Some may work in their parents business.

Adults who did well at uni have every job open to them and may reach the top levels. Adults who got through but did not do so well can still get into every job but will not reach the top levels. Adults who flunked out of uni or did not make uni due to not meeting the requirements will have low paying jobs. Some who did not go to uni may be business owners so they may still do very well for themselves. Not everyone needs Uni to be a success. Most however will be stuck in such jobs as being a maid and may struggle to make ends meet.

Sims will find a partner during teenagerhood or Young Adulthood. I prefer they find one from the other born in sims but will make them someone if needed.

Every woohoo carries the risk of pregnancy from risky woohoo. Babies are either to be kept of adopted out.

Every sim must take a job that is needed for the town to run. If the job is already filled and no more are needed they will have to do something else. If perhaps a sim will be retiring from the job the younger sim may have the job level below until such time the older sim retires. There cannot be two police chiefs but there can be more than one constable.

Every sim has a life time goal that I set. This may or may not be the LTW that the game sets, these days it's likely to be a LTW that I have made just for them.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Instructor
#6 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 3:26 AM
My rules are kind of a work in process. As in, I keep the rules I have but add more and more as they come to me. Or if I see a thread on here with a good idea I adapt it to my game.

WARNING: I started writing, and just couldn't stop. Feel free to skip my absurdly long and detailed list of rules

Rules:
1. Rotation: Pleasantview (and the attached subhoods of Downtown, Bluewater Village, and recently Widespot), are played in a 5 day rotation cycle (I keep track through age, not by season or day of the week). I add townies, premades, and CAS sims as I feel like it. The only rule with that is that once they join the rotation they never leave it (except by dying).

2. Entering University: At the end of each rotation, I play the university. So far, all my sims go to Academie Le Tour. I have a bit of a convoluted system for making sure my sims stay the same age as their non-college counterparts. In short, teen sims go to college at the end of the 5 days spent in their household when they are between 7 to 3 days from being an adult. I keep track of the age so I can play them more or less than 5 days after they graduate (or get expelled). This way, it doesn't happen that all the teen sims who enter college during the same rotation end up being exactly the same age.

3. University Rotation: So far I have three households- the sorority, fraternity, and dorms. At the beginning of the rotation the sorority and fraternity recruit new members. Basically, this involves me counting how many of the current members are friends with each sim of the same gender living in the dorms, and moving in the ones that have the most current member friends. I usually shoot for about 8-10 members, though it can get higher if sims in the dorms roll the want to join a greek house. I then play each of the three households for one semester at a time until it's been two years (four semesters), at which point the college rotation is finished and it's back to the regular rotation.

4. College playstyle: I have a new hands off policy at college involving only letting sims excel academically if 1. they roll wants to do schoolwork, 2. they roll wants to gain relevant skills, 3. they are incredibly lucky and already have the necessary skills and manage to do well enough just by going to class. I will also have sims fix items, and I'll admit I'm most likely to try to get a sim who needs a mechanical skill point to unclog the toilet.

5. College tuition costs: This is another new initiative on my part. Students now have to pay for college, or more accurately their family does. This means that parents transfer 20,000 to the college per student via Monique's Computer. That covers all of their costs. If the family can't afford that, I factor in scholarships won and have the parents send what money they can. If by the student's second college rotation it's looking like the family won't be able to afford it, the student has to drop out. Really poor families won't be able to send kids to college at all unless the kid wins a very, very large amount of scholarships.

6. Careers: Sims get jobs based on LTW. If there is no job related LTW, then it's by the wants they get when they become an adult. If there are no job related wants, sims from rich families are allowed to remain unemployed, while sims from less well off families get a job that seems in line with their interests/aspiration. Most sims are forced to get a non-LTW job until their LTW job becomes available on the computer.

7. Housing: After college (or after becoming an adult) sims either move back in with their families (or stay there), or move into my newly created co-op housing, or move into a new home of their own. I have the no20khandouts mod, so the only way sims can afford to move into a new house of their own is if their parents have money to give them (and they have a good relationship with said parents) or they're marrying/dating someone with wealthy family. The co-op housing is basically a place where single sims can go live either because they don't have enough money to get their own place or because they just want to live in that environment. My romance sims love it cause of all the woohoo opportunities! But the big thing about this place is that babies are NOT allowed. So if a sim gives birth they either have to move out with the baby or give the baby up for adoption. I decide this based on the sim's personality, aspiration, relationship with the other parent, and wants. The adoption center is really just a house run by two romance sims where any babies who have no relatives claiming them go.

8. Death: All my sims must have at least one baby before they die, cause I like seeing the genetics and I want the sims to live on through family trees. If they die as a teen or before having a child, they will eventually get resurrected. But any sims who die after having a baby are not allowed to be resurrected ever. I also have a new rule, inspired by other people's threads on this site, regarding chance of death from work. Sims in the military, adventurer, law enforcement, criminal, science, and paranormal careers have a 5% chance of dying in the course of doing their job (as in I will cheat them to death immediately after they get home). I use a randomizer to determine this each time they go to work. If sims have not yet had a kid or are pregnant, they don't have the randomizer rolled. So far, none of my sims have rolled the right numbers to die, but I expect it will end up happening soon.

9. Aspiration: Always randomly rolled when the sim becomes a teen. Secondary aspiration (if they ever get one) is determined based on their wants, their family members, personality, or autonomous actions.

10. Romance: I have ACR in my game, and I let sims make their own choices (almost always). I will get sims flirting with someone I think is compatible if they roll wants to flirt/kiss/woohoo but aren't autonomously going for anyone. I also reserve the right to use the Sim Blender to teleport in sims I would like to see them with, and see how they interact (I just watch them to see if they get along/how many bolts they have). I mostly only do this for sims who haven't found anybody at all by their second rotation in college (or early adult life for non-college sims) or who are pining after someone they have no chance with.

11. I basically like to play a hands off game where I see what sims want before I make them do anything. I like to let them develop their own personalities. I will follow their wants often, with the exception of sometimes not letting my romance sims become cheaters like they seem to want to. I basically let ACR decide that one- if they really want to cheat it won't take them long to do so! But for instance, my Romance sim Jackson Broke rolls wants to fall in love with random sim women all the time, but he's happily engaged and he actually autonomously rejects other sims when they try to kiss him. So I've decided that he has idle fantasies about other sims, but in the end wouldn't actually cheat. Who knows, that could change though

12. If a family is starting to get boring, time for some chaos! I am happy to make sims I don't like (there are very few of these, but they do exist) try to get hit by a satellite, be in dangerous situations where they could get electrocuted,
play with that toy train track that goes on fire a lot, etc. And as much as I let sims pick their own romantic partners, occasionally I will cause drama through an affair or illegitimate child. Or I'll just move sims in with relatives or friends, figuring that if a household is boring it's probably because it's too small, and combining households will change up the dynamic and add new drama.

Sorry for the novel! I do seem to have developed a lot of rules and I use mods to help me with them. I think I like it best that way! It's fun to see my sims grow up with each other and then cause chaos and be happy or unhappy based on what kind of life my rules provide for them. Though in the end, most of my sims end up happy because I'm just not mean enough to not try to fulfill their wants!
Field Researcher
#7 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 4:59 AM
I only have a few rules -

1. If you die, you stay dead. Nobody gets resurrected, ever.
2. No CAS Sims. I only play premades and their descendents. If you can't find a suitable playable or Townie to marry, then too bad, you stay single and perhaps adopt a bunch of cats.
3. Everybody goes to Uni. Don't care how stupid you are, you're going, whether you like it or not.
4. Nobody gets to keep the Humble computer.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 8:34 AM
Rules? Let me think if I have any....
Rotation - I play every family as long as I want to before moving on.Then I play the next family as long as I want to before moving on.
Cheating - I really dislike this small house and you are bumping into each other. Motherlode! You have passed out 5 times now and seem to be on the verge of dying. Maxmotives. You were struck by lightning - exit without saving. Or not. Depends on several factors, mostly my mood
Uni - you will go, all of you, because i like to play Uni. You will also study hard and attend your classes. I have only 5 students for this 6-room dorm - let's make one in CAS to fill the gap. (That rarely happens due to the abundance of twins in my hood)
Premades - play them all the time. No hood can be played without playing the Travellers and the Ramaswamis. Not too mention Chester Gieke, my all time favourite Sim.
CAS sims - why not make a few new faces for my hood right now? Singles, and they can marry townies and other premades or the children of other premades. I have a lack of knowledge Sims. And not enough alien abductions.
I do NOT play without townies and have NO intention of giving them up. I love townies. All of them. I have tried that and it was a miserable hood - no Goopy, Ivy, Ivy, Alvin, Benjamin, Phil, Juan, Lindsay, Lily showing up? But they are like family....
Forum Resident
#9 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 8:59 AM
My 'rules' are basically the same as what Justpetro has shared.

My main, non-negotiable, non-refundable rule is to relax and enjoy and do whatever I decide to in my game.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 9:21 AM
I was going to say I don't have any, but actually reading through these I do!

- Perks. Can't be redeemed until you reach certain milestones, either easy-to-count objective ones (in one hood) or much more subjective ones (another hood).
- Aspiration rewards. Not just anybody can have them! You have to have some plausible reason to unlock them - being an "inventor" (high tinkering enthusiasm), working as an engineer or scientist, have visited aliens, etc.
- Exception: Maxis age span adults (more than 2/3 of the way through) or elders get as much elixir as they can cram before they age up or die, because I play longer age durations for adults and elders.
- Skills. They must roll a want to skill, a want to be promoted/graduate X year, a want to use the skilling object, or autonomously use the object.
- Townies. They get made selectable briefly, I note down aspiration, job, best hobby, personality extremes and sexuality. Then I make them over to reflect what kind of sim they are. I don't allow social group townies to spawn any more. They're too samey. And no maxis default townies, unless I'm playing Pleasantview.
- Community lots. Excessive use of the visitor controller to hone the clientele of each one (and therefore who you will meet there!) Dormies are banned, but playable YAs are allowed.
- Death. If you die, you stay dead. Even if it was my fault. The exception is if a sim wins a genie lamp and has a reason to want to resurrect somebody, or if they get the paranormal career reward. Nobody has yet.
- Genie lamp. This shows up way too often, especially in large hoods. In my megahood (~500 playables) they have a 10% chance of being allowed to keep it. The other 90% of the time they have to sell it, I consider this a minor competition win. I don't know if the figures work out that well, I also used the 10% chance in a neighbourhood with only 30-40 playables. I need to figure out some maths :D
- Adoption. (For most of my hoods) you don't get to adopt children magically out of thin air. You can go and apply at the children's home to be matched with a child or sibling group, and in some hoods there are foster families rather than group homes. Sims can give babies up for adoption, but it's really rare. Mostly only college students who are technically still dormies. (Moved in to help with rent, or for a greek house, and made into townies when they graduate.)
- Aliens. Aliens have tech to make males pregnant. If one half of a couple has alien blood, and they are interested in science, they can do this. Surrogacy and sperm donation are allowed. The child will be adopted by his/her parents, not the bio parents.
- Plantsims. When plantsims age up to adult, they are considered "teenagers" until they max out Nature enthusiasm. They can be sent away to a "boarding school" or plantsim camp/university type place, if they are not getting enough stimulation at home. They are not allowed to marry, move out of home permanently, own a business or spawn plantbabies until they reach "Full bloom" (ie, real adulthood).
- Any supernaturals. With the three that you can gain and lose, (werewolves, vampires, witches) parents have a 50/50 chance to pass down to their children on reaching teenhood. In addition, grandparents have a 1 in 4 chance to pass their supernatural-ness down. After that it is considered too distant. The child does not get a choice, it's purely random. They can cure themselves if they wish.

That's all I can think of for now

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Scholar
#11 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 11:10 AM
I have enough to have a whole journal tag for them. These aren't applicable to every one of my 'hoods (mostly my long-aged ones) and in short:

- Various restrictions on careers based on personality, aspiration, LTW, motivation levels, and education.
- Motivation is based on a sim's personality level -- activeness minus playfulness. A difference of +5 or higher is high motivation; between +4 and -4 is average, -5 or lower is low motivation. Based on star signs, this means two are by default high motivation, two are low motivation, and eight are average. Doesn't discount that I can still get a low motivation sim born from a family of high motivation sims. Motivation controls skill level and career level mainly.
- Multiple degree types: associate, bachelor, master's doctorate. Various careers need varying degrees, and even within some careers you need a higher degree level to get promoted up further.
- Taxes as a percentage of earnings, increasing percentages with higher cash on hand.
- Multiple types of school for children and teens. Homeschooling, public school, private school, prep school, boarding school. Private, prep, and boarding are fee-paying (private school being the cheapest fee-paying, boarding school the most expensive). Prep and boarding school offer skilling that is not based on motivation level, so a low motivation sim at boarding school will learn more than one at public school.
- Calculations for individual risky pregnancy odds (via ACR) based on aspiration and personality. Rules and calculations for abortion and adoption based on risky pregnancies.
Theorist
#12 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 11:28 AM
The youngest child inherits the house and money (unless I'm playing a challenge that requires an heir poll)
When two sims get married, the younger takes the name of the elder, regardless of gender (again, unless I'm playing a challenge that dictates otherwise)
No Elixir of Life
Death is almost always permanent, although using the Plead With Reaper function is okay. Only witches/warlocks can use the Bone Phone to perform resurrections successfully. Zombies are okay if Plot/challenge rules require them

And as mentioned, I play challenges that each have their own little sets of rules, so of course I follow those for the relevant households.

esmeiolanthe's Live Journal and Tumblr
Most recent story update: Fuchs That! on 2/21/15
Field Researcher
#13 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 11:52 AM
I love this thread idea!

  • I play every household for 1 day per rotation, except college subhoods, which I play 1 term per rotation.
  • My teens all generally go to college. In extremely rare cases when they don't due to special circumstances, they have aging turned off until they are in sync again. This also goes for college dropouts.
  • No cheats, except for fixing bugs. Money cheats are not allowed but transferring funds between households (such as among relatives or good friends) is.
  • No jealousy except for committed couples (ie. engaged or married). Just because someone had a one night stand in college once, doesn't mean there has to be drama for the rest of their lives.
  • Except in rare cases, females take males' last names upon marriage. In case of same sex couples, they either take one of the last names, or combination of both depending of individual basis.
  • Same sex couples are allowed to have biological children. I mean, if they can have kids with aliens, surely a gay or lesbian couple can have them using some advanced medical methods, right?
  • I can only play/move in/etc. premade Sims and townies (and their descendants) in my Megahood. I make no CAS Sims; all must be born in-game or from the townie pool.
  • Except in very rare cases, all of my Sims should have some sort of descendants to keep up the population and genetic variety.
  • When Sims roll a career-related LTW, they have to go into that career. Rerolling LTWs is allowed but only when they don't match a Sim's personality at all.
  • Children always inherit their parents' money and house. When there is a lot of funds (not including the worth of the house) or the house is sold, at least some of it is usually spread among the children, if there are several of them. Otherwise, the one that is most in need of it gets the house.
  • All playable Sims must be played in rotation, even if I don't like them. If I really dislike a certain Sim, I can do things to influence their death (not buy food when they run out of it, make them fix stuff at low level, cook at low level, etc.) but no cheats.

Hmm, that's what I can remember for now, but I might add more later if I remember them.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#14 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 12:17 PM Last edited by maxon : 9th Feb 2015 at 4:00 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by PlatinumPlumbbob
In creating a Sim, I always think about setting up a "favorite color". The "favorite color" is what they will be wearing, unless the game gives them a color upon an age transition in contrast to what I give them.

Do you know I do something similar only I don't think of it as a favourite colour but I do use colour consistently in a sim's clothing so that I can recognise them in any given setting - say at the beach with one family and see members of other families and think, 'oh yes, those green trunks, must be Horace.' I think this might have something to do with advanced age and eyesight (though I don't wear glasses except for driving).

Rules - hmmm, let's see.

I play in rotation, strictly, so that every family is at the same point in the year.

Other rules:
None specific because each family is a different story and therefore has different conventions and rules.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Scholar
#15 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 12:41 PM
I already love this thread! :lovestruc

My rules:

- I play one day rotation in every neighborhood.
- Just teens that have the wish to go to college actually go there if they are 8 days away from adulthood. (8 days - 8 terms)
- Sims have to pay 500 simleon per term.
- Teens that don't go to college continue school. When they reach adulthood they can't get higher then level 5 in their career.
- They also can get pregnant.
- Rich teens have to go through college otherwise they are banned from their family. (Is that rude in an mordern neighborhood?)
- Most time sims will get their LTW career but if it doesn't fit their personality i will change it via batbox or sim blender.
- Cheating is one of the worst things a sim can do especially if it's a woman that get's pregnant. (I use a mod from BAS for men can recognize if it is their child)
- Every family has to have at least one child. Romance sims only get pregnant via risky woohoo.

I have more rules but they are just for my medieval neighborhood.
Mad Poster
#16 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 2:17 PM Last edited by Peni Griffin : 9th Feb 2015 at 3:35 PM. Reason: apparently I can't spell "thou"
Rule 1: I play for fun
Rule 2: Every house gets different rules.
Rule 3: The neighborhood gets backed up at regular intervals.
Rule 4: See Rule 1. Play as thou wilt is the whole of the law.

I love my one-day rotations and like to keep age cohorts together; but sometimes I turn aging off and play a favorite household (or one that has the dreaded flu in it) extra days. I play rotations clicking from one house to the next, with one spot on the map designated as "the start house" - but sometimes I play through backward. I don't generally quit without saving - but if I screwed up or the game is being unfair (really? You drop a satellite on a guy and don't tell me? To heck with that!) or a certain event (like a parent dying while a big fight with offspring is unresolved) would lessen rather than increase the drama level of the household, that button is there for me.

Most rules are determined as part of characterization. This sim has no common sense and a short attention span - no locking wants, no caution in filling them. If she gets caught cheating, well, she does. (It's surprising how seldom she does.) This Romance sim wants to be failthful and I don't have ACR: these are the criteria for circumstances under which she will cheat. This sim is dyslexic and ADHD - he cannot skill through reading. This Romance sim (who is the protagonist of an Uberhood Challenge) gets all the Romance perks and will automatically Smooth Talk any woman he meets unless he can see that an established lover is on the lot, but other sims who are part of ordinary rotational play must earn their aspiration perks and meet criteria to unlock them. This neighborhood has all careers available, but criminals must keep their work secret and behave in certain ways; another neighborhood has a limited economy and certain careers are unavailable. This sim is an experienced dater - he gets to open his date's wants panel. This other sim is on a first date with someone he doesn't know well; the panel stays closed and he's restricted to asking for feedback.

The rule I'm most inflexibly attached to is the one about woohoo criteria. Erotic wants represent states of arousal; therefore, if a man doesn't have a woohoo want, he's incapable of carrying out the act, while if a woman doesn't have one, she needs some other reason (such as a Try for Baby want) to consent. Experienced partners can tell when a woman is faking for cause, and will insist on eliciting the want. Because sex is all about the pleasure feedback loop. Who wants to be with someone who isn't into it? (No rape in my neighborhoods!)

Always having the same set of rules would quickly make the game feel like work to me. Having a main neighborhood that I play in one way, with different rulesets for different households; and other neighborhoods that I play in another way available for when I'm in a different mood or the main neighborhood is glitching and I can't face troubleshooting, keeps everything fresh and interesting regardless of what kind of mood I'm in.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Instructor
#17 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 3:31 PM
Quote: Originally posted by PlatinumPlumbbob
In creating a Sim, I always think about setting up a "favorite color". The "favorite color" is what they will be wearing, unless the game gives them a color upon an age transition in contrast to what I give them. Sometimes, I additionally set up a "family house color".


I do this too!

Bustin' Out!
Forum Resident
#18 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 7:37 PM
I have rules for all sims and then cultural rules for different cultures (too many to mention).

All Sims:
1. Teens must have 3 scholarships to attend college (or be wealthy - college isn't free) and they can't go until they are 2 days away from adulthood which I consider to be 18 years old. Lazy wealthy sims generally do not do well, they scrape by. Other lazy sims don't even go to college because they didn't earn the scholarships (I have a harder skilling hack so they have to really work at it).
2. Certain careers require a college degree.
3. Only wealthy sims can be in politics.
4. If you die, you die - no resurrections unless it is for a specific story line.
5. No aspiration rewards except Smart Milk.
6. Career rewards are not allowed if they improve motives or add money to the household.
7. Wealthy sims are expected to attend college and marry within their own class. This rule is really made to be broken on rare occasions to add some drama.
8. All woo-hoos are risky and if they get pregnant, they have the baby. They can put the baby up for adoption if they want to.
9. The hospital keeps the babies that are given up for adoption and they are adopted out from there. If they are not adopted by the time they are a child, they go to the boot-camp orphanage.
10. Parents can send their children and teens to boot camp (which doubles as an orphanage). They are expected to earn their keep by gardening or sewing. As teens in the camp, they must have a job in the military.
11. No money or motive cheats. I have no20khandouts so they must earn all of their money. This usually means moving back in/staying with parents or a co-op house until they can afford a home. They can borrow money but it must be paid back with interest. They can also receive money from parents or relatives.
12. If their LTW is a career, it must match their personality. If not, I will change the LTW.
13. Certain supernaturals (plantsims, witches, and werewolfs) are based on culture and at least the oldest heir in a family in that culture must be a supernatural
14. Cheating is allowed for all aspirations except Family and Knowledge. It doesn't mean they will (it doesn't happen that often), but they can.
15. I got rid of the social worker so children can be alone but babies and toddlers must have a guardian present
Lab Assistant
#19 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 7:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by pinimon162
I do this too!


Me, three!
Instructor
#20 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 9:11 PM
Quote: Originally posted by PlatinumPlumbbob
In creating a Sim, I always think about setting up a "favorite color". The "favorite color" is what they will be wearing, unless the game gives them a color upon an age transition in contrast to what I give them. Sometimes, I additionally set up a "family house color".


As do I.

I have too many rules to type them out right now, but might do later.

Rule #501 - Also when moving in townies I make an effort to make sure that their 'belongs' or traits are incorporated into the house either by looking at what is in their inventory or just their personality.

For example -

I had a Sim that I once moved in with one of my playables, and with her she brought alot of vases and pots that she had purchased from various businesses in town at the time. In a cool twist she happened to have the Arts & Crafts hobby; so when she moved in with my male sim whom had a masculine home with like dark colours and just generally manly things. I decided to hang abstract paintings through the house, and puts her vases on shelves and pots out in the garden to make the landscaping better etc etc.

That was my way of making the game more realistic, I mean no one moves in with another person and just accepts how the place has been decorated do they? I mean how can you move in somewhere and not at least add an item that is personalised - even if its just one item!

That
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 9th Feb 2015 at 9:14 PM
1. College is $10,000 per term so only the wealthiest can go.
2. Supernaturals taxes are raised, since they are considered "super humans"
3. Sims who have a car have to pay gas money/ if take a taxi or public transit have to pay fare.
4. Poor sims and middle class can apply for welfare.
5. Teenage sims who look to pursue a future in the military will be sent to a special school where they would learn body and logic skills.
6. Sims looking to separate from marriage can settle it at the Town Hall.
I play in week rotations lol, yeah.
Field Researcher
#22 Old 10th Feb 2015 at 9:24 AM
Hopefully putting this in the proper thread this time...

These rules apply to only one household in my hood, the Well of Tranquility, a lodge of the Recent Order of Saturnius. (They'd like to be the Ancient Order, but they're nowhere near old enough.) Under a spoiler, because it's a bit long.



So far the Well of Tranquility has been in play for 146 years/sim-days. 39 Saturnians have lived under its roof, including 15 Grand Saturnians, all but four of them former disciples. 17 disciples have departed for life outside the lodge, and between them they have spawned 40 descendants. 34 are currently still alive, accounting for 30% of the hood population. There will be more to come.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 10th Feb 2015 at 11:25 AM
I don't really say I have rules. I'm pretty relaxed with my game.

I play 1 day rotations / 2 semesters at college
All sims have at least 1 biological child
No using CAS in my megahood
Aspirations are decided based on wants as a toddler/child, how I "feel" they would be based on parents (2 romance sims will usually have either a family sim or a romance sim, etc.) or completely random
Jobs are decided on via LTW or what I feel suits the sim
Majors are based on LTW or skills they already have
I don't let my university sims gain skillpoints unless they're about to fail. It stops me from always getting 4.0 GPAs which I find boring.
^ and only then, I teach them 1 skill. Not all the skills needed.
Sims start university at 6/5 days until they become adults (6 in the morning, 5 after 6pm)
Sims go to university based on whether I "feel" they would want to go, whether they roll a want around 8-6 days before becoming an adult, or if they're from a wealthy background

~Your friendly neighborhood ginge
Inventor
#24 Old 10th Feb 2015 at 3:34 PM Last edited by mirjampenning : 10th Feb 2015 at 4:00 PM.
I think I also have a pretty relaxed, as in few rules or ways how to play, method. It still might look like as if there are many rules, but this basically grew like this without (much) effort to keep it up.

-One day rotations for the regular hood and one semester for the university hood.
(If you have three dorms to work through, one semester per rotation is more than enough for me. If I would do more I would get bored with university.)
-End up with two aspirations per sim
(I like a combined character, so it has to be based on more than one)
-Sims all go to college
(In rare occasions one doesn't, it was fit for the story)
Even if they don't have much skills. I really don't have rules of so and so skill has to be met to be able to go. I don't care. Then skill your way up in college or flunk.
-Majors are based on what they either prefer themselves or when they flatly refuse to give me a hint of what they want
Then I base it on the skills they have the most and compare it to the appointed skills for the specific major.
One time I just didn't choose and then of course the sim was sadled with the philosofy major.
-Skilling mostly has to happen in an active manner
They don't usually sit on the couch learning to clean, technic and stuff.
No. If you want to earn a cleaning skill, fine, mop the floors, wipe the counters and so on, but you don't sit on the couch reading your way up.
That only happens with the parenting skill, which I made mandatory in college for all of them.
-Jobs are based on what they roll after graduation
If they don't, then I choose it based on what I think their interests, skills and stuff should lead to.

Probably I have a few more things, but my brain decided this was it for now.
Inventor
#25 Old 10th Feb 2015 at 4:13 PM
I have only a couple of ironclad rules.

- The first is the "three bolt rule" - every Sim is looking for an ideal partner. If they can't find one, two bolts will do. If a two-bolt Sim in a supposedly permanent relationship, with or without children, gets to know a three-bolt one I have a problem; the solution is based on both Sims' personalities. - One-bolt Sims can flirt, etc., but in my experience they usually end as BFs or BFFs. Such Sims can live together, of course; what their exact relationship will be once more depends on their personalities. And then there are unexpected exceptions.

- When a Sim dies he or she is dead. Period.

Otherwise, I try to go with the flow as much as possible. I have to play in rotation, obviously (I had a 'hood where I did not and it all ended in a really big mess), but I use long periods (the first one is most of autumn, to set the 'hood up; the second from the rest of autumn till the beginning of spring, the third from the beginning of spring till the beginning of autumn, etc.) which in practice enables me to play any household as long as I please. Other decisions, like who will go to university and who won't, are based on Sim's personalities and wishes. (All teens wish to go to university but some keep rolling the wish over and over again while others don't.) (BTW, university is free where I live, as I believe it should be, so it's free in the game as well.)

Oh, and I don't use money cheats, except in exceptional cases. The only one so far were the Oldies: I just could not understand why they should have to start with the regular 20.000 and no pension at all so I gave them a motherlode to build a nice oldie house and buy a nice oldie car. On the other hand, I learned just not to care about tons of money - some Sims long for a Ferrari or a Bentley and some just don't care.
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