In sims 3 you could make them live longer in the game options. How do you do that in 2?

You can use a cheat code, if I'm not mistaken. Push control-shift-c to bring up the box, then enter "aging off".

You can turn aging off for a household with a cheat. (type help in the cheat bar and it is in there) you can get a mod to turn aging off for just selected sims or you can use an aging mod-which I do. I use double aging, but there are others around.

Which mod? :D

Which mod do you want, selected aging or a longer age mod?

Selected aging http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=160414

Double aging http://modthesims.info/d/437709

Super long aging by AlmightHat: http://hat-plays-sims.dreamwidth.org/23906.html

I found all three, there are other age mods around of differing lengths.

Even without mods our Sims lifespans can be managed by turning aging off temporarily for a certain period of time and then back on again for a time. And then there is the 'green elixer of life' that can be purchased with aspiration points and used by adults and elders. (Some players turn aging off during pregnancies). Of course when aging is manged with aging on and off I've become so invloved in game play that it may take a while to notice that a baby is taking a very long time to age up to toddler !

I wonder does studying Physiology affect lifespan?

There is a Real Life for Sims and Pets mod here on MTS that makes them live about as many days as we do, but you need Seasons for it to work. Ideal if you play The Sims 2 all day, every day for your whole life!

Personally I use the Aging Off cheat, but you have to enter it for each lot you play. I really don't want to see my Sims die!

I think elixcer came with the base game.

Yes the "Elixir of Life" came with the Base Game and the The Laganaphyllis Simnovorii (commonly known as the Cowplant) came with " The Sims 2: University EP".

http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Elixir_of_Life will give you 3 more days for each drink = 5x3 for 15 extra day per bottle.
http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Laganaphyllis_Simnovorii will give you 5 more days for each Sims it eats.

I like the Age Group Tweak from Simlogical. It gives instructions on changing the length of time each life stage lasts, so you can easily make your Sims live however long you want. Very user-friendly.

I use the Simblender's version, as you don't have to spend points to use it and there's no random chance, so if you need the sim younger, they become younger!

Warning: Detrimental to the life spans of those around you. XD

If only we had these "Life Extending" options in the real world...

>cough< Good way to get rid of old townies >cough<

I try not to use mods or cheats, if its not in the game then I try not to use it.
I will use any and every thing in the game first.

I use the InSimenator if I want them to live longer

You're getting near the end of your life. To cheer yourself up, you invite your grandson over. He's just had his 13th birthday. Oh dear! Your cowplant has eaten him. Duh! You forgot it could eat him now he's a teenager. Oh well, it can't be helped now. Just milk the plant and drink the milk. That will keep you alive for an extra five days!

Five measly days!

Is it any wonder I think the cowplant is the most horrible thing in the Sims? Maxis must have had a very low opinion of natural scientists to think that's what they would want as a career reward!

Lol Andrew, it goes like this....

You're nearing the end of your life. To cheer yourself up, you invite your grandson over, after all he is directly inline and one day could be the next Don. You show him the cow mascot locked up down the basement. "This is the cow that flirted with your sister's fiancee and broke them up." "Did he show remorse Grand pa?" "Not a bit, he even poked her in the chest as well!" Time to whack him everyone agreed. "Have some cake, cow" The cow is psuhed into the cow plant enclosure, but the cow who is too stupid for words grabs the cake and gets his just deserts! haha, a cow eaten by a cow, how fitting! That milk will keep you alive another five days to see your grand son!

All it takes is a fence without a gate and the cow plant is safe. It also must be fed a a large ham to produce cake.

Well, sim lifespan isn't the same as ours. That might be 5 more years to them.

Maxis had a very correct opinion of what people who removed ladders from swimming pools would want. More creative ways to kill their sims. XD

It is the fact that killing someone, would give you life..that was just bad...lol
I admit though, I am using it to get rid of sims. At least, it won't bork my hood as deleting them would.
And as Joandsarah said, if the plant is enclosed, it is of no risk. I personally use a gate, but I have it locked for all sims except the owner of the house..who is the only sim living there.
Again, if you do not feed it delicious looking ham..it won't create a cake = it won't eat anyone.
EA still made it with some considerations...

That's a bit confusing, actually. I thought that if you fed it then it was happy and if you didn't feed it then it tried to snack on stupid sims.

I am talking with a very young cowplant experience myself.lol But it didn't take long to observe how it works.
And you are right. It does not make any sense, and is totally opposite of how one would see it. But, it is from EA.

Well Marka, I use it to make sure that my sims are somewhat realistic in terms of their ages meshing with their children's. Since I don't use Aging Mods, the Simblender helps correct that for me. That, plus speeding up pregnancy, and speeding up babyhood, equals the parents having plenty of time to raise children comfortably. By the calculations I use, that means them not aging to Elder until they're "50".

Yes, but most of us get to live a lot longer than the 90 odd days our poor Simmies get.

My attitude to Sims aging goes right back to when I started up the game for the first time and played the tutorial. When I put the mouse over Tutorial Joe's panel it said, "Becomes an Elder in 28 days". And I thought, "But he looks so young! That's only a month." I already knew about cheats from reading the manual and the readme, so I decided there and then that I was going to use "Aging off".

I suppose I think of The Sims not so much as a "game" as as a life simulation program that allows me to develop stories. Since there's no real winning or losing in The Sims, I don't really think of the Cheats as "cheating". Aging Off is just a different way of playing. It takes the pressure off my Sims to achieve and lets them live their lives at a more leisurely pace. Andrew goes to school day after day, week after week, just as I did myself. When I create a Sim as a teen or a child, I generally want to play him/her as a teen or a child, and not have him/her aging up a few days later! So in my game five days is usually just ... five days.

I haven't had a cowplant for a while, so I don't remember, but I think it's as you say, Charity.
The wiki also says the same.
And somewhat it makes sense: if you don't feed it, it gets hungry, so it eats a Sim.