Sometimes I just wish... Somtimes I just wish there was a "happiness-and-aspirations-be-damned" mode that just let me have fun without having to worry about the micromanaging. I love the Sims 2, but it gets so tedious sometimes. EA should introduce a "sandbox" mode where there's no money and the happiness & aspirations don't matter.
I've learned to ignore those lifetime ambitions or whatever they're called, because platinum sims get a little boring. Also, I make every sim I create a knowledge sim because it's generally easier to keep them happy. I don't have to worry about them getting depressed just because they don't have 20 friends. Family sims aren't too bad, either. Anyway, mine are rarely in gold or platinum moods because I ignore their desires. As for the money, there's the motherLode cheat which gives you 50,000 simoleons at one shot. No money worries with that one. Even without the cheat a sim family can do OK on a small salary, never bothering with promotions. And they don't care if they live in a dump as long dirty dishes don't pile up. In other words, you really don't have to pursue the goals of fame and fortune.
There are also cheats to max out their motives/needs and put them into platnium aspiration (if you want to play like that). I like the challenge of "taking care" of them.
Who needs to money-cheat when you can just put a ticketron by your front door and charge the neighbors to eat your leftovers and watch your TV? Seriously, Maxis left us way too many game "exploits" to ever need cheat codes. Need quick cash? Marry a rich sim or take in a boarder from the sim bin...then kill 'em off! Need a quick aspiration boost? Call your sim-sweetheart over for a date and take turns fulfilling each others' wants till you are both platinum. If there really loopy for each other, keep locking any woohoo wants... a quicky in the hot tub on their way to the car pool has earned my sims many a promotion (assuming they have the needed skills and friends that is.) Just my own humble opinion, but as a gamer cheat codes (and hacks/mods) just feel...dirty. I'm getting all itchy just thinking about it.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your drifter making a fortune with the ticketron, Werebear, but Indy might not have OFB. Cheats can be useful sometimes and I was just offering Indy one of the options. For my regular family sims who are just living a normal sim life I don't use the money cheat--ruins the fun. The moveObjects cheat, however, is a must for a sometimes buggy game.
You, as usual, make a good point as to EP's and the move_objects code. I was just pointing out a few examples of exploits that don't require opening up the dialogue panel. Heck, even Sims (TOG) allowed (and backhandedly encouraged) black-widow type money exploits. I would bet my next disabilty check that you've serially drowned a few sims back in the day...
I've murdered a couple of sims but it was for a worse motive, to get the family into mourning for purposes of a movie I never finished. I freely made friends with townies and NPCs, however, then moved them in to get their money. Then I married them off to anyone handy and moved them out. This satisfied everybody's wants and needs. Filled up the neighborhood kind of fast, too.
(snicker, snicker) I guess I'm dirty, Werebear. One of my "Must Haves" in most of my houses is Merola's magic painting. One click and my Simmies are happy and ready to do whatever it is I want them to do without complaint. The go to work and school happy, they work at learning a skill or earning new tallent badges with OFB, they work with less needs for a break or lunch. I do have "poor" sims who I do micromanage with no cheats for the challenge and the change of pace. But, most of my favorite families have a mirror.
I rarely cheat unless my concept of a sim requires it, for example, my vampire I was postulating was 400 years old would probably have a few simoleans socked away, so I used money cheats for him. I found out that super-rich sims can get boring, though, so I'm rarely tempted to do that. I have a new tradition for my sims that when they get married their parents (if they've got 'em) buy them something nice. It started with Spike and London, as a joke, and now I do it for everyone. It's usually a dining room table, though Xanthe and Walter got a toymaking bench, since they already had a nice table. I then compensate them for approximately the cost of the item, so it's essentially free. Also, if I get mad at the game for a bad matchmaking decision I'll give the sim her money back and let her try again. And, I use Pescado's hacks, some of them anyway, because they make my game better. Like no baby harrass, which is very useful, and phone hack. I don't really think of them as cheating, just getting rid of annoyances in the game. I hated those passive-agressive phone calls!!! So, I guess I do cheat, a little. But I don't use Merola's painting or anything that makes the game easier, challenge-wise. If I can't be bothered with a sim's needs I stop playing for a while and go do something else, like sleep. It usually means I'm tired! I think cheating to make the game easier kind of defeats the point, at least it would for me. I would like to move some display cases off Alec Nova's front lawn, though. And, oh, I use the college clock because sometimes uni just gets to be a bit of a drag. If a sim is obviously going to make their goals for the semester and I don't have anything else for them to do, why not have them take the exam?
