Stupid Newbie Question... Hey all, I just discovered the wonderful world of The Sims 2. I never played the Sims, and I've only been at the Sims 2 for a few days, so my question might be really obvious to you guys. My problem is this: I've created my own neighborhood, but there are only a limited number of houses and lots in the the houses and lots bin. Is there a way to get more in there? I know I can keep laying down lots and building new homes, but before I get into all that I just wanted to lay down basic Maxis created houses and move my families into them. What should I do? Thanks for the help Matt
Welcome to World Sims, TKD. There is no such thing as a stupid newbie question. Try downloading houses from the official Sims 2 exchange http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/ where there are literally thousands of houses, community lots and university lots available. Also you can see by a warning triangle if a lot contains non Maxis made objects and a list of custom made walls and floors and clothes etc that were made with Body Shop and Homecrafter. Many of the lots also come with families, most of whom you will not like at all. Just move them out from the neighborhood screen and delete them. My own SimPage contains a number of lots some large and luxurious and a couple that cost under $20,000. There are also some nice community and university dorm lots.
Since there are no stupid questions I have one of my own (that may not have made any sense but oh well). I have a family in my game that are currently living in a house that is way to small (they just had their first baby). I was wondering if I can get the whole family moved into a bigger house and still keep all their possessions. I'm also new to this forum and the game itselfand am anticipating exploring the game.
No. All the possessions of the family are sold when the family moves to a new house. The only solution is extending their house. Best regards, Boerge
The only "possession" a sim can keep through a house move is the college diploma. But you have to "sell" the thing back to the rewards catalog before moving out else it is lost forever. (I guess those of us who have moved house a lot can testify that few moves are complete without the loss of some small treasure ... )
The alternative is remodeling the house they currently live in. When I've had a Sim who I just didn't want to lose their belongings, I put them and their belongings out on the lawn and rebuild the house so that it's bigger. (Sometimes you have to get creative in moving the furniture around so that there's room to lay out a bigger house.) I don't do it much anymore. I don't use the career objects all that much so I just use motherlode to get enough money to rebuy all thir stuff. It's an opportunity to redecorate. Another thing you can do if you want to save the furniture for others is to move part of the family out, leaving one person, then move a new family in, then move that last family member out. Of course, the money that they had invested in the furniture is no longer there, but if you really liked the decor for a smaller family, it's a way of doing it.
I do so all the time, though I do seldom actually move the belonings out of the house. I used to extend the house and then move some belongings to the new part of the house. Sometimes I even put a swimming pool a short distance from the house and built a wall from the house and around the pool with some room for other leisure activities as well. Not only do I not have to sell and re-buy all the belongings. It can also be a lot easier fitting the house to the family than fitting the family into a house. Best regards, Boerge
I hate moving a family into a new house. Sims can be ornery enough at the best of times but training them who belongs where is too tedious for me. I much prefer to keep modifying the house they start off in and I always build them myself (with the family stood on the sidewalk watching ) As far as houses go I like to make each one a little different than any others in the 'hood but I don't go for large mansions because they are so time consuming to navigate around. I also try not to build larger than the family needs. A starter home for a single or childless couple would be a 5x5 bedroom, a 3x3 bathroom plus approx 30 squares given over to a combo living-room-kitchen/diner. When the first baby arrives I usually just stick it in a crib in the parents' bedroom (saves on an alarm clock and, properly looked-after, a sim baby will sleep thru the night). My first wave of expansion usually comes when mom get maternity leave with baby #2. I'll tack on a second bedroom, usually 4x4, for the first child to use as a toddler cos it can be tough work getting tots to sleep thru the night. At this stage I usually add at least 12 squares of deck for a rejuvenator gizmo and any career rewards. I like to see my houses growing and changing as the family grows up. Sometimes an extra floor is added, sometimes a cellar, occasionally both. I never had a family that needed more. My current fave family has Mom and Pop each with 16 days left before they become elders (they have each added 15 days via an elixir of life reward). Dad is top of medical career and Mom is top of the culinary one. They have both those career rewards in their house which is single storey on a 3x4 plot. There is a modest sized swimming pool. They have 6 kids, all still at home, all in private school. The four youngest are 2 sets of twins. All the kids have their own bedroom with the best single bed. The eldest teen is a knowledge sim, top of her athletics career, maxed out all skills (that was a lifetime want so she has permanent plat ... she has 6 days teen-age left and I'm keeping her home so she can teach her brothers and sisters culinary and mechanical skills on the two career rewards and repair her needs on the rejuvenator). All this without money-cheats or hacks like Merola's mulitpainting (to fix moods, skills, asps etc.) Just a selection of Pescado game improving mods! They don't have much money and they have to save up to get stuff (one of them wants a bass and another wants the drums. Tough! They'll have to wait until they have the cash to build an extension big enough to put them in ... meanwhile the younger teen daughter (romance) wants new clothes as well a boyfriend and the next to grow up (twins) will be popularity and wealth oriented so that'll gimme plenty of problems to have fun with ...
