Hello! So I am currently downloading the sims 2 ultimate. I played for five hours like 2 years ago and was super bothered by no longer having the open world like the sims 3. Anyway... I'm finally on my final leg for sims 3 since its more of a headache and I build rather than play. I still find the sims 2 charming and want to start playing again but I'm just not sure where to start. Do you guys have any ideas, necessary mods or things I should know/download before hopping in?

I also remember having to download the body shop and s2pe or something like it... pls help ;u;

Here's some of the essential mods: http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=532696&page=1

nounlinkondelete and creaturefixes are the very important mods to have, because they prevent corruption issues. I also highly suggest No Sim Loaded (which in turn needs Cyjon's Smarter EP Check) as it suppresses a certain glitch that's easy to pick up.

A lot of the other mods on there are ones to prevent the game from spawning too many townies and NPCs the like. They're good to have.

Aside from that, I suggest playing it mostly clean for a while, and then finding hacks that fix issues that annoy you.

The Ultimate collection already has body shop; you'll find the executable in a path like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\CSBin\TS2BodyShop.exe" Just make a shortcut to it and put the shortcut somewhere convenient.

As well as the Essential Mods thread, I'd read http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Game_gui...ding_corruption There is a list of mods to avoid corruption there, too, and it's a bit clearer than the discussion thread, but the discussion thread has other mods listed that I'd recommend, such as BoilingOil's No Sim Loaded and Cyjon's SmarterEPCheck.

You may want to make the objects.package file in your installation files read only to help avoid game corruption - though that's easily fixed using repair game through origin, repairing the game will undo any changes you've made to the game files (such as replacing your altered graphics rules or replacing a no-cd executable with the one that reinstalls Securom). SimPE is here: https://sims.ambertation.de/en/download/

I agree with the suggestion to just play for a bit and then look for mods once you have things you want changed - there are so many ways to personalize Sims 2.

Once you've played for a bit, you may want to look at this thread: The Fix-It Thread has a lot of links to solutions to common problems.

Also once you've played for a bit, you may want to look into using different templates for either playing the maxis made 'hoods or for creating custom hoods. The maxis ones have some premade issues that may never bother you but the neighbourhoods could also suddenly become unplayable. If you want to play the shipped 'hoods and families for a long time, I'd use these clean templates: http://meetme2theriver.livejournal.com/63030.html. If you prefer empty templates, Jawusa's are here: http://modthesims.info/t/544800 for the playable 'hoods, and empty stealth templates are http://modthesims.info/d/520751
I use a different mixture of Maxis, Tarlia's and Jawusa's for almost every 'hood I make.

Don't bring your Sims 3 expectations to Sims 2. They're different games and are enjoyed differently. The way the world is constructed, you can feasibly play an entire neighborhood with intricate connections between households and keep track of all the characters and drama without suddenly discovering that a couple you liked has divorced behind your back and you don't know what happened.

I recommend spending awhile just experimenting. You can reset any neighborhood except a custom one at any time; and if you make periodic backups (which you should definitely do) you can always revert to an earlier stage of a custom one; so tell yourself it doesn't matter what happens and go around trying out features, poking around the lots, playing with the sliders, making premades assist you in learning how something you don't understand works. That way, you'll get an idea of what you do and don't enjoy in the game and will be able to set up a neighborhood just the way you like it for "serious" play. Or you can have a dozen different neighborhoods, each one played differently.

Myself, I'm a rotation player - I play entire neighborhoods, one day at a time in each household. My neighborhoods get big and sprawling and intricately related, so that a decision made in one household has a ripple effect through all the other houses. And every household is different. I have general play tendencies, but also different rulesets for different households - and I have multiple neighborhoods, with different rules in different hood.

Almost anything goes in Drama Acres in general, with lots of silliness and chaos. Over time it's developed three distinct subcultures, but as time goes on they feed into each other as they marry and befriend each other. I have a dyslexic sim who can't read to skill; I have a neuroatypical, asexual sim who I seldom direct to do anything, but whose daughter is allowed to influence him to do things. I have a sim who is not allowed to skill in charisma and is therefore never going past "elementary school teacher" on the job track; I have one who is not allowed to enter his LTW career of politics until he's gotten his business to level 10; I have a cross-dressing straight teen; I have a sim whose wants I'm not allowed to lock and who gets to fill as many wants as possible without thought of the consequences; I have other sims whose actions are less dependent on their own wants than on the needs of those around them. The Swingin' Bachelors live one kind of life; Simmigrants live another. Everybody goes to University because I love University. I don't synch seasons or days of the week because it's too much trouble, but I have a systematic and consistent way of doing rotations. If a household is boring, it's on me to make it interesting.

Strangetown has a much looser rotation in some ways, and a much tighter one in others. I don't make CAS sims in Strangetown, I have a lot of rules about the ways the economy is limited, and everyone in the main hood (there's no downtown) must be on the same day of the week, though not in the same season. I have limits on building and on what jobs are available. It's less chaotic, busy, huge, and diverse than Drama Acres, and I can play it faster, with fewer accumulated storylines to deal with.

Some people play historical or fantasy-themed hoods. Some people play only with premades; some people eliminate them all with empty templates. Some people spend all their time building. Some people tell stories. Some people create things to share; some people don't. Some people start new neighborhoods every week. Some keep neighborhoods going for years. Some people only play "happy families" and some people torture sims. I suggest reading threads like "What's Happening in Your Game Right Now" and "What did you discover today," and check out some websites and simblrs, to get an idea of the possibilities and get an idea of what you'd like to try. A lot of people put links to their sites in their signatures, so that's one way to get your foot in the door, and there's also a sticky thread about other Sims2 sites out there.

The only wrong way to play is the way you don't enjoy, so load up the game and find out what that is.

I've played before and enjoyed it to an extent. As of right now...while I'm reading all this things do seem a little complicated and I'm already getting cc heavy so I may just hold off and just play in a Sunset Valley save in the sims 3 ; u ;

Thank you all for this comprehensive info though!

Just add the corruption-protecting mods, load up, and do what you feel like doing when you feel like doing it. You'll soon get into the swing.

Yip - do not add any other mods until you have played the game for a while. Take it slow, there is a lot of things to learn in the UC.

Because not only are there many of them - but we do not all change the same things, because we don't all play the same way, we are not all irritated by the same things and we do not all like or dislike the same things. Sims 2 really can suit everyone

It's simple. Get nounlinkondelete, creaturefixes and nocorruptdeath. Those are the most important critical mods. For non-critical but important mods, get the ffsdebugger from MATY and BoilingOil's No Sim Loaded. They come in handy for players at any level.

Then just start playing. Have some fun with it, get a feel for the game and the sims while not worrying about anything.

Just regard the hoods you have when starting as Test Hoods. You can read about problems and what you might do about them after you find out if you like Sims 2 well enough to play it long term.

Don't you need the Smarter EP check for nosimloaded?

I think there's one version that doesn't require it, but the other versions are better.

With the UC, yes he will. I don't remember at what point it becomes necessary, but Cyjon's description of the mod is clear on the point.

Yes, the Smarter EP check is needed for No Sim Loaded, slipped my mind. But I think most of us played for years before either of those mods existed, so they're not strictly necessary for someone just starting out, and while they're useful tools, they're not Critical mods like nounlinkondelete, nocorruptdeath and creaturefixes.

@pretenshus Just keep in mind when you ask questions here, you're liable to get a lot of info all at once because people here love Sims 2 and love talking about Sims 2. It's easy to feel overloaded by all the things we can say about the game. Bookmark the links people give you, because there is a lot of good information out there, but don't try to learn everything at once and don't allow yourself to feel overwhelmed by every little thing we say.

My recommendation is not to get too attached to the pre-made neighborhoods. Keep in mind that they all have corruption - you may be able to play one of those hoods as shipped for a very long time. Or maybe not. The corruption is unpredictable. Just consider all your play at first to be one big test run.

If you really really like playing Sims 2, later on you can learn about Clean Templates and Empty Templates and how to install them and how to reboot the pre-made hoods and how to create all custom townies if that's your thing, and learn all the little things that have been discovered about this game over years.

Just play, first. Find out if you like the game well enough to devote a lot of time to it, before you worry about devoting a lot of time to customizing it. Just play, learn about game, get a feel for it, try to have some fun and find out if it's the game for you.

There is only a handful of essential mods that you need to start with. Then just play the game and make notes of things that annoy you-there is often a fix, or things you would like-additional game play mods also exist.

As far as game play suggestions, I suggest you try everything slowly, the game has a lot of things to offer. Or if you are already comfortable with that look into challenges and/or integrated hoods.

I am a longtime on-off, vanilla player who only recently discovered the wonderfully elaborate ways to play Sims 2. Yes, it seems overwhelming when reading what everyone else is doing. But it is actually only as complicated as you want it to be.

Start with your Sims game and the "must haves" to keep your game healthy. (Not everything in the "essential" list is a "must have." Absolutely do go with the three that ihatmandatoryregister listed in Post #2. From there, play the game a few weeks. Get a feel for it. Figure out what is fun and what is not.

Then, when you find something that irritates you (like Sims always napping on the sofa), then do a Google search to see if there is a mod for that. I'm learning that there is a mod for almost everything, most of them I've stumbled upon by accident and thought, "Why didn't I think to look for that?"

Start with an organized downloads folder -- and do your very best to keep it organized. Add CC a little at a time. It might help to have a folder for "newly added" CC, so if a problem arises, it might be easier to narrow down the issue. The trick is to put all that newly added stuff into properly organized storage once you are sure it's working -- otherwise, you have a "newly added" mess. :-)

Good example here - I don't mind sims napping on the sofa; they sometimes need that nap in my game - so I don't have a mod to stop that.

Another good example : I do mind that toddlers can help themselves in the pet dish. So I downloaded a mod to prevent this. Many people take advantage of this, and create toddler food with it..me?..nah. I'd rather they drink a bottle sitting on the floor than from a dish placed on the floor.

The essential mods are really very few. While there is a thread on 'essential mods' IMO many in that list are not essential at all, not unless you are trying to achieve something.
For example nostrayrespawn, that is in no way essential unless you as a player do not want stray cats and dogs. If like me you do want strays you most definitely do not want that.

Basically the essentials are no corrupt death, no unlink on delete, creature fixes (only if you play vampires) Bat Box, No Sim Loaded with Smarter EP check and I would highly recommend the stuck object remover and simblender.


Mods that stop napping or pet bowls or flower sniffing are not essentials. They are game play fixes, that you may or may not want fixed. You won't know until you have said such things play out.

I'd like to add to what wthrwthoutyu said above, and that is that with Ultimate Collection or all the expansions, or even some of the expansions, that the pre-made neighborhoods and the stories that come with them were made with either the base game (Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville), or that particular expansion in mind. So if someone was thinking "y'know, so and so in Pleasantview would make a great vampire/werewolf/plantsim/witch/etc.," or "huh, this Sim really likes a bin Sim that was added with a later expansion versus who the story says they like," feel free to forget the story and go with it since there are a ton of life states and activities that were added to the game long after the base game neighborhoods were created. And these are just two examples.