I could have sworn I saw a post about this before, but I cannot find it again so here I am, lol.I'm not normally a rotational player, mainly because it never really occurred to me to try it out until I joined these forums. But having heard about everyone else's rotational-play neighborhoods, the idea is starting to sound really exciting and interesting to me! So my question is, to all you TS2 rotational players, what advice would you give me to really get the best out of rotational play? I've decided to start with Pleasantview and go through all the pre-mades, and my plan (so far) is to change families every season and just see what Sim-Life brings them lol I've already gone through the first season with the Dreamers and now about halfway through the first season with the Pleasants.I'd also LOVE to hear about what you guys note down while going through your hoods, if anything. I'd like to keep track of what happens in each family when I play, it makes me feel like I'm recording some important historical information :lol:I'm so excited to try this new playstyle! Any and all advice, tips/hints, fun ideas to try out, etc etc etc are welcome and very much appreciated!! :blush: Happy Simming!!

I have journals that I like to keep track with. I put each families last name, when they started the rotation and when it ends. A brief summary of what happened during the time, and at the end I tally births and deaths.

In my latest game, I have the main household. I play in there and when I stop, I write down how many days I have played in that family and play the same amount of days with other families. I personally like that system better, because that prevents younger siblings becoming older siblings when I return to my main household.It's easy to do rotational play in The Sims 2 (the game is like meant for rotational play).

You can rotate by season as you are or by so many days. I play all households witch is quit a lot and so rotate faster by braking my week down. I play each household 2 sim days, as in mon/tue - wed/thur - then do three day weekend fri/sat/sun. That way I am not stuck on any one family too long since I have so many. As for keeping track; I do keep index cards on each family with names and things like aspiration, jobs, hobbies, and who they are liking. Keeping up with the story is easy in sims 2 unlike 3 and 4, in that they have the great in game picture and story book. (sorry don't know what it is called). Love it and take lots of pics and writing my story there as it goes along. Then if I don't remember what is going on last in a family I come back to, I just check the story album to refresh my memory and go from there. The Sims 2 is the best and this story album is one of the big reasons for me. I hope you enjoy you new game play style what ever it is.

I've never stuck to a schedule. If my Sim has a fight with someone, I may jump to the other household to see how they feel about it. Memories are one of the best things about TS2 to me. I can keep up with almost everything by just checking the Sim's memory panel. Example: I may forget one of my Sim's had a crush on someone, and wondering why they keep having a heart thought icon about a Sim I haven't seen in the game for awhile. Looking at their memory panel can remind me, oh, yeah, they met them and they hang out a few weeks ago....and they now want to remind me they like them and want to be with them again. TS2 has so many little things that jog our own memory it's the deepest game in my opinion. I may not remember why Goopy was fighting Benjamin, but if I make them playable I can find out. I may forget I made one of my Sims argue or toss a drink on someone, and weeks later that other Sim is still angry with my Sim or is rude to him or her. Checking the memories can sometimes tell me what I forgot. I have never kept notes. I didn't need to do much of that because of the memory system.

Thanks @kamra19610 I like that two-day idea, I hate to say it but sometimes I can get bored playing the premades for too long :lol: I also plan to play the whole hood, so I'll definitely keep that in mind!!I love that about TS2 as well, @Cinebar, it's such a deep game, I really feel like the sims in it are truly alive! I actually enjoy taking notes so I can read about my sims without having to go in-game (I'm a weirdo I know :lol:) but sometimes I do forget, and I love the memory system for that. Also like you said with say Goopy and Benjamin fighting, even though they're townies, once you make them playable they still have all their memories from their townie lives! Definitely something the newer games missed out on imo lolThanks for all the great advice guys, I'm loving it!! Please keep it coming!! :heart: :blush:

Rotational Advice Please!! | EA Forums

Olivesplum06
6 years ago
I have journals that I like to keep track with. I put each families last name, when they started the rotation and when it ends. A brief summary of what happened during the time, and at the end I tally births and deaths.
EgonVM
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
In my latest game, I have the main household. I play in there and when I stop, I write down how many days I have played in that family and play the same amount of days with other families. I personally like that system better, because that prevents younger siblings becoming older siblings when I return to my main household.

It's easy to do rotational play in The Sims 2 (the game is like meant for rotational play).
kamra1961
6 years ago
You can rotate by season as you are or by so many days. I play all households witch is quit a lot and so rotate faster by braking my week down. I play each household 2 sim days, as in mon/tue - wed/thur - then do three day weekend fri/sat/sun. That way I am not stuck on any one family too long since I have so many. As for keeping track; I do keep index cards on each family with names and things like aspiration, jobs, hobbies, and who they are liking. Keeping up with the story is easy in sims 2 unlike 3 and 4, in that they have the great in game picture and story book. (sorry don't know what it is called). Love it and take lots of pics and writing my story there as it goes along. Then if I don't remember what is going on last in a family I come back to, I just check the story album to refresh my memory and go from there. The Sims 2 is the best and this story album is one of the big reasons for me.
I hope you enjoy you new game play style what ever it is.
Cinebar
6 years ago
I've never stuck to a schedule. If my Sim has a fight with someone, I may jump to the other household to see how they feel about it. Memories are one of the best things about TS2 to me. I can keep up with almost everything by just checking the Sim's memory panel. Example: I may forget one of my Sim's had a crush on someone, and wondering why they keep having a heart thought icon about a Sim I haven't seen in the game for awhile. Looking at their memory panel can remind me, oh, yeah, they met them and they hang out a few weeks ago....and they now want to remind me they like them and want to be with them again. TS2 has so many little things that jog our own memory it's the deepest game in my opinion. I may not remember why Goopy was fighting Benjamin, but if I make them playable I can find out. I may forget I made one of my Sims argue or toss a drink on someone, and weeks later that other Sim is still angry with my Sim or is rude to him or her. Checking the memories can sometimes tell me what I forgot. I have never kept notes. I didn't need to do much of that because of the memory system.
selo0o
6 years ago
Thanks @kamra19610 I like that two-day idea, I hate to say it but sometimes I can get bored playing the premades for too long :lol: I also plan to play the whole hood, so I'll definitely keep that in mind!!

I love that about TS2 as well, @Cinebar, it's such a deep game, I really feel like the sims in it are truly alive! I actually enjoy taking notes so I can read about my sims without having to go in-game (I'm a weirdo I know :lol:) but sometimes I do forget, and I love the memory system for that. Also like you said with say Goopy and Benjamin fighting, even though they're townies, once you make them playable they still have all their memories from their townie lives! Definitely something the newer games missed out on imo lol

Thanks for all the great advice guys, I'm loving it!! Please keep it coming!! :heart: :blush:
wildirishbanshee
Rising Novice
6 years ago
Depending on how many families and what challenge I'm doing, I do one-day rotations or weekly rotations. May I suggest Evernote? I use it to keep track of ALL my sims stuff, and it's so easy! And I like to make a lot of notes lol.
Cinebar
6 years ago
"SeloBee;c-17080402" wrote:
Thanks @kamra19610 I like that two-day idea, I hate to say it but sometimes I can get bored playing the premades for too long :lol: I also plan to play the whole hood, so I'll definitely keep that in mind!!

I love that about TS2 as well, @Cinebar, it's such a deep game, I really feel like the sims in it are truly alive! I actually enjoy taking notes so I can read about my sims without having to go in-game (I'm a weirdo I know :lol:) but sometimes I do forget, and I love the memory system for that. Also like you said with say Goopy and Benjamin fighting, even though they're townies, once you make them playable they still have all their memories from their townie lives! Definitely something the newer games missed out on imo lol

Thanks for all the great advice guys, I'm loving it!! Please keep it coming!! :heart: :blush:

I used to keep things in thier bio and it would help remind me of who I wanted them to be (if they were't a specific character I was creating). Also, adding pics and little stories to the lot story mode is very helpful if you want to do that. And it can be quite a book, if you never move them out of that house. :D
Magnezones
6 years ago
when I was a kid, my "rotational" play was whoever I felt like playing and advancing the story with at the time, which caused everyone to get massively out of sync in terms of age. Now I play weekly, Monday to Monday.
riennatelemnar
Seasoned Newcomer
6 years ago
I am sure by now you have got a system for yourself. But for me, I have a physical notebook. I start with a custom neighborhood and create 6 families as my founders. I rotate out every 5 Sim days. I love to watch my city come to life, the births, marriages, kids going off to college together. I keep track of their LTW, careers and age at death.

TS2 has always been my favorite Sim game because of this control.
OldeSimsFan
New Traveler
6 years ago
I do rotational exclusively, and never kept notes. The story album and memory system are quite adequate for remembering what happend to who when, as Cinebar pointed out. My standard approach is to pick a given family (usually one I've made) as the central characters and go until I hit a logical stopping point. Then it's on to family/sim 2, often whoever was on welcome detail. The style is play B as a 'while that was happening to A, this is happening to B' and so on until I get back to A and start the cycle over again. What I usually wind up with is a set of 3-4 families that know one another and have inter-connected stories. It is quite easy to have another set in the same town doing the same thing, but have little to no connection with the first set. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and time available for simming.