These Hints, Tips and Ideas are a collection of the best from our busy forums and chat. Enjoy!

Relationships

• The easiest Marriage Relationship to maintain is a Fortune Aspiration Sim, and a stay-at-home Family Sim.
• The hardest relationship is Romance and Family, because most of the Wants and Fears are in direct conflict with each other.
• If you want to create adult siblings without having the elder parents in the living family, create the Elders first and then use 'Make A Child' for each sibling. Create the Family Tree and then delete the Elders. You can then have a family which has been genetically created by 2 Sims with no actual living parents.

             
    Who's 'yer Daddy??                       Bunny Love                  Spring must be in the air!

• Friendship Scores decay by 2 points per day. These can be maintained with a simple phone call. 1 Sim Hour's interaction every 5 days is enough to maintain a friendship.
• Each member of a household has their own Social Bunny. If more than one Social Bunny turns up on the same Lot, they will begin to interact with each other. Bunnies of the same color Fight, Irritate and Play together. Bunnies of differing colors will Entertain, Appreciate and Play with each other. Blue and Pink Bunnies become romantically attached!
• Really Outgoing Sims will use Hot Tubs and Pools naked, and can intimidate others joining to do the same.

      
Long Distance Relations                  Skinny Dipping!     

Careers & Skills

• If you plan to have a Sim living alone, Knowledge is the best Aspiration. It's the easiest to achieve in a one man/woman lifestyle.
• Children can learn cooking skills and provide food by making muffins in the toy oven.
• Kids that get good grades while at Private School come home with skill point bonuses instead of cash
• Toddlers learn skills fastest if you haven them on Smart Milk while the parent is wearing the Thinking cap during lessons.

      
Burnt Buns, fresh today!        Better Jobs Online

• Paintings done by high Creativity Skill Sims can be hung on the wall to increase in value. Hold on to them for a while to make a tidy income from painting. Their value increases dramatically when the creator dies!
• Job offers in newspapers all start at Level 1, while job offers on Computers will be offered 2 levels below that of an existing job. (If you are currently employed at Level 8, jobs that you find will start at level 6)
• Retired Sims gets a pension of one-half their salary when they retire (paid out one-seventh every day), even if they get another job as an Elder.
• When trying to impress the Private School Headmaster, but expensive items like Hot Tubs and Art. You can sell them back for a full refund immediately after he leaves.
• Swimming Pools at Community Lots are great for building Body. Sims always return home 2 hours after leaving for the Community Lots, so this can be a time efficient way of gaining a skill during your Sims normal daily routine.

Personalities

• Teens with ongoing low Hygiene can suffer from Zits (their 5 day average Hygiene must be below 50). Spots can be treated using the 'Apply Acne Cream' interaction in a mirror.
• Neat Sims will actually gain Fun from cleaning, while Sloppy Sim will loose it!
• Outgoing and very Lazy Sims can relieve themselves on a shrub, but only when their bladder need is very low!
• Sims spend a set amount of time at each age group. Age Transition occurs at 7pm, unless you do it earlier by having a Party or using the Grow Up self interaction. These are the terms in Sim days:
  
  - Babies: 3 days
  - Toddlers: 4 days
  - Children: 8 days
  - Teens: 15 days
  - Young Adults: 4 college years + 2 days (University Only)
  - Adults: 29 days
  - Elders: 9 to 31 days

             
Peeing in the shower...            ...Peeing in the bushes!                Blitz those Zitz!       

• Sloppy and lazy Sims will actually 'relieve' themselves in the shower, boosting their bladder as well as their hygiene. Eww!
• A Sim Family adopting a child might well get one from another of your Sim families that had a child taken away!
• A Sim can change his interests by reading Magazines, which may be necessary to build a relationship with a Sim who has opposing interests to your Sim. These are the interests that can be improved by reading the relevant magazines:
  - The Superstar Report: Entertainment/Fashion/Sports
  - Beyond Belief: Sci-Fi /Paranormal/Health
  - Young Sim: Toys/Animals/School
  - Rat Race: Work/Money/Crime
  - Highbrow Review: Politics/Culture/Environment
  - Mode:Live: Food/Travel/Weather

Food

• Pizza's never spoil! If you order deliveries but do not accept them, they pile up at the door. These Pizzas can then be picked up at any time for an immediate food boost.
• Sloppy Sims can eat out of trashcans! It's a free source of nourishment, but it's not very satisfying and can cause illness.
• Children can learn cooking skills and provide food by making muffins in the toy oven.

             
  There must be a meal in here!      Stocking up on fast Food      Promising Future for a wee Chef

• Serving coffee and espresso is very important to keep visiting Sims on your Lot as it's the only way for them to top up their Energy. They can't use the machine themselves, so make sure you are the 'hostess with the mostess'!
• Sims who drink too much espresso or coffee can start to visibly shake.
• Tight budgeted Sims can save on delivery charges by shopping for groceries at a Community Lot (there is no fee for a Taxi).

      
    Stock up while its cheap        Need coffee.. NEED COFFEE!

Death

• A lot of Flies in a Sim house can converge into a swarm that can actually kill a Teen, Adult or Elder Sim. 'Death By Flies'!
• There are 9 ways a Sim can die: Old Age, Drowning, Electrocution, Burning, Starvation, Satellite, Death By Flies, Disease & Scared To Death.
• If there is no living Sims on the Lot when the Reaper comes, there is a change that he will watch some TV or use the bathroom before he leaves.

You're not due until Friday!

• Sims watching the clouds or stargazing run the slight risk of a satellite landing on them (resulting in Death, naturally). All is not lost though, as the Satellite can be sold in Build Mode!
• Ghosts wake sleeping Sims so keep earns out of bedrooms.
• 'Death By Drowning' is the only way a Sim can die without any option to plead with the Reaper (he can't be engaged when he is over water).

Build Mode

• The more expensive a Wall or Floor covering, the greater it adds to the Environment Score of the room.
• Make sure that you Sim or Gardener can access all areas of your garden. Islands in bodies of water will end up covered in weeds, as will fenced off areas if unattended.
• It is possible to build flooring on slopes with only the base game! Surround an area with a fence first and hold the shift key when putting the floor down, then delete the fence.

             
Good Walls, Good Environment Scores   Gardeners don't have boats!         Placing floors on slopes               

Buy Mode

• Spend as much as you can on a quality bed. A cheap bed only provides full rest after about 9 game hours. Medium beds require 7.5 hours but a quality bed only needs 6 hours to fully recuperate a Sim.
• The main difference between a shower and a bath is that the bath also provides Comfort. An even higher Comfort level can be achieved by using bubble bath, although the Hygiene fills more slowly.
• Objects sold back before midnight on the day of purchase will have a full refund value, even if it was used. The only exceptions are Computers and Build Mode objects.
• Swing Sets connect when placed next to each other in the same orientation

             
     Extended Swing Set       "The Tongue Wash" Plate Licker      Fine Art, sat earning §§§ 
 

• When trying to impress the Private School Headmaster, but expensive items like Hot Tubs and Art. You can sell them back for a full refund immediately after he leaves.
• Paintings, Grandfather Clocks and Sculptures are the only Buy Mode items that do not depreciate in value. On he contrary, they often appreciate in value over time.
• Can't afford a Dishwasher? Sloppy Sims can actually lick dirty plates clean. Nasty!
• Don't let Sims with less that 5 mechanical Skill Points wind up the Grandfather Clock. Chances are they break it beyond repair!
• Burglar alarms are essential and will pay for themselves in rewards from captured Burglars. Put one in any room with an exterior entrance that is accessed from ground level.
• The Sims 2 Content Manager" was made available around the time Nightlife was and can be downloaded from thesims2.com. An absolute must have for managing your downloaded Custom Content!

 
The Sims 2 Custom Content Manager

Gameplay

• If you have Free Will turned on, never cancel a Sim in the middle of cooking. Food put in the oven and then left there will almost certainly start a fire!
• Place a cheap end table near the mailbox. Keep it clear so that Bills are always placed there, rather than being taken off into the house or left on the floor. Makes them easier to find, and less easy to forget.
• Sloppy Sims walking past your House might rummage through your Garbage. Grouchy Sims might kick it over. Gnomes are also at risk from Moody Sims who can steal your prized Garden Ornaments!
• Plants grown using the Hydroponic Garden can be used as attractive House Plants, or can be sold in Buy Mode.

             
Food left in the oven. Naughty!        A Table for your Bills               House Plant Production      

• The number of Sims that you will find on a Community Lot or invited to your Parties will be determined by your computers' performance.
• Clothing Booths in Community Lots can be used as a public venue for WooHoo!
• Sims will remember in which bed, and on which side of a double bed they sleep if you are consistent when sending them bed the first few occasions.
• When a Sim is juggling Coffee Cups or Espresso Mugs, other Sims can click on the Juggling Sim to 'Join In'.

             
He knows which side to get into      Stand back, flying cups!         The victim of a Grouchy Sim    

• During Burglaries, try blocking exits by placing Sims at doorways until Police arrive to prevent escape.
• When hiring a Nanny, the Sim making the call dictates the times the nanny will come (She will cover that Sims working hours). Be use to use the Sim with the earliest start time in the house to get the Nanny there as early as possible.
• When planning a party, have the Sim with the most friends make the call to increase the chances of a well attended function.