playing different families

[whipstickgostop]

I just can't seem to play more then one family in a neighbourhood.
How do you bide your time between them all?

It's driving me crackers!

[gethane]

I used to have this problem, but then I'd lose interest, start another family in a clean neighborhood, over and over.

Then I started a 10 baby challenge in a clean neighborhood, and just got really into the family. Gen 3 are starting to trickle into college now. I have 12 or 13 houses I play in rotation (time synced) and I use the info box on the houses (in neighborhood view) to keep track of what each family is supposed to be doing during each turn. An example:

Deanna 14TDL (teen days left), needs new clothes
Debra needs golden anniversary party for LW
Dane has 2ToDL (toddler days left), needs to learn to walk
Max needs to skill

[Astral Faery]

I have a friend who plays like to play like this, too, so all the kids of the neighborhood grow up together.  Your notes are pretty cool, Gethane, really helps you keep track of what's going on in each house.

Have you ever heard of the Royal Kingdom Challenge?  You're supposed to play the families in rotation.  As for me, I kind of have ADD when it comes to my sims.  I get burned out on families after awhile and start new ones.

[miros1]

I use the Lot Synchronizer so I can tell which family is lagging behind, timewise.

[AxelVal]

I simply go in order of households and play for six days in each.  Then I switch to the other parts of the neighborhood until every single house has been played.  Then I check to see what teens are going to college, send them, play them, and go to my other neighborhood.

It's a lot easier than it seems once a system is set up.

[MaryH]

I, too, have the Lot Synchronizer, and play my sims day by day. This makes it easier to keep track of who grows up, and who's pregnant, etc. Of course I also have the Sims 2 DB, which I use to keep track of them all.
I'm pretty intrigued by the Royal Family challenge-without the challenge. I want to have a kingdom and rule like a real Tsarina. Oh, oh, there goes my  downloads folder! Off to find dresses and castles!

[goody-goody]

I, too, have the Lot Synchronizer, and play my sims day by day. This makes it easier to keep track of who grows up, and who's pregnant, etc. Of course I also have the Sims 2 DB, which I use to keep track of them all.

What's lot sychronizer and Sims 2 DB???  where do I get them???

[MaryH]

The Lot Synchronizer is here:http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,2386.0.html

and the Sims 2 DB (DataBase) is on Mod The Sims 2, under programs, I do believe-while it is not being updated, it is still available for download-the creator of it has retired, but left it to be used.

The Synchronizer lets you rotate between families without having to go to the neighborhood screen, and the DB is a program that lets you enter information about each family as you create and play them.
I find them immensely useful to actually play the game without losing track of my families or my mind. They are both base game compatible-the DB is not even linked to the game, (unless you have SimPE) and you have to manually enter the information in-but still it is nice to have something to write down all the details of each family-it even lets you put pictures in the profiles if you have a additional camera such as MWSnap (don't have the link for that, sorry).
Hope this helps out-even though I've only been playing the Sims 2 for about 5 months, you can tell I'm on top of my game!

[goody-goody]

I couldn't fnd sims 2 DB on modthesims2, where do I find it?

[Nik4myth]

Here you go Goody-Goody.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=107994

[Redrew25]

What a great question!

I've been playing Sims for almost a year now and also find myself adding sims faster than I play them (largest family I made was 2 kids! ... hehehe). I just started a new town and this idea of switching between sims based on time, never occurred to me. ITS BRILLIANT! Maybe now I'll get somewhere!

[Redrew25]

2 DB looks neat -- anyone know of a Mac equivalent?

[goody-goody]

thanks!  now to go download it!

[whipstickgostop]

Thanks guys, i downloaded the lot synchronizer and its great!!
Tbh i don't know what i'd do without it now!

[JadeEliott]

I use FileAmigo to track my sims.

I show pics here:

http://isleofthyme.squarespace.com/backtalk/the-nerve-center-of-thyme-my-fileamigo-database.html

Since Sims2DB is no longer updated. My database does everything that program did.

As to the OP's question, I use my own calendar, to track of my families ages. Makes it much more interesting.