Well, I'm being super positive because I've only tried University so far and I enjoyed it immensely, while you guys pooh pooh it. So it looks like I'm gonna very much enjoy all the other EPs. I play very few computer games which is probably why I have such a low standard.

Thanks for the help everybody! I'm excited to try those expansion packs one by one.

I started playing Sims 2 again and I have some questions.

1. Is there any benefit for toddlers/children being read to? I always cancel this action because it seems time consuming with no value (that I know of).

2. Is it dangerous to use Rodney's death creator to set adult or teen to "die of old age"? I want some adult and teen ghosts that behave like normal ghosts and have fancy urn/tombstone.

3. Do I have to care about the zits on teen sims? Is there any effect?

4. What possibly caused my romance sim to want nothing but to dance? He has 7 loves now and each time the wants are rerolled all four slots are filled with "dance with". I have to invite a sim, greet, then run to the stereo, call over and make them dance together. That's a lot of work for 500 aspiration points, not to mention very repetitive. If I'm lucky he's gonna want to talk and tickle that sim afterwards, but most times he doesn't want anything to do with them anymore. It's been a week he hasn't wanted to flirt or woohoo. I have to see if those Neukum speakers are available for homes, I think I should put one of them outside just for this.

5. When a sim is abducted, is the alien pregnancy decided at the start of abduction or when the sim is sent home?

Thanks for that link. Hopefully I manage to do it and not make my computer explode. I made all my sims have caricature long nose before and now I kind of regret it.

Or does it only change the faces but keep the original genes?

Aren't you only able to look through and instead of stargaze during midday?

OK, I've decided to make one. All my lot sizes except the community lots are 3x3 so I should be able to handle the slow walking by strategic placements of stuff. I've experimented with one of my available sims (didn't save it) and it didn't look too bad -- in fact, the mug shot looks kind of cool. I'll create a new family for this and leave my existing sims alone. I do want this (and one alien too next time) because my current neighborhood is too sickeningly wholesome. Thanks for all the helps!

Off-topic question -- is there a non-cheat trick to get a higher probability of alien abduction? I saw that some houses in Strangetown have 5 level towers to put their telescopes on which makes me wonder if that's the way to get the aliens.

Arrgh. I'll still be able to cheat with the personality points. The no breeding part is the problem. Thanks guys anyway!

Thanks! I don't want them them to look the same actually. I just want them to retain original personality, aspiration, interests, and skills. And maybe existing relationships.

I mean other than the obvious (looks etc), of course. I want to make one of my sim a zombie but I want to know first if there's something I should know in advance, like whether or not he'll be able get married and have children, and if he'll pass down his zombie genetics (I hope not!). This is a sim that I like so I want to keep playing him the way I play my other sims.

Also, same question for aliens. I haven't had an alien before and plan on having one. I do know they marry and breed and pass down genetics, but other than that is there anything I should watch out for?

Back to the zombie -- I read on another thread that the amount of money you spend will affect how the zombie turns out. So if I want the zombie to be as similar as possible to original sim, I have to pay the grim reaper 9999 simoleons -- is that correct?

OK. I'll wait for a couple of days to see if there'll be any changes. I did use the lot debugger to reroll the wants but no luck. Only the fears got rerolled, while the wants stay empty. The back up plan will be to delete the baby. I found a tutorial on it on another thread. Thanks!

Thanks! I'll try it.

<Oops. I posted this thread in the wrong place. Sorry!>

My game is still the original Sims 2. I haven't installed any expansion pack. I do have the University CDs so if I install it would it fix it?

My adopted child has empty want slots. (!)

The problem actually has started with the original parents. So I created a married couple and then I used the SimPE the first day I moved them in, to boost their relationship so the can procreate immediately. So the wife got pregnant the first day. Then the next morning I noticed that their wants didn't reshuffle when they woke up in the morning. (It reshuffled fine whenever they fulfilled a want though.)

After the baby was born I killed off the parents and the baby was taken by the orphanage. Another family adopted it. I've noticed immediately that the adopted baby wasn't noted as family (it's written as acquaintance) and there's no memory added to the family that they had adopted the baby. So I quited and reentered to repeat the adoption process and it's still the same problem. Did that a few times. Finally I moved on. (The adoption request was already saved and no cancelling that.)

Now even though the family didn't appear as family to the baby, they still functioned and still could help with the birthday. But once it was a toddler, only the first one slot was filled (buying a toy) and the rest three were empty. Then once I fulfill the want, it became empty. So now all four slots were empty. (Irritatingly enough, the fear slots worked fine. Not that it really matters.)

Now, this family that adopted the child is very important to me as I've played with them for a long time, so I really need help fixing this kid. I have SimPE and I know how to back up and I know how to use computer and follow instructions. Please help...