Sims 2 Rules for Population Control

It doesn't take long for my Sims 2 neighborhoods to get a little out of control. I start out with six households, then everyone gets married and has affairs and woohoos like crazy. Kids grow up and move out. I download some new funky eye color and end up adding a bunch of new CAS sims. And then if I place the Newson orphans in the town, all those second generation kids are cousins. (This was a big problem with Riverblossom Hills, as you'll see. Everybody wants to marry a Newson.)

We are teh sexy. (Once we grow up. Let's not get creepy.)

It only takes about one generation for the population to grow out of control and I'm struggling to manage twelve or more overflowing households and eventually the neighborhood gets boring and I lose interest.

So I made some rules:

1. No Trying for Baby unless both sims have the "have a baby" want. (Unless it's Winter. Then only one sim has to want a baby. It is the "family" season, after all. And you gotta keep warm. No one wants to get back out of bed to get the birth control.)
2. No moving out until season 1, unless there's an abandoned house in the current season. This helps out with the next rule:
3. Keep all households in the same season. Everyone ages about the same and no one marries their sibling's grandkids. 
4. No creating new sims. Play only sims that already live in the neighborhood, or are in the bin. 
5. Sims can not marry NPCs. Obviously, this rule needs to be broken in neighborhoods like Veronaville or everyone will end up related.

Pretty simple. Of course, I often break these rules, but they do help keep the population in check. That, and Rodney's Death Creator. Population control is an important duty for any responsible SimGod. The power is yours! (This episode, by the way, was the one that caused my dad to ban my siblings and I from ever watching Captain Planet.)