If you’ve been following this blog for a long time, you may know that I choose Sims 2 aspirations based on zodiac signs using the default Maxis system (where every zodiac sign corresponds to a certain aspiration). I liked this system because it mimicked the default game behavior.
But as I was creating my custom neighborhood, it bothered me that distributing the zodiac signs evenly resulted in an uneven distribution of aspirations. There would be more knowledge and fortune Sims than the others.
So, I’ve made a change to the system I’ve been using for years, and I’m detailing that in this post. (I’ll also be updating the information in my gameplay rules and custom neighborhood tutorial).
Credit
First of all, I need to give credit for this idea to my reader Tamara, who posted the system she uses in the comments of my custom neighborhood tutorial post on creating residents. I loved it so much that I wanted to adopt it (slightly modified) for my game.
Tam also credits her system to kidhedera at pillowfort, so thank you kidhedera for the idea! I’m using the idea of creating an evenly distributed zodiac/aspiration system, but I’m making changes to suit my preferences, which I’ll explain below.
My Original System
I’ve used a very simple system of choosing Sims 2 aspirations for years. This system was based on the default Maxis behavior. When the game generates a new townie or NPC, it will automatically assign an aspiration based on zodiac sign.
Here’s a chart showing the original pairings:
| Zodiac Sign | Aspiration |
| Aquarius | Family |
| Aries | Popularity |
| Cancer | Family |
| Capricorn | Fortune |
| Gemini | Fortune |
| Leo | Popularity |
| Libra | Romance |
| Pisces | Knowledge |
| Sagittarius | Knowledge |
| Scorpio | Fortune |
| Taurus | Romance |
| Virgo | Knowledge |
As you can see, this doesn’t include Pleasure Sims. I mostly didn’t play with them unless I had too many Romance Sims in a generation (and then I would make some of them Pleasure). In the default game, Pleasure Sims share a zodiac sign with Romance.
Another problem (in my opinion) is that there are three zodiac signs associated with Knowledge and Fortune, but only two associated with the other signs. This means if you want an even number of signs in your ‘hood, you’ll end up with an uneven number of aspirations.
This may not be a problem for some people, but it bothers me! I like things to be even, especially when I’m starting out with a brand new neighborhood. That’s why I thought the system presented by Tam/kidhedera was so amazing. It solves this problem!
My New System
I honestly don’t know why this never occurred to me before, but I’m glad I haven’t created the Sims for my custom ‘hood yet. Now I have a chance to use this new system on them!
There are six total aspirations in The Sims 2 – Pleasure, Family, Romance, Knowledge, Fortune, and Popularity. When the game was released, there were only five aspirations. Pleasure was added with the Nightlife expansion. This is why it’s not really included in the original system.
Because there are 12 zodiac signs and six aspirations, there exists the opportunity to assign each aspiration to two zodiac signs. Here’s what I’ll be doing from now on:
| Zodiac Sign | Aspiration |
| Aquarius | Family |
| Aries | Romance |
| Cancer | Family |
| Capricorn | Pleasure |
| Gemini | Popularity |
| Leo | Popularity |
| Libra | Romance |
| Pisces | Knowledge |
| Sagittarius | Fortune |
| Scorpio | Fortune |
| Taurus | Pleasure |
| Virgo | Knowledge |
Changes
Here are the changes I’ve made to the default system and why I made them.
(Note: I know not everyone believes in astrology in real life, and that’s okay! I personally find it very fascinating, but that doesn’t really matter. I am only using the common archetypes to help me choose the best aspirations for my Sims.)
Aries
Changed from Popularity to Romance.
Although Aries is one point more outgoing than Gemini, I still think of them as more of a Romance sign (my cheating ex was an Aries, so maybe I’m biased). As a fire sign, Aries is passionate, motivated, impulsive, bold, and brave – which in my opinion are traits suitable for a proper Sims 2 Romance Sim.
Here’s the in-game description:
Dynamic and confident, most Aries never shy away from the opportunity to strike up a conversation with anyone. However, they can be somewhat impulsive and quick-tempered.
Capricorn
Changed from Fortune to Pleasure.
Capricorns have 8 points in the Playful category (the same as Taurus). To me, this makes them better suited to the Pleasure aspiration than Fortune. They are traditionally Earth signs who love order and discipline. They are practical and responsible, but also enjoy life’s finer pleasures and love to joke around.
Here’s the in-game description:
Armed with a dry wit, Capricorns can often be found telling a good joke. Also being very practical, they strive for order and discipline.
Gemini
Changed from Fortune to Popularity.
In the zodiac world, Geminis are known to be expert conversationalists. They love socializing and are quick-witted, expressive, and playful. (Being married to a Gemini, I can attest to this being true.) Playful and intellectually curious, Gemini is constantly juggling a variety of passions, hobbies, careers, and friend groups. To me, this sounds much more like Popularity than Fortune.
The in-game description also sounds more like Popularity to me:
Youthful and lively, many think Gemini have enough energy for two. Also energized by conversation, it isn’t surprising to find them bouncing from one topic to the next at parties.
Sagittarius
Changed from Knowledge to Fortune.
I had a hard time deciding what to do with Sagittarius. Based on the in-game description and personality points, I wanted to make them Popularity. They definitely shouldn’t be Knowledge in my opinion. So, I compromised with Fortune since I needed another sign for this aspiration.
I definitely think Fortune fits better than Knowledge, however. Sagittarius has 7 playful points and 9 active, which to me seems like they enjoy getting things done. Here’s the in-game description:
Jovial and carefree, Sagittarians are also blessed with boundless energy. Unfortunately, this combination can make them restless and careless.
Taurus
Changed from Romance to Pleasure.
I am a Taurus and I’m not even close to a Romance Sim. (Did I just refer to myself as a Sim?) Anyway, Taurus is Pleasure through-and-through. We are loyal, trustworthy, sensual and romantic (just not in a Sims 2 way). We love food, pleasure, and beautiful things. I just think Taurus is much more suited to a Pleasure aspiration.
Even the in-game description points towards Taurus being more Pleasure-oriented:
The typical Taurus is strong-willed and determined. That can often mean determined to have a good time.
All other signs remained the same, as I thought they were well-matched already. Now there are two signs for every aspiration, which makes things more even (exactly how I like them).
Sims 2 Aspirations
So, just to recap and make it easier to see, here’s the list of my interpretation of Sims 2 aspirations with their corresponding zodiac signs:
- Pleasure – Capricorn and Taurus
- Family – Aquarius and Cancer
- Romance – Aries and Libra
- Knowledge – Pisces and Virgo
- Fortune – Sagittarius and Scorpio
- Popularity – Gemini and Leo
Feel free to use this system for choosing your own Sims’ aspirations or simply use it as inspiration to come up with your own! And if you do something different, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment down below and let me know how you choose your Sims 2 aspirations!
I hope you’re doing well!
Thanks to you I began playing the Sims 2 again after 6 years. I don’t play exactly the same way as you do but I incorporated some things and it works for me. My younger sisters are more into the Sims 3 and 4 but that’s not my thing. Listening to your videos on YouTube made me feel like I was not weird, like I had a friend to turn to to talk (to listen to).
I enjoyed your pleasantview LP so much.
Again, I hope you’re doing well.
This is awesome. I love how logical you are about it. All of these seem to match, great post & I love your blog <3 good old TS2 nostalgia!
Thank you!
Hi Cindy,
I love this! My hoods are going to be a lot more even, haha. The only hard part will be telling myself that I’m a Pleasure Sim, not a Fortune Sim. I guess I’ll have to pick a secondary! I love your gameplay guides, they’re really helpful. I hope you keep up with Sims stuff in a way that brings you joy <3 <3 <3
Thank you!
I recently saw a post on youtube by Sophie the Puffin who made a calculator taking in personality points/interests into account, sort of like the secondary aspiration calculator you mentioned a long while ago. It’s a pretty nifty calculator, if you haven’t checked it out! I like some of the more simple picking and choosing method, though, I’m gonna try to incorporate both into my game.
Super late to the party but I’m glad to see you back!
I can’t wait to see more guides from you Cindy! Love you and your content ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you!
I am not a part of the “community” so I don’t the rules or etiquette regarding posts. I just wanted you to know that your youTube channel has meant the world to me and my roommate and we will miss your streams. You deserve love and I abhor cancel culture. Thanks to you I was able to get a PCOS medication that will hopefully help me. You inspire us everyday. We plan to try your test of time challenge in the new year. We are sending love, light and healing to you in this difficult time.
Harmoney and Iggy
Thank you Harmoney. It’s been nice to put some space between me and the situation. Now, I see things clearer and the whole thing is just so dumb and meaningless. I will be back to making Sims content – but on my own terms. And I also want nothing to do with the “community” besides the kind people who message me here. I appreciate it so much!
I swear you’re such a queen. You have made my game sooo much more enjoyable. I practically play only by your rules because you’re organized & all of your choices make sense. I struggle with adhd so Because of you, I’m able to finally make my own custom neighborhood & keep track of what I do! You’re a legend in the sims community, you should see all of the amazing things they say about you on *all* of the different sim forums. (Including Reddit)
Thank you Mina! I have seen such an outpouring of love and support. It’s very touching and I appreciate it so much. It drowns out all the negativity and I am feeling much better now. 🙂
Hey Cindy! We never spoke much besides video comments. I’ve always showed support on your channels. I just wanted to let you know your website and sims 2 videos have helped me so much since I’ve recently been playing Sims 2 again. Without going into much – just know that I seriously appreciate all the info you have and hope you’re able to leave it up. If not, I understand that too! Hope you’re doing alright, miss you tons <3
Thank you! I really appreciate that!
I have been using your original system for many generations in my pleasantview and loved it but always found there were so many romance sims! Really excited to start using this one on my next round and change it up a bit. The way you play the game has really reinvigorated my love for the sims 2 even after years of playing, and your content brought me so much joy when I was stuck at home during lockdown.
Wishing you all the happiness in everything you do Cindy.
Hi Cindy! I used to follow your system for assigning aspirations, but then I learned to choose them according to my Sims’ personality points. It’s really fun! For example, when my Sim is very neat and nice, I perceive them as a Family Sim. But sometimes it’s hard to say which aspiration suits them the best based on their points, so I let your system decide for me and I will continue to do so with this updated set.
I read in one of the comments that you’re leaving for vacation soon, so I just wanted to say that I hope you and Andrew will have a great time together! You deserve it more than anyone I know!
Take care ♥
Thank you Kevin!
Hi Cindy, I know it’s not appropriate to pop up in here for something unrelated but I just wanted to let you know that I have tried many ways of contacting you. I have tried YouTube, email (likely the wrong one again) & ModTheSims. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t reply. I just hope you got them. They are not malicious in any way at all. In fact they are the opposite. I know I haven’t been active in the Discord, YouTube or Twitch; I’ve been in The Sims 2 Facebook group helping out people. It’s rare I actually open Discord at all anymore. I hope we can keep contact somehow….
Wishing you well,
Shannon
Hi Shannon. Thank you so much. I really hope we can keep in touch too. I also haven’t been on very much over the past few months. But I have missed talking to you!
Hey Cindy, I don’t usually post or anything because I’m internet shy but I wanted to let you know how much your content has meant to me. (sorry in advance this might be long) I’m in my 20s but had to be put on majority bedrest due to a medical condition a year and a half ago. The doctors are confident in their ability to keep me alive but no one knows if I’m ever going to get any better. It’s rough. I found your content right before all of that happened. I had never played the sims 2, never played townies, and tended not to play sims games for very long because sims 4 is too easy and sims 3 is….a chaotic beast to say the least. You took a franchise that I would flip on only when I got bored or wanted to try a 100 baby challenge and turned it into a bedrock for me during this period. The games were so much bigger and more expansive than I thought they could be, there was always something to do. I would play other games and do other things to occupy my time of course but you turned the sims into the series I could always come back to, a bulwark against spiraling thoughts. When I got too depressed I’d start a new game of pleasantview and play along with one of your streams. I just started exploring Strangetown. I’ve been translating pleasantview and sunset valley into a sims 4 save file just because I can, because I saw one of your vids (pleasantview 25 years later) and wanted to figure my own spin on it. I’m sure every member of your community has stories like these.
I can’t know what you’re dealing with, but I just wanted to share with and remind you that you have been doing so so so much GOOD for people and I wanted to thank you for that. We all love you and want what’s best for you. I wish you love and healing, enough to drown out any and all hate. <3
(I also echo the sentiment that we'd love the site and channels to stay up, there is so much there/here that is just GOLD. Thanks! :D)
Thank you Rhea. That’s so kind of you to say, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. I will definitely leave my channel and website up. I also plan to continue posting here on the site once I’m feeling better. I’m about to leave for vacation in about three days, and I think that will help me reset and move on from recent events. Thank you again!
I did see the changes in the gameplay rules, as I have on a tap as I pay my rotational game. Thank you for the explanation! I don’t know much about the Greek Zodiac besides that I am a Leo. But I see myself as a primary Family sim, secondary knowledge.
Hi Cindy
I hope one day you come back to the Community….I will miss your life vlogs they were getting me trough some dark times….my husband died in sept and your videos help me to breath laugh and smile even just for a moment…Hope you are well take care of yourself … peace sister we are on your side
Thank you.
I would probably switch capricorn with sagittarius and aries with scorpio if I played that way, taking astrology more into consideration than sims 2 personality points. In my personal game I prefer to have 2 or 3 aspirations for each sign, though, like capricorn being fortune or family and libra being popularity, pleasure or romance, just so I can differentiate a bit more between my sims of the same sign.
That’s a good way to look at it too!
I hope you continue this guide, Cindy! I discovered your channel and blog recently and I’m loving The Sims 2 again!
Wishing you the best! Kisses from your brazilians fans 🥰.
Thank you Alessa!
Hi Cindy,
You admitted that you did your wrongs, like we all do, and tried to make things right and I just wanted to say that I stand behind you 100%. I’m so sorry you’re going through this and I’m so sad that you’re leaving the Sims community. Your videos and streams always put a huge smile on my face and made me so happy. I just wanted to tell you that there are people like me who still support you and will miss you and your content so so much. :,(
I really hope that if given long enough she will feel like coming back. Maybe if not to youtube but at a minimum to this blog so that she’s not 100% gone gone. But of course it’s her decision and we all have to just be accepting and wish the best for her whatever she does do.
Thank you Cleo. I do plan to keep blogging here in the future after I take a little time to heal. I appreciate your support.
Ah, so glad you want to keep the blog alive! I was afraid you’d vanish completely from the community (I’d understand that too! But I just love your blog!).
Thank you Deidra. I am overwhelmed by all the love and support I have received. I really appreciate it.
Thank you for writing those guide Cindy ❤️ I will try this in my game 🙂
You’re very welcome, Alyssia. Thanks for stopping by.
I can’t wait for the next part of this guide to come out. Thank you for everything you do, Cindy, and thank you for always helping to keep my passion for the Sims 2 going with all the amazing content you gift us with!
Thanks so much Micha. I’m glad you like the series.
I really like this system! For people who prefer having specific aspirations attached to specific Zodiac signs I think it works really well.
Personally, for me at least, while I do believe that zodiac signs DO have some reality to them, I also dont agree that everyone with the same zodiac sign will share the exact same life goals or personality traits. Like I, for example, am a Scorpio, but I really dont have many of the typical traits associated with Scorpio’s.
So for my game at least, I like to use a generator I made to randomly select every sims aspiration. (I will of course choose specific ones if I feel that the sim has shown characteristics of it growing up, or if I need more/less of a specific aspiration) I find that doing this allows every sim to feel even more unique, and no two sims would be too similar.
I think that’s a very good way to do it too. I know some people choose based specifically on the Sim and their specific personality. There’s so many ways to do it. I find it so interesting how others choose their zodiac/aspiration!
I do love these thoughtful changes! My system has a different Aspiration for Sex + Zodiac, as to add to the diversity. But the more I’m getting into the depths of the game I see that I may need to tweak it a bit!
It’s always fun to change things up from time to time. This game gives you so much to think about in creating systems like this.
I’ve always used the system that Maxis used with the exception that Taurus would get the Pleasure aspiration and Libra Romance. I ended up with far too many Romance sims in PV anyway so that had been a good choice for me. I might try out your new system in the next generation, though.
I would always get so many Romance Sims too, that I did the same thing with choosing Pleasure instead of Romance for Taurus and even Libra sometimes. But I’m hoping this will work better for me.
I like the changes you made to the zodiacs! I’m an Aquarius and as much as I don’t want to admit it, I guess I technically am a family sim. I think I’m having an existential crisis because I’ve always convinced myself that I’m a knowledge sim😂
Lol! Maybe you’re a mixture of both!
Hello! Let me start by saying that I don’t know you, I’ve never been interested in YouTube videos on the Sims and never watched yours. I’ve never been on your site and generally I’m largely uninterested in anything Sims related aside from amusing drama I follow as a pastime, and i recently had the “pleasure” of reading the one that involved you and brought to the closure of your discord server. From my understanding you’ve been tired with the spotlight for quite a while so your reaction wasn’t so surprising. I’m just dropping to say that, from my personal point of view, the people who started the drama did you the enormous favour of making a selection among your fans between the ones who are actually worth it and the ones who’re, deep down, only energy sucking parasites waiting for you to fall down to jump on your remains and thrive of the dramas your internet persona can attract. I’m referring, for example, to those “fans” who only follow you to talk shite behind your back but appear as lovely persons in front of you, and you don’t need those people in your life. Now, from my point of view the end of you discord server is the perfect opportunity for a new beginning clean of a lot of toxic people who were previously gravitating around you and a more healthy way to be under the spotlight. Don’t let this bullshit get on you emotionally.
Thank you. I appreciate that, and there is definitely wisdom in your words.
I started rotational gameplay for the first time after finding your content – time to update my spreadsheet for the new aspirations! I think it’ll be easy to transition to the new system for sims that haven’t aged into teens yet. I like having 2 signs per aspiration as well. Thank you Cindy!
So glad you like it! Thanks for stopping by, Dawn!
It’s an interesting take to assign the aspirations to the zodiac sign. I think I might mix this with your “old” system, having it as a base. For example, when a sim goes to college and it turns out they fit into another aspiration better than the one assigned at teen age, I could use a different sign of your “new” system.
The only thing I don’t like about the new system is that sagittarius’ are now fortune sims but that’s a personal thing for being a sagittarius myself ^^ but on the other hand, I’m an atypical sagittarius because most of the time I’m actually lazy as heck xD
Lol! I know what you mean – that’s why I had to change Taurus. Because I am one and I KNOW I’m not Romance. You could always exchange Sagittarius for something else in your own system if you like that better!
Dangit, I just had a household with 5 children who would all have different aspirations with the old ruleset – with this new ruleset there’s now 2 romance and 2 fortune XD – There’s nothing stopping me from following the original system though.
I’ve personally been playing with the idea of makign a system to assign aspirations based on more than just their sign, perhaps make their personality points and maybe their interests take a role. Wish me luck on that :3
Good luck! I’d love to hear about it if you do it!
I did it! :3
In a google spreadsheet I assigned each aspiration a high, low and medium personality trait, and then I added 6 interests for every aspiration into the mix as well. (which means that every interest is used by two aspirations).
For example: Sims with a high neat score, a low playful score, an average nice score and high interest in Culture, Environment, Paranormal, Health, School and Sci-Fi tend to roll Knowledge. :3
This way Sims are likely to roll aspirations based on their personalities, but they *could* still get something completely different if their interests follow another way :3
(In hindsight I am kinda bummed that Bianca Monty, who I like to give a Knowledge secondary, rolls Pleasure for second instead, but eh, can’t have everything XD)
Love and support,
– Vul
If you wouldnt mind sharing it I’d love to see what you made! I’m always really interested to see how other people play their games.
I agree with Clay Nobles. This defo sounds worth sharing!
Hmm, if Cindy is okay me sharing a link here then I’d like to post it here.
But *only* if Cindy is fine with that.
Yes, you are welcome to share a helpful link!
(Finally I can reply on this thread again yippee 😀 )
So, here’s my official Aspiration Calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17AVJcAdnRdnkd8QAVKVNSU_H5NMZH1cf3FLBTA6VC3I/edit?usp=sharing
Feel free to copy and use for your own use 😀
– Vul
(Sorry for the mistakes, english is not my native language). When I used to choose an aspiration based on the sign, I used to make Gemini and Sagittarius a Pleasure sims (because they were originally supposed to have Power aspiration, but that aspiration was removed before the game was released), now I’m more oriented towards my feelings. Shy sims don’t like to initiate communication, they prefer correspondence on the computer, so I rarely choose for them Popularity, Romance or Pleasure. Serious sims love to read, play chess, and look through a telescope, so they are more likely to be Knowledge sims. From an astrological point of view, signs and aspirations convey typical representatives quite well, but there are many people whose personality is very different from the sims, for example, I am Libra, but my personality is more like a typical Virgo, although in reality I am typical Libra. So now I focus more on the character of the sims, and change the sign of the zodiak depending on the time of year when they were born. The first 40 hours of spring (starting at midnight) will be Aries, the next 40 will be Taurus and the last 40 Gemini e.g. If season changes in the morning, sims born at night will have sign based on previous season. With this method sims will have more variety in signs, and their personalities will be different from the typical, which also means that the twins will have the same signs.
I think that’s a very interesting way to do it! I may have to explore this myself in the future!
Oh my what an honor to be mentioned on this blog! You’ve always been such an inspiration to me Cindy, so I’m really happy I could also give you some input!
No, thank you!!
Now I just have to figure out how to do this gracefully in my current neighborhood– I’m four generations in and I’m almost afraid to shake up the system but maybe it’s worth a try!
Now you got me really torn on whether or not to change my system. I use a system where I can always choose between two aspirations for a specific zodiac sign. It is already somewhat similar to this one so I’m tempted.
I never even considered it before, but now I really like it because it makes more sense to me!