Spruceburg "Rules"
I don't really play with strict rules - most stuff outlined here is more like guidelines that define my gameplay style! The rules to the original Sims 2 Prosperity Challenge are here. However, I cannot promise I will be following them all that closely once the hood gets underway. I reserve the right to change stuff anytime if it makes the game more fun for me and leads to more interesting outcomes :D
Sims, Traits, and Randomisation
All the playable sims in this neighbourhood are "randomised"! This means I rolled dice to determine their age, sex, hair colour, personality, and their physical features. If they are an adult, I also use the Sim Blender to randomly give them some skill points. Rather than having a sim fully fleshed out in my mind, I get to know the sims organially as I am play them.
There is so much stuff in the game that helps me flesh out a sim - their hobbies, interests, personality, lifetime want, aspiration, wants they roll in game... all of this stuff helps guide my gameplay. I use hexagonal-bipiramids 3t2 traits and episims colour traits, too. Those mods have some functionality, but they also help prompt my imagination! You might notice me checking sims interests a lot during gameplay to help me decide what a sim would do, or even to help me decorate their room.
I guess you could call my gameplay an extension of wants-based, since it's partially based on wants, but also influenced by other sim traits & my overall interpretation of the sim! I try not to micromanage too much and like giving my sims lots of autonomy and letting them suprise me.
When sims age to teenagers, I will be rolling dice to determine their aspiration! Even if it seems like it doesn't "suit" them, I'll try to work with what the dice have given me. However, when it comes to seondary aspirations, I will often pick them out. I don't like using these until a sim is at least an adult and I have a good idea of what that sim is about.
In general, I reserve the right to tweak or re-roll stuff if it doesn't seem quite right! I noticed for example Lynn had a low interest in health, which didn't seem right for a sim with the "Become Chief of Staff" LTW. So, I changed it! :D
Hobbies are another example, as by default "One True Hobbies" are based on personality, which can result in sims feeling a bit "same-y"! Rikuto has the tinkering hobby but the "technophobe" trait, so I'm probably going to roll for a different hobby for him. I also don't like that Natasha and Lynn have the same personality spread and therefore the same hobby - so I'll likely end up re-rolling for one of them!
Townies
For townies, I generated a few in the same way I did the playables, and then used custom townie pools for the rest. I really love custom townie pools, as you get more unique sims than just generating them in-game - it adds a lot of genetic variety! Sims will be picking their romantic partners from these pools, and the townies may become important characters in their own right as the series progresses.
Aging
I do use a custom lifespan, as I find the default settings a little strange. Adults don't really have enough time to have kids - unless they get pregnant within the first few days they're likely to become elders while their children are still teenagers! I want them to have more time to get settled into careers and find a spouce, so I give them 35 days.
I also think teenagers get too long by default - 15 days feels like forever in sims time! And in real life, it's only like 7 years? So in my game, teens get 8 days (same as children!)
Baby, toddler and elder lifespans are set to the default Maxis lenghs, for now.
Rotations
To keep aging synced up, I play each household for the same lengh of time. This is usually 1-3 days. It varies at the moment, although I'm considering strict 1 day rotations in the future! Each family must start a new season at the same time, so when the seasons change that signals the end of the round for that family.
If sims wish to move out of their current home, they must do so on the first or last day of the season, to keep ages in sync. If a sim is moving out to form a new household, they can keep the "20k handout" bonus! I don't care if this isn't realistic, I just like my sims being able to afford decent starting homes.
According to the original prosperity challenge rules, you cannot create new families or sims in create-a-sim, and can only make townies and NPCs playable by moving them into an existing family. However, I might ignore this rule if there is a townie character who has particular story significance. (For example, if a sim has a kid out of wedlock I might want to make the babydaddy playable so he can be fleshed out more and the kid can visit his house!)
As the neighbourhood expands (if I end up with maybe 10+ households?), I may add a mod like "Story Progression" to the neighbourhood so that I can play the most interesting families while the others get up to their own stuff in the background.
ACR, Relationships & Fertility
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with ACR and don't use it in every neighbourhood. However, I think the occasional chaos and the extra autonomy it gives sims suits this playthough! It's fun being able to react when sims unexpectedly hook up all on their own. Currently I am just using the default settings, but I may tweak it in the future.
I try to leave romantic matchups up to my sims. If they roll a generic "go on a date" want and don't have a love interest, I'll see who they know/have chemistry with to decide who they ask out. Whether it gets more serious depends whether the sims fall in love, or roll wants about each other! Typically, they'll only get engaged/married if one of them rolls a want for it. I have a mod that makes sims more likely to decline proposals, which should add a little more excitement and drama!
Sims will only "try for baby" if they roll a want to have a baby. However, due to ACR they can fall pregnant from "risky" woohoo! They will usually keep the baby, which isn't realistic but creates more storytelling oppotunities and drama! If they don't seem to want kids (having a fear of having a baby, "dislikes children" trait, etc.) they may decide to put the baby up for adoption.
Death & Resurrection
I have several mods in my game that make death more likely - death by childbirth, more dangerous fires, and "realistic sickness". This is because deaths are so rare in normal gameplay, and I think they add a lot of storytelling potential!
If a sim dies in the course of normal gameplay, their loved ones are allowed to plead with the Grim Reaper for them. However, if they fail then the death has to stand - I am not allowed to quit without saving even if I love the sim!
I am not allowed to bring sims back from the dead using the genie wish or resurrect-o-nomitron, as I don't like death feeling too cheap and easily reversed. (We'll see if I stick to this one, hahaha...)
Lifetime Wants, Careers, and University
College is one of my favourite parts of the game, but I am not playing Spruceburg with a university as the pace of it slows things down a lot and I'd like to keep the focus on a single location. I am using a mod that makes the "University" careers availible to everyone.
I am also using Lamare's new LTWs, and custom careers that add the "Life Stories" and Sims 1 careers to the game, along with their corresponding LTWs. This adds a lot of variety to sims careers and LTWs!
I treat Lifetime Wants as "suggestions" that tell me about a sim's dreams and values, but do not always have my sims actively working towards those goals. After all, lots of people dream of being a rockstar, artist, astronaut or super-spy! But most of us end up doing the "boring" jobs, haha. If a sim has the "ambitious" trait, though, I'll usually have them try much harder to achieve their LTW. (In Spruceburg, both Natasha Ruskin and Lynn MacAngus are working in their dream career! Lucky them - their ideal job just happened to show up in the paper.)
Sims will usually only work on gaining skills for promotions if they roll the wants to do so. If sims roll wants to stay home from work or quit their job, I typically honor these too. Many of them are happy as under-achievers or job-hoppers! Spruceburg sims must take chance cards, and pick the option that best fits their personality. If they are fired, that's it! They have to find something else to do with their life.