Need a little help getting back into The Sims 2? It’s been a while, so here’s a guide to PC controls to help you get going.
Alt + Enter | Cycle Screen Resolution Scaling |
Ctrl + Z | Undo |
Ctrl + Y | Redo |
Esc | Cancel |
Ctrl + Shift + C | Toggle cheat window on/off |
F10 | Hide/Show UI (User Interface) |
F1 | Live Mode |
F2 | Buy Mode |
F3 | Build Mode |
F4 | Story Mode |
F5 | Options panel |
Q | Quit |
Alt + F4 | Save quit |
Ctrl + C | Copy text fields |
Ctrl + X | Cut text fields |
Ctrl + V | Paste text fields |
Ctrl + Z | Undo text fields |
Ctrl + Y | Redo text fields |
Rotate Sim | |
Z / X or + / - or scroll-mouse-wheel | Zoom in/out |
Rotate object | |
Delete | Delete object |
Continue placing object | |
[ / ] | Move object up or down wall |
M | Move/shuffle object on shelves |
Rotate object | |
Delete | Delete object |
Use tools, drag to affect area | |
Remove walls etc, drag to remove area | |
H | Hand |
E | Eyedropper |
J | Sledgehammer |
R | Design tools |
Wall tool: Shift + drag mouse | Create room |
Wallpaper/flooring tool: Shift + drag mouse | Fill room with wallpaper/flooring |
Floor tool: < / > | Rotate floor tile |
Ctrl + F | Toggle full/quarter tile mode |
Wall tool: Shift + drag mouse | Create room |
L | Toggle Day/Night |
G | 45-degree view |
T | Top-down View |
Terrain tool: Shift | Invert tool |
Grass tool: Ctrl + left-click mouse | Remove grass |
Tab | Enable movie making mode |
V | Start/end video capture |
B | Pause/resume video capture |
Q | Lower camera height |
E | Raise camera height |
Z / X or + / - | Adjust focal length |
C | Take a snapshot |
Hide/show main panels | |
Cancel interaction | |
Click and or drag to select interaction, then release | |
Select interactions to perform to active Sim | |
Select interactions done by active Sim to other Sims | |
Select interaction menu: Tab | Navigate between dialog pages (pie menu pages) |
Space or N | Switch to next Sim in Household |
Switch to (specific) Sim | |
Lock camera to Sim | |
Enter | Center camera on active Sim |
P or ~ or Pause Break | Pause game |
1 /2/3 | Regular/fast/ultra speed |
Page Up/Page Down | Next/previous floor |
Home/End | Next/previous wall mode |
Move | |
↑ / ← / ↓ / → W / A / S / D | Move left/right/forward/back |
Shift + ↑ / ← / ↓ / → | Move faster |
Z/X or + / - or scroll mouse wheel | Zoom in/out |
Tilt (rotate) | |
< / > | Rotate left/right |
Ctrl + 4 through 9 | Save camera position 0 - 5 |
4 through 9 | Restore camera position 0 - 5 |
Shift + 4 through 9 | Snap to camera position 0 - 5 |
Tab | Toggle movie making mode/camera |
To open the cheat bar in The Sims 2:
Here are some of the most common cheats for The Sims 2.
addNeighborToFamilyCheat on|off | Enables adding neighbors to families |
ageSimsCheat on/off | Enables/disables Sim aging cheat |
aging on/off | Turns on/off the aging of selected Sim |
aspiration level (0–5) | Sets the Aspiration level of Sim from 0–5 |
aspirationPoints | Gives the selected Sim extra Aspiration reward points |
autoPatch on/off | Enable/disable checking for available patches through content browser |
boolprop testingcheatsenabled true | Enables testing cheats |
boolprop lotTerrainLighting on/off | Set to off means Lots won’t light up when highlighted in neighborhood |
boolprop locktiles on/off | Set to off to place floor tiles outside Lot |
boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoadsWithModel on/off | Set to off to remove bridges from neighborhood |
boolprop lotTerrainPaints on/off | Set to off to remove floor painting on Lot |
boolprop displayNeighborhoodProps on/off | Set to off to remove props like rocks and towers from neighborhood |
boolprop objectShadows on/off | Set to off to remove shadows on objects outside house |
boolprop lotWater on/off | Set to off to remove water (ponds) from Lots |
boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoads on/off | Set to off to remove roads from neighborhood |
boolprop guob on/off | Set to off to remove shadows on objects inside house |
boolprop displayNeighborhoodWater on/off | Set to off to remove water from neighborhood |
boolprop displayLotImposters on/off | Set to off to remove house graphics from neighborhood |
boolprop displayNeighborhoodFlora on/off | Set to off to remove trees/plants from neighborhood |
boolprop displayLookAtBoxes on/off | Set to on and blocks appear on Sim's faces and on parts where Sims look |
boolprop carsCompact on/off | Set to on and cars will have more detail in neighborhood |
boolprop renderSelectedSimLevel on/off | Set to on and walls will no longer cut away from selected Sim |
boolprop allObjectLightsOn on/off | Set to on to light up objects continuously instead of only when used |
boolProp displayPaths on/off | Set to on to see the path where the selected Sim walks to |
boolprop lotInfoAdvancedMode on/off | Set to on to show Lot information |
bloom [R G B X] | Changes color of screen visual. RGB is color [0,1], and X is the bloom amount [0,1] |
bugJarTimeDecay on/off | Toggle if bugs in a jar can live forever or not |
changeLotClassification low | middle | high | Changes the Lot classification |
changeLotZoning | Changes the zoning type of the Lot. Type in cheat code followed by the new Lot type with no spaces, for example: changeLotZoning secretvacationlot will change the Lot type to a secret vacation Lot.
Available Lot types: residential, community, greek, dorm, secretsociety, secretvacationlot, hotel, secrethobbylot, apartmentbase, apartmentsublot, secretwitchlot |
clearLotClassValue | Clears Lot class value and override flag |
deleteAllAwnings | Removes awnings |
deleteAllCharacters | Deletes all characters in the current neighborhood—this also only works when in the neighborhood |
deleteAllFences | Removes all fences |
deleteAllHalfwalls | Removes all half-walls |
deleteAllObjects | Removes all objects |
deleteAllDoors | Removes all doors that can be deleted when in Build Mode |
deleteAllWalls | Removes all walls that can be deleted when in Build Mode |
disablePuppyKittenAging on/off | Enables/disables kitten/puppy aging |
dumpNPCCount | This shows the NPC type in the neighborhood, by type, in the cheat console |
exit | Hide the cheat console window |
expand | Expands or contracts the output portion of the cheat console |
faceBlendLimits on/off | Turns on/off blending limits |
familyFunds | Use familyFunds [familyName] [value] to set the amount of funds. Use familyFunds [familyName] [+/-][value] to add/subtract from current funds. |
filmGrain [X] | X is the film grain value [0,1]. Must use 'boolProp enablePostProcessing true' first. |
forcetwins | Sets pregnant Sim to have a twin pregnancy |
help | This displays help for cheats. Type help -all into the cheat bar and hit Enter. This will bring up all known cheats and describe what they do.
This also works for individual cheats, for example, type in help motherlode and it will describe what this cheat does. |
individualRoofSlopeAngle | Slope Angle in Degrees [15–75] (45 is default) |
kaching | Increases Household funds by 1,000 Simoleans |
letterBox [X] | Letterbox the screen (add black borders on top and bottom). X is the letterbox value [0,0.4]. Must use 'boolProp enablePostProcessing true' first. |
lockAspiration on/off | Locks/unlocks the Aspiration score of Sims on the Lot |
motherlode | Increases Household funds by 50,000 Simoleans |
modifyNeighborhoodTerrain on/off | Toggle neighborhood terrain modification. Use the cursor to select terrain and then press:
|
motiveDecay on/off | Turns motive decay on/off for all Sims on the Lot |
PlumbBobToggle | Toggle the showing of PlumbBob |
roofSlopeAngle | Slope Angle in Degrees [15–75] (45 is default) |
setHighestAllowedLevel [level] | Sets the highest number of floors that can be built |
setHour (0–23) | Sets the hour of the day |
setLotLightingFile [filename.txt] or [clear] | Override some of the parameters in the lighting.txt file with filename.txt file present in lights folder, clears if any file is present |
setQuarterTilePlacement on/off | Turns quarter tile placement on/off |
showHeadlines on/off | Shows/hides all thought bubbles and speech balloons |
slowMotion (0–8) | Slows the animation timer (0=normal speed) |
stretchSkeleton [Factor] | Stretches skeleton of the selected Sim - factor=1.0 indicates no stretch (factor<1.0 makes shorter, factor>1.0 makes taller |
textDebugging [True|False] | Turns text debugging on/off |
unlockCareerRewards | Unlocks all career reward objects for the selected Sim |
vignette [centerX centerY X] | Blur rendering from specified center (upper left is 0,0, lower right is 1,1). X is the amount of blurring [0,1]. Must use “boolProp enablePostProcessing true” first. |
vsync on/off | Enables/disables vertical sync —can improve performance, but will sometimes cause visual artifacts if off |
All boolprop cheats that use on/off can also be used with true/false.
