After seeing cespencer7's post about incorporating religion into sims games I had a look for threads about, you guessed it, religion in sims games :-D I found a few threads that discussed one or two specific ideas for a religion, and a few where religion was touched upon, but I couldn't find one that allowed everyone and anyone to share their ideas about how they portray religion in their game - or how they would like to do so, or any ideas they may have about different ways of doing so. So I decided to start one, as I am wont to do....

So, do share your ideas! :-) Do you have religion in your 'hood(s)? Is your religious system in The Sims 2 based on a real-life religion, a combination of real-life religions or completely made up? Or do you perhaps use Chris Hatch's religion "stuff pack"? I'd love to hear about your take on religion in The Sims 2, and shall share my own ideas later when it isn't 4:30am......! :-D

This thread is meant purely for discussion on your interpretation of religion in The Sims 2. It's not about real-life religion (though real-life religions may be mentioned if your sim religion(s) are based on them) and there is no right, no wrong and (hopefully!) no judgemental arguing! I sincerely hope that this thread will be interesting and informative, not a debate or discussion of religion. Save that for the Debate forum! :-)

Two words: Simism.

Isn't that one word?

Joking, laura, joking.

Just thought I'd check! I've been awake for rather a long time, I though I might've miscounted :-D

Trust me, you're not the only one, yesterday, I slept at 12:30 in the afternoon till 8:30 pm!

As for the topic on religion. If you wanna name it: Simism.

As for (deeper) explanation:
Well, they do believe in wishes coming true by tossing coins, wishing wells. Sorta like praying, but more of wishing, if that's how you want to put. Although, I believe that it seems to be more of a very old religion, nt some religion that just appeared between our sims. I mean, there are native sims, and we've seen them through out the series (talkin' 'bout Jumbok's).

As for praying, they may pray while we're not aware of it, when they suddenly look at us, its like they're hoping for something good to come.

A Family sim looks at us hoping that they'll a big perfect family, feeling safe and sound.

A knowledge sim wants to seek all the knowledge that is available, but fears loosing it.

A Fortune sim hopes to be rich, but for some sims, they try not to be selfish, greedy or spendthrifts, even if they are. Because they know, that someday, they might loose everything in a blink of an eye.

Pleasure sims want to have fun, but are still afraid that they might not be catching up.

Romance sims want to get the love from everyone around them, but fear that what they are doing will cost them. They sometimes know that what they are doing is wrong, but can't help it.

Grilled cheese sims are just poor sims who seek pleasure in food. Well, not if you intentionally give it to them as a primary aspiration. But still, they fear dying at an early age, due to high blood cholesterol.

For all these types of sims, they fear loosing a those around them.

So, yes, I believe, in an imaginative way, that sims do feel that they need to pray, that they have a religion of their own.
Us players are not their God, because they seem to have one of their own (again, referring to Jumbok), just... Fate.

(Wow, that was... deep. )

Do you have religion in your 'hood(s)?

There was one time I figured I could create a make-believe religion called "Tekiism". Basically, there would be the Teki Temple. The Tekis derive their name from "Technology" and are quite technologically savvy. Followers would wear gray/blue/red uniform. Females would wear the red uniform; males would wear the blue uniform; and clergy would wear the gray uniforms. They would also wear one of the funky hats in the base game. Their temple looks very classical and Hellenistic. I figured I would start with one clergyman and help him make friends in the community. Then, I would roll a six-sided die, and if the die falls on the number 5 or 6, then the friend would convert to Tekiism. All Sims in the neighborhood would basically start out as Agnostic. The Tekis look like something that comes out of a sci-fi movie.

Is your religious system in The Sims 2 based on a real-life religion, a combination of real-life religions or completely made up?

Fictional.

My sims don't really have a religion. They're not atheists though. They just don't go to church, because I never built one for them and I wouldn't make them go to it even if I did. They don't pray, but they look to me for guidance and help in their lives. And in my friend's words, "[my] sims' only sin is being boring. Otherwise they may live a fantastic, god-approved life." So I'm their god. And they don't have to worship or pray to me; they just need to not bore me.

Thanks for the concept! I would definitely add that into my game!

I have a church which sells books, flowers and pictures. Any sim who buys a Bible from there I consider to be a Christian and a member of that church. The church also has a wedding chapel but half the time I can't be bothered. The minister is in a custom minister career and he had to study lifelong happiness and couples counselling. As to a name for the denomination, none.

Otherwise I can't get the old funny ones out of my head. You know back in 2007 in the days of Candi's and Toasts stories with the grilled cheese goddess, the one true social bunny and the Potty god. The way grill cheese sims have one track minds I certainly see that as being a sim religion.

But as for affecting my play or anything serious, nope. I am a religious person but I don't see sims like I do real life. I'm more interested in having a town run itself, and keeping up with a religion as well sounds too hard. If Chris Hatche’s mod wasn't so big and confusing, as I first looked at the wrong one, I might consider getting something that runs itself as it were.

Chris Hatch over at BAS has made a EP for Sims 2 called "The Sims 2 Angel and Nurses Stuff" which has Religion and Hospitals if any want to know.

http://www.backalleysims.com/familysite/index.php

My Sims don't have religion, and I'd rather keep it that - I've got no need for it in the style I currently play.. With that said, though, I've been considering building an Elder Scrolls inspired hood, and I'd probably have to add in Daedra/Aedra worship...which could be interesting.

My knowledge sims go fairly regularly to church, because so many gravestones have been put in the churchyard. So long as sims turn up before seven in the evening they can be pretty sure to see wandering ghosts.

I enjoyed fitting out the church. It has a clock tower, double height windows, chandeliers and tapestries. The organ is used enthusiastically by townies. There is a bible on the altar - I can't remember where I downloaded that, but it gives out bible texts. Hunting through the maxis pictures I found six or seven vaguely religious topics for the walls. Against the walls there are four altars, dedicated to Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and a sim can pray at one of those, though the outcome is usually unfortunate. There are pews and a bookcase, so sims can sit and read. There is a copy of the CharmedBOSLarge, a self-improvement book for sims who repent of their evil ways. In the churchyard there is a shrine where sims can make an offering. I have not yet included a wishing well.

As for spirituality, I agree with Aaries16: I am their god, and in extremity they appeal to me. I always answer their prayers.

It's weird. I play with my Sims, give them what they seem to want or need, or deny it if it fits my purposes; I control them and enjoy when they look up at the screen and give me that look that says, "What are you doing????", but I've never questioned their inner lives. I've never given any thought to whether they had a religion, whether they believed in me or not, or what they thought there was any meaning to their lives. I never credited my little dolls with any of these thoughts, until now when you brought this up. I'm not sure that I can see them in those terms or that I would even want to.

I have not put it into my stories but I think I agree with M.M.A.A about the different aspirations having beliefs lets say. For my sims game, each family is different in what they may believe in. For me I may not believe in a god but I do believe in some higher power that watches us, for my sims I'm that higher power. I don't truly control them, I may just push them ever so slightly in one direction more than the other but really the sims write their own stories in my eyes.

Religion also differs from sim to sim, for example I think Herb, Carol and Mary-Sue did in fact go to church when Mary was a child because times were different in Herb and Carol's age. Where it was expected for a small family like theirs to go to church every sunday and pray for themselves and others and help out with church outings and things like that; I mean can no one picture Mary-Sue as a child whose family was seen as different because Mary-Sue wasn't Herb and Carol's biological child (not that Herb or Carol ever tried to hide it from the church or their neighbours, they weren't those sort of people), working hard to help out at church outings and because of Mary-Sue's character and personality she worked extra hard because she felt that she needed to be accepted for the church community even though they did.

That sort of religion I can picture for the Goth and Brub families, because they just seem to be those kind of families. For the Dreamer family, I think when Darren was younger he probably went to sunday school as he was the only child and therefore his parents thought that by helping the church out it would stop Darren from day dreaming about Art and other stuff that wasn't important...according to his parents anyways. As Darren grew up and had his own son, I don't think Darren seems like the dad that would have subjected Dirk to go to church like his dad before him...he didn't want to be like his dad. Therefore, Dirk nor Darren go to church anymore but maybe Darren's new fiance may be bringing back that tradation because of who she is.

As for the Lothario and Caliente families, again yes they probably went to sunday school but I don't think any of them took it seriously and therefore I doubt they will be passing on that tradation onto their families.

(Sorry for such long posts, I've been so busy with 3rd year university and working on my dissertation that I haven't had time to play my sims or even post out into the community. Glad to be back even if its just for the day. I've miss it )

Two things I make a point of steering clear of in my game, religion and anything having to do with politics. I get enough of that kind of reality, in real life. Don't need it to invade my virtual world.

The only thing resembling a church in my game, is a wedding chapel.

I do not have a religious system in Little Carping. However, I do have several vicars, a nunnery/monastery and a coven.

Well, The Sims is a "god game" so I, the player, am the god. It's a godly feeling.

But that is as far as my religion goes. I put a christian (more specifically, a roman catholic) church in every hood, however; some are small and simple and others big and elaborate. It's a cultural thing: I've been looking at such churches all my life and therefore, a town without one seems incomplete to me. Many (but not all) of them are placed in cemeteries but otherwise they are not functional at all (for marriages I use a marriage chapel prototype, more or less inspired by Las Vegas). Some Sims do visit them, to look at the paintings or to sit in the pews, supposedly meditating - but then they do the same thing in museums I built.

My megahood has no organized religion. If I were going to impose one, it would be either player-as-god or some kind of cult of self-actualization, where the LTW represented a spiritual goal.

Prosperity has 8 residential neighborhoods, and 4 of them have churches, but no actual worship goes on there. In fact, the church in Tinker by the Sea is more of an historical landmark. The other three churches are equipped with wedding arches; however, more than marriages, what I enjoy about the churches in my 'hood is recreating the chaos of Sunday mornings where everyone had to get out of bed, wash up, get breakfast, get into formal wear and get to church by 9am so the adults can socialize and the kids can run around with their friends outside.

Erewhon, Prosperity's elven subhood, has a witchcraft-based spirituality. Not wicca per say, but they understand that the power they pass down from generation to generation comes from the elements and they use the elemental altars from Parsimonious as part of their rites of passage (age transitions, "full blood" elf marriages, ventings). For rituals, Erewhon has an open-air temple with the various altars. (I'm sad the page at Parsimonious doesn't describe the effect each of the altars can have on the Sims. A mere decorative object -- even one that calls a Sim animation -- is nowhere near as fun to me as an object that can have a "random" effect on the Sim interacting with it.) Erewhon also houses the ruins of a church -- think Tintern Abbey -- where the townie dead who are killed by evil witches' cow plants are buried.

I never considered this before.. I guess that answers the question.. No, there's no religion in my Sims games

I've downloaded an autonomous podium so that my sims could hold community meetings. They could claim their speeches were any religion, not that I would care. I don't make my sims worship anything, not even me the "god-player" as we call it. I use the podium and decorations to create a sense of something that does not exist in the program. Otherwise my sims do not rebell, because there's nothing for them to rebel against. So the idea of atheism is missing just the same as religion is missing.

I never really thought of religion in The Sims. Granted, we have The Sims Medieval (Jacobean and something else), but I never took the time to think about it. It is a god game, so naturally..
I consider myself the Sims' god. I do like to set up tiny churches from time to time for my Sims to explore, however. I don't force them to worship me, and I don't try to make them believe in me, too.

(I need to find a new hobby. :P)

I have a small chapel in each neighborhood I play, and I suppose it's of Christian derivation. They can go there if they choose to worship. It also serves as a community center..

While I suppose I'm technically a goddess in the game, I think of myself more of a .... facilitator.

At the moment, in TS2...no. I'm still getting used to not just having the basegame, which always seemed too confining for religion-type things. However, back in TS1, I used to download the most outrageous churches I could find (most of them looked like Gothic cathedrals) and send my Sims there to watch their completely oblivious attitude. I fondly remember trying to get a family of four to stay put so I could take their picture as they sat nicely in the pews...first the father wandered off to play the piano (badly), then the kids decided to play tag up and down the aisle, then the mother went off to argue with the Goths outside the church... I never really thought of what religion it was, it was just something that involved going to fancy churches and paying lip-service, while actually paying as much attention as -- well, as Sims in church. (I did eventually get programmable pews to make them sit still for a while, at least, but even those caused amusement when some Sims, ordered to sit down, defiantly refused to sit with their own families...and when the organ grinder insisted on walking up and down the aisle as if he was an usher!)

Thinking about this makes me sure I'll set up something like that before long in TS2 -- I'd like to see how the more advanced AI deals with a social construct it wasn't exactly made to deal with. I'll certainly do it when I play anything involving Veronaville, as well as politics/bureaucracy of some kind, if only because I think Veronaville is sadly lacking three characters: Paris, the Prince, and Frair Lorenzo/Laurence/Lawrence. As for the last of those three, I'd probably make him an overworked young circuit priest running churches in all the hoods attached to Veronaville (yes, with money cheats to buy them), so I have to get the hang of OFB businesses before I try that. Of course, Veronaville should have disrespectful craziness, shouldn't it?

Of course, if I do that, I'm going to probably set up some non-church religions for some of the Sims whose names suggest they'd be interested in other things...anyone seen a good modern-looking mosque? Or a small synagogue that would fit in Downtown? Or an an accurate Hindu temple (I'm thinking of the Ramaswamies, who would probably be just as disrespectful there as any other Sims would be in church)?

There are a few religions/gods in-game as Jacobeans and Peterans (The Sims Medieval), Prime Heifer (http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Prime_Heifer), Jumbok IV (The Sims 2 Bon Voyage), Llama God (The Sims 2 Castaway) and the Kine Society (The Sims 2 PSP)

Myself I don't have any religions in my neighborhoods.