How do you guys plan out your spreadsheets? I recently grew my hood to the point where I absolutely need one in order to keep track of everything. Are your's insanely complicated or simple? How much information do you guys have on yours?

Here's what I'm currently working with (I would like to have those dang drop down menus if I could remember how to do them ):

you mean the spoiler tag? you type [SPOILER ] [/SPOILER ] without the spaces.

I'm almost to the point with my 'hoods that I need something to track the family trees...

I meant like this oops


When I need to make a family tree, I use this website. You can little notes and things, but not pictures of them if that's what you're looking for

By not having any! I jot a few things down in a sims bio and that's it.

Here's a link to an older version of my spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...pub?hl=en&gid=7

I make tidy hand drawn (pen or pencil and ruler) spreadsheets using a spiral notebook for my neighborhood. For my Sims I register the adults one by one Last and First name, Marital status, children's names, Job or Business, Physicals, Address and Community Involvement ( PTA, Clubs, Volunteer work etc,). Because I like pretty records I do a bit of decorating or color coding with colored pencils :-)

I hear you! I like to keep it simple enough to keep track of whatever needs keeping track of without too much fuss and bother. I have a folder on my 'desktop' where I file notes and do a bit of neighborhood journaling just because it is fun to be doing. Oh, and I do take screen shot pictures of Sims and Families and add those in to their family file folders.

Okay Apple Valley is like the End-All-Be-All of Integrated Hoods and you showed me your sheet on my humble post, I am honored. Also I looooove your sheet and you even included laws on it. It's beautiful.

For my spreadsheets I only keep track of my sims for genetic reasons. So I have their Name, if they're a multiple or not, their parents, their spouse, hair color, eye color, and skin color. And for those who are adopted their biological parents if known.

I found this on the drop down menus in Excel: http://excel-example.com/other-tuto...excel-worksheet

I don't use spreadsheets. I only made a Word document with the names and faces of my Sims, and the yeardays on which they are born, married and have died, and the cause of death. Their lives I keep in my head.

TY!! I like that you included cause of death too. Do you have a variety of them in your game for that?

Spreadsheets are, imo, for work, Sims is for fun
I like taking pics, though, of what I regard as important events.

SimPE can help you generate your spreadsheet: Select Tools/Neighborhood/Export Neighborhoods. SimPE generates 2 text-files (Exported Sims.txt and ExportedLots.txt) and 2 folders (SimImage and LotImage): If you open ExportedSims.txt with your Spreadsheet-programme (Excel, OpenOffice Calc etc) you have made a first version of your spreadsheet. In SimImage you get portraits of your Sims (Playables, NPC:s, Townies and pets).

I don't really spreadsheet things, but I dot certain things down on notepad and occasionally use sim tracker to count up stuff.

I don't use a spreadsheet but do jot down notes of where I'm up to or what needs to happen. I note births, deaths, and marriages to add to an online family tree and write up blog posts about some families (mostly to remind me of what's been happening especially if I haven't played for a few months).

I rely heavily on my spreadsheets as my memory is poor. I use lots of pivot tables, to quickly allow me to sort and filter entries.

Households:


Playable Sims (note that the text usually isn't that small; I had to zoom out in order to fit it all)


Playable pets


Defunct households


Deceased Sims


I also do have a sheet for Deceased Pets, but fortunately I haven't had to put anything in there yet.

I'm in awe of people who go all out on this stuff. I'm too afraid of losing my hoods/sims to corruption to put in the effort.

Making the spreadsheets actually encourages me to take better care of my hoods (which mostly amounts to backing up every second minute).

I admire anybody who has the patience to keep a spreadsheet. I just keep a notepad file with the general story in it and leave notes to myself all over the game (sim biographies, neighborhood and family stories, the lot description that pops up on the neighborhood screen, etc.)

As for dropdown menus, I can give instructions for Excel 2010.

Make a new sheet in the workbook. (You can hide it, so don't worry.) Put the list of things you want in one column. Select the cells. Go to the Formulas tab and click Define Names > New Name. Give it a name you can remember (e.g. SchoolSubjects - IIRC, it can't have spaces).

Go back to where you want the dropdown menu. Select the cells (or entire column). Go to the Data tab and click Data Validation (if it asks about extending, choose yes). Pick "List," click in-cell dropdown, and then put =SchoolSubjects (or whatever you chose as your list name). Should work.

I just use Sim Tracker for everything lol.

I LOVE YOUR SPREADSHEETS!!!!

As an accounts assistant I work with spreadsheets ALL DAY! I keep it simple when it comes to my Sims so that I don't go excel crazy.

Ack! You're embarrassing me!

I may use a spreadsheet if only to do a Census of the current state of my Sims neighborhood!

Okay I applaud your effort because that's amazing