Running away

A Teen can run away from the household when the particular teen has negative relationships with the other members of the household, and has few or no other friends. When a teen is preparing to leave a message will pop up in the upper-right hand corner letting the player know. Then, the teen either walks or runs off of the lot. The memory associated with a teen running away is usually red but may also be green depending on the Sim and their relationship with the teen. While running away, a runaway icon will appear on their picture. Being gone does not affect things like school grades.

If a player wants the teen to return as soon as possible, the parents of the teen must report the runaway via telephone to the police. Doing this will increase chances of the runaway being returned by the police. If the teen is reported after twenty-four hours, the chances of being returned by the police decrease to about fifty-percent. If the teen is returned by the police, he/she will not runaway again for more than twenty-four hours. If nothing is done about the run away, the teen will return home one day before they Grow up, and will not runaway again.

With The Sims 2 Pets installed, pets can also run away. They may run away due to a number of circumstances, including:


 * Having a low relationship with all other Sims/Pets on the lot


 * Witnessing a fire


 * Losing a fight with another pet


 * Their motives are too low


 * A Sim who they see as their Master dies


 * Etc

Getting a runaway pet back follows the same steps as with teens. A unique memory will be added to the memories of other Sims upon running away, and another when the pet returns.