The Sims 2: In MY Classroom?

I teach high school students with a wide-range of special needs from learning disabilities to autism. I've used RollerCoaster Tycoon in all its variations (we're using Gold/Platinum editions of version 3 right now) for several years in many ways. I make my own materials for the RCT units, including tutorials that the students have to go through before they can actually start the project. The students also get rubrics and have checkpoints where they have to show progress; at the end they fill out a reflection paper and do a presentation. My students have enjoyed it, and started campaigning to get me to use the Sims for the next project. I was hesitant---we have 3 laptops, so the students have to work in groups of 2 or 3, and the laptops can't connect to the school network for Internet access. Price is always a factor, so we definitely won't be using Sims 3. I've purchased Sims 2 to try out.
If I do wind up creating a unit based around the software, I will be shuffling groups (I do each quarter anyway), and I will be making each student responsible for a specific section of the tutorials. All students will fill in all questions, but each packet will have a letter or number that codes to questions they are required to do. I think this might prevent some of the "lazy man" I see, and the lack of actual team work in some groups. I know there are some this won't help, but we'll see if this is a step in the right direction.
Now to see if the download code has shown up and to begin the search for materials...

Reading for Information: Amusement Parks & Board Games

The 2nd quarter project for Basic Skills involves a reincarnation of my amusement park unit. Instead of a PowerPoint project, the students have to create a game board based on the amusement park they've chosen and researched. You can find the worksheets here, and some of them are fillable and savable in Adobe Reader.

The groups also have to create an amusement park in Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. We have several licenses of the software installed on laptops we received 2 years ago from Best Buy's Te@ch grant program. A note: If you own the original copy of RCT 3, you cannot purchase the expansion packs for the water parks or zoo. The expansion packs do not install properly. We had to purchase RCT 3: Gold, and RCT 3: Platinum. The Gold & Platinum versions install and run well.

At the wiki link above, you can find tutorial worksheets for RCT 3. I did not make the worksheets fillable, because it would be too hard to fill them out on the laptop while engaging in the software. The tutorials for RCT 3 require significant reading ability, which is something that most of my students have this year, but if your students do not have a 4-6th grade reading ability, you would be better off doing the tutorials as a group. You can do this by hooking a laptop to a TV with an S-Video output, an interactive whiteboard (if you're lucky enough to have one!), or an LCD Projector to a screen. I plan to give the game a shot on our interactive whiteboard, just because it seems like a really cool way to play.

The worksheets also include a rubric for the amusement parks, and the game boards. I allowed the students to choose the kind of game; many chose a Monopoly-style game, although 2 groups chose PowerPoint games: Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The last thing that is now available is a PowerPoint webquest for students to complete. The new version has added questions, and a box at the bottom of the page to put the link where they find the picture or text. It also has a project reflection sheet included. My students will likely be using this for their mid-term exams if I can get laptops.