Roaches in The Sims: Livin' Large
Cockroaches are pests that appear in The Sims: Livin' Large and The Sims 2. They are spawned if a lot is dirty, and they will randomly move about the lot, further decreasing Room[TS:LL] or Environment[TS2] score.
The Sims: Livin' Large
In Livin' Large, having roaches on a lot can cause considerable distraction, as Sims and visitors may autonomously "Freak Out", neglecting their motives in order to go stomp on roaches on the other side of the lot. However, roaches can easily be killed by instructing a Sim to spray them. If the Sim instructed to spray them is in a good mood, they will automatically spray every group of roaches on the lot, until there are no more roaches left or their mood goes too low. The maid will also spray them, as will Servo and Bonehilda. If Unleashed is installed, cats may hunt them, but will only do so autonomously. However, they will still gain hunting skill. Once killed, roaches disappear and leave no trace. Roaches in The Sims can pass through walls, and so may be able to get to places that Sims can't.
There is an unfixed bug that causes the roaches to increase in value from nothing to §460 the midnight after they spawn. The same bug occurs with flies. While roaches cannot be picked up or sold in buy mode without using the "move_objects on" cheat, they will still add to the household's net worth. When picked up with the "move_objects on" cheat, they have the name "SSRI Virtual Reality Set".
The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, roaches will spawn around a pile of garbage that has been left sitting too long, even if the lot is generally clean. A common source of roaches is a residential lot's garbage can being kicked or knocked over while the resident Sims are asleep or away.
Roaches in The Sims 2 are more difficult to get rid of than they were in The Sims. Sims can spray them, but the maid will not, and spraying by Sims is not as effective as calling an exterminator. Upon seeing live roaches, Sims will get a bad memory and will frequently cancel actions in order to cry or think about the infestation over the next few hours. (Annoyingly, they get the memory every time they interact with the roaches.) In addition, going near roaches carries the risk of flu, so hiring an exterminator is overall the safest and most effective option. However, killed roaches will remain in a pile that decreases Environment score until it is cleaned up, This can be done by either a Sim or the maid, but the exterminator will not do it. If The Sims 2: Apartment Life is installed, the spell Corruptus Locus, which the evil High Witch casts automatically upon entering a lot, will summon swarms of roaches. This can be extremely annoying when she appears on an owned community lot, as there is no option to call exterminators over the phone when on a community lot.
The Sims 3
Roaches appear as an insect which can be collected and donated to the science facility and are no longer considered pests.