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The Sims 2

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2004 video game
The Sims 2
North American cover
Developer(s)Maxis
Publisher(s)EA Games
Designer(s)Will Wright
EngineCustom
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Mac OS X, Mobile phones, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Windows, Xbox
ReleaseWindows
United States September 14, 2004
Europe September 16, 2004
Mac OS X
United States June 13, 2005
Europe June 13, 2005
Genre(s)Life simulation game
God game
Mode(s)Single player

The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game in history, The Sims. It was released on September 17, 2004 and sold a record one million copies in its first ten days. The Sims 2 has been released for Windows, Mac OS X, and several game consoles. Four expansion packs and three stuff packs have been released to date.

In The Sims 2, players control computer characters known as Sims as they interact with their virtual environment, engaging in activities and forming relationships in a manner similar to real life. It builds on its predecessor by allowing Sims to age through six stages of life and incorporating an all-new 3D game engine. A sequel titled The Sims 3 has been announced by EA.

Gameplay

The Sims 2 does not have a defined end objective. Gameplay is open-ended, allowing the player the freedom to engage the virtual characters called Sims in whatever way suits the player's purpose. The general cycle of gameplay reflects that of real life: birth, grow up, marry, have children, grow old and watch the next generation take over before death. This cycle is not absolute, as there is no requirement to marry (Sims may adopt), nor is there even a requirement to bring about a "next generation."

Neighborhoods and lots

A neighborhood in The Sims 2 is roughly equivalent to a save slot in other games. Players can save a theoretically unlimited number of neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are self-contained; Sims from one neighborhood cannot interact with Sims from another. The neighborhood shown in the neighborhood chooser is sometimes referred to as a "base neighborhood" to distinguish it from expansion neighborhoods made available in expansion packs. The Sims 2 shipped with three pre-made neighborhoods by Maxis, these are: Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville.

Each neighborhood contains lots. There are two types of lots: residential and community (more were added in The Sims 2: University). Residential lots contain houses where Sims live, while community lots contain destinations where Sims visit. A community lot may contain food services, shopping opportunities, recreation facilities, etc. A neighborhood may contain numerous lots of both types. Expansion neighborhoods are commonly used to distribute lots so that the memory strain of opening a neighborhood is reduced.

During early production of the game, the development team at Maxis, showcased to the public their plans to include a single neighborhood to ship with the game called Riverside. Unfortunately, because of a six month delay, this idea was called-off and Riverside never made it into the game.

Sims

Sims are the main characters of The Sims 2. They age, have needs, develop dreams and goals, exhibit personality, form relationships, hold jobs and eventually die. Sims progress through six (or seven in Sims 2 University) unique life stages: baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult (in University), adult and elder. (Young Adult is available only to a Sim that goes to college. A sim who chooses not to go to college, goes directly from Teen to Adult.) As their lives play out, Sims' roles change in a reflection of their age. Babies are dependent on older Sims to fulfill their needs. Toddlers interact on basic levels and are taught fundamental skills, such as walking and talking. Children attend school and gain a new, yet still limited, sense of independence. Teen Sims find more independence, being able to work in three-tiered versions of the adult careers. Adults are completely self-reliant; they can marry, have children, and reach the top of their chosen career paths. Elders, having passed their child-rearing years, are suited to the life of retirement; they may close out their adult careers, but may only take jobs in the same three-tiered system as teens.

Sims are driven principally by their needs. In The Sims 2, Sims have up to eight fundamental needs, or motives, depending on their age: bladder, comfort, energy, environment, fun, hunger, hygiene and social.In other expansion packs such as Sims 2 pets,pets have a need called scratch and chew. The importance of certain needs outweighs that of others. For example, if a Sim neglected its "Hunger" motive they could starve to death, but a Sim would only smell bad if they ignored their "Hygiene" motive. The motives combine to form a Sim's Mood. If motives are collectively low, the mood will be negative, preventing a Sim from engaging in certain activities. One of the challenges of The Sims 2 is properly balancing these motives throughout a sim's life.

In The Sims 2, every Sim, age teen and older, has one of seven Aspirations: family, fortune, knowledge, popularity, romance, pleasure and grilled cheese (pleasure and grilled cheese were introduced in The Sims 2 Nightlife expansion pack). These Aspirations guide a Sim throughout his/her lifetime. For the player, the most visible element of a Sim's specific aspiration is the Wants and Fears Panel. Each Sim has "Wants" and "Fears", depending on factors including aspiration, aspiration level, stage of life and present circumstances. When a Want is achieved, "aspiration points" are awarded and the Aspiration Meter is filled accordingly. Conversely, when a Fear is realized, aspiration points are penalized. There are six levels to the meter, the highest being platinum, then gold, two levels of green and two of red. Aspiration level plays a role in determining the length of time a Sim will live as an Elder before death. For example, a Sim who transitioned to the Elder life stage with a platinum level of aspiration will live a much longer life than one who transitioned with a red level. Aspiration points are used to purchase a variety of useful objects, whose beneficial effects are potentially made negative if the user's aspiration level is below gold.

Personality is a quantified way of measuring a Sims behavioral characteristics. There are five personality traits, each described by its opposing qualities: neat/sloppy, outgoing/shy, active/lazy, playful/serious and nice/grouchy. These traits determine how fast a Sim learns skills, the rate of need decay, the types of interactions in which a Sim will autonomously engage, the likelihood of accepting certain interactions, etc.

Teen and older Sims can get jobs in one of ten careers. Adult careers have ten levels each, while teen and elder careers (they are the same) only have three. The ten careers are: Athletics, Business, Criminal, Culinary, Law Enforcement, Medical, Military, Politics, Science and Slacker. There were 4 more which came with the University Expansion pack and these were Show Business, Paranormal, Natural Scientist and Artist. Advancement in each career track is dependent on achieving certain skill levels (each career track requires building three specific skills, and University careers require four specific skills) and having a certain number of family friends. With the University Expansion pack you can get a degree which allows faster achievement in certain career tracks depending on the major chosen and graduated in.

Sims form two kinds of relationships – daily and lifetime. Daily relationships are those most influenced by interactions with other Sims, or the lack thereof. It generally changes with each interaction and moves two points toward the neutral state (zero on a scale from -100 to +100) each day. Lifetime relationships are only affected by strong interactions (typically romantic) and a process known as normalization/decay, where periodically throughout the day, the lifetime relationship adjusts in proportion to the current daily relationship.

Sims can die in a number of ways. If a Sim reaches the end of the Elder life stage they will die of old age; Sims close to the deceased receive an inheritance whose worth is determined by the benefactor's relationship at death. In addition, Sims can also meet a premature end by various means. Deceased Sims leave behind markers (either a tombstone or an urn), which is typically possessed by the Sim's ghost. Ghosts are transparent but are colored to indicate the kind of death they had. Ghosts who roam a given lot may scare another Sim to death if their needs are low enough. Sims may die of fright, electrocution, drowning, falling satellite, fire, starvation, illness, flies, Cowplant (The Sims 2: University only) sunlight (vampires in Nightlife only), elevator (Open for Business only), Rally Forth! (Open for Business only).

Types of Sims

Playable Sims are created in one of three ways. A playable Sim may be created using the Create-a-Family feature and placed in the game, by birth or adoption into an existing family, or by being a non-playable Sim moved into a lot. For the purposes of the game, there are two types of non-playable Sims. "Townie" Sims are those which are roughly equivalent to playable Sims, except that they do not actually live on a lot. They have jobs and other characteristics of a playable Sim, except they don't age, unless they move in with another Sim.

There are also Pets added in The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack. The player can't control Pets but sims can interact with them.

The other type of non-playable Sim is the NPC. NPCs perform a specific function, either by being a service NPC for residential lots (maid, gardener, repairperson, etc.) a worker at a community lot (e.g., a cashier), or a Sim performing a special function (social worker, repo man, Grim Reaper, social bunny, etc.). With certain exceptions, any townie or NPC may become a playable sim if he or she accepts an invitation to move in or to be married/joined. However, if an NPC moves in with another Sim, they will lose their job and appear "unemployed". The role will be fulfilled by another NPC.

Realism compared to The Sims

Graphically, The Sims 2 is far more accurate and true to real life than The Sims, immersing the player in a fully 3D world. Unlike early Sim games, such as SimCity 2000, which have used dimetric projection and fixed resolutions, the camera system in The Sims 2 allows the player to view things from myriad angles.

Sims themselves are also much more intricately detailed than they were in The Sims. Unlike the Sims from its predecessor, which were essentially raster images over fixed shapes, The Sims 2 features Sims as 3D models created from meshes, demonstrating a more realistic presentation. A Sim's face is perhaps its most customizable aspect; the player is given a multitude of options, allowing for diversity. Texturing is still achieved through use of raster images, though it appears more lifelike. Movements are more smooth, natural and true to humans.

There is also an increased realism in gameplay. Sims experience a variety of things unavailable in The Sims, such as aging and eventual death. Sims become pregnant for a time before giving birth, where in The Sims a baby instantly appeared after two Sims kissed repeatedly. Sims act as unique individuals, choosing to act and behave in response to their given Aspiration and personality. Additionally, babies in The Sims 2 will progress through the age stages to become adults while babies in The Sims only became children, where they stopped growing. They also take on the characteristics of their parents, such as eye color, hair color, and other physical features. They may even have features passed down from their ancestors.

Simultaneously, The Sims 2 incorporates a number of supernatural and fantasy elements into gameplay. Alien abductions are possible; male adult Sims who are abducted will return pregnant. When a Sim's Social motive fails, the "Social Bunny" comes to keep them company. When a Sim falls into aspiration failure, a therapist called the "Dr. Pshyco" will appear and assist the Sim. Both characters are figments of the Sim's imagination. Upon selecting another Sim, the Social Bunny or therapist will disappear, though the reactions of the Sim are visible. Strangely enough however, even when a Sim who can't see any of these, doors will "mysteriously" open and close, and the bunny/shrink will take up tile space even though they can't physically exist (e.g. it can block doors).

Other supernatural/fantasy elements are introduced with later expansion packs: zombies with The Sims 2: University, vampires with Nightlife, robots with Open for Business, and werewolves with The Sims 2: Pets.

Game editions and add-on releases

For the PC, there have been three released editions of the core game, three released expansion packs and two released stuff packs. Many of these have been ported to Mac OS X by Aspyr. The Sims 2 has been released for a number of game consoles, with a planned release of The Sims 2: Pets for game console in conjunction with the PC release of that expansion pack.

Core game

Expansion packs

The Sims 2 expansion packs provide additional game features and items. Generally, expansion packs add one central gameplay element, several peripheral elements, a new type of "expansion neighborhood" (neighborhoods linked to a base neighborhood; multiple expansion neighborhoods of the same type may be linked to a single base neighborhood), a new type of Sim (Vampires, zombies etc.) and approximately 125 new objects. There have been four expansion packs released, with a fifth one rumoured. Maxis has plans for seven expansion packs . However, given that The Sims 3 is not scheduled for release until Spring 2009, an eighth may be released in Fall 2008. Maxis also revealed that odd numbered expansion packs will bring something entirely new to the series, while even numbered expansion packs will bring something from The Sims. For the main article on each expansion pack, see link provided with title.

  • The Sims 2: University – March 2, 2005 for PC and December 12, 2005 for Mac OS X. Adds major gameplay element of being able to send teen Sims to college (adding additional optional "Young Adult" stage) and university expansion neighborhood. University also adds lifetime wants (powerful wants that will put a Sim in a state of perpetual euphoria known as permanent platinum aspiration or simply "permaplat") and influence (the ability to direct others to perform certain tasks). Four careers restricted to graduates are added (Paranormal, Natural Scientist, Artist, Show Business). Zombies, deceased Sims brought back to life imperfectly, are added.
  • The Sims 2: Open for Business – released March 2, 2006 for PC and September 4, 2006 for Mac OS X. Open for Business enables Sims to operate businesses. Also added are the shopping district expansion neighborhood, badges as another type of skill and a "perk" system for successful business owners. Robots are added, including the "Servo," a robot that can be activated as a controllable Sim.
  • The Sims 2: Pets – Released in USA on October 17, Released in UK on October 20 , 2006 for PC and November 6, 2006 for Mac OS X, Released in New Zealand and Australia on October 26. It will also be released for Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gameboy Advance and Playstation Portable (note that the gameplay varies from console to PC version). This focuses almost exclusively on adding pet capabilities to game. EA announced that this expansion pack will not have an associated neighborhood, but will instead include lots to place in existing neighborhoods. Among the pets announced for this expansion pack are dogs, cats, parrots, and "womrats." Sims may turn into werewolves.

Stuff packs

Stuff packs are add-ons to the game that only add new objects. Stuff packs were originally called booster packs, as seen in the release of The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack. Current releases are called stuff packs and include certain gameplay elements introduced in previous expansion packs (as opposed to Holiday Party Pack, which only added a package file containing object data). Stuff packs typically add around 60 new items (Holiday Party Pack added approximately 40).

  • The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack – booster pack (now being called a stuff pack) released November 17, 2005. Holiday Party Pack includes a number of items related to various holidays, mostly Christmas. The pack was sold as The Sims 2: Christmas Party Pack in Europe. It was combined with the core game in The Sims 2: Holiday Edition and The Sims 2: Christmas Edition as a limited-edition release at the same time. The official The Sims 2 website offered free downloads of some of the items included in Holiday Party Pack.
  • The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff – released April 13, 2006 for PC. Includes mostly themed sets of objects and decorations, most notably medieval-themed children's objects and tropical objects and clothing. Known in the Sims community for having a few major bugs upon release, necessitating the release of an emergency patch by EA within a couple of weeks.
  • The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff - will be released in November 2006, and it will contain a collection of holiday items. This is a repackage of The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack with twenty new additional items. Players who have already purchased both the core game and the Holiday Party Pack have the option of purchasing only the new additional items in the form of The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Mini Pack via EA's online downloading service, EA Downloader. The games will be sold as The Sims 2: Festive Holiday Stuff, The Sims 2: Festive Edition and The Sims 2: Festive Holiday Mini Pack in Europe.

Console and handheld releases

The Sims 2 was released for Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox October 24, 2005 in North America. The same games were released in Europe November 4. The game was released for Sony PlayStation Portable in December 2005, with European release January 13, 2006. The game is also available via cell phone, with availability depending on carrier. The Sims 2: Pets was also released to console.

GameSpot rated all console versions at 6.5 (on a 10-point scale), saying that "The Sims 2 loses something in translation from PC to consoles. Namely, its addictive, entertaining gameplay." The Xbox edition was rated 4.5 out of 5 by Gamepro Magazine . The console games have a number of different mechanics than the PC/Mac editions. The console games feature two modes of control; direct mode allows the player to act directly as the Sim, while classic mode uses the game controls to select objects to use.

Console gameplay

The console version of the sims 2 involves the player helping their sims get what they want out of life. Each sim has four wants and three fears. The wants are what they want and the fears are what they don't want to happen. There are five kinds of wants that are popularity, wealth, romance, knowledge and creativity. The player picks one of these while they are creating the sim.

In story mode the player moves to different locations and fullfils their sims wants. In every place the sim has gold wants. you must complete the gold wants to get a platinum want. Complete the platinum want and you can move to a new location. For anyone that wants to go back to basics, freeplay is the same as the original sims with the added gift of the wants and fears.

Game customization

Custom content

Like many games, a large number of players have worked to modify both the game content and behavior of The Sims 2. Such fans are often called modders. Modders alter the game in ways as simple as creating new floor and wall textures using a downloadable tool from Maxis and as complicated as writing patches for the game code to customize its behavior. Such modifications are all loosely referred to as "custom content." Specifically, custom content can be divided into four categories: exporting (creating Sims and lots in-game or using the game's included Body Shop and exporting them to a file), recoloring (creating a new texture for an object), meshing (creating an object or modifying its shape) and hacking (writing code that manipulates game and object behaviors).

The modding community for The Sims 2 is self-supporting, with more advanced modders writing tools and tutorials to help in creating custom content and modifying the game environment. One such program is SimPE, which is an editor for game files. SimPE also facilitates the creation of custom content through several wizards and package management tools.

The official The Sims 2 website lists more than 500 registered fansites, many of which feature custom content. More than 250,000 Sims and lots have been uploaded to the Sims 2 Exchange one the site. An unusual feature of The Sims 2 fansites is that some require either a one-time fee or a subscription to access some of all of the content on the site (i.e., pay sites). Most of the sites not charging for use (i.e., free sites), however, do allow voluntary donations to offset the cost website maintenance. The Sims Resource, a popular pay site, lists more than 1 million members and more than 200,000 files. ModTheSims2, a free site, focuses on the creation of objects and downloads for the game. The site offers a variety of custom content to download, help and tutorial sections in a forum-based setting.

There has been some controversy as to whether paysites can legally charge for custom content since the EA license agreement states "You may include materials created with the Tools & Materials on your personal noncommercial website for the noncommercial benefit of the fan community for EA's products". Protest sites such as paysitesmustbedestroyed have started offering pay items from other websites for free stating that those websites are the ones that are illegal since they are charging. The fact that paysites may not be legal per EA games End user license agreement and that other websites are offering these payfiles for free is subject to censorship on many of the fan communities. The first causality of the paysite controversy was popular site retailsims.com that closed citing that "I WILL NOT BE FORCED TO SHARE MY CONTENT ACCORDING TO THE WHIMS OF A SECOND-RATER" and then later urged other paysites to also close in protest. As of November 11th 2006 however this is the only site to have shut down although the site rosesims2.net has started banning people suspected of sharing files. The web master is also sharing information of these suspected people with other webmasters so they can ban them as well which has lead to accusations of rosesims misusing Paypal by sharing the confidential information with others in a possible breech of Paypal license agreements.

Sexual content controversy

On July 22, 2005, Florida attorney Jack Thompson alleged that Electronic Arts and The Sims 2 promoted nudity through use of a mod. He called this "worse than Hot Coffee," a reference to a similar mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The claim was made that pubic hair, labia and other genital details were visible once the "blur" (the pixelation that occurs when a sim is using the toilet or is naked in the game) was removed. Electronic Arts issued a statement saying that when the blur was removed, Sims lack such anatomical definition (they have been compared to Barbie and Ken dolls in this respect). While custom content does exist to produce these anatomical structures, the creators of this content have made efforts to place it on "adult-only" websites or in adult-only sections of websites.

Thompson later retracted his statements concerning the specific anatomical structures, but claimed that Electronic Arts should lose its copyright for failure to prevent such changes to the game. Electronic Arts executive Jeff Brown said in an interview with GameSpot:

This is nonsense. We've reviewed 100 percent of the content. There is no content inappropriate for a teen audience. Players never see a nude sim. If someone with an extreme amount of expertise and time were to remove the pixels, they would see that the sims have no genitals. They appear like Ken and Barbie.

Awards


See also

Notes and references

  1. "Mac OS X system requirements". Aspyr Media. Retrieved August 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. "Windows system requirements". EA Games. Retrieved August 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. "The Sims overtakes Myst" from GameSpot
  4. The Sims 2 trivia from the Internet Movie Database
  5. Kramer, Greg (2004). The Sims 2: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides). Roseville, CA: Prima Games. pp. 146–149. ISBN 0761542922.

External links

Official sites

Producer journals

Resources

Fansites


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