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The Sims 2

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The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling PC game in history, The Sims. [link]

The game was released on September 17 2004 in both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM formats. The DVD-ROM version, called The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition, contains a "Bonus Disc" with broad information on the Sims 2, interviews with the game developers, and commercials of past Sim products.

A port to Mac OS X was performed by Aspyr and was released on June 12 2005. , a re-release with holiday-related content, was released on November 17 2005.

Contents

Description

Sims age through six unique stages: baby, toddler, child, teen, adult and elder (another stage, "young adult", was added with the expansion pack). Unlike the previous game, when children stayed children and there was little game progress, the stages of life encourage players to move the game along and create relationships between Sims. Family relationships are much more integral to this version of The Sims than the previous version. As Sims age, get married and have children, these relationships are recorded in an extensive family tree.

In this installment of the series, Sims can have more realistic marriages with engagements and parties. Sims are pregnant before having children (unlike in the previous version, where children just appeared). Other unique events such as deaths, birthdays and first kisses also take place in Sims' lifetimes. Good and bad experiences are kept as memories and can affect a Sim's behaviour.

An in-game screenshot of The Sims 2. In addition to taking place in a fully 3D environment, aspirations of a selected Sim are also available for view, indicating the Sim's "Wants" and "Fears".
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An in-game screenshot of The Sims 2. In addition to taking place in a fully 3D environment, aspirations of a selected Sim are also available for view, indicating the Sim's "Wants" and "Fears".

The graphics and house design engines have improved with more choices for houses, neighborhood design, food and clothes. The Sims 2 Body Shop, a tool which allows a user to design a Sim's body, clothing, genetic features, etc., was available well before the game's release. Mark Mothersbaugh was the lead music composer.

The Sims 2 introduces a new aspect into the game: Aspiration. Aspiration manifests itself in two ways: a Sim's specific aspiration and a Sim's aspiration level, represented by the Aspiration Meter.

All Sims have an aspiration, set either when they are created by the player, generated by the game (if the Sim is an NPC), chosen by the player when the Sim becomes a teenager, or by assigning a Sim to use the ReNuYuSenso Orb aspiration reward from the expansion pack. The five aspirations are: Romance, Family, Knowledge, Popularity and Fortune. The Pleasure and Grilled Cheese aspirations were added with the Nightlife expansion pack, the latter being the result of a failed usage of the ReNuYuSenso Orb. All toddler and child Sims have the aspiration to Grow Up.

There are six levels to the Aspiration Meter: The highest is platinum, with gold, two levels of green and two of red (red being negative aspiration and therefore an undesirable state) following in descending order. The Aspiration Meter is a graphical representation of a Sim's aspiration level, and represents a Sim's quality of life. The aspiration level is raised when a Sim fulfills a "Want" and is lowered when a "Fear" is realized. Wants and Fears are different for each Sim depending on several factors including aspiration, aspiration level, stage of life and present circumstances (such as needing a skill point in order to get a promotion or having just reached a milestone event). They generally change when a Sim wakes up from sleeping, comes home from work or school, or fulfills another Want or Fear. Wants and Fears are displayed graphically in slot-machine fashion on the toolbar. The aspiration level at age transitions plays a role in determining the length of a Sim's life once the elder stage is reached. When the aspiration level is high, aspiration rewards may be used with the lowest risk. For example, the Elixir of Life aspiration reward allows a Sim to live longer, giving the Sim three additional days in the current life stage. If this aspiration reward is used with the Aspiration Meter below the gold level, however, there is a chance that the reward will backfire and the Sim will lose three days, possibly triggering an age transition (if the teen or adult is close enough to their transition point) or death (if the Sim is an elder).

The University expansion introduced the Lifetime Want, randomly assigned whenever a Sim's aspiration changes or when the Sim fulfills a previous Lifetime Want. The possible Lifetime Wants for a Sim depend on the Sim's aspiration. Lifetime wants include (but are not limited to) reaching the top of Sim careers, earning 100,000 simoleons (the currency of Sims, only available to Fortune Sims), having 20 simultaneous lovers (Romance Sims), or maxing all skills (Knowledge Sims). Fulfilling a Lifetime Want results in that Sim having a platinum aspiration level for the remainder of the Sim's life (known as Permanent Platinum or Permaplat).

Thus, while the game still has no set goals, there is a new level of strategy involved in balancing a Sim's life as players now have a limited time in which to fulfill aspirations, meet needs, progress in a career, socialize and possibly have a family.

Social Bunny

The Social Bunny is a NPC in the The Sims 2. Although the player sees the bunny, it's comparable to an imaginary friend to a Sim, which means other Sims will perceive a Sim being visited by a Social Bunny to be "crazy"-- the Bunny only appears on screen when the depressed Sim is selected. The Social Bunny only shows up if a Sim's social level is low for a long period of time. The Social Bunny will help boost up the Sim's Social Level a little bit. Once a Sim's Social need has risen to the halfway point on the social meter, the bunny will disappear.

\"More Realistic\"

When The Sims 2 was in pre-release stages, game creators stated that they were removing the robots and genies from the original game to make the game "more realistic". However, when the game was released, aliens and the Grim Reaper were already embedded into the game, which most fans did not consider normal. Since aliens the expansion packs have also produced zombies (University), vampires (Nightlife) and robots (Open For Business). Fans have little doubt that something else will appear in a future expansion pack. Werewolves have been speculated due to the theme of the new expansion pack.

Many people have complained about the sudden idea of using supernatural creatures as a background for the game, people have stated that the game is revolved around reality, and that having aliens, zombies and vampires can ruin the game. Maxis has stated that all of these aspects of the game can be entirely avoided at the player's wish #redirect ; this depends on how much a player's Sims have been involved with certain characters or have used certain objects.

However, some other aspects of the game are more realistic with regards to every day life when compared to the original. For example, The Sims 2 features pregnancies, achieved between mixed sim couples with the Try For Baby interaction; male Sims may become pregnant upon alien abduction. In the first The Sims, however, if two Sims kissed repeatedly, the player would receive a dialog box asking them if they wanted a child. Also, The Sims 2 has life stages, memories, aspirations, fears, and more control over their life.

Death

One of the interesting new methods of death added to The Sims 2 was the random spacecraft apparatus that could fall out of the sky and crush a sim while they were "watching the clouds." This incident has a very low probability of occuring; however, if a sim continues to spend enough time laying outside it increases their chances.

There are nine ways to die (with each expansion pack adding a new one). Depending on how a Sim dies will affect the color of their ghostly form. The color noted is the colour of the ghost

System requirements

The system requirements for The Sims 2 (from the official The Sims 2 website) are as follows:

Windows

Mac At the time of release, many criticized The Sims 2 for needing extremely high system requirements. In fact, just the required (and not optimum) system specs meant that many PC's purchased as late as 2001 would not even be able to run it at all. A similar complaint was levied against another Maxis game, SimCity 4, released more than a year and a half ago.

Bugs

The Sims 2 contains a number of bugs. Many of the bugs listed below have been corrected in a downloadable patch (Note: The installation of or any subsequent expansion packs should correct most of the problems below).

Bugs have also surfaced relating to all three expansion packs. These have been tackled with patches that were made available after the release of the game and expansion packs.

Various editions of the game

Three different editions of the game have been released by EA:

Expansion Packs

To date, three expansion packs have been released for The Sims 2. EA has said that it plans to release seven expansion packs. Expansion packs are released at approximately six-month intervals. Each expansion pack introduces a major gameplay element and a new type of expansion neighborhood, connected to the base neighborhood and focusing on the new gameplay element.

The Sims 2: University

The first expansion pack, , was released on March 2, 2005 for PC and December 12, 2005 for Mac. In University, players have the option to send their teen Sims to college at the new university expansion neighborhood. There, teens become young adults, a new life stage added with this expansion and exclusive to Sims attending college. Time does not pass the same way it does in the base neighborhood; instead, it is measured in semesters, where 72 game hours make one semester and a Sim attends college until he or she graduates, drops out, or is expelled as the result of unsatisfactory academic performance. Once a Sim leaves college, he or she will return to the base neighborhood as an adult. Sims attending college may major in one of 11 fields, and graduates may get jobs in one of four new careers exclusive to college graduates. These career paths offer higher pay and better hours than the original career paths. Additionally, graduates -- especially those who graduate with honors -- receive a bonus on applying for jobs.

Also introduced in this expansion pack are Lifetime Wants (major wants that give a Sim platinum aspiration for the rest of his or her life if they are fulfilled) and influence (points earned by fulfilling certain wants and having a certain number of friends that allows a Sim to tell another Sim to perform a task). Zombies were added with this expansion pack and are the result of a partially successful resurrection of a deceased sim. Zombies do not age (except for teens attending college, who become young adults at college and the stop aging once they graduate and become adults), are unable to have children (but may adopt), and have generally grouchy personalities. Zombies have a distinctive skin tone and move in a distinctive way.

The Sims 2: Nightlife

The second expansion pack, ', was released on September 13 2005. Based loosely on ', an expansion of The Sims, Nightlife features a new attraction-based relationship system, where Sims who are more attracted to each other (based on certain factors, including turn-ons and turn-offs, aspiration, and personality) have an easier time forging relationships, especially romantic ones. Added to the game is a dating system, where Sims may go on dates, either at a Sim's house or on a community lot. The success of these dates can depend greatly on this attraction level, expressed on a scale of three lightning bolts. The new expansion neighborhood type, the nightlife destination, is for all intents and purposes a regular neighborhood. The pre-packaged nightlife destination, Downtown, features nightclubs, restaurants and recreation facilities, many of which are ideal locations for dates, as they accomodate many of the wants that occur during a date.

Players can now see and visit other lots in the neighborhood while playing a lot, instead of having return to the neighborhood view. In addition, Sims can now own cars instead of taking the carpool. Vampires, added with Nightlife, do not experience normal need decay during nighttime hours (they experience the need decay from activities such as working out), but experience accelerated need decay while the sun is out -- greatly so if they are exposed directly to the sun. Like zombies from University, vampires do not age.

Nightlife adds two new aspirations, Pleasure and Grilled Cheese. Pleasure Sims have a desire to engage in fun and enjoyable activities, which depend on the personality of the Sim in question. One constant among Pleasure Sims is that they like to go on dates. A Sim gains the Grilled Cheese aspiration as the result of a failed attempt to use the ReNuYuSenso Orb aspiration reward object. Immediately upon changing to the Grilled Cheese aspiration, a Sim will proceed to cook a grilled cheese sandwich, and a Grilled Cheese Sim's wants and fears will revolve around Grilled Cheese. If the University or Open for Business expansion packs are installed, a Grilled Cheese Sim will have the lifetime want to eat 200 grilled cheese sandwiches.

A special car download (the HotRod Hauler Chop Socky Special) was available to those who preordered the game.

The Sims 2: Open for Business

The Sims 2: Open for Business, the third expansion pack for The Sims 2, was released on March 1, 2006, and allows your Sims to operate their own businesses. They are able to hire and manage employees and develop business-related talents in the form of seven Talent Badges. Sims may earn 25 business perks as they take their businesses from Level 0 to Level 10.

This expansion pack brings back the Servo robot from in the form of a robot which can be activated as a playable Sim. Servos function as regular Sims, except that they have a modified set of needs, do not age, and are unable to give birth. In addition to Servos, various other robots may be to perform tasks such as watering plants, cleaning, security, and bringing food. Robots break and must be repaired in order to function properly. Elevators were also added to the game, providing an alternative to stairs.

A special Mascot download (a chicken suit) was available to those who preordered the game.

The Sims 2: Pets

On May 10, 2006, a video shown by EA at E³ provides a glimpse at a possible new installment of The Sims 2. The video may be viewed [here]. Until an official announcement is made regarding the name of the next expansion pack, it is being referred to as The Sims 2: Pets.

Stuff Packs

The Sims 2 Stuff Packs are add-ons that offer approximately sixty new objects, NPCs and textures, but contain no new gameplay elements that are not already featured in previous expansion packs. Two stuff packs and one expansion pack are planned for release in every six month cycle.

The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack

The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack (The Sims 2: Christmas Party Pack in Europe) is available only through the EA Online Store, select Costco stores, and other video game retailers. Holiday Party Pack adds over forty new holiday-themed objects to the game, most of which revolve around celebrating Christmas. Holiday Party Pack was combined with the core game to become the limited-edition The Sims 2: Holiday Edition, similar to the way that The Sims Deluxe Edition included both The Sims and in a single package. The party pack is also available through European retailers as a CD-ROM. Although not officially announced as such, this pack can be considered as the first stuff pack since it contains new objects but no new gameplay elements.

The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff

The second stuff pack, The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff, was released on April 13, 2006. It includes over sixty all-new items including underwater and fantasy-themed sets composed of castle beds, sun dresses, tropical wall hangings and more. Some European stores offered a special outfit (a green dress) to those who preordered. Target stores also offered this item.

The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff

is the third "stuff pack" for The Sims 2. It was officially anounced on the 13 July 2006 and is expected to be released in August 2006. [link] Glamour Life focuses on luxurious furniture, fashionable clothing, and extravagant décor items for the rich, and will add 60 new items.

Humor and inside jokes

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Veronaville

The neighborhood Veronaville is supposed to be a spoof of Verona (the Italian city in which William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet takes place). In this neighborhood, there are two families who are supposedly conflicting with each other: the Capp family and the Monty family (obviously reflecting the Capulet and Montague families in the play). Supposedly (according to the story of the neighborhood) the conflict started when the leader of the Capp household broke a promise to the leader of the Monty household. The memories of Consort Capp and Patrizio Monty suggest that the broken promise may have been to help Patrizio out in time of need. They were best friends. Instead, Consort apparently conned Patrizio and the result was that Consort became a CEO and Patrizio got fired. Memories also indicate that Patrizio Monty was once involved with Consort Capp's wife Contessa, before she met Consort. Just like in the play, there are two lovers from each family: Romeo and Juliette. The other teens from either household are named after actual characters in Romeo and Juliet, except for Hermia. Her character (as well as a third family, the Summerdream family) was pulled from A Midsummer Night's Dream, another Shakespearean play. Characters from other Shakespearean plays can be found in the family trees in Veronaville. Although these spoofs are supposed to parallel the plays they parody, the Romeo and Juliet parody is significantly less tragic than the actual play. (E.g., Tybalt cannot kill Mercutio to imitiate the conspiracy and suicide of Shakespeare's play, but can still laugh if he sees Mercutio die from a satellite falling on his head, etc...) Other names based on plays include King Lear, The Tempest, The "Hal plays", Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Love's Labour's Lost, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew.

See also: List of pre-made Sims in Veronaville

Llamas

Llamas appear in The Sims (as in many Maxis titles). Speculation suggests that this is an inside joke due to one of the producer's love of Monty Python movies (specifically, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where its opening credits credited llamas for the movie's production). An alternative explanation is that this is paying homage to the work of Jeff Minter, a legendary games programmer who began programming games, featuring all sorts of fluffy animals, for the Vic-20 and Commodore 64 for his company Llamasoft.

Michael Bachelor

Should one take a look at the Goth family tree, they can find out more about Bella's branch of the tree. As it turns out, "Michael Bachelor" is her brother (now deceased). The Bachelor family was one of the pre-packaged families that came with the original The Sims. Only one person was in that family...a man named Michael (his urn/tombstone can be found in the Caliente house in Pleasantview). Furthermore, examining the memories in Pleasantview shows that before he died Michael married Dina Caliente - the woman who now wants to marry Bella's husband, Mortimer Goth...

Mary-Sue Pleasant

One of the characters living in Pleasantview is named "Mary-Sue Pleasant". This is a reference to the original The Sims, wherein there was a pre-packaged family named the Pleasants. In fact, Mary-Sue's husband, Daniel Pleasant, was from the original Sims. Daniel is the brother of Jennifer Burb (formerly Jennifer Pleasant), who is the wife of John Burb and mother of Lucy Burb. (The Burb family is available as a package in Pleasantview, and a Burb family is also available in expansion pack.) John was a child at the time, his mother was Tiffany Burb and his father was Brad Burb.

Angela and Lilith Pleasant

Angela and Lilith are the teenage twin daughters of Daniel and Mary-Sue. Angela, the 'good twin', is named Angela because of its similarity to 'Angel'. Lilith, the 'bad twin', is named Lilith because Lilith was supposedly the first wife of Adam, according to the Jewish Midrash. She was a seductress, and therefore 'bad'. [link]

Bella Goth

Bella Goth, the wife of Mortimer Goth in The Sims, is absent from the family when the Sims 2 begins, as it is revealed she was abducted by aliens. A missing person's photograph of her appears on milk cartons seen while preparing some foods, but she can also be found as a townie in Strangetown without her memory of her old residence and family. Although some say she can be found in the hot air balloon which is a neighborhood decoration, the figures in the hot air balloon are actually taken from screenshots of The Sims Hot Date. Several family photo albums also reveal her past actions prior to her alien abduction.

The Newbies

Looking into the family tree of the Broke family will reveal that Brandi's parents are Bob and Betty Newbie, the tutorial characters of The Sims. The family tree will also reveal Bob's parents and Betty's parents. The characters shown in the family tree strongly resemble their original selves from The Sims.

Don Lothario

Don is new to Pleasantview when you get The Sims 2. In the game he has a thing for Cassandra Goth. In most of the game families that are already in the neighborhood have big things going on. ie: When you play the Goth family for the first time you will probabbly want to choose Cassandra to marry Don or Darren.

Darren Dreamer

In the game Darren Dreamer wants to be a painter. His wife died a while ago and now he's after Cassandra. While he chases after Cassandra, his son, Dirk, wants Lilith Pleasant. Darren and Dirk are new to Pleasantview.

Strangetown

The third neighborhood that comes with the game is Strangetown, a small town in the desert (a desert geographically similar to that of Nevada, where the infamous Area 51 is located). "Missing" characters, like Bella Goth, may be found here. It is also known for its ties to the supernatural: it houses an alien crash-landing site, a voodoo-practitioner, a family made up of two aliens and two humans, and a pair of scientists who test their experiments on humans.
Spoilers end here.

References to popular culture

Television channels and content

Television channels in The Sims 2 mirror those found in real-life television networks:

It should also be noted that several city scenes are in-game video clips from SimCity 4, including a KidzTube television program depicting a giant robot (which was based on Servo, a robot introduced in ) destroying a city, and various news reports taking place outdoors in the Sim Broadcasting Network. On SimStation Sports, there are in-game clips from several EA Sports games, including Madden, FIFA soccer, PGA Tour, and possibly .

Furniture and electronics

Miscellaneous

Console/handheld ports

The Sims 2 was released on the following consoles and handhelds:
Platform NA release date EU release date
Nintendo DS October 24, 2005 November 4, 2005
Game Boy Advance October 24, 2005 November 4, 2005
GameCube October 24, 2005 November 4, 2005
PlayStation 2 October 24, 2005 November 4, 2005
Xbox October 24, 2005 November 4, 2005
Cell phone December 1, 2005 availability/release date varies by mobile carrier (see [mobile game info] for details)
PlayStation Portable December 7, 2005 January 13, 2006
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The game made its debut to the console/handheld market during Q4, 2005 ([source]). GameSpot gave all the console versions a 6.5, and said "The Sims 2 loses something in translation from PC to consoles. Namely, its addictive, entertaining gameplay." On several websites, the Sims 2 for PlayStation2 was considered an outrage and many people wanted their money back; saying that all the qualities from PC mode (getting pregnant, aging, etc.) had been taken away. However, the game received a rating of 4.5 out of 5 by Gamepro Magazine for the port of the game to the Xbox.

As with the port of the original The Sims to consoles, the game will most likely feature greatly different mechanics and goals as compared to the original computer version. The Nintendo DS version has a few mini games including painting a picture. Also the console games have 2 modes of control, direct control, the default mode which allows you to walk your sim directly, and classic, where you have a light tower starting above your sim, where you can move it to select objects to use; e.g: The PC.

User Modifications (\"mods\")

The Sims 2 enjoys a large fanbase of users who enjoy modifying both game content and behavior. Such fans are often called modders.

Modders have developed websites to share and distribute modifications to the "base" or unmodified game. Using programs such as SimPE, users are able to examine and edit game objects. Such edits can be as simple as a "recolor" (where a user provides an alternative color or texture to an already-existing game object) to the creation of completely new items,"meshing", for use in the game.

Other modders work to directly modify the game's original code. Such modifications can be as simple as disabling a game interaction (such as removing the sim's ability to play "kicky bag" with one another) to expanding or enlarging a game interaction (such as enabling teen sims to become pregnant). Some mods are even designed to fix bugs in the gameplay, such as the "jump bug". Mods of any kind can significantly change game play techniques and strategies, and can fundamentally change the "flavor" of gameplay.

Modders are not limited to changing game behavior. Tools exist to modify a specific sim's appearance, gender, memories, skills, personality, and relationships. Modders are also able to modify existing careers and add new careers which can add a new exciting aspect to game play.

Accusation of sexual contents

On July 22, 2005, Florida attorney Jack Thompson attacked Electronic Arts and The Sims 2. Thompson claimed The Sims 2 was "worse than Hot Coffee" (a reference to the ' Hot Coffee mod) because, using a mod, players could see nude Sims. Thompson claimed "pubic hair", "labia", and other genital details were visible if the blur was removed.

Electronic Arts issued a statement correcting Thompson, pointing out when the blur was removed from a Sim, the Sim lacks anatomical definition (there are no visible genitalia much like naked dolls).

Several third-party mods, including custom meshes, are required to make nude Sims have the features Thompson accused the game of having. Most makers of such mods have taken some measures to prevent players under the age of 18 from accessing such mods.

Thompson later retracted his misstatements concerning "pubic hair" and other details about which he was misinformed. However, he defended his fundamental position on The Sims 2, and expressed his opinion that EA should "lose their right to defend their copyright" on the The Sims 2 because the company does not prevent the mod community from making adult-oriented changes to the game. However, while one can lose their rights to enforce a trademark by not defending it, this does not extend to copyrights, so his expressed opinion lacks legal grounding.

EA executive Jeff Brown told US website GameSpot:

One Albert Mackenzie from the website illspirit.com claims that he deliberately baited Thompson into his attacks on The Sims 2 as "the Hot Coffee fiasco began to reach dizzying heights of silliness." He reproduces a purported e-mail exchange with Thompson on his site [link].

Awards

E3 2004 Game Critics Awards: Best Simulation Game

See also

External links

Wikibooks has a manual, textbook or guide to this subject:

Official sites

Producer journals

Resources

Forums & BBS

Fansites

The Sims series
The Sims
Expansion packs
' | ' | ' | ' | ' | ' |
The Sims 2
Expansion packs
' | ' | ' | ' (unconfirmed)
Stuff packs
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Console ports and spinoffs
The Sims (console port) | The Sims Bustin' Out | | The Sims 2 (console and handheld ports) | The Sims Online

Related topics
Sim | Simlish | List of pre-made characters

The Sim Universe and Maxis
City games
SimCity > SimCity 2000 | SimCity 3000 | SimCity 4
The Sims
The Sims > The Sims 2 | The Sims Online
Other Sim games
SimEarth > SimAnt | SimLife | SimFarm | SimTower | SimHealth | SimIsle | SimCopter | SimGolf | Streets of SimCity
Youth Sim games
SimTown > SimPark | SimSafari | SimTunes
Sim related
A-Train > El-Fish | Sid Meier's SimGolf | Spore | Widget Workshop
Cancelled Sim games
SimMars > Simsville

 

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