The Sims 2

[GenMarshall]

A new game comming out entitled The Sims 2. Personaly I see the game is better than the original sims. But what hurt the game for me is there rediclulous system specs (See here on why the Intel Graphic Chipset users clocking at around 1.5GHz would be upset and jelous of there Nvidia counterparts)

System Specs for the game

The Sims 2 Offical home page

I can picture getting hedachs trying to install the game and it refuses to install due to a slow processor speed. I just hope I am lucky enough to sucsessfuly install and play the game with no problems (With the exception of Frame Rate Lags which I am used to)

Edit: I went to The Sims 2 Resource and I have gotten this information:

From: http://sims2.thesimsresource.com/
If you have a non-T&L capable video card (such as TNT2, Intel, or Rage for example) then you need at least:
1.5 GHz processor
256 MB RAM if Windows XP
128 MB RAM if Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000

Im not sure which info to beleve in . One site states a reqirement of 2.0GHz while another says 1.5GHz.

 

[Elgalad]

I am psyched for this game, have had it on pre-order for about a month. I got a special bonus cd in the mail yesterday with interviews with the devs and staff who made it and from the videos, screenshots, etc, it looks like they improved on every single aspect of the original, but particularly graphically. CivGeneral is not kidding though. If your computer is not near top end right now, you might want to seriously consider upgrading before you even try this. The detail is out of this world. Individual facial expressions that reflect each Sim's constantly changing mood-states as they interact with each other in real-time. volumetric effects like fire, shadow, water, even depth of colors and hues (I think?) instead of the standard textures that have been used in most 3d games of the past few years.

It should ship next week, look for it in the stores maybe on Thursday or Friday.

-Elgalad

 

[GenMarshall]

CivGeneral is not kidding though. If your computer is not near top end right now, you might want to seriously consider upgrading before you even try this.

Well, the problem is that you cant upgrade laptops . I am starting to envy the nvidia graphic card users since they would only need 800MHz while I am stuck with a Intel Graphics Chipset wich forces the requirement up to 2.0GHz. I just hope the rumors are true that it will require only 1.5GHz as The Sims Resources says.

 

[spycatcher34]

Owning the orginal and having bought ALL of the expansions (such a sucker) I HOPE this game will be better, not just a glorified expansion.

 

[Elgalad]

The Sims 2 has shipped.

Got a note in my email, should arrive tomorrow afternoon. I may be scarce around here for a few days.

If anyone's interested, I'll give it a review on this thread after I've had a chance to put it through its paces.

-Elgalad

 

[spycatcher34]

After realizing that the sneak prewview cd was included with Making Magic(I bought it only a few weeks ago) I gave it a watch. I think this will be a pretty good game, I mean they CANT really change the concept so they're just doing everything better..alot better.

BTW I wish they would have had more people talk about what they do when they play the sims on the bonus cd

 

[Elgalad]

Had a chance to play TS2 today for several hours. Very very impressive. The graphics are not the only improvement in the game, just the most obvious at first glance. The primary difference between the Sims and the Sims 2 is that many of the so called "needs" are more intelligently addressed by the Sims themself which frees up the player to address a new aspect of the game, "Wants". Wants are sort of like life aspirations. They vary from Sim to Sim and have much to do with which of 5 basic Sim types they fall into: Family, Fortune, Knowledge, Popularity, and Romance. Every Sim is one of those five types. Some career paths align more readily with some types of Sims, but no Sim is ever limited to what he can choose to become. That is up to you.

As a Sim grows older (and they will age from an infant all the way up to a Senior Citizen!), their aspirations/wants will change. More aspirations will appear when these are achieved. Some examples are: (for a Family Sim) Fall in love, get engaged, get married, have a baby, teach that baby to walk, have a grandchild. (for a Fortune Sim) Begin a career in Sports/Business/Criminal, Buy a painting worth X Simoleons, make 100 simoleans, gain a promotion, achieve top level in your career, own a mansion, etc.

These "desires" add a great deal to the game. Now the goal isn't simply to meet a Sim's needs so that he/she has more free time to play with, but to gain that free time so that you can help them meet their dreams. If you are successful in doing that, you will unlock new features, such as special items that make life easier or even improved longevity as an Elder Sim (retiree). On the converse, there are "Fears" as well, which act as the opposite of the "Wants". If you make a Sim realize his/her fears (which isn't as easy as you might think) you can turn them into bona fide basket cases and all sorts of strange behavior appear, including random acts of insanity and trips to the psychiatrist.

Numerous other improvements have been incorporated into the Sims 2. Added features abound from nearly every object that your Sims can interact with. Now, newspapers have 8 or more separate functions you can choose from instead of simply "look for job" or "read for enjoyment". And these new functions are Useful! For example, you can 'do crossword' which may increase your logic skill. Or "make airplane and play" which is a cheap way to address the fun and social needs. You can even "look for new home" which is a way for an adult Sim to strike out on their own, creating a new family unit. And that brings up another new feature: Family Trees. Sims will now remember their former relationships with Everyone they know. Family members, Friends, former lovers, enemies.. these are all tracked in the game.

Overall, the underlying themes to this game are experimentation and exploration. As the game designers said, they have not planned for every possibility and in fact, that was never their goal. They created a set of rules and then gave these to the players to work within or even "Break" as they wish, to explore the vagueries of human existence and relationships. The Sims will never be an accurate model of human reality of course, but as a fun diversion it succeeds with flying colors.

If there are any drawbacks to this game, they are minor: Getting used to the camera controls can take a little time, since they are reversed from many other popular 3D games. Sometimes it isn't always obvious what you need to do to complete a goal, and there is also some hidden information that you cannot readily gain access to (for example, when one of your Sims is sick, apart from them making frequent trips to the toilet, you would never know, nor would you realize how contagious they are.) Lastly, the system requirements are heavy. If you haven't upgraded your computer in the last year, you might want to do that before even picking up this game. I paid some visits to various forums and fansites and found the feedback overwhelmingly positive, but there are scattered complaints from folks who cannot run TS2 on their computer, or are only barely able to.

I give this game 9 full stars out of 10. Only the minor issues above kept me from rating it higher. Maxis has a true winner here, and a worthy successor to the greatest selling pc game of all time.


-Elgalad

 

[WillJ]

@Elgalad and others who own the game: Is the game pretty much an improvement on The Sims plus all its expansions, or are there some features from the expansions that are missing? For example, in The Sims 2, can your sims go on dates? Can they go on vacation? Can they get pets? Can they throw wild parties? Etc.

I'll almost certainly get the game if so. If not, then I'll probably pass; it'd just feel too incomplete.

 

[spycatcher34]

While alot of things have returned, a good bit hasnt. You cant go on date, you can go to a 'community lot' however and buy clothing, where you can 'woohoo' (have sex) in dressing room, I only mention this because this seems to be ALL my sim actually wants to do, sigh You cant get pets.
You CAN throw parties, and are encouraged to do so. However with all of the parties I've throw there has been a two guest maxium limit so obviously my parties werent 'wild' It also rates the party, the party last like 5 real minutes and it counts down and when it gets to zero everyone leaves and you are told how you did. I have no idea of teh purpose of this as all of the times Ive thrown a party Ive gotten a 'good' rating but the time and people limit remains the same, so I dont know.
ANother thing I noticed was the lack of sheer items, very little varity, especially with skill building items, I suppose that just lends way to the future barrrage of expansions that we will be hit with.

 

[WillJ]

While alot of things have returned, a good bit hasnt. You cant go on date, you can go to a 'community lot' however and buy clothing, where you can 'woohoo' (have sex) in dressing room, I only mention this because this seems to be ALL my sim actually wants to do, sigh You cant get pets.
You CAN throw parties, and are encouraged to do so. However with all of the parties I've throw there has been a two guest maxium limit so obviously my parties werent 'wild' It also rates the party, the party last like 5 real minutes and it counts down and when it gets to zero everyone leaves and you are told how you did. I have no idea of teh purpose of this as all of the times Ive thrown a party Ive gotten a 'good' rating but the time and people limit remains the same, so I dont know.
ANother thing I noticed was the lack of sheer items, very little varity, especially with skill building items, I suppose that just lends way to the future barrrage of expansions that we will be hit with.

Thanx for the info. I suppose, then, that I'll wait till the price goes down and some expansions are released before I get the game.

 

[spycatcher34]

Don't get me wrong it's a good game and all, the graphix are topnotch, how you make your sim is vastly improved, adn the wants/fears aspect is intriging, I just think the game lacks in variety.
And as far as the 'powerful new building tools' ... eh a third story and you can build a door in the diagonal.. wow thats really...awsome....
Another thing I want to point out is the aging thing. Now at first I was thinking oh hey this will be great, and at first, it was. But you then realise your sims age too quickly, for babies and toddlers its three days until they get older, for teenagers its like 14, and adults it's 27, now that may sound like a long time, but in the midst of things its really not. Now true, you can put the cheat code on to where they stop aging, but thats..cheating.. and then there is always the magic juice you can buy with your reward points to reverse the passage of time, and while thats good and it works, it kind of detracts from the game, because if you play one family and the people evolve in it, you go back to your other family and find that the teenager daughter is in love with an old grandpa... Anyway that's just a rant, I do like having older and younger sims and their respective new jobs, it adds a new dimiension.
One positive change, however, is that I think it is a fair bit easier to accumulate money. Even though gardners, maids, repairmen, and..yes! exterminators, costs slightly more, this is offset by bills not being as much and jobs paying more money.
Also the game has days of the week, it's pretty nifty, the kids dont go to school on the weekends.
Which reminds me of another thing I absolutely love.. DAYS OFF! Yes! Now your sim will have at LEAST two days off in a week(I have a sim in the atheletics career and he has Teusday,Wednesday,Thursday off), and they can even build up vacation days.. pretty sweet, especially when trying to build up the skills for a promotion.

So basically it's a fair balance of new innovations and forgotten aspects of the previous game.

 

[Elgalad]

Actually, Sims Can go on dates.. well, Teenaged sims anyway. They can do so in one of two ways: Ask permission from an older family member or 'sneak out'. Both are considered aspiration rewards for teens.

Spycatcher's got the right of it though.. this isn't just the original "the Sims 1" with updated graphics. They did keep some things from various expansions - like the community lots, talking/socializing on the telephone, and a few other things. But they did leave Lots of room for expansions, clearly. I was a bit disappointed that the Sims still can't own cars or drive them to work. Hopefully that will be dealt with in time.

Just got the CGW review, and they made an excellent analogy. While some games come out with a sequel that is mostly a graphics upgrade, The Sims 2 is as much of an improvement over the Sims 1 as the various Civilization versions have been (Civ 2 over Civ 1, Civ 3 over Civ 2). I.E. it's enough of the original game to be familiar but it contains enough new features to make it completely fun again.

It's probably not for everyone, of course.. there is no 'end game victory' like most other games. Rather, it's more of a series of little challenges that the player can overcome and a way to explore and experiment. Most games aren't nearly so open-ended as this one.


-Elgalad