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The Sims 2

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The Sims 2
North American cover
Developer(s)Maxis
Publisher(s)EA Games (PC)
Aspyr (Mac)
Designer(s)Jamar Sloley, Patrick J. Barrett III, Matthew C. Brown, Cooper Buckingham, Kacper Centowski, Jenna Chalmers, Shannon Copur, Michael Cox, Amy Dallas, Kevin Gibson, Daniel Hiatt, Kevin Hogan, Hunter Howe, Creighton Hurt, Trevor Jalowitz, Lyndsay McGaw, Ashley Monif, Solveig Pederson, Todd Reamon, Kana Ryan, Lauren Wheeler, Jeannie Yang
EngineCustom
Platform(s)Mac OS X, Windows, Nintendo DS
ReleaseWindows

,


Mac OS X
June 13, 2005
Genre(s)Life simulation game
Mode(s)Single player
This article is about the computer game. For console releases, see The Sims 2 (console game).

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 to date, The Sims.[3] It was released on September 17, 2004 and sold a then-record one million copies in its first ten days.[4] Along with the core game, Electronic Arts has released five expansion packs and six stuff packs. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the music. The game builds on its predecessor by allowing Sims, the simulated human characters, to age through six stages of life and incorporating a more powerful 3D graphics engine.

A sequel, The Sims 3, was announced in November 2006 by EA.[5][6]

Gameplay

In The Sims 2, players control characters called Sims, as they interact with their virtual environments, engaging in activities and forming relationships in a manner similar to real life. The Sims 2 does not have a defined final goal; gameplay is open-ended.

Sims

Sims are the characters a player controls, and are the main drive for The Sims 2's open gameplay. A player's Sims can experience a life generally reflective of reality through events such as working, marrying, having children and eventually dying.

Physiology

Like humans, Sims operate based on certain drives: they have needs, develop dreams and goals, and exhibit personality. They can progress through six life stages: baby, toddler, child, teen, adult, and elder. Sims die naturally after a certain number of days in the elder life stage, determined by how high their Aspiration Score was when they first became Elders. The different life stages present different challenges that the player must overcome, such as the slower movement of Elders and constant crying of Babies.

As in the original game, Sims are driven by their Needs. Sims have up to eight Needs (or "motives") depending on their age, ranging from tangible needs such as "Bladder" (the need to urinate or defecate) and Energy (the need to sleep), to more ephemeral qualities such as "Social" contact and a pleasant "environment." These needs are displayed graphically with meters that change from green (full) to red (empty), and a Sim with an empty meter will either require or insist on action which fills it (for instance, if the Hunger meter is empty, a Sim will march to the refrigerator and "stuff face"). Some empty meters also cause actions (a Sim with an empty Energy meter will pass out; a Sim with an empty Hunger meter will die). These Needs are compiled into an overall meter, whose color, conveniently, is displayed by the plumb-bob that floats above a Sim's head when s/he is being controlled directly by the player.

New to The Sims 2 is "Aspiration," roughly analogous to self-esteem or life satisfaction. As toddlers and children, Sims aspire only to "Grow Up," but upon becoming teens, the player assigns to them one of five life aspirations: Family (love and close contact), Fortune (wealth and prestige), Knowledge (both book learning and life experience), Popularity (friends and socializing), and Romance (frequent and varied romantic interactions). Each Sim has wants and fears that correspond to his or her aspiration, stage of life and present circumstances. When a want is achieved, such as to "make a friend," aspiration points are allotted to the aspiration meter; conversely, when a fear is realized, such as the death of a spouse, aspiration points are penalized. There are six levels to the meter: the highest is platinum, then gold, two levels of green and two of red, with the meter depleting a small amount every few hours (possibly all the way down into the red). Aspiration levels determine complaisance: Sims with a platinum meter are fulfilled, docile and more willing to perform tasks they dislike; Sims with red meters will often experience nervous breakdowns and require treatment from an automatically-summoned psychiatrist. Aspiration levels also determine the length of time a Sim will live as an Elder before death. Finally, the Sim's lifetime total of Aspiration points are recorded by the game, and can be used to purchase special objects that possess unique effects, such as providing free money or altering lifespan.[7]

Personality is a quantified way of measuring a Sim's behavioral characteristics. There are five personality traits, which players can allocate 'points' into to control that Sim's personality; for example, a Sim can be active, lazy or somewhere in between the two extremes. These traits determine how fast a Sim learns skills, the rate at which specific needs decay, the types of interactions a Sim will autonomously engage in, the likelihood of accepting certain interactions and the likelihood of bringing home a friend from school or work.

All Sims communicate in Simlish, first introduced in the original The Sims game. Simlish is a nonsense language that nevertheless communicates a Sim's emotions or reactions using tones of voice. This extends outside of characters; songs heard on the radio are also sung in Simlish.

Lifestyle

A Sim's life is very similar to a human's: after passing through infantile stages, he or she attends school, makes friends, may have a regular job, and achieve goals. Children must go to school or risk abduction by a social worker. A Teen, Adult, or Elder Sim may have a career to earn a regular salary. Advancement in career tracks, such as business and science, requires achieving certain skill levels and maintaining a certain number of family friends.

Sims form two kinds of relationships with one another: daily and lifetime. Daily relationships are influenced by recent interactions with other Sims, while lifetime relationships are reflective of a pair's relationship as a whole. Lifetime relationships strengthen over time, while daily relationships weaken without recurring interaction. Romantic relationships are realized through marriage, both heterosexual and homosexual.

Sims can die several ways. If a Sim reaches the end of the Elder life stage, he or she will die of old age. Sims can also meet premature ends by various means, such as electrocution, starving or drowning. Sims leave behind tombstones or urns, which are typically possessed by their ghosts. As long as the memoriam is left on the lot, ghosts will haunt the household. Ghosts make it harder for a Sim to live by waking up easily frightened Sims, and can also scare a Sim to death.

After death, a Sim is no longer controllable and will be removed from the control interface. Death is carried out in The Sims 2 by the NPC Reaper, equipped with the uniform scythe and robes. Sims can sometimes be saved from death if a friend begs the Grim Reaper for mercy.

Other characters

There are two types of non-playable Sims:

  • "Townie" Sims are those which are roughly equivalent to playable Sims, having jobs and other characteristics of a playable Sim, except they do not live on an actual lot. They populate the Community lots and can be interacted with just like any other Sim. With certain exceptions, any Townie may become a playable Sim if he or she accepts an invitation to move in or be married.
  • Non-playable Sims that perform specific functions are called NPCs. NPCs can be hired to work for residential lots as maids, nannies, and gardeners. There are also cashiers who work at community lots, as well as NPC Sims with special tasks, such as Firemen. Most NPCs may become a Playable Sim through union or moving in. Their role, now empty, is automatically filled by a new NPC.

Habitation

Sims inhabit neighborhoods, which are self-contained; Sims from one neighborhood cannot interact with Sims from another, unless you move the inhabited lot of the sim into the lots and houses bin, then move the selected house to the other neighborhood. In The Sims 2, three neighborhoods created by Maxis; Pleasantview, Strangetown and Veronaville, were included. Each neighborhood contains lots. There are two types of lots: residential and community. Sims live and build their homes on residential lots and may visit community lots, which house recreational hangouts, such as pools and malls. The player can also create their own neighborhood from scratch. Pleasantview is a neighborhood with many of the characters from The Sims as well as some new additions, Strangetown is a neighborhood similar to the area around Area 51 and Veronaville is a neighborhood heavily influenced by the works of Shakespeare, particularly A Midsummer Nights Dream (with a family's surname being Summerdream) and Romeo and Juliet (featuring the title characters) as well as Puck, Titian and Oberon form A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Plot

File:Sims 2 Bday.jpg
A Sim birthday party

Although gameplay is open-ended, The Sims 2 has characters with histories, and the game is designed to accommodate story-based gameplay should the player wish to do so through expanded photo album features, such as a neighborhood photo album. The three pre-loaded neighborhoods each have a storyline told through the existing photo albums and the Sims' personal biographies, though playing characters in these neighborhoods is still open-ended. The story can even be completely disregarded.

The Sims 2 is based loosely on the original plot lines of The Sims, by containing information about families extant in the first game. Several pre-loaded families in The Sims 2 have subtle clues, hinting that this game exists about 25 years after the first game.

Utilizing the complex ancestry system, The Sims 2 incorporates details that link families in this game to the first. The Broke family has a series of Newbies, a family from the first game, in their family tree. The Goth family is a canon element in The Sims games. In this game, their daughter from the first game has grown into a woman about to be married, further emphasizing the passage of time. The Goths in The Sims 2 also provide a basis for story-driven play, as a plot involving their vanished mother and an impending marriage is hinted at throughout gameplay. Other returning families from earlier games include the Pleasants and the Burbs. One of the new families was also married to Michael Bachelor, who is now deceased and also identified within the Sims 2 as being Bella Goth's brother.

History

Development

EA Games announced on May 5, 2003 that the Maxis studio had begun development on The Sims 2.[8] The game was first shown at E³ in Los Angeles, California on May 13, 2004.[8] Will Wright admits that while most of the content of The Sims 2 are original ideas, inspiration for its own expansions and constituents spawned from the successes of the first game. The community interest in the antecedent The Sims: Unleashed expansion, for example, ensured the creation of The Sims 2: Pets expansion.[9]

After development concluded, designers from Maxis regarded The Sims 2 as very capricious during creation. Bugs would appear apparently spontaneously, and Sims would be "tweaked", or have anomalies not present in a previous run.[10]

Controversy

The game's highly malleable content and open-ended customization have led to controversy on the subject of paysites and sexual modifications. Custom content is distributed through independent websites, some of which charge for downloading materials. EA has made a statement that all .package files (the files that are installed into the downloads folder) are their property, and that charging for custom content is a violation of the EULA. Some modifications, purportedly revealing sexual anatomy, sparked legal controversy. On July 22, 2005, Florida attorney Jack Thompson alleged that Electronic Arts and The Sims 2 promoted nudity through use of a mod or a cheat code. 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.[11] Electronic Arts issued a statement saying that when the blur was removed, Sims lack such anatomical definition, similar to Barbie and Ken dolls. Electronic Arts executive Jeff Brown said in an interview with GameSpot:[12]

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.

While custom content does exist to produce these anatomical structures, the creators of this custom 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, although mods to the game are rarely violations of copyright.

Reception

The Sims 2 had a successful E³ showing in 2004. In all, it garnered four awards based on that exhibit alone, and two more upon further review. The Game Critics awarded the game Best Simulation Game at E³ 2004.[13] GameSpot, GameSpy, and IGN also awarded The Sims 2 their Best of Show at E³ 2004 designation.[14][15][16] The game also received the Editor's Choice Award from IGN and GameSpy upon final review of the finished product.[17][18] From 71 online reviews, the average score was 90 out of 100. Seven of those sources awarded the game a 100 out of 100 score.[19]

In addition to its awards, the Sims 2 creator, Will Wright was recognized by being nominated at the Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards for Visionary and Game Developer.[20] The game was also nominated for two international awards, Best PC Game, 2005 from BAFTA, and the International Press Academy Satellite Award for Best Puzzle/Strategy Game, 2005.[21][22]

Comparison to The Sims

File:Sims 2 3D.png
A shot of Pleasantview, one of the default neighborhoods

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 earlier Sim games, such as SimCity 2000, which used dimetric projection and fixed resolutions, the camera in The Sims 2 allows the player to view things from many angles. Sims themselves are much more intricately detailed than they were in The Sims. In The Sims, Sims are 3D meshes, but The Sims 2 introduces far more detail in mesh quality, texture quality, and animation capability. A Sim's facial features are customizable and unique. The player can adjust, for example, a Sim's nose to be very large or very small in The Sims 2's Create-a-Sim. Texturing is still achieved through use of raster images, though it appears more lifelike. Movements are more smooth, natural and true to humans and Sims are in general more animated. The Sims 2 uses the Pixomatic rendering engine.

There is also an increased realism in gameplay. Sims have new experiences unavailable in The Sims, such as aging and eventual death. Sims can become pregnant and produce babies that take on genetic characteristics of their parents, such as eye color, hair color and personality traits. Additionally, babies in The Sims 2 progress through life stages to become adults, while babies in The Sims only become children before ceasing to continue aging.

Game customization

File:Sims2Bodyshop.jpg
The Sims 2 Bodyshop allows more customization of facial features than the Create-A-Sim feature within the game itself.

The Sims 2 is an extremely malleable game. Modders alter the game in ways as simple as creating new floor texture or as complicated as writing entire 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.

The "Sims 2 Body Shop" is a program shipped with The Sims 2 that allows users to create custom clothing and body recolors, such as eyes, hair and skin tone. These custom created parts can be imported directly into the game, or can be uploaded onto the official The Sims 2 Exchange. These parts can be then added to other users' games.

Two elements that propagate customization are the official Sims 2 Exchange and the extensive network of fansites that distribute content. More than 250,000 Sims and lots have been uploaded to the Sims 2 Exchange on the Official Site. Some fansites require either a one-time fee or a subscription to access some or all of the content on the site. Most of the sites do not charge for usage; some however, do allow voluntary donations to offset the cost of website maintenance.

Game editions and add-on releases

For the PC, there have been three released editions of the core game, five released expansion packs and six released stuff packs. Many of these have been ported to Mac OS X by Aspyr. The Sims 2 has also been released for a number of game consoles.

Core game

Name Windows Release date (USA) Aspyr Media, Inc. Mac OS X port Release Features
The Sims 2 September 14, 2004 June 13, 2005 First release of the core game
The Sims 2: Special DVD Edition September 17, 2004 n/a Core game, Bonus DVD content
The Sims 2: Holiday Edition (2005) November 17, 2005 n/a Core game, content from The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack
The Sims 2: Holiday Edition (2006) November, 2006 n/a Core game, content from The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff
The Sims 2: Deluxe[23] May 8, 2007 n/a Core Game, The Sims 2: Nightlife, Bonus DVD

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", a new mythical creature (e.g. zombies in University and vampires in Nightlife), and over 100 new objects. Five expansion packs have been released so far, with another announced.

Name Windows Release date (USA) (EU) Mac OS X port Release Major Additions New NPCs
University March 1, 2005 March 2, 2005 December 12, 2005 College Towns, Young Adult life stage, lifetime want, pranks, Influence, four graduate careers, Zombies Baristas, variety of university staff (professors, cheerleaders, etc)
Nightlife September 13, 2005 September 13, 2005 March 27, 2006 Dating/outing, "Downtown" community area, Pleasure and Grilled Cheese Aspirations, chemistry, drivable cars, Vampires Gypsy Matchmaker, variety of "Downtown" employees (waiters, etc)
Open for Business March 2, 2006 March 2, 2006 September 4, 2006 Businesses, shopping districts, talent badges, robots, elevators Reporters, barber shop crew
Pets October 17, 2006 October 20, 2006 November 6, 2006 Dogs, Cats, Birds, Womrats, pet store lots, Werewolves Animal Control Officers, Obedience Trainer
Seasons February 28, 2007 March 2, 2007 June 11, 2007 Weather system, Outerwear, Riverblossom Hills neighborhood, fishing, gardening, additional careers, PlantSims Garden Club Members, Penguins
Bon
Voyage		 September 5, 2007 September 7, 2007 TBA Hotels and Vacations in Tropical, Oriental and Woodland (Camping) Settings[24] Fire Dancers & Ninjas [25]

Stuff packs

Main article: The Sims 2 Stuff packs

Stuff packs are add-ons to the base game that add only new objects. There are currently six released. 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.

Name Windows release date (USA) Mac OS X port Release Major components
Holiday Party Pack November 17, 2005 N/A Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa
Family Fun Stuff April 13, 2006 April 30, 2007 Fairy tale, Nautical
Glamour Life Stuff August 31, 2006 June 2007 Luxury, Couture
Happy Holiday Stuff November 7, 2006 Fall 2007 Similar to Holiday Party Pack, with Asian holiday elements
Celebration! Stuff April 3, 2007 [26] N/A Celebrations, Fiestas (Weddings & Birthdays)
H&M Fashion Stuff June 5, 2007 [27] N/A Latest fashion collections from H&M

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mac OS X system requirements". Aspyr Media. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  2. ^ "Windows system requirements". EA Games. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  3. ^ Walker, Trey (2002-03-22). "The Sims overtakes Myst". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  4. ^ IMDb. "The Sims 2 trivia". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  5. ^ Thorsen, Tor (2006-11-02). "Sims 3, next-gen Black, new SimCity & LOTR coming". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  6. ^ Orry, James (2006-03-11). "Three new Sims games in development". Pro-G Media, UK. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  7. ^ Adams, Dan (2004-09-10). "The Sims 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  8. ^ a b "EA Announces Plans For The Sims 2". The Sims 2 Press Release. 2003-05-05. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  9. ^ "Will Wright Speaks Simlish". GameSpy. 2005-02-27. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Lucy (2004-08-31). "Zany Outtakes from the Cutting Room Floor". Maxis, mirrored at GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  11. ^ CNN (2005-07-28). "'Sims' content criticized". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2007-03-01. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ Surette, Tim (2005-07-02). "Sims 2 content "worse than Hot Coffee"". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  13. ^ "Best of E3, 2004 Winners". The Game Critics Awards. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  14. ^ "Best of E3, 2004 Winners". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  15. ^ "The Annual GameSpy E3 Awards!". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  16. ^ "PC Best of E3 2004". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  17. ^ "The Sims 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  18. ^ "The Sims 2 Review". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  19. ^ "Main Reviews Breakdown". Gamerankings.com. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  20. ^ "Billboard 2004 Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  21. ^ "Latest Winners and Nominees". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  22. ^ "10th Annual SATELLITE Awards" (.doc). International Press Academy. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  23. ^ "Official TS2 Site". 2007-04-12. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  24. ^ The Sims website with announcement of the Bon Voyage expansion
  25. ^ http://www.thesims2.co.uk/products.view.asp?id=68 UK Bon Voyage homepage
  26. ^ "The Sims™ 2 Celebration Stuff Videos". Maxis. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
  27. ^ "The Sims™ 2 H&M Fashion Stuff". Retrieved 2007-04-26.

Official site

Producer journals

Resources


Template:SimUniverse

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