The Sims 2
The Sims 2 is a 2004 strategic life simulation video game developed at the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to The Sims.
The game has the same concept as its predecessor: players control their Sims in various activities and form relationships in a manner similar to real life. The Sims 2, like its predecessor, does not have a defined final goal; the gameplay is open-ended. Sims have life goals, wants and fears, the fulfillment of which can produce both positive or negative outcomes. All Sims age, and can live to 90 sim days depending on the degree to which their aspirations are fulfilled. The Sims 2 builds on its predecessor by allowing Sims to age through six stages of life and incorporating a 3D graphics engine that allows the player to get 360º views of the game as opposed to the fixed isometric view of The Sims. Although gameplay is not linear, storylines exist in the game's pre-built neighborhoods. Pleasantview is based 25 years after the town in the original The Sims. Strangetown's storyline is based on the supernatural, and is loosely connected with Pleasantview. Veronaville's characters are based on Shakespearean characters.
The Sims 2 was released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to macOS was released on June 17, 2005. Eight expansion packs and nine stuff packs were subsequently released. In addition several console versions have been released. The Sims 2 is offered on mobile platforms, with manufacturers such as Nokia offering The Sims 2 from the Ovi Store. A sequel, The Sims 3, was released in June 2009.
The Sims 2 was a commercial success, selling one million copies in its first ten days, a record at the time. During April 2008, The Sims 2 website announced that 100 million copies of The Sims series had been sold. The Sims 2 was well received by critics, gaining a 90% score from aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings. By March 2012, the game had sold 13 million copies over all platforms with over six million PC copies, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all-time.
Gameplay
From the neighborhood view, the player selects one lot to play, as in The Sims. There are both residential and community lots, but Sims can only live in residential lots. Sims can travel to Community lots in order to purchase things like clothing and magazines, and to interact with NPCs and townies. This feature was only included in this game.The player can choose between playing a pre-made inhabited lot, moving a household into an unoccupied pre-built lot, or constructing a building on an empty lot. One novelty from The Sims is foundations.
The player switches among the "live" mode to control Sims, the "buy" mode to add, move or delete furniture, or the "build" mode to rebuild the house. Buy and build mode cannot be accessed when on a community lot, but can be opened by using the neighborhood view. It is also possible to import neighborhood terrains from SimCity 4.
The game contains some time-bound social challenges that provide a reward if successful. Sims can throw parties to gain aspiration points or invite the headmaster over for dinner in order to enroll their children in private school. Some expansion packs have new mini-games, like running a Greek house in University or dating in Nightlife. In Nightlife, each date is a challenge to keep both Sims as happy as possible while accumulating aspiration points. Various other expansion packs introduce supernatural characters which Sims can be turned into, such as Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, Plantsims, and Witches.
Sims
The main part of the game is to lead a Sim from the start of life to death. A Sim will be born when a female Sim and a male Sim try for a baby several times. The mother will spend 3 Sim days pregnant before giving birth to a baby. During Pregnancy, the belly does not expand gradually. Instead, every day, it "pops" to a bigger size. Players can name the new Sim upon birth. The baby's appearance and personality will be based on the genetics of its parents. Babies can also be adopted by calling adoption service on the phone, even by single parents, old age sims or same-gender couples. The baby will change into a toddler in 3 days, and 4 more days for the toddler to change into a child. After 8 days, the child grows into a teenager, and will live 15 days before changing into an adult. After 29 days, the Sim will become an elder. An elder will eventually die; the length of this final stage depends on the aspiration bar when they become an elder.Babies, toddlers, children, teens, and adults can be advanced to their next life stage at any time during the 24 Sim hours before they will grow up automatically. For babies, this requires using the birthday cake. Toddlers, children, teens, and adults can use the "Grow Up" self-interaction. If the University expansion pack is installed, teens have the option to go to college, where they will be young adults for approximately 24 days. Aging can be disabled via cheats.
Players will need to build up talent badges, skills and relationships with other people, so that they can be successful in their career. A player will also need to make sure a Sim is happy and well by fulfilling wants.
Pregnancy, toddlers, teens, and elders are new stages of life. Young adult is a unique age added with the University expansion. Teen Sims will become young adults once they are moved to a University, and will be adults once they leave campus, regardless of the reason.
Create-a-Sim
In The Sims 2, Create a Family is entered by clicking the "Families" button in the lower left-hand corner of the neighborhood view, then clicking the large "Create New Family" button. Clicking the button labeled "Create A Sim" will expand a tab which has the "Create a Sim" and "Make a Child" icons. "Make a Child" will be grayed out unless the family contains an adult male and adult female. Clicking the "Create a Sim" icon will generate a random adult Sim, who may be male or female which can be edited by the player.As opposed to The Sims, any age besides baby or young adult may be created. Instead of having to choose from already finished faces which include hair, it is now possible to alter the facial structure and choose any hairstyle to go with it. Different eye colors and an additional skin tone is available for the Sims as well. If Sims are older than a child, their aspiration and turn-ons/offs may be determined. As in The Sims, there are five personality traits, and 25 personality points which can be assigned to those traits. However, in The Sims 2, all personality points must be assigned. Additionally, there are twelve pre-set personalities, one for each of the zodiac signs. A zodiac sign will be set which matches the personality the player has selected for the Sim.
The Sims 2 also comes with The Sims 2 Body Shop, which enables users to create genetics, makeups, accessories, clothes, and Sims, with the help of third-party tools, such as MS Paint, Paint.NET, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Wings 3D, and SimPE.
Social interactions
There are several new social interactions introduced in The Sims 2. These new social interactions can create memories and can be related to certain age groups. Social interactions can come up in the Wants and Fears panel and can be dependent on the Sim's personality and aspiration. Sims with certain personalities may not want to complete certain social interactions.;Influencing
;Chemistry
;Fury
;Reputation
Careers
There are careers that come with the game that require skills and a certain number of friends in order for promotion. Success in these careers unlocks career rewards and higher salaries plus bonuses. Sims also receive chance cards. Correct answers to these chance cards creates rewards for Sims while incorrect answers could cause a Sim to lose its job. Nightlife and Apartment Life allow Sims to gain promotions through social interactions with other Sims.Comparison to ''The Sims''
Graphically, The Sims 2 is more detailed than The Sims and lets players view its world in full 3D. This is a change from earlier Sim games, such as SimCity 2000, which used dimetric projection and fixed resolutions, as the camera was 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, and Sims can smile, frown, and blink. The player can adjust a Sim's features in the in-game Create-a-Sim tool; for example, noses can be made to be very large or very small. Texturing is achieved through use of raster images, though it appears more lifelike.The Sims 2 characters pass through seven life stages — babies, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and elders — with eventual death of old age, while babies in The Sims only become children before ceasing to continue aging. The aspiration system is also new to The Sims 2. Sims can become pregnant and produce babies that take on genetic characteristics of their parents, such as eye color, hair color, facial structure, and personality traits as opposed to Sims, in which the baby would take on random appearance and personality. Genetics play a major role in the game, and as such, dominant and recessive genes play a larger role than they did in the original game. A player can also aspire to have a Sim abducted by aliens. Males then have the chance to become impregnated and produce after three Sim days a half-alien child.
Some of the other additions to gameplay are career rewards, a week cycle, the cleaning skill, a variety of meals, exercise clothing, body shape affected by diet and exercise, and houses built on foundations.
Easter eggs
As known, this game had many mysteries, Easter eggs and neighbourhood stories, the most interesting and well-known being of Bella Goth's disappearance to Strangetown where her memory is erased.Cutscenes
Cutscenes were another new feature in The Sims 2. There are cutscenes featuring woohoo, child birth, alien abductions, going to college, and graduation in .Development
Preliminary development on The Sims 2 began in late 2000 following the release of The Sims.EA Games announced on May 5, 2003 that the Maxis studio had begun development on The Sims 2. The game was first shown at E3 in Los Angeles, California on May 13, 2004. 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 and ' expansions ensured the creation of ' and expansions, respectively.
After development concluded, designers from Maxis regarded The Sims 2 as very capricious during creation. Bugs would appear, and Sims would be "tweaked", or have anomalies not present in a previous run.
A teaser trailer was provided on the Makin' Magic CD but was later uploaded to websites all over the Internet.
On December 15, 2012, Electronic Arts announced that the official website would be shut down on January 14, 2013. It is now no longer possible to download content from the official site, create exchanges, or participate in the official forum communities.
On July 16, 2014, Electronic Arts announced the end of support for The Sims 2. As a response The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection was released at the same time as a limited time offer. The game became available for free download from Origin exclusively following an announcement by EA that they would no longer be supporting the Game. This offer ended at 10:00 PDT July 31, 2014. EA stated that they were planning on releasing the compilation as a retail release. However, as of now, no further information has since been released or confirmed on its planned retail release date, and the game has since been removed entirely from Origin as of the end of 2017.
On August 7, 2014, Aspyr Media released The Sims 2: Super Collection as digital download exclusively available at the Mac App Store; the game was updated for OS X Mavericks, 4K and Retina. This compilation only includes the first six expansion packs and the first three stuff packs. Aspyr stated they were unable to include the remaining packs for the game due to licensing conflicts with EA. Like the Ultimate Collection, no new updates on when the remaining packs will be released separately or as a single add-on to the Super Collection have emerged.
Music
The game features music performed by Paramore, Ryan Ferguson, Trivium, Chiodos and more recording artists. The Humble Brothers contributed heavily to the game.Reception and legacy
The Sims 2 had a successful E3. The game also received the Editor's Choice Award from IGN and GameSpy upon final review of the finished product. 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. X-Play gave the game a 4/5. Computer Gaming World awarded the game as their 2004 "Strategy Game of the Year ", beating out RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, The Political Machine, and Silent Storm. However, critics noted some serious bugs in the game.The Sims creator, Will Wright, was recognized by being nominated at the Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards for Visionary and Game Developer. The game was also nominated for two international awards in 2005. The Mac version of the game won an Apple Design Award in 2006. Computer Games Magazine named The Sims 2 the sixth-best computer game of 2004. The editors wrote that it is "more of a game and less of a dollhouse , but it remains a celebration of the beauty of the mundane." It also won the magazine's "Best Voice Acting" award.
The Sims 2 was an instant commercial success, selling a then-record one million copies in its first ten days. The game sold 4.5 million units within its first year, and 7 million by October 2006. It received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It received a "Double Platinum" award from the :es:La Coalición de Creadores e Industrias de Contenidos|Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento, for more than 160,000 sales in Spain during its first 12 months.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million units across all platforms with at Least six million units on PC, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all-time.
During April 2008, The Sims 2 website announced that 100 million copies of The Sims series had been sold.
Controversy
The Sims 2s malleable content and open-ended customization have led to controversy on the subject of pay sites. Custom content is distributed through independent websites, some of which charge for downloading materials. Charging money for custom content is a violation of the game's EULA, which prohibits the commercial use of Electronic Arts' intellectual property.On July 22, 2005, Florida attorney Jack Thompson alleged that Electronic Arts and The Sims 2 promoted nudity through the 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" was removed. Electronic Arts executive Jeff Brown said in an interview with GameSpot:
Prior to Thompson's statement, there was an enterable code which allowed to modify the size of pixelation accessible from the console menu. Shortly after the statement, subsequent patches and expansion packs removed the "intProp censorGridSize" code; this code had been left over from the beta testing stage of the original game and had not been intended for a public audience.
Editions, compilations, and add-ons
Many Sims games have been ported to OS X by Aspyr. The Sims 2 has also been released for a number of video game consoles including the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo GameCube.macOS version
macOS ports of the base game, the first six expansion packs, and the first three Stuff Packs have been released by Aspyr Media. The port for the base game was announced on October 19, 2004. The Sims 2 had reached beta status on March 1, 2005, and was released on June 17 the same year. It was, at release, compatible with Mac OS X Panther and above on PowerPC Macintosh systems. The Sims 2 Bodyshop was also available for macOS. Aspyr Media released The Sims 2 with all ported expansions and stuff packs as The Sims™2: Super Collection for Intel Macs in 2014. The game is available for purchase on the Mac App Store for OS X 10.9 Mavericks and above.Console versions
The console versions of The Sims 2 featured local splitscreen multiplayer, a story mode and an option to control game characters directly, as opposed to queuing options as is traditional Sims gameplay.Handheld versions
Game Boy Advance version
The Game Boy Advance version of The Sims 2 takes place in Strangetown, and shares a similar GUI to its predecessors. Players are guided through a goal-oriented game based on the reality television concept in which partitions of the game are divided into "episodes". Characters from the previous handheld sims games also appeared.Nintendo DS version
The Nintendo DS version of The Sims 2 begins with the player's car breaking down in Strangetown. Upon arriving, an anonymous donor grants the player the deed to a hotel which can be operated and customized at the player's discretion. The player's job is to bring life back into Strangetown by encouraging people to come to the hotel, which players can do by upgrading it and making the guests happy. There are several ways in which a player can make Strangetown a nicer place, but is up to the player to find them. Unlike most games in the Sim series, this one takes place in real-time.PlayStation Portable version
The PlayStation Portable version of the game is played in third person. There is more of a solid storyline the player is required to navigate through in order to unlock most of the things available in the other versions. The option to build your own home is replaced by a pre-built home where you can customize the furniture and decor. Conversation is carried out via a mini-game function. The player's character does not age, nor are they able to marry or have children. Relationships are mainly used for the point of solving goals, though a close friend may "move in" with the player after progressing in the game.The game begins with the player's character driving through the Strangetown desert, presumably 'Road to Nowhere' in their car, when suddenly a flying green diamond flies towards the player and causes them to lose control of, and damage, their car. Fortunately, the player finds a gas station. The player takes their car into the garage. At that point the player takes control. The player is introduced to a vehicle mechanic named Oscar who, after a brief tutorial in teaching the player how to talk to NPC Sims, informs the player their car will only take a short while to fix.
The player is then free to roam around the gas station, and after being introduced to some more NPCs, including Bella Goth, who claims to be abducted by aliens, completing tasks and being taught the basic objective of the game which is 'Secret Hunting' for the store clerk. The player then exits the shop only to find the garage around the back has completely disappeared along with Oscar and their car, with only the foundation of the garage remaining. The only thing left from the disappearance is a cell phone, which the player answers and a man named Doctor Dominic Newlow offers the player a job, requiring him or her to get a ride into town and find a place to stay.
The player informs Police Deputy Duncan about the situation who replies that he can do nothing about it and suggests the player find a place to stay. After having bought Bella's house for pocket change and getting donuts for Deputy Duncan, the player finally gets a lift into Strangetown's Paradise Place, only to find more tasks and mysteries.
Expansion packs
The Sims 2 expansion packs provide additional game features and items. Eight expansion packs were released throughout the game's lifecycle. ' is the final expansion pack for The Sims 2.| Name | Release date | Major Additions | Neighborhoods | New NPCs | New Lifestate/Creature | New Careers |
| Windows: Mac OS X: December 12, 2005 | Announcement: November 23, 2004 Universities, Young Adult age group, Influence system | Campus: La Fiesta Tech, Sim State University, Académie Le Tour | Barista, Bartender, Cafeteria Worker, Cheerleader, Coach, Evil Mascot, Mascot, Professors, Streaker | Zombies | Natural Scientist, Paranormal, Show Business, Artist | |
| Windows: Mac OS X: March 27, 2006 | Announcement: April 5, 2005 Dates, Groups system, Outings, Pleasure and Grilled Cheese aspiration, New relationship states, ownable cars, Attraction system | Downtown: Downtown | Gypsy Matchmaker, Waiter, Chef, Bartender, DJ, Mrs. Crumplebottom, Vampires | Vampires | - | |
| Windows: Mac OS X: September 4, 2006 | Announcement: January 4, 2006 Businesses, talent badges | Shopping District: Bluewater Village | Reporters, Barbers | Servos | Shop Employees | |
| Windows: Mac OS X: November 6, 2006 | Announcement: July 27, 2006 Ownable Pets | - | Animal Control Officers, Obedience Trainer, Wolves, Skunks | Werewolves | Pet careers: Security, Showbiz, Service | |
| Windows: Mac OS X: June 11, 2007 | Announcement: December 12, 2006 Weather system, Seasons, fishing, new talent badges, gardening | Main: Riverblossom Hills | Garden Club Members, Penguins | PlantSims | Adventurer, Education, Gamer, Journalism, Law, Music | |
| Windows: Mac OS X: December 17, 2007 | Announcement: July 26, 2007 Vacations in different cultural areas | Vacation: Twikkii Island, Three Lakes, Takemizu Village | Fire Dancers, Hotel Maids, Bellboys, Masseurs, Wise Old Man, Pirate, Tour Guides, Unsavory charlatan, Witch Doctor, Ninjas | Bigfoot | - | |
| Windows: | Announcement: January 17, 2008 Hobby system, lifetime aspiration system, new talent badges. | Main: Desiderata Valley Secret: Hobby | Hobby Members, Rod Humble, Hobby Leaders, Food Judge, Genie | Genie | Oceanography, Intelligence, Entertainment, Dance, Architecture | |
| Windows: | Announcement:' June 5, 2008 Rentable apartments, reputation system, witchcraft system | Main: Belladonna Cove Secret: The Magical World'' | Butler, Landlord, Roomies, Breakdancers, Street Performers, Social Group Sims, High Witch of Light/Darkness, Spectral assistant, Human statues | Witches, Warlocks | - |
Stuff packs
Stuff packs are add-ons that intend to add only new items to the base game. However, some releases include certain gameplay elements introduced in previous expansion packs. There are ten total stuff packs. However, The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack served as the pilot release for this line of products, which were called "booster packs". After the success of the pilot release, EA named the releases "stuff packs" and launched the line with The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff. The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff is the final stuff pack for The Sims 2.| Name | Release date | Includes |
| Holiday Party Pack | Windows: | Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year themed stuff, plus new NPCs: Santa Claus, Father Time, and Baby New Year |
| Family Fun Stuff | Windows: Mac OS X: April 30, 2007 | Family-oriented Fairy tale, outer space and nautical themed items mainly for children's bedrooms |
| Glamour Life Stuff | Windows: Mac OS X: June 1, 2007 | Luxury, couture and glamour themed objects, floors and walls |
| Happy Holiday Stuff | Windows: Mac OS X: September 4, 2007 | All items from Holiday Party Pack plus added Asian and European holiday themed stuff |
| Celebration! Stuff | Windows: | Wedding themed hairstyles, fashions and accessories, furniture, and other party enhancers |
| H&M Fashion Stuff | Windows: | Fashion collections from H&M and H&M branded build objects |
| Teen Style Stuff | Windows: | Goth, Thrasher and Socialite themed stuff for teenagers' bedrooms, teenage haircuts and new teenage clothes |
| Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff | Windows: | Kitchen and bathroom objects, floors, walls and clothing items |
| IKEA Home Stuff | Windows: | Fashionable furniture, floors and walls from the styles of IKEA |
| Mansion & Garden Stuff | Windows: | Items featuring three new decorative themes |
Core game editions
Expansion-only compilations
Compilations of expansion packs and stuff packs without the core game have also been released.| Name | Release date | Includes |
| University Life Collection | Windows: | ', ' and The Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff. |
| Best of Business Collection | Windows: | ', ' and '. |
| Fun with Pets Collection | Windows: | ', The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff and . |
Downloadable content
Pre-order content
Most of expansion packs and stuff packs were released with pre-order items. This game content was redeemable at the official site using a code supplied by the retailer from which the player purchased, each retailer was often associated with an exclusive download. A total of 60 pre-order items were released.The Sims 2 Store
The Sims 2 Store was an online store where players of The Sims 2 for PC could purchase and download content for their game online for additional fees. It offered objects, clothing, skins, and hairstyles that are both exclusive to the store and also come from earlier expansion and stuff packs.It also had featured seven exclusive item collections that could only be found in the store. The store used a point system that players can purchase. It was opened from July 2008 to March 31, 2011 as a beta version limited to the United States and Canada. To download, players must install The Sims 2 Store Edition and the EA Download Manager. The exclusive collections were "Cubic", "Art Deco", "Spooky", "Castle", "Asian Fusion", "Art Nouveaulicious" and "Oh Baby", including a total of 471 items.
The Sims 2: Store Edition and the savegame can't be used with The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection.