The Sims Zone :: Knowledge Database

*Each sim has their own special DNA
*Sims can age from baby, toddler, teen, adult, old farts (old farts sooner or later die)

*You can cut your sims hair

*The kids look like their parents

*Houses can have a basement and up to 4 levels
*It is 3D

*Sims actually cook stuff such as lobster

*Each food your sim cooks you have to go gocery shoping for the ingriedents

*The higher cooking skill your sim has the more stuff they can cook

*Sims are more aware. example: If a girl sim is taking a bath in front of a window a boy sim can look in and watch

When you create your sims you will be able to chose eyes and their colour, hair syle and it's colour, make up, and with the nose, cheeks and lips you can stretch them, make them thinner or fatter, wider, etc .Your sims can age- baby/toddler/child/teen/adult/grandparent/death (you can turn the aging off)
.Sims have weekends
.Your sims will have a diary and they record special moments like their first kiss etc
.Teens, adults, and grandparents can get jobs
.Your sims will have DNA so they look like their parents
.You can have three stories to a house (not 4, that's are rumour)
.Houses can be built on hills
.Doors and windows can be placed diagonally
.There are tons more interactions! Like a 'Grandma hug' which a kid will give it's granny.
.The Sims 2 is totally 3D.
.You can zoom in very close and turn the camera round at ease (not 3 zooming in and 4 rotations)
.Sims are more life like eg they have facial expressions and fingers.
.Sims hair will swing when they walk and they will act appropriatly around different people.
.You will be able to tell if a sim is shy or lazy etc by their body language. For example, a shy sim might rub their arm or look down.
These are only a fraction of the improvements on The Sims 2, to find out more go on to www.thesims2.ea.com or www.the-sims-2.com
There you will find screenshots, videos and news about The Sims 2!
Also if you want to see some pics of creating a sim then go onto http://www.itavisen.no/art/1301209.html (it's in a different language but their are some good pictures)
As you remember in The Sims 1, beds could only be used for sleeping and "playing". In The Sims 2, beds will have even more features. Sims can just lie down on the bed and think, or read a book, and perhaps even watch TV.

Can the sims buy music for their radios?
Well, you can download any MP3 and then make playlists for the stereo or different areas of the game. So in a way, you do that for them.
Where are the possible places of "playing"? Shower, I hope. There was a mention of that in a transcript somewhere. I think at least beds (All beds, even single ones?) hot tubs, and changing booths?
Yup, the clothing booths hold some special features

is there going to be some kind of neighborhood index that allows you to just click to the neighborhood you want to go to? So you don't have to scroll through each neighborhood and go through the agonizing waits.. :)
Yes, you can select from a catalog of neighborhoods, each with a picture and a blurb about them.

Do boys tend to look more like Dad, while girls tend to look more like mom? It seems that way in the screen shots.
It's more like there are dominant features and recessive features...the more extreme you make one of the parents the more you will see those features in the children

· Fully 3D environment.
· Sims age in 6 life-cycle phases (optional)
· New Lifescore
· Children resemble parents (DNA)
· More detailed Create-a-Sim features
· Three story buildings
· Better lighting effects
· More social interactions
· Community & Residental Lots
· Better artificial intelligence for Sims (AI)
· Better reaction/interaction animations
· Facial Expressions
· New Moods (Family, Mind, Thirst)
· Placing objects on diagonal walls
· In-game object customizing
· Better building options
· Weekdays and weekends
· Buy/Build Catalog Customization
· Weather
· Multiple houses per family
· Customize Neighborhood
· In game Online Exchange Options
· Photo album (Still & Video modes)
· New (and some old) NPCs
· 18 adult careers (10 levels each)
· 7 teen/elder careers (3 levels each)
· Over 500 objects
· and much more.

Ageing, Changing and DNA
Sims in The Sims 2 now have DNA. Passing along physical characteristics and traits to their offspring, Sims both resemble and behave like their ancestors. As in real life, the appearance of the Sims now changes over time. In addition to getting older, a Sim that spends too much time on the couch will develop a paunch and a Sim that works out will enjoy rock solid abs. There are now the stages of life you Sims will age through: from a baby your Sim will go into his "toddler years" to become a child, teen, adult and finally a "geezer". For those who don't like their Sims to age and/or die of age, there's good news too: you can turn off the aging option keeping your Sims the age they started with, like in The Sims 1

. Building the Perfect Sim
Creating a Sim in The Sims 2 is a lot different than just picking a head and a body. With The Sims 2 you can choose gender, age, skin tone, hair style, facial hair, hair color, eye color, weight, height, glasses, hats, accessories, clothes, and more. This new "create-a-Sim" system will totally replace the old way of "dressing" your Sims. Make your Sims look anyway you want. No two Sims will be the same. You start by making your Sims entire appearance up from preset templates called archetypes (Caucasian, African American, Chinese, Persian, and Elf) that can be altered in a variety of ways via a lot of sub-sliders, is a great way for Sims players to make Sims that they can relate to. Than select specific features to make each Sim different and creative. In The Sims 2, The Sims will look greater than ever.
Controling and Expressing Yourself
The Sims in The Sims 2 is more aware and responsive to both other Sims and their surroundings. Sims truly come to life expressing moods and feelings through more realistic body animations and for the first time facial animations. They form complex relationships and are able to distinguish between family and friends, platonic friendships and romantic love. Designers have made the Sims' gameplay more complex in possibilities, yet much easier to manage. For example, consider nested interactions. Remember how sleeping or reading or watching television was something you were locked into? In order to take a short break to do anything else, you had to cancel that activity, do what you wanted to do, and then manually reselect the bed/couch/reading chair. Nested interactions let you perform a new action without manually interrupting any consistent action; for example, if you're already watching television on your couch, you just select the fridge to get your snack. The game automatically knows to get you up, retrieve your popcorn, and then sit your lazy self back down, munching on popcorn while boob-tubing out

Work, School, and Time
The Sims 2 has 18 career paths, with 10 levels each. These jobs are available to all adult Sims. Also Teenagers and elders have separate career paths, 7 of them to be exact with 3 levels each. Elders, upon retirement, receive a pension and will receive money and not have to work anymore. If a Sim advances far enough in a career path, he or she will earn a career reward object, letting him or her continue to hone his or her skills. There will also be weekdays and weekends, and your Sims will establish a work schedule. So while mom or dad could be working on Saturday or Sunday (or may not be working), the kids will stay home since there is no school on the weekend. While there are no specific dates, time is referred to by the weekly calendar, i.e., and ‘Your kid's birthday is next Monday.’

Life’s Big Moments
Guiding your Sims through "Life's Big Moments" takes on new importance, as players now get a "Life Score" to measure how well they are playing each individual Sim. The object is to earn a high Lifescore during your Sims' life expectancy. This isn't Maxis forcing you to play a certain way--it's Maxis just forcing you to do something. Your Lifescore will increase whenever an important event happens in your Sim’s life. Whether it's getting married or getting fired from your job or watching in horror as grandpa takes a dive into an empty swimming pool doesn't matter. Maxis knows that one of the best things about The Sims is that there's no right way to play, so by adding the concept of Lifescore to The Sims 2, the company is merely encouraging players to experiment and have fun. The decisions that players make throughout the lifetime of their Sims now have an impact on their long-term success or failure. A choice made as a toddler has a direct effect on the teen and adult Sim they become. Will players be able to successfully lead their Sims through such important events as a first step, first crush, or marriage proposal, all while the clock is ticking? The game will give events such as weddings, funerals, and birth. Babys won't just appear (like in the origanal sims), but Mom will be rushed to the hospital where after a few days she'll return with the new baby.

Building the Home of your Dreams
In The Sims 2, players are now able to build dwellings over two stories (unlike The original Sims )and have the ability to coordinate and customize the homes of their Sims to a new degree of design with all-new furniture, lighting and objects. The game brings many new build options not seen in the original Sims. You can place objects, like doors and windows, on diagonal walls. You can now build modular stairways with curves, for instance, instead of standard straight stairs. Plus, the families that you create will be aloud to own multiple homes, (AKA - vacation homes and things of that nature.) Just like in the original Sims you'll be able to create many families, and each family can have multiple homes all in the game's large neighborhood (which will have 50 lots total).

Objects, Items and Materialism
The Sims 2 will "still be a game of materialism," according to Maxis. There are more than 500 objects, as opposed to The Sims original 125." The game will have some of the old familiar objects, like sofas and beds. And will have some new objects, like a TV video game system. Also, in The Sims 2 you'll be able to customize objects while in the game. For example, if you pick a sofa that you like, you can then click on it to change the color or fabric pattern. Not only will the Sims age, objects will age as well. For example, if you buy a brand new shiny shower after many years the same shower will look grungy and yucky, and won’t work as well.

Intelligance, and Mood Motives
"The Sims 2" will bring a newer player interface, new graphics and a new artificial intelligence powering the Sims. The game's interface appears nearly identical to that of the original, though a few new "motives" (the statistics of your Sims that you need to keep track of) have been added. The "social" mood from The Sims has been broken up into "family" and "friends". A "mind" motive has been added, representing mental stimulation. So after 3-hours of TV watching your Sims "mind" will be mush, but reading will improve it. Also along with hunger you will also have to watch out for your Sims thirst.

Weather
The game will also have some new weather additions. Not only does the sun rise and set each day; your Sims may also experience rain, storms, lighting, and more. There will be hot sunny days, and cold overcast days. The different weather will not only effect how the game looks, but will also change your Sims moods, and actions. Watch out, putting your Sims in the pool during a lighting storm, could be the last thing you make them do!

Albums and Stories
"They'll be more expressive, more interesting and more lifelike, but they'll still have that funny, open-ended, chaotic atmosphere like you see in the first game," Will Wright said. Just like in the original Sims, you can create albums of your Sims lives. In The Sims 2 you'll now be able to capture Audio/Video files of your Sims for inclusion in your albums. So no longer you'll be limited to stills, but you can record great moments of your Sims lives.

Facial expressions play a great part in the new game. "Sims express love, anger, deceit, lust, despondence, and contentment with their faces.. Whether it's the 'come hither' expression on the French maid's face or the shifty, furtive look of the voyeuristic old man, these expressions make the Sims feel more like people, which then makes their stories more evocative. The game is more story telling based that the first. Maxis looked at many types of visual story-telling techniques and styles while making the game. The Sims 2 allows more emotions, action, comedy, and fun for both Sims and players.

►Sims have memory►Sims can adopt kids►Sims can gain and loose weight►Sims can loan money►Sims will now also die because of old age►Sims have days off►Sims can "play" to get baby's►Personalities are much more detailed►Sims have weddings►Sims gossip►Sims2 pools look very cool►Sims can have Divorces and Affairs

►Sims2 has community lots where you can buy clothing and groceries►Teen sims can have jobs also►Sims can get close to NPC's►Sims have DNA►Sims can have twins and triplets however those are very rare►Sims can moveout►"Geezers" have a pension►18 adult careers ►7 teen/elder careers

►Ability to place windows/doors on diagonals►Better AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Sims►Customize the facial features of your Sim with the "Create-A-Sim" feature. ►Houses can be over two stories tall►Families can own more than one house►Life score based on important events in the Sim's life (eg. first crush, first steps)►New 3-D engine brings the Sim world to a whole new dimension.►New lighting, objects and animations.►New Moods

Objects:
1. Kids will have backpacks.
2. There'll be no cell phones in the game.
3. However, it looks as if there will be cordless phones.
4. Only windows and doors can be placed on diagonal walls.
5. Stairs will be modular. We will be able to click on them and drag them out.
6. Shiny objects and mirrors will have reflections.
7. There will be above-ground and sunken hot tubs.
8. Sims can now have a console game system hooked to their televisions!
9. There'll also be a kareoke machine for Sims to enjoy.
10. Sims will be able paint a wide variety of subjects. They may even paint other Sims.
11. Sims with many creative points will have more options on the easel.
12. Sims will change their clothes in the wardrobe or by getting clothes out of the dressers (like in TS1).
13. There'll be a play oven. If the sims are unskilled in play or cooking,they might burn things.
14. The fireplaces will have mantels where we'll be able to place small objects (like vases) on them.

15. Fireplaces will have fire. There'll be chimneys and smoke. The fireplaces and chimneys will fit on the walls.
16. Some objects that are in the original Sim games will be available for TS2.Shortly after the game is released, Maxis will offer these objects for free downloading.

Answered at 21:33 on Wednesday 21 July 2004 by chris (chris2)
Answer Rating: 5.00 (2 votes)

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