The Sims 2

A couple kissing in The Sims 2: Nightlife

What is it?
The sequel to The Sims, 2004, Windows and Mac OS X. This game is from the United States.
What computer will it run on?
A Pentium IV, depending on the video card; a Mac Mini.
Tags
Surround Gaming, 3D.

Sims have shadows and reflections, hands with fingers, they grow up, get pregnant, age and die (many players think they age to quickly; there is already a patch that disables aging). These are only the most important improvements in the long-awaited sequel of The Sims.

The Macintosh version of The Sims 2 was released 2005-06-13, but we had already known the system requirements for a while (they have changed a bit, but not much, since the beta). They exactly match the specs of a basic Mac Mini. Makes you wonder if Apple designed the Mac Mini with The Sims in mind.

The new Mac Minis with Intel chips will do as well.

Transform and Lighting

For The Sims 2, it is important that your video card supports T&L (Transform and Lighting). Without it, you will nearly three times the processor power (2GHz instead of 800MHz). T&L is supported by nVidia GeForce 2 and above including the Quadro series, and ATI Radeon 7000 and above, but not by 3dfx Voodoo cards.

Here is a list of video card that support T&L:

And here is a list of video cards that do NOT support T&L:

In case you wonder what other games support Transform & Lighting, here are a few:

University Expansion Pack

The first expansion pack already came out at the end of January 2005, only four months after the release of the game itself. It was available for the Mac practically as soon as the Macintosh version of the main game came out.

Your Sims are now young adults leaving home to live the ultimate college fantasy. Immerse them in college life as they become the Big Sim on Campus. They'll relish their new-found freedom as they party with friends, join fraternities and sororities and pull outrageous pranks. Your Sims will explore all the campus hot-spots as they frequent lounges, gyms, coffee houses and more. Help them fulfill new lifetime goals to unlock more rewards and reap all of the benefits of their university years.

The University Expansion Pack is different from all the previous expansion packs (for the original Sims) in that it does not add to the main game, but instead provides a kind of additional minigame.

Nightlife Expansion Pack

This was announced on 2005-04-05. From the official press release:

The Sims 2 Nightlife takes Sims into the night to explore all of their favorite after-dark activities. Players can either head out and discover their love lives or have a crazy night out with friends. With the new dating gameplay, players will see if their Sims have chemistry with others which will determine their romantic fate. The newest addition to the game includes the brand new pleasure seeker aspiration allowing players to explore a life filled with unforgettable dates, endless nights of dancing and fine dining. Make your Sims nightlife fantasy a reality with over 125 new objects including a DJ booth, poker table and all you need to design the ultimate nightclub and VIP lounge.

"Sims fans have always wanted to take their Sims out of their homes," said Tim LeTourneau, Sr. Producer. "Now with The Sims 2 Nightlife, players will be able to take their Sims out of the suburbs and into the night while dating, hanging out on the town and staying up till dawn at all the hottest spots around town."

It came out some time in fall of the same year, just when I took a break updating this page. From the official website:

Determine The Fate Of Their Love Life
Your Sims romantic attraction is now based on personality, life aspiration and zodiac sign. Figure out their compatibility, then heat up their love life with new romantic social interactions including a longing gaze, slow dance or a dramatic dip kiss. Depending if the date succeeds or fails, your Sims might be surprised with a romantic gift or receive the ultimate hate letter.
Life Is All About Pleasure
Choose the all-new Pleasure Seeker life aspiration for your Sims. Delight these Sims in all the enjoyable sides of life; everything from great dates to crazy parties, fine dinners to hanging in the hot tub. Be aware that pleasure seeking Sims fear anything that is painful, embarrassing or an effort.
Your Sims Own Cars
For the first time ever, your Sims will be able to buy their own cars and ditch the carpool to get to work or head downtown. Drive a pick-up truck downtown or cozy up in a zippy sports car for a little after-date romance. Choose from five unique car styles and select the color. Manage your Sims' time better with the freedom to leave the house at their leisure.
Send Your Sims Out On The Town
Whether it's girls night out, or a big date, it's time to get your Sims dolled up and head out for an epic night in the all-new downtown area. What are they in the mood for? Now they can chill out at mellow lounges, dance the night away at nightclubs, enjoy candlelight dinners at fine restaurants or hit the bowling alley with the guys and become the ultimate king of the pins.
Live It Up In Fun And Style
Over 125 New Objects & Items including a DJ station, photo booth, karaoke machine and more. Exotic new Sims to mingle or date including vampires, hot waiters and more.

Open For Business

The third expansion was (I think) released on 2006-03-01. Sims can start their own businesses, beginning with lemonade stands. The Mac port by Aspyr is due out September 2006.

Create Thriving Businesses
Open up shops selling just about anything from clothing, electronics, and toys to flowers, baked goods, robots and more. Customize any business to your choosing by tailoring the store theme, layout and prices. Hire employees with high sales skills and employ independent managers to run things while your Sim is away. Watch as your business grows from a mom and pop shop into a booming empire.
Be The Boss
Train employees, promote the best, and fire the rest. Cater to different customers including browsers and loyal shoppers. Dress your Sims in outrageous mascot outfits that resemble Knights, Ninjas, Gorillas, and more. Promote your best employees, but beware of slacker workers and be prepared to lay them off without hesitation!
Learn The Tricks Of The Trade
Customer is king. Develop your Sims' sales skills and determine if your employees should use a hard sell or drop the price to close the deal. Win the Best-of-the-Best Award to establish your Sim's business rep. Will your Sim's business make more money selling low quality products at basement rates or luxurious goods at scale-tipping prices?
Turn Talents Into Cash
Arrange flowers, make toys, and create robots to catch thieves at home or clean up the shop. Develop master-skilled Sims to make the most prized and expensive goods. Settle for an entry-level crafter and churn out pet bricks or faulty toy robots. Just bring home the bacon any way you can!
More Than 125 New Items
Stock up on essentials for your Sims' business, including display cases, a beauty salon chair, a toy workbench, a floral station, cash registers, and more. Complete your shop atmosphere with awnings and elevators for easy store navigation, or matching uniforms for all employees. With all the new items, there will never be another dull day building a business!

Besides, there are other, not directly related new items, like conical roofs and configurable doors. Read the review for more details.

Family Fun Stuff Pack

New décor, new styles, new stuff—that's how the content of the Family Fun Stuff Pack that will hit the stores on 2006-04-13 is described. But isn't that what you can download from lots of fan sites for free?

Cheats

The cheat console is reached by pressing Ctrl+Shift+C. The desired cheat code is then entered. These cheats should work both in the Windows and the Macintosh version.

help
List most cheat codes. If a cheat command is added as an argument, it will display information about the indicated cheat.
exit
Close console window.
expand
Expand or contract console window.
gameVersion
Displays the game version in the cheat box. You have to enter expand first.
kaching
1,000 more Simoleons
motherlode
50,000 more Simoleons
twinzr2cute, twinsr2cute
Have twins when baby is born
deleteAllCharacters
Remove all Sims. Use this in the neighborhood view.
aging [on/off]
When off, it prevents Sims from aging.
TerrainType [desert/temperate]
Toggle terrain types. Use in neighborhood view .
intprop censorgridsize 0
Removes the censor blur. Set to 8 to return to normal. Like all the cheats, this only works for the current game session. To permanently remove the censor blur, get the Nude Patch.
intProp maxNumOfVisitingSims [number]
Use in neighborhood screen to invite more guests to a party.
moveObjects [on/off]
Objects can be placed anywhere in buy and build modes and the hand tool can move any object.
StretchSkeleton [number]
Make Sims larger or smaller. 1.0 is normal.
faceBlendLimits [on/off]
Turn off facial DNA blending in Create-A-Sim.
autoPatch [on/off]
Toggle automatic game updates.
slowMotion [0–8]
Slow motion; 0 is normal, 8 is slowest.
Vsync [on/off]
Increase game performance with some graphics glitches.
floatProp tvVolume [0.0–1.0]
Change television volume, default is 0.5.

So much for those commands that can truly be called cheats, since they somehow influence gameplay. Apart from that, there are a lot of undocumented editor features enabled with boolprop commands. In general, they will be of less interest to the average player, but I list them here anyway.

boolProp snapObjectsToGrid [true/false]
Set to false to place objects out of grid.
boolProp enablePostProcessing [true/false]
Enable postprocessing cheats. This requires a video card that supports pixel shaders.
boolprop displayNeighborhoodProps [true/false]
Set to false to remove props like rocks and towers from neighborhood
boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoads [true/false]
Set to false to remove roads from neighborhood.
boolprop displayNeighborhoodFlora [true/false]
Set to false to removes trees/plants from neighborhood.
boolprop displayNeighborhoodWater [true/false]
Set to false to remove water from neighborhood.
boolprop displayLotImposters [true/false]
Set to false to removes house graphics from neighborhood.
boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoadsWithModel [true/false]
Set to false to remove bridges from neighborhood.
boolprop lotTerrainLighting [true/false]
Set to false and lots will not light up when highlighted in neighborhood.
boolprop lotWater [true/false]
Set to false to remove removes water (ponds) from lots.
boolprop lotTerrainPaints [true/false]
Set to false to remove floorpainting on lot.
boolprop lotTerrainCanvas [true/false]
Function unknown.
boolprop carsCompact [true/false]
Set to true and cars will have more detail in neighborhood.
boolprop showFloorGrid [true/false]
Toggle grid in build or buy mode.
boolprop lotInfoAdvancedMode [true/false]
Set to trueto show lot information.
boolprop objectShadows [true/false]
Set to false to remove removes shadows on objects outside house.
boolProp guob [true/false]
Set to false to remove shadows on objects inside house.
boolprop renderSelectedSimLevel [true/false]
Set to true and walls will no longer cut away from selected Sim.
boolProp displayPaths [true/false]
Set to true to see the path where the selected Sim walks to.
boolprop displayLookAtBoxes [true/false]
Set to true and blocks appear on Sims faces and on parts where Sims look at
boolProp simShadows [true/false]
Toggle shadows for Sims
boolprop ShowLotPackageFilename [true/false]
In neighborhood, shows filename of house when lot is highlighted
boolprop locktiles [true/false]
Set to false to place floor tiles outside lot
boolprop constrainFloorElevation [true/false]
Set to false to raise and lower floor even when covered with objects
boolprop allObjectLightsOn [true/false]
Set to true to light up objects continuously instead of only when used.

Additionally, there is a cheat boolprop testingcheatsEnabled true that enables a long list of commands. It is essentially a developers tool and should be used with caution. This cheat might not work in the Macintosh version.

Shift-Click Mailbox:

make all motives static
static means still so this stops any of the motives moving
make all motives dynamic
if you have turned motives to static (see 3) this turns them back to normal
teleport here
teleport your sim here
show facial animations
make sure your looking at your sims face as you can see all animations a sim face can make
invite all neighbours
invites all neighbours around
make friends for me
you need to have a sim round your lot for this to work.
make all happy
fills all motives
make me know everyone
you know EVERYONE including NPCS
force paper delivery
paper comes
force burglar
burlar comes
force bill delivery
bill comes
force walkby
sim walks past your house
display lot value
displays lot value
DBG force create all NPCS
creates new NPCS i think
DBG force create townies
creates new townies i think
test balloons
test balloons above your sims heads
disallow visitors
no visitors to your lot
show routing eye attracters
?
trigger birthday
1 day before your desired sims birthday
interations
objects error
resets sim (not quite sure)
stop all animations on sims
stops all animations
force error
error on mailbox
create inducer
?
force visitor
visitor on lot

Shift-Click Bin:

Check Job status
?
force error
error on bin
test salavaged objects
wherever sim is he/she wil stand and start pulling objects out of mid air
reset age duration
i think this resets the sims age
make objects visible
?

Shift-Click Newspaper:

adult jobs
list all jobs available
set level to...
pick what level to start career at.
force error
error on newspaper
career awards
collect them all.

Tools, Utilities and Patches

From the beginning, The Sims 2 has been hacked more seriously than the original Sims. What it took players there years to figure out, here it was available in short time. For example:

Unfortunately, it turned out that these hacks could be spread through houses uploaded to Maxis' Sims Exchange, thus installing on the computers of players who maybe didn't want them at all. The magical espresso machine, for example, takes most of the challenge out of the game.

The Usual Downloads

Of course, there is again an enormous amount of user-created clothes and furniture.

Reviews

Links

Similar Games

In many ways, the Sims were unique and first-of-a-kind (no, make that one-of-a-kind: up to now, they have not been imitated either), this has not changed with the sequel. There is a tradition of "LifeSims" in Japan, best known probably Princess Maker; but here it is one person whose fate you decide.

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Last modified 2007-08-06