The Sims 2 - Alien Abductions, Male Pregnancies, and Sex with the Help
Written: Oct 14 '04 (Updated Sep 19 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great graphics and many new interactions.
Cons: Some things are missing. Few glitches in the game.
The Bottom Line: The Sims 2 is a very fun and entertaining game. People who enjoyed the first game should like this one.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: The Sims¿ 2 for Windows |
A few years ago I learned about a computer game that sounded really interesting to me. That game was the original Sims. I eventually got the game, and even though I had some issues with the computer I had at the time, I did enjoy the game. I was able to enjoy it more once I got my new computer. I have played Sims off and on since I first got the game, and I have the expansions as well. It was very easy to get addicted to the game. I first heard about the new game, The Sims 2, sometime last year. Since then, every so often I would read some things about the game and see screen shots that looked amazing. I knew that I wanted the game, but I was thinking I would wait a little while before getting it. Three or four days after the game was released, I spotted it in the store and came home with it. I have been playing the game almost every day since then and really enjoying it.
The original Sims game, made by Maxis and released by EA Games, went on to become a very popular computer game, with several expansions, an online version, and a version for Playstation 2. Most people probably have heard of Sims, but I do realize that some people may not know what the game is about. In the game players control the lives of simulated people. A few families came with the game, and there was the option to create new characters. Each sim had basic needs, like hunger, energy, and fun, that the player needed to fill. The sims could look for jobs, which would let them earn money so they could move to a bigger house with nicer items. The expansions offered new things for the game, like the ability to give parties, go on dates and vacations, have pets, become a super star, or have magic items. In The Sims 2, you do the same basic things along with several new things.
There are two different versions of The Sims 2 available. There is a DVD edition and a CD edition. The CD version has four discs for the game. The DVD version has the game on one disc and a second disc that has bonus material like interviews, hints, and outtakes for the game. I decided to get the DVD version. I preferred to have one game disc to deal with instead of four. The game is rated T, so parents should check out the game before letting younger children play it. There are some things possible in the game that parents may not want their kids exposed to.
The Sims 2 is a large game that requires a lot of RAM and a powerful graphics card to run correctly. My computer, a Dell Dimension 4400 Computer, is just over two years old now. My graphics card is older, but it was still within the requirements for the game. People should check out what is required for the game and what their system has before spending the money on the game. To have the game run smoothly, people really need to have more than the minimum requirements on their computer. Some people may need to download a new driver for their video card to get the game to run properly. I have a friend that had to do that. I haven’t had any major problems with the game. It does slow down every once in a while, but it hasn’t been too annoying for me.
System Requirements for the DVD edition - taken from the box
Windows XP, Me, 2000, or 98
800 MHz or faster CPU
At least 256 MB of RAM
At least 8x DVD drive
At least 3.5 GB of free space on the hard drive
DirectX 9.0 compatible video and sound cards
The video card must have at least 32 MB of memory and be at least an ATI Radeon 7200, or NVIDIA GeForce2
I had no trouble installing my copy of The Sims 2. The book that came with the game did say you should turn off any anti-virus software and defrag the computer before installing to make sure the game installs properly. I put the disc into my DVD drive and it started automatically. While the game was installing, there was a little game to play. It took about five minutes for the game to install on my computer. I have read that installation took longer with the CD version.
The Sims 2 loads in one to two minutes on my system. That gets the game to the main screen. From there, you must pick the neighborhood, and then which house you want to play in at that time. There is loading time when entering a neighborhood, house, or traveling to a community lot. I think the load time for those things is about one minute as well, but I haven’t timed it. There is a short delay when saving the game and leaving a house to return to the neighborhood or main screen. The game runs smooth for me, though it does occasionally pause or slow down when I’m playing.
The Sims 2 has 3-D graphics, which are a big improvement over the first game. Things do look much better in this game. The water in swimming pools is clear so you can see below the surface. There are reflections in the mirrors. There is an option with the game settings where the level of the graphics can be changed. Low, Medium, and High are the options. I have been satisfied with how the game looks on my computer, though I do know that things probably look even better for people who have a newer graphic card. I do know there that are some cut scenes that are triggered at different times in the game that I haven’t been able to see because of my older card.
To go along with the better graphics, the camera movement has changed. In the first game, you could rotate the view and zoom in, but you could only get so close. In The Sims 2, you can zoom in much closer. The controls for the camera are a little different and it took me a little while to get use to them. I still sometimes have some trouble, but I have gotten the hang of it now. The scroll button on the mouse is used for certain camera movements, something I am still adjusting to since it did nothing in the first game. If you get the camera in the right position, you can actually see the food sitting in the refrigerator when they open it. When building or buying items, there is a way to check and see how it will look during the day and at night. While playing the game, there is the option to take pictures of things or even make movies of what is going on with the sims.
The main screen for The Sims 2 gives the player the option of picking which neighborhood they want to play or going through a tutorial that covers the basics of the game for people who haven’t played the original game, as well as showing what is new. I did go through some of the basic ones just to get familiar with the different look before going into the new things. There is also the option of creating a neighborhood. People who have Sim City 4 can design a neighborhood in that game and then import it in to The Sims 2. I don’t have that other game, so I have no idea how that works. The lots in the neighborhoods can be for residential or community. Parks or stores can be set up on the community lots. There aren’t any restaurants for the community lots though. Some decorative items can be placed on lots from the neighborhood view. Most of those things have to be placed on empty lots. Players can build homes and shopping centers themselves.
There are new building tools in the game, including the ability to have basements and decks for the houses. The houses can have up to five floors. I’m still getting use to being able to have larger houses and I sometimes forget there are more than two levels. Doors and windows can be set in diagonal walls, but furniture still can’t sit diagonally. I have added onto some of the houses that came in the game. There is a new eyedropper tool that has made that easier. With the eyedropper, you can click on something like the outside wall and be able to place that same design on the new wall. That makes it much easier to get the new addition to match the original house.
Building a house is a little different in the game, and I’m still adjusting to the new things. I was never able to build elaborate houses in the first game. The few I built were rectangles, and I just divided up the space for rooms inside. I haven’t managed anything better in this game yet. There are some houses that came with the game that no characters are living in and there are some available to be placed on empty lots. Some of the houses that came in the game, especially the ones that are in the budget when first starting, aren’t laid out the best or the rooms are too small for basic items. The need for some more room is why I have added onto a few houses. The lots are different sizes though, and there is very little room for additions on some lots. Players can also download lots from the internet to import into the game. Players can go onto a lot from the neighborhood view to build a new structure or modify one that is already there. Building has been taking me longer to master, but it was that way with the first game as well. I’m just not good at designing a house, but it could be easier for some people. I do want to experiment more with building and see if I can create something that isn’t just a big rectangle.
Landscaping can be done from the build menu, which is accessible from the control panel that is at the bottom of the screen. Icons represent the different things players can do from the panel, like enter build or buy modes, or go into live mode where they control the sims. There are different options for trees, shrubs, flowers, and even some decorative items. Pools are added from this menu as well. There is no way to make a round or unique shaped pool. They all end up being squares or rectangles. Players can make the pools as big as they want, provided there is enough room left on the lot. I think it is possible to create indoor pools, but I haven’t tried that yet.
The buildings can be furnished as soon as they are built by accessing the buy mode. The items in buy mode are organized better so it is easier to find what I am looking for. There are different color options for some items which is nice. There aren’t too many items available yet. I do miss some of the things that aren’t in the game yet. When I first got the game, I was disappointed by the lack of some items. I am still disappointed that there are no pets. I do enjoy the game, but I wish that there were a few more items and options in the game. People were able to create items for the first game, and there were several sites that offered downloads of items. So far, that isn’t possible with this game. Maxis has said that they are developing tools that users could use to create their own content, but they haven’t seen when those tools will be ready.
After a neighborhood is picked and loads up, the player can go to one of the families that came in the game, or go into Create a Sim and create their own characters. There are several more options to customize or change when creating a character, including the shape and size of different facial features. When creating a sim, the player needs to decide how to distribute the different personality traits for the sims. The sim will act differently depending on how those traits are distributed. A messy sim will leave dirty dishes around, pass gas, and hate to clean. Neat sims will automatically clean up after themselves and even have fun when cleaning. Adult playful sims will play pirate in the bathtub. Sims with certain traits will be able to gain some skill levels faster than others. People living together in a house can be either relatives or roommates, but they will all have the same last name. The families can be moved to a different neighborhood, but if that is done, they lose all the friends they made before the move.
There are several families that come in The Sims 2. I have messed around with several of them, but I still haven’t gotten to a few of them yet. Certain things have been set up in the families. People can choose to go along with what was planned, or do things differently. I’ve done both in different situations. There are also some families waiting to be moved into a house. Every family starts out with $20,000 in sim currency to find a place to live and furnish it. There can be up to eight people living on one lot. If a player starts out with a family of eight, they will still only get $20,000 to start with, which doesn’t seem right to me. I think it would make more sense to add to the money for additional family members. It does take more money to take care of a larger family. If the player finds it too difficult to set up a family with the starting funds, there are a few money cheats that can be used to add money to their bankroll.
It can be difficult to manage several sims in one house. I think it is better to start off with fewer members at first. In the original game, the biggest family I played had three members. I have a few families in the game that have four or five members. It took me a little while to get to where I could manage several efficiently. I did manage to get one family of four in a bit of a mess when I first got the game since I wasn’t use to managing four adults at once.
The Goth family, which was in the original game, is also in this game. There is another child, Alexander, Cassandra is an adult, Mortimer is an elder, and Bella is missing. She is supposed to be in the game waiting to be found, but I haven’t had any luck with that yet. There have been many rumors floating around online about where Bella is. The developers said she was in the game and could be found in a specific area. Once found, she could become friends with other sims and be asked to move in. As far as I know from a board about the game that I visit, no one has found her and gotten her moved in anywhere, but there are some bizarre theories. At a recent chat, Maxis said she will be easier to find once they release a patch for the game. It is rather frustrating that the makers said she was in the game and could be found before it was released, but now say a patch is needed to find her. I haven’t looked for her as extensively as some people. I have a friend that is very frustrated that she can’t be found. The Newbie family, which was the tutorial family in the first game, didn’t make it to this game, but one of the women that came with the game is their daughter.
There are many things for the sims to interact within The Sims 2. They can watch tv, talk on the phone, use a computer, paint, play a piano, and many other things. Some items, like the computer, have several interactions available. To get a sim to use an object, you just need to click on the object. That will cause the options to pop up to be picked from. Click on the option for what you want the sim to do. It is very easy to control the sims. Certain interactions, like going to work or school, will pop up for the sim to do automatically. The player can decide to cancel out an action. At the top left of the screen, there will be little boxes with pictures in them representing what the sim is doing or set to do next. The player can just click on one of those boxes to cancel out the action. Sometimes it is necessary to cancel a current action, like studying, to get the sim to move onto the next thing. There are new interactions between the characters as well. To interact with another sim, just click on them, and the available options will be shown. The game play is much like it was in the original game, there are just new options. Controlling the sims is easy to catch onto. I think that people that are new to the game should be able to figure that part out fairly quick. Building is probably the thing that will take the longest to catch onto. I don’t have problems with controlling the sims, but I have had trouble getting everyone’s needs filled when there are several in a house. I have learned that more bathrooms are needed to keep things moving along when there are several sims in one house.
A small icon will show a picture of each member of the household in the control panel. Double clicking on the icon will cause that sim to become centered in the screen. Clicking on another icon allows the player to control another member of the household. There is no way to control visitors to a house, or easily find them if they wonder off from the sim that invited them over. I did loose a visitor in one house when I first got the game. I forgot that the house I was at had three floors instead of two, and I thought the friend had gone home. He showed up again later and started to talk to someone else in the house. I am guessing he went to the third floor. Another time, I had a sim invite a friend to a community lot. Once they were on the lot, I lost track of the friend. I do wish there was an easier way to find friends in a house or on a community lot. I don’t mind not being able to control visitors, but it would be nice if there was some little icon that would appear for visitors that you could click on to locate them on the lot. If visitors aren’t constantly interacted with, they tend to take off for some part of the lot. They will do things without being asked, like watch tv or get in a hot tub or pool, so those are good places to look if you lose a visitor. If there isn’t food served, the visitors will leave after so long. If food has been served, the visitor will help themself to a plate and stay longer.
When the player controls a family, they still have to fill their basic needs and get them to learn new skill levels. The sims take care of themselves a little better, but they have to be told to study to learn a skill. As a sim gains more levels for a skill, they get better at the skill. The skills are tied to promotions once a sim has a job. Cleaning is a new skill in the game. Sims can actually clean things in the house, or they can study cleaning from a book. Mechanical skills and cooking can be learned from studying or actually doing the action. There is also a new cooking channel that the sims can watch on tv to gain cooking skills. If their cooking level is low, there is a very high chance they will cause a fire when they try to cook. As the sims gain more cooking levels, they learn to make different dishes. You can tell what the sim is eating. When a sim wants to eat, they can cook one serving, serve several servings, or just get a snack. If they cook, you can pick what they cook. Sims will need to buy groceries every so often. They can order over the phone or computer for delivery, or go shopping on one of the community lots.
If a sim is in a bad mood, they might refuse to study or do what will make them learn a new skill. A sim can be in a bad mood if their needs get too low. Children and teenagers have homework to do. They can leave the homework laying anywhere on the lot, so it is a good idea to keep a close eye on them when they get home. If they don’t do their homework, their grades will go down. Once sims reach certain levels, they will be able to meditate and do yoga. When a sim meditates, their need levels freeze. Sims can dance with others or alone. If they dance with others, their dancing improves, and they eventually learn new dance moves. I don’t think dancing increases any other levels. Sims need to exercise to gain body points but to also stay in shape. Sims can get fat now. That happened to a few of mine before I had them workout. There are more options to work out as well. The weight bench is back, though it is better with more options. Sims can also work out to the tv or radio.
Sims didn’t age in the first game. There was an option to pick the general age when creating a character, but they never grew older. If a married couple had a baby, the baby showed up in the house and after a few days would be a child. There were no teenagers in the game. All that has changed in The Sims 2. Sims age and can now die of old age. The different stages of life in the game are baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult, and elder. The sim will stay in each stage for a certain number of days before moving to the next stage. Once they become an elder, there is no set time limit before they die. How much longer they live depends on how they lived their lives before that point. There is a spot on the control panel that will tell how many days until the move to the next age level, or once they are elders, how many days they have been alive. Sims will have memories of certain events from their life.
In the original game, it did seem like the days passed a bit too fast to get everything done. That seems to have been fixed for this game, though there have been times when I felt a little rushed getting them to work or school on time. I do wish they stayed an adult longer than they do. It is difficult to raise kids, gain new skill levels, and move up the job tracks in the amount of time they are adults. There is a way to turn the aging off for a house. I have done that at times. There is also an item in the game that will help with aging if it is used at the correct time.
The sims can have sex, but it is called woo hoo in the game. It is possible for unmarried sims to woo hoo, and affairs are possible. Sims can woo hoo in any double bed, hot tubs, and changing booths on community lots. The sims are hidden under covers, the water of the hot tub, or inside the booth when they woo hoo, so nothing graphic is shown. When sims woo hoo in beds or hot tubs, there could be the option to try for a baby. If it is successful, the woman will be pregnant for three days. She does gain weight and her needs can change quickly. Genetics of the parents determine what the child will look like. Later in life, it is possible to change their appearance, like hair style or even color in the mirror, but that doesn’t change their genetics. When a sim becomes pregnant, there is a small chance twins will be born. I have read some interesting theories that people came up with for how to get sims, but I think it is all just chance. When sims undress for certain activities, like bathing, a censor patch shows up covering certain areas of the bodies. The censor patch also shows up when the use the bathroom even though they do that fully clothed.
Sims can die of old age or a number of other ways. They can get sick from eating bad food, and they do get the flu. Every member of one house in my game came down with the flu once, but they recovered. It is possible for the sims to die of illness. When a sim dies, the grim reaper will show up. If there is another person on the lot with a good relationship with the dead character, they can try to plead with the reaper to spare that other character. It doesn’t always work. If a sim dies of old age, their friends or relatives can’t try to plead with the reaper. If a sim dies inside, an urn will be left. It can be moved to the yard, where it becomes a tombstone. After death, a sim can come back as a ghost and haunt the lot where they died. Some ghosts, depending on how they died or what has changed in the house since their death, will be angry. Sims don’t normally see ghosts unless the ghosts scare them. Ghosts are different colors depending on how they died and they do different things. The ghost of a sim that drowned will leave little puddles of water all around. A sim can be scared to death if their levels are low enough when they see a ghost.
Babies don’t do very much in the game and the player can’t control them. The other sims can hold them, feed them, change the diaper, give them a bath, and put them in the crib or take them out. Once they are toddlers, they can do more, and it is possible to control them. Adults gain a few more interactions with them, liking playing. Adults can also teach the toddler to walk, talk, and potty train them. Toddlers will crawl around and cry when they are hungry or need a clean diaper. There are some toys for toddlers that cause them to gain some skill points while having fun.
Children go to school five days a week. They do get the weekends off, something that wasn’t in the first game. I don’t remember them having homework either. Children can’t use toddler toys. Children can watch tv, use the computer, talk on the phone, clean, study, go swimming, paint, play chess and several other things to gain skill levels. They can’t cook, but there is a toy stove they can use to make muffins that are edible and gain cooking levels. If children, toddlers, or babies are neglected, a social worker will show up to take them away. I have read that if a child’s grades in school drop too low, that will make the social worker take the child as well. If there are several children in a home, the social worker will take all of them. Teenagers can get jobs after school, but they have to keep their grads up to keep the job. They are able to cook, and care for any babies or toddlers that may be in the house. Teens can fall in love and get pimples. I read that they were supposed to get pimples if their hygiene level went too low, but I’ve seen it happen when that need wasn’t that low. Elders can continue to work or retire from their career. If they have retired, there are some elder careers they can get into.
In addition to basic needs, the sims also have aspirations they want to fill in The Sims 2. Aspirations are wants that the sims have. They can be something as simple as talking to a relative or eating a certain food to something that is harder to accomplish, like seeing a ghost or meeting aliens. The types of wants a sim has varies depending on what their overall aspiration is. There are five aspirations for adults, and one for children and toddlers. A fortune sim wants to make a lot of money and own a lot of expensive items, knowledge sims want to learn as much as possible, family sims are focused on families, popularity sims want to be very popular, and romance sims want to woo hoo with as many sims as possible. Children and toddlers just want to grow up. Once they become teens, the player can choose which aspiration the sim will have.
If an aspiration is met, the sim receives a certain amount of aspiration points, and their aspiration meter on the control panel will rise. The points can be used to get aspiration rewards, items that can help out in different situations. There is one item that will make the sim that uses it younger if their aspiration meter is in gold or platinum. If the reward objects are used when the sim is below gold, there could be negative outcomes.
The sims also have fears. If a fear is realized, the sim will lose some aspiration points. The wants and fears randomly change every so often. The top four wants and top three fears are shown on the control panel. It will take longer to achieve some wants, and there is the possibility that the wants will change before it can be met. It is possible to lock one want by right clicking on it. That want will stay the same when the others change. There are some aspirations, like having ten children, that seem impossible to meet. Babies don’t have any wants or fears, but toddlers do. The aspiration points that toddlers and children receive can’t be used to get rewards. If the sims aspiration meter goes all the way down, they will have a break down a psychiatrist will show up to give them therapy.
Sims can read the newspaper or use the computer to find a job. There are ten career tracks, with ten jobs per track. That is the same number of jobs that started out in the original game, but many more were added through the expansions. The sim will have at least two days off from work, which is much better than having to go to work every single day like before. The hours and what days off the sim have will vary depending on the job they currently have. Sims do get promotions, which change the working hours and days off. Some promotions will require that a sim have certain levels in some skills and a certain number of friends.
Every so often, something called a chance card will pop up while the sim is at work. The card will describe a situation at work, and there are two options to pick from or to just ignore the card. If the right option is picked, the sim can gain some levels and even get promoted. If the wrong choice is picked, they can lose levels, get demoted, and even get fired. The outcome of the cards seem to be random. I have seen the same card with two different sims. I picked a different option each time, and the outcome was negative both times. The day of the week is listed by the clock on the control panel, so you will know when a day off is coming. Sims earn vacation days, though there is no way to take a vacation anywhere in the game as it is now. Once a sim reaches a certain level in their job, they will be able to get a career reward for that specific career track. The item can be used by all the sims in the house and will raise a level of some kind. Sims can make things with some items and sell those items for some extra money. Sims can earn money by selling paintings, but it could be difficult to earn enough to cover groceries and the bills that arrive twice a week. If the bills aren't paid, the repo man will come.
There are some characters in The Sims 2 that the player can’t control. Those characters are called non-playable character, or NPCs. There are male and female versions and a few different looking sims for some of the NPC characters like the maids and gardeners. All of the female maids look the same in my game though. Sims can interact with those characters and develop relationships with them. It is even possible to woo hoo with them or marry them once the relationship has grown enough. Sims can woo hoo with the maid and other NPC characters. There are a few characters in my game that are having affairs with their maids.
Once they met a character, a sim can call them on the phone to chat or invite them over. Once the relationship is high enough, options to flirt and then woo hoo will become available. Sims can meet new friends on the community lots or by chatting on the computer. Other characters will walk by the houses every so often, and it is possible to talk to them as well. No other houses can be seen from the lot while playing a family. Sims can’t decide to go to a friend’s house. They can invite the friend to go to a community lot or invite them over. There aren’t dating options. A sim’s social needs will go up if they are chatting on the computer or talking to a friend of on the phone, and the relationship will grown. It does seem to be much easier to make and keep friends.
Babies and toddlers can’t be left alone. Parents that work can hire a nanny if they will both be gone during the same hours. The nanny, like the maid, gardener, and exterminator, is contacted on the phone. There is an option for a one time visit from the nanny or the sim can have the nanny track their schedule and come whenever they are working. So far I’ve only used the nanny in one house, the one that has the two alien children. The first day the nanny came, the first child was still a baby, so there wasn’t much to do to take care of her. The nanny did feed her and put her in the crib. The nanny then proceeded to spend a lot of time in the pool and ate a lot of food. Other days when the nanny came, she wondered aimlessly around the house. She had a habit of sticking the girls in the high chair when they were tired and leaving them there to cry. The nanny wasn’t as helpful as she could have been or as I’d hoped she would be. Many people have had problems with the nanny, though I’ve read how others ended up with good nannies. There is an option to give the nanny, along with the maid and delivery people, a tip. I have read that tipping the nanny improves her work and attitude.
One of the more interesting new additions to the game for me is alien abductions. Under certain circumstances, a sim that is stargazing may be abducted by aliens. The chance of this happening is very small, and you have to be patient if you want it to happen. If that happens, they will be gone for a few sim hours before being returned and left outside the house. If a man is abducted, he will be pregnant when he is returned home. A male pregnancy progresses in the same way as a female one. The children will be green and have black eyes. One of the families that came in the game has three brothers who all want to meet aliens. One of them will go into labor right after the player enters the house. Later that first night, I did get one of the other brothers abducted, so there is a family with two alien children in my game. The oldest is now a teenager. Both were girls, and they did look similar, but the shape of the eyes for the younger girl was a bit different. There is a family that has an alien father and children that are part alien that came with the game. There is a group of single women waiting to be moved into a house that has two alien women too. So far the aliens are only in one neighborhood, but it is supposed to be possible to be abducted in any town.
There are many sounds within The Sims 2, but I think people could still play the game with the sound off. Music does play when the game is loading the different screens. It isn't anything that great, but it doesn't get on my nerves like the music to Vacation did. The ringing phone, doorbell, and beeping of the alarm clock are in the game and they all sound realistic. When a sim makes a call, there are beeps when they dial. Running water can be heard when I sim showers or is washing. Sometimes there is a noise when the sim uses the bathroom. There is a sound that will happen when something breaks. There is a unique sound for when the aspiration meter goes down and another for when aspirations are met. I think there was some sort of special sound for the abduction as well, but I've only had that happen once, and I missed most of it because I was with another family member.
If the the game is played with the sound on, it is possible to hear the sims talking. They still talk in the jibberish that was in the original game, though every once in a while I think I hear an english word. If a need gets too low, the sim will yell something. They do laugh and cry in different situations. Babies and toddlers will cry if they are hungary or need to be changed. The sims can listen to different stations on the radio or stereo. The six stations are techno, pop, metal, R & B, hip hop, and salsa. The music does sound better than it did in the original game, but the salsa music was getting on my nerves after a while. There is some way that people can insert their own song files into the game so they will play when the radio is turned on, but I have no idea how to do that. Sound can be heard when the tv is on as well. Time time, when the tv is on, there are little videos that play instead of being still pictures on the screen like there were in the original game. I think there are fewer stations to pick from on the tv though. There is supposed to be a way to add video clips to what will play on the tv, but that is something else I don't know how to do.
The Sims 2 is really a never ending game like the first one was. The game will keep going as long as you want to keep playing. Players can save their progress anytime while playing by clicking on a symbol in the control panel that opens a small menu. Clicking on the picture of the disk will save the game. People can save as often as they want, or rarely if that is their choice. When exiting a house, that option is found in the same menu. If the option to exit to neighborhood is picked, the game will ask if you want to save first. That is helpful because it reminds you to save and it gives the option of perhaps fixing a mess of some kind. I try to save before the sims head off to work. Then if a chance card pops up and things go wrong, I can exit without saving and then load the house again and do the day over. The house will be in the same place it was on the last save when the player returns. When I first got the game, I had a sim start to fix a toaster pastry for his breakfast, and then head off to work with it still in the toaster oven. The kitchen caught on fire, burning everything in the room, including the maid who just stood and waved her arms around. I decided not to save that.
There have been a few glitches in The Sims 2. One of the items in the game is a teddy bear. There have been some issues with it. I had the bear in the house with the two alien children. When the oldest became a child, she picked up the bear, and then went to do something else. The bear remained up in the air, like it was sitting on an invisible shelf or something. It was very weird looking. I had read about some trouble with the bear before it happened to me, including how the game crashed for someone after the bear started to float. As soon as the bear did that in my game, I got rid of it. I have read how some people had kidnapings and other problems in their game. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Maxis is supposed to be working on a patch to help fix the most common problems people have encountered.
I was unhappy that some items and options were left out of The Sims 2, but the game is still very entertaining and enjoyable. I can easily lose track of time and spend hours playing it. I have read that Maxis is already planning for expansions, which could be why they left some items that were popular in the original game out. I’ll probably end up getting those as they come out like I did with the original game. I am hoping that certain items will show up in the expansions. I think that people who liked the original game will also like The Sims 2.
Related Reviews
The Sims 2: University
Computer Reviews
Dell Dimension 4400 Computer ~ Dell XPS 210 Computer ~
Recommended:
Yes
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