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The Sims 2 Looking Back
PurpleNightOwl
Posts: 205 Member
in The Sims 2
I've been thinking about The Sims 2 for ages ever since I stopped playing it years ago. I still have all the expansions and stuff packs, in the hope I one day can play them again. I'm playing The Sims 3 and 4 now, but I have very happy memories playing the second generation of the Sims.
Things about The Sims 2:
-There were only four hair colours; blonde, brown, red (or ginger) and black.
-There were also only four eye colours; blue, green, brown, and grey (have I missed one?)
-There was no customisation in clothes. You could have three variations of one top, bottom or outfit but it was limited. Still, there was lots to choose from.
-Tops and bottoms were only available in Everyday wear
-You could only get different hair styles and colours like pink in Live mode.
-Personalities consisted of five sliders with points. Ten possible traits were Grouchy, Sloppy, Lazy, Active, Nice, Neat, Playful, Serious, Outgoing and Shy, and also, you couldn't spend more than 25 personality points in Create a Sim.
-Lifetime Wants were randomised. Unlike The Sims 3, you had no control over your Sims long-term goals.
-Shoes were not a separate item of clothing.
-No freckles
-When setting up household relationships, Sims coupled together could only be Spouse or Roomie. No girlfriends/boyfriends.
-There were only four skin tones, and two body shapes.
-Starting funds for new families were strictly $20,000 (unless you had Apartment Life)
-No open world
-Plenty of neighbourhood customisation. You could place down as many empty lots as you desired and there were lots of pre-made homes in the SimBin to choose from. You could also add props and foliage to your neighbourhood.
-When you played on one lot, time didn't change on the other. There was no such thing as story progression (in Freetime on your Sim's birthdays, they could choose three Sims to age up with them).
-Whenever your Sim came back from a community lot, time never changed at home. That could be a blessing or a curse, depending.
-If you wanted new clothes for your Sims, you had to go out and buy them at clothes shops, for a hefty $200 per outfit. However, your Sims could get a limitless wardrobe and there was no going into CAS to change outfits. It was quick and simple.
-If you wanted to change clothes, you needed a wardrobe, and to change hair and make up, you needed a mirror. Now in Sims 4 you do both in CAS.
-You couldn't change how long each life stage was (if I remember)
-Young Adults only came with university. If you didn't enrol at college, your teens went straight to middle aged adults.
-You needed friends to get promotions at work, lots of them for high end job promotions.
-There were no career branches.
-Chance cards at work. Choosing the wrong answer could have devastating consequences, your Sims might get fired!
-Loading screens, EVERYWHERE (why didn't I remember this earlier?)
-Between 7am and 7pm, it was day, then at 7pm exactly, it was all of a sudden nighttime. No sunrise or sunset transitions, just day and night. I never really got used to it, it was very odd. Now we get beautiful sunsets in 3 and 4.
-Solid sky textures. Unless you used the TAB button to look up, skies were a solid pale blue or dark navy blue (or grey if Seasons was installed)
-Children could fail at school, and homework would pile up
-Teenagers had more variety of jobs (and a leg up in adult careers if they stuck with them and were level 3)
-It was hard to keep your friends. If their friend status went too low, they weren't you friend anymore, which was annoying if your Sims were trying to get promoted and just lost out. A quick phone call saved the day.
-Speaking of phones, your Sims had proper old fashioned phones. Mobiles came with university, but you had to buy these yourself from a vending machine.
-Building your own community lot was easy.
-Creating your own neighbourhood was easy.
-There was actually a skill specialising in Cleaning! High cleaning skills meant less time cleaning.
-There were also two additional needs; environment and comfort. The Sims 3 and 4 turned these into moodlets instead.
-There were only seven core skills; cooking, cleaning, mechanical (now known as handiness), charisma, creativity (now branched out into specific skills like painting and guitar), logic, and body (now called fitness or athletic). Additional skills through expansions were developed as Talent Badges, including gardening and pottery.
-Cars had actual animations for when they pulled out of drives and back in. The good times. . .
-Young adults walked VERY SLOWLY
-University seemed to last forever (in real life it doesn't really as much)
-Burglars (and that creepy burglar arrival music. I got so scared I used to turn the volume right down at night when my Sims were asleep and hold my breath)
-Eerie music playing from gravestones at night, and ghosts (I got so annoyed that I usually deleted them after the first night, hee hee)
-Neighbours walking by, and stealing your newspaper (urgh!)
-Speaking of which, your Sims got the paper whether they (or rather you) wanted it or not
-The TV channels were cool to watch (like the music channel, I miss that)
-If your Sims missed the carpool, they missed work completely
-Wants and Fears, before the days of Wishes
-Going into nervous breakdown, expect to see the shrink!
-The social bunny. Being miserable and lonely for your Sims was bad, but it was worth seeing him trying to cheer your Sims up. I miss the bunny
-Buying groceries for your fridge. That was a pain, especially if you'd just run out at a critical moment.
-Your Sims could only age up two days before their birthday. So if you wanted your annoying whining attention seeking toddler to become a child real quick, tough.
-If you didn't do certain things (like teach toddler to walk or have a good birthday) your Sims could get bad memories
-Cutscenes, yay!
-Your child Sims cheering when they got a good report card
-Having to teach your child Sims to do their homework
-If you had access to a bookcase, your Sims only had cooking, cleaning and mechanical books to study from (was it cleaning?). On the plus side, they were FREE, and you only had one book.
-Snoring Sims and ZZZZs as they slept
-Annoying honking from carpool as they waited for Sims to pick up. SHUT UP ALREADY!
-The music (both the OST and radio stations) were epic
-Sims eerily look up at you now and again for no reason. What are you staring at?!
-Gnomes. They were so cute, you couldn't resist them.
-Babies with nappies
-Things going wrong (like the TV and stereo), urgh! Where's that handyman? In The Sims 2, if you tried fixing things with little or no mechanical skills, you got water in your face or electrocution.
-A proper functioning grandfather clock. I did like them, they added class to any place, but don't break them! They don't half frighten you when they do!
-Teens got acne (no, really, you had to put cream on to make it go away)
-Teens and children got different coloured homework books each day. I do like variety.
-If you wanted your Sims to play different video games, they had to buy them separately.
-Career Reward objects, like that dummy operating table in the Medicine career and the golf set in the Business career. Those career reward objects were pretty cool and worth getting those well-earned promotions for.
-You couldn't visit your neighbours playing as your Sims, but they could come to you. Not fair!
-The mysteries of Bella Goth, the heart of The Sims 2
-Don Lothario
-The loading screen music. Shame you couldn't change them to your liking (you'd get fed up of hearing Apartment Life a hundred times, like me, as nice as it is)
-No 45 degree angles. It's 90 degrees, take it or leave it, unless you cheat.
-Pets couldn't be controlled. For me I wasn't that bothered.
-No upgrades for household items. Aw man. . .
-Aspiration failure and desperation. Where's my flour sack baby when I need it?!
-Yoga, a secret body skill. It came back with triumph in The Sims 4 Spa Day. Don't know about The Sims 3. At least your Sims could levitate - cool!
-Platinum mood
Have I missed something? Probably! Ah well, all this will do for now.
Things about The Sims 2:
-There were only four hair colours; blonde, brown, red (or ginger) and black.
-There were also only four eye colours; blue, green, brown, and grey (have I missed one?)
-There was no customisation in clothes. You could have three variations of one top, bottom or outfit but it was limited. Still, there was lots to choose from.
-Tops and bottoms were only available in Everyday wear
-You could only get different hair styles and colours like pink in Live mode.
-Personalities consisted of five sliders with points. Ten possible traits were Grouchy, Sloppy, Lazy, Active, Nice, Neat, Playful, Serious, Outgoing and Shy, and also, you couldn't spend more than 25 personality points in Create a Sim.
-Lifetime Wants were randomised. Unlike The Sims 3, you had no control over your Sims long-term goals.
-Shoes were not a separate item of clothing.
-No freckles
-When setting up household relationships, Sims coupled together could only be Spouse or Roomie. No girlfriends/boyfriends.
-There were only four skin tones, and two body shapes.
-Starting funds for new families were strictly $20,000 (unless you had Apartment Life)
-No open world
-Plenty of neighbourhood customisation. You could place down as many empty lots as you desired and there were lots of pre-made homes in the SimBin to choose from. You could also add props and foliage to your neighbourhood.
-When you played on one lot, time didn't change on the other. There was no such thing as story progression (in Freetime on your Sim's birthdays, they could choose three Sims to age up with them).
-Whenever your Sim came back from a community lot, time never changed at home. That could be a blessing or a curse, depending.
-If you wanted new clothes for your Sims, you had to go out and buy them at clothes shops, for a hefty $200 per outfit. However, your Sims could get a limitless wardrobe and there was no going into CAS to change outfits. It was quick and simple.
-If you wanted to change clothes, you needed a wardrobe, and to change hair and make up, you needed a mirror. Now in Sims 4 you do both in CAS.
-You couldn't change how long each life stage was (if I remember)
-Young Adults only came with university. If you didn't enrol at college, your teens went straight to middle aged adults.
-You needed friends to get promotions at work, lots of them for high end job promotions.
-There were no career branches.
-Chance cards at work. Choosing the wrong answer could have devastating consequences, your Sims might get fired!
-Loading screens, EVERYWHERE (why didn't I remember this earlier?)
-Between 7am and 7pm, it was day, then at 7pm exactly, it was all of a sudden nighttime. No sunrise or sunset transitions, just day and night. I never really got used to it, it was very odd. Now we get beautiful sunsets in 3 and 4.
-Solid sky textures. Unless you used the TAB button to look up, skies were a solid pale blue or dark navy blue (or grey if Seasons was installed)
-Children could fail at school, and homework would pile up
-Teenagers had more variety of jobs (and a leg up in adult careers if they stuck with them and were level 3)
-It was hard to keep your friends. If their friend status went too low, they weren't you friend anymore, which was annoying if your Sims were trying to get promoted and just lost out. A quick phone call saved the day.
-Speaking of phones, your Sims had proper old fashioned phones. Mobiles came with university, but you had to buy these yourself from a vending machine.
-Building your own community lot was easy.
-Creating your own neighbourhood was easy.
-There was actually a skill specialising in Cleaning! High cleaning skills meant less time cleaning.
-There were also two additional needs; environment and comfort. The Sims 3 and 4 turned these into moodlets instead.
-There were only seven core skills; cooking, cleaning, mechanical (now known as handiness), charisma, creativity (now branched out into specific skills like painting and guitar), logic, and body (now called fitness or athletic). Additional skills through expansions were developed as Talent Badges, including gardening and pottery.
-Cars had actual animations for when they pulled out of drives and back in. The good times. . .
-Young adults walked VERY SLOWLY
-University seemed to last forever (in real life it doesn't really as much)
-Burglars (and that creepy burglar arrival music. I got so scared I used to turn the volume right down at night when my Sims were asleep and hold my breath)
-Eerie music playing from gravestones at night, and ghosts (I got so annoyed that I usually deleted them after the first night, hee hee)
-Neighbours walking by, and stealing your newspaper (urgh!)
-Speaking of which, your Sims got the paper whether they (or rather you) wanted it or not
-The TV channels were cool to watch (like the music channel, I miss that)
-If your Sims missed the carpool, they missed work completely
-Wants and Fears, before the days of Wishes
-Going into nervous breakdown, expect to see the shrink!
-The social bunny. Being miserable and lonely for your Sims was bad, but it was worth seeing him trying to cheer your Sims up. I miss the bunny
-Buying groceries for your fridge. That was a pain, especially if you'd just run out at a critical moment.
-Your Sims could only age up two days before their birthday. So if you wanted your annoying whining attention seeking toddler to become a child real quick, tough.
-If you didn't do certain things (like teach toddler to walk or have a good birthday) your Sims could get bad memories
-Cutscenes, yay!
-Your child Sims cheering when they got a good report card
-Having to teach your child Sims to do their homework
-If you had access to a bookcase, your Sims only had cooking, cleaning and mechanical books to study from (was it cleaning?). On the plus side, they were FREE, and you only had one book.
-Snoring Sims and ZZZZs as they slept
-Annoying honking from carpool as they waited for Sims to pick up. SHUT UP ALREADY!
-The music (both the OST and radio stations) were epic
-Sims eerily look up at you now and again for no reason. What are you staring at?!
-Gnomes. They were so cute, you couldn't resist them.
-Babies with nappies
-Things going wrong (like the TV and stereo), urgh! Where's that handyman? In The Sims 2, if you tried fixing things with little or no mechanical skills, you got water in your face or electrocution.
-A proper functioning grandfather clock. I did like them, they added class to any place, but don't break them! They don't half frighten you when they do!
-Teens got acne (no, really, you had to put cream on to make it go away)
-Teens and children got different coloured homework books each day. I do like variety.
-If you wanted your Sims to play different video games, they had to buy them separately.
-Career Reward objects, like that dummy operating table in the Medicine career and the golf set in the Business career. Those career reward objects were pretty cool and worth getting those well-earned promotions for.
-You couldn't visit your neighbours playing as your Sims, but they could come to you. Not fair!
-The mysteries of Bella Goth, the heart of The Sims 2
-Don Lothario
-The loading screen music. Shame you couldn't change them to your liking (you'd get fed up of hearing Apartment Life a hundred times, like me, as nice as it is)
-No 45 degree angles. It's 90 degrees, take it or leave it, unless you cheat.
-Pets couldn't be controlled. For me I wasn't that bothered.
-No upgrades for household items. Aw man. . .
-Aspiration failure and desperation. Where's my flour sack baby when I need it?!
-Yoga, a secret body skill. It came back with triumph in The Sims 4 Spa Day. Don't know about The Sims 3. At least your Sims could levitate - cool!
-Platinum mood
Have I missed something? Probably! Ah well, all this will do for now.
1
Comments
I don't think anything could compare to ts2. That's quite the list, I'll have to read again.
Eyes, also. We could have many, many eyes. Not even including Alien eyes.
Body Shop came with the Base Game- it gave us the ability to recolor and edit clothes, skins, hair, eyes, makeup... Moar! much more than limited clothes.
We could make Freckles.
It was easy to keep friends.
Starting funds were 20k for Single Sims. More when more Sims were added to the family
They could only age up 1 day before their birthday, 2 days is when they get the first popup from the game (reminder).
Buying a new fridge gave you a full fridge.
boolprop allow45degreeangleofrotation true
Yoga is tied to Body. 3 and then they could do yoga.
boolprop petactioncancel on and boolprop ControlPets on
3 News papers on the lot and the paper girl/boy would stop delivery.
They could walk to work - came with Bon Voyage, I believe. Or they could go if they had cars.
I still play it. It as the best GAme Play for me. Not the best in all things but game play for me.
... in case you want to play again. It's not easy but it's easier than The Sims 1.
Having the Insiminator, makes such a difference, it's basically like the Master Controller for Sims 2.