Friday 1 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 42 & "Jerry's Story"

Written at 03:15 by Andy - 0 comments.

Contest winners skin pack misses files

Written at 21:01 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

We have found out that apparantly the skin pack with the winning skins of the Hot or Not contest at the official site doesn't have the bmp files in it. That means when you install the pack, you still don't get any new skins, only new meshes. We will tell you when the file has been fixed, so you can have the winning skins in your game, or when there's more news about this.

Saturday 2 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 43 (Friday)

Written at 01:36 by Andy - 0 comments.

Sunday 3 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 44 (Saturday)

Written at 01:01 by Andy - 0 comments.

Hot Date Mac Info

Written at 13:42 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There's a little more news for all Macintosh fans that I missed last time when Aspyr published the system requirements. After looking a little more on their site, I've now also found that Hot Date on Macintosh will be released in May 2002. It is now still in Alpha stage which means that there is still quite some work to be done, like the fixing of errors etc., but most features have been implemented. System requirements can be found here.

Another Blueprint tool

Written at 18:35 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

After Bil Simser announced 6 new utilities last week, he now has announced a 7th one. 'Buzzword', as he calls it, will automatically categorize your objects using words in the name or description. You can enter multiple keywords, and then see what it comes up with. You can then select what category to move the results to, either one by one or all at once. The tool will not be beta-tested as all other tools, but of course Bil will test it himself. It'll be released soon at the BluePrint website.

Houses

Written at 19:22 by Steve - 0 comments.

I have just been through the databases and removed 3 houses. These houses had custom furniture in, which is why they have been removed.

Downloads From The Sim Brother House

Written at 23:35 by Andy - 0 comments.

Monday 4 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 45 (Sunday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Why do sites become pay-sites?

Written at 23:47 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

There have been a lot of discussions in several forums, newsgroups and chats about pay-sites. A quite common opinion is: 'Pay-sites are stupid'. But does everybody really know why sites become a pay-site? A quick answer is that they don't do it to make money. In fact, it is not an easy decision for a webmaster to make. I have explained reasons for becoming a pay-site (or even closing the site down) in a new editorial here at The Sims Zone: "Pay-sites & closing sites - how come?". Read More!

Tuesday 5 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 46 (Monday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

New Affiliate - SimmingItUp

Written at 23:51 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

They've been in our links section for a while already, but now The Sims Zone and SimmingItUp have affiliated. You should pay them a visit at http://www.simmingitup.co.uk. This is currently the last affiliate we're accepting, but if you have a site you can always get linked to in the Links section.

Wednesday 6 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 47 (Tuesday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Thursday 7 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 48 (The 3rd Eviction)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

New skins added!

Written at 15:22 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added 3 new female skins, 1 new male skin and 1 new skin set to my files section today. Click here to check them out. More downloads to come soon!

SimDay Report: More skins...

Written at 19:13 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Not a lot this simday: just a new skinpack with 20 NOD skins in there, from the famous game Command & Conquer Renegade. If you want a war in your neighborhood, download last week's GDI Skins (1.74 Mb), and these new NOD Skins (1.58 Mb).

As an update on last week's SimDay, the skins of the Hot or Not contest winners have been fixed. The BMP files were missing before, but they're now added. The full package is now also turned into an exe file for automatic installation. You can download the fixed pack right here (633 Kb).

Friday 8 March 2002

Sim Brother - Eviction Night Special No.3

Written at 01:57 by Andy - 0 comments.

Will Wright Top 4 developer of the world

Written at 22:03 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

At GameSpy a list has been compiled of the "30 most influential people in Gaming". And: Will Wright is in it, at the number 4 spot. Congratulations Will Wright! Read More!

Sim Brother - Day 49 (Thursday)

Written at 23:20 by Andy - 0 comments.

Saturday 9 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 50 (Friday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Sunday 10 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 51 (Saturday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

Submissions

Written at 15:06 by Steve - 0 comments.

I have added all the submissions I have. There were not many, just 3 murals, but they are very good. You can check them out here.

The submissions page has also had a couple of minor updates.

Files Section upgraded

Written at 21:11 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There have been a few upgrades to the files section of this site again. File sizes are now displayed more accurate. Also, you can see the amount of times a file has been downloaded from the lists. In those lists, the files are now ordered by date too, in stead of by name. Last but not least: some files now appear in 2 categories. These are basically files made by the team of The Sims Zone. They appear now in their own section, as well as the regular section that they'd belong in.

Monday 11 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 52 (Sunday)

Written at 03:45 by Andy - 0 comments.

Staff Changes

Written at 12:32 by Andy - 0 comments.

There have been some changes in the site staff over the last couple of weeks, sadly losing one of our team and welcoming back an old friend. Read More!

Tuesday 12 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 53 (Monday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Hi

Written at 03:24 by Ryan - 0 comments.

Hi, My name is Ryan and I'm the new objects maker here for The Sims Zone. I'm a normal US teen that loves the Sims and just creating stuff. I already have a few objects on here (The Oscar, Ty-Dye Lounger, and the Blue Cow Spot Chair) I'm always working on something new so check back often. Right now I don't have anything but the old ones but that because I'm having problems uploading things. I'm looking forward to creating objects for The Sims Zone.

New Preview of Vacation

Written at 14:47 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There's another preview for the new expansion pack, Vacation (or "On Holiday" in the UK, "Op Vakantie" in Holland and "Urlaub Total" in Germany - other names are yet unknown). This one's from IGN.com. You can read the preview over here. Read More!

Wednesday 13 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 54 (Tuesday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Thursday 14 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 55 (Wednesday) - Nominations

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

SimDay Report: Dates on vacation

Written at 19:06 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week, there's a new version of the Make-A-Date tool which now supports UK versions of the game too, and it has some other fixes. Besides that, there's also some official information again about the upcoming expansion pack: Vacation (or 'On Holiday') Read More!

Vacation gone gold

Written at 19:14 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The new expansion pack has gone gold, and will be in the stores in approximately 2 weeks. This can be read at gonegold.com. After the other 3 expansion packs, the cds, manuals etc. for Vacation are being pressed and put together, so they can be shipped in the US from 26 March onwards. That means you can buy it 27 March. In Europe we'll have to wait about week, as this new add-on will be released 5 april. The amount of days left until the release can now be seen on the right, in the countdown.

Friday 15 March 2002

Late poll results

Written at 01:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Apparantly, there are some things that you miss in The Sims. Especially growing up and cars to drive is what you would like to see, with 96 and 85 votes, of 291 in total. On the third place were pets with 47 votes. All other results can be found here. Now you can vote somebody out of the Sim Brother house. Anna K or Will S? It's up to you! Vote for that here. If you'd like to browse through the poll archives, click here.

Sim Brother - Day 56 (Thursday)

Written at 01:23 by Andy - 0 comments.

More Vacation screenshots

Written at 10:39 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

More screenshots of Vacation have popped up at SimsPlus. You can now see 5 of them, showing the vacation island, some fishing, the volleyball game, another regular screenshot and a snowball fight. If you want to see them, then go to SimsPlus.

Saturday 16 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 57 (Back To Work)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

More screenshots

Written at 14:21 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Gamespot has posted 4 new screenshots on the upcoming expansion pack Vacation. This time you can see what your sims travel with, and more. Want to see it all? Then visit this page now. Of course you can also visit their older screenshots at the same page.

Sunday 17 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 58 (Painting Day)

Written at 01:12 by Andy - 0 comments.

Monday 18 March 2002

New Hot Date Review

Written at 00:29 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

If you still haven't got Hot Date and want to read more about it, then there's now another review for you. Although a little late, GameAxis has written something about it that you can read here. Read More!

New Objects Added

Written at 00:50 by Ryan - 0 comments.

I have added 8 new objects to get me started. There are 3 kitchen objects, 4 entertainment objects and a Hot Tub. Click here to download them. More is coming all the time, so check back often.

Sim Brother - Day 59 (Band Practice)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

New Wall Collections Added

Written at 16:05 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added some new wall collections today, which include blue and multi-colored walls and some dedicated to the Peanuts comic strip. Click here to check them out. More to come soon!

Tuesday 19 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 60 (Monday Jamming)

Written at 01:40 by Andy - 0 comments.

2 New Collections from "Bettyjoe's Creations"

Written at 07:56 by Bettyjoe - 0 comments.

I have just added two new collections of walls with matching floors for your Sims to enjoy. There is a Blue Bedroom Set and a Taffy Tile Set for the bathroom Click Here to download them now.

New Files Added

Written at 16:29 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added my first family house to the databases today. It is the home of John, Isabella and Sam Cambridge and is located on Lot 4 of Neighborhood 1. The house was built using Hot Date and is fully furnished with 10,495 Simoleons to spend. I have also added 5 new painting collections. Click here to check it all out!

Wednesday 20 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 61 (Hot Water & Steam)

Written at 03:18 by Andy - 0 comments.

The Sim Brother Rap

Written at 04:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

New Objects Added

Written at 15:39 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have added 5 new objects to the databases today, including a bathroom sink, 2 appliances and 2 miscellaneous objects. Click here to check them out!

Coming Monday...a little something for your Sim kids!

Thursday 21 March 2002

The Neighborhood Handler and Vacation

Written at 00:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

With Vacation coming soon, I'm now working on a new version of The Neighborhood Handler (TNHH): version 3.7. Besides Vacation compatibility, it'll have a few new options too. I cannot tell when exactly it'll be ready, but it won't be before the new expansion pack comes out, unfortunately. I hope I can finish and release the program mid-april, but I'm not sure about that. As always, the TNHH Yahoo! Group members will get it approximately a week earlier than the rest. Read More!

New poll

Written at 01:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Vacation, or On Holiday, is coming soon! The US has to wait less than a week now, so we are wondering how you think the name for this new expansion should be abbreviated. Like the community uses LL for Livin' Large, HP for House Party and HD for Hot Date, what should we use for Vacation? You can now vote here or on the right. As always, the poll will close one week from now, so make up your vote!

Sim Brother - Day 62 (Someone Is Out)

Written at 01:52 by Andy - 0 comments.

SimDay Report: New screenshots and design

Written at 19:25 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.

This SimDay: There are 6 new Vacation screenshots, there will be a new design for the official site, and The Sims has been sold over 6.3 million times worldwide. That makes it the best-selling PC-game ever. Who would've thought that? Read More!

My ICQ#

Written at 19:32 by Steve - 0 comments.

I have not been able to use ICQ for the last couple of weeks, so unfortunately I have not received your messages.
My new ICQ# is 154022645.
Sorry for any messages you have sent me I haven't received!

Eviction Night Special: When Will Met Will

Written at 23:33 by Andy - 0 comments.

Friday 22 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 63 (The Day After)

Written at 01:25 by Andy - 0 comments.

New Files Added

Written at 15:22 by Carrie - 0 comments.

I have uploaded 1 new object, 1 new skin set and 2 new houses for your Sims today. Click here to check it all out. More to come soon!

3 New TSO Screenshots

Written at 22:47 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Over at the TSO Official site 3 new screenshots of The Sims Online (TSO), the upcoming multiplayer version of The Sims, have been put up. You can see a football game, a disco and a wonderful wedding. To see them, go to the TSO site. Thanks to SimsZone.de (a German site, not related to this one) for the tip.

Killersims closing?

Written at 23:07 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

KillerSims has been having some bandwidth trouble lately. In a newsletter sent by them. The site reaches 50,000-75,000 visitors each day, generating a lot of traffic - 6 Mb per second! As KillerSims too is a non-profit site, the webmaster will decide within 24 hours if he'll continue with KillerSims or not. The decisision will not have any influence on the eGroups, BBS or chat. We hope KillerSims will go on as the great site for The Sims that they are. Maybe just as paysite? We'll keep you updated.

More information on bandwidth trouble can be read in my latest editorial. Thanks to Helena Handbasket in the newsgroup for reporting this.

Will Wright on MSNBC.com

Written at 23:23 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Will wright has been featured at MSNBC.com yesterday. In it, he explains some things of The Sims and The Sims Online:

"'I first came up with the idea for The Sims in 1992 or 1993,' says Wright. 'In 1993, I built a version of The Sims on the Mac in which I could have a guy walk around, build a house, and interact with objects. We did a focus group in 1993 in which we tested four game ideas; and of the ideas we tested, The Sims was the one that everybody universally hated.'"

He also explains how he made a small pac-man simulation in The Sims. The whole article can be read here.

A New Staff Member

Written at 23:40 by Andy - 0 comments.

I would like to welcome Mike who hails from Ireland and joins us as a House Architect. Once he gets settled in, we will be seeing new "value" houses here at The Sims Zone.

Welcome aboard, Mike!

Saturday 23 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 64 (A New Task)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

Introducing me: "The Architect"

Written at 01:09 by Mike - 0 comments.

Hey, well I'm Mike, I am the newest member of staff here at TSZ. Quite soon you will be seeing new houses, shops etc here, for you to download and your sims to enjoy! I'm looking forward to a long stay at TSZ and creating plenty of homes.

KillerSims went offline... for now

Written at 21:23 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As I reported yesterday, KillerSims is having major traffic trouble. They've now put the site offline until a solution for the traffic problems is found. An earlier solution (limiting bandwidth per user) resulted in overall poor performance of the site, so they're thinking of something else now. We wish them good luck in finding a solution, and hope they'll be back soon as one of the best fansites on the net.

Sunday 24 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 65 (Saturday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

New House Added

Written at 01:40 by Mike - 1 comment.

This is my first house to be on the site! It's a fully furnished 2 story home which has been beautifully designed for sim life! Also, there is space for a swimming pool. Take a look!

Rendered Simulation temporarily down

Written at 19:58 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Our affiliate Rendered Simulation is temporarily offline because the server's been reset. They'll be back online soon, so you can enjoy their stuff too.

Monday 25 March 2002

New House Added

Written at 00:37 by Mike - 2 comments.

I've added another new house. This one is a single story home with two bedrooms (both ensuite) selling for 19,555. It also has plenty space for a swimming pool and patio! Take a look! (The missing files error is fixed now)

Sim Brother - Day 66 (Sunday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

New Baby Snoopy Collections Added

Written at 15:42 by Carrie - 2 comments.

I have just added a new collection of goodies for your younger Sims! They are all in a Baby Snoopy theme and include walls, floors, paintings and skins. Click here to download them today!

New Affiliate Site Added

Written at 22:43 by Carrie - 1 comment.

A new website has been added to the affiliates list today. It is a site that I have designed called Holsimer Real Estate Co. It features a variety of houses that I have built for The Sims. There is also a recipe box for your hungry Sims, the Holsimer Family Diaries, programs for use in designing your houses and lots more. It is still under some construction, but I am hoping to get everything up and running very soon. Please be sure to check back for more updates and additions!

Tuesday 26 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 67 (Monday)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

One more day!

Written at 13:10 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Tomorrow is a big day for everybody in the US! Vacation will be released, and everybody who pre-ordered it will be getting it home very soon too. Europe still has to wait a while, and so does part of our team. However, we hope everybody who gets Vacation tomorrow will enjoy it. For those who have to wait: 5 April is the big day for the europeans. Other games that will come out from Maxis are The Sims Online (Last quarter 2002), The Sims 2 (2003?) and SimCity 4000 (2003?). SimGolf, co-produced by Maxis, should come out 29 March in Europe, so that's another 3 days. Unfortunately we're not sure of all those release dates yet. SimGolf was set at 14 March earlier, but then was delayed again, so maybe that'll happen again this time. We hope not though...

Vacation: First Impressions

Written at 22:02 by ChEeTaH - 5 comments.

Thanks to SimsZone (German site), we can already see some first impressions from happy owners of Vacation. According to them the first impressions are "overall positive". Unfortunately, this expansion pack isn't clean of technical issues though, both during installation and gameplay. To find some screenshots, go here, here, or here. If you already own Vacation, and want to have your say about it, post a comment here.

Wednesday 27 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 68 (Immunity Challenge)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

New downtown area now available!

Written at 17:29 by Carrie - 1 comment.

I have added a brand new downtown area today. It is called Holsimer Plaza and contains Maude's Diner, Pierre's Clothing Boutique and the Jiffie-Mart Convenience Store. Be sure to check it out!

Thursday 28 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 69 (Nominations)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

2 New Houses Added

Written at 02:09 by Mike - 1 comment.

I've added two new houses: Quaint Residence & Cosy Home. Cosy home is a two story house with a swimming pool and Quaint Residence is a single story home. Both Furnished. To Take a look Click Here!

KillerSims reopens

Written at 10:57 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

KillerSims has now reopened their site after traffic problems. Only a limited amount of departments is open though. The problems are now hopefully all solved, and you can visit them again at KillerSims.com.

SimDay Report: Vacation Exchange open

Written at 20:02 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Quite a big SimDay report today. No wonder it was up a bit late at the official site. However, the site's now been updated, with a slightly updated navigation bar, SimCity for PocketPC, a download for Vacation, TSO Newsletter, and the press release of the release of Vacation, of which the exchange is now open... Read More!

Poll Results

Written at 20:07 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Following from last week's poll, we'll continue to abbreviate the new expansion pack to SV - Sims Vacation. 47 of 110 voters voted for that option. Runner-up was just 'V' with 19 votes, third place was for just Vacation with 15 votes. The big loser was 'OH' (On Holiday) with only 5 votes. All the results can be found here.

Friday 29 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 70 (Duelling Guitars)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

We made the 100,000!

Written at 14:31 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

We just had our 100,000th visitor since 2 February 2002! In fact we've had even more, since we started November 2001 at this place. We counted about 30,000 visitors between 14 January and 1 February, but because of some counter problems, those haven't been counted. All visitors in the first 2 months have never been counted at all. Thank you all for visiting us all the time, we wouldn't have made the 100,000 without you!

Saturday 30 March 2002

The Sims 2 Info at CNN

Written at 00:41 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

In an article at CNN Money there's some information about The Sims Online and The Sims 2. According to the article, the last of the two will be announced later this year. I think that it won't be released before 2003 though, so it'll be a wait. The Sims 2 will be more story-based than the game we're all continuously playing now (The Sims). For instance, there will be cuts and fadings when, for instance, a Sim gets turned down by the Sim he/she loves. If it'll result in wet keyboards because of tears won't be known until the release of it. The release date for The Sims 2 is unknown, The Sims Online is planned later this year. SimGolf in Europe has been delayed again, to late April this time. Also SimCity 4000 is expected to be finished in 2003, although that is unconfirmed too.

The whole article can be read here.

Sim Brother - Day 71 (The Weakest Sim)

Written at 01:01 by Andy - 1 comment.

New Downtown area and two houses added!

Written at 14:26 by Mike - 0 comments.

I've added a new downtown area "The Centre of Shopping" With a restaurant, sweet, flower, clothes and book shops. After all that shopping you can go for a game of pool! The two houses are Wellesley (which has a balcony) and Winthrop (which has a swimming pool!) Check them out here.

Official Site news (SimDay Download, UK Patch)

Written at 23:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Two pieces of news from the official site: First of all, last SimDay's new object, Pluto's Arch, has been removed from the site. The reason was that it had some texts wrong. Rumours are also that it was causing conflicts with other objects in SV (Vacation). It will be fixed and put back online as soon as possible.

Also, in the BBS, a Maxis employee has posted some news about the UK version of the Hot Date patch. This patch is now in its final testing stages, and should be available soon. They apologize for the delay. More news can't be given until at least next tuesday though. We hope they test the patch well this time, and that with "UK" they actually mean Europe and the rest of the world except North-America...

Sunday 31 March 2002

Sim Brother - Day 72 (A New Anne)

Written at 01:00 by Andy - 0 comments.

TNHH 3.7 Coming very soon!

Written at 04:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

I've been working a lot on The Neighborhood Handler 3.7 lately. It is now nearly ready to be released to the TNHH group. There are only a few final tests to be done, but everything seems to be working well. Some of the upgrades are compatibility with Vacation, a more enhanced "Repair a Neighborhood" function, and the "Refresh a Back-up" option has been fixed so it now also works well if no expansion packs are installed. Also the manual has had quite a few changes: it now looks alright in Netscape 6.x/Opera 6 too. It has also been checked for typos etc. Besides that, also a few tutorials and a glossary chapter have been added. For more information - plus how to join the group so you can get it very soon - go to the TNHH site.

The Neighborhood Handler 3.7 is out!

Written at 18:35 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Yesterday I said The Neighborhood Handler 3.7 was nearly finished. Things have changed now though: it is completely finished! Group members are now able to download this version, and next week everybody can - for free! You can join the group here, and more information about The Neighborhood Handler can be found at http://tnhh.thesimszone.co.uk. Read More!

European release of SV

Written at 23:11 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Officially it's not out yet in Europe, but some shops are already selling the new expansion pack, at least in Germany and Holland. Because it's easter, maybe the shops won't be open tomorrow. If you can't wait, then pay a visit to your local computer store as soon as you can. We wish everybody lots of fun with Vacation, whether they already got it, will get it tomorrow, tuesday or at the official european release date at 5 april.