Thursday 1 September 2005

SimDay

Written at 02:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official site has had several small updates. The first is a link to eVite Invitiations in Nightlife style. You can invite friends to a party with this, electronically. More cards can be sent from Warner Bros, which have put up a few Nightlife e-cards. There you can personalise a card with a message, character, background and even a tune, to send it to someone you know. More Nightlife news is that there's an official announcement of the expansion going gold (which was already mentioned in the latest chat and t-mail. The game is being pressed and packed, to be shipped September 13th. More can be read in an GameSpot article. The official release is the 15th.

Finally there's been a survey, which has now been closed. We've been told that this time it was about booster packs, of roughly $20 per pack, which contain about 125 items in a specific theme. They might be planning to release these halfway in between two expansion packs, considering the question about buying an expansion pack about 3-4 months after getting a booster pack. More details were posted on the survey details page at Snooty Sims. These packs were mentioned in an earlier survey already, so it's unsure but somewhat more likely now that these booster packs will be made. It's not official yet, but of course we'll keep you updated if there's any news about these packs.

New Staff Member

Written at 17:49 by Andy - 0 comments.

I'd like to welcome Nicx to the site as our newest member.

Nicx is a bit of an all-rounder and has already posted many quality items in the files section for you to download and enrich your TS2 experience.

Check out her section!

Nightlife September Horoscopes

Written at 23:15 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Every month Maxis posts some horoscopes on their website, all with a Nightlife theme. Although no new features are mentioned in it this time, it does mention what's possible in the new expansion pack, covered in sometime a little bit cryptic messages. Head over to the horoscopes to see what September has in store for you and your friends.

New Nightlife Trailer

Written at 23:29 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A second official trailer of Nightlife has been released. As usual with such videos, they go through the most important features of the game. This trailer shows Sims getting ready for dates, and then having a good time. Of course there's a flaming sports car, followed by a romantic dinner (and they don't just eat the food). It also shows proposing during dinner. Next is, of course, some dancing, and the famous smustle is shown as well. Some of the key new objects, like the Electro Dance Sphere, the DJ table, the poker table, a karaoke machine and bowling alley are all shown in action, and you can see a kiss of (un)death from a vampire. Naturally you can also just watch the new social interactions that are shown. Head over to GameSpot's media page to view or download Official Trailer 2. Free registration of a basic account might be required.

Saturday 3 September 2005

Your request has been granted!

Written at 22:57 by Nicx - 3 comments.

I was recently asked to make a Winnie the Pooh costume so I decided to take up the challenge plus make a few more! They are all available to download in my section.

Here are the costumes for you:

Sunday 4 September 2005

Sims 2 Handheld/Mobile Previews

Written at 01:25 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's been a while since we published our first part of the Sims 2 Consoles special. With the Maxis event and GamesConvention being long gone now, it's time to look at the other platforms as well. The Sims 2 is coming out on PSP, NDS, GBA and Mobile phones as well, and we've got some previews for you. All four previews can be found in our TS2 Console/Handheld special.

Nightlife Q&A

Written at 01:54 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Now Nighlife has gone gold, GameSpot sat down with Tim LeTourneau for a Q&A session. The main features of Nightlife were discussed and written down. Although there isn't anything new about the pack itself in the article, it does mention how the pack was shaped. About halfway through developing University, Maxis found the community experience needed more, and that's more or less how Nightlife was born. Tim also says that although there isn't a list of expansions at the moment, there are a lot of ideas in the Maxoid's heads, and that the ideas from the community are also used during the development of the expansions. Besides that he doesn't mention what the next expansion pack will be about. Read the Nightlife Q&A for details. The four screens below were also included in the article.

Nightlife Preview

Written at 02:04 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The press has got their hands on the Sims 2 Nightlife, which means GameSpy has too. They've posted a new in-depth hands-on preview, which looks at the expansion pack through the eyes of a student. This particular student is on a quest to become a vampire. He gets some wheels, goes out a lot (in pajamas too), plays some poker, and more. One new thing is mentioned about the photo booth: you can pull normal and silly faces. Also, by chatting a lot to the waiter, you might be able to get free food, according to the manual. Finally our student meets the Count, one of the vampires downtown. Nevertheless most Sims are fairly cool around him, even though he might be stalking, just waving at other Sims, or playing some pinball. All in all there isn't too much news in the preview, but a full review is promised for after the release. For now read the hands-on preview for details. You can also watch the new screens (unofficial) that GameSpy posted along with the article.

Sims 2 Console Designer Diaries

Written at 02:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis has been known to put out designer diaries on a gaming website for several games. This time it's IGN's turn for posting a diary about the Sims 2 on consoles. However, this one doesn't really reveal any new information and looks more like a short preview of the game, with a bit of an overview of all features. You can still read it, of course. Besides that there are also four new screens to take a look at - just click the thumbnails below.

The Sims 2 (Consoles) Boxes and Screens

Written at 02:42 by ChEeTaH - 6 comments.

EA has recently revealed what the boxes of the Sims 2 on consoles will look like. Although they haven't posted the ones for the handheld versions yet (the mobile probably won't get one, since you download it from your carrier), they are likely to be similar, considering they were for previous Sims games. On the boxes you can also see the PEGI rating for the game: ages 12 and up. Besides that two new screens have been published as well. One is another abduction and might look very familiar, the other is a less familiar new screen. Click all thumbnails below to see the images. Note that we've scaled the box shots down by 50% to make them fit your screen more easily.

V/S-Mail 1 (Sims 2 Consoles/Handhelds)

Written at 03:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Tim promised us earlier that Virginia McArthur and Scot Amos would be sending out community e-mails like he does, only for the Sims 2 on handhelds and consoles. And it's true: the first e-mail has been sent out to the community, along with 2 new PSP screenshots and 1 new Console screenshot (and three old ones). Virginia kicks off in the e-mail by telling that the PSP game looks great. Also, nobody has been able to finish the game completely yet simply because there's too much content in it. Over a 100 secrets are to be unveiled, while you also take care of your aspiration. Scot tells about the console version, and this time specifically on the food creation system. Even console veterans say they like it, and how it opens up a lot of new creative ideas for the game. If you're interested in reading it all, click read more or just read on. For the screens, click the thumbnails below.

Read More!

Make Your Own Neighborhood Tutorial

Written at 05:30 by Andy - 0 comments.

If you have always wanted to create your own neighborhood template for The Sims 2 from Sim City 4, this is my in-depth tutorial on how to do it, the strange scaling that is involved and my critique of how things could be better.

Check the extra out!

Your comments would be appreciated on some of the issues raised.

Wednesday 7 September 2005

Nightlife Features

Written at 12:13 by Neil - 5 comments.

A post has appeared on usenet which points to a post on the Sims 2 site from a user who has been fortunate enough to receive the strategy guide for the new Sims 2 expansion pack.

There are a whole bunch of new things and changes to play with in the new EP. Those of you who remember Hot Date will be pleased to know that Mrs Crumplebottom returns with some new NPCs and there are over 300 new walls and floors.

Read on to find out some of the details.

Read More!

Thursday 8 September 2005

Sims 2 Consoles/Handhelds - Big Update

Written at 00:05 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The hype of the Sims 2 for consoles and handhelds is breaking loose. EA UK has released 8 screenshots and 15 artworks in total, as well as two pack shots for the GBA and DS version. The boxes for the PS2, XBox and GameCube were seen earlier, so only the PSP box is missing yet. Other than that, GameStop has posted all American versions of the box shots, including the PSP one. The quality isn't as high as the others. What you can see on all box shots is the rating. It looks like E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) for the GBA and DS, and T for Teen for all other versions in the US. The GBA and DS pictures are somewhat unclear, and ESRB hasn't confirmed these ratings on their website yet. In Europe, the GBA and DS versions get a 7+ age rating, whereas the console version has a 12+ rating. The PSP rating is not yet determined, but considering the US rating it's likely to be 12+. Here too, PEGI hasn't confirmed these ratings yet.

Other than that, Scotty gave us a link to videos at AussieBox. Hans ten Cate, the Lead Producer of the Sims 2 on Consoles, showed the game during EA Imagine 2005, an event where EA in Australia shows off the latest games. The four videos aren't in great quality, but are a good introduction to the game and show a lot of in-game footage. To prevent errors on the actual download page (on their forums), you'll need to register and login first. See the overview page for the proper links.

That's not all though. There are also many rumours regarding the release date. Although nothing is officially confirmed yet, 24 October is mentioned several times. As Tuesday is the more usual date for games to be released, the actual release date might be the 25th as well. The PSP edition will be released two weeks later, on 8 November, according to several sites. Depending on where you live, these dates may very a little, but the games should be released within the same weeks. Of course we'll let you know when Maxis or EA gives away the official release dates.

All the graphics can be found in the Read More bit - click the thumbnails to see the full size versions. Read More!

Saturday 10 September 2005

Nightlife Released In Brazil + Accusations

Written at 02:26 by Neil - 9 comments.

Posts on Usenet and on the official Sims 2 BBS site are saying that people in Brazil are receiving their copies of Nightlife a week before the US. Its official release date over there in Brazil was September 9th.

This decision isn't very popular with other BBS users who have accused the Brazilian Sims community of pirating the expansion pack, and all because America didn't get the EP first. Most of the flak has now been cleaned up.

Sunday 11 September 2005

Nightlife Release Info - Expansion 3 Announced in it

Written at 04:46 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Nightlife is very close to its official release date, but in a few countries people are already receiving their copies. Some online shops (e.g. GameStop, reports SP Zone) have started shipping their copies, and besides that the game has already appeared in Brazil and Switzerland. Besides that, the Prima strategy guide has already been delivered to many people, who are revealing information about Nightlife on forums. All this has resulted in a lot of news, of which the biggest topic is probably that the third expansion pack will be all about Business. Read More!

3 New Neighborhoods and Update of my Moon Islands

Written at 16:48 by Starrats - 0 comments.

This time I made 3 new neighborhoods they are called Kingsdale, Bridge Islands and Cratertown.

I also found out what was wrong with the screens I added in my first neighborhood (Moon Islands). I fixed the zip but also had to change the name of the file, because I couldn't make the screens work with the name it had. If you really want the screens to show up, you have to download the new zip file and remove the old one (sorry).

If you download the neighborhoods now, you also have to extract all 3 pictures that are in the zip to C:\My documenten\EA Games\The Sims 2\SC4Terrains, together with the SimCity 4 file. This will make the pictures show up in you game.

I hope you all enjoy the neighborhoods.

Tuesday 13 September 2005

Strangerhood Studios 5

Written at 02:15 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Although the original series is still on hold after episode 6, Strangerhood is still alive through their spin-off series Strangerhood Studios. Of the six episodes, five can already be downloaded from the video archive. The fifth one has been added recently, and the sixth can probably be expected within the next few weeks. You can download "Reinventing the Wagon Wheel" in three different versions.

Final Nightlife T-Mail: Patch coming soon

Written at 15:02 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Tim LeTourneau, senior producer of Nightlife, has sent out another of his famous T-mails. It's the last one for the second expansion pack, in which he mentions the key features of the pack again. Tim also mentions that a patch for both University and Nightlife will be released soon. There are already posts on several forums of bugs in the latest expansion, for example the Karaoke Machine which doesn't play any sounds. There will be one patch which will fix both expansions, regardless which one(s) you have installed. There are no new screenshots this time, just read on for the entire mail. Read More!

Wednesday 14 September 2005

Nightlife Official Release; Reviews, Mini-game and More

Written at 00:38 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Nightlife has officially been released today, and more and more people are now receiving their copies. The free Hot Rod car given with pre-orders can now be downloaded, websites are starting to post their reviews, and EA has also launched a Mix Master mini-game. The game is a sort of memory game, where you have to repeat a sequence of scratches on a DJ set in the right order. More release news can be found inside... Read More!

Expansion 3: Sims Open for Business

Written at 00:46 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

The English working title for the third expansion pack has been revealed. Member Celadus at Sims2Community has posted a copy of the insert that comes with Nightlife in this thread. On it, the title "Sims Open for Business" is mentioned. It's also noted that it's still a working title and thus might change. Besides that, as seen on previous Swiss inserts, the Sims 2 for Mobile is also mentioned on the insert which you can see below. The description for the third expansion is as follows:

"The Sims 2 Open for Business is coming your way early 2006. Create shops, boutiques, entertainment hot spots, home businesses, and more. Hire friendly workers and fire slackers as you strive to keep up with the demand. Get ready to take your Sims from rags to riches."

With the 6-month release interval in mind, Open for Business can be expected some time during the first quarter of 2006, but that hasn't been confirmed yet, naturally. We will keep you updated with new info as we get it.

The Sims in CNet Top 10

Written at 00:56 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

CNet, a site about technical and mostly computer-related topics, has recently published a Top 10 of best video games. Among Half-Life, Starcraft, Quake, EverQuest, Halo, GTA III: San Andreas, and other games, The Sims (1) can be found on the third spot in the list. It's appeared on that list due to its uniqueness and success, and the huge amount of women playing the game. See the Top 10 to read what else CNet has to say about the Sims and the other games. Thanks to SnootySims for the link.

TS2 Consoles/Handhelds Screenshots

Written at 01:09 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

After all the PC news from Nightlife, there is a little break for the Sims 2 on Consoles, Handhelds and mobile. A couple of days ago the official site updated the screenshots section of these games. Although most screenshots are old, a few new ones were posted as well. Although most of them are (very) similar to ones seen on other sites earlier, those are often taken just a little later, or from a different angle. We've filtered out the new ones and put them below. Just click the thumbnails to see the large versions.

IGN looks at TS2 Consoles

Written at 01:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Recently IGN got a chance to look at a "near final" version of the Sims 2 on consoles, and got some hands-on time as well. A new preview, screenshots and videos are the result. They start off with telling about the story mode, and the big Create-A-Sim mode, which has a lot to offer. Then the first bits of the tutorial are explained, like having to jump the trampoline or socialising with another Sim using one of 60 new moves. Shopping for a bed, making (and burning) some food, going to work and getting a promotion are also explained before the review finishes with talk about visiting another area, and saying that IGN wasn't bored at any time during the hands-on play. You can read the preview for more details about what IGN has to say in three pages. Other than that, there are 11 new unofficial screenshots as well as 10 new unofficial videos showing some of the gameplay explained during the preview.

Thursday 15 September 2005

Two Nightlife Reviews

Written at 00:34 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

IGN and GameSpy already posted their reviews yesterday, today websites GameSpot and Yahoo! Games have given their opinion about Nightlife. The first of these has actually put two reviews online; one written one, and another video review. Although positive, the GameSpot editor does mention that vampires might be more trouble than they're worth. That's because they can't do much during the day, and have trouble maintaining long-term relationships. Hence they're more of a novelty than anything else. The effort of finding the count - which he says is hard to do - is not really worth it. A bit of new information is given as well: the influence feature from University will be available in Nightlife, even without University on your computer. Some old-time problems like Sims forgetting things, or the sometimes sluggish camera, haven't been fixed, but overall it's worth a look. It doesn't contain any extreme changes, but all the little things add up to a good expansion pack, worth 8 out of 10 points. At GameSpot, you can read the review, watch the video review or the four new gameplay videos, or you can check out GameSpot's own set of screenshots.

Yahoo! has less to offer, with just a review, which is even without any new screenshots. Basically it's not much more than a summing up of all new features. They're positive about every major feature. "The only drawback to this pack is its effect on a happy home life; my Sim-couple isn't on speaking terms any more. Really, when they think of each other, the thought balloons are on fire!" All in all the reviewer stays in line with GameSpot and GameSpy, also giving it a 4 out of 5 rating. Read the review if you want more details.

Friday 16 September 2005

Nightlife Tutorial - Garages!

Written at 02:19 by Neil - 2 comments.

Yes, the rumours were true, one can build garages at home with Nightlife. It's so easy to do as well. They actually look quite good and function very well.

Therefore there is a tutorial written by myself on this very subject, which one can read by clicking below.

Click to Read Extra!

Monday 19 September 2005

Sims 2 Screenshots, Wallpapers, Videos

Written at 00:09 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

A lot of material has appeared the past few days, all for the Sims 2 on Consoles and Handhelds. There are 8 screenshots for all platforms (except mobile), coming from GameSpot and the official site. The latter one has posted a fansite kit of the game, which also contains four wallpapers (two for the consoles, two for the PSP), and two new artworks (one for consoles, one for mobile). All those graphics can be found in the read more part of this post - just watch below, or click the link if need be.

As if that's not enough, EA UK has also released a trailer per platform (again, except mobile). All of them come in both high and low resolution, and require QuickTime to be played. Note that hot-linking (leeching, direct linking) to these downloads will not work. Instead copy the files to your own server or link to this newspost if you wish to pass on the news. Click the links below to download the trailers.

• Console Trailer: High Resolution (7.2 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.8 Mb)
• PSP Trailer: High Resolution (5.4 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.4 Mb)
• DS Trailer: High Resolution (4.3 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.1 Mb)
• GBA Trailer: High Resolution (4.3 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.1 Mb)

Read More!

Nightlife Review

Written at 00:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A new review about Nightlife has been posted, this time by 1Up. They too, like previous reviewers did, mention that the game doesn't have a similar set of robust feature like University did. The new inventory is extremely handy when it comes to moving a family to a new home, and also turn ons and turn offs are mentioned. The main criticism is that Nightlife doesn't offer rewards like you could get with the new gameplay in University. Instead you can waste some time in the life of your Sims. "It would be nice if Nightlife brought some more lasting impact." The review has the worst score for the game so far. Whereas others scored it 8.0 out of 10, or 4 out of 5, or even higher, 1Up rewards the pack with a 7.0 out of 10. Read the review if you're interested in what turns them on and off.

Sims 2 (PC) Hardware Performance Guide

Written at 00:35 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The Sims 2 is an odd game compared to others, in that it doesn't use too much graphical power, but depends on the processor (CPU) a lot more. This is one of the main conclusions that GameSpot pulls in a new hardware guide. In the article of five pages they test the effect of hardware in your computer, like the graphics card, CPU, memory, as well as the game's settings, on the framerate. The better the framerate, the smoother the game runs. When it comes to the settings, they say turning off viewing the neighbour lots gives a performance boost. The same goes for shadows. When it comes to the screen resolution, it doesn't matter much which you put it in. Even the graphics card, as long as it's not extremely old, doesn't matter a whole lot. ATI cards performed worse in GameSpot's test, but Maxis engineers say this is due to recent drivers. Performance might be improved using the "boolprop useshaders false" cheat, which puts the game in DirectX 7 mode, and so disables some advanced effects.

On the CPU page three tests show how much impact a fast processor can have on the framerate. The resolution doesn't matter at all. As for memory, GameSpot recommends 512Mb. If you're stuck with less, e.g. 256Mb, the game doesn't perform well at all. It doesn't perform much better with more than 512Mb though. Other than that, defragmenting the drive after installation is said to help. A fast hard drive might also help stop some hiccups due to hard drive access.

Although it all is a bit of a technical story, it might help some fans figure out what to upgrade on their system to improve the performance of the Sims 2. Check out the hardware guide for more details about the tests performed.

SimDay - PodCast and Content Manager

Written at 01:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Last Thursday the official site has received an update again, and besides the fansite kit they've posted two other things. The first is an update of the Content Manager. The updated version has been improved by suggestions from the community. After uninstalling the old version, you can download and install the new version from the Content Manager page.

Other than that there's a first 20-minute podcast. Host Dano talks to Tim LeTourneau about Nightlife. After a quick overview on the features, questions from members are answered. These include questions about living downtown, the dating game, realism and fiction, the smustle, social interactions, vampires, feeding Mrs. Crumplebottom to the cow plant, building, cars, and a lot more. Tim finishes off telling about a wedding between two vampires. You can get more info about podcasts, open the PodCast channel in iTunes, or get the MP3 from the newspost. Other programs might have to use the Podcast RSS feed to use it. Finally, Maxis has posted a new help page showing the compatibility between sims based on aspiration and zodiac sign. View it to find out if your Sims match.

Wednesday 21 September 2005

Karaoke Machine Work-around

Written at 15:08 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Recently Maxis has posted a work-around for the infamous karaoke bug in Nightlife. The problem with the karaoke machine is that some people don't hear the voices of the Sims using the object. MaxoidKane has now suggested on the official BBS to change some of the audio settings. It might work for some people, but maybe not for everybody. The problem is that the game doesn't play some sounds to improve performance, but as the karaoke sounds (and sounds from the band objects in University too) are quite long it is easily noticeable if these are missing, whereas usually only short sounds are not played. Setting the Audio Quality to the highest setting, in the Options panel, will make the game play most sounds, but it may also affect performance. See MaxoidKane's post for more info.

Hot Rod in Exchange [Update]

Written at 15:14 by ChEeTaH - 7 comments.

The Hot Rod car that was available to those who pre-ordered Nightlife at certain shops, is now also available to anybody else. Not directly, but only through the exchange, where people have uploaded lots with the new car on it. So rather than just downloading the car, you'll have to download a house (potentially with other hacks, objects, downloads, etc as well) that has it. Searching the lot exchange for Hot Rod is likely to bring up some results so you can download the car. The original asset is hidden and thus cannot be downloaded directly. Thanks to SP Zone for finding it.

[Update 15:38] On the Exchange, in the list of custom content and hacks included with the lot, the car will be listed as an Object by MaxoidMonkey, with the filename "CarOwnable_RatRod.package" and CRC "2d112506422a4e619c7baef0d0f2dbd6". Going to its original download will take you to the asset's page, which will show that the file is hidden on the exchange.

News about University/Nightlife Patch

Written at 17:25 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Maxis is working hard on a patch for both University and Nightlife. The deadline for it is coming up soon and so the patch can probably be expected within a couple of weeks, if not sooner. MaxoidTom has been actively posting in a thread at More Awesome Than You, mentioning some of the issues that will be fixed with the upcoming patch. Stuck bills, amnesia for greeks (Sims losing many memories) and a diploma being reposessed by the repo man are some things that will be fixed. Below is a list of what will probably be fixed with the patch, but keep in mind that this information is not confirmed officially and may not be completely correct or incomplete.

• Kicky bags can get stuck rendering them unusable (some other problems with kicky bags are fixed too).
• If a Sim uses the remote control car while saving/loading, catalog icons may go missing (possible work-around available).
• Sims go to a final exam, but a message pops up saying they missed it when they get home.
• Townies may not have all necessary DNA traits internally, causing crashes when they give birth to a baby Sim
• The car portal might go missing sometimes, corrupting lots and causing the "slow-down" bug generating many NPCs (see this thread for more info).
• Several bugs with Nannies
• Several bugs with the Headmaster
• Playing a Handheld game can cause a crush
• Sims don't get proper credit for selling a novel if someone else answers the phone
• Purchasing a fountain doesn't satisfy corresponding want (the want will be removed in the patch, it was left in while it shouldn't).
• Dormies become transparent if they enter their rooms and exit immediately and are unclickable for several Sim hours.
• Facial expressions may not play while a Sim is on the phone.
• Some problems might occur with large Neighborhoods (already fixed in Nightlife, may not fix all problems)
• Sims might get stuck in rooms with diagonal doors, unless they're told to move out (playable Sims only). This is fixed in Nightlife already, it's unsure whether the University patch will fix this too.
• The piano stops being fun after 24 hours.
• Memory icons may be too large to fit in their boxes in the panel.
• Some "Ask" interactions can trigger crushes: "What Are You Good At?", "What's Your Job?", "What's Your Sign?", "What's Your Turn On/Off?", "What's Your Wealth?"
• Diplomas might not show up in the right Sim's inventory.

Again, this list might change from what the final patch will be like. The latest status update is that the patch is currently undergoing testing and will be released soon. There's no specific date for its release yet but naturally we'll keep you updated with news about the patch.

Fan-made Patch for Karaoke Bug

Written at 17:32 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The very infamous karaoke bug in Nightlife has been fixed. Not by Maxis yet - the fix might be in the patch, but no Maxoid has mentioned that yet - but by a fan. Shaklin has made a small hack which you have to put in your Downloads folder for the Sims 2. When installed, the voices of Sims singing at the karaoke machine will be heard again. There's also a "$JobTitle" fix, which should get you a more sensible answer when a Sim asks what the job of another Sim is. The final patch on the same page, the "Female Teenager Vamp-Body" one, will make the skin color of the bodies of female teenage vampire Sims less blue, so it matches their heads too. According to the description this hack should be removed once Maxis releases its own Nightlife patch, suggesting the problem will be fixed with that, but that's unconfirmed. You can download the hacks from Shaklin's Sims2 Page, but of course at your own risk. Thanks to SP Zone for the find.

Thursday 22 September 2005

Scot & Virginia Mail #2 - Release Date Official

Written at 21:48 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

A second e-mail by Scot Amos and Virginia McArthur, producers of the Sims 2 on consoles and handhelds, has been sent out. In it, Scot announced 24 October as the official shipping date for the Sims 2 on PS2, GameCube, XBox, DS and GBA. A little later the PSP and Mobile versions will be released. As we've heard as well, the connected version for phones will not be released until early next year. The two producers are touring through Europe, and of course The Sims Zone has also met them. You can expect an exclusive interview with both Scot and Virginia soon. Until then you'll have to do with the e-mail and the video included with it. That video shows some gameplay of the games on all platforms. Download it using the following links:

• High Resolution (18.4 Mb)
• Low Resolution (4.8 Mb)

Read on for the entire e-mail, and of course stay tuned for the interview! Read More!

Sims 2 Consoles Preview

Written at 22:55 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

As Scot and Virginia already e-mailed, they're touring through Europe showing the game to the press. We've had an exclusive interview with both of them last Tuesday, when they were in Amsterdam. Along with several other, mostly Dutch, fansites, SnootySims has also attended. They've posted a preview of the Console game yesterday, and a part for the handheld has been added today. Read the complete preview for all the details on what Snooty has to tell.

Friday 23 September 2005

Sims 2 (Consoles, Handhelds) Trailer

Written at 00:11 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

EA Germany has recently posted five trailers for the Sims 2 on Consoles and Handhelds. We've published four of these a couple of days ago, but the fifth one is new. It shows a little bit of gameplay of all platforms. The video can be downloaded in both high and low resolutions, and require QuickTime to be played. See them on the game's download page, where the two files are posted at the date of "21.09.2005". Thanks to SimsZone for the find.

Sims 2 Mobile Preview, Console/Handhelds Screens

Written at 00:33 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Website GameSpot has posted a few things about the upcoming Sims 2 games on several platforms. First of all there are four screenshots for the Console edition, four more for the PSP and another four of the the DS version. All of these can be viewed by clicking the thumbnails below. Besides that there is a preview for the mobile version of the game, in which GameSpot talks about the connected version. One bit of news they mention is that while you're waiting for a Sim from the exchange to arrive on your phone, you can play a little mini-game involving a little car you have to steer around to get some extra money. If you're interested in the details, read the preview.

New Nightlife Trailer and Official Screens

Written at 01:25 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The expansion is out, but still EA is releasing some promotion material for the Sims 2 Nightlife. In the form of screenshots and a trailer this time. The trailer is a short clip showing a dinner date, and can be seen on the movies page on the official site. The screens come from EA UK, and appear to be new, contrary to screenshots posted earlier this week, which were actually old (the specific newspost has been edited now). As these screens are official, we don't want to keep them from you even though they can be made by pretty much anyone with the game now. Click the thumbnails to see the large versions.

New Nightlife Reviews

Written at 02:00 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A new Nightlife review has appeared, this time one that isn't quite positive about the expansion pack. As some other reviewers noted, Amped IGO says the game doesn't have anything that's substantially new and are only nice when they're still novelties. The $35 price tag in the US adds to that, as it's two-thirds of the price of the original game, while it has a lot less content than the base game. "Despite a reasonable selection of hotspots to visit with your Sims, though, the experience never differs considerably." Other negative points include framerate issues, the "iffy" AI and the "annoying camera". The cars and new aspiration can be considered a pro, but existing Sims being attracted to other Sims than their partner can be annoying according to Amped IGO. When it comes to the game's scores, the pack gets a 6 for Gameplay and "Tilt", a 7 for Visuals and Audio, and a mere 5 for Value. The average result is a 6, which so far is the lowest score Nightlife has received in online reviews. Read the review to see what else bothers them about the game.

A far more positive review is given by Houston Vehicles Online Devoted Gamers. Contrary to quite a few others, they call the changes "major", and it has a lot of thought put into it. All the new features are applauded, especially the dating aspect of the game. It's also very easy to pimp your ride, says HVODG, with the amount of paint jobs car come in. The driveways look gorgeous, and although the count is a little hard to find, becoming a vampire is well worth it. With a 5 out of 5 score, it's the most positive review so far too. All details can be read on the one-page review.

Nightlife Tops UK Charts

Written at 02:09 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Sims 2 Nightlife, the second expansion pack that was released for the Sims 2 last week, has been doing very well last week. Followed by Burnout Legends for the PSP and Fahrenheit on the PC, the expansion pack has entered at the number one spot of all entertainment software titles, in all price ranges. Naturally this also means the pack is topping the PC Game chart in the full price titles. The Sims 2 itself is still doing well too, and now in the charts for 53 weeks down from place 3 to place 5 in the Full Price PC Games chart. University, the first expansion pack, has moved up one place from 8 to 7 in the same chart. More Sims titles appear in other charts too. On the DS the Urbz has gone up from 10 to 9, while it's appeared in the charts for 28 weeks. Finally, the original Sims game for the PC has gone down from slot 3 to 8 in the Budget PC Games chart, where it's been for 15 weeks in total. All these charts were made up for last week, ending in 17 September. See the charts if you want to know what titles are doing better and worse in the UK. Also, GamesIndustry has posted an article about these charts.

Maxis asks for Bug Reports

Written at 03:08 by ChEeTaH - 4 comments.

Many bugs have already appeared in Nightlife, including the Karaoke bug where voices cannot be heard, neighbour view settings not being saved properly, only 2 Club Cubes (the colourful stackable blocks) can be put on top of each other without tricks (see Read more for details about this one), Sims losing their cell phones after installing the expansion, Sims saying their job is $Jobtitle, and more.

Maxis is now asking for help of the fans. If you encounter a bug, and know how to reproduce it, you should fill in the form as good as you can. The form has now been put online focussing on Nightlife problems. The better you help the more likely it is that some bugs will be fixed. Read More!

Saturday 24 September 2005

The Sims 2 Nightlife - Our Review

Written at 03:00 by Andy - 1 comment.

It is now time for you to know what we think about NIGHTLIFE, the second expansion pack for The Sims 2.

The first part of this short series takes you from getting the disks to your sims seeing a new perspective on their world and realising they are not alone.

See what we have to say!

Thursday 29 September 2005

Sims 2 Screens and Artworks

Written at 23:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The last few days several sites have released many screenshots of the Sims 2 on Consoles, handhelds and mobile. GameSpot has posted four screenshots for each of the games (PS2/XBox/GameCube, PSP, NDS, GBA, Mobile). Also, GameSpy published four more screenshots of the GBA version, and today EA released 10 new artworks. Those artworks aren't for any platform in specific. All images can be seen in the Read More part of this post. Just click the thumbnails to enlarge them. Read More!

Friday 30 September 2005

Nightlife Reviews

Written at 00:05 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Two more reviews about Nightlife, the recently released expansion for the Sims 2, have appeared on the net. The first is from WorthPlaying, which rates the game a 7.3 out of 10. In the review they mention that a missing Goth club could be built in around 30 minutes. Other than that, most of the features are briefly mentioned. Although there aren't any new careers, the new Pleasure aspiration makes up for it. Altogether the expansion pack is solid, but a bit pricey for the amount of content in it. The second review is posted by Slashdot. They praise the new objects that Nightlife gives a player, like the bowling alley or the restaurant host stand. Whereas the favourite object of the Worthplaying editor is the poker table, the Slashdot editor prefers the karaoke machine. The price is mentioned too, this time with the conclusion that the pack won't really attract new players. New players should pick up the base game first, and wait a while before paying $30 for Nightlife, which is more aimed towards the veteran player. The final score is a decent 7 out of 10. You can read the WorthPlaying review or the Slashdot review for more details about their opinions.

Nightlife IGN Guide

Written at 00:14 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Website IGN regularly posts guides for games on their website. Like they did previously for the Sims 2 (PC) and University, they have now posted one for Nightlife. After an introduction they start off by mentioning the major new features of the game, followed by a more in-depth guide to get successful dates or outings. Then if you want to know how you should build your own downtown lot, it's explained in the next chapter of the guide, which continues to discuss cars and turn ons/offs, as well as the Gypsy Matchmaker afterwards. Rivalry and vampires conclude the guide. All can be found on the Guide's page. You can download a PDF version from the same page, although that requires an Insider account.

The Sims 2 (Consoles) Designer Walkthrough

Written at 01:02 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Sims is getting a lot of attention from EA's marketing department now its release on consoles, handhelds and mobile is nearing. The latest thing that's been released on the official site is a developer walkthrough for the console version. Alex Hutchinson, lead designer for the game, takes 8 minutes to show off the game. It shows the most important sections of the game, starting with the neighborhood screen and CAS. After that he goes ingame, and shows almost anything you'll need to know to see what the game is all about. Split screen mode, for two players, is also shown during the video. After a while the unique food creation system is covered extensively. Even controlling ghosts and going back to the living world is mentioned at the end. The video is pretty big, 55Mb for the high resolution version, and can be streamed or downloaded from the videos page.

The Sims 2 Nightlife - Our Review Part 2

Written at 04:29 by Andy - 0 comments.

Why is Mortimer sticking his head into what looked like a newfangled cement mixer?

All is revealed in the second part of our NIGHTLIFE review.

It covers new hair and clothes, what turns your sims on and how they can aspire to be something different than they originally are.

The answers are in here!

New Podcast

Written at 14:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis has released a second a podcast. Whereas the previous one was with Tim LeTourneau about the Sims 2 Nightlife, this time Scot Amos, senior Producer of the Sims 2 on Consoles, talks about the game. During the 10 minutes, he mentions what's new in the game that makes you buy the game, and how you can control your Sims. Naturally Aspiration and their wants and fears are discussed, which are slightly different from the PC version. The Story mode and Free mode are compared. There's no internet play this year, though there is split screen. The aging that's in the PC version has been taken out, as according to Scot, it's not really what console players expect. Nevertheless you can create Sims that may look like teens or elders, even though the game will consider them all to be the same. Finally Scot mentions a few of the new features, like the direct control and the social interactions in that mode, the fashion and food games. Although the newspost has disappeared from the Sims 2 site, the RSS feed still shows it. You can download the MP3 or you can add the podcast to iTunes. If you want more information, then check out the official site's podcast help page.