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91. Lucy's Mail: New Video

Written on Saturday 14 August 2004 at 15:21 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and that's what this week's e-mail from Lucy is all about. Her advice for the next Friday the 13th is to sit at your computer, and let your Sims have it - for the sake of fun. She explains you can do whatever you like with the Sims 2 to give them a bad day, and it's shown through a new gameplay movie.

"There are nearly unlimited ways for you to engineer, or simply suffer through, a terrifically horrible day for your Sims, from a series of minor inconveniences to indulging in their fears. Your bad day can involve minor offenses, like an embarrassing body odor problem at a dignified social gathering, or major bummers the like of which you can see in today's special link."

The movie is about 90 seconds long, and can be downloaded from the following links:

• High Quality (10.9 Mb)
• Low Quality (2.8 Mb)

Read on for the entire e-mail from Lucy. Read More!

92. New Sims 2 Info

Written on Friday 13 August 2004 at 22:38 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The information flood of the Sims 2 continues to flow. First of all, there is SimsZone Poland, which has posted a major load of new screenshots of The Sims 2. They have over 110 screenshots on their screenshots page. Those screenshots aren't taken with extremely high quality settings, which is why they might not look as good as Maxis screenshots. Depending on your hardware, it may look somewhat like that instead of what Maxis shows us all the time. A good graphics card will always help.

Our German colleagues at SimsZone have posted a new part of their huge review. This time they explain the build and buy modes. News is that instead of just 3 floors, it apparantly is possible to have up to 5 floors for a house, plus an attic. You have to keep in mind that the foundation does count as a floor though, so usually you'll end up with a maximum of 4 floors plus attic (which Sims can get on to as well). Put in another way: there are 6 levels on which you can build. A roof is one of them, and the foundation also counts as one floor (and thus occupies one level). You can even make a special roof-top with objects on it, by putting the roof below the highest level, and then adding a floor on top of the roof.

But not everything is as great as it may seem to be. SimsZone has said to be disappointed with the amount of content in the game. They've mentioned it before for Skins. There are some hideous ones, but the amount is not too high either. Custom skins can solve that problem, and with the Body Shop being out there's quite a lot of them already. However, something similar goes for walls, floors and roofs. A lot of the content seems to come straight from the Sims 1, and hasn't been altered much. From the screenshots, you can also see just 8 roof textures - which is all there is. As there's no tool similar to HomeCrafter available yet, nor something to create objects, fans might be disappointed by the lack of (decoration) options.

To read most highlights on the building and buying options (in English of course), click Read More (or read on below). To read the German article about the build or buy modes, or to see the screenshots for it, please visit SimsZone. English translations (without the screenshots) can be found in the official BBS (here, here and here). In the article of the buy mode there are also two sample movies made with The Sims 2. They require the VP6 Codec to be played (see also earlier news). Read More!

93. The Sims 2 to use On2's VP6.2 Video Codec

Written on Friday 13 August 2004 at 05:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Despite earlier messages saying The Sims 2 will save uncompressed AVI video files when creating a movie, it has turned out that EA has licensed On2's VP6.2 codec for use in The Sims 2. That means movies created from The Sims 2 will need that codec (a little sort of 'program' which media programs use to decode the video files) to be played. On2 claims that their codec provides better video quality than Windows Media 9, Real 9, or H.264. You can find the trailer of The Sims 2 on the VP6 samples page. It's very likely that the necessary files will be included with the Sims 2 when you install it, so there's not really a need to install the codec already. However, you can of course go ahead and get yourself ready to play Sims 2 movies in the future.

94. Sims 2 Videos

Written on Saturday 31 July 2004 at 01:59 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Two new videos of The Sims 2 have appeared on the net. The first one is a Japanese one, and is a trailer of the game - in Japanese. And although it's hard to understand what's said, it contains a bit of new gameplay material (as well as some old trailer images). You can find that video, 23 Mb for 4 minutes of video from here, or get the low quality version (6 Mb) right here.

The other video is not entirely new. Part of it was published earlier at ITavisen.no. This time however, it's the original video (2 minutes). It goes through the different aspiration tracks. If you want to see it, just go here. It's about 3 Mb big, QuickTime required.

95. Sims 2 Screenshots Translated [Update]

Written on Tuesday 27 July 2004 at 05:11 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.

About 2 weeks ago, the Taiwainese website GameBase.com.tw, posted 54 new screenshots of the Sims 2. Though the meaning of the text has been unknown so far, user 'pepperonicheese' has posted a translation of the texts in the Sims UK (official site) forums (see this thread). If you want to see the pictures and their translations together, go to this page on SnootySims. They've posted the pictures along with their translations. Noticable is that the motives haven't changed after all - it was said there would be separate family/friends motives instead of social a long time back, but there's no sign of that now. You can also see some of the social interactions from the menu. Be sure to have a look if you want to know what the pictures are saying.

[Update 28 July, 20:50] Some more option images have been translated in the forums. You will be able to set the volume for music, voices, sound effects and ambience sounds separately. A picture-in-picture will be there as well, and you can turn it on or off (or like in the Sims 1, make it static or live). In the movies screen you can choose the size quality (just like with photo albums), whether to record sound, and the maximum duration. Other options are pretty much the same as for The Sims 1. See the forums thread for exact details. Thanks to David Pendray for the tip.

96. More from EA's Hot Summer Nights [Update]

Written on Saturday 17 July 2004 at 02:13 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Information from EA's Hot Summer Nights event (previously known as Camp EA) is popping up all over the internet. First of all there's a Sims 2 gameplay movie posted on both IGN and GameSpot. It shows stuff like a carpool (either a cool sports car or the helicopter), but also some romance, cooking, Don growing up, a fire (one of the first times that's visible), a Sim being abducted, and even a beggar and a teenager being brought home by the cops. There's a lot more in it too, and a must-see. GameSpot has also posted a 3 minute developer interview with Lucy Bradshaw who talks about the game. You see snippets of the other video during the interview too. She tells the game went Alpha (feature-complete) shortly after the E3, the event at which Maxis focussed on the Aspirations. After that they started really polishing the game, adding content and neighborhoods, etc. She also tells more about what has been mentioned in the previews again. As for the Movie making, she repeats movies will be saved as uncompressed AVI files, which will get big very quickly. She also mentioned the DVD version again. You can download it from this page.

As for the URBZ, one more preview has popped up at GameInformer.com. It doesn't mention much news when you've read the other previews though. Nevertheless, for those who want to see it, just read the GameInformer Preview. More interesting are the new gameplay movie and developer interview with Executive Producer Sinjin Bain (this time about the console version). Most noticable is probably the new logo on the right bottom corner in the gameplay movie. It's unsure whether this will be the new logo of the game or not. The gameplay movie shows a lot of fighting and urban life. The interview shows, just like the Sims 2 one, clips from the gameplay movie. Sinjin also repeats a lot of what's been said in the previews. For example, he mentions the different cultures and how your clothing affects the rep in a district. Jobs will also unlock the power social interactions. For that, and some urban rooftop Golf, dancing in front of a musical truck, and a lot more in-game material, check out the GameSpot Media Page.

[Update 17 July 1:55] A bunch of other gameplay movies of The Sims 2 have appeared. Besides the movie mentioned above, there are 8 new short movies, all showing Sims 2 gameplay. The movies are titled "The Mothership returns", "Tubbing it", "Picking fights", "Starting to lose it", "Alien loving", "Going to work", "Meet the neighbors" and "Stargazing, course-running". They all come in low quality Windows Media (around 3Mb each) and QuickTime (about 6 Mb each), and in high quality Quicktime (about 15-17Mb each) format. The QuickTime formats are available to Insiders only though. You can view them from this page (click the "Next" button for the last set and older videos).

97. 54(!) New Sims 2 Screenshots

Written on Monday 12 July 2004 at 00:08 by ChEeTaH - 8 comments.

A Taiwainese site, GameBase.com.tw has posted 54 new screenshots of The Sims 2. They're all in-game shots, and show stuff like the loading screen, the importing and selecting of a neighborhood, the interface for creating photo albums or movies, but they're mostly shots taken while playing the game. Although the quality isn't great, you might also finally be able to recognise the sizes of a house. They seem to be either 3x2 (with the road on the long side), 3x3, 3x4 or 4x3, 3x5 or 5x3, 5x5, 5x7 or 7x5 and 7x7 (Don't pin me down on that, it's hard to see!). You can also see there's an interface for placing props on the neighborhood, something which was still questioned at The Sims 2 University but hasn't really been mentioned since. Click here to see all screenshots. Click the Sims 2 logo on that page, to see the first screenshot. Click the orange text at the right bottom each time to skip to the next picture.

98. More Sims 2 Screenshots and DVD/Bonus CD Info [Update]

Written on Sunday 11 July 2004 at 17:56 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

EA has revealed a new batch of screenshots and graphics, of which two screenshots were already posted yesterday. The new ones, a rich girl, a popular guy, and another shot of the money tree, are shown below (click the thumbnails to enlarge). There's also the final version of the box shot. It's been shown before, but this time it's also from the side. There has been some confusion in forums about whether this would be the final version or not, but it looks like it is.

On other news, GameSpot gives a few more details on the DVD edition. The DVD will feature some "Expert Interviews," which include tips and tricks on playing the game, the "Filmmaking 101" which gives all the info you need on creating a film starring your Sims, some in-game movies, and a few outtakes, which show some hilarious bugs that have been in the game during the development. Furthermore, an extra CD will be included if you pre-order the game from EB-Games. That CD, which will ship with both the CD and DVD versions of the game, will have some more interviews about making the game (including Will Wright) as well as interviews about the new features of the game. At The Sims 2 University some interviews were held with some of the webmasters as well, which will be included too (unfortunately I won't be on it as I more or less forgot to get myself interviewed during the day :-( ). Furthermore, some graphics and goodies, the fansite pack, several 'sizzle' movies and mini-games will also be on the bonus CD. Currently it's still unconfirmed if the DVD and bonus CD will be available in Europe as well.

[Update 21:00] I forgot to post two shots that were new as well. One shows Don and Sarah when they decided to get married, the other the grim reaper in action. Enjoy them below.

99. Sims 2 Videos

Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 17:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

There are two videos about The Sims 2 for you to enjoy. The first one has been spotted before at IGN, as it's the complete video of Don and friends, with commentary by Tim LeTourneau. This time it comes in high quality though, as a zipped file of over 130 Mb. A broadband is highly recommended. See this page at the UK Site to get it, it's called "Producer Walkthrough". You need to login to be able to download it.

In the second movie, General Manager of Maxis Neil Young tells you why you should buy The Sims 2. He starts off in Swedish, but as Neil doesn't turn out to be too great at it he continues in English. It's been posted by EA Sweden (hence the Swedish) and you can click here and scroll down to the "Videoklipp" section to get it. Click Neil's picture to download the Quicktime video (14 Mb). Currently that's the second video on the page. Enjoy.

100. Lucy Bradshaw Interview

Written on Tuesday 29 June 2004 at 01:27 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Gamers Temple has posted an interview about The Sims 2 with Producer Lucy Bradshaw. Although in general not much new information is given - they talk about some of the features like the aspirations and creating movies - something interesting is mentioned about celebrities. When asked if there will be celebs in the game, Lucy responded that "there have been no announcements at this time." As it's not a definite no, it is possible some celebrities will be in the game coming out September. Furthermore some characters, the imaginary bunny for instance, are mentioned again. New to the collection is the shrink. The way you can add community areas to your neighborhood is also referred to:

"You can build community lots in the neighborhoods, in fact you can even select between several neighborhoods and landscape them further too. I tend to like to make community pools and the video game store or clothing stores are good to have for teens and growing Sims. You can even build grocery stores."

Finally, Lucy tells Gamers Temple that Maxis will release more tools to create custom content with, e.g. objects, as they go along. So far only the Body Shop has been released, but expect more in the future. The complete interview is spread over 4 pages, but that sounds longer than it really is. Enjoy reading it.