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1491. 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.
1492. More Sims 2 Screens
Written on Saturday 10 July 2004 at 20:26 by
ChEeTaH -
5 comments.
Two new screenshots of The Sims 2 have popped up again. This time they're from
IGN. One shows a money tree, or something like that. At least it's money growing from a tree, and it looks like it's a brand new object. The other one is a screenshot which is similar to quite a few we've seen before - a hug. This time in a nightly scene though, and with the new logo at the right bottom corner. Click the thumbnails to see the large versions of the screenshots.
1493. Lucy's Mail: Ghost Stories
Written on Saturday 10 July 2004 at 04:14 by
ChEeTaH -
5 comments.
Are you sitting? Good, because this week Lucy's e-mail might be slightly scary. It's all about ghosts this time. She tells us that ghosts in The Sims 2 are a virtual reality, and Sims will react to them in their own way. If your Sim has the Knowledge aspiration track, they might be interested in meeting a ghost or two. Other Sims might be scared - sometimes literally to death. Just like in The Sims 1, ghosts will appear near gravestones. Look out for them and get scared, once the game is out anyway. Included are the three screenshots below, which show off those ghosts. Read More to read Lucy's entire e-mail.
Read More!
1494. 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.
1495. URBZ (GBA) Video
Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 16:57 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
EA Germany has published a new gameplay video of The URBZ on the GBA. It's a trailer, with some English texts, that takes you through the new features of the game in about 90 seconds. You can also see some mini-games in action, and of course pieces of the new areas. You can download the video from
this page ("
Die Urbz - GBA-Video", 10.4 Mb).
QuickTime required.
1496. The Sims 2 European Rating
Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 16:49 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
The
PEGI, Pan-European Game Information, has published the rating for The Sims 2 in Europe. It's been rated for ages 7+ (6+ in Portugal) with violence ("
Game contains descriptions of violence"). The rating for the US, done by the
ESRB, has not yet been confirmed there officially, though Maxis has repeatedly stated it will be rated Teen (ages 13+). See the
PEGI website for more information about the European rating.
1497. New Sims 2 Details
Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 16:26 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
There's more news from
The Sims Creation besides the
artworks. They've attended a press conference, from which they were able to get the following info:
- You won't be able to see the houses next door when playing, but instead you will be looking at a lot of grass and sky.
- There will be between 6 and 9 tools for each part of your sim’s face in Create-a-Sim (CAS)
- There will be a lot of clothes in CAS, more than 50 for the normal clothes and more than 20 for the formal clothes.
- Night starts at 7pm (19.00 in military time)
- There will be an unlimited number of neighborhoods (each identified by a name instead of number)
- Sims can follow more that one aspiration track because of the genetics. Babies will have the same aspirations as their parents.
- When you choose a sim character traits in CAS they will act like that. For example, if your Sim has many personality points on 'clean', he will actually try to keep the house clean. On the contrary, if your Sim doesn't have those points, he will stick his finger in his ear and look what has come out of it! There are also many more animations for the other traits.
There is also some new information from an interview held recently with Nancy Philippine and Tim LeTourneau. They revealed that the (monster) PC used to capture the videos we see is equipped with a Pentium 4 2GHz processor, 1 Gb of RAM, and an ATI Radeon 9800 graphics card. Nevertheless the game will run on a much lower system (600 Mhz, 256 Mb RAM and a GeForce 2/3 is the minimum). It's also said that the DVD edition will probably out later than the 4 CD version. Since this interview was taken in France, this goes for Europe only. Maxis also tells us again that more tools for creating objects etc. will be released after the game itself. The well-known Rosebud cheat is also mentioned, but the real code won't be revealed until after the game's out. Concerning time, it will be about the same speed as in The Sims 1. However, actions take less time, e.g. a shower doesn't take an hour anymore. More about the gameplay is also said, for instance that when you marry an NPC, which is possible, the NPC will lose their job. Finally, they explain the possibility of having more than one family in the same lot a bit more: "
It will not be possible to let several families live on the same lot, in the same house. It will be on the other hand possible for you to simulate two families in one.".
For the complete interview in French, check the articles section at
The Sims 2 Creation. For those who aren't so great at French (like me), read
the interview at
SnootySims, who translated the interview with permission from The Sims 2 Creation. Thanks to both sites for the info.
1498. New Sims 2 Artworks
Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 15:01 by
ChEeTaH -
1 comment.
The french site
The Sims 2 Creation has recently posted 6 new artworks of The Sims 2. Besides just Sims, there's a sketch of the Grim Reaper this time as well. You can find all 6 of them at the bottom of this post.
1499. WarCry Interview Part 2
Written on Friday 9 July 2004 at 02:49 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
WarCry has posted part 2 of the interview with Lucy Bradshaw.
Part 1 was posted
last week. This time there's one little bit of news, namely how you can change the clothes, hairstyle, etc. of your Sim during gameplay: you just pick a mirror or visit a community store, and get a new outfit with that. Also, it's said that you won't be able to change the face of your Sim during their life, so no plastic surgery for your Sims:
"There are some reasonable limits set to the player customization of their Sims. For example, Bradshaw mentioned that, 'Their facial features are set at the time of creation, whether in Create A Sim or via a birth in the game.' Once these are set, there is no turning back, 'but you can choose new hairstyles, colors, accessories and clothing at any time in the game, by using any mirror in the game or by visiting a community store that sells clothing (or magazines, video games etc.) This is pretty important, since as your Sim grows up, you probably want to help them select styles that are fitting to them. Another fun thing in regards to a Sim growing up, is the use of the Design Tool, in the Build and Buy modes. You can outfit a child Sim's room in all pink and stuffed animals but when they become a teen, you can simply re-decorate and not have to buy all new furniture.'"
Furthermore there's some talk about The Body Shop and going through the life of your Sims. Just read the
entire article for all the details. Thanks to David for the tip.
1500. SimDay [Update]
Written on Thursday 8 July 2004 at 15:08 by
ChEeTaH -
0 comments.
This week's SimDay is small compared to
last week. There is a bit of news though. First of all, Maxis is still asking people to join the Focus Group 12 July, about The Sims on the consoles. See
this page for more. Furthermore there's a Sims 2 piece about installing custom content to The Sims 2. It was included in
Lucy's Email as well last Saturday, but you can now
read it again on the
official site. There's also a new preview of The Sims 2 by Yahoo! Games. It once again goes over all the new things like aspirations, genetics and graphics. Just read
the preview for all the details.
On to the URBZ, Maxis has posted 8 shots of the game on the GBA. They've been seen here before though. Brand new are the 11 sketches that have been posted though. They show some objects and places in their very first stage of design. Finally, the blog this week is about the "First Playable" version that was talked about
last week, but also about an upcoming annual event called "Camp EA". It will be held next week, 15 July, and Scot Amos will tell some more about it then. This is a bit of what he has to say about the game this week:
"On the game-side, we have three districts packed with new characters, new micro-game jobs, tons of new objects to play with, and stunning new social interactions with new in-game 'action cameras'; they make the game feel like you're in control of a living sitcom!"
You can find the screenshots, the sketches and of course the blog on the official
URBZ Website.
[Update 18:25] By playing an online game, "
Poppit!", between 20 and 30 July, you can win The Sims Mega Deluxe or any of the Sims expansion packs. You can find the game on
EA Pogo. You need an EA.Com account to sign in.