How would you improve Sims 2?

[Ruzz]

Like the title says.

I would make romancing a whole lot harder to do so. I can like get a sim into bed in a day if my Sim doesn't have to go to work -_- Seriously it's so simple I don't get any satisfaction from it anymore. (I have nightlife)

And definitely improve the result of WooHoo to give players a whole higher level of satisfaction. The cinematic and perhaps a reward (extra actions or an item) from it. Something that will make the player go like "OH yes I finally did it!"

That's me. What about you? <3

[muffin-tacos]

Yeah, I'd like to make romancing a bit harder too. But I have to say that the quick romancing business is great if you just want to get it over and done with quickly. :D

I'd like to change the way the sims serve their food. Like the number of the plates they serve. For example: I have 3 family members in my household; mum, dad and the toddler. If dad cooks dinner for them he serves a plate for the toddler too and it can't even eat the food! So the food is just hanging around going cold and getting eaten by the flies. I mean, what is with that? They never learn, simmies... :rolleyes:

[Rozzalina]

I'd like sims to be able to use a bit of common sense... like if someone does their homework in front of the stairs and no one can get past.... in RL either the person doing their homework would do it in a more sensible place or you would just step around them...

[Mirelly]

Oh, Rozzalina, where have you been. I've been saying this for years. Sims are so dumb, like that and drives me bats. You're really the first other person to say the same as me.

I also hate how the programmers "cheat" by making the time it takes for a sim to stop sitting down and respond to the cancelled "sit" action and go (for example) to greet a caller shorter than the time a sim will wait (for example) to be greeted. It's dumb, dumb, dumb and I, for one, think it is short-changing the players' intelligence ... not to mention trying their patience. :mad:

[muffin-tacos]

And why does it take so long for a sim to get from one place to the other? Once I had a sim stand by a phone and I wanted him to go and watch TV, which was right next to him. Instead of taking a few steps to the right, he went all the way around the house and it took him a whole hour in sim time to get to the blasted TV. *tut tut* Honestly. :rolleyes:

[Rozzalina]

Oh, Rozzalina, where have you been. I've been saying this for years. Sims are so dumb, like that and drives me bats. You're really the first other person to say the same as me.


well, you know what they say about great minds and thinking alike! ;)

[Odinmoon]

I hate the cooking thing.:mad:
Like I'm going to cook for everyone even though eveyone has just eaten. And then I will throw away the food before Moon gets to push the save leftovers button 5 times. :gnasher:.
Oh then I will cook some more.:stirthepot:. Now which part of the snow did little Johnny hide his homework. Oh yes I must remember to go all the way upstairs to the last bedroom table to put my coffee cup down.:coffee:
Oh yes get the mail and put the bills where moon won't find it.:devil:

Aaaaaaaaaaah :banghead:

[muffin-tacos]

So true, moon, so true. Happens all the time. Especially the coffee cup and home work bit. That's a right pain in the ***.

My sim's furniture got taken away because SOMEONE hid the bills in a place where I couldn't find them. :sigh: We were all sad to see the expensive arm chair go. Just like that.

[sayaka05]

aw, that sucks, muffin.

sims just GOTTA learn some common sense.

like when walking into each other.
they stay hanging there yelling something at ME!!

...when all they gotta do is... move to the right/left a few steps....

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

I agree, I hate when my sim won't answer the phone I want it to and yell at me because there's a dog food bowl below it...how bout you try and reach over it??
I also hate how the Sim will turn into an adult and that stupid neighborhood child keeps calling and making the phone ring all day. I'm perty sure my adult doesn't care anymore...
I think that children and their sibling toddlers should be able to interact!! They can't even build a relationship until the toddler turns into a child!
I also think that there should be more to do with the younger generations. Such as holding a baby on their lap, or giving their child a piggy back ride or baking cookies together (which would also give the child cooking points).
I don't know how they'd do this, but make a Sims house able to get dirtier. I mean when I was a kid my room was never always clean like it is in Sims. There aren't any dirty clothes anyway, no toys lying around unless I have my children play with the toy box...
I'm sure I'll think of more later.

[sexierjess14]

Ill prolly make it so that pregnant simmies and working simmies actually wear winter wear after leaving the house, not maternity clothes/working clothes, doesnt make sense to me somehow :confused:

My pregnant simmy, thankfully didnt die in the cold from being "under" dressed :D

[muffin-tacos]

I think that children and their sibling toddlers should be able to interact!! They can't even build a relationship until the toddler turns into a child!

Isn't that the truth. I think they should be able to play with each other more. Like piggy back rides and stuff, like you said. :bouncy:

Actually, now that I think about it, kids can interact with the todds--a bit. They can tickle them and talk to them (as in the "Talk to Toddler" action).

[Sacharissa]

I think that children and their sibling toddlers should be able to interact!! They can't even build a relationship until the toddler turns into a child!

When I want to build relationshop scores with a Toddler, I have the toddler play with the Talking Rabbit, and then I select the Sim I want to build the relationship with , and have them "Play with..." I think you can do it with the toddler selected, and then click on the other Sim, OR select the other Sim and then click on the rabbit, and you'll get the option.

I have used this ploy with some of my legacy families to build up a high relationship score between the legacy heir and an NPC Potential mate (such as the maid or the mailman)...that way, I don't have to wast a lot of time once the heir is an adult...

[Rebie3]

I hate it when one sim tries going up the stairs when another sim is already on the stairs. Even if the other sim is all the way at the top of the stairs they always stamp their feet and yell at me! I especially hate it when the kids yell...it's so annoying!

And Moon, next time they hide the bills on you, you can pay the bills just by clicking on the mailbox. It should have the option "Pay All Bills" (even if there's only one set of bills) and the sims know just where they hid them!

[Odinmoon]

Lol Rebie :)
Thats what I do now. However when I just had the base game I had to hunt.:D And even after the expansions It took me a while to know that one.:o

[Rozzalina]

Lol Rebie :)
Thats what I do now. However when I just had the base game I had to hunt.:D And even after the expansions It took me a while to know that one.:o

same here :) The kids and teens always hide teir homework from me too. I always have to look at the house from a birds-eye view on buy mode and search for the little coloured square :rolleyes:
You should be able to get homework desks for the childrens rooms where they automatically put their homework.... that would be good

Also, on that note, there should be the option for each sim to claim their bed or bedroom (like claiming a dorm in Uni) so as when an adult is super tired they don't go to sleep in their kid's bed, sometimes leaving one person stranded and without a bed if they don't want to share a double. grrrr...

[jupitershana]

Also, on that note, there should be the option for each sim to claim their bed or bedroom (like claiming a dorm in Uni) so as when an adult is super tired they don't go to sleep in their kid's bed, sometimes leaving one person stranded and without a bed if they don't want to share a double. grrrr...


If you have Open for Business you can lock the door so that only that sim is allowed in that room. I've done that with several of my houses where I have that issue. Just play with the walls up first, have your active sim of that room click on the door and choose the option that says something like lock for all sims except me...or something like that, maybe it says allow me only. I don't know. It's pretty self explanatory. Then you can put your walls back down and only that sim is allowed into that room.

[Rozzalina]

oooh good plan! It never occured to me to use the locking function in that way. I always forget it's there! :) thanks

[Odinmoon]

The only prob with that is you cant do that with two in a bedroom. But it stops parents sleeping in kids beds at least. :)

[muffin-tacos]

(like claiming a dorm in Uni)

I like using those doors as bedroom doors in my houses because then my sims really do claim their own rooms! They can lock it and everything yay! (I don't have OFB so I can't use the lock any old door function. :silly:)

[jupitershana]

The only prob with that is you cant do that with two in a bedroom. But it stops parents sleeping in kids beds at least. :)


Put two doors into the room. :D

[Odinmoon]

Never thought of that lol. Good idea. :):o

[Rymac]

I really hate how the "give dog a bath" interaction works, since I usually have small bathrooms, so the dog can't pass the sim to get in the tub, so I had to ethier move the tub outside or buy another one to move outside!

I really wish that puppies and kitties would show fur patterns of thier parents...but they don't...they're just white when thier parents could be black...unless you use a modded object.

[krazzy kezzy]

i always thought that there should be an option to hover the carpet or dust the tops and as fuzzy sed when the child changes why should it vanish into mid air come on be realistic kids throw it on the floor and then the mum comes and picks it up to put in the wash(sims should have washing machines) it would be funny to see some sims get develop ocd becuase of all the hoovering and dusting hehe

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

I really hate how the "give dog a bath" interaction works, since I usually have small bathrooms, so the dog can't pass the sim to get in the tub, so I had to ethier move the tub outside or buy another one to move outside!

I really wish that puppies and kitties would show fur patterns of thier parents...but they don't...they're just white when thier parents could be black...unless you use a modded object.

I agree with both! I had to move the mirror outside once because there was not enough room wherever I tried it (these particular Sims live in a trailer type house, came with the game) so I could change the collar on my dog.

Also, I think that big dog puppies should be bigger than small dog puppies. All pups are the same size in the game.

[Mirelly]

LOL I just plonk down one of those Maxis wooden bath tubs in the back yard. I never bathed a real dog in my bathroom and I wouldn't expect a sim to do so either. The best way of bathing a dog is take him to the park and throw sticks into the pond ... actually it works better if you can use the sea. But once they dry out and the smell of wet dog dissipates the smell of pond water is much nicer than stinky dog.

Reminds me of a funny tale I heard once. A work colleague once confessed that he'd had to bathe his cat several times for a skin condition. After suffering severe laceration ( :rolleyes: ) he hit on the idea of putting kitty in a pillow-slip and soaping up through the cotton, rinse off with the shower head and then loosen knot at opening and stand well back to allow nuclear puss a free passage to the exit. As a cat lover I was slightly appalled, but my wicked sense of humour was tickled by the concept ... and besides, I knew Martin was a pretty serious cat lover and if the cat had truly been traumatised he'd never have gotten close enough to repeat the experience. Besides ... he said the cat always got his own back later on. After I assisted my cat's mousey supper-snack to escape last night I have been treated to a day long buffet of frosty feline shoulder; by heck, they're canny critters, am puddy-tats.

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

That's quite funny Mirelly. We have 2 kittens and 2 cats. One of the cats is such a character. He gives looks that can kill. The first month after we got him, after he didn't get his way he would give you an evil look and hunch his back at you. It was quite intimidating. That is, until we got another cat 8 months later, a girl cat, and he's calmed down since then. He's actually become quite loving since we got her. Weird. Maybe it's because she wins in their little spats.

[jupitershana]

That is, until we got another cat 8 months later, a girl cat, and he's calmed down since then. He's actually become quite loving since we got her. Weird. Maybe it's because she wins in their little spats.


Like all good realtionships he's realized who is the true boss. ;)

[surprised_by_witches]

I was going to post a new thread but figured this one was close enough to my topic: I'm cheesed off at the game over tree fires.

Twice now I've had a tree burning due to lightning but when I call the fire department I get a lecture and a fine. There is no way for me to put the tree out if it's not raining. The only way is to delete the tree.

I'm pretty sure it's a glitch. Though it is funny now because I have a sim child (the recipient of the most recent lecture) who wants to drink the fireman.

Vicious little thing. Didn't know she had it in her. :p

So, to improve the sims: I'd let sims extinguish fires caused by lightning, including fires in the shrubbery.

[Mirelly]

LOL, but don't the trees burn out eventually? I've not had a tree fire yet, but I'm sure I read somewhere that they are harmless and always go out after a while.

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

I actually had my first experience of a tree fire the other day on Sims. It was mid-Spring, and quite a long storm was raging on. I sent my guy off to work. Almost an hour later, I see that his work icon was still not on his icon. I click on him, and I see the action of "Fire!" But there wasn't anything in the house...hmmm...so I right click on him, and a tree is on fire! It wasn't raining, so I called the fire department and they put it out. However it happened again later and it was raining. I called the fire department and as soon as they got there, the rain put it out. I guess the fireman saw it and figured he wouldn't fine me. I was quite surprised, I didn't know there could be tree fires...

[Odinmoon]

I was going to post a new thread but figured this one was close enough to my topic: I'm cheesed off at the game over tree fires.

Twice now I've had a tree burning due to lightning but when I call the fire department I get a lecture and a fine. There is no way for me to put the tree out if it's not raining. The only way is to delete the tree.

I'm pretty sure it's a glitch. Though it is funny now because I have a sim child (the recipient of the most recent lecture) who wants to drink the fireman.

Vicious little thing. Didn't know she had it in her. :p

So, to improve the sims: I'd let sims extinguish fires caused by lightning, including fires in the shrubbery.


Now the real trick here is get the lightening rod. It will stop all fires starting from lightening. :eek::D

[alliekat]

The rain puts the tree fires out after a while, so there is no need to call the fire department. I learnt that after my first couple of times calling them myself :D.

[Odinmoon]

Well I have had orchard trees burn completely. Gone no fruit tree.
So I would stick to the lightening pole. :cool:.

Also if trees are to close to the house it can spread.

[surprised_by_witches]

Yes, I have the lightning rod on every house, and as I said in my post, it wasn't raining either time. Just a freak lightning strike, no rain to put it out.

So no, the rain won't put it out. I had to delete the tree.

Glad to know the fire department occasionally does put out tree fires, just mad that for some reason in my game, they won't.

[fuzzy_ferret_luver]

I didn't know there were lightning rods! What category are they under and which mode (Buy or Build)?

[surprised_by_witches]

Decorations, all. That's the only way I can find them. They're really skinny so you have to be good at spotting them. They're a few spaces before the weathervane, if that helps. (That's easier to notice as it has a rooster on it.)

[Rozzalina]

oooooh, I had no idea you could get lightning rods! :D fab, thanks :D

[Ruzz]

I just thought that it is understandable and given that it would be almost impossible for Sims 2 to have an online game where thousands of players could interact in a same server due to issues like mass lag but wouldn't it be possible for just a group of players - say 5 or less? Just like when you access wifi on a psp or DS. That would be cool. Then you can invite your friends over or go over to your friend's town.

[muffin-tacos]

Speaking of annoying fires, I once had the fire in a fireplace spread and burn up a sofa that stood next to it THREE TIMES!! You'd think one time was enough... :rolleyes:

My sims would light it and then sit on the sofa and have a merry old time together and before we knew it a fire started! Luckily, I had stuck one of them smoke alarms in that room because I had suspected that a fire would start. The fireman came, put the fire out after the sofa had burned down, I bought a new sofa and I was really shocked to find the same thing happening again and then again!

In the end, I just deleted the blasted fireplace and stuck a big flat screen TV in its place.

So long, glitchy fireplace! And good ridance! :p

[Lynet]

I prefer those ceiling sprinklers that came with Uni. They are definitely more expensive, but they put out fires quickly.

[muffin-tacos]

So do I but I recently uninstalled Uni because it was taking up too much space on my computer. I do miss the interactions and extra stuff you get with Uni though. :(

[suitemichelle]

what i would like to see actually was in ts1. consequences from drinking... remember that if a sim drank to much, their reluctance to get familiar with unknown sims was greatly diminished? that is what i would like to happen, here. can you imagine the chaos of winding up in the enemy's bed? also would like to see a visit to the potty when a sim finally drinks too much. (and i don't mean to take a leak.)

the other throwback, the costume box, so all your sims arrive at the party appropriatly attired.

[sayaka05]

really?

cause i've had the lightning rod for a long time but it hasn't prevented lightning falling on my sims/objects so far.

is there a certain places where you can put them for the lightning rod to work?

[surprised_by_witches]

On top of the roof. They're not foolproof but I had sims and their trees being hit by lightning all the time until I put them in. Now, not so much.

I have all sorts of ideas about how to improve the game. Starting from the ground up:

I'd give a choice between default townies and service types and ones you can make for yourself. Understood that the Crumplebottom, Social Bunny, Shrink, and all other non-callables are not included. You could designate which they were when you created them in CAS.

I'd allow a choice of Sim, Vampire, Plant person, Werewolf, Alien, Zombie, and so forth when creating a sim in CAS. No more trying to get the stupid wolf to be your friend, for example.

I'd allow a certain number of skill points for each age group, so you could create elders who actually knew something. Toddlers would get none, children 5, teens 10, adults 15, and elders, 20. Not having them know anything is dumb.

I'd get rid of the nannies (this is actually Witch Baby's idea) and instead allow babysitters. You could hire an existing neighborhood teen or elder to watch your kids while you were at work or on a date. Also, there would be daycare. Toddlers would get on the short bus and head off for the day, and come home with whatever adult came home soonest. Infants would stay home with a parent, but at least maternity leave has that covered.

I'd allow toddlers to come on family outings, and pregnant women to leave the lots. Not sure if they actually can now, haven't tested it yet. I just assume that hasn't changed?

I'd make pet pregnancies one day. Sims get three days, so dogs and cats should be less.

I'd include reptiles as pets.

I'd include hotels with OFB.

I've got other ideas but I have to go home now. :o

[surprised_by_witches]

Ooh, and I'd show infants' stats right away so you'd know instantly--and not after Dad just got this fab promotion--if you had a clone. :(

[surprised_by_witches]

Witch Baby and I had some more ideas of what we'd like to add to the game:

Four new aspirations:

Hopeless romantic: This person would search for their one true love and have romantic wishes around that person once they found them. Like a romance sim but without the fear of commitment.

Hero: Do-gooder, always wants to take in strays, stop fights (which would be a cool new interaction), that kind of thing. New interactions might have to be made to accomodate this type, like rescue cat from tree, cure disease, cheer people up, that kind of thing.

Villain: The opposite of hero. Wants to make enemies, start fights, break people's hearts (this one could be fun).

Adventurer/Daredevil: Wants to take risks, have dangeorus jobs, get in fights, cheat on spouse, anything just for the thrill of it.

[Sacharissa]

Witch Baby and I had some more ideas of what we'd like to add to the game:

Four new aspirations:

Hopeless romantic: This person would search for their one true love and have romantic wishes around that person once they found them. Like a romance sim but without the fear of commitment.

Hero: Do-gooder, always wants to take in strays, stop fights (which would be a cool new interaction), that kind of thing. New interactions might have to be made to accomodate this type, like rescue cat from tree, cure disease, cheer people up, that kind of thing.

Villain: The opposite of hero. Wants to make enemies, start fights, break people's hearts (this one could be fun).

Adventurer/Daredevil: Wants to take risks, have dangeorus jobs, get in fights, cheat on spouse, anything just for the thrill of it.

Oooo! I like them! Especially the Hopeless Romantic and the Villain! Good thinking, SBW!

[WereBear]

Since Maxis has already broken ground on product placement with Ford (new cars, furniture sets) I think it would be great if they could work out a similar deal with a fast food franchise. They could make a restaurant stove that only served that franchise's menu items and furniture/decor/playground sets to match their logos and trademarks. Since it is fast food they could even do away with the host podium and server, allowing the cash register clerk to pass the food to the customers like real life. Maybe even offer the option to hire a sim to dress up as that franchise's spokesman or mascot. :D

Imagine giving your sim kids a McDonald's birthday party complete with Ronald and Grimace, happy-meals, and a McDonald-Land play park. Or having your Uni students make a road trip to White Castle and sit down to a tray full of sliders, building pyramids with the empty burger boxes. How about taking the family out to Chucky-Cheeze for a sit down pizza instead of take out followed by skeeball and ball-pit marco-polo? :)

[surprised_by_witches]

Or, just a Simland fast food restaurant. That might be cute. I hate McDonald's but I might get a chuckle out of someone in say, a chicken outfit ... waaait a minute, they already have that, don't they.

Clucky McCluck Cluck. Teens could get a job there. Heh.

I'd also like it if your job had more to do with your sim's "real" life, like if they were a doctor they could help people recover from the flu faster, or teachers' kids would get a homework boost. Actors might get preferential treatment at restaurants once they became stars, that kind of thing.

Oh, and it would be nice if sims noticed their surroundings, as in wallpaper, paint, fireplaces, and the like, and their environment scores were improved by more expensive stuff of that nature, just like furniture.

Oooh! And in keeping with what I said earlier about being able to choose if you wanted premade townies and such or not, you could also choose periods of time for the entire 'hood, including roads, decorations, everything. Dirt roads, cobbled streets, or paved? Telephone wires or not? Cars or carriages?

That would be so cool. :)

[WereBear]

On a musical note...:o

Who's ever heard of a house band without a vocalist? Why can't we have a microphone stand that will tie in with the "perform" function of the musical instruments? The singer could randomly whip out a tamborene or harmonica and maybe even do some "James Brown" style spins and knee-drops. :D

And how's about a little audiance participation? Instead of just pumping their arms and whooping, maybe they could shout out requests or sing along or sway in time to slow ballads while they flick their bics? :cool:

[Rozzalina]

wow, I love all these ideas! especially the new aspirations.
I always think of improvements whilst I'm playing the game, but of course, I've forgotten them all now :rolleyes:
There are some aspects of TS1 that I wish they'd kept in though. I like being able to choose who comes to wedding parties and the like, but it would be nice (especially for a house party) to be able to invite one or two of your friends and then some randoms who you may or may not know could turn up too. I always used to throw parties in TS1 as soon as I'd moved new families in, just so they could get to know some new people!
:)