Necessary Additions/Glaring Omissions

[auraboyx]

I do not have a manual nor can I log into the sims2 website so if any of these things exist PLEASE let me know. (Though I suspect they do not).

I have to say I love and am addicted to the Sims 2 but there are some frustrating issues regarding the game that need to be addressed:

A) Rooms and Sims:

Maxis NEEDS to implement a room ownership feature. I spend hours building a house and designing rooms for my family members and I find it extremely (extremely) frustrating when other sims start sleeping in the wrong beds. I know if you set the alarm they will go to that bed but all too often even that does not work.

It would be great if in the build mode (or some mode) each sim had one of 8 colors (that would be assigned to each individual) which you could select and drag over areas of the floor/house and assign that space to each family member. This way all objects in a specific room (including the bed) would be the property of that sim. And to enter that space another sim would need permission from the occupant. You could even split a room in half for children who share a room or lay two colors over each other for married couples. I am going bonkers trying to keep my sims in the right rooms.

It would also be fun to be able to name the rooms.

B) Autonomy:

I am not sure if there is a cheat for autonomy for the game yet. I type it in but there is no way to know if it is working because they seem to be autonomous sometimes and other times they just stand there screaming for a shower or for games (my free will IS checked off). I can’t have fun experimenting with this game because I am constantly playing catch up with my family of 8. If Maxis implemented a daily task list with like 8 slots (so you couldn’t take advantage of it). You could set a daily routine for each individual sim. I am one who likes to watch and influence my sims… I am not all about making them do every single need it gets old VERY quick.

C) Time:

Time goes by WAY too fast. The days need to be slower. I can’t get anything done. Even switching the people around to their correct beds (as listed above) can take 2 hours of game time (I have a large house). With all the needs like homework and even work, days just fly by and I can’t accomplish anything. (It even takes a Sim 30 minutes to walk down the stairs.)

D) Ability to Lock Actions:

Much like the ability to lock wants you should be able to lock actions. I hate setting up a series in a queue and have them all cancel out so the sim can do something else. The ability to right click and lock actions on top of the screen would be a great help. I mean the sim can decide to do something before moving to the next action but it shouldn’t cancel them all out.

All in all the Sims is a great game… I really think Maxis should spend time making the game more realistic and more versatile in future expansions. All the expansions for the Sims 1 were briefly fun and great but they soon became silly. I mean they can still do silly things but this time they should focus making the game more real and lifelike and making the play options more configurable for players so they can play their sims the way they want to. If they just look at real life the possibilities are endless (cars, growing beards/shaving, school, more complex pets/relationships, temperature/AC/Heat/Fans, flus and getting sick, mental disorders, etc, etc, etc).

If anyone has a sims exchange membership could they post my suggestions in the suggestions portion/message board of the website (with exception of the first and last paragraph) I really feel the developers need to hear this.

Thanks!
Christopher
www.notinpublic.com (http://www.notinpublic.com/)

[ManagerJosh]

Maxis comes in and out of these forums, so there would be no reason for reposting it elsewhere.

However in the case of autonomy, you might want to enable Free-Will. This kicks in the Artificial Intelligence which allows for the Sim to make the necessary decisions for themselves.

[auraboyx]

I did enable free will. It seems to work off and on. The old Sims had an autonomy cheat that regulated the amount of what they did.

[ManagerJosh]

Did you download the game? :-/

[OafyC]

Did you download the game? :-/
It seems like they did. I bought a game online once that was used and i couldn't login until the original owner deleted his account, but I think this game is too new to be buying used.

[ManagerJosh]

You could in theory get it off P2P networks...aka pirated software :-/

[auraboyx]

I'll probably end up buying it if I cannot log on to sims2.com to get the new objects when they come out. But for now it will do until I have the cash.

Christopher
www.notinpublic.com (http://www.notinpublic.com)

[ijRoberts]

Wow, if you have this many complaints about a game that you haven't even paid for, I can't imagine what your list looks like for games you had to actually EARN your own money to buy... Sheesh.

A) This happens. Once you direct your sims to the same bed enough times, they will remember which one is theirs. If I have to colour code objects for up to 8 different family members, I think THAT would get horribly boring.

B) I haven't had a single problem with the autonomy of the game. I even let the game run for over 8 hours while I slept just to see what would happen, and besides the food being gone (Sims won't order groceries by themselves) everyone was still alive, and surprisingly their aspirations weren't too bad. Perhaps it's more of a control issue for you?

C) If your Sims take 30 minutes to get downstairs, you might want to rethink your architeture. I usually build large houses myself, and have noticed a HUGE difference between the time it takes the Sims to get from one side of the house to another. If yours are still going that slow, try moving them out of the museum, and into something a little more managable.

D) Okay, now we have a point that I can agree with. It would be nice if the action the Sim is currently involved with wouldn't be automatically cancelled out if I choose to add something to their queue. For instance, if they are taking a shower (autonomously) and I want them to cook food afterwards, when I select the cooking action, they shouldn't leave their shower mid-way through simply because I lined up something for them to do. They should continue on with whatever they were doing, unless I cancel out of their chosen action. It would be a nice fix.

E) Try purchasing the game, get the manual, or buy the freakin' strategy guide, but don't expect us to rally behind you when we've been waiting years to get our hands on the game, and you go and download it from some pirate site.

[auraboyx]

a) Rooms, not objects. And it makes sense. Much as you place tiles across a floor would you drag a color across it.

b) I have had a problem with the autonomy. It will go on for awhile and then suddenly my characters just stand there and wont move usually I have to exit the game completely and start the game again and they will start moving again.

c) Do I sense a but of sarcasm in your reply? I still think it makes sense to be able to alter the time for people who do have larger houses and larger families.

d) It would be cool if this was eventually implemented.

e) When did I even hint to suggest that anyone 'rally' behind me? Why don't you try judging youself before judging others. But that's society today so I wont hold it against you. :)

[yoshi_mon]

Well I've not really had any familys big enough yet to worry about this issue I do remember in the orignal Sims that it was very odd sometimes when Jr. would crawl into mom & dads bed and crash out leaving the parents having to sleep in the kiddy bed and/or sofa.

Now I don't know if this obvious omission has been fixed yet but it does seem like a child should always realize that the room littered with toys and clown wallpaper has their bed.

[ManagerJosh]

Since this game has been pirated, I find no reason to continue helping someone who pirated the game.

I will not encourage piracy.