Anyone agree with this?

[ManagerJosh]

I came across this article while reading stuff up on the net:


Sims 2: Face Lift of the Original By Lore Sjöberghttp://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091464/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/images/icon_story_send.gif (http://www.wired.com/news/feedback/mail/1,2330,0-1271-65038,00.html)
02:00 AM Sep. 23, 2004 PT
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,65038,00.html (http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,65038,00.html)

The Sims, first released in 2000, is the best-selling PC game ever. Somehow all the laser-blasting, fireball-hurling and zombie-mashing games on the shelves have failed to match the pleasant addiction of ignoring your own real-life needs to look after the needs of fictional digital people.

With The Sims 2, Maxis updates the Sims formula for a new generation of PCs. The result is more of a tuneup and a paint job than a brand-new game, but with a classic like The Sims, that's all it takes to make the old seem new again.

The key word here is "detail." The Sims 2 (http://thesims2.ea.com/) offers a lot more detail than the original game, both in gameplay and in graphics. To begin with, the character models are better-looking, and the character-design tool gives you an incredible amount of control over the appearance of your Sim, right down to the curve of the forehead and the tilt of the nose. The interface isn't the most intuitive, but if you're patient you should be able to create a Sim version of anyone, at least from the neck up.

Once in the game, the graphics don't disappoint. Even with the textures and curves set to medium quality and the camera pulled in fairly close, the models look nice and include some nice touches, like stray wires at the back of the smoke detector.

The gameplay is more detailed as well. For instance, where in the original game you could only read a newspaper, recycle it or use it to find a job, The Sims 2 lets you do the crossword or make a paper airplane. New choices like these are scattered liberally throughout the game.

Family life is much more involved, too. Kids in The Sims started as babies, grew into young children, then stopped aging. The Sims 2 gives your Sims a complete life span, from infancy to old age and eventual death. (The game manual, however, provides an anti-aging cheat code for those who find the idea of an inevitable trip to the Sim Cemetery too depressing.)

The original Sims skirted controversy by having infants appear out of nowhere and limiting affection to hugs and kisses. Even so, the game made no distinction between affection between characters of the same or different sexes. The Livin' Large expansion added a vibrating love bed that allowed Sims to fool around under the covers. The Sims 2 takes things a step further by adding marriage (or "joining" for same-sex Sim couples) and making sex (euphemistically called "WooHoo") an option in any double bed (and some other places).

It also depicts pregnancy by giving the parent-to-be a growing belly and a waddling gait. Sex is always obscured by blankets or other means, however, and actual childbirth is accomplished with a pirouette and a whirl of music. Nonetheless, these additions have led some parents to post to the official Sims 2 board asking Maxis for a patch that will let them excise WooHoo from the game.

One of the most notable additions to the gameplay is the Aspiration Meter. Each Sim has four desires and three fears that change over time. Desires include activities like chatting with a friend, and goals like finding a job in the medical profession. Fears can include such things as the death of a loved one or setting the house on fire. The Aspiration Meter rises and falls as the Sim fulfills aspirations and sees fears come true. A Sim with a high Aspiration Meter can end up in a euphoric mood that helps with work performance, as well as simply making it nicer to be around. Low-aspiration Sims sulk and sob.

The Aspiration Meter is the single greatest improvement to the game. Because your Sims are much more self-sufficient than in the original -- they can generally manage to eat and go to the bathroom when they need to -- you're freed up to help them out with their aspirations, which puts you more in the role of a benevolent guardian angel than an invisible day-care teacher. Moving the focus away from bodily functions and toward hopes and dreams is a subtle but important improvement.

People who hated the original Sims won't like this one any better, and anyone expecting a brand-new game designed from the bottom up may be disappointed with the familiarity. People who loved the original game so much that they bought all the expansions might be let down as well: A lot of the material from the expansion packs didn't make it into The Sims 2. If you wanted spiral staircases, dozens of career tracks and a pet dog, you're going to have to wait (and probably shell out some cash to boot) for the inevitable expansions. For those who haven't yet given the Sims franchise a try, or those excited at the prospect of an excellent upgrade to a groundbreaking game, The Sims 2 surpasses the original.

[Orion]

In some sences, I'm half gald they didn't throw all previous game things into this all at once. The expansions from the prevous Sims led to more things to learn and a more complicated game. Everything put in Sims 2 all at once could be overwhelming to a new player. Although I played alot of the previous Sims game expansions and expected more to this first Sims 2, knowing that I could have handled it all at once does make me a bit disappointed.

The best feature upgrade to Sims 2 that I see is the detailed character creation. Being able to make a character that looks like myself and others such as people I like, makes this game a "fantacy" world. I can date, kiss, hug, woohoo, get engaged, and marry my favorite pop singer if I so choose. This could be seen as a "sick" and "demented" thing. Just imagining bringing your date home and showing them a character that looks like you and them making out, doing the woohoo and having babies togather. This could freak out your date. My wife wasn't to thrilled to see me and my favorite pop singer togather in a house. Understandable? I see this as more of an adult game than something for teens and children. This game could use a parental control feature.

As far as character creation goes, I'm disappointed in the lack of hair color shading. You get but 4 or 5 choices of hair color? Also they need to include more body altering like shoulder width, height, longer or shorter torsel or legs, little or big butts, little or big feet and hands and thinning and fattening of body features. Maybe in the next upgrade.

All around I am satisfied with my Sims 2 soap opera game. I'm working on raising a child for now.

[zydeco]

I was considering starting a new thread on this topic. I just located this one. I'm really enjoying the game and discovering what I can and can't do at this point. Even though I'm basically doing similar things as in the original it feels completely different. It doesn't have the feel of just an upgraded version. I think the aspirations and rewards adds a mini-game within the game. The thing that pleases me most is that it won't replace the original series for me. I'm sure I will still play it. I find the original much easier to maneuver around and all of my downloads give me many more options..for now. I'm a little frustrated with the partial room view on sim2. I spend a lot of time trying to see around the huge wardrobes and mirrors on the walls. The walls don't drop smoothly and I find myself stuck within walls while moving from room to room on closeup. I keep trying to remember how it felt when I just had the original sim game and nothing matched! lol Part of me is conscious of those days and how creative I had to be then now that I'm playing the first game of sim2. I sure wish they'd put out a cd with some recolored objects immediately.

[ihavenoskin]

No way!! I mean how different do people want it to be? If they had made doom3 a thrid person shooter then people would have gone ape sh*t??

The sims always has to follow a basic pattern of game play other wise it would have to just be a different game. Called the Jims or something....

I was amazed at how absolutly outstandingly brilliant this game is... I didn't know they could improve on the sims sooooooo much. I think they pretty much got all aspects of the game spot on. Its similar yes, however for new players its a challenge but relativly easiy to get into, for old players how know the origonal game so well its fun noticing all the new things you can do.

The only thing i can think of that may be bad is the objects and build tools... BAD TASTE. I got a reasonably good looking house however having a new game means all your downloads from the first sims obviously won't be in the new one.... I think the bad taste has something to do with amercans! LOl

I'm waiting on nice looking downloads.

HAHHAHAAH!!!!!!!!!!

[Vchat20]

i agree. sims 2 IS a facelif, but thats not a bad thing. if they did completely redo it to the point of it being a totally new game, people would have gone ape sh*t as the case was. so far im loving the game. period. love it.

[yoshi_mon]

It also depicts pregnancy by giving the parent-to-be a growing belly and a waddling gait. Sex is always obscured by blankets or other means, however, and actual childbirth is accomplished with a pirouette and a whirl of music. Nonetheless, these additions have led some parents to post to the official Sims 2 board asking Maxis for a patch that will let them excise WooHoo from the game.

The Sims 2 ESRB Rating: Teen (Content suitable for persons ages 13 or older.)

I guess there are always those who fear any form of sexuality but I'm still just floored that anyone would be so scared WooHoo that they would want it removed from the game.

[Rhaevyn]

I don't bash anyone's religious practices, but what makes me say "hmmm" is the people that want puritanical games to play because of the possible affront to god that they see in some, but yet, to play the Sims in itself is playing god to a certain degree, is it not? ;) Go figure. If you don't like the content of a game (or movie, or book, or TV show, etc.) don't get it! Why start a fuss. We who DO like it don't go around bashing the masses who disapprove. /sigh ... humans.

[kristygal]

I think it's somewhat of a facelift, but I don't see how it could've been designed completely different than the old game and still be called The Sims. I don't think most people were looking for a totally different game either. I honestly didn't expect it to be as great as it is, so I was blown away by just the graphics alone.

[Mirelly]

No way!! I mean how different do people want it to be? If they had made doom3 a thrid person shooter then people would have gone ape sh*t??

Absolutely! DEATH TO ALL THRIDS! That's what I say! :p

Re Josh's poll ... is TS2 just a face lift or a new departure? I honestly don't know. I do care but I suppose I'll have to check don't care cos there isn't a dunno option. :p.

On the one hand keeping the word the and sims in the new game's title is a bit of a giveaway. People used to the original will expect the new to be similar to the old only better ... else why bother to upgrade? I think the expression face lift is wrong in any event. A face lift, by definition, is a cosmetic job - pull all the saggy bits out of sight and tie a big knot (face), add electric window lifters, a CD changer and racey stripes down the sides (a car), slap a coat of paint on the front of your house before calling in the real estate agent (homes) ... the point is that face lift leaves the original structure behind under a new coat of glitz. That is surely not true of TS2 which has been re-engineered from the first binary digit to the last.

[KatAnubis]

If they had just gone from TS1 pseudo 3D to TS2's 3D or the changes in things like building tools, I think I'd be more inclined to think of it as a facelift. However, from my point of view, by adding life cycle and aspirations/fears, it makes it very different from TS1. There's a different "drive" to playing the game than TS1 had.

[Cyricc]

The only games I played of the original were Sims + Living Large, and even then I really didn't get into it very much. So, being a relatively new player (am I the only one here?), I actually found all the "new" (old) stuff overwhelming. I mean, tell a Sim to interact with another well-liked Sim, and 10 choices of 4-5 sub-choices each pop up... completely overwhelming when the original had, what, 6-7 choices total? Not to mention stuff like community lots, customization in neighborhoods, aging and stages of life... Without a manual (mine is in Chinese, which I can't read at all :ermm: ) I sort of went into overload the first few hours of trying to play it. I've familiarized myself with the game a lot more since then, but I'm glad they didn't include too much stuff in the sequel.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the Sims 2 FAR more than I ever got into the original. But I am still in dire need of an English manual :mad:

[Michael]

I agree completely. Sims2 is just an improvement on Sims1. Identical game with better graphics (3d) and more details for practically the same activities.

Definitely seems like a sequel rather than any kind of 'new game'. Nothing wrong with that given the popularity of Sims1.

[FaeLuna]

I think Sims 2 is a good follow up and replacement of the first Sims game. I agree that it's a sequel and not an entirely new game. HOWEVER, I do not agree that it is ONLY a "facelift" of the original game. The cosmetic parts of the game are: it's in 3D, it has better graphics. If they had ONLY done these things, it would be a facelift, changing the appearance without changing anything underlying it. The new gameplay includes Aging, DNA/genetic inheritance, and Aspirations, which are part of the Structure of the game, not just changing the cosmetic appearance of the graphics. This, plus all the new Build mode features, changing the whole structure of the game so more stories and basements are possible, windows and doors on diagonal walls, etc. are MAJOR differences that again, are deep in the programming of the game and not just added on. The whole programming for the game itself had to be done over again from the ground up, so I would say it's very much NOT a Cosmetic change. :D It is the same feel and a lot of the same idea as the first game, but FAR from being Identical, but with better graphics.

[008125]

Nonetheless, these additions have led some parents to post to the official Sims 2 board asking Maxis for a patch that will let them excise WooHoo from the game. This is the only thing i have to comment on! i completly agree with everyone who is saying how stupid the is!It actually made me a little angry to read that. My opinion is if you don't like it don't buy it

[ihavenoskin]

whohoo ban????????? Suckers, my parents let me watch Aliens when I was 4 and I thought it was cool. But then again I make horror films for a living??

The people that wrote that are Christians and they suck.
I dont like that. It would happen in england, I would love to get them parents and let them play Manhunt on the ps2 hahahahahaha that would be great

[KatAnubis]

I was considering starting a new thread on this topic. I just located this one. I'm really enjoying the game and discovering what I can and can't do at this point. Even though I'm basically doing similar things as in the original it feels completely different. It doesn't have the feel of just an upgraded version. I think the aspirations and rewards adds a mini-game within the game. The thing that pleases me most is that it won't replace the original series for me. I'm sure I will still play it. I find the original much easier to maneuver around and all of my downloads give me many more options..for now. I'm a little frustrated with the partial room view on sim2. I spend a lot of time trying to see around the huge wardrobes and mirrors on the walls. The walls don't drop smoothly and I find myself stuck within walls while moving from room to room on closeup. I keep trying to remember how it felt when I just had the original sim game and nothing matched! lol Part of me is conscious of those days and how creative I had to be then now that I'm playing the first game of sim2. I sure wish they'd put out a cd with some recolored objects immediately.
One of the things I love about TS2 is the way you can change the room view. I finally can see the corners I want to see. I can get a view of the toilet with just a little view change, rather than having to turn everything around just so I can click on it (to get them to clean it for instance.) And I can zoom in or out to see things I could never see in TS1.

I wasn't expecting to like the new way of viewing it, yet it's one of the things I now appreciate the most.

As to recolored objects, I suspect that the first EP will have that sort of thing. MaxisLuc said that the first one would be more like Livin' Large where they put in a lot of things they didn't get finished for the TS2 main game. But I'm finding that the things "match" a lot better than they did with TS1. While there are some gaps, it's not a blatant as before.

As to the new aspects such as the Wants and Needs, I wish we could "lock" two wants at a time. But even that aspect of the game I'm enjoying more than I thought I would.;)

[KatAnubis]

whohoo ban????????? Suckers, my parents let me watch Aliens when I was 4 and I thought it was cool. But then again I make horror films for a living??

The people that wrote that are Christians and they suck.
I dont like that. It would happen in england, I would love to get them parents and let them play Manhunt on the ps2 hahahahahaha that would be great I have to object to your overgeneralization of the people who object the woohoo being Christians. There are many Christians (myself included) who do not object to the game having "woohoo" and heartily approve of children getting sex education from infanthood on. (As a pediatrician, I know how important it is to start with parental attitudes toward sex, sexuality and the body from the moment a child is born, giving the child information *as soon as* they are developmentally ready to hear it, and not waiting until you think that it's something that "they need to know." They need to know as soon as they have a curiosity about it.)

And I know that there are many non-Christians who have (to use a word that has previously been used in this thread) a puritanical outlook. (Although when you really start studying history, the Puritans weren't as "puritanical" as we were taught in school.) It a societal thing, not a religious thing. (And not just Americans, and not all Americans agree with it either.)

So, let's leave the religious suppositions out of the discussion, shall we. ;)

[ihavenoskin]

sorry.


I like overgenralising (spelling is foolish).

It's not americans, just kidding. As for christians I'm sorry for what was said.

[Michael]

I have to object to your overgeneralization of the people who object the woohoo being Christians. ...
<snip>
So, let's leave the religious suppositions out of the discussion, shall we. ;)
I agree completely. Well said. The people objecting to "woohoo" in the game are generalized idiots, lets leave it at that. No need to slander the Christians - they have enough baggage without this unjustified one! :coolnessl:

However, your point about the Puritans is like waving a red flag in front of me. I'm sure a discussion on that point would be entirely off-topic, but suffice it to say that I disagree with your statement. While US History isn't my strong suit, British history is, and that's where the Puritans came from. Anyway, I shan't bother with a rebuttal here and now. I'll take pity on the poor Sim-fanatics reading this wondering what the heck I'm talking about!

[ihavenoskin]

ok sorry I'm now worshipping christ and my fingers are crossed for Bush to win. lol



IT WAS A JOKE,



Look out for Mr.T

[KatAnubis]

I agree completely. Well said. The people objecting to "woohoo" in the game are generalized idiots, lets leave it at that. No need to slander the Christians - they have enough baggage without this unjustified one! :coolnessl:

However, your point about the Puritans is like waving a red flag in front of me. I'm sure a discussion on that point would be entirely off-topic, but suffice it to say that I disagree with your statement. While US History isn't my strong suit, British history is, and that's where the Puritans came from. Anyway, I shan't bother with a rebuttal here and now. I'll take pity on the poor Sim-fanatics reading this wondering what the heck I'm talking about!
You can always take it PM. ;)

[zydeco]

As a parent who has already raised her children, I would have found aspects of this game inappropriate for mine at certain ages. The appropriate patch for parents who are concerned is to not allow them to play it! lol Just because they want to play doesn't mean you have to let them. There are a ton of age appropriate games. Why parents get upset when there are ratings on a package that informs them of content is beyond me. It's not like it's maxis/ea's job to make a game that's appropriate for everyone. It's a parent's job to do their homework and make parental decisions. I did.

[ihavenoskin]

If some parents are having trouble just chosing a game for a kid then imagine what there sims would turn out like if they played the game???? Hungry, Dirty, Tierd little alien babies.



cool.