New to Sims 2 Hi, I haven't actually gotten Sims 2 yet. I am supposed to get it for Christmas. I keep hearing all about the game and it sounds really complicated. Could somebody give me a few good starting strategies in order to quickly get familiar with the game. I have played Sims 1 with several eps so I have a clue how the game will work. Thanks
I never played TS1 and didn't have too much trouble getting started. There are some in-game tutorials which are okay to get you familiar with the interface. When you've played those, there are some more advanced tutorials available on the internet, for instance here: http://mikeinside.illusionfxnet.com/sims2/ And if that's not enough, well, there are several forums that already contain a bunch of information about more specific questions. So I'm sure you won't have too much trouble getting started either. Good luck & have fun!
1. Do the Tutorials 2. Play some of the established sims in the Maxis-premade neighborhood. They all have little surprises in store for you. 3. When you finally get ready to make your own sim, use Body Shop, not the "Create A Family" tool. I don't know about anyone else, but when I try to modify the faces on Create A Family, they end up looking like aliens. Body Shop is much cleaner. 4. Keep surfing, reading, and asking questions, because this is a very vibrant community of addicts, and there are always new developments in Simsville.
I guess I sort of OD'ed on TS2 over the last couple of months and I was getting kinda weary this month. Then I decided to begin a new neighborhood ... and over the last few days I have been getting more kicks again. Then today I had my first alien abduction :shocked: I haven't wanted to use any hacks to force such things ... so when it came it was quite a surprise and a potential headache too, cos his wife is also newly pregnant.
TS2 is definitely like that...the whole on and off thing. I went for about a week ignoring my sister's requests to play it, and when I finally did, I got obsessed all over again. One of my Sim "moms" gave birth to TWINS yesterday, it was so COOL! Overall, it's got a few more difficulties I think, as there are "Fears" and "Aspirations" that need to be fulfilled, so it's more of a strategy game now. Unfortunately you can't turn these off, and that's what a Sim's life now revolves around. Also: when I go into Create-A-Family, my people are all stretched out up and down the screen, so I can't see their faces. How do I fix that?
Well il say this , I got all the Ts1 games but when i bought Ts2 i heard chickens roosting in the morning on weekends i had to put that game out of site from my view lol " i get to playing and creating and heck time flies i am serious you just cant stop if you got alot of stuff going on ..even building the homes picks your brain fancy at skill I think my mouse died from clicking lol " very addicting game and the detail and graphic's are cool to , Big improvement over the Ts1 in that area but as time goes by youl see more exspansion packs intergrated in the game , I am just wondering how in the heck did god manage us here on earth ...because we sure have alot of free will here on earth as well !!! :bunny:
TS2 is great despite the bugs and some strange happenings with nannies. I have all of TS1 as well and tried going back to play it the other day when my TS2 computer was already in use and it reminded me of all the problems I had with TS1 by the end. As much as I loved it then, I am thinking of uninstalling it now. It was strange not to be able to zoom in using the mouse scroll button and I kept on thinking , "ok, now what do they want, what is their aspiration?" As addictive as TS2 can be, there are some nights now that I just don't feel like playing it because after a while, you want more objects and opportunities, new careers and somewhere else to go. That's when I visit here and I always get new ideas to start my addiction off again.
TS2 is a lot like TS1 except IMHO more fun. The basics of needs are the same but the TS2 Sims are a bit smarter than TS1 Sims (although they still will cancel your carefully planned queue to do something that they feel is more important, like block the mommy from putting the baby to bed because they feel the baby needs to be put to bed.) The difference between the two (other than the opportunity to play with different lifestages) is the wants and fears. They are tied to the general aspiration of the Sim (although many of the wants and fears are found in more than one aspiration type.) IMHO, it makes it a lot more fun because you can choose things for your Sim to do so that you maximize their wants (and help them avoid things which are fears.) For starting out, it's a good idea to start small. Don't try to do too many Sims in the same household until you've gotten the hang of it. And for absolute starting, make sure read the manual which comes with the game (and the Prima Guide if you can get that too) and do all the tutorials (not just the first one). Many people also find that if they start with one of the small pre-built families, it helps them too. (Some people never leave the pre-built neighborhoods. It really depends on what you like to do.) The Prima Guide gives a good run down on the the "difficulty level" of the families in the 3 prebuilt neighborhoods. It also has some guides as to what to try first in each family so you have an idea of what's going to work. The families can be used as "tutorials" in that way. Once you've gotten the hang of it, it becomes very easy. I find it a lot of fun (inspite of my husband saying I've been playing "10 hours a day" since it first came out. The 10 hours a day is a bit of an exaggeration, but I *have* been playing it a lot, so I can understand why hubby thinks that.)
TS2 more fun, because... I think TS2 is more fun for a few really basic reasons: Maxis learned a few things about camera control in TS1. Maxis has matured a bit and this maturity shows in their more intuitive controls. TS2 pays homage to those Sims we hated / loved in TS1 while allowing us the freedom to make / add whatever we want to their lives. All that stuff we used to project onto our Sims (wants, aspirations, fears, long-term plans) are now a part of the Sim. No longer do we need to write novels to fit our Sims; we now get to watch the novel unfold. And like a novel our Sims develop as they grow and even at some point end. Maxis has made TS2 community friendly. They have made the game specifically to be added to and shared. It is funny watching new and exciting games die out because they are so hard to mod, while The Sims and Neverwinter Nights gain rabid fan following because they were made for players to mod. Modding = a better game, even if the content a single modder adds is sub-par. Last, but not least, the Sims has great game play for every level of player. The pedantic nit-pickers (me ) can micro manage our Sims to our hearts content. The soap opera directors can create relationship webs that make Desperate Housewives look tame. And the passangers can ride along in their Sims lives and not interfere and watch the hilarity ensue (as well as the fires, the puddles of urine, the unfortunate deaths). TS2 doesn't force you to paly one way to "succeed" but instead any number of ways to have fun.
