The Sims 2
The Sims 2 is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in The Sims series, and is the sequel to The Sims. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on September 14, 2004, and a port for MacOS by Aspyr was released on June 17, 2005. Eight expansion packs and nine "stuff packs" were subsequently released between 2005 and 2008. In addition, versions of The Sims 2 were released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, and GameCube, and mobile platforms, including the Nokia Ovi Store. Unlike the original, the handheld and console versions are more storyline-based. The three handheld versions of the game are completely different among themselves, unlike the home console versions of the game, which are virtually identical to each other. A sequel, The Sims 3, was released in June 2009.
Like its predecessor, The Sims 2 allows the player to create and dress characters called "Sims", design neighborhoods, and build and furnish houses. Players manage their Sims from birth to death, forming relationships in a manner similar to real life. Sims have life goals, wants, and fears, the fulfillment of which can produce good or bad outcomes. First incorporated in the console versions of The Sims, The Sims 2 was the first PC game in the series to incorporate a complete 3D graphics engine of the game world. This allows the player to get 360º views as opposed to the fixed 2D isometric view of The Sims. Genetics are also a new game mechanic; children in The Sims that were born in-game were randomly generated. Although gameplay is not linear, storylines and scripted events exist in the game's pre-built neighborhoods.
The Sims 2 was critically acclaimed, and it has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It was also a commercial success, selling one million copies in its first ten days, a record at the time. It contributed to The Sims series reaching 100 million copies in April 2008. By March 2012, the game had sold 13 million copies over all platforms with over six million PC copies, making it one of the best-selling PC games of all time. The game was re-released on Steam and EA desktop in January 2025 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of The Sims series.
Gameplay
From the neighborhood view, the player selects one lot to play, as in The Sims. While there are both residential and community lots, Sims can only live in residential lots. Sims can travel to community lots in order to purchase things like clothing and magazines, and to interact with NPCs and townies. The player can choose between playing a pre-made inhabited lot, moving a household into an unoccupied pre-built lot, or constructing a building on an empty lot. One novelty from The Sims is foundations. The player switches among the Live mode to control Sims, the Buy mode to add, move, or delete furniture, and the Build mode to rebuild the house and make structural changes. Although the Buy and Build modes cannot be accessed when on a community lot, the lots can be built on by using the neighborhood view. It is also possible to import neighborhood terrains from SimCity 4.The game contains some time-bound social challenges that provide a reward if successful. Sims can throw parties to gain aspiration points or invite the headmaster over for dinner in order to enroll their children in private school. Some expansion packs have new mini-games like running a Greek house in University, or dating in Nightlife. In Nightlife, each date is a challenge to keep both Sims as happy as possible while accumulating aspiration points. Various other expansion packs introduce supernatural characters which Sims can be turned into, such as Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, PlantSims, and Witches.
Sims
The main part of the game is to lead a Sim from the start of life to death. A Sim will be born when a female Sim and a male Sim try for a baby several times. The mother will spend 3 Sim days pregnant before giving birth to a baby. During Pregnancy, the belly does not expand gradually. Instead, every day, it pops to a bigger size. Players can name the new Sim upon birth. The baby's appearance and personality will be based on the genetics of its parents. Babies can also be adopted by calling adoption service on the phone, even by single parents, old age sims or same-gender couples. The baby will change into a toddler in 3 days, and 4 more days for the toddler to change into a child. After 8 days, the child grows into a teenager, and will live 15 days before changing into an adult. After 29 days, the Sim will become an elder. An elder will eventually die; the length of this final stage depends on the aspiration bar when they become an elder.Babies, toddlers, children, teens, and adults can be advanced to their next life stage at any time during the 24 Sim hours before they will grow up automatically. For babies, this requires using the birthday cake. Toddlers, children, teens, and adults can use the "Grow Up" self-interaction. If the university expansion pack is installed, teens have the option to go to college, where they will be young adults for approximately 24 days. Aging can be disabled via cheats. Poor choices can have consequences. Players will need to build up talent badges, skills, and relationships with other people, so that they can be successful in their career. A player will also need to make sure a Sim is happy and well by fulfilling wants. Pregnancy, toddlers, teens, and elders are new stages of life. Young adult is a unique age added with the University expansion. Teen Sims will become young adults once they are moved to a university, and will be adults once they leave campus, regardless of the reason.
Create-a-Sim
In The Sims 2, Create a Family is entered by clicking the "Families" button in the lower left-hand corner of the neighborhood view, then clicking the large "Create New Family" button. Clicking the button labeled "Create A Sim" will expand a tab which has the "Create a Sim" and "Make a Child" icons. "Make a Child" will be grayed out unless the family contains an adult male and adult female. Clicking the "Create a Sim" icon will generate a random adult Sim, who may be male or female which can be edited by the player. As opposed to The Sims, any age besides baby or young adult may be created. Instead of having to choose from already finished faces which include hair, it is now possible to alter the facial structure and choose any hairstyle to go with it. Different eye colors and an additional skin tone is available for the Sims as well. If Sims are older than a child, their aspiration and turn-ons/offs may be determined. There are ten personality traits which are: sloppy, neat, shy, outgoing, lazy, active, serious, playful, grouchy, and nice but only 25 personality points which can be assigned to those traits.In The Sims 2, all personality points must be assigned. Additionally, there are twelve pre-set personalities, one for each zodiac sign. A zodiac sign will be set which matches the personality the player has selected for the Sim. A sim also has one of eight Aspirations which is a lifetime goal that strongly influences their Wants and Fears which are: Grow Up, Romance, Family, Knowledge, Popularity, Fortune, Pleasure, and the Grilled Cheese aspiration. The Sims 2 comes with The Sims 2 Body Shop, which enables users to create custom genetics, make-up, clothes, and Sims, with the help of third-party tools, such as Microsoft Paint, Paint.NET, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, and SimPE.
Social interactions
There are several new social interactions introduced in The Sims 2. These new social interactions can create memories and can be related to certain age groups. Social interactions can come up in the Wants and Fears panel and can be dependent on the Sim's personality and aspiration. Sims with certain personalities may not want to complete certain social interactions.- Influence
- Chemistry
- Fury
- Reputation
Careers
Neighborhoods
The Sims 2 ships with three pre-made worlds, known as neighborhoods for the player to explore, all with a specific theme and storylines. These worlds are Pleasantview, a continuation of the playable neighborhood from The Sims, featuring many of the same families, such as the Goths and the Pleasants – Strangetown, a small desert town themed around the supernatural, with aliens, mad scientists and haunted graveyards. The final neighborhood, Veronaville, is a European-themed town based on the works of William Shakespeare, with its central plot being a loose, modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Aside from these pre-made neighborhoods, players can create and populate towns of their own, using built-in presets, or create their own entirely using SimCity 4, since SimCity 4 maps are compatible with The Sims 2. Additionally, although SimCity 4 has powerful tools for terraforming, only the middle section of the map is usable in The Sims 2.Expansion packs add several new neighborhoods, such as university towns, a shopping district, a downtown area and several vacation destinations. Seasons adds a fully-fledged neighborhood, a rural small town called Riverblossom Hills, Free Time adds a hobby-themed town named Desiderata Valley, while Apartment Life adds Belladonna Cove, a bigger, more metropolitan area featuring apartments and high-rises.