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"In the latest edition of our designer diaries, Hunter Howe, one of the designers on University, tells us some fun anecdotes about developing the game."

Show Me The Gold!

The Sims 2 University Designer Diary #3 - Going Gold

Producer Hunter Howe recalls some fun incidents that the Maxis team encountered while finishing this college-themed expansion.

The Sims 2 University is the first expansion pack for last year's blockbuster PC game that lets you control the everyday lives of little virtual people. As you can probably tell from the name, University brings the focus away from the tranquil suburban setting of the original game to the hectic, fun-filled, and stressful days of college life. The expansion is due out early next month, and it will introduce a new young-adult age that will let your teenage sims transition to adult life the fun way. In addition to studying, your sims will be able to party, get college jobs, and buy lots of new and interesting furniture and objects. In the latest edition of our designer diaries, Hunter Howe, one of the designers on University, tells us some fun anecdotes about developing the game.

College Finals

By Hunter Howe
Designer, Maxis

Greetings from the front! A very tired Hunter Howe here, pleased to give you news that The Sims 2 University is hitting the presses and will be reaching you soon! I'm one of the designers here for The Sims 2. Our friends at GameSpot asked me to share a little bit about how the finalizing process has been over the past month, and how everything shaped up. It's been quite a ride making the first expansion pack to the The Sims 2 and we really hope you like it!

Invariably, the initial design documentation for a game does not cover every possible contingency. Things actually can go wrong in the way something is made. Amazingly, designers can make the wrong decisions in the first place. Hard to believe, but true. For all these reasons, the first time we manage to get our hands on the feature-complete game can be a bit of a shake-up to the natural order of things around here. All the features are done, right? It's good to go, right? Nope, not always. We plan on imperfections and buffer the schedule with some time to fix them up. Through a mix of Maxoids hitting the game and taking notes, bringing the game in front of focus groups, and sitting down outsiders for quick play sessions, we manage to get a solid list of things to address.

As you know, objects are very important in The Sims. In The Sims 2 University, we introduced more than 125 new objects. Sometimes, it's not until finalizing that we introduce a whole batch of new ones that we never expected to make. In playing University, we discovered a big problem with dorm life: throw together a lot of sims who don't have much cooking skill and you get fires and mayhem. Essentially, if a fire ever started in the dorm kitchen (caused by a late-night Ramen in the microwave, perhaps), every one of the 15 or so resident sims would rush to the kitchen and pile in. The fire would spread, nobody would be able to move, and the kitchen would turn into a blazing inferno of absolute death. So, our solution to this was to add an object at the last minute to help turn off fires and quell the mayhem. We decided to add fire sprinklers, a much more fun alternative. Now, sims can still pile in and panic, but instead of dying, they run around like morons getting soaked with water. It's especially funny when the evil cow mascot intentionally sets off the sprinkler with a lighter. She's a really big jerk.

A big part of the finalizing process is always tuning the gameplay. As the development process goes along, we never really know exactly how we want things to behave: how much an object costs, how many skill points are needed for a particular major's semester, or even what a zombie's personality is like when it comes back from the great abyss. If we got bogged down in all those details in the beginning, we'd never get around to making the game! That's when the tuning team, a group of us producers and designers, go into crazy number-crunching mode to make everything play just right. It's a process of setting goals for gameplay (how much money a sim should get on average from scholarships), tuning everything in order to hit our goal (scholarship requirements and cash payouts), and then testing to see if we meet our goal. If we fail, it's back to tweaking the numbers! Just imagine the sheer amount of numbers that go into a simulator as complicated as The Sims 2. It's easy for things to go out of whack. "Oops. I set one number too high, and now sims do absolutely nothing but talk on cell phones. Forever. Until they die."

And last but not least, the bane of any finalizing process: bugs! We generate thousands of bugs making a product, all of which are carefully entered and cataloged in our bug database. Pick any feature in the entire game and there's bound to be a nice bug history behind it. The titles of our bugs are precious: zombies can't fall in love; zombies walk on water; zombies have conflicting wants and fears; zombies come back from the dead with a D- grade; zombies stop limping during junior year; and zombies do not properly show thought balloons of brains. The list goes on and on. This is really when the team comes together most, pushing through and annihilating any bug that comes their way. This is the final step until we have to send the product through final approvals. It's also a time when we get to laugh a lot at the mishaps and bloopers!

Eventually, we get through all the bugs and stamp a big "DONE" on our dear and loved game and send it off for all you fans to enjoy. And now, of course, everybody here at Maxis is already hard at work on the next big thing. No rest for the weary! Go out and have a blast with Sims 2: University; we had lots of fun making it for you! Rock on, simmers!

What better way to see the upcoming Sims 2 expansion pack than through the eyes of a Sim herself?

Peek In On Her Correspondence

Sims University: Letters Home Part 3

What better way to see the upcoming Sims 2 expansion pack than through the eyes of a Sim herself? We peek in on her correspondence!

Fortunately for us fans of The Sims 2 eager for news about the upcoming expansion, GameSpy recently got permission to republish some letters from an actual student of The Sims 2 University. In our first batch of letters she talked about adjusting to life on campus, life in the dorms, and rushing a sorority. During her sophomore year she wrote about choosing a major and getting a job around campus. Now, in her junior year, she's about to discover that Sims University has its own secret society. The truth is out there!

Dear Mom and Dad,

I hardly have any time to write! Things are really getting tough here in my junior year. See, to get good grades I have to continually improve certain skills related to my major. If I don't, I can't even sit down to write my term paper. As a Drama Major I've got to work on my charisma and creativity, but they're already so high that it takes longer and longer to get those points. Whew!

Something strange is afoot at Sims U...

Anyways, I had a great time visiting home the other week and meeting my new sister. All you have to do is pick up the phone at your house and I'll come over any time. But Dad, go easy on the bubble machine, 'kay?

Speaking of calling people, I got one of those new cell phones. I can accept calls or make them from anywhere. It's awesome! I especially like it for calling cabs -- I can call one from anywhere in the shopping mall, then stroll over and by the time I get to the sidewalk he's pulled up. I save a ton of time that way.

And time is valuable -- I have to hurry up and hit the gym! The semesters seem to by flying by now, and there's so much to do!

Note to readers: Our heroine's next letter was delayed for two weeks and arrived in a suspiciously thick envelope with the seal of a llama embossed neatly onto the front. What mysteries did it hold...?

Dearest family acquaintances:

Sorry for not catching up on my correspondence sooner. Remember the other week when I told you about the strange black limos driving around campus? Or the people wearing the bizarre blazers with the little llama crests over the pocket? Mystery solved!

See, being that I'm in a sorority here, I sure do get around. A lot of people come over to party at our place. I started chatting up some long-haired fellow in the blazer named Zeeshan. He introduced me to a pal. I met another fellow in one of the blazers at the gym, and we really hit it off while using the walking machines. One thing led to another and pretty soon we were all great buds.

Then, last night while I was sleeping, I was awakened by the squeal of tires outside my window. I looked out and there was one of those suspicious black limos, right outside my porch, with the doors open and the engine running! Rough footsteps barged up the stairs. I crawled out of bed, still in my pajamas, and a bunch of people in blazers stormed into my room! Was one of them Zeeshan? I couldn't tell in the dim light. They grabbed me -- seriously, abducted me! Handcuffs and everything! The next thing I knew they were shoving me into the limo and taking off.

Membership has more than privileges!

Suffice it to say that I'm now a part of a society so secret that I can't name it here. Yes, I'm a member. They even gave me my own blazer. More importantly, they took me to the secret society headquarters, which isn't even on the map. And the wonders I saw there! Hmmm, I can't say any more just yet. I'll write again soon.

Editor's Note: The next piece of mail, also delivered in an embossed llama envelope, is being reprinted here exactly as it was given to GameSpy. We apologize for the omissions.

Dear mother and father,

I've discovered the most amazing things here at the secret society headquarters, I just have to tell you all about it. Anyways, the secret compound is located right next to the . People in llama blazers walked all over, chatting in hushed tones about really important stuff, like in the . I asked them what the llama on the crest signifies, and it's incredible: It represents of !! Who would've guessed? That's why there's a pyramid drawn on the back of every Simoleon, as well.

The compound here is very plush, with the nicest possible furniture and accoutrements. Boy, I worked so hard to set up my sorority house -- but this is living! Do you know they have a whole ? True! They also have one of those plastic surgery kits that I told you about, but you'll never guess who uses it: That's right, . Yes, he's still alive, and he still !

Most of the career rewards and special items are available here, scattered around like some sort of Twilight Zone funhouse. For instance, there's a sinister glowing red book on a pedestal called , and you can use it to Sims and bring them back from the ! They look a little worse for the wear, though. Creepy, hunh?

Ever stranger, there's an enormous plant here with the head of what appears to be a cow. They warned me not to get too close to it. It will actually people you don't like, whole! Man, I wouldn't even wish that on Grubbs, no matter how much of a jerk he is! Needless to say, I kept clear.

Also, there's a here that prints , so I can finally afford a couple more lip-shaped sofas. Oh yeah! And they showed me how to hack my grades from any networked ! All that, and I get to keep the blazer, too.

But here's the part that really blows my mind:
 
 
 
The President
 
 
. Twice!

Anyways, I can return to the secret society headquarters any time I like by calling them up on my phone. Membership has its privileges, you know?

P.S. Burn this.

Dear Mom and Dad:

Even though I'm a member of the secret society, it's not all easy street here on campus. This weekend I decided to throw a Sports Party, and it all went wrong.

Sports parties are new, and they're all the rage on campus, thanks to the new sports channel on television. You throw them just like you would a birthday or a house party: you get on the phone, then choose the guests you want to invite.

But when everyone shows up, they make a beeline right for the TV to turn on the game. I guess that's the first problem -- see, the sisters and I spent so much money on lip sofas that we just have an ordinary color TV, not some big fancy flatscreen.

Grubbs makes throwing Sports parties look easy.

And everyone talks about sports -- nothing else. Which was fun for a couple of people, like Grubbs' frat buddies, but the people from the secret society started to get bored. And then the food! I prepared a delicious buffet, but everyone wanted snacks, like chips. By the time I figured out the problem and rolled in a juice barrel things were already going bad. One of the secret society members kept zapping Brittney with the joy buzzer and MaryAnn set the kitchen on fire. We nearly burned the place down, and my guests -- most of them soaked from the sprinklers -- took off early. It was a failure! A failed party! Me, hosting a bum party! I was inconsolable.

But Grubbs, he stayed afterwards to help 'clean up.' Of course he didn't do any cleaning. His frat house looks like a sty, with green smoke coming out of the toilet, but he doesn't care. Still, Grubbs stayed around I guess just to cheer me up. You can "hang out" with other Sims when you're in college together. He and I hung out -- we sat on the floor and talked. It was nice. I guess he's not that bad, after all. It was sweet of him to stay. He's really getting his act together, you know? So at least the night wasn't a complete wash.

On Monday night I went over to the society headquarters and brought MaryAnn back from the dead.

The Simscommunity gave Graciesim (Resie) the opportunity to travel to the exclusive SIMposium in Redwood City on behalf of Simparool.

When she gets back, she'll write an extensive report about everything she has experienced!

Graciesim has already sent us a message, read here what she has done in Redwood City and... who she has met...