Hey, everyone,
Each week, I try and talk about a few of the amazing features found in The Sims 2, and most of the time I can relay this information to you in real world terms (e.g. Sims have wants, fears, and aspiration). However, we shouldn't forget that The Sims 2 team is stuffed to over-flowing with some serious, Grade-A brainiacs. This week, let's get a little geeky with one of our Directors of Software Development, Dave Gregory. I'm going to let him talk from here on out on some of the more engineering-centric features, all focused on something you all have a lot of experience with, Custom Content:
Thanks, Lucy. Hi there. My name's Dave, and I'd like to talk to you about some of the behind the scenes improvements that we've made to The Sims 2 based on our experiences and feedback on the first The Sims game and using custom content.
First off, when you tear open your new copy of The Sims 2 on September 17th, you may quickly discover that uploading and downloading objects has been integrated directly in the game. In plain terms, this means that you'll be able to browse and contribute to the myriad of community-created objects, skins, neighborhood ploppables, build mode patterns and more right from the comfort of the game.
Also, suppose you downloaded a Sim last week because you loved the dress that had been created for her, but this week, you see a new Sim that you simply must have, but this one is wearing the same dress (how embarrassing for them!). Well, when you go to download this new Sim, the game will automatically see that it already has this dress, and so, using what we call Minimal Transport, you will download only the Sim you want, without downloading the dress a second time. This will certainly be a benefit for users with slower connections, and it puts less strain on our poor, overworked servers.
Furthermore, many of you were exasperated with some of the hoops that the first Sims game made you jump through in order to bring content into the game. No more! Now, when you download new custom content for the game, it will be automatically detected and seamlessly loaded into the game without restarting the game. You'll also be able to easily manage and maintain this content from right within the game. No more nosing around in The Sims 2 file structure (unless, of course, that's your thing, in which case, feel free to snoop around)!
Finally, and perhaps, most importantly, The Sims 2 has been built from the ground up in anticipation of future content being created for the game. Some of our more seasoned The Sims players might have noticed that keeping a large menagerie of custom content can sometimes lead to problems with newer content writing over old content. In The Sims 2, this will never be the case. All conflicts are resolved locally during the download process.
So, will all this fancy-pants engineering lead to slower load times in the game? No. We’ve done our best to ensure that a copy of the game jammed to the gills with custom content will result in only a small increase in load times, so you should plan on going hog wild downloading custom content when you have the game.
Happy Simming!
Lucy & Dave
Sims News
Ever wonder what its like to be the General Manager of Maxis? Well you can find out next Friday, June 2nd! Meet Maxis’ Neil Young live in chat next Friday from 3:30 – 4:30pm PST!
Ever wonder what its like to be the General Manager of Maxis? Well you can find out next Friday, June 2nd! Meet Maxis’ Neil Young live in chat next Friday from 3:30 – 4:30pm PST!
Ever wonder what its like to be the General Manager of Maxis? Well you can find out next Friday, June 2nd! Meet Maxis’ Neil Young live in chat next Friday from 3:30 – 4:30pm PST!
A tried and true Romance Sim wants to find love as much as possible, and damn the consequences! Check out Donnie on his path through life!
Greetings, Sims fans,
How you doin'? My, you look nice today! Did you lose weight? And your eyes - I never noticed how beautiful they are! Perhaps we could retire to some place quiet and talk about it some more...
Spring, the traditional time of year for romance, is quickly drawing to a close, but we predict that it's going to be the tail end of summer when things really start to heat up. Specifically, we think that beginning September 17th, romance will blossom across the globe, when The Sims 2 fans everywhere tear the shrink-wrap off their new copies of The Sims 2, and fire up some of the brand new Romance Sims found in The Sims 2 to see what makes them tick.
And just what is a Romance Sim, exactly? As you hopefully know by now, Sims in The Sims 2 are driven by their Aspirations, just like people in real-life. Romance Sims know what they want, and aren't afraid to let you go after it for them. For a Romance Sim, there is no sweeter thrill than the adulation of a new love interest. In short, they are individuals who pursue romantic gratification with an almost single-minded zeal. Perhaps you've encountered a few real-world equivalents? If you've ever known someone who was more likely to be found canoodling with a new "friend" in the coat-room of a party than hanging out with his buddies, then you've met a Romance Sim.
If you create a Romance Sim in The Sims 2, you'd better be ready to build Charisma by polishing your pick-up lines in the mirror. And we hope you've got some money - The Aspirations of Romance Sims often dictate the kinds of items they want to own, and they ain't cheap! You'll need a fabulous hot-tub for those long, sensuous soaks, a suspiciously comfy sofa for, ahem, entertaining...well, you get the idea.
It's not all roses and candles for these Sims, either. For every Want there's a Fear, you know...getting turned down for a smooch can knock a Romance Sim right down, and you should be prepared to spend some time at the gym: just a little unwanted flab can totally sap the confidence out of a Romance Sim. Romance Sims are notoriously vain people with spun-sugar egos.
A tried and true Romance Sim wants to find love as much as possible, and damn the consequences! Romance Sims played to the peak of perfection gain a palpable confidence that shows in their strut, knows all the slick moves, and attracts envious stares from their Sim peers.
If you don't believe me, then you should check out this movie, and see a real Romance Sim in action:
Until Next Week,
Lucy Bradshaw
The Sims 2 Executive Producer
Do you want to start making hair for your Sims but you're feeling kinda lazy? Check out this awesome community-made tutorial to get you started.
The Sims Resource is looking for clothing items created in BodyShop that sport the color schemes and logos of The Sims 1 and the Expansion Packs. Check out the rules and start making clothes!