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Maxis #1 All Time Sims 3D-Game Ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1380 / 1480
Date: September 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I believe this game will be the best Pc selling game ever!
Why?

This is all the options that we will enjoy and have for thesims 2.
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Building Options - Create mountains, build multiple story homes, with basements, put doors and windows on diagonal walls.

Calendar - The new sim calendar will work by the week instead of month. (ie your kids birthday is next Monday).

Cameras - Now you can place cameras all around the room to capture a party from all angles.

Careers - For adult sims, there wi.ll be 18 careers, with 10 levels each. For teen and old sims there will be 7 careers, with 3 levels each. Also elderly sims will receive a pension upon retiring.

Diaries - Now you will be able to create video as well as snap shot diaries of your sims life.

Family - The family limit will still be set at 8. But new to TS2 is the ability to create all ages, except infant, in the create-a-sim area. So you could start out with a Mom, teen, and toddler if you wanted.

Leaving the house - The only option to leave the home right now, is to send your sims to their second home, which you can also create. However a communal area is being considered.

Life Moments and Big Decisions - These will effect your life score, and also have an effect on your sim as they get older. Some of these included: Toilet training, first step, first kiss, first crush, getting a job, getting married.

Will Sims actually get pregnant? Will they still have to kiss to have a baby? - Yes! Sims will get pregnant but instead of kissing, a 'play' feature can be used in a bed or hot tub.

What is the Create-a-Sim tool? Is there going to be a demo of it? -The Create-a-Sim tool is a program that will allow you to completely customize every aspect of your Sims facial featurues. This will allow you to make any Sim you want! Even yourself! And yes, there is to be a demo release of it between August & September.

What about clothing customization? - Clothing articles will now be seperate from each other! Meaning that a pair of pants will be seperate from a shirt, creating alot more ways to mix & match!

Can you customize hair/make-up, too? - Yes! In the Create-a-Sim program you will be able to change hair color & style, & apply make-up to your sims. You are also able to do this during game play using special objects such as mirrors.

Will there be more than 2 floors? - Yes! I've seen as many as 3 floors, plus a basement, for a total of 4!

And More...

No Disappointment Here!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 743 / 776
Date: September 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well, after two days of owning Sims 2 I think that I have gotten enough play time in to write a comprehensive review. (...)

Alright, on to the review. I have both positive and negative things to say about Sims 2. Sorry, this is probably going to be a long review.

POSITIVE:

*Maxis has thrown a bit of Sim City into the mix. You can either play one of the pre-created neighborhoods or you can start from scratch. This option is fantastic! You can choose the layout, build houses or place houses already built onto the lots. No more wondering if you already have a house at lot #5 before downlaoding because you can place the house ANYWHERE you want!

*While playing the game you can connect to Maxis (if you have internet connection) and dowload new Maxis created items directly into the game.

*The Wants and Fears addition to Sims 2 is alot of fun. Even if they tend to get repetitive.

*It's alot easier for your Sims to Socialize in Sims 2. Now they will receive telephone calls from people who just want to talk, they can chat online and send and receive e-mails. Plus your Sims will sometimes bring people home with them from work or school. AND you can now socialize with (and even marry) what were previously non-interactive character like cashiers, the maid, and the paper deliverer.

*The Sims now have days off from work and vacation days. Needless to say, this creates alot more free time for your Sims to concentrate on other things.

*You can distinguish between family members and roommates. So no more awkward "Flowers in the Attic" moments.

*I haven't actually built a house but I love having the option of building more than 2 floors. Plus you can now shape the roof for more realistic and more luxurious houses.

*You can choose from a whole outfit or you can mix and match tops and bottoms. And with a mirror you can change the color and cut of your Sims hair and add and remove make-up and facial hair.

*Some reviewers were discussing the load time of Sims 2. I am running it on a Compaq Presario X1000 Notebook computer and so far the game has not crashed on me once. Furthermore, I haven't had any problems (crosses fingers) with the load times. I suppose the true test will be after I begin adding more objects, clothing, and genetics to the game.

*I was happy to see that you can still create community lots. Right now it's limited to basically parks, grocery stores, and clothing botiques but I'm sure restaurants and such will be coming with an expansion pack.

*Having your Sims age is a great addition to the game. Plus children now have alot more functions. They won't just stand around all day with their stupid "Ha-ha Who-who" and annoy the crap out of you (experienced Simmers know what I'm talking about). Ah yes, and teenagers can now get jobs! No free rides for for anyone anymore!

*The Sims act alot more natural in Sims 2. Like if one Sims is reading a book, they will look up if someone sits next to them, sometimes even talk to them. Their actions are much more fluid and natural and less robotic. In general, the Sims act alot more like real people than in the original Sims (it's especially noticable with the children).

*There are now little multiple choice scenarios that your Sims will experience. Your Sim will be given two or three choices and depending on which option you choose the outcome can be positive or negative. You could, for instance, be promoted for the choice you make or lose an entire day's worth of pay (These are just a couple I have personally experienced).

NEGATIVE:

*Creating family relationships isn't as liberal as I was expecting it to be. For instance, if you have an Adult Sim and a Teenage Sim living in a household, the Teenage Sim HAS to be the child of the Adult Sim. This was a problem for a family I was trying to create where a Teenage Sim lived with her Aunt. I haven't tested it yet, but it might be possible to do this the long way (create two sisters and a teenage child and whack the mother). I suppose it would just be easier if you could create them from the start. Same thing I noticed with an elderly couple whom I wanted to have an adult son and a teenage son. The only way to make the family possible was to make the teenager the son of the adult son :( But still, I'm thankful you can distinguish whether your Sims are roomies or siblings. It spares those awkward moments when your Sibling Sims start flirting with or making out with each other (Eww)

*The Sims age really fast! Luckily there's a cheat code you can use to turn off the aging process.

*Furnishings available in the game seem really limited and eventhough you can pick and choose from a variety of colors, nothing seems to match. Same thing with clothing. It seems like there's just like 10 outfits in 10 different colors. I'm sure Maxis is leaving this open for downloadables and expansion packs.

*Not all the modifying options available in Sims 2 Body Shop are actually available in the game when creating families. So I would suggest creating the faces for your families in Body Shop before playing the game and then they will be automatically added as a head choice in the game.

*For the most part, I am enjoying the 3D graphics. It took me awhile to get adjusted to the zoom, but now it's alot easier. The only problem I have is that some household items (like refridgerators and windows) don't go invisible while zooming past them and they can sometimes block your view. It's not really a big issue though.

So these are a few of my first impressions of The Sims 2. Perhaps I will write another review when I have gotten more play time in, but so far I am not disappointed one bit with my purchase. So, if you are a fan of the Sims or have just been wanting to check out what the buzz was all about, I would highly recommend adding Sims 2 to your collection.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS GAME TO COME OUT!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 236 / 319
Date: March 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Since The Sims have come out(4 years ago) I have bought every one so far. These games are very entertaining and fun! If the last 10 Sim games were GREAT AND FANTASTIC this game must be even more exciting! I've been waiting for months for this to come out.

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READ THIS BELOW PARENTS
Also, when I was a kid my parents were concerned about buying me the Sims until I was a teen (Like it says on the box).When I played it for the first time I really didn't think it was that bad. There really isn't many teen rated things in the game! The only thing I could see teen rated was romantic kissing and nude blurring in case they go in a shower or bath!
________________________________________

Now your Sims (or characters) can get older little by little instead of a baby automatically appearing and turning into a kid. You can have 4 story houses instead of a 2 story house and an attic. There are genes from parents who have a kid and there is also weather and days in a month!

That's just a little portion of the new Sims2 game!!! It's going to be the best yet!

YOU GO MAXIS!!!

Upgrade your computer and get ready for FUN!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 59 / 63
Date: August 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Other miscellaneous new features for Sims 2:

1. Sims now have five fingers.
2. Pregnant Sims have morning sickness, show a bulging belly, leave for the hospital when it's time to give birth, and come back a few days later with a baby. Additonally, there's a possibility (though rare) for female sims to give birth to twins and triplets.
3. Alien abductions in certain neighborhoods are common.
4. Ghost sighting tend to be more perilous (another perk of a more advanced artificial intelligence). If a ghost sim died in a fire, he might come back with a red glow and tendency to start fires himself.
5. As the sims cooking skills increase they can different types of foods, as opposed to the generic meals that could only be cooked in Sims 1 no matter how high your sims cooking score was.
6. Sims can decide which schools to sent their sims children to in order to give them a better start in life.
7. The game will have neighborhoods that have fifty lots on them.
8. Sims can divorce, have affairs, move out and keep the items that they purchased. Additonally, sims can marry NPC's, such as the maid, the butler, the mailman.
9. Sims can own two homes. Births, deaths, and marriages are much more important in Sims 2.
10. Sims can now die in several different ways.

Now I'm playing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 49 / 50
Date: September 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I preordered the game and waited for months for it to come out, excited beyond belief. I practically tackled the UPS guy to get it. We were in the middle of a hurricane, but I still emerged from my hiding hole to play it. My computer was relatively new...only 18 months old. Despite meeting and/or exceeding all of the system specs, the game ran like crap on my computer.

I ended up purchasing another 512 MB of RAM and a new video card...a ATI Radeon 9200. Now it runs like a dream.

I miss all the add ons that we had with The Sims, but I can't complain too much.

1. I love being able to build on more than 2 floors.
2. I love the toddlers. They are just too cute.
3. I love that when you create a family you establish their relationship to each other. If you have a mom and a dad, they know they are married.
4. I love that you can build decks, etc.
5. Facial expressions are great.
6. I like the aging thing. Kids in The Sims got to be boring.
7. It's cool that they get days off.
8. Falling in love with the maid, the nanny, etc.
9. Getting married, engaged, divorced, etc.
10. Pregnancy

Things I don't like:

1. Lack of objects. No pool table, no hamster, no pets, few dining table options, few kitchen decor options.
2. The kids and homework. I thought I had a lot in college.
3. Some of the bugs that should have been fixed.
4. Teens are teens for a long time but toddlers grow up so quickly it is hard to teach them anything.

Makes the original Sims Look like Pong

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 47 / 48
Date: September 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

WOW am I impressed with this new version of "The Sims". My gut feeling tells me that you're not going to be able to sell your old versions because everyone is going to want this one instead. I knew it too because when I saw the previews, I stopped buying the expansion packs, immediately, just to wait this one out.

How is it? Fantastic. The graphics are fluid and smooth, the characters have fingers, wedding rings, facial expressions, man, you name it they've worked on it and it's obvious. The clothing has fluidity (the hair too) and zooming in close up to a character's face really shows some detail. Nice, nice job. Playing the game *is* pretty similar to the first but you can tell Maxis did their homework and I can just see Will saying: "Okay, THIS is what the fans want" cause it sure looks like they worked on it.

For instance, its the little things that make a difference. When a sim walks in the room, the other sims react, say hello... I had a dad come home from work and the child he was close to dropped her toy and ran out to greet him by jumping in his arms. They are no longer stiff like the first Sims, they have reactions which are pretty cool. Also, there's an amazing amount of detail. The fridge has a variety of food (and can be emptied now, unfortunately, but you call the grocer) and the more a Sim knows how to cook, the different varieties of food they can make. A Sim can cook either Salmon or Mac and Cheese and they look exactly like they seem. That was pretty wild to pause and inspect.

What else? They age. Yup, they sure do. It's better than the first and more difficult as well. My Sims tried for a baby -- and first of all ended up with twins! Holy cow, that was work. Now, the infants cry for different things and just feeding and holding them doesn't work anymore. They're specific. Changing the diaper... bathing them... all the little things you'd expect with a baby, except they're babies for only a few days, then toddlers for a few days, then they turn into kids and teens and so on.

Think its easy? Nope. You gotta nurture the kid through your Sim. Early nurturing calls for good development. Teaching them to walk, talk and communicating makes a better child who is better in school eventually. Unfortunately, I've got some lazy sims who don't want to help their kids with homework and the social worker keeps coming to take them away. It goes pretty quick, too. This isn't your old Sims games, either... they don't just sob a bit when this happens -- the parents endup traumatized.

Neglect the Sims and there's consequences. Let's say... the sim's social meter is really, really low. They can actually snap and start babbling. Next thing I know, a therapist drops in and starts helping the sim out. Funny part of that -- the therapist is only visible when you click on the sim that is nuts. How funny is that?

Oh... remember the ghosts? They're actually pretty creepy in this one. They move things and will animate other things as well. Apparently, they have a certain colored glow for how they died. Haven't figured that one out yet.

Building the homes is pretty cool, too. Yup, you can actually put in a basement, but you have to dig a hole first and that kind of thing. Windows can be put in for multiple floors and staircases are customized. I miss the circular staircase, though. What else is new? Lots of furniture, customizing the roofs yourself, which is definitely a bit tricky if you're not creatively adept and spraying the grass different shades... i.e., brown, green, light green... like that. Learning how to build the houses takes as much time as learning the new Sims habits.

Good stuff? You want the "fun" stuff? Oh, the Sims are a LOT more flirty, little more R-rated but never oversteps the line. "Playing in bed" is no longer -- it's called Woo Hoo! You can "goose" a sim and flirt different ways.. you can have Woo Hoo in the hot tub and apparently in public as well (by the way, you can travel to little park areas like in the expansion packs of the first Sims.) I may point out that there is a difference between Woo Hoo and Try for a Baby. Woo Hoo I believe is w/contraceptives (LOL) otherwise, try for a baby seems to be no problem as my Sims get knocked up pretty quick.

Oh! The neighborhoods... you have three different neighborhoods (and you can customize how they look... there are quite a few similarities between these neighborhoods and SimCity... hmmm.... I wonder why?):) Well, you can add all kinds of things... rocks, wildflowers, ocean surf, rainbows, clouds...etc. The only thing I wish is that you can see this stuff when in the homes. Example? You place 20 giant rocks in the lot next to a Sim home -- inside the sim home you see nothing but a plain. Maybe they'll fix it later, who knows?

But each neighborhood has a "story." I got the guidebook and apparently, you should visit certain houses first before others. They have a chain reaction. But that's if you want to actually work on the storyline. You dont' have to. The funny one would be the Strangeville neighborhood which Bella Goth has been sighted in (LOL) and there's a crashed space ship nearby. People do get abducted by aliens, yup, but it's the MEN that get impregnanted. That's pretty hysterical.

Anything bad? Just a few. It does play like the first, but technologically-wise, we're not up to artificial intelligence, yet, so I'm pretty happy with what they've got. There are a few glitches in the game I've come across already (i.e., a fire starts, fireman comes... but the fire just keep burning for eternity.) As for loading it, I had some pretty big problems and couldn't do it for four hours -- massively ticked me off. Ended up returning the discs to get new ones and they worked fine. Got problems running it? I'd recommend checking their site for tech issues. It helped me. but I have no doubt a patch will be coming out soon.

Oh, and there's no rain. I checked and waited. Apparently, they've had problems getting the rain to work so they took it out.

Great game. Lots of fun -- can't wait what to find out next.

DVD or CD

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 51 / 54
Date: August 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is in response to the person asking whether to buy the DVD or the CD version. First of all, make sure that you have a DVD ROM on your computer before you buy the DVD! I know that this seems obvious, but some people seem unsure. If you can watch DVDs on your computer, you can use this game.

There are two major differences between the DVD and CD version. The first one is that the DVD only needs one DVD to install, but if you buy the CD version, the game is spread over FOUR different disks. That's going to be a lot of changing disks when you install, but since they hold considerably less data than a DVD, that's how many are needed for the game. The second major difference is that there will be an extra CD included with the DVD that will have material not included with the CD version. There will be interviews from the creators and hints about building houses, creating sims, things like that. Nothing that you couldn't do without, but it would be nice to have.

Overall, I recommend getting the DVD version of The Sims 2, as long as your computer can read DVDs. They're the same price, and i imagine it will speed up loading the game (which judging by how long it takes to load the original and the expansions, could be awhile). Apparently they're only going to sell the DVD version as a limited edition available only as a preorder, so make sure that you order it before it's released!

Everything new to the sims 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 52 / 58
Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just got The Sims 2 game guide yesterday at my local game store after finding out that they had it in early. I was so excited because I know all of the main secrets now! Here is a list of new features.
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-Five story houses plus an attic and a basement if you have a foundation to build on
-You can have an attic depending on the type of roof you choose
-Door and windows can be placed on diagonal walls
-There are about 400 objects
-There are 4 channels on tv- SBN, SimStation Dance, KidzTube, and the Yummy Channel
-Cleaning is now a skill
-Three secret skills are dancing, yoga, and meditation
-There are counters specifically for kitchen islands
-There are nine ways to die
-There are nine aspiration rewards
-You can e-mail sims you know
-You can chat on the computer with sims that you don't know
-Teens can ask permission to go out at night with their friends
-Teens can sneek out at night to go out with friends
-You can have birthday parties, weddings, house parties, and anniversary parties when you are an elder
-An expansion pack is coming out at the beginning of 2005
-Bella Goth has run away to the community lot in Strangetown
There is so much more that is not listed in the book and a lot that I haven't read, so buy the game this Tuesday to find out more.

More information on the game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 56 / 64
Date: May 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

You will be able to have a total of 4 floors. 3 floors and an attic. You can choose not to have an attic, and instead build a rooftop floor that you can throw parties on!

Want to build a basement? You can dig out terrain and build a floor below ground. Or you can raise the level around the first floor to make it look like a basement.

Though rare, sims will be able to give birth to twins and triplets! You can turn the aging process off. A sims life will last about 20 human hours, unless you turn the aging process off (aging stops for ALL sims).

When a sim goes into labor, she will be taken away in an ambulance and come back a few days later with the child.

If you are a single sim, or in a same sex couple, you can adopt children.

The weather tool has been taken OUT of the game. It might appear later in EP's.

Riverside has been renamed Pleasantville for now.

Cars will be only for decoration, you cannot drive them.

When you move, your sims will take with them all of their possessions.

You can build windows and doors on angled walls.

You will be able to change hair styles in any mirror or vanity.

Even if the aging process is off, women will get pregnant, give birth, and babies will turn into toddlers.

There will NOT be pets. They may make an EP for it later.

Amazing Game - Well Worth the Wait

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 45 / 48
Date: September 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Sims dynasty continues with the release of Sims 2, the first real overhaul of the popular series in a long time. There are so many improvements, it's hard to know where to begin!

First, the graphics have been enhanced greatly. You begin by making your family, including all ages. You can tweak every aspect of your sim's appearance, from hairstyles to tattoos to a huge range of clothing. You can have your sims in love with each other, married, have kids and more.

The Sim world is no longer four-angled - you can do full rotation around in circles. The graphics are extremely impressive. The starting selection of items and decorations is extensive, but you know that in short order there will be millions of add-ons coming down the road :) So this is only the beginning.

I am THRILLED to find that they finally give you days off from work, and even let you earn vacation days, so that you can rest and relax in between your hard working day hours. The entire pace is much more balanced than the original game - you feel like you have plenty of time to enjoy your house and throw parties, as well as putting in the required hours at work.

Your computer in the game is far more useful now, letting you chat with friends, send email, order groceries, and even play SSX.

For hard core sims fans, the real glory comes in the fact that your characters actually go through a life cycle. They age (very slowly) and as they have kids, you watch the kids grow up and age, too. The kids even have the traits of the parents! So you can literally go through generations of sims, raising each one up.

In addition, each sim has one of five "lifestyle goals". Maybe your sim is after knowledge - or maybe they want the happy family life. Your sim could covet money or romantic encounters. Whatever it is that makes your sim happy, by hitting goals in that area the sim earns bonus points. So those sims who aren't happy with the 'career track' can still achieve kudos by working towards other aims.

Highly highly recommended for any Sims fan. It's just as good as the original Sims in playability - and far improved in many ways!

BTW: Check your PC against the game requirements before buying. Newer PCs should have no problem - in fact I'm playing it on my laptop - but ancient PCs might be unhappy.

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