#ts2 development

[l-1-z-a]

🏪🚪 452-498 University Way: built during the development of the base game

At Sim State University, at 452-498 University Way, there are front doors that have a different name than their name in the Build Mode catalog. This indicates that the lot was created during the development of the base game and the parallel development of the University expansion pack. The difference can be seen not only in the Russian, but also in the English version of the game.

This lot was played before the release of the University expansion pack. The speakers remained on.

Countertop Game Display more expensive than in Buy Mode

The screenshot above also shows the price of the "Countertop Game Display from Group Interaction LTD." on the lot. It's price is §3500, and this is more expensive than it's price in Buy Mode (§1500). This is the same case with this object at the 290 Main Street in Pleasantview.

This is proof that 452-498 University Way lot was created during the development of the base game.

Source (RU):

https://web.archive.org/web/20221222070133/https://thesims.cc/threads/istorija-razrabotki-sims-2.31582/page-130#post-5860130

[episims]

Poster Collages on Butterfly Crawler

Never enough of poster collages for me, so I put together some ready-to-use ones and slapped them on the Free Time Butterfly Crawler mesh.

There are 28 variations. These collages use the work of 228 different artists; the archive includes full-sized swatches with artist names and a file with a link to each of them.

Full credit to the artists. None of the art is by me, and I don't make any profit from sharing these. Please see the links to check out other pieces by these people, I'm a big fan of their work!

Download (SFS) (alternate)

The files are compressed, Free Time is required. You can find add-ons for the butterfly crawler here and there.

I've tried to ensure no AI images are included. Please support human artists 💜

[just-ornstein]

[JK]  My first job was as an Assistant Producer for a video game company called Interplay in Irvine, CA. I had recently graduated from Boston University's School of Fine Arts with an MFA in Directing (I started out as a theatre nerd), but also had some limited coding experience and a passion for computers. It didn't look like I'd be able to make a living directing plays, so I decided to combine entertainment and technology (before it was cool!) and pitched myself to Brian Fargo, Interplay's CEO. He gave me my first break. I packed up and moved out west, and I've been producing games ever since.

[JK] I loved my time at EA. I was there for almost a full decade, and learned a tremendous amount about game-making, and met the most talented and driven people, who I remain in touch with today. EA gave me many opportunities, and never stopped betting on me. I worked on The Sims for nearly 5 years, and then afterwards, I worked on console action games as part of the Visceral studio. I was the Creative Director for the 2007 game "The Simpsons", and was the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the 2009 game "Dante's Inferno".

[JK] I haven't played in a long while, but I do recall that after the game shipped, my wife and I played the retail version for some time -- we created ourselves, and experimented with having a baby ahead of the actual birth of our son (in 2007). Even though I'd been part of the development team, and understood deeply how the simulation worked, I was still continually surprised at how "real" our Sims felt, and how accurate their responses were to having a baby in the house. It really felt like "us"!

Now for some of the development and lore related questions:

[JK] So I ended up in the incredibly fortunate position of creating the shipping neighborhoods for The Sims 2, and recruiting a few teammates to help me as we went along. 

Around the same time, we started using the Buy/Build tools to make houses we could save, and also bring them into each new build of the game (correcting for any bugs and incompatibilities). With the import tool, we could load Sims into these houses. In time, this "vanguard QA" process turned into a creative endeavor to define the "saved state" of the neighborhoods we would actually end up shipping with the game.

On playtesting & the leftover sims data on various lots:

Basically, we were in the late stages of development, and the Save Game functionality wasn't quite working. In order to test the game properly, you really needed to have a lot of assets, and a lot of Sims with histories (as if you'd been playing them for weeks) to test out everything the game had to offer. So I started defining a set of characters in a spreadsheet, with all their tuning variables, and worked with engineering to create an importer, so that with each new build, I could essentially "load" a kind of massive saved game, and quickly start playing and testing. 

It was fairly organic, and as the game's functionality improved, so did our starter houses and families. 

The thought process behind the creation of the iconic three neighborhoods:

I would not say it was particularly planned out ahead of time. We knew we needed a few saved houses to ship with the game; Sims 1, after all, had the Goth house, and Bob Newbie's house. But there wasn't necessarily a clear direction for what the neighborhood would be for Sims 2. We needed the game to be far enough along, so that the neighborhood could be a proper showcase for all the features in the game. With each new feature that turned alpha, I had a new tool in my toolbox, and I could expand the houses and families I was working on. Once we had the multi-neighborhood functionality, I decided we would not just have 1 starter neighborhood, but 3. With the Aging feature, Memories, a few wacky objects, plus a huge catalog of architectural and decorative content, I felt we had enough material for 3 truly distinct neighborhoods. And we added a couple of people to what became the "Neighborhood Team" around that time.

Later, when we created Strangetown, and eventually Veronaville, I believe we went back and changed Pleasantville to Pleasantview... because I liked the alliteration of "Verona-Ville", and there was no sense in having two "villes". (To this day, by the way, I still don't know whether to capitalize the "V" -- this was hotly debated at the time!)

Pleasantview:

Anyway, to answer your question, we of course started with Pleasantview. As I recall, we were not quite committed to multiple neighborhoods at first, and I think it was called Pleasantville initially, which was kind of a nod to Simsville... but without calling it Simsville, which was a little too on the nose. (There had also been an ill-fated game in development at Maxis at the time, called SimsVille, which was cancelled.) It's been suggested that Pleasantville referred to the movie, but I don't think I ever saw that movie, and we just felt that Pleasantville kind of captured the feeling of the game, and the relaxing, simple, idyllic world of the Sims.

Pleasantview started as a place to capture the aging feature, which was all new to The Sims 2. We knew we had toddlers, teens, and elders to play with, so we started making families that reflected the various stages of family life: the single mom with 3 young kids, the parents with two teens, the old rich guy with two young gold-diggers, etc. We also had a much greater variety of ethnicity to play with than Sims 1, and we had all new variables like sexual orientation and memories. All these things made for rich fodder for a great diversity of families. Then, once we had family trees, and tombstones that carried the actual data for the dead Sims, the doors really blew open. We started asking ourselves, "What if Bella and Mortimer Goth could be characters in Sims 2, but aged 25 years? And what if Cassandra is grown up? And what if Bella is actually missing, and that could be a fun mystery hanging over the whole game?" And then finally the "Big Life Moments" went into the game -- like weddings and birthdays -- and we could sort of tee these up in the Save Game, so that they would happen within the first few minutes of playing the families. This served both as a tutorial for the features, but also a great story-telling device.

Anyway, it all just flowed from there, as we started creating connections between families, relationships, histories, family trees, and stories that we could weave into the game, using only the simulation features that were available to us. It was a really fun and creative time, and we wrote all of the lore of Sims 2 within a couple of months, and then just brought it to life in the game.

Strangetown:

Strangetown was kind of a no-brainer. We needed an alternate neighborhood for all the paranormal stuff the Sims was known for: alien abduction, male pregnancy, science experiments, ghosts, etc. We had the desert terrain, which created a nice contrast to the lush Pleasantville, and gave it an obvious Area 51 vibe.

The fact that Veronaville is the oldest file probably reflects the fact that it was finished first, not that it was started first. That's my guess anyway. It was the simplest neighborhood, in many ways, and didn't have as much complexity in terms of features like staged big life moments, getting the abduction timing right, the alien DNA thing (which I think was somewhat buggy up until the end), etc.  So it's possible that we simply had Veronaville "in the can", while we put the last polish on Pleasantville (which was the first and most important neighborhood, in terms of making a good impression) and Strangeville (which was tricky technically).

Veronaville:

But my personal favorite was Veronaville. We had this cool Tudor style collection in the Build mode catalog, and I wanted to ship some houses that showed off those assets. We also had the teen thing going on in the aging game, plus a lot of romance features, as well as enemies. I have always been a Shakespeare buff since graduate school, so putting all that together, I got the idea that our third neighborhood should be a modern-day telling of the Romeo and Juliet story. It was Montys and Capps (instead of Montagues and Capulets), and it just kind of wrote itself. We had fun creating the past family trees, where everyone had died young because they kept killing each other off in the ongoing vendetta.

[JK] You know, I have never seen The Lone Gunmen, and I don't remember making any kind of direct references with the Strangetown Sims, other than the general Area 51 theme, as you point out. Charles London helped out a lot with naming Sims, and I'm pretty sure we owe "Vidcund" and "Lazlo" to him ... though many team members pitched in creatively. He may have had something in mind, but for me, I largely went off of very generic and stereotypical ideas when crafting these neighborhoods. I kind of wanted them to be almost "groaners" ... they were meant to be tropes in every sense of the word. And then we snuck in some easter eggs. But largely, we were trying to create a completely original lore.

[JK] Well, I think we kind of pushed it with The Sims 2, to be honest, and I remember getting a little blow-back about Bunny Broke, for example. Bunny Broke was the original name for Brandi Broke. Not everyone found that funny, as I recall, and I can understand that. It must have been changed before we shipped.

We also almost shipped the first outwardly gay Sims in those neighborhoods, which was bold for EA back in 2004. My recollection was that we had set up the Dreamers to be gay (Dirk and Darren), but I'm looking back now and see that's not the case. So I'm either remembering incorrectly (probably) or something changed during development.

In general we just did things that we found funny and clever, and we just pulled from all the tropes of American life.

[JK] The alien abduction started in Sims 1, with a telescope object that was introduced in the "Livin' Large" expansion pack. That's when some of the wackier ideas got introduced into the Sims lore. That pack shipped just before I joined Maxis in 2001; when I got there, the team had shipped "House Party" and was underway on "Hot Date". So I couldn't tell you how the original idea came about, but The Sims had this 50's Americana vibe from the beginning, and UFOs kind of played right into that. So the alien abduction telescope was a no-brainer to bring back in Sims 2. The male pregnancy was a new twist on the Sims 1 telescope thing. It must have been that the new version (Sims 2) gave us the tech and flexibility to have male Sims become pregnant, so while this was turned "off" for the core game, we decided to take advantage of this and make a storyline out of it. I think this really grew out of the fact that we had aliens, and alien DNA, and so it was not complicated to pre-bake a baby that would come out as an alien when born. The idea of a bunch of guys living together, and then one gets abducted, impregnated, and then gives birth to an alien baby ... I mean, I think we just all thought that was hilarious, in a sit-com kind of way. Not sure there was much more to it than that. Everything usually came from the designers discovering ways to tweak and play with the tech, to get to funny outcomes.

[JK] Possibly we were just testing the functionality of the Wants/Fears and Memories systems throughout development, and some stuff got left over.

[JK] I can't remember, but that sounds like something we would have done! I'm pretty sure we laid the groundwork for more stories that we ended up delivering :) But The Sims 2 was a great foundation for a lot of continued lore that followed.

--

I once again want to thank Jonathan Knight for granting me this opportunity and taking the time from his busy schedule to answer my questions.

[watersgym]

The Sims 2 magazine covers

[dawaytoamarillo]

Unpopular opinion mayhaps, but I always thought that the actual reason Tank crashed Johnny's birthday party wasn't just so he could antagonize him, but that it had more to do with Ripp than with Johnny.

Because Ripp has friends and Tank doesn't, because Ripp can sneak out, and hang out with these friends and go to parties and Tank can't. Because in his mind he has a strict code of what he's allowed to do and what he's not allowed, and shouldn't absolutely do, as it is implied in the gba game

This is a direct result of Buzz's militaristic education, of course, which consequently prompted Tank's desire to please his father and his fear to disappoint him.

However, even though he wants to please his father, I believe that he actually doesn't enjoy nor does he look forward to all the training that Buzz's makes him go through. No, I rather think he secretly hates it (though he will never admit it out loud, at least a young Tank, that's it) and that he's already aware of the fact that that he didn't had a normal childhood and isn't having a normal adolescence either.

So he resents Ripp and he's jealous of him because he's able to break the rules, not only that; he's determined to break them. And Tank isn't; he probably feels like he's in too deep already.

So yeah, my headcanon is that he crashed the party to fetch Ripp and take him home with him. Because if he doesn't get to have fun his brother shouldn't either. He also wants to fight Johnny, of course, but like I said I don't think fighting him was his main motivation here

[simthesize]

Remember the bug in the recent Sims 2 rerelease where, upon reloading a save, babies would be gone forever? Apparently, back in 2004 the exact same thing could happen - albeit due to a completely unrelated bug:

Source: https://www.cherylplatz.com/what-i-learned-from-the-sims

Maybe the bugs were also part of the "Nostalgia Now" event.

[l-1-z-a]

🌎🔍 Differences in Text Assets in The Sims 2 Localizations

Your observation about the differences in text assets between The Sims 2 localizations is closely tied to how the developers approached translation and the preservation of early text versions. The key point here is the use of unfinished localizations to analyze the evolution of game content. Let’s break down the details:

1. Unfinished Localizations as an "Archaeological Layer"

In SimPE (a tool for modifying game files), there are sections for languages that were never officially localized, such as:

Hindi

Arabic

Ukrainian

Turkish

and others

These sections contain early English text strings, which developers used as templates for future translations. However, since these localizations were canceled, the text remained "frozen" at a specific stage of development.

This allows us to see how text assets (such as wants, object descriptions, pie menu strings, text lists) changed over time:

Older versions are preserved in unfinished localizations.

Official languages were updated in parallel with gameplay refinements.

2. Cyrillic: A Test Case, Not a Full Localization

The "Cyrillic" section in SimPE was created to test Cyrillic character support, not for Russian or Ukrainian translation. This explains:

The absence of Ґ, Є, І, Ї in the game’s fonts, which are crucial for Ukrainian.

The presence of early English text in this section, which was later reworked for official localizations (such as Russian).

3. How Does This Help Study the Game's Development?

Analyzing text resources in unfinished localizations allows us to:

Identify removed or altered mechanics – for example, object names or interaction conditions that were revised in the final version.

Trace the evolution of scripted sequences, game mechanics, and scenarios – mentions of events, actions, functions, or objects absent from the release may hint at cut content.

Clarify the timeline of changes – comparing text strings across different language sections helps determine when specific revisions were made during development.

4. Practical Applications

For researchers and modders, this opens up possibilities for:

Restoring "lost" content by replacing text strings from unfinished localizations.

Documenting the game’s history, which is especially valuable for communities studying 2000s game design.

Conclusion

Unfinished localizations in The Sims 2 are "time capsules" that preserve early developer ideas. Analyzing them not only explains differences between language versions but also offers a unique insight into how the game evolved to its final state.

This highlights that even "technical" artifacts like text files can be valuable sources for studying gaming history.

Source

The Sims 2 (Windows) - The Cutting Room Floor

I was looking at the Wants.package (From the text folder of The Sims 2) and I noticed that in some languages ​​some wishes are completely different, as if they were an old version of them there, most of the objects in the other language are ''Living Chair'' and the ones about having multiple loves are usually just falling in love with a single love.

[silentgrim]

ea disrespecting the sims the one game that keeps loyal consumers coming back to their shit app by not making the older generation games free and optimized for newer machines

[issytwosims]

"Tank! Last time we talked was when I was in college. How... How are ya?"

"Honestly, bud... Trying to get by, but... Getting happier... kinda like you now."

[snapdragoned]

you know, as much as i personally have never had any interest in playing the premades, i've grown to really appreciate them thanks to the fandom at large. some of you guys are so creative and thoughtful and meticulous trying to flesh out the story scraps that shipped with the game, it blows me away.

[eulaliasims]

Jayne: Hey, princess, I haven't seen you around for a while.

Louise: Yeah… I had a lot of exams to get through too.

Jayne: I'm glad you made it, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.

Jayne: Louise… you know I really like you, right? I wanted to ask you if you were interested in making this official.

Louise: I…

Jayne: Like, a real relationship, dating, the whole shebang, that kind of official? Because I want that, all of it, with you.

Louise: I... I can't--I have to go--

Jayne: Well, I guess that's a pretty clear answer… dammit, I forgot to ask her about my jacket.

[l-1-z-a]

🖥️ Evolution of The Sims technologies

This is information by conversation from 🌎 #ts3-beta-chat channel in The Sims 2 Beta Discord Server about on which engine each game of The Sims series is developed and what technologies are used by each game of the series.

Just to offer clarity/summarize the above:

1. TS1 is built on top of MFC (Edith) and Gonzo/Rizzo. It uses a renderer which utilizes a mix of SC2K, SC3K, and Quake3D code.

2. TS2 extends TS1’s behavior engine but replaces the renderer with a new 3D engine, although it still uses the Gonzo development framework. It’s pretty much TS1 on steroids internally.

3. Sims 3 is overhauled and doesn’t use any of the tech from TS1/TS2, although it retains several assets ported over. It uses a new behavior engine (no name, but it uses traits/commodities instead) and Renderware (plus other stuff like Speedtree) for the 3D engine.

4. Sims 4 is once again built on a new engine, in anticipation of the game being an MMOG instead of single player. It loosely extends GlassBox from SC2013 (dubbed SmartSim now) but they pretty much have to overhaul it to remove the multiplayer aspect, so it really ends up becoming its own thing. It doesn’t reuse anything from TS3 except the concept of the traits/commodities behavior engine being used for SmartSim.

[goatskickin]

ambodyslob was supposed to be a part of the base game and i know this because the uv mapping is FUCKED up

[boolpropper]

Bernard writes a letter to his father. It's unclear if it'll ever arrive, but he hopes it does.

Meanwhile, he snoops around Sana's magic things...

--Bernard. You really don't want to mess with this. Not unless you are prepared to take on the great responsibility of magic. --Whatever you say. You're not my mother. --I'm very aware of that. You seem to like to remind me often.

[simlicious]

Simmers, modders, game devs, pay attention! Are you interested in learning how Sims make autonomous decisions in the Sims games (hint: with the help of an AI system)? Then this video might be for you. Make sure to check out the comment section of the video, because David Graham, who was an AI programmer on Sims Medieval and lead AI programmer on the Sims 4, has been active in the comments (as rezination), taking and answering questions diligently! There have been some good ones, so check them out.

[lilleputtu]