#sims 2 getting started

[bluecaribousims]

Sims 2 installation in 2023

So. I just had to reinstall Sims2... again. About every 18 months I will get careless with my CC, muck with the TSData etc with no backup and lose everything. You'd think I'd learn, but apparently the lure of playing the first 24 hours of the Brokes in a clean Pleasantview makes me subconsciously self-sabotage. So, I thought why not use this opportunity to lay everything out (with links) so that I have myself a handy-dandy guide to All The Fixes. Because currently I use about sixteen different walkthroughs for different things.

Step 1: Install the game (*cough* Mr DJ's version as EAxis have abandoned us *cough*) link here: https://oldgamesdownload.com/the-sims-2-ultimate-collection/

EDIT: Having attempted this... I think the link is now broken. But the link from the Wayback Archive version of this link from 2020 definitely still works!

Step 2: Fix the broken Mr DJ Ikea Stuff Pack. Tutorial video, with link in the description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWU3__aECuE

Step 3: Attempt 4GB fix (never works - mine seems stuck at 1024MB, advice please?). Tutorial and link here: https://pleasantsims.com/sims-2-windows-10/

Step 4: Fix Graphics/Screen Resolution. Tutorial and link here: https://www.simsnetwork.com/tools/graphics-rules-maker

Step 5: Set up Downloads folder in Documents/EA Games/Sims 2. Set up "Mods" folder inside Downloads.

Step 6: Download the following support programs and install: The Compressorizer, Sims2Pack CleanInstaller, Hood Checker, SimPE. Links here: https://archive.org/details/ts2thecompressorizer, https://modthesims.info/d/409950/sims2pack-clean-installer-v1-6-22-updated-aug-2-2014.html, https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=456523, https://modthesims.info/d/30839/simpe-latest-version-0-75f.html.

Step 7: Download clean Neighbourhood templates and replace defaults. Link and tutorial here: https://meetme2theriver.livejournal.com/63030.html.

Step 8: Download CEP, link here: https://archive.org/details/ts2cepcolorenablepackage, tutorial for manual install here (if needed): https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/897603/cep-installation-help

Step 9: Download "Essential Mods"... and at this point I realise this step is it's own megapost. Coming soon if anyone wants yet another essential mods list...

Step 9a: Play one token day of Sims2 unmodded, before remembering why you have played modded for the last 15 years. Fuss with the Graphics a lot. Muck with all the resolutions, before sighing and turning it to 800x600 because you like the classic UI, but want it big. (If there's a way to fix this... please share! I genuinely like how the dark blue original UI blends into the visual background more than the cleanUI, no matter how good a mod that is. 800x600 UI size at 1900x1600 resolution is my dream!)

Step 10: Commence binge-downloading CC, forgetting (as always) to keep it neat and subfoldered. Some things are essential (thanks be to Numenor, HugeLunatic and Honeywell for Build Mode especially) other things vary each time depending on how I want this particular installation to look/play. Get on Tumblr. Get on MTS2. Get on Pinterest. Get on TSR and wait 1 min per download as a last resort. Fill yer boots!

Step 11: Play!

[raiiny-bay]

the kids released a new album

[wooldawn]

[annasiims]

honeymoon bliss 🍯

[newbeesims]

seasons tux recolors — by newbeesims

i recolored this seasons tux for all your formalwear needs! the original tux has its fair share of swatches, but i knew it would be so much more useful if it came in the same classic colors i used for my base game suit recolors. perfect for any black tie weddings, glamorous parties, or just a fancy night out! as always, more love for all the masc-framed sims! 🍷✨

requires seasons

teen - elder

12 new swatches (6 suit colors, each with solid color and black accent versions)

download for free (sfs, no ads)

[cerubean]

hotel wip???

[cupidgnome]

hello san sequoia!!

[gerbits]

playing around in cas with my favorite girl ♡

[emperorofthedark]

[episims]

I'm trying to push myself back into all things Foxfire. Here's how the neighborhood currently looks like!

[utilitycaster]

Sort of a distant tangent off my post about Ashton, but I'm growing more and more suspicious of the fandom claim that there's no time for small RP moments in Campaign 3. I do think that it's been challenging to get deeper party bonding or serious conversations that aren't about the big philosophical questions they're facing, since those do take much more time; but then I think about Calamity, or Candela Obscura. I can genuinely give you at least a couple paragraphs about pretty much every relationship in the two Circles, or in the Ring of Brass. I can also point to no shortage of small moments between characters in the Mighty Nein Aeor or Vox Machina Vecna endgame episodes, which were all extremely plot-heavy and fast-paced, and D20 consistently nails character relationships in a fraction of the time.

I think it really does come down to, as Brennan Lee Mulligan always says, the character creation phase. Laying down a solid groundwork in which everyone has a detailed, rich backstory and sense of personality and relationship history (in the case of characters who knew each other prior to the start of the series) is absolutely crucial, and even in the case of characters who don't know each other before going in, a good amount of time spent in character creation ensures that it's easier for them to develop those interpersonal relationships on the fly. I know in actual play there's some degree of finding the character as you play, but there are games for which there is a very short runway, and I don't think it ever hurts to do more extensive character prep than the bare minimum. And if there are gaps, I think it also helps to go back and fill those in mid-way, away from the table - Travis clarifying Chetney's backstory being a great example that allowed the history of Chetney and Deanna to feel realized and full, despite only a few episodes.

I'll also be blunt: most of the time when people complain that there aren't moments because the plot keeps moving...they're mad about shipping. Which has always rung hollow to me. It was a common complaint in C2, that no time was taken for character relationships, despite them taking an entire half of an episode for the Beauyasha date and despite no shortage of moments for all three of the other couples (and plenty of platonic moments between friends). The issue was never a lack of time; it was that the characters they wanted to talk to each other didn't actually have the relationship in canon that the fans had dreamed up, and so, when the chips were down, they went to other people.

It takes two seconds to say something like "I hold their hand", even in the middle of plot-heavy adventuring. If someone doesn't say it, it's rarely the GM rushing them; it's the player either choosing not to do so, or not remembering to do so, and either of those is quite revealing regarding how the player feels about that relationship and where it stands in their priorities.

[simvanie]

7 Sins Legacy - generation 4 (pride)

Her protest tactics earlier that day had worked and got the good news that she was promoted to community organizer when she got back to the office after her protest. When Supriya got home, she put on a nice dress and went to Planet Honey Pop to celebrate with some drinks and karaoke, and of course to tell every stranger that wanted to hear it the good news of her promotion.

complete the chosen career (4/10)

[moocha-muses]

"Ugh, I don't know what's up with me . . . it just feels fucked up? Woohooing right here in the same bed where I sleep with Dol-"

"Baby, if I pushed you into that in any way-"

"No, not - that was fine, I was into it, too, but . . . but you were so chill about it, about me sleeping with someone else right in front of you, and I don't know how to feel about that. I know we're not exclusive, I just-"

"Did you want me to get jealous, baby? Because that's the one thing I can't do for real, but if you wanna play out some kind of cuck scenario maybe we could-"

" . . . I don't know! I'm not feeling this. I'm putting my pants back on."

[xx-j4nu5-c4t5-xx]

why do loki and nervous make that mad dash to go touch bugs and get diseases the second I start the game. the roaches ain't going anywhere y'all can take turns being nasty

[lucaorama]

~enemies to lovers~ this is just a hallmark movie in the making

[doodlboy]

Mammon 2 me <3333