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The Sims 2

The Sims 2

Second main title in The Sims series

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The Sims Wiki's Featured Article for December 1–15, 2011.
The Sims 2

LegacySims2ModernCover

The Sims 2 Cover 2

The Sims 2 Cover

Box art for The Sims 2
Development
Developer(s) Maxis Emeryville
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts (PC)
Aspyr Media (Mac)
Designer(s) Will Wright
Ratings ESRB: T
FPB: 13
ACB: M
PEGI: 7+[note 1]
USK: 0
GRAC: 15[note 2]
Series The Sims
Release date(s) Windows
NA September 14, 2004
EU September 16, 2004
DVD
NA September 17, 2004
Mac OS X
June 13, 2005
Technical information
Native resolution 800x600 to 1600x1200
Version 1.0.0.1022 / 1.0 Rev C
Mode(s) Single-player
Media 4 CDs, 1 DVD, direct download
Input methods Mouse, keyboard
Game features
Genres Life simulation game
Creatures Sim, Alien, Ghost, Grim Reaper
Neighborhoods Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville, Tutorial
Related pages
Patches and updates
Cheats
Shortcuts:
TS2
Sims 2
For other versions of The Sims 2, see The Sims 2 (disambiguation).
The Sims 2 Icon

The Sims 2, commonly abbreviated as TS2, is the first sequel to The Sims and the second major title in The Sims series. The Sims 2 was first released on September 14, 2004.

The Sims 2 heralds sweeping changes from the original. The isometric view of The Sims is replaced by a full 3D environment, a feature first introduced in the console version of The Sims. Sims experience life stages (baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult[TS2:U], adult, and elder) which have them age from birth to death, and their genetics can be passed on to their children. Unlike the original The Sims, where the player can spend forever raising a Sim's skills, the aging system in The Sims 2 imposes a time limit on this before the Sims die. Sims' personalities are given an overhaul, with each Sim having an aspiration, wants, and fears.

The Sims 2, like its predecessor and successor games, is open-ended with few goals. Players can build and furnish homes for their Sims, in order to fulfill the Sims' motives. They can choose to focus on building their Sims' relationships and skills in order to advance through their careers or start a family. They can also focus on achieving a Sim's aspiration through the completion of wants and avoidance of fears.

The Sims 2 shipped with 3 pre-made neighborhoods; Pleasantview, which is a continuation of the original The Sims storyline 25 years later; Strangetown, a desert landscape with paranormal occurrences; and Veronaville, a neighborhood based on several plays by William Shakespeare. The Sims 2 also shipped with many pre-made Sims and families, including some Sims and families that first appeared in The Sims.

The Sims 2 has sold over 6 million PC copies since its release (13 million across all platforms),[1] making it one of the best-selling PC games of all time.

The Sims 2 (alongside The Sims) was re-released on January 31st, 2025, as the Legacy Collection, following the 25th anniversary celebration of The Sims' franchise, which includes performance fixes on modern computers such as Windows 10 and 11.

Official description

The Sims 2 Logo
The sequel to the best-selling PC game of all-time!

In the The Sims™ 2, you direct your Sims over a lifetime and mix their genes from one generation to the next. You set your Sims' goals in life; popularity, fortune, family, romance or knowledge. Give them a long, successful existence or leave their lives in shambles. Take them to extremes, from getting busted to seeing a ghost, from marrying an alien to writing a great novel. Unleash your creativity with the all-new Create-A-Sim, new building options, and the new in-game movie camera. Get ready to mix their genes, fulfill their dreams, and push them to extremes. What do you want to do with your Sims' lives?

Your Sims have DNA and inherit physical and personality traits. Take your Sims through an infinite number of generations as you evolve their family tree.

Your Sims now have purpose in life. Do they aspire to a life of popularity, fortune, family, knowledge, or romance? It's up to you to decide if they will be a lover or a loser, a prince or a pauper, a fool or a mastermind, and many other choices. Give them what they want and they'll lead a long, successful existence; indulge their fears and risk ruining their lives. It's all in your hands.

Will your Sims be left at the altar and need a shrink, or inherit a fortune and become filthy rich? Witness the big moments that make every Sim's life uniquely memorable.

Generate unique Sims with the new Create-A-Sim, packed with a vast selection of facial features, hairstyles, and outfits. Build dream homes and design neighborhoods with new building, design, and home furnishing options.

Make your own Sim films with the all-new movie-making feature. Create the cast, set the stage, take control of the camera, and capture your own screenplay in action. Zoom in close to record every detail as your very own Sims sitcom unfolds.

New gameplay options

The Sims 2 adds several new gameplay options that help expand the creation of Sims and the building of a neighborhood! These include:

Tutorial

Players can take a tutorial that is a residential lot separate from gameplay. There are also in-game tutorials present in each of the pre-made lots to help players learn certain aspects of gameplay. This will help players become pros at this game faster, and give them a chance to know what to do when a certain problem or event comes up. However, families in the family bin tend not to have any teaching objective.

Pleasantview

Strangetown

Veronaville

Tutorial

Personalities

Personalities are not only based on the astrological sign of the Sim but also on the aspiration of the Sim. Aspirations along with the astrological sign of the Sim creates a variety of wants and fears. Each Sim has 5 areas of personality: Sloppy/Neat, Shy/Outgoing, Lazy/Active, Mean/Nice, and Serious/Playful. When creating a Sim, the player has 25 personality points to give out.

Available lots

The neighborhood screen is actually a save slot in which you can access your saved families. There are different kinds of lots for your Sims to visit:

University

Bon Voyage

FreeTime

Apartment Life

Neighborhoods

The Sims 2 shipped with 3 pre-made neighborhoods. Seasons, Freetime, and Apartment Life are expansion packs that provide new neighborhoods. Sub-neighborhoods are provided in University, Nightlife, Open for Business, and Bon Voyage. Each neighborhood and sub-neighborhood comes with new pre-made Sims, though the ones in Downtown are all ghosts.

Pleasantview
A lot has happened in 25 years, but some new faces in town are stirring up rivalries and creating tension for the once happy families. Can anything be done to get the neighborhood feeling good again?
Strangetown
Truth-seekers move to Strangetown hoping to discover the secrets the town holds. Do aliens live among us? Do missing Sims mysteriously appear here? In this town nothing is what it seems.
Veronaville
The Capps and Montys have been feuding for years, but that hasn't stopped the younger generation from crossing boundaries and falling in love. Will their actions lead to ruin or bring the families together?
Riverblossom Hills[TS2:S]
Many Sims have relocated to the quiet, comfortable countryside, in the hopes that life and family can firmly plant their roots in the middle of nowhere. Fresh crops aren’t the only thing growing in the farming community of Riverblossom Hills – love is in the air and many a relationship is on the verge of blossoming. Unfortunately, problems are bound to sprout in a town this small. Things are looking up, but hearts can always turn cold with the onset of winter.
Desiderata Valley[TS2:FT]
Serenely nestled in the hills, Desiderata Valley is a place of dreams, hopes and aspirations. Many have found the quiet hills a wonderful place to relax and pursue their favorite pastimes. Who knows what destiny has in store for the Sims of Desiderata Valley?
Belladonna Cove[TS2:AL]
From far and wide, Sims have been drawn to beautiful Belladonna Cove! Some are looking for a quiet place to settle down, others to tango with the hustle and bustle of the more exciting districts and a distinct few who have been drawn by rumors of mystical energies. Will they all be able to get along?

Returning families

Goth
Cassandra is ready to start a family of her own, but can she tame the town Cassanova [sic] ? And can Mortimer bounce back after the disappearance of his wife Bella?
Burb
John, Jennifer and young Lucy have decided to trade the fast-paced city life for some fresh air, and hope to make a nice home here in Pleasantview.
Pleasant
On the surface, Daniel and Mary-Sue Pleasant seem to have the perfect life, but is their love a flimsy façade? And can Angela and Lilith make the right choices when it comes to love?

Sims

Main article: Sim
The-Sims-2

The main aim of the game is to lead a Sim from the start of life to death. A Sim will be born when a female Sim and a male Sim try for a baby. The mother will spend 3 days pregnant before giving birth to a baby (though cheats can be used to speed up pregnancy). Players can name the new Sim. The baby will change into a toddler in 3 days, and 4 more days for the toddler to change into a child. After 8 days, the child morphs into a teenager, and will live 15 days before changing into an adult. After 29 days, the Sim will become an elder and will die, the length of the final stage depending on the aspiration bar when they age.

Babies, toddlers, children, teens, and adults can be advanced to their next life stage at any time during the 24 Sim hours before they will grow up automatically. For babies, this requires using the birthday cake. Toddlers, children, teens, and adults can use the "Grow Up" self-interaction. If the University expansion pack is installed, teens have the option to go to college, where they will be young adults for approximately 24 days.

Players will need to build up talent badges[TS2:OFB][TS2:S][TS2:FT], skills and relationship with other people, so that they can be successful in their career. A player will also need to make sure a Sim is happy and well by fulfilling wants (including lifetime wants, avoiding fears, and fulfilling motives).

Types of Sims

There are 3 kind of Sims in the game:

  1. Household members: Sims directly controlled by the user. More can be added by:
  2. Townies:
    • Townies: These Sims may visit homes, be found on community lots, and be customers of businesses. Playable Sims can always marry them or ask them to move in. These Sims do not age unless they are made part of a household, but can die.
    • Service Sims: These are the Sims who show up when Sims call a service. They occasionally appear on community lots or as customers in businesses. Like Townies, they can move in with or marry household members. (Maid, Repairman, etc.)
  3. Unplayable characters: These Sims have special functions and can never be controlled by the user without hacks or cheats. Also referred to as NPCs.

Several new types of Sims are introduced in order to enhance gameplay for the user. The new Sims that are introduced give the player more gameplay options and assists with the creation of player storylines.

Age groups
Pregnancy, toddlers, teens and elders are new stages of life. Young adult is a unique age added with the University expansion. Teen Sims will become young adults once they are moved to a University, and will be adults once they leave campus, regardless of the reason.
During Pregnancy, the belly does not expand gradually. Instead, every day, it "pops" to a bigger size.
Creatures
Sims that have unusual characteristics. These Sims include:

Activities

There are many activities for Sims to engage in that will help them fulfill their wants and needs. There are also objects and interactions in the game to assist Sims with performing these activities.

Social

There are several new social interactions introduced in The Sims 2. These new social interactions can create memories and can be related to certain age groups. Social interactions can come up in the Wants and Fears panel and can be dependent on the Sim's personality and aspiration. Sims with certain personalities may not want to complete certain social interactions.

Influencing

Influencing social interactions are introduced in the University expansion pack. A Sim is able to influence another Sim to complete a social interaction or a chore. Sims gain influence points by completing Wants and can lose influence points by completing Fears. The size of the influence bar depends on the number of friends that the Sim has. It also can grow in size with business perks from the Open for Business expansion pack.

Chemistry

The Nightlife expansion pack introduces Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs. Teenagers and older are able to choose their turn-ons and turn-offs. These determine the chemistry that one Sims has with another in the form of lightning bolts. Sims can have up to 3 lightning bolts with another Sim. The higher the chemistry is that a Sim has with another Sim, the greater the chance for social interactions to be accepted. New turn-ons and turn-offs are introduced with the Bon Voyage expansion pack.

Fury

Fury is introduced in the Nightlife expansion pack and occurs when one Sim gets angry at another. During this time relationships with the Sim who is furious are harder to build. Also, the Sim who is furious may pick a fight or vandalize the home lot of the Sim they are furious with.

Reputation

Reputation is introduced in the Apartment Life expansion pack. A Sim gains reputation by interacting with other Sims on community lots. Sims with higher reputations are more likely to gain perks such as free objects and job promotions.

Careers

Main article: Careers

There are several careers that come with the game that require skills and a certain number of friends in order for promotion. Success in these careers unlocks career rewards and higher salaries plus bonuses. Sims also will receive chance cards. Correct answers to these chance cards will create rewards for Sims while incorrect answers could cause a Sim to lose its job. Nightlife and Apartment Life allow Sims to gain promotions through social interactions with other Sims. For a complete list of careers see Career Tracks

Skill building

Main article: Skill

There are several skills that Sims can build in order to fulfill their wants and needs. Some skills are hidden while some create talent badges. Skills are added in the FreeTime, Apartment Life, Open for Business, Seasons and University expansion packs.

Basic skills
Toddler skills
Hidden skills
Life skills
Talent badges
Other skills
Hobbies

Hobbies are introduced in The Sims 2: FreeTime. Sims can choose any hobby they want to pursue but they will have one hobby that they will be better at. Each hobby is associated with a certain skill and having high skill points in that skill can help the Sim reach hobby levels quicker. When a Sim reaches the highest hobby level, they can get "In the Zone." This allows Sims to complete the hobby without needs dropping quickly. The ten hobbies are:

Scenarios

There are several timed scenarios in the game that players must complete in order to fill wants and needs.

Base game
University
Nightlife

Game editions and add-ons

Editions

The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition

The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition

Expansion packs

Eight expansion packs (EPs) were released. Expansion packs add new gameplay options as well as objects.

Stuff packs

Ten stuff packs were released. Stuff packs add items to the game and usually don't add any new interactions. Holiday Party Pack and Mansion and Garden Stuff were the only two packs to add new interactions.

Compilations with the original The Sims 2 game

Compilations of expansion & stuff packs

The Sims 2 installation mini-games

The Sims 2 was originally released on four CD-ROMs. The installer for this version of the game includes a variety of brief mini-games to engage the player while the game is installing. Titled 'Grow Your Sims', these mini-games include a concentration game, where the player has 60 seconds to match two identical icons with their hidden counterpart, as well as a trivia game. Both mini-games repeat themselves until either The Sims 2 has finished installing, or the allocated time has expired. At the end, the player is given a score which correlates to what life stage they performed at, with low being baby and very high being elder. Scores do not have any impact on the game itself.

To the left of the mini-games, screenshots revealing 'sneak peeks' were also presented to the player.

There is no way to access these mini-games once the game is installed via the discs, and they were not included in either The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection, or The Sims 2: Legacy Collection.

Grow Your Sims Memory Game

Grow Your Sims Memory Game

Grow Your Sims Trivia Game

Grow Your Sims Trivia Game

Grow Your Sims Final Score

Grow Your Sims Final Score


The Sims 2 Launcher

Main article: Launcher

Starting with The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, EA included a launcher to start the game. This feature is also included in expansion packs, stuff packs, and compilations released after Bon Voyage. It will display which expansion packs and stuff packs the player has installed, and will show a large play button.

When connected to the internet, the launcher would also display news updates for The Sims 2, as well as promotional material. The news display has been discontinued due to the removal of The Sims 2 website, but the launcher still displays promotional material for other games in the series. There is a delay between the time the play button appears and the time this promotional pane loads, and it is possible to click the play button before the promotional pane finishes loading. As of August 24, 2013, it is necessary to do this, or to otherwise bypass the launcher, as some of the new promotional content has been observed to cause the launcher to stop responding.

Sims 2 Launcher

Sims 2 Launcher

The Sims 2 Store

Main article: The Sims 2 Store Edition

The Sims 2 Store was an online store launched in July 2008 where players used real money to purchase items from expansion and stuff packs. Exclusive store items were also released for players to purchase. Money was converted to Sim points and $1 = 100 Sim points. Items ranged from 25-250 Sim points.

To download the content, players needed to install The Sims 2 Store Edition and the EA Download Manager (now Origin).

On March 31, 2011, EA closed The Sims 2 Store, and ended support of The Sims 2 Store Edition.

Removed features

A number of elements were present in pre-release footage and screenshots from the game, but were not included in the final release version. During development the graphics of the game were distinctly different from the final version, with different models and lighting used. There are screenshots and videos featuring many assets that ultimately went unused, such as beehive and French braid hairstyles, as well as unreleased neighborhoods such as Riverside and Waterside. The former two were mostly used in video previews and a third neighborhood, Sedona, is included as a terrain template in the final release.

Several features were intended to be included in the game but were removed before the final release, such as Weather. More scenarios were planned, including power outage, grandchild, engagement and Big Boss scenarios. The user interface originally resembled the interface from SimCity 4, but was later changed to a completely different interface. Other minor elements such as hospital births, shoplifting, and breakfast in bed were also intended to be in the game but were ultimately cut.

A common rumor is that an early version of The Sims 2 was destroyed in a server room fire at EA, forcing them to recreate much of the game from scratch. Although a server fire did occur, it did not affect the game's development[5]

Cheats

Main article: The Sims 2/cheats

Cheats can be used to enhance the gameplay experience or assist in the creation of movies and stories. To activate a cheat type CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console and then enter the cheat.

Critical reception

The Sims 2 received widespread critical acclaim upon release and, similar to its predecessor, is considered to be one of the best video games ever made. On Metacritic, the game has a score of 90. X-Play gave the game a 4/5 while Computer Gaming World awarded the game as their Strategy Game of the Year for 2004, beating Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, The Political Machine and Silent Storm. The game was awarded with Simulation Game of the Year by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science, while also receiving a nomination for Outstanding Innovation in Computer Gaming. Praise was particularly aimed at the improvement in graphics compared to its predecessor as well as its aging system and improvements to gameplay.

Version differences

There are some notable differences between different release versions of The Sims 2 in different countries or regions. In some countries where this was the first The Sims game released, it was simply called The Sims. In the Thai regional version of the game, Sims have underwear permanently painted on and are never nude; this was done due to Thai regulations.[6]

Operating system compatibility

Although The Sims 2 fully supports Windows 98 and ME, later release versions do not have Windows 98 or ME listed as compatible operating systems in the game's system requirements. The Sims 2 base game does not officially support the Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems, as neither had been released when The Sims 2 came out. However, the game is generally able to run on those operating systems, though sometimes with graphical glitches such as black rectangles replacing shadows under Sims. Later expansion packs expanded official support to Windows Vista, and the Legacy Collection supports Windows 10 and Windows 11. It is possible to run non-Legacy versions of The Sims 2 on modern Windows operating systems, but these systems are not officially supported by the game and it may be necessary to adjust configuration files or other settings to get the game to run properly.

The Sims 2 was ported to work properly on modern macOS machines in 2014, through The Sims 2 Super Collection. However, the Super Collection only included nine of the available expansion and stuff packs, most notably excluding the FreeTime and Apartment Life expansion packs.

Gallery

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Media

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Track Real-world preview!
The Sims 2 Theme
The Sims 2 Loading Screen
Busy Sim
Sim Heartbeat
Sim Builder
First Volley
Sim Heaven
SimSation
Bare Bones
Makeover
Sim Time Sim Place
Dance Hauled
In Da Sims
Shicka Zicka Soom
Somethin' Real
Urban Lift
Be a Good Child
Man's Fire
Monkey Failure
Ride the Speedway
Shun Me Out
Turgid Apocalypse
Chocolate
Hero
Neighborhood
360
Baby Love Me
Love of Mine
Show Me the Way
Smoove
2night
Bonito
Cherry ChaCha
Dance the Dawn
Heat of the Heart
Who Can Say
Banana Blaster
Dance Down
DJ Funktronic
New Phase 1
Simmathon

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ Though all of the expansion packs were rated 12+, the base game's 7+ rating appears to remain in effect ever since.
  2. ↑ The Sims 2 Double Deluxe.

References

  1. ↑ "#4: The Sims 2". Tomshardware. Retrieved on 2 October 2014.
  2. ↑ http://help.ea.com/en/article/the-sims-2-ultimate-collection-faq/
  3. ↑ Origin: The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on SimsVIP.
  4. ↑ https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/news/the-birthday-bundle/
  5. ↑ https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/15138534/#Comment_15138534
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoeSt1hCNN4
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