Tim LeTourneau, senior producer of the Sims 2 expansion packs, has sent a new community update today. He has the news that "Open for Business" will be the official title of the third expansion pack for the Sims 2. Until now it was only known as a working title. Tim tells why Maxis chose to make the business expansion pack, and the first two screens and a movie are included as well. Besides that there is also some more information about the features of the pack. There will be over 125 new items in the pack, with which you can make shops that sell products ranging from clothing, electronics, and toys to flowers, baked goods, robots and more. For more precise details, read the product page at EAPlay (thanks to SimTimes). Read on for Tim's e-mail, click the thumbnails below for the screenshots, or download the movie by following the link below. QuickTime is required to watch the clip.
"Hey There,- Movie: High Resolution (3.3 Mb)
- Movie: Low Resolution (951 Kb)
"OK, it's not going to be a surprise to any of you that we are working on another expansion. I'm letting all you know first though, that it is officially called The Sims 2 Open for Business; that's probably not much of a surprise either, but rather than a working title, it is now the official title.
I'm sure there are lots of questions and I promised they will get answered over the coming months.
"So why business? Well, we've heard for a long time that people want to see their Sims while they are off earning a living. Now you guys can actually help them earn a living. Set them up with their own business (you buy them community lots), place things to sell or charge admission, and boom you have a business. I've been building a Toy Shop. It has really colorful displays, and my Sim is using the Toy Bench to build his own toys to sell in the shop. I've set him up with a little work area in the garage of his house, so even when he's not at the shop, he can be building items to sell. I'm thinking of adding a little bakery section where I can sell things I cook as well. Of course, there are unconventional business opportunities too; we've already had one person on the team set up a free coffee shop, but with pay toilets. You get the idea of the kind of things you can do to help your Sims earn big money from their friends and neighbors.
"I've got to tell you that I never imagined running a Sims business would be so addicting and fun. This really is a whole new way to play the Sims. You'll be laying out the floor plans for the businesses, having your Sims hire and train employees, and helping them work the sales floor.
"You can start out small, and for once kids aren't left out of the fun:
- Movie: High Resolution (3.3 Mb)
- Movie: Low Resolution (951 Kb)
Tim
Written at 00:17 on Tuesday, 6 December 2005 by ChEeTaH.
