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571. SimDay - PodCast and Content Manager

Written on Monday 19 September 2005 at 01:12 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Last Thursday the official site has received an update again, and besides the fansite kit they've posted two other things. The first is an update of the Content Manager. The updated version has been improved by suggestions from the community. After uninstalling the old version, you can download and install the new version from the Content Manager page.

Other than that there's a first 20-minute podcast. Host Dano talks to Tim LeTourneau about Nightlife. After a quick overview on the features, questions from members are answered. These include questions about living downtown, the dating game, realism and fiction, the smustle, social interactions, vampires, feeding Mrs. Crumplebottom to the cow plant, building, cars, and a lot more. Tim finishes off telling about a wedding between two vampires. You can get more info about podcasts, open the PodCast channel in iTunes, or get the MP3 from the newspost. Other programs might have to use the Podcast RSS feed to use it. Finally, Maxis has posted a new help page showing the compatibility between sims based on aspiration and zodiac sign. View it to find out if your Sims match.

572. Sims 2 (PC) Hardware Performance Guide

Written on Monday 19 September 2005 at 00:35 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

The Sims 2 is an odd game compared to others, in that it doesn't use too much graphical power, but depends on the processor (CPU) a lot more. This is one of the main conclusions that GameSpot pulls in a new hardware guide. In the article of five pages they test the effect of hardware in your computer, like the graphics card, CPU, memory, as well as the game's settings, on the framerate. The better the framerate, the smoother the game runs. When it comes to the settings, they say turning off viewing the neighbour lots gives a performance boost. The same goes for shadows. When it comes to the screen resolution, it doesn't matter much which you put it in. Even the graphics card, as long as it's not extremely old, doesn't matter a whole lot. ATI cards performed worse in GameSpot's test, but Maxis engineers say this is due to recent drivers. Performance might be improved using the "boolprop useshaders false" cheat, which puts the game in DirectX 7 mode, and so disables some advanced effects.

On the CPU page three tests show how much impact a fast processor can have on the framerate. The resolution doesn't matter at all. As for memory, GameSpot recommends 512Mb. If you're stuck with less, e.g. 256Mb, the game doesn't perform well at all. It doesn't perform much better with more than 512Mb though. Other than that, defragmenting the drive after installation is said to help. A fast hard drive might also help stop some hiccups due to hard drive access.

Although it all is a bit of a technical story, it might help some fans figure out what to upgrade on their system to improve the performance of the Sims 2. Check out the hardware guide for more details about the tests performed.

573. Nightlife Review

Written on Monday 19 September 2005 at 00:22 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

A new review about Nightlife has been posted, this time by 1Up. They too, like previous reviewers did, mention that the game doesn't have a similar set of robust feature like University did. The new inventory is extremely handy when it comes to moving a family to a new home, and also turn ons and turn offs are mentioned. The main criticism is that Nightlife doesn't offer rewards like you could get with the new gameplay in University. Instead you can waste some time in the life of your Sims. "It would be nice if Nightlife brought some more lasting impact." The review has the worst score for the game so far. Whereas others scored it 8.0 out of 10, or 4 out of 5, or even higher, 1Up rewards the pack with a 7.0 out of 10. Read the review if you're interested in what turns them on and off.

574. Sims 2 Screenshots, Wallpapers, Videos

Written on Monday 19 September 2005 at 00:09 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

A lot of material has appeared the past few days, all for the Sims 2 on Consoles and Handhelds. There are 8 screenshots for all platforms (except mobile), coming from GameSpot and the official site. The latter one has posted a fansite kit of the game, which also contains four wallpapers (two for the consoles, two for the PSP), and two new artworks (one for consoles, one for mobile). All those graphics can be found in the read more part of this post - just watch below, or click the link if need be.

As if that's not enough, EA UK has also released a trailer per platform (again, except mobile). All of them come in both high and low resolution, and require QuickTime to be played. Note that hot-linking (leeching, direct linking) to these downloads will not work. Instead copy the files to your own server or link to this newspost if you wish to pass on the news. Click the links below to download the trailers.

• Console Trailer: High Resolution (7.2 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.8 Mb)
• PSP Trailer: High Resolution (5.4 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.4 Mb)
• DS Trailer: High Resolution (4.3 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.1 Mb)
• GBA Trailer: High Resolution (4.3 Mb) / Low Resolution (1.1 Mb)

Read More!

575. Two Nightlife Reviews

Written on Thursday 15 September 2005 at 00:34 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

IGN and GameSpy already posted their reviews yesterday, today websites GameSpot and Yahoo! Games have given their opinion about Nightlife. The first of these has actually put two reviews online; one written one, and another video review. Although positive, the GameSpot editor does mention that vampires might be more trouble than they're worth. That's because they can't do much during the day, and have trouble maintaining long-term relationships. Hence they're more of a novelty than anything else. The effort of finding the count - which he says is hard to do - is not really worth it. A bit of new information is given as well: the influence feature from University will be available in Nightlife, even without University on your computer. Some old-time problems like Sims forgetting things, or the sometimes sluggish camera, haven't been fixed, but overall it's worth a look. It doesn't contain any extreme changes, but all the little things add up to a good expansion pack, worth 8 out of 10 points. At GameSpot, you can read the review, watch the video review or the four new gameplay videos, or you can check out GameSpot's own set of screenshots.

Yahoo! has less to offer, with just a review, which is even without any new screenshots. Basically it's not much more than a summing up of all new features. They're positive about every major feature. "The only drawback to this pack is its effect on a happy home life; my Sim-couple isn't on speaking terms any more. Really, when they think of each other, the thought balloons are on fire!" All in all the reviewer stays in line with GameSpot and GameSpy, also giving it a 4 out of 5 rating. Read the review if you want more details.

576. IGN looks at TS2 Consoles

Written on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at 01:20 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Recently IGN got a chance to look at a "near final" version of the Sims 2 on consoles, and got some hands-on time as well. A new preview, screenshots and videos are the result. They start off with telling about the story mode, and the big Create-A-Sim mode, which has a lot to offer. Then the first bits of the tutorial are explained, like having to jump the trampoline or socialising with another Sim using one of 60 new moves. Shopping for a bed, making (and burning) some food, going to work and getting a promotion are also explained before the review finishes with talk about visiting another area, and saying that IGN wasn't bored at any time during the hands-on play. You can read the preview for more details about what IGN has to say in three pages. Other than that, there are 11 new unofficial screenshots as well as 10 new unofficial videos showing some of the gameplay explained during the preview.

577. TS2 Consoles/Handhelds Screenshots

Written on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at 01:09 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

After all the PC news from Nightlife, there is a little break for the Sims 2 on Consoles, Handhelds and mobile. A couple of days ago the official site updated the screenshots section of these games. Although most screenshots are old, a few new ones were posted as well. Although most of them are (very) similar to ones seen on other sites earlier, those are often taken just a little later, or from a different angle. We've filtered out the new ones and put them below. Just click the thumbnails to see the large versions.

578. The Sims in CNet Top 10

Written on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at 00:56 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

CNet, a site about technical and mostly computer-related topics, has recently published a Top 10 of best video games. Among Half-Life, Starcraft, Quake, EverQuest, Halo, GTA III: San Andreas, and other games, The Sims (1) can be found on the third spot in the list. It's appeared on that list due to its uniqueness and success, and the huge amount of women playing the game. See the Top 10 to read what else CNet has to say about the Sims and the other games. Thanks to SnootySims for the link.

579. Expansion 3: Sims Open for Business

Written on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at 00:46 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

The English working title for the third expansion pack has been revealed. Member Celadus at Sims2Community has posted a copy of the insert that comes with Nightlife in this thread. On it, the title "Sims Open for Business" is mentioned. It's also noted that it's still a working title and thus might change. Besides that, as seen on previous Swiss inserts, the Sims 2 for Mobile is also mentioned on the insert which you can see below. The description for the third expansion is as follows:

"The Sims 2 Open for Business is coming your way early 2006. Create shops, boutiques, entertainment hot spots, home businesses, and more. Hire friendly workers and fire slackers as you strive to keep up with the demand. Get ready to take your Sims from rags to riches."

With the 6-month release interval in mind, Open for Business can be expected some time during the first quarter of 2006, but that hasn't been confirmed yet, naturally. We will keep you updated with new info as we get it.

580. Nightlife Official Release; Reviews, Mini-game and More

Written on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at 00:38 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Nightlife has officially been released today, and more and more people are now receiving their copies. The free Hot Rod car given with pre-orders can now be downloaded, websites are starting to post their reviews, and EA has also launched a Mix Master mini-game. The game is a sort of memory game, where you have to repeat a sequence of scratches on a DJ set in the right order. More release news can be found inside... Read More!