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41. Body Shop Not Today [Update 2]

Written on Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 01:00 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

Although it's appeared on the official Sims 2 site for a very short while, the Body Shop will not be available today. It's coming very soon though, definitely later this week. In a video interview with IGN (which I'm currently downloading, more about that later), Lucy Bradshaw said the Body Shop will be released as "early as the E3". The E3 starts tomorrow, so we may expect it then, although the actual Expo starts on the 12th. Here's a quote from MaxisKitty posted in the BBS at the official site concerning the matter:

"I know you all are excited for Body Shop, we are as well, but I don't want you guys hitting reload all day, taking off from work/school/chores or anything like that to no avail.

"So just a heads up, Body Shop is coming very soon, BUT not today. So hold your finger of the reload button just a wee bit longer if you can."

Note that once it is out, you have to hope you're able to download it right away too. It's going to be a big download, and many people will want to get it at the same time. The server could easily be taken down by that load. Only time will tell though.

[Update 11 May, 2:30] Another page has appeared with some information about the Showcase. Basically it are some instructions on how to use the exchange. Check it out right here. To upload your material, you need to register at EA.com. Oddly enough it says the Showcase is not really an exchange, but that it's "for uploading only". It looks like it's not possible to share your Sims this way.

[Update 11 May, 16:20] Snooty Sims reports that the webmaster of the official Swedish Website has said the Body shop is set to be released today (Tuesday). That means it'll be here in a few hours already. We'll keep you updated about the matter and report any news as soon as possible! Read More!

42. Sims 2 Delay: Maxis Speaks

Written on Monday 2 February 2004 at 22:45 by ChEeTaH - 8 comments.

Luc Barthelet, General Manager of Maxis, has sent out a statement to several fansites about the recently announced delay of The Sims 2. Here's what he has to say:

"As you are all aware, The Sims 2 ship date has been moved to the latter half of 2004. We have heard from an enormous amount of you and your communications have been zealous. We fully understand your disappointment and frustration. The fact that you are all so passionate is both inspiring and encouraging to the production team and means we must be on the right track with the game.

"I can’t overstate the fact that it is a huge undertaking to produce the next generation of the #1 PC game of all time. As our most valued fans of the franchise, you all understand better than everyone else what those expectations are. As we said on the website, the bar has been set extremely high.

"This decision was an incredibly difficult one but the best for us to make. We have learned through past experience, that a game is ready when it is ready. In the coming months, we will be polishing the game in order to fulfill our ultimate product vision. We know you are excited about what you have seen to date but, let me tell you, the best is yet to come.

[...] "Finally, I wanted to take this time to thank you for all of your support. We have all been in this together from the beginning. We value all of your contributions and know that, together, we will make The Sims 2, the best game of all time."

Luc Barthelet

Besides all that, he also told us that last Saturday's screens show what the fans wanted to see the most. That's all from Luc for now, more coming soon.

43. News from chat

Written on Thursday 29 January 2004 at 20:59 by ChEeTaH - 9 comments.

The chat was at a convenient time for me today, and the Maxoids did give some more information about the delays of The Sims 2 and CaSIE. Here's what MaxisLucky said about CaSIE:

"We are planning on releasing CaSIE, but something to understand is that Sims created with CaSIE need to work with the game, and since the Sims portion of the game isn't done, we can't release CaSIE yet. We don't want to give you a tool that creates Sims that won't eventually work in the game. Once its is released we are so excited to see what you guys come up with."

It's not yet sure if the delay causes any changes to the system requirements. Other news is that once TS2 is released, there probably won't be any more Sims 1.x SimDay events, and until then there won't be very many Maxis objects for TS1 anymore, as they. Basically The Sims 1 is slowly dying, but of course The Sims 2 will take over and there will be a lot of new features there. Of course the Sims 2 website will be updated weekly with new info, screenshots, etc., even with the release date being so far away. Weekly chat times will from now on be alternated, so everybody can join some chats. As MaxisKitty said, it's because then more European people get a chance to join the chat. Currently the Maxis Website hosting will still take some time, as Maxis is "still jumping through some hoops to get it set up". Of course, TS1 fansites will be hosted as well. The transcript will be posted at The Sims Chat soon, and there you'll be able to read even more questions and answers.

[Update 20:45] TSC posted the transcript quicker than I expected. You can find it right here.

44. SimDay

Written on Thursday 22 January 2004 at 10:34 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

It's another SimDay, which means there's Sim News again. Let's start off with 6 new Bustin' Out MP3s. Maxis already released 6 songs on MP3 from Bustin' Out last week, and this week they've added another 6. You can find them by following this link. More Bustin' Out news: the fansite contest winners have been announced. Maxis picked 5 Bustin' Out fansites, which have now won and will be contacted by email. Congratulations! The winners can be found at this page. When it comes to The Sims 2, there isn't much new this week. First of all, remember there's a chat tonight with Luc Barthelet. Maxis has also posted an interview with ManagerJosh from our affiliate WorldSims. If you're ready to read what makes him "scream and faint", then follow this link to the interview. Finally, Maxis has updated their Sims 2 FAQ. They've added the questions Luc Barthelet sent to a select group of fansite webmasters last monday. Nothing else has really changed. That's all for this week again.

45. CaSIE Delay Follow-up

Written on Saturday 6 December 2003 at 02:38 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Many people are upset when the news reached us yesterday that Maxis has delayed the release of CaSIE (Create A Sim), and that a select group of fansites will get it before the rest. Here's a reply about that from MaxisLucky:

"Basically, we've been working with some fansites that had some The Sims 2 content pretty early on - some of these folks have had Sims 2 specific content up since E3 this past summer. Since the game isn't shipping until Spring, we've been starting slow and contacting both sites that have been around awhile as well as new sites that are starting to have features that focus on The Sims 2 (and we have included both pay and non-pay sites, btw).

"As we progress towards ship we will be adding more fansites and have been gathering names and keeping track via the fansite system on thesims2.com. The best way to be considered is to build a cool fansite and list it in the fansite system. If we don't know about you and how awesome your site is or what a great content creator you are - we can't contact you.

"We think that user created custom content is going to be a huge part of The Sims 2 experience. It's why we're working on stand alone tools like CaSIE in the first place. As for who gets to participate in the early release beta test and who has to wait until it's final, we haven't made that determination yet. We'll likely keep the test group small so that we can manage it - if you make beta tests too large you end up spending more of your time organizing the email reports that come in than finishing the application.

"So, if it seems like we're being picky about who we ask to participate in the beta test - it's because we are looking to some of the people that have been active in the various Maxis communities (Sims, SimCity, etc.) for awhile.

"Thanks - hope this helps at least some people understand what we've been up to."

If you want to follow - or even participate - in the discussions, I suggest you visit the official site's BBS.

46. CaSIE delayed

Written on Friday 5 December 2003 at 00:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

In the chat with Will Wright, which is still on, it was said that CaSIE has been delayed again. Instead of December, it'll be released "some time" in January. A limited group of fansites will get it just before the holidays though. As known, this program to create skins and Sims with, will be available as free download from TheSims2.com. Nevertheless, it's still just a few weeks until the release.

47. Ask your Sims 2 questions

Written on Monday 10 November 2003 at 17:50 by ChEeTaH - 3 comments.

Later this week, I'll be heading off to California to attend the "Sims 2 University", a special event where webmasters of fansites will visit the Maxis studios to see the latest of The Sims 2. Of course the developers will be there too, including Will Wright, and I'll have the opportunity to ask them questions. Now here's my question to the visitors of The Sims Zone: if you have any question about The Sims 2 or the creation of custom content for The Sims 2, submit them! A lot of questions have already been answered in chats and FAQs, so it won't be very useful submitting those. Only the original ones, which haven't been answered (clearly) yet will be asked. You can submit questions by posting a comment (members only), or by e-mailing me. Submit your questions before Wednesday 21.00 (9pm) GMT and you'll make a chance of getting them answered. After the "Sims 2 University" is over, a report will be posted at The Sims Zone. There you'll see if your question has been answered or not.

48. New: Official The Sims 2 website

Written on Wednesday 22 October 2003 at 14:13 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The official website of The Sims 2 has been launched. We showed you a preview earlier. The site gives you links to fansites, screenshots, a few movies, news, and chat transcripts of chats that were held some time ago. There are no downloads whatsoever yet, and we'll have to wait for the first tools to be released. However, if you want some basic information, visit TheSims2.ea.com.

49. New Affiliate

Written on Monday 20 October 2003 at 23:17 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Since today, we've affiliated with a German fansite with a similar name: SimsZone.de. They're a great source for information about The Sims, and even though it's in German it's valuable. Since they're one of the biggest fansites (probably the biggest in German), we're honoured to be affiliated with them. Be sure to pay them a visit once or twice... or more often.

50. SimDay

Written on Thursday 25 September 2003 at 10:57 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Just like many other SimDays, this one has a few links to articles again. However, we've discussed them all already. This week there are 2: the Bustin' Out (GBA) interview with Virginia McArthur at IGN, and the third designer diary at GameSpot. Besides that, there's (still) the news about the chat tonight with Jonathan Knight. There's also something we expected: the second Double Deluxe Object pack. That's the second download with new objects from Double Deluxe. You can get it from Get Cool Stuff, where you can also get the first pack that was released last week. The new pack contains 8 objects including African and Asian house objects. Finally, there's something more about Fansites: There was a chat last week about Maxis hosting fansites. Now there's something that's just for the links: Webmasters have to re-add their site to the list. However, now you'll have more control over the link, plus you can add a description to it. You need to be product registered and logged in to be able to add your site. For a list of fansites, or to submit yours to the official site, click here.