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511. Lucy interviewed at Warcry

Written on Saturday 3 July 2004 at 20:53 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

The Warcry News Network has posted an interview with Lucy Bradshaw about the Sims 2. Besides the Fame Aspiration track now being called "Popularity", Lucy doesn't tell us anything new about the gameplay itself. She does reveal a little bit of the way the Sims are animated in the new game though:

"We have a very talented group of animators who have created every single move that you see the Sims perform. Our animators will often video themselves or actors performing the actions that we want to make. They use this as reference, and often this is a process by which they try out different styles of acting a particular scene or interaction. These videos are really pretty funny to watch. But, like I said, these are then used as reference. Again, The Sims has some unique challenges. In the Sims, we do not predict the sequence of events. We need to make sure that the player is able to direct the Sim and that the Sims respond to the players instructions, so animations need to be broken down into elemental pieces that we then blend together to make them look fluid."

The biggest part of the interview is about the aspiration tracks and genetics, of which a lot has been said already in the past. If you need a little recap, read the interview. Part 2 of it is supposed to be posted at a later date.

512. SimDay - Lots of Sims 1, Sims 2 and URBZ news

Written on Thursday 1 July 2004 at 13:52 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

This week's SimDay is quite big. The lots of info brings stuff for The Sims 1 (New download), The Sims 2 (Enhanced ShowCase and new trailer), and the URBZ (BBS, Screenshots and blog entry). Besides that, the chat tomorrow has been rescheduled to be at 2pm to 3pm PST, an hour earlier than normal. That means in the UK and Portugal it'll be held tomorrow at 10pm-11pm, while it's from 23.00 (11pm) to midnight in most of Europe.

The Sims 1

There's a new bedroom set available for download this week. The "Green Bedroom Set" was originally given away in a McDonald's Promotion (probably the LidRock Promotion CD). You can download this set now from Get Cool Stuff.

The Sims 2

According to Maxis, the features we've all been waiting for are here. You can now log in and download Sims from the Showcase, but you can also download the showcased Sims to the Body Shop now. Searching options have also been improved, all at the Body Shop Showcase. Further news is that a new The Sims 2 trailer has been posted on the video page. This is the extended version of the E3 trailer that's been released earlier. It highlights some of the main features of the game in over 2 minutes of film. Definitely worth watching if you're only slightly interested in the sequel.

The URBZ

Finally there's the URBZ. There are three new things to watch out for. First of all, you can now login to the site using your EA.Com account (login at the right top of the website). That enables you to view the brand new BBS which can be found on the website. Behind the Flash site, it's similar to the other BBSes, and you can access it directly at this page. It's not very active there yet at the moment, so get there and get talking. Besides this BBS, there's another load of screenshots for the URBZ as well. The 16 brand new shots and artworks should keep you gazing at the new graphics for a while. Finally Producer Scot Amos talks a bit about the progress of the game again in the latest blog entry. Biggest news from there is that Maxis has a major milestone today, the reaching of "First Playable" state. That means the game is now filled just enough to be playable. One of the major locations that's currently been done are the rooftops of 125th Street. Scot tells how amazing they look from within the game. Next week Maxis will give a little update about that, as well as some information about the next milestone. You can see it all on the URBZ Website.

513. New Poll

Written on Thursday 1 July 2004 at 12:57 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Have you met Don yet? If not, see an earlier newspost about him and view the clip, because this week's poll about it is about him. How do you feel about what he's done by being romantic? Let us know if it's totally your style, or if you don't think it's right at all, by voting on the right or at the latest poll page. Last week we asked you about the NPCs of The Sims 1. The Grim Reaper (17%) is the most popular, followed by the Butler and the Cake Dancer (11% each). Mrs Crumplebottom, Servo and the Maid are close at 9% and 8% of the 542 votes. For the entire list of results, go to the results page.

514. Graphics: Then and Now

Written on Friday 25 June 2004 at 21:07 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Probably related to the previously mentioned article "The New Face of Gaming", GameSpot has posted a video a week ago featuring Will Wright and other speakers. They had a discussion about "Graphics: Then & Now". A 50-minute feed of this event is available for download at GameSpot. You can stream it for free (with a GameSpot Basic account), but if you have a GameSpot Complete account you can also download the file in high quality (1.2 Gb!). Although I haven't seen it myself yet I suppose it's worth checking out, especially for Will Wright fans.

515. Sim- and URBZDay

Written on Thursday 24 June 2004 at 15:34 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

Maxis has delivered another SimDay this week, this time with most news coming from the URBZ. But first the Sims: after a couple of weeks of absence, there will be a chat event again. Maxis General Manger Neil Young will be joining in friday 2 July (and not 2 June as stated on the site). That's next week friday, and it'll be held 30 minutes later than usual. That means it's 3.30pm-4.30pm PST, or 11.30pm-12.30am in the UK/Portugal, and 0.30-1.30 (am) in the rest of Europe. Join Neil from the official site. As for The Sims 2, there is one update, namely a 'new' movie. We've posted it last saturday already, but you can now get it from the official videos page as well. That's all for this SimDay.

As for the URBZ, there are two new things. First of all, there's a small change in navigation on the website. To go to the different sections on the site, you have to turn the dial. One section is new: the "Buzz" section. It contains links and quotes from articles in the press about the game. MaxisShorty, from the Maxis web team, explains the change in the new weekly blog:

"You see, the Web Team has a mission, and that is to develop a website that borrows as much as we can from the game itself (naturally, we'd want the site to be as fun as the game too, but that's an awful lot of fun to cram onto a website!). The XAM figures prominently in the game, and so we made it a mainstay of the site."

The complete blog, and the rest, can be found on the URBZ Website. Previously unspotted articles are also found in the new Buzz section. There's an interview with Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, who will do some music for the game, at IGN Music. There is also a preview and list of E3 nominations, both from 1Up.com. The URBZ and The Sims 2 both got nominated for best simulation (but didn't win).

516. New Poll

Written on Thursday 24 June 2004 at 15:01 by ChEeTaH - 0 comments.

We have one every week, and this week is no exception. There is another poll for you to vote in, and it's the biggest ever. We want to know what your favourite NPC in The Sims and expansion packs is. We have 24 options for you to vote for, so take your pick on the right or on the latest poll page. The results for last week's poll are also in, and most people (134 of 387, 35%) want the amount of Sims per household in The Sims 2 to be unlimited. Second comes 12, with 24% of the votes, followed by 8 Sims per household (21%). 16 Sims got 11% of the votes, 24 got 19 votes (5%), and last but not least (literally) was 20 Sims with just 15 votes (4%). The results are also on the results page.

517. Triple Deluxe released

Written on Tuesday 22 June 2004 at 00:36 by ChEeTaH - 2 comments.

Although it was expected this week, it turns out The Sims Triple Deluxe has already been released in the UK. This pack contains The Sims, Livin' Large, House Party and Vacation, as well as the Sims creator and a couple of extras. Triple Deluxe is the European package similar to the American Mega Deluxe released a month ago. Mega Deluxe contains Hot Date instead of Vacation. See the official UK site for more information. It's unsure when this pack will be released in the rest of Europe, though it's said to be later this week.

518. New Sims 2 Movie

Written on Saturday 19 June 2004 at 06:02 by ChEeTaH - 1 comment.

We've received Lucy's weekly e-mail again, and this time it contains something different than the usual batch of screenshots. There's a new movie of Don, the Romantic Sim. He's the star in this new movie, which tells his love life in one minute. Some things you can see for the first time in it is a sim (Don) growing up from teen to adult. Also noticable is the "Created with The Sims 2 Movie Maker", which might mean there will be a tool to edit your home-videos with. You can download the movie using one of the links below. To webmasters: please do not hot-link to these files directly, but copy them to your own servers instead if you want to have them on your own website. Now off to download the clip:

High Quality (7.4 Mb)
Low Quality (1.9 Mb)

You need QuickTime to view it. Read more for Lucy's e-mail in its completeness, in which she talks about the end of spring, and romance for your Sims.