Nicely done

[Clashfan]

Lot's of discussions are about what doesn't work in the game, what EA screwed up on or just stuff that makes us crazy. What about the stuff they got really right? There must be a lot as we all seem to keep playing it. So what things amaze you or do you feel are spot on?

This is mine. :)

I'm currently in a population explosion in my hood so in my play rotation I've got a lot of pregnancies going one right now.

Since I'm playing so many and some of my Sims are having multiple children back to back I've really been noticing how pregnancy effects Sims.

I have to say while EA got lot's of stuff wrong this is one area they did pretty well with. No two pregnancies are alike even with the same Sim. Sometimes the morning sickness portion is overwhelming and the poor Sim can't do much more than throw up and relax somewhere comfortable. The next time they might not have any morning sickness at all.

The next stages are equally unpredictable. While you know your Sim will lose energy, hunger and bladder at a faster rate it still varies from pregnancy to pregnancy. I've had some Sims I could barely keep alive even though they were doing nothing but eating, sleeping and peeing, others have gained gardening badges or skill points during this time.

Anyone who has kids or been around pregnant women knows this is pretty true to life. I love it, makes it so much more challenging to try to figure out what they can and cannot accomplish.

So what do you think they got really right?

[wickedblue]

Right from the start, I was pretty impressed that there's no bias toward heterosexual relations in the game. Anyone can romance a sim of any gender and there's no negative consequences. Other than their crazy jealousy code but that has nothing to do with gender. :up:

[Sango_Uchiha]

Making Sims look unique. All the sliders give you countless options for appearance.

[anothereyjana]

I like the fact that they thought to include things like butterflies and bees hovering over plants in the base game, and that with seasons you can do things like catch them (as well as there being new types of bugs), even if ultimately the bug-catching doesn't really accomplish anything (even if you have them do bug collecting, all you end up with is another deco object to hang on the wall), it's still cute as hell watching them trying to scoop those suckers up in a jar.

I also like some of the little "idle" animations, or the little things that they do sometimes while walking somewhere. Ex., I had one sim who had taken to snapping his fingers while walking from one destination to the other, another that would sort of "wipe" his hands on his thighs, or lightly slap them like he was having a song playing in his head (when I let him stand and idle). They all just seem to make them all the more realistic to have them have little quirks like that, it seems to give them even more personality and individuality. :lovestruc

[jodemilo]

Ooh, many things - that's why I'm still playing it!

The weather in "Seasons", the animations (you can tell that a lot of thought and detail went into many of them), the voices, the little quirky details which suggest someone behind the Sims had a slightly sadistic streak (eg when the chef dies in the fire on the Yummy channel, and lots of other humorous stuff), the "rub belly" interaction with dogs, the toddler animations, lots of little details which really make the game for me.

Just recently installed some of the Castaway objects and enjoyed the new animations there too.

Most of all the fact that they allow people to mod the game with custom content, global mods and suchlike. I like that open, "create a game that suits you" policy.

[Charmful]

I was zoomed in close the other day of two teenagers who had crushes on each other who were slow dancing and I was really paying attention to their facial expressions; they were really coming across as lovestruck! They looked shy but yet were digging on each other with their eyes. I think facial expressions of the sims is something the creators got really right for different actions (of the thousands of actions they can do).

[jodemilo]

I was zoomed in close the other day of two teenagers who had crushes on each other who were slow dancing and I was really paying attention to their facial expressions; they were really coming across as lovestruck!

Yeah, that reminds me, I forgot to mention the things that make me smile most of all:

The cinematics: births, woohoo'ing, first kiss, university graduation, etc, and the music that goes with it - brings a smile to my face everytime!

[wickedblue]

"the "rub belly" interaction with dogs" Yessss! :lovestruc :lovestruc

Also, the way the toddlers walk. Makes my ovaries ache. :lol:

[HikariOkami]

I've been waiting for a thread like this :D!

The way the leaves pile up in fall, the first snowfall, sims seeming as excited about something new as you are, the beauty and realism of the somehow still simple graphics, the weird combonations that you can get with supernaturals (vampire-werewolf-plantsim sim), thought bubbles, the grim reaper, genetics (!), the simplicity of the coding (even if it looks like a trained animal of some sort wrote it), still life paintings, and having the option of not getting an expansion pack if you don't want the things it does.

This, plus a million other things. Sorry for how long the list is, but this is just what I can think of right off the top of my head XD.

[ani_]

The details, the tiny funny things, but mostly the open end of the game and the randomness of it all. what keeps me coming back is wanting to know what happens next.

[Metatwaddle]

The animation when an alien is born. Funny, cute, generally awesome.

[AlexandraSpears]

I like it when a shy Sim is flirted with (I believe it's the "charm" interaction) and it looks like they're hiding their face in their hand and smiling shyly.

I also get a kick out of it when a toddler flings a bottle away and it sounds like they're saying "That's all!"

[appelsapgodin]

I love that Simlish sounds like a lot of languages but isn't quite an existant language. I think if they would have spoken English (or french or dutch or german or whatever) that it would have gotten annoying after a while. But now the game is completely internationally playable for anyone no matter what language you speak. The intonation of simlish is spot-on in all kinds of situations.

And I don't know if it was a coincidence or that it is intentionally programmed that way. I would love to hear if someone had this happens too. I had 2 different sims in different families (even different hoods, now I think of it) with very high creativity scores. They had a loved one die and after the grim reaper came to take their loved ones (1 spouse and 1 time a parent) they did the grim reaper stuff, ghost waved goodbye etc. Then the mourning sim walked over to play the piano (on perform, not practise) and they played Beethoven's moonshine sonate. One of the most beautiful and heart-breaking pieces of music I know. It kinda made me tear up. I know it is one of the pieces they do play while practising at some point too, but if EAxis did this on purpose after the dead, then I am really impressed by the detail they put into putting this deliberate but beautidul tear-jerker in.

[AlexandraSpears]

How about those Grouchy Sims muttering to themselves? When the males do it, it sounds like Fred Flintstone griping about something....

[junglewildchild]

They way when a sim flushes the toilet while another one is in the shower, the one in the shower screams and gets mad. Love it.

[refox_14]

I love the expressions some Sims will give, even when custom eyes roll in to their heads.

I have to agree with your opinion on the pregnancies. I had one Sim who couldn't eat with out loosing it, and when her sister got pregnant I was freaking out, thinking about how close it had been with the other one! >_< Turns out she had the easiest pregnancy ever. She even for promoted twice. ((I then began to wonder who the father really was! XD))

[AlexandraSpears]

I love it when you tell a sloppy Child Sim to clean the toilet and they say something that sounds like "Do I got to?"

[HikariOkami]

...Beethoven's moonshine sonate...

Do you mean Moonlight sonata? If that is what you mean, I agree that it's probably the saddest piano song I know.

[Clashfan]

I'm convinced they learn. If you take a sort of sloppy Sim say a 3 or 4 in neat points they will not autonomously make their bed when they get out of it. If you make them consistently do this action every time they get up they will eventually start to do it by themselves. I swear this happens with most things if you have them do it on a consistent basis then they will pick it up and do it themselves, does of course help if your Sim is already inclined in that direction.

Either this is a very cool feature or a complete figment of my imagination one of the two.

[MrsNervousSubject]

I love how sims with interest in Film & Literature will take out a book and read it as they're walking somewhere. (L)_(L)

[appelsapgodin]

Do you mean Moonlight sonata? If that is what you mean, I agree that it's probably the saddest piano song I know. Yes, that is the one I mean: Piano sonate nr 14.

It sorta goes by both names, I guess, since it is titled the 'Mondschein sonate' in German, Ludwig's original language. So we're both right.. same difference in the translation to English.

Still wondering if it was coincidence or on purpose though.

[jodemilo]

I love how sims with interest in Film & Literature will take out a book and read it as they're walking somewhere. (L)_(L)

Me too - actually I have only ONE playable sim in my hood with the Movie/Literature interest (and only two of them do this reading-while-walking action) - I wish there were more so I can get a hobby club going.

Always liked this pic...

http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy219/johdemilo/Bebe%20Amor%20bringing%20up%20baby%20and%20finding%20true%20love/snapshot_d879ceff_98b30a41.jpg

[feliciaqueens]

I love all of these things, too. I'm going to have to try that death in the family thing to see if I get the sonata played. Sounds like a lovely, sad moment. One thing I love is when I'm trying to get two sims together, and the one I'm controlling turns to me and makes this face like "UH! Are you KIDDING me?!?" Even happens with romance sims with high chemistry with the object of their affection.

And yes, one of my fave things in the game is pregnancy. I just love the waddling walk, and the variations from sim to sim. And who doesn't love a pregnant male sim?

[Nalia]

There are a lot of things "done right" in TS2, like hilarious animations and social interactions. The fight scenes are one of my favourites, along with the first kiss cinematics and how shy Sims dance alone. As someone else mentioned, I too like the fact that sex orientation does not matter, everything is perfectly fine and acceptable. An ideal world, one could say. There are some new interactions in the Sims 3, but nothing can beat TS2. Nothing.

[Shoosh Malooka]

What they got right from the base game was giving us the tools to put the textures we want on the faces and bodies of our sims. To what end? Putting myself in the game and turning off aging. It'sa me, Shooshio! I shall call him... Mini Shoosh. *sob*

Also done right ( for me, at least ), giving us 'toy sims' via Nightlife, Seasons, etc. These 'toy sims' are the witches, servos, plantsims, aliens, and vampires. I would rather live in SimLand than Hogwarts ( no, I'm not into Harry Potter ).

[Maranatah]

Many details (in behaviour and furnishings), animations, facial expressions and so on.

Like the toddler huggle that came with AL. :lovestruc

[Clashfan]

The facial expressions are very nicely done indeed. I tend to play at such a zoomed out level I don't always notice some of the tiny details. However I've been trying to master taking in game pictures more lately so I have the cinematics turned off. I zoomed in to take some photo's of a wedding in progress and they make the sweetest, goofiest, lovestruck faces when they are getting married. It made it hard to get a decent photo but it was pretty darn sweet all the same.

I also particularly like the animations when they play poker, Sims have so many tells!

[TingTong]

They way when a sim flushes the toilet while another one is in the shower, the one in the shower screams and gets mad. Love it.

Really?.....Iv'e never tried that! How realistic and funny! XD

[FranH]

I've always liked the "collapse in absolute desperation" action-it shows that things are not always perfect in the game, even if it's a silly reason-like Mortimer has aspiration failure because one of his kids didn't get an A!
He got bundled off to the Asylum for a stay to get a grip on reality. He thought life was hard-that place is horrible!

[DM was on fire!]

The animation when an alien is born. Funny, cute, generally awesome.

Yes!
And the male Sim is all "...........AWWWW *SNUGGLE*"

I also love how shy Sims dance. It's absolutely adorable. I make one of my favourite Sims, who has NO personality points for the shy/outgoing section dance all the time. She's probably really P.O.'d at me 'cos I do it so much.

Also. God bless the Smustle. So many different moves. Especially the Thriller move.
And, and I'll finish after this, the sea chantey. It annoys a lot of people, but it's great. Yar har har, a lidey-pidey dee. Smeilie furdy silber, a homa sooba lee!
...I have no clue.

[Clashfan]

Also. God bless the Smustle. So many different moves. Especially the Thriller move.

And, and I'll finish after this, the sea chantey. It annoys a lot of people, but it's great. Yar har har, a lidey-pidey dee. Smeilie furdy silber, a homa sooba lee!
...I have no clue.

I love the Smustle as well they all look so silly doing it, best when you get a group all in time and in the same direction. Always makes me smile!

The sea chantey? Not so much. Actually if I never hear that nasty little song again I'll be quite happy. I've got a mod that keeps them from starting it autonomously and yet I still won't let anyone learn it in my new hood. It spread like the bad virus it is in my former hood to the point of making me mental. Actually now that I think about it that would be a good hair trigger for a serial killer story line. :D

[MrsNervousSubject]

Also. God bless the Smustle. So many different moves. Especially the Thriller move.
And, and I'll finish after this, the sea chantey. It annoys a lot of people, but it's great. Yar har har, a lidey-pidey dee. Smeilie furdy silber, a homa sooba lee!
...I have no clue.

Thriller moveeeee :lovestruc

-runs off and makes my sims smustle until the point of exhaustion-

I love the Peek-a-Boo action when done between a toddler and a child. It's so cute. :giggler:

[Kailacat]

I love the surprised animation where their eyes are so huge and their hands are palm out and they jump up into the air. Not only have I had sims do that when someone was giving birth, but also when the mother had a pregnancy bump.

I also like the item descriptions. They're hilarious and they always give me a little laugh while I do the immensely dull task of placing furniture.

[MrsNervousSubject]

I love how dogs nuzzle their babies. It's like nawwwww.

P.S- Wow, I seem to like alot of the little things about the Sims 2. Kind of almost (stress ALMOST) makes up for all the ergh-ness when it comes to the game.

[crocobaura]

One of my sims was cooking and when another sim walked into the room he made this "mmmmm, smells good" sort of animation. Soooo cute!

[vhanster]

I like to see when Sims die- especially by drowning. The way they desperately try to breathe is really funny

[MrsNervousSubject]

I like to see when Sims die- especially by drowning. The way they desperately try to breathe is really funny

Remind me not to tick you off. :rofl:

[vhanster]

Why? Having me killing MY sim in my game won't ruin your game wouldn't it? :lol:

[MrsNervousSubject]

Why? Having me killing MY sim in my game won't ruin your game wouldn't it? :lol:

Of course it would! Cough.
Knowing the Sims, they'll be all:
Sim1:"Psst, did you hear vhanster totally killed his sim last night!"
Sim2:"No way!"
Sim1: "Yeah way!" -hand wiggle-
Sim2: -giggle-

.. then they'll go back to gossiping about burnt dinners. :|

[candinfat]

I love the cinematics for alien birth, marriage, and university graduation. I love how the Grim Reaper actually has a bio, if you somehow manage to make him selectable. I also love all the creatable custom content.

- CandinFat(:

[Kailacat]

Wow! What's his bio say?
I love the amount of attention they gave to each Sim. The storyline of each neighborhood would fall apart if a single sim was taken out.

[candinfat]

Wow! What's his bio say?
I love the amount of attention they gave to each Sim. The storyline of each neighborhood would fall apart if a single sim was taken out.

It says something like:

Favorite Band: Styx
BA: Alumni of University of Hawaii
I like it when you take long walks on the beach.

I'm just paraphrasing for now, I'll take a photo of it later.

- CandinFat(:

[Clashfan]

It says something like:



I'm just paraphrasing for now, I'll take a photo of it later.

- CandinFat(:

His favorite band is Styx? That is supremely funny, always knew they would be part of the soundtrack from Hell. :rofl:

[Koda_lovemusic.]

clashfan: Grim's bio goes like this:
He received his BA in Human Development at the University of Hawaii, his favorite band of all time is Styx, and apparently his take on short piers is he likes it when you take long walks.
And, he's a Taurus :lol: