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Prerelease:The Sims 2 (Windows)
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This page details prerelease information and/or media for The Sims 2 (Windows).
Development for The Sims 2 focused on bringing the franchise to "a new generation", both metaphorically and figuratively. The latter turned out to be a challenge due to the team having to extensively code a Life Stage system, adapt to new 3D graphics, and start anew from the content they've put into The Sims expansion packs and put enough elements in the base game to make up for it. This led to loads of crunch time for the developmental team, which resulted in members leaving during and after development of the game.
Prerelease content of The Sims 2 has many enigmas laying around certain parts of the game's development, hinting towards so many potential cut content and features. Much of the game's actual content had been kept under wraps between it's initial revelation at E3 2003 until mid-2004, which shows that not much prerelease content was released between that time period.
The end result turned out to replicate that of the previous game's success, if not better, to the point of it arguably becoming one of the best entries of the series. Even long after the game's discontinuation, it has a dedicated community and following to this day just like the other mainline Sims games.
Contents
Development Timeline
2000
- Early 2000 - A mainline sequel to The Sims begins early development, with a small research team consisting of 5-20 people.
- Late 2000 - Development fully begins.
2001
- Late 2001 - The game starts to transition to 3D graphics.
2002
- Mid-2002 - The Buy/Build Mode Tools are completed.[1]
- December 10 - The earliest "MarkL" date in the shaders directory.
2003
- Jan-May - Auditions are held to find VAs playing Sims of different Life Stages for each gender are held through Los Angeles and San Francisco[2].
- May 5-6 - The Sims 2 is officially announced to the public, with a confirmed appearance at E3 2003.[3] Four screenshots were posted at the time of revelation.[4]
- May 14-16 - Gameplay of The Sims 2 was shown to the public at E3 2003, with a release date of Spring 2004.
- Jul. 30 - In a survey for deciding on the name for the final expansion of The Sims, three expansion-sounding titles 9 to 5, College Bound and Global Travels are mentioned, which would all be the basis of the Open For Business, University and Bon Voyage expansion packs.[5]
- Aug. 26 - The Sims 2 was shown off at GC 2003, at Lepizig.[6] Much of the gameplay was still in deep development.
- Sep. 12 - Minimum system requirements for The Sims 2 are revealed.[7]
- October 11 - The early version of The Sims 2 Body Shop is released.
- October 9 - The Sims Makin' Magic, the final expansion pack for the previous numbered game, goes gold[8]. While the team that developed The Sims expansions still worked on finalizing The Sims' Bustin' Out and developing The Urbz: Sims in The City[9], larger focus is put onto development of The Sims 2.
- November 20 - Maxis invites 20 Simmers from the community to try out The Sims 2 for a day, as part of The Sims 2 University event.
- November 28 - Neighborhood View is revealed to the public.
2004
- Jan 20 - A rare build of the game was shown during a broadcast of the French TV Show Complément d'enquête[10][11], showing off Pleasantview for the very first time.
- Jan. 28 - The game is delayed to "fiscal year 2005", due to polish and bugfixes.
- Feb. 14-22 - Maxis moves to Redwood Shores, temporarily putting development on hiatus.
- Feb. 28 - Maxis posts the full audio of "Somethin' Real (French Press)", a song included in the Hip Hop Station in the final game.[12]
- Apr. 21 - The Sims 2 is confirmed to be at E3 2004.[13]
- May 1 - A one-minute medley of in-game radio songs is posted by Maxis.
- May 11 - The Sims 2 Body Shop Demo was released.
- May 11-14 - The game is shown off at E3, now with a new logo and a new release date of September 17, 2004[14].
- August 24 - The Sims 2 goes gold, ending development and having copies sent to the press and reviewers.[15]
- September 14-17 - The Sims 2 is released.
Sub-Pages
Base Game
2000-2003
 | Early Development 2000-2003. The next-generational leap into 3D. |
2003
 | E3 2003 May 2003. The world's revelation for a new generation. |
 | Post-E3 2003 May-September 2003. Similar house, small changes. |
 | Late 2003 October-December 2003. Riverside in all its glory. |
2004
 | Early 2004 January-March 2004. The inevitable, but well-needed delay. |
 | Pre-E3 2004 April-May 2004. Stuff from E3 that was too hot for this prerelease phase. |
 | E3 2004 May 2004. Welcome to Waterside! |
 | Post-E3 2004 May-July 2004. |
 | Late Builds July-September 2004. Also covers Gamescom. |
Unsorted
 | 2004 |
Expansions
Later Prerelease
In April 2006[16], sometime after the release of Open For Business and Family Fun Stuff, a survey was held on the official website asking players what they would want to see in later expansion packs.[17] A large chunk of those ideas would not make it into the final, but in later Sims-related content.
- The page mentions of Sims as "castaways on another island", where they need to "build a new home in the rainforest to farm, fish and build" stuff to survive. The idea would be released as a spin-off called The Sims 2: Castaway for consoles and handhelds, and The Sims Castaway Stories for Windows. Oddly, farming isn't a feature in the latter, despite having dozens of leftovers from Seasons for it.
- An expansion pack focused solely on functionable hospitals was mentioned, separated into four different careers referred to as "medicine, physical therapy, surgeon, or psychiatry" in order to cure illnesses from Sims. A hospital job was planned for the base game, but was scrapped due to scripting issues. The idea would be revisited in The Sims 4: Get To Work expansion.
- An expansion pack that would be released as Pets later in October 2006 is mentioned in the survey, but it also refers to training pets, suggesting that it was going to play a slightly bigger role rather than teaching them tricks. Coincidentally, The Sims Pet Stories, which would be released in October 2007 does feature a pet training system in the form of an obstacle course.
- What would be the Seasons expansion is mentioned in the survey, but it also mentions the feature of a "sand volleyball" activity. An unused volleyball graphic can be found in the base game, suggesting the feature was going to come to fruition.
- A time travel-themed expansion pack is explained where Sims are travelled back in time to a fantasy neighborhood "where they can live like royalty or enjoy the simple things in life", and have access to building castles, having enormous feasts and working on small farms. The whole idea would most likely be the basis of The Sims Medieval, but the castle-building aspect would be released in the 'The Sims 2 Store, known as the Castle Kit, as well as coming with medieval-themed furniture.
- A mystery-solving expansion pack, involving socializing with specific Sims all over the neighborhood to figure out the mystery. It was most likely revisited in The Sims 3 Ambitions in the Detective Career.
- A similar Seasons-themed expansion pack is mentioned where Sims could put on parties specific to certain seasons, with the mention of a party planner. It's possible that it was loosely worked into The Sims 2: Happy Hoilday Stuff as the New Year Party, while Seasonal-themed parties would be fully realized in The Sims 3: Seasons.
- The last option mentions enjoying the best years' of the Sims' youth, with features involving "birthdays, playground antics, slumber parties, building tree-houses and forts, sports practice, and prom nights". The idea sounds a lot like what would eventually be The Sims 3: Generations, but the mention of a sports practice could also loosely tie into the FreeTime expansion with the soccer goalposts. There's also an unused model of a Slumber Party Memory in the base game, suggesting that the feature was going to return in an expansion pack before getting scrapped again.
After the expansion-related ideas came the addition of specific objects that players would like to see in future expansions. Users had the option to pick five out of the following items;
| Idea | Implemented in Sims 2? | Introduced in | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furniture workbench (create your own furnishings) | No | N/A | A similar feature would be introduced in Apartment Life where Witches can craft exclusive furniture from the brew, while in The Sims 3: Ambitions, Sims can craft ice furniture. |
| Pool toys | No | N/A | A float lounger is included in The Sims 3: Seasons expansion pack. |
| Camping | Yes | Bon Voyage | |
| Water parks, zoos, amusement parks | No | N/A | A similar feature introduced in The Sims 3, would be introduced as a Public Pool Community Lot while the amusement park would appear in The Sims 3 Store neighborhood Roaring Heights. |
| Apartments | Yes | Apartment Life | |
| Slot Machines, Roulette, Craps tables | No | N/A | It seemed that the Craps Table from The Urbz: Sims in the City was going to return. Similarly, a money-operated game machine would be introduced in Seasons as a Reward Item for the Gamer Career Track. The idea would be fully realized in The Sims 3 Store neighborhood Lucky Palms. |
| Casinos | No | N/A | See above. |
| Pets | Yes | Pets | |
| Weather and Seasons | Yes | Seasons | Rain and snow weather was planned for the base game, as seen and mentioned in prerelease media. |
| Concert lighting and stages | No | N/A | The idea would be fully realized in The Sims 3: Showtime. |
| Snowball fight | Yes | Seasons | |
| Gardening, growing food | Yes | Seasons | |
| Sports and other active events | Yes | FreeTime | That expansion introduced an Athletic Hobby system, as well as implementing a soccer goalpost and a ballet bar. |
| Skating, snowboarding, skiing | No | N/A | Snowboarding would return in The Sims 3: Seasons, while skiing would be introduced in The Sims 4: Snowy Escape. |
| Cooking materials, food items | Yes | Seasons | Though the idea was partially implemented in Seasons, it would be further utilized in The Sims 3. |
| Prom parties | No | N/A | Prom parties would appear in The Sims 3: Generations. |
| Health and sickness – doctors and nurses making house calls | No | N/A | |
| Fishing | Yes | Seasons | |
| Frisbee | No | N/A | The frisbee would be introduced in The Sims 3: Pets, as an item that can be used with dogs. |
| Going shopping | Yes | Open For Business | it is unknown what the idea meant by going shopping as Open For Business, a shopping-based expansion was released a month earlier at that time. |
| Yearly calendar – mark, plan special events | No | N/A | On a similar note, The Sims was originally going to have a date system, but was scrapped. |
| Natural Disasters | No | N/A | A volcanic eruption would be used as a plot point in The Sims: Castaway Stories, but a meteorite-based death would appear in The Sims 3: Ambitions. |
| Celebrities | No | N/A | During development of the base game, they preferred to not revisit the theme due to the trouble of having to extensively code NPC celebrities in order to meet restrictions. But the presence of the option suggests that it was planned once again. The Sims 2: Pets, which would be released later in 2006 had Hilary Duff as a downloadable and playable Sim from the official website, and as a playable character in the console counterparts. That said, the celebrity-based expansion would not be re-introduced until The Sims 3: Late Night. |
| Create your own holiday | No | N/A | |
| Movie Theatre | No | N/A | A cinema would appear in The Sims 3 as a rabbit hole, but buyable cinema-related items would appear in The Sims 4: Movie Hangout Stuff. |
| Croquet | No | N/A | A decorative croquet item would appear in The Sims Social as the Flamingo Croquet. |
| Hotels | Yes | Bon Voyage |
Resources
- Articles
- Designer Diaries
- Website News Archives
- TheSimsZone Absolute Essentials
- Interviews
- Sims Network Chat Logs
- Magazines
- Other
- Jake Simpson Sims 1 and 2 Development Twitter Threads, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4
- Les Sims 2: Livret de familie Scans/Translation & Summary
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/JustJakeSimpson/status/1375523186641575941?s=20&t=-FndFYVhCHffNHPjEu_BiQ
- ↑ https://www.thesimszone.co.uk/news/archive.php?ID=1609
- ↑ https://worthplaying.com/article/2003/5/5/news/9848-the-sims-2-announced/
- ↑ https://worthplaying.com/article/2003/5/6/news/9901-the-sims-2-screens/
- ↑ https://www.thesimszone.co.uk/news/archive.php?Month=7&Year=2003
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040307023956/http://www.simszone.de/simszone/specials/gc_2003/sims2.php
- ↑ http://worldsims.org/preliminary-system-requirements/963/
- ↑ http://worldsims.org/makin-magic-goes-gold/983/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160413213212/http://videogamebetabook.wiki-site.com/index.php/The_Urbz:_Sims_In_The_City
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040815022350/http://thesims2.webdynamit.net/xtnews/show_news.php?id_news=77
- ↑ https://www.jeuxvideo.com/forums/1-8142-1151592-1-0-1-0-0.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040815013717/http://thesims2.webdynamit.net/xtnews/show_news.php?id_news=101
- ↑ https://www.thesimszone.co.uk/news/archive.php?Month=4&Year=2004
- ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/05/12/news_6097684.html
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/24/the-sims-2-is-gold
- ↑ http://www.mixei.ru/threads/39076-Novosti-v-mire-The-Sims-2/page2?p=1399827#post1399827
- ↑ https://www.simforum.de/index.php?threads/137771/#post-2635057
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