[preview] the sims 2

he Sims 2 made its initial debut to the world outside of the Maxis studios at E3 in Los Angeles. The game was demonstrated behind closed doors to prevent it from being mobbed by throngs of The Sims fans at the show, but the folks at Maxis were kind enough to let me in to the private demo room for a close-up look at the game.

I know that at this point you must have plenty of questions about the game, but I’m pretty sure that I can guess the question at the top of your list. I’m sorry to have to break it to you, but the answer is “no, you can’t import your sims or their homes into The Sims 2.” It is probably pretty disappointing for you to hear this as you may be one of the many people who have put a lot of time into building your sim's homes and molding your sim-families. Before you start mourning the loss of your sims, though, let me tell you that the sims in The Sims 2 are so sophisticated and life-like that they will make your old sims look like paper dolls in comparison. The old sims and their objects are quite simply far too primitive to work with The Sims 2.

A multigenerational family relaxes at home.

For one thing, your old sims do not have any DNA. Sim DNA describes all of the characteristics of your sim and is also passed down to future generations (you read that right, future generations, but more on that later). Sim DNA is generated when you first create your sim using The Sims 2’s powerful character creator. You begin by selecting from the numerous heads available in the game, and you can stop right there if you want. If you’d rather customize your sim’s look, you can mix and match different hairstyles, add facial hair from stubble all the way through a full beard, and set hair and eye color. The game does not stop there, though. You can use a set of sliders to adjust the broad facial characteristics of your sim and give him or her a unique look. If that’s not enough for you, you can go even further by selecting regions of your sim’s face such as the eyes, nose, and cheekbones. At this level of detail you are given a whole range of sliders to finely tune your sim’s face by moving the eyes closer together, making the jawline weaker, or any of a myriad of other adjustments. The tools provided with The Sims 2 are quite powerful, and you can use them to create celebrities, friends and family, or even to add your own face to the game.

Once you are happy with your new sim, your sim is given his or her DNA. If your sim has children, this DNA will combine with that of his/her mate and be passed on to the next generation. Sim children won't simply be clones of their parents; just as in real-life DNA from two parents can combine in many ways to create children that are unique, but that share traits from both parents. Things don't end there, though. In The Sims 2 sims will age and sim children will grow up, grow old, and eventually die. If they have their own children, then the DNA will be passed down to a new generation. At E3 Maxis demonstrated sim DNA in action by taking two sims and then generating many of their possible sim children. Each child looked unique, but was obviously the offspring of his or her parents. When the sim children were aged they all became unique sim adults. In The Sims there were a finite number of heads available for your sims, but in The Sims 2 each and every sim will be unique.

he Sims 2 made its initial debut to the world outside of the Maxis studios at E3 in Los Angeles. The game was demonstrated behind closed doors to prevent it from being mobbed by throngs of The Sims fans at the show, but the folks at Maxis were kind enough to let me in to the private demo room for a close-up look at the game.

I know that at this point you must have plenty of questions about the game, but I’m pretty sure that I can guess the question at the top of your list. I’m sorry to have to break it to you, but the answer is “no, you can’t import your sims or their homes into The Sims 2.” It is probably pretty disappointing for you to hear this as you may be one of the many people who have put a lot of time into building your sim's homes and molding your sim-families. Before you start mourning the loss of your sims, though, let me tell you that the sims in The Sims 2 are so sophisticated and life-like that they will make your old sims look like paper dolls in comparison. The old sims and their objects are quite simply far too primitive to work with The Sims 2.

A multigenerational family relaxes at home.

For one thing, your old sims do not have any DNA. Sim DNA describes all of the characteristics of your sim and is also passed down to future generations (you read that right, future generations, but more on that later). Sim DNA is generated when you first create your sim using The Sims 2’s powerful character creator. You begin by selecting from the numerous heads available in the game, and you can stop right there if you want. If you’d rather customize your sim’s look, you can mix and match different hairstyles, add facial hair from stubble all the way through a full beard, and set hair and eye color. The game does not stop there, though. You can use a set of sliders to adjust the broad facial characteristics of your sim and give him or her a unique look. If that’s not enough for you, you can go even further by selecting regions of your sim’s face such as the eyes, nose, and cheekbones. At this level of detail you are given a whole range of sliders to finely tune your sim’s face by moving the eyes closer together, making the jawline weaker, or any of a myriad of other adjustments. The tools provided with The Sims 2 are quite powerful, and you can use them to create celebrities, friends and family, or even to add your own face to the game.

Once you are happy with your new sim, your sim is given his or her DNA. If your sim has children, this DNA will combine with that of his/her mate and be passed on to the next generation. Sim children won't simply be clones of their parents; just as in real-life DNA from two parents can combine in many ways to create children that are unique, but that share traits from both parents. Things don't end there, though. In The Sims 2 sims will age and sim children will grow up, grow old, and eventually die. If they have their own children, then the DNA will be passed down to a new generation. At E3 Maxis demonstrated sim DNA in action by taking two sims and then generating many of their possible sim children. Each child looked unique, but was obviously the offspring of his or her parents. When the sim children were aged they all became unique sim adults. In The Sims there were a finite number of heads available for your sims, but in The Sims 2 each and every sim will be unique.

Other changes are in store in The Sims 2 that go beyond facial expressions and interactions. A sim's appearance can change while playing the game, and not just due to aging. If a sim works out on a weight set and builds up his body score, he'll gain a trim waistline, broad shoulders, and larger muscles. If he sits around all day eating, he'll develop a belly instead. Sims will also have more clothing options, allowing your sim to sport different looks and to don different outfits when interacting with objects.

Sims enjoy a quiet moment on their hillside deck.

While The Sims 2 will bring many changes, more than likely one of them won't be the ability to follow your sims to work. Maxis toyed with the idea, but could not come up with a way to make all of the career tracks as interesting to play. As for community areas like Downtown, the jury is still out. Community areas will be a part of The Sims 2 at some point, but the question is whether they will be included in the game or as part of an expansion (yes, they're already thinking about expansions).

For you builders and designers, The Sims 2 will be a real treat. For the first time ever you'll be able to terraform the land in the game. This means that you can make your house into a mountainside, split-level home if you'd like. You can even use this mountainside house as your vacation home if you want as the game will allow you to play multiple houses.

Inside your house you'll have plenty of new objects from which to choose. New to The Sims 2 is the ability to import textures and patterns that you can apply directly to the objects in the game. For example, you can purchase a couch and then customize it to match your decor by changing its color at the click of a button. You can even cover it in a rose pattern if you want.

With the move to a new 3D engine, The Sims 2 looks very good at this stage in its development. Full camera rotation and zooming are now supported, allowing you to see your sims from any direction. Dynamic lighting is also supported, so each lamp will cast its own distinctive glow. If you pick up and move a lamp, you'll see its light move along with it, illuminating nearby objects and casting shadows. This will make it easy to determine the best places for lamps in your rooms.

No release date has been set for The Sims 2 yet, but expect it to be available in early 2004. The Sims 2 looked pretty good for a game more than six months from release, and we're expecting to hear about a lot of additional new features in the coming months. We'll take a few more looks at the game while it is being developed, and will of course pass along to you everything that we can learn about the game.