I should warn you in advance that this is probably my most in depth EP preview ever, and as such includes many spoilers. If you are so excited about Apartment Life that you are looking for as much juicy info as you can, then read on. If you prefer to explore a new EP to find all the hidden treasures yourself, you might be as well to scan through the headers and skip to the conclusion at the end of the article.

Disclaimer stuff: As usual, this preview has been written based on an early Alpha build of the game, so some of the content I talk about might not even make it to the final version, or might be edited or enhanced. Many objects don't yet have their proper names or bios and some were still only placeholders, so will not be included.

Meet the Neighbors

Let's start by taking a look at the new 'hood. Welcome to Belladonna Cove!Absolutely no point in showing you what it looks like right now because it will certainly change, but I can show you some of the new Lots and Plopables ('hood decorations) that you will see in AL.

First up is a celebration of the name of the hood, and someone you might recognise this statu which will tower over the hood for all to see. This is one of the more elegant items, the rest are pretty much scrap and rubbish. Literally. You see, Apartment Life conjures up the image of comfortable accommodation, but this pack has also been designed to accommodate those people that have wanted to build trailer parks and other low-grade areas. We will look into those in more detail later, but so that they fit in with their surrounding, you will now find Plopables such as alleyways and trash piles that can be used to really bring an area down.

And what of the residents of Belladonna Cove?

Well, the story is still being created but the sample ones we saw suggest that there will be a wide variety of wacky families for you to interact with as usual.

Some new Lots are thrown in as usual which include 2 Secret Lots (more later), some great Community Lots such as the Library, new Coffee Shops and Grocery Stores and lots of Parks, all designed to suit a range of classes of society. Some great new residential homes are a result of the new build mode features that we will see soon, but one Lot of note which must be seen by all is the reproduction of San Francisco's very own Painted Ladies. A different family can live in each of the identical houses. Gorgeous, no? We all loved the illusion of being built on a hill!

Now you've met them, it's time to interact!

With AL, your Sims will be spending much more time with others, so it's right that we be given some new ways to interact with them. New to this pack is the ability to share gestures with other Sims, including High Five, Earthy Hug, Fake Out, Kiss Kiss Darling and Tough Handshake. Kids can torment each other with hilarious animations and all ages of Sim can now dance the Classic Dance (until one steps on the toes of the other). Sims can play alone with the new Jump Rope (Skipping Rope) and toddlers have a new toddler on toddler interaction of Huddle. Maximum cuteness guaranteed!

This might be a nice time to mention a new behaviour too, although it's not an interaction as such. Very low aspiration Fortune Sims will often be seen whipping out a pot and begging from other Sims for their spare change. It's pathetic, but I've long been a fan of Schadenfreude (gaining delight in someone else's misfortune), so it made me smile :-)

Apartment Life (er.. this IS where the EP gets its name)

I guess we should get on to the idea of what this EP is all about. Although the name suggests living in an apartment, the flexibility of the game (as always) allows you to use your own imagination to take your Sims wherever you want to take them. I have already used the example of Trailer Parks but you can use any situation where you want multiple families to share a Lot without them having to merge, like the Painted Ladies Townhouses, or sheds in a park if your Sims are uber poor!

You can have up to 4 families living on a single Lot, although you can build more apartments/accommodations than that, allowing for NPC's to move in around you. If you have a block of 6 bedsits, after you move in, other Sims will take the rooms around you. You can visit them, build relationships with them and even complain about them, but you can't control them.

In fact, you will only ever control one family when you are on a Lot (you choose which one when you load it up, as can be seen from the family selector screen here). Your other families will be around so you can build relationships with them still, but you can't control them.

The process for renting an apartment is very much the same way that you choose a room at a hotel in Bon Voyage, so may well be familiar to you. On entering the Lot for the first time you can click on the apartment doors and see what the rent will be for claiming it. Once you claim your chosen accommodation, a week of rent is pre-paid and your Sims move in to their new digs. The landlord will make a timely appearance to welcome you and let you know to call him should you have any problems or repairs that need attention. You see, one of the luxuries of having a landlord is that he will take care of broken items, so you don't have to. He calls regularly and checks out all the accommodations on his Lot.

Build Mode is disabled in rented accommodation so you can't go ripping out walls or adding extra rooms, but you can change the décor so wallpaper and floors are about your limit. You can of course buy as much as you can cram into your own space. Now would be a great time to show you some of the fantastic new objects that have been introduced which are 'shared accommodation' friendly.

The Murphy Bed is a space saving delight which folds up against the wall when not being used. The Trash Chute saves you having to take your trash all the way downstairs if you are in a high-rise block, and the new mailbox has a 'pigeon hole' for each of the residents, and a note box for the landlord.

The Murphy Bed, Trash Chute and Apartment Mail Box

You can offset the cost of renting a large, maybe even multi story apartment by taking on a roommate. Advertise in the local paper or search online for a perfect partner to move in and help with the rent. They won't bring any new objects (you have to provide the furnishings) but they will help with relationship scores and chores around the house.

Pick one that's got high scores in cooking and cleaning and they can be a great help! You don't have any control over your roommate but you can see their satisfaction in the roomie satisfaction screen in their bio, shown here.

I mentioned earlier about complaining about apartment neighbors. This can be a result of noise coming from next door (your Sims have an interaction to bang on the wall when noise occurs), or if they are particularly smelly, leaving rubbish lying around. I'm yet to resort to this, but I'll post more info and screens when I see it.

Later on you will see how having the Pets EP will add a new dimension, but just in case you don't, you might like to take advantage of the new apartment friendly dogs that live in a suitable pen. These little 'lap dogs' need to be fed, cleaned and played with but will give back love, affection and fun to anyone where space or access to a yard is limited. A nice touch, and some great animations for the interactions. And no Pets EP required! Currently there are 4 varieties to adopt, all of which you can name when you choose them.

Social Change

Here's some info I found in the Sim Encyclopaedia that might interest the serious relationship builders in the game!

Sims can now develop reputations based on how they interact with the other members of the neighbourhood. The way you choose to socialize can have a drastic effect on how other Sims view you. For example, depending on your Sims reputation, he or she may receive a slight relationship boost or penalty upon meeting someone new. Performing friendly socials will increase reputation, while unfriendly socials will lower reputation. You can view your Sims' reputation in their personality panel.

There are new Social Groups in AL. Each group has some identifiable characteristics like a greeting and a unique story interest. They tend to dress a certain way too. You may find that the Sims from a certain social group can be found in greater numbers in certain areas of town. Learning how to greet them and what their interests are can increase your Sim's pool of friends.

OK, sharing a Lot and socials/relationships are great and I could go on about it for ages, but lets move on to some other exciting stuff...

This preview will hopefully share loads of new info with you, to help you decide whether The Sims 2: Bon Voyage will be on your shopping list when it hits the stores on September 5th 2007.

Disclaimer stuff: Please note that the version of the game we were playing was 'Alpha', meaning that final decisions have not yet been made regarding gameplay and content. Features which I talk about here may not make the cut into the final release of the game. Likewise, other changes might make this info contradict the final shipped version of the game. The User Interface screenshots had to be taken with a digital camera so the quality is a little lacking, sorry.

Bon Voyage! (Have a good trip)

Bon Voyage will be the 6th Expansion Pack for Sims 2 and once again takes its basic idea from a rather successful Sims 1 EP called Vacation, or On Holiday, depending on where in the world you bought it. But as you should by now expect, the actual content and gameplay is quite different. With Bon Voyage there are three distinctly different locations of the Sims world which your Sims can visit, each having unique themed objects, games, dances, characters and more. Rather cleverly, the NPC characters from each area behave quite differently to each other, fitting their surroundings perfectly.

Lets take a look at the new features in a bit more detail... I know you want to see the details ;-)

We're all going on a, summer holiday...

The concept of travelling has bought new challenges to the game as each trip your Sims take ads to their traveller ranking (which starts out at "Stumbling Sightseer") and can earn them new benefits in the game. They can also collect up to 45 mementos of their travelling experiences, each of which is a challenge to find in itself. These combined features make taking vacations a very rewarding experience for both the Sims, and you, the players!

Tour Guides can take your Sims on far flung adventures, new friends and relationships can start with the locals and you may even experience the presence of a folklore legend!

The Travel Agent

The fun all begins with a simple phone call. Direct a Sim to use the phone to call the travel agent and plan a trip where he or she can select up to 8 other Sims to join them on the trip of a lifetime. These guests can be both friends and family, so is a great way to rebuild relationships with those who have strayed over time. You can choose for the trip to start immediately, or on any given day in the next Sim week. Booking early can save a lot of money on airfares, with the scale ranging from an immediate flight costing §1000, to just §600 when booked 7 days in advance.

The duration of the vacation is also decided when booking, and this can range from 3 to 7 days and also affects the cost of the total vacation. Rooms at hotels and resorts are charged by the night, so a full on week vacation in a 5§ resort could cost a few thousand Simoleans for the family (quality ranges from § to §§§§§). At this stage you don't need to specify where you want to go, those choices are presented after you leave home.

Time off work is not required to take a vacation as time in the family home effectively stands still while you are away, just as it does when you visit a Community Lot.

On the day of the trip, a Taxi will arrive to collect the party and their luggage. As you can see here, Taxi's sport ads for vacations and come in new colors such as green and red. Sims leaving for vacation can be identified by their snazzy brown suitcases, waving to remaining Sims on the Lot as they pile into the taxi.

Checking In

Once your Sims are safely in the taxi and on their way, you are presented with your vacation options. Bon Voyage ships with 3 unique locations for your Sims to visit and you can of course create your own as well, but the base locations each have their own style: Takemizu Village is a far Eastern resort, Twikkii Island is a tropical beach location, and Three Lakes is a mountain retreat.

At this stage you also choose which vacation Lot you will stay on from the following choices:

Takemizu Village:
Flaming Dragon Hotel
Jade's Exclusive Villas
Steaming Dragon Hotel
Takemizu Village Resort

Twikkii Island:
Blossom Wood Hotel
Double Palm Resort
Potterhouse Bungalows
Twikkii Beach Hotel

Three Lakes:
Axe Wood Campgrounds
Blau Hills Resort
Hunter's Bedrock Inn
Sky Vista Motel
Three Lakes cabins

Once you arrive at your resort, each Sim needs to identify their choice of available rooms. The larger and more luxurious the room, the more it will cost per night. All that's then left to do is head over to the ConciergoSum Desk and get checked in. Sims can also check out from their vacation early by using this desk, should things not be going to plan!

Continued...

Although I have robbed some intro bits from my previous Pets Preview, what follows will hopefully bring loads of new (or confirmed) info to help you decide whether The Sims 2: Seasons will be on your shopping list this Winter. The shipping date by the way, is February 27th 2007, so it will make a great Valentines gift from your loved one (hint, hint). As far as we are aware at this stage, unlike Pets, this EP has a simultaneous worldwide release.

Disclaimer stuff: Please note that the version of the game we were playing was 'Pre Alpha', meaning that final decisions have not yet been made regarding gameplay and content. Features which I talk about here may not make the cut into the final release of the game. Likewise, other changes might make this info contradict the final shipped version of the game. Unfortunately, the screenshots had to be taken with a digital camera rather than "Print Screens", so the quality is a little lacking, but I think I cleaned them up quite well :-)

Larger versions of most of the images in this article can be found in my own Screenshots Collection under my profile.

The development team started off, as usual, by showing us Seasons in action, highlighting some of the main features of the pack and putting us all in awe of their creativity. On the left you can see Hunter Howe (mad as a box of frogs), one of the Lead Designers on the game, demonstrating Seasons to us. (That's actually a 17" Monitor. Hunter is very small).

After that we were given loads of play time to get hands on with Seasons, during which time I tried to gather as much information as I could to pass on to our active community, eagerly awaiting the release of this latest addition to our favourite game!

So dig in.. it's a long read!

The Fifth Expansion Pack

"Take your Sims outside all four Seasons of the year". That was the opening line from EA and I guess it pretty much sums up the objectives of this latest Expansion Pack, but as ever, there are many hidden extras and new tangents to send your Sims spinning off into, in search of that more realistic life that we play so hard to avoid!

After all, if you are sat indoors reading this because outside its cold and wet, you want to know how you can inflict this same misery on your Sims, right? Well now you can, but more on the details of precipitation later. Another headliner for Seasons is that it allows you to have more fun on home lots, which players invest much of their time building. Sure, community lots are cool, but home is where the heart is!

The main additions with Seasons are weather and gardening, with the wet and dry stuff adding an entirely new visual experience to the game, and the muddy boots bringing some great new gameplay options that will allow your Sims to expand their knowledge, their business and even their stomachs! As Hunter put it, "Classic Sims gameplay at its best".

Seasons also brings us a new neighborhood to delve into. Riverblossom Hills gives us new characters like the Greenman Family, NPC's in the form of Penguins, a snowy backdrop and a whole world of new adventures for you to explore.

New build tools for pools, new buyable items for houses and yards/gardens, new careers, new social interactions, calendars, climates, skills.. new, new, new.. its all new, and its all here!

The New Stuff!

Other than the main features of the game which will be detailed later, lets take a look at some of the new offerings from Seasons.

The new visual experience I mentioned before comes from the amazing detail in the weather systems, especially that of snow. The developers have very cleverly made the layering of snow effects procedural (that's one of their big technical terms).

As a result, the awesome effect that you can see here where snow lays on the wooden decking, the handrails, BBQ and even the light fittings and door/widow edges, will also be true for custom content!

6 new careers are included: Adventure, Music, Law, Journalism, Education and the ultimate in slacker careers, Gamer! I can't wait to make one of my Sims a Space Pirate! Each new career path also comes with a fun reward object, such as the heavy metal guitar.

Pools can now be built with curves to create some amazing shapes, and a new Pool Slide object allows for more fun and frolicking in the water, as do new games and social interactions like snowball fights and Marco Polo.

New object sets are included as usual, which this time include decorative items for kitchens and bathrooms. Although these have no functionality, they add a dimension of realism to rooms (although the editing community have been doing this since Sims was released).

A few of the new additions to help with the daily routine include the ability to click on the Mail Box and choose to "Pay all bills" which will include any that have been removed and left in the house or in the snow (this saves having to go looking for them).

Needs will decay slower when outside, enjoying the great outdoors. This will reduce the need to keep running indoors with muddy boots, or generating excessive yellow snow (no, yellow snow didn't appear in the game, before you ask).

A great addition is that leftover food can now be put away in the 'fridge to be consumed later without going off. This saves on wasted food and money, and allows for instant gratification of quality food like Lobster, should you make up a batch in advance and store it away!

So let's check out the main features of the Seasons EP in greater detail.

Hopefully it will bring some snippets of new (or confirmed) info to help you decide whether The Sims 2: Pets will be on your shopping list this Fall/Autumn. The shipping dates by the way, will be October 17th for pretty much everywhere except Europe. We have to wait (as usual) until October 20th. Booo!

Please note that the version of the game we were playing was 'Pre Alpha', meaning that final decisions have not yet been made regarding gameplay and content. Features which I talk about here may not make the cut into the final release of the game. Likewise, other changes might make this info contradict the final shipped version of the game. Unfortunately, the screenshots had to be taken with a digital camera rather than "Print Screens", so the quality is a little lacking.

NB. This article ended up being almost 4,200 words! It's all too easy to get carried away when writing about something you really enjoy ;-)

The Fourth Expansion Pack

Many people cannot help but ask about comparisons between Sims 2: Pets and Sims 1: Unleashed. A fair point, as on face value, they pretty much add the same content to both games. As Tim LeTourneau once said of Nightlife, "If we don't cover basic stuff from TS1 expansion packs then we won't represent real life".

Well, yes, Pets adds animals to our game, but it does it in a far more advanced way than Unleashed did. After all, Sims 2 is way more advanced and has the power not only to make the animals look more cute and cuddly, but to make them more dynamic. In Pets, you do not have any direct control over the animals, you control them through commands given by your Sims (a true representation of life), but they do play a much bigger part in the game than they did in Sims 1. Far more interactions make the dogs and cats in particular, feel like they really are a part of the family (just look at these two sharing a bed). They have big characters and a mind of their own, which although can be tamed, often result is anything from destruction to WooHoo!

So what's new?

Before we go into the detailed features, here's a rundown of the latest and greatest additions to the game... Unlike other EP's which add whole new areas of gameplay to The Sims 2, Pets concentrates on the animals. That's not to say there are no new challenges in the game because there are. Raising a family is one thing, but trying to do it with cats, dogs, birds and the odd pest in your face makes it all the more demanding! However, don't expect to see new body meshes, a new "downtown" area or indeed, any new clothing. There are some new decorative items including furniture, walls and floors, such as this Space Theme shown in the picture. Some new build mode tools are included, but we will cover those in detail later. Unlockable content makes its debut to the game too. More on that later. Oh, and a new radio station providing music on a 'Country' theme.

In Unleashed (the Pets pack for Sims 1) we saw the introduction of gardening and produce sales. Nothing like that here, as we already have Businesses, and I have a sneaky suspicion that gardening and harvesting could have a place in a future pack, so don't expect any of that in Pets. So, it's all about the animals!

Canines and Felines

Dogs and Cats bring the vast majority of the content to Pets. They are fully interactive and bring a large amount of humour with them (as in real life). You could leave your four legged friend to manage their own life if you wish, as long as you look after them by filling the food bowls and providing some light entertainment, you shouldn't go far wrong.

But the real idea is to nurture your animals: Play with them, train them, make them feel part of the family! If you don't, you could find yourself trying to manage an unruly hound or tom cat!

As with real animals, there is a natural instinct to destroy your prized possessions. An unchecked mutt will think nothing of clawing and chewing at your furniture until all that is left is a pile of ugly rubbish, fit for the bin. This is where the 'scold' interactions and training really come to play. In this picture a chair is getting a hammering from a Lassie wannabe that needs a finger waving in its face!

Trash cans are also attractive to dogs, who just love to tip them over and roll in the trash. Of course, once trained, dogs loose the desire to carry on with such behaviour, so you are almost certainly going to want to spend some time with your new Pet to get him to a standard of behaviour which suits your Sim family.

Of course, some of this unruly behaviour needs not to be discouraged, just given new direction! Dogs can be trained to bark at the mail and newspaper delivery staff.

Fights are inevitable among the animal world. Dog on dog, cat on cat, and of course the always fun to watch, cat and dog fight. In this scrap which took place next to the trash, the cat won after much fur flying, hissing and spitting.

When the dust cleared a rather sheepish looking dog got up and crept away, while the cat washed itself looking totally satisfied!

Animals, like Sims, have wants and needs, memories, learned behaviours and even special interests which include: Playtime, Scary Things, Weather, Food, Toys, Outside and Sleeping.

They will also interact with items on the Lot, such as the Remote Control toy, which can be seen here being pursued by a playful cat. Later in my game it was tearing away from an angry pack of 5 dogs! It got away ;-)

Get a job (Sha na na na, sha na na na na)

A pleasant surprise from the game, came when we learned that animals can actually go out to work! Yep, a pool car turns up and takes your mutt away to work. It's a shame we cant do that in real life! Career tracks are Security, Showbiz and Service and include jobs like Acting Extra, Vermin Chaser and Snooper Deterrant. Jobs can be found in newspapers and can be viewed on the same popup as job offers for Sims, as seen in this picture. Days and hours of work, and of course salary, reflect the job level (up to level 5 in each career track) just as they do for Sims, and require training to improve them.

As well as Sims being able to train their pets through interactions, there is also an option to use the phone to hire an Obedience Trainer. This a more expensive option but gets faster results. We don't yet know the value of a highly trained, top level dog, but the developers did point out that it's quite possible to raise a few well trained 'dogs with jobs' and have the Sim family live off the animals careers!

Pets can also be taught fun tricks and games. One of the funniest interactions I saw was a Sim trying to teach a dog the 'play dead' interaction. The Sim starts out putting his hands around his throat, staggering around choking before collapsing to the ground and laying still. The dog's first reaction is to sniff the Sim, looking genuinely concerned that they might be dead, only to jump back and wag its tail when the Sims stands up. The dog's turn now, as it stands up on its back legs and mimics the Sim in pretending to die. This is the funniest thing, as the dog way over acts the roll and staggers around like a drunk before hitting the floor, opening one eye to see if people are still watching. Hilarious!

Of course, animals have a vicious streak too. We saw a Sim have his 'Hug' interaction rejected by a cat. To add insult to injury, the cat leapt up on the sofa and curled up to sleep in the spot the Sim just stood up from!

What is feathered, wet and furry?

Well, pretty much all the other Pets in the game actually, though not all at once! Other than cats and dogs, Sim families can also be blessed with Birds (parrots), Fish (a new saltwater aquarium) and Womrats ("Is Hamster Mr Faulty"). Actually, a Womrat is a Sim Guinea Pig, and you will be pleased to know that unlike Unleashed, Sims 2 Guinea Pigs have been vaccinated against the virus that saw off so many pixelated families of old.

For these animals, a cage or tank must first be purchased in Buy Mode. You then have the option to "restock" which of course costs more money (Womrats are currently §45, while Parrots cost §75). Womrats can be removed from their cages and played with, and also need to be fed and cleaned regularly.

Parrots live in a huge cage and can also be taken out by a Sim. In the version of the game we played, the Parrot sat on a Sims arm, but the developers are working to try and have them sit on shoulders, Pirate style. We'll wait and see on that one! Parrots can also be taught to talk, as you can imagine, with hilarious results.

I made the mistake of leaving my Parrot's cage door open when my Sim wandered off. The Parrot escaped and flew around the Lot for a while before eventually flying back to his cage .

The only other animal Sims are likely to come in contact with are Skunks. Needless to say this can be a pretty nasty experience if they get to close to a surly Skunk that chooses to spray the Sim with a head shot! Keep an eye out for that one.

Daddy, where do babies come from?

We already know that caged animals appear on demand. You should also know that they have no breeding capabilities, but how about Cats and Dogs? Well, there are actually four ways to acquire them in game. Lets look at each option:

Create A Family.

The impressive 'Create-A-Pet' uses the same technique as 'Create-A-Sim' and is every bit as powerful. The game will ship with many predefined breeds (around 30 dogs and 20 cats) but each of these can be modified at will. Of course, some pretty hideous alternatives can be made with the dozens of sliders and adjustments that can be made: short or long snout, pointy or floppy ears, long or short legs etc. In fact, you start out with some basic principles of animal size and shape.

Dogs and Cats can be created as either Adult or Elder (with baby, these are the only 3 stages of the dog and cat lifecycle). Babies cannot be made in Create-A-Pet. For Dogs you get to choose Large or Small breeds, as you could have anything from the Daschund to the German Shepherd, but Cats are strictly 'one size fits all' (although with the size and shape sliders you can make anything from an agile sprinter to an obese lap cat).

Clothing for animals for the PC Expansion (Sims 2:Pets Consoles are covered later) are restricted to the color and style of a collar, but the coat color and markings are something else! Like Ogres, our Cats and Dogs have 'layers'. We found while playing the game that the layers functionality was a little tricky to handle, but the developers took this on board and will look at improving this feature, but handling aside, these layers are a very powerful tool to enable us to create really unique and interesting looking Pets. Remember earlier I mentioned 'unlockable content'? Well, this is where you might have the ability to unlock the Zebra fur layer for example, or Leopard Spots for your animal. Layer them together for something spotty and stripy maybe, the possibilities are endless!

After you have created the look of your new family Pet its time to give them a personality! As you can see in the 'Adopt-A-Pet' screen below, animals somewhere between each of 5 personality traits: Genius & Dufus, Hyper & Lazy, Independent & Friendly, Aggressive & Cowardly, Pigpen & Finicky. My test dog, Nobby, was a wild combination: A hyper, friendly, cowardly, pigpen dufus! A recipe for disaster (which, incidentally, categorised him as a Sagittarius), resulting in much demolished furniture in the house!

Pet Adoption Service.

Your Sims can use the phone to call up the Pet Adoption Service at any time. On doing so you will be presented with a screen showing all of the animals looking for a new home at the time. This screen shot here does not show the finished screen as it will include all of the animals personality types, training record and abilities etc. Here, you do not have the ability to change anything about the animal. Your Sims will need to craft its personality through training once the little tyke is delivered to your door.

Adopting a Pet is not free, and just like trying to adopt a Child Sim, you need to meet a financial requirement before being allowed to look after an animal (around §1000+). Prices vary. You could in fact adopt a fully trained career successful animal, but this will cost much more than a basic grade mutt. The picture below shows our adopted Pet being delivered to the door!

Breeding (WooHoo).

I couldn't resist, I had to see it! I love the comedy elements that working with animals brings! As you would expect, animals can breed, given the right conditions and circumstances. One of the developers explained to me what this mix was, so I quickly put it into action! I set the scene, got the animals in the right mood and then went for it, selecting the 'Try for baby with..' interaction on a trustworthy animal (er, before your imaginations runs away with you, its an instruction for the dog, right?).

Sure enough, two dogs were seen disappearing into their kennel, soon followed by much shaking and rattling followed by fireworks and clouds of smoke as all the Sims on the Lot gathered around the clattering kennel cheering and whooping! Once it had all calmed down, two dogs crept out low on their bellies looking sheepish and somewhat embarrassed in front of the crows! Another hilarious moment! Try it, how can you resist?

Of course, the result, 2.5 days later, would have been a littler or little puppies which, as is the case for Sims, will look like a combination of their parents, and adopt many of their personalities. Where are the pictures of the puppies? Well, I had a little accident!

While being so concerned about making Doggy WooHoo, my neglected Sim died. With nobody to feed my two excited doggy parents-to-be, the Animal Welfare Officer came and took them away :-(

Adopt a Stray.

Finally, your Sims will see Pets wandering past their home just as they see neighbours. Sims can interact with these animals in much the same way they can their own. If they like what they see they might like to offer a stray pet the opportunity to move in with the family and take them on as one of their own!

Doggy Heaven?

Animals have a lifecycle, and although it has less stages than a Sim, there has to be an inevitable end! I have already mentioned one way in which we can loose our family friends (I learnt the hard way so you don't have to!).

You can also put your animal up for adoption if you no longer want the burden of filling and cleaning food bowls, or have had all of your furniture destroyed. Adoption is just a phone call away, but remember kids.. a Pet is for life, not just for Christmas!

It should also be noted that Womrats are delicate little creatures when around aggressive Dogs! They will die if neglected, yes, but too much attention from the hound can result in Wommie being scared to death! This poor chap went unnoticed while I tried out some game tools, only to be found later with a green cloud and flies above his upturned lifeless body. Oh well... §45 later, the cage was restocked with a fit and healthy replacement :-)

Quick build, quick sell!

A couple of new tools and features are added to Pets that will make building in the game a little bit easier and slightly more interesting. One of these features I've kind of let you down a bit because time run out before I could play with it in detail and get some pictures for you :-(

First up lets take a look at the new 'Flatten Land' tool, identified as you can see on this picture under Build Mode/Terrain by a flat line with an arrow pointing down. This is simply a quick and easy way of flattening any Lot which is not built on. If like me, the first thing you do when buying most plots of land is get the terrain tool out and level all the land to give you maximum build space, then this new tool is for you. Nothing groundbreaking, but could save some time and frustration.

The next new tool isn't so much for creation, but high speed destruction! Currently in the game, if you wanted to remove a fence you would need to go to Build Mode, select Fencing, and then use the undo tool to get rid. Likewise, if you wanted to sell a table and anything on it, you first needed to remove the items on the table piece by piece first. Not any more!

Bring on the Sledgehammer Tool (seen in action in this picture). With this baby selected, you can demolish anything, from Build Mode creations to Buy Mode objects. Click to sell back a table and each of the items sat on it will also be sold back. Its a quick and easy way to clear a space in a house and knock down those walls and decks in preparation for extending. If you think it doesn't sound much, wait until you try it. You'll wonder how you ever managed before!

Of course there are also some new objects in the catalogue that are Pets related. The version of the game I played had four Kennels for Dogs, ranging from slum to palatial, there are food bowls and toys, animal cages and a new Saltwater Aquarium.

I already showed you the Space Theme Set and there are also some Pet themed Doors and Windows too. Here is a picture of the Paw Print Door, the "Paws-Way Passage from Pawsome Furnishings". There are windows to match. I can already hear people thinking these would look great as a frontage for their new Pet Store! Lots of pet related art work appear in the catalogue too.

Diagonal Roofs were touted by the developers, but alas, I ran out of time before I could finish a building to investigate. I was too busy with the animals to worry about what was going on above my little Simmies heads, sorry :-(

Still, it leaves you something to investigate when you get your game this October. I'm sure there are plenty of other things too that we missed, and the Developers kept under their hats for some last minute surprises and Easter Eggs for the players to discover!

Tools, Tips AND Tooltips!

If, like me, the first thing you do when you load up a game or new piece of software is turn off those annoying tooltips, you are probably missing out on some useful information. The Sims 2 has, especially if you install all of the Expansion packs, tried to tell you about loads of useful snippets of information in the past but where are they all now?

Well, who cares, because Pets brings us the Tool Tip Encyclopaedia! This screen shot is of a 'work in progress' so dose not look as polished as the final release will be. Identified by the stack of books icon, the Encyclopaedia can be found at any time under the game settings tab and includes all of the tips from all the packs you have installed, so a great resource to come back to now and then when you feel you don't quite understand something.

Challenge Everything

If you are a PC player, reading this article because you are hungry for information about what your next EP purchase will bring you, you might not be overly excited about what I'm about to touch upon, but hold on there one minute before you scroll off to the summary!

'Sims 2: Pets' is just an EP to us PC players, but it's a whole new standalone game coming to lots of other platforms too! The console and handheld games will ship around the same time as our EP and will appear on the PS2, Gamecube, PSP, DS and GBA (the PSP version ships a month after the rest).

The handheld versions were particularly interesting, as although you cant actually take your PC Simmies away with you on walkabout, you can play with other Sims and Animals in different ways to the PC game. You can still adopt pets but you can take them to the town of Barkersville and teach your Pets tricks, enter then in shows etc. There a loads of mini games included for you and your four legged friend to work your way up a career ladder, learn new tricks and cook all kinds of weird and wonderful food.

Definitely check out the reviews that are about to flood the Internet and take a closer look for any console or handled machine you own, you might be pleasantly surprised by the dept of gameplay and sense of challenge and achievement that you might not be getting from the PC.

Interestingly, the Console versions of the game allow for the very first sign of Custom Content sharing! After creating an animal you can take the Pet Creation Code and pass it to other players to type in to their Unlock Pet Code screen, giving them a replica of your Pet. Alas, clothing is not included (on the console versions you can dress your animals up in all manner of hideous clothing items), but it's a start, and something the developers are keep to progress with, especially with the next-gen hardrive based consoles.

Enough already!

OK, 3,890 words later you're bored of my ramblings, I can tell... So lets summarise!

When I previewed Nightlife I concluded that even if you were not interested in the dating aspect of the EP you would still find lots in the pack to expand your game. Alas, with Pets, if you are not interested in bringing animals to your Sims lives then there will be very little of interest to you here.

There is no doubt that I have not included all of the great new addition that Pets brings to our game, so expect to have more to find when you play your game this October. I do hope that I have helped you to understand what Pets brings to The Sims 2, and to help make an informed decision as to whether or not Pets will be on your shopping list!

One think I haven't talked much about (because the developers didn't) was the ability to "Unlock & Share" content across platforms. For example, if you are planning your game on PSP and achieve something special you will be given an unlock code to open up some new content, like the Zebra Stripes I mentioned earlier. These codes could be shared with your friends on any other platform to unlock something special in their game too. How far this extends to PC we don't yet know, but it's something to look out for. Maybe you'd like to ask about it on one of the upcoming Developer Chats at the Official Site?

That's it. I'm done!

My thanks to the team at EA for the opportunity and information, and to my Sims Community colleagues who attended, making the day informative and enjoyable.

Keep an eye open for an article about the EA trips in our upcoming newsletter ;-)

/Steve

Please note that the version of the game we were playing was 'Pre Alpha', meaning that final decisions have not yet been made regarding gameplay and content. Features which I talk about here may not make the cut into the final release of the game. Likewise, other changes might make this info contradict the final shipped version of the game. Unfortunately, the screenshots had to be taken with a digital camera rather than "Print Screens", so the quality is a little lacking.

The Second Expansion Pack

Interestingly, Tim started out by clearing the air in regard to comparisons between Nightlife and the second Sims 1 expansion, Hot Date. He admits that the two packs have very similar elements but they have been executed very differently. The inevitable has happened in that Hot Date added lots of typical behaviors in every day domestic life (that's 'real life'.. remember that?), so given that The Sims is a people simulator, 3D Sims need to have their basic needs realized just as 2D Sims did. As a result you can be sure that other TS1 expansions will have their content and ideas built into upcoming TS2 packs. As Tim explained, "If we don't cover basic stuff from TS1 expansion packs then we won't represent real life".

So what's new?

Before we go into the detailed features, here's a rundown of the latest and greatest additions to the game...

Getting the bad news out of the way first, you will still only be able to have 8 Sims living on a Lot. But that's it.. That's all the bad news, so I guess we did OK there!

The new Pleasure Aspiration will add quite a lot of new possibilities however you play your game. Tim described pleasure seeking Sims as wanting to "go out, have fun and try out new foods. Variety will be their spice of life". The new restaurants will certainly be one of their favorite locations then, given that another new area is being 'bolted on' to neighborhoods with Nightlife. Just as University added a 'College Town', Nighgtlife adds 'Downtown' in exactly the same way, meaning you can create more than one Downtown area for your Sims to visit. Of course, owners of mixed expansions have the added bonus that they work at enhancing the game together, so your college Sims and their study buddies can head Downtown for some serious R&R.

Many of the new objects have been talked about in earlier chats with the development team or in previews on the bigger gaming sites, but I can't not include them here, along with some juicy new info Tim let slip. He appreciates that we get more excited about these things than journalists!

More power has been added to the swatch tool which lets you pick the colors or decorations of many buyable items. It's now easier to create themed rooms, with many chair, table and furniture color options matching existing walls and floors to add true coordination to your rooms.

Your Neighborhood view can now be switched between day or night view, so you get to see all the pretty lights twinkling away while deciding where to send your Simmies on their big date.

Speaking of lights, they can now be 'swatched' as well, so that you can choose the color of glow which they give off. Create truly stunning, or totally hideous effects in your rooms by adding a tint of color to the illuminations.

Given that here at TSR, we focus on Custom Content, let me explain the new tools that have been introduced for the players who download from the community. New to the Option Panel are settings for allowing or including the use of Custom Content in the game. So for example, you can choose whether or not to show Custom Content in the build and buy mode catalogs, allowing you to make Lots that use only basic game or expansion items (great for websites wanting to offer building competitions based on official content only, I might add). There is also an advanced dialog which can be shown when the game loads, whereby you can actually choose the Custom Content you wish to load from of your entire downloads collection. Again, a great utility if you want to just check the latest stuff you downloaded or are building for a specific theme, either for screenshots or storytelling. From the screen shown here you might also be able to pick out the 'Lot View Options' allowing you to specify whether neighboring Lots and neighborhood decorations show in the background while playing a Lot (and the draw distance).

One of Tim's favorite additions are the 'Sectional Sofas'. These are provided with or without arms and allow you to make seating areas of differing size and shape. You could put a box of seats around feature topiary, or make a cozy booth for Sims to relax in. Coffee tables can also be placed in front of them.

Although community creators have been churning them out for some time, Rugs now make an official appearance in the game, and come in a selection of shapes and patters including round, oval and rectangle. These can also be given the swatch treatment, with patterns being included for kids rugs to match the walls and floors in game for the kids bedrooms.

Something that will undoubtedly please a lot of people, but added as a necessity now that moving around plays a focal part of Sim life, is the addition of a new dialog which pops up when using transportation. Instead of waiting for a preview of the 'hood lo load before choosing where you and your Sims want to go, you are given an address book of all available places to visit, making your transition much quicker and easier. You can see an example in the screen shot to the left.

The new Poker Table item is a favorite of Mrs Crumplebottom, the 'Old Prude' from Hot Date which makes a return to TS2.

Oh, while I think of it... there is a sneaky new trick to placing and moving the new Poker Table object which Tim explained would be making its way to dining tables in some future update. When you place a Poker Table, and then put chairs around it, you pick up and shift the whole lot by simply grabbing the table. All the chairs will follow, making the positioning of seating arrangements a breeze. We'll be looking forward to that one Tim!

The absence of a Kitchen Sink in the game has also been addressed, meaning you no longer need to use bathroom sinks set into kitchen work tops. As Tim says, "Its square and everything". Nice work team! Look out too, for wall mounted furniture such as wine racks.

Oh, and lets not forget the new Aspiration Reward, the ReNuYu-Senso Orb, which lets your Sim change their aspiration!

OK, let's move on to the detailed stuff...

A Song And Dance

The DJ Booth is a great new addition which when combined with other new elements, allows a lot more to happen in game than a Sim changing the background music. There are new R&B tunes along with some fantastic techno remixes of existing Sims 2 music to bop your noggin' to while playing the game. Tim loaded up his now infamous "The Hub" to show us the way Sims will slow dance or "Smustle" given the opportunity, the latter of which is hilarious to watch. Imagine a handful of Sims on the dance floor trying to pull of some cheesy dance routine in step with each other (think line dancing on steroids)! New lighting effects can be added using the corner or top down disco lights. Selecting different light loops for individual units will create a multitude of patterns and colors for you to set the scene exactly as you like it.

Interestingly (given that we had Tim on our own turf in Europe), it was pointed out that the research into the clubs for the EP came from their European offices rather than being North America bias. As we saw with the addition of Soccer (Football (or is it the other way around??)) on University TV's, EA are taking on board that European Sims have wants and needs too. Unfortunately, this also meant that some of the "disco fashion" in the game is somewhat questionable. Been to a European bar on a Saturday night recently? Think "ABBA video" and you are pretty close!

But hey, if you need your Sim to put a smile on your face, have them strut their stuff up to the karaoke machine (image to the right) with low skills and hear them destroy a Sims classic! Yep, the songs on the karaoke are also taken from the game, so you actually get to see your Sims singing (or trying to) in Simlish either alone or as a duet. The Sim that Tim humiliated for our viewing pleasure absolutely destroyed a Sims 1 classic as all the cats in Chertsey lined up on the fence outside in sympathy.

Continuned...

As much of the information that I could absorb along with answers to many of the forumers questions are included in the following article. Given that many of my questions were somewhat different to those from average magazine Journalists, I think you will find quite a bit of new and interesting information. I know I certainly did!

The First Expansion Pack

So why an expansion packs about University? Well, Tim explained that something like this had been on the back burner for The Sims 1 for quite some time, but the restraints of the TS1 mechanics with regard to age and generation made it a tricky project, given that TS1 Sims did not grow up. TS2 and its age transitions made this a realistic project which Tim and his team grasped when given the opportunity. Actually, Tim says that you can blame him, as he pushed for University to be the first EP for several reasons.

One of these reasons (the addition of the Young Adult age group) was part of a longer term plan. Tim wanted to see this new age group appear now so that it could be used for future EP's. If left until later down the EP road, it would be very difficult adding a new age group without affecting previous expansions and their playability.

Tim also explained that the creation of EP's was also used to introduce items to the game that are not necessarily related to the EP, but are in high demand from the players. For example, the band items are not necessarily associated with University life, but as many players are creating music videos as part of their storytelling, EA wanted to provide them with an environment to take that further.

Ooo… Let me just touch on those now that I've mentioned them. The band items are great! Given the choice of Drums, Guitar and Piano, Sims can play solo or join/create a band. When two or more Sims are playing together they do actually create music, playing the same song and building on it the more instruments are involved. If they get good, Sims can play on Community Lots and earn Tips from their adoring fans.

Before I move on the game play of University itself, let me brighten up your day with some info on a new cheat options made available. How does unlimited floors grab you? No more restriction on how many floors you can build your Residential and Community Lots on. If five levels are not enough for you, the sky is the limit (assuming that your PC can handle it). Skyscraper height building will be possible and every floor will be useable in the game, but there could be issues. For example, a Sim on the 19th floor is likely to miss his pool car for work.. It could take him 5 real-time minutes to make it all the way down! They will look great in the 'hoods though.

The Juicy Bits

So.. University.. (As a matter of fact, there isn't actually a University in the game as such). Each Neighborhood has its own College in the form of a new area known as 'College Town'. These new areas are made up of Fraternities and Community Lots, and are where your educating Sims will move to when they fly the nest of their parent's homes. Community Lots comprise of Gymnasiums, Music Halls, Libraries and Lounge Bars (you can of course create your own). The only Residential areas in College Town are the Dorms.

On arrival you will notice some things about the existing Dorms that might come as quite a surprise, the first shocker for me being that there is no Build Mode. As you would expect of any apartment type building, you can't go in and start tearing walls down, so your options are fairly restricted. You can of course create your own though, which I will touch on later (there will also be a cheat to allow Dorm refurbs should you get desperate).

This is the point in which I had the most in-depth explanation of the way a door works in my life, and you could tell Tim had explained this a few times during the past few weeks!
You see, it all comes down to rules (see, I'm now an expert!).

Each Sim on Campus will have their own room (so no room shares, but they can have rooms right next to each other). This includes player controlled students, and NPC (Non Playable Character) Students. When you introduce a Sim to a campus you will allocate them a room, which they will consider to be their own space from that point on. A nice little touch included by the developers to help you identify rooms, is that a Sim will post a picture of himself on the outside of the door. Although they cannot hack walls down, Sims can decorate, so you are free to change wall and floor coverings and place furniture objects to suit your taste and needs.

Even NPC's will be allocated a room of their own, although these are managed somewhat differently. Once you allocate a room to an NPC, the contents of that room will fade out (it looks like an empty room until they vacate it). Also, an NPC Sim which enters their room will also fade (all that remains is a thought bubble showing their actions which appears above their room door). This, explains Tim, is to improve performance of the game. Not having to render images for NPC's that are doing irrelevant actions improves the game. If one of your Sims calls by to greet the NPC, their room content and the Sim will show when your Sim enters.

Continued...