TS2: Stories Preview

Recently I was invited back to Electronic Arts in Redwood Shores for a Community Event (I'm racking up the airmiles), during which time I was lucky enough to have a demonstration of the upcoming Sims 2 Stories game, and then to get some hands on time to play it.

I'd like to share my experience of Stories with you, even if your evaluation after reading is that you wont be interested in Stories, you will hopefully be better informed about what you (and others) can expect from the game.

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 :-)

The meaning of Life!

Stories bring a new experience to playing The Sims 2, but if you are a seasoned player of the game already, it's fair to say that Stories may not bring enough to make you want to part with your pocket money, but then again, you aren't really the target audience for this product. If on the other hand, you are a Sims 1 player who has not yet evolved into Sims 2, or if your hardware is the only thing holding you back, Stories could be just the ticket!

Billed as a "laptop friendly" version of Sims 2, there are some obvious suggestions that the game runs on lesser hardware than most desktop PC's, and as Stories does not require a video card (unlike Sims 2), your cranky old PC might very well match up to the (as yet unconfirmed) hardware specifications that will allow you to run Stories and experience the 3D World of Sims 2 on your Sims 1 friendly PC.

Laptop, Desktop... it's ALL friendly!

So why the "Laptop Friendly" claim? Well, I already mentioned the lower hardware requirements, and although the game will run equally on desktop PC's, there is a feeling of more light-hearted gameplay than its big brother, Sims 2. It's all a bit "pick up and play", with the game running in a window to allow you to do other things at the same time. Stories could also be considered "less daunting than Sims 2" because if you are a Sims 1 fan or newcomer to the Sims scene who is a little overcome by the size and scale of Sims 2, Stories is a great place to start.

There are some great little features added to Stories that I know many Sims 2 players yearn for, all tucked in nicely to make the game easier to handle on the move, like the keyboard shortcuts. Excuse the poor quality image, but as you can see above, many actions have a quick key that enable you to play without the need to scroll around and find things on the Lot. For example, pressing K will instruct the active Sim to clean everything dirty in the house. Y sends a Sim off to take a shower, without needing to first go and find one to click on, and there are many more useful keys, like the one to bring up the fridge menu, chat to nearby Sims or meet all new visitors on the Lot for example.

Custom Content... Not so friendly!

I usually leave the bad points until the end of an article, but I feel we should get this out of the way before delving into the details. And besides, this could be the make of break for some people that might decide not to read any further. I hope you will though, as there is more sweet stuff to come, and I'd like to end the article on a high ;-)

Stories is so close to Sims 2, it's almost the same game, but the main reasons it's not for the hardened Sims 2 player is that there is no functionality for Custom Content. I know, I know... It's a bummer! Its one reason the game is able to run on lesser hardware, but let's not forget the point of Stories, and it's not about building a huge Lot full of custom content!

As you can see from this screen, you can still create your own Sims, but you are restricted to the shipped game content. There is no downloading/uploading from an Official Exchange either (I meant it when I said no Custom Content) although there is still the possibility for EA to release official downloads in the future.

Stories is not intended to be played to death like we do Sims 2 (whether that's the death of the Sims or the players I'm not sure.. the hours we put into it can't be healthy). So now that we have that point out of the way, and you're still with me, let's look at more of the good stuff!

Continued...