TS2: University Preview

Introducing Students

So where do the Students come from? Well, you can create your own Students as new characters if you wish, using the updated 'Create A Sim' or indeed, the new version of BodyShop which will ship with University (which allows you to create for the new Young Adult age group).
More likely though, for the first time at least, you are going to want to send your existing kids to College. This is where the fun will begin. As I mentioned before, University has added new, unrelated features to the game, one of which is the ability to move out of one family and into another. So where College is concerned, you might like to select kids from several of your existing families and put them into a Dorm together. Likewise, you might like to take the Goth Twins and move them to join a new family (splitting them up might be a smarter option).

This is where I learned of a great addition to 'wants'. Not just relative to College Town, all Sims can now have a completely new set of' 'wants': Influence! This is such a cool feature, designed to allow Students to influence their less academically challenged (yet gullible) buddies to do their assignments for them, but can be used at home by Sims to influence their neighbors, such as to cook for them, or clean their homes! Think about it: your Sim could become a taskmaster, bossing Sims around to make their lives easier. The more friends a Sim has the more influence they have. Expect to see some great new 'wants' once you get stuck into the game!

For the next aspect of the game I had some learning of my own to do. People had asked in the forum to find out about Majors and GPA's. Being European, I'm not entirely familiar with these terms, which led me to ask Tim about localization of the EP. Many of the aspects of University are quite 'Americanized', but although the terms and references might be alien to Europeans (and wider cultures of course), the events themselves can be related to quite easily: A Sim learns. He sits exams. He gets grades. He passes or fails... I don't think the US References will really be distracting once I get into the game (these terms are unlikely to change for the final product). You may have already noticed that I have adopted US spelling of anything Sims related, like neighborhoods. I keep getting in trouble for it at work!

There are 11 Majors that a Sim can choose from. For the sake of explaining the way classes and grades work, these are handled in game much the same as Jobs. Each Major has differing class times at differing levels. Each Semester lasts 3 Sim days with a final exam at the end of each. So classes might be morning, afternoon or evening, depending on the Major and Semester.

When Sims go to class they are away from the Lot for a period of time (just as they are with jobs). That said, it is entirely possible that a Sim could achieve and pass their exams without even attending a class. As long as they spend sufficient time studying or doing coursework (or even getting someone else to do their coursework for them), Sims can meet the required level of achievement. Something to note though: Sims cannot cheat at exams! Failing 2 Semesters will result in a Sim being booted out of College. They will return to the family home they came from, disgraced (naturally).

Sims can get themselves a part-time job (working at one of the bars for example). It might be hard maintaining studies, friendships and basic needs at the same time, but that extra income can support Dorm refurbishments and extra luxury items.

As you expect from a Dorm environment, there are all manner of pranks and stunts that can be pulled off. Tim showed me a Team Mascot (a cross bred Bunny by the looks of the costume) from a rival College, crashed a Dorm and set off the sprinkler system. The result was a Mascot fight.. ear biting and fur flying in the pouring water.. It was quite a mess. These sprinklers are great by the way, as they are fully functional. Place them above cookers in Residential Lots and any disastrous fires will be extinguished quickly, without the need for a Fire Dept. turnout. Another prank worth seeing is the good old 'washing liquid in the fountain' gag.

Major Rewards

Tim then went on to show me some of the specialist objects relating to Majors, such as the well documented (and even funnier when seen in the actual game) CowPlant, which is offered as part of the Natural Science career. In answer to some of the forum questions: Yes, you can feed NPC's to the CowPlant, and that includes Teachers! He shares the value of the home item, the 'Elixir Of Life'.

One item I haven't seen so much about yet is the 'Home Plastic Surgery Kit', which Sims can use to adjust their facial structures. Think of it like a mirror for clothes. When used, this kit opens up an editor similar to that in Create A Sim (the facial features section anyway), so you can make adjustments to your Sim's features 'in game'. If your Sims' offspring wind up being ugly as sin with a huge nose for example, you can do the necessary surgery to fix it. This doesn't fix hereditary genes though, so that Sim's kids will still have get the huge snout passed down!

The Art career will allow access to the new Fashion Photography camera, which allows you to take snap shots of your Sims in a variety of different poses. You can even line up all your Sims Frat buddies for that year end photo, attempting to be serious, or trying for the silliest pose. The resulting pictures can be hung on the walls or put into frames for desks.

The Paranormal Career spawn the 'Resurrect-anamonotron' (don't quote me on the spelling!). This little beauty will allow you to make a deal with the Grim Reaper, offering a cash bribe to bring back to life any dead Sim in the entire neighborhood. Yes, really! That old granny you had that died of neglect the first week you got Sims 2 can be bought back to life. Anyone with a gravestone in fact. Any resurrected Sim will come back at the start of the life stage they were at when they died.
The down side is that if you don't offer the Grim Reaper enough cash, the plan can go a little wayward, resulting in the resurrection of a Zombie. These pale green creatures drag themselves around the Lot taking part in all manner of activities to the best of their ability. Tim had a nightmare with an earlier demo, which resulted in him showing me the the fantastic new Pool Table using a Zombie.

Ah.. The Pool Table. I had already noticed from the preview video that was released last week, that Sims heads seemed to follow the balls as they rattled around the table. This is just scratching the surface in the unbelievable attention to detail that has been invested in what could be considered such an unimportant object. A Sim or Sims will play an entire game of Pool from start to finish (remember the real moves on the chess boards?). You even see the balls roll down the side of the table ready for the next game as they are potted. I asked Tim about the hours of work required to create an object like this. It turns out the Pool Table alone was the result of between 60 and 70 man-hours of work, from artwork to animation!

Other objects allow you to do a variety of things in the game (I didn't get to see them all, and you would need some surprises left anyway), but expect to be able to print your own money should your Sim join the right 'Secret Society' ;-)

With all that money, your Sim could apply for a Charter to move out and start their own Fraternity!

I think that covers the main features of the EP (the ones Tim showed me anyway).
Some other little treats include the Mini Fridge which allows a Microwave to be placed on top, a nice space saving budget item. New 'smart fences' allow you to build uninterrupted walls (no pillars every 3 to 5 squares), and Communal Showers with their hidden plumbing (Tim couldn't resist pulling a wall down to show me the pipes behind). Oh, not to mention full length mirrors that stretch from floor to ceiling, allowing you to make a great mirrored wall for your Gym. I asked about mirrored ceilings, but.... Hmm.

I also learned of a little twist to the new radio station which is undocumented. All the 'College Rock' songs were recorded by real life 'up and coming' bands that created Simlish versions of their songs. As a result, we could end up seeing some of them appear in real life, or hear your favourite Sims song hit the music charts!

So to summarise, the first Expansion Pack for The Sims 2 looks great: a nice mixture of game play adjustments and new features which will extend the life of the game and add masses of storytelling potential. Although you would need to play the EP as intended to unlock some of the new features, your everyday game will also see new avenues being opened up.

So what's next?

Well that's what I asked Tim!

The next (most likely, not guaranteed) Custom Content tool from EA is to address furniture objects, specifically 'swatches'. These are the alternate patterns or textures that you can change on items in buy mode. So if you wanted your favourite chair to have a tartan pattern, you would use the tool to create/import the 'swatch' for use in game. This tool is likely to include some pretty basic functionality to enable even relative newcomers to image editing to achieve new results, for example by simply changing color sliders to create a pink bedcover, or black chair cushion. Alas, it's unlikely that this or any other tool from EA will tackle new object shapes.

And what of the next Expansion Pack? Well, it's a closely guarded secret, as we would expect, but Tim did indicate that the details of it were to be released “sooner rather than later”. They are clearly well into development of it even now.

That just about sums it up.. I hope I've given you some new insight into The Sims 2: University. I certainly enjoyed what I saw and I'm looking forward to inflicting educational suffering on my Simmies (I hated school).

Steve.

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