TS2: Nightlife Preview

On Thursday 30th June 2005, I was invited along to EA Europe (Chertsey, Surrey, England) for a Community Event to have a preview of the upcoming Sims 2 Expansion pack, "Nightlife". Tim LeTourneau, Senior Producer of the EP gave us a demo, while showing off some of the biggest and best features Nightlife brings. Afterwards I got some 'hands on' time playing the game and gathering as much info as I could to put together this preview for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully it will bring some snippets of new (or confirmed) info to help you decide whether Nightlife will be the resolve to all your Simmies needs!

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...