I'm on soul patrol

[vovat]

While out shopping on Tuesday, I saw a bumper sticker with a picture of Taylor Hicks and the words "Soul Patrol." The amusing thing was that it looked homemade. Apparently someone loved the guy and his self-hugging so much that they thought it was worth making their own bumper sticker.

Yesterday, I went with bethje, her Uncle John, and her dog Dewey to Batsto and Tuckerton, and we walked around those places a bit. Dewey doesn't get out much, so it was nice that we could take him somewhere. And I probably should walk more in general, but it's a real pain during the summer. I hate sweating, and I sweated a lot during the walk in Batsto.

I had a dream last night that I went to a crooked mechanic, who basically just charged people and didn't do anything with their cars. The customer before me was, for some reason, Moe from The Simpsons. I don't remember if he actually talked or acted like Moe, but I somehow knew that was who it was. They not only charged him for simply looking at his engine without doing anything, but they somehow convinced him to buy some fishing equipment as well. Within the dream, I decided I would write an entry about the mechanic, but I was going to lock it so that nobody would see it and get offended. Now that I'm awake, I don't feel that this is necessary. {g}

Oh, one other thing that I was going to ask in my Sims-related entry yesterday is whether anyone reading this has played The Sims 2, and what they think of it. It's not something I'm likely to buy anytime soon, but if it's something I might enjoy, it could be something to suggest when people start complaining that they can't think of what to give me for my birthday or Christmas.

Comments

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

I really like Sims 2. Once you play that, you pretty much don't want to go back to the regular sims. There's just a lot more options and it's pretty nifty how your kids grow up and your sims die. It's a cycle that makes gameplay more interesting.

So far, I have 2 of the expansion packs for that too. University, which is fun if you'd like to relive the college experience and get your sims ahead in life, and Night Life. The latter hasn't been particularly fun in terms of incorporating a downtown (it runs slow on my computer anyway), but it does add some interesting stuff into the game, including vampires and a matchmaker.

So yes, I do recommend Sims 2 as a huge Sims fan. There are big similarities, but also big enhancements. And you'll also play that for hours and hours on end.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

University, which is fun if you'd like to relive the college experience and get your sims ahead in life

College gets them ahead in life? That's another way the game differs from real life, I guess. :P

What are some of the major differences between the first and second games, aside from the aging thing? I know the graphics are better, and I assume there are more items, but are there more options? And how difficult would you say it is to get anywhere?

Oh, and I have to say I'm intrigued by the idea of vampires in the game. {g}

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

There are definitely more options in Sims 2. Your sims now have wants and fears. If a want is met, they get aspiration points and if something that a sim fears happens, they lose aspiration points. Aspiration points not only help with a sim's mood, but can also afford them life-enhancing rewards. Careers now have rewards too (which become available pretty far along in whichever track and all of them help build needed skills for that particular track).

Overall, there's more to playing the game (without it being a lot more difficult) and it makes it more fun. It's like you can actually get into your sim's head a little in Sims 2, which I like.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Do you still have to build skills and make friends in order to advance in jobs? That's certainly a large part of what I spend most of my time doing when I play the original game.

Also, are the wants and fears automatically assigned, or does the player have some say in them? And what kinds of things do they want or fear?

(I'm asking too many questions, aren't I? :P)

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

Yes, skill-building and friend-having is still an important part of getting somewhere in a career. It's probably equally as time consuming and tedious (sometimes) in Sims 2.

Wants and fears are actually mostly derived from their overall life aspiration. I think in the original Sims 2, you can choose from five (for example, there's a love aspiration, family aspiration, a wealth aspiration, etc.) So, if your sim has the family aspiration, one of their wants could be to have a baby and then they'd get a bunch of aspiration points for that. They'd get less points for calling a relative if that was a want, but it would still get them a few points and make their mood better (little actions add up in that way). Most fears are pretty rational, I find, including using a public toilet. :)

[mmpoetatheart.livejournal.com]

I've been playing sims 2 since it came out, more or less, great game. I have the university expansion pack as well...its cool to see your sims grow-up and grow old.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

How quickly do they grow up? I think it's cool that they do, especially since the original game left out a large portion of actual human lives (adolescence, young adulthood, etc.). On the other hand, though, it was kind of neat in the first game that you could keep playing the same Sims for a long time without their dying on you. I get attached to some of them, you know? {g}

[mmpoetatheart.livejournal.com]

I know, they're a potion you can give them to keep them aging for awhile and there's a way also to take the aging out, i'm not sure how that works though. If I really like someone I just put them away for awhile, back in the bin, and bring them back later. I'm not sure about the aging process.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily mind if they age. I just don't want it to happen too rapidly, you know?

[mmpoetatheart.livejournal.com]

It dosen't happen too rapidly....especially if you keep them happy

[vovat.livejournal.com]

So stress can cause premature aging in the game just as it can in real life?

[mmpoetatheart.livejournal.com]

Pretty much or at least it seems to.....

Link to Batsto!

[bethje.livejournal.com]

You mean that we went to Batsto.

And you felt tired, because you let Chips drag you everywhere. I didn't feel tired at all.

Re: Link to Batsto!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

He really only dragged me around much when he was chasing that bird. I wasn't tired afterwards so much as really sweaty.

[3x1minus1.livejournal.com]

sims 2 is fab. once you go to that, it's near impossible to go back to sims 1. i think i deleted sims 1 off my computer, in fact. and with all the stuff you can download on the internet (especially modthesims2.com)for the game, it just makes it that much cooler.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I had some stuff downloaded for the original game, but I'm not sure I still have my backup files. Are the downloads for Sims 2 free?

[3x1minus1.livejournal.com]

most are. like, 80% of the time or so. a lot of people have sites with mostly free stuff, and some donation files, ie, the really super cool stuff. i've bought some actually, you know, a dollar or two, it's ok, i couldn't resist. there are some pay-only sites out there, but those people are dumb and i won't even look at their stuff. {g} everything on modthesims2.com is free, of course.

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

I love the Sims 2. That is what I have to say. :-P

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, that definitely seems to be the majority opinion. Maybe I should add it to my Amazon wishlist.

aerarian rest stop

[platitudesrus.livejournal.com]

The genus mastigoproctus binds no Cufics.

Re: aerarian rest stop

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, they wouldn't, would they? Alphabets aren't exactly tangible objects.

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to add to this very old conversation (relatively speaking) that there is a Pets expansion pack coming out for the sims 2 in October.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

That's cool. After that, will there be anything you could do in the original Sims that you can't do in Part 2?