As I've said before, I don't usually play with pets in The Sims 2 but after building 21 Trailer Creek and playing with the new family of Sam and Bob, I decided to make their own little series entitled "One Man and His Dog".
I took quite a liking to this little family and I enjoyed playing them. I recorded my gameplay just in case something interesting came up that I could use for a short on YouTube and, as is usual in The Sims 2, nearly always, something happens which is of interest.
So, I chopped up my video gameplay which was over a period of 3 Sim days and created a "no commentary" video showing the antics of Bob whilst Sam was at work and things that they both got up to together.
Although I don't have time to play Sam and Bob on a regular basis, I will be playing them again and uploading videos to add to the series.
I was watching Lilsimsie build a trailer in The Sims 4 and decided to create my own in The Sims 2.
So I built 21 Trailer Creek and although the trailer is quite small, it is big enough for a couple of Sims. There is also a front yard with a barbecue and seating area and although I didn't place any gardening plots, there is space for them if you want your Sim to do some gardening and perhaps be a little more self-sufficient.
To test the lot out, I created Sam and his dog Bob and, as you will see from the gameplay video at the end, Bob seemed very happy in his new home, digging holes and playing with his bone. Sam on the other hand, although happy in his new home, had trouble with one of the neighbours who stole his gnome and then proceeded to try and sell his dog! He asked her to leave and later went back to retrieve his gnome from her.
This lot is available for download should you want it in your game and you can download from one of the two links below:
In my own Sims 2 gameplay in Pleasantview, I have quite a few families that I play rotationally, which I may have mentioned before. One such family is Harry and Heather Barrington-Smythe.
Harry is one of the younger sons of my original couple, Charles and Victoria, who are now no longer with us. Even though Harry is a romantic Sim, he is happily married to Heather and they have two children who are now at University. This means that when either Harry or Heather are not working, they have quite a lot of free time to do as they want. Their work schedules are such that Heather works in the morning and Harry works in the afternoons.
Harry enjoys gardening and fixing old cars whereas Heather has taken up flower arranging and also enjoys chasing after butterflies.
Heather knows that Harry chose her over all the other ladies that he dated in the past and she also knows that he has remained faithful to her over the years. However, there is that little nagging ache inside of her that causes her to think that it would only take one little thing, one little instance in life, that would make him do something naughty.
Harry on the other hand, is quite convinced that he is a changed man. Until Andrea Hogan turns up on his doorstep one morning when Heather is at work.
It could be the genie's lamp that caused this "little problem" or it could just be Harry's enchanting personality and charm that caused Andrea to suddenly have a crush on Harry. Or maybe it was the rose that Harry innocently offered her on his doorstep. Either way, hopefully, Harry won't ruin everything for a townie.
I really enjoy building in The Sims 2 albeit it's a little harder than in The Sims 4.
In TS4 you can push and pull walls and add foundations to already built houses. You can't do that in TS2 and although I have a few problems with roofing, I eventually get it right in the end.
The Sims 2 seems to be getting more popular these days, probably due to the gameplay which seems to be more in-depth and the Sims in 2 seem to react better to situations than they do in 4. For example, Sims 2 Sims will look at the camera when waiting for the player to direct them to do something or if you as the player sell an object from their home or it gets taken by a burglar or the Repo Man, they will go over to where the object was, sigh and shake their heads or get angry that the item was taken. Sims 4 Sims just don't seem to care in my opinion.
There are still many custom content creators out there, past and present, who have created and are still creating for The Sims 2. Even expansion packs and kits for The Sims 4 have been converted to The Sims 2 and this is great for Sims 2 players like myself who can still get new content for such an old but brilliant game.
For me, I care more about my Sims 2 Sims than I have for Sims from any of the other iterations and so I want them to have nice homes to live in, which brings me to my build of 63 Camden Street.
This house is a 3 x 3 lot and will cost your Sim 87,420 Simoleons - nothing that Motherlode cannot fix! It has one bedroom, one bathroom, a study and an open-plan living room/kitchen/diner. It also has a back porch with a barbecue and plots outside for planting seeds. And of course, as there are cars in The Sims 2, it has a nice driveway with a brand new shiny red car.
I did use custom content in this build which seems to bring The Sims 2 more up to date and modern and my Sims really love their new home! Here are a few pics:
And of course, I made a speed build video for my channel on YouTube which shows some gameplay at the end of my Sims testing the lot out.
You can also download this lot for your game should you want it for your Sims. The links to download are in the description of the video and also pinned to the comments section.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I play The Sims 2 rotationally and record my own gameplay. I have quite a few families in Pleasantview who are the children of my original couple. They also have children where most of them have gone to University. The eldest son always comes back home but the rest of the family make their own way in life on new lots where they too will eventually marry and have children.
One particular family that I have are the Bartletts.
As a teen, Charlotte was a Goth and has continued her "way of life" into adulthood. She lives with her husband in Bartlett Manor, a large mansion on a hill.
They have quite a few graves in their garden, due to the cowplant that they have fenced in next to the graveyard. Unfortunately, sometimes they forget to lock the gate and a few unsuspecting neighbours try to steal the cake which the cowplant offers them when hungry.
To make matters worse, Charlotte decided to become a witch, albeit a good one, and she has learned quite a few spells and made quite a few potions. She is really becoming quite adept at it.
I've never really played with witches in The Sims 2 as I prefer to play families, watching the children grow and learn and eventually go to University and then have children of their own but I'm actually quite enjoying playing a witch in TS2.
But, I digress...
The Bartletts are really quite a "normal" family, living their day-to-day lives, going to work, taking their children (who are both at Uni) out to dinner and this next episode shows just how "normal" and happy they are.
Again, this episode is lots of short clips of my gameplay over a period of three Sim days.
I don't usually play with pets in The Sims, mainly because in The Sims 2, you cannot control them. So I thought it would be a good idea to come out of my comfort zone and create a little cottage that is pet friendly and move in a Sim with her cat.
At one point in real life, I had six cats. Yes, you read that right - I had six cats. I love cats. I just don't usually play with them in The Sims.
I used to have a ginger tom named Rhubarb and he was absolutely beautiful but unfortunately, he has now passed away. He was very friendly and wanted lots of cuddles, rather like a little dog.
So I decided to create him in The Sims 2 for my Sim. So here is Rhubarb and he lives with Jane in Rose Cottage. He seems very happy there and Jane adores him, giving him lots of cuddles and treats.
If you would like to have Rose Cottage in your game, you can download it from the link in the video. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with Jane and Rhubarb but it does have furniture and a brand new car in the garage.
And, if you'd like to see a few of Rhubarb's antics, check out this short video:
Whenever I start a new game in The Sims 2, I like to start with young adults at University. I feel that this gives my Sims a good start in life by learning skills and meeting their lifetime partners.
When doing this, I enjoy making a Greek House for the boys and another for the girls. I do this separately to allow more Sims to go to Uni in my hometown, such as sons and daughters of my Legacy family and their grandchildren and cousins. I then create a partner for Sims that have been born to families and they all join the Greek House that my original Sims have made.
These Greek Houses become bigger and better as time goes on, with families contributing items such as televisions, pool tables and anything else that the Greek Houses may need, including career reward items that families have two or more of.
I tend to cheat a bit when I first make the Greek Houses, such as taking items from the dorm to place inside the house, just to start them off. However, I only do this once and then either delete the old dorm or replace everything in build/buy mode.
So, for posterity, I decided to create a video on how I do this, using my Sim that has just gained access to the Secret Society.
If you would like to see how I create a Greek House in The Sims 2, or if you ever wanted to create a Greek House but wasn't sure how to do it, then hopefully this video will help you or at least give you an idea. Of course, you can cheat some Simoleons to build the house but I just prefer to take the stuff from the dorm, as my Sim has already paid for it in rent 😃
Even though The Sims 2 is an old game, I think the graphics are pretty good and the gameplay is amazing. Sims in The Sims 2 seem more "real" and have great personalities. To me, they are smarter than the so-called "smart Sims" that EA made out The Sims 4 to be.
Obviously, things change over the years as far as the look and feel of video games and The Sims are no exception.
Building houses and lots in The Sims 2 is harder than it is in The Sims 4. Regardless of what anyone says about this latest iteration of The Sims, TS4 build mode is very advanced, allowing the player to push and pull walls, laying foundations after the house has been built - I could go on. I do not consider myself a builder but I enjoy building and I do find The Sims 2 a lot harder to build in than The Sims 4.
I tend to have a lot of trouble with roofing in The Sims 2 but admit that I am getting better and I do accomplish it in the end.
When you look at Sims 4 builds, they are quite modern and "up to date" and doing this in The Sims 2 is a little harder but not entirely impossible.
Thanks to all of those wonderful custom content creators that are still out there, creating new stuff for The Sims 2, you can make your Sims 2 build look more modern for your Sims and allow you, the player, to play this great game with a new, modern look.
Apart from mods to make the water look more sparkly, the grass greener and the world more open, new and colourful UI and a host of other stuff, creators are converting Sims 4 objects to Sims 2, allowing the player to have the expansion pack objects from The Sims 4 into The Sims 2. It's like having extra expansion packs, game packs and stuff packs for a game that, unfortunately, EA no longer supports.
There is now a conversion database for Sims 2 content that has been converted from The Sims 4 and a hashtag of "4t2" on Tumblr to find this content a lot easier.
I think my Sims in The Sims 2 deserve better so I tend to use a lot of custom content in my game and in the more modern builds that I place for download.
When I was scouring the internet for ideas on my next build, I came across a really modern home that I wanted to re-create in The Sims 2 and came up with 1571 Melody Drive.
This home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and a kitchen/diner/lounge with a garage that houses a brand-new sparkling Mercedes which I downloaded from Mod the Sims a while back.
I also created a speed-build video for YouTube and as you will see at the end of the video, my Sims tested out the home and seemed very happy with it!
Here's the video if you want to check it out and if you would like to download this lot for your game, the link is pinned to the comments section.
It seems that "shorts" are quite popular these days. YouTube has a "shorts shelf" for videos of one minute or less and which are now monetised for those who qualify. Tik-Tok is also very popular with short videos although they have upped the watch time to 10 minutes at the time of writing this.
I have also noticed that quite a few people enjoy "no commentary" videos. In a way, this also closes the language gap where actions can speak louder than words. And of course in The Sims, well, everyone knows Simlish :-)
Which brings me to today's video.
For a little while now, I have been recording my personal gameplay. I play rotationally in The Sims 2 and, with each rotation, I record it and make a little video out of it by cutting it up into lots of little shorts and piecing it all together without any commentary. This seems to go down quite well with my subscribers although it does take quite a while to complete. Gameplay can be around 6 to 7 hours and a video can end up being just 20 or 30 minutes. However, it is fun to do!
My latest episode is The Barrington-Smythes. This is Part 4 where my couple are left alone with their cat Abbey after their children have gone to Uni.
If you like shorts then you will love this episode of The Barrington-Smythes and if you like "no commentary" videos, you will surely enjoy this offering :-)
As with the Open for Business expansion pack for The Sims 2, I have also been asked how Sims can join the Secret Society at University.
I don't always get my Sims to join the Secret Society when playing, only my Legacy or Goth-type family, so as to keep the Society a bit of an enigma for others.
Although Sims are able to go to the Secret Society house where there are some cool things, such as career reward objects and lifetime aspiration reward objects, I usually have these things after a few generations, in my Greek Houses which I set up from scratch. They are also able to hack their grades and seem to automatically know about the "secret handshake" which only members can perform.
So, I decided to make a tutorial showing you how your Sim can join the Secret Society in The Sims 2 University. It took just over three Sim days which I thought was pretty good, considering that my Sim had to get skill points, do his term paper and make friends with three of the Secret Society members during that time.
I have been building quite a few Sims 2 lots lately, recording as I go and turning them into speed builds for posting on YouTube. My latest is "9 Mill Lane" and I'm pleased with how it turned out.
I did use custom content in this lot, mainly for the flowers in the garden which are converted from TS4 Cottage Living to TS2. These plants are seen as "objects" and don't need watering or trimming, so that saves your Sims a lot of time in the garden! As with all lots, if you download this, all custom content is included in the file.
As you will see from the end of the video, my Sims seemed to settle in very well in their new home 😃
So, without further ado, here is the video - enjoy!
