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.
As a die hard Sims 2 fan, I really enjoy sharing my gameplay with others. Every day on Twitter, I post a snippet of my Sims 2 gameplay which my followers seem to enjoy and I get quite a few likes, views and retweets.
I decided a while back to put all these little snippets into separate little videos and post them on YouTube as long form videos but alas, viewers didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as my Twitter followers. So, I decided to post some shorts on YouTube. Little snippets of my Sims 2 gameplay, just like I do on Twitter.
Again, viewers seem to love these little snippets and I have gotten quite a few views and gained some extra subscribers in doing so.
So, I had another idea...
How about if I put little snippets, a few seconds each, into a long form video. Scenes that switch from one to the next quite quickly would hopefully keep the viewer more interested to see how the video plays out rather than watching something that is more drawn out, so to speak.
So, I thought I would give this idea a go and "Greek House Shenanigans" was born.
In my personal Sims 2 game, I have three Uni students that live in a Greek House. Two are brothers and both are of the "Romance" aspiration. One is now engaged, having had his fun in his early years and is ready to settle down. His younger brother however is just starting out and has met a few young female sims that he is interested in. Not happy with dating just one sim however, he has three of them which he is seeing and canoodling with.
They haven't found out about each other yet but I'm sure that if they do, all hell will break loose.
Until then however, my sim is having a lot of fun as you will see if you watch the video above.
I was able to get quite a few little snippets/scenes into this 2 minute and 27 second video so I would love to know what you think of this "new style" of video that I have made. If you enjoy "shorts" then I think this video will be right up your street!
There has been a lot of talk lately about a new game pack on the theme of Weddings coming to The Sims 4.
I have only had a couple of weddings in the past whilst playing TS4 but it didn't seem as exciting as previous The Sims games.
The Sims 2 has always been my go-to for comparisons as I feel the game had so much depth to it and so whilst playing my own personal game, it got to the point where two of my Sims were to be married. I decided to record everything and I'm so glad I did!
There was quite a lot that I had forgotten about, such as the cutting of the cake and making a toast. Of course the in-game wedding vows video also came into play which brought back so many memories!
My Sims booked their honeymoon before the wedding and the car automatically came to pick them up after the party was over, taking them to their chosen vacation world. I think this is a lovely touch to the game, something that we haven't had since in The Sims, as with a lot of things.
If EA do release a wedding pack for The Sims 4, although it will look pretty, as does the game, I am not sure if it would bring the gameplay that we had in TS2. I would love to be proven wrong but so far...
I would love to hear what you think - let me know in the comments section below!
I really enjoy gardening in The Sims 2. It is somewhat different to what we had in The Sims 3 and now, in The Sims 4.
First of all from build mode you have to place earth dirt, one square at a time, just like laying a foundation. Then the Sim can fertilize each square before digging and planting the seeds.
There wasn't much to choose from by way of seeds. When starting out, a Sim can only plant tomatoes, however, once a gold talent badge had been acquired for the gardening skill, a Sim could then plant tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, pole beans, peppers and eggplant which was the majority of seeds available.
Purchasing a ladybug loft will keep all the bad bugs away from your plants and having a compost bin allows your Sim to compost all kitchen waste, and even the newspaper, to use for fertilizing the earth next time you want to plant something.
Gardening seemed a lot harder in The Sims 2. If you overwatered your plants, they would drown and die. Talking to your plants kept them happy and vibrant, allowing their health level to increase, but this could only be done once you had a gold talent badge for gardening. Once this is achieved, it is a lot easier to keep your plants happy but until your Sim gets to that point, keeping your plants happy is hard work.
There were three trees available in gardening in The Sims 2, namely Ambrosial Lemon, Ambrosial Orange and Ambrosial Apple, all of which can be purchased fully grown from the gardening section in build mode.
These trees need to be trimmed, which is something we didn't have again in future The Sims releases. Trimming your trees keeps them happy and of course, as with all plants in The Sims 2, talking to them keeps them healthy and all plants then give great quality fruit and vegetables. All produce can be placed in the refrigerator for future use and if you have a juicer, fruit and vegetables can be placed in there for a fresh and healthy drink!
Bushes, such as rose bushes, and hedges all bought from build mode would grow, spurting out little shoots that had to be trimmed. This is something that we never had again in The Sims. Weeds would also grow not just within plants but on the grass too.
I have quite a few little snippets of gardening in The Sims 2 so decided to pop them all in a video.
Do you enjoy gardening in The Sims 2? Or perhaps you prefer gardening in The Sims 3 or maybe 4, or maybe a mixture of each? Let me know in the comment section below!
Following on from my video "Kids Stuff", I have captured more things that kids done in The Sims 2 which we don't have in The Sims 4 and most things that we never actually got again, even in The Sims 3. Simple things like playing games with friends and siblings such as cops 'n' robbers and running to greet a parent home from work were little details that made The Sims 2 so great.
All of these little snippets I have placed in this video entitled "Kids Stuff 2", even if only for posterity. I am sure that I will get even more bits and pieces and odds and bobs as time goes on.
I hope you enjoy this little video and that it brings back some good memories for you if you ever played The Sims 2 or, if you've never played this version of The Sims, that you enjoy watching some cool stuff from an old, but still very popular, game.
Getting snow in The Sims 2 was a little different than in TS3 and TS4. You couldn't skate on an icy pond like you could in TS3 although there was an ice skating rink venue that you could place to send your Sims to. Much like in TS4 where the ice skating rink shows up in parks in various worlds.
You could build a snowman and create a snow angel and of course have a snowball fight, just like in future games although building an igloo wasn't a feature until The Sims 3.
A couple of things I do miss from The Sims 2 regarding snow that we never had again was when it starting snowing, children and adults alike would run to the window and look outside. Children would get excited and so would some adults. They would also get a memory of "first snow"! However there were adults that weren't very happy with this and would shake their heads, just like in real life!
Another thing was the way Sims would walk in the deep snow; I don't believe we have had that type of animation since.
And of course the penguin! Who could forget that lovable penguin that ventured onto your lot when it snowed! If you had a snowman in the yard, the penguin would walk up to it and chat to it.
In this video I have pieced together all the little video snippets that I have of snow in The Sims 2. I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to comment below and let me know what you think!
When The Sims 2 Freetime was released, we were given the One Man's Junk Car that Sims could build from scratch. This was a hobby item which allowed Sims to gain the mechanical skill.
The Sim had to work on the car engine and body parts and in the end gained a totally usable car which the Sim could take to have a car alarm installed.
It took a long time to build the car and sometimes whilst working on the engine, the car would backfire and set off black smoke at the Sim. It was well worth it in the end though, to have a totally usable car to get around in.
This car was reintroduced in The Sims 3 Roaring Heights pack which was only available from The Sims 3 Store, albeit it looked a lot different.
This video takes you through a Sim building the One Man's Junk Car in The Sims 2 and as it took a long time for him to build it, I have edited it through. However, you can see that he worked on it through day and night and the seasons!
As with my Bits 'N' Bobs video, there are a few things that kids done in The Sims 2 which are unrelated to each other but put together as another 'odds and bobs' make a great video. Most, if not all, of the things shown in this video were ever given to us again, such as showing off to parents and jumping up and down on the bed.
The dancing with dad clip, where the child stands on her father's feet while he dances with her brings back so many memories of me and my father, who used to dance with me like this when I was a child at family get-togethers.
So much detail was put into The Sims 2 which made it a really great game to play. Even today, I think it surpasses The Sims 4 for detail and gameplay.
I have been playing The Sims 2 again in earnest for quite a while and it's amazing how, just after 20 minutes of gameplay, so much can happen as The Sims in TS2 are so quirky!
I always have OBS running so that I can catch all the little things that happen and also the stuff that we don't have in TS4. In fact, most of the things we had in TS2, we never had again.
I have been uploading these snippets to my Twitter and TikTok accounts and Simmers have been loving them! Some of the stuff is related, such as snow snippets and gardening but there are other things that remain one-offs.
As I have loads of "one-off" video snippets, I decided to put them all in a video and upload them to YouTube.
So "Bits 'N' Bobs" came about through having many snippets of little bits and pieces and things and stuff we had in The Sims 2, all unrelated and bunched together in a bigger video.
Now you may be thinking, "if I can see them on Twitter and TikTok, why would I want to watch your video on YouTube?". Well, first of all, you may not have or even like Twitter and/or TikTok but there's also a catch! I haven't uploaded ALL of the snippets to Twitter and TikTok, only some of them. I kept some back for the YouTube video so there will be clips that you won't see on my other social media accounts!
If you're into The Sims 2 or have never played it, I hope you enjoy watching my Bits 'N' Bobs video! If you do, be sure to follow me on my other accounts (if you're into Twittering or TikTokking) for more Simlish Shenanigans!
