The Sims 2 Open for Business Revealed

[Evil Avatar]

The Electronic Arts Australia webiste (http://www.eaplay.com/australia/games/pc/sims/business/) has some details on the next The Sims 2 expansion pack, The Sims 2: Open For Business.

Now your Sims can create their own businesses. They can design their own clothing boutique, beauty salon, florist, high-end electronics shop, bustling restaurant chain, or virtually any other type of business. Hire your staff as the business grows and put talented Sims to work making toys, running the register, crafting floral bouquets, giving sales pitches, or manufacturing robots. But watch out for slacker employees and be prepared to fire them on the spot. From clever tinkerer to master craftsman, develop your Sim’s talents to best suit your business needs. Will they build a thriving business empire or become eccentric entrepreneurs designing the next big thing?The one time I installed The Sims 2, it was so choppy that it wasn't even playable. Anyone else experience this?

[The Iron Weasel]

It was pretty choppy on my old pc, its just a little inconsistant on my new pc. And I can't believe they have the gull to announce this already. NIGHTLIFE WAS JUST RELEASED!

[amusedtoe]

Well Nightlife was leaked out before University was even released. Someone must not be paying attention to how EA does buisness, especially when it comes to Sims expansion packs. This acctually sounds like it could be worthwhile though, Sims 2 was great but the first two expansions add all that much personally.

[BleedTheFreak]

I never had a problem playing The Sims 2, in fact I was wildly addicted to it and so was my wife when I first picked it up, then again when University hit. I skipped Nightlife, but I'll probably go back and buy it when this new one comes out, just for completeness sake.

[Evil Avatar]

I enjoyed The Sims (and the endless parade of expansion packs), but then I found I couldn't even play The Sims 2 on my machine (and I've got a pretty beefy machine). It doesn't do me any good for them to make expansion packs to a game I can't even play.

[DigitalFirefly]

It was pretty choppy on my old pc, its just a little inconsistant on my new pc. And I can't believe they have the gull to announce this already. NIGHTLIFE WAS JUST RELEASED!

On the Sims 2 case they had an ad for Sims 2 University. I believe on the Sims 2 University case they had an ad for Nightlife.

Sounds cool. Better than just adding a place to spend money or more outfits. Now we can make money. Oh and I've never had any problems running Sims 2. It runs great on my 3ghz AMD, I also have it running on my old PC too (1.2 AMD, 512 ram and a 64mb Radeon).

[The Iron Weasel]

On the Sims 2 case they had an ad for Sims 2 University. I believe on the Sims 2 University case they had an ad for Nightlife.

Sounds cool. Better than just adding a place to spend money or more outfits. Now we can make money. Oh and I've never had any problems running Sims 2. It runs great on my 3ghz AMD, I also have it running on my old PC too (1.2 AMD, 512 ram and a 64mb Radeon).

Well its wierd because on the first two floors of my house it runs great, but the framerate drops when I get to the third floor.

[DigitalFirefly]

Well its wierd because on the first two floors of my house it runs great, but the framerate drops when I get to the third floor.

Try turning the graphics down a little.

[The Iron Weasel]

Try turning the graphics down a little.

I didn't spend as much on my pc as I did, to turn graphics down! :D

[markster3000]

Yeah, I'd say that the solution to all problems is to turn down the GFX!

I had the game running well enough on my old system:
1.3Ghz Duron
384MB ram
Radeon 8500 64MB

Sure, I wasn't anti-aliasing, and no water reflections, but it was still pretty good.

[nonchalance]

My wife is very happy.
I'll play it for another month or two and then move on, like I do every expansion pack.

[Ravana]

Well its wierd because on the first two floors of my house it runs great, but the framerate drops when I get to the third floor.

I have this exact same problem. Everything is perfect, thenl someone heads upstairs and its like I'm watching a slideshow.

Another thing my sim family has trouble with: GOING OUTSIDE. As soon as they leave the house their "environment" bar starts dropping. You'd think there was a dead body in the trashcan or something, because when they get near the mailbox/trashcan their bar is almost empty.

I'm sure there is some reason for this, my fix for it has been to craft an elaborate maze of statues and artwork between the door and the outside world.

[nonchalance]

I have this exact same problem. Everything is perfect, thenl someone heads upstairs and its like I'm watching a slideshow.

Another thing my sim family has trouble with: GOING OUTSIDE. As soon as they leave the house their "environment" bar starts dropping. You'd think there was a dead body in the trashcan or something, because when they get near the mailbox/trashcan their bar is almost empty.

I'm sure there is some reason for this, my fix for it has been to craft an elaborate maze of statues and artwork between the door and the outside world.

You may want to hire a gardener.

[Rirath]

"open for business" pretty much describes the Sim franchise, alright.

[Royal Fool]

Not a surprise Sims 2 ran like crap on your machine, EA, considering it's such a huge resource hog. My machine isn't exactly a monster but I did expect a relatively easy game like Sims 2 to run faster than it did. But it was playable as long as I reduced the graphics settings and tweaked it a bit. Terribly boring loading times and choppiness when speeding the time or during daylight cycles among other things were things that really irritated me.

The original Sims was only one expansion short of being on par with Everquest's expansion frenzy I think.

[nonchalance]

The original Sims was only one expansion short of being on par with Everquest's expansion frenzy I think.

Original had seven expansions, IIRC.
At least, so The Sims 8-in-1 pack would have you believe.

[amusedtoe]

Well the original EQ just had an expansion released a couple months ago so I think Sims wins in terms of how densly they were scheduled.

[Stormwatcher]

I see nothing wrong with all those expansions. People love it, and they add a lot more than Madden's yearly releases, for a lot less cash. And The Sims make a lot of gamers' significant others stop their bitching over how much time we spend playing, so more power to them.