Higher-Quality Neighborhood Previews for the Main Menu

This mod replaces the animated neighborhood previews in the main menu with higher-quality versions that are much clearer and smoother. Check it out in the video below. It's kind of surreal to see them in something beyond potato quality.



I recorded and edited all of these from scratch, taking care to try and replicate the original previews as closely as possible. That being said, there are some small differences with camera angles that couldn't be avoided. The originals used early versions of the flythrough cinematics that were changed for the final release (most noticeable with Veronaville). Of course, with higher quality comes a somewhat bigger file size, but still fairly negligible by today's standards.

In the process of making this mod, I noted several differences that can be observed between the original flythroughs and the final ones which I've documented on TCRF. I even managed to get that broken Lakeview flythrough to work properly, and recorded it for others to view. Check it out on TCRF if you're interested in this sort of thing.

Installation:
The mod files replace the .reia files in the folders for the six pre-made neighborhoods. Drag and drop the included directory over the Neighborhoods subfolder in your save folder, and confirm that you want to overwrite the original files. Do not put them in your Downloads folder. They won't do anything there.

In case you're wondering which file corresponds to which neighbourhood:

• E001_Neigborhood.reia = E001 (Belladonna Cove — requires Apartment Life)
• F001_Neigborhood.reia = F001 (Desiderata Valley — requires FreeTime)
• G001_Neigborhood.reia = G001 (Riverblossom Hills — requires Seasons)
• N001_Neigborhood.reia = N001 (Pleasantview)
• N002_Neigborhood.reia = N002 (Strangetown)
• N003_Neigborhood.reia = N003 (Veronaville)

If you wish to have these to play for custom neighborhoods, just rename the file so the number matches that neighborhood. For example, if your Pleasantview is actually "N111", just rename N001_Neighborhood.reia to N111_Neighborhood.reia. Note that the actual flythrough when loading a neighborhood is tied to its name, so if you rename it to be even slightly different (e.g. "Pleasantview2") then it will not play. There are instructions here on how to get the flythrough to play for other neighborhood names, or even create your own custom one.

Uninstallation:
Remove the .reia files from the neighborhood folders and restore the original ones back in their place. These can be found in the "TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods" subfolder of the base game or EP installation directory. Alternatively, I've got you covered with a full backup of the original files that you can download on this very page if needed.

Special Thanks:

• ammar2 for decoding the Reia format and creating the awesome Sims 2 .reia Tool. This mod simply wouldn't have been possible without their work.
• LazyDuchess for creating TS2-HiddenCheats, which allows effects to be invoked on command.