Hi all,

Can you believe it? The Sims 2 turned 20 this year! It feels like just yesterday that we were all rushing to install our shiny new copies, wide-eyed and excited for the revolutionary world of 3D Sims, aspirations, and generations of pixelated drama to unfold. To all the die-hard fans who have been with this iconic game since 2004, and to those who joined us along the way, I wanted to take a moment to say… Happy Birthday to The Sims 2!

When The Sims 2 was first released, it blew our minds. Not only could we now see our Sims grow from babies to elders with proper genetics, but the game’s open-ended potential to create custom content was like a dream come true for those of us who wanted to take creativity into our own hands.

I remember the first mods - the camera hacks (little more than text files), the first lots, buyable cars. Those early days even before the release hacking away at the Body Shop files trying to figure out the .package file format. It was a great time and one I remember fondly. Some of those early members are no longer with us or have moved on. I'd like to thank all of them and the early staff members we had too! (And Aobh, for coming up with the idea of a modding site!)

Back then, the site looked like this: https://web.archive.org/web/2004092...odthesims2.com/ It's been through a lot of changes since then! When downloads where added, when we split off adult content. When we split off the Community into Sims2community.com and then re-folded it back into MTS. I'd like to thank all of you who have stuck with the site and to all of our new members since then!

From modders and creators, to storytellers, builders, and everyone who just loved tinkering with their game, the forums became a place to not only share our love of The Sims but to grow as creators and players. Through trial and error, countless broken files (and saves), and collaboration, we all found ways to make The Sims 2 a game that reflected our unique visions.

Now, two decades later, it’s incredible to look at how far we've come. The mods created on ModTheSims have added endless depth to The Sims 2, transforming it into an endlessly playable game that, even today, brings in new fans and modders. Without this dedicated community, the game wouldn't have aged as gracefully as it has.

So here's to The Sims 2, to ModTheSims, and to every single one of you who has downloaded, created, supported, and shared your love of the game over these 20 years. Whether you’re an OG modder or a player still discovering new content, it’s people like you that have kept The Sims 2 and its modding scene alive and thriving.

Happy Birthday, The Sims 2 & ModTheSims, and thank you!

Tashiketh

You made this site possible @Tashiketh and created a brilliant place to learn, make friends and have fun. And such an important centre and repository for modding too. Well done and thank you, I look forward to many more years here I hope!

Thanks so much, @Tashiketh, for keeping the site functioning and healthy! You've been working hard to keep ModTheSims going, and zillions of people are grateful.

As a Sims 1 modder, though, I just wanted to say that although ModTheSims began with The Sims 2, MODDING The Sims didn't begin with The Sims 2. There were quite a lot of modders who made wonderful things for The Sims 1 (which some of us still play on modern computers ), including Inge Jones of Simlogical, whose name I'm sure you recognize. :-)

I joined in November 2004 when I was in junior high school. Still remember the layout and what I searched for. I searched for a mod which made it possible for sims to be kidnapped by aliens by using a telescope. Then I remember a bottle with which you could control sims' needs and there were many other options. I can't believe almost 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye wow.

Of course I know Inge. And no, modding didn't start with TS2. I was modding games way before then myself too!

I've been around forever too - since TS1 - and was reluctant to try TS2 at first because of all the 'work' I had already put into TS1; but boy howdy! I'm glad I did!
I love the Sims 2. Happy Birthday TS2!
I am so grateful to have a site like MTS too - where I have learned to mod many aspects of the game, and met many other wonderful modders and players.
Thank you Tash and Staff for keeping this site up and running through it all for two decades. What an amazing journey.

Played Sims 2 since 2005, I believe.
Discovered MTS around 2010, I think?

And very happy that I did!

Thank you so much for keeping MTS in great shape

I haven't Simmed in ages (either playing or creating...mostly), but I'm so glad this site is still here for whenever I decide to pick it back up. I would never have had all the fun I've had without such a large, centralized site for custom content. Even though a lot of quality CC exists in places like Tumblr, it's impossible to just browse and find good stuff there the way I can here. (And when it does have something MTS doesn't, there's the WCIF forum.) I used the classic site until it was finally discontinued a year or two ago, but with the options we're given, the site is still easy to use and nice-looking, unlike some other sites that have been completely destroyed in pursuit of change for its own sake *cough*deviantart*cough*. Thanks so much to everyone who's made and maintained and contributed to this site over the last two decades.

So...does this mean another theme catchup event is in the cards? I will never give up on that. I have 5 out of 7 uploads ready to go. Just give me the word, coach.

It's good to hear that you still like and use the site even with the retirement of the "classic" version. I've tried to keep it customisable and able to be changed with as many options as possible, but above all easy to use!

Happy Birthday Sims 2 and MTS and thanks to Tashiketh and everyone else who made this such an amazing site, not only for Sims 2, but for the other Sims games as well. I didn't join till 2009 (seems weird to think that I played vanilla), but you've been stuck with me ever since XD and I even learned how to make my own CC through people on here.

As sim sites have shut down and we've lost simmers it's great to still see MTS up and running and holding onto all the sims lore and the work put in over the years.



Ooh, I'll take that link, thank you! I have the Complete Collection, but so far it has been refusing to run on Windows 10.

There's a tutorial explaining how to get The Sims 1 to run on Windows 10 or 11 at https://www.reddit.com/r/sims1/comm..._on_windows_10/. Come play with us!

It is really crazy to think MTS and Sims 2 have been around for 20 years now. That is more than half my life. I've been playing the Sims for more than 2/3rds of my entire life. Haha.

Happy 20th anniversary, TS2! With the support of MTS, the community and countless clever creators, I have a feeling this game will grow up with platinum aspiration!

I'll never forget unboxing The Sims 2 on Christmas Day 2004, taking the rest of the day playing the matching minigame while installing the four discs to my mom's not-at-all-prepared Compaq laptop. Sure, I averaged 10 FPS with everything set to low and the game would crash if I played more than two Sims in a household, but I still have fond memories from the time. When I finally moved to a more capable computer, my mind was blown when setting Sim detail to high and watching my Sims' hands unglue themselves to reveal that they had all five fingers modelled and animated.

Playing on modern equipment with near-instant loading and phenomenal community patches and fixes ... 20 years younger me would die of envy.

Here's to another 20 years! If The Sims 5 comes out before then (unlikely), I have a feeling TS2 will still be a gold standard life simulator in a lot of ways.

happy birthday! a lot of history, a lot of living, some wonderful creators no longer with us. I have always loved and appreciated this site and hope it will be around for a long while. It is 18 years for me (wow!) - congrats on the milestone, and thank you!

Ts2 Happy Birthday!!!! S2 S2 S2 S2 Love Ts2 Forever

The Sims 2 was/is such a great game but I would have moved on and never looked back in 2008 if it wasn't for Mod The Sims. The best people, the most fun, the most drama and so many good memories! The Sims 2 era here was truly something special.

TS2 has a certain "magic" or "charm" to it that wasn't quite captured in 3 and definitely not 4. I think it's a mix between the exaggerated expressions, the personality points/aspirations, and of course the electronic-styled soundtrack. They all kind of work hand-in-hand to deliver a rather unique vibe. For being the first foray into the 3D realm for the series, it was and is still the best 3D entry imo.

I didn't start playing TS2 on PC until around 2008-ish when I finally got a computer powerful enough to play it, but back then I didn't even own the game. I'd use my brother's Deluxe DVD to play, and didn't really delve into the later EP/SPs until his friend lent him her discs. Prior to those days the only experience I had with TS2 was the console (Playstation 2) version and its subsequent Pets standalone game, also for PS2. TS2 back in 2008 seems like a foreign concept now. So much progress has been made modding this game and honestly, I'm grateful that there is still an active community for this game because without it I probably would've moved on from the entire series in general.

Thanks for this great site! I only got into 2 after 3, but it seems crazy that it & MTS have been around for 20 years & are still going strong.

Yep! I think I remember that Homecrafter and another tool were released by Maxis before the game had even dropped, and Maxis created other tools to help people create new things, like that one tool that allowed us to create in-game art by using jpgs on our computer. This was back when if you wanted to change your sims's pajamas and swimming gear, you had to rename skins to a certain format so they'd replace the defaults! Ditto for houses -- we'd import houses by replacing iff files in the directories themselves. I remember a lot of places back then...WellDressedSim comes to mind, and TSR got its start then. SimLogical had those great hacked objects, I think?

Hi Everyone,

I can't believe I have been playing the Sims since the very first Sims CD hit the stores. So many Sims have been born, lived and died since then. Where has all the time gone.

Happy Birthday Sims 2 and ModTheSims

I was in college when I joined the forum, now I am working and have two kids... I can't believe this forum is still alive