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#1 Old 22nd Oct 2015 at 11:42 PM Last edited by Alpal425 : 1st Nov 2015 at 8:08 AM.
Default Getting Started with The Sims 2
(I was originally hesitant about making this thread. I was afraid it was going to get bad feedback (Feel free to give constructive criticism though.) and players would say it's a useless thread and nobody would need it and it wouldn't help anyone - but I strongly believe a thread like this is in demand so I'm making it. I could of posted this in the Help forum but it's not exactly a help request and it's better off here in this General category as more people will see it. If a Moderator or Admin thinks it should be taken down, that's okay with me. I tried, at least. It's just that it's hard to find everything you need and need to know in one thread so that's what I'm doing here. Thank you for taking your time to read my little side note.)


Welcome to Getting Started with The Sims 2!
I'm Alpal425 and it's very nice to meet you if I haven't already. When I first joined the community of TS2, which was only last year, I was so confused. There were so many links that players were giving me and I had to go hunt down certain items and it was just one big chaotic mess. I want to make it simple and easy for players who are new to TS2 or old players who are reinstalling the game for the first time in a few years.


Base Game, Expansion Packs, and Stuff Packs
This is commonly mentioned and may confuse players who are completely new to The Sims series. When you wish to play the game, you buy The Sims 2 Base Game. This includes the very basics to your game - such as the Sims (little people ), items, careers, just about everything that you need to play. But what happens if you want weather? Perhaps some Sim animals? You get an Expansion Pack. An Expansion Pack adds core features to your game like running a business. Stuff Packs usually only add items such as clothing and hair and a ton of chairs (Reference to Lazy Game Reviews, anyone?), etc. but every once in a while they can add a cool new interaction. If you want to have more features to your game, get an Expansion Pack. If you want more chairs, possibly a nice dress for your female Simmy, get a Stuff Pack. Oh, there's also ones called Bundles, but the actual term is Complications. They usually include a EP & SP, Base Game & EP, Base Game & SP, Base Game, EP & SP, etc. A common bundle, for example, is the Double Deluxe which includes Base Game, Nightlife EP, & Celebration Stuff SP.

When I say (or when anyone asks you) about your latest Expansion Pack/Stuff Pack, tell them the one that you have that was last released. Let's say I had the Base Game, FreeTime, and University. I installed them in this order: Base Game > FreeTime > University. It doesn't mean the order I installed them - your 'latest' EP/SP is the one that was last released from Maxis. In this case, it would be FreeTime. Need to figure out the one is your latest? Read everything below.


You said what-now?
(Thanks to saturnian for this idea.) Simmers, like any other fandom in the universe, have special sayings. One of the most common ones is shortening the length of a title - usually of an Expansion Pack or Stuff Pack.

There are 8 Expansion Packs. They are (in order of release):


There are 10 Stuff Packs. They are (in order of release):

There's way more of these, not just ones of EPs and SPs. Sometimes there's of usernames (as said before, HP), even things like methods we do to save our game! 50/50, for example, is one of the many methods available to help you if one of your Custom Content items are corrupt. CC stands for 'Custom Content'. There's Mod shortenings (The word... I keep forgetting it. The correct term for this - rather than 'shortenings'.) as well. ACR stands for Autonomous Casual Romance and InTeen is short for InTeenimater. The list goes on for miles... Luckily, you can always ask the person what they mean if you come across one!


Let's Save Your Game


You're probably wondering about that header. You most likely don't know about this - The Sims 2 is a very... interesting game... when it comes to bugs/glitches. Players call this 'corruption'. It's when your game doesn't run as it should. Don't freak out - we're here to help. Corruption levels vary - it could just be a simple clothing problem but it very well could be as big as completely reinstalling the game. The chances of the latter happening are quite smaller in size, but it's still something to remember.

You can read up more about corruption at this very handy SimsWiki page and this SimsWikia page as well.
You can get the essentials for your game to help cut down on corruption here at MTS. (If you don't know how to already, you're going to have to learn about how to install Custom Content and Mods below.) The page can be a bit confusing, so let me explain everything first.


(Since Honeywell was mentioning it, I decided I'd also put this in there.) Essential Mods are just there to help your game run correctly. As I said before, corruption levels vary. Your game could decide to throw up its hands and quit but it could be as low as just a weird/corrupted Want (and Wants reroll constantly). Overtime, however, it'll get worse. But some of these Mods are really required as Mrs.Crumplebottom, a Sim, for example, isn't really a Sim. She's an object, as crazy as that is. We like to call her an NPC - non-playable character. This character is very dangerous, so most of us like to avoid her like the plague. One of the Essential Mods, crumplefix, can help a bit. That's why Mods like those are on these threads for the community to know about and have.




What is Custom Content and How To Install It
So you have your essentials but you have no idea what the heck they exactly are and how to install them. Custom Content & Mods are things created by players/fans of the game. Custom Content usually is things like clothing, hair, wall paper, etc. while Mods (Sometimes called hacks... harmless to your computer, I swear. ) edit the way your game executes certain operations. Don't like how Sims to run on to your lot walk off? MOD IT! Want to be able to place anything in that Open For Business food chiller? MOD IT!

First you need to decide, however. Are you pretty good with computers or are you a little bit on the clueless side?
Downloading for Fracking Idiots - For those who want it in really simple steps that break it down into a nice, easy way for them to understand thoroughly.
Downloading for Fracking Geniuses - You know your way around Libraries and Program Files (x86) folders.


Great Custom Content sites?
One of our lovely MTS comrades decided to put a list of them together for the sake of our searching sanity A site that isn't listed there which is obviously one of the biggest is Tumblr... so many great creators such as Poppet are there.


That's so cool! How do I create my own stuff for The Sims 2?
You're a bit ambitious, yeah? MTS has plenty of tutorials on here for you to use!


What's The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection? Where can I get it? I have some questions about it!
The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection was released in 2014. It has all of the Expansion Packs and Stuff Packs for The Sims 2. It was originally given out as a present, if you may, to players who owned and registered The Sims 2 Base Game. For a little while it was also given out to anyone who used the code. While it is no longer available for everyone, it's supposedly still possible (I cannot 100% sure confirm, however.) to obtain it if you own The Sims 2 Base Game. Click here for more information about The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection (FAQ) and click here for more information about getting it.


Lot of Custom Content and your game is running slow?
This is more common then you think. There is an easy fix however to cut down on the loading times. The main cause of this lag is because the game doesn't recognize the file names, as crazy as it is to believe. This can give you some more hindsight on this issue and this tutorial will help you understand all those confusing buttons on the Bulk Rename Tool.


I'm brand-new to The Sims 2 and have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I feel so lost.
Hey, hey. It's okay. The game is really fun - you're about to find that out! There's three good ways off the top of my head where you can learn how to play. The first one just requires you to boot up the game and at the menu choose the little dice icon. When hovering above it, it says 'Learn How to Play'. It's a series of in-game tutorials. The second way is to go here and read over all the info it has. There's tutorials on things ranging from Sim pregnancy to getting a job! Of course, if you're confused about specific things, the third option is to go to The Sims Wikia that has just about everything The Sims 2 related recorded and stored on the site!


More Questions?
We have just the right thread for you!


(Feel free to leave more information for TS2 below - I'll add the ones that are the most helpful up here in the original post. I'd love to make this thread larger and fill it with even more information if possible. Thank you for reading all of this... if you did! )

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
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#2 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 8:41 AM
Directly including the links from the Essential Mods thread would be a better idea than using pictures. Right now, someone needs to read this thread, switch over to the Essential thread and search for the link there.
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#3 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 8:57 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Ovenhole
Directly including the links from the Essential Mods thread would be a better idea than using pictures. Right now, someone needs to read this thread, switch over to the Essential thread and search for the link there.


I was just showing and explaining the Essential Mods page as it can be a confusing layout to someone who's never seen it before. The link to the actual page is there so they can compare the actual page to the screenshots.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
Scholar
#4 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 9:43 AM
I'm sure this thread will help out a lot of people. Thank you for writing it. Some folks might say there's already many guides out there but from my experience many are old with outdated information or broken links, which makes solving your problem even more confusing.


"It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled." - Mark Twain
Truth will not fear scrutiny.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 11:44 AM
The difference being that they are in one place, here, unlike the various things spread out over several sub-forums. Us regulars know they exist, but a new person won't, and it's hard to look for something you aren't aware you should look for.

Do I think this will become the new thing? No. But if one person finds it at some point and is helped by it, then it was worth it, wasn't it? It's not like it harms anyone by existing.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#6 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 12:12 PM
The only issue I see is it will get lost unless stickied.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#7 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 1:44 PM
One thing that I think would be helpful to newcomers is a glossary of simmer jargon, of the kind that is frequently used in these forums. HCDU, M&G, ACR, AF, 50/50 ... yeah, I can work them out, or eventually someone will happen to define them, but a well signposted page listing them all might not go amiss.
Scholar
#8 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 1:47 PM
Quote: Originally posted by saturnian
One thing that I think would be helpful to newcomers is a glossary of simmer jargon, of the kind that is frequently used in these forums. HCDU, M&G, ACR, AF, 50/50 ... yeah, I can work them out, or eventually someone will happen to define them, but a well signposted page listing them all might not go amiss.


Agreed. I must admit when I come back from sim hiatuses I have trouble with some of the terms all over again.


"It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled." - Mark Twain
Truth will not fear scrutiny.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 6:15 PM
I think this would be great to be stickied - with one suggestion - I would link to the MTS guides "Downloading for fracking Geniuses" and "Downloading for Fracking idiots" - or the page where the user can choose between them, rather than including a lot of confusing information about essential hacks, which is also (I thought?) collated on one thread. I think that the MTS guides are very well written and easy to follow. Screenshots, as used here are less accessible - screen readers can't access them, and users who don't have English as a first language can't have their browser translate or copy and paste individual phrases into a translator. It wasn't entirely clear to me what I'd find under the spoiler tags and I was a bit confused, I have to admit. Plus, once you've opened one you can't close it which makes the post look cluttered, which is a shame because everything outside of those (nested, argh!) spoiler tags is really great.

And also useful to link to the MTS Game Help FAQ - because again it has some really helpful step by step suggestions which fix 99% of game problems.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Theorist
#10 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 7:55 PM
I think it's fantastic you compiled all of this in one thread. It would be just the sort of thing I would look for if I was playing a game for the first time and wanted some more information.

The only thing that I'd say to new comers is that the essential mods aren't essential -- especially to start with, in my opinion -- others will vehemently disagree I know. But I and many others played and enjoyed the Sims 2 for years without mods or CC. Mods are great and solve a multitude of real problems, issues and annoyances with the game (they are essential in that regard) but it's ok to load up your game and just play if all of this seems a little overwhelming and more trouble than it's worth.
Mad Poster
#11 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 8:56 PM
Played for years without any mods and cc too - it helps to really get to know the game. And, risking sounding repetitive, my hood lasted for four and a half years and 191 families before it blew up into an invisible fiery ball in space thingy (invisible and fiery?). Yet I will advise to get at least NoSimLoaded (and the smarter EP check, or NoSimLoaded does not work).
Scholar
#12 Old 23rd Oct 2015 at 11:44 PM
how did it blow up?

"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
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#13 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 1:03 AM Last edited by Alpal425 : 24th Oct 2015 at 1:39 AM.
Thank you guys for all the feedback. I still have to clean this thread up a bit - I'm going to make it neater and even less confusing...

The whole point of this thread, as @gummilutt said, was to compile it all into one place so that a new Simmer could understand what is going on in their game in one place. Usually, they'd come on here (like myself) and get lost and so confused as there's links going every-which way. I wanted a place where they knew exactly where to go and what to do - which hopefully this thread can complete that task.

And nice idea about the Simmer jargon, @saturnian. I'll use it.

EDIT: @Honeywell, I almost forgot about your post. They really are essential, IMO, for a newcomer because they might accidentally virtually trip on something they didn't know was dangerous and then... well, this will happen:


EDIT 2: I keep freaking editing this post because I don't want to double-post. Anyways, I'll work on the shortenings (I know the actual term for it... it's on the tip of my tongue. Someone help me!) list more in a little while. I'll add other common terms like ACR and such.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
Theorist
#14 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 3:03 AM Last edited by Honeywell : 24th Oct 2015 at 5:34 AM.
lol I hear you @alpha425 @alpal425. I really do. :lovestruc

But I've put occupied houses in my Sim bin, moved Sims to different neighborhoods, played the Ottomans and even deleted tombstones among other things -- all very bad things -- and my game kept going along. Occasionally a toddler would get some weird wants from all of the shredded character files but that's about it. This is all fantastic information and anyone who sticks with The Sims 2 long term should take a look and consider some of these essential mods but millions of people have played the game unmodded without ever noticing a problem no matter how corrupt their neighborhoods likely were. The game isn't really as fragile as we make it out to be at times. Again, in my opinion. I know it's an unpopular one.

I just don't want anyone to miss out on the game thinking it's more trouble than it's worth; it's not.

Edited to fix Ally Pal's name! After you left such a lovely comment too; I'm sorry.
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#15 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 4:49 AM Last edited by Alpal425 : 24th Oct 2015 at 6:05 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Honeywell
lol I hear you @alpha425. I really do. :lovestruc

But I've put occupied houses in my Sim bin, moved Sims to different neighborhoods, played the Ottomans and even deleted tombstones among other things -- all very bad things -- and my game kept going along. Occasionally a toddler would get some weird wants from all of the shredded character files but that's about it. This is all fantastic information and anyone who sticks with The Sims 2 long term should take a look and consider some of these essential mods but millions of people have played the game unmodded without ever noticing a problem no matter how corrupt their neighborhoods likely were. The game isn't really as fragile as we make it out to be at times. Again, in my opinion. I know it's an unpopular one.

I just don't want anyone to miss out on the game thinking it's more trouble than it's worth; it's not.


Haha, you have no idea how many times people have called me 'Alpha'. I once even almost decided to change my username to 'Alpha425' on a game just to see if anyone would notice. (I'm not trying to shame you or anything, totally cool with it. ) I actually named my username 'Alpal' for 'Ally Pal' unknowingly that people would start to confuse me for 'Alpha'. I'd say about 80% of other players have at least once mixed me up for Alpha rather than Alpal.

I'm probably going to look like a fool saying this, but meeting you is like meeting Tabitha St. Germain and the rest of the cast at Bronycon all over again. :lovestruc I'm a huge fan of your work and one of the people who inspired me to create for TS2... Well, even though I totally stink at creating stuff for it. (Hey, still better then the crap I tried to upload for TS3 on here. I mean... wow was that bad. *shivers* If a TS2 player who had suddenly decided to start playing and creating for TS3, they'd start a riot about how hard it is compared to TS2. I mean, come on. It's like trying to eat a stapler successfully. Maybe that's just me.)


BACK ON TOPIC... It actually all depends on your luck, in a way. I mean, the variety of corruption that could happen and when it'll start appearing. I'd just personally rather not risk killing my beloved Sims so prematurely and by the time I finish building this town, I'd hate to throw all that work away for nothing. Sure, I'll make backups, but I don't want to lose it before I can.

Edit: If anyone wants to create the list, I can put it up there. I couldn't remember all of the acronyms and shortenings for the life of me, so if someone could supply it, it would be much appreciated. You'd be credited for it, of course.

Edit 2: I told you not to feel sorry! Really, it's fine. But's it's sweet that you changed it.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 6:06 AM Last edited by joandsarah77 : 24th Oct 2015 at 8:06 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Honeywell
lol I hear you @alpha425. I really do. :lovestruc

But I've put occupied houses in my Sim bin, moved Sims to different neighborhoods, played the Ottomans and even deleted tombstones among other things -- all very bad things -- and my game kept going along.


And that's fine so long as you realize it's a game of Russian Roulette and you don't tell others that it's okay to do. The corrupted data is there, but you may be fortunate that it attached itself in a place that didn't matter as much or it got read in a place that only made a minor glitch. That's fine when people understand the risk, but when people come on here asking for help or saying is this okay we like to send them off with as accurate information as we have. Doing those things can cause a hood to stop loading or disappear very quickly.

If you have the Seasons Patch the Ottomas are fixed, and if you have No Link On delete your graves are all probably fine as well.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#17 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 6:37 AM
Could you put this in the wikia? I have no idea how that works, but isn't that where the essential mods article ended up at? I think this would be good to put there.

Pics from my game: Sunbee's Simblr Sunbee's Livejournal
"English is a marvelous edged weapon if you know how to wield it." C.J. Cherryh
Mad Poster
#18 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 9:33 AM
@DizzyBoo - it vanished. The whole hood was just gone. (All the maxi hoods were still there, the game was not broken, just the hood). I did pretty much all the things @Honeywell had done; perhaps even some more. This was a complete custom hood, but I moved in all the bin Sims (and all the townies were there too, never heard of empty templates then and still do not like playing without townies).
Yet it was still the best hood I ever had! By the time my hood blew up, the Ottomas twins had grandkids. In all those four and a half years, my game always started and I did not have to reinstall it once. Playing a hood for all that time, still, in muy humble opinion, is not bad for a game that is completely unmodded (AND unpatched).
I agree with Jo with the No Link on Delete one as well - or just do not delete a grave, ever.
Scholar
#19 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 3:35 PM
I see...how awful!

"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
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#20 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 5:13 PM
@JustPetro - The first thing that came to mind when I read that about your unmodded game at the time:

Come to the patched side... we have Squinge.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
Field Researcher
#21 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 7:16 PM
As someone who was finally able to play Sims 2 for the first time in 2012 and came across this site in 2013, I will say that yes something like this would have been extremely helpful. Something like this should be the opening page of a website.
Mad Poster
#22 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 8:07 PM
Oh, I have crossed the line, @Alpal425 Still not too fond of mods - who is Squinge? - to be honest! In self-defense I can only say that we had no reliable internet connection back in those days. Yet I do believe that the vanilla game is a good way to start playing, because it presents challenges to overcome that are often (in my opinion) made too easy by mods. (Yes, I know about mods making things harder. But in an unmodded game, things are very hard for Sims!). Yet in the very same vanilla game, most of my Sims got to their platinum status, studying hard for every single skill point (only at home, not at community lots); etc. And one learns to play around problems as well.
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#23 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 8:52 PM
Squinge is The Sims 2 ultimate demon mod-creator overlord.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 10:34 PM
I actually do know who Squinge is, I just have no need for any of his mods
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#25 Old 24th Oct 2015 at 11:24 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
I actually do know who Squinge is, I just have no need for any of his mods


I know, I was just linking for the people who are new to The Sims 2 and confused about who he is.

I ramble a lot, and get confused easily, so my apologies to you in advance.
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