Hello!

I'm writing a paper for my library science class about the sims 2 and the modding community, and I wanted to gather some personal accounts. I figured posting on here was a good way to connect to some mod creators!

If it isn't too much trouble, I would love to know the following:

What made you first getting into modding?

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?

Even answering one question would be an amazing help. Thank you for your time and thank you for continuing to make a good game even better I look forward to reading the answers!!

I was annoyed that adolescent sims were removed from community lots in evenings, and my first mod was to remove this feature, and then I got carried away with allowing them to do other things like going on vacations after having spent a certain number of days. The language was already mostly interpreted by others when I started. I don't like that it can't access all aspects of the game added by new EPs and frequently jump into other objects via tree by name for trivial things, and that there are no uncompiled examples for learning Lua. I can get the basic syntax from other software like PtokaX, but not the functions that do stuff in the game. I like the balance of realism and simplification on people's body skins and smooth, detailed animations.

What made you first getting into modding?
There were some items I wanted that weren't available, and no one else was making them, so I decided to try.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?
I don't remember the first thing, but I think it was an interaction for toddlers to play peek-a-boo together. The latest thing was an add on to a mod to let children be witches.

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?
Not generally. It's like a puzzle, which is fun. You also have Maxis code as a guide if you get too stuck. The limitations of the game code are frustrating, and the fact that some things still haven't been fully decoded yet. If I run into a problem that's unsolvable, I'll modify my plans or set the mod aside for awhile.

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?
The depth of sim to sim interactions.

Just interest and love for the game really. I've always been a tinkering type when it comes to games so I like learning about how they work so I can change the things I don't like.


The first thing I created wasn't my terrain Paradiso de Manana, which did get accepted for upload here, what I created at first was actually a mini-project to add maxis matching recolors to all the community lot music speakers. Due to the way the speakers seem to work, each speaker uses its own texture file however the textures seem to only use two different variations to the way they're setup. One sideways (new wave, surf, etc.) and one standard upright one (country, RnB, etc.) so as you can imagine it was a bit of a pain to do and it caused me to have multiple of the same texture just for different speakers. I achieved about 90 percent of the project done before I gave up on it. I was thinking of uploading what I had finished, but I'm also thinking of tinkering around with the meshes and trying to make them just be a repository default override like you may have seen with some CC recolors, this way they just use one texture file instead of duplicates.

SimPE and youtube are great tools for learning about how the code works. It also helps that we have amazing tutorials on MTS too, as well as having very knowledgeable members to learn from. My main approach with it, is that if I don't understand something then try to ask someone or search for someone who does. Once you learn how to do something, you can't unlearn it and as you actively do it over and over it becomes easier.


Neighborhood creation. I rather enjoy creating neighborhoods, populating them, decorating them, creating and coming up with stories for them. I'm finding that though it takes time to get a solid neighborhood build, it's worth it for the number of hours of enjoyment I can get from them. I hope that with my current project and the first neighborhood to be made public, Plot of Land (found in my signature), it'll be up to the best quality standards someday. It still needs a lot of changes but I'm going to have a new version up by Saturday.

What made you first getting into modding?
It drove me crazy that Sims could not have one-sided crushes and slow-brewing relationships, because of the kiss on goodbye madness that EA for some reason coded. I don't kiss my friends goodbye, and I wanted my Sims to also stop doing so. Cyjon has a mod that makes it require love or crush to happen, but that brought me back to the fact that it prevented one-sided un-confessed crushes, because one person having it was enough and they would then kiss goodbye giving up the game. Nobody had a fix that suited my needs, and I wanted it badly enough to poke around and try myself.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?
Maybe you meant mod-wise, but you said created, and the first thing I created was an age conversion from teen to adult of a pair of plaid pants. Mod-wise the first thing was a modified version of Cyjon's mod to prevent kissing as goodbye, that stopped it entirely. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I fiddled and the outcome I wanted happened.

The most recent thing I created was an autonomy toggler for the mahjong table.

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?
Sometimes it is frustrating yes. But I would say most of those frustrations are because I am self-taught and have an aversion to tutorials. It would no doubt be a lot easier if I actually sat down and consumed all of the knowledge the community has shared over the last 20 years, but I don't have that kind of patience/brain. I learn by doing, and deducing how it all works based on what I see.

How I work around problems depends on what is happening. Sometimes I put it aside and let my subconscious work on it, sometimes I can recognize that the issue is that I just don't understand that code yet and then I tend to shelve it for a later date when some other creation helps me learn enough to try it again. Sometimes I will google around for information, and sometimes if I am stuck but feel the issue is me missing something I should know, I will ask other modders for help in discord groups with creator areas. If the problem is errors, Sometimes I will use tools by Picknmix, which are very helpful in troubleshooting and understanding what is happening. Logwatcher especially is very useful for problem-solving.

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?
Narrowing it down to one thing is basically impossible, so I will give a broad answer. My favorite aspect of the game is that it is one heck of an onion. There are layers in layers on layers, and even 20 years in, you will find things that are completely new. There's an attention to detail and love that comes through in all the layers, like for example a certain personality acting different than others, or an animation having multiple versions. Some pets taught to play dead do it simple, and some will put on a whole theater play by themselves. Did they need to do that? No. But they did it anyway. And 20 years later we're still finding things that are new to us as players, and that is magical.

What made you first getting into modding?
I dabbled a little bit with some Bodyshop creations first, but I jumped straight in to the deep end back when Bloom (at Insim) released their default infant outfits (an onesie mesh), and I just HAD to figure out how to recolor them and make my own defaults.

The next big thing was when I started writing the third of my stories. Most of my adventures in CC-making/modding/etc. has been at least in part for that one. Even got me into meshing (I did a couple years of meshing in school, but still - would probably not have continued dabbling if it wasn't for the story).

Most of the time I've been making stuff for some "voids" - baby/toddler related stuff, medical stuff, and very spesific things I need for pictures/stories. If I can't find it, and I want it, I'm likely to make it.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?

I made some clothes in Bodyshop, probably to test it out, but I don't think I kept any of it. I have no recollection of what it was, but I think it was bad...
The first creation I posted was this one, which was probably one of my first adventures with SimPE:
http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,66587.0.html
(which means in roughly 3 years I have a 20 year anniversary as a TS2 creator )

The most recent thing? I've made some conversions and such for my own use, but other than that not much. Haven't had a lot of time recently to dabble in creating. I do have about 1,654,432 (or thereabout ) unfinished projects scattered around on my computer, though - I occasionally poke at those.

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?

I don't do a lot of modding/coding, but I've had my share of frustration with adding slots. Adding them is fairly easy, but getting them to sit in the right place is the trouble, especially on multi-tile items. Still having some trouble there. And morphs (some are fine, others just give me a lingering headache). Plus modifying the CRES (I have a sink object that still spouts water from thin air - still need to figure that one out somehow).

If Im stuck with a problem and have exhausted all tutorials, I ask for help. Usually I'm extremely stubborn mixed with a slight bit of impatience, so most of the time I manage to figure stuff out, unless it's something very new.

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?

All the animations and little bits of personality they managed to put into the game. No matter how much they stuff into TS4, that game will never have the heart and soul of TS2...

What made you first getting into modding?

I wanted to make a certain mod that didn't exist, so I figured out how.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?

First thing was the extended family mod. Most recent thing was technically an update to the relationship finder requested by gummilutt, but I guess the most recent thing I created from new was the adoption memory loss fix.

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?

A bit, sometimes I come back after a break and have forgotten some of its quirks. A lot of the problem is that SimPE doesn't tell you everything, so you have to figure it out by reading other mods and then just remember that stuff. So that's the workaround: read other mods to see how things work.

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?

It seems basic now, but the thing that brought me to the game in the first place was being able to have kids that grow up and have kids and create generational legacies and complex family structures. I think that will always be the core of what makes the game fun for me.

Oh yes! I agree with this. For instance, the little jiggle bounce that the Sloppy Jalopy does when pulling off gets me laughing every time.

Not to mention the door sticking and having to be slammed. XD

What made you first get into modding?

I got into it quite late. It was pretty much because I wanted things that weren't available, so I tried to make them myself.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?

My first was recolours of a male kimono. I had a crossdressing sim and the kimono only came in one colour.
https://modthesims.info/d/515712/10...lder-males.html

My most recent is a conversion of a TS4 blood bag for vampire sims to drink. I wanted vampires to have a few options, so they didn't always have to find someone to feed on.
https://modthesims.info/d/681220/bl...r-vampires.html

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?

Yes. XD There are so many times that I wish I understood it better and so many things that I can't make because I'm not good enough with BHAVs. But I'm working on it and I hope that I've improved.

Finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?

The complexity of actions and interactions. I'm still finding out new things.

I'm not sure if you mean modding as in the wider sense including creating what we in the Sims community call custom content, or the stricter sense of creating mods altering some game behaviours, but I will answer assuming the former:

What made you first getting into modding?

I think like most CC creators and modders, I wanted to have something in my game that I could not find anywhere available for download.

What was the first thing you created for the game? What's the most recent thing you've created?

The first thing I attempted was waaay too ambitious and never completed: I wanted a functional shamisen (japanese string instrument) for a japanese house I was building. As of today I havent tackled any other custom instrument project. Then I made some decorative historical medical instruments, never released and never even used in my game as I lost interest in the project. The first thing I successfully ccompleted and uploaded here was this decorative boules game set

My most recent creation is still a WIP but almost done, I shoeswapped a dress to use as a default replacement for a basegame outfit. Ironically, I moved away from creating objects from scratch to now mostly altering and combining pre-existing meshes and textures.

Do you find working with the sims 2 code frustrating? How do you work around the problems you find?

I don't work with the code itself much, and only made very small BHAV alterations for modded objects. I once had to break down and map out on a sheet of paper the whole logic of a potty chair BHAV to understand where and how I needed to make what was in the end a very simple edit.

and finally, what's your favourite part of the vanilla game?

With years I have a growing appreciation for the original build/buy mode catalog objects. Many meshes and textures are actually very nice, especially in the later EPs, and full of cheeky cultural and artistic references. When I was younger I was using CC very heavily, but now I think add-ons and recolors go a long way and I really like CC that can blend in easily with vanilla items

Thank you so much for your reply! It's unfortunate that there's so little teen sims can do, thank you for your work I also really love the animations.

Thank you for your reply! Coding seems like it would be really hard, but having it be a puzzle is kinda fun It's amazing how many new sims interactions I notice just by playing the game.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post!! The speaker project sounds so difficult, making it 90% of the way through is amazing! Having a single texture will probably be easier to download. I really love neighbourhood creation too... Your terrain is super nice