Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Let's Play The Sims 2

The Sims 2 (PS2) is a very different game from its PC parent, but it's still got a lot in common. It features strange pseudo-humans living out their tiny lives in square lots while you play god, making or breaking their love, aspirations, and sanity. If you want them to succeed, it's essentially a time-management game, forcing you to balance their relationships and hobbies with their job to keep them from breaking down and crying in the bathroom. It can be surprisingly difficult.

Why are you LPing The Sims though?

As already said, it's very different. It has a “Story Mode”, similar to the main mode in previous console iterations. The original had “Get a Life” mode, Bustin' Out had... “Bust Out” mode, and so on. The idea was to provide a mission-based structure to draw in players more used to linear gameplay, but give them room to fulfill the missions however they want. It sounds like a marketing tactic to tap into the console market, but hey, it worked on me.

Why this one in particular?

While the other console Sims games had a similar structure, this one has something unique to it: Direct Control. No cursor, no zoomed out overhead view, no queued actions, just move the guy around yourself and interact with everything yourself. While I understand this may alienate some fans of the series, the original cursor-based control method is still available, so don't be a baby. I personally greatly prefer direct input. The goals are also more varied than those in Urbz, Bustin' Out, and the original Sims. The game is still ludicrously repetitive, mind you, but it's less so.

How's this LP gonna work?

Most -and I do mean most- of the LP is going to be done in an overview format. Talking about every action and detail for every day would be rather excessive, and not fit for my style of Let's Play at all. Instead I'm going to outline the path I take through the game, and we'll see how it turns out. I don't take this approach often.

Videos


















Extras



GamesAreSupernice fucked around with this message at 18:22 on May 30, 2017

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

SelenicMartian
Sep 14, 2013

Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Can needs be fulfilled by means of beat'em up?

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

SelenicMartian posted:

Can needs be fulfilled by means of beat'em up?

I would be all over a Sims-themed beat 'em up.

nonrev
Jul 15, 2012




Always a fan of sims LPs. Looking forward to see how Jard the lawman who never sleeps/stops lifting weights turns out.

StupidSexyMothman
Aug 9, 2010

My only real hangup with the Sims games is the requirement to have a certain number of friends, coupled with the ridiculous friendship decay rate. I don't know how that issue lasted as long as it did, where having a housemate that didn't work & was home 24/7 to maintain friendships for the main career sim's purposes was practically necessary for the top-end careers. Looks like Jard won't have that problem with all his non-sleeping time!

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

nonrev posted:

Always a fan of sims LPs. Looking forward to see how Jard the lawman who never sleeps/stops lifting weights turns out.

You've gotta be strong and smart to kill people with the same efficiency that Jard makes friends.


oldskool posted:

Looks like Jard won't have that problem with all his non-sleeping time!

Thankfully it makes it possible to juggle multiple "Best Friends", which have really slow decay rates. Normal friends drop like flies by comparison.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


You will be ours, Timmy.

Croccers
Jun 15, 2012
Bwaha those Promotion texts.
Holy gently caress stop murdering everyone, have a promotion just please stop killing.

StupidSexyMothman
Aug 9, 2010

Poor Torin, doomed to eternal torment.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Croccers posted:

Holy gently caress stop murdering everyone, have a promotion just please stop killing.

It's for this reason that we won't need more Body Skill for a while.


oldskool posted:

Poor Torin, doomed to eternal torment.

We could go through the effort to get him to 100 relationship, but we don't even have Timmy yet.

Daigerus
Nov 5, 2009

GamesAreSupernice posted:

We could go through the effort to get him to 100 relationship, but we don't even have Timmy yet.

Wait, so the game lets you befriend people that it wants you to be eternal rivals with? Also, that Timmy arc - he should have been the rival instead, at this rate.

I take it the game also gates characters via location, so you have to go to new places in order to find new potential people?

marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

What is the in game justification for bouncing from pad to pad? Is it just treated as levels? Will later roommates be harder to befriend? Will someone sabotage our coffee machine?

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Daigerus posted:

Wait, so the game lets you befriend people that it wants you to be eternal rivals with?

I take it the game also gates characters via location, so you have to go to new places in order to find new potential people?

Both of those are correct.


marshmallow creep posted:

What is the in game justification for bouncing from pad to pad? Is it just treated as levels? Will later roommates be harder to befriend? Will someone sabotage our coffee machine?

Starting with the next location, we'll be provided a small cutscene with character motivations clearly laid out. This will continue for the rest of the game, with the characters getting progressively more uh.. character. Also none of the AI Sims even use the coffee machine.

Earnestly
Apr 24, 2010

Jazz hands!
Man, I wasted entirely too much money on the first console Sims, and by that I mean bought it used twice for a total price of $14 which includes the money I got for selling it back. I wanted to like it, truly I did. I enjoyed the free form sandbox of the PC game when I played it on my cousin's computer, and I really, really enjoyed the hardline mission structure of the DS Urbz. However, I find that the console Sims' compromise between the two game play styles a little lacking.

That being said, this lp's style of video highlights definitely makes this game enjoyable for me. Keep up the good work.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Earnestly posted:

Man, I wasted entirely too much money on the first console Sims, and by that I mean bought it used twice for a total price of $14 which includes the money I got for selling it back. I wanted to like it, truly I did. I enjoyed the free form sandbox of the PC game when I played it on my cousin's computer, and I really, really enjoyed the hardline mission structure of the DS Urbz. However, I find that the console Sims' compromise between the two game play styles a little lacking.

That being said, this lp's style of video highlights definitely makes this game enjoyable for me. Keep up the good work.

The first console game and Bustin' Out (which is essentially a remake of the first console game) really weren't for me. But, on the bright side, if you enjoyed portable Urbz, it's a direct sequel to the GBA Bustin' out. Give it a look, it's pretty much the same game.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


We're a relationship doctor.

Alavaria
Apr 3, 2009
Obviously the reason they weren't friends despite being married is it shows just how bad things were getting until the Player arrives :)

Cathode Raymond
Dec 30, 2015

My antenna is telling me that you're probably wrong about this.
Soiled Meat
I'm only through the first video but already I've learned a lot about how to improve my life.


I need to stop sleeping and only chug espresso because sleep and espresso are interchangeable.

I need to talk to my friends within two days or they will not be my friends.

I need to dance dance dance, dance dance dance, to fill up my fun meter and this will obviate the need for other fun. It might seem like I am no longer having fun after some amount of dancing but this is actually a lie, and I am, in fact, still having fun dancing.

Toilet mishaps are the biggest barrier to friendship, and lack of friendship is the biggest barrier to career advancement. There is no straightforward solution to this aside from maybe having more bathrooms...?

Once I become a a Big Time Lawman there will be no time for basic decency and I will be forced to leave all my garbage on the carpet because maid does that, that's maid's job.

Bills are deleteable, so I should delete them.

Moving chess pieces around by myself will make my brain better at logicking.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Alavaria posted:

Obviously the reason they weren't friends despite being married is it shows just how bad things were getting until the Player arrives :)

That was probably the intention.


Cathode Raymond posted:

I'm only through the first video but already I've learned a lot about how to improve my life.

I want to take this time to say I am not responsible for EA's game design decisions or any impact they may have on viewers.

Alavaria
Apr 3, 2009
The funny thing is I'm sure Sims1&3 had it so you got a kick of negative energy at some point after drinking coffee so that didn't give you a net positive.

The dancing is just a bug since they even had a popup saying it shouldn't work. Welp them, Sims should love the hell out of DDR machines.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Alavaria posted:

The funny thing is I'm sure Sims1&3 had it so you got a kick of negative energy at some point after drinking coffee so that didn't give you a net positive.

I'm pretty sure the PC release of 2 also balanced the coffee. It just seems to be the console version that his this problem.

Head Hit Keyboard
Oct 9, 2012

It must be fate that has brought us together after all these years.

GamesAreSupernice posted:

I'm pretty sure the PC release of 2 also balanced the coffee. It just seems to be the console version that his this problem.

Hahaha no it doesn't. Coffee is still preferable to sleep in PC Sims 2.

Although the Fun method wasn't dancing with a boombox, rather it was kicking Garden Gnomes endlessly. (Or Flamingos, but sometimes they get stuck)

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Head Hit Keyboard posted:

Hahaha no it doesn't. Coffee is still preferable to sleep in PC Sims 2.

That's wonderful.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


Jard's a heartbreaker

Zira
Oct 9, 2007

You have a job! Karl has a job! What's my purpose?
Karl has a job!Karl has a job!
What's my purpose? What's my
You have a job! purpose?
What's my purpose?
What's my purpose?
Betty just wanted to improve herself to prove how she can do it, I'm sure. She doesn't care about game mechanics, she wants to get buff and look pretty.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Zira posted:

Betty just wanted to improve herself to prove how she can do it, I'm sure. She doesn't care about game mechanics, she wants to get buff and look pretty.

I think we can all aspire to be like Betty.

Blue Labrador
Feb 17, 2011

Oh woah, I used to play this game with my buddy back in high school! Quality of this port aside, there was certainly something magical about playing co-op with a fellow teen as we designed dope bachelor pads and tried to get promotions together.

Thanks for showing this off!

Blue Labrador fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Apr 22, 2017

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Blue Labrador posted:

there was certainly something magical about playing co-op with a fellow teen as we designed dope bachelor pads and tried to get promotions together.

The co-op was pretty magical in its own way.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


The big one.

Sordas Volantyr
Jan 11, 2015

Now, everybody, walk like a Jekhar.

(God, these running animations are terrible.)
Great to know we'll be having to deal with rear end-less chaps for the rest of the LP.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Sordas Volantyr posted:

Great to know we'll be having to deal with rear end-less chaps for the rest of the LP.

The other choices were not appealing to me.

Earnestly
Apr 24, 2010

Jazz hands!
The other choices were incorrect

marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

So does our hubby come with us? Or will we stay in touch over the phone?

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

marshmallow creep posted:

So does our hubby come with us? Or will we stay in touch over the phone?

He can come visit us of his own volition, we can call to chat, or we can just invite him over. We're probably just going to talk on the phone because we have lives to save.

Cathode Raymond
Dec 30, 2015

My antenna is telling me that you're probably wrong about this.
Soiled Meat

GamesAreSupernice posted:

He can come visit us of his own volition, we can call to chat, or we can just invite him over. We're probably just going to talk on the phone because we have lives to save.

This seems sensible. I mean spouses are important but they hardly take precedence over courageous acts and heroic feats.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Cathode Raymond posted:

This seems sensible. I mean spouses are important but they hardly take precedence over courageous acts and heroic feats.

We're going to spend so much money on people.

Zira
Oct 9, 2007

You have a job! Karl has a job! What's my purpose?
Karl has a job!Karl has a job!
What's my purpose? What's my
You have a job! purpose?
What's my purpose?
What's my purpose?
That outfit truly is the best way to celebrate Jard's marriage and the stage. He needs everyone to know how important it all is, and nothing says that like assless chaps.

We're all lucky he decided jeans were the correct choice under them, even if I'm sure he'd have gone without if only sims allowed it.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!

Zira posted:

We're all lucky he decided jeans were the correct choice under them, even if I'm sure he'd have gone without if only sims allowed it.

It's only incidental that Jard put on an undershirt. He still doesn't understand societal norms, but he wanted to match colors.

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


The first of three extra videos. Have this while the next location is being conquered.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

GamesAreSupernice
Jan 3, 2014

Oh, whoa! Check out the Viewing Globe, shorty!


Delicious misadventures.

  • Locked thread