Wednesday 21 September 2005

Pic of the day: OK, perhaps this wasn't such a great idea...

Sims2 Nightlife: 1st impressions

Despite my serious doubts, I bought the second expansion pack for Sims2 only few days after it was released. The Norwegian version is called "Uteliv", which does not contain any references to the time of day, but rather to being outside home. The rest of the context is pretty similar. Apart from the names of objects and people, it is just the same game. (The Norwegian translators like to improve on the names: The previous expansion was named "Livets Skole", School of Life. I found that weird, since college and life don't strike me as being even remotely similar.)

In truth, nothing I had read about Nightlife made me think it was worth getting. It seems Maxis has managed to gather and concentrate the very things in life that not only disinterest me but also are moderately repulsive to me. I haven't had a car for around 20 years and don't want one. I find eating out a tremendous waste of money, and generally prefer making my own food if I have the time. I abhor flirting and avoid dancing, and I consider astrology a pathetic superstition. People who consider the bizarre human mating rituals the goal of their life get no respect from me above the basic acknowledgment of being human which I accord anyone lucky enough to be born into our species. I must seem one of the least likely candidates for Nightlife, which focuses on just these things.

When I bought the expansion anyway, it was based on my earlier experience. I have played The Sims since it first came out in 2000, and greatly enjoyed it. Of the seven expansion pack to the original game, only one was not installed on all my games computers from then on. "Unleashed" was removed not because of its content, which was mostly enjoyable. But the time squeeze was too much. Weird extra movements were inserted in the Sims' animation, slowing them down, while cleaning up after stray pets took a big bite out of the morning. (Maxis later released an object, a stray-away sign, that fixed the stray pet problem.) And with the time-saving magic in the final expansion ("Making Magic"), including "Unleashed" became feasible again.

But just in case this was another "Unleashed" or worse, I decided to only install it on the computer I don't often play Sims2 on, and even then to start a new neighborhood rather than convert existing neighborhoods to the new format.

***

I started as usual by creating a student. It's not like Nightlife adds much in the way of starting options, unlike University which allows you to create a Young Adult, adding a whole new life phase. You get some more clothes to choose from, but that's pretty much it. In fact, during the stay in the university dorm, I could hardly notice that I had a second expansion pack at all. With one notable exception: The neighborhood is now visible.

In the past, each lot existed in its own pocket universe. If you looked around, you would see unbroken fields of green grass or red sand, as if you were alone in the world. This is no longer so. Now if you live in a crowded neighborhood, you can see the other houses around you. You can choose in the setup inside the game how far you want to see, as the extra detail of course add to the burden of your graphics card.

So far so good. My student lived in a dorm, and just across the street he could every day see a coffee shop. It was slightly blurry if you looked more closely, but otherwise it was right there. Until he tried to walk across the street to get there. "The taxi will arrive soon"?? And indeed, eventually the taxi did arrive and drive off into the distance with our hero who tried to cross the street. I am not sure the developers have given this all the time it deserved. The load time was as bad as ever, too.

One other great invention is the inventory. You can now take with you selected objects when you move, such as career rewards. These objects you can only get once in life. They improve a skill, usually in a fun way, and most importantly they let you teach the skill, typically to children and grandchildren. This makes it easy to make families that specialize in certain trades, or you could collect them over generations to make a young Knowledge Sim level up many of his skills. But up until now, these rewards disappeared when you moved. This meant you had to choose: Stay on the small lot you were born on, or lose a valuable tool. Not anymore! Put the things you want to keep in your inventory. Move. Put them in their new place. It holds things way too big to physically carry, too.

A third change is of more doubtful value. As you create a Sim, you get to choose two things you dig and one thing you definitely don't dig. These are things like fat people, red hair or glasses. If other people like and dislike the exact same things, this is supposed to rocket boost your relationship. Conversely, if they have the opposite view on things, you have to swim upriver to get anywhere with them. I haven't come as far as to make use of this, but I did dutifully pick such traits for my character. I suppose if you create two Sims that are "meant to be together", you could give them a helping hand this way.

***

Is it just me, or are the need bars depleting faster now? I suppose my sense of time may be skewed because I run this game on a much slower graphics card. But it seems to me that my student now needs to sleep twice a day, even though I bought a good bed as soon as I could afford it. That's not exactly realistic. Also other needs like hunger seems to be worse than before. Maybe the designers thought people needed more of a challenge. You know, I don't play this to be challenged. There are plenty of ways to get that elsewhere. That was exactly the problem with Unleashed too: People who know every shortcut of the game want it more challenging, but this makes it next to unplayable for the casual player. I hope I am mistaken about this, but I would not be surprised.

So far, this doesn't really seem like something I'm proud to have paid for. But then again, I haven't started on the main course, the dating and socializing downtown. More about that if I ever do.