The Sims 2

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The Sims
Subseries of Sim
The Sims	2000
The Sims Online	2002
The Sims 2	2004
The Sims Stories (series)
MySims	2008
The Sims 3	2009
The Sims Medieval	2011
The Sims 4	2014

Key points

Runs well on low-end hardware

Large community

Versions

The Sims 2 Store Edition

There was briefly an online store that sold additional items for use in The Sims 2. To use the store, the game required a patch to The Sims 2 Store Edition. Store Edition removed the need for a physical CD, but introduced instability to the game. Support was pulled from the Sims 2 Store, and the Store Edition is no longer available.

Improvements

In-game camera and game recording settings.

Expansion Packs

This is a list of all expansion packs:

• University
• Nightlife
• Open For Business
• Pets
• Seasons
• Bon Voyage
• Free Time
• Apartment Life

Stuff Packs

The game also sold collections of items and clothing, known as stuff packs, between expansions.

• Holiday Party Pack
• Family Fun Stuff
• Glamour Life Stuff
• Happy Holiday Stuff
• Celebration Stuff
• H&M Fashion Stuff
• Teen Style Stuff
• Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff
• IKEA Home Stuff
• Mansion & Garden Stuff

Patches

The following Sims 2 products require patches after installation:

• The Sims 2 (CD or DVD original release)
• University
• Nightlife
• Open For Business
• Pets
• Seasons
• Bon Voyage
• Free Time
• Apartment Life
• Family Fun Stuff

Game data

In-game general settings.

Game files location

If you a Deluxe edition, the folder name will be different.

Expansion packs are in their own folders under EA GAMES

Video settings

In-game graphics settings.

In-game audio settings.

Widescreen resolution

The game's max res is 1600 x 1200. For higher resolutions you need to edit the following file:

EA GAMES\(Latest expansion installed)\TSData\Res\Config\Graphics Rules.sgr

Set maxResWidth and maxResHeight to your display's native width and height, or copy/paste the following:

option ScreenModeResolution
setting $Low
uintProp maxResWidth 2560
uintProp maxResHeight 1600
uintProp defaultResWidth 800
uintProp defaultResHeight 600

setting $Medium
uintProp maxResWidth 2560
uintProp maxResHeight 1600
uintProp defaultResWidth 1024
uintProp defaultResHeight 768

setting $High
uintProp maxResWidth 2560
uintProp maxResHeight 1600
uintProp defaultResWidth 1024
uintProp defaultResHeight 768
end

Issues and Fixes

Vista/7 Compatibility

The Sims 2 is compatible with newer versions of Windows, however the original release of the game has issues, and will show an error message when loaded. Patching the game or installing the expansion packs will correct this.

Disable intro movie

To disable the intro movie that plays every time the game opens, go to the following folder:

EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Movies

Rename the file intro_eng_audio.movie into something else, like intro_eng_audio.movie.old. The intro movie won't play anymore. If you want the movie back, just change it back to its original file name.

Stuck Sims/Poorly Placed Objects/Frozen Objects

Periodically, a sim may become trapped or an special object may be placed in a bad location, preventing a sim from doing anything. In other cases, a normal object may be improperly tagged as "in use" and cannot be moved, sold, or manipulated. To fix these issues, open the cheat console by hold Ctrl, Shift and C, then type moveobjects on and enter buy mode. You can now pick up the sim or broken object, and move it to another location. To restore the game to normal after this, open the cheat console again, and type moveobjects off.