The Sims 2 Deluxe (PC)

The Next Generation of The Sims ™

The Sims™ changed the face of gaming in the new millennium and quickly became the #1 PC game of all time. In the next generation of The Sims, The Sims™ 2, players control their Sims over an entire lifetime for the first time. Every choice that is made has a relevant and dramatic effect on the life of a Sim. More life-like Sims, all-new gameplay, and the ground-breaking addition of genetics, with the DNA of Sims passed down through generations gives players a more vivid, realistic, and in-depth Sims experience. All of this takes place in a new, amazingly life-like 3-D world. Experience the crazy, unpredictable ride of a Sim's lifetime in The Sims 2.

Key Features

• Next Generation Simulation: Guiding your Sims through "Life's Big Moments" takes on new importance but still maintains a sense of humor. Players now get a "Life Score" which is a direct reflection of the life they choose to live with their individual Sim. The decisions that players make throughout the lifetime of their Sims now have an impact on the ultimate outcome. A choice made as a toddler has a direct effect on the teen and adult Sims they become. Will players be able to successfully lead their Sims through such important events as a first step, first crush, or marriage proposal, all while the clock is ticking?
• Next Generation Sims: The Sims in The Sims 2 are more intelligent, and more aware and responsive to both other Sims and their surroundings. Sims truly come to life expressing moods and feelings through more realistic body animations and, for the first time, life-like facial animations. They form complex relationships and are able to distinguish between family and friends, platonic friendships and romantic love. Sims in The Sims 2 now have DNA. Passing along physical characteristics and traits to their offspring, Sims both resemble and behave like their ancestors. Mirroring real life, the appearance of the Sims now change over time. In addition to getting older, Sims that spend too much time on the couch will develop a paunch and Sims that work out will enjoy rock solid abs.
• Next Generation Features: An entirely new 3-D engine makes the world of The Sims 2 more life-like and dynamic. The Sims 2 will also introduce an all-new "Create-A-Sim" feature. This allows you to customize the facial features of your Sim with a few simple clicks, to a level of detail never realized before. In The Sims 2, players are now able to build dwellings over two stories and have the ability to coordinate and customize the homes of their Sims to a new degree of design with all-new furniture, lighting and objects.

The Sims 2 Official System Requirements:

The Sims 2 is a highly decorated 3D game, featuring complex 3D rendering and Transform & Lighting (T&L) technologies. Maxis have now released the official system requirements for The Sims 2 and, by the looks of things, you should be able to play The Sims 2 if you bought a new computer within the last 3 years.

The Sims 2 uses a technology called Transform & Lighting which revolutionised the way 3D graphics were displayed back in 1999/2000. NVIDIA were the first graphics corporation to bring out this technology, and it is now included as standard in all new graphics cards. To find out more about T&L click the links below:

• NVIDIA Extends Technology Leadership with Transform and Lighting Feature for Future Products
• Second Generation Transform and Lighting (T&L)

If you have a T&L capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM (such as nvidia GeForce 2 or better or ATI Radeon 7000 or better) then you need at least:

• 600 MHz P3 processor
• 256 MB RAM if Windows XP
• 128 MB RAM if Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000

If you have a non-T&L capable video card (such as TNT2, Intel, or Rage for example) then you need at least:

• 1.5 GHz processor
• 256 MB RAM if Windows XP
• 128 MB RAM if Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000

Recommended video cards (and the more video memory the better):

• ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
• Nvidia Geforce 4

From the nVidia website's glossary
Transform & Lighting (T&L) definition: Two separate engines on the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that provide for a powerful, balanced PC platform and enable extremely high polygon count scenes. Transform performance determines how complex objects can be and how many can appear in a scene without sacrificing frame rate. Lighting techniques add to a scene's realism by changing the appearance of objects based on light sources.

Some other notes about video cards:
T&L video cards started shipping around 3 years ago, so if you got your computer in the last couple of years you should check and see if you have a T&L card.

It's always a good idea to make sure you have the most current drivers for your video cards. The manufacturers usually have the video drivers on their sites for you to download. Visit the nVidia site or the ATI for the latest drivers for those video cards.

View all the other The Sims games available from Take 2.