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All and may require repeated attempts before the desired rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of result is achieved. their respective owners. ISBN: 978-07615-5597-1 All products and characters mentioned in this book are Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007920558 trademarks of their respective companies. Please be advised that the ESRB Ratings icons, “EC,” “E,” “E10+,” “T,” “M,” “AO,” and “RP” are trademarks owned by About the Author In prior lives, Greg was a foreign service spouse (with tours in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Calgary, Canada), a real estate Greg Kramer is a freelance writer residing attorney, an unhappy law student at the University of in Washington DC. Since entering the game Maryland, an English/College Basketball major at Duke industry in 1993, Greg has written over University, and the only Jewish student at a Catholic military forty strategy guides including The Sims™ 2, high school. Championship Manager 3, Command & Conquer Renegade, Icewind Dale 2, SimCity 4, We want to hear from you! E-mail comments and feedback Sid Meir’s Pirates, The Movies, Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies, to [email protected]. The Sims™ Bustin’ Out, Unreal Tournament 2: The Liandri Author Acknowledgements Confl ict, Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, The Suffering, and American McGee’s Alice. In memory of John W. Krasauskas 22 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. Table of Contents Chapter 1: What’s New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Chapter 2: Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Chapter 3: Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter 4: The Sim’s Guide to Gardening and Fishing . . . . . . 31 Chapter 5: New Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Chapter 6: New Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Chapter 7: New Socials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Chapter 8: New NPCs and PlantSims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Chapter 9: Build Mode Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Chapter 10: A Tour of Riverblossom Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Chapter 11: Jobs by Career Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130 Chapter 12: Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150 Chapter 13: Socials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194 33 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ Chapter 1 In a Sim’s life, there have always been three things you could count on: death , bills, and the weather. One of those is Anglers away! Grab some bait about to change. and catch your own dinner. Until now, every day in your Sims’ neighborhoods was sunny and warm…every…single…wonderful…monotonous day. Sure, such predictability and unrelenting pleasantness appeals to some, but even the most diehard “everyday sunshine” lover gets tired of the same thing every day. Seasonal changes and daily variations in weather serve to break up the monotony and mark the passage of time in human and Sim lives. With this rich and powerful addition to Seasons: The lovely but monotonous endless summer is no more in your their world, generation after generation of Sims will be able Sim neighborhoods, thanks to the introduction of seasons. You decide which to talk about “The Big Blizzard” when they were in college seasons you want and in what order. Watch as neighborhoods, homes, and or how the summers were hotter when they were kids. From community lots change in appearance with each passing season. Seasons also now on, tomorrow isn’t just another day. dictate the kind of weather your Sims will experience, the activities they can undertake, the success of their home gardens (see below), and much more. New Features Sims even react to each season differently with seasonal changes in their skill development, the effects of their interactions, and the speed of their Need decay. (See the “Seasons” chapter.) L eaf Piles: Fall brings piles of leaves that call out to be raked and, of course, Winter storms mean chilly frolicked in. (See the “Seasons” chapter.) weather but lots of opportunity W eather: You never know what each day will look like, now that Sims have for new fun. weather. Depending on the season and the temperature, it could be cloudy or clear, hot or cold, or even snowy or rainy. It can even hail, so make sure you get your Sims inside just in case the hail gets a bit too hefty! The daily temperature infl uences what your Sims autonomously want to do and how long they can stand to do it; stay out in the cold or heat too long and the consequences can be serious. (See the “Weather” chapter.) W eather Reports: Find out the latest forecast from the newspaper or the new all-weather TV channel. (See the “Weather” chapter.) Do your Sims have a green thumb? Let them prove it N ew Aspiration Object: Self-actualized Sims can leverage their Aspiration in their very own gardens success into an unnatural control of the elements with the new Weather and orchards. Control Device Aspiration reward object. (See the “Weather” chapter.) N ew clothing category: Outfi t your Sims with the new outerwear category so they can look cool even when it’s cold. Sims even change into designated winter wear automatically when the temperature drops too low for shirt- sleeves. (See the “Weather” chapter.) D eath by weather: Weather ain’t always pretty. In fact, sometimes it can be downright deadly. Sims foolish enough to stay outdoors in thunderstorms or heavy hail storms can fi nd themselves shuffl ing off to the other side of the clouds. (See the “Weather” chapter.) 4 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. Gardening: Sims can grow fruits and vegetables in their own gardens and N ew Object Sets: Decorating motifs abound with three new orchards. The more diligently they tend to their plots, the more fruitful their object sets: Country Style, Tiki, and the kid-centric Race Car. produce will be. Homegrown goodies can be stashed in the “chill chest” With complementary walls and fl oors, these objects will to make all your Sims’ food fresher and more nourishing, squeezed into give each home its own unique vibe. (See the chapters tasty and powerful juices with the Main Squeezer 235X juicer, or sold “New Objects” and “Build Mode Additions.”) for extra Simoleons. (See the “The Sim’s Guide to Gardening and E nhanced hair and headgear: With new tools in Fishing” chapter.) Create-A-Sim and Change Appearance tools, you G arden Club: If your Sims exhibit gloriously green thumbs in can now specify a hairstyle/headwear for each class gardening and general outdoor wonderfulness, they’ll be of clothing. Let loose your Sim’s fl owing tresses for rewarded by the local gardening club. Produce the casual moments, but put it up in a stylish town’s most mouthwatering vegetables and the rewards ponytail for swimming. (See the chapter are cold hard cash, discounts on garden supplies, “New Objects.”) and even a wishing well that actually grants P ay all bills: Ever searched in vain for wishes. Just don’t “go to the well” too often that misplaced and horribly overdue or that wish could become a nightmare. stack of bills? Well, worry no more (See the “The Sim’s Guide to Gardening thanks to the new “Pay All Bills” and Fishing” chapter.) interaction. Now one-step bill Fishing: Deep ponds now feature paying is as close as your Sims’ several species of delectable fi sh. Sims mailboxes. (See the chapter can now dip a line and pull up dinner, “New Objects.”) a valuable commodity for sale, or a piece Leftovers: Sims are great of homey art just waiting to be mounted on cooks, so it’s a shame the wall. Or maybe they’ll just reel in a nasty boot—rumor they’ve had to throw out has it they make great juice. Not that we’ve tried it. (See anything they don’t eat. the “The Sim’s Guide to Gardening and Fishing” chapter.) So much wasted food N ew Foods: They won’t be saying “Actinopterygii again?!?” and money. Well, now thanks to several new fi sh-based culinary options. (See unfi nished or uneaten the “The Sim’s Guide to Gardening and Fishing” chapter.) vittles can preserved and devoured later in any O utdoor activities: Depending on the weather, your Sims Sim fridge. No need to can now play catch, pelt each other with snowballs, call for pizza when last build snow angels, fashion a jolly snowman, go roller night’s lobster thermidor or ice skating, and catch fi refl ies or butterfl ies. (See is cooling its tail in the the “New Objects,” “New Socials,” and “New NPCs and icebox. (See the chapter PlantSims” chapters.) “New Objects.”) N ew Careers and Career Objects: Sims looking for New Socials: Revel in the outdoors with a new life challenge can take on six new careers, these new social interactions. (See the climbing the ladder as an Adventurer, Educator, chapter “New Socials.”) Musician, Gamer, Journalist, or Lawyer. Each career comes with new outfi ts, chance cards, and, of Gift Giving: Impress other Sims by giving them course, swanky new career objects. (See the just about anything as a delightfully wrapped gift. “New Careers” chapter.) Don’t be surprised, however, if they’re not very impressed with that box of pink fl amingoes. Stackable Inventory: Why fi ll up your inventory with (See the “New Socials” chapter.) 30 individual but identical objects when you can stack them in a single slot? Keep things tidy and speed scrolling through those bushels of mouth- watering fruit or delicious bass with stackable inventory. (See the chapter “New Objects.”) 5 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ Features Carried Forward PlantSims: Don’t let your Sims get too pesticide happy in their new gardens or they’ll undergo a very strange transformation. The PlantSim—part Sim, part plant—features a special set of Needs and an unusual life cycle that presents myriad new challenges. On the plus side, PlantSims are top-notch gardeners nnoottee (natch!) and can reproduce asexually. (See the “PlantSims and New NPCs.”) What we call “features carried forward” are systems P enguins: No matter the time of year, your Sims may get a visit from a strange or content introduced in previous expansion packs that are installed as part of a later pack. If, there- but pet-able penguin. Just don’t leave any prize fi sh lying around, just in case. fore, you don’t have the previous pack, you’ll get carried forward (See the “New NPCs and PlantSims” chapter.) features when you apply The Sims™ 2 Seasons. For example, the P ools: Your Sims’ pools are now more fun than ever thanks to new rounded concept of “attraction” was introduced in The Sims™ 2 Nightlife, pool corners, a curvy slide, paintable pool walls and fl oors, or a rousing game but you’ll see the attraction system with the installation of any later pack. of Timle Tourneau (it’s a lot like Marco Polo but more…Sim-ish). (See the “Build Mode Additions” chapter.) Infl uence (The Sims™ 2 University ) Greenhouses: New glass walls, doors, and roofs can be assembled into a dandy Vanity functionality (The Sims™ 2 University ) greenhouse that’ll keep veggies growing in the winter and bug free all year long. Tricky builders can even use them to make skylights. (See the “Build Lifetime Wants (The Sims™ 2 University ) Mode Additions” chapter.) Inventory panel (The Sims™ 2 Nightlife ) R oof Objects: Adorn your Sims’ roofl ines with lightning rods, weathervanes, Attraction/Chemistry (The Sims™ 2 Nightlife ) meteorological stations, or any one-tile object your little heart desires. Pleasure Aspiration (The Sims™ 2 Nightlife ) Roof-gnome anyone? (See the “Build Mode Additions” chapter.) ReNuYu Porta-Chug potion (The Sims™ 2 Nightlife ) N ew Neighborhood: For the fi rst time since the original release of Turn Ons/Turn Offs (The Sims™ 2 Nightlife ) The Sims™ 2, you’ll have a totally new base neighborhood: Riverblossom Hills. With six moved-in families, three Family Bin families, more than a dozen Door Lockability (The Sims™ 2 Open for Business ) pre-built houses, and several attractive community lots, it’s one of the most Change Lot Name button (The Sims™ 2 Open for Business ) vibrant (and intrigue-rich) neighborhood ever designed. (See the “A Tour of Game Tip Encyclopedia (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) Riverblossom Hills” chapter.) Collections enhancements (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) Flatten Lot tool (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) A green and leafy Sledgehammer tool (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) fate awaits those who spray their Rotating fl oor tiles (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) plants too much. Revamped Collections (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) Inventory hotkey (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) Invite household interface (The Sims™ 2 Pets ) Pools are even cooler with new shapes, a slide, and paintable walls and fl oors. 6 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. Chapter 2 Setting the Seasons Well, there was lots of joy, there was a plethora of fun, and there were absolutely seasons in the sun. In fact, until now, Sims haven’t known anything but seasons in the sun. Though Just because there are four seasons that progress in a lifetimes pass for your Sims, the seasons never change. No certain order, it doesn’t mean they have to be that way. Sim child has ever known the thrill of a snow day or a dive You can, in fact, change both the order and assignment of into crunchy fall leaves. No Sim artist has ever captured the seasons for every lot in a neighborhood with the Season orange-ruddy glow of an autumn sunset; no loving couples Chooser (found in the upper left of the Neighborhood view). have felt the intoxicating romantic tug of spring. Sure, life was vibrant and eventful, but only the most imperviously optimistic Sims basked in the absence of seasons. Imagine, then, the excitement at the fi rst sight of snow in winter or the rebirth of fl owers in spring. You won’t have The fl ower-emblazoned button to imagine it for long once you’ve reviewed this chapter; it in the upper left corner of tells you all you need to know about how the seasons work, Neighborhood view summons how to customize them to your tastes, and what changes the Season Chooser. each season brings. What Are Seasons? nnoottee On your Sims’ home lots, a “season” is a period of fi ve Sim All existing neighborhoods — including Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville — are automatically days in which several things can occur: set to have four different seasons, beginning with Daily temperature will be within a fi xed seasonal range. summer and then proceeding to fall, winter, and spring. All lots begin with one day left in summer. The probability of different kinds of precipitation changes (that is, minuscule Riverblossom Hills, the new primary neighborhood installed chance of snow in spring and very high chance in winter). with The Sims™ 2 Seasons, has a different progression begin- Your Sims may experience changes in Need decay, skill speed, relationship ning with winter, followed by spring, fall, and another winter. effects, etc. For example, skill, talent, and homework speed is faster in fall. Thus, half of this neighborhood’s seasonal year (20 days) will be winter and there is no summer. All lots but one (the Greenman The yield of each kind of fruit or vegetable varies based on the season it’s Family begins in the second quadrant on the fi rst day of spring) planted or harvested. in Riverblossom Hills begin on the fi nal day of winter. Ambient sounds change to refl ect the season’s theme. Daylight takes on a distinct quality for the time of year. The Season Chooser contains four quadrants, each repre- Orchard trees (see “The Sim’s Guide to Gardening and Fishing” chapter) may senting a fi ve-day season. go dormant and stop producing fruit. The season in the upper left Non-fruiting trees may change color and drop their leaves (fall) or go corner is the fi rst to occur dormant (winter). when you initially play a lot after installing this expansion Flowerbeds may go dormant (winter) or grow buds for their forthcoming pack. In this case, the fi rst time fl owers (spring). you play any lot, it’ll always Just as in the real world, The Sims™ 2 Seasons features be summer. four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. 7 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ The Season Chooser is a ring of four buttons, each representing one one-fourth of the seasonal year (fi ve If we then exit to the days). The upper-left quadrant is the “fi rst” season for any Neighborhood view and switch the seasons in the Season lot you open for the fi rst time after installing The Sims™ 2 Chooser so that the third quad- Seasons. The quadrants progress clockwise from this point, rant is now summer, the lot will changing to each season in turn. reload at the same point in the Click on any button to select which of the four seasons third quadrant, but the season will occur in that button’s quadrant. There are no rules will have changed to summer. here; any quadrant can be set to any season. You could have Beyond the change in the lot’s four quadrants of winter or an endless summer, or winter season indicator, the change could give spring and summer a miss and go straight on won’t be immediately obvious, into autumn. but the seasonal change (including melting that snow) The quadrants you set in a base neighborhood dictate will take hold sometime during the seasons on every home lot in the neighborhood. Open the next night. any lot and the seasons progress in exactly the order specifi ed in the neighborhood Season Chooser. Any new lot placed from the Lots and Houses Bin will also initiate in the neighborhood’s beginning season. If you change the season for that quadrant, all unplayed lots will switch to the newly chosen beginning season. This setting also dictates the initial seasonal state Changes in these quadrants also affect played-and- of the Neighborhood view. The fi rst time you load a base saved lots. Once a change is made, saved lots switch to the neighborhood, it appears in the season specifi ed by the new progression but remain in the same quadrant (and same upper left quadrant of the Season Chooser. However, once days remaining) in which they were last saved. For example: you play and save a lot, the season and weather at the time you saved that lot determine the seasonal/meteorological state of the neighborhood. For more detail, see “Neighbor- In this lot, the seasons are hood Seasons” below. set to winter, fall, winter, spring, and it was last saved Season Chooser and Sub-Neighborhoods in the middle of the third (winter) quadrant. nnoottee A “base neighborhood” is one you select from the Neighborhood chooser. “Sub-neighborhoods” are the expansion pack-based neighborhoods that can be attached to any base neighborhood. For example, Bluewater nnoottee Village is a business-oriented sub-neighborhood enabled by The Sims™ 2 Open for Business. A given sub-neighborhood Changes to the Season Chooser change the season can exist under any or every base neighborhood, meaning each when a saved lot is reloaded but will not instantly base neighborhood can have its own initially identical Bluewater alter the temperature, falling precipitation, or Village attached to it. weather accumulation. It will, however, change to its new season shortly (after nightfall). The Season Chooser in a base neighborhood determines the season neighborhood-wide, but it has no effect on any sub-neighborhoods (college towns, downtowns, or business districts) attached to it. These sub-neighborhoods have their own completely independent Season Choosers that control the seasonal progress on all of their lots. 8 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. What Season Is It? This is the one and only time that a neighborhood’s seasonal appearance will be controlled by the chooser. From then on, the season on the last saved home lot determines As with everything in The Sims™ 2, the concept of time is both the season and the weather displayed in the Neighbor- always a little fractured. Each home lot, as you probably hood view. An example to illustrate: know, has its own clock that runs while the lot is loaded and freezes when Sims go to Community Lots or when you play a different lot. The same is true for the seasons. It’s winter in Riverblossom Hills As alluded to above, every lot keeps track of its own when you fi rst arrive. You can march through the seasons. Or, more precisely, through tell by the snow on the ground the seasonal quadrants. If you save a lot (Lot A) in the fall, and the bare and dormant switch to Lot B and play until winter, and save Lot B, it’ll still deciduous trees. be fall on Lot A the next time you reload it. The season on a lot only changes (as described above) unnaturally if you use the Season Chooser to alter the quadrant in which the lot was last saved. Though all home lots keep track of their own seasons, Let’s say you load a lot and the most recently saved home lot will set the season in two play it through until fall, save, other places: and exit to the neighborhood. The Neighborhood view now The Neighborhood view shows all the markings of fall, Any Community Lot visited by Sims from the last-saved home lot although every lot but the one we just played and saved is still Neighborhood Seasons marked as winter (the Season Chooser’s starting season). Seasons change in the Neighborhood view, but not in the Community Lot Seasons same way as home lots. As outlined above, the fi rst time you see a neighborhood after installing The Sims™ 2 Seasons Community Lots also have seasons and, like neighborhoods, it’ll be adorned in whatever season is set in the upper left they’re determined by the last saved home lot. If Sims leave corner of the Season Chooser. home in spring, it’ll be spring on whatever Community Lot they visit. Each lot shows its current season in its Neighborhood Though the weather may view pop-up. change, if it’s winter when your Sims leave home, it’ll be eternally winter on any Community Lot they visit before returning home again. nnoottee Seasons can’t, however, change while your Sim is For all neighborhoods but Riverblossom Hills, the visiting. Let’s say your Sims left home at 11:45 p.m. on the default initial season is winter. If, however, you last day of spring and stayed on a Community Lot until change the Season Chooser and load a different noon the next day. Though it seems like it should be the base neighborhood without ever loading and saving a home lot, the changed neighborhood’s new season will show when you next season, the home-lot’s season remains frozen in time next load it. until your Sims return to it. Even if they instead move directly to another Community Lot, the saved home lot’s season persists. 9 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ nnoottee When a Sim gets the benefi t of one of the season effects, As you’ll see in the “Weather” chapter, weather (unlike seasons) can change while your Sims are on the season’s icon accompanies a Community Lot; this change carries forward to any the usual visual cues. Here, other Community Lot the Sims visit without returning home. Once for example, the usual icon for you do bring them home, however, the weather on the last-visited gaining Talent Badge points is Community Lot will be forgotten and whatever weather existed accompanied by a swirl of fall’s when they left home will resume. leaf icons. The Season Indicator Likewise, when relationship results are affected by the The Neighborhood view’s Season Chooser can set the season, the usual plus-signs season, but it doesn’t tell you what season it is on any that indicate increases in individual lot. For that information, you must look to the relationship are accompanied by a seasonal icon. Here the lot’s Season Indicator. Visible whenever you’re controlling romantic call of spring makes a Sim on a home or Community Lot, the Season Indicator a smooch all the more potent. shows which quadrant you’re currently in, which season is currently assigned each quadrant, how far into a quadrant you are (the location of the green fi ll), and (when you point Seasonal variations can take many forms. Here’s what at it) how many days remain in the season. to look for: T emperature Range: Outdoor temperatures are measured in wide ranges (Very Hot, Hot, Comfortable, Cold, Very Cold). Each season has a temperature range The Season Indicator is located next to your expressed in terms of both the band and a position within the band. Thus, controllable Sim’s portrait and above the Live, fall’s range —”Comfortable (med-high) to Cold (low)”— means Build, and Buy mode buttons. temperature can range from the mid-to-high levels of the Comfortable band to the lower The season shown for each quadrant follows the levels of the Cold band. Also, each season settings in the Neighborhood view’s Season Chooser. has a probability that temperature will rise If the assignments are altered, these icons and the or fall from one day to the next, guaran- seasons they represent will be different when you next teeing that the mercury will mostly but not load the lot. The lot will, however, persist in the same necessarily rise each day in spring and summer and quadrant in which you last saved it. drop each day in winter and fall. Note that during the fi rst and last day of a season, temperatures The Seasons can stray above or below the season’s range, due to the overlapping effects of whichever season preceded or followed it, respectively. Each season differs in various ways that affect the R elationship Effect: Social interactions may have weather, what activities your Sims can do, the need for an exaggerated effect (raising Daily or outerwear, the minimum and maximum temperature, Lifetime Relationship or satisfaction of and much more. It’s critical, then, to be familiar with the Social Need) and/or be more likely the changes going on around your Sims and the (multiplied by a constant number) to challenges and opportunities they offer. be accepted. nnoottee Full information on temperature and weather can be found in the “Weather” chapter. 10 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited.