Next EP Available For Pre-Release

[Zirconia Wolf]

Yep, it's official.

The official site is now taking orders for the next (last?) Sims 2 Expansion Pack, Free Time. (Why they didn't stick with "Hobbies" is a mystery to me.)

Yes, that's right: the EP which by all accounts was originally not due out until mid spring of 2008 can now be pre-ordered. Since the average pre-order (in my experience) is usually only a couple of months or so out from the release date- which would bring us up to February/March/maybe April- I am wondering:

A) since when is April considered mid spring?
B) can a game have it's ITA moved up that far & not be even buggier than normal? (Or are they just gonna leave people hanging forever on the pre-order list?)

Anyway, here's the link: http://thesims2.ea.com/about/ep7_index.php

I have to admit that several of the new features/screen shots have me curiously hopeful. For example the bird watching & car restoration look fun. Also, one of the screen shots shows a female Adult Sim surrounded by several Toddlers in what is very clearly meant to be (or at least look like) a Preschool setting!

Yes, I know: the game hasn't actually been released yet & odds are it will have problems. Still, one can dream can't they?

[Miros1]

Just say no. It's got SecuROM in it.

[Zirconia Wolf]

Originally Posted by Miros1

Just say no. It's got SecuROM in it.

After the overwhelming success of the patched BV no-cd exe file, I honestly don't fear the whole "SecuROM Conspiracy" anymore. (In fact I still think a lot of that drama was due to incompatible downloads. Well, except the whole cd/dvd burner thing!)

I can't image it will be long after Free Time is released that an exe is made available. (There's already one for the Teen Style SP up!)

That doesn't mean I'm silly enough to pre-order the thing though!

[Miros1]

Good girl. Don't buy until there's a crack for it. Tells EA that people won't buy their game without a crack. Maybe that didn't come out right, but you know what I mean.

But I'd like to be a fly on the wall while Greg explains that to Melva...

[Roxy2004]

Since I've learned to use no-cd cracks, I'll only buy EA products used. That way EA isn't getting my money. If they ever drop securom, I may go back to preordering. Also figure by the time I find it used the first patch should be out. I'm really tired of paying to be a beta tester.

[Greg]

That sounds like me. I gave up on being a beta tester for Electronic Arts when Nightlife came out. I still haven't installed Pets or anything after it, and I can't say that I'm really inclined to. My game is working again as it is; don't see much point in making a mess of it.

[shorty943]

That's it friends. PhonyBMG\EEEC? Bah humbug to you.

Let EA know, we just won't buy their buggy "beta" software any more.

All we have to do, is wait for EA to patch the mess they will make of R1 of EP7.
We still have to buy the game installation disks, use them once, to make a copy onto your hard drive.
It is actually possible to copy the CD's or DVD, onto your hard drive and use that copy to install the game.
I've installed that way "as advised by EA themselves", when I had a problem and contacted EA's support team.
Then we just go and get FAirLIght's fixed .EXE file. And do that magic.

Nothing simpler.


Mind you. I WANT IT . I want gasoline alley, and I want it now.

[Sita]

but but

if you use the no-CD exe, how does that avoid using the Securom? Surely it's already installed with the game?

I hate Securom, and I would really rather not have it. But BV is a nice EP. I like watching my Sims swim )

[Miros1]

The no-CD exe is like having a varicose vein lasered. It's still there, just doesn't do anything.

[Sita]

sigh
I am SOOO tired of buggy EA stuff. Playing both Sims 1 and 2 atm, and with both games it feels like a "how long can I play before something else breaks?"
Was hoping to be able to play Sims 1 in Linux, and maybe slightly more stable-ly, but even that doesn't work, after what, ten years?
I think this is why I started playing SL. Bah.

[shorty943]

Originally Posted by Sita

but but

if you use the no-CD exe, how does that avoid using the Securom? Surely it's already installed with the game?

I hate Securom, and I would really rather not have it. But BV is a nice EP. I like watching my Sims swim )

It's really simple, with the No-CD fixed file.
SecuRom is NOT there anymore.

Originally Posted by Miros1

The no-CD exe is like having a varicose vein lasered. It's still there, just doesn't do anything.

It's more than that Rosie, it is more like a radical "something-ectomy".

One more time, and I'll type slowly, in case someone can't read fast.

FAirLIght has torn the EA made "Sims2EP6.exe" file apart.
And REMOVED, Sony's SecuRom completely, then recompiled the .exe file.
This is the No-CD "fixed" Sims2EP6.exe, that you use for the patched game.
NO MORE SecuRom.
At all.

Install the game, patch the game, do not play the game, drill down to
~\Program Files\The Sims 2\TSBin, rename the original Sims2EP6.exe, copy the "fixed" Sims2EP6.exe file into ~\Sims2\TSBin, relink shortcut to this new file, play game.

[Sita]

Ahh thanks for the explanation. Read it very slowly and now it makes sense. Actually I think it may have been explained somewhere else, somewhere I hadn't seen...

[shorty943]

No worries mate.

In the BV thread you may find a mention or two.

[Zirconia Wolf]

Just was over at the Official Site reading the latest teaser/blurb about the Free Time EP (yes, yes: I know enough not to pre-order it!) & couldn't help but notice that among the new computer games your Sims will have access to is the infamous Spore!

I found that interesting, given the lack of public updates regarding that particular game. Is this the EA/Maxis way of telling people the wait will soon be over for what is probably the most anticipated game around right now?

Also noting that Free Time looks as though it is tweaking a lot of Sim behaviors/motives/etc, & am wondering if it will even be possible to update some of the more common Global mods out there to work at all...

[Greg]

I'm wondering if changes to behaviors and motives indicates that someone at EA is getting the message that their sims' personality modules don't appeal to a large percentage of their customers. I'd think that behaviors and motives are the area that makes EA most vulnerable to competition from someone who can develop a more appealing simulation of human behavior, though I'm not aware of anyone stepping up to the plate.

When I first heard about Spore I thought it sounded pretty neat but nowadays the EA label itself scares the willies out of me. That presents quite a conundrum.

[shorty943]

It has seemed to me for some time, that EA are now merely writing everybody's hacks into the next EP.

As to games in the Sims2. A couple of years ago I found a site that had a big set of PC\Games machine files, in .pkg file format, for Sims 2.
Added I can't remember, how many more games, to the play SSX menu. And lots of movies and TV stations.
But, in a re-shuffle of drives I lost the archive and the site address and a bunch of other stuff. And I haven't been able to track it down again since.

[Greg]

From the standpoint of actual game play in The Sims 2, I don't see that it much matters what's on the screen.

[Zirconia Wolf]

The real problem with a "human simulation" type game is finding a nice balance between realism & something that is still fun to play. It is, after all still supposed to be a computer game!

For example, one of the "mods" out there for Sims 2 allows for menstruation cycles for your female Sims. Yes, this is "real" but it's not a fun part of life in any way shape or form (just my little opinion) so- for me- a game that was that "true to life" would be not the least interesting. (In fact, it would never see the light of day on my PC!)

There's the rub: what's a great "real life" simulation for one person is often annoying & repulsive to another.

All things considered, I rather enjoy most (not all) of the Sims 2 take on life. Now, if Maxis would just use some smarts on their Behavior logic (if "logic" is the right word) & ditch SecuROM, they might just hit the jackpot with Sims 3.

Not that I'm holding my breath or anything...

[Greg]

It's a matter of what you find to be amusing, of course. I see the Maxis model as focused on the sleaziest, most undesirable characteristics of human psychology while demonstrating outright hostility to nearly all that is noble. Their only creed is self-centered, sociopathic hedonistic greed. I could (and have) gone on about that for hours so I'll spare you the essay.

They seem to have a dedication to the inconveniences of human life as well. I suspect that the only thing that kept Maxis from including menstral cycles in the game was the risk of losing their T rating.

For me, what it adds up to is that it's a pretty good tool for building houses and characters to live in them but, as I've said before, it's a toy, not a game. If EA were to stick with building simulations and leave it to others to build games around them, they might not be so vulnerable to competition. As it is, though, anyone with $20 million in capital to invest could blow them out of the water in just a few months.

[shorty943]

Originally Posted by Zirconia Wolf

The real problem with a "human simulation" type game is finding a nice balance between realism & something that is still fun to play. It is, after all still supposed to be a computer game!

For example, one of the "mods" out there for Sims 2 allows for menstruation cycles for your female Sims. Yes, this is "real" but it's not a fun part of life in any way shape or form (just my little opinion) so- for me- a game that was that "true to life" would be not the least interesting. (In fact, it would never see the light of day on my PC!)

There's the rub: what's a great "real life" simulation for one person is often annoying & repulsive to another.

All things considered, I rather enjoy most (not all) of the Sims 2 take on life. Now, if Maxis would just use some smarts on their Behavior logic (if "logic" is the right word) & ditch SecuROM, they might just hit the jackpot with Sims 3.

Not that I'm holding my breath or anything...

Yep. Too much realism there all right.
Bad hack, very, very, bad hack.

Aww, come on Greg, your starting to sound like me now.

Most of the extra mods\hacks\music\movies\games, are for my benefit not an electronic simulation of a human. It is very limiting at times, almost boring in base form.
It is only because it is so modifiable that it has any value.
For instance.
My "Paris Hilton" sim, is still washing dishes in a greasy spoon diner, and will be for ever.
My self sim, is now very happy, living in Bill Gate's house.

I'm God here. And it is good to be God.

(With respect of course BOSS)

(Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, He, is my Boss.)

A little more flexibility in behaviour and logic, needs and wants tuning would be better, but they are stuck with the good old politically correct middle of the road. They sell to a massive range of people. I think some Muslim countries are not so pleased with it. I believe Kuwait has recently banned the game because of the "possibility" of nudity. A young chap I occasionally talk to, lives in Kuwait City, is now an underground criminal because he owns a copy of Sims 2. Great eh?

EA and Maxis do have to cater to a very wide range of tastes and moral values. So I guess they just have to cater for the least objection.

And I still reckon they are now doing little more than incorporating other peoples hacks into the EP game files.