Superstar, heartthrob, actor, NPC... He's all that and he's yours for download into your copy of Superstar.
News
27 Nov 2003 - 22:30
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27 Nov 2003 - 22:20
Happy Thanksgiving!
As a Thanksgiving treat our Sims 2 team has prepared a lovely holiday postcard to feast your eyes on.
More stuff next week!
Cheers,
Luc
27 Nov 2003 - 22:10
You'll have to pick up the magazine at the newsstands to read it, but to give you a taste, "The Sims Makin’ Magic is jam-packed with cool content, quirky humor, and the most polished game-play of the entire series."
27 Nov 2003 - 22:00
We will be conducting consumer research on the evenings of Monday, December 8, and Tuesday, December 9, in Sunnyvale, California.
Do you play the PC version of The Sims and like to give your opinion?
We will be conducting consumer research on the evenings of Monday, December 8, and Tuesday, December 9, in Los Angeles, California. If you are a female between the ages of 15-24 year old or a male between the ages of 18 and 34, own The Sims on PC, and are interested in participating, we invite you to come to our facility for a three-hour group to talk about your experiences with The Sims.
If you qualify, the discussion will last approximately three hours and participants will be paid $125.
If you would like more information or would like to participate in the focus group, please call (408) 773-8200 ext.2020 and tell them you are calling about job #C3451. Or, if you prefer, email your NAME and PHONE NUMBER to: erecruiting@nicholsresearch.com and mention job #C3451. The research company will then call you to discuss the details.
24 Nov 2003 - 22:00
Due to the holiday weekend here in Maxis Land, there will be no chat event this Thursday. But don’t worry, starting next week we will be back with some great guest speakers lined up for the month of December.
23 Nov 2003 - 22:00
Hello everyone.
I wanted to first take the opportunity to thank all of you who were able to join us for The Sims 2 University. We are grateful that you took time out of your busy schedules and traveled many miles to spend the day with us and talk about The Sims 2. We feel like it was a worthwhile day and hope you do to. For those of you who were unable to join us, we missed you and hope you will be able to participate next time.
At The Sims 2 University, we gave all participants an updated fansite kit. You can download it here, if you didn't join us and are interested in downloading its content.
On of the most important things that we discussed at The Sims 2 University was the player-made custom content tool. View the screenshots below which show off various outfits that we have picked for
you to customize:
The file that contains the bitmap files for these clothing options can be downloaded here, feel free to play around with them and customize them to express your personal Sim-style!
Many of you have had specific questions about this tool. Below we have addressed some of your issues:
What is CaSIE?
CaSIE is a stand-alone tool that will let you build Sims that can be played in The Sims 2. In CaSIE, you will be able to choose your Sims' skin tone, eye color, hair styles; facial hair, makeup, clothes, and more. CaSIE will also give you incredible control over your Sims' faces through controls to select from a diverse range of facial "types" and sliders to fine tune even the smallest details, such as nose length, eyebrow thickness, lip curl, and chin shape. There are over 50 modifier sliders alone!Another major feature of CaSIE is the ability to create custom content that anyone can play in The Sims 2. Take a t-shirt and add your face to it ... make a set of yellow cat eyes ... create a set of scaly green skins ... the possibilities are truly infinite.
Finally, CaSIE is the tool that will help you package the Sims and custom content you create and upload them to TheSims2.com, post on your fan site, or share with your friends. We can't wait to see what turns up!
What is the difference between CaSIE and CAS?
CAS (Create-A-Sim) is a part of The Sims 2. CaSIE is a "stand alone" tool that runs separately from the game. CAS is the place in The Sims 2 where you will create Sims and their families and move them into your neighborhoods. CaSIE will be released before The Sims 2 ships as a way for you to start building Sims and creating custom content early. CAS allows you to name Sims, give them personalities and determine their facial appearance, physique, outfits, accessories, and hairstyles. You'll be able to create families with genetic similarities; CaSIE does not.What does stand-alone mean?
"Stand-alone" means that CaSIE can run without having The Sims 2 installed on your computer, which is why we will be able to release CaSIE before the game ships. Once The Sims 2 is released (and if you have installed CaSIE and The Sims 2 in their default directories), they will work together seamlessly. For example, any Sim you create in CaSIE will be available for you to play in The Sims 2 without having to transfer any files. Also, any custom content you create in CaSIE will be automatically available to you in CAS. (CaSIE and The Sims 2, however, can not be run at the same time.)Is CaSIE actually mandatory to run the game or can you just buy The Sims 2 and still play the game?
You can play The Sims 2 without having CaSIE.How easy will it be to create new meshes for new clothes and Sims?
For the first release of CaSIE you will only be able to customize textures and the facial mesh (with modifiers and face choices). This is because the process of creating models in The Sims 2 is much more complex than in The Sims and we want players to be able to get started on textures as soon as possible. We do, however, plan to release an update to CaSIE later on that will let you export and import models to use in a 3D program.Does CaSIE have the same requirements as The Sims 2?
Yes, CaSIE will work on the same system requirements as The Sims 2.For all of you console fans, The Sims Bustin' Out community site is live. Click here http://thesims.ea.com/us/index.html to check out the fansite kit and chat on the BBS. The game will be in stores in just a few short weeks.
That's all for now.
Cheers,
Luc
20 Nov 2003 - 22:30
12 of the top fan sites were invited to EA to attend The Sims 2 University where they were treated to a day with The Sims 2 production team. Find out what they learned about!
The Sims 2 University
On November 14th, webmasters the world over converged on Electronic Arts' Worldwide headquarters in Redwood Shores, California, to be a part of The Sims 2 University and get a rare, hands-on demonstration of The Sims 2.
Webmasters from The Sims Resource, Sims Zone, The Sims Zone, The Well Dressed Sim, Sim Freaks, Secret Sims, Sim Programs/8th Deadly Sim/7 Deadly Sims, SimSational, World Sims, The Sims 2 Resource, Sim Stuff, Die Sims, Killer Sims were all in attendance.*
The Welcome Table
We kicked off the day at 9 AM with a welcome breakfast where all of the attendees were able to meet each other face-to-face - most for the first time. From there, everyone moved to the presentation theater to watch a demo of the game with Lucy Bradshaw where she showed lots of the new home building tools. Lucy and Producer Tim LeTourneau demonstrated walls being built on diagonals and roofing tools that include gables. They also demonstrated how items in "buy mode" will be customizable and come in any color.
Lucy showing off The Sims 2
Following a short break, Maxis General Manager and international hearthrob Luc Barthelet talked about how valuable the community has been to The Sims franchise and challenged everyone to take things to the next level. Next up, were Art Directors Charles London and Dave Patch, who demonstrated how asset could be created by the community, and provided examples.
Programmer Mike Lawson and Designer Patrick Barrett took the floor next to show off the programming language behind The Sims 2. They gave a demonstration on how to program a Sim to move through an obstacle course. At first, the Sim moved through flawlessly but Mike soon changed that. With just a few keystrokes, the Sim was stumbling over logs and unsuccessfully trying to climb a wall, and was eventually reduced to tears. We then adjourned for a much needed lunch break and some hands-on time with the game.
Lunch Time
Josh gets some hands-on time with The Sims 2.
After lunch, Producer Darren Futa took the floor to demonstrate the custom content tool for creating Sims (CaSIE). Darren showed everyone how a Sim is constructed, as well as a variety of customizations a user can make to a Sim. Once he was done creating a Sim, he demonstrated how a user could dress that Sim in custom designer duds. Darren opened a shirt in Photoshop and made some quick changes and then saved the file. The new shirt showed up in CaSIE on the Sim he had created and we could instantly see how it looked. You can see a review of these tool functions at The Sims Resource and at World Sims.
After Darren's demo, Web Manager Caryl Shaw addressed how Maxis Web Hosting is going to function. Caryl explained how the new system would alleviate webmasters from the sometimes crippling bandwidth costs that come from running successful websites, by allowing Maxis to host their site. This would allow smallers sites to continue to create great work without having to deal with the headache of bandwidth costs associated with people downloading their work.
After Caryl was done, it was time for the Trivia Contest! Can you name all The Sims Expansion Packs in order? What pet name in Unleashed was spelled wrong? It took a while but eventually Josh won the contest!
The trivia contest - Congrat's to Josh who won!
Group photo of all the webmasters with Will.
After a short Q&A with the team it was time to have some fun with Will Wright and the team. We took our leave to an EA play room where everyone got to play with The Sims 2 a little bit more, have a drink and eat some yummy food. Finally it was time to say good bye! See you next year!
20 Nov 2003 - 22:20
The last in the Makin' Magic wallpaper series, features Bella, Mortimer and family working their suburban magic.
20 Nov 2003 - 22:10
If you haven't found it elsewhere, get it here! With the Desktop Gnome, you'll get:
- The latest on spellcasting!
- Gameplay tips & strategy!
- Cool videos and downloads!
- Magical clues and quizzes!