I want to buy "The Sims"...

but it seems there are so many versions and options. What is the best one to buy for a beginner?

Re: I want to buy "The Sims"...

I'm an avid Simmer from way back.

There aren't a lot of versions, the commercials you see on Tv "hot date" "pets", etc are add on packs for the original game, you still need the original game.


I would get the Sims 2. It is the same as The Sims, but it adds a LOT of functionality. There's no point in getting the old game.

I have all expansion packs except for Pets

University - send your sim to college - also adds more aspirations and more job opportunities

NightLife - Adds a new nightlife beighborhood with clubs and restaurants. Adds new attraction features and allows you to go on "dates" that are scored

Open for Business - allows you to open at at home or offsite Sim business. I found this pack to be really hard and really frustrating.

Pets- you get to have pets. I don't know much about this pack,a s I don't have it.

I would start with the Sims 2, and if you want packs, you can always add them later.

NB: if you want to add multiple packs, they MUSt be installed in order for the game to work right, so if you want university and pets, you have to install university first, then pets or the game can get buggy

Re: I want to buy "The Sims"...

thanks so much for all this info!

Re: I want to buy "The Sims"...

This is the description from Amazon.com. My review is up there too

Amazon.com
The Sims was one of the most popular games ever made. In it, players micromanage the lives of a family of virtual people, or Sims, and influence their paths toward success or something akin to a nervous breakdown. Its open-ended blend of cartoonish behavior and everyday living is unique in an art form otherwise obsessed with carnage and sports. With The Sims 2, long-time fans now have a deeper game with lots of ways to customize and share their experiences. The game will also attract first-timers because the goal-oriented gameplay and the luridly fun starter families make it easier to get into the action right out of the box.

Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old.
The People in Your Neighborhood
The game starts at the neighborhood level. Here you can create a housing development from scratch or start with one of three premade neighborhoods, each with its own theme. From there, you'll settle on a house and a family of Sims to control.



Create your own Sim (above) or your own house (below) from scratch with advanced tools.

Aside from the basic needs carried over from the previous game, Sims now have aspirations, wants, and fears. The wants and fears are the day-to-day things that occupy their minds, like wanting to see friends or get married and fearing death or being rejected for a kiss. Satisfy their wants, and they become more efficient at completing tasks you assign them. Realize their fears, and Sims become lethargic, cranky, and unresponsive to your commands. Aspirations are the big-picture things, like raising a family, becoming wealthy, and gaining knowledge. Succeed here and you'll be able to buy odd gifts for your Sim to improve his or her life, like a money tree that pays dividends or a "fountain of youth" water cooler.

What Else Is New?

Of course, you wouldn't be able to juggle all that if it weren't for the improved "Free Will" option, which makes it easier for Sims to fulfill their basic needs. The artificial intelligence of the game is noticeably improved; they won't turn on radios just as a family member is going to bed but, strangely, they do occasionally put their dishes on the floor.

Another big change in the series is the concept of the lifespan. Now Sims are born with the traits of their parents, families grow, and Sims grow old. Not only does this go hand in hand with aspirations (growing up is the first aspiration that a baby Sim will have), it provides a limited time with which your Sims can achieve their goals.



The Universal Control Panel helps you manage your Sim family.
A Family Affair
The Sims 2 not only lets you create just about any type of Sim in any type of family, build elaborate houses, and even create a neighborhood from scratch, but it also allows you to start the game in medias res, with premade households. These families all have backstories that are smart spoofs of soap-opera plots--lots of scheming, romance, ghosts, and family fighting. Parents of teens shouldn't worry, though, because nudity is tastefully blurred out and "woo-hoo" between Sims takes place completely under the covers. The ESRB has given this a Teen rating. If The Sims 2 were a film, it would likely land between PG and PG-13.

The makers have included some nice tools to help share the universe you've created. For example, you can capture in-game stills and video to show friends the private moments, family interactions, and house parties of your Sims. You can even package a household to share as a blog or an album on a special Web site.

The Sims 2 is for patient gamers. Like life itself, the game is filled with mundane details, like getting ready for work and doing dishes. The game also demands a level of creativity from its players that the run-and-gun game genres wouldn't know what to do with. But those who stick with it will be rewarded with an absorbing, amusing diversion and a virtual family history that they've created themselves. --Porter B. Hall

Re: I want to buy "The Sims"...

Do yourself a favor - check out the system requirements before you buy it. And even then, you're better off having way above what they recommend.

I would build houses sometimes and it would let me build it, but when I tried to put my sims in it, the computer would run at not even 25% of it's normal speed.

That said, I LOVE this game. I was completely addicted for a long time. I built my own neighborhood, had multiple families & careers, downloaded stuff from the Sims site, the whole deal.