Sims Patch Fixes: Latest Updates and Analysis

The Sims 1 and 2 patch fixes numerous issues, following "farcical" re-release

EA and Maxis have issued a patch for the in the recent past released Legacy editions of The Sims 1 and The Sims 2.

These games launched on Friday, after earlier rumours suggested the classic life-sim series was making a trip back to its roots. However, when they launched, many players were met with a number of rather glitchy issues and game crashes. Reviews on Steam called the debut "farcical", "broken" and even a "waste of money", which has to sting. The games currently sit with a Mixed review average.

The team acknowledged the games had issues at the time, stating it would hop to it and sort out some fixes. And, true to its word, it has, sharing a generous set of patch notes for both The Sims 1 and 2 last night.

Those who are enjoying the classic Sims game again (or, perhaps even for the first time, she writes suddenly realising there are people out there quite a bit younger than her who may not have been around when these games first came out) should now notice less crashes.

You can check out the full patch notes for The Sims Legacy and The Sims 2 Legacy below:

Alt+Tab or Alt+Enter can sometimes cause a crash.

Alt+Enter can sometimes cause the Windows title bar to be hidden.

Alt+Enter can sometimes not toggle between full screen and windowed modes.

On some systems, The Sims can appear to launch and then immediately exit (no splash screen displayed).

The Sims should now launch in most situations.

In some cases where there is an underlying graphics issue, The Sims will display a message.

The travel screen, when traveling between neighbourhoods/worlds, can sometimes appear garbled or glitched.

The Sims might crash if you are not on the default neighbourhood, interact with another Sim, and then save.

When using Alt+Enter to cycle window and zoom sizes, the HUD could be clipped. At this zoom level, The Sims will now instead clip from the top of the screen.

In some situations in windowed mode the title bar might not be visible.

The Family friends counter could sometimes not be visible.

Several players have had problems ([website] walls, floors, objects not showing up; game not launching; other oddities) that are addressed by updating graphics drivers to the latest versions. Please make sure your drivers are up to date.

The Sims game window is of a fixed size that can't have its basic properties changed after it has launched. Moving the window from a monitor to another with a different, lesser resolution can lead to unexpected results, possibly even crashes. If you want to run The Sims on that second monitor please use the option "-monitor: [open pointy brackets] num [close pointy brackets]" to force it to launch on the other monitor. "0" is your primary monitor, a second monitor is "1" and so on. We are investigating adding this as a menu option in the future.

In some situations, players have noted that music only plays in Live mode. Please check your computer sound options and make sure that everything is properly configured ([website] on a [website] surround system make sure that your center speaker is functioning).

You might be prompted to "Enable the help system" every time you return to a house. This is the game trying to have you complete the tutorial. This will continue to happen until you complete the tutorial.

Alt-Tab or Alt+Enter can sometimes cause a crash.

Some players on EA App received an error message indicating that certain needed files were corrupt.

The game would sometimes crash after creating a family.

The game sometimes launched at a small resolution (800x600) and then scaled that small format to fill the entire monitor.

In certain situations the game will launch and then immediately show a "DirectX" error, requiring use of the "-w" option to work around the problem.

Sometimes a Sim (or multiple Sims) would disappear after the player moves to another lot or neighbourhood, or after leaving and rejoining the game despite saving.

Sometimes non-adult Sims (children, pets) would disappear.

Some interactions that result in a transferable reward ([website] a dog returns from work) can cause the game to crash.

Addressed some infinite loading screen issues.

Several players have had problems that are addressed by updating graphics drivers to the latest versions. Please make sure your drivers are up to date.

Remember that the "boolProp testingCheatsEnabled" cheat will cause the game to periodically show various dialogue boxes with debugging information in them. The cheat is working as expected.

We are investigating an issue where during certain cinematic events (such as Alien Abduction), the Sim can be reset and the event fails. While we are investigating this, you can work around the issue by making certain there are no other Sims on the lot to observe the event.

The Sims team is still working on some remaining issues. "Some topics can require an extended investigation on our end, so even though these fixes may be in active review, it's not a guarantee that we'll have an immediate fix for it in the upcoming patch," it wrote in a post regarding the latest patch.

"Thank you for playing these games that are such a storied part of our history - starting 25 years ago!"

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The Sims 4's next expansion lets you run a pet cafe, laundrette, or tattoo parlour - depending what other DLC you own

Entrepreneurially minded The Sims 4 players are about to get a whole new set of options, courtesy of the new Businesses & Hobbies expansion - which'll enable the likes of player-run pet cafes and tattoo parlours when it launches on 6th March - depending what other DLC you own.

The Sims 4's Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack - the 18th major expansion since its release back in 2014 - is, as its name suggests, focused on two key areas. Starting with hobbies, there's talk of Hobby Meet-ups, where Sims can socialise with like-minded individuals, learn to master their chosen craft from mentors during Classes and Lecturers, and perhaps even become mentors themselves if they become sufficiently skilled.

Business seems to be where the bulk of the new expansion's focus lies, however, with players able to establish a small business to bring in the Simoleons. It's possible to create a dedicated space on a residential lot to sell your wares to passing clients, or you can build on the new Small Business Venture Lot instead. There's also a new Ticket Kiosk, providing a way to charge clients either one time or by the hour, and players have the choice between hiring staff or running their fledgling enterprise as a family unit.

As a business grow, Sims earn Business Perks - unlocking new interactions and effects - and there's a Business Renown system enabling players to either run things by the book or to indulge in their unscrupulous side. However, EA notes that becoming a Dreamer or Schemer can impact Sims' lives outside of work.

And as for the type of small business players can run, that'll depend on the Sims 4 expansions and game packs they own. With just Businesses & Hobbies installed, players can build business around either the new tattoo skill (which introduces a Tattoo Paint Mode to create custom designs using a growing collection of stamps and stencils) or the new pottery skill. The latter adds a pottery wheel and kiln for Sims to utilise, with players able to make either decorative or functional pieces, and glaze them for the finishing touch.

However, if the idea of running a tattoo parlour or pottery shop doesn't appeal, Cats and Dogs expansion owners can open pet cafes, while the Get Together expansion unlocks the ability to run dance clubs and game arcades. City Living unlocks karaoke bars, Get Famous unlocks acting classes, Laundry Day makes it possible to run a laundrette, and Bowling Night is for those that want to open their own bowling alley. And finally, Spa Day is the game pack you'll need if you want to wring your end-customers dry in the name of relaxation.

The Sims 4's Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack - which also includes a new world in the form of Nordhaven - launches for all platforms on 6th March. Anyone that picks it up before 18th April gets the Practice Makes Perfect Priscilla Statue, Sweetest Treat Display Case, and Beautiful Flaws Lamp, as detailed in EA's announcement.

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The Sims 2 has the most unhinged drama in the entire series that finally seduced me away from my beloved Build Mode

I'm not a Live Mode player. Or at least I haven't been for the past decade of playing The Sims, so I'd assumed that the itch had left me in my teen years and being a Build Mode girl was a personality trait I aged into. That is until The Sims 3 and, as of this week, the re-release of The Sims 2 , completely changed how I like to play.

Over the past year I've gotten back into playing The Sims 3. I have a lot of love for its more realism-driven Build Mode and bygone tools like Create-A-Stye , but to my surprise I found a lot to love in Live Mode too, at times struggling to put it down and return to my usual MO of quietly building little houses.

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The Sims 4's approach to Live Mode is massively different from the series' past, a phenomenon that I got to ask about when interviewing Sims series boss Lyndsay Pearson last month. Where The Sims 4 is terrified of stepping on your toes—with popups asking everything from whether you want to confirm that a Sim officially "likes" a hobby they're trying, to random neighbors calling to ask your opinion on who they should make friends with, let alone allowing your sims to die—The Sims 3 is happy to throw potholes in your path and make you navigate around them.

I've in recent times had fun digging into becoming a car thief in The Sims 3 , enamored by how random events like burglary or romantic attraction make The Sims feel so much more lively than The Sims 4 and its constant permission-asking to make anything interesting happen.

The Sims 2, however, is completely unhinged. Here's a loose retelling of events from just my first night playing:

Day 1 : I load up the Goth family to find Cassandra Goth hopelessly crushing on neighborhood playboy Don Lothario. Cassandra foolishly proposes marriage to Don, spiraling into despair as her little brother Alexander bashes on the piano nearby.

: I load up the Goth family to find Cassandra Goth hopelessly crushing on neighborhood playboy Don Lothario. Cassandra foolishly proposes marriage to Don, spiraling into despair as her little brother Alexander bashes on the piano nearby. Day 2: Mortimer Goth and Dina Caliente mutually have crushes on each other already—Dina because she wants to marry rich and Mortimer as he laments the disappearance of his wife Bella. Unplanned by me, Mortimer sweeps Dina off her feet into a kiss as a greeting the first time she visits the house. So he's not that torn up.

Day 2 (cont.) : While Mortimer and Dina canoodle upstairs, I react to a thunderstorm setting a tree on fire by (foolishly) sending Cassandra out to extinguish it. I don't know what I thought was going to happen but Cassandra gets struck by lightning in her underwear and lives just long enough to walk back inside and die in the kitchen.

: While Mortimer and Dina canoodle upstairs, I react to a thunderstorm setting a tree on fire by (foolishly) sending Cassandra out to extinguish it. I don't know what I thought was going to happen but Cassandra gets struck by lightning in her underwear and lives just long enough to walk back inside and die in the kitchen. Day 3 : Alexander is the only one to notice Cassandra's death. Mortimer is too wrapped up in Dina's arms to bother feeding his son, who subsists on potato chips. Alexander comes home from school to find out that Dina is moving in with them already. When I try to promote household harmony by having Alexander ask Dina for homework help, he accidentally walks in while she's cuddling with Mortimer in bed and hates his new not-stepmom instead.

: Alexander is the only one to notice Cassandra's death. Mortimer is too wrapped up in Dina's arms to bother feeding his son, who subsists on potato chips. Alexander comes home from school to find out that Dina is moving in with them already. When I try to promote household harmony by having Alexander ask Dina for homework help, he accidentally walks in while she's cuddling with Mortimer in bed and hates his new not-stepmom instead. Day 4: Dina and Mortimer get engaged and I notice that Alexander has three different wants in his list for buying a pet, so Mortimer takes him to the pet shop to adopt a large terrier who they name Worthington. That night, Cassandra's horrifying underwear-clad electrocuted ghost haunts Alexander causing him to wet his pajamas.

Day 5 : Mortimer plans a birthday party for Alexander but basically nobody comes. Despite that, Alexander is happy (because of Worthington) and successful (after doing his homework unassisted), though when he ages up into a teenager and picks his turn-ons he is (as prodded by me) suspiciously into characteristics that Dina has.

: Mortimer plans a birthday party for Alexander but basically nobody comes. Despite that, Alexander is happy (because of Worthington) and successful (after doing his homework unassisted), though when he ages up into a teenager and picks his turn-ons he is (as prodded by me) suspiciously into characteristics that Dina has. Day 6: Dina fulfills her wish to start a job in the law career—which seems to defeat the purpose of her desire to marry rich but Dina contains multitudes. Worthington gets a job (because pets can have jobs) as a movie set extra but decides on his first day that he's feeling too lazy to go to work.

After all that, I look at Mortimer's lifespan timer counting up days until death and wonder if perhaps Dina should put off this marriage and wait to marry the new Goth family heir. Maybe he'll get over the trauma of catching her in bed with his dad by the time he ages up again.

I had to drag myself away from The Sims 2 that night, past my real-life bedtime, and realized that I'd not touched my beloved Build Mode at all.

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I played The Sims 1 and 2 as a kid, but I've slept a few times since then and my CD-ROMs are likely gathering dust in a box in my childhood bedroom. I'd forgotten so much of its inherent silliness that I either took for granted or never quite noticed back when it launched.

Legacy Launch It's a bit of a shame that the Sims 1 and 2 re-releases last week launched to a lot of players experiencing crashes and bugs and frustrated by the small number of actual performance improvements made for the re-launch. There's since been a patch for some of those issues, though it seems likely plenty still remain.

Now that I've spent time in all four mainline Sims games within the same week I can confidently say that The Sims 2 is the one that nails the chaos and humor of Live Mode best.

Ghosts are an incessant menace floating around the Goth household, even before Cassandra's demise. My sims' basic needs are a constant battle to keep filled, unlike the much more forgiving Sims 4. It has whole cutscenes to mark big life events like first woohoos between partners and marriage proposals. And heck, dogs can have jobs. I love that.

Something about The Sims 2's interface puts all the drama immediately at my fingertips in a way that The Sims 4 has never managed to. Existing townie relationships draw my eye as a place to begin stirring the pot and the way that The Sims 2's simulation chooses to constantly ramp up the dramatic tension without my say-so keeps the madness going.

Build mode has my heart in The Sims 3 and 4. And the re-release of the original The Sims has reminded me just how novel a concept it felt like at the time. But as a newly-minted Live Mode drama-seeking freak, The Sims 2 is an absolute winner.

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