Differences

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:The Sims 2 (Windows).

To do:
Lots...

Just like the previous game, there were a lot of changes under the hood during development though more-so on the visual side.

Base Game#

Content that was planned for the base game, but would be introduced later on or not.

Jewelery were planned to be in the base game but got cut very late in development as several unused assets can be found. It would be eventually introduced in Bon Voyage.
Notoriously, ownable cars were supposed to be introduced as it was seen in a decent chunk of pre-release media. They functioned differently from what would be utilized in Nightlife, having a different driveway of sorts.
Rain, Lightning and lightning-based Deaths were also planned, before it was saved for Seasons.

The Transcendence painting was much larger in the E3 2003 build, before it would be in it's finalized size in December 2003 prerelease.

E3 2003 (Post-E3 build shown for clarity)	December 2003-Final

The Meaning of Fruit painting originally used the unused The Sims: Vacation texture, but it also had golden corners. Another render from around the time uses the finalized frame texture, suggesting it was a scrapped recolor.

Early Oct.	2003 Render	Final

The SimLine Wall Phone originally had a sticky note on it, existing as early as the Pre-E3 2003 builds. Said note would be given a texture in December 2003 Prerelease before it would be removed from the mesh (At an unknown time in prerelease), but can still be found in its texture sheet. Additionally, the table equivalent (seen in Oct. 2003) had no such sticky note.

Pre-E3 2003	December 2003	Texture	Final

The "Modern art print" painting, seen as early as E3 2003 and as late as early December 2003 prerelease, does not appear in the final game, but unused textures and mesh can be found in the files.

E3 2003 (Post-E3 build shown for clarity)	Leftover Model

The Simple Sink from Krampft Industries saw few changes from it's first appearance in alpha builds, with a different faucet design and the lack of soap and toothbrush. It would take on its final appearance in September 2003 prerelease.

Alpha	Sep. 2003-Final

There is a low-poly toilet that appears in pre-E3 builds. It is possibly an earlier version of a scrapped toilet as a much better-quality model it appears in the same place. It's loosely resembles the Sewage Brothers Resteze Toilet, especially in its later appearance.

Early Alpha	Later Alpha

There is a simplistic-looking 2x2 dining table from the Pre-E3 builds. It would get a more refined design in a later build before eventually getting cut.

Early Alpha	Later Alpha

There is a scrapped bathtub that resembles the Colonial ComboCleen by Imperial Plumbing Works, except the curtain is on the other way around.

Pre-E3 2003	Final

There is a scrapped, oriental-looking Table light seen in the late October 2003 build.

Certain floorings originally had unique reflection effects for furniture and Sims, which were present up until around the Post-E3 2003 builds, and removed entirely in the 3Sat broadcast. This is because it caused performance issues.¹

circa. Jul. 2003	3Sat Broadcast

The painting on the easel does not appear in the final, but it is a rendition of a painting by Italian artist Luigi Manzini.

Ditto, except exclusively planned for expansions.

Bunk beds were planned for expansions but never came to be.Ismael (simsexpress.com) (Aug 19, 2004 6:12:57 PM)

Of the 500 objects that there are again... There will be bunks?
maxiskevin (Aug 19, 2004 6:12:57 PM)
Bunks are not currently in.

Slot machines were planned for Nightlife, which were conceptualized but were cut during development. The only explicit mention of such a feature was in an early flyer that came with specific Sims products.
- Additionally, they were considered to be added again in April 2006 prerelease from a public poll, but it never fell through.
A training system for Cats and Dogs were planned, but would shelved until The Sims Pet Stories.