E3 2003

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

To do: Explain how Life Score works.

The Sims 2 was officially unveiled to the public on May 5, 2003, before having it's bigger debut at E3 2003 on May 14-16. It showed off the expanded gameplay features that would mostly be commonplace in the final, though a myriad of differences can be found. The particular build revolved around a household of Sims named Bernie, Marty, Jennifer, and Lisa.

At the time of revelation, the render engine was not completely finished yet, hence why a CGI trailer was shown more out of prerelease¹

Screenshots#

General#

To do: https://web.archive.org/web/20040302093359/http://ukgames.com/

Images that were posted all over gaming sites.

• The camera angle appears to be more fixed.
• Some of the graphics appear to be in a slightly different state, which is because the game render engine was not finished at that point of development.
• The HUD was mostly different, with the controlled Sim's mugshot appearing on the corner rather than in the bar.
• Sim mugshots were that of T-Pose stances, which can evidently be seen in the Toddler's mugshot.
• Outer Lots originally had a black void, as opposed to showing the rest of the neighborhood.
• Simoleons used a dollar symbol ($), obviously as a placeholder.
• The text font was different, being a variation of Comic font.
• The TV is playing the commercial for The Sims' Livin Large. It can be found unused, in the final in the form of a graphic file.
• Playable video games are confirmed as one of the images shows SSX 3 being played.
• Actions were originally "grouped", rather than the singular action itself appearing as that.
• Certain floors had unique reflection effects, which would be removed due to performance issues.²
• The road markings were different, and resembled the design from The Sims.

Miscellaneous#

Computer Gaming World Screenshots#

Exclusive images were also shown in this coverage, but they would be released later on.

• The bottom two materials of the couch aren't available in the final.

Unknown#

Images from an unknown source. Some of them are from Sims Express.

Sims Express#

The following images are exclusive to Sims Express. Some of them are in low-resolution due to the hi-res ones being lost.

Videos#

General Coverage#

Videos that were officially released as downloads.

Other#

Interviews#

Margaret Ng interview#

Watch on YouTubeAn interview with fragland.net was held with Margaret Ng, one of the developers for The Sims 2. She mentions a few interesting features that never made it to the final, while also showing a bit more footage of the game.

• Margaret mentions that one of the Sims, named Marty "goes to the right schools". She could be referring to the Private School that appears in the final, or there was an option to send a sim to different kinds of schools.
• Interaction icons were originally more of a purple color with a white outline rather than blue bevel, and had Comic Sans MS font.
• Aspiration was originally called the "Lifescore".
• Sims could originally be switched by clicking on them.
• The clothes changing effect was originally more simplified.
• Weather was originally present in this build, as revealed in the footage, whilst the developer reference a Death by lighting.

Interviews#

Computer Gaming World issue #228

An exclusive interview of The Sims 2 was held in Issue 228 of Computer Gaming World magazine, dated May 2003. This interview contains some interesting features that weren't previously mentioned in any other coverage;

• Life Moments are mentioned within the Life Score feature, with examples such as First Kiss, First Child and First Words. Such examples were reworked into Wants and Needs for the Aspiration score feature, as well as the Sim's Memories. Big Life Moments are also mentioned, which were likely worked into Lifetime Wants in the University expansion and beyond.
  • They were originally recorded in the Story Album, where it may have functioned like the camera automatically taking images of events such as a Fire in The Sims. It may have also been possibly connected to the enigmatic Storytelling images in the final, suggesting that this feature was cut late in development.
• The Lie Finder Machine is mentioned in the interview as well as Career Rewards, where they said it "improve a skill", but no Skills are raised in the final when using the machine.
• The interview confirms that "not every object from The Sims expansions" would be included.
• It confirms that there are 18 career tracks with 10 levels, but there are only 11 in the final base game. It was also mentioned that Teenagers and Elders have 7 career tracks with three levels each, but it could be referring to specific jobs, despite retaining the three-level promotion.
• It was said that the neighborhood would have a total of 50 lots, but it was likely at the point before other neighborhoods were designed. Pleasantview only has 26 lots, while Strangetown has 11 and Veronaville has 26 in the final.
• Three new Motives in the interview were mentioned; Thirst, Mind and Family, while Social was renamed to Friends. They all do not appear in the final game and was reverted back to the eight Motives, because the developers thought it would be too overwhelming for the player.
• The interview mentions that there aren't any NPC pets present in the build, which would return in Pets expansion.
• While the surrounding awareness feature is mentioned in the interview, it was said that Sims would grow attached to their furniture to the point of them missing it, if it gets stolen by a Burglar.

Unknown Interview#

To do: Please find the source...

An interview from ??? fansite was held in August.

• Aspiration was originally called the "Lifescore", and could seemingly be reworked into Memories.
• Newborn babies (Originally called Infants) originally had a longer life state than Toddlers, rather than just being born for a few days.
• The unused "Big Boss" scenario was mentioned in the interview.
• When pregnant Sims are about to have their baby, they were originally supposed to be taken in an ambulance rather than having the baby by themselves. There's even unused animations in the final game relating to that.
• It was possible that the Sim could send their child to many different schools rather than just a private one. A feature like this would reappear in The Sims 3: Generations.
• The interview also mentions "Vacation homes", which seemed to either be completely cut from the final game, or reworked into the Bon Voyage expansion pack.
• Sims could originally "spy on neighbors" via the telescope, where it would have ruined their relationship with the townies.
• Objects were originally going to "age" much like that was seen in the preview trailer. When an object "ages", there would've been an option to "repaint" the furniture or replace it with another.

References#