Early 2004

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

January#

To do: Lost Lidrock/McDonalds disc, dated Jan 26, [Lost broadcast, Jan 20 https://web.archive.org/web/20040815022350/http://thesims2.webdynamit.net/xtnews/show_news.php?id_news=77]

Alien Abduction Video#

Dated January 6, 2004.

• The alien abduction played out a bit differently.
  • Sims held onto the telescope a little longer before being abducted.
  • There was no music or widescreen crop.
• Memories above Sims' heads appear for the first time.

The Sims 2 Designer Diary Part 6#

Posted on January 8, 2004.¹

Mid-January Screen#

A new image was uploaded.²

Welcome to The Sims 2! Part 14#

https://www.simsnetwork.com/news/2004/01/19/welcome-to-the-sims-2-part-14

• It was mentioned that homes can have up to three stories. This was raised to four in the final.
• The scrapped Slumber Party feature is mentioned, where Kids and Teenagers could eat junk food and tell ghost stories.
• Career Rewards are unlocked at the top of the Careers, but in the final, they're unlocked at certain levels.
• It's confirmed once again that there won't be laundry.
• It's stated that Sims will be able to move out with furniture, but it doesn't happen in the final. The feature would be re-introduced in The Sims 3.

Complément d'enquête Coverage#

To do: This is going to be hard finding footage of this episode, as it's considered to be lost media.

On January 20, 2004, an episode of the French TV show Complément d'enquête was broadcast on France2, with a segment called "la Folie des Sims"³. While it talked about the franchise's success, a rare build was shown off in the broadcast...But only a few surviving images remain.⁴

Pleasantview is shown for the first time.

• The top-left neighborhood menu seems to have undergone a rework, with a white gradient like the final.
• Clicking on a lot showed an arrow pointing towards it in the menu which would be removed in the final.
• Create-A-Sim originally had a more Moroccan feeling to the interior.
• The loading screen originally showed symbols of objects in a simplistic background rather than in the form of a pictures. It also said "The (Community Lot) House" rather than "Loading (Community Lot)".
• Residential Lots that were marked "For Sale" originally said "Unoccupied Lot" and had no price.

Welcome to The Sims 2! Part 15#

Three distinct furniture styles were shown off for the first time, on January 24, 2004.⁵

Delay#

To do: Explain in further detail.

On January 28, 2004, The Sims 2 was delayed to "fiscal year 2005", where the team had aimed for a "late 2004" release.⁶ It was an incredibly tough decision that was made internally, and was described as "polish" for the game.

The development priority for the game had changed in order to reach their standards, such as assessing design features in a closer fashion. However, this had a negative effect; most of Maxis had moved to EA Redwood Shores, and several other experienced people in development had stepped down due to burnout. It was also at the point where Pools began to get implemented, which were one of the first features to be overlooked throughly.

Luc Chat#

Held on January 22, 2004.

• Bigger screen resolutions are confirmed to be in the game.
• Life Stages were still being tuned, but it is confirmed that Elders die of old age at unexpected times.
• When asked about zits and braces as a teenager, Luc was unsure about it. Zits appear in the final game, but braces don't...except they were originally planned to be in the game.
• It is confirmed that the Repo Man cannot be married or interacted with.
• Days off School and Work are confirmed, along with maternal leave.
• Sims' inventories are confirmed, ...except they wouldn't appear in later expansions/patches starting with Nightlife.
• Sims aren't confirmed to have "day ages".
• It is mentioned that there is a meter to confirm how far along the Sim is in the stage.
• Furniture collections are confirmed.
• Video games for TVs are confirmed, with SSX 3 being one of them.
• It is confirmed that Bella Goth disappeared.
• When asked about "Bachelor Parties with adult entertainers", Luc mockingly asked the person if they were "a custom content creator". Funnily enough, Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties would appear in The Sims 3: Generations.
• The feature of a camera automatically taking photos in the middle of a big event (Wedding, Fire, or Burglar) like in The Sims isn't confirmed to be in the game.
• When asked about apartment buildings, Luc responded with the houses in the base game being based off suburban architecture. Apartments would make an appearance in Apartment Life.
• The Social Worker NPC was confirmed to be in the game, in the event of both parents dying.
• In the scrapped Slumber Parties, guests do not bring sleeping bags, and instead use beds. Sleeping Bags would appear in The Sims 3: World Adventures.
• When asked about a "misery clown", it is confirmed that they wouldn't be in the game.
• "Rodents and bugs" are confirmed to be in the game, in the form of cockroaches.

Late Jan Images#

Two new images from The Sims 2 Scoop Newsletter were posted on January 24, 2004.

February#

Unknown Build#

Some mysterious images were posted much later on the official Swedish site later on May 8, 2004, where it doesn't even match up with any of the images from that time period (hence the beige interaction queue), nor with any other images featuring the same sims/settings. One of the images is confirmed to be from WorthPlaying.com⁷

• Interestingly, Don, Dina and Nina can be seen in the first image.

Welcome to The Sims 2! Part 16#

Posted on February 2, 2004.⁸

Screenshots#

Film Strip Image#

Released on February 8, 2004.⁹

• Memories that appear above Sims' heads are now cel-shaded with an outline.
• The WooHoo icon was originally represented with a male and female symbol, before it was changed to an anthropomorphic purple heart. This was likely done to accommodate for same-sex WooHoos.
• The male Sim's hairstyle is not in the final game.
• The female Sim in the white t-shirt's hairstyle is not in the final game.

Gamer's Hell Screenshots#

Five new screenshots were posted on Gamer's Hell, on February 15th. Though, one of them was posted later on the official website, which connects to the first.

Welcome To The Sims 2! Part 17#

Posted on February 22, 2004.

Screenshots#

• This notably the last appearance of the yellow interaction queue color.
• The speech bubble above the Sim in the third image has a glass of wine, which was replaced, likely to avoid referencing alcohol.

Welcome To The Sims 2! Part 18#

Posted on February 28, 2004.¹⁰ The full version of the Hip Hop song that was shown in the Twins video was posted, sounding identical to the final. Also, the prerelease article mentions that there would be a Bluegrass station but was ultimately cut in the final.

Film Strip Images#

First Kiss Movie#

Posted February 26, 2004.

Late Simsnetwork Coverage#

• The interaction icon is now light blue, just like the final.

March#

Early March Build#

The first two were posted on March 11, 2004¹¹, but that doesn't account for the fact that the rest of the images taken in the same setting were posted later in the month.

• The interaction icon for the pool ladder is missing.

Mid-March Build#

Posted on March 18, 2004, showing off Body Shop features. Two more were posted later on March 25¹².

St. Patrick's Day#

Posted on March 14, 2004.

Slideshow Image#

To do: I think this belongs in an earlier build...or with the Sims 2 Bonus DVD at the Smith Lot

• The top right version says "vUnknown".
• The floor navigation symbol now matches the final.

Late March Build#

Posted on March 24 and 25, 2004. The second and third images were posted much later in April 8, 2004.¹³

Behind The Scenes Build#

Screencaps from the Making-Of Featurette included with the Bonus DVD, which come from an early build.

Les Sims 2: Livret de Familie book#

Sometime around E3 2004 (as told from the new logo), promotional books detailing the game were released at supermarkets exclusively in France. Much of the info contained within this book matches that of the builds dating earlier in 2004, revealing never-before-seen scrapped elements!

Pages#

• On the top right text of Page 25, it mentions that Sims will be able to take their furniture and objects that belonged to them, referencing the removed furniture moving feature.

• The top left text of Page 27 explains the scrapped second residence feature in further detail.

• Under the film strip of Page 28 mentions a scrapped karate feature. It's unknown if this is related to Yoga.

• The bottom right corner mentions that houses were still three floors at that point of development.

• The bottom right text of Page 33 mentions that Sims originally taught Toddlers to go to sleep.

• Near the end of the book, there is a personality test where determined via Aspiration. Page 44 and 45 mentions the scrapped Power Aspiration (written as Pouvoir in French), between Romance and Family in other pages. The original French name does not match with similar finalized Aspirations (Popularity being popularité and Wealth Being richesse)
• The bottom left text mentions certain careers that can be done at home. The only home "career" introduced in the base game was selling paintings.

• The secondary residence is mentioned again in the paragraph on page 45.

References#