The Sims 2 original base game and expansion packs (from CD/DVD or ISO images, NOT Ultimate Collection) installed on Windows 7, 8, 10 cause a lot of issues. I had to buy an older laptop on which I can install Windows XP and play my favorite game.
After several critics regarding Palace II‘s lack of elegance, and Palace I‘s messy house floor plan, too few rooms, non-rectangular rooms and bad interior design, I decided in April 2013 to build a new The Sims model of Trianon Palace from Floresti, Romania, built by Cantacuzino Family in 1910 and abandoned (more details). I broke my personal record of the most expensive house in The Sims 2.
An apartment block intelligently designed to make its external shape as complex is possible, 44 segments of facade, while internal rooms are all rectangular. It feature a very efficient floor plan with two big rooms living and dining 7×6 squares, three bedrooms 4×4 squares, two bathrooms 4×2 an 3×2 squares, each room having 2 doors to other rooms to prevent sims getting stuck.
The Sims 2 base game come with 3 pre-made neighborhoods (Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville), expansion packs add 11 pre-made neighborhoods: 3 normal neighborhoods (Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, Belladonna Cove), and 8 sub-neighborhoods which can be linked to each neighborhood separately and visited: 3 university campuses (La Fiesta Tech, Académie Le Tour, Downtown), 1 Downtown, 1 shopping district (Bluewater Village), 3 vacation destinations (Takemizu Village, Three Lakes, Twikkii Island).
Total 14 pre-made neighborhoods with 350 lots Additional 5 hidden neighborhoods do exist in game files and are used to generate NPC, they cannot be played.
My second Modern House, a more realistic version of The Cube of Glass, now having internal walls instead of open floor plan. This home contains four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and plenty of unused space should be enough even for a family of eight Sims. Made in October 2012.
I built in The Sims 2 the famous house of Kevin McCallister from favorite movies: Home Alone 1 & 2, in September 2012, after I got its location and floor plan (671 Lincoln Street, Winnetka, Illinois, a 2-story house plus attic and basement, 4250 square feet, built in 1921). A luxury property for families up to 8 sims, decorated including the rear garage and minivan seen in movie, but it resulted a messy floor plan.
This is a The Sims 2 replica of the castle located in Săvârşin vilage in Romania, built in 17th century. I designed it in The Sims 2 in September 2018, featuring 4 bedrooms for families up to 8 sims, 4 bathrooms, living room, dining room with 12 seats, 3 TVs, 2 pianos, 2 desks with computers, 2 empty desks, etc.
Belladonna Cove a pre-made neighborhoods that was added by The Sims 2: Apartment Life expansion pack.
It contains 49 lots, of which 16 community lots, 14 apartment lots, 19 residential lots, and 11 families living in.
Inspired from Egypt pyramids or Luxor Hotel from Las Vegas, this The Sims house is shaped like a pyramid and feature 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, so it can be home for families up to 8 Sims. Made in October 2018, this is the first house designed by me where I decorated interior in stone and bricks, instead of wood and carpet seen in most of my houses. The interior receive daylight via windows even if the windows are not visible from outside, because are under roof.
In February 2008 I started to built a third The Sims 2 urban town, this time by using University Expansion Pack. I downloaded few user-made maps and choose to use StarlingSprings map because is a medium-sized, flat neighborhood, with dense and regulated street network, plus a river that split the map in two asymmetric zones (the map can be downloaded from modthesims.info or gethanesims.prismbaby.com).
Desiderata Valley a pre-made neighborhoods that was added by The Sims 2: FreeTime expansion pack.
It contains 23 lots, of which 7 community lots, 16 residential lots, and 6 families living in.
Expansion packs: University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, FreeTime, Apartment Life.
Stuff packs: Holiday Party Pack, Family Fun Stuff, Glamour Life Stuff, Happy Holiday Stuff, Celebration! Stuff, H&M Fashion Stuff, Teen Style Stuff, Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff, IKEA Home Stuff, Mansion & Garden Stuff.
Riverblossom Hills a pre-made neighborhoods that was added by The Sims 2: Seasons expansion pack.
It contains 22 lots, of which 3 community lots, 19 residential lots, and 6 families living in.
I designed several polylines in AutoCAD that does calculate perimeter for each, adjusted the polylines to find the optimal shape to make the building to appear as large and tall is possible while keeping it under the limit of 2100 wall segments and basement + 14 floors (adding 1 more floor would cause game to crash).
Veronaville is one of the three pre-made neighborhoods shipped with The Sims 2.
It contains 25 lots, of which 4 community lots, 22 residential lots, and 3 families living in.
The larger version of American single-story home. Designed in October 2012 for a family of 6 Sims, in American Style: asymmetrical, siding wall cover, front porch and carport. Improved September 2018 changing furniture and removing fences.
Is possible to have a single-story house with driveway and swimming pool, on a 2×2 lot? YES! Designed in August 2012 for a family of 4 Sims, in American Style: asymmetrical, asymmetrical, siding wall covers, front porch and carport. Improved September 2018 changing furniture and removing fences.
A The Sims 2 apartment block designed to be realistic, floor plan inspired from a block type common across many Asian cities. Two-storey, 3 bedroom apartments per floor, with bedrooms accessible via hallway. Made in April 2013.
Strangetown is one of the three pre-made neighborhoods shipped with The Sims 2.
It contains 11 lots, of which 2 community lots, 9 residential lots, and 5 families living in.
The Imperial Tower is a The Sims 2 optimized version of Empire State Building, because the game do not display in neighborhood view flooring above 150 steps from ground, had to cover building using a pitched roof. 15 floors is the maximum height possible using SetHighestAllowedLevel cheat, without crashing game. Sister building with Empire Tower.
Pleasantview is one of the three pre-made neighborhoods shipped with The Sims 2.
It contains 26 lots, of which 4 community lots, 22 residential lots, and 6 families living in.
I planned this condominium using AutoCAD to make it as big as possible while keeping under limit of 2100 wall segments. I made 4 identical blocks with 9 floors, floors 1-7 having 136 squares and 60 wall segments, floor 8 having 88 squares and 44 wall segments, floor 9 having 24 squares and 20 wall segments. total 1936 wall segments. Then I built half-height walls that do not count towards wall limit. Then I build foundation and pool that does count towards wall limit but can be built even after 2100 limit was reached. It took about 5 hours to build in October 2018.
Twikkii Island is a Tropical-themed sub-neighborhood that appears in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage as a vacation destination.
It contains 13 lots, of which 7 community lots, 4 lodging lots, 2 vacation homes, and 0 families living in.
Secret Vacation Lot: The Mysterious Hut, occupied by the Witch doctor.
I compiled an Excel database with all career tracks and job positions, showing also job description, salary, work days, skills and friends required, etc. Summary of salaries is shown in this table:
Three Lakes is a mountain-themed sub-neighborhood that appears in Bon Voyage as a vacation destination.
It contains 12 lots, of which 6 community lots, 4 lodging lots, 2 vacation homes, and 0 families living in.
Secret Vacation Lot: Hidden Burrow, occupied by Bigfoot.
Takemizu Village is a Far East-themed sub-neighborhood that appears in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage as a vacation destination.
It contains 11 lots, of which 6 community lots, 3 lodging lots, 2 vacation homes, and 0 families living in.
By default, The Sims 2 allow you to built up to 5 levels. This means houses like basement + 3 floors + roof or terrace. You can eliminate the basement, or built an underground floor inside basement. There is a TRICK that allow building 6 levels: put a dormer on the highest level, but this will not allow anymore stepped roofs taller than one floor.
University Expansion Pack allows to change the floor limit: press Ctrl+Shift+C when you are in Neighborhood (NOT in a lot), type sethighestallowedlevel 16 (or any number up to 255), then open any lot and you can built more levels. If the height limit was reached, just put a dormer to unlock the limit.
I planned this condominium using AutoCAD to make it as big as possible while keeping under limit of 2100 wall segments. I made 5 blocks with 8 floors, each floor having 116 squares and 52 wall segments. 52 x 8 x 5 = 2080 wall segments. Gate uses remained 20 wall segments. Then I built half-height walls, 24 segments per floor x 8 x that do not count towards wall limit, roof terrace with 66 x 5 half-height walls. Then I build foundation tall like one floor and pool that does count towards wall limit but can be built even after 2100 limit was reached. It took about 5 hours to build in September 2018.
The Sims is a game meant to build houses, but I can also build a skyscraper… or two, the twin towers of World Trade Center, completed by Marriott Hotel and the 3 additional low-rise buildings.
The Pinnacle Tower is the largest of the series of skyscrapers I build in The Sims 2. Because the game do not display in neighborhood view flooring above 150 steps from ground, had to cover building using a pitched roof. 15 floors is the maximum height possible using SetHighestAllowedLevel cheat, without crashing game.