Aspyr has brought back the Sims 2 with updates for modern systems and lots of expansion content included. It's exclusive to the Mac App Store so head over there for details. The game just released on the 7th of this month. 
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OS X The Sims 2 Super Collection now on MAS
- Thread starter Dirtyharry50
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It kinda makes me mad. They just gave out the PC version of this free the other day.
They've of course renamed it too.
Way to go EA.
They've of course renamed it too.
Way to go EA.
It kinda makes me mad. They just gave out the PC version of this free the other day.
They've of course renamed it too.
Way to go EA.
Thats because the mac version was ported by Aspyr rather than being a native version for OSX by Maxis. If EA was responsible it wouldn't even be on the MAS.
Ah, right. Still, it just so happens that they've both released it at the same time.
Oh well.
Yes its frustrating but its a lot of work to port an older game that was only designed for windows so they usually have to charge a lot more.
Luckily we are getting more dual platform releases like simcity now so its less common to be paying a fortune for an old game.
Maxis made the original game for the PC then Aspyr spent hundreds of hours of work porting it to the mac which obviously isn't done for free. The mac and PC versions are basically different games.
Games like the new simcity are built from the ground up to run on both systems so you don't need a mac publisher like Aspyr to port them
Alright, got it.
EDIT: Anyway...
I thought 2 was much better compared to 3. I don't like how in the Sims 3, sims became more "autopilot" and did more of their own thing unless you turned it off in the settings.
Will get it the next time I get some iTunes credit.
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Thanks for the support you all!
I thought I would give some context here. This is NOT a re-wrapped version of our original release to work on the App Store. Once EA was kind enough to allow us to get back into the code, we spent 6 months completely overhauling the game. Native and Retina resolution support, a completely new renderer which allows the game to run at 60 frames on any resolution, TONS of bug fixes, etc... I challenge anyone who is able to run their original disc version side by side with this re-release. The difference is literally night and day.
EA is no longer supporting Sims 2, period. So we thought it was actually a classy move to give it out for free for a week.
We have had hundreds of fan requests to bring it back, so that is what we did and we are so grateful that EA allowed us to do the work. The Mac version of Sims 2 will be supported for a long time to come
I thought I would give some context here. This is NOT a re-wrapped version of our original release to work on the App Store. Once EA was kind enough to allow us to get back into the code, we spent 6 months completely overhauling the game. Native and Retina resolution support, a completely new renderer which allows the game to run at 60 frames on any resolution, TONS of bug fixes, etc... I challenge anyone who is able to run their original disc version side by side with this re-release. The difference is literally night and day.
EA is no longer supporting Sims 2, period. So we thought it was actually a classy move to give it out for free for a week.
We have had hundreds of fan requests to bring it back, so that is what we did and we are so grateful that EA allowed us to do the work. The Mac version of Sims 2 will be supported for a long time to come
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Yeah, bought it in a heartbeat. I've never put in request for it, but I've been trying to get the PC version to work with a wine wrapper, with no luck.
I always felt that Sims 3 was a step down from Sims 2. And with EA really botching the mac version of sims 3, I just don't play it that much.
Thanks for the support you all!
I thought I would give some context here. This is NOT a re-wrapped version of our original release to work on the App Store. Once EA was kind enough to allow us to get back into the code, we spent 6 months completely overhauling the game. Native and Retina resolution support, a completely new renderer which allows the game to run at 60 frames on any resolution, TONS of bug fixes, etc... I challenge anyone who is able to run their original disc version side by side with this re-release. The difference is literally night and day.
EA is no longer supporting Sims 2, period. So we thought it was actually a classy move to give it out for free for a week.
We have had hundreds of fan requests to bring it back, so that is what we did and we are so grateful that EA allowed us to do the work. The Mac version of Sims 2 will be supported for a long time to come
Yeah, bought it in a heartbeat. I've never put in request for it, but I've been trying to get the PC version to work with a wine wrapper, with no luck.
I always felt that Sims 3 was a step down from Sims 2. And with EA really botching the mac version of sims 3, I just don't play it that much.
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Thanks! Not all of the DLC is included, we only had time to go back into our original code base, so you will miss out on a few stuff packs like H&M and IKEA that were never natively ported.
We did however include access to the Body Shop and Package Installer, so we are supporting mods!
Thanks for the support you all!
I thought I would give some context here. This is NOT a re-wrapped version of our original release to work on the App Store. Once EA was kind enough to allow us to get back into the code, we spent 6 months completely overhauling the game. Native and Retina resolution support, a completely new renderer which allows the game to run at 60 frames on any resolution, TONS of bug fixes, etc... I challenge anyone who is able to run their original disc version side by side with this re-release. The difference is literally night and day.
EA is no longer supporting Sims 2, period. So we thought it was actually a classy move to give it out for free for a week.
We have had hundreds of fan requests to bring it back, so that is what we did and we are so grateful that EA allowed us to do the work. The Mac version of Sims 2 will be supported for a long time to come
WOW, you make it sound so good! Retina support is a nice move. Thanks!
Ummm, I've been a long-time The Sims player (90% of it on Windows PCs). Been playing The Sims since the Windows Vista era, and yes I even tried TSO (The Sims Online). As far as I can remember, the Mac ports done by EA-Maxis were criticized as craptastic Cider ports. Yes, Cider ports. Have you read the TS3 Mac Forums? Full of hatred and bile towards EA-Maxis because of all the bugs and poor performance of the Cider port. Many have demanded their money back.
Compared to EA's recent Mac Sims port, I'm sure this Aspyr Super Collection will be a far superior porting job. If anything, the Aspyr TS2 release this week probably is more optimized than all the Mac ports that Maxis/EA had done in the past decade. Ohhh hey look here?! See? See the screenshot of the Mac App Store description? Look at the last paragraph! They even made it Retinized.
P.S. — I will be tempted to purchase TS2 on MAS soon, as this looks like a fantastic Aspyr addition. I will miss Free Time expansion (not included) however. That's the expansion with some of the best tunes/tracks IMHO, including Simlish songs dubbed by Katy Perry and similar artists. Oh wait, maybe it was Seasons (where Katy sang the Simlish dub of Hot N Cold). LOL
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Anyone been able to install any .package files with the package installer?
When I open the package installer i get this message:
"Please double click custom content package to install it"
And when i double click the .package(yes, it's a s2 package file) file i get the same message.
It's a long time since I installed any custom content for ts2, and never on a mac. Are there separate package files for the installer? like s3package on sims3?
If so, how do i manually install .package files? I assume that it should go somewhere inside the app itself, but I'm not a 100% sure where...
When I open the package installer i get this message:
"Please double click custom content package to install it"
And when i double click the .package(yes, it's a s2 package file) file i get the same message.
It's a long time since I installed any custom content for ts2, and never on a mac. Are there separate package files for the installer? like s3package on sims3?
If so, how do i manually install .package files? I assume that it should go somewhere inside the app itself, but I'm not a 100% sure where...
There is an older discussion on MacRumors, link below. Seems like poster cbrain seems to have some good tips starting at post #17.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/355381/
Thanks for the support you all!
I thought I would give some context here. This is NOT a re-wrapped version of our original release to work on the App Store. Once EA was kind enough to allow us to get back into the code, we spent 6 months completely overhauling the game. Native and Retina resolution support, a completely new renderer which allows the game to run at 60 frames on any resolution, TONS of bug fixes, etc... I challenge anyone who is able to run their original disc version side by side with this re-release. The difference is literally night and day.
EA is no longer supporting Sims 2, period. So we thought it was actually a classy move to give it out for free for a week.
We have had hundreds of fan requests to bring it back, so that is what we did and we are so grateful that EA allowed us to do the work. The Mac version of Sims 2 will be supported for a long time to come
A tremendous thank you to your entire team for the work you put into this re-release! I still have the original version installed & working in Mavericks thanks to the universal binary released in '06. It's fine, but the Super Collection gives me double the framerate on my more-complicated lots, so this is fantastic! And the fact that it's still compatible with old neighborhoods and custom content is a huge bonus.
If I could make a suggestion, I noticed the Super Collection still imposes a limit of 2000 wall segments per lot, after which you cannot build any more. I had to stop construction on two of my big lots, due to hitting this limit. Now that modern computers are capable of handling much more than this, can a higher limit be patched into an update?
Hmm I never heard of this 2000 wall segment limit. Was this a known limit back in the original TS2 from the mid-2000s time period?
Then again, I never created immensely huge mansions. And when I did, the building itself was not too huge, since the lot was filled with gardens, yards, orchards, and trees.
At one point I remember filling the lot with a big forest, because the forest/trees were REQUIRED for spawning the wolf. The wolf would only visit lots that had lots of trees. And of course, that was the only way your Sim could be bitten by the wolf thereby becoming a Werewolf Sim.
It wasn't a widely-known limit, because very few ever reached it. But yes, it was in the original release as well. 2000 segments of walls will go a long way, unless you're building something truly monstrous. For example, this is one of my lots that hit the wall limit. It's a 55-room resort hotel, but the interior is mostly empty, because I ran out of walls.
The wall limit is somewhat documented here:
http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Wall_Limit
Like it says, I could use foundation walls or custom walls for the rest, but they act differently, so I'd rather not have to go that route.
The sims 3 was ported by EA/Maxis as you say and it is a terrible,terrible port thats not worth buying. As we are talking about a completely different game here ported properly by Aspyr I'm not sure what your point is?
I just bought this. Went through a few tutorials lady night (pretty much the same as the original but I didn't want to miss anything).
I played it on my MBP but can't wait to play it on my 20" ACD.
Is there a place to change the graphic settings or do they adjust based on the mac it's running on? It ran smooth but I could tell it wasn't on the best settings.
I played it on my MBP but can't wait to play it on my 20" ACD.
Is there a place to change the graphic settings or do they adjust based on the mac it's running on? It ran smooth but I could tell it wasn't on the best settings.
Been playing this a couple days now. To start, this is a fantastic port, buttery smooth on my late-2012 iMac. And before I forget, many thanks to Aspyr for bringing this classic to the MAS!
Now a couple of thoughts and concerns ..
1) I played this some years back on a Windows (Vista) machine. But on OSX Mavericks, I simply cannot locate the folder where the game stores (hides?) the Snapshots/Screenshots taken in-game.
What I thought was the most obvious location would be:
iMac/MacintoshHD/Applications/TheSims2 Super Collection/Contents/Home/TSData/Res/UserData/Neighborhoods
But the images I took are not there. Maybe it's in a hidden directory?
2) The default "zoom" in Neighborhood View is just too limited. Even at max zoom (using the mouse scroll-wheel), you can't even see the entire *playable* neighborhood. What should be playable lots at the edge of the city map is just barely out of playable view. It's like they are out-of-bounds in a blindspot just beyond the edge of your play screen.
But this apparently was a Maxis default, not Aspyr's fault. I easily found guides that told me how to adjust (using TextEdit) so that the max zoom lets you "see" more of the hood at any given angle. I simply edited one section of the text file NeighborhoodCamera.txt
The Default:
zoom 1 (650 450 230)
fov (33 33 33)
clip (10 10 10) (2000 2000 2000)
pitch (40 32 25) (40 32 25)
My changes:
zoom 1 (1050 450 200)
fov (33 33 33)
clip (10 10 10) (2000 2000 2000)
pitch (40 32 25) (40 32 25)
No game changing alterations. Just enabled zoom up just a bit more.
3) Issue #3 is . well . I was hoping that the Internet would have some kind of digital manual for TS2. But none exists?? Steam did not have one. Neither did Amazon or Origins, even though they all supposedly sold a Mac TS2 port at some time in the past.
Not a game breaker for me, since I saved my original manuals/booklets from the Windows version (lots of manuals since I owned several expansions). The only problem is that I would like to see how the keyboard is mapped in this current MacOSX Super Collection. Maybe Aspyr could help post this info? Keyboard mapping and MacOSX-specific shortcuts, F-key shortcuts, etc.
That's all I can think of for now. Again, this is a very good port, runs so sweet on my iMac. Aspyr did a heck on a job optimizing this for modern OSX Macs. Running Mavericks 10.9.4
Now a couple of thoughts and concerns ..
1) I played this some years back on a Windows (Vista) machine. But on OSX Mavericks, I simply cannot locate the folder where the game stores (hides?) the Snapshots/Screenshots taken in-game.
What I thought was the most obvious location would be:
iMac/MacintoshHD/Applications/TheSims2 Super Collection/Contents/Home/TSData/Res/UserData/Neighborhoods
But the images I took are not there. Maybe it's in a hidden directory?
2) The default "zoom" in Neighborhood View is just too limited. Even at max zoom (using the mouse scroll-wheel), you can't even see the entire *playable* neighborhood. What should be playable lots at the edge of the city map is just barely out of playable view. It's like they are out-of-bounds in a blindspot just beyond the edge of your play screen.
But this apparently was a Maxis default, not Aspyr's fault. I easily found guides that told me how to adjust (using TextEdit) so that the max zoom lets you "see" more of the hood at any given angle. I simply edited one section of the text file NeighborhoodCamera.txt
The Default:
zoom 1 (650 450 230)
fov (33 33 33)
clip (10 10 10) (2000 2000 2000)
pitch (40 32 25) (40 32 25)
My changes:
zoom 1 (1050 450 200)
fov (33 33 33)
clip (10 10 10) (2000 2000 2000)
pitch (40 32 25) (40 32 25)
No game changing alterations. Just enabled zoom up just a bit more.
3) Issue #3 is . well . I was hoping that the Internet would have some kind of digital manual for TS2. But none exists?? Steam did not have one. Neither did Amazon or Origins, even though they all supposedly sold a Mac TS2 port at some time in the past.
Not a game breaker for me, since I saved my original manuals/booklets from the Windows version (lots of manuals since I owned several expansions). The only problem is that I would like to see how the keyboard is mapped in this current MacOSX Super Collection. Maybe Aspyr could help post this info? Keyboard mapping and MacOSX-specific shortcuts, F-key shortcuts, etc.
That's all I can think of for now. Again, this is a very good port, runs so sweet on my iMac. Aspyr did a heck on a job optimizing this for modern OSX Macs. Running Mavericks 10.9.4
You're pretty much spot on there with the hidden directory. Because of AppStore sandboxing restrictions, the Sims files aren't in their usual place, but instead:
~/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.sims2.appstore/Data/Library/Application Support/Aspyr/The Sims 2/
Your screenshots should be in there.
Most keyboard shortcuts are exactly like the Windows version, right down to the use of the control key, rather than command. Was there a specific shortcut you were looking for?
Thanks for pointing me to the directory! The screenshots were there are you said, with the last subdirectory (folder) being Storytelling