Prerelease:The Sims 2 (Nintendo DS)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for The Sims 2 (Nintendo DS).

To do: More images to add can be found on: IGN Moby Games TheSimsZone Planet DS GameZone Do more research on the released screenshots. (Some seem to be available at double the res with cleaned up UI for better clarity?) Fix the grammar throughout. Add: Info from this developer interview from early 2005 (GameSpot). Work in the prototype music tracks posted by the game's composer on YouTube. More structural changes to the article to make it flow better. For starters, put GUI changes into its own sub-page, so re-using the same screenshots and comparisons is less confusing, since there's a lot to cover.

The development of The Sims 2 for Nintendo DS isn't very well documented, but there's a clear pattern of change as the game got nearer and nearer to release.

Development Timeline

• Apr. 19th - The Sims 2 DS is announced as being heavy in development and scheduled to be released in autumn.
• Jul. 15th - The Sims 2 DS was playable by the press at the EA Hot Summer Nights event.
• Oct. 4th - EA announces The Sims 2 DS has gone gold.
• Oct. 24th - The Sims 2 DS is released in North America.
• Nov. 4th - The Sims 2 DS is released in Europe.
• Dec. 8th - The Sims 2 DS is released in Japan.

2005

Early GUI Mockups

April

Several of the earliest screenshots released have mockups used for the bottom screen, made obvious by the blatant inconsistencies with what is visible on the top and bottom screens, and in some cases, staying the same between completely different shots.
Chances are, these were created during development to help decide what the GUI would be like, and they just reused them to have something to give to media outlets until the actual UI was complete.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

The Sims 2 GBA

The bottom screen UI is recycling that of The Sims 2 GBA, with a few differences:

• The L and R buttons are missing.
• The cellphone slot is slightly larger.
• The menu has many buttons and graphics that have no equivalent at all in the final game.
• All of the graphics it uses are completely different from the final game, most having been recycled from The Urbz.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

This second shot is considerably more similar to the final than the previous, and is likely the mockup that cemented the design for the final.

• The interaction switcher is on the top instead of the bottom and it has arrows.
• There is no logo graphic in the background of the interact window.
• The interact window shows four nodes for interacting instead of the normal maximum of three present in the final.
• The interact window has a "Talk" option, which does not exist in the final, and while "Chit Chat" does, it's only used for the Concierge in the hotel.
• The graphics for Giuseppi, Toilets, and Chair are from previous game The Urbz. The Cell Phone image and Font is different from the final.

Some minor changes to the top screen are also present.

• The Sanity bar is very short in the build used for the top screen image, compared to the final where it is always the same size.
• There are four empty spaces to the left of the Sanity Bar whose function is unknown. It's possible these would indicate what level your Sim's aspiration was at, but this was changed to simply changing the color of the Sanity Bar itself in the final instead.

Pre-release	Final

This third shot shows a sort of demo with a different layout for a letter reader and character text.

• The sanity bar is missing its text.
• The font on the area, where the sanity bar, the time and the money are, is slightly different from the final game. In this example, the "1", "3", "5" and the "m" are different.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

This fourth shot shows different icons on the UI and minor layout changes.

• The name box of the person you are interacting with is blank.
• The top social bar of the character you are interacting with has a different color than your sanity bar.
• The time box says "p-" instead of "pm" for some reason.
• The background of the top screen didn't get darker when interacting with a character.
• In the middle of the bottom bar, where the 4 "circles" are, the first one looks different than the other ones for some reason.
• The icons on the bottom screen are completely different from the final game.
• There is no text under the icons.
• The background of the bottom screen is completely different from the final game.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

• The Hotel score wasn't shown at the bottom of the bottom screen.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

• The unfinished UI didn't have the "Goals", "Relationships" and "Options" menus.
• There are unfinished and unknown items in the inventory.
• The vacuum cleaner and the metal detector had different icons.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Luthor's name still shows the "III" when playing in Italian. Check other languages to point out this inconsistency in the main article.

This eighth shot shows a slightly different HUD.

• Compared to some of the other screenshots, the 4 "circles" next to the Sanity bar are squares here. Most likely it was a design change but they didn't include those in the final game anyway and replaced it with the "Sanity:" text instead.
• Luthor L. Bigbucks was named "Luthor L. Bigbucks III".

July

EA: Hot Summer Nights

• The painting editor is different. All buttons have been rearranged and there are no colour palettes.
• The Sims icon is not animated and there's text saying "Welcome to Strangetown".

September

Pre-release Mockup	Final

Posted on September 6, 2005

• The sanity text is absent and slots take its place.
• The sanity bar has no outline, and the top social bar does not display the name of the character currently being interacted with.
• The entire touch screen is final.

Geometry

Pre-release	Final

• Different lighting overall.
• The world has more detailed shading.
• The wooden fence right of the hall was entirely black. Likely just an oversight.
• The windows had fully functioning reflections of a generic skybox. All the windows in the final are opaque.
• The Saloon had a couple of differences:

• The texture of the right door wasn't mirrored.
• The texture between the two windows on the second floor was different.
• The sign was different.

• The fences by the well were different.

Pre-release	Final

• The hotel's roof extended at the centre and had a window.
• The entrance doors were bigger, and the surrounding geometry was a bit more complex.
• The window on the right was removed to make space for the hotel's sign.
• The hedge on the right was taller.

Pre-release	Pre-release	Final

• The section of the lobby with the door leading to the basement had a piece of furniture in its place instead, and two doors on each side.

Pre-release

• Later in development, there was a door with the same texture as the entrance doors on the right side.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

• The Hotel entryway uses a different door and wallpaper, and the room's walls are higher in the final.

Pre-release Mockup	Final

• At the Sun Deck, there was an observatory with a telescope instead of a glass dome.
• There were no glass fences.
• The desert mountain in the background was missing.
• The clouds were white instead of gray.
• The ground had a slightly different color.

Concept Art

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Might be worth checking if the images in the game's files differ in resolution. Could be available at a higher res if we're lucky.

The unlockable concept art show characters with a slightly different design.

• 

  Kayleigh's light blue dress shirt was pink.

• 

  Xizzle had an alternate design of an entirely orange outfit.