(PC) Apartment Life

MaxoidShannon posted the first picture from The Sims 2 Apartment Life in this thread at the official Sims 2 BBS.  She wrote:

My name is MaxoidShannon, I’m the Producer on The Sims 2 EP/SP products. I was playing The Sims 2 Apartment Life the other day and thought you might like to see a sneak peak at some of the cool new objects. Check out the ceiling!!! (Yes, they are real!!) You will be able to change the texture on the ceilings. I know this isn’t much of a news item, but we are a bit early in development and we will have much more in the coming months. I hope you like what you see!

Reindeer911 over at the Sims 2 Community Forums received a Survey from EA today asking what features they would like to see in an Apartment expansion.  They were kind enough to post the important stuff from the survey:

Please take the time to read the following concept description for a potential Sims 2 Expansion Pack.

Your Sims are moving into a brand-new apartment, and their lives will never be the same! Adventure, fun, and drama await them as they move into the perfect apartment, whether it’s a spacious loft, a cozy one bedroom for couples, or a multi-bedroom flat with roommates. Meet and socialize with new neighbors to form networks, become friends with the landlord to decrease rent, and make friends that can help advance their career or lovelife. Will they mingle in coffee shops, take in a show at the local comedy club or hit the streets to learn from the breakdancers? Whatever new lifestyle they choose, your Sims will face all-new challenges, from getting along with roommates to dealing with noisy neighbors and meddlesome landlords. Take your Sims out of the serene suburbs and into apartment life with this new expansion pack!

The following is a list of features that may be included in a new apartment life themed expansion pack.

Please indicate which features you would be interested in playing.
Please select all that apply

• Building and designing an apartment building
• Building social reputation , which would affect how others will treat your Sim
• Asking your neighbors to baby-sit
• Visiting other residents of your apartment building
• Learn a new life skill: anger management
• Learn a new life skill: fire prevention
• Experiencing living with an unruly roommate
• Network to find Sims that can impact your love, career and livelihood
• Meeting people of different social groups – bohemians, jocks, gearheads, techies, socialites
• Ability to move four single family households into one apartment building
• Living in an apartment
• Owning a helicopter
• Learn to Breakdance
• Hiring a Butler
• Different living experiences based on the surrounding communities impacted by rent and noise

We are considering introducing the following new items in a new expansion pack. Please indicate which of the following features you are interested in.

Please select all that apply.

• Penned miniature dog
• Vending machine
• Medicine Cabinet
• Spiral Staircase
• Playground Slide
• Fire hydrant with sprinkler
• Merry Go Round
• Playground Lookout Tower
• Ceilings
• Huge Saltwater aquarium
• Ceiling Fans
• Toddler Spring Rider
• Graffiti
• Food replicator (machine that makes any food you want)
• Overhead cabinets
• Baby Floor Gym
• Murphy Bed (bed stored in a wall cabinet)
• Ownable Helicopter
• Closet
• Hopscotch
• Monkey Bars
• Baby Bouncy Chair
• None of the above

Please note that this isn’t a true list of what we will be getting, it’s just what was asked from EA.  I wouldn’t doubt that some of these will make it into the new pack though.  Graffiti, ceilings and spiral staircases are a must for me!

This is the Buy 2 Get 1 free flyer that Walmart has on their site.  It’s in PDF format so you’ll need Adobe Reader to open it.  This confirms that the info sheet is real and not fake for those doubters.  Still doesn’t explain all of the typos…sounds like I wrote it!

ABC Software has changed the name of The Sims 2 Apartment Life to The Sims 2 Expansion Pack No. 8. So it’s safe to say there will be another expansion after all. Whether or not what it will be based on is still a mystery….which hopefully will be solved soon.

Thanks to Infinite Sims for checking on this.

Please note that the following is pure rumour. It could be true, it could not…

There is a thread over at the official Sims 2 BBS about the 8th expansion pack. On a french Sim’s site, there is a note that says:

Notre Coup de Chance:
Alors que ?? Quartier Libre ?? devait ??tre le dernier opus des Sims 2, nous sommes
en mesure de confirmer qu’un autre Add-on verra le jour prochainement, ce qui nous
aidera ?? patienter jusqu’?? la sortie des Sims 3. Cette nouvelle extension permettra
?? nos Sims de vivre des choses inhabituelles dans un univers assez particulier qui,
nous le parions, ravira un grand nombre de joueurs. Plus d’infos tr??s bient??t !…

which roughly translate to:

Our Stroke of Luck:
“Whereas “Free Time” was to be the last opus of Sims 2, we are able to confirm that another Add one will be born soon, which will help us to have patience to the exit of Sims 3. This new extension will make it possible our Sims to live unusual things in a rather particular universe which, we bet it, will charm a great number of players. More infos very soon!…”

Details for new games are always fishy…But this does bring to mind of Prima Game’s author Greg Kramer’s mentioning of a next expansion pack.

If this is indeed true, details should start popping up in the next two months as Maxis will want to release this in the August/September timeframe (expansions are about every six months).

So what do you think? Whole new living experience. Are we going to see Sim’s perform magic once again? I’d rather either have them create a farmlife expansion pack, or perhaps a Space-related pack to allow them to colonize on Mars or the Moon!