It'd be nice if this forum software let you quote multiple posts easier; seen the option on vBulletin.

This is quite informative. Have you considered creating an article on the SimsWiki page? I don't think I've seen a webpage documenting a timeline of the game's development. These pictures are neat.

You know those infamous articles on Neighborhood & Game Corruption that's on the SimsWiki? Many players like to refer to that when sourcing that an action the player does to their game may not be good. Before 2012, that article never existed. Heck, no such article on the game's corruption was documented for folks to read and learn. That knowledge was passed around by users who've explored the game's files, who've learned from experiences, etc. Yet, the problem was that the knowledge was fragmented. You'd have to search around the Internet to find that knowledge yourself. It required digging around through posts and threads, much of which are lost to time (and lost through a sea of new discussions). As well, you'd never know if what was claimed was accurate or inaccurate information. There was no standard in what was to learn and retain for your game's longevity.

There are people who have this knowledge & who will not hang around this or any other community forever. Real life matters take over, people become disinterested in their game, or other matters take over. That knowledge gets lost and can take long before it is rediscovered. Maybe even small details about a topic will not be recovered at all. The point is, an article that can be accessed by the masses, such as from the SimsWiki, is a very valuable resource. It's documented to leave a longer lasting impression. It doesn't require a user to register on forums to dig for the information, it doesn't rely on a handful of people who possess that information to get it from (and who may otherwise disappear without notice). More importantly, it can be expanded upon by others willing to continue with compiling that knowledge.

That article on avoiding neighborhood/game corruption came about from a discussion here in this thread about a list of non-intuitive things not to do in a sims game, back in 2012. It began as a crude looking article seen here:


Very primitive, but it was the start of a major development. That article started by Babahara was a copy/paste of a list of things that can corrupt the game. Later on, I came in and added the reasoning over why such actions (for each action) will corrupt the game. I didn't find taking that list for granted would work as well as elaborating over their problems in the game. I also helped pretty it a bit. That article is a collaborative effort by others in making it a significant article for folks to use to guide themselves in playing their game safely. From an idea came a reality, so to speak. And guess what? There's very little sourcing over the claims in that article, much of it can very well be speculation! Yet, the reasons for those claims feel compelling enough to be followed through.

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So what was the point of my post?

Well, I find that having an article on The Sims 2's beta history to be an interesting read to have. I'm sure others would like to see it as well. Every small detail that can be mustered up would be a wonderful thing to see. You, frogz2007, possess knowledge about its development history. Although you may find some of your knowledge to be speculation, such an article needs a beginning. The speculative parts of the article will be pruned out in the future by others who wish to contribute and collaborate to make it more significant. Maybe some claims will be sourced, who knows! Instead of making a thread to be lost to time, why not document it on a more permanent medium instead? Also, other people with knowledge about its beta history can contribute to it too, making it an even more interesting read to have, with pictures and whatnot. Instead of having small bits of knowledge fragmented all over the Internet, have it complied in one big article so others can see it and learn from it.

And if you though you wrote long posts, I certainly beat you to it! LOL.

Reminds me of the Scientist 1/"Walter" model in the first Half-Life game, except completely bald:
http://combineoverwiki.net/images/0...scientist01.png

Ooh, I like Jenny's sleeved shirt, and Romeo's trousers!

I'm confused about the strangetown screenshot though. The grey house looks like the Singles' house except the final one was more built on. And the lot across the street is a community lot which is still there; I made it over in my game into a nightclub.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know anything about the Sims/houses in the opening cinematic intro? I've watched it many times to see if I could recognize anything but never much luck.

I'm amazed at how much imagery from Sims 2 Beta you have. I have a folder full of pics and videos (I have a weird obsession, plus It's already more difficult to look up this stuff just by googling "Sims 2 Beta" than it was 2 years ago, so I'm saving everything I can) and some of the content you posted I had never seen before! I guess I'll be adding these to my collection

One more thing, in that pic that seems like the earliest image we have from Sims 2, the house we see has the same layout as the Goth house from Sims 1 I guess it actually is the Goth family (really early in development).
EDIT: I'm talking about this pic:

As we can also see, it's not just sims and graphics being redesigned, objects are being redesigned too. Look at the xylophone and the baby furniture.

What have they done to the old lighting... noooo...

The sims in the picures look way better in that lighting.

um... I thought that screenshot was Waterside, not Riverside? IIRC these were 2 different neighborhoods, despite the similar names...

They probably had different versions of games with two different interfaces. I suppose the "school bus" UI was finished then, but was not the final version of UI. They probably still used it because the E3 UI was still unfinished and in development. But it was used at E3 because that was their vision of the final UI.

But this doesn't make sense. Waterside is so much different from Riverside. Plus, Riverside's terrain is basically the same as the one used for Pleasantview. I think Riverside eventually became Pleasantview and Waterside was a nhood designed just used for that demo. It literally only contains placeholder lots from the bin (duplicated multiple times). Or maybe it was even planned to be shipped with the game, then got scrapped for some other reason, idk. Maybe that's the reason the name "Riverside" was replaced with "Pleasantview", so that there wouldn't be 2 nhoods with similar names. But I don't think Waterside and Riverside had any type of correlation. I mean, Pleasantview (Riverside) and Waterside even existed at the same time in the Will Wright demo.

they could be from Lakeview or Europa or even from Riverside or Waterside, since they never said what families was on those neighborhoods

I expect they just made that intro with entirely disconnected lots and families, not an established hood.

yes,and it could be like the ones from sims 1 intro made only for demonstration of the game

Maybe Sims 2 was like some 3d engine for sims 1 and then later they changed because it was better to be a whole new game rather to be only a 3d engine for sims 1, ohh god why we don't have the older lightining that colors jump at you why,and the hairstyles , some were really cool, it's just me or in some of the pics have unused Wallpapers ?

That looks like the house that's reflected in the rear window of the taxi.

It makes sense that you didn't recognize that. How many people besides me actually get bored enough that they watch details like reflections in service vehicle windows?

Yes i have an interest on glitched sims, oh by the way where did you finded the unused splashscreen sound ?

Oh it's the credits music if i'm correct, but i'm not sure i will check tomorrow

Something's not right about that aqueduct in my eyes.

Did that go through a retexture, or is it just me?

the "page 2" reference; different members have different settings for posts per page. my setting is 100 posts per thread page.

about the Monty house; the shipped version I think is the ground level floor + several levels that have mainly roof.
maybe the second floor was for several of the Monty members.
and perhaps the house was remodeled after any of these events::
-death/deaths of Claudio & Olivia.
-the alive descendants moving out.

The house that ended up being used as the Monty ranch in the shipped version of Veronaville is the one on the far right of that screenshot. It only looks different because it's facing away from the camera and you're looking at the back yard. The shipped version of Veronaville has it facing in the other direction.

The two story house does appear to have been the one used in the early Monty screenshots. That's still in Veronaville too, also turned the other way around. I wonder why they moved the Monty family to the other one.

A car appears to be crossing the bridge over the canal. Interesting.

The Summerdream house is also in a different position (closer to the canal, reversed facing) and currently unoccupied. Yet you can still make out the little staging!