The latest expansion in The Sims 2 library finally does something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. You know how you would want to move two generations of a family into one lot, build two separate houses, but there was no way to assign people to a particular house and stop them from “invading” the other? Well, now we can.
Apartment Life, as the name indicates, is all about living in an apartment. And what better time to be playing this expansion, since I’m about to move into one as well.
Be ready for more loading time, especially if you have all expansions installed. Belladonna Cove is the new neighborhood, and with it come apartments, townhouses, a trailer park, coffee shops, grocery stores and parks. Took me quite a while of reading the little messages pass by as the game initialized the weather, pets and so on.
But onto the Apartment Life! With the new building items available, you can have that special door that allows each house or apartment to be a separate unit from the others. No more unwanted visitors, and you can even lock and unlock the door if you wish. Although you will still have to deal with noisy neighbors…
With so many available neighbors and roomies now, there are more opportunities for social interaction, from friends to roomies, even lovers. Most of all, there are social groups of Sims now: gearheads, techies, socialites, bohemians and sports jocks. Your Sim will also have a reputation meter, and reputation can be the key for career advancement as well.
Apartments and houses can be, of course, rented. You can check out an apartment before moving in, but once you accept to move you will pay your rent every week. Apartments can be either furnished or have the bare minimum (kitchen appliances and counters, bathroom, ceiling/wall lamps, architectural details). Rented apartments can be lightly customized, that is to say you can’t build and demolish walls inside (unless you use another cheat), but you can change the walls and floors, as well as the colors of the furnishings inside.
Speaking of furnishings, it’s only logical that I mention what’s new for this expansion as far as items. Aside from the bunch of wallpaper and floors (that’s a given with every single expansion pack), there are new doors, windows, spiral staircases, sofas, tables, desks, a love bed, decorative items, band instruments, sliding door closets, vending machines, secret door bookcase, architectural details (ducts, vents, customizable ceiling tiles), pool slide and playground items for children (perfect for community lots!).
Two very nice touches are the call screening and silent mode for the phone. I also really enjoyed the option of moving wall decorations up and down, and the new 45 degree camera angle that lets you view the ceilings in more detail. A space-saver fold-up Murphy Bed is also in the catalog, and you can actually die in it!
Reminiscing from Makin’ Magic for the original The Sims, your Sims can now be witches and warlocks, and have an alignment similar to those of Dungeons & Dragons: Infallibly Good, Good, Nice, Neutral, Mean, Evil or Atrociously Evil. Each alignment has a specific robe attire and the color of your Sim’s skin will also change according to it. Witches and warlocks can use magical items and cast a variety of spells, provided they have the ingredients. I really like this magical touch, since Makin’ Magic was a very fun expansion to play before.
As for my nitpicking, fear not, I can find something to complain about! It’s a shame how we can’t just turn a regular lot into an apartment or townhouse complex without using the cheat code. You’d figure this would be a new category of lots, or a sub-category of residential, that you would automatically pick from the lot size menu. As it turns out, you build the lot as a regular residential lot and use the cheat changeLotZoning apartmentbase. And it may just crash your lot too, so back-ups are a good idea. You know it has worked when you leave, come back and the lot’s mailbox has turned into a multi-slot. If it doesn’t work, then you must make sure that all areas are enclosed. For example, backyards must be enclosed and have no gates, and decks can’t have stairs to the exterior. Packaging a lot to back it up before changing the zone is also a good idea, in case of random crashes.
It’s also unfortunate that there is no integration with Open For Business, allowing a Sim to own an apartment building and play the part of the landlord.
There is a cross-interaction with Seasons and Pets though, seeing as you can have pets in the apartment (or buy a lap dog if you don’t have this expansion) and the heating and cooling vents serve for climate control.
Overall, Apartment Life is a paradise for those with interest in real estate. I am spending even more time building, decorating and furnishing than I ever have in previous expansions. I have pretty much removed most single homes to build luxurious condos, affordable apartments and semi-detached townhouses. And I especially enjoy that my Sims now can interact with more people without even leaving the residential lot or inviting people over. There’s nothing like some friendly neighbors, and I hope my new real life apartment building will have some too.