File Formats

..\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Lighting\*.package
file description lighting PNG lightmaps
..\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Sims3D\*.package
file description CASFace cres, geometry data containers, shapes LightRigs lights, geometry data containers, shapes, cres, level info Objects00 animations Objects01 lights Objects02 material definitions Objects03 geometry data containers Objects04 geometry nodes Objects05 cres Objects06 textures, shapes Objects07-08 level info Objects09 animations	file description Sims00 animations Sims01 cinematic scenes, lights Sims02 material definitions Sims03 geometry data containers Sims04 geometry nodes Sims05 shapes Sims06 cres Sims07 textures Sims08-13 level info Textures level info, textures
..\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Sound\*.package
file description Sfx# XA

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File Formats (inside .package & .sims2skin files)
(see mod the sims 2's internal file formats for way more info)

extension description content notes anim anim(ation) resource const(ant?) animations bhav behavior function bcon behavior constant catp catalog position cine cinematic scene video cres character resource node? mdl3 (GE) ctss catalog description fwav sound reference glob global data gmdc geometry data container cont (GE) gmnd geometric node geon (GE) hash hash table? lght light ambient, directional, point, spot lifo level info levl (GE) list file list mdl1 3D model? mdl2 3D model? nmap name map

extension description content notes nref node reference objd object data objf object function palt color pallet prog programming script prp1 property set XML prp2 property set ptbp package text/toolkit shpe shape slot slot resource str# text strings actions, animations (adult, child), attributes, model (bones, materials, mesh groups, names), named trees, slot names, sound ID table true file lists txtr texture image timg (GE, no preview) ttab menu functions ttas menu strings txmt material definition texture material matd (GE) XA music/sound Maxis eXtended Audio/SPX1(?) musi (GE) unkn unknown format some anim, cine, lght, XML GE

GE = Game Extractor (see below)

Software

Body Shop Maxis		Create sims. Export body skins.
Game Extractor Watto Studios		An icky Java app (slow, requires bloatware Java) that can view (as ASCII text) various Sims 2 files: .package (2 types) and .sims2skin, and original Sims files. It doesn't seem to actually be able to read The Sims 2's many file formats but it's a start.
DatGen DarkMatter		Originally developed for SimCity 4, DatGen can read The Sims 2 files, but it's another icky app that requires a bloatware programming language overhead to be installed: Microsoft .NET framework.
Xantippe Bil Simser		XA-to-WAV converter

Other

Cheats | Patches | Mods | Tips | Registry

Cheats

cheat	syntax	description
aging [on|off]		enables/disables sim aging
kaching		adds 1,000 simoleons
motherlode #		adds 50,000 simoleons
unconfirmed
allmenus [on/off]		toggles showing unavailable interactions in person control menus
debugmode		debug mode
-debugportals		debug portals; may be command-line option
debugsocial [on/off]		turns on/off debug flag to show outcome choice dialogs for social interactions
displayanimbillboard <on|off> [object1] [object2]		turns on or off a billboard consisting of the active animations on specified objects
displayanimlist		display last 400 animations on (optional) named objects
dumphappy [object1]		dump out happy logging on specified Sim
dumplotstate		dumps lot object state to text file LotState.txt
dumpobjectinstances		dump current list of object instances
dumpwants		show want scoring for active sim
effectsmanager		particle(?) effects manager
faceblendlimits -on/off		Turns off facial bounding limitations for Create-A-Family created Sims and prevents the normal corrections the game will make for two parents with very different facial structures, which can result in very unusual children.
freewill		free will
guoboff		disables GUOB(?)
intprop maxnumofvisitingsims #	change how many sims can visit a lot at one time; default 8 max
interrupt		?
listprops [<wildcard pattern:string>] [-ints][-floats][-bools][-strings]		list all or some subset of properties
money [+/-]#	add/subtract money	set money amount
sethour [0-23]		sets day hour
setsimoutfitoverride -category: -outfit: -key:
simchecktreefulllogging		start/stop sim logging to text file and console
stretchskeleton #	1 = normal height, <1 = smaller, >1 = taller	makes (stretches) selected sim skeleton taller/shorter

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Patches

nude censorship patch (31K): removes aliased "blur" when sims go to the bathroom and get naked (bathtub, hot tub, shower, etc). For original sims2.exe only; doesn't work on no-CD crack. There is also a no-CD crack with the nude censorship patch but it doesn't work in build mode so I won't bother providing (or linking to) it. However...:

mini CD1 image (154K): run this with DAEMON Tools (with Safedisk emulation) in order to play The Sims 2 without the CD. This method is slower than with a true no-CD crack, but until one is released with a working build mode, this will have to suffice.

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Mods

Where the game is installed, in ..\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Config\globalProps.xml:

• disable object grid snap: change <AnyBoolean key="snapObjectsToGrid" type="0xcba908e1">true</AnyBoolean> to "false"
  Objects can then be moved (translated) in fine increments. Doors and windows (and perhaps other things) can't be placed, and objects on tables/counters/whatever still snap to their center, but it's great for lining up objects that are otherwise assymetrical due to the grid (like 1x1 TV with 1x2 couch). Unfortunately, objects still rotate in 90-degree increments. Also be careful with wall objects (lights, paintings, etc) as they can be placed so they float or are pushed/embedded into the wall). I haven't tried ceiling objects but they may exhibit a similar problem.

• show lot package filename: change <AnyBoolean key="ShowLotPackageFilename" type="0xcba908e1">false</AnyBoolean> to "true"

Where the game is installed, in ..\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Lights\Lighting.txt:

• change day-night light cycle transition duration: change the 2 instances of "transitionTimes 2 100" to: "transitionTimes 30 100"
  ...or however long you want the sunset/sunrise to last. 30 (seconds in reality but minutes in gametime) is pretty close to reality but set it to whatever you want. For some reason Maxis decided to make the day/night light transition so short (2 seconds) that it looks very unrealistic.

  Note that the day-night transition button in buy/build mode will be affected, as well as the light fade transition for rooms with/without no doors/windows and when adding lights. (Light fading doesn't seem to increase when speeding up time either.) Why Maxis didn't feel the need to differentiate dark/light transitions is beyond me--yet more half-assed design.

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Tips

camera
1st-person view: press the Tab key; Q/E = down/up (altitude), a/d = left/right, w/s = forward/back, and Z/X = zoom in/out.

change camera settings: Where the game stores your settings, in ..\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Cameras\, choose a camera file (like LiveCamera.txt). There are various parameters (not all of which are explained in the various camera files, including cameras.txt and "camera named properties.txt").

• zoom: For each zoom level there must be corresponding fov, pitch (2 for each extent), and clip (near/far) values.
• FOV (field-of-view): I have found 90 (degrees) is decent (and standard for 1st-person games)--especially for closer zoom levels.
• pitch: I use 1 (to prevent camera going underground) and 85 degrees (to prevent camera from flipping around when going over--or near, it seems--90-degree point, which, if set to 90, causes the camera to flip completely underground for some reason)

1st-person & live camera tweaks (3K): in-progress

• more zoom levels
• 90-degree FOV on everything: much better for closer zooms but transition from default 45-degree FOV was too annoying (even with gradual FOV change over zoom levels) so I just made them all 90 degrees
• faster, smaller-increment rotation
• increased pitch: 1st-person (full 180 degrees), live camera (almost 90 degrees due to camera bug suddenly flipping around y-axis and, oddly, completely underground if higher pitch is 90 or close to it; so, I set it to 84 (from 1 to 85) degrees total but it needs more tweaking to find exact limits before problems occur)
• pivot height at ground (0)
• for some reason the "woohoo" (sex) cutscene no longer plays (but can still see the animations and move the camera around for a better look)

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Registry

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\EA GAMES\The Sims 2
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA Games\The Sims 2
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\The Sims 2

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