Have any Sims 3 players tried to go back to playing Sims 2 and failed?

I downloaded Sims 2 UC, and although I have fond memories of Sims 2, I can't seem to play it for more than 15 minutes before I quit out of boredom/frustration. At one point my Sim went to the computer and started playing a game. When I saw that he was playing "Sims 3," I got jealous. At that point I quit Sims 2 and started up Sims 3. Has anyone else had this problem?

I have but It's a tough to get into it. I haven't played much TS2 but so I'm still a bit on the new side. The game is a lot harder than TS3. In TS2 you have to make sure you have groceries, you are actively doing those wants, constantly cooking and sleeping, my sim's fun is somehow always in the red and won't do anything 70% of the time and money doesn't just fall from the sky. When I play video games, I like to relax and all of this stuff to worry about and do stresses me out when playing. It's all a bit overwhelming after playing a lot of TS3 but I still like it a lot.
I play mostly TS3 but I do enjoy playing TS2 time to time.

I tried it again in the WA era, but those rose-tinted glasses soon came off. The first thing I noticed was - no separate save files. I came away with a sort of 'shattered illusion' feeling that Ts2 was good in its time but has been overtaken in almost every aspect by a modded Ts3. Even the erm, adult mods are superior in Ts3 now. Ts2 held onto that one for years though. The towns are smaller in Ts2, by far. And it's ridiculously easy to break stuff in Ts2 savegames.

No, I've moved on, for good.

Tried the Sims 2 in the first time in a long time. The Sims posters and computer in-game was a blast from the past and reminded me of the sculpture we got in University Life.

Sims definitely seemed to be livelier and better animated, awesome music, gameplay made more sense and had less shortcuts (i.e. the cellphone), and furniture sets seemed to be better put together (poor, middle class, rich), but once I got to creation sections, the shortcomings are really apparent.

No mid-grid object placement, limited color palettes, no alt-hold freeform placement, limited basegame sliders and CAS options. Those things came in handy in the Sims 3. Also, really ugly neighbourhoods once you were in lot view.

For those of you interested, yes you can do mid grid placement and free no grid placement. Just that you need a cheat. because typing cheats is tedious if you really want to play you can get yourself a cheat file and then you just type in a shortcut or in the case of diagonal furniture you just click the <> keys.

For extra colour palettes you will need to download recolours, but there are lots of large sets around.

If you want more options in making sims you will need to open Body Shop.

You can download higher poly neighbourhood deco, but the houses looking low res is just one of those things.

As to game play being harder, yes it is. I guess you either like that or you don't. Those of us who play Sims 2 long term like that it's harder. If you have downloaded the UC make sure you have opened your sims aspiration reward panel and choose the perks down the left. That includes slower energy loss, less hunger, slower bladder etc. Also it makes a difference if your sim is using cheap verses more expensive furniture. While money doesn't fall from the sky it certainly comes up out of the ground. Simply have your sim dig-a lot and you can find all kinds of things to sell including the occasional treasure chest or Ming vase.

I can't live without TS3's:

CaST - pretty obvious really & I know just like me a lot of you are also annoyed that TS4 doesn't have CaST.

Separate Save files as tizerist pointed out.

The open world - I know some people didn't like the open world feel in TS3 but I do love it.

Traits system - Yes it's not perfect but at least with TS3 there is far more customization in making unique SIMs in TS3 than in TS2.

I probably will never go back to the Sims 2. It seems so bland now.

I went back to TS2 briefly when for whatever reason, I was unable to play 3. It bored the holy fuck out of me.

I mean shit, don't get me wrong, TS2 is still an awesome game. I loved it to death, but ever since 3 came out, it's always been my personal preference.

Yes, but the key is ease of use. Everything listed above is a workaround that was more or less solved in the Sims 3.

Solved at the expense of lively community lots, sims that stand around, freezing and being unplayable for some of us. Play whatever you game you prefer. Each has it's good and it's bad points. It's just many Sims 3 players seem to think we have no off grid or furniture angling in sims 2, and I'm letting you know that we do, somethings are just achieved in a different way. I don't find typing 'snapon' or clicking the < > keys to angle furniture hard at all. I copy and pasted my entire cheat file in the new to Sims 2 tips and tricks thread for anyone that want's it.

I listened to everyone on here say how TS2 was the superior game, I never played it before because I was going through a tough time in life and preferred games that were bang bang shoot em up to relieve stress (GTA San Andreas). So when things got calmer and I decided to start gaming again to relax, I bought Sims 3 and fell in love. It was so much better than TS1, that was the last time I played the Sims. But listening to everyone say that TS2 was better, I bought TS2 with a expansion pack and one stuff pack, (that had a sale on Origin), and I did not like it at all. I felt like I was playing a game from the 80's. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's wonderful souped up, but bare bones... No... Two body sizes (Fat, skinny), not being able to change the pattern or color, not even for their hair? And the gameplay it seemed like I was only playing to keep their motives and needs up. I instantly uninstalled it, and went back to playing the TS3. Which can get boring, but the open world, and Cas did it for me. That's why I know TS4 won't appeal to me at all.

This! I hate the aspiration system. I want to make a romantic Sim, but the only aspiration option is Romance, which means the Sim will become a casanova no matter what. The options are too rigid.

I love the career system in TS3. It's so much more interactive. In TS2, what's the difference between the Military, Athletic, and Adventurer careers? None, because they all require the same 3 skills to advance and your Sims go to the edge of the lot and *poof*! In TS3, journalists have to interview people and write reviews, businessmen have to hold meetings, fortune tellers have to foretell people, directors have to write screenplays, and so on.

I also love the skills in TS3. So many varieties to choose, and they're very elaborate. In TS2, high Mechanical and Athletic skills are for what? Apparently so that you have less chance to get electrocuted and to have higher chance to win in darts and make a strike in bowling. Well yeah, TS3 skills are like that too, but each skill is associated with varieties! Cooking with recipes, Mixology with bar drinks, Fishing with fish, Gardening with plants, Handiness with upgrades, Nectar Making with nectars, Photography with photo collections, Inventing with inventions, and so on.

I was going to get the Ultimate Collection because it's free, but then I realized that if I didn't want to play it in 2004, I'm never going to play it now. I'm interested in coloring things, renovating houses, sometimes building houses and the story in my head, among other things. I don't want to be on some treadmill of the sims' needs and playing the neighborhood in rotation.Edit: Maybe the disagreer should toddle on back to the Sims 2 forum.

TS3 does get like this if you play a world that's too big for your computer. I've had this with EA and user created worlds that were too much for my system but finding the world size that does fit my system means community lots are very lively, even without mods to add more people onto the lot. If sims are just standing there doing nothing it's again because of the same issue. Too much to render for the computer and not enough processing power to give the sims.

Unfortunately EA and the store team fed into this frenzy by continuing to build large worlds, with large lots that take forever to render.


I actually wish it was a combination. I do like the traits more than saying a sim has 4 active points but I think it would have been nice if some base personality that all people share would come from the sliders and the traits are the ones that give flavour.


Me too I also like that different careers have different interactions. The problem with TS1 and TS2 careers are that they are all the same. Other sims will never recognise your sim for being a firefighter or a doctor. It's nice that different careers do feel different.


Skills, this is one thing that got me very excited about TS3 all those years ago. To have just 7, it doesn't compare.

I have tried TS2 a few times but haven't been able to get into it the way I used to before TS3 and the way get into TS3. I do now have the ultimate collection and want to make it into my "casual" game but so far I haven't done much with it. I have done some setting up things, but really can't say I have managed to get into it. I'm trying to do some type of überhood with TS2 where all the sims would live in the same hood. Trying to do this has make me appreciate edit town in TS3 because it's so much more flexible in moving sims and houses around the same hood or even moving them to a different hood.

What comes to harder gameplay I never felt either TS2 or TS3 are that hard. If you run out of food in TS2 you can call for groceries or just replace the fridge and it's filled again and money that has never been a problem in the sims. With money trees, treasures, or the gene lamp you are set. If you don't have mods to prevent Humble every household you play will get some extra §§§ by selling the computer he brings. And sim bills, is a joke. They are so little it's not even a funny joke.

This is why I always liked mods an gameplay that makes the game harder. Harder bills, homework, no shopping from the fridge or promotion without having all the skills needed. No selling items when renovating, but all items are put to the family inventory and shipped to the recycling centre where they are either sold back to the community or destroyed.

With TS4 coming out, I will try it out. Who knows, maybe it will end up being my causal game.

I briefly considered it when I heard about the UC but when I was uploading all of my TS3 pictures to PhotoBucket, I ran across some old TS2 photos & thought better of it.

The simplicity of it kills me. As it's already been said, a player's personal playing style is their personal playing style & I'm not trying to step on any toes, but I really, really can't get into it. It's a bit funny, considering that when TS3 came out I swore I'd always stick with it's predecessor, but I've come to love so many things about the third iteration of the game (especially CaST) that I can't be bothered to go back. TS3 has many mods to make it harder, more realistic, whatever but the sheer amount of mods & cc it'd take to bring the TS2 up to a point where I could stand playing it for more than an hour... I don't even think my computer could handle that capacity.

(This is, of course, how I feel at the moment. Who knows what I'll be thinking, or how nostalgic I'll be, in a month or two.)

Wow the dislike Fairy did this thread a huge number, eh?

Let's face it, product wise TS2 is superior than TS3, but playability & customization factors aside, TS3 wins hands down.

that was one of the things that bothered me in ts2. only two body types. the only custom content you could get were custom bbw skins so you would need those and all of the clothes suited to that body type. i need fat sims.

I think both games have their pros and cons.

A lot of annoyances I fixed with mods in TS2 aren't even an issue in TS3.

TS2 is great if you like to micromanage more than one family; TS3 if you want to concentrate on one household.

I still have TS2 installed and I play it every once in a while.

In my opinion, The Sims 3 is a game. The Sims 2 is a sandbox. Not a sandbox game, just a sandbox. For some people, being plopped into a sandbox is boring. For others, it ignites the imagination.

Both are fun. Both have their faults. Not everyone will like both, because not everyone likes video games and not everyone likes playing in a sandbox.

Personally, I love my sandbox. I love my toy. My game is fun, but it doesn't engage my imagination in the same way. It never will.

(I was going to stay silent, but darn it, how could no one else mention that key difference? I can't be the only one who feels it. Or maybe, I am. )

Edit: 148 posts and finally was disagreed with.

I feel just the opposite about which is the sandbox.

I play TS2 once in a while although I find it terribly restricting. I decorate a lot to make the best possible house for my sims and it's very frustrating without CaSt.
It didn't use to bother me but I find it now rather irritating that every time I want something, I stop the game, try to hunt down whatever recolor I want for that piece of furniture or wall paint, go back in......grrr. Even after I start a game after spending an hour downloading all kinds of stuff and recolors, I always find something, that is just not quite right and I have to make do.

Overall, I feel my sims are very confined in their little doll house, I was never much of a rotational player, it seems more like a chore to me than fun to keep everyone up to speed. Every loading screen takes me out of the game and I have a good computer that runs TS3 fairly well with all the expansions.

TS2 has its uses but overall, but I simply adore CaSt and the open world and Twallan's SP and find it hard to go back playing without all that.

As to the interactions, yes they are more fluid and seem faster than in TS3 but a few mods such as getting rid of trantrums, and route fail whining, a 'more conversations" mod over at Simsasylum, as well as "Moar interactions" by buzzler took care of a lot of that.

Also, I must be one of the very few people who doesn't like the look of the sims in TS2. They have these carved faces with too large teeth that always bothered me. CC skins etc. work far better in TS3 for me.

I never quite understood the sandbox thing. I understand it is gameplay with user defined goals or no goals at all? Overall, it doesn't feel that much different to me. Actually, I felt much more compelled to keep my sims alive and happy and working towards their goals in TS2 than in TS3 because it seems harder.
In TS3, the world is my sandbox and I can choose to direct every run to the potty or let any of them run lose to merrily pee themselves and generally make a mess of their simulated lives.

So much I dislike about TS2:

- Pure rotational play only
- Limited hair colors without screwing with genetics
- Harder to start with a supernatural
- Doofus Pet + career = miserable failure cause Gooby can't learn his tricks
-- I would rather have a TS4 Bro than a TS2 Doofus Pet in my house
-- This is why I won't do an Apox, because pet careers are required
--- Never mind, the Apox is for those who want to turn The Sims into a Real-Time-Strategy-Role-Playing-Game*
- Pregnancy motive death-drain (do the slower motive decay rewards cancel this out?)
- Chance cards getting you fired, with a supposedly-funny little story to which I respond "Hardy-har-har, EA" (I always press "Ignore" now)
- Cold or flu going around and sidelining your Sims for the equivalent of a year or two because of how short normal lifespans are
- This crap:

Sometimes, realism is not the best way to go, especially when it adds difficulty and takes away fun. Thankfully, some of these bugaboos have mods to fix them.

Looks? It's a toss-up - I like the TS2 guys but prefer the TS3 girls.

In the end, what makes TS2 worth it? The attention to detail. TS3 fell flat in that regard and TS4 - see my sig for an idea of the attention to detail they're putting in now.


*Is this even a real genre? Sounds downright masochistic. Like the already-unforgiving Fire Emblem games (which I buy knowing that I will be challenged and even keeping "casual mode" off), but faster. Bye-bye Marthy Marth.

I do like Create a Style in TS3. With TS2, if you want recolors you have to do it yourself or download stuff. I love being able to recolor things in game...and actually have stuff coordinate!

Thanks everyone. There's so many people that love Sims 2 that I felt like a weirdo for not liking. Especially since I have such fond memories of playing Sims 2.


Those mods sound awesome! Especially the "No selling items" one. I'm going to go look for them right now.

I loved Sims 2, it was the first Sims game I ever played. I have more fond memories with Sims 2 than 3. Part of it was probably because sims in general was such a new and fresh experience for me when I started with 2.

2 or 3 times over the past 5yrs, I've tried going back to Sims 2. I never could really get into it again, because although there were definitely things I really missed about Sims 2 (the sims are definitely more lively), there were more things I missed about Sims 3. I realized I really missed CASt, the open world, and I'd gotten to where I could make TS3 sims I was quite happy with. Most of all, I missed being able to make sims with big boobs. Because perv.