Family Relationships and Interactions in The Sims 2
Pollination Technician #9 Smith praising his son Johnny Smith for his high school grades
In the year 2000, a new kind of game had just entered the market, and everyone was so excited about The Sims, the first installment in the first life simulation franchise developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. For the first time ever, players can now play with the lives of the Sims (the virtual people in the game), build houses, create Sims, form families, and fulfill the needs of their day-to-day lives. With this game came also limitations, such as children never aging and unclear definition of family relationships. According to The Sims Wiki:
“The family relationships in The Sims are very simple. Two Sims are either members of the same family, or they aren’t, and all Sims who live in the same house are considered part of the same family. Even when two Sims marry, what makes them part of the same family is that one moves in with the other. That the two Sims are married is not recorded.”
Four years later was the release of the most anticipated sequel of one of the best-selling video games of all time, The Sims 2. The sequel brought innovations and features never seen before, such as a 3D environment, 3D Sim models, advanced Build and Buy Mode, more social interactions, family trees, Wants and Fears System, aspiration system, and aging. Family and social gameplay has greatly improved from its predecessor, and relationships are now defined through the family tree and relationship panel, such as parent, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, and cousin. In this article, we’ll look at the family relationships and interactions in The Sims 2.
Pregnancy and Adoption
For the first time, Sims can now get pregnant - no more endless kissing and pop-up babies! Other Sims can talk to the tummy or feel the tummy of the said pregnant Sim. The mother should also watch over her needs, as it decays quickly while pregnant.
The other ways to have children in the game are through adoption (by calling on Services through the telephone) and alien abduction (by using the huge telescope). Only male adult Sims who got abducted would get pregnant, and the other parent would always appear in the family tree as Pollination Technician. Like their female counterparts, pregnant male Sims would also need to watch over their needs.
Babies and Toddlers
Pascal Curious (right) about to give birth to his alien baby
After the babies are born, it is the parents’ job to take care of their children, from babies until they grow into adults. Babies are not stuck in their bassinets anymore, and parents must buy kids’ furniture from the Buy Mode, such as cribs, changing tables, high chairs, and baby toys to properly take care of the babies and fulfill their needs. The babies in this game are unselectable without cheats or mods, so only through clues like a stink cloud or crying would the parents know what needs to take care of. They can be fed with milk bottles from the fridge, be bathed in the sink and tub, and have their diapers changed on the changing table by teens and older Sims in the household. Babies can be interacted with by cuddling or playing with them. If they failed at taking care of their children, they can be taken away by the social worker and will be ineligible for adoption.
When they reach the toddler stage, they now become selectable and their wants, fears, personality, relationships, and other Sim details can now be seen by the players. Parents can now teach them how to talk, walk, potty, and even sing nursery rhymes. The toddlers will now start having their own wants, such as learning how to walk, talk and potty, and interacting with their parents. There’s an aspiration reward in the game called Smart Milk, and if toddlers drink it, they can learn their skills very quickly. Other interactions available for toddlers include the family kiss (also available for other life stages), peek-a-boo, tickle, toss in air, playing toys with them, and reading books to them. Teaching them the basic skills and taking care of their needs and wants, or choosing not to, would determine their aspiration meter status and how good or bad the toddlers would grow up. They will have memories of these (the skills they learned, if they grew up well or grew up badly) that they will carry throughout their lives. They can also get taken away by the social worker if they’re neglected.
Children
More interactions are now available between Sims in the child stage and other older Sims in the household. When it comes to the children’s schooling, in addition to the default public school education, parents now have the option to enter their children into Private School by inviting the headmaster on the phone and entertaining him. They can also help them do their homeworks, which would help the children do them faster the next time. Sims with Knowledge aspiration has a special interaction of imparting knowledge and skills to other Sims. If they get an A+ in their report card, they (and teens too) will run to an adult in the household and show their card after they got home from school. If the children are not doing good in school, they’ll get scolded and lectured by the parent.
Parents can also influence the personality of their children (including teens) by encouraging them to be more nice, active, playful, serious, etc.
Child Sims can improve relationships with other family members by playing, swinging around, dancing together, playing red hands, etc., and if there are other children in the household, they can draw together at the kids’ activity table and play traditional games like catch, cops and robbers and Mary Mack. Other activities they could do together are watching TV, playing video games, etc. These are just some of the things they can do to fulfill the fun and social needs of all Sims.
Children also have this cute detail where they run to their parents after they come home from work to hug them.
Teens
When it comes to teens, there are new interactions and activities that they can do. They can now take care of their younger siblings like what parents usually do. They can ask permission to go out from their parents and sneak out, but once they’re caught, they’ll surely get scolded. There is this cute detail where teens and older can tuck children in their beds.
Parents would usually want their teen children to get a scholarship and go to college (if The Sims 2: University is installed), and it’s the teens’ job to do well on their studies to achieve that.
When it comes to ugly things happening in the household, like parents arguing with each other (or other Sim arguing with the parent), child and teen Sims will run to their room and cry. If the parents (or relatives) got a divorce, or if someone in the family died, all the children would have negative memories of them, and will have them mourn for days.
Adults and Elders
Once the teens become adults, what many players usually do is move them out of their family home to be on their own or start their own family. Family members who are not living together anymore can have family reunions once in a while and they’ll have good memories of this reunion. There’s a nice detail in the game, in which the parents who were invited over by the adult Sim would spread their arms wide open to greet and hug their son / daughter.
I hope I covered, at least, the basic family gameplay here. These are based on my experience playing The Sims 2, and I hope you all like this and would inspire you to try out The Sims 2 for yourself. There are probably more that I haven’t covered here, but for now, I invite you to open the game and discover these details yourself. It really is a fun game that’s full of love and care, even after two decades.
Happy Simming!
Originally published on the Retro Corner section of SimmedUp Magazine (March 2021).
