The Sims 2: Apartment Life

The Sims 2 Apartment Life (Sometimes spelled as The Sims 2: Apartment Life, TS2 AL or simply Apartment Life) is the eighth and the last expansion pack for The Sims 2. It was released on August 26, 2008. It's notable that apartments, despite the name, won't be the biggest asset of the game. Most community-requested features, including magic, butlers, ceilings, etc. are added. This is also the last Expansion pack to support Windows 98/Me and Windows 2000 while Mansion and Garden is the last Sims game (and EA's final game) to support those versions of Windows.

Belladonna Cove
Belladonna Cove will be the neighborhood added. "Bella donna" means "beautiful lady" in Italian and may be named after Bella Goth. Belladonna is also another name for deadly nightshade, a highly poisonous plant often used in malevolent witchcraft. The neighborhood contains apartment lots as well as normal residential and community lots.

The neighborhood showcases many of the pack's new features, mainly apartments. It has very distinct districts, including a trailer park, an industrial area, a middle class/upper middle class area, and an upper class area that has very large houses and apartments with luxury options like large swimming pools and, even on one lot, a helicopter pad.

Apartment lots
"Apartments" are a new type of lot for Sims to reside. The player cannot create their own apartment lots without cheats. It's notable that apartment lots DON'T have to be apartment buildings, but just need up to four different sections with a special door separating them. These lots aren't unlike hotels in Bon Voyage or dormitories in University. Up to four playable families can live on one apartment lot. If no playable family moves into spare apartments, then NPCs will move in. Only one playable family is controllable at a time. While it can get cramped, an apartment can have as many Sims living in it as on a residential lot... that's 8 Sims and 2 pets. Sims will be able to visit the other families and NPCs apartments. One of the "apartments" is a duplex, and it only fits 2 families. As such, only 2 playable family spaces are shown.

Every Monday, rent must be paid, either via mailbox, or collected by the landlord. The rent amount is determined by the size of the apartment and the quality of appliances. If a Sim rented an unfurnished apartment, the rent will not go up when it is furnished. If a Sim can't pay their rent, the landlord will submit the total for collection and the Repo-man will come and take stuff that adds up to the amount of the bills that weren't paid.

Limited build mode features are available in apartments. Players can paint the walls and replace the flooring but not move walls or put in new doors. Players can however, change the design of the front door; changing the mat and door.

Sims cannot start a home business out of an apartment nor can there be a community lot in the common area. Apartments can be rented but not owned. Apartments can be placed in base, downtown and shopping neighborhoods only.

Building apartments
Apartment complexes can be built by the use of the cheat "changelotzoning apartmentbase". Make sure no sims are living in the building at the time. There are some objects that cannot be placed in the private apartments, such as elevators. These are considered part of the public area, and the cheat will not work if they are in the apartments. Apartments must be closed off from the public with only one entrance: the Unique Seperator door. All other doorways must be enclosed by walls or a fence.

Roommates
Sims may advertise for one roommate to help with the rent. Once accepted, the roommate (a random NPC or one chosen by the player) will move in. They won't be controllable nor have inventory, but instead have a "Satisfaction Meter," which tells players how satisfied they are with the apartment. If a roommate dies or moves in with the family, another roommate can take their place.

A roommate could be any Townies (not playable Sims), including Young Adults. However, if you propose a Young Adult to be a roommate, they will not transition to Adult like moving in. Instead, they will still be a Young Adult, with semester timer frozen, and class details, not job details; thus they will not help with rent at all since they won't have jobs. Additionally, they don't go to class either.

Landlords
The Landlord is a new NPC. The landlord comes on the lot in the morning and leaves in the evening. They will repair, water plants, exterminate roaches and collect rent. Sims may complain about noisy neighbors to the landlord. If the landlord dies or gets married a new one will take his/her place. Even with Open for Business, the player's Sim cannot become a landlord.

Garages
If an apartment building is built with garages (connected to apartments), then Sim families can place a car in them. Cars can only be parked inside the garage, since the outside of them is not considered private property.

Butler
It is possible for Sims to have a butler, which had been available in The Sims but not The Sims 2 until now. Butlers can work as all the rest of the workers, even the nannies, but leave automatically at eight P.M. and will simply leave the kids uncared for. The butler is also much more expensive than all of the other workers.

Reputation
Sims now have "reputations". The nicer a Sim is to others, the higher their reputation goes (and vice versa). Sims with good reputations can get rewards that can help them with their career and relationships. Having a low reputation may increase rent for apartment-renters.

Sims can build their reputation only when visiting community lots. Interactions such as admiring will increase a Sim's reputation, while doing gossips will decrease their reputation.

Witches
The life state added in Apartment Life is a witch. Witches can be male or female, and are divided into seven groups: Infallibly Good, Good, Nice, Neutral, Mean, Evil and Atrociously Evil. These groups are determined by the Witch's "alignment". The differences between these alignments include appearance, types of spells cast, items created, and title. Teens through elders can be witches.

"Regardless of the path a Sim chooses to take, all witches get access to a secret community lot inhabited by the High Witch of Light or the High Witch of Darkness." There are individual High Witches of Light and Dark uniquely generated for each neighbourhood, much like service NPCs such as maids. Belladonna Cove's evil Witch is Frances McCullough, and its good Witch is Phoebe Adams.

Spells
Spells are organized into three categories: "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil". Casting more "Good" spells will result in a witch becoming "Good" or "Infallibly Good". "Neutral" spells have no effect on alignment, but if a witch who is good casts enough evil spells, or vice versa, they can become "Neutral". Once enough "Evil" spells are cast, a witch will become "Evil" or "Atrociously Evil". The most powerful good spell is "Expello Mortis" which banishes the Grim Reaper from a dead Sim, and this can save a Sim from death. The most powerful evil spell is "Vivificus Zombiae" this spell raises the dead and brings the dead Sim back to life but as a zombie.

Interactions
New gestures
 * High Five
 * Earthy Hug
 * Fake Out
 * Kiss Kiss Darling
 * Tough Handshake

New interactions
 * If neighbors become very noisy, use the "Bang Wall" interaction.
 * Peek-a-boo social for Toddlers and Toddlers can use the "Huggle" interaction.
 * Parents can read their children to sleep and swing children around by the arms
 * Sims can WooHoo in the sliding door closet and the ownable helicopter.
 * Students can walk to school if they miss the bus.
 * The player can lock roommates out of private rooms.
 * Sims have the new kiss interactions "Suck Face" and "Dance Kiss".
 * Teen, adult, or elder sims can walk to community lots.

New Dances
 * Break Dancing
 * Classic Dance

Social Groups

Mingle with Sims from all-new social groups: stylish socialites, artsy bohemians, sports jocks, gadget-collecting techies, or edgy gearheads. Gearheads and Bohemians are more prevalent in low rent districts while Socialites and Techies are in high rent districts. Social groups are similar to somebodies and anybodies from Sims Superstar.There is now difference between rich and poor Sims.

Building and furniture
Building is greatly improved.

New features include:
 * Ceilings, which can be customized like floors
 * Heating and cooling vents and radiators, which can moderate the temperature of any room
 * Spiral staircases
 * Decorative objects, such as pipes, cornice (skirting-like features that go around the top of walls) and support beams
 * Space-saving objects such as Murphy bed and closets, coming in "male" and "female" varieties
 * Fun objects for toddlers, children and adults, including a Jungle Gym and an Open Mic.
 * Snack and drink vending machines
 * Heart-shaped beds, they vibrate and light up.
 * Medicine cabinets
 * Secret bookcase that can connect rooms in a house or apartment, but not two different apartments.
 * New type of Elevator
 * Trash chutes which act like trash cans.
 * Hot Dog/Gyro stand
 * A measuring tool that counts the tiles when dragging the wall and roof tool.
 * Ability to move wall hangings up and down the wall.
 * A large apartment mailbox (only if living in apartments) which has 9 mail slots.
 * Two types of spiral staircases with a variety of colors and materials.
 * More additions to current objects, like doors and windows
 * More Pre-built lots
 * Town homes, Lofts, Penthouses and Apartment buildings.

Other features

 * New Life Skills: Fire Prevention, Anger Management, Lifelong Happiness, Physiology, and Couple Counselling.
 * New Death: Sims with low skills and needs can be crushed by the Murphy Bed.
 * New Vehicle: Sims can now own helicopters, as long as there is a heli-pad some where on the lot. Helicopters come in a variety of colors.
 * New Potions: Witches can brew potions existing from previous expansion packs as well as new ones.
 * New songs
 * New Clothes and hair.
 * New NPCs: street performers, a break-dancer and a human statue.
 * New pets: Sims can now adopt small, apartment-friendly dogs without the Pets EP.

Criticism over SecuROM in Apartment Life
The Sims 2: Apartment Life has been criticized for using SecuROM with 16 One Star reviews on Amazon.com, The Sims 2: Bon Voyage has also negative reviews relating to SecuROM. Unlike Mass Effect, Spore and Dead Space, Apartment Life does not have install/computer limits but the download version does which can be de-authorized at any time.

Also, it did not mention SecuROM on the back of the case. EA later mentioned SecuROM starting with The Sims 3 and any EA product released thereafter.

The Sims 2 Apartment Life Product Page Amazon.com

Amazon.com
Amazon.com's product page for The Sims 2: Apartment Life states that it will only run on Windows XP and Windows Vista even though it supports operating systems Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows 2000. (It predates Windows 7, but is also compatible with it.)