In Sims 2 for PC, you know those neighborhood preview screens at the main menu. How do I change them? Can I ?

Answer 1

You can't change the animated videos but you can change the static pictures. You'll find the pictures in the relevant neighbourhood folder. What I generally do is open up the existing picture in a paint programme and paste over the image I want and then save. That way I don't have to worry about the right size or file format.

The neighbourhoods folders are located here:

My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighbourhoods

Within that folder are a series of other folders called things like N001, N002 .... N004 etc (oh and one called G001, that's the neighbourhood that came with Seasons). Have a look inside the folders, you'll find the pictures in there. You should recognise them by the pics though it's easy enough. The neighbourhoods are numbered in the order you see them in the neighbourhood screen. G001 is first, N001 (Pleasantview) is second, N002 (Strangetown) is third and so on. Usually anything over N004 is a custom neighbourhood unless you're like me and have deleted all the Maxis hoods. My main custom neighbourhood is N002.

You can't change the video thing BTW because the file format is unique to the game and no-one has ever cracked it. I don't think anyone has actually tried as a matter of fact.

Answer 2

Actually, there are quite a bit of differences between the sims 2 and the sims 3. The texture of the objects, surroundings and sims is a lot smoother and slightly more detailed. The sims in the sims 3 have specific personality traits, while the sims in the sims 2 don't. The sims in the sims 3 aren't as needy (meaning they do not have to go to the bathroom every 2 seconds lol) The aspire to a lot more things. Also, in the sims 3 the sims can wander about the neighborhood rather than just being stuck on one lot. You are also able to change sims so much easier. The other sims in the neighbourhood will age regardless if you are playing with them or not. They have cars, too. However, there are no pets, vacations, businesses, apartments, etc in the sims 3, so really its an entirely different game than the sims 2.

Answer 3

You can't unless you add in your own neighborhood.

The preview screens are there to help you to know what each neighborhood looks like before you go into them.

Answer 4

Check out the BBS at www.thesims2.com or search www.modthesims2.com for the answer, I'm not sure but you could try putting the picture you want in folder ea/thesims2/neighborhoods/N001/thumbnails (N001 i think is what ever is first when you open the game ie. veronaville, or pleasantview) Sorry if this doesn't work.