Spring4Sims – The Best Finds, Downloads & Hints for Your Sims

Look! The gardens of eden! The new screenshots from The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff really make me excited. I love making landscaping in The Sims. It’s one of my favorite parts when building new houses, because without it, the lots look really dull. But nice flowers and plant can make it very colorful and full of life. One day I want to have a big garden (but please no vegetables, that’s the annoying part of gardens!). For now I can build it in the game. Or at least I’ll be able to give it a lot of new options soon.

The new build themes look spectacular. I’m glad that EAxis has decided to cover the art-deco theme. I wonder how the mansard roofs work like? I hope they’re habitable just like any other dormers. That would be really nice.

Also, speaking of building and stuff like that, I shouldn’t forget to announce that tomorrow there’s a new interview with Tanja from Lifestyle for Sims. She builds awesome architecture pieces and if you visit Spring4Sims more regularly, then you’ve probably noticed her houses in the Top Downloads category. So make sure to welcome her tomorrow and write a nice comment if you like her site!

Just a quick note for everyone who’s interested: there’s an interview with Gabriella Cilmi on the official site. She’s a UK-base Aussie songstress. Her song Sweet About Me that is featured in The Sims 2 Apartment Life made her the youngest artist featured in the soundtrack of the game in age of only 17!

Read the interview or watch the video on YouTube!

New screenies and artworks from the official site make me happy. Yeah, I can’t wait till this stuff pack is released so I can decorate my gardens with new stuff. (Click the thumbs to enlarge.)

Don’t you just love the wheelbarrow with flowers? It’s just perfect! My Sims who have big gardens with greenhouses, fruit trees and vegetables will definitely love them.

The fans look also lovely. I really do hope they’re animated though. Don’t disappoint me, Maxis! I’m still not sure what are the solar panels good for, though. Any ideas?

Maxis has finally released some new pictures of The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Pack. The two new screenshots are from the official site and the other artworks from SimTimes (click the thumbs to enlarge).

Just look at the garden – it looks so beautiful and colorful! I love it! I think this stuff pack is a real-must have. It’s nice to see that Maxis has found what are people asking for.

Finally, it’s here! If I counted right, there are fixed 54 bugs that Apartment Life was released with. That’s quite a lot and even 26% of voters in the last voting poll has stated that Apartment Life is good, but has so many bugs. Get the patch at the official site!

Katy Perry is probably most famous for her I Kissed a Girl song, which, in my opinion isn’t really that good (ok, I can’t stand it!) but singing in Simlish is always hilarious and even Natasha Bedingfield, who sang Pocketful of Sunshine in Simlish, made me love her song.

The new video for Hot N Cold looks just amazing. You can see a lot of aspects from the previous games, which also make the game look funny (like the social bunny or the ancient soldier). You can download the Simlish version song from InfiniteSims.

What does Perry says about it?

“Being a gamer myself and a big fan of The Sims, I had a blast recording ‘Hot N Cold’ in Simlish. The essence of The Sims is all about creativity, community and humor which is also the foundation for making great music, so it’s a perfect fit.”

If you’d like to see the video in better quality, look here.

Via: InfiniteSims.com

EA Games has officially announced Mansion & Garden Stuff Pack today, so the previous rumors has been confirmed. Mansion & Garden Stuff will most probably be the last stuff pack for The Sims 2 games.

What can you expect? Garden stuff such as new flower beds, shrubs, sunflowers or even new build mode tools in three new styles (Moroccan, Art Deco ans Second Empire).

See pictures and read more in the official report:

Design impressive estates and meticulous gardens for your Sims with three all-new styles. Infuse your Sims’ mansion with the intricate beauty of new Moroccan designs, add a touch of retro-modern style with stately and new Art Deco elements, or build in the imposing new Second Empire style. With a host of new architectural and landscaping items to choose from, your Sims homes will look more stunning than ever!

Features

• Re-create your Sims homes into luxurious mansions. New items including exotic columns that create stunning new archways, chic ceiling fans that add an element of cool, or sweeping grand staircases that make a bold statement.
• Completely reinvent your Sims’ gardens with a colorful foundation of flower beds and shrubs including delicate irises, cheerful daylilies, and bright sunflowers.
• Choose from three new themes to re-imagine and re-make the exteriors of your Sims’ estates.
• Moroccan-Transform your Sims’ homes into imposing Moroccan palaces with lush Mediterranean gardens.
• Art Deco-Build luxury estates that are classic yet bold with this glamorous “Old Hollywood” style.
• Second Empire-Create grand manors and sculpted landscapes with this romantic and elegant theme.

New Items

• Choose from a variety of bold sculptures, fountains, and topiaries to add an artistic element to your Sims’ relaxing garden hideaway.
• Architectural elements include solar panels as well as all new windows, doors, roofs, and fencing to build the mansion of your Sims’ dreams.

Living in Apartments

The lives of our Sims has changed a lot with the newest expansion pack – now they don’t have to live alone but with other NPCs in their apartment! Personally, I was looking forward to this feature for a very long time and I’m very happy to see it in my game.

Living in apartments brings a lot of advantages for your Sims – they don’t need too much money for the start, they can have a roommate and if you’re good friends with your land lord, you may even get a discount on your rent.

Talking to the landlord can lead to lower rent.

Of course, apartments bring some restrictions. You can’t access Build Mode fully and the number of characters living in one apartment is limited to ten, while you can have six pets/roommates at maximum. For example:

• you can have 6 Sims and up to 4 pets/roommates,
• 4 Sims, 4 pets and 2 roommate,
• 8 Sims and 2 pets/roommates etc.

The official site of The Sims 2 has posted a tutorial for users with the latest expansion pack – Apartment Life. The tutorial will teach you all you need to know about your Sims’ new homes. There are some new cheats used and it’s very easy to learn to use new tools in this step-by-step guide. Download the tutorial here!

As one of the Maxoids said, there will be added new items to The Sims 2 Store every month. It’s more than probable that The Sims 2 games are reaching its end – after all, The Sims 3 has been announced to hit the shelves on 20th of February 2009.

The newest Exclusive items from The Sims 2 Store include 17 new objects in spooky/Halloween style. You can find there new windows, doors, pillars, lamps, crazy-smiling pumpkins and small decor objects. There are also new hairstyles such as nice casual ones or other that match the spooky theme, and new clothes.

However, The Sims 2 Store is still not available for other countries than USA and Canada and the files are not compatible with Macs.