The Sims 1 and 2 Receive Extensive Patch Update: A Bug-Busting Bonanza!

EA and Maxis have released a patch for the recently launched Legacy editions of The Sims 1 and The Sims 2.

These games debuted on Friday, following previous reports that indicated the classic life-simulation series was making a return to its origins. However, upon release, many players experienced a range of severely glitchy issues and game crashes. Reviews on Steam described the launch as “absurd,” “broken,” and even a “waste of money,” which is sure to be disappointing. Currently, the games hold a Mixed average rating.

The development team acknowledged the existing problems at launch, promising it would address some issues. And true to their word, they have released a comprehensive set of patch notes for both The Sims 1 and 2 last night.

Players revisiting the classic Sims game (or perhaps experiencing it for the first time—she notes, realizing there are individuals considerably younger than herself who may not have been around when these games were originally launched) should now encounter fewer crashes.

Additionally, gamers should now be able to interact with parts of the neighborhood that were previously inaccessible, even if they were intended to be clickable. The interface might also be less “garbled or glitched” now.

You can read the full patch notes for The Sims Legacy and The Sims 2 Legacy below:

Fixed Issues in The Sims:

• Alt+Tab or Alt+Enter can sometimes cause a crash
• Alt+Enter may sometimes hide the Windows title bar
• Alt+Enter might not toggle between full-screen and windowed modes
• On some systems, The Sims may launch and then immediately exit (no splash screen displayed)
• The Sims should now launch in most scenarios
• In certain situations where a graphics issue exists, The Sims will display a notification
• Some players are unable to select various parts of the neighborhood map
• The interface, when traveling between neighborhoods/worlds, might sometimes appear garbled or glitchy
• The Sims might crash if you’re not in the default neighborhood, interact with another Sim, and then save
• When using Alt+Enter to adjust window and zoom sizes, the HUD may be clipped. At this zoom level, The Sims will clip from the top of the window instead.
• In some cases in windowed mode, the title bar may not be visible
• The friends counter might occasionally not be displayed

Additional Notes for The Sims:

• Some players have experienced issues (e.g., walls, floors, objects not appearing; game not starting; a variety of oddities) which can be resolved by updating graphics drivers to the latest versions. Please ensure your drivers are up to date.
• The Sims game window is of a size that cannot have its standard properties changed after it has launched. Moving the window from one display to another with a different, lower resolution can cause unexpected results, possibly even crashes. If you wish to run The Sims on a second display, please use the option “-monitor: [open angle bracket] num [close angle bracket]” to force it to open on the other display. “0” is your primary display, “1” is the second display, etc. We are looking into adding this as a menu option in the future.
• In some instances, players have reported that music only plays in Live mode. Please check your computer sound settings and make sure everything is properly configured (e.g., on a 5.1 surround system, ensure your center speaker is operational).
• You may be prompted to “Enable the help system” at any point while returning to a home. This is the game trying to guide you through the tutorial. This may continue to occur until you complete the tutorial.

Fixed Issues in The Sims 2:

• Alt-Tab or Alt+Enter can sometimes cause a crash
• Some players on the EA App received an error message stating that certain required files were corrupted
• The game would often crash after creating a family
• The game often launched at a low resolution (800×600) and then scaled that small format to fit the entire display
• In specific scenarios, the game will launch and then immediately show a “DirectX” error, requiring the use of the “-w” option to circumvent the issue
• Sometimes a Sim (or multiple Sims) would disappear after the player moves to another lot or neighborhood, or after leaving and rejoining the game despite saving
• Occasionally non-adult Sims (children, pets) would go missing
• Some interactions that result in a transferable reward (e.g., a dog returning from work) can cause the game to crash
• Resolved some endless loading screen issues

Additional Notes for The Sims 2:

• Several players have encountered issues that can be resolved by updating graphics drivers to the latest versions. Please ensure your drivers are current.
• Note that the “boolProp testingCheatsEnabled” cheat will cause the game to periodically display various dialogue boxes containing debugging information. The cheat is functioning as intended.
• We are investigating an issue where during certain cinematic events (such as Alien Abduction), the Sim may be reset and the event fails. While we look into this, you can work around it by ensuring that there are no other Sims on the lot to trigger the event.

The Sims team continues to work on final issues.