The Sims 2

The Sims 2
Developer(s)	Maxis
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	The Sims, Sims
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release date(s)	NA October 24, 2005 EU November 4, 2005
Genre(s)	Life simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player, Co-op (2)
Input methods	GameCube Controller
Compatibility	4 Playable
GameIDs	G4ZE69, G4ZP69
See also...	Dolphin Forum thread Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

In The Sims 2, you can control your Sims over an entire lifetime for the first time. With the addition of genetics, the game lets your Sims pass their DNA down through generations. Every life choice you make has a relevant and dramatic effect on the lifetime of your Sim. Now it's up to you to take your Sims from the cradle to the grave, while fulfilling their dreams and pushing them to extremes.

Emulation Information

Corrupted Save

Save files will corrupt in Story mode mid way through, which also occurs when using third party Memory Cards on GameCube. There is no fix as this is an underlying issue with the game itself.

Problems

Glitchy Screen Borders

Since at least 5.0-9954, the top and right sides of the screen display a couple pixels wide line that displays improperly during cutscenes and ingame, though it works fine in the menus. No settings fix this. See issue 11672.

Generating Sim issue #1

Since at least 5.0-9954, when generating your sim (at least in story mode), the parents won't show up properly. This is fixed by setting "Store EFB Copies to Texture Only" to "Off".

Generating Sim issue #2

The audio cue to stop playing the sound from random generation of your parents/grandparents won't stop playing. This has been fixed in 5.0-14626. Before that, the issue can be worked around by using DSP LLE Recompiler audio.

Startup Hang

If dualcore is enabled, the game will freeze on the licensed by Nintendo screen. Single core mode is default since 5.0-11217.

Censor Effect

The effect doesn't render on a Sim but rather in a different room in old revisions of Dolphin.

Under Direct3D, when active, the censor effect can cause slight graphical corruption. It will return back to normal when the censor effect is no longer on-screen. It can even crash Dolphin after a message box about "CreateTexture failed" or "Poke Z not implemented". Use OpenGL to avoid this problem.

Direct3D Corruption

Direct3D Normal

OpenGL rendering correctly

The censor is also not in the right spot under Direct3D. OpenGL renders correctly.

Censor effect not in the correct spot under Direct3D

OpenGL rendering correctly

The censor effect may cause VPS slow-down no matter what backend. Enable "Skip EFB Access from CPU" to fix this, although it will allow you to see your Sims like a nude Barbie doll. This also prevents graphical corruption under Direct3D.

Fixed some time before 5.0-2462.

Configuration

Only configuration options for the best compatibility where they deviate from defaults are listed.

Graphics

Config	Setting	Notes
Store EFB Copies to Texture Only	Off	Shows parents when generating a sim

Version Compatibility

The graph below charts the compatibility with The Sims 2 since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.

r2157

4.0-6080

Δ

5.0-20164 (current)

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

2.0 (r5384)

Compatibility can be assumed to align with the indicated revisions. However, compatibility may extend to prior revisions or compatibility gaps may exist within ranges indicated as compatible due to limited testing. Please update as appropriate.

Testing

This title has been tested on the environments listed below:

Test Entries
Revision	OS	CPU	GPU	Result	Tester
5.0-rc-1	Windows 10	Intel Core i7-6700 @ 3.4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 730	Full 100% speed, 3x IR, Widescreen Hack. Censor causes slowdown, Turning Skip EFB Access from CPU fixes problem, but removes censors. Crashes often on Direct3D Backend, OpenGL Backend fixes issue.	TyJupiter

Gameplay Videos

Dolphin Emulator 4.0.2 - The Sims 2 (1080p HD) - Nintendo GameCube