Once upon a time, The Sims 2 was the bedrock and gold standard for defining Dozerfleet graphics. This late in the game of developing for-profit novels, free-for-view comics, etc., a game this dated is likely to receive faint use.
It may wind up being used for Sniperbadger: Fall of the Critter Resistance, if only because of how quickly it loads. But there are several caveats that may prevent it from being the only game utilized. Mainly the furry sections would still be a hard sell. Designing CC in that game while bypassing the potato-mode-obsessed Body Shop is, to say the least, a headache or several in the making. And that's for standard clothing; not even getting into fancy suits like what would be needed for the cyber fights. Some of that may require Sims 3 or 4 to come to the rescue on Miriam's spinoff story to the Centipede and Fire Saga.
However, the single largest reason why Sims 2 was almost abandoned by Dozerfleet entirely...is the fact that its graphics are very outdated. Yet, the game's true lovers are so dedicated to it, they have found ways to resurrect the game, and fix the issues with its obsolete graphics standard.
While there are many issues that need resolving to make this game practical for running on a modern Windows 10 PC, let alone any modern Mac or other Apple device, its cry-your-eyes-out sadly clunky and outdated UI is by far the one issue that is the biggest turn-off.
- Clothes and GraphicsRules.sgr can be tweaked to allow for high-definition clothing.
- Skintones can be repaired with default replacement swaps.
- Even the game's hair defaults can be swapped out with high-definition replacements!
- Environment fixes are out there, though the environment isn't that bad to begin with when your have high graphics.
- With significant tweaking to your graphics card database, you can get the game to recognize and want to work with your more-modern graphics standards. Be sure to turn on edge smoothing to make most of the graphics glitches go away!
- Eyes. Default eye replacements exist. Consider them.
- Makeup. Default replacement makeup or even just standard CC makeup. A little can go a very long way toward making a default-hideous cartoon character into a modernized, serviceable one.
This video below by Pleasant Sims goes into more detail on how:
Addressing all of these can make the game that much more worthwhile to play in the 2020s, nearly 20 years after The Sims 2 was released - which has given the game an absurdly long shelf life, compared to other games from the time period! Plus, as quickly as it boots on a solid state drive, with the above graphics fixed, it may be your ticket to a gameplay fun extravaganza that would take a lot longer to replicate with Sims 4, in spite that game's high-def and much-cleaner graphics coming standard!
However, none of that feels complete, unless you also manage to fix one of the issues that has plagued Sims 2 from the get-go: the UI. It's UGLY! But it doesn't have to be!
On March 21st of 2020, retired German modder GrandCheesecakePersona posted a fix on Tumblr. In some respects, this overhaul to make the UI for Sims 2 cleaner is so well-done, it even gives the UI for Sims 4 a run for its money!
If you want to play an old game from another era, and feel like you're running something modern, this overhaul is a must-have! This old game is a Chad; and can be difficult to work with. But the results speak for themselves if you put in the effort. By contrast, the virgin Sims 4 locks you out from putting in similar work, unless you're willing to work even harder to overcome its deficiencies. This hasn't stopped hardcore modders like TwistedMexi, Weerbesu, Sacrificial, etc. However...the end result is that a sufficiently-tweaked Sims 2 can provide semi-realistic screenshot experiences that put to shame even the most elaborately tweaked Sims 4 game, which will still sadly look like a cartoon more often than not.
If you aren't afraid to play with directories and get your hands dirty, GrandCheesecakePersona's mod is a must-have to make Sims 2 great again.
After this and some other mods were installed to significantly tweak the game, this Swappernetters adaptation is the end result:
Sarah's rack is way larger than it should be, and Tobias has really wild hair. Shadows needed to be added with Photoshop, as the HD 530 series of Intel chips seems to not believe in shadows. Otherwise, this is pretty close to the characters' looks in canon. Getting this level of clarity and sharpness requires a struggle with Sims 4, and is near-impossible in Sims 3.
