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Some might argue launching is the absolute minimum you should expect from a videogame, a fundamental prerequisite to enjoying the included experience. But I like a little frisson in my basic boot functionality. The nervous excitement of clicking the shortcut, the tense wait as the screen cuts to black. Will the game boot? Will it crash, or freeze? Will it reduce my machine to a smouldering heap of wires and silicon?
Such uncertainty is the secret spice that makes PC gaming so exciting. So I was disappointed to see EA has released a new patch for the Sims 1 + 2 legacy, which among other fixes ensures The Sims 1 “should now launch in most situations”. Note it doesn’t say “will now launch in all situations”, so there’s still hope for runtime daredevils such as myself.
Base functionality is one of numerous issues EA addressed in its patch for the Sims 1 + 2 Legacy, after both packages launched last week to a less than stellar reception. Both games and their included expansion packs currently sit with a ‘Mixed’ rating on Steam, with players citing issues ranging from the games booting in super low resolutions, to frequent crashes, to the aforementioned failure to launch at all.
For the Sims 1, the patch fixes several issues surrounding use of Alt+Tab and Alt+Enter, which could cause the game to crash or for the taskbar to be hidden. It solves a problem where players were unable to click on various parts of the neighbourhood map, as well as a flaw where “the travel screen, when travelling between neighbourhoods/worlds, can sometimes appear garbled, or glitched.” And of course, there was that startup issue whereby “on some systems, The Sims can appear to launch and then immediately exit”, which the patch fixes. Mostly.
As for The Sims 2, EA fixed a crash caused by Alt+Tab and Alt+Enter, as well as the sequel’s annoying tendency to launch at 800×600 before scaling said resolution to “fill the entire monitor”. It also nixes a problem where “the game would sometimes crash when creating a family”, which anyone who has created a family in real life will empathise with, alongside a glitch where “sometimes non-adult Sims (children, pets) would disappear.” There’s nothing worse than walking your dog for them to suddenly warp into null-space, so I’m glad EA has resolved that.
You can read the full patch notes here. EA stresses that some issues “may still be in the process of being addressed” and includes some “general notes” about both games. These discuss issues the Sims team is currently investigating, and advise players on performing certain actions the games aren’t really designed to support (such as moving the window between multiple monitors with different resolutions).
None of this changes the fact that both packages appear to be extremely basic ports reminiscent of Konami’s Metal Gear Solid rereleases from 2023. Not that every rereleased game needs a Nightdive-level makeover, but ensuring these decades-old games look crisp on a modern display and run without fuss isn’t much to expect when being charged £20-30 a pop.
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Kurt Indovina
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