Only up to a certain point. 512Mb to1Gb is a reasonable amount on XP, but I've run it on a 64 Mb system as well. Your video card will probably have more to do with it. I have one system that was a 256 Mb ram & 4 Mb (11Mb shared) video on a chip that was a bit jerky with DirectX9, but it played reasonably well. My current system has 512 Mb ram & MX440 64Mb video & has no problems. But I've seen it on a 512 Mb Ram & 256 Mb 7600 video that was perfectly smooth, even with 24 Sims on the lot at once! We tried 32 Sims & it started to get a bit jerky... we then added ram to the system & didn't get much of an improvement. (Although the HDD access was a lot less active...) We then increased the ram on the video ( Same card with more ram) & it smoothed out again. It seemed to us that the video card/video ram was more of an influence on perfomance than the system ram. But i say go for the gold... upgrade both!
It sounds like your Body Shop install can't find any of the "standard" objects from the game. Do you have expansions installed? (If so, try it from each of the expansions' menus, as they are NOT the same!) One of them may work correctly... Also, when you installed the expansions, did you install to the same directory as The Sims2? (Some expansions are to be placed in their own directory *outside* The Sims 2 directory. If you install to the same directory, you'll overwrite certain critical files & you "lose" things... sounds like your problem, doesn't it?) Maybe a re-install is in order? (Paying attention to the readme's with each expansion: check for install issues.) As an example, FFS (Family Fun Stuff) required me to do such an install for parts of it's add-ons. (Clearly noted both in the readme & in the install dialog!) Hope this helps.
[QUOTE="Smgirl825"]True true.Since playing TS2 (The Sims 2) is a lot like playing with a doll house.Hardcore gamers won't play it unless one of their friends gets them to play it.Then they might just become hooked.(Guilty of doing that)Gladestone1
My theory is this..Most hard core gamers own sims2 rofl..Just to afraid to admit it..Some one out there is keeping the sims2 game on the top charts every month an its not just girls...
I own Sims 2 & 2 expansions & I'm not : 1) a girl 2) afraid to say I own it 3) afraid to discuss it And, yes, I've also hooked friends on it... several of them aren't ashamed of it either! :-) I've considered it one of the neatest games out there since I first played it on my old Amiga 1000. It's just comparing apples to oranges comparing it to *most* other simulations out there. I also enjoy other (RPG, etc. type) sims... but there is just something (an undefinable something?) about succeding in the Sims that doesn't compare to the other sims I play. And the complexity can be just as varied & enjoyable in the Sims series as in those others. Maybe even more so, as it seems to imitate life! In any case, to each his/her own...
Currently I have Sims 2, Family Fun Stuff, Pets... And although I like all of them, I would suggest you get the ones like Open For Biz & Pets before you get any of the content (objects) type add ons (like Family Fun Stuff). They don't add as much joy to the game as the simulation type expansions do... unless you are really into having that perfect "Victorian" house or similar. For that type of add on... try the downloads on the site. (Since they're free!)
Although I don't know what new expansion is planned, I would qualify the comment about them being rip offs. Some kind of are... FFS for example. But some are valuable add-ons, like Nightlife & Open For Business. I think they should qualify the two as "Collections" and "Expansions"; where Collections add content (or Data): objects, skins, etc.; and Expansions add simulation effects (or Programming), possibly with Collection items... Either way I tend to think the "Expansions" are a little over-price for some of the entertainment value added to the game. But I also understand their desire to make the pricing uniform... it's just plain simpler! In all things, like in life, there are going to be trade-offs...
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