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The Sims (TM) Life Stories
Aspyr Media 12/21/06
Version 1.0
(c) 2007 Electronic Arts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents
General
Game Modes
System Requirements
Performance Tips
Known Issues
Video Card Issues
Cheats
GENERAL
-------
For the latest up to date information on The Sims (TM) Life Stories visit:
http://www.thesimslifestories.com.
Installation: If you have a version of The Sims 2 or The Sims 2 Body Shop already installed, please make sure it is closed before installing The Sims (TM) Life Stories.
GAME MODES
----------
In The Sims (TM) Life Stories there are two different game modes, Story Mode and Free Play Mode.
Story Mode is a directed play experience where you get to experience a chapter of Riley Harlow's life. As the story progresses, you will experience the ups and downs of life through Riley's eyes. After playing through Riley's Story through Chapter 3 you will be able to experience Vincent's Story.
Free Play Mode is the same kind of experience as other The Sims 2 games, where the player creates their own story within the Four Corners neighborhood.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------
* 1.4 Ghz processor
* 256 MB RAM (512 recommended)
* Windows(R) XP Operating System.
* At least 2.7 GB of hard drive space
* Onboard video card of the following supported cards.
The Sims (TM) Life Stories requires 220 Megs of additional save game space for each user that loads the game. Make sure you have at least 220 Megs free on the drive that holds your "My Documents" files before starting The Sims (TM) Life Stories for the first time.
Supported video cards:
AMD's ATI Radeon(R) series (7500 or better) and the following mobility cards:
VE series (see note below)
7500
8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
X300, X600, X800
AMD's ATI Mobility(TM) 7500,
Mobility(TM) 9000, 9200, 9600, 9700
Mobility(TM) M7, x200, x300, x600, x700, x1100, x1150 x1400, x1600, x1800
Mobility(TM) Fire GL, GL V5200
NVIDIA(R) Quadro(R) series and the following mobility cards:
Quadro(R), Quadro2(R), Quadro4(R)
Quadro FX 1500m, 350m, Go 1000, GO 1400
Geforce4 440 GO
NVIDIA GeForce (R) series (GeForce2 and better) and the following mobility cards:
GeForce(R) 2
GeForce(R) 3, 3 Ti
GeForce(R) 4, 4 Ti, MX 420, 440
GeForce(R) FX 5200, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950
GeForce(R) 6600, 6800
GeForce(R) Go 6100, 6150, 6200, 6600, 6800
GeForce(R) Go 7300, 7400, 7600, 7800
GeForce(R) FX GO 5200, 5700
Intel(R) Extreme Graphics (see note below)
82845, 82865, 82915, 915, 945, 945 Express, 950 & Intel Extreme Graphics 2
NOTE: If you have a non-T&L capable video card, such as Intel Extreme Graphics or Radeon(R) VE series, then you need at least 512 mg RAM.
If your video drivers pre-date 12/2005 and you have less than 512 mg RAM there is a chance you will have graphics-related problems. Any video card driver pre-dating 8/2004 will have a high likelihood of problems. These problems include poor frame rate, texture dropout, special effects not working and other problems. For some of the known problems please review below. Go to the laptop manufacturer's site in order to obtain the latest drivers.
NOTE: The Sims(TM) Life Stories does *NOT* support Widescreen mode. If your computer supports widescreen and you have that feature turned on there will be graphical problems when running The Sims(TM) Life Stories. It is advised to turn off Widescreen when running The Sims(TM) Life Stories.
PERFORMANCE TIPS
----------------
When you run The Sims (TM) Life Stories for the first time, the game will automatically configure its graphics options based on your machine's specs. If game performance seems sluggish or choppy, there are a few things you can try to improve things:
* Make sure your computer meets the game's system requirements (see above). If you do not meet these requirements, the game is unlikely to run acceptably.
* The number of Sims you have on your lot is one of the biggest factors in determining performance. Lots with low numbers of Sims (2 or less) will run more smoothly than lots with many Sims (3+).
* In the game, go to the Graphics/Performance Options panel. Reducing or turning off options will improve the game's performance. Reflections, Screen Size, and Smooth Edges are the options that will affect your frame rate the most, followed by Shadows and Lighting.
* Close all other applications while running the game, including anti-virus software which often runs in the background.
* Some large community lots in the game (like the Starlight Cafe) may be slow when scrolling around. Frame rate should pick up considerably when the camera stops moving and you are interacting with the Sims.
* Adding RAM to your system is a very efficient way to improve performance.
* Defragment your hard drive regularly for optimal disk performance (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter).
KNOWN ISSUES
------------
Low Hard Drive Space: If you run out of hard drive space while playing The Sims (TM) Life Stories, the game will be unable to store new data, such as saved games, screenshots, and new neighborhoods. In certain cases, when attempting to save the game with no hard drive space, the game will appear to save, even though data has not been stored. Please make sure you have at least 500 MB of free hard drive space when running the game.
Wheel Mouse Camera Rotation: If you’re unable to rotate the camera by using your mouse wheel, please make sure that you set the scroll wheel button function to autoscroll in your mouse settings.
Installation/Uninstallation: If you experience any problems installing or uninstalling the game, please temporarily close any virus scanning software you have, and try again.
Removing Saved Games on Uninstallation: Choosing to delete saved games when uninstalling will only remove saved games for the current user. Saved games for other users on the computer will remain under their respective folders under C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\Electronic Arts. Due to the large size of saved games, you may wish to remove them manually.
Video Card Issues:
AMD's ATI RADEON(R) SERIES
PROBLEM: Sims and objects sometimes appear too bright or all white. Sometimes Sims have patchy lighting.
CARDS: Radeon(R) 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
This is a known bug in some older drivers. Upgrading to the latest manufacturer's drivers will resolve this.
PROBLEM: Special cinematic events (such as first kiss) are too blurry.
CARDS: Radeon(R) 9000+
This is a known bug in some older drivers (Catalyst 4.5). Upgrading to the latest manufacturer's drivers will resolve this.
PROBLEM: Texture dropout, distorted Sims and objects, strange horizontal lines on Sims and shadows.
CARDS: Radeon(R) 9000
This is a known bug in some older drivers. Upgrading to the latest manufacturer's drivers will resolve this.
PROBLEM: When running in high resolution (1600x1200), lighting effects are corrupted.
CARDS: Radeon(R), Radeon(R) 7200, Radeon(R) 7500, cards with below 64Mb video memory
This is a known issue and is caused by choosing a higher resolution than The Sims (TM) Life Stories can support. Running in a lower resolution should resolve this.
PROBLEM: Neighborhood and water have bright flicker.
CARDS: Radeon(R), Radeon(R) VE, Radeon(R) 7200, Radeon(R) 7500
This is a known driver bug. However, updating your driver to the latest version may help.
PROBLEM: In Create A Family, creating a baby Sim will result in a bad floor texture.
CARDS: Radeon(R), Radeon(R) 7500
This is a known bug in some older drivers. Upgrading to the latest manufacturers drivers will resolve this.
PROBLEM: Shoreline flickers in neighborhood view.
CARDS: Radeon(R) 7000 series
This is a known bug in some older drivers (Catalyst 4.3). Upgrading to the latest manufacturer's drivers will resolve this.
FORCED ANTI-ALIASING: The Sims (TM) Life Stories will have graphical problems if anti-aliasing is forced on in display properties. To fix this:
* Right click on your windows desktop and select Properties.
* Choose the Settings tab and press the Advanced button.
* Select the 3D tab and make sure SmoothVision is set to Application Preference.
* If not, press the Custom... button and change the anti-aliasing setting to Application Preference.
NVIDIA GEFORCE(R) SERIES
PROBLEM: In certain lighting conditions, Sims will have small flashing triangles.
CARDS: GeForce(R) FX 5600
This is a known driver bug. Turning lighting options from high to medium will resolve this. Updating your driver to the latest version may also help.
PROBLEM: From certain camera angles, Sims may be missing some triangles.
CARDS: GeForce(R) FX 5200
This is a known driver bug. However, updating your driver to the latest version may help.
PROBLEM: The neighborhood and many screens display all grey.
CARDS: GeForce(R) 6800
This is a new video card, and this is a known driver bug with an early version of the driver. Disabling hyperthreading on your machine may help (see below). Updating to the latest driver may help.
PROBLEM: Interface panels and buttons may disappear or turn a solid blue color.
CARDS: GeForce(R) 4 series
This is a known bug in some older drivers (before version 6177). Upgrading to the latest manufacturer's drivers will resolve this.
FORCED ANTI-ALIASING: The Sims (TM) Life Stories will have graphical problems if anti-aliasing is
forced on in display properties. To fix this:
* Right click on your windows desktop and select Properties.
* Choose the Settings tab and press the Advanced button.
* Select the GeForce tab.
* Select Performance and Quality settings from the left menu.
* Switch Anti-aliasing settings to Application Controlled.
PROBLEM: Game crashes soon after starting.
Some recent NVIDIA drivers have problems when running when Hyperthreading is enabled on your processor. Try updating your driver first. If this doesn't help, turning off Hyperthreading in your BIOS will workaround this issue. If you have no idea what Hyperthreading or BIOS is, it's probably not worth messing around with this stuff. Contact your video card manufacturer for assistance.
UNSUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS
If you have an unsupported video card, The Sims (TM) Life Stories will run in software rendering mode. When software rendering mode is active, rendering performance is slower and graphical quality is reduced.
Examples of unsupported video cards are:
ATI Rage Fury
Matrox Millennium G400
Matrox Millennium G550
NVIDIA Riva TNT2
Matrox Parhelia
ST Micro KYRO
S3 DeltaChrome S8
SiS 315
Trident Blade XP
SiS Xabre 400
XGI Volari
* Video Problem tip: If you are seeing graphical problems not described here it is always best to go to your video card or computer manufacturer's website and make sure you have installed the latest drivers for your hardware.
CHEATS
------
Warning: Not all cheats are stable and can destroy your current game. If you heavily use cheats eventually your saved game can become corrupted and you will have to delete the saved game. The Sims (TM) Life Stories is designed for the casual and new player, so try the game without cheats.
To enter cheats in The Sims (TM) Life Stories, first open the command console by simultaneously pressing ctrl-shift-c. Note that cheats are case-sensitive. Some of the cheats that can be used here are as follows:
help: lists all the cheats in the game.
help [cheatname]: displays specific information about the cheat.
exit: closes the cheat window.
expand: expands or contracts the cheat window.
moveObjects on/off: removes footprint limitation for all object placement in Buy Mode and Build Mode. Removes limitations placed on hand tool for when objects are in use, or are normally non-movable objects. Is known to cause issues with game elements, routing, hidden object generation and manipulation, etc. Note that using this cheat allows you to delete objects that normally cannot be deleted, such as Sims, the mailbox, and the garbage can. If you delete these objects, there is no way to get them back, so be careful!
aging –on/off: prevents Sims from aging. This can disrupt the carefully tuned gameplay balance, and will prevent little Johnny from ever growing up, so treat this cheat with care as well.
autoPatch -on/off: This cheat lets you re-enable notifications when there is a game update available for The Sims (TM) Life Stories. Just turn Autopatch on and go to the Custom Content Browser (the little snowflake button on the UCP in the neighborhood). If there’s an update available you’ll be asked whether you want to download it.
slowMotion [value]: The slowMotion cheat takes one parameter: the "slowness" setting (such as slowMotion 4). This value ranges from 0 to 8 where 0 is normal speed and 8 is the slowest speed.
boolProp enablePostProcessing true/false: enables the use of postprocessing cheats (see below). Please note that you must have a video card that can handle pixel shaders in order to successfully use this cheat. If you use the cheats and you don’t have pixel shaders, the screen will most likely go partially dark, and will not come back until you turn off enablePostProcessing. If you turn on postprocessing, and you turn on cinematics, and a cinematic plays, you may also experience unwanted graphical glitches.
bloom [r g b x] (rgb is color) (x is the bloom amount) [0.0 - 1.0]: This cheat adds a blur effect, like a sitcom flashback moment. Must have entered boolProp enablePostProcessing true for this cheat to work.
vignette [centerX centerY X] (X is the vignetteing factor) [0.0 - 1.0]: Adds a blur effect from the specified center. Using "vignette 0.5 0.5 0.5" should put some blurry bits at the edge of the screen. Vignette 0.5 0.5 1.0 is maximum edge blurryness. Must have entered boolProp enablePostProcessing true for this cheat to work.
filmGrain [val] [0.0-1.0]: This cheat makes the screen grainy. Must have entered boolProp enablePostProcessing true for this cheat to work.
letterBox [val] [0.0-0.4]: Adds a letterbox effect to the view. Must have entered boolProp enablePostProcessing true for this cheat to work.
STL Port License Agreement
--------------------------
Boris Fomitchev grants Licensee a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use STLport and its documentation without fee.By downloading, using, or copying STLport or any portion thereof, Licensee agrees to abide by the intellectual property laws and all other applicable laws of the United States of America, and to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Licensee shall maintain the following copyright and permission notices on STLport sources and its documentation unchanged : Copyright 1999,2000 Boris Fomitchev
This material is provided "as is", with absolutely no warranty expressed or implied. Any use is at your own risk.
Permission to use or copy this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided the above notices are retained on all copies. Permission to modify the code and to distribute modified code is granted, provided the above notices are retained, and a notice that the code was modified is included with the above copyright notice.
The Licensee may distribute binaries compiled with STLport (whether original or modified) without any royalties or restrictions.
The Licensee may distribute original or modified STLport sources, provided that:
The conditions indicated in the above permission notice are met;
The following copyright notices are retained when present, and conditions provided in accompanying permission notices are met :
Copyright 1994 Hewlett-Packard Company
Copyright 1996,97 Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Moscow Center for SPARC Technology.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. Hewlett-Packard Company makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. Silicon Graphics makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. Moscow Center for SPARC Technology makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.
LICENSE ISSUES
==============
The OpenSSL toolkit stays under a dual license, i.e. both the conditions of
the OpenSSL License and the original SSLeay license apply to the toolkit.
See below for the actual license texts. Actually both licenses are BSD-style
Open Source licenses. In case of any license issues related to OpenSSL
please contact
openssl-core@openssl.org.
OpenSSL License
---------------
====================================================================
Copyright (c) 1998-2005 The OpenSSL Project. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
distribution.
3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this
software must display the following acknowledgment:
"This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project
for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit. (
http://www.openssl.org/)"
4. The names "OpenSSL Toolkit" and "OpenSSL Project" must not be used to
endorse or promote products derived from this software without
prior written permission. For written permission, please contact
openssl-core@openssl.org.
5. Products derived from this software may not be called "OpenSSL"
nor may "OpenSSL" appear in their names without prior written
permission of the OpenSSL Project.
6. Redistributions of any form whatsoever must retain the following
acknowledgment:
"This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project
for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (
http://www.openssl.org/)"
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE OpenSSL PROJECT ``AS IS'' AND ANY
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE OpenSSL PROJECT OR
ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAG'S (INCLUDING, BUT
NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
====================================================================
This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young
(
eay@cryptsoft.com). This product includes software written by Tim
Hudson (
tjh@cryptsoft.com).
Original SSLeay License
-----------------------
Copyright (C) 1995-1998 Eric Young (
eay@cryptsoft.com)
All rights reserved.
This package is an SSL implementation written
by Eric Young (
eay@cryptsoft.com).
The implementation was written so as to conform with Netscapes SSL.
This library is free for commercial and non-commercial use as long as
the following conditions are aheared to. The following conditions
apply to all code found in this distribution, be it the RC4, RSA,
lhash, DES, etc., code; not just the SSL code. The SSL documentation
included with this distribution is covered by the same copyright terms
except that the holder is Tim Hudson (
tjh@cryptsoft.com).
Copyright remains Eric Young's, and as such any Copyright notices in
the code are not to be removed.
If this package is used in a product, Eric Young should be given attribution
as the author of the parts of the library used.
This can be in the form of a textual message at program startup or
in documentation (online or textual) provided with the package.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
must display the following acknowledgement:
"This product includes cryptographic software written by
Eric Young (
eay@cryptsoft.com)"
The word 'cryptographic' can be left out if the routines from the library
being used are not cryptographic related :-).
4. If you include any Windows specific code (or a derivative thereof) from
the apps directory (application code) you must include an acknowledgement:
"This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (
tjh@cryptsoft.com)"
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY ERIC YOUNG ``AS IS'' AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGE.
The license and distribution terms for any publicaly available version or
derivative of this code cannot be changed. i.e. this code cannot simply be
copied and put under another distribution license
[including the GNU Public License.]
Thanks for Playing The Sims (TM) Life Stories!
The Sims (TM) Life Stories Team
Aspyr
