Cassini gets a laptop

[Partymember]

thats a right purdy calculatin' device y'all done got there.

[Cassini90125]

Nicely put, dude.

Got a graphics glitch in the Nightlife expansion pack. I'm installing a patch even as we speak. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else.

I'm running two computers and an air conditioner. Maybe I should turn on the third computer, the TV & DVR, and the bathroon fan and go for broke (literally).

[Cassini90125]

If anyone else here has a laptop and is thinking about installing the Sims 2 on it, my advice is simple; don't bother. The game is not laptop-friendly. It's difficult (although not impossible) to control the game with the touch pad, the graphics are not as smooth as they would be on a desktop unit of comparable power, and the number of performance and graphics glitches I get per game session is ridiculous. Some of this may be the fault of the Seasons expansion pack, which seems to be the cause of similar problems on my other two systems, and the game itself is notorious for bugs anyway, but on the laptop the situation is much worse. The loading time is okay, and I can play the game, but it isn't the enjoyable experience that it should be. Bottom line: If you have the game, don't install it on your laptop. It isn't worth the effort.

[Sparky]

I'm definitely moving the game back to my desktop before that Vacation pack comes out.

[Cassini90125]

I may eventually move the game to my old system. I considered trying to run Foster's Valley on the laptop but I think it would take all day to load and the House itself would run abysmally slow. Either way I'm taking another crack at fixing my main system game tonight; wish me luck. The laptop game is playable, but it has a high frustration level. I've read about this, the game being difficult to work with on portable computers, but why this happens I don't have a clue.

[Sparky]

Well other than not being able to see like, the sky at high resolution, I've had zero issues playing Sims 2 on my laptop. *shrug*

[Medikor]

Originally Posted by Cassini90125

If anyone else here has a laptop and is thinking about installing the Sims 2 on it, my advice is simple; don't bother. The game is not laptop-friendly. It's difficult (although not impossible) to control the game with the touch pad, the graphics are not as smooth as they would be on a desktop unit of comparable power, and the number of performance and graphics glitches I get per game session is ridiculous. Some of this may be the fault of the Seasons expansion pack, which seems to be the cause of similar problems on my other two systems, and the game itself is notorious for bugs anyway, but on the laptop the situation is much worse. The loading time is okay, and I can play the game, but it isn't the enjoyable experience that it should be. Bottom line: If you have the game, don't install it on your laptop. It isn't worth the effort.

I never bother trying to install games on laptops. I just assume that they would be too much for it and stick to the smaller ones. But I never really use laptops for gaming in general. I'm sure that there are laptops that can be made into gaming machines but I'm just not a big PC gamer to be interested in them.
I've never played the Sims so I don't know what could help you, Cas. The only thing I can think of would be that there may be a patch to fix those problems. But being the big Sims fan that you are, I'm sure that you would already be on top of anything like that.

[Howard]

Nice Cass! I am fixing to buy a Dell (not sure what color yet) laptop, and since Dell has their accounts with Schwab, and I work for "Uncle Chucky," I get the employee discount!

[Cassini90125]

If I had to pick, it would be either black or silver.

Just to clarify something; the machine I purchased is a fine machine in every way and will serve me well in many different ways over the next few years. It's fast, efficient, and easy to use, once you master the touch pad. It's just that laptops in general are not good platforms for the Sims 2 game. They're good for everything else, however.

[Lynnie]

Thanks for the heads up on games on laptops, Cass. Although I'm not much into the gaming scene myself, I do find myself looking at computer games at the store and *thinking* about it sometimes. I am somewhat familiar with Sims, though, and they're fun. I might have considered getting a game at some point.

Have you been able to fix that bug you found when trying to play? I know what it's like to miss something that helped "complete" your life in some way or other. It's tough. So hope everything works out.