The Sims 2 takes on a whole new dimension when you create your own characters from scratch.

 

WHAT YOU NEED
> Mac OS 10.3.8 or later ($129, www.apple.com)
> The Sims 2 ($49.99, www.aspyr.com)
> The Sims 2 Body Shop (on The Sims 2 DVD, or download free preview from www.macgamefiles.com)

 

You've played the The Sims 2 for a million hours, nurtured families for generations, and filled graveyards with smiling automatons-but have you ever spliced your Sims' genes or tried making a Sim from scratch? We'll show you how to do just that with The Sims 2 Body Shop, a free app that lets you play with genes, modify physical traits, and even import accessories created by other players. Then we'll show you how to bring your Sim into the game, share it online, and let the good times roll.

 

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Step 1: Prep the Patient

 

Assuming you already have The Sims 2 installed on your Mac, check to make sure The Sims 2 Body Shop is in your Sims 2 folder-it should have appeared there when you installed the game. If it's not there, open The Sims 2 folder on your Sims 2 disc. There you will find a Body Shop file-drag it to your The Sims 2 folder on your hard drive. Don't want to dig out your Sims 2 disc? Go to www.macgamefiles.com, search for The Sims 2 Body Shop, and download a not-as-complete preview version. You'll also want to update The Sims 2 to the most current version-you can download the latest patch at www.aspyr.com. The patch isn't required, but it optimizes The Sims 2 and allows you to install more items into the Body Shop.

 

Body Shop comes on The Sims 2 DVD, or you can download it from www.macgamefiles.com.

 

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Step 2: It's Alive!

 

Start up The Sims 2 Body Shop, click the Build Sims button on the top menu, and then click the Build Or Clone Sims button. (Body Shop lets you modify preexisting Sims from the game-these are called clones.) Click the green box with the big plus-sign symbol. You'll start with a randomly generated Sim that appears on the left side of the window. You can rotate this Sim on its pedestal by clicking and holding the rotate arrows below the Sim, or you can click the Sim itself while holding and dragging your mouse. Press the male or female icon to the right of the Sim to pick its gender. Then click the various age icons to choose your Sim's starting age and preview how he or she will look at different stages of life. Beneath that, click the body-type icons to make your Sim slim and petite or, um, big-boned.

 

Who is that Sim in the window? Click the green button to get started.

 

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Step 3: It's All in the Genes

 

Just like humans, your Sims' genetic makeup trickles down from parents to children for generations to come, so the decisions you make here will be staring back at you long after your original Sim bites the virtual dust. By clicking on the helix (the DNA icon) on the main menu, you can gain access to settings for skin tone (represented by the hand icon), eye color (the eye icon), and hair color and style (the head icon)-although hairstyles aren't what we'd call genetic traits. There's no telling which genes are recessive or dominant until your Sim procreates, but there will always be a little bit of your Sim in each future relative.

 

Hey, wait a minute, since when is hairstyle genetic?

 

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Step 4: Sculpting

 

The face is the most modifiable feature in The Sims 2 Body Shop-it's how you make your Sim truly unique. Click the head icon with the small DNA strand. Several face icons will pop up underneath; these represent the brow, eyes, nose, mouth, and jaw. Click the face icon with its eye highlighted to access the eye-modeling tools; use the slider bars to manipulate the size, placement, and subtle nuances of the selected facial feature. Once you get the eyes right, proceed to the nose, and then to the other features. Once you have the basic features you desire, go back to the top row of buttons, and click the next face icon (the one with a wrench). Now you can further adjust the features you chose. Would you like a caveman-style knurled unibrow, or a chiseled, killer chin? Your call.

 

Moving your Sims' genetic-trait sliders to the extreme left or right can result in some truly hideous freaks of nature.

 

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Step 5: Stylin' and Profilin'

 

Now it's time to add accessories. Click the mirror icon on the top row. Here you can pick eyebrows, facial hair, glasses-even clowny costume makeup for your serial-killer Sim. Just click the icons and portraits to give your Sim nerdy glasses or a look that rivals the best county-fair face painter. And we all know the clothes make the Sim, so oil up your virtual charge card and click the last icon on the top row: the clothes icon. Go crazy browsing through casual, formal, under, swim, and athletic wear-the best part is that it's all free. (Go to step 7 to see how to get even more accessories made by other Sims 2 players.)

 

Now your new Sim is ready for a formal dinner-or a Chinese New Year party.

 

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Step 6: Put Me in, Coach!

 

Once you've finished splicing genes, futzing with your Sim's face, and stocking up on embarrassing undies, it's time to play God. Click the big checkmark button on the bottom of the menu to save your Sim. You will see now your new Sim with an asterisk icon next to it on Body Shop's Build Or Clone Sims screen, right next to the giant green plus button. (The asterisked-Sim icon simply means that you made this Sim in Body Shop.) Quit Body Shop and launch The Sims 2; pick a neighborhood, click the Families button (it looks like, well, a family), and then click the Create New Family button (the family-with-a-plus-sign icon). On the next screen, click the Create A Sim button, and then click the human icon with a plus sign-a generic Sim will pop up. Click the buttons of the gender and the age to match the Sim you created in Body Shop, and press the Choose Existing Sim button (the group-of-humans icon on the top of the menu). This loads the Sim Bin, and your new Sim should be the first one you see, flagged with an asterisk icon in the corner. Select the Sim and click the checkmark button to accept. Then give your Sim a name, choose his or her aspirations and personality, write a bio if you like, and then click the lower checkmark button when you're done. Make a family with at least one adult, and click the checkmark button to accept the family. Draw your families' connections in the family tree that appears, accept the tree, accept the family, and then get your photo taken. Finally, pick a house for your creation to dwell in. That's it! Now get on with your bad-sim self.

 

Here's your creation, asterisked and ready to join the fun.

 

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Step 7: Leaving Home and Going Online

 

Think your Sim is the bomb and want to share it with the world? You can upload your Sim to a .Mac account or to www.thesims2.com, where other players can download your Sim and add it to their own games. First, you must register at www.thesims2.com (it's free). Next, launch The Sims 2 Body Shop, and in the Build Sims section, press the Package Sims button. Select your Sim and press the Package Sim To Sims2.com button. Enter your account name and password in the login box. Give your Sim a name and short bio, and click Accept; now go to www.thesims2.com and press the Exchange button on the top of the page. Enter your Sim's name on the quick search, and you'll see your Sim in all her homemade glory. While you are in the Exchange, you're free to download other players' Sims, lots, and objects to use in your own game. Just download the package, open the Package Installer app that came with The Sims 2, double-click the downloaded file, and bam, it's in the game.

 

Sharing your creation online is push-button easy-and so is downloading others' creations.