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Proto:The Sims 2 (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)/M4 20 (PlayStation 2)

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This is a sub-page of Proto:The Sims 2 (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox).

Hmmm...
This page is loooong...
Consider grouping related content into additional subpages to ease readability.
This cactus is UNDER CONSTRUCTION
This article is a work in progress.
...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.
Hmmm...
To do:
  • A whole mess up in here that needs to be cleaned up, organised etc.
  • Create-A-Sim stuff... Oh, boy, there's a lot to unpack here.
  • Early Textures.
  • Early Audio. Just a bunch of voice files left to check in SAMPLES.ARC.
  • 3D models? Gonna need to find someone who can do a much better job at rendering them.
  • Story Mode & other in-game stuff.
Title screen

The M4 20 build was provided by darksabre76, who had acquired it from antimatter. It's compiled on July 29, 2005, which is about three months before the final game, and around the time when the EA Hot Summer Nights event had happened. There's some interesting content leftover in this build of the game.

Sub-Page

Blank.png
Debug Tools
Blank.png
Early Create-A-Sim Content
Blank.png
Lot Changes

Build Version

While this build doesn't show a build version in the bottom left corner on the menu like some other builds, it does still have it hidden inside the ELF. It would look like this:

SKU: 1 [US]
Build Version: A.07.28.1
Sandbox Version: 1.mainline.0.238

Logo Changes

The Sims 2 logo has been slightly changed from this build. Mainly the backdrop shadow being thicker in final, and the glow around the Plumbob being stronger in final.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420-bootlogo.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo
Sims2PS2-FIN s2c logo.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo
Sims2PS2-M420 s2c logo dut.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_dut
Sims2PS2-FIN s2c logo dut.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_dut
Sims2PS2-M420 s2c logo fra.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_fra
Sims2PS2-FIN s2c logo fra.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_fra
Sims2PS2-M420 s2c logo ger.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_ger
Sims2PS2-FIN s2c logo ger.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_ger
Sims2PS2-M420 s2c logo spa.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_spa
Sims2PS2-FIN s2c logo spa.png
TEXTURES.ARC\s2c_logo_spa

General Differences

  • This build has no cheats. Instead it has a Cheat Gnome that spawns in every lot, filled with debugging options.
  • Pressing Select + L3 toggles the HUD.
  • Depending on whether you saved or not after the initial Create-A-Sim, and whether it's Story or Freeplay mode, you'll get different starting times for each.
Starting time Save No save
Story mode 1:00 am 6:58 pm
Freeplay mode 1:00 am 6:56 pm
  • The Main Menu has a different icon layout. The text for starting a new game, or continuing is also changed.
Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420-MMicon1.png
Sims2PS2-M420-MMicon2.png
Sims2PS2-M420-MMicon3.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMicon1.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMicon2.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMicon3.png
  • The credits are aligned differently.
Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420-MMCredits.png Sims2PS2-FIN-MMCredits.png
  • Loading and saving a game makes the background go blank, and has a placeholder-looking UI design.
Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420-MMUILoad.png
Sims2PS2-M420-MMUICheck.png
Sims2PS2-M420-MMUIAccept.png
Sims2PS2-M420-MMUINoData.png.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMUILoad.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMUICheck.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMUIAccept.png
Sims2PS2-FIN-MMUINoData.png

Developer Options

While a lot of the options present and pre-enabled in this build can also be enabled in the final game, there still are a couple that only apply to this build.

(Source: Edness)

use_hsn_main_menu

Use HSN Main Menu

005AE958 00000001

Enables a very early main menu used for the Hot Summer Nights event, as indicated by the name.
Sims2PS2-M420 use hsn main menu-1.png Sims2PS2-M420 use hsn main menu-2.png

The development menu (enable_development_menu) has a more basic look to it as well with this menu enabled.
Sims2PS2-M420 use hsn main menu-enable development menu-1.png Sims2PS2-M420 use hsn main menu-enable development menu-2.png Sims2PS2-M420 use hsn main menu-enable development menu-3.png

enable_two_player

Used to active two player mode until we have UI to do so. Cannot be changed once a lot has loaded

005AE8F4 00000001

As the previous early menu doesn't have a way to load splitscreen, this option would've been used instead.

enable_display_anim_names

Used to display the current animations being played. Warning: doesn't work on ps2 currently

005AE8F8 00000001

Despite the cheat subtitle saying it doesn't work on PS2, it does actually work in this build. It, however, does not work in the final release.
Sims2PS2-M420 enable display anim names-1.png Sims2PS2-M420 enable display anim names-2.png

enable_display_mem_usage

Used to display the amount of current free memory, largest free memory block, size of the last save games and the percent of available space used by the save game.

005AE8FC 00000001

While it renders the necessary text over the screen, it doesn't seem to have any actual function. The Save size values can be manipulated by editing the values at offsets 205AEA40 and 205AEA44.
Sims2PS2-M420 enable display mem usage-3.png Sims2PS2-M420 enable display mem usage-1.png Sims2PS2-M420 enable display mem usage-2.png

enable_character_diagnotics

Used to display diagnostic information on the current sim

005AE968 00000001

Displays the Sims current state, coordinated and a bunch of other things.
Sims2PS2-M420 enable character diagnotics-1.png Sims2PS2-M420 enable character diagnotics-2.png

Gameplay

Create-A-Sim

The Create-A-Sim allows you to manually select your Sim's grandparents in this build. But generating a Sim with any kind of change to your grandparents will still give you a default Sim, no matter what. The parent's frames aren't selectable.
Sims2PS2-M420-CASGenetics1.png Sims2PS2-M420-CASGenetics2.png

The Create-A-Sim menus are quite different as well.

Early Final Additional information
Sims2PS2-M420-CASMainMenu.png Sims2PS2-FIN-CASMainMenu.png Menu button layout differences. Different fashion icons.
The Change Gender button has no effect.
Sims2PS2-M420-CASFashion.png Sims2PS2-FIN-CASFashion.png
Sims2PS2-M420-CASAspiration.png Sims2PS2-FIN-CASAspiration.png The Creativity aspiration shows an icon of a Sim growing up. It was seen in the early portfolio screenshots.

Freeplay Mode

This build has a pre-made Freeplay family with the surname Bradley, using icons of Bobo The Hobo and J.J. Bradley from The Urbz with both of them being named that. The appearance of the characters are the default male presets.
Sims2PS2-M420 FreeplayFamilyMenu.png Sims2PS2-M420 FreeplayFamilyInGame.png

Only the 1st Freeplay lot, named 8 Rockpile Road in the final has an incomplete house layout while the others are empty.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 FreeplayHouse1.png
Sims2PS2-M420 FreeplayHouse2.png
Sims2PS2-FIN FreeplayHouse1.png
Sims2PS2-FIN FreeplayHouse2.png

EyeToy

All the strings that refer to it as simply EyeToy were expanded in the final to say EyeToy® USB Camera.

The default settings are all centered in this build, but in the final it defaults to maximum exposure.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 EyeToy-Settings.png Sims2PS2-FIN EyeToy-Settings.png

It doesn't use 5 different generated icons based on your Sim, instead it has 5 different premade icons for each slot.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 EyeToy-Capture.png Sims2PS2-FIN EyeToy-Capture.png

The 1st fun frame is present in this build, but this also means you can't take an image without any frame at all, which is likely the reason why it was removed.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 EyeToy-FunFrames.png Sims2PS2-FIN EyeToy-FunFrames.png

All of the filter icons show the 1st fun frame icon, but the actual effects seems to remain unchanged from final, asides from the slight change of order.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 EyeToy-Filters.png Sims2PS2-FIN EyeToy-Filters.png

And lastly, the Done button has placeholder text instead.

Early Final
Sims2PS2-M420 EyeToy-Done.png Sims2PS2-FIN EyeToy-Done.png

Cutscenes

This game stores all its cutscene videos inside the MOVIES.ARC container. Most of them are just the EA logo in various different languages, but a few of them are related to the game. All the urbz_ prefixes from the filenames were changed to s2c_ in the final build.

Filename Early cutscene Final cutscene Additional information
urbz_intro
Incredibly early version of the intro cutscene. The audio is played back incorrectly by the build, it sounds slightly sped up and is lagging around a bunch, but that's caused by reading incorrect frequencies. The source file has normal audio.
urbz_intro_pal
The PAL version of the incredibly early version of the intro cutscene. Slightly higher resolution, and seems to have more visible stuff on the sides.
urbz_ending
Early version of the ending outtakes cutscene. The early version is missing a few scenes as well.
urbz_ending_pal
The PAL version of the early version of the ending outtakes cutscene.
urbz_attract
The attract mode video from The Urbz: Sims in the City.
The video in the final game still technically exists, but it has been replaced with the EA logo.
urbz_attract_pal
As before, PAL version of the attract mode video from The Urbz: Sims in the City.
Also has the original video removed and replaced with the EA logo.

Early Textures

Textures are stored in the TEXTURES.ARC container.

Main Menu Related Textures

There are a couple unused textures related to the Main Menu found in this build.

Filename(s) Texture Additional information
hsn_map_mainmenu
hsn_map_loading
Sims2PS2-M420 hsn map mainmenu.png Sims2PS2-M420 hsn map loading.png Background for an early main menu.
As the hsn_ prefix would suggest, this would've been shown off during EA's July 2005 Hot Summer Nights press conference.
hsn_map_alien_site
hsn_map_cas
hsn_map_cliffside
hsn_map_hms_amore
hsn_map_rockwell_acres
hsn_map_shoreline
Sims2PS2-M420 hsn map alien site.pngSims2PS2-M420 hsn map cas.pngSims2PS2-M420 hsn map cliffside.pngSims2PS2-M420 hsn map hms amore.pngSims2PS2-M420 hsn map rockwell acres.pngSims2PS2-M420 hsn map shoreline.png A bunch of button textures for the previous menu textures were also found in this build.
temp_worldmap_e3 Sims2 Temp worldmap e3.png Even earlier version that was most likely planned to be shown at E3, as suggested by its filename. This texture is found in all builds, including the final one.

The Team Photo wasn't changed to the current one yet, signifying it may have been taken between July and August.

Filename Early texture Final texture Additional information
team_picture1
team_picture2
team_picture3
team_picture4
UrbzPS4-team picture1234.png Sims2Console TeamPhotoGraphic.png The texture is split into four 256x256 images. They've been combined together into a single 1024x256 image here for ease of viewing.
team_picture Sims2PS2-M420 team picture.png Sims2PS2-FIN team picture.png Uncertain if this texture is ever seen in-game, even in the final game. It is 512x256 in M4 20 and 512x512 in final.

Early Audio

The music of this game are all stored in AUDIOSTR.ARC and the sound effects are stored in the SAMPLES.ARC container.

Music

The music for the most part stayed unchanged, but there were a few differences still.

Filename Early song Final song Additional information
music_24_bbcas2
2nd pause song. M4 20 uses The Sims theme (Lemon Jelly Remix) from the Nightlife expansion, that never appears in The Sims 2 Console.
music_24_bbcas3
Create-A-Sim song. This build uses Sim Time Sim Place (Lemon Jelly Remix), which is the full version of the Loading jingle. In all subsequent builds, the only remnants of this song are found in SAMPLES.ARC as load_loop2; 4; 5; 6.

Sound Effects

Most sound effect filenames are pretty straight forward. am_ for ambient in-game noises, v_ or vox_ for voices in Simlish, etc. This build has a total of 11550 sound effect files, whereas the final build has 9466.

Non-specific SFX

These tables contain the changed or removed sound effects that don't necessarily belong to a much bigger bundle, or simply not enough differences to warrant a separate sub-section.

Filename Early Final Additional information
arcade_lose_love
arcade_lp_love1
22050Hz and 8s long in M4 20. 12000Hz and 16s long in final.
arcade_win_love
Background guitar sounds more muffled in final.
bed_mojo_lp
M4 20's bed_mojo_lp is used in final as bed_woohoo_lp
Note: The final bed_mojo_lp might be incorrect, the file header indicates it should be 22050Hz, but it sounded like it was clipping a lot. This is exported as 12000Hz, where it still is somewhat clipping but it's much better than before.
bed_woohoo_lp
blender_st
Final is slightly longer and has a fade-out.
bonfire_lp
More wood cracking sounds in final.
car_junker_arrive
All the car_*_arrive sounds were extended in final.
car_v4_arrive
car_v6_arrive
car_v8_arrive
checker_move1
checker_move2
checker_move3
door_close_barred
door_close_biker2
door_close_copper
door_close_decoglass
door_close_smallwindow
door_close_subway
door_open_biker2
door_open_copper
door_open_decoglass
fountain_splash_lp3
Slightly longer in M4 20
obj_get_lino_newspaper
plant_replant_shimmer
sink_washdishes_end
Start of M4 20's sink_washdishes_lp was combined with the final sink_washdishes_end.
sink_washdishes_lp
slot_spin_lp
slot_win_gunshot
sting_npc_emergency
M4 20 has a sting at the start that would be removed.
sting_ressurect
M4 20's jingle is significantly longer.
toilet_lowerseat_public
M4 20's toilet_raiseseat_alien and toilet_raiseseat_steel are identical.
toilet_puke_loop
toilet_raiseseat_alien
toilet_raiseseat_porcelain
toilet_raiseseat_steel
ui_social_mode_enter
ui_social_mode_exit
Filename Cut Sound Additional information
aquarium_maintain
arcade_lp_love2
The missing 2nd half from arcade_lp_love1 which was combined together and re-encoded into a lower frequency in final.
These two sound more or less the same, but the raw data does show some slight minor differences.
arcade_lp_love3
attack_lose_stop
attack_win_start
bar_drnk_pickup1
bar_drnk_pickup1 and 3 sound almost identical.
bar_drnk_pickup2
bar_drnk_pickup3
book_turnpage4
Final build only has book_turnpage1 - 3.
book_turnpage5
book_turnpage6
bulldog_follow_clap
dogday3i
These two technically still exist in the final game, but the sound data for these files have been nulled out.
dogday10i
drinkbar_mix_drink1
drinkbar_mix_drink2
drinkbar_mix_drink3
drinkbar_mix_tray1
drinkbar_mix_tray2
drinkbar_mix_tray3
drinkbar_place_drink
drinkbar_place_tray1
drinkbar_place_tray2
drinkbar_place_tray3
drinkbar_place_tray4
espresso_rep_lp1
espresso_rep_lp2
fiddlee_acc1
Some of these technically still exist in the final game, but they've been combined together with the voice files (v_dt_fiddle*) and encoded in a lower frequency. The M4 20 v_dt_fiddle* sounds have a blank spot instead, where these fiddle sounds are supposed to go in. This change was most likely done to reduce the already incredibly slow load times.
fiddlee_acc2
fiddlee_acc3
fiddlee_rej1
fiddlee_rej2
fiddlee_rej3
fiddler_acc1
fiddler_acc2
fiddler_acc3
fiddler_rej1
fiddler_rej2
fiddler_rej3
fridge_catch_snack
fridge_get_food
fridge_platter_spin
give_money_cash
gossipee_acc_slap
highfiver_accept
listen_energa_claps
o_schnizz_rap_lp1
passive_food
passive_stereo
piano_class_med1
Final has piano_classm1 - 3 (and piano_classh1 - 3 as well) but those are entirely different and separate from these cut _med sounds.
piano_class_med2
piano_class_med3
pinball_repair_lp1
Pinball machines never break in the game, so as a result these sounds were removed.
pinball_repair_lp2
pmuggee_end
pmugger_handclap
pool_swim_stroke1
The console game doesn't have any pools to swim in. Likely a leftover from Bustin' Out.
pool_swim_stroke2
pool_swim_stroke3
pool_swim_stroke4
pool_swim_stroke5
rap_accept_clap
revive
A leftover from The Urbz.
sbottle_spin_end
sink_repair_start
slot_score
Reused in Final as slot_spin_lp.
stereo_turnon
ticklee_rej_push_away
toilet_flush_ornate
toilet_stand_off
toilet_stand_on
tv_repair_end
TVs don't break in this game, thus don't ever get repaired. Likely a leftover from The Sims Bustin' Out.

Ambient SFX

30 ambient sound effects found in this build that were entirely cut from later builds. Pretty much all of these belonged to a larger list of similar sound effects, the Additional information tab lists which sound effects with similar names did survive into the final release.

Filename Cut Sound Additional information
am_catfight4
Final build only has am_catfight1; 3; 5; 6; 9; 13.
am_chains1
The final build has am_chainpull1 - 4, but they're different from these.
am_chains2
am_chains3
am_conv_laughb1vb
Retail build has a bunch of these, but from laughb there's only am_conv_laughb3. The rest are laugha.
am_conv_tense3vb
Similar as above, the only tense SFX in final are tense1; 1vb; 4; 4vb; 5vb.
am_ftsteps_enter1
They're all pretty similar to each other. None of these ambient footstep sound effects are found in the final build.
am_ftsteps_enter2
am_ftsteps_enter3
am_ftsteps_enter4
am_ftsteps_exit1
am_ftsteps_exit2
am_ftsteps_exit3
am_ftsteps_exit4
am_rain_dirt
Final build only has am_rain_base_lp; am_rain_con_lp2; am_rain_porch.
am_siren1
Final build has am_sirens_dist1 - 5 instead.
am_siren2
am_siren3
These two seem to be identical for some reason.
am_siren_horn1
am_skateby2
Only am_skateby1; 4; 5 survived into final.
am_skateby3
am_sub_rumble05
Final has am_sub_rumble01 - 04.
am_sub_rumble06
am_subvox_attf10
There are a bunch of subvox SFX, but from attf the only ones in final are 6; 18; 20.
am_subvox_trainf56
As above, from trainf only 63; 66; 70 are left in final.
am_subvox_trainf60
am_tone_ind1
The final build only has am_tone_hi_101_lp1; am_tone_hi_134; am_tone_lo_131; am_tone_lo_136.
am_tone_med_126
am_water_lap_hi_lp3
There's a ton of am_water SFX in final, but specifically from lap_hi_lp, there's only lp1 and 2.
am_wolf2
In Final, there's am_wolf1; 3 - 6

And there's one ambient sound that was noticeably different than the final one. There were about 10 ambient sounds total that had different hashes, but they were either changes to a row in the sound data, or extra data at the beginning and end of the file. But when listening to them, they all sounded pretty much the same in either case.

Filename Early Final
am_alien_tractor_lp