What can I say, lately I’m just crazy about The Sims 2, and I confess I haven’t always been. It’s not that anything about the game has really changed recently… rather, I’ve just learned more about it and the world of content and mods surrounding it. As such, if I was out to convince someone of its value as a machinima platform, here are the ten things I would focus on in my sales pitch.

1. The Sims 2 Movie-Making Tutorial & Tips
   Quite possibly the most comprehensive machinima tutorial ever written, this is truly an all-in-one guide to resources and tips about how to make The Sims 2 work for you as a machinima platform. Written by Michelle of Britannica Dreams Productions.
2. Real-time Set Design & Testing
   Most 3d games have a separate application in which sets (maps) must be designed, and then these maps must usually be compiled before they can be run inside the game itself. This causes the set design process to be very time-intensive when you are “tweaking” and testing different things, wondering all along how it will look in the game vs. the 3d preview in most map editors. In The Sims 2, set design is part of the game, you are working right there inside the engine while designing your sets, and this yields much greater productivity. While the lighting available in The Sims 2 isn’t as dynamic as some 3d engines which use BSPs, it’s still very strong, and you never have to worry about finding leaks!
3. Powerful Character Design Made Easy
   I can’t emphasize enough just how useful this feature is, having a Body Shop in which to construct characters in very intricate detail. The speed at which one can craft a working, very customized character in Body Shop vs. a 3d modelling program is stunning, and while you don’t have control over every face and vertex, I’ve found that you don’t really need it, especially with variety of custom body meshes available out there, the possibilities are truly remarkable.
4. The Custom Content Universe
   The Sims 2 has a jaw-dropping volume of custom content being created every day, with no end in sight any time soon. One could probably find just about any hairstyle, clothing type, eye color, etc. etc. just by sticking to a major hub or two, such as ModTheSims2.com or TheSimsResource.com (the Walmart and Target of this content world), but you ignore the smaller “specialty shops” at your peril, because some great finds can be found at these “stores”… and they number in the hundreds! Be prepared to give credit where it’s due, of course.
5. Custom Content Management Tools
   Installing and making use of custom content in The Sims 2 is easy. Period. First, Maxis gives you a Sims 2 Content Manager which works nicely for most purposes, and for some more advanced features you can use the Sims2Pack Clean Installer. If that wasn’t enough, sites like ModTheSims2.com and TheSimsResource.com have wizards you can run as web browser plugins, allowing you to install content directly from their sites! Wow!
6. TS2 Studios
   TS2 Studios is a tool developed by ceedj of Pawfect Films, and it is hugely valuable tool for triggering actions and responses in your characters. Want someone to show shock on their face? Start yelling and gesticulating wildly? Swoon? TS2 Studios puts a huge array of behaviors a mouse click or two away. Fantastic.
7. AI
   The Sims2 is a game driven by the artificial intelligence of its avatars… but the AI can be turned off easily in the game options, which basically makes the characters lose 99% of their autonomy. They will still take orders, however, so turning off the AI doesn’t deaden them completely. You can also freeze and/or manipulate the needs matrix for a sim, and greatly influence his/her behavior in that way. Finally, with some understanding of how personalities work in the game, you can construct a sim who responds to commands in very predictable ways, which if course is quite helpful for filmmaking.
8. Built-In Video Capture
   Don’t get me wrong; I think Fraps and its video capturing cousins are great. But you can’t beat having video capture built right into the game. And the nice thing about the in-game capture is, if your framerate is challenged while capture is turned on, frames are not lost along the way; it may appear to be crawling along if you’ve got a wide shot of a complex set… but you can rest assured knowing the vidcap is getting everything as it should… and you can’t say so for third party utilities.
9. One (Wo)Man Show
   Many machinima platforms all but require you to run the game across a network or the Internet in order to have multiple people control different aspects of production. The Sims 2, however, is ideal for the director who wants total control; everything can (and must) be done from one PC, as far as the action goes. I find this to be a positive, if for no other reason than you never have to battle network lag.
10. The ‘Munity
    The Sims 2 has a large and extraordinarily helpful community of filmmakers and content designers who are genuinely interested in helping each other succeed. There is no hoarding of how-to knowledge; everyone shares what they know so everyone can get better. It’s very very refreshing.