Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sims 2 Hacks Spread Like Viruses

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-control-the-horizontal-and-the-vertical dept.

jowens writes "SecurityFocus reports that players sharing house designs through Electronic Arts' Sims 2 Exchange are finding their game behaving oddly: espresso machines mysteriously satisfy all the Sims needs, Sims are suddenly comfortable with open relationships, and the social worker no longer cares how they treat their children. It turns out hacks were spreading invisibly with Sims 2 lots, infecting thousands of downloadable homes, and catching Electronic Arts by surprise. The hackers, who never intended their hacks to be viruses, have even written their own AV scanner to find and control the outbreak."

6 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. but.. by sirgallihad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    if they where never designed as virii, then how come they are behaving like them?

    1. Re:but.. by Rei · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'd be interested in seing a time bomb. An object which does nothing for a month, and then sets everything it can on fire. Just like with a real virus, if you want it to spread far and wide, you need an incubation period.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
  2. Old news for those in the 'scene' by Richard+Frost · · Score: 5, Interesting

    User based sites that create mods, such as http://www.modthesims2.com, have been warning about this for months now.

  3. Re:Some of those hacks sound kind of cool! by Soul-Burn666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reasons for playing the sims are here (sims1) and here (sims2).

    --
    ^_^
  4. My idea by Mr.+Cancelled · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I always thought it would be way fun to be able to insert a downloadable sim, who would act as somewhat of a virus, and murder other sims.

    My GF's hooked on the Sims (and now Sim2), and even she thought it'd be kinda neat to download an innocent looking Sim, only to have them turn out to be a serial killer who begins killing off your other Sims at some point in time. Sort of a simulated "whodunnit" murder mystery.

  5. Re:57 Years Old? by necro2607 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Um, what I'm more curious about is why the hell they arbitrarily chose this "57-year-old Sims 2 player from Pflugerville, Texas".

    I mean, it doesn't get much more obscure than that. Does this woman happen to be a well-known member of a Sims 2 community site or something? Or did they just do a google search for "arbitrary Sims 2 player" and then interview one of the people randomly selected from the list of results?