Everything about The Sims totally explained
The Sims is a
strategic life-simulation computer game created by game designer
Will Wright, published by
Maxis, and distributed by
Electronic Arts. It is a
simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("
Sims") in a
suburban household near
SimCity.
The Sims was first released on
February 4,
2000. By
March 22,
2002,
The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, making it the
best-selling PC game in history. Since its initial release, seven
expansion packs and a sequel,
The Sims 2 (with its own expansion packs), have been released. Another sequel,
The Sims 3, is currently under production.
The Sims has won numerous awards, including
GameSpot's "Game of the Year Award" for 2000.
Overview
The Sims focuses entirely on the lives of virtual people called
Sims, placing the player in control of their virtual "world" and their daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, reading, and bathing.
Will Wright, the game's
designer, calls it a "digital dollhouse". Although players are encouraged to make their own characters, certain pre-made characters, such as the Newbie and Goth family, have become popular.
The player controls almost all aspects of the lives of a family either premade or self-created. Many choices lead a player's sim to a large family or a lonely life.
Origins and development
The idea for
The Sims is thought to be drawn from Will Wright's experience in the
1991 Oakland firestorm, when his house and many of his possessions were burned down in the fire. Wright was required to move his family elsewhere and rebuild his life; these events led to Will's inspiration of creating a simulated game about life. The game is also loosely based on
SimCity, another computer game designed by Wright in which the player must manage a city and its citizenry, dubbed "Sims." The idea of "
simulated people" led Wright to believe that he could program and design the perfect construct of the main aspects that a computer or video game possesses.
Wright originally proposed the idea of a virtual "dollhouse" to Maxis in 1993 while the idea was still in development, although the proposal was met with skepticism by staff; computer hardware during the period wasn't thought to be capable of running such a simulation smoothly. In 1995, Wright was offered an opportunity from Electronic Arts to continue developing the concept and game so that EA could publish it. Development of the game, initially dubbed "Project X," commenced in 1995.
After production for the game finally began in 1995, Wright was interviewed about his idea in a
PC Magazine article published around 1995, in which he talked about the chance for players to control a computer generated character in their own environment.
In 1997, the name of the game was changed from "Project X" to "The Sims" as a reference to Will Wright's
earlier "Sim" games, which had been very successful in the early- to mid-1990s.
Gameplay and design
Instead of objectives, the player is encouraged to make choices and engage fully in an interactive environment. This has helped the game successfully attract casual gamers. The only real objective of the game is to organize the Sims' time to help them reach personal goals.
In the beginning, the game offers players pre-made characters as well as the option to create more Sims that they can control. Creating a Sim consists of creating a "family" (identified by a last name) that can hold up to eight members. The player can then create Sims, by providing the Sim a first name and optional biography, and choosing the sex (male or female), skin complexion (light, medium, or dark) and age (adult or child) of the Sim. The personality of the Sim is dictated by five attributes and a specific head and body (bundled with a specific body physique and clothing). The player can't change a Sim's face, name, or personality once they've been moved onto a lot.
Each family, regardless of how many members are in it, starts with a limited amount of cash (
§20,000) that will be needed to purchase a house or vacant land, build or remodel a house, and purchase furniture. All architectural features and furnishings are dictated by a tile system, in which items must be placed on a square and rotated to face exactly a 90 degree angle with no diagonals permitted. Walls and fences go on the edge of a "square" and can be diagonal, whereas furniture and Sims take up one or more squares and can't be diagonal. There are over 150 home building materials and furnishings for purchase.
Sims are directed on the basis of instructing them to interact with objects, such as a television set, a piece of furniture or another Sim. Sims may receive house guests, which are actually based on the Sims of other game files. The player can't control 'visiting' Sims, although it's important for Sims to interact with one another in order to develop a healthy social life and gain popularity.
Sims, if enabled within the game, have a certain amount of
free will, meaning that'll engage in activities when left to their own devices, though player commands will override anything a Sim decides to do on its own. However, sims may not perform important commands, such as find a job or conceive a child. Unlike the simulated environments in games such as
SimCity,
SimEarth, or
SimLife, the Sims are not fully autonomous. They are unable to take certain actions without specific commands from the player, such as paying their bills. Thus, if left alone, without any player supervision, the Sims will eventually develop overdue bills and their property will be repossessed.
The player must make decisions about time spent in personal development, such as exercise, reading, creativity, and logic, by adding activities to the daily agenda of the Sims. Daily need fulfillment must also be scheduled, such as personal hygiene, eating, and sleeping. If the simulated humans don't perform need fulfillment, they suffer consequences. For example, if they don't eat, that'll die of starvation. If they don't go to the bathroom, that'll wet themselves. If they don't have fun, they become depressed, and unwilling to do things. When Sims have low motives they're more likely to be nasty to other Sim characters by insulting them, slapping them and even attacking them.
Financial health is simulated by the need to send the Sims to find jobs, go to work, pay bills, and take advantage of personal development and social contacts to advance in their jobs.
The inner structure of the game is actually an
agent based artificial life program. The presentation of the game's
artificial intelligence is advanced, and the Sims will respond to outside conditions by themselves, although often the player/controller's intervention is necessary to keep them on the right track.
The Sims technically has unlimited
replay value, in that there's no way to win the game, and the player can play on indefinitely. It has been described as more like a
toy than a
game.
In addition, the game includes a very advanced
architecture system. The game was originally designed as an architecture simulation alone, with the Sims there only to evaluate the houses, but during development it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than originally anticipated and their initially limited role in the game was developed further.
Expansion packs
The Sims is one of the most heavily expanded computer game franchises ever. In all, a total of seven
expansion packs were produced for
The Sims (listed in chronological order):
The Sims: Livin' Large
The Sims: Livin' Large (known as The Sims: Livin' It Up in the
UK and
FI) is the first
expansion pack released for the computer simulation game,
The Sims. The pack includes new characters, careers, items, and features.
The Sims: House Party
The Sims: House Party is the second
expansion pack for the simulation
game,
The Sims.
House Party gives players the ability to throw house parties, with several new items and characters fitting into the house party theme.
The Sims: Hot Date
The Sims: Hot Date is the third
expansion pack released for the strategy/simulation
computer game The Sims. Hot Date added a new feature not present in previous versions of
The Sims, namely the ability for Sims to leave their homes and travel to a new destination called "Downtown", a way of going out with a sim to have dinner with him/her as well as dance with them. All of the following expansion packs for
The Sims have added new destinations as well. It is reportedly the inspiration for, the second expansion pack to the sequel of the game. As with all expansion packs in the series,
Hot Date included many new furnishing objects, characters, clothing items, and Sim faces.
The Sims: Vacation
The Sims: Vacation (called
The Sims: On Holiday in Ireland, the UK and China) is the fourth
expansion pack released for the simulation
computer game The Sims. The sixth expansion pack for
The Sims 2, called, features a similar theme.
Vacation introduced a new neighborhood, called Vacation Island, where Sims could take vacations with members of their own family or with other Sims. Vacation Island is split into three distinct environments: beach, forest, and snow-capped mountain. Sims can receive souvenirs from these vacation spots.
The Sims: Unleashed
The Sims: Unleashed is the fifth
expansion pack developed and published by
Maxis/
EA for the strategy/simulation
computer game The Sims., a similar expansion created for
The Sims 2, is inspired by this expansion pack. In
Unleashed, the Sims can now adopt pets for their families, particularly
dogs and
cats. Dogs and cats are treated as Sims, while other pets are treated as objects. However, they can't be controlled directly like human Sims are.
The theme of game, with its new lots and music, is considered
Cajun or
Zydeco. One could compare it to
New Orleans'
French Quarter with
voodoo shops and
jazz musicians appearing on commercial lots.
The Sims: Superstar
The Sims: Superstar is the sixth
expansion pack of seven of
expansion packs released for the strategy/simulation
computer game The Sims. This expansion allows the player's sims to become entertainment figures and includes representations of several famous
Hollywood personalities.
The Sims: Makin' Magic
The Sims: Makin' Magic is the seventh and final
expansion pack released for the strategy/simulation
computer game,
The Sims. It introduces magic to the game and allows Sims to cast spells and forge charms. In addition, it introduces baking and nectar-making. This expansion pack included a disc containing a preview of The Sims 2.
Compilations
Compilations with the original The Sims game
The Sims has now been repackaged in numerous editions. These editions are not expansions in themselves, but rather a compilation of the basic game plus pre-existing expansion packs and additional game content. These editions include:
North American releases
| Name |
Windows release date |
Features |
| The Sims Deluxe Edition |
2002 |
Core game; ; The Sims Creator, an editor used to create custom Sim clothing; Deluxe Edition exclusive content, which includes 25+ exclusive objects and 50+ clothing choices. |
| The Sims Double Deluxe |
2003 |
The Sims Deluxe Edition; ; Double Deluxe bonus content. |
| The Sims Mega Deluxe |
May 25, 2004 |
The Sims Double Deluxe; . |
| The Sims Complete Collection |
November, 2005 |
Core game; all seven expansion packs; Deluxe Edition exclusive content; Double Deluxe bonus content; The Sims Creator. |
Releases in other regions
Spinoffs and Sequels
The Sims Online
In December 2002, Maxis shipped
The Sims Online, which recreated
The Sims as an
MMOG, where actual human players could interact with each other. This sequel didn't achieve the same level of success as the original
The Sims game that producers and developers thought it would.
Reviews for
The Sims Online were lackluster. Many reviewers likened
The Sims Online experience to an enormous
chat room where few participants, if any, have anything worthwhile to say.
The game was revamped in 2008, and given a new title called "
EA Land".
On April 29, 2008 it was officially announced that EA Land would be shutting down permanently. Effective on that date players could no longer renew their subscriptions and new players could no longer sign up. Existing players will be able to play until August 1, 2008 when EA land will be completely out of service.
The Sims 2
Maxis released
The Sims 2 on
September 14,
2004. The sequel takes place in a full 3D environment, as opposed to the combination 2D/3D ("
2.5-D" or
Isometric) environment of the original game. Other additions to the original gameplay include Sims that grow from infancy to adulthood, then age slowly, and eventually die. This game features clear "days of the week" with obvious weekends for children to stay home from school, as well as "vacation days" to take time off work, an "Aspiration Meter" that increases and decreases as a Sim fulfills specific desires and experiences its worst fears, and "Aspiration Rewards" which can be "bought" with "Aspiration Points" that are earned each time a want is successfully filled.
The Sims 2 is set some 25 years after the original game, and also integrates a storyline into the game. For instance, the Pleasant family (available in the family bin in
Sims 1) has settled in a suburban neighborhood, and their family tree panels reveals relationships with the original Pleasant family from the
Sims 1. Additionally, the Goth family has aged significantly, while Bella Goth has mysteriously vanished (suggestively from an alien abduction).
Because faces and neighborhoods are handled in very different ways, objects had to migrate from 2-D
sprites to 3-D
models, and some objects (particularly those contained in expansion packs) were not copied at all.
The Sims 2 wasn't made backwards-compatible with any
Sims 1 content. There have been many expansion packs and add-ons released for
The Sims 2.
MySims
MySims is a console game created by EA exclusively for the
Wii and
Nintendo DS. It features
Chibi-like characters (similar to the Wii's
Mii avatars). It was released in September of 2007 and will receive a gold edition for
Microsoft Windows based computers.
The Sims Stories
The Sims Stories is a series of computer games from
The Sims series, based on the original
The Sims 2 engine, optimized for play on
laptops, as it has lower system requirement than
The Sims 2, but can still be played on
desktops. One feature of this game, if played on a laptop, is the auto-pause function, which stops and starts the game according to when the laptop lid is closed. At present, three games have been released.
The Sims 3
The Sims 3 was announced in an interview by EA in November 2006, where it was also mentioned that the release date of the game would likely be in the "fiscal 2009" year. A teaser site currently exists for
The Sims 3 with screenshots and information on the upcoming game..
Among some promised features are no perceivable loading times, more realistic Sims and more open home locations and neighborhoods.
Other versions
Ports
- The Sims and all its expansion packs were ported to the Mac by Aspyr Media, Inc..
- The Sims was ported to Linux using Transgaming's WineX technology (now known as Cedega) and was bundled with Mandrake Linux Gaming Edition. However, both WineX and the Cedega engine are unable to run the Windows version of the game. The original port will no longer run on modern Linux distributions and is unable to accept the various add-on packs intended for the Windows version.
Console versions
The Sims was remade for the
PlayStation 2,
Xbox and
GameCube consoles. It is a somewhat different game from the PC version; it features some gameplay modifications, a
3D camera perspective and some resources from some PC's expansions: parties, dates, and jobs. However you can't build a house with 2 floors, and an
object limiter is active on all houses to prevent the player from constructing and furnishing houses too large for the console to load. Various console versions with different names, such as
The Sims: Bustin' Out, incorporate some of the components of the expansion packs as separate games.
Film
The Sims (
working title) is a
live action,
drama film currently in preproduction.
On
May 25 2007, it was announced that
The Sims film rights had been purchased by
20th Century Fox. It will be written by
Brian Lynch, the writer of . The film will be produced by
John Davis, who has worked on films such as
Norbit and
Eragon.
It will be a drama and will be released in
2009.
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Sims'.
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