The Sims (video game)

For games with "Sim" in the title, see List of Sim games.

The Sims
North American boxart
Developer(s)	Maxis
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Will Wright
Engine	Custom
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS
Release	US: February 4 2000 BR: February 4 2000 EU: February 28 2000
Genre(s)	Life simulation game God game
Mode(s)	Single player

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.

First released on February 4, 2000, The Sims has shipped more than 16 million copies as of February 7 2005, and is the best-selling PC game in history. Including expansion packs, the franchise has sold over 70 million units worldwide as of January 2007. 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 also in the works. The Sims has won numerous awards, including GameSpot's PC Game of the Year Award for 2000.

Overview

The Sims, lacking definite goals or objectives, which are common in most other computer games, 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

File:Sims promo.JPG

Title screen from a short promotional video for The Sims released on the SimCity 3000 installation CD.

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 was not 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 to control as well as the option to create more Sims. 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 gender (male or female), skin complexion (light, medium, or dark) and age (adult or child) of the Sim, the personality of the Sim that is dictated by five attributes and a specific head and body (bundled with a specific body physique and clothing). The player cannot change a Sim's face, name, or personality once they have 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 purchasing 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 cannot 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 dresser, or another Sim. Sims may receive house guests, which are actually based on the Sims of other game files. The player cannot control 'visiting' Sims, although it is important for Sims to interact with one another in order to develop a healthy social life and gain popularity.

Sims have a certain amount of free will (if it is enabled in-game), and although the player can instruct them to do something, Sim characters may decide to do something else, or simply ignore the player's commands. 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.

A lazy Sim.

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 maintenance requirements must also be scheduled, such as personal hygiene, eating, and sleeping. If the simulated humans do not perform the proper amount of personal maintenance, they will sicken and die. Furthermore, Sims need to have fun; if they don't, the fun level bar eventually lowers and they become depressed, but however depressed they become, they are unable to commit suicide (they are not programmed to do so). They are, however, able 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 is 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.

A neighborhood in The Sims consists of a single screen displaying all playable houses.

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.

There are some limitations to the first game of The Sims, most notably that children in the first series never grow up to become adults, though babies do eventually become children. Also, adult Sims never age (or die of old age), and there is no concept of weekends. For example, adults and children are expected to go to work and attend school respectively, every day. In particular, adults receive a warning if they miss one day of work, but they are fired if they miss work for two consecutive days. Children can study at home to keep their school grades up.

While there is no eventual objective to the game, states of failure do exist in The Sims. One is that Sims may die, types of death including starvation, drowning, perishing in a fire, electrocution and by virus (contracted from a pet guinea pig, which can happen when its cage is left dirty). In this case, the ghost of the deceased Sim may haunt the building where it died. In addition, Sims can leave a household for good and never return; two adult Sims with a bad relationship may brawl, eventually resulting in one of them moving out; child Sims can be sent to military school if their school grades remain at an F for several consecutive days. Although considered states of failure, many players occasionally deliberately mistreat their Sims to observe the reactions. This can be done with no consequences if the game state isn't saved.

The Sims uses a combination of 3D and 2D graphics techniques. The Sims themselves are rendered as high-poly-count 3D objects, but the house, and all its objects, are pre-rendered, and displayed dimetrically.

Reception

In 2002, The Sims became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game Myst. Critics praised it with positive reviews. It has been a success in many ways—attracting casual gamers and female gamers (the latter making up approximately 60% of players) [1] — unusual in a market traditionally dominated by young males. Open-ended gameplay has been done before in games, such as the farming-based simulation series Harvest Moon (a 1997 game originally released for the SNES), but The Sims has certainly gained popularity for this particular style of gameplay.

Simlish language

Main article: Simlish

Simlish is a fictional language featured in Maxis' Sim series of games. It debuted in SimCopter, and has been especially prominent in The Sims and The Sims 2. Simlish can also be heard in SimCity 4, but far less frequently. It also featured to an extent in the Firaxis game Sid Meier's SimGolf. Designer Will Wright was conscious of the need for dialogue in the game, but thought that using a real language would make it sound too repetitive and would also be too costly to hire translators for world languages.

The Sims development team created the unique Simlish language by experimenting with fractured Ukrainian and Tagalog (one of the major languages of the Philippines). Inspired by the code talkers of WWII, Sims creator Will Wright also suggested experimenting with Navajo.

Expansion packs

File:Simsvr.JPG

A Sim enjoys a virtual reality simulator.

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):

• Livin' Large, released August 2000, adds more home objects, events, Sims, careers, and the ability to establish multiple neighborhoods. Also called 'The Sims: Livin' It Up'.
• House Party, released March 2001, adds party-related content, such as lighted dance floors. Also gives the ability to invite multiple people and throw a party by selecting "Throw Party" on a phone.
• Hot Date, released November 2001, allows Sims to meet or pick up other Sims for romantic encounters in a new city environment, dubbed "Downtown." Downtown also allows Sims to eat, play and purchase items, such as clothing, gifts and magazines. The expansion pack is also the first in the series to establish a playable area outside the neighborhood.
• Vacation, released March 2002, allows the player to take Sims to various vacation destinations, such as beaches and the woods for camping.
• Unleashed, released September 2002, gives Sims the ability to adopt and train a wide variety of pets, allow Sims to grow crops, and expands the neighborhood, including the addition of a New Orleans-themed town, dubbed "Old Town."
• Superstar, released May 2003, allows Sims to visit a Hollywood-like town called "Studio Town" and become celebrities.
• Makin' Magic, released October 2003, allows Sims to use magic and cast spells and introduces a new Magic Town area.

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: Livin' Large; 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; The Sims: House Party; Double Deluxe bonus content.
The Sims Mega Deluxe	May 25, 2004	The Sims Double Deluxe; The Sims: Hot Date.
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

Name	Region	Windows release date	Features
The Sims Triple Deluxe	United Kingdom	2003	The Sims Double Deluxe; The Sims: Vacation.
The Complete Collection of The Sims	United Kingdom	2004	Core game; Deluxe Edition exclusive content; all seven expansion packs; The Sims Creator.
The Sims: Full House	Australia/New Zealand	n/a	Core game; all seven expansion packs; disc containing preview of The Sims 2.

Compilations of expansion packs

An expansion collection series was released in 2005:

• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume One consists of The Sims: Unleashed and The Sims: House Party.
• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume Two consists of The Sims: Hot Date and The Sims: Makin' Magic.
• The Sims: Expansion Collection Volume Three consists of The Sims: Vacation and The Sims: Superstar.

Another expansion collection series was also released in 2005:

• The Sims: Expansion Three-Pack Volume 1 consists of The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims: Superstar, and The Sims: House Party.
• The Sims: Expansion Three-Pack Volume 2 consists of The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims: Vacation, and The Sims: Makin' Magic.

Sequels

Current "The Sims" Division logo, used from 2004. It was inspired by The Sims 2 logo.

The Sims Online

Main article: The Sims Online

In December 2002, Maxis shipped The Sims Online, which recreates The Sims as an MMOG, where actual human players can interact with each other. This sequel did not achieve the same level of success as the original The Sims game that producers and developers thought it would.

Reviews for The Sims Online have been lackluster. Many reviewers have likened The Sims Online experience to an enormous chat room where few participants, if any, have anything worthwhile to say.

The Sims 2

Main article: 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 was not made backwards-compatible with any Sims 1 content. There have been several expansion packs and add-ons released for The Sims 2.

MySims

Main article: 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.

The Sims Stories

Main article: The Sims Life 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, this 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 by EA in November 2006. The production of The Sims 3 started after the release of The Sims 2 The game will use a new engine which is already post testing. Maxis and EA's spokesperson concluded a press interview by stating that the characters in "The Sims 3" is more detailed down to not only looks, but personality as well.

Ports

The Sims has been ported from Microsoft Windows to some video game consoles. Though sales have been respectable, the series is not nearly as big a hit as it has been on the PC.

• The Sims (released in January 2003), first console version of The Sims on the PlayStation 2. Later released for GameCube and Xbox.
• The Sims Bustin' Out (released in December 2003): the second console and Game Boy Advance-based versions of The Sims as an RPG where the player guides Sims to move into Malcolm's Mansion. It can be played with two players and provides the added ability to visit external locales ('Community' lots).
• The Urbz: Sims in the City (released in November 2004): This version renames the "Sims" to "Urbz" and gives them fresh, new attitudes that were previously either scarce or nonexistent in previous incarnations of the simulated beings. The Urbz is set in various districts throughout an urban environment, with each having its own unique Urbz and elements.
• 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.
• The Sims 2 has also been ported to the Nintendo DS and PSP, however the DS version branches out of the usual and gives the game a "storyline" regarding managing a hotel.This is different compared to the computer version

Film

The Sims (working title) is a film currently in preproduction. The film will be live action.

On May 25 2007, it was announced that The Sims film rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox. Not much is known yet about the upcoming film. It will be written by Brian Lynch, the writer of Angel: After The Fall. The film will be produced by John Davis, responsible for films such as Norbit and Eragon. Both of these films were critically panned, so expectations are low for the arrival of a "The Sims" film, if it ever does move out of pre-production.

See also

• Simulated reality

References

• Nakamura, Rika (2005-10). "Girlish Counter-Playing Tactics". Game Studies. 5 (1). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Pearce, Celia (2002-07). "Sims, BattleBots, Cellular Automata God and Go". Game Studies. 2 (1). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Paulk, Charles (2006-12). "Signifying Play: The Sims and the Sociology of Interior Design". Game Studies. 6 (1). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official sites
  • The Sims official web site
  • The Sims 2 official web site

• Fan and resource sites
  • The Sims film at IMDb
  • The Sims at MobyGames
  • The Sims Brand Universe site' at Yahoo!
  • The Sims programmer Don Hopkins' web site
  • Planet The Sims
  • Sims Showcase, featuring the latest updates of fan sites.
  • Searchable directory of Sims fan sites
  • The Sims Wikia
  • The Sims Game of Life

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