The Sims
- This article is about the original game. For games beginning with "Sim", see List of Sim games. For the sequel, see The Sims 2.
The Sims<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: center;"> </td></tr> | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Maxis <tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)</th><td>Electronic Arts</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Designer(s)</th><td>Will Wright</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Engine</th><td>Custom</td></tr> |
| Release date(s) | US</small> February 4, 2000
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| Genre(s) | Life simulation game God game |
| Mode(s) | Single player <tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)</th><td>ESRB: T (Teen) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media</th><td>1 CD + Installation Discs and The Sims 2 sneak preview CD with Making Magic</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">System requirements</th><td>IBM PC compatible (Microsoft Windows)
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The Sims is a strategic life simulation computer game created by game designer Will Wright, published by Maxis, and distributed by Electronic Arts. The game is a simulation of the day-to-day activities of one or more virtual people (dubbed "Sims") in a suburban household located near SimCity.
First released on February 4, 2000, the base game has sold more than 6.3 million copies, making it the best-selling PC game in history.[1] The franchise has sold over 54 million units worldwide as of February 2005.[2] Since its initial release, seven expansion packs and a sequel, The Sims 2 (with its own expansion packs), have been released.
Contents |
Overview
As with many Maxis games, The Sims is a departure from most other computer games, which tend to have a definite goal or objective. Instead, the game 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, cooking and bathing, to name a few. Will Wright, the game's designer, likes to refer to it as a "digital dollhouse." Though players are encouraged to make their own characters, many of the pre-made characters have become popular in their own right.
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.[3] [4] As such, 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;[verification needed] 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 can publish it.[verification needed] Development of the game, initially dubbed "Project X," commenced in 1995.[verification needed]
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.[verification needed]
In 1997, the name of the game was changed from "Project X" to "The Sims" as a piggy-back reference to his Sim games that had been relatively successful in the early to mid 1990s,[verification needed] although Wright also realized that the characters were simulated themselves.[verification needed] Prior to the success of the game after its 2000 release, EA originally believed that the The Sims would be a flop.[verification needed]
Description
Instead of objectives, the player is encouraged to make choices and engage fully in an interactive environment. As such, the game has successfully attracted casual gamers. The only real objective of the game is to organize the Sims' time to help them reach personal goals.
Sims have a certain amount of free will (if it is enabled in-game), and although the player can instruct them to do something, they may decide that something else needs to be done first, or even outright ignore the player's commands. 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 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.
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. During development it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than the houses. This is a common trait in Maxis games. SimCity was originally designed as a method for developers to create cities to include in a bomber game that Wright was creating and SimTower was originally designed to reverse-engineer real world elevator algorithms.
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.
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 a weekend. For example, adults go to work every day, and children go to school every day. However, taking one day off from work or school is okay, but taking off two consecutive days has consequences, such as getting fired. Children can also be "homeschooled", by having them study during the day to keep their school grades up.
It should also be noted that, 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.
Sims are directed totally on the basis of instructing them to interact with objects, such as a television set, a radio, 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.
While there is no eventual objective to the game, a state of failure does exist in that Sims may die. The types of death include 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 addition, child Sims can be sent to military school if their school grades remain at F for several consecutive days. When sent to military school, children never return to the family. Although considered a state 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 diametrically.
In 2002, The Sims became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game Myst. It has been a success in many ways—attracting casual gamers and female gamers (which account for 50% of sales)—unusual in a market traditionally dominated by young males. However, due to the game's immense success, questions have been raised about the game's values; notably, concerns about the game's seemingly blatant consumerism—the most reliable way to become happy is to buy things. The game does take some account of this; a larger house may in fact make lives for the Sims more difficult as they take a longer time to walk around to do things. Additionally, a Sim's need for social interaction, if not fulfilled, takes a large toll on the Sim's overall happiness.
That The Sims reflect aspects of reality makes the game itself of note, especially as virtually every prior entertainment program used one or more aspects of fantasy to entertain (from Disney characters to alien ships). Simple, real-life situations, such as adopting children or forming relationships replace merely earning points and advancing to the "final boss level."
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. Games such as Nintendo's Animal Crossing (for GameCube), have capitalized upon its success.
Simlish language
Sims speak a fictional language called Simlish (sometimes "Simish"). The language is non-sensical, and owes much to the improv comedians (Gerri Lawlor, Marc Gimbel and Stephen Kearin, among others) who provided impromtu utterances while recording voice-overs for the game.
While there is no direct translation for Simlish, many fans have attempted to record and create dictionaries of often-used words. Many have speculated that the Simlish language has a close resemblance to the Italian or Latin language, while others suggest that it resembles Japanese.
If the Makin' Magic expansion pack is installed before any other expansion packs, the language spoken by Sims is slightly different. [citation needed] The Sims Bustin' Out also features a slightly different Simlish lexicon that most notably uses "babyar" instead of "nooboo" to represent the term "baby".
Expansion packs
The Sims is one of the most heavily expanded computer game franchises ever. Here is a complete list of expansion packs available for The Sims (in chronological order):
- The Sims: Livin' Large or The Sims: Livin' It Up in Europe (released August 2000): Adds more objects, events and Sims and the ability to establish multiple neighborhoods.
- The Sims: House Party (released March 2001): Adds party-related content, such as lighted dance floors.
- The Sims: 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 (clothing, gifts and magazines).
- The Sims: Vacation or The Sims: On Holiday in Europe (released March 2002): Allows the player to take Sims to various vacation destinations, such as beaches and the woods for camping.
- The Sims: Unleashed (released September 2002): Gives Sims the ability to adopt and train a wide variety of pets, and expands the neighborhood, including the addition of a New Orleans-themed town, dubbed "Old Town."
- The Sims: Superstar (released May 2003): Allows Sims to visit a Hollywood-like town called "Studio Town" and become celebrities.
- The Sims: 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 to the game, but rather a compilation of the basic game plus pre-existing expansion packs and additional game content. These editions include:
- The Sims Deluxe Edition: This is a compilation of the game plus The Sims: Livin' Large expansion, an editor, named The Sims Creator, to create sim skins, 25+ exclusive objects, and 50+ clothing choices. Much to the dislike of some fans, the exclusive content can only be obtained by purchasing this edition of the game. It was released in 2002, and many people would consider it an expansion pack.
- The Sims Double Deluxe: This repackaging came out in 2003. It includes The Sims Deluxe Edition, The Sims: House Party, and exclusive Double Deluxe content. Unlike the exclusive content included in The Sims Deluxe Edition, the exclusive Double Deluxe content can be downloaded from the official website free of charge.
- The Sims Mega Deluxe: Released on May 25, 2004, this is a compilation of The Sims, The Sims: Livin' Large, The Sims: House Party, and The Sims: Hot Date.
- Complete compilations of the game and its seven expansion packs:
- The Sims Complete Collection (North America): The Sims Complete Collection was released in November 2005. This pack contains the original game, all seven expansion packs, the Deluxe Edition bonus content, the Double Deluxe bonus content (which is the same as the Mega Deluxe bonus content), and The Sims Creator Tool. This package comes in four CDs. The Apple Macintosh version is sold on a single DVD.
- The Complete Collection of The Sims (United Kingdom): The most recent repackaging of the Sims, albeit only to the successful retail release of The Sims 2 and its expansion packs, is The Complete Collection of The Sims. This is a pack containing the core game and all seven expansion packs.
- The Sims: Full House (Australia): The Australian release, called The Sims: Full House, contains the core game, all seven expansion packs, and a disc containing a preview of The Sims 2. Unlike the American release, which integrated all of the content on four CDs, this release comes in twelve CDs with the game and each expansion pack separated.
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
The Sims Online
In December 2002, Maxis shipped The Sims Online, which recreates The Sims as an MMORPG, 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.
Although not entirely a flop, 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.
Of particular interest are reports that the community has degenerated heavily, verging on the anarchistic. Prostitution and other questionable activities are now commonplace. Naturally, this brings into question the scope for games such as this to be properly moderated. [1]
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 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 are given to families when certain goals, like having a baby, are completed.
Each individual Sim has one of several aspirations which affect their individual wants and fears. During the toddler and child life stages, all Sims aspire to grow up, an aim that is fulfilled by learning the essential life skills appropriate to those ages (including learning to walk and talk and being potty trained for toddlers and learning to study for children).
The Sims 2 is set some 25 years later 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.
At present, four expansion packs have been released for The Sims 2 and a fifth and sixth are pending release:
- The Sims 2: University
- The Sims 2: Nightlife
- The Sims 2: Open for Business
- The Sims 2: Pets
- The Sims 2: In Season (pending)
- The Sims 2: Life Stories (pending)
"Stuff packs", which are add-on discs that only provide additional standard furnishing and clothing, have also been released for The Sims 2. Three stuff packs have been released:
- The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack
- The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff
- The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff
- The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff
For more information on each of these expansion and stuff packs, see their respective articles.
The Sims 3
The Sims 3 is an upcoming sequel of The Sims 2 and third incarnation of The Sims. It is currently under development, and will be published by Maxis and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is "likely to be a fiscal '09 title," according to EA chief financial officer Warren Jenson. Little details are known regarding new or additional content and features.
Inside jokes and Easter eggs
Malcolm Landgraab and Shiny Things Inc.
The Malcolm Landgraab name (also known simply as "Landgraab") has appeared as early as SimCity 3000, where "Malcolm Landgraab Industries" exists in game as a petitioner and "Shiny Things Inc." is the name of an industrial building. In The Sims, he is the head of Shiny Things Inc., a kitchen appliance manufacturer in the game. (For example, the Shiny Things Inc. Fuzzy Logic Dishwasher.) As an inside joke, Malcolm is referenced in the console port of The Sims as the father of the player's worthless roommates Dudley and Mimi Landgraab. In The Sims: Hot Date expansion pack, one of the malls in Downtown was named after Landgraab. The name remains in use in The Sims 2, with certain NPC Townies bearing the Landgraab family name, and a Sim named Malcolm Landgraab the 4th, who is featured in the Open For Business expansion pack and runs an electronics store and a nightclub.
The Goths
The family the Goths (a pre-made family in the game, consisting of Mortimer and Bella, a married couple, as well as Cassandra, their only daughter) provides some dark comedy in the game, as it obscurely references death and despair numerous times. First, the word Goth relates to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate. Goth also represents a subculture of teens or young adults who generally wear heavy black clothing and write dark poetry or literature. This is a long standing subculture dating to the early 1980s completely, and tracing its origins to the Goths, a group of Germanic Europeans who raided medieval Europe and were often viewed as barbarians and "mysteriously" uncultured folk; the idea which in turn first reflected the mood of Rome towards them, and transcended time to this very day in the current "Empire."
The husband's name Mortimer, is constructed from the Latin root and French word, mort, meaning death. The wife's name Bella is constructed from the Latin root word belli- or bellum, meaning war and fighting (though also the Italian word for "beautiful".)Also, the daughter is named Cassandra, which is Greek for "she who entangles men." In addition, the Goths' house is constructed in the likeness of a haunted mansion, and even comes complete with a graveyard and ghosts that haunt the house at night. The family will mourn or cry at the graves, as will their visitors.
The Sims 2 details the future of the family 25 years after their appearance in the first Sims.
100 days completion
Once a Sim family has lived in a house for 100 (saved) days, the player will be greeted with a message regarding the family's 100th day of residence, followed by daily trivia about the game, its production and the Sims themselves. This continues until there is no more trivia to share.
Celebrity appearance
Throughout the Sims series, there are a number of celebrities who have made appearances in the game, such as Drew Carey in The Sims: House Party, and Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Andy Warhol, and Marilyn Monroe in The Sims: Superstar. Additionally, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah McLachlan are offered as similar NPC downloads for Superstar.
The Sims was featured in The Drew Carey Show for a mock in-game scene at the Winfred-Louder personnel offices, as part of its "What's Wrong with this Episode?" April Fool episode (March 28, 2001, season 6). In it, various major characters of the show were featured in Sim form (Drew included), with voiceovers provided by the main cast themselves. English was used for the entire scene, but Drew has been quoted on saying "Dag Dag", a Simlish term thought to mean "goodbye".
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-based version of The Sims as a 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 SimCity, with each having its own unique Urbz and elements.
- The Sims and all its expansion packs were ported to the Macintosh by Aspyr Media, Inc.
- The Sims was ported to the GNU/Linux platform 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.
References
- ^ The Sims overtakes Myst. GameSpot. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.
- ^ The Sims Franchise Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary and Continues to Break Records. Business Wire. Retrieved on December 1, 2006.
- ^ Sim-ply a genius. TheSun.co.uk. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.
- ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. worthplaying.com. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.
External links
Official sites
Fan and resource sites
- The Sims at MobyGames
- The Sims programmer Don Hopkins' web site
- Sims Showcase features the latest updates of fan sites
- Searchable directory of Sims fan sites
| The Sims series (PC) |
|---|
| The Sims |
| Expansion packs</br>Livin' Large | House Party | Hot Date | Vacation | Unleashed | Superstar | Makin' Magic |
| The Sims 2 |
| Expansion packs</br>University | Nightlife | Open for Business | Pets | In Season |
| Stuff packs</br>Holiday Party Pack | Family Fun Stuff | Glamour Life Stuff | Happy Holiday Stuff |
| Related topic</br>List of cultural references in The Sims 2 |
| Console ports and spinoffs |
| The Sims Online (PC) | The Sims | Bustin' Out | The Urbz | The Sims 2 | The Sims 2: Pets | The Sims Wii |
| Miscellaneous topics |
| Sim | Simlish | List of pre-made characters | List of NPCs | Simoleon | SimNation |
This box: view • • edit</span> |
| The Sim Universe and Maxis |
|---|
| SimCity games |
| SimCity | SimCity 2000 | SimCity 3000 | SimCity 4 |
| The Sims |
| The Sims | The Sims 2 | The Sims Online |
| Other Sim games |
| SimEarth | SimAnt | SimLife | SimFarm | SimTower | SimHealth | SimIsle | SimCopter | SimGolf | Streets of SimCity |
| Youth Sim games |
| SimTown | SimPark | SimSafari | SimTunes |
| Sim related |
| A-Train | El-Fish | Spore (upcoming) | Widget Workshop |
| Cancelled Sim games |
| SimMars | SimsVille |
This box: view • • edit</span> |
Categories
Wikipedia articles needing factual verification | Articles with unsourced statements | 2000s Video Games | 2000 computer and video games | God games | Isometric games | Mac OS games | Mac OS X games | People games | The Sims | Windows games