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The Sims is a strategy/simulation computer game, created by game designer Will Wright and published by Maxis. First released in January 2000, it is the most successful PC game in history. Like other Maxis games, such as the earlier SimCity (also designed by Wright), The Sims is sometimes described as a "god game": a game that lets you create and control the lives of virtual people.
Overview
As with previous Maxis games, The Sims is a departure from most previous computer games, which tend to have a definite goal or objective. Instead, the game focuses entirely on virtual people called "Sims", placing the player in control of a "virtual dollhouse", controlling 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 toy."
Description
Instead of objectives, the player is encouraged to make their own 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 time of their Sims to help them reach personal advancement goals.
Sims have a certain amount of free will, and although you can instruct them to do something, they may decide that something else needs to be done first, or even outright ignore your 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 sleep. If the simulated humans do not receive the proper amount of maintenance, they will sicken and die. 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. Incidentally, the game was originally designed as an architecture simulation alone, with the Sims only there to evaluate the houses. During development it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than the houses and a legacy was born. (Incidentally, the Sim City game was originally designed only as a method for developers to create cities to include in a bomber game that Wright was creating.)
The inner structure of the game is actually an agent based artificial life program.
The presentation of the game's artificial intelligence is very 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 you can play on indefinitely. It has been described as more like a toy than a game.
There are some limitations to The Sims, most notably that children never grow up to become adults, though babies do eventually become children. Also adult Sims never age, and there is no concept of a weekend. For example, the adult sims go to work every day and the child sims go to school every day.
The sims are directed totally on the basis of instructing them to interact with another object, be that 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.
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.
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; as 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.
That the Sims reflect aspects of reality makes the game itself of note, especially as virtually every entertainment program prior 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 (both opposite and / or same-sex) replace merely earning points and advancing to the "final boss level".
Other games and systems have since embraced the notion of, essentially, open-ended play, such as the farming-based simulation Harvest Moon or the talking-animal-based Animal Crossing, both hits from Nintendo.
Expansions
The Sims is one of the most heavily exploited computer game franchises ever. It has more expansion packs than any other game. Here is a partial list of expansion packs available for The Sims (more or less in chronological order):
- The Sims Livin' Large (released August 2000): Adds more objects, events and sims
- 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 pick up other sims for romantic encounters in a new city environment
- The Sims Vacation (released March 2002): Allows you 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
- The Sims Superstar (released May 2003): Allows your sims to become superstars
- The Sims Makin' Magic (released October 2003): Allows your sims to use magic and cast spells and introduces a new Magic Town area
The Sims is now available as The Sims Deluxe Edition. It is not an expansion to the game, but a repackaging of the game along with the Livin' Large expansion and an editor, The Sims Creator to create sim "skins."
A newer repackaging is available, called The Sims Double Deluxe. It includes The Sims Livin' Large, The Sims House Party, The Sims Creator tool and exclusive Double Deluxe content.
Another package, The Sims Mega Deluxe, was released on May 25, 2004. It includes the original game along with The Sims Livin Large, The Sims House Party, and The Sims Hot Date.
Sequels
The Sims Online
In December 2002, Maxis shipped The Sims Online, which recreates The Sims as a MMORPG, where actual human players can interact with each other. If the online game had included what some called the "spark" of the original single player game, it might have reached a very high status among MMORPG. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
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.
The Sims 2
Maxis released The Sims 2 on September 15, 2004. The sequel takes place in a full 3D environment, as opposed to the combination 2D/3D ("2.5-D") environment of the original game. Other additions to the original gameplay include Sims that grow from infancy to adulthood, then age and eventually die; and an "Aspiration Meter" that increases and decreases as a Sim fulfills specific desires and experiences its worst fears.
Ports
The Sims has been ported to some video game consoles. Though sales have been respectable, the series is not nearly a big hit as it has been on the PC.
- The Sims Bustin' Out (released December 2003): A console-based version of The Sims as an RPG where you guide your Sims to move into Malcolm's Mansion.
- The Urbz: Sims in the City (to be released Fall 2004): This version renames the "Sims" to "Urbz" and gives them attitudes. "The Urbz" is based in a crowded, dingy, hustling and bustling urban environment.
External links
de:Die Sims
zh:模擬市民
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