We review the 20 years of history of The Sims, the social and strategy simulation game, of Maxis and EA, most famous of all time
The Sims is one of the most successful video game franchises in the history of the medium. They were born at the beginning of 2000 by Maxis and Electronic Arts and to date they have published numerous main, secondary, expansions and derivative deliveries until the incredible figure of more than 175 million units sold is reaped. They have just turned 20, so it is the ideal time to look back and review the history of this social simulation and strategy game. Whether through tricks or through hard work, practically all players have embarked on a new virtual life in one or another installment of The Sims, as long as they take a break from the hardness of real life as long as they want be and have a space in which dreams come true.
The beginning of everything: The Sims 1
The first title of The Sims came in February of the year 2000. Even so, the project did not come out of nowhere, but instead had a series of previous titles that helped build a solid foundation on which to stand. Will Wright, American video game developer, is considered the father of the franchise, as he was the creator of the SimCity saga. The first title came in 1989 and as Wright explained in various interviews, he was inspired by a feature of the Raid on Bungeling Bay game, which allowed players to create their own maps during development.
SimCity (2000)
SimCity was a success, despite the fact that at the beginning it was difficult to find a distributor because they did not believe that a game in which you cannot win or lose would succeed. When Jeff Braum, founder of the nascent Maxis, agreed to publish it as one of the initial titles of the company, everything went well and in the following years they added many more deliveries to the saga. The support of Electronic Arts (who acquired Maxis) was essential in order to launch the game. As Wright details in an interview with Gamasutra: “The management of EA, who came to help expand Maxis, were so excited that there was no problem. They provided many resources for the team and everything was very easy from that point. ”
Due to the success of the SimCity saga, Wright and his team set out to give a spin to the idea of the game to give personality to each of the characters in order to go beyond the management of a city to manage the particular lives of the inhabitants of a neighborhood. With a pseudotridimensional isometric perspective, The Sims 1 landed on January 31 in North America on February 28 in Europe for Microsoft Windows (PC) and later on Mac OS X. Years later it would also end up arriving on PS2, Xbox and even GameCube, so that players from various platforms could enjoy the title.
As for the initial perspective to conceive The Sims 1, Wright explains in the aforementioned interview that the original name for the game was going to be “Doll House”, but they finally discarded it because the name “didn't match well with the male audience ”:
“It sounded so mundane… You have to clean the toilet, take out the garbage, and at that time most of the games consisted of saving the world and piloting a jet fighter. It didn't seem like an aspirational game in that regard. At the same time, I have always noticed, and even felt, that people are intrinsically narcissistic. Anything about them will be 10 times more fascinating than anything else, no matter how boring it is, ”explains Wright.
In the same piece, the creator of the franchise details that: “In The Sims, one thing that almost everyone does, usually immediately, is to place themselves in the game with their family, their home and the neighbors next door. For the first time, they were really playing a game about their life. They became the superhero on the screen, despite having no powers. Not only is it interesting because it is about them, it is surreal in a creepy way. It's a little strange that you have these little doppelgangers that you can torture or lead to a different fantasy life or do whatever you want. For me that was the advantage that The Sims had. Instead of having a high-tech weapon and killing Nazis, it was his surrealism in an almost David David way, which gave him an advantage over other games. ”
A wide range of expansions and complements
One of the distinctive features of The Sims is the fact of having multiple expansions of content and individual complements in each of their deliveries. Shortly after leaving the base game, it was complemented (optionally) by "The Sims: more alive than ever", a collection of objects, actions and extra skills, as well as new jobs and conversation topics. What in other games could be a patch of free content, since EA decided to monetize it in order to divide all these content additions (some small and simple and some more significant) into paid DLC.
To this first the following expansions were added over the years: "House Party" (the option of having parties at home, along with a long list of objects related to the subject was added), "First Date" (allowed Sims leave their homes and go to the city center and various places), "The Sims on vacation" (has several destinations with different climates for the Sims to enjoy their holidays), "Animals in abundance" ( includes pets and expands the neighborhood), "Superstar" (Study City, a new area where the Sims can become singers, models or actors) and "Magic Potagia" (a magical neighborhood where The Sims can learn is added) to use various powers).
The importance of LGTBI + representation
The Sims was the first game that allowed to have homosexual romantic relationships and therefore representation and inclusion of a larger number of groups. It was a very important step that cost to take in the team, since they knew how much they played by betting on such a risky card in their first game of the saga. Even so, as Patrick J. Barrett, one of the developers of the game, tells The New Yorker, after a few months of indecision they finally decided to include the possibility:
“The design felt good, so I simply implemented it. Later, Will Wright approached my desk and told me that he liked social interactions and was happy to see that same-sex support was present in the game. "No one on the team questioned Barrett's work. "They just ignored it," he says. "After a while, everyone was used to the design being there. It was taken for granted that EA would simply eliminate it."
But it was not so, since it gave them time to prepare a demo for E3 of 1999 and during the presentation they could witness a passionate kiss between two Sims women. "You could say they got all the attention of the show," Barrett recalls. "I think straight men who do sports games loved the idea of controlling two lesbians."
Once they were assured of being able to maintain homosexual social interactions within the game, they had to decide what the Sims' sexual orientation would be individually. Finally they decided to leave it in the hands of the players: "If you created a home with two Sims of the same sex, they would always become gay just because they were closer to each other," Barrett details. "It was then that I came up with the system that determined the sexuality of a Sim through user-directed actions." Therefore, we could consider that all Sims are bisexual until proven otherwise.
"At that time, it was not considered" normal "to be gay or lesbian," Barrett concludes. “Some even saw it as dangerous. But in The Sims it was normal and safe to be a gay person. It was the first time we could play a game and be free to see ourselves represented inside. It was a magical moment when my first Sims of the same sex kissed. I still sometimes wonder how the hell I got away with mine. ”
Needs to be fulfilled, jobs and skills
As Wright puts it, The Sims proposal was somewhat different from what the video game industry had seen so far. A game in which there is no clear and fixed objective to reach, but it is the players themselves who set the limits of what they want to do and how far they want to take their characters. A virtually absolute freedom, which initially seemed to overwhelm users (accustomed to having the outstanding missions well marked in each game) but eventually ended up captivating anyone who entered the universe of the title.
As you know, both in The Sims 1 and in its sequels, we have a character creation system to design our protagonist family, either based on real people or on everything that comes out of our mind and ends up materializing in the form of Sim. Once in our new virtual home, we have a list of outstanding daily tasks as mundane as they are to feed our characters, keep them comfortable, clean, entertained, rested and more. Under a series of needs (which we humans also have) the welfare of the Sims is measured as long as they progress in their lives and be happy.
To do this they must work in order to win simoleons (game money). At this point, many might think: Why should I be interested in a game that poses the same daily challenges that I have in my real life? Well, if Wright's words have not convinced you, we can offer you our own vision of the attractiveness of this saga: being able to achieve everything that is unattainable in our day to day. Let's be honest, few of us will be able to fulfill our childhood dreams and be astronauts or earn enough money to allow us to live in a large mansion. This and more, can be achieved in The Sims if we work hard and ascend in that branch of work that we choose or if we open the cheat console and use the famous Motherlode.
The great sequel: The Sims 2
Some time later, following a logical current generated by success and the large amount of content present in The Sims 1, the sequel came. The Sims 2 were published on September 14 and 17, 2004 in North America and Europe respectively, for Microsoft Windows PC. Thanks to the community that had reaped with the first delivery, this sequel managed to reach the figure of 1 million copies sold during the first 10 days of sale to the public (thus breaking sales records in EA Games).
The novelties that The Sims 2 had regarding the first installment were the change to a 3D environment (something that favors vision), the fact that the Sims could now die from aging as they grew and the fact of improving the offspring by introducing the Virtual DNA concept to game characters. They also applied an improvement in the weekly calendar, in order to respect the weekends in which children do not go to school and parents rest from work, for example. On the other hand, more stages were added to the life of each Sim: Baby – Infant – Child – Adolescent – Young adult – Adult – Elderly.
In The Sims 2 an aspiration meter was also added where the desires and fears of each Sim are taken into account: Romanticism, Knowledge, Pleasure (in the expansion of the Sims 2 Noctámbulos), Familiar, Popularity and Economic. In addition to all this, the characters are more intelligent, autonomous and aware of what is happening around them. All this was applied in order to give each Sim a greater personality and make them more realistic. As Lucy Bradshaw, vice president of the game at The Gamers ’Temple details:
“While in the original Sims everything was related to their needs: going to the bathroom, recovering energy… in The Sims 2 the work focuses on what each Sim wants. Each character has a goal for life, so as you play you help them fulfill their desires to achieve their aspirational goal or, on the other hand, you can have fun exploring their fears. ” Yes, many players enjoyed trying various ways to end their Sims' life by drowning them, causing them to end up in flames from a cooking fire and more. Each type of death was reflected in the game by the color of the ghost they left. For example, if the ghost is yellow it is that the Sim died electrocuted, while if it is pink he died of a scare. With this, it is demonstrated once again the originality presented by the ideas embodied by the team in the saga of The Sims.
As for expansions, The Sims 2 had an even wider range than the first installment and had DLC such as University, Night owls, Open Business, Pets, the Four Seasons (since in the main game they did not add progress through the different seasons of the year), Bon Voyage, Hobbies and Share a flat. In addition, several packs of accessories that included collections of clothing and furniture were also presented and two of them were sponsored by H&M and IKEA, in order to present their brand within the famous Maxis and EA game.
On the other hand, The Sims 2 had alternative versions for consoles such as Nintendo DS and PSP, among other platforms. In the first, our mission was to be the manager of a hotel in the mysterious city of Las Rarezas, while in the version of PlayStation Portable we had to unravel the mystery of the place where we were trapped when our car broke down in a full story of ghosts, aliens and eternal loading screens.
The expansion of the Sims universe with the third part
The delivery that would become a trilogy to The Sims arrived on June 2, 2009 to the United States and two days later to Europe. It achieved an initial success even greater than the previous delivery, since it achieved 1.4 million copies sold in its first week. In the 5 years that passed between one delivery and another, the team had a lot of time in order to add various improvements and added to the title, which were grateful for a settled community of players.
The tool to create our Sims was redesigned in order to increase the level of detail when defining the facial and body features of the characters. The game closet also achieved a significant expansion in order to add shoes and accessories in addition to defining a hairstyle for each type of clothing: casual, formal, sleepwear (pajamas and underwear), athletic clothing, bathing clothes and outfits to go to work.
Even so, the most significant change brought by The Sims 3 was the fact of placing residential and leisure districts on the same map without intermediate loads to travel from one to another. Thus, in this delivery we can walk from our house to a park, for example, without going through a loading screen. This allows you to control at the same time those Sims who are at home and those who are abroad.
The desire and humor systems were also redesigned in order to make them more complex and detailed. For the wishes, they made the differentiation between daily desires and “the desire of a lifetime”, which by fulfilling it provides a large number of reward points and a special mood. As for these, there are three types: "positive, negative or neutral," which are determined by a series of activities related to their social traits or relationships. For example, if a Sim has an appointment with another and it is going well, he will be happy because of the “In Love” state, while if he breaks up with his partner he will have the “Broken Heart” state and he will not be able to prevent the sadness from taking over him or she.
Of course, The Sims 3 also had a long list of expansions in the months and years following the launch of the base game. "Globetrotters" allowed to visit holiday locations like China, France and Egypt, while "Supernatural creatures" added werewolves, wizards, wizards, vampires and fairies. On the other hand, we also have DLC similar to those of previous deliveries (and others totally new) such as Triumphant, At nightfall, What a Family !, What a wildlife !, Jump to fame, the Four Seasons, Movida in the faculty, Adventure on the Island and Towards the future.
As for the accessory packs, there is a wide collection among which the one of “Katy Perry: Sweet Temptation” and contents of the Italian brand Diesel stand out. Increasingly, it was confirmed that The Sims was already a mass phenomenon that broke through the videogame barrier, known to everyone who had not "lived under a stone" in recent years.
The last installment we've had: The Sims 4
In 2014 came the fourth installment of The Sims, specifically on September 2 in the United States and day 4 in Europe for PC. It obtained a significant graphic improvement and was updated to the generation of the moment by adding various online functions such as the possibility of downloading various Sims and families created by other players and uploading your creations to the Internet. This, in addition to improving the character editing system, helped trigger the imagination of the players in order to create Sims similar to celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Disney princesses and many more.
Even so, The Sims 4 supposed a step backwards in diverse elements that the previous delivery had provided, such as the fact of having a map of the open city and without loading screens, in addition to not having its own car. On this occasion, we must take a taxi to get to other places and we have to observe a transition every time we do it, in addition to not being able to control all our Sims at the same time unless they are in the same lot. Other elements that were also trimmed and added later in a patch (luckily this time were free) were the Sims infant stage (at first they passed directly from baby to child) and the swimming pools, one of the favorite elements of the fans.
Although the construction and user interfaces were renewed, this meant a cut in Sims' needs to only six: Bladder, Hunger, Energy, Fun, Social Interaction and Hygiene. Of course, the main addition of this delivery was a system of emotions that improved the moods of The Sims 3 and allowed each character to have positive emotions such as Content, Flirtatious, Centered, Safe, Inspired, Vigorized or Vacillus or negative as Sad , Embarrassed, Stunned, Tense, Angry, Uncomfortable or Bored.
The expansions also came to The Sims 4 to bring aliens, new neighborhoods, locals, new professions, skills, pets, stations, and so on: Go to work !, Let's stay ?, Urban, Dogs and cats, The four seasons, Rumbo to fame !, Isle Life, University days and Minicasas. In addition to various content packs, there was also a kind of "Story Mode" called "Strangerville", in which the Sims must solve the mystery of a virus that ravages the city.
The future of The Sims: multiplayer mode in The Sims 5
As you can see, the history of The Sims is not short precisely and as long as we do not extend further we have not emphasized secondary deliveries such as My Sims or The Sims Online. In these 20 years of history it has been shown that it is a saga that has no intention of stopping. Therefore, and because 6 years have passed since the arrival of The Sims 4, the rumors about the arrival of a new delivery are becoming stronger.
For now everything is rumors and wishes accumulated for years by fans. A series of playable dreams that could be materialized in case The Sims 5 had the long-awaited multiplayer mode that allowed us to share our virtual life with friends and loved ones. It only remains to wait to have the word of confirmation from Maxis and EA, but for the moment everything indicates that this fifth installment is already being developed and that it could even land in the new generation of consoles.
Elvira Lápida, one of the best known and beloved neighbors of the Sims saga, through the 4 main deliveries, what will it look like in The Sims 5?
Sources:
- The Sims on Wikipedia
- Interview with Will Wright in Gamasutra
- “How The Sims helped a generation of LGTB + gamers” on SBS
- “The Kiss that changed video games” in The New Yorker
- Lucy Bradshaw interview about The Sims 2 at GamersTemple
