The Sims

aka: Die Sims, Dollhouse, Home Tactics, Les Sims, Los Sims, Project X, Sim Dollhouse, SimPeople, Tactical Domestic Simulator, The Dollhouse Simulator
Moby ID: 860
Windows Specs

Description official descriptions

The Sims is a real-time simulation game where you simulate the lives of one or more people in a family and their social activities in their immediate neighborhood.

Characters of the family may be custom created (including physical features) or simply chosen from pre-generated families. All the characters also have two age groups, children and adults. Each age group has different lifestyles, priorities and interests.

Game play in the Sims may be classified as the following:

[1] Life Simulation

This revolves around simulating their day-to-day lives. From eating, sleeping, entertainment, socializing and romance, you are in complete control of their actions if you choose to. Each Sim has a statistics that may be developed. Some of which identify certain desires the Sim in mention may require. Your role in simulating their lives is primarily to keep them happy by fulfilling their desires.

Controlling the Sims people is optional, as they follow their own Artificial Intelligence unless commanded otherwise by the player.

[2] The Architect

Designing and furnishing your home is an integral part of the game play. Pre-generated houses may be purchased at the beginning of the game, or you can design and build your future home from scratch. Furnishing consists of acquiring various items that may be manipulated by your Sims to fulfill their needs. Designing houses and furnishing costs money, which may be obtained through jobs.

[3] Character Development and Careers

Adult Sims may acquire jobs to pay for the many necessities of living a simulated life. There are several different job track available, from Entertainment, Law Enforcement, Politics and even a life of crime! Promotion in a job requires the Sim to advance in certain statistics (e.g. Charisma, Strength) which may be done so by manipulating the various items available for purchase.

Spellings

  • 模拟人生 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

208 People (150 developers, 58 thanks) · View all

Product Marketing Lead
Marketing
Public Relations
Localisation Lead
Localisation
Voice Test Lead
Testing
Quality Assurance
Documentation Layout
Product Manager
Public Relations UK
Project Manager Localisation
Documentation Editing
Package & Documentation Layout
Pack Co-ordinator
Localisation Coordination
Localisation Coordination Export & Web
Material Planning
Studio Operations
Quality Assurance
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 52 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 205 ratings with 20 reviews)

I just cant understand this game?

The Good
Nice graphics and cool idea.

The Bad
I am a avid (hooked) gamer. I started a new game of this and found my self having my character playing a PC in his home. Now stop me if this sounds bad, but doesn't that justify all the things that our wives say to us when they dont want us to play on the computer. Here I am simulating a guy playing his computer. Now I am convinced that all hope is lost for me. As for the game I could not understand what all the hype is. Its just normal life on PC. For my time I want to command armies, build cities, solve murders. Not doing chores and sleeping on line. NO THANKS!

The Bottom Line
For those of you who have to sim EVERYTHING...

Windows · by William Shawn McDonie (1131) · 2001

It takes 3 hours to eat dinner?

The Good
The first time I heard about this game I was told that you could pretty much do what ever you wanted to do. As in you could go down and rob the local store if you wanted to. So when I got the game I was obviously disappointed that I couldn't even leave the area of my house, so that being said here is my review.

The first thing I noticed when I started to play the game was the graphics, smooth around the edges and the game didn't seem to jump at all or have many bugs. I think that the Maxis / Electronic Arts team took about three quarters of the time spent making the graphics of the game perfect and then just adding a bit of game play in at the end.

The sound in The Sims was great. The little language that the Sims speak in can get a bit annoying after a while but it is still a nice touch to the game. And the language also makes the conversations between the Sims a lot more interesting. You can also hear you Sim / Sims grumbling if they are unhappy or if you have just woken them up in the middle of one of their peaceful little naps.

The game play, though the downfall of the game still had its high points such as, making the house is one of the most fun things to do in the game, and getting a job and watching as your house and your bank account expand. There quite a few jobs that the player can choose form such as a Army recruit or a journalist. If you get bored of just being a bachelor / bachelorette then you can try and get a person to marry and maybe even give you some children. And when you get a child then your character actually gets the pleasure of waking up at four in the morning because the baby is hungry or needs to be changed, and if you decide to neglect it then a social service person will come to your house and take the bundle of joy off your hands.

The Bad
As I said in the good review when I heard about The Sims I had quite a different idea of what I thought it was going to be like compared to what I actually played. Even though the graphics in the game were quite good they still had flaws such as, swimming around in the water there are no ripples or anything and it looks like he’s floating around in his own little patch of sky. And when the house was getting built and you could choose what kind of roof you wanted on top of your house, there was one size which looked quite normal but the other two just looked stupid and it was a waste being able to have them.

The Sims have their own little language. And it would not matter if the language was English it would still get incredibly annoying after a while and to be able to play the game I had to mute the sound so that I could not hear the sounds of the annoying Sims any more.

And now we come to the worst part of the game. You have to give your Sim(s) the attention that you have to give to a newborn baby. And its even worse when the Sim is a new born baby, and if you are not up within 30 minutes after it starts crying then the bloody social service woman gets there and takes it before it can even become a child. The most annoying thing by far about the Sims though is this: it takes so long to do ANYTHING. If you want to have a snack it will take your Sim about an hour to finish it, and its even worse if you want to actually have a full dinner. For example if I wanted to be up and be ready for work in my game then I would have had to be up four hours before my car pool arrived otherwise I would've been cutting it extremely close.

The Bottom Line
The Sims is a fun game for a while even though it takes the Sims ages as I said to do ANYTHING. If you are someone who is looking for a game that has no real ending and you have to be watching like a hawk every time you are controlling then go ahead and buy this game. If not then you will probably find The Sims to be annoying after a while you will be discarding it quite quickly.

Windows · by Horny-Bullant (49) · 2003

"We Create Worlds"...the Origin legacy continues...

The Good
Although I doubt Origin had anything to with it, at least it's good to know that some people are still creating worlds out there...

If there was one game that created an interesting cultural gaming revolution, this was one of those games that will be in the "positive light" of the gaming hall of legends.

The Sims was the next best thing since the Ultima Series at least, again in the concept of creating worlds. The Sims a representation of any kid's dreams when it comes to role-playing. Come to think of it, this game really must be an RPG in every sense of the world: Playing a role, controlling characters, how they think and breath, developing them...an interesting option compared to actually starting a family :)

I won't go into any gameplay elements, since you can read that in other reviews, but I will tell you some interesting thing's I've noticed about the game. It's interesting how the game developers tried to mimic social behaviours of human and their standard way of life. Social needs, emotional needs, hygiene needs, and so on. Spesifically for social needs, it's interesting to see the attempt to mimic the social relations between one person and another: keep conversing with a person and eventually you'll fall in love with them. Although unrealistic, it is true in real life that if you at least try to communicate with people, it will improve relations. You'll see from this game that even a simple compliment or just a gesture will improve your relations with that person...and if you don't continue to establish a steady relationship, the level of friendship will eventually decrease. This magnificant experiment is something I have applied in real-life...at least the knowledge that anything you do actually does impact social relations with other people. The Sims at least in this light has a very good psychological education level.

I've also noticed on an external perspective that Sims created one of the most creative gaming communities out there. There are many websites out there that have custom made skins and objects. One of my personal favorites was Darth Maul and Homer Simpson. But one of my favorite elements in the Sims community was when the fans started creating stories through a string of screenshots complete with a plot and storyline. I've read some really A class storylines out there which are better than a lot of movies in comparison. An A+ for those Sims Fans out there who were blessed with the gift of storytelling!

The Bad
Everyone agrees that the Sims is a little unrealistic...something that really isn't surprising and a good attempt at it too! This "bad section" isn't really condemning the game (which is something I like to do), but I have given the game and the developers the benefit of the doubt, due to the creativity and ambition to which the game attempts to accomplish.

There are many unrealistic elements to the game...probably also to make gameplay more easier and less complicated. The first is about money. Getting money daily would be something really nice in real-life. You eventually turn yourself into a consumer in this game. Always saving to buy better things in life...if I were a left wing extremist, I would probably say this is capitalist propaganda into turning youth into consumers. Hahaha....and it would be a very effective propaganda too...since it's quite logical.

One thing that kinda was a let down is employment challenges. Sooner or later, you'll reach the highest level you can get, and out of boredom you'll change your job and start over. Speaking of boredom, this game eventually does reach that level of "been there, done that". The fact that mostly everything in the game is done manually eliminates a lot of challenges when it comes to external surprises. Even the neighbours are created by you. This game would be better if there were NPC's in the game...even a town...you can then focus on your single family. Don't know about other expansions, but I hope they'll reach a world where there is a whole town of Sims, complete with commerce and stuff. Now that would be really challenging!

The Bottom Line
If you actually have a life to live, it would be better to avoid this game since the "Sims World" is a whole lot better than real life....hahaha.

Windows · by Indra was here (20756) · 2004

[ View all 20 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PC version of The Sims appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

3D Realms

3D Realms have released a skin pack for The Sims featuring their trademark action hero - Duke Nukem. The pack could be downloaded off their site at www.3drealms.com

Development

  • The Sims was originally going to be called "Home Tactics," and would have an entirely different focus. Will Wright originally designed it to be completely about building houses. When someone suggested a feature involving letting people move in to determine the quality of the house, the focus completely changed. Developers were having more fun watching the people than building the house. The design goals were directed towards Sims, and architecture was left as a side bonus.
  • According to the March 2002 edition of Wired Magazine, Will Wright and his development team had to develop what he called a "happiness landscape." By using this landscape, The Sim People could map and identify what items would satisfy any pending needs. It also permitted Sims to prioritize what needs were more pending. Will Wright stated that he went around his house, doing an inventory of objects and how he needed them so he could map out the landscape in the game.
  • The Sims was also meant as a satire on suburban life and consumerism. In a clip from "Charlie Brooker's How Videogames Changed the World", Will Wright has stated that "It was actually meant as a satire of U.S. culture, and I think most people didn't get that". An example he gives, is that the player is supposed to buy objects and furniture in the game to make the Sims happy, but inevitably the furniture will break or catch on fire making the Sims miserable instead.

Extras

After managing a household for 100 days you will be rewarded with information etc. about the creators of the game.

Inspiration

The game's most obvious progeny is Little Computer People.

Music

You can put your own MP3s in the music folder in the game's directory and they will be played on the radio.

Nudity

Although Sims are censored (their image blurred) when naked, there's an unofficial patch known as The Sims Nude Patch that eliminates censorship. You can find it at several fan sites.

PC Gamer fake review

In the April 2003 issue of PC Gamer, The editors faked a review for a phony expansion called "The Liebermans." In the June 2003 issue of PC Gamer, The editors revealed that their prank fooled a lot of people, including the political beat reporter for the Hartford Courant, The local news in the city where Senator Lieberman's office is located.

Pre-order bonus

If you pre-ordered the game at Electronics Boutique, you received a bonus disc containing different skins and a mini-strategy guide.

References

Shiny Things Inc., a company that makes kitchen appliances and other shiny things in the game, makes a guest appearance in the Sim City series as one of the industrial structures that can be built in your city. Malcolm Landgraab, the head of Shiny Things Inc., makes a guest appearance in The Sims for the console systems.

Sales

The game is listed in the 2008 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition as the best selling PC game of all time, with 16 million sales worldwide since the original launch.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2001 (Issue #201) – Game of the Year
    • November 2003 (Issue #232) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • Game Informer
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #80 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Strategy Game of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 02/2001 - Most Innovative Game in 2000
  • PC Gamer
    • October 2001 - #11 in the "Top 50 Games of All Time" list
    • April 2005 - #23 in the "!50 Best Games of All Time" list
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2001 - Best Economic Simulation in 2000
  • The Strong National Museum of Play
    • 2016 – Introduced into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
  • Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland
    • August 31, 2003 - Gold Award (details in "Sales" section)

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Entorphane, James1, JPaterson, Matthew Bailey; Matt Neuteboom, PCGamer77, Sciere, Scott Monster, Technocrat, Ummagumma, Xoleras and Zack Green

Analytics

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Related Games

The Sims 2
Released 2005 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
The Sims 2
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The Sims: Superstar
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The Sims: Vacation
Released 2002 on Windows, Macintosh
The Sims: House Party
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The Sims 2
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The Sims: Medieval
Released 2011 on Windows, Macintosh, 2012 on iPad...
The Sims: Hot Date
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The Sims 3
Released 2009 on Windows, Macintosh, Xbox 360

Related Sites +

  • 7 Deadly Sims
    Hugely comprehensive fansite with downloadable items, skins, building materials, and much more.
  • 8th Deadly Sim
    The 8th Deadly Sim is the paysite counterpart to 7 Deadly Sims. For a small token fee you can download hundreds of amazing objects, skins, building materials and lots more!
  • Around the Sims
    Can't get enough of that fresh downloadable content for The Sims? Here's another Sims fansite!
  • Coasters
    An all inclusive site with houses, skins, fashions and more. News too
  • IGCD Internet Game Cars Database
    Game page on IGCD, a database that tries to archive vehicles found in video games.
  • KillerSims
    A Great Mall for your Sims
  • SIMplyDariene
    Walls, Floors, Paintings and Objects, Murals, Objects, The Lollipop Shop, All That Glitters, FAQs, How-To Tutorial, Links
  • Sim Dudes Online
    The site is said to be updated every Monday with great new Skins, Walls, Floors, Roofs, Houses, Paintings, and Objects.
  • SimFreaks
    Yes, even more amazing new unique downloadable content for The Sims!
  • Sims in a Bottle
    A site with Cool Original Objects, tons of Wallpaper Sets, Floors, and Cheats.
  • Simulation Sims
    Another fantastic fansite full of downloadable new Sims content!
  • The Sim Sisters
    A unique site about The Sims that is theme-based around a Church. Art Gallery, Paintings, Skins, Nuns, Priests, Religious Items, Disney, and News
  • The Sims Resource
    Another huge fansite choc full of new downloadable content for The Sims!
  • The Sims Tattoo Parlor
    Site contains Tattoos, Clothing and Swimming Suits, Floors, Walls, Paintings, Guest Skins, Objects, FAQs, Links,
  • The Well Dressed Sim
    A Sims fansite specifically dedicated to fashion and the fashionable. Download stunning new clothing, salon items, home decor and more!
  • Who Needs the Networks?
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of The Sims (August, 2000).
  • devisraad.com: The Sims
    Download unique skins and furnishings from devisraad.com's Sims page.
  • thesims.be.tf
    This site gives Overhead cabinets Plus loads of sets of same color furniture and a very useful program called Sims Object ID to check to see if an object has an uniqe ID number

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 860
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Rynok.

Macintosh added by Corn Popper. Linux added by Christopher Corkum.

Additional contributors: Brian Hirt, xroox, Heikki Sairanen, Andrew Hartnett, Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, Zack Green, Atomic Punch!, Alaka, Xoleras, Vaelor, BdR, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance, FatherJack, SoMuchChaotix.

Game added February 19, 2020. Last modified March 14, 2024.