I didn't particularly mind the open nature of the Sims; I think I've heard it said that the Sims is more of a toy than a game, and I quite like not having a specific objective. I never really like playing it to "win" by having an avatar with a perfect life. I prefered to treat it like a large soap where I controlled the script to some degree, but the actors also had some say in it. The villain characters were there specifically to try and ruin the lives of the hero characters. However, the Sims didn't really allow that dynamic that well (it's quite hard to have one character delibrately make life hell for another without them degenerating into the ultra-stereotypical moustache-twirling one dimensional villain character). I liked treating it as a doll-house, but as sunandshadow said, it wasn't really set out that way; it was more an ultimate wish fulfilment game than a drama generator. I found I had way more fun with the bad guys than the perfect life heroes.
Quote:
Original post by Wavinator For an interesting take on what it would be like to add more personality to characters and see how combat mixes in, try Firefly Studios Space Colony. There are elements I found that really worked (quirky characters who actually speak English instead of gibberish, fun base building, interior decorating and colony management). It's a fun game, but even better to study.
I'll see if I can find a cheap copy of Space Colony. However, I quite liked the gibberish in the Sims, and will either do the same or make my characters mute in my game (dialog will be way too hard for what I'm doing, although I'd like to generate dialog in the future). The base building is going to be part of my game too, so it seems like a closer fit.
Quote:
Original post by Jiia I think the one element the Sims could benefit from is removing the game from the current timeline. Put them in space or back to be eaten by village monsters. The games need drama badly. I don't consider wanting to watch TV and use the rest room at the same time, drama.
Well, I think that part of the appeal of the Sims was its contemporary setting. But as to your suggestions, that Space Colony game seems to be set in space, and my game will be set in a fantasy setting, so I'm glad that some people would be interested in a different environment for the game.
Well, I suppose this is a reflection of my personality but when I play the Sims I tend to do it mainly to get stuff. Primarily, making as much money as possible as quickly as possible to get the best stuff possible.
As a result, my characters tended to be antisocial bachelors that crank out lawn gnomes by the hundred, drink blue potions to fulfill their social needs and live in big houses with all the highest need-fulfilling items available.
Sometimes, I'd try running an eight-person family just for the challange, and it's really awful that family members don't count as friends in that career system they had going.
I also have The Sims: Busting Out for PS2. It's similar to the Sims but it has a sort of story mode where you unlock new items by fulfilling goals, and you get to visit new "houses" to live in by climbing career ladders. That game at least gave me an actual incentive to go to work ;)
===
Anyway, the list of good things about the Sims Games:
1. Player customization 2. Building the house 3. Getting lots of different items 4. Mods- making it so that new items, cloths, wallpaper cna be made or downloaded and added to the game.
=== Things I would like to see included:
1. A laundry room- I think laundry is the only quantifiable need that wasn't included in the game. If you're going for an extra touch of realism, this could help. Perhaps have it when the character switchs cloths then they leave the cloths in a bundle and they have to have them washed after a while.
2. Some way to move Sims between houses individually- Sometimes when I'm running a family then I find that one of them just doesn't belong and I wish I could just give them some money to go out and start a new household. Also, there might be a homeless family and I might want to let them take up rent with one of my other families.
3. Being able to go to work- If i'm playing a single Sim, I should be able to follow him to work and help him out at work. Even if it's just a minigame or something.
4. Send them on errands- Instead of just having food magically appear in the fridge, make it so that Sims have to get it from the store. Either by having a Sim use a command like "Go to Supermarket" and then they leave in a car (or taxi) and then return an hour later with groceries, or they call up a deliveryman on the phone and have it delivered.
5. The ability to train them or give Sima a scheduale- With the whole needs timer gameplay, perhaps make it so that after a while of sucessfully telling them to fulfill their needs, they become better aware of them and can fullfill them by themselves. Or if that isn't possible, create a daily schedule such as
wake up make breakfast use the bathroom take a bath play video games go to work ... and so forth
6. Let Sims fulfill social needs in other ways- Perhaps jobs themselves provide social needs, for more social Sims they would still need friends but the anti-social ones would have their social needs full and want to relax at home.
7. Some way for households to effect the commuity- I always thought it would be neat if Sims could buy an electicity-generating windmill for their home. They could sell the electricity to the power company and thereby lower pollution and energy cost a little bit, they would get money but might also upset neighbors by having a huge windmill in a residential area ;)
Also, perhaps allow kids to set up lemonade stands, they could sell lemonade to Sims passing by, they could get money, make friends and increase their cooking skill. But if the area has a high crime rate then the family has to worry about kid-nappers :(
8. Being able to run a businesses- (actually this ties into #3) If players could run their own businesses inside this simulated neighborhood then it would really add to the game. Even if its running "Simon Sim's Lawn Gnomes Unlimited" out of his garage, then he could make changes to the product, advertise his wares, get feedback, talk with distributers, hire employees, etc.
9. Let disasters happen- Have Sims go to jail of they commit crimes, their Boss decides to come to have dinner at their house (give them a few days warning to get the house cleaned up), Hoodlums smash their mailbox or cause damage, they become the victims of ID theft and have to talk to different people.
Anyway, these are a few ideas. Hope they help you out, although I'm not sure if many of these would fit whatever game you're making.
1) As others have said, customizability - you have the option of creating almost everything in the game, the characters, the environment, the plot, even the gameplay. You can play it as a micromanagement game, trying to always max out the meters, or you can play it as a living soap opera, or you can play it as a social experiment to see how different Sims will interact. When you add in actual moddability and all the things to download, this gets even better.
2) Social interaction in a single-player game - Almost no games have any sort of interesting social interaction. Most games that involve socializing give you a town full of quest-giving NPCs who you walk up to, and then select one of two or three canned responses, which are usually "generic hero that the game seems to be written for", "offensive faux-evil guy who just says mean things to everyone", and "exit the conversation". Sims, doing away with language, and thus canned responses, gives you a much broader range of personalities to play and conversations to have. It's the only game I've seen that allows emergent social-based gameplay. Sure, some people might protest that the fake sim language isn't expressive enough to make it worthwhile, but aren't you all always using the "use your imagination" excuse for why your game doesn't need HDR'd parallax-mapped high-res textures? ;)
3) Romance - this ties in to #2 above, but few games allow romantic options unless it's a canned, pre-written script with an NPC you may not actually care about. There's a huge market of ultra-low-quality "dating sims", but the Sims is one of the only games like this that are actually FUN and well-produced.
4) Ability to easily mimic real-life scenarios - I know a lot of people who put their friends, siblings, themselves, their house, their favorite hangouts, etc., into the Sims. Most games take place in Middle Earth, the Delta Quadrant, or World War II, where it's not really possible.
