The Sims

First released on February 4, 2000, the base game has sold more than 15 million copies, and the franchise has sold over 100 million units as of 2008. Since its initial release, seven expansion packs have been released, as well as a sequel (The Sims 2) and a prequel (The Sims 3), each of which have their own expansion packs.

Sims require direction, via mouse inputs, in order to have their needs met and live their lives efficiently. Sims have a degree of free will, but not enough to be considered completely independent (and even this limited free will can be disabled). The residential lot that individual Sims or families call home can be upgraded both in terms of the structure (Build Mode) and the furniture that occupies it (Buy Mode).

The game has won numerous awards, propelling the popularity of the game.

Origin
After suffering a fire that burned away all his possessions, Will Wright was forced to find a new home and rebuild his life. It was this experience that inspired him to think of a game that simulates life, linking his ideas with the SimCity series he had developed. In 1993, he proposed the idea to Maxis but they rejected it, believing that computers at the time could not handle such a game. In 1995, he proposed it again to EA Games. This time, it was accepted. EA Games initially named it Project X, however for a short while it was called Dollhouse but after realising that it would be hard to market to young males it was renamed to The Tactical Domestic Simulator and eventually renamed it The Sims in 1997. Promotions for the game were first seen on the SimCity 3000 installation CD.

Overview
Strictly speaking, there is no primary objective to The Sims; it is open-ended and players are free to decide for themselves what constitutes success or failure. The game does, however, have plenty of clear secondary objectives, such as career and relationship success, although there are no set rewards for this. The player will need to make his or her Sim successful in many ways. Players must fulfill their need to sleep, eat, and so forth, just like real human beings. They will also need to find a job, be promoted, or even marry other Sims so that one can have a successful family life.

The architecture and the artificial intelligence system are both praised by players. Players will need to build a well-designed house and put in different objects to fulfill the Sim's needs. Sims can only interact with the object in their house. A player can control a maximum of eight Sims at a time; the Sim currently being controlled can be identified by the plumb-bob over its head.

Gameplay
In The Sims there is no primary objective or goal to achieve and instead of fulfilling objectives, the player is encouraged to make choices and engage fully in an interactive environment. This has helped the game successfully attract casual gamers. The only real objective of the game is to organize the Sims' time to help them reach personal goals.

Create A Family
In the beginning, the game offered players pre-made characters to control, as well as the option to create more Sims. Creating a Sim consists of creating a "family" (identified by a last name) that can hold up to eight members. The player can then create Sims by providing the Sim with a first name and optional biography, and choosing the gender (male or female), skin complexion (light, medium, or dark), age (adult or child), a specific head and body (bundled with a specific body type and clothing), and a personality (from among Neat, Outgoing, Active, Playful, and Nice.). The player cannot change a Sim's face, name, or personality once they have been moved onto a lot. However, a player can edit a Sim's biography by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the Sim's face's thumbnail.

Building/Furnishing A House
Each family, regardless of how many members are in it, starts with a limited amount of cash (§20,000) that will be needed to purchase a house or lot, build or remodel a house, and purchase furniture. All architectural features and furnishings are dictated by a tile system, in which items must be placed on a square and rotated to face exactly a 90 degree angle with no diagonals permitted. Walls and fences go on the edge of a "square" and can be diagonal, whereas furniture and Sims take up one or more squares and cannot be diagonal. There are over 150 home building materials and furnishings for purchase in the base game.

The player can purchase several objects for Sims such as televisions, showers, beds and fridges, each of them has a purpose which ranges from fulfilling a certain need or raising a skill or simply being decorative. Each item takes up a number of tiles on the grid and can be rotated to meet the players desires. All items are pre-rendered.

Controlling Sims
Sims are controlled by instructing them to interact with objects, such as a television set, a dresser, or another Sim. Sims may receive house guests, which are actually based on the Sims of other game files in the neighborhood. 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 and gain popularity.

Sims have a certain amount of free will (if it is enabled in-game), and although the player can instruct them to do something, Sim characters may decide to do something else, or simply ignore the player's commands. 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.

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'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. 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, but during development it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than originally anticipated and their initially limited role in the game was developed further.

Limitations
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 however they will never become adults without expansion packs or hacks. Also, adult Sims never age (or die of old age), and there is no concept of weekends. For example, adults and children are expected to go to work and attend school, respectively, every day. In particular, adults receive a warning if they miss one day of work, but they are fired if they miss work for two consecutive days. Children can study at home to keep their school grades up. Sims also have path finding issues such as not being able to walk past chairs, walking on paved or carpeted surfaces even if it means taking the long way, and getting stuck in doorways if another Sim is coming in/out from the opposite direction.

Needs
The player must make decisions about time spent in the needs of the Sims, these are; Hunger, Social, Fun, Comfort, Hygiene, Bladder, Environment and Energy. These needs are filled by activities in the daily agenda of the Sims such as using the toilet and eating food from a fridge. If the simulated humans do not perform the proper amount of maintenance, they will sicken and die. Not fulfilling these needs has other negative side effects, for example if a Sim has lowered their energy need they will pass out where they stand which will lower their comfort need, and if they pass out in a swimming pool they will 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. This has more to do with their relationship score than their mood, though. Sims in a bad mood are more likely to ignore player input and autonomously seek an activity that will increase their mood. For example, if a Sim's fun level bar is too low, they may refuse to look for a job or pay the bills and instead sit and watch TV.

Careers and finances
In the beginning all families have a §20,000 limit to buy a house or build and furnish a house from scratch. Money can be gained by sending the Sims to find jobs and going to work and earning promotions by fulfilling the requited skills and gaining friends, if a Sim has missed work for a day they will receive a warning from their place of employment, if they miss the next day they will be fired. Additional money can be gained if a Child is getting A Grades in school and their relatives will give them §100, or alternatively if a Sim has the creativity skill they can paint paintings and sell them for money. Bills have to be paid occasionally and failure to do so results in the Repo-man repossessing some of the household's items.

School
Children need to attend school every day as there is no concept of weekends in the game. Children will need to study at home and go to school with a good mood in order for their grades to go up; this has advantages because relatives will occasionally call Children up and give them §100 for having very high grades. However, if a Sim has F Grades in school for seven consecutive days they will be sent to military school and never seen or heard from again.

Failure
While there is no eventual objective to the game, states of failure do exist in The Sims. One is that Sims may die: 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 this case, the ghost of the deceased Sim may haunt the building where it died. In addition, Sims can leave a household for good and never return: Two adult Sims with a bad relationship may brawl, eventually resulting in one of them moving out; babies can be removed by a social worker if they are neglected, and child Sims can be banished to military school if their school grades remain at an F for several consecutive days. Although considered states of failure, many players occasionally deliberately mistreat their Sims to observe the reactions and for entertainment. This can be done with no consequences if the game state isn't saved.