The Sims



The Sims is a life simulator, a spin-off from the SimCity series which has in turn eclipsed SimCity in popularity since it's release in 2000. The game puts players in control of isometric neighborhoods and people, or "Sims". Originally released for the PC, the game has also been ported to the Mac, and versions have been released for several video game systems.

First released on February 4, 2000, the base game has sold more than 6.3 million copies. The franchise has sold over 58 million units. Since its initial release, seven expansion packs and a sequel, The Sims 2 (with own expansion packs), have been released.

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. The residential lot which individual sims or families call home can be upgraded both in terms of the structure (Build Mode) and the furniture which occupies it (Buy Mode).

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 Sim successful in many ways. Players must fulfill their need to sleep, eat and many other just like real human beings. They will also need to find a job, be promoted, or even marrying other Sims so that one can have a successful family life.

The architecture and the artifical 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 the maximum of 8 Sims at a time, the Sim you are controlling can be identified by the plumbob over his head.



Origin
After suffering a fire, which burned away all his possessions, Will Wright was now forced to find a new home and rebuild his life. At this moment, he thought of a game the simulates life. Linking his ideas with the SimCity series he has developed. In 1993, he proposed the idea to Maxis, but Maxis denied it, thinking that the computers at that time cannot handle such game. In 1995, he proposed it again to EA Games, this time, he was accepted. EA Games named it Project X. In 1997, the name changed into The Sims, and thus the game is formed. The Sims promotions were first seen when installing SimCity 3000 CD.



Expansion Packs
The Sims spawned 7 Expansion packs(EPs).


 * Livin' Large (UK title: Livin' It Up)
 * House Party
 * Hot Date
 * Vacation (UK title: On Holiday)
 * Unleashed
 * Superstar
 * Makin' Magic

Custom Content
The game was designed to allow players to customise their experience with additional skins and buy/biuld mode items available from the official Sims website |here or third party fansites.

Details
(s)
 * Developer
 * Maxis
 * Publisher(s)
 * Electronic Arts
 * Designer(s)
 * Will Wright
 * Release Date(s)
 * February 4, 2000 (US)
 * February 28, 2000 (EU)
 * Genre(s)
 * God Game
 * Life Simulation game
 * Mode(s)
 * Single Player
 * Rating(s)
 * ESRB: Teen
 * ELSPA: 15+
 * PEGI: 7+
 * OFLC: G8+
 * Platform(s)
 * Microsoft Windows
 * Mac OS X
 * Media
 * 1 CD
 * Installation Disc
 * Sneak Preview of Sims 2
 * Sneak Preview of Making Magic
 * System Requirements
 * Microsoft Windows
 * Windows 95 and up, 233MHz Pentium II or faster, 64 MB RAM, 4x or faster CD-ROM drive, DirectX 6.0-compatible sound card and graphics card (card must have 2 MB onboard memory and able to display at 800x600 with 16-bit color)
 * Linux
 * Linux Kernel 2.2 or higher, Glibc 2.1.3 or higher, XFree86 4.0 or higher or equivalent, 350Mhz Celeron/Pentium II/Duron/Athlon or faster or equivalent, 64Mb of ram, 128 recommended, sound card supporting OSS or ALSA, video card capable of 16 bit color and 800x600 resolution, nvidia GeForce GPU recommended with 16mb of video ram. (NOTE: This is the ported Linux version from TransGaming)
 * Apple Macintosh
 * Mac OS X 10.0.3 or later -or- Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x with CarbonLib 1.2.5 or later, 233 MHz or faster PowerPC G3 or G4, 64 MB RAM (Mac OS 8/9) or 128 MB RAM (Mac OS X), G3/333 MHz recommended; 128 MB of RAM
 * Input(s)
 * Mouse
 * Keyboard