Game camera

In The Sims series, the game camera is the feature which shows the simulated world on the player's screen.

Camera controls
In addition to using the buttons in the user interface, the camera can be rotated by using the and  keys, and zoomed in and out by using the  and  keys. The camera can be panned around using edge scrolling, by right-clicking and dragging, or by using the WASD or arrow keys. In 3D games in the series, the camera can be rotated (horizontally) and tilted (vertically) around using the Ctrl + Right mouse combination, Shift + WASD keys or Ctrl + WASD or Arrow Keys (Windows and Mac OS X); the right analog/C-Stick (all consoles except the Wii); C + Control Stick(Wii). Starting with The Sims 2 and The Urbz: Sims in the City, the camera control can be reverted to "The Sims 1 Style".

The Sims
In the original PC version of The Sims, the camera was limited to an isometric perspective. There were four viewing angles, each of which was 90 degrees apart; and three zoom levels.



In addition to the controls in the Control Panel, the  and   keys would rotate the view—  went right and   went left. Zoom could be controlled with the  and   keys.

In the console versions of The Sims, The Sims Bustin' Out and The Urbz: Sims in the City, the camera is in 3D format and the control is similar to the one used in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories. The player can control the camera using the Right Analog Stick or C-Stick. In The Urbz: Sims in the City, the camera control can be inverted, similar to "The Sims 1 Style" in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories. Also in The Urbz: Sims in the City, the camera can be brought to ground level as in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories.

The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories
The camera is now in 3D, which allows the view to be rotated 360 degrees and tilted up and down. "The Sims 1 Style" of camera rotation can be selected in Game options. The UI controls,  and   keys, and   and   keys work as in The Sims, although the 3D environment allows for smooth zooming instead of being limited to preset zoom levels. If the mouse has a scroll wheel, it can be used to zoom in and out. The camera can also be controlled by using the middle mouse button (if present), or by holding down the Ctrl button and the right mouse button. As in The Urbz: Sims in the City, the camera can be brought to ground level.

The Sims 2 introduced a "cameraman mode" that can be toggled by pressing, which will allow the player to move the camera around in first-person perspective. The camera can be raised or lowered by pressing and, respectively. The camera can be panned around using the WASD keys, and zoomed in and out with a fisheye effect using and. Pressing again or pressing  will exit cameraman mode.

The Sims 2 Console games
The camera works as in The Urbz: Sims in the City, except that the camera controls can be set to either Direct or Classic Control (The Sims 2 and The Sims 2: Pets).

The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval
Camera controls in The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval are the same as The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories. However, the CTRL + WASD/Arrow Keys can now be used. Prior to version 1.3 of The Sims Medieval, lots did not have 3D view, and only a Stage view was allowed. The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval can still be set to use the "The Sims 1 Style" of camera control, but this now allows the vertical camera control to be used. The Sims 3 control panel had provided more camera control options in the control panel. In-game camera can now also be tilted upwards and downwards, with the use of new additional buttons. In the live mode interface, buttons are provided to pan the camera instantly to either the currently selected Sim, their home lot or the view of the map. Respectively, hotkey shortcuts can be used: to center on selected Sim,  + to center on active Household's lot, and  to toggle map view.

The Sims 4
The camera system in The Sims 4 is again similar to its predecessors, with a 3D camera that can be rotated and tilted. By default, it can only be panned by clicking and dragging and zoomed by scrolling in or out, but not rotated up and down as that isn't optimal for tablets. Players can opt to use The Sims 3's method of controlling the camera which allows rotating by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Tab (Command+Shift+Tab on Mac), which is more suitable for desktop computers and laptops.