Do you even life, bro?It was perhaps inevitable that if anybody was going to take the next step in “people simulation” it would be Will Wright, the designer who was behind the SimCity series. And that’s exactly what he’s done with The Sims, a game – I guess you can call it a game, although as is Wright’s trademark, you never really win or lose – that allows you to create and control the lives of virtual people known as “Sims”. Indeed, at its core The Sims is a sort of virtual people farm of everyday life management.The concept at its foundation – the interactive simulation of a person’s everyday life and all that it entails – is ambitious in the extreme, and amazingly the design does it ample justice.
The lives of the Sims under your control are faceted and detailed enough that, just like all of us in the PC Gamer office who have become curiously entranced, you’ll actually find yourself believing that you’re living somebody else’s life vicariously. Your Sim becomes a virtual alter-ego through which you can attempt to make real your dreams – or, perhaps, nightmares. Live The Way You WantThe Sims is essentially divided into two sections – a “Live” mode in which your Sims work, play, and interact, and a Buy/Build mode that freezes time to allow you to change the environment. The heart of The Sims is a leafy suburban neighborhood comprising pre-built houses of various size and value, along with several vacant lots to build new residences on.
About halfway down this raised area you'll find a dose of Zombrex.#3 - Slot Ranch Casino On the northern performance stage (where you fight Bibi), head backstage. Keep to the left hand side. You should come to a ramp leading to an elevated area. Atop the crates up against the right hand wall is the Zombrex.#4 - Yucatan Casino At the center of the casino is the Lucky Marble mini-game.
From the very beginning – acquiring a house and furnishing it – you’re in management mode, trying to balance your tastes against the meager $20,000 you start out with. As more money becomes available throughout the game, so to does your freedom to buy from the game’s extensive catalog of furniture, decorations, appliances, gadgets, and other material trappings, and to roll up your sleeves and remodel the house itself with a powerful architectural tool that allows you to design everything from the house’s overall layout to the wallpaper, carpet, windows, and staircases.When you’re not sprucing up your house with the latest furniture, TV sets or pool tables, you’re actively managing the everyday lives of your Sims. This being more of a computer toy than a game proper, the user is free to define their own objectives, but as in real life, you’re encouraged to achieve social and professional success which in turn are the key factors in determining overall happiness. Expect burglars if you have an oppulent home!Whoops! The dishwasher broke.A view of the neighborhood.Social MusingsOnce putting your Sim on a career path, either by perusing the newspaper or online job listings, career advancement becomes a major goal.
After struggling up through the low pay and long hours inherent to the lower ranks of whatever career you chose (everything from medicine and politics to sports, entertainment, and a life of crime is possible), you can start earning some serious cash, which can afford better home improvements (which, in turn. Enhances the happiness of our materialistic Sims).The other key goal of The Sims is to develop an active social life, and it’s here – interacting with other Sims in the neighborhood – that the game throws up some of its most satisfying treats.
Socializing is mandatory if you want to get ahead, since a Sim’s social rating is one of the key contributors to overall happiness and promotion to the higher career levels also requires that a certain number of Family Friends be maintained. You can use computers for fun and work.As you get to know the Sims in your neighborhood, you can call them and invite them over. Once you’ve gained the pleasure of their company, you can chat, play, joke, flirt whatever it takes to get them to like you.
Livin Large Soundtrack
Certain household items can help move things along – well, wouldn’t you be more likely to visit a friend if you knew he had a big-screen TV? A horoscope system adds an extra layer of complexity, with astrological compatibility affecting Sims’ predisposition toward each other. Get friendly enough and Sims may become romantically inclined toward each other, and even move in and start a family.It may be pointless in the long run – with no aging or clear objectives, one can only take The Sims as far as achieving a successful career and perhaps moving into a luxury mansion. Make it high enough and you’ll be throwing lavish parties with your pals down by the swimming pool. Getting there isn’t easy, requiring weeks of playing and exploring all of the game’s charming minutia.
In the end, there’s one thing that’s safe to say about The Sims – you can’t find anything quite like it.System Requirements: Pentium II 233 MHz, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95.
OverviewThe Sims: Livin’ Large (known as The Sims: Livin' It Up in the UK) was the first of several expansions packs for the widely popular, game. It offered very few changes to the core gameplay of The Sims but did introduce a large amount of new content.
The expansion pack included new objects, careers, and social interactions, and a new life-state. GameplayWhile some minor gameplay changes did occur as the result of the introduction of various NPCs and objects, the only notable direct change to gameplay was that the expansion pack allowed players to create five additional neighbourhoods in their game on top of the original three. This meant that players could control around 50 families at the same time. New NPCsLivin' Large introduced a number of NPCs which weren't simply citizens but acted as game mechanics within themselves that almost every could interact with.- The genie appears when sims rub the and allows the sim to make one wish based around an element of aspect of their lives. While these wishes can result in positive outcomes they usually fail and result in negative repercussions.- The Grim Reaper appears when a sim dies and spends some time standing over their body to harvest their soul. Other sims on the lot can plead with the Grim Reaper for a chance to save the soul of the dead sim.
Should the reaper accept he will play rock-paper-scissors with the pleader; if the reaper wins the dead sim will be unrecoverable, however if the reaper loses he will bring the sim back to life. If the reaper refuses the plea he still may resurrect the dead sim as a, the new life-state in the game.- Santa Claus will appear if a Christmas Tree, a fireplace and a plate of cookies are placed in a sim's house and all sims in the household are asleep by midnight. Santa leaves a number of present boxes under the tree which sims can unwrap for fun but there will also be one for each member of the household which contains a present for their home.- Servos can be obtained by buying them for 15,000 simoleons, making them the most expensive item in the game. Servos are robots that will cook, clean, garden and repair for sims.
They can also entertain sims to a limited degree.- Sunny appears in the homes of sims who are depressed and own the tragic clown painting. Sunny will constantly annoy them, lowering their mood and will also wake them up while they are trying to sleep. He can be gotten rid of by removing the painting, improving the mood of the sim/s or calling the clown catchers. New ObjectsWhile Livin' Large introduced a large number of new objects for both build and buy mode it added a small number of objects with which sims could interact with uniquely.Antique Lamp- This can be rubbed once a day and summons the genie (see above).Concoctinator Chemistry Set- A chemistry set which not only raises sims logic points but also allows them to create potions with various effects. These effects are making their worst enemy fall in love with them, maxing out their needs, inverting their personality, temporarily turning them into a monster, curing sickness, making an evil clone of them, draining all their needs and making them invisible. There is a chance that sims using the chemistry set will cause a mistake in their potion brewing, creating a horrible smell which the police will fine them for, however the higher the logic of the sim using the set the less likely that is to happen.Horowitz 'Star-Track' Outdoor Telescope- The telescope can be used to increase sims logic points, however, if it is used for a long period at a time the sim using it will be abducted.
They will return to the lot a few hours later with their personalities inverted and will think about aliens for a long time afterwards.Madame Blahbatfry Crystal Ball- If a sim looks into the crystal ball the player will receive a vague message about some future action the sim will make. Should the player be able to work out the message and make the sim perform the intended action within the next twenty-four hours the player will be able to change the sims personality, otherwise the sim will lose a personality point in one trait.Vibromatic Heart Bed- This functions in the same manner as a normal bed but sims can also pay twenty simoleons to make the bed vibrate. Should a sim they are in love with join them in the bed they can play with them, increasing the fun and social moods of both sims.
The Sims Livin Large Patch
If the sims are of opposite genders they can also use the bed to have a baby. New CareersLivin' Large added five new career tracks to the game meaning there were fifty more available jobs for sims.