![]() In all, it completely changed the way the game was played. The aspirations gave the Sims something to work toward, and the wants & fears hint at actions that would make the Sims happy or upset. This addition gave the game more direction and structure. This made the gameplay feel more realistic and added a sort of time limit to the game.Īdditionally, aspirations wants, and fears were all added to the game in order to make the Sims' lives even more customizable. In The Sims 2, a newborn Sim will go through being a baby, then a toddler, then a child, a teen, a young adult, an adult, and lastly an elder before dying of natural causes. The first advantage of The Sims 2 is it introduced a solution to its predecessor's aging issue: the addition of time-specific life stages for each Sim. Working with new technology and constructive criticism from the first game, the developers were able to give the game a much-needed makeover. It boasted improved graphics and expanded gameplay options. The series' highly anticipated second installment, The Sims 2, was originally released 4 years after the original on September 14, 2004. The Sims 2 Image Source: Attack of the Fanboy This is an issue that was eventually fixed in later games. ![]() The toddlers eventually age u to children, but then they just stay kids forever. Adult Sims would never die of natural causes you would have to do something purposeful to kill them. Lastly, the process of aging was almost nonexistent in this game. While it's nice that these features were available at all considering the state of the times, it didn't sit right with some fans that extra money would have to be spent to create Sims that looked like them. Many of the culturally relevant features - such as varied skin tones and hairstyles - were only available through the expansion packs. In The Sims, your characters are expected to attend their engagements every single day and are penalized for missing too much.Īnother issue many players had with the game was the lack of diversification in the character creation screen. In current Sims games, your Sim has days off from work or school, giving them time to recharge and take care of other things. The first thing that is noticeably missing is weekends or days off. Although it was new at the time, in retrospect, the base game was missing many key features of life. However, being the first game in a well-developed series like this also has its downsides. The original game had many of the same gameplay features we see today and would be essential in shaping the gameplay of the installments to follow. Again, this game was a trailblazer, and for a game that seemingly already had so much to it, it was baffling at the time to see expansion packs released with even more playable content. ![]() Sure, the other Sims games also have expansion packs, but these packs held more weight with this installment. Not to mention, the character models were pretty detailed considering the time period.Īs if the base game wasn't enough, another perk of the first Sims game is the availability of expansion packs. It allowed players to control their Sims by monitoring their needs - specifically hunger, sleep, fun, social engagement, comfort, bladder room, hygiene, and room - and controlling their decisions. The advantage the first game has over the others is that it was the first of its kind from these developers, so there wasn't a blueprint or precedent for it to be compared to. It went on to sell more than 11 million copies and create a fanbase that would remain loyal for years to come. The buzz around its release was significant as gamers were interested in the concept of a customizable life simulation game. The first Sims game was released on February 4, 2000. To keep things concise, I won't be discussing the spinoff games, only the 4 base games. In order to see what I mean, we would have to look at each individual game's features and compare them to the installments that came afterward. Each game has its strengths and weaknesses, but when we look at the bigger picture we can see that the Sims games just keep getting better and better. So what is it that has kept the fans engaged all of these years? Well, put simply, the developers have been excellent at listening to criticism from the community and making the appropriate fixes when a new game is released. To this day, it is still one of the highest-selling PC games of all time, and its console versions made big sales as well. ![]() Over the past two decades, The Sims games have brought about millions of fans and secured a place in gaming history for the franchise.
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