! Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! What Is the Difference Between the Sims Games? Written by Megan Ellis Published March 2018. Read the original article here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-sims-games- differences/ This ebook is the intellectual property of MakeUseOf. It must only be published in its original form. Using parts or republishing altered parts of this ebook is prohibited without permission from MakeUseOf.com. Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Table of contents The Sims (2000) 4 World and Neighborhoods 5 Life Stages 5 Sim Complexity 5 Expansions 6 Positive Aspects 6 Criticisms 7 The Sims 2 (2004) 7 World and Neighborhoods 8 Life Stages 8 Sim Complexity 8 Expansions 9 Positive Aspects 9 Criticisms 10 The Sims 3 (2009) 10 World and Neighborhoods 10 Life Stages 11 Sim Complexity 11 Expansions 12 Positive Aspects 13 Criticisms 14 The Sims 4 (2014) 15 World and Neighborhoods 15 Life Stages 16 Sim Complexity 16 Expansions 18 Positive Aspects 18 Criticisms 20 Will We Ever See Another Sims Game? 22 Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Launched in 2000, The Sims is now an iconic franchise that has outlasted and outperformed many of its contemporary peers. It’s strange to think that the franchise almost never got off the ground, as publishers weren’t sold on whether it would actually be a success. However, almost 18 years later, the series is one of the most recognizable and best-selling in the gaming industry. But how has it changed over time? Does the franchise still attract the hype and glory it had in the early 2000s? Here we offer a comparison of the Sims games, along with their highlights and low points. The Sims (2000) The Sims (TS1) was the first installment of the industry-changing franchise. There was some doubt about whether game designer Will Wright’s concept would see success. However, soon after its launch, it became a best-seller. In fact, the game even held the title of the top-selling PC video games in history for some time. So what were the main aspects of the game? Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! World and Neighborhoods In The Sims, houses are located on lots within a neighborhood. These neighborhoods are relatively simple, consisting of around 10 lots each. In the base game, there’s only one neighborhood and it’s exclusively residential. Community lots for businesses appeared in a later expansion. Each lot acts as its own separate instance — you can’t move between them without having to wait for a loading screen. Despite more neighborhoods appearing in later expansions, your Sims cannot travel between these neighborhoods. Life Stages The Sims came with the main three life stages seen throughout the series: baby, child, and adult. The game only fixed the first life stage, meaning that a baby would age into a child in three in- game days. However, the other two life stages did not age. As a result, your Sims stay as children or adults indefinitely, depending on how you introduced them into your household (through birth, adoption, marriage, or Create-A-Sim). Due to the lack of aging, adult Sims could only die from accidents (or player murder plots). Meanwhile, children took inspiration from Peter Pan and stayed eternally young. Sim Complexity While incredibly complex for their time, the Sims seen in the original game lack the emotional and graphical complexity of their counterparts in later games. By today’s standards, they are simple and not much to look at. Though at the time, they were considered amazing. Gameplay was driven by a Sim’s needs, such as hunger, entertainment, and sleep. They did not have any wants or aspirations, meaning your goals were more about fulfilling immediate needs rather than long-term plans. Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! In terms of customization and graphical quality, the original Sims came with the least complexity in the series. You can scroll between basic pre-designed heads and bodies, as well as three physique types: skinny, fit, or fat. The Sims were pixelated, while their limbs were relatively rectangular. Expansions The original Sims game has the fewest expansions in the series, as well as no Stuff Packs (content that mostly includes extra items, rather than new gameplay mechanics). Despite this, these seven expansions laid much of the blueprint for future expansion themes. Each expansion significantly expanded gameplay, adding new regions, gameplay mechanics, and interactions. The seven expansions for The Sims were: Livin’ Large, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, Unleashed, Superstar, and Makin’ Magic. Positive Aspects At the time of its release, The Sims was unlike anything else on the market. It took the fanfare around other simulation games and gave users an unprecedented and extremely personal level of control not seen in the others. The Sims became the first true life simulator game. Watch the Youtube video here: The Sims 1: Trailer Despite initial doubts, it became a game that changed the industry. Its inclusion of same-sex relationships was also revolutionary at the time, as it was long before diversity and representation made it into the gaming industry spotlight. Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Criticisms Most of the criticisms you could throw at The Sims have more to do with hindsight, rather than the product at the time of its release. The graphics have not aged well when you compare them with modern games, but at the time they were considered quite impressive. The main criticism facing the game when considering its time period is the pathfinding of characters. Characters would sometimes get stuck behind objects, meaning players had to move them around. At times, you would have to use cheat codes to move the Sim itself as you could not interact with objects in use. It also had the big problem that almost all Sims games suffer from: increased loading times as more content arrives for the game. The more expansions you installed, the longer you had to wait for the game to load. This issue continues throughout the franchise. Other than these two issues, TS1 was excellent for its time. The Sims 2 (2004) The second installment in the Sims franchise, The Sims 2 (TS2), was received positively by most fans. The base game was significantly more advanced than its predecessor. Watch the Youtube video here: The Sims™ 2 Official Trailer TS2 continued the developer’s venture into more offbeat ideas. One of the main noticeable features of The Sims 2 was the introduction of aliens as a playable Sim type. While it’s considered a life simulator, these quirky inclusions became part of the franchise’s core identity over time. Players can not only simulate a life, they could now simulate an imaginative dream life not limited by what’s realistic. Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! World and Neighborhoods The neighborhoods of TS2 expanded slightly on the foundation set by the original game. A major difference, however, is that TS2 comes with multiple neighborhoods and there is a mix of community and residential lots. More lots were introduced in the expansions, but they tend to fall under the general categories of community versus residential properties. You also have the option to create completely new neighborhoods from scratch. The concept of “sub-neighborhoods” was also introduced in expansions, which laid the groundwork for the open-world concept introduced in The Sims 3. Life Stages The Sims 2 significantly fleshed out the life stages seen in the original game. It also introduced the aging mechanic to the series. This resulted in a total of six life stages in the base game, while the University Life expansion introduced a seventh. Sims would move through the stages of baby, toddler, child, teen, adult, and finally elder. If you had the university expansion, you could also experience the young adult stage. Your Sims would also now die of old age, with a limit to the duration of each life stage. Sim Complexity TS2 saw a significant step up in terms of Sim complexity, thanks to the introduction of aspirations, wants, and fears. Aspirations are “big picture” goals — what your Sim wants to achieve in that specific life stage. Meanwhile, wants and fears are day-to-day goals and aversions your Sims experience. Wants and fears are determined by the Sim’s aspiration or specific events (such as dates). For example, a Sim with the Knowledge aspiration will want to build up certain skills and fear getting kicked out of college. Fulfilling goals grants aspiration points, while fears will reduce these points. You earn rewards as you reach higher aspiration levels and a full aspiration bar puts your Sim in a good mood. In terms of graphical quality, the Sims in TS2 are significantly upgraded from TS1. They are less pixelated, have more natural-looking features, and their faces show significantly more expressions. Along with this, there is an increase in quality of animations for different interactions between Sims. Copyright © 2018 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Watch the Youtube video here: The Sims 2 - Deluxe Official Trailer The extent of the improved graphical complexity of your characters can be especially seen in Create-A-Sim. Rather than scrolling through a limited number of head and body types, you have a much greater level of control over your Sim’s appearance. There are many more hairstyles, controls for adjusting facial features, and specific makeup settings. You can even generate the appearance of a child Sim based on the “genetics” of their parents. Expansions TS2 had a total of eight expansions, with similar themes to the expansions of the previous game.