Teach Lobsang to like The Sims...

Cafe Society
1

I bought this game a while ago, played it all day, and haven’t touched it since. The appeal wore off that day (it was fun while it lasted)

I think it was some deep realisation that this is it. There’s no completion of the game, no growing of a town into a city into a metropolis, there isn’t a feeling of progression, you just manage people’s lives (which can be more of a chore than a fun thing)

Now this game is pretty ***** popular! It’s like the [comic store guy]most popular… Game… Everr[/comic store guy]. So what is wrong with me? I am probably wrong about the depth/progression issue, it’s just a feeling I got when I played it.
Persuade me to like this game.

2

the only way ive kept this game fresh and interesting for me is to twist and pervert its meaning. download sites like 8th deadly sim help me in this aim.

sim sex shops, nudist camps and strip clubs all done with a grim sleeziness are my of turning this wholesome game about raising a family into something i can stomach.

3

I’ll be honest…the game isn’t nearly as fun without using cheats and making new skins and the like. Also, the original SIMs is pretty damn boring after awhile…hence the exploding popularity of the expansion packs. Maxis is said to be launching The SIMs 2, which allows each SIM to have it’s own DNA, so the children had will look/act like them, etc. It will also have life span technology, so your SIMs can grow from infant to the Golden Years. I also second furr in saying that bastardizing the SIMs is the most fun of all. Coming up with clever ways of killing them off, making a SIMs sex industry, breaking up families, etc.

I personally have a lot of fun making “celebrity SIMs”. Right now, Sharon & Ozzy are my most “developed” SIMs (ie I built both their LA house and England house, made the same furniture, etc), but they’re growing a little boring, too. Time for the bulldozer!

:slight_smile:

4

Why I love playing Sims is that I love designing houses. Really, I treat all my families as money earning resources that will go out and make more money so that I can tear down their existing house, and build them a bigger and better one.

Well, although that’s the biggest reason I play, I also just like “making” them get skills, and interact, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when they get to a higher job level, or get a new friend.

While you’re right in that there’s no completion of the game per se, this is similar to many of the Sim type games. SimCity, for example. I’ve never played it, so correct me if I’m wrong, but so far as I know, there isn’t some magical end to the game, when your city is a big as it can possibly be. You just watch the changing dynamic over time, adapt your play to the new dynamic, and try to learn from your mistakes. Or at least I do.

If I ever get bored with my existing families, I’ll probably start over again with the “original” families. I found I got a lot more out of the game once I started using some of the techniques/tips/semi-cheats that were in the Sims Guide. They really weren’t cheats, just things that weren’t mentioned in the game. But the hints made me play more efficiently, and I enjoyed it more.

YMMV, obviously. I mean, just because it’s the best computer game ever doesn’t mean you have to like it. At least you gave it a shot! More than some people would do.

5

I feel your pain, Lobsang.

I’ve tried, lord knows I’ve tried. But, here’s a quick simulation of gameplay:

Get up.
Eat.
Go to the bathroom.
Take a shower.
Go to work.
Come home.
Cook.
Eat.
Clean.
Go to the bathroom.
Watch TV/Play on the computer
Go to sleep
Repeat.

Why do I need to simulate this? It’s what I do every fucking day of my life ANYWAY! I buy video games to transcend this stuff, not glorify it!

What’s next? A game called “WORK” where you get to simulate filling in cover sheets for your TPS Reports all day long? A committee meeting simulator that locks you in your chair and drones monotonously at you for hours on end?

No thanks.

6

Actually, the fact that it’s so much like my life is why I like it. You know, get home from work, and there simply isn’t enough time left in the day to do all the stuff that needs to be done (have fun, talk to spouse, learn new skills, eat, clean up, chat with neighbors). That’s my life.

7

I always had fun putting someone in the swimming pool, then removing the ladder.

Also, fireplaces are fun, especially when there are no smoke detectors.

I built a house with a bunch of little tiny rooms, and every time a neighbor came over I enticed them into the room (putting a toiliet in there often works when they have to go the bathroom), then removed the door after they went in. I had quite a collection of neighbors there for a while, but could never get anyone to actually starve to death.

8

I find that hunting for objects online helps keep the game fresh for me. Likewise with the expansion packs.

9

It’s a little bit like asking “Teach me what to do with this blank sheet of paper.” Some people will draw a picture on it, some people will fold it into a paper airplane, some people will dilligently write down everything they think they’re supposed to write and then say “What do I do next? This is stupid.”

With The Sims, some people like to model themselves or their families, some people use it as a storytelling tool, some people like building houses, some people like coming up with new ways to kill or torture the Sims, some people like creating new skins & objects, and some people just go through the career paths and get frustrated that they can’t “beat” the game. I’m not saying that’s bad, just that it’s more open-ended than what many people look for in a computer game. And just because it is the best-selling PC game of all time doesn’t mean that it’s right for everybody (but for God’s sake, keep buying it!)

I’ve never quite understood the torture thing. It can be kind of perversely fun at first, but I don’t have the heart for it. Especially the stories I’ve read about people who let them pee themselves or starve to death – it takes a long time, and they spend the whole time crying or calling for help. Just makes me feel bad.

For me, I just like coming up with stories and scenarios and seeing them play out. I’ve still got the gay couple I started the game with – I’d intended them to inter-marry with the 2 girls supplied with the game, and then start a rock band like ABBA, but the guys ended up liking each other too much. I moved them into an abandoned firehouse and got them a dog. (But one of them has started cheating on his boyfriend with the oil heiress that just moved into the neighborhood, while the other is secretly seeing one of the townie guys.)

A couple of houses over there’s Sven Gali, the recently re-animated lothario with a strange control over the hearts of women. He was brought back to life by Molly, an army lieutenant who wants to use his power to take over the neighborhood. She realizes that it’s all part of the plan for Sven to seduce each woman in the neighborhood and have them move in, but is secretly jealous of all the new “recruits.”

Another houses has Lothar and Grunthilda Hillman, ancient warriors unfrozen from a block of ice and forced to live in the suburbs. They live with a perky young grad student named Trish, who’s studying (and having to clean up after) the couple as part of her thesis.

And that goes on and on. It’s not like I play the game all the time, but it’s nice to pick up every once in a while and let the stories play out a little bit longer – help somebody get a new career, seduce another man or woman, move into a different house, whatever.

One last thing: for a game as open-ended as the Sims, I’m impressed with how much time they spend on the content. All the stuff they do with Simlish is still hilarious, even after 3 years. Especially the country-western Simlish songs. The sound team deserves a lot of credit.

10

I especially like the Pepsi machine you can get. Drinking an iced tea or other caffienated soda is way better for their energy bars than the coffeemaker.

I never got the expansions though, and so I too tired of the original premise after awhile. And w/o the expansions, you’re limited to that one neighborhood. At least in SimCity I can always start a new city, but in the Sims you can’t.

I’d rather be playing Civ2 than either, but Civ2 takes so much longer per session, coz you have lots to keep track of. The Sim games are more conducive to brief play sessions.

11

I started out using cheat codes to make interesting families and houses - strange ‘theme’ houses, copies of where I lived, etc. I got bored with the game before long, but then I fired it up and tried to see how well I could do without using cheat codes, and the game was a LOT more fun. It can be quite hard to reach the higher ranks in a career track without cheating - you need a well-designed house, lots of friends (which means lots of socializing), and a lot of time training your various skills. Eventually I had a whole non-cheating neighborhood, with one person at the top of the career track (the hacker career track), several in the upper levels (7+), and one wealthy self-employed gnome-maker.

12

(Kinda) Fun things to do

-Try to not get them to sleep by drinking coffee all the time

  • Build a house without rooms

  • Do the picket fence maze thing

  • Put the toilet outside

  • Try to keep up a polygomus relationship circle (it’s bloody difficult!)

13

The celebrities thing can be fun, for a while. Once I had Darth Vader and Santa Clause living in the same house. Santa Clause stayed at home (he didn’t really do much except play on the computer because I had the robot maid), while Darth Vader went up the career ladder (I forgot what job I put him…working in an office probably). It was funny trying to get Vader to socialize with the neighbors so he could move up the career ladder. It was also funny seeing him come home from work, in a suit with a briefcase, but still wearing his helmet.

Another character I built was Dr. Moreau. I built him a huge mansion and had him kill off all the neighbors by locking them into rooms upstairs. He would spend his days doing science experiments while the “guests” cried out for food or wet themselves. When they died there were tombstones outside. The tombstones were right where the neighbors could see, but they still went over. I got “Hot Date” for Christmas and I had Dr. Moreau go into town to fish out more people to kill, but the game kept crashing on me and I lost interest, lucky for the Sims.