I’ve become very intrigued by the ads I’ve seen for the Sims, and I was wondering if there was a version for PC use (Windows, that is–98, to be spectific) that did NOT involve online play. I don’t have (nor could I afford) a PS2, and am not at all interested in online play. Is there a version fit for me?
~Ferry
The Sims for PC has been out for a few years, with a number of expansion packs. It isn’t online (except for the Sims Online version, of course).
I don’t know if you can still get the first Sims (plain, no expansions) in stores nowadays - I found mine used. The “Deluxe” version you can find, and is the main game with the first expansion pack and a little extra stuff.
OK that makes sense. Now, these expansion packs–what are they exactly? And what are these ‘skins’ I’ve been hearing about? I’m so clueless when it comes to video games!
~Ferry
Skins are just a word for different looks for the characters in the game. Using the same wireframe model a new texture, or skin, is applied making it look different.
The expansion packs just add more content. You can get box sets for not that much now that include the expansions.
Off the top of my head:
Living Large: adds some more objects, wallpapers and character models
House Party: adds more objects mostly party oriented, more skins, and the option to have easier planned parties
Hot Date: adds more objects, etc etc, also expands the interaction between the sims and adds downtown areas for the sims to go on dates
Unleashed: adds pets as well as more skins blah blah
Vacation: adds vacation areas that the sims can go to.
I haven’t played the last couple of expansions since I got sick of it after the Sims and my sister got sick of it after Hot Date.
Well, understand that The Sims is not so much a video game as it is video crack.
With that in mind:
Expansion packs (for most any program) are add-ons to the program in question. They add new stuff, to be blunt. In the case of The Sims, each pack adds new furniture, electronic toys, skins, body types, goodies, doo-dads, and gadgets to the game. Some (or even all of them, I’m not positive) also add new career paths for your Little Computer People to work in.
Skins are bitmap (image) files that the program translates into the clothes your Sims wear, as well as the faces and hands of the Sims themselves. When you see one of the little buggers jump up and spin around to change clothes, they’re accessing a new skin, and painting that new image onto the body frame.
'Zat help any?
The latest expansion pack, I understand, adds pets to the game. Not like the little hamster in a cage (how apropos) that came with the original game (or possibly as a download from the website, shortly after that) we’re talkin’ about cats and dogs and flying monkeys and what-not that wander around the house doing their level best not to do what you want, just like the Sims themselves.
[sub]We uninstalled it and stopped buying expansion packs a while back, when we discovered the little buggers were getting more accomplished around the house than we were.[/sub]
Plus, what Silentgoldfish said, too.
:smack:
Now here’s a very stupid question (feel free to hit me for this one) : After you turn the game off, that’s it, right? I’m not going to come back in three months after say…a particularly large amount of history papers…and find the Sims (or, I’m assuming you can name them) dead because I wasn’t here to virtually buy them groceries? (I suppose I’m asking if it’s real time, though maybe that’s not quite the definition I’m looking for.)
~Ferry
Correct. You save and quit the game and come back to it later at exactly the same point.
::immense relief:: Cool. Next question (No, I’m not trying to be a pest, it’s just that I don’t think of these things until after I post) : How much actual control do I have over the Sims? I’m not entirely sure what I do. Do I just “set them up” and sit back to watch what happens, or can I decide exactly where they how, how the act, what they do…can I name them, the street/house where they live, etc?
~Ferry
You name them, design their homes, tailor their personalities, and then have to basically watch them like hawks – make sure they’re rested, fed, happy, etc.
I don’t play the rotten thing. The first time I tried I couldn’t get the kids to go to bed, they were still running around the streets playing madly at 3am. Then I realised I hadn’t bought them any beds 
My 9year old is a big Sims fan, as are many people of all ages, shapes and sizes.
It seems to be a game that really sucks people in. However it can be a positive influence, I know social workers/counsellors who use it as a tool for teaching social skills and approriate behaviours.
There is an option to that controls the amount of autonomy your Sims have. Turn it up high and they will just do their “thing” without needing your help. Turn it down and your Sim will stand around like a lemon all day. If you have a whole neighbourhood of Sims, you’ll often see them strolling past your front door.
How they behave is controlled by both their personality (eg a Sim with a zero neatness will never pick up garbage or take a shower) and by their past actions; I’ve got a Sim you always plays piano in his spare time. Make your Sim bhat and hug people a lot and they become more outgoing.
You can name your Sim, but not the street/house.
And remember, none of this applies to TheSimsOnline, which is $10 a month for a fancy buggy chat room.
I was addicted when the SIMS came out on the PC version, I have all the expansion packs and I have one whole neighborhood that is strictly gay SIMS…try, throwing a party, hehehehe.
I just bought the PS2 version, and it is hella kewl, even funner without the expansion stuff. I gather that within a year or so, what is available in the way of expansions for the PC version, will soon be availabe for PS2 etc, ie, Livin’ Large, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, Unleashed…maybe via online.
I’m so hooked playing the PS2 version.
Since you’ve played both, what’s different? I didn’t even know there was a PS2 version!
<self plug>
EhhMon, get your little gay sims some gear at http://www.closet.levillage.org 
</self plug>
Anyone wanting to get into the sims should try time their entrance with a long period of free time be it sickness, holidays, unemployment, whatever. You will be staying up so late that you will probably get sick or loose your job anyhow. Complete addiction.
The Sims sucks.
I disagree.
It’s “open ended”, sure, but, hey, life is like that.
I enjoy pursuing various careers and putting bizarre objects in the front yard.
My wife enjoys activating the money cheat and giving herself a million bucks to build mansions with.
Buckleberry: I dunno if Gamespot still has a Sims demo available, but they used to. Try before you buy, if you can. If you’re really that interested, The Sims Deluxe would be well worth it – as previously mentioned, it contains the basic game, plus the first expansion set, which really improves the game (Sims can’t have sex without the first expansion set, Livin’ Large).
The Sims’ autonomy can be set on a scale of 1 to 100 – at one end, you can’t control them at all, on the other end, they will stand there and literally starve to death unless you tell them what to do. You can set it anywhere in between.
I installed the Sims originally on my Windows 98 machine, and it runs just fine. The only OS I’ve heard that it conflicts with is Windows XP, and not always even that. You do need at LEAST 30 megs of RAM, though, and more like 128 or more megs if you intend to go crazy with the expansion sets… but, hell, who DOESN’T have at least 30 megs of RAM these days? If you’re on the internet, and you can run Windows 98, you have what it takes, likely enough. The game wasn’t designed for high-end machines.
MESHES: the three-dimensional “skeletons” of Sims. Female meshes have breasts, for example. Male meshes are slightly taller and don’t. “Skins” wrap around these meshes, and give them color and texture. You don’t have to even know this, really – the game takes care of it for you. All you have to do is choose your sims’ bodies, and then choose heads to match. Your choices are:
Male or Female
Adult or Child
White, Brown, or Black
…and a great many clothing/hairstyle/appearance options.
Oh, and the tutorial in the basic game literally walks you through your first game! Just click on the Newbies’ house in the middle of the first neighborhood, the one with the giant fraggin’ arrow in the sky, pointing at it. It will walk and talk you through it!
For more than you EVER wanted to know about skins and meshes for The Sims, click on This Thang Here…
I have a copy of The Sims I’d be glad to part with for a few bucks.
I love Sim City, but this game was too macro-managerial for my taste - only played once. Got tired of telling the damn things to eat and pee…
I always play with the autonomy all the way up. No matter what it’s set at, you can always take control of one of the sims and tell them what to do directly (unless they don’t live at the house you are at, then they are completely beyond your control, you can only have your sims ask them to do stuff with them).
I’ve found with the autonomy turned all the way up they do a decent job taking care of themselves…they won’t starve, and if you have enough bathrooms they won’t soil themselves often (and most will bathe immediately after if they do). They do weird things like getting up at 3 AM to go barbecue on the grill outside, though, and if you don’t want them to lose their jobs you will want to take control of them in the morning to make sure they get ready for work instead of eating breakfast three times and then going for a swim.
I never got any expansions past ‘Livin’ Large’. I downloaded tons of furniture, wallpaper, floors, and skins from various fan content sites - I had Jennifer Lopez, the Predator, Kurt Cobain, etc.