October 16th, 2013
Each time The Sims 3 design team sits down to discuss the next expansion pack or piece of store content, we often start by talking about what parts of the game could be better. What worked and what didn’t work in previous content? What would we like to do differently if given the chance? With Into the Future, we discussed how well the Visa Points system from World Adventures worked in context with that expansion pack’s content and then talked about how Terms worked with University Life. Would either of those scenarios work with Into the Future?
If there is ever a question on which direction we should take with a design there is always one question I ask myself: “Are we, the design team, providing tools that allow players to tell the story they want, or are we trying to force a specific story onto the player?” To me player freedom is the most important thing I can provide to someone who plays The Sims 3. Once we asked ourselves this question it was apparent the direction we should head, pending any technical restrictions.
Arriving in the Future
Unlike Shang Simla, Champs Les Sims, Al Simhara or Sims University, once a Sim arrives in Oasis Landing they can stay there as long as they like. All ages can travel to the future, but babies, toddlers, children and teens must be accompanied by a responsible adult. When you arrive in the future you’ll arrive at Emit Relevart’s Community Living Center. This lot provides a place for visitors of all ages to relax and recharge after a day out in the town.
Citaten
Vlugge Verkoopcollectie-blog
Een van de meest tot de verbeelding sprekende dingen aan de Harry Potter-films vond ik om te zien hoe Wegisweg tot leven werd gebracht. Ik vond het geweldig dat deze buitenbeentjes in dit drukke, kleine winkeldistrict iets gemeenschappelijks hadden gevonden.
Toen we het voorde eerste keer over het premiummateriaal voor Midnight Hollow hadden, wilde ik iets van de vibe vastleggen van deze samengekomen non-conformisten die hun koopwaren curiositeiten proberen te slijten.
[ENG] Developer Q&A: Ryan Vaughan
Developer Q&A: Ryan Vaughan, producer for The Sims Studio
We unveiled The Sims 4 at our gamescom press briefing – to give you an insider’s look, we sat down with producer Ryan Vaughn to tell us a little more about this PC favorite and what the Sims team will be doing this week here at gamescom.
- Q: What is the biggest difference in The Sims 4 compared to The Sims 3?
- A: It all starts with the biggest innovation in The Sims 4, the Sims themselves. Our Sims have evolved into emotionally aware beings whose every action is affected by what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling. Now you get to play with the mind, body and heart of the Sims.
Our second big feature is a new set of technologies we’re calling SmartSim. This has allowed us to make the most intelligent and relatable life simulation ever.
And finally, we’ve completely rebuilt our creative tools to be more intuitive, more powerful, and much more fun to play with. For the first time you reach into the world and shape your Sims by hand and build your homes room-by-room with ease.
You’re going to be able to see this in action during The Sims Live Broadcast so check it out! [Airs at
- 8am Pacific on Thursday
- , August 22 at www.TheSims.com/live]
- Q: Sims have now been around for over a decade. How do you keep it interesting for (very passionate!) fans?
- A: It’s funny you ask that, because it’s actually the fans that continue to drive our excitement about The Sims. It is their undying passion that energizes us, and their continued devotion that inspires us to create the kinds of games and content that we want to play. We’re constantly surfing the forums, checking in with them on Twitter via our @SimGuru accounts and looking for their feedback so that we can deliver the experiences they’re looking for. Keep it up, guys, we’re listening!
- Q: So, what’s going on at SimsCamp this week? Tell us more!
- A: We’ve invited top fans of The Sims from around the world to converge at SimsCamp to get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at The Sims 4. In addition to being amongst the first people in the world to play with Create A Sim, they’re the first to go behind the curtain to see how all of the pieces of our game come together.
- Q: What is the feature you’ve waited for the most to show off while at gamescom?
- A: The Sims themselves. These are revolutionary new Sims with emotional centers that behave and react more naturally than ever before. Every one of their actions is affected by their emotional states that lead to richer, more meaningful gameplay.
- Q: How long have you been a Simmer yourself and what makes you love this franchise?
- A: I started working on The Sims in 2007 when I was lucky enough to land on The Sims 2 team, but I’ve been a Simmer since the beginning. My favorite part about The Sims is that it’s a blank canvas. We give players all of these creative tools and they use them to tell their own unique stories.
For me, I love to build homes. So it actually really excites me that we’ve completely revamped our Build tool. It has all of the power that I want, but it’s tactile and flexible so that I can make great homes with ease.
Sims 3 preview op Eurogamer
De Engelstalige site Eurogamer heeft een preview van De Sims 3 online gezet: twee pagina’s lang en de moeite waard eens door te lezen.
In terms of actual Sims’ nature though, the core of the game is the personality traits, which replace the statistic-tweaking of the first.
I spend a lot of time talking about the personality traits, because I think that’s the heart of The Sims 3,argues Chun. So rather than spending points in characteristics, with you ending up as Lazy or Energetic depending how many you spend in the category, you choose up to five attributes, each of which has a distinct effect on a sim’s personality. Rather than the fuzziness, things now have clean edges.The cool thing is that we’re not making value judgments about anything,says MJ Chun.You can be evil, and not feel bad. That’s something which is very Sims. We’re giving the same level of importance to being Friendly or Lucky, being a Snob or being a Vegetarian.
EA: De Sims 3 wordt een risico
Inmiddels is er een vertaling online gekomen over het interview met MJ Chun dat later vandaag op CVG online zal komen (zie ook dit blogbericht).
De open wereld van The Sims 3 zal volgens Sims producer MJ Chun niet door iedereen gewaardeerd worden. Maxis neemt volgens hem een risico om daarmee de vooruitgang van de hele serie te bevorderen.
Na de vele uitbreidingen op The Sims 2 komt er dit jaar een volledig nieuwe game in de serie. Maxis heeft het doel om met The Sims 3 de serie naar een hoger plan te tillen en de open wereld zou daar aan bijdragen.
Deze open wereld houdt in dat de sims niet meer beperkt zijn tot hun eigen huis en een taxi moeten nemen om naar een andere buurt te gaan. In The Sims 3 kunnen de sims namelijk vrij rondlopen door de stad.
Volgens Chun zullen een aantal spelers de controle uit de vorige games niet op willen geven en anderen willen volgens hem juist meer vrijheid dan dat The Sims 3 biedt.
Hij stelt dat er wrijving is tussen de innovatie van de gameserie en het behoud van wat The Sims ooit tot een succes maakte. The Sims 3 zou daarom net als een ‘puber door een identiteitscrisis’ heen moeten, aldus Chun.