Who Plays any of "The Sims" People Simulator Games

[oldgamerz]

My all time favorite game is the sims series for PC most notably the sims 1  through the sims 3 series series on PC, when I first play the first PC vanilla back in 2001, I was hooked for a long time until about the time the sims 3 came out in 2009. That is when I sorta lost interest. I still play the sims 2 and 3 for PC. but I am sorta board from time to time. Especially me knowing that the sims 2 series is sorta broken and it's main problems were never patched from it's developers and this game came out in 2004.


for example when I found out that neighborhoods file will corrupt just from playing the game in general and only last longer with special mods and unfinished programs preventing the game from neighborhood corruption.

 like the cold hard fact that their is no proper way of deleting a person. You can actually permanently damage you neighborhood files by deleting any person or selling their gravestones. After a while if you delete the people in the game using the delete button. in the sims 2 the game will eventually no longer load your hard worked neighborhood  save file.

If you play the sims 2 once you create a person your stuck with them or else if you delete any of them you game will likely freeze sooner when you try to load the neighborhood in game.

I don't even bother creating a lifetime storybook knowing that even with the mods you game is only guaranteed to last only so many hours before you have to start living or building a new neighborhood due to the game freezing on the load screen.

the sims 3 is built better although I don't know much of it's flaws because I never played it for long

[98dgreen]

The only sims game I have played was sim city 3000 on the pc

[oldgamerz]

The only sims game I have played was sim city 3000 on the pc

that is a great game it was a great city simulator that I still enjoy to this day

[Warmsignal]

Much like you, I first discovered and played the Sims fanatically, when it first debuted. I kind of stumbled upon it one day without knowing anything about it, long before any expansions were ever released and the idea of the game just captured me. I found it addictive, and fun. I ended up picking up every single expansion made for the original series. I picked up the eventual console release, and of course, I heavily anticipated the release of Sims 2. I actually really liked Sims 2, and thought it was a definite step forward. I never ended up with very many of the expansions. I never had any technical issues with the game. But somewhere amidst the Sims 2 is where I kind of lost interest in the series, as well.

It was around the launch of 3, that I became kind of soured on the fact that they kept re-releasing the game bare-bones, and putting out the same expansions each time around. 3 was incredibly stripped down, and I felt the game should have a lot more options in terms of customization and creativity, especially in regards to designing a home. Coupled with some of the changes made to the gameplay by 3, and I just lost interest completely.

I think it might have something to do with age as well. I think the Sims is a game that probably appeals more to a younger audience? Or maybe it was just a niche that went stale after a while. Evidently Sims 4, along with Sim City were poorly received enough to put Maxis right out of business, sadly. I had a lot of fun with their games, and especially the Sims back in the day, but I don't know that I could go back and play them now.

[thewelshman]

I played the Sims once a year, for about 3 days, for 7 years in a row. I would find my installation disc, install the game, play it like mad, then uninstall everything and ignore it until the next year. The only time I ever really played it was whenever my best friend and his wretched girlfriend was playing and all I did was make a female character to steal him away from her (or cheat with him, I can't remember 100%.). I suppose it was my passive-aggressive way to make her mad. I remember they got into a huge fight because his Sim, whom he didn't play, was giving my created sim too much attention. 

Their argument over their fake counterparts was the millionth wrong thing with her.

[bikingjahuty]

I always liked the Sim City games, specifically Sim City 2000 and Sim City 3000, although I was never that great at either. Also enjoyed Sim Copter and Sim Tower as well. I also tried to get into the Sims games on several occasions, but never could. I more or less just designed a home with the unlimited money cheat, got a girlfriend, slept with her, and then got bored and quit lol.

[tripredacus]

I never really liked the original The Sims game. Mostly because you could not really leave the house. Some day I will revisit those as I have a lot of the add-ons for that game now.

The most time I had spent was on Sims 2. I liked being able to set the Sims to high autonomy (they do whatever they want) and pretty much just watch what happens. One thing I did like was to invite a bunch of people over and get them to die somehow. When they die, it leaves something behind where they died. If in the house it was an urn, if outside it was a tombstone. I try to get a large collection of those things on the property because then ghosts would appear and also cause havoc.

But I would say the things I found I like most about Sims 2 is what is missing from Sims 3. I have some time in on Sims 3, Steam says 49 hours. So here are some notes about Sims 2 and Sims 3.

Sims 2
- the aforementioned urn/tombstone ghosts thing. Perhaps this is in Sims 3 Supernatural, but I have no add-ons for Sims 3. The add-ons in my VGC were used and their codes do not work with Steam.
- Sims 2 requires some versions of IE to be installed because the launcher uses it. If you upgrade your IE to a certain version, the launcher does not work. Also, the launcher tries to open a webpage and if it can't be found, you can't launch the game. There are ways around it, but it is one of the first examples I had seen where online content/servers being de-activated can stop you from playing a game. Even tho Sims 2 does not go online for anything else except for the Simoleon store.
- If you create multiple families in the main town, you can play as any, or you can play as any of the NPC families. And they can visit each other. This does not work in Sims 3.
- If you have your child Sims grow up and they decide to "move out" they disappear from the town. The only way to continue to play them is to get them to move in with an NPC, then you can find them in the menu as an NPC family.
- Pets are super annoying. If you do not take care of a cat properly, they will destroy everything in your house.
- CPS (Child Protective Services) can enter buildings without doors by walking through walls. If you do not care for the kids, they can enter the house through supernatural means to take your kid from you.
- There is a bug that causes Sims to not be able to wake up or get out of bed after sleeping. They can die due to this bug and the only way to fix this situation is to use the cheat menu.
- Getting Sims to fall in love with other Sims, to get people to move in with other Sims is a lot easier (fewer clicks) than in Sims 3.

Sims 3
- sometimes a Sim could get stuck. Sometimes it is yours and sometimes an NPC. Rarely the Sim can get unstuck and a Sim can die from this. I have a screenshot of this, I found in town Nick Alto was clipped into the wall outside of the park:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=796281198
He lived about a week (game time) like this and he eventually died. I knew this happened because it is shown in game your Sims are sad they knew another Sim (Nick Alto) had passed away.
- Some pools do not have ladders, but Sims can get out of them. I thought I was going to witness some glorious Sim deaths at the town pool but nope.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=766354274
- Sometimes an NPC Sim can become invisible and cannot be clicked on. This happened to me multiple times with whichever Sim is in this screenshot. Unfortunately, there were quests to talk to or give things to this Sim and it was impossible. They would disappear in this location, or at their own house.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=837460630
- For some reason the fishing activity is continuous. I think it is the only activity like this. If you tell a Sim to go fishing (there are wishes/goals for fishing) they will continue to do so until they pass out or die. If the Sim decides to fish based on the autonomy decision, this does not happen. They can decide to stop fishing and go do something else.
- I like to get furnishings by digging through dumpsters. Also you can get items if your character has the kleptomaniac trait.
- Some of the life goals seem impossible on the normal pacing, or perhaps my playstyle is not what it should be. Some seem only possible to complete by setting the lifespan to the max.

If anything is true about at least Sims 2 and Sims 3... there are two very important things you need to get when you start. A smoke detector and a security alarm system. Failure to have these will cause a quick game over early game if there is a fire, and a thief will come and steal everything in your house.

[hawk767]

I played up to The Sims 3 same as a couple of you. I played a fair bit of Sims 1 growing up, Sims 2 I got into right around the time I was also pirating a lot of games so would invest the time in getting all of the xpacs, something I never could have afforded at the time, and played that a fair bit as well. Sims 3 I've barely played and again it mostly comes down to just not having the xpacs. I've always enjoyed The Sims series I've just always been averse to investing in the expansions and even after a sequel comes out they remain fairly high in price, especially now with it all mostly being digital. Also the trend of locking more and more content and their handling of content release with 4 has really turned me off on continuing with the series.

My favorite aspect of the games has always been the building, to the point that I'd often get my family made and homes built and not be too interested in the game itself. For gameplay I played The Sims 2 on ps2 a whole lot, also played some of the offshoots on GBA I believe when I was younger, The Urbz?

[cirno]

I've played a lot of three and four,  with a little bit of two when I was kid. The games are all very flawed but it kinda has a monopoly on this concept. There's not many games where I can open a toilet store, burn down a house, and go fishing in a public pool all in one play session. The kind of goofy open ended nonsense the series offers appeals to my creativity a lot.

That said, it does suck that you need to invest in the expansion packs to really get the full experience, especially in four where they insist on chopping all of it into bite sized pieces.

[oldgamerz]

How many else like the sims series's? What are some more of your opinions on only the people simulating sims games?.

Did you know that The main The Sims 3 series for PC have 19 different add-on's including the base game alone and the sims
Did someone ever play The various console the sims game spin off like. "The Sims 2 Castaway", "The Sims Bustin' Out" or "Urbz Sims In The City"  The Sims ! and 2 for PlayStation 2

How many dislike the sims?

I know when. I online posted with Metal Jesus Rocks on YouTube a long time ago. he told me in that he personally didn't like the Sims series and couldn't get into.

[tripredacus]

For me, it is difficult to go "backwards" in regards to the Sims games. I had briefly played the original Sims game at some point, perhaps on a friend's PS2, but I had not really played it myself until Sims 2. And by that point, attempting the first Sims was not very fun, specifically due to the advancements in Sims 2, such as... going outside of the house. I no longer play Sims 2, partly because there seems nothing more to do, but also because the launcher doesn't work anymore. Sims 3 is OK but I did not like how it became digital only. So for that, I never have any of the expansions. At least for Sims 2, I could just install and play used copies, but for Sims 3 there is no real use for used copies since the codes are tied to someone's user account.

[oldgamerz]

PARTIAL QUOTE FROM tripredacus

Sims 3 is OK but I did not like how it became digital only. So for that, I never have any of the expansions. At least for Sims 2, I could just install and play used copies, but for Sims 3 there is no real use for used copies since the codes are tied to someone's user account.

You do know that you don't need an online account to play any of the 1st 3 series on PC, right? (including The Sims 3 & Expansions, not world packs though)

 Only need online account when is if you want to download the  "THE SIMS 3 Create A World Tool" directly  from EA. or to participate in downloading from the sims 3 server like worlds and stuff (in which mostly is not free) in which I do see your point given that the sims 3 is vary sparse on worlds. In my experience I never need to log in to my sims 3 account in order to play, but only if I want to download something off the Sims 3 server.

But ,If you have at least one disc code that is not being used you can still create an account but you won't need it. I'd say if you can buy or get the expansions and base game disc you can still install and play the game.

 if you do want a copy of the Create A World from EA legally. that is the only time you need to use the account (with at least one of the games disc/origin codes) And best of all the updates are free as well even if you are using a disc under a used code

Also if you bought any The Sims 3 expansion or base online though origin than I am not sure but it may or may not require a log in but I am not as sure

DO NOT BUY USED >WORLD DISCS< THEY WON'T WORK ON YOUR THE SIMS 3 PC SERIES GAME. IF THE CODES ARE ALREADY SUBMITTED ON ANOTHER ACCOUNT

FOR TS3 CREATE A WORLD USERS TO KNOW
(to install new world thumbnails open up ms paint and scribble and save it as png format and resize it to 256x 250 pixels)

[PaleManInBlack]

I still remember the day I got the Sims 2. I was nine years old and it was the beginning of January 2005. Me and my family had just returned from Australia after visiting my Dad's side of the family for Christmas. My Mum took me to our local supermarket and that's when I spotted a copy and decided I had to have it. I was surprised and still am that my Mum let me get it considering it was just Christmas. I got home, started playing and remember I jumped into the lot creation. That's when I got a call from my friend asking if I wanted to go swimming but refused since I just got a new game and wanted to play it all night. He wasn't too happy... Good times

I did end up playing it religiously years after. Watching lot creation videos on YouTube, downloading mods off of various Sims creation websites, watching those Sims 2 Machinima videos and purchasing every expansion and stuff pack. I started to lose interest in the Sims after the release of the third game and I'm not sure why. I did download the third game off Steam with a couple of the expansions and  just didn't get that same feeling I got when playing the second game

[oldgamerz]

A Fantastic Spin-off to the Sims Series worth mention is called "The Sims Life Stories PC", it's really a quality game I got it recently at a flea market for $5 USD. It really is a hidden gem in my own opinion

In story 2 story modes of the game it starts off in confined environment like most of the console sims games. But after you complete the stories you get control of all the Neighborhoods. If you like the sims 2 on PC you'll love The Sims Life Stories. Life stories also has a free play mode off bat but I recommend playing and unlocking the free play in the 2 story modes first though.

I looks like I am the 9th person on this site currently to own a copy of the North American version

And another the sims games I have is The Sims Pet Stories (it also has 2 stories to follow) and I am the 2nd one on the site to have the North American Version

[oldgamerz]

For anyone's information this topic is mainly for the actual 3D life simulators called "The Sims" not really referring to the games like Sim City Sim Copter Sim Ant (etc)