The Sims
The Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.[1]
| The Sims | |
|---|---|
 The Sims series logo (2014–present) | |
| Genre(s) | Life simulation |
| Developer(s) | Maxis |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Creator(s) | Will Wright |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, macOS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Java ME, BlackBerry OS, Bada, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Windows Phone |
| First release | The Sims February 4, 2000 |
| Latest release | The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting Stuff July 28, 2020 |
| Spin-offs | See below |
The games in the Sims series are largely sandbox games, in that they lack any defined goals (except for some later expansion packs and console versions which introduced this gameplay style). The player creates virtual people called "Sims," places them in houses, and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in the series augmented what the player could do with their Sims.
The Sims series is part of the larger Sim series, started by SimCity in 1989.
Development
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Game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a "virtual doll house" after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and subsequently rebuilding his life.[2][3] Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game. When Wright initially took his ideas to the Maxis board of directors, they were skeptical and gave little support or financing for the game. The directors at Electronic Arts, which bought Maxis in 1997, were more receptive—SimCity had been a great success for them, and they foresaw the possibility of building a strong Sim franchise.[2]
Wright has stated that The Sims was actually meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture.[4] Wright took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language, American psychologist Abraham Maslow's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs, and Charles Hampden-Turner's Maps of the Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence.[2]
Games
| 2000 | The Sims |
|---|---|
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | The Sims Online |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | The Sims 2 |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | The Sims Life Stories |
| The Sims Pet Stories | |
| 2008 | The Sims Castaway Stories |
| The Sims Carnival | |
| 2009 | The Sims 3 |
| 2010 | |
| 2011 | The Sims Medieval |
| The Sims Social | |
| The Sims FreePlay | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | The Sims 4 |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | The Sims Mobile |
Main series
The Sims
The Sims was the first game in the series. Developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for Microsoft Windows on February 4, 2000.[5] The game used dimetric projection and featured open-ended simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("Sims") in a suburban area near SimCity. Seven expansion packs and two deluxe editions with exclusive content were released. It was repackaged in several different formats, and different versions of it were released on several different platforms. By March 22, 2002, The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, surpassing Myst[6] as the best-selling PC game in history at the time. The original game, all seven expansion packs, and the two deluxe edition content packs constitute the first generation of the series on the PC. All PC releases were developed by Maxis. By February 2005, the game had shipped 16 million copies worldwide.[7]
The Sims 2
Electronic Arts released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel, developed by Maxis, takes place in a full 3D environment as opposed to the dimetric projection of the original game. Sims age through seven life stages, from infancy to old age and subsequent death. Another major feature is the aspiration system. Each Sim exhibits wants and fears according to its aspiration and personality. Consequently, the level of the aspiration meter determines the effectiveness of a Sim at completing tasks. The fulfillment of wants provides aspiration points, which can be used to purchase aspiration rewards. In addition, the game features clear days of the week, with weekends when children can stay home from school and vacation days when adults can take time off work.
The Sims 2 is set some 25 years after the original game. For instance, the Goth family has aged significantly with Bella Goth mysteriously vanishing ("dying") at some point in the 25 years. Because the entire game has progressed from 2D sprites to 3D models, all content in The Sims 2 had to be created from the ground up. Due to this, The Sims 2 was not made backwards-compatible with any content from the first generation of the main series. However, some objects and features from the original series were remade for the sequel.
Electronic Arts released eight expansion packs and nine stuff packs for The Sims 2. Over 400 items were also released for the game via The Sims 2 Store. In addition, items including pre-order items were released over the life cycle of this generation.
The Sims 3
Electronic Arts released The Sims 3 on June 2, 2009.[8] The sequel was announced by EA in November 2006. The game is set 25 years prior to the original game, and features an open, seamless neighborhood, improved tools for Sim creation, enhanced build and buy mode functions, and the introduction of wishes and goals. The game introduced a new form of directed gameplay through small, step-wise goals presented as opportunities which the player may choose to pursue or refuse. The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in the first week, making it the largest release in PC gaming history at the time.[9]
The Sims 3 is set 25 years before the Sims 1. For example, the Goth family is much younger and Bella Goth, an adult in the first game, is a child and is named Bella Bachelor.
Eleven expansion packs and nine stuff packs were released for the third generation of the series. In addition, many items are available online for additional fees at The Sims 3 Store.
The Sims 4
Electronic Arts announced The Sims 4 on May 6, 2013.[10] The announcement stated that the game was in development by Maxis. The Sims 4 takes place in an alternative setting/timeline from the previous installment of the game. Later in 2014, further details on features and gameplay were announced. A release date of September 2, 2014, was announced at E3 2014.
As of June 2020, nine expansion packs have been released: Get To Work, Get Together, City Living, Cats and Dogs, Seasons, Get Famous, Island Living, Discover University, and Eco Lifestyle. There are eight game packs, and fifteen stuff packs have been released for the fourth generation of the series. Updates have added content that was previously absent due to time restraints, such as basements, ghosts, pools, modular stairs, toddlers, and terrain tools. New careers have also been added.
Spin-offs
The Sims Online
In December 2002, Electronic Arts released the Maxis-developed The Sims Online, which was later named EA Land. It recreates The Sims as a massively multiplayer online game, where human players can interact with each other. The spin-off did not achieve the same level of success as the original. Reviews for The Sims Online were lackluster. Many reviewers likened The Sims Online experience to an enormous chat room. On August 1, 2008, EA-Land's shops were closed.
The Sims Stories
The Sims Stories is a series of video games from The Sims series released in 2007–2008 that is based on a modified version of The Sims 2 engine. The modified game engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications such as laptops. As such, its system requirements are lower than that of The Sims 2, but it can still be played on desktops.[11] The series is introduced mainly for three segments of the market: those who wish to play The Sims 2 on their laptops (which usually have lower specifications); those who wish to engage in other activities such as instant messaging while playing the game, and; those who are new to the franchise. In addition to a Free Play mode with classic, open-ended game play, the games contain a structured, linear Story mode where players are required to complete a series of goals to progress in the storyline. While Life Stories and Pet Stories each contain two separate stories, Castaway Stories contains one story that is double the length of any one story in the first two games. As an introductory series, major features are removed or modified from those in The Sims 2. For example, fears are completely removed in all three games, and the elder life stage is completely removed in Pet Stories. Officially, the save files from this series are not compatible with the main The Sims 2 games. However, players have experienced success at adapting some files.
Three games have been released to date.[12]
The Sims Carnival
The Sims Carnival was a casual games brand of The Sims. It had two separate product lines. First, it was an online community of crowd-sourced web games. Second, it was a line of packaged game titles sold via retail stores and digital download.
The Sims Medieval
The Sims Medieval is an action role-playing spin-off game released in 2011. It is set in medieval times, and although it is based on The Sims 3 engine, it plays very differently. The Sims Medieval has one expansion pack, Pirates and Nobles.
The Sims Social
Launched in August 2011, The Sims Social was a Flash-based game developed by Playfish for Facebook. EA announced the game was upgraded from Beta to Live status in a press release issued on August 23, 2011.[13] Due to negative responses from players, the game has been shut down and was removed from Facebook on June 14, 2013.
Console and handheld versions
The Sims era
The Sims is the first console release that shares the same name as the base game in the first generation of the main series.
The Sims Bustin' Out is the second title in The Sims console series. Bustin' Out was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and N-Gage in the fourth quarter of 2003. Sims can get out of the house to visit other locations such as Shiny Things Lab or Casa Caliente. There are two modes. Bust Out Mode which has mission-based gameplay and Freeplay Mode which is open-ended gameplay very much like the original The Sims PC game. It was the second Sims game to not be on the PC; it was a follow up to The Sims, which was very similar to Bustin' Out, except the aims were shifted to getting job promotions and constantly fulfilling goals to get ahead in the game. The PlayStation 2 version also features the option to play online, though EA no longer supports it.
The Urbz: Sims in the City is a game focused on Sims living in an urban setting, presumably within Sim City. The player must earn a reputation and complete tasks for characters. It was released for Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. It features Black Eyed Peas as NPCs.
The Sims 2
The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Pets, and The Sims 2: Castaway have been released for various platforms including the Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, and Nintendo DS systems. The Sims 2: Apartment Pets, considered a sequel to The Sims 2: Pets by Electronic Arts, was only released for the Nintendo DS.
In addition, EA has released several The Sims titles for the iPod Nano (3rd and 4th generation), the iPod Classic, and the iPod (5th generation). Some of these titles include: The Sims Bowling,[14] The Sims DJ,[15] and The Sims Pool.[16]
MySims
MySims is series of console games created by EA for the Wii and Nintendo DS (with SkyHeroes being the exception). They feature Chibi-like characters (a tiny bit smaller and similar to the Wii's Mii avatars). The first game in the series was released in September 2007. It is also known for being the first Sim game released in Japan. MySims SkyHeroes, the newest addition to the MySims line of games, was released in September 2010.
The Sims 3
The Sims 3, The Sims 3: World Adventures, and The Sims 3: Ambitions were released for the iPhone/iPod Touch. In addition, The Sims 3 was also released for Android mobile systems and the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS in October 2010, and the Wii in November 2010, and the Nintendo 3DS on March 25, 2011 in Europe. The 3DS version of the game was launched with the console. The Sims 3: Pets was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS.
The Sims 4
Versions of the game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles were released on November 17, 2017.
The Sims FreePlay
The Sims FreePlay, a freemium version of The Sims for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android phones (and tablets), and Kindle Fire, was released worldwide on December 15, 2011 for iOS devices, and on February 15, 2012 for Android. The game made it to Kindle Fire in October 2012 and to BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013. Unlike other Sims games, The Sims FreePlay runs in real-time and takes real-time to complete actions. Players can progress through 55 levels and unlock new content, create up to 34 Sims, build town map buildings, complete goals to earn Lifestyle Points, Simoleons, Social Points, and XP (Experience Points). All of these,(except for Social Points) can be get by baking, planting, going to school (Only for preteen and teens), or going to work. To get Social Points, you will need to go to neighbouring houses or add your Facebook friends.
The game is updated with new content and has events and competitions, announced on the official Facebook page. Several updates for the game have been released.
The Sims Mobile
Released for Android and iOS, The Sims Mobile was announced on May 9, 2017, in a launch trailer with a soft launch for Brazil, and was released on March 6, 2018, worldwide. It features a combination of multiplayer and story mode elements to give the player an experience more like that of the PC versions.
Legacy
The success of The Sims has resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series numerous world records, including, as of 2017, "Most Expansion Packs for a Videogame Series" and "Best Selling PC Game Series", with sales estimates ranging from 36 to 50 million units.[17] As of October 2019, all The Sims games combined generated lifetime sales of more than US$5 billion.[18]
Cancelled film
A live action drama film based upon The Sims was announced in 2007.[19] The Sims film rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox in the same year.[20] It was to be written by Brian Lynch and produced by John Davis.[21][22] In 2019 following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox's assets, the film along with numerous video game-based movies in development at Fox were cancelled.[23]
Reality television show
EA in partnership with Turner Sports and BuzzFeed created The Sims Spark'd, a four-episode reality competition television show that premiered on the TBS network on July 17, 2020. The series, filmed in December 2019, features 12 contestants, selected from those known to feature The Sims in their online gaming channels, tasked with challenges within The Sims 4 to create characters and stories following the challenge's themes and limitations. Each competetors' creation is judged by a panel consisting of YouTube personality Kelsey Impicciche, singer and songwriter Tayla Parx, and EA Maxis developer Dave Miotke, with the finalist winning a US$100,000 prize. The show is hosted by Rayvon Owen.[24]
Contestants
| Team | Contestant | Skill | Finish | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Llama | xMiraMira | Stylist | Episode 4 | Winners |
| SimLicy | Builder | |||
| DrGluon | Storyteller | |||
| Team Cowplant | LittleSiha | Stylist | Episode 4 | Runners-Up |
| Doctor Ashley | Builder | |||
| Team Gnome (Ep 1-2) Team Cowplant (Ep 3-4) |
The English Simmer | Storyteller | ||
| Team Cowplant | Steph0Sims | Storyteller | Episode 3 | Withdrew during the Skills Challenge |
| Team Gnome | Plumbella | Stylist | Episode 2 | 3rd Place |
| Simproved | Builder | |||
| Team Freezer Bunny | xUrbanSimsx | Stylist | Episode 1 | 4th Place |
| SpringSims | Builder | |||
| DeeSims | Storyteller | |||
Contestants progress
| Team | Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Llama | xMiraMira | LOW | BTM | LOW (Ranked 3rd) |
WIN | HIGH (3/3 Votes) |
WIN (5/9 Votes) |
Winners |
| SimLicy | LOW (0/3 Votes) | |||||||
| DrGluon | HIGH (2/3 Votes) | |||||||
| Team Cowplant | LittleSiha | SAFE | HIGH | WIN (Ranked 1st) |
BTM | LOW (0/3 Votes) |
SAFE (4/9 Votes) |
Runners-up |
| Doctor Ashley | HIGH (3/3 Votes) | |||||||
| Team Gnome (Ep 1-2) Team Cowplant (Ep 3-4) |
The English Simmer | WIN | WIN | HIGH (Ranked 2nd) |
ELIM | LOW (1/3 Votes) | ||
| Team Cowplant | Steph0Sims | SAFE | HIGH | WIN (Ranked 1st) |
BTM | WITHDREW | ||
| Team Gnome | Plumbella | WIN | WIN | HIGH (Ranked 2nd) |
ELIM | |||
| Simproved | ||||||||
| Team Freezer Bunny | xUrbanSimsx | LOW | ELIM | |||||
| SpringSims | ||||||||
| DeeSims | ||||||||
- The team won The Sims Spark'd.
- The team was the runner-up.
- The team won the skills challenge
- The team won the elimination challenge
- The team received positive critiques and was ultimately declared safe.
- The team received negative critiques but was ultimately declared safe.
- The team was in the bottom two.
- The team was eliminated.
- The contestant withdrew from the competition.
Episode summary
| Ep. | Original air date | YouTube air date | Summary | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 July 2020 | 20 July 2020 | Twelve Sims influencers arrived in the lobby of the Maxis headquarters in San Francisco, California and were met with a rousing applause from all the Maxis developers and greeted by host Rayvon Owen and judges Dave Miotke, Kelsey Impicciche and Tayla Parx. The four teams were decided randomly by taking out color-coded badges from a bag and they then were given their first Skills Challenge.
Skills Challenge - Inspiration: The Sims influencers had to style, build and create a story featuring three out of twelve items of inspiration chosen via a race from two tables. (Time limit: 90 minutes)
Team Cowplant's Inspiration Story: Steph0Sims came up with the story of a stage mother and failed dancer, Karen Kirsty, forcing her rebellious daughter Kaylynn to practice for beauty pageants in their trailer park home, much to her daughter's anger. Kaylynn does not want to compete in beauty pageants and prefers taking up soccer instead. During the live presentation, Steph paused a few times due to suffering from nerves. While the judges said the story execution had room for improvement, they also comforted Steph on her nerves. Team Llama's Inspiration Story: xMiraMira, having grabbed a guitar for her team's story, was worried when her teammates DrGluon and SimLicy returned with a fishing rod and a bubble blower, respectively. Mira was also frustrated when Gluon conceptualized his idea for the story without offering her or Licy any input: Gluon's story involved a poor fisherman, Malai "Fyn" Bass, trying to please his daughter Kaila when she wants to go to her favorite band's concert, while struggling to meet the demands of his landlord Patricia Crumplebum for the rent of their beach shack. Fyn himself decides to hold a private concert for his daughter to fufill her love of music. Mira and Licy were especially worried when Gluon got nervous about the build and did not entirely follow through with the vision he had come up with during the run-through, and his nerves also showed during the live presentation. The judges liked the staging of the story, but felt the execution could have been better and noted the under-utilization of the bubble blower. Team Freezer Bunny's Inspiration Story: DeeSims came up with the story of a girl, Natasha "Tash" Finch, who defies her strict parents Clark and Elaine's expectations to become a lawyer and pursues a singing career instead. Due to the lack of time in the building, the team decided to concentrate on building four individual interior sets for the storyline: Tash's bedroom, the Finch living room, a local recording studio and a local music cafe. However, Dee and xUrbanSimsx were annoyed when SpringSims agonized repeatedly over his building choices, which did not allow Dee much time to run through her storytelling before the live presentation. The judges enjoyed the story, but were distracted by the lack of decoration of the exteriors of the four room sets. Team Gnome's Inspiration Story: Inspired by the voodoo dolls she had chosen earlier, the English Simmer conceptualized the story of an old widow, Lucy Phere, who adopts two punk teenagers, Nancy and Syd, and takes them to live with her in her old Victorian mansion. A bitter woman who wants to create as much drama for others as she has already had in her life, Lucy then uses the voodoo dolls to make the two boys do her bidding and terrorize the town. The judges enjoyed the build of the mansion more than the story itself, which they said was unexplored. However, they later said that the use of the voodoo dolls won them over. Skills Challenge Winners: Team Gnome Skills Challenge Runners-Up: Team Cowplant Skills Challenge Bottom Two: Team Llama & Team Freezer Bunny Elimination Challenge - Family: Each team had to create a new family of 4 Sims with their residence in the Willow Creek neighborhood. The team had to create a short video presentation showing the back story of the Sims family. As an extra incentive, the winning team would get to have their created family featured in the game. (Time limit: 5 hours) As a result of winning the Skills Challenge, Team Gnome had the advantage to select the neighborhood of their choice, and assign neighborhoods to other teams. They chose San Myshuno for themselves, while Team Freezer Bunny received Brindleton Bay, Team Cowplant received Del Sol Valley and Team Llama received Windenburg. Team Cowplant's Family Story: The team came up with the idea to do a parody of the hit TV series Gossip Girl: an anonymous online blogger named DramaLlama, voiced by Doctor Ashley, reports gossip on the residents in Willow Creek, starting with the overshadowed Tea family: Camille and Chai with their daughter Ginger and nanny Winter; then moving onto Travis Scott and Summer Holiday embarking on a secret affair, Cassandra Goth partying with Ginger, and visiting Simstagram star Victoria Star from Del Sol Valley editing her photos to feature larger lips and a bustier body. Although everyone is out to get each other, secretly they all love each other and DramaLlama chooses to keep these stories a secret. The story ends with DramaLlama signing off, with the camera panning back to reveal Chai Tea writing the blog as DramaLlama. The judges applauded the Gossip Girl parody, but felt that the storytelling was disjointed at times and focused more on the other families of Willow Creek rather than the two main families themselves. Team Llama's Family Story: DrGluon conceptualized the idea of a grandmother, Momma Magnolia, founding Magnolia Park as a place where families can converge to learn about gardening and keep their roots grounded, while facing opposition from the Sheppard family from Windenburg, who intend to build a factory over the empty space. After Mrs. Magnolia founds the park with the mayor's approval, her daughters Sarah and Stacey split over differing views on how to live their own lives; while Stacey leaves to travel the world, Sarah stays in Willow Creek to continue her mother's gardening legacy. She also starts a family of her own after marrying the son of the Sheppard family, which merges the two families together and dissolves their differences. However, Gluon and xMiraMira still disagreed on the ending: Mira wanted the characters to get married, while Gluon preferred Stacey ultimately returning to Willow Creek after her travels, remembering to "keep her roots grounded". Flaws in the voiceover process also showed; where Gluon voiced all the male and female characters whereas SimLicy provided the narration of the story. The judges felt that the storyline with Willow Creek's Magnolia Park did not show any progress and that there was no strong rival; and that the team would need to provide a more cohesive story with better drama and editing going forward. Team Gnome's Family Story: The team came up with the idea of a family who splits apart after the father has no time for his wife or their daughter, who run away and are taken in by an old couple; with the overarching theme being that anyone can choose their own family. Once the challenge twist was delivered, the team expanded on their concept: the reason why the Promise family from San Myshuno are split apart is because the father, already working to support his wife and daughter, is pressured by his own father to take on the family business. The mother and the daughter, Aliya, run away from San Myshuno and are taken in by elderly couple, Mary and Blossom Greenburg, who help them to build new lives in Willow Creek and teach them to follow their passions, with Mary mentoring Aliya to become a devoted gardener. After some time, the father tracks down his family and is impressed with Aliya's crops and dedication; ultimately helping her set up a successful plant stall with his business knowledge. The story ends with the Aliya and her parents sitting down for dinner together with the Greenburgs as a family, their rifts now healed. The judges applauded the overall inspiration and direction of the storyline; but felt the story could be further explored. Team Freezer Bunny's Family Story: DeeSims came up with an idea of a couple, Francesca and Romero Santiago from Brindleton Bay, who move into a new home to raise their unborn twins; Romero dies suddenly but the family bond is so strong that Romero's ghost watches over Francesca and the twins in the family home. Unfortunately, the team struggled to cope with the intense pressure, and a loss of many of the voiceover files near the end of editing process resulted in subtitles being added and much of the narrative turned into a silent movie with no dialogue, resulting in a somewhat unfinished video. However, the judges praised them for providing an emotional albeit incomplete narrative, particularly judge Dave Miotke, who was especially moved after having coped with a recent death in his family. Elimination Challenge Winners: Team Gnome Elimination Challenge Runners-Up: Team Cowplant Bottom Two: Team Llama & Team Freezer Bunny Eliminated: Team Freezer Bunny As a result of winning the Elimination Challenge, Team Gnome's family, the Greenburgs, were added to The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle expansion pack as part of the Evergreen Harbour neighbourhood. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 24 July 2020 | 27 July 2020 | Skills Challenge - Parenthood: The Sims influencers had to create 3 Sims growing up in toddler, child and teen life stages with unique rooms. (Time limit: 2 hours)
Team Gnome's Parenthood Story: Plumbella conceptualized a period piece in 1970s and 1980s North-East England during the miners' strike, based on the politics she had read about and her own father's experiences with the mining politics. The team created a character, John McNally, who shows an interest in mining and whose father takes him as a child to the mines to show him the mining ways of the town. As a teen, John begins to rally the troops to protest against the stripping of the miners' rights. The judges were impressed with the build and sympathized with Plumbella's story; however they felt that the story still had holes to be explored. Team Llama's Parenthood Story: After barely surviving the last two challenges, the team struggled to find their footing in this challenge. xMiraMira said that the challenges were more geared towards YouTubers; streamers like DrGluon are given free rein to improvise and tell their stories how they want to in real time during live streaming, whereas YouTubers have to structure and edit their stories within a certain time-frame. Gluon came up a story about a young orphan named Amethyst Simmons who is tormented by her sadistic headmaster Marleenie the Meanie. As a child, she stumbles into a spellcaster's potion shop and quickly learns to become a spellcaster herself. She then grows up as an accomplished spellcaster teenager who helps other impoverished and abused children with her magic after having killed Marleenie off-screen. During the challenge, Gluon and Mira were not seeing eye-to-eye on how Amethyst stumbles into the potion shop: Mira suggested that Amethyst gets adopted by a spell-caster while Gluon preferred to have Amethyst run away from the orphanage, with the potion shop once owned by her late spellcaster grandfather, and during the last 5 minutes the team struggled to find time to test out the storytelling. The judges felt that Amethyst did not have much depth or a detailed backstory, as well as Marleenie being under-utilized overall. Team Cowplant's Parenthood Story: Determined to have their team finally win a challenge, Steph0Sims came up with the story of a boy who wears make-up, with his supportive parents reassuring him of his own choices against other people's opinions. In their story, Mac Upton is raised by his father as a single parent after his mother's death. As a toddler, his university dean father takes him along to his workplace at a university, where Mac develops a love for dolls and tea parties, supported by his father. As a child, Mac goes to school, which he dislikes after having visited university as a toddler, and his female best friend, jealous of his fashion choices, mocks his outfit, enraging him further. Finally, as a teen prodigy, Mac is enrolled in university, where he experiments with make-up and forges a more stable social life with friends who support him as who he is. The judges applauded the team for showcasing strong narrative about a relatable family. Skills Challenge Winners: Team Cowplant Skills Challenge Runners-Up: Team Gnome Skills Challenge Third Place: Team Llama Elimination Challenge - Supernatural: Each team had to create a short video inspired by science-fiction or fantasy. (Time limit: 6 hours, split across 2 days) Based on the ranks in the Skills Challenge, each team had to choose three content packs from which they had to create their stories with.
Challenge Twist: The teams had to incorporate their Parenthood Sims character from the last skills challenge into their supernatural stories. Team Llama's Supernatural Story: Aware of their lack of success in the competition so far, the team began to address their lack of cohesive teamwork at once. As Team Gnome had taken their original final pack, Dine Out, which ruled out DrGluon's original idea of a celebrity restaurant run by vampires with plasma as the secret recipe, xMiraMira came up with a more racy idea: an aging actress and sex icon in Del Sol Valley, Nancy "Nourish Nourish" James, struggles with her fading beauty, so she decides to go on a trip to recover her lost youth. During the trip, a vampire bites her, which restores her skin back to her youthful form. Gluon was reluctant to pursue this idea, but allowed Mira to take charge of the storyline in hopes of allowing their team a win in order to stay in the competition. Upon learning of the challenge twist, the team were confused on how to bring back Amethyst as her spellcaster form did not fit in with the packs they chose. However, they decided to retcon Amethyst as a 200-year-old vampiress living in El Salvadorado who restores Nancy's lost youth by transforming her into a vampire, having tapped into a "dark side" herself after killing Marleenie the Meanie. The voiceover process improved significantly over this challenge: rather than having Gluon voice all the characters as in the first elimination challenge, Mira provided the voice of Nancy as well as narrating the story. The judges applauded the team for producing a strong narrative and expanding vastly on Amethyst's character. Team Cowplant's Supernatural Story: Steph0Sims came up with a narrative of a trio of attractive mermaids from the island of Sulani inviting frat boys studying at the Foxbury Institute to a private party, as a ruse to hypnotize the boys and take them to their island. Coincidentally, the challenge twist allowed them to incorporate their university character Mac, as they had chosen Discovering University as one of their three packs, and he was included as a party guest in the storyline. However, upon watching their final video live with the judges, it became apparent to both the team and the judges that the way the video was edited did not cohesively tell their storyline the way they originally intended, which led to a very confusing narrative. Team Gnome's Supernatural Story: Plumbella came up with the idea of host Rayvon Owen kidnapping the judges and ordering them to work as slaves at his alien restaurant. The challenge twist required them to utilize their miner character John, so they used his child form as a character who rescues the judges from the restaurant by using an alien disguise and subsequently takes over Owen's role as host. While the judges found their Sim likenesses and Simproved's vocal sound effects funny, they felt that the story elements were lacking and questioned their lack of usage of the three packs given. Elimination Challenge Winners: Team Llama Bottom Two: Team Cowplant & Team Gnome Eliminated: Team Gnome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 31 July 2020 | 3 August 2020 | Skills Challenge: For the first time this season, each of the teams' individual members would individually compete against the other team's respective skill players in 45-minute challenges. The winning team would gain an advantage of an extra 15 minutes in the final challenge.
Stylist Challenge - Gender Not Required: For this challenge, xMiraMira of Team Llama and LittleSiha of Team Cowplant had to create six Sim models with unique sizes, shapes, genders and ethnicity, and a cohesive and unique gender-fluid fashion collection for the Sims to model in a fashion showcase. (Time limit: 45 minutes) xMiraMira created her fashion line, the Chill Collection; showcasing adults wearing predominantly blue clothing with heavy diversity in size and ethnicity, while LittleSiha named her own fashion line Suzanne after her grandmother, showcasing a modern twist on strong patterns and bright colours, with one main focal point per outfit. Siha's fashion line even showcased a retired elder, contributing slightly to diversity in age; however, it was criticized by the judges on the lack of diversity in body types. Stylist Challenge Winner: xMiraMira of Team Llama (Unanimous Vote: 3-0) Builder Challenge - Unconventional Build: For this challenge, SimLicy of Team Llama and Doctor Ashley of Team Cowplant had to create a mode of transportation with unconventional materials. (Time limit: 45 minutes) Doctor Ashley concentrated on building an unconventional form of transport: a crash-landed technologically-advanced time machine, while SimLicy focused on building a more conventional transport form built unconventionally: a school bus converted into a small home. The judges were concerned about Licy focusing heavily on the interior of her design rather than the exterior; until judge Tayla Parks came into the workspace to intervene nearly 30 minutes into the challenge, subtly encouraging Licy to add more detail to the exterior of the bus. However, the judges felt that Licy's exterior design still needed improvement and were more impressed with Ashley's more futuristic build. Builder Challenge Winner: Doctor Ashley of Team Cowplant (Unanimous Vote: 3-0) In between the Builder and Storyteller Challenges, Steph0Sims of Team Cowplant withdrew from the competition, unable to handle the pressure of the challenge for her team and not wanting to continue without her friends in Team Gnome who were eliminated in the previous episode. As a result, the producers reinstated the English Simmer from Team Gnome into the competition to join Team Cowplant for the Storyteller Challenge. Storyteller Challenge - Sell That Fixer-Upper: For this challenge, DrGluon of Team Llama and the English Simmer of Team Cowplant had to do storytelling live to the judges and their teammates with zero prep time, based on a scenario created and controlled by judge Dave Miotke. Each storyteller had to act as a real estate agent and convince the judges to buy a house with many messes, broken objects and bizarre disasters. DrGluon's comedic form of storytelling made the judges laugh and they found themselves more curious about the various rooms of the house, while the English Simmer took on a more realistic approach to selling her house; however she did stumble at certain points of the challenge, having had much less experience with live streaming storytelling than Gluon. Storyteller Challenge Winner: DrGluon of Team Llama (Majority Vote: 2-1) Skills Challenge Winners: Team Llama (2 of 3 challenges; 5 of 9 votes) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 7 August 2020 | 10 August 2020 | Final Challenge - Play With Life: For the final challenge, Team Llama and Team Cowplant each had to find a common thread with each other among the reasons why they play The Sims, and use that thread to create 3 Sims, a build and a video narrative. Each team had 15 minutes of prep time to discuss among themselves outside why they play the game and then formulate a storyline for their video before producing their final product. (Time limit: 6 hours)
As a result of winning the Skills Challenge, Team Llama were given an additional 15 minutes ahead of Team Cowplant to produce their final video. Team Llama's Play With Life Story: DrGluon, xMiraMira and SimLicy discussed how they had each been bullied in school during their childhoods for their love of video games, so they decided to form a narrative on using the game to cope with bullying. Mira wanted to do a story centering on the three of them overcoming adversaries in the world; however, Gluon insisted on making Mira the face and narrator of the story. The story centers on a young Mira growing up in New York, ridiculed by a school classmate, Clem, for her creativity and her interest in video games. At Christmas, Mira receives a computer from her supportive mother, and discovers The Sims. As she grows up, she meets friends who encourage her to share her love for and experiences with The Sims online. For the challenge, Mira provided the voice of her younger self and her supportive female friend, and even sang a Simlish song to showcase her love for The Sims, which judge Tayla Parks noticed as she herself had also recorded a Simlish song for the game. Team Cowplant's Play With Life Story: Original team members Doctor Ashley and LittleSiha and new member the English Simmer discussed how they use the game to showcase their creativity outside of the pressure from their professional and academic lives, and all three came up with a storyline of a composite Sim with elements from each of their personalities, growing up with an internal battle of two conflicting voices in her head: one telling her to be creative, and the other urging her to suppress her creativity. Each member narrated a different part of the story based on her own life: Siha narrated on the Sim's childhood, Ashley narrated on the Sim's unhappiness at her office job up until arriving at the creative voice's concert during a gay pride parade, and the English Simmer narrated on the Sim changing from her work outfit to her more expressive clothes, letting the negative voice fade away and showcasing her own creativity as an artist at an art showcase during the parade. The judges were equally deeply moved by the stories that both teams produced, which caused them to agnonize over their decision. Since it was a split decision because they could not find anything to fault either team, they had to choose a winner based on the story that moved them the most. Winners: Team Llama Runners-Up: Team Cowplant | ||||||||||||||||||||
References
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External links
- Official website
- The Sims at the Wayback Machine (archived June 3, 2002)
- "The Sims". Archived from the original on February 6, 2001. Retrieved December 17, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
- "The Sims". Archived from the original on November 9, 2000. Retrieved November 10, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
- "The Sims". Archived from the original on October 8, 1999. Retrieved November 10, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
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