The Sims - am I just not getting it?

I thought I was the target audience

Published on September 19, 2004 By Draginol In PC Gaming

Let me first say that I think The Sims 2 is really good as a game product. Great graphcis, great production values, great attention to detail.

But I don't seem to get it. First off, it strikes me as unforgiveable that the game doesn't feature a "go back 1 day" type feature so that if a key sim dies (like the guy I've spent 2 days building up) because of a ghost or some other silly thing that I can go back and try to correct it. Sure, it's not realistic, give me the option still.

Secondly, I didn't play the first one. I.e. Sims 1. So as a result, I don't understand a lot of what I have to do. The manual for The Sims 2 seems almost as if you are have expected to have played the first one. For instance, throwing parties. A big thing in the game. Yet I have no idea what the key to a good party is. It suggests a buy a "bar". Where do I get a bar? I couldn't find one in my list of things (probably in there somewhere).

It is very addictive but it is just incredibly frustrating that a Sim can seemingly die for no reason.

Let me give you my first experience here with The Sims 2. I have no previous experience:

I load up the game and spend about an hour building my own family. There's tools to make it so you can have people that look like your real family and after a long time, I managed to get a pretty good visual representation of my family in there.

Within 2 minutes though, a fire breaks out in the kitchen. I click on the fire and choose extinguish. He doesn't do it and my Sim dies. (I later find out I have to click on the fire icon at the top left). I exit out and come back in to see if I can restart. Nope, my guy seems to be dead.

Okay, I start over. Rebuild the family (not quite as detailed this time) and get it going. Within an hour my kids have been taken away by social services because they didn't do their homework. I try to get my kid to do his homework but he always says he's "not in the mood". Where's the "Make kid do homework?" Did any real parents have a hand in this design? My kid never wants to do homework either but there are ways to force him to do his homework.

So again, I start over, rebuild the family again. I have my wife and I work and hire a maid and nanny. Once again, a fire breaks out and the nanny and maid die. I come home from work, call the fire department who put out the blaze. Within another 10 minutes, my wife and I are dead for some reason due to the ghosts of these two incompotents. I had nothing to do with their demise.

Remember, I'm just a newbie here. So I'm sure there's plenty of things I "should have done" but they sure didn't seem apparent to me and I design, play, and code computer games for a living.

I recognize a great game when I see one and The Sims 2 is clearly a great quality game. But I'm just having a hard time getting it I guess.

Comments (Page 1)

Zoomba

on Sep 19, 2004

A few quick tips:

Bar - It's under the Misc items category (the three dots). Under Misc it's in the party category (balloons). You may also want to hire a bartender for a party to keep the drinks flowing. Try ordering a pizza too to give people something to eat. Add in a good stereo and you're set to go, just wander around the party mingling with everyone.

Fires - Buy a smoke detector and place it above the stove. It's found under electronics, in the subcategory where you get phones and alarm clocks. I'd suggest getting a burglar alarm too. it'll automatically notify the fire department and they'll be there to take care of it before anyone dies. Just walk away from the fire and wait for the cavalry to arrive.

Das Kaffinator

on Sep 19, 2004

I guess the biggest appeal of the Sims is that it's more a journey, less a destination. The appeal of the Sims (for me anyway) was figuring out how the game works. Sometimes having things go wrong was more fun than when they went right. The hard part is getting away from the "winning" mentality. The only way to win in the Sims is to have fun ... which it's hard to do if you try to win at the game.

LittleGreenMen

on Sep 19, 2004

when someone dies you can't just go back one day and bring them back to life. not realistically anyways. The Sims is supposed to be a simulation of real life. if you put a go back 1 day feature then it loses some value in it's realisticness (is that even a word?). i have played Sims 1 before but haven't played Sims 2 yet. as previously mentioned there is no destination other than to make your Sim succeed in life.

fires start because you don't have the skills to cook. you have to read books on coooking to build up that skill. to build other skills you need to buy other furniture or accessories. for example to increase your strength you need to buy a weight set or some weightlifting apparatus. to build your charisma you have to buy a mirror and talk to it. the higher the skills you get the more successful you will be. you will get better jobs and more money to support your family.

Ravenblack

on Sep 19, 2004

The first one didn't have a very good manual too (OT: and it just bugs me these days games come with very thin manuals with nothing but just very basic information inside. I guess they want you to buy the strategy guide.)

For me, the fun is in watching the Sims. I like to put people in my life as Sims and watch how they interact. It's hilarious - for example I would make two people whom I know dislike each other live in same house.

GhoS

on Sep 19, 2004

I just don't think the Sims is for everyone anyway. I tried the first one, because of all the hype, and I found it so annoying. Perhaps if I had seeked some help I might have understood how to get them to eat and go to the bathroom on their own. I just found it extremely tedious.
The Sims 2 does seem to have some better elements to it, though I am not able to even consider it due to my slower computer. However I doubt I will due to my poor experience with the first one.

I think a game like this needs a much better tutorial that is included (at least the first one had a simple one, don't know about this one). For those who enjoy it, more power to you, but I think its a game you should try first if you can before purchasing it.

SSG Geezer

on Sep 19, 2004

A fish tank visible while they are on the john works to keep them happy too, i have been told.

BlueDev

on Sep 19, 2004

I think Das Kaffinator hit the nail right on the head. I haven't had a chance to try The Sims 2 yet, but my wife and I spent many, many hours with the original (and far too many expantion packs!). The fun was figuring out how to best get them up the career ladders, how to keep them happy, how to throw a successful party, how to take one guy living in a bachelor pad, get him married to the girl down the street, have a family and become successful millionaires living in a fabulous mansion that I created. Once I had figured it out, that was when I lost interest. Once there wasn't a challenge of how to work the skills, needs, etc. I stopped playing because I didn't care about getting them to the million dollars anymore simply because I knew how to do it.

I don't know if the sequel is the same, but I imagine that, in that sense, it probably is.

Das Kaffinator

on Sep 19, 2004

The first one didn't have a very good manual too

I guess that's part of what I was trying to say. Sims (I haven't played 2 yet so I can't speak for it) is one of the few games that I was glad it didn't have an extensive manual. The tutorial gave you the basics and then let you figure out the specifics on your own, which for me was a lot of fun ... "Dammit, my Sim is standing in the middle of the living room throwing a temper tantrum, what do i do now?"

Luke T

on Sep 20, 2004

A good way to stop your Sims from burning to death is as someone else mentioned to get a Smoke detector/alarm, and I usually have minimal cooking equiptment, make them read up on cooking to at least 3 skill points in cooking before you buy anything too complicated, as their more likely to burn the kitchen down if they don't know how to cook! The better their skills in cooking, the less likely they are to burn the kitchen or BBQ down... Another tip is to make sure your house design leaves freedom to move! If the Fire department can't get to the kitchen cos you have crazy scared sims or furnature in the way they wont get there in time to put it out.. In previous sims games it was also a good idea to just get your sims out of the house all together as they ofthen ran to the fire and just went crazy with panic and end up burning to death cos their too stupid.. lol Good Luck... I've just bought Sims 2 and I'm still getting used to the new game.. - Luke (Melbourne. Australia)

Dusk411

on Sep 20, 2004

I found the fun in the expansion packs -- my favorite one being Hot Date. It's a change of scenery and lets your Sims live a little and experience shopping, dating, sitting in the park, going to a restraunt, etc. I found the interactions more specific to what I wanted, but the difficulty was also higher. While I could get promoted, getting married was a struggle, considering a date wasn't always guaranteed to go well.

Then again, I like drama in my Sims. If a Sims dies, I just add to it my story and use the photo album to document it. That feature is also one of my favorites. You can create your story and watch it evolve.

Winterblade

on Sep 20, 2004

Like the above said; invest in a smoke detectors. Have one over the oven and if you have a fireplace put one in that room. Also don't put furniture near the fireplace. You don't need an oven to cook; if it's like Sims 1 you'll make salads. Or buy the microwave until your cooking skill gets high enough.

Turn aging off, the cheat is even mentioned in the manual. If your sims are doing too much on their own turn off free will in the options menu (I had to do this for my bachelor sim until he got married). Your sims will actually do a lot more on their own than they did in Sims 1, from what I've read the only thing you have to do is "push" them to get a job.

The one difference I've liked in Sims 2 so far is that you can interact with everyone, including the paper boy, the mail man, the pizza delivery girl, and even the maid (my above sim married the maid).

If a fire does break out and you don't have a smoke detector, call the fire department (under services). Unless your phone is in the fire.

Think of the Sims as your own personal sandbox of dis-functionality. My fiancé likes building houses, which you can do without having a family. She got frustrated with Sims 1 and refuses to play Sims 2 for "real."

As for parties and kids, I don't have any experience with them. I did try playing with the family that has twin girls; one who likes school and the other that fears going to school (she also hates her family).

As for going back one day, save at the beginning of each day, if you screw up or something "bad" happens just exit the lot without saving the lot's state. It'll revert back to the previous save state.

historyishere

on Sep 20, 2004

As for going back one day, save at the beginning of each day, if you screw up or something "bad" happens just exit the lot without saving the lot's state. It'll revert back to the previous save state.

That seems like common sense... I mean, when I burned up a bunch of sims in the original game.... I did just that.

Draginol

on Sep 20, 2004

I tried turning off the aging process (cltr-Shift-c) but the little dialog never showed up. Is there some screen you have to be on to pull up this dialog?

Draginol

on Sep 20, 2004

I tried turning off the aging process (cltr-Shift-c) but the little dialog never showed up. Is there some screen you have to be on to pull up this dialog?

greywar

on Sep 20, 2004

The Sims is supposed to be a simulation of real life.

Umm I think not, if it is it would be an exerable failure. Dad sees small kitchen fire, dads stands like a fucktard while fire kills him = realism? How about Autism?

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