Wednesday, November 27, 2002
UW-Eau Claire students commit virtual murderKatie: well, I have a short little story for you...when Devin wanted to kill the Sim, I was like NO! You can't! And he's like, why not? I'm not going to save it. But I'm like, but, but... ::sigh:: I guess, fine. So we walled in a guy next to the fridge and microwave, so all he could do was eat...and it took "days" and "days" ...finally he died just after we released him from his horrible prison...and then he died while watching TV. It's a sad, sad story...and I feel just a little bit evil for letting it happen :-(
Jenny: LOL
Jenny: I can't believe you walled him in with the fridge
Jenny: so he could subsist
Katie: hehe...well, it wasn't my idea...
Katie: it lasted til he ran out of money
Jenny: I usually build a 1 x 1 "vertical coffin" so all they can do is stand there and wail
Katie: then no more food, and he was walking in his own trash and dishes
Katie: ...you're so morbid...
Katie: at least he had a light
Jenny: sometimes I build death shacks with a fireplace and put plants all around it...and then remove the door...
Katie: ........
Katie: dude, you're...horrible :P
posted by Jenny 12:56 AM
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
The Sims Online (TSO) is having some major issues, so I haven't been able to get in and play the game in more than two weeks but I've been keeping somewhat up to date reading the player message boards. Jill alerted me to the most intriguing new development a couple days ago...the introduction of the love bed and cuddle couches in the online version."MaxisChris" posted the initial message about the Moroccan-themed bed:
"The 'play in bed' interaction and the 'cuddle' interaction on sofas are being retrofitted as in-object social interactions. When you choose to 'play in bed' with your sleeping partner, a social interaction will go into their queue. If they choose to accept your advances, the covers will be flying in no time. If they refuse, you'll be shoved away and face the derision of your peers. Let the macking begin!"
I love these objects in the offline version of the game and should have been thrilled to see them in TSO, but I wasn't. It just felt too weird.
From reading the message boards, though, the support for Maxis' decision is overwhelming. Thousands of players are applauding this new object, and the posts range from delirious happiness to jokes about virtual STDs and virtual "protection" to complaints about the design and suggestions that all the double beds had this feature. Some people are wary; many a concerned parent posted on the board. And some don't care either way.
I can see how it will be fun for a lot of people, but the word choice in the initial post really bothered me. If they refuse, you'll be shoved away and face the derision of your peers? So you'll be chastised because you didn't "get any"? In a simulation game, no less? Bleah.
I once set my little Sim to painting a picture--in the privacy of her own home--and left the computer briefly. When I returned about ten minutes later, I was shocked to see from the queue of action icons that I was being "kissed hotly" by some random Sim that had just wandered off the street. I have to say I'd be seriously creeped out if I put my Sim to bed for a nap, only to come back later and find some jerk macking on her. Yes, I know it's not really me and that it's just a game, but when I pick out my Sims, they're representations of me and that does hold some significance.
Seriously, I do think this object has a lot of potential for fun and I'm sure I'd have a blast with it with the right people, but I was just disgusted by some of the responses on the message board. Such as that of "Henry Davenport@Calvin's Creek" who wrote:
"Way to go Maxis! Thanks for allowing US to make the choice instead of you making it for us! Good Job.....all of my friends were bummed about not getting these options so we were thinking of not buying the game but now....WE WILL!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!"
So you wouldn't buy the game just because you couldn't get animated sex in it? Sorry, but that just makes me ill.
posted by Jenny 12:19 AM
Monday, November 25, 2002
It's been a long night of web design issues (and I still have a paper to write, darn the luck). But a HUGE THANK YOU to Jill for her help with the new header and design!And I really hate to say this, but if you don't like the new design...that's really too bad, because we put our hearts, souls, and about six hours straight into this page tonight.
posted by Jenny 2:29 AM
Sunday, November 24, 2002
There have been a few changes around here, obviously, and with that comes a few problems (as are also glaringly obvious). But hang in there, they should be sorted out within a day or so and the end result will be groovy, trust me. :-)
posted by Jenny 11:26 PM
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
My most challenging undertaking in Sim architecture and interior design--my apartment in Chancellors Hall. How'd I do?
posted by Jenny 1:27 AM
Sunday, November 17, 2002
I find it amusing that all my search request referrals for this page so far have been people valiantly searching for the love bed. Here, see for yourself.What is the big deal about it, anyway?
posted by Jenny 11:30 PM
Saturday, November 16, 2002
The first four expansion packs: Livin' Large, House Party, Hot Date, and Vacation...$19.99 each.Wow.
Each expansion pack normally retails for more than thirty dollars! I'm having a really hard time resisting the deal that sells all four packs for only sixty dollars. Where's my credit card?
posted by Jenny 11:56 PM
Thursday, November 14, 2002
The word is out, and all the critics are raving! If you only visit one weblog this year, make it Similitude!*coughs* Um, hi.
No, I'm just kidding. But I did give an oral progress report in English 405 this morning about how this project is going, and I got some helpful feedback. Feel free to add your own in the comments or by e-mailing me.
The page is too long. Wayyyy too long. Until about an hour ago, when the archives were born! Now I've limited the number of posts on the main page, and the links to the rest are over in the sidebar, under the site explanation. Or should they be closer to the top?
Someone recommended adding the definition of similitude to the explanation for the new visitors. Good idea!
As Jill so kindly pointed out, this blog looks like it got caught in a snowstorm. Too. Much. White. Anyone got ideas for a better color scheme? I'll be working on it, I promise.
Another classmate would like to see more of an explanation of what The Sims is--she'd never heard of it.
Someone else suggested underlined links. :-/
More pictures for those who have never seen the Sims. Or pictures on a separate picture page, so it doesn't load so slowly.
Too much text, they say. Not sure how to immediately proceed about that.
What else?
posted by Jenny 1:43 PM
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
You know that silly picture a few posts down of that wacky love bed? It's been pointed out to me that the readers are going to wonder what in the name of heaven I was attempting to download that day. So, a bit of backstory is in order.Although The Original Sims gives you the ability to "design your Sims' homes and furnish them with over 150 unique items," the truth is, those items get old fast. So you pop to Best Buy and pick up the Livin' Large expansion pack, which comes with more skins, heads, jobs, etc. for your Sims. Oh, and lots more stuff with which to furnish and decorate their homes. Among them is the hideously-tacky-but-absolutely-must-have Vibromatic Heart Bed.
Well, I don't own Livin' Large but I'd heard and seen enough of the love bed to know it really is a hideously-tacky-but-absolutely-must-have item. With its huge red heart-shaped headboard, purple satin bedding, and vibrating mechanism, how could you not? Yeah, so it doesn't match anything else in the house, but it just wouldn't be The Sims if only good taste prevailed.
Of all the beds in The Sims, this is the only one that allows Sims to really put some spice in their relationships. Instruct your Sim to start the bed vibrating (for a shocking §20) and they quickly strip down (under one of those blurry effects), slip beneath the silk sheets, and buzz away. If another Sim happens to wander that way, they just might join them and test out the "Play In Bed" function, in which they disappear completely beneath the covers and move around, noisily laughing and growling. And their fun and social skills shoot wayyyyyyy up within within a matter of seconds.
I think it's hilarious, but I know quite a few parents were really thrown by it, and probably with good reason. One of my favorite articles about The Sims is written by a skeptical dad, a cultural critic who spent weeks delving deeply into the game because he was concerned about what his ten- and twelve-year-old daughters were playing.
Anyways, back to scary Internet downloads. As mentioned, I don't own Livin' Large and therefore wasn't privy to the, er, benefits of the love bed, but that's easy enough to get around. Just flock to one of the kazillion fan sites that are out there, and you can download skins, floors, walls, furniture, decorations, etc. to your heart's content. I didn't have the love bed but it's great for improving your Sims' relationships, so what the heck?
A quick Google search produced a list of sites with downloadable love beds; I picked one at random, and a few minutes later that love bed was mine. Flipping back to the game, I went to visit the home of the Andersims and redid their bedroom, this time with the love bed, before turning them loose in their brand new love nest. Their relationship was in great shape (note: your Sims must have a solid relationship before they try it out) so they went to have a go at it.
Yeah, they got blurry naked and vanished beneath the covers. I guess technically it did work, but the next thing I knew, they stood up straight--in the middle of the bed, no less--and danced back and forth, looking this way and that way, helplessly bleating "Missing Animation!"
I nearly fell off my chair in shock. And after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I laughed until my sides ached for the next fifteen minutes.
I've seen buggy downloads before, mind you, but that was the most extreme I'd ever witnessed. And I laughed still harder when the Andersims reappeared from beneath the covers a few minutes later, Fun and Social bars green to the max, hopped out of bed, and went about their daily routine as if nothing had happened.
I still haven't gotten them a new love bed. Either it's because I just like to torture them or I need a few good laughs every now and then.
Probably both.
posted by Jenny 11:57 PM
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
We didn't mean for it to happen, but her fate is sealed and there's no going back now.Heidi is addicted to the Sims. And unlike smoking or gambling or what have you, there's just no getting over this particular addiction.
Coming in from a walk, Heidi and I went to visit our friend Katie. Upon entering her bedroom, to what did our wondering eyes did appear but a screenshot of The Sims, paused in game play. The smart thing to do would have been to minimize it, but Katie's been playing out a character of me for the past couple weeks and so of course I had to go see how little me was faring, and Heidi followed me, eyes glued to the screen.
I don't know whose bright idea it was, but someone suggested we show Heidi, who had never played the game before, all the different houses that Katie had created in the neighborhood. We did, remarking on the different architecture of the houses and joking about how the various relationships were playing out.
"Can I build a house?" Heidi asked suddenly.
Katie and I looked at each other. "Sure."
I stood up and moved next to Katie on the futon, where I would remain for the next two hours, as Heidi quickly got more and more engaged in the game. The two of us sat there like old seasoned pros as a passionate struggle for truth and justice played out, throwing out tips for better game play every so often and dropping not-so-subtle hints that the hour was getting progressively later. The two of us eventually retired to the kitchen to eat and chat, and even then, all we could hear were screams of "Aughhh! She missed work again!" and "Oh, no, Ellie and Bob got in a fight!" and "Orlando is coming over!" It wasn't until Heidi came vaulting out to tell us that her Sim had lost her job that Katie finally dove for her computer and managed to reclaim it.
Much to Heidi's shock, it was midnight, and after only one and a half hours of play, she was completely and inexorably hooked. That's how little it takes.
This project lingering in the back of my mind, I asked why she considered herself so addicted so suddenly. "It's so fun," she said vaguely. Not really what I was looking for, I probed a little more. "You have control."
Ah! That's it! That's why we love it so much. Because our lives are so topsy-turvy, so unstable, and often not at all what we plan on, having a game where you really are the authority and truly do have control over every little aspect leaves us free to enjoy. In this game, there is no way to win, but the outcome is always exactly what you want it to be.
Heidi left a few minutes later, but not before vowing to get her own copy of the game and continute the labor of love she'd put into her little Sims. Her parting words: "Thank you for introducing me to my new vice."
So, she's addicted. She's been warned. She'll grieve when someone dies in a stove fire, she'll become almost more passionate about their happiness than her own, and she won't get a bit of homework done on any given night that she opens up The Sims to play "for just a few minutes."
But she will have a dang good time while doing it.
posted by Jenny 1:31 AM
Monday, November 11, 2002
Internet download gone horribly wrong, resulting in the closest you can get to Sim pornography. Yikes!
posted by Jenny 1:19 AM
Friday, November 08, 2002
WomenGamers.Com posts a fascinating article on the psychology of The Sims, In Our Own Image."When you play God here, you must be pop psychologist, social director, career strategist, smart shopper, and taskmaster all at once," notes author Dr. K. Wright. "After spending some time in my Sim neighborhood, I found myself reflecting on several general themes that play out in the game: narcissism, voyeurism, consumerism, and the dichotomy between good and evil that lives in us all. Not bad for a strategy game that deals with the planning of fairly mundane daily activities."
Oh, and sorry about the confusion earlier...I was having some problems posting.
posted by Jenny 11:53 PM
Tuesday, November 05, 2002
I recently loaned my friend Katie my copy of The Original Sims. It's now as good as gone, because after creating and marrying herself to Elijah Wood, how could any reasonable person expect her to part from them?I was hanging out at her place the other night, idly watching from my spot on her futon as new neighbors moved in, two girls and two guys. The girls moved in with relative ease, but the guys had problems. They didn't have much money and were having a lot of trouble furnishing their house to their satisfaction. They couldn't afford a nice double bed for each of them and they refused to share one (hey, who could blame them?).
"Buy them each a single bed," I suggested. "They can at least share a bedroom, and after they get jobs you can buy them new beds."
Katie balked at the idea, but switched into "Buy Mode" to have a look at the options. It wasn't pretty. As she pointed out right away, this game is not supportive of singles. I hadn't really realized it until then, but she was quite right. The options for single beds are pretty much limited to the crappy hospital bed on wheels with an ugly brown blanket or the bright red kid's bed with the loud patchwork quilt. By contrast, the beds for couples are tastefully crafted with beautiful and stylish coverings AND they tend to increase comfort and energy levels significantly higher than the single beds.
This trend isn't limited to just beds, either. Sims earn more money when they work in pairs. They tend to be happier. They have more friends. In general, the comfort of their lifestyle is dramatically higher than that of Sims who live alone. And as a general rule, any Sim who does happen to live alone usually doesn't remain that way for long. It's almost a sure bet they've been dragged into some elaborate matchmaking scheme by their coupled-up friends involving the obviously lonely bachelor down the street.
Does this story have a moral?
posted by Jenny 10:46 AM
Monday, November 04, 2002
How can I be so insanely jealous of a bunch of animated pixels?
posted by Jenny 2:46 AM
Friday, November 01, 2002
I got more RAM for my computer today. One hundred and ninety-two megabytes and seventy-six dollars worth, in fact.Should you care? No, not really. But it's important because now my test copy of The Sims Online works like a dream, and wow, do I have stories for you.
I signed up for a chance to be a beta tester after I heard how easy it was to become one--just subscribe for The Sims onlinenewsletter, and you automatically enter the lottery for a chance to test the game before it goes on sale in stores. Well, to date I haven't yet received a newsletter, but I did get an e-mail invitation a few days after that, and a week later, my precious neon green 2-CD test set was safely in my hands.
The installation was hell, and the game is still pretty buggy--part of it was the actual game, and part of it was my system--but once I started getting patches and upgrading memory, look out. This game is, quite simply, amazing.
In no way can I even begin to extrapolate on all of it, but I had a few interesting observations tonight as I wasted away my homework time in front of a glowing screen. The first is that, in a weird way, the game has brought me a little closer to my cousin. We talk online every day, but the times we actually get to see each other are few and far between. The other night, we both zipped into the game, found a lot, and became "roommates" as we built and furnished a small house together. As our Sims explored their new home, chatting as they ate and watched TV, Jill remarked, "Hey...this is almost like hanging out!" Indeed it was.
Tonight, I created a new Sim named Alanna (you can create a maximum of three) and headed to an unexplored city. Following a search for "Most Popular Places" I landed outside the door of a buzzing social hub filled with Sims making pizza, swimming, playing pool, watching TV, dancing, and more. After schmoozing a few minutes with "Dirk Dashing," I was invited to another lot where he "lived" with his "friend" Chase Meridian and "friend's girlfriend" Willow Rosenberg.
It was pretty surreal. I was repeatedly invited to become their fourth roommate (but only because they wanted a large chunk of my 6,000 Simoleans to finish building their house). I gently refused while they started a rather sexually explicit game of truth or dare and tossed around ideas on how to gather as much money as possible. After an hour or two of chatting and getting to know the users behind their Sims, I excused myself to head for bed, when I was struck with the notion--even though it was virtual reality, I had met a strange guy in a bar-type situation, and gone home with him. In case you don't know me personally, I would die an old woman before ever doing something like that. Yes, I know they're not real, and no, although they were freaky people, it wasn't a big deal. But to me, it's still amazing that from the safety of my own bedroom, I can indulge in almost any kind of experience I want that I can't do in real life--without the pressure and risks of real life--and for me, it's nearly as much fun as the real thing.
Today in Best Buy, I saw a huge display advertising The Sims, which read, "What If You Ran The World?" It's almost scary to think about.
posted by Jenny 3:22 AM
