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Former TS4 Creative Director Answers Questions on The Sims
Gabe_oz
Posts: 1,880 Member
Recently, the former Creative Director for TS4, Ray Mazza, took to reddit in an AMA. Ray left Maxis in January, 2014, after 10 years on Sims Team to pursue independent game development. I'll link all the questions he answered below, but the ones i'm posting here relate to The Sims.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5ltgky/iama_former_creative_director_of_maxis_the_sims/
The vision for TS4.
On the 'lack' of features at launch.
The features he liked that didn't make it into the release version of the TS3 base game and the direction TS3 went.
How much he plays The Sims.
The legacy he left in the franchise.
The idea for The Sims Medieval.
How many ways he knows how kill your Sims.
Him on his decision to leave Maxis.
The original idea for The Sims.
Who's responsible for Sim canon.
How it was like working at EA.
His Favorite Sim Challenge.
Why certain hairs didn't make it into the TS3 BG.
Why did EA shut down Simcity Social.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/5ltgky/iama_former_creative_director_of_maxis_the_sims/
The vision for TS4.
ArtVandelayImporters: If you're still around, I've got a question about your role on The Sims 4, if you don't mind. 
According to your site, you were responsible for the "game vision" of The Sims 4. I'm really curious about what that game vision actually consisted of, compared to previous Sims titles. Was there a mission statement that Maxis used? And if so, what was it?
Ray Mazza: There were really two types of visions. There's a super high-level vision that is more about the wow-factor for the game, the differentiator and selling points. That was focused on making the Sims more emotional and more life-like, making the creation tools more powerful, and building a platform to let players easily share and find content. I didn't make this vision as I came onto the project after it had been going for a few years, and I mainly had to uphold it.
Then there's the detailed vision, which was more personal to me, and was basically a list of features that I thought needed to be in the game for it to top previous Sims games and make players psyched about it. I can't share the details of that though, that would still be confidential.
According to your site, you were responsible for the "game vision" of The Sims 4. I'm really curious about what that game vision actually consisted of, compared to previous Sims titles. Was there a mission statement that Maxis used? And if so, what was it?
Ray Mazza: There were really two types of visions. There's a super high-level vision that is more about the wow-factor for the game, the differentiator and selling points. That was focused on making the Sims more emotional and more life-like, making the creation tools more powerful, and building a platform to let players easily share and find content. I didn't make this vision as I came onto the project after it had been going for a few years, and I mainly had to uphold it.
Then there's the detailed vision, which was more personal to me, and was basically a list of features that I thought needed to be in the game for it to top previous Sims games and make players psyched about it. I can't share the details of that though, that would still be confidential.
On the 'lack' of features at launch.
AkumaKyoushin: Now that Maxis imploded on itself what is your opinion on the Sims 4 questionable launch and lack of features?
Ray Mazza: My opinion is that making a Sims sequel is incredibly challenging.
As a designer, it hurts, because you always want your game to be better than before in every way, but in order to make new things, we had to make compromises on features established from previous games. Also, if it were up to the design team, we'd just keep working on the game until it blows all previous base games out of the water, but the schedule (and budget) do not allow that to be possible. In the future, I'd personally like to see development that can re-use a lot more of what came before without having to remake it all.
As for Maxis, I don't think it has imploded on itself, and I think we can expect great things from them in the future. I know they've learned a lot from developing TS4, and they have some great talent that has recently returned to the company from TS2 days.
Ray Mazza: My opinion is that making a Sims sequel is incredibly challenging.
As a designer, it hurts, because you always want your game to be better than before in every way, but in order to make new things, we had to make compromises on features established from previous games. Also, if it were up to the design team, we'd just keep working on the game until it blows all previous base games out of the water, but the schedule (and budget) do not allow that to be possible. In the future, I'd personally like to see development that can re-use a lot more of what came before without having to remake it all.
As for Maxis, I don't think it has imploded on itself, and I think we can expect great things from them in the future. I know they've learned a lot from developing TS4, and they have some great talent that has recently returned to the company from TS2 days.
The features he liked that didn't make it into the release version of the TS3 base game and the direction TS3 went.
GrijzePilion: Hey, I've read all your blog posts about the design on TS3. What was, in your opinion, the best or most interesting thing that didn't make it into the end product?
Ray Mazza: It depends on whether you want to know about something that was in the game and removed, or something that we wanted to put in but didn't have time.
There was one point when we had snow in the base game, and it looked really good! But it had issues like snowing through roofs, and we didn't have time to make all the associated gameplay, so we held that off for Seasons. I so wanted weather in base game though.
Some things we considered but didn't do were: (1) continuous aging rather than discrete age groups, (2) being able to see inside all buildings/shops/work and having the simulations be real in there, and (3) injuries, wheel chairs, casts, etc.
All of those were way too much work to put in, but would have been fantastic.
GrijzePilion: Yeah, that sounds pretty neat. Clothes shopping (like in TS2) was another cut feature, wasn't it?
By the end of it's life, or at least it's official life (because a Sims game never dies), there was a hell of a lot of packs and content out. Do you think TS3 ended up going in the direction that you guys originally had in mind for it?
Ray Mazza: Clothes Shopping -- yes, that was on the list at some point early on. Most TS2 base game features were.
The game certainly went in the direction we'd hoped in the general sense and spirit. We held true to our core beliefs and never changed direction in any major way. I'm very happy with where it ended up.
Ray Mazza: It depends on whether you want to know about something that was in the game and removed, or something that we wanted to put in but didn't have time.
There was one point when we had snow in the base game, and it looked really good! But it had issues like snowing through roofs, and we didn't have time to make all the associated gameplay, so we held that off for Seasons. I so wanted weather in base game though.
Some things we considered but didn't do were: (1) continuous aging rather than discrete age groups, (2) being able to see inside all buildings/shops/work and having the simulations be real in there, and (3) injuries, wheel chairs, casts, etc.
All of those were way too much work to put in, but would have been fantastic.
GrijzePilion: Yeah, that sounds pretty neat. Clothes shopping (like in TS2) was another cut feature, wasn't it?
By the end of it's life, or at least it's official life (because a Sims game never dies), there was a hell of a lot of packs and content out. Do you think TS3 ended up going in the direction that you guys originally had in mind for it?
Ray Mazza: Clothes Shopping -- yes, that was on the list at some point early on. Most TS2 base game features were.
The game certainly went in the direction we'd hoped in the general sense and spirit. We held true to our core beliefs and never changed direction in any major way. I'm very happy with where it ended up.
How much he plays The Sims.
velvert: Do you play the Sims games on a regular basis? Which one is your favorite and least favorite?
Ray Mazza: I used to play Sims games a LOT. The Sims (1) came out while I was in college, and I remember picking it up with my then-girlfriend (now wife) and then playing it for endless hours. The checkout clerk told me, "be careful, or you won't sleep." He was right.
So I developed a love of Sims games before working at Maxis, and I remember playing them alongside Diablo II : )
I loved The Sims 2, but I probably played The Sims 3 the most. What was great for me about The Sims 3 was that even though I was a co-lead designer and I knew so much about how the game operated and I had written so many of the designs, it still managed to surprise me time and again. My favorite aspects were the creative ones -- filling out a town with Sims that I'd made, painting screenshots on the easel from images I'd taken in game, writing novels and naming them, etc. I also loved the first expansion, "World Adventures" for the exploration aspects of going through tombs.
For least favorite, I would say the console games, just because I found the control schemes prevented me from becoming absorbed.
I played Sims games right up until I left Maxis in January of 2014. At that point, I basically devoted most of my free time to working on Merge Dragons. In fact, I have played what I would consider very few games since then, as I've put almost all my free time into developing Merge Dragons.
Ray Mazza: I used to play Sims games a LOT. The Sims (1) came out while I was in college, and I remember picking it up with my then-girlfriend (now wife) and then playing it for endless hours. The checkout clerk told me, "be careful, or you won't sleep." He was right.
So I developed a love of Sims games before working at Maxis, and I remember playing them alongside Diablo II : )
I loved The Sims 2, but I probably played The Sims 3 the most. What was great for me about The Sims 3 was that even though I was a co-lead designer and I knew so much about how the game operated and I had written so many of the designs, it still managed to surprise me time and again. My favorite aspects were the creative ones -- filling out a town with Sims that I'd made, painting screenshots on the easel from images I'd taken in game, writing novels and naming them, etc. I also loved the first expansion, "World Adventures" for the exploration aspects of going through tombs.
For least favorite, I would say the console games, just because I found the control schemes prevented me from becoming absorbed.
I played Sims games right up until I left Maxis in January of 2014. At that point, I basically devoted most of my free time to working on Merge Dragons. In fact, I have played what I would consider very few games since then, as I've put almost all my free time into developing Merge Dragons.
The legacy he left in the franchise.
MrBurgundy777: What mark did you have on the Sims franchise that you are most proud of?
Ray Mazza: In The Sims 2, it was the coding that made the service Sims real people. In TS1, the maid, cop, firefighter, etc, would all do their jobs, but that's it. In The Sims 2, if you struck up a conversation with them you'd be able to make friends with them, and invite them over, get romantic, even marry them. It was always so much fun to make a cop part of your family, and have them change into their uniform, etc.
In The Sims 3, I had a broader influence on the game, and I'm very proud of the open world aspect that the design team worked on together. It fundamentally changed how the Sims was played -- being able to walk across the street and visit your neighbor.
For something that I was solely responsible for, it was a lot of the build mode advancements -- being able to work on a free form placement mode outside of the grid, adding lots of "clutter" objects and locations to put them, being able to freely rotate objects, etc, and officially support it. Even being able to drag walls back and forth without having to demolish your home! It gave builders such a great leap in their tools to make better looking homes and I was quite proud of that.
One smaller piece that I'm proud of that I feel like mentioning even though it's tiny is that you can collect meteorites around the landscape. I made sure that the bulk of them were named after real meteorite types (e.g. Carbonaceous Chondrite or Eucrite, etc) and had similar relative rarities to what's found on earth. I always loved how games could teach you things in a fun way, and this was one of those aspects.
Ray Mazza: In The Sims 2, it was the coding that made the service Sims real people. In TS1, the maid, cop, firefighter, etc, would all do their jobs, but that's it. In The Sims 2, if you struck up a conversation with them you'd be able to make friends with them, and invite them over, get romantic, even marry them. It was always so much fun to make a cop part of your family, and have them change into their uniform, etc.
In The Sims 3, I had a broader influence on the game, and I'm very proud of the open world aspect that the design team worked on together. It fundamentally changed how the Sims was played -- being able to walk across the street and visit your neighbor.
For something that I was solely responsible for, it was a lot of the build mode advancements -- being able to work on a free form placement mode outside of the grid, adding lots of "clutter" objects and locations to put them, being able to freely rotate objects, etc, and officially support it. Even being able to drag walls back and forth without having to demolish your home! It gave builders such a great leap in their tools to make better looking homes and I was quite proud of that.
One smaller piece that I'm proud of that I feel like mentioning even though it's tiny is that you can collect meteorites around the landscape. I made sure that the bulk of them were named after real meteorite types (e.g. Carbonaceous Chondrite or Eucrite, etc) and had similar relative rarities to what's found on earth. I always loved how games could teach you things in a fun way, and this was one of those aspects.
The idea for The Sims Medieval.
GamingLion47: Where did the Idea for the Sims medieval come from? I just ask because my brother and I sent an email when we were younger to Maxis with a similar idea and it would be cool to know if we had any influence on its creation.
Ray Mazza: Thank you for your letter! : )
A lot of the developers are into games with fantasy and medieval settings, and so it was something they'd been thinking about. However, I'm sure your letter was good validation that it was something players wanted : ) We liked to hang those letter up around the office.
Ray Mazza: Thank you for your letter! : )
A lot of the developers are into games with fantasy and medieval settings, and so it was something they'd been thinking about. However, I'm sure your letter was good validation that it was something players wanted : ) We liked to hang those letter up around the office.
How many ways he knows how kill your Sims.
p0537: Do you know about the dozens of ways there are to kill your "creations" (Sims)?
Ray Mazza: I can't keep track of them all -- burning, starvation, drowning, scared to death, devoured by flies, old age, electrocution, eaten by a cow plant (yup), various emotions... and there's also becoming the undead (mummy, vampire, werewolf, etc).
I like that the way you die affects the color of your ghost in some of the Sims games.
There's a story about Will Wright, the creator of The Sims, wanting to add a giant pair of scissors to the game (like the size of a person) just so that it could have a Run With Scissors interaction on it that would kill you.
p0537: Jesus christ. Is he really that sadistic?
Ray Mazza: Or that genius? : ) Yes, that is a true story.
Ray Mazza: I can't keep track of them all -- burning, starvation, drowning, scared to death, devoured by flies, old age, electrocution, eaten by a cow plant (yup), various emotions... and there's also becoming the undead (mummy, vampire, werewolf, etc).
I like that the way you die affects the color of your ghost in some of the Sims games.
There's a story about Will Wright, the creator of The Sims, wanting to add a giant pair of scissors to the game (like the size of a person) just so that it could have a Run With Scissors interaction on it that would kill you.
p0537: Jesus christ. Is he really that sadistic?
Ray Mazza: Or that genius? : ) Yes, that is a true story.
Him on his decision to leave Maxis.
Antsukka: When did you realize that it was time to leave Maxis to pursue your own dreams and goals? Was there a specific event or did this change of mind happen over a long time?
Ray Mazza: It was a hard decision because I loved working at Maxis, and I loved The Sims. It wasn't like I suddenly hated my job or anything -- I consider myself very lucky to have had a job that made me happy on a regular basis, from working with great people and also making games that bring happiness to such a huge, awesome audience.
One of my struggles on The Sims 4 was using the limited time we had to try and top what we'd done with The Sims 3, and I wasn't sure we could do that out of the gate. Especially because the Sims 3 had amassed so many expansions, and that sum of content is what a lot of players compare the next in the series to (same thing happened for Sims 2). The Sims 4 is a great game, and I like what we did with it, but at the same time I held myself to incredibly high standards and I was somewhat disappointed in myself for not being able to hit my own lofty goals for it.
And that led me to thinking about working independently. Mobile games seemed like a great opportunity to try something fresh where I could have complete control over the content and schedule. The realization slowly dawned on me over the course of a year, mostly in the form of a question -- What if? What if I tried?
Another factor was that I had been working on The Sims for 10 years, and I was worried that I might not ever get to experience something different, especially now that I'd had a kid (just 1 year old when I left). I had enough money saved up to support us for a while (and my wife works, too). So I eventually decided to take the plunge. My parting was friendly with Maxis, and I left after we'd locked down the designs for The Sims 4.
At the time, I still wasn't sure it was the right decision, but now I look back and am so happy with my time and experience (and result) of making Merge Dragons, that I'm glad I made this decision. I still miss Maxis though!
Ray Mazza: It was a hard decision because I loved working at Maxis, and I loved The Sims. It wasn't like I suddenly hated my job or anything -- I consider myself very lucky to have had a job that made me happy on a regular basis, from working with great people and also making games that bring happiness to such a huge, awesome audience.
One of my struggles on The Sims 4 was using the limited time we had to try and top what we'd done with The Sims 3, and I wasn't sure we could do that out of the gate. Especially because the Sims 3 had amassed so many expansions, and that sum of content is what a lot of players compare the next in the series to (same thing happened for Sims 2). The Sims 4 is a great game, and I like what we did with it, but at the same time I held myself to incredibly high standards and I was somewhat disappointed in myself for not being able to hit my own lofty goals for it.
And that led me to thinking about working independently. Mobile games seemed like a great opportunity to try something fresh where I could have complete control over the content and schedule. The realization slowly dawned on me over the course of a year, mostly in the form of a question -- What if? What if I tried?
Another factor was that I had been working on The Sims for 10 years, and I was worried that I might not ever get to experience something different, especially now that I'd had a kid (just 1 year old when I left). I had enough money saved up to support us for a while (and my wife works, too). So I eventually decided to take the plunge. My parting was friendly with Maxis, and I left after we'd locked down the designs for The Sims 4.
At the time, I still wasn't sure it was the right decision, but now I look back and am so happy with my time and experience (and result) of making Merge Dragons, that I'm glad I made this decision. I still miss Maxis though!
The original idea for The Sims.
holy_cockroach: What was the initial inspiration for a game like the Sims?
Ray Mazza: It's funny, The Sims was kind of an accident...
The Sims was originally intended to be more of a feng shui simulator. You'd build a home and decorate it, and then the Sims were only added as a way to score you and let you know how you did by walking around and reacting to the home. But then they ended up being everyone's favorite part, so the dev team leaned into that aspect. The Sims was born!
Ray Mazza: It's funny, The Sims was kind of an accident...
The Sims was originally intended to be more of a feng shui simulator. You'd build a home and decorate it, and then the Sims were only added as a way to score you and let you know how you did by walking around and reacting to the home. But then they ended up being everyone's favorite part, so the dev team leaned into that aspect. The Sims was born!
Who's responsible for Sim canon.
artdeddy: Who at Maxis is responsible for the character canon in The Sims and which characters cross over to new editions of the game?
Ray Mazza: That has evolved over time, and there have been different people on each title responsible for that, usually on the world building part of the team. There are enough people involved that I can't really give names. It's not just a single genius toiling away. On The Sims 3, it was mostly driven by producers and writers, and a ton of thought goes into where the game fit into the timeline of the universe, and which characters could be part of that continuous universe story thread.
Ray Mazza: That has evolved over time, and there have been different people on each title responsible for that, usually on the world building part of the team. There are enough people involved that I can't really give names. It's not just a single genius toiling away. On The Sims 3, it was mostly driven by producers and writers, and a ton of thought goes into where the game fit into the timeline of the universe, and which characters could be part of that continuous universe story thread.
How it was like working at EA.
Nayru-chan00: How was it like working at EA? I've heard stuff about...well, pretty bad working conditions and I'd like some insider perspective - was it really that bad as people (not only) here think?
Ray Mazza: The short answer is that it really depends on the management of the particular team you are on, and the culture they create. There has been the entire spectrum at EA -- some teams great to work on, others not so much, but EA has been making strides.
When I first joined, I worked on The Sims 2 team in 2003. The team was crunching hard for a long time, and that included one day a weekend for many months. However, I was fresh out of school and just psyched to be in the games industry, and happy to be there even with long hours. Plus, I wanted to learn as much as I could to make sure I was doing as awesome a job as possible. I remember thinking, "holy crap, I'm scripting things that millions of people are going to play... I better not mess up." So I worked long and hard.
Then there was the EA Spouse post, and that opened some eyes. Things were smoother on The Sims 3 even though there was crunching, and even better after. It was also interesting that many of my coworkers in Maxis got married around the same time and had kids around the same time, and were being promoted into positions of more influence, and were realizing their own need for more controlled schedules (to take care of kids at home and be with family), and that has helped.
Even more recently, EA has been sharing their best practices between studios, and learning from each other. There's one approach that basically forbids any overtime, and is all about making sure that everyone works an awesome, fully-focused 8 hours each day during crunch, and then the team goes home -- and this has shown to be very productive, rather than having a team "kinda" work for 14 hours a day in a half-dead state.
Overall EA has been great in my experience, especially in how it has evolved and is willing to learn. (Plus, other working conditions are good -- campus gym, on-site daycare, good food, etc.)
Ray Mazza: The short answer is that it really depends on the management of the particular team you are on, and the culture they create. There has been the entire spectrum at EA -- some teams great to work on, others not so much, but EA has been making strides.
When I first joined, I worked on The Sims 2 team in 2003. The team was crunching hard for a long time, and that included one day a weekend for many months. However, I was fresh out of school and just psyched to be in the games industry, and happy to be there even with long hours. Plus, I wanted to learn as much as I could to make sure I was doing as awesome a job as possible. I remember thinking, "holy crap, I'm scripting things that millions of people are going to play... I better not mess up." So I worked long and hard.
Then there was the EA Spouse post, and that opened some eyes. Things were smoother on The Sims 3 even though there was crunching, and even better after. It was also interesting that many of my coworkers in Maxis got married around the same time and had kids around the same time, and were being promoted into positions of more influence, and were realizing their own need for more controlled schedules (to take care of kids at home and be with family), and that has helped.
Even more recently, EA has been sharing their best practices between studios, and learning from each other. There's one approach that basically forbids any overtime, and is all about making sure that everyone works an awesome, fully-focused 8 hours each day during crunch, and then the team goes home -- and this has shown to be very productive, rather than having a team "kinda" work for 14 hours a day in a half-dead state.
Overall EA has been great in my experience, especially in how it has evolved and is willing to learn. (Plus, other working conditions are good -- campus gym, on-site daycare, good food, etc.)
His Favorite Sim Challenge.
Pinstar: What is your favorite Sims "Challenge" (of any of the Sims games)?
Ray Mazza: If you are referring to the community-made challenges, I liked the Legacy Challenge: http://www.simslegacychallenge.com/legacy-challenge-rules/sims-2-legacy-challenge-rules-core/
Ray Mazza: If you are referring to the community-made challenges, I liked the Legacy Challenge: http://www.simslegacychallenge.com/legacy-challenge-rules/sims-2-legacy-challenge-rules-core/
Why certain hairs didn't make it into the TS3 BG.
Vitam_Mortem: Any idea why these two hairstyles didn't make it to the final TS3 game?
Ray Mazza: That was a long time ago, so I don't remember. I can speculate that those screenshots were likely early in the process, and we had to make a lot of updates to hair along the way, and they probably didn't have time to have the updates made to them. I agree though -- those were great hairstyles. Hair was always the most important aspect of Sim creation because it has such a profound effect on the overall look.
Ray Mazza: That was a long time ago, so I don't remember. I can speculate that those screenshots were likely early in the process, and we had to make a lot of updates to hair along the way, and they probably didn't have time to have the updates made to them. I agree though -- those were great hairstyles. Hair was always the most important aspect of Sim creation because it has such a profound effect on the overall look.
Why did EA shut down Simcity Social.
etray: Why couldn't Simcity Social last? Why did EA shut it down? And thanks for Sims Medieval quests, great little game!
Ray Mazza: Sims Medieval quests were so much fun! Gotta love that Love Doctor : )
SimCity Social just wasn't making enough money eventually -- same basic reason any online game shuts down : / It did great for a while, then players moved on. The unfortunate thing about working on server-based games is that you know at some point in the future they will just be gone. I love being able to load up Sims 1/2/3 any time I want, knowing I'll always be able to play. The Sims Social and SimCity Social just have to be memories.
Ray Mazza: Sims Medieval quests were so much fun! Gotta love that Love Doctor : )
SimCity Social just wasn't making enough money eventually -- same basic reason any online game shuts down : / It did great for a while, then players moved on. The unfortunate thing about working on server-based games is that you know at some point in the future they will just be gone. I love being able to load up Sims 1/2/3 any time I want, knowing I'll always be able to play. The Sims Social and SimCity Social just have to be memories.
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Comments
I have no memory of this place. Time to start anew I guess
You're welcome! It would've been a bit messy without the spoilers.
Again, thank you for posting!
Sadly, the team doesn't have much say in when the game gets released. According to an old Maxis dev that worked on Simcity, it's extremely hard to change a release date once EA decides on one, EA is known for having nonnegotiable terms, because if it were up to the team, I think we'd have a very different Sims 4. (At least EA isn't completely impossible to negotiate with. Online only was a nonnegotiable term by EA for Simcity, and probably why TS4 was originally developed as an online game too. If Simcity weren't a disaster, we'd have a new Sims Online.)
And you're welcome! I found it a certainly interesting read aswell.
Another part is where he described that TS3 originally had snow, but they had to take it out because they didn't have time to fix the issues and make things centered around it. Maybe that's what happened to the weather that was supposed to be in TS2's base game too. Much more plausible than a fire that no one can find a reliable source from.
Someone posted a link yesterday (Q&A with MaxisLuc) that mentioned that The Sims 2 pre-release rain went through the roofs. I guess it's the same issue both times.
So in that case I am glad Sims City online failed as I detest online gaming for the Sims. It is more a game I just don't care to play with others. When I want ME time - I always play the Sims - which is usually the kind of gaming I prefer. If I want to go playing with other people then I would go to an arcade with my friends and family. LOL. So I am happy not to have Sims online back again. I honestly tried each version and within a week or less I had quit every one. Yet I still play Sims 2, Sims 3 (the most), and even some Sims 4. Well truthfully very little Sims 4, but at least I don't toss it totally aside like I did all the online versions and never went back to any of them.
Sims is just one of those games that really does not need helpers and at most I find other people annoying when I am just interested in trying to play my game. Don't get me wrong - I truly love people in general - just not in my Sims games. I love just me and my Sims with no outside involvement while I play. Then once I am done playing I used to enjoy coming to the forums and talking with other players and sharing my game play. I do not want that experience meshed together.
But anyway - thank you for sharing this visit with Ray - I have always loved his work in the Sims 2 and 3 - he is very much missed in the Sims 4 - but at the same time so happy Merge Dragons are going well. He will always be missed in this game and future Sims games - I am sure.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
If only Maxis would choose to use EA's own inhouse game engine it would be easier as one of the features of the Frostbyte engine is weather built right into that system; or so my son tells me anyway - he's a programmer for a different company here in the East Coast - but says EA's Dice game engine is stellar.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Bummer, at least I have reality activities to depend on and virtuals.
It never happened, SimGuruLyndsay debunked it too some months ago.
Yeah, iv'e been reading up on things that former Simcity devs have said after leaving EA as a whole, and it's quite tragic. EA's refusal to greenlight Simcity if it didn't have an online game was what killed it. The entire vision as described by different devs was completely ruined, from having regions with smaller cities all the way up to having a single city engulf an entire 32x32km region, to have an agent based system where you could follow the life of a single sim instead of the way it was with the simulation being based on a building with the sims and cars being pure decoration. And then the game apparently had a tiny team, which lead to devs being overworked. It went badly.
And you're welcome to sharing the stuff, it's definitely an interesting read. And his legacy is definitely an important one in the franchise. From npcs in TS2, to the move objects cheat in TS3, to the way walls work in TS4.
I agree that a lot has been learnt from TS4. It has not always been a bed of roses but that doesn't mean that the series will continue into a tree of thorns
Good to see some appreciation for the Open World!
Oh and I don't now much about meteorites but it is nice that who went as far as including actual names for them.
That hair looks similar to some of the ones we actually had in game but it would have still been cool to see them
That's not what I took from it at all, and game development isn't rainbows and butterflies either. Game development is filled with complications everywhere you go, there is no easy path.
Some how players just meshed the two events into one. LOL. But then as humans who doesn't sometimes make a mountain out of a molehill. It is the way some stories seem to GROW. LOL.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Well that puts that story to rest then
Then again, knowing The Sims community, things do have the tendency to get blown out of proportion, even if the initial intentions are good
Yep - toaster or toaster oven or microwave - I have heard all 3 at one time or other - but it was all in the kitchen area and not the studio it self anyway and the only trouble was a little smoke.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Fires and The Sims go hand in hand
The original Sims game had a lot of added humour in it, something that wasn't repeated in TS2, at least in the same way. I remember when waking Sims up they would always be angry. No moodlet, no 'emotion' but actual throwing their arms around. I saw that mentioned on the TS2 BBS years ago and someone said that was because Will Wright put a lot of his personality into the game and as his involvement was less in TS2, some of those minor touches where left out.
A lot of players do always ask for humour but this varies between person to person so what some players like now has been shunned by others, the 'talking toilet' comes to mind. The thing is, had we had a talking toilet in TS1 everyone would have actually laughed about it back then.
Well a toaster fire is hardly going to cause the loss of some features
Maybe the fire caused the devs to be scared of them and cut them out of TS2 XD