The Sims

From The Sims - Wiki on Neoseeker

The Sims
North American Box Art
Developer	Maxis
Publisher	Electronic Arts
Platform	PC
Release Date(s)	1998 (NA)
Genre	Simulation
Rating	(T) Teen

Game Summary

The Sims is the first big Sims game created by Maxis. Their previous titles such as SimCity were made for the casual gamer, however Will Wright had bigger and better ideas. After putting forward his idea of controlling an entire household and allowing them to perform various interactions, the rest of the Maxis team said that their equipment was no where near advanced enough to make this happen. However as a few years passed, technology improved and so The Sims was born.

Taking Care of Sims' Needs

Sims all have needs that can only be fulfilled by using certain objects than increase a certain need's level. For example, if your Sim's hygiene is suffering in the red zone, you will need to get them into either the bath, shower or hot tub. If your Sim is famished, be sure to feed them, as once the need drops low enough, there's a chance that they will die.

For an in-depth guide on how to take care of a Sim's needs, check the Motives page.

Ways to Make Money

Get a job!

Getting a job is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to make money. There are two ways for your Sim to delve into the work force. Selecting the "Find a Job" options from either the newspaper, delivered every morning by Nancy, (offers one career per day) or via a home computer, which must be bought and placed at a desk with a chair to be operational (offers 3 options per day). You may choose one of many promising careers for your eager Sim, ranging from Medicine to Business. To succeed in a job, your Sim must build their skills (to the required level(s) that their job entails), make the amount of friends required, and be in an overall good mood. If your Sim constantly goes to work with all three of those requirements met, promotions, money and happiness will follow.

"Rent" your items

You can "rent" items. This means that you can buy your items, use them and get all of your money back. But there is a small catch to this: you must return your item by midnight that same day, so it's not recommended that you buy any items later than early evening. For example, if you wanted your sim to find a job through the computer, but they don’t have enough money, just buy a computer in the morning, have them hunt for a job with a lot of pay and return it straight after.

Skill build and make money... at the same time!

Multi-task! If you buy an easel, then your Sims can gain creativity skill and sell their completed paintings at the end. Easy money, skill building and a bonus increase in the fun need.

Item depreciation and appreciation

All items you purchase for your Sims eventually go down in value, making selling them back after use not very profitable (unless you return it the same day). On the other hand, paintings and statues have the reverse effect. They get an 'appreciation value' which rises the longer you keep the object on a lot. This means, you can leave a painting for a long period of time and it will slowly go up in value, meaning that after a while, you can sell it for much more that it's original value. It hasn’t been confirmed, but if your Sim paints a picture and later dies, the painting goes up in value even more!

System Requirements

• Operating system: Windows 95/98/xp
• Sound card: DirectX 7.0 compatible
• Processor: 233 MHz
• DirectX: version 7.0
• Memory: 64 MB RAM
• Input: Keyboard, Mouse
• Hard Drive: 1.4GB
• CD-DVD: 4 speeds
• Graphics: 2MB

Major portions of this page were written by: Choccy