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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 11:54 AM
Default How Did It Start For You?
Hi! What first drew you to the classic game of The Sims?

I kept hearing about it from a friend and her son and it sounded like a hoot. Computer games were still fairly novel for me at that point and, even though The Sims sounded interesting, we didn't have a computer that could play it. When we finally got a new computer, we got the game for my son.

My son started a family and couldn't figure out how to make them happy. He told me there was nothing he could do, they were miserable all the time. I gave him a few suggestions, thinking of real life (silly me) and he tried a few of them, but it didn't work. I asked him if I could have them and he was happy to move on to a fresh family. That was it, I was HOOKED.

I think it was the appeal of taking care of electronic critters. Initially, it didn't seem so different from the electronic pet I babysat while my son went to school. I had my own problems with that family. I lost the son because he kept playing in the pool when he was supposed to catch the bus and he was sent to military school. Luckily, I didn't save then or after the time the mom was napping on a couch in front of the fire and burned up. I've remade that family on different computers - it's become my obsession.

Addicted to The Sims since 2000.
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The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#2 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 12:06 PM
Do you know, I can't remember. It was quite a while back. When was the game released? 2000? That was only two years after I had my operation and recovered from my illness - memory is a bit foggy from around then. I can remember playing the game with my nephews.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#3 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 12:10 PM
I remember we just didn't have enough in our game and wanted things - like wall lights (remember you used to have to put a lamp on a table or a floor lamp in every room, including the bathroom?), so after much consideration, we got House Party and Living Large. We purchased this right before my son's karate class and I sat just outside the dojo studying the box and the manual. One of the instructors walked by with a grin on his face and commented, "That is the best game - ever!"

Addicted to The Sims since 2000.
Forum Resident
#4 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 1:03 PM
I saw the base game and House Party at a local game store and somehow managed to persuade my mum to buy them for me. This was around the time when I was just getting in to gaming and had already gravitated towards simulation games (at the time I had played Dungeon Keeper, Catz/Dogz, and also had my own tamagotchi) so the sims seemed like a natural progression. I had to get my computer upgraded to play Hot Date, but unfortunately my computer went "nope, not going to play that" when I tried to install On Holiday yet I still bought Unleashed hoping that one would work (it didn't, but I did get a bit of play time on a friend's computer).

It was a good few years before I really thought about getting the game again and I finally managed to buy the complete collection and install it.

Angelos Town Prosperity updated 11th June 2012. | Albion Falls BACC updated 25th April 2011.

Watch my Livesimming Channel -- 17th June 6PM GMT (2PM EST) Cresdale: Rules and Regulations (Part 2)
Theorist
#5 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 1:38 PM
I'd started a new school and my new best friend had the game so we used to play it when I went over to her house. Eventually my parents caved in and bought me my own copy, then the expansion packs for Christmases and birthdays. I didn't have my own computer though, so I had to install it on my father's computer, much to his irritation because I'd leave the game running while I wandered off to do something else and he'd come into his study to find the Sims music playing out of his computer. That's probably what contributed to him buying me my own computer!

"Your life was a liner I voyaged in."
Forum Resident
#6 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 3:11 PM
While my son was away from home stationed in the Army, he kept telling me about this game he thought I would really like. I was more into puzzle games like Tetris and Dr. Mario, so I was like "Yeah, sure, whatever." Then, when he got out of the Army he brought me Sims 1, I think with all the pre-Vacation EPs, installed them on my computer, and then sat next to me and spent the next several hours walking me through the game. Little did he know he was about to create a monster - I was totally hooked and have been for more than 10 years. He also introduced it to my younger son, who was 7 at the time. After that, every time a new EP was released he would come home from work armed with a new copy for each of us.

My boys moved on from Sims about midway through Sims 2, but still, it's nice to be able to talk to them about the game, have them know what you're talking about, and not have their eyes glaze over like non-players.
Top Secret Researcher
#7 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 4:46 PM
I don't exactly remember how I was first introduced to the game but my earliest memory of it seeing my cousin and his friend play it.

Back then my cousin and I would play Theme Hospital (something like that) and Sim Copter I remember being horrible at sim copter because I never understood what to do in it but I enjoyed flying around the city and getting to know the areas. It would probably be a while after that before I had my own Sims game because it took a while to get my own computer. (My parents weren't into that sort of thing but I begged enough a got it) I had the base game along with House Party and then the dating EP and Pets.

Of course like many I would create my sim self and whatever crush at the time and we'd have a bunch of kids. I didnt have internet at the time so I never new about CC until I had The Sims2.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 4:58 PM
I first read about it in a magazine about games. Then I've decided it's "must have". I was hooked from a first minute - being just a kid, it was like playing doll house, only you could build your house and you didn't have to buy new dolls if you were bored with the look of current ones. I remember that my first family was pre-made, Bachelor dude. I've tried to flirt with Bella because I didn't knew that he was her brother X.x Oh boy, and I've kept wondering why she didn't want to kiss him.
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 5:19 PM
I had played sims games on console, mostly sims 2 on DS. I knew there was a computer game, but I had never played. My friend and I were at a garage sale and the sims was only $1.00. I bought it, and soon after I was playing 16 hours a day.
This was about 3 years ago, and I continue to do the same thing everyday.
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 5:34 PM
I saw my friend played it and interested. so I borrowed disc and installed it on my dad's pc. Because the sims made me so addict, my dad decided to uninstall it. I was so sad even i couldn't stop thinking about it. Soon, my dad bought me PS2 and the sims disc for PS2. Well that's better than nothing. So i just stick with the sims console and the sims bustin out until i got my computer. now, I have TS complete collection, TS2, and TS3 on my computer. and live happily ever after.
Instructor
#11 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 7:21 PM
Well, here's my SimStory
How I started playing the Sims? Ha, ha, yes it is a special story! Earlier I had been playing SimCity4 quite a lot and heard of The Sims but did not think there was something for me, thought it seemed too childish.

So I was on winter break vacation in a cabin with my mother and grandmother. It was bad weather so we mostly sat inside and read.
So we went into a town to shop. In a game shop window, I saw that they were advertising for a new game - The Sims Unleashed. I saw that there were dogs, cats and other animals in it. As I always liked animals a lot, I bought the game even though it was very expensive.

When we got back to the cabin, I would install it on my laptop but then saw that it was an expansion and that I must have the base game to play! Why didn't they inform me in the shop?
After much persuasion, I managed to get my mom to drive me to the town again the next day. I was going to return the game. The dealer would not take back the game because I had opened the package. After some pondering, I bought also the basic game. Well, since then I have played Sims.

I now have all the Sims game, Sims 2 and Sims 3, all expansions and StuffPacks and dare not think about how many hours I've been playing the Sims.

I also learnd How to make objects for the game and love making different stuff. It takes alot of time and it's fine I don't have a family to take care of. Just my dogs and they don't complain!

Maybe it's time to get a life?
Forum Resident
#12 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 7:54 PM
I just happened to see the box at a store (Circuit City, I believe, who so faithfully provided so many good deals on EPs over the years...) and thought it sounded cool. I'm not even sure I made the connection between The Sims and any of the other SimWhatever games I'd played, though, haha. Took it home, installed it, and was instantly hooked. That was shortly before a school year started, and I remember how much I was looking forward to the end of the school day that first week, solely because I couldn't wait to start the game back up! (The second great shift happened when I learned that there were other players who could make these objects of their own to go inside the game, omg-- which is also the story of how I learned to use zip files and the like. )
Mad Poster
#13 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 8:53 PM
We used to have it at school in our "disk catalogue", and we'd play it on these ancient desktops (with black and white monitors), but I never really bought it for myself until I got a good computer. At that time, TS2 was still new, so I got the basegame (and Nightlife cos it looked cool and we were out of money to buy University) and started with that (I was gonna get the new Harvest Moon that just came out but it wasn't in stock) . . . then I got TS1 as well.

I used to play Neopets a lot myself (and Roller Coaster Tycoon, where I used to take the house props and make fences and drop people into the yards to make streets . . . we won't go there) so I knew my way around the game pretty much instantly. I haven't stopped playing at least one of the sims games a day since, oh, 2001 or 2002. My memory's really fuzzy about the earlier times. My official start date to me is 2005, when I bought my own, but I'd been playing on friend's computers and consoles (the Urbz rocks!) and at school during lunch hour LONG before that.


Angie/DS | Baby Sterling - 24/2/2014
This account is mostly used by my sons to download CC now, if you see me active, it's probably just them!
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 9:03 PM
Hmmm how did i get into The Sims (wasnt called Sims 1 back then ... LOL )
My mom, my younger sister and I went back to school shopping and I begged .... begged my mom at the store (I want to say it was Staples or OfficeMax) I wanted the game and I would do anything for her. I got it! Though I had to walk the dog that night which interrupted my game play but that was okay ... it was there when I came back.

Shortly thereafter I joined a Sims forum online and got into the downloads and all that good stuff.
Test Subject
#15 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 9:22 PM
Ahh, The Sims 1!

I remember reading about The Sims in this upcoming PC games booklet back in '99. I had never heard of a game like it and just from reading the description, I knew it was an instant buy!

#nostalgiaoverload
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#16 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 9:54 PM
Sims 1 was where I first met Sim Sample, so I have particularly horrific nice memories of that game.

I still have it installed on my computer, it's whimsical in a way Sims 2 and Sims 3 are not. Plus, you only get the Tragic Clown in Sims 1!
Screenshots
Scholar
#17 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 11:08 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Sims 1 was where I first met Sim Sample, so I have particularly horrific nice memories of that game.

I still have it installed on my computer, it's whimsical in a way Sims 2 and Sims 3 are not. Plus, you only get the Tragic Clown in Sims 1!


OMG tragic clown still haunts me to this day, always happy he isn't in TS2 or 3 =D I had Sim Slice's Flippy the happy the clown and also the street sign that banned the Tragic Clown from showing up lol.

DigitalSympathies (quote from their sig): "Quite possibly the owner of the largest TS2 downloads folder on this site. Last count: 75 GB"
I have a paltry 15.4GB for TS2, you beat me by a long shot lol.
I have 11.9GB for TS1, which is misleading since file sizes were so much smaller
I have 18, 925 downloads for TS2, and 41, 471 downloads for TS1.
Only a paltry 1, 388 for TS3 though.
(My actual file counts are higher, but since I have an image of most every download, I've halved the file count)


I'd wanted to check out the The Sims when it was first released, but I didn't get round to buying it. The local game store was doing a special offer on the base game and LL if you bought them together, just after LL was released, so I figured I may as well.
I remember being thoroughly disappointed with it, then the next day I figured maybe I'd missed something so looked on the internet to see what other people made of it or if there was a way to make it more interesting, and I came across the Well Dressed Sim website....once I discovered you could put custom clothing etc in the game and make your own to put into the game, I was so thoroughly overjoyed, the game has held great fasination for me ever since. I don't remember what I found disappointing about it initially, and looking back now it seems like an odd first impression to have had of the game, but I distinctly remember the moment I shut the game down regretting the money I'd spent on it....it could just have been the mood I was in when I first played it I guess.
Scholar
#18 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 11:31 PM
I was 10 yrs old at Costco looking at the game section. I kept staring at the Sims box. It looked like a game for adults, because I've never came across a game where you can choose to do anything. But for some reason I kept reading it and it intrigued me. I asked my parents one time to get it for me, but it was $50 and they said no. But it still bugged me the next few times we went to Costco. I then bugged my mom about it and she caved in and got it for me. Then the Sims addiction continues till this day!
Instructor
#19 Old 9th Jul 2012 at 11:53 PM
My sister kept telling me about it and said I'd probably like it. Our PC was a pile of crap at the time so I had the PS2 version of the game:



I loved it. Once we had a decent PC I bought the PC game and become obsessed :')
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#20 Old 10th Jul 2012 at 12:59 AM
Ah! the console versions of the game. It was pretty funny, especially that whole bit with "Mom" and the helicopter at the end. Maxis had a whole thing with baboons then.

Addicted to The Sims since 2000.
Field Researcher
#21 Old 10th Jul 2012 at 3:29 AM
The obsession started when it was released, I think my parents bought it for me as a christmas gift, and oh what a joyous gift! It was great, because every birthday I got the next release/add on and I even bought a few myself. Of course I moved onto the console games when I discovered I wouldn't be able to play The Sims 2 (I had an apple computer at the time) and once I got my first laptop (windows) I went nuts and bought all the games and add ons cheaply (something like 10-20 dollars per game). Now I switch between both but like to play The Sims for some good old fashioned fun. :D

Oh Noes Not Another Blog! - where you can see my awful custom content and horrible attempts at challenges, storytelling and picture taking.
Not much up there right now, this is only the beginning! :D
Test Subject
#22 Old 10th Jul 2012 at 6:40 AM
My cousins told me about it and i finally played it with my friend one day and i have been hooked sense its a wonderful game. And to all the haters of the sims 3 I did feel the same way but give it a chance, get some good downloads and/or expansion packs and the game is great!
Quote: Originally posted by VerDeTerre
Hi! What first drew you to the classic game of The Sims?

I kept hearing about it from a friend and her son and it sounded like a hoot. Computer games were still fairly novel for me at that point and, even though The Sims sounded interesting, we didn't have a computer that could play it. When we finally got a new computer, we got the game for my son.

My son started a family and couldn't figure out how to make them happy. He told me there was nothing he could do, they were miserable all the time. I gave him a few suggestions, thinking of real life (silly me) and he tried a few of them, but it didn't work. I asked him if I could have them and he was happy to move on to a fresh family. That was it, I was HOOKED.

I think it was the appeal of taking care of electronic critters. Initially, it didn't seem so different from the electronic pet I babysat while my son went to school. I had my own problems with that family. I lost the son because he kept playing in the pool when he was supposed to catch the bus and he was sent to military school. Luckily, I didn't save then or after the time the mom was napping on a couch in front of the fire and burned up. I've remade that family on different computers - it's become my obsession.
#23 Old 11th Jul 2012 at 3:56 AM
My cousin played it but would never let me touch the damn thing. I remember she, my sister, and I would spend hours scouring the web for CC for the game and never use half of it(we could watch her play but never play it ourselves). I started right into sims 2 and in 2009 i bought the sims and makin magic, but alas compatibility issues because i have Vista. It works in compatibility mode I guess, but I'm so adjusted to sims 2 controls and graphics the appeal quickly wore off.
Instructor
#24 Old 11th Jul 2012 at 6:00 PM
For me, sadly, it all started on the Gamecube. I had the Sims for the console because back then, I never thought anything about computers, and when I did get one it was one of those famous Flea Market types. It was as slow as a snail and it barely held Rollercoaster Tycoon.

But, I fell in love with it. I never finished the game, I always went far enough to open the stuff up, and then went off to play the Goth's or the Newbie's. After everything I'm seeing I might have to hunt around for copies of Sims 1. I'm especially interested in Makin' Magic.
Forum Resident
#25 Old 11th Jul 2012 at 6:29 PM
It started for me close to my eleventh birthday. I was with my grandparents in Walmart and went to look at the video games (I was actually looking for a cheap deer hunter game) and happened to stumble onto the Sims. After reading the box three or four times I went to my grandpa and told him that I wanted it for my birthday so he bought it for me.

I stayed up all night that night on the game and the next morning when my little sister came out of her room to find me still on the game she got so mad she stormed back into her room screaming "Great! Now I'll never get a turn!"

Sad thing is, up until I gave birth to my daughter, I continued to stay up until sunrise playing the Sims, Sims 2, or Sims 3!

The moon so bright shows me the way
Deep in the graveyard beside her I lay
Knowing she'll keep me safe from all harms
Though six feet apart, I lay in her arms...
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