Well, last night I finally finished polishing off my Gomez & Morticia Addams miis. In their case, they are supposed to be creepy...as well as mysterious and spooky.



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With a very good game like Sims, EA would have to go down with the price aswell and give more for the money. Because there is actually no large game, who is comparable and EA is aware of this, they do what they want with us fans and looking only on the profit.
I am looking not to rarely for everyday life simulators. Only thing i have seen for now where very small browser or mini games. The only large one is know from is Sims. I hope this will change. Only question is, if Sims would be still grow as large then. But if the other game is good enough and offers more for the money, it would be okay then.

Yeah, I have that game on my iPad. The game is really old, and the makers haven't really done much except port it. I think maybe they are a 2-5 person studio at most, family run business.

God knows that the competition would do EA some good. Maybe they'd start giving a shit about their customers if there was something stealing their thunder.

I've always sorta hunted for a Sims-like game...I've managed to find a very small few but none of them are any good. Well, there's Little Computer People, which was what The Sims was inspired by...it's kinda 80's and I doubt they'll ever make a newer port of it.

They'd just buy them out. *cough*NFL 2K5*cough*.

"Oh, you're making a better game than us and selling it for a lower price? Buyout time!"

They're always too focused on one aspect of life instead of letting the player have the whole enchilada, if you know what I mean. Some have a more domestic focus and lack the community lot aspect, some are heavily focused on sex, some don't have sex at all, some only take place in the workplace, etc.

We need one that lets us "enjoy" different parts of life in one neat little package instead of concentrating on just one niche.

I wish up on a star that Will Wright will come back and rebuild a sims game under a different name. Now THAT was a man with passion and an ear for the community. The best part is when MAXIS made expansions based on different aspects of life they got it right and made it interesting. It would take days or weeks to fully explore what they had to offer and not a couple of hours.

By now toddlers, pools, terrain modding and other aspects of the series were understood to be a standard in the base game. Sequels should only raise the bar not completely redefine what a base game is and teasing took place in very informative videos and producer walkthroughs.

Thats true. I don't think that there's going to be another life simulation game, unless it's made by a big gaming company, like ubisoft, activision or rockstar. I don't know why they dont do it.

A lot of people also thought that same-sex marriages would never be legal in the United States. But we're making progress.

I love how The Sims 5 looks!

Well, there's some sad news on this front. After doing a little digging, I found out "Project Dimitri" was in development by Lionhead Studios, the developers of the Fable series. Project Dimitri was actually an AI project, started in 2001, and eventually evolved into the Milo demo for Kinect. And then it was just outright canceled.

It would be quite nice if there was an alternative which wasn't afraid to go for higher age ratings and was aimed at a more adult demographic, but wasn't competitively "adult" if that makes sense, ie, give us sex without ridiculous euphemisms, violence, disease which is actually a thing, weapons, drugs, alcohol, and the effects of those things as well as the wholesome picket fence thing. But there is no reason to cut out the more settled/family stuff entirely. Remember Black and White? Where you could choose?

A game I loved in the past was Creatures by Cyberlife. The game simulated the creature's brain and DNA which would affect its behaviour, genetics, propensity to illness etc. It wasn't afraid to be complex, and I never understood everything that the various brain chemicals did, but that wasn't the point - you could play it as a cute "virtual pet" or you could treat it as a challenge to see how many generations you could survive, you could delve into the chemistry and biology and do experiments, you could try to streamline a breeding line. There were strange mutations and even disorders similar to Autism could develop as a result of genetic mutation or certain combinations. It was limited, of course, because it was 2D and sprite based and the world was small, but I think with today's technology if they started with that you could make an incredible variety of worlds, perhaps even something generated like Terraria.

Where is Will Wright? He should found a gaming company and get all the legal rights for the sims lol.

According to Wikipedia:

...Wait, what? o_O

EA has him locked up in a basement under Redwood Studios. Rachel and Ryan share whipping duties. Grant does the occasional feather-tickle.

He should. I think he'd find it despicable to what E.A. is doing to his brain child.

He should storm into Redwood Studios and scream, "Give me back my baby!"

"Is Will Wright going to have to smack a bitch?"

I think I'd like a small but detailed game. One where you explore a town and go through life, but also have mysterious Easter eggs and haunted places.

The game would have to be significantly different than the Sims for legal purposes. I don't think you'd get in trouble for making the characters look like a blend of human and cartoon, though, because so many games are going at that angle. However, basic things like interacting with objects and other people would have to change significantly at least in aesthetics. You can't have the same head-popping-up menu; they'll probably get a patent on it if anyone announces a project similar to theirs, if they haven't already.

However, this enables the potential company to talk to their fans about things they would like and how they'd like it portrayed. For instance, make options for whether your character chooses to have their own business, a steady employed career, or have no job at all. I know most of us wish there was an expansion like there was Open For Business for TS2. They could incorporate stuff like city buses, trains, and other automobiles. Or, if it's too much to put in base without lag, they could tell us, then make expansion packs that actually add onto the game experience more than a single career or some new object interractions - expansion packs that added a whole new aspect, like the original Sims EPs. An EP for Weather/Seasons/Holidays, or for Public Transportation and City Life, or for Sports. They could release a base and listen to the audience for what THEY want in the game, something EA doesn't seem to do very often; it's more of what can I make look good and milk the most out of? instead of what can I do to please the audience and keep their loyalty? Look how easily we all would abandon them if another company came out; that's how bad it is.

So, yes, I do think it would be lovely if a company, small or large, would take up the project and make something even halfway as comprehensive as Sims. If some of us would back it up even if it's in poor aesthetic shape or poor content amount at the very beginning, our money may bring for expansions in that company and more budget for their project. Even if they don't make something as good, EA losing part of its fanbase will definitely put more emphasis on quality and content.

But this brings to mind a potential problem that might ward off people from ever attempting making a game like this: if EA bumps up the quality, won't everyone just go back to EA if the new game isn't as developed and comprehensive or as aesthetically pleasing?

Personally, I'd go with whichever has the best balance between cost and entertainment value. However, this philosophy has stopped me from buying a single expansion pack because I look at what I'd be able to do in addition and realize "Oh, that'll last maybe ten hours max; ten hours for $40? Nope." I go to CC instead simply for aesthetics and play for challenges and creating worlds. Admittedly, I've only had the game a few months because I found it on sale since TS4 is coming out. I'm curious, though. If a competitor came out with a game similar but lower quality because it's less professional, and then EA boosted the quality or lowered the price, which would you go for? If you want competition with Sims merely to improve the EA game, not to play a similar but different game, don't you think that will discourage potential groups?

Final, almost random though: Wouldn't it be cool if they included base-type achievements like in video games, in the potential competitor? Like "carry a family 5 gen" or "carry a family 100 years"? I'd have fun collecting all of those, and that would really boost my gameplay hours.

I don't think an indie game is going to cut it. This will be a titanic effort, putting together a game of this magnitude is simply not feasible without resources that a game publisher has.

You need a publisher. A big one.

What could be done:

1. Propose the game you want. This should be a formal *written proposal* compiled by the community of (ex) Sim fans. In the proposal, include:
a) Features (character creation, build and buy, styling objects, lifestages, open world, etc.) These need to go beyond what the Sims currently offers in qualitative ways---do not just spec out what any incarnation of the Sims offers.
b) Intended audience (it will help if you can include quantitative estimates of the potential market for the game).
c) Explain how this game will differ from the Sims as realized by EA, and surpass it.
d) Explain how this game naturally augments and fits into the potential publisher's current line.

2. Prove that the community considers this game something they'd absolutely buy. Perhaps collect a few hundred thousand signatures? Publicize the proposal? The industry will take notice---if this works, the fact that it was requested by the community will make it unique, and it will be a unique selling point should the game ever be published.

3. Formally submit the proposal to potential publishers.

4. While the proposal is being considered, continue to publicize it. Give it momentum.

5. Profit? Or if not, EA will realize the depth and magnitude of their fail?

I'll be the voice of dissent here and say I like TS3. HOWEVER, I do agree that having an alternative would be a wonderful idea. It's obvious EA seems to have stopped caring about their demographic (no CASt for you!), and another company could give the life simulation genre a breath of fresh air.

I liked TS3 too. Once I got a pretty decent PC to run it,it ran fine for me. Its the stuff I'm hearing about TS4 that makes me think that it is time for a competing game to come on the market.