The Sims 3
Preview
Tired of running your own life? Grab a Sim!
by Howie Howard
previewed on PC
Character design (cntd)
During the design phase of the game the player’s character needs to be assigned five distinct personality traits. There is a pool of about 80 traits to choose from and they include outdoorsman, paranoid, jock, kleptomaniac and other more unique traits. All of these traits combined give the character a more human feeling. The number of different and unique personalities is enormous with this system.
No more needs bars
One part of this new game engine that I really like is the replacement of the needs bar with a balloon that pops up when the Sim has to do things like go to the bathroom. Gone are the mistakes that can inevitably happen if the need bar is ignored. Now the Sim will simply have a thought that he should take care of a personal problem such as eating, bathing or socializing. Some hard core Sims fans might feel that this simplification takes away from the game. In my opinion it makes things easier and we can now concentrate on other things besides doing the mundane everyday lives chores. In addition to changing the mood bars other requirement aspects have been eliminated. This makes game play seem more realistic.
We have talked mostly about the new character AI and generation aspects of the game and again that isn’t the only new area being designed in. The developers are giving the player an easier way to design things such as furniture, clothing, houses and other in game areas so this should explode the amount of available player generated content. One of the things that always bothered me about game items such as furniture was the way they would fit into the house. If you didn’t put the TV flat against a long wall then it looked out of place or it stuck out in front of a door or walkway. The Sims 3 now includes ways to rotate and tweak how items look in the room.
Endless possibilities in this new dynamic world
The fact that this new Sims game is going to have a completely new game engine excites me because there is so much to say about it. The possibilities for new and more varied gameplay will seem endless. There will be more human interactions and the places where you can interact with the other characters are now seamlessly integrated in to the game. I don’t like to wish time away because it goes much too fast already, but I can’t wait for the new The Sims 3 to come my way. It will be here soon and then we can all delve into yet another dynamic Sims world!
