Modding The Sims into an educational game

[toddianatgmail]

Hey, I'm in 2nd year university and I'm trying to build a concept I have. Essentially, it's making educational games on the philosophy that they need to be fun, to the point of being addictive, first, educational second.

What I want to do is create a mod of the sims where the player can pick various careers, then go to work and actually do work. My current concept is using it to teach physiology/medical stuff.

The player would pick the doctor career, but when they left for work each morning they would end up spawning in a new building, a hospital. So far so good, from my understanding it's pretty similar to the sims open for business expansion pack, although I haven't played it yet.

However, what I want to do next is overhaul the career system. While at work you would see patients; if you were diagnosing them you would receive a list of symptoms from them. You figure out whats wrong with them, give them a prescription, and hope it works. They could come back later and if you fixed them, you could eventually receive a promotion. If not, you might get demoted, even sent back to medical school.

Also, if you're not nice to your patients they might not give you the information you need to make your diagnosis. If you're really mean you might even stop getting patients, and receive demotions. You'd also have to get along with nurses and other staff at the hospital, and have to make friends here to get promotions.

Now, the important part to my plan is that, while it would take a lot of serious studying to succeed in this career, you would get rewards. You can go home and buy stuff with money from your promotion, apply for jobs at different hospitals, get into different specialties. The way I see it, the biggest problem that most students face is lack of motivation, so a fun to play study tool could be a huge help. I'm doing medical science at university, so I'm hoping to make it all medically accurate, basically a physiology textbook embedded into a game.

Now my question is, can all this modding be done? It's pretty far from what the game is currently, so how much scope do you guys have for changing the way the game works? Any advice would be great.

[Fat D]

people scream for this feature since TS1...

[trezero]

o_o It would be on the order of an entire expansion pack, like OFB.

Except even bigger.

Which means it's gone beyond the realm of modding; it would be writing an entire game expansion.

[jbenisek]

I would like to use this same idea. But I don't care about the carer and game store. I would like it as a training and sim. Which is what it is. I would like to add computers, network equipment and much more to the game. However, when you click on a computer an emulator comes up and allows you to use that computer as if you were there. This would allow a school/student to create a real world IT training sim. I could design my office and run it as that. Take the tests from Microsoft and cisco and put them in the game to teach the rules and how to program routers and firewalls... ISP's and Call centers including places like Circuit City could use it as a employee training tool.

Add network cable, create a way to place and connect them all together, and add an emulator and you'd have a complete training tool.

I'm sure you can't mod the game to do this and since EA doesn't take any game idea's from the outside world unless it's a fully working proto type I need help.

I think this would be some what easy if we can add an emulator to the game. With the release and usage of Virutal PC and Server and I think is do able. Imagen the learning and training options if you can site your employees or students in front of a game like this and they could learn everything they need to be a IT professional...

What do you all think? Let me know...

[databanks]

o_o It would be on the order of an entire expansion pack, like OFB.

Except even bigger.

Which means it's gone beyond the realm of modding; it would be writing an entire game expansion.

Expansion? Hell, it's almost a new game, but sounds like it would be fun to try. Like a branch in the Sims evolution, I guess you'd call it. Be it for whatever career filed in question, it would have merit. Like the idea :)

[Pixelhate]

Here are a few links where Sims 1 or 2 are used in a educationnal way
The Sims Teach German Video Games for Foreign Language (http://www.archive.org/details/the_sims_teach_german)
Games help you 'learn and play' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4182023.stm)
YOU'RE NOT STUDYING, YOU'RE JUST PLAYING THAT SIMS™ GAME OF YOURS (http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/purushotma/default.html)

It's mostly around learning languages but it maybe might interest some of you...

PixelHate

[wildefae]

It would be a huge thing to do
...however, I want to point out that there are games pretty much like this (although not to exact specifications). I recall playing a game called something like "Emergency: Code Blue" or similar that, although based solely upon an ER, required diagnoses, medical analyses, and continued high performance within a hospital setting. You interacted with other doctors in a sims-like arena (actually the graphics were even better). Honestly, I think I stopped playing because I wasn't good enough and I lost a patient!

But it might be worth looking for something like that, instead of trying to revamp a game that honestly would need an entire recode.

[fly4mic]

Interactive Simulation Games In General are useful tools for training, and should be fun. I would definiately like to play a game that teaches you what you need to know about your career and prepares you for certifications ( medical, IT, or other).

I do not think it is possible as a sims2 mod. It probably will be simular in coding to sims2, but i would not combine the job simulation with sims2.

[Bubby bob]

I'd know how to make the edgacational part but not how go to work and automaticly switch to the careers game. the tool for making the career part can be found here it's used fo making gams though. (http://)

[simmertom01]

I think it might be posaible if you modify The Sims 2 Life Stories because it is basesd on goals(or at leasts that what i heard). If you could somehow modify them you colud make a lot for you hospital(or whetever carrer you wan't to make) and move your sim into it. I don't have life sotries so I don't know if it's possaible. It's just an idea :D :rofl: :D

[Christoph680]

@bubby: where is it? ^^
Well, you could have a look at the bhav of the taxi and how it teleports sims to other locs. at this locs a specified variable could be asked for and if its f.e. true then the carrer mode starts.