open source sims like game

[kristie91]

I decided to make this topic to get a discussion going on the idea if a group of people were to get together and make an open source sims like game.
So basically I want to ask people what would you want in this game if it was possible?

What art style would you want or rather do you want it super realistic looking or cartoon looking or something in between?

What are some interactions between the simulated people that you would absolutely want?

What kind of objects should be in the first version of the game?

And finally what type of talent and abilities would the people need to bring the game together like coding, animation, etc?


Here I will put things that the majority agrees one like interactions, objects, etc that should be a part of the game. I will update and edit this post to reflect this.
Objects

Interactions

[Volvenom]

I want to build real buildings, and I want round walls!

[TortureTheNannies]

I want a list of needs / motives to choose from. We had a good start with EA's plants and vampires, but a list of 20 or 30 would give us very flexible sims. Let's make modding easier, easy to decorate windows.

[DigitalSympathies]

I know of a few online games in development that are aimed to be like this if you want to talk to some of the dev's :D

[opiumgirl]

I dream of a game like this.
The art style can be somewhere between cartoony and realistic.
Some of the more realistic games out there are breathtaking, I just don't know if it would be possible to do for this- I have often longed for my sims to look more real and with better facial animations.

Interactions I think will make or break a game like this. A lot of people feel that there is a lack of meaningful interaction in the sims.
I think little details can go a long way, like eg. being able to grab your significant other's ass

Also just think of all of the normal stuff we do every day without even thinking about it.
I agree with TortureTheNannies' system to make more varied sims. That is a brilliant idea and would make for very interesting play dynamic. Especially if you tie the various personality types to what kind of objects they can use. eg someone who is a technophobe would break the computer.

Objects: for base game I think your everyday stuff would be enough, more could always be added later by others since it is an opensource game.
I think making the interactions and the sims more varied is much more important for the base game.

[Ghaydn]

Have you heard about La Vida? It looks just what this topic is about: opensource Sims-like game. But it looks inactive for several months.

[Elyasis]

Looked up La Vida. Wow.

I'm amazed anyone would ever offer this as an alternative.

We need Sburb though. I would play the dickens out of that.

[TBot411]

Great! When do we get started. I was going to make my own, but working with a group would be better. My coding skills are fairly minimal so we would probably need someone to do that.

I would prefer it to be as realistic as possible, we could fallow current industry standards. Once the game is made, it could be made more cartoony fairly easily if there was demand for that.

Some of the first things that need to be done/decided soon are we need to set up a web site for a project of this size. Or at least a temporary Forum on a website. I have one available. Also, are we going to program the whole thing from scratch or use/modify an existing game engine for our game.

[BlakeS5678]

Looked up La Vida. Wow.

I'm amazed anyone would ever offer this as an alternative.

Do you have a link, I want to check it out too. But, I only get weird stuff when I google it.

[upayda]

Hi, I'm a member for years, but i posted very few times here. When i found this thread i got very motivated about the idea of creating a free sims game. :heyhey: :heyhey:

I think if a group of people from Mod the sims started to make a sims game the results should be very satisfactory. There are a lot of excelent programmers and artists in this comunity, even a group of about 10 people should make a decent prototype game in about a year.

I offer myself seriously for a project like this, if someone is thinking of starting it. I'm an excelent programmer, both in C# and Java, and i have the skill to get the grasp of whatever programming language in short time. I'm also a good 2d and 3d artist. It's very important to think that making a game isn't easy. Group work is fundamental, one human alone can't ever expect to suceed in this.

Maybe we could start from zero, i've tried to search for info about La Vida, but there is very few, I tried also to install in my linux, but couldn't whatever. Here's the link of what i think is the project page of La Vida (http://www.indiegogo.com/la-vida-game)

Thats all, please let me know if I can help with something like this. Bye-Bye.

[Mootilda]

Actually, that link isn't the project page, but the funding page. This looks more like the project:
http://www.la-vida-game.co.uk/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=919372

[LunaLover]

Anyone still looking for an open source sims like game, I know of a place where you can rent your own server space to create your own sims like environment. Come create custom content, interact with other creators, role players and fun seekers of all genres.
Just send me a pm here or an email to [email protected]

[jthm_nny]

I said this before, but I don't remember when: the elderly can beat up people, either with a cane or a handbag. That way it would be SO much more interesting to play an elder.
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Characters (can't call 'em sims") would be able to have a different gender identity than their birth gender, if that's what you want for that particular character, and will randomize whether or not characters born in game do. But the chance of that would be small.
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Characters can become Grim Geapers IF they meet these qualifications:
*They witness 10 deaths
*They build a positive relationship with the Main Reaper
*They have seen 5 ghosts

Of course this allows characters to be buddies with the Main Reaper, which is awesome. All playable Reapers would go to work in a cloak like Grimmy and in a car like a hearse and spawn as Reapers during deaths. Only murder requires the Main Reaper. Murderers are severely punished and may even be taken as well.
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Muffin trees that kill by growing poison muffins if asked for a different kind.
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A new life state involving monsters that eat souls. The Main Reaper would spawn as it would be a murder, yet no soul could be brought to the other side. The Main Reaper tries to convince the monster to give back the soul...with a speech bubble of a toilet. The monster will automatically decline, and instead of a tombstone, there would be a small, dead black tree in its place. The monsters can not be taken by any Reaper other than the Main one, and while have a large dead black tree as a tombstone. The monsters would either be able to die of starvation, die of old age, or die from fire. They can not die any other way. Their life span would be twice that of ordinary characters. They do not require ordinary appliances or plumbing.

[M.M.A.A.]

I want as many interactions as possible between sims.

Sims should also be able to make announcements about several stuff. I want business trips where a parent would leave for sometime and not coming back until the work is done.

For the graphics: Sims 2 Graphics would be fine.

[CrèmedelaCrème]

One might as well wonder how these wishes and demands are technologically possible or what algorithm is most appropriate to simulate whatever desired effect.

[DrowningFishy]

It would be cool if two things. CC could still exsist in some way or form. Face it I think that is what keeps the Sims turning. And if you keep in mind some people love to murder sims. Make a serial killer a trait. Murder 15 people and there happy and set for life. You don't have to be graphic about it; just the satisfaction of doing evil. We should be allowed to play how we want; Good, Neutral, or Evil.

XD would love an exicushiners (sp?) career.

[CrèmedelaCrème]

It would be cool if two things. CC could still exsist in some way or form. Face it I think that is what keeps the Sims turning. And if you keep in mind some people love to murder sims. Make a serial killer a trait. Murder 15 people and there happy and set for life. You don't have to be graphic about it; just the satisfaction of doing evil. We should be allowed to play how we want; Good, Neutral, or Evil.

XD would love an exicushiners (sp?) career.

Executioner? :bunny: