*Hey, you, first time thread reader. This thread is a total anti-algorithm zone, it's reached out by those it has to be reached to, and, wow, 75 posts in a thread, LOTR isle of webscape edition, ain't got time for that, so intimidating words, where's the starting line?? Don't worry. Given this thread's continuous rotativity, it's worthy mentioning: If it is your first time reading this discussion, do not overwhelm yourself about the relatively huge post count! That's absolutely a matter of your own will, obviously; however, if you wish to explore our studies on its entirety, you may begin here and explore the rest afterwards (chronologically or not), as it still is going to be understandable & of easily follow, and you will not by no means be missing out anything.*

Bumpty bump! The making of The Sims Online [2002] told by an inactive GameSpot special (read ittttt) and several photos that our current time's internet almost unknowns, if not maybe through some potential encrypted image accumulating engines. Come on, the expectations on that game were high af, it's practically the gaming medium equivalent of Simone Biles!


simsoffice.jpg
^
The Sims Online department. Do note the 1998-1999's The Sims mockup picture, almost certainly designed by Mr. Eric Hedman, similar from those that @tacoman; kindly made us aware of a couple of months ago...


testingthegame.jpg
Programmers work on last-minute changes to The Sims Online.


programmingproblem.jpg
A programmer is perplexed by some of the 3 million lines of code in the game.


sim-charts.jpg
To aid in analyzing why The Sims broke down the gender barrier, Maxis classified Sims players into four distinct psychological groups. At the company's Walnut Creek offices, large poster boards depict each group of players. First, there are the people-suck players--those who like to torture their sims. This category is represented by a picture of the MTV character Daria. Then there are the reality-TV watchers who like the voyeurism aspect of the game. The trophy-seekers are a group who just want to get as much money as possible. And finally, the dollhouse players just want to build something. For the design team on The Sims Online, the challenge was to build a game that would attract the subset of all these groups interested in socializing online.


programmeratwork.jpg
Programmer at work


tso-producer.jpg
The Sims Online producer Virginia McArthur.


discussingskins.jpg
While looking at two recent fashion magazines for inspiration, three team members discuss which new character skins to add into the game.


entireteam.jpg
Some of the key members of the Sims Online team gather for a group photo. (side note: come on, you know the name of at least 3 of these kewl guys)


wright_matrix.jpg
Will Wright's offering you the red pill on December 17. Will you take it and enter the world of The Sims Online?

Thank you, people.

I LOVE THIS STUFF! Background stuff is the BEST. Did you work there? This is so incredibly cool - all of it, not just this latest post. A million thanks for giving us a bit of an inside view.

You mentioned four distinct player types and then gave descriptions of three of them: the trophy seekers, the people suck players, and the dollhouse players. What is the fourth kind? I'm trying to figure out where I fit in. Also, the descriptions you gave help me to identify players I never really connected with - namly the trophy seekers or the people suck players.

[...]Then there are the reality-TV watchers who like the voyeurism aspect of the game.[...] okay, now, are we missing something here???? are these kind of players consistently a thing these days? GOd, maybe my clique is just too well behaved and stiff with our building-wise, clean gameplay fashion and all that to even cogitate that watching two computer people during the frivolous act can be one's primary highlight in the context of why to play it! people gonna be people, for reals

Before getting access to this Maxis demographic study for the audience ratio increase benefits, one'd innocently bet that we somewhat could break down the stereotypes of what the average Sims players want into, let's say, a plumbob-shaped triforce that can be combined and integrate your individual experience as a Simmer in general, even outside the game: The builders, the destroyers and the, say, engineers? You know, the people that, at a certain point, realize that the game's vital purposes have more to do with the individual's capacity and freedom of engaging with the systems in order to give some use to several faculties of the whole brainbulding stuffs for the collective behavior, and how the open-ended early installments (and their respective developers) would always maintain an open-invitation for people to become smarter and limitlessly creative with their tools and everything. But, you know, it's all hybrid, you can be builder and a destroyer at the same, or different times! I'm not 100% a fan of the idea we can be so predictable via their lens!!

It's highly recommendable to read the full Sims Online saga here for more details. Loads of words! I personally haven't digested that all yet!



while they're building Sims and all? naaah I was only zero years old when everything was happening

I'll give myself the right of rebumping the thread as there are some Will-made concept arts for us to talk about and new old unused stuffz, but, now, ZZZ

Alright, plumbz, that's big.
It was a fab research as a whole; imagine learning all of the coolest things related to our past 3 years' finds, but... EVERYTHING AT ONCE. For the thread newbies: don't even start your read off the post number one, as it is usually advised! If you enjoy what you see right here, then it's a safe bet you can resume the fun going backwards. Oh, and it's a galactic collab kind of thing, so join in if you wanna

The media published in this thread is exclusively dedicated to educational purposes. If someone, for any reason, would deem that an image appearing in this post violates the copyright, please inform us immediately and it will be our care to remove immediately the post accordingly.

Okay so I just found these photos, I don't believe they have been uploaded here as of yet. But it's super interesting. I hope the beta skins and the rest of the furniture can resurface one day. I'd love to get my hands on it! the photos are quite small so click on them to get a better look. (Not sure how to upload them so that they are larger)

Here you go : https://www.mediafire.com/file/k2vv...rBall1.rar/file

Also updated the link in the original post

(Cool concept arts and unused stuff finds after the "RE:" right below!) For this thread's first time readers: Our commitment is in the acknowledgement of The Sims' thorough and inspiring development history, period! Even if it's a super threateningly lenghty thread, you can start your read (that, if you fancy doing so, of course) off the 79th post, maybe the 40th or the third one... or you can start reading from here; the order doesn't matter too much, as long as you're enjoying yourself etc.)




Hi, @tacoman; , that's a good recall! This build in particular had its space here in our thread for an X period of time, a couple of years ago!
- These screenshots were, in actuality, frames from this comprehensive demonstrative video of a 1998 (!!) build of The Sims, known as The Sims Steering Committee DEMO, played and commented by this funny bloke Don Hopkins. It's on air! Over forty minutes of solid pre-release experience galore! Go watch it, boy, it's a blast! (well, if you haven't)
- As its name explicites, this particular edition was compiled under the context of selling the awe of the game's concept to EA, kind of as a way of explaining to the folks that would provide Maxis the financial, moral and whatnot funds why the game mattered so much to the point it deserved support and progress. Since we're here, on this thread, on this website, doing the things we are doing and talking about the things we are talking about, it's not hard to imagine EA's final take on it back then (pause for some butterfly-effect-esque pondering)
- Here's the curious thing. Before the publication of the previously-mentioned 1998-DEMO-gameplay video on YB, two-year-and-something ago, the only 2 pieces of information that you could be acknowledged about that specific build were these 2 very elusive and small screenshots that'd normally blow one's mind given how paradoxically overdetailed, finished and passive aggressive they are, almost making you to believe that the game's beta-ish environment was even richer and, in a certain way, finished than the final game (which, nowadays, we know it's not true at all lol)...

In this thread's very first posts, when the video wasn't there yet, and when we had a mediocre beta know-how in terms of knowing the context behind our finds, an assumption was made on the origins of these screenshots, correctly mentioning that they were 1998 screenshots! And we were, well, blessed enough to experience the enlightening gameplay video less than *3 months* after the solidification of this thread as a place of consistent information symbiosis, the first fresh information about that build, 21 years after its development. Oh, man, talk about star alignment!
- These screenshots, as we know these days, illustrate a pre-The Sims speech written by MultiWillWrightDude himself, which can be read HERE("Build, Buy and Live") that was somehow publicly presented at a conference named Doors of Perception 5 PLAY back in ca. Late 1998/Late 1999.
* Mixed with an eloquent The Sims demonstration, Will also, in short, pursued the relations of ludic experiences in the context of creativity, both in the physical and technological panoramas, and why it matters;
* One key point of his message expresses the plain thought that "kids love failure" which is, indeed, compatible with most of Maxis' games philosophy of not containing a pre-determined taming state of irreversible failure and the commitment of developing tools that, in some extent hold themselves accountable for the individual's intellectual growth and learning;
* By analyzing some of his now-archived database of written and drawn concepts, we can also observe similar points exercised and somewhat arranged in his 90's notebook, most likely a pre-conference rehearsal, preserved by the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.



Now to this month's "Justice to Mister Sigmund Silver" edition...

1— BETA PLUMBOB'S RAW SPRITES:




As we know now, before taking its definitive glory as a prop that would have its shape dramatically changed multiple times before becoming the acclaimed spinning mood-ring-ish diamond, (you know, "props" are any of those non-character 3D objects from The Sims that generally operate as a visual interface between the actual Sim and the object they're interacting with, as in when they use one of the minibars and a 3D cup appears in their hand and they drink its content; the 3D bottle is a prop). the "plumbob" was, in fact, a bidimensional sprite as much as the conversation and food-begging icons are. What appears to be one of its oldest attempts, GameData/Sprites.IFF/SPR2/"Head dots", #2001, still is in the final build, although, obviously, nothing, during the clean, regular, "intended" gameplay contains lines to call it at all. It's notably seen on the 1998 DEMO (and animated!) until what is believed to be the January 1999 (definitely not post-February 1999) build. After that, a spinning, slow 3D yellow-ish arrow took its place


2— MORE STORYBOARDS!

The first version of (the post-release) The Sims website contained a little page dedicated to some of the game's concept arts. The WaybackMachine came in extremely handy when it comes to the recovery of its... thumbnails



But — guess what — we have got extra HQ equivalents of some of these in our sleeves (or, more realistically, our media archives)


Possibly the most known one, since it's a fair circulation around the interwebs, even if mostly out of full context. As your typical concept art, It does imagine the game as the utopian world of dynamic heights, possibilities and perspectives...


Ideas for Edith. Edith is, legend has it, the very first character ever created for The Sims, possibly the victim of many of those early experiments with toilets of all sorts. To the point that the confidential SimAntics resources manager was, in fact, named after her.


Adult-to-adult backrub animations, the potential feedbacks, the animation file names...


And, WOAH!, Maxoids demonstrating SimsVille, apparently?

*Most (if not all) of these arts may have been drawn by Eric "Irk" Hedman, the dope creative mind behind all of the previously-discussed conceptual adventures

3 — LAWSON FAMILY STUFF


Characters from the 1999 E3 DEMO, describing the amazing journey of a previously-sloppy bachelor working his way to the (Honey)moon. Even if, taking the mood arrow into consideration, it's taken a few months before May 1999

4— TCRF

This thread has been quoted as a To-Do reference in The Sims' pre-release page. Dope! We certainly do not have control over who on Earth reads these wacky things we do. You'll have my full support in the next couple of days. Guess we have more than enough resources to, about bloody time, contextualize the journey of this Doll House game as a way of making it into something more substantial than just a whole bunch of thread posts!

Thank you very much

Quick update. First time readers: Thanks for coming!



SO! Another fabulous The Sims program created back in the days of an Alpha, TBD The Sims, so the pre-release Simmers could have something to sharp their building nails on, AND eventually enjoy their Simming Day 1 with 3298 new walls, floors made by their own hands! Yes, it *looks* like the good old HomeMaster that we always had in our computers (in fact, it is its former counterpart), but it lets you generate wall paintings, too! However, it not only lacks the general intricateness and multiple choices from Art Studio, but it also, by being made in the Alpha times, generates paintings whose animation lists demand cmx animation files that our local (and final) Sims 1 do not always have, making it an undesirable option these days, except if it's for the sake of observation, etc.

No visual creativity tool is complete without demo pictures. In this case, Maxoid portrait demos! JPGs of, respectively, "Bobo" (Eric Bowman? Oh, crap, I missed the class), "Don" (Don Hopkins), "Jamie" (Jamie Doornbos), "Jeff" (Jeff Charvat) and "Patrick" (Patrick Barrett). Uh, nothing stops you from using these pictures as walls and floors, though!
That beautiful tool was published online in September 1999, in a time when the game already had the supercool final UI scheme...

Now, uh. What happens if we infiltrate the program's executable resources?


EXIT1.BMP and EXIT2.BMP. They are not directly used in the tool, but we can both agree that this is how the Alpha neighborhood screen's "Exit" button looked like.

THUMBTEMPLATE.BMP
A former version of the homonymous object thumbnail .BMP from the retail build, which is, obviously, the classic light blue. In fact, the color change is the quintessential definition of a last minute decision, as it was basically the beta-ish element that has survived throughout The Sims' development the most.


Higher resolution of a fairly common Alpha screenshot. Do note the (now) easy-to-read household's last name (Coolies), next to the friend counter, and inconsistently pictured thumbnails!


April 1999, Lisa and the stuck Group Meal platter.

Nice thread, thank you LUCPIX
Regards Vic ^_^

Hey. The random silent gridlock wasn't unnoticed! You may be a TCRF passerby, one of those fab Sims-2-beta people from the Russian forums that also made cool contribs. to the "Sims 2" portion of betas and, now, develops also a keenness on the first installment. Maybe one of those multiple trivia-based The Sims YouTube accounts mentioned our messy place in their videos and took advantage of some (rare) kindness of telling with exact precision where they got those stuffs from. Or, God knows, "x.tumblr.com"; in a more random and improbable shot, you're even a sobbing-in-nostalgia Maxoid! It doesn't matter too much, the important thing is that you'll have lotsa fun here, especially because it's, obviously, your cup of tea. The reading order isn't important, either. Bear in mind that, if you see 90% of the things you see here elsewhere that won't mention where they got the kewl knowledge from, you'll now know their sources! Enough is too much




(sauce)

This week: The 30th anniversary of the firestorm tragedy that was the catalyst of The Sims earliest insights — Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm of 1991. This article shows Will's experience on it.

First, baby steps on the conversion of our past three years' lessons and finds into something substantial enough to be part of The Sims' pre-release page @ TCRF! Obviously, it is subject to multiple changes from fellow wiki ninjas! The most important thing, however, is to remain as transparent, comprehensive and fun-to-read as possible. This game deserves it.

If I "was" you, I'd check what they are doing in Sims 2's prerelease page, too



One more thing: DEBUGGING IS FUN! We can talk about it later

Here's our little contribution for this month: We have rebuilt 3 of the 6 known households from The Sims' pre-release DEMO builds. Obviously, neither the furniture, nor the characters, will operate any differently from any other final build element, but, maybe, it's gonna be a good deal to you if the weirdly functional and huge dev-made plots of land work for you as some kind of playground to mess up with, or just in case, for any reason, you fancy experiencing some nearly-proto feel into your game, etc.

In the pack, the following scenarios are included:

Roomies. These eight human beings with no discernible personalities live a high life within a carnival of items that, indeed, offer, without a major effort, the fair range of objects that base The Sims could offer. Nowwwww it's up to YoU to let us know who the hell they are, and where they are going to be.

Pre-release snapshot!


Ryan. Possibly one of the first ones to be officially presented to the public (as, legends have it, he is the one that would commence the demonstrative scenario for E3 1999), and the last one to be scrapped from the pre-made families list (hey, he even makes his way to the game's official manual, as the Goths neighbor!). His notable characteristic is being a couch potato. His dream to be realized is being the first Sim to step on Mars and finding a wife, prob.

Pre-release snapshot!


Wallace. ????-July 1999. They're sugar family. Used to live at the hood spot now occupied by the Goths, and a very Betty Newbie-ish woman named... Betty.

Pre-release snapshot!

https://drive.google.com/drive/fold...JCoSE-DmvVX50q0
Download them here!!! Instructions are texted somewhere in the folder, for those unaware on how to handle .FAM files, which are good on importing previously-played scenarios. Plus, chaotic equivalents ("Wallace on fire!" and "It's either a huge plumbing problem or someone in this house has a really big bladder!!") if you think the standard lots are too dull for your taste.

Later

Love love love all the material you're finding us, @LUCPIX!!! As more time passes, we go deeper and deeper along the rabbit hole. I love those concept arts, funny how foundations were planned from the very beggining... and also diagonal stairs, a feature they haven't been able of implement on the game even 20 years later, oddly enough. . I'm very fond too of the backstage photos from the Maxis team. I've always been curious about the kind of office they had.

And what a treat! Thank you SO MUCH for your spot on recreations. Been always very odd that they had too this concept of twin sisters (and their redhead parent), even before they were to release the game.

Ciao, crocodile!! New to this thread?? Where to begin with?? Who even knows, anymore?? Lolololo



Yay, and it's fab to have you with us since the day one. You ought to have the disposition of a Saint. Yes, it's weird to think we are still digging on this WonderLand after all this time (almost 3 years :-o ), and almost always with something entirely new to say and make innocuous conspiracies about; it's such a fun self-imposed assignment to dive into these things — as long as we're as well touching someone else's life

We can't physically gift all of you green boxes full of Socials but... since you are here, longing to receive what you normally expect to read here, these M.M.U. (Minor Month Updates) should play an analogue role

Eh, the known Late 1999's screenshots have always been kind of a pain
These are the ones you've probably seen there at Amazon — pictures that picture elements which are not tttttthat different from the final build ones (suggesting they are not from before September 1999), and share the common traits of being omnipresent around the game reviewing side of the interwebs... almost always looking hideously cropped and blurry — would you allow your tcrf to eat that??

It wouldn't be a bad idea to casually locate 'em at their best state for potential future documentations. Even if, by having attributes that differ very little from the final version ones, they won't exactly make your eye shine as much as the other beta-ish ones would do! Everything is important

It's the Xmas week, and we've made it! There goes our "more of the same, but better!" contribution, one of my fav ones:

The image that Google Lens (is that now a thing??) shows you:


Original picture:

Huh's:
- At this point, the game wouldn't let you know the Sim's astrological sign based on their personality points (at least not at CAS);
- You can not tell it by seeing the image but, until very late in development, the character previewer wouldn't slowly rotate the 3D Sim object from left to right; instead, they'd be facing SE forever;
- The "original" picture isn't plainly a sharper version of its smaller counterpart. Note that the latter misses the "Bio for Samantha" string, below the personality point counter, and both images' biography texts are spaced somewhat differently. This indicates that these screenshots are likely mock-ups based on slightly different builds other than actual gameplay screenshots — the fact that Samantha's pose in both images is exactly the same reinforces this point[...]

The image that Google Lens (is that now a thing??) shows you:


Original picture:

Huh's:
- Oh, so it's the Partier household!?;
- Odd placement of the friend/money counter, slightly more at the bottom;
- Different, beigeish object thumbnail color;

The image that Google Lens (is that now a thing??) shows you:


Original picture:


The image that Google Lens (is that now a thing??) shows you:


Original picture:

Huh's:
- Proto Goths. The architectural settings here are notably more modest than they are in the final, but you can't take for granted that it's only because the snapshot author rearranged the default placement! After all, how would Cassandra get into the 2nd story?;
- Rare sight of the former green counter's corner-accomodative sprite
- The wooden door look much more simple, here;









Dear friends of thread 5799334, and whoever reads else reads these things!: A happy Christmas to you. We'll meet again

Hey, thank you for you effort! This thread is amazing! I wanted to ask one question about one unused head mesh from The Sims. This is head that was used in promotion of The Sims Hot Date, and later for The Sims Online? Do you maybe know why they decided to remove this head from final games? Greetings!

I was so inspired with this thread so I tried to recreate Lawson house. As you can see the house is half furnished and I will try to recreate other rooms! How is looking?

Hello these are new recreations of The Sims 1 Beta! I made two more houses from early prototype of game, tried to recreate early fountain and remade two unused skins.

Hello, oh TheSims1Master! A very successful 2022 for you. That unused head in particular does look quite familiar.. Will def take a look at this for you, uh... do you have a preferred pronoun? :-o

Furthermore, props to your rare valor for already starting off with those DEMO lots that are probably the toughest ones to recreate!

There's a curious crossover in that hood of yours I'm not entirely sure what the people who have made these mansions had in mind as they were architecting homes with this nonesuch amount of windows (maybe it has to do with the implicit rule that says that plain lighting immediately means HAPPINESS and likability)

Hey, we got a few more Lawson shots from Luc Barthelet's pre-release webcam thing that will potentially help with some of our future ventures

And, hey, The Sims' final build has been compiled ~exactly~ 22 years ago. If I wasn't something but a little piece of a lethargic boy I'd sow the month's fun goodies today! Probably this thread's biggest post. These sorts of things normally demand some extra dose of responsibility, otherwise we end up missing up something down the archivism ethics line



Happy buildversary. See ya tomorrow (EDIT: or, most realistically, sumtyme 'round dis weak).

This thread's foolest post. One's been warned.

This must be the very first time you arrive at our Sun-un-official Maxist High-Simulation Curatorship and enjoying our so-inconstant, assorted, free-time services; it would eventually happen, anyway. Even if you, like my self, are the sort with 402 different gaming design ideas per week but don't have the strength to kind of chuck them somewhere one can see, know that, in the real crisis that this madder-than-mad world accommodated itself, when it sort of reached the pinnacle of digital consumption/creation accessibility, it's all became a, um, competition where it's being wondered who's the fastest in the art of engineering the hungriest babel_tower.exe so they can touch the Lord's balls, you know?! Everything is horrible.

Our aim is to aid it a little, etc. Before the actual action, there is, obviously, the essencial stage of understanding the fundamentals of the crafting of things (and, by that, ok, we moooostly mean videogames {which, by the way, almost always involve everything The Sims}) in a time when the whole labor of love factor vaporized every single byte, and it was the normal; In our opinion, The Sims' complex and rich development history epitomizes this rather resilient and progressive crafting phenomenon the most, and maybe that's the reason why we chose this game to be the central subject of our research juices which, we hope, provide someone a little joy and ideas as they discover with us about their favorite game of all time after Sonic Adventure! And, oh, boy, and how it helps us to become better Google Searchers!

WELCOME!


We will have to sort things by (estimated) year, this time.

☺ 1996-1997

Twinkling Alumni
Previous finds indirectly brought us to the attention of the Maxoid hang-out 'n' memories FB group. It is not the group's main subject, but, every now and then, some Sims artifacts would pop in there, it seems!
What appears to be a recent and unusual manifestation of undesirable users knocking at their doors asking for a vacant rooms made the group's administration to set all of its posts as private. It had a good bunch of some really early textures that, for archival purposes, I'll be uploading here (LMK if I shouldn't, anyway!)



Hey, the first three ones pretty much respect our buddy Archie's anatomy!

But... who are these other moody folks?
Archived scripts from this 1996-1997 tutorial scenario mention a cast of seminal Sims that Archie belongs to, also consisted of his fellows that go by the names Samantha, Darren and, oh, Edith, allegedly the ginger beauty down here. Ah, the times when a bmp facial expression was worth more than a thousand plumbobs...



☺ 1997-1998

A few more unused sprites

Some incorrectly processed URL in one of my posts somehow took @MrPowerGamerBR; and I to a kind convo upon the world's injustices and how sad would it be if history were forgotten forever, which sssssssomewhat forwarded me to the bloody long lost Simplorer. Even though you can see it as the weakest brother of Bill Simser the blueprint guru's SimExplorer, it is, in actuality, the *only* The Sims resource manager on this Terra that would not crash on me on my attempts of previewing Sprites.IFF's icons. It's almost as though there was some type of impenetrable type of holy cryptographic job within the resources' bodies. Maybe it's only because I am a permanent initiated! Mr PowerGamerBR is a saint. Now, we've managed to extract the handful of missing unused frames;

/Sprites.IFF

SPR# 300 - romance


SPR# 301 - friends

Well! Two more PowerPoint clip-arts for your collection.


SPR2 2001 - Head dots

Active character (but not their mood) indicator! The previously missing frames form this subtle flashing effect, as also seen @ the 'famigerated' Steering Committee build. These sprites were summarily scrapped on January 21, 1999 (TechnicalEmail, page 68) in the name of an arrow-shaped 3D prop that would be victim of quite a few minor tweaks, only to become what we know these days as the plumbob!

"Make Historical"

Although the ability to type down name and description to lots wasn't real until Hot Date, some of the base game's house files are internally named after the good old Steering Committee's scenarios.
You can confirm it via sim tools like EliSims or by just opening your House files with Wordpad, for example.




☺ 1998-1999

Heavy Chair Zombie Found



So the "beta heavy chair" lived in our copy this whole time around! It only took us 22 years to realize it! Now, give us more 44 to find out how to fix its palette (EDIT: sorted.). As an unused sprite, it is within "chairslr1tile.IFF" as the SPR resource ID 128, neighboring the actually used chairs. A simple sprite exporting routine from your multi-utility "Transmogrihopkins" is more than enough for you to check it yourself
You can see its palette is kind of messed up, and we can't blame it — perhaps we can solve it soon. (EDIT: sorted.)

Another dope find within the community, documented by Sindle! Seeing the game's regional differences will make u gawp, too

Some extra early 1999 SimWebCam finds

A common Michael Lawson narrative as a Maxoid-driven The Sims DEMO, broadcasted to the whole SimCity.com community on different Thursdays throughout 1999!

Courtesy of E-Day @ RetroMags.com
Read/download/thank for this full edition here!

☺ Unused strings (maybe not all, 'cause 2 many, welp)

If you're not familiar with the idea of Strings, think of them as all the interfaces between the program and the user in text, like the "I've got to feed my llama" message that comes in a box once you hit some unfriendly Sim up, or even the little "OK" underneath it, above a blue button-looking .bmp!

Unused strings are unused, a little weird... and untranslated. Makes the diggin' job easier. Some of them lack context, and might be older than we think.
Will throw some of my favorite ones here rather loosely before preparing them for tcrf later, I hope!

Shutters.iff
(Unused window shutters object)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
0 - "This house a cheap painting and it must be removed!"
Note: ????????

Fridges.iff
STR# 300 Behavior editor string set
0 - "Could not get to the fridge."
1 - "The fridge is bare."

Baby.iff
(The baby cradle)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
3 - The Baby is asleep.
Note: It is impossible to interact with the cradle if the baby isn't crying... or whatever they do with their diaphragms when they demand attention

PizzaDude.iff
(The Pizza delivering NPC)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
0 - "Whew! Had a lot of traffic but the pizza's still warm. Love that pizza furniture, don't you?"
Note: Very inadequate as he always arrives by foot, huh?

gardener.iff
(The female gardener NPC)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
1 - "Hi, I'm here to take care of your plants."
Note: Service NPCs always arrive residences already wanting to commence their work. Ain't got no time for hellos!

thief.iff
(BURGLAR!!!!!)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
0 - "AACK! I don't know what to say this situation!"
1 - "I am speechless. Words escape me at this surprising moment."
2 - "You don't have enough money to pay the Maid."

Counters.iff
(Kitchen/W.C. counters)
STR# 300 Behavior editor string set
0 - "I am just a lonely cabinet."
Note: No idea what this means either

foodproc.iff
(The food processor on the Kitchen/W.C. counters)
STR# 301 Behavior editor string set
0 - "I am just a lonely cabinet."
Note: No idea what this means

Easel.iff
(NY gridlock, Purple woman, Wedding, House)
STR# 301 Dialogue prim string set
3 - "@Congratulations!"
4 - "Art makes the world go round. $Me has gone up 1 Creativity Skill Point!"

Newspaper.iff
(...and its news)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
4 - "Support Uncle Sim. Entry-level recruits for the armed forces work 9 to 3 and make 250 simoleans a day. Start low, but aim high. Your ultimate mission could be to the moon."
Note: An unusually strong ad-like approach, on this Military career offer! Also, mentions a character from the real world, which was actively avoided by the used strings' texts

SocialInteractions.iff
(Sim-to-Sim blahblahblah)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
5 - "Gotta run, have a lot of stops to make."
Note: According to the string's embedded commentary, it was meant to be said by the Pizza Guy
5 - "Gotta run, have a lot of stops to make."
20 - "You already have enough people living in this house!"
22 - "I don't know if you've noticed, but there doesn't appear to be any extra space for me in your household!"



phones.iff
(All of the game's available talking hard plastic machines, and their quotes)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
1 - "Sorry, you can't afford it."
2 - "Sucker! You just bought some worthless swamp land. Even the alligators won't live there!"
5 - "To help scientific research for Health would you be willing to have your fingers bitten by rabid ferrets? This is a worthy cause and you will be paid $42."
Note: One of the most Steering Committee-ish things you're reading in here
6 - "The Gardener will begin tomorrow."
8 - "Hello, $Me, you're live and on the air! Congratulations you have just won $300 from KSIM radio. Remember that phrase that pays, KSIM means more money!"
9 - "Do you want to invite $Neighbor for a visit?"
10 - "Invite"
11 - "Just Chat"
12 - "$Neighbor didn't want to come over."
13 - "Sorry, $Neighbor is busy right now and can't come over."
14 - "$Neighbor already has other plans."
15 - $Neighbor says, "Well... I was thinking of watching Family Feud reruns at my place. But sure. Why not?"
16 - "$Neighbor says, "I guess that sounds a little better than a kick in the head. Give me a minute."
17 - "$Neighbor says, "Sure! This place is Dullsville. We can raise a little hell over at your place, no?""
18 - "$Neighbor says, "I don’t see why not. Unless... nah, never mind. I’ll be right over.""
19 - "$Neighbor says, "Giddy-up. I’ll be right over.""
20 - "$Neighbor says, "I thought you’d never ask.""
21 - "$Neighbor says, "Love to. I’m bored stiff over here.""
22 - "$Neighbor says, "Any time. Just give me a sec.""
23 - "$Neighbor says, "Would I pass up the chance to savor your aroma? Never. I’ll be there in a minute with my nose all a-sniff.""
24 - "$Neighbor says, "Mi-mi-mi-mi. A-hem. Yewww are the apple of my eye. Oh, save it. I’ll be right over.""
25 - "$Neighbor says, "If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then of course I’ll come over.""
26 - "$Neighbor says, "OK. Be over in a jiffy.""
27 - "$Neighbor says, "Ugh, no. I have to clean my vacuum.""
28 - "$Neighbor says, "No, thanks. I’ve got to feed my llama.""
29 - "$Neighbor says, "I’d love to, but I’ve got some leftover SPAM I’ve been meaning to eat, so no.""
30 - "$Neighbor says, "I would, but I’m expecting the mailman to come sometime today.""
31 - "$Neighbor says, "Sorry, but I really have to wax my armpits.""
32 - "$Neighbor says, "No can do. I’ve got an appointment with the Avon lady.""
33 - "$Neighbor says, "No, thanks. I’m feeling a little bloated.""
34 - "$Neighbor says, "I have to stay home. My house guest just threw up on the sofa.""
35 - "So sorry. Just checked the records and we won't be sending anyone your way very soon. Try paying our service people next time, you cheapskate."
37 - "Continue"
39 - "You have already hired a Maid."
40 - "$Neighbor says, "Do you want me to bring a friend?""
41 - "$Neighbor says, "Do you want me to bring some friends?""
42 - "Would you like to hire a Maid?
61 - "OK, I'll be right over."
62 - "I don't want to come over."
63 - "The person you are calling ($Neighbor) could not be reached because they are at work. "
64 - "Prank call."
140 TO 159 - "Would you like to spend some money on something random? ($$Local:0). Variation 1 to 20."

PedPortal.iff
(The invisible objects in our lots' corners that summon or cancel NPCs)
STR# 301 Dialog prim string set
0 - ""$Me says, "I’m wiped out. I’d better get home before I crash."""
1 - "$Me says, "My back’s killing me. I’m going home to get cozy.""
2 - "$Me says, "I’m starved. See you later.""
3 - "$Me says, "Gotta go. I’m smelling a bit ripe.""
4 - "$Me says, "Know of any places I could actually use the bathroom? I’ve gotta go.""
5 - "$Me says, "Your place is really not doing it for me. Maybe some other time…""
6 - "$Me says, "Next time you invite me over, maybe you could pay me a little attention, huh?""
7 - "$Me says, "No offense, but I’m bored stiff over here. See you later.""
8 - "$Me says, "See ya""
9 - "$Me says, "I'll be back tomorrow morning.""
10 - "$Me says, "I'll see you next week.""
13 - "I've seen fancier ghettos. Later."
Note: Super early strings, I suppose. Here, Sims exceptionally display some notion of weeks, as well as scheduled visits?

HelpSystem.iff
(Stores the messages from the Help pop-up windows and teaches you how to play)
STR# 301 Behavior editor string set
2 - "*Sims can get electrocuted when changing bulbs. Maybe you should call a repairman to do it."
14 - "*This is Buy Mode! Here you can buy things for your Sims to provide a happy and more productive life. You can also sell items to get some quick cash. To sell an object pick it up and hit delete."
25 - "$Object is performing well at work. Sims can only get promoted if they are also qualified for the next job level. $Object does not have enough Mechanical Skill points for a promotion. Study Mechanical at a bookcase to increase $Object's knowlege in this area. $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
26 - "$Object is performing well at work. $Object does not cook as well as the other Sims at work. Could this be holding $Object back? Read Cookbooks at a bookcase to increase $Object's knowlege in this area. $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
28 - "$Object is performing well at work.Ah, the perfect body, it is a shame that $Object does not have one! Working out is a great way to earn more Body Skill Points as well as feeling better about oneself. $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
29 - "$Object is performing well at work. $Object is having difficulty communicating at work. Try practicing speech at a mirror. After talking to yourself for a while you just may be able to talk yourself into a promotion! $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
30 - "$Object is performing well at work. $Object is not as creative as their employer would like. Try painting $Object into a promotion with the Easel. A promotion can also be earned for a song, just try playing a piano for a while and find out how. $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
44 - "*The objects in buy mode are displayed in the catalog sorted from the lowest cost to the most expensive?"
47 - "*If you do not have enough money for an object its price will display in red. It also will have a red outline around it in the description pop-up."
50 - "*You can remove windows and doors easilly by drawing a wall over them."
53 - "You can paint or wallpaper a whole room by holding down the Shift key. Click while holding the Shift key if you like it, or release the Shift key if you decide against it."
55 - "*You can download more wall paper from the web. Visit www.thesims.com!"
56 - "*You can make your own wallpaper. Download HomeMaster from the web. www.thesims.com."
Note: HomeMaster is how HomeCrafter, an official wall/floor creation program, used to be known as before The Sims went to the stores!
85 - "*When lowering terrian you can raise it by holding down the shift key. You can also hold shift to lower the terrian when in raise terrian mode."
Note: "terrain" mispelled 3x in a row here lol
87 - "To level terrain, click and drag out a rectangle. The land will all become the same height as the spot where you first clicked the mouse."
90 - "*$Object is performing well at work. Other Sims at work seem to be outsmarting $Object. Getting more Logic Skill would help to manipulate them into seeing you in a higher position. $Object may also need some other skills. Check the Job Panal for $Object to see what the qualifications for promotion are. If you are unsure on how to do this then click on "Show Me How"."
101 - "This room is too rough around the edges. $Object would prefer that it have wall and floor covering."
103 - "Provide light doors"
104 - "Placement for routing"
106 - "Stairs - auto-clear floor tiles"
107 - "Stairs - outdoors for balconies"
111 - "Floors - Room Score"
113 - "Floors - scroll for more"
114 - "Plants - Improve outside room score"
115 - "Plants - Move and delete"
116 - "Plants - Maintenance"
117 - "Camera Mode - What it is."
131 - "Click the Undo icon to reverse the last change you made--keep clicking it to undo previous changes. You will get money back for undone actions. Once you leave Build Mode, your changes will become permanent. After that, you can delete them, but you will lose some money."
133 - "If it's too late for Undo, you can get money back for most architectural items by deleting or selling them. Things that can be picked up can be deleted using the hand tool. Other architectural tools have more specific instructions. Click the thumbnail of one of the selections under each tool to learn how to delete it."
134 - "*Visit www.thesims.com to download more floor patterns, wall textures, characters and objects. "
139 - "There are several wall coverings from which to choose. Use the right and left arrows on the Control Panel to scroll through the selections."
[i]Note: Omitted a few duplicates

URL VAULT!

News, interviews, previews, DEMOs, post-release reviews... this list isn't comprehensive whatsoever, but... they were undoubtedly vital for the construction of everything we've seen in the past year! And will be quite handy for the upcoming projects. Have a good read!!!


https://web.archive.org/web/2016030.../1994/01/wright
Will Wright: The Mayor of SimCity (1994)
https://web.archive.org/web/2008051...qa-simcity.html
How to Win at Life, NY Times (October 31, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002041...0/070818p1.html
PC Games: The Sims Interview (September 28, 1999)
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article...sims-video-game
A Brief History of 'The Sims' (June 3, 2021)
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2011/1...r-iosing-a-home
Will Wright: Inspired to make The Sims after losing a home (October 17, 2011)
https://web.archive.org/web/2015031...02/17/wright_5/
The world according to Will (February 17, 2000)
https://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/...es-sims-001.htm
L'origine des sims (May 22, 2009)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/746700.stm
Lethal guinea pig kills virtual people (May 12, 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2001032...03/nycu/sim.htm
The new Sims on the block (May 03, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000120...Sims/index.html
Gamecenter.com previews The Sims! (May 25, 1999)
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la...8108-story.html
As new Titles Go Mainstream, Veteran Players Miss the Fun (May 17, 1999)
https://technewscollector.com/next-...soap-opera.html
Next in Sims series: A soap opera (May 14, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/1999082.../news/6625.html
Next-Generation Online: Good Game Design Wins the Day @ E3 (May 13, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/1999101...iews/11754.html
pc.ign.com: Sims, The Preview (July 23, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/1999100...61,1396,00.html
Gamespot E3 News - The Sims - Impressions (May 13, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2001011...index.asp?d=1-2
E³ 1999 - Adrenaline Vault Coverage (May 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2001021...ms/TheSims.html
The Sims in The News (Various Dates)
https://web.archive.org/web/2001030...99/7:27:6.shtml
GA-Source - The Jack Daniels E3 Diary: The Sims (May 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2001041...om/e3/sims.html
Maxis: A Sim Too Far? - E3 '99 Article (21 May 1999 {MY BIRTHDAY})
https://web.archive.org/web/1998120...WillWright.html
Designing User Interfaces to Simulation Game (1998)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000309...y/0525/feat.htm
Forbes: Convergence - An imitation of life (May 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000309.../news/8153.html
pc.ign.com: IGN's Best of E3 Awards (May 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000303...72,6678,00.html
E3Games.net - E3 Preview: The Sims (May 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815...es/simspreview/
Firingsquad - The Sims Preview (May 29, 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000303...2329264,00.html
ECTS99 - The Sims: Control Your own Pet Family (PC) (September 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000516...2329435,00.html
ECTS99 - Tooling Around With The Sims (September 1999)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000305...sims/index.html
Luc Barthelet's The Sims DEMO for Gamers Central (September 1999)
http://pensivepuffin.com/dwmcphd/sy...t.Interview.pdf
Will Wright Interview
https://web.archive.org/web/2000082...nterviews/sims/
FullOn3D Interview - The Sims
http://web.archive.org/web/19990921...ame=sims&page=1
The Adrenaline Vault previews The Sims (May 28, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000030...1220gistc.shtml
GameSlice: Behind the Scenes of the Computer and Video Game Industry (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000020...ews/thesims.htm
GameInterviews Interviews Roxana Wolosenko, a Designer of The Sims at Maxis/EA
https://web.archive.org/web/2000011.../the_sims.shtml
Strategy Gaming Online Interviews Luc Barthelet
https://web.archive.org/web/2000012...s/id/1001.shtml
EA-Central Sims Preview (September 14, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000030..._luc012000.html
Tales of SimCity (January 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002110..._interview.html
The Sims Interview (June 16, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002121...ss_feature.html
The Proud and the Pixelated,part one (March 11, 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002121...ms_feature.html
The Sims Feature (April 10, 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002092...10/sims_e3.html
The Sims First Look (May 15, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002082..._interview.html
The Sims Interview (June 16, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002092..._interview.html
The Sims Interview 2 (June 17, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002092.../sims_ects.html
The Sims invade ECTS News (August 31, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002092...5/147/sims.html
The Sims Goes Gold News (January 19, 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2002112...7/131/sims.html
The secret of The Sims News (April 30, 2000)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000301...79,4615,00.html
GameProworld: Computer Game: ProTip Guide: The Sims (2000)
https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/0...-sims-interview
The Sims Interview (September 29, 1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2004062...llwright_a.shtm
GameSpy.com - Interviews Will Wright
https://web.archive.org/web/2000060...jan00/sims.html
Games Domain Review (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000120...00/sims2op.html
Games Domain Second Opinion Review (2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000062...review_542.html
DailyRadar Review The Sims
http://web.archive.org/web/20000520...79,4614,00.html
GameProWorld Review The Sims (2000)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000607...79,4359,00.html
GameProWorld Preview The Sims (1999)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000081...nsims/index.htm
Something Awful - A Week in the life of a Sim (2000)
http://web.archive.org/web/20000302...imspages1.shtml
bloodshot - The Sims - Get a Life
http://web.archive.org/web/20000424...ew.asp?ID=14784
Future Gamer The Sims Review (April 2000)
https://web.archive.org/web/2000050...hesims/main.htm
Will Wright talks Sim City and The Sims
https://web.archive.org/web/2000030...iews/sims1.html
RPOV Reviews The Sims
https://web.archive.org/web/2000030...hesims/link.htm
Game Guru Reviews The Sims
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainmen...rol-3239518.php
Playing Virtual God - San Francisco Gate (February 05, 2000)

Luc your dedication and research continues to amaze me! It's really nothing short of inspiring.

I came across something fairly interesting while I was trying to recreate the green tile counter in 3D for a project.

I was looking for reference material and pulled up this old render that I had sitting on my hard drive, they're not the most visible, but it was better than trying to decipher pixels on a low resolution image!

Anyways I'd noticed that the tiles on the apron(?) didn't align with the tiles on the main surface(?) (terminology may not be 100% accurate!), at first I'd written it off since from what high-res images of Maxis objects from the basegame we do have, the meshes aren't exactly... the prettiest. Understandable since they weren't ever meant to be seen in such high fidelity.
But I continued looking for reference material when I was having some difficulty with the basic shape when I remembered that the earlier version of the object had more dramatic shading, and may be able to help me out there. That's when I remembered the old Homecrafter program had the same counter in its premade background with its early version in crisp bitmap form! So I opened it up, studied the counter for a bit (with a composite isolated sprite) and noticed the counter had the same mis-aligned tile on the apron(?)!

That, combined with the knobs on the early sprite and in the render both having a semi-transparent effect, lead me to the conclusion that they must be the same model.
It ended up not being of much help in the recreation, but it did lead me down this little rabbit hole! So it's a win-win, I guess.

On February 4, The Sims will be 22 years old!!!

Happy birthday, The Sims!
Thank you all for this thread, it's my favourite on the whole forum!

It is a win-win!, but.. if it wasn't for you, I'd always think that that mis-aligned tile was one of those kinds of little bumps that some counter tops have as to prevent the water to leak out


I. ♦ Every... well... Nearly every single time the original The Sims has been the subject of articles 'round the globe before its release (that have been somewhat archived around the interwebs)... at our tempestuous attempts on maintaining their contents under adequate publication date order in 3, 2, 1 LET'S GO:

Now you tell me we are keeping kids away from reading!

II. Aaaah, the magic of fire tlansfer plotocors!

III. URL Vault 2 — Quick SimWatch map (notable posts)


As we've once mentioned, SimWatch was the stage of the early seeds of The Sims' strong creativity-based community (edit: it's been previously written as "community-based community", just for you to see how clever we are). In the words of the own Will:

(sauce)