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25th Jan 2019 at 12:11 AM
25th Jan 2019 at 12:11 AM
Posts: 361
[ 
MAY 2024 UPDATE!!: This used to be the go-to Sims development timeline post we'd advise you to start off with... but now, y'know, it's been left out unchanged for over 5 years and, as you may expect, contains loads of missing/incorrect factoids. Because of that, we'll leave it the way it is. BUT! Our "pre-release" article on the other website is the way cooler alternative if you want to have fun with the latest + precise info and media on how The Sims was made! For us, by us.]
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Original post:
> You should begin your ventures here. In this post, you get the thread's main gallery (behind the Spoiler tabs!) with some of the gathered pre-release media, hopefully explained with the proper precision. This post is dedicated to the amazing @ed95 guy (ops guess who doesn't know how to mention users), right there;
If you're like us, you probably have a good time while rhapsodizing a little (or too much!) about everything known about everything that been witnessed on the "original" Sims but eventually was thought to be better enhancing, replacing or summarily annihilating them before the game's official release leaving us with the cool task of pondering how different our whole experience would be if all of these discarded prototype/BETA elements were present in the version most of us have in our houses! So, make yourself at home and let us see what we both know:
You are rather likely to read and view some of the things below and think something, like "Hey, this information isn't quite matching with the reality" or you have cool things to say about everything that existed on Sims 1 before, but not after its final version that this stupid poster failed to mention or unknowns about! You are, a hundred percent, invited and welcome to be a member of this discussion, even if you are a Simmer that don't have necessarily something critically-esque to point up and is "just" playing the (also cool) role of the spectator who is first-seeing (or not) all the knowledge below!
Way better than spectating - at the bottom of this post you're getting an appendix with some cool Tools and URLs, so there's no way you are not checking the contents up by yourself!
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The content will be branched into spoiler tabs which (sometimes inaccurately) represent the year the content of the picture is (or might be) from:
1996-1997
The shots below were firstly introduced by Gamespot, illustrating a fancy article which served as an introduction to The Sims Online and, eventually, the teller jumped to some flashback moments to highlight the past of the series' father Will Wright and show for the first time concept arts of these a little too much 'polygonal' and grotesque Sims [B](Read more in the appendix!)
ARCHIE
- Its file name suggests his name is Archie;
SIGMUND
[I]- Its file name suggests his name is Sigmund;
- You still can spot this guy in your game!! Although only as an icon, illustrating a glitch (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)
CRAZY LARRY
-Its file name suggests his (nick)name is Crazy Larry;
- For all we know, once upon a time in the The Sims' making-of the characters had variable expressions as their only visible way of making us aware of their mood (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)- although we can think that, during the gameplay, Larry's face wouldn't be always all smiles, the thought of his face like that, walking around his home for more than 3 seconds in a row, can be minimally... creepy, maybe;
1998...ish
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
Including the different User Interface (they have made and discarded +10 UI attempts for The Sims!), which was kind of expected, you can take note of:
- Considering its buttons, it's the only representation of a period when it was possible to build homes with more than 2 floors;
- At the bottom right side of the screen, what we can assume being the unused "Mood" bar (the highest one compared to all of the other necessity bars), which sort of measured the well-being of the Sims before the plumbobs have, makes its earliest visible appearance;
- That "Hunger" thought balloon, which is a more detailed, colored version of final version's, can be found inside the Graphics database (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!);
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the almost invisible little pixels above the talking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
1999 - DARKER UI / LISA / METAMORPHOSIS
1999 was the pinnacle of functional experimentation within the game (that we can take note of, at least) and also the moment when it had many more BETA features for us to observe, whereas the Maxis gang was already so satisfied with the progress of the game that all its content was grouped in promotional images and trailers so the gaming websites would have something to show to the fans of a then-upcoming game, some of them you may already know. Let's try to put them in chronological order so it gets even more easier to spot the evolution that happened there, specially when it comes to the overall design of the Sims and the ambulant metamorphosis called UI
ELVIS IS MADE OF VELVET
- The oldest 1999's screenshot we can take note of, due to the fact its UI displays Sims with the former cartoonish style, you know, the one which changes expressions, although only the first 3 Sims seem to belong together at this point (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!), posted in about 4 years ago by a reddit user called BowsersaurusRex, which apparently found the screenshot in an used computer they bought;
- The equivalent of the cheap Velvet Clown we know was a fancy and random "Velvet Elvis";
- Until the end of 1999 the kickable flamingo had a paradoxically detailed and shallower look, basically without any textures, as well as many other objects; You'll see that some of them has shadows of their own, which isn't very pleasing to our eyes, isn't it? It's common to observe contrasts between the level of details among items of a same screen since the developers were obviously sharpening the style of the overall elements until they got satisfied, and such;
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the little pixels above the funny-looking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
HOUSE ELEVEN
THE SIMS PRESS KIT, MARCH 1999
CHECK IT OUT:
- This lot presents a unique layout, exceptionally with three street corners, although it doesn't match with any of the lot rooms we know from the final version's neighborhood. Hold up, one of the former nhood designs does have a lot which is surrounded by three street corners (Check the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!);
- The huge size of this house visibly makes the then-low range of available objects well perceptible!! Most of them repeat themselves all around the property and makes it look a bit unpleasing to see. But, come on, they were still making it all;
- In this screenshot we can spot a considerably big amount of wooden shelves, for some reason all of them with a world globe inserted in the top of it and nothing else; In the kitchen, the walls hold unknown, rustically-drawn cookwares, unless my eyes are failing on me hard;
- As if a single trash can outdoors wasn't enough (and it is, since it never gets full!), this home has two;
- Who needs plumbobs when we have spinning ARROWS? (Check the PLUMBOB Spoiler tab for more info!)
- You see those two unused objects: A small wooden table with room for 4 chairs and (almost imperceptible, in the extreme bottom of the screenshot) what seems to be a very incomprehensible and abstract and "sci-fi"-y end table? They're still available, hidden inside your game, if you fancy seeing them more detailed (Check the OBJECTS Spoiler tab for more info);
HEY, I KNOW THEM 1
IGN, APRIL 5 1999
- Even with the butcheredly fell down quality of this screenshot (might be one of the first times Sims was, image-wise, introduced to us, the mainstream folks), it's possible to observe the earliest appearance of two sims whose aesthetics match with the one we know from the final game and was 100% available;
HEY, I KNOW THEM 2
Screenshot: APRIL 1999
Photo: UNKNOWN
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- For being developed in different moments of the game's production, the "new Sims'" thumbnails are a bit different compared to the ones from the sims that came up before them - if we think well, they look even more realistic than the ones from the final game, due to the way they're lightened. Let's not discard the possibility their expressions could change according to their mood. Beautiful, but this type of thumbnail didn't last much longer, you'll see;
GERMANS PAY SIMS A VISIT/HELLO LISA
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar preview Sims, not for the last time! To this point of the prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is familiar to you, like a dejavu. Yet:
- If the Brain-shaped interface was already cool in the static shots, we can observe here they have a "blinking reaction" when the function it represents (Mood, for example) is somehow stimulated. The part of the brain where all of our motor coordination knowledge is placed in - cerebellum - correctly represents the Skills menu!
- This is one of the rare situations the practically-iconic Rubber Plant is displayed at a mirrored perspective; in the final game, the object will always have its higher leaf pointing right, no matter where the camera is;
- "Lisa" (named like this based on her skin file title) is the first child we're ever getting to know thru a pre-released version. We both know how the children were limited by the hands who programmed them and their roles are extremely secondary, since we can't do many cool things with them and they talk about less subjects than adults (Let's leave the complete details 'bout this for the SOUNDS and SUBJECTS Spoiler tabs!) and their first sign of life was manifested when the "facing-the-player", neutral, generated face thumbnails (progressively similar to the one the final version shows) was being experimented, which suggests the existence of children in game wasn't a cogitated idea until 1999, and that's why their thumbnails look so different, more "updated", than the one of the other households from this preview video;
- Observe the lady's relationships list: The bald old man is illustrated by a thumbnail whose head belongs to other Sim;
MISSING BRAIN
IGN, AROUND JUNE/JULY 1999
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99
- As many previous pictures, let's not discard the quantity of windows the pre-released properties needed to have to get a minimal level of lighting;
- Face thumbnails are reaching similarity to the final version's although their backgrounds, here, is a bit darker;
- All the Sims with the contrasting cartoonish appearance were discarded to give place to a little more of new faces to all of us; "darker" equivalents of "light-skinned" versions included; when it comes to kids, "Lisa" is all by herself still;
- Not for the last time, you're seeing the kerchief of this Head whose files calls him "Biker" was firstly drawn blue instead of red;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part I of II
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
FROM THE GAME'S INTRODUCTORY VIDEO AND PRESS-KIT CD, RESPECTIVELY
- Although, at a quick glance, there is not something really remarkable about this Sim (Inside the NHOOD Spoiler Tab you can see his name is Michael Ryan
and his home we can discuss here since most of the presented elements are of our knowledge because of the previous shots, it is convenient to observe how omnipresent he is, making at least a brief appearance in almost every single versions we have at disposal, living in the very same lot, with some minor differences here and there on its layout and mostly on the objects that there exist! Right, I lost track of the reasoning here a bit, ha, but who knows he was meant to be part of a pre-made family made of 1 person?
PRESS-KIT CD, MARCH/APRIL 1999
- The Press Kit CD (Info about this CD you can find in the LIVE THE BETA appendix down below!) introduces the game by narrating a slideshow story about him, by the perspective of someone who is teaching somebody how to play the game, or who is playing a pre-made family under a specific scenario, if you know what I mean;
- His property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with some small changes on how it looks;
THE ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part I of IV
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- Along with the "Bachelor Pad" family of one person, this lot whose outdoor floors follow a cement-tile pattern appears on screenshots of mildly different stages of development of the game, making it feel like they're meant to be one of the pre-made families like the Goths, for example (OK, the Roomies family survived the BETA, but consisting of a couple of two totally different people!!)
- Their property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with just some small changes here and there on how it looks;
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- This home, precisely the way it is, is found in one of the old neighborhood layouts (Take a good look at the NHOOD Spoiler tab for pictures and information!);
1999 - BLUE UI / AMANDA / "PRE-MADE" FAMILIES
QUAKE PEEPS INVADE SIMSVILLE A LITTLE
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- The UI's been updated a little and became blue, Sims blue, you know?! We can say that is a cross between the Interface we got in the released game's version and the previous one, that you probably saw inside the MISSED BRAIN spoiler
- Inside your call list, acquaintances' backgrounds are painted yellow instead of dark-green-grey-thing we know so well;
- "All in its own time", somebody may've thought; the UI update made it all blue but the controllable Sims thumbnail's background;
- Can you see the interactions queue, at the top of the pic? It illustrates the very first possible sprite of a recently-generate fire; in the final game, we always see the fire thumbnail showing it on its higher level;
- First rhombus-shaped Plumbob we can observe in a pre-release screenshot;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part II of IV
TECFA, UNIGE, 2002
SCREENSHOT: 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- This picture can only be found illustrating a webpage dedicated to an essay called The Potential of Videogames for Education, developed by someone called Catherine Freté within Genebra University - shows a slightly updated version of the Roomies' lot we've already seen;
LAWSON FAMILY
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
SPACESHIPS
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Players'd be able to insert objects above flowers/plants from the ground, even more plants;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part II of II
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The Bachelor dude is alive and breathes still, holding with strength his failed single, sloppy man persona. The lot shape remains the same of the one we could see at the screenshots from "months ago", although the standards of the graphics are way more faithful to the way we're offered in the final version, everything seems to be more and more harmonious;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES PART III OF IV
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The latter screenshot is the only one among the others, prototype's, whose UI is partially hidden by the press of the Live mode button (F1);
01NET (as well as other 1881834248238 sources), AUG-NOV 1999
- Seen on websites (mostly if not all French) which mention Sims being included in some NY MoMa's videogame-oriented exposition;
THE WALLACE, AMANDA TWINS FAMILY
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The first and last time soccer balls can be seen in-game;
Little has the game changed, since all of this happened one month before its official release in the USA; At least one of the videogame-reviewing websites (the German "Gamestar", for example) did mention December 1999 being the date of The Sims release, even if just as a prediction. Until this point of this whole long-awaiting phase, in which the first Custom-Content makers came to life with their homemade walls, skins and floors, like the ones you and me can do with so much ease (for some cool Sims-friendly editors were officially sent to the public in TheSims.com before the game itself!), more or less than 90% of what we reckon being "pre-made families" went down the pooper, whilst the rest of the people appeared to the final version with same name, but different skin; same skin, but different name; same name and skin, but different family... Let's see it closely, shall we:
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- First possible presence of the practicaly-geoid...ocarina-shaped User Interfae, 99% like the one we play with since February 2000 (Or 2001 if you have the Hot Date expansion pack installed). A cooler equivalent of the previously used one, introduces the Camera Mode (a tool used among developers that eventually became a definitive part of the game [?]);
- The family's last name can be noticed next to the friends counter icon; Money counter used to be placed more to the right than what we're used to see;
- This is the first and last case we can take note of a Beta's green counter having a sprite which unites its two corners in one; In the final version, a shallower similar takes place;
- Yes, we can also believe the player from this screenshot changed the home a little bit before taking this screenshot; If we imagine that home being on its default state, the living room looks more basic and empty than the one from the final version, the piano is placed in the opposite side and, in spite of the existence of a built second floor, there is no staircase for one to go there;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- Complicated to take solid conclusions given to the image's quality and size, but Cassandra doesn't seem to be using eyeglasses;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Toy Box's thumbnail claimed for adjustments, back in the day - When it comes to the Trash Can, the catalogue thought it's convenient not to get its shadow hidden, too;
- With the exception of the existence of a male member in the Roomies household, everything else seems compatible with the final game's reality;
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Just like in Goth family's screenshots, last name in friend counter and beta's green counter, but all the other objects (specially the Velvet Elvis & the cheap Television) were enhanced (or spoiled, your call!);
- Remember 1999's Wallace family? "Someone" with the very same face skin and and name as Betty comes to the Newbie household - her name is... Betty;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- We fanciest fireplace is a pain to afford, but it used to be one thousand simoleons more expansive;
- The game neither warns you fireplaces cannot be used by children (assuming they never could) nor let's you know about the Room points it provides (assuming it always did)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar previews Sims, but not for the last time! To this point of progression in our supercool prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is being extremely familiar to you, including this introduction you are currently reading. But, still, shan't us discard the fact that:
- The game used to make it evident when an object couldn't be interacted via pie menu by making it darker once the mouse cursor hovered it;
- A rare occurrence of multitasking: Platter in hands, focus in a conversation; In the final version, when Sims grab a dish, they'll immediately attempt going to one of the household's table/counter/sink;
- One month was what it'd take for Maxis' wonderful graphics department to somehow cogitating convenient to reimagine the red this 1/2 torn legging and convert it all greened;
MANUAL MEDIA EXPLAINED
We're not going to explain and display the Manual's content directly here on this thread due to the image number limits so we have made a little album for this task, showing the main aspects that shows you what's the beta element you're able to spot on those pictures, including the newly-discovered presence of Michael Ryan on the very final stages of development, a slightly different UI with higher quality and some minor differences on how the Newbie's home looks like, for example;
IGN, 01/24/2000/
Shared in about 1 week before Sims was officially released in the US, showing what we know, the way we know; All was done... Say hi to the world, baby
============================== END OF "SCREENSHOTS" ==============================
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
- The image's low, thumbnail quality will not give us much clues, but the overall aspect of this hood contains a depth that doesn't combine with what we do know about the game, making it feel like it is a mock-up, or something; Resembles a little the graphics from the game Simutrans;
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- The colored lines, which pigeonholes the typically 10 available lots for the sake of orientation, are painted yellow to illustrate the bigger lots, the medium-sized ones are pink and the smaller are green;
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Example of the neighborhood from the picture 1 being shown in the gameplay; do note the very same colored lines;
It's too early, the development isn't importing about trees or any fancy decorative elements outdoors, the streets were pending (with red cubes temporarily filling their places), the water stream is an hugely simple equivalent of the final version's and all the unoccupied lots are flat and empty, an inviting sandbox formula;
- What could these little pixels at the bottom of the picture be? Hey, a personal guess - a Sign and, shooting for the stars a little, a Marquee, like the one the User Interface strings file mentions, alongside with a fictitious "company" called SimEstates , suggesting to be an unused feature whose purpose was taking us to the mode where we could be able to create and edit our families, before the final version's, Marquee-less CAS mode was designed (read APPENDIX for more info!);
Our friend neighborhood is mellower now, coming closer to the fidelity with the one the final version presented us, but still lacking a considerable range of objects; The supposedly-SimEstates-Marquee, more than ever, is found at the bottom still;
- From the same source we get a neighborhood with a very unusual layout, displaying totally unique roof/wall designs, colors and a much higher capacity; the sign is directly aimed to the screen, the water gained some extra detailing, and newtrees were added
- This time, we can even identify at least 5 households!
- We still miss some minor details, such as the lack of trees in some areas and complete absence of a sign, or marquee;
- The shore from the bottom right side of the screen has a unique, abstract shape;
- Months passed a little and our "pre-made" buddies are still there, but, between you and me, only Betty will survive this adventure;
- All the homes received some very good updates - Roomies' mansion grew a bit and the roofs received fancier colors, some of them never manifested the final version;
- Shore's shape is straighter now;
- The game's logo wasn't the one to illustrate the hood's sign still;
- Do note the primitive CAS/Bulldoze/Quit icons, and the lack of a "Create Webpage" one;
- Some new trees have been added up to the water stream zone and the left side of the screen, for example;
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- The Sim, exceptionally, reproduces a walking animation in the CAS mode;
- Exceptionally, the "Female" chooser is placed on the left side;
- Zodiac Signs aren't a thing;
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Astrological Signs aren't a thing... yet
- The Bio bar does not have a BIO title on its upper left side;
============================== END OF "NHOOD" ==============================
This poor atrophied old man does not know how to explore the files of the game enough to reach and make the talking balloon subject's sprites visible; after dropping an interesting hacked table-labeled object which gives Sims the gift of talking to each other within a room of our choice while they are busy with other activities,
those polygonal creatures of Will commenced chatting over subjects never said via non-hackable ways and most of them cannot be seen thru a known prototype picture
And inside the SOUNDS spoiler tab, you will learn the existence of several recordings of vox files for child Sims, covering different intensities of conversations and subjects, that didn't make their way to the game's released version; Among the subjects pictured above, At least half of them seems to somewhat represent the universe of children, for all of these seemingly "scary" topics (bats/"haunted"house/furious cat) could easily be one of their unused "LOW" and "MEDIUM" subject matters (View the SOUNDS spoiler tab for more information)
============================== END OF "BETA'S TALKING BALLOONS" ==============================
From now on, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
UNUSED OBJECTS EXPLAINED
Only three of all the objects shown above are not illustrating Controller Objects. If there something in common among these "controller objects", it is: they are right there, inside your game, being an important element of the lots you buy and built things in, but you can never see them since they are almost always placed in the grey boundaries where the job cabs and school buses take our Sims to when they disappear. For example: a dinner table iconizes the controller object which determines where all the game's cabs park in the street, in spite of it is not being the reason why people buy diner tables IRL, heh. Maybe the reason why these beta objects were chosen to be the ones to be these controller object's icons is because they cannot be mistaken for the final version's objects that easily.
============================== END OF UNUSED OBJECTS (From tables to tabloids)" ==============================
UNUSED TEXTURES EXPLAINED
Again, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
============================== END OF UNUSED TEXTURES ==============================
Games' rendered pictures can be made and published with the intention of being used as illustrations for advertisements, for example; one remarkable detail about most of them is their detailed appearance, normally representing what the players are able to witness within the game itself but with slightly more 'intensity' - via a totally different perspective or level of visual depth; When it comes to Sims the differences between the in-game looks are minor compared to the rendered images we know - let's see some of them before breaking the image inserting boundaries:
- The astronaut suit used by the advanced side of the Military career lacks the "NASA-esque" badge;
- 8 Sims are in a nine-square grid that pretty much resembles the one from the one of Brady Bunch's (a 60-70's TV series) opening sequences, which also was also referenced by The Simpsons in 1995 as one of their couch gags;
- The texture which represents the package from the Quick Meal your sloppy, in-a-rush families from Sims 1 eat precisely has the face of the blue-eyed blonde; Since we play thru the same perpective of a hovering buzzard, it's a bit tough to notice at first;
============================== END OF "IMAGES" ==============================
As well as what goes on with the animations, for example, the game's folder dedicated to the storage of audio (voice tracks, object sounds, etc.) has a massive number of files with variable length that are constantly played as a way of adorning every single movement and landscape out there in SimLane; And it couldn't have been otherwise: if we explore such folders, we'll fatally locate a fair quantity of those who don't seem, by all means to be used, at least not inside the base game, which is our focal point here in this thread;
YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THEM, EXPLAINED, ON THIS VIDEO
============================== END OF SOUNDS ==============================
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APPENDIX - LIVE THE BETA:
As you can clearly notice after opening all of those Spoilers, we do not have much room left to exhibit the wonders of the Sim 1's universe before its release!! Then, for the sake of covering all of the known bits without transforming it into something more overwhelmingly massive and the opposite of mobile-friendly than it currently is, you're invited to explore and discover the remaining aspects from the game's pre-release content yourself, with the help of the following interesting URLs and programs:
HOMECRAFTER
- Also a Sims tool released before Sims itself, and probably the origin of the first player's custom content; With this, you can pick up some of the image files you've got from your computer and turn them into a floor and/or wallpaper file which the game manages to detect and put in your Build Mode;
- Ah, the point: With this you can have a very straightforward (but valid) experience with the beta game, relatively able to interact with an environment whose elements has sprites with primitive, unused design;
TCRF - An entire Wikipedia-fashioned webpage dedicated to the unused elements of The Sims, not limited to its images and sounds. Did you know there is vestiges of strings, in the game's database, which proves community lots were intended to be a thing way before the existence of Hot Date? And that Sims are technically all born in 1997?
GAMESPOT'S ARTICLE ON SIMS ONLINE - unveils some of the briefly-attempted user interface layouts and talks about a then-upcoming The Sims Online
FOOD RENDERS - Before being caught by EA, TheSims.com.br , naturally the Brazilian domain for the official Sims website, belonged to a fan, until 2003, I reckon; One of its pages were, funnily, dedicated to only show pictures of the game's food types, in higher resolution and quality;
BETA GALLERY ROPED IN ONE - Most of the screenshots/renders you have seen here, but in hugely higher quality, you can find on this link; Includes the box art and all of its sides which, here and there, displays pre-release material (because the box art was made before the game start being sold, right?)
JAMIE DOORNBOS TELLS PROJECT Xs STORY... - ...and shows some very interesting pictures from a pre-1997 The Sims, being my favorite the one displaying the animation-testing programs and, well, how the entire landscape inevitably makes me think of RollerCoaster Tycoon, more than usual;
BUILD, BUY and LIVE - With these words, Will Wright begins this awesome Sims-oriented chronicle, including both of the pictures you have seen here; I reckon that that was written before 1999;
SG.HU ARTICLE - With the retail quality from the early 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
GAMERSHELL SIMS PAGE - With the retail quality from the late 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
THE SIMS PRESS KIT - An archived Sims Press Kit CD whose content was especially made for the objective of promoting The Sims via high-quality videos (including Will Wright himself answering questions about the game!), that wellknown trailer with the 3 Sims waving at you, some renders I didn't share here, screenshots and even a short slide-show narrating the ventures of some Sims, some of them you already know; Its files has as their creation date March/April 1999;
After spending some good hours sorting the contents - oops, - turns out this featherbrained guy here are clueless about how to finish this post. It is almost certain that there are some weird and unforgivable incorrect information, mistakes or typos that only the sands of time will unveil. But, hey, hopefully you, as a fan, will find the images shown above minimally interesting or, who knows, useful for whatever you might be doing with your game right now. Again: the topic shall not end here! Then, every sort of collaboration is going to be extremely well-received and will be an absolute pleasure to read/view/listen and, why not, ponder about them. OK, time for dinner, sul sul you!
MAY 2024 UPDATE!!: This used to be the go-to Sims development timeline post we'd advise you to start off with... but now, y'know, it's been left out unchanged for over 5 years and, as you may expect, contains loads of missing/incorrect factoids. Because of that, we'll leave it the way it is. BUT! Our "pre-release" article on the other website is the way cooler alternative if you want to have fun with the latest + precise info and media on how The Sims was made! For us, by us.] =========================================
Original post:
> You should begin your ventures here. In this post, you get the thread's main gallery (behind the Spoiler tabs!) with some of the gathered pre-release media, hopefully explained with the proper precision. This post is dedicated to the amazing @ed95 guy (ops guess who doesn't know how to mention users), right there;
If you're like us, you probably have a good time while rhapsodizing a little (or too much!) about everything known about everything that been witnessed on the "original" Sims but eventually was thought to be better enhancing, replacing or summarily annihilating them before the game's official release leaving us with the cool task of pondering how different our whole experience would be if all of these discarded prototype/BETA elements were present in the version most of us have in our houses! So, make yourself at home and let us see what we both know:
You are rather likely to read and view some of the things below and think something, like "Hey, this information isn't quite matching with the reality" or you have cool things to say about everything that existed on Sims 1 before, but not after its final version that this stupid poster failed to mention or unknowns about! You are, a hundred percent, invited and welcome to be a member of this discussion, even if you are a Simmer that don't have necessarily something critically-esque to point up and is "just" playing the (also cool) role of the spectator who is first-seeing (or not) all the knowledge below!
Way better than spectating - at the bottom of this post you're getting an appendix with some cool Tools and URLs, so there's no way you are not checking the contents up by yourself!
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
The content will be branched into spoiler tabs which (sometimes inaccurately) represent the year the content of the picture is (or might be) from:
1996-1997
The shots below were firstly introduced by Gamespot, illustrating a fancy article which served as an introduction to The Sims Online and, eventually, the teller jumped to some flashback moments to highlight the past of the series' father Will Wright and show for the first time concept arts of these a little too much 'polygonal' and grotesque Sims [B](Read more in the appendix!)
ARCHIE
- Its file name suggests his name is Archie;
SIGMUND
[I]- Its file name suggests his name is Sigmund;
- You still can spot this guy in your game!! Although only as an icon, illustrating a glitch (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)
CRAZY LARRY
-Its file name suggests his (nick)name is Crazy Larry;
- For all we know, once upon a time in the The Sims' making-of the characters had variable expressions as their only visible way of making us aware of their mood (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)- although we can think that, during the gameplay, Larry's face wouldn't be always all smiles, the thought of his face like that, walking around his home for more than 3 seconds in a row, can be minimally... creepy, maybe;
1998...ish
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
Including the different User Interface (they have made and discarded +10 UI attempts for The Sims!), which was kind of expected, you can take note of:
- Considering its buttons, it's the only representation of a period when it was possible to build homes with more than 2 floors;
- At the bottom right side of the screen, what we can assume being the unused "Mood" bar (the highest one compared to all of the other necessity bars), which sort of measured the well-being of the Sims before the plumbobs have, makes its earliest visible appearance;
- That "Hunger" thought balloon, which is a more detailed, colored version of final version's, can be found inside the Graphics database (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!);
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the almost invisible little pixels above the talking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
1999 - DARKER UI / LISA / METAMORPHOSIS
1999 was the pinnacle of functional experimentation within the game (that we can take note of, at least) and also the moment when it had many more BETA features for us to observe, whereas the Maxis gang was already so satisfied with the progress of the game that all its content was grouped in promotional images and trailers so the gaming websites would have something to show to the fans of a then-upcoming game, some of them you may already know. Let's try to put them in chronological order so it gets even more easier to spot the evolution that happened there, specially when it comes to the overall design of the Sims and the ambulant metamorphosis called UI
ELVIS IS MADE OF VELVET
- The oldest 1999's screenshot we can take note of, due to the fact its UI displays Sims with the former cartoonish style, you know, the one which changes expressions, although only the first 3 Sims seem to belong together at this point (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!), posted in about 4 years ago by a reddit user called BowsersaurusRex, which apparently found the screenshot in an used computer they bought;
- The equivalent of the cheap Velvet Clown we know was a fancy and random "Velvet Elvis";
- Until the end of 1999 the kickable flamingo had a paradoxically detailed and shallower look, basically without any textures, as well as many other objects; You'll see that some of them has shadows of their own, which isn't very pleasing to our eyes, isn't it? It's common to observe contrasts between the level of details among items of a same screen since the developers were obviously sharpening the style of the overall elements until they got satisfied, and such;
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the little pixels above the funny-looking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
HOUSE ELEVEN
THE SIMS PRESS KIT, MARCH 1999
CHECK IT OUT:
- This lot presents a unique layout, exceptionally with three street corners, although it doesn't match with any of the lot rooms we know from the final version's neighborhood. Hold up, one of the former nhood designs does have a lot which is surrounded by three street corners (Check the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!);
- The huge size of this house visibly makes the then-low range of available objects well perceptible!! Most of them repeat themselves all around the property and makes it look a bit unpleasing to see. But, come on, they were still making it all;
- In this screenshot we can spot a considerably big amount of wooden shelves, for some reason all of them with a world globe inserted in the top of it and nothing else; In the kitchen, the walls hold unknown, rustically-drawn cookwares, unless my eyes are failing on me hard;
- As if a single trash can outdoors wasn't enough (and it is, since it never gets full!), this home has two;
- Who needs plumbobs when we have spinning ARROWS? (Check the PLUMBOB Spoiler tab for more info!)
- You see those two unused objects: A small wooden table with room for 4 chairs and (almost imperceptible, in the extreme bottom of the screenshot) what seems to be a very incomprehensible and abstract and "sci-fi"-y end table? They're still available, hidden inside your game, if you fancy seeing them more detailed (Check the OBJECTS Spoiler tab for more info);
HEY, I KNOW THEM 1
IGN, APRIL 5 1999
- Even with the butcheredly fell down quality of this screenshot (might be one of the first times Sims was, image-wise, introduced to us, the mainstream folks), it's possible to observe the earliest appearance of two sims whose aesthetics match with the one we know from the final game and was 100% available;
HEY, I KNOW THEM 2
Screenshot: APRIL 1999
Photo: UNKNOWN
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- For being developed in different moments of the game's production, the "new Sims'" thumbnails are a bit different compared to the ones from the sims that came up before them - if we think well, they look even more realistic than the ones from the final game, due to the way they're lightened. Let's not discard the possibility their expressions could change according to their mood. Beautiful, but this type of thumbnail didn't last much longer, you'll see;
GERMANS PAY SIMS A VISIT/HELLO LISA
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar preview Sims, not for the last time! To this point of the prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is familiar to you, like a dejavu. Yet:
- If the Brain-shaped interface was already cool in the static shots, we can observe here they have a "blinking reaction" when the function it represents (Mood, for example) is somehow stimulated. The part of the brain where all of our motor coordination knowledge is placed in - cerebellum - correctly represents the Skills menu!
- This is one of the rare situations the practically-iconic Rubber Plant is displayed at a mirrored perspective; in the final game, the object will always have its higher leaf pointing right, no matter where the camera is;
- "Lisa" (named like this based on her skin file title) is the first child we're ever getting to know thru a pre-released version. We both know how the children were limited by the hands who programmed them and their roles are extremely secondary, since we can't do many cool things with them and they talk about less subjects than adults (Let's leave the complete details 'bout this for the SOUNDS and SUBJECTS Spoiler tabs!) and their first sign of life was manifested when the "facing-the-player", neutral, generated face thumbnails (progressively similar to the one the final version shows) was being experimented, which suggests the existence of children in game wasn't a cogitated idea until 1999, and that's why their thumbnails look so different, more "updated", than the one of the other households from this preview video;
- Observe the lady's relationships list: The bald old man is illustrated by a thumbnail whose head belongs to other Sim;
MISSING BRAIN
IGN, AROUND JUNE/JULY 1999
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99
- As many previous pictures, let's not discard the quantity of windows the pre-released properties needed to have to get a minimal level of lighting;
- Face thumbnails are reaching similarity to the final version's although their backgrounds, here, is a bit darker;
- All the Sims with the contrasting cartoonish appearance were discarded to give place to a little more of new faces to all of us; "darker" equivalents of "light-skinned" versions included; when it comes to kids, "Lisa" is all by herself still;
- Not for the last time, you're seeing the kerchief of this Head whose files calls him "Biker" was firstly drawn blue instead of red;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part I of II
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
FROM THE GAME'S INTRODUCTORY VIDEO AND PRESS-KIT CD, RESPECTIVELY
- Although, at a quick glance, there is not something really remarkable about this Sim (Inside the NHOOD Spoiler Tab you can see his name is Michael Ryan
and his home we can discuss here since most of the presented elements are of our knowledge because of the previous shots, it is convenient to observe how omnipresent he is, making at least a brief appearance in almost every single versions we have at disposal, living in the very same lot, with some minor differences here and there on its layout and mostly on the objects that there exist! Right, I lost track of the reasoning here a bit, ha, but who knows he was meant to be part of a pre-made family made of 1 person? PRESS-KIT CD, MARCH/APRIL 1999
- The Press Kit CD (Info about this CD you can find in the LIVE THE BETA appendix down below!) introduces the game by narrating a slideshow story about him, by the perspective of someone who is teaching somebody how to play the game, or who is playing a pre-made family under a specific scenario, if you know what I mean;
- His property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with some small changes on how it looks;
THE ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part I of IV
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- Along with the "Bachelor Pad" family of one person, this lot whose outdoor floors follow a cement-tile pattern appears on screenshots of mildly different stages of development of the game, making it feel like they're meant to be one of the pre-made families like the Goths, for example (OK, the Roomies family survived the BETA, but consisting of a couple of two totally different people!!)
- Their property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with just some small changes here and there on how it looks;
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- This home, precisely the way it is, is found in one of the old neighborhood layouts (Take a good look at the NHOOD Spoiler tab for pictures and information!);
1999 - BLUE UI / AMANDA / "PRE-MADE" FAMILIES
QUAKE PEEPS INVADE SIMSVILLE A LITTLE
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- The UI's been updated a little and became blue, Sims blue, you know?! We can say that is a cross between the Interface we got in the released game's version and the previous one, that you probably saw inside the MISSED BRAIN spoiler
- Inside your call list, acquaintances' backgrounds are painted yellow instead of dark-green-grey-thing we know so well;
- "All in its own time", somebody may've thought; the UI update made it all blue but the controllable Sims thumbnail's background;
- Can you see the interactions queue, at the top of the pic? It illustrates the very first possible sprite of a recently-generate fire; in the final game, we always see the fire thumbnail showing it on its higher level;
- First rhombus-shaped Plumbob we can observe in a pre-release screenshot;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part II of IV
TECFA, UNIGE, 2002
SCREENSHOT: 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- This picture can only be found illustrating a webpage dedicated to an essay called The Potential of Videogames for Education, developed by someone called Catherine Freté within Genebra University - shows a slightly updated version of the Roomies' lot we've already seen;
LAWSON FAMILY
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
SPACESHIPS
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Players'd be able to insert objects above flowers/plants from the ground, even more plants;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part II of II
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The Bachelor dude is alive and breathes still, holding with strength his failed single, sloppy man persona. The lot shape remains the same of the one we could see at the screenshots from "months ago", although the standards of the graphics are way more faithful to the way we're offered in the final version, everything seems to be more and more harmonious;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES PART III OF IV
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The latter screenshot is the only one among the others, prototype's, whose UI is partially hidden by the press of the Live mode button (F1);
01NET (as well as other 1881834248238 sources), AUG-NOV 1999
- Seen on websites (mostly if not all French) which mention Sims being included in some NY MoMa's videogame-oriented exposition;
THE WALLACE, AMANDA TWINS FAMILY
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The first and last time soccer balls can be seen in-game;
Little has the game changed, since all of this happened one month before its official release in the USA; At least one of the videogame-reviewing websites (the German "Gamestar", for example) did mention December 1999 being the date of The Sims release, even if just as a prediction. Until this point of this whole long-awaiting phase, in which the first Custom-Content makers came to life with their homemade walls, skins and floors, like the ones you and me can do with so much ease (for some cool Sims-friendly editors were officially sent to the public in TheSims.com before the game itself!), more or less than 90% of what we reckon being "pre-made families" went down the pooper, whilst the rest of the people appeared to the final version with same name, but different skin; same skin, but different name; same name and skin, but different family... Let's see it closely, shall we:
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- First possible presence of the practicaly-geoid...ocarina-shaped User Interfae, 99% like the one we play with since February 2000 (Or 2001 if you have the Hot Date expansion pack installed). A cooler equivalent of the previously used one, introduces the Camera Mode (a tool used among developers that eventually became a definitive part of the game [?]);
- The family's last name can be noticed next to the friends counter icon; Money counter used to be placed more to the right than what we're used to see;
- This is the first and last case we can take note of a Beta's green counter having a sprite which unites its two corners in one; In the final version, a shallower similar takes place;
- Yes, we can also believe the player from this screenshot changed the home a little bit before taking this screenshot; If we imagine that home being on its default state, the living room looks more basic and empty than the one from the final version, the piano is placed in the opposite side and, in spite of the existence of a built second floor, there is no staircase for one to go there;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- Complicated to take solid conclusions given to the image's quality and size, but Cassandra doesn't seem to be using eyeglasses;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Toy Box's thumbnail claimed for adjustments, back in the day - When it comes to the Trash Can, the catalogue thought it's convenient not to get its shadow hidden, too;
- With the exception of the existence of a male member in the Roomies household, everything else seems compatible with the final game's reality;
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Just like in Goth family's screenshots, last name in friend counter and beta's green counter, but all the other objects (specially the Velvet Elvis & the cheap Television) were enhanced (or spoiled, your call!);
- Remember 1999's Wallace family? "Someone" with the very same face skin and and name as Betty comes to the Newbie household - her name is... Betty;
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- We fanciest fireplace is a pain to afford, but it used to be one thousand simoleons more expansive;
- The game neither warns you fireplaces cannot be used by children (assuming they never could) nor let's you know about the Room points it provides (assuming it always did)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar previews Sims, but not for the last time! To this point of progression in our supercool prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is being extremely familiar to you, including this introduction you are currently reading. But, still, shan't us discard the fact that:
- The game used to make it evident when an object couldn't be interacted via pie menu by making it darker once the mouse cursor hovered it;
- A rare occurrence of multitasking: Platter in hands, focus in a conversation; In the final version, when Sims grab a dish, they'll immediately attempt going to one of the household's table/counter/sink;
- One month was what it'd take for Maxis' wonderful graphics department to somehow cogitating convenient to reimagine the red this 1/2 torn legging and convert it all greened;
MANUAL MEDIA EXPLAINED
We're not going to explain and display the Manual's content directly here on this thread due to the image number limits so we have made a little album for this task, showing the main aspects that shows you what's the beta element you're able to spot on those pictures, including the newly-discovered presence of Michael Ryan on the very final stages of development, a slightly different UI with higher quality and some minor differences on how the Newbie's home looks like, for example;
IGN, 01/24/2000/
Shared in about 1 week before Sims was officially released in the US, showing what we know, the way we know; All was done... Say hi to the world, baby
============================== END OF "SCREENSHOTS" ==============================
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
- The image's low, thumbnail quality will not give us much clues, but the overall aspect of this hood contains a depth that doesn't combine with what we do know about the game, making it feel like it is a mock-up, or something; Resembles a little the graphics from the game Simutrans;
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- The colored lines, which pigeonholes the typically 10 available lots for the sake of orientation, are painted yellow to illustrate the bigger lots, the medium-sized ones are pink and the smaller are green;
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Example of the neighborhood from the picture 1 being shown in the gameplay; do note the very same colored lines;
It's too early, the development isn't importing about trees or any fancy decorative elements outdoors, the streets were pending (with red cubes temporarily filling their places), the water stream is an hugely simple equivalent of the final version's and all the unoccupied lots are flat and empty, an inviting sandbox formula;
- What could these little pixels at the bottom of the picture be? Hey, a personal guess - a Sign and, shooting for the stars a little, a Marquee, like the one the User Interface strings file mentions, alongside with a fictitious "company" called SimEstates , suggesting to be an unused feature whose purpose was taking us to the mode where we could be able to create and edit our families, before the final version's, Marquee-less CAS mode was designed (read APPENDIX for more info!);
Our friend neighborhood is mellower now, coming closer to the fidelity with the one the final version presented us, but still lacking a considerable range of objects; The supposedly-SimEstates-Marquee, more than ever, is found at the bottom still;
- From the same source we get a neighborhood with a very unusual layout, displaying totally unique roof/wall designs, colors and a much higher capacity; the sign is directly aimed to the screen, the water gained some extra detailing, and newtrees were added
- This time, we can even identify at least 5 households!
- We still miss some minor details, such as the lack of trees in some areas and complete absence of a sign, or marquee;
- The shore from the bottom right side of the screen has a unique, abstract shape;
- Months passed a little and our "pre-made" buddies are still there, but, between you and me, only Betty will survive this adventure;
- All the homes received some very good updates - Roomies' mansion grew a bit and the roofs received fancier colors, some of them never manifested the final version;
- Shore's shape is straighter now;
- The game's logo wasn't the one to illustrate the hood's sign still;
- Do note the primitive CAS/Bulldoze/Quit icons, and the lack of a "Create Webpage" one;
- Some new trees have been added up to the water stream zone and the left side of the screen, for example;
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- The Sim, exceptionally, reproduces a walking animation in the CAS mode;
- Exceptionally, the "Female" chooser is placed on the left side;
- Zodiac Signs aren't a thing;
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Astrological Signs aren't a thing... yet
- The Bio bar does not have a BIO title on its upper left side;
============================== END OF "NHOOD" ==============================
This poor atrophied old man does not know how to explore the files of the game enough to reach and make the talking balloon subject's sprites visible; after dropping an interesting hacked table-labeled object which gives Sims the gift of talking to each other within a room of our choice while they are busy with other activities,
those polygonal creatures of Will commenced chatting over subjects never said via non-hackable ways and most of them cannot be seen thru a known prototype picture
And inside the SOUNDS spoiler tab, you will learn the existence of several recordings of vox files for child Sims, covering different intensities of conversations and subjects, that didn't make their way to the game's released version; Among the subjects pictured above, At least half of them seems to somewhat represent the universe of children, for all of these seemingly "scary" topics (bats/"haunted"house/furious cat) could easily be one of their unused "LOW" and "MEDIUM" subject matters (View the SOUNDS spoiler tab for more information)
============================== END OF "BETA'S TALKING BALLOONS" ==============================
From now on, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
UNUSED OBJECTS EXPLAINED
Only three of all the objects shown above are not illustrating Controller Objects. If there something in common among these "controller objects", it is: they are right there, inside your game, being an important element of the lots you buy and built things in, but you can never see them since they are almost always placed in the grey boundaries where the job cabs and school buses take our Sims to when they disappear. For example: a dinner table iconizes the controller object which determines where all the game's cabs park in the street, in spite of it is not being the reason why people buy diner tables IRL, heh. Maybe the reason why these beta objects were chosen to be the ones to be these controller object's icons is because they cannot be mistaken for the final version's objects that easily.
============================== END OF UNUSED OBJECTS (From tables to tabloids)" ==============================
UNUSED TEXTURES EXPLAINED
Again, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
============================== END OF UNUSED TEXTURES ==============================
Games' rendered pictures can be made and published with the intention of being used as illustrations for advertisements, for example; one remarkable detail about most of them is their detailed appearance, normally representing what the players are able to witness within the game itself but with slightly more 'intensity' - via a totally different perspective or level of visual depth; When it comes to Sims the differences between the in-game looks are minor compared to the rendered images we know - let's see some of them before breaking the image inserting boundaries:
- The astronaut suit used by the advanced side of the Military career lacks the "NASA-esque" badge;
- 8 Sims are in a nine-square grid that pretty much resembles the one from the one of Brady Bunch's (a 60-70's TV series) opening sequences, which also was also referenced by The Simpsons in 1995 as one of their couch gags;
- The texture which represents the package from the Quick Meal your sloppy, in-a-rush families from Sims 1 eat precisely has the face of the blue-eyed blonde; Since we play thru the same perpective of a hovering buzzard, it's a bit tough to notice at first;
============================== END OF "IMAGES" ==============================
As well as what goes on with the animations, for example, the game's folder dedicated to the storage of audio (voice tracks, object sounds, etc.) has a massive number of files with variable length that are constantly played as a way of adorning every single movement and landscape out there in SimLane; And it couldn't have been otherwise: if we explore such folders, we'll fatally locate a fair quantity of those who don't seem, by all means to be used, at least not inside the base game, which is our focal point here in this thread;
YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THEM, EXPLAINED, ON THIS VIDEO
============================== END OF SOUNDS ==============================
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APPENDIX - LIVE THE BETA:
As you can clearly notice after opening all of those Spoilers, we do not have much room left to exhibit the wonders of the Sim 1's universe before its release!! Then, for the sake of covering all of the known bits without transforming it into something more overwhelmingly massive and the opposite of mobile-friendly than it currently is, you're invited to explore and discover the remaining aspects from the game's pre-release content yourself, with the help of the following interesting URLs and programs:
SIMSHOW
- The link's folder contains the program SimShow, officially published a little before The Sims went to stores and did allow the expecting fans to witness, on their computers, for the first time, the computer people reproducing animations under certain types of skins and heads of their choice;
- Also, "actions.zip", filled with 6 preview-able animations that are present in the game's file but none of the existent objects normally "call" them. They, on their majority, are animations of unusual long length that illustrates different types of dance. One of them, "adult-test-animation2.cmx", is rapidly reproduced in one of several scenes from the game's introductory video. Considering how random, long and DETAILED these animations are (and, you'll notice, how they appear to be a little out-of-place), it's not hard to assume they were part of the game staff's attempts of utilizing motion-capturing systems for the characters' actions but, in the end, all of the animations were built manually;
- The link's folder contains the program SimShow, officially published a little before The Sims went to stores and did allow the expecting fans to witness, on their computers, for the first time, the computer people reproducing animations under certain types of skins and heads of their choice;
- Also, "actions.zip", filled with 6 preview-able animations that are present in the game's file but none of the existent objects normally "call" them. They, on their majority, are animations of unusual long length that illustrates different types of dance. One of them, "adult-test-animation2.cmx", is rapidly reproduced in one of several scenes from the game's introductory video. Considering how random, long and DETAILED these animations are (and, you'll notice, how they appear to be a little out-of-place), it's not hard to assume they were part of the game staff's attempts of utilizing motion-capturing systems for the characters' actions but, in the end, all of the animations were built manually;
HOMECRAFTER
- Also a Sims tool released before Sims itself, and probably the origin of the first player's custom content; With this, you can pick up some of the image files you've got from your computer and turn them into a floor and/or wallpaper file which the game manages to detect and put in your Build Mode;
- Ah, the point: With this you can have a very straightforward (but valid) experience with the beta game, relatively able to interact with an environment whose elements has sprites with primitive, unused design;
TCRF - An entire Wikipedia-fashioned webpage dedicated to the unused elements of The Sims, not limited to its images and sounds. Did you know there is vestiges of strings, in the game's database, which proves community lots were intended to be a thing way before the existence of Hot Date? And that Sims are technically all born in 1997?
GAMESPOT'S ARTICLE ON SIMS ONLINE - unveils some of the briefly-attempted user interface layouts and talks about a then-upcoming The Sims Online
FOOD RENDERS - Before being caught by EA, TheSims.com.br , naturally the Brazilian domain for the official Sims website, belonged to a fan, until 2003, I reckon; One of its pages were, funnily, dedicated to only show pictures of the game's food types, in higher resolution and quality;
BETA GALLERY ROPED IN ONE - Most of the screenshots/renders you have seen here, but in hugely higher quality, you can find on this link; Includes the box art and all of its sides which, here and there, displays pre-release material (because the box art was made before the game start being sold, right?)
JAMIE DOORNBOS TELLS PROJECT Xs STORY... - ...and shows some very interesting pictures from a pre-1997 The Sims, being my favorite the one displaying the animation-testing programs and, well, how the entire landscape inevitably makes me think of RollerCoaster Tycoon, more than usual;
BUILD, BUY and LIVE - With these words, Will Wright begins this awesome Sims-oriented chronicle, including both of the pictures you have seen here; I reckon that that was written before 1999;
SG.HU ARTICLE - With the retail quality from the early 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
GAMERSHELL SIMS PAGE - With the retail quality from the late 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
THE SIMS PRESS KIT - An archived Sims Press Kit CD whose content was especially made for the objective of promoting The Sims via high-quality videos (including Will Wright himself answering questions about the game!), that wellknown trailer with the 3 Sims waving at you, some renders I didn't share here, screenshots and even a short slide-show narrating the ventures of some Sims, some of them you already know; Its files has as their creation date March/April 1999;
After spending some good hours sorting the contents - oops, - turns out this featherbrained guy here are clueless about how to finish this post. It is almost certain that there are some weird and unforgivable incorrect information, mistakes or typos that only the sands of time will unveil. But, hey, hopefully you, as a fan, will find the images shown above minimally interesting or, who knows, useful for whatever you might be doing with your game right now. Again: the topic shall not end here! Then, every sort of collaboration is going to be extremely well-received and will be an absolute pleasure to read/view/listen and, why not, ponder about them. OK, time for dinner, sul sul you!
