Will Wright, design, development, the sims

Will Wright on the Making of the Sims

I do adore Rock, Paper, Shotgun - I actually got hooked with an article they published on the ghostly eroticism of The Sims - and last week, they put up an interesting interview with Will Wright on the making of The Sims. I'm not a Sims player myself, but regardless of your feelings on Will Wright and/or his games, it really is an interesting tale of game development. OK, the go get 'em tiger positivity is a little grating:

The Sims is the ultimate story of a triumph of a game designer: being proved right when almost everyone else thought him wrong. So what advice would he give to a fellow developer when considering trying to bring their own, unique, dream project into existence. "Never underestimate the value of persistence," he states, "Even with SimCity, I spent several years trying to convince people that SimCity would be a good game. Around that time it just seemed that it was a battle that could not be won. If you're incredibly persistent, and you really believe, then persistence can overcome any number of barriers."

But besides making my teeth hurt in parts, it's an interesting look at the process of getting a game into development from idea to production.

Making Of: The Sims [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

2:30 PM on Sun Jan 27 2008
By Maggie Greene
3,061 views
23 comments

Comments

Car2oon at 02:38 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

My peanut-butter based action simulator has hope!
The Vampire Raziel at 02:40 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

who remembers Sim Ant?!
Morberis at 02:44 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@Raziel3333:

Hey hey, that game was fun!
Komrade_Kayce at 02:51 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 219

@Raziel3333:

Sim Ant discussion was like 20 comments in the Crysis-London-recreated thread.

Apparently a lot of us do. Remember it, that is.
devmas at 02:53 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@Raziel3333: Sim Ant was amazing. Walking into electrical outlets was fun :)

As for Will Wright, it is funny how some of the most successful games and stuff came from people who were doubted. I remember hearing that Bill Gates wasn't taken too seriously because he looked young or something.
blackadvent at 03:00 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

I remember SimTower. That shit was bananas.
KirbySS at 03:35 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimTower was great. Easy, but oh-so-great.
Witzbold at 03:49 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 3401

My friend made a tower shaped as a giant cock and left it on his pc for my other friend and I to find.

We were disturbed to say the least.

@KirbySS: You scare me if you think that game is easy. D:
Devster at 03:56 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimFarm was a bit disinteresting though; so far as the "non-city, non-sims" offshoots go...
J.A. at 04:01 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimEscort was great.
Mikolai at 05:45 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@blackadvent:
I think I heard SimTower was made by a Japanese programmer. A "part 2" was made with YootTower was out, Yoot being a part of the creator's name, Yoot Saito.

SimTower was fun, nonetheless, but the roaches...and OH MAN, trying to find the bombs on my 100 floor, stretched-to-the-edges building was a pain. x( Five Stars was a pain to maintain, too.
Ashkihyena at 05:47 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimTower was great, but it was not easy, especially when you kept getting bomb threats, roaches and stuff, ugh.

Can't wait till the release of the Free Time expansion for TS2 though.
ludwigk at 06:06 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

When I worked at Maxis, I used to root through the EA/Maxis game locker from time to time. It was a sort of repository for borrowing games to try. They had all the Sim___ games, but most of the weird ones, like -Life, -Earth, -Farm were still in the box with the original shrinkwrap!
teraphony at 06:07 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

Yay SimAnt! It was the only game other than Mario Paint that I had that used my SNES mouse. I felt a certain sense of smugness every time I grabbed the mouse and that solid-plate mouse pad.
Sabre_Justice: Okay,... at 06:55 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimAnt... I could never figure out how to colonist new squares.
Ghede at 07:34 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@devmas: I always enjoyed making a pheromone trail and swarming the spider with soldiers. MWAHAHAHA! Eight-legged monstrosity! You believe me to be weak, and you are right. But I can make smells! And those smells attract my fellow ants! You cannot kill us all and... why the hell did you just turn into green circles?

SimTower was also a favorite of mine. I still re-install it every now and again.
Slatz_Grobnik at 08:01 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

Some day, I will find the soundtrack for the Streets of Sim City, and I will be a happy person.
baccardi84 at 08:44 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

SimTower started off as an elevator algorithm sim.
Erwin at 08:59 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 258

@baccardi84: Man, I wish I could've played that!
Move over Microsoft Train Simulator, you just got replaced!
Peffse at 09:29 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@Raziel3333: Wow, someone else remembers SimAnt? I loved that game!
Great... Now I want to get my old 286 out of the closet.
Ra is on That 70s Show at 10:06 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

Sim Tower was great, Sim Ant was hard, Sim City was the best but who remembers Sim Copter? That games graphics were stunning! at the time...
Ghede at 10:30 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@Ra_on_the_Moon: Remember it. Played it. Loved it.

Fires were no match for my mighty hose! ... Speaking of which, remember the gay speedo-men controversy over that game? I wonder if my copy has that easter-egg...
Sabre_Justice: Okay,... at 11:53 PM on 01/27/08
Reply by Email
*

@Ra_on_the_Moon: So fun to mess with SCURK and combine it with that game. That and busting out the Apache and becoming a one-chopper disaster, muahahaha.

I think we can safely say that while both Streets of SimCity and SimCopter were really bad and almost unplayable, they were way too much fun.