The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!

Let’s discuss The Sims. What is your favorite game in the series? What aspects do you like about it? What doesn’t work for you? Are there other games that gave you similar feelings? Feel free to share any thoughts that come up, or react to other peoples comments. Let’s get the conversation going!

If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).

Previous entries: Half-Life, Earthbound / Mother, Mass Effect, Metroid, Journey, Resident Evil, Polybius, Tetris, Telltale Games, Kirby, LEGO Games, DOOM, Ori, Metal Gear, Slay the Spire

  • Calavera@lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    I payed just the first game and I loved it, I mean, everybody loved it at that time. But a couple of times months later the love faded away.

    I think it was indeed a ground braking game, but it was so grinded by EA that most people at some point stated to hating it

  • Stepos Venzny@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    I can’t think of another game that I like so much and enjoy playing so little. I will spend countless hours creating families and houses and then five minutes playing the actual game before I’m like “oh, right, I hate this” and then I start making another family.

    • Megaman_EXE@beehaw.org
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      1 month ago

      I loved the building, but I find the other half of the gameplay quite boring. Some of the more focused games i thought were a bit better, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve played them.

      I really enjoyed the GBA titles

      • trev likes godzilla@beehaw.org
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        1 month ago

        the GBA titles

        I absolutely adored the Urbz game for DS. Pretty sure it’s the same game as the GBA version, but it had an added post-game minigame. I loved maxing out friendships and having bonus areas to decorate!

  • Zozano@aussie.zone
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    1 month ago

    When I was 12 my Mum gave me my first PC, it was a second hand work PC with a tiny HDD.

    There wasn’t enough space to install The Sims, so I deleted the Program Files folder, thinking I don’t need any programs, only games.

    I bricked my PC lol. Needed a tech to reinstall Windows. Thankfully, I could tell him I needed enough space for the game and he debloated it as much as he could. Legend.

    • DdCno1@beehaw.org
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      1 month ago

      Reminds me of my younger sibling inheriting my first PC - 486 with a 500 MB hard drive that I had assembled from several scrap computers - and trying to install this game to it. It did just about fit and there was even enough RAM (48 MB instead of the minimum 32), but the CPU wasn’t compatible, since the game required the MMX instruction set.

  • Ethereal87@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    I think original Sims made the biggest impact on me since I probably played that one the most. Our PC couldn’t handle The Sims 2 when it came out, and I only tangentially tried 3 and 4. Mostly enough to build a cool house and spend a few days with the Sims I created. Sims 1 I probably poured a ton of hours into it.

    One thing I did discover and never fully completed in the later games was trying to do some sort of haunted house family. As in, have someone move in and intentionally die in a way that created a new color of ghost. Get all of the different ghost colors in one house/lot then move a normal family in. I don’t think it really mattered in any way, I just loved the idea of a regular family cohabitating with a rainbow of ghosts.

    There’s something both so unique and also so simple to the Sims that I’m surprised it’s taken this long for folks to try and “go for it” the way Cities:Skylines went for Sim City. Like, you have to craft interesting stories within the game but you don’t need to wholecloth invent a galactic empire/fantasy world/etc…you can broadly look at our world and copy/paste for inspiration. With Paralives and Life By You “coming soon” in some fashion, there’s going to be some interesting competition here.

  • MrGerrit@feddit.nl
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    1 month ago

    I played a bit of the original and sims 2. It’s interesting but really my thing.

    My daughter on the other hand loves playing sims 4. As soon a dlc goes on sale, she buys it. So many dlc’s… It’s nuts.

    • Micromot@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      I recently helped another person I know, who is like your daughter, pirate the game with all dlc so they don’t spend even more on the game than they already have.

      The prices on the DLC are crazy when added up

  • philpo@feddit.de
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    30 days ago

    I know multiple women who mainly got themselves a PC to play Sims back in the day and who are now in senior IT roles because once they got the PC they kind of “sticked with it”.

    That is something we indeed should thank The Sims for.

  • knokelmaat@beehaw.orgOP
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    1 month ago

    This might be my first PC gaming experience. My niece had this game and when I came to visit we would play it together and build houses and stuff. I have really fond memories of the first game and some of its expansions (vacation and night-life, also pets if I remember correctly?).

    I somehow completely skipped The Sims 2, but by the time The Sims 3 released, I was extremely hyped. It is the only time in my life I bought a collector’s edition. It had a USB key chain in the shape of the green diamond! I remember really enjoying it and especially loving the music and the vibes it brought.

    I also had a Sims game on Game Boy Advance (with cats and dogs) and one on Nintendo DS (on a lost island). Both were really fun!

  • stargazingpenguin@lemmy.zip
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    1 month ago

    My favorite is the Sims 3, and I’ve spent a lot of time on it! It’s a very addicting game for me, but only by spells. I’ll play it every chance I get for a few weeks, then let it sit for a long time. I’ve also played 2 and 4 as well. 2 was good, and 4 was disappointing to me. The overall gameplay wasn’t as good in my opinion, and losing the open world aspect of 3 was a negative too. Add to that the launcher and additional login requirements and I quit playing it fairly quickly.

    I think the main reason I like 3 better than the others is because of the open world aspect. I can quickly switch back and forth between two sims at opposite ends of the map, and the world itself feels more real due to not having loading screens. I also like the graphics style a little better, but that’s a minor thing.

    The way I normally play is to create a sim, either by picking traits or randomizing, and drop them into the world with a starter house. From there I normally have them get a job or learn a freelance skill to make some money. I generally let my sims find their own friends and spouses by finding who they get along with and going from there. I generally get at least a few generations in before I move on to another game or start over. I rarely do the challenges and things that many people do, but I have done games where I tried to keep a generational line going for a while.

    I was really looking forward to both Life by You and Paralives, but the publisher and/or devs of Life by You just blew through their third release date, and have now delayed it indefinitely. So maybe Paralives will be good!

    • themoken@startrek.website
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      1 month ago

      Sims 3 was my favorite for the open world and freelance jobs too. Was nice to be able to secure an income without disappearing off the map for 8 hours a day. Was surprised 4 didn’t follow through on that as much but I only played it a little.

      My wife plays Sims with cheats all the time and I get that it becomes a fancy interactive dollhouse in that case, but to me the game is all about that progression from bachelor in a one room box to old family man in a mansion.

      • stargazingpenguin@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        That is my primary playstyle in a nutshell! 😂 I really like the painter and writer professions, but I sometimes don’t even go that far! I’ve had sims that have never had a job and have made every simoleon by picking up rocks, playing guitar, and selling random things they found in the dumpsters around town. That’s the great thing about it, you get more freedom to do what you want.

  • frog 🐸@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    I’ve played Sims 2 and 3, and generally enjoyed them. I think I would have played both a lot more if they hadn’t been prone to such severe performance issues. Especially 3. I was in a better position financially back then, upgrading my PC every 2 years, and somehow even a brand new PC built around gaming performance could not run Sims 3 without severe lagging and stuttering. I tried various mods intended to improve performance, but never really made any headway on the issue. Gave up, haven’t tried Sims 4 because the quantity of DLC is huge and expensive.

    • FluffyPotato@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      I have exactly the same issues with Sims 3. My PC is pretty much as powerful as it’s gonna get but Sims 3 with all the performance tweaks and mods just won’t run properly, it’s downright unplayable. Too bad it’s my favourite Sims.

      Does anyone actually buy the Sims games? Like the full game costs a fortune, just sail the high seas, EA shouldn’t get a cent.

      • frog 🐸@beehaw.org
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        1 month ago

        While I have gotten fairly proficient with the TV and film high seas, I struggle with games and software, often leaving me uncertain if what I’ve actually downloaded is a virus.

        • FluffyPotato@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          Fair enough, that’s a sense you build up over time with some plunder, or at least it was for me.

          If you wanna try Sims 4 I’m using Sims 4 updater by anadius, that gets everything you need and keeps everything up to date (while having less of a footprint than Origin).

          • frog 🐸@beehaw.org
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            1 month ago

            Yeah, it’s probably something I could get a feel for with more experience.

            Thanks for the recommendation for a suitable Sims 4 source. :)

  • gerryflap@feddit.nl
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    1 month ago

    My first experience with the Sims was jumping behind a random computer at some kind of event that was running the Sims 1. Most of the family had just died because the previous person behind the PC had let the house burn down. Needless to say, I was a bit confused. I’ve played the Sims quite a bit after that, and I honestly like messing around with it.

    I don’t think I’ve ever played a game without cheating a lot of money. I don’t like that the Sims that I made have to go off to work or school, so usually I just build a big fence around the property to keep them all there. From there on it used to devolve into chaos when I was younger. Building huge mazes to access basic necessities, launching fireworks indoors, etc. Nowadays im a bit more behaved though.

    Imo the Sims 4 is the best nowadays. The older ones are showing their age. That being said, the Sims 4 is definitely in need of some competition. It’s inexcusably buggy sometimes, and I personally think there’s a lot more that can be done with a game like this. Hopefully the upcoming competitors can spark some fire into this genre.

  • MangoKangaroo@beehaw.org
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    1 month ago

    Been playing TS4 again, lightly modded to facilitate poly relationships. I’m not a fan of the shit storm of DLC that’s basically the staple of the game’s monetization at this point, but that’s nothing that can’t be solved on the high seas. Otherwise, I still enjoy the series a lot. (Also, shout-out to the various weird spinoffs like Castaways.)

  • CharlesReed@kbin.social
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    1 month ago

    Sims 3 has the most hours played in my steam library, but I haven’t played it recently. I seem to go in cycles where it’s all I’ll play for a few weeks, and then I won’t touch it for several months, and then I’ll come back to it again. It’s a great game to have mindless fun in, and last I checked, the mod community was still going strong.

  • jupyter_rain@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 month ago

    I liked 1 but played so much sims 2 back when I was in school. It is still really relaxing for me, so from time to time I come back and build a house with a crazy family in it.