What Expansion pack would YOU invent? As most of you probably know, I love posting all of these hypothetical questions. So here it is, if you could create your own expansion pack for the sims what would it be? Me, I would like to have an expansion pack where the sims compete on a reality show like Treasure Hunt, or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Or even a reality show where you make a sim and put them in a premade house where they compete against other sims for 1 million dollars. What do the rest of you have in mind?
I know some people think it's morbid, but I'd love an EP where Sims can have different disabilities, but with positive features to allow those Sims to be just as productive in their lives as non-disabled Sims. For example, a deaf Sim could build special skills such as sign language (which hearing Sims could learn too) and lip-reading... for Sims in wheelchairs there could be ramps and other objects to make homes and community lots fully accessible to them. It could also expand on the illness/healthcare system with a NPC doctor who treats Sims when they are sick with the illnesses already in the game, either by house call or by going to a community lot "clinic". Of course, whether to have a disabled Sim would be completely optional - no random surprises (even I know that sucks enough in real life, and this is still a game). You could choose to give a Sim a disability in CAS, and/or there could be some in-game mechanism for giving an existing Sim a disability, or "curing" one they already have. Like I said I know some people don't like the idea. But to me it's not morbid, it's just part of my life, and anyway I think a world where we all do things the same way is a boring one. I do know it would certainly allow me to be more creative in my storytelling, as we all do our best writing when we write what we know.
My Idea for a Farm EP I'd build one which was farm/gardening related. I loved that part of Unleashed and Makin' Magic. But I'd also like farm animals. So, it would have harvestable crops (fruits and vegetables, and herbs.) (I have the harvestable crops from TSR and a couple of other sites, but I'd like it to be part of an overall EP.) They could be used for food at the house or sold for cash. (I suppose to make it the usual TS "fun" it would also have to have the giant vegies, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings to leave that out.) It would be nice if the fruits and vegetables could be turned into a sellable/usable product. I loved the "preserves" table from TS1, as well as the "juice" you could make. It would be something you could sell in your store if you had OFB, but also for gifts. I'd also like it to have more landscape plants (but ones which had the butterflies). It would be nice to have it be something that Sims could get creative points when they do it, rather than just "work" like most of the gardening is now. For some of the gardening it should also be "fun". (Perhaps the weeding and trimming wouldn't have fun, but it would be nice if the gardeners could actually plant the shrubs and flowers themselves for fun.) It would have chickens, ducks, horses, cows, pigs, etc. Some of them could provide a product (chicken eggs and cow milk), others for "fun" (riding horses), and others could be put into inventory, sold (or become "food". Of course, since people are squeamish nothing would be seen. You'd just click on the animal and it would have "food" points added to the refridgerators.) I would also like to see things like a "State Fair" type of thing as a community lot where Sims could compete with their animals (4H, Future Farmers, etc type of thing), buy additional animals, sell animals, eat things from vendors like cotton candy, hot dogs, funnel cakes (please don't ask me to explain what they are), ice cream, etc. Also, amusement park rides! Of course, there would also be a "neighborhood" which would be "rural". There already are fields you can decorate your neighborhoods with, but it would be nice to have more types for decoration (such as orchards, grass fields, pastures with cows in the field, etc.) Perhaps the roads would look like dirt ones rather than regular streets, or you could have a way to customize the neighborhood streets so that some would look like "streets" (like the rural highways) and others could be dirt roads. (Shoot, I think that the people who like to do "medieval" neighborhoods would like this too.) If the person also has OFB, they could own more than one area of farm and hire workers to help "farm" it. (Tractors for doing the harvesting of larger areas, for instance.) I keep envisioning a combination of "SimFarm" and TS2, so that we can have the more TS2 method of "farming." For those who aren't into the farming aspect, they'd still get the benefit of things like riding horses, amusement park rides, buying produce, canned goods and the like. (And the ability to "give gifts" would be a nice part of that, which wouldn't need any "farm" stuff specifically.) This is an idea which we started kicking around way before TS2 even came out. But some of us haven't given up on it.
I love your ideas! I would definately buy a disability expansion pack. Think about how beneficial that could be for a deaf child to have a game where she could make a sim deaf such as herself. I would also love to be able to have a farm and grow my own produce!
One of the original sims ep's concerned vacations. I would like to see a World Traveler ep. You get to plan an around the world trip hitting various capitol cities or famous vacation resorts, making faux pas, memories and what have you. Imagine making out at the top of the Eiffel Tower as an aspiration or running with the bulls in Spain or snokeling off the Great barrier Reef.
All very good ideas, you guys! My daughter has already learned stuff from the sims (like don't stick a fork in a toaster, LOL). Just think how great it would be if it helped people see disabilities as just one facet of a person. I would take Kat's idea and expand it to The Great Outdoors. I'd have everything she mentioned (love the state fair idea!), but also camping, weather, wild animals, and new career paths like forest ranger, farmer, and landscape architect. And beaches. I want my sims to go to an actual beach. AND I'd make it so all stupid landscape features like boats and such showed up during play. Right now I get a bunch of rocks. Or is that just me?
My friend Rachel desprately wants that to be an expansion. She has CP and is constantly fuming over the lack of diversity.
I so agree with the need for some diversity in our sims. I was having a conversation with someone only yesterday whose son, who had slight hearing problems, took it upon himself at the age of 4 to berate his edler brothers in a mall for laughing at, and mimicking the actions of, a palsied man who was trying to negotiate the crowds. I suspect the problem is unlikely t be addressable in the current series of the game because sims are still utterly "perfect" in their equitability and lack of differentiation. Before disabilities could be rationally introduced into gameplay the entire personality structure and behavioural mechanisms of sim-physiology would need a radical remake so as to allow sims to recognise differences between themselves and between others and to make judgements based upon their perceptions as well as on their prejudices (or lack thereof). Ooh big subject. Too big for an EP within the current limitations of the game, I suspect.
I like the idea of the camping, wild animals and the like. (Although I can do without the weather. I get enough "weather" in real life!) However, I've always envisioned those in a "Vacation" type of EP, which would also have exotic locales, beach swimming and the other things which go along with vacations. You only see rocks? It's probably your graphics settings. Although it plays horribly when I do it, I can see the whole neighborhood and the things I've placed in it. I only use that setting when I need a shot for a movie/story. However, even on the settings I use when I'm just playing, I can still see the trees (although they aren't as well defined. They look like the paper doll trees made with two pieces of cutout cardboard) and the other houses.
I've had the feeling that the reason (besides the need for a whole new class of animations) that they haven't done disabilities is that they don't want to offend anyone. The Sims tends to be a parody of life and people might take offense at the way that disabilities were portrayed, just like the 4 year old was upset becuase hisbrothers were laughing and mimicking a palsied man. There is such a fine line between having fun with something and making fun of it. This may be a can of worms that Maxis isn't going to open for fear of offending people when they just wanted to make it more fun. Having disabilities in the game is actually one of the things that gets discussed fairly frequently. Usually it's people who are disabled who ask for this to be put in the game, with the non-disabled people worried that the disabled might be offended. Before TS2 was actually released (at the same time that my idea for a farm EP started), Schweighser put forth some very interesting ideas for Sims with disabilities. I don't know if the threads are still there (as they've done a lot of culling in the past year), but you might be able to find it on the TS1 site (in the TS2 section) with a BBS search. She also discussed it a few times on the official TS2 site (although those are more likely to be culled, since Maxis is always working to keep the stored stuff manageable. That's why content on the Exchange gets culled so often whereas the TS1 stuff never did.)
I should clarify. I can see trees, and dumpsters, signs and the like. I can't see boats, birds, blimps, hang gliders, and some other stuff. When I look out to sea, for example, I see a lot of rocks. Is that my graphics settings? Does anyone else see boats or swans?
I don't think it's the graphics card. I don't see those either. Yes, I see the signs, trees and rocks, but nothing of the animated decorations. I also don't see the 'fields'. I thought it would be nice to have the surroundings look like farmland (from inside a lot) but the field and flower neighborhood decorations don't show up. One curious thing I noticed yesterday--while in the neighborhood screen I saw statuary in the yard of a lot where I knew I hadn't placed statues. I entered the lot and found the downloaded decorations looking perfectly OK after all. Apparently, when in the neighborhood screen, I was seeing the original object that the creator had borrowed to modify for his design. Computer logic fascinates me. It just ain't the same as mine.
LOL Lynet. That's not computer logic it's lazy cloning by the object creator. I hate it when I download something and find that its catalog description is exactly the same as its parent clone. I have so many Smoog cars that look like something else ... VW Beetles, BMW Minis, even a Fiat Punto The most annoying ones though are the kitchen wall cupboards cloned from paintings that visitors just have to come muse over ... usually specifically to get in the way of dinner being served ... aaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!
Yes, isn't that rather ironic? Slight tangent here... There's a private newsgroup I have frequented for many years. Most of the regulars there know all about my disability. Once, a few years ago, I don't remember how we got on the topic, but I was explaining to them what a "devotee" is (a person who is attracted only to people with disabilities), and one of the regulars, who knew me pretty well and knew my sense of humor, responded with something to the effect of "so what are you doing Friday night?" It was funny, and I posted the standard "LOL" response. Later, after my reply, another regular completely berated him... saying "she may have posted 'LOL' but I know she's sitting at home bawling her eyes out." And that is what got me livid. How dare he presume to know how I really felt, and accuse me of not being honest about it? What I find most offensive is the fact that people think a disability is such a tragic thing that shouldn't be joked about, while at the same time it's okay to joke about the size of one's nose or the color of one's hair... to me it's all the same. That, to me, is far more offensive than the joke itself, no matter how off-color it may be. Anyway, back to the game... I don't see why the Sims would need to have recognition of and perceptions of disabled Sims. Just like skin color already is, it should just be a non-issue. In a "perfect world" as TS2 is supposed to represent, that's how it would be anyway. And as far as parody, they don't necessarily have to poke fun at the disability itself, either. Sure, the game would have its own Simplified (har har) version of sign language, but that shouldn't be any more offensive to RL sign language users than Simlish is to anyone who speaks a real language in RL. And some crazy wheelchair designs would be fun, not offensive at all, and there could still be normal standard designs for those not inclined to "**** their rides"...
LOL, that is funny that it censored that word...well we are family friendly! Anyway, I agree with you 100% Hellokit. I've worked on and off in group homes for adults with disabilities and I'd love to be able to create that within the sims as well. And I think elderly people should be given the option to either use a walker or a wheelchair. LOL, a power one would be kind of fun for a grumpy grandpa sim. I can just see it, him running over flamingos and gnomes for fun! I agree 100% with the idea of a disabilities expansion pack. I think it could be very tactfully done, and it would make it just that much more realistic. They put races into the game, and they have the option to have same-gender relationships, I think disabilites isn't that far of a stretch from it. As an expansion pack, individuals can choose not to buy it, and even if they buy it, just like making a sim gay, it's a choice you have, not something that's forced within the game.
Really good post, HelloKit. You're right. Sims pay no attention to skin color, hair color, gender, outfits, or the size of the nose. They love or hate anybody based almost entirely on behavior toward each other--hugs and jokes vs poke and ignore. It's one of things I really like about the game. So why would disabilities be any different? Very funny about the censored "rides."
LOL Kit. The trouble with automatic censors is they don't know the context Re your comment about sims having no prejudices (you seemed to be responding to a point I made) .... I was intending to mean that I feel that it would be a good thing to add the ability to recognise and respond to differences (both positively and negatively ... they already flirt and fight but it would be better if they did so for a reason.) Added to the fact that a sim in route-failure is a dead loss, putting an unmodified sim into a wheelchair would -- at best -- be a cruel sort of torture and at worst it would just make playing the game silly (eg. wheelchair disappears in a whirly vortex and sim emerges in PJs and climbs between the sheets.) I've thought about the issue in some depth. The problem is not so much one of a danger of slipping into parody but of trivialising the wider issues. I'll shut up now, and end by echoing your own observation that TS2 exist in a perfect universe where disabilities are non-existent (unless you consider being a zomby is a disability ... though the undead might counterclaim that living is a rather serious handicap ... albeit one that comes to an abrupt end
That's just the thing though - my idea of a perfect world is not one where disabilities don't exist, it's one where no one wishes they didn't exist. And I just think if there was a game that reflected that ideal, it could be both empowering to those of us who do live with disabilities, and eye-opening for some of those who don't. (I say "some", because there are always going to be ignorant people out there and one video game isn't going to change all their minds.)
Amen to that. I am in 100% agreement with you. I agree, too, but TS2 is not such a game for the reasons I have explained. It is impossible to have differences of ability without the differences having an effect. For that to occur the participants need to be aware of the differences. I don't know ... I am not explaining it very well and I fear I am barking up a tree all on my own :( LOL ... I am minded of the proverb about cake and eating it. Jack Thompson clearly feels that a single video game has the power to corrupt everyone; maybe that logic only works negatively: it is easier to deprave a person than to engooden him.
