JW: I remember the first time I played The Sims, after a long session, I had to get lunch and go out to a meeting. And I found myself managing myself like a Sim. It was taking over my brain.

RH: I know what you mean. It’s funny how games affect your perception of reality. I was playing Doom… I played way too much Doom. Actually, I now have to use a mouse with my left hand because my right wrist is gone from playing Doom so much. I remember walking around the office and turning on the spot in corridors like a Doom guy would.

RPS: I think The Sims has really led the way for peeing in games. I keep hearing about how, like Age of Conan NPCs will drink too much and then piss up against a wall, and I think, yeah, but The Sims did that already.

RH: We were the trailblazers.

RPS: So can we look forward to increased pee capacity in Sims 3?

RH: There are definitely new potty humour states and jokes to enjoy, sure. We’re not leaving that behind.

RPS: Whenever I mention The Sims to almost anyone, from the most die-hard fan to someone who knows it vaguely, they always say that at some point they lock someone in a bathroom, take away all the doors, and watch their Sim collapse in a puddle of his own urine. Have you any idea of the psychology behind this?

RH: [laughs] First of all, what happens in The Sims stays in The Sims. We certainly wouldn’t say that everybody does that. But it’s just hilarious. This is a guilt-free pleasure. Nobody is going to get hurt. Watching people lose control of their bladder functions is just funny. I can’t say why that is. You’re British! My God, this is our culture! This is the basis of an entire culture for us. I think it’s in the genes. It’s universal though – everybody finds it hilarious. I know some people try to hang that as a negative around the game. But I embrace it – it’s a wonderful, traditional source of humour.

The fact that the franchise has spread out in so many directions surprises even Rod Humble, the expat Briton who heads up The Sims studio. “If you think back to when The Sims launched, as a game design it was utterly insane,” he says. “There was no end, there no win or lose - but it absolutely fitted with a ‘what if’ scenario that we all have in our heads.”

Back then, at the turn of the millennium, the project was championed by its creator, Will Wright. He has now moved on to another project - the much-anticipated evolution game Spore - but at its heart the Sims has remained the same. Along the way it has been a core part of the rise of so-called “casual gaming” - typified by Nintendo’s Wii and a plethora of web-based games. Humble quietly disagrees with the “casual” monicker, however, and suggests that there is more going on than just a widening market.

“I think the ‘casual’ label is pretty much meaningless now,” he says. “You’ve seen a big shift in perception … it’s got to the point now where we’re on our own, and we’re able to do all sorts of things in terms of mass entertainment and themes. A few years ago I don’t think people would have thought about a game where you run a business or have a family.”

The first change emphasized by EA is the effort to create towns and true-to-life neighborhoods, where each household functions on its own. Specifically, your neighbors will be up to the same daily routines as you. They’ll also get new jobs, get into relationships, etc. Unlike before, in The Sims 3 you can actually see and keep track of each character. In The Sims 2 avatars (be they your neighbor’s or your own) would disappear when you’re not looking. This time, you can follow them as they go about their day-to-day tasks. If you so desire, you can follow your neighbors’ activities - as they start their cars, go off to work and such. For socializing and interaction, EA plans to introduce places like parks, movie theaters, bistros, bookstores, clothing stores etc.

However, The Sims 3 won’t be revisiting the failed Sims Online MMO project of a few years back. Instead of multiplayer, EA will be pushing the community side of the game, with features such as a Facebook-style social networking service. Here, you’ll be able to upload Sims to a homepage, where friends and other players can download them into their own towns.

“It all looks great, but graphics grow stale fast,” notes Daniel Matschijewsky, editor of Gamestar, a Munich-based magazine. He says he expects the game to build upon its foundations. “It makes no sense to completely redo the Sims, since the game has worked so well for so many years.”

• EA will includes in the game a lot of tools for create new shoes, skins, objetcs, clothes,…
• Sims will be able to do demonstrations in the streets of SimCity if they are disagree with something.
• The game mode of The Sims 3 will be based in objectives.
• The game will go on sale on Spring 2009
• And more new things… Read it for all the tips!

Y!: How big is the neighborhood going to be?

BB: It’s going to be a good-sized, small town. It’ll have a little downtown with shops and a park, and a bunch of different residential neighborhoods where you can live. But what’s really cool, because the Sims is all about player creativity, is that we’re giving the players the tools to change their town. They can replace anyone in their town with characters that they create, and change any home they like. We’re also releasing our developer tools a couple of months after the game, so the community will be able to create their own towns.

1UP Community: The supernatural aspects of TS1 and TS2 have always been some of my favorite game features. Will you continue adding supernatural features in The Sims 3?

BB: The supernatural aspects in The Sims games have always been fan favorites, not to mention favorites within our studio! We’re creating some fun surprises new and old fans are going to love in The Sims 3. [Editor’s Note: Of course, love of the supernatural isn’t unanimous. “I personally absolutely hate everything supernatural in The Sims 2,” laughed Sims Studio head Rod Humble during GFW’s cover story visit, “but the team loves putting it in by way of mocking. So the expansion pack team now designates, ‘What supernatural thing do we put in to piss off Rod?’ Because I really, really hate it.”

In fact, by the time the 3D engine was created, the studio already had The Sims 3 up and running in its entirety - as a fully playable 2D game. Every piece of the design was implemented in this prototype, from character personalities to object interactions, careers and so on. It may only have been made of labelled squares and circles, but the 2D version includes the entire town - and was so advanced that the team even used it to try out some user interface ideas.

Are there any connections between The Sims 3 and Spore like there was with The Sims 2 and SimCity 4?


Rod Humble: We are hard at work with the Will Wright’s team trying to incorporate a few aspects from Spore into The Sims 3. For example, when you take a creature’s snapshot in Spore, you will have the ability to purchase customized shirts of your creature from the clothes shop in The Sims 3.