The Simpire Strikes Back

[vovat]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been playing The Sims 2 a lot recently. Like the original game, it combines taking a while to accomplish anything with an addictive quality, so it's hard to start playing it without being in it for the long haul. When I first started, I checked out the premade neighborhoods, and I noticed that one of them used some of the premade Sims from the original game, only 25 years later. Cassandra Goth is now grown up, and Bella has apparently disappeared. Incidentally, according to the family trees, Bella is Michael Bachelor's sister, which is kind of ironic, since bethje had them get married in her own game. But then, being able to define relationships, so the Sims don't try to hit on their brothers anymore, is one of the cool thing about the newer game. I didn't actually play any of the premade Sims, though, instead choosing to create my own neighborhood and people. I did take the idea of my child Sims from the first game having grown up, though. I have a tendency of linking my Sims to Oz books or other video games, so that they sometimes come across as weird crossover fiction or something. In my original game, I brought in Erdrick and Kandar from Dragon Warrior III, and Cecil and Rosa from Final Fantasy IV. This time, I brought back Erdrick's son, who's also Cecil's grandson, and is now married to a woman I intended to be a distant relative of Glinda's.

In addition to the relative-defining thing, some aspects of the game that I think are a definite improvement over the first one are:

• More interactions with objects. When I first started playing a family with a kid in it, she started jumping on one of the beds. There are also more meals you can make, and you can hook a video game system to the TV, and take bubble baths. There are still a lot of objects I haven't been able to purchase yet, so I'm hoping for some more surprises.
  
• It's easier to meet people. When I first started playing a new neighborhood, I thought I'd have to create a bunch of families so that there would be someone for my Sims to make friends with. As it turns out, though, premade Sims (sort of like the Townies from Hot Date or the other vacationing families in Vacation, I guess, although you don't have to go out to meet them) will occasionally show up on your lot. Kids will sometimes bring friends home from school, and you can now interact with non-player-controlled characters like the maid, the mailman, and the repairman.
  
• Along with that, there are more social interactions. It continues the Hot Date idea of sub-interactions (like different kinds of conversation, playing, hugs, and kisses), but the Sims don't seem to be as grumpy as they were in HD and later expansion packs for the original game. With HD installed, it seemed like all the Sims wanted to do most of the time was nag each other. They appear to be more eager to actually take part in the updated interactions in The Sims 2. There are also more adult-child interactions (adults can help kids with homework, or read to them), which is cool.
  
• I read on some reviews of the game that the Sims are no longer as dumb, and that does seem to be the case. For instance, it looks like they'll now actually wait for another Sim to get off the toilet before barging into the bathroom. That aspect of the original Sims game was always particularly annoying when guests would come over and all want to use the same bathroom at the same time, usually blocking each other's way out so that all they could do was stand around in the bathroom, basically at an impasse for about an hour of Sim-time.
  

Things that might take some getting used to include:

• The new house views. While the graphics are much improved, it's a little difficult to figure out how to get the right angles to see things properly, especially with the weird zooming.
  
• Figuring out how to build houses on sloping ground. I tried it once both with and without a foundation. One way I was unable to put a front door on the house, and the other they couldn't actually USE the door that I put on. I always found the sloping ground to be one of the most irritating aspects of the earlier game, and it's even worse this time around.
  
• Aging. While I like the idea, especially when it comes to the kids, it looks like it'll happen at a faster rate than I might have thought. So far, I've just had a kid grow into a teenager, but I'm hoping my adults will be able to be promoted to positions that make decent money before they die of old age. Also, since time only really passes in the house you're currently playing, that means that, if you play the same family for a while, a Sim's childhood friends are going to remain kids while that Sim grows old. That's kind of scary when you think about it. It's like those stories about someone going into a fairy mound, and emerging after a short stay to find that decades have passed in the real world, only in reverse.
  
• If I try to switch to another window and keep the game open (or, as sometimes happens, my computer automatically opens another window to tell me the virus scanner has updated or something), the game won't load properly when I switch back to it.
  

Speaking of video games, I had a dream a few nights ago that was in the style of a Square-Enix RPG. What I remember about it was that a king made a hero choose between several people with power items. The correct one turned out to be a guy who made a silly movie, because he used the right password. The Apollo Helm, which for some reason was shaped like a canoe, was involved, but I think the item given by the filmmaker was a necklace. A dream I had yesterday was also along sort of the same lines, although it mostly involved my walking around through an office building.

Comments

[gible.livejournal.com]

I'm here to take over your journal for the side of the darkness that is my mind.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Wait, your mind is made of darkness? Wouldn't it need synapses and neurons and stuff to work correctly? Or am I confusing the mind with the physical brain?

[gible.livejournal.com]

Yes you're confusing the mind with the brain, but that aside...your brain has a light source?!?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Perhaps there's a light on in the attic, like in the Shel Silverstein poem.

[majellen.livejournal.com]

Heh - I've been addicted to Sims2 for a while now. If you want any tips, just ask, but I know some people enjoy figuring it all out for themselves.

And yes, there's a cheat to get money if you don't like having to live in one bedroom ranch houses.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I do generally prefer figuring things out for myself, but I'm not adverse to any tips people might have. I can't really think of anything in particular that I'm concerned about it the moment, though. Most of the problems I mentioned are just things I'm getting used to. I played the original game a lot, and it seems like most things work quite similarly (and, in some ways, are actually slightly easier).

I know the first game has the "rosebud" cheat to get money, and I believe the second one has something similar. I tried cheating in the first game, and I think not having to earn the money over time removes some of the fun from the game. On the other hand, if you're more interested in building fancy houses than anything else, I can see why you might want to cheat. I usually start out with really bare-bones houses, and then divide them into rooms and/or add on additions, depending on how big they are. I end up with houses that are big and full of nice stuff, but are low on the Layout score (which I'm not even sure exists in Sims 2).

[onib.livejournal.com]

You might be interested in taking a look at The Strangerhood some time. It's a cartoon based on the Sims 2 engine. Some parts of it were better than others, but all in all, it was pretty funny.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Eh, forget making relatives of Glinda. I would just make Glinda herself. :) However, the idea of Glinda using the bathroom and making t.v. dinners is rather strange.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Maybe she decided to try living life as a mortal for a little while, like the fairy in The Enchanted Island of Yew. {g} Besides, I assume Glinda goes to the bathroom at some point, but it isn't really fit to discuss it. (I'm reminded of the bit in Ozma of Oz where it's mentioned that even a princess has to darn her socks.)

Most of the Oz-related Sims I create are characters that I've used in stories, or am considering using at some point. I did have Sims of Princess Azarine (from Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz) and Jenny Jump. Neither of them looked much like how Neill drew them, though. I wonder if there are any custom-made Oz Sims anywhere. I'm guessing that, if there are, they're probably movie-related and of characters who really wouldn't work in that context. I mean, for someone like the Scarecrow, the Energy, Hunger, and Bladder needs would all be inapplicable; and Hygiene would probably be increased by being laundered and stuffed with fresh straw.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Not only darning socks, but remember in Tik-Tok the Soforth sisters have to sweep the royal floors! I would be pretty disdainful and restless too if I only had 44 men for subjects, and none of them worked in the castle. Reminds me a bit of the Kingdom of Lancre, actually, where Shawn Ogg and Mrs. Scorbic are the only real servants.

Never mind about Jenny Jump not looking like Neill's depiction of her. If you remember from the first Oz story he created, she never looked the same for two minutes because of that damn magic turnstile. Anyway, I think you're on to something! If no Oz-related video game or RPG, why not a Sims game? Best room-and-board in the game is Dorothy's Emerald City bedroom!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Reminds me a bit of the Kingdom of Lancre, actually, where Shawn Ogg and Mrs. Scorbic are the only real servants.

I definitely found an Ozzy quality to Shawn's being the entire army of Lancre, as well as serving a few other official roles in the kingdom. There were even puns on the term "standing army" in reference to both Shawn and the Soldier with Green Whiskers.

I remember Eric Shanower mentioning how, since Jenny is shown with so many different hairstyles in Neill's books, he just gave her a totally different hairstyle in every picture in Runaway. I had my Sim Jenny change her clothes constantly, which is something I never did all that much with my other Sims.

Anyway, I think you're on to something! If no Oz-related video game or RPG, why not a Sims game? Best room-and-board in the game is Dorothy's Emerald City bedroom!

Hmm, maybe a Sim version of the Emerald City, or just the palace? Really, though, I wouldn't mind seeing more of everyday life in other parts of Oz. Even though the palace has electric lights, there apparently was no rural electrification, so the people would probably be using iceboxes, candles, and wood stoves. But maybe there are certain magical appliances that could make their lives easier.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

On the subject of everyday objects in Oz...
I imagine that instead of regular milkmen, sentient Cows walk through the streets of the Emerald City and stop at each house. The townsfolk inside can get their own (fresh!) milk and maybe even ice cream or yogurt if the cow carries around an icebox or does the foxtrot, respectively. I'm going for all out Thompson/Neill Oz here. Maybe pelicans deliver the mail, by holding the letters and packages in their bills. Maybe the Woggle Bug developed a species of corn that shucks itself when it's ripe. On extremely hot summer days, Ozma opens the royal fountains to the public for some good old cool drinks and splashing your feet. On very cold winter days, the Woozy starts people's fires with his eye, the Scarecrow and Scraps give up their stuffing for those in need of warmth. Oh, and imagine clacks towers across Oz delevering urgent messages and royal proclamations. THe list can go on forever, really.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Maybe pelicans deliver the mail, by holding the letters and packages in their bills.

Handy Mandy has a reference to Glinda delivering a message to the Wizard via pigeon post. I get the feeling that the Royal Mail of Oz employs several kinds of birds.

On very cold winter days, the Woozy starts people's fires with his eye, the Scarecrow and Scraps give up their stuffing for those in need of warmth.

Does Oz even HAVE cold winter days? The books seem to be a little contradictory on this point. And while Jinnicky's palace isn't in Oz, I seem to recall Silver Princess mentioning that his kingdom has a tropical climate, but also that he has a magical way of warming his castle in the winter. I prefer to think that Oz does have seasons, but their summers and winters are generally pretty mild.

Oh, and imagine clacks towers across Oz delevering urgent messages and royal proclamations.

I'd say that's a little too Discworldian for Oz, but hey, who knows what technologies they've come out with in Oz in recent years? I think Oz is at a technological level where telephones are possible (and the Shaggy Man carries what's basically a mobile phone in Tik-Tok, but that the authors tended to avoid using them because they'd limit story possibilities. I mean, if Dorothy were lost in the Gillikin Country, and then just stopped by some Gillikin farmer's house and phoned up the palace to tell Ozma to come get her, there wouldn't be much of a story, would there?

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I prefer to think that Oz does have seasons, but their summers and winters are generally pretty mild.
Well, in the earliest Oz books, I think Baum imagined Oz as almost exactly like the US but with magic. The Emerald City was definitely based on the White City from the World's Fair in Chicago--which fits that description of the Emerald City being towards the center of the country, and by many green fields. The later books (Emerald City down to the last of the FF) seem to take place in a California-like world. Baum had moved to Coronado and Hollywood after all. So weather and local flora changed to fit California, two of his most favorite characters came from California, and the switch of Winkie Country and Munchkinland on the maps reflected the move. If Baum thought of the Munchkins living in the heavily-farmed Great Plains, and the Winkies in the mountainous areas, then they got switched in Baum's mind as he moved across the other end of the country. Munchkinland was always "closest to where he lived" and Winkie Country was always a "far-off place". But now Baum lived on the West Coast and not the East Coast--so Muchkinland moved with him instead of remaining where it fits with the real geography.

Other than cell phones, remember the Scalawagons? Those seem to have phased out pretty quicky in Oz. We haven't heard from them since Neill's era. Maybe the heavy pollution worried Ozma and she banned them until some new, cleaner, safer transportation could be invented. The Wizard never did think ahead and think of the consequences...

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Near the beginning of Chapter 12 of Emerald City, Baum writes, "The weather is always beautiful in Oz, and this morning the air was cool and refreshing and the sunshine brilliant and delightful." I suppose "beautiful" does still allow for some seasonal variation, but I wouldn't call, say, an ice storm particularly beautiful. In Grampa, it's mentioned that there's no snow in Oz, which certainly wouldn't make it much like Chicago.

If Baum thought of the Munchkins living in the heavily-farmed Great Plains, and the Winkies in the mountainous areas, then they got switched in Baum's mind as he moved across the other end of the country.

I get the feeling that the Munchkin and Winkie Countries are, in some ways, roughly equivalent to the American East and West. I see the Munchkin Country as more along the lines of the East Coast than the Great Plains, though. There's a lot of farming, but also a lot of deciduous forest.

I don't think Baum ever actually switched east and west in the text of his books. It was the reversed map in Tik-Tok that confused later authors, but even that clearly placed the Munchkins in the east. It was just not the side of the map on which east is usually found in our culture.

I actually wrote a story about the demise of the Scalawagons (http://members.verizon.net/vovat/scalawagons.html). I get the feeling that a lot of Ozites would have refused to use them anyway. Most of them seem to be farmers, and farmers have a tendecy to become set in their ways.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I really liked your Oz story. Very Ozzy and a lot like Thomspon's stuff. I enjoyed that you described the Scarecrow's voice as "husky".

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That was actually how Baum first described the Scarecrow's voice way back in Wizard.

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

I never make "regular" sims. I always make celebrities or movie/cartoon characters. The last time I played, Matt Stone and Trey Parker were hanging out with Kenny and Bebe from South Park. Kind of weird. Puts a new spin on 'meeting your maker'.

Yeah, I love how the Sims aren't dumbasses anymore. And I think it's super cute how a Sim will set out a plate for their significant other. Except it's annoying when I want them to make food for both people, and they'll pull out food for themselves. And then I can't stop them from doing it in time, and then the food just sits there. Irritating.

(Also, if you want to turn the aging off, either permanently, or for awhile, you can hit ctrl+c, and then type 'aging off'. If you want it back on, just type 'aging on' [imagine that :P])

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Do you get the skins for the celebrity and character Sims from websites or something, or make them yourself? I had some downloaded Sim skins for the original game, but I've since lost them, and none of them were that great anyway.

The very first Sim I played was a version of myself, but I kind of thought it was weird for me to be hanging out with all those fictional characters. I always kind of feel it necessary to justify everyone's presence in the neighborhood, so it at least makes some kind of sense. But I assume I'm pretty unusual in that respect.

And I think it's super cute how a Sim will set out a plate for their significant other.

I'll usually wait a little while before buying a dining table, but in one house where I have, it looks like whoever cooks will set out plates for the other people there, if there's room. It kind of makes me feel bad when the other people already have pretty full Hunger bars, and end up not eating the food. One thing I miss from the first game is eating being automatically added to the action queue of everyone who's hungry when food is set out.

Except it's annoying when I want them to make food for both people, and they'll pull out food for themselves. And then I can't stop them from doing it in time, and then the food just sits there.

Yeah, I've had that happen before. From playing the original Sims so much, I've developed the habit of watching my Sims with an eagle eye (which includes pausing the game really often), but occasionally one of them will get away with doing something I don't want them to do.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

What about Umaro and Gogo?