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When I think of user-created content, my first thought is the Sims. Our whole household kept fiddling with it, ignoring the game itself, but fascinated at the custom-designed objects we could use. I even learned the scripting language to create items custom in behavior, not just appearance.

Custom items for the Sims is still a cottage industry. Check out Homeslice: http://www.simslice.com/thesims2/ts2objects.htm

just for a starter example.

BlackEmperor writes: "Is the intelligence of an object being tuned (cool)" or is the object just being given a x% production/whatever boost (sucks).

"Intelligence" generally does not have a "knob" that you can simply tune up and down. How smart a character acts is an emergent behavior that depends on many other factors in the system, themselves which include many tunable knobs like "x% whatever boost", and complex dynamic behavior scripted into the code.

That said, you can still add more layers to tune the higher level behavior of the AI, which randomize the emergent behavior and diminish the effect of the "intelligence".

For example, The Sims uses a complex dynamically tuned algorithm to figure out what action each character does next, based on scoring "advertisements": It asks all the objects in the house to enable and score all their action "advertisements", as the advertisement applies to a particular Sim at the current time. For example: the fridge's "fix dinner" advertisement is enabled in the evening; the toilet's "use toilet" action gets a higher score the fuller your bladder is; the bed side you usually sleep in remembers the relationship and raises the score, which increases when your energy is low, so it's more likely you will go back and sleep in the same place every time you're tired.

That algorithm produces a list of all possible actions, which is sorted by score. But if perfect Sims always performed the first action with the highest score, it would have made the game frustrating and un-challenging. Because if you didn't interfere with the Sims lives, they would automatically always do the right thing all the time, without they player's help. They didn't need you, because they were theoretically smart enough to live the optimal most efficient life. (I think that's what BlackEmperor means by "a clinical feel".) Anything the player told the perfect Sims to do would only make their lives worse off. The game was more fun and engaging if player intervention was required to help the Sims be happier.

So instead of choosing the first action on the list, the Sims choose randomly from the "n" top scoring actions. So "n" is a positive whole number that can be increased to "dumb down" their automymous behavior, and roughly controls how "whimsical" (or "stupid") they are.

Of course that's all assuming the ideal virtual world in which all the advertisements are truthful, mathematically correct, in your best interest, internally and externally consistent, without any contradictions, and perfectly fair and balanced. Which of course they're not, because there are many false advertisements, exagerated scores, distorted curves, and arbitrary tweaks, hacks, quirks and ironies in the code (especially stuff written by twisted players like SimSlice), that make simulated life more interesting. So tuning "n" to different values has a non-linear complex effect over their "intelligence", and it's quite coarse with a small range of useful values.

So of course you have to use lots of play testing to figure out the best value for "n", not pure mathematics.

-Don

Maxis has produced seven expansion packs for The Sims, and they have all sold extremely well. Some of the expansion packs have implemented ideas we had while developing the game, but didn't have time to put into the original product (like visiting town, socializing and shopping in Hot Date, or the pets in Unleashed).

In fact, a separate product from Maxis called SimsVille was cancled, largely because The Sims Hot Date expansion pack was able to realize many of the important new features that distinguished SimsVille from the original Sims.

The Sims expansion packs and objects are fundamentally different than typical monolithic game mods. They are modular components that plug together synergistically, not exclusive universes that you can only play one at a time. You can combine Sims downloads all together at once and play with them all like a big pile of legos, but you can only play one DOOM WAD at a time.

But the official expansion packs from Maxis are only one measure of success. More importantly, the players themselves have produced orders of magnitude more downloadable objects, skins and other content, than Maxis has produced.

The Sims is a flexible enough platform that supports other games and activities at many different levels: socializing, building, storytelling, crafting skins and objects, programming tools and behaviors, etc.

There has been an exciting Renaissance of original creative player produced content for The Sims. Player created content is the reason The Sims continues to sell so well after four years.

The Ultimate Sims List links to more than 3600 active Sims fan sites, where you can download an uncountable and growing number of objects, skins and decorations.

Player created content is where all the original creative action is happening with The Sims these days. Tools like The Sims Transmogrifier and RugOMatic enable players to create their own content. Players have figured out how to program the objects and written independent behavior programming tools like IFFPencil2.

One creative player called SimSlice has taken object programming much further than anyone at Maxis expected, by developing Slice City: a game within the game, like a little lilliputian version of SimCity! Other players are even creating add-ons to the Slice City add-on: making buildings, parks, landmarks, seaports and marinas to plug into Slice City!

I've made a video demonstration of RugOMatic and Slice City, that shows how to create rugs for The Sims by dragging and dropping pictures and text, and then set them on fire and kill people with the Slice City disaster menu!

-Don

Maxis has produced seven expansion packs for The Sims, and they have all sold extremely well. Some of the expansion packs have implemented ideas we had while developing the game, but didn't have time to put into the original product (like visiting town, socializing and shopping in Hot Date, or the pets in Unleashed).

In fact, a separate product from Maxis called SimsVille was cancled, largely because The Sims Hot Date expansion pack was able to realize many of the important new features that distinguished SimsVille from the original Sims.

The Sims expansion packs and objects are fundamentally different than typical monolithic game mods. They are modular components that plug together synergistically, not exclusive universes that you can only play one at a time. You can combine Sims downloads all together at once and play with them all like a big pile of legos, but you can only play one DOOM WAD at a time.

But the official expansion packs from Maxis are only one measure of success. More importantly, the players themselves have produced orders of magnitude more downloadable objects, skins and other content, than Maxis has produced.

The Sims is a flexible enough platform that supports other games and activities at many different levels: socializing, building, storytelling, crafting skins and objects, programming tools and behaviors, etc.

There has been an exciting Renaissance of original creative player produced content for The Sims. Player created content is the reason The Sims continues to sell so well after four years.

The Ultimate Sims List links to more than 3600 active Sims fan sites, where you can download an uncountable and growing number of objects, skins and decorations.

Player created content is where all the original creative action is happening with The Sims these days. Tools like The Sims Transmogrifier and RugOMatic enable players to create their own content. Players have figured out how to program the objects and written independent behavior programming tools like IFFPencil2.

One creative player called SimSlice has taken object programming much further than anyone at Maxis expected, by developing Slice City: a game within the game, like a little lilliputian version of SimCity! Other players are even creating add-ons to the Slice City add-on: making buildings, parks, landmarks, seaports and marinas to plug into Slice City!

I've made a video demonstration of RugOMatic and Slice City, that shows how to create rugs for The Sims by dragging and dropping pictures and text, and then set them on fire and kill people with the Slice City disaster menu!

-Don

Maxis has produced seven expansion packs for The Sims, and they have all sold extremely well. Some of the expansion packs have implemented ideas we had while developing the game, but didn't have time to put into the original product (like visiting town, socializing and shopping in Hot Date, or the pets in Unleashed).

In fact, a separate product from Maxis called SimsVille was cancled, largely because The Sims Hot Date expansion pack was able to realize many of the important new features that distinguished SimsVille from the original Sims.

The Sims expansion packs and objects are fundamentally different than typical monolithic game mods. They are modular components that plug together synergistically, not exclusive universes that you can only play one at a time. You can combine Sims downloads all together at once and play with them all like a big pile of legos, but you can only play one DOOM WAD at a time.

But the official expansion packs from Maxis are only one measure of success. More importantly, the players themselves have produced orders of magnitude more downloadable objects, skins and other content, than Maxis has produced.

The Sims is a flexible enough platform that supports other games and activities at many different levels: socializing, building, storytelling, crafting skins and objects, programming tools and behaviors, etc.

There has been an exciting Renaissance of original creative player produced content for The Sims. Player created content is the reason The Sims continues to sell so well after four years.

The Ultimate Sims List links to more than 3600 active Sims fan sites, where you can download an uncountable and growing number of objects, skins and decorations.

Player created content is where all the original creative action is happening with The Sims these days. Tools like The Sims Transmogrifier and RugOMatic enable players to create their own content. Players have figured out how to program the objects and written independent behavior programming tools like IFFPencil2.

One creative player called SimSlice has taken object programming much further than anyone at Maxis expected, by developing Slice City: a game within the game, like a little lilliputian version of SimCity! Other players are even creating add-ons to the Slice City add-on: making buildings, parks, landmarks, seaports and marinas to plug into Slice City!

I've made a video demonstration of RugOMatic and Slice City, that shows how to create rugs for The Sims by dragging and dropping pictures and text, and then set them on fire and kill people with the Slice City disaster menu!

-Don

http://www.simslice.com/Slicecity.htm

The Power Plant is the buyable object -- click here to see a pic. Place it anywhere on your lot. That starts the game. Only buy one per lot for best gameplay. If this is your first time here, please read everything below carefully. Otherwise you can click here for some Slice City Gameplay Tips.

Slice City - "the other city that never sleeps". This city is awake and alive with hustle and bustle 24/7! Citizens use businesses, homes, parks, etc. for work and play, and these all cost you money to maintain. The happier the little people are in their habitat, the harder they will work, and the more profit you will make from them. Well-maintained cities can encourage more citizens to move in there. This will not only increase your population, but also your city size... and your profit margin. Cities that are neglected or not well-maintained will cease growing, or slowly deteriorate until they are nothing but piles of rubble. Using the various "disasters" (including a tornado option) can do that in much less time. ;) So to maximize your worker's output, keep all structures "refurbished". Your citizens may even help you do that on occasion too. And if you need more help, ask The Gardener. :)

The citizens also need power from the Power Plant to do any expanding. The Power Plant started in the "ON" position, but you can "Power it down" (by clicking on it) to stop your city from growing any further, and to keep your daily profits/costs stabilized (good for those that like the small town feel). "Power it up" again to allow for potential growth to resume (good for those that like the larger city life). City costs, profits and growth (if any) are calculated each midnight (between 11:55pm and 12:05am).

-Don

http://www.simslice.com/Slicecity.htm

The Power Plant is the buyable object -- click here to see a pic. Place it anywhere on your lot. That starts the game. Only buy one per lot for best gameplay. If this is your first time here, please read everything below carefully. Otherwise you can click here for some Slice City Gameplay Tips.

Slice City - "the other city that never sleeps". This city is awake and alive with hustle and bustle 24/7! Citizens use businesses, homes, parks, etc. for work and play, and these all cost you money to maintain. The happier the little people are in their habitat, the harder they will work, and the more profit you will make from them. Well-maintained cities can encourage more citizens to move in there. This will not only increase your population, but also your city size... and your profit margin. Cities that are neglected or not well-maintained will cease growing, or slowly deteriorate until they are nothing but piles of rubble. Using the various "disasters" (including a tornado option) can do that in much less time. ;) So to maximize your worker's output, keep all structures "refurbished". Your citizens may even help you do that on occasion too. And if you need more help, ask The Gardener. :)

The citizens also need power from the Power Plant to do any expanding. The Power Plant started in the "ON" position, but you can "Power it down" (by clicking on it) to stop your city from growing any further, and to keep your daily profits/costs stabilized (good for those that like the small town feel). "Power it up" again to allow for potential growth to resume (good for those that like the larger city life). City costs, profits and growth (if any) are calculated each midnight (between 11:55pm and 12:05am).

-Don

http://www.simslice.com/Slicecity.htm

The Power Plant is the buyable object -- click here to see a pic. Place it anywhere on your lot. That starts the game. Only buy one per lot for best gameplay. If this is your first time here, please read everything below carefully. Otherwise you can click here for some Slice City Gameplay Tips.

Slice City - "the other city that never sleeps". This city is awake and alive with hustle and bustle 24/7! Citizens use businesses, homes, parks, etc. for work and play, and these all cost you money to maintain. The happier the little people are in their habitat, the harder they will work, and the more profit you will make from them. Well-maintained cities can encourage more citizens to move in there. This will not only increase your population, but also your city size... and your profit margin. Cities that are neglected or not well-maintained will cease growing, or slowly deteriorate until they are nothing but piles of rubble. Using the various "disasters" (including a tornado option) can do that in much less time. ;) So to maximize your worker's output, keep all structures "refurbished". Your citizens may even help you do that on occasion too. And if you need more help, ask The Gardener. :)

The citizens also need power from the Power Plant to do any expanding. The Power Plant started in the "ON" position, but you can "Power it down" (by clicking on it) to stop your city from growing any further, and to keep your daily profits/costs stabilized (good for those that like the small town feel). "Power it up" again to allow for potential growth to resume (good for those that like the larger city life). City costs, profits and growth (if any) are calculated each midnight (between 11:55pm and 12:05am).

-Don

Sims Proposals

Here are some proposals and documents I've written, describing the work I've done and projects I've proposed with The Sims character animation system, plug-in objects and tools. After four years, a great deal of useful information has been reverse-engineered by independent third-party developers and open source projects like The Sims Technical Library. I hope these ideas will inspire more tool developers to contribute their programming skills to the Sims community.

Will Wright's original vision was enabling creative storytelling, by allowing players to add their own characters and objects to the game, and encouraging developers to program new objects and create tools like Transmogrifier and RugOMatic. Before The Sims was even released, Luc Barthelet sewed the seeds of its success by providing fans with content and tools like SimShow, so they could start making web sites and character skins. By the time it was released, you could already download a wide range of skins from many different web sites!

Four years later, Sims Object hackers have taken it much further than anyone ever imagined. A third-party tool called "iffpencil 2" has taken the place of Edith (Maxis's visual Sims object programming environment) in the Sims object hacking community.

One mind-blowing example is Slice City, which is an amazing game within a game: SimCity within The Sims! Your Sims can walk around and interact with a live, growing city like a Lilliputian scene from Gulliver's Travels. I'm not making this up: this actually runs INSIDE The Sims, and is ingeniously implemented by plug-in objects!

You start with a power plant, which gradually grows a whole city populated by swarms of insect-sized people. As the city grows, it spawns new objects including buildings (reprogrammed houseplants that the gardener still waters), crowds of people (reprogrammed cockroaches that you can still stomp to death), parks, marinas and monuments. You can go into build mode and rearrange them however you like, place roads (that get extremely busy at rush hour), and interact with the buildings through pie menus in play mode. There's even a tornado that comes through and knocks down your buildings. And you can download add-ons and pre-made cities!

Nothing like SimSlice was in the original design plan, but Will Wright credits all the creative players as the primary reason The Sims has become the #1 selling game of all time.

I believe the starkly contrasting failure of The Sims Online has a lot to do with the fact that it doesn't support player created content like the original Sims. One of the fundamental reasons that original Sims players have been disappointed with The Sims Online, is that Maxis never executed on the original plan to let online players upload and exchange their own skins and objects.

In order to help more fully realize Will's original plan, I wrote these proposals and documents to support the community of Sims artists, tool developers and object programmers like Bil Simser, Judson Hudson, Michael Watson, Rick Halle, Tom van Dijk

Sims Proposals

Here are some proposals and documents I've written, describing the work I've done and projects I've proposed with The Sims character animation system, plug-in objects and tools. After four years, a great deal of useful information has been reverse-engineered by independent third-party developers and open source projects like The Sims Technical Library. I hope these ideas will inspire more tool developers to contribute their programming skills to the Sims community.

Will Wright's original vision was enabling creative storytelling, by allowing players to add their own characters and objects to the game, and encouraging developers to program new objects and create tools like Transmogrifier and RugOMatic. Before The Sims was even released, Luc Barthelet sewed the seeds of its success by providing fans with content and tools like SimShow, so they could start making web sites and character skins. By the time it was released, you could already download a wide range of skins from many different web sites!

Four years later, Sims Object hackers have taken it much further than anyone ever imagined. A third-party tool called "iffpencil 2" has taken the place of Edith (Maxis's visual Sims object programming environment) in the Sims object hacking community.

One mind-blowing example is Slice City, which is an amazing game within a game: SimCity within The Sims! Your Sims can walk around and interact with a live, growing city like a Lilliputian scene from Gulliver's Travels. I'm not making this up: this actually runs INSIDE The Sims, and is ingeniously implemented by plug-in objects!

You start with a power plant, which gradually grows a whole city populated by swarms of insect-sized people. As the city grows, it spawns new objects including buildings (reprogrammed houseplants that the gardener still waters), crowds of people (reprogrammed cockroaches that you can still stomp to death), parks, marinas and monuments. You can go into build mode and rearrange them however you like, place roads (that get extremely busy at rush hour), and interact with the buildings through pie menus in play mode. There's even a tornado that comes through and knocks down your buildings. And you can download add-ons and pre-made cities!

Nothing like SimSlice was in the original design plan, but Will Wright credits all the creative players as the primary reason The Sims has become the #1 selling game of all time.

I believe the starkly contrasting failure of The Sims Online has a lot to do with the fact that it doesn't support player created content like the original Sims. One of the fundamental reasons that original Sims players have been disappointed with The Sims Online, is that Maxis never executed on the original plan to let online players upload and exchange their own skins and objects.

In order to help more fully realize Will's original plan, I wrote these proposals and documents to support the community of Sims artists, tool developers and object programmers like Bil Simser, Judson Hudson, Michael Watson, Rick Halle, Tom van Dijk

They maybe able to build an interesting Sim plugin, but sure can't build a website!

Someone needs to teach these people some basic HTML and site design skills. This hurts my eyes almost as bad as the Slashdot Games color scheme!

They maybe able to build an interesting Sim plugin, but sure can't build a website!

Someone needs to teach these people some basic HTML and site design skills. This hurts my eyes almost as bad as the Slashdot Games color scheme!