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#1
16th Jul 2018 at 8:46 PM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 9th Jun 2024 at 4:35 PM.
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Posts: 158
How The Sims Was Made
Dear first-time reader. This thread is longer than long now. Please don't allow our accessory verbiage to overwhelm you. Read the welcome index below if you want to be taken to Wonderland all at once!![](https://i.imgur.com/P6PTO3t.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/xFaQXPo.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/CH8u2Pe.png)
#79
#92
#97
#103
#169
#170
#175
#176
![](https://i.imgur.com/wBpzk58.png)
#3 - Year-by-year development timeline with images (it's the third post, so it's kind of outdated)
#11 - 1996 snapshots
#29 - Loads of promotional pix
#35 - Unused animations
#40 - First 1998 prototype acknowledgement
#48 - Renders, SimWebCam livestreams and previews
#53 - E3 + Higher quality renders, other SimWebCam pictures
#57 - Visual Development + unused icons
#58 - E3 + Unsorted HQ pre-release shots
#74 - Facebook Snapshots
#76 - The Sims Online crew pix
#79 - E3 + Will's notebook + Snapshots
#88 - Late 1999 snapshot recoveries
#93 - Screenshots, a little on 1997 builds and Unused Text
#102 - '99 European Computer Trade Show press shot (November 1999)
#103 - Edith Bunker
#125 - 1997 build family selecting screen
#126 - 1998 character conceptual artwork
#156 - All known E3 pix
#158 - Developer notes hidden within the game
============
ORIGINAL POST (JULY 2018):
Reflective of its innovative and somewhat experimental nature, TONS of things have changed during the building of the first The Sims and because of that it is always interesting and even intriguing to observe the differences between the oldest pictures/videos of it (1996-1999's) until February 2000 and its been, let's say, one of my favorite obsessions and hobbies haha
This seems to be the oldest Sims gameplay footage (1999) we've got available on the interwebs so far, and it's probably shot in, more or less, the same time the picture above was. Shows the characters in a more "cartoon-ish" shape (except the twins), the rubber plant seen in a different perspective and an ARROW taking the place the plumbob does these days! Also, do note the voice acting (like when the man tells the woman a joke) seemed way more uninspired and inexpressive than it is in the final game, almost sounding like muttering
![](https://i.imgur.com/gPj7jAVg.png)
This other one, shot months or weeks before the release of the final version, shows the game almost in the way we're used to see but with some minor changes, like the plumbob behavior (which doesn't seem to spin at all?), the way how the shade of the objects change a little once the mouse hover it, the Sims talking whilst one of them hold a platter and, more impressively, if I'm not mistaken, the Buy Mode song {2:23} sounds a bit different, too.
So, today, I invite you to share some of your favorite beta pictures of The Sims, in case you're also keen on this subject and have something to offer! Gonna be precious for my personal research, haha.
Thank you in advance!
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#2
17th Jul 2018 at 6:10 PM
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Posts: 178
Hi! Quite interesting indeed! I have a bit of an obsession with the beta material of Sims games. I thought I had seen everything, but I was mistaken! You're right, the buy music sounds different; is not a different song, but rather, the same song recorded differently; I believe it's some sort of MIDI. And those cartoony models! Quite odd seeing them with the realistic environement we're used to!
I don't really have anything from the beta of TS1; I used to have an image, a render maybe, of a sophisticated female sim dressed as Bella Goth and with the head of Betty Newbie. Talking of which, it would be interesting searching the original families and how they came to be as they were.
I don't really have anything from the beta of TS1; I used to have an image, a render maybe, of a sophisticated female sim dressed as Bella Goth and with the head of Betty Newbie. Talking of which, it would be interesting searching the original families and how they came to be as they were.
#3
25th Jan 2019 at 12:11 AM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 6th Jul 2024 at 6:00 PM.
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Posts: 158
[
MAY 2024 UPDATE!!: This used to be the go-to Sims development timeline post we'd advise you to start off with... but now, y'know, it's been left out unchanged for over 5 years and, as you may expect, contains loads of missing/incorrect factoids. Because of that, we'll leave it the way it is. BUT! Our "pre-release" article on the other website is the way cooler alternative if you want to have fun with the latest + precise info and media on how The Sims was made! For us, by us.]
=========================================
Original post:
> You should begin your ventures here. In this post, you get the thread's main gallery (behind the Spoiler tabs!) with some of the gathered pre-release media, hopefully explained with the proper precision. This post is dedicated to the amazing @ed95 guy (ops guess who doesn't know how to mention users), right there;
If you're like us, you probably have a good time while rhapsodizing a little (or too much!) about everything known about everything that been witnessed on the "original" Sims but eventually was thought to be better enhancing, replacing or summarily annihilating them before the game's official release leaving us with the cool task of pondering how different our whole experience would be if all of these discarded prototype/BETA elements were present in the version most of us have in our houses! So, make yourself at home and let us see what we both know:
You are rather likely to read and view some of the things below and think something, like "Hey, this information isn't quite matching with the reality" or you have cool things to say about everything that existed on Sims 1 before, but not after its final version that this stupid poster failed to mention or unknowns about! You are, a hundred percent, invited and welcome to be a member of this discussion, even if you are a Simmer that don't have necessarily something critically-esque to point up and is "just" playing the (also cool) role of the spectator who is first-seeing (or not) all the knowledge below!
![](https://i.imgur.com/f0WTNoB.gif)
Way better than spectating - at the bottom of this post you're getting an appendix with some cool Tools and URLs, so there's no way you are not checking the contents up by yourself!
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
The content will be branched into spoiler tabs which (sometimes inaccurately) represent the year the content of the picture is (or might be) from:
1996-1997
The shots below were firstly introduced by Gamespot, illustrating a fancy article which served as an introduction to The Sims Online and, eventually, the teller jumped to some flashback moments to highlight the past of the series' father Will Wright and show for the first time concept arts of these a little too much 'polygonal' and grotesque Sims [B](Read more in the appendix!)
ARCHIE
![](https://i.imgur.com/O dot8Wg.jpg)
- Its file name suggests his name is Archie;
SIGMUND
![](https://i.imgur.com/D4KfeR2.jpg)
[I]- Its file name suggests his name is Sigmund;
- You still can spot this guy in your game!! Although only as an icon, illustrating a glitch (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)
CRAZY LARRY
![](https://i.imgur.com/pqbh7KM.jpg)
-Its file name suggests his (nick)name is Crazy Larry;
- For all we know, once upon a time in the The Sims' making-of the characters had variable expressions as their only visible way of making us aware of their mood (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)- although we can think that, during the gameplay, Larry's face wouldn't be always all smiles, the thought of his face like that, walking around his home for more than 3 seconds in a row, can be minimally... creepy, maybe;
1998...ish
![](https://i.imgur.com/GFBtO1e.gif)
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
![](https://i.imgur.com/05Pz4f3.png)
Including the different User Interface (they have made and discarded +10 UI attempts for The Sims!), which was kind of expected, you can take note of:
- Considering its buttons, it's the only representation of a period when it was possible to build homes with more than 2 floors;
- At the bottom right side of the screen, what we can assume being the unused "Mood" bar (the highest one compared to all of the other necessity bars), which sort of measured the well-being of the Sims before the plumbobs have, makes its earliest visible appearance;
- That "Hunger" thought balloon, which is a more detailed, colored version of final version's, can be found inside the Graphics database (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!);
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the almost invisible little pixels above the talking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
1999 - DARKER UI / LISA / METAMORPHOSIS
![](https://i.imgur.com/PEZoBzz.gif)
1999 was the pinnacle of functional experimentation within the game (that we can take note of, at least) and also the moment when it had many more BETA features for us to observe, whereas the Maxis gang was already so satisfied with the progress of the game that all its content was grouped in promotional images and trailers so the gaming websites would have something to show to the fans of a then-upcoming game, some of them you may already know. Let's try to put them in chronological order so it gets even more easier to spot the evolution that happened there, specially when it comes to the overall design of the Sims and the ambulant metamorphosis called UI
ELVIS IS MADE OF VELVET
![](https://i.imgur.com/gPj7jAVg.png)
- The oldest 1999's screenshot we can take note of, due to the fact its UI displays Sims with the former cartoonish style, you know, the one which changes expressions, although only the first 3 Sims seem to belong together at this point (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!), posted in about 4 years ago by a reddit user called BowsersaurusRex, which apparently found the screenshot in an used computer they bought;
![](https://i.imgur.com/EIZ1e7Z.gif)
- The equivalent of the cheap Velvet Clown we know was a fancy and random "Velvet Elvis";
- Until the end of 1999 the kickable flamingo had a paradoxically detailed and shallower look, basically without any textures, as well as many other objects; You'll see that some of them has shadows of their own, which isn't very pleasing to our eyes, isn't it? It's common to observe contrasts between the level of details among items of a same screen since the developers were obviously sharpening the style of the overall elements until they got satisfied, and such;
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the little pixels above the funny-looking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
HOUSE ELEVEN
![](https://i.imgur.com/dIEE70Q.jpg)
THE SIMS PRESS KIT, MARCH 1999
CHECK IT OUT:
- This lot presents a unique layout, exceptionally with three street corners, although it doesn't match with any of the lot rooms we know from the final version's neighborhood. Hold up, one of the former nhood designs does have a lot which is surrounded by three street corners (Check the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!);
- The huge size of this house visibly makes the then-low range of available objects well perceptible!! Most of them repeat themselves all around the property and makes it look a bit unpleasing to see. But, come on, they were still making it all;
- In this screenshot we can spot a considerably big amount of wooden shelves, for some reason all of them with a world globe inserted in the top of it and nothing else; In the kitchen, the walls hold unknown, rustically-drawn cookwares, unless my eyes are failing on me hard;
- As if a single trash can outdoors wasn't enough (and it is, since it never gets full!), this home has two;
- Who needs plumbobs when we have spinning ARROWS? (Check the PLUMBOB Spoiler tab for more info!)
- You see those two unused objects: A small wooden table with room for 4 chairs and (almost imperceptible, in the extreme bottom of the screenshot) what seems to be a very incomprehensible and abstract and "sci-fi"-y end table? They're still available, hidden inside your game, if you fancy seeing them more detailed (Check the OBJECTS Spoiler tab for more info);
HEY, I KNOW THEM 1
![](https://i.imgur.com/oEaJHlF.jpg)
IGN, APRIL 5 1999
- Even with the butcheredly fell down quality of this screenshot (might be one of the first times Sims was, image-wise, introduced to us, the mainstream folks), it's possible to observe the earliest appearance of two sims whose aesthetics match with the one we know from the final game and was 100% available;
HEY, I KNOW THEM 2
![](https://i.imgur.com/kU3PJOm.png)
Screenshot: APRIL 1999
Photo: UNKNOWN
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
![](https://i.imgur.com/X0Xzp7n.png)
- For being developed in different moments of the game's production, the "new Sims'" thumbnails are a bit different compared to the ones from the sims that came up before them - if we think well, they look even more realistic than the ones from the final game, due to the way they're lightened. Let's not discard the possibility their expressions could change according to their mood. Beautiful, but this type of thumbnail didn't last much longer, you'll see;
GERMANS PAY SIMS A VISIT/HELLO LISA
![](https://i.imgur.com/RNd8Haq.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar preview Sims, not for the last time! To this point of the prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is familiar to you, like a dejavu. Yet:
![](https://i.imgur.com/rcCmTyb.gif)
- If the Brain-shaped interface was already cool in the static shots, we can observe here they have a "blinking reaction" when the function it represents (Mood, for example) is somehow stimulated. The part of the brain where all of our motor coordination knowledge is placed in - cerebellum - correctly represents the Skills menu!
![](https://i.imgur.com/4k5eU5C.png)
- This is one of the rare situations the practically-iconic Rubber Plant is displayed at a mirrored perspective; in the final game, the object will always have its higher leaf pointing right, no matter where the camera is;
![](https://i.imgur.com/jP2VOhJ.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/nGzZTfm.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/mlHmCnj.gif)
- "Lisa" (named like this based on her skin file title) is the first child we're ever getting to know thru a pre-released version. We both know how the children were limited by the hands who programmed them and their roles are extremely secondary, since we can't do many cool things with them and they talk about less subjects than adults (Let's leave the complete details 'bout this for the SOUNDS and SUBJECTS Spoiler tabs!) and their first sign of life was manifested when the "facing-the-player", neutral, generated face thumbnails (progressively similar to the one the final version shows) was being experimented, which suggests the existence of children in game wasn't a cogitated idea until 1999, and that's why their thumbnails look so different, more "updated", than the one of the other households from this preview video;
![](https://i.imgur.com/xRGzK7E.png)
- Observe the lady's relationships list: The bald old man is illustrated by a thumbnail whose head belongs to other Sim;
MISSING BRAIN
![](https://i.imgur.com/AmCdtHe.jpg)
IGN, AROUND JUNE/JULY 1999
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes010.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99
- As many previous pictures, let's not discard the quantity of windows the pre-released properties needed to have to get a minimal level of lighting;
- Face thumbnails are reaching similarity to the final version's although their backgrounds, here, is a bit darker;
![](https://i.imgur.com/eF2gRSU.gif)
- All the Sims with the contrasting cartoonish appearance were discarded to give place to a little more of new faces to all of us; "darker" equivalents of "light-skinned" versions included; when it comes to kids, "Lisa" is all by herself still;
![](https://i.imgur.com/B0iDrXE.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/0Whv3Gc.gif)
- Not for the last time, you're seeing the kerchief of this Head whose files calls him "Biker" was firstly drawn blue instead of red;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part I of II
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes002.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes004.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes005.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes008.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
![](https://i.imgur.com/4AXFEfz.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/D58N5dH.png)
FROM THE GAME'S INTRODUCTORY VIDEO AND PRESS-KIT CD, RESPECTIVELY
- Although, at a quick glance, there is not something really remarkable about this Sim (Inside the NHOOD Spoiler Tab you can see his name is Michael Ryan
and his home we can discuss here since most of the presented elements are of our knowledge because of the previous shots, it is convenient to observe how omnipresent he is, making at least a brief appearance in almost every single versions we have at disposal, living in the very same lot, with some minor differences here and there on its layout and mostly on the objects that there exist! Right, I lost track of the reasoning here a bit, ha, but who knows he was meant to be part of a pre-made family made of 1 person?
![](https://i.imgur.com/T80lkKk.png)
PRESS-KIT CD, MARCH/APRIL 1999
- The Press Kit CD (Info about this CD you can find in the LIVE THE BETA appendix down below!) introduces the game by narrating a slideshow story about him, by the perspective of someone who is teaching somebody how to play the game, or who is playing a pre-made family under a specific scenario, if you know what I mean;
- His property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with some small changes on how it looks;
THE ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part I of IV
![](https://i.imgur.com/IwvZftO.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/2iH6Atd.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- Along with the "Bachelor Pad" family of one person, this lot whose outdoor floors follow a cement-tile pattern appears on screenshots of mildly different stages of development of the game, making it feel like they're meant to be one of the pre-made families like the Goths, for example (OK, the Roomies family survived the BETA, but consisting of a couple of two totally different people!!)
- Their property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with just some small changes here and there on how it looks;
![](https://i.imgur.com/SXe3ofn.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- This home, precisely the way it is, is found in one of the old neighborhood layouts (Take a good look at the NHOOD Spoiler tab for pictures and information!);
1999 - BLUE UI / AMANDA / "PRE-MADE" FAMILIES
![](https://i.imgur.com/QdgrLQD.gif)
QUAKE PEEPS INVADE SIMSVILLE A LITTLE
![](http://web.archive.org/web/20050123174405im_/http://pcmedia.ign.com/media/previews/image/simsB001.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/WZ1SaJO.png)
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- The UI's been updated a little and became blue, Sims blue, you know?! We can say that is a cross between the Interface we got in the released game's version and the previous one, that you probably saw inside the MISSED BRAIN spoiler
- Inside your call list, acquaintances' backgrounds are painted yellow instead of dark-green-grey-thing we know so well;
- "All in its own time", somebody may've thought; the UI update made it all blue but the controllable Sims thumbnail's background;
![](https://i.imgur.com/K6B7H6Z.png)
- Can you see the interactions queue, at the top of the pic? It illustrates the very first possible sprite of a recently-generate fire; in the final game, we always see the fire thumbnail showing it on its higher level;
- First rhombus-shaped Plumbob we can observe in a pre-release screenshot;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part II of IV
![](https://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/frete/memoire/taxo/thesims4.jpg)
TECFA, UNIGE, 2002
SCREENSHOT: 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- This picture can only be found illustrating a webpage dedicated to an essay called The Potential of Videogames for Education, developed by someone called Catherine Freté within Genebra University - shows a slightly updated version of the Roomies' lot we've already seen;
LAWSON FAMILY
![](https://i.imgur.com/yzp87lM.jpg)
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
SPACESHIPS
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
![](https://i.imgur.com/kFbRWOF.jpg)
- Players'd be able to insert objects above flowers/plants from the ground, even more plants;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part II of II
![](https://i.imgur.com/MhLmwnH.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/mGGgByg.png)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The Bachelor dude is alive and breathes still, holding with strength his failed single, sloppy man persona. The lot shape remains the same of the one we could see at the screenshots from "months ago", although the standards of the graphics are way more faithful to the way we're offered in the final version, everything seems to be more and more harmonious;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES PART III OF IV
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51294_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51292_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/0/3289/51283_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51287_full.jpg)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The latter screenshot is the only one among the others, prototype's, whose UI is partially hidden by the press of the Live mode button (F1);
![](https://i.imgur.com/NrhNrFH.png)
01NET (as well as other 1881834248238 sources), AUG-NOV 1999
- Seen on websites (mostly if not all French) which mention Sims being included in some NY MoMa's videogame-oriented exposition;
THE WALLACE, AMANDA TWINS FAMILY
![](https://i.imgur.com/zEPsFbe.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/tVVtx98.png)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The first and last time soccer balls can be seen in-game;
![](https://i.imgur.com/SvuDWH6.gif)
Little has the game changed, since all of this happened one month before its official release in the USA; At least one of the videogame-reviewing websites (the German "Gamestar", for example) did mention December 1999 being the date of The Sims release, even if just as a prediction. Until this point of this whole long-awaiting phase, in which the first Custom-Content makers came to life with their homemade walls, skins and floors, like the ones you and me can do with so much ease (for some cool Sims-friendly editors were officially sent to the public in TheSims.com before the game itself!), more or less than 90% of what we reckon being "pre-made families" went down the pooper, whilst the rest of the people appeared to the final version with same name, but different skin; same skin, but different name; same name and skin, but different family... Let's see it closely, shall we:
![](https://i.imgur.com/dDsaRD6.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/05LEoIk.png)
- First possible presence of the practicaly-geoid...ocarina-shaped User Interfae, 99% like the one we play with since February 2000 (Or 2001 if you have the Hot Date expansion pack installed). A cooler equivalent of the previously used one, introduces the Camera Mode (a tool used among developers that eventually became a definitive part of the game [?]);
![](https://i.imgur.com/3PFZYCJ.png)
- The family's last name can be noticed next to the friends counter icon; Money counter used to be placed more to the right than what we're used to see;
![](https://i.imgur.com/4l0dTx8.png)
- This is the first and last case we can take note of a Beta's green counter having a sprite which unites its two corners in one; In the final version, a shallower similar takes place;
![](https://i.imgur.com/HZWjHR7.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/7wYO9nw.png)
- Yes, we can also believe the player from this screenshot changed the home a little bit before taking this screenshot; If we imagine that home being on its default state, the living room looks more basic and empty than the one from the final version, the piano is placed in the opposite side and, in spite of the existence of a built second floor, there is no staircase for one to go there;
![](https://i.imgur.com/I1vaV6N.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- Complicated to take solid conclusions given to the image's quality and size, but Cassandra doesn't seem to be using eyeglasses;
![](https://i.imgur.com/gXB4O9m.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/dGPLYAY.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/5wAhfjj.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/AQ6xdwU.png)
- Toy Box's thumbnail claimed for adjustments, back in the day - When it comes to the Trash Can, the catalogue thought it's convenient not to get its shadow hidden, too;
- With the exception of the existence of a male member in the Roomies household, everything else seems compatible with the final game's reality;
![](https://i.imgur.com/ao0Dd7Y.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Just like in Goth family's screenshots, last name in friend counter and beta's green counter, but all the other objects (specially the Velvet Elvis & the cheap Television) were enhanced (or spoiled, your call!);
![](https://i.imgur.com/xrvHHrl.png)
- Remember 1999's Wallace family? "Someone" with the very same face skin and and name as Betty comes to the Newbie household - her name is... Betty;
![](https://i.imgur.com/3HVjXOf.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/q6Wm2zv.png)
- We fanciest fireplace is a pain to afford, but it used to be one thousand simoleons more expansive;
- The game neither warns you fireplaces cannot be used by children (assuming they never could) nor let's you know about the Room points it provides (assuming it always did)
![](https://i.imgur.com/bxihedy.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar previews Sims, but not for the last time! To this point of progression in our supercool prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is being extremely familiar to you, including this introduction you are currently reading. But, still, shan't us discard the fact that:
![](https://i.imgur.com/HSK98oS.gif)
- The game used to make it evident when an object couldn't be interacted via pie menu by making it darker once the mouse cursor hovered it;
![](https://i.imgur.com/Bl0HV3h.png)
- A rare occurrence of multitasking: Platter in hands, focus in a conversation; In the final version, when Sims grab a dish, they'll immediately attempt going to one of the household's table/counter/sink;
![](https://i.imgur.com/TQL9VsI.png)
- One month was what it'd take for Maxis' wonderful graphics department to somehow cogitating convenient to reimagine the red this 1/2 torn legging and convert it all greened;
![](https://i.imgur.com/HodITjU.jpg)
MANUAL MEDIA EXPLAINED
We're not going to explain and display the Manual's content directly here on this thread due to the image number limits so we have made a little album for this task, showing the main aspects that shows you what's the beta element you're able to spot on those pictures, including the newly-discovered presence of Michael Ryan on the very final stages of development, a slightly different UI with higher quality and some minor differences on how the Newbie's home looks like, for example;
![](https://i.imgur.com/heXsAnn.png)
IGN, 01/24/2000/
Shared in about 1 week before Sims was officially released in the US, showing what we know, the way we know; All was done... Say hi to the world, baby
============================== END OF "SCREENSHOTS" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/j7sqSUF.png)
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
- The image's low, thumbnail quality will not give us much clues, but the overall aspect of this hood contains a depth that doesn't combine with what we do know about the game, making it feel like it is a mock-up, or something; Resembles a little the graphics from the game Simutrans;
![](https://i.imgur.com/GV5j858.jpg)
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- The colored lines, which pigeonholes the typically 10 available lots for the sake of orientation, are painted yellow to illustrate the bigger lots, the medium-sized ones are pink and the smaller are green;
![](https://i.imgur.com/DN5aeVP.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Example of the neighborhood from the picture 1 being shown in the gameplay; do note the very same colored lines;
It's too early, the development isn't importing about trees or any fancy decorative elements outdoors, the streets were pending (with red cubes temporarily filling their places), the water stream is an hugely simple equivalent of the final version's and all the unoccupied lots are flat and empty, an inviting sandbox formula;
![](https://i.imgur.com/kvJ9qRx.jpg)
- What could these little pixels at the bottom of the picture be? Hey, a personal guess - a Sign and, shooting for the stars a little, a Marquee, like the one the User Interface strings file mentions, alongside with a fictitious "company" called SimEstates , suggesting to be an unused feature whose purpose was taking us to the mode where we could be able to create and edit our families, before the final version's, Marquee-less CAS mode was designed (read APPENDIX for more info!);
![](https://i.imgur.com/vHVmi4K.jpg)
Our friend neighborhood is mellower now, coming closer to the fidelity with the one the final version presented us, but still lacking a considerable range of objects; The supposedly-SimEstates-Marquee, more than ever, is found at the bottom still;
![](https://i.imgur.com/hekVxJ5.jpg)
- From the same source we get a neighborhood with a very unusual layout, displaying totally unique roof/wall designs, colors and a much higher capacity; the sign is directly aimed to the screen, the water gained some extra detailing, and newtrees were added
![](https://i.imgur.com/kq5jxyQ.png)
- This time, we can even identify at least 5 households!
- We still miss some minor details, such as the lack of trees in some areas and complete absence of a sign, or marquee;
- The shore from the bottom right side of the screen has a unique, abstract shape;
![](https://i.imgur.com/Ff7v4n5.jpg)
- Months passed a little and our "pre-made" buddies are still there, but, between you and me, only Betty will survive this adventure;
- All the homes received some very good updates - Roomies' mansion grew a bit and the roofs received fancier colors, some of them never manifested the final version;
- Shore's shape is straighter now;
- The game's logo wasn't the one to illustrate the hood's sign still;
- Do note the primitive CAS/Bulldoze/Quit icons, and the lack of a "Create Webpage" one;
- Some new trees have been added up to the water stream zone and the left side of the screen, for example;
![](https://i.imgur.com/f9G6pcw.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/1Aagpyh.jpg)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- The Sim, exceptionally, reproduces a walking animation in the CAS mode;
- Exceptionally, the "Female" chooser is placed on the left side;
- Zodiac Signs aren't a thing;
![](https://i.imgur.com/4deBNEZ.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Astrological Signs aren't a thing... yet
- The Bio bar does not have a BIO title on its upper left side;
============================== END OF "NHOOD" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/7kDYYkZ.png)
This poor atrophied old man does not know how to explore the files of the game enough to reach and make the talking balloon subject's sprites visible; after dropping an interesting hacked table-labeled object which gives Sims the gift of talking to each other within a room of our choice while they are busy with other activities,
those polygonal creatures of Will commenced chatting over subjects never said via non-hackable ways and most of them cannot be seen thru a known prototype picture
![](https://i.imgur.com/saDK4HG.png)
And inside the SOUNDS spoiler tab, you will learn the existence of several recordings of vox files for child Sims, covering different intensities of conversations and subjects, that didn't make their way to the game's released version; Among the subjects pictured above, At least half of them seems to somewhat represent the universe of children, for all of these seemingly "scary" topics (bats/"haunted"house/furious cat) could easily be one of their unused "LOW" and "MEDIUM" subject matters (View the SOUNDS spoiler tab for more information)
============================== END OF "BETA'S TALKING BALLOONS" ==============================
From now on, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
![](https://i.imgur.com/6GzI8cO.gif)
UNUSED OBJECTS EXPLAINED
Only three of all the objects shown above are not illustrating Controller Objects. If there something in common among these "controller objects", it is: they are right there, inside your game, being an important element of the lots you buy and built things in, but you can never see them since they are almost always placed in the grey boundaries where the job cabs and school buses take our Sims to when they disappear. For example: a dinner table iconizes the controller object which determines where all the game's cabs park in the street, in spite of it is not being the reason why people buy diner tables IRL, heh. Maybe the reason why these beta objects were chosen to be the ones to be these controller object's icons is because they cannot be mistaken for the final version's objects that easily.
============================== END OF UNUSED OBJECTS (From tables to tabloids)" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/AiZr5dW.png)
UNUSED TEXTURES EXPLAINED
Again, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
============================== END OF UNUSED TEXTURES ==============================
Games' rendered pictures can be made and published with the intention of being used as illustrations for advertisements, for example; one remarkable detail about most of them is their detailed appearance, normally representing what the players are able to witness within the game itself but with slightly more 'intensity' - via a totally different perspective or level of visual depth; When it comes to Sims the differences between the in-game looks are minor compared to the rendered images we know - let's see some of them before breaking the image inserting boundaries:
![](https://i.imgur.com/DZ4FeIE.jpg)
- The astronaut suit used by the advanced side of the Military career lacks the "NASA-esque" badge;
![](https://i.imgur.com/IG9H09k.jpg)
- 8 Sims are in a nine-square grid that pretty much resembles the one from the one of Brady Bunch's (a 60-70's TV series) opening sequences, which also was also referenced by The Simpsons in 1995 as one of their couch gags;
![](https://i.imgur.com/iBXmAwk.gif)
- The texture which represents the package from the Quick Meal your sloppy, in-a-rush families from Sims 1 eat precisely has the face of the blue-eyed blonde; Since we play thru the same perpective of a hovering buzzard, it's a bit tough to notice at first;
============================== END OF "IMAGES" ==============================
As well as what goes on with the animations, for example, the game's folder dedicated to the storage of audio (voice tracks, object sounds, etc.) has a massive number of files with variable length that are constantly played as a way of adorning every single movement and landscape out there in SimLane; And it couldn't have been otherwise: if we explore such folders, we'll fatally locate a fair quantity of those who don't seem, by all means to be used, at least not inside the base game, which is our focal point here in this thread;
YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THEM, EXPLAINED, ON THIS VIDEO
============================== END OF SOUNDS ==============================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX - LIVE THE BETA:
As you can clearly notice after opening all of those Spoilers, we do not have much room left to exhibit the wonders of the Sim 1's universe before its release!! Then, for the sake of covering all of the known bits without transforming it into something more overwhelmingly massive and the opposite of mobile-friendly than it currently is, you're invited to explore and discover the remaining aspects from the game's pre-release content yourself, with the help of the following interesting URLs and programs:
![](https://i.imgur.com/dCAl05z.png)
HOMECRAFTER
- Also a Sims tool released before Sims itself, and probably the origin of the first player's custom content; With this, you can pick up some of the image files you've got from your computer and turn them into a floor and/or wallpaper file which the game manages to detect and put in your Build Mode;
- Ah, the point: With this you can have a very straightforward (but valid) experience with the beta game, relatively able to interact with an environment whose elements has sprites with primitive, unused design;
TCRF - An entire Wikipedia-fashioned webpage dedicated to the unused elements of The Sims, not limited to its images and sounds. Did you know there is vestiges of strings, in the game's database, which proves community lots were intended to be a thing way before the existence of Hot Date? And that Sims are technically all born in 1997?
GAMESPOT'S ARTICLE ON SIMS ONLINE - unveils some of the briefly-attempted user interface layouts and talks about a then-upcoming The Sims Online
FOOD RENDERS - Before being caught by EA, TheSims.com.br , naturally the Brazilian domain for the official Sims website, belonged to a fan, until 2003, I reckon; One of its pages were, funnily, dedicated to only show pictures of the game's food types, in higher resolution and quality;
BETA GALLERY ROPED IN ONE - Most of the screenshots/renders you have seen here, but in hugely higher quality, you can find on this link; Includes the box art and all of its sides which, here and there, displays pre-release material (because the box art was made before the game start being sold, right?)
JAMIE DOORNBOS TELLS PROJECT Xs STORY... - ...and shows some very interesting pictures from a pre-1997 The Sims, being my favorite the one displaying the animation-testing programs and, well, how the entire landscape inevitably makes me think of RollerCoaster Tycoon, more than usual;
BUILD, BUY and LIVE - With these words, Will Wright begins this awesome Sims-oriented chronicle, including both of the pictures you have seen here; I reckon that that was written before 1999;
SG.HU ARTICLE - With the retail quality from the early 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
GAMERSHELL SIMS PAGE - With the retail quality from the late 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
THE SIMS PRESS KIT - An archived Sims Press Kit CD whose content was especially made for the objective of promoting The Sims via high-quality videos (including Will Wright himself answering questions about the game!), that wellknown trailer with the 3 Sims waving at you, some renders I didn't share here, screenshots and even a short slide-show narrating the ventures of some Sims, some of them you already know; Its files has as their creation date March/April 1999;
After spending some good hours sorting the contents - oops, - turns out this featherbrained guy here are clueless about how to finish this post. It is almost certain that there are some weird and unforgivable incorrect information, mistakes or typos that only the sands of time will unveil. But, hey, hopefully you, as a fan, will find the images shown above minimally interesting or, who knows, useful for whatever you might be doing with your game right now. Again: the topic shall not end here! Then, every sort of collaboration is going to be extremely well-received and will be an absolute pleasure to read/view/listen and, why not, ponder about them. OK, time for dinner, sul sul you!
![Alarm](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/alarm.gif)
=========================================
Original post:
> You should begin your ventures here. In this post, you get the thread's main gallery (behind the Spoiler tabs!) with some of the gathered pre-release media, hopefully explained with the proper precision. This post is dedicated to the amazing @ed95 guy (ops guess who doesn't know how to mention users), right there;
If you're like us, you probably have a good time while rhapsodizing a little (or too much!) about everything known about everything that been witnessed on the "original" Sims but eventually was thought to be better enhancing, replacing or summarily annihilating them before the game's official release leaving us with the cool task of pondering how different our whole experience would be if all of these discarded prototype/BETA elements were present in the version most of us have in our houses! So, make yourself at home and let us see what we both know:
You are rather likely to read and view some of the things below and think something, like "Hey, this information isn't quite matching with the reality" or you have cool things to say about everything that existed on Sims 1 before, but not after its final version that this stupid poster failed to mention or unknowns about! You are, a hundred percent, invited and welcome to be a member of this discussion, even if you are a Simmer that don't have necessarily something critically-esque to point up and is "just" playing the (also cool) role of the spectator who is first-seeing (or not) all the knowledge below!
![](https://i.imgur.com/f0WTNoB.gif)
Way better than spectating - at the bottom of this post you're getting an appendix with some cool Tools and URLs, so there's no way you are not checking the contents up by yourself!
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
The content will be branched into spoiler tabs which (sometimes inaccurately) represent the year the content of the picture is (or might be) from:
1996-1997
The shots below were firstly introduced by Gamespot, illustrating a fancy article which served as an introduction to The Sims Online and, eventually, the teller jumped to some flashback moments to highlight the past of the series' father Will Wright and show for the first time concept arts of these a little too much 'polygonal' and grotesque Sims [B](Read more in the appendix!)
ARCHIE
![](https://i.imgur.com/O dot8Wg.jpg)
- Its file name suggests his name is Archie;
SIGMUND
![](https://i.imgur.com/D4KfeR2.jpg)
[I]- Its file name suggests his name is Sigmund;
- You still can spot this guy in your game!! Although only as an icon, illustrating a glitch (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)
CRAZY LARRY
![](https://i.imgur.com/pqbh7KM.jpg)
-Its file name suggests his (nick)name is Crazy Larry;
- For all we know, once upon a time in the The Sims' making-of the characters had variable expressions as their only visible way of making us aware of their mood (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!)- although we can think that, during the gameplay, Larry's face wouldn't be always all smiles, the thought of his face like that, walking around his home for more than 3 seconds in a row, can be minimally... creepy, maybe;
1998...ish
![](https://i.imgur.com/GFBtO1e.gif)
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
![](https://i.imgur.com/05Pz4f3.png)
Including the different User Interface (they have made and discarded +10 UI attempts for The Sims!), which was kind of expected, you can take note of:
- Considering its buttons, it's the only representation of a period when it was possible to build homes with more than 2 floors;
- At the bottom right side of the screen, what we can assume being the unused "Mood" bar (the highest one compared to all of the other necessity bars), which sort of measured the well-being of the Sims before the plumbobs have, makes its earliest visible appearance;
- That "Hunger" thought balloon, which is a more detailed, colored version of final version's, can be found inside the Graphics database (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!);
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the almost invisible little pixels above the talking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
1999 - DARKER UI / LISA / METAMORPHOSIS
![](https://i.imgur.com/PEZoBzz.gif)
1999 was the pinnacle of functional experimentation within the game (that we can take note of, at least) and also the moment when it had many more BETA features for us to observe, whereas the Maxis gang was already so satisfied with the progress of the game that all its content was grouped in promotional images and trailers so the gaming websites would have something to show to the fans of a then-upcoming game, some of them you may already know. Let's try to put them in chronological order so it gets even more easier to spot the evolution that happened there, specially when it comes to the overall design of the Sims and the ambulant metamorphosis called UI
ELVIS IS MADE OF VELVET
![](https://i.imgur.com/gPj7jAVg.png)
- The oldest 1999's screenshot we can take note of, due to the fact its UI displays Sims with the former cartoonish style, you know, the one which changes expressions, although only the first 3 Sims seem to belong together at this point (Check Unused GFX Spoiler for more details!), posted in about 4 years ago by a reddit user called BowsersaurusRex, which apparently found the screenshot in an used computer they bought;
![](https://i.imgur.com/EIZ1e7Z.gif)
- The equivalent of the cheap Velvet Clown we know was a fancy and random "Velvet Elvis";
- Until the end of 1999 the kickable flamingo had a paradoxically detailed and shallower look, basically without any textures, as well as many other objects; You'll see that some of them has shadows of their own, which isn't very pleasing to our eyes, isn't it? It's common to observe contrasts between the level of details among items of a same screen since the developers were obviously sharpening the style of the overall elements until they got satisfied, and such;
- Assuming at this point of the development the game had basic Arrows to be seen above Sims' heads in the place of what we call plumbob; in the next screenshots you'll see their colors vary from lime-yellow-ish to orange - the little pixels above the funny-looking Sim head is dark blue, instead;
HOUSE ELEVEN
![](https://i.imgur.com/dIEE70Q.jpg)
THE SIMS PRESS KIT, MARCH 1999
CHECK IT OUT:
- This lot presents a unique layout, exceptionally with three street corners, although it doesn't match with any of the lot rooms we know from the final version's neighborhood. Hold up, one of the former nhood designs does have a lot which is surrounded by three street corners (Check the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!);
- The huge size of this house visibly makes the then-low range of available objects well perceptible!! Most of them repeat themselves all around the property and makes it look a bit unpleasing to see. But, come on, they were still making it all;
- In this screenshot we can spot a considerably big amount of wooden shelves, for some reason all of them with a world globe inserted in the top of it and nothing else; In the kitchen, the walls hold unknown, rustically-drawn cookwares, unless my eyes are failing on me hard;
- As if a single trash can outdoors wasn't enough (and it is, since it never gets full!), this home has two;
- Who needs plumbobs when we have spinning ARROWS? (Check the PLUMBOB Spoiler tab for more info!)
- You see those two unused objects: A small wooden table with room for 4 chairs and (almost imperceptible, in the extreme bottom of the screenshot) what seems to be a very incomprehensible and abstract and "sci-fi"-y end table? They're still available, hidden inside your game, if you fancy seeing them more detailed (Check the OBJECTS Spoiler tab for more info);
HEY, I KNOW THEM 1
![](https://i.imgur.com/oEaJHlF.jpg)
IGN, APRIL 5 1999
- Even with the butcheredly fell down quality of this screenshot (might be one of the first times Sims was, image-wise, introduced to us, the mainstream folks), it's possible to observe the earliest appearance of two sims whose aesthetics match with the one we know from the final game and was 100% available;
HEY, I KNOW THEM 2
![](https://i.imgur.com/kU3PJOm.png)
Screenshot: APRIL 1999
Photo: UNKNOWN
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
![](https://i.imgur.com/X0Xzp7n.png)
- For being developed in different moments of the game's production, the "new Sims'" thumbnails are a bit different compared to the ones from the sims that came up before them - if we think well, they look even more realistic than the ones from the final game, due to the way they're lightened. Let's not discard the possibility their expressions could change according to their mood. Beautiful, but this type of thumbnail didn't last much longer, you'll see;
GERMANS PAY SIMS A VISIT/HELLO LISA
![](https://i.imgur.com/RNd8Haq.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar preview Sims, not for the last time! To this point of the prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is familiar to you, like a dejavu. Yet:
![](https://i.imgur.com/rcCmTyb.gif)
- If the Brain-shaped interface was already cool in the static shots, we can observe here they have a "blinking reaction" when the function it represents (Mood, for example) is somehow stimulated. The part of the brain where all of our motor coordination knowledge is placed in - cerebellum - correctly represents the Skills menu!
![](https://i.imgur.com/4k5eU5C.png)
- This is one of the rare situations the practically-iconic Rubber Plant is displayed at a mirrored perspective; in the final game, the object will always have its higher leaf pointing right, no matter where the camera is;
![](https://i.imgur.com/jP2VOhJ.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/nGzZTfm.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/mlHmCnj.gif)
- "Lisa" (named like this based on her skin file title) is the first child we're ever getting to know thru a pre-released version. We both know how the children were limited by the hands who programmed them and their roles are extremely secondary, since we can't do many cool things with them and they talk about less subjects than adults (Let's leave the complete details 'bout this for the SOUNDS and SUBJECTS Spoiler tabs!) and their first sign of life was manifested when the "facing-the-player", neutral, generated face thumbnails (progressively similar to the one the final version shows) was being experimented, which suggests the existence of children in game wasn't a cogitated idea until 1999, and that's why their thumbnails look so different, more "updated", than the one of the other households from this preview video;
![](https://i.imgur.com/xRGzK7E.png)
- Observe the lady's relationships list: The bald old man is illustrated by a thumbnail whose head belongs to other Sim;
MISSING BRAIN
![](https://i.imgur.com/AmCdtHe.jpg)
IGN, AROUND JUNE/JULY 1999
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes010.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99
- As many previous pictures, let's not discard the quantity of windows the pre-released properties needed to have to get a minimal level of lighting;
- Face thumbnails are reaching similarity to the final version's although their backgrounds, here, is a bit darker;
![](https://i.imgur.com/eF2gRSU.gif)
- All the Sims with the contrasting cartoonish appearance were discarded to give place to a little more of new faces to all of us; "darker" equivalents of "light-skinned" versions included; when it comes to kids, "Lisa" is all by herself still;
![](https://i.imgur.com/B0iDrXE.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/0Whv3Gc.gif)
- Not for the last time, you're seeing the kerchief of this Head whose files calls him "Biker" was firstly drawn blue instead of red;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part I of II
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes002.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes004.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes005.jpg)
![](https://sg.hu/kep/1999_10/simselozetes008.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
![](https://i.imgur.com/4AXFEfz.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/D58N5dH.png)
FROM THE GAME'S INTRODUCTORY VIDEO AND PRESS-KIT CD, RESPECTIVELY
- Although, at a quick glance, there is not something really remarkable about this Sim (Inside the NHOOD Spoiler Tab you can see his name is Michael Ryan
![Wink](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/T80lkKk.png)
PRESS-KIT CD, MARCH/APRIL 1999
- The Press Kit CD (Info about this CD you can find in the LIVE THE BETA appendix down below!) introduces the game by narrating a slideshow story about him, by the perspective of someone who is teaching somebody how to play the game, or who is playing a pre-made family under a specific scenario, if you know what I mean;
- His property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with some small changes on how it looks;
THE ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part I of IV
![](https://i.imgur.com/IwvZftO.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/2iH6Atd.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- Along with the "Bachelor Pad" family of one person, this lot whose outdoor floors follow a cement-tile pattern appears on screenshots of mildly different stages of development of the game, making it feel like they're meant to be one of the pre-made families like the Goths, for example (OK, the Roomies family survived the BETA, but consisting of a couple of two totally different people!!)
- Their property can be identified in two of the several screenshots of the neighborhood screen from different times (Pull the NHOOD Spoiler tab for more info!), with just some small changes here and there on how it looks;
![](https://i.imgur.com/SXe3ofn.jpg)
SG.GU, ARTICLE FROM 10/26/99, SCREENSHOTS TAKEN BEFORE 23 JULY 1999 (?)
- This home, precisely the way it is, is found in one of the old neighborhood layouts (Take a good look at the NHOOD Spoiler tab for pictures and information!);
1999 - BLUE UI / AMANDA / "PRE-MADE" FAMILIES
![](https://i.imgur.com/QdgrLQD.gif)
QUAKE PEEPS INVADE SIMSVILLE A LITTLE
![](http://web.archive.org/web/20050123174405im_/http://pcmedia.ign.com/media/previews/image/simsB001.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/WZ1SaJO.png)
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- The UI's been updated a little and became blue, Sims blue, you know?! We can say that is a cross between the Interface we got in the released game's version and the previous one, that you probably saw inside the MISSED BRAIN spoiler
- Inside your call list, acquaintances' backgrounds are painted yellow instead of dark-green-grey-thing we know so well;
- "All in its own time", somebody may've thought; the UI update made it all blue but the controllable Sims thumbnail's background;
![](https://i.imgur.com/K6B7H6Z.png)
- Can you see the interactions queue, at the top of the pic? It illustrates the very first possible sprite of a recently-generate fire; in the final game, we always see the fire thumbnail showing it on its higher level;
- First rhombus-shaped Plumbob we can observe in a pre-release screenshot;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES * Part II of IV
![](https://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/frete/memoire/taxo/thesims4.jpg)
TECFA, UNIGE, 2002
SCREENSHOT: 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- This picture can only be found illustrating a webpage dedicated to an essay called The Potential of Videogames for Education, developed by someone called Catherine Freté within Genebra University - shows a slightly updated version of the Roomies' lot we've already seen;
LAWSON FAMILY
![](https://i.imgur.com/yzp87lM.jpg)
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
SPACESHIPS
IGN, 23 JULY 1999
![](https://i.imgur.com/kFbRWOF.jpg)
- Players'd be able to insert objects above flowers/plants from the ground, even more plants;
BACHELOR PAD/RYAN FAMILY * Part II of II
![](https://i.imgur.com/MhLmwnH.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/mGGgByg.png)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The Bachelor dude is alive and breathes still, holding with strength his failed single, sloppy man persona. The lot shape remains the same of the one we could see at the screenshots from "months ago", although the standards of the graphics are way more faithful to the way we're offered in the final version, everything seems to be more and more harmonious;
ROOMIES BEFORE THE ROOMIES PART III OF IV
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51294_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51292_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/0/3289/51283_full.jpg)
![](http://www.gamershell.com/static/screenshots/3289/51287_full.jpg)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The latter screenshot is the only one among the others, prototype's, whose UI is partially hidden by the press of the Live mode button (F1);
![](https://i.imgur.com/NrhNrFH.png)
01NET (as well as other 1881834248238 sources), AUG-NOV 1999
- Seen on websites (mostly if not all French) which mention Sims being included in some NY MoMa's videogame-oriented exposition;
THE WALLACE, AMANDA TWINS FAMILY
![](https://i.imgur.com/zEPsFbe.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/tVVtx98.png)
- Open the NHOOD Spoiler tab down below to see this family in a screenshot from the beta's Create-a-Sim, as well as their names;
- The first and last time soccer balls can be seen in-game;
![](https://i.imgur.com/SvuDWH6.gif)
Little has the game changed, since all of this happened one month before its official release in the USA; At least one of the videogame-reviewing websites (the German "Gamestar", for example) did mention December 1999 being the date of The Sims release, even if just as a prediction. Until this point of this whole long-awaiting phase, in which the first Custom-Content makers came to life with their homemade walls, skins and floors, like the ones you and me can do with so much ease (for some cool Sims-friendly editors were officially sent to the public in TheSims.com before the game itself!), more or less than 90% of what we reckon being "pre-made families" went down the pooper, whilst the rest of the people appeared to the final version with same name, but different skin; same skin, but different name; same name and skin, but different family... Let's see it closely, shall we:
![](https://i.imgur.com/dDsaRD6.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/05LEoIk.png)
- First possible presence of the practicaly-geoid...ocarina-shaped User Interfae, 99% like the one we play with since February 2000 (Or 2001 if you have the Hot Date expansion pack installed). A cooler equivalent of the previously used one, introduces the Camera Mode (a tool used among developers that eventually became a definitive part of the game [?]);
![](https://i.imgur.com/3PFZYCJ.png)
- The family's last name can be noticed next to the friends counter icon; Money counter used to be placed more to the right than what we're used to see;
![](https://i.imgur.com/4l0dTx8.png)
- This is the first and last case we can take note of a Beta's green counter having a sprite which unites its two corners in one; In the final version, a shallower similar takes place;
![](https://i.imgur.com/HZWjHR7.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/7wYO9nw.png)
- Yes, we can also believe the player from this screenshot changed the home a little bit before taking this screenshot; If we imagine that home being on its default state, the living room looks more basic and empty than the one from the final version, the piano is placed in the opposite side and, in spite of the existence of a built second floor, there is no staircase for one to go there;
![](https://i.imgur.com/I1vaV6N.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
- Complicated to take solid conclusions given to the image's quality and size, but Cassandra doesn't seem to be using eyeglasses;
![](https://i.imgur.com/gXB4O9m.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/dGPLYAY.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/5wAhfjj.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/AQ6xdwU.png)
- Toy Box's thumbnail claimed for adjustments, back in the day - When it comes to the Trash Can, the catalogue thought it's convenient not to get its shadow hidden, too;
- With the exception of the existence of a male member in the Roomies household, everything else seems compatible with the final game's reality;
![](https://i.imgur.com/ao0Dd7Y.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Just like in Goth family's screenshots, last name in friend counter and beta's green counter, but all the other objects (specially the Velvet Elvis & the cheap Television) were enhanced (or spoiled, your call!);
![](https://i.imgur.com/xrvHHrl.png)
- Remember 1999's Wallace family? "Someone" with the very same face skin and and name as Betty comes to the Newbie household - her name is... Betty;
![](https://i.imgur.com/3HVjXOf.jpg)
Can be found on AMAZON, obviously as an illustration for the game's product page; JAN/2000
![](https://i.imgur.com/q6Wm2zv.png)
- We fanciest fireplace is a pain to afford, but it used to be one thousand simoleons more expansive;
- The game neither warns you fireplaces cannot be used by children (assuming they never could) nor let's you know about the Room points it provides (assuming it always did)
![](https://i.imgur.com/bxihedy.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Watch the Preview Video Clicking Here
Gamestar previews Sims, but not for the last time! To this point of progression in our supercool prototype's pictures observing, the majority of the stuff present in this preview video is being extremely familiar to you, including this introduction you are currently reading. But, still, shan't us discard the fact that:
![](https://i.imgur.com/HSK98oS.gif)
- The game used to make it evident when an object couldn't be interacted via pie menu by making it darker once the mouse cursor hovered it;
![](https://i.imgur.com/Bl0HV3h.png)
- A rare occurrence of multitasking: Platter in hands, focus in a conversation; In the final version, when Sims grab a dish, they'll immediately attempt going to one of the household's table/counter/sink;
![](https://i.imgur.com/TQL9VsI.png)
- One month was what it'd take for Maxis' wonderful graphics department to somehow cogitating convenient to reimagine the red this 1/2 torn legging and convert it all greened;
![New](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/icon_new.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/HodITjU.jpg)
MANUAL MEDIA EXPLAINED
We're not going to explain and display the Manual's content directly here on this thread due to the image number limits so we have made a little album for this task, showing the main aspects that shows you what's the beta element you're able to spot on those pictures, including the newly-discovered presence of Michael Ryan on the very final stages of development, a slightly different UI with higher quality and some minor differences on how the Newbie's home looks like, for example;
![](https://i.imgur.com/heXsAnn.png)
IGN, 01/24/2000/
Shared in about 1 week before Sims was officially released in the US, showing what we know, the way we know; All was done... Say hi to the world, baby
============================== END OF "SCREENSHOTS" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/j7sqSUF.png)
WILL WRIGHT, DOORSOFPERCEPTION, LATE 1998 or EARLY 1999
- The image's low, thumbnail quality will not give us much clues, but the overall aspect of this hood contains a depth that doesn't combine with what we do know about the game, making it feel like it is a mock-up, or something; Resembles a little the graphics from the game Simutrans;
![](https://i.imgur.com/GV5j858.jpg)
- The only thing I know about this picture by heart is that it originally belongs to a game-enthusiastic blogger whose blog doesn't seem to be there anymore (??) and they took this photo inside a gaming-themed exposition/event which explained the background and story of some videogames, The Sims included, obviously;
- The colored lines, which pigeonholes the typically 10 available lots for the sake of orientation, are painted yellow to illustrate the bigger lots, the medium-sized ones are pink and the smaller are green;
![](https://i.imgur.com/DN5aeVP.gif)
GAMESTAR, APRIL-JUNE 1999
Example of the neighborhood from the picture 1 being shown in the gameplay; do note the very same colored lines;
It's too early, the development isn't importing about trees or any fancy decorative elements outdoors, the streets were pending (with red cubes temporarily filling their places), the water stream is an hugely simple equivalent of the final version's and all the unoccupied lots are flat and empty, an inviting sandbox formula;
![](https://i.imgur.com/kvJ9qRx.jpg)
- What could these little pixels at the bottom of the picture be? Hey, a personal guess - a Sign and, shooting for the stars a little, a Marquee, like the one the User Interface strings file mentions, alongside with a fictitious "company" called SimEstates , suggesting to be an unused feature whose purpose was taking us to the mode where we could be able to create and edit our families, before the final version's, Marquee-less CAS mode was designed (read APPENDIX for more info!);
![](https://i.imgur.com/vHVmi4K.jpg)
Our friend neighborhood is mellower now, coming closer to the fidelity with the one the final version presented us, but still lacking a considerable range of objects; The supposedly-SimEstates-Marquee, more than ever, is found at the bottom still;
![](https://i.imgur.com/hekVxJ5.jpg)
- From the same source we get a neighborhood with a very unusual layout, displaying totally unique roof/wall designs, colors and a much higher capacity; the sign is directly aimed to the screen, the water gained some extra detailing, and newtrees were added
![](https://i.imgur.com/kq5jxyQ.png)
- This time, we can even identify at least 5 households!
- We still miss some minor details, such as the lack of trees in some areas and complete absence of a sign, or marquee;
- The shore from the bottom right side of the screen has a unique, abstract shape;
![](https://i.imgur.com/Ff7v4n5.jpg)
- Months passed a little and our "pre-made" buddies are still there, but, between you and me, only Betty will survive this adventure;
- All the homes received some very good updates - Roomies' mansion grew a bit and the roofs received fancier colors, some of them never manifested the final version;
- Shore's shape is straighter now;
- The game's logo wasn't the one to illustrate the hood's sign still;
- Do note the primitive CAS/Bulldoze/Quit icons, and the lack of a "Create Webpage" one;
- Some new trees have been added up to the water stream zone and the left side of the screen, for example;
![](https://i.imgur.com/f9G6pcw.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/1Aagpyh.jpg)
GAMERSHELL, AUG-NOV 1999
- The Sim, exceptionally, reproduces a walking animation in the CAS mode;
- Exceptionally, the "Female" chooser is placed on the left side;
- Zodiac Signs aren't a thing;
![](https://i.imgur.com/4deBNEZ.jpg)
First source unknown; JAN/2000
- Astrological Signs aren't a thing... yet
- The Bio bar does not have a BIO title on its upper left side;
============================== END OF "NHOOD" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/7kDYYkZ.png)
This poor atrophied old man does not know how to explore the files of the game enough to reach and make the talking balloon subject's sprites visible; after dropping an interesting hacked table-labeled object which gives Sims the gift of talking to each other within a room of our choice while they are busy with other activities,
those polygonal creatures of Will commenced chatting over subjects never said via non-hackable ways and most of them cannot be seen thru a known prototype picture
![](https://i.imgur.com/saDK4HG.png)
And inside the SOUNDS spoiler tab, you will learn the existence of several recordings of vox files for child Sims, covering different intensities of conversations and subjects, that didn't make their way to the game's released version; Among the subjects pictured above, At least half of them seems to somewhat represent the universe of children, for all of these seemingly "scary" topics (bats/"haunted"house/furious cat) could easily be one of their unused "LOW" and "MEDIUM" subject matters (View the SOUNDS spoiler tab for more information)
============================== END OF "BETA'S TALKING BALLOONS" ==============================
From now on, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
![](https://i.imgur.com/6GzI8cO.gif)
UNUSED OBJECTS EXPLAINED
Only three of all the objects shown above are not illustrating Controller Objects. If there something in common among these "controller objects", it is: they are right there, inside your game, being an important element of the lots you buy and built things in, but you can never see them since they are almost always placed in the grey boundaries where the job cabs and school buses take our Sims to when they disappear. For example: a dinner table iconizes the controller object which determines where all the game's cabs park in the street, in spite of it is not being the reason why people buy diner tables IRL, heh. Maybe the reason why these beta objects were chosen to be the ones to be these controller object's icons is because they cannot be mistaken for the final version's objects that easily.
============================== END OF UNUSED OBJECTS (From tables to tabloids)" ==============================
![](https://i.imgur.com/AiZr5dW.png)
UNUSED TEXTURES EXPLAINED
Again, for the sake of saving room for the appendix's pictures (because someone has just discovered there is boundaries on the number of images a post can have!!) all the rest of this post will be shown (and explained) within different Imgur albums, as this is the image uploader to trust. Remember to open these links in a different tab from your browser, or else you'll lose what remains of the contents!
============================== END OF UNUSED TEXTURES ==============================
Games' rendered pictures can be made and published with the intention of being used as illustrations for advertisements, for example; one remarkable detail about most of them is their detailed appearance, normally representing what the players are able to witness within the game itself but with slightly more 'intensity' - via a totally different perspective or level of visual depth; When it comes to Sims the differences between the in-game looks are minor compared to the rendered images we know - let's see some of them before breaking the image inserting boundaries:
![](https://i.imgur.com/DZ4FeIE.jpg)
- The astronaut suit used by the advanced side of the Military career lacks the "NASA-esque" badge;
![](https://i.imgur.com/IG9H09k.jpg)
- 8 Sims are in a nine-square grid that pretty much resembles the one from the one of Brady Bunch's (a 60-70's TV series) opening sequences, which also was also referenced by The Simpsons in 1995 as one of their couch gags;
![](https://i.imgur.com/UoIcBeS.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/iBXmAwk.gif)
- The texture which represents the package from the Quick Meal your sloppy, in-a-rush families from Sims 1 eat precisely has the face of the blue-eyed blonde; Since we play thru the same perpective of a hovering buzzard, it's a bit tough to notice at first;
![](https://i.imgur.com/I58qcg6.jpg)
============================== END OF "IMAGES" ==============================
As well as what goes on with the animations, for example, the game's folder dedicated to the storage of audio (voice tracks, object sounds, etc.) has a massive number of files with variable length that are constantly played as a way of adorning every single movement and landscape out there in SimLane; And it couldn't have been otherwise: if we explore such folders, we'll fatally locate a fair quantity of those who don't seem, by all means to be used, at least not inside the base game, which is our focal point here in this thread;
YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THEM, EXPLAINED, ON THIS VIDEO
============================== END OF SOUNDS ==============================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX - LIVE THE BETA:
As you can clearly notice after opening all of those Spoilers, we do not have much room left to exhibit the wonders of the Sim 1's universe before its release!! Then, for the sake of covering all of the known bits without transforming it into something more overwhelmingly massive and the opposite of mobile-friendly than it currently is, you're invited to explore and discover the remaining aspects from the game's pre-release content yourself, with the help of the following interesting URLs and programs:
SIMSHOW
- The link's folder contains the program SimShow, officially published a little before The Sims went to stores and did allow the expecting fans to witness, on their computers, for the first time, the computer people reproducing animations under certain types of skins and heads of their choice;
![](https://i.imgur.com/VdIEC3g.gif)
- Also, "actions.zip", filled with 6 preview-able animations that are present in the game's file but none of the existent objects normally "call" them. They, on their majority, are animations of unusual long length that illustrates different types of dance. One of them, "adult-test-animation2.cmx", is rapidly reproduced in one of several scenes from the game's introductory video. Considering how random, long and DETAILED these animations are (and, you'll notice, how they appear to be a little out-of-place), it's not hard to assume they were part of the game staff's attempts of utilizing motion-capturing systems for the characters' actions but, in the end, all of the animations were built manually;
- The link's folder contains the program SimShow, officially published a little before The Sims went to stores and did allow the expecting fans to witness, on their computers, for the first time, the computer people reproducing animations under certain types of skins and heads of their choice;
![](https://i.imgur.com/UHhFug8.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/VdIEC3g.gif)
- Also, "actions.zip", filled with 6 preview-able animations that are present in the game's file but none of the existent objects normally "call" them. They, on their majority, are animations of unusual long length that illustrates different types of dance. One of them, "adult-test-animation2.cmx", is rapidly reproduced in one of several scenes from the game's introductory video. Considering how random, long and DETAILED these animations are (and, you'll notice, how they appear to be a little out-of-place), it's not hard to assume they were part of the game staff's attempts of utilizing motion-capturing systems for the characters' actions but, in the end, all of the animations were built manually;
![](https://i.imgur.com/dCAl05z.png)
HOMECRAFTER
- Also a Sims tool released before Sims itself, and probably the origin of the first player's custom content; With this, you can pick up some of the image files you've got from your computer and turn them into a floor and/or wallpaper file which the game manages to detect and put in your Build Mode;
- Ah, the point: With this you can have a very straightforward (but valid) experience with the beta game, relatively able to interact with an environment whose elements has sprites with primitive, unused design;
TCRF - An entire Wikipedia-fashioned webpage dedicated to the unused elements of The Sims, not limited to its images and sounds. Did you know there is vestiges of strings, in the game's database, which proves community lots were intended to be a thing way before the existence of Hot Date? And that Sims are technically all born in 1997?
GAMESPOT'S ARTICLE ON SIMS ONLINE - unveils some of the briefly-attempted user interface layouts and talks about a then-upcoming The Sims Online
FOOD RENDERS - Before being caught by EA, TheSims.com.br , naturally the Brazilian domain for the official Sims website, belonged to a fan, until 2003, I reckon; One of its pages were, funnily, dedicated to only show pictures of the game's food types, in higher resolution and quality;
BETA GALLERY ROPED IN ONE - Most of the screenshots/renders you have seen here, but in hugely higher quality, you can find on this link; Includes the box art and all of its sides which, here and there, displays pre-release material (because the box art was made before the game start being sold, right?)
JAMIE DOORNBOS TELLS PROJECT Xs STORY... - ...and shows some very interesting pictures from a pre-1997 The Sims, being my favorite the one displaying the animation-testing programs and, well, how the entire landscape inevitably makes me think of RollerCoaster Tycoon, more than usual;
BUILD, BUY and LIVE - With these words, Will Wright begins this awesome Sims-oriented chronicle, including both of the pictures you have seen here; I reckon that that was written before 1999;
SG.HU ARTICLE - With the retail quality from the early 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
GAMERSHELL SIMS PAGE - With the retail quality from the late 1999 pictures you've seen here, and more;
THE SIMS PRESS KIT - An archived Sims Press Kit CD whose content was especially made for the objective of promoting The Sims via high-quality videos (including Will Wright himself answering questions about the game!), that wellknown trailer with the 3 Sims waving at you, some renders I didn't share here, screenshots and even a short slide-show narrating the ventures of some Sims, some of them you already know; Its files has as their creation date March/April 1999;
After spending some good hours sorting the contents - oops, - turns out this featherbrained guy here are clueless about how to finish this post. It is almost certain that there are some weird and unforgivable incorrect information, mistakes or typos that only the sands of time will unveil. But, hey, hopefully you, as a fan, will find the images shown above minimally interesting or, who knows, useful for whatever you might be doing with your game right now. Again: the topic shall not end here! Then, every sort of collaboration is going to be extremely well-received and will be an absolute pleasure to read/view/listen and, why not, ponder about them. OK, time for dinner, sul sul you!
![Deal](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/deal.gif)
♦
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
#4
25th Jan 2019 at 12:36 AM
Last edited by HarVee : 25th Jan 2019 at 12:51 AM.
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Posts: 3,360
Thanks: 298 in 4 Posts
That Elvis GUI... Why does every beta GUI in this series always look better than what we get in the release build? Taking away the brain... it was perfect.
Seriously want SIGMUND in the final game. He looks like an awesome character.
Seriously want SIGMUND in the final game. He looks like an awesome character.
Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
Help contribute to Plot of Land - Rural Desert Nhood?
#6
25th Jan 2019 at 2:33 AM
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Posts: 3,360
Thanks: 298 in 4 Posts
A lot of those sprites of were probably place holders until the final object was complete. The Sink and end table the phone is on look very crude and incomplete to have been finished items.
Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
Help contribute to Plot of Land - Rural Desert Nhood?
#7
26th Jan 2019 at 2:32 AM
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@LUCPIX
That's an amazing job compiling all these pieces of information and screenshots. I enjoyed reading the timeline of events that occurred and the screenshots and notes accompanying them. A terrific post, thank you for your time in making it.
That's an amazing job compiling all these pieces of information and screenshots. I enjoyed reading the timeline of events that occurred and the screenshots and notes accompanying them. A terrific post, thank you for your time in making it.
Check out my latest version of Superman's Classic Uniform for The Sims 2.
See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
Also check out My Website to see my superhero uniform creations for The Sims 2. THANKS!!!
#8
26th Jan 2019 at 2:59 PM
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Posts: 71
Quote: Originally posted by HarVee
A lot of those sprites of were probably place holders until the final object was complete. The Sink and end table the phone is on look very crude and incomplete to have been finished items. |
I think they may have been placeholders or at one time a different art style was considered before they settled on photorealism. Other Maxis games used that kind of an art style as well as the Theme series of games by bullfrog. It was a popular style in the 90s for simulation type games and The Sims has development we know of from at least 1997, but I believe it started much sooner.
#9
27th Jan 2019 at 6:35 AM
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Posts: 2,062
Interesting! I love seeing Beta things.
Those very early, extremely cartoony characters though......YUCK! Glad the game did adopt a more subdued aesthetic later on...
And that beige UI from the 1998 doorsofperception screenshot....terrible!....typical, over-designed 1990s UI with the "family portraits" thing for the household members....
Not sure what to think of the brain version, kinda like it, kinda prefer the simpler and clearer version that was released.
Avatar by MasterRed
Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
Those very early, extremely cartoony characters though......YUCK! Glad the game did adopt a more subdued aesthetic later on...
And that beige UI from the 1998 doorsofperception screenshot....terrible!....typical, over-designed 1990s UI with the "family portraits" thing for the household members....
Not sure what to think of the brain version, kinda like it, kinda prefer the simpler and clearer version that was released.
Avatar by MasterRed
Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
#10
27th Jan 2019 at 10:59 AM
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Posts: 672
Thanks: 3330 in 59 Posts
Woah they made Quake skins for the game? Were they ever released?
#11
28th Jan 2019 at 1:36 AM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 28th Jan 2019 at 4:59 AM.
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Posts: 158
Quote: Originally posted by dvdgamer2000
. |
Hey, man, we can kind of use this in-depth picture as an archetype of such awkward transition between the former adopted aesthetic and the one from the game's final version, as though that elder is a totally different kind of human
It is worthy mentioning this cool shot is a part of Press Kit CD's slideshow, a sort of resource material intended to display what was developed so far so the media'd have something to preview/promote the game with! Check the slide where this image is:
![](https://i.imgur.com/jKDPtCK.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/rXHive1.png)
^ Every single file has a very precise "When it was last modified" date
It's been ages ever since, but I have a foggy-uncertain memory of spotting in some website (almost certainly archived and unavailable ) a pre-release image on which these 3 Sims were positioned exactly like this which makes me to believe it's a mock-up that uses the game's graphics other than a regular screenshot; and, unless it is supposedly highlighting a character outside the camera, no plumbob/arrow is present above his/her head. Feels convenient to pass a fine-tooth-comb for these pictures... if they're not only existing in my head!
Quote: Originally posted by HarVee
That Elvis GUI... Why does every beta GUI in this series always look better than what we get in the release build? Taking away the brain... it was perfect. Seriously want SIGMUND in the final game. He looks like an awesome character. |
HAhaha, for reals?? In my opinion, the former interfaces are a beauty (specially those with dates/months/years put at but, between you and me, does the average player play in a household in particular during 365, 265, 165 or even 65 sim days??) but none of them manages to somehow reflect 100% of the game's creative, abstractly sandbox-y factor, either because its colors or because its "straight" shape is rather "arbitrary"? And you are right about the brain; however, it'd be awesome if they, at least, inserted that "twinkling" effect somewhere else! That "Sigmund" one does make an actual, shy apparition in game as an relationship panel's thumbnail! Not that your Sim is suddenly "befriending" him, it was just a way the game's staff apparently thought it was convenient to fill the thumbnail room from a Sim whose head is unidentifiable/broken by the engine
About that Elvis picture - you apparently still is fond of S1! I quickly converted the data from the vanilla's Velvet Clown (Velvet Elvis from the future) to make it look like Velvet Elvis (Velvet Clown from the past), based on its sharpest appearance in a screenshot which you might find interesting to be bought for one of your families!
![](https://i.imgur.com/OUr1pJx.png)
DOWNLOAD
Quote: Originally posted by HarVee
A lot of those sprites of were probably place holders until the final object was complete. The Sink and end table the phone is on look very crude and incomplete to have been finished items. |
I agree with you - most of the objects from the final version had a rawer similar from the past (with some exceptions, such as the design from the former television which is definitely prettier than the final version ones IMO, although the game's staff could argue the latter ones suggest some more "universality", if that makes sense?), "placeholders" as you said, but sometimes I wonder if they were immediately put in game meaning to be replaced to "better" versions later; In fact, they felt like enhancing them, especially because, as the dvd man has spoken, the game's production, kinda with the same engine and same aesthetics we know today, started at least 3, 4 years before 2000 [u](both of game's unused lots' database mentions the year 1996)[/ul] and this was a relatively brief period in gaming when it's happened some massive, cellular progression on how an average commercial game looked like, if we think about the earliest uses of the anti-aliasing (firstly on consoles), dynamic lighting, etc!! We can take a good example of it by checking what changes, graphically, in the 4 first Tomb Raider games (1995-2000) and, obviously, if we check the Sims' 1995 shots from this thread's PDF at the appendix:
![](https://i.imgur.com/3GdJI94.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/yfNLxWy.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/WzZnlxD.png)
Chris Sawyer may have thought "What if I insert some Roller coasters on it?", ha
Quote: Originally posted by d_dgjdhh
@LUCPIX That's an amazing job compiling all these pieces of information and screenshots. I enjoyed reading the timeline of events that occurred and the screenshots and notes accompanying them. A terrific post, thank you for your time in making it. |
It's interesting how you listed all of the Sims 1's songs (even Sim Online's) and catalogued them according to their names and composers/reproducers (That's funny because now I'll be trying to extract something "If You Really See Eurydice"-esque behind that that was merely a "Welcome to our Premiering Residence"-themed song, ha
You're welcome man
Quote: Originally posted by Orphalesion
Interesting! I love seeing Beta things. Those very early, extremely cartoony characters though......YUCK! Glad the game did adopt a more subdued aesthetic later on... And that beige UI from the 1998 doorsofperception screenshot....terrible!....typical, over-designed 1990s UI with the "family portraits" thing for the household members.... Not sure what to think of the brain version, kinda like it, kinda prefer the simpler and clearer version that was released. |
You're right Hahaha Hey, it's not 100% ugly! However, you know, whenever I think how it could behave in game, it always gets an astringent, but comprehensibly old-fashioned vibe, like one of those games you click at one UI button, for example, and then an uncomfortable 2-second sound effect regarding the button's function plays until you get weary of it and shut the game up
![lol](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/lol.gif)
Quote: Originally posted by Dorsal Axe
Woah they made Quake skins for the game? Were they ever released? |
Prolly just for themselves!
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(so do you)
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#12
28th Jan 2019 at 5:25 AM
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I wonder how the music sounded like during beta production, if there was any at all. Those cartoony looking Sims remind me of the Ren & Stempy cartoon music, which explains the '50s style neighborhood music.
Check out my latest version of Superman's Classic Uniform for The Sims 2.
See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
Also check out My Website to see my superhero uniform creations for The Sims 2. THANKS!!!
#13
28th Jan 2019 at 4:52 PM
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Quote: Originally posted by d_dgjdhh
I wonder how the music sounded like during beta production, if there was any at all. Those cartoony looking Sims remind me of the Ren & Stempy cartoon music, which explains the '50s style neighborhood music. |
Quote:
Either way, as the project moved ahead, Martin was free to do as he pleased. Wright occasionally made suggestions, but those were usually for the radio stations that the players could turn on when their Sims were at home, dancing or relaxing. Build Mode (and Buy Mode, the soundtrack to which was significantly peppier) was left to Martin's imagination. |
Quote:
Russo says that it turned out to be a "rigorous" process. Martin would give him a few words of direction–moods and vibes rather than tangible musical reference points–and Russo would come back to his neighbor with carefully arranged piano pieces. He'd walk across the street to Martin's studio, proudly record take after take on the keyboard, and then realize that Martin was only interested in a few bars of it. |
Quote:
And unlike Martin, who had caught glimpses of the game in development and played around briefly with glitchy early demos, Russo had no feel for what would be happening on screen while his music played. "You were creating a palette without actually seeing it," he says. "Just purely taking on an emotion or a mood that has been sent your way, and then going with that." Those emotions and moods were difficult to pin down. Based on Martin's suggestions, Russo simply thought that there should be something "happy and innocent and hopeful" about the finished product. |
Source.
Quote: Originally posted by LUCPIX
About that Elvis picture - you apparently still is fond of S1! |
Definitely. All these years have gone by but TS1 is still my favourite of the series. Thanks for the Elvis Velvet photo!
Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
Help contribute to Plot of Land - Rural Desert Nhood?
#14
28th Jan 2019 at 11:28 PM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 28th Jan 2019 at 11:41 PM.
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Quote: Originally posted by d_dgjdhh
I wonder how the music sounded like during beta production, if there was any at all. Those cartoony looking Sims remind me of the Ren & Stempy cartoon music, which explains the '50s style neighborhood music. |
Something that we can listen to by ourselves, in practice, we still cannot go much in depth about it but, hey, we never know! If you're up to a vague example of an OST from the game that used to sound only 'that much' differently, check this video, it'll warp you to the sound's moment! Just for orientation, there's a such upbeat flute going on with the other regular instruments, which has been eliminated or just undermined at least one month later
![](https://i.imgur.com/EwGEGuI.jpg)
IDNEZ.CZ , JULY/1999
^
![Exclamation 2](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/icon4.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/wJ0tCH1.jpg)
![Deal](http://static.modthesims2.com/images/smilies/deal.gif)
Also, this thread's IMAGES/2000 spoiler from the #3 post received a cool update containing a massive amount of media straight from the game's User Manual with high-quality of content which shows us different perspectives from what used to be just blurry pixels until now. Now we can confirm that that Michael Ryan dude lived at SimLane as a pre-made character, sharing street with the Goth household, until the game's last moments of production, before his definitive removal, and how our known pre-made characters were curiously pigeonholed as "Difficult and Easy", for example;
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(so do you)
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#15
29th Jan 2019 at 8:44 AM
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I pulled mine from a Throwback Thursday on The Sims facebook page. I've attached the version I originally edited as well as another prerelease picture.
Additionally, the game ships with data for a lot number 11. I was able to force the game to load it and I did a video on it a while back. I'll include the link to that below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10iMJvoMNI
![](https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/1/9/1/8/5/MTS_dvdgamer2000-1822293-1902774_944916255547445_1980831333861609805_n(1).jpg)
![](https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/1/9/1/8/5/MTS_dvdgamer2000-1822294-12187705_968665706505833_3559059715769822887_n.jpg)
Additionally, the game ships with data for a lot number 11. I was able to force the game to load it and I did a video on it a while back. I'll include the link to that below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10iMJvoMNI
#16
29th Jan 2019 at 11:43 AM
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@LUCPIX (here another user that doesn't know how to properly tag anyone) that's freakin' amazing all you've got there! Intereseting how they went for 'Bullfrog-Simcity 300-y' aesthetic before settling on the one they ended up using. It would have been interesting seeing the game with those graphics (especially after seeing the 1998/1999 'Simutrans' pic of the Neighbourhood), but the style we ended up seeing is much more unique. Those first models of the sims themselves look pretty uncanny, though; as there's no woman character, I wonder if they couldn't make a cartoony women desing work, and that's why they opted out of it. The objects designs seem to have been made after the design of the characters and environment, wich is pretty funny considering the game started as a building simulator; I wonder if they had a full assortment of build and buy objects taht they had to throw away and started from scratch. It sure looks like it, as every pic with objects shows a similar style, even with objects that didn't make it to the final product.
Speaking of wich, thanks for the 'Elvis in Velvet' portrait. Wonder if they would have made an Elvis character similar to the Tragic Clown (Tragic Elvis? haha). It would definitely be interesting if someone could mod that into the picture!
Also, I see if I can find a document I saw once about the research behind The Sims 1; I remember it quoting the famous Manslow Pyramid, explaining the decisions tath led to the personality system... all pretty interesting.
Speaking of wich, thanks for the 'Elvis in Velvet' portrait. Wonder if they would have made an Elvis character similar to the Tragic Clown (Tragic Elvis? haha). It would definitely be interesting if someone could mod that into the picture!
Also, I see if I can find a document I saw once about the research behind The Sims 1; I remember it quoting the famous Manslow Pyramid, explaining the decisions tath led to the personality system... all pretty interesting.
#17
29th Jan 2019 at 12:20 PM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 29th Jan 2019 at 2:21 PM.
Reason: BUTCHERED ENGLISH
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Man, @dvdgamer2000 , what's with the missing saving button, though?? As it seems, the engine update brought to us by Hot Date/Unleashed (specially Unleashed considering you are using its houseseholdless "edit Residential lot" mode) hasn't digested their outstanding complexity
Anyway, complementing your cool video (I'll eventually give a proper answer to your unused sounds video's comment), both of the lots that ironically is placed in the top/bottom of the used ones like a burger (House00.iff and House11.iff) are a thing we can take note of and use since the vanilla game! I can't immediately take a screenshot of it currently because my game now has LL and HP installed (and that's more than enough by now!!) and it caused a slight difference to their "last modified in" date but, as I can recall, they haven't been edited since late 1999. However, with the addition of the mentioned EPs, the update responsible for the existence of the "UserDataX", "poly-hood" system, their "last modified" date has changed, although remained playable ("playable").
>Allow me to give you a screenshot-flooding example of how the unused lots behave when they're forced to be read by a former Sims 1's engine and check what changes or what is similar from your case<
![](https://i.imgur.com/92nHn3m.png)
First off, it's worthy to note there is a former neighborhood layout of our knowledge which contains the ONLY street placement that would suit well the House11 you have guided us!
![](https://i.imgur.com/qXXup81.png)
Adding up the passive-aggression of previous' image lack of sharpness, the placement of any of the 2 unused lots causes the game to pop-up this inputting message which SEEN BY THE SURFACE doesn't provoke any visible changes
![](https://i.imgur.com/1n2gKLq.png)
A test house proudly built with House11's roots, weeks ago! A couple things about this lot's gameplay:
- The Visitor NPCs walking itinerary is rather confused (Service NPCs, like Nancy, come as well), taking the characters outside the crosswalk until the disappear in the asphalt boundaries (see the walking girl from the picture)
- Calling multiple neighbors for a massive HP's gathering is a possibility, but they will not leave their starting position tile unless you "move_objects on" them next to your home; a weird conflict goes on, and the game tends to slow down a bit
- Nancy normally brings the newspaper and you can purchase a computer, then you can find a job; On the other hand, the cabs/buses will not naturally come due to a easily-solvable absence of a CarPortal controller object!
[To be complemented]
Sooner or later I'll upload a video showing a (hopefully!) fluid and effective gameplay with a 8-Sim household living inside the elusive House00.iff !! It was kind of impossible until I realized I could compensate the non-existence of mailboxes and garbage cans by... buying new ones! And some other essential elements that will bring a different sort of life to that sandbox-esque property. Thank you man
Anyway, complementing your cool video (I'll eventually give a proper answer to your unused sounds video's comment), both of the lots that ironically is placed in the top/bottom of the used ones like a burger (House00.iff and House11.iff) are a thing we can take note of and use since the vanilla game! I can't immediately take a screenshot of it currently because my game now has LL and HP installed (and that's more than enough by now!!) and it caused a slight difference to their "last modified in" date but, as I can recall, they haven't been edited since late 1999. However, with the addition of the mentioned EPs, the update responsible for the existence of the "UserDataX", "poly-hood" system, their "last modified" date has changed, although remained playable ("playable").
>Allow me to give you a screenshot-flooding example of how the unused lots behave when they're forced to be read by a former Sims 1's engine and check what changes or what is similar from your case<
![](https://i.imgur.com/92nHn3m.png)
First off, it's worthy to note there is a former neighborhood layout of our knowledge which contains the ONLY street placement that would suit well the House11 you have guided us!
![](https://i.imgur.com/qXXup81.png)
Adding up the passive-aggression of previous' image lack of sharpness, the placement of any of the 2 unused lots causes the game to pop-up this inputting message which SEEN BY THE SURFACE doesn't provoke any visible changes
![](https://i.imgur.com/1n2gKLq.png)
A test house proudly built with House11's roots, weeks ago! A couple things about this lot's gameplay:
- The Visitor NPCs walking itinerary is rather confused (Service NPCs, like Nancy, come as well), taking the characters outside the crosswalk until the disappear in the asphalt boundaries (see the walking girl from the picture)
- Calling multiple neighbors for a massive HP's gathering is a possibility, but they will not leave their starting position tile unless you "move_objects on" them next to your home; a weird conflict goes on, and the game tends to slow down a bit
- Nancy normally brings the newspaper and you can purchase a computer, then you can find a job; On the other hand, the cabs/buses will not naturally come due to a easily-solvable absence of a CarPortal controller object!
[To be complemented]
Sooner or later I'll upload a video showing a (hopefully!) fluid and effective gameplay with a 8-Sim household living inside the elusive House00.iff !! It was kind of impossible until I realized I could compensate the non-existence of mailboxes and garbage cans by... buying new ones! And some other essential elements that will bring a different sort of life to that sandbox-esque property. Thank you man
♦
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
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☺
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
#18
29th Jan 2019 at 12:30 PM
Last edited by ed95 : 2nd Feb 2019 at 11:32 AM.
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Posts: 178
@dvdgamer2000, that's a really great video, it even features in the Cutting Floor article on The Sims 1 if I'm not mistaken!
@LUCPIX What's happening in those screenshots? Hah, the expressions 'Developers think of everything' applies completely to this! So there's a lot surrounded by the street that we can access from the game, huh? But I want to know, how does it exactly work? It properly interacts with other lots? Is it accessible from the Nhood screen? Pretty interesting!
@LUCPIX What's happening in those screenshots? Hah, the expressions 'Developers think of everything' applies completely to this! So there's a lot surrounded by the street that we can access from the game, huh? But I want to know, how does it exactly work? It properly interacts with other lots? Is it accessible from the Nhood screen? Pretty interesting!
#19
29th Jan 2019 at 2:43 PM
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Posts: 71
Couple things I want to say...
The Sims 1 originally wanted to generate thumbnails where sims had facial expressions for their mood. There's redundant thumbnails in the sims 1 that are all identical. I think they scrapped it because they were too small to see anyway lol.
As for the save button... My best guess is that lots depend on a UI event to say if the player is permitted to save. Pre-unleashed loading an uninhabited residential lot was not possible. I suspect there was an update to 'prime' the lot data to handle that case which was not rolled into the lot 11 file because it was unused.
I think between that and the below info I addressed everything... if you have more weird questions tag me or give a shout.
--- Some of the info below is not 100% relevant to the topic but I feel it is very interesting nontheless. ---
I don't think House 00 is a real lot. The game will accept any lot number between 0 and 99. Actually, using a patch that enables debugging cheats I got it to load lot 100 once but this would not be practical under any meaningful circumstance and it caused a ton of object errors that would need to be accounted for. A bit of trivia is that in the final game each lot has a street number which is the number after house in the iff file. This means that 1 through 10 Sim Lane are House01 through House10 dot iff. This means that some lot numbers are unused. Hot Date's downtown lots begin at 21 I believe. Somewhere I made a text file with all the lot oddity quirks of zero through 99. If there is no lot data for a lot the game is forced to load it will just generate a template lot. It does this if a lot becomes corrupt. However I think if there is a version in the patch folder it will load that if a lot is absent instead. I need to double check. Lots 32 through 39 are unused entirely with no data.
The game has a Generic Sims Call for testing lot zoning type for lots that are Old Town or Sim lane. This-- and maybe the creepy hallow magic town lots-- is/are the only place this call is used. If you use Global From Simulation with 0xA0 or 10 you can check the current house number. Every other global for "Is lot a [place] lot?" uses these checks. The quirk here is that some unused lot numbers are seen as these lot type and initialized properly for them for the proper controllers and NPCs and if you use an object to take the sim to the lot and have a house##.iff for it in the userdata it CAN be used. (I was working on a hack to allow you to take your sims to work which would use these 'unused' lots.) All lots not listed below will load as a residential lot, but if you edit zoning.iff for the Sim Lane and Old Town lots. There is a zoning.iff for Magic Town but editing it seems to do nothing, though I suspect it may be used by the generic lot zoning call for this area since the creepy hallow lots are blocked out to validate as "magic lots" in the global.
Also yes that video was on TCRF page I originally made it for the page! I added a lot of other regional info and differences but due to staff drama it ended up off the page.
--- Lot assignments from the global checks if anyone is interested ---
Lots...
21 through 31 are blocked for Downtown. (I think two are unused.)
40 through 49 are vacation lots. (One is unused.)
- 40, 41 and 42 are snow
- 43, 44 and 45 are forest
- 46, 47 and 48 are beach
- 49 is unused, but loads with the standard grass so I suppose it is functionally a forest lot.
- 50 through 80 are used for the Old Town lots
- 81 through 89 are studio lots
- 90 through 99 are magic lots (99 is used as the 'above the beanstalk' lot)
The Sims 1 originally wanted to generate thumbnails where sims had facial expressions for their mood. There's redundant thumbnails in the sims 1 that are all identical. I think they scrapped it because they were too small to see anyway lol.
As for the save button... My best guess is that lots depend on a UI event to say if the player is permitted to save. Pre-unleashed loading an uninhabited residential lot was not possible. I suspect there was an update to 'prime' the lot data to handle that case which was not rolled into the lot 11 file because it was unused.
I think between that and the below info I addressed everything... if you have more weird questions tag me or give a shout.
--- Some of the info below is not 100% relevant to the topic but I feel it is very interesting nontheless. ---
I don't think House 00 is a real lot. The game will accept any lot number between 0 and 99. Actually, using a patch that enables debugging cheats I got it to load lot 100 once but this would not be practical under any meaningful circumstance and it caused a ton of object errors that would need to be accounted for. A bit of trivia is that in the final game each lot has a street number which is the number after house in the iff file. This means that 1 through 10 Sim Lane are House01 through House10 dot iff. This means that some lot numbers are unused. Hot Date's downtown lots begin at 21 I believe. Somewhere I made a text file with all the lot oddity quirks of zero through 99. If there is no lot data for a lot the game is forced to load it will just generate a template lot. It does this if a lot becomes corrupt. However I think if there is a version in the patch folder it will load that if a lot is absent instead. I need to double check. Lots 32 through 39 are unused entirely with no data.
The game has a Generic Sims Call for testing lot zoning type for lots that are Old Town or Sim lane. This-- and maybe the creepy hallow magic town lots-- is/are the only place this call is used. If you use Global From Simulation with 0xA0 or 10 you can check the current house number. Every other global for "Is lot a [place] lot?" uses these checks. The quirk here is that some unused lot numbers are seen as these lot type and initialized properly for them for the proper controllers and NPCs and if you use an object to take the sim to the lot and have a house##.iff for it in the userdata it CAN be used. (I was working on a hack to allow you to take your sims to work which would use these 'unused' lots.) All lots not listed below will load as a residential lot, but if you edit zoning.iff for the Sim Lane and Old Town lots. There is a zoning.iff for Magic Town but editing it seems to do nothing, though I suspect it may be used by the generic lot zoning call for this area since the creepy hallow lots are blocked out to validate as "magic lots" in the global.
Also yes that video was on TCRF page I originally made it for the page! I added a lot of other regional info and differences but due to staff drama it ended up off the page.
--- Lot assignments from the global checks if anyone is interested ---
Lots...
21 through 31 are blocked for Downtown. (I think two are unused.)
40 through 49 are vacation lots. (One is unused.)
- 40, 41 and 42 are snow
- 43, 44 and 45 are forest
- 46, 47 and 48 are beach
- 49 is unused, but loads with the standard grass so I suppose it is functionally a forest lot.
- 50 through 80 are used for the Old Town lots
- 81 through 89 are studio lots
- 90 through 99 are magic lots (99 is used as the 'above the beanstalk' lot)
#20
1st Feb 2019 at 4:36 AM
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Posts: 71
Double posting to get the thread back on topic...
Found these on tumblr, not sure of the source or validity. It shows a version of the family select screen I don't think I've seen before.
![](https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/1/9/1/8/5/MTS_damondamore-1822757-tumblr_pm8c0ckGfX1s87m50o2_640.jpg)
Found these on tumblr, not sure of the source or validity. It shows a version of the family select screen I don't think I've seen before.
![](https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/1/9/1/8/5/MTS_damondamore-1822757-tumblr_pm8c0ckGfX1s87m50o2_640.jpg)
![](https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/1/9/1/8/5/MTS_damondamore-1822758-tumblr_pm8c0ckGfX1s87m50o1_640.png)
#21
1st Feb 2019 at 1:23 PM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 1st Feb 2019 at 2:06 PM.
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Posts: 158
Hi dvd @damondamore if, with "House00 isn't a real lot", you meant there wasn't probably any intentions of making a formal use of them after its condition as a 'prototype', 100% agreed with you; by all means, absolutely "nothing" happens inside, in spite of its abstract grass design and, when it comes to how it's noticed on Gamestar's preview, the mailbox/garbage cans are there at least; the emptiness we can spot at lot 00.iff may be healed just after the manual insertion of the main controller objects and, for the sake of making it to belong with the rest of the nhood and not make it polluted and overwhelmed outside, a quick use of "map_edit" cheat to determine the boundaries, etc. If anything, its exceptionally massive size is what makes it interesting and unique to handle
About the "tumblr"'s neighborhood screen -- ???????? You theoretically should have seen it before because yours truly has gathered and edited these pictures with the CAS faces and put them behind the IMAGES/ NHOOD spoiler, at this thread's third post, hahahah. Hey, you are missing out so much of this thread's context by not checking this gallery, which explains why you sometimes spoke a trivia or two as though it hasn't been previously mentioned! Just out of curiosity I'd love to see what tumblr post it is and, it's your lucky day, our neighborhood gallery has even more info than these two, and somewhere inside the "links" section there is the website we've gotten these screenshots from. Have fun and later!
=================================================================
Hello, @ed95 (mentioning via "arrobas" {@} is an effective but silent processes, shall we take note of it) and I am very happy you have read (and got fond) of it since, you know, you were the target, no pressure intended, ha. Indeed we can't see a female at those old(er) images, the polygonal graphic standards back then definitely ruined any of the slim chances of capturing their beauty; the most obvious example we can mention is Lara Croft on her first year of existence!! Just saying :-P
Thank you and, hey, that makes you think a little. What if Elvis' picture actually has made its way to the final version (don't matter how random it is to display an IRL's personality right there, although it ironically makes total sense when it comes to Superstar EP's criteria!!) and Livin' Large would provide us, instead, a Presley NPC whose function is appearing out of nowhere once you're in a super good mood and he'd sing songs, play with your Sim's electric guitar and dance with you and the rest of the household? Hahaha, looks like one of those butterfly effect situations; But one's always pondering. If you fancy purchasing Elvis made of Velvet as a fancy decor to one or two of your families, I'd love to check it and, who knows, discover where is the best place to place it in a home since it's a kind of tough call, right here. Don't wrinkle your nose in case the Tragic Clown appears!!! It's a very rustic object conversion (at least by now). And it'll be frigging nice to read this PDF, do not be afraid! Later, dude
========
AH, about the House11 lot - Yes, it does "interact" with the neighborhood without major issues, the Neighborhood screen displays it without making it look "out of place" (because those three street corners, although they technically don't belong with the nhood's street layout, they get covered and unseen since the main screen are meant to ignore any of the lot tiles which is considered "out of bounds" by the Buy Mode (streets included) if that makes sense? Then the only thing that looks slightly out of place is the asphalt driveway, inherently present on this lot since the beginning and, yeah, make us to wonder also "could we drive in-game". Let us know if you want to learn how to access and make this lot minimally functional to you :-)
About the "tumblr"'s neighborhood screen -- ???????? You theoretically should have seen it before because yours truly has gathered and edited these pictures with the CAS faces and put them behind the IMAGES/ NHOOD spoiler, at this thread's third post, hahahah. Hey, you are missing out so much of this thread's context by not checking this gallery, which explains why you sometimes spoke a trivia or two as though it hasn't been previously mentioned! Just out of curiosity I'd love to see what tumblr post it is and, it's your lucky day, our neighborhood gallery has even more info than these two, and somewhere inside the "links" section there is the website we've gotten these screenshots from. Have fun and later!
=================================================================
Hello, @ed95 (mentioning via "arrobas" {@} is an effective but silent processes, shall we take note of it) and I am very happy you have read (and got fond) of it since, you know, you were the target, no pressure intended, ha. Indeed we can't see a female at those old(er) images, the polygonal graphic standards back then definitely ruined any of the slim chances of capturing their beauty; the most obvious example we can mention is Lara Croft on her first year of existence!! Just saying :-P
Thank you and, hey, that makes you think a little. What if Elvis' picture actually has made its way to the final version (don't matter how random it is to display an IRL's personality right there, although it ironically makes total sense when it comes to Superstar EP's criteria!!) and Livin' Large would provide us, instead, a Presley NPC whose function is appearing out of nowhere once you're in a super good mood and he'd sing songs, play with your Sim's electric guitar and dance with you and the rest of the household? Hahaha, looks like one of those butterfly effect situations; But one's always pondering. If you fancy purchasing Elvis made of Velvet as a fancy decor to one or two of your families, I'd love to check it and, who knows, discover where is the best place to place it in a home since it's a kind of tough call, right here. Don't wrinkle your nose in case the Tragic Clown appears!!! It's a very rustic object conversion (at least by now). And it'll be frigging nice to read this PDF, do not be afraid! Later, dude
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AH, about the House11 lot - Yes, it does "interact" with the neighborhood without major issues, the Neighborhood screen displays it without making it look "out of place" (because those three street corners, although they technically don't belong with the nhood's street layout, they get covered and unseen since the main screen are meant to ignore any of the lot tiles which is considered "out of bounds" by the Buy Mode (streets included) if that makes sense? Then the only thing that looks slightly out of place is the asphalt driveway, inherently present on this lot since the beginning and, yeah, make us to wonder also "could we drive in-game". Let us know if you want to learn how to access and make this lot minimally functional to you :-)
♦
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
#22
2nd Feb 2019 at 5:58 PM
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Posts: 71
I think House00 was either (1) a lot the developers used to test which was not meant to be used in the final game or (2) a 'reserved' lot number that they could give sims who were not yet moved into a lot. The game tries hard to cope with missing and corrupted files so I think it's just generating the lot from some kind of generic template, possibly not even explicitly for that lot number. It's also possible that they included it just as a failsafe in case somehow the player loaded it, or possibly it is used as an 'error' lot if a sim's house number can't be read. The games has a LOT of ways it tries to cope with things fairly intelligently.
I will say I read most of the posts but sometimes my brain is just like... OK let's explain it this way. I admit I didn't have time to check everything, though. My bad.
Also I will say that every lot has a thumbnail generated when you save the lot. If a lot's thumbnail is corrupt, missing or invalid the game will generate a new one when it is needed. For this reason no lots should have issues on the neighborhood screen. Also I will say that I think which tiles are used in the thumbnail (and for the lot outline-- some lots have "holes" in them!) is based on which tiles are editable. This can be changed with the map_edit cheat.
I that that cars were something I read they thought about but ultimately scrapped because without anywhere to drive to (well, only work) there wasn't much point to them. The base game was balanced around the idea sims never really left the lot. I think they revisited the idea of cars for hot date, but I can't recall if they said why they didn't really take the time with them. Or it is possible that carpools could idle in the driveway or service NPCs could drive onto the lot and park (similar to sims 2) and could make use of a driveway.
Or perhaps it was for decoration to go with the basketball hoop. We may never know.
I will say I read most of the posts but sometimes my brain is just like... OK let's explain it this way. I admit I didn't have time to check everything, though. My bad.
Also I will say that every lot has a thumbnail generated when you save the lot. If a lot's thumbnail is corrupt, missing or invalid the game will generate a new one when it is needed. For this reason no lots should have issues on the neighborhood screen. Also I will say that I think which tiles are used in the thumbnail (and for the lot outline-- some lots have "holes" in them!) is based on which tiles are editable. This can be changed with the map_edit cheat.
I that that cars were something I read they thought about but ultimately scrapped because without anywhere to drive to (well, only work) there wasn't much point to them. The base game was balanced around the idea sims never really left the lot. I think they revisited the idea of cars for hot date, but I can't recall if they said why they didn't really take the time with them. Or it is possible that carpools could idle in the driveway or service NPCs could drive onto the lot and park (similar to sims 2) and could make use of a driveway.
Or perhaps it was for decoration to go with the basketball hoop. We may never know.
#23
2nd Feb 2019 at 7:53 PM
Last edited by LUCPIX : 2nd Feb 2019 at 8:28 PM.
![Old](/static/images/buttons/buttons-rro/images/statusicon/post_old.gif)
Posts: 158
Bridging the topic, why don't we come and try and abuse of some of the mentioned might from the engine to automatically generate lot's thumbnails, faithfully based on somebody's >very latest< experience with an X household:
![](https://i.imgur.com/09vgGzf.jpg)
- Running the executable with the shortcut suffix "-nodx6" is a B Plan-esque way of making the game to run, advised for the old-school computers whose most recent drivers are powered by DirectX 5, which was already showing its age when TS was born! A potentially effective medicine against lack of compatibility. However, there's a price! Players are pre-warned by the READ-ME file: The game won't be able to draw roofs - and this is how they look like in-game, even when the mouse cursor is hovering something else other than the lot in question
![](https://i.imgur.com/lxX8o2Y.gif)
- We have at our disposal a series of cheat codes that demands the engine not to draw any pieces of floor/walls/objects/props/characters/terrain/etc; If you desire going wild, we can ask it to do all of it AT ONCE! In this case, all we're ever seeing is a bit of the latest drawn frame, stationary, the source of patterns drawn with as your camera pans...
![](https://i.imgur.com/ZnGajsi.png)
...Yet, a thumbnail will it try
![](https://i.imgur.com/ObKfAJt.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/oMfXtb5.jpg)
- This time, with only the walls asked to be unseen
![](https://i.imgur.com/U4jj7V9.jpg)
- The told "map_edit" tool doodles a new tile arrangement to make it obvious to us which ones of the floors, among the lot's area, are claimed as boundary and, if we save the game with map_edit turned ON, its tiles are clearly seen from the bird-eye-vision screen
![](https://i.imgur.com/LF62DAU.gif)
- Justly because the lot's streets are by default set as boundary (therefore invisible in the NHOOD screen), we don't see the cabs/buses at the street in case we happen to save the game at a precise point where a vehicle is honking! Everything changes in case we switch its position to an area of the house that is supposed to be visible by us (See the bus at the second-story's Earth Teleporter??)
![](https://i.imgur.com/j35hHmN.png)
As though its intended "creativity-friendly-factor" wasn't enough, we are gladly and minimally allowed to switch some of its deepest functions, with some minor issues, depending on how deep you fancy digging! Mainly due to the fact the engine does not adopt a "this information isn't known; therefore it isn't real" philosophy, for most of the things we're ever doing to the game, there's going to be witnessed an attempt from the program to digest the new, strange information and to display it in the best way it can do (And, if it cannot help us, it'll prefer not to show it and "moving on", other than making the exe to close! At least based on personal experiences, and with exceptions because, hey, that's life). I bet you, reader and Sims 1 player, once have inserted one of your favorite mp3 at a certain folder to make it the soundtrack of your SimLane's radio station. Same rules apply!
![](https://i.imgur.com/09vgGzf.jpg)
- Running the executable with the shortcut suffix "-nodx6" is a B Plan-esque way of making the game to run, advised for the old-school computers whose most recent drivers are powered by DirectX 5, which was already showing its age when TS was born! A potentially effective medicine against lack of compatibility. However, there's a price! Players are pre-warned by the READ-ME file: The game won't be able to draw roofs - and this is how they look like in-game, even when the mouse cursor is hovering something else other than the lot in question
![](https://i.imgur.com/lxX8o2Y.gif)
- We have at our disposal a series of cheat codes that demands the engine not to draw any pieces of floor/walls/objects/props/characters/terrain/etc; If you desire going wild, we can ask it to do all of it AT ONCE! In this case, all we're ever seeing is a bit of the latest drawn frame, stationary, the source of patterns drawn with as your camera pans...
![](https://i.imgur.com/ZnGajsi.png)
...Yet, a thumbnail will it try
![](https://i.imgur.com/ObKfAJt.gif)
![](https://i.imgur.com/oMfXtb5.jpg)
- This time, with only the walls asked to be unseen
![](https://i.imgur.com/U4jj7V9.jpg)
- The told "map_edit" tool doodles a new tile arrangement to make it obvious to us which ones of the floors, among the lot's area, are claimed as boundary and, if we save the game with map_edit turned ON, its tiles are clearly seen from the bird-eye-vision screen
![](https://i.imgur.com/LF62DAU.gif)
- Justly because the lot's streets are by default set as boundary (therefore invisible in the NHOOD screen), we don't see the cabs/buses at the street in case we happen to save the game at a precise point where a vehicle is honking! Everything changes in case we switch its position to an area of the house that is supposed to be visible by us (See the bus at the second-story's Earth Teleporter??)
![](https://i.imgur.com/j35hHmN.png)
As though its intended "creativity-friendly-factor" wasn't enough, we are gladly and minimally allowed to switch some of its deepest functions, with some minor issues, depending on how deep you fancy digging! Mainly due to the fact the engine does not adopt a "this information isn't known; therefore it isn't real" philosophy, for most of the things we're ever doing to the game, there's going to be witnessed an attempt from the program to digest the new, strange information and to display it in the best way it can do (And, if it cannot help us, it'll prefer not to show it and "moving on", other than making the exe to close! At least based on personal experiences, and with exceptions because, hey, that's life). I bet you, reader and Sims 1 player, once have inserted one of your favorite mp3 at a certain folder to make it the soundtrack of your SimLane's radio station. Same rules apply!
♦
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
lixcpu@gmail.com
☺
#24
3rd Feb 2019 at 6:56 AM
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Posts: 71
The base game launched with windows 95 support but more interestingly-- and you probably know this already-- the game tracks a full* real world calendar which begins in 1997 by default on most lots. Direct x 5 was released in 1997. Spooky!
*there's some quirks but shh
*there's some quirks but shh
#25
5th Feb 2019 at 1:53 AM
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Posts: 3,360
Thanks: 298 in 4 Posts
A calendar isn't that much of a surprise. The Sims 1 followed in the footsteps of SimCity when it came to many of the design decisions. The Sims 1 feels the most connected to the SimCity universe, and more specifically SimCity 3000. Which I always loved about how The Sims 1 actually feels like you're controlling the same Sims that would live in SimCity. The other Sims games haven't been connected directly to SimCity. Sure they've mentioned SimCity 100 times over, but the Sims in later games don't feel like the same Sims that would live in a SimCity 4 or SimCity 2013 city.
Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry
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