Real Life Makes For Real Fun in Game Line

 

Interview
with Patrick Buechner at Maxis on 
The
Sims

 

Real
Life Makes For Real Fun in Game Line

By
Michael Lafferty

 

Civics
class or social studies: It didn’t matter what the class was called, it all
amounted to the same thing – the study of how civilizations work. It seems
logical that when the computer industry reached a point that made PCs
affordable, and games became a rapid-growth industry, that someone would come
up with a program that mirrored civilization classes.

 

In
1987, Will Wright introduced the first SimCity
game, which was the founding father or cornerstone of the god-game genre. In
the dozen years since, Sim games have sold more than 8 million copies
worldwide. SimCity leads the attack, but The
Sims
, the latest release from Maxis (which is owned by Electronic
Arts), has dominated the sales for the past three months, and is the
fastest-selling Sim game ever.

 

But
what is behind this remarkable line of games? Patrick Buechner, a media
relations specialist at Maxis, took time to look at the phenomenon, and answer
a few questions. For example, how long does it take to develop a Sims game,
or, in particular, a game like The Sims.

 

"Will
has actually been working on The Sims for seven years," Buechner said.
"It started out of his interest in architecture. The game was first about
designing compelling homes. But as the design continued, he decided to add
people to "score" the architecture.  Eventually the people took
over the game, but you can still see the strong architectural component. For
several years it was an experiment of sorts. But once Electronic Arts acquired
Maxis, they saw the game’s potential and started putting resources to it. The
look of the game went through about three iterations alone before arriving at
the current style."

 

But
why are these games so enthusiastically embraced? Buechner has an idea, and it
is a rather simple one.

 

"The
subject matter is compelling because it is real-life," he said.
"Everybody can connect with it. SimCity has been popular, in part,
because everyone has an idea of how a city works or could work better. It’s
the same with The Sims."

 

Like
any game that has a solid fan base, the Sim line has drawn a loyal on-line
group of supporters. In fact, the game uses its on-line sites to expand the
game, hold contests, provide downloads to enhance each program. According to
Buechner, these options were all part of the game design.

 

"Giving
players the tools to truly customize their games not only benefits those
users, but the thousands of users who can access that content," Buechner
said. "Right now there are dozens of Sims fan sites that host hundreds of
Sim costumes for The Sims. In addition, we’ve built tools into the game to
allow players to create stories with The Sims. And we’ve created TheSims.com,
the center of The Sims community, where players can download new accessories
for the game or houses and families that other players created."

 

So
what has been the biggest challenge in creating these programs?

 

"Giving
the impression that the game environments are alive is one of the strongest
points of the game," Buechner said. "And Sim games are intensely
open-ended, which means that players can direct their own action rather than
having it dictated by the software or game designer."

 

Now
back to the school element. It seemed only natural that using the multi-media
capabilities of the PC would enable schools to use these games to bring civics
classes to vibrant life. And that is the case.

 

"Thousands
of schools have used Sim games," Buechner said. "And each year there
is a national city building contest which uses SimCity. The National Engineers
Week Future City Competition draws hundreds of students from 15 major metro
areas around the country."

 

And
what lies ahead in the kingdom of the Sims?

 

"Up
next is an expansion pack for The Sims and SimCity
3000 Unlimited
," Buechner said. "SimCity 3000 Unlimited is
the ultimate version of SimCity. Tons of new disasters, buildings, scenarios,
and much more. And of course we’re working on a bunch of other new Sim
games."