Ok, I did the math and I do not like it… I have been a Simmer for over 20 years… Yeah, you read that right… 20 years. So how did I become a Simmer? And how on earth did I stay interested in a game series this long? Like really how is this possible?
I absolutely love Sims and have for a very long time. Like original game long.. yea Sims 1. I have enjoyed each rendition of the game and am looking forward to the next generation of Sims. Although I rarely play the actual gameplay of Sims 4, I did play quite a bit of gameplay in previous generations of Sims. So here we go starting from the beginning…
Sims 1
A long time ago in the year 2000, I received the Sims 1 for a Christmas present from a boyfriend in school… Little did I know here that this thoughtful gift would develop in a 20 year gaming adventure. Oh… That sounds terrifying, playing The Sims for over 20 years. What! Wow! Ok, so moving on in the beginning I played my Simself and actually played the game. My friends would come over and make their Sims and then I would find various ways to kill them out of my house. I kept my Simself single and alone and enjoyed my friend’s Sims ‘disappearing mysteriously’ in pools with no ladders…
Sims 2
Fast forward to 2004 and we then jump into the Sims 2. Keep in mind in 2004 World of Warcraft came out… so my time was split between the two games. However… I worked from home and definitely played video games as I worked. *cough Well… Uhm obviously the game of choice during work hours was the Sims 2 as playing WoW and working would be out of the question. So I essentially spent 40 hours a week playing the Sims. In my defense, Sims can in a way play themselves, so generally, I made the Sims and watched the chaos unfold like a soap opera.
My favorite pack of this generation was easily University, my brother, friends, and parents fueled my Simming addiction by buying packs for all holidays. During this rendition, it was just not a holiday without something Sim-related as a gift. At this point in time, I was playing very similar as in Sims 1 and now into growing generations of Sims. I had a family with 15+ generations at some point. I also started lurking on forums at this point and watching other Simmers converse. And of course, downloading CC and discovering The Sims Resource for the first time… causing me to become completely addicted to CC.
Sims 3
Ah yes Sims 3, this is where things got a little busy… Sims 3 came out in 2009 and you know who jumped right on into buying it. Oh yes… that is right ME! Now at this point, I also joined the forums and got involved in the modeling community and competed in contests and… joined a couple Sim Fan Magazine teams. Eventually, I landed on the Magazine team Sensation with Beach and Bliss. Sensation ran from 2011 to 2015. It was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed being active in the Sims community.
At this point, I also stopped ‘playing’ the game… and dove into Create A Sim head first. With modeling competitions and magazines as the focus of my Sims play time, I rarely even bothered to actually play the game. I had ALL the packs and didn’t even play them. Whoops (LOL)
Sims 4
In 2014 The Sims 4 came out and you guessed it I was ready to download it! At first, I loved Sims 4 more than Sims 3, for the updated graphics. I immediately jumped into the Sims 4 competitions and magazine scene. At this point, I knew all about the wonders of CC and refused to play without it. Eventually, I ended up on competitions on Twitter where I met most of The Resource Team and one thing led to another and I ended up here at The Sims Resource, furthering my CC addiction.
So funny thing at this point in my Simming history, I had never really built a lot. I know, I know… how can you play a game for 20 years and completely skip a large portion of the game… well It can be done LOL. The good news is I now have started with some help and it is going pretty well and I am actually enjoying it!
Why the Sims?
So if you all have not noticed one of my favorite things to do in a game is take screenshots. Ok, great so why is this relevant to Sims… well… in The Sims, I get to be a little photographer and set design, model, and style the Sims for the perfect picture. For me, this is so much fun and I absolutely love it. I will say that without pose player this becomes 100x more difficult, however, I have been known to take good screens without it.
Aside from taking photos I really enjoy making Sims. I would love to have more time to upload them here on The Sims Resource, but with life, family, work, friends, and home renovations, I have very little time left. So why the Sims? Because there are so many options to pick from! You can actually play the game, make houses, make Sims, decorate, try out some challenges, make a story, or take screenshots. Of course, you can also do a little bit of everything, the sky is the limit.
*Disclaimer Jezi is ancient*
Keep up with more Sims stuff and what I’m up to at @TSR Jezi