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The Sims ~ Did You Know? FAQ ver.1.0
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author : Hafiz Rahman
e-mail : kuadrantiga@yahoo.com
first started : 20 January 2003
last updated : 08 February 2003
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0. Introduction
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Uh, hi. I know most of you might have seen some Did You Know? (DYK?) FAQs in
GameFAQs, like some of Lunar and other at Pop 'n Music (or something). This,
unfortunately, has nothing to do with me nitpicking hard-to-notice stuff from
the game, The Sims. In fact, all I provide here is just the list of the little
EasterEgg found in the game, the Did You Know? window that tells you a little
story about the folks behind the game.
There's no real reason why I decided to assemble them up, but I do love it
when I get to know more about the behind-the-scene of gaming. This, hopefully,
will aid you guys who have the same interest as I do. The sort of you guys
WHO find it easier to read from a FAQ than finding it on your own, I guess.
There's no copyright here either, I only put up facts of the game, and as it
is said, facts cannot be copyrighted. Euh. So if you want to slap this up on
your page or whatever, do it as you wish. Thanks.
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1. The one and only meat of the FAQ
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1.1. How to unlock the Did You Know? window
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First and foremost, you have to play the game in a family through 100 Simdays
and more. If you have a neighborhood with several families, you DO NOT NEED
to have all of them playing 100 days, just have a single family and it will
do. The window, of course, will only be available for the family with 100 days
(i.e. while the others who haven't reach it won't). Not that it matters for
you, right?
Now the next part is to find it. DUH. First thing first. Exactly at the 100th
day, you will get this question icon on the very upper-right corner of your
screen (i.e. the one that used to be QuickTips and such). There will be a
message from the Maxis folks, and you'll be prompted to decide whether to
accept the Did You Know? window or not. You, obviously, will want to accept.
You can have the text here, but not pictures.
Now for the Did You Know? Window. It also appears as the Question mark icon on
the upper-right corner of your screen by 10 AM every morning. If you missed a
day, it will keep the unlocked information (i.e. it won't skip to the next
person in the list). But just in case, you might want to keep an eye everytime
you're playing.
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1.2. The List
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1.2.0. Did You Know?
Congratulations! This house has been running for 100 days! You must
really like this game. We are glad since we do too. If you like the
game this much then you must be interested in knowing how it was made.
Each day you continue to keep this family going a new "Did You Know?"
box will appear until you know all about us.. If you are not
interested then click "Don't Show This Again" but come on you want to
know... you know you do!
-OK- -Don't Show-
1.2.1. Will Wright - Game Designer
Will first thought of "The Sims" shortly after the original SimCity.
It took this long for technology to catch up with Will's vision. In
Maxis Offices we have a mock-up design for the original idea of the
Sims. Though the technology is far more advanced, the actual game does
not vary much from this prototype. Will makes wicked excel sheets, and
likes to zip around the Maxis offices on a bright red electric scooter.
Fun Fact:
Will purchased a couple of real pink flamingo lawn ornaments for the
team so we could properly model both the complex 3D shape of the birds
and the physics and emotional algorithms needed for kicking them.
Image Description:
Showing Will Wright (presumably in a thinking stance) in a Japanese
room (wallpaper and flooring) with computer, train set, recliner, VR
set and some decoration which name I fail to remember.
1.2.2. Kana Ryan - Producer
Kana was the glue that held the Sims project together and moved things
forward. Rarely seen without a Diet Coke (r) in hand, Kana is also
known for her "Saga of Kana" which was a test house she used to mark
progress in the game and to find the remaining bugs. It is rumored that
Kana gained her production skills testing IBM workstation software in a
previous life.
Fun Fact:
The wedding picture the Sims paint on the easel is her wedding picture.
Image Description:
Showing Kana Ryan, painting (her Creativity bar is slighty filled)
in a room with decorative plant and the boombox.
1.2.3. Jeff Charvat - Development Director
Came to us late in the project to lead the programmers to Alpha and
Final. He inherited our somewhat brutal schedule as well as our
notorious game database. Likes to assign bugs with a smile. Jeff and
Claire worked on another non-Maxis game together long ago, but would
not let us print the title here for some reason.
Fun Fact:
At E3 we showed off our first career suit, an astronaut suit. Shortly
thereafter we stole Jeff from the "SimMars" team. By the end of the
project we had also, um, borrowed a programmer and two artists from
"SimMars". A little SimForeshadowing?
Image Description:
Jeff Charvat is pointing his arm to the TV he's currently watching,
in a room where there also lies a PC, floor lamp and a painting is
on the wall.
1.2.4. Charles London - Art Director
Charles led an ever growing art team that began with just him and grew
to three artists, three animators, and a contracted company. He is
responsible for designing and drawing the game's interface as well as
the whole look of "The Sims". Charles is worshipped by some for his
work on PC classics such as Panzer General and Allied General. We love
him because he brings us chocolate marbled bread from his favorite
deli.
Fun Fact:
How many interfaces has "The Sims" had? Even we don't know. As we tried
to achieve both graphically outstanding AND functional interface, many
were tried. Each time a new feature was added, Charles had to redesign
the interface.
Image Description:
Charles London is sitting, gazing at some sort of mini-screen
displaying The Sims game interface (i.e. the thing he himself created).
1.2.5. James (Jamie) Doornbos - Programmer
Besides writing the majority of the actual game code, Jamie wrote the
"tree" language that is used to code the objects in "The Sims". Because
this "tree" code resides in the actual objects and the Sims run the
code from the objects, the game is incredibly expandable. This is why
you can just drop objects into the game from the Web or create them in
HomeMaster. A.K.A. "Jamers."
Fun Fact:
Jamie originally was the only tree programmer as well as the game
programmer. It took four objects programmers to complete the objects
shipped with "The Sims." Some of Jamie's original objects still exist
in the game such as the Pool Table and the Fire.
Image Description:
Some sort of programming software showing the game's "tree" code (too
little to read, though), while the mini-screen at the corner shows
Jamie, apparently doing a little work-out.
1.2.6. Patrick Buechner - Director of Marketing
Patrick is responsible for getting us all that early press. We were
really impressed when he got "The Sims" in U.S. News & World Report.
Little did we know that it was just the beginning of all the press we
would get thanks to him. He was largely responsible for keeping the
momentum and excitement going.
Fun Fact:
Patrick can usually be found watching Will Wright demonstrate the game
to various reporters and reviewers.
Image Description:
Patrick is playing games in a room with the paper, another garbage
newspaper on the floor, the Tragic Clown painting and an alarm clock.
1.2.7. Chris Trottier - Associate Producer
Chris has done a little of almost everything on "The Sims." Most
notably heading the tuning team to get us from Alpha fo Final. Though
not exactly her job, she is also known as the best bug hunter in the
game. Very few people in the team know the entire game as well as she
does. We call her "The Database Goddess."
Fun Fact:
"The Sims" wasn't always the title. At various times the game was known
as "Project X," The Dollhouse Simulator," "Tactical Domestic
Simulator," and others. The meeting room for "The Sims" team at Maxis
is called "The Doll House".
Image Description:
She is playing with the dollhouse, with cans of beans lying on the
floor, along with the toybox and aquarium.
1.2.8. Luc Barthelet - General Manager of Maxis
Luc believed in the game through its development when even some of the
team members questioned it. Luc built most of the early support for the
game by establishing "The Sims Neighborhood Watch." Luc is a card
carrying member of the Fancy French Shirt Society.
Fun Fact:
Luc would stop by each team member's work area and ask "What's new and
cool?" each day. This one-on-one interaction made each team member feel
important to the entire project.
Image Description:
Luc is playing with the VR set, in some sort of office room with PC
and that expensive floor lamp. A fountain is shown outside, through
the window.
1.2.9. Patrick J. Barrett III - Object programmer
Patrick is responsible for the majority of the object programming.
Between Patrick pushing the "tree" programming to its limits and Jamie
increasing the strength of the "tree" programming language, all the
game play takes place. Patrick's first game was made in 1982, but he
won't say how many years he has been in the industry.
Fun Fact:
Eating was a lonely experience in "The Sims" and used to look funny.
Patrick was told that was how it had to be with the constraints of the
sim. He found this unacceptable and made it so the Sims place their
plates in front of them, pull in their chairs, and can talk to each
other while eating. The designers when crazy with this using it as an
example to make the interactions more rewarding..
Image Description:
Shown working on the computer, with newspaper, a desk phone and opened
chocolate box nearby. It appears that the PC is broken is on repair...
1.2.10. Eric "BoBo" Bowman - Programmer
Eric was the graphics guru on "The Sims." In charge of the graphical
system programming, he made everything you see possible. Though maybe
not a great programming achievement in code, one of his best effects is
the fading roof on the neighborhood screen. The roofs fade away so you
can see inside the houses. By the way, besides coding the fading roofs,
he also came up with the idea. He is famous on the team for "Wouldn't
it be really neat if.... Now what if I told you it is already done."
Fun Fact:
People run up to him on the street and offer him wads of cash for his
stylin' Datsun 280Z.
Image Description:
The Neighborhood screen, with a mini-screen showing the fading roof
and another with Eric in the Hot Tub.
1.2.11. Don Hopkins - Programmer
Don wrote the animation engine in the game. His code is what makes the
Sims look so lifelike when running hundreds of animations. Don also
ported the editor for the "tree" programming from the Mac to Windows.
Fun Fact:
Sean said that Don reminded him of Santa Claus. Don has been known to
dance horizontally on the floor with his shirt stuffed with hot air
balloons. It is rumored he used to work at Sun Microsystems on some
super secret project.
Image Description:
Simply shown reading, sitting on the green sofa near the kiddie end
table with a table lamp on it.
1.2.12. Trevor Perrin - Object Programmer
Trevor came to us near the end of the project. Without him many of the
last coded objects would have been cut from the game such as the
Basketball Court. He also adopted the Installer to "The Sims".
Fun Fact:
Some of his objects were reassigned to Patrick so that Trevor could
work on the installation. Instead, Trevor stayed until late at night to
work on them.
Image Description:
Shown playing basketball outside, with a pale-green mood crystal over
the head.
1.2.13. Alex Zvenigorodsky - Programmer
Stolen from "SimMars," Alex came to us first to help with some object
programming then wrote the file system used in "The Sims" to combine
all the files into single files. He also wrote "SLANG" the tool used to
translate "The Sims" into the many languages it ships with.
Fun Fact:
While on the "SimMars" team, Alex helped Jami Becker make the chess
table so that it uses real moves. When the Sims play chess against one
another they actually play different stages of a real game.
Image Description:
Simply playing chess against himself.
1.2.14. Robi Kauker & Kent Jolly - Sound Engineers
They are responsible for the sound effects and voices in "The Sims".
You can thank these two for the hilarious TV channels and commercials.
Unfortunately, we had to cut "VOX_choke_heimlich" and "VOX_throwup"
sounds from the game. Maybe that was fortunate actually...
Fun Fact:
The singer of some of the "Rock" songs claims, "I sing nonsense words
anyway...so it wasn't that hard to sing Sims lyrics." Some of the
country music on the stereo was from "Streets of SimCity" but has been
remastered to sound more Sims like.
Image Description:
Two computers, two different audio sets, somebody is playing the piano
while the other is apparently dancing (can't really tell who's who).
1.2.15. Eric "Chin" Chin - Graphic Artist
Eric made all the people in the game and their clothing. He also made
the mock-up of the neighborhood screen as well as numerous art works
for magazines showcasing "The Sims." Only Eric knows what a naked Sim
looks like. Some of us prefer it that way.
Fun Fact:
All told we had three Eric's on the team. Hence, each also had a
nickname so we could tell them apart.
Image Description:
A quick snapshot seconds before the guy change clothes.
1.2.16. Eric "Irk" Hedman - Animator
Yet another Eric. This Eric made a large portion of our animations
which give the Sims their realistic look and emotion. A snappy dresser
and Swing dance aficionado, he also displays a keen interest in
inflatable office furniture and wrestling masks. Don't ask him about
video games starring sloths.
Fun Fact:
When one of our programmers was hired, he thought all our animations
were motion captured due to the high quality. As it turns out, we tried
that and it didn't look as good as Eric's!
Image Description:
Euh, brushing teeth?
1.2.17. Jami Becker - Artist
Jami produced a large portion of the object graphics. Some of her work
includes the aquarium and the animated phones. She also produced the
infamous "SimSafari" Zebra Couch that, despite what Will may claim, is
not the zebra from SimSafari. Actually, no SimCreatures were injured or
hurt while making "The Sims."
Fun Fact:
Though spelled differently Jamie and Jami sound alike. This caused
Patrick who had to work with both to call them "Programmer Jamie" and
"Graphic Jami."
Image Description:
Jami is apparently feeding the fish in the aquarium.
1.2.18. Michael "Mike" Lawson - Product Analyst
Mike is a man of all trades. He worked on testing, tuning, maintained
the test neighborhoods, mnned the SimWatch web cam, and more numerous
tasks that can be named. Mike claims he is a "survivor" of the Streets
of Sim City testing process. He is also the youngest member of the
team.
Fun Fact:
His band performed the music in the Electronic Arts game "MotoRacer 2."
Image Description:
Mike is playing with the VR set.
1.2.19. Melissa Bachman-Wood - Assistant Producer
Melissa was instrumental in specifying how the objects in the game
would look and leading the massive testing effort, often commuting 100+
miles a day between Maxis and EA. Melissa proudly displays a sign
reading, "I wasn't hired for my demeanor." above her desk.
Fun Fact:
Every object in the game was a group effort requiring an object
designer, an object programmer, an animation artist, an object artist,
a writer, a sound designer and a sound programmer. Oh, and lots of
testers.
Image Description:
Melissa is shown taking quick nap on the recliner.
1.2.20. Tim LeTourneau - Associate Producer & Chris Baena - Assistant Producer
Tim and Chris came on board to handle the localization of "The Sims"
into many languages and to help with the development and testing of
our free SimShow and HomeMaster tools. Both started in testing and
Customer Support at EA. Chris is still the only Maxis employee with a
a handlebar mustache.
Fun Fact:
Though the catalog text was written by Sean and the other text by Roxy,
Tim had to adjust the language of the text as well as maintain the text
database for the entire game. This help system you are reading now was
added just two weeks before the deadline for localizations and contains
almost a third of the text in the game! Now maybe Tim will be able to
go home at night. Maybe...
Image Description:
Both are having a game of chess, Chris takes it as a social interaction
while Tim is getting his Logic bar filled.
1.2.21. Sean Baity - Assistant Producer
Chief of the SimWatch, Sean also was in charge of the sound effects and
catalog text in the game. It is amazing that Sean and Claire can still
hear anymore after hours upon hours of listening to all the sounds in
the game and verifying that they worked. Sean was a lead tester at EA
for three years at EA before coming to Maxis.
Fun Fact:
Leading the SimWatch group also required Sean to come up with new
weekly downloadables from our Web Site including a Desktop Theme,
Chatter Box and the Mini Aquarium.
Image Description:
In the same sort of stance with Will Wright, Sean is standing in the
middle of a real messy room with broken PC, dirty aquarium, junks,
dead plants, a gift cake on the floor. There's also another PC and
a glimpse of audio set nearby.
1.2.22. Paul Wilkinson - Programmer
Paul is responsible for the Sound System used in the Sims. Sims say
different things depending on their age, sex, mood and skill. That is
all Paul. You may have heard his work in a little game called SimCity
3000. Paul started at Distinctive Software before it became EA Canada.
Even though he is Canadian, we still enjoy working with him.
Fun Fact:
Paul ends his email with the note "PEACE OUT"
Image Description:
Paul is shown repairing the computer, while a boombox, desk phone,
lamps, decor plants and the Tragic Clown painting are found around.
1.2.23. Roxy Wolosenko - Designer
Roxy was one of three designers on the game along with Claire and Will.
She wrote all the dialogs on the phone as well as the catalog
descriptions used in Build Mode. It was her idea to have social
interactions in the game.
Fun Fact:
Roxy was a producer on Maxis children's software before working on the
Sims.
Image Description:
Roxy in a little gardening session.
1.2.24. Claire Curtain - Designer
Though a majority of the design of the game came from Will Wright, Roxy
and Claire picked up the other tasks such as documenting the design.
Claire found the voice actors and directed recording sessions. Claire
also specified every sound in the game and there are a lot of them!
Together with Sean she made sure "The Sims" has a lot of sound in very
interesting places.
Fun Fact:
Claire is also from the former Kids Group working on titles such as
SimTown.
Image Description:
Claire is sitting in a room with an audio set.
1.2.25. Bob King - Animator & B.J. West - Graphic Artist
Another couple of Martians we abducted. Bob and B.J. helped with the
nearly impossible task of getting every animation and object done in
time and on schedule. The Sims team had originally hoped to include
100 objects with the game. With the help of others such as B.J. we were
able to ship with over 200. Bob is still the only Maxis employee with a
Delorean.
Fun Fact:
"The Sims" has over 1,400 animations.
Image Description:
Truth be told, the artists are in a messy room with rotten pizza,
the easel and again, someone's is playing with the computer and a
skill bar is shown...while the other is simply applausing the guy with
the computer.
1.2.26. The Sims Testing Team
Guided by Jamil, Gabe and Etienne, finding well over 4,000 bugs was the
job of this intrepid team. (Only a minimum of duplicates) Working under
the motto "(Quis simulatiet ipsos simulates?)" they made sure to find
as many problems as possible, so you wouldn't have to.
Fun Fact:
The Sims has had 20 different full-time testers since the first build
back in July. As with any game, "The Sims" would not be here without
their hard work.
Image Description:
The most obvious image you could get from full-time testers; a room
filled with computers, some people are in heavy need of rest while
somebody is extremely lying on the floor, apparently due to the empty
energy bar.
1.2.27. Jim Mackraz - Former Development Director
Jim left us shortly after E3 to join an Internet start-up. Jim affected
the game in too many ways to mention.
Fun Fact:
The Foosball table in the Maxis Multi-Purpose Room is named in memory
of Jim. It is rumored when you walk by that you can still hear him
playing, but usually it is just Paul and the sound team.
Image Description:
Jim is inside the Hot Tub with two other neighbors, talking to each
other.
1.2.28 (a.k.a. Worthless Junk)
Hafiz Rahman - FAQ Author
This DYK? does not appear in the game, duh, this is just your author
taking the little time to basically embarass himself in front of the
public.
Fun Fact:
He actually PrintScreen every single DYK? window and then converted
them into GIF images so it can be easier for him to work on the FAQ.
No further information known about since when he has been doing
worthless stuff like that.
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2. Credits
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Allah SWT, for everything.
CJayC, for hopefully posting this up. Or, for posting this up if he really do
(which he should already did, if you actually read THIS).
Dan Simpson, the author of The Sims FAQ, from which I found the whereabouts of
the Did You Know? feature, and for only listing Will Wright's DYK? so I have a
chance to assemble the rest.
Thanks to The Sims, for literally teaching me how to manage time.
Finally, thanks to Do As Infinity, for Oasis and some others.
