Line #10 YMMV/TheSims1


1	This YMMV page is for the first game in the series.
2	* For the series as a whole, [[YMMV/TheSims click here]].
3	* For the second game, [[YMMV/TheSims2 click here]].
4	* For the third game, [[YMMV/TheSims3 click here]].
5	* For the fourth game, [[YMMV/TheSims4 click here]].
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8	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Back on its first release, jokes were made about the "immense" quantity of Expansion Packs released for it (mind you, games were mainly given just one or two Expansion Packs with more missions or scenarios; real changes would normally come in a sequel). ''The Sims'' had just seven Expansion Packs. Fast forward to the early 2020s, its fourth sequel has ''40-plus'' add-ons ''and counting'', which has spawn a BrokenBase among its fans.
9	** Expansion Packs were sometimes seen as a [[IronicEcho cash-grabby strategy to make profit of a best-selling game without really adding that much]]. The same criticism would be made of subsequent sequels while, ironically, the EP of this one are generally well-regarded and even considered masterpieces on its own (''The Sims 2'' and ''3'' received the exact same complaints and the exact same retrospective reception. [[{{Sequelitis}} ''The Sims 4'', on the other hand...]]).
10	** Critics really made a point of contention the fact that Expansion Packs didn't provide any graphical improvements over the base game. This would become the norm for each subsequent game--though ''The Sims 3'' ''did'' have complex environmental and character effects implemented over its run.
11	** For the [=PCs=] of its era, the game tended to be really taxing on [=GPUs=] and on hard disk (it weighed almost 1 [=GB=] with every expansion pack installed, plus savegames and the content the player would create or download--in early 2000s computers, which meant [[TechnologyMarchesOn almost ''half a hard disk'']]). Each of its successors would take advantage of the higher-end computers of their respective years... except ''The Sims 4'', which tried to address this criticism. It should be noted that, by the middle of its run, [=TS4=] also would became hard for disks to handle, with approximately ''20 GB'' on patches even if a player just wants to play the base game.
12	* FairForItsDay: The lack of gay marriage can stand out as rather homophobic for modern players, especially those familiar with later games. However, given that this was one of the first games at all to treat gay relationships as normal, and that having gay relationships at all was effectively a case of ThrowItIn, it's pretty forgivable.
13	* GameBreaker:
14	** The "Concoctanation Station" chemistry set included in ''Livin' Large'' counts, [[LuckBasedMission with enough luck]]. The blue potion, which is the most common one, increases three random needs to the maximum amount, meaning you can somewhat consistently increase your Sim's Logic stat indefinitely. The yellow potion inverts the personality points, which can be used to create a "perfect" Sim by creating one with zero personality points and having them drink the potion. The red potion, which makes the drinker fall in love with his worst enemy, can be used to obtain easy friends for job promotions. Even the purple potion can be abused with some planning ahead: place the chemistry table within an enclosed room full of painting easels, brew a purple potion, and watch as the monster diligently paints a complete picture on every easel. After they're finished, they'll turn back to normal due to not being able to reach any of your breakable objects, and can then sell all the paintings for loads of Simoleons. The other potions are either useless or harmful, but it's just a matter of not drinking them and swapping out the table with a new one from the Buy catalog.
15	** A fairly popular trick is to create a child character, fill in all the info, then age them to adults within Create-A-Sim, which gives Sims created this way a random amount of skill points instead of the usual zero points, all without cheats or mods.
16	*** If one is willing to invest the time into it, they can max out all of Bob&Betty Newbie's skills during the tutorial since their needs will not decay until a certain point in the tutorial is reached.
17	** The Hot Tub - it fulfills Hygiene, Comfort, fun, and if there is someone else, Social. All with one item.
18	* GenreTurningPoint: It massively expanded the definition of what a video game could be, pioneering both the LifeSimulationGame and the CasualVideoGame by stripping out combat, puzzles, and even victory conditions, instead offering players a pure sandbox to create their own worlds and stories. While Will Wright and his team at Maxis had been making games like this ever since ''VideoGame/SimCity'', ''The Sims'' was where this style became a mainstream phenomenon.
19	* GoodBadBugs: If ''Makin' Magic'' is installed, there is a bug that causes the Obsessed Fan to go from a constant nuisance to nearly harmless. He will only visit residential lots for a short time before leaving, and will no longer steal award items due to this.
20	* HarsherInHindsight: You can make Michael Bachelor and Bella Goth marry and have children with each other. The next game reveals that they're siblings.
21	* ParanoiaFuel: In an unpatched game, Sims may may spontaneously combust all by themselves without warning (even moreso for the earlier version where they may suddenly start to thrash around wildly for no reason due to an invisible flame). Unlike in ''Seasons'', there is no indicator or signal that a sim may self-destruct. While an uncommon occurrence, this leads to a constant dread that sooner, or later, that sim may become the next person to combust into flames.
22	* TheScrappy:
23	** Doubling as a ScrappyMechanic, the street musicians introduced in ''Unleashed'' (W. C. Friendly and Giuseppi Renni -- the former appears on community lots with an espresso bar, the latter on ones without), due to their habit of blocking doors and stairs while performing and taking their sweet time to perform before moving out of the way, which often causes Sims who were about to leave the lot to have their motives severely depleted by the time they manage to go home, at least if the player doesn't just quit to neighborhood in frustration first.
24	** Sims with low Nice points, since they perform rude interactions autonomously, which makes life tougher for everyone.
25	* ScrappyMechanic: [[ScrappyMechanic/TheSims Has its own page.]]
26	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This first game is obviously set in TheNineties and just around the TurnOfTheMillennium, what with a career literally called [[https://www.thesimswiki.com/wiki/Xtreme X-treme]].
27	** YMMV on ''how'' unintentional this was, though, since Will Wright intended the game to have an atemporal sitcom-y flavor. The Expansion Packs, however, were heavily influenced by the techno scene of the late 90s/early 2000s --which transpired even to ''The Sims 2''!
28	* ValuesDissonance: Same-sex sims don't "Propose" to each other, they "move in".
29	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Despite its age, ''The Sims 1'' still looks pretty good, since it went for a more retro-looking visual style, blending 2D and 3D, as such avoiding the muddy textures and jagged edges far better than its contemporaries.
30	** Later expansion packs were noted by reviewers to have progressively improved and complex sprites and animations for the objects.

Context YMMV / TheSims1