| SimsVille | |
|---|---|
 Promotional trailer | |
| Developer(s) | Maxis |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Producer(s) | Christine McGavran[1] |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | Cancelled |
| Genre(s) | Life simulation |
SimsVille is a cancelledlife simulation video game developed byMaxis. The game was conceived as a hybrid between the gameplay ofThe Sims, asocial simulation game, and thecity-building gameSimCity. Development ofSimsVille was undertaken over two years by the Maxis development team forSimCity in an attempt to expandThe Sims franchise. Following delays to the game's release window, Maxis discontinued development ofSimsVille in September 2001, citing concerns with the quality of the gameplay experience. Despite its cancellation, design elements ofSimsVille would influence later Maxis products, such as the community features ofThe Sims: Hot Date and the integration of Sims intoSimCity 4.
SimsVille was acity-building andlife simulation game where players were tasked with populating and managing a town. In contrast to gameplay inSimCity, which focuses only on city-building mechanics, homes inSimsville would be inhabited by households of Sims, who moved between and interacted with buildings in the city.[2] Players were required to build and manage a city that met the needs of individual Sims by satisfying their 'Energy', 'Fun', 'Environment', 'Social' and 'Hunger' moods, as well as individual interests, that would affect the environment and character of the city. Similar toThe Sims, the game's gameplay modes were separated by a 'Build Mode', which allowed players to construct buildings and infrastructure, a 'Buy Mode', in which players could purchase items that affect Sim needs and interests, and a 'Live Mode' to indirectly control Sims.[3] The game supported a three-dimensional engine, allowing players to freely rotate and zoom into details in their town.[2] Whilst players would not have had direct control over individual Sims, it was intended players would be able to design families or import households fromThe Sims to appear in the game.[4][5]
Developed over a two-year period to its cancellation in September 2001,[6]SimsVille was conceived out of early conceptual work during development by the Maxis team responsible for theSimCity series, andThe Sims codesigners Claire Curtain and Roxy Wolosenko, with minor input from franchise creatorWill Wright.[7]SimsVille was intended as a hybrid between thesimulation gameplay ofThe Sims and thecity-building mechanics of theSim City series.[8][4][1] The development team aimed to bridge these gameplay approaches through expressing the impact of Sims and communities on the character of the environment.[9]SimsVille was developed in parallel with other products that aimed to innovate and expand uponThe Sims franchise, includingThe Sims Online.[10] The 3D engine forSimsVille was developed from the ground-up and did not use code fromSimCity 3000 orThe Sims.[8] Originally slated for a May 2001 release,[11][5] publishers later expected the release of the game to occur as early as January or February 2002.[12][6][13][14] In May 2001, Electronic Arts showcased previews of gameplay ofSimsVille from multiple booths atE3,[15][16] with its content observed byPC PowerPlay to have "progressed considerably" from the previous year.[13]
On 21 September 2001, development ofSimsVille was cancelled, with staff redeployed to progressThe Sims Online andSimCity 4.[17][6][12] Maxis stated the cancellation was made by the studio due to quality control issues,[12][18] citing team and studio concerns with the "less compelling" play experience once cities were constructed. Maxis denied the cancellation related to conflicts with projects withThe Sims Online andHot Date, although the studio recognisedHot Date provided a "more fun" manifestation of the design objectives ofSimsVille.[19] The cancellation announcement was met with mixed reception.[20]Eurogamer expressed skepticism for the stated reasons for abandoning the game due to the abundance of "commercial and critical flops" in the studio's history,[12] withPC Zone speculating that the game was "too closely positioned" to ongoing projects forSimCity andThe Sims Online.[21] Maxis director Patrick Buechner estimated thatSimsVille was "about 60 percent compete" and anticipating a March 2002 release at the time of cancellation.[19]
Despite its cancellation, staff involved withSimsVille embedded the design of the game into future projects. The focus on the broader neighborhood was introduced intoThe Sims withThe Sims: Hot Date expansion pack in 2001,[6] and later iterations ofThe Sims mainline games.[22] In a retrospective assessment,Computer Gaming World noted that theHot Date expansion better accomplished the primary goal of allowing sims to leave their homes, a likely reason for the cancellation ofSimsVille.[23] Several of the concepts inSimsVille also appeared in the 2003 Maxis gameSimCity 4, including the interface design, the integration of Sims in cities with simplified personality features, and the changing appearance of lots to reflect the character of a neighborhood.[17][24] Dan Whitehead ofEurogamer raised comparisons betweenSimsVille and the design of the 2007 gameSimCity Societies, a title that similarly attempted to introduce new gameplay mechanics in theSimCity franchise including aspects of social simulation.[25]
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