TS3 Creator's Camp: Day 5, 10:30
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Blogpost added Jan 16, 2009, read 7647 times
Before I ran off a little early yesterday to welcome Tug to the campus and prepare for the TSR dinner at the hotel, I spent some time with Ben Bell, Senior Producer of The Sims 3. A couple of us reporters at the event also got some time to throw some questions at him so rather than quote him word for word I figured I'd summarise some of the things I learned from him yesterday. I didn't grab a picture of Ben (you've all seen him from the videos anyway), so for this post you get to see the Atrium on campus (taken from EA's own Starbucks).
I asked Ben about his favourite features of the game. His top two would be the trait system which he personally spent a great deal of time on, researching behavioural stuff and building the stereotypical and exaggerated facial animations for each which you see when assigning the trait in CAS and during game play when that trait rears its head in the characters behaviour. He also loves the introduction of bicycles to the game, being a cyclist himself he loves to see Sims ditch the driveway and cars for a bicycle rack by the house!
I then went on to features that they talked about in game development but didn't make it into the final version. He said there were many but focussed on the video capture features. He's happy with the video tools as they are in the base game but is aware that there is much more they can do to improve on that aspect of storytelling and the use of the game for Machinima. Maybe that will get picked up on in an upcoming pack.
I was then keen to know about any feature of the game that caused much debate or controversy in the team. Apparently the layout of the town, Sunset Valley, went through a dozen or so designs before everyone eventually agreed or agreed to disagree on it. Also heavily debated was the needs system which replaces the old style of eating, sleeping, peeing and washing etc., even down to how it should affect the way Sims will get along on their own without human interaction. Then there was the User Interface, which Ben estimates is on something like version 30!
Lastly, to put Ben on the spot a bit by bringing up a rather contentious issue from the users, I asked him where he thinks the level of facial detail sits in the scale between game and too real for comfort, given that they have moved away from caricature and more towards portrait. His facial expression said it all, it was clearly a big discussion point among the team and one of the hardest things to balance in game design. They wanted users to be able to make Sims look as close to their intended model or their imagination desires but without going too close to photorealistic.
The technology is clearly available to make Sims photorealistic but Sims 3 intentionally falls short to avoid what Ben called "total detail distraction", while managing to maintain extreme expressions and realistic movement. Sims 3 Sims, as detailed as they are, try to maintain the look of the Sims that came before them. If you look closely at the eyes for example, you see the "old simminess" as Ben calls it, in an attempt to preserve generations before them!
Hope you find some of that interesting. I'm off to hunt for coffee.
/Steve
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23 Comment(s) posted so far
On Jan 16, 2009 Semitone wrote:
Thanks so much for interesting news!
On Jan 16, 2009 Murano wrote:
Interesting read! Thanks Steve.
On Jan 16, 2009 bkillen wrote:
Perhaps you have discussed this? I am very interested in the build mode and am a little confused about an aspect of Sims 3. Specifically, can one create entirely new, say, chairs or doors? I do not mean just add new textures or colors to those already present in the game. Likewise, can one create entirely new clothing, etc? I think this means can one create new 'meshes' but I am unfamiliar with more technical concepts. I am wanting to get involved in this aspect of Sims 3--I feel I missed out on it in Sims 2.
On Jan 16, 2009 wrote:
Very interesting to hear about them addressing the uncanny valley effect.
On Jan 16, 2009 ButteflySkies wrote:
Wow! I hope they do improve Machinima tools A LOT! I always love to watch 'em, but I'm not good with them myself,
Anyway, I know I've asked Tdyannd and you, too, but you make sure to mention if they say ANYTHING about the prospect of putting TS3 on Steam. My heart WILL be broken if they don't, lol.
On Jan 16, 2009 TeXaSrOsE wrote:
Oh please don't let them have those same old dead eyes. What am I gonna do without CC eyes.... that's one of the things that bugged me the most is their flat dull eyes. Won't stop me from getting the game though.
On Jan 17, 2009 Birba32 wrote:
We are already at day 5 ...
this is really interesting part, especially the final part on the realistic appearance of sims. Thanks again Steve 
On Jan 17, 2009 darkraven1753 wrote:
Thanks for all the info, Steve, but I have to heartily disagree that the Sims have moved away from caricature and more towards portrait. It seems just the opposite to me.
On Jan 17, 2009 tdyannd wrote:
I still can't believe you didn't ask him all the questions Padre thought up! It's just so unfortunate, you know... :p
On Jan 17, 2009 jwilmot07 wrote:
Bicycles!!!!
And I too hate the default eyes in TS2, but they look alright for TS3.
On Jan 17, 2009 Fikcija wrote:
I'm sorry if this was asked somewhere already, since I haven't read everything yet, but are there any townies like we had in the sims 2 or does every sim in the hood actually live somewhere?
On Jan 17, 2009 jwilmot07 wrote:
I read in Tdyannd's blog that all townies have a home, but NPCs do not.
On Jan 17, 2009 VictoriaGrace wrote:
I am still hoping that Jirka and Chaz can make unbelievably realistic Sims for us in the new game! Thank you for all of your posts, and all the posts from the other's that were with you! It's really been enlightening and exciting to know what to expect!
Victoria
On Feb 16, 2009 zuveliuke wrote:
I love reading reports from creator's camp!
On Feb 17, 2009 keith560 wrote:
that is good
On Apr 23, 2009 fredbrenny wrote:
Where would we be without all the great CC artists around the worl providing things for the game we cannot live without! Browsing download simsites is one of the greater things of playing the game. Get the real great stuff...put it in the game and then play. It is both browsing for cc and play and expand. Not just recolor. I pre - ordered sims3 ofcourse. I'm a die ahrd fan since day one of the sims 1. But I really hope there is room for artists to create and share!
On Jul 28, 2009 barbara93 wrote:
Interesting,
On Apr 7, 2010 Larah3124 wrote:
thanks for so good informations
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