Concepts for a Mini-Expansion Pack During the second half of the semester the students will work as a coordinated unit to create a set of 10-12 Objects that follow a single theme. This is the class's mini-expansion pack unit. The first step in making the expansion pack is to develop the theme. The following is a list of student generated concepts. The students, instructors, and hopefully some mentors from Maxis will work together in group brainstorm to choose and further develop a single concept.
1) FUTRASIMS Logline: Live the ordinary life... in the future. All new items and technology from the future. The idea for FuturaSims is to create sci-fi/fantasy futuristic items that can be added and used by the current Sims. Think of it as the Jetsons, or Futurama. It's still ordinary life, but with crazy gizmos that can make life easier (or in some cases more difficult). Ideally FuturaSims would be a whole expansion pack, with towns and cities that give the future feel (futuristic architecture, cars, etc). But since this is meant to be a mini expansion pack, the idea for the class would be to simply create as many "futuristic" items as possible. Examples of such devices would be teleporters (star trek), flying cars (helicopter, with car model), robots for npcs (Bender from Futurama), and the list goes on and on as we create fantasy futuristic items new or borrowed from popular sci-fi culture.
2) SIMS IN SPACE Logline: Introduce your Sims to the frontiers of space exploration. Live in space colonies orbiting planet Earth. Colonize distant solar systems and don't forget to pay your galactic utility bill either. Sims in Space moves the gameplay in the core game of The Sims into an outer-space setting. Sims can live in a variety of orbiting space stations or on planetary colonies. Objects available and career paths will reflect this change of setting; Sims will have to take on careers that will maintain the space station or make their chosen planet more suitable for human colonization. This iteration of the game will shift the focus of gameplay towards maintaining interpersonal relationships, building skills, and managing resources available to Sims. Especially on a distant colony on a faraway planet, Sims will have to live in harmony, be useful and skillful citizens of the space colony, and be able to wisely use available technologies and resources when deciding what objects to import from Earth or hazard building themselves. Objects will not only be a source of recreation or relaxation but will be in some cases necessary for survival. The living situation for some Sims may end up being in a communal pod distantly removed from other pods in the colony. More successful and affluent Sims may build their own private pods while still remaining closely involved with the building of the colony. Also there will be aliens. And maybe when you look in the telescope too much humans will abduct you.
3) SIM GREENHOUSE Logline; Sim Greenhouse explores the idea of a Sim becoming the god of nature all while living inside of an environmentally friendly dome. The main objective would be to become the leading horticulturalist in town. The player would always be working on growing plants that will produce products so they can build more advanced plants. For sake of example, assume Sims can buy chemicals or fertilizer. The Sim could combine a bonsai tree with substance A, tend to it for a while, and after time the bonsai tree would grow into ultra bonsai tree. This new tree could be further evolved. Other plants and trees could be acted on similarly. Events that could happen: A flower judging contest. This event acts much like a party. It's a social gathering where other neighbors bring over flowers and each entry is judged. The winner receives simoleans. Some objects that could go along with this theme are: 1. Venus the Pernicious – A giant venus flytrap plant that eats children if they get too close. Huge environment bonus. 2. Song lily – This leaflet sings to listeners, can be listened to my multiple people. 3. Platinum fern – Much like the money tree, it gives off mega bucks to sims only in the platinum mood. 4. Repair Daisy – Detects if things are broken in the room and automatically repairs them. 5. Personal Hygenator Shrub – Be one with nature, clean a Sim the all-natural way in the outdoors. 6. Beguiling Somulax Branch – This plant will grow fruit that Sims can eat, but if the plant is pruned too often, it will emit noxious fumes and put all Sims in the room to sleep. This idea is in the scope of our class. It's pragmatic enough to attempt. Plant objects already exist making Sims Greenhouse doable.
4) THE SIMS HOLLYWOOD Logline: Ever dream of becoming a famous Hollywood star or a big time execturive producer? In “The Sims Hollywood” you can experience the glitz and glam that of Hollywood! Will you become a famous movie star or end up working at the local video store? You can pursue several new career tracks including: actor, writer, producer, and director. In Hollywood image is everything so you will constantly be working out, eating right, and tanning to keep you body looking good. If you begins to tip the scales then plastic surgery is always an option. It is also important to keep up with the newest hair styles, fashion, and interior decorating designs. You can improve your skill by taking acting classes, writing at home, or socializing at Hollywood parties. If this seems like a lot of work to you, then perhaps you should hit up a big Hollywood nightclub or shopping mall. If you can't afford it, just put it on your credit card.
5) SCHOOL DAYS Wish you knew what happens after your Sim children get on the schoolbus? Now you can! With the new Sims expansion pack School Days, you can guide your young, impressionable Sims down the road to a happy, well-balanced life, or start them on a path toward irresponsible havoc. Play hooky, answer Teacher's questions, start food fights, join the sports team, captain the cheerleading squad, play kiss-and-chase, or run a lunch money extortion ring, the choice is all yours in School Days, the new expansion pack for Sims 2!
6) SIMS SECRET SOCIETY Logline: "Knowing the secret handshake has its benefits..." This is an ancient society along the lines of the Masons or the infamous Stonecutters from the Simpsons. Membership in such a society nets a paricular Sim or Sims access to special services, free appliance repairs, gifts, and immunity from some typical Sims disasters. It also includes a custom costume and the ability to attend secret society meetings and vote on the course of world events. However, not paying dues to the society or refusing to carry out the tasks assigned to you (RPG-style quests) may meet in your demise, or worse, your expulsion from the society.
7) ELITIST LIFESTYLE Logline: "Successful Sims can enjoy these urban amenities associated with an affluent lifestyle." A simple object-pack for the Sims that contains the types of high-class amenities associated with gentrification. Things like Starbucks Coffee, Oxygen Bars, Whole Foods, Soy Products, Acupuncture, Private School and Tutors, etc. These uber-expensive items would have peculiar special effects which seperate them from their more mundane counterparts, but they can create resentment from among your poorer neighbors.
8) THE SIMS - CASINO NIGHT Logline: What happens in Vegas, happens in PleasantTown (mostly)... Tired of the nine to five life? Do you have dreams of winning it big at the craps table? How about a new sure fire blackjack strategy? Welcome to the brand new PleasantTown Resort and Casino - the place where dreams come true (and lives are destroyed). Collect your life savings, leave your old sim life behind and take your chances as a PleasantTown Casino high roller and see if you can make it as a professional gambler. The PleasantTown Casino now gives you the opportunity to play most of the casino games you love in real life in your sim life including Blackjack, Craps, Roullette, the Slots, and various Poker games. And don't forget, after gambling all night long, don't forget to visit the all you can eat breakfast buffet... What happens in Vegas, happens in PleasantTown (mostly)...
9) SUPER PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA Logline: Can you really throw a party if you don't have the option to throw a Disco Party or even a Toga party? Although you can already throw a “party” within The Sims 2, there isn't much variety. The only thing people can do is dance, drink, and eat. But, where are the themes? All the memorable parties have some type of them behind them. With this expansion pack idea, we will be able to provide that to the player. Such as a Disco Party… Who can resist the color-checkered floor with a spinning disco ball? What about a Costume Party or a Masquerade Ball where the Sim has the option of dressing up in a costume? Also, the party-centric objects that already exist can certainly be expanded on… For example, we can have ice sculptures, dj equipment (as well as being able to hire a dj npc), disco paraphernalia, even a petting zoo. The main draw, I believe, would be able to choose a costume. This feature need only be added to the dresser to become functional. Expanding on the party theme within The Sims 2 will provide the “Socialite Sim” to max out their fun within the game.
10) PETS Logline: Just like in real life, your sims will now be able to have pets to care for and play with. The focus for this mini-expansion will be to add cats and dogs as objects that can be purchased for a household. The sims will take care of the pets on their own for the most part, but player interaction will make the pets happier. Cats will spend most of their time roaming the house, sleeping, jumping on counters and tables, playing with small objects, and interacting with sims. Dogs will spend most of their time roaming the house, sleeping, chasing tail, barking, playing with small objects and interacting with sims. The addition of pets to the Sims will make the household a bit livelier, add charm, and add another aspect of companionship.
11) CRAZY CAT LADY Logline: Everyone loves cats. Especially that crazy lady on the corner house. Time to see how many cats you can collect, avoid the ASPCA, scare the children away, and be the craziest in the neighborhood! All people in the house besides the main character are cats. Neighborhood friends are also cats. NPCs will be annoying neighborhood kids, the ASPCA, annoyed neighbors, etc.
12) CLUESIMS Logline: A who dun it in Pleasantville. You are invited to be the guest in the house of an old family relation but the night you arrive he meets a tragic end. Who did it? Was it Marny the cook? Or perhaps Martha the maid? Find the clues and solve the crime. Possible seperate lot like a park. Maybe allow the player to do it and avoid detection or frame another person. Players could set up their own mysteries with story mode.
13) PRIVATE EYE Logline: Dig up the dirt, route through the trash, and find out the seedy underbelly of the neighborhood. You are a private eye and your goal is to find out all the intrigue throughout the neighborhood. Who's cheating on whom, who stole what, are there aliens on earth? Focus more upon the story line side of the Sims and use it to craft stories. Players could set up their own neighborhood scandals with neighborhood editor.
14) DREAMWORLD Logline: What do your Sims dream? "People think dreams aren't real just because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes." What do your Sims dream? Do they remember that first kiss? Or fight the nightmares of being up on stage but not knowing any of their lines?
15) BIODOMESIMS Logline: This time the environment is everything! The objects have much more of an effect upon the sims and each other and create a more complex interactive environment.
16) SWISS FAMILY SIMS OR GILLIGAN ISLAND SIMS Logline: How are you going to get off the Island? And what about those monkey butlers? How will your family work together to live in the harsh environment? Find the resources to make the proper house and food. Meet new interesting natives. Try to get off the island in various ways. Or just a general jungle island themed world.
17) THE SIMS BABYSITTER Logline: Sim kids get a chance to annoy, harass, and just plain terrorize the sitter while Mom and Dad are out for the evening. So the parents have left for the evening, leaving their darling children in the hands of that most dreaded of authority figures, the Sitter? The gloves are coming off. Sim Kids dig into their Secret Toybox, boost their energy with some Super Kola, and get ready for the night of their lives. Set fireworks off in the house, make prank phone calls, and set off to get those “Mommie and Daddie Books” off the top shelf of the bookcase. Lace the ‘fridge food with “Xtra-Go” or boobie-trap the phone to get that sitter off your case for a while. The more you manage to pull off, the angrier the sitter gets, until she blows her top and banishes you to an extra day of youth for your utterly juvenile behavior. But hey, with toys like these, who's in a hurry to grow up anyway?
18) SIMS DEALIN' WITH GRIMM Logline: Sims can make money fast, be the ultimate swinger, even bring back the dead. For a price. The reaper-man knows a guy who knows a guy. If you're sick and tired of struggling to get what you want, or simply want something more than you were ever going to get, give Grimm a call and he'll work something out for you. Rocket to the top of your career path, get into shape without all the hassle and show off for those party guests, or bring back that loved one whose urn is cluttering up the living room. But “everything you ever wanted” doesn't come cheap: death puts a timer on your life (set according to your request and age), so enjoy your spoils fast.
19) DANCE TO THE MAX Logline: Have the best parties on the block with “Dance-To-The-Max.” Modeled after Dance-Dance-Revolution, this game would consist of existing assets from Sims-2 including the TV set, game console, and (modified) carpet. Combining multiple animations would mimic the repetitive nature of the game. Playing “D2tM” would require considerable practice (for your Sims) and coordination. Stretch goals for this object would be a modified “game within a game” interface, customized song selections, and the ability to hold competitions. The final version of “D2tM” could be located in a larger console and pedestal in a Sims Arcade (see below).
20) SIMS KARAOKE Sims Karaoke is another home nightlife concept that would capitalize on existing Sims-2 assets including the home stereo and combinations of existing animations. Listening to your Sims sing that familiar tune in their native tongue (Simlish) would be quite amusing. As in “D2tM”, a customized interface to select song choices and custom animations would be a stretch goal of “Sims Karaoke.” The final version of this object could be placed in a Karaoke Bar with more elaborate environments and related objects.
21) NERD CAMPOUT Nerd Campout is for that Sims that just doesn't go for the typical social gathering. If your Sims has nerd-like tendencies have her/him look to the heavens with friends for nighttime fun. Build a campfire, bring your telescopes, star gaze, tell scary stories, and discuss Einstein's theory of relativity with friends. Who knows, your Sims may get lucky and see a long tailed comet! This activity would satisfy social urges and build knowledge for any Sims. Stretch goals for this group action/object would be a heads-up display of the constellations with matching UI mini-quiz.
22) COSTUME PARTY Be the most popular Sims on the block by having a “Sims Costume Party.” Dress up as your favorite TV character, change your identity and fool your date, bring out those old clothes that you've saved for years, and put them to good use! Make a costume yourself and gain big creative points, depending on the reaction of other Sims. Or have the system choose a costume based on your mood, age, etc. Stretch goals for this concept would include a customized UI for the clothes creator, masks, hats, specialty props, etc.
23) SIMS SEANCE Have a midnight “Sims Séance” and bridge the gap between Sims-life and Sims-afterlife. Turn out all the lights to conduct this special nighttime gathering with friends. Chant the proper Simlish and summon those ghostly neighbors that may keep you up at night. Try your hand at levitation when you become a Séance guru. But be careful not to open the door to the grim reaper and lose your soul or, worse yet, produce a dead clone! This concept could be implemented with current Sims-2 objects. However, a more complex version could be housed in a specialized environment like “Miss Fate's Fortune Parlor.”
24) SIMTRONICS SMART HOUSE Logline: "Be the Digital Master of your Domain" Do you come home too tired to cook or clean? Are you rich, single, and have money to burn? Have you ever wanted a flock of automatons automatically doing your every bidding? Then let Simtronics Enterprises open the door to your home of the future with our line of digital, cybernetic, spin-rific supermodern housewares. Don't get up and walk to the bathroom! That's SO last century! Have the Simtronic Mobile Waste Recycler come to you. Using advanced AI the Mobile Waste Recycler will know your every bodily need! And while you're on your throne, just pick up the handy-dandy Simtronics Universal Home Remote, and become the master of your domain. Control your lighting, heating, home entertainment equipment at a touch of the button. Command a bevy of our super sexy Simford Maids™ and have them cater to your every whim and need! We at Simtronics share the philosophy that the home should work for you!
25) THE SIMS STOCK MARKET Logline: “Use your simoleons make a better and rewarding lifestyle, or …… worse.” In the Sims societies there are furniture, toys, cars, electronics and entertainment companies. These companies provide the player with the selection of objects they can purchase for their Sims. With the Sims stock market, these companies are more than just a name, but a potential impact on the game play experience. A pop-up window, containing company names and detailed fluctuation information for each business, and the player can then observe and invest selectively. When a player (Sim) own more stocks of a successful company, the Sims are rewarded with discounts and unique company gifts. (Super PC, multi-function couch, Ultra-cool-looking Sports car… etc) Moreover, these unique objects give extra bonuses to the owners and it adds to the uniqueness and story-telling game play experience.
26) ALTERNATIVE NIGHTLIFE Alternative Nightlife is Strangetown squared. Because when the Sims let their hair down, you never know quite what to expect. This mini-expansion pack could include our ideas for personalized clothing(that holds powers), Fred E. Kruger, the superhero, and our other bizarro object ideas that have been pitched but not realized.
27) SIMS GAMESHOW Logline: Have your Sim compete and win fabulous prizes 10 or so smallish sets that Sims can buy tickets to or get randomly called up for. Gameplay would be a combination of player interaction and sim skill levels. Game shows could range from Trivia (Jeopardy!-style) to Challenge (Fear Factor-style) or Elimination (Survivor-style). Cash medals, new items (including skill boosting items), and a host of new NPCs. Impress the host or hit on the models enough that they might just visit you at home.
28) BUYABLE/OWNABLE VEHICLES FOR THE SIMS 2 Logline: Ever wonder why the Sims don't seem to be able to afford their own cars even in the highest of professions? This add-on to an expansion pack will allow for Sims to buy their own vehicles to drive to work and community lots. It will allow for interesting gameplay elements that include certain aspiration effects that go up and down with different vehicles, mandatory care of the vehicle as if it were a member of the family (or at least a fourth of a member), and future implementations like being able to drive a kid to school if they missed the bus.
29) SIMS 2: GAME ON! Logline: From the rec room to the backyard, the Sims gather together for play time Focusing on all aspects of recreational fun, this expansion pack would incorporate sports, games, and other group activities as its focus. Objects would focus more on socials and interactions than the literal objects themselves. Some possibilities: Some backyard football perhaps? Or more in keeping with the Sims, a nonsensical sport with vague rules, ala Calvinball. How about some charades? Or hide-and-seek? A board game (something beyond the current chessboard), or maybe some poker? Or maybe that gaming console needs a little Dance Dance Revolution. It's game time!
30) WACKY NEIGHBORS Logline: The neighbors are coming! The neighbors are coming! This expansion pack would primarily focus on NPCs, however there would certainly be possibilities beyond the neighbors themselves. After all, the ice cream man would need his cart full of treats, the door-to-door salesman would need objects to sell, and the neighborhood brat would leave quite a mess when he TPs your house. Then there's the girl scout selling cookies, the religious cult recruiting members, and that creepy peeping tom. Locks the doors! The neighbors a re coming!
31) THE SIMS REC ROOM Logline: "Go Ahead - Live a Little" This mini-expansion will feature fun activites for a bachelor throwing a party, a family having a games night, or a group of kids getting together. It will contain games and toys that can be enjoyed separately or together, and will have the feel of a "Rec Room," as a place where the Sim can relax and enjoy themselves. Especially good for parties.
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