Social simulation wasn't an entirely new genre, and indeed Wright drew inspiration from 1985's Little Computer People (alternatively known as House-On-A-Disk). As time went on, his creative interests would shift again, to also take in the lives of the people inside the buildings. Switching from macro- to micro-management, Wright's new spin-off project aimed to focus on the architectural design of individual houses. The game was the brainchild of Will Wright, the designer behind the SimCity series, who had decided to approach the world of his popular city-building franchise from a new angle. The original The Sims - now sometimes called The Sims 1 for the sake of clarity - was released in February 2000, and received regular updates via expansion packs through to October 2003. Start at the beginning, right? When faced with a self-imposed task as massive and daunting as writing a retrospective on The Sims franchise, going back to the very first game was the obvious launchpad. There is still a long way to go, and if the current state of The Sims 4 doesn't change, Paralives may just become the next City Skylines, the game that dethroned SimCity.As The Plumbob Turns is a regular column in which RPS's in-house Sims fanatic Rebecca delves into the history of her favourite franchise. Paralives is a labor of love as its developers and community are all long-time Sims fans, and this combined with the work being put in is what makes it a possible contender with The Sims franchise. It even has a community Discord, wherein the team interacts with life sim fans to see what they want in the game. Throughout development, the Paralives team has been transparent with what it's working on and what's coming. Some finished features have videos showcasing how they work, and many of the tools appear to operate smoothly and intuitively. There are plans to implement things like weather, seasons, and pets at launch - things Sims fans have long wished to be in the games themselves, rather than being sold in expansions. Even the beloved color wheel and patterns from The Sims 3 are being included. The roadmap includes new things like secrets, clothing variants, customizable layered hair, stackable objects, object variants, detailed interactions, and more. The developer is looking to really expand what's been done so far and add things people have always wanted to see in The Sims. This alone has the potential to make Paralives a more imaginative game than The Sims 4. Yes, Paralives will include built-in modding tools to make it easy to get creative and share with others. This includes the Paramaker, the equivalent of Create A Sim, Build Mode, Live Mode, and Modding Tools combined. As for what's done, most of the game's core systems are in place and working. The Paralives website has gotten bigger and now includes not just the latest news, but a roadmap with all the features planned for the full release, and it's extensive. RELATED: The Sims 2 Still Has Not Been Surpassed There is still a ways to go, but it's looking very promising. The game is only in its third year of development - not long for any game, especially a massive life simulator. It made a big splash when it was first announced a couple of years ago, and while it seems like it died out, it's actually still going strong with a lot of community support. It's being developed by a nine-person team, started by Sims fan Alex Massé, whose sole focus is this game. Paralives isn't being made by a big studio with a plethora of resources and marketing.
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