Editing The Sims (video game) (section)

==Gameplay==
The structure of the game is an [[artificial life]] program that is [[Agent-based model|agent-based]]. The presentation of the game's [[artificial intelligence]] is advanced, and the Sims will respond to outside conditions independently, although often the player's intervention is necessary to keep the Sims on the right track. ''The Sims'' technically has unlimited [[replay value]], in that there is no way to truly win the game, and the player can play indefinitely. It has been described as more like a toy than a game.<ref name="Boland2010-p24">{{Cite book |last=Boland |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fkLAgAAQBAJ |title=The Sims: The Complete Guide |publisher=WTYW7 Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-557-84739-6 |location=Vancouver |page=24 |access-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919004525/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5fkLAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:0557847397&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAzovE5rbOAhXrAsAKHXAWD6EQ6AEIHjAA |archive-date=September 19, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sims are influenced by the player to interact with objects or other Sims. Sims may receive guests at their home lot, invited or not, from other playable lots, or from unhoused [[non-player character]] (NPC) Sims. If enabled in the game's options, Sims have a certain amount of [[free will]], allowing them to autonomously interact with their world; however, the player can override most of these autonomous actions by canceling them in the action queue at the top of the screen. Unlike the simulated environments in games such as ''SimCity'', ''[[SimEarth]]'', or ''[[SimLife]]'', Sims are not fully autonomous.<ref name="Boland2010-p23">{{Cite book |last=Boland |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fkLAgAAQBAJ |title=The Sims: The Complete Guide |publisher=WTYW7 Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-557-84739-6 |location=Vancouver |page=23 |access-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919004525/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5fkLAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:0557847397&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAzovE5rbOAhXrAsAKHXAWD6EQ6AEIHjAA |archive-date=September 19, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> They are unable to take certain actions without specific commands, such as paying bills, finding a job, exercising, and conceiving children. Sims communicate in a fictional language called [[Simlish]], which is mostly composed of [[blowing raspberries]] and saying nonsense.<ref name="Boland2010" />

[[File:SimsSS.jpg|left|thumb|200px|A lazy and sloppy Sim]]
The player can make decisions about time spent in skill development, such as exercise, reading, creativity, and logic by adding activities to Sims' daily agenda. Daily needs such as hygiene and eating can and must also be scheduled. Although Sims can autonomously perform these actions, they may not prioritize them effectively and can suffer consequences for neglecting their own needs. In addition, Sims must maintain balanced budgets and usually supplement an income by obtaining a job. Sims may earn promotions by fulfilling skills and maintaining friendships with others for each level, which lead to new job titles, increased wages, and different work hours. Alternatively, Sims may create and sell various artwork and items at home.<ref name="Boland2010-p24" />

[[File:Sims NH.JPG|thumb|200px|right|The original neighborhood in ''The Sims'' consists of a single screen displaying all playable lots.]]
While there is no eventual objective to the game, states of failure do exist in ''The Sims''. One is that Sims may die, either by starvation, drowning, fire, or electrocution (or from natural causes/age in certain versions). When a Sim dies, a tombstone or an urn will appear (in later expansion packs, the [[Grim Reaper]] will appear first),<ref name="Boland2010-p23" /> and the ghost of the deceased Sim may haunt the building where it died. In addition, Sims can leave the game for good and never return. If two adult Sims with a bad relationship [[Brawling (legal definition)|brawl]] often, it may result in one of them moving out. Children will be sent away to military school if they fail their classes. Lastly, not fulfilling a baby Sim's needs will result in a [[social care]] worker permanently taking the baby away from the household.<ref name="Boland2010" />

===Building tools===
When the "Live" mode occurs in the game, the player may enter "Build" mode or "Buy" mode to pause time and renovate the house or lot. When the game begins, each family starts off with 20,000 ''[[simoleon]]s'' (regardless of its number of members). These funds can be used to purchase a small house or vacant lot on the neighborhood screen.<ref name="Boland2010-p23" /> After purchasing a lot, a user may construct or remodel a house in Build mode or purchase or move furniture in Buy mode. All architectural and customizable features and furnishings in Build and Buy modes follow a square-tile system in which items must be placed on a tile. Walls and fences extend along the edge of a tile and can follow the edge of the tile or cross it diagonally, but furniture items cannot be placed on either side of a crossed tile. The base game contains over 150 items, including furniture and architectural elements.<ref name="Boland2010-p23" />

In addition, the game includes an architecture system. The game was originally designed solely as an architecture simulator, with the Sims there only to evaluate the houses, but during development, it was decided that the Sims were more interesting than originally anticipated, and their once-limited role in the game was developed further.<ref name="GDD">{{Cite news |last=Thompson |first=Bob |date=April 14, 2002 |title=Guys and Digital Dolls |page=W08 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2002/04/14/guys-and-digital-dolls/9437243f-b5a4-4827-929d-9208ece7dd70/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122234217/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2002/04/14/guys-and-digital-dolls/9437243f-b5a4-4827-929d-9208ece7dd70/ |archive-date=January 22, 2016}}</ref> Players have a broad choice of objects that their respective Sims may purchase. Objects fall into one of eight broad categories: seating, surfaces, decorations, electronics, appliances, plumbing, lighting, and miscellaneous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chong |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/simshotdateexpan00chon/page/60 |title=The Sims: Hot Date: Prima's Official Strategy Guide |publisher=Prima Games |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7615-3729-8 |page=60 |url-access=registration}}</ref>