Do you even life, bro?

It was perhaps inevitable that if anybody was going to take the next step in “people simulation” it would be Will Wright, the designer who was behind the SimCity series. And that’s exactly what he’s done with The Sims, a game – I guess you can call it a game, although as is Wright’s trademark, you never really win or lose – that allows you to create and control the lives of virtual people known as “Sims”. Indeed, at its core The Sims is a sort of virtual people farm of everyday life management.

The concept at its foundation – the interactive simulation of a person’s everyday life and all that it entails – is ambitious in the extreme, and amazingly the design does it ample justice. The lives of the Sims under your control are faceted and detailed enough that, just like all of us in the PC Gamer office who have become curiously entranced, you’ll actually find yourself believing that you’re living somebody else’s life vicariously. Your Sim becomes a virtual alter-ego through which you can attempt to make real your dreams – or, perhaps, nightmares.

LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT

The Sims is essentially divided into two sections – a “Live” mode in which your Sims work, play, and interact, and a Buy/Build mode that freezes time to allow you to change the environment. The heart of The Sims is a leafy suburban neighborhood comprising pre-built houses of various size and value, along with several vacant lots to build new residences on. From the very beginning – acquiring a house and furnishing it – you’re in management mode, trying to balance your tastes against the meager $20,000 you start out with.

As more money becomes available throughout the game, so to does your freedom to buy from the game’s extensive catalog of furniture, decorations, appliances, gadgets, and other material trappings, and to roll up your sleeves and remodel the house itself with a powerful architectural tool that allows you to design everything from the house’s overall layout to the wallpaper, carpet, windows, and staircases.

When you’re not sprucing up your house with the latest furniture, TV sets or pool tables, you’re actively managing the everyday lives of your Sims. This being more of a computer toy than a game proper, the user is free to define their own objectives, but as in real life, you’re encouraged to achieve social and professional success which in turn are the key factors in determining overall happiness.

Expect burglars if you have an oppulent home!

Expect burglars if you have an oppulent home!

Whoops! The dishwasher broke.

Whoops! The dishwasher broke.

A view of the neighborhood.

A view of the neighborhood.

SOCIAL MUSINGS

Once putting your Sim on a career path, either by perusing the newspaper or online job listings, career advancement becomes a major goal. After struggling up through the low pay and long hours inherent to the lower ranks of whatever career you chose (everything from medicine and politics to sports, entertainment, and a life of crime is possible), you can start earning some serious cash, which can afford better home improvements (which, in turn. enhances the happiness of our materialistic Sims).

The other key goal of The Sims is to develop an active social life, and it’s here – interacting with other Sims in the neighborhood – that the game throws up some of its most satisfying treats. Socializing is mandatory if you want to get ahead, since a Sim’s social rating is one of the key contributors to overall happiness and promotion to the higher career levels also requires that a certain number of Family Friends be maintained.

You can use computers for both fun and work.

You can use computers for fun and work.

As you get to know the Sims in your neighborhood, you can call them and invite them over. Once you’ve gained the pleasure of their company, you can chat, play, joke, flirt… whatever it takes to get them to like you. Certain household items can help move things along – well, wouldn’t you be more likely to visit a friend if you knew he had a big-screen TV? A horoscope system adds an extra layer of complexity, with astrological compatibility affecting Sims’ predisposition toward each other. Get friendly enough and Sims may become romantically inclined toward each other, and even move in and start a family.

It may be pointless in the long run – with no aging or clear objectives, one can only take The Sims as far as achieving a successful career and perhaps moving into a luxury mansion. Make it high enough and you’ll be throwing lavish parties with your pals down by the swimming pool. Getting there isn’t easy, requiring weeks of playing and exploring all of the game’s charming minutia. In the end, there’s one thing that’s safe to say about The Sims – you can’t find anything quite like it.

An agent-based model (ABM) is a computational model for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual or collective entities such as organizations or groups) in order to understand the behavior of a system and what governs its outcomes. It combines elements of game theory, complex systems, emergence, computational sociology, multi-agent systems, and evolutionary programming. Monte Carlo methods are used to understand the stochasticity of these models. Particularly within ecology, ABMs are also called individual-based models (IBMs).[1] A review of recent literature on individual-based models, agent-based models, and multiagent systems shows that ABMs are used in many scientific domains including biology, ecology and social science.[2] Agent-based modeling is related to, but distinct from, the concept of multi-agent systems or multi-agent simulation in that the goal of ABM is to search for explanatory insight into the collective behavior of agents obeying simple rules, typically in natural systems, rather than in designing agents or solving specific practical or engineering problems.[2]

Agent-based models are a kind of microscale model[3] that simulate the simultaneous operations and interactions of multiple agents in an attempt to re-create and predict the appearance of complex phenomena. The process is one of emergence, which some express as "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". In other words, higher-level system properties emerge from the interactions of lower-level subsystems. Or, macro-scale state changes emerge from micro-scale agent behaviors. Or, simple behaviors (meaning rules followed by agents) generate complex behaviors (meaning state changes at the whole system level).

Individual agents are typically characterized as boundedly rational, presumed to be acting in what they perceive as their own interests, such as reproduction, economic benefit, or social status,[4] using heuristics or simple decision-making rules. ABM agents may experience "learning", adaptation, and reproduction.[5]

Most agent-based models are composed of: (1) numerous agents specified at various scales (typically referred to as agent-granularity); (2) decision-making heuristics; (3) learning rules or adaptive processes; (4) an interaction topology; and (5) an environment. ABMs are typically implemented as computer simulations, either as custom software, or via ABM toolkits, and this software can be then used to test how changes in individual behaviors will affect the system's emerging overall behavior.

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Agency Edit

According to professor of American religious history Jana Riess, a prominent theme in Meyer's novels is agency. In The Host, the Seeker believes that she is saving the human race by perfecting and controlling, similar to the Latter-day Saint belief that Satan's plan for human salvation was to "save" all souls by removing their agency and ability to sin. Seeker plays a Satan-like role in the novel, as Meyer attempts to convey the message that the maintenance of agency is crucial.[179] Additionally, Meyer's novels contain the themes of opposition. In The Host, Wanda learns that despite the lows and evils of humanity, beauty and pleasure could not be found on her previous planets because darkness did not exist. Wanda learns in the novel that it is only in facing darkness and sorrow, that light and joy could be experienced, echoing a quotation from the Book of Mormon, "It musts needs be that there is an opposition in all things".[180] However, "imprinting" in her Twilight series, the involuntary formation of a mate relationship, undermines Meyer's prolific theme of free agency.[181] According to literature and women's studies scholar Natalie Wilson, the juxtaposition between Bella's agency to choose her mate and Jacob, a Native American male's, inability to choose has racial and cultural implications.[182]

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Agency (also referred to as free agency or moral agency), in the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), is "the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state".[1] Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the plan of salvation in Latter-day Saint teaching. "It was essential for their eternal progression that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil".[1] LDS Church members believe that Lucifer rebelled against the God's plan, which resulted in a war in heaven, and Lucifer being cast out of heaven and becoming Satan.[2]

Church members believe that all individuals have the ability to differentiate between good and evil[3] and that Satan and his followers are not able to tempt people beyond the point where they can resist.[4] This implies that mortals can be held accountable for their actions;[5] mortals will be judged by God based on a combination of one's faith and works (with salvation coming only through the power, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ).[6]

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The structure of the game is an agent-based artificial life program. The presentation of the game's artificial intelligence is advanced, and the Sims will respond to outside conditions independently, though 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.[3]

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 cancelling 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.[4] 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.[5]

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. Alternately, Sims may create and sell various artwork and items at home.[3]

The original neighborhood in The Sims consists of a single screen displaying all playable houses.

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),[4] 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, or two adult Sims with a bad relationship may brawl, eventually resulting in one of them moving out. Children will be sent away to military school if they fail their classes or if they have not fulfilled their needs (especially when hunger is very low), a social care worker will take them away from their household and they are no longer returnable.[5]

Seitan is a food made from gluten, the main protein of wheat. It is also known as miàn jīn, milgogi, wheat meat, gluten meat, vital wheat gluten or simply gluten.

Everyone in Justine’s family is a vet. And a vegetarian. At sixteen she’s a brilliant student starting out at veterinary school where she experiences a decadent, merciless and dangerously seductive world. Desperate to fit in, she strays from her family principles and eats RAW meat for the first time. Justine will soon face the terrible and unexpected consequences as her true self begins to emerge.