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At Maxis, we didn't arrive at the totally obvious name The Sims until very late in development. At first there was the secret development name, Project X, but

At Maxis, we didn't arrive at the totally obvious name The Sims until very late in development. At first there was the secret development name, Project X, but everybody had a Project X, and we certainly couldn't ship with that. Then there was Jamie's obvious name, Dollhouse, which was quite descriptive, but boys would hate it. Then there was Will's quirky name, Super Happy Friends Home, which only the Japanese would love. Then there was Jim's high minded name, Jefferson, for the pursuit of happiness, but it made everybody think of the sitcom The Jeffersons. Then there was the legendary perfectly descriptive catchy epic name, that everyone on the team really loved, which we dreamed up together in a brainstorming session when we were all quite stoned, but by the next day we all forgot it, and nobody could ever remember what it was again, although we could all distinctly remember the warm glow of knowing that it was the best possible name in the world, which everyone would love. Those were good times! ;) But for some reason, during all that time, despite racking our brains, nobody ever though of "The Sims", which is retrospect was a totally obvious name for a continuation of the SimCity franchise focusing on the people in the city. (The original SimCity manual referred to the people in the city as "the Sims," so there was a long standing precedent.) I have no idea who eventually came up with the name The Sims, and I'm happy with it, but it definitely wasn't the perfect name that everybody forgot. It's lost in the sands of time...

switz 14y ago
It's only 6 am, but this is my favorite story that I will read on the internet today. Thank you.
- SimHacker 14y ago
  Maxis is "Six AM" spelled backwards!
  - carlisle_ 14y ago
    You are a god walking amongst mere mortals.
    - SimHacker 14y ago
      Naw, I was just lucky to be hyperactive, and in the right place at the right time, plus I benefited from a lot of nice people who helped me get there. There are a lot of great people lurking around here, but the really godly ones don't have time to surf the internet! The thing you realize by meeting such people is that there is really no limit on how much you can learn and what you can do. And it's a lot easier now to pick new stuff up, what with the internets and all those tubes. Just keep improving yourself all the time, and keep yourself open to luck. And of course Will Wright has some great advice: Don't give up on your big dreams -- save and hone and cultivate them for later, when the time is right (and your skills and the technology have improved): "He encouraged designers with ideas for games that are far outside the box not to give up on those ideas, but instead to cultivate them and revisit them later, when the time, the team, and the technology might be right." http://www.gamespot.com/news/will-wright-wows-gdc-with-new-sim-6120274 http://www.gamespot.com/news/will-wright-wows-gdc-with-new-s...
acheron 14y ago
I seem to remember hearing it was going to be called "SimHouse" at one point. "Super Happy Friends Home" is excellent, but yeah, I think "The Sims" worked out for the best. :)
- SimHacker 14y ago
  Oh yeah, that sounds familiar! But that DEFINITELY was not the legendary name we all forgot. SimHouse and a few names like that were floated around, but they were't very exciting or apt, since the focus evolved from the architecture to the people. The big problem was that nobody had any idea what players would think of it, so we just kept developing it and playing it and changing the design, while wondering about what it was all about. There was one terrible phase we went through, trying to frame it like a simulated situation comedy, complete with a laugh track. That resulted in the first characters being named Edith and Archie (and I named the visual programming tool "Edith" for Edit House). But fortunately the idea of simulating a TV show was eventually flushed down the toilet. It just took a few weeks to walk all the way to the bathroom. ;( I was rooting for a weird name like "Perky Pat Layouts", based on Philip K Dick's book, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which had an uncanny creepy plot about adults on drugs playing together with physical miniaturized doll houses in order to enter a shared virtual reality. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?bnum=577 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?bnum=577 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1672 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsN... But EA didn't like the idea of selling CAN-D... I've put up some old design documents here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/4050497/The-Sims http://www.scribd.com/collections/4050497/The-Sims This "Happy Friends Home" initial proposal from October 2 1996 is pretty funny, and captures the essence: http://www.scribd.com/doc/117483854/The-Sims-Happy-Friends-Home-2-10-96 http://www.scribd.com/doc/117483854/The-Sims-Happy-Friends-H...
  - idm 14y ago
    Those design documents are fantastic. I love peering into the creative design process.
    - 14y ago
lifeisstillgood 14y ago
The perfect name reminds me of the Douglas Adams story somewhere in his third Hitchhiker book - about the Reason. And sometimes, after some of the worst of these outrages, the Dwellers in the Forest would send a Messenger to either the Leader of the Princes of the Plains or the Leader of the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides and demand to know the reason for this intolerable behavior. And the Leader, whichever one it was, would take the Messenger aside and explain the reason to him, slowly and carefully, and with great attention to the considerable detail involved. And the terrible thing was, it was a very good one. It was very clear, very rational and tough. The Messenger would hang his head and feel sad and foolish that he had not realized what a tough and complex place the real world was, and what difficulties and paradoxes had to be embraced if one was to live in it. "Now do you understand?" the Leader would say. The Messenger would nod dumbly. "And you see these battles have to take place?" Another dumb nod. "And why they have to take place in the Forest, and why it is in everybody's best interest. the Forest Dwellers included, that they should?" "Er ..." "In the long run." "Er, yes." And the Messenger did understand the reason, and he returned to his people in the Forest. But as he approached them, as he walked through the Forest and among the trees, he found that all he could remember of the reason was how terribly clear the argument had seemed. What it actually was, he couldn't remember at all. And this, of course, was a great comfort when next the Tribesmen and the Princes came hacking and burning their way through the Forest, killing every Forest Dweller in their way.
- loceng 14y ago
  Understanding allows for calm, energies from the unknown are able to be placed, to settle. Great little excerpt.
HornThisWay 14y ago
Were you going to call it "The Buds"? I don't think that's a very good name, but if I was high, I'd probably think it was perfect.
- SimHacker 14y ago
  By god, that very well might be it! I will have to test that theory be recreating the circumstances as accurately as possible. To science!!!
  - pstuart 14y ago
    Perhaps "Best Buds"?
- heyitsnick 14y ago
  I have no connection to this in any way. Yet i'm extremely confident that was exactly it.
- rmathew 14y ago
  For the benefit of the non-native English speakers here or for those not too familiar with American culture, can you explain the awesomeness of this name?
  - gwillen 14y ago
    "Bud" is an abbreviation of "buddy", an informal term for "friend." "Bud" is also a slang term for marijuana (which is made from the buds of the cannabis plant.)
bonobo 14y ago
> Then there was the legendary perfectly descriptive catchy epic name, that everyone on the team really loved, which we dreamed up together in a brainstorming session when we were all quite stoned Have you considered it only seemed legendary because you were all stoned? When I'm drunk every idea seems a good idea... I wonder if the name would still seem legendary if you guys had remembered it.
- SimHacker 14y ago
  Why I never ... Uuuhh ... Hmmm ... It's hard to tell, you know. Well, maybe. Or maybe not. No way of telling, really. ;)
  - bonobo 14y ago
    I think we will never know. Just in case, if you ever wake up in the middle of the night with that (supposedly) legendary name back in your mind, could you please tell us? :)
neumann_alfred 14y ago
hen there was Will's quirky name, Super Happy Friends Home, which only the Japanese would love. ? I just saw a talk by him yesterday where he confirmed what you can read (and see) here, http://www.will-wright.com/willshistory7.php http://www.will-wright.com/willshistory7.php Not that it has anything to do with your point, but still :P
- SimHacker 14y ago
  Oh right, I totally forgot about the name "TDS", which stood for "Tactical Domestic Simulator" and survives in the name of some of the tools like TDSBuild: http://www.scribd.com/doc/117493077/The-Sims-TDSB http://www.scribd.com/doc/117493077/The-Sims-TDSB

switz 14y ago

It's only 6 am, but this is my favorite story that I will read on the internet today. Thank you.

SimHacker 14y ago
Maxis is "Six AM" spelled backwards!
- carlisle_ 14y ago
  You are a god walking amongst mere mortals.
  - SimHacker 14y ago
    Naw, I was just lucky to be hyperactive, and in the right place at the right time, plus I benefited from a lot of nice people who helped me get there. There are a lot of great people lurking around here, but the really godly ones don't have time to surf the internet! The thing you realize by meeting such people is that there is really no limit on how much you can learn and what you can do. And it's a lot easier now to pick new stuff up, what with the internets and all those tubes. Just keep improving yourself all the time, and keep yourself open to luck. And of course Will Wright has some great advice: Don't give up on your big dreams -- save and hone and cultivate them for later, when the time is right (and your skills and the technology have improved): "He encouraged designers with ideas for games that are far outside the box not to give up on those ideas, but instead to cultivate them and revisit them later, when the time, the team, and the technology might be right." http://www.gamespot.com/news/will-wright-wows-gdc-with-new-sim-6120274 http://www.gamespot.com/news/will-wright-wows-gdc-with-new-s...

acheron 14y ago

I seem to remember hearing it was going to be called "SimHouse" at one point. "Super Happy Friends Home" is excellent, but yeah, I think "The Sims" worked out for the best. :)

SimHacker 14y ago
Oh yeah, that sounds familiar! But that DEFINITELY was not the legendary name we all forgot. SimHouse and a few names like that were floated around, but they were't very exciting or apt, since the focus evolved from the architecture to the people. The big problem was that nobody had any idea what players would think of it, so we just kept developing it and playing it and changing the design, while wondering about what it was all about. There was one terrible phase we went through, trying to frame it like a simulated situation comedy, complete with a laugh track. That resulted in the first characters being named Edith and Archie (and I named the visual programming tool "Edith" for Edit House). But fortunately the idea of simulating a TV show was eventually flushed down the toilet. It just took a few weeks to walk all the way to the bathroom. ;( I was rooting for a weird name like "Perky Pat Layouts", based on Philip K Dick's book, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which had an uncanny creepy plot about adults on drugs playing together with physical miniaturized doll houses in order to enter a shared virtual reality. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?bnum=577 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?bnum=577 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1672 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsN... But EA didn't like the idea of selling CAN-D... I've put up some old design documents here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/4050497/The-Sims http://www.scribd.com/collections/4050497/The-Sims This "Happy Friends Home" initial proposal from October 2 1996 is pretty funny, and captures the essence: http://www.scribd.com/doc/117483854/The-Sims-Happy-Friends-Home-2-10-96 http://www.scribd.com/doc/117483854/The-Sims-Happy-Friends-H...
- idm 14y ago
  Those design documents are fantastic. I love peering into the creative design process.
  - 14y ago

lifeisstillgood 14y ago

The perfect name reminds me of the Douglas Adams story somewhere in his third Hitchhiker book - about the Reason. And sometimes, after some of the worst of these outrages, the Dwellers in the Forest would send a Messenger to either the Leader of the Princes of the Plains or the Leader of the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides and demand to know the reason for this intolerable behavior. And the Leader, whichever one it was, would take the Messenger aside and explain the reason to him, slowly and carefully, and with great attention to the considerable detail involved. And the terrible thing was, it was a very good one. It was very clear, very rational and tough. The Messenger would hang his head and feel sad and foolish that he had not realized what a tough and complex place the real world was, and what difficulties and paradoxes had to be embraced if one was to live in it. "Now do you understand?" the Leader would say. The Messenger would nod dumbly. "And you see these battles have to take place?" Another dumb nod. "And why they have to take place in the Forest, and why it is in everybody's best interest. the Forest Dwellers included, that they should?" "Er ..." "In the long run." "Er, yes." And the Messenger did understand the reason, and he returned to his people in the Forest. But as he approached them, as he walked through the Forest and among the trees, he found that all he could remember of the reason was how terribly clear the argument had seemed. What it actually was, he couldn't remember at all. And this, of course, was a great comfort when next the Tribesmen and the Princes came hacking and burning their way through the Forest, killing every Forest Dweller in their way.

loceng 14y ago
Understanding allows for calm, energies from the unknown are able to be placed, to settle. Great little excerpt.

HornThisWay 14y ago

Were you going to call it "The Buds"? I don't think that's a very good name, but if I was high, I'd probably think it was perfect.

SimHacker 14y ago
By god, that very well might be it! I will have to test that theory be recreating the circumstances as accurately as possible. To science!!!
- pstuart 14y ago
  Perhaps "Best Buds"?
heyitsnick 14y ago
I have no connection to this in any way. Yet i'm extremely confident that was exactly it.
rmathew 14y ago
For the benefit of the non-native English speakers here or for those not too familiar with American culture, can you explain the awesomeness of this name?
- gwillen 14y ago
  "Bud" is an abbreviation of "buddy", an informal term for "friend." "Bud" is also a slang term for marijuana (which is made from the buds of the cannabis plant.)

bonobo 14y ago

> Then there was the legendary perfectly descriptive catchy epic name, that everyone on the team really loved, which we dreamed up together in a brainstorming session when we were all quite stoned Have you considered it only seemed legendary because you were all stoned? When I'm drunk every idea seems a good idea... I wonder if the name would still seem legendary if you guys had remembered it.

SimHacker 14y ago
Why I never ... Uuuhh ... Hmmm ... It's hard to tell, you know. Well, maybe. Or maybe not. No way of telling, really. ;)
- bonobo 14y ago
  I think we will never know. Just in case, if you ever wake up in the middle of the night with that (supposedly) legendary name back in your mind, could you please tell us? :)

neumann_alfred 14y ago

hen there was Will's quirky name, Super Happy Friends Home, which only the Japanese would love. ? I just saw a talk by him yesterday where he confirmed what you can read (and see) here, http://www.will-wright.com/willshistory7.php http://www.will-wright.com/willshistory7.php Not that it has anything to do with your point, but still :P

SimHacker 14y ago
Oh right, I totally forgot about the name "TDS", which stood for "Tactical Domestic Simulator" and survives in the name of some of the tools like TDSBuild: http://www.scribd.com/doc/117493077/The-Sims-TDSB http://www.scribd.com/doc/117493077/The-Sims-TDSB