Lost 1999 The Sims 1 Prototype FOUND

A fun little milestone for The Sims 1 enthusiasts: we can now experience an early prototype of the original The Sims 1 game — exactly as it looked right after the Steering Committee Demo, a.k.a. the build that convinced the folks at Electronic Arts to green-light the project back in mid-1998, to the point that we could've just call it Sims 1 Steering Committee II...

Compiled in January 1999, this The Sims 1 prototype shares many traits with the famous Steering Committee demo most fans know so well — including the same cheerful suburban neighborhood setting (once again set in the grassy, vividly green world of “Happy Acres”) that has nothing to do with what ended up becoming SimLane, and a cast of characters who, for better or worse, never made it to the final The Sims 1 release (Sigmund Silver, Samantha, The Duchess, and others).

But here’s where things get interesting: unlike The Sims 1 Steering Committee build, this The Sims 1 prototype completely drops the scenario-driven plots. For the first time in a known The Sims 1 development version, we players are the ones in charge of our households’ stories — with no scripted tutorials. In this specific Sims 1 iteration, the absence of scripted scenarios makes the simming remarkably repetitive and without the potential of decision making, as the lack of a working job mechanic, or a more developed skilling system, prevents players, at this point, to set mid to long term plans for their virtual families. But, come on! You will agree with me that everything else is weirdly polished for a Sims prototype.

This is also the earliest Sims 1 build known to feature the interaction queue at the upper-left corner of the screen (it's just a little annoying that you can not halt the ONGOING interactions... aaaaaah!) and, for the first time, a functioning CAS screen, albeit one still filled with horrid stub graphics and the strange ability to adjust character skills as if they were personality points.

Oh, what about the KITCHEN FIRES!?...

Gosh, there’s so much interesting Sims 1 goodies to unpack here — but for now, here’s just a normal, introductory demo video to inspire y'all.
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Sims 1 Prototype found by chance in a CD at a thrift store in Washington. Spooky!

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MASSIVE THANKS TO: FoxieHikari; Bowser.

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The Sims 1

GAME DESIGNER
Will Wright

PRODUCER
Kana Ryan

ART DIRECTOR
Charles London

SIMULATOR ENGINEER
Jamie Doornbos

GRAPHICS ENGINEER
Eric Bowman

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORS
Jeff Charvat
Jim Mackraz

ENGINEERS
Patrick J. Barrett III
Don Hopkins
David Oester
Trevor Perrin
Alex Zvenigorodsky

AUDIO SYSTEM ENGINEER
Paul Wilkinson

LEAD ANIMATOR
Eric Hedman

ARTISTS
Jami Becker
Eric Chin
Bob King
B.J. West

ADDITIONAL ARTISTS
Margaret Foley-Mauvais
Dan Goldman
Stefan Gustafsson
Minds Eye Media
New Pencil Inc.
Ocean Quiqley

DESIGNERS
Claire Curtin
Roxy Wolosenko
Luc Barthelet

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Chris Trottier
Tim LeTourneau

ASSISTANT PRODUCERS
Melissa Bachman-Wood
Sean Baity
Chris Baena

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piazzi rocks