Today’s guest post is again from Melissa Mathieu, my long-suffering wife. This is a thoughtful piece about her changing relationship with video games, and the philosophy of Sims 3 that goes far beyond the simulationist argument. Enjoy!
N. B. – as Melissa plays her game on my computer, the language of the game is in French. Most of the pictures should still be self-explanatory. Sul sul!
Since I had my daughter, I needed something to occupy me during long hours spent breastfeeding. To be honest, I’m not a gamer. I had never had a game of my own before Sims 3. I was accustomed to watch my beloved brother play for hours, and I realized how vital video games were to my brother’s life experience, and still are. When I met my husband, he was surprised that I supported him playing video games, unlike past girlfriends. After many philosophical discussions on video game player styles, and video game philosophy/sociology, I became aware that I like “sandbox” games. I’m not keen on games that require hand/eye coordination: not that I don’t have plenty for embroidery or cooking, but games like first person shooters, RPGs and platformers didn’t appeal to me.
My alignment is Chaotic Good. So when I play any type of game it’s to test the limits of the game, and allow creativity and impulsivity to rule my behavior. This is one place where I don’t have to be careful (though I’m very protective of my sims). Roscoe and I had a game together, and then I discovered how much I enjoyed character design. I’ve always been interested in textiles and fashion. Sims 3 has an infinity of different colors and fabrics to work with. They have a limited amount of designs, but I found I can totally change the look of an item by changing the fabric. So this was the first hook: character design and clothing design.
Next I became aware that the traits a character has creates a gestalt that governs the sim’s behavior: their interactions with others, their tendency to do literally anything. There were successes, and mysteries, and complete failures. My favorite sim is a snob and a perfectionist— and yet she is one of the most pleasant sims I’ve met. She is vain— but she’s also truly independent, and I’ve included her in other games when I didn’t intend to because she makes the ideal girlfriend. Despite having two questionable traits!
The two biggest failures were based on one trait having unintended consequences. One character had the “vegetarian” trait which somehow with her other traits made her so abrasive that she was instantly rejected once she talked to a pretty girl (yes, my sims much resemble me : more queer than straight, and extremely Jewish). What I had intended was a calm, strong woman in touch with nature. The next mystery/failure could not get along with really anybody. She is a character in my upcoming short story, “Yerushalmi”. In the story, she’s very strong in who she is, she’s courageous, outrageous, and very sexy. Somehow the gestalt of her traits in the game made her be unpleasant and never ever smiling.
I really do feel something for my sims. I have one game that has been going for three generations. And the family home that I created using the Rectangular starter house gives me such comfort. It has become a home that will grace future generations of Sims!Mathieus in perpetuity, and its character is even more deep for all the family portraits from the AI which somehow can create beautiful still lives and portraits.
I watch my sims’ best and worst moments. I feel genuine pride when I see my sims reach a lifetime goal; at their weddings, their pregnancies, their deaths. I express my affection through building and designing homes for characters, and even more so when I design the perfect mate. It’s a game, but it’s become an opportunity to express myself creatively, and see the whisper in the machine. The ineffeable effect of random chance set within certain chosen parameters. It’s a story unfolding, it gives these highly customisable pixels life, however imagined. I can’t imagine time better spent (within moderation).
Recent Comments