engine: proprietary

• atmospheric/environmental effects
  • dust: building, fights
  • odor: spoiled food, underarms
  • shaking: woohoo (sex)
  • smoke: broken objects, burnt food, fights, fire, woohoo
  • sparks: broken objects, woohoo
  • steam: food (cooking, freshly served), hot water (shower, sink)
  • water: bubbles, ripples, splash, steam, waves; faucets, hot tub, pool
  • weather
    • clouds: fade, move
  • other: bush trimmings, bushes become untrimmed, exhaust (vehicles), explosions (broken objects), fire, fire extinguisher foam/spray, flies around spoiled food & garbage, food splatter, shooting/twinkling stars, weeds grow on puddles; see particle effects
• collision detection:
• lighting: dynamic, colored, vertex & lightmap; day-night cycle, fading, flickering; computers, fire, fishtank, hot tub, lamps/lights, refridgerators
• particle effects: bubbles, bush trimmings, crush/love hearts, debris, faucet water, fire extinguisher foam/spray, flies, food splatter, odor, shards, sleep Zzz's, smoke, sparks, steam
• physics
  • gravity: sims
• reflection: mirrors, water, windows; see environmental texture mapping
• shadows: vertical angle adjustment; on just about everything (- sim-sim shadows)
• skeletal animation: yes
• texture: 16-/32-bit depth
  • filtering: bilinear
  • mapping: bump, environmental (windows, water), mip
• transparency: clothing change swirl, exhaust, fire, glass, odor, smoke, steam, water
• other: anti-aliasing

player character

• character: sims (male/female; babies/toddlers/children, teens, adults, elders); facial animation
• footsteps: carpet, cement, dirt, grass, sand, stone, tile, water, wood
• moves: accept delivery, appreciate (admire, backrub, groom), argue (annoy, irritate), bathe/shower, call on phone (various), call over, change (appearance, clothes), chat with (on computer), check food supplies, clean (various), cook (various), crawl, cuddle, dance, daydream, dismiss, dispose (baby/toddler bottles), do yoga, drink, eat, email (check/send), empty (potty trainer), end services, extinguish fires, feed (babies/toddlers), fight (attack, poke, shove, slap), flirt (caress, charm, goose, hit on, serenade, suggestion), flush (toilet), get mail, greet, grill, gussy up, hold hands, hug (various), irritate (argue, gross out), juggle (bottles, mugs), kick/pickup garbage can, kiss (make out, peck, romantic, tender, up arm), look through (telescope), lounge, make bed, make/serve drinks/food, meditate, nap, offer lessons to/teach (sims), order groceries/pizza, painting (practice, scrap, sell), pay bills, play (with other sims, on/with objects), practice (romance, speech), pull weeds, read (books, newspapers), read to (toddlers), relax, repair (various), salvage?, scan for prints, serve (food/drinks), shoo, sit, sleep, smash (dollhouse), snuggle (toddlers), stargaze, study, swim, take out trash, talk (brag, chat, gossip, share interests), teleport?, tip, turn on/off (various), trim bushes (hedges only?), unclog toilet, use acne cream?, use (various), view (art), walk/run/skip, wash dishes/hands, watch (clouds, other sims do various things, TV), water flowers/plants, woohoo (sex), work out (exercise), write (in diary, novel on computer)
• view: 3rd-person, 1st-person (camera mode only)
  • pan: keyboard/mouse
  • zoom: keyboard/mouse

level/world design

• # levels: lots (depends on neighborhood)
• location: neighborhoods, SimCity
• cutscenes: yes (birth, woohoo)
• level editor: integrated
• environmental interaction
  • break: bathtubs, computers, dishwashers, microwaves, ovens/stoves, showers, sinks, stereos, toilets, TVs
  • clean: bathtubs, counters, sinks, toilets
  • move: newspapers, teddy bears, babies/toddlers
  • open: doors
  • pickup: books, dishes, food, newspaper, phone headset, teddy bear
  • repair: bathtubs, computers, dishwashers, exercise machines, hot tubs?, microwaves, ovens/stoves, showers, sinks, stereos, toilets (unclog), TVs
  • ride: swing, vehicles
  • turn on/off: computers, lights, stereos, TVs
  • other: computer (chat, check/send email, find a job, find own place, order groceries, play game, write novel), newspaper (bring in, do crossword, find a job, find own place, make airplane, read, recycle); see player character moves
• traps/hazards: burning, drowning, electrocution, fear, flies?, old age, satellite falls on?, sickness, starvation

weapons: hands

NPCs

• other sims
• AI
  • very realistic
  • sims attempt to fulfill aspirations (grow up, romance, family, knowledge, popularity, fortune), fears, and needs/wants which can lead to procrastination, worrying, depression, nightmares, or a total breakdown
  • memory: 1st encounters, 1st kisses, bladder failures, deaths?, fall in love, make friends, sex
  • moods
  • react to events: body (bladder/bowels, hunger, odor, lack of sleep), jealousy, lack of (fun, social contact), poor environment (dirty, cheap objects, unmaintained yard), get sick by eating enough bad food and/or getting a virus
  • skills: body, charisma, cleaning, cooking, creativity, logic, mechanical
  • personality: active/lazy, neat/sloppy, nice/grouchy, outgoing/shy, playful/serious
  • fitness
  • interests: elder sims can build/influence younger sims' interests

inventory:

other

• sound: stereo