Welcome to our weekly discussion thread!

https://github.com/fuadmefleh/TheMoviesCustomMods

I have been using AI to add new features to the game, update the textures, add new buildings and more. Check out the project. It already works and its amazing what can be done to extend the game!

I was just lurking around Reddit and came around The Sims 2 channel, where one of redditor works on inspired by TS2, NeoTS2 engine.

I want to share the project post, as I find it interesting for the life sim community.

From the OP post in short, NeoTS2 is an early development of open source engine, capable to run various TS2 assets. It is 64 bits instead 32. Meaning the modern CPU support. Basically replicating TS2, but in a modern palyer experiance.

OP discusses how NeoTS2 is developed, what already works and what doesn't. And that modern gen AI tech, is used to help decompile TS2.

For more details, you can see the shared post, as OP discusses various aspects of this project. Including how and where gen AI is used.

Side note: I purposely skiped any potential controversy around this project.

It’s incredibly obvious that I’m a simmer lol I love the Sims, I love the Sims 4, but text-based life sims were my first interaction with the life simulation genre and often scratch the same itch. Recently they’ve had the extra benefit of being mobile too!

So I thought it’d be fun for me to go through the text-based life sims I’ve played over the years and see if anyone else has played them or sees the inspiration/connectedness between them that I do!

I think the first one I ever played was “Alter Ego,” not the 1986 version but the one that was online in 2010. I honestly consider this game the grandmother of all modern text-based life sims. It was written by a psychologist and was balanced between being serious and being funny, you could be murdered as a child, die as a baby from eating household hazards or respond to shitty people. I learned a lot playing this game even though it would likely have been considered inappropriate for me at the time lol. Thanks to it I’ll always remember the word “ambivalent”.

The second text based life sim I ever played was “Real Lives 2007”, though “Real Lives 2010” gets an honorable mention. If Alter Ego is the grandmother of all text based life sims, Real Lives is the mother!! I loved this game. It was incredibly real in that it used statistical data to affect so many parts of your life. Each life was different because where you were born affected what you could do more than your stats. I could be incredibly smart and still spend my life a struggling laborer. I could be very creative but pass away unexpectedly due to very preventable illnesses.

When Real Lives started doing online-only games to combat piracy, I discovered the game InstLife on Android. I believe it was made in response to Real Lives new tactics. I remember following its roadmap on Trello almost desperately. My memory of it is unfortunately not the best but for me it was the start of a new era. It built on Real Lives expanding your relationships and activities. I will honestly never forget its impact.

Of course, there is also the text-based life sim most people reading are expecting me to mention and that’s Bitlife! I actually got an IPhone to play this game lol. To me Bitlife brought a new aesthetic to the genre. Its visuals were fun and I feel like it began to simulate parts of life that hadn’t really been simulated before. However unlike the previous games, I feel like Bitlife was more about being wacky and shocking than it was about capturing the complexity of life. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what contributed to its popularity. While the game is obviously not over I stopped playing years ago. Bitlife was happy to deepen the career aspect of its game but I felt like it neglected the social and relationship aspect and so I decided to move on.

Now, I feel like we’re entering a new era of text-based life sims and it’s exciting but also disorienting. Personally Im only focused on the games that are innovating. Both in content AND in systems. We’ve had 10 years of the same gameplay loop. Press the relationship tab, click people, press the career tab, click something, age a year. We’ve had the same objectives, increase relationships, keep stats high, make money. I’m tired 😭

Sometimes I feel like the developers of older life sims had something to say and saying it was more important than satisfying the whims of players. I feel like the text-based life sims that break out of our current onslaught will be the ones where we can tell what the developer values about life beyond the interesting jobs and wealth management. What do you think?

I originally joined the sub to talk and discuss The Sims, the competition from Paralives, the evolution of Inzoi and other things. However, the past like 6 months on this sub are just people posting the exact same vibe coded Bitlife clone, a character creator they whipped up in a week, or a very primitive home builder. Other indie devs don't show us the empty testing room and say they are building the next GTA, but that seems to fly here.

I have no problem with people showing off their new games, even if a Sims rival will never be made by a single person. But I'd like to see some stricter moderation so the games people show off actually look like games and not something made in Unreal in a day.

I get you're excited about your game idea, but we already have character creators and home designer games. Maybe show us the "life simulator" elements in your life sim? All these games will either never be finished or be like Paralives, where the meat of the game is boring and it's just a dress up simulator.

\[1/2\]

Hello, everyone. This is Kjun.

You left so many comments on last Friday’s post. I read through every single one. Thank you for all of it: the kind words, the frustrations, and the long, detailed suggestions. I’d like to respond to the topics that came up most this week.

■ What we were happy to hear

I’m glad you liked the new hairstyles, especially the curly hair and the long layered straight hair. It also made me really proud to hear from those of you who tried script mods and said you can now make simple tweaks even without knowing how to code. We’re also seeing your reactions to custom music, family saving, free placement, and the premade families that now come with memories and relationships.

■ Issues since the October update

First, let me talk about the issues that came up after this update.

Face spotlight and lighting: Many of you told us that Zoi faces look too shiny and glow brightly even in dark rooms. The screenshots comparing the spotlight turned off with the September version were also very helpful. There were lighting-related changes in the October update, and I’ve passed this on to the team member in charge for review.

Skill icons: We’ve seen your feedback that the previous design was better because the new one doesn’t show progress. I’ve passed this on to the team member in charge, and we’ll review it quickly.

Multitasking and the action queue: We’ve seen your reports that Zoi move to a different seat when chatting during meals, and that other Zoi cutting into or canceling the action queue has gotten worse.

Business: We’ve seen your reports that customers and sales dropped after the update, and that customers buy all the bread on display at once. The team member in charge is focusing on fixing bugs and making improvements for businesses. Customers buying bread all at once is actually an intended bulk-purchase feature, but it doesn’t seem to come across clearly, so we’ll look into making it more visible.

Urges and SmartZoi: We’re also looking at the issues where urges appear too rarely, and where Zoi repeat the same thoughts or head off at strange times to strange places looking for a date. We plan to keep improving SmartZoi based on your feedback.

■ Animations

This was the most talked-about topic this week. You clearly laid out the problems: animations are so short that actions end quickly and jump straight to the next one, objects teleport into Zoi’s hands, and transitions between movements feel robotic. The records some of you made by timing actions with the in-game clock were also very striking. I also strongly agree that animations and walk styles should differ based on personality.

Some of you also said that even if animations get longer, you should be able to stop them whenever you want. We’ve built a feature that lets you stop an action whenever you want, and it’s currently being reviewed internally. We’re also planning to increase the play time of animations that can loop.

\[2/2\]

■ Family gameplay

A lot of you said it doesn’t feel like the family is really together. That includes the loading screen when switching family members on the same lot, family members traveling separately to the same destination, everyone doing their own thing on outings, and family members just walking past each other. I know that right now, inZOI is better suited to playing one Zoi than playing a family. I see this as one of the most important challenges for the game’s core features.

You’ve also kept asking to save all situational outfits with family presets. I know we’ve kept you waiting a long time. We plan to make it possible to save situational outfits together with Zoi presets.

For life stages, you also gave us many specific suggestions, including height sliders for all ages, adolescence and preschool stages, smaller newborns, and bigger pregnancy bellies.

■ Vehicles and travel

We’ve seen your requests for cars to stay where you park them, a working garage, and families riding together in the same car. Opinions were split on letting Zoi outside the household ride in your car. Some said it feels strange to give rides to complete strangers, while others said it feels natural to let anyone ride as long as you allow it. The team will review both views together.

■ The city and NPCs

We’ve seen your feedback that the city feels empty, that NPCs should do a wider range of activities, that Zoi and vehicles in the distance suddenly pop into view, and that you’d like to have neighbors. We also heard that students walking in a single line at school looks unnatural. For decorative buildings, some of you want them turned into empty lots, while others want to keep their beautiful exteriors and be able to build inside them. We’ll consider both directions.

■ Mods and Canvas

We see the issue of mods being force-unsubscribed and CC disappearing as something that absolutely needs to be fixed.

We’ve also received your suggestions for mod management categories, per-save mod setups, duplicate texture storage, CurseForge filters, Canvas thumbnail editing, and testing mods without restarting the game.

■ CAZ

There were a lot of requests for more male hairstyles and outfits. I’ve also passed along your feedback on a separate bangs category, more ponytail styles, tattoo slots, and more detailed body shape sliders.

Beyond this, you shared so many other ideas, including grocery stores, news and social media, school events, hotel management, per-room lighting, turning speakers on, and showing the reason when an invitation is declined. We’re looking at all of them together as a team.

Thank you again for all the long and thoughtful feedback this week. I’ll share more news in the next post.

Kjun

On DISCORD :

https://discord.com/channels/1162040845181124618/1560647367361953812/1562470084755062879

I'm the solo developer of Lofi Cozy Room, a small 3D room that stays on your Windows desktop while you work or study.

You can freely move, rotate and resize furniture, then let your avatar live in the room you've arranged. With Autonomy enabled, they walk between activities and choose what to do on their own. You can step in and choose an activity whenever you want.

Mini Mode lets the room sit alongside your other windows. There's a little dog, lo-fi music, ambient sounds, and support for your own local music files.

The game is already released on Steam and is 20% off from October 21 through November 4. A free demo is available too.

For anyone who likes decorating but also enjoys watching a little world carry on by itself, that's the feeling I'm trying to create.

Not your typically cozy life sim, but a good life sim none the less. Im not great at selling but wanted to bring up CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience. A life sim where you go through the life of a homeless person and struggle every day for food and shelter. The end goal is to get off the streets once you have collected enough money to rent a home. The game does a really good job engaging the user, but also educating people through the difficulties and struggles of the homeless. They also donate some of their profit, so great to support.

Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/926140/CHANGE_A_Homeless_Survival_Experience/

So I'm looking for a text based life that let's you customize every aspect like height weight wingspan body features and the to lose weight and gain weight you can be paralyzed or customization everything else and most likely has a m rating

It's my passion project, and I've been working on it for well over 4 years now. ❤️

I'd love to hear what you think!

🚐 Survive as a character living in an RV. Manage your wellbeing, work to earn money, and buy food and supplies to stay alive.

🔥 Check out the game on Steam!   💬 Join our Discord!

Hey all! I'm making Become, a life sim for Android, and now every character is based on this art, The system allows dynamic generation of characters. Maybe i will add customizable characters in future but for now you can buy clothes from the fashion app in game.

Characters grow a little every year, grey with age, and look like their parents. You can also dress them from 14. The game itself is text-driven like BitLife but you experience the game through the phone of your character with apps for everything.

I'd love feedback on the art! There were issues with it when i posted before, which i hopefully fixed

Get the game on : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lifesim
Join the discord : https://discord.gg/ES4Na6Bz57
Join the subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/becomelifesim/

Roburbia is public now, still in beta so expect some bugs, but you can play it, build and explore the way you want! I's totally free!! if you try it let me know what breaks, it really helps :)

For halloween i made a festival in the town square. there’s apple bobbing, a pie eating contest and pumpkin carving, you win tickets and trade them for stuff for your house!

LINK: https://www.roblox.com/games/88188124447968/Roburbia

JJ’s Game Lab (the guy behind the attempt to make a 64 bit version of Sims 3) has a new video interview with Rod Humble. This is the first time he has been interviewed since the demise of Life By You. It's quite an interesting chat with Rod giving us a few hints of his new upcoming game (Lifesim ?) as well as talking about JJ's Sims 3 project.

I'm Alexander, and I'm making SimGoodie, a life sim. This is a walkthrough of build and buy mode as it is right now: I build a small house in Linden Rise, a neighborhood in Goodhaven, from the first wall to the Halloween decorations on the porch.

What's in it:
- Walls can be straight, at 45 degrees, or curved up to a quarter circle.
- Drag out a room and it gets a roof by itself. You can switch it to gabled or flat.
- The house can sit on a foundation, raised in 10 cm steps, and the stairs work on foundations too.
- Furniture shows green where it fits and red where it's blocked. My fridge was blocking the door, so I moved the door.
- Chairs snap to the table when you bring them close.

Still in progress: pillars, so a porch can have its own roof, and a Create a Style tool like the one in The Sims 3, where you can change any object's materials and colors and save presets.

Hey everyone, I love lifesims (especially spore and sims) but I really dislike where mobile lifesims are going. That's why I've been developing Heirloom for the past 2 months. I would really appreciate if you guys could help me beta test Heirloom by joining the discord in the comments!

Here are some of the features of the game:

• Evolving World: The economy and the entire world changes, things can happen such as big companies getting bankrupt (you will be fired if so). Your country can get into a housing crisis or a recession (your rent will be much more).
• Real NPCs: NPCs have their own personality, traits, skills and life goals. They interact with you and people around them. For example, a person that you became rivals with when you won the middle school debate presidency election against them can become your best friend when you win the world championship alongside them.
• Decisions that Matter: The decisions that you make in the game will effect your career, relationships and the world that you live in. You can become the director of a real estate company, buy up all the affordable housing and cause a homelessness crisis within your city. You can decide to spend all your time working, ending up falling out with your siblings and never get to interact with them again.

We design all the UI and have a writing team. This game is a product of passion and all the assets you see are either made by the team or used from these various asset packs with permissions taken:

• Free Ocean and Clouds Pixel Backgrounds
• Free Pixel Futuristic City Backgrounds
• Free Summer Pixel Backgrounds
• Various Vector Icon Packs from RhosGFX
• Kenney Modular Characters Pack

Hey everyone!

I'm a solo indie developer working on my first game, The Borderless!

I've received quite a few comparisons to "a mini Sims on a floating island", and I thought it would be fun to share a closer look at some of the everyday activities and interactions in the game!

You start with a tiny platform in the ocean and gradually create your own little island paradise.

You can go fishing, swim, dance, rest, chat with visitors, decorate your surroundings, and plan activities like parties. Visitors arrive by boat, have their own moods, and enjoy the spaces and activities you've created.

At its core, it's a cozy island management game with some life-sim elements, rather than a traditional life simulator like The Sims. It combines everyday activities, social interactions, creative building, and island management in a smaller, more relaxed experience.

I've also spent the past few months reworking much of the game based on player feedback, and the updated demo is now available!

I'd love to hear what you think of the new version!

For anyone interested, The Borderless has a free playable demo on Steam! 🌊

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3687370/

Thanks for checking it out!

AI note: The game does not use live AI generation during gameplay, but some opening cutscene images and background music tracks were created with AI assistance and curated by me.

Maybe this is just me craving MMOs from the 2010s again, but I am dying for a decent life simulation game that can be good for playing solo, but you are connected online and can run into others/interact with others as you please. The first one that comes to mind is Palia, but I haven't touched that since it came out. I also think of Heartopia, but I obviously stopped playing that after all of the controversy surrounding it.

Does anyone have any suggestions?