Saturday 24 November 2001

Pic of the day: Try before you buy.

Hot Date, Day 2

It's one month to Christmas Eve. Do you buy The Sims: Hot Date for your beloved? (Well, apart from the fact that I'm pretty sure one or two of you are Jews and probably have different rituals. That just mean you'll have to find another excuse to buy stuff for others that you want yourself.)

Hot Date makes ordinary social interactions more complicated. In the original The Sims, when you saw the neighbors approaching, you could click on them and choose "Greet". Now you have to wait until you hear the doorbell, and when you click "Greet" you get a number of choices for how to greet them. Even total strangers can be greeted by a wave or a handshake. (I wonder if the Sim Wave will become common in society a generation from now. Basically you stand right in front of each other and wave with your whole arm in front of each other's face, but without your arms colliding. I think it would take some practice.) With friends and lovers, the options for greeting fills a whole circle.

One surprising change when my character invited friends over, was that the first impulse of the female guests always was "nag". This is a choice that did not exist in the original game, and consists of them saying something about a third person in a slightly screechy voice. The reaction to this is always negative, as far as I have seen. Male friends however have so far never been observed to nag, only to talk about his interests (often sports). I hope this is just a random fluke and not coded to follow gender lines.

***

My best guess is that Maxis has made it more difficult to keep up friendships and relationships in the old way (by just coming over for a turkey.) The rationale for this would be to prod people to go downtown instead. Downtown is quite a different world, and the rules of conduct are noticeably different.

You can go downtown by calling "Cab" from the phone, but more important, there is an option when you call your friends to "invite downtown". The yellow cab still shows up, and you still get the transition graphics, but when you arrive the other person is standing beside you with a clear blue mood indicator over her head. The bluer it is, the better the mood, say the booklet. All I have seen is it going from light blue to dark blue during the evening, but I have no idea whether this is more blue or less blue. At least it did not turn red.

There are a couple new options when you click on a Sim here. "What are you into?" will make them tell you their main interests. This is most useful when you meet someone new and want to know quickly how (in)compatible you are. But it is also useful for your love interest, if you for some obscure reason have not noticed already. You can change your own interests to match, by reading the appropriate magazines. (Browse magazines to see which fit your need.) Reading mags can only be done at home, however. The game does not encourage chameleoning for one night stands.

You can also talk about work, which will make the two of you reveal your career paths for one another. Again, could be handy if you want them to move in with you eventually, I suppose. Er, with your Sim. With your Sim!

And not least, you can ask the other person "How are you?" to tell you her priorities, which will usually start out with food.

***

Your first priority then should be to find a place to buy food. This depends on where in downtown you have gone. There are several different lots in each downtown, each of them offering some of the features of a mall. Some are rather restricted, like the beach. You can buy a hot dog or grill burgers (the grill is by far the most economical alternative) and that's pretty much it. Other places are almost nothing except a restaurant, and here you go to the cash register and choose the type of meal you want from three sizes. (The cheapest alternative will not keep you fed for a whole evening.) Your date trails along and has no say in the process. You are seated by the table and given menus (here in Norway, this happens before you choose your meal, I don't know if this is a cultural difference or if the game developers have given up that level of realism. It took me some time to realize that I could not just walk in without paying first).

Just like in real life, eating out is far less boring when you are two. (And unlike real life, you can't bring a pocket PC with you, which would make your fun level rise gradually throughout the wait. Ahem.) Your Simdate and your Sim will automatically talk, and you can click on your Sim to change topic. (OK, just a little bit of chameleoning then.) Clicking on the date will bring up other options, appropriate for the relationship. Well, not always appropriate enough. Just because the game says "Play footsie" does not mean you should play footsie. It is certainly worth a try, though. The worst that could happen is that your date storms out and your relationship takes a temporary blow. They are easily convinced to try again another day, if you are already friends. (-Kids, don't try this in real life. Or, on second thought, who am I to give you relationship advice? Just be sure you can live with the result.)

Depending on the size of the meal, it may now be time for either a toilet or entertainment. If there is any way to make your date go to the toilet too, I have not found it; she is likely to leave for a while on that accord later on. (Just like in real life.) The entertainment varies from place to place. I recommend the mall-like places where there are at least pinball machines, always a great hit and a social thing to do too. But the dance floor rules supreme. If you make your own hideout, be sure to include one. "Dance slow" raises both fun and social. I suppose it might raise other things too, but the game is not so detailed.

The malls also have clothes for sale. If you have money to spend, this is a good way to do so. Try clothes on or better yet, try clothes on your date. There are for some obscure reason no everyday clothes in the whole downtown, only formalwear, swimsuits and PJs. Getting your date to wiggle in pajamas is a main selling point for Hot Date, I'd say. The realism of it is another matter, unless you live in California. Of course, if you don't buy after you try, you lose relationship points. If you pay up, the relationship goes up. (If there is more to go, at least.)

Momentarily back to entertainment, there is actually a "Play" option on the dressing booths when your date is in there. Handle with care. (As in "don't open before marriage" if you see what I mean.)

***

So all things taken together, what is the verdict? Hot Date is clearly the most substantial enhancement of the original game, almost like getting a new game, only cheaper. It kinda complexifies the relationship part, though, and if relationships are a very small part of your playstyle you may wish to forgo it.

Me, I like it. I have already saved up several interesting screenshots that I hope to use with future journal entries or in the Sim comic which I'm occasionally building up in my free time. A free time which has now become even less ...