Chat with Will Wright!

    Missed the event? Here is the complete transcript of
          his appearance on the net in the summer

Q: I'm 10 years old and I LOVE YOUR game!!! Thank you for
making it, and I want to ask: How long did it take you to do this?
Will Wright: Games take a long time to make. My first game
took...about a year; the Sims took about 4.5 years.

Q: When we Sim players are playing your game The Sims, what
thought would you like us to keep in the back of our mind? Such
as something important that you want to share to add our
appreciation for your creation!
Will Wright: I think the most important lesson to be learned for
me was time and how we choose to spend it has a big impact on our
happiness.

Q: Have you worked on all "Sim" games made by Maxis?

Will Wright: No, probably less than half, the ones I worked
on...are SimCity Classic, SimEarth, SimAnt, SimCity 2000,
SimCopter and The Sims.

Q: How long did it take you and your crew to create the Sims?
Will Wright: I first started on the Sims about 7 years ago. I
worked on it on and off for a few years and then non-stop for the
last 3 years or so...I probably spent 4.5 years total on it.

Q: What will we expect in Simsville?
Will Wright: I'm not really working on that project, however...it
will sort of be between SimCity and The Sims.

Q: What bands (of music) do you like?
Will Wright: Enigma, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and many
more. Vince Guarldi also.

Q: When will the Sims expansion pack be out?


Will Wright: The expansion pack should be out around the
beginning of September.
@~It's out now ... Sue

 Q: Are you working on making it possible to put windows, doors,
so forth on wall that cut diagonally across a square?
Will Wright: Not in the expansion pack, I really want that also
though...so I'll be trying to find a way to get it in some future
patch.

Q: It seems the direction of the Sims is headed to the more
kitchy/bizarre side of things in the expansion pack, etc., what
will be done to make it more of a realistic imitation of life in
the expansion pack and beyond?
Will Wright: Well that has a lot to do with how you play...there
will also be many new decorative style in the expansion pack which
should allow you to more closely model your own house, etc.

Q: When are we going to get another download?

Will Wright: I'm not sure, I haven't been keeping up with the
downloads at all...sorry I don't know more.

Q: Can there be wether in the expansion pack?
Will Wright: I assume you mean weather. Not really but we're
looking into the possibility in a future object though. Maybe a
weather controller.

Q: How old are you?
Will Wright: I'm 40. I don't feel 40 though (more like 34).

Q: (Mr. Wright, I think that The Sims represents not just a major
stepping stone in artificial intelligence, but also as a
demonstration that computer games CAN be commercial successes. Do
you feel that with the recent introduction of "high- end" consoles
(like the PS2), the PC will no longer be the leading platform for
more "experimental" games?
Will Wright: It will always be easier to experiment on a PC than a
game console for many reasons. The polish of the programming and

art tools being just one example. So no, I think you'll still see
most of the unique games on the PC first, because costs are lower.

Q: Who is your favorite Sim out of the ones that you start the
game with? Such as the Goths and the Newbies. Also, what is
your favorite object?
Will Wright: Probably Bella Goth, I made the Goth family myself
and I feel a certain responsibility for them . my favorite object
is a harder call...either the flamingo, hot tub, pool table, or
clown painting.

Q: Will there be a way to change the pictures and sounds on the
Sims' TV sets?
Will Wright: Actually I think you can change the sounds now by
dropping WAV files into the correct directory with the correct
filenames...I forget the filenames off hand though.

Q: What's Simsville?
Will Wright: Simsville is a new "Sim" game we're releasing early
next year.

Q: How old were you when you came up with this? Or did I
already ask that LOL
Will Wright: I was about 33 when I first though of making a game
like The Sims. That's a rather depressing thought.

Q: Are you married?
Will Wright: Yes, I'm married and have a 13 year-old daughter.

Q: Why don't they have sex in the game?
Will Wright: We would have had to put a M rating on the game,
which would have limited the sales to about 1/2 of otherwise. And
prevented many kids from playing it that might really enjoy it.

Q: Are there going to be any more pets/animals in The Sims
Living Large?
Will Wright: Good question, I can't remember if the parrot made
the list or not.


Q: How long until we get a coat hanger for our closets? What
happened to: walking in the door, Honey I'm home then hang up
coat: This is no way for a Sim to live.
Will Wright: We though about an object that is like a door but has
a closet inside (without sticking out the other side of the
wall)...I think this will be part of the expansion pack.

Q: Will this game, with me being 13 years of age, lead to
materialism when I'm older?
Will Wright: No it will cause you to rebel against our
capitalistic society...you will then move to India and seek out
the root cause of all suffering in life high on a mountaintop,
near the Tibetan plains.

Q: Why is your nick name MaxisTurl?
Will Wright: Turl was the friend and associate of Klapaucius.

Q: Can u include more fat skins with the expansion pack?
Will Wright: If we go too fat the characters start to poke through
the furniture and such...that puts a limit on how big they can be.

Q: When I get a job I want to do what you do...what advice do you
have for me?
Will Wright: Read a lot. Start simple, learn to program (maybe in
Java)...make many simple games yourself and you will learn a
tremendous amount.

Q: What about Sims getting sick and then calling a doctor eg
services menu. Is this possible?
Will Wright: We have a new medicine cabinet in the exp. pack that
will cure sickness.

Q: How did you become who you are?
Will Wright: Well, that's straightforward...I lived my life until
I got to this point.?????

Q: Do you think you are as smart as Bill Gates?
Will Wright: No, I'm just very persistent.


Q: What are your best tips for making the best out of your Sims
time?
Will Wright: Try holding the cursor over the selected Sim to make
him/her walk faster...very few people seem to know this one.

Q: Hi! Just curious, but do you play the games you created in your
spare time?
Will Wright: I play them a lot when I'm working on them...after I
finish them I usually come up for air and play the other games I
was missing to get a sense of what's popular and cool at the time.

Q: I heard that certain architect programs inspired your creation
of the Sims, which ones and are there any you would recommend for
the novice "arm chair" architect?
Will Wright: Actually it was an architecture book. I would highly
recommend A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander...as
far as programs go I would say that 3D Home Architect by
Broderbund is the best I've seen.


Q: Will, when did you figure out that you would get to play video
games for a living?
Will Wright: Well, when I was about 22 I decided to try making
games for a living...it took about a year or so for me to make my
first game and sell it to find out that I actually COULD do it.

Q: What was the first programming language you learned to start
out?
Will Wright: I learned FORTRAN in college and found computers
boring at that time...later I learned BASIC and PASCAL on my first
computer (Apple2)...then later taught myself assembly (6502) we I
got serious about it.

Q: What is your favorite game of all time?
Will Wright: The board game of "Go".

Q: Did you expect your game to become such a world-wide hit?
Will Wright: Not really. I hoped it would do well. But I really
didn't think it would do THIS well.

Q: Why isn't there a teacher career?
Will Wright: We're adding a few new careers in the exp. pack. The
teacher career was hard to populate with 10 different levels.

Q: How many new disasters will the expansion pack have??
Will Wright: About 6-8. Some are surprises. Not as bad as the
guinea pig though.

Q: When the expansion pack is released, will there be any new
ways that your Sim will meet an end?
Will Wright: I believe so. And ways to save a Sim who has met
their end.

Q: Will, this isn't a question, but you are the best in the PC
gaming biz.
Will Wright: Thanks that's a nice thing to say, but Shigeru
Miyamoto is far better.

Q: Which game are you most proud of making?

Will Wright: I'd probably say The Sims now, before The Sims I
would have said SimEarth.

Q: Do you personally handle the new stuff that you have at The
Sims?
Will Wright: If you mean the downloads no, not really. I'm rather
busy on new projects.

Q: Do you review Sim sites?
Will Wright: I don't review them, but I visit them almost daily. I
really like several of them MOTS, SizOnline, Sims Resource,
Project Sims. etc.

Q: Why is Maxis so crazy about llamas?
Will Wright: Llamas are our company mascot.

Q: What are the chances of later allowing SIMS to age?
Will Wright: Maybe in a later version of The Sims. I would be very
hard to add that to the existing version of the game.

Q: Will there be more cheats in the Sims expansion pack?
Will Wright: There will be cheats of sorts (like if the genie can
get his spells right).

Q: Any more skins being made?
Will Wright: Yes, we seem to always be making more skins (as
are the fans).

Q: What will happen to Sims abducted by aliens in Livin' Large?
Will Wright: They will return some time in the future and then be
very different.

Q: Is the guinea pig really the source of a sickness?
Will Wright: Yes, if the pig bites you when his cage is dirty you
can get sick.

Q: What is your favorite color?
Will Wright: Black.


Q: What will the nature of new activities, if any, allowed for
children in the expansion pack?
Will Wright: That's a long answer, pretty much similar to the
adult things (telescope, chemistry set, etc.)

Q: Is it very fun being a programmer?
Will Wright: I don't do that much programming nowadays. I do
mostly design. Programming is very fun though if you have the
temperament for it (patient and meticulous).

Q: Can you make superheroes in your expansion pack?
Will Wright: Well we have new NPCs (genie, grim reaper, tragic
clown)...I'm not sure I'd call any of them heroes though.

Q: What's the longest you've ever played a Sim game in one
sitting?
Will Wright: Probably about 6 hours (when I was younger, and
before I had a kid).


Q: what is your professional title?
Will Wright: It changes every month...this month it's Metaphorical
Cartographer.

Q: I have always wondered, what game designers have as
personal goals, besides the material ones, what is a personal goal
you have with your visionary games?
Will Wright: To help alter the world in some slight way for the
better. I know that's quite hard to measure but games are a very
powerful new media and it seems like they have the potential to
do much good in this world.

Q: Are you personally obsessed with The Sims like most of the
fans?
Will Wright: At this point I'm probably more obsessed with the
fans. I spend a lot of time surfing the fan sites to see the new
skins and walls and other stuff the fans are making for the game.
I also spend time checking out the family albums on our site.


Q: What do you enjoy more: Living, buying or building?
Will Wright: Build. That's always been my favorite part of the
game. I can spend hours making new homes.

Q: Were you more hippy or disco?
Will Wright: Much more hippy (in a sort of nerdy way).

Q: is there a way to prevent or treat the guinea pig sickness?
Will Wright: Yes, just get a little more rest than usual and it
will go away over time. And keep to cage clean to prevent it
entirely.

Q: I'd like to know your answer to the "dinner party
question"...Which 3 people from history would you most like to
have at a dinner party?
Will Wright: Mmmmmmm...let me think....Isaac Newton, Charles
Darwin and maybe Galileo.or Ptolomy. No, Turing. Definitely
Alan Turing.


Q: How well do you think you score as a husband & father? How
do you juggle between work and family?
Will Wright: I guess you'd have to ask my family. We all get along
very well though even though my daughter is officially a teenager.
She still likes to spend a lot of time with us.

Q: Why can't friends hug (or dance) without loved ones getting
jealous?
Will Wright: We were trying to really simulate a caricature of
real life so we exaggerated many things like that.

Q: I love The Sims! Can I ask in the Expansion Pack did you
make it where the Sims can get hot or cold or is that yet to come?
Will Wright: Yet to come.

Q: Do you have a favorite user created skin?
Will Wright: I like many of them, I use the Mulder and Scully
skins and some of the Trek skins quite a bit.


Will Wright: Thanks everyone for showing up. Sorry that I couldn't
answer all the questions but with 2200 submitted questions that's
inevitable.
















                              - o -