The Sims has primarily been a sandbox life simulator for the entire 20-year duration of the franchise and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Sims 4 is no exception. Progression in the game is led by player set goals combined with in-game aspirations. When you think of The Sims 4, the word Esports is one of the last that comes to mind. However, the game does have a community that 𝔍thrives on creating and playing their own in-game challenges.
The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sims Spark'd combines this competitive side of the game with a reality show style to produce a unique Esports format but does it work? We take a look at the good and bad aspects of The Sims Spark'd.
The Spark'd Formula
The first two episodes of the short-run first series followed the same format. We saw the𒁏 12 competitors split into specialties; storytellers, stylists, and builders. Through random selection, one person from each category then joined together to form a team, making four trios in all. These teams then took part in two challenges per show, with the losing team being eliminated.
The first challenge gave the teams a theme and required them to make a specific number of sims and builds to match this topic. Everything had to be cohesive in order to create a setting for the narrative, which the﷽ storyteller would then present. All this was to be completed in just 90 minutes, using only one computer per team. The winners of this task gained an advantage in the second round.
For the second round, viewers saw teams being given a different theme an♊d asked to produce a short video based on the topic in just five hours. This would require creating sims, building sets, filming gameplay footage, and then tying it all together with the help o🍎f an editor. The teams also had access to a recording studio to produce voice-overs. In this final round, the advantages varied depending on the challenge set and each task also contained a twist, which would be revealed during the five hours.
Changing It up
This formula was changed entirely for the final. In the last two-part episo🔜de teams were split and🦋 each specialist competed against their counterpart on the other team. We saw a style challenge, build challenge, and off-the-cuff storytelling task all judged separately. Each judge gave a point to their favorite submission and these were added up across the three challenges to get a final score.
The winners of tꩲhe head to head challenges were then given an extra 15 minutes to produce their finale video. This final challenge was similar to previous versions, with players given 15 minutes prep time and six hours to produce a video based on the theme the judges gave them. However, this time there 🐠were no twists, just time to produce a very personal story.
Esports Or Reality TV?
The Sims Spark'd was touted as a reality tv style Esports competition, yet it doesn't comfortably fit in either camp. There were a few reality show aspects, such as the focus on teammates contrasting ways of doing things, but mostꦜly it was a competition, yet that aspect wasn't quite w♔hat we expected either.
The basic premise of the show is solid. Putting people into broad categories then having them collaborate to produce content that is then judged wiꦬth the losers eliminated is a format that works for the game. However, it feels like the show was trying to throw too many ideas together in the hope of seeing what stuck.
This initial run was just four s꧟hows long yet we saw four separate types of challenges; the 90-minute speed challenge, the five-hour collaboration, the head to head competition, and the six-hour project with prep time. On top of this, the limited pack twist and the inclusion of sims from one challenge into another meant no one knew what to expect.
While keeping things fresh keeps contestants on their toes, it was also quite confusing as a viewer. The show was new with no predictable formula and even having watched it, somehow it still feels the same. Usually, reality show competitions will have a set formula. For instance, The Great British Baking Show, has a short task, a blind task, and then a long task every week, all on the same theme. Here we couldn't predict the formula as each challenge type was only shown twice at most, and even then the twists added differences. This meant there was no familiarity to cling to, making the 🌌whole show a rollercoaster to watch as well as participate in.
Harsh Judgement
Another aspect of the show that caused divisions in the audience was the judgment. The culmination of this was viewers being upset that a team who had won two challenges went home after a video based on ♏an idea the judges felt was sli💖ghtly uninspired was deemed worse than a video that even its creators found confusing.
However, judgments should not be a cause for thinking negativity about a show. Whatever a judge says there will always be people who agree and disagree. This is why there are three judges from different backgrounds, to get a wider range of opinions. A show should have judges who speak from their hearts and this was one aspect where the show felt real. The verdicts felt personal, not staged and this is at the heart of why t💞his show has true potential.
The Future
The Sims Spark'd isn't a bad idea, it's just a little messy in its execution as it finds its feet. Overall, the idea is great and it really showcased ไthe talents of some amazing and creative people. It just needs some polish. A little more predictability for the challenges, some more chances to see the work that goes into them, and a little bit more love, and this show can truly shine and put Simmers in the spotlight they deserve.