Back in the days of yore, that being the early 2010s, the Unreal Engine remake was all the rage. Many were the devs that plopped Mario into a field of waving photorealistic grass and harvested a great deal of attention from content-starved fans.
But, a new project seeing The Sims 1 being remade in Unreal Engine 5, worked on by a lone dev, has caught eyes anew.
Maxis, hire this man
The Unreal Engine 5 remake is a planned five-part series by YouTuber Adam Does GameDev. And he’s already two parts in. So far, we’ve seen plenty in the way of lighting, assets, and animation that all looks pretty impressive; considering this is UE5, it certainly should.
However, this is all we’ve seen thus far. And while there are plenty of people gushing over this demonstration – Adam isn’t planning to distribute it in any way – I’m not bowled over.
While it’s certainly a great example of the step-by-step gamedev process, I don’t think Unreal is the way forward for The Sims. While it’s nice to see familiar assets and areas remade for a new generation, it lacks that personal touch and cartoonish style that made The Sims 1 such a groundbreaking hit.
Not as Unreal
So, yes, hate to rain on the parade but it’s not quite my cup of tea. But that’s not what matters here, is it? What does matter is the sudden surge in interest and the clearly impressed coverage and comments.
Many people obviously remember The Sims fondly, and to see it given such a fresh coat of paint is sparking a new sense of nostalgia and interest in the future.
And yes, while it may lack that certain ‘Simsness,’ it’s hardly fair to expect someone remaking a game entirely for fun to adhere to a series’ style guide. In fact, if anything, the way it even manages to look so close while opting for the photorealistic look is more encouraging than anything. Not to mention the fact that while UE5 is a notorious resource hog, at least it isn’t creaking under 10 years of age like The Sims 4’s backend is.
I’m not about to sing the unequivocal praises of this project. But neither am I about to denigrate what’s clearly a passion project and a great way to mark The Sims’ recent 25th anniversary this year. Ultimately, it shows that even a hint of a new look for The Sims and a new take is enough to spark a huge surge in interest.
With three more parts in the works I’ve no doubt we’ll see more of Adam’s work popping up in future. And who knows? Maybe it’ll be that this encourages Maxis and EA to take another look at the idea of making The Sims 5?
A lifelong Maxis fan who grew up with SimCity 3000 and the lesser-known DS titles in the Sims catalogue, Iwan brings the obscure knowledge of things that have been and will be when it comes to The Sims.
