The Sims™ 3 Community Blog
: March 2012
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Try to Understand, He's a Magic Man

   Norman McLaren once said that “animation is not the art of drawings that move, but the art of movements that are drawn.” While many of us animators in the game industry have moved away from the blue pencils and peg bars of our predecessors, observation and reference is still a major part of our workflows. The Sims is a game where we are trying to make little collections of polygons feel like living people with lives, hopes, dreams and fears, so it’s crucial for the animators to understand the reality of something before we can exaggerate it and make it part of The Sims world.

   In The Sims 3 Showtime, your Sims will make their rise to fame in the new world of Starlight Shores and become the star headliners in town.  One of the new active careers they can choose is to become a magician. From basic street illusions to full-on ‘can I have a volunteer from the audience’ style extravaganza, the magician allows your Sims to amaze the crowd with their prestidigitation as they progress from small local venues to huge sold-out arena shows.

   In order to make our magician Sims feel like ‘the real deal,’ we elicited the help of local magic-man Dan Paulus. We admired his special blend of comedy and magic and thought it would mesh perfectly with the zany world of The Sims. Dan was able to give us a private magic show in which we picked up some great tips of the trade. Ultimately, our team was able to come  out of the experience with much more than we had expected.

Some of the team, participating in a bit of up-close table magic.

   It’s important to note something here, (and we’re sure Dan would appreciate the caveat) no secrets were revealed in the show. In fact, we didn’t want to know the cloak and dagger of it, and made that clear from the beginning. We didn’t want Dan to break the old adage that a magician never reveals his tricks. What we focused on, however, was his movements, showmanship (flourishes, poses and misdirection) and all that makes a magician’s performance memorable.

   Dan delivered that and much more. We enjoyed his awesome show of course, but we also got some fascinating insights. Dan’s career spans a variety of levels from  birthday parties to consulting for Emmy-nominated television programs, it’s kind of similar to the career experience your Sims will have in The Sims 3 Showtime. Dan also taught us about magician’s code, their proper handling of live animals and about the interactions of magicians with fans and their peers. I should note many teams found Dan’s information useful, not just our animation team, but all who attended, including modelers, producers and designers. Everyone took copious notes to help them understand how a professional prestidigitator operates.

Dan's volunteer from the audience, eyeing an innocent piece of rope with suspicion.

   The entire experience was really positive for all of us and we’re sure the magic acts in The Sims 3 Showtime are much more awesome now as a result. Thanks to Dan Paulus for his performance and wisdom, and of course, thanks to all our fans for continuing to support our efforts to create the best life simulator in the world. Enjoy the show!

07:56 PM
03/20/12
Posted by: SimGuruYokley

Box of Danger Screenshot Caption Fun!

Somehow I don’t think he meant to do that. We invited our Facebook fans to share their funniest captions. Here are some of our favorites that were shared!

That moment when you realize you left your cell phone in your pocket.

I hope my clothes dont shrivle up.... this is dry clean only!!!!

Why did I have them super glue the door shut?

Sooo...anybody wanna help me now?!?

No more beans before a show, no more beans before a show!!

Hurry! Quit without saving!

Okay, okay, I know there's a word to get out of this...What is it? Alakazam? Tada? Oh, I know, HELP!

I will now pretend that I do NOT need air!!

It's going to stop, right? RIGHT?

If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.


I guess i'm NOT related to Harry Houndini.

Secretary, you signed up the details of my insurance right?

Oh no I forgot the key to get out of here on the table!

HEY, this isn't the phonebooth!! (do we have a phonebooth in the game? If not, let’s remove this one. )

I'm not even a magician, I'm a singer!

And for my next trick !!!! Growing gills!!!

I don't always perform magic tricks, but when I do I drown.

I probably should have sawed my assistant in half after this act.

Dang I knew I shoulda wore my swim trunks today.......

This is the first step to become a merman.

Wait... where did this water come from?

Stupid me, I should've join the singing career instead.

I thought you said this was a cash box!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

 

04:04 PM
03/20/12
Posted by: The_PopTart

Magician Screenshot Caption Fun!

How can you NOT make up a funny caption for this screenshot? We invited Simmers on our Facebook to share their funniest captions. Here are some of our favorites!

 

 

“Well that's not supposed to happen!”

“When I said ‘relight my fire’ I diddnt mean literally :(“

“Err..guys?...GUYS? D: AAH”

“Do I blow it out or leave it, do I blow it out or leave it?!?!?”

"MAN DOWN. MAN DOWN."

“Maybe katy perry was right..... Baby your a firework!!!

“This wasn't part of the show! I was meant to play with fire not BE on fire!"

“Oh great. They are definatly not going to pay me now.”

“I meant to do that....”

"Holy plumbob!That's not a rabbit I pulled outta there!”

“I uhh am just showing you what this act is not supposed to look like.”

“I KNEW I shouldn't have dropped out of Magician's College!!!!”

“Should I be concerned about this?”

“Are you Sims just going to sit there, HELP ME!”

“Baby you’re a firework! NOT LITERALLY”

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, wait no, it’s my hand on fire..”

“Well they said I was on fire…I thought they meant I was fantastic…NO!!!!”

“That’s not how you make cereal!!!”

“They said I could be anything.. So I decided to be a human torch.”

“Suddenly the flammable nail polish didn’t seem like such a good idea after all…”

08:49 PM
03/12/12
Posted by: The_PopTart

Genie Screenshot Caption Fun!

We invited Simmers to share their funniest caption for this screenshot on our Facebook. Here are some of our favorites!


"if he pukes rainbows, i am NOT cleaning it up"

She wished for a rainbow. He made one :3

"One more outburst like this and I quit!"

"Well i hope HE does windows..."

Why wwwhhhyy cant u just do my dry cleaning

"I told her not to clean one thing...ONE THING! the lamp; and what does she do"

Maid: "Oh, sir, your Sims 3 Showtime package arrived today."
Genie: "WOOOOOOOOOO"

""i wanted hot tea and you brought me warm tea! NOW FEEL MY RAGE!!

‎"ok no more polishing the lamps"

Genie: "WWHHHAAAAATTTTT!!! YOU ONLY PICKED UP THE OLD PAPER"

‎"BAM! and the dirt is gone!!"

"I'm NOT cleaning that up."

maid: "this is the last time i clean for these people"

She's obviously hoping those pink sparkles don't stain the carpet. She probably just vacuumed that rug

"But I wanted the last flaming fruit pancake!"

"Really?!? You're wearing wedge heels and a mini skirt to CLEAN A HOUSE?!? GAH! Your lack of common sense makes me sick!"
*Genie vomits*
Maid: "....I better get paid extra for this."

maid: "I know they wanted the house sparkling clean.... but this is ridiculous!"

‎"I've told you a thousand times already, YOU CAN'T WISH FOR MORE WISHESSSS"

‎"All I said was I felt I deserved a raise, you're over reacting"

"ill give you three wishes if you clean my house.."

Maid: "I don't know about this... that seems like a lot of energy to get one little penny from behind my ear..."

Genie: "OK, I will grant your wish that the house would clean itself forever.”
Maid: “Yesssssss!!!"

11:34 PM
03/08/12
Posted by: SimGuruHydra
 
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