In the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock Rear windowA panoramic camera shows the exterior of the buildings and allows the viewer a glimpse inside the apartments. From the floating viewpoint, you can see the activities of the neighbors as they begin their days. The camera's vision helps set the stage for the film, but its voyeuristic look into the lives of its characters is disturbing. I'm worried about playing The Sims 4 It transformed me into the kind of person who looked at my neighbors like that.
As with many twisted endeavors, this particular one began with serious intentions. After living in the same city for nine years, I found out I would be moving at the end of the summer. In my hometown, I was lucky to live in a historic neighborhood with colorfully painted houses and gingerbread ornaments. The street was an absolute dream and it almost felt like living in a park. I felt heartbroken and that's why my partner and I decided to try to recreate some of the houses on our street in The Sims 4 to commemorate the home we love.
We started by making the house right across the street from ours, since we always liked it and could easily see it from the second floor balcony. Before long, we built a basic two-story house with dark wood trim and a red brick exterior, but it wasn't enough. Wall after wall, window after window, we try to remake our neighbors' houses with as much care and precision as possible. Back and forth, back and forth, we walked between the balcony and the TV to make sure we had built every part of the house correctly.
Every day, during our daily “look at the flowers” walk, my partner and I looked at the houses in detail. I would notice when a house had a long black rug on its outside porch and then add it to the game. The upper front windows of a home may have moldings, while the side windows do not. I could stop our walk just to lean my body to look around the corner of a building and get a better idea of how far back it extended, only to discover that they had a hidden porch in the back.
Then, I found myself examining my own neighbors. The lonely couple who lived across the street didn't talk much, but when I saw the wife go out one day, I went to our porch just to see what she was like, so I could make a Sim inspired by her. He was wearing a basic blue sports shirt, khaki shorts, and Teva sandals. She had wavy brown hair cut just below her shoulders; It took me a few minutes to fix it. He Sims 4.
At this point I had to stop. Like some kind of mad scientist, the execution of the project had deviated from the intention. Once I created her and saw her character walking around, chattering in Simlish, I knew I'd gone too far. It felt creepy. I immediately stopped working on the project.
At one point, I thought about whether it would be adorable or downright weird to print out the screenshots of the houses and drop them in my neighbors' mailboxes. I thought it would be fun and something I'd like to get if my neighbors were the Sims-loving type, but I didn't. I thought my neighbors, most of whom were over 50, might not understand what The Sims is and might even feel threatened by receiving an anonymous newspaper with an obsessive recreation of their house.
In the end, I'm glad we made the houses in the game, even if I ended up feeling like a creep. I was able to take a closer look at my neighborhood like I never had before. I felt like it helped me cultivate a sense of appreciation for even the smallest details of each building on the block. The internship became the perfect send-off before moving, and now I can visit these houses in The Sims if I'm feeling homesick. So if you want a fun activity to memorize a house or a special place, I recommend redoing it in The Sims; maybe stop if you ever feel like you end up dragging too much.