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different wishes, which the Sim must fulfill in order to increase their rating. At the same time, different events will take place in
Strangetown and the problems must be solved by the Sim. The town periodically suffers from attacks by aliens who consider the hot and arid surroundings of Strangetown ideal for colonization, since they themselves are afraid of water, requiring the Sim to stop this threat. In some situations, the Sim will have to engage in battle with supernatural creatures.
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J.C. Connors, the
Nintendo DS version ended up with the strangest plot-based humor of any game. However, some ideas were not approved by Electronic Arts; for example, the developers wanted to introduce the concept that the player controls the game character from the point of view of a parasitic amoeba that controls the character's brain. Lead writer Darby McDevitt suggested using the hotel as the main setting, drawing inspiration from the TV series
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29:
376:". Stocker not only created melodies, but also used the guitar to create various sound effects. Due to the technical limitations of the Nintendo DS and especially the Game Boy Advance, Stocker was unable to include a full soundtrack in the game, so the tracks were recorded in 10-20 second sample format, which were then used to recreate the tracks.
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need to satisfy the basic needs of the Sim for food and hygiene; if these are ignored, the Sim will have a nervous breakdown and will not be able to complete quests and maintain dialogues at the proper level. As the plot develops, the Sim unravels new secrets of the town. The game offers mini-games, the ability to create music and draw pictures.
308:, like other versions for game consoles and handheld devices, was developed following the success of the original version for personal computers. Despite sharing a title, the Nintendo DS version is a reimagined linear progression game with graphics adapted to run on a smaller device. The Nintendo DS version was developed by
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have noted the game's empty and oppressive atmosphere and abundance of cruel humor and ambiguous scenes, such as when the player character, on behalf of a mobster, must bury a wriggling suitcase. Some users complained of psychologically traumatic experiences, while others appreciated the dark humor.
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was jointly created by composers Ian
Stocker of Ian Stocker Sound Design and Kyle Johnson of Moontech Studios, who collaborated online to compose music for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions. Ian had previously been an independent composer and director contracting with Amaze Entertainment
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When developing the previous three Game Boy
Advance games, Amaze Entertainment strived to make their plots as strange as possible, introducing dark and disturbing plots featuring an abundance of dark and absurdist humor, and this bar was raised with each new subsequent project. According to producer
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begins with a character editor where the player selects the Sim's gender, name, and appearance. The Sim is assigned as the manager of the only hotel in the deserted area of the town of
Strangetown. The Sim must maintain cleanliness and order in the hotel; from time to time, hotel visitors will make
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The gameplay is tied to the need to earn money in different ways, which can be obtained by completing mini-quests, collecting items in the desert and doing odd jobs; if the Sim fulfills all the desires and whims of hotel visitors, they will pay more. An equally important element of the game is the
372:. Initially, Stocker composed the melody using the Buzz and Impulse Tracker programs, then Johnson accompanied it with a guitar performance, attaching it to the track using Audio Hijack Pro. While working on the opening theme, Johnson and Stocker recorded a melody styled after "
344:, but also noted that the PC version itself offered mysterious background stories that aroused widespread interest among fans of the game, specifically mentioning the disappearance of
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280:. The game, written by Darby McDevitt, was noted for its dark plot and absurdist humor, and received mixed reviews from critics upon release.
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games allowed him to gain writing experience for future successful game projects. Connors noted that the plot was inspired by the novels of
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and considered the plot too linear, though he praised the accessible interface.
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was released in North
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and would be the final games in the franchise developed by them.
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326:. McDevitt later mentioned that working on strange stories for
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681:"From a Distance: The Virtual Collaboration that Helped Score
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was discussed in a retrospective piece by Leah J. Williams of
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254:. Development of the game began following the success of
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was met with "mixed or average" reviews according to
626:(Nintendo DS). Electronic Arts. Level/area: Credits.
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360:. To reflect the game's setting, Stocker created
260:for personal computers. The handheld versions of
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644:"Killer Robots, Mummies & Cow Cults: How
356:when he was briefed to compose the music for
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513:The strangeness of the handheld versions of
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958:Anderson, Vincent (February 6, 2006).
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1650:Video games with customizable avatars
886:from the original on October 29, 2005
720:Sinclair, Brendan (October 4, 2005).
7:
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648:Handheld Games Embraced The Strange"
423:
398:
545:Shoemaker, Brad (August 26, 2005).
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868:Harris, Craig (October 26, 2005).
802:Bramwell, Tom (November 4, 2005).
642:Williams, Leah J. (July 6, 2021).
14:
804:"What's New? (4th November 2005)"
761:Surette, Tim (October 25, 2005).
504:compared the game's structure to
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988:Williams, Leah (July 19, 2021).
679:Jones, Andy (January 10, 2006).
586:Calvert, Justin (May 2, 2005).
312:, and the handheld versions of
926:Grimm, Steven (January 2006).
1:
915:. February 2006. p. 112.
264:were the final games in the
374:Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
304:The Nintendo DS version of
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994:On Nintendo DS Is Haunted"
277:The Urbz: Sims in the City
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1610:Amaze Entertainment games
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767:livin' it up on consoles"
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26:
242:video game developed by
1548:Male Restroom Etiquette
338:, especially the novel
300:Development and release
1630:Nintendo DS-only games
1567:The Jerma985 Dollhouse
838:Critic Reviews for DS"
1620:Life simulation games
1615:Electronic Arts games
1534:The Alphaville Herald
968:Nintendo World Report
726:strikes console gold"
496:Nintendo World Report
470:Nintendo World Report
742:on September 9, 2006
494:Vincent Anderson of
271:The Sims Bustin' Out
1528:Firemonkeys Studios
942:Nintendo of America
783:on November 7, 2006
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351:The soundtrack for
310:Amaze Entertainment
244:Amaze Entertainment
42:Amaze Entertainment
701:on August 23, 2021
592:First Impressions"
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1196:Open for Business
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964:(DS) Review"
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113:Scott Perras
87:J.C. Connors
49:Publisher(s)
37:Developer(s)
1472:Will Wright
1387:Nintendo DS
1363:Bustin' Out
1350:(cancelled)
1337:Other games
1125:House Party
1070:video games
523:. Users on
425:Publication
252:Nintendo DS
175:Nintendo DS
170:Platform(s)
146:Ian Stocker
139:Composer(s)
99:Designer(s)
80:Producer(s)
71:Phil Trumbo
61:Director(s)
1599:Categories
1518:Bella Goth
1477:Mike Perry
1376:The Sims 2
1277:Game packs
1263:The Sims 4
1243:The Sims 3
1217:Bon Voyage
1182:University
1172:The Sims 2
1004:Pedestrian
992:The Sims 2
962:The Sims 2
930:The Sims 2
928:"Reviews:
907:The Sims 2
872:The Sims 2
843:Metacritic
836:The Sims 2
683:The Sims 2
659:Pedestrian
646:The Sims 2
624:The Sims 2
590:The Sims 2
549:The Sims 2
532:References
515:The Sims 2
489:Metacritic
482:The Sims 2
409:Metacritic
400:Aggregator
380:The Sims 2
358:The Sims 2
353:The Sims 2
346:Bella Goth
314:The Sims 2
306:The Sims 2
289:The Sims 2
262:The Sims 2
257:The Sims 2
238:is a 2005
235:The Sims 2
22:The Sims 2
1346:SimsVille
1326:SkyHeroes
1189:Nightlife
1153:Superstar
1146:Unleashed
1009:April 25,
973:April 25,
909:Review".
890:April 25,
815:March 19,
809:Eurogamer
690:Gamasutra
655:Australia
571:April 25,
551:Hands-On"
391:Reception
386:Reception
129:Writer(s)
119:Artist(s)
1640:The Sims
1586:Category
1513:The Sims
1444:FreePlay
1430:Medieval
1423:Carnival
1400:Castaway
1370:The Urbz
1224:FreeTime
1139:Vacation
1132:Hot Date
1108:The Sims
1097:The Sims
884:Archived
852:Archived
772:GameSpot
731:GameSpot
597:GameSpot
556:GameSpot
328:The Sims
250:for the
211:Genre(s)
162:The Sims
1508:Simlish
1416:Stories
1298:Kingdom
1210:Seasons
874:Review"
695:Informa
685:DS/GBA"
362:Western
222:Mode(s)
181:Release
1465:People
1451:Mobile
1437:Social
1356:Online
1319:Agents
1312:Racing
1288:MySims
999:Kotaku
765:Sims 2
724:Sims 2
653:Kotaku
602:Fandom
525:Reddit
520:Kotaku
464:5.5/10
452:8.2/10
440:6.8/10
413:70/100
157:Series
1305:Party
1081:Maxis
428:Score
403:Score
1393:Pets
1203:Pets
1011:2024
975:2024
892:2024
817:2024
789:2023
748:2023
707:2023
666:2023
609:2023
573:2024
474:8/10
368:and
334:and
274:and
266:Sims
1068:Sim
879:IGN
501:IGN
447:IGN
1601::
1002:.
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950:^
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650:.
632:^
600:.
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559:.
553:.
491:.
348:.
341:It
198:EU
189:NA
1059:e
1052:t
1045:v
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