SimGoodie: A Solo Dev's Life Sim Where Gossip Actually Walks Through Town

Danny ReyesOkay, picture this: a Sim is standing in the kitchen on fire, and the autonomy says, "You know what? Let's check the mailbox." Every single playthrough. Mine once walked past a ringing phone to go admire a plant.

Becca HartwellThat Sim is not okay.

Danny ReyesTotally not. Welcome to the Plumbob Report. I'm Becca, and that's Danny, who has strong feelings about pool ladders.

Becca HartwellI have a whole thread, Becca. Anyway, today's a fan-made life sim built by one person.

Danny ReyesWait, one person? Like, one?

Becca HartwellOne. The official site describes it as SimGoodie for Mac and Windows, in development, made by one developer.

Danny ReyesOkay, that's wild, right? And before we go further, the name, our notes say SimGodi.

Becca HartwellYeah, about that. The official site calls it SimGoodie, double O.

Danny ReyesHuh, so a rename.

Becca HartwellLooks like it. We started with the working name. The site says SimGodi, so branding might still shift. I'll say both and hope nobody's offended.

Danny ReyesAutonomy, but for naming.

Becca HartwellHa. Okay. Ouch. Fair.

Danny ReyesSo here's my dream, and I've had it for ages: the depth of Sims 2, where little choices actually stick with a Sim, with the breadth of Sims 3, that big open town you can wander.

Becca HartwellMm, the best of both, which every fan has wished for at 2:00 AM.

Danny ReyesRight? Everybody wants it. Nobody's got it.

Becca HartwellAnd here's the thing: depth usually means a small, cozy world, and breadth usually means everything gets a little shallow. Wanting both is a big swing.

Danny ReyesNow, picture one person taking that swing. I mean, come on, that's the part that hooks me. Not just the game, but the nerve.

Becca HartwellAnd this dev is going for exactly that. Whether he gets there, I wanna hear it from him.

Danny ReyesSame. He's got his own way of explaining it, and honestly, I'd rather you hear it straight from him than get my version.

Becca HartwellYeah. Let's hear from the developer himself about why this exists.

Danny ReyesOkay, he's pretty upfront that this is the first of what he hopes are many.

Becca HartwellShort one too. Roll it.

Speaker 3So this is the first episode of hopefully many Game Log episodes. I wanted this to be the first one where, uh, I just, uh, kind of introduce you to the game a little bit. Um, it's something I've been building now for a couple months. Um, and the game is still in its foundational building steps, and nothing is done yet, of course. But I feel like the game has come pretty far, and I wanna talk a little bit about what I'm building and, uh, how I'm building it.

Becca HartwellNothing is done yet, of course. Respect. Most announcements bury that line.

Danny ReyesTotally. Couple months in, and he's already telling us what's missing.

Becca HartwellSo what is the actual pitch? He gets to it right away.

Speaker 3Uh, the game is called SimGodi. Might change that to Godi at some point. But each character is then called a Godi. Um, and the idea behind SimGodi is that I wanted to build a game that has the depth of The Sims 2 but the breadth of The Sims 3. So I wanted it to feel big, open, that you can go anywhere. So we are building an open world. Right now it's just kind of bare bones. Uh, and we are also building a lot of, uh, Sim, uh, antics, as we call it, or the personalities of each Sim in the game. Uh, so what I really enjoyed with The Sims 2 was that it had a lot of, uh, different systems that made each of your characters very unique in the game. Uh, so the way that I decided to build SimGodi is that we kind of do a lot of the same, uh, systems as The Sims 2, but even further. So we're taking kind of parts from The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 and also adding our own systems on top of it. So you can see here already from our, uh, UI that we have, uh, wants and fears. So you can see here that, uh, they want some company or that they want to become a cook. Uh, they want to practice charisma, uh, maybe doing something that's fun and they can enjoy. They also have fears, uh, that they're worried about, uh, that can affect their life aspiration. And each Godi also has their own aspiration, so they will always, uh, be working towards this aspiration. So this will kinda nudge them, uh, towards different actions in the game that they're doing. And each Godi has a mood that you can see here.

Danny ReyesOkay, antics. I love that he just calls personalities antics.

Becca HartwellWants, fears, and aspiration pulling each Godi along. That's a Sims 2 checklist with extra toppings, and the mood meter is sitting right there on screen.

Danny ReyesWait. He cut off right at the mood. Tease.

Becca HartwellRude. Moods are where it gets fun, so let's see how they shift.

Speaker 3Uh, as we go through the game, their mood will change, and you can see what kind of affects their moods. Uh, you can also see buffs that are happening, so for example, rested here. Uh, she feels, uh, or he, 'cause the character's a, is a man, he feels rested. Uh, that affects their mood, uh, and kinda com- uh, adds up to how they're feeling, uh, currently.

Becca HartwellOkay. Rested is a buff. Sleep well, feel good, and it stacks into the mood. Very Sims 2 of him.

Danny ReyesAnd he stopped to explain that the character's a man. Thank you for the pronoun clarification, my guy.

Becca HartwellMoods feed straight into work life. So up next, we meet a baker named Ada.

Speaker 3Um, and then you can see, of course, in the basic needs that they have. You can see their friends. They can have different skills, so 10 levels for each skill. Uh, they can also have a job. So I think this goodie has a job. Um, so Ada here, she works as a baker. She's currently the counter hand. She's level one. You can see her performance here. And for example, performance at work is affected by their moods, their needs, how they're feeling in general, uh, in the game, and can then affect their performance. And they also get, uh, assignments for at home to do to improve their overall, um, work performance.

Danny ReyesAh, Ada the counter hand, level one. I'm already rooting for her, and her work performance runs on her moods and needs with homework on top. Homework for a baker?

Becca HartwellHer boss is a spreadsheet. Okay, but that's the calm part of the tour, Becca.

Danny ReyesRight. Now the part that changes everything: memories, betrayal, and gossip.

Speaker 3Um, and you can also browse different, uh, jobs. So you can also choose different careers that you can change to. And then also each goodie has their own memories. So this is something that I really wanted to in- incorporate into the game that I feel like The Sims 3, for example, was lacking, uh, that g- uh, the characters actually have memories that affect them in their daily life. So we have, uh, kind of their norm- normal memories here that, uh, are maybe not as powerful, but they do affect you. You can have up to, I think it's twenty-five active memories that affect the simulation every day. And then we have something called long-term memory. So these are bigger life events like they got fired, or, uh, maybe someone cheated on them, or something like that happened that will then affect them for the rest of their life or for a certain long-term period. And we're also building, or I'm also building the game where there is very deep relationships, and relationships also affect their daily performance in life. So for example, if they are feeling, uh, betrayed by someone, that can also make their job performance worse. Uh, or if someone cheated on someone, that can also, uh, make them very aw- awe- engaging with other, uh, other characters, uh, in a social setting. Uh, and they also carry memories and betrayal as actual, uh, memories on their character. So for example, if someone is cheated on, it will actually, uh, be a betrayal that they carry for, I think it's five days, and that affects their moods. Uh, it also affects their performance at work, as I said. So there's very deep simulation here, and we're also adding, uh, gossip into the game. So for example, if, uh, someone is, I think it's eight meters close to s- uh, another couple talking together and there is some gossip there, that gossip can travel through the town and reach the other person. So if someone is talking bad about someone, uh, they can hear it through, uh, gossip through that person. Um, and we built it, or I built it so that it actually has to travel through, uh, the town. So it's not just like something that happens and then suddenly that character knows about it. It has to actually travel through, uh, through people. Uh, so those are some of the systems. And of course, you also have personalities. So you can, uh, go in here. Maybe this family doesn't have personalities yet, but, uh, we can set personality traits. Uh, they can have, uh, their life aspiration and active goals, uh, and that also affects the gameplay, uh, specifically. And as you can see, we also... I already integrated seasons into the game. So I can show you a little bit here how that looks. So this is my test panel. So I can trigger here, for example, uh, rain. So it actually starts raining in the game, and you can hear the, the sound effects of that. You can see the rain actually falling on the lot itself. Uh, we also have a thunderstorm, uh, with actual lightning. I can do a strike, for example, with lightning. And we also have a more advanced system here where you can see, uh, the temperature, the forecast, uh, and also the UI, and everything kind of changes, uh, based on, uh, the current weather.

Danny ReyesOkay. Gossip with an eight-meter radius. Somebody trash talks their coworker by the fountain, and the whole town gets a game of telephone. The autonomy really said choose violence.

Becca HartwellAnd the betrayal sticks around for five days and tanks their job. Love that it can't just teleport, Danny. Somebody has to carry it over there.

Danny ReyesPlus, he threw in rain, a thunderstorm with actual lightning strikes, and a forecast that changes the UI, all from his test panel.

Becca HartwellOkay. Deep simulation confirmed. Now let's see what he can build.

Speaker 3So as you can see here, uh, we have a pretty advanced build mode. I'm not gonna show you any of the different building tools right now. That will be for another video. But we do have multiple floors. You can do up to five floors. You can do, uh, curved walls. Uh, you can do foundations, uh, doors and windows of course. We also have stairs. Uh, so you can also put in stairs. I will show that in another video.

Danny ReyesFive floors, curved walls, and he won't show a single tool. Just another video three times.

Becca HartwellTease energy. Meanwhile, I'm already picturing a curved walled mansion with one very lost Godi stuck on the third floor.

Danny ReyesStairs are coming, Danny. Calm down.

Becca HartwellFine. Fine. Now for the lore, and yes, there is a Pear.

Speaker 3One of the things that I'm also building a lot in this game is lore, so having very quirky humor, kind of inspired by The Office and Parks and Recreation. And kind of the symbol of the game is this Pear that everyone, uh, kind of knows about. Um, let's see. Yeah, here you can see it's, um, that it's kind of awkward but kind of nice. Everyone is kind of like wanting this, uh, this trophy.

Danny ReyesThe Office and Parks and Rec. And the whole game's mascot is a pear everybody's fighting over. I love how awkward but nice that is.

Becca HartwellA pear trophy. Motherlode energy right there. I need to know who's stealing it first.

Danny ReyesSame. Okay, quirky lore aside, he's upfront about what's still broken.

Becca HartwellHonestly, the best kind of dev. Let's hear the damage.

Speaker 3I'm still working on a lot of things here. As you can see, for example, the, the grid is not following the path of the, the lot currently. There is some errors with smaller objects not working, and, uh, right now I had a bug with I can't build a second floor, so that's something I'm still working on. Uh, so there's still a lot to do with build and buy, but our goal is definitely to build a very powerful engine where you can really customize the house to your liking and, and really get it to, to where you want.

Danny ReyesThe grid ignoring the lot, and no second floor right after he told us about five floors.

Becca HartwellHeh, that's the dream versus the build. You know what I mean? Honestly, I respect him just saying it out loud.

Danny ReyesAutonomy really said choose violence on that second floor.

Becca HartwellOkay. So anyway, he's not shy about asking for help either.

Speaker 3I'm currently working heavily on the game, and I'm also looking for other people, uh, to join the team. If you're, if you're interested in 3D animation, that's maybe one of my biggest challenges right now, getting the, the right animations in the right place. Or if you're interested in, uh, world building, um, I'm always open for new people to join the team. It's only me currently doing this in my own free time.

Danny ReyesFree time. So the whole studio is one guy and his evenings, and he wants animators.

Becca HartwellRight? Animations in the right place sounds so small until you picture a ghoulie sliding into a chair like a ghost. If that's you, go find him.

Danny ReyesAnd world builders too, which is a great cue, Becca. Totally. Okay, zoom out. The bigger world is Goodhaven.

Speaker 3I will also talk a bit more about the neighborhood. So, uh, as I said, it's gonna be an open world. The, the world is called Goodhaven. Uh, this is the Linden, uh, Rise neighborhood, which is a bit more up in the mountain. But the idea is that you zoom out, and the neighborhood is a part of a bigger world, uh, in itself. Uh, so open world all around and, uh, uh, different cultures and simulations and life, uh, or story progression in other neighborhoods happen while you're playing the game.

Danny ReyesWait, so Linden Rise is just the mountain corner? Other neighborhoods keep living their lives while you're not even looking at them? Sorry, progression Danny. Remember how Sims 2 neighbors just stood on the lawn like mannequins? Goodhaven has plans.

Becca HartwellAnd the gossip has more ground to cover, which is terrifying. Okay, last question. Why is he doing all of this?

Speaker 3I've been a Sims fan since I was, like, five five years old playing it on my, uh, big sister's computer, and I've, uh, even had my own Sims fan site in the past. It's always been such a passion for, of mine, so now being able to actually make my own game has been just an amazing journey, and I'm so excited to bring you along and for you to see, uh, how the game, uh, develops and, uh, how, how Goodhaven, with their obsession of the Pear, also develops, uh, over time.

Danny ReyesOkay, that got me a little. Five years old, big sister's computer. I have the exact same origin story, minus the fan site.

Becca HartwellA fan site, Becca. That's the whole thing. He's not chasing a trend. He's making the game he wanted to find on that computer.

Danny ReyesAnd he's inviting everybody to watch the Pear mystery grow up with him? Chuckling. I'm in.

Becca HartwellSame. Time to wrap up with our own reactions, so let's land this thing.

Danny ReyesOkay, my favorite part was the gossip with legs, information that has to physically walk over to someone. I keep picturing a Sim sprinting across a lawn to tell a secret.

Becca HartwellIn flip-flops. Mine was the Pear, a whole town fighting over a trophy fruit, and the guy building it is just calm about it.

Danny ReyesBut seriously, the depth versus breadth question is still wide open. He showed us deep systems, he told us the world is big, and he also told us what's broken.

Becca HartwellWhich is why I trust him. He said himself nothing is done yet. One person carrying both halves of that dream is a lot. So I'm cheering for him, not grading him.

Danny ReyesWait, before I forget, if you wanna keep following him, the developer's channel says a new game log arrives every two weeks.

Becca HartwellEvery two weeks? Okay, that's a real schedule.

Danny ReyesAnd the page says it shows what changed in the game and what went wrong, so the bugs stay on camera.

Becca HartwellLove that. Though the page was collected in October, so I'd say the schedule could shift. Check it yourself.

Danny ReyesFair. Honestly, what gets me is the Sims fan energy. You can tell he's building the game he wanted on his sister's computer.

Becca HartwellRight? And if a Pear ever goes missing in Goodhaven, I know who to blame.

Danny ReyesThe neighbor on the lawn.

Becca HartwellOkay, so if you liked this, subscribe to the show, leave us a review, and send your wildest Sims stories to @PlumbobReport.

Danny ReyesWe want the chaos, pool ladders, autonomy disasters, all of it.

Becca HartwellSell, sell.