We have had several new Building Architect Plus (BAP) fan sites pop-up over the last few months. These sites are dedicated to teaching people how to make great buildings with BAP and provide their own work for you to download. Check them out in the BAP Fansite Exchange area and you could find some awesome new buildings for your next city.
News
1 May 2001 - 23:00
26 Apr 2001 - 23:20
This week, two party hosts improve their storytelling skills and stir up the dead. Check it out!
Here we find our party hosts, Animator_X and MaxisJenna practicing their dance moves. They are great dancers but they need to improve their storytelling skills.
Animator_X - Thanks for coming to help me with my storytelling skills. MAXISean - No problem! What can you tell me about your lack of storytelling skills?
Animator_X - At our last party the stories were so bad that a Psycho Mime showed up and teased our guests. The party was a disaster. MAXISean - That is bad ... now lets find a mirror and practice your speech. 
MAXISean - Now charisma is a must when telling ghost stories around a camp fire. If you tell the stories with a high charisma level your party guests will be in for a surprise!
MaxisAndrea - Thanks MaxisJenna for inviting me to your party and for asking my advice. You will need to build up your charisma by practicing your speech in a mirror.
MaxisJenna and Animator_X practice telling stories in the mirror for hours.
Look at those charisma points adding up!
At the fire pit the two friends decide it is time to test their storytelling skills.
MaxisJenna picks up the guitar and they decide to sing campfire songs to warm up. Success ... MaxisDano has arrived to join in the songs.MaxisDano - I can't wait to hear ghost stories.
MaxisAndrea - These are great tunes and stories.MAXISean - Improving charisma levels has really helped.
Others take turns playing the guitar and telling stories.MaxisJenna - Did you hear that?
MaxisDano - Keep telling stories! I have a feeling that another guest will be arriving shortly.
Animator_X - Our storytelling has improved so much that we have stirred up a ghost.MaxisJenna - It is always better to have a ghost then a Psycho Mime!
26 Apr 2001 - 23:10
Don't forget -- just one week left to submit your entries for our House Party Album contest!
26 Apr 2001 - 23:00
"Just a week after EA's innovative god game Black & White captured the top spot on the sales charts from EA's popular virtual life game The Sims, the game has slipped to second place, edged out by The Sims: House Party..."
House Party topples Black & White
The Sims expansion pack outsells Lionhead's innovative god game in the latest sales charts.
Just a week after EA's innovative god game Black & White captured the top spot on the sales charts from EA's popular virtual life game The Sims, the game has slipped to second place, edged out by The Sims: House Party. House Party is an expansion pack for The Sims that adds a variety of new decorations, objects, and costumes to the game. The expansion pack is designed to let players throw elaborate parties with a number of different themes, including toga parties, Western hoedowns, discos, raves, and Hawaiian luaus.
Third place went to Sierra Studios' latest team-based shooter, Tribes 2. The game is the sequel to Starsiege: Tribes, and it adds a number of improvements to the previous game, including new weapons and vehicles and an improved 3D graphics engine. The Sims slipped to fourth place this week from third place last week. Before last week's fall, The Sims had been in first place for more than three months. Fifth place went to The Sims: Livin' Large, the first expansion pack for The Sims.
Another notable game on the list is Roller Coaster Tycoon. It has been on the list of best-selling games almost continuously since its release more than two years ago in March 1999. Another older game that made it onto the list is Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition, which captured ninth place at the bargain price of $16.
Top-selling games for the week ending April 7, 2001:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Average Price
1 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $30
2 / Black & White / Electronic Arts / $44
3 / Tribes 2 / Vivendi Universal Publishing / $48
4 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $41
5 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $27
6 / Roller Coaster Tycoon / Infogrames Entertainment / $26
7 / Age of Empires II: Age of Kings / Microsoft / $40
8 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal Publishing / $35
9 / Half-Life: Game Of The Year Edition / Vivendi Universal Publishing / $16
10 / NASCAR Racing 4 / Vivendi Universal Publishing / $43
The list above shows the top 10 PC games according to sales figures. To see a list of PC games ranked according to GameSpot review score, visit our Top Games page.
- By Trey Walker
24 Apr 2001 - 23:00
Looking to spice up your city with some new buildings? The Best Of The Web is a collection of user-made buildings from the Exchange. The Best Of The Web will be a place for us to highlight all the great work that has been uploaded to the Exchange. This particular collection is work from people that have been inducted into the SimCity Hall Of Fame, but future editions will have different themes or just great buildings! We hope you enjoy this collection of buildings, and we especially hope that you take the time to look for more work by the artists featured in this download. Please see the readme.txt file for which artists were featured. Enjoy!
19 Apr 2001 - 23:10
Tired of the little tiny chat window? Do messages scroll by too fast? Well check out our new chat system and the adjustable chat window. You just might meet a new chat buddy today!
19 Apr 2001 - 23:00
The Sims Menu Edit is here! Now when you clone an object you can change the interaction text that appears in the pie menu! Just download this file to your desktop and double-click it to install The Sims Menu Edit.
17 Apr 2001 - 23:00
Maxis recently got a new wing to the studio. Click below if you want to take a tour of the new area. See Maxoids in the pre-work dehydrated form, see Will Wright's new scooter powerslide office, see TOP SECRET documents that have been blurred out for your safety!
Go to Tour Of Maxis 3, we've also posted the tour on our website, under Goodies » Tours!
12 Apr 2001 - 23:20
Legendary game designer, Sid Meier (Alpha Centauri & Civilization), has been spotted at Maxis on a few occasions in recent months. Although the specifics are a closely guarded secret, we can tell you that Sid and Firaxis are working on a Sim title that is due out later this year. Look for more details in the coming weeks.
12 Apr 2001 - 23:10
You heard it here first! TheSims.com just got a new look. Check out The Sim Community Update and the sleek new layout for the Get Cool Stuff section.