Hey folks! I’ve only dabbled in Sims 4 and know it stands alone, but I’m curious about the timeline connections between Sims 1, 2, and 3. Since I just got Sims 1 and 2 on Steam, I thought it’d be cool to create a single family across all the games, making sure to pay attention to townie lore to avoid messing up the timeline. I’ve heard that Sims 3 is technically set before Sims 1 and 2, yet it features technology from 2009, which makes me wonder how that works. Are we supposed to believe that back in the day, they just had super advanced tech that somehow degraded over time? Or could it be that Bella Goth’s alien abduction somehow sent her back in time and allowed people to reverse engineer future tech? On top of that, I heard each world in Sims 3 has its unique timeline. Do townies remain true to their worlds, or will I end up with some timeline mash-up that breaks immersion?
2 Answers
Each world does have its own placement in the timeline, but that can get tricky since not every world fits neatly into the overall lore. Generally, the two base game worlds are set before The Sims 1, but after that, it’s more about the context of each world. For instance, Lunar Lakes likely takes place during or after The Sims 2 because there’s a ghost of Bella Goth right from the start. So, if you’re planning to stick with the timelines, just keep the context of each world in mind!
Honestly, the tech situation is pretty questionable and kind of goes unexplained—it’s just something folks accept for the sake of the lore. That said, the whole time travel theory could be a fun headcanon for your gameplay! As for the timelines, here’s the gist: the order is basically Sims 3 -> Sims 1 -> Sims 2. Sims 4 is like an alternate universe. Lunar Lakes does throw a wrench in things since the game contains a ghost named Bella Goth, who’s established as the ‘real’ Bella, while in Sunset Valley, she’s just a child! But don’t worry about breaking immersion; the worlds in Sims 3 are stand-alone, and you can’t travel between them, so your characters won’t get all mixed up. Good luck with your legacy challenge—it sounds super enjoyable!
