World of Banished

All The Rest => Other Games => Topic started by: mariesalias on June 16, 2014, 01:40:15 AM

Title: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 16, 2014, 01:40:15 AM
Whether you enjoy the virtual dollhouse play of Sims 3 or the sandbox build mode (or something else), the game has generally required a high level of dedication to keep playing. Dedication, knowledge, cash, and mods. ;P

Too bad it is the only game of its kind.

Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 16, 2014, 06:17:49 AM

I've played "the toilet game" ever since the Sims 1. Nowadays, I mostly enjoy the building, but still occasionally play. I eventually got my wife onto the Sims, although she thought it to be a silly game for a while. She plays it more than I do, and creates most of the sims I have running around. She's far more precise with the sliders and has a much better feel of what a face should look like and how to get there.


I do all the mods/CC searching and updating. Most of my scripting mods come from NRaas (http://nraas.wikispaces.com) (Twallan). Without it, the game isn't the same and would hardly function. A lot of my buy mode CC comes from Around The Sims 3 (http://www.aroundthesims3.com), which has a truely amazing creator. Cars come from the Fresh Prince (http://www.freshprincecreations.com), and most other stuff comes from Mod The Sims (http://modthesims.info). I always disliked The Sims Resource, with their partially paid stuff (not anymore, I read) and hard to navigate website. And they provide .sims3pack files instead of .package files, making it harder to organize my CC.


I try to avoid all Sims 4 footage, since I hope not to play it until some Seasons and Pets expansions are done for it. And the removal of Create-A-Style makes it much less appealing. But I know the graphics will stuck with me if I get too much exposure.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Bobbi on June 16, 2014, 07:01:28 AM
I never purchased Sims 3 (think of all the money I saved with the endless expansions packs) but I was addicted to Sims 2. I'm afraid I had billions of downloads of hair, makeup, clothing and house deco. I loved building and decorating houses, landscaping etc. I even went so far as to create "clean" neighborhoods with custom NPC's because I could not stand the ugly ones generated in game.
Sims 3 I never purchased because the Sims were so fat faced and ugly. I kept an eye on it for a while, hoping to see Mods that would improve the look. After a year or two, I did see some improvement but never jumped in the pool. Might buy Sims 4. We'll see. I hate feeding the EA/Maxis money machine. If Sims 3 goes on super sale on Steam, I might still jump in. If I do, you all can help me figure out which mods I need!
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 23, 2014, 12:34:44 PM
@Bobbi  I have played all three The Sims since release from the original game. It is an addicting game (in a good way)! I loved Sims 2 but hated being limited to presets and having to download tons of CC just to have a non-homogenized-looking game experience. Had a lot of bad luck with bad CC back then too but I was a complete and utter noob with CC so it isn't really that surprising. It was so bad though that when TS3 came out, I swore off CC and mods!  I was skeptical about TS3, but once I tried out Create-a-style (CaSt), I was completely lost! I love the creative freedom it gives. There were things i missed about TS2,, like better gameplay, but I never could go back to TS3, once I started playing TS3 because of CaSt. The downside is I used to do graphic art on the computer a lot before TS3 came out but I stopped after I started playing, I guess it filled the same need for expression.


@Kaldir  I think I am in a similar situation to you currently. I still play (have a 20-gen legacy I want to finish and I'm only up to the the ninth Generation) but I spend much more time designing house/lots, building them, and then decorating them. I really wanted to be an interior designer when I was younger (probably should have pursued that in retrospect) and used to design houses on graph paper for fun since I was a child. So the building aspect of TS3 really appeals to me! My husband plays maybe once a year, if he has no other games he is interested in. My seven-year-old 'plays' TS3, too... well, he mostly makes fairy families with pets in CAS and then sort of plays them. I have to enter in cheats for money and static needs as maintaining their motives is a bit beyond him. 

As I said in the other thread, Twallan saved my game with his mods and I would not still be playing the game without them. They really do make it more like the game it should have been. EA is lucky he started modding for TS3 or how many of us would have had to walk away from the game with all its glictches and game-breaking bugs? Once i started modding, it was inevitable, i'd start adding CC into my game. I'd say the CC skins are the most important CC for me, I really hate the plastic doll-looking EA-default skin! I use Ephemera's skins a love them! And of course EA's hair can not compete with so much of the CC hair, though what I like seems to vary with the creators. I am still very much trying to whittle my CC down to the stuff I love and use the most.

I am out of time for now, so I'll leave Sims 4 for another post.




Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 23, 2014, 02:49:51 PM
@Bobbi: The Sims 3 is on sale at Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/47890/), basegame and most expansions, until June 30th. :D  It might be cheaper on Amazon or similar shops though, depending on where you live.
A patch some time ago fixed the fat faces somewhat I think. It's quite possible to create decent looking sims now, in my opinion. Not that I'm very good at it, but my wife is.  :)

@mariesalies: It's nice that your seven-year-old is playing around with The Sims, with some help from you. You have to start somewhere, and before you know it he'll be adding his own CC to your game.  :P   I use a customized mod for money cheats, making all my families start with 300k simoleons. It used to be 200k, but then I made some houses they still couldn't afford. I don't mind the in-game money making much, I just want to build and play without keeping track of prices.

I would have long given up on The Sims 3 without buy/build mode CC. I love what some of it allows you to do, such as this cabinet I made with the DIY buy set (http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=468320) (it's built up from individual pieces, about 80 of them in this cabinet):

(http://worldofbanished.com/gallery/8_23_06_14_2_08_38.png) (http://worldofbanished.com/gallery/8_23_06_14_2_08_38.png)



As said in some other thread, I'd love some recommendations for truely good looking hair, that doesn't clip or bend weirdly. I've tried CC hair many times, but hardly ever kept one because they all looked weird in some way.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Bobbi on June 24, 2014, 07:09:23 AM
Thanks all for your opinions on Sims 3. I did notice on sale on Steam, but still a lot of money if you buy all of expansions. Anyone have an opinion on which expansions are best/can't live without?
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 24, 2014, 10:42:26 AM
Quote from: Bobbi on June 24, 2014, 07:09:23 AM
Thanks all for your opinions on Sims 3. I did notice on sale on Steam, but still a lot of money if you buy all of expansions. Anyone have an opinion on which expansions are best/can't live without?

I think it depends on what you like to do most in game. For me, my families always have horses/unicorns, so Pets is one I need, though it, along with World Adventures, are the two that are hardest on computers. If you love having weather in game, then Seasons is good. I love all the supernatural life-states, especially fairies, so Supernatural is a must for me. Island Paradise is nice for the houseboats and mermaids, but the main town for it, while beautiful, has so many routing issues, it can bring your game to a crawl. If you like playing families, Generations introduces many more interactions for children, teens, and parents. If you want more career options, like self-employed ones, then Ambitions is great. Into the Future is fun if you like a more modern/futuristic style but the new town for that one is not a regular neighborhood (kind of an extended vacation). The Future robots are more fun then the ones that come with Ambitions. If you want a city town and play geared more towards single adults rather then families, Late Night could be fun, though that map also has many routing issues (as well as the elevators) and comes with vampires. Showtime gives you three more more sort of self-emplyed careers and Genies, which may be my favorite life state, but it also gives you paparazzi and the fame system, which are super-annoying.  If you want to send your young adults to college and play through that, University Life might be fun.  I forget which EP brought the attraction system but that is also super-annoying.  And finally, World Adventures gives you three new vacation towns to travel to and tombs to explore and such.

I think it really depends on what you like to do in game.  HTH!  :)


I would suggest that if you get Sims 3, that you go here and get at least  Error Trap and Overwatch, as together they catch and take care of the worst bugs in the game. I am pretty sure Error Trap requires the Steam version, since it is a core-mod.

Master Controller is another useful mod as it allows you a lot of control in your game. Story Progression is a wonderful progression mod and what EA's story progression should have been, but it is resource heavy and takes awhile to learn! (But is worth it!)

If you decide to check the mods out, I would suggest reading through the interactions so you know what they do (and if they are what you want) and if you have any questions, you can ask them using the site's Chatterbox; the people there are pretty friendly and helpful.



@Kaldir  I will look through my CC and see which ones are best. I am still trying to figure out which ones i like best myself. :D
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: canis39 on June 25, 2014, 07:11:44 PM
Are any of you Sims 3 players going to buy Sims 4 when it's released?  Or maybe wait a while for the price to drop some?

I loved The Sims (original game) and probably spent 500 hours building houses and downloading custom content.  I must have had about 25 of the same couch, recolored.  I remember my finest creation: a replica of my apartment in Arizona, which was pretty much an exact duplicate down to the fishtank in the living room.  Very cool. 

Never did get into Sims 2 or Sims 3, for whatever reason.  I guess it's just not the type of game I'm interested anymore.  I do own Sims 3 with a few expansions but I've played about 30 minutes total and don't see myself going back for any more.

EDIT: Sims 3 is back on sale on Steam, looks like nearly everything is 66% off.  It's a flash sale so it ends at 5:00 AM Eastern time.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 26, 2014, 02:39:29 AM
Quote from: Bobbi on June 24, 2014, 07:09:23 AMThanks all for your opinions on Sims 3. I did notice on sale on Steam, but still a lot of money if you buy all of expansions. Anyone have an opinion on which expansions are best/can't live without?
@mariesalias said it all, it really depends on what you like. For me personally, pets is the best one as I really like my families to have cats/dogs. Seasons is a cool one too. I love Ambitions too for the self-employed, more active careers. I do have almost all of them though, as all add more building and buy options and some gameplay options that are good for variety.

Quote from: mariesalias on June 24, 2014, 10:42:26 AM
I am pretty sure Error Trap requires the Steam version, since it is a core-mod.

I assume you mean that you need to get the Steam version of ErrorTrap if you have the Steam version of the game, right? How would that work if you get the basegame from Steam, but expansion from elsewhere?

I agree that ErrorTrap and OverWatch are mods you would really want, and MasterController too once you're more familiar with the game. StoryProgression drove me nuts a while with it's many options and way too many in-game notifications. Once I got it tuned, it's great though and I don't want to play without it anymore.

Once you start with modding, you have to take care of updating the mods when you update the game, especially ErrorTrap.

Quote from: mariesalias on June 24, 2014, 10:42:26 AM
@Kaldir  I will look through my CC and see which ones are best. I am still trying to figure out which ones i like best myself. :D
Thanks in advance. :D
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Bobbi on June 26, 2014, 07:50:26 AM
I passed on the deal to get Sims 3 on Steam Flash sale. Was still $150 or so with all Expansions and Stuff Packs. $60 if I just selected the ones that interested me most. I remember what a time sink Sims 2 was, and I decided I didn't want to go there. Might buy Sims 4 when it comes out, after it has been out for a bit and I see what the comments are.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 26, 2014, 05:51:14 PM
Quote from: canis39 on June 25, 2014, 07:11:44 PM
Are any of you Sims 3 players going to buy Sims 4 when it's released?  Or maybe wait a while for the price to drop some?

I will not be moving onto Sims 4 in any real way. Makes me a bit sad too, as I have been playing since the release of the original Sims game. But they have changed it too much.

The first problem was they had been developing Sims 4 for a few years to be an online social games (think facebook and such). This has been admitted by EA. When the SimCity fiasco happened, they decided to turn it into an offline single-player game instead (with online options).

There are a number of issues with this decision. (Though to be clear, I would never had bought their original vision of the game.) One is that  they made the decision too late to start over, so they have had to somehow make the square-pegged social online sims game fit into the triangle-shaped peg hole of the offline single-player sims game.

Online social games do not have compelling gameplay, so they have to somehow try to create gameplay that will actually keep people playing an offline game with framework set up for more shallow online social play.

Because graphics have to be more simple and with limited colors for a social game, so that everyone can see the same thing and run it even on computers that are 10-years old, the graphics for Sims 4 is completely different. Some love it, some hate it, some think it looks like a Pixar or Barbie/Lego movie, some could get used to it after awhile (except for the plastic hair). and that is to be expected, but it does look like a social/facebook/smartphone game still instead of the next evolution in the series.

They changed the direction of the game so late into the development that they have had to start re-doing the entire game (minus some animations) at a point where they should have been finishing up loose ends and thinking about starting to beta test it. There really has not been enough time to make a really good Sims offline game.

With the new style of the graphics, they were able to make Create a Sim (CAS) more responsive and tactile, and it actually looks like a lot of fun to play around with it. But ugh, Lego hair and overly-expressive facial expressions just add to the cartoony, free-to-play look of the game!

Build mode has been simplified to make it much easier for anyone to make good-looking houses. From what they have shown, they have not taken away a whole lot of the strong features of build mode, and they have added some neat new features (like adding a foundation after you've built the house), that makes it also look like it could be a lot of fun to play and build with!

But because of the simplified graphics required for an online social game, they had to take away Create a Style (CASt) which allowed you to personalize almost everything your sim could own. One of the few things I disliked about Sims 2 was being stuck using the game's pre-sets (and having everything look the same) or having to download massive amounts of CC to get my game looking more varied. So much of the CC in Sims 2 would wreak havoc on your games, too! 

So with Sims 4, they are returning to using only presets again. I will remind people that EA does not make the most attractive patterns and presets.... If they allow CC, people can still download lots of CC of course. Like that sofa but want it in brown instead? Download a different color of it from a CC-maker. Of course you would need to download more for any other colors you wanted, not adding any chairs or loveseats (etc) that you also wanted to go with them.  Of course, there will be the Sims 4 store and I am positive they will at some point start selling recolors for all the folks who don't want to risk their games with CC!

They won't even add a simple color wheel to the game so people can change colors (CASt, with patterns and textures would be nice, but morphing issues and such) on the items. This kind of leads back into EA's constant grab to get more money out of people. Why give people a color tool when they can charge us for recolors and many people will buy them? 0f course, knowing EA, they will not just throw-away years of money and work on the game so I am confidant that all the 'social' features that they took out to make it offline (with optional online play) will eventually make it back into the game. Seriously, I can not see EA doing anything else. So a color wheel may not have been feasible since everyone online would need to be seeing the same colors and such.

Either way, taking out one of the most creative tools of the series (even though it didn't appear until TS3)  is really just a huge blow to any builders/designers!

Then there are many other things like:

There will be no Toddlers in the base game! Babies will age straight into children. Baby and toddler life stages will not be combined. They may potentially add in the toddler life stage later on, no doubt for a price.

Teens are the same height (and basically look the same) as adults and elders in the game.  The assumption about the teens and why toddlers were removed, is that they have simply run out of time to fit in the unique animations for them. Teens will now wear the same clothing and hair as adults so no need to give them separate animations and meshes.

There will be no pools or basements in the base game. 

No more open worlds, we are back to loading screens everywhere. Limited to 5 lots in a neighborhood and 25 lots in a world. There will be public lots though, but we will not be able to edit them. You can freely travel between worlds though, just with loading screens (kind of how NRAAS's Traveler mod lets us travel in Sims 3 now).

Some forms of transportation that have been shown, like streetcars and steamboats have been confirmed to be decoration only and their continued silence about whether cars will be just decorative, as well, does not suggest good things for having cars Sims can actually use.

No longer will Sims have to go into rabbitholes to go to work! Instead, they will be travelling to a different neighborhood where you won't be able to follow them. There are more, but this is all I can remember off the top of my head.


But the game will have Sims that have emotions (like they did in Sims 2)! And there will be better pathing for the sims (like there was in Sims 2). And there will be a way to share our creations with other players (like the Sims 3 Exchange). We will need to be in our game and online to access it though. And....

Well, that is really all they have shown us of the game so far. CAS, build/buy mode, better pathing, an online exchange, and emotions for our sims. The game ships in two months and that is all they have shown anyone yet.

Most of their focus has been on the new CAS and the sim's Emotions. While the new CAS system looks great, I can't help but remember it is the same team making Sims 4 who worked on Sims 3. So the same people who tend to go over-the-top constantly.

Let's remember the way the paparazzi will hound sims constantly, the way every sim will freak out when they see a Simbot or Ghost, or how so many sims also freak out when they see Bonehilda or a werewolf howls. Then there is the attraction system, where your sims will be harassed with constant phone calls for dates even if they are married, where strangers will come up and constantly try to flirt with them (and how flirting is considered cheating by the game), how father-in-laws will hit on their son's wives, one brother's girlfriend will hit on the other brothers, how teens want to skinny dip with their parents, and how going to the prom with your cousin put you in a romantic relationship with them, or how even the ghost ancestors of your sims will try to flirt with them.

Each expansion has examples of where the the devs either went overboard, or were so rushed they could not properly implement features (horrible lag from bad pathing in IP, anyone?). After so many years playing Sims I can not imagine that these supposedly new emotions (that are a lot like emotions from Sims 2) will act in any reasonable way. I fully expect them to be over the top, nonsensical, immersion-breaking, and something people will want/need to mod out of, just like the attraction system.

For me, personally, no CASt was my breaking point. There are no other games that let me have so much creative freedom as Sims 3 has, without it, I am not interested in paying full price for it at all. Maybe I would reconsider if they at least added a color wheel. *shrugs*
I do want to one day play around with build mode and CAS but I will wait until I can get the base game very cheaply on sale. I also play families a lot when I do actually play Sims (as opposed to building/designing), so no toddlers is another huge blow. They have taken so much out of the game, and added so little, that I can not see how the game can possibly be worth $60-$70 USD!  :o





Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 26, 2014, 05:58:10 PM
Quote from: Kaldir on June 26, 2014, 02:39:29 AM
Quote from: mariesalias on June 24, 2014, 10:42:26 AM
I am pretty sure Error Trap requires the Steam version, since it is a core-mod.

I assume you mean that you need to get the Steam version of ErrorTrap if you have the Steam version of the game, right? How would that work if you get the basegame from Steam, but expansion from elsewhere?

I agree that ErrorTrap and OverWatch are mods you would really want, and MasterController too once you're more familiar with the game. StoryProgression drove me nuts a while with it's many options and way too many in-game notifications. Once I got it tuned, it's great though and I don't want to play without it anymore.

Once you start with modding, you have to take care of updating the mods when you update the game, especially ErrorTrap.

Yes, that is what I meant. I do not know if you can mix and match steam and origin versions. I do not believe you can. When I wanted Supernatural (and EA stated they would not release it on Steam) I registered/switched all my steam keys for my expansions on Origin and started downloading from there. Of course, then they did release SN on Steam and all the others (Liars!).  >:(    My base game was store bought at release so I am not sure how it would work with a Steam base game. Once I installed all my games through Origin (and uninstalled them from Steam, my hours played was disturbing, anyway!), I started using the regular version of Error Trap, instead of the steam version.


Updating mods is not much of an issue now unless you don't fully patch your game as any more patches/updates become more and more unlikely. Though the store does want to release on at some point I think.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 27, 2014, 11:24:59 AM
@mariesalias: Thanks for your long and detailed opinion about the upcoming Sims 4. The lack of Create-A-Style was already a game-breaker for me, but some of the other things you mentioned makes me want to stay away from the game even more.

As I understood it, CASt is what makes Sims 3 such a slow and laggy game, and that was the reason they took it out. That, and a new feature altering colors with emotions, but I didn't really understood that part when I read it somewhere.
I doubt it has much to do with EA's greadiness. With CASt in The Sims 3 they still made a lot of money, probably much more than with The Sims 2 due to the excessive number of store items.

Quote from: mariesalias on June 26, 2014, 05:51:14 PM
I will not be moving onto Sims 4 in any real way. Makes me a bit sad too, as I have been playing since the release of the original Sims game. But they have changed it too much.

They usually change and add a lot with successive patches, so what is missing now might be added back at some point. Some in an expansion, some in patches for everyone. I just hope CASt is one of those added things.

Quote from: mariesalias on June 26, 2014, 05:51:14 PM
If they allow CC, [...]

It usually doesn't matter much if they allow mods or not. If they continue their current business model, they will have to make a game that accepts new downloaded items from the store. That makes the game structure by itself very suitable for modding, whether they like it or not.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: salamander on June 27, 2014, 11:30:37 AM
It seems to me that the current way of doing things is to release a game (in at least some cases prematurely) and them rely on patches to fix what's wrong.  I don't like that, but I suppose I can sort of see what's going on in a competitive market.

What really bugs me is the after-the-fact releasing of expansion packs, etc...  I find it really hard to believe that these additions to the game were not already in progress at the same time as the base game development.  Some game distributors are more obvious about this than others.  For my own part, as soon as I get a whiff of that type of thing going on, I'm done.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 27, 2014, 11:41:40 AM
I actually like it when a game has expansions. It means there is still development taking place after release, which makes the patches usually much better (The Sims being an exception to this) and keeps the game fresh. It's better than a developer abandonning a game and moving on to a next project.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on June 27, 2014, 12:19:17 PM
Quote from: Kaldir on June 27, 2014, 11:24:59 AM
@mariesalias: Thanks for your long and detailed opinion about the upcoming Sims 4. The lack of Create-A-Style was already a game-breaker for me, but some of the other things you mentioned makes me want to stay away from the game even more.

As I understood it, CASt is what makes Sims 3 such a slow and laggy game, and that was the reason they took it out. That, and a new feature altering colors with emotions, but I didn't really understood that part when I read it somewhere.
I doubt it has much to do with EA's greadiness. With CASt in The Sims 3 they still made a lot of money, probably much more than with The Sims 2 due to the excessive number of store items.

After people got so upset, they said[/i} it was taken out because of lag. The thing is CASt (create-a-style) does not cause lag to games at all. If you have tons of extra CC patterns, it can add to the loading time for the patterns when you go into CASt, but that is it. There is always render time in game, but that happens whether you change the pattern/color or not. CASt does not cause lag in the game.

Now CAS (create-a-sim) itself is laggy and takes forever to load all the presets if you have a lot of store content and/or CC. Luckily, there are mods to help with that (<3 MC)!  Sims 4 will still have CAS and will still have all the presets to load and after a few years and a dozen EPs and SPs, it will load a lot slower too. Load up CAS with just the base game installed and it loads fast (assuming your computer is decent)! EA is BSing everyone about the exclusion of CASt and/or a color wheel.

CAS does not slow down the game when you are playing though. Unless there are improper outfits, maybe, but that usually is poor coding on EA's part and CC makers mis-labeling categories. What causes lag the most in games is faulty CC and the game's horrible engine and sometimes sketchy coding. People like Twallan can re-code parts of the game to take out so much of the lag! Why can't the Dev's? It is pretty evident that EA's policy is to push out their games whether they are ready or not. They may delay a little, but it usually ends to be for financial reasons rather then because they care about the quality of their games.

Look at a company like Blizzard, who will delay a game's release for years if they need to, to get it fully done with the quality they seem proud to deliver. And when there are issues, as there is with every game, they patch and update as soon as possible to fix the issues.

With Sims 3, they kept their games and EPs on a deadline for financial reasons. If time is not enough to implement things properly,t hey remove it or push it through broken/partially working. Almost every patch they did for Sims 3 to fix some issues (never enough of them though), broke as much (if not more) then it fixed!   I have no reason to believe Sims 4 will be any different. EA as a company, sees all it's players as wallets, not as gamers. This is especially true with Simmers! Consider that they have had the pre-order for Sims 4 up for about  a year now and have not yet released one live-play demo. They keep showing the same stuff they've already shown! They give us a little tidbit of information here and then, then drop big bombs about what will not be in the game. Two months before release, they should be showing off this game like crazy, stirring up interest! But they still have not shown a live demo. 

Seriously, there is no way this game is anywhere near ready to ship.  They are cutting more and more stuff out (like toddlers) and cutting corners (using same models for teens and elders as adults) and  re-spinning their fluff because that is all they have. I will be shocked if Sims 4 is in any way a complete game when it ships.

But without having seen live play, without knowing much about what actually is in the game, lots of Simmers are willing to spend $70 on a pre-order for a game by a company who has continuously put out a bug-ridden and broken previous version with all its EP's. To EA's executives we are all walking wallets, and may of us do act that way and will buy anything they push out.

I love the Sims series and if they had included CASt, I would have probably bought it at release. But there is no other game I could say that for. There is no other game I would put up with all the bad coding, bugs, poor patches, incomplete EP's and everything that I have with TS3!

Unfortunately, they are the only ones with a game anywhere near like it. I wish some other game company could make a true competitor to/for The Sims, as it would force EA to get out of the pool or improve their policies.  I absolutely believe EA is a greedy company. They have proved that many times over. I will be truly amazed if they do not offer re-colors for cash with Sims 4!


I don't mind Expansion Packs and such with the Sims games, it has used that model from the beginning and it works for that game.  A sandbox life-simulator games needs to have lots of options and appeal to a wide-range of people, more then could be fit into one base game.  Expansion packs are (should be) a way to add to the content of a game and keep it an interesting and 'fresh' experience for the players.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Kaldir on June 27, 2014, 03:10:14 PM
I too believe EA is "greedy" in that they want the most money for their product, but I don't know any major company that doesn't. One of the WoW expansions from Blizzard that went live had a terrible talent balance because they changed it during beta, a few weeks before release, and they didn't postpone it like they should have. The same Blizzard dares to charge 20 euro's for an in-game mount. Two of those mounts cost the same as a full Sims expansion. And Blizzard left many exploits in WoW for months if not years, allowing huge numbers of gold hunters and spam bots to do their dirty business. And despite all this I actually think Blizzard is one of the better (or less bad) game companies.

All major companies do things like that. It's how they become major in the first place. And EA has some pretty decent support (as does Blizzard).

I do agree with you though that The Sims 4 seems stripped of too many features and rushed to completion. Sadly, that seems the way with many games these days, Banished being a very nice exception.

And regarding CASt and lag, I could imagine that without CASt a much more efficient rendering system could be used, because all objects would have fixed/known colors. I can very much imagine the two are totally unrelated though and EA was just making excuses. The biggest issue I have with EA's Sims studio is that they don't seem to have enough good programmers, and a lousy QA department. There's so many bugs in that game for way too long.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: salamander on June 27, 2014, 04:05:28 PM
Quote from: Kaldir on June 27, 2014, 11:41:40 AM
I actually like it when a game has expansions. It means there is still development taking place after release, which makes the patches usually much better (The Sims being an exception to this) and keeps the game fresh. It's better than a developer abandonning a game and moving on to a next project.
I agree -- there are many expansions to games that really improve on the original experience, or give it something new to keep your interest.  I don't mean to say I'm against any sort of game content after the original sale, but it bothers me when it's too obvious that the additional content probably should have been in the original.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Bobbi on June 28, 2014, 02:49:07 PM
Wow, maybe I will never get Sims 4 either. Or maybe I should have bought Sims 3 when it was on flash sales. The long load times killed me in Sims 2, though. And most of the original hair, clothing, furniture etc was so ugly. I spent hours finding CC and sorting/organizing CC.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: canis39 on July 12, 2014, 12:22:37 PM
In case anyone is interested, EA/Origin has all Sims 3 content on sale right now, presumably in preparation for the release of Sims 4.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on August 30, 2014, 04:33:05 AM
@Kaldir  I know you had talked about getting Sims 4 (I think your wife wanted it?), I wanted to let you know, if you have not already heard, that EA is not allowing reviews until after the game releases on Tuesday.

This seems pretty shady, and the few let's play videos EA has put up have shown quite a few glitches and bugs. This site (http://honeywellsims4news.tumblr.com/) has links to the videos and information on the game. In case you or your wife wants to check them out before you buy the game.

Haven't seen you in a while, I hope you are doing well!
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: mariesalias on August 30, 2014, 04:35:04 AM
Quote from: canis39 on July 12, 2014, 12:22:37 PM
In case anyone is interested, EA/Origin has all Sims 3 content on sale right now, presumably in preparation for the release of Sims 4.

I need Steam to put Into the Future, Ambitions, and Showtime on sale. I promised my son I'd get them for him (he wants Plumbots, time machines, and Genies). Hopefully after Sims 4 releases, they'll go on sale.
Title: Re: The Sims 3
Post by: Mmdrgtobldrgn on January 10, 2015, 01:02:29 PM
Late to the conversation

Long time simmer here, still have all of my sims 2 stuff as well as sims 3. I caved on sims 4 ... and don't recommend it, now that I've gotten some decent play time on it to explore some of the game features that I was interested in. I still play sims 3 a fair bit ... okay a lot.  ;D

And yes I am using the same avi here that I use on Sims. :)