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The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
20-07-2008, 03:47 PM
Post: #1
The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
The moment (some of you) have been waiting for...the full report. Let's take a moment to reeflect on the past four months of waiting and hoping for the slightest ounce of new Sims 3 news.

Moment's over. As I flew over the quickly darkening state of Indiana, I wrote all about my travel to California and the wonderful things I did and learned there. Now, as I'm safely at home in Florida, I post it for all of you to enjoy.

So please do...

Less than a month ago, I recieved a PM informing me I had the oppertunity to attend an exclusive Sims 3 event in California. Now, obviously I couldn't pass this chance up. Wink

I wrote a lot about the flight and such, but I'll spare you the details of that. Some of you have been waiting for a long time for this info, so I won't make your wait any longer. THANK YOU to those of you who stayed away from other sites! I know it was hard, but you made it! Soon you'll know... And to those that didn't...well, I have nothing to say, really. I'm actually really disappointed in you... You have to understand that everyone else stayed an extra day, so while I was on a plane all day, they had the whole day to just type and post. Not really fair, but I was hoping you could wait and be loyal... Sad

So let's jump right into it, shall we? (Pictures are to be posted later.)

Actually, before I do, please remember that this game is a work in progress. NOTHING IS OFFICIAL. So take all of this in with a grain of salt.

First thing we did was sign paperwork. It was quick, luckily, so no problem there. Then we went on a tour. They have such a great campus!

But I know that's not what you're interested in. I'll post more about it when I post the pictures. Wink

Fastfoward to the demos - first Rod Humble did an introduction sort of thing (a welcome, more like), but it didn't really bring us any new news. However, he did say

"the basegame is more than adequate"

in response to which features of TS2 EPs will be in the basegame. Next in line was Ben Bell, an executive producer. Here's what he had to say:

- System requirements are not final. They can not be absolutely sure about the requirements until the game is nearly complete for obvious reasons. However, they always try to make them as universal as possible.

- There will be 7 life stages - baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, and elder. Unlike with TS2, Young Adult is a whole life stage, now, and is actually the default stage in CAS.

- Aging is the same as in TS2 - it's gradual, but the actual change in life stage occurs by spinning around. There's a simple reason for this, being that if they were to make it so everyone slowly ages (making it more lifelike), then they'd have to make more than 100 ages to make it realistic.

- There will be longer (and adjustable!) stage lengths.

- Wrinkles and creases begin to show with age.

- Young Adults can do everything adults can do.

- Young Adults range from 18 years old to their mid 30's, different than in TS2.

- Young Adults can marry adults, but NOT teenagers.

- The Mac version will not be released with the PC version, but it will probably be released eventually.

- About NPCs - he said he couldn't talk about it, but someone else said that there will be old characters returning but also some new characters. There will also be NPCs that provide certain services.

- There is (obviously) more detailed gameplay and lifestages.

- There will be cars in the basegame, along with nicer, usable roads. You can follow the cars, and once you get out there is "magic valet parking."

- About programs like SimsPE - they're not talking about it yet.

- They're working on "creature" Sims, but nothing is final yet.

- (The following is something I noticed in gameplay, not what Ben said.) One second of real time = one minute of Sim's Time.

- (The following is something I noticed in gameplay, not what Ben said.) There are REALLY nice plants, much more detailed than in TS2. And, obviously, there are shadows on the ground of the trees and buildings that change with the time of day.

- Speaking of the time of day, you can watch the sunset, there's a moon at night (I think so, anyway), and you can watch it slowly change from night time to day time, and vice versa.

- (The following is something we all know, but it's nice to say anyway.) Neighborhoods in TS3 are seemless and you can zoom in to the house you are playing.

The next demo was conducted by Lindsey. Here's what she told us:

- About the moodlets - They're the closest thing to memories (oh, did I mention the Sims won't have memories anymore?). There are TONS, some for small things and some for big things. Most last for just the day, but some last a while longer, mainly the more important events.

- There are only four needs - rest, bathroom, food, and entertainment.

- There's a mood bar, and obviously green means 'good'.

- There is a more interactive environment. You can walk on the beach, fish in the pond...but you can't swim in the ocean.

- There may be a Superstar-like EP for TS3, as evidenced by the E3 trailer.

- While talking to other Sims, a meter pops up showing how well you know them. It also shows what you've learned about them, mainly their traits.

- You can customize parts of premade towns, such as deleting and moving houses and Sims.

- There are 8 Sims allowed per house.

- Lot sizes are fixed, but you can move a house from one lot to a smaller/larger lot if need-be.

- Diagonal walls, but no curved walls. We can also place items at diagonals. If that's not good enough, you can rotate all objects 360 degrees. You can also place items on quarter/half tiles, allowing for one-tiled objects to line up with three-tiled objects.

- The mailbox is moveable.

- About jobs - you can work on aspects of your job outside of work through the oppertunity system, but you cannot actually see them at work.

- You can also tell your Sim what to do at work, such as meet people, assist boss, work hard, hang out, hide, etc.

- The architectual system presented in TS2 remains in TS3.

- Seasons and weather are NOT official, despite what you may think. The pictures were not accurate.

- There is a button you can press to immediately return to your home.

- Tree branches may still cut into homes as there's no known way to avoid that while allowing the placement of objects under the tree.

- There will be cheat codes, and some of them may be the same as in TS2. Nothing is official yet.

- Trashbags still appear from nowhere.

- Sims still spin to change clothes.

- You can buy books for the bookshelves, and they're stored in your inventory.

- Obviously, Sims can brush their teeth.

- All menus and UI are not official yet, but it's looking rather nice.

- Laptops may be able to run TS3. Nothing is official.

- The buildings in the neighborhood are not official yet (including the hospital).

- Sims will take better care of their own needs, but you can turn this freewill on or off.

- Map tags point to areas of interest.

- There WILL be new toddler and elder interactions.

- Sims can still get jobs from the paper, but there are new methods of acquiring a job, as well.

- Not everything from TS2 will be included.

- There will be more gameplay around pregnancy, but they cannot discuss what the actual birth will be like.

On to CAS...

- Skintones - there will be more presets, but in addition there is a slider.

- Body - there will be slidebars for weight and muscles, but there is no height slidebar yet. You can also customize most features of any area in the subareas.

- Eyes - there are more preset eye colours and shapes, but they're fully customizable. There is a palette and a spectrum, and you can make any custom colour a preset. There is much finer customization control with eyes.

- Traits - there are about 75 traits, and they're nearly final. When selecting traits, all opposite traits are greyed out.

- Hair - you can individually colour four sections of hair using a palette/spectrum. This includes roots, tips, base, and highlights. The roots are linked to the eyebrows.

- There will be socks and stockings, gloves, rings, earrings, bracelets, and glasses.

- Voices - you can change your Sims voice, along with the pitch.

On to building...

- There are icons according to the room. For example, within a bathroom, there's an icon each for mirrors, for toilets, for sinks, etc.

- Hold the Alt key to move items off the grid.

- Tables connect with chairs, making them become one object. This is easier for movement and for deleting purposes.

- There will be more slots on counters for the placement of objects, and you can place more than one object on counters. You can even place objects on sinks.

- There will be upper cabinets.

- Stair width is adjustable.

- The autoroofs will update to match your latest building changes.

- Basements can be made easily, but for now there's no actual feature for it.

- There will be a rubber band feature - you can select an area, and everything within it will delete rather than deleting the objects one by one (this also works will flooring and wallpaper).

- Sims can only own one house.

- There are no garages, only parking spaces. The parking spaces can be rotated 360 degrees, and you can build three walls around it to make it look like a garage if you'd like.

Well, that's it for today. I was on the plane for SO long yesterday (not to mention the delays), so I'm a bit tired. I'll post the information about the tour, pictures of the tour, pictures of the game, and anything I've forgotten later on.

THANKS again to those of you who waited! I really love you all and I appreciate your loyalty. Big Grin

Bambi

PS: Please do not spam this thread like the other one. Thank you. Wink

[center][Image: icon110.png]
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<br />It's...the doughnut manatee. XD
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20-07-2008, 03:57 PM
Post: #2
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
Awesome!

I can hardly wait any longer!

Thanks so much!!!

I'm here to help! Send me a private message!
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20-07-2008, 03:58 PM
Post: #3
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
Yup, thank you Bambi. Big Grin I read it as patiently as is possible for me. Tongue

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20-07-2008, 04:02 PM
Post: #4
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
Hehe, I'm with you, Bat! We were all asking for beta-copies of the game while we were there... Wink And you're welcome. Smile

[center][Image: icon110.png]
[Image: 7.png]
[Image: 8.png]
<br />[Image: donutmanatee2.gif]
<br />It's...the doughnut manatee. XD
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20-07-2008, 04:05 PM
Post: #5
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
Thank you very much, this is very exciting information!  {yes}
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20-07-2008, 04:05 PM
Post: #6
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
WE LOVE YOU BAMBI THANK YOU!!!
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20-07-2008, 04:06 PM
Post: #7
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
You're very welcome! I hope you were all able to wait, as that makes the information sound the best. Smile

[center][Image: icon110.png]
[Image: 7.png]
[Image: 8.png]
<br />[Image: donutmanatee2.gif]
<br />It's...the doughnut manatee. XD
Quote this message in a reply
20-07-2008, 04:09 PM
Post: #8
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
A few questions I would like to ponder-

(20-07-2008 03:47 PM)๒ค๓๒เ~קคl๏๏zค link Wrote:- There will be longer (and adjustable!) stage lengths.

- About NPCs - he said he couldn't talk about it, but someone else said that there will be old characters returning but also some new characters. There will also be NPCs that provide certain services.

- There is a more interactive environment. You can walk on the beach, fish in the pond...but you can't swim in the ocean.

- You can customize parts of premade towns, such as deleting and moving houses and Sims.

- There are 8 Sims allowed per house.

- Diagonal walls, but no curved walls. We can also place items at diagonals. If that's not good enough, you can rotate all objects 360 degrees. You can also place items on quarter/half tiles, allowing for one-tiled objects to line up with three-tiled objects.

- Not everything from TS2 will be included.

- Tables connect with chairs, making them become one object. This is easier for movement and for deleting purposes.

- There will be more slots on counters for the placement of objects, and you can place more than one object on counters. You can even place objects on sinks.

- Basements can be made easily, but for now there's no actual feature for it.

NPC question- Does that mean there could be butlers and maids?

No swimming in the ocean? Darn, I guess we are stuck with the pool!

Can you make your own towns?

Still only 8? Did they say why?

With the walls, is it now easier to build houses more realistically?

Do you have any ideas of what isn't included from TS2?

The table and chairs is a nice idea!

I love the slots idea on counters!

What did you mean by the basement? You can build one, but can't use one?

I'm here to help! Send me a private message!
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20-07-2008, 04:10 PM
Post: #9
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
I also have a small question.. why are none of the sites ever mentioning babies and toddlers? What is happening with them? No pictures, no information, not in the trailer... I don't understand. Did they say anything about this or...?

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20-07-2008, 04:12 PM
Post: #10
Re: The Sims 3 Event ~ Full Report
(20-07-2008 04:02 PM)๒ค๓๒เ~קคl๏๏zค link Wrote:Hehe, I'm with you, Bat! We were all asking for beta-copies of the game while we were there... Wink

No luck?

Darn!

I'm here to help! Send me a private message!
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