Alright boyz, here we go!!! 'The Sims 3' First Impressions!

[JetsIn06]

Comes out today. I'm not super into the games, but love playing them once in a while. My girlfriend on the other hand, is obsessed. I'm waiting patiently until 10AM to head to EBGames (Which is tough, since I just worked all freakin' night and want to go to bed!) to pick it up for her, but since she's got work all day I'm gonna mess around with it.

I'm a bit concerned about one thing. Supposedly, they're now doing the always fun micro-transaction shit for new items. I'm very, very worried that EA has taken out things I've grown to love (the drum set) and made them purchase-only. I would be fucking livid, but I'm hoping for the best. This is also the first game not developed by Maxis. This one, I believe, was done by EA Redwood.

Anyway, anyone else picking this up?

[JetsIn06]

Installing it now while the girl is at work.

[Cringer]

Going to go pick it up for the wife while I am out doing things right now.

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm a bit concerned about one thing. Supposedly, they're now doing the always fun micro-transaction shit for new items. I'm very, very worried that EA has taken out things I've grown to love (the drum set) and made them purchase-only. I would be fucking livid, but I'm hoping for the best. This is also the first game not developed by Maxis. This one, I believe, was done by EA Redwood.

This is the part that terrifies me. Both the microtransactions and the fact that Maxis didn't have their fingers in this one.

Though once the modding community kicks in, and a shit-ton of free stuff goes available, I'll be less worried.

[Emiliano]

Can't wait for it, but it doesn't come out until Friday here. I hope my local Gamestop will have it...

[RendeR]

I just don't get the attraction. I thought the original was fun for maybe a week and then I realized I was doing boring tedious repetition to earn play money to buy the same things over and over and over again.

Whats the point?

[Draft Dodger]

pre-ordered mine from GoGamer because it was $39...but they are out of stock.

[lighthousekeeper]

I just don't get the attraction. I thought the original was fun for maybe a week and then I realized I was doing boring tedious repetition to earn play money to buy the same things over and over and over again.

Whats the point?

that's exactly how i feel about my life

[RendeR]

that's exactly how i feel about my life


Exactly, why would I want to waste my precious free time doing ona computer with a made up character exactly what I do EVERY DAY?!?!?!

it just seems so awful.

[Neon_Chaos]

I've pre-ordered the Collector's Edition, but I'm not getting it until the weekend.
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[PackerFanatic]

Ordered it this morning for my wife and she is downloading it as we speak. She is crazy excited, and I might check it out. I thought the first two were pretty cool, and apparently they are doing some really cool stuff with the new one.

[Neon_Chaos]

I'm interested in how they're going to apply the seamless neighborhood concept.
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[Coffee Warlord]

Ran into best buy and picked it up. We'll see tonight.

[Bonegavel]

I'm definitely getting this.

[Solecismic]

I just don't get the attraction. I thought the original was fun for maybe a week and then I realized I was doing boring tedious repetition to earn play money to buy the same things over and over and over again.

Whats the point?

That was exactly my reaction. But (stereotype alert), like the Olympics appeals to chicks who don't like sports, The Sims seems to appeal to chicks who don't like computer games.

[CamEdwards]

Exactly, why would I want to waste my precious free time doing ona computer with a made up character exactly what I do EVERY DAY?!?!?!

it just seems so awful.

+1

[Capital]

FWIW - Gamespot gave this game a 90.

[Bad-example]

It was the house building aspect of the first game that I found interesting. The actual Sims just seemed like playing with Barbies. I never bought Sims 2 nor will I buy this one, mainly because I hate the way they bleed their customers dry with the expansion content.

[sabotai]

Preordered it and it arrived a few minutes ago. I had the original before all of the expansions came out, played it a few days and never touched it again. I skipped the last one. So why did I preorder it? It was a bit of a whim late one night after seeing several videos for it....sometimes I wish I didn't have my credit card information memorized. :D

Anyway, i am anxious to see how far the series has come over the last decade. It's a concept I do like (much like Spore, Black and White, etc... I like the concepts...not so much the execution). And if these microtransactions replace the constant stream of expansions (which I somehow doubt), that would only be a good thing. That way I can just pick and choose what I want and not pay $30 for the $10 worth of stuff that I want. (I don't mind paying for expansions that add gameplay, but some of the expansions for 1 and 2 looked like just a bunch of added stuff and no gameplay changes)

[sabotai]

dola,

I also wonder if it'll be easy to make machinima with this version. Still a bit bitter about how The Movies was abandoned and limited in mod abilities.

[DataKing]

I will be picking this up on my way home from work tonight.

I've enjoyed the Sims games in the past, but it's always difficult for me to explain it when people as why I enjoy them. I guess what it boils down to for me is the game is a way for me to satisfy some sort of God-complex somewhere in my psyche. I enjoy the fact that I can create these fake people and put them in different circumstances, and see what happens to them.

I've read some reviews and a number of rants on a Sims-specific board I occasionally read, and from what I've been able to gather, Sims3 will have one big upside compared to Sims2, and one big downside:

Upside: Sims3 is supposed to be much richer in the personalities department. Sims traits, wants, desires, aspirations etc were quite limited in Sims2, but Sims3 is supposed to be much deeper in this regard, especially with regards to how the different personalities interact with one another. I look forward to placing an evil, cowardly, insane kleptomaniac with commitment issues in the same household as a friendly, nice, excitable, family-oriented sim and watching the ensuing carnage. (Note: those traits are all on the list of available sim traits in the game...each sim can have up to five).

Downside: One of the best things about Sims2 is the modding community. If you look in the right places, you can find gobs and gobs of user-created content to include in your game. You name it: cars, physical attributes, housing items, interactions...there is tons of material out there. But some of what I've read about Sims3 leads me to believe that modding capabilities are going to be extremely limited, which may lead to either a very stale game very soon, or EA trying to nickle-and-dime people to death with purchased add-on content.

I don't even have it in my grubby little hands just yet, but I'll be taking it for a whirl tonight after the hockey game...I'll try to post some real first impressions in the next day or two.

[Coffee Warlord]

Downside: One of the best things about Sims2 is the modding community. If you look in the right places, you can find gobs and gobs of user-created content to include in your game. You name it: cars, physical attributes, housing items, interactions...there is tons of material out there. But some of what I've read about Sims3 leads me to believe that modding capabilities are going to be extremely limited, which may lead to either a very stale game very soon, or EA trying to nickle-and-dime people to death with purchased add-on content.

They're gonna try, but one thing I've learned from last time I mucked around with the Sims 2, the modding community is insane. They'll have 3 hacked and wipe open for content within 2 weeks, I'm betting.

Hell, they already have the censor blur hacked out. :)

[DataKing]

Hell, they already have the censor blur hacked out. :)

You knew that would be the first thing to go. ;)

[Coffee Warlord]

You knew that would be the first thing to go. ;)

Duh!

[Icy]

Exactly, why would I want to waste my precious free time doing ona computer with a made up character exactly what I do EVERY DAY?!?!?!

it just seems so awful.

I guess the key to enjoy this game is to make up a character that doesn't do what you do every day :)

I played a lot the first one, skipped the second and i'm not sure about this one. I'm curious about the relationships and the alternative reality you can live there, of course only if well done.

[spleen1015]

Exactly, why would I want to waste my precious free time doing ona computer with a made up character exactly what I do EVERY DAY?!?!?!

it just seems so awful.

Can you build 4 walls around your neighbor and leave him there until he dies? Then, have him come and haunt you?

[Izulde]

Can you build 4 walls around your neighbor and leave him there until he dies? Then, have him come and haunt you?

Only if there's a cask of amontillado involved.

[Cringer]

So after I bought this for the wife this morning I went ahead and installed it on my laptop just to check it out. Before I did I went to "Can I Run It" and I passed with flying colors. I get into the game and it is SLOOOOOOW, even in the create a sim mode. She wakes up, I check it on her laptop real quick and hers fails. I didn't say anything.

She has it loaded up and it is playing perfectly fine. Not a huge surprise but I was a bit worried. Not a surprise because SimCity Societies ran better on her laptop then mine, I figured this would as well. Just odd how Can I Run It failed her laptop big time and passed mine.

[Pumpy Tudors]

pics of wife playing sims 3 naked

i mean pics of wife playing sims 3

sorry

[Cringer]

pics of wife playing sims 3 naked

i mean pics of wife playing sims 3

sorry

She is seven months pregnant right now Pumpy. I mean, I kind of find pregnant women hot, but I know a lot of guys don't so I am just throwing that out there for you. :cool:

[Draft Dodger]

She is seven months pregnant right now Pumpy. I mean, I kind of find pregnant women hot, but I know a lot of guys don't so I am just throwing that out there for you. :cool:

excellent point.

just the boobs, then?

[Draft Dodger]

oops, used the wrong login there

[Wolfpack]

I don't know if I'd be interested in this or not. In some respects, I'm not as interested in being a person in the Sims and dealing with the semi-tedious clickfest that occurs when you want them to process a series of actions (or even getting to a spot in a room as was occasionally a problem in the original Sims). I'd almost rather run things like an ant farm of sorts, if that makes sense. I'd rather not be the people in their daily lives, but instead throw a "seed" community together and let the people and society evolve on its own with some benign interference from me from time to time (i.e. building houses or buying things or meddle in certain social situations to spin things in different directions). The Sims should be capable enough to handle their basic needs on a daily basis. It's cute the first few times to watch them dance and so forth trying to use the bathroom or need sleep, but it's dull to have to tell them to do it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

She is seven months pregnant right now Pumpy. I mean, I kind of find pregnant women hot, but I know a lot of guys don't so I am just throwing that out there for you. :cool:
No problem for me. Sign me up for some of that.

[JetsIn06]

I don't know if I'd be interested in this or not. In some respects, I'm not as interested in being a person in the Sims and dealing with the semi-tedious clickfest that occurs when you want them to process a series of actions (or even getting to a spot in a room as was occasionally a problem in the original Sims). I'd almost rather run things like an ant farm of sorts, if that makes sense. I'd rather not be the people in their daily lives, but instead throw a "seed" community together and let the people and society evolve on its own with some benign interference from me from time to time (i.e. building houses or buying things or meddle in certain social situations to spin things in different directions). The Sims should be capable enough to handle their basic needs on a daily basis. It's cute the first few times to watch them dance and so forth trying to use the bathroom or need sleep, but it's dull to have to tell them to do it.

I'm pretty much in agreement with you here. I don't find it as tedious as others...it still feels like a "game" to me, and I have fun. But I love throwing a bunch of people in a house, turning the free will to it's highest setting and just watching what happens.

One thing that's great about the new version, and really it's biggest new feature, is the "living world." Before, you would have your house, and if you wanted to play a different one, you would advance, but the old household would stay static. You could go through three generations, and go back to the original and have them be the same age as they were when you left, which totally defeats the "neighborhood" aspect of the game.

Now, when you leave a household to try a new one, the old one will get promoted, have kids, age, and so on. You can turn it off, however.

One thing I did was create three completely wackos and stuck 'em in a house together. I went back to playing my original household, and now in a week or so I'll check back in on them to see what's happened.

[JetsIn06]

Also, Wolfpack, just to make a point clearer, the "free will" setting in this game is much, much better. You can now choose low, medium or high. On high, the Sims will pretty much take complete care of themselves. I keep it on medium, but it would be very easy to do what you wanted to on the high setting.

Another point I wanted to make about this game, in comparison to Spore, is that it's incredibly deep through every phase of the game. I only played Spore once, but after reading about it on here and hearing from friends, it seemed that the beginning of the game was very shallow, it moved to fast...I also heard that the only real "meat" of the game was in the space-portion.

I have to say, the Sims 3 does such a great job keeping things fun and exciting whether you are just starting out and poor, or completely rich, whether you are young or old, etc. There's so much to do at every stage.

Bah...one more point. In the Sims 2, to advance in your career, no matter what it was, you needed to have friends. Now, it's MUCH less tedious. In TS2 I remember having to just call random people all the damn time to keep them close. You still have friends, but no longer need them to advance in your career.

Plus, with traits like "Loner", you're better off NOT being close to people.

[Groundhog]

Another point I wanted to make about this game, in comparison to Spore, is that it's incredibly deep through every phase of the game. I only played Spore once, but after reading about it on here and hearing from friends, it seemed that the beginning of the game was very shallow, it moved to fast...I also heard that the only real "meat" of the game was in the space-portion.

You had to go and bring up Spore again. Single biggest dissapointing video game ever. :(

[PackerFanatic]

My wife is really digging all the new stuff so far. I played about 15 minutes of it and really liked the new features, but didn't dig around much yet. They seem to be outdoing themselves with every new installment though.

[Samdari]

You had to go and bring up Spore again. Single biggest dissapointing video game ever. :(

Non Molyneux division?

[Qwikshot]

So far, I like the game. The graphics are nice. I do like that everything is integrated. My character jogged to the pool instead of taking a taxi. There are options galore. I haven't gotten fully into the depths of the game, but I like what I see so far.

[MizzouRah]

My daughter and her two friends have been up until about 3 am the past two nights. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Something Awful with their always amusing "review" of Sims 3.

hxxp://www.somethingawful.com/d/feature-articles/sims-3-life.php

[Samdari]

So far, I like the game. The graphics are nice. I do like that everything is integrated. My character jogged to the pool instead of taking a taxi. There are options galore. I haven't gotten fully into the depths of the game, but I like what I see so far.


Me too, although I fail to see where the routine, boring functions (cleaning, pooing) have been de-emphasized. I still need to spend time doing those.

[DataKing]

Overall I'd have to say I'm pretty pleased so far. Despite the amount of poo-pooing on The Sims 3 I've seen on some other boards, I think it's a pretty solid product. I won't list all of the changes/improvements over The Sims 2 here, but here are a few of the ones I find the most important:
As was mentioned earlier by JetsIn06, each town is now a living world. You can set it so the entire town progresses along with your sim(s). So now the other sims grow older, get promotions, get married, have kids, etc right along with the sim(s) you're concentrating on. A very nice addition, but also nice that you can turn it off.
Along the same lines, you can now determine the approximate lifespan of your sims. In The Sims 2, unless you turned off aging completely or took other "precautions," a sim would grow up, grow old, and croak all within 60 game-days or so...way too short IMO. Now you can determine the lifespan of all sims, and set it as high as 970 game-days.
Graphically the game can be downright stunning. I've read some other with lower-end machines have had problems with the game, but my box is pretty high-end (2.6 quad-core, 4gb RAM @ 800 mhz, RAID-1 array, 8800 GTX graphics card) and I have to say, the game is pretty. That being said, the skin tones provided seem pretty flat and lifeless...I'm hoping the modding community finds a way to import custom skin-tones soon.Overall I'm pleased, but as of right now it's all still shiny. We'll see how much appeal it retains once the shine has worn off. And as with The Sims 2, I suspect the mod community will be vital to keeping the appeal of the game long-term.

[chesapeake]

FWIW - Gamespot gave this game a 90.

EA must not have bought enough ads to get a 95.

[Cringer]

Anyone have the crash problem? My wife has been having the game crash, she looked it up and I guess there are a decent amount of people having the same problem. I can't remember what she said they think it is, but no one has been able to fix it. She isn't happy.

[Tasan]

Well I've had fun with it. Taking a cue from the PC Gamer review, I created a very distinct looking lady killer of a guy and knocked up about 12 of the ladies in the neighborhood, finally settling down with one of them. I've got about 14 little bastards running around the hood with this guy's god awful nose and chin. To top it all off, the chick he settled down with had 3 more kids, and they all got taken away the other day when I failed to notice the oldest getting depressed. That was kind of a gut punch, because I was kinda enjoying finally expanding the house and settling down. I had even just gotten a job for the guy.

So now he's gonna go back to his knock 'em up days and see how many more he can get before he croaks. I'm horrible.

[SFL Cat]

Do guys actually admit to playing this?

[sabotai]

With my first guy, I knocked up one of the chicks, and the morning after, I did every mean thing I could until we were enemies. Then the bitch wouldn't let me see my kid so I beat her up.

[SFL Cat]

Well I've had fun with it. Taking a cue from the PC Gamer review, I created a very distinct looking lady killer of a guy and knocked up about 12 of the ladies in the neighborhood, finally settling down with one of them. I've got about 14 little bastards running around the hood with this guy's god awful nose and chin. To top it all off, the chick he settled down with had 3 more kids, and they all got taken away the other day when I failed to notice the oldest getting depressed. That was kind of a gut punch, because I was kinda enjoying finally expanding the house and settling down. I had even just gotten a job for the guy.

So now he's gonna go back to his knock 'em up days and see how many more he can get before he croaks. I'm horrible.

Ummm, so you actually get to see your horny little sim going to town or is it implied? What's this thing rated again?

[JetsIn06]

Do guys actually admit to playing this?

Yea, I think it's fun.

[Neon_Chaos]

Picked up my pre-ordered Collector's Edition over the weekend. For $45, it came along with a 2GB Sims3 USB, a Sims3 shirt, and a Sims3 Coffee Mug. :)

I'm loving the whole seamless neighborhood idea. No more loading screens, it's just one big neighborhood complete with job spots, community lots, and houses. I'm loving the fact that my sims can actually have cars and drive them to wherever they need to go (not just for decor).

The new moodlet and aspiration system is awesome, and the fact that everyone else in the existing universe is aging at the same rate as your sims is pretty cool, something I've been wanting since the game came out.

This game is going to get a lot of mileage from me.
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[Tasan]

Ummm, so you actually get to see your horny little sim going to town or is it implied? What's this thing rated again?

They crawl under the sheets, bounce around for a bit, and re-emerge to relax on the bed.

Its all pretty silly, but entertaining in a "Yeah I watched 90210 for a half season" kind of way.

[Young Drachma]

I used to like Sims 2 to build houses. But that's it.

[billethius]

Do guys actually admit to playing this?

I never looked at it that way. Maybe I should play something else today in order to reaffirm my manliness.

Are there men who are too insecure to admit playing this?

[Pumpy Tudors]

I ONLY PLAY THE SIMS SO I CAN WATCH THE MEN BEAT WOMEN AND THEN JERK OFF TO BIKINI CARWASH COMPANY 2 ON USA UP ALL NIGHT

THE GILBERT GOTTFRIED VERSION

I AM A MAN

[DataKing]

I miss Rhonda.

[Draft Dodger]

after a mini-runaround with GoGamer, mine finally arrived today. Since it didn't arrive this weekend, I ended up starting Oblivion and now I'm kind of into that, so I'm not sure if I'm going to install it now or not.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I miss Rhonda.
I WOULD BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF RHONDA, AND THEN I WOULD CREATE HER IN THE SIMS 3 AND BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HER THERE, TOO.

I AM A MAN

[DataKing]

You can't create Rhonda in Sims 3.

[Pumpy Tudors]

BLAST

[mrsimperless]

I probably won't be getting this, but I did play the first iteration and I do understand the draw for the game, even for guys.

When your life is a pile of unmanaged crap it is fun to organize things and get your shit together.... Tasan and Sabotai are like-minded in this game, so I imagine they are completely opposite of me in real life. When I play the Sims I keep everything structured and orderly and am the most responsible and faithful, family-oriented sim on the block. ;)

Its all about living out a fantasy.

[sachmo71]

It's a detailed management sim with instant feedback on your choices. I don't see why playing it would be embarrassing.

[fantom1979]

It's a detailed management sim with instant feedback on your choices. I don't see why playing it would be embarrassing.

Because you are playing your management sim with barbie and ken. :)

[sachmo71]

Because you are playing your management sim with barbie and ken. :)

Actually, if barbie and ken did their own thing and all you had to do was get them to the second floor and then remove the stairs to watch them die, i believe they would have become one of the most popular boys toys in history. plus the sex...

[Neon_Chaos]

I can understand why there are people that are turned off by the game. Some people love shooters, a few people love text sims. Different strokes for different folks.

The game has certainly evolved from being a dollhouse sim into a complete neighborhood sim.

The more I tinker with the little things in this game, the more it surprises me with little things. :)

Each skill comes along with things to keep track of and make the game much more interesting and engaging.

i.e., developing the Handyness skill allows your sim to be able to upgrade some items to becoming unbreakable, self-cleaning, or giving stat boosts (upgrading the TV with a booster enhances the amount of Fun rating your Sim gets from watching TV).

Speed playing through the default Steel household, I've already gone through 3 generations, and their family tree has become pretty big. I wonder how far the game keeps track of lineage.

If anything, it reminds me of playing Crusader Kings, letting your imagination take over and weave the stories between the different people in the game on your own.

[fantom1979]

I was completely joking by the way..... I played The Sims on and off for a while, but it never held my attention for more than a few days. I am going to try out Sims 3 and see how it is.

[Samdari]

Actually, if barbie and ken did their own thing and all you had to do was get them to the second floor and then remove the stairs to watch them die, i believe they would have become one of the most popular boys toys in history. plus the sex...

These computer games are all role playing in some sense.

Text sims let us role play GM/manager/HC in our favorite sports (or soccer).

War games let us role play a great (or lousy) general.

FPS's let us role play someone with a gun (knife, chainsaw, etc).

This lets us role play banging the neighbors daughter the day she becomes legal, impregnating every woman on your street (and all the maids) mass murder (try walling in a party) and many other deviations, all without the nasty consequences doing so in the real world would entail. Plus, there's a nudie patch. What's not to love?

[Bonegavel]

I just don't get the attraction. I thought the original was fun for maybe a week and then I realized I was doing boring tedious repetition to earn play money to buy the same things over and over and over again.

Whats the point?

My 9 year old daughter loves this and we've had a great time together with the sims series starting with Sims2.

The sim creator is far more in-depth this time and she spent like 45 minutes creating her alter ego. It's a $49.99 virtual doll house. She likes the creating part the best and after that her attention span wanes as there is so much to do with little guidance.

[sabotai]

When your life is a pile of unmanaged crap it is fun to organize things and get your shit together.... Tasan and Sabotai are like-minded in this game, so I imagine they are completely opposite of me in real life. When I play the Sims I keep everything structured and orderly and am the most responsible and faithful, family-oriented sim on the block. ;)


I do that, too. I have insane characters and family oriented characters.

The only thing I don't have is a guy with no life and spends his days wasting untold amounts of time surfing the internet....I've got that one covered already. :)

[spleen1015]

I got this and have played maybe 2 hours while on vacation, wasting the late evening hours. I had a CTD last night right after the horn sounded for my guy to go to work.

Anyway, do you guys know if there are other neighborhoods to play with? I haven't dug too deep into the game yet, but I was just wondering.

[hawk4669]

I dunno...I am having fun with it. To each their own, but each of the Sims game has sucked me in.

Not ashamed to admit it either.

Cheers!

[DataKing]

I got this and have played maybe 2 hours while on vacation, wasting the late evening hours. I had a CTD last night right after the horn sounded for my guy to go to work.

Anyway, do you guys know if there are other neighborhoods to play with? I haven't dug too deep into the game yet, but I was just wondering.

There is a second town, called Riverside (I think) that is available for free download from thesims3.com

[fantom1979]

I put 3 hours in last night... entertaining so far, but I am not sure how long it will hold my attention.

[chesapeake]

I put 3 hours in last night... entertaining so far, but I am not sure how long it will hold my attention.

I picked it up 2 days ago and have put in the same amount of time with the same result. I don't know why, but I always expect it to be much more interesting than it ends up being.

[spleen1015]

Epic.

hxxp://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=936498&topic=49951455

[Tasan]

I probably won't be getting this, but I did play the first iteration and I do understand the draw for the game, even for guys.

When your life is a pile of unmanaged crap it is fun to organize things and get your shit together.... Tasan and Sabotai are like-minded in this game, so I imagine they are completely opposite of me in real life. When I play the Sims I keep everything structured and orderly and am the most responsible and faithful, family-oriented sim on the block. ;)

Its all about living out a fantasy.

Just noticed my name getting drug through the mud here ;- )

Since my hound doggin' first guy, I've made a real family oriented household. The fourth generation living in the house will be coming soon, and nobody has had any affairs or bastard children this time.

[Icy]

That is the problem i have too, no matter how much i try, i always end being a good family man that can't cheat or do anything illegal, or try to kill my sims etc. I know it's just a game, but something inside me doesn't let my evil side to appear even on games.

Also I have played a few hours but always have the same issue with the sims franchise, that is the lack of time during the day to do the stuff i would like.

This is my guy schedule (young single male following the athletics career).

I wake up at 9am, pee, was my hands, have breakfast, and then it's like 12 pm already. Read or use the pc for 1 hour and then the car to go work is already calling me, then go to work at 3pm until 9pm. Go back home, pee, have a shower, have dinner and it's already 1am so i go to bed.

That is a full day with only 2 meals, and i have zero time for a social life or even go for a walk to the city. And that is with a woman coming home daily to clean the house and a repairman fixing anything broken. So my life is really repetitive and no fun at all.

I can't underestand how most of my morning is expended just peeing and having breakfast. I think that time runs too fast or that usual actions take too much game time and have had always this problem since sims 1.

[Axxon]

In games, I generally anymore play the good guy types. In my current Sims3 game I'm following the music career. One day my sim calls up his best friend in the band for a little get together. The dude brought his wife ( also in the band ) and ( one of their - I didn't know they had more than this one until too late ) kids.

Everything is cool but the wife is being super friendly. A few days later and the dude wants to talk to her again. I invite her over solo and the next thing you know he's had her quit her marriage and marry him.

They move the best friend into the $15000 house while I move into their $42000 house and inherit a wife, her mom and two kids, yikes. The dude hates me and my sim want to fight him. I haven't been back to work yet.

That's going to be real interesting. It'd be really cool if the band broke up but I doubt they've programmed that into the game. I will see.

[DaddyTorgo]

question - can i alt-tab in and out of this game as i play? or play windowed mode (even better) on a monitor that goes up to 1440x900?

because i find that the games that get the most playing time from me i can either play windowed or at least alt-tab in and out of without significant loading times.

if i can i will prolly pick this up tomorrow

[Ironhead]

question - can i alt-tab in and out of this game as i play? or play windowed mode (even better) on a monitor that goes up to 1440x900?

because i find that the games that get the most playing time from me i can either play windowed or at least alt-tab in and out of without significant loading times.

if i can i will prolly pick this up tomorrow

I don't know specifically if alt-tab works but there is a "Windows Start Button" key on our keyboard that my girlfriend hits to minimize the game. She doesn't seem to have any slowdown with surfing the internet and then going back into the game. Then again our computer is still fairly up to date(just built in December).

[DaddyTorgo]

thanks ironhead. i've got one of those buttons too, but i'll be curious to see what others have to say tomorrow on this topic, and if it sounds positive i'll probably pick it up tomorrow or tuesday and have some fun with it.

[Tasan]

Windows key worked fine for getting out of the game for me. I didn't even try alt-tab because of it.

[Axxon]

question - can i alt-tab in and out of this game as i play? or play windowed mode (even better) on a monitor that goes up to 1440x900?

because i find that the games that get the most playing time from me i can either play windowed or at least alt-tab in and out of without significant loading times.

if i can i will prolly pick this up tomorrow

+1 on games that I can alt-tab out of get far more play with me and yes, the Sims 3 works just fine with alt-tab and/or the windows key.

[DaddyTorgo]

sweetness!

and i did the "can i run it" test the other day and it showed me running it just fine, so i'm pretty much not worried bout that.

haven't played sims since like v1 - little pumped to get my hands on this and try it out I guess

[CleBrownsfan]

That is the problem i have too, no matter how much i try, i always end being a good family man that can't cheat or do anything illegal, or try to kill my sims etc. I know it's just a game, but something inside me doesn't let my evil side to appear even on games.

Also I have played a few hours but always have the same issue with the sims franchise, that is the lack of time during the day to do the stuff i would like.

This is my guy schedule (young single male following the athletics career).

I wake up at 9am, pee, was my hands, have breakfast, and then it's like 12 pm already. Read or use the pc for 1 hour and then the car to go work is already calling me, then go to work at 3pm until 9pm. Go back home, pee, have a shower, have dinner and it's already 1am so i go to bed.

That is a full day with only 2 meals, and i have zero time for a social life or even go for a walk to the city. And that is with a woman coming home daily to clean the house and a repairman fixing anything broken. So my life is really repetitive and no fun at all.

I can't underestand how most of my morning is expended just peeing and having breakfast. I think that time runs too fast or that usual actions take too much game time and have had always this problem since sims 1.

I felt this way until I got promoted several times to the 8th position in the Culinary ladder. Now I only work 4 days a week so I have 3 days to pretty much do what I want. Work days are kind of like what you described but now having 3 days off lets me socialize, ect. Plus getting enough lifetime achievement points to purchase the steel bladder and the one for hygiene really saves me some time. I'm liking the game so far but I feel there is really not much to do on my days off without feeling repetitive. I'm sure EA did this on purpose for the 10+ expansion packs :rant:

[chesapeake]

Icy, this seems to play a lot like past Sims games, in that the first adult sims you create are the sim equivalent of uneducated rubes. They've had no opportunity to develop skills as kids, so life is a grind. This time, I've started with one sim and am focusing on getting married and having kids. The kids will be the ones with high expectations.

[Eaglesfan27]

I started playing this last night while watching the Finals. Are most people playing on normal or long life span?

[LloydLungs]

I can't underestand how most of my morning is expended just peeing and having breakfast. I think that time runs too fast or that usual actions take too much game time and have had always this problem since sims 1.

Wait till you add a kid. The time demands get completely ridiculous then.

I tried this game out, but I had the exact same experience as you, and I don't understand how it's possible to do more. Once I added a kid, I could barely take care of it. Got fired from my job and had social services on my ass, because showering, taking a dump, and feeding the kid takes up a whole day. My guy ended up soul-crushingly depressed with ants crawling all over his food and a crying baby peeing all over the floor. Maybe I'm just not good at this game but I don't see how you can do more without slowing time down.

[spleen1015]

How many adult sims did you have when you had a baby? I created a couple yesterday and had a baby. It was a breeze taking care of the baby. Hell, half of the time, it laid in the crib perfectly fine.

[DaddyTorgo]

i wish they'd get rid of some of those stupid aspects of it and focus on the fun stuff

i'm also going to wait till the meshes are hacked and free content is out there - i hear it's pretty...sparse

[LloydLungs]

How many adult sims did you have when you had a baby? I created a couple yesterday and had a baby. It was a breeze taking care of the baby. Hell, half of the time, it laid in the crib perfectly fine.

I had two adults as well. This was on The Sims 2, though. Maybe it's better now that they're supposedly able to do mundane tasks on their own in the new version. I dunno, but I don't see how it's physically possible to have them do everything they're supposed to do in the time allotted. Obviously I'm doing something wrong but it seems like it takes them a half-hour even just to walk across the house.

i wish they'd get rid of some of those stupid aspects of it and focus on the fun stuff

Agreed -- I'm really not sure why the pissing and showering and stuff like that is in the game at all. Let's just assume they're taking care of that stuff and not actually constantly have to go through all the motions...

[DaddyTorgo]

I had two adults as well. This was on The Sims 2, though. Maybe it's better now that they're supposedly able to do mundane tasks on their own in the new version. I dunno, but I don't see how it's physically possible to have them do everything they're supposed to do in the time allotted. Obviously I'm doing something wrong but it seems like it takes them a half-hour even just to walk across the house.


Agreed -- I'm really not sure why the pissing and showering and stuff like that is in the game at all. Let's just assume they're taking care of that stuff and not actually constantly have to go through all the motions...

yeah, that was one of the things that irritated me about the first one - was that it took half an hour to get up from the table and catch my ride to work - umm hello shouldn't that take 2 minutes?

i just wish the mundane stuff was optional, so if you did it great, and if you didn't it would be assumed it got done for you. Or even if you could chain up common commands in a timeframe "piss and wash your hands and go out to the car in 5 minutes total" or something.

let me focus on the relationship-building between my sim and other sims, the family building, shit, even decorating and building-out the house. even my career advancement

[Emiliano]

Guys, I may sound like the fool here (didn't read EVERY post of the thread), but: isn't the game unplayable for you?

Basically, what I'm saying is that the 2/3/4 speed don't work, at all, and you're stuck with the normal one. I thought it was my problem at first, but then I did some researches and found out it's a very common issue. It's still not clear, to me, if there is patch in the works, or if the game was programmed this way, because of the whole "story progression" thing.

I played for a couple of hours, but after realizing that the game wasn't speeding up, I quitted. I may give it another try, cause I really like The Sims, but waiting 3/4 minutes for the sim to sleep it's not really fun to me. I know I can "explore the neighborough", I'm just not interested.

Am I the only one here? Is my copy flawed?

[spleen1015]

My speeds have been working correctly. I haven't had a problem with it at all.

[CleBrownsfan]

yeah - my speeds work... weird.

[chinaski]

2 and 3 work as intended for me, but 4 is the same as 3 for me.

[Axxon]

2 and 3 work as intended for me, but 4 is the same as 3 for me. 4 is exactly like 3 but when they finish their current task it drops back to one. If you're queueing up actions and it never drops to one then 4 is broken but it was kinda confusing.

[fantom1979]

Speeds seem to be working fine for me

[RainMaker]

I think it's an interesting game and I've played earlier iterations. My problem is with the tedious stuff. I just find it silly to have to worry about taking a piss which would take any normal human being a minute (while in the game it's an hour long excursion). If you could skip that stuff or just set it up to sim it in the morning and take off a reasonable time, I'd enjoy the games more.

[fantom1979]

I saved up 10,000 of those bonus points so that I never have to piss again.

[DaddyTorgo]

I think it's an interesting game and I've played earlier iterations. My problem is with the tedious stuff. I just find it silly to have to worry about taking a piss which would take any normal human being a minute (while in the game it's an hour long excursion). If you could skip that stuff or just set it up to sim it in the morning and take off a reasonable time, I'd enjoy the games more.

that's my thought. if you could set it up to auto do that tedious stuff, or even chain a "common morning actions" thing and say basically 'between 7:15 and 8 am do the following" without having to sit there and make sure they do.

[Draft Dodger]

well, they kind of DO do that stuff automatically. just not as efficiently as you would like

[Tasan]

Wait till you add a kid. The time demands get completely ridiculous then.

I tried this game out, but I had the exact same experience as you, and I don't understand how it's possible to do more. Once I added a kid, I could barely take care of it. Got fired from my job and had social services on my ass, because showering, taking a dump, and feeding the kid takes up a whole day. My guy ended up soul-crushingly depressed with ants crawling all over his food and a crying baby peeing all over the floor. Maybe I'm just not good at this game but I don't see how you can do more without slowing time down.

Call the babysitter if you have enough cash. I kept them there 24/7 or as close to it as possible when I had twins in my house. Well worth the 75 bucks a day. Best thing to do is call them right before everyone goes to bed, so someone is there to take care of the kids when your sims sleep. Babysitter + maid is $200 a day, so maybe wait to have kids til you have some income, but you really can't beat that combo.

[DaddyTorgo]

well, they kind of DO do that stuff automatically. just not as efficiently as you would like

i always found if you left them to do that then they missed going to work and stuff though.

idk - more i think about it, even with the warts i may pick it up tomorrow just for kicks

[spleen1015]

Maybe you guys are bad a planning ahead?

With 3, I've had no problems having enough time to wake, piss, shower, eat breakfast and be ready for work every day.

I have not seen any of these actions take an hour. It might take 10 minutes to piss.

[DaddyTorgo]

is that realistic though? i mean...it should take...a minute to piss. otherwise i gotta wake up what...an hour and a half before work in order to get everything done? that's kinda messed up, and means i can't stay up at all after dinner to socialize or i don't sleep enuf and i get tired.

or those were the problems i used to have. like i said, haven't got 3 yet.

[Tasan]

is that realistic though? i mean...it should take...a minute to piss. otherwise i gotta wake up what...an hour and a half before work in order to get everything done? that's kinda messed up, and means i can't stay up at all after dinner to socialize or i don't sleep enuf and i get tired.

or those were the problems i used to have. like i said, haven't got 3 yet.


I think its definitely better in 3. I usually have time to go to the can and grab food, or shower and grab food. I usually try to have the hygiene stuff taken care of before bed though, because it takes a little while. What I do is when everyone is sleeping, I go through everyone, see what will need to be taken care of in the morning, and queue it up so it gets done in order. Sometimes I'll kick them out of bed 30 minutes early to make sure it all gets done. They don't tend to fuss over those 30 minutes. I look at my sims as high maintenance people. You know, the kind that take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. My best friend's wife is one of these real people. You cannot spring "going out" on them without about at least an hour notice, or else you wind up sitting on their couch while his wife finishes getting ready.

[chesapeake]

is that realistic though? i mean...it should take...a minute to piss. otherwise i gotta wake up what...an hour and a half before work in order to get everything done? that's kinda messed up, and means i can't stay up at all after dinner to socialize or i don't sleep enuf and i get tired.

or those were the problems i used to have. like i said, haven't got 3 yet.

With a single sim, I have to get him up 90 mins before work to get everything done (toilet, shower, breakfast) so that his bars are full in time for work. You can cut a lot of time with two sims. The best cook does the bathroom stuff before going to bed and is responsible for making breakfast.

As in Sims 1 and 2, the carpool waits outside your house for an hour before leaving. You can squeeze a lot of morning prep work into that time.

[DaddyTorgo]

With a single sim, I have to get him up 90 mins before work to get everything done (toilet, shower, breakfast) so that his bars are full in time for work. You can cut a lot of time with two sims. The best cook does the bathroom stuff before going to bed and is responsible for making breakfast.

As in Sims 1 and 2, the carpool waits outside your house for an hour before leaving. You can squeeze a lot of morning prep work into that time.

90 minutes? i can toilet + shower + dress in 20. add in a quick breakfast and it's 30 tops.

How about these designers time shit in their own lives.

that being said - i guess my resolve is weakening and i might pick it up at lunch. maybe. seems like even though there's no user-created content out yet that people are still having fun, and it might be good to get it so i can get the learning-curve down.

[Neon_Chaos]

Screw the carpool. All of the Sims in my household drive cars.
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[chesapeake]

90 minutes? i can toilet + shower + dress in 20. add in a quick breakfast and it's 30 tops.

How about these designers time shit in their own lives.

It is a trade off for gameplay purposes -- your sim goes to the can once or twice a day. Would you rather the sim have to go several times a day but for shorter periods each time? Ditto with meals. I expect, at the end of the day, the stopwatch isn't going to be that much different.

They do take luxurious showers. So be it.

[DataKing]

I always viewed it as just a by-product of the compressed time within the game. Either that or it'd be zip-squirt-zip and done.

[DaddyTorgo]

i picked this up yesterday and spent last night messing around a little. seems to be decently fun, and i like that i can play windowed. I suspect I'll like it even more when the modders and user-created content rises - right now the supply of available things is somewhat limited, and there aren't quite enough hairstyles (no curly hair? really?) or enough variety in the body shapes to make me declare that it's perfect, but I'm sure it will get there.

[DaddyTorgo]

when there's more variety in the body-types i can create LCB and then torment her and kill her!

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm already bored of this game only after 3 days of playing... just not enough content - seems like there is A LOT more to do in Sims 2 with the expansion packs.

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm already bored of this game only after 3 days of playing... just not enough content - seems like there is A LOT more to do in Sims 2 with the expansion packs.

i think in a game like this where there are no expansion packs out yet for them to milk us with, or much user-created content yet, there is a significant downside to being an early-adopter, in that you can bore yourself quite quickly.

particularly when comparing it to a mature game like sims 2 was, where there was a ton of content and expansion packs and everything - this is clearly going to come up short to that for some time.

[CleBrownsfan]

i think in a game like this where there are no expansion packs out yet for them to milk us with, or much user-created content yet, there is a significant downside to being an early-adopter, in that you can bore yourself quite quickly.

particularly when comparing it to a mature game like sims 2 was, where there was a ton of content and expansion packs and everything - this is clearly going to come up short to that for some time.

But don't you think V3 would/should have the amount of content (if not more) then V2? I wont getting into bashing EA but it still seems silly to me

[DaddyTorgo]

But don't you think V3 would/should have the amount of content (if not more) then V2? I wont getting into bashing EA but it's still seems silly to me

Oh I absolutely do agree with you. It's pretty stupid that it doesn't have at least a significant % of the content of V2. I could see them not having it ALL (because then they might start to run short of expansions at some point), but it ought to at least have more than it does...yeah.

[DataKing]

Oh I absolutely do agree with you. It's pretty stupid that it doesn't have at least a significant % of the content of V2. I could see them not having it ALL (because then they might start to run short of expansions at some point), but it ought to at least have more than it does...yeah.

/rant on

No real surprise here...the exact same thing happened with the transition from Sims 1 to Sims 2. The geniuses at EA can't rely on actually creating new concepts for the bazillion expansion packs...instead they'll take great pleasure in raking in cash for the expansion packs to come in the coming years, which will add the same basic content that you already had via the expansion packs for Sims 2.

That's one thing that's always bugged me about the Sims...how hard can it be to come up with new content ideas, really. I mean, just live your frickin' life and you can come up with countless new ideas.

/rant off

[DaddyTorgo]

/rant on



That's one thing that's always bugged me about the Sims...how hard can it be to come up with new content ideas, really. I mean, just live your frickin' life and you can come up with countless new ideas.

/rant off

very true!

[Draft Dodger]

I'm not EA fan (I usually just pay for the first version of the Sims), but if you don't know they're holding stuff back for expansions by now...

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm not EA fan (I usually just pay for the first version of the Sims), but if you don't know they're holding stuff back for expansions by now...


lol true that. hell, even i knew that going into it and i haven't bought a sims game since the original

[chinaski]

Whats bugging me the most is that they did nothing to the sim engine. Same pathing errors, same grid. By now, there should be no grid...there should be no Sim tapping his toe for 5 minutes while he tries to figure out how to walk around someone. You really think by version 3 and countless xpacs that a sim could squeeze past another one in a tight spot. All they did was pretty it up, its just as dumb AI wise as all the others.

[spleen1015]

Do you guys know how things work if you knock up a sim and you're not married to her? Does the game tell you that you did?

[DaddyTorgo]

Do you guys know how things work if you knock up a sim and you're not married to her? Does the game tell you that you did?

lol idk - i think it might. i saw some guy on a forum bragging about having 10 bastard kids, so maybe.

[Neon_Chaos]

Do you guys know how things work if you knock up a sim and you're not married to her? Does the game tell you that you did?

You hear nursery rhyme chimes play when you get a sim pregnant.

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[Tasan]

Do you guys know how things work if you knock up a sim and you're not married to her? Does the game tell you that you did?

You also get told when the baby is born. That was me with the 10 bastards. I've changed my ways though, honest! :devil:

[DaddyTorgo]

You also get told when the baby is born. That was me with the 10 bastards. I've changed my ways though, honest! :devil:

haha it was you! haha

lol

[spleen1015]

Yeah, that was my idea. I want to see how many women I can have babies with.

[chadritt]

This makes me think I should buy the game. Alice and Kev (http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/)

[Radii]

This makes me think I should buy the game. Alice and Kev (http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/)


WOW. Brilliant storytelling.

[Tasan]

Yeah, that Alice and Kev is great. Well worth the time for the read. Make sure you go back and start from the beginning.

[JetsIn06]

Whats bugging me the most is that they did nothing to the sim engine. Same pathing errors, same grid. By now, there should be no grid...there should be no Sim tapping his toe for 5 minutes while he tries to figure out how to walk around someone. You really think by version 3 and countless xpacs that a sim could squeeze past another one in a tight spot. All they did was pretty it up, its just as dumb AI wise as all the others.

You don't need to use the grid. Hold down ALT while placing something and you can put it anywhere you want.

[JetsIn06]

Dola

I also feel like the path finding is much better, but still annoying sometimes.

[Mustang]

Wasn't planning on getting this, but they had the collectors edition at Goodwill for $12.99 (target return) so.. eh.. I'll bite.

[aran]

I found this awesome "dynasty" of a homeless family the Sims 3. It's still in progress--the guy posts new updates every day.

Alice and Kev (http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/)

It can be crushing one moment and hilarious the next. Good stuff.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I should've read the ENTIRE thread before posting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm definitely not a Sims guy, but that dynasty is awfully well done.

[Tasan]

I found this awesome "dynasty" of a homeless family the Sims 3. It's still in progress--the guy posts new updates every day.

Alice and Kev (http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/)

It can be crushing one moment and hilarious the next. Good stuff.


Did you read up 8 posts? Just wondering.

[aran]

I read the first five pages, then posted. :(

(I'm lame)

[MizzouRah]

That Alice and Kev blog is great!

[Tasan]

I read the first five pages, then posted. :(

(I'm lame)

Heh....I do that all the time. Should have put a smiley up there, just yankin' your chain.

[Eilim]

Alice and Kev have nothing on 'Subject Beef'. Link (http://www.cracked.com/blog/exploring-the-mysteries-of-the-mind-with-the-sims-3/) :devil:

[DaddyTorgo]

i love how you can do stuff like that with this game. just basically turn it on and leave it alone and your sims will survive more or less without your input.

[DaddyTorgo]

LMAO!!!! subject beef!

[DaddyTorgo]

okay - so i laid the game down for a couple months, waiting for patches and some more user-created content & mods. threw it back up last night and fiddled a little - maybe tonight/this weekend i'll look for more mods+content now that i patched the game up and all.

[DataKing]

okay - so i laid the game down for a couple months, waiting for patches and some more user-created content & mods. threw it back up last night and fiddled a little - maybe tonight/this weekend i'll look for more mods+content now that i patched the game up and all.

Let us know what you find out there by way of content and mods. I'm pretty much in the same boat you were in...put the thing away until the certifiable-crazy content community out there gets cracking.

[DaddyTorgo]

Let us know what you find out there by way of content and mods. I'm pretty much in the same boat you were in...put the thing away until the certifiable-crazy content community out there gets cracking.

Yeah. I refuse to spend any of my hard-earned real cash on buying content for my pretend-people.

I'll let you know what I find - it seems from chatter on messageboards that EA fucked around with the way the game works behind the scenes and that's making it much more difficult for modders to do game mods, as well as meshes and all that.

People seem convinced it's only a matter of time though.

[DataKing]

People seem convinced it's only a matter of time though.

Considering some of the downright crazy stuff people were able to do with The Sims 2, I have to agree with this statement.

[DaddyTorgo]

Considering some of the downright crazy stuff people were able to do with The Sims 2, I have to agree with this statement.

yeah, and if they can't then sims2 is still out there.

not to get too into it (i was bored one saturday and browsing a forum), basically they changed the way that meshes work so it's been not possible so far to make custom body-shapes (which affects things like facial bone structure, etc), and also the way that game-mods are loaded by the game, so that basically it's much more difficult to layer mods on top of each other.

at least that's what i've come to understand.

but there's a ton of geeks out there workin on ripping it open. for their own...ahem...motives of course, but the end results will benefit everyone.

[Cork]

For those looking for good mods, check out the Awesome Mod. They also have some other excellent smaller mods as well. The web site is called "More Awesome than You".

-Cork

[DaddyTorgo]

yes - awesome mod is good stuff

[Radii]

This makes me think I should buy the game. Alice and Kev (http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/)

This story has now been completed, and some of the characters from the story are available for download into your own games. To read the story use the link in the quoted bit and make sure to "go to beginning"

Highly recommended read for anyone that hasn't checked it out yet.

[CleBrownsfan]

/rant on

No real surprise here...the exact same thing happened with the transition from Sims 1 to Sims 2. The geniuses at EA can't rely on actually creating new concepts for the bazillion expansion packs...instead they'll take great pleasure in raking in cash for the expansion packs to come in the coming years, which will add the same basic content that you already had via the expansion packs for Sims 2.

That's one thing that's always bugged me about the Sims...how hard can it be to come up with new content ideas, really. I mean, just live your frickin' life and you can come up with countless new ideas.

/rant off


I just noticed that after three years of being released The Sims 3 Seasons expansion just came out today.