Blog - Community - The Sims 3

The Sims™ 3 Community Blog

: March 2013

Filter by :

Welcome to Paradise

@SimGuruRyan, Lead Producer for The Sims 3 introduces the newest expansion, The Sims 3 Island Paradise, dropping anchor this June!

When we started work on The Sims 3 Island Paradise , we had one goal – to deliver you the content, features, and gameplay to not just create and play with an island paradise, but to create and play with what you envision an island paradise to be. We all have different ideas of what paradise means, so we strived to create an expansion that includes as many of those concepts as possible. Through features like sailing the open seas on a houseboat of your own design, scuba diving in search of sunken treasure, or relaxing in the lap of luxury at a mega resort (just to name a few!), The Sims 3 Island Paradise gives you the opportunity to both create paradise, and then play with it. As we continue to build Island Paradise, we’re focusing on a few major parts of the game to achieve this.

The first one is definitely the ocean. With the release of The Sims 3 Seasons , we enabled swimming in the ocean for the first time, and with The Sims 3 Island Paradise , we're really taking what you can do on, and below, the ocean to a whole new level. You might enjoy having your Sims sit back and relax on a sailboat as they venture off into the sunset, or maybe even go for a quick paddle on a rowboat. Alternatively players might be more interested in a speedboat or Jet Ski to quickly head out in search of uncharted islands veiled by a mysterious fog!

Players that love to build things can create fully functional houseboats using the complete suite of Build/Buy Mode tools to design and furnish floating abodes. And did I mention scuba diving?? For the first time ever in The Sims 3 , you'll be able to take your Sims under the ocean’s waves in search of sunken treasure! While down there you might even encounter some unexpected – or dangerous – marine life. The tropical ocean in this brand new world is packed with tons of all new ways to interact with your Sims, and our hope is that it gives you the feeling of your own island paradise, even if you’ve never before stepped your own toes into beautiful crystal blue waters.

Resorts are another area of the game that we're focusing on. Whether you're looking to build a sprawling mega resort, have your Sims stay in a stilt foundation bungalow out over the ocean, or even directly manage an exclusive beachside retreat, resorts in The Sims 3 Island Paradise provide these experiences and much more. With advanced Build/Buy features such as the ability to build out over the ocean, create pools using the new resort-specific Blueprint Mode, and place dynamic new resort towers to attract potential guests. For those of you with more of a business mindset, resorts allow you to manage and fine tune the characteristics of your resort down to the smallest detail – all while making a little money on the side! Utilize the Resort Star Rating System to see how your guests like your resort and then make crucial business decisions like adding fun amenities, hiring maintenance staff, or setting quality levels. All decisions tie into the popularity and overall success of your resort, so make sure your guests are happy… or don't! It's your paradise, and you get to make the decisions. But don’t worry, resorts aren’t all about work. If your Sims are looking to melt away into an extended vacation, resorts are the place to go! Belly up to the in-pool bars, eat until your heart’s content at epic buffets, or even test your skills at the fire walk pit and many other amenities! Resorts are a massive new experience that really offers fun for everyone, regardless of how you play The Sims 3 .

Of course, no The Sims 3 expansion pack is complete without all new careers, skills, collectibles, Lifetime Rewards, traits and places to WooHoo, of course! We'll get into more detail of what those new items look like so be sure to stay tuned for upcoming blogs, Q&As, Twitter Takeovers and more. Also be sure to mark your calendars for our next Live Broadcast on April 16 where we’ll be showing an all-new gameplay demo and taking your questions live!

Until then, Sim-on Simmers, and get ready to spend your summer in paradise!

@SimGuruRyan

04:01 PM

03/26/13

Posted by: SimGuruRyan

Categories: Screenshots PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack

ERMAHGERD! MEMES!

Hey Simmers!

You may have recognized some of these Sim-ified memes in The Sims 3 University Life Launch Trailer .

We recently invited Simmers on the forums to take these screenshots minus the captions to insert their own! Here are a few of our favorites:

By StarChildXenu:

By Joolster:

By Rawr2019:

By Archivist:

By rafraf :

We're seriously enjoying these captions you're creating and sharing with us! You can create and share your own too! Head over here to save the screenshots minus captions and to post them with your own text. We'll highlight more favorites soon!

03:29 PM

03/18/13

Posted by: SimGuruHydra

Categories: Screenshots PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack

Designer’s Blog: Take Your Sims to the Movies

Designer Alan Copeland writes in detail about the latest venue – Le Cinema Plumbob – available on the Sims 3 Store on March 7th.

It seems like every town has one of those great old places to catch classics from the silver screen. You may have seen these movies dozens of times on TV, but there is just something about seeing them in that environment that really makes the experience especially memorable.

It’s particularly trendy right now for some theatres to provide more of an upscale environment, serving drinks, having loveseats to snuggle up with your date and providing a bit of VIP exclusivity. This is the type of experience we hope to emulate for your Sims with our latest venue, Le Cinema Plumbob.

This new theatre comes with a gorgeous set of related Build/Buy objects and three new Premium Content items. The first is the flashiest and most obvious one… the movie screen! At six tiles across and using every inch of height from floor to ceiling, this thing is massive. It also dims the lights automatically and has a set duration, providing some great entertainment for your Sims very quickly.

There’s a variety of movies to select, from romantic comedy, to drama, action, adventure and so on. Each one provides a ton of fun, and a buff that not only helps your Sims mood, but may also inspire them into different interactions. So for example, if you take your Sim to see a romantic movie, they might be more inclined to be more romantic for the rest of the day.

But the objects I’m really excited about are the brand new ticket machine and turnstile. This new system allows you to restrict rooms based on… well, just about anything you can imagine. The most obvious is by tickets! You can buy different colors of tickets at the ticket machine and have the locks on the turnstile to only allow Sims with that specific ticket color. Each ticket has a limited duration, so when it’s about to expire Sims are pushed to leave and will need another ticket if they want to go back in.

What’s really exciting is if your Sim owns the lot, all of the money for those ticket sales is yours! This opens up a whole new avenue of business gameplay in The Sims 3. You can build buffets, exclusive clubs, gyms, casinos or arcades… basically anything that you would want an entrance or membership fee. I’m genuinely excited about all of the different applications this can have.

You can also set locks for just about anything else you might want as well.

Tired of those pesky zombies? Set the lock to forbid all zombies or any other life-state. Want to throw a party for only the hippest elders in town? Set the lock based on age. Or gender. You get the idea.

You can even mix and match these locks for even more unique combinations. In the theatre you might have a lock that only allows YA and older with a red ticket. Or let’s say you want to throw a party that only allows teen boy vampires, you can restrict the door to only allow them in. (Please have a cheap stove and at least one vamp with a low Cooking skill.)

While I primarily wanted to focus on the different applications for the new Premium Content, the venue has some really cool areas to catch a drink after the show, with more of an art deco vibe than what we normally see in The Sims.

Thanks for reading, hope that you enjoy the Le Cinema Plumbob!

-Alan Copeland, Designer for The Sims Studio

03:00 AM

03/07/13

Posted by: SimGuruTaterTot

Categories: Screenshots Special Guest PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack Stuff Pack Sims Stories

The Time Has Come To Head Off To University!

Launch day has finally arrived! This is an extremely exciting time because we finally get to see how you’ll play University Life and hear the new stories that you’ll tell with all the exciting content in this pack. We enjoyed reading all of your submissions for the Inspiring Creativity Contests and we hope this pack will be just as inspiring as previous expansions. Last month, we hosted a sneak peek for some community members and we were really excited to see their positive reactions to the game – now it’s your turn.

One thing that really excites me about the launch of University Life is that this expansion pack has a little something for everyone. The new university world provides lots of objects, venues, skills, and gameplay to reveal untold stories. Your Sim can be an academic genius or a social butterfly. They can live in a variety of different housing options – dorms, apartments or a sorority or fraternity house and be a member of different social groups, from jocks, to nerds to rebels. Dabble a little bit in each social group or gain top influence with one, it’s up to you.

For the studious Sims – the entire campus is their classroom. Sims will have to balance their lives and work hard for good grades. To advance through the educational process, Sims will have to attend classes, take notes and try not to fall asleep during lectures. Maybe your Sim will cheat to pass a test? Outside of the classroom, Sims will participate in study groups, and interact with special major-specific objects. Being an artistic person myself and always doodling, one of my favorite additions is the new sketchbook for Fine Arts majors!

For those Sims who are more focused on making their University Life a social experience, there are lots of new things to do. Your Sims can build influence with one or all of the social groups, play kicky bag in the quad, flirt or fall in love, and use their new smartphones to tap into all the latest activities going on around campus. The smartphone allows your Sims to build their Social Networking skills by blogging, texting, taking photos and streaming videos. Sims can also use their smartphone to check their influence among the new social groups.

For Sims who want to explore the campus there are new venues like the bowling alley, Student Union and Keith’s Komics. Rebellious Sims may find their niche at the Grotto where the rebels like to hang out. Here they can gain special Street Art skills by painting walls, ground murals and spray painting graffiti.

For Sims that are really ambitious, there is an opportunity to join my favorite new career - Video Game Developer. I began creating computer animated short films and video games while I was attending university and I quickly learned that making fun interactive experiences for people to play and explore was what I really wanted to do for my career. I am really excited that players will now be able to create a similar story in their game. Sims that love to play video games and have an interest in the arts will thrive in this new career.

In The Sims 3 University Life, your Sims are sure to meet new Sims and experience the ups and downs of college, like choosing a roommate, throwing amazing parties like a juice kegger or bonfire or even spearheading a protest on campus. Maybe your Sim will have their first kiss? See what happens when you experiment with the new dare system in the game!

All of these stories and more are possible! We hope you love The Sims 3 University Life as much as we do! Share your stories with us on the forums, Facebook and Twitter! Can’t wait to hear about your adventures in this game! The Sims 3 University Life will be available worldwide across retailers and on Origin.com this week.

Happy Simming!

-Sarah Emily Nelson, Lead Producer for The Sims 3 University Life

05:05 PM

03/04/13

Posted by: SimGuruSNelson

Categories: Screenshots PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack