The Sims™ 3 Community Blog
: October 2012
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Designer's Blog: How To Turn Fire and Chopping Into An Art Form

Here's a special blog from designer Alan Copeland introducing the Chun Co. Teppanyaki Grill, a part of the Itadakimasu! Japanese-Inspired Dining Set available Thursday, November 1st exclusively on the Sims 3 Store!

Are you excited about the recently announced Wood Fire Oven that’s part of The Sims 3 Monte Vista?  Yeah, me too! The Wood Fire Oven is just one of the Premium Content items that are coming your way over the next several months. Today I want to introduce you to another exciting object that will be out very soon. It not only introduces a bunch of exclusive new recipes, but also gives your Sims the ability to entertain people by performing exciting cooking tricks!  Check out the Chun Co. Teppanyaki Grill below!   


The Chun Co. Teppanyaki Grill


10:14 PM
10/30/12
Posted by: SimGuruTaterTot

Happy Halloween from The Sims Studio!

In the spirit of Mike Zamora’s ‘Spooky Day’ blog for The Sims 3 Seasons, we thought we’d share this special Halloween greeting card with you. Feel free to pass along to your friends and wish them a Happy Simmyween!

 

Happy Halloween from The Sims!

 

 

Download the printable card here.

07:10 PM
10/26/12
Posted by: The_PopTart

Happy Spooky Day!

Hi Simmers!


Up until now entire seasons such as spring and summer were featured in previous dev blogs and demos. But today I’m thrilled to finally talk in detail about one of the holidays that we’ve added to the game. Before I get started I wanted to clear up some common confusion regarding seasons and holidays that I’ve seen on Twitter and message boards. By default the game has four seasons, each transitioning seamlessly into one another. Within each season there is a single day that the game designates as a special holiday. These are days where Sims all over town are drawn together to congregate and participate in the day’s spirit and activities just as in real life.
I’m really excited to tell you all about the fall exclusive holiday in The Sims 3 Seasons that we call Spooky Day. What’s not to like about a day where you’re encouraged to dress up in a costume and ask for free candy?


Spooky Day has arrived!


While playing in the fall season it will be tough not to notice the visual transformation of your once familiar town. The weather will begin to cool down and rain and fog will often blanket the skies. Red, orange, and yellow becomes a more dominant color in town as deciduous trees begin their transformation for the colder climate. This dark and eerie feel really sets the stage for Spooky Day.
You can expect holidays to occur close to the end of each season. This gives you time to prepare your Sims and decorate your house for the upcoming celebration. Once Spooky Day arrives, more Sims will gather at the town festival. You will notice that Sims in general will be more mischievous; choosing to scare one another over a simple greeting or “hello”.

 

Go for it, carve that pumpkin!


Pumpkins have been added to The Sims 3 Seasons and it’s the most versatile harvestable to appear in The Sims 3 yet. Pumpkins  can be used to make the delicious new pumpkin pie recipe, used as an ingredient in other meals, or even be used as a fancy home decoration. As mentioned in the fall dev blog, pumpkins can be planted in your garden, picked from the festival’s pumpkin patch or picked up from the town’s store.  But what really sets pumpkins apart from other harvestables is that your Sims will be able to carve them into Jack-O-Lanterns. Whether you fail or succeed in carving out the desired pattern you can choose to light it and put it on display for everyone to see. You’ve always been told to never play with your food but for pumpkins it’s perfectly fine. Unfortunately once you’ve carved up a pumpkin it is no longer valid as food. However, the seeds pulled out of your pumpkin can be planted and used to grow more pumpkins.  Now that you’ve decorated your house let’s move over to get your Sims dressed and ready for Spooky Day’s festivities.

 

Costumes


Ah yes, we’ve added new costumes to The Sims 3 Seasons for Sims to dress up in during Spooky Day or any time of year. Costumes are available in the “everyday” category in Create A Sim so if wearing a hot dog suit year-round is what you’re looking to do, you can do it!


Costume Parties


We’ve added four new parties to this pack but there’s one that’s closely tied to the fall season and Spooky Day which are costume parties. With so many fun, new activities to do in fall there’s a chance that you may forget to throw your own party. Don’t worry because there’s usually something going on in town. If you’re lucky you might be invited to a neighbor’s costume party. Accept the invite and go but it’s never too late to arrange your own Spooky Day themed get-together.

 

Costume parties are like house parties except that your guests will arrive in randomly chosen costumes. There are a good number of costumes available so every party always looks unique and is quick to offer some instant laughs. I threw a party once and saw a chef dancing with a hot dog.


Trick or Treating


The ability to go Trick or Treating is unlocked one day prior to the official start of Spooky Day. For children and teens there will also be an available interaction to quickly switch into a preset costume. You may also go into Create A Sim if you would rather choose your Sim’s costume. Now that you’re dressed for success let’s get to work. To begin, click on a residential lot anywhere in your town. You will have the option to go by yourself or in a group by choosing Sims on your lot. Your Sim or group will now go from house to house gathering treats until they’re too exhausted to continue or until curfew strikes.  Here’s a little tip of advice, have an adult join your group if you want to bypass curfew restrictions.

 

If you’re lucky enough to visit a house where people are home, you or your group will be greeted at the door and handed a treat. Most of the time your treat will come in the form of candy but there’s always a chance of getting an item such as the ultra-rare and seasonal specific Cracklin Nackerbell gnome.
For not-so-nice Sims, visiting an unoccupied house can spark up their inner rage. Lawn decorations, garbage cans, and Jack-O-Lanterns beware when these Sims leave empty handed.

 

Now that you’ve conquered Spooky Day it’s time to go home to reflect and enjoy the fruits of your labor. After a long night of Trick or Treating you’ll likely have a fair amount of tasty candy to enjoy. Candy is quite irresistible but make sure to practice self-control as eating more than your fair share is likely to end badly. That amount of sugar will have you running around the house for sure.


“Hey quit eating all the candy!”

That wraps up Spooky Day and the fun, new activities your Sims will be able to do. Hope you enjoyed reading this blog and keep a look out for more updates on The Sims 3 Seasons to follow shortly!


-Mike Zamora, Assistant Producer, The Sims 3 Seasons

05:28 PM
10/26/12
Posted by: SimGuruMike

Community Spotlight: Mspurpleshell

Hi Sim Fans!

Last month we spotted this really awesome YouTube video of fellow fan, Mspurpleshell. It caught the team’s attention so much that we reached out to Mspurpleshell to ask her a few questions for a community spotlight! We’re always excited to see the creativity of our fans and this video really was impressive. In it, you’ll see that Mspurpleshell demonstrates her musical talents in a beautiful cover of Mayzie Grobe, the song that was featured in The Sims 3 Seasons announcement trailer. As Mspurpleshell sings the Simlish vocals exceptionally, she also plays the instrumentals of the song including the guitar and violin.

We reached out to Mspurpleshell for a 1:1 interview where she discloses her love of The Sims and relives some of her favorite moments with us. Here’s how it went.

SimGuruPopTart: – How long have you been playing The Sims games?
Answer: I've been playing The Sims since 2000 so I've been a pretty long-timed fan. I think my sister bought it and I started playing as, of course, the Newbies. That charming bald head, lumberjack beard, and sloppy shirt; Bob is one hell of a memorable guy. Bob and Betty Newbie will always be the classics.

SimGuruPopTart: – What makes you a fan of The Sims?
Answer: The gameplay itself is already interesting to make me hooked on it. Sometimes I don't get to do certain things in real life --say, becoming a vampire-- and being able to do so in the world of Sims is pretty cool. I can be many different characters and get to test my creative side in story-telling. Of course, I tend to chicken out and make my Sims life a happy ending.

Also, The Sims have a great team that are all about improving and expanding the game. It's nice to know that the game you're a fan of isn't being neglected and, instead, is continuously being perfected. When comparing the original The Sims series to The Sims 3, it makes me excited to see what other magic tricks they have up their sleeves.

SimGuruPopTart: What’s been your favorite The Sims game of all time?
Answer: Without a doubt, The Sims Unleashed. I thought I was happy just being able to go on dates, and vacations with my Sims, but when Unleashed was, well... unleashed, I was even more in love with the game.

I never had pets as a child, so being able to have one without actually messing up my house and making my mom mad was a dream come true! Weird dream, I know. I started with the nurse with 1 puppy (Charming family I believe?) and it felt nice to be greeted by your dog after a long night shift at the hospital.

I think we were even able to garden in that EP. You see how many exciting new features the EP introduced?! Even though The Sims 3 Pets is also great with the new horse pet choice, but The Sims Unleashed will always have a special place in my heart.

SimGuruPopTart: Where did you learn to sing Simlish?
Answer: Oh, just in my room with headphones on that's playing a great Simlish song.

Since Simlish is an original language, I assumed that the only person that would know the exact lyrics was the writer themselves. So, to avoid using the internet to stalk people, I just listened by ear and tried to make it sound as close as the actual lyrics.

I'm lucky that the singers usually have good annunciation, and the lyrics sometimes closely resembles a real word so I just had to click replay a lot to finally decide what they said. I found that P's and b's were the most difficult to distinguish along with other similar sounding consonants.

Actually at some point, I had another Sims fan offer me a translation service so I didn't have to deal with it. That was pretty cool.

SimGuruPopTart: What’s a funny moment from The Sims that you can share with us?
Answer: I remember my first freak out when I heard Sims sing. It was when you sat around the firewood/camp outside and you had the option to play guitar so you could start singing with everyone around you. I was listening to it and I recognized the tune, but it was sung in Simlish! I started shouting and calling for my sister to check it out.

SimGuruPopTart: What are you looking forward to most about The Sims 3 Seasons?
Answer: Weather change and SNOW! I don't have snow where I live, so if my Sims can enjoy snow, I'd be a happy person. I didn't get to enjoy the Season EP in The Sims 2 because I was studying abroad and brought a Mac with me. So when The Sims 3 came out for both PC and Mac in the same package, I was really happy.

Halloween looks fun too. It seems like a great combination with The Sims 3 Supernatural :) Overall, I'm looking forward to another great EP from The Sims Team.

SimGuruPopTart: Would you like to tell the fans something in Simlish?
Answer: By combining Simlish lyrics and dictionary, I'll say:
Hooba Noobie! Cummuns nala? Abe zor Sims 3, letsigo truplay!



 In light of the music theme of this community spotlight, we thought it would be appropriate today to reveal the full list of new Simlish songs that will appear in The Sims 3 Seasons Expansion Pack.

Here they are:

INDIE STATION
Avalanche City – Love Love Love
JJ – Big Hearts, Big Dreams
Lord Huron –- Time To Run
Of Monsters And Men – Little Talks
The Shoaks – Mayzie Grobe

POP STATION
Rita Ora – Shine Ya Light
Sissie Marie – Paralyzed
Not Piloting – Soma Terra Loon
Becky G – Teen In the City
Erin McCarley – Elevator

As we mentioned, we’re always looking to see the creativity of our fans and will continue to do community spotlights. Keep on posting, sharing and telling us about your experiences with The Sims 3 and we could be interviewing you next!

Thanks!
SimGuruPopTart

05:49 PM
10/16/12
Posted by: The_PopTart
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