Things I've Seen/Heard/Read About in The Sims 3: Seasons

[matrix54]

*cue confetti and horribly dated celebration music*

This EP is similar to:
Vacation
Seasons

Furniture Style(s):
-Seasonal
-Spanish
-Contemporary

Build Style(s):
Contemporary

Clothing Styles(s):
Weather appropriate clothing (Bathing suits, rain coats, Winter Jackets)

Buy:
-Shower+Tub Combo with Sliding Glass doors. [Contemporary]
-Hot Tub [Contemporary]

-Grill [Contemporary]

-Dining Table [Contemporary]
-Dining Table 2 [Spanish]
-Leaf End table [Contemporary]
-Round End Table [Contemporary]
-Box End Table [Contemporary]
-Coffee Table [Contemporary]
-Coffee Table 2 [Contemporary]
-Coffee Table 3 [Contemporary]
-Coffee Table with glass [Contemporary]
-Iron End Table [Contemporary]
-Bedside Table [Contemporary]
-Bar [Contemporary]
-Picnic Table [Seasonal]

-Double Sleigh Bed [Seasonal]
-Double Bed [Spanish]
-Dining Chair [Contemporary]
-Dining Chair Variant [Contemporary]
-Dining Chair Variant 2 [Contemporary]
-Living Chair [Contemporary]
-Sofa [Contemporary]
-Sofa with Pillows [Contemporary]
-Modern Sofa [Contemporary]
-Chair with Ottoman
-Bench [Seasonal]
-Bar Stool [Contemporary]

-Wall Clock [Contemporary]

-Soccer Ball/Goal
-Tanning Booth
-Kissing Booth
-Face Painting Tent
-Photo Tent
-Skating Rink (12 Sims)
-Large Skating Rink (16 Sims)
-Pool Bed
-Half Pipe
-Umbrella (Can be upgraded to glow)
-Parisol
-Snow Cone Machine
-Sled
-Kite
-Horseshoe Toss
-Gift Bundle
-Mistletoe
-Love tester Machine
-Dance Floor
-Snowball / Water balloon Fighting Arena
-Sparklers
-Hot Dog Eating Contest Table
-Pie Eating Contest Table

-Flower Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Flowers in a Pot Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Leaf Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Shell Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Modern Table Lamp [Contemporary]
-Odd Table Lamp [Contemporary]
-Modern Glass Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Flower Bud Table Lamp [Seasonal]
-Wrapped Leaf Floor Lamp [Seasonal]
-Odd Ceiling Lamp [Contemporary]
-Natural Ceiling Lamp [Seasonal]
-Icicle Ceiling Lamp [Seasonal]
-Round Ceiling Lamp [Contemporary]
-Modern Outdoor Lamp [Contemporary]

-House Plant
-House Plant II
-Glass and Flower combo
-Giant Plant Deco Item
-Seasonal Painting
-Shell Wall Deco
-Fish on Wall
-CASTable Painting
-Flower Painting
-Hanging Shell + Star Deco
-Curtains
-Snowflake Mirror
-Square Mirror
-Butterfly Rug
-Hanging Leaf Sculptures
-Giant Leaf Umbrella Statue
-Mermaid Sculpture
-Twisted Sculpture
-Decorative Toy
-Leaf Divider
-Mounted Snowboard
-Small Deco Object
-Plant Sculpture
-Coat rack
-Scarecrow
-Cabinet
-Beehive Climbing Frame :!:
-Hanging Skates
-Cones with Police Taps
-Road Barrier
-Ores resting on the wall
-Bathroom Shelf [Contemporary]
-China Cabinet [Contemporary]

-Children's Bookcase [Seasonal]
-Children's Tree Bookcase [Seasonal]
-Bookcase [Contemporary]
-Dresser [Spanish]
-Dresser 2 [Contemporary]
-Dresser 3 [Contemporary]

-Seasonal Slide
-Seasonal Swing
-Seasonal Play Tower
-Bee Spring Rider
-Winter Bear

-UFO
-Car :!:

-Seasonal Lot Marker
-Seasonal Gnomes
-Animal Toy

Build:
-Fence [Contemporary]

-Gate [Contemporary]

-Arched Window [Spanish]
-Large Window [Contemporary]

-Door [Contemporary]
-Glass Door [Contemporary]
-Sliding Glass Door [Contemporary]

-Diving Board

-Haunted House Rabbit Hole
-Kiosks: Hot Chocolate, Pie, Fountain Drink, Hot Dog

Create-A-Sim: *Addition of "Rain" + "Snow" / "Outerwear" to clothing categories
Male
-Hockey Mask

-Sweatshirt
-Shirt with fake Vest Print
-Children's Sweater with Pocket clutter

-Snowboard Pants
-Pants with Stripe

-Soccer Uniform
-Wetsuit
-Full Body pajamas with butt flap :rofl:

-Flippers

-Sunglasses
-Snowboard Goggles

-Bald
-Short Hair
-Cap with ball (All)
-Winter Hat

Rain
-Rain Coats (All)

Costumes
-Cow Plant
-Alien
-Gnome
-Hot Dog
-Superhero
-Gladiator

Cold
-Snow Jacket (All)
-Jacket with Fur
-Blazer With Fur
-Snowboard Jacket

-Children's jacket with Sweater Scarf

-Gloves

Female
-Blouse with Print
-Sweat Jacket
-Simple Jacket

-Children's Dress
-Soccer Uniform
-Wetsuit

-Wavy Hair
-Hat With Buttons
-Thick Headband

-Flippers
-High top Shoes

-Snowboard Goggles
-Hockey Mask
-Sunglasses

Costumes
-Mermaid
-Cow Plant
-Alien
-Gnome
-Hot Dog

Cold
-Snow Jacket
-Winter Vest
-Snowboard Jacket

-Snowboard Pants

-Snowboard Goggles
-Gloves

-Bald
-Curled Hair
-Hair With Ringlets
-Cap with ball
-Hat With Flow (Child)

Rain
-Rain Coats (All)
-Galoshes (All)

Traits:
-Loves the Cold
-Loves the heat

Lifetime Wishes:


Lifetime Rewards:
-Weather Control Machine

New Features:
-Season activities and Weather Changes
-Pumpkin Carving
-Food Eating Contests
-Egg Hunting
-Bobbing for apples
-Sims can build Igloos
-Sims can build a snowman
-Sims can catch colds
-Sims have Allergies
-Sims can have crushes
-Seasons Controlled via options menu
-Lots can be enabled to alternate decor throughout the seasons
-Longer Summer days / Shorter Winter Days
-Weather Channel
-Work Anniversary
-Facial Sliders

Lots:
-Festival

Weather:
-Sunny
-Heatwave
-Partly Cloudy
-Cloudy
-Foggy
-Rain
-Hail
-Storm
-Snow

Seasons:
-Spring
--Love Day

-Summer
--Leisure Day

-Autumn
--Spooky Day

-Winter
--Snowflake Day

Jobs/Professions:
Test Subject (Part Time, limited to Aliens)

Life States/Occult:
-Aliens
-Telepathy
-Probing
-Drain sims of their energy
-Can trasmute + upgrade gems/metals
-UFO invasions
-Abduct Sims

Gameplay:
-Festivals
-Parties: Costume, Holiday, Feast (Sims bring their favorite food and everyone eats), Gift Giving, Pool
-Pumpkin Carving
-Ingredients: Pumpkins
-Food: Pumpkin Pie, French Fries, Soda, Cinnamon Donuts, Pulled-pork Sandwich, Grasshopper Pie, Fruit Punch, Coffee, Eggnog
- Plants: Wild Flowers
-Caroling
-Frostbite, Tan Lines + Sun Burn
-Slow Dancing
-Online Dating
-Freezing to death
-Love Letters
-Pool Parties
-Smelling Flowers
-Tanning Booths can fail
-Sims will spontaneously combust if they get too hot! :lol:
-Fairies hover around the skating rinks
-WooHoo in leaves
-Woohoo in igloos
-Weather is not linked to seasons :!:
-Holidays lights are enabled by clicking on the front door. They string from the roof of the home.
-An assortment of Fireworks can be purchased from the grocery store.
-Leaf piles can be burned

Misc.:
-Blueprint Building For Build Mode
-Create Sims 3 Greeting Cards
-CAS EP Filters
-Vacation worlds no NOT have weather

[lisfyre]

I saw the title and almost got excited ... until I read it. Good plan for the future weather EP though Matrix54 :)

[matrix54]

I'm happy to help. ^_^

[CinderEmma]

*prays for this to be real*
I WANT WEATHER!

[FridaKahlo]

Was this another patch leak? Hopefully it is!

[katya_stevens]

Well, if this is confirmed I'd better budget in for the next two EPs if they live up to expectations.

[rian90]

I thought you usually started these when we actually have information? I can see the soccer ball and the rain clothing category since they are 'out there' already, but do you have any links for the rest of it? Seems like this should go in the speculation thread above if you do not have any links. It is very confusing...I usually trust your threads but this one is a bit premature.

[VegaBlack]

Well, there was this post (http://www.simprograms.com/40297/future-seasons-ep-interactions/) over at SimPrograms, but I guess that stuff was already in the game since like WA or AMB, according to the comments. If true, they're about as credible as the weather effects from the fog emitter.

[matrix54]

I don't think people read the stuff I put at the top. :rofl:

A few odds and ends did leak out, and I said if they didn't hold any water, then I'll just save the thread for later usage. Also, people can discuss weather and seasonal stuff here. Sorry for the confusion.

I should start one for the Sims 4. :heyhey:

[CowPlantsForHire]

I agree with rian90, there is not enough information available to confirm whether or not this expansion pack is real. We don't know (except for EA, of course) what activities are included in this expansion pack or if there are any new careers such as becoming a Meteorologist, for that matter. Though, if it were true, I can imagine my Sims standing in front of a blue or green screen, forecasting the weather for SimNation or their town, unless the Weather career is another rabbit hole career, then there goes that idea. Besides, how are my Sims suppose to mimic my Meteorology instructor at his primary job if I cannot see what they are doing at work, unless they set up the career like the ones in Ambition and Showtime which appear to be repetitive in a non entertaining way? Although I hadn't whine, begged or pleaded for a Seasons expansion pack like some other Simmers -- no offense -- I actually was and still is looking forward to a weather expansion pack for The Sims 3, especially if it has been officially confirmed and announced by EA. I will begin checking back on this thread to see if or when new information regarding this unconfirmed weather expansion pack is released or leaked.

[rian90]

The stuff from the link that was already in the game is interesting. It makes sense that they planned for weather early on since it would be much easier than adding it later. Now..let us see what they do with all that! Of course, this is exactly how we found out about the magic pack...and pets too. We have pets, but not sure yet about magic.

Thanks for the explanation, Matrix. I still wish you would give source links to the stuff you posted above. Some of it is new to me.

[VegaBlack]

Don't worry about it matrix54, you keep doing what you do. I, for one, think these threads are great, and love to follow them as they progress from rumors to facts. Besides, even if it is too early, I think the weather people need somewhere to talk, rather than venting in the magic thread.

As far as the rumors and especially the link I posted earlier, I think people really, really want weather to be true already, and are over-reaching a bit to find even a hint of it.

[matrix54]

I used to add links, but I came to realize:
1. People eventually seen what it is that I was talking about. I can assure you, I do fact check before I put stuff out. If it sounds legit, I keep it, but it's proven false, I remove it.
2. I need the space to makes lists of things, and adding links got in the way (I used to do it, I think I stopped at LN), and I don't want to reserve a post just for links. That's just tacky. :p

[eskie227]

I should start one for the Sims 4. :heyhey:

Nah, Sims 4 is already old news. It'll come standard with rain, snow, sleet, and thunderstorms. The sims will be rendered with the same software James Cameron used for Avatar, maybe even in 3D if they can figure out how to keep the minimum specs down to match the Sims 3 requirements.

You will, however, have to get a compatible cell phone with a 2 year plan to interface with your life-like sim throughout the day. After all, while they will have vastly improved intelligence for autonomous behavior, they will still need to call you to find out if they should wear their raincoat or not because the paper reported a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Besides, they'll be so intelligent, they can help talk you through that presentation you're about to give at work (Oh, EA will require access to your calender and to do lists so it can be sure your sim will be available for any tough appointments or exams).

Now, Sims 5 is where the real next gen programming will really be felt...........

[morphius1]

Well, this isn't the first time we've had multiple cans of beans spill over in front of us at once... First it was Generations + Pets, and now it's the generically named Magic and Weather expansion packs.

*cue confetti and horribly dated celebration music*

While this information is a tad less concrete (only a tad... :sheep: ), I decided to make the thread anyway, since it's Wednesday afternoon, I'm bored, and if it doesn't hold water, I'll have it for later. I guess all further discussion can be held here as well.

This EP is similar to:
Vacation
Seasons

Furniture Style(s):

Build Style(s):

Clothing Styles(s):
Weather appropriate clothing (Bathing suits, rain coats, Winter Jackets)

Buy:
-Soccer Ball :!:

Build:
-Seasonal Terrain (Info taken from terrain files in game)

Create-A-Sim: *Addition of "Rain" + "Snow" to clothing categories
Male
Warm

Cold

Rain

Female
Warm

Cold

Rain

Traits:


Lifetime Wishes:


Lifetime Rewards:


New Features:
-Season activities and Weather Changes


Lots:


Weather:
-Sunny
-Partly Cloudy
-Cloudy
-Foggy
-Rain
-Storm
-Snow

Seasons:
-Spring

-Summer

-Autumn

-Winter

Jobs/Professions:


Life States/Occults:


Gameplay:

Misc.:

It would be nice...

[matrix54]

Elaborate.

[DigitalSympathies]

I have to agree that everything he's stated has been posted somewhere that hasn't been naysay'd. I really hope we get swimmable oceans . . . and some freaking real SNOW unlike that foot we got in TS2. I want it up to the roof.

[rian90]

I want our sims to be snowed in. I grew up north of Chicago and remember the snow very well...although have lived in Florida for so long that I think I have forgotten what a pain it was! :)

I would like to see snow covering the cars and roads. Sims can't go to work or school until the driveway is shoveled or they use a snow blower and the snow plows come down their streets. Also, what about ice storms? One thing I remember clearly about cold freezing mornings is having to scrape the ice off the windows of my car. I also remember the bitter cold of sitting in your car waiting for it to warm up! LOL Of course, that might be hard to recreate. But nothing wrong with being late to work if your Sim doesn't plan ahead to dig out the car/driveway!

Snow days for kids too...The school bus can't come if the accumulation is too much so the kids stay home!

Flooded basements...too much rain and the basement floods! Should have bought that sump pump. :)

Of course, they should bring back lightning rods to avoid your house burning down from a lightning strike. Power surges are a huge problem where I live. In fact, without a surge protector, we would have lost our computers and TVs by now. We have lost several surge protectors to power surges...thank goodness we had them. How about some surge protectors for Sims! You can buy whole house ones and if the sims don't have them, they are at risk for burned out computers/TVs/stereos.

Wind storms would be fun and could recreate hurricanes on the coast. Heavy winds blow over trees and knock out power. Sims need candles and battery operated radios. The next morning, they find branches and leaves all over the yard and a flattened garden.

As for the beach, I hope they bring back swim-able oceans. But how about adding sting rays and jelly fish infestations? Might require a trip to the hospital if they step on one. Shark attack? Oooo, that might be TOO scary for me! I rather liked the sunburns/tans in Sims 2 as well so wouldn't mind them coming back, especially if nerdy sims could get farmer's tans.

As you can tell, I would like to create some good old fashioned mischief in my game. :) Plus, weather in Florida is boring (unless a hurricane comes) so would like to 'escape' from real life with a few weather related disasters.

[olomaya]

After the fog emitters and Bridgeport came out, I don't really miss weather anymore. I feel like I get enough climate diversity in my town now and I don't like snow in real life, anyway, so I could take it or leave it in the game. I'd be happy with just rain and suntans. Oh, and swimmable beaches. Ooh, and umbrella accessories we can keep in our inventory or umbrella stands.

[eskie227]

I want our sims to be snowed in. I grew up north of Chicago and remember the snow very well...although have lived in Florida for so long that I think I have forgotten what a pain it was! :)



As you can tell, I would like to create some good old fashioned mischief in my game. :) Plus, weather in Florida is boring (unless a hurricane comes) so would like to 'escape' from real life with a few weather related disasters.

Well, if weather isn't released this next EP cycle, you could always move back North of Chicago and experience the joys of blizzards yourself. Why should only the sims have fun playing in the snow when you could be doing it yourself?

Where in Florida are you? I might be interested in renting it and making sure it all remains safe while you're away. I know it's a big offer, but if my living in a warm, sunny place might bring you the happiness of blizzards of your earlier years I'd be willing to give it a go. :Pint:

[rian90]

Working on it, Eskie! I will let you know when we get the job offer. ;)

[eskie227]

Deal! I'll pull all my summer stuff out and start packing now. :gjob:

[Sugarmew]

I have to agree that everything he's stated has been posted somewhere that hasn't been naysay'd. I really hope we get swimmable oceans . . . and some freaking real SNOW unlike that foot we got in TS2. I want it up to the roof.

Wait, up to the roof?! I hope that's not how it would be every time it snowed in game! :lol:

I would love having Seasons as the next EP, I remember watching my sister play TS2 Seasons (my computer was crap so I couldn't play it plus she was running it on Windows and I'm a Mac user) and seeing all the snow everywhere. It was awesome. :) I just hope that if it is the next expansion, instead of the news delivery kid throwing the paper down in the snow, they put it in a non-snowed area.

[bassoon_crazy]

Build:
-Seasonal Terrain (Info taken from terrain files in game)

Seasonal Terrain?

I don't know how possible this would be, but I would love it if the terrain changed between the seasons (if the terrain in the town was grassy, I mean): During the Spring it would have more flowers, during the summer it would be very green with less flowers, during autumn it would be less green, and during winter it would be brown and yellow.

I would love that. I could never stand the fact that the winters in The Sims 2 were so green. Not that they didn't do a fantastic job, I just think that was lacking. Along with Springs being too green. Trees need to bud, not just automatically grow leafs.

[matrix54]

There was a bunch of terrain found in the game files in regard to seasons changes. When extracted, and used in CAW, they sort of layer on other paint, and give the terrain a new feel. I used spring grass, and it adds little small patches of flowers/tufts of grass. There's terrain for winter grass, something in regards to rocks. It's from Martine (I think), and on the internet somewhere. Google will do just fine.

I just plopped them on the list.

Link v
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=385025

[bassoon_crazy]

There was a bunch of terrain found in the game files in regard to seasons changes. When extracted, and used in CAW, they sort of layer on other paint, and give the terrain a new feel. I used spring grass, and it adds little small patches of flowers/tufts of grass. There's terrain for winter grass, something in regards to rocks. It's from Martine (I think), and on the internet somewhere. Google will do just fine.

I just plopped them on the list.

Link v
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=385025

OMG that's awesome. There IS winter grass, and it looks about how I'd expect it. I really hope they work that into the seasons. ^_^

[matrix54]

IF they used that, it's gonna ruin the look of some towns that use it. Like, Bridgeport is, obviously, a town in a region that has winter and fall, and maybe spring (summer, I'm not too sure on). It has a very dark color for grass, and when you later that "winter" grass on? Not too different, coupled with snow, but how about spring grass. Now too pretty.

In other town, that have those unique color characteristics that contrast the terrain paints given, how will they look? It's nice to have, but this isn't the Sims 2 where all the terrain was the same color - there is a lot of custom stuff.
---------------------------------
And since I looooooooooooooooove lists, I've decided to make a list of possible seasons (like I sad, I'm bored, and speculation is nice)

Sunset Valley: Summer, Fall, Spring, Summer
Riverview: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Egypt: Summer, Summer, Summer, Summer
China: Fall, Spring, Spring, Fall
France:Spring, Fall, Summer, Spring
Twinbrook: Spring, Summer, Summer, Spring
Barnacle Bay: Summer, Summer, Summer, Summer
Bridgeport: Winter, Spring, Fall, Winter
Hidden Springs: Winter, Fall, Winter, Fall
Appaloosa Plains: Fall, Summer, Fall, Summer
Lunar Lakes: Spring, Spring, Spring, Spring
Starlight Shores: Summer, Spring, Summer, Spring

#nolife

[goteampink]

Can't wait to play summer when it's the middle of winter here. ...Or now, there are still trace amounts of snow on ground here :(

I think Appaloosa Plains would be more of a spring/autumn feel. DEFINITELY autumn. But Spring is the time for animal babies.

[matrix54]

I marked it as summer because of the ice cream truck. :p

[Sugarmew]

I hope we can customize the seasons, because I only play custom worlds now - the EA worlds are so poorly done. I would love to have my BlueBay Retreat save file with mostly Spring and Fall. And Paradise would be only Summer. Yeah, I think I don't have a life either. :lol: I would love Winter though, seeing as there's SNOW.

[TMBrandon]

LOL Matrix, hilarious list there, but it would be more like:
SV: Summer, Fall, Semi-Winter, Spring (85% of the time)
RV: just as you said
Egypt: just as you said
China: Spring, Summer, Skip Fall and a little of Winter every now and then.
France: all seasons
Twinbrook: just as you said, maybe fall here and there
Barnacle Bay: doesn't deserve weather
Bridgeport: just as you said including Summer but not like all out Summer it'd be more of a San Francisco summer, or Boston summer.
Hidden Springs: Hidden what?
Appaloosa Plains: No winter?!?!? SAY WHAT, it definitely has a winter and spring not so much a summer. LOL
Lunar Lakes: The moon doesn't have weather, now does it?
SS: So true<3

[matrix54]

Lunar Lakes would need something. I gave it spring, because it's pretty generic, and if there's tress someplace, there's climate. ;)

Bridgeport is a little too alpine for summer, the the game will probably use seasons to reflect a general temperature and climate change. Of course, every place on earth have all the seasons, but a Sims summer is very hot. Casual bathing suit hot. Bridgeport doesn't look very warm at all. Like sunset Valley, while close to the mountain, is too tropical for snow, since winter in the Sims universe brings about snow, so winter would never happen.

China is very fall. It's adjacent to the Far East from Bon Voyage. Also, I don't think it snows too often near the rice fields and the great wall (which are in the world).

And how have you never hear of Hidden Springs? D:
And a nice lol at Barnacle Bay.

[goteampink]

I marked it as summer because of the ice cream truck. :p

Ah yes, the creepy stalker disguised as the ice cream truck. ;)

[matrix54]

That and because that area of america is rather hot. Spring temperatures wouldn't be warm enough. This is only based on the "Seasons" system. EA COULD change it, and give it some depth, but that's probably not going to happen.

[TMBrandon]

Lunar Lakes would need something. I gave it spring, because it's pretty generic, and if there's tress someplace, there's climate. ;)

Bridgeport is a little too alpine for summer, the the game will probably use seasons to reflect a general temperature and climate change. Of course, every place on earth have all the seasons, but a Sims summer is very hot. Casual bathing suit hot. Bridgeport doesn't look very warm at all. Like sunset Valley, while close to the mountain, is too tropical for snow, since winter in the Sims universe brings about snow, so winter would never happen.

China is very fall. It's adjacent to the Far East from Bon Voyage. Also, I don't think it snows too often near the rice fields and the great wall (which are in the world).

And how have you never hear of Hidden Springs? D:
And a nice lol at Barnacle Bay.

Ahaha I see what you mean now, but the reason I said Sunset Valley for snow is because here over in the North East and Central East it tends to snow on beaches, but I forgot about how tropical it was. And before I had said China to include winter, I had to google to double check if it actually snowed there, and indeed it does ---- SCRATCH THAT: http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/11/14/china-creates-artificial-snow-storm/

Just got trolled. LOL omg, so off topic but that's hilarious. And I said Hidden What because it doesn't deserve to even be a neighborhood :x

EDIT: It actually snows naturally in the winter but not that heavy in the plains.

[matrix54]

Appaloosa plains isn't actually plains, though. It's far too hilly and mountainous. Pacimfic Wiki Describes it as a Flood Plain, though.

The design of the town doesn't lend itself to winter at all. :/

[TMBrandon]

Appaloosa plains isn't actually plains, though. It's far too hilly and mountainous. Pacimfic Wiki Describes it as a Flood Plain, though.

The design of the town doesn't lend itself to winter at all. :/

Lol didn't this get sorted out in the Pets thread? :P

Well it actually is somewhat plains, considering the large plateaus and the hilliness, if you look at images of the Great Plains you'll get the same look to it here and there. I think the thing about Appaloosa Plains as well, is it's a tad too saturated in some regions, but other than that it's perfectly fine. The town in a sense does lead to winter because it's classified as a plain, plains get a good heap of snow, and it's in an Autumn state, which means it should at least go onto the next season.

[VegaBlack]

Well, I just hope that weather/seasons can be changed in-game, on-the-fly, like it was in TS2. I'd hate it if it could only be set in CAW like the atmosphere/climate currently is, which would mean all existing towns would probably have whatever EA determines as appropriate presets. It would be a hassle and, to some like me, a nightmare, to have to go through that whole complicated process of opening existing worlds in CAW just to change what kind of weather is native to a town.

[rian90]

The EA folks said that Bridgeport was supposed to be modeled after San Francisco. It might get cool there..but not that cold. Sunset Valley is California...we were told that in the beginning. Twinbrook is the south, Louisiana or something like that, ungodly hot in the summer and cool but not cold in the winter. Appaloosa Plains looks like the American west, Wyoming, eastern Colorado, Northern Oklahoma. Probably would get cold and snow there but most of the other places are warmer climates. Riverview looks like the midwest...Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, so snow there at least!

My guess is we would get a four-season world with a Weather pack and the ability to set our weather patterns for other worlds or custom worlds.

Reality is...we can make those towns anywhere we want them and any climate we want them to be. Well..spanish moss and palm trees would be weird in a cold climate, but other than that....

[BartholomewMaximillion]

I know a seasons EP was coming, but seeing this pop up for the first time DID kind of make me excited for a few seconds only to kill it violently and rather harshly...well, that's life.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who's rooting for mermaids and swimming in the ocean for seasons. A seasons EP is a lot more likely than another vacation EP anyway.
And and and and...making a Magic then Seasons EP is going to interrupt their old idea - new - old - new pattern. But I don't care. It's seasons!
Just don't give us frostbite after being outside for only three seconds again. If I'm going to get an interactive seasonal environment, I want to be able to play in it properly without dying first in the process.

[matrix54]

The EA folks said that Bridgeport was supposed to be modeled after San Francisco. It might get cool there..but not that cold.

This is true, but there's more to BP than that. It's based visually, but not geologically. The pine trees, and terrain give this away. The snow capped mountains aren't to far away from the reachable terrain in the game. Bridgeport, in palate, geography, weather, plantlife, etc. say it's a very cold, and very wet place, like it rains + snows a lot.

Not much heat though. The most it'd, probably, get is like 80ish degrees.

[rian90]

Pine trees grow in warmer climates as well, including the area around San Francisco. It is covered with huge pines, very beautiful. It does get cold up there..but I don't think it snows.

Actually, we have tall pines here in Florida too, miles upon miles of them covering a large portion of the state. Pines are not just cold weather trees but instead are transitional. They grow in areas where hardwoods cannot grow due to soil/water issues.

[Arisuka]

It would be nice if EA would go a bit further this time than with TS2 Seasons. Like so that we'd have occasional extreme weather conditions too. Power-outs during storms, maybe random debri appearing on your lawn afterwards... and a realistic radio station in stereos which would sound like a real radio station but in simlish, and while it's on, you'd have pop-ups telling you about news around the town (including weather reports). Just like the newspaper!
Floods, earthquakes and tornadoes could be too much for The Sims, but it would be nice to have more random inconveniences in sims' lives due to the weather. But of course, preferably there'd be a lot more fun interactive stuff related to the weather and seasons than inconveniences. :lol:

[bassoon_crazy]

IF they used that, it's gonna ruin the look of some towns that use it. Like, Bridgeport is, obviously, a town in a region that has winter and fall, and maybe spring (summer, I'm not too sure on). It has a very dark color for grass, and when you later that "winter" grass on? Not too different, coupled with snow, but how about spring grass. Now too pretty.

In other town, that have those unique color characteristics that contrast the terrain paints given, how will they look? It's nice to have, but this isn't the Sims 2 where all the terrain was the same color - there is a lot of custom stuff.

I understand, it's pretty complicated. But it makes a huge difference. It's the difference between our winters looking something like this (http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/sims3autumngrassdry.jpg) or ...this (http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/sims3autumngrassgreen.jpg). (Ignoring the trees, of course)

The actual winter grass (http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/grasswinter.jpg) they made is too green and dirty for me. What I used above is actually the Dry Grass.

So... I really hope they can work something out. The green colors of the grass in The Sims 3 just aren't very pretty (too bright) and they'll clash with winter way too much. However, the very fact that they set aside terrain for seasons is something that has me hopeful.

[kiwi_tea]

Given the way worlds are built, I strongly suspect weather won't be available in any worlds except for a new category of worlds introduced with that EP.

[DigitalSympathies]

Bridgeport looks nothing like San Francisco to me. It has a more Seattle/Vancouver feel to me. Pacific North(or South)west anyways.

You know what, why are we debating on preset seasons anyways? Isn't it common sense that they'd include a seasons chooser . . . ? Or am I stretching EA's "credibility" as a "reputable" "company" too far? ;)

[Riptide651]

Well for new worlds for weather we could possibly have an alpine village, possibly with a ski resort, snow and such. There could also be an island oriented world, we haven't had on of those yet.

[Arisuka]

Given the way worlds are built, I strongly suspect weather won't be available in any worlds except for a new category of worlds introduced with that EP.

It will really be interesting to see how on earth they'll make weather and seasons happen... EA has kinda cornered themselves with the way that the worlds are built, which is just stupid, it's not like they didn't know that they'd be making weather some time down the line! Especially considering that there have been signs of weather in the game files, which indicates that they've been working more or less with the theme since WA already.

Maybe we'll be left to tweak all worlds that were made before the EP to work with it... if not, we'll be having one heck of a patch to make it all work together! :wtf:

On a random idea note, how about seasonal holidays? Not holidays from the real life, but made up seasonal celebrations and gatherings around the town!

[Retarded_Pig]

Ha, they should give us easter. With an Easter bunny. That gives us eggs. :3

[chyrun]

Tornadeos would be cool.

[katya_stevens]

I'd love it if we were able to set season lengths and also seasons beyond spring-summer-autumn-winter. What I mean by that is: seasons work in a 20-day cycle on normal lifespan, with the un-adjusted length of five days a season (like TS2). However, if you wanted one season to be dominant over the other, you could use sliders to adjust the season lengths, so one world could end up with spring (8 days), summer (4 days), autumn (6 days), winter (2 days), the shorter seasons being enough to affect temperature but not weather (so you'd get colder but not necessarily snowy winters). Setting any season lengths to zero would ensure that world doesn't get that season, and is set on a world-by-world basis with different weather set for the EA-made worlds.

Seasons beyond the regular four: seasons are split in to varying temperatures and their dominant weather effects. Summers can be hot and humid/stormy, or cooler but sunnier. Autumn and spring can factor in some snow, which along with a winter set with blizzards would give a long snowy season. You could set Twinbrook, for example, with all seasons with rain giving quite gloomy, constantly overcast weather for that world.

[sierrakusterbeck]

I'd love hurricanes that could flood the streets and sims could have a few days off from work and school since the weather is so intense. I remember Hurricane Katrina a few years ago when I got a week and a half off from school ^.^
And umbrellas for when it rains would be adorable. Your kids could run out to the school bus with their umbrellas and a "Soaked" moodlet, and other sims that forgot to put umbrellas in their inventory would have to come home with a newspaper over there head (didn't they have that in the Sims 2 for Game Cube? Or did that even have weather? Haven't played it in yeeeaaars heh).

[Arisuka]

Seasons beyond the regular four: seasons are split in to varying temperatures and their dominant weather effects. Summers can be hot and humid/stormy, or cooler but sunnier.

This could actually be very possible, since already WA had heat-wave effects and sand swirling in the wind (though the latter is a small effect)!

About tornadoes, floods and other very... disaster-y extreme conditions, I don't see that happening since The Sims is a generally considered as a light-hearted game (in this aspect very different from SimCity which has all disasters imaginable :lol: ).
But having said that, in the game files you'll already find hidden effects that have INSANELY HUGE and loud lightning strikes (10x more intense than in TS2) and incoming storm ambient sound effect which sounds very much like an incoming hurricane. Oh, and then there are those massive earthquakes in AMB which occur in high-level firefighter career.

So even though it's quite unlikely that this EP would have Sim City scale catastrophes and sims left fighting for survival, there are indications that TS3 weather would be more intense and varied than in TS2 Seasons. Let's just hope that we'll get a nice balance of intensity as well as fun interactive stuff (bring back the ice rink and soccer)! :)

[kiwi_tea]

On a random idea note, how about seasonal holidays? Not holidays from the real life, but made up seasonal celebrations and gatherings around the town!
This would be a great way to bring back a lot of quirky old school content. "Mascot Day" - "Social Bunny's Eve" - Grilled Cheese Day.

[matrix54]

Don't forget the falling meteorite, and meteor showers. ;)

There are a few more natural disasters that are possible, like a flash flood for example. They just have to make puddles appear everywhere, with some heavy rain) and take them away eventually. Imagine it's raining, and your Sim family is in the basement, and you see puddles slowly start to appear in basements, until it completely full of water.

A sand storm is possible, in Egypt. Just make the town really tan and foggy, with a few sprite here and there.

And, of course Alien invasions, where they take a random Teen+ Sim (possibly yours) from their home in the night (it can't be stopped) and take them away, and wipes their memory, relationships, etc., and replaces it all with the childish moodlet. :rofl:

[cameranutz2]

... Plus, weather in Florida is boring (unless a hurricane comes) so would like to 'escape' from real life with a few weather related disasters.

Can totally agree with this. I live in FL and there are 2 seasons, Hot and Hot & Humid. Fall & Winter are practically nonexistent.

I enjoyed the Seasons EP in S2 just because it broke from my RL everyday weather. The only chance I have of seeing snow is when I visit relatives in Virginia.

[crocobaura]

There was a bunch of terrain found in the game files in regard to seasons changes. When extracted, and used in CAW, they sort of layer on other paint, and give the terrain a new feel. I used spring grass, and it adds little small patches of flowers/tufts of grass. There's terrain for winter grass, something in regards to rocks. It's from Martine (I think), and on the internet somewhere. Google will do just fine.


This isn't very good news because some areas have dry season and rainy season. During rainy season everything is green and fresh because of the rain water, even during "winter" months. Dry season is the oppsite and everything dries up. Also, how would this go with desert neighbourhoods like Egypt.

[rian90]

The engine I work with has the ability to place decals in the game. I am not sure if this would work with the Sims worlds though. We build a level, assign terrains to that level. Then we can go in and place decals that are triggered by certain events. So we can build a world with a nice lush grass, then have something in the game trigger the decals to appear which add brown spots or an overlay to the lush grass making it look brown, covered with scattered leaves, or in some cases with blown up debris. Other triggers would remove these or change them. Many games use these to add temporary items to a game. For example, if you are playing a game where you are investigating, you might enter the same level, find blood or fingerprints on the floor, come back later and those are gone. We can also attach models (trees, grass clumps, flowers, other vegetation) to each texture. So if I attach a pretty flower to a grass texture, the flowers will spawn whenever I lay down that particular texture. I can adjust the density of the flowers so I can make a field covered with wildflowers or scatter a few within a village. These items are billboards, which is what we see in Sims 3...they turn as you walk around them, so really low poly flat models that use little power. We can also add on accumulation...have not done this yet. This would allow for snow and sediment to accumulate on rocks, terrain, models, etc. I have no idea how it works, but it looks very pretty in the videos. :)

The big problem I see with this is with custom worlds. While the terrains from EA might have data in them to identify whether they are rock, sand, whatever (obviously they do because sims can dig in sand), custom terrains may not have this designation. It might mean a trip back to CAW to either replace custom textures or hopefully, the ability to assign type to them.

I imagine though if the engine we use, which is not created by a big multi-billion dollar company, can do all this, then most likely EA can handle it without over processing our computers. As for the large world, EA makes good use of fade and levels of detail so my guess is that things like snowfall or rainfall would fade out as you move away from your Sim, just like houses and vegetation already do. Besides, rain and snow do not have to be actually 3d models of a raindrop or snowflake, just an illusion of rain or snow.

I suspect though that EA will make the entire process a little simpler and less detailed, which I guess is okay. I hope they will concentrate on how weather affects the sims with some of the ideas people have suggested above. I love the idea of power outages, shoveling snow, and other things that disrupt our Sims lives. Life is far too easy now unless you are a magician or a sculptor!


This isn't very good news because some areas have dry season and rainy season. During rainy season everything is green and fresh because of the rain water, even during "winter" months. Dry season is the oppsite and everything dries up. Also, how would this go with desert neighbourhoods like Egypt.

Desert rock/sand would not change, regardless of the weather. Notice the green valley in Egypt. That could possibly become brown when dry by adding 'spots' of brown to the valley and green when wet. Egypt's climates really are just dry vs wet rather than our temperate seasons. Now, if they had flowering cactus in the desert, that could bloom in the spring but at this time, they haven't added it. :)


I enjoyed the Seasons EP in S2 just because it broke from my RL everyday weather. The only chance I have of seeing snow is when I visit relatives in Virginia.

Yes! I used to make it winter in Sims 2 in the middle of hot Florida summers just to cool off! LOL I also change my computer wallpaper to a snowy scene. It helps..until I go outside. :)

[purexevil666]

Not to get you all excited but i think the weather EP will be made for the sims 3. EA is like Mr.Krabs from Spongebob. they won't miss the chance of getting all the money they can from simmers :))

[acid_fairy]

Being a Brit, and living on an island (makes for unpredictable weather), makes me hugely obsessed with the weather. It's the conversation starter du jour in this country; 'Oooh, isn't the weather horrible/nice/unusual today?'

Didn't they have hailstorms in TS2? I'm sure they did, and unless I'm imagining it, they always made me laugh.

Seasons was my favourite EP because it just changed so much without you having to make your sim do specific things in order to experience new game content; for example, most EPs can be ignored, but Seasons couldn't. And I loved that.

I'd be surprised if they didn't let us set our own length for seasons in each town.

[matrix54]

^For above (in regards to seasonal terrain) EA could have a few files in a folder or something that allows for easy editing to the terrain. Maybe in the world folders, or whatever the process would be, and under certain weather conditions, it would load those as a temporary replacement to the files for the seasons. It would change the look of the town, slightly, and it wouldn't tear the town apart for legacy hoods. It'd also be easy editing for EA for other worlds, and for us, because it's just image replacements.

[Ive]

This would be a great way to bring back a lot of quirky old school content. "Mascot Day" - "Social Bunny's Eve" - Grilled Cheese Day.

I would love to see stuff like that introduced!


And, of course Alien invasions, where they take a random Teen+ Sim (possibly yours) from their home in the night (it can't be stopped) and take them away, and wipes their memory, relationships, etc., and replaces it all with the childish moodlet. :rofl:

Don't tease :(

[Arisuka]

The big problem I see with this is with custom worlds. While the terrains from EA might have data in them to identify whether they are rock, sand, whatever (obviously they do because sims can dig in sand), custom terrains may not have this designation. It might mean a trip back to CAW to either replace custom textures or hopefully, the ability to assign type to them.

Actually, in CAW you'll have to choose the sound effect for all custom terrains too. There are only 5 basic terrains available in CAW, so the rest are added from whatever resource files you have for new textures (like the ones extracted from other EA worlds). And actually in that selection of sounds you do have snow and ice available already!

But they can't really make snow just a terrain texture, as terrain textures are permanent... but they made snow coats in TS2 already, and it was not terrain textures but a separate thing (no idea about more specific info). It was not just a flat white piece of terrain paint, but it was a thick, solid coat on which sims would leave footprints and trails. It also had sound effects while sims were moving on it.

I imagine though if the engine we use, which is not created by a big multi-billion dollar company, can do all this, then most likely EA can handle it without over processing our computers. As for the large world, EA makes good use of fade and levels of detail so my guess is that things like snowfall or rainfall would fade out as you move away from your Sim, just like houses and vegetation already do. Besides, rain and snow do not have to be actually 3d models of a raindrop or snowflake, just an illusion of rain or snow.

In the open world of TS3 the snow would simply mean that the snow coat's thickness would render depending on the position of the camera, which is the basic principle in TS3 anyway, and players can optimize these settings to fit their systems. :) So I don't believe that this EP theme would really be a performance issue with today's computers as they already made very similar stuff years ago for TS2, for less powerful computers. Also the weather and seasons is mostly just visual effects, apart from the snow coat, fallen leaves and puddles (which we already have). Actually, all those butterflies flying around our worlds probably take more effort to render than a rain visual effect would. This is because the butterflies have textures, meshes and animation. Visual effects don't. :up: And the visuals of the rain, lightnings and snow flakes are just like an invisible curtain in front of the camera, like a lens which shows the drops etc. Again, routing issues and other EA screw-ups related to game play are more likely to cause lag than visuals. :lol:

[rian90]

I didn't realize that we had all that already. I use CAW extensively but guess I never connected the ice/snow choices for footprints to a weather EP. Very cool though! I agree that EA should be able to do this without much trouble and without causing issues on our computers, as long as our computers are up to the minimum standards...well, for all EPs, not just one. I think a lot of issues are due to routing issues in EA worlds as well as people putting all EPs on their computers and EA not giving us minimum specs for all the EPs. Well, that and custom content/mods. :)

I rather wonder if EA's excuse that they couldn't get weather to work for the base game was really just a way of saying they want to sell a separate pack for marketing reasons...which is fine and dandy, just wish they would be honest....yeah, right. :)

[bassoon_crazy]

As for the large world, EA makes good use of fade and levels of detail so my guess is that things like snowfall or rainfall would fade out as you move away from your Sim, just like houses and vegetation already do. Besides, rain and snow do not have to be actually 3d models of a raindrop or snowflake, just an illusion of rain or snow.

I've heard that precipitation in The Sims 2 Seasons was actually just an illusion, the snow and rain only fell within a short radius of the camera. So there's already no issue there.

I suspect though that EA will make the entire process a little simpler and less detailed, which I guess is okay.

I really hope not. I think that with The Sims 3 and all of its atmospheric effects the seasons and weather have a chance of looking much more realistic.

I mean... Imagine autumn looking like this:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/autumn2.jpg

Anyway, with that image I posted, I have messed around with CAW further and created my idea of what I think that the four seasons should look like in The Sims 3.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/sims3idealseasonsfix.gif

Description:

Winter: Needs to be brown, very brown. Much fewer trees that remain green, and the majority of shrubs/bushes should either turn brown or lose leafs (obviously not pictured here).

Spring: Needs lots of flowers, and for the trees and plants that they decide not to bloom the leafs on them should be light green. In the picture I only had one kind of tree to use to show budded trees, obviously Seasons should have many more than that.

Summer: Obviously just needs to be very green. There would still be flowers but not anywhere near as much as Spring.

Autumn: Like in the picture, trees need to be very vibrant. Less of the kind in The Sims 2 where they were partially green, partially yellow, partially brown. We want it to look beautiful. Also the cloudy atmosphere just fits autumn too perfectly. I'd hate to say that it should be cloudy the whole season but it should be the majority of the time.

For comparison, I created an (exaggerated, but not purposefully) version that is similar to The Sims 2's Seasons, and it shows what needs to be improved compared to the ones above:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c104/BassoonForLife/sims2likeseasons.jpg

Obviously The Sims 2 Seasons was not that bad, but in many ways it was. Like how Spring and Summer looked exactly the same (outside of lighting). I still very much loved The Sims 2 Seasons, I think they did an awesome job with it. However, with The Sims 3 and after a few years to develop the seasons EP, I have higher expectations. I do want the lighting to change between seasons, but I think there's much more to Spring and Summer than lighting changes.

[SpookyOkyBatGirl]

I would want:

-Sickness (getting the common cold, the flu. Flu/cold season)

-Sick days and SNOW days

-Heat wave (Everybody is dying of heat and wants to go swimming/take cold baths/play in sprinkler) And if we get heat wave, I would want a kiddie pool for my toddlers.

-Swimmable oceans

-When it snows, I want to be able to ice skate on my pools

-The option to tan on the beach, and get a nice tan or sunburned

-Rake and jump in leaves

-Kiss under the mistletoe

-Snuggle by the fire (during the winter months)

-Sledding (I want my dogs to be able to pull toddlers and children in sleds, and maybe the horses too!)

-Snowboarding/skiing

[crocobaura]

-Sledding (I want my dogs to be able to pull toddlers and children in sleds, and maybe the horses too!)


Apparently EA only makes EPs compatible with basegame, so that might not be doable since it requires Pets. But I think it would be nice if other sims could pull those sleds too.

[kristie91]

I want different types of rain as in sprinkle, rain, heavy rain. Also similar thing with snow; light snow (flurries), snow, heavy snow, and blizzard.
I want my sims to be able to hold an umbrella when it rains if they have one in their inventory. I also want snow days, especially for school.
I would like sims to be able to get the common cold or the flu. I want to be able to change the rather for a particular world/town/city whatever you want to call it. I want to choose how high the temperature can get and how low it can get. I want to be able to change how much snow or rain it gets if any. That way I can make all kinds of different climates.
I want snow to be able to pile up on roofs and cars. I want lakes to freeze over and your sims can ice skate or go ice fishing on them. I want to be able to choose outer wear per season or even better what temperature it is outside. After all you don't wear a coat in the summer or go out in shorts during the winter.
I want sledding, snow ball fights, snow angels, snow men, raking leaves, jumping in leaves, ice fishing, ice skating, roller skating, and skiing. If there is sports with seasons I would like ice hockey, basketball, soccer, tennis, and some others. Oh and to be able to swim in oceans and lakes as well.

[DigitalSympathies]

I want different types of rain as in sprinkle, rain, heavy rain.

Heavy raaaaaiiiinnnn . . . HEAVY RAAAAAAIIIINNNNN . . .

*ahem* Sorry. Got lost for a moment there. ;D :report:

I believe that in TS2 we had two weather types for both rain and snow - light rain and HEAVY RAAAIAIAIANNANANNNNN . . . as well as light snow and heavy snow.

Personally I can picture something akin to the WA "dunes" . . . snowdrifts and suchlike. Use a shovel to clear your walk or you may fall over!

[Arisuka]

Talkin' bout rain, if anyone is curious to see the hidden rain and snow effects in your own game, take a look at this video which tells you how to do it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd_KyGQ9_YY) :)

[acid_fairy]

-When it snows, I want to be able to ice skate on my pools


THIS. Yes please.

[gege_sml]

Love the ideas here so far!!

I want my sims to get wet/or get a cold if they go outside while it's raining without an umbrella.

[matrix54]

*about skating on pools*

At least we wouldn't have to add another lot in town. Just go to the pool. :rofl:

[UltraRobbie]

Love all the ideas so far. Maybe waterslides could happen? I'm not even exaggerating when I say I would most likely become aroused if I saw customisable waterslides in the game, or at least ones that aren't like 8ft and just turn to the right.

Also, summer sports would be fantastic, when seasons are implemented; I would love to see Sims jogging wearing sweatbands and drinking water as they dehydrated their little virtual selves, and Sims going to the beach to play volleyball or play tennis in courts. It will be nice to see nature dying and then growing through the year as well, I think this will definitely add another layer of realism to the game. It certainly did with Seasons in the Sims 2.

[TMBrandon]

I'd love to ice skate on my pool as well, but to be more realistic I'd rather snow covers..Look at what happened in Home Alone 2 I believe when the baddy's skated over the pool xD

[rian90]

Do people actually skate on frozen pools? I grew up in the north and everyone drained their pools. When you freeze water in a cement/concrete pool, the water expands cracking the pool. So it was a fall event to drain your pool completely and let it sit all winter long with a cover on it. :)

[missU]

I really hope that the weather EP is coming soon but ice skating on the pool? I don't think thats' going to happen! exited though..

[bassoon_crazy]

Do people actually skate on frozen pools? I grew up in the north and everyone drained their pools. When you freeze water in a cement/concrete pool, the water expands cracking the pool. So it was a fall event to drain your pool completely and let it sit all winter long with a cover on it. :)

Even toward the South, where I live, people do that. So, yeah, skating on pools seems pretty absurd to me. Skating on the ponds, however, should happen.

[Alliteration]

Do people actually skate on frozen pools? I grew up in the north and everyone drained their pools. When you freeze water in a cement/concrete pool, the water expands cracking the pool. So it was a fall event to drain your pool completely and let it sit all winter long with a cover on it. :)

I would have thought that, with all the chemicals they put in swimming pools (as well as the heaters), it would be very hard for them to freeze over, let alone freeze enough for a person to skate on them.

[Tzigone]

Even toward the South, where I live, people do that. So, yeah, skating on pools seems pretty absurd to me. Skating on the ponds, however, should happen.
We don't usually drain pools here (bottom half of Alabama) - too warm. I've never seen a pool freeze. Most people cover them to keep the leaves out. Sometimes they'll turn green before it's warm enough to swim in them again. Actually, one year my mother just kept hers treated all winter.

[rian90]

Well, I lived up near the Wisconsin border so a pool would probably freeze if left with water inside. Even a little water left in the bottom of the pool could cause freeze-thaw cracks like you get in the roads up there. :) At that time, built-in concrete pools were not common except for rather wealthy people although I am sure that has changed. I don't know how fiberglass pools would work but they do crack also...and the expansion of frozen water could probably cause problems.

[writerchick]

This is one of those situations where I think the sims world could safely veer off into fantasy land... In real life you can't leave water to freeze in a swimming pool without damaging the pool, but why does that have to be true in sims world? The rules of physics must be firmly adhered to in our world, but they don't have to apply in sims land.

So why not save us having to create or place yet another single-use community lot which takes up way too much space and instead have frozen pools for personal skating rinks?

Just call me Mrs. Contrary... :rofl:

[matrix54]

The only issue is not every hood has (room for) a city pool or an outdoor pool at a gym, or whatever. It's bad enough Starlight Shores barely has enough room in it, I wouldn't want to Sims flooding the gym just to ice skate. At least with the rink object, Sims could skate on it, and it would be appropriate indoor for ice skating.

It's like a hit and miss kind of thing, but both are nice. :)

[rian90]

Okay, Mrs. Contrary! LOL

I would hope that if they are going to veer off into fantasy land that they give us an option. I honestly prefer not to see the sims skating on the pools in my winter hoods. :) A rink would be great though. I loved the one we had in...was that Sims 2? Seems so long ago.

I realize the sims is just a game but some of us like realism. Veering off into fantasy land is all good and well as long as those of that don't want to do that have the option. If pools turn into rinks, half the houses would have rinks in the backyard...seems a bit odd to me. I want to option of keeping my game 'real'...and I don't want to ruin your fantasy but neither to I want to be forced to deal with something I can't turn off.

Honestly, I really doubt they will turn pools into skating rinks. Rinks seem more of a community object...a pond, or someplace people meet to socialize. So..Ms. Pragmatic says we are all speculating on things that based on EA's history, won't even be an issue. :) We might be lucky to get frozen ponds..since EA did include those textures in CAW...pools..hmm, I doubt it.

[sierrakusterbeck]

I would have thought that, with all the chemicals they put in swimming pools (as well as the heaters), it would be very hard for them to freeze over, let alone freeze enough for a person to skate on them.
My pool never freezed over during the winter, but I also live in Texas so maybe it just didn't get cold enough. But I don't think people normally ice skate on their pools. I think ponds should be skate-able though :3
Love all the ideas so far. Maybe waterslides could happen? I'm not even exaggerating when I say I would most likely become aroused if I saw customisable waterslides in the game, or at least ones that aren't like 8ft and just turn to the right.
Waterslides came with Generations. Honestly they're not all that impressive but they'd be great in the summer when everyone's dying from the heat.

[ElementMK]

A magic EP followed by a weather EP?
http://i.imgur.com/phXIs.gif
It's like EA is trying to make up for that Katy Perry disaster on a disc.

Also, these rumors make a fair amount of sense. TS3 is nearing the end of its life (if we follow the trend set by TS1 and TS2), so it makes sense they're trying to squeeze in the most popular EPs to maintain interest in the game until TS4. Damn, it's weird to be approaching the end. The life cycle of this game is going by quickly.

[Sugarmew]

*snaps fingers* Wait, has anyone considered the pattern? (You know, the Remake-New-Remake-New-Remake-New thing?) There was a weather EP in Sims 2, but there wasn't a full-out magic EP - the next EP will have to be weather if the pattern will continue. I think I'm overexciting myself, but I think it's logical. :D

[jeffrompas]

I thought the pattern has been broken by Showtime? Is Showtime considered "new"?

[Sugarmew]

We never had anything like Showtime in TS2, last I checked, so theoretically it would be considered new. Of course, I may be wrong, but judging by The Sims Wikia, there's nothing that broke that with Showtime.

[Arisuka]

Also, these rumors make a fair amount of sense. TS3 is nearing the end of its life (if we follow the trend set by TS1 and TS2), so it makes sense they're trying to squeeze in the most popular EPs to maintain interest in the game until TS4. Damn, it's weird to be approaching the end. The life cycle of this game is going by quickly.

Ever since the beginning of TS3 I've felt that everything in it is very rushed... but looking at GEN, SHT and Katy Perry stuff pack, they are even more rushed. Actually, they feel like forced and rushed! It just feels like EA is squeezing it all out just to get it done and over with... but why? Have they been preparing TS4 all along and TS3 has been just some test-ride for TS4?

[ElementMK]

It just feels like EA is squeezing it all out just to get it done and over with... but why? Have they been preparing TS4 all along and TS3 has been just some test-ride for TS4?That's an optimistic perspective. I'm afraid it's probably a mix of two things:

1. The Sims team is spread thin. They were making Generations and The Sims: Medieval simultaneously. A good portion team has to create the often dull content you find in the Store and in stuff packs. How much of the team is dedicated to that Facebook game, The Sims Social?

2. EA is, well, lazy. They want put as few resources into a product as possible, knowing full well it will still be purchased in droves. Why be creative? Why go beyond what is simply necessary to keep the game alive? It's easier to push out rushed expansions and release a few staged videos that make them seem worthwhile.

I'm not bitter about the situation; I suppose I'm just sad. The Sims could be great, but it seems to be turning into a unexciting franchise. Maybe these next two EPs will reinvigorate the series. Who knows?

[Periandre]

Waterslides came with Generations. Honestly they're not all that impressive but they'd be great in the summer when everyone's dying from the heat.

I think he means the sliding board that drops you in the pool

[crocobaura]

[QUOTE=writerchick]So why not save us having to create or place yet another single-use community lot which takes up way too much space and instead have frozen pools for personal skating rinks?

If they do this, then you won't be able to use the swimming pool during the winter, or skate during the summer. They'll still need to create a skating rink of some sort, even if it is some sort of adjustable platform that you could build on top on the swimming pool or anywhere else. Personally, I don't like the idea of having a skating rink in my sim's backyard, takes away all incentive to go out in the neighbourhood.

[gege_sml]

Not sure if it was already posted, but the site SimCookie posted this :

(http://www.simcookie.com/2012/04/17/des-infos-sur-les-saisons-2/ )

Snow :
- Snow ball
- Special snowflakes (Book)
- Footprints in the Snow
- Is that… snow?
- Melted Snowman (Drink)
- Snowflake

Rain :
- No Chance of Rain (Achievement)
- Batten down the hatches, there be a nasty storm brewing and enemies closing fast! You lad, look sharp! (Sims 3 Generations)
- Storm

Automn :
- This grass looks great in the fall.

Springs :
- It’s hard to argue that there is any tree more beautiful than a cherry tree in the springtime.

Chansons :
- Harvest Rain Song ( Book)
- Song at Sunset (World adventure)

Others :
- The weather report forecasted sunshine, but for some reason it looks like it has snowed in the principal’s office! {0.SimFirstName} wouldn’t know anything about this, right?
- A rainstorm indoors?! Well, now you’ve seen everything…
- Whoa! Opening that last door unleashed a huge torrent of water. You just barely swam to safety.
- The clouds are so thick you can barely see where you’re going. If only you had a fog light.
- What’s with all this water? You’re a fireman, not a lifeguard! (Ambitions)
- The outdoors are beckoning your Sim to leave the indoors behind and enjoy the great outdoors. Your Sim wants to have fun in the sun!
- Play Outside
- Cold Sun
- old Sun
- That was a great day! Just enjoying the sun and a good meal…why can’t every day be like that one? (memories)
- A trip to the park is a fun way to enjoy the sun and fresh air, though one has to watch out for the muddy patches!
- Gum on the Shoe

Doubts :
- Tropic Twister ( Drink)

Object :
- Milkshake


Also the site simsvip posted some tweets by SimGuruMeatball that could indicate a weather EP is coming:

http://simsvip.com/?p=9848

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7092/6941477260_74cca01f06.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6941477354_0de3463b69.jpg

[lisfyre]

So.... are we taking this as gospel?

[eskie227]

Who else thinks that if they animate making a snowman, it comes out looking a lot like Katy Perry.....wearing her signature bra, of course.

[rian90]

You need to read the guy's twitter page..although I think he has since made it private so you will have to follow him. I don't have any desire to do so. These tweets were taken out of context. If you are what came before and after, most of them do not have anything to do with any Sims EPs. He was obviously enjoying the attention though and did play with the tweeters though for a bit. I think it got out of hand which may be why he went private.

The best indication is the rain category in the exchange.

[zigersimmer]

If we get weather in an EP, I hope they give us a new town styled in an appropriate region that has four seasons, like New England. I also want full farming, not just raise a few plants, but farming with fields, farm equipment like tractors and combines, and barnyard animals such as cows to slop, chickens to milk, and pigs from which to collect eggs.

[DigitalSympathies]

like New England.

Why not old England?! England gets snow . . . and people complain far too much about it . . . and the news takes the weather as priority over other things . . . :blink:

[ViolettaVie]

If we get weather in an EP, I hope they give us a new town styled in an appropriate region that has four seasons, like New England. I also want full farming, not just raise a few plants, but farming with fields, farm equipment like tractors and combines, and barnyard animals such as cows to slop, chickens to milk, and pigs from which to collect eggs.
Yes, and grow wheat to bake bread and make cakes!

[Emily926]

I would buy this immediatly:llama:

[shante090]

I would faint first, then run to the nearest retailer and then faint again. :bunny:

[CeJaye]

We never had anything like Showtime in TS2, last I checked, so theoretically it would be considered new. Of course, I may be wrong, but judging by The Sims Wikia, there's nothing that broke that with Showtime.

Not for Sims 2, no, but we did have Superstar for Sims 1.

[Arisuka]

I also want full farming, not just raise a few plants, but farming with fields, farm equipment like tractors and combines, and barnyard animals such as cows to slop, chickens to milk, and pigs from which to collect eggs.

That sounds like an EP of it's own, unfortunately... I hoped that with Pets we'd get farming (including farm animals), but now that ship seems to have sailed. :/

[olomaya]

If we get weather in an EP, I hope they give us a new town styled in an appropriate region that has four seasons, like New England. I also want full farming, not just raise a few plants, but farming with fields, farm equipment like tractors and combines, and barnyard animals such as cows to slop, chickens to milk, and pigs from which to collect eggs.

Milking chickens and egg-laying pigs? Hmm, now that's an EP that would at least be worth a look. :P

[gege_sml]

Milking chickens and egg-laying pigs? Hmm, now that's an EP that would at least be worth a look. :P

IKR? At least it would be something different from everything they have done already

[Riptide651]

They could implement seasons of the year rather than just random weather, so working calendars are options, also if there are months, there could also be diffeent sport seasons in different times of the year, alowing the sims to pick whether he wants to play -hockey, baseball, football, soccer, etc. plus division and national championships like the superbowl and the stanley cup.

[mystichaze32]

i am looking forward to this i miss the weather !!

[Arisuka]

Okay, I'm left speechless over this one thing (http://simsvip.com/?p=9962) right now. So EA makes a SP filled with decorative sweets and desserts... and then they release a separate store premium content ice cream machine, with ridiculous price tag (as this premium stuff usually has). It's just stupid, but more stupid is the fact that this means no ice cream during summertime when seasons comes along. Sure we have the ice cream truck, but with this machine there could've been an ice cream parlor... :(

[lewisb40]

Personally Arisuka, I am delighted that the premium items were not in the Sweet Treats SP. I really didn't want that SP in my game, and the only reason I would have bought it would be the ice cream maker and deep fryer. I will take it being sold in the store.

[Arisuka]

I just meant that it's very ironic that EA made a whole SP revolving around sweets and desserts, but then releases the only functional thing as not part of the theme. It is indeed nicer to have it separately available from the Store rather than having to buy the EP filled with useless stuff, but it's still so damn ironic... :D Maybe we'll have milkshake machines in seasons EP, and the ice cream machine is just a leftover they decided to put in Store...it's also a bit sad that both the fryer and ice cream machine are something you generally see in cafes or fast food restaurants instead of homes, but in the game it's impossible to have functional restaurants. You'd have to fry your own stuff on the community lot at the best effort, while the WA cafe cash register stands around. : /

[rian90]

it's also a bit sad that both the fryer and ice cream machine are something you generally see in cafes or fast food restaurants instead of homes, but in the game it's impossible to have functional restaurants. You'd have to fry your own stuff on the community lot at the best effort, while the WA cafe cash register stands around. : /

I thought this was odd too. They definitely made them look commercial rather than something you would have in your home. I could see one of those little Fry Daddies sitting on your kitchen counter but that big commercial thing is rather odd. I am sure some really rich folks who love french fries might have one, but most people wouldn't.

[lewisb40]

That is the one concern about those items. Will they be available for community lots? It is a big shame how there can't be a short-order cook or the like type of NPC for an open venue cafe or restaurant. I am thankful for the food register and ability to buy dishes, but I wonder why it's hard to make an open venue restaurant.

I understand what you are saying now Arisuka.

[purexevil666]

That is the one concern about those items. Will they be available for community lots? It is a big shame how there can't be a short-order cook or the like type of NPC for an open venue cafe or restaurant. I am thankful for the food register and ability to buy dishes, but I wonder why it's hard to make an open venue restaurant.

I understand what you are saying now Arisuka.
I'm still hoping for a OFB similar EP with ability to run a restaurant or a store *-*

[TMBrandon]

I thought this was odd too. They definitely made them look commercial rather than something you would have in your home. I could see one of those little Fry Daddies sitting on your kitchen counter but that big commercial thing is rather odd. I am sure some really rich folks who love french fries might have one, but most people wouldn't.

Actually that's the smallest size of Deep Fryers, that I have seen around here, I'm sure they don't come smaller though. It may look big because of the angle the camera is and the game itself but inrl that's your general small home fryer in fact I have the double fry bin deep fryer. The same thing with the ice cream machine, that's definitely not commercial size by far, not even close imo, because the commercial size ones are like BAM. Ice cream for eternity.

[rian90]

You are right about the ice cream maker but I have never seen a fryer like that in anyone's home. But then, most of my friends are not 'fried food' fans...and the ones that are have those small round ones. I guess if you really love fried junk, then you might get one of those. I would hate to clean up after using it though! LOL I have some sims that might like one though...and I will make sure to give them a donut around the middle. :)

[TMBrandon]

You are right about the ice cream maker but I have never seen a fryer like that in anyone's home.
this: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=deep+fryer

And I hope that Seasons introduces non-rabbithole cafe's and restaurants because it's been too long and everything else is gradually opening.

I'm also hoping that diving boards, tubes, and all those pool essentials are included or else I'm gonna have a piss. And also more pool interactions, such as Marco Polo.

Another thing that would be really cool and realistic to add in would be a part time profession for teens or whomever as a lifeguard for the beaches and stuff if the oceans become swimmable. OH AND I EXPECT HOTELS OR BUILDINGS ALONG THE SEASHORE preferably hotels with a big boardwalk, but that won't happen. My hopes are so high, need to lower them.

[rian90]

Brandon, I am not saying that there are no such things! LOL I was just saying that I never saw one in anyone's house that I know. ;) In fact, if you really read my above post you can see that. I rather found your link condescending. If I wanted to google it, I would have done that myself, but quite honestly, I don't care to see something that makes fried food as I can't eat that stuff..makes me sick. Trust me..I am an information junkie...but fryers are not all that interesting.

[Miko09]

You are right about the ice cream maker but I have never seen a fryer like that in anyone's home. But then, most of my friends are not 'fried food' fans...and the ones that are have those small round ones. I guess if you really love fried junk, then you might get one of those. I would hate to clean up after using it though! LOL I have some sims that might like one though...and I will make sure to give them a donut around the middle. :)

Well you have to remember that some properties of items within the sim world are highly exaggerated. Just look at those clay canisters on the counter in the same picture(that are from the base game). Home deep fryers come in all shapes and sizes, not just the cylinder fry daddy types, which are actually the cheapest and smallest. If your feeding a family of 8, you kinda want something bigger. TMBrandon's link can give you more info on that.

I'm really excited about the deep fryer and the ice cream maker. I voted for those items on the survey and I'm glad they actually appeared. I knew there was a chance that they would not end up in an EP and I'm fine with that. Of course, I'm waiting before buying since store items almost always have something wrong with them.

[rian90]

Again...was just repeating my experience. :)

I think it is great that they are making this sort of things for the store rather than bushes with ice cream cones on them. I hope they continue the trend of making useful, realistic items.

Brandon's link was not really a link..it was a hint that if I wanted more info, to find it myself. Great idea..but as I said....

[Miko09]

Brandon's link was not really a link..it was a hint that if I wanted more info, to find it myself. Great idea..but as I said....

LOL I guess it was just a way for you to get acquainted with other deep fryer types that you may not have seen before, as you stated.

Did someone say egg laying and cow milking? Now that sounds like a fun EP to play. I remember there were a couple of mods for Sims 2 that could simulate a farm environment with tons of functional farm animals

[Periandre]

EA Logic

They have the little Fry Babys or Daddys whatever they call them that sit on the kitchen counter, and then in the backyard they have the gigantic drums they fry turkeys in. The pictures currently showing on the store forum thread show something that looks suspiciously like fried turkey.

That wouldn't fit in the counter top model. So, you have a large counter top model that wouldn't necessarily fit a turkey... except in the magicreality that fuels the Sims. :rofl:

[eskie227]

EA Logic

They have the little Fry Babys or Daddys whatever they call them that sit on the kitchen counter, and then in the backyard they have the gigantic drums they fry turkeys in. The pictures currently showing on the store forum thread show something that looks suspiciously like fried turkey.

That wouldn't fit in the counter top model. So, you have a large counter top model that wouldn't necessarily fit a turkey... except in the magicreality that fuels the Sims. :rofl:

There were also some funky looking fries on that table with the fried turkey. I've never had fries that stand up like a crystal formation, but honestly, I'm happy to see them at all. These are the kinds of small, functional touches that add to the overall game experience. I hope the price is reasonable; using past items such as the wall climber or the massage chair, I would expect these to come in around 400 to 500 store points. Not cheap, but still worth far more than a banana shaped sofa.

I do wonder if that's really a fried turkey, or a tofu fried turkey.

[Riptide651]

Summer Barbecues are another option. And have I mentioned Ski Resorts before? I'm not sure.

[rian90]

Ack! Those cannot be fries!! LOL I really don't think their modeling skills are that poor! Maybe a bloomin' onion? Or some sort of funnel cake thingy? And yeah, that turkey is not going to fit into that fryer. How funny. Actually, those models look pretty bad...but at least they made the attempt...I guess. Hard to believe we are going to pay for this. Geesh.

[Miko09]

From the left counterclockwise, I believe that is a blooming onion, a chicken leg, either deep fried turkey/chicken, from I believe to be a plate of churros, and what looks like a deep fried twinkie with toppings. I unfornately can't tell what that thing is next to the blooming onion but I'm sure it's tasty LOL

[lewisb40]

Rian90, I thought the same thing when I first looked at the foods, especially the turkey. WTF, EA is paying their graphic artist to do work like that? I think I can do better and I don't have a artistic bone in my body, just a perfection trait. Really EA need to find the artist here and other sim sites for better meshing and textures. UGH!

Still happy to get a new food for my sims to cook.

Also, would hoping that eating the blooming onion would give a bad breath moodlet? I think that would be sweet.

[eskie227]

Ack! Those cannot be fries!! LOL I really don't think their modeling skills are that poor! Maybe a bloomin' onion? Or some sort of funnel cake thingy? And yeah, that turkey is not going to fit into that fryer. How funny. Actually, those models look pretty bad...but at least they made the attempt...I guess. Hard to believe we are going to pay for this. Geesh.

Well it in keeping with EA's apparent corporate mission of "We aim to be just good enough".

Oh, I never heard of a bloomin' onion before and had to google it to find it's another term for onion rings. IMHO, I think those things are really french fries standing at attention, because, to my eye, they would be even scarier if onion rings.

[lewisb40]

I think they were going for this style:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/bloomingOnion.jpg

Not the rings style:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/onion-rings.jpg

[eskie227]

lewis, that does make sense. I've never seen the first style, only the rings style. Although to me, the first photo look more like a fried shrimp platter (just to confuse everyone more).

[Miko09]

I've never seen the first style, only the rings style.

Although it was originated at an earlier time, it was only popularized within the United States around the late 980's so I can understand your confusion.

[lewisb40]

Just thought I should post a picture of the deep fryer foods we are critiquing. ;)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/6953438884_5f397c2a47.jpg

SMH.

[TMBrandon]

Oh that's supposed to be a fry? I thought it was a corndog...

[eskie227]

No, I think the corndog is the one to the right of the fried turkey. I'm not sure about that thing on a stick above it, fried hot dog? Or is that the corndog? It's the one on the end of the table, the whitish stripy thing, that I can't place. Almost reminds me of a candy bar.

[TMBrandon]

Just thought I should post a picture of the deep fryer foods we are critiquing. ;)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/6953438884_5f397c2a47.jpg

SMH.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/258/913/eb7.jpg

That turkey is like rare, negative rare in the middle. WTF
Don't get me started on everything else on that table except for the corndog.

[Periandre]

Is that supposed to be a fried fish filet (northeast of the blooming onion)?

[PunkyBreester]

Ohhh.. no..... I was excited about this. But now I don't want to give them my money just in protest for those foods alone.

edit: Oh, thank goodness, its just crappy store content. I thought this was supposed to be included in the EP.

[bassoon_crazy]

Why in the world are we talking about food items? I thought this topic was supposed to be about weather.

[eskie227]

You can only talk about weather for so long before you need a snack.

[jeffrompas]

I think the middle one isn't supposed to be a turkey, it looks more like lamb legs...

[DigitalSympathies]

It looks more like a whole chicken.

OH GOD NOW I JUST THOUGHT OF CHICKEN IN A CAN AGAIN.

Some things you just cannot unsee.

[BartholomewMaximillion]

I think the middle one isn't supposed to be a turkey, it looks more like lamb legs...
Or fried charcoal...it doesn't look edible to me at all. I've never eaten lamb legs, but I'm quite fond of lamb chops and their meat does not look like that. I know because if they did look like that, I wouldn't have eaten any at all.

[Tempscire]

That turkey is like rare, negative rare in the middle. WTF
Every time I've gotten turkey legs (at fairs and such) they've been smoked, in which case that pink color would make sense. I'm not sure an allegedly deep-fried leg would/should have that color though...but maybe so (http://bbq-4-u.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22485). The ones pictured in the link look about the same as the smoked legs.

[rian90]

I think they were planning to make a smoker for the turkey, decided not to do so, and just used the model for the fryer...because they are EA and they are lazy. ;)

[clay4kelly]

I wonder what new moodlets this deep fried food will bring? Tight chest? Tingling arm?

[Riptide651]

Whats with all the pictures of food, I'm not following this at all....

Food has nothing to do with seasons. I can as easily eat a hot dog in June as I can in December, Big Whoop!

Did I mention a Ski Resort, because that is possibly one of the best things they could implement.

Also just saying, the big piece of meat looks more like a lamb than a turkey, its too red to be a turkey, well at least an edible one.

[olomaya]

Whats with all the pictures of food, I'm not following this at all....

Food has nothing to do with seasons. I can as easily eat a hot dog in June as I can in December, Big Whoop!



That may be true but food is seasonal. Many fruits and vegetables are only grown during certain seasons domestically which affects people's eating habits throughout the year (it's cheaper so they eat more of it in x season). Also, many people tend to eat more heartier foods during the winter and lighter during the summer. Whenever I think of summer, an image of grabbing an ice cream cone on a beach boardwalk always pops into mind. Or garden tea parties or backyard grilling. While you can and I'm sure do eat hot dogs in December, I think it definitely has more of a connection to summer in American culture. Now if this was Germany and we were talking bratwurst, that's a different story. :lol:

Whether EA actually makes certain root vegetables and fruits available for gardening during the winter is doubtful but that would be nice.

[Arisuka]

Whether EA actually makes certain root vegetables and fruits available for gardening during the winter is doubtful but that would be nice.

They actually had seasonal plants back in TS2, so it shouldn't require much from EA to repeat that in TS3... but EA is so unreliable that yeah, we'll see. :|

Talking about those ski resorts, it'll be interesting to see what kind of world/worlds we'd have with this EP theme. I'd be a bit disappointed if we'd get only one world like in TS2 Seasons... since WA had three incredibly detailed worlds I'm kinda hoping for something of the same direction!

[crocobaura]

They actually had seasonal plants back in TS2, so it shouldn't require much from EA to repeat that in TS3... but EA is so unreliable that yeah, we'll see. :|

Talking about those ski resorts, it'll be interesting to see what kind of world/worlds we'd have with this EP theme. I'd be a bit disappointed if we'd get only one world like in TS2 Seasons... since WA had three incredibly detailed worlds I'm kinda hoping for something of the same direction!


Hopefully, they won't be like the WA worlds and only allow you to visit them as a "tourist".

[PunkyBreester]

Ooh, more worlds would be awesome, so long as they are as well done as the WA worlds (Egypt specifically). Though I don't really associate "Seasons" with "Vacations" such as the ski resort, so I wouldn't be all that surprised or disappointed to only get one world.

I do wish that we could add on sub-hoods like TS2, though, so I could make my own ski resort without having to fire up CAW and give up after a couple of hours of nonsense ;P I suppose that downloading "empty" or near-empty worlds from other creators and then using twallan's mod (traveller, I think?) would be about the same thing.

[olomaya]

I do wish that we could add on sub-hoods like TS2, though, so I could make my own ski resort without having to fire up CAW and give up after a couple of hours of nonsense ;P I suppose that downloading "empty" or near-empty worlds from other creators and then using twallan's mod (traveller, I think?) would be about the same thing.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I wouldn't mind breaking up the whole open world system if it meant being able to have neighborhoods that are linked together and we can have Sims travel to them like they were going to a neighbor's house (albeit with a loading screen in between). But I supposed the Traveller will have to do in the meantime. Though I haven't tried it yet but *if* we do get suntanning and swimmable bodies of water, I will need a proper beach and that strip of sand and murky looks-like-there-may-be-dead-bodies-floating-in-there-water in Bridgeport just isn't cutting it.

[gege_sml]

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I wouldn't mind breaking up the whole open world system if it meant being able to have neighborhoods that are linked together and we can have Sims travel to them like they were going to a neighbor's house (albeit with a loading screen in between). But I supposed the Traveller will have to do in the meantime. Though I haven't tried it yet but *if* we do get suntanning and swimmable bodies of water, I will need a proper beach and that strip of sand and murky looks-like-there-may-be-dead-bodies-floating-in-there-water in Bridgeport just isn't cutting it.

IKR, it would be awesome to create these sub hoods instead of remaining with the 3 default travelling destinations ..then we could create more vacation towns like in Bon Voyage, because somehow WA doesnt feel like a "vacation" EP , IMO.. I miss a nice beach, a ski resort.. I'd be thrilled to create those :beer:

Thankfully we have the Traveller but it would be really awsome to have connecting features and make sims travel to neighborhoods that we created instead of those sh*tty features like Simport :rolleyes: .. I have some sims in Sunset Valley that I'd love to send to Appaloosa Plains

[Tempscire]

They actually had seasonal plants back in TS2, so it shouldn't require much from EA to repeat that in TS3... but EA is so unreliable that yeah, we'll see. :|
I recall reading somewhere (ages ago) that they actually had gardening in TS3 set up before it was introduced to TS2, so there really wouldn't be any excuse for them not to still have seasonal plants.

[fraavio]

Now that'd be cool. I mean, I miss seasons. Whatever happened to the rumours about magic, though?

[SommarBlomma]

While I was working on my world in CAW, a thought popped into my mind: how will the weather thing work actually? We had some weather effects hidden in fog emitter, and in some towns like Twinbrook and esp. Bridgeport, but it is freakin' difficult to make them in a custom world, and we can't change them in game. Seasons would be cool, but what if they release a world with 4 seasons to go with the weather EP, and other worlds won't have seasons? What if seasons features will be somehow hidden, and we'll have to mess upp with INI files to get them in our custom worlds, or to change them as we like? I know, I sound very pessimistic, but knowing EA and their bad habits to hide things and options, as well as to not care about good integration of EPs, this can happen... I hope it won't though!

[Periandre]

While I was working on my world in CAW, a thought popped into my mind: how will the weather thing work actually? We had some weather effects hidden in fog emitter, and in some towns like Twinbrook and esp. Bridgeport, but it is freakin' difficult to make them in a custom world, and we can't change them in game. Seasons would be cool, but what if they release a world with 4 seasons to go with the weather EP, and other worlds won't have seasons? What if seasons features will be somehow hidden, and we'll have to mess upp with INI files to get them in our custom worlds, or to change them as we like? I know, I sound very pessimistic, but knowing EA and their bad habits to hide things and options, as well as to not care about good integration of EPs, this can happen... I hope it won't though!

I suspect it's entirely possible, probable even, that custom worlds created before a weather EP comes out will no longer work correctly. Or, if they do, they won't have weather.

[matrix54]

This is probably why seasons is taking so long lol
There are more factors to deal with this time around. Of course, they could have done Seasons in the base game, as this problem would have been eliminated (and solved a lot more), but the base game would have taken longer to release.

[Arisuka]

While I was working on my world in CAW, a thought popped into my mind: how will the weather thing work actually? We had some weather effects hidden in fog emitter, and in some towns like Twinbrook and esp. Bridgeport, but it is freakin' difficult to make them in a custom world, and we can't change them in game. Seasons would be cool, but what if they release a world with 4 seasons to go with the weather EP, and other worlds won't have seasons? What if seasons features will be somehow hidden, and we'll have to mess upp with INI files to get them in our custom worlds, or to change them as we like?

The fog emitters are actually totally unrelated to the functioning of most of the effects in game. The object is just a tool in-game through which you can explore ALL visual effects animations of the game, and EA just used the fog emitters to... well, emit fog. :lol: They don't really do anything else by default, but you can use it to explore other effects of the game. So for the weather and seasons, EA would have to create some sort of a system of it's own. Which is what they did with TS2 Seasons already, so it shouldn't be a problem. But there are some stuff that raise questions...

Like the different sky files (the INI files) of different worlds. Bridgeport for example has really cloudy skies by default, also the sky files already have sort of their own little weather cycle going on (you will notice that the skies change occasionally, with a chance of foggy, stormy, cloudy or clear days).
Right now the INI files work automatically just on their own, so maybe for the seasons EP EA would create a system that controls the different INI files. The files already have labels that indicate what kind of skies they are, so maybe EA would just update them to work together with visual effects of rain, snow, lightnings etc. Then, they'd hopefully create a in-game tool like in TS2 through which you could choose different weather patterns for each different world.

This is total speculation, but it's just to show that EA does have all the things to make this EP happen. They'd just need to link all the parts together and create a new system that puts it all together...

[simsample]

I suspect it's entirely possible, probable even, that custom worlds created before a weather EP comes out will no longer work correctly. Or, if they do, they won't have weather.
As long as creators have used the same methods as EA have to make the custom weather (as in this thread (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=459198) as opposed to this thread (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=388840)) then I can't see a problem.

If EA do patch their existing worlds then it will be easy for creators of custom worlds to fix those, since you can just remove colour ramps and ini files without affecting the current savegames for those worlds.

I'm sure that either EA will make it work for their existing worlds with custom ini/colour ramp files, or else we'll be able to find a way to make it work in custom worlds.

[Periandre]

As long as creators have used the same methods as EA have to make the custom weather (as in this thread (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=459198) as opposed to this thread (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=388840)) then I can't see a problem.

If EA do patch their existing worlds then it will be easy for creators of custom worlds to fix those, since you can just remove colour ramps and ini files without affecting the current savegames for those worlds.

I'm sure that either EA will make it work for their existing worlds with custom ini/colour ramp files, or else we'll be able to find a way to make it work in custom worlds.

I bow to your superior knowledge... however, while my head is bowed, I'm muttering under my breath about all the people who correctly rigged chairs, beds, counters.... pre-Pets... the people who correctly created windows... pre-Late Night...

I hope I'm wrong, I almost exclusively play custom worlds, breaking custom worlds would really rock my world in a really bad way ;)

[simsample]

:lol: I have no superior knowledge, I'm just betting that EA won't break their own worlds. :)

[Arisuka]

:lol: I have no superior knowledge, I'm just betting that EA won't break their own worlds. :)

Yes, I think there's no reason to worry about custom and EA worlds breaking down, unless the custom worlds you are playing use a lot of custom content. But still, I doubt weather and seasons breaking objects... maybe something can come up with windows and doors, but I doubt there being Pets-scale routing problems with indoors objects. :) Oh man, I just wish we'd get a proper announcement of this EP soon! You can only speculate so far... :lol:

[purexevil666]

Speaking about the Fabulous Fiesta set the sims 3 store released today, i bought it and it's actually worth buying it really O_o

Now get back to the original subject :D
Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1hdMJfGlog
If The Sims 3 Pets' Facebook page owned EA then i think the weather/seasons EP would be real.. Otherwise i think that page is owned by fan -_-

[zigersimmer]

Speaking about the Fabulous Fiesta set the sims 3 store released today, i bought it and it's actually worth buying it really O_o


Another over-priced miniature stuff pack.

[matrix54]

It's of good quality, and while I do feel there should be a little more items there, what is there is very good. EA even included recolors, which they seem to have forgotten about over the past few years.

[sierrakusterbeck]

Speaking about the Fabulous Fiesta set the sims 3 store released today, i bought it and it's actually worth buying it really O_o

Now get back to the original subject :D
Check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1hdMJfGlog
If The Sims 3 Pets' Facebook page owned EA then i think the weather/seasons EP would be real.. Otherwise i think that page is owned by fan -_-
I wish the ice cream maker and the deep fryer came as separate things to buy, I don't want all the god awful faux-Mexico furniture and the scary food in my game. But finally, a set sort of worth spending my left over simpoints on.
And I just found a thread on the TS3 website about "The Sims 3 Pet's official Facebook page", but like always, the site is "down for maintenance". I swear that website is worse than tumblr during the summer :c

[jeffrompas]

I checked the facebook page. It's not official. It has a link to a blog that no longer exists.

[purexevil666]

I checked the facebook page. It's not official. It has a link to a blog that no longer exists.
I already said that

[Freja]

I wish the ice cream maker and the deep fryer came as separate things to buy, I don't want all the god awful faux-Mexico furniture and the scary food in my game. But finally, a set sort of worth spending my left over simpoints on.
And I just found a thread on the TS3 website about "The Sims 3 Pet's official Facebook page", but like always, the site is "down for maintenance". I swear that website is worse than tumblr during the summer :c


I would buy that baby deep fryer if it was made by J. M. Pescado. :lol:

On topic again: I don´t care for rain or snow. It would probably make my laggy game even laggier. It would be nice with sims that change into outdoor clothes outside though.

[Alliteration]

I wish the ice cream maker and the deep fryer came as separate things to buy, I don't want all the god awful faux-Mexico furniture and the scary food in my game. But finally, a set sort of worth spending my left over simpoints on.
And I just found a thread on the TS3 website about "The Sims 3 Pet's official Facebook page", but like always, the site is "down for maintenance". I swear that website is worse than tumblr during the summer :c
I believe that website has loaded for me, say, three times since 2009.

[sierrakusterbeck]

I would buy that baby deep fryer if it was made by J. M. Pescado. :lol:

On topic again: I don´t care for rain or snow. It would probably make my laggy game even laggier. It would be nice with sims that change into outdoor clothes outside though.
Oh my god. If there was a baby deep fryer for Sims 3 like that baby grill for TS2 that thing would be in my game and in use about 15 minutes after it's come out.

[fraavio]

Off topic but kinda on topic since people are talking about it.

I got the deep fryer and the ice cream machine and they totally don't work. Like, seriously glitched. I'm bummed because I was looking forward to it.

[lisfyre]

Off topic but kinda on topic since people are talking about it.

I got the deep fryer and the ice cream machine and they totally don't work. Like, seriously glitched. I'm bummed because I was looking forward to it.

I want to get those 2 items but don't want to buy the whole set because I think that set is hideous. Waiting for them to sell it separately and hopefully it'll be working then ~~crosses fingers and toes~~

Back on topic - I'll believe we're getting weather when I see the official announcement instead of all these rumours and leaks.

[Vincyjuc89]

This is truly terrible, especially considering the cute little items Sandy @ aroundthesims made like really EA? They probably think I pick my money off a heavily fertilised tree! pah! I'll go without thank u!

[zigersimmer]

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I wouldn't mind breaking up the whole open world system if it meant being able to have neighborhoods that are linked together and we can have Sims travel to them like they were going to a neighbor's house (albeit with a loading screen in between). But I supposed the Traveller will have to do in the meantime. Though I haven't tried it yet but *if* we do get suntanning and swimmable bodies of water, I will need a proper beach and that strip of sand and murky looks-like-there-may-be-dead-bodies-floating-in-there-water in Bridgeport just isn't cutting it.

I'd be really happy if they gave us a polished and easy to use CAW tool. I've tried the current tool, and all I can say is I have a great deal of respect for anyone who perseveres with that thing and actually produces a world. It makes me want to punch kitties.

[Riptide651]

Completely off topic, I know....

But whos brilliant idea was it to put that table with those chairs?

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/6953438884_5f397c2a47.jpg

[eskie227]

Completely off topic, I know....

But whos brilliant idea was it to put that table with those chairs?



That was purely EA. They're offering the new appliances right now only as part of the Fiesta pack, which includes those chairs. I guess they figured they'd move more fiesta kitchen cabinets if they offered them with the appliances.

Remaining off topic, but, according to SimsVIP, eating fried foods from the fryer, or ice cream from the machine, will apparently cause weight gain. I'm assuming they mean even if you're hungry when you eat the fried whatevers, which I guess is to keep you from living on fried corndogs every day. Still, I can have key lime pie or cobbler as a favorite food, and as long as I'm not over-stuffing, I won't gain excessive weight from eating it every day.

Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it, but why would EA pair cooking appliances that cause weight gain with a fiesta "Hispanic" influenced kitchen? :wtf:

[bassoon_crazy]

Completely off topic, I know....

We've hardly been on-topic to begin with. :rolleyes:

I wish EA could just announce the next EP, or if we could at least get a name leak for it like we typically do.

[fraavio]

If they go the way they went with Pets it's gonna be something very prolix and elaborated like The Sims 3 Weather or something complicated like that.

[Periandre]

I got them and put them in a test house I had just built, on a test world. Nothing much for the sim to do... there were books. No pool, so her immediate thought was ice cream maker! She made a beeline for ice cream, then to the fryer to fry it. Finished, cleaned up, then straight to the fryer to fry bacon, back to the ice cream maker to make bacon ice cream (???), then straight to the bathroom to hurl. Rinse, repeat... :faceslap:

It seems the fun factor is a tad bit off the charts for these appliances.

[zigersimmer]

And what is wrong with bacon ice cream?

[fraavio]

And what is wrong with bacon ice cream?

Nothing, my dear. Bacon ice cream is pure win and awesomeness.

[LadyAngua]

New survey revealed on Sims VIP http://simsvip.com/?p=10248 almost too good to be true.

[Riptide651]

Oy Oy Oy Oy Oy Oy! How wonderful!

[DigitalSympathies]

Online dating YEAH! Sledding, Halloween, ***ALIENS***, CAROLING

*runs off to go get an inhaler before continuing*

SLOW DANCING, SWIMMING . . .

Oh my God, I have to stop, my mind's going to explode.

[fraavio]

Oh god, like seriously, I think UFOs are back, seasons are back, festivals? OMG, seriously. Sledding? Breathe, now. Swimming in the ocean? OMG.
It even hints stuff packs.

Dude, seriously.

Chill, chill.

I'm alright now.

IT'S HAPPENING!

[lisfyre]

New survey revealed on Sims VIP http://simsvip.com/?p=10248 almost too good to be true.

I'd like to take that survey. I want everything they listed there in a weather EP.

[jeffrompas]

Anthropology dealing with UFOs and Paranormals. Whut???
And the list of potential new towns for the store sounds cool! Dragon kingdom? Hatching different kinds of dragons? Eeeeee... They do listen! :giggler: :lovestruc

[eskie227]

Well, the survey does look like it's either legitimate (which I'm not ready to concede quite yet) or a well done fake (which I hope it's not). If it is fake, someone put a LOT of effort into its creation. However, if legit, then it looks like EA is really trying to redeem themselves after all the grief over social networking, Simport, and Katy Perry. I just hope you don't have to Simport to visit an alien wearing a Katy Perry bra, whose sitting on a banana shaped couch in the UFO.

[HarVee]

I wonder what new moodlets this deep fried food will bring? Tight chest? Tingling arm?

Heart attack & stroke would be nice! :cool:

[Generis]

When was the survey given? How long has the weather EP been cooking in the oven? Seriously, if EA really listens to the people in their forums they should have been secretly preparing and keeping the sims 3 seasons EP in the backburner for so long it would be perfect by now...

AND YES to ALIENS and new science careers. A new science career seems like the best bet to get some new kind of crazy career rewards similar to ts2 career/aspiration rewards... My simlife is getting too mundane and normal-lifelike.

Hope they do more than just copy the animations of TS2 slow dance, add some new romantic commands that chain from the slow dance... and do fix it so the romantic bugs that seem to happen with some of the romantic actions (photobooth w/ sibling, prom etc) don't happen with slow dancing with a family member.

WANT swimming in the oceans + Surfing Skill, if possible.

This is so exciting. :)

I wonder what they mean by sledding... On an inclined lot? Outside the Lots on mountainsides that have snowbanks? How will the game deal with generating banks of snow, both on lots and on the map outside of lots... having believable banks of snow that you can interact with (shoveling snow) seems like the game would have to generate actual physical objects both on lots and on the map itself... might be a strain on laptops... :( I hope the devs have a better idea.

Edit: THE SURVEY IS STILL OPEN! :)

[Laisanae]

Swimming... in... the ocean?!

http://kepfeltoltes.hu/120415/tumblr_lxttrvX8FE1r41m8j_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.gif

[shante090]

How can we access the survey? I've tried to sign up to vgmarket but they don't accept my e-mail, stating that the address (gmail.com) isn't from the required domain... :help:

[writerchick]

I took the survey. Fun...

One question they asked at the end concerned how often I'd want to purchase SPs, EPs, and other store items. Can you imagine buying a new EP every month?

[Arisuka]

GOOD GOD THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! It looks like that survey included all things that the community has been demanding for the longest time...! Even the freakin' aliens! *runs around in circles* ooooooooooooooooooooh man I'm ready, bring on the official announcements soon!

[happycowlover]

Anthropology dealing with UFOs and Paranormals. Whut???
And the list of potential new towns for the store sounds cool! Dragon kingdom? Hatching different kinds of dragons? Eeeeee... They do listen! :giggler: :lovestruc

I was thinking the same thing when I saw them connecting anthropology with ufology. Confuzzled but I'm not complaining.

[bassoon_crazy]

They say a Showtime survey came out before its release (and announcement?) Exactly how long beforehand did this survey come out, fi anybody could tell me. (Specifically looking for whether it was before Pets' announcement and/or release or if it was after).

[sabrieljo]

Fried food thing - results in indigestion my sims are addicted to it and they've only had it a day !

[acid_fairy]

Holy crap I have never been so excited for a Sims 3 EP!

[olomaya]

I like the idea of holidays and festivals. It'd be cool to have a big town festival in the park to celebrate. I hope they are creative and come up with their own without just slapping PC terms on existing holidays. And more food stands, yes! Now I can have a proper boardwalk, complete with REAL beaches (sunbathing, swimming).

I doubt we'll actually be able to "explore new worlds" in the water but I wonder if that is maybe hinting at mermaids? Maybe we can do some deep sea diving (likely off-screen) and come back with treasure or a mermaid.

[gege_sml]

OMG OMG OMG ! Please let that be true!!

And if it is , please let it be EP 7 .. I dont want to wait any longer :beer: :beer:

[Arisuka]

I like the idea of holidays and festivals. It'd be cool to have a big town festival in the park to celebrate. I hope they are creative and come up with their own without just slapping PC terms on existing holidays. And more food stands, yes! Now I can have a proper boardwalk, complete with REAL beaches (sunbathing, swimming).

I doubt we'll actually be able to "explore new worlds" in the water but I wonder if that is maybe hinting at mermaids? Maybe we can do some deep sea diving (likely off-screen) and come back with treasure or a mermaid.

I wonder how the seasonal celebrations will work at the community lots... like do we have to place stalls and theme objects ourselves, or will the game be able to do that as the seasons change...? We'll have wait to see how that works... will be interesting to also see how the seas will be 'swimable'. Maybe there will be a new routing tool in CAW that can designate areas where water is accessible!

[rian90]

Wow! If they add everything in this survey, even without all the cool additional ideas people have made here, I would be very happy. It would easily be my favorite EP for Sims 3!

We do have to remember that EA does things much simpler than our imaginations. Sledding will more than likely be a toboggan run or a special lot designation. We probably won't have cool snow drifts and banks. As someone already mentioned, exploring the deep ocean will probably be a pop-up message telling us what we found. :)

I love the addition of aliens and I hope those are in the same pack and not saved for later. I do hope this is real...and EP 7 rather than EP 8!

[zigersimmer]

They aren't going to make this EP because, as I've stated before, this is something I would buy and EA does not want to sell anything to me.

[coltraz]

Wow, looks to be all the loose ends. That stuff might actually make me like the game again.

[olomaya]

I wonder how the seasonal celebrations will work at the community lots... like do we have to place stalls and theme objects ourselves, or will the game be able to do that as the seasons change...?

Hmm, that's a good question about stalls and themed objects. I was hoping it'd be something like SimFest where you get an alert and the game pushes all available Sims to go to a certain location.

It's such a small thing but it'd be great if Sims could read while lying on the beach as well.

Sooo excited for this possibly nonexistent EP!! :lovestruc

[matrix54]

I doubt we'll actually be able to "explore new worlds" in the water but I wonder if that is maybe hinting at mermaids? Maybe we can do some deep sea diving (likely off-screen) and come back with treasure or a mermaid.

What if mermaids we like little people that you can put in fishbowls, like crocs from WA. :rofl:

If we get those, I so want sea monkeys. :lol:

[VegaBlack]

I'm wondering about the blue print building feature. I hope we'll be able to save our own custom ones. It would be a time-saver for cookie-cutter housing areas.

My goodness, I'm just so excited, I wonder if this will come out first or will the supernatural ep be #7, as planned. On the one hand, I want my supes, but on the other; seasons, aliens, swimmable oceans, festivals, kite-flying, skating and sledding, the list of awesome just goes on and on. Which ever comes first, it'll be a good year for TS3. :)

[Generis]

My goodness, I'm just so excited, I wonder if this will come out first or will the supernatural ep be #7, as planned. On the one hand, I want my supes, but on the other; seasons, aliens, swimmable oceans, festivals, kite-flying, skating and sledding, the list of awesome just goes on and on. Which ever comes first, it'll be a good year for TS3. :)
I'm actually excited for both magic and seasons. :) Showtime gave us a lot of interactive objects, more fun things for sims to own or use in community lots. With a season's EP, the open world environment becomes even more interactive... I just hope the weather or seasons doesn't make going outdoors extremely difficult... and that we can select the type of seasons to go with a world. I'm hoping that with a magic or supernatural ep, there would be a lot more interactive objects or unique abilities and skills and that they have a 'connect, visit or migrate to other worlds' expansion planned. (and by that I didn't mean simporting, more like twallan's traveller mod but with migrate)

Very happy with all the info we're getting about possible EP's. :)

[lisfyre]

r.

Edit: THE SURVEY IS STILL OPEN! :)

OK - where do I sign up for it?

[lisfyre]

My goodness, I'm just so excited, I wonder if this will come out first or will the supernatural ep be #7, as planned.

I think the supernatural #7 is coming out first because EA won't do that supernatural thing AND weather all in one go. The EP7 is for those that have been asking for a Makin Magic type EP so EA will make money there. EA knows they'll make money and even draw in the players that went back to TS2, or ones that have stopped playing, and possibly some new ones with weather so they'll probably make that EP8. In the meantime all this stuff - leaks, surveys, etc., are meant to create a buzz - a very positive one for the game. To get us hyped up and talking, and talking, and talking, and getting excited about it. I'd say it's working.

[Generis]

Lisfyre, I went to look for the site again but the survey has been closed. At least we got some screencapped info about the possible seasons EP :)

[lisfyre]

Lisfyre, I went to look for the site again but the survey has been closed. At least we got some screencapped info about the possible seasons EP :)

boo :cry: I really wanted to take that survey.

[UltraRobbie]

My gentleman parts are most pleased by this premise.

[sierrakusterbeck]

Oh my god. SLEDDING. I've always wanted to do that. I hope they officially announce this EP very very soon, I'm getting tired of finding everything out through leaks while EA keeps talking about the the Katy Perry Nobody's Going To Buy This "Special" Pack.
And I'm so excited they're bringing Holiday's back, my favourite part about the Sims 2 Holiday edition and Seasons combined was the snow and Santa Claus. Hopefully they do really weird things like Grilled Cheese Day like somebody suggested before instead of legit holidays.

[cameranutz2]

The way this franchise is heading, this could well be the last EP I would ever buy if it actually is released. The community has been asking for this from day one so I hope they are actually planning to release it.

[fraavio]

Oh my god. SLEDDING. I've always wanted to do that. I hope they officially announce this EP very very soon, I'm getting tired of finding everything out through leaks while EA keeps talking about the the Katy Perry Nobody's Going To Buy This "Special" Pack.
And I'm so excited they're bringing Holiday's back, my favourite part about the Sims 2 Holiday edition and Seasons combined was the snow and Santa Claus. Hopefully they do really weird things like Grilled Cheese Day like somebody suggested before instead of legit holidays.

I agree with you, down with proper human holidays. I want my sims world to be weird and awesome. I wanna go llama egg hunting.

[purexevil666]

Is the survey made by EA?

[zigersimmer]

Oh my god. SLEDDING. I've always wanted to do that. I hope they officially announce this EP very very soon, I'm getting tired of finding everything out through leaks while EA keeps talking about the the Katy Perry Nobody's Going To Buy This "Special" Pack.
And I'm so excited they're bringing Holiday's back, my favourite part about the Sims 2 Holiday edition and Seasons combined was the snow and Santa Claus. Hopefully they do really weird things like Grilled Cheese Day like somebody suggested before instead of legit holidays.

In my house, Grilled Cheese Day is a totally legit holiday.

[clay4kelly]

I would kill every member of my 10-generation legacy for this to be true. PLEASE let it be true. I only doubt it because how on earth could EA get it so right for once?!!? Baffled.

[Ive]

Aliens! Aaaaah :luff:

I guess my signature gives it away?

[LadyAngua]

There's MORE! http://simsvip.com/?p=10282 It's all too good to really be true! It's like EA has trolled the forums and is giving us what we want. please please PLEASE let it be real!

[jeffrompas]

I haven't visited the official TS3 boards, but I'd imagine a shitstorm going on between the magic and weather factions. :|

There's MORE! http://simsvip.com/?p=10282 It's all too good to really be true! It's like EA has trolled the forums and is giving us what we want. please please PLEASE let it be real!
Wow, they sure are pumping those polls! It almost seems like EA want to cover the leaked weather poll. :gjob:

[Periandre]

There's MORE! http://simsvip.com/?p=10282 It's all too good to really be true! It's like EA has trolled the forums and is giving us what we want. please please PLEASE let it be real!

Has anyone actually taken these surveys (the second group, not the weather survey)?

[Arisuka]

Wow that second survey has A LOT of concepts... Just looked it through, and seriously, more of the lifestyle of the rich and famous? I think we have quite plenty of that already... and a reality-show theme? :faceslap: I don't even...

But the other concepts all sound fun! I doubt they'll be making all of those, so maybe they are/were trying to decide what old and beloved themes to bring back and what new themes to do. There's university and bon voyage themes, after all.

I'm a quite annoyed to see that there's a farm life EP concept, because I would've expected farming and farm animals in Pets...

[Marcarella]

I hope, that someday they will make it possible to travel from a world to another, but without it taking too much space on the computer. Also, it would be cool if the made an option to choose that you could control your car/bike on the keyboard.
My english is very bad. I know. I'm from Denmark..

[Generis]

Wow that second survey has A LOT of concepts... Just looked it through, and seriously, more of the lifestyle of the rich and famous? I think we have quite plenty of that already... and a reality-show theme? :faceslap: I don't even...

Yes... and the reality-show EP will be endorsed by the cast of Jersey shore. :cool:

but seriously, I agree that the fame and riches ideas should have been finished and done with showtime... though I don't mind some kind of 'money-sink' pampering for the overtly rich. (vacations, philantrophy etc)

Love the new concepts, especially since they have somethings that don't seem focused on rich, suburban or urbanite life (cattle and livestock)

I wish EA would push through with most these ideas :) except the reality show thing

[Ive]

Wow that second survey has A LOT of concepts... Just looked it through, and seriously, more of the lifestyle of the rich and famous? I think we have quite plenty of that already... and a reality-show theme? :faceslap: I don't even...

I'm a quite annoyed to see that there's a farm life EP concept, because I would've expected farming and farm animals in Pets...

I actually think the millionaire concept is cool. I mean, sims that have what I would consider a normal house and job in the game are "rich" according to the gossip and so on.
Being rich in the game is nothing more than having a big house and cars. It would be cool if it actually meant something to be rich and it influenced your sims lives more than it does.

But the farming thing I agree should have been in pets and that should have been in SHT or LN.

And maybe university will make a comeback afterall :)

[jeffrompas]

I'm a quite annoyed to see that there's a farm life EP concept, because I would've expected farming and farm animals in Pets...

I don't think farm animals would work like pets. At least not with the household cap.

[Periandre]

I didn't see any description, questions about the theme park concept, or the vacation cruise concept and yet they are compared to the university concept from the first group.... I don't know about the validity of this second survey link... The concepts that replicate the Sims 2 experience are very detailed, the new concepts seem a little vague.

[katya_stevens]

I...hate to say it, but I doubt all of those concepts will make it in to EPs. If this is real, it sounds to me more like EA's throwing out various concepts (taking existing EPs for previous versions of the game, wanted concepts [weather, aliens, farming], and new concepts) to see which ones garner the most interest and use that to gague what they should be developing.

[Ive]

My worry is who and how many take these surveys?

Why not let all vote :( Then we would (finally?!) maybe feel some sense of taking part.

[~MadameButterfly~]

I was recently asked to take one of these surveys. It asked me questions like...whether I download stuff from MTS! I was pretty floored.

[olomaya]

The reality TV idea sounds absolutely horrendous. Sooooo, that's probably going to be the next EP.

But seriously, I was very bummed when I saw OFB features included in the island-themed EP idea but then they didn't mention ANY of the business features in the follow up question about which features you liked the most from that idea. How are they going to get any idea about how many people have been waiting desperately for Sim-owned/Sim-run businesses to return to the game???

[Ive]

I was recently asked to take one of these surveys. It asked me questions like...whether I download stuff from MTS! I was pretty floored.

So... They might actually be checking these forums too? I am impressed. Where did they contact you from? Like are you registered to take surveys or anything like that?

[~MadameButterfly~]

So... They might actually be checking these forums too? I am impressed. Where did they contact you from? Like are you registered to take surveys or anything like that?

I guess I must be. They sent it to my email that I've used with them forever. It said, in the subject line: "We'd Like Your Feedback"

Then the rest said:

"Please take a minute to fill out this quick survey so that we can make your next The Sims experience the best one yet.

Take the Survey >"

*Edit: Oh, and the rest of the survey asked me questions about whether I thought their store stuff was expensive. I was like...oh heck yeah...

[bassoon_crazy]

So now all of those other EP ideas get surveys (and surprise, surprise one of them is a rich EP and another is yet another rise to fame EP)?

I was really hoping this would be exclusive to Seasons so it could give me some hope, but now that hope isn't founded on anything anymore. :cry:

[Alliteration]

Wow that second survey has A LOT of concepts... Just looked it through, and seriously, more of the lifestyle of the rich and famous? I think we have quite plenty of that already... and a reality-show theme? :faceslap: I don't even...

And then you have to wonder who's voting for these things...

At the beginning of this EP cycle, EA was trying to do something new, by trying out some goal-based gameplay and then doing some playable careers, something that's been requested since TS1. But now it's the general consensus that these ideas didn't work out so well and they seem to be either rehashing old concepts from previous games or just falling back on the fame/fortune/prettiness cushion that they know will automatically draw in eleven year old girls.
The new ideas they were trying out might have failed, but I respected them for it. Even TS2 had a lot of rehashes from TS1, and its new concepts never stepped too far out of the box. During that first year, TS3 looked to be something that was going to be something with quite a few new ideas.

[matrix54]

I like the whole "Go to an island, forge for jewlery and sell it at a business, but relax and take it easy if you want to", combined with the idea of running a hotel kind of EP, mainly because it offered up some new gameplay features - vacationing + business.Tack on some carnival games for boardwalks, and MAYBE the amusement park stuff (since the three kind of go hand in hand), and gladly give my everything, including my money to ea. :)

[gege_sml]

So now all of those other EP ideas get surveys (and surprise, surprise one of them is a rich EP and another is yet another rise to fame EP)?

I was really hoping this would be exclusive to Seasons so it could give me some hope, but now that hope isn't founded on anything anymore. :cry:

IKR? :( but I still have hopes, considering the Seasons survey was there "alone" and the ideas seemed pretty much developed already..these other surveys look like a bunch of ideas for upcoming EPs, but Seasons looks pretty much consolidated already

[fraavio]

Is it me or it seem like they did it to divert our attention?

I mean, they sent out the weather survey and all. Aren't they sending out these surveys to confuse us? I know it's too conspiratory but in my head it kinda makes sense.

Also, wouldn't mind if livestock or uni were the next eps.

[UltraRobbie]

I really don't know what to think any more. I'm getting mixed reactions and different theories, so I'm not sure what we could actually be getting. I would just like the old packs back; Business, Magic possibly, Seasons. Those are the packs I want. I sound selfish, but I think they would work well as new packs; so many features will be available to us. I would also love a new holiday pack where you can actually, you know, have a holiday? When I go to France, I go for an escape from Britain (and Disneyland Paris olololol), not to explore a tomb; I would love to just relax on a beach or whatever, with no quests. But of course, we are entitled to others' opinions as well; we can't have just what we want. Sure, I don't like the idea of the Katy Perry pack (at all), but others do, and if that pleases them like a seasonal pack would then I think that's fine, but so long as we get our own favoured packs. I feel awful writing about this, it makes me feel very selfish XD

[Periandre]

Well, I believe the first survey regarding weather was legit. It seemed to have about the right amount of gameplay gain, the details were very specific, down to the amount of new pieces included in the limited edition Ice Palace. The online dating, I suspect, is the next angle they'll take with Simport technology -- I don't want it, but the presence of it there tends to make the information more believable. I think it highly unlikely that EA is just going to abandon Simport. I figure they think they just haven't gotten the carrot right... yet.

The only thing in the first survey that seemed a little suspect was putting the dragons in a purchased world. Seems like that would be a huge money maker/fan pleaser to not use in an expansion. It also seems that the dragons would necessitate quite a bit of new animations and new gameplay.

This second round of surveys, however, feels like either a hoax or an attempt to muddy the leaked waters. EA has not ever, yet, delivered a straight TS2 to TS3 expansion pack, which is what the university one reads as... the only difference I see is that adults can return to school. EA has taken the stance that TS3 is not TS2 and indicated that players should not expect it to be a recreation of the previous series. This second round smacks of someone who has read various forums and cobbled together "expansions" that meet every one of the popular wants that fans rally around.

Say what you will about EA, but I find it highly unlikely that their planning and development didn't scope out the entire life cycle of the Sims 3 before the final chapter of the Sims 2 was written. Yeah, they may make adjustments according to sales, customer dissatisfaction... but I don't think they'll toss out the original plan-- whatever it is, completely.

[~MadameButterfly~]

It's funny to me, because when I was taking my survey I wouldn't have never thought to screen capture it. I should have on the last question though. That's when they put MTS in a line-up of download sites. I felt like some kind of snitch...like I was putting the finger on the site. Then the first thing I did was run over here to see if anyone else mentioned the survey. Since I didn't see any topics, I just kept my mouth shut.

I am glad I didn't get the survey on the reality-show crap. My soul would have died a little.

[rian90]

As for the dragons in a new world, they could very easily just make them new collectibles, lizards that look like Dragons and hatch from spawned eggs. I don't think that would be all that complicated. They put that tree thing in Lunar Lakes.

Love the farming idea and the vacation one where you could own businesses. I am not at all impressed with the Billionaire one since we can already invest in property and donate money. The reality TV show completely turns me off..too much like Showtime. A University pack would be wonderful though! And I do admit I rather like the cruise ship one, mostly because I love to cruise but it really adds less to the game than the vacation themed pack. They should combine some of these instead..make the cruise ship part of a vacation pack and let the billionaires own the cruise ship! Also, let the rich folks buy a sugar cane plantation and hire farmers to do the work. There ya go! Something for everyone.

:D

[lisfyre]

There's MORE! http://simsvip.com/?p=10282 It's all too good to really be true! It's like EA has trolled the forums and is giving us what we want. please please PLEASE let it be real!

I took that survey yesterday. I just hope they do it justice because I really want Weather. I also want a farming type EP. And everything they came up with in those surveys :)

Has anyone actually taken these surveys (the second group, not the weather survey)?

~~raises hand~~ Me :)

[gege_sml]

As for the dragons in a new world, they could very easily just make them new collectibles, lizards that look like Dragons and hatch from spawned eggs. I don't think that would be all that complicated. They put that tree thing in Lunar Lakes.



That makes sense!

Or maybe if they really do the Magic EP (which I reaaaaaally don't want :cry: ) it'll have dragons?

As they probably pick up like 2 of the new themes, I really hope EA does University and Vacations :lovestruc

BTW, I've heard they did a survey like those before Showtime was released..was it like waaaaaay before its release or a few months before?

[jeffrompas]

This second round of surveys, however, feels like either a hoax or an attempt to muddy the leaked waters.

Or, EA want the fans that wouldn't stop saying EA never listen to shut up. *wears tinfoil hat*

[Tzigone]

Wow that second survey has A LOT of concepts... Just looked it through, and seriously, more of the lifestyle of the rich and famous? I think we have quite plenty of that already... and a reality-show theme? I don't even...That's how I feel. Ugh. I do like the farming and college. My sims have enough money already, and I didn't care for the isand-paradise thing.

[zigersimmer]

Money - We already have many ways to earn simoleans, plus cheats, so what's the point?
University - Has potential, unless they segregate it from the rest of the game the way they did in TS2. If they go that route, I'll pass on it.
Farming - Yes. Yes.
unReality TV - definitely delving into MMO territory with that one.
Island life - I'm getting Barnacle Bay flashbacks with that one.