What exactly did Generations bring to the Sims 3 line-up...?

[sushiserv]

This is my first post, despite the fact I've been here before this was a .info site :D

Anyways, I just wanted to be slightly critical of Generations and Outdoor Living Stuff (and possibly Town Life Stuff) since I am either missing something or I have it on the dot.

What exactly did Generation add to my Sims world?

My family went back to 2 adults, 2 teens after I consciously deleted all my save files. Now, I play Generations, and all I am starting to see is *SHARE THIS MEMORY* constantly.
Instead of clicking X I clicked it, it said, share this on facebook:
http://1dl.us/nr9.png

Really? Really guys? I paid for Outdoor Living Stuff and I got nothing new except a filled in circle on the Sims 3 Launcher which is totally broken now anyways. I paid for Town Life Stuff and I don't know what was brought to my game. I paid for Generations to do what? Spam my facebook wall?

Neighbor pranking, what is that?

Can someone tell me what exactly did Generations add? Is there a witch from the Sims 2 crammed in there I don't know about? A werewolf or two?

[Nvenya]

Was there any particular reason you bought them? I ask because I don't typically buy expansion packs unless I want something from them. I don't touch Stuff packs so I can't tell you what it added other than the obvious furniture and/or redesigned rabbitholes.

I bought Generations because I was hoping it would add more intimacy and interactions between family members. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly enough to satiate my needs. I really wished that they would bring back all the family interactions that had been in the sims 2 and clean up existing animations. Otherwise, Generations brought pranks, teen prom, after school activities, a couple of new interactions, strollers, Imaginary Friends, chemist table, canes, mid-life crisis, etc. I don't really think you need me to tell you this since I'm sure there are multiple places to find a list of everything that Generations added to your game.

[lilliandulcia]

Just btw, the memory thing was added in in a recent patch even for people who don't have Generations [I patched before I bought it] so technically that's not Generations content :P I haven't fully explored this EP yet but I like the imaginary friends, new interactions, and after school activities. And after my first kid turned into a teen, the parents got a free 2 day vacation which was nice. It added a lot more than that though.

[sushiserv]

Was there any particular reason you bought them? I ask because I don't typically buy expansion packs unless I want something from them. I don't touch Stuff packs so I can't tell you what it added other than the obvious furniture and/or redesigned rabbitholes.


I bought them because I absolutely loved the H&M Pack in the Sims 2. I thought I was missing out on a lot and I thought they would be all the same as the Sims 2. I bought them all at once, actually and installed them to my game.


I bought Generations because I was hoping it would add more intimacy and interactions between family members. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly enough to satiate my needs. I really wished that they would bring back all the family interactions that had been in the sims 2 and clean up existing animations. Otherwise, Generations brought pranks, teen prom, after school activities, a couple of new interactions, strollers, Imaginary Friends, chemist table, canes, mid-life crisis, etc. I don't really think you need me to tell you this since I'm sure there are multiple places to find a list of everything that Generations added to your game.

I bought it for that reason too. I loved the new packs for the Sims 2 because then they weren't just grabbing for cash.*

Just btw, the memory thing was added in in a recent patch even for people who don't have Generations [I patched before I bought it] so technically that's not Generations content :P I haven't fully explored this EP yet but I like the imaginary friends, new interactions, and after school activities. And after my first kid turned into a teen, the parents got a free 2 day vacation which was nice. It added a lot more than that though.

I don't have any kids Sims Dx... probably why I'm just scratching my head here at what this game actually added.

I looked up a list, but all I found multiple times were bug-lists of what Generation fixed :\

*EA made a few cash grabs with Dragon Age 2 and the stuff packs, but that isn't for this board.

[lilliandulcia]

Ahh yeah, not having toddlers/kids/teens would probably be why you don't notice, since most of the updates were towards them. There's also a new babysitter career, but I know I get annoyed enough with toddlers that I don't want to make it my sims job :P
You can see a list of what was added here: http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_3:_Generations

[ac220]

Although I actually liked kids/teens stuff much more than I expected from the descriptions (to the point that raising sim-kids became fun again) actual selling point of GEN for me was the Young Again potion and chemistry in general. My mad science household is now complete. And from the standpoint of TS2 nostalgia it's pretty much "the Elixir is back," - you can just buy it with LTH points, just like in TS2 (it's much more expensive and powerful though,)

Other non-kids related stuff one may like:

Sims can give flowers to each other, which is cute. New romantic social with brand new anim.

Gifts are back.

Pillow Fights are back.

Memories, well, the pop-up is annoying, on the other hand, I like them in general. And IIRC, you can turn the pop-up off in options,

Bunk beds, - any age can use them, and although they have just 4 energy they are useful in smaller houses.

[Howabominable]

I'm really enjoying it, but then again I like raising families and the new items and options for kids and teenagers has made them fun again. I used to hate raising teens, they were so boring, but now with little things like the prom and after-school activities (and learning how to drive, which is cute) it makes them a lot more fun to have around. And I'll admit I like having the imaginary friends, for the sole reason that my toddlers no longer need constant social attention. And when I am doing a sims challenge that involves having 6 kids at once, that is a life-saver.

[VerDeTerre]

You can turn off the memory thing. It's an option...under options. I love Generations. Picard rocks and Shatner's just laughable. Aside from that, I've always wanted a daycare and...could the Sims join the education career before? I like all the emphasis on Family and life stages. I love the canes for the elders and their desire to reminisce about the good old days. It's fun imagining and playing through those life moments such as going to the prom or taking a class after school. Teenage angst and midlife crises - well, that's the stuff! Probably Generations appeals if you're into all that family stuff and maybe less so if you're not.

[DeLoure]

While it has its flaws, Generations brought a lot of stuff to the table.

- Bachelor and bachelorette parties.
- Prom, pranks and after-school activities.
- Canes for the elders. Such a cute, cute idea!
- Daycare profession.
- Additional traits and lifetime points rewards.

-- Stuff like that. While people have their own tastes and qualms about certain things - especially when it comes to items created and released by EA - Generations did improve the game (a tad) for a lot of people.

Believe me, I'm a member of the "Town Life, Fast Lane, High End and Outdoor Living stuff packs sucked out loud" club - and I've done my fair share of moaning about virtually every EP that has been released thus far, I can say that despite its flaws, Generations (and the EPs before and after its release) improves my game. I wouldn't have as much fun with just the base game and a couple mods.

Just my two cents.

[Kimia no Tama]

:shrugs: I bought Generations just for the spiral stairs. Seriously. That was all I cared about, those spiral stairs.

I don't see what good any of the stuff packs are, they're just... Ya know, stuff. Free CC can take all that stuff's places.

[SimsLover50]

The patches which came withs sims introduced two features I despise: Memories: Blatant adverts for sim with no gameplay value and "The relationship control panel" which killed my way of gameplay. Fortunately, there are mods, but I used to play sims a lot more than I do now. Now my interest in sims has waned.

I like more freedom in the way I play sims. I hated the celeb rep feature too, and it just seems sims has gotten a wee bit moralisitc for my tases.