Towns updating with expansions?

[abaddon653]

So I have been wondering but do towns get upgraded with the features from the expansions? For example does the first town in the base game receive an upgrade for the features in night life, pets or show time?

[Belzader]

It does somewhat, when you load a "base" town, there will be some updates to what's in it.
If you load a older save file, there will be no updates though, you get a popup instead that asks if you wanto place the new lots.

[Tasselcat]

Generally speaking, the automatic base towns' 'updates' are kind of messy. Salon and firehouse placed in residential areas, on lots too big for them, etc. I find it more rewarding to just use Edit Town and place the lots myself, since nearly all the EP lots are located in the Commercial Lot Bin.

[zigersimmer]

So I have been wondering but do towns get upgraded with the features from the expansions? For example does the first town in the base game receive an upgrade for the features in night life, pets or show time?
The towns do not get upgraded, but they should. I think EA owes to the players new versions of their worlds with space to accommodate all the new lot types they have added to the game.

EA won't do this because, in their minds, you should only be playing the base game plus the latest expansion; and if you have any of the other expansions you should uninstall them.

[olomaya]

Generally speaking, the automatic base towns' 'updates' are kind of messy. Salon and firehouse placed in residential areas, on lots too big for them, etc. I find it more rewarding to just use Edit Town and place the lots myself, since nearly all the EP lots are located in the Commercial Lot Bin.

Same. I prefer that EA doesn't do it. Like many other people, my towns are carefully planned and I don't like them just plopping down lots anywhere there's room. There are always sites that will go through every new EP lot with info on its size so a lot of times, I know exactly where to place new lots before I even have the game!

A new EP gives me the chance to take a step back (or rather zoom out) and assess the world and see what changes I want to make. I always end up deleting the EA-provided lots anyway once creators get a chance to build and come up with their own.

[TJman94]

The towns do not get upgraded, but they should. I think EA owes to the players new versions of their worlds with space to accommodate all the new lot types they have added to the game.

EA won't do this because, in their minds, you should only be playing the base game plus the latest expansion; and if you have any of the other expansions you should uninstall them.

I see where you are getting at, but I'm pretty sure that EA wants you to buy all of their expansions. More expansions mean more money anyway. For example, if you have both Late Night and Showtime installed, you will actually get celebrity points for completing performance career opportunities.

[zigersimmer]

They want you to buy all expansions, this is true. But if they wanted you to keep them installed then a SHT singer would be able to join a LN Band. The reason the expansions do not integrate with each other is because EA doesn't expect players to keep the expansions installed. They really do think of TS3 as if it were an MMO: grind through the current expansion content and then drop it when the next one is released and only play the most current content.

[kayls42]

I know this is a bit off topic, but wouldn't it be nice if EA released "official" worlds (on the Exchange, or something,) with each expansion pack, that had all the locations from each pack? I.e., a world released with Generations would have had things from Ambitions and LN, or a world released with SHT would have had things from Ambitions, LN, Generations and Pets. That way, if someone doesn't have all the expansions, they simply don't download the world - and if someone does have all the expansions, they can download it.

[matrix54]

They should have just made custom lots from the start. Whenever the player doesn't have the lot type, it says no visitors allowed. It's wouldn't be an issue to have the exterior exist in town, and have the inside be in shambles until you get the next EP or whatever, and have each progressive EP add the venues for the towns in the bin - that or something that fits in a few places (which they aren't). I know their schedule is packed, but 8 hours a day... an intern can make a lot (which is probably why they all look like crap anyway). Some overtime to make some community lots would be great - they did it for Pets.

I really want to see the whole process of whole process of making EPs because something is REALLY off. Like... really... no space for other EPs. They do know this is a problem, right...

[pico22]

They should have just made custom lots from the start.
In principle you are right, of course, but I don't think they knew where the game was going at the time. As a matter of fact, I don't think they know it now. Some worlds that they offer at the store are obvious remnants of ideas/projects that were shot down in the process: e.g., I think that Hidden Springs was originally conceived as a vacation world (spa plus winter sports - only no snow was/is available and far too many new animations would be required) and that Lunar Lakes world is a remnant of a SciFi EP that was never really thought through.

On the other hand, at least some of the EP worlds have enough space for new lots - if you start a new game. If you have an "old" game and if you did a lot of building you are in trouble, especially with the idiotic dimensions of EA lots - EA designers can obviously choose whatever they feel like but we can't, so even more space is wasted.

[matrix54]

Well, I know that they didn't exactly plan ahead for that, but they didn't even proceed to go forward with it as of Pets. Starlight Shores it the epitome of empty. Even without the EPs installed the world is still quite bare, and if you take the camera and move it away from the town, literally half of the world is just hills. Do you know how awesome Starlight Shores would look with an actual coastline and a city bordering the coast with the suburbs receding back, with some room for other EP included lots as well? Even if they plopped down the bin lots to save time.

I don't think they know their game well enough. There should be group meetings or something. I hope the new world we get is, at least open enough to build on - I'm not even asking for them to make new commerical lots, juts giving is the space to. Maybe have a small area of town empty for future development, like how Sunset Valley is, with the empty lots in the hills, or Riverview, with the group of empty lots away from the suburbs. They're are capable, they just don't, for whatever reason. Planning ahead is all we ask - and need.

[zigersimmer]

Anyone playing a legacy in Sunset Valley is really in a bind if they are trying to squeeze in all the new lot types from each expansion. It's shameful how EA doesn't provide a simple means for players to fully edit their existing town.

[matrix54]

They all do fit, but it requires the player to either do heavy editing, and/or to build the lots themselves.

It wouldn't be a problem is we had subhoods. It breaks the open world concept, but when everything doesn't in the open world, sacrifices have to be made. And I'm sure no one wants to do a full overhaul of the vacation towns just to go to them every third day, and shell out a lot of simoleons to do so.

[zigersimmer]

Building the lots is not the problem. Even I, the construction challenged, have managed to build LN venues which do not fall apart. In order to fit everything into SV, you will have to sacrifice residential lots, which will reduce the population. Apartment buildings can help with that, but ultimately SV is expansion resistant. And Twinbrook is just a no-go for expansions. While Riverview looks as though it should have room, the vast expanses of unroutable terrain kills that off pretty quick. Appaloosa Plains fairs no better than Riverview. Barnacle Bay...should be nuked, so forget that. Bridgeport basically has no room at all, which, while logical given that cities generally have little room for construction, it's still a problem for Sims 3.

Which brings me back to: EA does not want players to have more than one expansion installed at a time. The only option is player created worlds, and while I have tried many I have yet to find one that suits me and CAW is forever crashing on me even though I have a very high-end rig.

[matrix54]

Hopefully the Sims 4 will be much improved. It's probably wont, sadly. We don't even have split levels or real multistory windows. Hope has been diminished.

[Belzader]

The only option is player created worlds, and while I have tried many I have yet to find one that suits me and CAW is forever crashing on me even though I have a very high-end rig.
1: You need to have the right version for your patch level, expansions doesn't matter it goes by base game.
2: Try move all the files in DCCache to another place, doing that made it stop crashing for me, no idea why though, might be due to corupt things or to much player made stuff installed.

Also i find it very intresting that almost every simple little topic posted in Discussion turns into "wild" discussions but then again it's in discussion :lol:

[zigersimmer]

1: If CAW has patches other than the download, I haven't found them. I did just redownload and reinstalled this weekend.
2: I'll give that a go, though I have kept the number of CC in my game low.

I don't see how this is a "wild" discussion. The thread topic is about expanding the existing game worlds, and the only means of actually attempting that is with CAW as the in-game editor is weak at best. And editing the existing worlds is apparently something EA did not consider as doing so requires use of SP3E.