They we're actually kind of good at this in TS3, imo. Kind of. Like, I never had a situation where I felt that the game was broken because I didn't install one of the EPs that time around. The basement tool is a good example.

On the other hand there were also a lot of features introduced in various EPs that clashed horribly with ones from others. I still don't understand why there couldn't have been some kind of integration between the band mechanics of LN and, well, the entirety of Showtime. Or, like, how they left the travelling system introduced in WA was kind of left to rot when it could have made Island Paradise a whole lot better than it could have been.

The clashing of Late Night and Showtime was because the EPs were developed by two separate teams. The logical thing for them to do would be to make something different rather than something we already hard. Both EPs play to each other's weaknesses.

Island Paradise wasn't a vacation expansion, but it provided vacation-ish content. That's fine, but what the integrated lacked was being able to have a resort in a traveling without needing to cheat. That makes sense but EA didn't even like their own travel system and neglected to fix it or even patch WA until a year or so after the release of subsequent expansions. Unlike NL and SHT, WA and IP were developed by the same team.



I wouldn't call it copying. I'd call it something along the lines of the team didn't want to make an actual bear."

Uh, please elaborate because I'm like 99.999999998% sure tropical world + boats + scuba diving + resorts + sandy beaches = vacation? no? LOL

It looked like a vacation/resort world but it wasn't a subworld to the home world. Your sims couldn't visit, they had to live there because it was a home world.

The thing was, releasing an expansion where all of the content can only really be played properly in a single world (scuba diving especially; those lots were obnoxious to create oneself) or custom worlds that take an incredibly long time and large amount of effort to create, was an incredibly shitty design. IP would have worked much better if the neighborhood it had included had been a holiday destination like those in WA rather than a world in itself. They managed to get it down alright with ITF, where the ITF content could be traveled to from any world, like the WA content. I'm not sure why they didn't do that with IP.

I'm almost convinced that initially IP was supposed to be another travel pack but then was (hastily) changed into a regular EP with Isla Paradiso as a new homeworld.

I personally think they phoned in the last 3 expansion packs no matter what. They got to the point where they could produce sims 3 content quickly and just went with it.

With the way the worlds work now it might be that you can live in a holiday world instead of it being a separate entity. Maybe if they release a holiday EP they could have a Spanish village where all the locals live and the rest of the world is for tourists.

I do have to admit with the way the worlds work now it's sort of like one continuous world. If only they made them bigger, perhaps maybe with an actual expansion pack instead of DLC?

Going slightly off topic here, do you think they'll release one of these game packs for the 15th anniversary? Like the best of the sims theme?

They had two studios each producing one XP a year. Another studio for Sims 3 store content. I'm not sure how stuff packs worked in that, but my guess is another studio.

Yeah that's what I mean. It works more fluidly than in previous games.

But maybe they won't release a separate EP for travelling, it might be that we get DLC for each world as we can already travel.

Yeah, it would make sense as there is unlimited opportunities. And if you didn't like he fantasy style ones you could just skip them, and if you do you can get them. An expansion sort of ties you to buying the whole set, so if you like the fantasy but not the realistic you're sort of buying a full product for half the reason.

So, is this the way expansion packs are going to work? Are they calling them "Game Packs" and selling them for $20 each?

I'm not sure how I feel about this. A part of me feels like this pack seems kind of boring. Although I think it would be cute if there's like a cottage area where you purchase a "vacation home" and you can visit your neighbours who own cottages nearby and stuff.

When they finally release a Seasons pack, this camping pack would go really well during the summer month.

Yeah, absolutely!

Oh, I see EA was comparing "Game Packs" to "Stuff Packs", so I guess we're still going to get full-fledged, more expensive "Expansion Packs" in the future. These "Games Packs" are just their new versions of SP, which I think is cool considering they definitely add more than just clothing/decor/etc.

No they are DLC that will run along side the expansion packs and stuff packs, but these will be at a more "reasonable" price for the content provided. I personally feel that this pack is okay, not great but not awful. I think that this will be the method of introducing toddlers and other missed items/content.

And yes this would work great with seasons wouldn't it? :P

Yeah, all pack types are mentioned in the game files. SP01 GP01 EP01.

There is also an FP01 already installed, at least for those who have the Christmas set.

What does the F stand for?

Don't know. It might be FreePack since this is the Christmas set which was a freebie. Fun Pack maybe?

FreePack sounds right, or maybe even FeaturedPack?

Edit: or FannyPack, I've seen lots of old ladies lately with fannypacks filled with Christmas decor.

FreePack sounds okay. It's better than an FUPack.

Despite my disillusionment this still looks like better value than Destiny's joke of a DLC that Bungie had the sheer audacity to call an "expansion". At least "gameplay pack" gives a better idea of what you're getting.