wow, creepy meta moment in my head: you could just make one sim, like some potential zodiac killer type who just goes around watching the rest of the families do their thing . . . like show up at night in a trenchcoat to stand in someone's backyard and watch them watch TV as a family through the window . . . and eventually die alone.

Wow! I was thinking before I read this, They are going to have to do alot to make me buy this game and stop playing all my sims 2/ep's, but as soon as I read this post I have become immediately hooked! I can't wait to be able to walk to my neighbors house and all over town without loading screens. For me this is going to be a very long wait haha.

yes- all of this sounds great- especially the latest sneak pics we've seen, but what happens to build mode?

some people only like to build, heck half of the fun for me is creating these great environments for my sims, will i be allowed to do that with even more freedom that i have now, or is it more like the sims 2 console game bustin out, where i can't even alter houses unless i move or something?

I'm almost positive that build mode will be revamped. In fact, I'd be surprised if it weren't. EA knows that many players of the Sims are huge on building. And yes, it will be a long wait for me as well. What they need to start doing after www.thesims3.com is launched is give up more news and photos every couple of weeks so that the wait won't be as bad.

OK, OK, OK. Question.
Let's say I make the Duck Family. I play them, its fun. Do I only directly control the Ducks themselves? How do I switch to another family without quitting? How do townies work?

And if my sim wants to go to the restaurant across town, how long will that take? Will it jsut be a lavishly animated, distracting load screen? Like I wanna go to te baker but on the way is the hall, the faire, and so on. So the sim'll be exhausted byt he time they get to their destination?

That's what concerns me about a unified neighborhood. Still psyched though.

What I also want is for the game to be so unique and so different and have each Sim so different and unpredictable to where we won't get bored with the base game so quickly. After I first played TS2 I have to admit that after a couple months I was bored because as different as it was and better than TS1, it was still predictable.

Lol! I heard that murder was originally in TS2, but they pulled it after some of the testers commented unfavorably toward it. I wonder if they'll bring that kind of realism to TS3. Then you could actually have a psychopathic killer lurking in the shadows and peeking through windows. ...Creepy!

i think that would be funny, to have some psychopath on the lose, staring in my sim windows, calling the sim cops and taking the sim pervert to sim jail where he gets sim life sentences XD

Actually I think it would be neat to have murder in the game but I think that would automatically boost up the rating. Or maybe accidental killing at least? I just really want crime in the game. Imagine being so fearful of having your Sim go outside because of a possible drive-by shooting of Unsavory Charlatans and Ms. Crumplebottoms with a "Just Married" banner on the vehicle.

I agree and it would be cool to have as a feature.