Hi all~

So I've had a few hours to test run TS3, and I feel ready to make some general comments.

Overall, I think it's a GREAT improvement from TS2 (not saying TS2 was bad, however). It definitely took a little while to adjust to the changes after years of the older Sims versions. To sum up what I'm happy about:

-CAS. I could spend hours just tweaking different features. Lots of possibility there. I didn't even get into Create a Style much because it was almost overwhelming!
-The Sims and the neighborhood feel "real". Since the Sim I created to try everything out with (aptly named "Guy Sim" ) had the Athletic trait, I got a message telling me a game was starting at the Stadium at noon and Guy would probably like to go. When the game started, spotlights turned on, you could hear Sims cheering, and the score is even displayed in the upper left corner. The newspaper also lists events happening at specific times around town. Very cool.
-SEAMLESS NEIGHBORHOOD. I wasn't that excited about this aspect during all the previews, but it's amazing. I noticed Guy's "fun" bar was getting low, so I decided to send him to the gym (his Athletic trait plus his wishes tipped me off). I clicked on him and instinctively sighed because I was preparing for a load screen. Instead, he jogged from his cheap little house right to the gym!
-The Hand Tool. After I sent Guy home from his day at the game, I realized he never brought his paper inside since it was delivered while he was out. I was able to pick it up and give it to him.
-Improved Inventory. The inventory was a pleasant surprise. The cell phone is automatically given to every Sim, and instead of constantly standing up and sitting down when changing how to interact with an object (like the newspaper's "read" and "find job"), the Sim just pulls whatever they need out of their pocket in one action.
-The New Stuff. This category is big. Basically everything new added to The Sims I feel makes the experience better. Some of that is probably because it is refreshing after so much time with TS1 and 2, but the traits, wishes/promises... all great. Haven't gotten an opportunity yet, but Guy just got a job so I expect to be getting one soon. And back to the traits for a minute - they really do change everything. It's awesome to see them play out. Along with being Athletic, Guy is a Daredevil. I actually laughed out loud when I realized that pretty much everything he does has "extreme" in front of it (like "extreme nap").
-Slower Need Decay. THANK GOD FOR THIS. So far I've noticed a definite decrease in the speed of motive decay. I was able to take Guy out and about all day, and when he did stop to eat or something, it felt like a natural progression, not a constant frenzy to watch which bars were getting too low.
-Aspects of Many Expansion Packs Included. Jewelry, inventory, gardening, etc.

However, I know there are people here who want honesty, so here are some things I'm NOT so happy about:

-Graphics. I am running the game on a brand new laptop with everything set to high by default, but it has a choppy feel. Everything in CAS looked great, but some of that seems to be lost once you begin playing. Also, the town (I've only played in Sunset Valley at the moment) looks great from the sky, but while Guy was jogging or riding in a taxi, some of the object details were terrible. You can see the pixelation in a few places. However, this is not to say everything is bad. There are a lot of great graphics, too. Water = Win
-Speed. I was never one for rushing through my Sim's daily routine in TS1 and 2. In fact, I enjoyed watching them do their thing. However, even Ultra Speed feels slow. This is most noticeable while your Sim is sleeping.
-Few CAS Options. I found some of the options in CAS to be really limiting, like hair for males. I suppose this is how they're going to get us to use the Sims Store...

In the end there are more pros than cons, and the cons are not game breaking. I've only just scratched the surface but I can tell TS3 is going to be something I personally enjoy.

Hope this helps some of you who were/are undecided. Feel free to ask questions (my Prima guide should be arriving tomorrow, too, so that will help). If I come across something else I feel is relevant to this thread, I will be sure to post it.

And as for other people who have their copy of TS3... what are your first impressions?

~phorang3

PS This isn't "Pre-Release" but it was the only category option I had to post this.

You are spot on with this. Everything you posted is what I was going to say. The only thing I will add is this: the town feels like it's missing some townies. Granted I just got the game 5 hours ago (thank you 24 hour Walmart!) but I haven't seen a lot of Sims to interact with. But I'm sure that will change. Only other thing I have to say is I keep forgetting I can leave the house and go do stuff! ><;

Did you get to download the patch yet? I was hoping the speed problem I had heard about would be fixed with the patch.

I TOTALLY AGREE that Ultra speed is ultra slow, especially during sleep! It is so ridiculously slow, I nearly gave up.

My first reaction was that it was an entirely different game, but really, not so much. The way the game loads to the same family made it seem really different, but like you said, once you get the hang of the changes, its not so different.

I played from about 5pm to 4am [central time, USA] and created 2 households. In one household I have three people, who obviously were created at the same time, but when I quit the game I noticed that these 3 sims have aged differently! That could complicate my usual way of playing.

I too have an athelete/daredevil and cracked up about everything being 'extreme'.

My sim who lives alone, has 'insane' as a trait. What a hoot!

All in all, its a pretty cool game and evidently I enjoyed it. I felt like I played for an hour, surprised to find it was 4am when I quit. I agree totally about the slowness of ultra speeds, and I also have some concerns about quality of graphics [I have yet to set it to better quality and see how it goes].

The plumb bob flash drive is waaay cool! the 'prima guide' incluced is a small phamplet, not the actual guide [but it offers a discount on the guide].


I have ALL of the Sims original, ALL of the Sims 2 and now, Sims 3 [I pre-ordered from EA, it arrived Monday June 1].... before Sims 2 came out, it was hard to imagine giving up all the EPs for something new, but after getting Sims 2, the DNA was the overriding reason I NEVER played Sims original again.... and again, before getting Sims 3, it was hard to imagine giving up all the great features gained in all the EPs.... and after getting Sims 3, I don't think I will be giving up Sims 2 anytime soon.... but in Sims 2 I have 7 generations of sims I didn't create except through DNA. It might be awhile before my Sims 3 are so accomplished, especially without University and vacations! but I DO love Sims 3 already, and my plumb bob too!

Your link goes to Sims 2 patches....
http://www.thesims3.com/game/patches would be where Sims 3 patches would be, but there aren't any.

They did seem to scale the graphics back for their seamless neighborhood. But what kind of video chipset are you running? If it's Intel, don't expect miracles.

inabisim - Haha, I got my copy at a 24 hour Wal*Mart, too! I agree with you about townies. I've been playing for a few Sim-days and have yet to interact with anyone. All of Guy's socialization happens at work. Have you tried any of the social interactions yet? And it's taking me some time to adjust to being able to go out so easily, too. I'm so used to staying on one lot!

spithead - When I first launched the game, it asked if I wanted to update so I said yes. If that "update" was supposed to fix the speed issue... it didn't. Hopefully it gets addressed soon.

diogenes - You did Athlete/Daredevil, too? Great minds think alike. Anyways, how smooth did your household run that had multiple Sims? I've only got a one Sim family right now. And I'm glad you like your Collector's Edition bonuses. My CE should get here today (I'm a sucker for preorder/bonus items plus the extra Sim Store credits) and I got the bundle with the full version of the Prima guide. Hopefully it's informative. I'm happy to look up anything people have questions about. And on a side note - 7 generations?! *claps in amazement* I never made it that far...

Now just a couple of things from my last Simming session:
-Skills. - Wow, skills have been enhanced. Not only do you gain points, but there are little "missions" to accomplish (like cook so many different recipes). It also seems to take awhile to gain a point (even with an associated trait), but with the moodlet system it's not too bad.

Speaking of moodlets...

They are a lot of fun. You can get them from doing almost anything. It also adds a layer of strategy to the game because you can fulfill a promise and do other activities to get positive moodlets and you'll be in a good mood even if you have a need or two that's low. Good for promotions (which, like skills, I also think are a little more difficult to achieve).

And finally, I've gotten a chance to try some opportunities. They are just another fun addition. One involved staying late at work, but now I have one to jog around the town with a special device that the gym owner gave me.

Thanks for adding your experiences, guys. Let us know what else you discover. And to all the people getting their copies today, feel free to join us!

~phorang3

As to "not finding enough Townies to interact with" just hang out for a bit, they will start to show up in about 1 minute.

Yes, I was about to say that I have had no problems at all with finding sims to interact with. Every time one of my sims goes anywhere there are a ton of others around and he/she meets people constantly. From what I've seen, there are many more around than in in Sims 2.

I got the game and decided to install it on my really, really low spec Dell computer, because my new HP with all the good specs wont get here until next week. My game runs flawlessly, and there's no choppiness. I'm blown away! So, I'm not sure why your game feels choppy I'm sorry!

I LOVE the seamless neighborhood. It's everything I wanted in a Sim game and more. I thought I'd love the style of the Sims more, but I'm realizing that they're all alike in a lot of ways, even with tweeking them. Ah well, it's not enough for me not to like the game I've only explored a bit, but I like the majority of it, a LOT. I can already see the potential for lots of creators to go nuts with it. I dont know why everyone was so hyped up about "no CC" because it definitely looks like there's buttons to look at CC and whatnot.

Ugh I'm dying here lol
I bought it last night about 2 am at a 24 hour Wal-Mart. Got home and got it installed about 4ish. And I had to be at work at 8 so I just barely messed with it I want to dive right in it and can't.

To play different households, go to where you can save your game and whatnot, click on edit town, then click save. after that you will be brought to the town. Click the little circle sign on the bottom left with the two houses, located in where the rotating buttons are, after that click on choose household and just pick the household you want to play!

I didn't create the link - I just typed the word patch

Thanks for the feedback/reply and POO!!! I was hoping the patch/update WOULD fix that. Cheese and Rice - Cheese and Rice!!!

I'm glad it's working well for you LindsFish. I had to run some errands so I shut my computer down and when I came back and started TS3 up, I had no problems. I think I had too many programs running in the background my first go around with the game - I was literally playing, posting here, and tracking my Amazon CE/Prima Guide order (which was "detained for suspicion" at the Wisconsin border... w.t.f.???).

I still feel like there aren't as many townies wandering around like in TS2, but I have noticed more... especially since I've had some Sims move into Sunset Valley on their own. It really is a different experience to have the Sims doing things on their own, especially since I gave them NO free will in TS1 and 2. I'm having a blast, though.

Has anyone jumped into the premade families yet? I just switched from my CAS Sim to Agnes Crumplebottom... with her story, traits, and some details in the house, it's really sad. I don't want to give too much away though. As for some of the other families, I think EA deserves some applause for putting in Sims/stories that aren't "traditional". There's one guy living on the beach whose story hints that he might be gay, and there are several single parent families. Ben Bell said in an interview they were trying to make it more realistic - I think they did.

~phorang3

ETA: spithead, I wish it would've gotten fixed, too. I don't mind having a little extra time doing various activities, but when it's bedtime and the simulator is on "ultra speed"... well actually that's when I've been doing some cleaning around the apartment.

And kohakuchan, you're probably right about the desktop/laptop graphics thing. I've definitely noticed an improvement since quitting other applications (which I'm supposed to do anyway) but a desktop computer could probably handle more to begin with. Luckily it's still beautiful to look at - Agnes Crumplebottom's house is on a cliff overlooking the ocean and the valley. I actually gasped a little when the sun set behind the hills.

Hopefully we'll be able to get a picture thread started soon!!!

I just got to play a tiny bit today...only an hour or two...so I haven't really had time to flesh out stuff....

but the amount of stuff - just even making a sim - is overwhelming! Did anyone else experience that? I spent my whole time just making the sim - I never did that before in TS2. I mean, I had alot of content in that game, but I still pretty much knew basically which face I'd like to use, and which hair color, and which (in general) clothing, but this is ridiculous! I absolutely LOVE the create a style feature - it has made mundane maxis clothing wearable for me!

I'll let you guys know more when I actually get to playing the game...which probably wont be for several more hours!

I love the game, but I am really tired to see my sims adopt babies when I am playing another family.

I love that there is automatic 45 degree rotation. This is great when you want to design a room based on a real room. You can put tables much closer to couches. I love it. Not a lot of objects but a bazillion ways to decorate them with colours and patterns this is cool. You can follow the taxi. (why is this fun? I dunno, i feel like a dog chasing cars rofl)

I don't like that when my sim goes to a restaurant to eat, you hear the noise the place lights up but you cannot go inside with them. the funniest things happen to sims in restaurants. No clumsy waiters, no Maitre D? Not cool.

Have you seen how thier eyes move around in thier sockets. Can't you just see Shady's Scalera's awesome sauce. Oh yeah the biggest thing i like is I have NO ugly townies and NO Goopies and Dagmars.

Not gonna turn in my sims2 anytime soon but after playing it for a few hours. I do like the sims 3. Anyway. My two cents.

I live not far from where I work. I only get a measly 30 minute lunch break but I'm so wanting to mess with it a few minutes while I eat. I haven't gotten to do anything with it yet lol

Are they adopting or birthing (for lack of a better word)?

...And is there a way to tell the difference?

Sims is cereal bidness.

Sims have no memories. I don't know where those babies come from.

Do they look like the parents at all?

Wow. it seems really good (:
tbh, ii was waiting for player reviews before ii bought it.
this has really convinced me, ii think ii might pre-order it.
im from the UK btw, doesn't come out til Friday 5th June
x