Now that I’m back at uni and have a whole lot of extracurriculars on my plate, my attention has drifted from Sims stuff. I did just install High-End Loft Stuff a few days ago and played for around … ten minutes. I’ll get back into it some time, I suppose; I have a couple of interesting mod concepts that are half-done, and one huge one that’s about 1/5 completed, although the upcoming Ambitions EP may throw it for a spin. (more…)
I’ve been attempting the Prosperity Challenge with a cleaned-out Sunset Valley and have run into a weird snag. Apparently, whenever you apply for a job, the game either generates new (unhoused) Sims to be your co-workers and boss. However, it also appoints Sims living in the ‘hood to fill those roles. Meaning that sometimes a Sim from a “Prosperity family” gets a job I did not want for them to have.
What’s more, Story Progression is OFF and I’m using Awesomemod. Now, I did modify the “Demographics” XML in the game’s GameplayData.package to encourage households to get jobs…maybe this is how the game reacts. But it’s a frustrating mechanic.
I think in my last post I complained about Story Progression townies always being unemployed? If I didn’t, I’m complaining now. Well, now that I’m attempting a Prosperity playstyle the problem’s reversed. My Prosperity Sims keep getting high-level jobs at random places (and which don’t match up with their career LTW). *Sigh* EASS, what will you do next…
By the way, with this little Challenge I was trying the aging idea posted here by Rebeka. Thanks, Rebeka! Anyway the idea is to turn SP off (obviously) and leave aging off for all but one round (which I haven’t gotten to yet).
Yay me. I ninja’d a copy at 8:30 in the morning because I didn’t preorder (or rather, they delayed the preorder by a FULL DAY and it would have cost more). I wasn’t the only one buying it at that time, oddly enough, though I was the only single guy there.
I’ve been pretty busy over the past few days, while most of my free time has been taken up with playing TS3 (of course) as well as mucking around with the .packages using S3PI. Already I’ve made a few basic hacks for personal use: an aging hack to reduce the duration of Toddler- and Elder-hood, a hack to reduce the chance of genetic mutations, and a hack to stop families moving out. I don’t know what effect the last one has on long-term Story Progression though, so I’m currently testing it out.
Anyway, I won’t post my full thoughts on the game here because it would just repeat what others have said over the past two weeks. At first the game didn’t “hook” me like TS2 did, but I’m warming to it. I will make a few comments though:
With TS3′s story progression and simultaneous aging would it be harder to create an integrated economy. That is, one where taxes and fees go out, and money is used in a meaningful way. Even with appropriate mods and hacks, every other family is left ‘chaotic’, freely squandering their family funds without any player control over where the money goes. Even if there was some kind of automatic deduction hack, it still might be limited by an inability to pay at the right time. Further yet, families will autonomously move house, presumable with more money from nowhere…will the madness stop?
While it’s a blessing for those of us who hate micro-managing everybody, it doesn’t help players who want to keep records, levy fines and stop money coming from nowhere. If you want the degree of control back, you have to return to the TS2 static model. Well, it’s not clear how aging and story progression will be tied together, but I presume you’d need both on, otherwise you’d end up with families full of kids (no aging) or Sims growing old and dying alone without your input (no SP).
I imagine there will need to be some creative hacking of the game, plus the capabilities to allow it, before there could be a truly integrated ‘autonomous economy’ in TS3. Otherwise, players who wish to ‘integrate’ will need to return to meticulous micromanagement of each Sim. Bit of a bummer really. I really hate the giant promotion bonuses and 20K handouts.
One of the ‘traditional’ additions of Sims expansion packs is exciting new methods of death, with a corresponding shiny new ghost colour. But ever noticed that the death-types added in the TS2 expansion packs practically never happen unless you play to that end! It’s a conscious design decision by EA to NOT have Sims die in hilarious ways in the course of normal gameplay.
I’m definitely in the minority here, as a player who doesn’t actively ‘play to kill’, but I do wish that random death would occur, you know, autonomously. It’s the natural consequence of story progression. Would it kill EA to occassionally have an adult Sim die of some accidental cause offscreen?