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The Sims™ 3 Community Blog

: October 2013

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Welcome to Oasis Landing!

Hi Simmers!

The future has arrived! The Sims 3 Into the Future™ is now available. We’ve been working really hard over the past few months to fill the world of Oasis Landing with all the future-themed technology, excitement and surprises we could fit into it. We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to take our Sims into the future and back.

When we started development on Into the Future all those months ago, we knew we had to make this particular The Sims 3 expansion truly special. Sure, we’ve helped you take your Sims to some amazing places and do some amazing things, but this time we pulled out all the stops. We’ve stuffed your future world with everything from sonic showers to dream pods to Plumbots and even a hovering monorail. In short, we wanted the future to be a place you could not only visit, but a place where you could set up new homes for your Sims, make new friends, build exciting new structures and tell the kinds of stories that are only possible in the world of Oasis Landing.

For my part, I’ve been loving just playing around with the cool new toys you can now get your hands on. I’m a gourmand by nature, so I’ve been having a blast teaching my Sims to cook using the new food synthesizers. I’m also loving the new programmable dream pod. I can’t wait until you see what happens the next morning after you give your Sims a dream about water. Finally, there are so many new ways to get around in the future, it’s tough to decide which way to travel. That being said, there will always be a special place in my heart for jetpack. That moment when you find that special Sim and take romance to a new level with the jetpack slow dance (and jet pack woohoo!) is one I won’t soon forget.

As much fun as the new gadgets and gizmos are, my bet is that a whole lot of people are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the Plumbots. I certainly can’t wait to see what kind of Plumbots our community will create with the all-new Create A Bot. When installing traits chips into your Plumbot, my advice is to try one of my favorites: the “Afraid of Sims” trait. With the option to mix and match traits at will, you control the fate and future of your Plumbot, your Sim, and your household. We can’t wait to see all the stories you’ll create.

Finally – and this truly remarkable – Into the Future is the first time your actions can genuinely affect the world. By your actions in the present, you’ll choose the future of your Sim. Sure, you can live in the normal future of Oasis Landing, but a few tweaks in the past can turn the world into a rainbow-colored Utopia filled with giant flowers and happy Sims. A bit of mischief in the past though can send your Sim hurling into a grey-colored wasteland where they will need to take cover from the meteor showers and subsist on bugs! The choice is yours!

The Sims 3 Into the Future is now available. Let us know what you think in the forums.

SimGuruKarsky - Senior Producer

04:34

2013/10/25

Posted by: SimGuruFooLiz

Categories: Screenshots Special Guest PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack Sims Stories Special Announcements

Future Living - Part 2

Future Homes and Neighborhoods

Now that your Sim has a steady income, or maybe been a little lucky and won big with the lottery , they should consider making a permanent stake in Oasis Landing by buying a future home. There are a few different locations in town to live each with their own personality.

If a fast paced life is what you’re seeking, purchase a home in the Downtown District. Resting in the reservoir, surrounded by water, this is prime real estate for residents of Oasis Landing. Just outside your door is a ZEPHYR station which you can take to any corner of town, or hop in a Taxi to take a trip to the nearby Import Gallery, Sam's Synth'd Staples outdoor cafeteria or visit the HoloVenture Theater and catch a futuristic holo show with your friends.

If the frenetic life of downtown is overwhelming, consider the basic Residential District which is home to modernist future homes. All the conveniences of Advanced Technology are present but the homes are conveniently removed from the hustle and bustle of the Downtown District. The neighborhood is home to the Playful Public Pool, Water Werks Park and Loel's Lounge. A hop, skip and a jump away is the Derelict Beach, and while you can't swim on this lot as the water is now wasteland, you can certainly relax and soak in some sun and order a synthesized drink from the SAM-7 Drink Synthesizer Unit to quench your thirst while you gaze out over the dried up ocean.

Live like its 1962 in the Mining District. A getaway high in the mountains, this neighborhood offers none of the conveniences of future living; instead residents choose to live a simpler lifestyle. Take a break and fish near the Forgotten Fishing Hole and scenic waterfall or stop by The Mine bar and wet your whistle.

Future Fashion

Are you fond of being a real estate tycoon? With enough simoleons lining your pocket a Sim can purchase the EP-XI Import Gallery (and other lots in the world) where, using the Retail Display Pedestal, a player can fully influence what Sims in Oasis Landing will wear. To purchase this shop just pull out your cell phone, choose Real Estate and Travel Services and Check Real Estate, this will bring up a full listing of purchasable lots in Oasis Landing. Find EP-XI Import Gallery in this list and invest away! When your Sim is at the Import Gallery they will have new interactions with the Clothing Pedestals. These Clothing Pedestals are by far my favorite feature I've ever designed for a Sims expansion. We as a design and production team have been trying to get mannequin displays into the game for a while, but it wasn't until Into the Future that we were able to find a way around the technical restrictions that these awesome objects presented.

You can purchase the Retail Display Pedestals from Buy Mode and place them on your home lot, or just purchase the Import Gallery and get right to customizing. A Sim can plan outfits for each age and gender. Once you've chosen the age and gender you want to customize you'll go into a Create-A-Sim mode so you can outfit the mannequin in any attire. You'll have the ability to change all outfits from Everyday, Formal, Sleepwear, Athletic and Swimwear. If you have Seasons installed you'll also be able to customize the Outerwear category. If you'd like to create some variety within each category you can click the new outfit button and create up to 3 outfits per category, that's nearly 20 outfits that each age can have available to display on the Clothing Pedestals.

While in the Clothing Pedestal Create-A-Sim, all clothing pieces are available so feel free to mix and match the new clothing from Into the Future and any clothing from previous expansion packs or from The Sims 3 Store to make a fashion statement throughout the entire world of Oasis Landing. After you've planned outfits on these pedestals you'll begin to see Sims in the Import Gallery view and buy your clothing! On the spot they'll find something they like and immediately change into it. Over time you'll see your fashions spread throughout the town like never before.

The Gallery lot is available to be created in Edit Town in any world, so go populate all of your custom worlds or home worlds with your very own Import Gallery replete with your own personal styles. If you couple this new lot type with the Barrier to Entry System that comes with Le Cinema Plumbob venue from The Sims 3 Store, your options for creating custom clothing galleries that cater to specific ages or even Supernatural types is as endless as your creativity.

Families

I've talked about the basics of living in the future, from starting out at The Community Living Center and using Advanced Technology objects to joining one of the new careers or buying future homes and commercial real estate. Being able to live in the future long term means we needed to reconsider some of the restrictions previously attached to sub-hoods. If you meet someone in Oasis Landing that catches your eye feel free to romance them, go ahead we won't stop you. Use the new Dip Kiss social to set the mood or literally sweep them off their feet with a Jet Pack Slow Dance or Kiss. When the mood is right take your partner out for a some Jet Pack Woo Hoo and get the I Can Show You The World moodlet. If you are ready to take the big leap, propose to your partner and get married! Yes, you can get married while in Oasis Landing.

If you'd like to grow your family you can of course Try for Baby anywhere you can normally Woo Hoo, or you can go to the Oasis Landing Community Hospital and use the new Engineer a Baby interaction. You'll be able to specify the gender, Hair and Eye color as well as their starting traits. The engineered baby will be a spitting image of the two of you. Still not a large enough family, you could always adopt a child from the future!

Now that you've got a family you can chose to remain in Oasis Landing and raise them in a community where the conveniences of technology make life a breeze, or you can take them back to the past and introduce them to how it used to be. Of course, all of these changes you've made to your family can have a serious impact on your descendants the next time you travel to the future, so don't be surprised if your entire family lineage is different now that you've gone and changed everything.

I've really enjoyed working on Into the Future. It offered some unique design challenges with how to handle time travel in a Sims way, and provided me with a way to get mannequins into the game, and finally offer a way for you to keep your Sims in a sub-hood for as long as you like! I hope this blog has provided some unique insight into how you can Live in the Future, I am super excited to see what kind of stories you will tell with all of the content we've provided with Into the Future.

SimGuruFont – Senior Designer

04:30

2013/10/25

Posted by: SimGuruFooLiz

Categories: Screenshots Special Guest PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack Sims Stories Special Announcements

Future Living - Part 1

Each time The Sims 3 design team sits down to discuss the next expansion pack or piece of store content, we often start by talking about what parts of the game could be better. What worked and what didn't work in previous content? What would we like to do differently if given the chance? With Into the Future, we discussed how well the Visa Points system from World Adventures worked in context with that expansion pack's content and then talked about how Terms worked with University Life. Would either of those scenarios work with Into the Future?

If there is ever a question on which direction we should take with a design there is always one question I ask myself: "Are we, the design team, providing tools that allow players to tell the story they want, or are we trying to force a specific story onto the player?” To me player freedom is the most important thing I can provide to someone who plays The Sims 3. Once we asked ourselves this question it was apparent the direction we should head, pending any technical restrictions.

Arriving in the Future

Unlike Shang Simla, Champs Les Sims, Al Simhara or Sims University, once a Sim arrives in Oasis Landing they can stay there as long as they like. All ages can travel to the future, but babies, toddlers, children and teens must be accompanied by a responsible adult. When you arrive in the future you'll arrive at Emit Relevart's Community Living Center. This lot provides a place for visitors of all ages to relax and recharge after a day out in the town.

Temporary Housing at The Community Living Center

The Community Living Center contains all of the basic essentials you'll need for future living, from travel objects like the Hoverboard and Jetpack, to everyday necessities. If your sim is famished, walk up to the FoodForge Cuisine Synthesizer and generate some Synthesized Goopy Carbonara. Your Sims will be able to create a full course dinner in the time it would take to make one dish on an old-fashioned stove! After a hearty meal your Sim can freshen up with the Tardisian Well Sonic Shower. With the power of sound and color your Sim will be sonically cleaned in no time, you don't even need to change your clothes. Cleanse a Sim with their favorite color and they'll feel extra fresh which is sure to put any Sim in a good mood.

A Sim in a good mood is more inclined to have good dreams in the new Sweet Escape Dream Pod. The Dream Pod allows players to interact with their Sim while they dream to try and influence the outcome. When your Sim wakes up there's a chance they will receive a temporary benefit that will help them throughout the next day, but if the dream is bad be prepared for some negative side effects. A Sim who dreams about their career, for example, may gain an instant boost in career performance for having a good dream, while a bad dream may decrease their job performance. If your Sim has a good dream about a skill like Handiness, any time they perform a handiness interaction like repairing a TV, they will build the skill at nearly double the rate.

Most of these benefits will last about twelve hours allowing a Sim to fully utilize the newfound benefits of an engineered dream. Players who have other expansion packs installed will have a few additional dreams to help benefit related gameplay. If you have University Life installed and use the Dream about Academics at Sims University you'll be able to build Academic Performance while you dream. Do you have Late Night installed? Have a good dream about being a celebrity to help increase your celebrity status. With World Adventures installed you can even earn Visa Points in your dreams making it easier to advance to the next level. There are nearly 50 unique dreams to unlock each with 3 different outcomes, offering a wide range of results that are beneficial, fun and sometimes surprising. Try dreaming about Sleeping with the Fishes, Dreaming about Riches, and Dreaming about Rushing Water.

Making Money

After spending some time in the future you may find yourself a little short on simoleons. You could certainly head back to the past to resume your 'normal' job, or you could stay in the future and join one of the careers unique to Oasis Landing. Head to the Modern Arcology Bot Arena to join the Bot Arena Career. You'll start off as a basic maintenance worker as a member of the Clean Up Crew or the Safety Inspectors, but eventually you'll be able to specialize as either an Arena Mechanic or an Arena Official. As a mechanic you'll help keep the Plumbots in top condition ready for the next Bot Arena Competition. As an Arena Official you'll scout around town to try to find suitable candidates to serve as the competition's next Plumbot Prospects!

If your Sim just isn't interested in Plumbots, perhaps you should visit the Mercury Stellar Observatory and look to the stars in a career as an Astronomer. You may start off as a lowly Planetarium Operator, but eventually you'll work your way into one of two branches, the Astrophysicist or the Space Explorer. As an Astrophysicist you'll be able to discover new phenomenon when searching for Stellar Activity. As a Space Explorer you'll be able to take Light Travel to Simulon V. Employees with enough career experience will receive a unique holo sprite; Astrid for Astronomers and Roboid for Bot Arena employees.

Players who would like to earn some money from their Bot Building skill can go to city hall and register as a Self Employed Bot Builder to earn some extra cash. In addition to the careers, there are plenty of other ways to earn money while in the future. Scrounge the world for collectibles unique to Oasis Landing like Crystal Flowers which can be charged with emotion, or wild Nanites which can be used to create bots. Selling these collectibles at the Nuts and Bolts Emporium will help keep your pockets lined with simoleons. Those looking for an easier but riskier route to riches could go to City Hall and Look up Lotto Records, your Sim will receive Insider Tips that they can take back to Sunset Valley for a chance to hit it big by Buying Lotto Tickets from the grocery store.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

SimGuruFont – Senior Designer

04:19

2013/10/25

Posted by: SimGuruFooLiz

Categories: Screenshots Special Guest PC/Mac Game Expansion Pack Sims Stories Special Announcements