Create A...

Um...yeah it was kind of a spur of the moment idea.

Inge over at Simlogical put up some flat, completely empty worlds to make it easier for testing stuff in-game. My findings with the Mac version of TS3 is that the crashing in Create A Sim hardly ever happens if you load your game through a small custom world rather than any of EA's (most likely due to the loading of a small map using less memory), so now that picture is what I'm greeted with when I want to use CAS.

InvisiSim / New Site Design!

Recently I accepted a SimPort request for an acrobat to perform at my coffeehouse. I sent my sim The Kahuna over there and sat him at one of the tables. I waited...and waited. Huh, where's the performer.

Suddenly, this happened.

I was genuinely entertained by this performance. It was funny seeing the fire hoop and circus ball move by themselves. Like as if a spirit was doing everything.

Oh, but things got a bit stranger than that.

For hosting that sim, The Kahuna got 3000 big ones. Normally that's not much but for Kahuna who lives in a tiny shack on the beach it's a boatload. That presented a bit of a dilemma. Since I'm not doing the typical rags to riches story with Kahuna (he loves the beach bum life and it will stay that way) what on SimEarth was I going to have him spend the money on?

Then it occurred to me...

Books. Those books, man. They really do cost a lot.

Fishing is one of Kahuna's many talents and I completely forgot how expensive the books for the rare fish cost. Now he only has a few hundred simoleans again, heh.

You've probably heard by now about The Sims 3 Seasons. I saw the announcement as it happened during the EA Summer Showcase livestream, what an exciting time that was. Can't believe they finally did it! And ocean swimming too! There seems to be a ton of content, more than any of the previous releases. So hyped for this EP.

Also, I just added the Disqus comment system. I've seen it being used on IGN and a few other sites I follow. Figured might as well try it out as it looks a bit more dynamic than Blogger's system. The layout and design have also been revamped to be much more faithful to the style of The Sims. Like it? Hate it with all your hate? Let me know what you think!

Gambling has Returned / Awesome CC!

Wow, didn't see this coming...gambling has made a return to The Sims! I figured they couldn't do it because of the rating and more overly concerned parents than back in the days of The Sims 1. Slot machines and a blackjack table were added as premium content that is part of a new casino to The Sims 3 Store. The objects also add the new gambling skill. I particularly like how a SimBot acts as the dealer on the blackjack table!

Supa sad face :(

SimBot does its best Kirby impression.

YOU'RE WINNER !

An odd thing happened while I was visiting the casino. I heard a townie playing slots and it sounded like he was saying "Well done!" Just another one of those rare times when it sounds like sims can speak English! My only gripe with the casino so far is that other sims don't join mine at the blackjack table, they're more attracted to the slot machines. You can't even ask them to join like when they watch TV or do other sorts of activities. Thanks to the awesomely generous blewis, I got to add the new tablet to my game too. While I don't have any pics to share of it right now I enjoy it very much. It's possibly my favourite out of all the premium content.

On top of that I downloaded some of the awesome edible food by NewOne at One Billion Pixels. Thanks to her I'm craving a tasty salami sandwich! Although the food aren't additions to the cooking system I highly recommend adding them to your game because you can use them with Around The Sims 3's Functional Bakery set. Oh, and I haven't even tried douglasviega's revival of the cleaning robot from The Sims 2 Open For Business, Nonamena's LN Gig Scheduler, Cherry92's Toddler Social, and Simlogical's animated cat door!

I'm kind of glad I added all these things at the same time because it almost feels like I added something in between a stuff pack and a full EP, renewing my interest in The Sims 3 (which is why I haven't blogged in a while on top of EA taking down my collection files). Hopefully I have more time tomorrow to play around with the stuff I haven't used yet.

NOTICE: Sims 3 Store Collections

Hey everyone, so you might be wondering what happened to all the collection files. I really hoped to give back to the Sims community but it looks like I've been shot down. I wanted to wait a while before saying anything in case the issue was resolved quickly but that's definitely not the case now. They were taken down by Mediafire in what seemed to be a sweeping motion to take down illegal software, assuming my files were illegal too. I sent a counter-claim a couple of weeks ago but haven't got anything back yet.

It's unfortunate, especially considering collection files don't redistribute the store sets themselves. They're just references. I'm guessing mine were taken down because they're labelled with the proper names of the corresponding sets, making EA think they're illegal warez.

The bottom line: Until further notice, my collection files will no longer be available. I'm deeply sorry, it seems like I have no control over this issue at all.

Sims 1 Sims in TS3?

I didn't think it could be done, but I managed to fit the Ultimate Venue that comes with the Showtime Limited Edition into Twinbrook. I deleted the Pidgin's house and replaced it with a 64x64 lot using the in-game world editor. If you place it just right it won't even distort the terrain or anything. Not sure why EA didn't just make it 64x64 in the first place.

Anyways, this post isn't about the placing of the Ultimate Venue as much as what I saw once I had a sim perform inside it.

Why hello there, Sims 1 era sims! It's been a while!

No, I'm not complaining about this. I actually find it kind of cool. I knew that big show venues were going to have these less detailed sims showing up to make show audiences look huge without killing our computers, but they seriously look like Sims 1 sims converted to 3D to me. It's giving me flashbacks to the beginning of the very first Sims 2 trailer...

Not sure if EA intended it or not, but seeing that crowd in Showtime gave me a huge dose of nostalgia. Makes you think "What if," doesn't it?

I guess that result would have been like how you were able to play as the Tony Hawk character copy and pasted from the very first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game in Tony Hawk's Underground 2. Kind of interesting in concept, but definitely not something I would have wanted for the next entry in the series.

Well That's an Interesting Mix

Found this stray dog in my game today. Looks like it's a mix between a dalmatian and a poodle? Easily the most interesting mix I've seen so far.

Pondering About Mr. Ponder

Billie Ponder is watching an awesome performance. He's going to throw...air?

Karaoke is back! Yes!

Somehow, the new fireflies spawned in Twinbrook.

Overall I'm liking Showtime so far. I still consider Pets to be the best Sims 3 expansion so far, but I think Showtime ties with Late Night for second best. I'll post more detailed impressions later.

(It just occurred to me that Billie Ponder looks like Draco Malfoy. Pure coincidence, I swear!)