KatGamer Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Hi everyone, Back when the original Sims came out, I bought it, and each expansion as it came out. Unfortunately I missed out entirely on The Sims 2 because I was left only with a laptop that didn't have a good enough graphics card. I'm building a new PC, and I'm wondering if I'll be completely lost going straight to The Sims 3. Now I know this isn't like an adventure game where you might lose the storyline or something, but what are some big new features, introduced in The Sims 2, that are going to throw me off at first, but others who played TS2 will be used to? For example, The Sims had Downtown as an option, as well as some Vacation sites, with the intro of expansion packs. What other places were introduced in 2? How have Sim to Sim interactions changed in TS2 and 3? For that matter, how have object interactions changed? I heard kids could go to college in TS2. How does aging work in the game? Do Sims in TS3 age when you are not playing the game, and if so can you turn this feature off? Finally, what am I missing out on by skipping TS2 and going straight to TS3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos mage Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I never played 1 myself. In 2 the expansions usually just added a new area, more people, some new interactions/items. The University and the Business expansions were the only ones I remember adding anything really interesting. In 3, the expansion actually adds to the gameplay a significant amount. 3 does not have college as of yet, but it's a HUGE improvement overall. For example, every time you left your house in 2 you had a long loading screen excepting going to work. Once 3 loads, the only loading screens are if you travel to another country in the expansion. Sims don't age when the app is closed, and you can even change the aging process or disable it entirely in the game options. Jobs in 2 were taken from the newspaper, and just had your character go offscreen. Now that there's a city instead of a house, you can go get the job at their location and your sim goes there when employed. By skipping 2 you'll miss out on a fair amount of content, but a MUCH more limited framework. As fun as it was at the time I actually recommend skipping 2 because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Shake Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I agree that 3 is much better than 2 and you will be much better served by just getting 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minifig Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 You're not missing much Kat. You're actually getting the best of the best deals jumping ship from 1 to 3. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigby Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 There's no storyline really so you can jump straight to 3 just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatGamer Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks everyone. :) I just felt like I'd be missing out on some features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I've played them all, and believe me, Sims 3 is by far the best of them. The only thing I wish is that they made sims more customizable than they did. There's mods out there to add more customizability, but it would have been nice if it was better from the get-go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted February 9, 2010 Veteran Share Posted February 9, 2010 Sims age independently in Sims 3, so it doesn't organise them on a per house basis but on a per neighbourhood basis. Of course, there are ways to keep them all in the same neighbourhood and switch between them, but I wouldn't do so without mods (like AwesomeMod, which also boosts the AI and such the game uses to manage NPC sims, resulting in a better "ecosystem") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Sims age independently in Sims 3, so it doesn't organise them on a per house basis but on a per neighbourhood basis. Of course, there are ways to keep them all in the same neighbourhood and switch between them, but I wouldn't do so without mods (like AwesomeMod, which also boosts the AI and such the game uses to manage NPC sims, resulting in a better "ecosystem") awesomemod never seemed to do anything for me. Other mods work fine but awesomemod I don't think was initializing properly or something edit: going to try to re-install the framework and awesomemod itself and see if I can get it to work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 well, awesomemod wouldn't work without being updated, so I updated it, then the game wouldn't load, so I installed the new patch (I had no idea there even was a new patch), and now it all works. I can't say I notice a difference though, except now my steel bladder doesn't work and it now tracks cars on the map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splur Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I played all three, but not to the extent where I would've really explored each one intimately (ie mods, dlc, truly taking advantage of downtown and vacation spots). I played the first one the most, really building up that default family. Second one I kind of just fooled around as I did the third one. But i felt that the biggest jump was between 1 and 2, and there were few major differences between 2 and 3. So making the jump to 3 is basically the same as to 2, except 3 has solved a lot of issues and has upgraded graphics. In short, just get the Sims 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurë Veteran Posted February 9, 2010 Veteran Share Posted February 9, 2010 The biggest change for me is that the whole neighbourhood is loaded with your household. This means that you can send your sim to the library, for example, without loading screens. I think this is my favourite change because it makes gameplay so much nicer, and you can send different members of your household to different places at once. Another addition is the "moodlets" (well I don't remember them in Sims 1 or 2, but it's a long time since I played either) When your sim has a certain interaction or environmental thing happen, it has an effect on their mood for a short time after or for as long as they are exposted. For example, receiving a compliment, sitting by a cosy fire, getting a full night's rest. This also includes negative things, such as sitting next to a smelly sim, having a fight, having the repo man take some of your stuff! The first expansion pack, World Adventures, allows vacations to three areas. This requires the usual "pick location, let it load" but then the neighbourhood you are in is entirely loaded for you to explore. It has challenges, visa levels, and new skills. I'd say it's worth buying. The online content seems to be bigger for Sims 3 than previously, though maybe I never paid enough attention to it before? The idea is to try and suck you into buying more game content. In game customisation of objects is fairly comprehensive, which is nice - I think it's better than previously? Edit: to answer your other questions (!!) - the sims do not age if the game isn't running. Due to the way the neighbourhood is loaded, you have an active household in each game. You have, I think, an option to turn on/off aging in other households in the neighbourhood. When you want a new family, you can get a brand new neighbourhood, or you can change the active household in the current neighbourhood. I found this a little tricky to get my head around at first but it makes sense to me now. I don't think you miss anything from skipping Sims 2, unless you really want to play its expansions (I'm expecting most to come out for Sims 3 though). Sims 3 is much better in my opinion, enjoy! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted February 9, 2010 Veteran Share Posted February 9, 2010 well, awesomemod wouldn't work without being updated, so I updated it, then the game wouldn't load, so I installed the new patch (I had no idea there even was a new patch), and now it all works. I can't say I notice a difference though, except now my steel bladder doesn't work and it now tracks cars on the map. It aims to be subtle, one of the early versions I used (when it was first released) allowed NPC's to move houses, unfortunately the code was a bit buggy and every night every household would pick a random house and move to it. So reading the newspaper the next day or whenever, would result in a screen full of alerts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatGamer Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Oh, cars don't just sit on your lot anymore? Awesome! Just out of curiosity, what's the money cheat code? Klapaucius? Rosebud? How much RAM does TS3 and its expansions take up when running? (I'm not talking about the system requirements... I'm interested in real experiences.) I'm planning on starting out with 6 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GeForce 9800 with 1GB of VRAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos mage Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Oh, cars don't just sit on your lot anymore? Awesome! Just out of curiosity, what's the money cheat code? Klapaucius? Rosebud? How much RAM does TS3 and its expansions take up when running? (I'm not talking about the system requirements... I'm interested in real experiences.) I'm planning on starting out with 6 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GeForce 9800 with 1GB of VRAM. System requirements are usually slightly over what you actually need, in recognition of the fact that too many people don't know how to keep their systems up to date and working correctly. It'll play comfortably on even those systems. You'll be able to max it out on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code.Red Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Oh, cars don't just sit on your lot anymore? Awesome! Just out of curiosity, what's the money cheat code? Klapaucius? Rosebud? How much RAM does TS3 and its expansions take up when running? (I'm not talking about the system requirements... I'm interested in real experiences.) I'm planning on starting out with 6 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GeForce 9800 with 1GB of VRAM. I ran TS3 (and TS2) on a Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz, with 2Gb of ram, and a 256mb 8600gt at almost max settings perfectly. So you will be able to max it out for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Oh, cars don't just sit on your lot anymore? Awesome! Just out of curiosity, what's the money cheat code? Klapaucius? Rosebud? How much RAM does TS3 and its expansions take up when running? (I'm not talking about the system requirements... I'm interested in real experiences.) I'm planning on starting out with 6 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GeForce 9800 with 1GB of VRAM. don't even bother with cheat codes. Just either paint or write books for extra money, then start buying businesses. The sim I'm currently playing isn't even working anymore and hasvn't for quite some time. She just writes mystery novels, grows money trees, fishes deathfish, and enjoys life, meanwhile making more money than a job ever did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos mage Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 don't even bother with cheat codes. Just either paint or write books for extra money, then start buying businesses. The sim I'm currently playing isn't even working anymore and hasvn't for quite some time. She just writes mystery novels, grows money trees, fishes deathfish, and enjoys life, meanwhile making more money than a job ever did They still have money trees? Huh. I assume its a gardening thing. I haven't seen em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 They still have money trees? Huh. I assume its a gardening thing. I haven't seen em. uncommon special seeds. find them, plant them, some will be normal money tree seeds. Give them good fertilizer and they get better and better quality and they will occasionally drop seeds themselves. Vampire fish and Angelfish are the best fertilizers. I cought 10 vampire fish and made a pound in the back of my house, where I stocked in the vampire fish and some deathfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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