The Sims 3 was announced that it was in development for PlayStation 3 and Wii in November 2006, and later announced for OS X and Microsoft Windows. It was first released on June 2, 2009 simultaneously for OS X and Microsoft Windows – both versions on the same disc. Smartphone versions were also released on June 2, 2009. Console versions were released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS in October 2010 and a month later for the Wii. The Windows Phone version was made available on the Windows Phone Store on October 15, 2010. A Nintendo 3DS version, released on March 27, 2011, was one of its launch titles.
Review by Teoalida
After playing all remaining expansions of The Sims 2 during 2012, I decided to try The Sims 3 in January 2013, so here is my review:
The Sims 3 have a lot of advantages and disadvantages compared with The Sims 2, depending by each person tastes, each one can be better than other one. Personally I think that The Sims 2 is still the best! If when The Sims 2 appeared it made me to stop playing The Sims 1, this did not happened when The Sims 3 appeared.
The Sims 3 returned to The Sims 1 style with neighborhoods (worlds) with fixed lots, it put accent on life simulation and scrap the ability of placing lots anywhere like in The Sims 2 and design a city (sadly, this was my favorite feature of The Sims 2). Joined buildings from one lot to another, such as terraced houses, possible in The Sims 1 but also in The Sims 2 with LotAdjuster tool, are no longer possible in The Sims 3.
The Create-a-World tool offered as separate download is incomplete and hard to use, I only wanted to add more smaller lots in existing neighborhoods!
Fortunately, you can move or copy buildings from one lot to another, even copying small lots on bigger lots, also rotate them.
Time is synchronized in entire town, while you play one family, the computer control all other families. You do not save families, you save all town at once. The lack of control caused numerous complaints around forums (I am confused how the computer control other families, I need to play more to figure this out).
Pros
The Sims 3 graphics are better (however the graphics play only minor role in my rating of games), Sun takes a path on the sky and each object cast shadows that moves around day, instead of sticking on a single direction.
The main problem of The Sims 2, the sun direction saved by lot, was solved in The Sims 3. I can rotate houses within a lot and no longer need to rebuild the if I want to have another side facing to sun. The design flaw from The Sims 2 that whole wall under balconies is in shadow, was solved in The Sims 3, now each roof, balcony, object, etc, cast correct shadows on below walls.
The Sims 3 got massive improvements in decorative functionality (exactly the part which I am NOT interested). All furniture can now be rotated with 45-degrees (in The Sims 2 you could rotate them with a cheat, but some will become nonfunctional, for example you can’t have dining table with seating at 45 degrees), additionally you can hold ALT key and place items out of grid and rotate them freely.
Create a Style is a tool that allow you to customize colors and patterns of each item, you can even edit sofa’s color and make it looking like a brick wall, and edit brick wall and make it looking like fabric. You can easily cheat for example use a cheap paint but color it like an expensive marble wall cover.
Cons
– Cannot make diagonal pools.
– Ceilings are displayed, but cannot paint them.
– Lack of properly-working driveway. The Sim go to street instead of going to the parked car, the car teleport to street, you can park cars anywhere in the lot, even on rooftop! Update: this is because The Sims 3 allow lots to be placed on any routable terrain without being directly connected to roads, and allow rotating lots which would be not possible if driveway was attached to street (cars can teleport in The Sims 2 too, if the driveway is blocked. If the driveway is correctly attached to street, the cars turn in reverse in realistic way).
– Non-realistic land prices, $2 per square. Largest lot in The Sims 3 (64×64) costs $8.192 while largest lot in The Sims 2 (60×50) costs $18.500. Typical houses on 30×30 lots cost $50.000 of which the land is only $1.800. In my opinion, land price shall be at least $10 per squares, so the starter families should start on small lot, then move to a bigger lot only when you can afford building a palace.
– Too big lots and odd-sized lots: I HATE lot sizes in The Sims 3, typical sizes are 20×30, 30×30, 30×40, 40×40, 60×60, but there are also numerous odd-sized lots that put me in doubt how big I should design my houses to be suitable for other players!
Smallest lot is Little Corsican Bistro in Sunset Valley, 16×18 squares, narrowest lot is Four Bridges Park in Riverview, 64×10 squares. I wished to have more small lots and even smaller such as 20×20 or even 10×20. Just look around my website, I have 30+ houses built in The Sims 2 and only 6 of them are bigger than 30×30.
Update: with The Sims 3 Late Night Expansion, or with patches released after the expansion, a World Editor appears in game and we can add additional lots small as 10×10, and with Add Any Lot Size tool we can create custom-sized lots!
The Sims 3 support same resolutions like The Sims 2, the maximum being 1600×1200. Shame, for a game to be launched in June 2009 without support for the FULL HD resolution of 1920×1080 that was adopted in 2008 by TV industry, which will become the standard resolution of high-end computers during following years. It also do not support 1680×1050 and 1920×1200 which are common since 2005. The highest widescreen resolutions supported by The Sims 3 are 1440×900 and 1600×900.
What is above is written by me. What is below is copied from Wikipedia:
The Sims 3 expansion packs
World Adventures
Release date: NA: November 17, 2009; EU: November 19, 2009; AU: November 20, 2009.
Additions: New traits, items, clothing.
Features: quests, tomb exploration at three new destinations, photography, new build functions including the basement tool, nectar, fireworks, shops, vacation homes.
New vacation worlds: Champs Les Sims (France), Al Simhara (Egypt), Shang Simla (China)
Life State: Mummy.
New Careers: None.
Ambitions
Release date: NA: June 1, 2010; EU: June 3, 2010.
Additions: New careers, skills, traits, and items.
Features: control within work (professions and selected careers), laundry, tattoo system, skill-based self-employment.
New world: Twinbrook.
Life State: Simbot (Robot).
New Careers: Architectural Designer, Education, Firefighter, Ghost Hunter, Medical, Investigator, Stylist, Self-Employed.
Late Night
Release date: NA: October 26, 2010; EU: October 28, 2010.
Additions: New careers, skills, traits, clothes and accessories, furniture, and cars.
Features: bars, night clubs, penthouse suites, hot tubs, subway portholes, elevators, breast and muscle definition sliders, Group, Band, Butler, zodiac signs, new swimming pool design tools, height adjustment for wall objects, fountain tool.
New world: Bridgeport.
Life State: Vampire.
New Careers: Film, Band Member.
Generations
Release date: NA: May 31, 2011; EU: June 2, 2011.
Additions: New playground equipment, mid-life crisis, new interactions, new traits, and new profession.
Features: Pranks, body hair for males, new types of celebrations (i.e. birthday/teen/bachelor parties, weddings, slumber), memories, graduation ceremonies, prom, imaginative play, potions, spiral staircases, water slides, boarding schools, pillow fights, strollers, canes for elders.
Life State: Imaginary Friend.
New Careers: Daycare.
Pets
Release date: NA: October 18, 2011; EU: October 20, 2011.
Two editions: Regular and “Limited Edition”.
Additions: New pets, new animal and sim traits, Create-A-Pet, new lifetime wishes and rewards, new interactions, new items, new venues and community locations, new pet and sim skills.
Features: Controllable animals (cats, dogs, horses) and non-playable creatures (see NPC section), pet contests.
New world: Appaloosa Plains.
Life State: Unicorn.
New Careers: Equestrian.
Showtime
Release date: NA: March 6, 2012; EU: March 8, 2012
Three editions: Regular, “Limited Edition” and “Katy Perry Collector’s Edition”.
Additions: New stage performance careers (singer, acrobat, magician), new objects (pool table, golfing), new sim traits/lifetime wishes; Katy Perry only: downloadable stage venue, fruit-themed clothing, items, and stage props.
Features: Social features, stage decoration, singing, gigs, new ‘Achievement System’, Simport which allows importing and exporting of celebrity Sims.
New world: Starlight Shores.
Life State: Genie.
New Careers: Singer, Acrobat, Magician.
Supernatural
Release date: NA: September 4, 2012; EU: September 6, 2012.
Three editions: Regular, “Limited Edition” and “Origin Decor Edition”.
Additions: New items (alchemy station, rocking chair), new clothing options including wings, new traits.
Features: Supernatural life states including witches, werewolves, fairies, vampires, and zombies; creation of supernatural Sims directly in Create-A-Sim.
New world: Moonlight Falls.
Life State: Vampire, Witch, Werewolf, Zombie, Fairy.
New Careers: Fortune Teller
Seasons
Release date: NA: November 13, 2012; EU: November 15, 2012.
Two editions: Regular and “Limited Edition”.
Additions: New skills (soccer/snowboard), new traits, seasonal celebrations.
Features: Weather, seasons, new outerwear clothing category, new festivals & holidays, swimming in the ocean.
Life State: Alien.
New Careers: Test Subject (Aliens Only).
University Life
Release date: NA: March 5, 2013; EU: March 7, 2013.
Two editions: Regular and “Limited Edition”.
Additions: New skills (Bowling, Science, Photography, Social Networking & Street Arts), new traits, social groups, college sub-neighborhood, a smart phone, a new university world you enter when you enroll, and weather.
New university world: Sims University.
Life State: PlantSim.
New Careers: Art Appraiser, Sports Agent, Video Game Developer.
Island Paradise
Release date: NA: June 25, 2013; EU: June 27, 2013.
Two editions: Regular and “Limited Edition”.
Additions & Features: Houseboats, resort management, island discovery, new modes of transportation on water (e.g. boating, water skiing, windsurfing).
New world: Isla Paradiso.
Life State: Mermaid.
New Careers: Lifeguard, Resort Manager, Scuba Diver.
Into the Future
Release date: NA: October 22, 2013; EU: October 24, 2013.
Two editions: Regular and “Limited Edition”.
Additions & Features: Traveling to the future.
New world: Oasis Landing.
Life State: Plumbot (Robot).
New Careers: Plumbot Dealer, Astronomer, Plumbot Trainer
The Sims 3 Stuff packs
Stuff Packs only include new items e.g. furniture, clothing, hairstyles. They do not add any new functionality to the game. Stuff Packs are compatible with both Windows and OS X as with the main game and expansion packs.
High-End Loft Stuff
Release date: NA: February 2, 2010; EU: February 4, 2010.
High-end furnishings, mainly technology such as televisions, video game consoles, and computers, as well as postmodern designs of bookshelves, tables, and chairs. Three items from The Sims and The Sims 2 were reintroduced to celebrate The Sims 10th Anniversary. Alternatively titled “Design and High-Tech Stuff”.
Fast Lane Stuff
Release date: NA: September 7, 2010; EU: September 9, 2010.
Four all‐new styles of fashions, furnishings, and vehicles: Racing, Intrigue, Rockabilly, and Classic Luxury.
Outdoor Living Stuff
Release date: NA: February 1, 2011; EU: February 3, 2011.
Clothing, furnishings, and items centered on patio activities in two new styles: “Garden Terrace” features elegant wrought-iron pieces, while “Sunset on the Veranda” embraces the warmth of outdoors.
Town Life Stuff
Release date: NA: July 26, 2011; EU: July 28, 2011.
New casual outfits, hairstyles, and items. Features newly redesigned venues such as a school, cafe, and grocery store; as well as new community lots including a gym, park, laundromat, and library.
Master Suite Stuff
Release date: NA: January 24, 2012; EU: January 26, 2012.
Luxurious bedroom and bathroom décor centered on romance and relaxation. New contemporary furnishings and intimate apparel themed for creating romantic master suites.
Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats
Release date: NA: June 5, 2012; EU: June 7, 2012.
New candy-themed décor, items, outfits, hairstyles, and community lots. Features a Simlish version of Katy Perry’s song “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”. On July 15, 2013, a Community Manager for EA confirmed that this stuff pack has been retired and is no longer available on Origin. Therefore, EA will not produce any more physical or digital copies of Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats.
Diesel Stuff
Release date: NA: July 10, 2012; EU: July 12, 2012.
New clothing and décor from Diesel.
70s, 80s, & 90s Stuff
Release date: NA: January 22, 2013; EU: January 24, 2013.
Outfits, hairstyles and items modeled on that of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Movie Stuff
Release date: NA: September 10, 2013; EU: September 12, 2013.
Clothing and décor inspired from iconic movie themes and settings.
