THE HORROR: The REAL TS3 Scoop As It Unfolds

[Frally]

I spent 2 days downloading this bloody thing and now I can't install it. I'm getting an error message like so:

>SetupNew\setup.cpp(140)
PAPP:
PVENDOR:
PGUID:
$15.0.0.498

I am decidedly unawesome, so could anyone shed any light on what may be going wrong here?

This is caused by trying to run the installer with winRAR, stop that! Extract it.

Actually, no. Read my next post. But I appreciate your "can-do" attitude.

[Papercut]

Most of the action in the game takes place only in the sim's head, aka the control panel with the wants and the moodlets. For instance, my sim got in a bad mood because she had a cold shower. The indication that this happened was that it popped up in her moodlets. Looking at her sim with the GIANT BLUR in the shower, I had no idea this happened.

This is something I've been worrying about during the whole pre-release propaganda stage. All the talk of rabbit holes and texty "missions" at work made it sound like they're moving further away from visible "watch it unfold" gameplay.

They've been going in this direction for a while now - the lamecore tours you don't get to watch in BV, etc. If something happens in my game I want to see it. Or imagine it. I don't want to be notified by a pop-up or read a description. Otherwise I might as well be playing a text-based RPG.

Also, I doubt TS3 will hold my attention for more than a few months if modding is severely restricted. Hacks are the only thing that made TS2 playable. Curse you, EA!

[J. M. Pescado]

Quoting for posterity, my opinions in bold:

Ladies and gentlemen, hope lives... we may see an even BETTER final version of this game, hopefully void of the problems and bugs, and a vibrant modder community to BOOST!

So...anyone who actually knows shit here have an opinion? The dev code stuff has me stumped.

Developers leave turds in game files all the time. TS2 itself is full of such turds dating back to TS1. At least half of the crap in TS2 is either vestigial or nonfunctional redundant crap. This is mostly related to the fact that they simply decide it is not worth budgeting time and money to removing detritus from files, because it's not their hard drive space that's limited, anyway.

[Kaoz]

No. Demon child is definitely the genetic daughter of Ms. Schmoe. She has the same hair color, down to the subtle blue streaks. She also is extremely ugly.

Holy shit! Ms. Schmoe appears to have been raped by Diesel 10 from Thomas the Tank Engine!

That's gotta be the most disgusting looking sim I've ever seen. I'll take the ugly baby syndrome from TS2 then these silly putty lookin' mawfuckaz anyday. The more I see screen shots of this game the more I wanna gouge my eyes out with a rusty screwdriver. I've played Nintendo 64 games that had better looking game models then this.

[Vanni]

To be fair...the female doesn't look too bad.

And most of the models in game I've seen haven't been too fugly.

It's the damn kids that are just eye bleachingly horrid.

[gyrobot]

Well, finally got a chance to witness the horror, I was quite mortified they gotten rid of the hot tub. Oh well, at least we can wait for the countless expansions we have to pay for to iron out the kinks and add more borkings. Though I wonder what level I got to be to eat dim sum

[Vanni]

Okay all, just found my screenshots folder...cause I'm special in the head like that. Anyhow, I only took one picture so far apparently. <.<

It's of the family I created Kyson (the dude in the medical uniform) and Shinari Moonrider. This was taken when I had left them alone one night. He apparently wanted to watch TV and she decided she wanted to read a book. I thought they looked interesting together and took the shot. Enjoy.



Edit: It is a clickable thumbnail. Didn't want to take up your entire screens.

[Zazazu]

This is something I've been worrying about during the whole pre-release propaganda stage. All the talk of rabbit holes and texty "missions" at work made it sound like they're moving further away from visible "watch it unfold" gameplay.

They've been going in this direction for a while now - the lamecore tours you don't get to watch in BV, etc. If something happens in my game I want to see it. Or imagine it. I don't want to be notified by a pop-up or read a description. Otherwise I might as well be playing a text-based RPG.

In action, it's actually more involved than TS2 careers. In TS2, they go off but you don't see where they are. In TS3, you do see where they go (big whoop), but can determine how they spend their day. As they move up the career set, more proficiencies are needed. In the beginning, you just need a good mood. Then, a good mood and relationships with your boss/coworker. Then skill proficiency. At about halfway through, Abraham had to choose whether he would follow the rock star fork or the symphony fork in the music career. Since his LTW required symphony, that's what I chose, but he then had a whole new set of coworkers to befriend.

You'll get opportunities that pop up from careers that you can choose to do or ignore. Doing them almost guarantees a promotion. Sometimes it's as simple as "take this report here". Sometimes you have to read a book before work, or learn a song, or do some sort of activity like playing in the park for tips. The same goes with part-time jobs, though they only seem to have the standard three levels. You can get higher wages by completing opportunities.

For skill opportunities, I've only seen mechanical and gardening ones. Those seem to always be given over the phone, so you have to make sure to always answer cell phones. Rewards are usually monetary (which you need, money does not flow freely in TS3), though one I couldn't complete due to my current lay of crops would have given a new type of seed.

The career and opportunity set-up is fantastic and is half of what I knew I would like, along with the traits. So far, those are two for two. Unfortunately, everything I thought I wouldn't like is also living up to expectations.

Two pics. I'll post more to a Photobucket album tomorrow so as to give updates to those who want it, but it's really late here:

Demon child as teen. She looks permanently pissed off. I really like her personality, though. Evil rocks.


The two Finkle kids, who are much more normal looking. Note the odd hair on the boy: doi! CAS setup for the mom transferred to offspring. Genes seem to be equally weighted, which does make sense when you are picking eye color from a color wheel. 

[Solowren]

I LOVE that the weird hair colors are genetic. That is orsum.

[vecki]

I may have to get the fiance to arrquire this for me (he is much more adept at arring than I).  Seeing screenshots is one thing, but I suddenly have the desire to experience THE HORROR for myself.

In one respect, it might work nicely if I feel the need to play Legacy style.  Let those sims kill themselves off!  Oh, that reminds me: do townies respawn to replace those who have kicked the bucket?  I remember reading in one of the plethora of L&P that they would, and this idea made me sad.

Then again the fiance arrquired Splotch for me months ago and I still haven't gotten around to testing it out.

[MaximilianPS]

if you check the .exe date, you'll notice that it's about april !
that's means the version around the net of ts3 isn't the final release, but probably and RC. (Release Candidate)

So what you're saying is that EA has managed to discover a process where they can make modifications to the game up to the very minute it's put on shelves? Or perhaps you're just an idiot.

or maybe you shouldn't use a pc ? purchase a ps2 and play with tic-ta-toe it's more easy than interact with ppls :p

what i say is that "The Creation Date Of the .EXE FILE is About  APRIL"
so, if the game will be released in June that date is too far !

or ... maybe you aren't so smart to undrestand the EAxis marketing tactics

- this is, for sure, a far version from the gold version.
- gamecopyworld haven't actualy a noDvd solution for that game, and this can be another confirms about the ambiguity of this version
- i know a guy that build cure for GCW and what he says about this version is that is a bit too far from the release date to be the gold one, and a site like GCW patch only the released games.

so that's why I THINK, this isn't the final release.

BTW i wonder WHO THE FUCK U R to spit your crap on me
Fly low and connect the brain to the finger before post. thnx

[LFox]

Anyone who thinks this version isn't the release version can keep dreaming IT IS.  The file date doesn't mean crap.  If you finish work on file x long before the release date and it doesn't need changing why would you touch it any further?  And naturally they need about 1-2 months before the release date to package it together, send it off and get it mass produced.

I've found some bugs but overall i gotta say the games pretty stable and quite enjoyable.

You don't have to answer your phone for opportunties i NEVER answer the phone and the popups come up anyway as soon as it stops ringing.  Some of them are pretty easy and good paying.  I had one to upgrade a shower and got paid 1,250 simoleans for it.

If you really want money though you should go with the criminal career.  My girl is constantly swiping stuff while at work usually nets around 1k each time.  I had one lucky time that she stole some statue worth 12k as well as a smaller one worth 1k.  While working there's also the option to do a side job you can rake in a couple hundred bucks from that as well.

I still haven't worked out the kleptomanic trait it seems odd to say the least.  The option to swipe stuff seems to pop up randomly and only ever in the middle of town.  You can't pick what they swipe either.  I should mention that the criminal career gets you the sneak interaction although it seems pointless as you can't steal stuff.

I haven't seen any fugly npcs so far they've all been pretty good looking as well as their spawn.    I did find it odd that the kid i booted to the neighbourhood had a kid without giving me notification.  I would have thought it would mention such a close relative having a kid.

Oh the save before having a kid doesn't seem to work anymore.  Tried it like 8 times and got a boy everytime.  First two pregnancies were both boys.  Next generation on i got a girl as i wanted but ended up with twins.  I think they might be identical but it's hard to tell since their only toddlers alot can change.

[blackcat]

Well, I played the game too, and surprisingly I like it very much. Still, there are some huge things that bug me.

The biggest one so far, is that sim can go from fat to thin and from week to strong in one workout. But even more, they return to their genetic weight in half a day.
I read about returning to your genetic weight and created chubby sim, so there will be a need to workout. I send him to workout on day 1. Next day he eats one, ONE pancake, and here he goes chubby again  I just hope that this wil be fixed somehow by patch. Or this will be my number one want hack.

Another thing that really bugs me is planning hairstyle. In Sims 2 you could go to the mirror and plan hairstyle to every clothe style right away. In Sims 3 you can have separate hairstyle with every clothe SET (which you can have 3 per style), but you have to be wearing that set when you use the mirror to change hairstyle for it. I want to preplan. And I want to do it the easy way, damn it.

Of course there are also little annoyances, like I can't expand catalog to see twice amount of objects like I did in Sims 2. And apparently you can't move paintings up/down the wall. Please tell me I missed this option.

And as a little treat, so you won't think it's that bad:

My own little FortNox:



Apparently butterfly cages are stackable, hurray:



Photo made by my sim of his first not burned food, and his goldfish Alvin:

[brownlustgirl]

Great pics. The food looks nice. Sorry no moving windows, oops pictures up and down, said it in the creator camps blogs.  I know I will be looking for it out of habit.


EDIT: I have been up too long. Going to sleep now.

[J. M. Pescado]

The biggest one so far, is that sim can go from fat to thin and from week to strong in one workout. But even more, they return to their genetic weight in half a day.
I read about returning to your genetic weight and created chubby sim, so there will be a need to workout. I send him to workout on day 1. Next day he eats one, ONE pancake, and here he goes chubby again  I just hope that this wil be fixed somehow by patch. Or this will be my number one want hack.

Heh, I suspect this was made to have sims that stay looking the way we made them look, rather than undergoing gross physical changes and then never reverting back, because, frankly, there's no such thing as "genetic weight". There is a genetic baseline fuel consumption, but none of this provides WEIGHT. Nobody can become fat when there is no food. Those who are fuel-efficient are more predisposed to becoming fat when fed the same amount as normal people, but fuel efficiency is not the same as genetic fatness.

[LFox]

I found a lovely bug didn't notice it earlier.  On sims that are born the last trait you pick does not show up in the sim panel or more to the point i don't think it saves it.  Not sure if it affects all sims or its just a random occurance.

Edit: Alright i think i know the cause and a way to fix it.  Cause as far as i can tell is having the simology panel open when you pick traits.  The way to fix it is to NOT have that panel open when you pick traits.

[blackcat]

The biggest one so far, is that sim can go from fat to thin and from week to strong in one workout. But even more, they return to their genetic weight in half a day.
I read about returning to your genetic weight and created chubby sim, so there will be a need to workout. I send him to workout on day 1. Next day he eats one, ONE pancake, and here he goes chubby again  I just hope that this wil be fixed somehow by patch. Or this will be my number one want hack.

Heh, I suspect this was made to have sims that stay looking the way we made them look, rather than undergoing gross physical changes and then never reverting back, because, frankly, there's no such thing as "genetic weight". There is a genetic baseline fuel consumption, but none of this provides WEIGHT. Nobody can become fat when there is no food. Those who are fuel-efficient are more predisposed to becoming fat when fed the same amount as normal people, but fuel efficiency is not the same as genetic fatness.

Well, I can live with this whole process of reverting back, just don't want it to happen THAT fast. I t would be alright if say my sim will workout three day in a row, finally become fit, then won't workout three days and become chubby again, similar to sims 2. Right now all this happens in a matter of hours, literally eliminating the need to workout, cause what's the point, if sim will be fat again tomorrow. And with the rate sims get tired in this game it’s almost impossible to workout everyday and still have time for something else.

[Mixreality]

and why the hell can't you make their eyebrows thicker or thinner?

You can... Look in CAS.

Where?!? There's a bunch of eyebrow options (under the Eyes I think), but no thickness.

Also, sims can't buy new clothing/plan outfit now, can they?

ETA - Also, everything we make gets sent to the evil Launcher (sims, clothes, screenshots...). Screenshots are easily accessible, but what about those other things? If I run the launcher, it'll give me securom, huh?

(Also, I unplug my internets just in case. It's not like anything at all could run while TS3 is running.

[Piffle]

From what i played yesterday i had some opportunities pop up, but i didnt get any for the third space. Has anyone got any for this and if so what were they?    

That seems to be for community lot-based opportunities.  I was in the beach while a chess tournament was going on, and the Opportunity to play in the tournament went into the third slot.

[Gelina]

I've only played the game for about 1-2 hours, but I have a few annoyances.  I miss finding out information about my sim - like how fat are they on the fat scale?  Also, I have no clue how long pregnancies last or how to tell if mine is almost done.  Maybe there are icons or buttons that I'm missing somewhere (God knows there are enough of them), but it just seems like there is less info overall.  Also, babies need a lot more attention and stay babies for 3 days and toddlers for 6 - ick.

Too bad there isn't a prima guide that was also leaked.

[J. M. Pescado]

and why the hell can't you make their eyebrows thicker or thinner?

You can... Look in CAS.

Where?!? There's a bunch of eyebrow options (under the Eyes I think), but no thickness.

The option literally doesn't exist, as far as I can tell. It is possible to pick differently-shaped eyebrows that might be thinner, but BEWARE! The eyebrows between male and female sims are neither compatible nor analogous, so what you get on a male sim will continue to look like a man's eyebrows when passed onto a female sim, either by flipping the knob, or by genetic inheritance. I mean, granted, no one really wants wussy, girly eyebrows, but at the same time, you don't REALLY want to get women with HUGE EYEBROWS, either.

[TrapperJohn]

I have a weird question. Would it be at all possible, some time in the future, to extract meshes from TS3 for use in TS2? Of course they won't behave the way they do in TS3, and I can imagine there would be fixing of code required, but would it for example be possible to make those pretty tree- and shrub meshes work in TS2 as original objects?

[J. M. Pescado]

There is no technical reason why they can't be, although you may have to rescale and remangle them.

[phyllis_p]

and why the hell can't you make their eyebrows thicker or thinner?

You can... Look in CAS.

Where?!? There's a bunch of eyebrow options (under the Eyes I think), but no thickness.

If you go under Hair and choose Eyelashes and Eybrows, they have a bunch of different thicknesses of eyebrows.  Then you can go under Eyes, choose the Advanced option, and click on the eyebrow to adjust the height, curve, and ... something else, I forget. Not thickness.  So you should start with an eyebrow of the thickness you desire, then modify it for shape and placement.

[blackcat]

I have a weird question. Would it be at all possible, some time in the future, to extract meshes from TS3 for use in TS2? Of course they won't behave the way they do in TS3, and I can imagine there would be fixing of code required, but would it for example be possible to make those pretty tree- and shrub meshes work in TS2 as original objects?

I don't think the trees and shrubs will look nice in sims 2. Basically, they are a set of polygons, that always turn their face towards you as you move the camera. By this they actually make up the lack of  detalisation. In sims 2 they can't do this, and so will look strange and poor.