New EP & still no Hood Editor!

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[Mire Krisma]

I don't recall EA ever announcing that. Officially, on the forums, or anywhere!

Anyways, I am able to edit my neighborhood quite robustly. Sure, I can't edit the lot placement, but I don't really need it.

[PrinJess]

I just want my goddamn jacuzzi in this expansion.

[rum nate]

After spending a few minutes looking for it, I found an interview where Ben Bell said they would release tools to the community.

We're also releasing our developer tools a couple of months after the game, so the community will be able to create their own towns.

So there is still hope to see these tools, because Ben said a couple of months after the game, not weeks. And the game has only been out in the US for 2 months, 2 days.

Link to original article: http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/q-amp-a-sims-3-executive-producer/1198553

[funnykid]

You better ramp up the hope.

For TS1, they promised us they would release Edith. They never released it.

For TS2, they promised us a custom mesh/new object editor. They never released it. Instead, the community could wait no longer and made their own.

For TS3, they promised us a neighborhood editor. They have not yet released such a tool.

The trend doesn't look good.

[Exiled]

For TS1, they promised us they would release Edith. They never released it.

Can you elaborate on "Edith"?  Google says that it was a tool for programming behaviors and editing houses and families, but when was this proposed and when did Maxis set a release date?  Found a how-to guide dated May 31 2001, but the hits dissolve by page 2 and I can't find any concrete info.

[Doc Doofus]

Edith was a program editor for TS1 that would let you reprogram the behavior of objects.  It was EA's own game editing utility.  There was a poor guy named Bil Simser in the mod community who apparently had some kind of contract with EA to write a user manual for Edith that would be sold simultaneously with the public released of Edith, once Edith was made available.  So there WERE a small handful of people out there who had Edith but they were under non-disclosure agreements, and the rest of us just had to listen to them and drool about what Edith could do.

However, the release timing for Edith kept being put off and put off, and EPs passed by, the the point where, near the end of the TS1 lifecycle, Bil was still saying they would honor their agreement with him, and surely they would release Edith, only to have it not be honored, no Edith, and all the years of work he put into the docs tossed down the shitter.

Just more reasons to be bitter.

Edith, I was told, looked just like the base game Sims 1 .exe, but with some extra features that let you click on objects in the game and open the Simantics code in-game. 

[Mire Krisma]

EA's Mantra: If it won't make an instant profit, it isn't worth the time.

[maxon]

EA were talking about the neighbourhood editor when they first revealed that there would only be one hood in the new game but I noticed they didn't mention it after 3 months or so before release.  I guessed then they'd changed their mind.  If they do release it, I would guess they would charge for it or release it as an EP - "NEW, you can now edit your own neighbourhoods!  Give us yet more of your hard-earned money (or that of your parent's) for something that should have been in the game when it was released!  And don't forget the Sims Store guys."  Lame.  

I've been playing Anno Domini 1404 obsessively in the last week (since I've completely lost interest in Sims 3) and I am being completely blown away by the depth and variety in the game.  Stuff keeps happening and I think 'O wow, that's nice.'  The depressing thing is, I remember when Sims was like that.  Arseholes.

[ProfPlumbob]

I just want my goddamn jacuzzi in this expansion.

I want my jacuzzi, pinball machine, remote control car, SOME kind of group game like Mashuno(sp?), a real aquarium(a game with all this fishing and collecting and all we get is a fish bowl?), a diving board, and about another DOZEN things that our sims could play with in Sims 2 BASE game and EVEN back to Sims 1 base game days(pathetic!).

bleck.  This franchise is deteriorating in front of our very eyes.  They care more about shoveling out mass product for mass profit than making an overall great product.  I wish more reviewers were harder on this franchise and put the Sims 3 in the 7's range where it belongs.  I'm even more astonished that the game industry isn't reporting or jumping on developers throats for all this micro transaction crap.  I don't mind 10-20$ episodic content that's going to give me 6+ hours of entertainment.  I have a problem with content being left out of games specifically so they can mass markup items at an online store.  I HOPE game reviewers crap the living turd all over this expansion and bring light to this fact and of course we can all expect a few new sets to be on their store when the expansion is released.

I really think Sims 3 could hurt the series in the long run if they continue what they're doing.  Only so many people could buy so many crappy games before they finally threw E.T. out and buried it with their Atari.  

This ain't our daddy's Sims, that's for sure.  I miss Sims 1...and the first year or two of Sims 2...I don't get the spark with Sims 3 that I got opening up the box and playing the past two.  Everything started going downhill when sims on the console became a big seller.  It really wouldn't surprise me if most of them are now working on the PC game.  And I hate how most Sim sites you go to, any criticism get's smacked down as they all bow down and take it up the butt by EA.  I only HAVE my criticism because I have been a loyal fan since Sims 1 and I expect so much more than this.  It drives me bonkers that they have this WONDERFUL series and fantastic potential with Sims 3 and they're just phoning it in at the expense of their uber profits.  "We sold nearly 4 million copies of Sims 3 and to give back, we're charging you 5x for items than a stuff pack AND we're going to throw in minimal effort just for your loyalty!"

*sigh* I want Will Wright back...and the damn neighborhood editor.

[coltraz]

I take everything EA says with a grain of salt. They'll say whatever they have to say to make themselves look competent, good, and also to bring in the bucks. I stopped paying attention to any and all of their PR stunts when I got bored of them boasting about the sucky TS3 features they would boast about in every goddamn interview.

[Uleria]

*sigh* I want Will Wright back...and the damn neighborhood editor.

Hear, hear. The game has lost so much of the charm that captured me with TS1. The new devs are trying to maintain that quirkiness, but it's all just updates of the original game's little quirks and in-jokes. Now that EA is so terrified of offending anyone, they are boring everyone. Will was always enthusiastic about the community and our contributions. I wonder what he thinks of the direction the franchise is going in now? From what I can glean from interviews, he's probably engrossed in another project and doesn't even care. Too bad. He was quite discouraged by the abject failure of TSO, I think.

I, for one, am not holding my breath about the neighborhood editing tool. It's utter vaporware, L&P. They're rushing on to the EP/SP grind now, and there will be no looking back when there is more money to be made. If they even released a new version of SimCity that allowed us to do the editing, like with TS2, I'd be happy, since I loved that part of the franchise, too. Okay, so SCSocieties kinda sucked ass, but...the pre-Societies stuff I loved.

Given how unfriendly the devs made it for CC this time around, why would they go out of their way to make the game more user-customizable? Given their track record to date, we're deluded if we think they actually care about letting us make our game truly our own.

[Budgie]

Given their track record to date, we're deluded if we think they actually care about letting us make our game truly our own.

That's the ridiculous part of it. So many people (including myself) were drawn to the Sims because of the ability to make the game into whatever you wanted, whether it be a medieval themed neighborhood or a Prosperity neighborhood, or whatever. By forcing players to adhere to one style of gameplay, it makes the game boring for basically everyone but the sheeple. And without CC, EAxis is eliminating not only the creators, but anyone who doesn't play exactly the way they want.

[ProfPlumbob]

That's the ridiculous part of it. So many people (including myself) were drawn to the Sims because of the ability to make the game into whatever you wanted, whether it be a medieval themed neighborhood or a Prosperity neighborhood, or whatever. By forcing players to adhere to one style of gameplay, it makes the game boring for basically everyone but the sheeple. And without CC, EAxis is eliminating not only the creators, but anyone who doesn't play exactly the way they want.

unfortunately the sheeple outway the enlightened by the millions.  

[Doc Doofus]

OT:

I've been playing Anno Domini 1404 obsessively in the last week (since I've completely lost interest in Sims 3) and I am being completely blown away by the depth and variety in the game.  Stuff keeps happening and I think 'O wow, that's nice.'

That got me curious enough to go googling for a review.  I watched this youtube review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42zToqR2w1c

...  And I have to say that I'm unimpressed.  It sounds like too many city/empire building sim games I've played over the years.  They may have made it more complicated or added more detail, but from the sound of it, it offers nothing very new or intriguing.  Unfortunately for me, because I'm about due for a Sims break.

[maxon]

OT:

I've been playing Anno Domini 1404 obsessively in the last week (since I've completely lost interest in Sims 3) and I am being completely blown away by the depth and variety in the game.  Stuff keeps happening and I think 'O wow, that's nice.'

That got me curious enough to go googling for a review.  I watched this youtube review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42zToqR2w1c

...  And I have to say that I'm unimpressed.  It sounds like too many city/empire building sim games I've played over the years.  They may have made it more complicated or added more detail, but from the sound of it, it offers nothing very new or intriguing.  Unfortunately for me, because I'm about due for a Sims break.

In some ways that's fair comment - it is one of those supply chain management things - like Caesar only with more stuff.  Really, a lot more stuff.  I happen to like that sort of game very much but if you don't then it's not the game for you.  I like the atmosphere and the campaign side of the game has a story which I'm always a complete sucker for.  The reason I was thinking of it (despite playing all the time at the moment) and mentioned it is that it's a new game to me, like Sims 3, and, well, basically there's just so much more in it than TS3.  It made me realise just how much EA has stripped out of the sims game.  This game is a new game, cheaper than TS3 and has and does more. 

[rum nate]

EA were talking about the neighbourhood editor when they first revealed that there would only be one hood in the new game but I noticed they didn't mention it after 3 months or so before release.  I guessed then they'd changed their mind.  If they do release it, I would guess they would charge for it or release it as an EP - "NEW, you can now edit your own neighbourhoods!  Give us yet more of your hard-earned money (or that of your parent's) for something that should have been in the game when it was released!  And don't forget the Sims Store guys."  Lame.  

I noticed that too. When they announced the game was no longer going to be released in February, but rather in June, all talk about releasing a tool to edit neighborhoods stopped.

If we don't get the tool in either World Adventures or by years end, I doubt we will get it at all. But with all the negative feeling towards World Adventures on the BBS, and all the people who want a tool to make/edit neighborhoods, watch EA put that in WA as a new feature just to get people to buy it.

[uknortherner]

I noticed that too. When they announced the game was no longer going to be released in February, but rather in June, all talk about releasing a tool to edit neighborhoods stopped.

If we don't get the tool in either World Adventures or by years end, I doubt we will get it at all. But with all the negative feeling towards World Adventures on the BBS, and all the people who want a tool to make/edit neighborhoods, watch EA put that in WA as a new feature just to get people to buy it.

Going off EA's previous record, I wouldn't even expect that. Instead, if you're lucky, you'll get a half-arsed neighbourhood terrain editor with most of the functionality removed and accessible only via a cheat code, a la FreeTime.

[funnykid]

I noticed that too. When they announced the game was no longer going to be released in February, but rather in June, all talk about releasing a tool to edit neighborhoods stopped.

If we don't get the tool in either World Adventures or by years end, I doubt we will get it at all. But with all the negative feeling towards World Adventures on the BBS, and all the people who want a tool to make/edit neighborhoods, watch EA put that in WA as a new feature just to get people to buy it.

Going off EA's previous record, I wouldn't even expect that. Instead, if you're lucky, you'll get a half-arsed neighbourhood terrain editor with most of the functionality removed and accessible only via a cheat code, a la FreeTime.

That's what I think. At best, EA will do a half-assed job at making a neighborhood editor. They are either too "busy" making crap for the Store, grinding out increasingly buggy EP's, or rolling in the cash they made off us.

[Krib]

It's painful watching the direction of this game. A sandbox with every aspect of game-play so carefully monetized that they can't even get around to helping the community build real custom meshes, or allow us to customize neighborhoods, an ability we had in TS2. Perhaps the next EP will be a joint venture with Abercrombie & Fitch - visit their stores in-game!

My first post had to be sometime; please don't dismember me. I'll return to lurking now. Nice place you've got here.

[Bouncing Pink Ball]

Given their track record to date, we're deluded if we think they actually care about letting us make our game truly our own.

That's the ridiculous part of it. So many people (including myself) were drawn to the Sims because of the ability to make the game into whatever you wanted, whether it be a medieval themed neighborhood or a Prosperity neighborhood, or whatever. By forcing players to adhere to one style of gameplay, it makes the game boring for basically everyone but the sheeple. And without CC, EAxis is eliminating not only the creators, but anyone who doesn't play exactly the way they want.

I think this has been what's kept me less than enthused as well. I liked being the overlord of urban slums, Victorian towns and vampire-infested cottage hamlets. I don't want to be limited to rural suburbs  with inappropriately large athletic centres and art galleries, not to mention the one abandoned warehouse where all the criminals hang out. I love the ability to switch textures in game and enjoy the idea of unique personalities from assigning traits but am bored, and occasionally frustrated, with much of the rest.

For my style of game play, proper customization utilities are far more appealing than all this junk collecting (such as picking up seeds and rocks) and population shuffling. I really miss weather. I sort of miss pets. I want my vampires, werewolves, aliens and other assorted strangeness back. I need a neighbourhood editor.

[Spacerox]

Perhaps the next EP will be a joint venture with Abercrombie & Fitch - visit their stores in-game!

Of course.  It's the next logical step beyond the Fanta Fridge, the Prius, and the JCP-teen inspired line of clothes they've already tried to cram down our throats.   
Next up it'll be Motorola cell towers and Roto-Rooter vans for that extra-tasty bit of ad culture to your happy little town. 

It's not a new town map, but if you're really hard up for that do-it-yourself approach there's always http://bogsims.com/sims3/ under "buildings"...clean Riverview and Sunset Valley maps with or without community buildings.  Admittedly, it's just a tide-you-over as we all sit here hoping that they'll release the Neighborhood Editor sometime in the next lifetime or so, but it's better than hanging out with the 'dozer tool all night.

[Sita]

I REALLY miss the Hood editing, it was something I did a lot of for Sims 2. And pets, yes... weather is the thing for me, and hobbies. I want my lightening and my sewing machine! (wails). But as has been said, now that Wright and Maxis are out of the loop, all we can probably expect is the console-style "games" rather than the TOY we aer used to. I'm finding it impossible to even BEGIN to make a story involving more than one family, let alone do anything else. Still struggling even to learn the cheat codes, and AM adds a whole new set of cheats.
The problem is that we are ADDICTS and EA is the dealer.... even if the quality is degraded we will still come back for more, because WE CANNOT GET OUR FIX ANYWHERE ELSE! I Still say, we need an open source version of Sims. With all the knowledge in the community, why can't we build one?

[tizerist]

I'm waiting for Cities XL.
It looks pretty complicated, but thats a real town editor.

[J. M. Pescado]

There's never going to be a neighborhood editor from EA, but elements in the community are making good progress towards the capability, from what I gather.