The Sims 3

[chikorita157]

As long you have a good computer with a decent amount of RAM, good graphics card (no integrated graphics) and fast processor ... you will be fine... The Sims 3 runs fine with 2GB of RAM, 2.4 GHz Core2 Duo Processor and a nVidia Geforce 9600m with all the settings set at high (with framerates around 30-50 fps)... but it will run better on Windows via Bootcamp compared to the Cider emulation which is slower.

1GB is barely enough to play any game these days, even if you use XP... The bare minimum anyone should have is 2GB+.

Actually, the framerates range from 50 fps to 70 fps

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

As long you have a good computer with a decent amount of RAM, good graphics card (no integrated graphics) and fast processor ... you will be fine... The Sims 3 runs fine with 2GB of RAM, 2.4 GHz Core2 Duo Processor and a nVidia Geforce 9600m with all the settings set at high (with framerates around 30-50 fps)... but it will run better on Windows via Bootcamp compared to the Cider emulation which is slower.

1GB is barely enough to play any game these days, even if you use XP... The bare minimum anyone should have is 2GB+.

I know, my current comp is pretty dry. Before this, I had a really old Windows 98 that must've had around 500 KB of RAM, and pretty bad stats all around. So a family member got me this laptop as a surprise present. I like it, but it's one of those college student laptops that are only good for typing essays, surfing the Web and the occassional PowerPoint; it only came with 512 MB RAM, so even Sims 2 didn't run very well before I upgraded. Oh well, at least the laptop came with two RAM slots, so I can have up to 2 GB now.

[KimmyChan]

I've heard so much about this game from so many people lately

The addiction level once you start playing it is supposedly through-the-roof

[mionfaerie]

The addicton level of this game really is evil xD I haven't been able to stop playing it ever since I got it. What I really love is the "evil" trait where your sim loves other sims' pain and they like the dark. It reminds me of me D:

[Skane]

So I kinda missed the boat when Sims 3 came out because I was mired in WoW (and only WoW) back then. Now that I weaned myself off WoW recently, I have started to pick up a lot of games I missed out over the past 2-3 years.

I fondly remember playing the original Sims way back then, and the various ways you could torture your Sims for your own amusement (including drowning the bratty kids). Screaming trapped guests who'll maul each other for mouldy lettuce while rolling around in their own pee never gets old.

There aren't that many games that allow you this level of sadistic manipulation.

Fast forward now, and it would appear that the developers have decided to cater to the portion of players who enjoy this side of the Sims. I recently "ended" my first family in Sims 3, an Evil Mastermind with 2 sexy sister henchwomen (one a no-nonsense scientist (right-hand woman), the other a charmingly ditzy Star Journalist (for propaganda)).

It "ended" quite dramatically too... John Mandarin(I'm not too creative with names) was inventing at the inventing table, when he finally reached Lvl-10 in Inventing, then the invention exploded, and he caught fire, and burnt to death in a horrible screaming death.

Darn... and he was only a few thousand bucks away from being a millionaire too...

I know there is a way to resurrect him back to the living, but the steps required were not feasible to me, especially since John was the family cook too... To level up someone else to Lvl-10 again would have taken some time.

Besides, I was pretty contented with what they have achieved in that game. Owning half the town and collecting rent was nice. My only regret was not building that swimming pool.

~~~~ ~~~~

I have already started a new "family", this time with a better knowledge of the mechanics involved. The concept of self-employment is very intriguing, and I will be exploring those options in greater detail this time round. I will probably also travel overseas more frequently this time.

So anybody else still playing this?

Cheers.

[Duo Maxwell]

Originally Posted by Skane

So anybody else still playing this?

Cheers.

Just tried this game recently, although I mostly played when I want to have a relaxing time. Didn't know there are that many features in this game (like what you mentioned, owning house and put them up for rent). I still can't figure out how to expand my job as musician, since I couldn't find a job related to art or guitar skills.

[Skane]

Well, after messing around with 2 custom made families, I finally started a lone guy in a new game and enabled normal aging this time round. The "Grand Plan" was to populate the town with genetically superior Sims and "discreetly remove" the inferior ones.

After marrying one of the better looking default NPC Sims, I started a family and watched the rest of the families grow up in town. Some of the children grew up into total knock-outs, while most were generally meh.

As my Sim's wife was a Stylist, she got to explore a lot of families, and through her, I discovered a 2nd Generation female Sim that had been very blessed by the Random roll (I will have to take a screenshot of her to show what I mean) in terms of physical attributes. Unfortunately, her love interest was a very average Joe.

This will not do.

So I killed him.



Currently in the stage of convincing her to move in so that I can manipulate who she marries.

Hehe.

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Skane

Well, after messing around with 2 custom made families, I finally started a lone guy in a new game and enabled normal aging this time round. The "Grand Plan" was to populate the town with genetically superior Sims and "discreetly remove" the inferior ones.

After marrying one of the better looking default NPC Sims, I started a family and watched the rest of the families grow up in town. Some of the children grew up into total knock-outs, while most were generally meh.

As my Sim's wife was a Stylist, she got to explore a lot of families, and through her, I discovered a 2nd Generation female Sim that had been very blessed by the Random roll (I will have to take a screenshot of her to show what I mean) in terms of physical attributes. Unfortunately, her love interest was a very average Joe.

This will not do.

So I killed him.



Currently in the stage of convincing her to move in so that I can manipulate who she marries.

Hehe.

LOL YAY a fellow sim killer!!!

Me and my friends would do that all the time if a sim pissed us off

[Skane]

For all the fun that I am having from "The Sims 3", it has also been frustrating to overcome the gazillion bugs I keep encountering throughout the game. The list is by no means complete, but I have already encountered the following game-breaking bugs.

• Household member becomes non-interactive. Their portrait disappears, and you can only see the background mood colour.
  .
• Clones of your household members move into the neighbourhood. Interaction with them can result in broken/buggy family relationships.
  .
• Game occasionally cannot be saved due to "World Errors"
  .
• Beds become non-interactive. Sims cannot sleep.

I literally have to save each game day, or risk losing real-time hours of progress. Mind you, I don't have any mods, and I'm not using any cheat codes, so I don't want to imagine what it must be like for those who do.

Hoo-hah.

[sona-nyl]

I have actually never encountered bugs that bad in TS3, despite using both cheats, downloads and mods.

Maybe you should try to ask someone over at Mod The Sims.

[Ending]

What annoys me with the Sims 3 is the fact that you *still* can't place items how ever you want, where ever you want. You can only place them horizontally, diogonally, or vertically. And then the sims will get stuck between them.

The worst case is when you place those small fences to border your pretty garden plants. Too bad it works like a wall, preventing anyone from watering the damn plants >.>

Then there's the lack of any real long-term goals. Most of them are just about repeating the same mantra (earn X amount of money, have Y number of friends), but in the end; once you got the cash, you got it all. All the neighborhood and social stuff is just fluff.

Oh, and the fact that you can't have polygamy without mods...

[Envy]

Originally Posted by Skane

So anybody else still playing this?

I play it on occasion, but usually I play The Sims 2 instead. The Sims 3's Expansion Packs have been turning out really disappointing (Generations is a total waste of money. Fortunately, I realized that long before it came out and didn't buy it), and they really aren't addressing the issues with the game - Like the lack of the ability to create our own restaurants, stores, etc.

Pets looks significantly more worth the money than Generations, though.

The game is fun to play a family through a couple of generations, but that's really all there is to it.

[Skane]

I don't mind the lack of given long-term goals (in terms of spanning across generations that is), because the joy I have in "Sandbox Games" is the goals I give myself instead, and watching the hilarity unfold as I try to steer the world towards it.

In my current game, the goal is basically a warped version of the plot to Pleasantville. One Sim's mission to change the town from its default theme of wholesome family goodness, to a world where murder is rampant, affairs are common, and children are often born of wedlock.

And then he paints about it.

Guy is immortal due to the age-freeze potion, so there's a basement crypt where he buries his dead wives along with their portraits and personal belongings. The backyard has a Mausoleum filled with the remains of his murder victims.

If it wasn't for the bugs, this would have been one of my most favourite games ever. The ability to manipulate on a micro and macro level is insanely gratifying.

Cheers.

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by Skane

If it wasn't for the bugs, this would have been one of my most favourite games ever. The ability to manipulate on a micro and macro level is insanely gratifying.

I know it isn't a final solution, but have you tried keeping the game updated to the latest patch(es)? If you have got expansions it's the same, they always need to be updated to the last version. At the moment it's something like this:

- The Sims 3: last patch is 1.22
- Travel Adventures: 2.14
- Loft Stuff: 3.10
- Ambitions: 4.7
- Fast Lane: 4.5
- Late Night: 6.2
- Outdoor Living Stuff: no patches, version 7.0 (I see a 7.2 patch but apparently for Mac only)
- Generations: no patches as of now.

As said they won't make the game bug free, but having them all updated does help.

[Skane]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

I know it isn't a final solution, but have you tried keeping the game updated to the latest patch(es)? If you have got expansions it's the same, they always need to be updated to the last version. At the moment it's something like this:

- The Sims 3: last patch is 1.22
- Travel Adventures: 2.14
- Loft Stuff: 3.10
- Ambitions: 4.7
- Fast Lane: 4.5
- Late Night: 6.2
- Outdoor Living Stuff: no patches, version 7.0 (I see a 7.2 patch but apparently for Mac only)
- Generations: no patches as of now.

As said they won't make the game bug free, but having them all updated does help.

I'm playing the Steam version of Sims 3, so it's auto-updated by default. I have also re-verified the game files and defragged the files as well.

Cheers.

[Skane]

This game never seems to get old. I recently purchased the Pets expansion, and started another legacy in the new town. With the experience gained from previous playthroughs, it was fairly easy to set up my Sim for life. After the initial rush of getting the Casanova reputation, and siring more than half the children in the town, I finally settled down and moved into my self-made dream mansion.

With a nett-worth in the millions, and money flowing freely from owned properties, my Sim can finally go jobless and just pluck weeds as he tends the gardens.

On one particularly day, a stray dog accidentally got trapped inside the compound when it followed the maid through the electronic security gate. I paid it no heed at first, thinking it would escape on its own. Alas, it could not, and it barked its frustration as it ran in circles in the carpark.

After two days of barking, I finally took pity on the dog and attempted to carry it out manually, but apparently you can only do that if you are on friendly terms with the dog. So I played with it, feed it snacks, and took a few bites to my Sim's hand as I worked my way up to befriend the pooch.

Throughout this grueling process, I started to get... fond of the doggy, and began to entertained the thought of adopting it. With all the money my Sim has, and with all the space a 64x64 lot has, it would have been fairly easy to set up a pet area fit for a King.

Just as I decided to do it, just as I decided to welcome the dog into the family...

... The Reaper Came.

For the dog.

What. The. Fuck?

I could only watch on helplessly as the dog, which I haven't even gotten a chance to name yet, went to Heaven. Although we only had interacted for less than ten minutes, it still felt like a punch to the gut, like... KEY-Games punches you in the gut kind of thing.

Talk about dropping a bridge...

*sniffles*

[Skane]

I hate burglars. They interrupt my Sim's slumber and generally waste their time. Their attempts at theft are usually foiled by a burglar alarm, but this time, I had a problem. I had designed this mansion based on a more open concept (meaning multiple entrances), and it had a lot of expensive sculptures in the garden, which burglars love to steal.

I didn't want to build an extension just for another burglar alarm location, as that would have mar the scenery and look of the main building, so I ended up planting a 1x1 sized room at the burglar's spawn location and planted alarms on it like you would plant C4 on a jeep in Battlefield 3.


Sonic BOOM!

The results were quite satisfying. Better yet, because my Sim's room was in the opposite corner of the lot (about 50 grids away) and three floors up, it would seem that he was out of hearing range of the alarms and could continue sleeping uninterrupted while the cop arrives and beats the crap out of the burglar.

Ah... how positively delightful.