The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is a confirmed next-generation simulation game. This was confirmed on November 2, 2006, by EA chief financial officer Warren Jenson who said, "Yes, there's a Sims 3 in development and it's likely to be a fiscal '09 title." In July 2007 AI researcher Richard Evans, who is part of the TS3 team, gave a talk at the annual AIIDE (Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment) conference in California, notes from which can be read here. The title has been announced to be released on February 20th 2009 according to the official Sims 3 website

In The Sims 2: FreeTime, a computer is delivered to every household that a player plays by Mr. Rob Humble. On it, Sims can play The Sims 3 game. A video of this can be seen on YouTube. It shows something towards a continuous, panning neighborhood, diagonal placings for objects, better lighting systems, and the ability to change shoes in the CAS, an ability previously limited to only console versions of The Sims. The preview only lasts about one minute, and has poor resolution.

The Sims 3 Official Site also reveals that players now have greater customization options. Such things like Personality, Create-A-Sim, and Build Mode have been expanded.

It has been confirmed that several expansion packs will ship periodically after the game's initial release.

Neighborhood Continuity
The only neighborhood that will ship with The Sims 3 is Pleasant Valley, rumored to be Pleasantview another 20 years from The Sims 2.

In an interview with producer Ben Bell and members from the EA forum in UK it's written "He said that the neighbourhood itself is set before the neighbourhood we see in The Sims, as if it's a prequel to the story we already know. He said the Goths are in the town, as their younger selves obviously as well as other familiar names and faces. Lots of new characters too."

Mrs. Crumplebottom will make an appearance in The Sims 3 (possibly because she drank the elixir of life from The Sims 2).

Open Neighborhood
According to the games for windows magazine "The biggest change to The Sims 3 is that it takes place in a wide-open, constantly changing neighborhood -- a much bigger sandbox." It is confirmed that the game will be an open neighborhood by the official website (this probably means the game will have an Open World or Neighborhood similar to games like Grand Theft Auto, Bully, Need For Speed Carbon and Burnout Paradise). However it is unknown what an open neighborhood would deal with, it could infer anything from a contiguous, real-time neighborhood that can act as a city to decide things, or to an actual urban area reminiscent of The Urbz: Sims in the City. However it is alluded to that in the living neighborhood all the action takes place and it is a innovative way for the Sims to explore the neighborhood. The loading of lots from disk, and lot based playing will be history. Now every action will take place in a seamless living neighborhood. In that Neighborhood will be lots, colleges, parks, shops and other places Sims like to explore. All your Sims, and their Sim friends and family are in this Neighborhood. They can dine, visit, shop, and relax.


 * Sims farther from the town center will spend more time commuting to work.
 * Sims can have parties at public pools
 * Sims have many more places to "public woohoo" and the chance of getting caught in their underwear.

Traits
Traits are like atoms of personality that you can assign to your Sims. You combine them to create complex personalities. There are lots of Traits to choose from, like Nice, Workaholic, Athletic, Kleptomaniac, Flirty, Romantic, Lucky and much more. When you assign Traits to a Sim, that Sim will look and act the part. They’ll have unique behaviors, preferences and advantages.

Wishes
Wishes are a new system in The Sims 3 that provides you with a wide selection of requests that keep your Sims happy as well as working towards some short- and long-term goals and rewards. Wishes come from anywhere and everywhere, based on your Sims’ traits, their job, their skills, their friends or coworkers, where they are in town, or what they might be doing. You can choose to promise to help your Sims with a wish or you can throw it away. Satisfying a promised wish gives your Sim Lifetime Happiness Points and a feeling of fulfillment. You'll be able to use these Lifetime Happiness points to buy Achievement Traits for your Sims, and fulfillment keeps their mood up. You’re now free to pick or ignore your Sims’ wishes without fear of some sort of mental breakdown. Instead you really get to focus on telling the story and making decisions; your Sim just makes suggestions along the way. If you promise that you’ll help your Sim get married, then decide to throw that wish away, your Sim will be a little sad but otherwise it’s really all up to you.

Create a Sim
Create a Sim will have more customizable options for your Sims, then the CAS in Sims 2. You'll now have a larger selection of body types for your Sims, and will be able to create different hair styles for every Sim. It is also shown in the Sims 3 game preview that comes with the computer that Rod Humble delivers in The Sims 2: FreeTime that you'll now be able to pick shoes.

Build & Buy Modes
The Build & Buy Modes have been enhanced. Objects can be rotated without restraint - 360 degree rotation. Objects such as a table with chairs or a bed with end tables can "lock together" when being moved (moved jointly). The grid is more select giving you the options to place furniture where only imaginable on previous installments - has the option to be turned off therefore objects can be placed any ware without restriction. The width of stairs can be altered. A 2 tiled TV can be placed in the middle viewpoint of a 3 tiled couch.

Customizing Tool
The customizing tool allows you to customize clothing, furnishings, walls, and nearly anything else your Sims can interact with. Each item has between one and four customizable regions that can be modified. You can apply patterns to these areas. You can choose the colors within a pattern and choose from warm or cool color palettes. The designs can be saved and used later on other objects.

Careers
Many of the careers from The Sims 2 such as the Law Enforcement and Athletic tracks will be in The Sims 3. Of course, there will also be some new ones. Your Sims can look for these jobs in the newspaper or apply right at the building where they’d like to work. Sims will also be able to make a living at home selling paintings or growing fruit and vegetables to pull in a little extra cash on the side or get a part-time job at local shops.

Actions outside of work, such as schmoozing the boss or reading medical journals can have an impact on a Sims job performance. Opportunities can still cause you to lose your job but may actually help you get a better job in another career track.

A new feature The Sims 3 offers is branching careers, and reaching the top of a career doesn't mean it’s not over if you keep excelling at your duties, you can rake in extra Simoleans through additional raises.