The Sims 3: Seasons

The Sims 3: Seasons is the eighth expansion pack for The Sims 3. After its initial rumors, EA had confirmed the pack through an online posting of the pack on its website on August 1st 2012, followed by a Summer Showcase on August 2nd 2012 which officially confirmed the pack and released the first official trailer for it.

Description
''Let your Sims swim in the ocean on a hot summer day, bob for apples in the autumn leaves, test their snowboarding skill on the half pipe, or welcome spring showers with a walk in the rain and a colorful umbrella. All-new activities, like soccer, and big seasonal festivals and celebrations bring the spirit of each season to life. Your Sims can pucker up at the kissing booth at the spring festival, or see what Halloween surprises await in the haunted house. Dress for the weather with seasonal fashions from sun dresses to raincoats and snow gear. With new foods, décor and weather effects, your Sims can enjoy the bounty and beauty of the ever-changing seasons and play with life like never before!''

Official

 * Delight your Sims with new activities for every season: Whether building an intimate igloo, carving a scary Jack o’ lantern, taking a plunge off the diving board or setting off all-new fireworks, your Sim can always find new things to do throughout the year.
 * Join the fun with seasonal festivals: Sims can get in a snowball fight at the annual winter festival, get their faces painted at the summer festival, whoop it up at the spring dance or bob for apples during the fall festival.
 * Experience the joy and challenge of changing weather: New weather effects and Sim reactions capture the power and beauty of nature! Sims can get a tan, be struck by lightning or catch a cold!
 * Bring the outdoors inside: Your Sim can now learn the recipe for pumpkin pie or style their home with new furniture and décor. There are a host of new items to ring in each season. Get a tanning booth in time for summer or ring in the holiday spirit with house lights and decorations.
 * Dress for the weather: Outfit your Sim in new styles for the season, including snow gear, wetsuits, raincoats, umbrellas and new Halloween costumes!
 * Welcome mysterious visitors: New weather patterns aren’t the only things appearing in the sky! Befriend an alien visitor and use their UFO to abduct a neighbor, invade a community lot or travel to the stars.
 * Relax in style in the Limited Edition Ice Lounge: Let your Sims entertain in style with the elegant ice bar, bar stool and pub table. Items like the ice dining chair, dining, table, coffee table, sofa and loveseat can add distinctive style to any room in your Sims’ home. The ice lounge also includes architectural elements to add a subtle touch of style to your Sims’ buildings.

In details

 * New Game Features
 * Ocean Swimming
 * Sims are able to swim on oceans near beaches and coastal areas.
 * It can be done year round (all seasons).
 * Sims cannot swim on waterways/lakes at community/residential lots.
 * SimsVIP Description: For the first time ever, your Sims can head out into the ocean for a swim in The Sims 3 Seasons! Whether it’s taking a dip off of the sunny beaches of Sunset Valley, or going for a paddle around the murky waters surrounding Bridgeport, your Sims are no longer confined to swimming only in pools. Explore previously unreachable areas in the world, or take along a floatie lounger for some relaxation! Your Sims can even brave the icy waters during winter in search of the Polar Bear Club moodlet!


 * Diving
 * Diving board(s) is/are added in the pack, which means Sims are able to dive in swimming pools.
 * Description: Sims can take a plunge using the all new Diving Board! Sims can enter the pool using a big cannon ball or slipping into the water with an elegant swan dive.


 * Snowboarding
 * Sims can snowboard on half-pipes.
 * You can snowboard throughout the year as artificial snow will be on the half-pipes when snow isn't on the ground.
 * Description: Your Sims can head to the winter festival or plop down the snowboard half-pipe in their very own backyards to start learning how to snowboard! Practice makes perfect; the more time your Sims spend on the half-pipe, the better they will get, and the more EPIC the tricks they’ll be able to do!


 * Illness
 * Sims' health can get affected.
 * Examples are:
 * Sims can get tan when stayed out in the sun for too long
 * They can get struck by lightning during a storm
 * They can catch a cold
 * They can freeze, but other Sims can warm them
 * Sims can get seasonal allergies but a quick trip to the hospital to get an allergy shot will clear your Sims’ symptoms quickly.


 * Weather Control Options
 * Seasons are a week long by default but we can control the duration and also delete any seasons you may not want.
 * Seasons and weather are completely controllable via a brand new panel in the options menu
 * The length of a season — even the mere existence of a season — is fully customizable by the players
 * The length can be changed from 3 days of each season to 28 days of each season.


 * Seasons and types of weather aren’t controlled per-world, they’re controlled per-save file.
 * Players will be able to see the temperature in-game via the HUD.
 * They can "select the temperature to display in Fahrenheit or Celsius".


 * Ability to turn on/off weather


 * Create a Sim
 * Filters are added (like the filter for Buy/Build catalog)
 * It allows the players "to see only the clothes from Supernatural, Seasons, or any other product you select."
 * This allows players to filter out only the clothing/hairstyles from one specific game or the Sims 3 Store.


 * New hairstyles
 * Winter hats
 * Bald (no hair)
 * New face paints/masks
 * New outfits for toddler Sims to elder Sims in different styles for each season
 * Snow gear (Winter)
 * Swimwear
 * Raincoats
 * Four new children costumes
 * Spooky Day costumes for all age groups
 * New outerwear category
 * Appropriate looking clothing from base game, expansions, stuff packs, and the store will be updated to be selectable as outerwear to keep your Sims warm.

Seasons are a week long by default.
 * Seasons
 * Spring
 * During Spring, "Easter" and Love Day (Valentine's Day) occur
 * Occasional drizzle, fog, heavy showers and lightning are expected on the weather during the season
 * The trees will start to re-grow their leaves, and you’ll see our new collectable wild flowers sprouting throughout the town.
 * Summer
 * During Summer, Leisure Day occurs
 * Sims can get a tan if they stay outdoors for a period of time.
 * They may get a sunburn.
 * Days are longer in summer.
 * There are no summer breaks.
 * Heat waves will make a return.
 * Fall
 * During Fall, Spooky Day occurs, a holiday based around Halloween.
 * Neighborhood Sims autonomously change into costumes during Spooky Day
 * Deciduous trees will lose their leaves in Fall.
 * Winter
 * During Winter, Snowflake Day occurs, a holiday based around Christmas.
 * There are snow storms.
 * Snow ball fights (replaced with water balloon fights on other seasons)
 * Sims can build igloos and snowmen
 * Sims can be frozen solid
 * Sims who decide to take a dip during a particularly cold day may receive the Polar Bear Club moodlet, giving them a temporary immunity to the cold.
 * Days are shorter in winter.
 * Winter will still drop to below freezing temperatures, even if it doesn't actually snow.
 * Disabling snow will not affect the temperature of the world.

There are five weather types. Weather will be available and work the same way with store and custom worlds.
 * Weather
 * Rain
 * Varying degrees of rain (light rain, regular, lightning storm)
 * Sims can splash in puddles for a little fun, it can help put out fires in their town or it can water their plants.
 * Sims are able to jump on water puddles created by the rain.
 * It can actually rain at any time of the year. However, the frequency will be different for each season. If temperature is above freezing during winter you will see rain then too.
 * It'll rain more in the Spring, but it'll still rain in Summer occasionally
 * Sunny
 * Hail
 * Snow
 * Snow storms
 * Small pets get buried in deep snow
 * There's a really snazzy x-ray type effect that lets you see things that are buried underneath the deep snow.
 * Treehouses are different from our other trees. While they won't lose their leaves, they will get blanketed in snow.
 * Fog
 * There are new transformative weather effects in the pack.
 * Wind effects are added in the pack.
 * Sky is a good indicator of what weather will take place, for example clouds will get darker, which means the storm is approaching.
 * Weather changes gradually.
 * Gardening can get affected due to the weather
 * During the rainy day, the plants do not need to be watered by the Sims.
 * Rain will actually water your plants but you will still have to remove weeds from them. If the world gets too cold they will frost over and go into hibernation. When plants go into hibernation, they will be immune to dying.
 * There are no natural disasters like tornados or hurricanes to be included in the pack as that level of complete destruction isn’t really in the spirit of The Sims. What you will get though are really powerful thunderstorms and blizzards in winter.


 * Seasonal Festivals
 * Each festival is unique to the season will transform completely with new objects and decorations throughout the year.
 * Not only will festivals appear in Sunset Valley, but they’ll appear in other worlds too.
 * Each season has a unique festival. Each festival has fun-filled activities for Sims such as competitions.
 * Each has its own celebration, which Sims gather for the festivities for seasonal activities, food, decorations, objects and costumes.
 * Examples of such activities during these festivals are:
 * Eating contests (hot dogs, pie)
 * Carving pumpkins
 * Ice skating
 * Painting of faces
 * Watch fireworks


 * Spring Festival
 * Egg hunt ("Search of Eggs" interaction)
 * Every day, new eggs are scattered throughout the grounds.
 * Finding these colorful eggs can net your Sims some valuable festival tickets that can then be redeemed for prizes.
 * Sims might even find some other surprises during their hunt.
 * Slow dancing on a Spring Dance
 * Compete for the title of Spring King and Queen
 * Teen Sims can slow dance.
 * Skate on the roller rink
 * Test their knowledge of one another on the lover tester machine
 * Challenge each other to a round of horseshoes
 * Summer Festival
 * Fall Festival
 * Bobbing apples
 * Trick-or-tricking
 * Winter Festival


 * Seasonal Holidays
 * All holidays take place on the last Friday of every season. If there is no Friday, then the last day of the season.
 * These holidays "is more hyped" than other normal festival days.
 * These holidays are Love Day (Valentine's Day), Spooky Day (Halloween), Snowflake Day (Christmas) and Leisure Day.
 * They cannot be disabled on the options.


 * New lot type
 * Festival Grounds
 * Festival Ground is a lot where all festivals take place during the seasons.
 * Festivals will work in Custom & Store worlds
 * The festivals are set up in a town automatically.
 * If you start a new game in a world, the festival lot for that world will already be in place – typically it’ll replace the main park in the world.
 * If you’re loading a previously created save game after installing Seasons, you’ll be asked if you’d like to add the festival to your world, and it will show you exactly which lot it intends to replace. You’ll also have the option to manually place it somewhere else if you prefer.
 * The Starlight Shores festival does set up around the amphitheater at Verde Park in the center of town, so having a Simfest while enjoying all the new festival activities will definitely happen.
 * Players can build festival lots that change throughout the year.
 * All of the functionality of the lot changing its appearance throughout the world is controlled by a Seasonal Lot Marker object that’s available in buydebug at Buy mode.
 * The Seasonal Lot Marker opens up a lot of cool possibilities for advanced builders who want their lots to change throughout the year.
 * The Seasonal Lot marker will allow you to change what objects appear on a lot in any season; but it does not allow you to update things on lots that are controlled by build mode tools, such as walls or terrain height. You’ll even be able to use the Seasonal Lot Marker to update other community or residential lots to change throughout the year.
 * To create a festival lot, the lot can change its type to Festival Grounds from Edit Town mode. This will place the marker automatically.
 * The marker can work in residential lots.


 * New community lots


 * New skills
 * Snowboarding - Your Sims can head to the winter festival or plop down the snowboard half-pipe in their very own backyards to start learning how to snowboard! Practice makes perfect; the more time your Sims spend on the half-pipe, the better they will get, and the more EPIC the tricks they’ll be able to do!
 * Soccer - That’s right – you’ve been asking for it for a while, and now it’s finally here! Your Sim can now compete in an epic shootout against another Sim, practice on their own, or even take part in a tournament! Just place the brand new soccer goals in Buy Mode, and watch any open space turn into a soccer pitch!

There are four new party types included in the pack.
 * New party types
 * Gift-giving party


 * New hidden skills
 * Horseshoes (not confirmed)

The Sims 3 Seasons introduces the new traits “loves the cold” and “loves the heat.” Sims with these traits will enjoy more extreme temperatures, finding the cold or heat pleasant rather than uncomfortable. More to be added as more information are released in near future
 * New traits
 * Loves the cold
 * Loves the heat


 * New occult
 * Aliens - The Sims 3 Seasons introduces aliens for the first time in The Sims 3. Aliens are the occult for this game, returning from The Sims 2 with some intriguing updates. Stay tuned for more info about what aliens can do in the game!
 * Sims can befriend an alien and use their UFO to abduct a neighbor, invade a community lot, or travel to the stars (meaning travel outer space)


 * New career
 * For alien Sims only
 * The only new part-time job is Test Subject at a Science lab


 * Build/Buy Mode
 * Blueprint Mode
 * Available to all players, even without Seasons
 * When in build/buy mode, players can create or edit lots by easily placing down pre-made room layouts.
 * They can also modify the details of design, décor and furnishings after done placing the blueprint(s).


 * New Build/Buy objects
 * New fireworks
 * Haunted house
 * Food vendors/stalls
 * Different food served on different season


 * Diving boards
 * Inflatable rafts/floats
 * Sims can use them on pools and the ocean


 * Kissing booth
 * Sims get paid for working at the kissing booth
 * It does not cause jealousy and naughty reputation.


 * Snow ramps
 * Horseshoes
 * Ring Toss
 * Love Tester Machine
 * Improves romantic relationships to couples


 * Dr. F's Climatron Control Unit
 * It changes weather


 * Easter Bunny Gnome (assuming there are gnomes for all holidays)
 * Romance Meter
 * Soccer Net
 * Activates soccer


 * Tanning booths
 * Holiday home lights
 * Umbrella
 * With water-proof umbrellas in hand, Sims can walk, chat and even run outside without getting wet. Not only can you change the color and patterns on the umbrella, you can even upgrade them to glow!
 * Sims will automatically use them when it starts raining, or if they walk outside into the rain.


 * New food/drinks

Food:
 * French Fries
 * Pumpkin Pie
 * Cotton candy
 * Cinnamon Donuts
 * Pulled Pork

Drinks:
 * Hot chocolate
 * Egg Nog
 * Soda
 * Fruit Punch
 * Coffee


 * New plants
 * Pumpkins - New harvestable and you can even pick one out from the pumpkin patch to carve in the Fall festival
 * Wild flowers - New type of collectible that will grow throughout the world. Once you collect them, you can display them in a vase in your home
 * Sims can pick and gather these wild flowers to add an extra pop of color to their homes.
 * They can cause allergy to Sims.
 * Wild flowers show up using spawners, just like rocks and gems.


 * New death type
 * Freezing to Death (not confirmed)


 * New Woohoo spots


 * New Interactions
 * New Social/Romantic Interactions - Sims can ask for a kiss beneath the mistletoe, send love letters, use the love tester machine and even create online dating profiles!
 * Sims can walk or skate on ice.
 * Sims can roller-skate.


 * Others
 * There are no new town(s) added in the pack.
 * All pets can interact to seasons.
 * Ice cream trucks are updated. They will no longer appear at 3am.
 * Simbots can interact to the weather.
 * Trees are either deciduous or evergreen, so some will change color in the fall and lose their leaves, and others will not. The store team will support Seasons content as well, so any trees that they release that should lose leaves will be updated to work properly.
 * Kids still attend school year round but they will get a reprieve if a snow storm rolls through town and gets school cancelled for a snow day.
 * Players can have the option to fully disable automatic memories.
 * Seasons, weather, festivals, and holidays are all four completely separate things. Festival lots change throughout the year according to which season it currently is. Holidays occur one day during each season and have nothing to do with Festivals, other than the Festival being a good place to celebrate them. 

Editions

 * Normal edition - It only has original content for Seasons.


 * Limited edition - Normal edition with an exclusive lot and exclusive objects
 * On an Origin listing, the description about the exclusives says:

The Sims™ 3 Seasons Limited Edition

Relax in Style in the Ice Lounge Pre-order The Sims 3 Seasons Limited Edition and receive the exclusive Ice Lounge community lot. This sleek and elegant social club can be placed in any world from The Sims 3, and is available in all seasons. It is a great place for your Sims to chill on a hot day or get out of the winter wind. The venue includes new ice objects that can be placed on any lot to make your Sims’ lives just a bit cooler.

Build a hangout in your Sims’ home Let your Sims entertain in style with the elegant ice bar, bar stool, and pub table.

Make your Sims’ everyday décor cooler Items like the ice dining chair, dining, table, coffee table, sofa, and loveseat can add distinctive style to any room in your Sims’ home.

Spice up your architecture The ice lounge also includes architectural elements to add a subtle touch of style to your Sims’ buildings. Install the ice column, double door arch, chandelier, or wall sconce light to add some chilly flair.


 * The Sims 3 Plus Seasons - It is a combined pack which includes the base game and the normal edition of the pack.

Trivia

 * This is the second time that the games or expansions packs in two different "generations" of The Sims series have the same title, first being The Sims 3: Pets.
 * Like the Generations expansion, there will be no new town included in the pack.
 * The expansion is bundled with The Sims 3 as The Sims 3 Plus Seasons.

Images
"Promotional images"=