The Sims Castaway Stories

The Sims Castaway Stories is the third game (and the last) in the spin-off series, The Sims Stories, developed by Maxis and EA Games. The plot circulates around a group of Sims which survived the sinking of Queen Solomon. The game consists of 24 chapters (unlike the other The Sims Stories games), and the player can choose the character with whom he or she will play the game, or create custom one.

The game was released on January 29, 2008.

Official description
This time your Sims have washed up on a tropical island!

''Help them make a new life in an unexplored paradise in this easy-to-play, laptop-friendly version of The Sims. The Sims Castaway Stories features two great ways to play. In the new and engaging directed Story mode, explore the island, build a shelter, learn to find food, and make your Sims' lives as fun and comfortable as possible. You even unlock rewards along the way as you achieve set goals.''

Features

 * Play through the twists and turns of your Sims' tropical adventures.
 * Tell your own stories -- create multiple profiles and tell a different tale every time.
 * Simple shortcuts and an auto-pause function let you start and stop whenever you need to.
 * Two fun ways to play -- directed Story Mode and a classic open-ended mode.

Neighborhoods
The Sims Castaway Stories shipped with two pre-made neighborhoods and a Tutorial neighborhood. There are no playable Sub-neighborhoods.


 * Learn to Play
 * If you are new to The Sims, check out these tutorials for a few basic guidelines on how to play.


 * Shipwrecked and Single
 * Very little is known about this remote tropical paradise. Its location isn't recorded on any chart or map. Wild animals prowl it's dense jungles, from the ominous volcanic crater to the wide sandy beaches. Lost and alone, can you survive long enough to find other castaways and meet Island Natives?


 * Wanmami Island
 * Wanmami Island is home to the local, the lost, and the long-range mariner. Rising majestically out of the vast blue ocean, the island looks inviting enough. There are numerous suitable places to make camp, and nothing particularly dangerous or ominous is visible from the water. The natives named it "Wanmami" after the fevered whimpering often heard from shipwreck survivors washed ashore on the beach.

Barter Mode
In The Sims Castaway Stories, Buy mode has been renamed to Barter mode. It is very similar to Buy Mode, but objects are categorized only by function.

Objects in Castaway Stories blend in with the island theme, and a lot of objects from The Sims 2 base game are featured, but with a new tropical design. Objects are seperated into 12 categories: Survival, Seating, Surfaces, Beds, Mirrors, Lighting, Cooking, Plumbing, Storage, Nature, Decorations and Fun.

Build Mode is mostly the same, though it has a few new categories, such as Resources. Some features (for example, swimming pools) have been removed.

Time
The time system has been changed in Castaway Stories. While Sim minutes and Sim hours still exist, they are invisble. Instead, 8 orbs replaced the standard time bar. Each orb represents 3 hours. A day lasts 5 orbs (15 hours) while night lasts 3 orbs (9 hours).

Resources and Food
Resources replace Simoleons in the game. They appear to be represented as colored rocks, which can be seen when a Sim pays something on a community lot. Resources are necessary when purchasing or crafting objects. They can be obtained in many ways, such as collecting various debris or getting a job in of the three career tracks.

Food is an important feature in the game. Food points are needed to prepare any meal and therefor needed in order Sims to survive. Players can know how much food points a household has by checking the food bar in the lower left corner of the user interface. The number it shows is the number of food points the household has. Food can too be obtained in many ways, such as gathering fruit or spearing fish.

Dependency
Certain objects in Castaway Stories depend on either plumbing or electricity in order to work. These are, for example, electric ovens and fridges or toilets and bathtubs.

A watertower must be placed on the lot in order bathroom objects to work, while an electric generator (a story reward object in the game) must be placed so that objects depending on power can work.

Weather
Weather is carried forward from Seasons, but it has a few changes. Firstly, snow has been removed. Secondly, there are no specific seasons in the game. There are periods of sunny weather, while there are periods of rainstorms, hailstorms and thunderstorms. The player can place a lightning rod on the lot which will reduce the chance of a Sim or tree being struck by lightning. The weather can be controlled using the "Ignis Ex-Machina", a story reward object in the game identical to the Weathernaught 57X from Seasons.

Wildlife
Castaway Stories introduces new animals which can be kept as pets in the game: hyenas and orangutans. While jaguars also exist in the game, they cannot be obtained unless mods are used.

Hyenas are the equivalent of dogs, and they only have a special skin. Hyenas have the same needs as dogs do and can do basically everything a dog can, except get a job. They can be found on community lots.

Unlike hyenas, orangutans are fully controllable and can get jobs. They have all Sim needs, except Environment and Comfort. Orangutans don't breed and never die. They have a variety of unique interactions, such as "Play... Stick 'Em Up!" or "Groom". They are also found on community lots but can be summoned when a monkey tree is placed on the lot.

Other than these three animals, the game also features penguins, skunks, pet parrots and other minor species.

Maps and Portals
Since Felicity Island and Wanmami Island are roadless neighborhoods, taxis have been removed. Instead, Sims travel through the island via maps and portals.

Maps are unlocked in Story mode. A map displays every community lot in the neighborhood, and when one is choosen the Sim will automatically go to it.

Every lot, residental or community, has at least one portal on it. Usually, there are more portals on community lots and they lead the Sim to a specific lot. There is only one portal on a residental lot, and, when clicked on, a map will appear where the player can select a community lot for the Sim to visit. Portals don't have any new animations, but they have a few designs.

Careers
There are three careers in The Sims Castaway Stories: Hunter, Gatherer, and Crafter, each with a different general ratio of food to resources. Food is the amount of fish, coconuts, bananas, and papayas the player's Sim family has collected. Resources are the castaway version of simoleons and are used for build mode, barter mode, and buying on community lots. As in the The Sims 2, castaways receive chance cards while they are working, which can affect their career level and skills. Unlike in any of the other The Sims games, in this game every career and level in that career starts and ends at the same time, although there are some differences between Adult, Teen/Elder, and Orangutan career times.

Features from expansion packs
The Sims Castaway Stories features a lot of gameplay features and objects from The Sims 2 expansion packs that have been released before The Sims Castaway Stories:
 * From University - some objects, such as bubble bars;
 * From Nightlife - fury, attractions and turn-ons and turn-offs are included, along with some items such as poker tables;
 * From Pets - hyenas and jaguars (basically dogs and cats), pet parrots, skunks;
 * From Seasons - fruit (coconuts, papayas, bananas and coffee beans), weather (tropical in the game), fishing (although there are no talent badges), body temperature, weather controlling machine, collecting butterflies and fireflies, penguins;
 * From Bon Voyage - swimming in the ocean, digging in the sand for buried treasure, hot springs, hammocks, bonfires, ruins from Twikkii Island.

Comparison to other games in The Sims series

 * All of the objects, clothing, and building tools available are designed to fit the Castaway, Tropical and Tiki themes. Also, most of the icons used in the game are also designed to fit into the theme.
 * Some story rewards are not directly delivered to the main character. They have to dig at the shore to unlock them.
 * The Sims Castaway Stories allows multiple player profiles to be saved, saving the need to delete profiles to reset the game.
 * One of the biggest difference is that the "Lots and Houses" section in the neighborhood view has been removed, therefor new lots can't be placed and built. This is probably because of the issues caused by the lack of roads and existence of portals in the game. However, there is a tutorial on ModTheSims on how to copy existing residental lots and placing them in the neighborhood.

Cheats
Many of the cheats found in the Sims games as well as custom content that modify game behavior will not work in this game. However, most new meshes and recolors will work as well as some cheats.

Reception
The Sims Castaway Stories was generally well received. GameRankings has an average score of 77% based on 7 reviews, while MetaCritic has a score of 73%. PC Gamer (US) gave the game an 83%, praising the low system requirements, the music, the original setting, as well as the low retail price, but noting that there are a few bugs and long loading times. IGN gave the game an overall score of 7.3 out of 10, stating "The Sims Castaway Stories is the first game in the entire series that really feels different despite being based on the same engine and principles", but also saying that there is little to no replayability. Some critics enjoyed the game less than others, however. PC Zone said "By peddling this sort of single-minded crud to children EA are creating a new generation of absolute morons who won't be able to think one step ahead of themselves."

Trivia

 * In The Sims 3, the "Action World" channel on TV shows the trailer for The Sims Castaway Stories.
 * This is the only castaway game (along with PSP and DS) that is region free and can be played in any region. The PS2 and Wii versions are region locked.
 * It is also the only non-handheld version that is region-free.
 * In one of the files - C:\Electronic Arts\The Sims Castaway Stories\Res\NeighbourhoodTemplates there is a picture and character settings of Riverblossom Hills.
 * Hidden duplicates of Ottomas family and Ramaswami family can be found in files of Wanmami Island and Felicity Island.

Gallery
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