The Sims 3: Seasons

The Sims 3: Seasons is the eighth expansion pack for The Sims 3. After initial rumors, EA confirmed the existence of the pack through an online posting of on their website on August 1, 2012, followed by a Summer Showcase on August 2, 2012, which officially confirmed the pack and released the first official trailer for it. It now is said to be released on November 13, 2012.

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, 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 to 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.

Details

 * New Game Features
 * Ocean Swimming
 * Sims are able to swim in oceans near beaches and coastal areas, and can do so year-round.
 * It can be done on any world, including custom, World Adventures and store worlds.
 * Sims cannot swim on waterways/lakes at any lots.
 * Sims cannot skinny dip in the ocean.
 * Dogs will not be able to swim in the ocean.
 * Swimming will also be added in an update for Seasons for those who do not own Seasons.
 * ''Your Sims can even brave the icy waters during winter in search of the Polar Bear Club moodlet.'
 * The ocean will freeze over when the temperature drops low enough in the winter, making it unable for Sims to swim.
 * Sims will be able to swim on a body of water even if it has unroutable paint laid down beneath the water. There’s a different paint type that can be used around the edges of the world to block the camera from going too far which they won’t be able to swim beyond that point.
 * As long as the ocean, river or lake is not on a residential or community lot, has a gradual slope into the water, and your Sims can walk to the coast, then they can dive right in!


 * Diving
 * Diving boards are added in the pack, which means Sims are able to dive in swimming pools.
 * Sims can enter the pool using a big cannon ball or slipping into the water with an elegant swan dive. - stunt moves
 * Sims can try to drench other Sims when diving into the pool.
 * The larger the Sim, the bigger the splash the Sim will make in the pool.


 * Snowboarding
 * Sims can snowboard on half-pipes.
 * Sims 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 be affected.
 * Examples are:
 * Sims can get tanned when staying 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 up
 * Sims can get seasonal allergies but "a quick trip to the hospital to get an allergy shot will clear your Sims’ symptoms quickly."


 * Weather and Seasons Control Options
 * Seasons are a week long by default but players can control the duration and also delete any seasons they may not want.
 * Seasons and weather are completely controllable via a brand new panel in the options menu.
 * The length can be changed from 3 days per season to 28 days per season.


 * Seasons and types of weather aren’t controlled per-world, they’re controlled per-save file.
 * Ability to turn on/off weather
 * Players can "select the temperature to display in Fahrenheit or Celsius".


 * 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."


 * 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
 * Swimwear
 * Raincoats
 * Four new children's costumes
 * Spooky Day costumes for all age groups
 * Gloves and Mittens
 * No scarf accessories
 * 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.
 * Custom Content can be used as outerwear if the creator tags it with “outerwear”.
 * The type of clothes Sims are wearing does not affect the suntan pattern. Their skin will get slightly darker when they get a suntan. After it wears out their skin color turns back to the original color.

Seasons are a week long by default.
 * Seasons
 * Spring
 * During Spring, Love Day occurs, a holiday based on Valentine's Day.
 * Occasional drizzle, fog, heavy showers and lightning are expected 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.
 * They may get a sunburn if they stay outdoors for a period of time.
 * Just be careful, lying under the hot sun for too long will result in a nasty sunburn instead of a bronze glow (tan).
 * Daylight is longer in summer.
 * There are no summer breaks in schools.
 * Heat waves will make a return.
 * If your Sim is out in the heat for too long, they’ll start to sweat and may even spontaneously combust!
 * Wearing swimwear, holding a parasol, eating an ice cream or just heading indoors are some of the ways you can keep your Sim from overheating.
 * During the summer, the grocery store will be holding a firecracker sale, so be sure to stock up for the rest of the year.
 * Fall
 * During Fall Spooky Day occurs, a holiday based on 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."
 * Daylight is 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.
 * The ocean will freeze over when the temperature drops low enough in Winter.

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, which can help put out fires in their town or 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 the 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 the Summer occasionally"
 * You might hear thunder and see lightning when storms are really bad.
 * Simbots can interact with rain. They better be careful before stepping out in adverse weather conditions.
 * 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


 * Lightning
 * Sims will need to use extra caution when outdoors as there’s a potential of being struck by lightning.
 * There are new transformative weather effects in the pack.
 * Wind effects are added in the pack.
 * The 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 be affected by the weather
 * "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."
 * Snow and rain will gather on roadways. Cars will not slip off the road.
 * Players will be able to see temperature via the HUD.
 * Temperature will control how easily snow will accumulate on the ground or trees, or how quickly things like puddles will evaporate.


 * Seasonal Festivals
 * Festivals can work in Custom and Store worlds.
 * Each festival, unique to the season, will transform the Sim's world completely with new objects and decorations throughout the year.
 * Not only will festivals appear in Sunset Valley, but they’ll also appear in other worlds as well.
 * Each festival has fun-filled activities for Sims, such as competitions.
 * 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 faces
 * Watching fireworks
 * Turning off the weather options does not affect the festivals.
 * If you disable a season, it will skip over that version of the festival.


 * 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 valuable festival tickets that can be redeemed for prizes.
 * Sims might even find some other surprises during their hunt.
 * Sims can slow dance during the Spring Dance
 * Sims can compete for the title of Spring King and Queen
 * Teen Sims can slow dance.
 * Sims can skate in the roller rink
 * Sims can test their knowledge of one another on the Love Tester Machine
 * Sims can challenge each other to a round of horseshoes
 * Summer Festival
 * Sims can get their faces painted.
 * Practice shooting soccer goals (soccer)
 * Participate in a hot dog eating contest.
 * Sims can also make snow cones at the festival.
 * Fall Festival
 * Bobbing for apples
 * Trick-or-tricking
 * Winter Festival


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


 * New Lot Type - Festival Grounds
 * The Festival Grounds is a lot where all festivals will take place during the seasons.
 * The festivals are set up in a town automatically.
 * When starting start a new game in a world, the festival lot for that world will already be in place-- typically it will 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, festivals 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.
 * In Riverview, the festivals will set up at the Cannery.


 * Seasonal Lot Marker and Creating a Festival Lot
 * 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 many 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.
 * The Seasonal Lot Marker allows lots to cycle through seasonal changes.
 * Builders can set up objects on the lot to alter per season, but cannot make key elements like walls or roofing change.


 * New Community Lots


 * New lifetime rewards
 * Immune to Heat
 * Your Sim can enjoy all the benefits of spending time in the heat without any of the negative side effects.


 * 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!"


 * New Hidden Skills
 * Horseshoes (not confirmed)

There are four new party types included in the pack.
 * New Party Types
 * Gift-giving party
 * Egg Hunt
 * This festivity is available to Sims of all ages. There are many surprises to be found in the eggs.


 * Pool party
 * Costume party (unconfirmed)


 * New Traits
 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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 placing the blueprint(s).


 * New Build/Buy objects
 * Food booths and new registers
 * Different food is served during different seasons.
 * Kissing booth
 * Sims get paid for working at the kissing booth.
 * Does not cause jealousy or a naughty reputation.
 * Face Painting booth
 * (Spray) Tan(ning) booth
 * But even the tanning booth isn't a foolproof way to get an even tan. Results will vary from the successful to the downright hilarious, depending on whether malfunctions or pranking kids are involved.
 * Hot Dog Eating Contest Booth


 * Diving boards
 * Cannon balls and swan dives (Stunts) are possible.
 * Inflatable pool rafts/floats
 * Sims can use them in pools and the ocean.


 * Umbrellas
 * "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.
 * Parasols
 * Dr. F's Climatron Control Unit
 * It changes weather around the town.


 * Love Tester Machine
 * If successful, it improves romantic relationships to Sim couples.
 * Romance Meter


 * Snowboarding half pipes/Snow ramps
 * Soccer Net


 * New fireworks
 * In addition to new fireworks, we now have firecrackers, including spinners, rockets, smoke bombs and more!
 * Sparklers
 * Since most of the firecrackers are too dangerous for kids to handle, we've added another firecracker option that's safe for nearly all ages: sparklers! They come in two types, white and rainbow.


 * Roller Skating Rink
 * Horseshoes
 * Ring toss
 * Hot Dog stand
 * Snow cone maker
 * For indoors and outdoors.
 * “Adult” snow cone mixes can be made.
 * Disco Dance Floors
 * Haunted treehouse
 * New windows
 * Holiday Home Decor Lights

There will be a total of 5 brand new magic gnomes.
 * New gnomes
 * Easter Bunny/Spring Gnome – Bucktooth Butternut


 * New food/drinks

Food:
 * French fries
 * Pumpkin pie
 * Cotton candy
 * Cinnamon donuts
 * Pulled pork
 * Grasshopper Pie
 * Freezer Bunny Pops

Drinks:
 * Hot chocolate
 * Eggnog
 * Soda
 * Fruit punch
 * Coffee


 * New plants
 * Pumpkins
 * New harvestable; players can 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 trigger allergies in Sims
 * Wild flowers show up using spawners, just like rocks and gems.


 * New Death Type
 * Freezing to Death
 * Death by lightning


 * New Woohoo Spots
 * Igloo


 * 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 on the roll skating arena.
 * Snow Ball/Water Balloon Fights
 * Having a snowball fight in the middle of summer just doesn’t make sense. However, the snow ball fight interaction is replaced by a water balloon fight during the times of year where there’s no snow on the ground.


 * Other Additions
 * All pets can interact with seasons.
 * Ice cream trucks are updated. They will no longer appear at 3am.
 * Trees are either deciduous or evergreen; 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 school is cancelled for a snow day.
 * Players will have the option to fully disable automatic memories. ''
 * There is a new Weather Channel. Sims can check the forecast.

As confirmed by developers of the pack.
 * Things not included to the pack
 * Town(s)/Neighborhood(s)
 * Air conditioners/Heaters – Indoor rooms will naturally adjust to comfortable temperatures for Sims to protect them from the heat or cold outside
 * Diagonal Pools
 * Pool Slides
 * Greenhouses
 * Surfing
 * Swimming past where the camera goes in the ocean
 * New toddler interactions
 * Santa Claus NPC
 * Boats/Canoes
 * NPC Gardener
 * Animation on Opening and Closing Windows
 * There would have to be animations for every window, and update their rig to include routing slots, and change their footprint size depending on how the window opened. It’d also break any custom content like the Pets stuff did.

Editions

 * Original Edition - only contains original content


 * Limited Edition - Original Edition with an exclusive lot, the Ice Lounge, and some exclusive objects

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 - A combined pack which includes the base game and the Original 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. (The first being The Sims 2: Pets and The Sims 3: Pets)
 * Like the Generations expansion, there will be no new town included in the pack.

Images
"Promotional images"=

Music

 * One of the songs included in Seasons is 'mayzie grobe' written and preformed by EA staff.