The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is the third-generation game and a reboot to the series, largely ignoring The Sims and The Sims 2. 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 was to be released on February 20, 2009 according to the official Sims 3 website, but was delayed worldwide to June 2, 2009. Electronic Arts cites the reason for the delay was to "create awareness for The Sims 3".

In The Sims 2: FreeTime, a computer is delivered, to every household that a player plays, by Mr. Rod 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.

The game has disc-based copy protection – there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game no online authentication is required.

Will Wright, the creator of the original The Sims, was not involved in the production of The Sims 3, Maxis was also not involved in the production of The Sims 3.

System Specs
The Sims 3 requires at least the following:

FOR WINDOWS XP
 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 1 GB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
 * Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
 * At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
 * 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 1.5 GB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
 * Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1
 * At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets under Windows, the game requires at least:


 * Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA 3-Series or above
 * 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
 * 0.5 GB additional RAM

FOR MAC OS X
 * Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
 * Intel Core Duo Processor
 * 2 GB RAM
 * ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or
 * Intel Integrated GMA X3100.
 * At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
 * This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.

Windows Supported Video Cards

NVIDIA GeForce series FX 5900, FX 5950 6200, 6500, 6600, 6800 7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950 8400, 8500, 8600, 8800 9300, 9400, 9500, 9600, 9800 G100, GT 120, GT 130, GTS 150 GTS 250, GTX 260, GTX 280, GTX 285, GTX 295

ATI Radeon™ series 9500, 9600, 9800 X300, X600, X700, X800, X850 X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950 2400, 2600, 2900 3450, 3650, 3850, 3870 4850, 4870

Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series

Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slower. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly.

MAC OS X Supported Video Cards

NVIDIA GeForce series 7300, 7600 8600, 8800 9400M, 9600M GT GT 120, GT 130

ATI Radeon+G22™ series X1600, X1900 2400, 2600 3870, 4850, 4870

Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA 3-Series

Live Mode


The player has the ability to control one family at a time and easily switch from one family to another. All the Sims of the city evolve together, but if you want you can stop the aging or the story progression. In this way Sims that you don't control won't get married or evolve.

Aging and Story progression are different settings. You can have aging on while story progression is off, both of them turned off, or both of them turned on. Both of these options affect the entire neighborhood and not individual houses.

Free will can still be turned on and off, but also now has varying levels. It now has high, medium, low, and off settings. Free will only affects the house you are playing, and not the entire neighborhood.

The player can choose the length of a Sims life, from 25 Sim days to 1000 Sim days. (This also effects the entire neighborhood)

Difficulty Levels
Families are rated by how difficult they are to play. Difficulty is based on Sim relations, traits and more... for example, surely grouchy Sims with wishes to have lots of friends will be hard to manage.

Interactions with other Sims
As Sims interact with other Sims, they learn about them. Past relationships your Sim has had with the Sim they are currently interacting with and their traits are displayed on the screen. Each sim has different interactions based on their traits. 

Create a Sim


Create a Sim now has more customizable options for your Sims than the CAS in Sims 2. You now have a larger selection of body types for your Sims, and are able to create different hair styles for every Sim. It was also shown in The Sims 3 game previews that you'll now be able to pick your Sim's shoes.

There are a total of 22 hairstyles for female Sims and 17 hairstyles for male Sims. There's a variety of hats and hair accessories that you have an option to use, but they all come with set hairstyles. But each of the hats and accessories can have their colours and textures altered.

Compared to the previous game, a lot more things can be modified. It is possible to just change the nose, for example, but it is possible to use the 'dot' system to go into more depth, i.e. change nostril definition, nose tip scale, bridge height, etc.

Accessories can also be added (gloves, socks, eyeglasses, bracelets, earrings, shoes...) and customized with Create a Style tool. There are more styles for hair than before. Changing hair/clothing/face is easy: All clothes can be customised. You cannot choose layers, but if the clothes already have layers then you can alter the colours and texture of both parts. You can just click on them and the CAS takes you directly to the right menu for editing whatever you selected. There is an eyelash length slider bar. Socks and shoes are also fully customizable. They are chosen separately per outfit as well.

The player can choose the Sim's full name, age, gender, skin tone, weight and muscle tone.

A skin tone is chosen by using a color wheel along with a slider from fair to dark. The slider that is used to change the color of the skin tone includes many tones. The Blues and Green can be altered from light to dark, and also light pink to dark red.

Body modifiers also use sliders that adjust weight from thin to obese and from flabby to muscular. Height still cannot be changed(This is due to animation conflicts it would cause. Even in neighbourhood view you can see the different sizes of Sims.

Players can now create twins in Create-A-Sim using a button.

Five of over 60 personality traits can be chosen for each Young Adult Sim and above, with the chance to change them with a Lifetime Happiness reward. (Younger Sims have fewer traits. A teen has 4 traits, kids have 3 traits, and toddlers have 2 traits). One Lifetime Wish is also chosen.

Players are also able to choose from three types of voices and a slider to choose the pitch of a Sim's voice.

Ages
Age types of Sims within the game are baby, toddler, child, teenager, young adult (confirmed default age). Adult (middle age) and elder. The lifespan of a Sim can also be edited, making it any number of days between 25 and 960.


 * Short (25 Sim days)
 * Medium (50 Sim days)
 * Normal (90 Sim days)
 * Long (180 Sim days)
 * Epic (960 Sim days)

Default life phase lengths are as follows:


 * Toddler - 7 days
 * Child - 7 days
 * Teen - 14 days
 * Young Adult - 21 days
 * Adult - 21 days
 * Elder - 16 days minimum

Needs
Sims in The Sims 3 have six needs: Hunger, Bladder, Fun, Hygiene, Energy, and Social removing Comfort and Environment.

Sims are able to take care of themselves, allowing the player to concentrate on what happens in their lives rather than taking care of them. Sims now have wishes which you can fulfill or you can choose to ignore, which makes controlling a Sim's life a bit easier because you are more in control. Wishes are part of the needs but are not necessary.

Pregnancy
Pregnancy in The Sims 3 is similar to pregnancy in The Sims 2. Pregnant Sims experience the same belly expansion, though in The Sims 3 the expansion is gradual. Sims can now read books about pregnancy and get medical advice at the hospital. Your Sims can also announce they're pregnant to their husband/lover, family, friends, and just about any person they meet. Pregnancy lasts 3 days and during that time your sim will have backache moodlets, cravings, and in the earlier days, nausea and vomiting. When the day comes, it will have a little alert box saying the baby is on its way. Wherever your pregnant sim is, she will have bad cramps and it will go on and off. If you have another member of the family, tell them to drive the to-be mother to the hospital. After a few sim hours your sim will emerge from the hospital with a little bundle (or bundles...or way too many) of joy(s). Boy, blue blanket, girl, pink blanket. Depending on how the pregnancy went, you will get to choose either none of the 2 traits, one of them, or both.

Both Young Adult and Adult women can get pregnant, but Young Adults are more fertile. You can also give birth in the hospital if another sim drives the mother-to-be there.

Traits

 * See also List of Traits.

Traits are like segments of a whole personality that you can assign to your Sims. You combine them to create complex personalities. There are about 65 Traits to choose from. When you assign Traits to a Sim, that Sim will look and act the part. Toddlers, Children and Teens get a new trait at their birthday. If children had a good childhood, then you can choose a trait. If not, the game will give them a random one, which is usually negative. They’ll have unique behaviours, preferences and advantages. Some traits give you special abilities. They can be useful towards skill improvement (Artistic and Athletic traits, for example) and special interactions (Childish Sims can play with toys. Mooch Sims can ask for food.)

Young Adults and up have 5 traits, Teens have 4 traits, Kids have 3 traits, Toddlers have 2 traits, Infants have 1 trait. The fewer traits a Sim has, the less complex that Sim's personality will be. For example, giving a Sim the Kleptomaniac trait only will result in him constantly stealing while giving a Sim 5 traits will result in more balance. A Sim can have any combination of traits as long as they do not contradict each other.

Traits are genetic and what occurs during pregnancy can affect what traits are passed on. The parents also help pick the traits. For example, bad parents don't get to pick their own traits and will have randomly assigned ones that are generally unfavourable.

The Lifetime Reward "Midlife Crisis", costing 20,000 points, allows the player to choose a Sim's traits again.

Wishes

 * See also List of Lifetime 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 promise to help your Sims with a wish or you can throw it away. Satisfying these basic tasks will unlock minor rewards and increase your Sim's overall morale with a "moodlet"--a minor condition that contributes to your characters' overall mood. Evil Sim just stole candy from a baby? This is considered a positive moodlet for this sim. Having to listen to the annoying sound of the crying baby? This is considered a negative moodlet. Working toward your lifetime wish will win your Sims "lifetime happiness points" that can be spent on extremely powerful items.

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.

Lifetime Rewards

Points gained from Wishes may be spent on rewards, either in the form of an object or a permanent change in the Sim.

Skills
Skills have been expanded on from previous versions adding skills that were Talent Badges in The Sims 2. They still have 10 levels of proficiency.

Examples:
 * Handiness
 * Fishing
 * Writing
 * Charisma
 * Gardening
 * Logic
 * Cooking
 * Guitar skill
 * Athletic skill
 * Painting

Sims with high levels in a skill will unlock new abilities, for example, high level Logic allows a Sim to tutor other Sims, Cooking unlocks recipes, Fishing unlocks bigger fish.

Sims get a Power Study moodlet if they study at the Library.

You do not see the skill in your bar until you unlock the first point. You can then view the skill journal. For example, in the Athletic skill journal you have your statistics: hours of cardio workout, hours of strength workout, and distance jogged.

Also when your Sims reach the level 10 of a skill, you will get a certificate in the mail to put on your wall or sell for 1000 Simoleons.

Careers
Many of the careers from The Sims 2 such as the Law Enforcement and Athletic tracks are in The Sims 3. Of course, there are also 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 are also 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 acquire part-time jobs at local shops.

Actions outside of work, such as schmoozing the boss or reading medical journals, can have an impact on a Sim's 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 over. If your sims keep excelling at their duties, they can rake in extra Simoleons through additional raises.

In addition:


 * Every career has its own building in the Neighborhood.
 * Advancing in career is changed as it depends on skills, personality, relationship with colleagues/boss and even certain goals that have to be fulfilled. For example taking work home.
 * Some careers include Business,Culinary, Criminal, Journalism, Law Enforcement, Medical, Military, Musician, Political, Science, and Professional Sports Career.
 * You can decide how hard they work while on the job. You have options as to what kind of performance you want to give: Business as Usual, Work Hard, Take it Easy, Meet Coworkers, Hang Out with Coworkers, Suck Up to Boss, or Practice a Skill.
 * There are part-time jobs for teens, adults and elders, including such positions as Bookstore Clerk,  Grocery Store Clerk, Receptionist,  Spa Specialist, and  Mausoleum Clerk.
 * If your Sim is a rockstar, other Sims recognize this and react. The same if he/she is at the top of other careers, like the military one: Sims use the military greeting with these Sims and there are some banners that can be found showing them.
 * Jobs pay hourly, not daily.
 * You can become business partners with community businesses. Once you own the company you can rename it, fire the staff, and make use of its facilities for free..
 * NPCs such as the maid and Repairman when asked about career will state maid and repairman, but if you have them move into your family they will lose that job. So far most Service NPC jobs are off limits to the player.

Community Features
Producers claim that The Sims 3 Exchange makes it easier to create and share custom creations.

Features:
 * Better searching and browsing.
 * The ability to make recommendations with an all-positive rating system.
 * The ability to run the in-game Launcher and see the latest news.
 * The ability to use the in-game Launcher to browse and download featured game items that members have created.
 * The ability to "favorite" areas of the site directly from the Launcher.
 * The ability to utilize the "Movie Mashup Tool" and upload your own video clips and screen shots and use them to make movies about your Sims. It provides a library of video clips and images that you can use along with your own, as well as a music library with hundreds of tracks. The tool lets you choose transitions and effects to use on your clips and you can also use text captions to add narration and dialog.
 * The Story Tool lets you create your own stories using uploaded and common screen shots.
 * The ability to share anything you make via email or blog post to sites like Facebook and MySpace and through blogs and fan sites.

The Sims 3 Store
The Sims 3 Store launched at the same time as The Sims 3 and offers exclusive content that can only be found at The Sims 3 store. The Sims 3 Store has ongoing, regular releases of new content that is only available through The Store. When you purchase an item from The Store, it automatically gets added into your game Launcher when you click “Download Now.” From the game Launcher, you can then install the item into your game with a single click.

SimPoints
SimPoints are the virtual currency used on The Sims 3 Store. Players may buy SimPoints in bundles of 500, 1000 or 2000 SimPoints using international credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, national credit cards including Carte Bleu, Carte Si, Dankort, Maestro, Solo and Delta, cash cards (North America), or PayPal. The Sims 3 Store accepts a number of currencies for the purchase of SimPoints including USD, GBP, EUR, BRL, SEK, DKK, AUD, NZD and ZAR. With SimPoints players can buy in-game items from The Sims 3 Store.

Registering the game online gives you $10(£6) worth of SimPoints to start customizing your game.

Leak
On May 19, 2009, about 2 weeks before the release of The Sims 3, The Sims 3 was leaked onto the internet on the pirated website Pirate Bay. It was previously stated that players who own the leaked version of "Sims 3" would not be able to access the Sims 3 Store and would not be able to buy the stuff. But now all the items that are available on the store have been cracked and released on torrents which do work in the leaked versions. Currently, players with leaked versions can get Riverview City and other items available on the store via piracy.

Expansion Packs
EA has confirmed The Sims 3 will have expansion packs. However, due to the closing of EA Black Box, it is unknown who will develop the expansion packs, it is possible EA Play and/or Criterion Games will develop expansion packs.

New Updates

 * The Sims 3 Hands-On Events: Post your questions here!
 * The Sims 3 Hands-On Event: Day 1