Sunset Valley

Sunset Valley is the only neighborhood being shipped with The Sims 3. It is very large compared to the neighborhoods in previous The Sims games, having a total of 97 lots with various playable characters. There are lots of different types of houses like, a rustic home on a hill, a modern house in the suburbs, a house by the beach and many more. The main part of the town is the park, where you can have a picnic, go fishing or take a stroll and maybe meet someone new, there are also cinemas, gyms, restaurants, shops, pools, and other recreational facilities. Tons of places to work, where Sims can live out their dreams or crash and burn. Sims can now visit all their friend's and neighbor's homes and call up their friends with the new cell phone, and go out on the town and party.

Sunset Valley mixes modern and even futuristic buildings and ideas with nostalgic architecture and design rooted in American suburbs of the 1950s. The town is very unique on all accounts and hosts a whopping twenty-five playable families. Sunset Valley is full of places to explore and has a very diverse cityscape, leaving players hours of fun while exploring alone.

There are 21 available empty lots for you to build on. They are priced from $1200 at the cheapest, to $14,700 as the most expensive. The amount of space (in squares) for building goes from 19x29 at the smallest to 60x60 at the largest. The most expensive lot, 15 Summer Hill Court, is on the same hill and offers the same stunning vistas as the Alto estate.

When you start the game this is the Sunset Valley Story: "Before Pleasantview, there was Sunset Valley, founded by the Goths and built up by the Landgraabs to be a quiet, peaceful town. But when the Altos arrive with uptown ideals, will the townsfolk feel the need to choose sides?"

Sunset Valley is Pleasantview before The Sims 2 and The Sims, wherein it is called Pleasantview and Old Town, respectively.

New Families

 * The Alto Family
 * The Altos are new money. Their unscrupulous business practices have gotten them far in this town. Unofficially, they own most of the local shops. But how did their daughter become such a Goody Two-Shoes?

$75,000 Difficulty: III Nick Alto, Vita Alto, Holly Alto


 * The Alvi Family
 * Young Miraj Alvi wishes that his teen-age brother would stop giving their dad such a hard time. Is there some way he can help the two make amends?

$600 Difficulty: III VJ Alvi, Miraj Alvi, (+ Father)


 * The Andrews Family
 * Beau Andrews is an insensitive slob who spends most of his time watching television. Victoria is an artistic bookworm who spends most of her time reading. How is it that these two seem to be living happily ever after?

$1,400 Difficulty: II Beau Andrews, Victoria Andrews


 * The Bunch Family
 * Here’s the story: Two working parents juggle family, household chores, and their careers while their four children run wild. What is the right balance for this family of six to stay sane?

$3,300 Difficulty: IIIII


 * The Clavell Family
 * Xander Clavell is a party animal still living in his parents’ house. Buster is tired of Xander’s mooching and wants him out. Will Bessie have to choose between her son and her husband?

$2,800 Difficulty: II Buster Clavell, Bessie Clavell, Xander Clavell


 * The Frio Brothers
 * The Frio brothers are cool – but in very different ways. Connor is shy and seems aloof; Jared is downright cold to people after he befriends them. Can anything be done to change them into the next level of cool: awesome?

$1,200 Difficulty: II Connor Frio, Jared Frio


 * The Hart Family
 * Bebe Hart has a hard time as the only responsible person in the entire Hart lineage. It’s no secret in the neighborhood that both of her parents are slightly insane, so Bebe feels that the neighbor’s eyes have been scrutinizing her for ages, just waiting to see if she’ll crack too.

$2,400 Difficulty: III Gus Hart, Dorie Hart, Bebe Hart


 * The Jolina Family
 * Jamie Jolina is as intelligent as she is beautiful. Can she prove to the world that the two traits can coexist?

$1,000 Difficulty: I Jamie Jolina


 * The Keaton Family
 * Avid outdoorsy Sims, Marty and Justine Keaton both have active careers and active hobbies. What effect will the impending arrival of their first child have on their lifestyle?

$4,500 Difficulty: II Marty Keaton, Justine Keaton

Erin Kennedy is a long-term military woman who was recently transferred to town. Making friends has always been difficult for her, and she worried that things might be the same in this town. Will her fears come true? $1,300 Difficulty: I Erin Kennedy
 * The Kennedy Family


 * The Koffi Family
 * Gobias Koffi is a well-meaning single sim who just hasn’t met the right woman. Is this because he actually prefers the company of his male friends?

$3,500 Difficulty: I Gobias Koffi


 * The Roomies Household
 * Can five young adults from five different backgrounds really stand living together in a single hosue? Just about every personality is represented in this wacky household…but who is the exceedingly plain guy who doesn’t socialize with others? And how did he manage to get his own room?

$3,050 Difficulty: IIII

Yumi Sekemoto has recently moved in with her son, Leighton, to help him raise his toddler, Sam. $2,550 Difficulty: III Yumi Sekemoto, Sam Sekemoto, Leighton Sekemoto
 * The Sekemoto Family


 * The Single Moms Family
 * Fiona McIrish is used to living alone with her teenage daughter, River. But when Fiona’s best friend needed a place to live with her own young daughter, Fiona readily invited the two to live in her home. Will Molly be the perfect housemate or Fiona’s biggest regret?

$3,700 Difficulty: IIII Fiona, River, Molly (+ Molly’s toddler daughter)


 * The Steel Family
 * Christopher Steel is lucky by nature. Things have always come easily for him, which is starting to get boring. Now that he’s in a brand new town with no friends or job, how will he fare?

$1,000 Difficulty: I Christopher Steel


 * The Ursine Family
 * Claire Ursine is a reclusive angler living by the ocean. Since she lives along, she is hopeful that no one will notice her unexpectedly changing waistline.

$1,500 Difficulty: I Claire Ursine


 * The Wainwright Family
 * Susan and Boyd are techno geniuses who spend all of their available time with electronics. When their daughter, Blair, was a child, they bought every toy she asked for in the hopes that she would amuse herself and give them more free time for their hobbies. Now that Blair has moved out on her own, the Wainwrights are thinking of converting her old room for their next big project…

$2,900 Difficulty: II Susan Wainwright, Boyd Wainwright


 * The Wan-Goddard Family
 * Pauline and Hank are certain that they will be 2-gether 4-ever because they have so much in common: parties, the beach, and music. The only question is whether they can maintain their lifestyle.

$2,100 Difficulty: II Pauline Wan-Goddard, Hank Goddard


 * The Wolff Family
 * Both the arts and having children are very important to Morgana Wolff, but she has just learned that her new husband, Thornton, actively dislikes both. Oops. Can these newlyweds save their young marriage? Should they even try?

$25,000 Difficuty: II Thornton Wolff, Morgana Wolff


 * The Working Friends Family
 * Four women trying to make their way in the world have come together to share this house. Madison and Monica are best friends forever, Tori is a best-friend wannabe, and Ayesha us the tomboy who couldn’t care less.

$2,850 Difficulty: III Madison, Monica, Tori, Ayesha

Families in the Family Bin

 * The Baker Family
 * Svetlana and Heathcliff love their daughter Becky, so of course they took her in when she and her son Topher needed a place to stay. But will they be able to enjoy their retirement with a noisy toddler in the house?

$20,500 Difficulty: IIII Svetlana Baker, Heathcliff Baker, Becky, Topher


 * The Funke Family
 * Some might say Sabrina and Rhett Funke are too flaky to be successful at raising kids. Will their three talented tots turn out ok in the end, or will they let the pressure get to them?

$20,500 Difficulty: IIIII Rhett Funke, Sabrina Funke, (+three toddlers)


 * The Glover Family
 * Roommates Gwen and Holden are an odd pair: she’s artsy and outgoing; he’s spacey and bookish. Will they be just good friends, or something more?

$20,000 Difficulty: II Gwen Glover, Holden Glover


 * The Lum Family
 * Lawrence Lum is a bright, friendly teen with outgoing parents. Will he take after his computer whiz father or social climbing mother?

$20,625 Difficulty: III Lawrence Lum, Theodore Lum, Lily Lum


 * The Martinez Family
 * Lovebirds Pablo and Jennifer Martinez are outdoorsy folk looking to explore nature. Will they thrive in a new town, or will the suburban lifestyle eventually drive them to tears?

$20,000 Difficulty: II Pablo Martinez, Jennifer Martinez


 * The Williams Family
 * Aimee Williams is a marvel in the kitchen, but her husband Marley is a bit of a dreamer. Will he be able to support the two of them and little Malika, or will Aimee have to use her skills to earn some dough?

$20,125 Difficulty: III Aimee Williams, Malika Williams, Marley Williams

Returning families
Families returning from the Sims 1 & Sims 2 nearly 50 years earlier are:


 * The Bachelor Family
 * The Bachelors are a tightly knit family and Simis see to it that everything – and everyone – is in its place. Now if only the other neighborhood kids were as well behaved as his Michael and Bella.

$3,100 Difficulty: III Simis Bachelor, Jocasta Bachelor, Michael Bachelor, Bella Bachelor


 * The Crumplebottom Family
 * Agnes Crumplebottom hadn’t even changed her last name to her husband’s when an unfortunate accident on her honeymoon ended their marriage. Between her growing bitterness and her husband’s ghost scaring away gentlemen callers, only the bravest Sim would ever even try to win her heart and fortune now.

$20,000 Difficulty: I Agnes Crumplebottom, Erik Darling


 * The Goth Family
 * The Goths have lived in town since time immemorial. The aura of gloom from the nearby cemetery suits them, but can a young boy named Mortimer grow up to be well-adjusted in such a place?

$50,000 Difficulty: III Gunther Goth, Cornelia Goth, Mortimer Goth


 * The Landgraab Family
 * The Landgraabs are old money. Nancy’s family more or less founded the town, so it was no surprise that when she married Geoffrey, it was Geoffrey who changed his last name, not Nancy. Will young Malcom be a mild-mannered doctor like his father or a voracious business tycoon like his mother?

$75,000 Difficulty: III Geoffrey Landgraab, Nancy Landgraab, Malcolm


 * The Langerak Family
 * Kaylynn Langerak cleans up after her brother and stay-at-home dad while her mother works all day. Now Kaylynn’s Aunt Zelda has arrived with a jungle of half-dead plants in tow and things are messier than ever!

$3,400 Difficulty: IIII Kaylynn Langerak, Zelda Mae, Dustin Langerak, Parker langerak, Iliana Langerak

The Pleasant Family, Burb Family and other families from Sims 1 and 2 are not in the game.