The Sims™ 3 Community Blog
: February 2013
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The Sims 3 University Life: Building, PlantSims, and Additional Fun Facts

Building in The Sims 3 University Life
Along with all of the amazing gameplay and new objects, The Sims 3 University Life adds several new options for builders to use, mainly in the form of new lot types. These new lot types allow for a huge range of buildings, from dorms to hangouts. Here’s a brief run-down on all of the new tools for you amazing builders out there!

Let’s start with dorms, sorority and fraternity houses. In The Sims 3 University Life world, players can build their own dorms. The sky is the limit as you make a place for your Sims to call home during their stay at university. With the new roommate functionality, Sims will automatically occupy dorms to act as roommates for your household (or you can make and move your own roommates into your dorm via edit town). A dorm can hold up to eight Sims, including your household. Sororities and fraternities act very similarly to dorms and follow most of the same rules. The big difference for these lots is that they are not co-ed – sororities will automatically search for female roommates and fraternities for male roommates. These lot types also have a little bit more of a party atmosphere than regular dorms – juice keggers and dares will happen here more frequently. By the way, dorms, sororities and fraternities are free for Sims to live in while at university!



While dorms are specific to the university world, there are tons of new lot options available for your home worlds as well. With the new social groups come new places for these like-minded Sims to gather. Build your own Rebel hangout where Rebels can relax and graffiti the walls to their hearts content. The Arcade is the place for competitive Jocks. This lot type encourages Sims to play all kinds of games from bowling to pool. And of course, every Nerd needs a Nerd Shop. Place a Roentgen Register in your Nerd Shop to allow your Sims to buy and sell comics! Sims of all types will love the Java Hut – which would not be complete without the new Quick Croissants Coffee Bar. Watch as the barista serves up new food types like bagels and brownies or new organic brews from harvestable coffee beans!



Another option for builders to enjoy in home worlds is the new Apartment lot. Similar to dorms, once you build this lot, the game will automatically pull Sims in to be roommates. Like dormmates, these roommates are not part of your active household, and you can use the new bed and door lock options to set aside areas of the apartment for each roommate to use exclusively. Apartments differ from regular houses. Instead of buying the lot completely when you move in, your Sims will pay rent each week just like paying bills. The rent cost is determined by the overall value of the lot.



PlantSims
As many of you now know, The Sims 3 University Life’s new creature is… PlantSims! PlantSims have special relationships with plants and can converse with harvestable plants just like they can a Sim. PlantSims are unique and have different needs than normal Sims. For instance they don’t need to eat, but do need to stay hydrated. To keep their water need high and prevent drying out, PlantSims absorb water. They can do this by swimming, bathing, absorbing puddles and photosynthesizing!



PlantSims have unique ways to socialize with other Sims too. Flower Kisses can cause obsession and Poisonous Kisses can make another Sim sick, ew!  

There are a few ways to add a PlantSim to your family. It is possible (though rare) to meet a PlantSim around town, and Sims brave enough to volunteer as a test subject at the Busche School of Science may have some leafy side effects. My favorite way to make a PlantSim is to grow one of course! Forbidden fruits may become PlantSim babies for you to grow and love.

Fun Facts
Since this is my last blog before The Sims 3 University Life launches on March 5, I thought it would be fun to end with a random assortment of fun facts and info about the game.

  • Sims in the Nerd Social Group can play some sweet new video games: SSX and FIFA on the video game console and computer and SimCity on the computer.

  • With the new Social Networking skill comes the ability to blog! Sims can select a blog theme and attach photos to their blog. The more they blog, the more followers they get, which can help them gain influence with social groups faster, have better attended protests, and get more simoleans for donations and buyouts of their blog!

  • Build Social Networking skill to unlock different smart phone apps. The Sim Finder app helps Sims easily find an unmet NPC Sim and get them to their lot! The coolest app to unlock is the Relationship Transmogrifier which allows Sims to set nearly any relationship status they desire with any Sim!

  • All Commercial Dumpsters placed throughout any world can be used to dumpster dive. You can also place new dumpsters in your world to dumpster dive and find cool items from bugs to TVs!

  • Sims with a high enough computer hacking skill can use a computer to find exam answers the day before an exam.

  • Making friends with The Sims University mascot can lead to an apprenticeship with the mascot to learn their sweet moves!

  • Want to avoid that awkward “it’s not you, it’s me” speech? Send a break up text instead!

  • Ingesting too many herbs at once can cause herb sickness and herb nausea, so experiment with caution.

  • Sims who want the benefits of a degree without all the university experience can buy an honorary degree as a lifetime happiness reward.

  • The Movie Theater now comes with different types of movies for your Sims to enjoy. Use the new “Attend Show With” interaction to catch a chick flick or thriller with your friends!

  • Your Sims’ new Smart Phones come with a wide range of new skins to apply. Build your Sims’ Rebel influence and Social Network skills to unlock and apply new skins on their phones, including an exclusive Mass Effect 3 version!

I can’t wait until the game launches! This expansion pack was so much fun to make, and I love all of the great questions, comments, and ideas everyone has posted for us. The Sims 3 fans are amazing! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy The Sims 3 University Life.

Brittany Henry, Associate Producer, The Sims 3 University Life

04:10 PM
02/26/13
Posted by: SimGuruBritt

Producer's Commentary: The Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center

Here's a special peek from Producer Megan Myers talking about the Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center, available a part of the Gold Edition of The Sims 3 Aurora Skies. The Gold Edition will be available on The Sims 3 Store on February 21, 2013. 


Hi, Simmers!  If you love playing toddlers and children like I do (they’re just so cute!!!), you are really going to love the Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center!  This venue is absolutely beautiful, and just looking at it makes me think that this might be my very favorite venue ever.  (Though, of course, the fact that everything is geared towards children certainly helps!)

As soon as you look at the Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center, you can tell that it’s going to be a very stimulating environment.  There’s just so much going on!  Here’s the view from the front:
 

Look at all of that crazy architecture!  Looking at this makes me want to immediately start exploring the building.  And the building certainly doesn’t disappoint!  There are three floors filled with various spaces for your Sims to experience and explore.  There is truly something for everyone.  Bookworms can enjoy the cozy reading nook on the third floor while Outdoor enthusiasts can play in the play area just outside.
 

Sims interested in logic can enjoy a space with a chess table and a telescope, while more athletic Sims can get in some exercise in the pool.

 
The Early Learning Center also has a space for art if your little ones are so inclined.  They can enjoy painting with their peers or try out their writing skills on the computers.  (This room is definitely my favorite!  I’m already planning stories where my Sim children come to the center for writing and painting practice with all of their friends!)
 

Toddlers won’t be left out at the Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center.  In fact, there are two new items made especially for toddlers!  We knew that we wanted to have add more objects for toddlers… (You guys all loved the Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes set and keep asking for more!  And, really, can you ever have too many objects for toddlers???  I think not!) but we wanted them to be useful objects, too.  Something that would make life easier for Sims and their children while also making their lives more fun.  Thinking about this, there were two pretty obvious objects to make: a playpen and a toddler walker!  

 
With the Local Motion Toddler Walker, toddlers with a desire to move can test out their legs and learn to walk on their own!  My toddler, Jasper, absolutely loves it!

 
And then, if your child Sim is a genius like mine (look! He’s thinking about SCIENCE!), place him in the Head Start Playpen to get a head start on learning.  Toddlers in the playpen can learn how to talk all by themselves!  They can also try to boost their people skills and/or learn some math.  Sure, Jasper looks like he’s just learning to count, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be working on calculus soon!  With the playpen, I know my Sims are being set up on a path to success from their earliest years!   
 

So, maybe your parent Sims are neglectful like mine are, and they don’t want to sit around and watch their darling children struggle to say “Mommy” or learn calculus.  Never fear!  While your child Sims are getting some quality edutainment, Mommy and Daddy can enjoy the parents’ room upstairs.  Complete with bar, tv, radio, and fooseball table, parents are sure to be as entertained as their children!  The Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center really does have something for everyone.  Even a Sim who Hates Children will probably be happy.  Probably.  
 


12:13 AM
02/16/13
Posted by: SimGuruTaterTot

The Sims Community Day Retrospective

Hi Simmers,

SimGuruHydra here! Want to share with you all a recap of an exciting day we hosted at EA headquarters on behalf of The Sims 3. We had a handful of fans like you visit our campus to meet some of The Sims Studio producers, check out some of our upcoming games and get hands-on with The Sims 3 University Life !

Additionally, we visited with The Sims audio team who shared with us the upcoming line-up of rising stars that have recorded their music in Simlish for The Sims 3 University Life . Whether Sims are throwing the party of their lives, rallying a protest or hitting the books, we think that these new Simlish tunes are sure to leave a footprint your time spent playing University Life. There’s new music from the California indie rock band The Mowgli's, the British Pop group Blaise, the Norwegian sensation Donkeyboy and many more. With such an eclectic mix of songs to choose from, you and your Sims are sure to have the time of your lives in this pack. Here's the full list of artists:

•    Ashtar Command – "All of our Lives we Must Learn to Forget"
•    Dan Deacon – "True Thrush"
•    Gold Fields – "Treehouse"
•    The Mowgli’s – "San Francisco"
•    The Royal Concept – "D amn"
•    The Shades – "Gobba Bweezie"
•    Blaise – "Thunderstorm"
•    Leontib – "U Nu Wah"
•    Donkeyboy – "City Boy"
•    The Penelopes – "Now Now Now"

In addition to the audio tour, players were able to get their hands-on The Sims 3 University Life. Overall, it was an awesome day packed full of exciting activities. Here’s some of our favorite moments...

Fans meeting the development team over breakfast. For some, this was their first time visiting EA Redwood Shores and The Sims Studio!




Brittany and Lauren giving a demo of University Life and answering questions.



Everyone enjoying getting their hands on University Life and capturing their own gameplay footage!



Attendees also had the opportunity to interview the development team.

Keep an eye out for interviews to post on several of the attendees' YouTube channels and/or websites. A full list places to check out are at the end of this blog.

Mixer with several members of the development team including Lucy Bradshaw, the head of the Maxis label!



We hope you enjoyed the live blogging throughout The Sims 3 Community Day. Keep a lookout for previews and interviews by the fans that came to visit! Thank you to everyone who has been following the activities.



For anyone who happened to miss The Sims 3 Live Broadcast that took place on February 14, you can watch it here .

Community websites and YouTube channels to check out for coverage of The Sims 3 Community Day:
•    SF Magazine |Website , Magazine
•    Simatography | Website , YouTube
•    The Curtis Paradis Show | Website , YouTube
•    Nicole K Games | Twitter , YouTube
•    iPodZeke | YouTube
•    Rachybop | YouTube
•    The Sims Supply | YouTube
•    Chrillsims3 | YouTube
•    Ehaught58 | My Page , forum posts
•    Ruthless_kk | My Page , forum thread

05:19 PM
02/15/13
Posted by: SimGuruHydra
 
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