Usually I build houses in The Sims but as life imitates art, I have recently found myself building a house in real life.  Tons of packing, details, unpacking, more details and headaches.  I wish painting was as easy as it is in The Sims.  Don’t like the color? Click and it is gone.  Want a different sofa?  Click…how about this one…or this one?  Decorating in the game is much more fun than in real life. In this midst of this moving chaos, The Sims 3 Supernatural Expansion Pack came out.  Arrgggh!  What torture!  I wanted to do nothing but build, build, build with all of the lovely new things that come in this expansion.  Sim makers have so much to play around with…witches and fairies and werewolves, oh my!  Story makers get tons of new interactions.  And builders….we really scored.  The items in this pack are so atmospheric and inspiring that it is easy to get ideas for new lots.

One of the things I love the most about the new build/buy items is the clutter.  Usually clutter is a bad thing, but when you want to make your Simmies’ homes feel more realistic, clutter is a great way to do it.  The piles of books in various sizes are so detailed!  Don’t be surprised if every house I build from here on out has several piles of books.  I can see using the elixir jars for many things as well…spices in the kitchen or perfumes on a dressing table.  The antique basin is adorable!  Every item in miscellaneous décor is an individual work of art. 

 
And speaking of art, I can never get enough art for the walls.  I was tickled to see a whole slew of new wall art including another collage called Timeless Memories.  One of my favorite store items is the Jazz Me Up photo series and having something along the same lines in an expansion pack is great.  Almost every house I have ever been in has a photo collage on the wall, so more of these, please!

Tons of the furniture items in this pack are ideally suited for cottage or Victorian style builds. Every Victorian home ever built has been waiting for this pack…the tables, chairs, beds…all of it with so much detail and style.  The new Centennial fencing that looks like traditional gingerbread trim?  LOVE it!  Kind of wish I had this from day one. The Majestic Rest bed is so dramatic.  The clever corset chair with lacing up the back is perfectly at home in my Witches Hat Victorian  dining room, which got a complete re-do with The Sims 3 Supernatural objects.

Check out that lamp and the grandfather clock!
 
 What witch wouldn’t love digs like this?

One of the things I like to do when I am playing around with new objects is to see how they look with different finishes and textures.  For a run down, aged look try the crackle paint finish.  It comes in two sizes to fit bigger and smaller items and it gives a fantastically grungy and time worn look. The wicker finish can make a chair feel more relaxed and casual.  Or to make things look more modern and chic, you can try a metallic finish.  I thought the shape of the new Twigs ‘n Sticks end table was sculptural and when I switched out the wood for a shiny chrome texture, it took on an entirely different vibe.  Many of the new build/buy items seem to work that way…they can be traditional, Victorian, or even modern and chic depending on how you use create-a style.  Perhaps your vampires want a sleeker, contemporary look in their home? There is plenty in this pack to make them happy. I took one of my favorite moderns, Danaus Modern  and gave it a re-do.

 
 
The Professor’s Rocking Chair has clean dramatic lines that work wonderfully in a modern setting along with the new fire place.  I was so pleased to see several of them in this expansion and that they came with different colored chimneys as well.  One step closer to CAS-able chimneys!  Did you notice that potted plant to the left of the loveseat?  It is a harvestable garden plant.  What a clever idea this is!  In the plant section there are three new planter bowls that will allow your Sims to grow harvestables indoors.  Just use the cheat “testingcheatsenabled true” and then “buydebug” to open up the debug menu of plants and place any harvestable in the planter.  Viola!  Your Sim can garden indoors.  Not only that, but you have a whole new set of house plants to decorate with.

So if you like to build as much as I do, This Sims 3 Supernatural is an expansion pack that I highly recommend. It is easily my new favorite and could go on and on about all of the great build/buy items…but I still have a ton of boxes to unpack and I don’t have a mouse to magically click things into place like my Simmies do.  Lucky little pixels.

When a new expansion pack is released by EA, I am always anxious to see what new build/buy objects and interactions come with the upgrade.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to review The Sims 3 Supernatural Expansion Pack at The Sims Community Day on August 1, and I had a blast checking out the latest new objects and gadgets that make this expansion a builder's must.  Most of the build/buy mode objects are, in my opinion, some of the best added to the game so far! 

 
I was anxious to test everything, so I built a house in the new neighborhood, Moonlight Falls, and called it Warlock Mansion.  It was made using many of the new build/buy objects to create a great place for wiccan minded people that love to party.  I put my favorite Sim, Ed Meister, in to test all of the new objects and game play.  Once I had a handle on how everything worked, I set about delving into the world of alchemy and witch craft and created many elixirs that, when ingested, have some pretty hilarious results.  When Ed Meister earned his witch’s stripes, the world of spells and magic opened and added a whole new twist to the game that was quite entertaining.  Though I have always considered myself a builder first, I have never spent so much time playing with the Sims, rather than building.  It was a lot of fun.
 
I would like to share with you some of the things that I liked most about The Sims 3 Supernatural, and some things that I discovered while building and playing.  I really loved the new windows and doors, especially the Priorities Mega-Window and Topper.  They make great windows for making a church, green house, indoor pool, library, etc.  One of the many objects that I was glad to see added to the game is the Planter Bowl.  It gives you the ability to plant a garden indoors, allowing you to create a greenhouse.  I did this in Warlock Mansion using the Priorities Mega-Window to create a two storied greenhouse attached to the back of the mansion.  I was happily surprised to find that zombies do not enter buildings, and so my indoor garden was safe from being devoured by them when they attacked my house.

I found that zombies are always tired and they are drawn to the new rocking chair that I put on the back porch.  Maybe if I put several rocking chairs around the outside of my house the zombies will choose to sit and rock rather than destroy my outside garden… hmm.   Another object that I was happy to see added was the Sliding Bookcase Door.  I used it to create two secret rooms attached to the attic study.  One room is used for the Alchemy Table and storage for the elixirs.  The other is the magic room where all of the magic wands, brooms and witch’s paraphernalia are stored.  There is also a small room off of the study where Bonehilda resides.  She is the live-in maid for the house that keeps everything clean and spotless.

I noticed that she liked to stop and warm her “old bones” by the fireplace whenever she entered the huge ballroom.  This is where Ed Meister throws some pretty outrageous parties.  The new twisted columns really add some nice detail to the fireplace and balcony that overlooks the ballroom.
 
There are so many new objects that I could go on all day talking about, but the items I talked about in this blog are some of my favorites from The Sims 3 Supernatural.  If you would like to see some pictures of them in use, you can visit my picture thread for the Warlock Mansion here.