Greetings Simmers!

I\u2019m La Shawn (aka Rain) and I\u2019m the Lead Producer for The Sims\u2122 3 Create a World Tool \u2013 Beta.  I hope you\u2019re as excited about The Sims 3 Create a World Tool - Beta release as I am!  A few people have been asking to know more about it, so here it is.

The Sims 3 Create a World Tool (lovingly referred to as CaW by the Dev Team) is the tool that our game team uses to create the towns that you\u2019ve seen in The Sims 3 (such as Sunset Valley, Riverview, China, France and Egypt).  We really wanted to give something cool to you, the community, so we\u2019ve adapted our internal tool and are giving it away for free later this month to anyone who has registered The Sims 3 or The Sims 3 World Adventures.

The Sims 3 Create a World Tool allows you to create new towns and new experiences for your Sims!  You can:

\u2022 Create the terrain \u2013 the shape and landscape of your town

\u2022 Paint your town with terrain textures, such as grass, sand and rock

\u2022 Place roads and sidewalks

\u2022 Place neighborhood objects (such as lighthouses, lakes, trees)

\u2022 Place visual effects (like rainbows and waterfalls)

\u2022 Place spawners \u2013 which allow your Sims to collect items in game (like seeds and butterflies)

\u2022 Create Lots \u2013 and put them anywhere you like!!!

\u2022 Import (and export) terrain height maps and textures

\u2022 Share your worlds on the exchange \u2013 so others can download and play them!

CaW is a very robust tool.  You can build anything from your favorite The Sims 2 neighborhood, to your own home town, to the Moon!  You can even import a picture of your best friend and create a landscape that looks like your friend!  I can\u2019t wait to see what you\u2019re going to come up with!  We\u2019re also providing you with a couple of simplified maps (terrain with terrain paint) to get you started \u2013 one of Riverview and one of Sunset Valley.

A few questions I\u2019ve been asked about CaW:

\u2022 Why are you releasing this as a Beta tool?

We wanted to get the tool out to the community as quickly as possible and we want to have your feedback on how we can make the tool better in the future.  We\u2019ve used it internally to create all the worlds you\u2019ve seen in The Sims 3 so far, but we understand that the needs of the community may be different from ours, so your feedback will be really important!

\u2022 Who is The Create a World Tool - Beta for?

CaW is primarily for our hardcore builders, for movie makers, and for story-tellers who want to set the perfect scene.  It is also for people who are interested in creating custom content and are willing to spend the time to build an entire world.

\u2022 How long does it take to build a world?

That depends on how big and / or detailed you want your world to be.  If you\u2019re creating a small world that isn\u2019t super detailed (for a movie setting, for example), it may take you a couple of days to a week.  If you\u2019re attempting to create a fully detailed world (more like Sunset Valley or Riverview), it could take a month or more.

\u2022 Do you have any tips for sharing worlds?

Sure!  Some tips you should know when creating a world to upload to The Sims 3 Exchange:

- Come up with an interesting story of what you want your world to be, and try following that storyline throughout the development of your world \u2013 it will make for a much more cohesive experience when others play it

- Make sure to test your world on your own machine so you can get the feel of how it will play (especially if you\u2019re making a world that \u201Cstretches the boundaries\u201D) before uploading it to the Exchange

- Be certain to include a good screenshot as your world image (a picture is worth 1000 words) since that will be the main selling point to others in the community when they view the file to download from the Exchange.

If you\u2019re creative, enjoy spending time making the world your own, love to build things (like I do), or like to tell truly unique stories - you\u2019ll want to get your hands on The Sims 3 Create a World Tool \u2013 Beta!

cheers,
Rain