Sims talk: Free Time

[strangetomato]

I really want to chat about the Free Time EP. I'm getting really excited about it, but I definitely won't be installing it until I see if there are any potential issues with it, and the first patch is released (since we all know that there will be one). So, if you don't mind some spoilers, let's chat.

I found this page, and it gives a lot of detail about the new features. I've already read about a lot of these things, but a couple of  "news to me" things did catch my eye. Especially this part:


Secondary Aspiration

One of the options that players will more enjoy will be for sure the possibility to choose a secondary aspiration. In this way our Sims will have an even more complex and realistic personality. To set a secondary aspiration you just need to click on Aspiration Benefits icon and choose the aspiration you like, Grilled Cheese aspiration included.


*squeals with delight*

Do you have any idea how excited I am by that? There are so many characters in Strangetown that should have this, in my mind. I love, love, LOVE how this will make them more complex. And it's a way to have them change over time, while not changing their basic aspiration (which I don't plan to do with the Maxis premades).

The new creature is a genie, like in Sims 1. This doesn't excite me all that much. He's not even playable, which seems unfair. Shouldn't he just be an NPC? And didn't they already do the wishing well? *sigh* I really wanted another playable creature with breedable genetic qualities! They just haven't been able to come close to doing anything as good the aliens, have they? Not even close.

Comments

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

I installed Free Time last night. My sister went to Houston yesterday and asked me if I wanted the EP, so I had to make sure it'd run in my computer before risking spending money on a game that maybe wouldn't run at all.

So, I "arrred" it through bit torrent, something that makes me feel a bit guilty. Nonetheless, I'm glad I did it, because now I'm sure it runs in my PC (and it seems you are allowed to try a game for 24 hours) amd I'll have my copy this Friday after all.

Anyway, so far, I've only played for an hour or so with my "spare lot" (Helena's lot) and it's awesome. There are a lot of new options and things to do, and I'm sure we'll all spend a long time trying them out.

Your previous sims are assigned a certain number of "Aspiration points": 6 if they are elder, 5 if they are adults, 4 if teens and so on. You can spend them right away and there are four "paths" like OFB that you can follow to use them: For example, Helena is a romance sim, so I gave her the four rewards for the Romance path (increased chemistry, social and hygiene decay is slower, something about being well known as a "Casanova" and the "smooth talk" interaction, that you can use if you are caught cheating). With the remaining point, I unlocked the knowledge aspiration for her (with three more rewards if I get enough points in the future). The other two "paths" are related to slower motive decay (from fun to energy at the top) and work (you can get more vacations and the chance to get your job back if you are fired).

I hope this made sense :(

Oh, your previous sims also have a "predestined hobbie", but you can have them follow anyone you want. Helena was assigned the "nature and garden" hobbie, but according to her story, I'm making her also follow the arts and crafts hobbie.

Something I noticed is that my sims LTW changed when I installed the pack. Helena now wants to be a "Rock God" instead of an artist and *spoiler* Ripp now wants to woo hoo 20 sims, instead of reaching the top of the adventure career. I haven't seen my other sims, but that's a bit annoying, because I was really looking forward to have Tim reach the 100000 LTW.

By the way, reaching a LTW no longer gives your sim the perma-platinum status. You now have to fill your "aspiration" bar, and reaching your LTW is one of the ways to do so. You get points when you get married, have babies, get your first woo hoo, etc. So no more "boring" elders.

You also get something called BFF. If you are really close to a sim, he becomes your best friend forever, and has a special yellow icon. That sim can't get angry with you, has a much slower relationship decay and you get new interactions like "inside joke" :D.

Finally, you can walk to lots now! That was one of the reasons I wanted BV, but it's available in FT too!

Anyway, if you are interested in something else, I can take pictures, so feel free to ask ^^.

(The only problem with FT is that I can't use Insim now :P)

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

This is a good intro to what we can expect. Can you tell us more about how the secondary aspirations affected your sims? Also, have you used any of the new objects like the sewing machine or violin? If so, for the violin, even if you're a high skiller in creativity, do you have to start at 0 on the violin? (This is how it would be IRL), or are you just awesome on the violin as soon as you pick it up?

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Sure, I'm gonna try the violin right now.

The "Multi-painting" works with Free Time, so I'm gonna see if it changes with a sim with high creativity points or not. Wait a bit! :)

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

My one big question:

Do you get the additional likes/dislikes that came with BV?

(that's really the only thing I wanted from BV and won't buy it just for that--but I want sims to be attracted to unemployed sims and things like that)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the attraction to unemployed sims (makes me think of a husband who doesn't want his wife to work). What a brilliant idea. And attraction to different skills. Some of these are so excellent for character development.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Attraction to unemployed sims is also great for those knowledge sims with "max all skills" LTW's. There's really no point with getting them jobs if they can afford not to have one.

And in Nocheat, so many of my sims are laze-abouts that attraction to unemployment would be a benefit.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Yep!

I don't have BV, so I can confirm that FT includes the new turn ons/turn offs, the jewerly and the "walking to community lot" features.

I'm gonna see if I can get my sims married at a community lot. If that's possible, I won't ever have the need to get BV! :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's so awesome! I may not ever need Bon Voyage either (though I may eventually cave in).

Even the jewelry? Nice.

Oh, and I would LOVE to see more details about the sewing machine and how much customization is involved. If you want to post some "look at my new EP" pics, I will be all over that!

Thanks so much for all of the info you've shared with poor hesitaters like me.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

I'm actually taking some pictures right now with a test family. I'm gonna focus more on the game features, so sure! I'll have them use the sewing machine and the violin, as I was asked earlier.

I tried to run the game with some hacks that were reported as OK, but so far it didn't let me load my lot, so I'm currently figuring out which one caused it.

I'll post the pics later, anything else you are interested in? I'll try to take some shots at the new Maxis sims too!

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!! Those are totally the reasons that I would ever have gotten BV, and now I can just get FT! Woot. :D