strangetomato | Sims talk: Free Time

Entry tags:

sims talk

Sims talk: Free Time

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm itching for this one, too. (true confession, I just ordered the prima guide--I even paid for shipping, well, I couldn't get freebie shipping since I didn't spend enough).

But anyway. . .

I've been sniffing around the threads at MATY (since the sims 2 comm is not giving me any details I can USE--come one people!) and I saw this:

Children can use the toddler toy (table?) with toddlers. OOOh, that excites me.

You can see baby's needs (so no more having to make them selectable--though I never did that, if they're crying it's only because of three things, figure it out, right?)

Sims can sing to babies/toddlers (not sure on that) and teach them lullabys etc. Oooh, so effing cute.

And there was something (I'm confused on this, so I might be wrong) sims can "get better" at their aspiration (maybe that's the secondary aspriation thing) and they get perks as they "get better" at their aspiration (or perhaps that was their hobby?). Again, the conversation was weak on that so. . .

All the kid/toddler/baby stuff has me wiggling.

I really want this expansion (even with my secur rom fears). I wouldn't get it until after I finish off Peculiar Book 1, though. That would be the best time to try out new stuff (and have to go without inSim/SimPE--might wait for inSim if it looks like it will update quickly--I hardly use simPE anymore and could go on a cloning spree before having to go without it).

I haven't read about any major bugs yet, either. Though I know they're there. People were reporting annoyances (like stuck hobby objects and the "hobby guy"--sounds like he's akin to the garden club woman--hand delivering an announcement and being dumb) but those can easily (and quickly) be addressed by the MATY folks.

I'm still worried about secur rom, though. I've read so much stuff (horror stories from BV) that I can't even figure it all out anymore. But if FT is relatively bug free (and even half as interesting as it seems) I'll risk it.

What I still want to know is: Will the "more" likes/dislikes from BV be included?

OH (yeah, I'm rambling, sorry) NEW CAREERS!!! (I just made a sim of my wife and he could give up his culinary career for architecture, though to hear him bitch about his real life job, maybe his sim self is better off in the kitchen!)

There seems to be way more interaction between the different age groups, which is so great. I'm very excited about that.

I saw something about "getting better" at the aspirations. It does apply to their normal aspiration, and it's sort of like the business perks. For example, a romance sim can unlock things that make their hygiene decay more slowly or give them an extra chemistry boost. It sounds cool.

New careers are exciting too. (And I didn't know that your wife is an architect. That's cool.)

I'm willing to risk it for this EP too. It seems to be really worth it. I'll give it at least a week to be safe.

I do think I will be lost without InSIm, though, for the story. Does that usually update quickly? If not, I may have to do a couple of chapters where the characters just take up new hobbies. (No. I refuse to have that happen. There will be no "look at my new EP" chapters in Strangetown.)

Ooh, the "getting better" is like business perks. I'm just starting to really explore those and some of them are GREAT. I really should give OFB more attention, it gets shafted as a bad EP but it's really one of the best.

I read that for family aspirations, you get things like "comfort" benefits and the higher benefit is increased twin chance (I see that as being potentially borked, like how the cheesecake is auto twins not just slightly increased odds).

(yup, my wife's an architect--almost licensed, too--two more tests to take and pass and then he's an Architect--which means it's time to hit the boss up for a raise)

I think I can hold out about a month before I cave and get FT. The prima guide will help tide me over. A month is plenty of time to get Peculiar to a good break point (and then launch into Top Model!)

I'd be pretty stuck without inSim, too. I use it all the time now (my sims haven't gone shopping in so long--that pile of clothes is so much easier). I think with BV it did update quickly. But with FT having the "second string aspiration" it might make more work to update. BUT, inSim is basically just a way to access debug mode, so maybe it won't take longer. (simPe takes forever since it's a stand alone item--I could live without it for a while)

OOH, my amazon guide should get here by the weekend. Maybe by then someone will post some pics from the new EP. There's suppposed to be lots of new stuff (besides the ep specific things, that is).

Random added on thought: I wonder if there will be any alien pollinator weirdness. I know that's probably not going to happen but there was a point (at nightlife, I think) where there were two pollinators, so products of abduction could be impregnanted. I guess I'm hoping that happens again. If FT is the last EP, it could be maxis planned to have two PT's all along and it just got messed up (eaxis mess up?) along the way (like when people "discover" secret outfits then two expansions later we see they're just new career clothes).

Re: Look at my EP chapters.

You could save that for your metafictional thing. Then you could get it out of your system but it's not really in the story. Something funny like "Ripp enjoys. . .(list hobbies, show doing, pic spam, make everyone want the ep!)"

With FT it should be easy to just work the new stuff into the story casually. Not like Seasons where all the sudden they have weather.

Well I pre ordered mine with the Prima Guide from Amazon.com on the same day and they are both supposed to come today, although this morning per Amazon's website only the Prima Guide has shipped (humph) even though the delivery date for the game is still Feb 27th (shrugs).

I guess I'll find out soon, lol!

I'm going to install it right away! (WHEEE!) I don't have any story games going on and nothing it would kill me to lose, so maybe I'll be your guinea pig!

I love the secondary aspirations too! Makes so much more sense. I've often said my husband is a Knowledge/Romance. A faithful Romance, but a Romance all the same, thinking about woohoo every second. (Well we *do* have six kids, lol) and I'm Family/Knowledge. So I like that aspect of the EP.

I'm curious to see what secondary aspirations you all give to our favorite Maxis characters!! All I know for sure is Vid is going to be Knowledge/Family. Ripp will probably be Romance/Family for me (that ought to be interesting!)

I'm sure I'll be back...

I've never understood why people dislike OFB. It adds a really unique extra feature to the game. I suppose it might be how your game begins to revolve solely around the business, but it's so good for gameplay varied (and not so different from going to work)

I read that twins thing too. An increase in chance would be interesting, if you want to be surprised. I like the surprise. I've had so few random twins lately. In my long gone Pleasantview, almost everyone had twins. Don Lothario must carry the "twin gene", or something (yeah, most of the babies were his. *snicker*). I'm sort of hoping that Circe might have twins. I'm going to go pop her kid out soon.

I love that InSIM pile of clothes! You still have to buy the clothes, but you don't have to deal with loading the community lot to do it. It's such a lifesaver. I can't live without InSIM now that I'm hooked on it. Especially not for the story.

Pollinator changes would be cool. They should have given us 4 pollinators, just like the default replacement set does. There needs to be more variety in genetics. Don't they realize how many people love the aliens?

They really might have done something with it for this EP. Remember all the focus on the telescope in the trailer? One of the hobbies is science, right? Hmmm...

Yeah, that's a good idea. (But Ripp's "hobbies" aren't included in this EP. *snicker*)

It is a good EP for working it in slowly. My first plan is to get Buck a sewing machine. That's going to be fun.

The sewing sounds really interactive too, which is very cool. You can select and combine different elements and patterns/colours to make different things. Or so they say... (I need more info on that. And pics.)

Oh, you're brave! Well, I hope it goes well for you. It really doesn't seem to have the same crazy bugs that BV had. *knocks on wood* I'd love to see some pics when you start playing with it.

Ripp really should be Romance/Family in my mind too, as fucked up as that may be (and well, the boy is not particularly well balanced). I see him as wanting that, deep down, but also fearing it (like in that dream he had). I wonder how the wants/fears of those two aspirations would interact?

I have some ideas for the other characters too, but I will have to give it all a nice long pondering, to see how I can make it best suit my story.

I really want the sewing to be more than just access to the clothing buy screen. And I'd love it if it could "mess up" like the makeover chair. Like you'd get randomly paired patterns that would rival the bad transition outfits! (or better, you could make an "evil" teddy bear like the "evil" jack in the box and it would scare little kids!).

I'm really looking forward to the toddler/child stuff what with all the twin hatchlings I have on the cusp of toddlerhood. They can play together! (I hope they can "fight" too, like fighting over baby bottles).

I need pics, too. But even then, I'm always disappointed because the person posting pics never focuses on what I want to see (they show all the stupid hair dos or something).

Now I'm interested to see how they work the existing sims. Will they just be assigned a random secondary want (like turn on/offs when Nightlife came out) and then give you a potion you can change it with?

I'd hate to get stuck with something that's all wrong (though that could lead to some fun).

Please, once you get it installed and play around, share with scaredy cats like me who have to hear all the good and bad before I venture forth.

I'm kind of ashamed of this, but Free Time is one of the huge reasons I'm itching to get a new 'puter (though mine is pretty old, functional or not).

I think I'm gonna follow Madame_ugly's lead and grab the prima guide. Though I *do* want some surprises. I'll just leave it on the shelf until I get stuck).

I'm so excited about the toddler interactions, and the new instruments. The secondary aspiration is something that's been needed for a while. (I saw screencaps of it somewhere but I'm not sure where...) The genie does seem like a wishing well for people w/o seasons. Granted, I still haven't had a werewolf, but I'm already bored by Zombies and Vamps. (And bigfoot seems boring. Ditto the breedable creatures! Nothing is more awesome than aliens! (and they just *look* a little different! that's it!)

"Is there something new for people that like aliens?
Unlocking knowledge aspiration benefits you can summon aliens and be abducted by them."

i think you'd find that useful. madame_ugly as well.

(back later to talk more)

The new creature is a genie but without playability. Damn it, I was hoping to breed in something new and exciting into my families of aliens. I probably should suck it up and install the minute I get the game, but I want to wait until my hacks are all updated. Granted, most of the Pescado and TwoJeffs hacks I have are already listed as either in the works or pre-gameplay reformatted, but the ones I'm really leery of playing without are InSim (even if I don't use it all that much anymore) and SimPE. I guess I can go on a cloning spree though....

I'll be interested in seeing how the handle that too.

My thoughts exactly - I would hate to get stuck with something I didn't want. There was some sim_rants post about people at the BBS whining about getting stuck with a certain predetermined hobby, but for a storyteller, that can be very annoying! I know I could ignore it, but the sim would probably talk about it all the time. I hope that InSIM will allow it to be altered, at least.

It will be fun for new characters being born to get random hobby interests, and I'll totally go with it, but I have pretty distinct ideas about the hobby interests of my existing characters, so I'm going to want to set them. Some are just obvious for me, like the Curious brothers liking science. And if my Buck likes Tinkering or Fitness, I'm gonna be pissed.

I want the guide now too.

It's funny, isn't it? The aliens really don't even DO anything special. It's just genetics. But that's all we really want.

I do think that Servos are cool too, though I haven't even had one yet (one day soon).

Yes. I remember reading that. Very cool. I can do that with cheats, but it's nice to have a legitimate in-game method.

I do hope there is more to the alien thing, though...

I was browsing the BBS, and I see that there are some weird glitches being noticed, like losing money when you return home from work, and the return of spontaneous combustion. *snicker* From just playing the violin, for example.

This is why I will wait...

And I really do need InSIM. Group scenes would be impossibly hard without them. And scenes that take place on community lots? Forget it. I need InSIM.

Servo chores drove me up the wall. (though I am tempted to make a grilled cheese servo...) They felt like a cheat- it was just too easy to keep them "happy" and you could leave them to write novels non-stop or basically do everything for the sims. (I had one with Nervous' family, and she had the only job and took care of the kids, and I just felt dirty.)

Worst case scenario, you MIGHT be able to reset a hobby via debug (aka boolprop).

It will be funny to see the random ones that set sims get (like how WRONG they are).

I hadn't thought about the conversation aspect. I wonder what kind of new conversation balloon pics there will be?

(I love the crab convo balloon in BV--but it's not enough to make me want that ep)

I read something that made it seem more customizable that just the clothing buy screen. I really, really hope it will be like that, and allow for mess-ups. If it's like real sewing, then it should have them. *snicker* I've made some awful stuff.

I'm going to go pic hunting. (I agree. Who really cares that much about the stupid hats? They're funny, but I'm dying to see something good.)

I love how we can now age up to 3 friends of our Sims on birthdays without hacks. No longer will I feel weird when an adult Sim is best friends with a child!

I've been excited for this EP since it was first announced, since normal mundane things like hobbies really appeal to me. Regardless of the predetermined interests, I'm going to have my main Sims master everything! :D :D :D Okay, maybe not bird watching/nature.

The new career items sound very cool as well. The Koi pond will be awesome since I'm not that great at building natural looking ponds. Too bad we can't fish in them, but then again, that would seem slightly twisted, haha.

There are more aspiration rewards like needs falling slower, but I'm afraid that'll make the game... easier. I had to get rid of the snapdragons because my Sims never needed to sleep after that. Oh well, it's not really a big issue. I micromanage my Sims so much they never need to complain. This allows me to loosen up I suppose. :P

Ooh, a new way to kill a sim XD I'm sure there will be people abusing that to death!

...er, pun not intended.

Well... yeah, I still use a few of the InSim objects, like for aging up Marsha to teen. I know that you can grow up other sims with the playable now, but I like tinkering a bit too much to give up all my InSim objects!

And it's terrible that I want to make my Legacy Ripp's aspiration into Family/Romance. Johnny might get a Popularity/Family kick too, but that might bite me in the ass with ACR; they'll probably try to hatch out another ten kids in the handful of days they have left in adult phase.

Butting in real quick (getting FreeTime todaaaay! Todaaaay! Unless Gamestop decides to be a meanie to me), but mas oui, one of the FreeTime perks is directly alien related. To be precise, one of the top ones for Knowledge Sims is automatic abduction. :D I think the description was something along the lines of the Sim knowing how to send out a signal to attract any randomly passing by UFOs that happen to be in the area, something like that. You can see it for about 0.5 seconds in the Freetime Designer walkthrough on the main site.

How about those pics in the sims 2 comm?

It's official. I'm getting this EP. But I'll finish Peculiar Book 1 first. That should give the modders time to fix any issues and I'll know what's bad about it by then.

(and the clown makeup--too funny, I was looking to download some for potential use in Top Model--how freaking perfect)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 3

Sims talk: Free Time

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject