But Jacki, that feature IS in TS2 already, do you play with free will off? :confused:

What I was complaining about, is that don't like this messages system. I might just as well rest my cursor on the top right (or wherever the messages will pop out) and click on it whenever a message came out.

"Joe is hungry! Click here to feed him!"
*clicks*
"Oh Mary need to pee! Click here to make her go!"
*clicks*
"Michael has to do his homeworks or his grades will drop! Click here!"
*clicks* *yawn*
"Tobias needs some fun! Click here!"
*clicks*
"Johnny is sleepy! Click here to direct him to sleep!"
*clicks*

See? It'll be tedious and boring play session :eviltongu It's stupid...

Of course I know we'll still be able to click on the various objects (They wouldn't disable it, would they?) but still, even now I'm very annoyed by the pop up messages, I have no idea if I'll be able to refrain from kicking my monitor if those messages pop up at me.

Is it? I have the radiance mod, and all it does is modify the existing engine, but the graphic improvement is noticeable.

Anyway, I'm referring to the method of game play more than the graphics. I'd like to hear more about the details of that, and at least some specs on the graphics engine. Will it use radiance on it's own this time?

The big changes don't seem to be potentially good to me- the contiguous neighborhood and pop-ups. Maybe they'll grow on me as we learn more.

Same here, I just got a new computer. But, being that this will probably need more everything, who knows what minimum requirements would be.

For me, it's not so much whether TS2 or TS3 will be better, because it's a give and take situation, I'll miss the needs bars and I'm guessing the ability to control multiple sims at once (because I don't see how one would be able to do it on here xP), but I'll love the fact you can go outside your house and do things, and the whole town will age at the same rate I guess? Really the determining factor for me is which one will my computer be able to handle better D: , because I know when I first put TS2 on here, it could barely handle it, and it still lags in very congested lots. T_T

My biggest (and pretty much only) worry about The Sims 3 is this 'integrated neighbourhood' dealie - Frist and foremost, it makes the game sound more like Sim City and secondly, it will only work if the sims themselves actually act intelligently. Will it be "THE BABY ISN'T HUNGRY, STOP TRYING TO FEED IT" on an absolutely massive scale that's nearly impossible to stop? Will sims near-dying of starvation keep wanting to play on the bass?

Also hope that there's still toddlers.

I'm not fussed on what the graphics look like,
it all looks a little unreal to me, it also seems like maxis have taken a massive step back, after the sims, the sims 2 looked amazing, the sims 3's graphics have no comparison I'm afraid.
However, I'm pretty sure before long we'll have some amazing custom content up on it :}.
Other than that, I'm totally psyched!

Of course it will be better than TS2. Why would it not be?

I'm kind of looking forward to it, actually.

Usually when I play a neighborhood, one family turns out to be the "stars" of the neighborhood. You know what I mean, the ones who get the better house, the nicer outfits and have lots of interesting things happen to them. Some times I pick what family it's going to be (I like the Pleasants of Pleasantview, for instance), and some times... I suppose the family picks itself. Like the one where the single woman fell in love with the fireman and later giving birth during a break in (I almost named the kid after the burglar). That's an interesting family. "Bob and Betty got married and had two kids named Steve and Jenny, then died of old age" isn't.

However, in order to keep the interesting family interesting, I have to play the boring families. How else is the youngest son supposed to get a crush on the "girl next door" and take her with him to college etc. So I keep my neighborhood in near time-sync (or at least keep the seasons in sync), just to allow possibilities like that.

Or said another way, about 10-15% of the time I play Sims 2, I play families that I like and I can't stand getting a neighborhood too out of sync. The rest of the time? I play keep-up with the neighbors that I ultimately don't like.

In Sims 3 I'll be able to make a star family and tell the game to play the dull ones for me. I can't even begin to say how much of an improvement that will be to me. And if a family starts to drift away from what I want it to, I can take over and nudge it back on track... or push it off a cliff into chaos. And then go back to playing my star family and laugh at the fallout on the other side of the street.

I kind of feel like Sims 3 is "Hey, let's make a Sims game for McNum! Let's take all the things he doesn't like about Sims 2 and make that automatic. Also, let's let the Sims roam free!"

I want the game. For me it'll surpass Sims 2 with expansion just for the autoplaying neighbors part. The very part a lot of other people hate is what I'm looking forward to the most.

My biggest worry is having no motive bars to take of, I fear I may bored with the game within 5 minutes.

I've been waiting for them to release the system specs so I can buy a new PC. I would think they couldn't go much pass what is the industry standard. The latest PCs I've been looking at seem like they would be able to handle TS3. Of course I'm no expert, I'm just saying.

Sims will still have needs, it's just that EAxis said it'll be a lot less tedious trying to take care of them. I didn't really find them that much of a problem but maybe EAxis thought we'd find them annoying after dealing with the same motive bars system for 9 years.

I think that, for people that don't want the game to take care of the Sims' needs for them, they'll have the option to just have the pop-up telling them about the needs, and then being able to take care of it themselves. Or they could disable the popups entirely and have a classic Needs panel, if they want to.
I don't much like the sound of the new mood system, but I'm still on the fence. We still know very little about the game.

I hope you're right, Allison. I never thought it to be a hassle. It's part of the game. I love the challenge.

I'm enraged by this.
I have been a sims fan for a very long time. I played Sim City 2000 and 3000 before the sims came out. I started playing TS1 in 7th grade! As soon as I saw the first snapshot for TS2, I was INSTANTLY in love with the game. However, I am very disappointed in TS3 from what I've heard...
At first, I got an email informing me about TS3. I open it and go to the link. As soon as I get to the site, I see these ugly balloon-faces staring at me, and I thought: "WHAT?! This can't be the right site, because these "sims" don't look nearly as realistic as the ones in TS2!" Personally, I enjoy making movies with TS2 almost as much as I enjoy the game. I love the graphics in TS2. The sims look so realistic, and it's easy to make a nice music video. I'm sure that if they even offer this feature in TS3 I'll have many more options and poses etc. for my sims in the videos. Too bad they look so cartoonish that I can't create a serious music video with them in it.

Unfortunately, this is the first time I have heard about this. Probably because I wasn't interested in the game to begin with. Now, I don't mind having only one neighborhood, as long as it's customizable, but PLEASANT VALLEY is not my idea for a great neighborhood name.
As far as the needs bars go...I agree with most of the other people complaining. I am a simmer that turns off free will on almost every lot that I play. I am a control freak...probably b/c of playing the sims too much. I need to be able to see their needs, or I will explode like this guy: :steam: Plus, what is the point in a game you just sit there and watch? You might as well go pop in a movie...(it'd probably be more entertaining!)

Well put Hinoemasim! I'm completely with you there!
Of course, there are some positive points. I can't completely bash a sims game.

I do this too. Differently, but somewhat the same.... Usually whenever I make a new family I'm OBSESSED with that family. But then there's this point where they just get boring and I don't want them to die or grow up, b/c I'm having too fun with them, or I need my new family to have friends. And the cycle goes on. I just kind of feel if I were to let my family die, (at least the adults that should've been elders WEEKS ago, but I keep giving them 10 more days, or the teenagers I want to go to college in sync with other teenagers in my neighborhood) that it would waste all the effort I put into them. If the game really runs the rest of the neighborhood at the same time....I would be very upset.
I guess I would call that both positive and negative...in a way.
The major positive points would be:
~getting to go to neighbor's houses (something I've been wanting since TS1! That was along with cars and seasons, which we got in TS2...)
~having more in terms of personality, dreams and goals (not just aspiration)
~some features such as the above, and probably more options in general will make the game more realistic.
Major negative were (to sum it up):
~step-down graphics
~?customizable? neighborhood (looking not so right now)
~no need bars (step-down from even TS1!)
~possibility of being forced to play with free will.
~possibility of other sims aging or even dying while playing another family
The bad outweighs the good. Unless it gets better, I'm going to say I'm most likely going to prefer TS2. There were only a few minor things that annoyed me in the transition from TS1 to TS2:
~can't go straight to a person in the sim's relationships (if they're on the lot) by right-clicking on them
~had to get all new CC
~had to abandon my TS1 families
But those were very minor things in comparison to the very major things that TS2 offers over TS1. Since I am dealing with major cons, I doubt I will be extremely into TS3 compared to TS2 unless they change it A LOT before release. In fact, I probably will not purchase it myself (knowing I'll most-likely get it as a gift anyway.)

Well I suppose there will be no way to ignore needs, even if they are not displayed or hidden, the Plumbbob should change colour from yellow to red if they are unhappy.

Also we have put up with a plumbbob over their head for 9 years, that doesn't look like its going to change.

The only way to make a new game is with a new game engine... Anything less would be an ep. And seasons only polished what was already in TS2. In order to make big changes one must make a new game. If people don't want TS3, they don't have to buy it. But they should probably try waiting until closer to launch to make value judgements based on graphics and other features that might be taken out closer to release.
Conrad, it is possible to turn the plumbobs off in game.

I'm pissed at the "Your sim is hungry. Click here to feed him" dealie. Sounds like Neopets. >_<

I mean, I think I`ve just gotten used to TS2, and all their EP`s to be excited about another game. I mean, EA always hypes up a game, and it turns out to suck. [ i.e. pets. ] but I love the sims and can`t bear not playing it. especially when a new one comes around.

Am still not interested in TS3 at all :/ It does not seem to have *added* much what I like to game play..am not really interested in the whole neighbourhood aging together. And the graphics looks different but not improved - they do not much look like sims to me. Meh.

And from what I've read around, it seems quite a few people, and many sites, have that same view. I am slightly thinking (and hoping lol) that TS3 does not take off well and TS2 still goes strong.

If history is any indication TS2 is history. especially now that TS3 is only 6 months away

I think TS3 is going to be way better than TS2. I mean, TS2 was basically an improved version of TS1. Graphics were better, sims could be extremely unique, neighborhood customization, zoom option...Now TS3 is going to be an improved version of TS2. Which is great for me! I think when you look at the original ts2 graphics, people, etc, ts3 seems way better! And I am thrilled that sims can explore the neighborhood!
I don't think we know enough about the game to judge the moodlets and wishes and popups. Honestly, they could make the game a million percent better! Seriously, they can't be any worse than the Wants and Fears!
And I like the way the sims look in ts3! When you look at the original sims from ts2, they are much more realistic. ts2 sims were extremely cartoony...and, when you look at the maxis-made sims, ugly. ts3 sims look more realistic than that, and more NORMAL. At least when you're walking around town you won't run into pug-face or tucan nose

And as for new neighborhoods, who knows what EP's will bring?

i don't like the look of sims - yess change hieght and thst in cas but i prefere the way they look now, the facial features i mean they look really unrealistic in ts3

I really like the look of the new sims. People keep saying that the TS2 sims look more "real", but I think that's because most of us (not all, but most) are playing with a lot of CC. I have not used the TS2 original skins in years! If I just look at the original skins from TS2 and then at TS3.... TS3 wins hands down for me. Plus, I'm sure some amazing CC will come out soon enough after TS3 drops.

I think that there is a point that most of us (including me) have been missing about the cartoony look of the sims-

It is a GAME! Sims are SIMS! Beloved characters in a game, not reality. And frankly, if they looked to real, it would seriously creep me out, like maxis created some parallel universe or something. They are supposed to look a little bit cartoony, at least.

And I still think that this game is going to be great (has anyone looked at the new pictures??? AWESOMENESS!!!) And I did see a CC button in CAS.

I think that's very selfish of you.