I get what Crocobaura is saying in her post and a lot of it I agree with. In my picture above, the bookstore and diner is run by the registers, not the rabbithole rugs. True it is odd to have the refrigerators for food, I think EA is saving the podium and having a cook for a future EP. (Hopefully, I do want that back) As in Sims 2 before Nightlife came out, I had to create different ways with the game functions to have dining and dancing on the community lots as I did with just the base game in Sims 3. I think EA was focusing on the dancing aspect for Late Night more than the dining, it does disturb me that food has to gotten through the bartenders. It just doesn't work with a club I was building that compared with a Sims 2 club I had. If I put the food registers up in a club, the only ones using it will be the active sims, the inactives get their food by other means. So I guess the odd ways will be there until EA gives us more to work with.

Since the game is still in an infancy stage, I will have to wait and see what else EA will do to make the game more sandbox and not goal-driven. It did take the executives a while to find out that the players wanted a sandbox gameplay. Hopefully they will continue the trend.

I like the Sims 3 better. Create-A-Style is awesome, for one thing. The graphics are SO much better--the water in the sims 2 always bothered me! At the same time, I do agree toddlers/children look a bit weird. Adults and elders still look fine to me, though. I love all the sliders for weight, muscle, skin tone, etc, and I love that we can make hair/eyes ANY color. I don't mind the rabbitholes--I actually like them. All roof styles are included in Sims 3 base game, as is fishing, gardening, and cars. I love the trait system--I find it much more realistic than the sloppy/neat, grouchy/nice of the Sims 2. I do want fears back, but I find it more realistic to not have aspirations, as there weren't that many and most people don't have everything they want to do tied to their "knowledge" or "pleasure" needs. I find the Sims 3 less addicting than the Sims 2, but I think that's a good thing for me. I don't miss University (I always got bored), or Open for Business (I never used half the features in that expansion pack, anyway). What I miss most is Seasons, including PlantSims, and magic. But I'm hoping they will bring that back with a future ep. My advice is: if you don't like it, give yourself 2 to 4 weeks, then check back. Don't give up quickly.

Yes, they would dance to the stereo or the jukebox, but they never danced to the speakers music.

not taking the EPs into consideration (i think TS2 had better EPs for the most part), i do prefer TS3. i still love TS2, and would continue to play it if my computer could handle having both games and their EPs, but since it can't, i've stuck with TS3.
i like that there is story progression (though i only play with twallan's story progression mod) because i hated that the rest of the neighborhood stayed static while i played one family. i love the lack of loading screens; when i had TS2 i found that i'd keep my sims in the house most of the time because i hated waiting for other places to load. also, without any cheats or mods, by the time i got my sim out the door and past the loading screen and to the place i wanted them to go to, they'd be able to spend an hour or so there before peeing themselves or getting cranky because they were tired or hungry, and i'd have to send them home again.
come to think of it, maybe i was just really bad at playing TS2.
i miss certain aspects of TS2's CAS; i've seen much more attractive sims come out of TS2 than TS3, and usually better custom content for them as well. i used to have my mods folder packed with custom clothing for my TS2 sims, but it's much harder to find nice clothing, etc for TS3.
a big part of what i liked about TS2 was that its EPs were really great. i miss seasons dearly, as well as university (although it did annoy me a bit, i thought it was fun for the most part). i liked a lot of things about apartment life, especially that you could have a roommate without controlling them. i liked the supernatural elements much better than the ones in TS3, although i didn't play them very often.
so i guess TS3 overall, as i like the gameplay better, but TS2 isn't anything to scoff at. TS3 doesn't show it up and make it seem like a bad game by comparison, just very different.

oh and on the subject of rabbit holes: i don't really mind that the restaurant in particular is a rabbit hole, as i used to hate going to restaurants in TS2 because my sims never seemed to do what they were supposed to. it was cute, but most of the time i just found it frustrating.

I used to enjoy building restaurants in TS2, but I didn't like actually using them that much. On dates, I would find that if you sat down to eat with a date before you hit the 'dream date' status on your date meter, the clock would often run out on you before the meal was over, and bam, date over. So the only times I ever took a date to a restaurant was if I was planning the 'surprise engagement' thing. That I miss, being able to propose marriage without getting on your knees. I don't miss the date meter at all...for all the accusations of 'rpg styling gaming' that TS3 gets, at least dating isn't a timed escort quest like in TS2.

I love the bar food option in LN. I really missed the food carts from TS1 for being able to grab a bite quickly while on a community lot, and being able to order food at the bar fills that need nicely. (would still love different food carts like those from Sims 1, too)

Melissa, in Bridgeport, they have a fast food truck where you can order food, my first Nathalie Marlin (I play like 4/5 sim days with a clone of Nathalie in another game save in a CC town I was trying out) loved going to the fast food truck after (and during) her ghost hunting gigs. Since I found the truck in Brooklyn Heights, a CC world, I assume that you can move the truck into the legacy world somehow. I actually should try and figure that out XD

Kiwi tea placed food trucks in Riverblossom Hills, too. I think that requires a mod to place them. By Inge, iirc. At Sim Logical.
In Sims 1, I liked the the different themed food carts that came with eps. I'd make mall food courts with the sushi cart, the shrimp cart, the burger cart etc.

No offense, but unless grilled, that does not sound appetizing one bit lol though it might have something do with me being allergic. Even then, I still can't see anyone wanting to go to a cart to purchase shrimp Maybe a great addition to a pier or boardwalk. A mall? Not so much lol

I like the Sims 2 use of mixing Micro-Managing with RPG Elements more than the Sims 3 outright RPG-like gameplay. OFB was the perfect example of how it should be done. You could create a restaurant or store and run it anyway you like, but if you wanted, you could strive to have the best establishment through a series of tasks and feats. OH and guess what? A feat didn't require you to interrupt your everyday life by going off on a far away adventure to deliver a book to Joe Shmoe(Why couldn't his/her lazy ass come to you and get it? Does EA think every sim aspires to be Indiana Jones?). You would start out with a few customers but as soon as you gained higher ranks and talent badges, along with appeasing paying patrons, your business would increase.

There are a lot of things that Sims 3 offers but there are too many features from Sims 2 that I'm dying for. I think the series needs some time to catch it's bearings but with the 5th expansion rolling up, I'm just a tad bit disappointed at the development of the EPs. One thing that really bothers me is the stuff that was supposed to be in a Expansion pack, but is taken out at the last minute. One example is Ambitions. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but there were a lot of work clothes added with some of them looking mildly specific and not pertaining to any of the new professions. It seemed like there was some sort of employee system that was going to be introduced but was pulled at the last minute and the finished clothes were just added to Create A Sim. Couple that with the recent concept art from Ambitions and Late Night showing some neat features(jewelry making table, restaurant podium, etc) and it makes the EPs seem very lackluster in comparison to what they could have been. I like Sims 3 more than the Sims 2 but I really hope that the content of the EPs can be improved. Right now, Sims 2 EPs are winning the "best of" award for their innovation and longevity. In a series that gets its worth from sequels and expansion packs, that's not a good sign.

Actually it was grilled shrimp.

I guess grilled shrimp is fine. It's weird, but I barely remember that cart at all. I was picturing a cart with a big pot of warm water heating on the grill and puffy overcooked shrimp sitting at the bottom, just waiting for the next customer to come along. Yuck. I only say it that way because I've seen a shrimp cart like that in real life :P
Don't get me wrong--I liked the food carts from Sims 1/2, but I'm just a lil biased against shellfish and their sneaky agenda.

There weren't any food carts in Sims 2, just the full service restaurant.
I don't like shrimp, myself, but I used all the available carts in Sims 1, for variety.

Actually, there were food carts in Sims 2 just not made by EA
Exnem's Sims, who provides some of the most visually appealing custom food during the sims 2 era, made some really cool food carts that sims could actually use. Only problem was that there was no vendor. My favorite was Exnem's pancake food stand. I used it all the time lol

crocobaura: About RH, yes you will still need them to actually go to work, but pretty much everything else can be bypassed by by building the lots the way you like. For example instead of having an arts class, or a logic class, build the lot with the appropriate objects and have the Sim pay the city the class fee (in what ever way you want) and let them use those objects until they have gained the skill points you want them to have.

Also, one nifty point about RH work places is that the lot, and the job, will be connected. In TS2 you can build a police station, or a cinema, or a restaurant, but the lot, and the job will never be connected. At least now in the morning I can see the police officers walk inside the police/prison building, or see the kids and the teacher walk into the school I've built, while at the same time, other Sims or my own playable can continue to utilize the none RH lot as they wish.

Opening up RH jobs, was it either TS2 or TS3 always requires work-arounds. You can't fully open them in either games. You can run a top restaurant in TS2, run a prison on your home lot, but all of it will always be just extra curriculum activities, you will not officially be a chef or a police officer unless you use the RH job.

About Sims acting appropriately in lots, well, what calisims said. Maybe in TS4 Sims will act 100% lot appropriately even thou that would be a bit dull if it means no more random fighting with other Sims.

Jason Greenman has been trying to run a cinema in Pleasentview. I'm using Mootilda's tiny lots because they are cute and tiny, and sure the cinema looks like a cinema but I can't really say it functions as one. Sims can't seem to be able to sit down for 5 continues minutes to watch a movie. They will just jump around seats never settling down. Or sit a minute in one of the theatre rooms, then change seats/rooms and then repeat this for as long as I'm on the lot. Or, they will stand and talk all in the theatre rooms, or if my active Sim is on the lot, then stand in front of her like crazy stalkers waiting for me to cancel the watch interaction so they could talk.

So far my cinema in TS3 has been a much better success. Sims will sit, watch and talk, but the talking they will be doing while sitting and watching so at least their fun goes up. So far most talking while standing interactions have been done in the lobby, not the theatre room.



There were no carts, but there were the "fast food" BV food shacks. I miss mostly about the carts is the ice-cream cart, I still remember how one of my dads took his daughter out for a cone.

I own all EPs/SPs for both TS2 & TS3, and have spent considerable time playing both.
I think the first thing to keep in mind, is that they are completely different games, with totally different syles of play.
Both my TS2 & TS3 games are totally customised so they fit my style of play. I have oodles of CC and mods, and have spent ages exploring the aspects of both games.
But while I love the open neighborhood of TS3, I keep going back to TS2.
I find that I get bored really quickly when playing TS3, and I find it really hard to play a household with more than 1 Sim. I love all the features the EPs have added to the basegame, and love the graphics, lighting ect.
I love the Sims in TS2 better, and the gameplay just holds something a little more for me.

Hi, I prefer Sims 2.

Sims 2 genetics, humour and details are better. :p

I prefer Sims 3 because I can give the women big boobs.