# Any Sims 3 fans?



## Annie (May 28, 2009)

Well, I'm definitely enjoying June right now. With the Kindle DX coming out in 9 days, and the Sims 3 coming out tomorrow - I'm in a pretty good mood. Any other Sims fans out there?

I've been waiting for the Sims 3 to come out for about a year. I was not very happy when they postponed the release date to June, when it was supposed to come out in February. Ah, well. The long wait better have been worth it.


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

God yes!

Though according to Amazon my copy doesn't ship until June 8th  I pre-ordered the second it was available on their site.  (I got the collector's edition.)  

I love playing.  I have two neighborhoods.  The first one is Sunnydale, where every character is someone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (aging turned off).  The second one is my Scottish farming community that has turned rather wealthy.  I'm in the fourth generation (fifth is on it's way) of McGreggors, MacKeans, McCulloughs, and Abercrombies, lots of redheads running around and having fun digging up realistic names and building houses that fit.  They've got a great town square and a Scottish church with graveyard.  I've got families worth anywhere from 1/2 million to 1.5 million.  I'm not using money cheats, but while great-grandpa was poor, by now the family farm is paid off and a fat nest egg is in the bank.  

Lara Amber


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Yep.

I'm going to have to remove 2 to make room for 3.

But I'm excited to see if the characters are really as unique and complex as hyped.


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## Lynn (Nov 4, 2008)

I love playing Sims, but do not do it often because I end up staying up too late! When Sims 3 gets here it will be hard to decide -Sims or Kindleboards . 

I like building houses a lot and tend to use money cheats because I'm just not patient enough 

Lynn L


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I never understand why these things are called cheats. It's open-ended game play. Some people like to build. Some like to make everybody start stupid and poor, and other people like to create a community with poor, middle-class, and rich -- and the only way to do it is to give some households  more money than others. 

When I first started with 2, of course I did the whole family with no skills and little money thing, but it seems to me that if you make families, they should have different skills and assets so that you can imagine they have a past. 

I had the Reeds -- they were very much the perfect family, at least at the beginning.  The mother was a cooking, cleaning SAHM, and I gave her the starting skills to be that. The Ivy family was about education, so the parents started out with lots of logic (Sophia and Jason), and the kids focused on that -- Yale, Harvard, Athena, and Socrates.


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## Shadowraven (May 7, 2009)

Oh man, I haven't played in years, like REALLY played.  I've loved ALL forms of the Sims and sim games (I even had Sim Tower!).  I've only seen Sim 3 print advertisements, haven't even looked into this new version.  I'm a house-builder though, loving to build my dreams


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## kevin63 (Feb 10, 2009)

I have to say I never understood how to play those Sims games.  It must be me, but I never got it.


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## Lynn (Nov 4, 2008)

Kevin- I have only really played Sims, never really could get into Sim City  and the others. I think I just like messing with these people's lives . 
It's amazing how the game has evolved. In Sims 1 I know I spent way to much time micromanaging my families, now at least they are pretty good about going to the bathroom and feeding themselves! With Sims 3 your Sims can actually leave their own lot and wander the neighborhood- should be cool. Just got my notice from Amazon saying my game shipped- should be here tomorrow. I also got the collector's edition

Lynn L


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## Annie (May 28, 2009)

LaraAmber said:


> God yes!
> 
> Though according to Amazon my copy doesn't ship until June 8th I pre-ordered the second it was available on their site. (I got the collector's edition.)
> 
> ...


I originally preordered mine back in December, but decided this week that I would just preorder it from Best Buy, and pick it up this tomorrow. So, now I get it on the release date, and I canceled my original order from Amazon. 

I have also created families based off stuff - such as Twilight. I know, I know what everyone's thinking on that. It's my guilty pleasure.

I also do not use money cheats. It's fun to try to build money, instead of having an infinite amount of it.



kevin63 said:


> I have to say I never understood how to play those Sims games. It must be me, but I never got it.


You really have to get into the whole simulation and RPG type thing. Which is what I loved about the Sims. You can run someone else's life basically. It's so entertaining, and can amuse me for hours. Though, it does get boring. Then eventually, I'll stop, but sometime later, I'll hop right back into it. I go through phases, just like everyone else does with different things.



Shadowraven said:


> Oh man, I haven't played in years, like REALLY played. I've loved ALL forms of the Sims and sim games (I even had Sim Tower!). I've only seen Sim 3 print advertisements, haven't even looked into this new version. I'm a house-builder though, loving to build my dreams


I was definitely one to try to build houses as fast as I could, so I could get right into the gameplay. Normally, I just add stuff as I go, and it ends up looking cluttered. *sigh* I just don't have much patience. But since Sims 3 is coming out with a ton of new building tools, I think I'll be messing around with it.



MichelleR said:


> Yep.
> 
> I'm going to have to remove 2 to make room for 3.
> 
> But I'm excited to see if the characters are really as unique and complex as hyped.


I made room for it as soon as I heard about it, but then it got postponed! So, I went without Sims for a long period of time. I can't wait!


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

It appeals to the storywriter in me. (Since I don't have the energy to say, sit my butt down and write!)

Example:

Jasmine McCullough is a romance Sim. She went off the college and went to the same wealthy fraternity as my other sims, after college she moved to my Scottish neighborhood with two girlfriends who quickly got married and moved out. In college she had one boyfriend, the school mascot, and was really into music. She wanted to be a rock star. She was too busy in school trying to catch up with everyone else to really go crazy, so after college she went a little overboard. Even though she was still occasionally seeing the mascot, she started dating other men, including hooking up with one of her college professors. So now she has five lovers while busily pursuing her music career. She's finally made it in her career, and boom, she's knocked up by one of her boyfriends. He wants to marry her (family Sim) and while she occasionally thinks life would be simpler, she's got commitment issues. Especially since the men she's _really_ attracted to are all married to her best female friends, and she does have some morals. So a single mother she remains. Though now she has to make sure both her son's father and her son don't find out about the other men in her life. A little difficult with Daddy stopping by unannounced all the time. So she has to juggle 5 lovers (some of which are providing financial support), a baby, and still working on making ends meet in a neighborhood out of her price range while her career takes off.

Between the storylines and the getting to build neat houses, what's not to love? Plus you can mix in paranormal elements while you play house (aliens, vampires, werewolves, witches, plant people, robots).

Lara Amber


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

My oldest daughter and I love Sims 2. The only problem is that we both lose track of time and get way too wrapped up in it. School and house work don't get done by either of us...I have all the expansion packs.

It doesn't get played much anymore. Too many other things to do.


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

Hells yes!

I've been waiting very.... very.... very very very patiently... And now there's only 2 more days to go for us here in Australia. Yay!

The fact that it's going to be a hybrid disc for both PC and Mac is very awesome. Most developers don't care too much for us Mac users (though there likely is a huge chunk of Sims lovers who use Macs). I'm curious to know if they've just relied on emulation for Mac, though (as they did with Spore). If it runs better in Windows, I'll just play on my XP partition on my iMac, no big deal. It would be nice to have it run natively in OSX though.

We should all probably start coming to terms with the fact that it's going to be a huuuuuuge time-waster for all of us. Haha. I can spend HOURS playing the Sims, non-stop. I hope my Kindle won't feel too abandoned.


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## Annie (May 28, 2009)

reemixx said:


> Hells yes!
> 
> I've been waiting very.... very.... very very very patiently... And now there's only 2 more days to go for us here in Australia. Yay!
> 
> ...


Haha. I haven't even gotten my Kindle DX, and I have a feeling that it'll feel abandoned after it has lost its newness to me. Until the Decalgirl skins arrive, and I'll get all hyped up again. But then again there are 9 days apart from when I will get them. So, maybe I'll get bored of the Sims 3 too soon. Who knows?



luvmy4brats said:


> My oldest daughter and I love Sims 2. The only problem is that we both lose track of time and get way too wrapped up in it. School and house work don't get done by either of us...I have all the expansion packs.
> 
> It doesn't get played much anymore. Too many other things to do.


I totally agree with you. I'm so glad that it's coming out during summer break. Otherwise none of my schoolwork would of been done.



LaraAmber said:


> It appeals to the storywriter in me. (Since I don't have the energy to say, sit my butt down and write!)
> 
> Example:
> 
> ...


That's a great storyline! I do the same thing you do. It's quite entertaining when you're running the lives of other people. Now that the neighborhoods are seamless, it'll be much more easier to do. I can go all over town and meet people.


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

If anyone is interested, Sims 3 for the iPhone / iPod Touch is now available.

I'm pretty surprised - didn't think it would be released 'til OS 3.0. Not sure if I'll buy it yet; I tend to play iPhone games for all of 5 minutes before becoming bored. But if anyone else buys it, please let me know what you think.


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## klrodrigues (Mar 29, 2009)

oooh, I just love Sims.  I have most of the expasions for 2 & tend to play forever when I play.    I;m not good at the actaul building but I do like the interior decorating.  & tend to use cheats... LOL
  I tend to have a few paranormal families on my block too... makes for interesting game play  

Please let me know what you think of Sims 3.  I am considering buying it but DH is worried about the space to play it... thinks we may need a new PC just for it....


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

klrodrigues said:


> thinks we may need a new PC just for it....


Well, it would definitely be a good reason to buy one!


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

I played the original SIMS game and aftera while I realized how time consuming it was and addicting


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

cheerio said:


> I played the original SIMS game and aftera while I realized how time consuming it was and addicting


Hahaha, The Sims is many things, including time-consuming and addictive. It's almost as addictive as an MMORPG, and that's reeeaaally saying something. But that's all part of it's charm. It's just *that* type of game. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

There's only about 9 hours 'til I'll have a copy of Sims 3 in my hot little hands. I can't wait! With all the E3 stuff that's been announced, I'm so pumped to play a brand new game right now. Yeah, I'm a dork.


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## Annie (May 28, 2009)

Have you heard all the problems with the game? I'm one of those people. Whenever I launch the game, the no disc in drive message comes up. I have succumb to downloading the digital version, in hopes of playing it sometime soon. It's still downloading, and it's taking 11 HOURS. I'm was so angry yesterday. I just don't have the strength anymore to care. I just want the game to work. One more hour to go... I pray that it works. I waited so long for this game to come out and it doesn't even work. I'm jealous of those who just popped it in, and worked magically for them.


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

Yeah... I've heard about all the problems, but haven't looked into it in-depth yet 'cause I won't have the game until tonight. If it was me, I'd probably try creating a disc image of the DVD and mounting it using daemon-tools or something similar (assuming you're on a Windows machine). Have you tried that? I've had this happen with previous games, but that usually solved the problem for me. Though, if you're downloading a digital copy, I'm pretty sure that will work just fine.

It's a pain when stuff like this happens, though. And the worst part is, the game publishers (I'm looking at you, EA) usually don't care.


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

I saw a commercial for this game on t.v and was very curious. 

If it's not to complicated can someone give me a general idea of what this is about and what you have to do? I think I kinda get it but not fully. Also do you NEED to play previous versions or if I wanted could I start out with Sims3 if I get a good grasp of it off of you guys?


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> I saw a commercial for this game on t.v and was very curious.
> 
> If it's not to complicated can someone give me a general idea of what this is about and what you have to do? I think I kinda get it but not fully. Also do you NEED to play previous versions or if I wanted could I start out with Sims3 if I get a good grasp of it off of you guys?


You don't need to play previous The Sims games at all. Each release has pretty much just been an advancement of the game, making it better, more realistic, more interactive, etc. Underneath, it's the same game.

I'm quite sure what you *think* it's about is exactly what it's about.

In a nutshell, it's a simulation of life. You create your Sims and lead them through life. They have their own personalities, and the third and most recent iteration of this game lets you really customise how your Sims act. They have jobs and partners and hobbies and interests. They can go shopping or partying. They eat, drink and go to the bathroom. They're basically us - inside a computer screen.

It actually sounds really dull when you describe the game like that. It's not though. It's fun and addictive!


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## Annie (May 28, 2009)

Reemix, it finally finished downloading the digital version! And it WORKS! I didn't get to play it last night though because it was about 1 in the morning, so I went to bed. Now, I'm gonna go play it.

By the way, I had sent an e-mail to EA, and all they said was to check my system requirements. Nevertheless, I was livid. I'm not gonna worry about it right now. When they fix the stuff, I'll download the patches, but for now. I'm going to enjoy myself. Afterall, I waited nearly a year for this.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Sims 1 was very basic. Your Sims were morons and you had to direct them to do the most basic things. There was no aging -- except a baby would grow to a child. You would get a call on the phone from the stork and ask if you wanted a baby. 

Sims 1 sims were pretty much trapped in their homes until later expansion packs -- they could invite friends over. but even when it became possible for them to go to the park, it wasn't worth it. Even if you had an okay computer, it would take minutes for the park to load. The car for work whisked them away  and brought them back. 

Sims 2 was a huge improvement. Sims could age. Discretely, if humorously, make babies or just practice. There were now genetics. There were character traits to make your sims unique, too, and social interactions became much more complex. There were more items for entertainment, and your sim could go to college. The pets could also propagate. There was a reason to go places, and if the weight time was still long, the world was more detailed and there were goals to be met. More free will! They'd still do dum stuff but could usually be counted on to stay alive and meet basic needs. 

Both versions still relied on Sims invited friends over, rather than going to visit them. Also, even though they now had more personality traits, they still were all a little alike. Most of the differences was your brain making up stories, ascribing motives, and forcing the characters to do what fits the story.

Also, even though there was aging, it only happened on the lot/household you were playing. Which means you had to play all the homes so that grandparents didn't end up younger than their grand kids. And the NPC -- sims you couldn't play -- never aged. So, you'd have a little kid calling and stalking the great grandchild of your original character. Expansion packs helped mitigate some  of this, but  the underlying problem was there. 

Okay, Sims 3. 

Less load times. Characters can choose to go to a variety of places of a friend's house -- which is new -- or can opt to explore the world without the game having to reload it. Also, traditionally, if someone went anywhere other than work, life at their house froze, and they would return to find the rest of their family  frozen there and that time had  rolled back to when they'd  left. Now, you can send a character to work, a character to a class, and  another over to see a friend and easily flit between them. Now, even though you can't go into some of gthe buildings in town, you can still control what they do. Pretty seamless.

Everybody ages and lives, so you can go to a friend's house and find people have died, babies have been born. Of course, this might not be good if  you're a control freak. 

Lots more personality traits and complex conversations.  Including being a Never Nude -- someone was a fan of Arrested Development.

A lot of people play to design houses items and characters. It's now easier than ever. In the first versions  you had a limited amount of items and colors and things in homes never matched. They've now opened it up to where you can recolor and texture pretty much anything. 

Anyhow, lots more stuff, and I'm liking this new version.


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## Sweety18 (Feb 14, 2009)

I was a fan back in the days of the first game but haven't played it for years now.  I might start playing the new one and it looks pretty good


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

Annie said:


> Reemix, it finally finished downloading the digital version! And it WORKS! I didn't get to play it last night though because it was about 1 in the morning, so I went to bed. Now, I'm gonna go play it.
> 
> By the way, I had sent an e-mail to EA, and all they said was to check my system requirements. Nevertheless, I was livid. I'm not gonna worry about it right now. When they fix the stuff, I'll download the patches, but for now. I'm going to enjoy myself. Afterall, I waited nearly a year for this.


Awesome. I'm so glad for you. 

I got my copy last night too, and it installed fine. My girlfriend's copy did also. Nevertheless, I've looked at the Sims 3 forums and it's swarming with people who have problems, mostly the disc authentication error. Some people have, like you, downloaded the digital copy and STILL have the problem. I feel pretty sad for them. I know I'd be pretty damn frustrated if I bought a game and couldn't even get it to run. A few bugs are to be expected, but an issue like that is almost inexcusable if they'd done proper testing. And it's not the first time something like this has happened with an EA game, either.

Anyway, glad it's working for you. Enjoy!


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> .
> 
> Okay, Sims 3.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the detailed description. I thought alot of that type of stuff was the general idea for the game but I didn't know there were SO many details to controlling the characters.

My new question is, and im sorry for hi-jacking the thread with all of my questions, but can you ruin someones life? Is there a way to wreck the city? What if you don't organize anything properly? Does the city and the people just deteriorate and run down and fall apart?

Like what is the goal to the game? Is there ever an end to it? Or do you just try to keep maintaining and bettering your people and city?


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## kindlevixen (Jan 13, 2009)

I am a fan, I loved the Sims Online and we have played Sims 2 for years.  I am liking 3 tho I think the speed up option is slower than in Sims 2 and its very very annoying.


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> My new question is, and im sorry for hi-jacking the thread with all of my questions, but can you ruin someones life? Is there a way to wreck the city? What if you don't organize anything properly? Does the city and the people just deteriorate and run down and fall apart?
> 
> Like what is the goal to the game? Is there ever an end to it? Or do you just try to keep maintaining and bettering your people and city?


Yes you can ruin Sims' lives, no you can't 'wreck' the city, I don't understand your question, no it's not like Sim City where your town can deteriorate, there are many goals depending on the lives of your Sims, no there's no end, and I think you're thinking there's more focus on the town of your Sims rather than the lives of your Sims. That's why it's called 'The Sims'. They're people. You control their lives. That's what it's about.

Wikipedia is your friend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_3

Better yet, there's plenty of reviews on the web already. They sure get 'em out fast these days.



patchymama said:


> I am a fan, I loved the Sims Online and we have played Sims 2 for years. I am liking 3 tho I think the speed up option is slower than in Sims 2 and its very very annoying.


Completely agree with ya. They take bloody ages to sleep and go to work! Folks have been complaining about this on the official boards, too. Hopefully this will be fixed with a patch (as well as countless other 'bugs').


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## Sanveann (May 16, 2009)

I really really want "Sims 3," but I know it will positively take over my life, so I'm holding off for now. *Sniff*


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> Thank you for the detailed description. I thought alot of that type of stuff was the general idea for the game but I didn't know there were SO many details to controlling the characters.
> 
> My new question is, and im sorry for hi-jacking the thread with all of my questions, but can you ruin someones life? Is there a way to wreck the city? What if you don't organize anything properly? Does the city and the people just deteriorate and run down and fall apart?
> 
> Like what is the goal to the game? Is there ever an end to it? Or do you just try to keep maintaining and bettering your people and city?


Yep, you can wreck the lives of the Sims you control. In Sims 2, you could tell how a Sim died by the color of their ghost. 

The standard version was to remove the pool ladder, but there doesn't seem to be one this time around. A pool ladder, I mean. You can starve them, and poison them, and kill them by meteor or swarm of flies. Except for babies -- a social worker will save them.  S2 had a people eating plant.

You can get 'em fired, and ruined their marriage, and get them caught cheating. They might do that anyhow, what with free will. You can trash their houses...

It's open-ended -- some people like to design houses, some like to use their sims to tell stories (film or photos), and some have goals. Some Sims 2 players use rules to create challenges -- starting characters on a small lot with nothing but the basics and seeing how many generations it takes to create wealth. But there's never a point where you win or the game's over.

Sims have the basic needs you would expect and that they need filled -- the same minimum needs humans have, and based on Mas low's hierarchy of needs. Beyond that, based on their lives and personalities, they have other wants,. The more you keep them happy, the more the game rewards you.

I usually try to make them happy. You get strangely attached.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

I have been a Sims fan since the early days of The Sims 1 and still have all of my games.  I really want to get the game, but the only thing I could play it on is my laptop and I'm not sure if I my graphics card is compatible. EA hasn't responded to my query.  

Anyone have it and love it?


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm a total nerd, so I bought it the first day it was out. The stupid thing kept crashing on my PC, so I loaded in my laptop and it works fine.

And, yes, I love it. I spend WAY too much time designing outfits and furniture, though.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

rjkeller said:


> I'm a total nerd, so I bought it the first day it was out. The stupid thing kept crashing on my PC, so I loaded in my laptop and it works fine.
> 
> And, yes, I love it. I spend WAY too much time designing outfits and furniture, though.


Do you mind sharing your laptop specs? Graphics card?


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## zephyrs (Jun 6, 2009)

I am still on the fence about buying it or not.  I wasn't going to but a friend at work keeps talking about it and it's making me want to play. lol


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

MichelleR said:


> Yep, you can wreck the lives of the Sims you control. In Sims 2, you could tell how a Sim died by the color of their ghost.
> 
> The standard version was to remove the pool ladder, but there doesn't seem to be one this time around. A pool ladder, I mean.


There is a ladder. Just no diving board this time. I skipped S2, but had/have all expansions for S1. 
Your Sims can die of old age (my first girl already did) Then I found out under options how to make them live either without aging at all, or make them age VERY slowly and/or live a loooooooooooong time. The two I have going right now had a baby, and she has been a baby for a while now. Sims 1 they stayed in baby level for 3 game-days, this has been closer to a month so far.
I don't like the inability to run multiple families in the same town at the same time. I liked having 4 or 5 sets of people whom I could have interract. and I miss the ability to build a new place for my Sims once they are ingame and living their lives, though I have not tried having them move yet, so maybe if I do that, it will let me build while they wait at the new address.


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## reemixx (May 12, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> I don't like the inability to run multiple families in the same town at the same time. I liked having 4 or 5 sets of people whom I could have interract. and I miss the ability to build a new place for my Sims once they are ingame and living their lives, though I have not tried having them move yet, so maybe if I do that, it will let me build while they wait at the new address.


You can still do this. You can have as many families at once as you like. Just go to 'Edit Town', and from there you can create new Sims, move them into or out of houses, etc. Then click on 'Change Active Household' and you can switch between Sim families. The only down side is that you lose your current active household's Wishes that you've locked into place. No big deal, though. You can easily get them back as you play.

You can also toggle the ability for Sims to carry out their own lives in other households and everywhere else in your town while you play your active household. If you don't want your Sims in another household to enter/exit relationships, move up the ladder in their job, etc, while you play a DIFFERENT household, you can just turn this off. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's somewhere in settings.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Cool to know. I will look at this when I get home today.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Jesslyn said:


> Do you mind sharing your laptop specs? Graphics card?


I know this is horrible, but I honestly don't know. I'll ask my hubby when he gets home and let you know. (He can't surf the web, I can't figure out megs and rams and stuff. We make a good team.  )


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