Can somebody please tell me where to find the save file for Hanogi Port, as so far I have the world and a chumchuja building but am going round in circles clicking on links trying to find the save file. Thanks for help.

I'm going to add some mini-reviews for the worlds I've tested, from the perspective of someone looking for a place to settle in for a longer game. Playability is my prime concern. Aesthetics are part of this in terms of the world being somewhat believable and/or awe-inspiring.

Recommendations

Niua Simoa (kiwi tea, MTS): Gorgeous Atoll island, Medium size, good assortment of empty medium lots, but only room for 1-3 64x64 lots and perhaps 5 or so 40x40's (for those interested in skyscrapers). A very cute and functional downtown that has some room for moving in small late night venues: 20x10 and smaller, except in certain areas like the beachfront. If you download the available sims to add to the world, they are very Polynesian and interesting. A really nice world for medium-level computers and a medium level population (80 or so non-service sims would fit easily). My one beef is that there is extensive use of several residential lots downtown that are rather unfinished or routing-challenged internally. These are easily replaced though.

Riverblossom Hills (kiwi tea, MTS) Late Night ready version of the TS2 world, this town is quite unlike the original. Its a large world with quite a variety of architecture and lots. It has a rural feel and plenty of room for large expansion. There are effectively 2 downtown areas which, due to it being a large map, makes actually playing it a bit rough because of jumping from one area to the next. The main downtown core is again, cute, but is almost too realistic in the sense that there is an element of randomness to the housing choices and available park space. If you like a single central core to your town this probably isn't it. But if you like variety and options, RBH is going to be a standout as one of the most interesting and varied worlds around. The sims that come with the world are amazingly interesting. They are not beauty queens, but are so compelling in their own way that you'll want to play them instead of your own sims.
I found that my medium-level machine struggled a bit with the immensity of the world. The nice thing is that there are plenty of rural areas to set up a household that will keep the processor load down somewhat. It would be easy to talk about the interesting features of this world for a long time. Loading and playing it is easier though.
There is fog. I hate fog. I like the way it looks, but I don't like it creepin' in my houses. If I want fog I'll place the spawner on my lots, thank you very not! I don't think this'll bother most people though.

Palm Island (Ouerbacker, Exchange)
This is another medium sized world. The geographical features are nowhere near the beauty of Niua Simoa, however the town is still quite interesting and playable. Like Niua Simoa, there isn't a whole lot of room to expand for skyscrapers. There is though, a goodly amount of snap-to-road flat space for placing housing or smaller commercial lots. The snap-to-road aspect of Palm Island's roads shouldn't be underestimated. This should minimize processor slowdown from routing issues caused by houses being placed off-road. On the other hand, it makes re-sizing lots a bit difficult because of how CAW-induced roadside elements block lot placement.
But as to the town, very playable and a bit more residential-friendly than Niua Simoa, especially if you use the default lots.

Redcliffs (Sarah, Awesims)

Wow.

Now this is a playable town if there ever were one. Seriously, this is what I would have hoped EA would come up with instead of things like Barnacle Bay, Twinbrook, Sunset Valley, etc.. Reasons why it is largely an improvement over EA towns:

1. Bigger, plenty of room for expansion and already has separate neighborhood areas which can obviate the urge to move to a new town. None of the EA towns have enough large flat areas, which is just stupid.

2. A real downtown core with some sense of it anchoring the town, and plenty of interesting buildings and parks.

3. 887% better residential architecture than has ever appeared in an EA product.

4. Less pudding-faced townies (but this is true for most of these worlds to be fair).

My overly-critical pet peeves with this town are:

1. Local residents are not uniformly awesome. There are some genetically neutral types that are not very compelling, IMO. But I have the snobby trait, so.... Still, Kiwi Tea manages to populate with uniformly interesting sims, so it is possible.

2. The downtown is begging for a large park at the center, but it's too crowded with lots on unusually shaped plots to change (64x30 anyone?). I personally really like having 1 or 2 large parks in the center of town for playability. There are some medium parks around, but they surround the town center rather than being the town center. Just a personal preference.

3. The Late Night version of this town and accompanying save game have a goodly amount of CC that is recommended. I only installed the "You must install these sidewalk textures" package because CC is just annoying with its way of expanding beyond control and reducing load times. That said, I've had no problems playing with this CC-mostly-free version, so that's cool.

Geography: The layout is neigh-on perfect for TS3. Big, but centralized with branches (other neighborhood to the West, large rural area to the East). The actual 'Red Cliffs' themselves I find ugly, but again, I'm a snob. I wish there were more gorgeous large beaches, but at least there are plenty of small beaches. Also, I'm concerned that routing is enabled on some of the high hills near town. I sure hope Sims don't go get themselves stuck up there (Bridgeport anyone?).

Residential Housing: ZOMG. Some of the best I've seen, especially in the save-game uploaded. Some of the larger houses need some buy-mode help to be functional, but the architectural bones are just about perfect for playability and aesthetics. A combination rarely achieved. I have not had time to play this world extensively enough to make certain the small houses also play well. But I have checked them out in Edit Town and I sure hope they play well because they are amazing to look at. Really clever stuff.

Commercial Lots: Again, best I've seen in terms of originality and architectural ambition, though I've yet to really check them all out. The few I've looked at are quite inspiring to the builder. The town center has a definite aesthetic that is far from bland. There is no sense that someone just plopped a bunch of random buildings around. It is a unified whole, yet each building is unique. Again, a seemingly rare combination of qualities in a custom world.

Moon Base Delta (Rflong7, Exhange)

I've only poked around here a bit, but WOW. Such character and a great layout. The Sims I checked out were very cute too, which is always a plus when starting cold on a new world. The layout of both residential and commercial looks very promising in terms of play-ability. Vast flat areas as well. These are big plusses in my book. ++!

The use of the Butterfly Dome for residential is cool, but I'm not sure how happy I'd be actually playing that way. The dome interferes with entry/exit, and with build/buy unless you zoom inside the dome proper. I guess that you'd just get used to it (shrug).

Will need to do more playtesting to be fair to this world. Honestly its a bit overwhelming as it will be a struggle to keep the architectural theme of the world going without some long and thoughtful hours in build-mode. That's fine, but a bit daunting after getting used to placing houses from the housing bin that have been created and collected over time to make playability/aesthetic adjustments to Earthen towns and cities.

Oakwood City (admin, Sims3Town)

Here's one that hasn't yet been mentioned. This is a great alternative to Bridgeport and is well worth the download. I think that's all that really needs be said: Bridgeport Ultra

More lots, more flat areas, better general architecture. BIG.

I played this for a good bit of time and liked it. There is still something a bit bland about the town overall though. I think it's the interior-empty huge mansions. Its almost too empty around the suburbs. This world would be perfect for a massive population (if your machine handles that well) because of the extensive buildable land and multiple Rabbitholes thoughtfully placed.

Builder's Island (armiel, MTS)
Use it all the time, whether its running a quick CAS session to adjust some sims, or building in peace. Fast loading isn't to be underestimated! Obviously not for playing. Its a great tool.
Cheers:

Other Worlds

Montego Bay: I haven't played much in this world as the geography put me off from getting involved.

Sand Key: I find this world to be a bit too flat and bland for my taste. I do think that this could be a positive though; Perhaps a young kid playing without the complications of hills or possibly a good world for a low-end machine that struggles rendering lots of landscape features.

Barnacle Bay: Great parks (though oddly urban in downtown, considering), decent housing, but hardly any room for large Late Night lots. Typically EA townies. Still, there is something very lovable about the intention of the town, if not the implementation. There are a couple very playable residential houses which makes me remember that this town had a different design team, if I remember correctly?

Riverview: Riverblossom hills is what this should have been. Still, many people have found it to be adorable. Personally that downtown island really irks me. There is no such thing as a 'mini-Manhattan' that I've ever seen in the real world. Plus, that thing is too small to make the most of Late Night without extensive reorganization of the whole town.

Twinbrook: I guess if you want to play "Swamp Thing" this would work. Personally I loathe the architecture and fog. But I've read some great legacy stories that took place here, so clearly it has a lovable quality for some.

Sunset Valley: Architectural hodgepodge. Lack of lot space. Nice geography though. Obviously this is the town that got most of us to keep playing, but it's no Strangetown is it?

Bridgeport: Great Downtown core. Really poor suburbia. Routing issues. Thoughtless use of the elevator throughout. Forget elevators, except for the occasional woohoo. There is (was?) a mod to reduce elevator cluster**** but I'm not certain it's been updated. The town is worth playing just for the inspiration of a 'real' downtown though. And if the routing doesn't bother you it is quite playable and compact otherwise.

Notes: Thanks richdre for the feedback.

@Borsco - I don't think it comes with a save file - I only downloaded the world.

Ha. I tracked them down straight after they were mentioned on this thread .
I'm loving the arched Hanogi tunnel that goes over the road. That is pure innovation. I'ts a shame I can't plop that down in my current hood, cause its totally unique.

Anyone thought of remaking Twin Peaks? I would download that for sure!

Keep running into the same problem. I download a nice custom world (LA) or try the Late Night city (Bridgeport) and get stuck because there's nothing left to develop for myself or there's not even any space left to build homes (I hate moving into existing buildings). I get a feeling these cities are focused too much on the social micromanaging of the Sims. Can someone recommend a custom world with enough features and Sims supporting Late Night, but with room aplenty to do some development of my own?

There's a tunnel? Really? Where?

and yes for twin peaks. That would be fun

Most free space of the worlds I've tried:

Oakwood City: Massive
Redcliffs: Plenty
Moon: Plenty enough
Riverblossom Hills: Plenty of Space out in the country, but little snap-to-road space.

Riverblossom Hills has lots of empty lots and uninhabited lots (you can of course bulldoze em if you want em for your own building). And since the built area is largely flat, there's no problem with adding additional lots in World Edit -- plenty of space.

My only issue with this world space-wise is that the existing lots tend to be pretty tiny... just big enough to hold the house on them... which makes it hard to expand if your sim's family grows; but that can be recitified by placing a larger lot somewhere and moving the house onto it.

This bit.

I actually came across La Aniegos last night and it made me want to reinstall the game just to see it haha. Stupid launcher wont update..

[QUOTE=tizerist]This bit.
woah! I believed you -- I just could not find it when I dl the world! I do like that thanks for putting a picture in

I have to say I rather like this world. Though, I found it was best to have at least 2 firehouses, because 1 was inevitably too far from a fire no matter where it was placed, hehe.

Simsville my favorite.
http://ctnutmegger.com/TS3/TS3Worlds.htm
and PleasantView
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=368549
Nostalgy! :lovestruc

I've been playing Coconut Island, Beta 3,which I downloaded from Snooty Sims but is also available on MATY. (an older version is on this site as well) I love it because it is gorgeous,compact,atmospheric and well worked out. No lag ever.
There is a nightlife but it is all thematic to it's tropical atoll vibe: no skyscrapers but plenty of hidden or tropical beach type venues. I suppose a drawback for some could be the lack of school and
many work venues, but it is a great world if you want to immerse yourself in a world where sims live laid back lives and earn money by painting,hair styling,writing,fishing,gardening etc. No roads,thus no vehicles either.
It seems to have been rather thoroughly playtested by the creator and many others. I myself found only one relatively minor architectural oddity which was easily fixed.
(it IS a beta version,but plays more glitch free in my experience than most of the EA created worlds and vacation worlds.) I hope others have as much fun with it as I do.

I forgot Neverglade. That's a great world, it needs some serious update but it's still amazing. It has this... vibe about it.

Ugh the Moon Base one looks amazing. Unfortunately my launcher hasn't worked in months, so I can't have it
I have downloaded the world from the Mediafire link - is there any way to install it without using the launcher, since mine is broken (it just freezes the second I open it)?

I'm only playing on a laptop and most of the ones I come across are WAY too large for me to play comfortably. And the smaller ones are always boring. I haven't come across any good ones yet, sigh!

EDIT
Ok when I clicked on the icon my launcher installed it! Bizarre. Anyhoo, it's Moon Base Delta but it's not populated, is there a save game file anywhere?

I just want give a shout out to everyone who's made a recommendation on this thread. I'm much too lazy to mess with CAW, so I appreciate the hard work of the creators of the worlds mentioned and now in my game

Should be pre-populated if you used the 'click the picture' download. No save required. That's how I remember it unless something has changed?

I think so too -- I remember though, that if you try to install both moonbases, only one will work. You can only have one of them at a time. Maybe you have both?

As of late, I've started playing LA. It's alright. There's no doubt that it's beautiful and perfect for starting small and growing into an empire but my only complaint is that the land is too big. Depending where you life, you might spend four hours out of your day just travelling to and from work/school.

Plus, it also slows down the investigator, personal stylist, firefighter and interior designer careers just because it takes so long to get there LOL

Months ago I saw someone posting on twitter a world that was being made that was like a Miami/Jersey Shore hybrid. Not sure whatever came of it but it sure looked interesting haha

I have been playing LA and I love it to death. Living near LA all my life, i didnt think playing a LA based world would be that fun, since im use to seeing the style of the buildings, the not so green hills, etc. But I was surprised that I actually loved the atmosphere and seeing places I recognized (Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills, Griffith Park, Disneyland lol, etc) The people were all made nicely, everything is decorated so well... I would pay for this world. There isnt that much lag for me either, I get some 2 second freezes sometimes, but nothing that irritates me

I do agree the map is pretty large and I sometimes spot sims walking near a road where there is no town even close, so that sim would spend hours walking even though theres a car in their inventory >_> I have not tried those ambition professions like firefighters, so I wouldnt know how bad that would effect the time.

I would still like to find a smaller world and more focus on a smaller community though!

Ok so I restarted my game and the families are there now. LOL what the hell? Anyhoo ignore me, but thanks for the help!

I had not played any custom worlds until this thread started. It took a while to track down the worlds I wanted to try because EA is so hard to search sometimes. The world search was coming up empty. Thank you all for letting me in on the links to the great ones. I have downloaded Neverglade, LA and the Moonbase. I created a new profile on my computer through Add User and loaded the worlds in the fresh profile. I only downloaded .zip files and files that were allowed through Family Safety by Microsoft Live. I wanted to get an idea of what would be accessable to any user without much trouble. To everyones credit the best were straight from you all and they played well from the start.

To my shame, I cant stop playing LA. Being from the west I know that limits me, but its so good. No one will talk to you and it takes forever to get anywhere. There are strip malls everywhere and the item you want is the furthest one from your lot. There are more bars than business and the housing is really good and too expensive or horrible. Currently LA is the favorite. The yellow fog is so Salt Lake during the inversions (when they are burning the toxic nerve gas in Tooele).

If you are frustrated with loading custom worlds and can stand yellow air LA is a great fit. It is large and you can try Red County if LA loads your system too much. I had a tiny bit of trouble with Red County hanging, so play the larger map, I think it had to do with Late Night.

Liam, Piper and Kim had their house killed by a leveling earthquake and have settled right in to another home, as did the perfect garden. I think I got the unpopulated Moon Base, because the populated one was so large. Its roomy and has tons of prefabbed cool houses and a lot of empty lots. I had a ton of fun putting in base entrances that were the old quarters in the domes and pretending that the houses were showpeices. I have tunnels going everywhere.

The files I got are called Los Aniegos LateNight Edition, the garden is called Caitie_BeautifulVistaGarden_withWA, and the house is "The House That Grant Built". Those should search from Maxis Sims 3 web page and allow you to download the properties. I got Moonbase Charlie II, it was fun and I will play with it again but I want the populated one. The Funkes are getting tired, (or I am tired of them).

I love Redcliffs I don't normally play large worlds but I made an exception for this one. I'm looking for small worlds.. basically a very urban type setting, not a lot of lots for houses, just apartment buildings and brownstones, clubs, dives, shops.... If anyone knows where I can find something like this I'd appreciate the link to it. Thanks so much

I fault all of you! Doggone it, why did you suggest Moon Base Delta? Now I can't sleep until I finish making green, blue, pink, purple simmies and their families. I can't just place them in an existing lot, noooo, I have to build some little quirky, eco friendly, half dug in the moon dust lots, for my new families.

With blood shot eyes and bags under them large enough to pack my lingerie drawer, I must say thank you. I am once again very hooked and interested in playing, letting my imagination run while. Thank you for this suggestion, but yet, I still fault you.

Now I think I will fall asleep! Zzzz!

I haven't tried all the worlds I've seen on this thread yet, but that one is my favorite so far