All right I KNOW this question has to have been asked before but I can't seem to find it?

Was wondering if you guys could explain the main pro's and cons of sims 3. I would LOVE to buy it simply out of curiousity however curiousity left me royally dissapointed with some sims 2 ep's.

I don't actually play the game...with the sims I mean (unless I am playtesting). I only build.
When I was browsing the sims 3 sec here on mts really it just looked like the graphics of sims 3 where a little brighter....and there was some new (not "wow "new either) objects.

What are the differences (for a builder) in the sims 3 compared to sims 2?

If I am still happy as a pig in mud with building on sims 2...is it worth it to get sims 3?

Thank you for you time and opinions. It is MUCH appreciated.

Last edited by motheranne : 10th Jun 2010 at 04:06 PM.

Now you can center items and rotate objects, there's a bunch of cool new things and it really makes building a lot easier. So if you only build I would reccomend getting it on Amazon or Ebay for half the price.

Well the actual house building hasn't come a long way since sims 2, but in terms of interiors it's far better, there's no more unmatched colours either with the create a style

I would say that building is definitely improved with TS3. CASt makes interior design so much better because you can apply any pattern in any colour to pretty much anything. There is a proper basement tool. You don't have to use cheats to place objects at any angle or anywhere on the grid (and all objects function at any angle and place unlike TS2). Everything looks better and brighter and more realistic.

If all you do is build I say go for TS3. Take a look at the residential lots in the download sections to get an idea of the difference in appearance between TS2 and TS3.

No more separate mesh and texture files. Keeping track of these files in Sims 2 was a nightmare. Remember in Sims 2, files always had those goofy numerical names which makes it impossible to find? And if you don't have both the mesh and the texture, things don't show up? And you have to have a different texture file for every pattern for every item? All that is gone in Sims 3.

But what I don't understand is why you won't play? I mean, how can you design houses (and worse yet upload them) if you don't understand how the game uses them? Or what the people who play the game really need? The game has a lot of quirks, and unless you play a lot, your homes will be far from ideal.

One thing in the sims is that the sims have these personality traits, and you can build homes to cater to these traits. I recently had fun building a house for environmentally conscious sims. The goal was to make the smallest possible home (it came to a 4x3 square on a 10 x 10 lot) which was loaded with enviornmentally conscious stuff, like windmills and solar panels. It was the most hillarious house I have ever put together. The sim even had enough money left over after buying it, that he could buy a partnership in the grocery (to get them to sell organically grown produce), allowing him to collect 1000 Simoleons a week without working! Try to build such a quirky home in Sims 2

Last edited by tjstreak : 10th Jun 2010 at 03:55 PM.

If you like to build, Sims 3 is awesome. You can angle furniture and windows without a cheat, and doors can finally be centered so they don't look cockeyed when you have a long porch. You can place anything just about anywhere you want, which is wonderful.

I think the Sims have more personality with all the different traits. You can mix it up and make Sims be pretty much any way you want them to be. There appearance is much more customizable as well, they can be fat, skinny, muscular, you name it. You can change bits and pieces of their hair color more easily as well.

With the patterns, you can change the appearance of almost everything. Want a plaid kitchen? you can have one. You can take a basic couch and make it look any way you want it too.

I'd say customization makes it much more different than TS2. Not necessarily better, just different.

I guess I should have stated I DID play...when I first got it...but got real bored. It is not really my kind of game to play and "win"..but I LOVE to build.
As well, I do play test. So I guess I can't say I NEVER play...lol. I'll play and use all objects, ect....but not for getting my sim ahead in life...just to make sure other sims don't throw a spazz attack when they can't use something.
which I don't know why people get annoyed with...I think it is funny.

Well, there you have it!

Sims 3 came out a year ago, and I have been playing it constantly. (I am pretty much homebound, caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimers.) I really have not gotten bored with the game. When I get tired of gameplay, I start making stuff (usually slutty clothes for my slutty sims!) I have never played a game which has kept me so captivated.

If you like building, Sims 3 now has an architect career where your sims can now go around town and fix up all of those awful EA homes! So not only can you build, but you can do it in game.

There is no "winning" in the Sims games whether you are talking Sims 1, 2, or 3, so if you are looking for the type of game you can "win" than the Sims franchise is not for you in any format.

Build mode has advantages and disadvantages compared to Ts2, while the ability to center objects with snapobjectstogrid is great, and CAST is wonderful, there are still some things lacking such as regular non modular stairs, interior foundation, etc that we had by the end of TS2, but those things will come with time.