I have been out travelling again to test a new The Sims 3 game. This time it was The Sims 3 Island Paradise, which was scheduled for release in Norway on June 27, 2013. I started the day early, as I usually do for these events: up at 5:30, flight from Gardermoen to Arlanda, then taxi to EA's office. I arrived around 11 and had to wait a few hours, but more people arrived and it turned into a nice day.
We first got a short presentation of how the day would work. Later there was a Skype call with SimGurus about Island Paradise and Dragon Valley, and before that we saw presentations of both. Before I start talking about the game, I want to thank EA and Joyce for a fun day, and Frida for good cooperation, notes, and some of the pictures used in the original article.
This is my impression from the preview version. The build was not final, so bugs and changes before release were expected.
Create a Sim: what is new
I began where most players begin: Create a Sim. Island Paradise did not completely change CAS, but it added a lot of island and resort-flavoured material. There were new clothes for women and men, several new hairstyles, sunglasses, shoes for women, diving equipment, and a new face-paint style. The pack also added two new traits, two lifetime wishes, and a new music taste called Island Life.
The preview build listed the new traits like this:
| Trait | Description |
|---|---|
| Loves to Swim | These Sims are like fish in the sea and feel especially good in the water. |
| Sailor | Sailor Sims love the open sea and prefer spending time on a boat. Their experience with the ocean makes them better at fishing and less likely to become seasick. |
The new lifetime wishes were tied directly to the pack's two largest systems: underwater exploration and resorts.
| Lifetime wish | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Deep Sea Diver | Master the Diving skill and earn 40,000 simoleons by selling treasures from the sea. |
| Resort Empire | Own a five-star resort and collect 40,000 simoleons in resort profit. |
Life in Isla Paradiso
Isla Paradiso was a large world with houseboats, many small islands to discover, resorts, and hidden treasures. When moving in, you could choose between a normal house and a houseboat. There were also waterfront lots where you could build out over the sea and make the property feel like it had its own private beach. You could place boats around the lot too, which made the coastal homes feel much more alive.
The property system had also opened up. A Sim could now own several properties at once, so if you wanted to buy every resort and houseboat in Isla Paradiso, the game allowed that kind of island empire.
Houseboats
Houseboats were one of the biggest additions. You could move directly into one, or buy one as a second property. Building on a houseboat used almost all the normal house-building options, but the pack also added compact objects that made sense for living at sea, including ladders and a combined toilet, shower, and sink.
To move a houseboat, you clicked on the water and told it where to go. There was also a new dashboard object in Build/Buy that Sims used to steer the boat. The sea was not just decorative, either: Sims could become seasick if they spent too much time travelling on open water.
A houseboat could also be used as a community lot. That meant you could build a restaurant, laundromat, or even a resort on a floating lot, but only the owner could move it around. The idea of a restaurant or hotel drifting around the ocean was one of the most exciting building possibilities in the preview.
Resorts
Resorts were another major system. They reminded me of the businesses from The Sims 2 Open for Business and the vacation feel of Bon Voyage. A Sim could check into a resort as a guest or own one themselves. To buy one, you could use the phone, go through real estate, and purchase an extra lot. You could also buy an empty lot and convert it into a resort, or discover an island and turn the whole island into your perfect resort paradise.
The system looked advanced, but still understandable. The more activities, services, and useful facilities you added, the better the resort became. The rating could also fall if the place was dirty or if objects did not work, so hiring employees to maintain the property mattered.
The resort desk and map view opened useful management panels. One panel showed what guests thought of the resort, the resort image, star rating, description, name, customer comments, and individual guest ratings. The comments were especially useful because guests told you what worked and what needed improvement. Another panel showed the finances: guest capacity, current guests, income, expenses, and which services were costing money. From there you could cut, downgrade, or upgrade services.
Diving
For the first time in The Sims, Sims could dive below the surface and explore a new underwater world. Diving was exclusive to Isla Paradiso and came with its own skill. A Sim started by snorkelling at the surface, and real underwater diving opened at level 5.
The world had four dive lots. These were the places where Sims could actually go underwater. In the preview build it was not possible to create new dive lots normally, but you could edit existing ones with cheats. The SimGurus explained that dive lots could not simply be placed in every world because the water in older worlds was not deep enough. It would be interesting to see what world builders managed to do with that limitation.
Underwater, the game felt like a new space rather than a normal lot with a blue filter. There were bright colours, details, new fish, sharks, and treasure chests with rewards if you were lucky. There were also underwater caves. Sims could swim into them, but had to watch out for the giant octopus. Some caves could even lead to hidden islands.
You also had to pay attention to oxygen. If a Sim stayed underwater too long, they could die. The warning icon told you when the Sim needed air, and it was not something to ignore. If a Sim died underwater, Grim came down below the surface and the ghost was blue. Even the gravestone stayed on the ocean floor.
Final impression
This was a shorter preview than some of the earlier Stockholm reports, but the systems were strong: houseboats made the world feel movable, resorts gave players a management loop, and diving made Isla Paradiso feel different from every previous The Sims 3 world. Island Paradise looked like a pack built around actually living with the ocean, not just visiting a beach.