i've been thinking of what i would like to see if mermaids return (pretty please) for TS4 and wanted to share and hear what ideas other people have.
this isn't a fleshed out plan, just some ideas.
CAS:
1. tails - we should still be able to customize their tails... since we don't have the color wheel, we would have a color palette like with everything else. i think a decent selection of colors and a few patterned tails inspired by different tropical fish would be nice.
2. hair - longer hairstyles! nothing too crazy but a bit longer than what we have now. when i think of mermaid hair i also think of braids + flowers. long hairstyles and beards for mermen too!
3. accessories - lily pad hat, coral crown, pearl/shell jewely, starfish earrings, new tattoos, etc.
4. clothing - seashell bra, starfish bra... (i don't think they should be limited to these like TS3 though)
GAMEPLAY:
1. if we got a large tropical world in a separate EP, a mermaid Game Pack could add a new smaller sized world. i'd love areas where mermaids could lounge about like the lagoon in Peter Pan. maybe something like this secret lot that screams mermaids to me:
2. mermaids living in caverns like the one above. this may be unlikely but i'd love it. they could fish for their food, bathe in a waterfall for their hygiene (or just have hydration like TS3), etc.
3. mermaids themselves would mostly be the same as TS3 (hydration, love seafood, etc)... with a few tweaks. for example no showers. imo they should bathe in a tub with their fin sticking out. (a la Splash, Aquamarine, Charmed...)
4. mermaid children! (and toddlers if we get them)
5. Sea Hag or Sea Witch NPC that can give you legs or a tail!
INTERACTIONS:
1. talking to fish in aquariums or bowls for social needs/goofy animations
2. playing in waterfalls like TS3
3. swim together as a group
4. lounging on rocks
5. serenading sims
6. sims can rub their tails for good luck
7. conch instrument
i'll add more ideas later, i wanna hear you guys' ideas too!
Fairies & real Plantsims please!
Comments
legs on land, tail in the water like TS3.
Well to me Merfolk kind of are like, Werewolves The moon phase and the tides.
According to Ariel on Once Upon a Time, Mermaid Mythology, The Sea Goddess Ursula, Grants her kind with legs on the lowest tide, Merfolk are granted legs for 12 hours, once the 12 hours are up they turn back into a mermaid and return to the sea.
For gameplay purposes, I think, Sims must look for the hidden lot, Underwater and find the Trident stuck in the Stone. the weirder will have power over water, the ocean and storms and the ability to transform into a mermaid/human at will, and turn others into other sea creatures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOt9C0NpHB8
OR
Collect pearls Seashells, and Sea glass, and craft the bracelet. this is from Once Upon a Time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f45vsUaERg
Or craft a Shark tooth Necklace, for male sims and that can give men the ability to turn into a sea creature of player's choice.
My Mood:
but that video with ursula is awesome. the episode that introduced ariel got me to watch the show and that video made me want to watch more. also need her hair and tiara for mermaids.
what about half-mermaid children?
There kind of are and aren't you just get the alien's skin colour but you don't have the abiilty to alter yourself like a full alien would (not sure how alien+half-non-allien married an full alien would produced..
Well the time Limit would give players a reason to use their time wisely and search for collectables or work up to finding the Trident. Earn the ability to walk on land. It's something I'd like to do, not just given the ability. Or maybe 1 day per week...
I don't really like life time rewards, Or I don't think it should be a life time reward. Maybe a skill they can master, and once the skill is mastered they receive the trait. Maybe an Aspiration Bonus Reward... Or is that the Same thing as the Life time rewards. I The Sims 3 is now a blur, Am I confusing things. I think I am.
My Mood:
It wasn't very popular, I don't think, but there was an Australian children's tv show, called "H2O Just Add Water." In the show, mermaids are affected by the full moon and if they look at it or its reflection, they become "moonstruck," unless in the moon pool. This was added clearly for comedic value. Now, for the sims, on a full moon, Merpeople are more powerful. And not only that, but they will want to be in water and will be extremely drawn to the sea. On a full moon, the tides are higher and a mermaid is compelled to swim, and their hydration bar drops a bit faster. But once they've gone for a swim, it fills easily and doesn't drop as quickly.
For powers, if seasons becomes a thing, mermaids can affect the weather. This depends on their emotions:
Happy - Clear the clouds and bring sunshine
Sad - Downpour
Angry - Lightning/Thunderstorm/high winds
Gloomy/Depressed - Fog
Flirty - Sun begins to set slightly earlier, making the sky pinky orange
These weather states can also affect the ocean. So if sims are out sailing and a mermaid is angry, don't sail!
In the fourth film of Pirates of the Caribbean, the mermaid Syrena kisses that Pirate guy and he can breathe underwater. Mersims can give the "kiss of life" to a sim they are romantically involved with or have a high relationship with, enabling them to temporarily breathe underwater without diving equipment.
If it's raining, or a mersim is near a body of water, they a can use water magic. Either freezing sims/objects, soaking things, refilling cups, sinks, etc. Maybe even have water torrent duals with other mer sims to gain skill in Water magic or Mermaid Lore (could be a skill).
Instead of just catching fish like in TS3, maybe they can socialize with them. Maybe add dolphins that mermaids can befriend.
Would be super cool if mermaids could live underwater. Like vampires, they need a specific rest from time to time to replenish energy. Being in water can replenish their energy, the full moon can (it drops at a slower rate), and sleeping on the ocean bed can, too.
Mermaids are also known in mythical lore for their beautiful music. So, maybe add an aquatic instrument only merfolk can play and learn. And they can perform on land or underwater. A harp would be fitting, I think.
To become a mermaid, sims have to find the Pearl of Amphitrite/Poseidon and "observe" it. Once observed, it glows and they become fishy.
I dunno, seems more magical and mysterious than kelp.
And of course, mermaid diet. But this time with actual recipes. They could talk about kelp recipes in TS3, but they couldn't make them. There is a mod for kelp dishes out there, but it messed up my game, so...
You wouldn't have to do it for every Sim There's 1 trident For every save (Unless you cheat and Debug the Trident):
You could simply Put the trident in a more accessible place where all Sims could have access too.
You could also "Ask" the Bearer of the Trident to change you. as long as the Trident in their inventory.
But now that we have vampires... I can't imagine most supernatural creatures not having some sort of Powers and Weakness System
So maybe Mermaid Transformation at will would be a Top Tier power.
My Mood:
(Maybe creating an "air pocket" or "water bubble" that allows your fellow non-mermaid folks along with a mermaid to go underwater, without getting physical contact with the water)
I don't know I think the gurus would be able to find a way to add in mermaids. I don't think mermaids need an open world to work. They could have secret lots where mermaids can gather and swim in the area.
It would be cool to see an under water neighborhood, with a shoreline with one lot above ground. if that doesn't work, you could have a beach. and making all large bodies of water except unconnected ponds intractable. and i believes mermaids have the power to traverse realms/dimensions freely so they could have their underwater neighborhood hidden but only accessible in the menu if you're a sea creature.
My Mood:
Some of my ideas:
-If a mermaid kisses a sim, that sim can temporarily breathe underwater. Mermaids can also bring drowned sims back to life by kissing them (only possible if a sim is busy drowning/near drowning/has already died but Grimmy hasn't reaped sim's soul yet)
-Mermaids can sleep in water (swimming pool, ocean, bath etc: they curl up their tail and float on the water, or sleep in the tub with their tail hanging over the side)
-I love the idea mentioned here of bathing instead of showering. It makes sense, as mermaids can't stand in the shower with their tails and Aquamarine is one of my favourite childhood movies!
-Mermaids have perks and weaknesses, like vampires:
Weaknesses:
>Smells like fish
A.k.a. stinks and gives other sims an uncomfortable buff.
>Can only eat raw kelp and raw fish
>Must be in water by sunset
Pops a tail when the sun sets, thus has to sleep in water, or dehydrate and die.
>Terrified of sharks
Will pass out if sim sees a shark and is more likely to be attacked by one.
Powers:
>Control the weather
Mermaids with this power, can alter the weather like @azareasaquarinus suggested.
>Control the ocean
Can make small waves, bubbles of different glowing colours, summon a whirlpool, summon a storm and tranquilize the ocean (makes it completely flat and calm)
>Friend of the ocean
Can talk to all sea animals, fish and sea plants, can ask oysters for pearls, can bring mounted fish back to life, can summon any type of saltwater fish and can order sharks to attack sims.
>Heavenly Sirens
Can lure a sim into the water by singing and then hypnotize them into doing stuff, seduce them or drown them.
>Steal other sims' voice
Mermaids with this power can steal other sims' voices. The voice will be stored in a seashell. The sim will not be able to do socials that use their voice , but can still hug, kiss, play cards etc. silently. The sim's voice will return in 24 sim hours, but the seashell will remain and serves as a sort of button where the mermaid can enchant it again at any time to steal the voice once more for 24 hours.
Etc.
Pirates!! http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/906481/pirate-gp-smuggling-dueling-live-on-ship-or-build-own-and-more#latest
Mermaid-specific face/skin details, including an array of Fin-types and gill placements, etc.
Different tails to chose from, not just the colour.
The option for some semi-translucent skins with lights running through them, like a deep sea fish.
Hairstyles that are made out of moss, shells, coral, etc;
That last one should be permanent. That was another thing I didn't like in prior games mischievous and deviant spells, were only temporary.
I really want it to hurt the sim too when the sims find out that they lost their voice, and they can fight, "fight for their voice back"... but i also think there should be a small risk (if the shell is in the Sea Creature's inventory) the shell has a 25% chance of getting destroyed in the process.
My Mood:
Ooooh love those ideas! It would be awesome to have those options for customization. I think we will probably get a lot of options like gills, mermaid-ish eyes, fins, tail details, cool hairs and a few skins (think kind of clammy [pun not intended lol I mean kind of pale and damp-looking], slightly transparent like you suggested and maybe a pastel colour or two) because of the detail we got for vampires. EA has set the bar high for life states now and I think they will continue to make lifestates highly customizable, which is great. They're really focussing on allowing simmers to create versions of just about any genre in a lifestate.
Pirates!! http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/906481/pirate-gp-smuggling-dueling-live-on-ship-or-build-own-and-more#latest