Next Expansion (Updated): University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future & Showtime: Pros & Cons?

Nikkei_Simmer

1. University Life - for the pool table and the fact that you can send the rugrat off to university and see what hijinks he/she gets into.
2. Supernatural - for the gem cutting machine and the opportunity to play as a werewolf (if I so choose), not so keen on playing as a witch or as a vampire.
3. Seasons - I guess I'm tired of perpetual summer and would like the variety of Seasons.

So I'm going to ask those who have the EPs what they like about each of the expansion packs and see if it sways me towards one particular one...

My current computer - it's a laptop with an integrated graphics card - it's going to hate me. (when I get my desktop computer fixed, I'm going to get a gaming graphics card compatible with the Sims 3/EPs and play the Sims 3 on that, it's got a more powerful CPU and has slots for expansion for a GTX 1050 (or preferably with a card that supports multiple monitors (for photo/video editing - for my photography work; not Sims 3 related - I can run Sims 3 on one monitor...but for video/photo editing, it's better to have the photo or video on one full-size monitor while running the controls on the other)

I know that Seasons and Pets are extremely hard on the CPU with regards to game lag and rendering so I may leave those EPs until I get my desktop computer up and running with the gaming graphics card. So maybe it's more of a contest between choosing University Life and Supernatural

TreyNutz

I like University quite a bit. Almost all my sims get degrees. Since sims don't age there it's basically a life extension, and the homeworld is frozen while you are playing sims at university. I send sims there to make money, work on time consuming wishes, work on skill challenges, find spouses, etc. The EP has also got a bowling alley, 2 extra trait slots to earn, herbs and coffee beans to plant, energy drinks and herbal teas...all of which I use in most of my games. UL also adds plantsims (which don't eat, by the way) which I've been playing for the first time. It was a nice change from playing human sim; it's an interesting life state.

Supernatural is one of the EPs I bought with the base game. I like supernatural sims even though I don't play them all that much. The world, Moonlight Falls, in one of my favorite EA worlds. The alchemy skill has some very useful elixirs. My sims tend to do a lot of consigning and the Elixir Consignment Shop is open 24/7 which is quite useful when paired up with the NRaas Consigner mod. Supernatural also includes zombies at every full moon, which I hated so I got a mod to stop that. You can also freeze the lunar cycle at any other stage so you don't get zombies if you don't like them. The gem cutting machine is nice. I think Supernatural adds 2 more gem types and 2 new cuts. It also adds mushrooms, chili peppers, and a few new cooking recipes.

I probably use UL features more frequently in my recent games than Supernatural. But I don't regret buying Supernatural long before I bought UL.

Saltysea21

Man this is tough, I like all of them. I'm pretty biased towards seasons though, I love that EP. It makes the game more real and you get a real sense of time passing and it makes it more interesting. Not everyday is the same with the same weather. Plus you can customize it so you can choose how long you want each season to last and what weather effects you do or dont want in your game.

University Life is fun too. The whole aspect of partying and going crazy in university and then having to buckle down and stay up all night studying to pass final exams is a fun concept.

I have all the expansion packs and I like them all but if I had to tell you to choose one I'd say seasons. It makes every part of your game better in my opinion. But it's up to you; you can't go wrong with any of them.

1need4kaffee

Uni gives you two more traits and three more careers, although the careers are rabbithole and I never choose to play them. Plus it gives you online gaming which makes it super easy to collect friends. Downside is you don't use the campus more than a few weeks per sim and although home world freezes while you are gone, I have had a married sim go to uni and come home to find the spouse has two new romantic interests. Now they go together or not at all.

Supernatural I love for the elixirs, the added gems and the gem cutting, plus the furniture is cool for an old-time-y atmosphere. Werewolf and Witch are fun to play. Downside is zombies are annoying.

That choice is really tough, TBH.

sam123

Seasons, it's an absolutely amazing EP it makes the game change completely with festivals, items, different weather, and holidays.

Nikkei_Simmer

My new ApocaLegacy has just determined which expansion I get. It is going to be Seasons...coming this month. Yes, the JAG crew is going to experience NUCLEAR WINTER. BWA HA HA HA HA HA...~insert maniacal laughter~ "Puny Sims...thou hast ticked off the Creator most greatly due to your ignorance with nuclear weapons" Select Winter/Winter/Winter/Winter. heh heh heh heh heh...

Funkycorm

Seasons. It makes for so much more realism.

Nikkei_Simmer

OK...Update: Seasons bought... Now it's a four way fight between:

Supernatural
Into the Future
University Life
Showtime (surprise me - I'm about as thrilled with this EP as Lazy Game Reviews - Clint was)

Funkycorm

I say University Life. It adds great gameplay in my opinion. I don't have supernatural so I can comment on that. Into the future is ok. I haven't really enjoyed it.

1need4kaffee

The only reason for showtime is karaoke. The street buskers are so annoying it makes my bottom two in the list of expansions. Plus the constant messages about shows starting and the wishes to simport or send gifts to other players is very irritating.

I haven't gotten into ITF that much, but on the plus side, there is nothing that ruins my game play or pushes itself into my face with that expansion. When the time machine materialized as you start the game, you pick it up and put it in the family inventory until you are ready to explore that part of your story. Or delete it entirely. And there may be some dystopian buildings etc. useful for your story.

Supernatural is a fave of mine. And these mutations could come about by radiation...zombies...apocalypse...these words seem to go together.

Uni gives you two additional traits and I enjoy the college experience. Don't know if it would benefit your current story, though.

BlueSpaarkle

I'd buy Supernatural. There's so much new things to try, and it has really cool CAS and build/buy items.

University is great, but I don't use it often even though I love traits,clothing and skills. Into the Future and Showtime are one of my least favourite expansions, I was really bored playing them.

eric6a01

University is better, it has new map and so many features in the school
But supernatural has a problem, zombies get up in every full moon, destroy all the plants, so I dont recommend that.

Nikkei_Simmer

Update on the thread (so that people know that this thread is now old) :

I have Supernatural and Seasons now. Will probably be tracking down University Life later on this year.


Seasons - in Moonlight Falls. (Fall)


My werewolf (Supernatural).

The last few expansion packs that I need to get are as follows:

University Life
Showtime
Island Paradise
Into The Future

Nikkei_Simmer

OK folks...Here's my reasons behind why I am getting each expansion pack that is left:

I have to say that I am so close to getting the rest of the Sims 3 expansion packs. It's just a matter of getting the following ones and then my Sims 3 EPs will be complete.

I have a story-line going which requires Into The Future and another one that requires University Life for when the second generation kids of my founder end up going to University. I'm not really all that into Showtime or Island Paradise, but for the sake of "completion", I'll get the two EPs. And my wife has to play catchup on the EPs. I have Pets, my wife doesn't. I don't know which of the packs my wife has, but I think she's missing one or two more than me. But I'd have to ask her, and right now Loki and Mina are not on the best of terms, as this is his first afternoon and night here. Poor little kitten. Mina is having a cow because of the fact that a "strange new feline" is in the house. So I can't go into the bedroom freely to ask my wife which Sims 3 EPs she doesn't have.

So here are the four remaining expansion packs that I need in order of release.

This EP, I have really no interest in other than for certain items in build mode. Like spot-lights for an in-house stage for classical concerts. I have no interest in the entertainment careers at all. I'm just buying it to round out my entire Sims 3 Expansion Pack collection.

This one holds the most playability of the expansion packs that I am planning on getting. I have a sim couple who could potentially go to university and a family that will probably be sending every single one of their children to Sims U. On top of that the build objects and placeable buildings in the EP are second to none. You get a bowling alley that you can place as well as a pool table and other assorted goodies.

Isla Paradiso has to be one of the most buggy worlds that EA has ever shipped. Frankly, it got so laggy that someone had to redo the entire world and solve the routing issues that the island in-game had. So if you're planning on getting the Island Paradise EP, I'd highly suggest tracking down the Isla Paradiso replacement.

This was yet another expansion pack that I was leery of getting because I had no interest really in time travel or anything of the sort. Dystopia/Utopia - take your pick, you can see if you can survive in a Dystopian future where pollution is the order of the day or in a Utopia where everything feels very Stepford Wives-ish. Or you can pick your future to be anything in between based on the choices that you make in the present. My reason for getting this EP is to get the soil-rugs which allow me to plant an indoor garden. There is a fancy greenhouse in the store, but that's a little too much in terms of Simpoints right now for my wallet. The soil rugs will come in handy for a story-line about an apocalypse that I will be rebooting.

On the whole the Sims 3 is exceedingly addictive and enables me to waste hours upon hours of game-play and I'm looking forward to completing the rest of the expansion packs

And...after that...the Stuff Packs (minus the KPST - I have no desire to have a house and lot looks as though a candy machine got sick and vomited all over) and the Store. My wallet is so going to hate me.

So after all that: Which one do you think I should get first.

GabbyGirlJ

If you haven't already made a decision, I'd recommend getting University Life out of the expansions you've listed. I think it really helps flesh out your sims' lives. Being able to fill in the time between high school and the working world is nice and provides good storytelling opportunities.

As far as other stuff goes, I find I use the things that came with this expansion all of the time in just about every game whether I send sims to university or not. I love a lot of the objects like the pool tables, new arcade machines, the sports equipment, the sketchbook, and so on. I always build a bowling alley in every town, and the barista bar is also a great addition to hangout spots. The skills are fun, the idea of unlocking new job levels and additional traits is also great.

All in all, I can't find very much to dislike about this pack, aside from some small quibbles like the time it takes to load the town (which of course will vary based on your system). I also didn't like the social group influence "spam." By that I mean that every time your sim does something jock-related you get a little notification over their head that shows you they are gaining jock influence, for instance (kind of like the notification you get for gaining relationship points). There is a mod that takes care of that specific issue however: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=523612

But any issues I had with this pack were really small. It's such a well done pack in general and it adds to the game in such a fundamental way. Totally worth it.

Nikkei_Simmer

It appears that my "better half" is getting me University Life and Into the Future - ITF is for an "apocalypse fic" reboot of the "Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (because I need to have a series of interior green houses (underground) (soil rugs will come in handy) as well as a fishing hole - That's going to be a major league constrainfloorelevation command headache trying to build that "insane" nuclear bunker. I'll get the last two EPs next year.

Nikkei_Simmer

Well...

University Life
Into the Future
Showtime
Island Paradise.



Two down; two to go.

Many thanks go to my beautiful wife for getting me the two expansion packs.

Felicity

Isla Paradiso, hands down. I do use both Emmacharmed's fix for it and the save file that is in these forums somewhere. But I love it. Houseboats, deep sea diving, resorts. I always make resorts in every homeworld -- I even converted Grim's Ghastly Manor into a resort in Midnight Hollow. The only reason I still have Showtime installed at all is because I sometimes use a custom world which requires it. When I start a new save, though, I may just leave Showtime uninstalled and see what happens.

igazor

Showtime =
Genies
Dominoes
DJ Booths
Golf
Bananas

...and a bunch of stuff like the careers that I've never really concentrated on enough to make them work properly.