Welcome to Overlook Bay! This is a large map world created for The Sims 3, using the World Creator tool that was released on the official Sims 3 website.
Overlook Bay is a beautiful town set between the mountains and the beaches and will offer much diversity in scenery. From the tropical beach areas, the city-like downtown, farming community, suburbia and winding roads up treacherous mountains. The town got it's name from it's most spectacular place... The Overlook! Located at one of the highest peaks of the mountains, The Overlook offers a stunning view of the city below, all across the river and the beaches. At sunset the view is spoken of in all corners of the world.
A huge Thank You goes out to all the people who have helped build lots for this world. It couldn't have been done without you!
_______________________________________________________
OVERLOOK BAY - Version 1.0
A world by LeeMortisDOWNLOAD HERE!
_______________________________________________________
REQUIREMENTS:
- The Sims 3 (Duh!)
- Riverview Neighborhood (Free Download, official Sims 3 Web)
- World Adventures
* It is recommended you get all free store items from The Sims 3 Store as well. Many of those are being used in lots, and if you don't have them installed, you may find some odd replacement objects in their place.** NOTE: A good computer is likely needed to be able to enjoy playing in Overlook Bay. This is a very large and detailed world, and testing has shown that lower end computers will have a hard time running the town, and the town will crash your game due to memory shortage. Saving games can cause the dreaded Error Code 12 problems as well. Using Large Address Aware is recommended!LIST OF CONTENTS:
Overlook Bay Sims3Pack
(Install File)
Overlook Bay - STANDARD
(Save Game Folder)
Overlook Bay - STORY
(Save Game Folder)
LeeMortis Patterns
(Folder)
Lot List
(Document)
Overlook Title
(Image)
Overlook Bay ReadMe
(This document)INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS:NOTE: If you have previously had the "Overlook Bay - BUILD TEMPLATE" installed to your game, you need to uninstall that one before you attempt to install the finished version of the town.
- Unzip the contents of this file anywhere on your hard drive... maybe the desktop.
- Install the Overlook Bay sims3pack (double click, then make sure you install it through the launcher)
- Close down Sims 3
- Place the save game folders in "My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves"*
- Start The Sims 3
To start a game in Overlook Bay it is recommended you make a COPY of the Save Game version you wish to start from. This way you still have the original available if you want to start a new game in Overlook Bay later on.
If you choose to "Start New Game" and select Overlook Bay, you will get the town completely empty from lots or Sims. This is good for those who just like to build, or want to fill up the town with their own lots. Note, however, that certain spawners in Overlook Bay are only available on lots, and will not be available in the empty hood. (i.e. Death Fish only available at the Graveyard lot)
* File path may differ depending on OS...Note: It is recommended that you install the patterns found in Lee Mortis Patterns folder, as many of those are used in certain lots and Sims in Story Mode.
_______________________________________________________
IMPORTANT!!!
Due to problems with Create-A-World that wouldn't let me finish the town in the editor, I have opted to provide you with a set of different save games from which to start your Overlook Bay games. Note that it is HIGHLY recommended you copy a chosen Save Game variant instead of selecting "Start New Game" in the Sims menu - because the hood you get that way would be incomplete and would lack many important things (too many to list here)
STRANGE LOOKING (WHITE) LOTS?
There were problems caused by CC in the original BETA test of this town, so the version I submit to you here is completely free of any kind of 3rd party creations. This means that some houses may show up with the default White "Misc" texture, where custom patterns were used. To replace the lots with nicer looking ones, you can look up the lot list included in this file to find the original download of the house.
THE SAVE GAMES:Overlook Bay - STANDARD: This file will give you a complete town. All lots present, all spawners and such. No Sims here though, so this is designed for those who want to fill up the town with their own created or collected Sims.
Overlook Bay - STORY: This is the recommended version. The complete town, including many interesting families to prevent Maxis randomly generated Sims from invading the town. All families with stories and jobs. All careers (up to WA) are sure to have enough employees for you to get a boss where ever you get a job. And... I hope they are fun Sims for you to interact with. (All Sims in story save created by me, LeeMortis)
_______________________________________________________
CREDITS:
Thanks to everyone who has helped build lots for this world. I couldn't have done this town without you!
startspring, happyjme, sookielee, Valana, nkuhlwind, kattenij, merrynutlump, ruthless_kk, babygirl1114, CaseyMarkam, gldkelly, audge2041, ehaught58, moridean, pistons27275, chris2chris, drowssap, ellywig, jay6754, Rflong7, sim718984, SimCrazed32, Spike3187
_______________________________________________________
And, please share your experiences in Overlook Bay in the above thread on the forums. I'd be very interested to hear what people find and what happens to their Sims in my town... that is part of what makes all this hard work worth while.
_______________________________________________________
PREVIEW PICTURES:
Comments
Here you can find some alternate lot downloads to place in Overlook Bay! If you have built something that fits the town and want to have it displayed in this section, post about it in this thread and I'll try to keep this section updated every now and then...
___________________________________________
MOUNTAIN AREAS:
Beautiful Mountain Home (40x40) | By babygirl1114
TRAILER PARK AREA:
Trailer (Empty) (14x20) | By LeeMortis
Affordable Family Home (14x20) | By MJSIMMER
Simply Tasteful Mobile (14x20) | By MJSIMMER
SUBURBAN STREET:
Nothing here yet...
FARM AREA:
Nothing here yet...
RIVERSIDE AREA:
Nothing here yet...
DOWNTOWN AREA:
Internet Café (32x20) | By SarahC91
K.C Furnishings (32x20) | By CaseyMarkam
BEVERLY CROSSING LUXURY HOMES:
Nothing here yet...
FLORIDA STYLE AREA:
Nothing here yet...
BEACH AREAS:
33 Palm Street (30x30) | By kattenij
Modern Beach House (40x40) | By babygirl1114
Hi.
Just wanted to say a couple of words as I finally release this town to the public. It's been a long and exhausting journey, but I've had a lot of fun creating the town.
But, as you can see in the info above, it has become apparent that this town requires a lot of resources from your computer, and it is only recommended for higher end computers.
Even I have had to give up trying to play it, which makes me very sad and downhearted. I really love the town, and I had really been excited to get my long term Sims Game started in the Overlook Bay Trailer Park. However, because of constant crashing due to memory outage, and Error Code 12 issues (despite using Large Address Aware) I have been forced to realize I will not be playing my own town until I can afford a new computer. I'm running a lower end computer myself, just barely exceeding the minimum requirements for The Sims 3.
I am interested to know your experiences on higher end computers - so please let me know how this town runs on your games.
Computer I'm using has the following specs (so you'll need BETTER than this):
Pentium 4, 3.4Ghz Dual Core
2GB RAM
NVidia GForce 6600
Also - due to me not being able to play my own town. I can't guarantee that I'll keep the exchange updated regularily, or even check back in here on a regular basis. Right now I'm even contemplating whether or not I want to play the Sims at all anymore. I just can't get into the default towns, or any others that I've tried (possibly because I've been so focused on playing Overlook Bay).
I won't go AWOL on you guys like I did last time around. But, there may be times when I don't show up around here as frequently.
Right now, I need to figure out what to do, and what to play... or if I need to build a NEW town (much smaller).
Any feedback appreciated!
Have fun in Overlook Bay!
I just recovered my game from some sort of corruption and that's been a mini saga of a few days for me, Lol. I wish I could run Overlook Bay but based on how my computer struggled through Red County --and this is AFTER updating my graphics card to Radeon 260 GTX and to Windows 7 and adding more system memory to a Quad Core computer and buying a faster better Seagate Hard drive...I still can only run very spare large worlds or detailed worlds but only if they are medium sized. Twinbrook was my most stable experience ever, to give you an example. Apparently there is something left on my system that remains to be tweaked. :roll: I did not know about Large Address Aware and will have to look into that. If I can ever identify and eradicate the bottleneck in my setup, I look foward to trying this world. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who can play this world. Red County has loads of very satisfied players, after all.
I do think you should not give up on Sims3 and after a much needed break try doing a new world. There may be more things to learn to make a world require less resources. I believe Sim Realtor learned how to do that but I can't recall how she said she did that. Something to do with how she uses layers I think. Anyway it would be a shame to let everything you already know about terraforming and creating spectacular views just atrophy and go to waste.
So I went the game straight away and started playing. I Chose the Jr Household first, I cant remember their names. I love the fact they have family ties too! Also, the download was incredibly fast! I got all the files within a few seconds!
Strangely enough, first community lot I went to with the teenager was the Cemetery! I love it! I cant wait to kill my Sims and re-place the Remains tombstones! From what I have seen, every Sim has a story, every family has a story. This is amazing!
I then took a Hike through the mountains. Pausing the game to see the gaps in the hills to see the views. All I can say is woah! When I finally got the the over look, It was breathtaking -
This is were I show you my weirdness.
- I wished I was my Sim, just to see and look down at the WHOLE town from that height, Almost made me feel important and in the clouds watching over my new world.
I wasn't expecting much, because I don't have WA installed, and I thought Ill try it anyway... but it worked!! - Hopefully Im not missing much? :shock:
I can't wait to go an explore the rest of the families. My plans for when Late Night comes out, will be to add Sky-scrappers and all their new lots, it will look perfect!!
This world has a lot of room for expansion, a lot of room to have fun!
Fortuantly, I have a very good computer, So im running the world without any problems. At normal speed. You need to get yourself a better computer (Or alternatively update and replace your computer now, which will work out cheaper). You have impressed me, not many worlds do that! The fact that I am thinking about this world and Late Night, and me changing the down-town area for this shows me that this world is a keeper, that this world will fit ALL my needs.
Basically, if you cannot be bothered to read that, this world is amazing! And worthy enough for ANYONE to update their computers to play.
Well done!!
My pc is 2.66 quad core, 4gb RAM, GEfore 9500 but it struggled with FortSim! I will try Overlook and let you know how it goes.
What is this memory thing people use to stop big maps crashing?
i must download right away and explore, iv sent my essay off though not in a very good state, iv done all my other bits of work now i have a free weekend with nothing on at all
cant wait to see the finished version :shock:
Clawsswp, here is a link to the one available on MTS: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=410418
I haven't installed it myself but I've only encountered one error code 12 the entire time I've had TS3 installed. Now we'll see how Overlook Bay goes as I'm getting ready to play it now. Looks amazing and I've gone with the story save as I loved the previews shown in this thread.
You are correct in that the houses and Sims are only available through the Save Game - but that is certainly not what is causing the game to be slow. Whether added in the town file or in the Save Game, the game treats the lots the same. When the game first came out, the first thing I did was to replace every single lot in Sunset Valley in an attempt to make the town "mine".
But, if you thought that what I meant was that the lots themselves had been added with the Edit Town feature of the game itself - then no. All lots are definitely added in CAW - except they have not been built on.
EVERYONE:
Hi, guys!
So happy to see that a bunch of you are having fun playing in Overlook Bay. It gives me hope knowing that higher end computers + Force LAA seems to be working. That means I may be able to play this town myself some day
I'll be around - but not as frequently as I've been lately. I've got another massive project waiting to be finished (one that I've been working on for well over a year... not Sims related), so I'm going to focus mainly on that while I figure out what I want to do with my Simming experience.
But, keep reporting your findings and your stories. I'd sure be interested in hearing about what you do in town!
Any chance this happened right after installing the latest patch (and/or fast lane?) , because I've just gone through the exact same thing.
Personally I'm happy with a world that has minimal Stuff, and no families is fine with me. However, looking at some of the pictures of the Lots in this world is what really attracted me , I would be disappointed if it didn't have those lots.
I consider my computer mid-range, I have an NVidia GE 8600 (a bit old) intel quad core Q6600, 2 GB RAM.
I think I'll read over this thread more carefully and ponder it some more while I drool over this world.
I think it mightve of been a small bit slow for me but i cant really tell cause didnt play it enough and sometimes my PC is tempermental. But it didnt crash or anything. I need to get some time to play for a bit thu. I wonder if some of the trees come out if it would make it more playable for slower machines? Do they make much difference? its only a thought cause i noticed a lot of trees. And its not bigger than some other maps that are out.
Mind due my pc didnt like FortSim at all and i couldnt play that.
Anyways it looks really good and is lovely. I hope you get to play it yourself soon!
I hope someone answers this question because I am lost too! I have downloaded winzip, and made folders. Then I downloaded Overlook Bay and put it in the folder. The directions I've seen online say when I start my game, it should be tere but it's not!!! wah... help.... anyone??? thanks =o)
Hi. Hope you guys get to install the world and enjoy playing it. The install instructions can be found in the OP in this thread, but I believe you may need additional help in extracting the .rar files.
WinRar can be found here.
MallyMae - you need to download WinRar - WinZip only extracts .zip-files, while the download is a .rar. Once WinRar is installed on your computer, you just need to double click on my Overlook Bay - RELEASE file and extract the contents somewhere on you computer and then follow the instructions either from the included ReadMe or from the OP in this thread.
Clawswp:
Glad you liked what you saw. Do let me know how it continues to play for you.
I believe the sheer number of trees is a contributing factor, of course, but hardly the problem itself. I find when I start the town with no lots built on, that it flies on my computer. After having built on about half of the empty lots, is when things started running slowly for me - and when the Error Code 12 and random crashes started occurring. So, I'm fairly certain it's all about the accumulation of resources - be it neighborhood objects, plants & trees or lots.
EVERYONE:
Keep giving me feedback on this world. It would really help me, and it does inspire me. I still haven't been playing any Sims since I released this world, and I'm still working on my other project... but I can feel that those little computer people are calling on me to direct their lives
Im in your boat though and it wont last more then 15 min on my computer before it crashes and I have 2GB computer with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ with Nvidia Gforce 9800.
Someday I hope we can both play because I enjoyed building all those lots for it, and your a great builder too. Maybe in the mean time before you jump into creating another world, you could just build lots for us fellow simmers to enjoy in our games