Del Sol Valley

Jaysims

Not gonna lie but for a full on Expansion Pack, I was hoping that Del Sol Valley would have at least 4 sub neighborhoods and a few more lots.

There isn’t really much to do in the neighborhood because it’s so small. I was a bit disappointed.

Also we didn’t get any free builds in this EP either.

LaBlue0314

Same here.

elanorbreton

I do like the world but it really does not have enough Lot space.

I am playing a couple who live in the poorer area and they split up - I was moving the ex-husband to a new home and wanted him to stay in this world, which gave me a choice of two Lots, one was already occupied and the other he couldn't afford.

Goldmoldar

I agree for an pack like this one it should have a lot of lots to work with even as an static neighborhood. However, EA/Maxis has disappointed many customers, looking at CL and what many thought EA/Maxis would provide us with the ability to build apts and also in other neighborhoods but that was restricted and I came to expect many restrictions in packs going forward. However, I am not too disappointed as I got this pack real cheap as I would never pay full price for EA/Maxis packs going forward.

SimTrippy

I really think it's one of their better packs in pretty much every regard, except lot size. It is disappointing, even if the pack isn't empty and actually really good and fun to play around with. But the set dressing is a little too real in this one where the world is concerned. So many lovely places my sims are running past on their jogs, yet so few of them are "real". It's a bummer & I hope they might just choose to give us a free world again sometime. Wouldn't even have to be empty, a free world in the style of Del Sol or Forgotten Hollow or whatever other small world they still plan on releasing would be cool too

Atreya33

For me it's not the number of neighborhoods but the number of lots in those neighborhoods which make this world feel so small. A decently sized neighborhood should have at least 4 lots, preferably 5. This way you can set up a few households and a community lot within one setting. We need enough lots to change /create within a neighborhood especially considering we have zero options to change the public area around the lots.

elanorbreton

It would have been an awful lot better if they had reduced the size of the Lots in the 'poorer' area and put more in. So, maybe 5 or 6 smaller ones instead of the 3 we have. Too late now though

MayLibra

I joined The Sims Forum just now so I could AGREE and post how upsetting it is on spending the amount of money we do for an expansion pack this ridiculous. I have been playing the sims since the beginning. And this is the first time I feel like they've slapped their fan's in the face with such a sad expansion. We have seen what they are capable of producing, yet this is what we receive? Three affordable lots and three higher class lots? TONS of blank space? There's beaches but no lots on them? This expansion had so much potential to be exciting but it's nothing but a complete dud. That costs WAY too much. Glad it was on sale when I purchased but I still feel duped.

I guess I should have known it was only downhill from here when the Pets expansion just lets them free roam with no real interaction.
I don't know who they let go, but someone in the sims department needs to come back and make the games actually worth while again.

stepbot153

I agree, very disappointing!

troshalom

Of all the worlds I have, and I think I have all except the vampire world, I think Del Sol Valley is the ugliest. It just feels like a real gritty grimy city and not the fantasy worlds I like. But that may have been the look they/EA were going for.

I personally think the views from The Pinnacles are disappointing, especially when you consider the LA area and the wealthy enclaves like Malibu, Calabasas etc where folks have these gorgeous views either over the ocean or the hills.

I agree with another poster, that the Mirage Park area could've consisted of smaller lots. However, they may have made the lots large so folks can drop their own builds with sets, which require a larger footprint to use.

I think the missed opportunity is the beach area. That whole stretch where the ocean is on the map should've had at least one luxury home lot, a commercial lot and maybe a homeless enclave if we want to go for the realism that is LA.

I have searched far and wide and did not find any fishing spots. Did I miss it? If there are no fishing holes then that is a huge miss. Also the park - Ward Park - is really sad. It is surrounded by all of these celebrity enclaves but looks like a park no celebrity would ever visit.

So perhaps I missed the gurus focus on this world. Just having viewed this world with respect to the other worlds released and it is just not as pretty as the other worlds.

As for the new game play added with this pack, I am just starting to explore it. None of my sims are full fledged celebrities so I don't know how invasive the paparazzi are or how frustrating fans are to game play, but so far it seems like a vast improvement to the TS3 celebrity system. I especially am enjoying the video creation console.

It seems like there were two teams at EA who worked on EPs: 1. coding new game play 2. creating a beautiful world. And it looks like the second team was down sized -- but I don't know for sure, just speculation.


I will say this StrangerVille as a world is just beautiful. The houses and commercial lots they put down were disappointing. However, the redacted lab is just marvelous. Some have said in StrangerVille the homes were intentionally sparse to tie into the story line, however, I wish EA then had included some busted out walls, strewn furniture, tarps over furniture, etc in the homes to display that it is a town in serious decline. That one busted up motel sims can walk around marvelously displays that, just wish they would've carried it through to the homes to help convey the story/intent better.


So over all, I am liking the game play from Get Famous, but not a fan of the world. Perhaps, they spent more time on the lots that change with the acting career, which I haven't explored yet. Not sure how many lots are used to create the sound stage(s)

InuMiroLover

I can live with the Pinnacles having few lots. But would it have killed someone to put like 6 lots in Mirage Park? Small lots preferably. I tried making 2 "low rent" houses and they still ended up pricier than I wanted despite using nothing but the cheapest objects thanks to the lot price. If we could make our own apartments, I would gladly make use of the 50x40 lot by creating public housing complex, instead of a house with too much outside space than I like.

Simmerville

Hopefully they plan a hotel feature, I think the big Mirage Park lot would be good for a low cost hotel

I don't miss fishing in this world, I think any of my sims going there being poor, would rather be a street musician etc or go fishing...

Agree there could be more lots, even if they were strictly commercial with no possibility to rezone. A club on the beach would have been awesome. Or, maybe commercial and residential lots grab just as much game resources, I have no idea.

summertaffy68

I agree. The lots are way too large. I would have been much happier with smaller ones and more of them.

Drakos

I actually like the lot sizes in Mirage park, there just arent enough of them. Having a bit of land around the house is a nice change. The game has plenty of small starter lots in the other worlds. That the world is missing at least a dozen more lots is a massive dissappointment.

Simmerville

Drakos wrote: »

I actually like the lot sizes in Mirage park, there just arent enough of them. Having a bit of land around the house is a nice change. The game has plenty of small starter lots in the other worlds. That the world is missing at least a dozen more lots is a massive dissappointment.

I'm thinking of making the Mirage Park lots into community lots, at least 1 or 2 of them. So the size is a good thing. With so many packs adding community lot categories, there are too few community lots. Del Sol Valley should have both restaurants, retail and nightclub.