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What Don't You Like About Outdoor Retreat?

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Outdoor Retreat always seems to rate low on "Favourite Game Pack" polls. I love the outdoors and love camping. The little world looks stunning since the release of seasons. But I can't bring myself to buy Outdoor Retreat due to the negative polling.

So (if you're not crazy about Outdoor Retreat) what makes it a less-than-wonderful pack? Or, if you like it, what makes it under-rated? Should I get it?

Comments

  • CupidCupid Posts: 3,623 Member
    I just think the theme is boring lol. Camping isn't my idea of a vacation but I know it is for a lot of people. If you're that kind of person then you might like it.

    It does an okay job at what it's trying to do but the activities in that pack just don't interest me personally. I get bored so quickly with the fishing and the bug collecting and the foraging and stuff. It's just not my cup of tea.
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  • kalaksedkalaksed Posts: 2,643 Member
    i honestly feel it gets all the negative reviews just because it was the first game pack, so the devs were still trying to feel the pack type out, if that makes sense. it's not a bad pack by any means, and if you love outdoors and camping, you really should get it
  • EMCba2600EMCba2600 Posts: 38 Member
    I don't like it because it's not my type of pack, honestly. I like beaches more than camping. But yes, if camping's in your interests, then definitely get it! It's your game, and you can play however you like.
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  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    Well I have really enjoyed it. I think part of the reason is that we had so few packs in beginning and I dove right in.
    I like to make characters and play out their stories so with the help of this pack I can have homeless sims/live off the land sims that can live out in the weather with firepits and tents anywhere basically. I use the coolers for dungeons and trapped sims and challenges as a cheap way to get food.. or bring them to areas where I know food won't be available. Fishermen can go on trips there. My wellness oriented sims go there with their yoga mats and meditation stools to commune with nature. My Lotharios go there to get lucky. I've had father/son camping trips (okay that sounded sexist I guess but whatever). I also use it to get as close to having a witch type of character in the game that I can.
    There is a new skill to learn, herbalism and .. I have to say I do rarely use the lotions and salves now because it's so easy to get most of those effects in other ways through the game at this point. I don't mind having the many of the creams and lotions on hand but won't go out of my way to keep up a supply on hand now. I just complete herbalism to have another maxed skill for the appropriate sim type.
    I think the CAS isn't quite as good when compared to later packs but I do use many of the items still. The build buy.. well it has rustic hand hewn looking stuff so good for that type of character. I get way more use out of the camping chairs and couches ect... personally.
    I think a large part of my enjoyment though might come from the way I play. I can't possibly see taking a large group camping.. at least if I were trying to get them all to learn herbalism. That would be a mess. They have updated things though so you can get pet supplies and toddler things there though. It's also a place to buy growfruit.

    I would suggest getting it on sale at this point when it goes on sale.. and it will. Make sure if you want to learn herbalism you send your sims in Summer because that's when all the wild plants are in Season (after a short.. less than a day growing time). You'll have to learn the patterns of insect spawns in the different areas but it's not hard. If you don't like the busy work or collecting/learning.. I don't know what to tell you. That is a big part of my enjoyment of that pack.

    In some ways it's a much slower paced pack than some of the others (if your not pursuing herbalism) and if you like to appreciate the surroundings in the sims and camp it will be well worth it for you.
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  • Mariefoxprice83Mariefoxprice83 Posts: 8,106 Member
    I like Outdoor Retreat but it doesn't work for all characters as it stands. That's why I've got into the habit of placing a spa and a bar there recently, to widen the appeal. I never have more than one played family staying at a time so I only need 3 residential lots - the campsite, a couples retreat and a family house, then I've catered for all eventualities.
    Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
  • Sigzy05Sigzy05 Posts: 19,406 Member
    edited February 2019
    Nothing, It's one of my favourite packs. I personally love to take my sims on a camping vacation, I just wish foxes would spawn there and that sims would be able to swim in the lake or near the water falls.

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  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,907 Member
    I can't see the wood for the trees! It's a bit difficult to find your way around but I still enjoy it as part of the game. It was such an early pack I have to go in and improve the decor now, especially after Seasons.
  • invisiblgirlinvisiblgirl Posts: 1,709 Member
    I love it - the world is stunning, and I've found the tents and shower tarp to be useful elsewhere. I always go in before sending a family on vacation and edit the lot at which they'll be staying - for the camping lot, I add a little 2x6 toilet hut (I didn't have the pee bush until I got JA on sale at the holidays), and arrange everything the way I like it. I also add a chess board, and make sure that my Sims have some books and their yoga mats, along with a meditation stool for teleporting to the hermit's house. (It's impossible to find, even if you've been there, but after they've found it once, Sims with high wellness skill can teleport to it with the meditation stool and then bring the rest of the family.)

    I've also built some cabins for full-time living in Granite Falls, just because I love the world so much. (You keep extending the vacation, and of course, if you forget anything when you build the house, you have to send the family home in order to edit the lot. It doesn't work if you've got kids and teens, since they have to attend school. I really enjoyed playing a family with a toddler, however, and after Seasons came out, I did a mother and toddler in an off-the-grid cabin - winter is pretty brutal up there.)
    I just want things to match. :'(
  • MoonfoxNightcryMoonfoxNightcry Posts: 296 Member
    Thank you so much for the super helpful and detailed replies! From the sound of it, I think I’d really enjoy it.
  • belpitabelpita Posts: 1,445 Member
    I quite like it, actually. I especially enjoy building vacation houses inspired by architecture I find on IG or other websites.

    The one thing that generally annoys me is that it's difficult to move around in the forest, because you can't really zoom out too much lest the trees obscure your Sim. So it's a bit slow, if you're there to collect insects and plants.

    And of course, the fact that is just a holiday destination that you have to take vacation days for and pay to stay in. I could definitely see a Sim living there for good, even in a tent, to complete some of the outdoor aspirations.
  • annaliese39annaliese39 Posts: 2,797 Member
    Well I love all the game packs, Outdoor Retreat included. I love the cabins and tents, exploring the woods, playing horseshoes, stargazing, roasting marshmallows and telling stories around the campfire, the herbalism skill, how my homebody sim gets uncomfortable and starts swatting flies away etc. I actually prefer it to Jungle Adventures as I get far more use out of it. My main household have had lots of lovely holidays at Granite Falls. They tend to rent a cabin since while one of them loves the outdoors, his homebody husband won't go anywhere without carpets and central heating lol, so that way they still get the fresh air and great outdoors with the home comforts. I definitely recommend it.
  • Atreya33Atreya33 Posts: 4,411 Member
    It's a nice pack if you are into the theme. For me personally, I appreciate it more since jungle adventure. I like to use the tents and cooler box in the jungle. But I'm planning on sending them camping again. Granite falls just needs an update with more community lots so sims have a bit more to do. I think a spa and bar fit in nicely.
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    edited February 2019
    What I like most about Outdoor Retreat is the beautiful vacation world. What I don't like is that there's nothing to do in this world other than fishing, collecting bugs, and discovering new plants. The first sim I ever sent there had the nature-loving trait, so I thought she would enjoy this kind of thing, but nope, even she got bored very quickly, and I had to spend aspiration points on a fun potion because I couldn't find another way to raise the fun bar on this vacation.

    The main reason I still send my sims to Granite Falls is to introduce them to the herbalism skill, because you need the unique plants and bugs from there to brew potions. But even that was kind of broken by Seasons because the plants no longer grow all year, diminishing the usefulness of the pack even more unless you happen to be in the right season when you go there. (And before someone lectures me that plants in real life don't grow all year either: I know, but the ones from Vampires do, so why not those from Outdoor Retreat, where it makes much more sense?)

    If you're into herbalism and potions, though, then yeah, you might still want to give Outdoor Retreat a try. As I said, the pack also comes with a beautiful vacation world, BB and CAS items, and a new aspiration. I don't dislike the pack, I just think others have more to offer, which is why Outdoor Retreat is so low on my list.
  • PenguinBudgiePenguinBudgie Posts: 44 Member
    I really like Outdoor Retreat. I use the CAS items quite frequently, and the campfires, although they can burn quickly, are useful in my gameplay; I also like the interactions that come with them. I've found the Hermit there a few times and like to grab the plants from there that you can't--as far as I know--find in the regular worlds (e.g. blackberries).

    Granite Falls itself is also a really pretty world, and has such a different from the other worlds I have.
  • JuiceboxQueenJuiceboxQueen Posts: 77 Member
    I've been enjoying it. I do wish our sims could buy a vacation home.
  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,403 Member
    edited February 2019
    I like it actually! I don't vote OR as my favourite in polls because for me the top place is a tie between Vampires and Dine Out. That doesn't make it a bad pack though. The tent is super useful but Granite Falls is worth visiting too, especially with Seasons. It's nice to go there for the holidays. I admit I usually make my sims stay only one or two days because longer stay makes me feel bored. It still offers a nice variety compared to their usual life. In my newest blog post I took a group of teen agers camping there (didn't go as planned but oh well).

    I have rebuilt three of the lots, modeled them after my friends' cabins. The biggest lot I replaced with a farm that is a karaoke bar which makes the place feel more lively and gives sims more things to do.
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  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    I'm thinking that it might be a nice pack to acquire if we can place different community lots, as many has stated that they do. But will a bar or a spa has any visitors during our family vacation? Or will they be alone, if we replace the remaining residential lots for community ones?
  • mebagl15mebagl15 Posts: 563 Member
    I liked outdoor retreat while I was playing it the first time. After that It loses it's playability. You basically know were everything is so it loses it's mystery.
  • ListentoToppDoggListentoToppDogg Posts: 2,103 Member
    I don't hate it or anything, I'm just not all that into camping. If I'm being completely honest, I bought it for the child CAS. However, what with Seasons adding scouting, I think it has the potential to get more use just for the immersion of a scout camp.
  • katrinasforestkatrinasforest Posts: 1,002 Member
    Outdoor Retreat was one of the packs that made me want to get the Sims on PC, as I was getting too impatient for it to be released on console. I love all the things a Sim can travel with in that pack. As others have said, if you're playing a live-off-the-land character, it's great. And some of the stuff you can make with herbalism is nice, too. I'd love to have a Sim retire there eventually. (Just get an empty lot and spend all their time hanging out in Granite Falls.)

    At the time I first got the pack, I was playing a Sim who was obsessed with bugs, so taking him out and having him hunt all the different bugs down was pretty cool. He almost had a complete collection before he died of old age. His daughter ultimately finished the collection for him. I'd say my only complaint is how difficult some bugs are to find. I stuck a few them in a room and saved them to my library to place them whenever I need them for a recipe. With the in-game reasoning of if you put multiple bugs in the same space, you will get a lot more bugs in short order.

    @Mariefoxprice83 I love your suggestion of adding different types of lots to it. I may try that.

    As others have said, Seasons really makes it a beautiful place to explore.
    Watch me mash together Sims and Pokémon to tell a story about battling glitches in Penny Saves Paldea. Updated every other Thursday.
  • simm621simm621 Posts: 1,037 Member
    I'm mean to my sims and don't take them on holidays. there's nothing I don't like about the pack besides it's just not my playstyle.
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  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,907 Member
    I like the pack and the idea of it but find the trees a bit in the way and it always takes me a while to get used to the camera tracking my Sims around at ground level. :) Jungle Adventure has clearer tracks and is easier to find your way around so Maxis has improved and learned since the older pack came out.
  • DaepheneDaephene Posts: 1,760 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    I'm thinking that it might be a nice pack to acquire if we can place different community lots, as many has stated that they do. But will a bar or a spa has any visitors during our family vacation? Or will they be alone, if we replace the remaining residential lots for community ones?

    I put a restaurant in mine, and the restaurant was just as busy as the ones in the main neighborhoods. It was definitely not just other sims who were camping, because my sim from Del Sol Valley showed up and he was at home when I saved his household.

    I like to keep one big family cabin, one romantic couples cabin, and a campground, just so I can go there with different families and have different experiences. But I don't think removing all but one of them would keep visitors away from the community lots.

    I like Outdoor Retreat mostly. Adding a couple of community lots gives the sims more variety for their entertainment, for sims who aren't super into fishing and such. The only thing I don't like is hunting for bugs and plants. I haven't found an easy way to search with all the trees.
  • invisiblgirlinvisiblgirl Posts: 1,709 Member
    Daephene wrote: »
    telmarina wrote: »
    I'm thinking that it might be a nice pack to acquire if we can place different community lots, as many has stated that they do. But will a bar or a spa has any visitors during our family vacation? Or will they be alone, if we replace the remaining residential lots for community ones?

    I put a restaurant in mine, and the restaurant was just as busy as the ones in the main neighborhoods. It was definitely not just other sims who were camping, because my sim from Del Sol Valley showed up and he was at home when I saved his household.

    I like to keep one big family cabin, one romantic couples cabin, and a campground, just so I can go there with different families and have different experiences. But I don't think removing all but one of them would keep visitors away from the community lots.

    I like Outdoor Retreat mostly. Adding a couple of community lots gives the sims more variety for their entertainment, for sims who aren't super into fishing and such. The only thing I don't like is hunting for bugs and plants. I haven't found an easy way to search with all the trees.

    You have to move the camera in close to get underneath the trees (you won't be able to see the insects, anyway, from far away). It helps to check Carl's guide, so that you know which plants and insects are found in what part of the park - only a few of the plants spawn in the campground area. Some are found in the National Park, and for the morel mushrooms, the best place to look is in the Deep Woods.
    I just want things to match. :'(
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    @Daephene thank you for the reply. Sounds super cool. I'll go for it!
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