I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
It's a gamechanger, for sure. My Sim hasn't had time to do much about cleaning up the world yet - she was busy working on her skills - but there are so many cool ways in which Sim actions interact. The neighbours keep voting in changes, some of which are annoying ('Share and Share Alike', though nothing's been taken from my Sim so far), but that does add a bit of realism to the game.
My only complaint right now is that I didn't much care for the adult female CAS (I haven't looked at other CAS yet, since I'm playing a single Sim - planning to add a family now that I've got her skills sorted). One bonus is some of the BB that is only available though the fabricator (the new bookcase, for one). I love the plant ladder (I did not see an option to upgrade it to a cannibal meat wall, alas for those who had more nefarious designs). And I totally forgot about the ladder that came in the patch until I woke up this morning. Going to have to add a ladder to the house today.
Random: the insect farms seem a little, er, buggy, but maybe I'm not doing it right. I gave my Sim the recycling trait, and it's pretty heavily weighted. My Sim was miserable because she didn't have anything to recycle at first (tip: instead of washing dishes, put them in your Sim's inventory and recycle them instead - this also gives you the stuff you will need for the fabricator). And beware of the composting toilet!!!!!!!
What I liked 😁: I really like the idea of the pack. I had a lot of fun playing Evergreen Harbour. There’s good storytelling options.
I loved the lot with the crane on it. Dumpster diving. The new Harris family I played were funny. Living off the grid is challenging but I like that.
What I disliked 🤔: The only things I didn’t like were most of the houses are plain.
There’s 15 new lots but the world from above looks sparse somehow.
(I know three of lots are community venues that you can change with voting, 2 are apartment lots, one bar etc)
It’s a pity you can’t live on one of the boats seen in world view. I would love one of my Sims to live in shipwreck.
That bothered me a bit too. Big but sparse. In oasis springs I had all my sims living in a close circle around eachother. Some were neighbors directly across the street. For this world I had to spread them all across the map which i don't like but it's not a deal breaker.
As a laptop player I am eternally grateful that maxis houses are plain. When I download houses from the gallery sometimes they are so cluttered they are unplayable.
This is only my first impression - but so far I haven't been that impressed. Some points I have are listed below:
- N.A.P (Neighborhood Action Plans) don't seem very purposeful. For the most part you just gain influence from these N.A.P's so that you can vote on other N.A.P's or what the community space becomes. Some N.A.P's just offer another way to make your game easier (increased pay in certain careers, good moodlets, etc.). Really just another way to make your game easier for the most part.
- The Eco Footprint pretty much just stays on neutral unless you try really hard. If you are playing a regular family and not going excessively green or excessively dirty (there aren't many items to go industrial it seems) your neighborhoods will just sit at neutral. Very little impact on the environment from regular game play even if you have all the options turned on.
- The Fizzy Juicer Maker - you basically put the produce into the machine then your Sim walks away from it while it runs. You only collect the juice when you are done.\
- Pollution or being green doesn't really affect your game play - just makes the neighborhood look cleaner or dirtier.
- I have enjoyed the CAS and build/buy items.
- The fabricator is fun - really cool that we can fabricate our own furniture and choose different colours.
- The community space is full of Sims when you go to visit and I'm enjoying it. Not sure I want a lot space up in every neighborhood for a community space.
- If you you enjoy off the grid living this will probably be a fun pack for you. Not for me though.
Like I said - this is just my first impression as I've only played some aspects of the game. But so far I'm not really that impressed with the game play. So far I wouldn't say this game is worth full price.
As a laptop player I am eternally grateful that maxis houses are plain. When I download houses from the gallery sometimes they are so cluttered they are unplayable.
My bugbear with builders. Give me simple builds any day.
So far I’m having a really good time with this pack. It’s a bit buggy but all new packs are and most of the bugs will be fixed over time. My favorite additions:
-community spaces: they are fun to make and they are full of other sims. My main save has a garden right now and the sims there are constantly planting and working with the bugs
-eco footprint: I feel like it’s really challenging to send it one way or another and even more so to get it to stay there. I like challenging aspects in the game. It could use a bit of balancing I think but overall it’s a super cool system where you really have to think about your sims and what they are doing.
-N.A.P.: they add personality to the neighborhood and I’ve only really played with one so far. I like them a lot and can’t wait to try more out.
-new hobbies: I’ve only really played with fizzy juice making so far but I really like it. I can’t wait to mess around with the other new options.
-Build/Buy: I love all the soft neutral colors included and the items are super versatile. It’s one of my favorite BB.
-CAS: The new hairs are amazing. I like a lot of the new clothes and I like that they included some really simple clothing in this pack.
So far I feel like I’ve barley scratched the surface of what this pack has to offer. Rags to riches is a blast but it’s also been fun playing my legacy family. I also really enjoy the new life and personality this pack has breathed into the game as most packs for sims 4 haven’t done that as much as this one. I can’t say it’s the most incredible pack ever yet but I can happily say it’s a wonderful pack I’ll use constantly in gameplay. In all reality I’m between the top two options. I still feel a bit confused with certain aspects of the pack which is the only reason I leaned towards it’s a good pack as I feel like certain parts of it aren’t as clear as I wish they were. I’m thinking the more I play the more sense it will make lol. It also needs some balance with the footprint to stay more stable as it tends to go green or Industrial and then within a little bit of gameplay it’s back to neutral. But I’m mostly really in love with this pack and only have those few criticisms so far. Can’t wait to waste the entire weekend playing instead of cleaning my apartment.
I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
@SimTrippy You are so sweet. And if it were possible, I would happily add you to our family. The more the merrier, plus you're a die hard Sims fan and would fit in perfectly with the rest of us.
I'm still waiting to see if the download of
Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle is safe for my saved games.
I already lost my beautiful hard work Futuristic save game 1. Even through I backed up my all my saved games, repaired my game 4 times since the 2 update patches and I don't use any mods, MCC or cc. And my PC has Windows 10 with 64 bits, 2TB, NVIDIA 9 & GeForce updated. I even looked up my old saves to try to find my 1st game save but unfortunately it wasn't there.
Thank goodness that my 2nd, 3rd & 4 game saves made it. I guess I have to stop with
Sims 4 Tiny Living. I was so looking forward to getting Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle. Oh well.😥😖😭
I'm still waiting to see if the download of
Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle is safe for my saved games.
I already lost my beautiful hard work Futuristic save game 1. Even through I backed up my all my saved games, repaired my game 4 times since the 2 update patches and I don't use any mods, MCC or cc. And my PC has Windows 10 with 64 bits, 2TB, NVIDIA 9 & GeForce updated. I even looked up my old saves to try to find my 1st game save but unfortunately it wasn't there.
Thank goodness that my 2nd, 3rd & 4 game saves made it. I guess I have to stop with
Sims 4 Tiny Living. I was so looking forward to getting Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle. Oh well.😥😖😭
Just copy your entire Sims 4 folder that is in the documents and put it somewhere else as duplicate. I'm not sure how "you lost your old saves" if you backed them up. I've learned as a Simmer that it's always best to have a ton of SAVE AS versions of the same save file too. I've had the same save since September 2014 and that's because I constantly use SAVE AS and keep duplicates regularly. It's a great habit to get into!
I just got the game about 15 minutes ago. The new world is fantastic! I love the new BB and CAS items, as well as the new premades! I’m loving the new houses too — I hope I can keep some and still improve the local ecology. And I loled at “Keep Evergreen Kooky!” For those who don’t know, “Keep Portland Weird” is a popular slogan for a Northwest US progressive town that promotes an ecological lifestyle. 😃
I also loled at the loading screen that just says, “OK.” 😁
Edit: After playing for a much longer period, I also love that you have to be a valued member of the community in order to vote. I wish that you could pick up pieces of trash manually.
i don't have the new pack yet say that OK on load screen too think it came with the update EA scene of humor or attempt at a joke
When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny
Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President)
I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
I've been playing it most of today and yesterday and I find it very immersive! I feel busy with three Sims just moved into Conifer Station. I think that having N.A.P's makea the world feel real. Things happen out of my control. Flirting and stealing and fishing and all that makes it feel like the townies and NPC's are more rounded individual characters. The interactions are better and the gameplay is more challenging.
The only thing I'm confused about is that I never got a welcome wagon from Knox or Bess?
The world isn't my favourite...too many wide open, empty spaces.
Some things feel slightly glitchy. My Spellcaster randomly makes destressing potion eventhough she isn't skilled enough or has the ingredients.
Sims can take food and stuff up the ladders, but can't seem to take stuff down again.
I might need to take a look at my mods, unless anyone else is having the same issue?
I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
Okay so after playing most of Thursday night, all of Friday and all of today (yes I know, I know lol), I can only say that it keeps getting better the longer I play it. Sure, it has a few things that are less good, like the fact that we can't really fix and sell broken furniture through gameplay - UNLESS we do the civil designer career. I also haven't fully figured out yet how to get more than 1 food stall working at the same time on the market place lot (like, can we?), and they need to fix the bills system because not every lot should get the same base tax of 300.
But ... with those negatives out of the way: this pack is friggin' AWESOME for players like me. There are so many different ways to approach the content it offers and I'm so far from having seen all of it or all the way it interacts with other packs.
I have one sim who's a maker (trait, aspiration & job lol) and it's so fun. She's always been a bit artsy - in another save I had, she was a photographer. Which brings me to: I'm SO happy we have another freelance career that doesn't require my sim to sit down at a PC all the time to program or write. This freelancer trade and the photography one are sooo much more fun, and this one in particular gives you so many options to approach it. Want to make only candles, furniture, or fizzy drinks? You can. Just skill up enough and the choice is yours.
Another one of my sims is living completely off the grid - which is finally no longer annoying! Being an island kid through & through, he's now living on the shipwreck lot, using solar panels, wind turbines, dew collectors, insects, and gardening to sustain himself. This pack meshes with Seasons and IL so, so well that you can easily have a sim do just this w/out ever touching any of the maker/engineering stuff.
The only slightly unfortunate things I have to mention here though are: a) the Recycler trait is just really, really bad. Why would I give up a slot trait for my sim to get tense when they don't recycle? Who gets tense about that? xD Maybe I just don't get it. The green sim trait is fun though! b) Why is there no eco/hippie aspiration w/out the civil designer stuff? Or did I just miss it?
The civil designer stuff, so far, I have honestly only scratched the surface of, so I can't comment on that.
But yeah, it's fantastic. Your sims have completely new ways to make money, the BB / CAS is just kind cool, the world is lovely, and my sims can finally have totally different eco footprints - and yeah, figuring this out isn't always obvious, it takes time, but that's why it's FUN to me.
So in short: IT IS AWESOME. I love how many new options it gives us. And I'm just obsessed.
It's too soon for me to vote yet as I've mostly been building/editing.
But I've had loads of fun with build buy. I adore the furniture, it feels like the same kind of style/colour schemes as Tiny Living and will be a firm favourite with me.
I have had a great time doing the 4 lot versions for the community space/garden/market/maker space. I now have one in Willow Creek, Newcrest, Windenburg, Brindleton Bay and Sulani. And I removed the one from Evergreen Harbour's neutral area cos I thought 3 in one world was a bit too much.
I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
My only complaint it the sharing or stealing initiative for the neighborhood. I just don’t want to have to rebuild every public lot anytime this is voted into effect and I don’t want to shut off neighborhood voting. I wish there was an option to take just this one off the table.
My sim visited the bar when this was in effect and the public literally stripped everything except the bar and shelves behind it, ok, they left the lighting too... I am not big on building because I take for ever on it so this is kinda a nightmare.
Honestly I was pretty excited for the possibilities but so far the only thing I actually enjoy from the pack is the new build items. The shipping container look is fun, and the decorations, vertical gardens, and solar panels/turbines are one of the few upsides to me. The CAS items aren't my favorite and I'm bummed because I was hoping for something a little cooler that literal torn rags for clothes. Also wish there was a way to like turn off the eco footprint thing. It was cool for a little bit but it's just getting to be annoying struggling to keep things "green." Personally I think the idea is great but this pack could've come out as something way smaller (and less expensive).
I picked the it's a good pack up--I think it's great and think it has lasting gameplay, I'm just still a bit bummed not to have horses or farm animals/farming. I've barely scraped the surface of this pack but am excited to play
"Not All Who Wander Are Lost"-Tolkien
Origin ID: simaddict1990
Also wish there was a way to like turn off the eco footprint thing. It was cool for a little bit but it's just getting to be annoying struggling to keep things "green."
If you'll go to Carl's Sims 4 Guide website, you will find all kinds of great info and new cheats regarding Eco Living. To make each neighborhood "Green" forever here is the cheat code:
Eco_Footprint.Set_Eco_Footprint_State 0 (Type in a Zero)
Some players are finding that this cheat works in the first few lots and then stops working. While others, like me. can't get it to work at all yet. I'm sure as Carl has time, he will figure out what is going on w/this cheat and why it appears to be glitching. Good Luck!
The MAIN reason that I wanted this EP is for the solar power both in the entire roof tiles and the separate solar panel units that can be placed on top of the roofs. Any way to cut down on the monthly bills is a positive even though all of my Sims are independently wealthy, never work and don't have to worry about any bills.
I also LOVE that we now can move Doors/Windows around to where we want to place them w/a more exacting placement. This has been very much needed since the Sims Series inception.
All of the Eco Living tasks are simply too much work for my sims and I to tackle as I play Sims to relax and have fun. Still waiting w/ever fading hope on a SPORTS EP or GP -- So we have a POOLTABLE, Volleyball, Football/Frisbee Tossing, Baseball Catching, Snowboarding, Skiing, REAL Scuba Diving like in Sims 3 and other FUN Sports Activities that can be enjoyed by FAMILIES and GROUPS of SIMS! Fini.
im not ready to vote because i think the pack is great. but theres one big problem that makes the pack not so much fun. and that is the bugs. so many bugs. i dont have mods or anything. so its just the game in general. first i cant change the eco footprint to either industrial or green. it will go to 90% in either way and stop. even when im doing the activities for whichever one im trying to choose. and still wont work. also ive been experiencing more crashes and its ruining the fun. the pack itself is a good pack but right now im not really loving it. i think once the bugs are fixed ill feel differently about the pack.
I would actually like to change my vote lower now that I've played it for a while. I don't enjoy it. I don't even understand how most of the things work, for example I got biofuel but there is no explanation how to use it. Most of the new stuff my Sims get in their inventories don't have any explanation how to use them when I hover my mouse over them.
My Sims are uncomfortable and miserable 24/7. The smoggy place that they lived in changed to neutral suddenly and I don't even know how. Obviously I did something but I don't know what.
I think I will be turning the eco foot print "thingy" off from all my other saves except from one. It's not fun for me. I was bored to play Eco Lifestyle and I hardly ever get bored of Sims 4.
To say something positive... at least there is a new world for my Sims to live in and some new premades and maybe I get some fun with few NAP's (the fun ones that don't have anything to do with eco living).
I absolutely love it! What a stellar addition to the game!
So yesterday I played quite a bit, I really like the dumpster diving aspect of the game. So today I started a new toon. Decided she would open a retail store and sell all the items she gets from the dumpster and repairs. This isn't working out the greatest... because you get the weirdest stuff from the dumpster. Mostly burned things, and what is not burned are electronics, and appliances, things worth more money. I did get a small stool that I could just repair the scratches but havn't gotten any other furniture I could repair like that. So my dream of running a refurbished furniture store isn't really working out haha. So far I have gotten like 12 fridges, 6 stoves, a stereo, 3 tvs, a toilet, 2 sinks, 1 cabinet, 3 tubs, 6 pictures for the wall... and tons and tons of burned beds, dresser, nightstand, dressers and anything else you would consider furniture. Seems like the percentages of something is off there.
Also, the toon I was playing yesterday, we passed the... oh neighborhood action to basically steal and no one gets mad. Problem with that is... the community lot got cleared out. Now while I think this is a fun game play I think some tweaks need to be done, the NPCs are able to steal, counters, sinks (which made the lot broken), couches, almost everything. Yet you are not, also these items are now gone. It would be nice to show up at some NPCs house and see a counter from the Goth's House or something.
Lastly, today while playing in the harbor area, working a shop down by the docks. The neighborhood kept improving, which was great but it kept making the ground disappear. Finally after awhile my game finally crashed and I have not been able to open the lot since. I haven't tried other lots because... I figure it's an issue that will be fixed in a week or so.
So far it's just okay but it's fun—a part of that is the novelty value. I'm not sure I'll still be having fun with most of these features in a few weeks or months, unlike past packs.
Evergreen Harbour is pretty great-looking once the Modern and Green Development NAPs pass to make them beautiful, but bland before then, and I do wish there were still 1-2 more lots.
The CAS and Build/Buy are really great, especially Build/Buy.
The new careers and skills are fun for now but already growing stale.
I think that the Eco vs Industrial thing will get very tedious in the future in save files where that's not trying to be a focus.
Okay so after playing most of Thursday night, all of Friday and all of today (yes I know, I know lol), I can only say that it keeps getting better the longer I play it. Sure, it has a few things that are less good, like the fact that we can't really fix and sell broken furniture through gameplay - UNLESS we do the civil designer career. I also haven't fully figured out yet how to get more than 1 food stall working at the same time on the market place lot (like, can we?), and they need to fix the bills system because not every lot should get the same base tax of 300.
But ... with those negatives out of the way: this pack is friggin' AWESOME for players like me. There are so many different ways to approach the content it offers and I'm so far from having seen all of it or all the way it interacts with other packs.
I have one sim who's a maker (trait, aspiration & job lol) and it's so fun. She's always been a bit artsy - in another save I had, she was a photographer. Which brings me to: I'm SO happy we have another freelance career that doesn't require my sim to sit down at a PC all the time to program or write. This freelancer trade and the photography one are sooo much more fun, and this one in particular gives you so many options to approach it. Want to make only candles, furniture, or fizzy drinks? You can. Just skill up enough and the choice is yours.
Another one of my sims is living completely off the grid - which is finally no longer annoying! Being an island kid through & through, he's now living on the shipwreck lot, using solar panels, wind turbines, dew collectors, insects, and gardening to sustain himself. This pack meshes with Seasons and IL so, so well that you can easily have a sim do just this w/out ever touching any of the maker/engineering stuff.
The only slightly unfortunate things I have to mention here though are: a) the Recycler trait is just really, really bad. Why would I give up a slot trait for my sim to get tense when they don't recycle? Who gets tense about that? xD Maybe I just don't get it. The green sim trait is fun though! b) Why is there no eco/hippie aspiration w/out the civil designer stuff? Or did I just miss it?
The civil designer stuff, so far, I have honestly only scratched the surface of, so I can't comment on that.
But yeah, it's fantastic. Your sims have completely new ways to make money, the BB / CAS is just kind cool, the world is lovely, and my sims can finally have totally different eco footprints - and yeah, figuring this out isn't always obvious, it takes time, but that's why it's FUN to me.
So in short: IT IS AWESOME. I love how many new options it gives us. And I'm just obsessed.
ETA: tried to make it ..shorter?
For the recycling trait, have your Sim recycle something every morning and night - you can recycle one soy bean and your Sim is happy and it doesn't get them 'energized'. (If I want my Sim 'focused', I don't want her getting 'energized' every time she recycles something.) I agree the 'tense' moodlet and 'energized' need a little tuning - I can see them overriding 'focused' from decor, but they shouldn't override the 'focused' from a yoga routine.
Comments
My only complaint right now is that I didn't much care for the adult female CAS (I haven't looked at other CAS yet, since I'm playing a single Sim - planning to add a family now that I've got her skills sorted). One bonus is some of the BB that is only available though the fabricator (the new bookcase, for one). I love the plant ladder (I did not see an option to upgrade it to a cannibal meat wall, alas for those who had more nefarious designs). And I totally forgot about the ladder that came in the patch until I woke up this morning. Going to have to add a ladder to the house today.
Random: the insect farms seem a little, er, buggy, but maybe I'm not doing it right. I gave my Sim the recycling trait, and it's pretty heavily weighted. My Sim was miserable because she didn't have anything to recycle at first (tip: instead of washing dishes, put them in your Sim's inventory and recycle them instead - this also gives you the stuff you will need for the fabricator). And beware of the composting toilet!!!!!!!
You need to reach a certain level in the civil designer career, think level 5.
That bothered me a bit too. Big but sparse. In oasis springs I had all my sims living in a close circle around eachother. Some were neighbors directly across the street. For this world I had to spread them all across the map which i don't like but it's not a deal breaker.
- N.A.P (Neighborhood Action Plans) don't seem very purposeful. For the most part you just gain influence from these N.A.P's so that you can vote on other N.A.P's or what the community space becomes. Some N.A.P's just offer another way to make your game easier (increased pay in certain careers, good moodlets, etc.). Really just another way to make your game easier for the most part.
- The Eco Footprint pretty much just stays on neutral unless you try really hard. If you are playing a regular family and not going excessively green or excessively dirty (there aren't many items to go industrial it seems) your neighborhoods will just sit at neutral. Very little impact on the environment from regular game play even if you have all the options turned on.
- The Fizzy Juicer Maker - you basically put the produce into the machine then your Sim walks away from it while it runs. You only collect the juice when you are done.\
- Pollution or being green doesn't really affect your game play - just makes the neighborhood look cleaner or dirtier.
- I have enjoyed the CAS and build/buy items.
- The fabricator is fun - really cool that we can fabricate our own furniture and choose different colours.
- The community space is full of Sims when you go to visit and I'm enjoying it. Not sure I want a lot space up in every neighborhood for a community space.
- If you you enjoy off the grid living this will probably be a fun pack for you. Not for me though.
Like I said - this is just my first impression as I've only played some aspects of the game. But so far I'm not really that impressed with the game play. So far I wouldn't say this game is worth full price.
My bugbear with builders. Give me simple builds any day.
-community spaces: they are fun to make and they are full of other sims. My main save has a garden right now and the sims there are constantly planting and working with the bugs
-eco footprint: I feel like it’s really challenging to send it one way or another and even more so to get it to stay there. I like challenging aspects in the game. It could use a bit of balancing I think but overall it’s a super cool system where you really have to think about your sims and what they are doing.
-N.A.P.: they add personality to the neighborhood and I’ve only really played with one so far. I like them a lot and can’t wait to try more out.
-new hobbies: I’ve only really played with fizzy juice making so far but I really like it. I can’t wait to mess around with the other new options.
-Build/Buy: I love all the soft neutral colors included and the items are super versatile. It’s one of my favorite BB.
-CAS: The new hairs are amazing. I like a lot of the new clothes and I like that they included some really simple clothing in this pack.
So far I feel like I’ve barley scratched the surface of what this pack has to offer. Rags to riches is a blast but it’s also been fun playing my legacy family. I also really enjoy the new life and personality this pack has breathed into the game as most packs for sims 4 haven’t done that as much as this one. I can’t say it’s the most incredible pack ever yet but I can happily say it’s a wonderful pack I’ll use constantly in gameplay. In all reality I’m between the top two options. I still feel a bit confused with certain aspects of the pack which is the only reason I leaned towards it’s a good pack as I feel like certain parts of it aren’t as clear as I wish they were. I’m thinking the more I play the more sense it will make lol. It also needs some balance with the footprint to stay more stable as it tends to go green or Industrial and then within a little bit of gameplay it’s back to neutral. But I’m mostly really in love with this pack and only have those few criticisms so far. Can’t wait to waste the entire weekend playing instead of cleaning my apartment.
Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle is safe for my saved games.
I already lost my beautiful hard work Futuristic save game 1. Even through I backed up my all my saved games, repaired my game 4 times since the 2 update patches and I don't use any mods, MCC or cc. And my PC has Windows 10 with 64 bits, 2TB, NVIDIA 9 & GeForce updated. I even looked up my old saves to try to find my 1st game save but unfortunately it wasn't there.
Thank goodness that my 2nd, 3rd & 4 game saves made it. I guess I have to stop with
Sims 4 Tiny Living. I was so looking forward to getting Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle. Oh well.😥😖😭
Just copy your entire Sims 4 folder that is in the documents and put it somewhere else as duplicate. I'm not sure how "you lost your old saves" if you backed them up. I've learned as a Simmer that it's always best to have a ton of SAVE AS versions of the same save file too. I've had the same save since September 2014 and that's because I constantly use SAVE AS and keep duplicates regularly. It's a great habit to get into!
i don't have the new pack yet say that OK on load screen too think it came with the update EA scene of humor or attempt at a joke
Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President)
The only thing I'm confused about is that I never got a welcome wagon from Knox or Bess?
The world isn't my favourite...too many wide open, empty spaces.
Some things feel slightly glitchy. My Spellcaster randomly makes destressing potion eventhough she isn't skilled enough or has the ingredients.
Sims can take food and stuff up the ladders, but can't seem to take stuff down again.
I might need to take a look at my mods, unless anyone else is having the same issue?
But ... with those negatives out of the way: this pack is friggin' AWESOME for players like me. There are so many different ways to approach the content it offers and I'm so far from having seen all of it or all the way it interacts with other packs.
I have one sim who's a maker (trait, aspiration & job lol) and it's so fun. She's always been a bit artsy - in another save I had, she was a photographer. Which brings me to: I'm SO happy we have another freelance career that doesn't require my sim to sit down at a PC all the time to program or write. This freelancer trade and the photography one are sooo much more fun, and this one in particular gives you so many options to approach it. Want to make only candles, furniture, or fizzy drinks? You can. Just skill up enough and the choice is yours.
Another one of my sims is living completely off the grid - which is finally no longer annoying! Being an island kid through & through, he's now living on the shipwreck lot, using solar panels, wind turbines, dew collectors, insects, and gardening to sustain himself. This pack meshes with Seasons and IL so, so well that you can easily have a sim do just this w/out ever touching any of the maker/engineering stuff.
The only slightly unfortunate things I have to mention here though are: a) the Recycler trait is just really, really bad. Why would I give up a slot trait for my sim to get tense when they don't recycle? Who gets tense about that? xD Maybe I just don't get it. The green sim trait is fun though! b) Why is there no eco/hippie aspiration w/out the civil designer stuff? Or did I just miss it?
The civil designer stuff, so far, I have honestly only scratched the surface of, so I can't comment on that.
But yeah, it's fantastic. Your sims have completely new ways to make money, the BB / CAS is just kind cool, the world is lovely, and my sims can finally have totally different eco footprints - and yeah, figuring this out isn't always obvious, it takes time, but that's why it's FUN to me.
So in short: IT IS AWESOME. I love how many new options it gives us. And I'm just obsessed.
ETA: tried to make it ..shorter?
But I've had loads of fun with build buy. I adore the furniture, it feels like the same kind of style/colour schemes as Tiny Living and will be a firm favourite with me.
I have had a great time doing the 4 lot versions for the community space/garden/market/maker space. I now have one in Willow Creek, Newcrest, Windenburg, Brindleton Bay and Sulani. And I removed the one from Evergreen Harbour's neutral area cos I thought 3 in one world was a bit too much.
Will come back and vote when I've played more.
My sim visited the bar when this was in effect and the public literally stripped everything except the bar and shelves behind it, ok, they left the lighting too... I am not big on building because I take for ever on it so this is kinda a nightmare.
Origin ID: simaddict1990
If you'll go to Carl's Sims 4 Guide website, you will find all kinds of great info and new cheats regarding Eco Living. To make each neighborhood "Green" forever here is the cheat code:
Eco_Footprint.Set_Eco_Footprint_State 0 (Type in a Zero)
Some players are finding that this cheat works in the first few lots and then stops working. While others, like me. can't get it to work at all yet. I'm sure as Carl has time, he will figure out what is going on w/this cheat and why it appears to be glitching. Good Luck!
INFJ -A/-T
I also LOVE that we now can move Doors/Windows around to where we want to place them w/a more exacting placement. This has been very much needed since the Sims Series inception.
All of the Eco Living tasks are simply too much work for my sims and I to tackle as I play Sims to relax and have fun. Still waiting w/ever fading hope on a SPORTS EP or GP -- So we have a POOLTABLE, Volleyball, Football/Frisbee Tossing, Baseball Catching, Snowboarding, Skiing, REAL Scuba Diving like in Sims 3 and other FUN Sports Activities that can be enjoyed by FAMILIES and GROUPS of SIMS! Fini.
INFJ -A/-T
Im a simmer forever
My Sims are uncomfortable and miserable 24/7. The smoggy place that they lived in changed to neutral suddenly and I don't even know how. Obviously I did something but I don't know what.
I think I will be turning the eco foot print "thingy" off from all my other saves except from one. It's not fun for me. I was bored to play Eco Lifestyle and I hardly ever get bored of Sims 4.
To say something positive... at least there is a new world for my Sims to live in and some new premades and maybe I get some fun with few NAP's (the fun ones that don't have anything to do with eco living).
Also, the toon I was playing yesterday, we passed the... oh neighborhood action to basically steal and no one gets mad. Problem with that is... the community lot got cleared out. Now while I think this is a fun game play I think some tweaks need to be done, the NPCs are able to steal, counters, sinks (which made the lot broken), couches, almost everything. Yet you are not, also these items are now gone. It would be nice to show up at some NPCs house and see a counter from the Goth's House or something.
Lastly, today while playing in the harbor area, working a shop down by the docks. The neighborhood kept improving, which was great but it kept making the ground disappear. Finally after awhile my game finally crashed and I have not been able to open the lot since. I haven't tried other lots because... I figure it's an issue that will be fixed in a week or so.
Evergreen Harbour is pretty great-looking once the Modern and Green Development NAPs pass to make them beautiful, but bland before then, and I do wish there were still 1-2 more lots.
The CAS and Build/Buy are really great, especially Build/Buy.
The new careers and skills are fun for now but already growing stale.
I think that the Eco vs Industrial thing will get very tedious in the future in save files where that's not trying to be a focus.
For the recycling trait, have your Sim recycle something every morning and night - you can recycle one soy bean and your Sim is happy and it doesn't get them 'energized'. (If I want my Sim 'focused', I don't want her getting 'energized' every time she recycles something.) I agree the 'tense' moodlet and 'energized' need a little tuning - I can see them overriding 'focused' from decor, but they shouldn't override the 'focused' from a yoga routine.