Plumbbot & general help needed

@Oldeseadogge: Hello. Did you happen to click on the plumbot and yes the robot things in Oasis Landing are the plumbbots. After you click on the plumbbot, it should be in the menu things to ask what is it's function. Do you use mods, if so traveler from https://www.nraas.net/community/home may be the one you are looking for.

So to add it all up, that's five possible world travel destinations within the same ongoing game the EA way: the three WA worlds, Uni, and Oasis (with in turn its three variants).

The NRaas Traveler mod way, your sims can visit any world you have installed within the same ongoing game.

One thing that doesn't change is that only one world at a time can be simulated. So regardless of whether your actively played sims are in France (WA), Oasis (ITF), or Dragon Valley or a custom world (Traveler mod), the homeworld in which they live permanently goes into suspended animation and is frozen there until your sims return back home.

@Oldeseadogge Welcome back to Sims 3 (my and other Sims 3'rs neck of the woods). :D

Plumbots are usually found in the Oasis Landing world. @igazor has offered up some important info regarding using NRAAS Traveller and NRAAS is one of the ways that we as Sims 3 players have kept our game stable and (less...though not always prone to crashing).

I'd highly suggest setting up a Mods folder and downloading NRAAS Overwatch and Error Trap as well as Master Controller. That will stabilize your game and hopefully prevent any crashes along the way as you're exploring different worlds.

"Oldeseadogge;c-17534769" wrote:
Thank you one an all! No mods currently as want to get past the 'meh' feeling about the game first, and there's a lot to overcome.

At least the basic mods that make the game run better are recommended in any case. Those will help with some of those frustrations.

"Oldeseadogge;c-17534769" wrote:

... limitation to one sim/household per game save...

I play the whole town (well, to different degrees) of Sunset Valley at once in my main savegame. Of course, I have my main families.

"Oldeseadogge;c-17534769" wrote:

...almost every destination other than the park is a rabbit hole with no opportunity for my sim to meet other sims and interact with them...

As soon as the families get larger, that's more of a blessing. You can set the interactions via work tones and deal with other issues in the meanwhile. If you want careers with lots of personal interactions, you need packs like Ambitions or Showtime. I find this means you are basically forced to play that one sim most of the time. Also, besides parks, there's always the other residential lots, the museum, the gym, the public pools, the graveyard, etc. Also, in most towns, the business center (in Sunset Valley it's the lot that contains the grocery, theater and bookstore rabbitholes) is always full of sims, sometimes dozens. The lot with the hospital and the diner also has always people to meet.

"Oldeseadogge;c-17534769" wrote:

.. a so-called summer festival with 2 wooden statue like food vendors, 2 photo booths, and my sim (and only my sim) present. Whoopee.

Hmm, the game usually pushes around 8 other sims on the lot you go to, but the number depends on your system. Did you set it up properly so the game knows that your computer can handle more sims?

Depending on your installed packs, there are plenty of lots that aren't rabbitholes that your sim can go to and meet other sims. Arcade, Bowling Alley, Hangouts, Beaches, Parks, Pools.
One thing I've learned over the years, is not to put too many lots like that into your town, and try to incorporate as much as you can into one lot ( without going overboard ) otherwise the sims in your town will be spread so thinly that you'll not have any lots that seem "full".

I've built a hangout for my sims that includes bowling lanes, pool tables, arcade machines, things like magic mirrors, chess tables, domino tables, a jukebox & dancefloor, a bar and outdoor stuff like a skating rink, soccer net, driving range, electrodance sphere etc, all that kind of stuff, so that sims are pushed to this one lot, rather than 10 other lots around town.

I usually only add one pub to my towns, and I change the lot designation to Dance Club or Disco Club or dive bar wherenever I have a sim who wants to learn all different kinds of drinks, otherwise it stays as a local watering hole.
My recreational lots usually aren't empty, and I don't have any trouble meeting sims in my game. You'll find yourself much better off setting up mods in your game though.

As for the ugly sims, well, TS3 sims are known for being little pudding heads. Again, mods that alter the range of the sliders like Master Controller will help prevent this, though it wont do anything for already created sims unless you alter them. I believe there is also a setting that can help with making sure the game doesn't generate puddings, and has a more varied facial / slider range.
I don't know that for sure because I use AwesomeMod which does that automatically. One thing, when you're editing or creating sims - they will instantly look a hundred times better when you reduce their head width slider. It's usually far too fat and wide.

Default replacement skins will also help with the plasticine look of TS3 sims. It IS possible to also set up rotational play, with TS2 style aging thanks to NRAAS mods, but you'd have to seek help on their forums for that ( I think ) because I tend to just play a single household and couldn't help sorry, and I am not sure of any others here who play rotationally. I go back to TS2 when I want rotational families.

As @Nikkei_Simmer said, it is best to explore the open world on foot. If your sim likes collecting gems, metals and insects, there are always plenty to find. Gems can be cut and sold at the consignment store or right from your inventory, and each skill has a series of challenges that I find really fun to try to complete.

Personally, I don't think you're going to get past the "Meh" feeling with TS3 without using at least Master controller and Error Trap. Sadly, Ts3 can run into a lot of problems which can leave people feeling very discouraged and frustrated and unable to enjoy the game. I wouldn't wait to install them, but that's just me. Most people here who do really love and enjoy their games are using the NRAAS suite of mods in some regard.

Good luck with it, I hope you find a happy place with the game.

@Pary, Thanks...for explaining it better than I can. :) I tend to use my bin sims as part of the genetics for game sims so the ones that generate in my game are pretty much a lot better looking than the EA ones which is something that returning players to TS3 can try to get rid of the pudding heads. I learned this by torturing @igazor with questions. :mrgreen:

OP: TS3 is a "story-tellers" game, the expressions are so subtle that you have to be expert to read into them what you want. You have to catch them at the right moment for your "narrative"

"I have an idea..." Phil said with a knowing grin.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZAUQzl2XBk/XuF8-4aTkqI/AAAAAAAAgjA/u48JwzStZY4YQ3U4jQ9H73N5VV9iC-QZACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-24.jpg

"Shut up...Phil..." came a chorus of cat-calls from the other three. If it wasn't something utterly irresponsible that would come out of Phil's mouth, it was something borderline suggestive.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t0MG70TuyFo/XuF9eTlei6I/AAAAAAAAgjI/WiYioFi2oeQQESrh2X4_rmKgJhUJXBQUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-23.jpg

We use all the tools at our disposal to weave a story instead of relying on overly animated characterizations of emotions of the sim in question.

I do find that our sims animations are rather muted but for us that's the beauty of it. We can make their muted animations to be what we want them to be rather than be forced around the animations of the developers.

You can't mistake this expression for anything other than shock...

"Hey, Phil, you're our dumpster diver. "
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrepnvQ8AFc/XuGBeqTIHtI/AAAAAAAAgkE/ifChDvYAfJ8czLQvbo9kk2axuNv6x4FVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-31.jpg
Waitaminute... "Don't I get a vote in this?"
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gJFffPNrYEs/XuGByT3AseI/AAAAAAAAgkM/IlUtYf_zIjs-Z4R2krpSzQLONQpdPeQMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-32.jpg

"Three to one; you're out-voted." a slow evil smile crept over Haruo's face as he hiked his thumb towards the new Sunset Valley General Store. "Six AM tomorrow morning; you get to rummage through the dumpster. Better get some sleep tonight."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m4Kb-Uv7e34/XuGCK0qqK4I/AAAAAAAAgkU/mXRMuVp1s4kg042tOsV75gADqLX8LZMOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-33.jpg

"Setting up a mods folder" is quick to do. You can do it manually or you can get a premade (zip file) that contains all your folders that you put into the C:/Documents/Electronic Arts folder that your game folders are in.

Step One is: Make a New Folder (label it Mods)
Step Two is: Open up your Mods folder: Make two Subfolders in your Mods folder - Label the first folder Overrides; label the second Packages <---- This folder is where you will place all your mods that are labelled as .package
If you have a Sims3pack. Those go in the C:/Documents/Electronic Arts/Downloads where EA's Launcher will take care of it.
Step Three is: Open up Notepad on your computer. Copy the following

Priority 501

DirectoryFiles Files/... autoupdate

Priority 500

PackedFile Packages/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Packages/*/*/*/*/*.package

Priority 499

PackedFile Test/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Test/*/*/*/*/*.package

Priority -50

PackedFile Probation/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*/*.package
PackedFile Probation/*/*/*/*/*.package

Priority 500

PackedFile DCCache/*.dbc

Save it as resource.cfg place it in the Mods folder.

When you are set up. Your mods folder should look like this:
File folder: Overrides
File folder: Packages
file that is titled resource.cfg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm-8QEb-2ls/XuGn4oWsVqI/AAAAAAAAglQ/P-uLFEaakGUJGGg3uNZVY3qCm0Kkv2uJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MyModsFolder.jpg
Ignore my Cache File, I use it for something else. All you need is the two folders and resource.cfg file and you're all set to go.

I'm really sorry to have to make this comment, and perhaps I should really keep it to myself (and I might delete it later after thinking about it some more). As many of you know, I love to help players find the joy that TS3 can bring, this is fun for me and has been for many years. But in this case, and I mean this as kindly as possible, the OP should really find something else to do.

Clearly they are an avid simmer, but this is the sixth time they are giving this iteration of the game a chance, as they say, and they are expecting all along for it to be like TS2 only better once they find out how to make that happen. It never will be, in that regard it will always disappoint. TS3 stands on its own merits and although there are of course similarities between all of them in the series, TS3 is a very different game from the others. If one regards the open world as an annoyance and is unable to appreciate the vast possibilities that the it brings to the table, the design tools we get to work with, and the blank slates that the sims themselves present to us to work on with or without the help of mods, and it's still all just "meh," then this sudden enlightenment, oh so that's what everyone keeps talking about kind of thing, is just not likely to happen.

It's perfectly fine that many players did not bond with it the first time they tried, and it's fine if they never will, but forcing themselves to find redeeming qualities to a game where they constantly refer to sims other players proudly showcase as bland, dull, lifeless, worse than the ugly TS2 sims, etc., constantly comparing everything TS3 has to offer to TS2, telling us that all lots are rabbitholes, shunning advice about getting the game to recognize the power of their newer computer's hardware when it (the game) might need some help in doing that, all show us that the metric being used to measure quality and enjoyment here is skewed.

Either that or the OP is troll-baiting for their own amusement. And no one starts school in June. (of course they do, I just threw that in there for fun) But I would prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt. TS4 is not and will never be my cup of tea even as an occasional alternative to T3, I recognized that years ago, and there is no point in forcing myself to try to enjoy it. The same can said for many players when it comes to TS3. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong, but if I really felt that way about a game that has evolved as far as it is ever going to, as opposed to a new one still in its early development stages, no matter what everyone around keeps saying, I would after a while just choose to play something else instead. :/

I feel the same way as you @igazor which is why I didn't push my love of the game on to the OP. I understand it's not for everyone and I am fine with that.

I'm pushy ! LIKE IT, DAMNIT !!

:D

( seriously, if that is the case, and you feel you'll never "bond" with the game, maybe it's best to put it away )

Also, I really hate this word filter. Some of the words it filters are so dumb and unnecessary.

Yeah, @Nikkei_Simmer is trying to impress us with the doing a Mods Framework From Scratch procedure. That's great, but for many it's more convenient to use one that is already set up and ready to place into the TS3 user game folder after unzipping it. This one comes with two sample script mods, NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles, already in place for testing. After success, the two included mods can be kept or discarded as the player sees fit.
https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Installing_Sims_3_Package_Files/Setup_and_Files

Then there is no need to open the file in Notepad and it doesn't matter which icon or file association the cfg file picks up as it will work regardless of those.