FAQ
Newer questions/answers added with time stamp at the end of this post.
How do lots change over time when The Sims 3 Seasons is installed?
Lots change by placing a Seasonal Lot Marker on the lot; a special developer object that allows you to create different versions of the lot that are displayed at different times of the year.
What is a Seasonal Lot Marker?
A Seasonal Lot Marker is a special object that allows a lot to change as time passes over the course of a year for players who have The Sims 3 Seasons installed. It's primarily used to allow different festivals to appear in your world in Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter, but it can also be used on any community or residential lot to update the look of things for different seasons.
Why do I have a Seasonal Lot Marker even though I don't have The Sims 3 Seasons installed?
All players who have The Sims 3 and are patched to game version 1.42 will have access to the Seasonal Lot Marker. This is to ensure compatibility across all players when sharing lots on the exchange, or when playing a save game that uses this special object after uninstalling The Sims 3 Seasons. Because everyone has the object, it allows a few possibilities:
• Everyone can build a lot that’s set up to rotate with the seasons and share it with other players.
• If you download a lot that was designed to rotate with the seasons and do not have The Sims 3 Seasons installed, you’ll see the Common mode version of the lot when you initially place it in your world.
• You'll still be able to go into Build/Buy Mode and manually change the Seasonal Lot Marker to a different mode in your game, you simply won't see the lot rotate automatically without The Sims 3 Seasons installed.
What lots can I place a Seasonal Lot Marker on?
A Seasonal Lot Marker can be placed on any lot. It was primarily created for Festival Grounds type venues, but you can place it on any type of lot in the game. This could be used to do anything from removing the lounge chairs from a community pool in the winter, to adding Halloween decorations to your Sim's home in the fall - it's entirely up to you!
Is there any limit to the number of lots that can have a Seasonal Lot Marker placed on them?
We don't enforce any hard limit; you can apply them to every lot in the world if you really want to. That being said, the more lots and objects you set to change throughout the year the bigger the hit on performance will be.
The performance impact is a combination of how many lots are changing, and how many objects are set to change on each lot. For example, you could set every home in the world to make a pumpkin appear near the front door in the Fall, and the performance hit wouldn't be too bad. Alternatively, you could make a handful of parks in your world drastically change with every season; each one spawning and despawning a large number of objects with each season change. As long as you limit that to a few lots you should be fine.
If you start to have a large number of lots trying to spawn/despawn a large number of objects simultaneously, you will encounter long periods of time where the game seems to have hung while it swaps out all those objects throughout the world.
The impact this has on your game will vary depending how powerful your computer is, so experiment with it accordingly.
How do I place a Seasonal Lot Marker on a lot?
The Seasonal Lot Marker is a debug development tool, and as such it isn't located in the normal catalog. Instead, you'll need to enter cheat codes to access it. For any type of lot other than a Festival Grounds venue, follow these steps:
1) Prior to entering Build/Buy Mode, press CTRL + SHIFT + C, enter "testingcheatsenabled true" in the console that drops down at the top of the screen, press Enter to confirm.
2) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C again, enter "buydebug", press Enter to confirm.
3) Enter Buy Mode.
4) Select the "Sort by Function" view of the catalog.
5) Click on the box with the question mark that's labeled "Debug" that appears above the normal catalog.
6) Select the last tab that's labeled "Misc. Objects"
7) Scroll through the catalog and look for the object named "Seasonal Lot Marker". It looks like a metallic silver ball.
8 ) Place the Seasonal Lot Marker anywhere on the lot that you're editing.
OR
If you're building your own Festival Grounds, the game will automatically place a Seasonal Lot Marker for you. Follow these steps only when creating a festival:
1) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C, enter "testingcheatsenabled true" in the console that drops down at the top of the screen, press Enter to confirm.
2) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C again, enter "buydebug", press Enter to confirm.
3) Go to Edit Town mode.
4) Click on the lot that you wish to turn into a festival.
5) Click the "Change Lot Type" button.
6) Select "Community", and in the drop down box select "Festival Grounds", then confirm your selection.
7) With the new Festival Grounds lot selected, click the "Build/Buy" button.
8 ) Look around the lot for the Seasonal Lot Marker (it looks like a metallic silver ball); the game tends to automatically place it near the edge of the lot.
9) If you'd like to, you can move the Seasonal Lot Marker to a more convenient position as you'll frequently be interacting with it while editing the lot.
What are the different modes on the Seasonal Lot Marker?
The Seasonal Lot Marker has five different modes that can be built on, and each one shows up at different times of the year. It works as follows:
Common
• Anything you build in Common mode will be visible throughout the entire year and will never be hidden. Certain objects that have special functionality are only allowed to be placed in Common mode (different object functionality is explained in the Build/Buy List section of this guide).
• All Build Mode tools that you use are automatically applied to Common mode. Examples include building walls or changing terrain elevation. A full list is provided in the Build/Buy List section of this guide.
• You should always select the "Lock Common Objects in Place" interaction on the Seasonal Lot Marker as the last thing you do when exiting Build/Buy Mode when editing a lot with the marker to protect the integrity of the objects you placed in Common mode.
Construction
• Construction mode is special in that it is not required for the Seasonal Lot Marker to function. If you never place any objects in this mode on a lot, the lot will simply skip the Construction phase and go directly to the appropriate seasonal phase when the season’s change in-game.
• The Construction phase occurs at the start of every season (if objects are placed in it). On the first day of every season, any Seasonal Lot Marker on a lot will enter the Construction phase. This phase only lasts for one day, at which point the lot will transition to the mode for whatever the current season is.
• The Construction phase is shared across every season. There is no way to make a different looking construction phase in spring vs. fall for example.
• The Construction phase was created to help the fiction of the festivals so that there would be a period of time where festivals did not appear in the world. For most community or residential lots you'll simply want to skip the Construction phase.
Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter
• These four modes correspond to how the lot will look in each of the seasons. Perhaps you want to set up wildflower spawners in the spring, BBQ grills in the summer, a scarecrow in the fall, and heat lamps in the winter. Placing objects in the appropriate seasonal mode will allow you to do all that and much more.
What does "Lock Common Objects in Place" do?
When editing the Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter versions of the lot, the game automatically tracks which objects are in those versions of the lot and turns them on or off throughout the year at the appropriate time. Common mode is different in that the objects are always displayed, and thus Common objects are tracked differently in the game's code.
The important thing to know is that every time you finish editing a lot that has a Seasonal Lot Marker on it, you should always select the "Lock Common Objects in Place" interaction on the marker as the last thing you do before exiting Build/Buy Mode.
By locking the common objects on the lot, you're ensuring that they stay assigned to the common version of the lot and will always be in the correct place when the lot switches modes. Not using this interaction may not have any discernable negative impact on your lot, but the things it controls can be extremely subtle to notice.
How do I give my lot a unique name that changes throughout the year?
One of the functions of the Seasonal Lot Marker is to allow the name of the lot to change depending on which mode of the lot the game is currently displaying. Renaming the lot is not allowed on residential lots, this can only be set on community lots.
You can re-name different modes of community lots by holding down SHIFT + CTRL and left mouse clicking on the marker, then selecting the "Set Seasonal Festival Name..." interaction. At this point you'll be able to select any of the various modes that the lot shifts into and give it a unique name.
Because Common mode is never displayed by itself during gameplay, setting the Common name is actually how you change the name of the lot that is displayed in the Edit Town community lot bin.
If you don't set a unique name for any of the individual modes, that mode left with a blank name will default to use whatever the Common name is.
Why do objects placed in the Common version of the lot turn transparent when editing the Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter versions of the lot?
Any object assigned to the common version of the lot is always displayed on the lot (even in Build/Buy Mode) no matter what time of the year it is. As such, it's important to know where these objects are when editing other versions of the lot so that you don't accidentally cause them to overlap with each other. That means that when editing any version of the lot other than Common, all Common objects will appear transparent. This both lets you know where they are, and warns you not to touch them if you want them to remain in the Common version of the lot.
What happens if I click on a transparent Common object while editing a different version of the lot?
If you're editing in Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter and accidentally click on a transparent looking common object, you'll notice that it turns opaque. This means that you've pulled it away from the Common version of the lot and assigned it to whatever mode you were editing in.
This action can't be cancelled or reversed. Clicking the Undo button will not correct it. Once you've taken a Common object and pulled it to one of the other versions of the lot, that object will remain in that version of the lot. If you did this accidentally, the only thing you can do is delete the object, switch the mode of the lot that you're editing back to Common, and then place the object from the catalog down on the lot again while in Common mode.
Can I use Create a Style on a transparent Common mode object without affecting which version of the lot it’s assigned to?
Yes, you can use create a style on a Common mode object while the marker is set to edit in Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter without pulling that object to the mode you’re editing. This is helpful for sharing custom styles across modes.
Can I use the Eyedropper Tool on a transparent Common mode object without affecting which version of the lot it’s assigned to?
Yes, you can use the Eyedropper Tool on a Common mode object while the marker is set to edit in Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter without pulling that object to the mode you’re editing. This will allow you to create a copy of a Common mode object that will then only appear in one of the other modes if you wish.
Can I change the map tag icon used by the lot as it changes throughout the year?
No, this is not possible to set. The only time the map tag icon changes is if you build a Festival Grounds venue, in which case the lot uses the Park icon during Construction mode, and the Festival icon during Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter.
How do I delete a Seasonal Lot Marker?
To protect you from accidents, the Seasonal Lot Marker can't be deleted by using the sledgehammer, by grabbing it and pressing the delete button, or by dragging it to the section of the UI where you can sell objects.
To actually delete a Seasonal Lot Marker, hold down SHIFT + CTRL and left mouse click on the marker, then select the "Delete It" interaction. Selecting this will display a confirmation window asking you if you really want to delete it. Once you do so, all items on the different modes of the lot will merge together into the common mode of the lot.
What happens if I delete the Seasonal Lot Marker on a lot that I've placed objects in different seasonal modes on?
When a Seasonal Lot Marker is deleted, everything placed on the various modes of the lot will all be merged together into a single version of the lot, causing the lot to operate like every other lot typically does. This is likely to cause massive object clipping, as any objects that occupied the same place on different modes of the lot will not exist on top of each other.
Can I place two Seasonal Lot Markers on a single lot?
No, there can only be one Seasonal Lot Marker per lot. The game will not allow a second one to be placed.
What happens to parent or child objects when editing a lot with a Seasonal Lot Marker?
When we refer to parent or child objects, we're talking about objects that are paired with each other when placed on a lot. One example would be placing down a table, and then taking some decorative object and placing it on top of the table. The table would be the "parent" object, and the decorative clutter would be the "child" object.
If you build parent/child objects on a lot with a Seasonal Lot Marker, they should work just fine.
The simplest scenario is if both the parent and child objects exist in the same version of the lot together. Using the above example, that would be like placing a table with a decorative item on top of it in Spring mode together.
It becomes slightly more complex if you want to split the items across different versions of the lot. Using the same example objects, let's say that you placed a table with a decorative item on top of it in Common mode together. If you then switched to Spring and clicked...
...on the table (aka the parent), both the table and the decorative object would be pulled to Spring mode.
...on the decorative object (aka the child), the table would remain in Common mode, and the decorative object would be pulled to Spring and only appear during that part of the year.
What happens if I try and split a modular object across different versions of a lot?
As you may already know, certain objects in the game will seem to merge together if placed next to each other. A good example of this is lining up swing sets side by side; you'll see them snap together. Let's say you placed two swing sets connected together in Common mode, then switched to a different mode such as spring, and then clicked on one of the swingset pieces to pull it from Common mode into Spring mode. You'll see that half of the object now exists in Common mode, and half exists in Spring mode.
What should happen is that the modular objects should split apart from each other and then be treated as two individual objects that are completely separate from each other.
I don't recommend doing this. The engine can be a bit picky when it comes to modular objects, and while you're welcome to experiment with it, you may find things don't work exactly as expected there.
Can I continue to edit terrain elevation after placing objects in various modes of the lot?
You aren't restricted from editing terrain elevation whenever you'd like, but remember that it will always apply to all versions of the lot. I would highly recommend not changing terrain elevation after you've started to place objects on other modes of the lot. By editing the terrain elevation, you may end up with objects in other modes of the lot either left floating in the air or sunk into the ground, which would cause routing problems when Sims try and interact with them.
...of course, the aspiring creator may come up with creative ideas and use it to their advantage. Think outside the box and you may be rewarded with a very unique lot :)
Can the Seasonal Lot Marker be used to create seasonally rotating tombs?
The tombs that can be created by players who have The Sims 3 World Adventures already have quite a bit of complexity as they use a rudimentary form of object scripting. Combining that with Seasonal Lot Markers adds an additional challenge. If you wish to take on the monumental task of creating such a lot, more power to you :)
That being said, here are a few important things to keep in mind:
• Some tomb objects will always be locked to common mode. An example would be the Eye of Horus.
• Some tomb objects won’t have full functionality unless they are currently spawned when you attempt to use them during gameplay. For example, attempting to use a trigger to release a mummy from a Sarcophagus that’s placed in a different mode of a lot will not spawn the mummy. Another example would be attempting to link Dive Wells to travel to when the destination Dive Well is in a different mode of the lot; the Sim will not travel through it.
• Scripting objects across different versions of a seasonal lot should work. For example... using a switch in spring that unhides a trap in the summer.
• We considered disabling the Seasonal Lot Marker entirely on tomb lots as there are a ridiculous number of variables to consider when editing such a lot. We've done our best to ensure that anything that would cause a problem is forced to always be in Common mode. That being said... if you decide to build a seasonal tomb, you do so at your own risk. You may discover problems, and you may need to do some trial and error style building. If I was aware of any known issues I'd list them here, but keep an eye on your object scripting while building across seasonal modes. Save your lot early and save often so that you can go back to an earlier version without losing much work.
Can I set Holiday House Lights to automatically turn on using the Seasonal Lot Marker?
No, the Holiday House Lights are turned on by an interaction on the front door of your Sim's home. Other homes and community buildings throughout the world will also put up Holiday House Lights automatically in the winter.
If you want full control over which other lots use the Holiday House Lights, you can enter the "testingcheatsenabled true" cheat. Afterwards, simply click on the front door of a building on any lot to have access to the Holiday House Lights interaction. This can also be used to turn on the Holiday House Lights on other lots outside of the winter season.
How do I get the Egg Hunt or Spring Dance events to occur at a Festival?
These special events happen automatically in the Spring on any lot set to be a Festival Grounds. They can’t be turned off. You don't need to control where the eggs appear; they're randomly spawned throughout the lot.
Will the stages and Simfests in The Sims 3 Showtime work on a lot with a Seasonal Lot Marker?
Yes, you can have a stage that hosts Simfests and gigs on a lot that rotates with the Seasons. If you play in Starlight Shores with Showtime and Seasons installed, you can see an example of this as the festival in that world takes place at Verde Park with the outdoor amphitheater.
I would recommend only placing the stage and proprietor objects in the Common mode of a festival lot as I can't guarantee what would happen to gigs scheduled in the future when the stage despawns from a season change. If someone tries this themselves and lets me know what happens I'll update this answer in the future.
An egg spawned in a location that my Sim can't route to and collect, how do I prevent this?
This can and will happen. I highly recommend that when you build your own Festival that you don't include any open areas on the lot that Sims are unable to route to.
How do I get the Holiday Photo Booth to take pictures with the appropriate seasonal backdrop?
The Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter Holiday Photo Booths are four separate objects. Be sure to place the correct one during each mode of your festival lot using the Seasonal Lot Marker if you want a photo backdrop that's appropriate for the current season.
When do lots change modes during game play?
For Construction mode, the lot will change at 3am on the 1st day of every season.
For Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter, the lot will change at 3am on the 2nd day of every season. The one exception to this rule is if a lot has no objects placed in Construction mode on it, in which case the lot will switch to Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter mode on the 1st day of the season.
What happens to Sims if they're on a Community lot when it changes modes?
Any Sim that happens to be on a lot at 3am when the lot attempts to change modes will be pushed to route off the lot. Once all Sims are off the lot, the lot will then change modes.
If all Sims can't be routed off of the lot after a certain period of time for any reason, they will be teleported back to their home lot so that the lot can change modes.
What happens to Sims if they're on a Residential lot when it changes modes?
If the Sim is standing in a position that isn't needed by an object that's being placed by the marker when the lot changes modes, then nothing will happen to the Sim. They'll continue doing whatever they were doing.
If the Sim is standing in a position that an object needs to be spawned in, the Sim will be reset to the closest safe nearby location.
If the Sim is using an object that is being removed because it doesn't exist on the version of the lot the marker is attempting to load, the Sim will be reset to the closest safe nearby location.
Should you find any of this leaving your Sim in a bad location, simply open the console by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + C together, and type in “resetSim Firstname Lastname” (replace with the stuck Sim’s name) and press enter.
What happens if during game play I live drag an object from my Sim onto a lot which then rotates to a different mode before I reclaim that object?
Any object that was live dragged from a Sim onto a lot and remains on the lot when that lot switches to a different mode due to a Seasonal Lot Marker will be returned to the inventory of the Sim that owned that object.
Why is it that when I placed the winter food stand in the summer version of my festival lot using the Seasonal Lot Marker I'm not allowed to purchase any of the winter foods?
The concession stand objects are not tied to any particular season despite their names. They feature unique looking decorations on the booth that are appropriate for a particular season, but they all share the exact same functionality. The food and rewards that are available at the concession stands are controlled by whatever season it currently is in-game.
Added 11/20/12
Can I have different radio stations automatically play on wall speakers on different seasonal modes throughout the year?
Wall speakers that are placed on a lot are always linked together in certain ways. Although you can have a wall speaker appear/disappear in different seasonal modes and their music will turn on/off throughout the year, all of those wall speakers will share the same radio station setting. You can not have different wall speakers play different radio stations.
