When does the Sims 3 take place?

Pretty sure Sunset Valley is supposed to take place in the 50s. Which doesn't make a ton of sense, other than Jared Frio being an obvious greaser and Agnes Crumplebottom being blonde Bettie Page. :lol: But I think that's kinda EA/Maxis's schtick at this point: Mixing elements of various decades together. Ultimately, it just makes The Sims timeline confusing. The only thing anyone knows for sure is:

The Sims 3 takes place 50 years before The Sims 2 and 25 years before the Sims 1. The Sims 4 is unrelated as it takes places in an alternate timeline.

I guess at the end of the day, The Sims 3 takes place in whatever decade you want it to. :lol: Same as all the other Sims games. Which, if you think about it, is a good way to approach such a creativity driven game like The Sims. You aren't shoehorned into a specific style. :smiley:

It takes place in its own timeline, not in our own. I see it taking place in a parallel universe that kind of resembles periods from the past but isn't from there.

hello @ts1depot nice to see you! :) I thought you'd posted in the mega chat thread but then couldn't find your post again. What a lovely sig! I checked out all those worlds and definitely will be downloading Riverside AND sim acres after I get more eps installed. :) They had me at "you need a big pc to run these" lolllllllllllllll :p (but in addition, they look nice)

Did you make them?

On topic, the sims timeline always confused me. However there's a youtube channel I've mentioned before, called Sims Lore, which has done a really good job at explaining things, and the comments are also interesting. (not trying to stop this discussion, just, that's a good place if you want more info).

Happy simming!

@stickykisses Hi, and thanks for the kind words. Yes, I made them. I actually was about to change the sig to update it (I have several more worlds about to be released this year, Godwilling) but now that you said you liked it, I guess I'll keep it hehe. :p

I think I saw somewhere that sims3 is supposed to take place before sims2, but in what decade? I guess thats up to each individual player. With cc from the the store you can build a 50s atmosphere, or a 70s... Personnally I just think of it as "now" :)

before ts1 and ts2 since bella and mortimer are kids but also the whole timeline is a mess so idk

Personally, I think the town's (Sunset Valley) base Architectual design is a span of mid-50s through early 60's (I am in no way knowledgeable in Architectual design, the rabbit-hold buildings just put me in mind of this era). When it comes to clothing, hairstyles, and attitudes, I think the town is probably functioning somewhere in the mid-70's. Some of the residential homes look as if they have been renovated from their 'older' versions (before the 50's as shown by their wallpaper designs and interior solid color choice) to a more 1970's modern version (as shown by their floor plans and window replacements).

Plus, the first sets sold in The Store were the Ultra Lounge furniture set (which reeks of 70's vibes especially the cubed lemon-yellow sofa and chairs). And, the 'Jet Set' clothing which for the Elders look to be 1950-ish (gloves and long gloves were all the rave for style and sophistication), Adult & Young Adult looks crossover into an updated 50's-60's style (gloves are still present but less lengthy & patterns make an appearance), while the teens set is more late 60's to mid 70's (shorter skirts, bolder patterns, and blazers are now on the scene).

I include the technology in their time placement because it clearly shows this town (like all EA TS3 towns/worlds) are caught in a time paradox. As near as I can tell, the actual current time the Sims 3 take place in is located in the 'Into The Future' normal timeline (that would be their 'present day').

Sunset Valley could be from the 1950's or 60's. The technology issue could just be that their world developed different from ours.

I've never thought of an year for the sims in general. I believe I'm just like @jillbg when she says it's as "now".

Since I lived in an apartment that was built in the 50's and I had access to many things from the 70's and 80's, I thought nothing of the styles they chose. (As a matter of fact, I've just realized that my grandmother has a bathroom that would be great in Sunset Valley). For me, it was always 2000's.

@thuggishsplicer - That's just the thing, all the 'nows' are different depending on which world you are playing.

Since the OP asked, "When does 'The Sims 3' take place and not which era does Sunset Valley appear to be in (or something along those lines), I assume they are asking about the whole of SimNation and not specifically about Sunset Valley. The OP's choice to remove technology suggest Sunset Valley is the topic, but the thread title and initial question does not.

Since Sunset Valley is the place where we all are/were introduced to the 3rd iteration of sims, I used it as a starting point for time placement. After all it's the only world every Sims 3 player has. But as you move through the EPs, the timeline or 'nows' changes and differs from place to place. And when you add in Store worlds it jumps even more.

As for the actual timeline or eras of all the individual worlds, there is no way I could begin to place them in any linear order. However, I do know when I am in Oasis Landing all of the worlds (EP and Store alike) are currently in the past. Oasis Landing isn't going to happen, it already has happened. Neither is it unstable. The utopian and dystopian potential futures are all dependent upon how you choose to play the paradox which is falsely presented as starting in (your) Sims 'current now' but (your) Sim's current now is actually 'the true past'. Remember, Emit didn't travel forward through time, he traveled backwards. Maybe that's why all of the worlds which makes up this game are located in different time spaces.

Sounds confusing but it isn't.