I like to have a least one of my sims collect, fish and cook new things. Without telling me specifics please, does outdoor living provide "new" things in these areas. New harestables? Trying to decide if I'll buy it during the black Friday sale.I'm also thinking of buying Island living. Same question though. Without specifics are there new collectables, fish, harvestables, recipes? Is the game with it overall?Even with possible deals with black Friday is still a lot of money to spend on a game that has really let me down so much. Were these games worth the money to you or did they let you down?

@RonneeSimmer, while people can give you a truthful opinion, keep in mind that when asking these types of questions, every answer is an opinion no matter how truthful the person giving their opinion may be. 🤨 I honestly think mint chocolate chip ice-cream is far better than strawberry ice-cream, but my friend honestly disagrees with me. It is the same with the Sims!Nobody can tell you what packs you will definitely like. 😉 Your best bet is to ask someone who really knows you who plays the Sims 4... but not all of us have someone like that. 😞The best strangers can do is to mention what they like and dislike about certain packs, or to mention what seems to be the general consensus. For example, most people's favorite pack (based on what they write on sites like these, and fan sites as well) is Seasons. There will be some people who hate Seasons, but most love it because it fits into gameplay no matter what your playing style is! While Outdoor Retreat is fun, it can't be used nearly as often as a pack like Seasons. You don't have to send your Sims anywhere to enjoy Seasons because Seasons just exist in the game! So a person is more likely to actually use Seasons, making it worth the money! That said, there are people who don't like dealing with bad weather , or who don't enjoy the holidays that come with the pack (even though you can make your own!)Outdoor Retreat was one of the first packs for TS4, and in some ways they were just figuring out how this game would work out. It does have new vegetation, quite a lot of it! But that vegetation will only be found in Granite falls, unless you plant it on your Sims' lots. The vegetation can be used to make salves to treat bug bites or bad odor, or other things, as well as for pranks. This is done through the Herbalism skill. I do like using features of this pack along with the Spa Day pack as they can work nicely together. However, neither of these are my favorite packs. (Cats and Dogs is my favorite pack, but you can probably tell that by my screenname!) 😃Island Living is a beautiful pack, and many like it for Build/Buy Mode items. This is a good pack if you mainly like to build homes and venues for your Sims! But this is not a vacation pack! If you expect to rent a cabana for your Sims, you will be disappointed. This is a place to live. If you want vacation destination packs, either choose Outdoor Retreat or Jungle Adventure! I prefer the gameplay with Jungle Adventure over that of Outdoor Retreat, but I do like Outdoor Retreat better for families! While you can bring toddlers and children to Jungle Adventure, it is more difficult to use the gameplay features when children are present as ancient tombs and a harsh jungles are not the best locations for youngsters! But it is great for teens or older! Every pack will have bugs. This will happen no matter which pack you get.☹️ They are working on the bugs, but there are a lot, and it takes time. 😞 It might seem like they aren't working on them, but there is a long process they have to go through. Many reported bugs end up not being actual bugs and that has to be sorted out. Bugs have to be able to be replicable by EA and often it isn't clear why a person reporting a bug is having a problem. This process is slowed down if people who use Mods and Custom Content (CC) don't test their problems to see if Mods/CC is causing the problems in the first place! 😠😞 If they weren't fixing bugs they wouldn't not have just released a patch in which a lot of them were fixed! Unfortunately, sometimes when you fix one thing, another thing breaks. (This is rather like going to the doctor! 😃) It is a long process, but they are working on it! And yes, I honestly can say I have every pack (from the Original The Sims, TS2, TS3, and TS4) and I've never regretted a pack (even though TS3 tried my patience the most! 😞 The Stuff Packs for TS3 were twice as expensive as they are for TS4 and add that to the fact that TS3 was pretty much unplayable by halfway through its reign! 😬 😢 ) Still, I did honestly enjoy something out of every pack! 🥳 I realize I am rare on this view. But I can almost always find something to enjoy. With TS4 there are many ways to get the most out of your game. I like to tell stories. Others like to only achieve goals. Others like to primarily build. I also love to crate Sims and households, and I also love to experiment,. Others like to explore mods. Also, for people who like to mostly play families, they might try to play with Single Sims, or partiers! People who like to explore the Single life might change things up from time to time and play a large multi-generational family! 😉And then there are the challenges! I can't even beging to name them all, but some popular ones are the "100 Baby Challenge" the "Rags to Riches Challenge", the "Apocalypse Challenge" , and the "Off the Grid Challenge". I am a fan of Doctor Who ❤️❤️ and am thinking of doing the "Doctor Who Challenge" sometime after Christmas! 🤓🙌I'm sorry I'm long-winded, but I am very passionate about the Sims! 😳 🥳Anyway, since you are having problems with your computer, I would wait and tend to that before getting any pack! Adding packs will only make your computer run worse! 😢 When you get your comptuer fixed or get a new one, then you can take all the information you have gathered and make the best decision for yourself! 😇🙌

@RonneeSimmer - Both @MapleSimmer & @PugLove888 have given you great overviews of these two packs. I can only provide a bit more specific info about Island Living as I don't have any direct experience with Outdoor Retreat. I am like you, I like to have at least one of my sims concentrate on collecting and gardening. I usually have a different one concentrate on cooking & mixology, since there are specific traits that can help them become focused for the collecting or inspired for the cooking. To be honest, I didn't think I was going to like Island Living at all. I was not super excited about making a mermaid and in real life, I find beaches and water sports boring. So, I was pleasantly surprised that there was so much involved with this expansion pack and I'm still exploring some of the features. I'm also thinking of buying Island living. Same question though. Without specifics are there new collectables, fish, harvestables, recipes? Is the game with it overall? New collectibles: Seashells and Treasures. No specifics, but one of the seashells has a secret "power" 🙂 There are also a bunch of new underwater photos to collect, but they're not listed in the collections panel. I wish they were listed, because I'm not sure I've gotten them all. But they are really pretty and add decor bonuses to rooms when you display them. New fish: Lots of new fish!!! Also, new ways & types of fishing. There are shallow, medium and deep water fish; you can also fish by setting traps, with or without bait; spear fishing from a deep ocean buoy; or fish from the boats that come with the pack. There is also a new mechanic with mermaids called "Aquatic Lure" that results in a fishing sign looking all sparkly. If you see a fishing spot where the sign is sparkly, it means that a mermaid has cast this ability, and any sims fishing there will fish as though their skill level is 2 levels higher & catch rates are improved. You don't have to play a mermaid in order to see this - mermaids I don't know have apparently cast this ability on a few of the fishing spots around the islands. Some of the new fish are endangered species, and you will get a popup asking if you're going to abide by the law and throw the fish back, or take it anyway. The fish will count towards your collection regardless of your choice, but you will get different moodlets depending on your choices and maybe even take some hits to relationships if you decide to poach a fish in front of other people. New Harvestables: Yes, but not a lot. I had hoped for more, honestly, but the 3 they added make sense for tropical islands. They are all uncommon plants, but wild plants are readily found all over the place for harvesting or grafting purposes. One of the new plants has several uses for making a new drink, giving different moodlets by drinking it, and there's even a new party associated with the drink. New Recipes: New food item Coconut Cake is added to the level 3 cooking list; New drink item Lotta Cocolatte is added to the level 6 mixology list. There are several new food items you can purchase from food stands, but I don't think you can learn to make them. The other new recipes are tied to specific items added to build/buy. There is a kava bowl, which you can use to make the kava drink (no minimum level, but your sim will get better quality drinks the more they use it), and a barbecue pit where you can make a huge amount of 3 new barbecue recipes. Is the game worth it overall? Oh, geez, there's really no way to say if you think it will be worth it to you. I can only say that I never buy anything unless it's on sale (I'm waiting for those deep discounts on Black Friday, too!). Like I said earlier, I was surprised how much there was to explore - there are so many more features, some are little things, some are more in-depth. I personally like the gameplay feature of cleaning up the islands and the focus on conservation. A bit disappointed that scuba diving and snorkeling are not interactive - a sim will go into a rabbit hole and return with something from scuba diving; snorkeling is just watching them swim around with a snorkel mask on. Dolphins are fun and different traits and mermaids can have more unique relationships with them. After I've explored all of the choices with them, it's kind of boring for me, but that's because I'm not a storyteller kind of player. I'm much more goal-oriented and although I feel the dolphins and interactions are well-done and adorable, once I've become a friend or soulmate with one, I've met my goal. The two new traits - Child of the Islands and Child of the Ocean - have unique and interesting mechanics with them. I was surprised and then happy to see that the Child of the Ocean sim gets joy from releasing fish from traps and swimming around, but is not a happy camper if you intend to decorate your house with mounted fish or make him/her a fisherman 🙂 I enjoy and use the Child of the Islands ability to summon the elementals and ask for judgement. Just keep in mind that they're expecting you to do things to help the islands, so cleaning up litter from the beaches or any of the other environmental things will have them look favorably upon you. New lot traits - I really enjoy Island Spirits lot trait. It's easy to get addicted to this one. Don't confuse with the Elementals from the Child of the Islands trait, Island Spirits are ghost-like figures that appear on the lot nearly every morning and if you choose to "interact" with the spirit they grant you some awesome moodlets that last from 12 - 48 hours. Like, super awesome! You can get a moodlet that fills your energy bar or food bar for a couple of days, or your skill learning is enhanced, or other "gifts" like that. I'm a little addicted to it now. The Volcanic Lot trait can be fun or just annoying, depending on what you like to do. It will give you another way to get your collectibles, though. Then, the two new careers have some great features, and the only careers that award a trait if you reach the highest level. There was an annoying bug that prevented you from getting a raise at level 10, but they fixed that one with the last patch, so that made my Islanders very happy. I've already written way too much about this lol, but there are many more features to IL. Like I said, I didn't think I'd like it, and turned out I did. It is a livable world with a whole different community feel, weather and it is really beautiful. Since it's not a vacation spot, but a place where you can live and work, I felt it was better for me than OR, but your views and goals might be different. I hope this helped!

@RonneeSimmer Further to @PugLove888 's comment, the best pack for you really depends on what you like to do in your game. 🙂I use elements from Outdoor Retreat in my day to day game play, not just as a vacation destination, though I agree it's a great place for a family vacation, and I also like it for a honeymoon destination, especially if I edit the vacation rentals there (which you can either do from world view or with the bb.enablefreebuild cheat if your sim is already vacationing there). It comes with a few reward traits, one of which I use all the time, 'Incredibly Friendly' which makes it very easy to make friends, and I also use the cloud and star gaze interaction to get my sims' inspired (you don't even have to complete it, so I find it one of the easier ways for sims to get inspired, and if they do it with someone else it builds their social and friendship, on their own it gives them fun). The other items I use a lot from OR is the tent, portable shower and cooler (a cooler also comes with Toddler Stuff pack), they are great for Rags to Riches and I know of a few challenges that specifically use things from OR (I like doing challenges so this is a plus for me, but may not be for you 🙂 ). Also, if you have the other vacation pack, Jungle Adventures, or if you ever get it, OR works very well with JA. I use the tent, shower and cooler when exploring, and the insect repellent you make with the herbalism skill also works for the bugs that attack in JA. I do enjoy Island Living, the world is beautiful and I enjoyed restoring Mua Pel'am to it's former glory, but I'm not sure how often I will do that. Though I personally prefer my sims to live in worlds with milder climates, so from that perspective Sulani is a good fit for me since I have Seasons installed. I also really like the build/buy/CAS items. Mermaids aren't an occult I will use very much.As @PugLove888 also mentioned, both packs come with new harvestables and fish, as well as other collectibles (bugs with OR and seashells/treasures with IL), though I also agree that it's best not to get any more packs until you have any issues with your computer sorted out. Best regards,Jennifer

@RonneeSimmer, @MapleSimmer , @RandomBuzziness , I agree with what @BlackjackWidow said about Island Living. I enjoy the pack and it is very relaxing to play (well, maybe not the volcanic lot, but the rest of it is 😃). I just was thinking that @RonneeSimmer was thinking of choosing between the two because they might have wanted a Vacation destination. A lot of people assume Island Living is a vacation destination and then are confused when they buy it. I just wanted to make it clear that it wasn't a vacation pack, but in the process I think I made the pack sound like a bad pack. 🤭 I quite enjoy it, and have not finished exploring all it has to offer! I also love this pack because fishing, looking for seashells, cleaning up the beach, and building sandcastles are something that children and elders can do as well! 🙌 It isn't always the case that a pack has gameplay for all the ages present in the game! Toddlers also enjoy digging in the sand and making sand castles! ❤️ And there are several part time jobs that come with this pack as well as the full time Conservationist career. And if you like Mermaids, they are absolutely gorgeous! 🥳

@RonneeSimmer I do like Outdoor Retreat, mostly because it fits well with my style of playing. My Sim lives in an old rustic cabin (in Brindleton Bay, the world that came with the Cats & Dogs EP) and many of the Buy/Build items I used for the cabin are from Outdoor Retreat. These items would work well in any world if that's the look you are going for. I built another pretty cool cabin in Oasis Springs. I also use quite a few of the CAS outfits, hiking boots, etc., for my Sim for the same reason, I like the outdoor look. The world that Outdoor Retreat comes with, Granite Falls, is quite pretty and no spoilers but yeah there are lots of new collectibles, fish, cooking recipes, etc. It makes a fun place for family vacations or for just a single Sim wanting to spend some time alone with nature. You can choose to stay in a cabin or rough it in a tent. To me, it was definitely worth it, but I'd also wait 'til you can find it on sale.I really, REALLY want to get Island Living but the bug list still looks too long for my comfort. I'm going to wait a little while longer in the hope that they clean things up by Christmas. I have enough bugs as it is!

Is outdoor retreat worth it? | EA Forums

51 Replies

PugLove888
Hero (Retired)
6 years ago
@SheriGR, It's been a while since I played with that family for anything other than testing purposes. I think I just had them stay with the Hermit originally just because I could do so! 😃 Then I wanted to fish in her lake and get her blackberries, (which at the time were hard to get, but now are much easier!) I don't know if I got her recipe or not.🤭 I don't remember. 😳
@RandomBuzziness& @SheriGR childish adult Sims (like Father Winter) will play with any toys by themselves! 🥳 I especially get a kick out of them playing with toys from the toybox because they act just like children with them! 🙌😃
I also have heard that if you have children with Father Winter , the children will inherit a special trait … but I have not tried it yet! 🤨
RandomBuzziness
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
@PugLove888and @SheriGR I had spent a significant amount of time in Granite Falls in a previous save while trying to complete the Outdoor Enthusiast aspiration and to search for the unique collectibles that are only found there. Lately I have been going back with my current save and for the first time since I added the Seasons EP. I am so pleased with how well Granite Falls works with Seasons! The forest seems to react differently to certain weather conditions than any other place I've seen (spoilers attached below). It just adds a new level of uniqueness to the campground and forest in a way that I love! It makes me want to keep going back :D

I've also noticed the Park Rangers are different in this save than in my previous save, so there appears to be some randomness there too. They've all had the Loves The Outdoors trait, but other than that they vary in age and gender.
Warning: Spoilers Below
Spoiler
I didn't want to spoil things for anyone who hasn't yet played Outdoor Retreat, but I am noticing that in heavy rains the water seems to collect differently in Granite Falls than in any other world I have installed. I spend a lot of time outdoors in real life (when I am not playing Sims xD) and I have seen this effect happen when it rains but the ground is too cold to absorb it. I am sure it is by design (or happy accident) and not a bug in any way.
SheriGR
Hero
6 years ago
@RandomBuzziness That is so cool! I'm glad you're loving the changes the the Seasons EP added to Granite Falls. It's an amazing how well they made the Seasons pack enhance the worlds and gameplay! Thanks for sharing that! 🙌
PugLove888
Hero (Retired)
6 years ago
@RandomBuzziness & @SheriGR , yes, I love the heavy rain and thunderstorms you can get at Granite Falls if you have Seasons! It does make the camping experience of Outdoor Retreat more life-like and more of an adventure! ❤️ My Sims weren't too happy with me for making them trek out to the Outlook station and then to the Hermit's House during the storms, but I had a blast! 🙌
troshalom
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
@PugLove888 Great response.
I was thinking that whatever pack you get, explore the heck out of it and use your imagination. The bugs are annoying, and I have done my fair share of griping about them, but that aside, the Outdoor Adventure pack is fun especially if you focus on fishing, collecting, herbalism and doing camping stuff with friend and family.

I love using the tents and portable showers outside of Granite Falls too. If you have a sim who loves the outdoors, having them sleep in a tent as opposed to in a house is immensely satisfying to them. Also it is fun trying to build relationship with the hermit & learn their herbal remedies before they die.

@RonnieSimmer I am just starting to get into Island Living, I haven't scratched the surface yet, but I love the beaches. The first main beach, I built a cabana I attached to the pier, so I could send my Sims to Sulani to vacation or just spend the night. So, even though it is not a vacation world, I treat it like that for Sims I play that live in other worlds. I do the same thing in Strangerville too.

There are new harvestables and fish in Sulani, but I haven't found them yet.

Carl's guides have a list of them.

And yeah, now that I realize it is December, you prolly made your purchase decision, but I've also added my two cents
troshalom
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
@RonneeSimmerMy game never crashes and I have all EPs except DU and all GPs except RoM and Vamps, and quite a few SPs. Could be your system specs, or your resources. Are you on Win 10? If yes play the game in window view and then open the task manager and see how your resources are being used.
BTW, What did you choose to purchase?
RonneeSimmer
6 years ago
@troshalom wrote:
BTW, What did you choose to purchase?
@InfiniteVerve @PugLove888 @SheriGR
I winded up building a bundle deal for "Cyber Monday". I got Seasons + Outdoor Retreat + Romantic Garden Stuff for 48 bucks!!
I'm liking Outdoor Retreat so far except that I have to make sure that I sell all my produce before traveling. Seasons is cool too.
I'm having an issue sometimes where even if i have all necessary ingredients i can't make some recipes. They look available and are clickable but just don't show up in my queue know matter how many times i try. Like I wanted my sim to bake something that Twitter either spinach our basil. She had both and each were better than nice quality, though I doubt that matters. I click on the fridge, select bake and select the item from the list. I look at her queue and its not there. I try again with the same outcome. It was only after I'd sold all her produce, sent her on vacation, brought her home, had her garden and harvest and then had her bake again did it finally let me do it. It's just one or two recipes I've had this happen with. Not a big deal I just find it strange.
Other than that I'm having fun collecting bugs, finding new harvestables and fish. I just started with the flower arranging table and bee keeping boxes. I'm pretty happy with my choices. So far so good 👍. Thanks for all the advice, suggestions and honesty.
PugLove888
Hero (Retired)
6 years ago
@troshalom, exactly! ❤️ I find that most people who complain about being bored in the game haven't explored the game enough! 😃 And then you can always do various challenges! 🙌 As someone who loves playing Sims who love the outdoors and love collecting, Outdoor Retreat is a good pack to have!
And that is a nice idea to treat Strangerville as a vacation location! 💡🙂
@RonneeSimmerI think you got a solid bundle! Very nice choices! 🥳 Romantic Garden has some beautiful items and ties in nicely with your outdoors theme of Seasons and Outdoor Retreat! And the wishing well, is a lot of fun as well! 😃
Hopefully they will get that inventory produce bug fixed soon. 🤞 I think it is one of their priorities, so I'm sure they are working on it!
It sounds as if your recipe crafting glitch solved itself when you traveled! 🙌 Sometimes traveling will fix issues that exist with a Sim or a particular lot. Hopefully it wont' occur again!
Keep some of that honey on hand as it can save your Sims from freezing or overheating to death! It also helps fill hunger and gives a nice moodlet! 😉
SheriGR
Hero
6 years ago
@RonneeSimmer Thank you for letting us know! I hope you will get a great deal of enjoyment out of all the new packs! 🙌🥳

I have found the same thing about the (baked items) recipes...
Even if I un-tick the box "Use Fresh Ingredients" in 'baked' items, for instance, my sim with baking skill of 10 has many of the recipes greyed out unless I grow and have in inventory/harvested the specific ingredients (ie - Shepherd's Pie, Artisan Herb Bread, Lemon Meringue Pie, etc.) They actually have the plants for that but I'm just currently super-selling from them until the bug is fixed and only cooking with non-fresh ingredients. Normally, though, these options are available for them since they own these plants.
However.... in the Gourmet recipes...
If I un-tick the box "Use Fresh Ingredients" in 'gourmet' items, my sim with gourmet cooking skill of 10 has no recipes greyed out.
If I tick the box "Use Fresh Ingredients" in 'gourmet' items, my sim with gourmet skill of 10 has many of the recipes with greyed out ingredients unless I grow and have in inventory/harvested the specific ingredients. But... in that case she is still able to make the items, so I've never fully understood the purpose of that or how /if it effects the final product.
RonneeSimmer
6 years ago
@SheriGR Sorry you are experiencing cooking issues too. Try selling your produce and sending your Sim on vaca like I did. Maybe that'll fix it for you too. I know with the new patch we don't have to sell off our produce anymore but I don't know which action solved this issue for me, so why not try both 😃