@elulu8 I haven't heard any official news on Sims 5 but I think we'll still have a couple more years at least to go with Sims 4. I'm just guessing on that of course. The sale prices are hard to predict. The most recent sales had Expansion packs at 50% off and Game packs at 25% off. Those have expired but sales like this have been quite frequent lately & I would not be surprised to see another one start soon. The current sale has the Dine Out and Parenthood packs at 50% off.
As for which packs to get, that all depends on how you want to play your game. My first two packs were City Living and Get Together because I wanted more worlds and many lots to build on. I also wanted variety, city life vs country living, urban vs rural, etc., but that's just me. You should research each pack and watch the trailers on Origin to see which ones appeal to you the most. Personally, I love City Living and the Spice Market in San Myshuno is still my favorite neighborhood to live in with all the food vendors, buskers, luchadors and raccoon weirdos (EA's name for them, not mine), protesters, people shooting hoops at the basketball court, there is always something going on there! Some players don't like the noisy neighbors from living in an apartment and that's fine too. For me it just adds to the challenge, like having to get up at 7 am to get ready for work and your neighbor across the hall decides to party till 1 am! xD
Seasons is an awesome pack and it's still my favorite. It does not come with a world (which is why I added it later) but it pretty much multiplies all of the worlds you do have. For example, Willow Creek in the summer feels completely different than Willow Creek in the middle of winter. The seasons change gradually so early spring feels different than late spring. Heck even the days feel different from one to the next-- one day might be sunny and warm and the next cloudy and rainy. I love listening to the rain and wind and blizzards in the winter. Many of the worlds are totally gorgeous in the fall and winter. You also get holidays with Seasons-- four main holidays and lots of random funny holidays like "Talk Like A Pirate Day". You can customize any of the holidays, so if you'd rather have a Sims version of Christmas in your game instead of Winterfest then you can do it. If you prefer to create a Sims version of Kwanzaa or Hanukkah you can do that as well. In my game I created a Sims version of 4th of July called "Simsdependence Day" with fireworks and bbq's. Seasons adds things like ice skating, snowball fights, and building a snowman in the winter or roller skating and water balloon fights in the summer. In my opinion, EA really did an awesome job with this pack.
There are many other great choices and really it's all up to personal preference. I don't think there are any wrong choices here.
I'm just a regular Sims player, I do not work for EA, Sony, or Microsoft.
@elulu8 Yes, you can have pets in an apartment no problem. I'm partial to cats so many of my apartment Sims own cats. Cats seem easier to me because they can use a litter box. Dogs are a bit trickier because they need to go outside to go potty (or they'll use a balcony, yuck). You might have to take them on walks for this but it can be done. Also, I'm not sure if neighbors will complain about a dog barking. I'll have to test this sometime. I've never had a neighbor complain about a cat.
So for Vet Clinics, almost all of the residential lots in San Myshuno are apartments and they will not work for this. There is one regular residential lot, the Old Salt House, that should work fine, though it's a bit on the pricey side.
The Old Salt House
I really like the sound of city living and I love that it adds a new world. I also don't think that I will get sims 5 right when it comes out and will wait for a sale or even the anniversary. Ive heard that its coming out in 2021
Hi @elulu8 - good questions. 🙃
To answer your most recent questions, there are a few lots in San Myuchino that are not designated as apartments and you could replace the default lot with a vet clinic if you want to. And in one of my households, I have a sim with two big dogs and who is a vet with her own clinic in Brindleton, so I can vouch that it’s also really easy to live in San Myuchino and travel to a vet clinic in a different neighborhood as well. And yes pets are definitely allowed in apartments!
Right now there seems to be a bug (in my game at least) that is preventing dogs from being able to autonomously use elevators to relieve themselves outdoors, but that hasn’t always been the case, so presumably it’s temporary - and I’m not even sure if everyone is experiencing that same bug. (I just use the whistle icon to call them to me while I’m outside the apartment and then ask them to do their business, so the workaround is pretty easy cheesy if you do find that you have it. The dogs will go back inside on their own when they’re done so you don’t have to go through the hassle of putting them on a leash.)
Regarding Sims 5, I’ve heard unofficial rumors that the base game might be released later this year to coincide with the Sims 20th anniversary but it seems pretty late in the year for that to still be unofficial. In any case I think your should be able to get a lot out of Sims 4 even once the Sims 5 base game does come out. Ive actually been playing since the original Sims was released my freshman year of college, and one thing I remember about the transition from one Sims version to the next is that the base game always seems to lack a lot of the functionality I’m accustomed to enjoying when it’s first released but before there’s much additional content available, so I would alternate between the previous version and the newest for a while.
All three of the expansion packs you’re considering are excellent choices. City living expands gameplay thru the rent feature and includes more active shared community spaces in addition to the various festivals throughout the week that are a lot of fun and can be enjoyed by households that live in every neighborhood. I really enjoy the periodic ‘seasonal’ variation to gameplay that Seasons adds, in addition to the ability to enjoy all of the different holidays (plus it includes a calendar function so you can customize and modify the holidays exist in your game). And get to work has the three active careers, all of which are fun, and allow you to follow and actively play your Sim at their workspace. I think the scientist career in particular has a lot to offer (bonus: it made me laugh a lot, the first time through). Those are just highlights from my perspective, to add to the awesomely detailed feedback you already got from @RandomBuzziness. Honestly, I think you should get all three!
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Note on edit: revised a couple of the more egregious voice to text translation errors I missed initially. 🙄
@elulu8, in addition to @RandomBuzziness 's wonderful advice I want to add that while you can change the Old Salt House to a vet clinic, you don't have to do so as you can still access the one that comes with Brindleton Bay or any other neighborhood in the game like Willow Creek, Oasis Springs , or New Crest if you have built any vet clinics in other neighborhoods.
I have really enjoyed all of the packs you are considering getting. My favorite is Cats & Dogs, but the pack I recommend the most to people is Seasons (it is a close second favorite of mine anyway! ❤️) Like @RandomBuzziness said, Seasons just incorporates into all your existing Sims' lives so well! Different worlds/neighborhoods will get different weather patterns (Oasis Springs will get super hot in the Summer, while Brindleton Bay will get more rain/snow depending on the season).
And not only can you tailor make your own holidays, you can edit existing holidays. For example, if I play a single Sim who I don't want to get into a romantic relationship (usually because I'm testing something in the game and don't want to get sidetracked), I will edit Love Day to consist of only decorating the house and watching Romance TV! That way I can rack up the Aspiration points without having to change the my gameplaying style for that household! 🙌 You can also delete holidays that you don't want, which is what I do whenever the minor holiday called Neighborhood Brawl comes around!
Do keep in mind that certain plants will only produce harvestables in their appropriate seasons, unless you plant them indoors or in a greenhouse.
And if your Sims have children, there are more activities for them to do if you have Seasons, like water balloon fights, snowball fights, building snowpals, the swingset, and seasonal crafts on the drawing table! 🥳
However, both City Living and Get to Work are a lot of fun. I love the Scientist career in Get to Work (there are some powerful items you can create like the Sim Ray , the Satellite dish that can cause or prevent Alien abductions, and the portal to the world of Sixam (the home of those Aliens), and the cloning machine! You can also run your own retail store, be a police officer, or be a doctor! City Living is one of my favorites because of all the different cultures that that pack has, with all the clothing, decorations, and food! My favorite thing to do is similar to @RandomBuzziness , as I love the Spice Market as well, and that area of San Myshuno holds the Spice Festival, which I have most of my Sims attend so they can learn the new recipes! 🙌🥳 My Sims end up fat from this over time, so I either have to make them exercise a lot, or else use the ice cream machine form the Cool Kitchen Stuff Pack so I can make the ice cream flavor that makes them loose weight! 😃 But if you love mingling with other Sims or bright colors, then you will probably love this pack.😉
But if I could only get one pack, it would be Seasons! I can't think of a time that I heard anyone regret getting that pack, and most people have it as their favorite or close to their favorite! ❤️
Update! : I was composing my reply when @suzushka posted! @suzushka brings up excellent points as well! 🙂
One thing I forgot was to add that about a year and a half ago a Sim Guru said that TS4 would have at least 3 more years to go! I would think the earliest date would be 2022, but then again things have changed in the world and some businesses have slowed their release dates on many products, so that should be taken into account as well. But even without that, It still will be several years off . 😉
