Island Living Q&A - Early Access!

WORLD

This is a purely residential world. There is no built-in way to buy a vacation home or rent property here. You can still use the current workaround way of purchasing extra property as a business (requires C&D, GTW or DO), but build a house there instead.

There are no underwater lots to live on as a mermaid. There are no underwater lots, period.

The name of the world is Sulani, it has 3 neighbourhoods of different ambiance and size:

• Ohan’Ali Town (village) is the mainland/largest island to the bottom of the map. Homes here are rustic and traditional. Premade venues include a Bar and a Beach. There is also a village square area in the public space where there is usually some event happening each day. These events are similar to the festivals in City Living, but themed to more traditional and laid back island activities. Events include feasts using the new Pit BBQ and Fishing Tournaments, though there may be others.
  
• Lani St. Taz (upscale) is the medium sized island on left-hand side of the map. This area has more of a modern twist to the houses and is meant to be a posher/richer, Maldives-inspired island. The only premade venue on this island is a Beach.
  
• Mua Pel’Am (natural) is the volcanic island to the top-right of the map. There is a lovely (and useful) waterfall here, and rumours of a hidden cave. This area is a nature reserve, perfect for those loner sims or off-the-grid survivalists/castaways. One of the lots here is a little too close to the volcano... Another is a shipwreck.
  

Lot breakdown:

• Total lots - 14
  
• Empty lots - 2
  
• Water lots - 7 (? - approx. Counted only those that are clearly half in/half out of sea)
  
• Community lots - 3
  
  • Beaches - 2
    
  • Bars - 1
    
  
  
• Residential lots - 9
  
  • Occupied - 4
    
  • Vacant - 5
    
  
  
• Lots per island:
  
  
  
  • Ohan’Ali Town (village) - 6
    
  • Lani St. Taz (upscale) - 5
    
  • Mua Pel’Am (natural) - 3
    

Note: We were told there is 1 64x64 lot in the world, but I only saw one lot size for sure during map hovers. The largest lot on Lani St. Taz (upscale) is 50x50, so I assume the 64x64 is the largest lot on Mua Pel'Ami (natural). Correction: This information was incorrect, even though it was stated during the stream. There is a good mix of sizes though, and they feel appropriately placed (smaller homes in village, bigger lots in upscale area, mix on natural island). Biggest lots in the world are 50x50, smallest is 20x20.

Sulani climate:

If you have Seasons installed then you will find the weather here is appropriately tropical with mild winters and hot, wet summers. The islands are prone to tropical storms.



BUILD / BUY

Are we getting...

• Ladders - Sort of, see notable BB below
  
• Glass floors - Sort of, see notable BB below
  
• New pool objects:
  
  
  
  • Diving boards - NO
    
  • Pool slides - NO
    
  • Pool waterfalls - NO
    
  
  
• Solar panels - NO
  
• Outdoor showers - Sort of, see MISC section
  
• Hammocks - NO (or not that I've seen)
  
• Beach towels - YES
  
• Working ceiling fans - YES (with Seasons, patched in)
  
• New kitchen counters - YES
  

Notable build/buy:

• Tiki style build/buy:
  
  
  
  • Furniture and décor made with natural, local materials (wicker, rope, wood, bamboo, colourful cloth, airy mesh, volcanic rock etc.)
    
  • Kitchen counter set with natural wood cabinetry and thick, waterfall-style counter-tops in a different material (stone or synthetic?).
    
  • Open and slatted windows and doors, including new slatted sliding doors
    
  • New roof pattern(s?) - There is a thatch one for sure (thatch coloured underside!), and possibly a second that looks like weather-beaten, corrugated metal in various colours (hard to tell from that distance)
    
  • Tropical flora with lots of bright colours
    
  • Various new canopies to use with seating and loungers
    
  • New shipwreck shell pieces, similar to Old Penelope in SV)
    
  • Glass floor inserts that work similarly to dancefloors. They appeared to be about 4x4. Likely resizable like dancefloors are.
    
  
  
• Places to sunbathe:
  
  
  
  • Beach towels (NEW - Can relax, nap, sunbathe. Portable)
    
  • Loungers (NEW - Can relax, nap, sunbathe. 3 styles, 1 of which will be patched into BG and is portable. Sunbathing is exclusive to IL pack)
    
  • Floating loungers (NEW - Can relax, nap, sunbathe, splash - bounce and splash nearby sims when on lounger, splash other sims on loungers from the water. Can also be used in pools)
    
  
  
• Pit BBQ (NEW - In with BBQs/grills, places on terrain. Cooks a lot of food at once, similar to Grand Meal recipes.)
  
• Dock & Ladder (NEW - Allows access to and from water and diving from deck. Only available for decks over water, so no true ladders at this time.)
  
• Watercraft:
  
  
  
  • Aqua-Zip (NEW - Sim capacity = 1. Riders can do tricks with higher Fitness levels. Can be customised/upgraded. Can also be used in larger pools)
    
  • Island Canoe (NEW - Sim capacity = 1. Your sim can fish from these, and I've seen them nap too. Can also be used in larger pools. Though it's called a canoe, it looks like a small sail boat AKA outrigger)
    
  
  
• Swing set (also in Seasons)
  
• Bonfire (also in GT)
  
• New market stalls/kiosk:
  
  
  
  • Island food (saw elsewhere that it serves various grilled fish, fruit and individual Pit BBQ dishes)
    
  • Unknown second stall
    
  • Beach supplies kiosk (unmanned, similar to camping supplies kiosk in OR)
    
  
  
• New lot traits:
  
  
  
  • Volcanic Activity (NEW - Pack exclusive. Various levels of activity that can include earthquakes, steam vents in terrain, lava bombs etc.)
    
  • Off The Grid (NEW - Patched to BG)
    
  • Clothing Optional (NEW - Patched to BG. Most sims will go nude apart from those who are: Childish, Squeamish or prudish? (unsure, might mean Unflirty), though even these sims might join in the fun after a few drinks ;)
    
  • Possibly others (saw some elsewhere, but they weren't mentioned explained)
    
  
  

CAS

We didn't see much CAS, so you are better off looking for specifics from content creators who attended EA Play and had capture time. Here are the basics though.

Clothing consists mainly of hot-weather outfits, swimwear and local tribal(?) attire. Lots of interesting shapes and bright colours. Notable new additions are wetsuits and flippers, some net/seaweed garments for Mersims, armband floaties for toddlers, recolours of BG diaper (patched).

Hairs are mainly long and mainly wavy in down, up and half-up styles. Some have a version with coloured highlights in too. There's also a nice shorter, spiky mohawk..

Mersims are available to be created in CAS. They are found with the other occults when creating a new sim. More in Mersim section below.

New traits are Child of the Island(s), Child of the Ocean. These sims prefer activities related to the islands and feel protective of their domains. The first is likely to get on well with the Island Spirits/Ancestors/Elementals, while the second has a great affinity with sea-creatures.

New aspiration is Beach Life (Location type)


MERSIMS

There is no way to turn off Mersims, afaik. I'm not sure if there are any Mersim premades. As to spawned townie Mersims, I believe that they appear human on land, but can be identified via idle animations, similar to vampires.

Mermaids shower with legs, but unfurl their tails when they soak in the bath. Unsure about hot tubs as I don't believe that pack was installed during the stream and nobody asked.

Pre-existing sims can be turned into mermaids (and Mersims into regular sims). Look out for special kelp.

Children are possible with other lifestates, but the rules are the same as with vampires. No hybrids. All ages can be Mersims, but tails (possibly powers too?) don't manifest until the teen lifestage, again similar to vampires.

Mersims can live anywhere. There are many ways to fulfil their Hydration motive (replaces Hygiene), and I'm not sure they ever have to visit the ocean at all. They do have special ocean-based interactions, so it's still worth visiting.

Mersim power system is very similar to aliens, with one caveat. Mersims with the Good trait can't do the potentially deadly mischief interactions, and Evil sims can'y do the typically good one. If your Mersim has neither of these traits, all interactions are available.

Powers include things like Siren lullabies/songs that effect the mood of sims around them (they have an ethereal sounding singing-voice, possibly only when singing these though), ability to summon dolphins, really fast swimming speed and a unique swimming style similar to a dolphin leaping. I think they also have the ability sleep in the ocean. If you also have Seasons, Mersims can summon tropical storms!

There's no time limits on Mersim form and transforming is not related to the moon. It basically works like changing into swimwear, but with a different transition.

I'm not sure what foods Mersims eat, but likely the same as everyone else.

GAMEPLAY

Other worlds terrain has not been edited to allow ocean swimming at this time. This does not mean the feature won't come in future packs though. The devs wanted to focus time on making the ocean really fun and beautiful, rather than spend time updating other worlds.

Sand sculptures and other sand activities like beachcombing can only be made on the sand terrain in Sulani. Again, they wanted to make the activities great rather than adding the code to a list of way too many world terrains. Sand sculptures are a group activity like building Snow Pals in Seasons. Sand activities appear to be available from toddler and up.

Tanning is exclusive to the EP, so you won't see the interaction on the free lounger without it. Tanning is an opt-in activity on loungers, floating loungers and beach towels. Sunbathing is not always available, the interaction is greyed out and not available if it is too cloudy.

You can choose to sunbathe in swimwear, current outfit or even in the nude. Choose wisely, because tan and burn lines conform to the outfit you are wearing at the time and are visible in other outfits later. You can overwrite your tan line by sunbathing in a different outfit.

Burning happens when sunbathing for too long without applying sunscreen. You will get a "Sunkissed" moodlet that results in a tan when the sunbathing interaction is cancelled, but if you haven't applies sunscreen (interaction, no purchase required) and you bask too long you will get a visual glow that warns you are going to be burned when you stand finish. Sunscreen prevents sunburns for the current tanning session, I believe.

Natural skintones tan and burn in realistic patterns according to your outfit. Fantasy skintones (alien/vampire/BG blue/green) do not burn at all.

Swimming in the ocean is new to this world. Toddlers can sit in the shallow water of the ocean and splash about (see @SimGuruFrost's tweet for video). Children+ can swim in the sea and snorkel. Dogs can swim in the ocean (with C&D).

There are new swimming styles as you level up in Fitness skill (I think?), each increasing in speed and being increasingly more efficient in regards to energy expended. Mersims have a unique swim style and can swim almost as fast as Aqua-Zips.

Both snorkelling and scuba diving are tied to buoy objects. It wasn't stated if these buoys are available in the catalogue or debug, so you'll have to check builder's videos for that.

Snorkelling can be done individually or as a group, not sure about the other buoy activities.

Scuba diving (which is a rabbithole activity). It wasn't shown in the stream so cautiously saying teen+, as it seems most likely. Likely requires having equipment first as there is an interaction called "Buy scuba tanks/gear(?) $2500" on the buoy. I don't think this is available on buoys in the shallows.

Other options at the buoys are spear-fishing and take pictures/photos. Not sure if you need a certain skill level or equipment to access spear-fishing (maybe the "Buy knife $250" interaction). You can also "Buy camera $1000" to access underwater photography. Not sure if any of these buyables are inventory objects or if they merely work like buoy upgrades.

Dolphins also spawn at buoys. Dolphins come in 3 varieties, can be befriended, fed, petted and asked to do various tricks. You have your own personal dolphin friend (random variety), and you can name them when your relationship is high enough. Mersims can call dolphins.

Rarely, sharks spawn at buoys. You can be pulled under by sharks, and it can be lethal, though I believe the ghost is Death by Drowning, same as the denizen pond from GF.

I have no idea of the gameplay around the Elementals/Spirits other than it's kind of a karma based system. You treat the island well and you'll be blessed with good things, treat it badly and you'll be cursed with bad luck.

Sims can litter the island or help clean it, even if they aren't in the Conservationist career. Every resident and visitor contributes to the overall environmental health of the island. You can make it worse as well as better. Starting state is bad and there are 3 stages before the best, most ecologically diverse version of the islands. Ecologically healthier islands mean better fish and collectibles, as well as prettier scenery and a possibility to see a sea turtle hatching event!

Lots of things can be used and done in other worlds. If you want a sailing lake in Granite Falls, go ahead and build yourself a giant pool with some outriggers floating on it. You can relax or sunbathe anywhere a beach towel or lounger is placed, or take portable versions with you if you vacation. Anything that is tied to a placeable object is available anywhere you place that object, it's as simple as that.

CAREERS

Base game teen part-time jobs are being updated with the pre-pack patch. They are available to everyone teen+ and have various shift options. You can even work 2 part time jobs if you take 2 different shifts.

New part time careers are also being added with this pack:

• Diving Instructor
  
• Lifeguard
  
• Fishersim
  

There is also a new Odd Job system where you can work casually, taking jobs when you feel like it to earn a little money. Enough for a visit to the bar or a few meals, anyway. Combining this with collecting and living on an Off-the-Grid lot makes for great Rags to Riches beginnings as it's a really frugal way to survive. This is available for teens+.

Conservationist is a new Work From Home (CL-style) career. It has 2 branches:

• Marine Biologist - This branch is more active fieldwork based, even in the higher levels.
  
• Environmental Management - (Not sure on the name of this branch) This branch is more admin based at higher levels and include things like environmental law and accessing government funding.
  

LIFE & DEATH

Ocean deaths can be caused my sharks and evil/mischievous Mersims pulling sims under water. This can tank their needs, and they can possibly drown.

Firey deaths can be caused if you touch red-hot lava bombs before they cool down.

New woohoo and baby-making spot is the waterfall on the natural island. Don't woohoo if there are frogs around though, because all those eyes are kind of creepy. You can also play in, shower and feed/attract frogs to here, so it's a useful resource for survivalists or campers.


COLLECTIBLES

There are over a dozen new varieties of fish, though it wasn't stated what they are. It was mentioned there are some endangered varieties, so choosing to fish for these (or otherwise harming them) might have an adverse effect on the local environment.

The Fishing skill is also getting an overhaul in the pre-patch with changes to tuning, notebook, bait etc. New fishing methods (trapping and spear-fishing) are coming with Island living. We didn't get much info about these other than spear-fishing is tied to buoys.

There are 4 new harvestables that are fully integrated with the gardening system:

• Pineapple
  
• Coconut
  
• Taro
  
• Kava (used to make the new Kava drink)
  

You can also collect shells for fun and clutter, but they aren't a collection in the collection panel. Just watched Deli's gameplay video and they actually are a collection. There is also a Buried Treasure collection... Intriguing!

MISC

The radio station is Island Tunes (I think?) and is mellow/slow paced/tropical sounding. I think it's the only station. There is also a venue speaker for it, and apprpriately tropical menu/bb music too.

Most of the foods I saw listed seem to be seafood and Pit BBQ recipes (there's at least 1 vegetarian-safe pit recipe), and I'm not sure which skill they fall under. There's also a Kava Bowl object for making Kava (local drink with mild psychoactive properties)


ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

This info was provided by EA Game Changer's Network. The format was a 1 hour long private GC live stream, hosted by SimGurus Jill, Morgan and Geoff, with the ability to ask questions during the stream. We were not allowed to capture any video or screenshots.

The majority of the stream was showing us the world and gameplay and some talk about things not shown. They spent very little time in CAS or build buy. Due to this, there are some things I don't know and questions I can't answer.

Disclaimer: A few odd bits of info might have snuck in due to various other info sources, but it's hard to remember where at this point, so let me know if I got anything wrong, and I'll edit my post.

Thanks for reading my thread, and let me know if your question hasn't been answered or you need clarification on anything I've written.

How far out in the ocean can our sims swim or boat before hitting a loading screen?

How many empty lots are there?

Any 64x64 lots?

Is scuba diving only available with the career?

Are there any sharks,starfish,jellyfish and seahorses?

Any steele drum radio stations?

Can floaties be used in pools?

Any new woohoo spots?

Are we getting ladders?

Can sims get romantic with each other in canoes and sailboats?

Is there any built-in way for sims to go on holiday there without having to resort to using mods or generic lots?

Can we explore underwater?

Do mermaids have to live in a house can they just live completely underwater?

Do you have the option to vacation there too?

What new activities are there for kids and toddlers?

Edit: Is there a way to turn off/avoid mermaids?

Is there a new death type?

What's the weather like around Sulani?

(also as an aside, why do I keep reading pdt as ptsd?)