Hello, so I may or may not have a guess regarding Island Living. So, we know it lacks gameplay, however, it also introduces us to a culture - the Polynesian culture. I think representing a culture is a great thing, especially if people are like "oh the Polynesian islands are just for tourism" and ignore the culture. It raises awareness that Polynesia (and Sulani) shall not be treated as a tourism attraction place and rather to treat it seriously. Albeit it shouldn't be an expansion pack, but rather a game pack, do you think this pack was made to focus much more on the culture rather than gameplay? If I had said anything offensive or illogical, then please let me know and I'll fix my wording and take notes.

The only things I felt the pack was lacking in were the mermaids, which need more fleshing out, and having no underwater exploration like Sims 3. (I also missed houseboats.)

To the OP, yes. When people have complained that the pack doesn’t have resorts, I have always upheld the idea that the pack is more about the indigenous culture of the Pacific Islands rather than the rank commercialization of Western tourism. I’m glad it doesn’t have touristy development. However, there is more gameplay that could have been included without violating that cultural identity, such as better development of the mermaids, surfing, etc.

I agree that the pack is about presenting a non-commercialized version of a Polynesian island locale. It's also sort of a blank slate for the player to get what they want from the world. Personally, I've left a lot of it as its own autonomous place and designated a lot where I built my own version of a restaurant/hotel/spa that the islanders in my game permitted. I find it to be an interesting pack. Someone who wants to can take the culture out and turn it all into beach tourism - honestly, it's your game, do whatever you want. I do think it's interesting that it does have a totally different culture though. Chilling out is also essentially part of that culture so sims who go and relax are kind of respecting that.I'm all for letting people play however they want and like seeing more options for activities but I've had a lot of fun with this one. I've kept a lot of the pre-mades as a tribe of locals who selectively give visas so it's easy to visit but hard to live there unless they want you. I also created a shipwrecked character who ended up being hilarious because he fell in love with a woman living in the shack by the volcano and on their wedding day, they won the lottery. So, they moved to Lani St. Taz where I downloaded them a luxury beach mansion on short notice but they still dress a bit like they are shipwrecked. They ended up having two sets of twins so they have a bunch of kids now but they're a lot of fun. I was going to have them get by on selling shells. I also have an island princess growing up in the Hoapili family in what was the palace of the island. There's also some drama among the other households but the pre-mades are nearly all part of the indigenous tribe in my game, so when I play that world, I do keep elements of the locals hanging onto their land and managing the development.It's a gorgeous world and you can decide how much of the culture to keep or you can make it all vacation pads for your own sims. I think that's reflective of real debates in places like Hawaii, but it is set up so you can be open-ended which I like. I do send a lot of honeymooners there, mostly to one lot on Key Point that I made the tourism spot. They can swim across to the waterfalls and explore the surrounding lesser developed islands without loading screens. Since I have a restaurant and beds/baths, they can stay as long as they want.

"LatinaBunny;c-18034375" wrote:The only things I felt the pack was lacking in were the mermaids, which need more fleshing out, and having no underwater exploration like Sims 3. (I also missed houseboats.)Yeah same I think an underwater lot would have added a lot. The pack is really focused on a specific lifestyle so it doesn't translate well to other worlds but I don't mind packs like that.

"LatinaBunny;c-18034375" wrote:The only things I felt the pack was lacking in were the mermaids, which need more fleshing out, and having no underwater exploration like Sims 3. (I also missed houseboats.)Personally, I'm 50/50 on them taking out the houseboats. While they're a unique and a cool idea, they also lag the game (from my experience with IP).

Island Living Realization | EA Forums

MasonGamerBoi
3 years ago
Hmm I understand, the game play aspect, I recently acquired island living and I’m like “this is it?”

I have a family and they are of Pacific Islander background, I was thinking of going in the direction of Moana + The Little Mermaid + Luca So the family is of the sea, majority of the population are merman. (Mermaids alone don’t really have a lot, they’re like Aliens swept aside into the shadows Or into the depths of the ocean. They definitely should have done under water lots where mermaids could live and divers could explore.) any way even on land I’m like okay, this definitely more of a vacation world, I don’t see me playing a lot in Sulani. Which is fine, most of my mermaids now reside on the coast of Brindleton Bay.

When it comes to cultures I think they shouldn’t go to much into detail, rather take inspiration, or at least make it available and let the player decide if they want to vibe with it.
zeldagirl180
3 years ago
If they wanted to focus on Polynesian culture then there should have been a Sulani Culture skill, like Jungle adventure had, with food, recipes, and maybe even a hula dance.

The fact that island living has no new skills is pathetic, we need a swimming and culture skill.
ChadSims2
Seasoned Novice
3 years ago
Why do we have to settle for culture added to packs or gameplay? especially in an expansion. Not once have I ever thought I really want an expansion with Polynesian culture and nothing to do but I wanted a fun ocean world with things to do with water activities to be able to run a or go to a beach resort, watch my Sims scuba dive and surf play some beach volleyball.

Sims and their worlds should be mine to do so however I want I never wanted a forced heavily styled un-editable Polynesian world the first thing I did was delete everything lots and premades my world a vacation world so when I do away with their culture aspect of the pack I never really wanted in the first place you see truly how empty this expansion is some jet skis and rabbit hole scuba diving.
zeldagirl180
3 years ago
"ChadSims2;c-18043305" wrote:
Why do we have to settle for culture added to packs or gameplay? especially in an expansion. Not once have I ever thought I really want an expansion with Polynesian culture and nothing to do but I wanted a fun ocean world with things to do with water activities to be able to run a or go to a beach resort, watch my Sims scuba dive and surf play some beach volleyball.

Sims and their worlds should be mine to do so however I want I never wanted a forced heavily styled un-editable Polynesian world the first thing I did was delete everything lots and premades my world a vacation world so when I do away with their culture aspect of the pack I never really wanted in the first place you see truly how empty this expansion is some jet skis and rabbit hole scuba diving.

You may not have wanted it, but having the ability to represent your culture is important in a life sim.

Do you really think you're going to find an American tropical island?

The builds in Sulani are literally how they look in the real world lol, and like you said, you deleted them and rebuilt them so you should be fine.
mushroompicking
3 years ago
There should've been a swimming skill. Like what even is the point of the life guard career, if by default all sims can swim? Could've been a great pack to bring back the hydrophobic trait, and also could've been a realistic way for sims to die in water because as it stands sims will only drown if you block off the pool or have autonomy off.

The mermaids are boring and pointless. I just want EA to actually bring something new to the franchise again. Nothing in Sims 4 feels new anymore.
intellectualism
3 years ago
"jpsulsuldagdag;c-18041922" wrote:
Snowy Escape and Island Living should've been one expansion pack and called Vacation Worlds EP or something like that.

To be honest, I partially agree. While they should've been in one pack, I don't believe they should be called "Vacations Worlds" but rather something related to contrast - hence the hot and cold weathers, because EA specifically made Sulani and Mt. Komorebi residential worlds so they won't make the mistake of treating other cultures as just vacation spots and nothing else. Anywho, I think the pack could be called "Contradistinction Climates" or something among those lines.
EmmaVane
Seasoned Hotshot
3 years ago
"Sheepiling;c-18037401" wrote:
Since they ended up making an Eco Lifestyle expansion, I wish they didn't include all the eco-related stuff in Island Living (off the grid, environmental clean up career, etc.) and instead just incorporated that into EL. I think IL would have been a lot better if they only focused on the culture and adding more gameplay for mermaids and actually made underwater swimming, scuba diving, and surfing.

Off the Grid is base game.
intellectualism
3 years ago
"Sheepiling;c-18037401" wrote:
Since they ended up making an Eco Lifestyle expansion, I wish they didn't include all the eco-related stuff in Island Living (off the grid, environmental clean up career, etc.) and instead just incorporated that into EL. I think IL would have been a lot better if they only focused on the culture and adding more gameplay for mermaids and actually made underwater swimming, scuba diving, and surfing.

I agree with this a lot! But like EmmaVane said, off the grid lot type is in the base game.
LovegoodOddity
3 years ago
What I like about IL is how easy it is for my own sims to connect. I always delete pre-mades. The first thing I did when it came out was move my sims into different lots. Three of those sims were sisters so they visited each other constantly. For me it made more sense to have friends and families bring food to each other rather than strangers. I don't follow in-game pre-established "culture" either. Like to play my way.

As for resorts/hotels, I don't think they would have worked anyway because of the state of the game. Just look at Dine Out and Get To Work cafes or any public lot in general. Your sims would be hounded by townies 24/7 instead of relaxing at the hotel lol.

I wished it had more group activities. More than playing in the sand or invisible snorkelling/scuba diving. Not that I expected any underwater gameplay either. Even sailing and jet skiing are limited to one sim per ride.
alanmichael1
Seasoned Hotshot
3 years ago
"sulfurstyless;c-18034414" wrote:
"LatinaBunny;c-18034375" wrote:
The only things I felt the pack was lacking in were the mermaids, which need more fleshing out, and having no underwater exploration like Sims 3. (I also missed houseboats.)

Personally, I'm 50/50 on them taking out the houseboats. While they're a unique and a cool idea, they also lag the game (from my experience with IP).

I'm quite sure that houseboats (aka floating lots) are impossible in the closed word of TS4 ... sadly.

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