Okay if you couldn't make Island Living as open as Island Paradise then why bother?

"@sam123;c-17539258" wrote:

"TS1299;c-17539222" wrote:
The problem with this pack is the lack of major features or rather a Strong major feature. Houseboats, Underwater Lots, and Resorts are features that can be developed for depth and the designers for Sims 3 decided to focus on that pack. However in Island Living the Major Features are....

Conversation, Culture, and Extracurricular Island Activities. Conservation? That is great! But now that they did an Eco Pack, Why did they put that feature in that pack to begin with? EP Took years of planning to create and around Island Living release they already know what pack comes after the DU EP. So why add that feature? Also it only affect one world. Culture? Recycled animations from Get Together with different outfits. There are lot of Extra curricular activities such as sunbathing or mermaids but there never seem to be enough or depth.

In my opinion, The EP lack direction from the pack leader. It feels like a bunch of features thrown off in one pack as long as it fits the Island agenda with no meaning behind it. I mean Get Together only come with One Major Feature (Clubs) but that whole EP provided content for that one feature to be more enjoyable and have depth. However in Island Living, What major feature did they focus on that and add Depth into it?

The Pack Lacks Direction. Just Like City Living did. This is why I tend to dislike the "Living" Packs with TS4. The World is the Spotlight and they seem to build features based on THAT world rather than something that would expand the game. That is not how Expansion packs are made. If Maxis want to do that, then add a new pack type and name it as World Packs and put a $20 or $30 price tag on it.

I actually like the way you put this. So they focused on different elements for island life but these elements were not expanded upon at all. The culture one would have been so good, but I barely see any of this.

Have you played Jungle Adventure? Jungle Adventure has culture in it yet even if it was a small change compared to Island Living's Culture, it is MILES better than what we had in an expansion pack. The Culture in Selvadorada featured a market place well they sell items that are unique to them and the villagers use in their jungle life. They have a Cultural dance that you can only learn if you went to them and have enough knowledge skill about their culture(Selvadorada Culture Skill). Lastly they give you tips about the gameplay, about the things you will enocunter in the world of selvadorada and even some history. Heck this Culture even have a new Greeting Animation. All of that in a Game Pack

Meanhile in an Expansion Pack one of the Major Feature is the Culture. It is even in the Pack's Description adn one of the Main Selling Point

"Engage in Local Culture. Tradition runs deep on Sulani, and your Sims get to experience everything it has to offer. Immerse Sims in their newfound lifestyle by attending a pit barbecue event, learning about local folklore, tasting tropical delicacies and chatting with ancestors from the island. "

The Culture in that Pack Never even have a Name. A Major Feature in the pack that is Culture did not even have an official in game name in an Expansion Pack. There are the Visual Effects (Build Mode Items, CAS Items, and Foods) but what does it have to be one of the Major Features of an Expansion Packs. This items has no effect on gameplay at all. I mean in Jungle Adventure, The knowledge you will learn from the locals can be useful on your gameplay along with the items but in this pack Nope. Local Folklore? Does learning the Local Folklore can make me learn about some hints of the secret areas that I can discover in the Pack? Nope. Because apparently there are no secret areas aside from the rabbithole in the Island. So a Social Interaction with a recycled animation and a new "name" on the menu is now a major expansion feature? Traditions Runs deep yet I cannot fell it.

With the new animations for the culture in Jungle Adventure even if there only like 2-4 animations feels already that you are in a different place. I mean did the culture in the Island Living even came with a new Animation? The last part of the description frustrates me. The part "chatting with ancestors from the island" . Talking to Elders that has been part on the Base Game since the launch with no notification or even pop ups that affects your gameplay or journey around the Island. If talking to Elders resulted in a pop up saying that

The local culture is now dying in this world due to modernization. We need to have a way to have people engage in local culture. I have an idea how about trying to build a resort in our island? As an elder, it is a pain to manage one, and we would like people like you to build one

Then Sure have it as a major feature because it has a major gameplay Unlock. But nope. Its the normal ask about a day interaction. Lastly the Festivals in this pack. Even if I dislike the recycled base game items in the festivals in City Living, atleast they are lively, they have competition, they have prizes and collectibles to unlock giving you reason to go there along with skill bonuses and more. But in this expansion pack where do I begin. Family day is just like a lunge Chair on the Beach with a Swing set and non functional decor. Music festival is nothing but Stereos in the Modern World. I mean They have an Island Culture, Why did Maxis did not include traditional Musical Equipment for this festival? This is an expansion pack they can do that. After going to this two festivals I lost interest it. There is no point of doing it. You can just dance in the base game with stereos in a party and you don't have to pay for an expansion for it. In this pack, they just have that but instead sims wear a traditional outfits and call it "Culture"

I am very sorry if this post is so long. It's just disappointing and frustrating to see what could have been a major feature was a shallow one because they just add as many feature as they can rather than depth. If the game packs add one feature and add depth on that feature, then Expansion packs should add Multiple features then add depth in each one of them or one big expansion worthy feature but has so much depth in it.

This is my personal opinion but I find it when SimGuruNinja is a lead producer in a pack development, the pack comes outs to focus on one feature and have depth in the feature. Dine Out, Vampires, Parenthood, Jungle Adventure, Realm of Magic, Get Together and Get Famous has this approach and if you liked the theme, chances are you can enjoy this packs because of the depth that they adds. One may argue that Realm of Magic while having depth is not enough, it is more because of the RoM is an Game Pack rather than an Expansion Pack. This is why I think Game Packs have been straight Solid. I know that Pack development is a Team Effort but in the end it is the producers who decide what features will be in and out, developed or not, and not the concept artist, designers, and animators.

Expansion Packs have been Hit or miss. While Eco Lifestyle is great I find it similar to Island Living. Not enough depth. They should have focused the gampelay on the Eco Meter, rather than having the team to create naps that would change the looks of Evergreen Harbor. Modernization changes the style of the world I agree its great. but what if the budget for having architectural changes and designs in Evergreen Harbor that affects nothing but visual was used to add layers of garbage for industrial and more perhaps plants for older worlds? And this changes affects gameplay to with sims starts receiving an actual illness or something that changes your gameplay? Seasons added gradual snow, puddles, and terrain paints to all worlds, thus they have to go back and add and support all the neighborhoods in the game, in exchange of the new world. So why in Eco Lifestyle instead of doing the same, they have a new world but everything is locked in, and they added once again a bunch of feature resulting to some questionable design choices, leaving the Eco Meter feel more like an after thought?

I wish they just applied the approach that was used in Get Together or Get Famous. Things would have been so much better. All of the team in the studio are great, but I just personally think that this approach is what they should do in their expansion packs if they cannot add depth to a bunch of major features in an EP.