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SimSageSemedi's avatar
8 years ago

So what happens to those themes that didn't win... ?

Hey Simmers! After a flurry of voting, we now know that eco living won and will be the theme that this pack centers around. But what about the four other Stuff Pack themes you were presented with... what happens to them?

Well, when we started putting this plan together to create a stuff pack with the community, we knew we'd need ideas that fit some of your most popular requests, as well as themes that we could reasonably develop within a stuff pack. When we typically start work on a new stuff pack, we hold a theme brainstorm that includes members of various disciplines... usually it's a combination of design, production, art, and marketing. From that brainstorm we'll usually select two themes and develop those ideas further. That's what you saw in the theme vote. For this project we wanted to capture more of the ideas that you've requested, so we worked on extra themes so that you'd have a range of options to vote on.

I'll let you in on a little development quirk we've faced. While the voting periods on this stuff pack take a full business week, internally these would be decisions we'd make in a day. Because we're developing this pack with help from all of you, we have to account for the extra time it takes to allow people to vote and gather their feedback. That doesn't mean that our development milestones can be adjusted to add in that extra time though. With a studio this large, and with so many moving parts, it's important that we stick to our schedule so as to not cause ripple effects on other development efforts. Keeping that in mind, we planned ahead and started to work on preparing art style choices for multiple themes, as we didn't yet know which one would win. Normally we would not start this work until our theme selection was locked. This allowed us to get ahead of schedule, and will make it possible to start the vote on the pack's Art Style this coming Monday, April 10th.

All five options that you voted on were themes that the stuff pack team would be happy to create. Having some initial concept art in place for them has only inspired us further as to the possibilities they offer. With the result of the theme vote though, concept work on the four themes that didn't win has stopped. Thankfully none of the work that was already done will go to waste. We'll file these ideas and pieces of art away for the future. Some of them may get made into a Stuff Pack eventually, some could be incorporated into a Game or Expansion pack, and some may simply catch our eye as an object or piece of clothing we want to create someday. I can't specifically tell you what will become of them, because we ourselves don't know yet.

Maybe the themes that didn't win this time have inspired you as well. If you'd like to continue sharing the possibilities they could offer, I'd ask you to discuss them further on the Ideas Corner section of these forums. Even though this Stuff Pack we're building together is now locked into the eco living theme, we always value your feedback regarding the things that you want to see in The Sims!

95 Replies

  • @SimGuruGraham Would there be more landscaping pictures in this pack? Really loved a lot of the landscape pieces for wall art already in the game but figured I'd just ask since I love the art to them. :3
  • I think Eco Living would have been a better name. And I really would like beaches and beach houses and surfing and swimming and diving! And WEATHER! Not just weather--but GOOD, realistic, system-driven, elaborate weather and seasons! And holidays that Sims-world has events for and your sim can also hold their own holiday events too. Like sim versions of Halloween and thanksgiving and christmas and whatnot. That'd be cool. Also if some of the landscape could be a little more realistic (while still being cartoony) i'd be very happy. Some parts of the city and Windenburg were like a maze.... Seriously though-- the beach and seasons. Good seasons without too much rain. For example, rain isn't just rain or a storm, there are different types. And maybe a humidity factor? I'm just throwing all my ideas out there to amplify immersion. After all, that's what we want isn't it? :) And more personality traits and characteristics for our sims would be super nice too. And clothing and hair that's a little more realistic in terms of fashion and style instead of being a little... funky. Good textures. I use custom content most of the time because the content in the game just doesn't quite do it for me. I don't want to. But I want things to feel more comfortable and less awkward. If the game content DID do it for me though I wouldn't want CC. I love the Sims. Always have, always will. And I have a lot of good ideas I really wish I could share to enrich the game and experience for others.
  • > @MelindaDee said:
    > I'm a little bitter. This pack has nothing to do with "Eco Living". In some ways, I feel like people voted for what they wanted regardless of the theme and it ended up going in a totally different direction. I was really excited for a true Eco Living theme that reflected "greener" ways of living, interactions, and items like composting, reusable water bottles, solar panels, etc.

    I would've rather had a true Eco Living pack as well but I'm still into Laundry Day. I don't currently own any SPs but I plan on getting Movie Hangout Stuff, Backyard Stuff, and Laundry Day whenever it comes out. I previously suggested a Healthy Living pack to incorporate the eco-living items you mentioned, plus a working juicer. That's my #1 SP request now.
  • "kaylajones1991;c-16042578" wrote:
    I think Eco Living would have been a better name. And I really would like beaches and beach houses and surfing and swimming and diving! And WEATHER! Not just weather--but GOOD, realistic, system-driven, elaborate weather and seasons! And holidays that Sims-world has events for and your sim can also hold their own holiday events too. Like sim versions of Halloween and thanksgiving and christmas and whatnot. That'd be cool. Also if some of the landscape could be a little more realistic (while still being cartoony) i'd be very happy. Some parts of the city and Windenburg were like a maze.... Seriously though-- the beach and seasons. Good seasons without too much rain. For example, rain isn't just rain or a storm, there are different types. And maybe a humidity factor? I'm just throwing all my ideas out there to amplify immersion. After all, that's what we want isn't it? :) And more personality traits and characteristics for our sims would be super nice too. And clothing and hair that's a little more realistic in terms of fashion and style instead of being a little... funky. Good textures. I use custom content most of the time because the content in the game just doesn't quite do it for me. I don't want to. But I want things to feel more comfortable and less awkward. If the game content DID do it for me though I wouldn't want CC. I love the Sims. Always have, always will. And I have a lot of good ideas I really wish I could share to enrich the game and experience for others.


    I, too, want it all. I'm hoping eventually everything I want gets put into the game sooner or later, but it WILL take several Game packs and Expansion packs for that. Weather/Seasons almost certainly will be an expansion pack - it always has been. Hopefully they put holidays in with the Seasons EP (or whatever they call it). Beach Holiday would make a great game pack - new beach world/neighborhood, plus hotels and beach activities. (Maybe Sims will be able to bury each other in the sand up to their chest or neck?) Sandcastles would be a must, as would collecting shells, or perhaps rock crabs (to let them go later in a crab race from the sand back to the rocks), or even digging for clams (yummy clam chowder). Or maybe Sims could use a metal detector on the beach, sometimes finding a few simoleons or a collectible (like a stretchable collectible penny or a belt buckle without the belt or zipper without the jacket, or a nut or bolt or gear).

    But I don't ever expect the game to make custom content obsolete. It is a matter of hours required vs. hours budgeted. Custom content creators do it because they like to, and expect usually only appreciation for their work. Animators and official game content designers do this for a living, so they need to be paid for their work. Somebody has to pay them....so we pay for EPs, GPs, and SPs. And when the Sims 3 store was developing new content, it was purchased directly by players.
  • @SimGuruGraham I would love to be a part of the voting but I don't know when you guys do this or how I can be a part. Could you please kindly let me know the answers to my questions? Thank you!

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