"MeowchaFrappe;c-18035569" wrote:
"LatinaBunny;c-18035303" wrote:
"MeowchaFrappe;c-18035230" wrote:
I know you have quite a few replies on this thread already and everyone has done a pretty good job explaining things, but I figure a little more input can't hurt. :)
Realm of Magic is easily one of my top three packs (along with Cats & Dogs and Vampires) but I absolutely love witches and magic, so I may be a tiny bit biased towards it. :D
If you have played since originally posting this, you'll have noticed that Spellcasters do have their own perks but that it's a bit different than the Vampires system as Spellcaster powers are divided up by "spells" and "perks." The easiest way I can describe it are the spells are the ones you learn through the game by practicing magic, reading tomes, and dueling, all of which give you perk points that can help you level up your spellcaster rank. The perks are much more like the vampire's power system where you use the points to buy perks. Except in this case they're not so much as powers as they are just, well... perks that help out your spellcaster with the spells/magic they already know. For example there's a perk that allows them to discharge when their meter is full which prevents them from dying from spellcaster overload and another which allows them to make potions more quickly than if they didn't have the perk.
As others have mentioned, your Sims family/friends don't really react to them practicing magic since they don't do it autonomously. This is one of the very few issues I really have with Realm of Magic as I wish they did practice magic without being directed to do so. Or for there to at least be a lot trait that activates automatic magic use when spellcasters are on that lot. However, I think this is probably, as I mentioned in another thread another result of nerfing. Only in this instance I think Spellcasters came pre-nerfed to avoid all the anti-occult people who were just going to buy the pack anyway complaining. The only way I think your relationships could take a hit is if you directed your spellcaster to cast some sort of nasty spell on curse on them.
The Magic Realm as a world, is definitely very beautiful and unique and has that sort of Harry Potter feel to it, but it sadly not livable which is my second of three issues with the pack, since I would love if it were liveable. It has it's own unique weather (if you have seasons) where it's always warm and cloudy. Any Sim can visit there at least, but non-spellcasters have to use the portal in Glimmerbrook whereas spellcasters just have to use the Glimmerstone which is in their inventory. The magic headquarters building isn't really the prettiest thing to look at, but that's the same as all EA builds really. And you can replace it with a different version from the gallery by activating free build mode.
Glimmerbrook is also very pretty but way too small. Which is my final quarrel with the pack. I mean I understand budget-wise with there being a whole new world (The Magic Realm) why it's so small... but I wish it had even just a few more lots because it's by far another one of the prettiest worlds in the Sims in my opinion.
You can make clubs with spellcasting as an activity I think, but I have yet to try this out so I'm not sure how it works.
Overall it's a really awesome pack that I feel is well worth it, so I don't think you'll be disappointed in it. :)
Whatever you do though... do not play the sages... or they won't be sages anymore and the game will have to generate new ones. If you don't mind this, then go for it... but I just figured I'd warn you.
Oh, thank you for the additional input, @MeowchaFrappe ! I always appreciate and love hearing experiences and advice from players who have delved into the packs! ??
I haven’t gotten a chance to play the game since I had lots of schoolwork, but I did manage to create another household and moved a couple into Glimmerbrook. I gave them a nice cozy, appropriate looking (looks like it fits a spellcaster) fan-made house from the gallery and managed to make some changes and got them settled down into the place.
Glimmerbrook looks lovely, from what bits I managed to see so far. ?? I haven’t gotten the spellcaster of the family into the magical portal yet, but I plan to take him there once I got time to play again. (One member will become a spellcaster, while his husband will become a mermaid, so it’s going to be a mixed household.) The house I got from the gallery looks like it has a cauldron, I think, so I’ll have to look at that…
Oh, yeah. I figured the nerfing might be because of realistic-only players complaining about occults within their vicinity. (I remembered the whole debacle of the folks buying Vampires for the BB/CAS and then complaining about the existence of vampires and then vampires may have been nerfed from showing up or breaking in, I think, oof…)
But, yes, overall, it does sound like this pack is totally up my alley! ?? I always wanted some magical beings to come back. I played lighter domestic witches in Sims 3, something like the witches that could be in Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the old 90s-2000s sitcom version, not the darker Chilling Adventures/Netflix one, though I did enjoy two seasons of that one as well, lol).
What is free build mode? I would love to build or add more items to some lots to make some lots more child friendly or have some more needs-based items or more activities, etc. :smile:
Oh no worries at all. It's my pleasure, I'm happy to help out a fellow occult fan. :)
There's definitely a lot of beautiful scenery in Glimmerbrook and I'm still constantly finding new whenever I really take the time to look around. So when you manage to get some more time to play, I definitely recommend just pausing your game and looking around in tab mode since you can see so much more that way.
And the family you're creating sounds super adorable. I love mixed occult couples. One of my my favorite couples whose story is still in development is a vampire male who was born in the eleventh century during the Viking Era (but only considers himself about 200 due to being asleep for around 700 years due a spell) and a 20-something spellcaster female who comes from a well known spellcaster family but who's also super clumsy and often has magical mishaps. One accident caused her to develop a scar along one of her eyebrows which causes her to feel insecure, but considering the vampire comes from a warrior culture he actually finds that part of her to be extra beautiful and they both sort of bring out the best of each other. And oh yes, the Cauldrons are such a fun addition to the game. You can make potions or tons of mac and cheese :joy: in them. It's actually fun to watch your sim just cook a big ol' cauldron of it, and it's very helpful for feeding families too. :)
Yep. The nerfing is definitely a result of the realistic-only players buying Vampires for the BB/CAS only and then complaining about vampire activity in their game. :/ I mean I get that not everyone is into occult play, but if you buy a pack titled Vampires, you should expect them to be in the game. They were given their own pack for a reason... and yet people still chose to buy it and complain anyway. It really makes no sense and it makes a lot of occult players really angry that the players like that end up ruining things for the rest of us. There was literally one person who around the time Paranormal came out last year, bought the pack and was playing on a Haunted House lot and then complained on twitter that the spirits were too "intrusive" yet refused to change the lot because she "wanted to play around with the haunted house lot" but didn't want the ghosts. :neutral:
Sorry about the mini rant there, but yeah. Nerfing occults seems to be a trend with this version of the game.
I 'll admit I haven't watched Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, mainly because I have a special attachment to Sabrina The Teenage Witch since that's what I grew up with and to me it's always going to be the the "real" Sabrina regardless of which is closer to the comics.
And well the easiest way I can explain free build mode is, It's a basically just a cheat that you enter into the cheat console, that allows you to edit lots the game normally wouldn't allow you to in normal build mode. Like the Magic Realm and Sylvan Glade for instance. It's a sort of hidden thing not many people know about, but I absolutely love being able to replace the default Magic HQ and add a building of some sort to the Sylvan Glade. I think the code is bb.enablefreebuild but I could be wrong.
Your couple sounds so cute! ?? That’s sweet how he loves her with her scars, aww. ❤️? Their dynamic sounds wholesome and maybe funny with her clumsy mishaps, hehe! ?
And I totally understand the frustration with the nerf. That stinks that some folks ruin it for the rest. (I wonder if Sims 5 will handle occults the same way.)
I’m definitely going to explore around Glimmerbrook (and other worlds I still haven’t fully explored yet)! ?? I’ll definitely check on that cheat, then! I love it when I can change some lots. ?
Oh, hmm, if I wanted to drag along some non-spellcaster family members to the magic realm, would I Group all of them up with the spellcaster family member and then have the spellcaster go through the portal?
