Sims 3: Late Night

[nym1997]

hottubs + vampiees= im excited

[Cororon]

I have pre-ordered Late Night and it has been shipped today! I'll probably get it in the mail tomorrow!! I think we need a Late Night forum category too.

[lebeau]

I picked up Late Night after work yesterday and played a couple hours after the kids went to bed. (So sleepy.) Here's some initial reactions based on just a couple hours of play.

First, let me say that my expectations were sky-high. I was pleasantly surprised by WA because my expectations were so low and slightly disappointed with Ambitions because my expectations were too high. On this one, my expectations were through the roof because it had so many features that interested me.

Anyway, here goes:

Apartments - Apartments were the first change I encountered outside of character creation (more on that in a bit). By and large, I liked the apartments. However, I did encounter a few odd things. Especially when I'd invite guests over. After I buzzed them in, they would sometimes disappear into the building. Once or twice, they would show up at my apartment after I had given up looking for them. Also, the elevator ride adds some time to your commute! But you have to love the shared hallways and having neighbors you can just pop in on.

Celebrity - I have always wanted to play a Sims celebrity (for reasons I won't go into, I never got Superstar for Sims 1) so this feature really intrigued me. I have to say, I really like the way they set this up. It feels like you are gaining access to exclusive social circles. If anything, I think it may be a little too easy. My sim was well on his way to his third celeb point after just 2 hours of play. Of course, he had Star Quality as a trait and worked at the film studio where he met celebs pretty easily. Maybe it's harder for other characters.

Paparazi - I have yet to see the downside of the paparzi yet. I haven't done anything inappropriate, so they still love me. So far, it's cool having them follow me around at take pics. It does add to that celebrity feel. I kind of look forward to screwing up and seeing what happens.

Vampires - I've never been a big fan of the supernatural characters in the Sims. I enjoyed ghosts and mummies in Sims 3 though. And vamps are more my style. So while this wasn't a huge selling point for me, it's the supernatural character type I was most interested in. I haven't sought out vamp content yet. But I've crossed paths with a lot of vampires! I was surprised how many I saw without actively looking for them. I expected them to be somewhat hard to find. When I first got the "hunted" moodlet, I chuckled. I look forward to exploring this more once I've established myself as a celeb and a successful director.

Nightclubs - I usually concentrate on career first. But I had to check out some of the nightclubs. Of the 4 I tried to get into, I could successfully get into 2. Of course, I tried the most upscale first by mistake and worked my way down. In the club that was open to everyone, I did get a discount on my onion rings due to my celeb status! The clubs were a lot of fun. Love the smoke and lasers while I was dancing with celebs.

New skins - This was actually the first change I encountered during character creation. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about them. It was nice to be able to give my sim a bit of the 6-pack I'll never have. But the extreme end of the spectrum was kind of silly looking. And the women! Walking around Bridgeport was a little like being on the set of a Russ Meyer movie.

Parties - This was unexpected! I got invited to parties thrown by NPCs. I'm not sure how much it added to the game, but it was pretty darn cool.

I'm still working out the complexities of the new social networks, but on the whole I was satisfied. I wasn't quite yet bowled over. Since I'm playing a new character, I'm still doing a lot of the stuff I would do in any Sims game and haven't yet had a chance to dive deep into the new features. But what I've gotten to see, I have liked.

Hopefully, I can play again tonight and come back with day 2 reactions.

[Cororon]

I agree with you on everything lbeau! It can take some time before your sim can use the elevator if there are more sims present. I sometimes have to click more than once to get my sim going up to nightclubs or whatever. My selfsim is an actress and now a 3 star celebrity, and got invited to coworkers parties. There were many vampires there so my selfsim felt uneasy. =d

But she didn't regret moving to Bridgeport from Sunset Valley!




I didn't expect to see a nurse in her uniform at the nightclub.

[lebeau]

(28-10-2010 04:44 PM)Cororon Wrote:  I agree with you on everything lbeau! It can take some time before your sim can use the elevator if there are more sims present. I sometimes have to click more than once to get my sim going up to nightclubs or whatever. My selfsim is an actress and now a 3 star celebrity, and got invited to coworkers parties. There were many vampires there so my selfsim felt uneasy. =d

But she didn't regret moving to Bridgeport from Sunset Valley!


I didn't expect to see a nurse in her uniform at the nightclub.

Love the screen caps!

Looks like a fun party. I hadn't seen dancing on a bar yet. Hysterical.

In my limited play, I've been very impressed by how much deeper the social interactions are. It feels a lot more realistic in subtle ways. I think it's going to take a while to really appreciate the depth of this EP. And that's fine by me.

I like Bridgeport so far, but it's taking some getting used to. Having multiple community lots in the same building is a bit weird. I had an opportunity to film footage at city hall. But the opportunity was never available. Even when it showed as available, if I clicked it, it just disappeared. I'm not sure if that was a bug or just something I was doing wrong.

[Cororon]

(28-10-2010 05:53 PM)lebeau Wrote:  In my limited play, I've been very impressed by how much deeper the social interactions are. It feels a lot more realistic in subtle ways.

It does! I hope EA will keep going in this direction. Late Night is the best TS3 EP so far. World Adventures was a fiasco and Ambitions so-so (I think. I installed it when it came out but didn't play TS3 after WA).

Quote:Having multiple community lots in the same building is a bit weird.

You're not the only one saying that, but I think it's realistic and it saves space.

Quote:I had an opportunity to film footage at city hall. But the opportunity was never available. Even when it showed as available, if I clicked it, it just disappeared. I'm not sure if that was a bug or just something I was doing wrong.

It happened to me too. My selfsim is an actress and got the same opportunity, but missed it of the same reason. I think it's a bug.

The fire department lot in Bridgeport is buggy and can cause the game to crash. I immediately removied the building and set the lot to residential when I went to Bridgeport for the first time.

Now I must play some more. My selfsim wants to learn to know a guy called Frank.

[lebeau]

(28-10-2010 07:47 PM)Cororon Wrote:  It does! I hope EA will keep going in this direction. Late Night is the best TS3 EP so far. World Adventures was a fiasco and Ambitions so-so (I think. I installed it when it came out but didn't play TS3 after WA).

So far, I agree that Late Night is the best. Of course, I'm biased. These are the things I really wanted to see in the game.

I actually liked WA. But I think that's because my expectations were so low. I didn't buy it until months later. The concept of the expansion didn't really appeal to me. But I was surprised how much I enjoyed exploring tombs. It was not very Sims-like. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Ambitions really sounded cool to me. But outside of playing the new careers (I'm sorry professions), it didn't have a ton to offer. I found it diffiuclt to have more than one profession in a household. So in order to play more than one profession I either had to play multiple households or have Sims change jobs.

(28-10-2010 07:47 PM)Cororon Wrote:  You're not the only one saying that, but I think it's realistic and it saves space.

True and true. It's just taking a bit of getting used to. I've had to squint to make out some of the community lots. It hasn't made much difference aside from opportunities. My Sim has spent most of time at work, parties and nightclubs...

(28-10-2010 07:47 PM)Cororon Wrote:  It happened to me too. My selfsim is an actress and got the same opportunity, but missed it of the same reason. I think it's a bug.

Well, I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one. If it's a bug, I'm sure there will be a patch soon enough to fix it.

(28-10-2010 07:47 PM)Cororon Wrote:  The fire department lot in Bridgeport is buggy and can cause the game to crash. I immediately removied the building and set the lot to residential when I went to Bridgeport for the first time.

Clever. My Sim has yet to visit the fire department as they don't dance or serve drinks there. (At least not to my knowledge.)

(28-10-2010 07:47 PM)Cororon Wrote:  Now I must play some more. My selfsim wants to learn to know a guy called Frank.

Don't you love that the game pulls you back like that? Again, the changes to the social dynamic have really energized the game for me.

---

Day 2 Report:

Second day of playing Late Night, here's my thoughts:

Celebrity - Almost immediately jumped up to 3-star celeb. I was a 4-star celeb before I logged off for the night. It seems to be coming rather easily, but then again my Sim is built to be a rising star. Maybe it's harder without Star Qaulity. Also helps that my Sim works at the film studio which is loaded with celebs and is charismatic so he makes friends easily. He can impress just about any celeb by mentioning his career and Charisma skill.

The perks of being a 4-star celeb have started to kick in. I've gotten into every club I've tried to enter. But I haven't attempted Aquarius which I believe is the most exclusive. I also haven't been to the vamp bar. Generally, I get some kind of discount any time I order food. And I've had a few gifts sent to my apartment. I got a really nice couch which I desperately needed as I kept forgetting to buy any furniture beyond my bed.

(I have a tendency to only buy essentials early in the game while I save up for nicer stuff. Or if my Sims starts asking for something, I'll buy it and get credit for the lifetime wish. But if he doesn't ask for a TV (for example), he's not getting one any time soon.)

I've also started being recognized and signing autographs! Fun! No trouble from the paparazi yet. Right now, my Sim likes having his picture taken by them. Eventually, I may have to see what I have to do to get on their bad side. For now, I'm having fun being a media darling.

Parties - More unexpected fun with parties. I got off to a shakey start as I was invited to a party at Emma Star's house and couldn't find it. (I'd accidentally clicked through the prompt.) When I did find it, I got there just in time to be sent home. But then, I klnew what to look for to find parties.

Next thing I know, there's a party going on to shich I had not been invited. I clicked on it and saw the option to "crash the party". "Yes, please!" I was very curious to see what would happen. My Sim went to the high rise and before he entered he changed into his bathing suit. Turns out this was a swim suit party. Good thing I gave him a little bit of definition when I made him!

My Sim (Keith - I'll refer to him by name from here on out) didn't have any trouble getting into the party in spite of the fact he didn't know anyone there. I'm guessing it was another perk of his celeb status. The hostess was a vampire, but all the guests were human. Keith spent most of his time romancing a Sim named Jun. The sight of her in her bikini reminded me of a certain song by the Commodores.

Keith and Jun hit it off. Which was good. On a previous romantic effort in a bar, Keith got shot down (I forget by whom) and had to take a "walk of shame". Bad for poor Keith but I laughed my butt off when he walked dejectedly out of the club and the "walk of shame" moodlet appeared.

Anyway, crashing the party worked out well. Keither got to expand his social circle and was even thanked by the vampire hostess for coming.

More to come...

[lebeau]

Outings - I went on my first couple of outings last night. They are very much like the ones from Sims 2, but everything about them seems to work a little bit better. I only went on 2-person outings, so I'm not sure this will hold up with bigger groups. But the Sims I took on outings stayed with me more than the Sims 2 outings. In Sims 2, it was pretty common to lose members of your group once you got to your destination. That has not been my experience so far with Late Night.

The first outing was more or less a disaster. Keith wanted to spend some time with a big celebrity with whom he had made an aquaintance. I had an opportunity to fulfill that involved befriending someone who was currently at a certain nightclub. So I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone. By the time Keith and his would-be celeb buddy got to the club, up the elevator and through the gates, the celeb got frustrated. As soon as we arrived, he asked me why I invited him out if we weren't going to do anything and he left. Such a diva!

The second outing was with Jun. By this point, we were going steady. I assume it was because we had more of a relationship (celebrity may have also been a factor) but Jun was patient enough to actually get in the club and do something before abandoning me. As soon as I saw the hot tub, I knew where we were going.

Hot tubs - how I have missed you! You were always the best way to make a party a success. You always impressed the head master and got my kids into private school. I've lost count of how many friends I made just chilling in the hot tub.

Not to be indiscreet, but I had to see the Woo Hoo animation for the new hot tubs. It did not disappoint. Nor did the "bubbles" moodlet. And since Keith had Woo Hoo away from his home lot, he had some kind of excited moodlet as well. I forget the name but the name and the description for the moodlet made me chuckle.

Back to the outings. The second outing ranked as a complete success (hot tub Woo Hoo will do that) and Keith got another positive moodlet as a result.

Can't wait to try groups of more than 2 people and see how that goes. My circle of friends is getting big enough that should be a possibility. I'm also looking forward to using the new abilities to influence Sims to do things so I can build the friendships among my friends. How cool is that?

Film Career - The two aspects of Late Night I have focused on the most heavily are Keith's celeb status and his career in film. The two go hand in hand. I haven't said too much about the career because it is mostly just another rabbit hole. But there are some differences.

Like the medical career in Ambitions, you will sometimes get assignments you can do instead of just going to work. These have been hit-and-miss for me. For example, the first assignment I got was to hand out 5 flyers in a park to promote my movie. But the entire time I was there, there was only 1 person in the park to hand out flyers to.

The second assignment I had was to screen a competing movie. I did so, but this was basically just a different rabbit hole to disappear into. And it seemed less beneficial to my career than just doing the usual day of work. At least there, I can chat with the rest of the cast and build up those relationships while I work. A third assignment came along, but given the lacklust nature of the first two, I just went to work same as always.

I have started down the director branch. I knew from my lifetime wish that the writing skill would be a requirement for directing, so I'm prepared for it. But it seems like a bit of an odd fit. I would think of the existing skills, photography would play more into being a film director than anything else. Or art as film is more of a visual form of storytelling than writing. But I guess they couldn't use photography since you really need WA to pursue it.

I think that wraps up my thoughts on Day 2. I'll probably post again on Mondy with my thoughts after whatever amount of play I get in over the weekend. Hopefully, I can write about some larger groups on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

[Cororon]

I love your reports! I wish I could write that good in english. I understand it very well but it's difficult to find the right words when I write or speak english. Why can't everyone learn swedish?

Today my selfsim had a week off from work. (That sounds like bad english, but it would sound as bad in swedish. One week off during A DAY!!)

She used the time to learn to know Frank better, but isn't sure if he is the right guy for her. He's chilly and there's something with his eyes she doesn't like.




Ugh! His stare is creeping me out!




Another guy she is interested in is Buster Round. They met outside a bistro and had a chat, and the next day she invited him over. He's friendly and cute! He looks like a rockstar and maybe he is? He is a one star celebrity.




But she wants to take it easy with the boys and have as much fun as possible. Dancing in nightclubs is fun. I love the dress and the boots I found. Don't they look spiffy together?

[lebeau]

(30-10-2010 01:42 AM)Cororon Wrote:  I love your reports! I wish I could write that good in english. I understand it very well but it's difficult to find the right words when I write or speak english. Why can't everyone learn swedish?

I would never have guessed English was your second language. I studied French in high school. If I dug out my old French/English dictionary, I could write semi-coherently in French. If I had to write in Swedish, I'd be lost!

(30-10-2010 01:42 AM)Cororon Wrote:  Today my selfsim had a week off from work. (That sounds like bad english, but it would sound as bad in swedish. One week off during A DAY!!)

She used the time to learn to know Frank better, but isn't sure if he is the right guy for her. He's chilly and there's something with his eyes she doesn't like.




Ugh! His stare is creeping me out!

He is kind of creepy!

(30-10-2010 01:42 AM)Cororon Wrote:  


Another guy she is interested in is Buster Round. They met outside a bistro and had a chat, and the next day she invited him over. He's friendly and cute! He looks like a rockstar and maybe he is? He is a one star celebrity.




But she wants to take it easy with the boys and have as much fun as possible. Dancing in nightclubs is fun. I love the dress and the boots I found. Don't they look spiffy together?

Sounds like a good approach.

I got quite a bit of play in this weekend. I'll write up a report later about my experiences with more new features of Late Night including vampires and the dark side of fame.