Spa Day - First Impressions

[Carl]

I'll start off the discussion by saying that I'm pleased with the Spa Day game pack so far. The amount of content is again ample given the price tag and comparing it to their past practices. I count 84 objects, though some of those are new types of lights that can illuminate specific areas. There are clothes too, so there's plenty here. Way more bang for your buck than in the past.

Aquariums look beautiful, though I haven't got to play with them much. I do know that you can stock fish you've caught, which is something we were missing. Yoga itself is somewhat relaxing to watch, and sometimes funny. I'm really happy at all the new moodlets you can get, and this is not just when visiting a spa. Sims can give one another massages of varying types, particularly good when they have some proficiency in the Wellness Skill. I think that's the biggest draw here in itself. Most of the objects revolve around that in some way. The decor will certainly have some builders making zen gardens for their Sims to meditate and practice their Yoga in. After being a tad disappointed with Perfect Patio, I'm more than happy to throw $20 their way on this one.

[Sophronisba]

I love it so far, except for the lack of traits and aspirations. (And achievements, as best I can tell.)

But I could watch my sims do yoga all day long. But they added so much -- I love the new hairstyles and the new workout clothes, and so many building objects!

[MarianT]

I think yoga is the real highlight -- there seem to be varying degrees of expertise for each pose, and quite a few poses. Yoga class is a hoot, so send your sim at least once, even if it costs $110. The Ashram, the new gym, and the Perfect Balance spa all offer classes; I haven't placed the massage venue yet, so don't know about that. Your sim will change into an athletic outfit and then get rid of the shoes.

The Brain Boosting yoga routine gives a +1 Inspired moodlet for 8 hours; the Concentrated Mind gives +1 Focused for 8 hours. I haven't tried the Energy routine yet; my guess is it gives a +1 Energized moodlet. So if your sim is in a job that needs those emotions, do the yoga routine (I think it takes an hour) beforehand.

Incense comes in 6 different fragrances: Lemon (inspired), Sage and Patchouli (happy). I guess Invigorating Cinnamon will give an energized moodlet and Sharpening Saffron a focused one. There's a Romantic something that almost certainly gives a flirty moodlet. Each costs $20; your sim has to inhale the aroma, and unlike incense in TS3, it will go out after a while. You can find incense in the lighting category.

I haven't listened to the New Age station yet, but there's new music for the loading screens that is very pretty.

I'm really happy that my sim can put her yoga mat and meditation stool in personal inventory to use anywhere. There are yoga instructor mats, too, but I don't know if you can place one in the park and have an instructor show up.

Hairstyles and clothes are nice. I like the long robes the best. The new wall patterns are very pretty.

I was afraid this pack might be lighter in content than Outdoor Retreat, but they did so much with yoga animations that it's really impressive. I was expecting a pratfall or two, in addition to good poses, but there are wobbles, awkward angles, partial stretches, etc.

Oh, and even if you've already made up your mind, watch the trailer. It's really cute, in a mellow sort of way.

[Playalot]

I'm loving it, having a blast with all the new build items. Also surprised to find out there are two new fish, not sure if you can catch them at any particular spot but I found out by using the 'fully stock' option on the fish tank. I'll come back and edit this post with more soon... too excited to stop playing at the moment!

*Edited: The yoga classes are so much fun! I made my poor sim to four in one day lol. The animations are fun to watch and there are a lot of variations that change as your sim levels up in the Wellness skill. The venues are great as the NPC sims are always there ready to instruct yoga, give a massage etc. I have tried all the Maxis built venues and I like they way they look a lot, especially as I just want to explore the game play and not stop to build anything. Maybe eventually I'll build a venue but to be honest I really like the ones that came with the pack. The new clothes fit in really well with the whole wellness theme and look pretty cute too!
While my sim was meditating he got the message "While meditating Winston found it in his heart to forgive Don Lothario." lol, I have no idea what Don did to offend him. The attention to detail in the animations is really outstanding. The massage movements are very precise and the sound quality is awesome.

I'm really pleased I bought this Game Pack, it's $29.99 here in New Zealand which makes it a little more expensive but well worth it in my opinion.

(By the way the incense that gives a flirty moodlet is Romantic Sandlewood and my sim only had to light it for the moodlet to appear.)

[RandyH]

I like it. The buy/build items alone make it worth the $20. I really like how the sauna and tub for mud baths are separate items. The tub can replace any standard home bathtub and also be used for normal baths as well. That was my first home purchase after I checked out the spa in build mode.

I don't know much about the Wellness skill yet but my sim leveled-up one on it quickly.

The Yoga mat and class is entertaining. Glad to hear the mat is portable. Gotta add one to the sim's inventory so he can practice in public places. Maybe you could even setup a yoga class in the park using the instructor mat and several of the regular mats, which apparently just need to be inside the giant footprint of the instructor mat to be able to participate in a class. One thing I noticed though, it will allow a sim to "practice yoga" (out of sync with the class) while a class is going on. I had my sim do that at first as he entered the class instead of having him join the class that was going on already and it was odd but the other sims didn't care.

I like how the spa is all staffed with the various specialists. Click on the massage table and specify which type of massage you want and which of the massage therapists you want. Stuff like this was always missing from Sims 3 premium content- you'd go the the fancy new gym or retreat and it's all self-service - no one works there.

I got a chuckle when my sim farted during a massage.

I wonder if the spa is a business that you could own and operate. If so, that would be very cool.

I just got this pack about an hour ago. There's a lot more to explore from it...

[MarianT]

I just checked -- you can't add the instructor's yoga mat to the park to set up a class there. You might be able to do it with a cheat or if you changed the lot to a spa. I don't know how that would affect the spawners, though.

[Playalot]

Opps! Just found out that incense can and does cause fires! So you have to be a bit careful where you place the incense burners. Directly under a light seems not the best place, unless you actually want to start a fire that is. 

[Joria]

Had my little test family go to each of the spas and it was a lot of fun.  I liked the massage one the best because there was more interactions available.  Social needs filled up FAST between the various therapists, townies and npcs all chatting away.  The mud bath was fun at first but if you stay in it too long you get an uncomfortable moodlet from "icky mud".  A quick shower took care of that and a nice massage followed.  I rather expected the hand and foot massage to have more benefits, I know I just about zone out with a foot massage, but there were instances where it appeared quite painful and fun went down pretty fast.  Yes, reflexology can be painful but I think there should be more of a happy type benefit from it.  I wish they had included manicure/pedicure and facials like you find in a really good spa but even without that it was nice.

After a day going to the various venues, I set up a spa room with some, but not all the items you could find at the venues.  Meditating was the slowest way possible to build wellness and definitely boring.  However, if you want to focus on a different member of the household, you can place one member on a meditation stool and forget about them for hours.  They don't just get up and move away.  I didn't try the poses but did do yoga routines which were interesting and built wellness much faster than meditating.  Haven't tried home massage yet.  I'm thinking an in-home spa is kind of an iffy thing.  It might be useful since it can give you the right mood-let for your job, but it takes so long I'm not convinced it's worth it.  Besides, isn't it much cooler to take some time, pamper yourself at an away from home spa where you can meet and greet the neighbors?  Plus, it could be a great place for a date and romantic interactions.  Definitely can meet a lot of Sims there.  (I'm hoping Grim shows up for a massage!)  I love the fact the drink tray actually has drinks that can be served.  Great for one of those dynasty parties and you get a happy moodlet from them as well.  Wish there were more food and drink things like that.  Tired of trays of goodies that are not edible.

Like most others, I wish there was a career and/or aspiration included with the wellness skill, although, as Play said, it's also nice to just have another skill you ca build without having to do all the restrictions.

As a  builder I usually want to change things around.  In the case of the three venues I tried, there wasn't a single thing I felt needed changing, moving or fixing.
I love the new build items and the his and hers doors are perfect.

[Beezy]

I think it's okay. The sound effects are great, but the sauna keeps glitching for me for some reason.

[Darcoria]

Recently got it and so far I really enjoy it.
I had two sims take a yoga class and it was funny to see that it had different effects. One of them kept messing up the poses and at the end of the class felt uncomfortable. The other one was really good at it and got the inspired moodlet.

I like some of the build/buy objects, some of the objects seem a little bit repetitive since most of them have the same emblem from the spa on it. The fully furnished rooms and venues. The spa I placed looked really good, there was a routing issue towards one of the massage tables, but the other ones worked.

I would really reccomend it if you like laughing at your poor low level simmies who are doing their best to go along with the teacher (who  fell asleep in the dead mans pose I think it's called?) I kinda miss things like new traits and/or aspirations. Another one for the body would have been nice instead of only the fitness aspiration.

[dodi90]

I agree with you about the aspirations. Most skill have an aspiration tied to them even the child skill ones and it is kind of odd that wellness did not have an aspirations tied to it. I also hate that Wellness skill can't be mentored to others even when we have the instructor at the Yoga center. I also found some annoyance that when my skill are maxed, the meditation still give a little kick for the mastered skill.