Sunset Valley, Riverview, or Twinbrook?

[BlazeGirl12]

I am about to get Sims 3 with Ambitions and Generations, and I'm wondering: which town is best for a first time player? If this question is in the wrong section, sorry. Thanks, I've found this forum really helpful. :]

[jeanamariex3]

Personally, I like Riverview, because it's a nice different town with all my Sims 2 favorites. Twinbrook has an interesting set of Townies too. Sunset Valley is good, but gets boring after a great while, but it has Morty and his wife Bella when they were little kids and childhood sweethearts.

[Sportsfan]

Most people (forgive me if that's an inaccurate generalization) like Sunset Valley the most of those 3. I would say that for your first town that you play in play in Sunset Valley, it also has a guide to help you around, which you can find here.

[PJSim]

For a first time simmer I would definitely recommend starting with Sunset Valley.
It was the one released with the base game and it still seems to me that EA spent more time on it than any other town. It just feels more complete to me.
Also you will be able to find many more tips and tricks about Sunset Valley (check out the link Sportsfan posted) because it's been around from the start. That should make it much easier to get started and enjoy your game, then you can check out the other towns later when you're more familiar with everything.

The only downside is that the new buildings that came with Ambitions are placed in some pretty random locations in Sunset Valley. You can use them the way they are but I always like to move them to a better spot using Edit Town.
You can see a little about that here:
http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=1301.0

[VampirePlasma]

I would have to say Sunset Valley. It's a very pretty town plus it's quiet and easy to understand.

[TheChronicR]

Sunset Valley is simply meant to be a starting town for new players. No other EA town has it's simplicity and convenience. I surely advise you to choose it as the hood of your first family. But it's not that simple, after all, too:

• Sunset Valley - Rather convenient for placing free lots, or tweaking the ones already there. Comes with a good bunch of townies/genetics, main bonus. Has a suburban town feel to it.
• Riverview - I don't have it so I can't comment on most things, but I do know that it has a farm-town feel to it, and has a few interesting townies like Don Lothario from The Sims 2.
• Twinbrook - I would sort this one as an "advanced" town. It has a lot of mysteries, like a lot of ugly townies that won't be winning any fashion contests soon, as well as mysterious gravestones in certain households. It's my most favorite town, but some find it a tad bit creepy. Also carries a misty fog, which is getting annoying over time, especially when building.

[RunAmokSims]

I would have to say my favorite is Twinbrook.  I like the fact that it has the foggy swamp and some houses with, I feel, real character and are out of the ordinary.

I think all the towns have the basics, school,police and all the rest so it will really come down to what you prefer.

[ratchie]

I would say try Sunset Valley first. Simply because there is more information about the town available.

Rachel

[Pam]

Chiming in with the Sunset Valley folks.  For someone who is just beginning Sims 3, Sunset Valley is the place to start.

[Hosfac]

I'm going to say Sunset Valley as well.  While I like all the towns, Sunset Valley is about the easiest to work with.  Riverview has a lag issue for most people, and while the fog in Twinbrook is cool, it makes the animation a bit choppy when I'm focused in an area where it's rolling heavily.

Plus, I'm rather partial to Sunset Valley.  It's got a lot of old favorites from days gone by and is a rather attractive town filled with attractive sims compared to the other two.  To me, Sunset Valley never gets old.

[BlazeGirl12]

Thanks, everyone! Sunset Valley it is.

[Schipperke]

I'm chiming in a bit late to add my voice to those in favour of Sunset Valley.  There are a lot of things I like about it, as others have mentioned, but to me the best part is how centralized it is.  The Library and a lot of the venues and workplaces are all around Central Park, making it easy and fast to get places.  In some of the other towns, your Sims can waste a lot of time just getting to where they want to go.

[Legacy11]

I would also agree that Sunset Valley is best for a beginner because of what Ratchie said. There's much more information for you to utilize.

Though I do have to say, don't forget to check out the other two when you play a different game. After Sunset Valley got old and mundane, Twinbrook and Riverview breathed new life into TS3 for me.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Sunset Valley is perfect for starters. It's just meant to be! I tried playing a savefile with Twinbrook but I actually missed Sunset Valley so much that I just could not go on!