Several expansion packs at once?

[Fysh]

I have been playing Sims3 for about a week, and am kind of sad it has taken me so long to find this great game. I am thoroughly enjoying my expansion-free Sims3, and although not ready to buy an expansion yet, am thinking ahead.

Money issues aside, and assuming that I eventually will want to get all of them, should I get them all at once (would have to be good special offer), or just a couple at a time? Would suddenly having access to all the expansions be too daunting, or would it enable me to dive right in and find the stuff I like more quickly, and have much greater variety of things to do?

I've read through all of your expansion pack guides, and there's so much about the game that interests me!

[MarianT]

Welcome to the Forum, Fysh!

I'd recommend adding one at a time, even if you do find a great sale and can buy several. Otherwise, I think it would be overwhelming, as some of them offer a great deal of content. Also, if you run into a problem or have questions, you'll have a better idea where to look for answers.

[Sarabi]

Each EP brings quite a bit of new content to the game, and how each of us wants to consume it is, I think, a personal choice.

I think that a multi-course meal could be an appropriate analogy.  Where some people might enjoy appetizers, then soup, then a salad, etc. all served and savored one at a time, others might like to have it all at once.

There are some EPs that people enjoy for awhile, but eventually uninstall because they don't want that content in every game they play.  It may be a little more difficult for you to identify which content came with which EP if you add them all at once.

Welcome to this forum, and to the Sims3.  You'll find many hours of enjoyment and exploration ahead of you.

[Fysh]

Thanks. Yeah I guess I could always buy them on offer, but only install them one at a time. Mostly at the moment I'm focused on getting achievement badges, and getting rich, so am in no hurry.

I have one general question: what happens if your only sim dies? Is it end of game? (currently I have 5, but I think it's important to know).

[Jaaaaks]

Well for that family line, yes. It just means you go back to the default screen, I'm assuming, so you can choose to play a different household in that file, move a new one in, etc.

[Wai]

You can avoid accidental death for a single sim if you go the graveyard and pick the death flower.  Grim will take the flower in exchange for your sim's life. 

Later, if you work on the gardening skill, you can grow deathflowers from special seeds found around the graveyard.  If you are playing a single sim, and don't want to risk accidental death - and the premature termination of your game - then I would recommend picking the flower early in the game.

(If you don't mind cheating, then use buydebug to plant one deathflower per sim in the household on your lot.)

[Seabody]

I have one general question: what happens if your only sim dies? Is it end of game? (currently I have 5, but I think it's important to know).

When your only Sim dies, a notification pops up saying "The End...? Your last sim in this household has died, but the town lives on! Just choose an existing household to play, create more Sims, or move in another household from the library", or something to that effect. You're then sent back to Edit Town mode.

[Fysh]

Ah cool, so you don't lose all your money?

[Sarabi]

Losing all of the Sims in a household has never happened to me, so I'm not speaking from experience.

That said, since money is attributed to a household, I'm not sure how you could retain a household's funds if the entire household has gone belly-up and is no longer playable.

If you choose to play some other existing household, you would be working with that household's budget.  If you create a new household, you would have their starting funds.  Choosing a household from the library to place in your town would give you whatever funding they have.