A few questions

[Valion]

Hello i'd like to ask i few questions if i may

1) If i install ambitions and/or the other expansions will my save from sims vanilla still work?
2) Can someone suggest what expansion would be fun to get first? i'm thinking of ambitions but might buy all 3 expansions and install them.
3) If i install an expansion will my default town still be sunset valley?

I might post more questions but that's it for now thank you for the time!

[malteser60]

Hi there, right...

1) Installing any expansions will not impact any of your saves as these are kept in the My Documents folder under EA>The Sims3. However, as a precaution, we always advise to backup your saves elsewhere just to be on the safe side.

2) All 3!  Seriously though quick pros/cons of each expansion. So, my personal favourite is World Adventures. I love the tomb raiding, the 3 new world (stress here that they are vacation world, so you can only stay for a set amount of time) are stunning, jaw dropping stunning. And the adventures are just plain fun. However, it can be a one or two time only thing as I can see it can get boring playing the same adventures over and over with different sims. However, for the worlds, definitely get it.
Ambitions adds that whole extra dimension to jobs, which for me slotted right into my gameplay. Lots of subtle differences, new town (Twinbrook), plus the big obvious changes of having new jobs. Late Night, I've just got it so i'm still learning all there is to it, but all I've got to say is vampires (big fan), and I do love all the extra stuff you get, the different feel to the game, etc.

3) Your default town can be any town you want, cause there is no default town as such. With your save games you will remain in that town. Starting a new game you get the option to choose. Also there is the option to place the new lots that come wtih Ambitions and Late Night into your town. So you will get the option to place the consignment store, laundromat, junkyard, etc from Ambitions into Sunset Valley, same with the clubs. Or you could ignore that bit, all up to you.

[Ausette]

Hi Valion! I hope you get the answers you're looking for, so here's my attempt to supply them:

1) Sure, there's no reason why you can't play your old save files, but you may have to adapt them to the new content (eg. adding a laundry after Ambitions, adding clubs from Late Night etc).

2) That all depends on your personal tastes and what you like to play. If you want a an overview on the more popular expansion packs the "What Expansion Pack do you play?" sticky at the top of the General Topics page might help. If you specify further (eg. do you like puzzles, mini-games, skilling, careers, socialising etc.), we might be able to come up with some decent suggestions for you.

3) If you have more than one town included in your game, you're able to choose which one you want to play in whenever you create a new save file. You're still free to play Sunset Valley no matter what Expansion Packs you have. Hope that clears things up!

EDIT: Hi malteser, looks like you snuck in right before me! Hopefully my post isn't too redundant.

[Valion]

Thanks for the answers malteser60 and Ausette you were both very helpful!
I think i'l indeed buy all 3 expansions this December during break and i'm glad that they wont affect my saves.

Thank you again for enlightening me.
cheers!
 

[malteser60]

You're welcome 

Looks like we're both pretty much on the same wavelength Ausette 

[Valion]

Hello

I have few more questions again

1) Can a sim pose for painting in sims 3?
2) Why is it that other Sims in the neighborhood dont get jobs and such? Story mode is On but some sims remain unemployed. is this normal?
3) When is a good time for me to patch my game to the latest game version? Now with only Sims Vanilla or when i buy and install all 3 expansion packs?
4) How many Children can my Sims have? i know a household is limited to 8 sims but is there also a limit to how many children your sim can have?

Thanks again for all the help!

[Teresa]

1. Once the painter has a high enough skill to Paint Portrait of... the target sim will come and pose.

2. EA story progression has a few glitches that I have seen.  One is the events are few and far between and the town can get stale.

3. You will need to be patched when you start installing as most of the expansions will require it.  When you install, as you are planning on installing all three expansions at once, make sure you patch then start and close the game after each expansion.  That will give you the insurance that the expansion and patch installed correctly before moving on to the next install.

4. There is no limit to children, just the household limit of 8.  While there has to be at least one young adult/adult/elder, the rest of the family can be under-age.

[malteser60]

1. With a lower skill you can also paint whatever you sim sees whenever they go to the easel (I'm at work and I can't remember the exact name for the command) - they will go to the easel, and a camera view will pop up, you take the photo, and the sim will paint it. So you also could turn off free will, get the sim whose portrait to be painted to stand next to the easel, then get your sim to execute the paint command as above.

3. I found it is better to let install each expansion pack and the launcher will automatically tell you to update after each EP is installed. There is a thread discussing this.

[Pam]

Portraits come at painting level 7 and still life is at level 5.

Personally, I think it's a good idea to patch your game every time EA releases an update.  If you ever plan to play our challenges here, you'll have to be updated to the most recent patch.  As for installing expansions, the game will prompt you to install the updates as you progress through the installations.

[Valion]

Thank you again for answering my questions! it is much appreciated!  

I will follow your advice and patch the game after installing an expansion.

But i still have a few more questions, I'm just meticulous in detail and like to know stuff hehe so please bear with my curiosity.

1) Regarding the bug i posted in technical help before, the pop-up message that the carpool is arriving in 1hr no longer shows does anyone know how to fix this? or has anyone also experienced this? please note my sims is still the original unpatched game.
2) How can i delete a bicycle that got stuck in the road? i noticed it in front of City Hall and not that its bothering my game only that for some reason i want to remove it hehe
3) If i dont manually add more sims in the neighborhood by either placing a copy of pre-made sims or making sims myself will the number of sims in the town go down in time?
4) Regarding Posing for Painting, what i meant is that is it possible for a sim to pose in a couch?

Thank you again! Everyone here has been awesome!  

[malteser60]

I can answer a couple of these:

3) As long as you have story progression on the town will continue populating itself, either through births, or the game makes new sims move into the town.
4) Reach level 5 in painting, put the easel in front of the couch, turn free will off, make the sim you want to paint sit on the couch. Make the painter choose still life option, take photo of sim on couch, and then the painter will start painting it :-)

[Pam]

2) How can i delete a bicycle that got stuck in the road? i noticed it in front of City Hall and not that its bothering my game only that for some reason i want to remove it hehe

Try opening the cheat console by pressing Ctrl-Shift-C, then type "testingcheatsenabled true" without the quote marks and enter.  Then shift-click the bicycle and you should get an option to delete that object.  When finished, open cheat console again and type "testingcheatsenabled false" and enter.

[Valion]

Thanks for the answers and I'll try what you suggested Pam!

Thanks again  

Btw I like playing long term games and making Dynasties, so my question is that is it better to start a Dynasty when all 3 expansions have been installed or should I just continue with the family I am working now when I install the expansions?

[Glic2000]

Hello i'd like to ask i few questions if i may

1) If i install ambitions and/or the other expansions will my save from sims vanilla still work?
2) Can someone suggest what expansion would be fun to get first? i'm thinking of ambitions but might buy all 3 expansions and install them.
3) If i install an expansion will my default town still be sunset valley?

I might post more questions but that's it for now thank you for the time!

I think Ambitions is the best one to get first.  It seems to have the most effect on your Sims' every day life.  Going to work tends to be the least interesting part of the game, so I like how Ambitions gives you a lot more options in that area.  Also, if you buy the "Deluxe" version of The Sims 3, Ambitions is included with it.

Late Night's main appeal (in my opinion) is the ability to play in a big city.

[Pam]

Btw I like playing long term games and making Dynasties, so my question is that is it better to start a Dynasty when all 3 expansions have been installed or should I just continue with the family I am working now when I install the expansions?

If you're thinking of playing our official Immortal Dynasty Challenge, you'll definitely have more options if you have the expansion installed.  However, we wrote that challenge so that even players who only have the base game can participate.