New Store World: Aurora Skies

[DoubleWe]

This lost/abandoned house from the top of the mountain is a mysterious one! Also it fits nice over there !    Too bad the top lakes are unroutable, so you can't fish or skate on pond when the water is frozen.

Where is it? I can't find it but want it. It looks beautiful. I have the Gold Version by the way.

[Edit] Found it and discovered it's just decoration. How sad.

[Turoskel]

The hot air balloon is a very quick way to make friends if you can manage to get two people inside it and get them to stay in long enough to have a drink, it seems drinking gives a huge relationship boost, I had a couple who's marriage was so poor the woohoo option wasn't even available, one drink and the marriage was sorted.


Would be really helpful if they were to iron out the problems of sims not cooperating though, almost as soon as they get in they get out again or they decide to land it once you get in the air and you cannot cancel the land interaction annoyingly, and also add an ask to join function for npcs. But at present I can see the npc would get in just as your sim got out. 

[shibamistress]

Thanks for the pictures and thoughts, everyone!  When I saw this world, I thought I wanted it, but then....well...I've got so many different worlds lately, and I don't even play them all....do I really need another?  (Answer, no, but that might not stop me from getting it!)

I like that it is small and does share some similarities with Hidden Springs which is a world I'm playing a lot lately. 

I don't really get the Northern Lights on cloudy days though.....I grew up in Alaska, and love the northern lights (and miss them now that I no longer live there) but you can't really see them on cloudy nights because, you know, there are clouds!      But still, it's the Sims, not reality, so....

And the balloons look cool. 

I think what may send me over the edge to buying it, though, is the little house with the grass on top.  I've been trying to build a total fantasy world, which has castles and tree houses, and I was hoping for hobbit type house, and that place looks just like what I'd want.  I'm building this in Hidden Springs but I wonder if this world might be even a better place for it (or why not have two, right?  )   I have a lot of worlds, but my idea is to make them travel words with the Traveler mod so my Sims can visit them all.....And also, my favorite part of the game is building and decorating, so I love making the towns like I like them (though then I often stop playing with them!).

The toddler thing sounds cool if you play with a lot of families, but I almost never do, so I don't really think I need it. (Though I'd for sure like to have the toddlers learn more on their own if I did play with kids!)

[pallyndrome]

I think what may send me over the edge to buying it, though, is the little house with the grass on top.  I've been trying to build a total fantasy world, which has castles and tree houses, and I was hoping for hobbit type house, and that place looks just like what I'd want.  I'm building this in Hidden Springs but I wonder if this world might be even a better place for it (or why not have two, right?  )   I have a lot of worlds, but my idea is to make them travel words with the Traveler mod so my Sims can visit them all.....And also, my favorite part of the game is building and decorating, so I love making the towns like I like them (though then I often stop playing with them!).

Umm, from what I gather, that house is just a decor item - sims can't actually live in it? Just checking that you realise that...

[fortheloveofcake]

The Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center lot is really fantastic.
It includes objects to increase Walking and Talking for Toddlers, as well as potty chairs. It also has the xylophone and peg box for Guitar and Logic Skills.
It has the Blocks table for Handiness and Toy Oven for Cooking skills for children.
Other skilling items include: Exercise equiptment, a TV, a chess table and Telescope, multiple stereos, a Guitar, several Easels, computers, and a swimming pool.
I really enjoy this lot because there are things for all ages to do. Bring snacks!

[Janna]

I looked for it and couldn't find it.  Probably missed it, but where is the Learning Center?  Searched the town and used Edit Town. 

I don't think there are any new plants there, right?  Are there a lot of gems there, looked around but couldn't find any. A couple of seeds and metals, (iron, sliver). 

[Ricalynn]

I looked for it and couldn't find it.  Probably missed it, but where is the Learning Center?  Searched the town and used Edit Town. 

I don't think there are any new plants there, right?  Are there a lot of gems there, looked around but couldn't find any. A couple of seeds and metals, (iron, sliver).

The Learning Center has to be placed by you from the Community Lot Bin.

No new harvestable plants but several of the kind that come from build mode.

[Janna]

Thanks,
Hopefully I can play today, it is going to be a busy day, my plans have changed on what to do.

[shibamistress]

Umm, from what I gather, that house is just a decor item - sims can't actually live in it? Just checking that you realise that...

I didn't!  And, because I'm impatient, I bought it anyway and was sorely disappointed to discover that fact!  Thanks for letting me know, even if I read it too late!

I kind of like Aurora Skies anyway, though.  I had some buyer's remorse at first because it is not as cool as I expected--houses are pretty boring, and I wish the balloon was more a real way to travel like a car or bike or broom.   But I like the world itself quite a bit, and I can see I will have fun modifying it to make it a fantasy world.  It is a pretty world.

I wish the aurora looked more like real aurora though.  They kind of look just like clouds shifting colors.  Still cool, but not as cool as I expected.  I love having birch trees, though, and I love the lupine too.  And I'm pretty happy with the fact that there are different roof colors, now, though I do wish we could actually change the colors of the roofs (rather than just have some options to choose from). 

S

[Chuckles_82]

I totally agree with your assessment shiba. There's not much interesting to the houses. A bare scraping of ok patterns that could have been put to better use is all I could find that I liked. The new roof colours, the new teensy school - which frankly could use a spruce up in photoshop and the new stadium are all that I have found so far that I like. The landscaping is nice, but that is the only part of the world that looks like it had any real effort put into it. It's nice that they didn't spread the town out across the whole map, but there's an awful lot of the landscape just wasted. At least they didn't load that area up with decorations to lag the game down though.

[DoubleWe]

A viking theme would suit this world perfectly. As you can see at the Mausoleum. I would love it if someday something like this would come out, with buildings and clothes and nair of course.

[MarianT]

Oooh -- and a Viking helmet with the horns, of course.

[Janna]

I'm being unfair in that I have formed an opinion so fast, I need to play longer; but the houses may have just ruined it for me.  Not the colors, that can be changed, but how close!
Two steps and you are on the sidwalk, if that is what it is supposed to be.  Then the road, no, no, no, not liveable. Where is the grass?  There is in some of the houses a slight bit of green at the back of the houses, but not much else. 
I live, as most of my neighbors do, on just shy of an acre of property.  I have 30 feet (maybe more, can't remember exactly) before my house reaches the road, there are no sidewalks here.  The houses in AS are like sardines in a can, packed together too tight. 

I moved my sim out of the town close to the edge of the ocean and it is better.  I'll have to play some more but with a different sim; for some reason my sim has stopped moving around.  She goes where I tell her to but then just stands there for about an hour (sim time) and then turns to go home.  Tried reset, but not working. 
It gives me a chance to start a sim out in a new game with her home out of town to see how that affects my perception of the game, see if it has changed.  I hope so, I really like the  hills and the water all around the town, but not the town itself.  SV is more spread out, and there is room for this one to be also. 

[Ricalynn]

That's how the houses are in the area that this world represents.   People do live like this and that's their choice.    Not every world has to be the same with yards & grass because that just gets boring.

[Janna]

I apologize I offended due to the negative aspect of how I see the town.  I expected it to be different, I just didn't realize how negative I would see the difference.  And for those who grew up with it, they don't see it that way, they like the closeness of the houses. That is how it should be, that is home to them and it feels right.  And a change for others who like diversity. 
Maybe I am too set in my ways, I like the boring aspect of large lots, lots of green grass, hills (which this does) to make a world feel right for me.  MF is perfect, I love that town and I am sure that there are many who can't stand it.  They hate the town and find it dreary, depressing, bland.  I like MV, it has the hills, winding roads, houses set apart, more variety in the shape of the houses.   It has a brighter feel, warmer climate aspect than MF, but fits with the location of the town. 
I know I would hate city life, the big cities with more than 10 stories high (which for those who live in some cities that is considered small), but for those who like it, that is great for them. 
And many want the differences in the towns, they enjoy that aspect.  For me, I don't and that is my fault and I shouldn't expect others to not want the variety of different world settings.   In AS, I feel as if I am trapped, confined, unable to get out, escape if I need too.  There is no way to "grab your guns, head for the hills and then pick them off" there.   
I took a Sociology of Applachian class and there I learned somethings that explained the character of many of the residents here in my home area.  Most of us have links to Ireland, Scotland and Wales (as my family does) and we HAVE to have our hills, we don't feel safe, secure if we don't have the hills to run to in times of need, to be able to fight back. 
For those who want that diversity, I am glad they can find it in this town and in others.  For me, I need the hills, green all around me and the freedom to move about without being confined by other buildings to find enjoyment in the game.