Island Paradise - First Impressions

[Shirin]

The new LTW of Grand Explorer kicks WA's LTW of Seasoned Traveler off as the highest amount of LTHP - Grand Explorer awards 65,000 LTHP.

[creamyoghurt99]

I guess the reward is so big is because unlocking all uncharted islands require not only diving skill.
I found out accidentally in the uncharted island marker there are several way to unlock the island.
Exploring dive site, befriending mermaid and having 5 star resort is one of those.

[folcon]

Oh. I'm afraid I've never heard of that joke either. No worries.

It's a pee joke Pally.

[pallyndrome]

It's a pee joke Pally.

Yep, Rica explained in a private message. Now lets not keep this topic off topic!

[Joria]

Loving this!  My memory is so poor on details so I can't tell you the name of the Sim household I chose but he was a very dark man with dreads and he was an elder.  Not any more!  I can't stand dreads and didn't want to mess with elder.  I took him because he spent all his years investigating the oceans and was friends with many mermaids.  Haven't seen one yet but haven't played that much.

My first houseboat remodel!  YAY!  You know I can't leave well enough alone!  His houseboat has a basement!  I about flipped when I saw that.  I made it larger and discovered you can only make a basement as large as the above water building.  Haven't tried another level down yet either but in a houseboat, what would be the point?  Steerage?  I removed his standard bathroom and put in the all in one bathroom for houseboats.  Strange thing it is but takes up much less space.

My guy went snorkeling but since I didn't get to see what he was seeing I had him switch to scuba.  He explored a cave which was pretty much like putting a Sim in a Time machine.  You get little messages but don't get to see what they see.  Disappointing but acceptable.  He swam straight through to Davy Jones Locker and discovered a treasure chest with $10,000, (could have been $1,000), Simoleons, a piece of a map and some gems.  Haven't checked his athletic skills but he is moving right along with scuba.

I used the LTR cheat and loaded him up with tons of rewards a bit at a time to see what effect they have.  Still don't know what kelp does.  Bought him the map and right away a hidden island, Plunder Bay or Plunder Cove showed up.  There is a lot on it but it's all mountain.

Buying vehicles was pretty easy and everything is kept in personal inventory.  It was amusing to watch him bring his houseboat to the dive spot and then get in the jet ski in order to jump into the water to dive!  lol  I had him move his houseboat there thinking he'd just jump in but no, had to dive from the jet ski.  The jet ski disappears when they dive so I thought, "it's gonna be a long swim to shore".  Just to see what would happen I clicked on "Go Home" and up popped the jet ski and off he went.  I did NOT like seeing the same old ugly consignment store and salon there but those are fixable. 

If anything these Sims seem even friendlier than usual.  Mine stopped in mid-dive to chat with another diver about shells.  He was there solo for just a wee bit then the area loaded up with townies. 

Tomorrow I might try moving my Pier Fun O Won to Isla Paradiso.  I think it would be great there with a few alterations but not sure it can be done.  Going to give it a shot though.  That is, unless I try doing the resort thing.

Loving this enough I've stopped playing with dragons!

[Saltypaws]

They did an awesome job, but so far I have not been able to play it, except for about five minutes.  It does a hard freeze and I have to do a hard shut down.  I did manage to get the free resort and give it a makeover and already started making money, but it started freezing after that.

Edit:  I started another game and actually got to play for a while.  I have to admit, this is one gorgeous town.  I haven't even got started exploring yet.  Might have to pull a marathon on my days off, lol.

[Snownova]

I did NOT like seeing the same old ugly consignment store and salon there but those are fixable. 

I'm with you there, It's always so disappointing to see them endlessly re-using Landgraab's sell and swap (or whatever that craphole is called). I usually have a painter sim in my family as a cash cow, so I spend a lot of time at consignment stores.
There's also the default fire station in Isla Paradiso, and though I don't dislike that one as much, for both cases it's sad that they did not make a nice town specific version that fits in properly.

[Seabody]

The lots are only placed down if you actually have that EP (ie: No Ambitions = No Consignment Store). EA would not want to design a beautiful and fitting Consignment Store that is only put down if you have Ambitions, or lacks a register. It would look pretty awkward, building a Consignment Store that looks like one, but isn't one. I'm not familiar with exactly how object replacement works (take, for example, a custom chair. Uninstalling it will replace it with something else), but I imagine that it's not explicitly controlled how objects should be replaced. And even so, without Ambitions for the register, you'd have to fall back on World Adventures ones, and then no register. And a Consignment Store selling Nectar only doesn't make sense.

All you lucky people, playing IP. It was released in NZ today, and my preorder probably won't be arriving until Tuesday.

[Toni]

I've just installed the game and I am loving it already! It was also the fastest of my expansion packs to install which was an added bonus.

The world is absolutely beautiful. The detail they've put into it from the bird poo on the island statue to the underwater scene is amazing, and the graphics are stunning too. I even love the loading screen! Not to mention the new and unique content, hair and clothes.

[Ricalynn]

I'm with you there, It's always so disappointing to see them endlessly re-using Landgraab's sell and swap (or whatever that craphole is called). I usually have a painter sim in my family as a cash cow, so I spend a lot of time at consignment stores.
There's also the default fire station in Isla Paradiso, and though I don't dislike that one as much, for both cases it's sad that they did not make a nice town specific version that fits in properly.

They can't do that.   The ambitions lots are auto-placed into town like they are for Sunset Valley or Lunar Lakes but they have to make the towns for base game only.  They can't assume that someone will have Ambitions and actually had a lot of issues doing that with Pets so they've never done it again. 

I've been working on the townies list but also some testing for dynasties.  I think I've figured out all 8 islands but I'm not saying until I know for sure.  Don't want to get hopes up!

[Radhra]

So, I see that some boats have a "fishing score" to it... Does anyone know how to fish directly from these boats?

[samoht04]

So, I see that some boats have a "fishing score" to it... Does anyone know how to fish directly from these boats?

SimGuruGraham said this on this thread on the officials.

How do you go fishing off the side of a houseboat?
To be able to fish off the side of a houseboat, a Sim needs a minimum of three tiles wide and two tiles deep of free space along the edge of a houseboat. The edge of the houseboat can't be obstructed by a fence, half wall, object, etc. If your Sim can't find enough space to go fishing anywhere off the side of their houseboat they will route fail - should you see this, you need to free up more space for them.

[Radhra]

Not Houseboats. Boats. Fishing form a houseboat is just like fishing at a beach, but some boats have a fishing score and I cant make it work.

[Shirin]

By boat, you mean the personal watercraft, correct?

[Radhra]

Yes, some of them have a fishing score. Also, the sailor trait says fishing from boats would be easier, but I dont think it refers to Houseboats, since its moodlet does not activate in houseboats (which I personally think they should).