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Any new *fun* objects you can reveal? like the pool table, etc...
MaxisChris: There are approximately 125 objects in the Pack.

Is there going to be any stained glass windows?
MAXISean: Yes to stained glass windows.

Will there be holidays and seasons in the new pack? I saw that there wil be holiday decorations.
MAXISean: Holidays were not part of E3...BUT since I mentioned them at E3... we might have some holiday objects

Will there be weekends?
MaxisPatrickB3: Time does not pass in The Sims except for hours in the day, therefore there are no seasons or weekends. No weeks for that matter.

When the sims talk what new things will they be able to do?
MAXISean: Nothing planned for talk improvement.

What happens when they DO get abducted?
MaxisPatrickB3: The aliens perform some medical experiments on the Sims. The ones taken so far have not been quite the same when they returned.

Will there be a way added for other families to adopt orphaned sim kids?
MaxisPatrickB3: No, not in the Expansion Pack.

Is it fun to work on this game?
Maxis_AnimatorX: I have fun no matter what I do.

I would like to see more child activities, are there going to be anything like science sets that if they have a bad grade it explodes in their face?
MaxisPatrickB3: No but the children can interact with many of the new objects. They can even improve their grades using the telescope.

Will there be curtains or shutters?
MaxisChris: No curtains or shutters.

Sean, are most of your ideas shot down a lot?
MAXISean: Yes, but I have come to enjoy having them shot down...and typically there is a darn good reason they got shot down...it protects the consumer from ME.

Can you name some skill building objects?
MaxisPatrickB3: Yes there are new skill building objects in the expansion pack. The Telescope for example builds logic on adults, and builds study on the children.

Will there be more services to call for?
MAXISean: Services no...but new characters that will either annoy or help you.

Will there be any behaviour/attitude altering sunstances? The wet bar only makes my sims go pee.
MAXISean: There will be quite a few opprtunities for altering the personality for good, or temp.
No drugs. No booze. No loose..well.

What kind of holiday decorations will there be and when can you put them up?
MaxisPatrickB3: Yes, there will be holiday decorations.

Any new things for the sims to eat?
MAXISean: No new food but new things to make foods with.

Is there still time to put more things on the pack?
MaxisChris: We pretty much have a complete asset list of what's going to be contained in the Pack.
A lot of it came from our fans!

--------------------------
1.5 Living Larger
--------------------------

Livin' Large is out! While I don't have the time to make a full update to all sections... yet... I will fill you in on all the new stuff.

Genie in a Bottle
The genie can offer you Money, Love, Friends, Entertainment, Skills, and even the occasional pink flamingo. But a flamingo also brings hate, fires, floods, roaches, dead plants, and debt. And you thought it was all good!

Roaches
Roaches infest your house and crawl around near any mess. You have to break out the bugspray for this one.

Crystal Ball
You get challenges and if you meet them, you get a personality point free!

Servo
Servo Cooks, Repairs, Cleans, Gardens, everything! Beware, though. Servo cooks very badly. He can't set things on fire, but the food isn't very satisfying.

Chemistry Set
Make the potions, gain logic skills, and who knows what could happen? You could get a fine, a clone, invisibility, become a monster, or become totally refreshed! It's fun!

Vibrating Bed
Sims can get down and dirty with the vibrating bed.

Electric Guitar
Jam like Hendrix and get creativity, too!

UFO Abduction
This messes up a Sim's personality.

Tragic Clown
Down in the dumps? Have his painting? He'll come and try to entertain you... unsuccessfully.

Grim Reaper
Bargain for a Sim's Life.

New themes
Tacky Retro and Castle themes are new to the game. Castle is expensive, though.

New Jobs
Musician, Slacker, Journalism, Hacker, Paranormal. 5 new tracks!

New Neighborhoods
Four new neighborhoods to play with!
--------------------------
2. Building a Family
--------------------------

Unless you use the tutorial family or the pre-made one, the Goths, you can't operate a house without a family inside, even if it's only a bachelor. You can use the pre-made families, such as
Pleasant, Roomies, or Bachelor, but it's so much more fun to create your own. When you go to the
Family building screen (accessible from the neighborhood screen), click Create New Family and then add its members, one by one. You can change their name, gender, skin color, age (Child or Adult), and personality (or choose a pre-made personality by selecting their astrological sign - geez, everything's pre-made!)

The Personality Points include:
Neat: This determines how likely your Sims are to clean up after themselves. If you find it a pain telling your Sims to put their dishes in the sink or to flush the toilet, put this up.

Outgoing: This is how well your Sims will be socially. If your Sims always decide against what they were going to do, like talking to someone, you might want to make your next Sims high in this.

Playful: This will determine what a Sim likes to do. This isn't too crucial. A serious Sim will rather read a book than sit in front of the TV and a playful Sim the opposite.

Active: This will determine how long it takes for a Sim to wake up, and it will also affect how a
Sim has Fun. A lazy Sim likes lounging on the couch watching TV more than playing basketball. But an active Sim will be a monster on the court.

Nice: This will also affect social. If your Sim is a nice Sim, they will have a higher success rate while talking or interacting with other Sims in general.

My advice is to keep everything leveled out when you have a bachelor. If you want to focus more in any area, my advice is to take a few points from Playful. Outgoing would be your next choice to pull from. My shy Sims had short conversations, and then as they liked each other more, the conversations lengthened, until the shyness was cancelled out. But in a family of two, you should have one of them very neat (though the other should be up there) Both should be very active, or at least the one who stays at home and cooks meals, etc. be active (can cook breakfast with little delay). Make them nice, too, so that they can get others to be friends and advance in careers.

So you don't WANT a leveled out person, hmm?

Here's a suggestion: first fill each meter about a third of the way. Then bring Neat and Active up to about 3/4 of the way up. Finally, add the remaining points to the other 3 equally. If you find you have an odd point left out, add it to nice or outgoing.

Another suggestion is to stagger on neat and put everything else up, and hire a maid.

2.1 The Neighbors

Well, there are two ways to go. First, you can make a feeder family. This is a family where you don't do things with them. Just make eight people and stick 'em in one family. Make their horoscopes agreeable with your Sims'. Build a home with a wall and a phone on that wall (or a phone and an end table - whatever.) Then use them to advance in your career. But if you're like me - restless - you're going to want to play these families too. A family of two is good to start out with. Later on they can have kids, get married or you can get really ambitious and make a family of eight right from the start.

Remember! Once you finish a family, YOU CANNOT GO BACK AND EDIT IT. You may, however, edit each individual family member during the process of family building. When you finish, you can select
"Move In Family" to put them in a pre-made house, or try your hand at...

--------------------------
3. Building A Home
--------------------------

3.1 Walls
Walls are extremely important. Without them your Sims would have an extremely low room rating - more on that later. You could also not place fire alarms, paintings, the cordless phone, windows, etc. etc. etc. They also make the house a heck of a lot prettier. You will want several rooms - a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. Walls can be placed by clicking and dragging, or a complete room by shift-clicking and dragging. Delete walls by control-clicking. One thing I found which saved me money and made my Sims happier is to not place a door between the kitchen and living room - to connect them freely. So if it looks like this:

______________________________________________
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|    Kitchen          |    Living Room        |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|_____________________|_______________________|

Consider changing it to this or something similar.

______________________________________________
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|    Kitchen          |    Living Room        |
|                     |                       |
|                     |                       |
|                                             |
|_____________________________________________|

This will save you money on walls, smoke detectors, burglar alarms, and your Sims will have a higher "Room" rating. Be warned: you have to make this large room well lit by using windows and lighting frequently. You do, however, want to put walls / doors in between bedrooms and bathrooms, because if you're running the stereo and someone's trying to sleep, you could be in trouble. And
Sims don't usually like other Sims barging in on them when they are on the john.

3.2 Doors
For your first home you will want 3 doors - Bedroom, bathroom, and front. Do not overdo it with too many doors because you ARE on a budget. After purchasing that expensive lot and building lots of walls, you need to spend even more.

3.25 A Very Nice Touch

If you're looking for a very nice touch to make you look rich when you have a second story and still staying economical, try this

If your front wall looks like this:

________________/______________ / = Door ___ = Wall

Try changing it to look like this


         _____/_____
________|C  P   P  C|__________ / = Door ___ = Wall C = Column P = Potted Plant

You'll be surprised at what a small front porch can do for your house.

3.3 Windows
Windows don't do too much except light the room during the day. The bigger the room is the more windows you will have to build. Again, you are on a budget so stay economical and buy the cheapest model.

3.4 Wallpaper and Flooring
Wallpaper is something you can do without, but it also makes your house unique and nicer looking.
You should probably add wallpaper last, as if you run out of cash you can do it later when your
Sim gets a job. Flooring is also unnecessary, unless you build a second floor - a task I recommend you approach when you have saved up for it. Then flooring is absolutely necessary, as you don't want your Sims falling through the floor.