Sim-Wolf

Vampires in The Sims 3?

2009-2-06T14:13:00UT

An EA Press Release site, EA.Gamepress.com (I'm unsure whether it's official or not), has added a couple of screenshots from CAS. Interestingly, both the screenshots are titled "Vampire" and feature a very vampire-looking Sim. (Although there are no fangs). It is unknown whether or not these so-called "Vampires" will be functioning vampires like the vampires from The Sims 2 Nightlife, or whether they will simply just have grey skin, red eyes, and vampire-looking clothes like Aliens in The Sims 2. I thought it may be interesting anyway. Just to point out, both of the actions the two Sims are doing have been seen previously by non-vampire looking Sims. The male vampire action was used by the woman who stole candy from a baby at the end of that video, and the female vampire action is associated with the evil trait (as seen in the trailer released a couple of days ago). I suppose all we can do is hop.

Also, I've come up with yet another design for Sim-Wolf using a new template to allow a site banner at the top. I think I will be keeping this one, but may change the background, so the previous poll was a bit of a waste. But I did get a good idea about which design of mine you liked most, which was what I was wanting.

The Sims 3 Delayed till June 2nd 2009!

2009-2-04T15:56:00UT

The news we've all been dreading! The Sims 3 is being delayed. The game now has an official release date of June 2nd 2009. Over 100 days after the original release date. And what's more, is from what is understood in the press release, is the game is not being delayed because of bugs at all, but because they are wanting to advertise more in other countries. Pretty poor show in my opinion. You can find the full press release on TheSims3.com. What's more is that from what I have read on the official UK EA Games website, is The Sims 3 will be released here in the UK on the 5th of June. So this worldwide release date is yet another lie.

“The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3,” said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing for EA. “The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players.”

There are some good news about The Sims 3 today though. First of all, EA have published a new cover for the game. Instead of showing a few Sims with a neighbourhood background, the new cover has different Sims in plumb-bob diamonds. Also, the cover shows both the PC and the Mac logos. So the delay should be an advantage to Mac players as they get the game at the same time as everyone else. :)

Two new videos have also been released. One about the Creator's Camp, and the other one is a new trailer for the game. You can find them both at TheSims3.com video page. I uploaded the new trailer, which you can watch below.

EA have also published some new screenshots for The Sims 3. TheSims3.com also added some screenshots of houses made at the Creator's Camp. They are from a new feature on TheSims3.com which I assume will showcase two new houses or other custom content from the Creator's Camp every week until the release of the game. You can find the Creator's Camp showcase here.

Finally, TheSims3.com added a new widget feature which you can download to your desktop or embed in your site. It is a countdown till The Sims 3's release. Oh well. Better than nothing I suppose. And also seen as most of our personal countdowns will be going in the bin. :(

The Sims 3 Collector's Edition: Available Worldwide

2009-2-02T11:03:00UT

Originally, The Sims 3 Collector's Edition was supposedly only to be released in the US. But now many of the top online stores from around the world now have the Collector's Edtion Listed.

These stores include...
Game (UK) - £44.99
Amazon FR (France) - €69.99
Amazon DE (Germany) - €64.95
EB Games (Austraila) - $119.95
Might Ape (New Zealand) - $119.95
Kalahari.net (South Africa) - R 432.86

Assuming that all those stores have just recently listed the Collector's Edition, they all have the game listed as being released on the 20th February 2009, the original release date. So the delay may actually just be a rumour after all. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Thanks to InfiniteSims for the news.

New Poll

2009-1-31T06:47:00UT

I started a new poll today. It should only be a temporary poll though to get some ideas. It may last only one week, or maybe the usual two.

Recently, I announced that I was going to change the design for this site. I had originally planned the new design to use the Hawaiian Floral pattern from a Sims 3 Pre-Order Bonus. But now I'm not to sure. The flower power might have been just a bit too much! Anyway, I've came up with two further designs, a striped design. But I'm still not sure which to pick. So before I rush into changing the design for the whole site, I want some of your opinions on which one you like best. You can vote for the poll on the home page. I want to start changing the design of the main site, so I will really appreciate all votes. Screenshots are included in the poll.

Last fornight's poll asked what you thought about The Sims Online making a return as The Sims 2 Online with Sims 2 graphics and objects. (This would make use of any Expansion Packs and Stuff Packs the player had). The poll was suprisingly pretty popular. There were a total of 13 votes.

11 people (85%) said they'd love the idea, which I found suprising.
1 person (8%) said they weren't bothered.
1 person (8%) said they'd hate it if there was another Sims Online game.

French Sims 3 Video

2009-1-31T05:52:00UT

French site, fr.msn.com, uploaded a new video in their series where French fansites visit EA. Although in French, the video is still interesting to watch and you see various things such as the taxi driving round the neighbourhood (and a Sim disappearing and reappearing to get out of the vehicle), neighbourhood terrain editing as well as some parts of the Sims Studio. You can find it here.

Thanks to SnootySims for the news.

New Sims 3 Blog Post

2009-1-30T11:02:00UT

Eric Holmberg-Weidler, a designer of The Sims 3 posted a new blog post on the official Sims 3 site a day or two ago. He talks about collecting items such as fish. Interestingly, fish which are caught can be kept alive and added to the fish tank/bowl. But the post was removed, added again, removed, etc. It has finally settled and can now be found in the VIP Area. The code is 48982. Unfortunately the post is in German. InfiniteSims has an English version of the blog post here. This time, a new screenshot was also added. You can find the original German version on TheSims3.com, here.

New Affiliate

2009-1-29T16:22:00UT

I'm happy to announce Sim-Wolf has a new affiliate, ChrisSims.

ChrisSims has many features including the Eight Sims challenge, a Members area, a Forum, and more.

You can find ChrisSims here.

Also, you may be wondering why I have added UnlimitedSims as an affiliate, but not said anything about it. Well the site owner asked me if I wanted to be affiliates, so I said yes, but he is yet to add my site to the affiliates section, so I am waiting for that to happen before I make a proper announcement. You may also be wondering why I am replacing the previous affiliates. I am doing this because those affiliates have either closed their site or have stated on their site that they are in the works of making a new site, which hasn't yet happened. So it is pointless having affiliate links to sites that are no longer running. But I will happilly add them again if they ever decide to start up their site again.

Parsimonious Sims 3 Review

2009-1-28T15:59:00UT

Parsimonious attended the Creator's Camp and has now posted a review with interesting things on different topics like CAS, Build Mode, Gameplay, and more interestingly, issues such as In-Game Ads, etc. You can find the full review here.

From what I understand from the Other Issues section, EA have removed the In-Game Advertising which would have shown real life ads on Billboards and Cinema Posters, etc. This should be good news for most players.

The Sims 3 Delay - True? False? Not a clue!

2009-1-27T11:17:00UT

Well, there are many fansites and Sims players who are pretty sure that The Sims 3 will be delayed more than a month, maybe even till June. But I am still clinging to the hope that it's not going to be delayed. Here are some things I have found which hint at a delay, and which hint that there's no delay.

UnlimitedSims
UnlimitedSims called EA and has found out that if there is a delay, their will be an official announcement within the next week, and if there's no delay, we'll hear nothing about it. They also said The Sims 3 website will be getting a major update.

"Here is what i have found out, If the Sims 3 has been delayed you can expect an official announcement from EA in the next week and if the game will still be released on February 20th you will not hear anything official from the game team. EA said that they are reviewing the release date and they still have not made a decision. Also next week or the week after thesims3.com will be getting a MAJOR update so more info on the release date will come with that!"

Frzz3385
This user from the official BBS forum said she phoned EA to ask if there was a delay, and eventually got through to a woman who assured her that there was no delay.

"I actually called EA and had them transfer me to THE SIMS 3 department....I talked to a very helpful lady who was actually part of another game, but she went and asked them for me....she told me that they said there is NO DELAY....if you don't believe me call (650) 628-1500 which is EA REDWOOD, CALI and ask them yourself. By the way the music you listen to while you are on hold is the best music i've ever heard. I almost didn't want to be taken off hold. EA definately knows how to keep their customers entertained."

EuroGamer
EuroGamer posted an article about The Sims 3 saying the developers are evalulating the launch window (period of time until the game is released) and that European retailers were told to expect a delay.

"Electronic Arts has said it is "evaluating the launch window" for The Sims 3 after European retailers were told to expect a delay last week.

The publisher had previously announced that the game would be released on 20th February.

However, last week several retailers in Eastern Europe relisted the game as "first half 2009". UK retailers - including online giants Amazon and Play - still carry the 20th February target, but EA issued the following statement:

"We are evaluating the launch window. The game looks great and in the near future we'll have more information."

So we wouldn't bank on being able to play it on 20th February."

According to many sites, EA will release and official statement about the delay if it is true or not on Feb 3rd. But until then I suppose we can only wait.

New Site Design for Sim-Wolf: Coming Soon

2009-1-25T13:37:00UT

I just wanted to announce that over the next week or two, I will be updating the entire Sim-Wolf Website to fit with the new design I have been making today.

So why did I decide it was time for a new design? Well as you may have noticed, when I run out of pages on my account, then what I do is create another account called "Sim-Wolf2" or something like that. Then add links to every page on the main accounts sidebar as sidebar links on the new account. And then add any pages I need (a seperate Expansion Pack page for example), and set it to be hidden so it does not appear on the nav bar. That way I can have as many pages as I need. But recently, I tried to make a second Sim-Wolf Encyclopedia account because all my other pages on that are used by topics I have not started yet, and I wanted to see if having a seperate page for each set of careers would help the loading times. Anyway, after creating the second account, I discovered that the gear template I have used for all my websites (Blue Gear for Sim-Wolf, Red Gear for Sim-Wolf Downloads, Green for Encyclopedia), had been removed. So I could no longer have another side account and make it join onto my main account by having it look the same and share the same template, etc. So that's when I tried out creating a new design.

So after choosing a template which was basic, but one that I liked with the sidebar on the left, I tried out a few different images as backgrounds. Eventually, I found one I liked. The blue Hawaiian Floral pattern which is a pre-order bonus of The Sims 3 from Play.com. I then realized that the page sections weren't very distinguishable from each other, and it looked like one big paragraph/section. So I made a bar using the same pattern to put at the bottom of each section to seperate them. I have to admit, I am pretty pleased with how it has turned out.

I would appreciate any comments on the new design, especially if you like it or not. And would you believe it. I just discovered an "Old Template Picker" section on Freewebs half an hour ago, and the Gear template WAS available. But I'm glad I've made the new design. The current design is way too simple and boring. ;)

Here are links to the four pages I've created so far using the new design.
Home Page - http://www.freewebs.com/sim-wolf7
Seasons - http://www.freewebs.com/sim-wolf7/seasons.htm
FreeTime - http://www.freewebs.com/sim-wolf7/freetime.htm
Apartment Life - http://www.freewebs.com/sim-wolf7/apartmentlife.htm