The Sims 3 - Showtime EP06

[kidakiwi04]

I for one want each EP to be different and not on the same theme. If you know what I mean?

You took the words right out of my head.

Would you really want vampires, high rise buildings, three new musical instruments, celebrity AND singing, DJs, circus acts, magicians, and whatever else is coming? 

In a perfect world they would have added singing to late night and moved celebrities to showtime. To me that would have made a little more sense. Showtime is all about the rise to fame why not have celebrities and who has a band with out a singer?

Admittedly once I got over the initial "Oh my gosh they added Facebook to Sims! Nooooo!" I am very interested to see how they implement SimPort. If its well done I would probably love it if I had some to send my Sim to.

[Leto85]

In a trailer I saw a sim doing a pull up exersize. Perhaps this is a new function for athletic sims? It's one of the most heavy exersizes you can do to train your back and I saw a sim even doing a pull up with one hand.
What's next? One hand pull up with a dumbbell clamped between your feets for extra weight?

Hmm, I guess soon I will not be the only one anymore who can do that.

[samoht04]

I agree with you on most of that Pam, I think it was just the overall theme idea that hit me as being similar. Pn a brighter note maybe since they are looking into all this fame and stuff for this maybe they'll fix the bugs from LN such as being so easy to become a Celebrity and a Vampire?

I bet you won't be able to control Sims in others worlds, or you might have to get permission or maybe we can set settings or something. I was just imagining random Sims coming into challenge game and Dynasties and messing things up. 

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I do think you will be able to get into your friends worlds, like Animal Crossing and.. well, the only other game I played when i was a kid that featured this sort of thing was Nintendogs. xD I suppose Metro would ban connecting to a dynasty file, if that was the case, though? Hey, I wonder if you can marry the sims from other games, etc. and then go back to your town without them and stuff? Wouldn't that be strange? xD

[folcon]

Well this traveling to other players towns certinly sounds interesting.  I'll be looking forward to seeing how it is implmented.  It sounds very similar to the idea I had mentioned in the improvments thread about how it would be cool if you could travel to other towns in your game other than the WA destinations.  I wonder if that might be a natural progresion of this. 

At any rate, I'm looking forward to this EP.  Is it sad that what I am most excited about, other than the magicans, is finally getting my hands on a pooltable?  I have been wanting that for so long.  Now I have more motivation to get off my bum and get a job to make money to buy this as well as some of the store content I have been wanting to get.

[Katluvr]

I was just imagining random Sims coming into challenge game and Dynasties and messing things up. 

I seriously doubt EA would risk alienating their fan base by allowing any kind of access between players that isn't authorized by both parties.  It will probably be the responsibility of each player to carefully assess who they will allow to visit.  This is one place where it would not be a good idea to have a bazillion friends on your authorized list.  It is going to be important to 'know' the people on your list, if not in real life then at least from a community like this.

I also think there will have to be some kind of way to block even authorized visitors from particular files so that players can keep their challenge/dynasty/legacy files pristine and free from outside influences.  Certainly EA must be aware that many people play these kinds of files and will not want any social component that might compromise the integrity of those games.

[samoht04]

I wonder if both parties will have to be online at the same time.

[MarianT]

I'm looking forward to this, especially after the great job EA did with Pets. If singing in Sims 3 is as much an improvement over Sims 1 and 2 as painting was, it'll be fantastic. Even if it's only on a par with the Sims Medieval, it'll still be good. I'm curious to see all the acrobatic stuff and the magician tricks. Like others, I think it will be stage magic rather than wizardry. And I love the name Starlight Shores; I just hope it will be easier to maneuver in than Bridgeport.

I'm not enthusiastic about the SimPort, but I'm willing to wait and see. If it looks too intrusive, I can always disconnect from the Internet.

[folcon]

I wonder if both parties will have to be online at the same time.

I suspect that will be the case.  And most likely, they can only visit the town of whatever game you are playing at that time, instead of being able to visit the towns of any of your other save files.  With luck, there will be some sort of 'gateway' that you can open or close that will let people in.  Or just an option in the options menu.

[RunAmokSims]

I wonder if both parties will have to be online at the same time.

I think there is a lot to wonder about.  CC, mods, if people don't have the same EPs or content and maybe how being so closely connected to EA/Origin will pass more information about you than they already have.  I know when I installed my last EP they had a window come up that asked me if they could collect info about my game, how I played, etc and I checked no.  From the way it came up I'm pretty sure a lot of people didn't pay attention and just checked yes.

[jeanamariex3]

About the Facebook part: I think it's more related to the Sims (as in the virtual people we create) not the players (as in us). It sounds more like Agnes Crumplebottom will go on her computer, and post Facebook statuses, and communicate with her sister Cornelia. That's my interpretation of it. I don't mind the Facebooking, but I'm not spamming my non-Sim friends with my Sims 3 junk. If I wanted to, I would have done that in Generations with the memory system. LOL!

Maybe it'll have the whole Sims can move to Riverview, but will keep in touch on Facebook with their Sunset Valley friends. 

[fortheloveofcake]

I like that interpretation of the SimPort thing Jeana, If that is the case I think its an interesting addition to the game that is definitely on par with how the real world is progressing.

[Gheez]

I don't think that we'll be able to access anyone else's game.

When I read the description, I thought it meant that we would create a venue, with a stage in our town and that the new Simport feature would allow us to 'invite' (for want of a better word) a sim, created by a friend, onto that stage to perform for us.  We'd get to view how well they sang or performed magic - in other words we'd watch their act - I didn't get the impression that the 'invited' sim would be able to do anything else except to be a guest star in our game.

Currently, unless we share a sim as a 'family' they don't come with any skills. I wonder if it is possible that the Simport will enable sharing of sims, complete with skills and personal inventories?  But I'm still inclined to think that all we'll get is an act to watch on our stage.

And, if it is just an act to watch, I'm wondering if we get to customise what the sim does in the act... um. like we train up our sim, customise a set of sequences for their act / choose their song / or whatever, then send them via the Simport to a friend who will watch our sim perform the special act that we've devised. If so, then that could be quite fun and quite creative, rather than just watching a set act over and again, with just the sim looking different.

I also don't believe that the new social aspect will be on Facebook. I wonder if it will be a section that we access from the dashboard or by pressing a button, in game?

It all sounds intriguing and I'm looking forward to finding out more.

Oh and I loved the look of those sort of mermaid like costumes at the start of the video... just going to go back and watch again 

[Pam]

I was just about to compose my post when this last post by Gheez hit the board.  I agree with her analysis of the Simport feature.  Here is the text again from the release information regarding Showtime:

And for the first time, The Sims 3 Showtime introduces social features, including Simport, an all-new feature that lets you send your Sims to a friend’s game! There, your Sim can perform at your friend’s venue in front of your friend’s Sims!

Read it carefully and you'll see no mention of entering another player's game with control of a Sim.  I think what Gheez described is very much what we should expect to see.  There are too many negative possibilities and drawbacks with actually having access to another player's computer and game.  I can't imagine that this is what EA has in mind.  I think it will be more of an advanced file sharing system and it may even be routed through the official Sims 3 site.  Or perhaps we'll be able to send a Sim directly to another player's email account.  There are many ways to accomplish this and it's not my area of expertise, of course, but I think this is how it will be handled.

We won't know until EA releases more information.  But please don't panic or anything in the meantime.  I really don't see other players being able to access our games in any way.

[Seabody]

I also don't believe that the new social aspect will be on Facebook. I wonder if it will be a section that we access from the dashboard or by pressing a button, in game?

I personally think it will be routed through thesims3.com - an ingame way to access the whole site, not just the store, like the Shop we have now. Perhaps we'd be able to read the forums, and flick between the Sims 3 and a tutorial easily. Maybe EA will account for fansites as well, and let us access things like this guide and forum while ingame. But I won't get my hopes up, as EA would probably have to get permission (copyright-wise) from the webmasters of the fansites, and in doing that, could spend money that they could put elsewhere (*cough*the Sims 3 Seasons*/cough*), improving an already excellent game.

But, of course, as Pam said, "We won't know until EA releases more information".

[MoMoll]

I'm hoping for the singing that you can customize the music, like with the stereo. You could have your sim singing "Lady Gaga" or something.

[Twinmum]

I for one am just going to sit back and wait. I have no idea how EA are going to implement this but I trust that they have privacy issues thoroughly covered. I haven't met an expansion pack yet that I didn't like something about (and most I've loved) so I will definitely be getting it, I mean in over 10 years now, I haven't skipped any EP's and am not going to start now.

Norma

[MoMoll]

I for one am just going to sit back and wait. I have no idea how EA are going to implement this but I trust that they have privacy issues thoroughly covered. I haven't met an expansion pack yet that I didn't like something about (and most I've loved) so I will definitely be getting it, I mean in over 10 years now, I haven't skipped any EP's and am not going to start now.

I agree. I've been waiting for pool tables and singing since Sims2.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Does anyone else think the social features will actually come with the Showtime patch instead of just the EP, like the memories did in Generations? I think somehow it's just too big a thing for them to miss out. Not the SimPort thing, though, because after reading Gheez' and Pam's posts I reckon they do just mean your sim gets to perform at another friend's venue. I actually like that better because if it was going to another game, things would go a little haywire with loading times, mods, different EPs and CC etc. Perhaps they will bring something like that in Sims 4, but that's another topic. xD

[Leto85]

I was just about to compose my post when this last post by Gheez hit the board.  I agree with her analysis of the Simport feature.  Here is the text again from the release information regarding Showtime:

Read it carefully and you'll see no mention of entering another player's game with control of a Sim.  I think what Gheez described is very much what we should expect to see.  There are too many negative possibilities and drawbacks with actually having access to another player's computer and game.  I can't imagine that this is what EA has in mind.  I think it will be more of an advanced file sharing system and it may even be routed through the official Sims 3 site.  Or perhaps we'll be able to send a Sim directly to another player's email account.  There are many ways to accomplish this and it's not my area of expertise, of course, but I think this is how it will be handled.

We won't know until EA releases more information.  But please don't panic or anything in the meantime.  I really don't see other players being able to access our games in any way.

The way I've read it is like using a rabit hole. Your sim pops into another once game and will disapear for a while, while in the meantime popups are going to show including information about what your sim has done in the other towns.
But from the other side, if my sim travels to the town of that of Pam, than Pam will see that sim going into her town, or getting noticed about it, and will probably be able to speak to him/her and making a friendship relationship.
That is how I think it will be.

I've just saw how The Sims 3 Social works while being at a neighbour's house and I think this is kind of how this will work with this expansion as well. Like EA was testing this first to see if people would be interested in it.

[jeanamariex3]

About Singing: If this is going to be a skill, do you guys think Singing to the IF will have the same effect as the Base Game skills? Like will they develop the skill as a toddler, and it will show up when their children?

I'm not asking if this has been confirmed, I'm just asking if this could be a possibility.

[MoMoll]

About Singing: If this is going to be a skill, do you guys think Singing to the IF will have the same effect as the Base Game skills? Like will they develop the skill as a toddler, and it will show up when their children?

I'm not asking if this has been confirmed, I'm just asking if this could be a possibility.

It would be nice; but, I'd rather have REAL singing than "La di da". In sims2 they had singing, but it was terrible, so I didn't let my sims sing much. I don't want to hear amature singers (i;e. people doing thier own voices) sending their sims to my town. I want to be able to have real music (Norah Jones, Janis Joplin, Eretha Franklin, etc. as voicesfor my sims to sing. If this is going to be like the talent shows on TV; I'm not interested. Except for a few (like the Boyd woman), most are terrible.

[Zylphe]

More info on the Sims 3 forum (which I would post here, but it's a bit lengthy):

http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/474098.page

There's supposed to be an interview next week with one of the game designers, so hopefully we'll keep getting info on the game.

A summary of the online portion of the game:

• you can message friends in game
• but you can turn it off if you don't want to deal with it
• SimPort is supposed to be secure, so you won't get any viruses or any other nasty surprises
• using Simport lets you unlock some backgrounds, props, and costumes
• Sims won't be imported with content you don't have (so, if you don't have the clothing or the traits in your game that the other person has, you won't see it -- the trait or clothing will be changed to something you DO have)
  
• all the social stuff is optional and you can turn it off

Being able to turn all of this stuff off means that I'll probably go ahead and order this EP... probably closer to March, because I'm hoping they'll throw in another free stuff pack for ordering early.

[bshag]

After reading the additional information that was posted on the Showtime forum, it makes me feel a little better about the social aspect of the game, namly Simport.  I have no interest in the FB or Twitter, nor in performing for anyone's sims.  I understand if I do turn off Simport and connection to FB I will have to give up certain special items you get when you do use these things.  I don't think that's really fair, but I don't care one way or the other.  I know some simmers do and are raising cain about it.

[loveSims]

Thanks very much for the link! Now I get excited about this expansion!