The Sims 3: Ambitions Hands-on

Here is something you will like about the new ep Ambitions...


1) US, May 7, 2010 - The Sims has become one of the biggest franchises in gaming for a reason (see IGN's review of The Sims 3 here). Either through focus testing, reading message boards, or simply playing the game for hours on end themselves, the Sims team at EA is always learning how to improve their games or give players more of what they want with each expansion. And the upcoming Sims 3 expansion, Ambitions, is the perfect example of this: not only does it add new professions that change the way players view the pre-existing notion of "work" in Sims, but it's coming out alongside a host of smaller (and completely free) changes that affect everything from the interface to how players modify their surroundings -- all in an effort to make an experience that's easier and more option-filled than before.

In Sims games players essentially are the overlord of their characters, directing them to do various activities throughout the day. One place they had no control over their character, however, was in the workplace; players could dictate the goals of their character or guide them in how hard they wanted them to work, but they didn't get to micro-manage their careers, or make them complete their work-related tasks. Ambitions addresses this directly, giving players the option to have "jobs" that work as they have previously, and "professions," where players directly control their character throughout the work day. All the professions in the expansion (except Doctor) are new to the franchise, but older jobs will unfortunately remain hands-off for players. To the uninitiated it sounds relatively unimportant, but it's a substantial change -- instead of simply watching a clock roll by while your character is at their job, you can now actively make decisions and take actions that directly influence your income and your career progress.

2) We also learned about the Create a Pattern tool, a downloadable tool which will be released to registered users from TheSims3.com on July 28. This tool will allow players to use existing stickers or import their own pictures or other graphics and modify them in order to make patterns for walls or other items (though this will not make tattoos). Players can place dozens of images on a single pattern in up to four layers. Additional layers will allow for background colors and specularity. It's a fairly simple sounding tool, but it's just another way EA's allowing Sims 3 players to manipulate their surroundings to their liking.

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