Issue 130	Wednesday 27th February 2013

Welcome to my News Email, bringing you all the latest news, website updates and poll results from Danny's The Sims Website

Latest Updates

Four new preview links, two new videos and one new screenshot added to “The Sims 3 / Expansion Packs / The Sims 3 University Life” page

Latest News

New The Sims 3 Game Update Adds Dumpster Diving, Stops Blueprint Crashes, More

A The Sims 3 game update has been released, fixing a large number of bugs, as well as adding some new items:

Free Sims 3 Base Game Content

Sims can now dumpster dive from the Commercial Dumpster pre-placed in Sunset Valley and find cool items including furniture and collectables!

New air conditioning units and electrical box decorative objects.

New Terrain Paint for Build Mode.

A new traffic light for Create a World.

See the full list of fixes, and the checklist of things to do before updating, by clicking below — you’ll need to switch to English > United States via the flag at the top if you can’t see the post (“Game update 1.50″).
> “News:February 2013″ at TheSims3.com

Building And Plant Sims In University Life Discussed In New Blog Post

Dormitory in The Sims 3 University Life The Sims 3 University Life associate producer Brittany Henry has posted a new blog entry on TheSims3.com discussing building and Plant Sims:

Another option for builders to enjoy in home worlds is the new Apartment lot. Similar to dorms, once you build this lot, the game will automatically pull Sims in to be roommates. Like dormmates, these roommates are not part of your active household, and you can use the new bed and door lock options to set aside areas of the apartment for each roommate to use exclusively. Apartments differ from regular houses. Instead of buying the lot completely when you move in, your Sims will pay rent each week just like paying bills. The rent cost is determined by the overall value of the lot.

She also lists some fun facts.
> “The Sims 3 University Life: Building, PlantSims, and Additional Fun Facts” at TheSims3.com

GamesRadar Interview Producer On The University Life

GamesRadar has posted an interview with The Sims 3 University Life producer Sarah Nelson:

GamesRadar: How did the idea of University Life originate?

Sarah Nelson: The goal of each expansion pack is to offer fun and new ways to enrich Sims lives. There are very few chapters in life more impactful and enriching than attending university. It’s where identities are realized, mistakes are made, and life-long loves and friendships are born.

> “The Sims 3 University Life interview” at GamesRadar

Assistant Producer Questioned On University Life

EA UK has posted an interview with The Sims 3 University Life assistant producer Argus Hulin on their The Sims 3 Facebook site:

Q8) Do Sims at university have assignments with due dates? And how does the level of your Sim’s skills affect their grades at university?

Argus: Whilst at University your Sims will be working on their academic performance as a whole. So they need to keep their whole performance level up rather than completing individual assignments. Different skills your Sim has help them do better at different degrees, so it really depends on the individual Sims skill set.

> “UK Maxis Team Interview Producer Argus Hulin” at The Sims 3 (UK) on Facebook

Latest Live Broadcast Available To Watch On-Demand

The latest The Sims 3 Live Broadcast is now available to watch on-demand. Included in the broadcast were demos of The Sims 3 Island Paradise (about seven and a half minutes in) and the latest The Sims 3 Store town Aurora Skies (about 33 minutes in), and a Q&A session for The Sims 3 University Life (about one hour three minutes in) — there was no demo due to technical difficulties but a separate live broadcast featuring one will take place soon instead (see next headline).

(The broadcast starts about five minutes into the video.)

University Life To Be Demoed (Seriously This Time) In Live Broadcast Friday

I posted the details of the above live broadcast with the headline “University Life To Be Demoed In Live Broadcast On 14th February” — unfortunately, technical difficulties meant that headline ended up being inaccurate, as no demo took place. They’ve now announced another live broadcast, this one purely to feature the demo originally planned for the last one. It will take place on Friday (1st March) at the usual time of 10 am PST, which means 6 pm in the UK — click the third link below for the time where you are if that’s elsewhere. There’s no proper page for the broadcast yet, but a link to one should be added to the Facebook event page in time. You should also be able to watch it directly on EA’s Livestream page — possibly the safest way after the last-but-one time.
> “The Sims 3 Live Broadcast March 1″ at The Sims 3 on Facebook
> “Electronic Arts” at Livestream
> “The Sims 3 Live Broadcast” at timeanddate.com

Simlish Blaise Song Featuring In University Life Soundtrack Available To Download

A Simlish song which features in The Sims 3 University Life’s soundtrack, Thunderstorm by Blaise, has been made available to stream or download:

EA UK has interviewed Blaise about recording her song in Simlish, and produced a Sim of her which is available to download from the Exchange.
> “University Life soundtrack star Blaise meets UK Maxis team” at The Sims 3 (UK) on Facebook
> “Blaise Thresher” on the Exchange at TheSims3.com

University Life Producer Walkthrough Video Released

A producer walkthrough video for The Sims 3 University Life has been released:

IGN Previews University Life

IGN has posted a new preview of The Sims 3 University Life:

If you’ve done enough studying and working to boost your academic performance, then you’ll likely do well on the tests. The rub of studying, as we all know too well, is that it cuts into time that could be used for more important activities, like sweet parties.

There’s also a small section on the next expansion pack, Island Paradise.
> “What’s Next for The Sims 3?” at IGN

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