I’m Doing It: Creating My Own Sims 3 World

This is a strange topic for me to write about, but I kind of thought it may be fun in the end to re-read. Something that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I write for an EA/Maxis fansite called BeyondSims (formerly SimPrograms). We’re primarily a news site, gathering tidbits of information from across the web as well as conducting our own interviews when given the chance. The majority of us are big fans of The Sims franchise, so that’s what a lot of us focus on.

Without getting into the whole schpeal, I’ll just say that I’ve often tossed around the idea of using the Create A World Tool to do just that; map out my own play world for The Sims 3 in which I can expand the whole story of my game outside of just one little home of Sims. I can (theoretically of course, this is a first try) craft a world in which multiple families co-exist and create one masterful tapestry of simulation. This includes everything from the roads and community buildings, parks and wharfs, right down to the locations that spawn collectable bugs and rocks to the entire world landmass.

Daunting, for sure. No self-imposed pressure or anything…

Along with the creativity, a perspective world-builder must also have the patience to use the official tool which never left Beta. I tried in the past on a very small and underpowered Laptop, and shortly gave up. I’ve now taken the plunge and installed in on my upgraded Gaming PC, and I’ll say I’m actually starting to have fun! It’s sort of like putting together a puzzle, except the picture is in your mind and you have to cut and paint each piece before you can assemble it.

Below are the first couple of shots of my world, that I really wanted to share with my friends and any other Sims Fans out there. Feedback is great.. just saying.

As of now it is nameless, I just have an idea; a Central Volcano that has long since been asleep, in which shipwrecked Sims have made a life for themselves in amongst the dragon-esque islands and sheer highlands created by years of tectonic shifts and erosion.There’s no terrain painting done yet, just a pretty preliminary attempt at carving out a livable world from a blank canvas (so you’ll have to use some imagination too!). Most of the world will be sandy and tropical, with dark craggy cliffs dotting the sea-scape.

I repeat: I’d really like some feedback on this, as it will help me sculpt what my world turns into! If there are things that looks a little strange, it’s probably not meant to be like that and I’d love it if you piped up or had some suggestions. This is my first world so I’m honestly flying pretty blind here. If anyone has any tips or tricks too I’m not going to refuse!

Instead of writing things like “over there, next to that hill that looks… hilly, there’s going to be this thing that doesn’t look like another hill”, I figured if I drew on the images it would help explain it better. Click on each below to see the larger view of it!