Bon Voyage TSR Preview
 

In case anyone is interested & doesn't already know about it, here is a link to the "Preview Review" of the upcomming (September 5th for the USA) EP Bon Voyage.

http://www.thesimsresource.com/article/bonvoyage1

Kepping in mind that this review is about the Alpha version (so things can still change) here is my lil take on things, for what it's worth:

Things That Looked Fun To Me

- Sims can build & own their own Vacation Houses & invite friends to come over.
- You can now get married on Community lots & on vacation.
- Sims can choose to walk to Community lots instead of taking a car/taxi.
- Sims can swim in open water (i.e. the ocean).
- Rings, necklaces, watches & face piercings are now available.
- Sims can learn the "massage" skill.
- Sims actually learn to become "better" travelers & this will effect how the locals treat you! (If you haven't learn the proper regional greeting for example, the local population won't warm up to you as fast.)
- University students can go on vacation! (Just think of the "spring break" parties! )

Things I Was Disapointed About

- Pets can't go on vacation! (Boo! Hiss! Shame on you Maxis! ) They might be able to go to vacation homes but it's not certain yet.
- The "8 Sim Limit" on vacations seems kinda low if you want to hold a real humdinger bash. (I'm thinking that will be one of the first things hacked.)

All in all, it sounds like alot of fun (but I enjoy all the EPs) & I'm looking forward to it. I will almost certainly be one of the first people to inflict it onto my game...though I may hold off untill both InTeen & SimPE are updated for it!

Hm.
Point 1.
yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.

Point 2.
yes and from memory it is as simple as config change.
Some thing about No of Sims on lot.

Will go check pre-pre-pre-release thingy.

Wow! Yup, Bon Voyage sounds like it really opens up the game!

Now, the big question: What did they screw up this time? Does your airplane get eaten by flying dinosaurs? Perhaps a whole new horde of diseases?

Ooooh! Me Want Flying Dinosaurs!

The perpetual optimist in me belives whole heartedly that this EP will not only intergate seamlessly with my game but it will also be completely free of any & all bugs, glitches, funky code & game-play interfering content.

The part of me that has been a Sims player since the Sims 1 days figures that as long as I back everything up I will survive just fine & the odds of pigs learning to fly by September are pretty remote.

If you vacation in the mountains & manage to find "The Secret Cave" you have a chance of not only meeting but befriending (& even taking home) the legendary Big Foot!

Okay, he's not as cool as a Flying Dinosaur, but he is- supposedly- a good housekeeper! :) (I know this feature will tick off all the uber "realist" players, but I love these kinds of things! For me the game would suck big time without these little elements of fun! That is just my lil opinion...)

I agree with you on the I-like and I-don't like because you've read my story and you've seen they have too many kids for the trip.I hope they make it more than 8 people

That's exactly why I will lay odds that the "8 Sim Limit" is one of (if not the) first things to get hacked. I meen sheesh, the Pets EP made it possible to have 10 Sim families by default. The idea that Maxis would fall back into the 8 Sim limit is really strange!

There are hacks to allow larger parties (Sim Wardrobe ThrowMassiveParties) & hacks to allow more Sims/Pets in a family (MTS2 LotFullOfSims aswell as a code in your UserStartup Cheat file) so it won't be long before this little "problem" is changed.

I do not know (because the review is strangely silent on the subject) if Maxis has (finally!) made it possible to take Infants or Toddlers on vacation or Community lots. (I only know they screwed the poor "flickas" & "woofums" over once again. Grrrrrr!) It would seem if the intent is to allow families to vacation together, then Infants & Toddlers should be included too! (Although that may be the reasoning behind the whole "Vacation Home" thing. That really sounds like a cool feature!)

Flying dinosaur?

Secret cave?

I knew those reptile and animal skins would come into their own one day.
With the cave deco kit, the Simstones theme doors and windows.

I can feel a "Flintsimtrek" holiday resort coming on.

One thing.
I can't help getting the feeling EA are doing some pirateing. Me timbers are a shivrin. (I know about this stuff, I am a hereditary pirate remember).
The last couple of expansion packs have looked suspiciously like amalgamated hack packs.
But, I may also just be getting old, grumpy and cynical.

As for poor flicka and woofums getting screwed over. That's exactly the reason I don't go a lot of places these days. Love me, love my dog.
Bad EA. Down. Stay.

So I'm not the only one who feels that way!

For me the feeling actually kinda started the very first day I fired up the Sims 2. It was like EA swiped all the major mods & hacks people made for the Sims 1 & just made them into Sims 2. (Of course I didn't come over to Sims 2 when it first came out; I had everything up to Pets, so that may explain much of my first impression...)

At least they've been (for the most part) pirateing the good stuff so far. (If they do decide to do a "Super Hero" pack- as some rumors & Offical Site polls have indicated- I feel safe in saying that it will be the very first time I pass up buying a Sims expainsion!)

...and, might I add "No biscuit!"

(I must say that if the flicka/woofum discrimination ends completely in Sims 3- including the half assed "motive" tree- they just might tempt me to try it...although it had still better hit at least half the things on my "Demand" list!)

Sims 3. That's the one we will need a bank of virtual servers to run the lycra VR suit for?

Right, well I'm virtually ready to install the alpha then.

It's old "ma Crumplebum". I just want to slap the nagging old biddy.

Maybe you can feed her to the sasquatch.

Actually, as much as I detest the occult stuff that EA insists on putting into what they originally advertised as a real-life simulation game, bigfoots might be fun!

Get 2Jeffs' visitor controller and block the broad!