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Retro Corner

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The Winner Is?

Su�ertime in

The Sims

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From the beginning, any of The Sims base games that have been released have been set in the Summer, or at least nice sunny, dry weather. Every day seems to be the same but without Summer activities. During The Sims 1, the "On Holiday" expansion pack was released which enabled your Sim to experience different weather patterns but only by going on vacation. A new neighbourhood was introduced entitled "Vacation Island" where your Sim could choose from a total of threeholiday destinations to visit, namely camping, a winter wonderland and a beach resort. It was the beach resort where your Sims could really experience Summer by sunbathing or making sandcastles on the beach!

The Sims 2

When The Sims 2 was released in 2004, again every day was basically the same, nice sunny dry weather but without the fun activities that Summertime brings. However, everything was about to change in 2007 when The Sims 2 Seasons expansion pack was released.

Having real seasons and weather in all of The Sims neighbourhoods was a first for the franchise. The player didn't need to take their Sim away on vacation to experience different weather conditions as in the original game; the weather came to the neighbourhood! Rain, snow, hail, hot sunshiny weather, leaves turning colour and falling from the trees and with it came winter clothing and lots of seasonal activities. “Temperature” was also introduced into the game, not just for the weather (cold in winter and hot in

summer) but for individual Sims too. Sims could now get cold or freeze to death in the winter or overheat and get sunstroke in the summer. Even Sims working out could get too hot and pass out from the heat.

Unlike The Sims 4 where we have summer outfits as well as winter ones, The Sims 2 Seasons gave our Sims just winter outfits to keep our Sims warm when venturing out into the cold. Of course, there were summer dresses and shorts and tees from the base game that Sims could wear during those hot summer months but with the addition of this new expansion pack, Summer would never be the same again in The Sims.

Fishing There were many activities added to the game with the Seasons expansion pack but the main ones, especially for Summer, included gardening and fishing and talent badges could also be earned, enabling your Sim to hone in further on their skill. Fish caught could be cooked on the barbecue for a tasty meal or even mounted and placed on the wall for all to see.

Gardening

Gardening saw the addition of seeds to grow, namely tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, pole beans, peppers and eggplant but your Sim had to earn particular talent badges to enable all of them. The addition of a greenhouse allowed your Sim to garden all year round and children were able to garden too! Ambrosial lemon, apple and orange trees were also added to the game. These trees needed to be trimmed, which is something we didn't have again in future The Sims releases. Trimming the trees and talking to them kept them happy and healthy and all the plants that your Sim grows will give great quality fruit and vegetables. All produce can be placed in the refrigerator for future use and if you had a juicer, fruit and vegetables could be placed in there for a fresh and healthy drink!

Placing a bug loft near your plants kept pests away from your harvestables and compost bins were also available that your Sim could place their garbage into for recycling. Even the newspaper which is delivered every day in The Sims 2 can be composted! When preparing the ground for planting seeds, your Sim will need to fertilise the soil with compost. This will cost 10 simoleons a bag but if your Sim has a full compost bin, this can then be done for free.

Scarecrows were also added to the game but were mainly decorative, although they could scare your Sim if they stared at them long enough! The Seasons expansion pack

also saw the addition of the penguin which would normally come to visit your lot during the winter. If your Sim had built a snowman, the penguin would stroll over and chat with it. However, sometimes a penguin would come to your lot in the summertime, even walking through your house, and popping over to speak to the scarecrow! Your Sim could also join the Garden Club, which was a prestigious affair, and if your Sims garden was good enough, they would be accepted into the club. A Wishing Well would also be given to your Sim (something that could not be purchased in buy mode) as a garden club gift. However, your Sim would only receive this if your garden was up to par with flourishing plants and by keeping it clean and tidy. Your Sim can drink from the well (which will lower their temperature - great for the summer heat) and also make wishes, including for romance, friends or money.

Bugs, Weather and Objects Catching butterflies and fireflies was another activity that was added to the game and would further your Sims nature hobby enthusiasm. Sometimes, when your Sim is hunting bugs, they may get chased by bees!

Because of weather and seasons being added to the game, it only made sense to have a weather channel on TV. Sims can now check the weather channel to see what the weather will be like for that particular day, which was a nice little added extra detail to the game. The Weathernaught 57X weather machine was an aspiration reward that was also shipped with the Seasons expansion pack. This enabled your Sim to be able to change the weather, for example, snow in summer or hot sun in the winter. This was great if you wanted to have a wedding outside in the winter as you could make it nice and sunny and dry. However, as with all objects in The Sims, the machine could go wrong... Pool slides were also added to the game to enable your Sim to slide into the swimming pool for lots of summer fun! Even though the lemonade stand was added to The Sims 2 Open for Business expansion pack, I wanted to include it here as lemonade certainly goes with summertime! Both adults and children can make lemonade on their lot from the stand and sell it to passers-by.

Overheating and Sunburn

With the addition of Seasons and summertime, your Sims could overheat if they were not careful. Getting sunburnt, overheating and passing out was now a thing and if your Sim did get burned in the summer heat or by sunbathing, their face and parts of their body would turn red. Of course, Sims could also get tanned whilst sunbathing and you would see their skin turn a nice tanned shade of brown. After a few days however, this tan would fade and your Sim would turn back to their normal skin colour, just like in real life!

The Bon Voyage expansion pack was released 6 months after the Seasons EP which enabled Sims to sunbathe on the beach, make sandcastles and swim in the sea when on vacation. Searching for seashells was also a fun activity but beware as your Sim could be bitten by a crab!

The Seasons and Bon Voyage expansion packs complemented each other, giving lots of activities for your Sims to enjoy during the summertime and other times of the year.

Even though The Sims base games are always shipped with nice weather, the addition of a Seasons expansion pack certainly brings more realism to the game. Having temperatures added not just to the weather cycles but to the individual Sims as well, makes the summertime more interesting and varied.

MinicartTSR (Jules) A Simmer for over 20 years, you can find me on

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