I’ve been pretty much out of the loop for these past couple of weeks while The Black Scorpion does most of the updates and an occasional post from the other staff members.  As many of you know, there is a beta going on for The Sims 3 Showtime that certain folks are participating in.  Well, long story short – and I’m not sure who – somebody broke their NDA and ended up posting stuff to the exchange that they shouldn’t have.  Then fan sites picked up on it, and well, apparently it got nasty.  Not with us though, thankfully.

However, with all this taking place and discussions back and forth, I think it’s time for an apology to the SimGuru’s.  You see, I know that I (myself, as an individual) am more than likely blacklisted from anything EA related – beta testing, studio visits, etc. due to my personal opinions on some things within the company.  I can’t apologies for my opinions (i.e. The Store prices, the way some things are handled over at the official forums/community, etc), but I can apologies for my rudeness and overall behavior towards them.

In the past, I posted leaked stuff (but I did not sign anything) – back then, all responsibility was on me.  But I have to remember – others post here now, so that my own opinion/behavior/posts do not represent just myself – but the overall site and everyone who is a part of it.  I have to be careful with this from now on.  Due to my actions, not only have I jeopardized my relations with EA and The Sims Team, but it’s very possible that I may have dragged The Black Scorpion and the rest of the staff with me.  I never thought of that, and to me, it’s just wrong.  So to the Guru’s reading this, while you’re more than welcome to have your own personal bad opinions about me, please DON’T let that reflect to the rest of the staff.

From now on, we’re going to be a lot more careful in what we post, and we shall avoid posting internal leaks from within EA as well as any leaks that may have came from broken NDA’s through beta testing.  In fact, we actually should be thankful for the beta testing, because…well, the keyword is testing, and even though some folks are drooling to get as much info as they can from the next expansion pack, we at least know that The Sims Team is actually letting some folks in the community point out bugs and try to get them fixed before the game, which personally, I would like to have more of in the future and I hope that this did not ruin any potential upcoming betas.

Thanks.

-Jud

What do you think about The Sims Team bringing back the Cowplant?

• Looks cool, but I wish it was added to an Expansion and not the store. (37%, 542 Votes)
• If it was a free store item it would be cool to have. (35%, 509 Votes)
• OMG COWPLANT!!! (12%, 176 Votes)
• I love it! (7%, 95 Votes)
• That thing scares me!!! (5%, 76 Votes)
• I hate it! (4%, 58 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,456

WOW! 5.7 Million views in 2011! Thanks to all of you! We love you all!Sweet! Gotta love The Sims Wikia and our Social Friends!Our top followers are in the US, UK, Brazil, South Africa and Australia! Y’all rock!Gotta love cheats and Expansion trailers!

I’m not going to take credit for this idea – as surely someone else had to think of it before me…but it hit me. There is an easy way to kill SOPA dead, and I’m surprised Google/YouTube hadn’t done it yet.  As we know, the media is doing a piss-poor job of informing users on SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act that TheBlackScorpion brought to your attention a couple of days ago.  Its meant to stop piracy – which I do encourage – problem is, it is way too broad and gives pretty much all control to businesses.  If EA wants, they can shut down this site, and any other sites.  A ton of sites are at risk – any sharing media, various Youtubers, etc.  I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it to you to research.

Anyhow, as I mentioned, the way to stop SOPA….It’s simple. We, uh, kill the Batman. We need to get Google’s attention and have them shut down Google as well as YouTube for 24 hours or a short period of time.  Have them post a letter or the above video instead…It would get everyone’s attention, the media would HAVE to talk about it, and people could then be informed and hopefully rally to insta-kill the idea.  But in order to do this, we need your help…Pass this message on to your friends, post on forums, youtube comments – let’s get Google to do this, and do all we can to squash this bill dead.

Sims FreePlay – coming soon to iPhone, free to play. Do you think you’ll pay for additional content?

• Absolutely not. (46%, 390 Votes)
• Cannot play, do not own the proper device. (34%, 291 Votes)
• If the game is worth it, I may spend a few bucks. (20%, 162 Votes)

Total Voters: 844

Fantastic to see that many of you went with the Absolutely Not answer.  I am done with giving EA my money.  F2P is suppose to stand to Free 2 Play…but in EA’s case, it is actually Free 2 Pay.  Did you read the latest controversy?  Those who purchased items in EA’s Battlefield Play4Free had them removed from their gamesbecause EA determined them to be unbalanced, and instead of offering a refund like they should have, they substituted them with a different item.  It’s like if you bought an AC/DC song in iTunes only for Apple to take it away and instead of refunding your money, replaced it with a Justin Bieber song.  They literally TOOK AWAY SOMETHING YOU PAID FOR! People really need to stop giving their money to EA…at this point it’s like paying someone to punch you in the face repeatedly.

Anyhow, enough ranting…Let’s get on with the new poll, it’s about the Cowplant.  Sucks that you have to pay for it when it should be an expansion, but I’ll save that rant for another day.  Your thoughts?  Vote Now!

So, with that being said, if you come across a future comment on why I’m posting randomness, please direct them to this post for the answer (or you can feel free to repeat the above).  Also, do take use of the CATEGORIES section on the sidebar if you want specific news on a game of your interest.  I know I can’t please everyone, but I at least want you all to have choices

Thanks!

- Jud

Hypothetically speaking, say Maxis released SimCity 5. They want to revisit their old franchises and remake them. Which game would you want to see remade the most?

• SimEarth (19%, 223 Votes)
• Streets of SimCity (18%, 219 Votes)
• SimTower (15%, 184 Votes)
• SimLife (14%, 164 Votes)
• SimFarm (13%, 150 Votes)
• SimAnt (11%, 128 Votes)
• SimCopter (4%, 49 Votes)
• SimHealth (4%, 45 Votes)
• SimIsle (2%, 36 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,198

SimEarth wins this round.  Wonder what a new SimEarth would be like…interesting.  My personal choice would be SimTower.  Loved that game, even though I was rubbish and had to cheat a lot!

New poll is up regarding Sims FreePlay for iPhone and Apple devices.  If you own one, do you plan on trying it out – and if you do, will you give into the temptation of purchasing things in the game?

Seeing as the Spore franchise is…well, not well known anymore, is there a point for me to keep the SporePrograms.com domain? Please weigh in on this issue with the comments. Thanks.

P.S. – As for the site…I think I’m going to take a back seat on news posting and let the staff do that. I seriously have a lot to do with the pages. Programs to add, tutorials to add and remove due to broken links, and of course, the game’s library to work on. I haven’t really been doing a good job on keeping track with all of that…

You see, we’re made up of a good size staff.  Most in which if they have a few spare minutes of their day, they’ll come on and post a news tidbit.  I thank them for that.  However, the bulk of the posting has been up to TheBlackScorpion.  Now, some folks may not happen to like this, may not like his views on EA or the games – that’s perfectly understandable.  We’re all going to have opinions on one another.  Some may say that some news stories are not worthy of being published – whether it’s incorrect information or a topic not related to the Sims.  I hear you loud and clear on that.  Best solution is, feel free to skip the post, or let us know which info is incorrect and we’ll correct it. Like I have stated, we’re a fansite.  We’re by no means the best fansite out there – we don’t claim to be.  Plenty of awesome Sim sites to check out, hence why we often post links to them and their works.

But jumping back…you see, even if some of you don’t like his posts/comments, TheBlackScorpion has been a huge, huge help on this site.  See who does most of the updates these past couple of months?  That’d be him.  Without him, this site would go downhill fast – very fast.  I just can’t keep up anymore….Work has increased since we had layoffs, I picked up new jobs around the workplace so I’ve been training and learning new things.  My social life has also picked up a great deal, so I usually don’t find myself on the computer much anymore, thus leaving little time to update.  Heck, I don’t even remember the last time I played The Sims 3 – in fact, I can’t even remember when I last played a video game.  Been reading about all of the site closures recently?  Yeah, I had thought about closing this site…Still thinking about it too…

So all that’s left that I can say is be thankful that he’s around to help post – along with the rest of the staff.  You may find his posts to be not up to par with what you expect, but if there is something you see wrong, be a kind folk and please point it out in a non-hostile manner.  I would really, really appreciate that.

-Jud

 What is the first thing you will most likely do when you first play when Pets is released?

• Play with Create A Pet (45%, 595 Votes)
• Explore Appaloosa Plains (25%, 339 Votes)
• Build a new lot with the new Build/Buy objects (9%, 122 Votes)
• Master the new skills (7%, 100 Votes)
• Haystack WooHoo (7%, 94 Votes)
• Makeover your Sims with the new clothing (7%, 84 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,334

New poll time!  With the recent activity of the official SimCity facebook page, one can only hope that Maxis is slowly reconsidering reviving their SimCity franchise.  Let’s take a moment to ask a hypothetical question.  Say Maxis released SimCity 5 and it is a huge, huge success, restoring the company back to their former glory.  They then decide to look at the old Sim games to see what else they could bring back…the question then lies, which game should they remake?  Go and vote!

To address this, I will try to make it clear what this site is and how it works. First of all… This site was started by Jud to give people a helping hand and to share information to the fellow programmers of The Sims. For a short time from 2003-2005 this site briefly became Jud’s personal blog and the Sims related programs on the site moved to The Sims Workshop. Eventually the site was restored to Maxis/Sims news and the programs returned as well.

Long story short, we have permission from Jud to post this or that. Sure we mainly post stuff about The Sims, SimCity, Spore, EA and etc. But that’s the way, uh huh uh huh, Jud likes it. Not to be rude but if you don’t like it, be polite about it or go somewhere else. SimPrograms is one of the oldest sites that post Sims news and if you don’t wanna be a part of the awesome that is SimPrograms, your loss. But we know that there are many from all over the world that come to SimPrograms for news about EA, The Sims and more. For them and for us, please be polite and respectful to Jud, the Staff and eachother. Thanks.

The Black Scorpion

The Sims 3 – Patch 1.26.89

Download: Click here
Creator: EA / The Sims 3 Team
Source: TheSims3.com

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the release of The Sims 3 Generations and base game update 1.22.9, players no longer need to update their expansions and stuff packs. All updates will now be applied only to the base game. This should make the patching process easier and prevent base game incompatibility errors. You can manually update the other expansion and/or stuff packs if desired, but this is no longer necessary.

This patch will update your game to version 1.26.89 and it is designed to work with the base game of any version number and any game region. To install this update, please start your game and use the “Updates” tab in your Launcher or if that does not work, grab the needed file below. This game update includes and fixes the following:

Base Game Updates

• You can now use, create, and modify Collections in Buy Mode to easily sort and organize similarly themed objects.
• Additional bug fixes and polish to existing features.

World Adventures

• The Photography Skill has been updated to include new Photo Collections from features across the line of The Sims 3 Expansion packs.
• Additional bug fixes and polish to existing features.

Ambitions

• Additional bug fixes and polish to existing features.

Late Night

• Additional bug fixes and polish to existing features.

Generations

• Additional bug fixes and polish to existing features.

The Files:

• Update to version 1.26.89 from version 1.24.3: Download Here
• Update to version 1.26.89 from version 1.23.65: Download Here
• Update to version 1.26.89 (BIG UPDATE): Download Here

PATCH INSTALLATION NOTES

EA/Maxis patches do not like 3rd party custom content, and may cause many errors in your game. It is best to remove your mods from the game and to restore all modified files back to the original condition by copying the originals from the game’s cd. If problems persist after you move the mods, you might want to check to see if your hardware drivers are up to date. Worst case scenario – you may have to reinstall the game.

What do you think of the Create-A-Pet tool in terms of functionality. Did it do everything you wanted?

• So many options, it’s great! (41%, 253 Votes)
• I dunno, it doesn work / didn’t try it (29%, 177 Votes)
• It is missing a few to create that perfect pet, but its okay (25%, 152 Votes)
• Too many features I wanted are missing (5%, 30 Votes)

Total Voters: 612

For a poll that has been around for about 3 weeks, not too many people participated.  For the most part, the majority agree that the Create-A-Pet demo was pretty darn good in terms of customization.   Here’s hoping the next poll will be better, probably will, because the idea came from Black Scorpion!  With a week left until Pets is released, we want to know what is the first thing you will most likely do when you first play?

What simulation game series started your love for Maxis/EA?

• The Sims 1 Series (38%, 563 Votes)
• The Sims 3 Series (24%, 352 Votes)
• The Sims 2 Series (20%, 301 Votes)
• SimCity Series (12%, 184 Votes)
• Spore Series (3%, 45 Votes)
• MySims Series (3%, 28 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,473

Incredible numbers!  Proud to see the original Sims game get the top vote.  I original started with SimCity and SimCity 2000, but The Sims introduced a ton of new people to the simulated gaming world.  Amazing!

Since the Create-A-Pet demo was last week, I am wondering what you think of it in terms of functionality.  Does it do everything you wanted it to do?  Missing features?  Let us know!

If you were a Sim and you had a choice, which town would you want to live in?

• Bridgeport (23%, 357 Votes)
• Hidden Springs (21%, 331 Votes)
• Sunset Valley (17%, 267 Votes)
• Appaloosa Plains (13%, 205 Votes)
• Champ Les Sims (7%, 115 Votes)
• Riverview (6%, 90 Votes)
• Barnacle Bay (4%, 63 Votes)
• Twinbrook (4%, 55 Votes)
• Shang Simla (3%, 43 Votes)
• Al Simhara (2%, 30 Votes)

Bridgeport wins the overall choice of preferred places to live, with Hidden Springs closely trailing it.  Glad to see Appaloosa Plains (my personal choice) and Riverview in the middle instead of at the end.  Glad to know I’m not the only one who wouldn’t mind living out in the country!

The new poll that has been added was an idea by TheBlackScorpion.  We all started somewhere when it came to the works of Maxis/EA/The Sims Team.  Which game started your love of the Simulation Games?  Vote now!

Vacation time is finally here (been preparing for it since last October) and it’s time for me to temporarily pass the torch to the staff while I’ll be away amongst many friends and thousands of other geeks for DragonCon.  I won’t have access to the internet, so I’ll pretty much be ‘in the dark’ for the few days that I am gone.  Luckily, The Black Scorpion will be filling in the role of posting news as well as the rest of the staff!  If you need to contact the gang, you can do some by a number of different ways (Facebook, Twitter, email) via jumping to the Staff Page.  Sim webmasters that use twitter – I won’t be able to reply to your messages until Sunday, so please direct any responses here if it is of importance!

Now, I shouldn’t have to tell you that during the time I’m away, but please behave yourselves with the comments and remember to use them appropriately.  Also, if you happen to find any mistakes in any of the news-posts, please alert the author but do so in a respectable manner.  It’d make things so much easier :)  I thank you if you can follow those simple rules.

Vince Clortho (on Thursday) —– 10th Doctor (on Friday) —— Ghostbuster (on Saturday)

For those that are wondering what DragonCon is, it’s the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!  As you can tell, I’ll fit right in with Vinz Clortho (Keymaster of Gozer), the 10th Doctor (Doctor Who) and of course, a Ghostbuster.  If anyone reads this and will be in attendance, try and find me!  Also, I’ll be keeping an eye out in case I see a familiar looking green plumbob, as there has been many Sims in attendance in the event’s past years.

I shall return Sunday!  “Allons-y!”

Now that we found out the town’s name (Appaloosa Plains) in The Sims 3 Pets, whats your general feeling?

• I love the name, horses yay! (50%, 409 Votes)
• Meh, just a name (40%, 326 Votes)
• Hate it, more hills then anything else (10%, 84 Votes)

Turns out it’s not hated after all – many fans love it.  I myself look forward to this new town, especially with the introduction of horses.  Been wanting a country expansion for a long, long time and we’re getting a pretty good taste of country life with The Sims 3 Pets!

Speaking of towns, here’s an oddball question for you.  If you were a Sim and had to pick what town you’d want to live in, which would it be?  I know with polls you can only vote, but leave you comment on this post on why you picked your choice.  Mine was originally Riverview, but with Appaloosa Plains coming, I’d have to choose that one.

Town Life Stuff? What is your thought on this Stuff Pack?

• Its okay, have neutral feeling (41%, 269 Votes)
• Where’s the stuff?! Hate it (35%, 226 Votes)
• New and fresh, love it (24%, 155 Votes)

Total Voters: 650

Wow, mixed reactions, it appears the general public wasn’t exactly ‘wowed’ by it seeing as the highest votes were either those that had a neutral feeling or those that hated it.  Bummer!  One can only wish that the next stuff pack will have better content!

For our new poll – now that we found out that the new town’s name is Appaloosa Plains in the Sims 3 Pets, what are your thoughts?  Like their choice of the name or would you rather have gone with something different?

Anyhow, below is my opinion of EA’s 4th Stuff Pack.  How does it hold up…bear with me and my poor ability to write and you may find out below:

Lots & Venues

With this new stuff pack we are able to place 7 new lots – 4 being venues in which you can take your Sim to and actually visit, and the remaining 3 are community lots which are rabbit holes.  I’m a bit disappointed in the fact that they couldn’t be full venues – especially the Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe.

• Par Excellence Preparatory School (Rabbit Hole) – I’m not to found of this lot.  Sure, I dig the architectural style of the lot, but being that it is a rabbit hole, there is pretty much nothing to do here.  I was able to enlist Axe Cop into a Painting class for $400 and that was it.
• Noble Tome Library (Venue) – Next on the list of places to take Axe Cop is the Library. You can find books here – and lots of them.  It’s a three story building, and well…for a library it seems to be lacking books and seating.  Okay, so it’s suppose to be a ‘modern’ library.  Personally I find it not my style…the library here in my town is nothing but bookcase after bookcase – 3 levels along with lots of sofas and chairs as well as computers.  I do like the fact that they gave the third floor a kiddie section so you can send your annoying brats upstairs while your Sim enjoys some nice peace and quiet.
• Fresh and Frozen Express Grocer (Rabbit Hole) – What’s the first thing Axe Cop had to do when dropping by the Express Grocer?  File for a part-time job.  Guess he needed extra money by selling avocados for his gun bill.  It’s very close to the other Grocery store that we already are familiar with.  So worth noting here.
• Ray of Sunshine Park (Venue) – aka ‘Generations Park’ because here is where you’ll find many items from that expansion.  You have a newly designed Tree house, Slide, Jungle Gym, Teeter-totters, Sandbox and Swing.  It’s mostly a park geared at younger Sims, as Axe Cop wasn’t able to do much except chill on the swing.  I love the layout and design of the park.
• Sudsy Time Laundromat (Venue) – Axe Cop got a call letting him know a couple of bad guys were spotted down at the new Laundromat so I took him by for a visit.  Now, I don’t know about you but I have never seen a laundromat this fancy.  In fact, all the ones I been in were pure crap and had washers/driers from the 60′s.  This definitely screams modern with its fancy fountains in the front along with the bubble windows which were a hit in The Sims Livin’ Large.  This laundromat has two floors, but in reality it only needed one as the second floor feels like a waste of space as it only contains a Foosball table and some connecting chairs.
• Mr. Crunches Fitness Gym (Venue) – Let’s get physical, physical.  Once again, a little too modern for my taste, but at least I can appreciate and understand the design.  I took Axe Cop here to beef up on his muscles as well as jump in the swimming pool for some extreme swimming.  If there is one thing to complain about for this lot, I think it’s just a tad too small.  I had to wait to pump iron because there were a bunch of Sims there when I dropped by.
• Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe (Rabbit Hole) – My favorite rabbit hole.  It’s just…nicely designed, I wish it acted as a full venue because it feels wasted.  Although there is a lot to do here.  You have a nice little bar on the front side of the building in which you can make a drink and chill, and when entering the building you can join the Culinary Career, Eat, Get Drinks, Become a Partner, Eat Outside and attend a cooking class.  So regardless of it being a beautiful rabbit hole, at least you can somewhat enjoy it.

CAS and the new Clothing

Sadly we do not get that many new items in the clothing section – 25 items in total with 12 items for Female Adults (5 tops, 2 hair styles and 5 outfits), 6 items for Male Adults (a pair of pants, a hair style and 4 tops), 4 items for Female Children (top, hairstyle – which makes the girl look like a boy, pair of pants and an outfit – oh my god so hideous!) and 3 items for Male Children (a top, a hair style and a pair of pants).  Us guys always get the short end of the stick.  Not fair.  At least we have different color options (and can make our own for some variety)…

New Objects

Within the pack you’ll be able to feast on 40 new items – 35 of which are in the Buy Mode while the other 5 are nested in the Build Mode.  Check out the pics below of all of the objects, along with notes of some of my favorites:

• Build Mode – Geometric Column, 3-Tiled Big Panel Glass Window, Bubble Window (from The Sims Livin Large), Waves of Grain Door and Prodedural Generations Door
• Buy Mode (Kids) – Items from Generations – Spring Teeter Totter, Treehouse, Slide, Sandbox, Weird Dragon Decoration, and a jungle gym.
• Buy Mode (Storage) – 2 bookcases, 1 small, one large (spanning 3 tiles)
• Buy Mode (Decorative) – Items from the gym (workout gear, towel with no name, workout poster, towel shelving), Library shelving, statue, laundromat sign, 2 huge square things that I have no idea what purpose they serve, and a fountain.
• Buy Mode (Lighting) – 4 lamps:  one ceiling light, one wall light, one table lamp and one floor lamp.
• Buy Mode (Entertainment) – 2 exercise equipment (treadmill and weight machine) as well as a chess table
• Buy Mode (Electronics) – An laptop designed to look like an old book
• Buy Mode (Comfort) – 2 chairs.  One of the chairs are sectional seats that will connect together.
• Buy Mode (Surfaces) – an endtable, a coffee table and a dining table.
• Buy Mode (Appliances) – you can find three items for your laundry – the washer, the drier and the clothes hamper.  Great for those without The Sims 3 Ambitions
• Buy Mode (Plumbing) – A lonely laundry tub

Conclusion

I’ve read many other people’s opinion’s on this stuff pack, and a large majority have many bad things to say about it: “There isn’t a lot of items, the designs of the lots and clothing are poor, they just rehashed and re-used content” and so on.  In my opinion, I like it – sure, I am a tad annoyed at the fact that we got more Rabbit Holes, but they are here to stay and I hope that come Sims 4, every community lot will be a full venue that we can visit and explore.

I know before purchasing this stuff pack that we usually do not get a lot of content – we average around 60 items for each pack.  In this case, we got 40 new items, 25 clothing items and 7 lots.  Some may say $20 is not worth it, but…I bought mine for $13, so I think I got a good deal.  As for some of the objects being rehashed (laundry set and park items from Generations) I don’t mind.  I’m not really going to count that against them because in some cases, you may not happen to have the proper expansions for those items.

Finale Verdict:  B-

For many more pictures of the items, venues and clothes, check them out in our Town Life Stuff Flickr Gallery!

-Jud