Daniel from SimFans.de Interviewed Graham Nardone, Generations Producer. Below is the translated text.
Daniel, SimFans.de: What is your job and your job at The Sims development team. What was one of your tasks in The Sims 3 life happy?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
I’m one of the developers of The Sims 3 team. I have been 2 years already in the team. I have since “Travel Adventure” expansion pack participated in each. As part of the development it is for me looking at the various stages of development to gain a mean from the design conception to the integration of the features it in the game create the. There are so many different developers are working on the expansion packs in the various stages of development therefore take care of things involved in the game. My job is the best possible experience for players and the community ensured.
Daniel, SimFans.de: After a very specific topics like “Travel Adventure” and “Late Night” it remembers you, the core gameplay back on, The Sims Why did itself, the development team to issue decided the “Joy of Life” as the next expansion pack to develop?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
For us it is a very interesting opportunity. As you probably know, there has been no similar expansion pack, such as joy. It’s about the Sims themselves to concentrate on and focus to put in the. It’s really cool we have this opportunity now for us to have and very excited about the reactions of the fans. I think the fans will have much fun with it. For it is in “joy” about the fate of the Sims that you love so much, and having to play hard.
Daniel, SimFans.de: The Sims 3 zest for life are contained in many objects that the fans want long already. To cite a few examples: tree house, winding staircases, double beds and much more. This is really cool! How does it look for the development, if the team decides to incorporate such objects into the expansion pack and how these affect the Fanwünsche developer step?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
There are some things where we draw our inspiration. The Sims 3 joy we had fun developing this very much, because the developers have thought of their own lives and then decide which special moments they want to have in the sims too. One example is the tree house. I have the development of the tree house, it worked on and always wanted to have a treehouse as a child. I have spent many hours trying to draw a tree house while my creativity free rein. Unfortunately, I have lived in a place where not a real tree house was possible. For me it was now the opportunity to give my sims a tree house with all the creative ideas that I had as a child and much more! Thus, the Sims get a tree house. That’s my story and every developer has its own history, which is very interesting to learn more. At the same time, we naturally think of the fans. The community is very important to us. You are the part that makes The Sims so successful and you are those who play the game later and you’ll enjoy it. Of course we want to release a product that pleases the fans. In previous expansion packs did you see that we are again topics from previous Sims expansion pack ever get back. In particular, the features by which the fans have often asked. The theme of “Joy of Life” gave us the opportunity to create something new and discover. Nevertheless, you will find things in the game, which the fans want, such as the wedding arch. know some fans in the community, the exact object back already, we have long wanted. It’s great the fans now can offer.
Daniel, SimFans.de: There are so many new objects and activities. What is your favorite item and why?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
That’s certainly the tree house. I love the tree house! It’s not only my personal view on this object. It’s just cool to see so when the children play in the game tree house. We now have slumber parties! You invite your friends and they will stay with the tree house. That’s not all! They play together and have a whole lot of fun. And depending on which tree in the house your Sims are (there are three different ones), several things happen. In the clubhouse they will watch the neighbors with binoculars and see what the up to. In the castle-type house, they will deny many adventures. There are a pirate attack with all the explosions and the great music in the background. Then there’s the Sci-Fi tree house that looks like a UFO. I have children in the new astronaut outfit and put in my tree house, they can play. There is so much fun to play and see what will happen if I do this or that.
Daniel, SimFans.de: We have heard that an imaginary friend 3 vitality will be included in The Sims. What’s it all about and that is the special Sim or the creature of this expansion pack?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
Yes, it is! This is really cool, because we have never had the chance, a friend in a Sims game to integrate an imaginary. I think it’s nice to see if their Sims imaginary friend to play with, but when I change to another Sim, it will be invisible. The other Sims to look around and wonder what my Sim for hires there. For others only see my Sims Sim as air embrace, but not the imaginary friend. One can sim with a certain imaginary drink to life and then you bring even more options and other specific interactions, which thus be released. Of course you can also control the imaginary friend, then himself.
Daniel, SimFans.de: The trailer shows a feature that makes me to The Sims 2 Wilde Campus-year reminds. How deep is this school and does feature in The Sims 3 zest for life really?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
There are lots of new interactions with and in schools. You will not be able to attend a university, but they will do the following: Children can now participate in school trips. This is not just a new way of being together. Sometimes the children bring special objects of their trips back home. They also keep the trip in memory and can tell others about it. Then there’s the wrap party for young people. Make date with another Sim from one, put on fancy and shoot some pictures at the prom, to which they can hang on the wall at home now and then in old age in this memory can still enjoy it. In addition to normal school, there is the brand new boarding schools, parents can send their children to. These are located outside the neighborhood and encourage the respective talents of the children. This can military school, a sports academy, or an exceptional school to be a hippie. The children gather there particular experience and call from time to time at home to order them to report the family.
Daniel, SimFans.de: A new profession is the day care. What is at stake in this career – Please mediated the fans but an overview.
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
In the day care put a lot of fun features. Sims with the new “caring” individual characteristics, which we integrate the sims 3 life in joy to be good job with the care of children make one. You can deal well with the children especially. If your Sim day care career starts, they will up the dream careers (The Sims 3 Ambitions Expansion Pack) recall, because it operates a similar format. Parents bring their children to your Sim home and pick you up at night again. Your Sim must take care of the children and play with them. At higher levels of career is it always tricky, because children are always more. Sometimes your Sim gets even a problem child that needs special attention and does a lot of mischief and thereby difficulty comes in. You must ensure that your Sim will assist you as well to these children as if they were their own children. If you do particularly well, you can also by the parents of your charges get gifts.
Daniel, SimFans.de: The fans have with us in advance on the features for children often asked. And they are very interested in the stroller. How does this feature?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
The stroller is really great. We had the announcement of a screenshot with a pram and a public forum I have read, one in which the fans have discussed in detail on this at. How can I use this? Can you just put in the Sims or really to go around, too? How is the whole stroller feature work, she wondered. That was really interesting to read. What I can tell you. The stroller is fully functional and thus, the mother’s child in the neighborhood around it and push him to walk with.
Daniel, SimFans.de: The development team also extended the game with more features, not in the respective expansion pack fit the theme. An example is the new body hair in male Sims. What there is still so new?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
There is a completely new feature in the purchase and construction mode. If you like lots of expansion packs, a few of the accessories pack and to have things from the store yet, you lose the overview and quickly find the object, what you are looking really, not right away. With the new filter option in the catalog, you can now choose which objects from expansion pack, accessory pack and the store displays have what you want. So if you’re buying and joy to you items from this expansion pack’s new want to be the all you can do with the one click. But this is a dynamic system. If you also Late Night For example, and you have all the objects from Late Night life and Friends want to leave together, then that’s possible. Another thing about not really like, but what we give the fans are spiral staircases. This curved stairs were missing for The Sims 2, because less space and take this class look easy. These are the sims 3 life contains joy. So there are lots of new things to explore, and do not necessarily fit into this theme.
Daniel, SimFans.de: Are there new places for a romp in the joy of life?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
But of course! Sims now have in the shower romp. This is really very romantic and nice to see. I think it’s great. My favorite is the tree house. Yes, your Sims will have an affair in the tree house can! You can grow the tree house to climb up to see where they disappear and then the tree house shake. Leaves off and fly birds fly out of the tree house. This is really funny! Although it is a bit strange but I think that the Sims and you will have fun at the sight very much.
Daniel, SimFans.de: Do you want to add something or the fans of something?
Graham Nardone, EA Producer:
I love the video camera and I really hope that the fans of this feature will look at closely. The players have always world of traditional bird’s eye view of the saw. With the video camera you look through the eyes of the quasi-Sim, which is a totally new perspective. You can walk around the neighborhood and watch your neighbors from this perspective. It is a great experience this new perspective to have.
We love you fans really! The fans are so important for us and the feedback that they give us is very important. We will continue to follow the wishes of the fans and see how they express themselves and what they would like to have in the game. (Daniel, “and weather! Pets” – the developer … laughs) Well, you see in our extensions that we do things from previous Sims games bring back some of the fans really great find. Joy for us was a great opportunity to develop something new and the fans to show things that they did not know before. We like it a combination of known expansion pack issues and new issues develop, but we listen to the fans and will see what the future will bring.
You can read the entire interview here: SimFans.de
