Sims Vacation is the fourth
expansion pack for
The Sims, and it allows your sims to go to Vacation Island for
vacation. The other expansions are
Hot Date,
Living Large, and
House Party. Personally, given the choice between this and Hot Date I would buy Vacation.
It loads very slowly for me, but I'm the type who has to download EVERYTHING I see that's
shiny, cute, or well-made, so you may find that it loads quickly. However, it does load signifigantly more slowly than it did before I installed it (All other expansion packs installed.) I have noticed that it skips the
intro movie now.
The sorting for the island build/buy mode is like the sorting for
Hot Date, and I don't know if it changed the main build/buy mode because I already had Hot Date.
Vacation Island is seperated into three different areas, beach, mountain, and forest, with three different lots each.
When you get there, your sims can run around and play games, swim, fish, whatever. When it gets to be night, they can spend the night in a tent/igloo or go to another lot with a
hotel and check in. If they check in, then they can go to the hotel room and use the beds. If they don't check in, surprisingly enough, they can use anything in the hotel rooms except the beds. The next morning, unless they check out by 11, they will have to pay for another night.
Of course, everything costs money. It costs 500 to get there, the buffets (No
restaraunts for Vacationing Sims.) cost 20 or 25 per plate, it's between 40 and 120 per night for the hotels, the games cost a few simoleans to play, and almost everything has to be rented.
The things I like the best are the fishing and the two new arcade games. About six sims can fish off of one
fishing pier, and I'm pretty sure I saw two of them get their lines tangled up. So far the only things my sims have caught off the pier are fish (which they don't get to keep) and boots, but they seem to really love fishing. As for the arcade games... the little kid sims make a
beeline for those thing, and they stand on their
tiptoes to play. When the game isn't doing what they want it to, the'll hit the side of it with one hand and yell in Simlish. It's so cute!
Each area has a different
entertainer. The beach has Marky Sharky, the mountain has Betty
Yeti, and the forest has Archie Archer. (I HATE Archie, but that's just me) There is also a vacation director who you can talk to to find out about things such as prizes. There's also supposed to be a
pickpocket who can rob your sims, but I haven't seen him yet.
Your Sims have free will on vacation so that instead of you having to tell them what to do they do it on their own. However, if your child is annoying to everyone you can be fined. On the other hand, if your family has a good time and stays for a while, they win an
award!
There are lots of
tourist sims running around, adults and children, and unlike the townies in hot date they don't all have the same last name. I've seen some named after the sims I had, which was quite the
surprise. I didn't expect a Lorelei running around.
Lots of new
sim kid interactions. They can hug the adults again (This was removed in Hot Date), do handstands, tease each other, '
jabber' with their friends instead of just talking...
There are also a whole lot of new objects with the
expansion. (If I miss any, or add any from a different expansion, please msg and tell me.)
Lodging.
Two new beds, one green and matching the beach theme and the second made out of logs, with a pretty blanket, matching the moutain/forest theme.
A tent for beach or forest, and an
igloo for mountain. The whole family (as far as I know, only tested with two adults and one child) can sleep in them, and two adults in love can 'play in igloo' (or tent).
A shower/tub combo with a curtain! Your sims can shower, or they can bathe. It's cool.
Three bars, a buffet, and three check-in desks.
At least six new lights.
Several new tables, most of which match the forest/mountian theme.
Shopping.
There are
postcards to buy and send through the big blue mailbox to your friends, and a little countertop display with three different souvenirs to buy.
New clothes-buying racks. One for snow-wear and one for the kiddies. Yes, your kid sims can now buy Pjs, swimsuits, and snow-wear. I was so happy to find that...
Relaxation.
A bear rug that your sims can sit on. I haven't tested it, but I heard they toast with champagne if you sit them on it in front of a fireplace.
A nice wooden hot tub that gets snow on it when placed in the mountain area. It's a two person deal like the Hot Date love tub, and your sims can 'play' in it.
Five chairs, including three
reclining chairs.
Build Mode.
Two new stairs, one concrete and one wooden.
Two, maybe three new columns
At least five new fences, including a pile of snow and, my favorite, a rock wall.
Several new plants that get snow on them when placed in the mountain area.
Decorative.
A short decorative windmill and a swiss clock post.
Two new awnings.
A picture of Admiral Landgraab (Who apparently built the island) and two blinds for the windows.
Entertainment.
At least one new rental-shack, probably two, where you can rent such things as a fishing pole (If you have a pier to fish off of), a
snowman making kit (Mountains only), a sand-castle making kit (Beach only), a bow and arrow (Need a target set up), a
metal detector (Your Sim can find cash or dig up some
souvenirs... or an old boot.)
Two arcade games,a volleyball court, snow fort for snowball fights, wood fort for water balloon fights. There is
snowboarding, a huge ice slide, and a
waterslide.
Carnival games that give out points you can exchange for prizes at the carny booth object (Which comes with its own NPC, Barney the Carny). They are a Chicken-Throw game, Pop-the-Clown-Head game, Whack-a-Will, and pop the balloons game.
I'm sure there are even more objects that I haven't found yet.