Nieuwe blog: De Sims 3 Exotisch Eiland– From Roaches to Riches: A Resort Story

Hi Simmers!

 

How do you plan to play with resorts? One of our main goals when  developing resorts was to make sure that it provided plenty of diversity ingameplay and customization. We recently held a development team “play day” andit was really great to see the many creative ways that people played withresorts. We had an engineer who decided to open up a small yet successfulfamily-operated bed and breakfast. Another team member was on the fast track torunning two five-star mega hotels in Sunset Valley. For some players, resortmanagement was just a little too stressful and felt that having their Sims stayat a resort was a much more enjoyable experience.

 

I thought that one of the best ways to talk about resorts is totell you about the one that I’m currently building. After discovering anuncharted island, I decided that it was the perfect place to break ground on mynew resort. Using the blueprint mode, I quickly went from zero to well…bareminimum (at this point I’m fighting the urge to just use the money cheat.)

 

Tip: Blueprint mode is intended for players whowant to get their resort built quickly so that they can jump into gameplayright away. However, if you choose to do so you can use Build and Buy tools tobuild your resort from scratch. Required objects for resorts are: the frontdesk and at least one resort tower rabbithole. In general, the resort tower isrequired as a place for guests to fulfill their motives as well as manageresort worker population. A new Buy Mode sort was added to display amenityobjects that make the most impact to your resort quality.

Funds were low so I had to start small. It was a good thing thatmy Sim family was up to the task because keeping employees on the payroll canget quite expensive for an upstart business like mine. Daily tasks includedmaking sure that the front desk was always covered and resort guests weretreated to delicious drinks at the bar. I decided that since my Sim does nothave a fulltime job, he’s going to have to cover both day and night shifts. There’snever a dull moment when running your own resort. Just like residential lots,things can get dirty or break. I’m just glad that my resort is small enough towhere I can get the job done on my own. All looks well so far!

 

Tip: We wanted to make sure that players can runresorts by using only their active Sim family if they elect to do so. Thisallows you to choose your level of involvement with resorts. Simply disable shiftson the front desk, bar, or food stand and the amenity will remain un-manned forthat specified time period. You might have noticed from the screen shot belowthat my Sim is operating a professional bar. If you have Late Night and IslandParadise installed you will be able to place professional bars on your resortand have it count as an amenity. You will be able to operate or hire employeesfor these bars as you would other amenities on your resort.

As my resort grows in popularity so does the maintenance requiredto keep things running. I’ve slacked off a bit and now things have gotten completelyout of control. Trash is everywhere and now I’m told that we have a full blown roachinfestation. Resort guests are starting to vomit from the sight of this filth. Whata mess! The next morning I checked my resort’s star rating and it’s gone down onefull star. I might be in trouble here.

 

Tip: Poor upkeep can tank your resort’s qualityrating that in turn can result in fewer customers. Each piece of garbage orbroken appliance will be reflected negatively in the resort reviews panel. Andyes, roaches. When I queried the team and asked what best represented a poorlymaintained hotel, the unanimous answer was “roaches”.

I really needed to clean this place up fast if I want to continueto stay  in business. I hired a fewmaintenance workers to help me tidy up. I also took advantage of my Sim’s handyskill and upgraded a few of my toilets to not break.

 

Tip: Maintenance workers are the key to keepingyour resort clean and presentable to the public. You have the choice of hiringup to three low, medium or high quality workers. Low quality workers arecheaper but have a greater chance of slacking off whereas high quality workers willalways use their time wisely but come at a price.

Resort quality is finally restored and business is good. With alittle money on the side, it’s finally time to class things up. The first thingI decided to add was some private VIP rooms for my guests. Blueprint Mode wasperfect for this as I’m able to stamp down multiple rooms at once. After goingback to Live Mode, I immediately assigned door locks to the rooms to allow theresort system to assign them to guests.

 

Tip: VIP door locks are exclusive to resorts.Resort owners can select any build/buy door and assign it a unique key number.If a guest chooses to check into a VIP room they will be handed a key thatcorresponds to the number that is assigned to a door. If there are no VIP doorlocks set on the resort, guests will be sent to the rabbithole to sleep andfreshen up.

Resortowners are automatically checked into resort tower rabbitholes but will stillneed to check into VIP rooms in order to reserve the space.

What’s a resort without a place to eat? I decided to plop downsome resort buffet tables and a food stand to add even more amenities tosatisfy my guests. I sent my Sim over to the food stand to get a nicerefreshing drink.

 

Tip: The resort buffet table is exclusive toresorts in that your staff will be responsible for maintaining the food. As anowner, you will be given the option to choose what type of food to serve andthe quality. Higher quality food will require a higher upkeep cost but willbetter satisfy your guest. Check the reviews panel regularly as they can clueyou in on what type of food your guests are craving. Sims with highrelationship to one another will often choose to dine together at the buffet.

The resortfood stand serves up new food such as fried plantains and drinks in pineappleor coconut cups.

I’ll put the final touches on my resort by customizing uniformsfor my staff. I wanted to go with a beach casual look so selecting one of the availablepresets will work for me. However, we thought it would be fun to open up thecustomization even further. You will actually be able to go into Create-A-Simand customize uniforms (hair, makeup, and clothing) for each one of youremployees. All installed content from EPs, SPs and The Sims 3 Store that arevalid for career uniforms and can be used to outfit your Sim.

My resort is definitely on the right path to success. I’m notreally sure where to go from here. Perhaps I’ll find the next great locationand do it all over again. Maybe take my family to someone else’s resort andcheck out what they have to offer.

 

 

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy playing with resorts this Junewhen The Sims 3 Island Paradise becomes available.

 

– Mike Zamora (@SimGuruMike), Assistant Producer for The Sims 3Island Paradise

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