If a sim does not have a Level 3 visa for the country they are visiting, they have to stay at the base camp. They will arrive outside their base camp at 8am on the morning of Day 1.
The base camp is different in each of the three countries. Some are more luxurious than others. At the very least, however, base camp offers somewhere for the travellers to sleep, prepare and eat meals and bathroom facilities for them to do what they need to do in there.
As well as the base camp, there are various other locations around the three countries where sims can drop in and have a rest, prepare a meal and freshen up. At the very least, there are campsites scattered around each location and they are useful stopping-off points for travellers in need of sleep, a bathroom break and in some cases a meal.
Once a sim starts to go on a world adventure, they begin with a Level 0 visa in each of the three countries. Without any other extensions, it means that the default length of time that they can stay is 3 days.
From experience, I have found that three days is not enough in most cases. Three days is NOT enough in most cases. To be in sight of the relic you have been searching for, only to find you are on the way back home is incredibly irritating.
In order to improve the level of visa and the length of their stay, they have to accumulate enough visa points. Visa points are gained from completing many of the adventuring opportunities that come their way while they are abroad.
Level 1 Visa is granted after accumulating 50 visa points. The maximum stay is now up to 5 days.
Level 2 Visa is granted after accumulating 150 visa points. The maximum stay is now up to 8 days.
Level 3 Visa is granted after accumulating 300 visa points. The maximum stay is now up to 10 days.
In the illustration above, the different numbers represent the basic length of stay related to visa level. The final marked (+CP) one can only be accomplished by purchasing a special adventure reward. That will be outlined in the next section.
Visa levels only take effect once a sim has gone home and is booking their next trip. Just because someone has raised their visa level while on an adventure does not mean that they can extend the duration of their current adventure.
Several of the Lifetime Rewards can change either the cost of a world adventure, its duration or the length of time that our sims have to wait before they can go on another one.
Jetsetter (5,000 points) cuts the cost of a vacation by 30%. I still recommend this reward to all regular travellers, although it does not have any effect on the length of the vacation.
Prepared Traveler (10,000 points) extends the length of a world adventure by 3 days. This applies to all of the people in the tour party and not just the one with this reward. It applies to every location and is a very powerful reward to have if you intend for your sim to be spending a lot of time on adventures.
Three days is never enough for our sims when they are on adventures. On the later adventures, sims might be busy on adventures for days and there is nothing more frustrating than getting close to that relic that the patron wants and the trip comes to an end. That is where visa points come in useful. Once a sim has a visa level, they can start to stay longer. It also allows them to buy different special rewards with accumulated ancient coins from the special merchant.
Certificate of Partnership is a special reward, which can only be achieved by those with a Level 3 visa in a specific country and it only applies to that country. It can only be bought from a special merchant and it increases the maximum stay in that country by an extra 3 days and is purchased with 1,350 ancient coins, which can only be picked up while adventuring. In this case, Melody Miles has earned her Level 3 visa for China and has enough ancient coins for the certificate.
There is plenty of warning about when the trip is coming to an end. The last warning is an hour before the trip is due to come to an end. Despite this, though, the end does happen quite abruptly.
No matter where the touring sim is, the vacation will end at midnight on the final day. Even being in the depths of a tomb is no escape from the end coming. Unlike The Sims: Vacation or The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, there is no packing of bags and heading to a waiting minibus or taxi. That's it. No matter where they are, the touring party is immediately transported back home. A loading screen for the home neighborhood comes up, which also takes a few minutes to get through. The next thing we know is that our sims are back there on one of the roads on the far side of town in the mode of transport that they left for their trip in and they are on their way home.
Note - In Sunset Valley, the returning sims are seen on the road leading into town from Lone Wolff Manor. Personally, I would have thought a road leading off the map and not one leading from someone's house would have been more suitable. Ours not to reason why, these are The Sims after all.
Personally, I find the means of getting to and from the new world locations to be a simple process although the time it takes to get from one place to another does tax my patience. I would rather the speed of moving from one place to another made me feel that I was travelling by a jet plane and not by a worn-out tour bus.
I appreciate the atmospheric feel of each place and the fact that our sims have to stay at a base camp until they have earned a Level 3 visa and can afford a new house, does bring home the fact that although it may be a vacation for our sims from the regular life back in Sunset Valley or Riverview, it is certainly different than what sims have experienced before in previous incarnations of the game.
In the next report, we will be looking at adventuring itself. We will be looking at the essential provisions to buy before embarking on a major relic hunt. We will also be looking at what tricks and traps can be expected on one of them. We will also be looking at the different types of adventures that are available.
As I find adventuring to be incredibly addictive, I will do my best to tear myself away from it to write about the exploits of my adventurers.
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