SimGuru Graham & his Dev Team Spill the Tea on Snowy Escape (Part 1)

Just for FYI … EP 10 Snowy Escape will be released Nov 13^th to all platforms; PC, Mac, Steam, PS & Xbox

The information contained in this blog was provided by and made possible by EA Game changers.

Thank you so very much for this opportunity to have early access and to preview EP10.

I am both grateful and humbled to be a part of such a talented group of creators that was assembled to provide this early peek! 

Some of you might be saying WTH are you doing in there Bee? 

Ahh not to worry, you can TRUST that I said it too (alot LOL).

But nonetheless, here I am and here we go.

I was very excited to be invited to participate in a special livestream about this pack.  My attempt here is to relate what info we obtained from the dev team in that livestream to you.

I am going to try to follow the script outline of the livestream.  I have lots and lots of notes to decipher.  All scratched out in red marker (my pen quit right away).

(Yeah, I can’t read them either.)

The tea is not so hot anymore .. had lots of early spillage (not from me). I hope you do get some good info and I share your excitement with this new content!

I will probably do this in a few chapter releases.  There is just a LOT of info and I do not want to make it burdensome.

We will take this in small bites. I promise it will be done well before the 13^th release day.

The episodes will include a few giveaways (probably 3).  In each blog release you will have the opportunity to enter! 

Giveaways will be awarded early on the 14^th of Nov after it is released to everyone.

So are you all ready?

Let’s get into it.

The dev team for this pack is led by Lead Producer SimGuru Graham and he led off our live stream.

Side note, for those who are wondering … Yes he is just as adorbs as you think he is. Honestly, it was so much fun watching him play and lots of you got to see that today in the Livestream. It was hilarious to see him have difficulty controlling his sims (we can all relate).  They did get away from him! You can tell without a doubt, that he loves the sims and enjoys playing it!

From the reactions of others in the GC chat, I was not alone in that opinion. His reactions and banter totally endeared him to those viewing. One notable blogger that I am certain you all know very well, Jovan Jovic from Sims Community, quipped that he was “changing his website to Graham Community.” (Quoted with permission.) I was not sure anyone could compete with Ninja for most beloved Guru status (don’t get me wrong I, like many in the community, would still walk over hot coals for that Guru) but SG Graham sure gave him a good run for the money!

But enough of that silliness … back to business … here we go.

Now, not to make any you skeptical about the validity of content in this blog, but I will confess that not many of us were paying a whole lot of attention to what SGGraham was saying as this live stream began. 

As he opened on an incredibly beautiful scene, many of us were distracted when we spotted something tiny but very intriguing.

Was that a sim swimming way down there in the river?

YES! It was!

Is this base game or EP10 exclusive?  I do not know.  I did try to access the water in Willow Creek and was unable to swim.  BUT I will tell you that our beta copy of the game is not final software.  SG Graham reiterated that a few times.

I did learn that this activity is not in a water spots and fulfils one of the requirements on the new aspiration (I think the sightseeing one).

The name of each location in the pack is has a special meaning.

Komorebi means light filtering thru the trees.

There are 3 communities in Komorebi:

Wakaba means young leaves.

This location is more modern and a bit touristy.

At this point, SG Graham did confirm that for EP10 they had partnered with Deligracy, James Turner, Simlicy and LilSimsie. 

The lots in the world were created by them. 

Senbamachi means a thousand leaf town.

Here you can find hiking trails,

a natural hot springs,

and a beginning rock climb area.

Yukimatsu is named after snow covered pines.

Winter sports resort.

Snows all year round (you do NOT need Seasons for this snowy location).

There are 2 new weather conditions in Snowy Escape. Thunder snow storms with lightning that can cause death.

Icy conditions make the slopes treacherous. Even walking can put your simmies on their bums.

There are 5 buildable lots in each. In Yukimatsu you have to earn the fifth one – it is the reward for getting to the peak. A nice big snowy lot in a lovely location but the trek to the grocery story would be a monster

(I will not bog the blog down here with lots of scenery pics, although it is very beautiful, but include them at the end of this installment.)

3 new festivals that take place in the various locations/ They are scheduled to arrive about once a week.

Festival of Youth in Wakaba

Festival of light in Senbamachi

Festival of snow in Yukimatsu

I do not know much about them now but hope to bring you more later as I play thru a bit.

SG Graham pointed out a new item for our home ponds.

KOI – love this addition. Will address the other builds a a bit of a final on this one in a later blog.

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If you look closely some of you might instantly recognize the S3 World Adventures (my fav pack) easter egg there  ❤

These are also fishable … now this may not be new. I am trying to remember but TBH I am flashing back to S3 with this ..

So ?? forgive me if it is old news.

Not sure if it is in all worlds but this location for sure.

Later, in another blog, I am going to explore the new CAS items but in keeping with following the live stream script, I will show you a new item a School uniform. Just darling!

New career – Salary person

Rabbit hole career

New traits like workaholic and charismatic crooner

That is very blurry but the script says, “These sims have mastered charismatic vocal tones that help them get along better with co-workers.  These tones may even help with their singing ability.”

Kind of a cool trait!

They work long hours and have long commutes

Can give special gifts to make up for not being around so much.

New interactions (I may get more later if I do the career but for now I thought this one – dancing to Company Anthem was funny).

Again, I do not know much about it.  I will have to explore it in game and hopefully bring you more.  (TBH I want to mountain climb before I have mine get a job).

 SimGuru Morgan was producer for Lifestyles and Sentiments. These are two exciting new game features that I will attempt to describe but TBH I think they have to be played out to fully understand.

There are 16 different Lifestyles that your sim can develop. They develop as a result of your sims actions and habits. They will impact behavior more than the regular S4 traits assigned in CAS.

I am not going to show you all of them because I want it to be a surprise! They are all locked or hidden until you do related activities to establish them.

I picked 3 that I liked to show you.

It may give you a better picture of the feature.

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EA gets me <3:

I am not terribly clear on how all this works.  I do think it is something that has to be played out.  To quote SG Graham, “It develops in your sim over a long period of time.”

Sentiments

Sentiments impact relationships. They are shared experiences that change how sims react to one another.

SG Morgan informed us that sentiments do not have to align with one another .. one sim can feel one way (have a crush on) while another can feel completely different (annoyed).

I am not as clear on this because it was covered pretty quickly. This is one I want to explore more.

I will add a quick update here – this happened after I wrote this but before it was published.

Bob N Bee’s current sentiments – you will note that they are not in alignment with each other.

This nugget of great info came from Jovan Jovic @SimsCommunity (used with permission)

There are 2 new traits – both look like fun additions.

Proper

A couple of fun interactions for proper that I noted in game:

Propose scandalous question and court .. I did not get a shot of it but canoodle was a proper interaction too.

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Adventurous

Even tho the dev team did not address this here, I will go off script for a second to add the 2 new Aspirations:

Extreme Sports

Mt Komorebi Sightseer

I think I am going to stop here for this installment. I will continue in a new post in a couple of days.

Next we will look at winter sports. (I had WAY too much fun with that).

If you have any questions, please ask and I will try to find out an answer.

Be sure to take a look at those promised scenery pics at the end of this blog. It is so pretty! ❤

Giveaway entry details:

(read carefully)

This entry information is for 3 EP10 Snowy Escape game codes.   

The contest closes Midnight (PST) 13 November 2020 and the winner announced 14 November 2020 on twitter and FB (plus individual will be contacted in the same way they submitted the answer).

You can enter anew every blog. There will be at least 3 to 4 chances to win.

TO ENTER ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION (answer can be found in today’s blog):

What are the 2 new traits in this expansion pack?

This is open to both PC and console – so please indicate which type of code you are entering for in your answer.

DO NOT post your answer here or in a public forum like Twitter, FaceBook, Tumblr or Instagram. It will not count for entry.

Question is subject to change.

NO answers in the form of a screenshot.

(This is because there is a website that publishes screenshots of my answers and then send its members to enter with a shot and a link ot my twitter they provide – that is why I also change the questions at random times.)

You can send me the answer (and enter) in one of 3 ways … 

On FB Messenger

Lisabee on FB

On Twitter DM

Lisabeesims1 on twitter

By email

Lisabee22@yahoo.com

lisabee on yahoo

GL to all of you.

Wakaba

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Senbamachi

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Yukimatsu

The first few are scenery shot in a blizzard.

TBH to play I had to go turn weather off in game options.

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