iSims3

Some of an interview with the producer of The Sims 3 Lindsay Pearson from PC Gameplay:

Which Sims 2 elements will find their way to Sims 3? 
Some elements were selected from the start because they fit into the core experience of The Sims 3. Fishing for example is one of the expansionfeatures that made it to an important skill in Sims 3. 
There's also a Creativity skill, only this time it's based on the guitar instead of the piano.

The Sims is considered an interactive soap. How will you lift this to a higher level in The Sims 3? 
The seamless Nhood is a huge step forward. The player will be able to go into the Nhood and adjust all inhabitants. For example, if you want to model your Nhood to The Sopranos or Desperate Housewives, then you can adjust all inhabitants til they are just like those people. And then the game takes over and you become part of that world. So it's actually much more then a TV-series since things happen out of your control.

Will The Sims 3 contain multiple Nhoods? 
No, there's only 1 Nhood, but then it's extremely large - More then 90 houses, each inhabited by a Simfamily. But you can save the Nhood into different slots so that you can create multiple storylines. 
Probably later, we will make tools available so you can create your own Nhood, but at release, your stuck with just one Nhood.

Are there certain scenerios you can choose? 
Well, you can choose from very diverse families which will all create a seperate storyline. If you want to play with a family that has 2 children at the start, it will be an entirely different experience then if you choose a single adolescent who's at the start of his career.

Can you tell some more about the Customization options? 
With an integrated editor, you can adjust every object, from walls to furniture to fashion and hairstyles. You can create colors and patterns and then use it on all objects. If you want a sofa with zebra motif with purple stripes, then that's perfectly possible. Then you can also use that pattern on your bed or reading lamp. 
Also in CAS, you have more control about the looks, clothes, hair, etc. and you can share these creations easily with other players. If you can design cars? Well you can change the colorpattern but if you want to add silly things on your car, get Spore.

Do you use Sims 2 technology? 
No, we created a completely new engine with new animation and rendering technology because that was the only way to realize the lively Nhood and extensive designtools. The engine for Sims 2 was good for what it was meant for, but to implement the Sims 3 features, it was insufficient. 
The biggest work was done in the last year. About system requirements, we can't give those yet ofcourse but we do want to make the game available for a very wide audience.

The visual leap between Sims 2 and Sims 3 seems smaller then between Sims 1 and 2. Does this have anything to do with the - probably demanding - Nhood element? 
Partly yes. However the screenshots give a somewhat distorted image, because when you see the Sims 3 live at work, you immediately notice the high detail in the world and its characters. But yes, the Nhood element with its hundreds of inhabitants who all live out a life simultaneously, forced us to make a trade-off between speed and graphical detail. Because of this, we can't make the huge leap forward as with the Sims 2. However a leap from 2D to 3D is always hard to surpass.

::PC Gamer April Issue::

    Traits
    The traits that your Sims have influence the way they learn their skills and how they interact with other Sims. When someone tells a joke, for example, a Sim without any sense of humour will react differently than a Sim who does have a good sense of humour.
    Sims can also love watching television, or just hate it. If your Sim loves to watch TV and lives with a Sim who doesn’t, the TV will get turned on and off a lot and they even can have a fight about it.

    The Neighborhood
    In an interview with the magazine, Lindsay Pearson (producer of the Sims 3) talks about the new neighbourhood. The base game will contain just one neighbourhood, but it will be a gigantic one with more than 90 houses in which each a playable family lives. It’s not possible to create your own neighbourhoods yet, but this might be a feature that will be included in the future.
    There’s also much exploring to do in the neighbourhood, where each location has its own function. Sims will go to the movies or a restaurant when they’re on a date, while the park is the best spot to meet other Sims, Sims give birth in the hospital and go fishing at the lake.
    However, it’s not possible to follow your Sims’ kinds into the classroom, nor can you see your Sims while they’re at work.

    Careers
    The way Sims will work on their careers will be different from the way they do in the Sims 2. Outside the working hours, Sims will work on their careers as well, and that won’t be just about skill building.
    If your Sim has a political career, he will get the chance to raise money for a campaign by throwing a fundraiser party. Whether the party will succeed or not, will depend on how much money is raised. It’s even possible for your political Sim to become mayor. But if he runs a bad policy, citizens will get mad and protest in front of the city hall.
    Another example is a Sim who works as a waiter. In order to advance in his job, he will work on his cooking skill all by himself, buy cooking books, gather ingredients for recipes and invite his boss over for diner.