You have to go around gaining Influence (befriending other Sims, donating money), and then you can use this Influence to directly cast a vote on the NAPs or persuading other Sims to vote the way you want them to. It seems like being a part of the green-living movement also involves educating all your friends and family to do the same, and that’s how the NAPs work. These NAPs also affect how the people in the neighbourhood look, and can help to affect the amount of trash on the streets. Every week, there can be up to four active, and these will decide a range of things like pushing clean energy, eco-friendly appliances, or even wearing paper bags over everyone’s heads. One other major change to the gameplay is being able to affect your neighbourhood using the Neighbourhood Action Plans (NAPs).
The Sims has always been a good game to highlight concerns about real life, and this is a good way to take an objective look at how we use electricity and water. This system has a SimCity feel to it, and it’s good.
Now you’ll remember to switch the TV off when you’re not using it! All electrical and plumbing-based items have a new stat that tells you their power/water requirements, so you have to generate enough to power them. As mentioned above, you can create your own electricity and water using wind turbines, solar panels and dew collectors that you build around your lot. Which isn’t to say you can’t have nice electronic stuff and take baths. Sim-Y, Sim-G and Sim-S enjoy some hotdogs.
We had to save up to buy an off-the-grid capable sink before we could get rid of the filthy dishes. To make matters worse, there was no sink to wash the dishes with. Our Sims had to BBQ hot dogs out in the balcony for their meals, and there was no fridge to store leftovers. Want lights at night? You’ll need candles or torches. When you start off, you’ll be using a dinky shower and your Sims will not feel particularly comfortable after using it (which they will often if they go dumpster diving a lot). Our Sims live in a house made from shipping containers. Well, they are, but you will need to find a way to generate the power and water to use them (more about this below). Not having power or water means the stuff that we all take for granted like working stoves, TVs, baths are all not available. Living off the grid means not being connected to power or water. When we decided to move our family into a new “Off the Grid” house in Port Promise, the game really started to become exciting. That’s because we started in a regular house. We have to admit, we didn’t really feel the difference of the new expansion at first. Speaking of recycling, you can find old food in trash… and eat it. There’s even a new Freelancer career path as a Maker, so that you can make these things for clients to pay the bills. Using Bits and Pieces in the Fabricator, we’ve made bookshelves, chairs, tables – the more you use the machine, the better stuff you can make. Yes, your hygiene level drops substantially when you do this, but imagine the excitement when you dig up a classic old table from The Sims 1! You can use it in your new home, or munch it into Bits and Pieces. All you need to recycle old stuff in a Recycling Machine to crunch it down into usable Bits and Pieces (official terminology for the resources required).Īctually, the best place to get Bits and Pieces is to dumpster dive! You can go through your own trash, but the best place to go is the neighbourhood dumpster and forage for usable crap. Your Sims can now use Fabricators to make furniture to use or sell. UpcyclingĪ new element of gameplay is recycling and upcycling. This can offset your bills, and excess power and water can also be sold for a profit. You can’t talk about going green without talking about sustainable energy, so this expansion pack comes with a range of solar panels, wind turbines and dew collectors to help create your own electricity and water.
Some windows and doors can help with your Eco score. Bring it down enough, and out come the smog clouds and your Sims will start to cough and experience a whole lot of discomfort. On the flip side, heavy electronics, flammable objects (including torches and rockets) bring your neighbourhood towards the industrial side of things.