Okay, so as the good sis @TheUnforgiving posted, the pack is focused on Apartments primarily as the new lot type. Which was leaked either yesterday or the day before.
However the insider I know told me that last week, which I told you guys straight away
So I've got more information now, which I'm not as afraid to tell you incase it backfired, because it's been pretty legit so far.
Sadly, since it's in the office where Freeplay is developed, it was hard for him to get information on 4 without it relating back to Freeplay in some way, but there is some juicy news:
- The Expansion is basically Apartment Life 2.0 (as I said last week) but with "twice the content", so heaps of objects, CAS items etc. Heaps of gameplay items and Penthouses basically work as normal lots, but on a building (so basically the same as Sims 3). Penthouses are considered a "bonus" inclusion and aren't the main focus which is Apartments.
- The world is still being named. It's not as big as any of The Sims 3 worlds (as the idea is you travel between them), but it had the most development time of any Sims world ever, and is packed with lots of detail. More detail than what we've seen in The Sims 4 worlds so far. With that said however, there's no Cars or Taxi's. No mention of a Subway either.
- Not confirmed, but EA have been exploring the idea of editing the areas around the lots with basic tools (being able to place objects like play equipment, basketball rings, chess tables, toilet rabbit holes etc). But it's unsure if it's working out. It would be a free patch if it did.
- The person that he spoke to called the EP "City Living" which is different to the names we have (Life in The City).
- No Life State was known about, but unlikely as there are lots of NPC's.
- One of the biggest reasons for the delay of the pack, were loading times. EA have been apparently testng ways to reduce loading times throughout the year, and seeing how players respond, as the world has a lot of Sims and detail. EA are hoping to reduce loading times by changing how the game handles data that slows it down (not sure how they've tested that already but it may have something to do with how many Sims walk around doing nothing?)
- No news on a new community lot venue.
- This pack is based on Survey feedback, in which the Town Life concept and Metropolis concepts came first. Same thing happened with Active Careers and Business surveys.
- Sadly, it was pretty much denied that there would be Landlords, but that's because nothing is mentioned in the information they have, but if they were, it's a pretty big deal to leave out. (Seriously EA? You can have a ranger come to the door in Outdoor Retreat, but not a Landlord?) ugh.
That's all I was told. That said, there's some information for Freeplay players too:
- Freeplay gets information about what The Sims 4 does ahead of time, and is "allowed" to recycle the ideas that suit the micro-transaction format of Freeplay, but only once The Sims 4 has "exhausted" selling it's an exclusive feature (apparently as Firemonkey isn't connected to Maxis, its not able to just copy The Sims 4).
- FireMonkey are interested in the Political Career idea.
- Freeplay won't be around for much longer, and EA are pushing Firemonkey for a new game, seeing as Freeplay is designed for hardware from 2010.