Apple - Games - Articles - The Sims: Vacation

Get Away From It All with The Sims: Vacation

By Brad Cook
It’s a dream vacation that even Chevy Chase couldn’t bungle, so tell your Sims to pack their bags. They’ve had their share of house parties and hot dates while livin’ large in SimCity, and now it’s time for a little trip to Vacation Island.

Aspyr Media’s latest Sims expansion pack, The Sims: Vacation, offers three distinct locations on Vacation Island: a tranquil beach resort, a rugged wilderness hideaway, or a frosty winter wonderland. The game offers over 125 new objects to buy for your Sims or use when expanding the three locales, and you’ll enjoy the new floors and walls, characters, building tools, and more.

Vacation gives your Sims six new interests — exercise, food, parties, style, Hollywood, technology, and romance — as well as over 40 new ways to interact, including the flying hug. If you send a family on vacation, watch the kids’ behavior; they may become more unruly than usual, which will cause the resort staff to complain to their parents.

Bring Your Memories Home
If you’re sending a single Sim away, they can invite someone special along for the trip, just like they can in Hot Date. A little romance might blossom that could lead to something special back home. And if that someone special declines your offer, you can still send them postcards while away or purchase gifts to bring back. You may just change their attitude. (Sims who live together must vacation together, however.)

Your Sims may also want to bring home souvenirs for themselves. They can use an object such as the metal detector to find them, or they can win prizes at the carnival games. If they stay long enough, they can qualify to win Super Souvenirs. If you have any questions, look for Kana, your tour guide.

The Sims: Vacation is available now at the online Apple Store, an Apple retail store, or a certified Apple reseller location near you, so book the perfect getaway today.

Play games for big prizes during your
stay on Vacation Island.

The Sims
- The Sims 2
- The Sims Trailers
- The Sims Feature
- Hot Date Expansion Pack
- Livin’ Large Expansion Pack
- House Party Expansion Pack
- Makin’ Magic Expansion Pack
- Superstar Expansion Pack
- The Sims: Superstar Trailer
- Unleashed Expansion Pack
- Vacation Expansion Pack

System Requirements:

Full version of The Sims required to play

Mac OS X or Mac OS 8.6 or higher

233MHz PowerPC G3 processor or better (333MHz recommended)

192MB of RAM (additional Virtual Memory may be necessary — Mac OS 8.6 thru 9 only)

600MB of hard disk space

ATI Rage Pro, NVidia GeForce 2, or better video card with at least 4MB VRAM

Thanks to Prima Games, we have a few tips and tricks straight from their official strategy guide for The Sims: Vacation, by David Chong and Mark Cohen. If you want more great information that will help you plan your Sim vacations, be sure to grab a copy.

Official Strategy Guide available from Aspyr

Vacation Score
Your Sims accrue a hidden number called a vacation score, which tracks all of their activities, fun, successes, and failures. If your Sims get a high enough score by the time they return home, they receive a special reward called a super souvenir.

Setting the Mood For Success
Four times a day, your Sims’ moods are averaged and recorded. If the average mood of your adult Sims is greater than about two green bars, your vacation score goes up 6 points. You get another 3 points if your child Sims are also averaging a mood of 40 or better at these times.

Fun and Finds
If your Sims find a relic souvenir while fishing or treasure hunting with the metal detector, 10 points are added to your score. Winning tokens on the midway games result in a 25 percent chance of earning 1 point. Catching a fish can help, with 2 points awarded for landing one on the pier. Your Sims also earn 2 points each time they build a snowman or sand castle.

Keep Those Kids in Line
Kids double your chances of earning mood-based vacation points, but they’re also a liability. If you allow their moods to slip too low, they start to exhibit deviant behavior. Vacation director Kana will advise you that your children must behave according to resort standards. Your Sims are fined for the misbehavior to the tune of -10 points.

The Final Tally
At the end of the vacation, your score is tallied. If you earned more than 150 points, Kana informs you that you’ve had such a memorable visit that you’ve earned a special super souvenir. You earn a golden pine cone in the woods, a golden sun on the beach, or a snow globe in the snowy mountains.