Differences Between Sims 2 & 3

Seamless Neighborhoods

• One of the biggest differences between the two is that "The Sims 3" neighborhood is seamless, or "open world." This means there is no load time to travel from one lot to another as there was in "The Sims 2." It also means all the lots are on the same time. In "The Sims 2," if you went to the park for the day, your home lot "froze," and when you returned, all would be at the same moment as when you left. In "The Sims 3," time continues for each lot, and you can flip back and forth between characters at different locations without pausing. In other words, whereas in "The Sims 2" each lot was its own little world, in "The Sims 3" the neighborhood is one large world.

Personality

• Traits have replaced the personality points system of "The Sims 2." Instead of choosing how neat or messy your Sim is, you get to choose five traits that become the building blocks of your Sim's personality. The traits include things like "Vegetarian," "Hopeless Romantic," "Loves the Outdoors," "Over-Emotional" and "Evil." Your Sims' traits influence their moods and reactions to different circumstances. A Sim with the "Daredevil" trait is less likely to be frightened by a ghost than one that has the "Excitable" trait. You also get to assign your Sim a favorite color, food and music type in "The Sims 3."

Wishes

• Wants, fears and aspirations have been replaced with wishes. There are two types of wishes in "The Sims 3:" Lifetime wishes and regular wishes. When you first create a Sim, you assign a lifetime wish based upon its personality, which remains constant until fulfilled. A Sim with the "Green Thumb" trait might have the lifetime wish to create the perfect garden. Regular wishes appear randomly, and are smaller goals that you can choose to fulfill if you want. They include things like earning a raise or eating sushi. You can have up to four regular wishes at a time, and you can cancel them at will. As you fulfill wishes, you are rewarded with lifetime happiness points, which can be used to purchase rewards.

Moodlets

• Moodlets are little icons that indicate your Sim's mood. They can be positive things like "First Kiss," or negatives like "Dirty Surroundings." Some Moodlets last a specific time period; others last until you resolve them. For example, if you go to the graveyard at night, your Sim may display the "Creeped Out" moodlet while you are there.

Careers and Opportunities

• In "The Sims 3," Sims no longer vanish when then go to work. Although you won't be able to see your Sim at work, you have several options, like "Work Hard" or "Suck Up to Boss." The options you choose affect your Sim's career and his mood. If you work too hard, your Sim can become stressed out, and its mood will plummet. Opportunities are another new feature of "The Sims 3." Opportunities require you to fulfill certain tasks to obtain monetary rewards or a relationship boost. Opportunities appear randomly and are not always work-related.

Active Households

• Rather than having multiple households as you did in "The Sims 2," "The Sims 3" has active households. You can switch which household is active, but only one household is active at a time. This allows for story progression, which means the neighborhood ages as your Sim does. It also means that inactive Sims make life choices. If your Sim has her eye on a handsome neighbor, don't wait to ask him out. If you do, you may find he is already dating or married to someone else. You can turn off story progression in the "Options" menu.