How are they? Me, I have Livin’ Large and House Party (and the regular of course). Would you guys say they’re a lot of fun to play, or blah? I’m thinking of getting them, well, Hot Date first, but what do you all think? Lately, I’ve been trying (with success!) to re-addict myself to the Sim games, so I’ll probably buy HD and Vacation no matter what, but I’d like to hear some comments. Thanks.
Confessed sim-a-holic here.
I love Hot Date and Vacation. They really add another dimension to the game in that you can get out of the house for a change and meet more people. Plus there are many more interactions between the sims. All and all, I think they should fuel your addiction quite nicely. 
One thing to be aware of: installing the Hot Date expansion was really too much for my poor little 366mhz computer. The Sims runs great alone, but after I installed the expansion, the entire game slowed severely and the expansion area itself was so slow that it was unplayable. Keep this in mind if you have an older computer!
Thanks for your reccomendations, guys!
I don’t think Hot Date will slow mine down too much; I just bought a new laptop computer that apparently has so much more memory than my previous one. Running Sims with Livin’ Large and House Party is in fact much faster than my old computer with just Sims. So I should be good, but thanks for the warning, fluiddruid.
Do not buy Vacation without buying Hot Date first…VAC makes a lot of the changes that HD makes, but doesn’t add the amenities to make them work. For instance, there is no way for adults to buy swimsuits, PJs or formalwear in VAC. The two packs do complement each other, though.
Like fluiddruid, I took a major lag hit when upgrading – adding 384mb of RAM helped a little, but not much (450mhz computer here.) Of course I also have about 2GB of downloads, which probably has something to do with it…
I’ve been sort of disappointed with ALL the expansion packs since Livin’ Large, mostly because I keep hoping for more career tracks. That said -
I think Hot Date is worthwhile, if for no other reason than that it really changes character interaction and gives you lots more options. (Watch it, though. You can have unexpected effects from some of these interactions. Nothing like giving your best friend a hug and having your live-in lover attack her, I’ve always said, and once you install HD that can happen all too easily.) Also, if you think you’ve got maintaining relationships down to a science, HD will introduce some new physical (har!) laws, so to speak. There will be a learning curve.
I just got Vac and I’m not in love with it yet. Took me a while to appreciate the other packs, too, though.
And I haven’t had any memory thrashing from the expansion packs.
Oh, and of course you should always buy the expansion packs in order.
I love HotDate and Vacation- get 'em both!
Mmmmm…Sims. Must. Play. Now!
Zette
SIMS!
I love Hot Date and Vacation. I had major slow down problems with HD (but only when going ‘downtown’ other play remained the same.
Vacation on the other hand. Beyond Love. Borderline obsession. I love the fact that the ‘vacationers’ all have different names (in fact, I think all of the new names are sci-fi writers) There is a ton of stuff to do with the kids (which is NOT the case with HD) and I adore the fact that when building a snowman, etc. the parent can lift the child in order to put the face on the snowman. Lots of new objects. I love the fishing/metal detector. I especially like that all the souveniers and awards etc. can be taken home and put in a ‘curio cabinet’ Then when you go home, you can impress your neighbors with stories of your vacation.
I am thinking now like Zette. Must. Go. Play. Now.
On a side note: are there any SimWatch members here?