Weather (game mechanic)

Weather was introduced in the The Sims 2: Seasons and returned in The Sims 3: Seasons. There are four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. In The Sims 2: Seasons, each season is five days long making it twenty days a seasonal year long. In the The Sims 3: Seasons, each season is seven days by default, though players can adjust each length of the season from 3 to 28 days. Sims' moods will change with the weather. Each season has a slightly different color cast, (e.g., winter is more desaturated, and fall has warmer, reddish tone). Weather also affects what festival is occurring on the festival grounds.

In The Sims 2: Seasons, each neighborhood and sub-neighborhood have a separate Season Chooser, which allows the player to determine which seasons will occur there, and what order they will occur in. By default, a neighborhood will start in Summer, followed by Fall, Winter, and then Spring. Riverblossom Hills is exceptional, with the order of Winter, Winter, Spring, and Fall. In The Sims 3: Seasons, players can customize what seasons may occur in a neighborhood and how long each one lasts, but not in what order. The options can be changed in the environment options tab.

Weather also appears in The Sims 3 for Wii. The seasons work the same way and have the same characteristics as in real life. It is featured in The Urbz: Sims in the City, The Sims 2 for console, The Sims 2 Pets for console, and The Sims 2 Castaway for console. When it rains, Sims will put an umbrella or newspaper over their head.

Type of Weather
There are several types of weather (also known as precipitation). It varies in intensity, accumulation, and duration. They can be predicted by checking the weather report from the TV, newspaper, or computer.
 * Rain (Light, heavy, or torrential / thunderstorms)
 * Hail
 * Snow (Light or heavy)
 * Fog

These precipitations may cause some effects on Sims and affect the temperature. For example, rain may cause water the garden plants and cause Sims to get soaked if they don't use umbrella around, and puddles may spawn. There's also wind with varied speed, which is only featured in The Sims 3: Seasons.

The Sims 2: Seasons
During the Spring, it may rain, snow a little, and finally have sunshine. Romance is in focus in Spring, and Sims can build romantic relationships at a higher rate than usual. Sims are able to splash in puddles, grow plants, harvest fruits, and so on. The Sims will still change into their outerwear, and the temperature might still be cold, but warmer than winter.


 * Environment changes
 * Temperature ranges from slightly low in the Comfortable zone to low in the Hot zone, and starts rising
 * Snow and frozen lakes melt
 * Light takes a greyish tone


 * Probable weather
 * Rain
 * Lightning


 * Spring activities
 * Sims can splash in puddles
 * Sims can begin gardening


 * Other changes
 * At the beginning of spring, it may be cold enough for Sims to dress in outerwear when going outside
 * Plants grow, but beware of the cold
 * Interactions with romantic partners are more potent, adding more relationship points than they do in other seasons

The Sims 3
Spring is the last season and comes with a chance of rain and stormy days. Sims can play in the puddles, pick wildflowers or visit the activities in the Spring Festival. Spring is home of Love Day, kissing booths, taking a chance at the love tester, going rollerblading, and taking part in the Easter egg hunt.

The Sims 2: Seasons
During the Summer, Sims build friendly relationships more quickly. Sims can have water balloon fights or splash in the pool. There is a chance of catching heatstroke if your Sim is overheated. Again, a child, toddler, or baby Sim may be taken away by the Social Worker if this happens.


 * Environment changes
 * Temperature ranges from high in the Comfortable zone to high in the Very Hot zone, and tends to rise from day to day.
 * Light takes on a neutral tone
 * Night-time appears to be lighter


 * Probable weather
 * Rain
 * Lightning
 * Hail

(Sims can perform these activities in other seasons, too, but they often develop special Wants to do them when summer begins.)
 * Summer activities
 * Sims have water balloon fights
 * Sims can go fishing
 * Sims can play Marco Polo in the pool


 * Other changes
 * Chance of heatstroke and sunburn
 * Sims develop friendly relationships faster

The Sims 3: Seasons
Summer is the default first season in The Sims 3: Seasons. Summer usually has sunny weather, although rain and hail can also appear. Popular activities during summer days include swimming in the ocean, playing soccer, throwing a pool party or attending the summer festival. At the festival, Sims can participate in many activities, such as face painting, using tanning booths, entering hot dog eating contests. Its holiday is Leisure Day, children don't have to attend school and adults don't have to attend work.

If it is very hot outside, there is possibility of spontaneous combustion. Sims should wear light colored clothes or carry a parasol.

The Sims 2: Seasons
During the fall, the temperature begins to drop and it may begin to snow or rain. During this time, Sims are able to maximize their skills easier and faster than the other seasons. Leaves begin to fall, and Sims are able to rake them. After raking them, Sims may jump into the pile of leaves and play with them or even burn the leaves. Sims also begin to change back into outerwear once outside at the middle end of Autumn. With this comes along a chance of catching a cold, but not freezing.


 * Environment changes
 * Temperature ranges from somewhat high in the Comfortable zone to high in the Cold zone, and begins to decrease
 * Light takes on a slightly golden tone
 * Night-time appears to be darker
 * Lakes may freeze
 * Trees become colored and leaves fall on ground


 * Probable weather
 * Rain
 * Snow is more possible than probable, but will occasionally happen.


 * Autumn activities
 * Sims can rake the fallen leaves and play in them, burn them or compost them
 * Harvest crops


 * Other changes
 * Social Need decays 14-25% slower when Sims are outdoors
 * Chance of catching a cold increased
 * During cooler periods, Sims will dress in outerwear
 * Skill building is 25% faster

The Sims 3: Seasons
Fall is the second season in The Sims 3: Seasons. Warm weather is common in fall, but rain and sometimes snow can also fall. Activities, such as feast parties, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving and attending the fall festivals are included in this season. The festival for fall is Spooky day, somewhat similar to Halloween. Sims can bob for apples, visit the haunted house or participate in the pie eating contest. Costume parties are also available for fall.

Winter
During the winter, Sims can build relationships with family members at a heightened rate. It may snow onto a residential lot, covering everything outside with snow. Sims are able to freeze or catch a cold if left out in the snow too long. A child, toddler, or baby Sim may be taken away by the Social Worker after they become too cold for too long. The player will receive a warning before this happens though. Sims are also able to have snowball fights, make snow angels, and build snowmen. Toddlers can also play in the snow and both toddlers and dogs can eat the snow. On some days, if the snow is too heavy, Sim children or teenagers that attend school may be able to have a "snow day". Outdoor flowers will become dormant during the Winter, but won't die. Garden plants and orchard trees will become dormant unless they are in a greenhouse. As a rule, Sims will automatically change into seasonal wear, but this may not happen consistently.

For the Sims, winter is a time for family, fun in the snow, and the warm indoors.


 * Environment changes
 * Temperature ranges from low in the Comfortable zone to low in the Very Cold zone, and tends to drop from day to day
 * Light takes on a bluish tone
 * Night-time appears to be darker
 * Lakes freeze
 * Crops die


 * Probable weather
 * Snow


 * Winter activities
 * Sims can build snowmen
 * Sims can have snowball fights
 * Dogs can eat snow
 * Toddlers can play in the snow
 * Sims can make snow angels


 * Other changes
 * Sims dress in winter wear outside
 * No plants outside will grow (orchard trees will become dormant)
 * Chance of catching a cold increases
 * Penguins can come to a lot, and they will likely talk to snowmen, even broken ones.
 * Sims can turn blue and freeze if they become too cold (hot chocolate and other warm things can alleviate this), which may be fatal.
 * When it's snowing heavily outside, there is a small chance of getting a snow day, which means children don't go to school.

If a Sim's home doesn't have a roof it will start snowing inside! Sims will be affected by the cold temperature, if this happens.

The Sims 3: Seasons
Winter is the third season. Snow is quite often. Sims can do various activities such as making igloos, making snowmen and snow angels. At the winter festival, sims can participate in snowboarding, ice skating, and snowball fights. Winter's holiday is Snowflake day similiar to our December holiday season. If the weather is very cold and the Sim is not dressed properly, there is a possibility of freezing.

The Sims Castaway Stories
The Sims Castaway Stories is also a game that features weather. It features normal, hot weather which is one season, and the second one features rain with thunder and hail. Weather also changes the Sim's body temperature in The Sims Castaway Stories. Sims can change weather using the story reward object, the weather machine, which was firstly meant for Winford Rhinehart so that he could take over the island.

Trivia

 * Lightning can kill a Sim if they are outside. This is more likely if they are in water (for example, swimming or using a hot tub) and their needs are too low.
 * Ghosts can haunt at noon if their tombstone is struck by a storm.
 * In The Sims Castaway Stories, during the story, fireballs from the erupting volcano can fall from the sky burning things. It is not known if this can happen in the free-play storyline.
 * Lightning can also damage trees in Castaway Stories.
 * With Fog Emitter from The Sims 3: Ambitions, players can create rain effects. The special effects have been present prior to The Sims 3: Seasons.
 * An EA employee has stated that developers should have included weather in The Sims 3: Late Night, but decided to postpone it to make weather a great addition to an expansion pack instead of a minor feature.