The Valentine's Day broadcast for The Sims 3 provided lots of information on two upcoming expansion packs – Island Paradise and University Life – but also included an in-depth look at a new neighbourhood that will be coming to the Sims 3 store. At first glance, Aurora Skies looks like it's nothing more than a pretty town with a nice sky, featuring – obviously – the Northern Lights, but there's more to it than that.
The two most interesting features of this upcoming neighbourhood are new objects: hot air balloons, and a couple of items specifically for toddlers. The Sims 3 has featured hot air balloons before, but only as decorative items that occasionally floated across the sky. In Aurora Skies, we'll get hot air balloons that your Sims can actually ride in, though from the video it seems they can only hover a few feet off the ground. That said, that's obviously enough to convince the Sims themselves, as any romantic interaction carried out in the hot air balloon – Woohoo, proposals, etc. – has a much higher chance of success than it would have down on the ground.
The toddler items will be of particular interest to those who like to raise big families in The Sims 3 but get frustrated with having to teach every toddler how to walk and talk to avoid the attribution of a random (and thus possibly unwanted) personality trait when the toddler grows into a child. The playpen includes a mirror toddlers can use to teach themselves to talk, and the walker, well, lets them teach themselves how to walk.
Aside from that, the world really is beautiful, with waterfalls and a geothermal lake. It's supposedly based on Iceland, and looks especially good in the snow (if you have the Seasons expansion installed). Aurora Skies will be available within the next few weeks.
