Surf's Up! Store Set Review

Hey guys!

It's the month of August now and what better way to start off than to release a brand new store set on the 1st day! This new set consists of 18 CAS assets and brand new premium content!

I normally don't review much for CAS content, so I hope the review isn't too underwhelming this time.

I want to say thank you to roundheaded for gifting me this set, I appreciate it a lot!

Enjoy,
AznSensei
This is a relatively simple set and consists again of 18 CAS + 1 Premium Content Collection. The set is on sale for 1200/1400 Simpoints until 8/08/13.

The Price Breakdown is pretty simple and is as follows:

18 CAS Assets: 1300 Simpoints

Surf's Up Sun & Fun Wave Station: 500 Simpoints

Total Individual Item Cost: 1800 Simpoints

Set Cost: 1200/1400 Simpoints

Savings: 600/400 Simpoints

For the price, it's pretty much iffy with me. From my standpoint, I would buy the premium object for 500 Simpoints, and get all the extra clothing and hairstyles for an additional 700 Simpoints. The price standpoint is different for everyone, but for someone whose eyes are focused on the Premium Content, I'd say it's slightly okay. 

I do wish they stopped locking the premium content objects to sets only and I'm sure other simmers would be glad too that they can buy premium content without having to purchase the extra content they may not want if they are already sold individually. (My opinion  is different when it comes to Venues and Worlds).

As for the theme, I personally am tired with the Island theme as we have repeats of it in the store, and an Expansion Pack dedicated to it. Most of this content screams Island rather than "Pool" or anything of the sort. I would have loved a set dedicated more towards pool objects, or beach content, rather than more CLOTHING when we have plenty of swimwear and other objects. That is my personal opinion though and I think this particular set isn't worth it for me with clothing options already out there. 

But, I'm sure there are people out there who do like some new clothing to dress their sims in, so I give you a huzzah if you enjoy more new clothing for your sims. Otherwise, if you aren't a fan of more clothing, I'd wait for a sale of this set.

Surf's Up Sun & Fun Wave Station

This new premium object that comes with the set comes with two parts, the Surfboard, and the Wave Machine. These were heavily suggested/hinted when the Lucky Simoleon Casino first came out in July. Players had speculated a pool, and assumed it would be pool objects such as a wave machine that would come with it. To much our surprise, it was a casino and it brought amazing gambling objects.

Now, with the Seasons Patch giving the Swimming abilities in oceans and lakes, I am glad this item has came out instead of before the patch. This particular object can be utilized in Pools, Lakes, Oceans, or any body of water that is created in a lot.

The surfboard objects can be found in buy mode under Outdoor > Activities, and can be fully customized and the options are found below, with the last one being a recolor.

Now for the wave machine:

This item is a huge 12x9 object, and can only accommodate 1 sim, which is disappointing. with an object that big, I would be able to fit at least 2 sims, and could see some surfing competitions utilized with this object. Sadly, it wasn't utilized and only one object is used.

The only interaction on this machine is to pretty much Surf, but once you get on the machine, you have three tricks you can utilize in this, and there is some chances you may fail. These tricks are:

• Cutback
• Handstand
• Hang Ten

The animations are found below:

Another thing that could have been expanded was the ability to unlock new tricks and improving on them. Unfortunately, nothing more than already unlocked animations is utilized in this object. However, there is "maybe" a hidden skill in this as there is no skill bar on top of the sim, along with the fact it doesn't increase the Athletic Skill. Maybe later I'll check out a mod that shows hidden skills and see if there's anything hidden in the game. Other than that, it looks like the more practices on the tricks and surf more on the wave machine, they may do better and not have problems messing up on their tricks.

Also, the higher their hidden skill, the bigger the wave is produced by the machine.

There is a seal utilized in this object and it will appear from time to time, waiting to strike your sim. Once it attacks and breaks your board, you will be left with a broken board to display, along with a moodlet by the seal itself. The surfboard cannot be used again after it's been damaged by the seal.

CAS

As for CAS, this 18 CAS option includes content for all age groups, except teens and the list is as follows:

• 1 Female YA/Adult/Elder Hairstyle (Bugged?)
• 1 Male YA/Adult/Elder Hairstyle (Bugged?)
• 1 Male Child Hairstyle
• 1 Female Child Hairstyle
• 1 Child Swim Top (Male and Female)
• 1 Child Swim Trunks (Male and Female)
• 1 Female Child Swim Outfit
• 2 Toddler Outfits (Everyday)
• 3 Male YA/Adult Outfits
• 1 Male Elder Outfit
• 2 Female YA/Adult Tops
• 2 Female YA/Adult Outfits
• 1 Female Elder Outfit

Unfortunately, after installing the set, the female and male YA/Adult Hairstyles are not marked for Teens as supposed to. 

Teens clothing is also not included, which is sad, and I'm curious to whether or not the team doesn't want to make ANY teen content, but focus on the other age groups. Other than that, it is refreshing to see outfits for toddlers/children/elders included in this set.

Overall Review

Here is my final overall review of the store set so far.

Price: 8/10 - Honestly, even though I don't need more clothing and all, and just want the premium content, it is still a pretty nice price for 18 clothing/hairstyles + the object itself. It's 1200 Simpoints until August 8th, so I'd say it's pretty much a good deal for almost being 50% off regular store content. If you don't like the price, then I'd suggest wait for a bigger sale. It is disappointing the premium content object is yet again not sold separately in a normal set (Venues and Worlds are different). 

Theme: 2/10 - I am tired of the Island/Beach theme, and while some enjoy most of it, we've been given a lot of Island-themed content already from the store already, Sunlit Tides as the store world, and Island Paradise as the recent Expansion Pack. I hope to see more beach/pool related content, but I think the timing of this was just off and I think I would have probably enjoyed this set if it was released in the Fall or so.

Design: 9/10 - I do like some of the new outfits they have designed for swimwear, especially the fact that they designed clothing for all age groups, EXCEPT teens. Even though I don't need more clothing, this set added swimwear that was lacking in the other age groups and glad they added more of those age groups instead of making it a YA/Adult Swimwear collection. So thank you store team for this.

Premium Content: 7/10 - For what the object can do, I find this wave station a fun object to add to pools, and oceans. Even though it is restricted by the fact we can't fully surf in oceans, this is a step towards maybe a Game Patch in the future to make it so we can surf in the ocean, but it's a small chance. I do enjoy the fact that the surfboards can be fully customized and can be unique to each sim. Included is also a hidden surfing skill!  There are some slight disappointments in this set, and to summarize below, is what I feel may have been added if more was worked on:

• Unlocking new tricks
• Multiple Sims using one wave machine
• Surf Competitions

Other than that, it makes use of nice animations and is nothing more than like any other pool object with animations.

Overall: 6.5/10 - This set is mostly clothing + premium content, but I find the premium content a must-have to get, and the clothing is not a huge draw for me. Teens are neglected in this set, but all the other age groups have been added. Other than that, the set is decent for the price given. Otherwise, wait for a bigger discount in the future if you don't like the price now.