You start off in your own home world like Sunset Valley, after a little while (half a SimDay orso) the time portal shows up and Emit Relevart the time traveller jumps out of (You got the reference to Back to the Future right? Figure out what the last name means!).

He gives you the time almanac where you find all the info you need about the future. The future is called Oasis landing (not Arcadia landing) and is 100s of years into the future.

Time almanac

The time almanac shows on the first page that there are 3 possible futures: Dystopian, Neutral and Utopian.

Huge thanks to @SimsVIP for letting me use this screenshot!

Dystopian Future – After decades of selfish and irresponsible decisions, Sims strained Oasis Landing to the limit and beyond. Trash heaps block the sidewalks, meteors pulverize the landscape, and dangerous Rifts have formed beckoning adventures to climb inside to find their treasures.

Normal Future – The town of Oasis Landing is a bustling city filled with hidden treasures and places to explore. Whether you’re adventuring into the Wasteland, taking in a Bot Competition, or visiting those who’ve shunned technology, there’s lots to do in Oasis Landing!

Utopian Future – Inspired by centuries of whimsical stories, the Sims of Oasis Landing built a paradise! Flowers bearing Dews [collectables? Need to find out what this is!] dot the landscape and nobody can account for strange buried gold being found about town. The locals walk around joyfully, greeting each other with Whimsical waves.

Which Future do you want to play?

Loading.

Each future has a different look, as you can guess. The dystopian looks like a polluted land, the neutral future is like a normal world with some sci-fi buildings and the Utopian world is this very pretty world with lots of flowery trees and plants.

Dystopian

Normal

How to get these futures:

Change to Utopia quest:

1. Scan 3 sims for smiles
2. Use curious dew on yourself
3. Use dew on 4 other sims
4. Spread the dew “worldwide” via the military base

Change to Dystopia quest:

1. Use the Meteor Magnet 3 times outside
2. Attend Doomsayers Meeting at City Hall
3. Convince other sims (think it was 5) that the world is coming to an end
4. Trash talk the environment to 6 sims

forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/710579.page for the info. Not exactly hard quests, I expected them to be tougher than these!

Descendants

The second page of the almanac shows your Sim’s descendants, their wealth status and household size. What is neat about this, the things you do in present day have direct effect on your descendants. If you do well in present-time, your descendants will also do well! Good traits, household funds and plenty of real estate will most likely mean your descendants will do well! As always in the Sims, the reverse is also true. Having bad traits and poor in life will not help your descendants.

Huge thanks to @SimsVIP for letting me use this screenshot!

Visiting your descendants gives some unique interactions like asking about the family history but you cannot have babies with them. I saw somebody asking about that and am I very glad that Maxis disabled this ability in The Sims 3: Into the Future!

Legacy status

The final page in the Time Almanac discusses the legacy status. Achieving one of these statuses gives you a statue in the future in the big park in Oasis Landing.

The Lustrous Entertainer

• Reach level 10 in Laser Rhythm-a-con Skill, then…
• Have 12 different Sims Watch or Listen while playing the Laser Rhythm-a-con, while in present day.

Reward: Receive an increase in relationship with other Sims who Watch or Listen while playing the Laser Rhythm-a-con.

The Pioneer of Plumbotics

• Make a “Future Tech” Quality Plumbot while in present day, then…
• Install the Sentience Trait Chip to the Plumbot, while in present day.

Reward: Increase relationship with Plumbots at a faster rate and receive more Simoleons when selling Plumbots.

The Renowned Philanthropist

• Win the Lotto (buy a lotto ticket from the grocery store, costs 10Simoleons) in present day, then…
• Donate § 10.000 to the Plan the Future Fund at present day City Hall.

Reward: Gain the ability to Give Away Simoleons to other Sims.

The Time Keeper

• Become Best Friends with the Time Traveler, then…
• Change the Future to Dystopia and Utopia, then…
• Repair the Future Timeline back to Normal Oasis Landing.

Reward: Receive the Time Remote which allows different timelines to be set at the click of a button!

The Trendsetter

• Set up a mannequin in present day, then…
• Have 8 Sims use the mannequin to change their outfit, while in present day.

Reward: Nearby Sims will periodically change into the same outfit that you’re wearing.

New skills

Advanced tech skill

Advanced tech skill is something you build up automatically while interacting with future objects and travelling to the future. Interacting with the following objects increases this skill:

• Air Tube Elevator
• Dream Pod
• Drink Synthesizer
• Food Synthesizer
• Holographic Computer
• Hoverboard
• Jetpack
• Sonic Shower
• Time Portal.

Note: You can use these objects in present day and Oasis landing, the skill increases faster in Oasis landing.

I did not get to play much with this skill but I know that lvl 1 advanced tech skill is needed to start the utopian or dystopian quests.

Laser Rhythm-a-con

The Sims 3 Into the Future also comes with a cool new instrument that has awesome animations but I did not get play much with it.

Huge thanks to @Sim_Cookie for letting me use this screenshot!

Bot Building Skill

Now this is the skill that makes the pack worth it for me, it is similar to the Alchemy skill from Supernatural (my favourite skill). Remember the Chemistry set from Generations, I will always say that Maxis missed the boat there and should have made the chemistry skill just like alchemy and now bot building.

If you have seen the movie Minority Report, the movements your Sim makes on the  Bot Building station are very similar as Tom Cruise does in the movie. 

You can build a plumbot, trait chips and nanites. We have seen create a bot earlier in a live broadcast but playing with it myself it is very fun and a lot of options!

Then there are traitchips which are chips you can put in your plumbot to give them [as the name suggests] traits. Here is a full list of traitchips you can make: