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whitepawn23
Posts: 308 Member
There are the paid sites with "professional" reviewers, then there are folks like you and me. It's always interesting to see how the two numbers compare. Anyway, for those who are still debating on whether or not to buy the next incarnation, the site works well in that capacity too.
My buddy loaned me her laptop, with the game, because she was angry and said she wouldn't be playing it anyway. I gave it about 30 hours, just to be sure, and I wasn't impressed. Feels like a FaceBook game with a real game price tag. Sims 4 feels backwards in terms of tech. Yeah, yeah, some of you like it, and that's fine. Enjoy, including the unsanitary part where beverages are consumed on the toilet. We're all entitled, even if we don't agree with one another. So play your Sims 4. In the meantime, I'll be monkeying around with create-a-world for Sims 3.
If you want your love or hate projected on another site, where folks go to consider their game purchase decisions, then Metacritic is the place.
www. metacritic.com/game/pc/the-sims-4
My buddy loaned me her laptop, with the game, because she was angry and said she wouldn't be playing it anyway. I gave it about 30 hours, just to be sure, and I wasn't impressed. Feels like a FaceBook game with a real game price tag. Sims 4 feels backwards in terms of tech. Yeah, yeah, some of you like it, and that's fine. Enjoy, including the unsanitary part where beverages are consumed on the toilet. We're all entitled, even if we don't agree with one another. So play your Sims 4. In the meantime, I'll be monkeying around with create-a-world for Sims 3.
If you want your love or hate projected on another site, where folks go to consider their game purchase decisions, then Metacritic is the place.
www. metacritic.com/game/pc/the-sims-4
3
Comments
I miss the creative freedom. Like with Hair, Clothes, Furniture, Walls etc. You could change the color, change the Pattern. There was so many options for Creativity I loved it. I miss that the most.
I also miss somethings in Build Mode. Like Auto Roofing. I am not the greatest at Building houses. I do my best, and walls and floors are easily done. But Roofs I'd just rather click and have it set up. Maybe being able to make it higher or lower is good, but eh.. To me my houses don't look near as good as before.
I also don't like how you can't Add or Modify the World.. Like adding space for a new house, Or making another park. There is no option now to create or modify the sims world/neighborhood.. We just gotta deal with what we got. To me that made it boring.
Last issue I have is Gardening. Why?.. Because I have reached level 10 of Gardening and still there are seeds I cannot get. I think it shouldn't matter if you are in Oasis or the Dessert or the Other.. You should be able to at least buy all the seeds available. How can I fully do the Gardening challenges if I can't even get the seeds I need? Anyways is kind of annoying.
One last thing that isn't really bad thing but I kind of miss... having Cars.. I don't know.. it was just kind of a fun thing in Sim 3.
anyways.. I don't hate Sims 4.. But there are things I miss from the basic game. (I expect expansion packs will help with the rest)
TheSims4 is a skeleton of the previous 2 games within the franchise. It's like they took both of those games and stripped them of their quality. The most fun I have with the game is playing around in CAS. Even then, there are fewer clothing options, fewer colors to chose from, fewer personality traits, and I would have said less ages to chose from, but luckily they've added toddlers. I like the whole gender (males can wear female clothing and vice versa) clothing options, though.
To be fair, it IS a fun game when it actually works. Butthathasnthappenedinmonthsnowimtotallynotbitter.
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Although there is many great things, there is always lots of things that are missing. I love TS4, but it's missing lots of things from the previous games. The lack of general family features, transportation, and expansion packs. We have been waiting for years for something that looks as if it's not going to be happening anytime.
CAS + Build mode offer the biggest improvements overall. Live mode, in my opinion, has been bland and boring since day 1. Sims kind of have hive mind and act more or less like the same person regardless of traits/aspiration in my experience. I have a large scale rotation (easily 17 households if not more) so the similarities among my sims are incredibly noticeable. Makes playing less fun because there's not really any variety in what is going on or what will happen in the future.
DLC has been hit or miss. GP's have mostly been great (not so much outdoor retreat), and EP's have largely been disappointing, or downright bad IMO. Stuff Packs are now more or less gameplay packs with minimal stuff - I guess I value stuff in a stuff pack and not really the piecemeal gameplay objects they now release instead of more stuff. I didn't get into premium objects or sets on The Sims 3 store which is basically what Stuff Packs are now.
Sims 4 at launch would get a 4/10 from me, now it's probably a 6/10 judging the base game alone. The game itself is missing some basic functionality that both Sims 2 and Sims 3 had either at launch, or shortly after, and given we are over 2.5 years into the game it's unlikely to see things like custom worlds or even an in-game world editor to add/remove lots and redo neighborhood decorations/objects. Some features that were added in paid DLC also lack basic functionality, like the apartments in CL where they cannot be used outside of the city, and within the city they can only be redecorated while maintaining their preset shape/size/location.
That's one small step for a sim... one giant leap for simkind...
I struggled to play it for probably a year.
I quite like it now.
I score it 8 out of 10 - which gives it scope to improve with more content.
First, The Sims is somewhat unique in its very heavy reliance on stuff packs / expansions to add content to the game, and people have a tendency to compare a new game to the previous game WITH all the expansions added. This causes a lot of people to say "Oh well, the past Sims game had XXX" when XXX was only introduced through an expansion. Seasons and Pets, for example. Or even if when people do remember to try to make a fair comparison, it's not always easy to remember what came with the base game and what was added later.
Second, what does the Sims 4 bring to the table? TS1 gave us the series, TS2 gave us the real gameplay and full 3D graphics, and TS3 gave us an open world. What does TS4 bring to the table? Well, this game gave us a vastly improved CAS, a much more intuitive build mode, lots of sorting options and filters (which weren't in TS3 base game), stability and quick loading times, etc. But none of these are particularly noticeable during the actual gameplay, if at all. The things that are missing, such as the pets, cars, and initially toddlers and pools, along with somewhat limited interactions and the fact that older generations of sims get purged from the game, not to mention no story progression and open world, affect the gameplay to a great degree. This makes the game's shortcomings extremely noticeable.
At the end of the day, it's not a perfect game but a solid entry worthy of the Sims franchise. Sometimes I wish the forums weren't such a massive echo chamber when it comes to criticizing / praising the game.
Love graphics , and smooth game play. Impressed with choices on skins. Love how town looks and how more natural Sims looks, when they go for jogging. Will be waiting for something close to season expansion,my favorite, and I still miss magic battles from first Sims, or broom rides
CAS: is pretty much what I've always wanted in a character creator. I love being able to pull and mold Sims. It's a much more intuitive method, compared to sliders. I hope that, eventually, more modification points will be added. There are areas that could still use more fine controls. For example, in the face, I would like the option to reduce the size of the forehead. If there is one already, I can't seem to find it.
I also really like some of the newer clothing. It has decent variety in style. The only thing missing is a few more pieces for the elderly set.
Despite all of the above, for me, losing CASt mars the achievement. It's like taking a step forward, then immediately taking a step back.
Buy Mode: I really don't care for the look of objects in TS4. They are incredibly low-poly, blocky, and uninteresting in shape and design. Round objects don't exist. Anything that is supposed to be curved turned out looking polygonal and disappointing. That has been alleviated somewhat in the C&D pack. The new chairs actually have believable curves and delicate spindles. For the most part, they're very nice. I would like to see that trend continue.
Again, the absence of CASt is a hard blow. There aren't enough swatches in the game. Add to that, textures and patterns are permanently married to the woodwork. For me, that is a huge, HUGE oversight. It would have been wonderful if there were separate swatches for wood grains and color. This is how TS2 did it and it was lovely. If I want a blue sofa, why am I forced to use the blonde wood? From a creative point of view, this decision makes no sense.
Also, taking away CASt means that I have to add more CC to my game. Instead of downloading CC that brings new shapes and styles to my game. I also need CC just so that I can have a variety of colors.
Build Mode: Build mode has some amazing advancements. I give a resounding A+ to features like: lot rotation, multi-level foundations, being able to place larger builds onto smaller lots, being able to switch rooms around on the fly, and saving rooms independently. Those are all flipping amazing!
However, again, it's a step forward and two steps back. Foundations can not be independently applied to structures. It has to be one size fits all. So, if you want to simulate a shed, a barn or a garage, you'd better forget about having a foundation/porches on the main structure.
Also, there are no terrain tools. This greatly hampers the ability to create more complex structures such as, cliff-side houses, daylight basements, friezes between levels, arched walkways and bridges, believable lakeside properties that extend out over the water, staircases with landings and switchbacks, etc.
The constrainfloorelevation cheat allowed for wonderful flexibility. All of that is gone now. But why? TS4 has a 64-bit .exe. Plus, the neighborhoods all exist in their own dimension. Therefore, there should be less overhead in regards to computing power and memory. So, why reduce the options for building? As a result, I don't enjoy building in TS4. For the first time ever in the series, I'm no longer a builder. I've lost the inspiration.
Another thing that disappoints me about build mod is the vegetation. Trees, bushes, and flowers suffer from the same issues as the furnishing. Though, I do notice that newer stuff has shown a marked improvement. Trees resemble trees again. I almost didn't buy the game because I was finding it hard to look past the trees that more resembled balls of cotton candy, rather than anything to be found in nature.
Worlds: They are beautiful. As this iteration progresses, the progress is reflected in the worlds. Each one is more visually interesting than the last. I like the increased variety in elevations. The worlds no longer appear as flat. If only the lots were so.
That aside, the worlds are unnecessarily tiny. Again, with the reduced computational overhead of a closed world, why are the worlds that we got so tiny? What EA now calls worlds are basically just neighborhoods with their own sub-hoods. In addition, we are not allowed to edit public spaces. For example I would love to add toddler objects to the existing public playground spots. I can't. There are far too many public areas that are empty. What are those open green spaces in Newcrest for? What reason do I have to send my Sims there? None.
The boat landing in Magnolia Promenade is nice and all, but there's absolutely nothing there! The same thing with the docks in the Spice Market and in Windenburg. They are all these long open spaces with absolutely nothing to do there except fish. Give me the option to edit those spots and I'd be able to create a few really nice local hangouts that are off the beaten path. Introduce something like micro-lots (10x10, let's say) in places like that. Areas that I can change to add a bit of flavor such as bait shops, dive bars, a shop that sells local tchochkes. The docks in BB sort of have that feeling that I'm looking for. There just aren't enough lots and some of the lots are too large for the purposes that I'd intend to use them for.
I also have a problem with how generic all of the worlds are. They are all beautiful, all clean, all upper middle class, suburban retreats. Even San Myshuno doesn't really feel like a city. Cities have diverse neighborhoods. To me, the Spice Market is the only place in SM that has a distinct feel. It's also the only place in town where a Sim can appear to live among the other denizens of the city, rather than far away, up in the clouds. To make SM feel like a real city, it would have been nice if the buildings were real. If there were lobbies and real elevators. It would have been nice if the Fashion District were related to fashion in some way. Where are all the boutiques? Where is the shopping mall?
As much as I like my Sims to have the option of city-living, the EP was a wasted opportunity that missed a lot of beats. Such as really compact living. There should at least be a row of long, narrow lots that touch each other. So that players can create their own small apartment buildings and alleyways.
There are no car pools, school buses, bikes, motorcycles, taxis, nada. My Sims can only dream about using those ubiquitous autos, street cars, and boats that are put in the world to pretend as if there's a genuine system of transportation in the game.
I love the idea of lot traits. They just don't go far enough. Lot traits should identify preferred age group and preferred style of dress. They could also designate the types of personalities that would congregate in a player-created lot. I realize that this could be done with the club function of the GT pack. However, adding Sims to clubs is cumbersome and limiting because there are only eight slots, at most. Lot traits could theoretically bring every single, flirty, young adult in the world at once, barring that they are not otherwise engaged. It would be nice to have a lot trait that designates only locals, for example.
The object list for lots are too restrictive. I would love if that feature is done away with altogether. I should get to decide what constitutes a park or a museum, not the game. Lot should also be multi-function. In a game with so little real estate, any object that I put on a lot should simply work -- food kiosks, bars, coffee bars, everything. No matter where I put objects they should draw Sims according to their traits. In this way, I could create small strip malls and such.
Lighting: I really love the lighting update. The shadows are great. What I don't like is the constant brightness, the blue overtones, and the over saturation. Night time does not exist in TS4. At most, I get an early evening vibe. Even Forgotten Hollow is not dark enough, or (foreboding enough). Also, the lighting does very odd and undesirable things to the colors of the furnishing. Upper cabinets don't look the same color as the lower ones.
Game play: This is a doozy and I've already written so much. I don't know if I'll be able to touch on it all. ::sigh::
For me, the game play is where TS4 took an arrow to the knee (
Families aren't really families. Other than the immediate nuclear family, they don't recognize each other as such. In-laws and half-siblings? Nope. Step parents and step-children? No.
As a result, there isn't a way to filter the list of Sims by family, only by friendship and romantic associations. If you don't have Get Together, there's no way to corral all the relations. Even then, it's hard because clubs are restricted to only eight members. It would be nice to have a menu filter that instantly shows everyone that is related to a selected Sim by blood. I miss this feature dearly.
Emotions aren't really emotions. Body language and facial expressions are not congruent with how a Sim should be feeling in any given situation. They are rarely influenced by events that occur around them. If a Sim is angry, I can make them hug the person that they're angry with, no problem. They won't resist and when they give the hug, they'll be all smiles, nary a sarcastic eye roll or a grimace in sight. I don't even have to force friendly actions. Sims spontaneously do them ALL THE TIME, including the Evil Sims!!! If someone called my mother a llama, I'd be ready to tell them about themselves. I wouldn't turn around and ask them how their day went.
Sims are influenced too heavily by their environment, as opposed to their own inner thought processes and personality. As with almost everything, this leads back to traits.
Traits are lacking. For the most part, they are empty labels. There aren't enough of them and the adult Sims are only allowed to have three. Forget about the kids and teens. I wouldn't mind it if YA had only three traits and then adults and elders got one more upon aging up. That would make a bit of sense.
Anyhow, it's very difficult to create a Sim that feels unique. I can dress them so that they look the part. However, when it comes down to actions, they aren't really that different from anyone else. For example, in a save that I'm running, there was a Sim that I let join the established social circle of the main Sim. I was shocked to discover that the Sim was Evil. I just rolled with it, though, because I didn't see any difference between her and the rest of the Sims in the gang. She fit right in, no problem. There were no nasty looks, spontaneous arguments, or well-placed shade.
Whims are generic and hardly trait-based. I like to look at whims as a Sim's way of telling me who they are. In the case of TS4, all of the Sims are telling me that they're clones of each other and that there are big, slimy alien pods hidden in every dark corner and basement. In other words: don not walk, RUN!
I hate that all Sims make their beds. I hate that every last Sim hops up from the table as soon as they're done eating and they're all fighting to clear the table. I hate that every single Sim is as likely to complain about a dirty dish as a Sim who is supposed to be the neat one. In what universe does that happen? The lone wolf Sims are all out there shaking their groove thangs in the club, right along with the bookworms and school-aged children. Everyone wants to play with their phone, to watch tv, and I can't get any of them away from the danged computers without a mod. An elderly person is equally likely to troll teh forums as a snarky teen -- if there were snarky teens.
There are no fears or dislikes. There is absolutely nothing in this game that would cause a Sim to be inexorably drawn to another. Or, to totally loose their ish and throw a tantrum/full blown panic attack. Not even a Vampire or an honest-to-goodness ghost (!) showing up in the bowling alley will do it. Someone's levitating and turning into a bat in the middle of the dance floor and no one bats an eye. (Excuse the pun.) Don't get me started on the aliens. A Sim will be upset to discover that their friend is an alien. Yet, they have no problem whatsoever attending the weekly alien night at the local pub. Yeah, okay.
Which brings me to the life stages. Toddlers are awesome. I wish that they would have more of a presence on community lots such as parks and playgrounds. I shouldn't need to make a formal play date just to get toddlers to come to the toddler playground. Since, as infants, they all seem to teleport to the same invisible daycare, I figure that all of the toddlers should know each other by now. At least, all of the toddlers that live in the same 'hood. It's flippin' tedious trying to get toddlers to meet each other.
Toddlers emphasize exactly how much every other life stage is lacking. Infants don't exist. They are baby-shaped furniture that can be found in the debug catalog. We can't bathe them, carry them around, or even sit and cuddle them. Showing them off to the family means having the family stand the equivalent of five feet away behind the bassinet while the parent holds up the babyas if the parent were a salesperson in a department store.
Young adults, adults, and elders might as well be the same age. There's no distinction there, visually or in their behavior. Since we were given young adults in the base game, why not also include a University function as well? Because that is what initially distinguished young adults from every other life stage. They went to college! I know that the company is waiting to sell a Uni expansion. However, until that time, YA Sims could have had the option to attend an off-world university, or skip the higher education and go straight to a job. In other words, they would continue to go to school. Only, it would be called college. Until they attended, professions like doctors and astronauts would remain out of their reach.
Teens don't act like teens and there are no places for them to go where they can be teens. No arcades, no movie theaters, roller rinks, athletic fields, schoolyards, nothing. There is no lot trait so that we can create a place like that. I don't need teens strolling by, I need them to come on in. Teens should have laptop computers and Lan parties, spin the bottle, truth or dare. They should have crushes and rivals. They should be having first dates and first kisses. (The first kiss and make out sessions in TS4 are already quite appropriate for teenagers. The adults could be further identifiable by having more mature, passionate interactions.) Teens should be starting to explore their new traits as they relate to potential careers in the future.
Children are a little better than teens, but not by much. I have enough things for the adults to do, give the children activities that reflect childhood, irrespective of how it applies to some arbitrary shopping list of traits that the adult would like to foster in them. They should have sleepover events, movie nights, more playground equipment, tree houses, bunk beds, baseballs, footballs, frisbees, jump ropes, skateboards, skates, hopscotch, Ding Dong Ditch, hide and go seek, Cops and Robbers, Miss Mary Mack, and a myriad of other activities that kids like to do. The battle station is very cool. I love the idea of the Sim kiddies collecting Voidcritters. Only, if I put battle stations on a community lot, the kids won't go near it. (So much for that arcade idea. One giant machine does not an arcade make.) Like teens, there is no way to designate a lot for mainly kids. They have to hang out in the same park with the adults. That same park with the pervy, homeless, bum that won't leave the kids alone and then passes out on the bench, enveloped by flies and their own stench. I really resent that Sims that I have created are drafted into becoming said pervy, homeless bum when I'm not controlling them.
The elderly have been totally forgotten. In fact, they are so indistinct and forgettable, I had to edit this to add them to this discussion about life stages, because I plum forgot them.
Other issues with game play is that there is no romance in TS4. One partner is as good as another. I could marry off two Sims who are completely diametrically opposed to each other and it would make no difference. All of the little details that cause conflict and tension are missing. In addition, there are very few interactions that reflect true tenderness or heat. I miss Sims that snuggle, spoon, and cuddle in bed. I miss Sims that make out -- not that high school bird pecking that we get now. I miss Sims that actually touch lips when they kiss. I miss Sims that can dance together, I miss Sims that can have an a date without being rudely interrupted. I miss playing footsie and holding hands at the table, sneaking a bite of the other Sim's food, and being able to prepare a loved one's favorite dish. I miss weddings where Sims sit down to watch. I miss wedding ceremonies where the bride and groom hold hands and look lovingly into each other's eyes, instead of hugging it out. I miss the best man being able to make a toast. The toast interaction is so difficult to fire now. I miss the bride and groom having the first slow dance. I miss having a limousine to carry the newlyweds away. I miss that the only honeymoon on offer is out in the middle of the woods. Listen, my girl isn't about to ruin her Louboutins, roughing it in Granite Falls. She deserves a honeymoon in Bali, with swimming and everything.
The romance department is so lacking that I'm having a difficult time articulating it, but I'll try: See, I'm a family player. For me, families begin with Mom and Dad -- the way they met, what they liked/disliked about each other, how they courted, what made them fall in LOVE with each other over every other Sim in the world. For me, all of that stuff is missing. It used to be there in other versions and now it's inexplicably gone. Sims can't even dance together. When they show any affection, they don't seem like adults who are in love with each other, they act like shy teenagers who are afraid that they might be rejected. If they get the green light on the good stuff, they fist pump like they're at the game.
TS2 got romance right. TS4 has it all wrong, that's all I can say.
As far as lifestyle, there aren't enough grunge objects and objects do not get dirty frequently enough. An object will break down before it will get dirty. Maids are practically useless in my game because there's nothing for them to do. I don't want every household to be perfect and to look perfect. I shouldn't need cc clutter items to make a house look sloppy and lived in if a slob lives there. The slovenliness should be self-evident and evolve organically from the actions of the Sims. Objects are also too darned large.
I'm tired of typing and I'm certain that the length of this post has probably caused many board members to take a pass on reading it. So, I guess that I'll finally stop here. There is so much more that I could touch on, however, I'll save it for another time, another thread. I'll just conclude in saying that I don't hate TS4. Rather, I am flummoxed by how many great ideas it has, only to be let down by incredible weaknesses in other areas. With each subsequent iteration, the base game became less of a foundation and more of a bare bones frame work and that it not a sound decision. We've been waiting and waiting for this game to live up to its potential and it's taking way too long. The level of quality should be uniformly great. That's not what we got. If I could put all of the features of TS4 on one of those old-fashioned scales, not only would the negative outweigh the positive, the scale would dangerously tip and things would start falling out and rolling under the counter. That's how I see TS4 as it is now. Can it get better? Yeah maybe -- hundreds of dollars more and years later. But that's not what it is right now.
Hear hear... As an aviation fan, I can visualize that and it would drop out of the sky with a gigantic splat. I'm afraid this thing wouldn't even power a DC-3.
Though I miss seeing airplanes in ANY of the Sims iterations.
@Cynna, You highlighted a lot, in great detail as to why I'm not throwing my money down on TS4. It doesn't meet what I want in CAS or CASt which I had in TS3. In fact, considering the shortcomings that I see that you have written down, it would take a major miracle for me to even consider purchasing the game...let alone the over-expensive stuff/game packs or the EPs.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
This needs to be directly emailed to the head honcho's of development if they even care! @SimGuruSparkle @SimGuruDrake @SimGuruRusskii @SimGuruHydra
Unfortunately @ST7_MTNMAN; I doubt that they are listening.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Thanks for tagging the appropriate gurus. I really hope that there is someone who is listening to the issues.
The game really did have so much potential. The things that it does well are awesome. However, CAS/CAP and build/buy mode aren't as important to me as the game play. It's a pity that the game play is where it all falls apart for me.
A lot of my issues with the game have been stated already by previous posters, such as gameplay issues and too many bugs for being 3 years old already. However, some of the things that I have really enjoyed about TS4 are the Build Mode and the emotions. Build Mode is so much easier for me in TS4. It is much more intuitive and user-friendly. I NEVER built my own house in the Sims 3. It would just never turn out the way I wanted it to and it felt clunky to me. With the Sims 4, I FINALLY understand how to do roofs! haha. I also really like how emotions and moods influence what your sim wants to do. It feels more immersive and streamlined.
I feel like the Sims 4 will continue to improve as they go along and they seem to be getting better and better. I just wish it hadn't taken 3+ years since TS4 launched.
What i do care about is spending my hard earned money for a product that should provide me with the result i expect for the price. Unfortunately this game does not do that for me. And i would not recommend it to anybody unless they could get all the packs and the base game for $100.00 that is what it is worth to me the way the game is right now.
Now I will say I am like so many others in the way that i hope it does reach it's potential but i have seen no evidence to convince me otherwise. And if for some reason you do come out with something that just completely drastically changes the gameplay aspect of the game and i am talking changes it across the board you will not get another red cent from me ever.
Sorry if any feeling were hurt while writing this but like they always say "Sometime the truth hurts."