Is anyone improving the mood-based system at all? «1234...Next Go

SimTrippy

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I have a question, and I don't really know how to ask it in order to get a precise answer from any of you (so I'm sorry if I've tagged the wrong people for this, I haven't been around that long ++ on that note, I'm also sorry if this post is repetitive to those of you who've spent a lot of time here already) .......... so here it goes ...........

A lot of people have made amazing suggestions to improve the mood-based system in the Sims 4 (and I'm sure you must've seen some of those threads every now and then), like using sliders instead of absolute moods (among many others). I mean, it really wasn't a bad idea to make moods more prominent (I actually loved the idea a lot at first), but what I don't understand is why no one seems to work on actually improving the relationship between chosen traits, whims & moods when so many people have expressed their frustrations over this? Why are moods after 2 years still not any less fickle, more trait-appropriate, and sim-specific?

I think it's extremely weird that my Sim can be very sad one minute, then enter a playfully styled room and suddenly be playful, go outside and be sad again, enter another room and be focused, and so on. Say a person is naturally gloomy, currently embarrassed and a bit bored - would a nicely decorated room really be enough to shift the mood balance in a normal person? I don't think so.

I also really don't get why things like gardening or writing don't actually boost *fun* for Sims with the botanist or writer aspirations? It seems kinda logical to me that my writer sim should enjoy writing - just like authors enjoy it most of the time, too. My outdoorsy sims should find indoor activities mood-lowering, while my active sims should get bored in front of the tv but super happy at the gym. Similarly, an active sim's fun level should get a real boost from doing sports, but not a lazy sim's. A botanist sim should actually enjoy spending time with their plants (and for that matter, autonomously *choose* gardening-related activities when not in a good mood to boost it), while a master would try to cheer himself up by cooking or going to a really nice restaurant.

Speaking of traits, I also don't get why traits don't define how quickly sims are able to learn certain things over others, and not just how often they get into certain moods? I mean, a creative person should do better at sculpting, painting, writing than say, a serial romantic? An evil sim shouldn't simply have mean actions available to them more readily than other sims who need to get angry first, but they should somehow... I don't know, appear evil? Especially when encountering them while playing other households? And being mean should, again, impact their fun level?

I understand that you've tried to avoid making the game too complex in order to ensure more stability, but really ... highly dedicated simmers have been begging you to work on this and "moods" were supposed to be the Sims 4's biggest & newest selling point, so why doesn't anyone seem to listen to user feedback and make those moods exactly what they should be? The best working, most attractive core feature of the entire game?

I'm sorry if I'm rambling a bit in this post, but I find this hard to wrap my head around - especially because this game honestly has so much potential, and a little tweak here and there could've improved the experience so drastically that it would've made up for what other people seem to miss in this game (toddlers, obviously - and I say this even though I wouldn't play them much). I can understand opting for stability, but what I can't understand is why you would just stop at that when, given the right improvements and care, your game could go from entertaining to actually awesome?

Any explanation would be great ... I don't mean to insult anyone, I'm just a moderately happy player who would love to see that the huge amount of thought and effort some simmers put into this game would be taken seriously and reflected in game patches.

Kindly,
SimTrippy

SimTrippy

I'm gonna go ahead & guess I won't receive an answer to this. It would've been nice to just know that the devs are listening. I love what you guys have been trying to do with the two most recent stuff packs, I also truly enjoyed dine out, and I enjoy the game overall. But I'd still like to know that the sims' emotions aren't all they can be yet. That someone's still working on improving the way they interact with the game, that one day all the things I've been reading & hearing about over and over again are things EA sees some value in. In the end, I get it, as long as people buy the game, it's all fine and well - but I wouldn't just want my creations to sell, I would want them to be amazing. I understand why people like the Sims 4, I haven't played so many hours of it for no reason at all. It's entertaining, it's fun, but there's always this nagging feeling that it truly is nothing more than a story inside your head. A story without consequences, with emotions that never run too deep. I'm sure I could've phrased my initial thoughts better, but there's thread after thread after thread discussing these things over and over again (the most recent one I've been following, for instance, http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/894070/do-you-think-theres-a-residual-darkness-to-previous-sims-games/p1). And what these threads make evident is that this series has been endowed with a commitment that EA shouldn't take for granted, but as its most profound inspiration for where this game's headed. And all we can do is hope that these threads are being read, that we're heard, and that somewhere along the way, the Sims 4 emotions reach the potential we see in them.

AlbaWaterhouse

Very well expressed. Thanks for taking the time to write this thread. I hope they really take it into consideration. I agree with everything you say.

SimTrippy

Thank you too for taking the time to read it.

Hyeion

I can just applaud.

Louise_G0325

These are amazing thoughts that would be so exciting to have in the game. I say aye to every single idea.
And I am also checking on the thread that that link goes to; I find that thread really interesting and I hope the team will take ideas from it and incorporate it into the game, with toggles so absolutely everyone can play exactly how they want.
But back to the original topic, more detail on the way sims react to their traits, really cannot be emphasized enough. I find it so annoying when my creative sim paints all day but then her fun is in the red because she finds no amusement in painting.
These little things would make the game even more special and I'm sure it will severely help to fix that hole that many simmers are feeling

SimTrippy

Louise_G0325 wrote: »

These little things would make the game even more special and I'm sure it will severely help to fix that hole that many simmers are feeling

Couldn't agree more!

applefeather2

I sure hope one of the gurus you mentioned will pop on this thread and give us an answer. #hopespringseternal

Neia

If you aren't opposed to mod, I suggest you take a look at one to remove the environment moodlets, it greatly improves the way emotions work in my mind. And probably avoid using emotional decor too.

SimTrippy

@applefeather2 I do too ... I don't understand why there needs to be all this secrecy surrounding the future of the sims. Even if EA won't let them reveal anything major, the moods/emotions are already in the game, so why would it be so awful to tell players they're working on improving them (even if they don't tell us how), or not?

@Neia Thanks for the suggestion However, although I've been looking into mods recently, I've got to admit that I'm one of those people who doesn't want to rely on using mods / avoiding certain types of decor just to have the game I (more or less) want. I've never used mods in TS2 , and I never wanted to in TS3 or 4 either

Movotti

It feels like TS4 sims are bipolar... or maybe polypolar... or hormonal teenagers.

And as funny as it is when they go cry in bed either from sadness or embarassment, it does get a bit monotonous. I mean really, would you go and cry if you walked in on someone in the bathroom? Most people I know would just laugh about it.

SimTrippy

Lol, so true @Movotti
Plus, idk but I'm pretty sure a lot of brothers & sisters use the bathroom at the same time when they're kids? As in, one showers while the other quickly brushes her teeth...? It's even made weirder by the fact that spouses can happily watch each other pee, but kids go cry it out when dad gets a glass of water while they're showering on the other side of the bathroom

ModerateOsprey

A timely thread.

I was messing about with a new sim this morning and when I got to her first weekend, her only friend came to visit. When she started talking to her visitor, it showed that her friend was sad.

I got my sim to make some food and when they sat to eat it, the bar at the top showed the visitor sim to be happy, but her bottom lip was still quivering during the entire meal as well as after.

So it does seem that a sim can still be 'aware' of a negative mood in the background.

DeKay

ModerateOsprey wrote: »

A timely thread.

I was messing about with a new sim this morning and when I got to her first weekend, her only friend came to visit. When she started talking to her visitor, it showed that her friend was sad.

I got my sim to make some food and when they sat to eat it, the bar at the top showed the visitor sim to be happy, but her bottom lip was still quivering during the entire meal as well as after.

So it does seem that a sim can still be 'aware' of a negative mood in the background.

Maybe that's a bug. I don't think it's supposed to do that. Either that or your sim's bar is dirty. The uncomfortable moodlet can make your sim's have that lip quivering thing even when overall, the sim has more happy moodlets (especially for neat sims).

ModerateOsprey

DeKay wrote: »

ModerateOsprey wrote: »

A timely thread.

I was messing about with a new sim this morning and when I got to her first weekend, her only friend came to visit. When she started talking to her visitor, it showed that her friend was sad.

I got my sim to make some food and when they sat to eat it, the bar at the top showed the visitor sim to be happy, but her bottom lip was still quivering during the entire meal as well as after.

So it does seem that a sim can still be 'aware' of a negative mood in the background.

Maybe that's a bug. I don't think it's supposed to do that. Either that or your sim's bar is dirty. The uncomfortable moodlet can make your sim's have that lip quivering thing even when overall, the sim has more happy moodlets (especially for neat sims).

I did wonder. If I had more time, I would have rotated to that sim to see what her moodlets were. I'll try and get a similar setup again when I have a bit more time and be a bit more scientific about it.

Sigzy05

Neia wrote: »

If you aren't opposed to mod, I suggest you take a look at one to remove the environment moodlets, it greatly improves the way emotions work in my mind. And probably avoid using emotional decor too.

So you'd rather use mods, then support a thread that asks for emotions/moodlets improvements and whim and trait improvements? 🐸🐸🐸🐸.

Neia

Sigzy05 wrote: »

Neia wrote: »

If you aren't opposed to mod, I suggest you take a look at one to remove the environment moodlets, it greatly improves the way emotions work in my mind. And probably avoid using emotional decor too.

So you'd rather use mods, then support a thread that asks for emotions/moodlets improvements and whim and trait improvements? plum.

I'd rather post something that may be useful to the OP

bythedreadwolf

Great post, OP. And I absolutely agree with you. I love the idea of emotions but the way they were implemented into the game is really terrible. They should go hand in hand with traits, making each sim unique. They shouldn't override the traits and make sims act out of character. The temporary whims for each emotion is one of the things that really bother me because they are universal so a loner sim that is happy will want to go out and meet people and be a social butterfly. The whims tied to emotions should check the sims traits and be based on that. I also wish there were other ways to make our sims different, like favorites, turn ons/offs, that sort of thing. As it is now, they all act the same way and there is no difference at all, which makes it so boring.

Also, I think certain activities shouldn't influence emotions so much. Why on earth would someone feel super confident just because they brushed their teeth? It's annoying really, because I like to make my sims brush their teeth regularly and there's always that annoying emotion tied to it. The same goes to tea. Sometimes I just want my sim to drink a black tea and not be focused (which doesn't even make any sense to me). This is one of my problems with emotions too, it's too easy to manipulate them.

Sigzy05

I think some moodlets need to stack with each other rather than adding up. I also think some emotions like playful and flirty as well as inspired should be harder to come by unless you are a romantic etc etc.

With so many things/objects that can easily give your sim any emotions in the end they all end up by becoming too common and feel less especial.

For example, I think that sims should become flirty after using the "flirt" interaction not 3 times or so but about 8 times. They should become flirty after kissing 3 times and after making out 2 times. And the flirty moodlets from interactions should stack with themselves and change only raising the value from one to two after each 3 moodlets of the same emotion are given. Or something similar, instead of three flirty moodlets with plus one value making sims "Very Flirty".

When it comes to decorations the same thing, only if you have 3 flirty decor should the moodlet value be raised by one.

Changing emotions should be harder rather than easier and moodlet values and how they stack/work should be heavily looked at. I think perhaps there are too many emotions we barely end up seeing dazzed or bored emotions in the game to the point where I sometimes forget they are even in the game. I repeat interactions with sims in TS4 and many times they don't even mind they just get bored if the sims tell a joke that didn't land which is kind of weird.

DeKay

Sigzy05 wrote: »

Neia wrote: »

If you aren't opposed to mod, I suggest you take a look at one to remove the environment moodlets, it greatly improves the way emotions work in my mind. And probably avoid using emotional decor too.

So you'd rather use mods, then support a thread that asks for emotions/moodlets improvements and whim and trait improvements? plum.

They were just being helpful and giving a suggestion. They didn't say anything about not supporting OP's idea, anyways. No need to jump to conclusions like that, please.

buzz_infamous

What i also noticed is that sims rarely get moodlets from eating food in restaurants or while watching movies. Only after they are finished, not really during. And i just cannot understand why sims would be so angry for several hours after watching a bad movie. Would not really happen in real life unless you are overly hysterical about so insignificant stuff.

DeKay

buzz_infamous wrote: »

What i also noticed is that sims rarely get moodlets from eating food in restaurants or while watching movies. Only after they are finished, not really during. And i just cannot understand why sims would be so angry for several hours after watching a bad movie. Would not really happen in real life unless you are overly hysterical about so insignificant stuff.

I haven't gotten a sim who gets angry after watching a movie! They usually get bored in my game.

FairyGodMother

If they fixed the mood system..............It would give me that WOW effect I was hoping for... from the start!

Imagine how different the game would be if the moods were fixed

ParmaViolet87

I couldn't agree more. I had a Sim who was angered by his wife being unfaithful and his mood was suppressed because his living room was nicely decorated. It really irks me.

When you've had your heart broken I doubt you'd really care if that painting above the fireplace looks good or not.

FairyGodMother

ParmaViolet87 wrote: »

I couldn't agree more. I had a Sim who was angered by his wife being unfaithful and his mood was suppressed because his living room was nicely decorated. It really irks me.

When you've had your heart broken I doubt you'd really care if that painting above the fireplace looks good or not.

Unless your heart has been broken ......one time too many......

ParmaViolet87

@charlotteprice true