Please add these life stages in family gamepack! This will make me and other millions of people happy!
It's a bit late to be asking for things like that to be added now.
Look at how long it took them to develop toddlers.
Also, from what I understand, they'd planned on putting toddlers in from the start, they'd structed the aging system to include them, but not to add any more new ages.
Perhaps you'd be better off asking for your strange ideas for ts5.
Really have to stopped to consider how long you spend at each lifestage, in comparison to others?
You're only a baby for 12 months.
You're a toddler from age one to age four, that's just 3 years.
You're a child from age 5 to your teens. That's only 8 years.
You're a teen from 13 to 19, just 7 years really.
From 18 you're an adult, or more speciffically, a young adult. And due to how the human brain delvelops, you're only a young adult until you're in your mid 20's, for most people, that's 7 years.
From your mid 20's, to your mid 40's you're just an ordinary adult, bubmling your way through life like everyone else, just a short 20 years.
Then you're middle aged, when your 20 year old self is stuck inside an aging body, wondering what the heck happened!
There was a time when your 50's were when you were planning on retiring, but these days, you're not likely to be even close by the time you reach your mid 60's, when you're an older person, wondering if you're going to reach 70 before you get to retire.
So for the sake of reality, you'd need the 'adult' age to be as long as baby through to end of the teen life stage
Perhaps if each age length was done in days, then things might work, a sim baby for just one day, a toddler for 3 days, a child for 8 days (not sure how you'd cram your extra stages in that... maybe have a birthday ever second day?)
A teen for just 7 days? less really, since you become a young adult during your teens.
A young adult for 7 days, then adult for 20 days.
But then we're lacking the age between adult and elder. No one jumps from 45 to 70!
So really, where are you going to cram these extra stages?
five to eight? 3 years. So, 3 sim days. Wee birthday party time!
Preteen by definition are not teenagers, they're usually 10-12 year olds.
Look at that, another 3 year span with a 2 year 'child' span.
Logistically, it doesn't make sense for the game, it means a LOT more animations (and not fun ones, just repeats for all the age combinations), which would push the price of the game up by a heck of a lot.
Have you really thought about how many new animations would be needed just for two sims to hug?
As it is, a toddler has to be able to hug children, and all ages above (fortunately they all use the same aninmation)
But as soon as you add more life stages, of different sizes, that's two more animations needed just for a toddler.
An adult (YA, teen, elder) currently has 4 hug animations, one for a baby, one for a toddler, one for a child and one for sims of their own size. If you add preteens, then you'd have to add another animation for adults to hug them, add little kids, and it's yet another animation for adults. Just for hugs.
By not adding these extra ages, more effort can be put into more activities for the ages that the game currently contains.
These are some really great ideas, I'm just failing to understand why a young child age should be added. Please know I'm not in any way trying to make that sound snarky, I just genuinely would like to know why an age like this would appeal to you and others? Personally, the children have always seemed rather young to me. Their feet don't touch the ground when they sit in a chair, they have to get up on their tip-toes to reach a sink, and so forth. You can dress them to look very youthful if you'd like them to come across as young children, and you can use the CAS and build items from the Kids' Room SP to make them appear more like preteens later on. I know some players don't necessarily like having to go to these lengths to do this, but I find it difficult to imagine that the game would be able to represent every life stage without cutting corners or taking away attention from others.
I've also mentioned it in quite a number of other threads, but while I think preteens could be a cool addition, the other life stages (particularly teen and elder) could use a pretty healthy dose of TLC first. Otherwise, assuming a stage like preteen was to be created as wonderfully as the toddlers were, these ages are going to appear even more heavily ignored than they are currently. While I make no claims to know anything of game design or coding, it would take a considerable amount of work to implement these new life stages as they'll need their own interactions, clothing, traits, new social animations to work with all the existing ages, etc. Just think of the amount of time it took to get toddlers and consider what that would mean if they did implement these ages; that's a lot of time and energy that could be better spent developing current life stages and creating fresh content.
Also (again, not trying to sound rude here), it's not really realistic to ask for these things for the Family GP now. It is most likely either very, very close to being finished, or it already is. I'd truly be shocked if a life stage was added at all, to be honest. I'm guessing this pack is going to be introducing more interactions and activities for families, and may add upon current life stages. My point is, I wouldn't at all expect for them to be adding some brand new life stage with this pack. But hey, you never know, right? Maybe they'll completely surprise us again.
In re-reading your ideas.
I think you need to go back to the drawing board. You haven't really suggested anything unique.
Your ideas for young children are mostly interactions we aleady have for children, and your ideas for preteens are much like the teens we already have, the only real differences you've got are height and body shape related, which isn't enough to be adding a new life stage. They'll get boring really fast. People will complain about them the way they complain about teens. All the engergy put into developing them would be wasted on just the basic animations, as I mentioned previously.
How about coming up with a list of things to improve the teens and children we already have?
What new activities and interactions could be added to improve the stages we've already got?
I know that I'd like more imaginitive play between children and toddlers, stuff that would work like the imaginary friend in ts3, so that you'd only see what they are imagining if you are playing as them, as soon as you switch to an older sim, you'd just see the children/toddlers moving around like they're a bit crazy, switch back, and the child is feeding a unicorn, or patting a dinosaur.
Make what we have less boring, or just add more boing lifeless lifestages? What would you rather?
Please add these life stages in family gamepack! This will make me and other millions of people happy!
It's a bit late to be asking for things like that to be added now.
Look at how long it took them to develop toddlers.
As if this is the first time preteens have been requested in 2 and a half years, they even were mention on one of the surveys suggesting a family pack. We get it YOU don't want them why get angry and put down others ideas who do.
For preteens I'd love to see them add hobbies like ballet or karate that they could carry on with at older ages if they practiced it as preteens, pestering of younger siblings and the ability to have a crush picked by the player. They should be the perfect mix of child and teen but neither like the ability to play toys with a younger sibling but get the embarrassed moodlet if a friend walks in and catches them.
Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
Please add these life stages in family gamepack! This will make me and other millions of people happy!
It's a bit late to be asking for things like that to be added now.
Look at how long it took them to develop toddlers.
As if this is the first time preteens have been requested in 2 and a half years, they even were mention on one of the surveys suggesting a family pack. We get it YOU don't want them why get angry and put down others ideas who do.
You seem to have misse the date of when this thread was posted, and that it is speciffically asking for these things to be added to a pack that is already in the final stages of development.
Use some logic. Why would they add something that is just a repeat of things the game already contains, something that's only going to add extra birthdays, but no real gameplay.
And my posts have nothing to do with whether I want them added or not, my posts are about the logic of adding them.
You're the one who seems angry, not I.
You're the one putting down the ideas of others, I simply point out the reality, and give other options.
For preteens I'd love to see them add hobbies like ballet or karate that they could carry on with at older ages
Why speciffically for preteens? Why not have these hobbies for the children who are already lacking in activities? They could be continued as a teen activity, thereby improving two of the life stages that the game already has.
get the embarrassed moodlet if a friend walks in and catches them.
What? Why?
I played with toys into my teens, with no sense of embarrassment, why would a preteen be embarrassed to play with toys. I don't understand this. Is there something mentally wrong with the preteen in question?
What? Why?
I played with toys into my teens, with no sense of embarrassment, why would a preteen be embarrassed to play with toys. I don't understand this. Is there something mentally wrong with the preteen in question?
I played with toys into my teens as well but from as young as 8/9 other kids would mock the idea of playing with toys as being babyish. So I pretended that I didn't still play with them, except for with certain kids where we would play together. While I did know a number of kids that still played with toys, I didn't know anyone of that age that would generally admit to it and be open about it. And no there wasn't something "mentally wrong" with my friends and I, it was just kids trying to fit in and avoid being made fun of.
What? Why?
I played with toys into my teens, with no sense of embarrassment, why would a preteen be embarrassed to play with toys. I don't understand this. Is there something mentally wrong with the preteen in question?
I played with toys into my teens as well but from as young as 8/9 other kids would mock the idea of playing with toys as being babyish. So I pretended that I didn't still play with them, except for with certain kids where we would play together. While I did know a number of kids that still played with toys, I didn't know anyone of that age that would generally admit to it and be open about it. And no there wasn't something "mentally wrong" with my friends and I, it was just kids trying to fit in and avoid being made fun of.
You seem to have misse the date of when this thread was posted, and that it is speciffically asking for these things to be added to a pack that is already in the final stages of development.
Nope I missed nothing I noticed the date, I was just saying its possible we get preteens with this pack we really have no idea what this family pack offers at this time toddlers came out of no where why not preteens they were mentioned in the same survey as the toddlers.
Use some logic. Why would they add something that is just a repeat of things the game already contains, something that's only going to add extra birthdays, but no real gameplay.
No real game play for YOU preteens is a feature that would add so much game play for me and overall just make this game so much more enjoyable.
And my posts have nothing to do with whether I want them added or not, my posts are about the logic of adding them.You're the one who seems angry, not I. You're the one putting down the ideas of others, I simply point out the reality, and give other options.
People said the same thing about toddlers I disagreed with them as well its your reality not mine. Just because a life stage is short in real life does not mean it does not deserve a spot in the game I don't care if preteen is 3 days or 100 (play with aging off) going from a child to a full on adult sized teen is not fun being able to explore the age between is.
it would take away from child and teens if they did that the kids in the last gp only got one dress and one hair
they wouldn't get any thing at all if preteens were a thing
I played with toys into my teens as well but from as young as 8/9 other kids would mock the idea of playing with toys as being babyish. So I pretended that I didn't still play with them, except for with certain kids where we would play together. While I did know a number of kids that still played with toys, I didn't know anyone of that age that would generally admit to it and be open about it. And no there wasn't something "mentally wrong" with my friends and I, it was just kids trying to fit in and avoid being made fun of.
I never experienced anything like that.
It's perfectly normal for a 14 year old to play with toys, especially if they have younger siblings. In fact, it's expected that they will play with toys, with their younger siblings.
Perhaps this is a culture related thing. Cos in the culture I was raised in, you're considered to be somewhat odd if you won't play with toys with your younger siblings/cousins/whatever small children happen to be visiting.
And then there's lego, which it's just plain weird if you are ever ashamed of playing with it. I know people in their 50's and 60's who still buy lego, for themselves!
No real game play for YOU preteens is a feature that would add so much game play for me and overall just make this game so much more enjoyable.
So, if they added preteens, and they had exactly the same interactions and activities as children, you'd find them enjoyable?
Why would they need to be added? You already have those interactions using children, what would making them a tiny bit taller do to make them more enjoyable?
People said the same thing about toddlers
from what I understand, toddlers were going to be added anyway, they were planned from the start
I can see people are struggleing to get their heads around some of what I'm talking about.
What are all the base game animations that exist between a child and an older sim?
To add preteens, almost every single one of those animations needs to be recreated, and not just once, in many cases they will need to be recreated twice. Why twice? buecause you want the preteen to be able to interact with the child, don't you?
A friendly hug between an adult and a child.
It would now need to also include a friendly hug between an adult and a tween, AND a friendly hug between a tween and a child. But that's not all, it would also need to include a friendly hug between two tweens. That's THREE whole new animations.
What's that? You want a tween to be able to hug a toddler too? That's FOUR new animations.
Oh wait, did you want them to also pick up a baby and hug it? Well, that's FIVE new animations.
What about a kiss on the cheek for family members? Skip the baby, and it's still FOUR new animations, on top of the five for hugs.
I'm gonna assume that a tween should be able to play on a playground. So that's .... a bunch more animations that need to be done, sure they'll look much the same as the ones for children, but due to the tween being bigger, they're gonna have to be remade.
The point with all this, is that this will chew up a lot of the developers time. If they have to spend ages remaking all the existing animations for a new height, when do you think they are going to make new interactions?
Repeats of things that already exist are not very exciting. It would make a lot more sense that they spend time making new interactions and activites for children and teens, than spend weeks redoing what's alredy done, for a sim that is a fraction taller than the child the game already contains.
And then there's the issue of how they would fit into the structure of the existing coding for the game.
From what I understand of it, the ages are numbered, and there was a space for toddlers from the start, so that they could be added into the aging system, without having to rewrite that whole part of the game. Adding a new age to TS4, at this stage, is not likely to happen, due to there not being a space in the ages for it to be added. Which is why any new ages would make more sense to be added to TS5, because they could be added in the structure of the game, from the begining, even if they're not in the game at the start.
Or to simplify. It's like you have a brick wall of ages, a space was left near the bottom for the toddler brick, but there are no other spaces for any other age bricks to be added, the only way to add more near the bottom, is to pull the whole wall apart, and start over. That's a lot of work.
I agree that it's kind of pointless to have a young child state. The kids in this strike me as between 7 and 10, and that's pretty young.
Preteens, on the other hand, well, that makes more sense. As the teens in this game seem to be between 16 and 18 or so, they're too mature for stuff that younger teens are usually into. In the United States, being a preteen is all about silly stuff like trading cards, stickers, friendship bracelets, fan clubs, puppy dog crushes, and being into boy bands.
Older teens are all about dating, more sexual stuff (like kissing, making out, etc.), cliques, popularity, being cool, mood swings, socially embarrassing situations, hanging out at the mall (or the beach or some other place), sneaking out and having wild parties. There is a difference between the two--well, at least there used to be. So I can see the potential in preteens being added. But no, a young child life state doesn't make much sense.
I think by young child you mean pre-schooler, which I have seen people ask for. Calling it a young child is confusing because all children are young.
I like the idea of preteens, and I know they would be welcomed with open arms by everyone in this community, but I want teens fixed before they focus on another life stage, personally.
I think by young child you mean pre-schooler, which I have seen people ask for. Calling it a young child is confusing because all children are young.
I like the idea of preteens, and I know they would be welcomed with open arms by everyone in this community, but I want teens fixed before they focus on another life stage, personally.
toddler are 1-3 and then "young child" is like 4-5 (For me that's kindergarden age) and then 6-9 "children" and then 10-12 Pre-teen
@MadameLee 4-5 seems more preschooler. In the US, you have to be 5 before school starts to start Kindergarten, and because of where my birthday fell (two weeks after school started) I was not able to start school until age 6. 5-6 is Kindergarten.
Everyone wants all these lifestages, we may as well just ask them to gradually grow up instead of just jumping into their age. I can understand the want for pre-teens, but now I have lost track of the different ages people want. I wonder if toddlers had been added to the base game if people would be asking for all these. It just feels like because they were added in a patch, now we can request tons of new lifestages to be added.
It has been said quite a few times that some would rather them fix teens than add more lifestages, and I agree with that. I would rather them put their resources into fixing teens, giving us pets, giving us more traits and careers, giving us seasons, vacations, more fun things to do like amusement parks, being able to edit terrain and more build mode options, adding university, private schools, cars, and a ton more that people are constantly asking for than lifestages that will have nothing to do. We (now) have the same lifestages we have had since The Sims 2. I believe that this may be something ask of for the next iteration, not something to ask when there is so much that needs to be fixed and added into this game.
Nonetheless, it is good feedback for the devs so they can see what we may actually want in the future.
@Aeriexo11 well for me "pre-schooler" "elementary school and "middle school" are all grouped into elementary school where I live (4-13) we call it elementary school (I know that my first year of school, was the very first time that Junior Kindergarden happened at my now
non-existent elementary school. Preschooler for me would be more like 1-3 (ie toddler age)
@MadameLee I'm only reiterating what I have seen others ask for. This game has a presence all over the world, so preschooler for you and I are different, but they could also mean something entirely different to another player. It would be a lot to take into consideration when naming the life stage. I do think "young child" is extremely vague, and a little redundant. I think for these reasons we may not see extra life stages added. I would be pleasantly surprised and wouldn't complain if they were added, though.
I never experienced anything like that.
It's perfectly normal for a 14 year old to play with toys, especially if they have younger siblings. In fact, it's expected that they will play with toys, with their younger siblings.
Perhaps this is a culture related thing. Cos in the culture I was raised in, you're considered to be somewhat odd if you won't play with toys with your younger siblings/cousins/whatever small children happen to be visiting.
Must be a cultural thing, I'm in the UK and I remember my brother who is 2 years older than me used to play with my toys with me. But I remember him reaching a point where if one of our older brothers walked in he would stop and clearly not want them to know what he was doing.
Personally I would really like to have preteens in the game. My ideal would be to have newborn babies, older babies, toddlers, young children, older children, preteens and teens. I think that as children grow they change a lot and I would love to be able to see that in game, to feel like I was really watching my sims children actually growing up and developing. Also I have realistic aging in my game (where 4 sim weeks = 1 year) so I know their exact age and play each stage for a long time. However I highly doubt we would see this in Sims 4 and while it would be my ideal I'm not so sure they should actually do it given the amount of work that would be involved. I doubt we would ever see truly detailed stages if they split it up that much. I would still like preteens though and I do think they could be possible, I mean they did suggest them ages ago so might have been working on them all this time alongside toddlers, or at least left the space open for them. Then again people probably would have found evidence of it if that were the case.
I honestly just want a teen height fix and for the current ages to be upgraded, so they're all as unique and fun as toddlers.
Already I think it would be pretty difficult to fix teen heights, but unlike adding a completely new age, we were owed teenagers, not just carbon copies of young adults. So asking that amount of work seems fair.
To add two new life stages is too much, though, and takes years, they can't just 'add them in' to a game pack coming out this spring.
Quality over Quantity, I'd prefer the current ages to be improved than for more basic, boring ages to be jammed in.
I honestly just want a teen height fix and for the current ages to be upgraded, so they're all as unique and fun as toddlers.
Already I think it would be pretty difficult to fix teen heights, but unlike adding a completely new age, we were owed teenagers, not just carbon copies of young adults. So asking that amount of work seems fair.
To add two new life stages is too much, though, and takes years, they can't just 'add them in' to a game pack coming out this spring.
Quality over Quantity, I'd prefer the current ages to be improved than for more basic, boring ages to be jammed in.
I honestly just want a teen height fix and for the current ages to be upgraded, so they're all as unique and fun as toddlers.
As someone who was a tall teen, and went to a school full of tall teens (we were as tall as the teachers, or taller), the height seems right to me.
Already I think it would be pretty difficult to fix teen heights, but unlike adding a completely new age, we were owed teenagers, not just carbon copies of young adults. So asking that amount of work seems fair.
Yeah, they aren't gonna be likely to alter the height of teens, but making them more would be good. Same with kids.
To add two new life stages is too much, though, and takes years, they can't just 'add them in' to a game pack coming out this spring.
Quality over Quantity, I'd prefer the current ages to be improved than for more basic, boring ages to be jammed in.
Yep. Kids and teens are already a bit lacklustre, so adding more lacklustre ages isn't going to fix anything.
I'd like to see a bit more teen attitude.
and more mumbled and short replies when an adult talks asks them about their day.
Also I have realistic aging in my game (where 4 sim weeks = 1 year)
that's not very realistic. 365 days per year would be realistic :P
I mean they did suggest them ages ago so might have been working on them all this time alongside toddlers, or at least left the space open for them. Then again people probably would have found evidence of it if that were the case.
From what I understand of what's been said about the coding, is that there was space for the toddlers, but no other age. Toddlers were planned from the start, no additional ages have been.
What is more likely, is that other ages are being looked at as an option for TS5. And as cool as gradual aging would be, I think they may be looking at adding just one additonal age, probably between child and teen, in ts5.
This game has a presence all over the world, so preschooler for you and I are different, but they could also mean something entirely different to another player.
Yep.
To me, a preschooler is a child who does not yet attend school, they're under the age of 5, since most kids start school at age 5 here, though, waiting until 6 is gaining popularity.
And in some other countries, kid's don't even start school until they are 7.
Here, a toddler attends kindergarten, because we count a 4 year old as scraping in as a toddler. And our kindergarten is not like kindergarten in the US. Ours is more like the original concept, it's structured and supervised play. Kindergaerteners get read to, they do fingerpaining, they play with wooden blocks, they play dressups, they run around outside, play in the sand-pit, learn a song or two, clean their teeth (seriously, it's a thing), arts and crafts, crafts and arts. And my kindy had a workshop, where we could hammer nails in to bits of wood, and use a saw (under supervision)
I do think "young child" is extremely vague, and a little redundant.
IMO, it's anyone under 10.
For someone 7 or under, I might call them a little kid.
A littlie is 5 or under.
These sorts of terms will always vary from person to person, and culture to culture.
@Movotti I am a female, and 5'11, and while I have always been taller than everyone, including my husband (though not by much), I know not all teens were almost 6ft tall like me. By my standards, my simself would be taller than female adults if I made myself as a teen. I passed my mom in height in 6th grade.
I'm not sure where you are from, but I would have loved to go to a school where everyone was tall
I don't know, I just think this is why they stick to the standard age groups. So many differences in culture, it would be difficult to please everyone. I think the only one we may ever see are preteens, but I don't think it would be in The Sims 4. And honestly, I feel like everyone has been asking for too much lately. Some things that are being asked don't even seem feasible sometimes.
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Look at how long it took them to develop toddlers.
Also, from what I understand, they'd planned on putting toddlers in from the start, they'd structed the aging system to include them, but not to add any more new ages.
Perhaps you'd be better off asking for your strange ideas for ts5.
Really have to stopped to consider how long you spend at each lifestage, in comparison to others?
You're only a baby for 12 months.
You're a toddler from age one to age four, that's just 3 years.
You're a child from age 5 to your teens. That's only 8 years.
You're a teen from 13 to 19, just 7 years really.
From 18 you're an adult, or more speciffically, a young adult. And due to how the human brain delvelops, you're only a young adult until you're in your mid 20's, for most people, that's 7 years.
From your mid 20's, to your mid 40's you're just an ordinary adult, bubmling your way through life like everyone else, just a short 20 years.
Then you're middle aged, when your 20 year old self is stuck inside an aging body, wondering what the heck happened!
There was a time when your 50's were when you were planning on retiring, but these days, you're not likely to be even close by the time you reach your mid 60's, when you're an older person, wondering if you're going to reach 70 before you get to retire.
So for the sake of reality, you'd need the 'adult' age to be as long as baby through to end of the teen life stage
Perhaps if each age length was done in days, then things might work, a sim baby for just one day, a toddler for 3 days, a child for 8 days (not sure how you'd cram your extra stages in that... maybe have a birthday ever second day?)
A teen for just 7 days? less really, since you become a young adult during your teens.
A young adult for 7 days, then adult for 20 days.
But then we're lacking the age between adult and elder. No one jumps from 45 to 70!
So really, where are you going to cram these extra stages?
five to eight? 3 years. So, 3 sim days. Wee birthday party time!
Preteen by definition are not teenagers, they're usually 10-12 year olds.
Look at that, another 3 year span with a 2 year 'child' span.
Logistically, it doesn't make sense for the game, it means a LOT more animations (and not fun ones, just repeats for all the age combinations), which would push the price of the game up by a heck of a lot.
Have you really thought about how many new animations would be needed just for two sims to hug?
As it is, a toddler has to be able to hug children, and all ages above (fortunately they all use the same aninmation)
But as soon as you add more life stages, of different sizes, that's two more animations needed just for a toddler.
An adult (YA, teen, elder) currently has 4 hug animations, one for a baby, one for a toddler, one for a child and one for sims of their own size. If you add preteens, then you'd have to add another animation for adults to hug them, add little kids, and it's yet another animation for adults. Just for hugs.
By not adding these extra ages, more effort can be put into more activities for the ages that the game currently contains.
Get it?
I've also mentioned it in quite a number of other threads, but while I think preteens could be a cool addition, the other life stages (particularly teen and elder) could use a pretty healthy dose of TLC first. Otherwise, assuming a stage like preteen was to be created as wonderfully as the toddlers were, these ages are going to appear even more heavily ignored than they are currently. While I make no claims to know anything of game design or coding, it would take a considerable amount of work to implement these new life stages as they'll need their own interactions, clothing, traits, new social animations to work with all the existing ages, etc. Just think of the amount of time it took to get toddlers and consider what that would mean if they did implement these ages; that's a lot of time and energy that could be better spent developing current life stages and creating fresh content.
Also (again, not trying to sound rude here), it's not really realistic to ask for these things for the Family GP now. It is most likely either very, very close to being finished, or it already is. I'd truly be shocked if a life stage was added at all, to be honest. I'm guessing this pack is going to be introducing more interactions and activities for families, and may add upon current life stages. My point is, I wouldn't at all expect for them to be adding some brand new life stage with this pack. But hey, you never know, right? Maybe they'll completely surprise us again.
Thanks I'm hoping they'll add in the future at least.
I think you need to go back to the drawing board. You haven't really suggested anything unique.
Your ideas for young children are mostly interactions we aleady have for children, and your ideas for preteens are much like the teens we already have, the only real differences you've got are height and body shape related, which isn't enough to be adding a new life stage. They'll get boring really fast. People will complain about them the way they complain about teens. All the engergy put into developing them would be wasted on just the basic animations, as I mentioned previously.
How about coming up with a list of things to improve the teens and children we already have?
What new activities and interactions could be added to improve the stages we've already got?
I know that I'd like more imaginitive play between children and toddlers, stuff that would work like the imaginary friend in ts3, so that you'd only see what they are imagining if you are playing as them, as soon as you switch to an older sim, you'd just see the children/toddlers moving around like they're a bit crazy, switch back, and the child is feeding a unicorn, or patting a dinosaur.
Make what we have less boring, or just add more boing lifeless lifestages? What would you rather?
For preteens I'd love to see them add hobbies like ballet or karate that they could carry on with at older ages if they practiced it as preteens, pestering of younger siblings and the ability to have a crush picked by the player. They should be the perfect mix of child and teen but neither like the ability to play toys with a younger sibling but get the embarrassed moodlet if a friend walks in and catches them.
Use some logic. Why would they add something that is just a repeat of things the game already contains, something that's only going to add extra birthdays, but no real gameplay.
And my posts have nothing to do with whether I want them added or not, my posts are about the logic of adding them.
You're the one who seems angry, not I.
You're the one putting down the ideas of others, I simply point out the reality, and give other options.
Why speciffically for preteens? Why not have these hobbies for the children who are already lacking in activities? They could be continued as a teen activity, thereby improving two of the life stages that the game already has.
What? Why?
I played with toys into my teens, with no sense of embarrassment, why would a preteen be embarrassed to play with toys. I don't understand this. Is there something mentally wrong with the preteen in question?
I played with toys into my teens as well but from as young as 8/9 other kids would mock the idea of playing with toys as being babyish. So I pretended that I didn't still play with them, except for with certain kids where we would play together. While I did know a number of kids that still played with toys, I didn't know anyone of that age that would generally admit to it and be open about it. And no there wasn't something "mentally wrong" with my friends and I, it was just kids trying to fit in and avoid being made fun of.
Nope I missed nothing I noticed the date, I was just saying its possible we get preteens with this pack we really have no idea what this family pack offers at this time toddlers came out of no where why not preteens they were mentioned in the same survey as the toddlers.
No real game play for YOU preteens is a feature that would add so much game play for me and overall just make this game so much more enjoyable.
People said the same thing about toddlers I disagreed with them as well its your reality not mine. Just because a life stage is short in real life does not mean it does not deserve a spot in the game I don't care if preteen is 3 days or 100 (play with aging off) going from a child to a full on adult sized teen is not fun being able to explore the age between is.
they wouldn't get any thing at all if preteens were a thing
It's perfectly normal for a 14 year old to play with toys, especially if they have younger siblings. In fact, it's expected that they will play with toys, with their younger siblings.
Perhaps this is a culture related thing. Cos in the culture I was raised in, you're considered to be somewhat odd if you won't play with toys with your younger siblings/cousins/whatever small children happen to be visiting.
And then there's lego, which it's just plain weird if you are ever ashamed of playing with it. I know people in their 50's and 60's who still buy lego, for themselves!
So, if they added preteens, and they had exactly the same interactions and activities as children, you'd find them enjoyable?
Why would they need to be added? You already have those interactions using children, what would making them a tiny bit taller do to make them more enjoyable?
from what I understand, toddlers were going to be added anyway, they were planned from the start
I can see people are struggleing to get their heads around some of what I'm talking about.
What are all the base game animations that exist between a child and an older sim?
To add preteens, almost every single one of those animations needs to be recreated, and not just once, in many cases they will need to be recreated twice. Why twice? buecause you want the preteen to be able to interact with the child, don't you?
A friendly hug between an adult and a child.
It would now need to also include a friendly hug between an adult and a tween, AND a friendly hug between a tween and a child. But that's not all, it would also need to include a friendly hug between two tweens. That's THREE whole new animations.
What's that? You want a tween to be able to hug a toddler too? That's FOUR new animations.
Oh wait, did you want them to also pick up a baby and hug it? Well, that's FIVE new animations.
What about a kiss on the cheek for family members? Skip the baby, and it's still FOUR new animations, on top of the five for hugs.
I'm gonna assume that a tween should be able to play on a playground. So that's .... a bunch more animations that need to be done, sure they'll look much the same as the ones for children, but due to the tween being bigger, they're gonna have to be remade.
The point with all this, is that this will chew up a lot of the developers time. If they have to spend ages remaking all the existing animations for a new height, when do you think they are going to make new interactions?
Repeats of things that already exist are not very exciting. It would make a lot more sense that they spend time making new interactions and activites for children and teens, than spend weeks redoing what's alredy done, for a sim that is a fraction taller than the child the game already contains.
And then there's the issue of how they would fit into the structure of the existing coding for the game.
From what I understand of it, the ages are numbered, and there was a space for toddlers from the start, so that they could be added into the aging system, without having to rewrite that whole part of the game. Adding a new age to TS4, at this stage, is not likely to happen, due to there not being a space in the ages for it to be added. Which is why any new ages would make more sense to be added to TS5, because they could be added in the structure of the game, from the begining, even if they're not in the game at the start.
Or to simplify. It's like you have a brick wall of ages, a space was left near the bottom for the toddler brick, but there are no other spaces for any other age bricks to be added, the only way to add more near the bottom, is to pull the whole wall apart, and start over. That's a lot of work.
Preteens, on the other hand, well, that makes more sense. As the teens in this game seem to be between 16 and 18 or so, they're too mature for stuff that younger teens are usually into. In the United States, being a preteen is all about silly stuff like trading cards, stickers, friendship bracelets, fan clubs, puppy dog crushes, and being into boy bands.
Older teens are all about dating, more sexual stuff (like kissing, making out, etc.), cliques, popularity, being cool, mood swings, socially embarrassing situations, hanging out at the mall (or the beach or some other place), sneaking out and having wild parties. There is a difference between the two--well, at least there used to be. So I can see the potential in preteens being added. But no, a young child life state doesn't make much sense.
I like the idea of preteens, and I know they would be welcomed with open arms by everyone in this community, but I want teens fixed before they focus on another life stage, personally.
toddler are 1-3 and then "young child" is like 4-5 (For me that's kindergarden age) and then 6-9 "children" and then 10-12 Pre-teen
Everyone wants all these lifestages, we may as well just ask them to gradually grow up instead of just jumping into their age. I can understand the want for pre-teens, but now I have lost track of the different ages people want. I wonder if toddlers had been added to the base game if people would be asking for all these. It just feels like because they were added in a patch, now we can request tons of new lifestages to be added.
It has been said quite a few times that some would rather them fix teens than add more lifestages, and I agree with that. I would rather them put their resources into fixing teens, giving us pets, giving us more traits and careers, giving us seasons, vacations, more fun things to do like amusement parks, being able to edit terrain and more build mode options, adding university, private schools, cars, and a ton more that people are constantly asking for than lifestages that will have nothing to do. We (now) have the same lifestages we have had since The Sims 2. I believe that this may be something ask of for the next iteration, not something to ask when there is so much that needs to be fixed and added into this game.
Nonetheless, it is good feedback for the devs so they can see what we may actually want in the future.
non-existent elementary school. Preschooler for me would be more like 1-3 (ie toddler age)
Must be a cultural thing, I'm in the UK and I remember my brother who is 2 years older than me used to play with my toys with me. But I remember him reaching a point where if one of our older brothers walked in he would stop and clearly not want them to know what he was doing.
Personally I would really like to have preteens in the game. My ideal would be to have newborn babies, older babies, toddlers, young children, older children, preteens and teens. I think that as children grow they change a lot and I would love to be able to see that in game, to feel like I was really watching my sims children actually growing up and developing. Also I have realistic aging in my game (where 4 sim weeks = 1 year) so I know their exact age and play each stage for a long time. However I highly doubt we would see this in Sims 4 and while it would be my ideal I'm not so sure they should actually do it given the amount of work that would be involved. I doubt we would ever see truly detailed stages if they split it up that much. I would still like preteens though and I do think they could be possible, I mean they did suggest them ages ago so might have been working on them all this time alongside toddlers, or at least left the space open for them. Then again people probably would have found evidence of it if that were the case.
Already I think it would be pretty difficult to fix teen heights, but unlike adding a completely new age, we were owed teenagers, not just carbon copies of young adults. So asking that amount of work seems fair.
To add two new life stages is too much, though, and takes years, they can't just 'add them in' to a game pack coming out this spring.
Quality over Quantity, I'd prefer the current ages to be improved than for more basic, boring ages to be jammed in.
This.
Yeah, they aren't gonna be likely to alter the height of teens, but making them more would be good. Same with kids.
Yep. Kids and teens are already a bit lacklustre, so adding more lacklustre ages isn't going to fix anything.
I'd like to see a bit more teen attitude.
and more mumbled and short replies when an adult talks asks them about their day.
Like this:
that's not very realistic. 365 days per year would be realistic :P
From what I understand of what's been said about the coding, is that there was space for the toddlers, but no other age. Toddlers were planned from the start, no additional ages have been.
What is more likely, is that other ages are being looked at as an option for TS5. And as cool as gradual aging would be, I think they may be looking at adding just one additonal age, probably between child and teen, in ts5.
Yep.
To me, a preschooler is a child who does not yet attend school, they're under the age of 5, since most kids start school at age 5 here, though, waiting until 6 is gaining popularity.
And in some other countries, kid's don't even start school until they are 7.
Here, a toddler attends kindergarten, because we count a 4 year old as scraping in as a toddler. And our kindergarten is not like kindergarten in the US. Ours is more like the original concept, it's structured and supervised play. Kindergaerteners get read to, they do fingerpaining, they play with wooden blocks, they play dressups, they run around outside, play in the sand-pit, learn a song or two, clean their teeth (seriously, it's a thing), arts and crafts, crafts and arts. And my kindy had a workshop, where we could hammer nails in to bits of wood, and use a saw (under supervision)
IMO, it's anyone under 10.
For someone 7 or under, I might call them a little kid.
A littlie is 5 or under.
These sorts of terms will always vary from person to person, and culture to culture.
I'm not sure where you are from, but I would have loved to go to a school where everyone was tall
I don't know, I just think this is why they stick to the standard age groups. So many differences in culture, it would be difficult to please everyone. I think the only one we may ever see are preteens, but I don't think it would be in The Sims 4. And honestly, I feel like everyone has been asking for too much lately. Some things that are being asked don't even seem feasible sometimes.