EA, I have an idea for a new type of pack.

Cynna

I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. I would throw the contents of my pocketbook at you (minus the loose Rolaids and Tic Tacs) if you would start selling animation packs.

How's that for a novel idea?

Aside from new game play, I don't much care about new clothing, furniture, tchotkes, or anything else like that. I can find those anywhere. Simply offer me a pack with various ways to do things that already exist in the game. These new options could be linked to personality traits, Sims' ages, or emotional states. There is already a little of this in the game. Yet, to me, you haven't taken this idea far enough.

It cool that all Sims don't have to walk alike. Yet, so much more could be added. For example, all Sims shouldn't sleep exactly the same. All Sims shouldn't eat exactly the same. They shouldn't play the same or get angry in the same way. All Sims shouldn't greet each other the same way or say goodbye in the same way. They shouldn't all kiss alike, read books alike, paint alike, cook alike, or any of the things that they do right now.

If I line Sims up and direct them to do something at the same time, inevitably, it looks like an assembly line full of 🐸🐸🐸🐸, mimicking each other in exact sync.

Question: How many Sims take a bite of food, hold their forks on high, and then marvel at them as if they were the pyramids of Egypt?
Answer: Every everlasting one of them.

That should not be! Optional animation packs would help to alleviate that sense of robotic sameness and breathe some life into the Sims.

I realize that there is a lot going on under the hood with a game like the Sims. Yet, for me, animations are where the true gut-level magic happens. The animations are what make me connect and truly fall in love with the Sims. Compare animations from ten years ago to what we have today and you might get what I mean. (There are many comparison videos on YouTube.) In each subsequent iteration, the magic of the animations has diminished.

Since, these days, it is "too difficult" and "too expensive" to add the kind of life to our Sims that used to come straight out of the box, I am willing to put my money where my mouth is and to pay for the option to have the diversity and the details that I crave.

So, how about it EA? I'm game if you are.

EgonVM

For me, it honestly should be included in a update.
Or if it is a paid content, the best it can become is a game pack.

Cynna

@EgonVM Thanks for the input.

As animations/interactions seem to be so costly, I don't think that we'll receive something like what I'm proposing for free. If only. However, I don't believe that it would ever happen.

I'm asking for something that, for me, would be game-changing in scope. I would be willing to pay for it as a game pack, yes. I wouldn't expect something like this to be a Stuff Pack or a full expansion.

I fervently wish for more diversity in animations and interactions. Yet, I know that my idea will never go anywhere.

whyaccess

Not every person makes the same facial expressions, but it seems my sims do. They all start looking a like.

Cynna

@why access That's exactly my point. I'm very tired of the sameness.

In other games, I suppose that I didn't notice it as much because there were so many different types of interactions and responses -- many which were based on personality/traits. In TS4, it's all the same. I especially detest the waving which is used and reused time and time again. I also don't care for that interaction where Sims practically bow/curtsy to each other in excitement with arms thrown wide. Not every Sim should be so animated and over the top.

There's a reason that posing mods have always been so popular. Unfortunately, it posing is cumbersome. EA could fill this need for more animations, more facial expressions, and more interactions according to personality type and situation.

Weonatra

I think this is a neat idea! It would be really awesome to be able to affect how our sims do certain actions, and it would have made it so much easier to get a sense of their individual personalities. I like seeing some of the emotions of our sims, but I feel like the sims themselves are less unique personality-wise(?) than they were in previous iterations. Maybe having more animations would alleviate some of this?

However, I don't really see how they would be able to make this into a pack... My guess is that something like this, would have had to be a part of the base game... Alternatively, it might be possible to patch some in? I just don't see how they would spend that many hours on something they can't effectively market in a pack...