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Genuine questions regarding team priorities
VickiVampiress
Posts: 211 Member
I was wondering about how The Sims team prioritizes their art assets and in game content, because it makes very little sense to me. Cats and Dogs for example, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the expansion, but there are some things I just don't understand at all.
What I mean is, for example, why did the artists (the actual people doing all the modeling and animation) end up neglecting basic items for pets like chewing and scratching toys, dog houses and different pet beds in favor of something as cosmetic and cruel as pet clothing, which I'm sure nobody would've missed if it wasn't in the game at all, unlike the basic pet objects. Pets have toys, but it's the same ball in 20 recolors, along with a few other cat toys that are for some reason... balls, instead of actual mouse or bird toys.
I'm probably being nitpicky, but this kind of minor stuff is what really ticks me off with The Sims 4, something the developers have gotten right every single time since The Sims 1, but for some reason completely don't now. I know I'm not speaking for every player, but over the years spent modding, communicating with both players and developers of other games, having actually spent time in game design and having played The Sims ever since I was a little kid, I generally know what is important and what is less so.
If I, someone who doesn't even want to call themselves a game artist because I am too modest regarding my own skill, know what kind of stuff needs priority, why doesn't The Sims team? I hate mentioning gurus cause I feel it wastes their time, but I'd genuinely like to hear from someone like @SimGuruGraham what their thoughts on this are.
The same can be said about cats being able to sleep on beds, but not dogs, for some reason. I realize actually animating all the characters is a lot of work, but if each expansion was a spicy stew, each one of them so far would've either lacked some spices, or have mixed the wrong ones (like when design focuses on two gameplay mechanics, when clearly it doesn't work for that specific expansion. Get To Work comes to mind). And it's not because I want to see anything new or refreshing either. It's mostly because of what's lacking from previous installments that makes me scratch the back of my head.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't get why certain trivial things get so much priority over important objects and features that I (and many others) expect to be there, only to be dumbfounded upon realizing they don't exist. I like The Sims 4 a lot, but these little things are so incredibly frustrating, and I just don't get how professionals with much more experience than I (and many other people) miss it, since an excuse like "We didn't do X or Y because it's not new or it's too hard to do" doesn't really make any sense either in most cases.
Sorry about the wall of text, I'm just genuinely curious because it's very interesting and surprising to me, and Maxis' workflows have always been a bit secretive. It's such a big mystery for any outsider, even having spoken to ex-employees, as well as people currently employed.
What I mean is, for example, why did the artists (the actual people doing all the modeling and animation) end up neglecting basic items for pets like chewing and scratching toys, dog houses and different pet beds in favor of something as cosmetic and cruel as pet clothing, which I'm sure nobody would've missed if it wasn't in the game at all, unlike the basic pet objects. Pets have toys, but it's the same ball in 20 recolors, along with a few other cat toys that are for some reason... balls, instead of actual mouse or bird toys.
I'm probably being nitpicky, but this kind of minor stuff is what really ticks me off with The Sims 4, something the developers have gotten right every single time since The Sims 1, but for some reason completely don't now. I know I'm not speaking for every player, but over the years spent modding, communicating with both players and developers of other games, having actually spent time in game design and having played The Sims ever since I was a little kid, I generally know what is important and what is less so.
If I, someone who doesn't even want to call themselves a game artist because I am too modest regarding my own skill, know what kind of stuff needs priority, why doesn't The Sims team? I hate mentioning gurus cause I feel it wastes their time, but I'd genuinely like to hear from someone like @SimGuruGraham what their thoughts on this are.
The same can be said about cats being able to sleep on beds, but not dogs, for some reason. I realize actually animating all the characters is a lot of work, but if each expansion was a spicy stew, each one of them so far would've either lacked some spices, or have mixed the wrong ones (like when design focuses on two gameplay mechanics, when clearly it doesn't work for that specific expansion. Get To Work comes to mind). And it's not because I want to see anything new or refreshing either. It's mostly because of what's lacking from previous installments that makes me scratch the back of my head.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't get why certain trivial things get so much priority over important objects and features that I (and many others) expect to be there, only to be dumbfounded upon realizing they don't exist. I like The Sims 4 a lot, but these little things are so incredibly frustrating, and I just don't get how professionals with much more experience than I (and many other people) miss it, since an excuse like "We didn't do X or Y because it's not new or it's too hard to do" doesn't really make any sense either in most cases.
Sorry about the wall of text, I'm just genuinely curious because it's very interesting and surprising to me, and Maxis' workflows have always been a bit secretive. It's such a big mystery for any outsider, even having spoken to ex-employees, as well as people currently employed.
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