Add more traits and change behavior of traits «12...Next Go

Anthonydyer

I think the trait system in The Sims 4 could use some work. Sims 3 had a really good trait system, and when comparing this to Sims 4, Sims 4 seems quite lacking. This suggestion has two parts: I believe there should be more more traits to pick from and adults should be able to pick 5 traits, teens pick 4, etc.

There should be more traits to pick from. There does not seem to be many traits to pick from and it can be pretty frustrating to make a sim when we have to pick the same traits over and over again. Sims 3 had traits such as absent-minded, neurotic, excitable, handy, brave, good/no sense of humor, grumpy, inappropriate, technophobe and workaholic (list is not exhaustive). There doesn't seem to be any replacement for those traits in sims 4.

Finally, we should be able to pick 5 traits for a sim. It worked well in sims 3. Sims were much more diverse for this reason. With just three traits, sims tend to be blah.

Tell me what you think. Thank you for reading.

Anthonydyer

Also had coward and loves to swim.

Simmer_chiyen

Totally agree on this! There’re just too little traits that flesh out one sim from another. Every sim acts pretty much the same, especially when emotions are the predominant animations for them.

Cupid

I think the trait system needs an overhaul, but I really disagree with having 5 per sim unless the entire system is reworked to depend less on emotions. Even with just three, I can already begin to see trait moodlets overlapping or overpowering each other, and emotions hopping all over the place, which ultimately detracts from personality instead of adding to it.

Jordan061102

I really hope they'll improve this aspect of the game.

Amandèle

I completely agree with you. I think I saw a tweet from SimGuruGrant a few weeks ago in which he said he thought the traits probably needed to add specific interactions rather than make our Sims gain a certain skill faster. I think if they did that to all traits, it would be so much better!

I also wish we should have the ability to give more traits in CAS as you suggested. However, I read somewhere that the coding for CAS is quite hard to modify for the developers so I don't believe we'll ever get that. But we can keep asking for it, maybe they'll be able to do it for us one day!

Sigzy05

Anthonydyer wrote: »

I think the trait system in The Sims 4 could use some work. Sims 3 had a really good trait system, and when comparing this to Sims 4, Sims 4 seems quite lacking. This suggestion has two parts: I believe there should be more more traits to pick from and adults should be able to pick 5 traits, teens pick 4, etc.

There should be more traits to pick from. There does not seem to be many traits to pick from and it can be pretty frustrating to make a sim when we have to pick the same traits over and over again. Sims 3 had traits such as absent-minded, neurotic, excitable, handy, brave, good/no sense of humor, grumpy, inappropriate, technophobe and workaholic (list is not exhaustive). There doesn't seem to be any replacement for those traits in sims 4.

Finally, we should be able to pick 5 traits for a sim. It worked well in sims 3. Sims were much more diverse for this reason. With just three traits, sims tend to be blah.

Tell me what you think. Thank you for reading.

This won't work well because there will probably be lots of trait moodlets that will conflict with each other.

Amandèle wrote: »

I completely agree with you. I think I saw a tweet from SimGuruGrant a few weeks ago in which he said he thought the traits probably needed to add specific interactions rather than make our Sims gain a certain skill faster. I think if they did that to all traits, it would be so much better!

I also wish we should have the ability to give more traits in CAS as you suggested. However, I read somewhere that the coding for CAS is quite hard to modify for the developers so I don't believe we'll ever get that. But we can keep asking for it, maybe they'll be able to do it for us one day!

This is what they should have done since the start. You don't need to be a rock scientist to know that skill building and relying on emotions every sim can get will not make sims unique whatsoever. In fact traits just for skill building defeat the purpose of traits.

Anthonydyer

Cupid wrote: »

I think the trait system needs an overhaul, but I really disagree with having 5 per sim unless the entire system is reworked to depend less on emotions. Even with just three, I can already begin to see trait moodlets overlapping or overpowering each other, and emotions hopping all over the place, which ultimately detracts from personality instead of adding to it.

Perhaps as a compromise, they could allow up to 5, but not require you to select 5.

Anthonydyer

I do believe the current system focuses too much on emotions. Traits should allow special interactions, gain relevant skills faster, build friendships faster, perform better in work, etc.

Another thing from sims 3 is that traits influenced behavior. I was on the fence with including behavior because I wanted sims to behave differently depending on their traits, but I didn't want traits to autonomously hijack my sims and make them do things that drive me nuts. For example, in Sims 3 I played as Jared Frio and he kept terrorizing all the sims in my house and things just spiraled out of control. But certain things are more subtle, such as neat sims clean up after themselves, brave sims put out fires fast, hates the outdoors tends to stay inside. Like I said, something like this would have to be implemented modestly as I wouldn't want my sims to become hijacked. A safe way to implement this is to create a new tab in CAS which contain behavioral traits. This way it is clear which traits influence behavior. I know there is currently an emotional traits tab, so this idea makes sense.

I like how this game categorizes traits into emotional, hobby, lifestyle, and social. If we can introduce a new tab called "behavioral", this game would be golden. I do stand by my idea for 5 traits. It worked well in sims 3. We can create balanced sims by picking a variety of traits across the tabs. The behavioral tab can be a good way for me to limit the amount of sim hijacking that goes on too.

Destrx

Anthonydyer wrote: »

A safe way to implement this is to create a new tab in CAS which contain behavioral traits. This way it is clear which traits influence behavior.

I really like this idea. Having emotional traits and behavioral traits would keep from causing conflicts and also add more to flesh out a Sim without giving too much to chew. I think this idea should be explored more.

Cynna

@Anthonydyer, good idea.

If EA were to do such a thing, I hope that they would bring back flavor traits such as Shy and Afraid of the Dark. Also, mooch, neurotic, excitable, dramatic, Diva, and easily impressed. Those traits don't have a thing to do with skill progression. However, the interactions that came along with them were interesting and fun. It always kept the game feeling fresh.

I loved it when my neurotic Sim came home from work all stressed and grumpy. I also liked the Sims that always had an obsessive need to check the stove.

Interactions are where it's at. I could care less about skill progression. Seriously. I have no interest in watching my Sims grind. I use the Sims to take me away from all of that.

BreeNilla

This is what I want!! I want an outgoing sim to be more animated when speaking while a shyer sim speaks softer! I want a serious/no sense of humor sim who would prefer to read for fun instead of dancing or playing video games! I know they said the chances are slim for adding new emotions, but I think the game would really benefit from a Fear emotion so that Brave and Coward can return! Then brave sims would have no problem putting out fires or conversing with occults while cowards stay away! I want perfectionists to not only take longer when crafting, but also affect family members and those around them, criticizing them to be perfect too (yell at kids with failing grades, point out flaws to spouse or friends)!

I want traits to actually influence the personality and animations and actions rather than giving an occasional skill buff or moodlet.

I used to want more than 3 traits, but I feel that if they were done correctly and had more impact on how the sim acts, then 3 is fine.

Anthonydyer

Just doing some brainstorming right now.

I would rather have several weaker traits than have a few strong ones. (Meaning in the trait collection AND the traits you may select for a sim). When I say strength of traits, I am talking about the impact it has on the sim.

You can custom tailor the sim in the way you would like it be choosing from a large selection of traits. That is why I emphasized the idea of introducing a behavioral traits tab so it would get new functionality. I just don't think 3 traits can adequately represent a person's personality. In real life, you may have up to 10 traits. But for now, I think 5 for a sim is reasonable.

Anthonydyer

As a side-discussion. I always thought the trait system in Sims 2 was a nightmare. Remember you had to pick between lazy/active, shy/outgoing, clean/sloppy, and then you had to use precisely that predetermined amount of points. I never liked that system of determining traits/personality.

Francl27

Just whims that actually make sense with Sims traits would be nice.

My unflirty Sim keeps wanting to flirt or kiss her wife... and at the same time she wants to reprimands flirty Sims.. I mean... really?

And yes, they all behave the same anyway.

But yes, 4/5 traits would make more sense. We all have more than that...

Susim62

BreeNilla wrote: »

This is what I want!! I want an outgoing sim to be more animated when speaking while a shyer sim speaks softer! I want a serious/no sense of humor sim who would prefer to read for fun instead of dancing or playing video games! I know they said the chances are slim for adding new emotions, but I think the game would really benefit from a Fear emotion so that Brave and Coward can return! Then brave sims would have no problem putting out fires or conversing with occults while cowards stay away! I want perfectionists to not only take longer when crafting, but also affect family members and those around them, criticizing them to be perfect too (yell at kids with failing grades, point out flaws to spouse or friends)!

I want traits to actually influence the personality and animations and actions rather than giving an occasional skill buff or moodlet.

I used to want more than 3 traits, but I feel that if they were done correctly and had more impact on how the sim acts, then 3 is fine.

Yes.
The sims in Sims 2 where more like this. You could tell the difference between a shy or outgoing sim by the way they reacted...and they didn't even have traits, just a slider!

Susim62

Anthonydyer wrote: »

As a side-discussion. I always thought the trait system in Sims 2 was a nightmare. Remember you had to pick between lazy/active, shy/outgoing, clean/sloppy, and then you had to use precisely that predetermined amount of points. I never liked that system of determining traits/personality.

They DID have personality though.
They even had mannerisms particular to their 'trait'. If you set all their personality points even, then you'd get a sim like the ones in Sims 4.

TamakiSakura84

Anthonydyer wrote: »

Perhaps as a compromise, they could allow up to 5, but not require you to select 5.

Or maybe pick 4 traits?

Destrx

Anthonydyer wrote: »

As a side-discussion. I always thought the trait system in Sims 2 was a nightmare. Remember you had to pick between lazy/active, shy/outgoing, clean/sloppy, and then you had to use precisely that predetermined amount of points. I never liked that system of determining traits/personality.

I agree, that was pretty bad - but even then, like Susim62 said - they still had more "personality" than the sims in Sims 4. The Sims 4 has lots of random interactions such as doing autonomous pushups and vampires hissing (whether or not they have the hiss negative trait on their vamp bar) and unfortunately part of me thinks that's what some of the game devs think is displaying personality, but it really isn't.

What if the traits were split into sub-traits like the life wishes? This would allow many traits to be bundled together into one category without overloading the trait menu or making things too complicated. For example an Active sim might have the choices of being a Dance Machine or a Workout Enthusiast (made up trait but you get the idea). That would at least explain the random dancing/push ups.

I guess thinking about it this idea has lots of flaws too, but you see where I'm going with this right?

Anthonydyer

Sims from Sims 2 are pretty sassy! I remember when they fake call in sick, you can see them call their boss, fake cough, and then make a sinister laugh. The gestures are pretty wild too, I remember there is one where they do some strange Tarzan yell.

Lady_Ballora

I wish EA would add more traits. I want to see traits like Serious, Sarcastic, 🐸🐸🐸🐸,etc. I'd also love it if Sims would start acting different. I want evil Sims to do evil things, not become friends with everyone. I want bookworms to read books, not "Troll Teh Forums". EA really needs to overhaul their systems.

I'd also love to see Sims stop learning unwanted skills, and for Sims to stay put where I leave them. I'm tired of seeing Sim Ballora learning Mischief and Comedy skills(she's supposed to be high-class and serious), and I'm tired of seeing Sim Sheldon gaining skills in violin(he's supposed to be a computer nerd,not a musician). And Sim Usagi Tsukino? She's not supposed to be learning how to be a good cook-she's supposed to be gaining video game skills. And regarding Sims not staying put where you leave them: Please,EA-just keep Sims at home where I leave them. I'm sick of having to go fetch wandering Sims because they decided to leave their house in Newcrest to go visit Brindleton Bay or Oasis Springs.

Anthonydyer

I do agree that sims will engage in behaviors that are undesired, such as autonomously learning a skill that does not go with their traits. I do like how sims may wander between lots and cities as it keeps the game interesting, but I am annoyed with how they will not commit to one activity at a time. You have a sim sit on the couch and they are just chomping at the bit to get up and do something else. You have a sim sit at the kitchen table to eat and they will get up and eat while standing for no reason.

But I do like multitasking, so I am not complaining about that.

Anthonydyer

I would like the ability to send a sim to a specific lot without having to follow him. Kind of like when they go to work... they just go away and you can bring them back with a command.

Anthonydyer

Cynna wrote: »

@Anthonydyer, good idea.

If EA were to do such a thing, I hope that they would bring back flavor traits such as Shy and Afraid of the Dark. Also, mooch, neurotic, excitable, dramatic, Diva, and easily impressed. Those traits don't have a thing to do with skill progression. However, the interactions that came along with them were interesting and fun. It always kept the game feeling fresh.

I loved it when my neurotic Sim came home from work all stressed and grumpy. I also liked the Sims that always had an obsessive need to check the stove.

Interactions are where it's at. I could care less about skill progression. Seriously. I have no interest in watching my Sims grind. I use the Sims to take me away from all of that.

Exactly! Thank you for your response. I think a lot of people are afraid of traits changing the whole dynamic of the game. It doesn't have to be. Traits can be as simple as unlocking special interactions, and maybe influencing mood if a special interaction is completed. Kind of like a neurotic sim will be tranquil after freaking out. An easily impressed sim can be inspired after contemplating an object.

fineangel

It would definitely be nice to have more traits and to have more traits added--I agree wholeheartedly!

Octavie88

I definitely would love more behavioral traits and more depth to the traits we do have that are more than just giving us a higher chance to randomly roll a certain emotion that'll help us raise a skill faster. I miss my slob and neat sims not getting along, I miss having vain or diva sims that would throw tantrums and I'd love to make shy sims and not be limited to making loner sims. There's a difference between being antisocial and being shy. It's ridiculous that I can have a sim have the lazy trait, and the instant they get energized they start doing push-ups like any other Sim. Then they get tense because they decided to do push-ups.