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What CAN be done to fix TS4?

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  • SpradaciSprojSpradaciSproj Posts: 1,272 Member
    For me personally the only thing that will fix it is true sandbox play style. That being said, let me add a couple things:

    1. Automatic memory system - sort of like Sims 3, but with options so that we decide what is saved as a memory before it's saved.

    2. I posted this yesterday, but I'll add it here to enhance your item 5 under Live Mode - an optional OB visit for pregnant sims to find out how many & what gender of the baby/babies they are expecting. I suggested during 2nd trimester, as this gives a player ample time to prepare for multiples.
  • xBob18xBob18 Posts: 7,893 Member
    I want to have an in-game tool where I can create my own hairstyles!
    oh3cjs.jpg
  • LPentLPent Posts: 147 Member
    edited January 2015
    @FusionsFang7 I agree with most on your list but here are some of my additions:

    - I do not fully like a pre-teen stage but perhaps a geriatric one so that the other life stages can be distributed better?
    - Each life stage should have plenty of (unique) interactions to flesh them out.
    - Locking/Unlocking doors is great, but perhaps an improvement over this would be room-assignment? So sims have their own room and everything in it is theirs to use (no more browsing the internet in your child's bedroom while he sleeps, or watching tv in your grandma's room, but they could still take visitors into their rooms.
    - Tone down the emotions (there are too many) emotions should be an influencial factor in personality, not the personality itself.
    - Commands should be re-orderable (drag-drop the activities).
    - In addition a schedule would be fun. Each sims has a set time for work/school and sleep and all other base activities could be placed around that. For example some sims like to shower before going to work, others after coming home. Some sims have the task to cook dinner (other sims should not initiate cooking/eating around dinner time but wait for the appointed sims to cook unless that sims is not on the lot or takes too long). This opens up possibilities to try and make sims meet their schedule demands and if they continuously fail this results in tense (frustration/overworked) and conflict (other sims critiquing). This schedule can also be used to divide chores among the household. The way I see it, fixed activities (like sleep, work, cooking, etc.) from the schedule should enter the activity stream automatically. If something happens that is important, those fit in between. As a player you can rearrange them and add more or remove.
    - But above all we need sims to respond more realistic and diverse to their surroundings, situations and other sims.
  • ULIBABA66ULIBABA66 Posts: 2,037 Member
    These are my suggestions:

    FAMILY PLAY:
    - Bring back toddlers, similar to The Sims 2 (and of course they have to be very cute too ^.^)
    - Make babies a real life stage (ability to carry them freely, ability to change and choose their clothes, baby swings, strollers, pacifiers, different eye colors and better skin colors etc.)
    - Family Trees with some improvements (ability to check out past Sims' traits, career history, similar to The Sims 3 but with some new improvements)
    - Pre-Teens (these are needed to fill the unsatisfaction with Teens' height in TS4)

    WORLD FEATURES:
    - Remove the loading screens between the lots in the same neighborhood where your Sims are. I mean that our Sims could now go for example to their neighbours without a loading screen. This could make the game feel more enjoyable and open to many players, including me.
    - Bigger lots (64x64 - 100x100 if possible)
    - Bigger worlds
    - Create a World feature IN GAME if possible
    - More population editing options
    - Other world editing options

    CUSTOMIZATION/CAS/BUILD/BUY:
    - Color wheel or something that lets us make our own color/pattern presets for things in the game.
    - Ability to change the size of tattoos.
    - Make-up sliders back from The Sims 3!
    - Ability to make our own hairstyles in the game or a hair length slider
    - More floors to houses (5-10 would be lovely amount)
    - Basements
    - Cars with animations
    - NPCs and their vehicles back from Sims 2 and 3
    - Buses for school students!
    - Terrain elevation tools

    GAME FEATURES:
    - Story Progression
    - Less linear game play option (ability to play the game more like a sandbox game)

  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    edited January 2015
    Things that would improve the base game (which I generally like) for me:

    1. Reduce townie culling significantly, to only Sims my Sims haven't even met.
    2. Randomize the townie household structure; it currently uses very few household structures.
    3. Populate houses faster when that setting is on.
    4. Let me build/buy in neighbourhood public space.
    5. Add an optional blank add-on world so I can have a bigger game.
    6. Increase the types of relationships recognized in the game, e.g., great-grandparents, in-laws, first and second cousins
    7. Give players with enough computing power to manage the calculations about who is where doing what the option to increase population cap, increase Sims on a lot, and not have within-neighbourhood loading screens.
    8. Give me a basic colour palette in CAS and build/buy so things can match a bit more.
    9. Toddlers. I can understand that my way of playing Sims 3 suggested I didn't want toddlers; I just didn't like those toddlers: they were only work, not fun.
    10. Option to change name on marriage and to pick babies' surnames.
    11. Sitting down with babies.
    12. Ability to move a Sim out of a house with a selection of larger items that don't fit in personal inventory.

    Things that would ruin it for me while making improvements for others:

    1. More of making aspirations and career progress easier. This is already starting to happen. I knew when I bought the game on launch day that these things were harder than in Sims 4, and it's part of why I wanted the game. If they are to be changed, make the change optional. Same with bills: they're harder; please don't make the game less challenging than the one I bought.
    2. Story Progression. At least, that I can't completely opt out of. If it must be added, please give us tick boxes to opt out of all or parts of it.

    I have a lot of concern about these last things. I knew what I was buying in September and I don't want the features I paid for -- greater challenges, rotational play without story progression -- removed from it.
    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • LPentLPent Posts: 147 Member
    edited January 2015
    Oh, and one more:

    - Make it so all beds have the same base comfort and then make it possible to upgrade them with better mattresses (so you can actually use any bed-style you want without having to resort to bad moodlets or mods). Same goes for chairs (better cushions) and showers (better heads) I think? They could tie it in with skills.
  • noteye32noteye32 Posts: 250 Member
    I did not read all of the comments so this may be in there already... I think if they just removed the loading screen in the neighbor hood you currently live in that would be great. I don't mind the loading screens when you go to a different neighborhood or the stores, but I don't understand when you go visit your neighbor why there has to be a loading screen
  • harobed7756harobed7756 Posts: 83 Member
    There's a lot EA could do to fix the base game. In addition to the suggestions others have already made,

    #1 Adjust the tuning.
    • Sims are still getting fat if they finish a couple meals, even if they jog all day chasing down collectibles. Right now, Sims are created with an eating disorder that forces you to micromanage their eating, to cancel the interaction before their hunger is satisfied. They also eat too slowly, and couldn't the jogging count toward athletic activity?
    • Little or no social motive or relationship fulfillment from chatting on the phone, laughable in a culture obsessed with cell phones!.
    • Too few interactions or activities to fill the fun motive of adult Sims and/or it decays too fast.
    • The algorithm that calculates bills is ridiculous. It's possible to get ahead of it and avoid bankruptcy, but the Sim needs to spend all their time collecting, gardening, fishing, and working, leaving no time for social activities.
    #2 Adjust the lighting and colors.
    • The indoor lights are too dim.
    • The outdoor light is too blue.
    • There is little to no true white color to be found in build/buy; what's with all the depressing gray?
    • There are few really nice wood textures in build/buy, and there's certainly no variety.
    • There are few matching wood textures for furnishings, doors, windows, etc...
    • Siding, wallpaper, and paint colors are dreary and unimaginative.
    • EA, if you're not going to give us Create-A-Style, then you seriously need to step up with more design options. Modders and CC creators haven't successfully avoided buggy content yet, and there's not a bright future for them to invest a lot of effort at this point.
    #3 Adjust inventory management.
    • Create chest-like containers to store any collectible such as fossils, slides, crystals, flowers, etc...
    • Consolidate items (similar to the refrigerator inventory) for the choose bait and choose fertilizer interactions.
    • I really hate the rotting fish thing; what's the point?
    • I also hate the ugly little statues that turn up so frequently while the Sim is looking for rocks and crystals. It would be nice if you could only get them if using a treasure map, so that they could be avoided.
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    Hey guys, (lurker here), I think it's obvious by now that the community is not entirely happy with the game as it stands now; and those who say they are still could have better feelings about the game.

    I've read the majority of the "disappointment thread" and the general consensus is that we want TS2 sims in a TS3 world with the improvments TS4 has made like CAS. Obviously a lot of that is no longer possible to implement like Create-A-Style or a fully open world without a complete overhaul of the game engine which we know EA is not willing to make.





    So here's my question to you all: what changes CAN be made to make TS4 a game you would like to play?
    (Try to keep your answers restricted to what you think is necessary for a "base game")





    Let's make a concise list that the Devs can use as a guide for direction in the future.

    LIST OF SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

    CAS
    1. Body hair category
    2. Way to hide undesired CAS assets
    3. Way to disable CAS assets for random townie generating
    4. Random Trait generator
    5. More trait slots
    6. Turn ons/offs
    7. Favorites and Astrological signs
    8. Way to set relationship as Boy/Girlfirend or fiancee
    9. Piercings
    10. Scroll bar for traits
    11. More variety of natural hair colors
    12. More ethnic hairstyles

    BUILD/BUY
    1. Basements
    2. Hip-roofs with overhangs
    3. Smaller Telescopes
    4. Auto-roofs
    5. Vehicles (with animations)
    6. More color option (especially ones that match)
    7. Dishwashers, trash compactors, landline phones
    8. Slides and diving boards for pools
    9. Hot Tubs
    10. Terrain elevation tools

    WORLD MAP
    1. Option to display map in color instead of white as it is now.
    2. Town Editor (especially way to add lots)
    3. Lots bigger than 50x50
    4. Larger neighborhoods (more than 5 lots)
    5. Way to split funds when merging/splitting households
    6. Way to manage townie generation amounts by lifestage
    7. More venue types (grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants, clothing stores, hospital, cemetery, arcade)
    8. Option to control culling of townies when limit is reached
    9. Option to pause townie generation

    LIVE MODE
    1. Family Tree
    2. Way to lock doors
    3. Way to paint custom pictures (TS2 style)
    4. Memories
    5. Alert for multiple births (for better naming)
    6. Urns/Graves and ghosts for sims that die off-lot
    7. Service Sims (firefighters/police/burglar/newsie/nanny)
    8. Reactions to events (cheating/death/divorce)
    9. Better tuning for time-consuming multitasking (like eating and talking)
    10. Medical career
    11. Allow babies to be removed from bassinets
    12. Option to change last name after marriage
    13. Option to change babies' clothes
    14. NPC's generated for bartenders, maids, and mailmen. (explicitly shown in townie listing for editing)
    15. Game consoles

    GALLERY
    1. Option to enable the display of CC in "my library" by default.

    OTHER
    1. Fully adjustable lifespans
    2. Toddler lifestage
    3. Pre-teen lifestage
    4. Story Progression
    5. Remove load screens between lots (if possible)
    6. Increase population cap
    7. Increase 20 sim load limit

    These all seem like a really good rounded base game features. You might want to look at my family play thread-there are some really good ideas from some very articulate simmers on there :smile: you'll find it in the feedback section http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/801025/ea-silence-on-family-play-and-family-play-fans/p1

    For me a better family play provision is above all else. I find it absurd that we have such advancements in pregnancy (tests, work options) only to have a baby stuck in a bassinet last seen in sims 1 15 years ago! And better provision for children but they poof from the bassinet babies also like in sims 1 from 15 years ago.

    I cannot get my head around the 'feasible' arguments when the sims has generated huge profits over the years-especially the sims3 store. Why are we suddenly unable to be given the budget for a full and finished base game exactly? Why is it not feasible to see staple base game features that have existed for up to ten years in a next generation sims game?!
  • harobed7756harobed7756 Posts: 83 Member
    I cannot get my head around the 'feasible' arguments when the sims has generated huge profits over the years-especially the sims3 store. Why are we suddenly unable to be given the budget for a full and finished base game exactly? Why is it not feasible to see staple base game features that have existed for up to ten years in a next generation sims game?!

    I couldn't agree more. If you take a look at the statistics on TSR (The Sims Resource fansite) you'll find they host a few artists with tens of millions of downloads to their credit, not to mention dozens more with just a few million. I couldn't begin to name all the other places to get CC, but one would hope EA was at least remotely aware of it all and their users' interest in it (in addition to the EA Store content).

    So what did they do - instead of enhancing the handling of recoloring, patterns, and textures? They trashed it all and dumped customization entirely. This is obviously a company that plans to sell what it wants to sell instead of selling what its customers want to buy.
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    I cannot get my head around the 'feasible' arguments when the sims has generated huge profits over the years-especially the sims3 store. Why are we suddenly unable to be given the budget for a full and finished base game exactly? Why is it not feasible to see staple base game features that have existed for up to ten years in a next generation sims game?!

    I couldn't agree more. If you take a look at the statistics on TSR (The Sims Resource fansite) you'll find they host a few artists with tens of millions of downloads to their credit, not to mention dozens more with just a few million. I couldn't begin to name all the other places to get CC, but one would hope EA was at least remotely aware of it all and their users' interest in it (in addition to the EA Store content).

    So what did they do - instead of enhancing the handling of recoloring, patterns, and textures? They trashed it all and dumped customization entirely. This is obviously a company that plans to sell what it wants to sell instead of selling what its customers want to buy.

    What I think EA fails to realise is this free content offered by wonderfully talented customers/fans actually encourages further investment in the series. People still buy content-the mods just enhance things in ways EA don't think of or dedicate the time and money necessary to get us there. Let's not forget modders also fix mistakes EA don't get round to fixing either-so they may be retaining customers for EA that otherwise they would lose.
  • CipherMandyCipherMandy Posts: 524 Member
    I am sure many of the things on my list have been posted, but what the plum.....

    1. Create a style, similar to that in the The Sims 3. I really miss being able to pick an outfit, and make it my own.
    2. Bigger neighborhoods. I really like the hoods in this game. I think they are pretty, vibrant, and it's nice to see townies out and about. However, two or three houses just isn't big enough for me.
    3. Expanded worlds....as I was looking at the map earlier, I noticed that there could be room to add more neighborhoods.
    4. Edit World/Neighborhood....this is probably the number one thing I miss the most in this game. I enjoyed being able to make a world my own.
    5. More venues....such as libraries, restaurants, clothing stores, COFFEE SHOPS, grocery stores and so on.
    6. Emergency services....I still cannot understand why this did not make it into game.

    Finally....

    WEATHER!!! I understand EA needs to make money on expansions, and seasons/weather would be insanely profitable. However, we are now in the fourth series of this game, and weather should be in the base. Period!
  • Blue_KeikoBlue_Keiko Posts: 5 New Member
    edited January 2015
    For now I would like to see that ladder for the swimming pool extended, so it can be used to go up and down floors, as it only uses 1 block. The animations are already there, so that cannot be too difficult.

    Also, 1 person elevators, and/or 4 person with respective 1 and/or 4 block usage would be great. Thanks a lot. :)
  • harobed7756harobed7756 Posts: 83 Member

    What I think EA fails to realise is this free content offered by wonderfully talented customers/fans actually encourages further investment in the series. People still buy content-the mods just enhance things in ways EA don't think of or dedicate the time and money necessary to get us there. Let's not forget modders also fix mistakes EA don't get round to fixing either-so they may be retaining customers for EA that otherwise they would lose.

    I didn't bring up modders because I didn't want to get too far off topic, but... modders are now discussing working on a 64-bit version of TS3, on top of all the other wonderful enhancements NRAAS and others have created. If EA doesn't fix the disappointments listed in this thread, I don't see how TS4 can ever find that same depth of involvement. Without it, the game becomes boring quickly.
  • LPentLPent Posts: 147 Member
    edited January 2015
    ...I didn't bring up modders because I didn't want to get too far off topic, but... modders are now discussing working on a 64-bit version of TS3, on top of all the other wonderful enhancements NRAAS and others have created...

    Where is this discussed? If it is true and if it ever happens...wow...just, wow :p .
  • JULES1111JULES1111 Posts: 4,489 Member
    LPent wrote: »
    ...I didn't bring up modders because I didn't want to get too far off topic, but... modders are now discussing working on a 64-bit version of TS3, on top of all the other wonderful enhancements NRAAS and others have created...

    Where is this discussed? If it is true and if it ever happens...wow...just, wow :p .

    Agreed!!!! I would be over the moon! :D
  • CoffeeKattCoffeeKatt Posts: 56 Member
    edited January 2015
    The neighborhoods need more venues and the venues themselves need more interactions/things to do. As things are now it doesn't even feel like a real town. No police, hospitals, or town hall? Even the venues we do have are terribly dull. If the Sims 4 bars and nightclubs were real they'd have poor yelp ratings for being so boring and lifeless. The libraries lack interactions that are unique to them. Gyms aren't different enough from previous games to be interesting. How about personal trainers, juice bars and fitness classes? Dumbbells and Barbells? Things are so dull my Sims inevitably become hermits.

    I will say that Granite Falls is a good first step. We still have a ways to go but this is a positive direction.
  • harobed7756harobed7756 Posts: 83 Member
    LPent wrote: »
    ...I didn't bring up modders because I didn't want to get too far off topic, but... modders are now discussing working on a 64-bit version of TS3, on top of all the other wonderful enhancements NRAAS and others have created...

    Where is this discussed? If it is true and if it ever happens...wow...just, wow :p .

    Here: Wrapping TS3 inside a special 64-bit 'scaffolding'
    http://nraas.wikispaces.com/share/view/71195004
  • PenelopePenelope Posts: 3,298 Member
    Larger worlds and more lots, with more varied venue options. This would save the game for me. They have this wonderful Gallery where you can download any venue you want, but the worlds are so small there are barely any places to put these wonderful downloaded lots without deleting an existing building.

    Also, basements. ;)
  • fullspiralfullspiral Posts: 14,717 Member
    Excellent list in the op. It would be nice to see them start working on some of that.
  • KarritzKarritz Posts: 21,908 Member
    edited January 2015
    I cannot get my head around the 'feasible' arguments when the sims has generated huge profits over the years-especially the sims3 store. Why are we suddenly unable to be given the budget for a full and finished base game exactly? Why is it not feasible to see staple base game features that have existed for up to ten years in a next generation sims game?!

    I couldn't agree more. If you take a look at the statistics on TSR (The Sims Resource fansite) you'll find they host a few artists with tens of millions of downloads to their credit, not to mention dozens more with just a few million. I couldn't begin to name all the other places to get CC, but one would hope EA was at least remotely aware of it all and their users' interest in it (in addition to the EA Store content).

    So what did they do - instead of enhancing the handling of recoloring, patterns, and textures? They trashed it all and dumped customization entirely. This is obviously a company that plans to sell what it wants to sell instead of selling what its customers want to buy.

    What I think EA fails to realise is this free content offered by wonderfully talented customers/fans actually encourages further investment in the series. People still buy content-the mods just enhance things in ways EA don't think of or dedicate the time and money necessary to get us there. Let's not forget modders also fix mistakes EA don't get round to fixing either-so they may be retaining customers for EA that otherwise they would lose.

    I think EA realises this very well and they depend on other people doing the work for them for free. Otherwise why don't they fix their own bugs?
  • mwdonohuemwdonohue Posts: 3,307 Member
    They need to prioritize what the fans want. I mean. We don't want camping. We want a complete game. We want toddlers, dishwashers, firemen, police, robbers; we want a game that is worth the $60.
  • BrennachanBrennachan Posts: 2,055 Member
    I want buydebug items to transfer when uploading a build to the gallery....
  • thundergimmickthundergimmick Posts: 140 Member
    edited January 2015
    Here are some things I miss from sims 3: toddlers, family trees (step kids, etc), basements, dishwashers (do I ever miss the dishwashers), hot, tubs, online dating, being able to edit the world.
    But mostly I would just loveeeee for the glitches to get fixed. When things break, and my sims repair them and it looks like the item is still broken. (My shower broke, my sim repaired it and could use it again but kept spraying water everywhere. I tried deleting and buying a new shower then was just shooting water out of the wall.) The biggest one (and i've stopped playing the game a few times cause of this reason) is when the loading screen comes on (travelling to a place, going back to neighborhood) and it kicks you to the neighborhood and won't load anything! Then you have to start a new game, loosing all my hours and work!
    tumblr_mjgcdaX8gw1rfyso2o1_500.gif
  • evaldas457evaldas457 Posts: 1 New Member
    Open World (or at least open neighborhood).
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