How do you choose which EP's, GP's and SP's to add next, from all the available suggestions and ideas? What goes into the decision-making process? Is it possible to give an example from already released content?
Is it possible to add onto previous packs? Do you use ideas/suggestions from us simmers? if so, would you say so?
Are there discussions within the team regarding to the addition of more Life States in The Sims 4?
I would be surprised if there wasn't. The playable fantasy creatures are very popular, and a lot of people, including myself were disappointed that one wasn't included in "Get Together."
Regarding already released content, how difficult or easy is it to go back in and change how something works? What is easiest to work on altering? I remember when Newcrest was released with the random pillars in the middle of the pavement (sidewalk) and the wrongly rotated Lots and they were corrected pretty quickly, but in other worlds there are levitating objects such as bins and rocks, and holes in objects that have been around for a long time, possibly since release, that have never been corrected.
Is there a cut-off point at which cosmetic and coding alterations are no longer considered worth while after the original release has been brought out? This time, I'll be honest, I'm thinking about the retail system from GTW. With what was added with Dine Out I would love to see the ability to set objects for sale and set retail worker uniforms from build mode without having to have a Sim own the business in order to get it set up just to then sell it off.
There are also quite a few more alterations to the retail system that I would like to see but I feel those go outside the scope of this thread so I will leave it here.
a.k.a. Menaceman44 on MTS.
Thoughts on a new wall mode?
Can we please have the 'speed forward to end of task' option back from the Sims 3? In the Sims 3 I use this almost exclusively and miss it dearly in the Sims 4.
Is it possible to make phones an item to buy instead of automatically coming with the game? There are players who create historical stories or have homeless Sims and getting calls and texts can defiantly break the immersion. There are players who love to get lost in their game and I'm sorry to say that hasn't happened to me yet.
I've seen a couple of people mention this but I'd like to expand on the question. One of the complaints seen a lot here is that the game is just too happy. Could it be possible to have the ability for a player, if it is what they like, to take a dark drama path? (Personally I'm a true crime/murder mystery/police drama fan.) When we talk about this in the forums inevitably someone will say that it would conflict with the rating. So here is the question.
When TSM was created it had things like poisoning, duel to the death and illness that resulted in death if untreated. The rating for TSM was also T so these things can be in the game while staying inside the rating. Why is TS4 just so happy? With no consequences things get boring.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
Talking about renders though, @SimGuruKimmi I know we have a similar style in the BG but...it's not the same...could we have this male's (the one with the red shirt) hair "back" please?
It's so much cuter than the one we have.
I can pass your suggestion along to the art director.
Yes! Well, some of us do! I love to make my own costumes and dress up for Halloween. Two years ago a group of us dressed up as Adventure Time characters! (I'm Jake the dog)
I'm curious why the memory system from TS2 was scrapped: it made it feel like what happened to the Sims mattered as opposed to the fleeting moodlets of TS3/TS4.
I really love the multitasking but I want to ask is multitasking the reason why my sims don't continue a task until I tell them they can stop? For example if I send my sim to read a book or play chess I want them to do those tasks until I tell them they can stop. But they always stop on their own or if another sim interupts them.
I also have a question about the traits this could be any trait but I will use the mean trait as my example. If I make a mean sim I want him to be mean autonomously And I barely experience that or if I have my sim doing mean interactions to another sim my sim or the sim I'm trying to be mean to keep switching the conversation to telling jokes and stories.
So I guess my question is would it be possible to make adjustments to the sims personalities so that they act more like the traits I give them?
I want to ask just a few questions that I think it's more relevant to me, here they go:
1. What do you think about the chemistry system (turn on/turn off) in Sims 2? Have some kind of issue to bring that system back to Sims 4? I think Sims can be even smarter with it.
2. I don't know if any of you guys will feel comfortable answering it, but... We know that nowadays people is claiming loudly for laws that and rights that didn't exist or they weren't that important lately. Knowing that internet brought a lot of power to people voice, the TSS fear do stuff for toddlers/child/teen because it might hurt people values? Or is it just about technical issues? Or even lack of interest?
3. That one can be simple answered, I think: Why furniture in townie household lots is prerendered if you can't go to the house next door without a loading screen? (I could observe it by using the camera feature and flying around my neighborhood)
Hope I could be comprehensive! Have a nice day for all you.
Agreed on chemistry and attraction and with multitasking why isn't it possible for Sims to hold hands while walking or wrap their arms around each other while walking?
That was actually answered in the Technical Answers thread that's probably buried now. Basically the guru said that routing is the main issue, such as entering through doors or confined spaces.
@simgurudrake With being able to see what us Simmers are up to in our game; what's something you see the most of Simmers doing within the game and what's something you see the least?
Very few Simmers use the VooDoo doll. And not very many Simmers use many of the color variants we offer on furniture. That surprised me.
The most popular skill is cooking, but I think that's because you HAVE to do it. You pretty much gain skill in it accidentally.
I wanted to add to this, we only get small samples of random information from a random smattering of data that players have chosen to share with us, and we can then project into patterns. I don't know who uses the voodoo doll only that generally it's not very highly used. And there is no way any of this data tells us WHY things do or do not happen or get used which is why we spend so much time reading feedback on the forums, twitter, and fan sites and listening to you talk about the game.
In broad strokes, how does a pack come into being, from concept to announcement?
Is there a method for deciding what becomes free content and what becomes paid content? If so, in broad strokes, can you describe?
How do you decide which object goes in which pack?
What is the other 95% of SimGuruDrake's job?Answered
Will Simgurugraham say hi to me if I ask really nicely?
1) What becomes free v what becomes paid. There isn't a precise "method" in that we don't have a flowchart to follow that ends with "free" or "Paid". We want to provide something new in the game for you whether you come back the next day, the next month or even the next year and that means finding a balance of free stuff and paid stuff.
2) The objects that end up in a pack are decided based upon the overall theme of the pack. When we decided we wanted to create Get To Work, we then picked the careers to follow up on and figured out the objects you might need/use in those careers. Sometimes we make an object because it's solving a problem for us - in Get Together we wanted you to be able to hang out on really cool, different types of lots like the Bluffs or Ruins but we didn't want to make them look too built out with mini bathrooms or anything so we added the Bush. (that's a silly example, but true). That's a fairly high level way to look at it but describes what we do.
How do you come up with the story lines for premades?
Our design team works with the world team, producers and other creative teams to come up with fun Sims to put in our worlds. We try to use the premades to help show off the new content or experiences in a particular pack.
Outside of the Sims I love to play the Lego adventure games, I love puzzle games on my phone (currently I play Disney Tsum Tsums), and I really enjoy Skylanders
I think if I had to pick my favorite pack for any Sims game we've made, it would be The Sims Makin' Magic. I'm a little biased but I just loved so much of that pack and it was my first, really big job in production.
wow so many question ^^'
Did you made any mistake which had lead to a funny situation or new idea ? (like the creeper in minecraft who was supposed to be a pig at first)
This has definitely happened to us before. I can't think of a good TS4 example off the top of my head but I remember on TS2 when we added Outerwear to the game with Seasons that we started seeing Ghosts switch their clothes when going outside.
Who makes the pre-made sims that come with the worlds? Is there a team or just one person?
How did you come up with the ideas for the dance moves in Get Together? They are super cute!
Are there fx deer in Windenburg? This has seriously been plaguing me for ages!
Who wrote all the relationship descriptors? Some of them are a hoot! "Sometimes your gut tells you it's all wrong. And then you tell that gut to be quiet." and Things started out friendly, but then it got weird..." in particular crack me up.
*edited, opps sorry forgot the future content rule so deleted a question.
Hi Gurus! So my question is really simple (I think hahaha). How many people are in the "Patch" team? And do they have a "limited budget" to produce new things to the game for free? Thank you for this thread, it's really good to see that you guys want to increase the relationship with the players.
This is a good question but not actually a simple answer. We don't have team members solely dedicated to the "patch team". We do have a "Live Team" that helps sort out patch issues but also works on updates, gallery, website, origin and more. And we have multiple producers who spend part of their time on patches or updates based on what we need to do for any given patch or update, SimGuruGnome for example is the one writing patch notes and tracking fixes. However, the engineers or artists across the team all chip in to fix issues from time to time. Sometimes the best person to fix an issue is the person who built the feature in the first place rather than a separate team that only fixes issues.
Drake, how does the team react when the community loves a pack? Do they get the feedback or are they unaware of success/failure?
I'm not Drake, obviously, but we definitely watch with great anticipation how you react to our packs. We love seeing your responses and feedback. Launch days are some of the most exciting times!
1. Is there any difficulty in creating worlds in TS4? Producers use a similar tool to The Sims 3 Create-a-World?
2. Is there any reason for updates doesn't focus on improving expansions content? I see the uniform system for employees of the Dine Out and I wish it to be extended to other community lots. Taking the opportunity to say that the work in Dine Out was amazing.
1. Creating worlds is quite complicated (probably worth a blog!) and we have a very different tool than the Create-A-World for TS3; it's tied really closely with a lot of our internal pipelines.
2. We do fix content from all packs with our updates and there are often improvements we make to the game overall that touch on pack content too. Glad you liked Dine out!
rating question, any reason The Sims Medieval still passed for the rating T while calling things their real name (AKA Alcohol was not Nectar and it had gambling in it) (and for that matter lady dancer cake from The Sims, even though that one also had a rating of T) and any way that you could introduce more mature themes into your games again?
The Sims Medieval was indeed a T rating but had an additional disclaimer, Use of Alcohol, because of exactly what you say. It does matter in other countries though. The Sims Medieval PEGI rating is 14+ while The Sims 4 PEGI rating is 12+.
I've always wanted to ask-
As a Simmer what feature do you miss the most from previous Sims games which isn't in the Sims 4?
What was your Favourite moments playing Sims 1,2 and 3?
What's your favourite features and moments in Sims 4?
Do you like downloading builds from other simmers in your Sims 4 game?
Guru Question- Do you enjoy reading the Creativity and ideas threads? Do simmers idea's help inspire the team for Sims 4? Do you feel excited about Sims 4 future?
Questions are to all Guru's that's available to read this tread and respond. I understand if you cant answer. I just wanted to ask Simmer to Simmer Sorry for wasting your time if these have already been answered else where in the forum
I love so many features across Sims games I don't really think of it that way. I love going back to Makin' Magic and dueling; I love the aspiration fails from TS2, I love collecting gems in TS3 and I love travelling to secret lots in TS4.
It's hard to pick favorite moments so here's some random memories that pop up without thinking too hard:
TS1 - My very very first experience with the game was my Sim walking into the kitchen, trying to make breakfast, catching fire and dying. lol.
TS2 - I loved when I took a Sim on a date downtown with somebody that wasn't her boyfriend (oops!) and when she kissed him every other Sim on the lot freaked out and started reacting jealously towards her!! (It turned out to be a development bug and we fixed it but it was HILARIOUS; they all came and kicked over my gnomes for DAYS)
TS3 - I recreated Jem and the Holograms and had them play music in the park for tips.
TS4 - I took my Sim for a jog, she ran by somebody sad, stopped and walked over to comfort her and it was so sweet!!
I actually do love downloading builds into my game at home (at work I have to delete too often!). I recently downloaded an Anna & Elsa to play with my daughter. We downloaded cool houses for them too. Then I downloaded a Buffy & Angel Sim I haven't found a house for them yet. I just keep rebuilding my own house!
I love the creativity and ideas thread and all the feedback we see online. We are regularly inspired by you all and what you have done and want to do with the game. I'm very excited by the future because anytime we give you something new you do something completely unexpected with it. I'm not sure how many other games can say that and that's pretty cool.
Comments
My bad.
Have you guys tried Genmaicha? It's delicious
Is it possible to add onto previous packs? Do you use ideas/suggestions from us simmers? if so, would you say so?
I would be surprised if there wasn't. The playable fantasy creatures are very popular, and a lot of people, including myself were disappointed that one wasn't included in "Get Together."
Is there a cut-off point at which cosmetic and coding alterations are no longer considered worth while after the original release has been brought out? This time, I'll be honest, I'm thinking about the retail system from GTW. With what was added with Dine Out I would love to see the ability to set objects for sale and set retail worker uniforms from build mode without having to have a Sim own the business in order to get it set up just to then sell it off.
There are also quite a few more alterations to the retail system that I would like to see but I feel those go outside the scope of this thread so I will leave it here.
Thoughts on a new wall mode?
I've seen a couple of people mention this but I'd like to expand on the question. One of the complaints seen a lot here is that the game is just too happy. Could it be possible to have the ability for a player, if it is what they like, to take a dark drama path? (Personally I'm a true crime/murder mystery/police drama fan.) When we talk about this in the forums inevitably someone will say that it would conflict with the rating. So here is the question.
When TSM was created it had things like poisoning, duel to the death and illness that resulted in death if untreated. The rating for TSM was also T so these things can be in the game while staying inside the rating. Why is TS4 just so happy? With no consequences things get boring.
Thank you! Only saw this now.
I also have a question about the traits this could be any trait but I will use the mean trait as my example. If I make a mean sim I want him to be mean autonomously And I barely experience that or if I have my sim doing mean interactions to another sim my sim or the sim I'm trying to be mean to keep switching the conversation to telling jokes and stories.
So I guess my question is would it be possible to make adjustments to the sims personalities so that they act more like the traits I give them?
That was actually answered in the Technical Answers thread that's probably buried now. Basically the guru said that routing is the main issue, such as entering through doors or confined spaces.
I wanted to add to this, we only get small samples of random information from a random smattering of data that players have chosen to share with us, and we can then project into patterns. I don't know who uses the voodoo doll only that generally it's not very highly used. And there is no way any of this data tells us WHY things do or do not happen or get used which is why we spend so much time reading feedback on the forums, twitter, and fan sites and listening to you talk about the game.
1) What becomes free v what becomes paid. There isn't a precise "method" in that we don't have a flowchart to follow that ends with "free" or "Paid". We want to provide something new in the game for you whether you come back the next day, the next month or even the next year and that means finding a balance of free stuff and paid stuff.
2) The objects that end up in a pack are decided based upon the overall theme of the pack. When we decided we wanted to create Get To Work, we then picked the careers to follow up on and figured out the objects you might need/use in those careers. Sometimes we make an object because it's solving a problem for us - in Get Together we wanted you to be able to hang out on really cool, different types of lots like the Bluffs or Ruins but we didn't want to make them look too built out with mini bathrooms or anything so we added the Bush. (that's a silly example, but true). That's a fairly high level way to look at it but describes what we do.
3) @SimGuruGraham is super nice, I'm sure he'd say hi.
Our design team works with the world team, producers and other creative teams to come up with fun Sims to put in our worlds. We try to use the premades to help show off the new content or experiences in a particular pack.
The best description of a producers' job I've ever seen is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUkcz2taCiw
Outside of the Sims I love to play the Lego adventure games, I love puzzle games on my phone (currently I play Disney Tsum Tsums), and I really enjoy Skylanders
I think if I had to pick my favorite pack for any Sims game we've made, it would be The Sims Makin' Magic. I'm a little biased but I just loved so much of that pack and it was my first, really big job in production.
It takes an army to make a game. Just take a gander at the credits to get a sense of it. Definitely more than 25.
This has definitely happened to us before. I can't think of a good TS4 example off the top of my head but I remember on TS2 when we added Outerwear to the game with Seasons that we started seeing Ghosts switch their clothes when going outside.
I talked about premades Here
Our animators are excellent and find or act out reference for stuff like Dance Moves. It's really fun to watch them come up with new stuff.
I don't think there are FX deer, but now you are making me doubt my memory!
Our producers and designers write most of the text, glad you think it's funny!
This is a good question but not actually a simple answer. We don't have team members solely dedicated to the "patch team". We do have a "Live Team" that helps sort out patch issues but also works on updates, gallery, website, origin and more. And we have multiple producers who spend part of their time on patches or updates based on what we need to do for any given patch or update, SimGuruGnome for example is the one writing patch notes and tracking fixes. However, the engineers or artists across the team all chip in to fix issues from time to time. Sometimes the best person to fix an issue is the person who built the feature in the first place rather than a separate team that only fixes issues.
Yep, we had lunch once. He's a really cool person!
I'm not Drake, obviously, but we definitely watch with great anticipation how you react to our packs. We love seeing your responses and feedback. Launch days are some of the most exciting times!
1. Creating worlds is quite complicated (probably worth a blog!) and we have a very different tool than the Create-A-World for TS3; it's tied really closely with a lot of our internal pipelines.
2. We do fix content from all packs with our updates and there are often improvements we make to the game overall that touch on pack content too. Glad you liked Dine out!
The Sims Medieval was indeed a T rating but had an additional disclaimer, Use of Alcohol, because of exactly what you say. It does matter in other countries though. The Sims Medieval PEGI rating is 14+ while The Sims 4 PEGI rating is 12+.
I love so many features across Sims games I don't really think of it that way. I love going back to Makin' Magic and dueling; I love the aspiration fails from TS2, I love collecting gems in TS3 and I love travelling to secret lots in TS4.
It's hard to pick favorite moments so here's some random memories that pop up without thinking too hard:
TS1 - My very very first experience with the game was my Sim walking into the kitchen, trying to make breakfast, catching fire and dying. lol.
TS2 - I loved when I took a Sim on a date downtown with somebody that wasn't her boyfriend (oops!) and when she kissed him every other Sim on the lot freaked out and started reacting jealously towards her!! (It turned out to be a development bug and we fixed it but it was HILARIOUS; they all came and kicked over my gnomes for DAYS)
TS3 - I recreated Jem and the Holograms and had them play music in the park for tips.
TS4 - I took my Sim for a jog, she ran by somebody sad, stopped and walked over to comfort her and it was so sweet!!
I actually do love downloading builds into my game at home (at work I have to delete too often!). I recently downloaded an Anna & Elsa to play with my daughter. We downloaded cool houses for them too. Then I downloaded a Buffy & Angel Sim I haven't found a house for them yet. I just keep rebuilding my own house!
I love the creativity and ideas thread and all the feedback we see online. We are regularly inspired by you all and what you have done and want to do with the game. I'm very excited by the future because anytime we give you something new you do something completely unexpected with it. I'm not sure how many other games can say that and that's pretty cool.