The size of the worlds don't matter if the game is unplayable. Sims 3 takes ages to load even on high end computers. Factor in the extra time when you have lots of mods installed and it just isn't worth playing.
Nope. Let me stop you there. I will personally record my load up process with Nvidia Share with a timer. Ts3 on my laptop takes about a minute to a minute and a half to load up.
And I have tons of CC...like probably at least 1k items plus custom worlds I paid for.
I have been playing since S1 and started at age 12 in 2000. I have purchased every EP and SP religiously.
I was SO excited for S4, I had supremely high hopes because the game could only get more amazing, right?
I remember loading up S4 and then getting to Willow Creek and looking around, well.. looking at the blueprint of what was supposed to be my city, and just feeling my excitement deflate like a slashed tire. My husband was sitting beside me and I was asking him like, "This is it?? Are you so serious right now?!"
I had just dropped premium cash on this game, so I was determined to make it work.
I made a couple.. and I did and still do love the sliders and the customization of CAS.
I plopped said couple into their little cookie cutter house and as I'm a family player, we went for a baby asap.
Pregnancy is pretty cool in S4, I like that their entire body actually changes while pregnant and that the needs are similar to actual pregnancy but then the baby actually came and I was just like..wowkay.
So I took a jaunt around the neighborhood as everyone was out jogging. And umm... barely anything to interact with. No car, no bike.. and what is up with these loading screens?!
It was like watching a movie being made with the green screen instead of actually using REAL items. Just totally non immersive.
In S3.. there is ALWAYS something going on. Festivals, opportunities, people cheating and getting caught in public, protests, kleptomaniacs swiping lamps, dogs, wild horses running around, contests, skill classes, movie theaters playing a movie, people drinking at the bar then driving home.
Ts3 is literally bustling with activity!! Not to mention, the amount of stuff your sims can do.. the list is ridiculously long
I can be a mermaid crime lord that owns a resort. I can be a werewolf that raises horses and and works part time at the bookstore.
The possibilities are endless.
The quality of graphics, while not as crisp as TS4, are still gorgeous.
In S3 you can watch beautiful sunsets on the water, watch the snow fall during a full moon, watch the sunrise through a realistic fog and you can mold the world to be whatever you WANT it to be. The amount of creativity is endless. I still haven't done everything in S3 and I've been playing since release.
Do I want to play a skilling simulator in basically a playpen, fish bowl whatever you want to refer to the restrictions as? Uhh no.
Can you change YOUR neighborhood to turn it into what you want? Nope.
I also like my S3 community better. People are generally more pleasant, talkative, and knowledgeable.
This was a long rant but I just felt it needed to be said.
I will hop on the PC and put up some gorgeous captures of some S3 scenery soon.
TL;DR S3 blows S4 out of the water in every way except sliders and demand on the system.
Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, HOLD UP!
You state this like it's an absolute fact. Guess what? It isn't.
While I don't care for the worlds in Sims 4 all that much, Sims 4 offers more to me as a player that I enjoy WAY more than Sims 3, which I also really, really like.
Origin ID:theAidster21
The Sims has always been an important part of my life, and may it continue to be so! Long live Sims!
[Due to some kind of glitch, I am unable to insert photos into my signature for some reason.]
The size of the worlds don't matter if the game is unplayable. Sims 3 takes ages to load even on high end computers. Factor in the extra time when you have lots of mods installed and it just isn't worth playing.
Nope. Let me stop you there. I will personally record my load up process with Nvidia Share with a timer. Ts3 on my laptop takes about a minute to a minute and a half to load up.
And I have tons of CC...like probably at least 1k items plus custom worlds I paid for.
I have been playing since S1 and started at age 12 in 2000. I have purchased every EP and SP religiously.
I was SO excited for S4, I had supremely high hopes because the game could only get more amazing, right?
I remember loading up S4 and then getting to Willow Creek and looking around, well.. looking at the blueprint of what was supposed to be my city, and just feeling my excitement deflate like a slashed tire. My husband was sitting beside me and I was asking him like, "This is it?? Are you so serious right now?!"
I had just dropped premium cash on this game, so I was determined to make it work.
I made a couple.. and I did and still do love the sliders and the customization of CAS.
I plopped said couple into their little cookie cutter house and as I'm a family player, we went for a baby asap.
Pregnancy is pretty cool in S4, I like that their entire body actually changes while pregnant and that the needs are similar to actual pregnancy but then the baby actually came and I was just like..wowkay.
So I took a jaunt around the neighborhood as everyone was out jogging. And umm... barely anything to interact with. No car, no bike.. and what is up with these loading screens?!
It was like watching a movie being made with the green screen instead of actually using REAL items. Just totally non immersive.
In S3.. there is ALWAYS something going on. Festivals, opportunities, people cheating and getting caught in public, protests, kleptomaniacs swiping lamps, dogs, wild horses running around, contests, skill classes, movie theaters playing a movie, people drinking at the bar then driving home.
Ts3 is literally bustling with activity!! Not to mention, the amount of stuff your sims can do.. the list is ridiculously long
I can be a mermaid crime lord that owns a resort. I can be a werewolf that raises horses and and works part time at the bookstore.
The possibilities are endless.
The quality of graphics, while not as crisp as TS4, are still gorgeous.
In S3 you can watch beautiful sunsets on the water, watch the snow fall during a full moon, watch the sunrise through a realistic fog and you can mold the world to be whatever you WANT it to be. The amount of creativity is endless. I still haven't done everything in S3 and I've been playing since release.
Do I want to play a skilling simulator in basically a playpen, fish bowl whatever you want to refer to the restrictions as? Uhh no.
Can you change YOUR neighborhood to turn it into what you want? Nope.
I also like my S3 community better. People are generally more pleasant, talkative, and knowledgeable.
This was a long rant but I just felt it needed to be said.
I will hop on the PC and put up some gorgeous captures of some S3 scenery soon.
TL;DR S3 blows S4 out of the water in every way except sliders and demand on the system.
Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, HOLD UP!
You state this like it's an absolute fact. Guess what? It isn't.
While I don't care for the worlds in Sims 4 all that much, Sims 4 offers more to me as a player that I enjoy WAY more than Sims 3, which I also really, really like.
In my current Sims4 game, according to my manage words I have in my game:
Willow Creek 19 Houses, 1 Empty lot, 1 park
Oasis Springs 16 Houses, 3 Empty lot,1 Community Lot, 1 park
Windenburg 13 Houses, 11 Community Lot, 1 park
Magnolia Promonade 4 Community Lot
Forgotten Hollow 5 Houses
New Crest 4 Houses, 2 Empty Lot, 9 Community Lot
San Myshuno 24 Houses, 5 Community Lot, 1 park
So in total, I have:
81 houses/residences/apartments for my sims to live in.
6 Empty lots I can customize to whatever.
4 City Parks
30 Community Lots. ( restaurants, bars, gym, library, museum, etc ).
While yes, it is spread out through all the small districts in Sims4, my active family in San Myshuno can visit all the community lots in New Crest, so I view it as one large, expanding neighborhood.
I got no complaints with the set up. Each time something new is released, it is like another suburb is opened up for my sims to visit whenever they choose. It is not an all or nothing situation. I don't have to recustomize my town when something new comes out or decide what I want to alter/delete to make room for whatever new shiny thing is released ...
My neighborhoods are full, vibrant and different. I'm content.
Right not trying to compare anything here but I will show a few pictures from Bridgeport, the 'big city' of TS3.
In the foreground you have the harbour which is just a neighbourhood object and cannot be edited as is the crane. In the distance you have the high rise shells. The outside cannot be edited but the inside can
Distant terrain, a backdrop pretty much. We do have them in TS3 as well
A community lot. These can usually be edited although the one in the picture has hidden room markers which would need to be removed first. The building has the traditional urban look
More distant terrain behind the hills. This gives an illusion of the world being continues in the distant
For TS4 I think it is a shame that the player cannot edit the world in the same way. The backdrops provide a realistic view t a small extent and probably make good for pictures but it would be nicer if players could edit some areas themselves, even perhaps provide a few ore backdrops to give the players something that they can call their own?
I agree it is a shame the sims 4 maps are un editable. It's one of my biggest bug bears. The worlds don't feel like mine as it were and I find doing challenges it's really immersion breaking. I love that in the sims 2 and 3 my worlds are mine and even if they are a bit wonky and I change them quite a bit. They are mine. Each one is unique and allows my creativity to flow. With the sims 4 worlds I feel like a bird with it's wings clipped.
Looking back it makes me wonder how many of us survived playing TS1 when we had no options to edit the neighbourhoods in any way except later being able to designate some lots as residential or community.
I think the thing is back then we didn't know any better. Now that we know better we expect better. At least that is what I would have expected for a next gen Sims game
@king_of_simcity7 You are right, we didn't know better and as the sims was the first of its kind I don't think we had high expectations as that not in the beginning anyhow. I came from Sim City and I was still playing that at the time so I was getting my creative kicks from that mostly.
Plus the game was fun and the sims had personality and the game had charm and quite a dark sense of humour and wasn't afraid to push boundaries. That's the difference between the sims and the sims 4.;-)
It's perfectly great people are content with the Sims 4 set up of neighborhoods/worlds, but counting lots - for me at least - isn't an ingredient (no it doesn't boil down to loading screens and no it doesn't boil down to dry numbers). I don't even know how many lots a Sims 3 world has, I never counted, and how many I could throw in on top of that if I wanted to. And I really don't care. All I know space has never been an issue for me in Sims 3. Presenting that as an argument only proves to me people have no idea what we're talking about, they apparently don't understand where the charm lies and they never will. And to be quite frankly, I don't care, that's fine, to each their own. All I hope is that the creators get it, in case they are considering a successor. Please bring back this freedom, please let US create our game, you only have to hand us the tools.
Given the two, I will take the Sims4 method over the Sims3.
Though, I don't view each 'world' Sims4 as worlds, I view them as one giant suburb, each interconnected to the other. The Sims3 was fine, losing family relationships and whatnot never bothered me when starting over in a fresh city. What was a turn off for me was all the prep work that I had to do before I could even begin to play in a new world when a new EP or world was released. Must have a fire station, that can go there, want the movie studio so I can put that over there, I really liked the fae gardens, I guess that can go there, If I put the dog park next to the pet shop and horse arena then I can move the pool over to there, by the school, no that was going to be the festival grounds so if I put this ....
In Sims4, I don't have to worry about it, since any of my sims at any time can go from one place to another. I don't need to have a gym in Windenburg, Oasis Springs or wherever else, I just need one gym, one library, one museum, one pool.
If they would give us a way to customize the common areas in the hood for sims$, it would be better. If they could ever find a way to open up each of the Sims4 sub-districts (five open lots) it would be ideal.
The great thing about TS3 worlds is that you can always expand the world to accommodate all of those lots you like. As for me, I cannot stick tons of different, diverse restaurants in a city world within TS4. They have to be scattered all over, and things have to be moved all around just so I can get the lot, which may or may not be in the world I truly want it to be in.
Definitely agree with wanting customization of common areas. As for worlds, I feel like they should honestly just allow us to have multiple versions of the same world.
In sims 4 I'm basically told what my cities are to be - skyscraper backgrounds, Euro, Deep South, so even when I customize my "burb to my specifics the painted in houses around my house don't fit in. Sims 3 I could make a country section, suburban section going to a skyscraper filled city, now it would be good if Sims 5 allows different sections, areas (whatever) like in Sims 4, but leave them essentially a blank canvass where WE decide what sort of area it will be
I think that Sunset Valley started out with around 80 lots and even though you couldn't add any more at that time until Ambitions came out you didn't really need to straight away. You could also switch from residential or community as well. Then if you downloaded Riverview that was also around the same number of lots.
TS4 started with around 25 in both base worlds I think, maybe a bit more than that but combined the where still not the size of Sunset Valley and even thought it is good than you can link the worlds together, something which should have been attempted in TS3 it feels less of an advantage but more of a blessing.
Even though TS4 has more worlds available now, one patched in for free that would still be much less that TS3 by the same period in time. That does not include the fact that TS3 had a CAW tool within only a few months of release.
What is the biggest TS3 world? I don't know, mine has more than 300 which is pushing it but I knew of one with around 700-800. A bit too much back then but hopefully possible by the next game.
I am with you in hoping that the developers realise this is what players want.
I think if EA were to introduce the option of bringing in custom worlds, it would solve a lot of peoples' problems with the somewhat inflexible nature of the worlds.
I only started playing TS4 earlier this month, but the first thing I realised was that there weren't enough lots, and the worlds seemed a little "simple". This of course is in comparison to TS3... I spent many many many hours with TS3 and the fact that there was so much interactivity and flexibility is what I really liked. I also enjoyed seeing user-created custom worlds as well.
From a new player's perspective, I can see that TS4 has a certain level of user-friendliness that is good for people who like to play the game purely for the creating a sim, building a house and having a family (I guess, the fundamentals of the game) - but for people looking for a more cohesive experience that incorporates the entire neighbourhood/world, it's lacklustre compared to TS3 in my opinion. But I dunno, I've only been playing for less than a month. I still really like TS4 though... sooo fun.
> @KaceyS said:
> I bought TS4 the day it was released, as I have with all the other releases. I'm a supper fan and Sims addict, however I played TS4 a grand total of 3 times and completely lost interest due to how incredibly disappointed I was with it. Here are my reasons...
>
> 1. It took me almost 2 hours to figure out the hot key controls and the most frustrating part of that was trying to figure out how to tilt up and down so I could at least look at the sky.
> 2. I feel like I'm in a goldfish bowl. Even when my view is zoomed out, there is far less to see then there was in TS3. It feels claustrophobic.
> 3. I got so frustrated trying to figure out how to find and visit the grocery store or other community lots that I just gave up.
> 4. No patterns or color customizations?? Seriously??
> 5. Only a few open lots to choose to live on? again SERIOUSLY??
>
> I thought this game was going to be an advancement in the series however it's by far the most boring, frustrating and cartoonishly fake version that I ever had the misfortune to play. I know you might not agree with me and you may love TS4 and thats awesome. I'm just bummed that I can't feel the same love and enthusiasm for it, so I will be back in lonely TS3 where there will never be new content and Maxis has clearly left far behind. (Drama for emphasis)
Thou I do overall agree with all of this (even thou I do like sims 4..not as much as 3), I strongly agree with
2 - This is the big issue I'm having with 4. No matter how much they put into it, I still feel confined to my house! Adding community lots make it no better, besides you get lost in loading screens.
3 - LOL. When I first started playing this is what had me so lost. and the loss of these things make me sad everytime I play.
4 - Just lazy. Why would they do this.
Sims 3 is still the best game.
I just bought the game a few days a ago (and though I do like it) it still has the same issues as everyone said it did (thank goodness I got it at $19.99 and not for $60.00) I even had freezing issues and it's crashed at least twice so far not to mention overheating my system. That being said there are some improvements to game play than what 3 had and there are more options and they do seem to be governed by their emotions which is a good thing. I hope (if and) when they make 5 they don't lose the emotional reactions that 4 has given us. I'd hate to think that they'd lose a cool component 4 had like they scrapped all the cool parts of 3. I hope 5 can build on what 3 and 4 and 2 gave us. And having a fully interactable environment with good graphics is possible look at new Zelda and we're talking about a console game. I'm hoping this means they have been able to make leaps in bounds in the computer gaming spectrum.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
I really like the open world. But I also love the ability to travel quickly between different neighborhoods, even those with completely different looks one of each other. The Sims 4 is more integrated than ever, just as was the Sims 1 and The Sims 2. Already in The Sims 3, each expansion pack looked like an independent game. Came a new world, fully equipped with lots and features of the new expansion, but the previous worlds were simply stuck in time, forcing the players (even the less skilled players) to reform the world they lived in, even if the result was not be so good. And all this with the sole and exclusive purpose of not having to move the sims to other world, lose friends, relationships and everything all that was built in the homeland.
The open world has great features, but not perfect. Windenburg is amazing, and I believe that the work will only improve with time.
I've always integrated each new EP into the world I was playing in that moment so for me none of them has ever felt like an independent game. I agree being able to travel between worlds is awesome, I've always wanted that for Sims 3 (there is a mod by the way that enables you to do it). I regret though we're not talking about worlds here (yet), just tiny neighborhoods. I do agree though it 's real nice to be able to travel between totally different atmospheres. I can in 3 when I take my sim to China but they can't live there.
Actually in 3 you can live in the foreign environments you have to complete all the tasks and reach the 3rd Visa Level. I actually had one of my large families move into China bought a house and redecorated it. I personally don't mind the tasks I always enjoyed playing them even when I had done them more than once. I also don't' mind the tasks in 4 as it's always how I've played my sims games. I do sometimes let the tasks slide if it gets too wearisome but most the time I have too many sims in one house for that to happen, I pretty much have a sort of controlled chaos going on in my game and never really finish anything.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
I really like the open world. But I also love the ability to travel quickly between different neighborhoods, even those with completely different looks one of each other. The Sims 4 is more integrated than ever, just as was the Sims 1 and The Sims 2. Already in The Sims 3, each expansion pack looked like an independent game. Came a new world, fully equipped with lots and features of the new expansion, but the previous worlds were simply stuck in time, forcing the players (even the less skilled players) to reform the world they lived in, even if the result was not be so good. And all this with the sole and exclusive purpose of not having to move the sims to other world, lose friends, relationships and everything all that was built in the homeland.
The open world has great features, but not perfect. Windenburg is amazing, and I believe that the work will only improve with time.
I've always integrated each new EP into the world I was playing in that moment so for me none of them has ever felt like an independent game. I agree being able to travel between worlds is awesome, I've always wanted that for Sims 3 (there is a mod by the way that enables you to do it). I regret though we're not talking about worlds here (yet), just tiny neighborhoods. I do agree though it 's real nice to be able to travel between totally different atmospheres. I can in 3 when I take my sim to China but they can't live there.
Actually in 3 you can live in the foreign environments you have to complete all the tasks and reach the 3rd Visa Level. I actually had one of my large families move into China bought a house and redecorated it. I personally don't mind the tasks I always enjoyed playing them even when I had done them more than once. I also don't' mind the tasks in 4 as it's always how I've played my sims games. I do sometimes let the tasks slide if it gets too wearisome but most the time I have too many sims in one house for that to happen, I pretty much have a sort of controlled chaos going on in my game and never really finish anything.
I know you can buy a house in the WA worlds at some point, but you can't really live there (in a go-to-school or have-a-career kind of way), after a period you'll have to return home. But yeah, I had indeed sims living abroad and they can stay there for several weeks.
Oasis Landing is more flexible in this respect btw. Your sim can live there as long as they like and even have a career there.
> @KaceyS said:
> I bought TS4 the day it was released, as I have with all the other releases. I'm a supper fan and Sims addict, however I played TS4 a grand total of 3 times and completely lost interest due to how incredibly disappointed I was with it. Here are my reasons...
>
> 1. It took me almost 2 hours to figure out the hot key controls and the most frustrating part of that was trying to figure out how to tilt up and down so I could at least look at the sky.
> 2. I feel like I'm in a goldfish bowl. Even when my view is zoomed out, there is far less to see then there was in TS3. It feels claustrophobic.
> 3. I got so frustrated trying to figure out how to find and visit the grocery store or other community lots that I just gave up.
> 4. No patterns or color customizations?? Seriously??
> 5. Only a few open lots to choose to live on? again SERIOUSLY??
>
> I thought this game was going to be an advancement in the series however it's by far the most boring, frustrating and cartoonishly fake version that I ever had the misfortune to play. I know you might not agree with me and you may love TS4 and thats awesome. I'm just bummed that I can't feel the same love and enthusiasm for it, so I will be back in lonely TS3 where there will never be new content and Maxis has clearly left far behind. (Drama for emphasis)
Thou I do overall agree with all of this (even thou I do like sims 4..not as much as 3), I strongly agree with
2 - This is the big issue I'm having with 4. No matter how much they put into it, I still feel confined to my house! Adding community lots make it no better, besides you get lost in loading screens.
3 - LOL. When I first started playing this is what had me so lost. and the loss of these things make me sad everytime I play.
4 - Just lazy. Why would they do this.
Sims 3 is still the best game.
I just bought the game a few days a ago (and though I do like it) it still has the same issues as everyone said it did (thank goodness I got it at $19.99 and not for $60.00) I even had freezing issues and it's crashed at least twice so far not to mention overheating my system. That being said there are some improvements to game play than what 3 had and there are more options and they do seem to be governed by their emotions which is a good thing. I hope (if and) when they make 5 they don't lose the emotional reactions that 4 has given us. I'd hate to think that they'd lose a cool component 4 had like they scrapped all the cool parts of 3. I hope 5 can build on what 3 and 4 and 2 gave us. And having a fully interactable environment with good graphics is possible look at new Zelda and we're talking about a console game. I'm hoping this means they have been able to make leaps in bounds in the computer gaming spectrum.
Refreshing to see truly objective criticism out here. Hat's off to you.
Quick question about the bolded part.
Is there a video game (console or no) that combines cutting edge graphics, open world and full NPC autonomy?
What I'm driving at is that the latter requires a tremendous amount of resources.
Is it a realistic expectation for the Sims to ever compete against first generation titles in graphics and size (like say a future GTA 6) without ridiculous minimum specifcation requirements?
Refreshing to see truly objective criticism out here. Hat's off to you.
Quick question about the bolded part.
Is there a video game (console or no) that combines cutting edge graphics, open world and full NPC autonomy?
What I'm driving at is that the latter requires a tremendous amount of resources.
Is it a realistic expectation for the Sims to ever compete against first generation titles in graphics and size (like say a future GTA 6) without ridiculous minimum specifcation requirements?[/quote]
Well Zelda comes very close you can go anywhere in the world even climbing trees, mountains, swim in rivers, lakes there's weather (Link can even die from harsh conditions), animals that you can hunt and enemies that you have to battle too. Though it's only Link wandering around by himself questing he does have more interactions than earlier iterations (well I didn't get to WindWaker or Skyward Sword) and the characters he interact with aren't planted to one location as they were in Ocarina but move about and do different activities. One (your first contact with a NPC even has a big reveal of who he is (he starts off being this lonely guy that guides you a little gives you tips on how to chop wood which he does and he turns up here and there very different for NPC character he turns out to be a ghost king). On the way to one of the villages I ran across trolls on horses and I was able to shoot one dehorse one and steal his horse (quite fun actually) and then when I got closer to the village there were other people like Link riding horses and they came under attack from trolls and I had the choice to save them if I wanted (I did hoping for a reward but nah those villagers were stingy).
Right before Karikko village I came across this shopping center and the merchants there were tied to their spots but that's kind of acceptable there was a horse trader there too but I didn't buy any horses as had only just been finding rupees in the trolls camps that I demolished. This is a console game which doesn't have as much processing power as a computer would have.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
I really like the open world. But I also love the ability to travel quickly between different neighborhoods, even those with completely different looks one of each other. The Sims 4 is more integrated than ever, just as was the Sims 1 and The Sims 2. Already in The Sims 3, each expansion pack looked like an independent game. Came a new world, fully equipped with lots and features of the new expansion, but the previous worlds were simply stuck in time, forcing the players (even the less skilled players) to reform the world they lived in, even if the result was not be so good. And all this with the sole and exclusive purpose of not having to move the sims to other world, lose friends, relationships and everything all that was built in the homeland.
The open world has great features, but not perfect. Windenburg is amazing, and I believe that the work will only improve with time.
I've always integrated each new EP into the world I was playing in that moment so for me none of them has ever felt like an independent game. I agree being able to travel between worlds is awesome, I've always wanted that for Sims 3 (there is a mod by the way that enables you to do it). I regret though we're not talking about worlds here (yet), just tiny neighborhoods. I do agree though it 's real nice to be able to travel between totally different atmospheres. I can in 3 when I take my sim to China but they can't live there.
Actually in 3 you can live in the foreign environments you have to complete all the tasks and reach the 3rd Visa Level. I actually had one of my large families move into China bought a house and redecorated it. I personally don't mind the tasks I always enjoyed playing them even when I had done them more than once. I also don't' mind the tasks in 4 as it's always how I've played my sims games. I do sometimes let the tasks slide if it gets too wearisome but most the time I have too many sims in one house for that to happen, I pretty much have a sort of controlled chaos going on in my game and never really finish anything.
I know you can buy a house in the WA worlds at some point, but you can't really live there (in a go-to-school or have-a-career kind of way), after a period you'll have to return home. But yeah, I had indeed sims living abroad and they can stay there for several weeks.
Oasis Landing is more flexible in this respect btw. Your sim can live there as long as they like and even have a career there.
(I very much agree with your other post)
That is true you can't live there but a few weeks and you can't fully integrate into the culture there, yeah that would be neat if you could have jobs there or school though you can fall in love and marry some of the villagers there and they can come back with you to where you live I did it a couple of times with my sims in 3.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
Well Zelda comes very close you can go anywhere in the world even climbing trees, mountains, swim in rivers, lakes there's weather (Link can even die from harsh conditions), animals that you can hunt and enemies that you have to battle too. Though it's only Link wandering around by himself questing he does have more interactions than earlier iterations (well I didn't get to WindWaker or Skyward Sword) and the characters he interact with aren't planted to one location as they were in Ocarina but move about and do different activities. One (your first contact with a NPC even has a big reveal of who he is (he starts off being this lonely guy that guides you a little gives you tips on how to chop wood which he does and he turns up here and there very different for NPC character he turns out to be a ghost king). On the way to one of the villages I ran across trolls on horses and I was able to shoot one dehorse one and steal his horse (quite fun actually) and then when I got closer to the village there were other people like Link riding horses and they came under attack from trolls and I had the choice to save them if I wanted (I did hoping for a reward but nah those villagers were stingy).
Right before Karikko village I came across this shopping center and the merchants there were tied to their spots but that's kind of acceptable there was a horse trader there too but I didn't buy any horses as had only just been finding rupees in the trolls camps that I demolished. This is a console game which doesn't have as much processing power as a computer would have.
Interesting.
How would you rate the range of autonomy on those NPC's?
Also does the game offer as many options for both NPC's and the main avatar to interact with the environment?
Well Zelda comes very close you can go anywhere in the world even climbing trees, mountains, swim in rivers, lakes there's weather (Link can even die from harsh conditions), animals that you can hunt and enemies that you have to battle too. Though it's only Link wandering around by himself questing he does have more interactions than earlier iterations (well I didn't get to WindWaker or Skyward Sword) and the characters he interact with aren't planted to one location as they were in Ocarina but move about and do different activities. One (your first contact with a NPC even has a big reveal of who he is (he starts off being this lonely guy that guides you a little gives you tips on how to chop wood which he does and he turns up here and there very different for NPC character he turns out to be a ghost king). On the way to one of the villages I ran across trolls on horses and I was able to shoot one dehorse one and steal his horse (quite fun actually) and then when I got closer to the village there were other people like Link riding horses and they came under attack from trolls and I had the choice to save them if I wanted (I did hoping for a reward but nah those villagers were stingy).
Right before Karikko village I came across this shopping center and the merchants there were tied to their spots but that's kind of acceptable there was a horse trader there too but I didn't buy any horses as had only just been finding rupees in the trolls camps that I demolished. This is a console game which doesn't have as much processing power as a computer would have.
Interesting.
How would you rate the range of autonomy on those NPC's?
Also does the game offer as many options for both NPC's and the main avatar to interact with the environment?
I would actually have to have more game time to truly tell if those NPC's (there were quite a few) would interact with you I was at a friends house playing the game had to stop we played a good 8-10 hours on it I'm pretty sure maybe even more but didn't get to even the first dungeon. I haven't got back to play it but the first NPC (not an enemy NPC) that I mention he chopped wood and cooked and you could talk to him though Zelda isn't known for in depth conversations with NPC's (unless there are cut scenes). This particular NPC flies in on a hang glider and is seen in other parts of the game there to give you items and advice. Oh and Zelda actually OMG talks in the game it was pretty awesome to finally hear a character speak in the Zelda game, boy that game has come a long way.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
Well and if you are counting enemy NPC's and not just benign ones yes they have the ability to fight and some better than link they have strategy's to their fight styles and you have to learn those, I'm not sure whether or not they could climb trees like Zelda but they did have forts they were on top of and when you figured out how to let the plank down they could run down that plank and gang up on you they wouldn't wait to fight you like in earlier versions. So the NPC's are highly interactive but not in the same way Sims are. And if you got the attention of the scout troll by shooting at him he'd alert the others and they'd go searching for you. There was one troll that before killing he gave us some kind of clue about something it's been a week or two since I played it so I can't quite remember what it was now but yeah these NPC's are more advanced than they've ever been in Zelda. Oh and when I say Zelda has awesome graphics it is still very cartoonish looking but everything in it has a realistic look, the grass sways and trees sway, you even see shadows from the clouds over head on the ground the sun it actually hurts (though not like IRL) to look at it and looks like the sun you see IRL.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
Well and if you are counting enemy NPC's and not just benign ones yes they have the ability to fight and some better than link they have strategy's to their fight styles and you have to learn those, I'm not sure whether or not they could climb trees like Zelda but they did have forts they were on top of and when you figured out how to let the plank down they could run down that plank and gang up on you they wouldn't wait to fight you like in earlier versions. So the NPC's are highly interactive but not in the same way Sims are. And if you got the attention of the scout troll by shooting at him he'd alert the others and they'd go searching for you. There was one troll that before killing he gave us some kind of clue about something it's been a week or two since I played it so I can't quite remember what it was now but yeah these NPC's are more advanced than they've ever been in Zelda.
Do you get the impression when you're playing that NPC's not on screen are performing tasks in the background?
Well and if you are counting enemy NPC's and not just benign ones yes they have the ability to fight and some better than link they have strategy's to their fight styles and you have to learn those, I'm not sure whether or not they could climb trees like Zelda but they did have forts they were on top of and when you figured out how to let the plank down they could run down that plank and gang up on you they wouldn't wait to fight you like in earlier versions. So the NPC's are highly interactive but not in the same way Sims are. And if you got the attention of the scout troll by shooting at him he'd alert the others and they'd go searching for you. There was one troll that before killing he gave us some kind of clue about something it's been a week or two since I played it so I can't quite remember what it was now but yeah these NPC's are more advanced than they've ever been in Zelda.
Do you get the impression when you're playing that NPC's not on screen are performing tasks in the background?
Yes you could see them eat meals and sleep in fact it was easier to attack them when they were distracted. Oh and one time we came upon these two trolls on horses and they were chasing after a boar I helped them kill the boar and then took the spoil and I think those trolls fled after that I don't remember if we killed them or not.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
Comments
Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, Hold up, HOLD UP!
You state this like it's an absolute fact. Guess what? It isn't.
While I don't care for the worlds in Sims 4 all that much, Sims 4 offers more to me as a player that I enjoy WAY more than Sims 3, which I also really, really like.
The Sims has always been an important part of my life, and may it continue to be so! Long live Sims!
[Due to some kind of glitch, I am unable to insert photos into my signature for some reason.]
I agree
Willow Creek 19 Houses, 1 Empty lot, 1 park
Oasis Springs 16 Houses, 3 Empty lot,1 Community Lot, 1 park
Windenburg 13 Houses, 11 Community Lot, 1 park
Magnolia Promonade 4 Community Lot
Forgotten Hollow 5 Houses
New Crest 4 Houses, 2 Empty Lot, 9 Community Lot
San Myshuno 24 Houses, 5 Community Lot, 1 park
So in total, I have:
81 houses/residences/apartments for my sims to live in.
6 Empty lots I can customize to whatever.
4 City Parks
30 Community Lots. ( restaurants, bars, gym, library, museum, etc ).
While yes, it is spread out through all the small districts in Sims4, my active family in San Myshuno can visit all the community lots in New Crest, so I view it as one large, expanding neighborhood.
I got no complaints with the set up. Each time something new is released, it is like another suburb is opened up for my sims to visit whenever they choose. It is not an all or nothing situation. I don't have to recustomize my town when something new comes out or decide what I want to alter/delete to make room for whatever new shiny thing is released ...
My neighborhoods are full, vibrant and different. I'm content.
In the foreground you have the harbour which is just a neighbourhood object and cannot be edited as is the crane. In the distance you have the high rise shells. The outside cannot be edited but the inside can
Distant terrain, a backdrop pretty much. We do have them in TS3 as well
A community lot. These can usually be edited although the one in the picture has hidden room markers which would need to be removed first. The building has the traditional urban look
More distant terrain behind the hills. This gives an illusion of the world being continues in the distant
For TS4 I think it is a shame that the player cannot edit the world in the same way. The backdrops provide a realistic view t a small extent and probably make good for pictures but it would be nicer if players could edit some areas themselves, even perhaps provide a few ore backdrops to give the players something that they can call their own?
I agree it is a shame the sims 4 maps are un editable. It's one of my biggest bug bears. The worlds don't feel like mine as it were and I find doing challenges it's really immersion breaking. I love that in the sims 2 and 3 my worlds are mine and even if they are a bit wonky and I change them quite a bit. They are mine. Each one is unique and allows my creativity to flow. With the sims 4 worlds I feel like a bird with it's wings clipped.
Looking back it makes me wonder how many of us survived playing TS1 when we had no options to edit the neighbourhoods in any way except later being able to designate some lots as residential or community.
I think the thing is back then we didn't know any better. Now that we know better we expect better. At least that is what I would have expected for a next gen Sims game
Plus the game was fun and the sims had personality and the game had charm and quite a dark sense of humour and wasn't afraid to push boundaries. That's the difference between the sims and the sims 4.;-)
The great thing about TS3 worlds is that you can always expand the world to accommodate all of those lots you like. As for me, I cannot stick tons of different, diverse restaurants in a city world within TS4. They have to be scattered all over, and things have to be moved all around just so I can get the lot, which may or may not be in the world I truly want it to be in.
Definitely agree with wanting customization of common areas. As for worlds, I feel like they should honestly just allow us to have multiple versions of the same world.
I think that Sunset Valley started out with around 80 lots and even though you couldn't add any more at that time until Ambitions came out you didn't really need to straight away. You could also switch from residential or community as well. Then if you downloaded Riverview that was also around the same number of lots.
TS4 started with around 25 in both base worlds I think, maybe a bit more than that but combined the where still not the size of Sunset Valley and even thought it is good than you can link the worlds together, something which should have been attempted in TS3 it feels less of an advantage but more of a blessing.
Even though TS4 has more worlds available now, one patched in for free that would still be much less that TS3 by the same period in time. That does not include the fact that TS3 had a CAW tool within only a few months of release.
What is the biggest TS3 world? I don't know, mine has more than 300 which is pushing it but I knew of one with around 700-800. A bit too much back then but hopefully possible by the next game.
I am with you in hoping that the developers realise this is what players want.
I only started playing TS4 earlier this month, but the first thing I realised was that there weren't enough lots, and the worlds seemed a little "simple". This of course is in comparison to TS3... I spent many many many hours with TS3 and the fact that there was so much interactivity and flexibility is what I really liked. I also enjoyed seeing user-created custom worlds as well.
From a new player's perspective, I can see that TS4 has a certain level of user-friendliness that is good for people who like to play the game purely for the creating a sim, building a house and having a family (I guess, the fundamentals of the game) - but for people looking for a more cohesive experience that incorporates the entire neighbourhood/world, it's lacklustre compared to TS3 in my opinion. But I dunno, I've only been playing for less than a month. I still really like TS4 though... sooo fun.
twitter @dropbearsims ∼ koala-sims @ tumblr ∼ simstagram @dropbearsim
origin id: dropbearsims
I just bought the game a few days a ago (and though I do like it) it still has the same issues as everyone said it did (thank goodness I got it at $19.99 and not for $60.00) I even had freezing issues and it's crashed at least twice so far not to mention overheating my system. That being said there are some improvements to game play than what 3 had and there are more options and they do seem to be governed by their emotions which is a good thing. I hope (if and) when they make 5 they don't lose the emotional reactions that 4 has given us. I'd hate to think that they'd lose a cool component 4 had like they scrapped all the cool parts of 3. I hope 5 can build on what 3 and 4 and 2 gave us. And having a fully interactable environment with good graphics is possible look at new Zelda and we're talking about a console game. I'm hoping this means they have been able to make leaps in bounds in the computer gaming spectrum.
Actually in 3 you can live in the foreign environments you have to complete all the tasks and reach the 3rd Visa Level. I actually had one of my large families move into China bought a house and redecorated it. I personally don't mind the tasks I always enjoyed playing them even when I had done them more than once. I also don't' mind the tasks in 4 as it's always how I've played my sims games. I do sometimes let the tasks slide if it gets too wearisome but most the time I have too many sims in one house for that to happen, I pretty much have a sort of controlled chaos going on in my game and never really finish anything.
Oasis Landing is more flexible in this respect btw. Your sim can live there as long as they like and even have a career there.
(I very much agree with your other post)
Refreshing to see truly objective criticism out here. Hat's off to you.
Quick question about the bolded part.
Is there a video game (console or no) that combines cutting edge graphics, open world and full NPC autonomy?
What I'm driving at is that the latter requires a tremendous amount of resources.
Is it a realistic expectation for the Sims to ever compete against first generation titles in graphics and size (like say a future GTA 6) without ridiculous minimum specifcation requirements?
Refreshing to see truly objective criticism out here. Hat's off to you.
Quick question about the bolded part.
Is there a video game (console or no) that combines cutting edge graphics, open world and full NPC autonomy?
What I'm driving at is that the latter requires a tremendous amount of resources.
Is it a realistic expectation for the Sims to ever compete against first generation titles in graphics and size (like say a future GTA 6) without ridiculous minimum specifcation requirements?[/quote]
Well Zelda comes very close you can go anywhere in the world even climbing trees, mountains, swim in rivers, lakes there's weather (Link can even die from harsh conditions), animals that you can hunt and enemies that you have to battle too. Though it's only Link wandering around by himself questing he does have more interactions than earlier iterations (well I didn't get to WindWaker or Skyward Sword) and the characters he interact with aren't planted to one location as they were in Ocarina but move about and do different activities. One (your first contact with a NPC even has a big reveal of who he is (he starts off being this lonely guy that guides you a little gives you tips on how to chop wood which he does and he turns up here and there very different for NPC character he turns out to be a ghost king). On the way to one of the villages I ran across trolls on horses and I was able to shoot one dehorse one and steal his horse (quite fun actually) and then when I got closer to the village there were other people like Link riding horses and they came under attack from trolls and I had the choice to save them if I wanted (I did hoping for a reward but nah those villagers were stingy).
Right before Karikko village I came across this shopping center and the merchants there were tied to their spots but that's kind of acceptable there was a horse trader there too but I didn't buy any horses as had only just been finding rupees in the trolls camps that I demolished. This is a console game which doesn't have as much processing power as a computer would have.
That is true you can't live there but a few weeks and you can't fully integrate into the culture there, yeah that would be neat if you could have jobs there or school though you can fall in love and marry some of the villagers there and they can come back with you to where you live I did it a couple of times with my sims in 3.
Interesting.
How would you rate the range of autonomy on those NPC's?
Also does the game offer as many options for both NPC's and the main avatar to interact with the environment?
I would actually have to have more game time to truly tell if those NPC's (there were quite a few) would interact with you I was at a friends house playing the game had to stop we played a good 8-10 hours on it I'm pretty sure maybe even more but didn't get to even the first dungeon. I haven't got back to play it but the first NPC (not an enemy NPC) that I mention he chopped wood and cooked and you could talk to him though Zelda isn't known for in depth conversations with NPC's (unless there are cut scenes). This particular NPC flies in on a hang glider and is seen in other parts of the game there to give you items and advice. Oh and Zelda actually OMG talks in the game it was pretty awesome to finally hear a character speak in the Zelda game, boy that game has come a long way.
Do you get the impression when you're playing that NPC's not on screen are performing tasks in the background?
Yes you could see them eat meals and sleep in fact it was easier to attack them when they were distracted. Oh and one time we came upon these two trolls on horses and they were chasing after a boar I helped them kill the boar and then took the spoil and I think those trolls fled after that I don't remember if we killed them or not.