I think it's possible, if EA really wanted to make the effort. But it's not comparable to Planet Coaster. The biggest difference between the two is that in the Sims we can actually control each individual sim with a nearly endless mix of possible interactions. The "sims" in Planet Coaster are extremely limited and are not directly manipulated by the player.
I think it's possible, if EA really wanted to make the effort. But it's not comparable to Planet Coaster. The biggest difference between the two is that in the Sims we can actually control each individual sim with a nearly endless mix of possible interactions. The "sims" in Planet Coaster are extremely limited and are not directly manipulated by the player.
The Sims in 4 are not directly controlled. You click where you want them to go and the game uses its routing A.I. to direct them there. Both games use computer controlled routing. Direct control would be using the arrow indicators, or a control pad to manually move them around.
Just to note Planet Coaster has some pretty high recommended specs to play the game. I know people that play it and right now the game is very buggy on the highest of machines. Hope they fix the game
The specs are much higher than TS4. Always look at recommended to play the game more efficiently
System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit
Processor: Intel i5-2300/AMD FX-4300
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GTX 560 (2GB)/AMD Radeon 7850 (2GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 8 GB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum specifications may change during development.
Recommended:
OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit
Processor: Intel i7-4770/AMD FX-8350
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GTX 980 (4GB)/AMD R9 380 (4GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 8 GB available space
Additional Notes: Recommended specifications may change during development.
Just look at this attention to detail. Vendors have their own animations. We didn't get anything like that in City Living.
Also, NPC visitors all have unique tastes. Some like gentle rides, others fast ones. They have needs and will eat and drink, have to use the toilet. Staff have satisfaction levels.
Not 100% on this, but I believe in Planet Coaster, some people move as groups and are therefore "attached" when walking around. One person in the group turns left, everyone in the group turns left. You could easily match this question of yours with "why can't people in Planet Coaster stop holding hands?" Because aside from when they're on a ride, they're treated as one mobile unit.
Secondly, it's important to realize Planet Coaster has people doing two things: walking and riding rides. As such, of course they focus more attention to this detail. The Sims? Where would they hold hands and walk? All the neighborhoods are really small so it'd be a short trip no matter where you are. Not really worth the effort.
I disagree, you can compare. Sims in 4 often act as a single group in Get Together.
Don't sims walk as a group in Get Together? One turns left, they all turn left.
The same when they group dance. They are not acting as individuals; they are one unit all performing the exact same actions.
Hand-holding in The Sims would be the same as in Planet Coaster, whilst doing it, the two sims would be one mobile unit whilst walking to a particular destination.
I agree that the worlds are so small in 4 it'd be a short trip, but still it'd be a nice feature for a couple to do it randomly now and then. This is the fourth iteration; one would expect it be more nuanced and it is little things like this that woudl make the sims appear more human.
And in response to the bold part, not all npcs in Planet Coaster hold hands, and the ones that do, as far as I am aware, do not do it all the time. There are also family units walking around that have couples holding hands with children not holding anyone's hand at all, yet they all move as one unit. NPCsalso put their arms around each other and can walk whilst doing so.
This is a roller coaster sim. If Maxis were making it, they would have used the excuse that they wanted to focus on the roller coasters themselves and so thought it would be a waste of budget to add complex animations to the random NPCs. It is little details like this that make a game feel more immersive.
Planet Coaster is being praised so much because they have made a solid game that has detail in all areas like a modern game should have. They did not work with the modus operandi of what can we cut like Maxis appear to do with every release, but instead put in what they could to make the game more immersive.
Honestly, who'd've thought they would have gone to that much detail for the NPCs that are often out of focus due to the level of zoom? It just shows the dedication of the company and their developers to make a fantastic game that wows their players.
What have we had in 4 that wows? All we ever get is short cuts, limitations and lack of detail all for a premium price.
You sold me. LOL...buying it.
BTW - I agree with everything you have said. There has been nothing stopping Maxis from creating a "unit" when walking besides their own limitations. They could if they wanted to, but that has never been a priority for them. I feel like seeing families walk together - even if it is just in the background - would make the illusion feel more real. I hate when I see random children walking around without a parent in a strange neighborhood. I would prefer it if they walked around with their parents or an older sibling. Same for couples. I would like them to actually look like a couple. Right now, it just looks like random sims walking around for no apparent reason and then stopping to talk to strangers every now and then. It just seems weird to not see groups of people walking together.
Also...to solve the illusion breaking random sims walking...I would like each neighborhood to have a public park. That way I can imagine that these sims at least have a reason to be there.
Not 100% on this, but I believe in Planet Coaster, some people move as groups and are therefore "attached" when walking around. One person in the group turns left, everyone in the group turns left. You could easily match this question of yours with "why can't people in Planet Coaster stop holding hands?" Because aside from when they're on a ride, they're treated as one mobile unit.
Secondly, it's important to realize Planet Coaster has people doing two things: walking and riding rides. As such, of course they focus more attention to this detail. The Sims? Where would they hold hands and walk? All the neighborhoods are really small so it'd be a short trip no matter where you are. Not really worth the effort.
I disagree, you can compare. Sims in 4 often act as a single group in Get Together.
Don't sims walk as a group in Get Together? One turns left, they all turn left.
The same when they group dance. They are not acting as individuals; they are one unit all performing the exact same actions.
Hand-holding in The Sims would be the same as in Planet Coaster, whilst doing it, the two sims would be one mobile unit whilst walking to a particular destination.
I agree that the worlds are so small in 4 it'd be a short trip, but still it'd be a nice feature for a couple to do it randomly now and then. This is the fourth iteration; one would expect it be more nuanced and it is little things like this that woudl make the sims appear more human.
And in response to the bold part, not all npcs in Planet Coaster hold hands, and the ones that do, as far as I am aware, do not do it all the time. There are also family units walking around that have couples holding hands with children not holding anyone's hand at all, yet they all move as one unit. NPCsalso put their arms around each other and can walk whilst doing so.
This is a roller coaster sim. If Maxis were making it, they would have used the excuse that they wanted to focus on the roller coasters themselves and so thought it would be a waste of budget to add complex animations to the random NPCs. It is little details like this that make a game feel more immersive.
Planet Coaster is being praised so much because they have made a solid game that has detail in all areas like a modern game should have. They did not work with the modus operandi of what can we cut like Maxis appear to do with every release, but instead put in what they could to make the game more immersive.
Honestly, who'd've thought they would have gone to that much detail for the NPCs that are often out of focus due to the level of zoom? It just shows the dedication of the company and their developers to make a fantastic game that wows their players.
What have we had in 4 that wows? All we ever get is short cuts, limitations and lack of detail all for a premium price.
You sold me. LOL...buying it.
BTW - I agree with everything you have said. There has been nothing stopping Maxis from creating a "unit" when walking besides their own limitations. They could if they wanted to, but that has never been a priority for them. I feel like seeing families walk together - even if it is just in the background - would make the illusion feel more real. I hate when I see random children walking around without a parent in a strange neighborhood. I would prefer it if they walked around with their parents or an older sibling. Same for couples. I would like them to actually look like a couple. Right now, it just looks like random sims walking around for no apparent reason and then stopping to talk to strangers every now and then. It just seems weird to not see groups of people walking together.
Also...to solve the illusion breaking random sims walking...I would like each neighborhood to have a public park. That way I can imagine that these sims at least have a reason to be there.
They showed the makers of Roller Coaster Tycoon Worlds how it is done, let's hope they show Maxis how to make a sims game next.
Not 100% on this, but I believe in Planet Coaster, some people move as groups and are therefore "attached" when walking around. One person in the group turns left, everyone in the group turns left. You could easily match this question of yours with "why can't people in Planet Coaster stop holding hands?" Because aside from when they're on a ride, they're treated as one mobile unit.
Secondly, it's important to realize Planet Coaster has people doing two things: walking and riding rides. As such, of course they focus more attention to this detail. The Sims? Where would they hold hands and walk? All the neighborhoods are really small so it'd be a short trip no matter where you are. Not really worth the effort.
I disagree, you can compare. Sims in 4 often act as a single group in Get Together.
Don't sims walk as a group in Get Together? One turns left, they all turn left.
The same when they group dance. They are not acting as individuals; they are one unit all performing the exact same actions.
Hand-holding in The Sims would be the same as in Planet Coaster, whilst doing it, the two sims would be one mobile unit whilst walking to a particular destination.
I agree that the worlds are so small in 4 it'd be a short trip, but still it'd be a nice feature for a couple to do it randomly now and then. This is the fourth iteration; one would expect it be more nuanced and it is little things like this that woudl make the sims appear more human.
And in response to the bold part, not all npcs in Planet Coaster hold hands, and the ones that do, as far as I am aware, do not do it all the time. There are also family units walking around that have couples holding hands with children not holding anyone's hand at all, yet they all move as one unit. NPCsalso put their arms around each other and can walk whilst doing so.
This is a roller coaster sim. If Maxis were making it, they would have used the excuse that they wanted to focus on the roller coasters themselves and so thought it would be a waste of budget to add complex animations to the random NPCs. It is little details like this that make a game feel more immersive.
Planet Coaster is being praised so much because they have made a solid game that has detail in all areas like a modern game should have. They did not work with the modus operandi of what can we cut like Maxis appear to do with every release, but instead put in what they could to make the game more immersive.
Honestly, who'd've thought they would have gone to that much detail for the NPCs that are often out of focus due to the level of zoom? It just shows the dedication of the company and their developers to make a fantastic game that wows their players.
What have we had in 4 that wows? All we ever get is short cuts, limitations and lack of detail all for a premium price.
You sold me. LOL...buying it.
BTW - I agree with everything you have said. There has been nothing stopping Maxis from creating a "unit" when walking besides their own limitations. They could if they wanted to, but that has never been a priority for them. I feel like seeing families walk together - even if it is just in the background - would make the illusion feel more real. I hate when I see random children walking around without a parent in a strange neighborhood. I would prefer it if they walked around with their parents or an older sibling. Same for couples. I would like them to actually look like a couple. Right now, it just looks like random sims walking around for no apparent reason and then stopping to talk to strangers every now and then. It just seems weird to not see groups of people walking together.
Also...to solve the illusion breaking random sims walking...I would like each neighborhood to have a public park. That way I can imagine that these sims at least have a reason to be there.
I posted the specs for Planet Coaster above. Make sure your computer can run it before you buy it. The game has some very high specs unlike TS4
Do you see where he is walking through that rock in your picture? That is something the developers said they didn't want happening in TS4 because holding hands would present those sort of problems and it would not be up to the standards they would want for the interaction. More or less that's what they said. But that is sort of surprising since Sims walk through each other in TS4 all the time.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Do you see where he is walking through that rock in your picture? That is something the developers said they didn't want happening in TS4 because holding hands would present those sort of problems and it would not be up to the standards they would want for the interaction. More or less that's what they said. But that is sort of surprising since Sims walk through each other in TS4 all the time.
Sims walk through things like every 5 seconds in TS4. That's not even a debatable reason for not having something like this. It's basically...do they want to? No. Ok then.
I have had planet coaster since release and at first it was shockingly bad on my gtx 1080.. frame drops into the 20s and huge amount of stutter. After multiple patches it runs much better however there are 1 or 2 settings that cannot be maxed and 1 settings that needs to be disabled completely.. the game is brutal on high end computers... once the park gets bigger it can become unplayable.
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Back when the sims 3 was issued a lot of people could not afford a computer to run the game. PC's have come down in price since then. The average PC to run the sims 3 or 4 desktop $700 USD now. This was a big issue for many since back when the sims 3 was issued you were looking at a few thousand to run the game properly.
The sims 4 was originally olympus an on line game that they switched to PC. The engine is limited. Why they went this route with the game only EA can answer. The requirements are the same for TS3 and 4 only the games are programed differently. If they chose to continue with the same engine as TS3, TS4 might not be as limited.
We get people all the time in tech that want to spend $500 or less for a PC on this game. $500 or less gets you a PC for general use and is not meant to run any PC game that has actual requirements to run. Many dont want to spend the money on a PC but they are willing to drop a lot of money on the game and then find out their PC can't run it. There are a few heavy gamers that also play the sims however majority don't want to buy a gaming PC just to play the sims.
If EA made a game as powerful as coaster planet you would be looking at thousands of dollars on a desk top PC to run the game. Gaming laptops are even more expensive than desktop. Chester has a new top of the line desktop PC and is having issues with Coaster Planet. Imagine what it is doing to lesser PCs .
I'm guessing GTA has cars because it's about cars?? There's a lot Sims has that GTA or Fallout don't. But fundamentally, they're different creatures. And all of them are more than a laundry list of objects.
You could make that argument and it might land properly IF one could still say, TS4 has toddlers because it's about life.
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Back when the sims 3 was issued a lot of people could not afford a computer to run the game. PC's have come down in price since then. The average PC to run the sims 3 or 4 desktop $700 USD now. This was a big issue for many since back when the sims 3 was issued you were looking at a few thousand to run the game properly.
The sims 4 was originally olympus an on line game that they switched to PC. The engine is limited. Why they went this route with the game only EA can answer. The requirements are the same for TS3 and 4 only the games are programed differently. If they chose to continue with the same engine as TS3, TS4 might not be as limited.
We get people all the time in tech that want to spend $500 or less for a PC on this game. $500 or less gets you a PC for general use and is not meant to run any PC game that has actual requirements to run. Many dont want to spend the money on a PC but they are willing to drop a lot of money on the game and then find out their PC can't run it. There are a few heavy gamers that also play the sims however majority don't want to buy a gaming PC just to play the sims.
If EA made a game as powerful as coaster planet you would be looking at thousands of dollars on a desk top PC to run the game. Gaming laptops are even more expensive than desktop. Chester has a new top of the line desktop PC and is having issues with Coaster Planet. Imagine what it is doing to lesser PCs .
The Sims 3 was very successful despite its requirements for an expensive gaming PC; so successful it supported the release of 2 EPs a year, something The Sims 4 is unable to do even though it is designed to run on toasters. I don't think, if it is true, that The Sims 4 was designed to run on low spec computers was to increase sales, is working because they'd be releasing more content for it if it was selling well.
I personally knew 2 people who purchased new computers just so they could play The Sims 3 at launch. People will pay a lot of money to play a game they love. Gaming is an expensive hobby and if your computer is not designed to play games, you should not expect them to run on your general purpose machine. The Sims series should not be held back. There will never be innovation and improved A.I. if Maxis do not utilise modern technology. The series will stagnate.
The Sims 4 bought nothing new to the series. The Sims in it could not even react as well as sims in the predecessors until they patched the game a year after release.
If a game wows players, is innovative and has fantastic gameplay, players will upgrade to play it.
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Why did The Sims 3 do so well then? You needed a gaming PC to play it. It sold 1.4 million copies in a week. It supported an online store, 11 EPs released 2 per year and 9 stuff packs.
The Sims 4 is only managing to release 1 EP per year that has minimal content. If the game was selling so well, they'd be releasing as much content as they could. At one point we were getting stuff packs monthly. I believe that would have become the norm had they sold well. If your products sell, you release as many as you can. If they don't do so well, you have less money reinvest and so you cut the number down.
Maxis could not even budget to animate an elevator opening in City Living. Finances are very thin behind the scenes.
It's just sad that the #1 positive mentioned about Sims 4 is that it'll practically run on a tablet because minimum specs are so low. Is Sims 4 supposed to be an AAA game or a mobile tablet game?
If you look at Fallout 4's minimum specs, they are even higher than Planet Coaster, yet that hasn't stopped Fallout 4 from being a top seller week after week on Steam. Just because a toaster can run it does not make a game great!
OT - but I wanted to add that I wanted to buy Planet Coaster. So I went looking for videos and checked the requirements. Yeah...looks amazing, but my aging gaming laptop doesn't have the muscles to run it, not at its best. So I decided to finally buy the desktop I've been eyeing for a while. Which reiterates that when someone wants something enough, they do what's necessary for it. I love playing games and I always have to upgrade. And since Nvidia came out with their Pascal architecture, I have been biding my time for a new desktop.
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
The definitely can't afford it at this point. While in development, possibly, but not now.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
And as for sales...I think their release cycle speaks for itself. Obviously, more people are willing to buy the cheap stuff pack, but not the game packs or the EPs. So basically, they wanted the mobile crowd and they got them. Customers that are not willing to spend all at once, but instead in small bursts. And whether or not they meant to leave their old customers behind, they did. And I bet their bottom line is feeling it. One thing they have always said about this game..."we don't know why people buy The Sims, but they just do". They always expected simmers to buy everything and anything. Well, I think it would have done their marketing department a little service to actually try and understand why. If I was in charge, anyone who said "Olympus" would be fired right now. The Sims was once the only successful title besides sports. It made a steady income for EA. Everyone knows the label. Now it is considered a joke. And I don't mean the laughing with you kind.
It's just sad that the #1 positive mentioned about Sims 4 is that it'll practically run on a tablet because minimum specs are so low. Is Sims 4 supposed to be an AAA game or a mobile tablet game?
If you look at Fallout 4's minimum specs, they are even higher than Planet Coaster, yet that hasn't stopped Fallout 4 from being a top seller week after week on Steam. Just because a toaster can run it does not make a game great!
You might want to hang out in the Tech forum for a while, especially after new features get patched in or a larger pack gets released or a big sale brings new players in. Sims 4 does not "practically run on a tablet."
As for comparing vastly different genres of games, nah. I've always suspected that in today's mature gaming market (compared with 2000, when RPGs and FPSs were much more limited in what they could do technically), the market for life simulations is much smaller than the market for games like Fallout 4, and needs to run on a mid-level computer as well as a high-level one in order to break even on sales. And I assume that big companies like EA actually do market research to figure that sort of thing out.
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Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Back when the sims 3 was issued a lot of people could not afford a computer to run the game. PC's have come down in price since then. The average PC to run the sims 3 or 4 desktop $700 USD now. This was a big issue for many since back when the sims 3 was issued you were looking at a few thousand to run the game properly.
The sims 4 was originally olympus an on line game that they switched to PC. The engine is limited. Why they went this route with the game only EA can answer. The requirements are the same for TS3 and 4 only the games are programed differently. If they chose to continue with the same engine as TS3, TS4 might not be as limited.
We get people all the time in tech that want to spend $500 or less for a PC on this game. $500 or less gets you a PC for general use and is not meant to run any PC game that has actual requirements to run. Many dont want to spend the money on a PC but they are willing to drop a lot of money on the game and then find out their PC can't run it. There are a few heavy gamers that also play the sims however majority don't want to buy a gaming PC just to play the sims.
If EA made a game as powerful as coaster planet you would be looking at thousands of dollars on a desk top PC to run the game. Gaming laptops are even more expensive than desktop. Chester has a new top of the line desktop PC and is having issues with Coaster Planet. Imagine what it is doing to lesser PCs .
The Sims 3 was very successful despite its requirements for an expensive gaming PC; so successful it supported the release of 2 EPs a year, something The Sims 4 is unable to do even though it is designed to run on toasters. I don't think, if it is true, that The Sims 4 was designed to run on low spec computers was to increase sales, is working because they'd be releasing more content for it if it was selling well.
I personally knew 2 people who purchased new computers just so they could play The Sims 3 at launch. People will pay a lot of money to play a game they love. Gaming is an expensive hobby and if your computer is not designed to play games, you should not expect them to run on your general purpose machine. The Sims series should not be held back. There will never be innovation and improved A.I. if Maxis do not utilise modern technology. The series will stagnate.
The Sims 4 bought nothing new to the series. The Sims in it could not even react as well as sims in the predecessors until they patched the game a year after release.
If a game wows players, is innovative and has fantastic gameplay, players will upgrade to play it.
You know a few people who did. I know many more people who did not buy computer for the sims 3 or did not buy a computer until later when the computers dropped in price. Im one of them. I was not spending thousands of dollars on a computer to play the sims 3. I actually stopped buying the game when the computer I had at the time could not handle the game. I did not buy the rest of the game until I could afford a computer to play it. There is no way I would drop thousands of dollars on a computer for this game since I would rather play most games on console. There are plenty more like me. I do help in tech and the average person (which is a majority) would not spend thousands of dollars on a computer. There are more non PC gamers playing this game than there are heavy gamers that would spend thousands of dollars on a gaming computer. Again we get people all the time in TS3 Tech section stating they are coming back to sims 3 because they can now afford to buy a computer. They will ask what kind of computer they need. We also get newbees and the occasional person who still bought a plum computer and can't run the game.
EA wants to make money. The more people that can play the game, the more sales they make. If the sims 4 does not cater to you, don't play it. I don't play it. Im fine with still playing 2 and 3.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
snip
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
snip
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
snip
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
Do you just choose to misinterpret?
It was stated in two separate interviews.
Where's your source then ?
I don't see how I can misinterpret a list of names in credits by the way. Just check yourselves for all the TS4 packs, there are only two people credited as FX artists. Just look when these two people have started working on the Sims.
It's just sad that the #1 positive mentioned about Sims 4 is that it'll practically run on a tablet because minimum specs are so low. Is Sims 4 supposed to be an AAA game or a mobile tablet game?
If you look at Fallout 4's minimum specs, they are even higher than Planet Coaster, yet that hasn't stopped Fallout 4 from being a top seller week after week on Steam. Just because a toaster can run it does not make a game great!
The minimum specs are really low on the sims 3 too. Now try running the whole game on minimum specs and it won't happen. Like @luthienrising stated come in tech for a while. The game can not run on low end computers, tablets or a toaster. One should always look at recommended requirements to run the sims 4 or any other game for that matter. Minimum requirements are for base game only with no packs, patches or EPs added. Since the game has mandatory patching really the minimum requirements no longer apply. EA should get rid of them
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
snip
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
Do you just choose to misinterpret?
It was stated in two separate interviews.
Where's your source then ?
I don't see how I can misinterpret a list of names in credits by the way. Just check yourselves for all the TS4 packs, there are only two people credited as FX artists. Just look when these two people have started working on the Sims.
(Pls ignore website, couldn't find the direct link to MTS) Screenshot, Grahamns comments are in the quote.
FX people got whatever they wanted, because their work is cheap and doesn't take very long. I find it hilarious that Graham says they didn't have enough to do seeing how every world is completely made up of VFX. They had too much to do.
Either way, this interview is from before launch - you know when they deliberately lied, and misled ALL of us trying to sell this game. I wouldn't be surprised if even this explaination was inflated to sound better than reality.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
snip
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
Do you just choose to misinterpret?
It was stated in two separate interviews.
Where's your source then ?
I don't see how I can misinterpret a list of names in credits by the way. Just check yourselves for all the TS4 packs, there are only two people credited as FX artists. Just look when these two people have started working on the Sims.
(Pls ignore website, couldn't find the direct link to MTS) Screenshot, Grahamns comments are in the quote.
FX people got whatever they wanted, because their work is cheap and doesn't take very long. I find it hilarious that Graham says they didn't have enough to do seeing how every world is completely made up of VFX. They had too much to do.
Either way, this interview is from before launch - you know when they deliberately lied, and misled ALL of us trying to sell this game. I wouldn't be surprised if even this explaination was inflated to sound better than reality.
SimGuruGraham never said they hired more FX artists for TS4 though. Yes FX artists were not scoped against, yes, they had their own list of suggestions of things to do. But they didn't hire more FX artists, they were already there ! And I'm glad they kept them, these are the guys who provided us with all the Seasons and other FX I loved in the past, and based on their work on TS4, I think they are getting even better. I want them for my TS4 Seasons too !
Comments
The Sims in 4 are not directly controlled. You click where you want them to go and the game uses its routing A.I. to direct them there. Both games use computer controlled routing. Direct control would be using the arrow indicators, or a control pad to manually move them around.
The specs are much higher than TS4. Always look at recommended to play the game more efficiently
System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit
Processor: Intel i5-2300/AMD FX-4300
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GTX 560 (2GB)/AMD Radeon 7850 (2GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 8 GB available space
Additional Notes: Minimum specifications may change during development.
Recommended:
OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit
Processor: Intel i7-4770/AMD FX-8350
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GTX 980 (4GB)/AMD R9 380 (4GB)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 8 GB available space
Additional Notes: Recommended specifications may change during development.
Just look at this attention to detail. Vendors have their own animations. We didn't get anything like that in City Living.
Also, NPC visitors all have unique tastes. Some like gentle rides, others fast ones. They have needs and will eat and drink, have to use the toilet. Staff have satisfaction levels.
arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2016/03/planet-coaster-theme-park-sim-alpha-preview/
They need to make a game to rival the sims.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=vc-MZHnzY4A
You sold me. LOL...buying it.
BTW - I agree with everything you have said. There has been nothing stopping Maxis from creating a "unit" when walking besides their own limitations. They could if they wanted to, but that has never been a priority for them. I feel like seeing families walk together - even if it is just in the background - would make the illusion feel more real. I hate when I see random children walking around without a parent in a strange neighborhood. I would prefer it if they walked around with their parents or an older sibling. Same for couples. I would like them to actually look like a couple. Right now, it just looks like random sims walking around for no apparent reason and then stopping to talk to strangers every now and then. It just seems weird to not see groups of people walking together.
Also...to solve the illusion breaking random sims walking...I would like each neighborhood to have a public park. That way I can imagine that these sims at least have a reason to be there.
They showed the makers of Roller Coaster Tycoon Worlds how it is done, let's hope they show Maxis how to make a sims game next.
I posted the specs for Planet Coaster above. Make sure your computer can run it before you buy it. The game has some very high specs unlike TS4
Sims walk through things like every 5 seconds in TS4. That's not even a debatable reason for not having something like this. It's basically...do they want to? No. Ok then.
I have had planet coaster since release and at first it was shockingly bad on my gtx 1080.. frame drops into the 20s and huge amount of stutter. After multiple patches it runs much better however there are 1 or 2 settings that cannot be maxed and 1 settings that needs to be disabled completely.. the game is brutal on high end computers... once the park gets bigger it can become unplayable.
Sooooooo.... Basically Maxis/EA cannot afford the engine it would take to make the game more realistic and coincide with today's tech?.... OR they are concerned that not enough people would buy it because they wouldn't be able to afford the PC needed to play it on?
Back when the sims 3 was issued a lot of people could not afford a computer to run the game. PC's have come down in price since then. The average PC to run the sims 3 or 4 desktop $700 USD now. This was a big issue for many since back when the sims 3 was issued you were looking at a few thousand to run the game properly.
The sims 4 was originally olympus an on line game that they switched to PC. The engine is limited. Why they went this route with the game only EA can answer. The requirements are the same for TS3 and 4 only the games are programed differently. If they chose to continue with the same engine as TS3, TS4 might not be as limited.
We get people all the time in tech that want to spend $500 or less for a PC on this game. $500 or less gets you a PC for general use and is not meant to run any PC game that has actual requirements to run. Many dont want to spend the money on a PC but they are willing to drop a lot of money on the game and then find out their PC can't run it. There are a few heavy gamers that also play the sims however majority don't want to buy a gaming PC just to play the sims.
If EA made a game as powerful as coaster planet you would be looking at thousands of dollars on a desk top PC to run the game. Gaming laptops are even more expensive than desktop. Chester has a new top of the line desktop PC and is having issues with Coaster Planet. Imagine what it is doing to lesser PCs .
You could make that argument and it might land properly IF one could still say, TS4 has toddlers because it's about life.
The Sims 3 was very successful despite its requirements for an expensive gaming PC; so successful it supported the release of 2 EPs a year, something The Sims 4 is unable to do even though it is designed to run on toasters. I don't think, if it is true, that The Sims 4 was designed to run on low spec computers was to increase sales, is working because they'd be releasing more content for it if it was selling well.
I personally knew 2 people who purchased new computers just so they could play The Sims 3 at launch. People will pay a lot of money to play a game they love. Gaming is an expensive hobby and if your computer is not designed to play games, you should not expect them to run on your general purpose machine. The Sims series should not be held back. There will never be innovation and improved A.I. if Maxis do not utilise modern technology. The series will stagnate.
The Sims 4 bought nothing new to the series. The Sims in it could not even react as well as sims in the predecessors until they patched the game a year after release.
If a game wows players, is innovative and has fantastic gameplay, players will upgrade to play it.
Why did The Sims 3 do so well then? You needed a gaming PC to play it. It sold 1.4 million copies in a week. It supported an online store, 11 EPs released 2 per year and 9 stuff packs.
The Sims 4 is only managing to release 1 EP per year that has minimal content. If the game was selling so well, they'd be releasing as much content as they could. At one point we were getting stuff packs monthly. I believe that would have become the norm had they sold well. If your products sell, you release as many as you can. If they don't do so well, you have less money reinvest and so you cut the number down.
Maxis could not even budget to animate an elevator opening in City Living. Finances are very thin behind the scenes.
If you look at Fallout 4's minimum specs, they are even higher than Planet Coaster, yet that hasn't stopped Fallout 4 from being a top seller week after week on Steam. Just because a toaster can run it does not make a game great!
Back on topic -
The definitely can't afford it at this point. While in development, possibly, but not now.
However, the issue is not what they can or can't do. The issue is where they want to spend their money. They choose to hire cheaper FX designers rather than programmers. That's why we have all this lovely scenery and nothing to do with it. This is a fact. One of the guru's stated in an interview before release that the engine was designed in a way that they wouldn't need to hire "expensive engineers" to make changes. (Which is most likely why there is very little added gameplay.) And in another interview a guru stated that the FX designers had so little to do that they literally tried to find things to do. That's why we got such details as the subtle curtains blowing around...but we can't open windows. And this is also why CL has an amazing background and no new real gameplay. It's also why there are no new systems added to the game - like interests or attractions - and everything new is object based interactions. - even groups and clubs are all object or interaction based. Sims don't do things TOGETHER, they do them in tandem. As in...near each other and talking. Those things were already in the game, they just slapped a label on it.
And as for sales...I think their release cycle speaks for itself. Obviously, more people are willing to buy the cheap stuff pack, but not the game packs or the EPs. So basically, they wanted the mobile crowd and they got them. Customers that are not willing to spend all at once, but instead in small bursts. And whether or not they meant to leave their old customers behind, they did. And I bet their bottom line is feeling it. One thing they have always said about this game..."we don't know why people buy The Sims, but they just do". They always expected simmers to buy everything and anything. Well, I think it would have done their marketing department a little service to actually try and understand why. If I was in charge, anyone who said "Olympus" would be fired right now. The Sims was once the only successful title besides sports. It made a steady income for EA. Everyone knows the label. Now it is considered a joke. And I don't mean the laughing with you kind.
You might want to hang out in the Tech forum for a while, especially after new features get patched in or a larger pack gets released or a big sale brings new players in. Sims 4 does not "practically run on a tablet."
As for comparing vastly different genres of games, nah. I've always suspected that in today's mature gaming market (compared with 2000, when RPGs and FPSs were much more limited in what they could do technically), the market for life simulations is much smaller than the market for games like Fallout 4, and needs to run on a mid-level computer as well as a high-level one in order to break even on sales. And I assume that big companies like EA actually do market research to figure that sort of thing out.
You know a few people who did. I know many more people who did not buy computer for the sims 3 or did not buy a computer until later when the computers dropped in price. Im one of them. I was not spending thousands of dollars on a computer to play the sims 3. I actually stopped buying the game when the computer I had at the time could not handle the game. I did not buy the rest of the game until I could afford a computer to play it. There is no way I would drop thousands of dollars on a computer for this game since I would rather play most games on console. There are plenty more like me. I do help in tech and the average person (which is a majority) would not spend thousands of dollars on a computer. There are more non PC gamers playing this game than there are heavy gamers that would spend thousands of dollars on a gaming computer. Again we get people all the time in TS3 Tech section stating they are coming back to sims 3 because they can now afford to buy a computer. They will ask what kind of computer they need. We also get newbees and the occasional person who still bought a plum computer and can't run the game.
EA wants to make money. The more people that can play the game, the more sales they make. If the sims 4 does not cater to you, don't play it. I don't play it. Im fine with still playing 2 and 3.
No, it's not a fact, it's a false rumor. They haven't hired FX designers instead of programmers. There are two FX artists credited on TS4 (Don Livingston and Art Matsuura), both of them are credited on various packs since TS2. No new FX artist was hired for TS4. Check the credits.
Do you just choose to misinterpret?
It was stated in two separate interviews.
Where's your source then ?
I don't see how I can misinterpret a list of names in credits by the way. Just check yourselves for all the TS4 packs, there are only two people credited as FX artists. Just look when these two people have started working on the Sims.
The minimum specs are really low on the sims 3 too. Now try running the whole game on minimum specs and it won't happen. Like @luthienrising stated come in tech for a while. The game can not run on low end computers, tablets or a toaster. One should always look at recommended requirements to run the sims 4 or any other game for that matter. Minimum requirements are for base game only with no packs, patches or EPs added. Since the game has mandatory patching really the minimum requirements no longer apply. EA should get rid of them
https://🐸🐸🐸🐸.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/the-roast-of-graham-nardone-9.jpg
(Pls ignore website, couldn't find the direct link to MTS) Screenshot, Grahamns comments are in the quote.
FX people got whatever they wanted, because their work is cheap and doesn't take very long. I find it hilarious that Graham says they didn't have enough to do seeing how every world is completely made up of VFX. They had too much to do.
Either way, this interview is from before launch - you know when they deliberately lied, and misled ALL of us trying to sell this game. I wouldn't be surprised if even this explaination was inflated to sound better than reality.
Your link got "plum"-ed but I guess it was this comment on MTS : http://modthesims.info/m/showthread.php?p=4432554#post4432554 ?
SimGuruGraham never said they hired more FX artists for TS4 though. Yes FX artists were not scoped against, yes, they had their own list of suggestions of things to do. But they didn't hire more FX artists, they were already there ! And I'm glad they kept them, these are the guys who provided us with all the Seasons and other FX I loved in the past, and based on their work on TS4, I think they are getting even better. I want them for my TS4 Seasons too !