I think the lack of quality is because they are focusing on quantity over quality.
The reason why is probably because they are preparing for the future. New consoles are predicted to be announced the next year with new tech so they probably don't want to change the sims4 too much. I think they are focusing their development on other projects, one of them will probably be the sims5.
I think the sims4 will keep getting DLC like this until Maxis will announce their next game.
No, that's what they used to do - now the focus is on quality over quantity. You should go revisit the earlier Sims games and take a good look at the clothes and how badly they look - now finally the Sims makes a much better quality item....
That's the thing with TS4. When people point to quality, they always mention CAS or graphics. Hardly anyone points to the fact that TS4 has better and more substantive gameplay. I wonder why that is. I'm not picking on you or anything, but what made you pick clothes as a point of quality before anything else? Of all the things that you could have used to support your point that TS4 provides quality, you picked clothes. That's very telling.
Anyway, I don't care about whether or not a game provides pretty clothes when the community always provides better, for free. I care about the fact that a game is required to provide what the community shouldn't have to -- namely substantive gameplay. That is where TS4 consistently fails.
Right now, modders are working diligently to produce more in-depth facets of gameplay, based on the foundation that already exists within the game. Meanwhile, the company that built that foundation consistently ignores building impactful gameplay in favor of providing more superficiality.
Absolutely nothing in TS4's gameplay matters. That is my main and everlasting complaint. Instead of selling the ten-thousandth recolor of the same t-shirt, why hasn't EA done something about making the gameplay matter?
Edited to add: just so that it doesn't seem like I can't find anything positive to say about TS4: I admit that TS4 does have a wonderful CAS mode as well as a build mode. However, I didn't buy the game to play in CAS or in build mode. Once I create my Sims, build their homes, and essential community lots, after all that work, I expect a fun and interesting game to be waiting for me. I expect a game that doesn't frustrate me to utter distraction because the Sims keep doing stupid things.
Just as an example: last night I was trying to get a screenshot of two Sims talking. I commanded the two Sims to speak to each other in hopes that I would catch something interesting. In the middle of the conversation, both Sims (who were standing in a corridor between two walls) turned away from each other and took seats on two stools that were located behind the walls. So, instead of getting pictures of two Sims having a personal conversation, I had two Sims that, if they were real, would have been shouting at each other across a corridor between two market stalls.
Okay, so I removed every single chair within a reasonable distance. I directed the Sims to stand face to face again and I started up the conversation once more. There were no chairs to sit on so each Sim backed up two paces and resumed their talk from that distance. Once again, removing all semblance that the two Sims are close and were having a private conversation.
These were my choices: take the screenshot with the Sims standing what amounts to six feet apart, comb the internet for a pose that depicts what I want, or go into Blender and make my own pose. As I wasn't in the mood to do any of those things, I gave up for the night, frustrated and angry.
The same problems have existed since launch and EA needs to fix them.
Fix the insane seating issue!
Create different animations for Sims with different levels of relationships. Two acquaintances holding a conversation will look different from two good friends having a conversation, two lovers having a conversation, or even a parent speaking to a child.
The Sims in TS4 are so flippin' remote from each other it's unreal -- and that is is only one of my issues with the game, specifically, live mode.
Six years and I'm still waiting for EA to get off its duff and act as if they give a hoot. But who am I kidding? EA or Maxis, whoever's in charge, they aren't going to change a dang thing. ::sigh:
I think the lack of quality is because they are focusing on quantity over quality.
The reason why is probably because they are preparing for the future. New consoles are predicted to be announced the next year with new tech so they probably don't want to change the sims4 too much. I think they are focusing their development on other projects, one of them will probably be the sims5.
I think the sims4 will keep getting DLC like this until Maxis will announce their next game.
No, that's what they used to do - now the focus is on quality over quantity. You should go revisit the earlier Sims games and take a good look at the clothes and how badly they look - now finally the Sims makes a much better quality item....
That's the thing with TS4. When people point to quality, they always mention CAS or graphics. Hardly anyone points to the fact that TS4 has better and more substantive gameplay.
I don't care about whether or not a game provides pretty clothes when the community always provides better, for free. I care about the fact that a game is required to provide what the community shouldn't have to -- namely substantive gameplay. That is where TS4 consistently fails.
Right now, modders are working diligently to produce more in-depth facets of gameplay, based on the foundation that already exists within the game. Meanwhile, the company that built that foundation consistently ignores building impactful gameplay in favor of providing more superficiality.
Absolutely nothing in TS4's gameplay matters. That is my main and everlasting complaint. Instead of selling the ten-thousandth recolor of the same t-shirt, why hasn't EA done something about making the gameplay matter?
Very well said.
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
With great reservation, I chose that the franchise can still be saved. Yet, that will only happen if EA takes on board everything that is being said about the current installment, good and bad.
So the sims is dead, then.
Well, dead, had its organs sold on the black market, then had the rest of its body carved up and fed into a meat processing plant... Everyone's pets will be getting a new flavour next week assuming they can pay a premium price.
No. The original question was: is the franchise dead? As Sims 1, 2, and 3 are still out there, beloved by many, and are still actively being played, I can't agree that it is.
The current installment is a different story. Yet, I still can't say that TS4 is dead because quality is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately for those of us who want and expect better (after twenty long years!), there are still a lot of people out there who are perfectly fine with the direction that the series is going. Prettier, simpler, happier, easier... They're quite content with the quality of the game. Long after the rest of us have given up and gone home, those folks will still be spending their money and, in the end, that's all that matters.
Since there are no other options, only stiff competition will be able to kill The Sims.
I don't think the competition would have to be that great, SC2013 thought it was the only game in town and that series is to all intents and purposes dead, after just a little competition.
The franchise lives or dies on its future, and the future for the Sims is looking rather bleak.
I don't think the competition would have to be that great, SC2013 thought it was the only game in town and that series is to all intents and purposes dead, after just a little competition.
The franchise lives or dies on its future, and the future for the Sims is looking rather bleak.
I can't argue with you there. For those of us who want an interesting game, the future is bleak indeed. For those who want The Sims to function more like a mobile app based on dressing up pretty Sims and earning enough money to fashionably kit out their home to match their style of dress. If that's the case, TS4 is already that game
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I agree about CAS, it's wonderful. I have zero complaints. Although it's still missing some features, build mode is also excellent.
The rest of the game is a frustrating mess.
Achievements are a joke. What do you get? Too much money way too soon and, if you're really lucky, a plaque to put on the Sims' wall that will make them inspired and oh so happy. As if they aren't already those things the majority of the time.
There are also no failures. TS4's version of failure is for a Sim to wet their pants or to pass out on the floor, sound asleep. That's the worst of it, really. Not that the other Sims will really care that either thing happened.
Your last point is the most egregious in a whole comedy of errors. Nothing ever happens unless the player forces it to happen. Nothing unexpected happens. Not unless you want to count two Sims, walking away from each other so that they can sit and 'shout' at each other across two walls. Surprise!
I mean, TS4 isn't totally unplayable, but the fact that I've had to rely on MC Command Center just to keep autonomous romances and relationship decay under control is not a good sign of its overall quality in its vanilla, "off-the-shelf" state. Plus...the emotion system is just plain jacked because they didn't properly balance positive and negative emotions and they overdid it with the ambient Happy moodlets.
Can it be salvaged? Sure.
1. Make "Uncomfortable" magnify negative emotions and add Fear.
2. Build in more player controls in the default options menu, maybe a length slider for the individual lifestages like TS3 had and DEFINITELY a relationship controls suite.
3. Shorten the length of the different dog walks. Even a short walk takes several sim hours, a medium walk takes half a day, and the long walk is the whole freaking day! That the Heck?! Fix that!! Short Walk should be 1 sim hour, Medium Walk should be 2 sim hours, and Long Walk should be 3 sim hours. And the random pauses every 5 steps do not help the length of the activity. It's...it's bad, you guys. It's really, really bad.
5. Cap ambient happy moodlets at +2, for the love of all that's good and sane! Ambient Happy overrides Trait Negatives too feaking easily! We've been saying this for YEARS!!
I think the lack of quality is because they are focusing on quantity over quality.
The reason why is probably because they are preparing for the future. New consoles are predicted to be announced the next year with new tech so they probably don't want to change the sims4 too much. I think they are focusing their development on other projects, one of them will probably be the sims5.
I think the sims4 will keep getting DLC like this until Maxis will announce their next game.
No, that's what they used to do - now the focus is on quality over quantity. You should go revisit the earlier Sims games and take a good look at the clothes and how badly they look - now finally the Sims makes a much better quality item....
I’m totally fine with the quality of the clothes my sims in TS3 wear but even if I weren’t, that’s so not what I personally mean by quality in relation to this game.
(I’ve seen quite a few examples where clothes in TS4 actually weren’t very high quality by the way)
I think the lack of quality is because they are focusing on quantity over quality.
The reason why is probably because they are preparing for the future. New consoles are predicted to be announced the next year with new tech so they probably don't want to change the sims4 too much. I think they are focusing their development on other projects, one of them will probably be the sims5.
I think the sims4 will keep getting DLC like this until Maxis will announce their next game.
No, that's what they used to do - now the focus is on quality over quantity. You should go revisit the earlier Sims games and take a good look at the clothes and how badly they look - now finally the Sims makes a much better quality item....
That's the thing with TS4. When people point to quality, they always mention CAS or graphics. Hardly anyone points to the fact that TS4 has better and more substantive gameplay. I wonder why that is. I'm not picking on you or anything, but what made you pick clothes as a point of quality before anything else? Of all the things that you could have used to support your point that TS4 provides quality, you picked clothes. That's very telling.
Anyway, I don't care about whether or not a game provides pretty clothes when the community always provides better, for free. I care about the fact that a game is required to provide what the community shouldn't have to -- namely substantive gameplay. That is where TS4 consistently fails.
Right now, modders are working diligently to produce more in-depth facets of gameplay, based on the foundation that already exists within the game. Meanwhile, the company that built that foundation consistently ignores building impactful gameplay in favor of providing more superficiality.
Absolutely nothing in TS4's gameplay matters. That is my main and everlasting complaint. Instead of selling the ten-thousandth recolor of the same t-shirt, why hasn't EA done something about making the gameplay matter?
Edited to add: just so that it doesn't seem like I can't find anything positive to say about TS4: I admit that TS4 does have a wonderful CAS mode as well as a build mode. However, I didn't buy the game to play in CAS or in build mode. Once I create my Sims, build their homes, and essential community lots, after all that work, I expect a fun and interesting game to be waiting for me. I expect a game that doesn't frustrate me to utter distraction because the Sims keep doing stupid things.
Just as an example: last night I was trying to get a screenshot of two Sims talking. I commanded the two Sims to speak to each other in hopes that I would catch something interesting. In the middle of the conversation, both Sims (who were standing in a corridor between two walls) turned away from each other and took seats on two stools that were located behind the walls. So, instead of getting pictures of two Sims having a personal conversation, I had two Sims that, if they were real, would have been shouting at each other across a corridor between two market stalls.
Okay, so I removed every single chair within a reasonable distance. I directed the Sims to stand face to face again and I started up the conversation once more. There were no chairs to sit on so each Sim backed up two paces and resumed their talk from that distance. Once again, removing all semblance that the two Sims are close and were having a private conversation.
These were my choices: take the screenshot with the Sims standing what amounts to six feet apart, comb the internet for a pose that depicts what I want, or go into Blender and make my own pose. As I wasn't in the mood to do any of those things, I gave up for the night, frustrated and angry.
The same problems have existed since launch and EA needs to fix them.
Fix the insane seating issue!
Create different animations for Sims with different levels of relationships. Two acquaintances holding a conversation will look different from two good friends having a conversation, two lovers having a conversation, or even a parent speaking to a child.
The Sims in TS4 are so flippin' remote from each other it's unreal -- and that is is only one of my issues with the game, specifically, live mode.
Six years and I'm still waiting for EA to get off its duff and act as if they give a hoot. But who am I kidding? EA or Maxis, whoever's in charge, they aren't going to change a dang thing. ::sigh:
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
"Bada su the gorn bada su the brawn bada bady oda aba donk donk donk gerbits gerbits vo gerbits".
I no longer have hope for Sims 4 but Sims 5 is (probably) coming and can change everything
Dead means dead, forever, with no possible resurrection or hope. Not in a coma or with any possibility of any comeback. So, yeah. I have a lot of hope, but a lot of worry.
"Challenge everything" My Game Twitter
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People have different interpretation of what is quality? Clothes, features and even less bugs. My take is features as I could care less for how clothes may look and care more for features that add to the game and also expands it. I enjoyed Sims 3 and Sims 2 for what features it contained. I rather not have an fashion show in CAS as I did not buy the game to just dress an Sim.
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Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
The sad part is the gallery is a temporary feature. Once TS4 reaches a certain age, it will no longer be supported by EA, and all lots, Sims, rooms, etc. will just be deleted.
The sad part is the gallery is a temporary feature. Once TS4 reaches a certain age, it will no longer be supported by EA, and all lots, Sims, rooms, etc. will just be deleted.
Yeah that will be sad. The Alexa thing is pretty cool too, but that isn't just a Sims 4 exclusive thing since it has music from all the games and trivia from all the games. I mean I do like the occults and toddlers more than the Sims 3 ones. I like the variety of food too and Jungle Adventures and Island Living did do a good job sharing different cultures. I just wish the community wouldn't keep having a fit when something new is actually introduced into the Sims 4 despite them saying that the Sims 4 is new and different from the other games. Gets counterintuitive what people say they want the Sims 4 to be compared to what they actually ask which is generally things the Sims 3 did better with like the expansion packs themes. Game packs I think are the strongest, but I have generally been disappointed with most of the EPs and SPs released so far. I do hope that the stuff packs being so forgettable during this iteration means that they will stop releasing them for the Sims 5. Whenever I see giveaways and streams and comments on Twitter, it is generally stuff packs Simmers lack in their collection. If demand for them was that high, then they wouldn't be so demanded with giveaways compared to the other packs. There is just too many of them compared to the other packs I think supply of them makes demand for their products obsolete plus they will continue to slow down people's computers with all their clutter for builds.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Trying to figure out what you mean by CAP haha? (google just shows me sims with caps) I’m fine with both tbh. Pulling bars, ‘moulding’, whatever, give me the sliders and I create my sim. CASt for me in an indispensable feature though that blows the rest away. But even then, it’s when I start playing when I really care about quality.
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
That's amazing.
Why is it that a much older game can do so much better? TS2 hit all the logical details. TS4 misses them all. In TS4, this is how lovers speak to each other (when they're not looking for a seat). It's no different from Sims who just met. They deliberately step back so that they will speak at that distance.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Now that you mention it, there is one thing that I wish TS4 had adopted from TS3's CAS. I really liked TS3's ability to zoom in on specific body parts. If you're choosing shoes, the game automatically zoomed in to allow the player a better look at the shoes. That feature was especially helpful when recoloring accessories. It was an all-around great idea. Innovative.
Then again, I can see why the developers wouldn't want players to zoom in with TS4. It would only emphasize how poor the textures are.
@Cynna im not entirely sure. It's a shame really. Things should be getting better as technology progresses but it seems its just made people more lazy. And I don't not like throwing that word around but I can admit I've gotten a bit lazy now that I'm older as certain technologies have made things more convenient for us to have to do less. Either way the sims 2 for console is a big piece of nostalgia for me. I was playing the game on my GameCube a few months back and had forgotten about it until i saw your post. I just enjoy the mechanics in the game despite it being on console.
"Bada su the gorn bada su the brawn bada bady oda aba donk donk donk gerbits gerbits vo gerbits".
Well I don't know the Sims is the only Life Simulator that I know. Which is sad if they ever stop making that game, there is actually no one creating something like that. You know if they really failed with the Sims 4 I guess they will shot it down like with Sim City. At least there are other Developers creating City Builder Games, for example Paradox Interactive with City Skyline. Still I hope that they actually bring back Sim City
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
That's amazing.
Why is it that a much older game can do so much better? TS2 hit all the logical details. TS4 misses them all. In TS4, this is how lovers speak to each other (when they're not looking for a seat). It's no different from Sims who just met. They deliberately step back so that they will speak at that distance.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Now that you mention it, there is one thing that I wish TS4 had adopted from TS3's CAS. I really liked TS3's ability to zoom in on specific body parts. If you're choosing shoes, the game automatically zoomed in to allow the player a better look at the shoes. That feature was especially helpful when recoloring accessories. It was an all-around great idea. Innovative.
Then again, I can see why the developers wouldn't want players to zoom in with TS4. It would only emphasize how poor the textures are.
Back in those days before gaming went digital quality control was much stricter because it had to be. If you put out an unfinished or buggy game, it failed, plain and simple. Releasing patches wasn't as straightforward.
Nowadays the attitude across the board with AAA titles is release now, fix later. The Sims 4, Anthem, Fallout 76, and now most recently Borderlands 3 - all of them launch with bugs/technical issues that should have been seen to before release, but the digital age means they can fix things later and that's now the accepted norm when it really, really shouldn't be.
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Trying to figure out what you mean by CAP haha? (google just shows me sims with caps) I’m fine with both tbh. Pulling bars, ‘moulding’, whatever, give me the sliders and I create my sim. CASt for me in an indispensable feature though that blows the rest away. But even then, it’s when I start playing when I really care about quality.
Oh sorry about that. Create a pet. I love the color wheel, patterning, and stamps for it. Makes me miss Sims 3 tattoos a lot. It is nice with having a best for dogs too so Sims can in a way have service dogs. I mean my house or Sims will be mismatched with colors and tones, but at least my cats and dogs look amazing and unique from each other.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
That's amazing.
Why is it that a much older game can do so much better? TS2 hit all the logical details. TS4 misses them all. In TS4, this is how lovers speak to each other (when they're not looking for a seat). It's no different from Sims who just met. They deliberately step back so that they will speak at that distance.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Now that you mention it, there is one thing that I wish TS4 had adopted from TS3's CAS. I really liked TS3's ability to zoom in on specific body parts. If you're choosing shoes, the game automatically zoomed in to allow the player a better look at the shoes. That feature was especially helpful when recoloring accessories. It was an all-around great idea. Innovative.
Then again, I can see why the developers wouldn't want players to zoom in with TS4. It would only emphasize how poor the textures are.
Back in those days before gaming went digital quality control was much stricter because it had to be. If you put out an unfinished or buggy game, it failed, plain and simple. Releasing patches wasn't as straightforward.
Nowadays the attitude across the board with AAA titles is release now, fix later. The Sims 4, Anthem, Fallout 76, and now most recently Borderlands 3 - all of them launch with bugs/technical issues that should have been seen to before release, but the digital age means they can fix things later and that's now the accepted norm when it really, really shouldn't be.
Agreed! Widespread broadband is specifically to blame, I think. Back in the day, patches went out on disk via snail mail to every single consumer that filled out the warranty card. The cost must have been immense. Now, patches go out over the internet. As you say it has bred a whole new philosophy to collect the money now and fix the game later. TS4 is a prime example of that new mindset. It was a patched-together, empty mess at launch. Subsequent DLC and patches have merely been playing catchup.
BTW, @KrayzieStryker, I really enjoyed the video and music in your signature. It is surprisingly relaxing. It makes me want to look for more. Thank you.
The Sims 4 is a wonderful collection of features.
There is so much I like about this game.
But there is just something missing at the core, that should have been in the base game. @PrincipleOfEntropy pretty much has the issues nailed for me.
EA said at the beginning that they were focusing on the Sims themselves. They did put a focus on emotions, at the peril of personality, individuality, and socialization. To me, Sims have always had emotions, you see it written on their faces and their body language.
EA can correct this, but I doubt they will.
This will probably be considered what TS4 is and be a reason to move on to The Sims 5 if they choose to make it.
I think the lack of quality is because they are focusing on quantity over quality.
The reason why is probably because they are preparing for the future. New consoles are predicted to be announced the next year with new tech so they probably don't want to change the sims4 too much. I think they are focusing their development on other projects, one of them will probably be the sims5.
I think the sims4 will keep getting DLC like this until Maxis will announce their next game.
No, that's what they used to do - now the focus is on quality over quantity. You should go revisit the earlier Sims games and take a good look at the clothes and how badly they look - now finally the Sims makes a much better quality item....
That's the thing with TS4. When people point to quality, they always mention CAS or graphics. Hardly anyone points to the fact that TS4 has better and more substantive gameplay. I wonder why that is. I'm not picking on you or anything, but what made you pick clothes as a point of quality before anything else? Of all the things that you could have used to support your point that TS4 provides quality, you picked clothes. That's very telling.
Anyway, I don't care about whether or not a game provides pretty clothes when the community always provides better, for free. I care about the fact that a game is required to provide what the community shouldn't have to -- namely substantive gameplay. That is where TS4 consistently fails.
Right now, modders are working diligently to produce more in-depth facets of gameplay, based on the foundation that already exists within the game. Meanwhile, the company that built that foundation consistently ignores building impactful gameplay in favor of providing more superficiality.
Absolutely nothing in TS4's gameplay matters. That is my main and everlasting complaint. Instead of selling the ten-thousandth recolor of the same t-shirt, why hasn't EA done something about making the gameplay matter?
Edited to add: just so that it doesn't seem like I can't find anything positive to say about TS4: I admit that TS4 does have a wonderful CAS mode as well as a build mode. However, I didn't buy the game to play in CAS or in build mode. Once I create my Sims, build their homes, and essential community lots, after all that work, I expect a fun and interesting game to be waiting for me. I expect a game that doesn't frustrate me to utter distraction because the Sims keep doing stupid things.
Just as an example: last night I was trying to get a screenshot of two Sims talking. I commanded the two Sims to speak to each other in hopes that I would catch something interesting. In the middle of the conversation, both Sims (who were standing in a corridor between two walls) turned away from each other and took seats on two stools that were located behind the walls. So, instead of getting pictures of two Sims having a personal conversation, I had two Sims that, if they were real, would have been shouting at each other across a corridor between two market stalls.
Okay, so I removed every single chair within a reasonable distance. I directed the Sims to stand face to face again and I started up the conversation once more. There were no chairs to sit on so each Sim backed up two paces and resumed their talk from that distance. Once again, removing all semblance that the two Sims are close and were having a private conversation.
These were my choices: take the screenshot with the Sims standing what amounts to six feet apart, comb the internet for a pose that depicts what I want, or go into Blender and make my own pose. As I wasn't in the mood to do any of those things, I gave up for the night, frustrated and angry.
The same problems have existed since launch and EA needs to fix them.
Fix the insane seating issue!
Create different animations for Sims with different levels of relationships. Two acquaintances holding a conversation will look different from two good friends having a conversation, two lovers having a conversation, or even a parent speaking to a child.
The Sims in TS4 are so flippin' remote from each other it's unreal -- and that is is only one of my issues with the game, specifically, live mode.
Six years and I'm still waiting for EA to get off its duff and act as if they give a hoot. But who am I kidding? EA or Maxis, whoever's in charge, they aren't going to change a dang thing. ::sigh:
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
I adore how TS2 on PS2 had more care put into relashionships and the socialising system than TS4.
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video https://youtu.be/YxBgxZnCxOY?t=358
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
That's amazing.
Why is it that a much older game can do so much better? TS2 hit all the logical details. TS4 misses them all. In TS4, this is how lovers speak to each other (when they're not looking for a seat). It's no different from Sims who just met. They deliberately step back so that they will speak at that distance.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Now that you mention it, there is one thing that I wish TS4 had adopted from TS3's CAS. I really liked TS3's ability to zoom in on specific body parts. If you're choosing shoes, the game automatically zoomed in to allow the player a better look at the shoes. That feature was especially helpful when recoloring accessories. It was an all-around great idea. Innovative.
Then again, I can see why the developers wouldn't want players to zoom in with TS4. It would only emphasize how poor the textures are.
Back in those days before gaming went digital quality control was much stricter because it had to be. If you put out an unfinished or buggy game, it failed, plain and simple. Releasing patches wasn't as straightforward.
Nowadays the attitude across the board with AAA titles is release now, fix later. The Sims 4, Anthem, Fallout 76, and now most recently Borderlands 3 - all of them launch with bugs/technical issues that should have been seen to before release, but the digital age means they can fix things later and that's now the accepted norm when it really, really shouldn't be.
Developers been releasing games for an long while now and I remember reading about one company that acknowledged it would release the game with bugs and fix it as they moved along(Sadly I for forgot the year it was put out). The thing I can grudgely accept it but as long as it is fixed in an timely manner not like how EA/Maxis does it's tweaking, some bugs are fixed after an certain amout of packs are released or it just lingers.Game players are ultimately the testers and it is no joke and it can make one angry as you pay for the product to test it out for bugs which I agree some bugs are are very obvious that it may pose an problem and I read an tweet that is on here somewhere about an Guru acknowledging there was an bug that somehow got through and was plain to see it should have been noticed before product getting released to the wild.
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Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I actually prefer Sims 3 CAS and view that is the best. CAP however I view as the best in the Sims 4. I mean the customization with hair, body hair, tattoos, piercings, and color wheel alone make me prefer Sims 3 CAS. I can make a variety of Sims beyond just Sims that look like they live at the white house. Gameplay and building are most important to me and honestly feel only strong part of the Sims 4 is the gallery.
Trying to figure out what you mean by CAP haha? (google just shows me sims with caps) I’m fine with both tbh. Pulling bars, ‘moulding’, whatever, give me the sliders and I create my sim. CASt for me in an indispensable feature though that blows the rest away. But even then, it’s when I start playing when I really care about quality.
Oh sorry about that. Create a pet. I love the color wheel, patterning, and stamps for it. Makes me miss Sims 3 tattoos a lot. It is nice with having a best for dogs too so Sims can in a way have service dogs. I mean my house or Sims will be mismatched with colors and tones, but at least my cats and dogs look amazing and unique from each other.
I think a big part of the idea of releasing a game now and fix the bugs later is many companies, well, don't (looking at you Bethesda and EA is just as bad). Maxis has been notoriously bad about this. The buggy mess of Sims 3 is not a foundational issue -- CASt and open world absolutely can work and not be buggy. Sims 4 also has enough of a problem with simulation lag that several modders are trying very hard to address it in various ways despite it having neither an open world nor CASt -- and by design, it doesn't deal with simulating more than 20 sims at a time.
I personally spent the better part of a year poring over code and fixing an EA game I liked, that EA never felt the need to fix. They were aware of them -- they just... didn't fix anything that wasn't 100% game breaking (by game breaking I mean absolutely impossible to play the game, not immersion breaking). I fixed a few hundred bugs. I'll never do that again, and I vowed to never release another mod again, but that's a different issue.
Comments
That's the thing with TS4. When people point to quality, they always mention CAS or graphics. Hardly anyone points to the fact that TS4 has better and more substantive gameplay. I wonder why that is. I'm not picking on you or anything, but what made you pick clothes as a point of quality before anything else? Of all the things that you could have used to support your point that TS4 provides quality, you picked clothes. That's very telling.
Anyway, I don't care about whether or not a game provides pretty clothes when the community always provides better, for free. I care about the fact that a game is required to provide what the community shouldn't have to -- namely substantive gameplay. That is where TS4 consistently fails.
Right now, modders are working diligently to produce more in-depth facets of gameplay, based on the foundation that already exists within the game. Meanwhile, the company that built that foundation consistently ignores building impactful gameplay in favor of providing more superficiality.
Absolutely nothing in TS4's gameplay matters. That is my main and everlasting complaint. Instead of selling the ten-thousandth recolor of the same t-shirt, why hasn't EA done something about making the gameplay matter?
Edited to add: just so that it doesn't seem like I can't find anything positive to say about TS4: I admit that TS4 does have a wonderful CAS mode as well as a build mode. However, I didn't buy the game to play in CAS or in build mode. Once I create my Sims, build their homes, and essential community lots, after all that work, I expect a fun and interesting game to be waiting for me. I expect a game that doesn't frustrate me to utter distraction because the Sims keep doing stupid things.
Just as an example: last night I was trying to get a screenshot of two Sims talking. I commanded the two Sims to speak to each other in hopes that I would catch something interesting. In the middle of the conversation, both Sims (who were standing in a corridor between two walls) turned away from each other and took seats on two stools that were located behind the walls. So, instead of getting pictures of two Sims having a personal conversation, I had two Sims that, if they were real, would have been shouting at each other across a corridor between two market stalls.
Okay, so I removed every single chair within a reasonable distance. I directed the Sims to stand face to face again and I started up the conversation once more. There were no chairs to sit on so each Sim backed up two paces and resumed their talk from that distance. Once again, removing all semblance that the two Sims are close and were having a private conversation.
These were my choices: take the screenshot with the Sims standing what amounts to six feet apart, comb the internet for a pose that depicts what I want, or go into Blender and make my own pose. As I wasn't in the mood to do any of those things, I gave up for the night, frustrated and angry.
The same problems have existed since launch and EA needs to fix them.
- Create different animations for Sims with different levels of relationships. Two acquaintances holding a conversation will look different from two good friends having a conversation, two lovers having a conversation, or even a parent speaking to a child.
Six years and I'm still waiting for EA to get off its duff and act as if they give a hoot. But who am I kidding? EA or Maxis, whoever's in charge, they aren't going to change a dang thing. ::sigh:The Sims in TS4 are so flippin' remote from each other it's unreal -- and that is is only one of my issues with the game, specifically, live mode.
Very well said.
Truth be told, the CAS features of TS4 are the series’ best, but unfortunately, the only highlight of this iteration for me. Sims truly look diverse without mods, and the quality of clothing and hairstyles is the series’ finest, IMHO.
However, The Sims is a 3 part game, in my view. CAS, building, and gameplay. And the most important portion of that list, to me, is gameplay. Yet, it lags so incredibly far behind compared to the predecessors, it’s almost a joke at this point.
It feels as though the developers don’t play the game themselves. It just feels they aren’t incorporating game design whatsoever in the development process. As a player, I feel I have nothing challenging me while playing the game. I have such little to work for, as there is little to no achievement in this game, thus I don’t feel rewarded in any means when I do achieve something. What am I going to unlock, a cheaty trait that makes this incredibly easy and mindless game easier?
There is also nothing spontaneous happening while I play. I can play for weeks at a time, and know exactly how each day will play. It’s far too predictable, whereas simulation games have always been renowned for throwing players curve balls often to keep them on their feet. Yet, I know, before I load up any single lot, anything interesting will not be happening.
I just wish they would address the abysmal gameplay of TS4, as if the gameplay design were fixed, I’d 100% enjoy playing it far more. Instead, they’re blatantly ignoring it; whims, for instance, were simply disabled and no longer developed on as opposed to addressed and fixed.
I don't think the competition would have to be that great, SC2013 thought it was the only game in town and that series is to all intents and purposes dead, after just a little competition.
The franchise lives or dies on its future, and the future for the Sims is looking rather bleak.
I can't argue with you there. For those of us who want an interesting game, the future is bleak indeed. For those who want The Sims to function more like a mobile app based on dressing up pretty Sims and earning enough money to fashionably kit out their home to match their style of dress. If that's the case, TS4 is already that game
I agree about CAS, it's wonderful. I have zero complaints. Although it's still missing some features, build mode is also excellent.
The rest of the game is a frustrating mess.
Achievements are a joke. What do you get? Too much money way too soon and, if you're really lucky, a plaque to put on the Sims' wall that will make them inspired and oh so happy. As if they aren't already those things the majority of the time.
There are also no failures. TS4's version of failure is for a Sim to wet their pants or to pass out on the floor, sound asleep. That's the worst of it, really. Not that the other Sims will really care that either thing happened.
Your last point is the most egregious in a whole comedy of errors. Nothing ever happens unless the player forces it to happen. Nothing unexpected happens. Not unless you want to count two Sims, walking away from each other so that they can sit and 'shout' at each other across two walls. Surprise!
Can it be salvaged? Sure.
1. Make "Uncomfortable" magnify negative emotions and add Fear.
2. Build in more player controls in the default options menu, maybe a length slider for the individual lifestages like TS3 had and DEFINITELY a relationship controls suite.
3. Shorten the length of the different dog walks. Even a short walk takes several sim hours, a medium walk takes half a day, and the long walk is the whole freaking day! That the Heck?! Fix that!! Short Walk should be 1 sim hour, Medium Walk should be 2 sim hours, and Long Walk should be 3 sim hours. And the random pauses every 5 steps do not help the length of the activity. It's...it's bad, you guys. It's really, really bad.
5. Cap ambient happy moodlets at +2, for the love of all that's good and sane! Ambient Happy overrides Trait Negatives too feaking easily! We've been saying this for YEARS!!
(I’ve seen quite a few examples where clothes in TS4 actually weren’t very high quality by the way)
This reminded me of TS2 for PS2 and the different animations they had for the levels relationships with another sim in this video
(Skip to 5:28 where the conversation starts And please excuse the language as This is not someone I watch I just picked the video as reference) but if you continue to watch he will show what happens when you become friends with felicity and how much closer the sims get. He doesn't show it all but once a sim becomes closer friends they do get closer with each other to the point where they will put their arm around the other sim playfull just as best friends. It's truly amazing despite how old the game is. And these animations are there for sims that dislike each other and love each other as well.
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EA, fix the EA app & CAW EIG!
The sad part is the gallery is a temporary feature. Once TS4 reaches a certain age, it will no longer be supported by EA, and all lots, Sims, rooms, etc. will just be deleted.
That's amazing.
Why is it that a much older game can do so much better? TS2 hit all the logical details. TS4 misses them all. In TS4, this is how lovers speak to each other (when they're not looking for a seat). It's no different from Sims who just met. They deliberately step back so that they will speak at that distance.
Now that you mention it, there is one thing that I wish TS4 had adopted from TS3's CAS. I really liked TS3's ability to zoom in on specific body parts. If you're choosing shoes, the game automatically zoomed in to allow the player a better look at the shoes. That feature was especially helpful when recoloring accessories. It was an all-around great idea. Innovative.
Then again, I can see why the developers wouldn't want players to zoom in with TS4. It would only emphasize how poor the textures are.
Back in those days before gaming went digital quality control was much stricter because it had to be. If you put out an unfinished or buggy game, it failed, plain and simple. Releasing patches wasn't as straightforward.
Nowadays the attitude across the board with AAA titles is release now, fix later. The Sims 4, Anthem, Fallout 76, and now most recently Borderlands 3 - all of them launch with bugs/technical issues that should have been seen to before release, but the digital age means they can fix things later and that's now the accepted norm when it really, really shouldn't be.
Agreed! Widespread broadband is specifically to blame, I think. Back in the day, patches went out on disk via snail mail to every single consumer that filled out the warranty card. The cost must have been immense. Now, patches go out over the internet. As you say it has bred a whole new philosophy to collect the money now and fix the game later. TS4 is a prime example of that new mindset. It was a patched-together, empty mess at launch. Subsequent DLC and patches have merely been playing catchup.
BTW, @KrayzieStryker, I really enjoyed the video and music in your signature. It is surprisingly relaxing. It makes me want to look for more. Thank you.
There is so much I like about this game.
But there is just something missing at the core, that should have been in the base game.
@PrincipleOfEntropy pretty much has the issues nailed for me.
EA said at the beginning that they were focusing on the Sims themselves. They did put a focus on emotions, at the peril of personality, individuality, and socialization. To me, Sims have always had emotions, you see it written on their faces and their body language.
EA can correct this, but I doubt they will.
This will probably be considered what TS4 is and be a reason to move on to The Sims 5 if they choose to make it.
I adore how TS2 on PS2 had more care put into relashionships and the socialising system than TS4.
Developers been releasing games for an long while now and I remember reading about one company that acknowledged it would release the game with bugs and fix it as they moved along(Sadly I for forgot the year it was put out). The thing I can grudgely accept it but as long as it is fixed in an timely manner not like how EA/Maxis does it's tweaking, some bugs are fixed after an certain amout of packs are released or it just lingers.Game players are ultimately the testers and it is no joke and it can make one angry as you pay for the product to test it out for bugs which I agree some bugs are are very obvious that it may pose an problem and I read an tweet that is on here somewhere about an Guru acknowledging there was an bug that somehow got through and was plain to see it should have been noticed before product getting released to the wild.
I personally spent the better part of a year poring over code and fixing an EA game I liked, that EA never felt the need to fix. They were aware of them -- they just... didn't fix anything that wasn't 100% game breaking (by game breaking I mean absolutely impossible to play the game, not immersion breaking). I fixed a few hundred bugs. I'll never do that again, and I vowed to never release another mod again, but that's a different issue.