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Delving into the Data Files
bludhound
Posts: 297 Member
I'm done with preloading TS4, and decided to take a look at the data files out of curiosity. Here are some of my thoughts:
1) The 2 unlockable lots, one for each world, are actually "subhoods". Probably single-lot subhoods, much like the community park. And there is just one per world, for those holding your breath that there would be more. The file sizes for these subhoods are much smaller than the others.
2) Much of the game is moddable, including routing, story progression, careers, and free will. I guess we can look forward to those awesome story progression mods. However, I'm not sure if the white outline can be removed via mods.
3) There will be some sort of visualization mode, where you can visualize, for example, the path your sim is going to take in the form of a line. While this may not be of any value to general players, it is certainly useful for modders who are looking to alter or fine-tune the routing system for instance.
4) I've not opened the actual content files to see what goodie's in there, but I sure hope they're worth the huge amount of disk space they occupy.
The thumbnails.package file is a good place to catch a glimpse of build/buy items and CAS parts in the game. I've managed to extract all the thumbnails. They have a strange blurry background, maybe because of how the game interprets the image data. Here are some items of interest:
Dish cabinets
Frog tank
Looks like a trophy of sorts. Could this be one of the unlockable rewards?
Toys? Hope they have interesting interactions (@ebuchala has mentioned that those are actually collectible aliens)
As drivable vehicles aren't in the game, probably spawners for décor vehicles
A wedding arch
A detailed Asian-style roof?
Am I dirty-minded or is this what I think it is?
There are lots and lots of drink thumbnails. Hundreds if not thousands of them.
Don't even know what to make of these. Lots with uneven terrain?
Here are some of the new items in CAS
1) The 2 unlockable lots, one for each world, are actually "subhoods". Probably single-lot subhoods, much like the community park. And there is just one per world, for those holding your breath that there would be more. The file sizes for these subhoods are much smaller than the others.
2) Much of the game is moddable, including routing, story progression, careers, and free will. I guess we can look forward to those awesome story progression mods. However, I'm not sure if the white outline can be removed via mods.
3) There will be some sort of visualization mode, where you can visualize, for example, the path your sim is going to take in the form of a line. While this may not be of any value to general players, it is certainly useful for modders who are looking to alter or fine-tune the routing system for instance.
4) I've not opened the actual content files to see what goodie's in there, but I sure hope they're worth the huge amount of disk space they occupy.
The thumbnails.package file is a good place to catch a glimpse of build/buy items and CAS parts in the game. I've managed to extract all the thumbnails. They have a strange blurry background, maybe because of how the game interprets the image data. Here are some items of interest:
Dish cabinets
Frog tank
Looks like a trophy of sorts. Could this be one of the unlockable rewards?
Toys? Hope they have interesting interactions (@ebuchala has mentioned that those are actually collectible aliens)
As drivable vehicles aren't in the game, probably spawners for décor vehicles
A wedding arch
A detailed Asian-style roof?
Am I dirty-minded or is this what I think it is?
There are lots and lots of drink thumbnails. Hundreds if not thousands of them.
Don't even know what to make of these. Lots with uneven terrain?
Here are some of the new items in CAS
Post edited by bludhound on
31
Comments
Pricefield forever.
Time Won't Keep Us Apart - A story.
MTS: SimsForever15 | Origin: vba152318 | Paradox: PixelsSquared | Simblr: PixelsSquared
Saw this while looking:
Animal hat set. I think this is a child, because the thumbnail for the adult wearing it was different.
There was this a full clown make-up, which is funny 'cause I thought we weren't getting any full face make-up.
Still digging around...
Not sure why selecting items in s4pe is so slow. It's selecting them at ~20 items per sec.
Here's one of the extracted images:
Hmm... I'm wondering what the clown makeup is categorized as. Is there really a full face makeup section that wasn't available in the demo? Anyways, thanks for sharing these.
Pricefield forever.
Time Won't Keep Us Apart - A story.
MTS: SimsForever15 | Origin: vba152318 | Paradox: PixelsSquared | Simblr: PixelsSquared
They did say The Sims 4 was designed to be modded by the players, and was actually built for modders in mind unlike the previous games (although The Sims 2 did allow mods The Sims 3 was much harder to work with).
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
The best of the Bug fix guys Twallan Retired from modding, he was the big cheese of the NRAAS mods.
Thanks for that info I truly hope some decent modder steps up if required but its a bit naff if EA made the game with modders in mind before perfecting the game themselves....
What is that white line around everything when they are demonstrating in live mode? Is that actually going to be in our game-play as if so I think that would be a deal breaker for me at this point.
^this
Saying "not to be rude", then blatently being rude does not excuse rude behavior.
I would be shocked if there were remnants of toddlers. On the bright side, it would actually kind of show that they truly didn't have enough time to include them. It would show that they really weren't lazy. It would be such a tease though.
Pricefield forever.
Time Won't Keep Us Apart - A story.
MTS: SimsForever15 | Origin: vba152318 | Paradox: PixelsSquared | Simblr: PixelsSquared
Toddlers have already been mentioned in the CAS demo. Honestly, these guys just copy and paste from previous games. I'm pretty sure I even saw a reference to TS3 somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment.
I will have to watch the game videos again but I did not worry about it when I first noticed it because I thought it was a glitch that would be sorted out before we got the game. I do find it really annoying but that's just me and I cannot understand why its there when it does not have to be? I mean what does it bring to the game?
I'm pretty sure that we've been told that some of the developers of SimCity (2013) were brought in to work on TS4's UI, which is why it's so similar to SC 2013's UI. The white line around Sims and objects might be somehow related to that.
Pricefield forever.
Time Won't Keep Us Apart - A story.
MTS: SimsForever15 | Origin: vba152318 | Paradox: PixelsSquared | Simblr: PixelsSquared
I'm pretty sure that we've been told that some of the developers of SimCity (2013) were brought in to work on TS4's UI, which is why it's so similar to SC 2013's UI. The white line around Sims and objects might be somehow related to that.
As I don't play any other PC games other than Sims I have never noticed it before anywhere, I really don't like it but I will just have to see if I can get used to it