When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
I disagree. I think there was supposed to be some sort of tablet/mobile component to the game. And I believe that the games UI is not PC friendly. It's all over the place and you have to scroll all over. And when I installed it on my daughter's SurfacePro, the UI was in the perfect places for my fingers to get at easily.
Like how they've made the app for TS4 now. They keep going on about having cross over games so it looks like they had the concept but not the expertise to make it work fully right now.
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
But they spent all of that time developing modes that never made it into the game when if it had been designed as a traditional Sims title from the ground up they would have been able to invest more of their resources in the single-player experience. I still think that the game suffered for that.
I agree with @sparkfairy1, I wish they would have released their original idea for the game as a spin-off, which is what it sounds like.
That's fairly common in video game development, there's always things that don't make it in the final product. I mean, it's a creative process, you can't do all right the first time. Furthermore, it's not like there was a fully functional Multiplayer Sims 4 game at that point, it was still a prototype, a draft.
I do understand a bit about game development. And it's not about the fact that there are things that don't make it into the final product. Sure, stuff always gets left on the cutting room floor. That's the nature of any artistic endeavor. It's about the fact that they were developing different modes for years and effectively splitting their time between each mode and then close to release they chucked it all and went with one mode only. Something like that can definitely hurt a game because that final mode was not as fully developed as it could have been if they had given it their full attention.
We don't know how far along they were with the multiplayer plans before they changed everything up. What I do know, however, is that nobody really had to tell me that this game was meant to be something else. That was obvious to me from the beginning. And that's not a good thing.
There are actually concept arts of Olympus that look like Windenburg. I think Maxis is still using a lot of the Olympus assets in packs. Why there is mostly YA/Adult stuff because those were going to be the only two life stages in the online game. I honestly don't expect to see a lot of family play coming into this iteration because of that.
Yes, in Patrick Kelly's video of the game (a mock up) we see the very same Sims we have now. Actually, I like those better, lol. And they have the very same hairstyles, hats, clothes-right down to the same jewelry, and same wallpapers, furniture etc. But you can't make people believe what they don't want to believe. All you can do is show them the evidence. lol
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
But they spent all of that time developing modes that never made it into the game when if it had been designed as a traditional Sims title from the ground up they would have been able to invest more of their resources in the single-player experience. I still think that the game suffered for that.
I agree with @sparkfairy1, I wish they would have released their original idea for the game as a spin-off, which is what it sounds like.
That's fairly common in video game development, there's always things that don't make it in the final product. I mean, it's a creative process, you can't do all right the first time. Furthermore, it's not like there was a fully functional Multiplayer Sims 4 game at that point, it was still a prototype, a draft.
I do understand a bit about game development. And it's not about the fact that there are things that don't make it into the final product. Sure, stuff always gets left on the cutting room floor. That's the nature of any artistic endeavor. It's about the fact that they were developing different modes for years and effectively splitting their time between each mode and then close to release they chucked it all and went with one mode only. Something like that can definitely hurt a game because that final mode was not as fully developed as it could have been if they had given it their full attention.
We don't know how far along they were with the multiplayer plans before they changed everything up. What I do know, however, is that nobody really had to tell me that this game was meant to be something else. That was obvious to me from the beginning. And that's not a good thing.
Exactly. It shouldn't be this obvious that they had issues in development. It just shouldn't.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
But they spent all of that time developing modes that never made it into the game when if it had been designed as a traditional Sims title from the ground up they would have been able to invest more of their resources in the single-player experience. I still think that the game suffered for that.
I agree with @sparkfairy1, I wish they would have released their original idea for the game as a spin-off, which is what it sounds like.
That's fairly common in video game development, there's always things that don't make it in the final product. I mean, it's a creative process, you can't do all right the first time. Furthermore, it's not like there was a fully functional Multiplayer Sims 4 game at that point, it was still a prototype, a draft.
I do understand a bit about game development. And it's not about the fact that there are things that don't make it into the final product. Sure, stuff always gets left on the cutting room floor. That's the nature of any artistic endeavor. It's about the fact that they were developing different modes for years and effectively splitting their time between each mode and then close to release they chucked it all and went with one mode only. Something like that can definitely hurt a game because that final mode was not as fully developed as it could have been if they had given it their full attention.
We don't know how far along they were with the multiplayer plans before they changed everything up. What I do know, however, is that nobody really had to tell me that this game was meant to be something else. That was obvious to me from the beginning. And that's not a good thing.
It was rumored to be that they had worked on it three years before making the online to offline switch, then offline which is now the Sims 4 had 2.5 years of development.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
There are actually concept arts of Olympus that look like Windenburg. I think Maxis is still using a lot of the Olympus assets in packs. Why there is mostly YA/Adult stuff because those were going to be the only two life stages in the online game. I honestly don't expect to see a lot of family play coming into this iteration because of that.
I was pretty offended when they announced GT and showed pics of Windenburg. I was like...hey, they've been developing that since before the game released. So basically, we could have had 3 worlds and all these extra features in the base game, but they held them back to release as an EP. Had they put this club system and other features from GT in the base, I think it would have been a much stronger base game than the emptiness we got.
Being fair, the world that leaked with the base game, is VERY different from Windenburg. They just kept the idea of a Tudor theme.
Screenshots show there is almost no similarities at all.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
You could upload stuff made on the Sims 3 PS3/Xbox (like houses, Sims) and download them on PC. They already had that tech. Doesn't mean the PC version of the Sims 3 was built as a PS3 version as well.
He isn't saying the PC game was based on the mobile game. He's saying a mobile game could have some features to connect with the PC game. I
There are actually concept arts of Olympus that look like Windenburg. I think Maxis is still using a lot of the Olympus assets in packs. Why there is mostly YA/Adult stuff because those were going to be the only two life stages in the online game. I honestly don't expect to see a lot of family play coming into this iteration because of that.
I was pretty offended when they announced GT and showed pics of Windenburg. I was like...hey, they've been developing that since before the game released. So basically, we could have had 3 worlds and all these extra features in the base game, but they held them back to release as an EP. Had they put this club system and other features from GT in the base, I think it would have been a much stronger base game than the emptiness we got.
Being fair, the world that leaked with the base game, is VERY different from Windenburg. They just kept the idea of a Tudor theme.
Screenshots show there is almost no similarities at all.
Please show me the screenshots-because the ones I've seen look very similar. I'd link but EA don't like Honeywell news.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
You could upload stuff made on the Sims 3 PS3/Xbox (like houses, Sims) and download them on PC. They already had that tech. Doesn't mean the PC version of the Sims 3 was built as a PS3 version as well.
He isn't saying the PC game was based on the mobile game. He's saying a mobile game could have some features to connect with the PC game. I
Yes that's what I'm saying. A way to have integrated features across multiple platforms. So you could pick up your iPad and do some things but then go to your PC to do more I'd imagine.
There are actually concept arts of Olympus that look like Windenburg. I think Maxis is still using a lot of the Olympus assets in packs. Why there is mostly YA/Adult stuff because those were going to be the only two life stages in the online game. I honestly don't expect to see a lot of family play coming into this iteration because of that.
I was pretty offended when they announced GT and showed pics of Windenburg. I was like...hey, they've been developing that since before the game released. So basically, we could have had 3 worlds and all these extra features in the base game, but they held them back to release as an EP. Had they put this club system and other features from GT in the base, I think it would have been a much stronger base game than the emptiness we got.
Being fair, the world that leaked with the base game, is VERY different from Windenburg. They just kept the idea of a Tudor theme.
Screenshots show there is almost no similarities at all.
I'm going to gamble they took the world in the Olympus and or which ever version you have in your OP example, and are reworking it for this game. Just as much as they didn't actually build from the ground up Newcrest but took parts of the other towns in the base and threw them together to come up with New Crest. This game sure recycles a lot of stuff. And being pieced together is why Newcrest is so buggy. Like on some lots if you place a lot that has a foundation and then bulldoze the next building you try to place or build will still have a foundation. Or the land isn't level in some spots on some lots. That's what happens when you patch stuff together.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
There are actually concept arts of Olympus that look like Windenburg. I think Maxis is still using a lot of the Olympus assets in packs. Why there is mostly YA/Adult stuff because those were going to be the only two life stages in the online game. I honestly don't expect to see a lot of family play coming into this iteration because of that.
I was pretty offended when they announced GT and showed pics of Windenburg. I was like...hey, they've been developing that since before the game released. So basically, we could have had 3 worlds and all these extra features in the base game, but they held them back to release as an EP. Had they put this club system and other features from GT in the base, I think it would have been a much stronger base game than the emptiness we got.
Being fair, the world that leaked with the base game, is VERY different from Windenburg. They just kept the idea of a Tudor theme.
Screenshots show there is almost no similarities at all.
I'm going to gamble they took the world in the Olympus and or which ever version you have in your OP example, and are reworking it for this game. Just as much as they didn't actually build from the ground up Newcrest but took parts of the other towns in the base and threw them together to come up with New Crest. This game sure recycles a lot of stuff. And being pieced together is why Newcrest is so buggy. Like on some lots if you place a lot that has a foundation and then bulldoze the next building you try to place or build will still have a foundation. Or the land isn't level in some spots on some lots. That's what happens when you patch stuff together.
Yes taking some of the work they already had and reworking it seems to be a theme for TS4.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Sorry, he started back tracking on a lot of things after EA told him to shut up.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
The bottom right box art cover is telling enough. When did the gears inside the development teams head go from family generations life sim to competing with Second Life?
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
But they spent all of that time developing modes that never made it into the game when if it had been designed as a traditional Sims title from the ground up they would have been able to invest more of their resources in the single-player experience. I still think that the game suffered for that.
I agree with @sparkfairy1, I wish they would have released their original idea for the game as a spin-off, which is what it sounds like.
That's fairly common in video game development, there's always things that don't make it in the final product. I mean, it's a creative process, you can't do all right the first time. Furthermore, it's not like there was a fully functional Multiplayer Sims 4 game at that point, it was still a prototype, a draft.
I do understand a bit about game development. And it's not about the fact that there are things that don't make it into the final product. Sure, stuff always gets left on the cutting room floor. That's the nature of any artistic endeavor. It's about the fact that they were developing different modes for years and effectively splitting their time between each mode and then close to release they chucked it all and went with one mode only. Something like that can definitely hurt a game because that final mode was not as fully developed as it could have been if they had given it their full attention.
We don't know how far along they were with the multiplayer plans before they changed everything up. What I do know, however, is that nobody really had to tell me that this game was meant to be something else. That was obvious to me from the beginning. And that's not a good thing.
One thing is sure : what is shown in the video is not a video game. Chi Chan says it's a early prototype using Maya and Unity 3D. So it was not a game at that point, just something to showcase how it could look for the visuals and UI.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Sorry, he started back tracking on a lot of things after EA told him to shut up.
Yes, but his original comment was regarding PC, and he mentioned mobile ONCE after mentioning PC a million times.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Sorry, he started back tracking on a lot of things after EA told him to shut up.
Yes, but his original comment was regarding PC, and he mentioned mobile ONCE after mentioning PC a million times.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
It was a fact by F.G. they dropped Olympus because of the backlash of SC. He said it. However, it was a 'rumor' (from past employees) it was dropped in 2012 because the online gameplay wasn't working out how they wanted it to work. But it was as you say to cross over to pick up and play from many different platforms.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
Depends how you look at it. I'd rather they stuck and released it as a side game then worked on a real TS4.
Yeah, I completely agree.
@Neia said above; "The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now. "
For me, even what we are left with isn't much fun b/c of all the repetitive requirements to complete anything. I keep trying to play it, but just can't seem to stick with it. It's just too busy...do this...do that. It's just not what I find fun in a sims game.
When players said the game was never built as a traditional sims game, and instead a single-sim experience they were right. Sounds like they were originally developing a console game.
Exactly. EA/Maxis biggest problem is their customers weren't born yesterday and know a lot more than suits the company.
It's not like Single Sim games aren't popular though. They made a trilogy with the "Stories" games, and each console game has a single player story mode (except 3) and they all sold really well. The console games for Sims 2 outsold the PC game.
As of March 2012, The Sims 2 had sold 13 million across all platforms and six million on PC
All versions of the Sims 2 have a story mode as the focus except the PC version. And the Sims 4 started development in 2012 apparently.
Maybe EA used this data, and then backtracked when they realised what PC players wanted? The console version outsold the PC version, and there was two main differences between them.
- Only Young Adults
- Story Mode focused
This article honestly fills in a lot of blanks for me.
I FINALLY know at least why they had secret worlds that seemed so random haha.
Told You. I said in 2011 on the TS3 site TS4 was being built for iPads. Granted I had to use a site that used the April Fool's description but I was trying to get it out there. LOL I got blasted by several for using the site as proof which in turn had used the 'joke' description of it, but I was just trying to get out there what I knew without exposing what I knew. That it was being built for iPad and an online game. I wasn't privy to the story mode features. I took the heat because I knew one day it would eventually get exposed and other employees of EA eventually leaked more in 2013 just like this Chan has. But they also got blasted of being crazy and dishonest.
TS4 is scraps of how many changes it has gone through. The original game was dropped in mid production it began in 2010 and opted for a PC single player game instead. But TS4 was never built from the ground up as a PC game in the true tradition of the series. Or continuing the series.
The plot thickens. A lot of what is in this game as 'future content' was already planned and almost completed, but having to be reworked.
I think the Sims 4 was a PC game though. It wasn't for iPads. The UI isn't touch screen friendly, even in the earliest days. Plus the engine is too powerful.
I think it was always a PC game. Just never a true sequel. I don't even think the new iPad Pro could handle the Sims 4?
No the iPad can't handle this game but it certainly could handle what they had planned in 2010. The UI has been reworked several times as you pointed out. Frank Gibeau has an article (over EA at the time) about how they were determined to move on to console and online games for the new iPads somewhere on the internet concerning EA as a whole. This game was never planned to be for PC.
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
It was a fact by F.G. they dropped Olympus because of the backlash of SC. He said it. However, it was a 'rumor' (from past employees) it was dropped in 2012 because the online gameplay wasn't working out how they wanted it to work. But it was as you say to cross over to pick up and play from many different platforms.
Yes they love those trends and pushing it whether it's requested from the customers or not. I'd prefer they had a standalone online game. Not a hybrid that compromises quality in case someone wants to play online.
The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now.
Depends how you look at it. I'd rather they stuck and released it as a side game then worked on a real TS4.
Yeah, I completely agree.
@Neia said above; "The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now. "
For me, even what we are left with isn't much fun b/c of all the repetitive requirements to complete anything. I keep trying to play it, but just can't seem to stick with it. It's just too busy...do this...do that. It's just not what I find fun in a sims game.
Totally agree. It's really annoying going from playing your way to frequent lists in order to succeed.
Comments
Like how they've made the app for TS4 now. They keep going on about having cross over games so it looks like they had the concept but not the expertise to make it work fully right now.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I do understand a bit about game development. And it's not about the fact that there are things that don't make it into the final product. Sure, stuff always gets left on the cutting room floor. That's the nature of any artistic endeavor. It's about the fact that they were developing different modes for years and effectively splitting their time between each mode and then close to release they chucked it all and went with one mode only. Something like that can definitely hurt a game because that final mode was not as fully developed as it could have been if they had given it their full attention.
We don't know how far along they were with the multiplayer plans before they changed everything up. What I do know, however, is that nobody really had to tell me that this game was meant to be something else. That was obvious to me from the beginning. And that's not a good thing.
Yes, in Patrick Kelly's video of the game (a mock up) we see the very same Sims we have now. Actually, I like those better, lol. And they have the very same hairstyles, hats, clothes-right down to the same jewelry, and same wallpapers, furniture etc. But you can't make people believe what they don't want to believe. All you can do is show them the evidence. lol
Exactly. It shouldn't be this obvious that they had issues in development. It just shouldn't.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
It was confirmed ny a dev, that the PC version was the primary version, like all games. Patrick Kelly confirmed this:
Q: If your mockups were for PC, why did you refer to them as being for a mobile game at one time?
A: The game I worked on was designed to be delivered on many platforms, PC being the primary platform. The different versions are usually developed together and typically the User Interface is the same across all platforms so the terms for the delivery platforms are inter-changeable.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Yes a cross over concept so you can pick it up and play across different platforms. Clearly they didn't have the expertise to make it work well yet.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Being fair, the world that leaked with the base game, is VERY different from Windenburg. They just kept the idea of a Tudor theme.
Screenshots show there is almost no similarities at all.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
You could upload stuff made on the Sims 3 PS3/Xbox (like houses, Sims) and download them on PC. They already had that tech. Doesn't mean the PC version of the Sims 3 was built as a PS3 version as well.
He isn't saying the PC game was based on the mobile game. He's saying a mobile game could have some features to connect with the PC game. I
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Please show me the screenshots-because the ones I've seen look very similar. I'd link but EA don't like Honeywell news.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Some box art:
Billboards:
Yes that's what I'm saying. A way to have integrated features across multiple platforms. So you could pick up your iPad and do some things but then go to your PC to do more I'd imagine.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I'm going to gamble they took the world in the Olympus and or which ever version you have in your OP example, and are reworking it for this game. Just as much as they didn't actually build from the ground up Newcrest but took parts of the other towns in the base and threw them together to come up with New Crest. This game sure recycles a lot of stuff. And being pieced together is why Newcrest is so buggy. Like on some lots if you place a lot that has a foundation and then bulldoze the next building you try to place or build will still have a foundation. Or the land isn't level in some spots on some lots. That's what happens when you patch stuff together.
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/687914.page
And the sims 4 blue logo theme in Sims 3 university hint.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Yes taking some of the work they already had and reworking it seems to be a theme for TS4.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Sorry, he started back tracking on a lot of things after EA told him to shut up.
The bottom right box art cover is telling enough. When did the gears inside the development teams head go from family generations life sim to competing with Second Life?
One thing is sure : what is shown in the video is not a video game. Chi Chan says it's a early prototype using Maya and Unity 3D. So it was not a game at that point, just something to showcase how it could look for the visuals and UI.
Yes, but his original comment was regarding PC, and he mentioned mobile ONCE after mentioning PC a million times.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Yes, but his original comment was regarding PC, and he mentioned mobile ONCE after mentioning PC a million times.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
It was a fact by F.G. they dropped Olympus because of the backlash of SC. He said it. However, it was a 'rumor' (from past employees) it was dropped in 2012 because the online gameplay wasn't working out how they wanted it to work. But it was as you say to cross over to pick up and play from many different platforms.
Yeah, I completely agree.
@Neia said above; "The more I learn about the early TS4, the more I think they really took the good decisions. Story mode and Multiplayer mode sounds far less fun than the TS4 we know now. "
For me, even what we are left with isn't much fun b/c of all the repetitive requirements to complete anything. I keep trying to play it, but just can't seem to stick with it. It's just too busy...do this...do that. It's just not what I find fun in a sims game.
Yes they love those trends and pushing it whether it's requested from the customers or not. I'd prefer they had a standalone online game. Not a hybrid that compromises quality in case someone wants to play online.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Totally agree. It's really annoying going from playing your way to frequent lists in order to succeed.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1