I think the way it could be implemented in the game is for the appropriate building assets to be in build buy and provide some sort of podium like the one in TS3.
There are just too many different religions and points of view for the game to cover everything without making anyone feel left out. Just look at the symbols that have been approved by the US government for memorials....and they don't cover everything.
So I PM'd Guru Drake and he gave me the A-Ok that this thread is possible in the Ideas Corner. Please all participants in this thread be respectful! Any aggressive speech just ignore and move on. Try not to lace any words with sarcasm. Please be respectful. I can understand some simmers not wanting this. But today's update had me thinking if this was possible in my Sims game as well. I believe it can be possible if it's done right and as well as if it's in a way optional.
A lot of discussion today made me wonder if it's possible to implement religion and/or spirituality in The Sims 4. I know from reviews and let's plays it was a feature in TSM.
In TS2 I tried to create my place of worship, so I tried to use a podium (it was a career reward from the business career, a podium and other sims could listen) but I dont believe it was possible to do so because the career object wasn't available in a community lot. Simmers already make churches in the gallery so providing certain actions/interactions they could implement it in the game somehow.
I can see it working if specific objects or interactions allows your to play out your spirituality. A podium to speak from, a mat to meditate on etc. Im not very familiar with various religions so I can't think of many other things that people use for their worship. There are a lot of religions and they are varied, so of course it would have to be very generalized, but I think at least it could be discussed if its possible and how the game would go about it.
Not just specific religions, but anyone on ideas how to implement religion or spirituality in game please comment.
As a Non-denominational Christian, I would love religion in Sims, but unfortunately, some non-religious people don't. I disagree with the non-religious views. We are all created by God, saved by Jesus. There was no way the Earth poof in existence. We had to be created by something, right? Yes, Sims Medieval religion but it is different from normal Sims games.
I'm atheist so I don't really care for religion in my game. I wouldn't mind it if it's optional just like yesterday's update (which I LOVE).
Maybe they could create the Llama religion and include positive aspects from multiple religions so it doesn't offend anyone. It would be fun to have some sort of priest to conduct marriages and such.
As a Non-denominational Christian, I would love religion in Sims, but unfortunately, some non-religious people don't. I disagree with the non-religious views. We are all created by God, saved by Jesus. There was no way the Earth poof in existence. We had to be created by something, right? Yes, Sims Medieval religion but it is different from normal Sims games.
I wouldn't oppose it as an atheist. I don't think this is the right place to debate your religion and what you think to be true...
Maybe they could create the Llama religion and include positive aspects from multiple religions so it doesn't offend anyone. It would be fun to have some sort of priest to conduct marriages and such.
That would be cool. I miss having a lot of llama-related things lol. TS2 was choc-full of it. And for marriages it could be nice.
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
As a Non-denominational Christian, I would love religion in Sims, but unfortunately, some non-religious people don't. I disagree with the non-religious views. We are all created by God, saved by Jesus. There was no way the Earth poof in existence. We had to be created by something, right? Yes, Sims Medieval religion but it is different from normal Sims games.
I can respect your viewpoint. But this is about religion in-game and not irl, so it doesn't need to be discussed here.
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Honestly I would be fine with a podium and Sims giving speeches and I could build my own places to go. Or download them from the gallery. There are already some lovely buildings on the gallery. But I would want my Sim to at least get a good moodlet as encouraged for going. That way for my Sims who fit my stories who would attend a place I could take them there and they would actually have something to do such as listening to a speech.
That may be the easiest way and I would download that option.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
As a Non-denominational Christian, I would love religion in Sims, but unfortunately, some non-religious people don't. I disagree with the non-religious views. We are all created by God, saved by Jesus. There was no way the Earth poof in existence. We had to be created by something, right? Yes, Sims Medieval religion but it is different from normal Sims games.
This is exactly the kind of post that will get a very nice thread closed so please respect the OP and what they are trying to do. You see the kind of post you made makes me want to have a very heated debate with you but out of my respect for the OP I won't.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
Something like this could have a boatload of potential and make for some really interesting game play.
It would need to be an optional feature, for sure, and there should be ways to tweak it and adjust to cater to individual sims, too. I would like to have a lot of control around any sort of faith systems introduced into my games. It would be awesome to be able to sort of build your own faiths - decide monotheism vs polytheism, designate certain sims as atheist or simply secular spiritual. If done right, this could be a really interesting addition to the game, imo.
It would be interesting, too, if it worked a little like the clubs feature and you could add in animosity with other groups, or have certain groups work together for whatever purposes. Also, think of all the beautiful items and architecture that could come from an expansion like this...
I'd be happy to have religion in the game, in fact I'd be pleased! I'd be happy to have real ones, or a made-up one like in The Sims Medieval. I really liked the way they they handled religion in TSM, all the interactions and the animations. I'd be thrilled to have something like that back.
I don't identify with any religion in real-life, but I find them interesting. I like different cultures and different people, and I like my game to reflect the vibrant world around me. As religion is important to some people in real-life, I'd like to reflect that with some of my Sims.
I do usually create a church in my game at some point, but I haven't done this yet in TS4. They are very common where I live and they tend to act as a community hub, often running different groups inside the hall like craft groups or parent and toddler groups. They have fairs and table-top sales, and all sort of things! Even though I'm not a member of the church, I still enjoy these events and the community feel. When I create a church in my game it always serves these additional purposes, not just marriage and funerals. It usually has a European Gothic style, because this is my favourite kind of architecture, and so I guess it's a Western/European style religion, even though it is not any specific one.
I guess what I'd like is more general objects and interactions that I could use in a religious context, although they need not be specifically religious. The podium is probably the most important item, and being able to give an 'inspirational speech' or an 'emotional speech' or an 'angry speech' would be useful. Maybe simply having different options for different emotions with appropriate animations would be enough. Then I'd like Sims to crowd around to listen but importantly, they should take a seat if seats are close by! A podium is good for many things such as schools, universities, TV studios and the political career. If you use mods you can get a podium with Zerbu's Politics Mod and I have converted the Medieval podiums which are available on my blog (Sims in the Woods).
General architectural items and furnishings are helpful, so it would be nice to get more options here.
In TS3 I had a collection plate based on Ani's tax collector mod. I could set the plate to belong to the church and whenever I visited with a sim I could donate money. The object 'remembered' its value, so when I switched back to my priest I could collect the money and use it for community projects or church upgrades. So, I'd really appreciate an object with a similar code. It could be a simple 'Tip Jar' that allows you to assign a specific owner, and then you could have sims be able to donate to, or take from the item. I'd use the 'take from' interaction to pay sims for services like if my active sim went to another sim's house and fixed something or did some gardening, I'd 'take a tip' from the lot owner's jar with no consequence.
For interactions it would just be nice to have more 'console' or 'encourage' type interactions, or 'Give life advice'. That sort of thing. Maybe there could be suitable new traits like 'inspirational leader' or 'sympathetic' or something? And other sims could go to that person and choose 'ask for life advice' etc.
You'd need a way to make your religious leader stay and work on your 'church' lot for when other sims visit. Maybe Get Together clubs could be really helpful here?
We have the yoga mats and meditation stool already and these are useful.
I feel like I do have quite a lot for when I do make a church type venue. In TS3 my vicar would do a sermon and also spend some time making house-calls or checking up on some of my Sims who were going through a bad time. In the evenings he'd write books which I'd give religious sounding titles, and once published these could be read by other Sims who were members of the congregation. When I switched households, I decided which sims would attend the sermons and send them appropriately. Some went all the time as part of their daily lives. Others would only go if they needed help, maybe they'd want to get the vicar's advice. Others would have their wedding there (others might choose a different venue). My politician would attend regularly but it was just a show to gain votes. I had Sims from other religions who would do something different, but they still went to community events at the church hall. Some of my sims were not interested in religion at all. I just like to create characters and imagine what they would be like.
I just had a quick glance at other opinions in this thread. For me, it's not about representing a specific religion or even actually having any kind of watcher/god. For me it's much more about the people and their actions. So I just need more interactions, animations and objects that I can use to reflect the kinds of things that people do in real life. Anything customisable is helpful. Like how we can create a club and name it whatever we want. Or how I can write a book and give it whatever title I like. We don't need anything overtly obvious, we just need lots of little things that we can reinterpret in our own way. So, maybe the developers can look at different religions and give us appropriate objects that reflect but don't represent real religions, if that makes sense.
edit: random thought.... lighting scented candles that create different moods would be another useful, generic interaction.
I already have churches in my game, generic lots with a statue in a prominent place and tables as altars. My sims don't worship any god we have in our real world but they worship whatever god I make up that fits the statue I placed. For example there's a princess cordelia statue in one of the churches and so my sims worship the Holy Cordelia for her acts of generosity and friendship towards all people. I certainly wouldn't mind a dedicated lot type, maybe even one where you could set the time sims would visit the lot. It could be near empty except for wednesdays or sundays. Or near empty on every other day but friday. And on not-empty days sims would flock there and autonomously use certain objects you place there, for example pews, praying mats or shrines. There should both be the option for completely serious religions and silly religions so that every player could choose whatever they like. If it's optional and highly customizable it's bound to be a great addition to our roleplay.
I didnt think about specific days, thats sounds cool too! Maybe different days for the different religious groups. I like the option of silly & serious.
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Wouldn't it be nice if they still looked at you when they're mad or sad just like they did in Sims 1 ?
Omg that used to creep me out!!! They did that in Ts2 sometimes. I felt especially eerie when i like locked them in a room till they passed out then they stared at me XD
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Something like this could have a boatload of potential and make for some really interesting game play.
It would need to be an optional feature, for sure, and there should be ways to tweak it and adjust to cater to individual sims, too. I would like to have a lot of control around any sort of faith systems introduced into my games. It would be awesome to be able to sort of build your own faiths - decide monotheism vs polytheism, designate certain sims as atheist or simply secular spiritual. If done right, this could be a really interesting addition to the game, imo.
It would be interesting, too, if it worked a little like the clubs feature and you could add in animosity with other groups, or have certain groups work together for whatever purposes. Also, think of all the beautiful items and architecture that could come from an expansion like this...
The architecture could be amazing *o* Im horrible at building but some people are masters at it and they would make some great creations. Maybe at the outset of every new save game you could creat all the possible faiths/religions in that save file, if you want to add 2 monotheistic, or 5 poly, or 1 based on a certain creature or object.
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
I guess what I'd like is more general objects and interactions that I could use in a religious context, although they need not be specifically religious. The podium is probably the most important item, and being able to give an 'inspirational speech' or an 'emotional speech' or an 'angry speech' would be useful. Maybe simply having different options for different emotions with appropriate animations would be enough. Then I'd like Sims to crowd around to listen but importantly, they should take a seat if seats are close by! A podium is good for many things such as schools, universities, TV studios and the political career. If you use mods you can get a podium with Zerbu's Politics Mod and I have converted the Medieval podiums which are available on my blog (Sims in the Woods).
General architectural items and furnishings are helpful, so it would be nice to get more options here.
I just had a quick glance at other opinions in this thread. For me, it's not about representing a specific religion or even actually having any kind of watcher/god. For me it's much more about the people and their actions. So I just need more interactions, animations and objects that I can use to reflect the kinds of things that people do in real life. Anything customisable is helpful. Like how we can create a club and name it whatever we want. Or how I can write a book and give it whatever title I like. We don't need anything overtly obvious, we just need lots of little things that we can reinterpret in our own way. So, maybe the developers can look at different religions and give us appropriate objects that reflect but don't represent real religions, if that makes sense.
edit: random thought.... lighting scented candles that create different moods would be another useful, generic interaction.
New interactions that allow you these kind of things is good too. Like you said, a more subtle way to get it across can be helpful for those storytelling. A way to console or certain reactions to objects.
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Serious or silly, I like all the ideas. This would be so much fun! As other people said, a club like function would probably be the easiest for the developers. If done that way, I would like to see praying as a possible activity selection. When you refer to meditation, is it also a type of prayer? I don't think the animation would be too hard, the sim just closes their eyes bows their head, except for some mischievous kids who peak. A special blessing before meals could maybe give the food a small boost. Singing hymns would be a good activity too. Also, for the podium, when a sim gives a speech or sermon, if they have low charisma a few members in the congregation nods off or sneak out or something! This really would be the perfect expansion pack to put in a functioning church lot, and a cemetery lot, or a combo of the both.
The only way I could or would support religiosity in the game is if it was the same religious organizations that were introduced in the Sims Medieval as it is Sims canon. I would prefer however to have it religion free.
“All mushrooms are edible, but some only once.” Terry Pratchett
The only way I could or would support religiosity in the game is if it was the same religious organizations that were introduced in the Sims Medieval as it is Sims canon. I would prefer however to have it religion free.
Nope its NOT sim cannon and also there's the fact that Sims Medival's reglions are heavily based on Catholic and Protestant relgion.. as well. What if I wanted to have a Sim version of Judasim? or Islam? Or Hinduism? Its not fair to only focus on Chirstanty based relgion when there's a diverese world of prayers.
If Religion/Spirituality is added to and implemented in The Sims 4, I would strongly recommend including it as part of an Expansion (Idea) such as the following:
I'd love some objects that have ritualistic praying animations tied to them.. animations that are fairly common and simple would be best. I don't think we can expect the animators to go through the multiple ways people pray. Some type of podium with both more sedate speaking and passionate speaking could be options. Simple kneeling tied to mats either with hands clasped or just with head bent or both (or more) would be wonderful. I think mats could work very well if designing multiple types of churches including fantasy types. They could be placed in front of benches for instance. Am I the only one that would want a sacrificial altar?... just saying... even though I don't have a chance for it...lol.
I'd also love for sims to be able to clasp hands in a group, but I doubt that is possible.
I just think if they give us some simple options the modders could run with it and produce things that are really unsuitable for Maxis to make. At least people could get it though if they want it.
I'd just want something with multiple uses not particularly tied to any religion ... just broad in scope. People could make of it what they will, either use it to mimic their religion or give that to their sims, or to tell some fantasy story (the Amazon Challenge springs to mind). Even to make up their own religions. The Cult of the Hermit sounds appropriate . All Hail!
I personally would use them probably in all these ways... depending on the story I have in mind.
Comments
There are just too many different religions and points of view for the game to cover everything without making anyone feel left out. Just look at the symbols that have been approved by the US government for memorials....and they don't cover everything.
http://www.cem.va.gov/hmm/emblems.asp
SimGuruDrake is a she!
Maybe they could create the Llama religion and include positive aspects from multiple religions so it doesn't offend anyone. It would be fun to have some sort of priest to conduct marriages and such.
Whoops! Sorry. I dont know the gurus very well. I will edit my post.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I wouldn't oppose it as an atheist. I don't think this is the right place to debate your religion and what you think to be true...
You.
That would be cool. I miss having a lot of llama-related things lol. TS2 was choc-full of it. And for marriages it could be nice.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I can respect your viewpoint. But this is about religion in-game and not irl, so it doesn't need to be discussed here.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Wouldn't it be nice if they still looked at you when they're mad or sad just like they did in Sims 1 ?
That may be the easiest way and I would download that option.
This is exactly the kind of post that will get a very nice thread closed so please respect the OP and what they are trying to do. You see the kind of post you made makes me want to have a very heated debate with you but out of my respect for the OP I won't.
It would need to be an optional feature, for sure, and there should be ways to tweak it and adjust to cater to individual sims, too. I would like to have a lot of control around any sort of faith systems introduced into my games. It would be awesome to be able to sort of build your own faiths - decide monotheism vs polytheism, designate certain sims as atheist or simply secular spiritual. If done right, this could be a really interesting addition to the game, imo.
It would be interesting, too, if it worked a little like the clubs feature and you could add in animosity with other groups, or have certain groups work together for whatever purposes. Also, think of all the beautiful items and architecture that could come from an expansion like this...
I don't identify with any religion in real-life, but I find them interesting. I like different cultures and different people, and I like my game to reflect the vibrant world around me. As religion is important to some people in real-life, I'd like to reflect that with some of my Sims.
I do usually create a church in my game at some point, but I haven't done this yet in TS4. They are very common where I live and they tend to act as a community hub, often running different groups inside the hall like craft groups or parent and toddler groups. They have fairs and table-top sales, and all sort of things! Even though I'm not a member of the church, I still enjoy these events and the community feel. When I create a church in my game it always serves these additional purposes, not just marriage and funerals. It usually has a European Gothic style, because this is my favourite kind of architecture, and so I guess it's a Western/European style religion, even though it is not any specific one.
I guess what I'd like is more general objects and interactions that I could use in a religious context, although they need not be specifically religious. The podium is probably the most important item, and being able to give an 'inspirational speech' or an 'emotional speech' or an 'angry speech' would be useful. Maybe simply having different options for different emotions with appropriate animations would be enough. Then I'd like Sims to crowd around to listen but importantly, they should take a seat if seats are close by! A podium is good for many things such as schools, universities, TV studios and the political career. If you use mods you can get a podium with Zerbu's Politics Mod and I have converted the Medieval podiums which are available on my blog (Sims in the Woods).
General architectural items and furnishings are helpful, so it would be nice to get more options here.
In TS3 I had a collection plate based on Ani's tax collector mod. I could set the plate to belong to the church and whenever I visited with a sim I could donate money. The object 'remembered' its value, so when I switched back to my priest I could collect the money and use it for community projects or church upgrades. So, I'd really appreciate an object with a similar code. It could be a simple 'Tip Jar' that allows you to assign a specific owner, and then you could have sims be able to donate to, or take from the item. I'd use the 'take from' interaction to pay sims for services like if my active sim went to another sim's house and fixed something or did some gardening, I'd 'take a tip' from the lot owner's jar with no consequence.
For interactions it would just be nice to have more 'console' or 'encourage' type interactions, or 'Give life advice'. That sort of thing. Maybe there could be suitable new traits like 'inspirational leader' or 'sympathetic' or something? And other sims could go to that person and choose 'ask for life advice' etc.
You'd need a way to make your religious leader stay and work on your 'church' lot for when other sims visit. Maybe Get Together clubs could be really helpful here?
We have the yoga mats and meditation stool already and these are useful.
I feel like I do have quite a lot for when I do make a church type venue. In TS3 my vicar would do a sermon and also spend some time making house-calls or checking up on some of my Sims who were going through a bad time. In the evenings he'd write books which I'd give religious sounding titles, and once published these could be read by other Sims who were members of the congregation. When I switched households, I decided which sims would attend the sermons and send them appropriately. Some went all the time as part of their daily lives. Others would only go if they needed help, maybe they'd want to get the vicar's advice. Others would have their wedding there (others might choose a different venue). My politician would attend regularly but it was just a show to gain votes. I had Sims from other religions who would do something different, but they still went to community events at the church hall. Some of my sims were not interested in religion at all. I just like to create characters and imagine what they would be like.
I just had a quick glance at other opinions in this thread. For me, it's not about representing a specific religion or even actually having any kind of watcher/god. For me it's much more about the people and their actions. So I just need more interactions, animations and objects that I can use to reflect the kinds of things that people do in real life. Anything customisable is helpful. Like how we can create a club and name it whatever we want. Or how I can write a book and give it whatever title I like. We don't need anything overtly obvious, we just need lots of little things that we can reinterpret in our own way. So, maybe the developers can look at different religions and give us appropriate objects that reflect but don't represent real religions, if that makes sense.
edit: random thought.... lighting scented candles that create different moods would be another useful, generic interaction.
I didnt think about specific days, thats sounds cool too! Maybe different days for the different religious groups. I like the option of silly & serious.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Omg that used to creep me out!!! They did that in Ts2 sometimes. I felt especially eerie when i like locked them in a room till they passed out then they stared at me XD
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
The architecture could be amazing *o* Im horrible at building but some people are masters at it and they would make some great creations. Maybe at the outset of every new save game you could creat all the possible faiths/religions in that save file, if you want to add 2 monotheistic, or 5 poly, or 1 based on a certain creature or object.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
That reminds me of a link someone sent me http://modthesims.info/d/530517 this is for sims 2 though.
New interactions that allow you these kind of things is good too. Like you said, a more subtle way to get it across can be helpful for those storytelling. A way to console or certain reactions to objects.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Nope its NOT sim cannon and also there's the fact that Sims Medival's reglions are heavily based on Catholic and Protestant relgion.. as well. What if I wanted to have a Sim version of Judasim? or Islam? Or Hinduism? Its not fair to only focus on Chirstanty based relgion when there's a diverese world of prayers.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/883789/the-sims-4-get-culturalistic-expansion-pack
I'd also love for sims to be able to clasp hands in a group, but I doubt that is possible.
I just think if they give us some simple options the modders could run with it and produce things that are really unsuitable for Maxis to make. At least people could get it though if they want it.
I'd just want something with multiple uses not particularly tied to any religion ... just broad in scope. People could make of it what they will, either use it to mimic their religion or give that to their sims, or to tell some fantasy story (the Amazon Challenge springs to mind). Even to make up their own religions. The Cult of the Hermit sounds appropriate
I personally would use them probably in all these ways... depending on the story I have in mind.
It's okay XD