@Triplis
Oh definitely. I'm all for new things.
Take Get Together for example. The club system was a great, new idea right?
(I didn't get attached to it though.. Simply because the main goal of that EP was the clubs, which would let you play with what you already had in a different extent. Aka with more sims in an organized fashion. But I felt like there was not much to do in the beginning anyways.. I mean I realized that when I think of playing the Sims 4, I picture some sims sitting and drinking coffee whilst having a chat.. Like that's my TS4 selling point view. I realized it was kind of sad, Haha!)
Do you like TS4 though?
I can see that. I have mixed feelings about clubs. I use them a little, but I think they'd be better if you had the option to set a time limit for a gathering or something. Less need to micromanage them that way. It is nice that they go back and add new things into club activities.
I do like TS4, for the most part. It's the first sims game I've played other than some really old version of sim city (all I remember from that is the phrase "reticulating spline" lol... well, that and triggering a bunch of natural disasters for fun).
There are some things about TS4 that bug me though, which I think are common problems... emotion system being too limited/linear, multitasking being too finnicky, stuff like that. And overall, there is a sense at times of a sort of meaningless to the gameplay, but I don't know if that's TS4 or if it's just a feeling that happens when I need to exit the game and take a break. It's weird because it has some progression elements, but it's not necessarily a progression game at its core. I mean, life involves a kind of progress toward death, but philosophies about accomplishment are not the same the world over, across all cultures. Some cultures would probably find mechanics like the skill leveling to be very odd.
Both: and the old and the new. Without those two things in place, the game is just boring. They added ton of new things, but nothing to live mode. What's that? Emotions and Multitasking? Nothing new about them, we had them in previous game, but in this iteration-- they are flawed deeply than ever (multitasking takes longer than it should be; emotion behaviour is illogical).
From what I understand, the kind of multitasking they have in this one is definitely not something they've had before, as stated by a dev. And TS3, to my understanding, had a kind of emotions? I think? But nothing like the outright emotional system that TS4 has.
That's not to say they aren't flawed, but I'm suspicious about claims saying that they are things the series has had before.
I was talking about tis with another player earlier. It was a shame that TS3 had some technical issues but I would rather than, considering the game is very much playable for me rather than to play a scaled down version which aside from fast loading times, does not really offer much to compensate what is missing
I can understand that. CASt and CAW have always sounded like major fun to me. "Open world" in general is a term that makes my ears perk up. But I'm a stickler for modern graphics and TS3 isn't being supported anymore, so that has stopped me from giving it a try to see what all the love is about. Well... that plus the cost. I'm sure it's cheap now, but still ain't free.
I think it all comes down to taste. I'm sure you'll find people that have played both 3 and 4 and prefer the look of 3 over 4.
If you have a machine that can handle 3, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go and if you want to give a fair comparison, try the packs in 3 that are similar to the packs in 4.
And in answer to your earlier question: I personally want to see the old and the new. I wanted to see Sims 3 built upon, just as 3 had built upon 2 and then 1 before it. I wanted Sims 4 to have a strong foundation/base but sadly, for me, that's not the case. The removal of innovative ideas like Open World, CAW, CASt etc is unacceptable to me. If they were buggy for some in 3, they should have found ways to fix them and implement them better instead of completely scrapping them and claiming to focus on emotions for more aware Sims.
I think it all comes down to taste. I'm sure you'll find people that have played both 3 and 4 and prefer the look of 3 over 4.
If you have a machine that can handle 3, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go and if you want to give a fair comparison, try the packs in 3 that are similar to the packs in 4.
And in answer to your earlier question: I personally want to see the old and the new. I wanted to see Sims 3 built upon, just as 3 had built upon 2 and then 1 before it. I wanted Sims 4 to have a strong foundation/base but sadly, for me, that's not the case. The removal of innovative ideas like Open World, CAW, CASt etc is unacceptable to me. If they were buggy for some in 3, they should have found ways to fix them and implement them better instead of completely scrapping them and claiming to focus on emotions for more aware Sims.
Modern meaning high-detail, high-polygon. Faces that look real, rather than like clay. That kind of thing. TS4 is pretty stylized, but from what I've looked at, TS3 is pretty low-poly overall by today's standards, even more so than TS4.
My machine I have now could definitely handle it (if it can't, not much can). I'm just not real enthused about stepping backwards in time. If there was a free trial or I had more money lying around, maybe. But buying it on top of buying so many packs to try stuff... I'm too frugal. And the graphics are too unappealing.
But yes, it is definitely a matter of taste. My tastes just happen to be for as realistic detail as possible.
@Triplis - that's totally understandable. I feel the exact same way about Sims 4. It would be a backwards step for me. But I can understand that someone that who hasn't played any of the previous games may see it as going backwards.
To me, I see Sims 3 graphics as more realistic and with the customisation, the possibilities are endless. I think @JoAnne65 has a great graphic that shows the details of the Sims from 2 to 4. There are some that love this art style and others that don't; I've seen some good looking Sims 4 Sims with CC, but without it, I'm not impressed in the slightest. For me, I can't get behind the lack of detail in 4, the clay looking hair, plastic smiles, fake backdrops, etc amongst many other things.
It all really is a matter of preference though I think.
@aricarai Yeah, I ran into a similar thing with the Mass Effect series. I played ME3 first and then couldn't get through the other two because I was already used to how things had progressed to in ME3.
And in a reverse kind of way, I'm almost entirely disinterested in modern Zelda games, but I adore Ocarina of Time, n64, as one of the best video games of all time. So it does seem to be one of those things where you almost have to be there, at the time, to "get it."
I know what you mean though about the graphics in TS4. It's high enough detail that it doesn't bother me much, but the cartoony style can get to me if I design a sim the wrong way. Especially if the eyes are too big. That mixed with their giant smiles can give major creepy clown serial killer vibes.
Maxis has thrown a ton of money into marketing this game as 'different' - and honestly it's just a marketing slogan at this point. Nothing has been radically reimagined here, and the underlying CORE gameplay remains the same as The Sims 1-3.
Making unwarranted changes isn't something you want to do if you have a market that's literally willing to throw money your way. When your market is refusing to pay you because you aren't producing what they want, that is when you claim to be 'doing things differently'. You'll notice that was not something they said early on, nor was it a prominent marketing slogan shortly after the game launched. That's the result of poor sales, and marketing making a last ditch attempt to sell a game.
I posted my other thing before I read this. I'd like to know in what ways you think they are doing "PR Innovation" (selling something banal as innovative) as I put it in the other post.
BTW, when I talk about doing things differently, I'm not necessarily thinking of radical in every case. The thing is (and this is not a defense of them, so much as a speculation about the framework of the game) changes/additions that sound "little," like "oh whoop dee doo, your sim can combine two activities a little bit" may have cost a lot of budget in working out how to make them happen. If this is the case, it's obviously their own fault, but the kind of stuff they're doing in the sims isn't a streamlined field either, so I think it's to be expected somewhat. It may well be there were other "innovations" that were attempted and scrapped, "wasting" budget and time in the process. It's too bad they are stuck in such a commercial spot because I feel like the potential of a game like the sims could go so far in only a year's time with a team devoted to just trying new things with the framework and seeing what they can come up with. The emotions system, for instance, feels to me like it was the result of compromising on time and budget; like a grand vision not quite realized. I see potential in it for something so much more engaging and immersive, but it ends up playing out as a sort of RPG mechanic that is, at times, downright strange and jarring.
I think the entire base game was subject to that. If you go back and watch the original unveiling from 2013 the game doesn't operate at all like it is described.
Emotions were said to have an effect on your sim, the sims around your sim, and their effects would change how your sims interacted in the future. That definitely is not how my Sims 4 game operates. The emotions are pretty superficial IMO - they need a lot of work.
Multitasking similarly doesn't live up to their description IMO. They described it as a sim doing multiple things at once when in reality they completely stop what they are doing to do something else, and then stop that to resume what they were previously doing.
Personalities, reactions, the whole shebang. I did not think The Sims 4 lived up to the marketing hype, and to this day I don't think they have done much to fix that.
In regards to new vs old, I am not opposed to new features. However, I don't consider watered down content we have seen before to be new. Apartments for example, they are different but that doesn't make them better. IMO they lack some basic functionality that makes them virtually useless to my game. Festivals aren't new, and even in Sims 4 just reuse content that the game already had. Clubs were a new idea I guess (social groups existed in previous iterations but not like in Sims 4) but the underlying pack was void of new content which left clubs to be a rehash of the existing game plus more sims.
I think the idea of this game being different is a mindset that is being pushed on the community by Maxis to dismiss criticism about the game. It's not an idea that was originally promoted about The Sims 4 (in the fashion it has been more recently), and saying this game is taking a different route is honestly not all that accurate. As I said earlier, most of the stuff we are seeing is not new to the franchise. It's been done before, and in many cases it's been done better.
Maxis has thrown a ton of money into marketing this game as 'different' - and honestly it's just a marketing slogan at this point. Nothing has been radically reimagined here, and the underlying CORE gameplay remains the same as The Sims 1-3.
Making unwarranted changes isn't something you want to do if you have a market that's literally willing to throw money your way. When your market is refusing to pay you because you aren't producing what they want, that is when you claim to be 'doing things differently'. You'll notice that was not something they said early on, nor was it a prominent marketing slogan shortly after the game launched. That's the result of poor sales, and marketing making a last ditch attempt to sell a game.
I posted my other thing before I read this. I'd like to know in what ways you think they are doing "PR Innovation" (selling something banal as innovative) as I put it in the other post.
BTW, when I talk about doing things differently, I'm not necessarily thinking of radical in every case. The thing is (and this is not a defense of them, so much as a speculation about the framework of the game) changes/additions that sound "little," like "oh whoop dee doo, your sim can combine two activities a little bit" may have cost a lot of budget in working out how to make them happen. If this is the case, it's obviously their own fault, but the kind of stuff they're doing in the sims isn't a streamlined field either, so I think it's to be expected somewhat. It may well be there were other "innovations" that were attempted and scrapped, "wasting" budget and time in the process. It's too bad they are stuck in such a commercial spot because I feel like the potential of a game like the sims could go so far in only a year's time with a team devoted to just trying new things with the framework and seeing what they can come up with. The emotions system, for instance, feels to me like it was the result of compromising on time and budget; like a grand vision not quite realized. I see potential in it for something so much more engaging and immersive, but it ends up playing out as a sort of RPG mechanic that is, at times, downright strange and jarring.
I think the entire base game was subject to that. If you go back and watch the original unveiling from 2013 the game doesn't operate at all like it is described.
Emotions were said to have an effect on your sim, the sims around your sim, and their effects would change how your sims interacted in the future. That definitely is not how my Sims 4 game operates. The emotions are pretty superficial IMO - they need a lot of work.
Multitasking similarly doesn't live up to their description IMO. They described it as a sim doing multiple things at once when in reality they completely stop what they are doing to do something else, and then stop that to resume what they were previously doing.
Realities and the impression companies attempt to give us in their advertising are usually never the same. In this case I am sure that EA required the team to make new emotions and new multitasking which EA just didn't want to have effect on the minimum requirements which EA still wanted to be so low that the game worked on almost all computers because EA mainly was interested in attracting new young and casual gamers to the Sims game. So the team had to make new emotions and multitasking for EA's advertising but probably wasn't allowed to increase the minimum requirements which was an almost impossible task for the team.
Personalities, reactions, the whole shebang. I did not think The Sims 4 lived up to the marketing hype, and to this day I don't think they have done much to fix that.
The marketing hype had the desired effect on the sales numbers. So EA is probably still quite satisfied.
Maxis has thrown a ton of money into marketing this game as 'different' - and honestly it's just a marketing slogan at this point. Nothing has been radically reimagined here, and the underlying CORE gameplay remains the same as The Sims 1-3.
Making unwarranted changes isn't something you want to do if you have a market that's literally willing to throw money your way. When your market is refusing to pay you because you aren't producing what they want, that is when you claim to be 'doing things differently'. You'll notice that was not something they said early on, nor was it a prominent marketing slogan shortly after the game launched. That's the result of poor sales, and marketing making a last ditch attempt to sell a game.
I posted my other thing before I read this. I'd like to know in what ways you think they are doing "PR Innovation" (selling something banal as innovative) as I put it in the other post.
BTW, when I talk about doing things differently, I'm not necessarily thinking of radical in every case. The thing is (and this is not a defense of them, so much as a speculation about the framework of the game) changes/additions that sound "little," like "oh whoop dee doo, your sim can combine two activities a little bit" may have cost a lot of budget in working out how to make them happen. If this is the case, it's obviously their own fault, but the kind of stuff they're doing in the sims isn't a streamlined field either, so I think it's to be expected somewhat. It may well be there were other "innovations" that were attempted and scrapped, "wasting" budget and time in the process. It's too bad they are stuck in such a commercial spot because I feel like the potential of a game like the sims could go so far in only a year's time with a team devoted to just trying new things with the framework and seeing what they can come up with. The emotions system, for instance, feels to me like it was the result of compromising on time and budget; like a grand vision not quite realized. I see potential in it for something so much more engaging and immersive, but it ends up playing out as a sort of RPG mechanic that is, at times, downright strange and jarring.
I think the entire base game was subject to that. If you go back and watch the original unveiling from 2013 the game doesn't operate at all like it is described.
Emotions were said to have an effect on your sim, the sims around your sim, and their effects would change how your sims interacted in the future. That definitely is not how my Sims 4 game operates. The emotions are pretty superficial IMO - they need a lot of work.
Multitasking similarly doesn't live up to their description IMO. They described it as a sim doing multiple things at once when in reality they completely stop what they are doing to do something else, and then stop that to resume what they were previously doing.
Realities and the impression companies attempt to give us in their advertising are usually never the same. In this case I am sure that EA required the team to make new emotions and new multitasking which EA just didn't want to have effect on the minimum requirements which EA still wanted to be so low that the game worked on almost all computers because EA mainly was interested in attracting new young and casual gamers to the Sims game. So the team had to make new emotions and multitasking for EA's advertising but probably wasn't allowed to increase the minimum requirements which was an almost impossible task for the team.
Personalities, reactions, the whole shebang. I did not think The Sims 4 lived up to the marketing hype, and to this day I don't think they have done much to fix that.
The marketing hype had the desired effect on the sales numbers. So EA is probably still quite satisfied.
That's plausible, but I think it's more likely that the major features of the game were determined while it was an online title. Emotions and Multitasking are more fleshed out for the adult age groups (children can multitask, but most of those animations are scaled down versions of the adult form) which would make sense seeing how only one age was originally planned while it was an MMO.
I would actually disagree about the marketing hype and sales. I believe The Sims 4 was selling less than their expectations for awhile and that's what spurred merging Maxis and EA Mobile. I'm sure now that it's under the mobile divisions rule it's looked at much differently, but on its own I do not think Sims 4 was bringing in much money for Maxis. It's still probably not bringing in very much money now a days, but it's now under mobile so it's expectations are probably lower.
@AuzzPanda Love those. I used the NRAAS mod where anyone could bring down meteors. My evil scientist Sims would go around town blowing things up and bringing down meteors.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
@PHOEBESMOM601
You can do that with a Nraas mod?! MC? Wish I'd known that, I went days trying to add an alien into the family lol. I love how Ambitions bought all these explosives too haha.
@PHOEBESMOM601
You can do that with a Nraas mod?! MC? Wish I'd known that, I went days trying to add an alien into the family lol. I love how Ambitions bought all these explosives too haha.
Yep, check under careers. You'll find one that can do that. I almost always had an insane, evil scientist in town, good times.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
@PHOEBESMOM601
Great thank you. So what do you do these days in TS3?
I hate to say it but right at the moment I'm just off the game in general. I hope soon it'll change and I can get back to it. That's just how disappointed I am with the 'game' we got in 4. I'm positive it will change because I'm saving for a gaming computer. I want to play 3 on ultra.....never done that.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
@PHOEBESMOM601
Oooh me too actually. It stinks, cuz when you ARE back into the Sims and you feel that spark, it is just AMAZING. I hope we can get back into it soon. I need to find another game to distract me meanwhile.
I recently got a gaming computer and could play it on ultra. WOW. It is so worth it. Especially the water. It gets so good.
Though don't hit tab and go too far away, it will feel nostalgic and decide to go back to TS1
Hahaha
@PHOEBESMOM601
You can do that with a Nraas mod?! MC? Wish I'd known that, I went days trying to add an alien into the family lol. I love how Ambitions bought all these explosives too haha.
Not directed at me, but I wanted to say there are lots of things that can be done or altered using NRAAS mods. You can alter the percentage of the occult population, even down to the specific occult types. (For example, I can program it so an entire town can be about 50% Mermaid and 50% Vampire, etc.)
You should check out the interaction/documentation info for each NRAAS mod. The mods give lots of controls.
(I love, love, love the NRAAS mods. They and mermaids are the only things keeping me, a person not in love with Sims 3, going back to Sims 3 every once in a while.)
@bunny-🐸🐸🐸🐸
WOOOW I did not know that one haha. I have every Nraas mod, I've only discovered 15% of the options. thank for that info, that's really, REALLY cool!
Maxis has thrown a ton of money into marketing this game as 'different' - and honestly it's just a marketing slogan at this point. Nothing has been radically reimagined here, and the underlying CORE gameplay remains the same as The Sims 1-3.
Making unwarranted changes isn't something you want to do if you have a market that's literally willing to throw money your way. When your market is refusing to pay you because you aren't producing what they want, that is when you claim to be 'doing things differently'. You'll notice that was not something they said early on, nor was it a prominent marketing slogan shortly after the game launched. That's the result of poor sales, and marketing making a last ditch attempt to sell a game.
I posted my other thing before I read this. I'd like to know in what ways you think they are doing "PR Innovation" (selling something banal as innovative) as I put it in the other post.
BTW, when I talk about doing things differently, I'm not necessarily thinking of radical in every case. The thing is (and this is not a defense of them, so much as a speculation about the framework of the game) changes/additions that sound "little," like "oh whoop dee doo, your sim can combine two activities a little bit" may have cost a lot of budget in working out how to make them happen. If this is the case, it's obviously their own fault, but the kind of stuff they're doing in the sims isn't a streamlined field either, so I think it's to be expected somewhat. It may well be there were other "innovations" that were attempted and scrapped, "wasting" budget and time in the process. It's too bad they are stuck in such a commercial spot because I feel like the potential of a game like the sims could go so far in only a year's time with a team devoted to just trying new things with the framework and seeing what they can come up with. The emotions system, for instance, feels to me like it was the result of compromising on time and budget; like a grand vision not quite realized. I see potential in it for something so much more engaging and immersive, but it ends up playing out as a sort of RPG mechanic that is, at times, downright strange and jarring.
I think the entire base game was subject to that. If you go back and watch the original unveiling from 2013 the game doesn't operate at all like it is described.
Emotions were said to have an effect on your sim, the sims around your sim, and their effects would change how your sims interacted in the future. That definitely is not how my Sims 4 game operates. The emotions are pretty superficial IMO - they need a lot of work.
Multitasking similarly doesn't live up to their description IMO. They described it as a sim doing multiple things at once when in reality they completely stop what they are doing to do something else, and then stop that to resume what they were previously doing.
Realities and the impression companies attempt to give us in their advertising are usually never the same. In this case I am sure that EA required the team to make new emotions and new multitasking which EA just didn't want to have effect on the minimum requirements which EA still wanted to be so low that the game worked on almost all computers because EA mainly was interested in attracting new young and casual gamers to the Sims game. So the team had to make new emotions and multitasking for EA's advertising but probably wasn't allowed to increase the minimum requirements which was an almost impossible task for the team.
Personalities, reactions, the whole shebang. I did not think The Sims 4 lived up to the marketing hype, and to this day I don't think they have done much to fix that.
The marketing hype had the desired effect on the sales numbers. So EA is probably still quite satisfied.
That's plausible, but I think it's more likely that the major features of the game were determined while it was an online title. Emotions and Multitasking are more fleshed out for the adult age groups (children can multitask, but most of those animations are scaled down versions of the adult form) which would make sense seeing how only one age was originally planned while it was an MMO.
I don't think so for the following reasons:
1. If TS4 had been a real online game then it couldn't have had all those expansions. This would have cost EA a fortune. Therefore I don't believe that EA ever planned TS4 to be a real online game.
2. If TS4 had been a real online game it would have been much more like the Sims Freeplay which has most of the things that TS4 is missing.
3. I don't believe that EA ever planned to have two very similar online games which competed heavily about the same customers at the same time because that isn't something that EA ever has done and EA probably never will.
I would actually disagree about the marketing hype and sales. I believe The Sims 4 was selling less than their expectations for awhile and that's what spurred merging Maxis and EA Mobile. I'm sure now that it's under the mobile divisions rule it's looked at much differently, but on its own I do not think Sims 4 was bringing in much money for Maxis. It's still probably not bringing in very much money now a days, but it's now under mobile so it's expectations are probably lower.
That wasn't at all what the message from EA's CEO said: "Across The Sims 4 on PC and The Sims FreePlay and SimCity BuildIt on mobile, Maxis IP has never had a bigger and more engaged player base. As we look to the future, we want to expand the scope of opportunity for Maxis to reach more players on PC and mobile, as well as explore cross-platform play. To enable this, we are bringing Maxis together with our mobile teams under Samantha Ryan's leadership, aligning our strong PC foundation with our mobile expertise. The collaboration between these teams will help us unlock new ways for Maxis IP to connect with players wherever they want to play."
So even here he talked about expanding the number of players which is how these marketing specialists always think. No matter if they sell soap, cars, mobile phones, computers or games they just always want to attract new customers to their products.
@bunny-🐸🐸🐸🐸
WOOOW I did not know that one haha. I have every Nraas mod, I've only discovered 15% of the options. thank for that info, that's really, REALLY cool!
If I am remembering correctly, it should be found in the Master Controller mod. I think it was under the subcategories of Master-controller/"Sims" \ then "Town Occult Ratio".
You can even change an individual sim's occult race or whatever. I believe it's under "Master Controller/Intermediate/Sim/Occult". I did this to make Bonehilda go back to normal after I had accidentally raised the % of werewolf population to more than half of the town population, and then she started acting like a werewolf! (Her head was invisible, but she was howling and acting like a werewolf.)
I have made sims become various occults (or turned them back to human sims) using NRAAS methods and a few cheats (for zombies).
ETA: BTW, I think you can also use the NRAAS Retuner module to deal with the zombie stuff.
Luckily I did know about changing a specific sims life state. Saved meh a lot of things.
Bonehilda really! Did she keep the outfit? That's hilarious hahaha!!
You know, reading through this thread, it occurs to me... it sounds like what some are wanting is simply Sims 3 with better performance, slightly updated for the future.
Which is fine, but maybe Maxis is trying to make each version feel different enough that it's considered its own title. I know there are arguments made about development being rushed, or about Maxis focusing on features they "shouldn't have focused on." Like emotions or multitasking.
But ultimately, the question seems to boil down to: Do you, as a customer, want them to try new things or would you rather them stick to formula? Because it would seem that it's a bit of a zero-sum-game. Resources that go into innovation can't go into repeating what was done before and resources that go into repeating what was done before can't go into innovation. The two can be balanced somewhat, but if you want purely what was done before, that means virtually no resources spent on thinking outside the box. And even if you don't want everything that was done before, the more you get direct from the past, the less resources spent on trying new things.
This balancing act seems to be the tightrope that Maxis faces every day at work. They have fans who are very passionate about particular past features, but if they (the developers) are too repetitious in re-delivering the same features year after year, not only might the developers grow dispassionate, but the game may become stale in its direction.
I want Maxis to stick to The Sims Formula. They seem to be running out of ideas when if they ever just look at their Ideas and Feedback they might find some. I mean TS3's I&F section had stuff in there with more threads than the general area. This is the first time they have been able to 'try things they had been wanting to try'. How is that working out? Club/Groups don't seem that impressive to me. Especially when Groups in TS2 worked better. But I guess people have fallen into that rpg camp where they want linear/scripted play/with rules and goals and find too much time on their hands in the game so they need 'To Do' lists.
I often read (Past Tense) things like 'I don't know what to do' and 'I'm bored, there is not enough to do in The Sims series'. Well, now they have their To Do Lists such as contests, finding particular things, doing specific things etc. How is that going? Many veterans of The Sims not liking it so much since they know The Sims isn't something you play in a win situation, or in linear fashion. Dates is an example of how far off course they have gone. 'Socialize with the other Sim Ten Times'. Seriously? It's so far off the mark I can't even. Can't even leave the lot and entertain the other Sim somewhere else. Is that The Sims "formula" ? Not even in the same universe.
The problem to me is the sandbox developer has left the building and all been replaced with developers who know nothing but linear/restricted gameplay and can't even fathom what people are saying.
Updating a game goes like this> Keep the premise, No linear/scripted gameplay....period. Make them more human...such as yes, Sims should be able to sit by the pool with their legs in the water.....makes them much more human. Or sit while using a phone. However, that doesn't mean you chuck everything to 'change' the game into a genre it was never intended to be.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Luckily I did know about changing a specific sims life state. Saved meh a lot of things.
Bonehilda really! Did she keep the outfit? That's hilarious hahaha!!
I can't remember exactly, but I think she did have the maid outfit still, lol. Just missing the head part (because there is no mesh for a Bonehilda werewolf head, I guess?)
It startled me when it first happened, actually, because I immediately heard a howl after changing the ratio, and I was frantically looking around the household for the new werewolf and I didn't see any werewolves. I then saw her moving around weirdly for a while, but I didn't connect the dots until she started howling again, lol!
Comments
I do like TS4, for the most part. It's the first sims game I've played other than some really old version of sim city (all I remember from that is the phrase "reticulating spline" lol... well, that and triggering a bunch of natural disasters for fun).
There are some things about TS4 that bug me though, which I think are common problems... emotion system being too limited/linear, multitasking being too finnicky, stuff like that. And overall, there is a sense at times of a sort of meaningless to the gameplay, but I don't know if that's TS4 or if it's just a feeling that happens when I need to exit the game and take a break. It's weird because it has some progression elements, but it's not necessarily a progression game at its core. I mean, life involves a kind of progress toward death, but philosophies about accomplishment are not the same the world over, across all cultures. Some cultures would probably find mechanics like the skill leveling to be very odd.
From what I understand, the kind of multitasking they have in this one is definitely not something they've had before, as stated by a dev. And TS3, to my understanding, had a kind of emotions? I think? But nothing like the outright emotional system that TS4 has.
That's not to say they aren't flawed, but I'm suspicious about claims saying that they are things the series has had before.
I can understand that. CASt and CAW have always sounded like major fun to me. "Open world" in general is a term that makes my ears perk up. But I'm a stickler for modern graphics and TS3 isn't being supported anymore, so that has stopped me from giving it a try to see what all the love is about. Well... that plus the cost. I'm sure it's cheap now, but still ain't free.
I think it all comes down to taste. I'm sure you'll find people that have played both 3 and 4 and prefer the look of 3 over 4.
If you have a machine that can handle 3, I'd definitely recommend giving it a go and if you want to give a fair comparison, try the packs in 3 that are similar to the packs in 4.
And in answer to your earlier question: I personally want to see the old and the new. I wanted to see Sims 3 built upon, just as 3 had built upon 2 and then 1 before it. I wanted Sims 4 to have a strong foundation/base but sadly, for me, that's not the case. The removal of innovative ideas like Open World, CAW, CASt etc is unacceptable to me. If they were buggy for some in 3, they should have found ways to fix them and implement them better instead of completely scrapping them and claiming to focus on emotions for more aware Sims.
My machine I have now could definitely handle it (if it can't, not much can). I'm just not real enthused about stepping backwards in time. If there was a free trial or I had more money lying around, maybe. But buying it on top of buying so many packs to try stuff... I'm too frugal. And the graphics are too unappealing.
But yes, it is definitely a matter of taste. My tastes just happen to be for as realistic detail as possible.
To me, I see Sims 3 graphics as more realistic and with the customisation, the possibilities are endless. I think @JoAnne65 has a great graphic that shows the details of the Sims from 2 to 4. There are some that love this art style and others that don't; I've seen some good looking Sims 4 Sims with CC, but without it, I'm not impressed in the slightest. For me, I can't get behind the lack of detail in 4, the clay looking hair, plastic smiles, fake backdrops, etc amongst many other things.
It all really is a matter of preference though I think.
And in a reverse kind of way, I'm almost entirely disinterested in modern Zelda games, but I adore Ocarina of Time, n64, as one of the best video games of all time. So it does seem to be one of those things where you almost have to be there, at the time, to "get it."
I know what you mean though about the graphics in TS4. It's high enough detail that it doesn't bother me much, but the cartoony style can get to me if I design a sim the wrong way. Especially if the eyes are too big. That mixed with their giant smiles can give major creepy clown serial killer vibes.
I think the entire base game was subject to that. If you go back and watch the original unveiling from 2013 the game doesn't operate at all like it is described.
Emotions were said to have an effect on your sim, the sims around your sim, and their effects would change how your sims interacted in the future. That definitely is not how my Sims 4 game operates. The emotions are pretty superficial IMO - they need a lot of work.
Multitasking similarly doesn't live up to their description IMO. They described it as a sim doing multiple things at once when in reality they completely stop what they are doing to do something else, and then stop that to resume what they were previously doing.
Personalities, reactions, the whole shebang. I did not think The Sims 4 lived up to the marketing hype, and to this day I don't think they have done much to fix that.
In regards to new vs old, I am not opposed to new features. However, I don't consider watered down content we have seen before to be new. Apartments for example, they are different but that doesn't make them better. IMO they lack some basic functionality that makes them virtually useless to my game. Festivals aren't new, and even in Sims 4 just reuse content that the game already had. Clubs were a new idea I guess (social groups existed in previous iterations but not like in Sims 4) but the underlying pack was void of new content which left clubs to be a rehash of the existing game plus more sims.
I think the idea of this game being different is a mindset that is being pushed on the community by Maxis to dismiss criticism about the game. It's not an idea that was originally promoted about The Sims 4 (in the fashion it has been more recently), and saying this game is taking a different route is honestly not all that accurate. As I said earlier, most of the stuff we are seeing is not new to the franchise. It's been done before, and in many cases it's been done better.
The marketing hype had the desired effect on the sales numbers. So EA is probably still quite satisfied.
Hahaha.
That's plausible, but I think it's more likely that the major features of the game were determined while it was an online title. Emotions and Multitasking are more fleshed out for the adult age groups (children can multitask, but most of those animations are scaled down versions of the adult form) which would make sense seeing how only one age was originally planned while it was an MMO.
I would actually disagree about the marketing hype and sales. I believe The Sims 4 was selling less than their expectations for awhile and that's what spurred merging Maxis and EA Mobile. I'm sure now that it's under the mobile divisions rule it's looked at much differently, but on its own I do not think Sims 4 was bringing in much money for Maxis. It's still probably not bringing in very much money now a days, but it's now under mobile so it's expectations are probably lower.
You can do that with a Nraas mod?! MC? Wish I'd known that, I went days trying to add an alien into the family lol. I love how Ambitions bought all these explosives too haha.
Yep, check under careers. You'll find one that can do that. I almost always had an insane, evil scientist in town, good times.
Great thank you. So what do you do these days in TS3?
I hate to say it but right at the moment I'm just off the game in general. I hope soon it'll change and I can get back to it. That's just how disappointed I am with the 'game' we got in 4. I'm positive it will change because I'm saving for a gaming computer. I want to play 3 on ultra.....never done that.
Oooh me too actually. It stinks, cuz when you ARE back into the Sims and you feel that spark, it is just AMAZING. I hope we can get back into it soon. I need to find another game to distract me meanwhile.
I recently got a gaming computer and could play it on ultra. WOW. It is so worth it. Especially the water. It gets so good.
Though don't hit tab and go too far away, it will feel nostalgic and decide to go back to TS1
Hahaha
Not directed at me, but I wanted to say there are lots of things that can be done or altered using NRAAS mods. You can alter the percentage of the occult population, even down to the specific occult types. (For example, I can program it so an entire town can be about 50% Mermaid and 50% Vampire, etc.)
You should check out the interaction/documentation info for each NRAAS mod. The mods give lots of controls.
(I love, love, love the NRAAS mods. They and mermaids are the only things keeping me, a person not in love with Sims 3, going back to Sims 3 every once in a while.)
(She/her)
WOOOW I did not know that one haha. I have every Nraas mod, I've only discovered 15% of the options. thank for that info, that's really, REALLY cool!
1. If TS4 had been a real online game then it couldn't have had all those expansions. This would have cost EA a fortune. Therefore I don't believe that EA ever planned TS4 to be a real online game.
2. If TS4 had been a real online game it would have been much more like the Sims Freeplay which has most of the things that TS4 is missing.
3. I don't believe that EA ever planned to have two very similar online games which competed heavily about the same customers at the same time because that isn't something that EA ever has done and EA probably never will.
That wasn't at all what the message from EA's CEO said:
"Across The Sims 4 on PC and The Sims FreePlay and SimCity BuildIt on mobile, Maxis IP has never had a bigger and more engaged player base. As we look to the future, we want to expand the scope of opportunity for Maxis to reach more players on PC and mobile, as well as explore cross-platform play. To enable this, we are bringing Maxis together with our mobile teams under Samantha Ryan's leadership, aligning our strong PC foundation with our mobile expertise. The collaboration between these teams will help us unlock new ways for Maxis IP to connect with players wherever they want to play."
So even here he talked about expanding the number of players which is how these marketing specialists always think. No matter if they sell soap, cars, mobile phones, computers or games they just always want to attract new customers to their products.
You can even change an individual sim's occult race or whatever. I believe it's under "Master Controller/Intermediate/Sim/Occult". I did this to make Bonehilda go back to normal after I had accidentally raised the % of werewolf population to more than half of the town population, and then she started acting like a werewolf!
I have made sims become various occults (or turned them back to human sims) using NRAAS methods and a few cheats (for zombies).
ETA: BTW, I think you can also use the NRAAS Retuner module to deal with the zombie stuff.
(She/her)
Luckily I did know about changing a specific sims life state. Saved meh a lot of things.
Bonehilda really! Did she keep the outfit? That's hilarious hahaha!!
I want Maxis to stick to The Sims Formula. They seem to be running out of ideas when if they ever just look at their Ideas and Feedback they might find some. I mean TS3's I&F section had stuff in there with more threads than the general area. This is the first time they have been able to 'try things they had been wanting to try'. How is that working out? Club/Groups don't seem that impressive to me. Especially when Groups in TS2 worked better. But I guess people have fallen into that rpg camp where they want linear/scripted play/with rules and goals and find too much time on their hands in the game so they need 'To Do' lists.
I often read (Past Tense) things like 'I don't know what to do' and 'I'm bored, there is not enough to do in The Sims series'. Well, now they have their To Do Lists such as contests, finding particular things, doing specific things etc. How is that going? Many veterans of The Sims not liking it so much since they know The Sims isn't something you play in a win situation, or in linear fashion. Dates is an example of how far off course they have gone. 'Socialize with the other Sim Ten Times'. Seriously? It's so far off the mark I can't even. Can't even leave the lot and entertain the other Sim somewhere else. Is that The Sims "formula" ? Not even in the same universe.
The problem to me is the sandbox developer has left the building and all been replaced with developers who know nothing but linear/restricted gameplay and can't even fathom what people are saying.
Updating a game goes like this> Keep the premise, No linear/scripted gameplay....period. Make them more human...such as yes, Sims should be able to sit by the pool with their legs in the water.....makes them much more human. Or sit while using a phone. However, that doesn't mean you chuck everything to 'change' the game into a genre it was never intended to be.
It startled me when it first happened, actually, because I immediately heard a howl after changing the ratio, and I was frantically looking around the household for the new werewolf and I didn't see any werewolves. I then saw her moving around weirdly for a while, but I didn't connect the dots until she started howling again, lol!
(She/her)
That has me laughing xD
Omg I really want to do that now
Let me know if similar/same MC options/methods work for your own Bonehilda, if/when you ever get around to doing it, @AuzzPanda !
(I hope that my Bonehilda is not just a coincidental glitch/bug, lol,
(She/her)
Okay hahaha, I'll let you know