Does anyone else think parenting should be more challenging in TS4? «12...Next Go

meeoun

The toddlers are great. Great job to the team on everything there.

But I wish children were more of a challenge. They're too angelic in this game.

I want them to throw tantrums, prank and whine. Do they already? I never experienced this in TS4. A praise behavior feature like with toddlers would be awesome too. Do you guys agree? I love this TS1 video of the devient child. The yelling is on point, it's so annoying, but I'd love it! I wish our sim parents had to deal with a screaming and whinny child too. Would you?
https://youtu.be/wCJsSO27DoY
Or something like this for tantrums. Imagine this in our game when a child is angry. Lol. Should be fun, right?
https://youtu.be/W7ujm0JWEhY
(Skip to 0:48)
What you guys think in terms of children and teens in TS4? You think parenting should be more of a challenge too?

MidnightAura

I miss this a lot in the sims 4. Its one of the many reasons I take long breaks from playing. Parenting is a breeze in the sims 4. They also don't seem very hands on as parents in that parents don't really care what their children are doing. If the child goes out to the park straight after school and doesn't come home till breakfast time? Child can waltz in the door and the parent(s) have no problem with that. They also don't seem to care if the child or teen is failing at school. I really miss the want/wish for parents to see children do well at school. Children and teens may as well just be some shorter sims (well not in the case of the teen) that happen to live in the same house as the adults.

I miss children being able to have tantrums or misbehave and teens having mood swings. Parenting should be challenging because kids and teens are hard and it makes sense to me that if you have a child who say has the evil trait that they would be more of a challenge but they aren't. (Which is a whole other complaint about how useless the traits are in this game so will not go into that)

Simfan923

Who knows? Maybe the family Game Pack might introduce tantrums for children? Hopefully there are new traits that are age exclusive for teens and children. Toddlers who were very prone to temper tantrums can grow up to be very entitled children who throw a fit everytime they don't get what they want and they eventually turn into rebellious teens who play by their own rules....yeah you get the point XD.

samlyt22

I really want parenting to be more of a challenge and more hands on. Toddlers were done so well, I would love to see the other stages brought up to a similar standard.

ImperialCircus

I just want the parents to behave like they're actual parents, not just adults in the house that cook. I want more scolding and soothing and options that make you feel like the children aren't just small teenagers that occasionally get nightmares.

Livin in Sim

I agree that Children in TS4 are a bit under developed, along with Teens. TS4 Children are far too independent to be like most of the lifespan of a RL child. In RL, I would consider most children 12 years of age to be old enough to be alone at home in the day time, and that is almost a Teen. There should be curfew for after 12. They are also really docile and self sufficient compared to RL children.

It's correct that they pretty much never misbehave. There is a Beg For Toys interaction, but it would be great if it was more like the one in the video, if a child had the Rambunctious Scamp trait, for instance. It would also be cool if there were more interactions tied in with grades. For example, an honor roll, money from grandparents for good grades like in TS1, and the ability to have more freedom if the child showed good judgement by being an A student. Maybe that's the only way they could travel without an adult?

I'd like if there were more Mischief interactions that were Child (trait?) specific. Some examples might be toilet papering a disliked neighbor's yard, drawing on the walls/themselves/each other, refusing to eat certain foods (hiding it in their inventory), breaking something and blaming it on a sibling, jumping on beds, "stashing" certain needed items in dressers/inventory/fridge, plugging the toilet, cutting their/each others hair, bubble bath all over the bathroom, fighting with siblings, etc, etc with all the accompanying parental reactions, of course. If Pets ever happen, they could feed their Homework to the dog, etc.

I do love the Playing With Makeup that comes with the vanity. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! I'm probably forgetting some things as well that are in game. Partner In Crime is wonderful, but it seems the actions all take place in the ether. I wanna see it goin' down!

SilentKitty

All of this would be fun if they are optional. I enjoy playing kids out on adventure, and seeing other kids out and about.

If we as player can set up rules for our saves and households that would be great.

EnkiSchmidt

This would probably be a useful feature for players who let their sims have free will and only control one main character.
I play all my sims equally, so I can already have disbehaving children whenever I want them. I can make my sims parent react however I want them to if the child waltzes into a room at an inappropriate moment. I can prank, berate and express love, all the interactions are already in the game, so for me nothing is really missing about family dynamics.

Mariefoxprice83

SilentKitty wrote: »

All of this would be fun if they are optional. I enjoy playing kids out on adventure, and seeing other kids out and about.

If we as player can set up rules for our saves and households that would be great.

This is exactly how I want it to be. I#'d love more interesting ways for adults to interact with children, and more content for children to behave like children, and perhaps the occasional tantrum. But I want rules and punishments to be set by me, not the game.

Klthf

The video of The Sims 1 is a good examle of how kids could behave. Children in The Sims 4 are too perfect. Angelic is indeed the right word. I miss children thowing tantrums and whining. The Sims 1 did an excellent job on that. I also miss other child interactions, like playing tag or catch or playing a clapping game. Kids can only play alone with their toys. It makes them all look egotistical in some sense, while real children would also like to play with others.

I hope the upcoming GP is going to change all of this. Maybe we will see a punishment/reward system for kids and teens.

Livin in Sim wrote: »

It's correct that they pretty much never misbehave. There is a Beg For Toys interaction, but it would be great if it was more like the one in the video, if a child had the Rambunctious Scamp trait, for instance. It would also be cool if there were more interactions tied in with grades. For example, an honor roll, money from grandparents for good grades like in TS1, and the ability to have more freedom if the child showed good judgement by being an A student. Maybe that's the only way they could travel without an adult?

I'd like if there were more Mischief interactions that were Child (trait?) specific. Some examples might be toilet papering a disliked neighbor's yard, drawing on the walls/themselves/each other, refusing to eat certain foods (hiding it in their inventory), breaking something and blaming it on a sibling, jumping on beds, "stashing" certain needed items in dressers/inventory/fridge, plugging the toilet, cutting their/each others hair, bubble bath all over the bathroom, fighting with siblings, etc, etc with all the accompanying parental reactions, of course. If Pets ever happen, they could feed their Homework to the dog, etc.

I like your ideas on child mischief interactions. These seem really realistic and bring a lot of memories from my own childhood. I especially like the cutting each other's hair thing. I remember doing that with my sister when we were little children (we were pretending to be hairdressers).

Gruffman

When the Sims4 was first released, it was more challenging. People complained because it was a grindfest and the game got nerfed down to what it is. Now ... people are want it to be more of a challenge.

Want to add minor things, like curfews or time constraints where kids can't be out at all hours, I'm fine with that. Changing it now and making it less of a sandbox ... no thanks.

ImperialCircus

@Gruffman

Well, I don't think me or anyone else who posted here wants kids to be a grindfest. We just think children are far too independent, to the point were they can take care of themselves all the time and the parents aren't really necessary.

I personally think that the parent/child dynamic in the Sims 4 should be deeper and more detailed. Like I said in my previous post, I just want there to be some reasonable consequences to what kids do.

MrMonty96

Gruffman wrote: »

When the Sims4 was first released, it was more challenging. People complained because it was a grindfest and the game got nerfed down to what it is. Now ... people are want it to be more of a challenge.

Want to add minor things, like curfews or time constraints where kids can't be out at all hours, I'm fine with that. Changing it now and making it less of a sandbox ... no thanks.

I don't remember that happening, I'll have to search the forums and patch notes and see.

TheGoodOldGamer

It'd be even more reason for me to never bother with the younger stages, lol. I find the children's independence an improvement, not a drawback.

Cinderellimouse

I'd like more options for customising the personalities of children. Sure, some might be whiny temper-tantrum throwing monsters, but I don't want them all to be like that.

I also understand TheGoodOldGamer's comment above. I don't really want forced difficulty. I like being able to tailor the difficulty level depending on the family and storyline I'm playing. But more optional features to make life harder for parents would be good. An example would be laundry: if I want a hard-working single mum I might like to have more household chores to juggle alongside the childcare.

I'm generally against any kind of forced personality behaviours too. So I would be upset if a child I thought of as particularly kind and helpful autonomously pushed another child, for example. I don't really like to see children being cruel or bad-natured, so if those kind of features were added I'd avoid them. :-/ This is also a reason why I disliked Generations: because I felt like it had a bit of a nasty vibe and the behaviour was forced on all sims of certain ages regardless of their personality type. To players who want to play a warm and loving family, having forced negative behaviour is going to spoil the game for them.

Linamints

I do wish kids were more of a challenge. I have for so long wished I could have a brat trait for kids that would make them more demanding to parent.
In the Sims 3 while the curfew can be annoying (especially on prom night when door crowding can really slow everyone down), I do appreciate that it forces my kids to be home before an unreasonable hour. When I was growing up I had to be home before it got dark and I imagine if I had real kids I would follow that same style from my mother. I can forgive that teens might want to be out later, but I don't know any responsible parent who would let their children roam the streets in the middle of the night. Especially on a school night.

Neia

@Cinderellimouse
I agree, I wouldn't want all my children to turn into little monsters, I want choices to play a broad range of personalities, not just one type of children or teen. I like what they have done for toddlers with the traits, you can choose whether they are a bit more rebellious or not.

Cinderellimouse

Neia wrote: »

@Cinderellimouse
I agree, I wouldn't want all my children to turn into little monsters, I want choices to play a broad range of personalities, not just one type of children or teen. I like what they have done for toddlers with the traits, you can choose whether they are a bit more rebellious or not.

Yeah, I like the toddler traits too. Some more traits for kids with extra interactions and behaviours would be great.

TheGoodOldGamer

The only difference between night and day in the Sims is the lighting, lol. The worlds don't all morph into FH at night or something.

ldmarko

I'm sick of the helicopter parenting of toddlers. I appreciate that they're attentive to their kids, but do they really need to "check toddler" every 2 seconds, and keep potty training them long after they've already mastered it? And then potty train them again when they've barely gotten up off the pot?

Jordan061102

We need evil childrens.

meeoun

Livin in Sim wrote: »

I agree that Children in TS4 are a bit under developed, along with Teens. TS4 Children are far too independent to be like most of the lifespan of a RL child. In RL, I would consider most children 12 years of age to be old enough to be alone at home in the day time, and that is almost a Teen. There should be curfew for after 12. They are also really docile and self sufficient compared to RL children.

It's correct that they pretty much never misbehave. There is a Beg For Toys interaction, but it would be great if it was more like the one in the video, if a child had the Rambunctious Scamp trait, for instance. It would also be cool if there were more interactions tied in with grades. For example, an honor roll, money from grandparents for good grades like in TS1, and the ability to have more freedom if the child showed good judgement by being an A student. Maybe that's the only way they could travel without an adult?

I'd like if there were more Mischief interactions that were Child (trait?) specific. Some examples might be toilet papering a disliked neighbor's yard, drawing on the walls/themselves/each other, refusing to eat certain foods (hiding it in their inventory), breaking something and blaming it on a sibling, jumping on beds, "stashing" certain needed items in dressers/inventory/fridge, plugging the toilet, cutting their/each others hair, bubble bath all over the bathroom, fighting with siblings, etc, etc with all the accompanying parental reactions, of course. If Pets ever happen, they could feed their Homework to the dog, etc.

I do love the Playing With Makeup that comes with the vanity. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! I'm probably forgetting some things as well that are in game. Partner In Crime is wonderful, but it seems the actions all take place in the ether. I wanna see it goin' down!

I love all of these ideas!
Especially the siblings cutting each other's hair. Omg. That would be adorable!

iskra_iskra92

im soo angry we don't have crawling toddlers in sims4! i playd the sims 2 and it was far more realistic! no more school bus thay can walk anywhere 🐸🐸🐸🐸 im 🐸🐸🐸🐸 at this game right now and i cant get used to this

friendlysimmers

no i fully disagree i find the sims kids perfect no need for new challanges

meeoun

friendlysimmers wrote: »

no i fully disagree i find the sims kids perfect no need for new challanges

How about teens?

GoldenBuffy

Gruffman wrote: »

When the Sims4 was first released, it was more challenging. People complained because it was a grindfest and the game got nerfed down to what it is. Now ... people are want it to be more of a challenge.

Want to add minor things, like curfews or time constraints where kids can't be out at all hours, I'm fine with that. Changing it now and making it less of a sandbox ... no thanks.

It was a grindfest because the game focused more on linear play than anything else.

As for kids being too easy this go around. I agree, and so are teens. The teens need to be more teenlike than adult like, and kids need to be more childlike. I would love for them to reach back to Sims 2 and take cues from that.