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Sims Four Live Mode is Lacking

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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    i hope they would add more personality to sims. I love how i can make sims look so nice and unique but then they all act kinda the same. More traits and if they would add fears like in sims 2.
    Agreed. And turn offs and turn ons. And I’d really wish they could change the emotion system. I think it’s great the emotions are strong in the game and a feature in itself, but I regret the whole aura system and the way emotions are the same for every sim, regardless their traits.
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  • DreamaDoveDreamaDove Posts: 393 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    @DreamaDove Thanks, I’ll pass the compliment :blush: (he’s an old man now)
    Can you please link me what CC you used because that’s exactly what I’m looking for! Is he in the gallery by the way? He’d make a perfect vampire.

    He's currently saved to a family, so next time I open the game I'll separate him so I can look through his CC properly with tray importer. I'll upload the tray files, too.

    Also, haha, he *should* look like a vampire! He's my sim Vlad Masters <3

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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited July 2018
    DreamaDove wrote: »
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    @DreamaDove Thanks, I’ll pass the compliment :blush: (he’s an old man now)
    Can you please link me what CC you used because that’s exactly what I’m looking for! Is he in the gallery by the way? He’d make a perfect vampire.

    He's currently saved to a family, so next time I open the game I'll separate him so I can look through his CC properly with tray importer. I'll upload the tray files, too.

    Also, haha, he *should* look like a vampire! He's my sim Vlad Masters <3

    tumblr_m9hit8Evi71rey9qgo1_500.jpg
    Thanks in advance! I think he’s better than the ingame Vlad (lol, Danny Phantom, nostalgia). If he’s a vampire already all the better :blush:
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  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    ehaught58 wrote: »
    I believe TS4 is going exactly in the direction EA planned it to go. When they stated that they were changing direction of TS4 and making 13 year old girls their target group instead of the entire family, (and leave adults out of the equation) what did we expect the game to end up looking like? They have dumbed it down and simplified it so much that it’s all sunshine, rainbows and unicorns from here on out!

    That sums it up for me even though I own all the packs(I am an collector) except the add on pack for C&D and they left out some powerful features form it as well. I go in and I am ready to shut it down for there is nothing really in the game to keep me drawn into it. Not even Seasons do it for me and I do not hate the pack and find some value in it.
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  • halpal1212halpal1212 Posts: 30 Member
    As a Simmer since my early elementary school days (circa 2001/2002), I always loved the Sims as a fun, semi-accurate life simulation game. However, with the most recent installment, I have found this game to become way too predictable. Traits don't really give a Sim any uniqueness other than a few social options, they all end up doing the same actions when left alone (troll the forums, play game on phone, etc.), and they all just act the same in their behaviors.

    For me, there just isn't as much novelty in the game anymore. I personally feel like the Sims lost their way after the Sims 2 had been released. I feel like Sims 2 was their peak and then it's all just been kinda downhill from there. It honestly makes me sad; the Sims has been such a huge piece of my life, as it was one of the first computer games I really got into and now to see it like this, selling out to preteens... really unfortunate.
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited July 2018
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    It’s because it lacks design as an actual game.

    The Sims was always a game (especially the first one) where you had to be very particular in how you strategized playing. Planning, budgeting, and the possibility of something randomly going wrong were constantly on your mind. It was truly designed as a strategic life simulation.

    Now, it’s too focused on aesthetic. The developers literally call new objects that ONLY have new animations tied to them as new gameplay. How is gameplay watching my Sim do something that has little effect on the game itself?

    Additionally, the systems in the game, such as collecting and gardening, feel useless because the designers seemingly don’t know how to make them interesting, fun, and relevant.

    In another life simulation game, called Animal Crossing, collecting is one of the core parts of its gameplay. You donate whatever you collect to the museum or you can sell it for money, however, a completed section of the museum grants a very special golden version of the tool you used for collection (e.g golden net for bugs). In Stardew Valley, crafting is a core element of the game. And unlike The Sims 4, crafting in Stardew Valley actually has a purpose; crafting better gardening tools for instance makes gardening faster.

    In The Sims 4, the design of things like collecting and such are so incredibly weak. Tell me why would I want to collect My Sims figurines or snow globes over and over in The Sims??? Why would I want to bother spending time collecting bugs when time flow in this game is so limiting, and my Sim would make more of a profit doing other things? Mind you — it goes further than this. I haven’t even delved into how poorly designed emotions, traits, whims, aspirations, etc. are.

    This is what happens when you hire a base game producer that primarily designed Facebook games and not PC simulation or RPG games.

    Yeah, Sims 1 for me can get away with not having features because it was the first and even though I found it hard to keep up with my Sims needs I enjoyed it and then Sims 2 which entered 3D was the one that got me addicted and I really can make some opera stories or drama with it will always have that love and I could play for hours and even after coming out I would dive back in. Then Sims 3 came and it was nice for an open world and the other features that came as Sims 3 expanded through packs. However it did not have that pizzaz that Sims 2 had or the way where you can save your items and install like you could with Sims 2. But to me it is more advanced than Sims 4 and I feel between Sims 3 and Sims 4 I had the better experience with Sims 3. I am at the point if they discontinue Sims 4 I would not miss it.
    Post edited by Goldmoldar on
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  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    It’s because it lacks design as an actual game.

    The Sims was always a game (especially the first one) where you had to be very particular in how you strategized playing. Planning, budgeting, and the possibility of something randomly going wrong were constantly on your mind. It was truly designed as a strategic life simulation.

    Now, it’s too focused on aesthetic. The developers literally call new objects that ONLY have new animations tied to them as new gameplay. How is gameplay watching my Sim do something that has little effect on the game itself?

    Additionally, the systems in the game, such as collecting and gardening, feel useless because the designers seemingly don’t know how to make them interesting, fun, and relevant.

    In another life simulation game, called Animal Crossing, collecting is one of the core parts of its gameplay. You donate whatever you collect to the museum or you can sell it for money, however, a completed section of the museum grants a very special golden version of the tool you used for collection (e.g golden net for bugs). In Stardew Valley, crafting is a core element of the game. And unlike The Sims 4, crafting in Stardew Valley actually has a purpose; crafting better gardening tools for instance makes gardening faster.

    In The Sims 4, the design of things like collecting and such are so incredibly weak. Tell me why would I want to collect My Sims figurines or snow globes over and over in The Sims??? Why would I want to bother spending time collecting bugs when time flow in this game is so limiting, and my Sim would make more of a profit doing other things? Mind you — it goes further than this. I haven’t even delved into how poorly designed emotions, traits, whims, aspirations, etc. are.

    This is what happens when you hire a base game producer that primarily designed Facebook games and not PC simulation or RPG games.
    Ex. Act. Ly. I've been strictly a simmer for years, but currently I'm playing Animal Crossing and exactly what you say has crossed my mind. How come (and I'm in fact also looking at Sims 3 in that respect) I find things like collecting and fishing so addictive in AC and a bore in Sims. It's because in AC they found the perfect balance between making it rewarding (it's fun to walk through your museum and watch everything you collected over time and it's great to catch bugs/fish you know will make a lot of money), being not too hard and not too easy (I'm not ashamed of the trademark casual player, I am and proud/quite satisfied to be) and on top of that they added gameplay to the collecting/fishing itself. The action. Catching bugs or fish isn't based on luck, it's totally up to the player. Same with growing flowers and digging weeds. The way they've done it would perfectly fit and be fun in a Sims game.

    I have that game too and I love it.
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  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    agustd wrote: »
    @Sk8rblaze Looking at your screenshot just made me sad. Summer festivities in TS3 included skating, soccer, actual eating contest, water balloon fight that actually worked, face painting, tanning booths, snow cones...

    And what you've got in TS4? A sad skating rink that townies don't even use and a single concession stand. That's it.

    Now I'm not trying to say TS3 was a perfect game. It wasn't, and it certainly wasn't for everyone. I just think it's unacceptable that we're getting EPs so light on content these days, so light that a seasons expansion only gives you sprinklers and a kiddie pool to play with in the summer.

    Speaking of collecting, looks like it's been thrown into TS4 last minute just for the sake of it. Always had the impression that devs were just like "quick, let's research people's favorite things to do in games these days...ah, collecting items....okay we'll scatter some rocks around the world for people to pick up I guess"

    I agree with you Sims 3 was not perfect but all in all some of that chemistry Sims 3 had as well as some of Sims 2 could have migrated into Sims 4 as with other series certain features from old do make it into the newest version along with the newest features. It is just EA/Maxis had cut Sims 4 right to the bone in the beginning and it has left an bad taste on my gameplay spoiled any good thoughts I had with this series. Some accept what EA/Maxis did and some don't. I cannot say if they did an good job or not. I look at what they did to SimCity series and I believe the same can happen here as well.
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  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    @ClarionOfJoy yep, i did play sims 3. A Lot! i have played since sims 1. i have played this game since i was like 7 years old. 15 years! so dont say to me that i didn't play sims 3. yep, Yes in sims 3 u could buy store items to run bakery but those were too bad quality to even pay of those. Im talking about sims 3 expansion packs, not sims 3 whit store items or whit mods tho. Who would even buy store items. Imagine cost of sims 3 whit half store items. It is worth it? not for me. U can like sims 3 but i didn't and a lot of older sims fans didn't like that game. It's good if u like sims 3, its fine by me but i think i can say my own option. I think i can say what i want about sims 3, like u can say what u want about sims 4. I opened sims 3 like a week ago and i could not even play it after playing sims 4 so i don't really care about sims 3 updates.

    You DID talk about sims 3 stores, so I talked about that as well. The way I was able to buy most of the sims 3 store items was by waiting for them to go on sale, Daily Deals, and Make Me an Offer deals (which I only took if the deal was %40 off or higher). People who want to discourage others from the Sims 3 store will say it is too expensive without mentioning the many ways you can get things on sale, or how useful the items are.

    You say that a lot of the Sims 3 store was useless? Most of the clothes/hair/furniture in the Sims 3 store are from different time periods: tudor, renaissance, colonial, the roaring 20s (jazz age), the 50s, the 60s. They also have other themes too: fairy tale, goth, hollywood, japanese, indian, moroccan, african, latin, cambodian, bohemian,... too many to list. That allows me to customize the worlds to any period or place using Sims 3 store items. In TS4, there is no such ability to set the neighborhoods up to another time period or another place - it's not like you can set it up to be in the colonial times or to be in India for example.

    I actually LOVE the bakery! I use that set ALL THE TIME! I sometimes use it for a bakery like everyone uses it normally, but I've come to find that it's really useful to put the display case in most of my community lots! Then I have the NRaas mod, Cupcake, installed to automatically fill the case with whatever food I want (not just baked goods). So now, all my sims can just buy food and eat if they're hungry in most of my community lots! When I do set up a bakery, there's a mod that automates a sim to make random baked goods and automatically stores it in the display case so in that way, it's even better now than in sims 2. I also love all the build items from the bakery set as well and use the panels from that to build a lot of my stores (not just bakeries).

    The Sims 3 store also has some pretty amazing farm sets - something I know Sims 4 players are still waiting for. We can milk cows, and care for chickens and get eggs from them, we have the canning station, the water mill (it was advertised that you can fish from it, but I found out that it acts like the wind turbine or solar panel and lowers your bills!), a tractor to work larger numbers of plants and trees, plus furniture, clothes and hair. If I wanted to set up my world like "Little House on the Prairy", I could actually do that! Just set the world to have no cars with NRaas Traveler and have your sims use horses to travel. That's something Sims 4 can't do either, smh....

    You also mentioned a lot of the older simmers don't like Sims 3 but that isn't true. I know that here in the official forums it looks like everybody loves Sims 4, but the Sims 3 section is extremely active here, especially the Sims 3 creative section, meaning that people are still creating things for it and writing stories and playing challenges, etc. Also if you go out into the real world, where EA doesn't have as much ability to control appearances, Sims 3 sections in other forums and social media like Facebook are the most active. Older simmers really love Sims 3. And if they don't love Sims 3, they prefer Sims 2 over Sims 4. Even in Mod the Sims where Sims 2 simmers are the most vocal, the Sims 3 section is still the most active.

    I'm also curious: exactly what do you do when you open Sims 4? Because what I'm taking away from all the posts on this forum is that people just make sims and build lots and that's it! So Sims 4 is basically like a dress up doll app or home builder app. That the live game portion is largely ignored because game play is lacking in comparison to TS1 - TS3. And because it's closed world and loading screen are annoying, sims 4 players tend to keep their sims home most of the time, thereby under-utilizing the map. People are already getting bored of the new Seasons EP too and it hasn't been out for very long. In light of that, if you open Sims 3 and can't play it - especially after Sims 4, then you have no imagination and/or don't know how to customize it. But that too can be easily fixed by just going to the Sims 3 section, look at how other people play it, get some ideas or play a challenge, and ask for help.

    So true and that is how I got most of my stuff and Sims 3 had a program where you can watch some ads and earn simoleans and use them in the store and Sims 3 still supports that program. If you notice Sims 3 has not been archived yet and they shut Sims 2 site down shortly after Sims 3 came out.
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  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited July 2018
    @ClarionOfJoy mods wont fix sims 3 bad graphics, robotic sims or buggy game over all.
    I just feel like u don't understand what i say or u just ignore it. u answer things i didn't ask or wasn't the problem in sims 3

    I disagree with the bad graphics part for I was using Nvidia 680, 770, 980 and the graphics was beautiful for me so it depends on the what your rig consisted of. As far as bugs go any problem I had was more of an developer issue and not the system itself. The way EA/Maxis now deal with the sims series is by not letting the program scale up or down by individual systems and for me that is sad for those with powerful systems cannot take Sims 4 to it's full potential because EA/Maxis gimps the features. The only thing in Sims 4 that does help as far as spec wise is the CPU and GPU but not feature-wise not so much. The way I feel if I can't use features that makes my gameplay more entertaining I might as well use an system that are listed in the minimum being the experience is about the same. If this was done in BF V EA/Maxis would really have an very major problem for in that game systems do scale up or down to what you play with.
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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    halpal1212 wrote: »
    As a Simmer since my early elementary school days (circa 2001/2002), I always loved the Sims as a fun, semi-accurate life simulation game. However, with the most recent installment, I have found this game to become way too predictable. Traits don't really give a Sim any uniqueness other than a few social options, they all end up doing the same actions when left alone (troll the forums, play game on phone, etc.), and they all just act the same in their behaviors.

    For me, there just isn't as much novelty in the game anymore. I personally feel like the Sims lost their way after the Sims 2 had been released. I feel like Sims 2 was their peak and then it's all just been kinda downhill from there. It honestly makes me sad; the Sims has been such a huge piece of my life, as it was one of the first computer games I really got into and now to see it like this, selling out to preteens... really unfortunate.
    If The Sims lost their way after Sims 2 had been released, it must have taken a route where I just happened to be walking.
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  • halpal1212halpal1212 Posts: 30 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    halpal1212 wrote: »
    As a Simmer since my early elementary school days (circa 2001/2002), I always loved the Sims as a fun, semi-accurate life simulation game. However, with the most recent installment, I have found this game to become way too predictable. Traits don't really give a Sim any uniqueness other than a few social options, they all end up doing the same actions when left alone (troll the forums, play game on phone, etc.), and they all just act the same in their behaviors.

    For me, there just isn't as much novelty in the game anymore. I personally feel like the Sims lost their way after the Sims 2 had been released. I feel like Sims 2 was their peak and then it's all just been kinda downhill from there. It honestly makes me sad; the Sims has been such a huge piece of my life, as it was one of the first computer games I really got into and now to see it like this, selling out to preteens... really unfortunate.
    If The Sims lost their way after Sims 2 had been released, it must have taken a route where I just happened to be walking.

    If that's the case, that's awesome! I'm happy for you. It's just not where I would have chosen the Sims franchise to go.
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited July 2018
    halpal1212 wrote: »
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    halpal1212 wrote: »
    As a Simmer since my early elementary school days (circa 2001/2002), I always loved the Sims as a fun, semi-accurate life simulation game. However, with the most recent installment, I have found this game to become way too predictable. Traits don't really give a Sim any uniqueness other than a few social options, they all end up doing the same actions when left alone (troll the forums, play game on phone, etc.), and they all just act the same in their behaviors.

    For me, there just isn't as much novelty in the game anymore. I personally feel like the Sims lost their way after the Sims 2 had been released. I feel like Sims 2 was their peak and then it's all just been kinda downhill from there. It honestly makes me sad; the Sims has been such a huge piece of my life, as it was one of the first computer games I really got into and now to see it like this, selling out to preteens... really unfortunate.
    If The Sims lost their way after Sims 2 had been released, it must have taken a route where I just happened to be walking.

    If that's the case, that's awesome! I'm happy for you. It's just not where I would have chosen the Sims franchise to go.
    Exactly. Which is what makes it all personal perception. Which doesn’t mean nothing objective can be said about the matter, also concerning flaws and aberrations. But the broad ‘peak’, pinnacle’ and ‘lost their way’ (instead of ‘lost my way’) phrasing can sometimes start to take on a life of their own around here.
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  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    edited July 2018
    I do think, had The Sims 4 actually focused on the roots of The Sims, the franchise could have went in a direction that satisfies both The Sims 2 and 3 fans.

    IMHO, it alienated both players. The staple of TS2 was rich live mode gameplay, with very intelligent Sims and awesome legacy/family features. In virtually every way, it drove the series forward with way more customizable worlds, 3D Sims, better AI, etc.

    The Sims 3 did skimp more than I would’ve liked on the Sims themselves, but gave us beautiful graphics, large worlds, and just so much customization. The expansions add so much gameplay too.

    The Sims 4’s base game threw all of these things away to focus on nothing big. A new base game is such a large investment. I wish EA/The Sims Studio cared more about putting out the best quality work they could, and at the very minimum, combined the big staples of these two games.
  • peeanggpeeangg Posts: 66 Member
    Yes please improve live mode and personalities. I am not a big storyteller and I bought this hoping for more of a game than a storytelling machine. I get bored of live mode almost instantly, nothing I do matters and the sims all act the same, I want consequences and more unsuccessful social interactions. Everyone gets along automatically so making friends seems pointless. It’s been a fun couple of hundred hours but if I’m being honest, most of it was spent in CAS and B.B. mode
  • StormsviewStormsview Posts: 2,603 Member


    Love Sims 4 but we do have a problem or two in live mode.
    I love the toddlers but only in CAS lol
    Problem is everything is half-baked, we have a hospital but we can not go there when ill,
    we have a police station but we can not go there to report a crime. police check homes after robberies but we never get robbed and they never come to your home.
    we have criminals with no real crime.
    we have smoke detectors with no firemen to hear the alarm.
    We have apartments, but not really.
    we have astronauts but we never really see them in space, no planet to see, we get abducted by aliens and never see inside the ship.,
    we have food stalls but we can not use them.
    We have a sports career but can we go to a ball game?
    like we can fry fish we catch but they will not allow you to pick tuna or bass, just anyone go away. would that have been so hard to choose one?
    we have ironing boards but can not iron.
    Then so many things take way to long like a bath,
    If I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have to chop tomatoes.
    Then they take a good thing and run it into the ground like the vet is nice and I love the pups and pets, but when you go to the vet it looks like the plague.
    Asking the same question over and over is going to run someone nuts and we can not turn it off.
    There is no feel of a Nightlife.
    With all the new patches Now our Sims do what they want when they want to. lol

    Disclaimer: But all and all the game is fun fun fun. I love the new garden career its fun and easy way to make money and not go to one of the empty jobs. So give it a try.
    But I do wish they will stop patching our game and just leave it alone. I liked the way it was.
    we'll give you a full refund. Just make sure you make your request within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game's release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first.
    Who said EA doesn't have a sense of humor
  • Charlotta11Charlotta11 Posts: 399 Member
    edited July 2018
    Goldmoldar wrote: »
    @ClarionOfJoy mods wont fix sims 3 bad graphics, robotic sims or buggy game over all.
    I just feel like u don't understand what i say or u just ignore it. u answer things i didn't ask or wasn't the problem in sims 3

    I disagree with the bad graphics part for I was using Nvidia 680, 770, 980 and the graphics was beautiful for me so it depends on the what your rig consisted of. As far as bugs go any problem I had was more of an developer issue and not the system itself. The way EA/Maxis now deal with the sims series is by not letting the program scale up or down by individual systems and for me that is sad for those with powerful systems cannot take Sims 4 to it's full potential because EA/Maxis gimps the features. The only thing in Sims 4 that does help as far as spec wise is the CPU and GPU but not feature-wise not so much. The way I feel if I can't use features that makes my gameplay more entertaining I might as well use an system that are listed in the minimum being the experience is about the same. If this was done in BF V EA/Maxis would really have an very major problem for in that game systems do scale up or down to what you play with.

    I didn't like graphicts in sims 3. I used max graphict settings but maybe problem in sims 3 was the lighting. World in sims 3 in to the future was really pretty and world from island paradise. But it can be hard to compare sims 3 and sims 4 graphicts because they are really different style, its more about what people like. more realistic or smoother details. For me it's smoother details. I like sims 4 grass because i always hated grass in other sims games because it irritate my eyes to see so much little details when i zoom in and out, sims 4 have smooth grass but i saw that someone have made mod to sims 4 to get sims 3 grass in sims 4. So i guess a lot of people liked that detailed grass but i just didn't.
    Post edited by Charlotta11 on
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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited July 2018
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I do think, had The Sims 4 actually focused on the roots of The Sims, the franchise could have went in a direction that satisfies both The Sims 2 and 3 fans.

    IMHO, it alienated both players. The staple of TS2 was rich live mode gameplay, with very intelligent Sims and awesome legacy/family features. In virtually every way, it drove the series forward with way more customizable worlds, 3D Sims, better AI, etc.

    The Sims 3 did skimp more than I would’ve liked on the Sims themselves, but gave us beautiful graphics, large worlds, and just so much customization. The expansions add so much gameplay too.

    The Sims 4’s base game threw all of these things away to focus on nothing big. A new base game is such a large investment. I wish EA/The Sims Studio cared more about putting out the best quality work they could, and at the very minimum, combined the big staples of these two games.
    I agree. The only reason I’m enjoying Sims 4 atm is because I found a type of sim where they actually did pay attention to making the sim itself (the vampire) interesting. My problem continues to be (toddlers are great too but not enough to carry the game) the sims surrounding the life stage/state that is interesting (they are as dull and identical as ever). They should all be like that. An exaggeration of human behaviour, that’s the roots of The Sims. They’ve picked up the exaggeration but forgot about human behaviour.
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  • marcel21marcel21 Posts: 12,341 Member
    DreamaDove wrote: »
    marcel21 wrote: »
    I think the sims 3 worlds are amazing compared to 4. how they look, the size of them. freedom to build and create.

    at least its not endless backdrops and illusions.

    the sims 4 worlds look nice but so much of it isn't real and you can't make changes to it off the lots. and those illusions and sound effects :#



    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    jooxis wrote: »
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    (we’re completely derailing, hope it’s not a problem; this all has got nothing to do with gameplay)

    I strongly disagree Sims 3’s graphics are ‘trash’. Calling it that annoys me to no end because it’s utterly over the top. On highest settings the game looks totally fine (understatement, I love taking screenshots in the game because I so often love what I see) and the lighting often is stunning as well. I understand the difference between art style and graphics, but I also understand the confusion because what’s the point in great graphics when they did such a sloppy job on some aspects like what CK213 is pointing out and the ugly legs I showed compared to the detailed legs in Sims 3? Or a ball pit with the most laughable balls in it in the history of gaming. What do I care about graphics when that’s the result?

    That being said, this is not the subject of this topic. Gameplay is. I don’t understand anyone quiting a game because of graphics anyway but that’s me.

    I completely agree about the gameplay. I'm not defending the Sims 4 in that regard. It will never live up to Sims 1 and 2 for me.

    I'll just have to agree to disagree with everyone here about Sims 3 graphics. Of course I would quit a game that's terrible to look at. Why play a game with virtual people when I can't make them look nice? The lighting is probably the worst I've seen in a modern game (again, my job is literally making art for video games) but whatever.

    So anyway, the gameplay in Sims 4 is lacking and most here agree.
    I’m not even sure if we’re disagreeing about the graphics. I played Sims 3 on medium the first years (and had missed the option to smoothen the edges or what’s it called in English ;)) and that looked pretty bad. I didn’t mind back then - I also didn’t know any better I must add - but I couldn’t go back to that (play everything on highest now) so yes, looks do matter to me. The way however people keep insisting “The Sims 3 art style was certainly not its strongest quality, lol” comes across condescending to me (quoting LiELF there, not you). Because ‘lol’ I happen to really like that art style and prefer it to Sims 4’s (though I do manage to embrace and appreciate the cartoony look when playing fortunately). Besides, Sims 2’s and Sims 3’s art style are completely similar. If anything some textures in Sims 2 are even more realistic than in Sims 3. Yet the sims are not and it wasn’t a problem in that game then? The Sims 3 slating comes in inimitable ways sometimes, from my perspective obviously. I’ve never seen any strange discrepancy in the game myself anyway (nor in Sims 2). Preferring one art style doesn’t necessarily make another art style poor just because you happen to prefer it. I’d love the Sims 3 art style to return in a next iteration, with better graphics. And as for the sims, one of the reasons I can’t get into Sims 4 completely except for the game play (though really happy with how my vampire turned out, but I’m feeling so miserable about the males in the game :disappointed: ) is in fact the sims. If only people could get their head around the fact personal preference isn’t a status quo but just that, a preference. I’ve posted this comparison before and I’m convinced everyone will pick a different sim as their favourite.

    mrOUPkb.png

    But you’ll have to believe me that for me it’s most definitely the middle one ;) And he matches perfectly with his ‘ultra realistic’ (they aren’t ultra realistic at all) surroundings.

    As for gameplay, I think preferences play a part there too and I’m still trying to pinpoint why exactly it isn’t working for me in Sims 4. I still think for most people it really comes down to lacking personalities. Those were superior in Sims 2. I’d love it if they could find a way to tone down the emotion system and level up the personalities.

    that ts3 sim is dowright gorgeous.
    I think the problem with ts4 sims is the textures. The ts4 sim 3d model is fantastically detailed in the face, however the changes made to it are kinda difficult to see because of the bland textures. moreoever, ts4 default eyes have specular added to them which is what makes them all have that glazed look.

    here's one of my characters vanilla, with cc, with cc+reshade

    tumblr_pck5ed0CCr1qijewwo1_1280.png


    As you can see, it's still very maxis match--it just has better textures. I agree with OP that a slight texture on items would go a long way. I really like the way Peacemaker does his textures.

    people go on about how ugly sims are with the sims 3 and I agree that some are,not all, however, you can make some gorgeous females and hot males with the right CC/MODS

    Origin ID MichaelUKingdon


  • Jordan061102Jordan061102 Posts: 3,918 Member
    edited July 2018
    I'm really glad to see that more and more simmers are asking better personalities, more we talk, better it is.
    Lu4ERme.gif
  • SimChessackSimChessack Posts: 182 Member
    I'm really glad to see that more and more simmers are asking better personalities, more we talk, better it is.

    I suspect that the more we ask for it the better the odds are of something happening in Sims 5.

    Sims 4 has been out for 4 years now. The ship has sailed on them being able to do something to make them more individualized and have more realistic personalities. The bland personalities and other things we have mentioned here are so baked into the base engine at this point that I can't imagine they'd be able to change it significantly without it taking so much work that they may as well make a whole new game.
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    edited July 2018
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I do think, had The Sims 4 actually focused on the roots of The Sims, the franchise could have went in a direction that satisfies both The Sims 2 and 3 fans.

    IMHO, it alienated both players. The staple of TS2 was rich live mode gameplay, with very intelligent Sims and awesome legacy/family features. In virtually every way, it drove the series forward with way more customizable worlds, 3D Sims, better AI, etc.

    The Sims 3 did skimp more than I would’ve liked on the Sims themselves, but gave us beautiful graphics, large worlds, and just so much customization. The expansions add so much gameplay too.

    The Sims 4’s base game threw all of these things away to focus on nothing big. A new base game is such a large investment. I wish EA/The Sims Studio cared more about putting out the best quality work they could, and at the very minimum, combined the big staples of these two games.
    I agree. The only reason I’m enjoying Sims 4 atm is because I found a type of sim where they actually did pay attention to making the sim itself (the vampire) interesting. My problem continues to be (toddlers are great too but not enough to carry the game) the sims surrounding the life stage/state that is interesting (they are as dull and identical as ever). They should all be like that. An exaggeration of human behaviour, that’s the roots of The Sims. They’ve picked up the exaggeration but forgot about human behaviour.

    Exactly, agree completely. That exaggeration of human behavior was very common in the earlier games, and executed better than in The Sims 4. There was more of a dark, but much funnier side to things.

    Vampires and toddlers were done very well in The Sims 4, but it’s such a shame the base game and core gameplay are so boring and recycled from the earlier games. It is hard to play the game entirely without longing to play a different version.

    It just really stresses how vital it is for EA/The Sims Studio not to rush or skimp out on the base game.
    Post edited by Sk8rblaze on
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited July 2018
    marcel21 wrote: »
    DreamaDove wrote: »
    marcel21 wrote: »
    I think the sims 3 worlds are amazing compared to 4. how they look, the size of them. freedom to build and create.

    at least its not endless backdrops and illusions.

    the sims 4 worlds look nice but so much of it isn't real and you can't make changes to it off the lots. and those illusions and sound effects :#



    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    jooxis wrote: »
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    (we’re completely derailing, hope it’s not a problem; this all has got nothing to do with gameplay)

    I strongly disagree Sims 3’s graphics are ‘trash’. Calling it that annoys me to no end because it’s utterly over the top. On highest settings the game looks totally fine (understatement, I love taking screenshots in the game because I so often love what I see) and the lighting often is stunning as well. I understand the difference between art style and graphics, but I also understand the confusion because what’s the point in great graphics when they did such a sloppy job on some aspects like what CK213 is pointing out and the ugly legs I showed compared to the detailed legs in Sims 3? Or a ball pit with the most laughable balls in it in the history of gaming. What do I care about graphics when that’s the result?

    That being said, this is not the subject of this topic. Gameplay is. I don’t understand anyone quiting a game because of graphics anyway but that’s me.

    I completely agree about the gameplay. I'm not defending the Sims 4 in that regard. It will never live up to Sims 1 and 2 for me.

    I'll just have to agree to disagree with everyone here about Sims 3 graphics. Of course I would quit a game that's terrible to look at. Why play a game with virtual people when I can't make them look nice? The lighting is probably the worst I've seen in a modern game (again, my job is literally making art for video games) but whatever.

    So anyway, the gameplay in Sims 4 is lacking and most here agree.
    I’m not even sure if we’re disagreeing about the graphics. I played Sims 3 on medium the first years (and had missed the option to smoothen the edges or what’s it called in English ;)) and that looked pretty bad. I didn’t mind back then - I also didn’t know any better I must add - but I couldn’t go back to that (play everything on highest now) so yes, looks do matter to me. The way however people keep insisting “The Sims 3 art style was certainly not its strongest quality, lol” comes across condescending to me (quoting LiELF there, not you). Because ‘lol’ I happen to really like that art style and prefer it to Sims 4’s (though I do manage to embrace and appreciate the cartoony look when playing fortunately). Besides, Sims 2’s and Sims 3’s art style are completely similar. If anything some textures in Sims 2 are even more realistic than in Sims 3. Yet the sims are not and it wasn’t a problem in that game then? The Sims 3 slating comes in inimitable ways sometimes, from my perspective obviously. I’ve never seen any strange discrepancy in the game myself anyway (nor in Sims 2). Preferring one art style doesn’t necessarily make another art style poor just because you happen to prefer it. I’d love the Sims 3 art style to return in a next iteration, with better graphics. And as for the sims, one of the reasons I can’t get into Sims 4 completely except for the game play (though really happy with how my vampire turned out, but I’m feeling so miserable about the males in the game :disappointed: ) is in fact the sims. If only people could get their head around the fact personal preference isn’t a status quo but just that, a preference. I’ve posted this comparison before and I’m convinced everyone will pick a different sim as their favourite.

    mrOUPkb.png

    But you’ll have to believe me that for me it’s most definitely the middle one ;) And he matches perfectly with his ‘ultra realistic’ (they aren’t ultra realistic at all) surroundings.

    As for gameplay, I think preferences play a part there too and I’m still trying to pinpoint why exactly it isn’t working for me in Sims 4. I still think for most people it really comes down to lacking personalities. Those were superior in Sims 2. I’d love it if they could find a way to tone down the emotion system and level up the personalities.

    that ts3 sim is dowright gorgeous.
    I think the problem with ts4 sims is the textures. The ts4 sim 3d model is fantastically detailed in the face, however the changes made to it are kinda difficult to see because of the bland textures. moreoever, ts4 default eyes have specular added to them which is what makes them all have that glazed look.

    here's one of my characters vanilla, with cc, with cc+reshade

    tumblr_pck5ed0CCr1qijewwo1_1280.png


    As you can see, it's still very maxis match--it just has better textures. I agree with OP that a slight texture on items would go a long way. I really like the way Peacemaker does his textures.

    people go on about how ugly sims are with the sims 3 and I agree that some are,not all, however, you can make some gorgeous females and hot males with the right CC/MODS
    For the record, my TS3 guy there was vanilla. I think you can create very goodlooking sims vanilla and very hideous ones with CC personally.
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I do think, had The Sims 4 actually focused on the roots of The Sims, the franchise could have went in a direction that satisfies both The Sims 2 and 3 fans.

    IMHO, it alienated both players. The staple of TS2 was rich live mode gameplay, with very intelligent Sims and awesome legacy/family features. In virtually every way, it drove the series forward with way more customizable worlds, 3D Sims, better AI, etc.

    The Sims 3 did skimp more than I would’ve liked on the Sims themselves, but gave us beautiful graphics, large worlds, and just so much customization. The expansions add so much gameplay too.

    The Sims 4’s base game threw all of these things away to focus on nothing big. A new base game is such a large investment. I wish EA/The Sims Studio cared more about putting out the best quality work they could, and at the very minimum, combined the big staples of these two games.
    I agree. The only reason I’m enjoying Sims 4 atm is because I found a type of sim where they actually did pay attention to making the sim itself (the vampire) interesting. My problem continues to be (toddlers are great too but not enough to carry the game) the sims surrounding the life stage/state that is interesting (they are as dull and identical as ever). They should all be like that. An exaggeration of human behaviour, that’s the roots of The Sims. They’ve picked up the exaggeration but forgot about human behaviour.

    Exactly, agree completely. That exaggeration of human behavior was very common in the earlier games, and executed better than in The Sims 4. There was more of a dark, but much funnier side to things.

    Vampires and toddlers were done very well in The Sims 4, but it’s such a shame the base game and core gameplay are so boring and recycled from the earlier games. It is hard to play the game entirely without longing to play a different version.

    It just really stresses how vital it is for EA/The Sims Studio to rush or skimp out on the base game.
    If they’re planning to keep developing for Sims 4 for years to come, there’s a part of me hoping they will patch in adjustments to the personality system and the emotions. They are busy improving sims reactions so who knows it’s possible.
    5JZ57S6.png
  • CK213CK213 Posts: 20,525 Member
    edited July 2018
    I have recently been looking at the Goths, Calientes, and Don Lothario, because of a recent forum discussion.
    And it has me looking at ages, careers, and these characters over game generations.

    I haven't played TS2 in ages, but all this is making me remember the game set ups.
    There was a history to the sims you were playing. They had generations of pre-history.
    It's like the game had been played before you entered it and things were just interesting.
    I particularly liked Cassandra/Don jilting at the alter, and the little movie was hilarious.

    The Calientes in TS4 are so out of wack with any kind of Sim lore that I am going to remake them.
    Mortimer is a writer instead of a scientist, because of the base game I guess, so I will fix that thanks to Get To Work.
    It's an alternate time line, but it's no where near as interesting as past Goth lore. Basically, the Goths are boring.

    I will be reworking them all to play out TS2's scenario.
    Katrina Caliente will be getting the boot.

    I don't play pre-mades much and these are so blank slate, you might as well delete them and create your own if you have the time. I am moving the Landgraabs out of the desert and into the nice lot in Willow Creek. I think I will only keep the Goths, Landgraabs and Pancakes.

    My CAS sims have pretty much taken over Brindleton Bay, but I will leave most of Windenburgs families as they are.
    The%20Goths.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    Goldmoldar wrote: »
    @ClarionOfJoy mods wont fix sims 3 bad graphics, robotic sims or buggy game over all.
    I just feel like u don't understand what i say or u just ignore it. u answer things i didn't ask or wasn't the problem in sims 3

    I disagree with the bad graphics part for I was using Nvidia 680, 770, 980 and the graphics was beautiful for me so it depends on the what your rig consisted of. As far as bugs go any problem I had was more of an developer issue and not the system itself. The way EA/Maxis now deal with the sims series is by not letting the program scale up or down by individual systems and for me that is sad for those with powerful systems cannot take Sims 4 to it's full potential because EA/Maxis gimps the features. The only thing in Sims 4 that does help as far as spec wise is the CPU and GPU but not feature-wise not so much. The way I feel if I can't use features that makes my gameplay more entertaining I might as well use an system that are listed in the minimum being the experience is about the same. If this was done in BF V EA/Maxis would really have an very major problem for in that game systems do scale up or down to what you play with.

    I didn't like graphicts in sims 3. I used max graphict settings but maybe problem in sims 3 was the lighting. World in sims 3 in to the future was really pretty and world from island paradise. But it can be hard to compare sims 3 and sims 4 graphicts because they are really different style, its more about what people like. more realistic or smoother details. For me it's smoother details. I like sims 4 grass because i always hated grass in other sims games because it irritate my eyes to see so much little details when i zoom in and out, sims 4 have smooth grass but i saw that someone have made mod to sims 4 to get sims 3 grass in sims 4. So i guess a lot of people liked that detailed grass but i just didn't.

    I like the graphics in both but then it is what each can do outside of the graphics and Sims 4 just do not do it. It is all about gameplay and not just graphics, Sims 4 is not that bad but it just lacks certain features and it also was how EA/Maxis went about it to get Sims 4 running which to me cutting everything and all of a sudden just because it can run Sims 4 supposed to be the best thing going but it is much more about just running.
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
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