Family trees on TS4 are disappointing

MaggieMarley

I like to look back at my sims’ family tree and trace their ancestors, but I have been a bit disappointed in the family treees of TS3 and TS4. I would like it if:

- The picture of each sim wasn’t so tiny and, for dead Sims, it wasn’t just an image of a ghost which doesn’t show what they were like in life and is hard to see anyway
- You could see more info about each sim when you clicked on them in the tree (career, cause of death, a picture of them at each life stage)
- When a Sim gets culled, they don’t disappear from your tree. I know this doesn’t always happen as I have some sims who were culled but are still on family trees. But, I have some unplayed culled sims who disappeared from family trees without a trace.

I’ve actually started a family tree for my sims on ancestry (LOL) since I have it for my (real) family’s family tree, and it’s much better. The pictures are bigger and clearer, you can add more pictures to each person and whatever info you want (cause of death, marriage, employment, their traits etc).

Is it just me, or would others like the family trees in TS4 to be a bit more detailed?

Nindigo

Family trees are definitely not as dedicated in TS4. Also, there are none visible for pets unless you install a pet control mod. The focus has just not been on genealogy this time around, but more on the here and now visuals and what you can do with your Sims. To some (especially the younger players probably) this is a blessing, but to older or more structured players who often have a wider spectrum of interests, it is fairly lamenting.

MaggieMarley

@Nindigo I’d also like to have family trees for the pets. I feel like this is all could be done. Maybe most players only play for one of two generations so don’t mind. But, I’m on my fifth generation now and the genealogy aspect of the game is really interesting to me.

Huiiie_07

I also find the pictures far too small and additional info, as you said, would be welcomed. It's definitely not a top priority for me though, as I rarely look at the family tree (not a generational player here).

elanorbreton

I don't think they could ever do family trees to my satisfaction lol.

In ts3 I used to make my own. Some of them got really huge! I see other simmers who use family tree software etc to make them outside of the game, and this is probably the best idea as you can tailor them to suit your own needs, putting whatever info on it you want and your own nice pictures.

It would be great, of course, if they were better in-game but the game doesn't even recognise certain relationships does it? Like step-parents, cousins etc???

MaggieMarley

elanorbreton wrote: »

I don't think they could ever do family trees to my satisfaction lol.

In ts3 I used to make my own. Some of them got really huge! I see other simmers who use family tree software etc to make them outside of the game, and this is probably the best idea as you can tailor them to suit your own needs, putting whatever info on it you want and your own nice pictures.

It would be great, of course, if they were better in-game but the game doesn't even recognise certain relationships does it? Like step-parents, cousins etc???

Yes, I’ve used ancestry family tree software to make a tree for my family which is now 5th generation. Since I use MCCC and relatives continue to marry, have kids etc it can get quite extensive!

The trees on TS4 actually do recognise step parents and half siblings. One of my sims’ kids (well, he’s an adult now) is the result of an alien abduction and his father’s wife is marked on his family tree as his step-mother and his father’s daughter is marked as his half-sister. That surprised me as in the relationship panel she isn’t marked as his step-mother and the half-sister is just labelled as his sister. I’d like for these things to appear in the relationship panel, too.

I’m not sure if the tree recognises cousins, I’ll have to check.

Kniga_Sitara

How software your use?

MaggieMarley

Kniga_Sitara wrote: »

How software your use?

For the family tree? I have an account on ancestry.co.uk for my own family’s family tree. I also created a tree on there for my sims’ family.

Sigzy05

Also, why don't pets appear in the family tree? Kind of a disappointment.

MaggieMarley

Sigzy05 wrote: »

Also, why don't pets appear in the family tree? Kind of a disappointment.

I guess I can understand pets not appearing in the sims’ family tree as they’re not part of their genealogy, but they should have separate family trees.

Simmerville

@elanorbreton my game recognizes cousins. Not sure about steps though, but did previous series include steps?

I love genealogy and created my own trees in TS2 and TS3 (some), but did not yet for TS4. It's good idea though to have a routine for saving those portraits, in case I decide to make a tree in the future...

Nindigo

I can recommend www.familyecho.com
Have used it for TS3 families.

SuRihtanil

Family tree needs to be customizable, I would pay for a pack dedicated to this area of gameplay without a 2nd thought. I want to click the sim in the family tree, read about them and their memories/deed achieved while alive. It would be nice if we could take family portraits, or pictures and attach them to a sim in our family tree. Also sims 2 memories were so nice something like this would fit right into a game pack around family tree/genealogy.

The sims need story progression back as well. Also make it a option that can be turned off like everything else if you do not want your world to have story progression. The progression mod doesn't cut it for me, its alright, but you can tell its not something done by EA it doesn't blend well with vanilla gameplay it feels like a mod... its okay to feel like a mod of course, it is what it is.

Every year I wait for EA to release content to enchances these aspects of the game but they don't.... legacy is why I play the sims... and I feel like sims 4 is weakest game in the series for legacy based gameplay experience.

MaggieMarley

@SuRihtanil you’ve described exactly what I was thinking about for family trees! And I so agree that we need story progression, too, although I do use MCCC.

marcel21

theirs a lot of things in the sims 4 and packs that are disappointing.

Goldmoldar

Looking on how Sims 4 was developed and for the group it was developed for, I would think Sims 4 is not as far advanced as one may think. It is fun at times but after awhile the fun starts to die down. The family tree is not as fleshed out as it should be as well as some of the other features are not. I see Sims 4 as an somewhat disappointing continuation of the Sims series and hope Sims 5 comes out better than Sims 4.

Sk8rblaze

It’s not surprising — the base game didn’t even ship with them. Family trees were completely left out, and were an afterthought.

It’s strange, because The Sims 3 focuses more on the world Sims live in and, yet, it managed to give us family trees. Even with that, we had proper babies (albeit lacking limbs) and toddlers.

The Sims 4 claims to have focused all around the Sims themselves, but we’ve seen time and time again how it has failed to do so. It lacks a clear vision, and I hope The Sims 5 does not make the same mistake.

Jase

Even though I really enjoy TS4, the family tree and family relationships portion of the game could use a heavy overall. I would love the see the suggestions mentioned in this thread; along with sims being able to recognize distant family members too.

Otoyo

I know, the in game family trees aren't that great. Honestly, I completely ignore them at this point. I started using plumtreeapp to make family trees. Its a very useful tool and it can be as detailed as you like.

Karstenmaus

I was really disappointed again after a long time!

A big family tree was destroyed. I do not know why????? I play the games without CC and without mods. I wanted to play a family for a long time today. And what happened ?! 2 ancestors have disappeared and can no longer be seen in the family tree! Instead of the two there is simply an "empty" icon.

I want to ask it again; that the important problems in a "LIFE SIMULATION GAME" should be also corrected. Should EA say: that the game will not be playable afterwards, then finish this Sims 4 crap and create a new one!

It is time that we make such a gamelike this ourselves. Apparently EA no longer gets ittThey have to create a "full-fledged" game and let their players, if there is real problems and thats when you have play the game or family for more than 30 hours and then something "broken" goes.

The fun is currently not available in this game. There are countless problems and bugs that are just there and have been coming up again and again for 3-4 years, where EA just does not work on it - the main thing is making money and putting out one Add On after the next one . Which again brings more and more problems that make other things "broken". : s

pl. fix

Renato10

What is not disappointing in TS4 is the real question! xD

Tiarella

@Karstenmaus - if you'll look up 'culling,' you'll learn a lot about how EA/Maxis manage the ghost-population bloat. I honestly don't remember any details, only that they have to cull the ghost population or our games explode, or something like that. I use MCCC & select which sims get culled & which don't, to preserve my family trees. I've been playing my current save since 2014, & my game has not yet exploded even though I have preserved a LOT of family trees.

Oh--you'll find the mods tend to close threads that have such a long time gap between the last post & the newest one (necroposting).

FreezerBunnyCowplant

Hopefully they‘ll gonna update the family trees!

MilutinMujovic

FreezerBunnyCowplant wrote: »

Hopefully they‘ll gonna update the family trees!

I doubt they will even though I would love to see that happening. They're notorious for leaving already shipped stuff intact.
All I want is for them to prove me wrong and improve family trees, occults, and inventory but that's almost certainly not happening.