The Sims 4 core game play is broken. It's not a sims game. Grindy hold your hold, linear aspirations should never ever be in the Sims. Same as holding build, buy and cas items behind achieving certain levels of career unlockables.
Rather than fix meaningless trsits and shallow interactions that repeat constantly. (Seriously EA, reusing the same animation and giving it multiple names and calling it a new feature is very noticeable) For me, it doesn't matter if they announce university, farming and every little thing the community wants- it will be shallow, it will have the depth of a puddle because almost 5 years in why would it not be? It's going to be recycled. And the thing with recycling things is its only good if it works in the first place. But bugs are excused by so many and overlooked when the patches fix one issue but then break several more features. Some of which hadn't long been fixed.
But let the gurus announce a white colour swatch for a shelf or a door and watch the community scream in excitement. There is half the battle right there.
4 does have some good ideas imo. The problem, as I see it, is lack of proper execution of those ideas. It is so obvious to me that everything is rushed. Resulting in things being done incompletely and of poor quality. It's been 4's main problem from the beginning and every pack/patch just exacerbates the problem. To make matters worse, they either take forever to fix a lot of problems they cause or they don't fix them at all. It's like they move on to the next project and forget about the mess they created.
@LiELF I think what people are getting at with rotational play is that in the sims 2 you can pick up where you left off with no worries of your sim changing careers, relationships or going through other changes with out your knowledge. Where as in the sims 4 you have the issue where you leave a household to play another and come back to so many changes. That's the point those mentioning it are trying to make that makes rotational play in the sims 4 flawed. In a way it reminds me of the sims 3 when i first played and tried to rotational play like the sims 2 but when I saw my sim from my other household on the street she'd gained so much weight and I'd worked hard on making sure she kept fit. The difference here is there is no "real" story progression so there's no worries of your sim having babies with someone and such. But then there's the fear of your sim changing careers and losing that progress you made as well as relationships changing or being culled. I noticed even with my households in the hearted area of manage households (forgive me I can't think of the proper name right now lol) they still change careers and though I don't rotational play anymore, as I use MCCC, I notice when I go out to eat or to the gym there is my doctor sim being a fitness trainer or my scientist being a chef.
"Bada su the gorn bada su the brawn bada bady oda aba donk donk donk gerbits gerbits vo gerbits".
Mention of culling is another thing I really hate about 4. It wouldn't be necessary to have several bartenders working at the same bar if they didn't keep throwing new ones into the job unnecessaryily. Eventually, the game has way too many npc sims in it.
@LiELF I think what people are getting at with rotational play is that in the sims 2 you can pick up where you left off with no worries of your sim changing careers, relationships or going through other changes with out your knowledge. Where as in the sims 4 you have the issue where you leave a household to play another and come back to so many changes. That's the point those mentioning it are trying to make that makes rotational play in the sims 4 flawed. In a way it reminds me of the sims 3 when i first played and tried to rotational play like the sims 2 but when I saw my sim from my other household on the street she'd gained so much weight and I'd worked hard on making sure she kept fit. The difference here is there is no "real" story progression so there's no worries of your sim having babies with someone and such. But then there's the fear of your sim changing careers and losing that progress you made as well as relationships changing or being culled. I noticed even with my households in the hearted area of manage households (forgive me I can't think of the proper name right now lol) they still change careers and though I don't rotational play anymore, as I use MCCC, I notice when I go out to eat or to the gym there is my doctor sim being a fitness trainer or my scientist being a chef.
I totally agree with you. As I explained above, it's mainly the Story Progression that messes up rotational play. And, as you mentioned, culling. Ideally, I would like a return to Sims 2 style rotational play because it truly left alone played households and the player had full control. But I doubt that EA would go back to the time stop on lots because it seems like they've been focusing more on a realistic uniform passage of time for all Sims at once, which will probably always contribute to issues when a player leaves a household for a period of time to play another one.
@LiELF I think what people are getting at with rotational play is that in the sims 2 you can pick up where you left off with no worries of your sim changing careers, relationships or going through other changes with out your knowledge. Where as in the sims 4 you have the issue where you leave a household to play another and come back to so many changes. That's the point those mentioning it are trying to make that makes rotational play in the sims 4 flawed. In a way it reminds me of the sims 3 when i first played and tried to rotational play like the sims 2 but when I saw my sim from my other household on the street she'd gained so much weight and I'd worked hard on making sure she kept fit. The difference here is there is no "real" story progression so there's no worries of your sim having babies with someone and such. But then there's the fear of your sim changing careers and losing that progress you made as well as relationships changing or being culled. I noticed even with my households in the hearted area of manage households (forgive me I can't think of the proper name right now lol) they still change careers and though I don't rotational play anymore, as I use MCCC, I notice when I go out to eat or to the gym there is my doctor sim being a fitness trainer or my scientist being a chef.
I totally agree with you. As I explained above, it's mainly the Story Progression that messes up rotational play. And, as you mentioned, culling. Ideally, I would like a return to Sims 2 style rotational play because it truly left alone played households and the player had full control. But I doubt that EA would go back to the time stop on lots because it seems like they've been focusing more on a realistic uniform passage of time for all Sims at once, which will probably always contribute to issues when a player leaves a household for a period of time to play another one.
I'm curious to what approach they can take to solve this issue...I know not everyone can be pleased, however in this case, for rotational players, this is a big issue.
"Bada su the gorn bada su the brawn bada bady oda aba donk donk donk gerbits gerbits vo gerbits".
I don’t see EA going back to proper rotational play. I don’t consider what the sims 4 has as rotational play either though. It’s like a poor man version of it. I know the sims 2 rotational style wasn’t for everyone but at least in 2, if I leave a house at 6pm Monday Winter, when I return it’s still that time and nothing has changed. Literally nothing.
In sims 4 when I rotate, it’s several days later, the pets are stinking, starving and sick, my sims always seem to have a same sex love interest regardless of their sexuality and my unemployed sims seem to be bar tenders or massage therapists. They also may have gained skills that don’t suit them I.e my lazy sim will have got several points of fitness or the weirdest one was my evil sim had a good reputation and lots of friends!
And if you want to play sims 3 style you are in trouble as without any story progression your town literally becomes a ghost town within a few generations. The game is trying to be everything and not doing any play style justice.
I don’t see EA going back to proper rotational play. I don’t consider what the sims 4 has as rotational play either though. It’s like a poor man version of it. I know the sims 2 rotational style wasn’t for everyone but at least in 2, if I leave a house at 6pm Monday Winter, when I return it’s still that time and nothing has changed. Literally nothing.
In sims 4 when I rotate, it’s several days later, the pets are stinking, starving and sick, my sims always seem to have a same sex love interest regardless of their sexuality and my unemployed sims seem to be bar tenders or massage therapists. They also may have gained skills that don’t suit them I.e my lazy sim will have got several points of fitness or the weirdest one was my evil sim had a good reputation and lots of friends!
And if you want to play sims 3 style you are in trouble as without any story progression your town literally becomes a ghost town within a few generations. The game is trying to be everything and not doing any play style justice.
To be fair, I can easily seeing them to manage to do rotational play just fine, it's just that they're not going to.
There's nothing stopping them from using TS4 like marking system, except that the marked families freeze proper. The game would need to register the day, the season, the weather, everyone's needs and activities as you save (we could in TS2, surely we can in later games too?) and reload the exact state.
And it is not that relationships did not change in TS2, it is just that sims did not fall in love autonomously. Meaning until player initiates it, that should not happen for best results, unless it is a non marked family interacting with non marked family, then story progression could take hold of them.
I kinda like story progression in sims 3.There was no stress.To know other sims were being born in the world.I wish we had the option still.The game seems to not take in account the play styles of the player.
in terms of leaving the lot, I wish they had gone the route of sims 2 where time stopped, versus sims 3 where time keeps moving. This is the main reason I hope that they dont give us a university pack yet, doing the active careers I barely keep my sims I'm not playing alive, think about a whole sim-week long semester and having time continue to march forward between your university sim and your family if I play an active career I spend more time on loading screens than actually playing just to keep the stay at home dad taking care of the toddlers.
This type of play keeping time moving when off your home lot was fine in 3 because of the open world - if something was really wrong (like a plate blocking the dad from getting the toddler food) it was easy to focus back on him without a 3 min loading screen. But in sims 4 and somethings wrong when I'm on an active career I have to sit through a 3-5 min loading screen get dad to deal with child, switch control to Dr.Mom another 3-5 min loading screen do-while loop for as long as there is an issue with the kid. Active careers aren't even fun for me because I sit through hours of load screens and it takes me 8 real-time hours to actually play an active career since I'm switching control so often and this is with autonomy ON.
I was just talking about The Sims with someone (original) and good grief, it makes me sad, this game here will need another three to five years.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all. Look what they've done to my song Ma.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I kinda like story progression in sims 3.There was no stress.To know other sims were being born in the world.I wish we had the option still.The game seems to not take in account the play styles of the player.
Personally I liked SP too, mainly because I'm not really a rotational player, so it actually helped to make my town feel alive. I think the main gripe for all of us, regardless of play-style, is the option of Story Progression, or rather the lack there of. Surely with all the improvements in technology we should be able to at least have a toggled option to either have SP or not in our game. It'd have to be one of those "You must restart the game to see these changes" kind of option, but the fact it's not an option at all is just further contributing to the limited ways of TS4.
The Sims 4 core game play is broken. It's not a sims game. Grindy hold your hold, linear aspirations should never ever be in the Sims. Same as holding build, buy and cas items behind achieving certain levels of career unlockables.
Rather than fix meaningless trsits and shallow interactions that repeat constantly. (Seriously EA, reusing the same animation and giving it multiple names and calling it a new feature is very noticeable) For me, it doesn't matter if they announce university, farming and every little thing the community wants- it will be shallow, it will have the depth of a puddle because almost 5 years in why would it not be? It's going to be recycled. And the thing with recycling things is its only good if it works in the first place. But bugs are excused by so many and overlooked when the patches fix one issue but then break several more features. Some of which hadn't long been fixed.
But let the gurus announce a white colour swatch for a shelf or a door and watch the community scream in excitement. There is half the battle right there.
Also agree with this. I feel like too many of the younger/newer Simmers are accepting TS4's way of releasing content as completely normal, hence why I think they defend the game at all. I don't mean to say the game can't possibly be enjoyable, everyone has their likes and dislikes, but when fans of an established franchise (one that's already looked down upon by other gamers for being "silly" or a "dress-up game" I might add) absolutely lose their minds over... a white color swatch for certain pieces of furniture introduced almost four years into the game's life...? It's utterly ridiculous. Honestly I've pretty much given up on that battle, I'm just so tired of not being appreciated by a company I held in such high esteem until a few years ago. I'm just gonna collect all the discs for the first three games and play those for the rest of my life, lol, they all have their pros and cons, sure, but at least in 1, 2, and 3 the pros outweigh the cons (for me personally). At this point, at least to me, TS4 isn't even part of the main franchise, just a crappy side game I don't wanna give any more thought to lol
I'm pretty sure you can add your own color swatches with Sims 4 Studio, I think it takes like 5 minutes maybe? Sim supply did it by making his own white shelf, if I remember correctly.
I dont have sims 1, and I've never had the opportunity to play it, but I do have 2 and 3. I'm going through the base games as well as their stuff and expansion packs and seeing how much we actually get in each pack. Not really gameplay wise because I'm not sure how I would graph that accurately, but with Build/Buy and CAS stuff. I have all the items for sims 4 counted out and sims 2 bon voyage and Teen style stuff. I'll be a long process but I am curious to see if Sims 4 really lacks objects to make it feel empty or if its JUST gameplay that makes it feel empty.
I was just talking about The Sims with someone (original) and good grief, it makes me sad, this game here will need another three to five years.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all. Look what they've done to my song Ma.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
I think about the sadness in that a lot too... Heck, anyone can go onto YouTube and search for like "all sims games commercials" or something along those lines and find compilation videos of how many items each pack came with and all that good stuff. TS1's first pack added over 120 items to the game, iirc, that's insane for a game released 20 years ago!! How many did TS4's first pack add to the base?
@Techbilt I'm extremely excited to see your results!! I don't have all the games myself, otherwise I would defintiely help you out, but I do have every TS2 game, if you do need or want help counting anything
@SeloBee as of yesterday with my game up to date there are 678 Cas items (not including skin colors, hair colors, or tattoos mostly because I forgot about tattoos.) There are 1234 Build/Buy items (some might be repeats of the same item since they can show up multiple times in category view) 3 neighborhoods, and 12 careers for the base game
According to sims wiki the first stuff pack was Outdoor retreat and there were 74 CAS items, 81 Build buy items and 1 neighborhood.
I was just talking about The Sims with someone (original) and good grief, it makes me sad, this game here will need another three to five years.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all. Look what they've done to my song Ma.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
So true. I feel like a dinosaur but Im just 23 almost 24 years old. I was introduced to The Sims as a little child, I used to watch and play with my cousin. I got The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 later after getting The Sims 2 and The Urbz for playstation 2 as a christmas gift in 2005. At first I tought The Sims 4 was like a new version of The Sims (1) and it would be improved but after all this years I fond that The Sims is a better game. Obviously The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 are far much better but comparing TS4 to TS makes me even more sad because i see how lame TS4 is. Get Famous was the biggest responsible for this. I always wanted a good remake of The Sims Superstar wich is by far the best fame pack in the series, but we got what we have now... I shared my frustrations about The Sims 4 a lot of times so I will not be making another long text. I just want to thank you for this comment because I really agree with all what you said. I just wish some new players could or want to give The Sims a try because its a great game for an old game and aged so well. I don't see The Sims 4 aging well for some reason. And we all have to agree that The Sims soundtrack is iconic and the best of all!
This comment made me thinking about all this time and I just realized that The Sims 3 is turning 10 in less than a month. I feel old!
I'm pretty sure you can add your own color swatches with Sims 4 Studio, I think it takes like 5 minutes maybe? Sim supply did it by making his own white shelf, if I remember correctly.
I dont have sims 1, and I've never had the opportunity to play it, but I do have 2 and 3. I'm going through the base games as well as their stuff and expansion packs and seeing how much we actually get in each pack. Not really gameplay wise because I'm not sure how I would graph that accurately, but with Build/Buy and CAS stuff. I have all the items for sims 4 counted out and sims 2 bon voyage and Teen style stuff. I'll be a long process but I am curious to see if Sims 4 really lacks objects to make it feel empty or if its JUST gameplay that makes it feel empty.
I think you misunderstood. TS1 had a tool which we could change a color to a pattern etc. and add that to game. It came with the base game. It's The Sims Creator where we could layer clothes, change colors and patterns etc. Also create Sims outside the game by painting them ourselves or photoskinning a face to put in the game. TS4 is the only game that hasn't offered something like that, since TS1 had Sims Creator, TS2 had Bodyshop (but you needed outside programs) and TS3 had CASt. TS4 is the only game that doesn't offer Simmers a way to create their own stuff, with a tool/program supplied by the company. ETA: Even TS1 has a neighborhood editor. Hate a pink tree, move it, delete it, or plant something else. I'm not really talking about the count of objects but the depth in five EPs and a base, compared to game that is taking more than five years to add any depth. Just another tidbit, most paintings and objects (decorative) in TS1 cause something to happen....it's just decor in TS4.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Yea I agree with you guys. I have played The sims 2,3 and now 4 but let me tell you it IS the real step back. Maybe I am in minority but I really could see this coming way before release. It was so obvious that this iteration would be lacking in almost every way.
Todllers were missing! Open world was missing, pools, create a style, proper memories...and what actually WAS in the game? I can see only one improvement - graphics. I really hated The sims 3 plastic sims and ok optimalization is also somewhat better but certainly not perfect.
They took everything and gave nothing back. I hoped that this iteration will be over soon but it is actually the opposite. Oh well...
Hats separate from hairs. That's important to me.
ETA: searching in buy mode is a simple savior!
"Challenge everything" My Game Twitter
EA, fix the EA app & CAW EIG!
Yea I agree with you guys. I have played The sims 2,3 and now 4 but let me tell you it IS the real step back. Maybe I am in minority but I really could see this coming way before release. It was so obvious that this iteration would be lacking in almost every way.
Todllers were missing! Open world was missing, pools, create a style, proper memories...and what actually WAS in the game? I can see only one improvement - graphics. I really hated The sims 3 plastic sims and ok optimalization is also somewhat better but certainly not perfect.
They took everything and gave nothing back. I hoped that this iteration will be over soon but it is actually the opposite. Oh well...
Hats separate from hairs. That's important to me.
ETA: searching in buy mode is a simple savior!
Yes, hats are an improvement. However, the search feature isn't all that. I've never been one to remember for two seconds what the name of a toilet is, and or the name of a chair. So, trying to think of the name of something to type into a search field didn't do much for me. It really is much easier for me just to click on functions (room pictures) in the older games to find what belongs in a bathroom, what belongs in a living room or bedroom etc. Picture icons showing the room/ surfaces/ table.
With that said, there are several things I would carry over to TS5 from TS4, like in all the games, but a search field isn't one of them.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I was just talking about The Sims with someone (original) and good grief, it makes me sad, this game here will need another three to five years.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all. Look what they've done to my song Ma.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
I loved Makin Magic, one of the best EP's ever across the entire series.
I'm pretty sure you can add your own color swatches with Sims 4 Studio, I think it takes like 5 minutes maybe? Sim supply did it by making his own white shelf, if I remember correctly.
The fact that theres no single one official tool from EA to The Sims 4 is also questionable. The Sims 4 Studio was made by fans not EA/Maxis
I was just talking about The Sims with someone (original) and good grief, it makes me sad, this game here will need another three to five years.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all. Look what they've done to my song Ma.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
From my prospective it was done this way since they planned this direction with it as they said from the very beginning it would not be like the rest of the previous series and was made to be developed over a much longer period of time - that had no limit on the game like previous games did.
They always stated it clearly from the beginning when they were showing it at Gamescom for the first time even - it was designed to not follow the time line of past 3 series and had no end date until they were feasibly wanting to end it. It is not need on their part to end it - so they won't. Only players have the need by asking for stuff that was in previous games - so devs always have the things they wanted for the game as well - and they see no feasible reason to end it - seeing it constantly grows now. If you ask me that is how studios grow and Maxis keeps growing - the fan base is growing every year up 35 percent than each year before - why would they ever stop.
Personally I do think there is going to be a Sims 5 too - but it is going by way of the Atlas program the heads saw all their games going - and will be online - there's lots of talk about AR (not VR - but AR) the cloud and unlimited storage - that will be Sims 5 - and like they have two mobile Sims games that are also going no where but to Firemonkeys studio with some of the Sims mobile folks going there as well - I think Sims 4 will keep producing - but Sims 5 will be the new Sims Online and both will be made. That grows the fan base especially with the younger people and a good number of game changers too that fuel online games - as I ventured around on various places younger simmers go (thanks in part to my own younger simmers granddaughters, nieces and nephew (ages 14 - 26) and where they and their friends go - and it is true - they are crying out for online - AR, VR - and all sorts of things I am not interested in at all but they are dying to get. Many as I said are already simmers but not as dedicated as many of us vet types are just for online connection to games - so many of them play online MMO's etc - while chatting about wanting their sims to go online. They firmly believe it will be like other online is now not the horror Sims online was previously and are really interest in AR more than VR from what I can see.
But I would not be surprised if Sims 4 keeps going - especially when SG Lyndsay and SG Duke hinted yesterday of the possible really long future ahead also for Sims 4 - at least that's what I heard - it was a lot more than just 3 more years.... It does also explain them going with a smart technology engine in Sims 4 . But personally I am more convinced than ever Sims 5 will be online (don't forget they planned the original online to also work at the same time as Sims 1 and Sims 2 worked.) So it wouldn't surprise me they did it again - especially now they have the Atlas Project being activated - it's online, on the cloud, its working with SEED program for AR and VR -
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I remember Grant went to Stockholm some time ago. He mentioned it on Twitter at the time. That's were SEED is. This is their website.
It's worthwhile seeing the video. https://www.ea.com/seed#news
It all sounds really appealing, but the video speaks in general terms with no real specifics. I'm very skeptical EA will put in the budget enough time and money to do a quality job of it anyway.
Comments
Rather than fix meaningless trsits and shallow interactions that repeat constantly. (Seriously EA, reusing the same animation and giving it multiple names and calling it a new feature is very noticeable) For me, it doesn't matter if they announce university, farming and every little thing the community wants- it will be shallow, it will have the depth of a puddle because almost 5 years in why would it not be? It's going to be recycled. And the thing with recycling things is its only good if it works in the first place. But bugs are excused by so many and overlooked when the patches fix one issue but then break several more features. Some of which hadn't long been fixed.
But let the gurus announce a white colour swatch for a shelf or a door and watch the community scream in excitement. There is half the battle right there.
I totally agree with you. As I explained above, it's mainly the Story Progression that messes up rotational play. And, as you mentioned, culling. Ideally, I would like a return to Sims 2 style rotational play because it truly left alone played households and the player had full control. But I doubt that EA would go back to the time stop on lots because it seems like they've been focusing more on a realistic uniform passage of time for all Sims at once, which will probably always contribute to issues when a player leaves a household for a period of time to play another one.
I'm curious to what approach they can take to solve this issue...I know not everyone can be pleased, however in this case, for rotational players, this is a big issue.
In sims 4 when I rotate, it’s several days later, the pets are stinking, starving and sick, my sims always seem to have a same sex love interest regardless of their sexuality and my unemployed sims seem to be bar tenders or massage therapists. They also may have gained skills that don’t suit them I.e my lazy sim will have got several points of fitness or the weirdest one was my evil sim had a good reputation and lots of friends!
And if you want to play sims 3 style you are in trouble as without any story progression your town literally becomes a ghost town within a few generations. The game is trying to be everything and not doing any play style justice.
To be fair, I can easily seeing them to manage to do rotational play just fine, it's just that they're not going to.
There's nothing stopping them from using TS4 like marking system, except that the marked families freeze proper. The game would need to register the day, the season, the weather, everyone's needs and activities as you save (we could in TS2, surely we can in later games too?) and reload the exact state.
And it is not that relationships did not change in TS2, it is just that sims did not fall in love autonomously. Meaning until player initiates it, that should not happen for best results, unless it is a non marked family interacting with non marked family, then story progression could take hold of them.
This type of play keeping time moving when off your home lot was fine in 3 because of the open world - if something was really wrong (like a plate blocking the dad from getting the toddler food) it was easy to focus back on him without a 3 min loading screen. But in sims 4 and somethings wrong when I'm on an active career I have to sit through a 3-5 min loading screen get dad to deal with child, switch control to Dr.Mom another 3-5 min loading screen do-while loop for as long as there is an issue with the kid. Active careers aren't even fun for me because I sit through hours of load screens and it takes me 8 real-time hours to actually play an active career since I'm switching control so often and this is with autonomy ON.
We all compare TS4 to TS2 or TS3, but none of us ever compare it to TS1. (And we should). Look at all the stuff in TS1 that we still don't have in TS4. Compare the gameplay, too, another three years to get even an object from TS1? If we compared the CAS tools TS4 still can't photoSkin any face into the game, can't paint a Sim skin, can't layer clothes, can't change clothes swatches or add our own clothes swatches/patterns etc. And TS1 could twenty years ago.
If I think about the packs in TS4 compared to TS1 it still falls short. Livin' Large to a stuff pack that added a butler..maybe a few other stuff packs that added glamour furniture and clothes for parties. Compared to Livin Large tiles for floors..again how many does TS4 have now? Very Few.
Hot Date compared to possibly Dine Out and or base game dates in TS4..and or bar night with ghosts or aliens...pitiful.
Makin Magic compared to Vampires, I really like the Vampires pack but c'mon, twenty years ago we had magic and all that went along with it without ever having to participate in magic. Churn butter, weave thread, nector making etc. etc. etc. And a town. With three or four hoods.
Vaction compared to Outdoor Retreat or even Jungle Adventure.
SuperStar compared to Get Famous...oh the tradegy of it all.
Can't even move a tree in the neighborhood view. We could dig ponds and decorate the hood twenty years ago.
And all the flavor and every object, and every gamplay action not in TS4. The Sims original still is the better game when it took five years for TS4 to come up with one lifestate, one acting career, one restaurant pack, and a handful of traits, and careers. Twenty years ago, we had a game we could sink our teeth into, I don't know what to call this travesty other than a cash grab, and mobile gaming on steriods.
Personally I liked SP too, mainly because I'm not really a rotational player, so it actually helped to make my town feel alive. I think the main gripe for all of us, regardless of play-style, is the option of Story Progression, or rather the lack there of. Surely with all the improvements in technology we should be able to at least have a toggled option to either have SP or not in our game. It'd have to be one of those "You must restart the game to see these changes" kind of option, but the fact it's not an option at all is just further contributing to the limited ways of TS4.
Also agree with this. I feel like too many of the younger/newer Simmers are accepting TS4's way of releasing content as completely normal, hence why I think they defend the game at all. I don't mean to say the game can't possibly be enjoyable, everyone has their likes and dislikes, but when fans of an established franchise (one that's already looked down upon by other gamers for being "silly" or a "dress-up game" I might add) absolutely lose their minds over... a white color swatch for certain pieces of furniture introduced almost four years into the game's life...? It's utterly ridiculous. Honestly I've pretty much given up on that battle, I'm just so tired of not being appreciated by a company I held in such high esteem until a few years ago. I'm just gonna collect all the discs for the first three games and play those for the rest of my life, lol, they all have their pros and cons, sure, but at least in 1, 2, and 3 the pros outweigh the cons (for me personally). At this point, at least to me, TS4 isn't even part of the main franchise, just a crappy side game I don't wanna give any more thought to lol
I dont have sims 1, and I've never had the opportunity to play it, but I do have 2 and 3. I'm going through the base games as well as their stuff and expansion packs and seeing how much we actually get in each pack. Not really gameplay wise because I'm not sure how I would graph that accurately, but with Build/Buy and CAS stuff. I have all the items for sims 4 counted out and sims 2 bon voyage and Teen style stuff. I'll be a long process but I am curious to see if Sims 4 really lacks objects to make it feel empty or if its JUST gameplay that makes it feel empty.
I think about the sadness in that a lot too... Heck, anyone can go onto YouTube and search for like "all sims games commercials" or something along those lines and find compilation videos of how many items each pack came with and all that good stuff. TS1's first pack added over 120 items to the game, iirc, that's insane for a game released 20 years ago!! How many did TS4's first pack add to the base?
@Techbilt I'm extremely excited to see your results!! I don't have all the games myself, otherwise I would defintiely help you out, but I do have every TS2 game, if you do need or want help counting anything
According to sims wiki the first stuff pack was Outdoor retreat and there were 74 CAS items, 81 Build buy items and 1 neighborhood.
edit: I would love help counting
So true. I feel like a dinosaur but Im just 23 almost 24 years old. I was introduced to The Sims as a little child, I used to watch and play with my cousin. I got The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 later after getting The Sims 2 and The Urbz for playstation 2 as a christmas gift in 2005. At first I tought The Sims 4 was like a new version of The Sims (1) and it would be improved but after all this years I fond that The Sims is a better game. Obviously The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 are far much better but comparing TS4 to TS makes me even more sad because i see how lame TS4 is. Get Famous was the biggest responsible for this. I always wanted a good remake of The Sims Superstar wich is by far the best fame pack in the series, but we got what we have now... I shared my frustrations about The Sims 4 a lot of times so I will not be making another long text. I just want to thank you for this comment because I really agree with all what you said. I just wish some new players could or want to give The Sims a try because its a great game for an old game and aged so well. I don't see The Sims 4 aging well for some reason. And we all have to agree that The Sims soundtrack is iconic and the best of all!
This comment made me thinking about all this time and I just realized that The Sims 3 is turning 10 in less than a month. I feel old!
I think you misunderstood. TS1 had a tool which we could change a color to a pattern etc. and add that to game. It came with the base game. It's The Sims Creator where we could layer clothes, change colors and patterns etc. Also create Sims outside the game by painting them ourselves or photoskinning a face to put in the game. TS4 is the only game that hasn't offered something like that, since TS1 had Sims Creator, TS2 had Bodyshop (but you needed outside programs) and TS3 had CASt. TS4 is the only game that doesn't offer Simmers a way to create their own stuff, with a tool/program supplied by the company. ETA: Even TS1 has a neighborhood editor. Hate a pink tree, move it, delete it, or plant something else. I'm not really talking about the count of objects but the depth in five EPs and a base, compared to game that is taking more than five years to add any depth. Just another tidbit, most paintings and objects (decorative) in TS1 cause something to happen....it's just decor in TS4.
Hats separate from hairs. That's important to me.
ETA: searching in buy mode is a simple savior!
My Game Twitter
EA, fix the EA app & CAW EIG!
Yes, hats are an improvement. However, the search feature isn't all that. I've never been one to remember for two seconds what the name of a toilet is, and or the name of a chair. So, trying to think of the name of something to type into a search field didn't do much for me. It really is much easier for me just to click on functions (room pictures) in the older games to find what belongs in a bathroom, what belongs in a living room or bedroom etc. Picture icons showing the room/ surfaces/ table.
With that said, there are several things I would carry over to TS5 from TS4, like in all the games, but a search field isn't one of them.
All my creations are CC free.
I loved Makin Magic, one of the best EP's ever across the entire series.
The fact that theres no single one official tool from EA to The Sims 4 is also questionable. The Sims 4 Studio was made by fans not EA/Maxis
From my prospective it was done this way since they planned this direction with it as they said from the very beginning it would not be like the rest of the previous series and was made to be developed over a much longer period of time - that had no limit on the game like previous games did.
They always stated it clearly from the beginning when they were showing it at Gamescom for the first time even - it was designed to not follow the time line of past 3 series and had no end date until they were feasibly wanting to end it. It is not need on their part to end it - so they won't. Only players have the need by asking for stuff that was in previous games - so devs always have the things they wanted for the game as well - and they see no feasible reason to end it - seeing it constantly grows now. If you ask me that is how studios grow and Maxis keeps growing - the fan base is growing every year up 35 percent than each year before - why would they ever stop.
Personally I do think there is going to be a Sims 5 too - but it is going by way of the Atlas program the heads saw all their games going - and will be online - there's lots of talk about AR (not VR - but AR) the cloud and unlimited storage - that will be Sims 5 - and like they have two mobile Sims games that are also going no where but to Firemonkeys studio with some of the Sims mobile folks going there as well - I think Sims 4 will keep producing - but Sims 5 will be the new Sims Online and both will be made. That grows the fan base especially with the younger people and a good number of game changers too that fuel online games - as I ventured around on various places younger simmers go (thanks in part to my own younger simmers granddaughters, nieces and nephew (ages 14 - 26) and where they and their friends go - and it is true - they are crying out for online - AR, VR - and all sorts of things I am not interested in at all but they are dying to get. Many as I said are already simmers but not as dedicated as many of us vet types are just for online connection to games - so many of them play online MMO's etc - while chatting about wanting their sims to go online. They firmly believe it will be like other online is now not the horror Sims online was previously and are really interest in AR more than VR from what I can see.
But I would not be surprised if Sims 4 keeps going - especially when SG Lyndsay and SG Duke hinted yesterday of the possible really long future ahead also for Sims 4 - at least that's what I heard - it was a lot more than just 3 more years.... It does also explain them going with a smart technology engine in Sims 4 . But personally I am more convinced than ever Sims 5 will be online (don't forget they planned the original online to also work at the same time as Sims 1 and Sims 2 worked.) So it wouldn't surprise me they did it again - especially now they have the Atlas Project being activated - it's online, on the cloud, its working with SEED program for AR and VR -
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
It's worthwhile seeing the video.
https://www.ea.com/seed#news