You've expressed yourself wonderfully, I agree with you. Many players (myself included) have been pointing these things out since Sims 4 launched. And I will say that I'm enjoying IL, but like everything that's come out for S4, it's very underwhelming. Especially when you are coming from playing the vacation packs from Sims, Sims 2, and Sims 3.
If Sims 4 was my first game in the Sims series, the whole thing would knock my socks off. It would be so awesome. But knowing what came before it. Playing what came before it. And seeing how great of and experience EA can give us with The Sims, Sims 4 has me feeling short changed.
But that's just me. I know other players who feel that Sims 4 is the best out of the series, and they are over the moon with everything.
yes i notice that. for me i have been complaining about how underwhelming the game feels since day 1. i do think the game is in the best shape its ever been but i mean that is not saying much. its improved but it feels like its a bit too little too late. and as a youtuber pointed out some packs feel like they have no reason to exist even though they could have impacted the game quite a bit.(for example the outdoor retreat game pack) does anyone actually go there i am seriously asking this because i personally see no reason to go other then just to go there and if you go once or twice i feel like the novelty of going there wears off fast. like what if your sims actually told you oh hey i want to go on vacation to grante falls and their needs would decay faster or something like that until they went. (yes i know i just 1)could get a mod for that or 2)request that as a mod if its not done yet but i should not have to rely on third party mods to get that kind of experence)
Yes I send my sims to Granite Falls on vacation to camp.
I have already responded to this thread earlier, but I had something to add now that I have been playing with this world for a few months. I don’t really get the hatred this pack has evoked. Even Iron Seagull (normally a big Sims 4 fan) was just saying today that the consensus among Simmers is that the pack is a disappointment. (I don’t know which simmers — other YouTubers?)
That feeling is the opposite of my experience with this pack: it remains my second favourite pack (after Seasons, which is still my favourite) and Sulani remains my favourite world. I love having sims live there and I think the ocean is really well done in terms of animations, interactions etc. In particular, I love seeing the fish, sea turtles etc. The other day my Conservationist Sim was diving and spotted jellyfish for the first time in my game. 1st person camera mode makes snorkeling feel very immersive.
Swimming and fishing have both really been greatly improved from the basegame, and are well utilized in this world. I even like the low key cultural events and the new kava party, which are fun new and easy ways to socialize. I also love taking my swims fishing all over the world using the island canoe.
The volcanic lot trait and the weather in the world adds a welcome randomness to the game (my sims have frequently lost patio furniture to the many lightning strikes of the Monsoon storms and I have witnessed no less than 2 NPCs die by lightning strike too). Best of all for me was the Off the Grid lot trait, which is perfectly
suited to Sulani. I have spent literally hours playing with this feature and it has truly expanded and altered my game play.
Do I wish there were a few more things in the pack, like a secret underwater lot or active lifeguarding? Sure but that is always true: I always want more interactions, recipes, features etc with every pack. I can see why people might resent not having something they particularly wanted in an island/ ocean pack, (like active scuba diving), I guess.
But I don’t understand the frequent complaint that there is no gameplay in Island Living or that it is entirely empty. I’ve been playing the Sims since the beginning and I still find the pack rich and fun after weeks of dedicated playing and building. I can even see places where it has improved on previous beach/ ocean packs. It seems to me like maybe the people complaining the most were already bored with the game or were not that big fans of it even before the pack came out. That’s fine, everyone has their own preferences, but it makes some of the criticism seem hyperbolic to me as a bona fide fan of the pack, the game and the series.
It feels like a game pack to me. And it's good for a gamepack. As an expansion pack? No. It doesn't expand the game -- everything it does is limited to one small world. I expect that from packs like Vampires and the new RoM. Also, it's very easy to compare it to the Sims 3 Isla Paradiso as well and be disappointed that it doesn't come anywhere near having the same gameplay elements (and yes, I know about the bugs -- I use a fixed world and love it and I blame Maxis for not fixing bugs that modders were able to).
All in all, if you love it, enjoy it. I enjoyed playing it, but there wasn't enough to it to keep me entertained. I was really looking forward to this pack, and it taught me that I should never, ever, ever buy a pack that's not on sale. There's just not enough to them anymore.
It’s too bad you’re disappointed. You must be even more dissatisfied with the Gamepacks. Glimmerbrook has only 5 lots (plus a hidden realm, so I guess six), similar to the Vampires pack. Both have really themed and narrow gameplay as well (even though I loved it).
I am sorry you don’t like Sulani only because I have thoroughly enjoyed it as a unique and relaxing environment place to enjoy some new aspects of the game. For me, it came with a beautiful and varied world (bigger than those in Gamepacks) and fun, varied gameplay centred around beaches, water, tropical weather, a new lifestate, swimming, and island life. There’s new part time jobs and collectibles to sell, ways to live Off the Grid with foraging and without jobs, and boats, including a canoe for fishing anywhere. Finally, the premade sims and houses are well done, and sims can live in a beautiful tropical location instead of just holidaying there. I hope some day they add a few more beaches and swimming throughout the game worlds, but even if they don’t I am still happy with this pack and think it has more than a gamepack in it.
I do agree that it is always good to buy things, especially games, on sale, though. I bought the bulk of my sims 2 EPs on sale; later I got some of the TS3 SPs and nearly all of the (unreasonably expensive) store stuff that I wanted on sale, as well as Sims 4 (the initial game) and even some of the GPs and SPs that interested me less, (like Fitness Stuff). I think of this as bargain hunting and being a smart consumer since these games have always been very expensive in their totality.
@simfriend1968 does this pack add a lot of content to play with? yes for sure... but does it substantially expand the game? ummm, that's a big no and it shows.
i dont like celebrities and fame being in my game but i really appreciated how get famous actually affected and 'expands' a lot gameplay systems like them careers and social interactions whereas in island living, it only offers a pretty world and all content is limited in sulani only, it's like having seasons being confined to one world only if you know what am sayin.
for me, it feels like four stuff packs squeezed together and that's all.
You are right about the celebrity system being well implemented. I like GF, and especially the reputation system; the fame system is also well done (I love that my bestselling authors and famous artists can become celebrities and win awards); I also love the club system in Get Together, which has much more utility, purpose and fun than the open careers (even though I liked those too). I am curious; what sort of similar system do you think ought to have been in a beach pack?
For me it was the Off-the-Grid trait and all its associated gameplay. Even though it was patched in for free and rather inartfully executed, it seems to have been designed to go with this pack and really works well with it. You can also use it elsewhere in the game worlds, but it is most fun and interesting in Sulani.
I had oodles of fun this summer just playing with the same castaway family who literally had nothing and who lived on an empty beach initially, foraging and fishing, using the traps, selling sea shells, found treasure, and later produce as well as crafted goods to survive. They slowly and painfully earned their way to a small, open beach house, and then a bigger one and eventually opened a thriving retail business selling curios and collectibles. The whole thing was enormous fun and it revolutionized the way I play and how I have my sims interact.
For one thing, I went through all my houses and deleted most of the computers (replacing a few with laptops kept by the sims who need them for work in their inventories) and getting rid of most of the stereos and speakers too. This greatly improves sims’ liveliness and social interactions, since they seem to seek out each other out more, for both fun and socialization. It’s also more fun to watch them doing things to alleviate their boredom. (For instance in one case a set of bored parents stopped what they were doing to watch their kid’s puppet show and their fun levels climbed surprisingly quickly). Anyway, I still find this world very fun and often go back and play there rotationally.
I have already responded to this thread earlier, but I had something to add now that I have been playing with this world for a few months. I don’t really get the hatred this pack has evoked. Even Iron Seagull (normally a big Sims 4 fan) was just saying today that the consensus among Simmers is that the pack is a disappointment. (I don’t know which simmers — other YouTubers?)
That feeling is the opposite of my experience with this pack: it remains my second favourite pack (after Seasons, which is still my favourite) and Sulani remains my favourite world. I love having sims live there and I think the ocean is really well done in terms of animations, interactions etc. In particular, I love seeing the fish, sea turtles etc. The other day my Conservationist Sim was diving and spotted jellyfish for the first time in my game. 1st person camera mode makes snorkeling feel very immersive.
Swimming and fishing have both really been greatly improved from the basegame, and are well utilized in this world. I even like the low key cultural events and the new kava party, which are fun new and easy ways to socialize. I also love taking my swims fishing all over the world using the island canoe.
The volcanic lot trait and the weather in the world adds a welcome randomness to the game (my sims have frequently lost patio furniture to the many lightning strikes of the Monsoon storms and I have witnessed no less than 2 NPCs die by lightning strike too). Best of all for me was the Off the Grid lot trait, which is perfectly
suited to Sulani. I have spent literally hours playing with this feature and it has truly expanded and altered my game play.
Do I wish there were a few more things in the pack, like a secret underwater lot or active lifeguarding? Sure but that is always true: I always want more interactions, recipes, features etc with every pack. I can see why people might resent not having something they particularly wanted in an island/ ocean pack, (like active scuba diving), I guess.
But I don’t understand the frequent complaint that there is no gameplay in Island Living or that it is entirely empty. I’ve been playing the Sims since the beginning and I still find the pack rich and fun after weeks of dedicated playing and building. I can even see places where it has improved on previous beach/ ocean packs. It seems to me like maybe the people complaining the most were already bored with the game or were not that big fans of it even before the pack came out. That’s fine, everyone has their own preferences, but it makes some of the criticism seem hyperbolic to me as a bona fide fan of the pack, the game and the series.
It feels like a game pack to me. And it's good for a gamepack. As an expansion pack? No. It doesn't expand the game -- everything it does is limited to one small world. I expect that from packs like Vampires and the new RoM. Also, it's very easy to compare it to the Sims 3 Isla Paradiso as well and be disappointed that it doesn't come anywhere near having the same gameplay elements (and yes, I know about the bugs -- I use a fixed world and love it and I blame Maxis for not fixing bugs that modders were able to).
All in all, if you love it, enjoy it. I enjoyed playing it, but there wasn't enough to it to keep me entertained. I was really looking forward to this pack, and it taught me that I should never, ever, ever buy a pack that's not on sale. There's just not enough to them anymore.
It’s too bad you’re disappointed. You must be even more dissatisfied with the Gamepacks. Glimmerbrook has only 5 lots (plus a hidden realm, so I guess six), similar to the Vampires pack. Both have really themed and narrow gameplay as well (even though I loved it).
I am sorry you don’t like Sulani only because I have thoroughly enjoyed it as a unique and relaxing environment place to enjoy some new aspects of the game. For me, it came with a beautiful and varied world (bigger than those in Gamepacks) and fun, varied gameplay centred around beaches, water, tropical weather, a new lifestate, swimming, and island life. There’s new part time jobs and collectibles to sell, ways to live Off the Grid with foraging and without jobs, and boats, including a canoe for fishing anywhere. Finally, the premade sims and houses are well done, and sims can live in a beautiful tropical location instead of just holidaying there. I hope some day they add a few more beaches and swimming throughout the game worlds, but even if they don’t I am still happy with this pack and think it has more than a gamepack in it.
I do agree that it is always good to buy things, especially games, on sale, though. I bought the bulk of my sims 2 EPs on sale; later I got some of the TS3 SPs and nearly all of the (unreasonably expensive) store stuff that I wanted on sale, as well as Sims 4 (the initial game) and even some of the GPs and SPs that interested me less, (like Fitness Stuff). I think of this as bargain hunting and being a smart consumer since these games have always been very expensive in their totality.
Uh, okay? As I said, if you love it, great, enjoy it. I enjoyed it as well, but it really didn't expand the game and I got bored with it very quickly due to it not having much game play It didn't feel like it expanded the game for me. I'm glad you feel your got your money's worth!
Not sure if this is the right place, but why is there a gas mask in the CAS listing? It's white there with modernish styling, but still a gas mask like those I used back in navy days.
Not sure if this is the right place, but why is there a gas mask in the CAS listing? It's white there with modernish styling, but still a gas mask like those I used back in navy days.
Not sure if this is the right place, but why is there a gas mask in the CAS listing? It's white there with modernish styling, but still a gas mask like those I used back in navy days.
That should be with Strangerville.
As an alternative to the hazmat suit as the only thing the sim needs protection from is the spore overload. It has three air filtration canisters so should work well. Why would such a thing be put into IL?
Considering EP's are supposed to expand on the basegame and cost almost as much as a basegame, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect more from them.
Gamepacks (recently) are about half the price and seem to actually provide more than an EP?! Something feels a little off here...
It offers very little, 2 rabbit holes, sunbathing... they didn't even bother to flesh out the new meals with a full list of usable recipes. I hope a later update adds significantly to this pack.
I agree that it's a gorgeous world and there are definitely things that I like about the pack but it doesn't feel developed enough to be an EP. I can understand dissatisfaction with the content for the price. I got it on sale. It does feel like they phoned it in a bit especially with the lack of easy vacationing.
I like that you can live in the world and that you can make the focus about indigenous sims. It has definitely made me think a lot and see the world from a different perspective. Still ... we should be able to go on easy beach vacations similar to Granite Falls and Selvadorada. I know that we can do things in Manage Worlds but why? Why not just be able to send sims on vacation to a certain district in the world? Like Magnolia Promenade but a resort in Sulani with some AirBnBs.
I'm going in an interesting direction with developing Sulani so that it's still primarily led by the natives with only limited property ownership for outsiders. I've now got a shipwrecked guy who is surviving in the ship off the grid by fishing and selling shells like someone else mentioned. That's pretty cool. Eventually he'll figure out that there's a town nearby but I kind of want him to keep living in the ship.
Fun game, but yeah, more of a GP than an EP. One of the best worlds in the game, but kind of an argument for world packs.
I loved that it was very sizable world & fun to play in the summer. The only glitch that was a little anointing was that when my mermaid turned human she was invisible from the waist down. Lol Hopefully it will be fixed before late spring of 2020.
Was considering buying it but going to get the magic pack instead now I think
I honestly don't know which is worse.
At least it's an honest game pack, with a lower price, so the sale price will be even lower. Still, they need to fix the mess they made of it. They somehow need to be made to realize that over-promising and under-delivering don't cut it, that their golden bubble will one day burst. Something promoted as an EP and priced as one should have EP level content, which is a whole lot more than pretty stuff confined to one 'world'. When TS 1 & 2 released EP's they impacted the entire game with added gameplay, new CAS/bb, more careers, improved sims, often more tools, and occasionally another world. They made the game richer, not just bigger and more clunky.
Comments
Yes I send my sims to Granite Falls on vacation to camp.
It’s too bad you’re disappointed. You must be even more dissatisfied with the Gamepacks. Glimmerbrook has only 5 lots (plus a hidden realm, so I guess six), similar to the Vampires pack. Both have really themed and narrow gameplay as well (even though I loved it).
I am sorry you don’t like Sulani only because I have thoroughly enjoyed it as a unique and relaxing environment place to enjoy some new aspects of the game. For me, it came with a beautiful and varied world (bigger than those in Gamepacks) and fun, varied gameplay centred around beaches, water, tropical weather, a new lifestate, swimming, and island life. There’s new part time jobs and collectibles to sell, ways to live Off the Grid with foraging and without jobs, and boats, including a canoe for fishing anywhere. Finally, the premade sims and houses are well done, and sims can live in a beautiful tropical location instead of just holidaying there. I hope some day they add a few more beaches and swimming throughout the game worlds, but even if they don’t I am still happy with this pack and think it has more than a gamepack in it.
I do agree that it is always good to buy things, especially games, on sale, though. I bought the bulk of my sims 2 EPs on sale; later I got some of the TS3 SPs and nearly all of the (unreasonably expensive) store stuff that I wanted on sale, as well as Sims 4 (the initial game) and even some of the GPs and SPs that interested me less, (like Fitness Stuff). I think of this as bargain hunting and being a smart consumer since these games have always been very expensive in their totality.
i dont like celebrities and fame being in my game but i really appreciated how get famous actually affected and 'expands' a lot gameplay systems like them careers and social interactions whereas in island living, it only offers a pretty world and all content is limited in sulani only, it's like having seasons being confined to one world only if you know what am sayin.
for me, it feels like four stuff packs squeezed together and that's all.
For me it was the Off-the-Grid trait and all its associated gameplay. Even though it was patched in for free and rather inartfully executed, it seems to have been designed to go with this pack and really works well with it. You can also use it elsewhere in the game worlds, but it is most fun and interesting in Sulani.
I had oodles of fun this summer just playing with the same castaway family who literally had nothing and who lived on an empty beach initially, foraging and fishing, using the traps, selling sea shells, found treasure, and later produce as well as crafted goods to survive. They slowly and painfully earned their way to a small, open beach house, and then a bigger one and eventually opened a thriving retail business selling curios and collectibles. The whole thing was enormous fun and it revolutionized the way I play and how I have my sims interact.
For one thing, I went through all my houses and deleted most of the computers (replacing a few with laptops kept by the sims who need them for work in their inventories) and getting rid of most of the stereos and speakers too. This greatly improves sims’ liveliness and social interactions, since they seem to seek out each other out more, for both fun and socialization. It’s also more fun to watch them doing things to alleviate their boredom. (For instance in one case a set of bored parents stopped what they were doing to watch their kid’s puppet show and their fun levels climbed surprisingly quickly). Anyway, I still find this world very fun and often go back and play there rotationally.
Uh, okay? As I said, if you love it, great, enjoy it. I enjoyed it as well, but it really didn't expand the game and I got bored with it very quickly due to it not having much game play
That should be with Strangerville.
As an alternative to the hazmat suit as the only thing the sim needs protection from is the spore overload. It has three air filtration canisters so should work well. Why would such a thing be put into IL?
Gamepacks (recently) are about half the price and seem to actually provide more than an EP?! Something feels a little off here...
I honestly don't know which is worse.
I like that you can live in the world and that you can make the focus about indigenous sims. It has definitely made me think a lot and see the world from a different perspective. Still ... we should be able to go on easy beach vacations similar to Granite Falls and Selvadorada. I know that we can do things in Manage Worlds but why? Why not just be able to send sims on vacation to a certain district in the world? Like Magnolia Promenade but a resort in Sulani with some AirBnBs.
I'm going in an interesting direction with developing Sulani so that it's still primarily led by the natives with only limited property ownership for outsiders. I've now got a shipwrecked guy who is surviving in the ship off the grid by fishing and selling shells like someone else mentioned. That's pretty cool. Eventually he'll figure out that there's a town nearby but I kind of want him to keep living in the ship.
Fun game, but yeah, more of a GP than an EP. One of the best worlds in the game, but kind of an argument for world packs.
At least it's an honest game pack, with a lower price, so the sale price will be even lower. Still, they need to fix the mess they made of it. They somehow need to be made to realize that over-promising and under-delivering don't cut it, that their golden bubble will one day burst. Something promoted as an EP and priced as one should have EP level content, which is a whole lot more than pretty stuff confined to one 'world'. When TS 1 & 2 released EP's they impacted the entire game with added gameplay, new CAS/bb, more careers, improved sims, often more tools, and occasionally another world. They made the game richer, not just bigger and more clunky.