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Decided to cave and finally get Sims 4...
munchiepoo
Posts: 1,386 Member
So, I've still been playing Sims 3 since the Sims 4 came out, partly because I thought my PC's/Laptops wouldn't handle Sims 4, I'd kinda stopped playing games so I only went into games every so often, and Sims 3 was one of them, I can't believe I never went to 4 earlier! The game runs far smoother than 3 and I was growing tried of 3 due to it being repetitive (even after long breaks from it).
So I've purchased Seasons & Get To Work (because I loved the medical career in Sims 3) and I've been playing along fine. One thing I notice is that things seem a little bit harder (for the better), needs seem harder to increase/fall slightly quicker, bills seem higher (which is good) and relationship building feels a little bit more difficult than Sims 3. I could usually get married within half a day but it took me sometime in Sims 4.
What other EP's do can any of you suggest that you find enjoyable, and why? And how do you guys usually start your game? I feel actually a little bit lost for the first time in a Sims game as it feels like a complete brand new game, how do you guys usually start off? I've tried searching a few things - particularly around skills and careers but I'm struggling to find the why/how to them. Are Career's now more rigid in that, in the Sims 3, you could be promoted without completing the requirements, but slower, where as in Sims 4 it seems you HAVE to complete the promotion/daily tasks?
And there isn't a skills journal, are skills slightly worthless in Sims 4, would you say?
Sorry if some of this may have been posted before (it probably has, and I apologise), but I was hoping for people to give me a little bit of insight, particularly around understanding careers/skills.
So I've purchased Seasons & Get To Work (because I loved the medical career in Sims 3) and I've been playing along fine. One thing I notice is that things seem a little bit harder (for the better), needs seem harder to increase/fall slightly quicker, bills seem higher (which is good) and relationship building feels a little bit more difficult than Sims 3. I could usually get married within half a day but it took me sometime in Sims 4.
What other EP's do can any of you suggest that you find enjoyable, and why? And how do you guys usually start your game? I feel actually a little bit lost for the first time in a Sims game as it feels like a complete brand new game, how do you guys usually start off? I've tried searching a few things - particularly around skills and careers but I'm struggling to find the why/how to them. Are Career's now more rigid in that, in the Sims 3, you could be promoted without completing the requirements, but slower, where as in Sims 4 it seems you HAVE to complete the promotion/daily tasks?
And there isn't a skills journal, are skills slightly worthless in Sims 4, would you say?
Sorry if some of this may have been posted before (it probably has, and I apologise), but I was hoping for people to give me a little bit of insight, particularly around understanding careers/skills.
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As for expansions, I really like City Living because it has festivals every few days, and events change things up. I like to collect, and City Living comes with recipes that you can only get by eating at food stalls. Anything that adds a little change to what can easily become a very predictable game is good. I'd have recommended Seasons for the same reason, but you already have that!
I don't own the Parenthood pack, but it's been recommended to me many times. Apparently it adds a lot of depth to parenting and consequences for not doing it right. I personally like occult stuff, so the only game pack I've bought is vampires. If you like vampires, I recommend it.
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Parenthood is a good pack for family play. I highly recommend that one as it fleshes out toddlers, children and teens really well. I like the phases they go through and the effects a good or bad upbringing can have - certain traits only available if they get certain character values.
Get together has a nice world. Some like clubs as they can be customisable to your preferences.
I have all the expansions, game packs and stuff packs but recommending some is difficult without knowing what kind of game play you enjoy most.
I would say just start slow with a couple of sims in different jobs and see where you fancy taking them from there. Maybe try to complete an aspiration or something so you get a bit of direction from the game while you get used to it.
I like to play rotationally so that I can have a variety of households on the go in different worlds doing different things, but that may be a bit overwhelming when you're only just starting off.
About the careers: a few things to remember is that completing the requirements enables promotions, completing the daily task boost the work performance bar, and once your Sim is at work - for the rabbit hole careers where you don't go with them - click on the people icon on their faded-out avatar and choose Work Hard or any other option that increases work performance (tooltips will pop up when you hover over the options, at least on PC/Mac).
I wouldn't say that skills are worthless in the game. They are needed for promotions, some open up new interactions either when talking to Sims or when interacting with objects. Say, Handiness allows repairs and upgrades that open up as you level up. There's no journal, just a list of all the skills your Sim acquired.
As for which packs to get, that really depends on what kind of gameplay you're looking for. I'd suggest looking around places like Carl's Guide and maybe some Let's Plays or gameplay videos for the various packs that will tell you more about which pack you feel drawn to. Carl's Guide also has a pretty in-depth look at careers, along with promotion breakdowns and tips.
Cats & Dogs was a must for me out of the EPs because I liked the animals. Parenthood and both the kid-focused packs were next because I wanted to enhance my family gameplay, (still on the fence whether I didn't make things a little too hard for myself with Parenthood, but it's really great either way). I'm also gonna echo that Get Together has an amazing world, I just don't have much use for the careers or the club system in that pack.
It really depends on your own wants for the game.
About starting the game: I like challenges, honestly. I've done a rags to riches challenge (start from nothing, earn your way up) twice now and I have my families in another save that are based on a fave TV show. The absolute basics are: make Sim, figure out who they are, move them into a cheap home and then work on building them a life - house improvements, meeting people, promotions, Aspiration. The aspirations are a good way to find a direction, as someone already mentioned.
Hope you continue having fun with TS4!
As for the packs I have everything except vampires. They are all really good and there's things I can recommend about each pack but it all depends on your gameplay Style. If you want to buy more packs the build your own bundle way is a great way to do so where you get one of each type of pack for a good price. You could try playing everything was in the packs you have and then adding more or you could just get them well they are on sale. If you like playing families at all you should definitely get Parenthood because it has a lot as far as raising kids goes. Also, cats and dogs is really good. I don't even play with pets but the world is really beautiful and the vet career is one of my favourites, plus it comes with a lot of really nice build and Cas items
People have answered how you get promoted.. you can take it very, very slowly also. If you work hard at it you can probably be promoted every 2-4 work days. There are reward traits that can be bought that will help you along also.
I wouldn't say skills are useless and in some careers you do need to level them ..it depends on the career. They will also help you perform better at work, sometimes having a higher skill unlocks things you can do. Say you are in the medical career. Things break at work and it takes time to fix them. If you have high mechanical skills it takes less time to do this.. you can even upgrade them to make them last longer/perform better or give more options. Having more logic helps you perform certain things better also and unlocks more possibilities. I don't think you need it for the GTW career but you get it anyway because of the things you have to do. Being focused in particular will help your sim perform many tasks and work better in some situations. You will have more breakthroughs as a scientist also. In later packs there are needed skill levels.. you'll see if you get more packs.
As to what to add, what are you missing that is available? Do you want more family centered play? Do you want more weird game play? Do you want to hang out with coworkers after work and spice that up?
What would I do.. I'm not a big family player. I like to focus on my adult sims, hobbies, activities they can do, ways to make money where they don't have to go to rabbithole jobs (excluding active and semi active jobs) social interaction and I love strange or deviant play even if I don't always engage in it/play it out. I would get Get Together for the club system and possibly the most beautiful world in the game (it's great at herding and managing sims) or just having nice clubs. I'd get Strangerville because I like weird stories and weird settings. I'd get Dine Out because my sims go out to eat and on dates. I'd get Spa Day for relaxation and massages. I'd get Vintage Glamour stuff pack for butlers and fancy stuff. I'd get Island Living for a beautiful very different tropical residential world advanced swimming and water/beach activities. I'd get the Moschino stuff pack for photography plus (hobby/career). Then I'd keep going because basically all packs add so much for me even if it's just marvelous build/buy and CAS and sometimes game play that I will use and characters I will make.
I just suggest you think about how you like to play. Tell us and well try to steer you into getting packs that will make your game more fun for you.
My other favourite is Get Together for Windenburg, because it's my favourite area and there are quite a lot of nice items both in CAS and build mode.
Otherwise, I suppose Vampires if you like supernatural stuff, Parenthood if you prefer family centred gaming and maybe Cats&Dogs if you like pets (also a very nice new world).
I think most of of your general questions have been answered but I do no at all think skills are useless. They have good unlocks and certain skills can make you some good money. I also find a lot of them fun to build up. I believe most careers, besides the active ones, require you to build skills to get promoted as well. I honestly never really paid attention to the skill journal in sims 3 lol.
As for packs I have them all but I have a few favorites that I don’t think I could play without but I am a more realistic family player so it really depends on how you play. Parenthood is an incredible game pack that adds a lot of in depth gameplay. It makes raising kids fun and gives them character values you have to build up or down that shape them as adults. My favorite expansion is seasons but since you have that my second favorite is cats and dogs. Cats and dogs is a very fun pack in my opinion. You can’t control pets or see their needs this time around but I personally find that super realistic and they do some really cute and random things. Also the world it comes with is incredible and one of my favorites. I also really enjoy get Famous which is crazy because late night and show time are some of my least favorites in sims 3. They did a great job with fame in sims 4. It’s very hard to build and just as hard to keep. The world is my least favorite but the overall pack is pretty good. I also recommend picking up a few stuff packs. I find some of them like kids room stuff and backyard stuff very useful in game. Laundry day is my favorite stuff pack, it has the best BB objects and CAS plus the laundry items are fun to play around with.
Skills aren't useless at all... but they do play a bit differently. Gaining skills and using skills both benefit from the correct mood. If your Sim's mood is enhancing skill gain, you will see it: An Energized Sim will have a yellow glow all around their skill increase meter as they exercise. An Inspired Sim will have a cyan border around their skill meter as they paint. Learning which moods benefit which skills is something you can work out through observation and trial and error, or look up at a site like Carl's.
Packs are a lot more "pick the ones you like" than need to have all for a full experience. My first Stuff Pack was a gift from my sister, who simply could not bear to see Sims without a hot tub (she is my copilot when we hang out, but doesn't want to get sucked into playing herself - she says she doesn't have the time), and bought me Perfect Patio. I bought myself Spa Day, because if I am going to have a hot tub, darnit, I want a sauna and a massage table as well. Spa Day has the Wellness skill (Yoga and massage, essentially) which wound up being great for my new, single, YA Sim.
When I recreated a TS3 couple - in fact, my original TS3 couple - as TS4 Sims, the personalities translated well, both in terms of individual interests, and in attraction to each other (neither had ever cheated, nor wished to). What was different is they both wanted kids together. I decided TS4 was time to finally let them, and that prompted my second Game Pack, Parenthood. I recommend it very highly if you plan on family play. However, it builds on a strong understanding of TS4's moods, skills and traits, and you want to be good at base game before you dive in.
I am looking at City Living, Get Together, Island Living, and Laundry Day to bring into the mix at some point, as my fun budget allows. Other packs don't hit my core interest and will probably wait for the right Sim to experience them. I do look forward to Realms of Magic. That's probably next. If you aren't sure what you want next, take a look at the reviews and guides at Carl's. They are pretty comprehensive.
One thing I don't understand - do all the neighbourhoods and worlds age and progress alongside mine?
And the Sim Count says 5 (down from 14 earlier) but who is included in the sim count? Is it all sims? Only sims with homes? Does the game populate houses for me so I have other sims to interact with like in Sims 2 or 3? I started on Newcrest (or the one with nothing built) so it was a bit confusing and felt a bit bare for me
Newcrest is definitely one of the places that will seem empty and bare (by design) until you build homes in it.
As for aging and population, you'll find both those in Game Options -> Gameplay. You can choose whether townies/unplayed households age along with your Sim or not and whether your Sim ages at all (plus you can choose their lifespan type.
In that same menu you have the Fill Empty Homes option which, when checked, will prompt the game to generate townies and move them into residential areas. On top of that, there are unplayed SIms vs played Sims (if you favorite a family in Household Management, they become "Played", all of them will roam freely around the worlds).
I'm not quite sure about the Sim Count since I never paid it much attention. I *think* it's Sims in your Played Households though. You can also set the total count for the world (before the game starts culling townies).
And hope you enjoy Parenthood, it's an amazing pack
Processor model: Intel 5th generation core i5-5300U
Graphics: Intel HD graphics
Storage: 480 GB
Memory: 8 GB
Also is it good for all the packs??
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