Yeah I haven't played The Sims 2 in a while since you know it is just a bit old especially when you have been playing it for 10 years but I remember having a lot of trouble trying to figure out few things like where to find secret lots, treasures, how to get into private school. There were even things I didn't know existed, not gonna say what but sometimes with The Sims 2 you really need to keep an eye open for the most crazy things.
Some decor is not simply decor. Just remember that if you put something in your garden then decide to view it.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
@CAPTAIN_NXR7 That's not the only way to get food. You can also get it from your home lot. I'll leave it to you to figure out how since you seem to like that.
I believe I just did. He got his groceries delivered!
Tee hee, actually, as you play with UC, there is 2 more ways to fill the fridge than going to store or call the delivery Both "other" options also will give you more filling meals
My love, my love, my fearless love
I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall
My love will never die.. ~Claire Wyndham , to tv show "Lucifer"
Sims 2 has more charm IMO, it feels more fun and has a lot of minor details compared to 4, there's a video on youtube showing to comparison regarding the minor details and Sims 2 is just amazing, so many years have passed and we can still see something new in TS2 that we haven't saw before.
The sims 2 oozes personality. Sims actually have one. In sims 2, you actually have to watch your grouchy sims as they can ruin their own relationships without any Input from you. Unlike in the sims 4 when an evil sim just “manic Laughs” from time to time. The sims in sims 2 don’t all get on by default. Some get on better than others due to their astrological signs, their hobbies, their turns on and turn offs and their chemistry with each other.
Life is meaningful in game and your choices have consequence, some long term and some short term. Wants (sims 4 whims) are also way better. Wants actually mean something. You won’t see sims repeatedly get wants to buy a 1x1 pool and children don’t get wishes to do laundry but age appropriate ones. Parent sims get family wants for their children. For example, depending on their aspiration they may want to see their children get an A in school, get into and graduate college. For some parents they fear their children doing badly in those areas. Relationships are more fleshed out and realistic overall. There is no fighting with someone and laughing and hugging three seconds later. Children care if they catch Dad cheating on Mom.
And the game play itself... it wipes the floor with the sims 4. Full fleshed out expansion packs. Consequences, deep game play, hobbies, full fledged vacations, dates and group rewards have rewards and consequences, The best family play and activities for kids and teens that aren’t young adults!
Yeah I haven't played The Sims 2 in a while since you know it is just a bit old especially when you have been playing it for 10 years but I remember having a lot of trouble trying to figure out few things like where to find secret lots, treasures, how to get into private school. There were even things I didn't know existed, not gonna say what but sometimes with The Sims 2 you really need to keep an eye open for the most crazy things.
I'm not too troubled with the dated aesthetics of the game: the game play and mysteries are keeping me hooked, which tells me that I'm playing a game that is interesting at its core.
I haven't been able to get back to the game due to other priorities, but hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to figure out how to get to Three Lakes using the treasure map that my sim found in his back yard. Although I didn't set-up Three Lakes as a holiday destination, so maybe this is where the 1st. mystery lies. I feel I need to fix that first... I may have to replace TikiTiki Island or whatever it is called...
Tee hee, actually, as you play with UC, there is 2 more ways to fill the fridge than going to store or call the delivery Both "other" options also will give you more filling meals
There are other ways? ....I thought I was a genius for figuring it out. Clearly not. Two more ways to fill the fridge?
K. On to my next fridge mission!
@CAPTAIN_NXR7 I hope you found a way to get rid of the issues and improve the gaphics resolution? I play in 1920x1080 resolution and the game looks great that way but I had to tweak it a little bit. Also getting the smooth edges maxed out was tricky to do and getting rid of the black squares under the sims.
After doing that I find the Sims 2 looks pretty bearable.
@CAPTAIN_NXR7 I hope you found a way to get rid of the issues and improve the gaphics resolution? I play in 1920x1080 resolution and the game looks great that way but I had to tweak it a little bit. Also getting the smooth edges maxed out was tricky to do and getting rid of the black squares under the sims.
After doing that I find the Sims 2 looks pretty bearable.
Yeah it was no problem. I altered some of the instances in the Graphics Rules.sgr and the game looks good!
I agree with others, there are too many differences to mention, but there is a definite reason I have been playing TS2--despite its outdated graphics, wardrobes, etc.--over TS4 for the last year.
I'd say it falls into two main categories:
1. Sims with personalities--even though the point system SEEMS limited and rudimentary, it actually created unique sims. A neat Sim will compulsively clean and feel bad when things are messy. A shy Sim hates doing anything with strangers. You can create a lot of different, unique personalities and see how they interact with one another, which is delightful. The AI was much better, and the Sims felt real. Therefore, their relaitoinships were unique, and you as a player could feel differently about different sims. It is all but impossible to tell the sims apart in TS4, no matter what "traits" you give them.
2. Life simulation--TS2 actually did this. You could do whatever you wanted, sure, but if you cheated on your spouse, there were consequences when they caught you. This is realistic. This is a life simulation. Sometimes they would leave. They would be enraged and refuse to sleep in the same bed for days. Sometimes it was impossible to rebuild the relationship. You know--like real life. This made the game interesting and three-dimensional. It gave actions purpose and meaning. Sims also had lifelong goals, and if they weren't making progress on those--if they were realizing fears faster than wants--they went a little nuts. Again, very realistic. The simulation made the game vibrant, alive, and purposeful. Those are NOT words one can apply to TS4, where there are no consequences ever. You also had to pay bills and buy groceries and getting ahead was just all around harder in TS2, which--to me at least--is also like real life.
There is a bunch more. But I think these are the areas that are most significant, and I wish so so so much that TS4 would do something to fix these areas. Because right now, the game is unplayable to me.
To be honest, I've always maintained that each iteration of The Sims has its own special thing. The Sims was an excellent, and sometimes very challenging, life simulator where you were hard pressed to just have your sim(s) live. I loved it dearly. The Sims 2 felt like an expansion of life. Opening up all the different pathways that a sim's life could take and giving true meaning to "life simulator" for me. I loved how relationships worked and how everything fit seamlessly together to create a great gaming experience. The Sims 3 was all about adventure and exploration. If I wanted to explore and go on an adventure with my sims, for discovery's sake, The Sims 3 was my jam... I used to say The Sims 4 was all about feelings, and the sim themselves, but I'm struggling these days, even with all the cool content, to compare The Sims 4 with The Sims 2.
I'm going to use the word "Mature" but I don't mean it in a... an adult hub sort of way. I mean it in a, humor and metaphor sort of way.
The Sims 2 had a more mature nature. It felt less like being treated as if I were 12 and more like I'm being addressed, as an adult player. There were little easter eggs and bits of innuendo that would have been lost on me as a 12 year old child that I've grown to really miss. The humor, both dark and light, is what I miss the most about The Sims 2 that is sadly, lacking from the Sims 4 game on the whole. I loved that you could actually die during pregnancy if your player wasn't paying enough attention. I think there was just the right amount of attention paid to life states and systems and none of it felt bogged down or over-wrought in the way that some of the new life states do for the Sims 4. I actually find myself avoiding some of my most beloved life states because they are just too focused on ...whatever it is EA decided they should be. Sims 2 was more open ended and left it to the player to design the fate of them. I miss that. I miss making a witch and allowing my story to unfold my way instead of being forced into Harry Potter via The Magicians .TM
I miss being an alien and having the freedom to live my life without sims shying away from me and being ❤️❤️❤️❤️, all the while accepting the evil ❤️❤️❤️❤️ next door...
It (The Sims 2) Was just over-all, a better game in my opinion and I'd L.O.V.E a graphically updated version of it some day. Digital remastery or whatever you might call it.
Loving yourself is the most simple and complicated thing you can do for you.
You could created your own worlds in the Sims 2 and the Sims 3. That's definitely something that's lacking in the Sims 4. In the Sims 4, you basically have to make do with what you got. You can visit any world that you want, but you can't add any new ones outside of the official worlds without mods, and even those mods that I've heard about that add a new world, replace one of the existing worlds.
Personally, I absolutely HATE the emotional system on TS4! It drives me absolutely nuts. IMHO, this is waaaay overdone. The family goes on a great vacation b/c he/she needed it, comes home refreshed, goes to work ONE day, comes home and says "I need a vacation." UGH!!!! That and the monsters under kid's beds. When they see monsters, NOBODY in the house can sleep at all until they are taken care of and that is almost impossible w/o any mods.
I MUCH prefer TS2 and TS3. I love the open world of TS3 and the traits and I love the complexity of TS2. At least in #3, the "monsters" were only specific to that child and his/her bed, NOT the entire household. Currently, I'm doing a Build a City challenge in #2 where you start out w/a blank or empty world and build up a city. The founding sim must do something to get more food (I won't reveal what since Captain NXR7 doesn't want to know) or he/she will go hungry when the fridge gets empty (no grocery store yet). So far, I'm up to 2 families. As soon as their kids grow up, I'll have more.
Personality. Sims 2 had the most personality out of all the Sims games. By personality I mostly mean actions and animations of Sims. They could do so much more than in Sims 3 and 4, and had a lot more animations that really made the Sims look a bit more alive in a sense. There's also the fact that conversations actually meant something. You can literally see exactly what they're talking about, and what they're talking about always reflects their likes and dislikes from their profiles. However, I definitely do prefer the trait system, but it really feels like the trait system did erase some major personality.
Another thing is rotational play. Rotational play is only viable in Sims 2. If you try to rotate families in 3, you'll come back to see they all have new jobs, new marriages, or left town completely while you were away. The only way to stop this is to mod your game to double hockey sticks, which requires a LOT of techy knowledge to truly understand even how to make that work well. And in Sims 4, it's basically the same. Sims will flirt and make enemies while you're away, and just generally ruin everything you set up for them. In Sims 2, this thankfully didn't happen unless you made it happen by interacting with them. Yes, it's realistic for them to live their lives, and I personally prefer it this way since I like playing one family only, however occasionally I do want to rotate but it's disappointing that I can't in any other Sims game.
Intimacy between sims. S4 couples act more like friends than lovers. 3 bolts sims will autonomously leap into the arms of their partners whenever they want, do incessant romantic gestures and are generally inseparable, the way they cuddle on beds and couches (my favorite is when one Sims wakes up and cuddles with the sleeping Sims, now that's the kind of detail S4 needs more of).
S2 sims react to their surroundings, I can tell whether they like/dislike, are sad, happy or angry at something by watching their reactions rather than colorful moodlets and music. Sims who cook a lot will rub their belly from time to time while thinking about food.
The cut scenes of important life events. both the goods and the bads.
Businesses.
Sims 4 is closer to an RPG game than S2, I like figuring out what to do to make sims Sims happy (or not) in S2. Sims 2 is about the Sims themselves, the family and the relationships between them which is not as much the focus in S4, unfortunately.
The personality actually matters in this one and if I order them to do something that goes against their established personality, they'll let me know.
The sims 4 is lacking in personality and uniqueness (especially from the sims 2). Also the sims feels very samey the way the ai work.
Here are the problems With the sims 4
traits don’t change sims much.
sims change emotion all the time and it doesn’t change how they behave apart from visual and facial animation
Idle chat forces sims to just talk even when angry, tense, etc.
Sims are unaware of Most of their surrounding
Sims don’t react to others
No hardship or challenge. Sims almost always happy and get over negative emotions fast
No surprises. Fires rarely happen and sims can put themselves out.
Holding friendships and romance too easy.
No chemistry.
Here is why sims 2 is much more fun
small details. Teens get zits, sims open drawers, sims put toilet seat up and down, etc.
Many surprises. 1% death by satellite when sky gazing, random burning of food when low cooking, sims get electrocuted when low mechanical skill, especially when standing on water, etc.
Always new details to find. Sims for example get angry when one person flushes the toilet why they are taking a shower.
Sims don’t all act the same and are more unique. High playfulness unlocks new interactions like juggle and play in bathtub, but thy lose the ability to meditate, Sims with low playfulness read more and don’t like tickles and other play interactions unless you have higher relationship.
Sims more likely to reject social interactions if you try to early before building up friendship.
Sims react to others around them. If someone is doing a desperation action from having low aspiration, others will do the hour crazy gesture. Sims also worry when someone passes out due to tiredness.
Sims have memories and talk about them or remember them in thought bubbles.
variation in animations for interactions depending on outgoingness and shyness. Also make out has varying animations.
Aspirations rewards are all fun interactive objects.
Animations are great. Sims will move chess pieces like an actual game and will play poker correctly as well. Pool is also fun to watch.
Here are mods that can help some of the flaws in the sims 4.
meaningful stories by roburky (makes sims not change emotions all the time, stops sims from being happy all the time, and varies strength of certain moodlets. Also makes uncomfortable boost other negative emotions like happy boosts positive emotions.)
Have more personality please by polarbearsims (sims don’t do idle chat anymore and will vary social interactions more based on emotions. Angry sims now more likely to perform mean socials automatically for example.
Slice of life by kawaii stacie (many feature you can customize such as new sickness, new moodlets like losing teeth for kids, headaches and more. new pop up texts, and. Much more.
Passionate romance by sacrificial (adds new romance interactions missing in the game)
MC command center by deaderpool (allows you to customize lots of things like stopping sim culling, changing bill amount or friendship and romance gain, having certain sims automatically marry and have kids (not the ones you play unless you change the settings)
Finally things you can do to help without mods
use clubs to make bans that plays at certain venues
Use clubs to make drama such as bullies, thieves, pranksters, etc
Use clubs to give certain venues more life in background like having a painting group visit museums or art centers and paint, or having group of friends who drink and ply games at pubs.
True Love
Terrific Family Play
Too fun The sims 2 forever
I just started playing again (and I did install a lot of my CC) and one thing I can say right off is, the sims actually move and don't just stand there and the game flows.
They also quickly redirect if something else, like put the toddler to bed is in someone else's queue!
I'm not using the money cheat, I'm actually leaving them without stuff as they work to earn it, like I now remember I did before with The Sims 2.
I love that changing houses freezes the family so I can make my own story and families to interact with each other.
I'm still relearning the controls but some of them I like, some things I miss like being able to move a wall.
The remove wall works the first time, I was getting really frustrated in the sims 4 having to do it over and over again.
They interact readily with each other and animals so I feel like I can have fun watching more and don't have to micro-organize them for the game to progress.
Toddlers have bottles and they can do nursery rhymes, just wish I could keep them toddlers longer.
I just started playing again (and I did install a lot of my CC) and one thing I can say right off is, the sims actually move and don't just stand there and the game flows.
They also quickly redirect if something else, like put the toddler to bed is in someone else's queue!
I'm not using the money cheat, I'm actually leaving them without stuff as they work to earn it, like I now remember I did before with The Sims 2.
I love that changing houses freezes the family so I can make my own story and families to interact with each other.
I'm still relearning the controls but some of them I like, some things I miss like being able to move a wall.
The remove wall works the first time, I was getting really frustrated in the sims 4 having to do it over and over again.
They interact readily with each other and animals so I feel like I can have fun watching more and don't have to micro-organize them for the game to progress.
Toddlers have bottles and they can do nursery rhymes, just wish I could keep them toddlers longer.
If you want to use a mod so toddlers and all others have a longer life span then get PhaenohLifeSpan mod, over on Mod The Sims site.
It won't work on current households but will work on the next household you create and add to hood.
It extends life stages and you can always use the cheat to age one up before any other Sim of the same age. I have been using it for several years now, and it works great. I don't know if it will kick in if another baby is born into a household after adding the mod to the game and having current households in the game. None of mine had any babies in that sort of situation.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I use TwoJeff's sim blender which shows up in build buy as a plant that can be clicked on to open up a menu one of which is to take your sims back to their longest days in their current life span so as I enjoy playing toddlers and kids you can imagine how many times that gets used-) It also has a lot of other functions such as skilling up your sims and filling motive needs so i place this plant in all my community lots where I can use it to stop all sims from stinking when they have been there a while-)
Twojeff has apparently retired which I hadn't realized but his mods can be found on the following link and if you scroll down to the simblender.zip it downloads perfectly as I have just tried it.
you will find it after clicking the build/buy miscellaneous tab where you will see a fern for $1 I think it is. this is what it looks like when clicked on in game where the menu shows up
Apologies the menu is hard to see in the picture because I could not get any closer to take the pic but to the right there is a tab entitled aging and when you clicked on will provide you with a list of choices such as age up or down by so many days or the one i use a lot is reset sim back to max days which takes whichever sim back you choose back to the maxim days of their current lifespan.
All players have their own preferences to whatever mods they use but as I tried this one first then got used to all it's other multi functions as well I chose to keep it
Its It's the personalities, gameplay, interesting background stores and lore that keep people in love with the sims 2. You can tell they took their time with the game. But I think it has to do with nostalgia as well, a lot adults played the game as a kids so it brings back fond memories for most. I didnt grow up playing sims 2, I have it and like it but I'm not that deep into..I'm sure I would be if I knew about the franchise back then. what I like is sims having a certain romantic type, they can still be angry at a sim and it take a while for them to cool down just like in real life. They don't cuss you out then be chummy the next minute.
The Sims in the 4th installment seem to have no real connection to their relationships or moodlets. My most ridiculous Sims 4 story is I had my sim woohoo with Nancy in the morning in front of Geoffrey for a more scandalous file I was playing and had Geoffrey woohooing in his marital bed with my sim by the afternoon... Malcom (aged to a young adult) walked in and although he was mad at first with my sim she was woohooing with him by the next morning. Just me, but my sim being able to get the whole family to woohoo in less than 24 sim hours with just a mid range charisma skill is just crazy to me. Not to mention Geoffrey and Nancy stayed married and were attempting to flirt with each other around the time my sim was woohooing in their bed with their son I even had her marry Malcom 2 sim days later for the money and large lot and continue to cheat on him. She got pregnant by another sim... Malcom was excited when she told him and the Landgraabs were autonomously trying to take care of the baby as mom was too busy inviting random townies to the "woohoo" shack I built on the lot. The townies weren't even gossiping about her escapades because they were too busy gossiping about a random toddler It was at this time I realized just how much lacked with Sims 4. I recently went back to Sims 3 and I love the family connections. The father of my current family is constantly interacting with his kids and the babies are movable! I have high autonomy on and every evening when he gets home from work after I have him fill his needs he independently gets the baby and watches TV with them. The father and mother actually have compatible star signs and are actually attracted to each other, their interactions just feel a bit more meaningful and they actually cuddle when they sleep.
@Bessieboo
I mainly play TS3.
I personally feel like its a variety of things. Nostalgic I feel like is a big factor. But personality wise, you can do more with the other sims games than you can with ts4. And like what the others are saying, you have the lifeless thing.
Like you, I would also play ts4 for such a short amount of time, then had my fill of it. But I could play hours and hours within the day on ts3.
I used to think that it was because I wasn't used to how ts4 worked, so I tried playing it more often to get the hang of it, but no matter how much or how long I played, I just wouldn't feel it.
I always end up going back to ts3.
Like, I love the fact that I can make my ss look a lot more like me, and I like the fact that I can do more with building, but that's all I really like about it. Not fond of the hair texture on ts4, though.
Sometimes All You Need Is A Warm Hug From Your Bestfriend
Details, animation and generally the realism of The Sims 2. You can't really find these on TS4, sadly. Anyway, The Sims 4 is still a great game and it will always be, for me. I got into The Sims franchise thanks to TS4, so for me it is a very special game, regardless of what others say about it. ❤
TS4 has none of the following. I sent a Sim niece to college. Two of her uncles ran into each other on a community lot when I returned for awhile to play the households in the main hood. I watched them talking and one told the other she had made the dean's list. They were discussing their niece in a way that TS4 will never do. I was not playing either of them at the time. I also had not played them during her time at college earning that honor.
I had a different Sim later on a community lot, I watched two townies talking about one of my other Sims. One had the hearts speech bubble about one of my other Sims. I guess he was telling the other townie he liked her or was romantically interested in her. She was not on the lot. Shortly there after she showed up on the lot as if to find out who was crushing on her. lol But I had already told my Sim to go home and was in the process of leaving so I don't know what would become of all that as my Sim was leaving the lot. But the townies talk to my own Sims and other Sims about other Sims they are interested in romantically.
Two other Sims I play were on another lot while I played yet again a different Sim. I saw them talking about the one guy's promotion. So, they also talk about things to townies or other Sims that has happened to them.
Something else TS4 will never have, one of my Sims is a family Sim so of course he sometimes wants to get married etc. But his thought bubbles are a deeper look at what he is really thinking rather than what is in the want boxes. The three things that were in his wish list/want boxes had nothing to do with what he was thinking about. Yes, those are things he would like to do or get etc. however, what was really on his mind was getting engaged. His thought bubble was about getting engaged (it's like an extra slot in a thought bubble sometimes). Though his wants were to go to work, slow dance with someone, and something else, I can't remember the third one, he was really wanting to get engaged (soon, lol). He kept having that thought as he went through the house and or when I made him do things all day. lol
A few are family Sims and they have the want or thought bubbles to call the other family members (shows the face) and or is listed in the want panel. One mother is always wanting to call her son who is in college. Thought bubbles in TS2 are the very best. TS4 can never live up to any of that. She has that thought every few days. These are usually different than what is in the want panels.
My Sims talk about townies and others when they gossip. They aren't even on the lot sometimes when something happens with a townie, but if they gossip later or somewhere else, they know about it and tell someone else. lol It's very amusing. I'm shocked sometimes how they knew it. lol I'm not talking about burning a meal. The other day they were talking about one guy on the lot (he's so weird. He is dressed in that paint for sports fans' outfit, paint on the chest and a custom hairstyle/balding) when he walked over to them as if to say, Are you talking about me? lol They didn't even know him. lol It's no wonder.
A lot of people turned off thought and speech bubbles years ago, but they shouldn't they can find out a lot of funny and interesting stuff our Sims in TS2 know or think about.
Something else I like in TS2 that TS4 doesn't do correctly is tell me who my Sim is chatting with on the pc. I don't know if TS4 corrected this but it didn't have a list of which Sim to talk to when chatting online. TS2 does. Then in a few minutes you can get a message do you want to invite them over. It's a fun way to get to know a Sim you may have wanted your Sim to meet but couldn't find them on a community lot. Oh, and I also love the introduce feature which TS4 did eventually add, but it's how I introduced all my teen's boyfriends to her parents in TS2. lol
Invite entire household is one of the best also. Just in case you wanted the Sim to meet the adult daughter of your Sim friend but had a hard time getting them together. Just invite the whole household (if not at work) and it's an easy way to get to introduce someone you have plans for later. The other day I invited three different entire households. It's a good way to party and have dinner parties and or whatever, without the restrictions on how many visiting Sims are allowed on home lots at parties etc. Just do that with several households, it's a lot of fun just to invite them all if you want to get Sims to know and meet each other. Or party without restrictions. It's also good for entire families to gather if your Sim is losing their relationships with those they don't see much. And (something TS4 doesn't have) to take a family photo for the wall or desk. (Uni camera).
Myne doors, these are the best (might have already mentioned all this pages back) but I use them in elderly retirement homes and for teen rooms (which might have a stereo in it) and other things. Great for the boss's office door though you can lock out everyone in TS2 (you couldn't in TS4 for many months and months) and just let your Sim enter any door, why not have the boss's face on it? lol Great for Sims you have living in the same household who keep using your Sim bed or stereo or pc.
I love not all my TS2 Sims want to talk about art, cooking or whatever. lol They refuse, they put their hands out like I don't want to hear it. lol Or cross their arms during a conversation as if to say, sure, right, yeah, I don't believe it...lol
TS4 is all willy nilly. There is so much depth in TS2 and even in TS3 to a great degree, I don't have any idea why anyone can believe TS4 has more 'lively' Sims. I have to laugh at that, I really do. Lively in do you mean jumpy? Yes, that is true, but not more lively as in depth.
My Sims know how to care for themselves, like when they really need a shower. I don't need push buttons (TS4) to make them think, man, I need a shower. lol If I'm busy with another Sim, bless their little hearts they will go take a shower. Now, it might not be as fast as I would do it, (about half emtpy bar) but they do go take a shower. No buttons to 'autosolve' is needed. How childish is that to have to push buttons to make Sims think they might need a shower in TS4. lol
Sims know when other Sims are really hungry. On community lots even townies will fix hotdogs or a group salad or something if someone on the lot is really hungry. I usually don't make my Sim do the cooking at the grill anymore, because I know if someone is really hungry someone will do it. TS4 Sims do this just because that is what they are programmed to do...ever notice how many hot dog plates there are in a common area in that game? Sometimes dozens.
TS2 doesn't do it unless someone is hungry on the lot, that includes other townies. If my Sim waits long enough she/he won't have to cook at a grill. lol
Wait for food, we had to beg for a few years for TS4 to add set the table. But TS2 Sims were going to the table to wait to be served if someone was cooking a meal. And they had been settign the table for years. Yes, TS4 set the table is pretty but it doesn't mean much if those same Sims get up and take their plate upstairs to sit on the bed. Call to meal means come to the table and eat not take it upstairs. Though if there is no where else to sit they may remain standing in TS2 or may go to a near by most comfortable seat in a different room.
Post edited by Cinebar on
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
So glad this conversation kept going. I wish I was able to experience Sims 2 again for the very first time. What a game that was. My personal opinion is that I would pay good money for Sims 2 redone exactly as it was but with open world, universal ageing and Cast, also the building was a bit better in Sims 3. It really was the ultimate game for me but these features from Sims 3 would enhance it so much and enough that we would all go out and buy the whole collection again. I now miss my old simmies and want to reinstall the game to go check on my old families, yes, sentimental me kept a copy of my old game data. I'll tell you something I miss, the toddlers playing with each other, the huggles, the ability to bathe them in the sink, the fact that you could see as babies and toddlers who the kid looked like. Ooft, who am I kidding, I miss everything about Sims 2. When your young adult Sim sees their mother across the road and runs to greet them with a hug without you telling them to. Sims 4 I just haven't taken to at all.
So glad this conversation kept going. I wish I was able to experience Sims 2 again for the very first time. What a game that was. My personal opinion is that I would pay good money for Sims 2 redone exactly as it was but with open world, universal ageing and Cast, also the building was a bit better in Sims 3. It really was the ultimate game for me but these features from Sims 3 would enhance it so much and enough that we would all go out and buy the whole collection again. I now miss my old simmies and want to reinstall the game to go check on my old families, yes, sentimental me kept a copy of my old game data. I'll tell you something I miss, the toddlers playing with each other, the huggles, the ability to bathe them in the sink, the fact that you could see as babies and toddlers who the kid looked like. Ooft, who am I kidding, I miss everything about Sims 2. When your young adult Sim sees their mother across the road and runs to greet them with a hug without you telling them to. Sims 4 I just haven't taken to at all.
TS4 is like that road stop, rest area you stop at while traveling a long distance. (by car). You are on your way to somewhere really nice, but pull off the road at a rest stop to use the bathroom, maybe eat a sandwhich and strech your legs, and a long time ago they had payphones, so you might make a phone call or two to let family know where you were and then get back in the car and travel on to your destination....TS5? lol
You left a nice place (home) to go see the world (TS3) and you had a vacation in mind, farther down the line, so you stopped off at TS4 for awhile but time to move on and get to the actual destination. It's so sad really. TS4 is a road stop along the highway of the series.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Comments
Some decor is not simply decor.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/958714/cinebar-custom-content-clothes-updating-links/p1
Tee hee, actually, as you play with UC, there is 2 more ways to fill the fridge than going to store or call the delivery
I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall
My love will never die..
~Claire Wyndham , to tv show "Lucifer"
The sims 2 oozes personality. Sims actually have one. In sims 2, you actually have to watch your grouchy sims as they can ruin their own relationships without any Input from you. Unlike in the sims 4 when an evil sim just “manic Laughs” from time to time. The sims in sims 2 don’t all get on by default. Some get on better than others due to their astrological signs, their hobbies, their turns on and turn offs and their chemistry with each other.
Life is meaningful in game and your choices have consequence, some long term and some short term. Wants (sims 4 whims) are also way better. Wants actually mean something. You won’t see sims repeatedly get wants to buy a 1x1 pool and children don’t get wishes to do laundry but age appropriate ones. Parent sims get family wants for their children. For example, depending on their aspiration they may want to see their children get an A in school, get into and graduate college. For some parents they fear their children doing badly in those areas. Relationships are more fleshed out and realistic overall. There is no fighting with someone and laughing and hugging three seconds later. Children care if they catch Dad cheating on Mom.
And the game play itself... it wipes the floor with the sims 4. Full fleshed out expansion packs. Consequences, deep game play, hobbies, full fledged vacations, dates and group rewards have rewards and consequences, The best family play and activities for kids and teens that aren’t young adults!
I'm not too troubled with the dated aesthetics of the game: the game play and mysteries are keeping me hooked, which tells me that I'm playing a game that is interesting at its core.
I haven't been able to get back to the game due to other priorities, but hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to figure out how to get to Three Lakes using the treasure map that my sim found in his back yard. Although I didn't set-up Three Lakes as a holiday destination, so maybe this is where the 1st. mystery lies. I feel I need to fix that first... I may have to replace TikiTiki Island or whatever it is called...
There are other ways? ....I thought I was a genius for figuring it out. Clearly not.
Two more ways to fill the fridge?
K. On to my next fridge mission!
After doing that I find the Sims 2 looks pretty bearable.
Yeah it was no problem. I altered some of the instances in the Graphics Rules.sgr and the game looks good!
I'd say it falls into two main categories:
1. Sims with personalities--even though the point system SEEMS limited and rudimentary, it actually created unique sims. A neat Sim will compulsively clean and feel bad when things are messy. A shy Sim hates doing anything with strangers. You can create a lot of different, unique personalities and see how they interact with one another, which is delightful. The AI was much better, and the Sims felt real. Therefore, their relaitoinships were unique, and you as a player could feel differently about different sims. It is all but impossible to tell the sims apart in TS4, no matter what "traits" you give them.
2. Life simulation--TS2 actually did this. You could do whatever you wanted, sure, but if you cheated on your spouse, there were consequences when they caught you. This is realistic. This is a life simulation. Sometimes they would leave. They would be enraged and refuse to sleep in the same bed for days. Sometimes it was impossible to rebuild the relationship. You know--like real life. This made the game interesting and three-dimensional. It gave actions purpose and meaning. Sims also had lifelong goals, and if they weren't making progress on those--if they were realizing fears faster than wants--they went a little nuts. Again, very realistic. The simulation made the game vibrant, alive, and purposeful. Those are NOT words one can apply to TS4, where there are no consequences ever. You also had to pay bills and buy groceries and getting ahead was just all around harder in TS2, which--to me at least--is also like real life.
There is a bunch more. But I think these are the areas that are most significant, and I wish so so so much that TS4 would do something to fix these areas. Because right now, the game is unplayable to me.
I'm going to use the word "Mature" but I don't mean it in a... an adult hub sort of way. I mean it in a, humor and metaphor sort of way.
The Sims 2 had a more mature nature. It felt less like being treated as if I were 12 and more like I'm being addressed, as an adult player. There were little easter eggs and bits of innuendo that would have been lost on me as a 12 year old child that I've grown to really miss. The humor, both dark and light, is what I miss the most about The Sims 2 that is sadly, lacking from the Sims 4 game on the whole. I loved that you could actually die during pregnancy if your player wasn't paying enough attention. I think there was just the right amount of attention paid to life states and systems and none of it felt bogged down or over-wrought in the way that some of the new life states do for the Sims 4. I actually find myself avoiding some of my most beloved life states because they are just too focused on ...whatever it is EA decided they should be. Sims 2 was more open ended and left it to the player to design the fate of them. I miss that. I miss making a witch and allowing my story to unfold my way instead of being forced into Harry Potter via The Magicians .TM
I miss being an alien and having the freedom to live my life without sims shying away from me and being ❤️❤️❤️❤️, all the while accepting the evil ❤️❤️❤️❤️ next door...
It (The Sims 2) Was just over-all, a better game in my opinion and I'd L.O.V.E a graphically updated version of it some day. Digital remastery or whatever you might call it.
beautifully described
I MUCH prefer TS2 and TS3. I love the open world of TS3 and the traits and I love the complexity of TS2. At least in #3, the "monsters" were only specific to that child and his/her bed, NOT the entire household. Currently, I'm doing a Build a City challenge in #2 where you start out w/a blank or empty world and build up a city. The founding sim must do something to get more food (I won't reveal what since Captain NXR7 doesn't want to know) or he/she will go hungry when the fridge gets empty (no grocery store yet). So far, I'm up to 2 families. As soon as their kids grow up, I'll have more.
Another thing is rotational play. Rotational play is only viable in Sims 2. If you try to rotate families in 3, you'll come back to see they all have new jobs, new marriages, or left town completely while you were away. The only way to stop this is to mod your game to double hockey sticks, which requires a LOT of techy knowledge to truly understand even how to make that work well. And in Sims 4, it's basically the same. Sims will flirt and make enemies while you're away, and just generally ruin everything you set up for them. In Sims 2, this thankfully didn't happen unless you made it happen by interacting with them. Yes, it's realistic for them to live their lives, and I personally prefer it this way since I like playing one family only, however occasionally I do want to rotate but it's disappointing that I can't in any other Sims game.
S2 sims react to their surroundings, I can tell whether they like/dislike, are sad, happy or angry at something by watching their reactions rather than colorful moodlets and music. Sims who cook a lot will rub their belly from time to time while thinking about food.
The cut scenes of important life events. both the goods and the bads.
Businesses.
Sims 4 is closer to an RPG game than S2, I like figuring out what to do to make sims Sims happy (or not) in S2. Sims 2 is about the Sims themselves, the family and the relationships between them which is not as much the focus in S4, unfortunately.
The personality actually matters in this one and if I order them to do something that goes against their established personality, they'll let me know.
Here are the problems With the sims 4
Here is why sims 2 is much more fun
Here are mods that can help some of the flaws in the sims 4.
Finally things you can do to help without mods
Terrific Family Play
Too fun
The sims 2 forever
They also quickly redirect if something else, like put the toddler to bed is in someone else's queue!
I'm not using the money cheat, I'm actually leaving them without stuff as they work to earn it, like I now remember I did before with The Sims 2.
I love that changing houses freezes the family so I can make my own story and families to interact with each other.
I'm still relearning the controls but some of them I like, some things I miss like being able to move a wall.
The remove wall works the first time, I was getting really frustrated in the sims 4 having to do it over and over again.
They interact readily with each other and animals so I feel like I can have fun watching more and don't have to micro-organize them for the game to progress.
Toddlers have bottles and they can do nursery rhymes, just wish I could keep them toddlers longer.
If you want to use a mod so toddlers and all others have a longer life span then get PhaenohLifeSpan mod, over on Mod The Sims site.
It won't work on current households but will work on the next household you create and add to hood.
It extends life stages and you can always use the cheat to age one up before any other Sim of the same age. I have been using it for several years now, and it works great. I don't know if it will kick in if another baby is born into a household after adding the mod to the game and having current households in the game. None of mine had any babies in that sort of situation.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/958714/cinebar-custom-content-clothes-updating-links/p1
I use TwoJeff's sim blender which shows up in build buy as a plant that can be clicked on to open up a menu one of which is to take your sims back to their longest days in their current life span so as I enjoy playing toddlers and kids you can imagine how many times that gets used-) It also has a lot of other functions such as skilling up your sims and filling motive needs so i place this plant in all my community lots where I can use it to stop all sims from stinking when they have been there a while-)
Twojeff has apparently retired which I hadn't realized but his mods can be found on the following link and if you scroll down to the simblender.zip it downloads perfectly as I have just tried it.
you will find it after clicking the build/buy miscellaneous tab where you will see a fern for $1 I think it is. this is what it looks like when clicked on in game where the menu shows up
Apologies the menu is hard to see in the picture because I could not get any closer to take the pic but to the right there is a tab entitled aging and when you clicked on will provide you with a list of choices such as age up or down by so many days or the one i use a lot is reset sim back to max days which takes whichever sim back you choose back to the maxim days of their current lifespan.
All players have their own preferences to whatever mods they use but as I tried this one first then got used to all it's other multi functions as well I chose to keep it
I mainly play TS3.
I personally feel like its a variety of things. Nostalgic I feel like is a big factor. But personality wise, you can do more with the other sims games than you can with ts4. And like what the others are saying, you have the lifeless thing.
Like you, I would also play ts4 for such a short amount of time, then had my fill of it. But I could play hours and hours within the day on ts3.
I used to think that it was because I wasn't used to how ts4 worked, so I tried playing it more often to get the hang of it, but no matter how much or how long I played, I just wouldn't feel it.
I always end up going back to ts3.
Like, I love the fact that I can make my ss look a lot more like me, and I like the fact that I can do more with building, but that's all I really like about it. Not fond of the hair texture on ts4, though.
Sometimes All You Need Is A Warm Hug From Your Bestfriend
I had a different Sim later on a community lot, I watched two townies talking about one of my other Sims. One had the hearts speech bubble about one of my other Sims. I guess he was telling the other townie he liked her or was romantically interested in her. She was not on the lot. Shortly there after she showed up on the lot as if to find out who was crushing on her. lol But I had already told my Sim to go home and was in the process of leaving so I don't know what would become of all that as my Sim was leaving the lot. But the townies talk to my own Sims and other Sims about other Sims they are interested in romantically.
Two other Sims I play were on another lot while I played yet again a different Sim. I saw them talking about the one guy's promotion. So, they also talk about things to townies or other Sims that has happened to them.
Something else TS4 will never have, one of my Sims is a family Sim so of course he sometimes wants to get married etc. But his thought bubbles are a deeper look at what he is really thinking rather than what is in the want boxes. The three things that were in his wish list/want boxes had nothing to do with what he was thinking about. Yes, those are things he would like to do or get etc. however, what was really on his mind was getting engaged. His thought bubble was about getting engaged (it's like an extra slot in a thought bubble sometimes). Though his wants were to go to work, slow dance with someone, and something else, I can't remember the third one, he was really wanting to get engaged (soon, lol). He kept having that thought as he went through the house and or when I made him do things all day. lol
A few are family Sims and they have the want or thought bubbles to call the other family members (shows the face) and or is listed in the want panel. One mother is always wanting to call her son who is in college. Thought bubbles in TS2 are the very best. TS4 can never live up to any of that. She has that thought every few days. These are usually different than what is in the want panels.
My Sims talk about townies and others when they gossip. They aren't even on the lot sometimes when something happens with a townie, but if they gossip later or somewhere else, they know about it and tell someone else. lol It's very amusing. I'm shocked sometimes how they knew it. lol I'm not talking about burning a meal. The other day they were talking about one guy on the lot (he's so weird. He is dressed in that paint for sports fans' outfit, paint on the chest and a custom hairstyle/balding) when he walked over to them as if to say, Are you talking about me? lol They didn't even know him. lol It's no wonder.
A lot of people turned off thought and speech bubbles years ago, but they shouldn't they can find out a lot of funny and interesting stuff our Sims in TS2 know or think about.
Something else I like in TS2 that TS4 doesn't do correctly is tell me who my Sim is chatting with on the pc. I don't know if TS4 corrected this but it didn't have a list of which Sim to talk to when chatting online. TS2 does. Then in a few minutes you can get a message do you want to invite them over. It's a fun way to get to know a Sim you may have wanted your Sim to meet but couldn't find them on a community lot. Oh, and I also love the introduce feature which TS4 did eventually add, but it's how I introduced all my teen's boyfriends to her parents in TS2. lol
Invite entire household is one of the best also. Just in case you wanted the Sim to meet the adult daughter of your Sim friend but had a hard time getting them together. Just invite the whole household (if not at work) and it's an easy way to get to introduce someone you have plans for later. The other day I invited three different entire households. It's a good way to party and have dinner parties and or whatever, without the restrictions on how many visiting Sims are allowed on home lots at parties etc. Just do that with several households, it's a lot of fun just to invite them all if you want to get Sims to know and meet each other. Or party without restrictions. It's also good for entire families to gather if your Sim is losing their relationships with those they don't see much. And (something TS4 doesn't have) to take a family photo for the wall or desk. (Uni camera).
Myne doors, these are the best (might have already mentioned all this pages back) but I use them in elderly retirement homes and for teen rooms (which might have a stereo in it) and other things. Great for the boss's office door though you can lock out everyone in TS2 (you couldn't in TS4 for many months and months) and just let your Sim enter any door, why not have the boss's face on it? lol Great for Sims you have living in the same household who keep using your Sim bed or stereo or pc.
I love not all my TS2 Sims want to talk about art, cooking or whatever. lol They refuse, they put their hands out like I don't want to hear it. lol Or cross their arms during a conversation as if to say, sure, right, yeah, I don't believe it...lol
TS4 is all willy nilly. There is so much depth in TS2 and even in TS3 to a great degree, I don't have any idea why anyone can believe TS4 has more 'lively' Sims. I have to laugh at that, I really do. Lively in do you mean jumpy? Yes, that is true, but not more lively as in depth.
My Sims know how to care for themselves, like when they really need a shower. I don't need push buttons (TS4) to make them think, man, I need a shower. lol If I'm busy with another Sim, bless their little hearts they will go take a shower. Now, it might not be as fast as I would do it, (about half emtpy bar) but they do go take a shower. No buttons to 'autosolve' is needed. How childish is that to have to push buttons to make Sims think they might need a shower in TS4. lol
Sims know when other Sims are really hungry. On community lots even townies will fix hotdogs or a group salad or something if someone on the lot is really hungry. I usually don't make my Sim do the cooking at the grill anymore, because I know if someone is really hungry someone will do it. TS4 Sims do this just because that is what they are programmed to do...ever notice how many hot dog plates there are in a common area in that game? Sometimes dozens.
TS2 doesn't do it unless someone is hungry on the lot, that includes other townies. If my Sim waits long enough she/he won't have to cook at a grill. lol
Wait for food, we had to beg for a few years for TS4 to add set the table. But TS2 Sims were going to the table to wait to be served if someone was cooking a meal. And they had been settign the table for years. Yes, TS4 set the table is pretty but it doesn't mean much if those same Sims get up and take their plate upstairs to sit on the bed. Call to meal means come to the table and eat not take it upstairs. Though if there is no where else to sit they may remain standing in TS2 or may go to a near by most comfortable seat in a different room.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/958714/cinebar-custom-content-clothes-updating-links/p1
TS4 is like that road stop, rest area you stop at while traveling a long distance. (by car). You are on your way to somewhere really nice, but pull off the road at a rest stop to use the bathroom, maybe eat a sandwhich and strech your legs, and a long time ago they had payphones, so you might make a phone call or two to let family know where you were and then get back in the car and travel on to your destination....TS5? lol
You left a nice place (home) to go see the world (TS3) and you had a vacation in mind, farther down the line, so you stopped off at TS4 for awhile but time to move on and get to the actual destination. It's so sad really. TS4 is a road stop along the highway of the series.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/958714/cinebar-custom-content-clothes-updating-links/p1