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What does sims 2 have that is lacking in sims 4

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  • lisamwittlisamwitt Posts: 5,079 Member
    FoxInSocks wrote: »
    Chaos! The random things that happen. The social bunny (I can't remember if that was sims 2 or 3) repo man, uhmm..I haven't played in so long so I'm trying to remember. I know that in university there's a cow mascot that comes in and sets the sprinklers off. It was the random npcs for me I guess.

    All Sims 2. That cow would set off the sprinklers, prank Sims in the dorm, pick fights. I've tried to a few times to befriend him, but it's hard without a voodoo doll. The llama (who is easy to befriend) is the school's mascot for whichever University you are attending, so clearly the cow is meant to be some other school's mascot.

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  • IamJIamJ Posts: 44 Member
    Oh dear, so many things.

    Sims 4 is the best game in regards to graphics and build mode. If you are a builder and/or a story teller-player, sims 4 is the game for you. Sims 2 is the gameplay-game. If you play generations, rotationally, or just simply like _gameplay_ sims 2 is the winner. I think the difference between sims 2 and 4 is like the difference between an IPhone and an android. Sims 4 is the IPhone: it has the beautiful graphics and is more user-friendly, but it is completely restricted and you can’t customize anything. You have pre-made beautiful small sandbox to play in, and as long as your needs don’t stretch beyond that sandbox it’s great, but the minute it does you realize you are very very limited. Sims 2 is the android: not quite as good looking, but man you can do ANYTHING.

    I can create any world I want and any number of worlds. I can decorate the neighborhoods to my liking. I can build as many lots I want wherever I want. When I build apartments _they are actual apartments_ and not just a shell with some space in it. They are real buildings with a lobby, 20 floors or more if I want with playable apartments on all of them, a basement with a gym if I want, a rooftop were I can barbecue with my neighbors if I want. The entire building is real and accessible.

    I can set the seasons for all the hoods. I can build my own dorms. I can control everything to my liking, which is something I never feel like I can do in sims 4.

    And the gameplay. The lack of proper memories is something I can never get over with sims 3 and 4. Wants and fears. Animations. Personalities. Realistic aspirations. Some challenge to keeping them happy (though nowadays I find it too easy).
  • ignominiusrexignominiusrex Posts: 2,680 Member
    IamJ wrote: »
    Oh dear, so many things.

    Sims 4 is the best game in regards to graphics and build mode. If you are a builder and/or a story teller-player, sims 4 is the game for you. Sims 2 is the gameplay-game. If you play generations, rotationally, or just simply like _gameplay_ sims 2 is the winner. I think the difference between sims 2 and 4 is like the difference between an IPhone and an android. Sims 4 is the IPhone: it has the beautiful graphics and is more user-friendly, but it is completely restricted and you can’t customize anything. You have pre-made beautiful small sandbox to play in, and as long as your needs don’t stretch beyond that sandbox it’s great, but the minute it does you realize you are very very limited. Sims 2 is the android: not quite as good looking, but man you can do ANYTHING.

    I can create any world I want and any number of worlds. I can decorate the neighborhoods to my liking. I can build as many lots I want wherever I want. When I build apartments _they are actual apartments_ and not just a shell with some space in it. They are real buildings with a lobby, 20 floors or more if I want with playable apartments on all of them, a basement with a gym if I want, a rooftop were I can barbecue with my neighbors if I want. The entire building is real and accessible.

    I can set the seasons for all the hoods. I can build my own dorms. I can control everything to my liking, which is something I never feel like I can do in sims 4.

    And the gameplay. The lack of proper memories is something I can never get over with sims 3 and 4. Wants and fears. Animations. Personalities. Realistic aspirations. Some challenge to keeping them happy (though nowadays I find it too easy).

    I can see from your post that I have barely scratched the Sims2 surface and have a lot to discover! Thanks!
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  • IamJIamJ Posts: 44 Member
    > @ignominiusrex said:
    > I can see from your post that I have barely scratched the Sims2 surface and have a lot to discover! Thanks!

    Love to be of service! So fun to see people get in to sims 2 for the first time 😁
  • maggiemae8135maggiemae8135 Posts: 790 Member
    Gameplay and the ability to play rotational without the game itself messing up your sims! I still love Sims 2 though I haven't played in a while. I have a vacation coming up and am thinking of returning to Sims 2 as I am not happy with the changes in Sims 4. I enjoy Sims 4, but the new update has me worried that playing rotationally will be even more of a mess. I do enjoy the gameplay in Sims 4, especially the occults, the active jobs, and everything the sims can do in the game. The obsessive phone behavior, the wants and fears, and all the many bugs right now have turned me away from the game. I may return if they fix it because I do miss the gameplay, but I don't have much hope the all the issues will be fixed. The more I read on the forums about problems with relationship and other changes in households that have been played but aren't the active at the moment, really concerns me as a rotational player. It makes me sad. But on the bright side, I still have all of my Sims 2 and I feel that out of Sims 2, 3, and 4 Sims 2 is the best! Yes, graphics and building is much better in 4, and I enjoy building and the beautiful setting, but the personality of Sims 2, and the gameplay itself, cannot be beat. Wants and fears in Sims 2 adds to the gameplay and makes more sense than those in Sims 4, and allows you to choose which wants and fears you want for your sim. I am looking forward to returning to Sims 2 and can't wait to play with my old friends and be able to send a group of friends to college agaiin and play with all of them while there! That was another big disappointment for me with University in Sims 4. The gameplay makes it difficult to play rotationally or to play with more than one sim in college. Another week and I will have the peace and quiet and time to play!
  • Sofmc9Sofmc9 Posts: 498 Member
    edited August 2022
    So many small details. The other day on Twitter, I posted this video of TS2 'Stuff face' interaction.


  • SimsLovinLycanSimsLovinLycan Posts: 1,910 Member
    edited August 2022
    Challenge and consequences, for one. There are times in TS2 where the words, "Save Early, Save Often" carry so much weight, because some situations or actions carry a chance of real destructive (or at least, inconvenient) consequences of you're unlucky enough. Save before fixing anything with a low Mechanical skill, save before cloudgazing, save before using that telescope...There's tension to the gameplay that just doesn't exist in TS4 at all. There's too much of a safetynet in TS4, too many warnings, chance cards from work carry no risk of demotion or job loss, making money and climbing the ranks in your job are both insanely easy. Nothing keeps you crossing your fingers and hoping you saved before you clicked that thing! They added "Wants and Fears" to TS4, but they lack the real gameplay impact that TS2's had. They're just another useless moodlet generator that don't do anything to increase the challenge, make the game more exciting, or even give you a chance to screw over your sims. With TS4, you can pretty much shut your brain off and not worry about anything. No nail-biting, no save-scumming, no "Crap! When did I last save?!" moments...nothin'.

    Next, is freedom of world construction. In TS2, you can totally ignore the pre-built hoods and their pre-made sims and make your own instead! In TS2, one of the best things is starting up a fresh save on an empty hood, building it up house by house, family by family, community lot by community lot, watching the place grow as your story progresses and the plot demands. It's a wonderful unfolding process that really makes the game a joy to play. TS4 doesn't let players do that. The devs control every world: how big it is, what it looks like, how many lots there are, how big they are, what lots are empty ones for the player to build on and what lots go to the devs' sims and buildings, what community lots are where, what types of community lots players can and can't build...it's obnoxious! The one type of community lot they have that doesn't have a stinkin' checklist doesn't even attract NPC sims! And Heavens forbid you put an item that a certain lot isn't tuned to force sims toward on that lot, because ain't no one using it!

    That leads me to the third thing TS2 has over TS4: Less intrusive NPC sims. In TS2, I never have to worry about NPC's coming over and pestering my sims on a date or on an outing with their housemates or something. NPC's aren't so addicted to latching onto your sims or any sim within a 100 mile radius that they will barge into your scenes unannounced and start inserting themselves in your business unbidden ceaselessly! TS4 sims are entirely too social, to the point of being downright rude. TS2 sims are much more civilized!
    There is a song I hear, a melody from the past...
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  • o0Sazie0oo0Sazie0o Posts: 29 Member
    Challenge and consequences, for one. There are times in TS2 where the words, "Save Early, Save Often" carry so much weight, because some situations or actions carry a chance of real destructive (or at least, inconvenient) consequences of you're unlucky enough. Save before fixing anything with a low Mechanical skill, save before cloudgazing, save before using that telescope...There's tension to the gameplay that just doesn't exist in TS4 at all. There's too much of a safetynet in TS4, too many warnings, chance cards from work carry no risk of demotion or job loss, making money and climbing the ranks in your job are both insanely easy. Nothing keeps you crossing your fingers and hoping you saved before you clicked that thing! They added "Wants and Fears" to TS4, but they lack the real gameplay impact that TS2's had. They're just another useless moodlet generator that don't do anything to increase the challenge, make the game more exciting, or even give you a chance to screw over your sims. With TS4, you can pretty much shut your brain off and not worry about anything. No nail-biting, no save-scumming, no "Crap! When did I last save?!" moments...nothin'.

    Next, is freedom of world construction. In TS2, you can totally ignore the pre-built hoods and their pre-made sims and make your own instead! In TS2, one of the best things is starting up a fresh save on an empty hood, building it up house by house, family by family, community lot by community lot, watching the place grow as your story progresses and the plot demands. It's a wonderful unfolding process that really makes the game a joy to play. TS4 doesn't let players do that. The devs control every world: how big it is, what it looks like, how many lots there are, how big they are, what lots are empty ones for the player to build on and what lots go to the devs' sims and buildings, what community lots are where, what types of community lots players can and can't build...it's obnoxious! The one type of community lot they have that doesn't have a stinkin' checklist doesn't even attract NPC sims! And Heavens forbid you put an item that a certain lot isn't tuned to force sims toward on that lot, because ain't no one using it!

    That leads me to the third thing TS2 has over TS4: Less intrusive NPC sims. In TS2, I never have to worry about NPC's coming over and pestering my sims on a date or on an outing with their housemates or something. NPC's aren't so addicted to latching onto your sims or any sim within a 100 mile radius that they will barge into your scenes unannounced and start inserting themselves in your business unbidden ceaselessly! TS4 sims are entirely too social, to the point of being downright rude. TS2 sims are much more civilized!

    So very true.
  • EcaEca Posts: 155 Member
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  • sonicgamersonicgamer Posts: 31 Member
    Zodiac signs are one feature I wish was added to the Sims 4; also NPCs such as burglars and the Social Worker. I always loved the idea of building my own neighborhood from scratch with my own story and families. Turn-ons and turn-offs are another Sims 2 exclusive thing which is lacking in The Sims 4. I always loved the Sims 2 chemistry system which was added in with Nightlife.
  • SimfreakoO_0SimfreakoO_0 Posts: 3 New Member
    I'm hoping with the new developing Sims will be similar to Sims 2. I'm stuck on it - I've tried Sims 3 and 4 - never could enjoy them the same. I even recently installed the 4th for free. Alas, I'm finding it hard to enjoy but it's hard to compare Sims 2 with all the EPs and SPs vs. base game,

    Is it worth investing Sims 4? Sigh.
  • mollie1998mollie1998 Posts: 446 Member
    the sims 4 needs more grocery stores
  • lisamwittlisamwitt Posts: 5,079 Member
    mollie1998 wrote: »
    the sims 4 needs more grocery stores

    I agree. I'm glad they added the lot trait for needing groceries, and I always use it now, but I do wish there was a grocery to go to. My Sims need more reasons to go out.
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  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    A big thing TS2 now has that TS4 doesn't is ease of access. I just click the TS2 icon on my computer and the game launches without whining about it. Offline, yet. I try that with TS4 and get only variations on the 'you can't do that!' theme. Online or nothing. Thanks, EA. Your [insert favourite nasty Anglo-Saxon here] app has driven me back into the arms of my favourite, if not always most played, version of the game.
  • EnkiSchmidtEnkiSchmidt Posts: 5,334 Member
    Today I once again noticed two overtly minor things, that nevertheless go a long way for me: I can queque up "eat", "use toilet" and "shower" and the sim will do it in exactly this order. Whereas in Sims 4 the sim would take their lunch to the bathroom, eat it while doing the business, leave the room to put the plate down and only then enter the shower. Visiting sims will also move to leave my bathroom after finishing instead of lingering in there indefinitely.

    This awareness of the sims' surroundings adds a lot to my immersion. There are still plenty of over-the-top situations (like one of my teen sims hula-dancing the ornamental fish as if trying to connect to them on a cultural level - it was utterly adorable), but they happen organically instead of getting forced by design choices.
  • ebrietasebrietas Posts: 25 Member
    Sims having actual personalities
    Attraction system (turn ons-offs)
    Waaaaaay better relationship system
    Interests
    An actual lore, interesting and fun to play premade sims
    Better and more detailed animations
    Funny and unique aesthetic (both the animation and writing-wise)

    And the list goes on...
  • johnny33johnny33 Posts: 91 Member
    My favorite feature from Sims 2 that I miss in Sims 3 & 4 is the memory system. I obsess over my sims getting mostly good memories & I do not hesitate to exit my game without saving if they got a bad memory like burning a food dish XD
  • simmeroriginsimmerorigin Posts: 1,370 Member
    edited December 2023
    The sims appear in the pie menu. It subtly makes the player feel that they are really controlling that sim and connects them with the game.

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    He/him | Simmer since Sims 1 | Active Sims 2 wants-based rotational player, Sims 3 legacy player | My gameplay rules via PleasantSims | Bring back challenge and depth to the Sims: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17959464/#Comment_17959464
  • kwanzaabotkwanzaabot Posts: 2,440 Member
    Attention to detail. All those little moments where Maxis added little quirks to the Sims, or chances for them to do something unexpected. The Sims 4 is too straightforward--you get your Sim to do something, and you'll get exactly what you expect, with no deviation, leading to all Sims feeling the same.

    Aspiration failure.

    The chance of failure in general. Sims 2 is a GAME first, not a screenshot generator.

    Cars. They've got the same closed-off worlds that Sims 4 has, but they still have cars. It's doable. And by the way, those were the best cars in the series. Sims would actually animate getting into them, instead of Sims 3's method of teleporting inside.

    Burglars.

    Premades with lore that actually matters and is reflected in-game, because they start with actual stories that you can play through. You could ignore that and do your own thing just like you can now, but you were given the OPTION to play through a guided story before entering sandbox mode. Daniel Pleasant cheating on Mary-Sue. Don leaving Cassandra at the altar. You started the game right on the precipice of these events, and were ever-so-slightly nudged in that direction.

    Community lots that offered activities OTHER than drinking.

    Cross-pack content.

    Attraction. Seriously, it's the most obvious use of Likes and Dislikes, and something that modders added in on like day ONE. What's EA's excuse?
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  • lisamwittlisamwitt Posts: 5,079 Member
    I love the premades and their stories. I rarely play them and mostly do my own thing, but I still missed it when I got to Sims 4. Yes, families have a typed up description, but it doesn't mean anything.
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