All well and good, but where is the gameplay, even a little bit? So far, looks like a big CAS project, not a playable game. Yes, any early enthusiasm I had is very much cooled.
They have a smaller team of 10 or so people so instead of jumping from project to project they work on one aspect of the game at a time build mode and now Paramaker have the majority of their features complete so it's only a matter of time till they move to live mode this game has years of development to go seriously who wants a rushed incomplete game been there done that with Sims 4.
Not to mention that Paralives literally had to reinvent the wheel with Paramaker system because of the original plan (Push-pull) being patente. So because of that, that might have been the reason for a)we had only seen build mode and b)that we had more then a year of push-back for gameplay/animations due to them reinventing the wheel
Still too cartoon compared the background what they have showed us, like that apartment. Like Mickey Mouse walking at San Myshuno.
Yes sure, maybe some gameplay at 2031 , but at least sliders are okay.
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
The art style is still growing on me. Like why is everyone so red all the time?? The parafolk looks like stereotypical tumblr art...it may be too stylized right now. Hopefully with more time we can see other changes that tone it down a bit. Like in this meme:
When I was watching this part of the video, I remembered someone commenting on the heavy body blush! I like the body blush, but I do agree that it needs to be an optional thing, and it looks as though it is!
There's a blush option, on the fourth tab along. I'd assume we can just change the value to be the same as the base skin tone, and that will 'remove' the body blush. There might even be an 'X' option to get rid of it that way. I don't think they clicked on it though, so I'm just guessing. Good to know that not all Parafolk are going to be walking around looking like Tumblr art lol.
Sims 4 Wish List:
> Option to toggle on/off random townie generation.
> Turn vacation worlds into residential worlds.
> Option to purchase separate worlds or a world pack.
I don't know, I love Maxis, but I don't want a TS5 MMO and might have to jump ship and go with Steam's game.
The fact that Paralives' graphics are worse than The Sims 4's is a actually a good sign, it shows the dev team is fully aware that they are a small team after all and they won't be biting more than they can chew.
Stonehearth was mentioned in the first page, I followed that game and I actually don't see the same red flags... at all. Stonehearth didn't fail because they promised too much, it failed because they got stuck with a very basic feature that could've be solved easily at the cost of some immersion: they wanted the villagers to put down every block in a construction manually. They never managed to make that feature work quite right, and despite every single patron begging the dev to just implement some watered down mechanic instead of manual placement of blocks the dev was a perfectionist and refused to move on, so they kept piling up fixes on top of fixes until the code was such a mess that the dev gave up.
Imagine if EA refused to release anything else for The Sims 4 until they fixed the musical chairs bug, and every other patch they released a fix for it just for it to come back the next patch and break something along with it, so they forced the entire team to work on it, making the rest of the game suffer for it. That's what killed Stonehearth, and I've seen multiple people suggest EA stop releasing content to focus on fixing bugs...
One thing about Paralives that MIGHT be problematic is the height slider, but I guess everyone here already knows animations will suffer a bit because of it and are fine with it. Compromise, that is important in game design.
The fact that Paralives' graphics are worse than The Sims 4's is a actually a good sign, it shows the dev team is fully aware that they are a small team after all and they won't be biting more than they can chew.
Stonehearth was mentioned in the first page, I followed that game and I actually don't see the same red flags... at all. Stonehearth didn't fail because they promised too much, it failed because they got stuck with a very basic feature that could've be solved easily at the cost of some immersion: they wanted the villagers to put down every block in a construction manually. They never managed to make that feature work quite right, and despite every single patron begging the dev to just implement some watered down mechanic instead of manual placement of blocks the dev was a perfectionist and refused to move on, so they kept piling up fixes on top of fixes until the code was such a mess that the dev gave up.
Imagine if EA refused to release anything else for The Sims 4 until they fixed the musical chairs bug, and every other patch they released a fix for it just for it to come back the next patch and break something along with it, so they forced the entire team to work on it, making the rest of the game suffer for it. That's what killed Stonehearth, and I've seen multiple people suggest EA stop releasing content to focus on fixing bugs...
One thing about Paralives that MIGHT be problematic is the height slider, but I guess everyone here already knows animations will suffer a bit because of it and are fine with it. Compromise, that is important in game design.
"Perfect is the enemy of good" after all
Don't manhandle the urchin. He's not for sale. FIND YOUR OWN! - Xenon the Antiquarian, Dragon Age II
Race Against the Clock: Can your elder sim turn back the clock before their time runs out?
I don't know, I love Maxis, but I don't want a TS5 MMO and might have to jump ship and go with Steam's game.
As Icmnfrsh pointed out this video (to me) is more exciting. I really love the males in this video but I'm not a fan of the type of female character they keep building. But look at all these adjustments people could do if this ever really happens. Actually more sliders than Maxis' TS4. (I couldn't get it to embed).
I hope this comes to be but I have my doubts. But I really love those males and the body sliders. https://www.paralives.com/news
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
The art style is still growing on me. Like why is everyone so red all the time?? The parafolk looks like stereotypical tumblr art...it may be too stylized right now. Hopefully with more time we can see other changes that tone it down a bit. Like in this meme:
When I was watching this part of the video, I remembered someone commenting on the heavy body blush! I like the body blush, but I do agree that it needs to be an optional thing, and it looks as though it is!
There's a blush option, on the fourth tab along. I'd assume we can just change the value to be the same as the base skin tone, and that will 'remove' the body blush. There might even be an 'X' option to get rid of it that way. I don't think they clicked on it though, so I'm just guessing. Good to know that not all Parafolk are going to be walking around looking like Tumblr art lol.
I really, really hope they change where 'blush' would and could be applied. Yes, it would be important if you were drawing a character to show some highlights and shadows on a face however, this is supposed to be a playable character with 'makeup' not facial shadows per se, so they really need to think about where blush is applied depending on facial shape rather than looking at blush as shadowing of a face detail like when you are just drawing a character. I think they are looking at 'blush' as tool to apply shadow and coloring to the body and face, however most players are thinking about blush as 'makeup' and therefore this won't work for an average player who doesn't worry about body shadows like when we apply highlights and shadows to skins for Sims. Most are thinking makeup application. This is different from that.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I really, really hope they change where 'blush' would and could be applied. Yes, it would be important if you were drawing a character to show some highlights and shadows on a face however, this is supposed to be a playable character with 'makeup' not facial shadows per se, so they really need to think about where blush is applied depending on facial shape rather than looking at blush as shadowing of a face detail like when you are just drawing a character. I think they are looking at 'blush' as tool to apply shadow and coloring to the body and face, however most players are thinking about blush as 'makeup' and therefore this won't work for an average player who doesn't worry about body shadows like when we apply highlights and shadows to skins for Sims. Most are thinking makeup application. This is different from that.
Since there's tattoo placement, it's not unreasonable to believe that they might add make up placement too. It may be in the works for all we know.
Definitely worth posting your suggestion on the Paralives Discord, as that seems to be the best place to get suggestions heard.
Sims 4 Wish List:
> Option to toggle on/off random townie generation.
> Turn vacation worlds into residential worlds.
> Option to purchase separate worlds or a world pack.
So far I haven't been impressed with what I've seen of Paralives. I'm not that much of a builder, and what they've shown has mostly been about building.
But TS5 -- if I do get it, I'll wait until a few expansions and additions to the base game are out. I've been with TS4 from the beginning, through the todderless days, etc., and I don't want to go through that again.
Personally, I'm going to wait and see what happens. I know for a while I'll stick with TS4/3 because I'm content with those and don't feel the need to buy anything more until I know for sure it's something I want. Paralives' initial release is going to be realistic style game play, which doesn't interst me very much. If TS5 really is an MMO it completely loses my interest. When I play The Sims, I want to play alone. There's a tons of social games that are basically a Sims MMO. On the other hand, if it or Paralives happened to have a feature that let you privately visit your friend's game of vice versa, I would be quite pleased with that. Still, as of now it could be one, the other, both, or neither. Though I'm not exactly going to be making in pre-orders.
My favourite colour is #E4717A, just like any other ordinary human girl.
So far I haven't been impressed with what I've seen of Paralives. I'm not that much of a builder, and what they've shown has mostly been about building.
But TS5 -- if I do get it, I'll wait until a few expansions and additions to the base game are out. I've been with TS4 from the beginning, through the todderless days, etc., and I don't want to go through that again.
I’ll wait as well until TS5 gets a few additions are out before I decide.
TS4 launched with so many missing features!
I couldn’t believe there were no swimming pools! 😩🤦🏼♂️
Yes, I plan on getting Paralives as soon as it's released (possible 2021)
This option needs to be edited.
We can't edit poll questions. I've tried before. I worded it that way in the beginning since they had put the game on Steam which isn't normally done unless there is some evidence something is real and not in the too distant future. I don't think any of us expected they would never be out of pre alpha building and Parafolk maker two years later and not even built a world/engine yet, and or worked on any interactions live mode after almost two and half years.
ETA: I would love to edit some questions considering I think this game won't even be in Alpha in 2027. $50,000 a month is not a bad gig to play with a game engine and show the possibilities of what might be possible since others built that engine and supply other creators like Alex with tools he doesn't have to invent himself. The real heroes of this pipe dream are the those professionals who built the engine Parafolk teams are using. Because if we were of a mind to do it, we can download that engine, too, Free, and play with what is possible and show it off to others, too. If we wanted to beef it up Unity has over 50,000 assets (from content to animations) to help a creator build a game....it's not as expensive as some might think to add those assets and show them off to others as what is possible for a game developer....I just want people to know to take every thing with a grain of salt and challenge every thing. (EA's old moto).
I wasn’t impressed with the previous parafolk designs but this is the first time I feel like exploring the Paramaker features.
It does remind me of early concept art for Sims 4 by artist Wesley Burt, although in a less final state and with slightly less character but more bodyhair. 😋
Not too keen on the exaggerated face / bodyblush either.
Dunno what the flip the lady was wearing in that sizzling sunroom. A scarf? And a….what?
I tried to make sense of this haute couture:
But failed.
Following the development of Paralives sure is as entertaining as playing a game though! 👏🏼
WOW! I really like the concept art of this artist! Haven't seen it before and boy do I wish they would have gone with it instead of what they went with. Can you just imagine having actual mens jeans that, you know, covers the ankles and actually touches the shoes?
See this is my idea of a manly man, everyday clothing and is the kind of stuff I was hoping for in a men's pack.
I wasn’t impressed with the previous parafolk designs but this is the first time I feel like exploring the Paramaker features.
It does remind me of early concept art for Sims 4 by artist Wesley Burt, although in a less final state and with slightly less character but more bodyhair. 😋
Not too keen on the exaggerated face / bodyblush either.
Dunno what the flip the lady was wearing in that sizzling sunroom. A scarf? And a….what?
I tried to make sense of this haute couture:
But failed.
Following the development of Paralives sure is as entertaining as playing a game though! 👏🏼
I'm kind of hoping that the skin-blush can be focused in just one area- ie cheeks so I can make a more accurate Disney's Snow White para it's so annoying having to use make-up blush in Sims 4 to do that
WOW! I really like the concept art of this artist! Haven't seen it before and boy do I wish they would have gone with it instead of what they went with. Can you just imagine having actual mens jeans that, you know, covers the ankles and actually touches the shoes?
See this is my idea of a manly man, everyday clothing and is the kind of stuff I was hoping for in a men's pack.
Same I would have purchased the "male" kit instantly if it offered clothing like this
Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
WOW! I really like the concept art of this artist! Haven't seen it before and boy do I wish they would have gone with it instead of what they went with. Can you just imagine having actual mens jeans that, you know, covers the ankles and actually touches the shoes?
See this is my idea of a manly man, everyday clothing and is the kind of stuff I was hoping for in a men's pack.
That's what they went with actually, clothes that are similar to that are in the basegame. A lot of the concepts from old artwork that people have found did end up as basegame items in the sims4.
concept art from jason chan in 2015
It doesn't feel like that's what the sims team make these days though...
All well and good, but where is the gameplay, even a little bit? So far, looks like a big CAS project, not a playable game. Yes, any early enthusiasm I had is very much cooled.
They have a smaller team of 10 or so people so instead of jumping from project to project they work on one aspect of the game at a time build mode and now Paramaker have the majority of their features complete so it's only a matter of time till they move to live mode this game has years of development to go seriously who wants a rushed incomplete game been there done that with Sims 4.
Not at all wanting rushed. At the same time, if they proceed too slowly, they could find their product - even its concept - obsolete and unmarketable. How popular would a Ford Model T be these days?
Yes, I plan on getting Paralives as soon as it's released (possible 2021)
This option needs to be edited.
If people want to continue the discussion, it might be better to start a new poll.
The 2021 date in the original poll highlights that a lot of things have changed, or perhaps better, have not changed that were expected to change, since the poll started. Not sure what percentage of the original votes are still representative of what people are thinking. In a new poll, my vote probably would be something like "Irrelevant, because I expect to be pushing up daisies before either one is finished."
All well and good, but where is the gameplay, even a little bit? So far, looks like a big CAS project, not a playable game. Yes, any early enthusiasm I had is very much cooled.
They have a smaller team of 10 or so people so instead of jumping from project to project they work on one aspect of the game at a time build mode and now Paramaker have the majority of their features complete so it's only a matter of time till they move to live mode this game has years of development to go seriously who wants a rushed incomplete game been there done that with Sims 4.
Not at all wanting rushed. At the same time, if they proceed too slowly, they could find their product - even its concept - obsolete and unmarketable. How popular would a Ford Model T be these days?
You'd be more apt in comparing it to a movie/show/book, than a car. Games can't be obsolete in the same way a car can (and even then there are those you'll see collecting or driving years-old models). Outside of this little bubble of the Dollhouse LifeSim (encompassing only The Sims as a fully realised series), there are more games than we can count, all inhabiting bubbles alongside a myriad of others, and spanning decades between first and most recent. Yet still people play age-old games. Yet still people flit between them, travelling back and forth throughout time in the search for fun. I mean...even simmers do it with Simses 1-4. The reasoning is because games - like their sister media - are each unique, even if they cover the same topics, characters, etc.
Even if Paralives were to die tomorrow, there'd still be those sifting through the rubble, pointing out ways to improve The Sims and other upcoming DLS' through the examples in its legacy. Just look at old game concepts modernised and brought out, or those re-released. DLS' aren't normal game concepts. They are glorified dev tools and interconnected systems of concepts woven to create an interactive canvas out of a simplification of life. I wouldn't expect them to have a beta ready to go even two years from now (but they might surprise me). Look how long it takes for just a normal, restrictive, focused game, and those are manned tenfold what Paralives is. Learning to work as a team, division of labour, familiarity with the necessary concepts, etc are just the tip of the spear. If/when they pull it off, they'll have a formula down for their next endeavour, shaving down the time significantly.
The truth is we have nothing to go off of but whether or not we're cool with funding a dream, and thoroughly accept the possibility of said dream falling through. I like what I've seen, so I'm funding it. If it falls through, it was fun while it lasted, and the concepts will linger for someone to pick up someday.
Check out my 'Simming Tips' for detailed tips and tricks (TS4).
All well and good, but where is the gameplay, even a little bit? So far, looks like a big CAS project, not a playable game. Yes, any early enthusiasm I had is very much cooled.
They have a smaller team of 10 or so people so instead of jumping from project to project they work on one aspect of the game at a time build mode and now Paramaker have the majority of their features complete so it's only a matter of time till they move to live mode this game has years of development to go seriously who wants a rushed incomplete game been there done that with Sims 4.
Not at all wanting rushed. At the same time, if they proceed too slowly, they could find their product - even its concept - obsolete and unmarketable. How popular would a Ford Model T be these days?
I think the best thing is to look at the scope that they are aiming for and how far that they have gotten. Star Citizen is a great example in my opinion where the scope that they had for that game was too large. They had their kickstarter in 2012 and the game looks nowhere near to be finished.
Paralives have a working build mode and now a working character creator since they began in 2019 so it's looking promising...at least better than whatever Star Citizen are trying to do. It feels like Star Citizen's community are consisting of either people that have put so much money into it that they are staying with it no matter what and the people that are not sure that it will ever be finished or have left because development is taking too long.
I don't think that has happened with Paralives yet.
All well and good, but where is the gameplay, even a little bit? So far, looks like a big CAS project, not a playable game. Yes, any early enthusiasm I had is very much cooled.
They have a smaller team of 10 or so people so instead of jumping from project to project they work on one aspect of the game at a time build mode and now Paramaker have the majority of their features complete so it's only a matter of time till they move to live mode this game has years of development to go seriously who wants a rushed incomplete game been there done that with Sims 4.
Not at all wanting rushed. At the same time, if they proceed too slowly, they could find their product - even its concept - obsolete and unmarketable. How popular would a Ford Model T be these days?
I think the best thing is to look at the scope that they are aiming for and how far that they have gotten. Star Citizen is a great example in my opinion where the scope that they had for that game was too large. They had their kickstarter in 2012 and the game looks nowhere near to be finished.
Paralives have a working build mode and now a working character creator since they began in 2019 so it's looking promising...at least better than whatever Star Citizen are trying to do. It feels like Star Citizen's community are consisting of either people that have put so much money into it that they are staying with it no matter what and the people that are not sure that it will ever be finished or have left because development is taking too long.
I don't think that has happened with Paralives yet.
I wonder why they didn't use Kickstarter to build this game. It's my understanding from what little I have read about actual Kickstarter program that the developers are awarded the monies after they have completed a deadline etc. It's not all willy nilly funding. Kickstarter (I think) actually has some say in who gets awarded and how much and developers have to meet specific deadlines. Maybe that type of structured focus would have been more beneficial to those of us who wanted and funded this game. Then we would perhaps have seen some livemode play by now. But when funds go directly to a developer then this might take many more years than any of us thought.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Comments
Not to mention that Paralives literally had to reinvent the wheel with Paramaker system because of the original plan (Push-pull) being patente. So because of that, that might have been the reason for a)we had only seen build mode and b)that we had more then a year of push-back for gameplay/animations due to them reinventing the wheel
Yes sure, maybe some gameplay at 2031 , but at least sliders are okay.
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
When I was watching this part of the video, I remembered someone commenting on the heavy body blush! I like the body blush, but I do agree that it needs to be an optional thing, and it looks as though it is!
There's a blush option, on the fourth tab along. I'd assume we can just change the value to be the same as the base skin tone, and that will 'remove' the body blush. There might even be an 'X' option to get rid of it that way. I don't think they clicked on it though, so I'm just guessing. Good to know that not all Parafolk are going to be walking around looking like Tumblr art lol.
Stonehearth was mentioned in the first page, I followed that game and I actually don't see the same red flags... at all. Stonehearth didn't fail because they promised too much, it failed because they got stuck with a very basic feature that could've be solved easily at the cost of some immersion: they wanted the villagers to put down every block in a construction manually. They never managed to make that feature work quite right, and despite every single patron begging the dev to just implement some watered down mechanic instead of manual placement of blocks the dev was a perfectionist and refused to move on, so they kept piling up fixes on top of fixes until the code was such a mess that the dev gave up.
Imagine if EA refused to release anything else for The Sims 4 until they fixed the musical chairs bug, and every other patch they released a fix for it just for it to come back the next patch and break something along with it, so they forced the entire team to work on it, making the rest of the game suffer for it. That's what killed Stonehearth, and I've seen multiple people suggest EA stop releasing content to focus on fixing bugs...
One thing about Paralives that MIGHT be problematic is the height slider, but I guess everyone here already knows animations will suffer a bit because of it and are fine with it. Compromise, that is important in game design.
"Perfect is the enemy of good" after all
Race Against the Clock: Can your elder sim turn back the clock before their time runs out?
I hope this comes to be but I have my doubts. But I really love those males and the body sliders.
https://www.paralives.com/news
I really, really hope they change where 'blush' would and could be applied. Yes, it would be important if you were drawing a character to show some highlights and shadows on a face however, this is supposed to be a playable character with 'makeup' not facial shadows per se, so they really need to think about where blush is applied depending on facial shape rather than looking at blush as shadowing of a face detail like when you are just drawing a character. I think they are looking at 'blush' as tool to apply shadow and coloring to the body and face, however most players are thinking about blush as 'makeup' and therefore this won't work for an average player who doesn't worry about body shadows like when we apply highlights and shadows to skins for Sims. Most are thinking makeup application. This is different from that.
Since there's tattoo placement, it's not unreasonable to believe that they might add make up placement too. It may be in the works for all we know.
Definitely worth posting your suggestion on the Paralives Discord, as that seems to be the best place to get suggestions heard.
But TS5 -- if I do get it, I'll wait until a few expansions and additions to the base game are out. I've been with TS4 from the beginning, through the todderless days, etc., and I don't want to go through that again.
My Simming site: https://peachrenardssims.wordpress.com/
I’ll wait as well until TS5 gets a few additions are out before I decide.
TS4 launched with so many missing features!
I couldn’t believe there were no swimming pools! 😩🤦🏼♂️
This option needs to be edited.
We can't edit poll questions. I've tried before. I worded it that way in the beginning since they had put the game on Steam which isn't normally done unless there is some evidence something is real and not in the too distant future. I don't think any of us expected they would never be out of pre alpha building and Parafolk maker two years later and not even built a world/engine yet, and or worked on any interactions live mode after almost two and half years.
ETA: I would love to edit some questions considering I think this game won't even be in Alpha in 2027. $50,000 a month is not a bad gig to play with a game engine and show the possibilities of what might be possible since others built that engine and supply other creators like Alex with tools he doesn't have to invent himself. The real heroes of this pipe dream are the those professionals who built the engine Parafolk teams are using. Because if we were of a mind to do it, we can download that engine, too, Free, and play with what is possible and show it off to others, too. If we wanted to beef it up Unity has over 50,000 assets (from content to animations) to help a creator build a game....it's not as expensive as some might think to add those assets and show them off to others as what is possible for a game developer....I just want people to know to take every thing with a grain of salt and challenge every thing. (EA's old moto).
http://unity.com/download
unfortunely once the poll is started you can't edit it. Not unless OP makes another poll
I like this new artstyle!
I wasn’t impressed with the previous parafolk designs but this is the first time I feel like exploring the Paramaker features.
It does remind me of early concept art for Sims 4 by artist Wesley Burt, although in a less final state and with slightly less character but more bodyhair. 😋
Not too keen on the exaggerated face / bodyblush either.
Dunno what the flip the lady was wearing in that sizzling sunroom. A scarf? And a….what?
I tried to make sense of this haute couture:
But failed.
Following the development of Paralives sure is as entertaining as playing a game though! 👏🏼
WOW! I really like the concept art of this artist! Haven't seen it before and boy do I wish they would have gone with it instead of what they went with. Can you just imagine having actual mens jeans that, you know, covers the ankles and actually touches the shoes?
See this is my idea of a manly man, everyday clothing and is the kind of stuff I was hoping for in a men's pack.
I'm kind of hoping that the skin-blush can be focused in just one area- ie cheeks so I can make a more accurate Disney's Snow White para it's so annoying having to use make-up blush in Sims 4 to do that
That's what they went with actually, clothes that are similar to that are in the basegame. A lot of the concepts from old artwork that people have found did end up as basegame items in the sims4.
concept art from jason chan in 2015
Not at all wanting rushed. At the same time, if they proceed too slowly, they could find their product - even its concept - obsolete and unmarketable. How popular would a Ford Model T be these days?
If people want to continue the discussion, it might be better to start a new poll.
The 2021 date in the original poll highlights that a lot of things have changed, or perhaps better, have not changed that were expected to change, since the poll started. Not sure what percentage of the original votes are still representative of what people are thinking. In a new poll, my vote probably would be something like "Irrelevant, because I expect to be pushing up daisies before either one is finished."
You'd be more apt in comparing it to a movie/show/book, than a car. Games can't be obsolete in the same way a car can (and even then there are those you'll see collecting or driving years-old models). Outside of this little bubble of the Dollhouse LifeSim (encompassing only The Sims as a fully realised series), there are more games than we can count, all inhabiting bubbles alongside a myriad of others, and spanning decades between first and most recent. Yet still people play age-old games. Yet still people flit between them, travelling back and forth throughout time in the search for fun. I mean...even simmers do it with Simses 1-4. The reasoning is because games - like their sister media - are each unique, even if they cover the same topics, characters, etc.
Even if Paralives were to die tomorrow, there'd still be those sifting through the rubble, pointing out ways to improve The Sims and other upcoming DLS' through the examples in its legacy. Just look at old game concepts modernised and brought out, or those re-released. DLS' aren't normal game concepts. They are glorified dev tools and interconnected systems of concepts woven to create an interactive canvas out of a simplification of life. I wouldn't expect them to have a beta ready to go even two years from now (but they might surprise me). Look how long it takes for just a normal, restrictive, focused game, and those are manned tenfold what Paralives is. Learning to work as a team, division of labour, familiarity with the necessary concepts, etc are just the tip of the spear. If/when they pull it off, they'll have a formula down for their next endeavour, shaving down the time significantly.
The truth is we have nothing to go off of but whether or not we're cool with funding a dream, and thoroughly accept the possibility of said dream falling through. I like what I've seen, so I'm funding it. If it falls through, it was fun while it lasted, and the concepts will linger for someone to pick up someday.
I think the best thing is to look at the scope that they are aiming for and how far that they have gotten. Star Citizen is a great example in my opinion where the scope that they had for that game was too large. They had their kickstarter in 2012 and the game looks nowhere near to be finished.
Paralives have a working build mode and now a working character creator since they began in 2019 so it's looking promising...at least better than whatever Star Citizen are trying to do. It feels like Star Citizen's community are consisting of either people that have put so much money into it that they are staying with it no matter what and the people that are not sure that it will ever be finished or have left because development is taking too long.
I don't think that has happened with Paralives yet.
I wonder why they didn't use Kickstarter to build this game. It's my understanding from what little I have read about actual Kickstarter program that the developers are awarded the monies after they have completed a deadline etc. It's not all willy nilly funding. Kickstarter (I think) actually has some say in who gets awarded and how much and developers have to meet specific deadlines. Maybe that type of structured focus would have been more beneficial to those of us who wanted and funded this game. Then we would perhaps have seen some livemode play by now. But when funds go directly to a developer then this might take many more years than any of us thought.