Why firefighters and cops are without any depths. I remember firefighters in Ts4 used to break windows to reach fire but those in TS4...Lame
And cops...Why cops can arrest people but sims are not able to get arrested? It would be cool if your sim start a fight in a public place and later go to jail for it
I really miss some of the features from past Sims games and feel that they’re addition would be beneficial.
As someone mentioned above, the relationships now are one-sided. In previous versions they could be initiated by other sims as well. I’d like to see that again! I think it adds a level of realism to the game.
I also miss cars and truly think that they’re long overdue! It added a familial aspect to the game as parents had the opportunity to teach their kids how to drive. The addition of graduation for teens is also something that I’d love to see return, as well as the option for young sims to host slumber parties! I also miss being able to control sims (especially teens) that work as babysitters! And we can’t forget the bachelor and bachelorette parties!!! Again, all of these really made the game feel real and personal.
Also as mentioned above, there is a lack of threats of danger! I’d like to see that return. The element of surprise kept you on your toes! Especially the presence of burglars!
I also miss the create-a-style feature as it really made the game feel more personal. The fact that there are only presets for everything kind of takes away the customization aspects of the game because there’s but so many options.
Lastly, I’d love to see things like theaters, grocery stores, book stores, city hall, & spas return in the base game.
I would lile to suggest adding a photo album for each household. I love to take photos of the families during their milestones like weddings, birthdays, the arrival of a grandson/daugther, etc. I know there exists the possibility of hanging the photos on the walls, but because I take a lot of them, it is not very pleasant having the house filled with photos on the walls. I am thinking something like the menu of the existing notebook where the player can display the photos, organise them and take a look at them. I think it would be a cute idea. Thanks for listenning <3
Sul Sul, Sims Team! (Why don't we have favorite food yet???)
I guess in terms of more depth, the game is lacking game play. The community is aware that we will never get an open world, but it would be amazing if the game play would be prioritized more over CAS and Build/Buy. I greatly think that would give us more depth. I understand that this would be considered a wish list item, but please don't reconsider this when it comes to your player base and the fact that we are the most toxic fan base on the internet. (You know it's true) I think depth with game play can be taken to a story progression level. If we just had that ounce of "My sims in the world are doing stuff by themselves" I would absolutely LOVE that. It would take the depth and challenge to a whole new level. Sims 3 had story progression and that's what made it great. It gave us a sense of what I was telling you above. It would make for richer storytelling and compelling game play, it would possibly bring over more people from the previous games, people that didn't want to move on to Sims 4 BECAUSE of the lack of game play. To be honest, I only play the game to build because the game play lacks after a new game becomes stale. If this gets skipped, then I definitely know that you are skipping these on purpose. (Sorry for sounding hostile there for a second.) But I have been playing the game since 2009 (Sims 2 and 3 era) I love this game and don't want to see people trash the game. I care about this franchise too much to have it taken into this "kit" era, where everything is being "nickeled and dimed". I like the idea of "kits" but the packs aren't worth 5 USD to be honest, they are worth $2.99 USD at best. Sorry if anything in this comment, breaks the rules but I had to get this across for everyone in the community.
Awesome that you guys are doing this again! I’ve tried my best to explain what I think could make this game better for me personally, so I hope I actually make sense. Gonna start by listing off the ’problems’ and then elaborate.
Short version: - Whims are insignificant - The game gets monotonous fast - Sim personality is still lackluster - Sim relationships lack depth - NPCs don’t matter (or do) much - Not enough realism nor consequence - Moodlets are too easy to change - The memory system in the game is too weak I’m also aware that not everyone would want these changes, but an easy way to work around that is by making players able to toggle certain things on and off, or customize how they function (like with aging, seasons, and more).
Whims are insignificant: The current whims system in TS4 fails to do what it could in previous sims games. It doesn’t drive towards any sort of story progression, and most whims my sims get are either small, irrelevant tasks, or stuff to do with introducing the content of other packs (even if I have played those packs several times before). I think TS2 did it best with how a sim could wish to do things that pushed them along in life; like wanting to have their first kiss, wanting to get married, wanting a baby, wanting to go to university, wishing to go into a certain career once they became adults (probably young adults if applied to TS4), etc. I’d love to see additions like this in TS4, maybe even stuff like them wishing to move to a bigger lot, wanting a divorce/wanting to break up, or other big decisions like that.
The game gets monotonous fast: This is both a symptom of whims being insignificant as well as sims not being that unique (which I will also touch on in my next point). You can have two different families, but the gameplay could still be almost the exact same for both saves. A lot of TS4 is also very easy or too easy to play through, and in some cases, I feel like the negative sides of things are forgotten when these features are added to the game (like in Tiny Living and the tiny homes only having positive effects on the sims living there).
Sim personality is still lackluster: Aside from traits (which I know are getting a makeover), something that could improve how much a sim feels like an individual is having traits or parts of their personality that aren’t in our control. Like in TS2 with how conversational interests were randomly generated, TS4 could do something similar. Make some sims shy while others are more outgoing. Is the sim an extrovert or introvert? Maybe certain moodlets last longer or for a shorter duration of time for this specific sim. Since every human is really different in these aspects, I think sims would feel much more alive if they had this level of depth. Parts of it could be random while others are based in the traits they have.
Sim relationships lack depth: Something I’ve always found super strange is how family members act like strangers – and this isn’t just in TS4 either. I wish uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. would visit and bring the other family members too, or that you could send your sims’ kids to stay with their grandparents for x amount of time. I think it would also be great if you could decide on a sim being purely platonic with another sim so they would never autonomously flirt. In extension of this, setting sim preferences for attraction would also add a bunch of gameplay, because now you can’t just grab any random NPC for them (and since NPCs would have attraction too, not all of it would necessarily be mutual).
NPCs don’t matter (or do) much: Jumping off of my last few points, NPCs would be brought much more to life if they were proactive in socializing, or if they had unique social interactions based on their regular traits, as well as the hidden/random ones. A shy NPC might be difficult to start up a conversation with, or an outgoing NPC could be the one to start the conversation with your sim. Some NPCs could also have a rarer chance of appearing in certain places, based on their interests or where they live. Fixing inconsistensies in NPC behavior is also important, I think. To me, it’s strange seeing all the A-list celebrities walking past my sim’s house, for example. Sims living in one world probably should appear more in that specific world too, not so much the others.
Not enough realism nor consequence: This will be the shortest section, but I would love if my sims could get sick and if it was something I would have to actively work towards curing. Functioning memories and deeper relationships with other sims would also make for more gameplay when these are impacted negatively.
Moodlets are too easy to change: This also ties into my previous points. Certain moodlets should be almost impossible to affect the span of, like a sim being sad after someone they loved passed away, and more than they already do, I think moodlets should influence each other. Say your sim’s pet dies, and then a day after their best friend does too. Both of those ’sad’ moodlets should prolong each other. I also don’t think moodlets associated with big life events span long enough as is.
The memory system in the game is too weak: Last but definitely not least, I want to talk about the memory system in TS4. It’s barely noticeable that the feature is even there in the first place, and the fact that it’s not automatic reduces its usefulness a lot compared to how great it was in TS2. I think some things should just be logged automatically by the game, and then you, as a player, could go add onto that memory (pictures, text, etc.), add more memories to the timeline, and so on.
Thank you for asking for feedback (and reading mine). Hopefully it’ll be of use to you :)
I want more natural and man-made disasters, like how volcanoes can spew lava rocks and catch things on fire. Or how in previous games, satellites would fall out of the sky and kill people. The earthquakes from City Living should have some real effect, like a chance of being crushed by a falling bookcase, or at least furniture being ruined, or your building being condemned, making you lose all your furniture and have to find a new home. There should be more risk in cheap apartments. I liked it when sims could die of heat stroke from drinking excessive amounts of coffee.
Also, I want more options and realism for invites. My sim gave birth, and immediately upon coming home, she was offered a date by one guy and a hangout at a fair by another. I should be able to say, not now, but how about tomorrow or how about after they're home from work. Maybe they'll turn it down, maybe they won't and it will turn into a scheduled event.
1. Life Progression Depth - There is no story progression in the game. Their need to be random events in the worlds that are good and bad such as marriage, divorce, someone got hit by a comet, someone drowned, sims get into a fright with their enemy someone got fired or someone passed away by old age. Events need to occur outside of the active household, more various autonomy is a must.
2. Trait depth - The traits need an update. If i have a jealous sim i want them to sneak thru their partners' phone or get mad when their talking to another sim. If a sim is evil i need them to randomly yell out sims doing good deeds or making children cry. The traits REALLY need to reflect the sim. Also please add one or two more trait slots, three is not enough and doesn't do much for the sim.
3. Relationships - They need to be more complicated. Such as one side crushes, still has feelings for ex, doesn't get along well with parent, etc. Its not a challenge if both sims are just so happy and pappy with each other it needs a touch of real world relationships. Also step parent really needs to be added to the family tree and relationship panel its weird thats it not there.
4. Life Stages - Ive been saying / thinking of this one for awhile. Not only does each sim age particularly need actions / socials only available to them i think the ages can be broken down into 2 parts. Example - child 12 days till teenager. first 6 days the child is similar to a child that is 8-10 years old, then the 2nd half the child has a mini growth and has actions / socials similar to a preteen 11-13 years old. It would add alot more to sims gameplay and how each sim acts.
To add to this teenagers should have a little bit more restrictions you would think they would have such as they should get in trouble for drinking from the bar or staying out late. Also they could be a little shorter than adults.
5. Memory system. Their is no memory system in this game. The memory system needs to be added to the sim UI panel possibly in the notebook. It could be like a storybook and when the player clicks it all of the major events in that sims life pops up, newest to oldest. The screenshot system is awful why would all of the screenshots be mixed up together? Shouldn't they only be in that household? A really cool add would be to purchase a photo album from build/buy and sims can view it and all of the memories from their life/ household life would be there and they could reminisce especially elders.
6. Babies - Cmon now after that wonderful toddler update babies shouldn't have still been objects. The baby life stage should now be a real baby that can be carried around away from the bassinet, changed at a changing table, bathed in the sink and have a little bit of baby hair or bald maybe a mini CAS mode for them. Also if they have to have a bassinet there needs to be alot more variations. Strollers would be amazing for babies and toddlers.
7. Animations - Im glad you you guys added the ability to watch tv while lying down, now i think some more animations to that could be adde such as sms lying on their side or even falling asleep. I think sims should be able to sit down on the ground and floor and use the laptop or eat. Even playing blocks with a toddler they should sit down on the floor.
8. *Simoleons- The update when discovery university came out and we could change how much simoleons sims were allowed to take with them once they moved out was great! Now lets expand on that. I think EACH SIM should have their own simoleons amount. For example Danny has 10,000 his partner Tina has 21,000 their teenager ginger has 4,000 cause she has a job and may get allowance and their child Spencer gets an allowance of 50 a week by doing household chores. Their is an option for adults to merge their simoleons together or keep them separate. This would add to much more depth and be a GAME CHANGER! Imagine a materialistic and noncommittal sim partner asking to merge accounts? Whew! Their could be a wallet added in each sims inventory (customizable of course) and if they loose it or if the player takes it out they have no simleons!
9. Likes / Dislikes - This one needs a simple breaking down Instead of fitness please break it down into swimming, jogging, pushups, basketball etc. Also please add reading, stealing, knitting and voidcritters, depending on what packs the player has the traits need to be available in the like/ dislike panel.
10. Vehicles - Itll add a touch of realism if sims could at least purchase a vehicle that could be placed in their garage or driveway (if they have one) and possibly drive away in it once they leave the neighborhood. Also even a school bus appearing in front of the home would be nice.
11. *World Manager - Ok so in the game theres plenty of background stuff to manage such as npcs. Could a management mode be implemented that allows players to somewhat work as background task manager that managers what jobs and clothes NPCS have and wear as well as the decorative houses / retail lots that are just their for decoration. I dont want NPCs showing up under"other households". Example me the player foes into background task manager mode from the settings and there all of my NPCS are shown, then i can pick what job i want them to do (bartender, yoga instructor, barista etc) and change their outfits. Also in this mode I can pick which decorative retail buildings are functional. Such as this decorative building is a coffee shop and sims can go into it as a rabbit hole to have coffee for 2 hours or watch a movie and be gone for 4 hours or this building is a retail shop and i can purchase items such as toys or snowboarding equipment here.
12. Random Base Game Updates(some of these would also expand on some expansion packs)
Cooking - i get the whole throwing random bottles up and down but lets add a bit more shall we, chopping seasoning, saute, Add pots and pans sims can take out of cabinets. Add instant pots, air fryers toasters. add more dishes to clean such as the mixing bowl, the skillets forks & spoons. (cool kitchen should add cool techy kitchen items)
Cellphone - Cellphones should be optional for kids and teens and should be taken away if they get a bad grade or do something mean such as patronize their sibling or fight someone else. Add more variations of cellphones such as smart phones, flip phones, blackberries (maybe called plumberries) even a pager or a housephone. They should come in alot more patterns and colors and they should be able to break or lose connection.
More after school activities for kids / teens. Even regular school events such as parent teacher conference and school dances.
Sims beds shouldn't automatically be made, especially for the lazy ones, Add more messiness and sloppiness to them.
More Family activities (i love the hike they can do in snowy escape lets add more of that with family camping or beach day).
Burglars. i( see you added a thieving fox to country living i think thieving sims should be added as well.)
Sims dating app, would be cool to add a dating app accessible from the cellphone and computer
Sickness - sims should be able to get sick and take medicine ( this would be a big upgrade for get to work, the sick system should add more symptoms that gradually get worse and can potentially end in death, also add hospital visits and maybe even doctor calls that all cost simoloens)
I hope all of our ideas are taking into consideration and possibly added to the game one day.
Ok, now here are some ideas that have been on my mind for a while:
CAS improvements:
More rows please, we have too much content to scroll right now.
Ability to copy and paste, or lock, outfits and makeup for all occasions.
Let us set skill levels in CAS to tell our own stories, not every sim needs to be a blank canvas. I wanna make a grandma that is already perfect at cooking for example.
More family relationships.
Switch between occult and human.
Option to make a sim stop moving, it's irritating.
Game improvements and challenges:
What can I do with a super sim with a lot of skills? What new challenges should it have?
How to spend my money? It's so easy to get rich but there's no way to actually spend it. The whole money system should be redesigned. I want loans, allowances and many more.
Can we have disasters? I want the option to set my whole house on fire. Bring the SimCity onboard.
Add scams that might make our sims lose some money.
Diseases that are not so easy to get cured. Right now it's so simple and boring, you just buy medicine through your computer.
The emotions should be more meaningful and relevant. Why would my sim grieve for two days because a sim she talked once just died? Not sure how it would work but we could have two types of emotions, one being more for the everyday feelings to get you going and other for bigger life events. If I get cheated on I might not be able to do some actions for a while, it won't be so easy to engage with others. If my partner dies I might not be able to do as much romantic interactions but I wouldn't be in the sad moodlet forever, as it's terrible. Am I having a midlife crisis? This could all go in this new "emotions"/life events bar.
Other ideas:
Please enhance the butler system! It would be awesome to let us have occult butlers. Imagine how cool it would be to have a witch with a ghost butler. Let us decide the outfit as well, the same way we get to choose our employees' if we have a business. I'd also like to have more than one butler living with me and let them do different jobs. I wanna make my Downton Abbey hahaha.
Make sims engage in activities before I get on a lot. It's boring to see everyone arriving at the same time, including the vendors.
Automatically hire sims to work at food stands on public lots.
Name the debug items.
Create an advanced mode for building, like eyedropping debug items.
Agreeing with a lot of what I'm reading here - I'm probably going to repeat things since I can't read them all - (omg how will you all do that?) I'll keep it brief.
1. Random death - this was a thing before and I'd love it to be a thing again. Maybe sometimes the cow plant spits your sim out or the electricution just dazes you, and probably shouldn't be a 50/50 chance, but it should be a chance to die even the first time.
2. Pre-teens - or make teenagers shorter and less adult, and maybe still with child aspirations. Oh but MORE child aspirations - there's just the four and they're kind of boring and unchallenging now. More nuanced or maybe they can start on adult aspirations sooner to get them more personality. More likes more unique challenges for children and teenagers. Teenagers are basically just useless adults in some ways.
3. Elder care - Are there aspirations only elders can do? Or more things for them that is unique from adults. Let them retire and challenge us to keep them happy - and well cared for throughtout their life.
More dreams, more desires, more personality and not just emotions were every sim reacts in almost the same way to the same stimuli.
Check out Raerei's Fortress for Builds, Short Stories, and maybe some longer stuff.
Hi, I was a bit stressed today and have not had time to read trough this text so much so might contain weirdness in grammar and spelling and things like that, because English is not my main language. I hope it doesn't feels like I complain or something, I will try to say what I think is good and not so good in the game about these two themes, but not trying to give any specific requests, not sure if my post will be perfect but I hope it will be ok at least. Usually I write better things, but ATM my time is very limited.
Sometimes it feels like the game have tried to add a challenge, but instead of it being fun an activating, it was annoying and boring instead. Like a challenge that means to do same thing repeatedly many times, it won't feel like WOW this is fun. Variation and different goals linked to each other in a meaningful way are better. Both can be considered challenge though. Also challenges that destroy things in a creative game with building might not be a good thing if not being able to turn it off, like that stealing community nap in eco lifestyle, it was built to be fun but something went wrong somehow. I feel it is important to avoid annoying things when working with challenge, this is one thing I want to mention. Well foxes from cottage living could maybe be annoying too sometimes, but not in a bad way, and they are optional. So I understand it is a tricky thing to add to an already existing game.
And sometimes it feels like challenges are way too easy if in relation to what they are supposed to do, like the first quest in realm of magic, to collect these items. It doesn't feel like something they would have been asking for help with. If needed to go out in the world for a quest that might have been been completed after a little more effort, it would have felt more real. If you were a powerful wizard, what would you want to have help with, maybe not collect things in the backyard, maybe something where I didn't want to go myself. ...Or simply not have a quest at all. But I do prefer to have one.
Good things about depth already in game are the skill trees in vampires and realm of magic and get famous, but when they are missing out these goodies from other occults for example, they feel like they become shallow and not at all as interesting as the other. It becomes uneven. The thing about making choices and selecting paths for your sim that actually change their life in some way, makes the choice feel meaningful. I wish aliens and mermaids would have gotten these skill trees as well. They are very fun and give very much gameplay feel.
Other not so good thing about depth is the limitation of sim personality customisation in CAS. It is to be honest a challenge to make a sim that represents what you imagine, but it is not that kind of challenge I think we need in the game. Problem is that it both are so few trait slots (main problem), and still very few traits, and many of them actually doesn't really feel like they matter so much in the end. I like the thought of having sim challenges as traits like the vegetarian and lactose intolerant, but the lactose intolerance is something physical, while traits, when being limited to 3 slots, feels like they are supposed to decide personality. As a lactose intolerant person I don't think that this thing of mine is one of my personality, and if wanting to add this trait to my self sim, I need to have even less personality on my sim. Another optional section for physical traits like lactose intolerant could have helped to fix this.
More on depth, in CAS is that it feels like it is very limited on how to create a family in CAS. The relationship options would need a bit more options and depth would be higher here directly.
I love the kind of challenges in cottage life, both errands and the new lot traits. I wish other worlds would have errands as well. They are optional, not stressful, and give Sims goals with purpose.
And depth might also been helped with some more in game style memories, the ones we have now does not really feel like a part of the game and would do great if being redone in a way that feels more interactive. This way the things Sims will be doing in their life have impacts on them selves. They will always have been trough that great vacation or that heartbreaking separation, and we will be able to see that in their story. You can't just play and everything is then forgotten. It will actually stay with your sim and could possibly hunt them in future or pay off good if it is a positive things. This is both depth and challenge in my mind.
I also love depth and customization in the tradition maker from seasons and club system in get together. But sometimes when new DLC comes, things in these kind of features are not updated to also include new fun stuff. But what I want to say most, is that this kind of building your own things is wonderful and makes players feel creative even in gameplay, and it is just perfect. This kind of things I hope we will see more of, and even to see them up to date. Superstar depth in there. Love it. Way to go!
This is also an overall thought about integration between packs. Sometimes when new DLC comes, another pack would be great if it was updated with features that would make the packs feel like they are in the same game. Example, realm of magic, when new pack comes out adding a new cool feature, maybe there could be a new spell for that kind of feature. Interaction between packs are important and would make game feel much more together and not in separate parts. I like when that is done, but sometimes it feels forgotten.
Another thing I love in the game that I feel can bring depth, is the whims, it is one of the things that makes us see the minds of our sims. Small optional minigoals that makes us move towards what our Sims want in life. But it feels like they are not updated so much now a days. And a part of adding challenge could be updating these to include negative goals too, like fears. The reward store could also need some update to include some more valuable things one want to hunt points to be able to get.
Another thing I think you were on right track with in latest EP, is to make these houses that can't be lived in, is to add some kind of interaction on them anyway, so they are not just standing there taking up place and looking nice. This is something I hope you will continue to do.
Reading the other simmer post about collections also, and this is for me a bit of a forgotten feature that could be considered a challenge, bit because I forget it mostly, it won't add to that feeling. And I believe overall, in a game this big, it is easy to forget about features. Highlighting them somehow here and there might help.
One thing if comparing with Sims 3, this game won't feel overwhelming in the same way as Sims 3. Sims 3 was so much fun features in, but I could not enjoy them mostly because the game was so huge that I didn't know where to even begin. Sims 4 are better in the way that it is easy to understand and to come in to, simple startup. These are things that gives value, so if adding challenge, please don't take away the simplicity in playing it, if you understand the difference between these things I am trying to describe. I really hope it won't be a complicated game in the way that one feel overwhelmed or one doesn't understand how the features actually works.
Also, if adding much more challenge to the game though, it might be not as good situation for players who like the layed back style of the game, so I think optional challenge level would be best way doing this. Something that could be set per saved game in the game option. You already have some options there, and I love to see more.
Sorry again for a messy text, wasn't sure if anything was against the rules. Hope it is fine. Take care you all ❤
Here are some things that I think would make the game more Challenging as well as Meaningful:
For overall Difficulty:
*A Difficulty Scale. Players could play on an Easy/ Casual, Medium/ Some Challenge, or Hard/ Difficult Modes.
Adjustments you could make in these modes could be wage amount, amount of time it takes for items to get dirty, bills cost, amount of time it takes to level up a skill, success/failure at socials, challenge of school/job performance, etc.
Having a difficulty scale could help accommodate both people who want to play casually and with more difficulty.
*More Lot Challenges. Lot Challenges could be used to make individual households more difficult. Some examples could be Bad Neighborhood (more susceptible to Burglaries ) , High Taxes, Alien Epicenter (more alien abductions), Hated (other sims will hate sims from your lot and be autonomously rude to them).
Lot Challenges & a Difficulty Scale could be used in combination to make the game fully customizable for the player.
Some things that could make Careers more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Only a limited selection of jobs are available at once for sims, similar to the Sims 2. Some jobs are more in demand than others.
*Sims have to apply to jobs rather than just receive them immediately. It could depend on their High School and College grades, as well as Reputation.
*An option to make College degrees required for some careers.
*Sims can be fired if they're performing poorly for a consistent amount of time. In the real world, employees are rarely demoted and more likely just removed.
*Chance cards have more consequences
*If you are a friend/enemy of a coworker/superior, it should have an effect either positive or negative on your work performance.
* More substantial career rewards other than décor. Rewards for careers should be substantial and have a unique perk/ability.
Some things that could make School more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Homework should be required to get better grades.
*School Projects are mandatory and have a due date.
*If sims fail school, they aren't eligible for certain jobs and can't apply to college.
*Option to drop out of school and go to school later on in life.
Some things that could make Moods and Social Relationships more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Sentiments from significant occurrences like Fighting, Divorce and Breakups should last longer and have a stronger effect on moods
*Some Sentiments should last permanently as Memories (such as the Sims 2).
*No more Environmental buffs from pretty environments. They override the sims other unique emotions. (The Meaningful Stories mod is a good mod that helps with this).
*Sims with opposing Traits shouldn't get along without more effort from the player, for example Good and Evil traits.
Some things that could make Aspirations more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Aspirations shouldn't be tutorials for packs, but should add a unique and interesting goal for a sim.
*Location based aspirations are too niche and not generally realistic life aspirations.
*More base game aspirations to add more personality to our sims
Some things that could make Personalities more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Traits should be more meaningful, and opposing Traits should have greater conflict with each other. A Good Sim and an Evil Sim should be more likely to get in fights.
*More unique actions/ Quirks for each Trait.
*There should be more negative traits.
*We should be able to pick more than 3 traits.
*Possibly adding a Fatal Flaw feature like in the Sims Medieval. For every good trait, you should pick a negative trait as well.
*An Attraction system where sims are specifically attracted to certain qualities/ features in another sim. Sims should not romance sims they are not attracted to.
*Whims should have to do specifically with a Sim's Traits, Likes/ Dislikes and Aspirations. They should not be randomized.
*Add a Fear category that could negatively effect a sims' mood or deduct Aspiration points (similar to the Sims 2).
Some general miscellaneous things that could help....
*Less rewards. Sims should not be heavily rewarded for things like Dusting with financial compensation/ objects. It's unrealistic and far too easy.
*Sims should not autonomously clean unless they have the Neat trait or maxed out Responsible Parenthood Value.
*It should be more difficult to max out Parenthood Values.
*An optional Story Mode that gives more life the neighborhoods, adding marriages, jobs, childbirth and other activities to unplayed sims. Similar to MC Command Center.
This is basically everything. I'm sure other people have great opinions too.
Thanks for letting us share, and thank you for the hard work!!
1. Being able to have a full time job & a part time job. For example, freelancers can also have the job of part time babysitter, fast food worker, etc. 2. Grocery Stores or Farmers Markets! I miss having to restock the fridge by either ordering groceries or physically going to the grocery store! It would also be cool to be able to own one, as well.
Hey Everyone! I have been playing The Sims since the very first game and will probably never stop playing this game, even through the frustrating gameplay dynamics. THANK YOU DEVs for opening up this discussion!!
A few of my points here I've directly copied from other people posting on this forum. There are definitely my own points of view in here too.
My playing style is mostly from a builder/designer and story-writer perspective. Most of the areas I would like to see improvements in are in build/buy mode and in basic family interactions.
NPCs: "I want NPCs to be less likely to interrupt a date on a public lot by talking to my Sim. Random Sims interrupt these social outings are a hassle and it ruins the story I’m trying to tell. I’d love to take my Sims out and enjoy the game world without the constant interruptions. This would be a game-changer. Celebrity Sims should rarely travel outside of Del Sol Valley. Celebrity Sims are disruptive. They draw so much attention that it’s troublesome to keep a Sim you are talking to engaged with your Sim."
FAMILY GAMEPLAY: That said, please fix the ’star-shine’ for families of the celebrity. For example, my sim got married to his high school sweetheart. As a teen, they practically lived at each other’s houses developing very strong familial connections to each other’s parents. And now that they are adults, it is almost like they are strangers to the In-Laws and even though they got married before they both became actors, the family now has the “Attempt Introduction” interaction. I also, do not care at all for seeing that my sim has a random NPC that they hate or are romantic with when I return to the game. My married sim with the ‘Companion Trait’ suddenly has a romantic interest in an NPC and I literally had to find them in the “not in world households”, put them in a lot, then have them visit each other and force the “Ask to only be friends” option for this not to happen. Meanwhile, the wife is standing right next to them like ‘la-de-da’. As a player, these type of shallow family connections really hurts my ‘story-driven' play style.
“Sims that are related should make more of an effort to hang out with family and do family-oriented events together on their own, especially after moving out the house! Their relationships are different than friendships and their actions should reflect that. Example: coming over to each other's houses for the holidays. (Christmas or thanksgiving with the family could even be an event option. ) spending the night over at their parents. Grandparents volunteering to watch the grandkids or even have them spend the night.”
I personally love playing off the grid and self-sufficient sims. I love all the recent new developments in that and more would be great. For example, I have multiple Native American-style families that literally want to live off the land and reject modern amenities. I wish that in base-game, you could only cook your meals with food that you grow in your garden.
"Parenting babies and toddlers is a nightmare. The highchair issues or guardians at times not properly taking care of their baby or toddler's needs" is not as efficient or even fun as gameplay.
PARTIES + EVENTS: "When throwing a party let the list of people to invite be everyone known to the HOUSEHOLD, not just the one sim."
-I wish that the gameplay involving non-active household members during events was more intuitive. Instead of the NPCs going straight to the computer and ‘trolling teh forums’.
WORLDS: Let households own multiple properties!! Including Vacation rentals!! Maybe they can get monthly rental income? Or they can just treat a vacation lot as their second home? I would love to be able to own and live out of a house in Salvadorada and Granite Falls. The lore and character stories I could write for my “mountain man herbalist hermit” sims could be perfect with being able to live in these places without my house being ‘Haunted’.
LOT TRAITS: The “Private Dwelling” Lot Trait should truly reflect that. I still have NPCs randomly walking through the backyard if it isn’t fenced in, or even sometimes going through the backdoor and into the kitchen?! That should NOT happen EVER, especially with this trait. Furthermore, The “Celebrity Home” Lot trait should not make family members of famous people and kids embarrassed. Instead, they should be grateful they are family members with a world-famous celebrity :P
Build Mode: "Adding recolors of build mode items, wall art, clutter, rugs, and curtains in addition to adding new items in with each pack, would help towards being able to use all items in build mode" without committing to specific styles. Now we have ‘Decor’ likes and dislikes with the Dream Decorator pack, but there are limited options in any of these styles based on the items having specific color palettes per set/pack. For example, the Eco Living pack has great doors and windows, but I dont find myself using them too often because of the limited color options. I would love to be able to match it to pre-exisiting base game colors ie; green, purple, red, etc.
I think it would add some level of depth with a bit more ambiguity? like sometimes it feels like im getting TOO much information. i dont think many people would agree with me on this, but when im teaching my pet, it seems weird that i would know right away if something worked or not. i think more options with pets would be nice too. i dont tend to feel very connected with my pets, they kinda just seem like extra chores. also, have you ever thought about adding some minigames to the sims? something to add a little change of pace and challenge. it wouldnt need to be anything complicated. maybe even just an option to play what video game theyre playing? idk haha
-burglars back. -boarding school for children and teens -being able to select the number of days of each age range has without a mod -more sim slots without a mod. At least 10 sims allowed per lot. -the ability to own more than one property. Like vacation homes and rental properties. -not loose your home when you go to university and live on campus and only have one sim in your household. -the ability for teens to live by themselves without a mod -higher tuition costs for university. Also based one whether it is an honors program or not. I would like my sims to actually fear the repo man. -mortgages for homes. The ability to buy houses without having the full amount of money. Also it would be funny to see my sims get denied a mortgage. -more careers like modeling and child stars. -more and better after school programs. Ie dance, cheerleading, and football.
[b]1. More Challenging Relationships[/b] - Relationships in the Sims 4 seem to be shallow and lack depth in a big way. It is too easy to form a relationship with any other sim and it is rare to have a bad relationships, especially autonomously. More unpredictability in relationships would add a lot to the challenge and depth. Sentiments and Preferences did make a positive difference but we need more. ex: - Siblings and family members need to fight more autonomously, especially teens. I like when teens sometimes get the rebellious phase but we need more of that autonomously based on their family relationship. Perhaps siblings autonomously fight more until they are friends, that way you have to work harder to build up that friendship with a sibling/parent. - I want a chance that the sims my sims are dating break up with them or are not compatible in some way - Preferences that change how sims “get along”, ex. Trait preferences where sims with traits your sim likes build relationship faster and traits you don’t like build relationship slower (maybe negative relationship faster.
[b]2. More Random Events[/b] - I need to see more external events that affect my sims, with bigger consequences. Ex: - a burglar lot challenge where they steal something on the more expensive side (not toilets), and you have to protect your house with an alarm (or maybe a dog), and call the police - Random chance of death more often, more fires that spread and are harder to put out (my sims put it out before the fire fighters get there and I have never lost a sim in a fire), more electrocutions, and I miss random meteors and light night strikes - Sickness that can get serious (I would love for the sickness system to be more fleshed out with more build up, consequences, and treatment)
[b]3. More fleshed out Preferences[/b] - I want to see more preferences that make a difference in everyday sim life and therefore adds to the personality of each sim. When sims all act different it adds more dynamic gameplay and depth. Ex: - Food preferences: favorite meals, disliked meals, and maybe the lactose intolerance, vegetarian, and vegan traits could move here - Trait preferences: favorite traits that they get along with right way and connect with, disliked traits that they can’t stand (a cool way to add the attraction system everyone talks about) - More hobbies: we need to see all of the hobbies the dlc offers in the hobbies list - Randomize Preferences should add more than 1 preference per category, adds a more fleshed out personality (adding 3 for each category instead)
Hi, thanks for taking the time out to look through these.
I'm not sure if I'd consider myself to have all of the same wants as the average Sims player. I personally don't like my Sims dying out of nowhere and play with aging off, so for me making the game more challenging might not reflect what others are wanting.
For me, the most important update I could suggest would to just make the game feel more real and interactive. Babies and baby items you can properly interactive with, more rabbit hole after school activities for children and teenagers that can impact the jobs and interests they have as adults, noticeable differences between teenagers and young adults, more food choices, more career choices with more branches to go into, and careers that can impact your Sims life on a daily basis and interests that impact whether a Sim likes their job. More playground activities, the ability to choose to go to the hospital when you're sick or to check up on a Sims pregnancy, Sims outside of the household proposing, asking Sims to be their partner, etc, and more life events like baby showers, funerals, sleep overs (and make sure they do actually go to bed and not wander around the house for hours), proms, parents evenings, getting a mortgage.
I know a lot of these may end up being a lot to implement, I'm not sure what goes into developing a game and I'm sure these would all take a long time, but these are my wants. I'd just like some more activities that make it feel like my Sim is really living a life with emotions and life events and things to do.
Hi. I´m starting to think about were I like to play the most. Not considering any thing else but gameplay. And i think it is the apartments in San Myshuno and i think it is because of the "lot traits" and because the neighbours. I whould love if the lot challanges whoud expand or the traits to have more personality and challange. Perhaps one lot has nosy neighbours that come nocking all the time or peeping through the windows. some lots might have pesty neighbours that steal or destroy things, or is just noisy like in San myshuno. You might have a neighbour who always bake you pies or always plays with the kids. I whoud also like that the closer neighbours to come and visit more often and actually ask you to do stuff together. For instance play cards or watch a movie. Id like more interaction whith specific sims, neighbours or friends. I would like more autonomy based on skills and interests that really shows what your sim is into. Bickering and yelling could also make more depth to some relations. Some sims might yell back and some sims might just walk away sad. It should depend on the sims confidence or inner strength. We have confidence in the game but it doesn´t do much. I whould also like to be able to plan reoccurring club meetings. That whould also deepen your sims character. On monday we have card night, on tuseday we have cookingclass and on friday we meet up with the girls on barnight. I had one family I played for a while were I had sat up strict rutines for them. They always ate at a specific time and they always had drinks and dessert with dinner. It was hard work to get them to do stuff but i liked how they got more lifelike.
Thank you for this opportunity! As much as I love adding gameplay with packs, there is no easy option currently to add depth and challenge to the game so I'm excited to see this being considered - it could be a literal gamechanger. Here are a few things that I think would add depth and dimension to the existing game.
WHIMS Reinvigorating whims - whims- have been ignored for years and they have serious potential. I think these could easily evolve into a new incarnation of Wants and Fears. Wants and goals give a sim personality but I think some fears mixed in really make them feel real. Fears like losing a spouse, having children, getting a low grade or suspension, getting fired, failing to pay bills, losing a pet or, peeing their pants make a sim feel more complex instead of only dreaming of wants and whims and would add more motive to each existing life stage. This could tie into skills, once a sim gets to a certain skill level or "likes" a skill they may have more whims/wants related to pursuing it either by doing it more often or choosing a related career/degree.
NEGATIVES As an extension of this, -negative events- are needed for both challenge and depth. Perhaps these could be switched on and off in options but I think those that play for life simulation would enjoy the negative aspects of life as well (within the realm of PG13 of course). These could include burglars if an alarm or security system isn't present, a cheating spouse or non-played sims (NPS) initiated break-up if the relationship drops too far, teens being bullied at school, difficulty getting pregnant (remedied with a reward trait or expensive treatment), getting fired if work performance drops to a certain point (which would vary from career to career or at different levels), minor illnesses that cause a sick day from work or school and may be contagious if not treated and, occasional surprise expenses for household maintenance.
PERSONALITY My third point is -personality-. Favourite colours and foods should return and would fit right in with other new preferences. Traits have grown with each pack but I think some smaller and less goal oriented ones (think chatty, clumsy, argumentative, shy) may add character to sims. Existing traits could also simply be adjusted to "show" more in game and increase difficulty or certain actions/goals. For example, Paranoid sims could avoid supernatural sims or random household appliances, Noncommittal sims could get whims to cheat or fear having children or getting married or, Slobs my lose hygiene faster and have more difficulty succeeding in charming or flirty interactions with non-slobs.
RELATIONSHIPS And last but not least in my top four, -relationships-. These took a significant leap with the relationship panel update and I think that can be the platform for these improvements. Most notably, TS4 lacks an attraction system. Even if this was partially randomized or "invisible" there should be a system that makes it harder to build relationships with NPS (and not just Evil or Nonflirty ones) and an option for my sim to feel a notably strong attraction/connection to others that would show in their moodlets, social panel or a pop-up based on their individual preferences. One sided friendships and affection should be possible, as nice as it can be to have your pick of the townies, surely some of them won't like you back whether it be based in appearance and personality. Perhaps you'd need a full friendship bar to romance these sims or they just will always want to keep things platonic. These non-played sims should also be able to make the first move based on their attractions and even first kiss or propose once the relationship hits a certain point. In terms of family, family members outside of the household should autonomously drop by, offer to "babysit" or throw autonomous wedding and baby showers and children and teens should have interactions that will intentionally charm or anger their relatives (such as asking for an allowance or new toy or lying about a sibling or throwing a tantrum).
I think the main goal is to build dimension in played sims and NPS/townies to make personality and wants/fears stronger and to have some harder moments to add difficulty. All of these could work without packs as well as interact with different packs. Thank you again and I can't wait to see what's in store for TS4. I've been playing since 2003 and attention to details like these are what keep me coming back for more. <3
I have a request regarding "The Get Together" expansion pack. I purchased it not too long ago and discovered that one of the lots is a special venue and that there is no way to disable the ghost, from my understanding you care about your players and respect them but thos goes against my beliefs and I'd like to enjoy this pack without the ghost so if you could make a disable button for any demonic content that would be great! Also I haven't been able to play this pack do to this issue so I currently have it disabled.
Let us know what a higher level of challenge and depth in the Base Game would look like for you.
Depth
I would like it if traits and likes/dislikes have more impact on autonomy, tho it seems to have gotten better it is still lacking imho, for example sims that dislike dancing will still do it alot autonomously (dont know if this is a bug tho).
It would just be nice if the individuality would be more visible in their actions, for example loner sims should not be found in public spaces as much as non-loners and maybe decline invitations more often.
Emotions should be more meaningful, I find myself often not caring about how my sims feel cause emotions are easy to change/overwrite and have little to no real impact. I also feel like maybe there should be a limit as to how many emotions a sim can have at once.
I feel this way especially about negative emotions or moodlets, the game seems to be more biased towards the positive, I do not want it to be a depression party but it would be nice to also have to do something like mental care, if that makes sense.
For example I like how the mourning works, it has a good length and can not be easily overwritten, yet you can do things to ease the pain.
Challenges
I would like more negative traits for sims and more negative interactions and consequences.
I do not feel those have to be lifethreatening but rather hindering, so I as a player would want to do something about it or find a way arround or even exploid them with an evil sim.
For example: I really like the simple lot challenge, I use it for all of my households, cause it adds realism and makes cooking more interesting.
It also makes some other things more usefull (like the delicioso spell and food stalls).
And I really, really, really wanna be able to scare a sim to death
Hi! !!!NON-PLAYABLE SIMS IMPROVE!!! I want to see how my neighbors live life in their homes. How they go to work, school. It is necessary to improve the non-playable characters on the streets. How they get married or hate each other, how ufo attack them. !!!NEW OPPORTUNITIES!!! It would be great to add open schools. Improve witches, add spells where several sims need to cast it. !!!CREATE A WORLD TOOL, quests, scenarios.!!!! We need to add the ability to create worlds and quests / scenarios for each family. And share them in the gallery. !!!MORE TOWNS LIKE STRANGERVILLE! and hidden lots like in base game cities!!! !!!MORE EVENTS (HOLIDAYS) FOR SUPERNATURAL: for example vamp day in bar; vamp vs witches day
I would like it if the chemistry between Sims had more effects, like the turn-ons and turn-offs in Sims 2. I would also like to see more effects in the traits. In build mode and CAS, a color wheel with consistent colors would be a big improvement for me. Thanks :)
Memories and consequences for those memories. A moodlet for two days after a divorce isn’t enough. A sim should remember that’s their ex-spouse forever, and there should be things associated with that. Right now, I can take a married couple into CAS, swap one out for a new sim, put them back into the game, and the old spouse is none the wiser. I would never have tried that in any other version of this game because there would be repercussions for that. The sims don’t care about anything because they don’t remember anything. Emotions, wants and fears don't matter if the sims can’t remember that they happened. Enemies should stay enemies and friends should stay friends without going completely to zero. The way this deteriorates isn’t even close to realistic but that might change with memories added. Also need unreciprocated feelings—love, hate and indifference.
Love the likes and dislikes and could use more, but I have very little idea which décor is which, so I never use those likes/dislikes. Would like to choose gay, straight, bi, physical attraction traits. Would like to have drinks, foods, pet breeds, dogs or cats, children, paper or plastic, meat or veg, more hobbies, just anything. I realize some of these are traits but for some people those traits are just likes or dislikes. Likes and dislikes make families interesting, fun and playable for years.
Compassion and empathy are emotions. Sims should show concern for other sims who are sick, feeling sad, comfort them, etc. Make them a hot beverage, Sheldon.
Would love more traits. Not just positive traits. I have a game full of geniuses and geeks but no below average intelligence. Evil is cartoonish and doesn’t really do anything evil. There’s vegetarian but no meat eater, jealous but no compersion. Green fiend but nobody who litters and pollutes/doesn’t recycle or someone who just doesn’t pay attention to environmental concerns. Self-absorbed but no selfless, etc.
Would like to have festivals when I want them and not have to hang around in game waiting for them to happen. I like getting married at the romance festival but unless I’m drinking tons of youth potion or unlimited life span this will hardly ever happen. Not sure why festivals can’t be scheduled like holidays, or why we can’t take elements of festivals to create our own festivals on a calendar like holidays.
More and better romance. Hotels for honeymoons, a wedding officiant, guests actually staying in their seats, new and special romantic gestures and so on. Sims holding hands, cuddling in bed, more and better dates. Stop timing me on the dates and keep the date going until I want it to end, give champagne bucket after requirements are met but keep date going with more interaction suggestions until I click the X (maybe just for same household dates). Give a gold champagne bucket if date ends in marriage.
Disasters. House actually burns down, burglars, storm blows down house, etc. Nothing ever happens. When the most fun I have in game is setting sims on fire it gets old quickly. Neighbors could gather to rebuild house, sims could stay with friends or have choice of grungy, mid range or luxury hotels while house is under construction, sims could have home insurance added to monthly bills and there could be consequences to having/not having insurance.
Toggle on/off for a lot of different gameplay aspects such as supernatural, cheats, eco, celebrity, seasons, and when you turn it off, it’s really off. I click the option for no rain but it still rains once every 2 weeks. Just have a button for all cheats on, don't make me type all that stuff every time or maintain mods.
Elders and generations in general need… everything. There’s too much elders can’t do and too much teens don’t do. Kids just make messes and babies just sit there until age-up, can even take them for a walk. Too much is centered on YAs and adults are no different from YAs. Need bigger & better family trees.
Would like some more fame characteristics in the fame panel. Not all stars act like snobs when you approach them. Would like maybe a “fame snob” for the ones who act like they do in game now and maybe add a “fame dame” for ones who will invite you to have a drink with them and chat with you. Maybe you choose which type of celeb you will be or let the game choose for you, or these could be quirks. Also have an option for having an entourage or something.
Even just more room in the text boxes to record my own thoughts, stories and character descriptions would be nice. Is limiting my text in my own game on my own hard drive really necessary? I’d also like to rename my worlds, neighborhoods and re-write descriptions for them.
1. Personality
I think personality should be a combination of Sims 2 and Sims 3. Psychologists have divided personality into 5 broad types. This is what Sims 2 does with their traits on a sliding scale. This should be the base of how a Sim reacts in general. Sims 3 traits might be more properly defined as likes/dislikes, skill aptitudes or quirks (don't really affect gameplay much, but add depth of character). So have a sliding scale of base tendencies with the addition of likes/dislikes, skill aptitudes (or lack, e.g. clumsy sims) and quirks.
2. Whims/Wants/Aspirations
In Sims 3, LTW were determined in part by a Sim's traits. In Sims 4, Aspirations are not affected or influenced by the sims' traits. From this a Sim's daily wishes/wants should be determined by personality and Aspiration.
3. Story Progression
I like the idea that the world is not static. Sims should marry, start families, get jobs, etc... without direct intervention from the player. A player could set up broad parameters regarding frequency.
4. World
Open vs. Lots. I like the open world concept of Sims 3. I understand that it is easier for lower end machines to handle load-every-lot model. I think a combination would work better. One reason I hate socializing in Sims 4 (personality aside), is that every single lot must be loaded before my sim can visit, making it much harder to bounce between sims visiting and any sims back at home. Smaller neighborhoods (10-20 lots) that are open with loading only between neighborhoods/worlds. So I could have parks and restaurants and houses in one neighborhood without constantly having load screens
5. Romance
I agree that romance should be more nuanced with likes/dislikes and general personality affecting how well the romance proceeds. Also, no more psychic sims! If a sim cheats on a significant partner, the partner should not instantly know if they don't actually witness it!
Comments
Why firefighters and cops are without any depths. I remember firefighters in Ts4 used to break windows to reach fire but those in TS4...Lame
And cops...Why cops can arrest people but sims are not able to get arrested? It would be cool if your sim start a fight in a public place and later go to jail for it
As someone mentioned above, the relationships now are one-sided. In previous versions they could be initiated by other sims as well. I’d like to see that again! I think it adds a level of realism to the game.
I also miss cars and truly think that they’re long overdue! It added a familial aspect to the game as parents had the opportunity to teach their kids how to drive. The addition of graduation for teens is also something that I’d love to see return, as well as the option for young sims to host slumber parties! I also miss being able to control sims (especially teens) that work as babysitters! And we can’t forget the bachelor and bachelorette parties!!! Again, all of these really made the game feel real and personal.
Also as mentioned above, there is a lack of threats of danger! I’d like to see that return. The element of surprise kept you on your toes! Especially the presence of burglars!
I also miss the create-a-style feature as it really made the game feel more personal. The fact that there are only presets for everything kind of takes away the customization aspects of the game because there’s but so many options.
Lastly, I’d love to see things like theaters, grocery stores, book stores, city hall, & spas return in the base game.
I love to take photos of the families during their milestones like weddings, birthdays, the arrival of a grandson/daugther, etc.
I know there exists the possibility of hanging the photos on the walls, but because I take a lot of them, it is not very pleasant having the house filled with photos on the walls.
I am thinking something like the menu of the existing notebook where the player can display the photos, organise them and take a look at them.
I think it would be a cute idea.
Thanks for listenning <3
I guess in terms of more depth, the game is lacking game play. The community is aware that we will never get an open world, but it would be amazing if the game play would be prioritized more over CAS and Build/Buy. I greatly think that would give us more depth. I understand that this would be considered a wish list item, but please don't reconsider this when it comes to your player base and the fact that we are the most toxic fan base on the internet. (You know it's true) I think depth with game play can be taken to a story progression level. If we just had that ounce of "My sims in the world are doing stuff by themselves" I would absolutely LOVE that. It would take the depth and challenge to a whole new level. Sims 3 had story progression and that's what made it great. It gave us a sense of what I was telling you above. It would make for richer storytelling and compelling game play, it would possibly bring over more people from the previous games, people that didn't want to move on to Sims 4 BECAUSE of the lack of game play. To be honest, I only play the game to build because the game play lacks after a new game becomes stale. If this gets skipped, then I definitely know that you are skipping these on purpose. (Sorry for sounding hostile there for a second.) But I have been playing the game since 2009 (Sims 2 and 3 era) I love this game and don't want to see people trash the game. I care about this franchise too much to have it taken into this "kit" era, where everything is being "nickeled and dimed". I like the idea of "kits" but the packs aren't worth 5 USD to be honest, they are worth $2.99 USD at best. Sorry if anything in this comment, breaks the rules but I had to get this across for everyone in the community.
Dag Dag,
artisticsimmer01
I’ve tried my best to explain what I think could make this game better for me personally, so I hope I actually make sense. Gonna start by listing off the ’problems’ and then elaborate.
Short version:
- Whims are insignificant
- The game gets monotonous fast
- Sim personality is still lackluster
- Sim relationships lack depth
- NPCs don’t matter (or do) much
- Not enough realism nor consequence
- Moodlets are too easy to change
- The memory system in the game is too weak
I’m also aware that not everyone would want these changes, but an easy way to work around that is by making players able to toggle certain things on and off, or customize how they function (like with aging, seasons, and more).
Whims are insignificant:
The current whims system in TS4 fails to do what it could in previous sims games. It doesn’t drive towards any sort of story progression, and most whims my sims get are either small, irrelevant tasks, or stuff to do with introducing the content of other packs (even if I have played those packs several times before). I think TS2 did it best with how a sim could wish to do things that pushed them along in life; like wanting to have their first kiss, wanting to get married, wanting a baby, wanting to go to university, wishing to go into a certain career once they became adults (probably young adults if applied to TS4), etc. I’d love to see additions like this in TS4, maybe even stuff like them wishing to move to a bigger lot, wanting a divorce/wanting to break up, or other big decisions like that.
The game gets monotonous fast:
This is both a symptom of whims being insignificant as well as sims not being that unique (which I will also touch on in my next point). You can have two different families, but the gameplay could still be almost the exact same for both saves. A lot of TS4 is also very easy or too easy to play through, and in some cases, I feel like the negative sides of things are forgotten when these features are added to the game (like in Tiny Living and the tiny homes only having positive effects on the sims living there).
Sim personality is still lackluster:
Aside from traits (which I know are getting a makeover), something that could improve how much a sim feels like an individual is having traits or parts of their personality that aren’t in our control. Like in TS2 with how conversational interests were randomly generated, TS4 could do something similar. Make some sims shy while others are more outgoing. Is the sim an extrovert or introvert? Maybe certain moodlets last longer or for a shorter duration of time for this specific sim. Since every human is really different in these aspects, I think sims would feel much more alive if they had this level of depth. Parts of it could be random while others are based in the traits they have.
Sim relationships lack depth:
Something I’ve always found super strange is how family members act like strangers – and this isn’t just in TS4 either.
I wish uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. would visit and bring the other family members too, or that you could send your sims’ kids to stay with their grandparents for x amount of time.
I think it would also be great if you could decide on a sim being purely platonic with another sim so they would never autonomously flirt. In extension of this, setting sim preferences for attraction would also add a bunch of gameplay, because now you can’t just grab any random NPC for them (and since NPCs would have attraction too, not all of it would necessarily be mutual).
NPCs don’t matter (or do) much:
Jumping off of my last few points, NPCs would be brought much more to life if they were proactive in socializing, or if they had unique social interactions based on their regular traits, as well as the hidden/random ones.
A shy NPC might be difficult to start up a conversation with, or an outgoing NPC could be the one to start the conversation with your sim. Some NPCs could also have a rarer chance of appearing in certain places, based on their interests or where they live.
Fixing inconsistensies in NPC behavior is also important, I think. To me, it’s strange seeing all the A-list celebrities walking past my sim’s house, for example. Sims living in one world probably should appear more in that specific world too, not so much the others.
Not enough realism nor consequence:
This will be the shortest section, but I would love if my sims could get sick and if it was something I would have to actively work towards curing. Functioning memories and deeper relationships with other sims would also make for more gameplay when these are impacted negatively.
Moodlets are too easy to change:
This also ties into my previous points. Certain moodlets should be almost impossible to affect the span of, like a sim being sad after someone they loved passed away, and more than they already do, I think moodlets should influence each other. Say your sim’s pet dies, and then a day after their best friend does too. Both of those ’sad’ moodlets should prolong each other.
I also don’t think moodlets associated with big life events span long enough as is.
The memory system in the game is too weak:
Last but definitely not least, I want to talk about the memory system in TS4. It’s barely noticeable that the feature is even there in the first place, and the fact that it’s not automatic reduces its usefulness a lot compared to how great it was in TS2. I think some things should just be logged automatically by the game, and then you, as a player, could go add onto that memory (pictures, text, etc.), add more memories to the timeline, and so on.
Thank you for asking for feedback (and reading mine). Hopefully it’ll be of use to you :)
Also, I want more options and realism for invites. My sim gave birth, and immediately upon coming home, she was offered a date by one guy and a hangout at a fair by another. I should be able to say, not now, but how about tomorrow or how about after they're home from work. Maybe they'll turn it down, maybe they won't and it will turn into a scheduled event.
1. Life Progression Depth - There is no story progression in the game. Their need to be random events in the worlds that are good and bad such as marriage, divorce, someone got hit by a comet, someone drowned, sims get into a fright with their enemy someone got fired or someone passed away by old age. Events need to occur outside of the active household, more various autonomy is a must.
2. Trait depth - The traits need an update. If i have a jealous sim i want them to sneak thru their partners' phone or get mad when their talking to another sim. If a sim is evil i need them to randomly yell out sims doing good deeds or making children cry. The traits REALLY need to reflect the sim. Also please add one or two more trait slots, three is not enough and doesn't do much for the sim.
3. Relationships - They need to be more complicated. Such as one side crushes, still has feelings for ex, doesn't get along well with parent, etc. Its not a challenge if both sims are just so happy and pappy with each other it needs a touch of real world relationships. Also step parent really needs to be added to the family tree and relationship panel its weird thats it not there.
4. Life Stages - Ive been saying / thinking of this one for awhile. Not only does each sim age particularly need actions / socials only available to them i think the ages can be broken down into 2 parts. Example - child 12 days till teenager. first 6 days the child is similar to a child that is 8-10 years old, then the 2nd half the child has a mini growth and has actions / socials similar to a preteen 11-13 years old. It would add alot more to sims gameplay and how each sim acts.
To add to this teenagers should have a little bit more restrictions you would think they would have such as they should get in trouble for drinking from the bar or staying out late. Also they could be a little shorter than adults.
5. Memory system. Their is no memory system in this game. The memory system needs to be added to the sim UI panel possibly in the notebook. It could be like a storybook and when the player clicks it all of the major events in that sims life pops up, newest to oldest. The screenshot system is awful why would all of the screenshots be mixed up together? Shouldn't they only be in that household? A really cool add would be to purchase a photo album from build/buy and sims can view it and all of the memories from their life/ household life would be there and they could reminisce especially elders.
6. Babies - Cmon now after that wonderful toddler update babies shouldn't have still been objects. The baby life stage should now be a real baby that can be carried around away from the bassinet, changed at a changing table, bathed in the sink and have a little bit of baby hair or bald maybe a mini CAS mode for them. Also if they have to have a bassinet there needs to be alot more variations. Strollers would be amazing for babies and toddlers.
7. Animations - Im glad you you guys added the ability to watch tv while lying down, now i think some more animations to that could be adde such as sms lying on their side or even falling asleep. I think sims should be able to sit down on the ground and floor and use the laptop or eat. Even playing blocks with a toddler they should sit down on the floor.
8. *Simoleons- The update when discovery university came out and we could change how much simoleons sims were allowed to take with them once they moved out was great! Now lets expand on that. I think EACH SIM should have their own simoleons amount. For example Danny has 10,000 his partner Tina has 21,000 their teenager ginger has 4,000 cause she has a job and may get allowance and their child Spencer gets an allowance of 50 a week by doing household chores. Their is an option for adults to merge their simoleons together or keep them separate. This would add to much more depth and be a GAME CHANGER! Imagine a materialistic and noncommittal sim partner asking to merge accounts? Whew! Their could be a wallet added in each sims inventory (customizable of course) and if they loose it or if the player takes it out they have no simleons!
9. Likes / Dislikes - This one needs a simple breaking down Instead of fitness please break it down into swimming, jogging, pushups, basketball etc. Also please add reading, stealing, knitting and voidcritters, depending on what packs the player has the traits need to be available in the like/ dislike panel.
10. Vehicles - Itll add a touch of realism if sims could at least purchase a vehicle that could be placed in their garage or driveway (if they have one) and possibly drive away in it once they leave the neighborhood. Also even a school bus appearing in front of the home would be nice.
11. *World Manager - Ok so in the game theres plenty of background stuff to manage such as npcs. Could a management mode be implemented that allows players to somewhat work as background task manager that managers what jobs and clothes NPCS have and wear as well as the decorative houses / retail lots that are just their for decoration. I dont want NPCs showing up under"other households". Example me the player foes into background task manager mode from the settings and there all of my NPCS are shown, then i can pick what job i want them to do (bartender, yoga instructor, barista etc) and change their outfits. Also in this mode I can pick which decorative retail buildings are functional. Such as this decorative building is a coffee shop and sims can go into it as a rabbit hole to have coffee for 2 hours or watch a movie and be gone for 4 hours or this building is a retail shop and i can purchase items such as toys or snowboarding equipment here.
12. Random Base Game Updates(some of these would also expand on some expansion packs)
Cooking - i get the whole throwing random bottles up and down but lets add a bit more shall we, chopping seasoning, saute, Add pots and pans sims can take out of cabinets. Add instant pots, air fryers toasters. add more dishes to clean such as the mixing bowl, the skillets forks & spoons. (cool kitchen should add cool techy kitchen items)
Cellphone - Cellphones should be optional for kids and teens and should be taken away if they get a bad grade or do something mean such as patronize their sibling or fight someone else. Add more variations of cellphones such as smart phones, flip phones, blackberries (maybe called plumberries) even a pager or a housephone. They should come in alot more patterns and colors and they should be able to break or lose connection.
More after school activities for kids / teens. Even regular school events such as parent teacher conference and school dances.
Sims beds shouldn't automatically be made, especially for the lazy ones, Add more messiness and sloppiness to them.
More Family activities (i love the hike they can do in snowy escape lets add more of that with family camping or beach day).
Burglars. i( see you added a thieving fox to country living i think thieving sims should be added as well.)
Sims dating app, would be cool to add a dating app accessible from the cellphone and computer
Sickness - sims should be able to get sick and take medicine ( this would be a big upgrade for get to work, the sick system should add more symptoms that gradually get worse and can potentially end in death, also add hospital visits and maybe even doctor calls that all cost simoloens)
I hope all of our ideas are taking into consideration and possibly added to the game one day.
Ok, now here are some ideas that have been on my mind for a while:
CAS improvements:
Game improvements and challenges:
Other ideas:
1. Random death - this was a thing before and I'd love it to be a thing again. Maybe sometimes the cow plant spits your sim out or the electricution just dazes you, and probably shouldn't be a 50/50 chance, but it should be a chance to die even the first time.
2. Pre-teens - or make teenagers shorter and less adult, and maybe still with child aspirations. Oh but MORE child aspirations - there's just the four and they're kind of boring and unchallenging now. More nuanced or maybe they can start on adult aspirations sooner to get them more personality. More likes more unique challenges for children and teenagers. Teenagers are basically just useless adults in some ways.
3. Elder care - Are there aspirations only elders can do? Or more things for them that is unique from adults. Let them retire and challenge us to keep them happy - and well cared for throughtout their life.
More dreams, more desires, more personality and not just emotions were every sim reacts in almost the same way to the same stimuli.
Sometimes it feels like the game have tried to add a challenge, but instead of it being fun an activating, it was annoying and boring instead. Like a challenge that means to do same thing repeatedly many times, it won't feel like WOW this is fun. Variation and different goals linked to each other in a meaningful way are better. Both can be considered challenge though. Also challenges that destroy things in a creative game with building might not be a good thing if not being able to turn it off, like that stealing community nap in eco lifestyle, it was built to be fun but something went wrong somehow. I feel it is important to avoid annoying things when working with challenge, this is one thing I want to mention. Well foxes from cottage living could maybe be annoying too sometimes, but not in a bad way, and they are optional. So I understand it is a tricky thing to add to an already existing game.
And sometimes it feels like challenges are way too easy if in relation to what they are supposed to do, like the first quest in realm of magic, to collect these items. It doesn't feel like something they would have been asking for help with. If needed to go out in the world for a quest that might have been been completed after a little more effort, it would have felt more real. If you were a powerful wizard, what would you want to have help with, maybe not collect things in the backyard, maybe something where I didn't want to go myself. ...Or simply not have a quest at all. But I do prefer to have one.
Good things about depth already in game are the skill trees in vampires and realm of magic and get famous, but when they are missing out these goodies from other occults for example, they feel like they become shallow and not at all as interesting as the other. It becomes uneven. The thing about making choices and selecting paths for your sim that actually change their life in some way, makes the choice feel meaningful. I wish aliens and mermaids would have gotten these skill trees as well. They are very fun and give very much gameplay feel.
Other not so good thing about depth is the limitation of sim personality customisation in CAS. It is to be honest a challenge to make a sim that represents what you imagine, but it is not that kind of challenge I think we need in the game. Problem is that it both are so few trait slots (main problem), and still very few traits, and many of them actually doesn't really feel like they matter so much in the end. I like the thought of having sim challenges as traits like the vegetarian and lactose intolerant, but the lactose intolerance is something physical, while traits, when being limited to 3 slots, feels like they are supposed to decide personality. As a lactose intolerant person I don't think that this thing of mine is one of my personality, and if wanting to add this trait to my self sim, I need to have even less personality on my sim. Another optional section for physical traits like lactose intolerant could have helped to fix this.
More on depth, in CAS is that it feels like it is very limited on how to create a family in CAS. The relationship options would need a bit more options and depth would be higher here directly.
I love the kind of challenges in cottage life, both errands and the new lot traits. I wish other worlds would have errands as well. They are optional, not stressful, and give Sims goals with purpose.
And depth might also been helped with some more in game style memories, the ones we have now does not really feel like a part of the game and would do great if being redone in a way that feels more interactive. This way the things Sims will be doing in their life have impacts on them selves. They will always have been trough that great vacation or that heartbreaking separation, and we will be able to see that in their story. You can't just play and everything is then forgotten. It will actually stay with your sim and could possibly hunt them in future or pay off good if it is a positive things. This is both depth and challenge in my mind.
I also love depth and customization in the tradition maker from seasons and club system in get together. But sometimes when new DLC comes, things in these kind of features are not updated to also include new fun stuff. But what I want to say most, is that this kind of building your own things is wonderful and makes players feel creative even in gameplay, and it is just perfect. This kind of things I hope we will see more of, and even to see them up to date. Superstar depth in there. Love it. Way to go!
This is also an overall thought about integration between packs. Sometimes when new DLC comes, another pack would be great if it was updated with features that would make the packs feel like they are in the same game. Example, realm of magic, when new pack comes out adding a new cool feature, maybe there could be a new spell for that kind of feature. Interaction between packs are important and would make game feel much more together and not in separate parts. I like when that is done, but sometimes it feels forgotten.
Another thing I love in the game that I feel can bring depth, is the whims, it is one of the things that makes us see the minds of our sims. Small optional minigoals that makes us move towards what our Sims want in life. But it feels like they are not updated so much now a days. And a part of adding challenge could be updating these to include negative goals too, like fears. The reward store could also need some update to include some more valuable things one want to hunt points to be able to get.
Another thing I think you were on right track with in latest EP, is to make these houses that can't be lived in, is to add some kind of interaction on them anyway, so they are not just standing there taking up place and looking nice. This is something I hope you will continue to do.
Reading the other simmer post about collections also, and this is for me a bit of a forgotten feature that could be considered a challenge, bit because I forget it mostly, it won't add to that feeling. And I believe overall, in a game this big, it is easy to forget about features. Highlighting them somehow here and there might help.
One thing if comparing with Sims 3, this game won't feel overwhelming in the same way as Sims 3. Sims 3 was so much fun features in, but I could not enjoy them mostly because the game was so huge that I didn't know where to even begin. Sims 4 are better in the way that it is easy to understand and to come in to, simple startup. These are things that gives value, so if adding challenge, please don't take away the simplicity in playing it, if you understand the difference between these things I am trying to describe. I really hope it won't be a complicated game in the way that one feel overwhelmed or one doesn't understand how the features actually works.
Also, if adding much more challenge to the game though, it might be not as good situation for players who like the layed back style of the game, so I think optional challenge level would be best way doing this. Something that could be set per saved game in the game option. You already have some options there, and I love to see more.
Sorry again for a messy text, wasn't sure if anything was against the rules. Hope it is fine. Take care you all ❤
Here are some things that I think would make the game more Challenging as well as Meaningful:
For overall Difficulty:
*A Difficulty Scale. Players could play on an Easy/ Casual, Medium/ Some Challenge, or Hard/ Difficult Modes.
Adjustments you could make in these modes could be wage amount, amount of time it takes for items to get dirty, bills cost, amount of time it takes to level up a skill, success/failure at socials, challenge of school/job performance, etc.
Having a difficulty scale could help accommodate both people who want to play casually and with more difficulty.
*More Lot Challenges. Lot Challenges could be used to make individual households more difficult. Some examples could be Bad Neighborhood (more susceptible to Burglaries
Lot Challenges & a Difficulty Scale could be used in combination to make the game fully customizable for the player.
Some things that could make Careers more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Only a limited selection of jobs are available at once for sims, similar to the Sims 2. Some jobs are more in demand than others.
*Sims have to apply to jobs rather than just receive them immediately. It could depend on their High School and College grades, as well as Reputation.
*An option to make College degrees required for some careers.
*Sims can be fired if they're performing poorly for a consistent amount of time. In the real world, employees are rarely demoted and more likely just removed.
*Chance cards have more consequences
*If you are a friend/enemy of a coworker/superior, it should have an effect either positive or negative on your work performance.
* More substantial career rewards other than décor. Rewards for careers should be substantial and have a unique perk/ability.
Some things that could make School more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Homework should be required to get better grades.
*School Projects are mandatory and have a due date.
*If sims fail school, they aren't eligible for certain jobs and can't apply to college.
*Option to drop out of school and go to school later on in life.
Some things that could make Moods and Social Relationships more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Sentiments from significant occurrences like Fighting, Divorce and Breakups should last longer and have a stronger effect on moods
*Some Sentiments should last permanently as Memories (such as the Sims 2).
*No more Environmental buffs from pretty environments. They override the sims other unique emotions. (The Meaningful Stories mod is a good mod that helps with this).
*Sims with opposing Traits shouldn't get along without more effort from the player, for example Good and Evil traits.
Some things that could make Aspirations more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Aspirations shouldn't be tutorials for packs, but should add a unique and interesting goal for a sim.
*Location based aspirations are too niche and not generally realistic life aspirations.
*More base game aspirations to add more personality to our sims
Some things that could make Personalities more meaningful and challenging (in my opinion):
*Traits should be more meaningful, and opposing Traits should have greater conflict with each other. A Good Sim and an Evil Sim should be more likely to get in fights.
*More unique actions/ Quirks for each Trait.
*There should be more negative traits.
*We should be able to pick more than 3 traits.
*Possibly adding a Fatal Flaw feature like in the Sims Medieval. For every good trait, you should pick a negative trait as well.
*An Attraction system where sims are specifically attracted to certain qualities/ features in another sim. Sims should not romance sims they are not attracted to.
*Whims should have to do specifically with a Sim's Traits, Likes/ Dislikes and Aspirations. They should not be randomized.
*Add a Fear category that could negatively effect a sims' mood or deduct Aspiration points (similar to the Sims 2).
Some general miscellaneous things that could help....
*Less rewards. Sims should not be heavily rewarded for things like Dusting with financial compensation/ objects. It's unrealistic and far too easy.
*Sims should not autonomously clean unless they have the Neat trait or maxed out Responsible Parenthood Value.
*It should be more difficult to max out Parenthood Values.
*An optional Story Mode that gives more life the neighborhoods, adding marriages, jobs, childbirth and other activities to unplayed sims. Similar to MC Command Center.
This is basically everything. I'm sure other people have great opinions too.
Thanks for letting us share, and thank you for the hard work!!
I only have two requests I can think of:
1. Being able to have a full time job & a part time job. For example, freelancers can also have the job of part time babysitter, fast food worker, etc.
2. Grocery Stores or Farmers Markets! I miss having to restock the fridge by either ordering groceries or physically going to the grocery store! It would also be cool to be able to own one, as well.
Thank you!
A few of my points here I've directly copied from other people posting on this forum. There are definitely my own points of view in here too.
My playing style is mostly from a builder/designer and story-writer perspective. Most of the areas I would like to see improvements in are in build/buy mode and in basic family interactions.
NPCs: "I want NPCs to be less likely to interrupt a date on a public lot by talking to my Sim. Random Sims interrupt these social outings are a hassle and it ruins the story I’m trying to tell. I’d love to take my Sims out and enjoy the game world without the constant interruptions. This would be a game-changer. Celebrity Sims should rarely travel outside of Del Sol Valley. Celebrity Sims are disruptive. They draw so much attention that it’s troublesome to keep a Sim you are talking to engaged with your Sim."
FAMILY GAMEPLAY:
That said, please fix the ’star-shine’ for families of the celebrity. For example, my sim got married to his high school sweetheart. As a teen, they practically lived at each other’s houses developing very strong familial connections to each other’s parents. And now that they are adults, it is almost like they are strangers to the In-Laws and even though they got married before they both became actors, the family now has the “Attempt Introduction” interaction.
I also, do not care at all for seeing that my sim has a random NPC that they hate or are romantic with when I return to the game. My married sim with the ‘Companion Trait’ suddenly has a romantic interest in an NPC and I literally had to find them in the “not in world households”, put them in a lot, then have them visit each other and force the “Ask to only be friends” option for this not to happen. Meanwhile, the wife is standing right next to them like ‘la-de-da’.
As a player, these type of shallow family connections really hurts my ‘story-driven' play style.
“Sims that are related should make more of an effort to hang out with family and do family-oriented events together on their own, especially after moving out the house! Their relationships are different than friendships and their actions should reflect that. Example: coming over to each other's houses for the holidays. (Christmas or thanksgiving with the family could even be an event option. ) spending the night over at their parents. Grandparents volunteering to watch the grandkids or even have them spend the night.”
I personally love playing off the grid and self-sufficient sims. I love all the recent new developments in that and more would be great. For example, I have multiple Native American-style families that literally want to live off the land and reject modern amenities. I wish that in base-game, you could only cook your meals with food that you grow in your garden.
"Parenting babies and toddlers is a nightmare. The highchair issues or guardians at times not properly taking care of their baby or toddler's needs" is not as efficient or even fun as gameplay.
PARTIES + EVENTS:
"When throwing a party let the list of people to invite be everyone known to the HOUSEHOLD, not just the one sim."
-I wish that the gameplay involving non-active household members during events was more intuitive. Instead of the NPCs going straight to the computer and ‘trolling teh forums’.
WORLDS:
Let households own multiple properties!! Including Vacation rentals!! Maybe they can get monthly rental income? Or they can just treat a vacation lot as their second home? I would love to be able to own and live out of a house in Salvadorada and Granite Falls. The lore and character stories I could write for my “mountain man herbalist hermit” sims could be perfect with being able to live in these places without my house being ‘Haunted’.
LOT TRAITS:
The “Private Dwelling” Lot Trait should truly reflect that. I still have NPCs randomly walking through the backyard if it isn’t fenced in, or even sometimes going through the backdoor and into the kitchen?! That should NOT happen EVER, especially with this trait.
Furthermore, The “Celebrity Home” Lot trait should not make family members of famous people and kids embarrassed. Instead, they should be grateful they are family members with a world-famous celebrity :P
Build Mode:
"Adding recolors of build mode items, wall art, clutter, rugs, and curtains in addition to adding new items in with each pack, would help towards being able to use all items in build mode" without committing to specific styles. Now we have ‘Decor’ likes and dislikes with the Dream Decorator pack, but there are limited options in any of these styles based on the items having specific color palettes per set/pack. For example, the Eco Living pack has great doors and windows, but I dont find myself using them too often because of the limited color options. I would love to be able to match it to pre-exisiting base game colors ie; green, purple, red, etc.
also, have you ever thought about adding some minigames to the sims? something to add a little change of pace and challenge. it wouldnt need to be anything complicated. maybe even just an option to play what video game theyre playing? idk haha
-boarding school for children and teens
-being able to select the number of days of each age range has without a mod
-more sim slots without a mod. At least 10 sims allowed per lot.
-the ability to own more than one property. Like vacation homes and rental properties.
-not loose your home when you go to university and live on campus and only have one sim in your household.
-the ability for teens to live by themselves without a mod
-higher tuition costs for university. Also based one whether it is an honors program or not. I would like my sims to actually fear the repo man.
-mortgages for homes. The ability to buy houses without having the full amount of money. Also it would be funny to see my sims get denied a mortgage.
-more careers like modeling and child stars.
-more and better after school programs. Ie dance, cheerleading, and football.
[b]1. More Challenging Relationships[/b] - Relationships in the Sims 4 seem to be shallow and lack depth in a big way. It is too easy to form a relationship with any other sim and it is rare to have a bad relationships, especially autonomously. More unpredictability in relationships would add a lot to the challenge and depth. Sentiments and Preferences did make a positive difference but we need more. ex:
- Siblings and family members need to fight more autonomously, especially teens. I like when teens sometimes get the rebellious phase but we need more of that autonomously based on their family relationship. Perhaps siblings autonomously fight more until they are friends, that way you have to work harder to build up that friendship with a sibling/parent.
- I want a chance that the sims my sims are dating break up with them or are not compatible in some way
- Preferences that change how sims “get along”, ex. Trait preferences where sims with traits your sim likes build relationship faster and traits you don’t like build relationship slower (maybe negative relationship faster.
[b]2. More Random Events[/b] - I need to see more external events that affect my sims, with bigger consequences. Ex:
- a burglar lot challenge where they steal something on the more expensive side (not toilets), and you have to protect your house with an alarm (or maybe a dog), and call the police
- Random chance of death more often, more fires that spread and are harder to put out (my sims put it out before the fire fighters get there and I have never lost a sim in a fire), more electrocutions, and I miss random meteors and light night strikes
- Sickness that can get serious (I would love for the sickness system to be more fleshed out with more build up, consequences, and treatment)
[b]3. More fleshed out Preferences[/b] -
I want to see more preferences that make a difference in everyday sim life and therefore adds to the personality of each sim. When sims all act different it adds more dynamic gameplay and depth. Ex:
- Food preferences: favorite meals, disliked meals, and maybe the lactose intolerance, vegetarian, and vegan traits could move here
- Trait preferences: favorite traits that they get along with right way and connect with, disliked traits that they can’t stand (a cool way to add the attraction system everyone talks about)
- More hobbies: we need to see all of the hobbies the dlc offers in the hobbies list
- Randomize Preferences should add more than 1 preference per category, adds a more fleshed out personality (adding 3 for each category instead)
Thank you for taking our feedback!
I'm not sure if I'd consider myself to have all of the same wants as the average Sims player. I personally don't like my Sims dying out of nowhere and play with aging off, so for me making the game more challenging might not reflect what others are wanting.
For me, the most important update I could suggest would to just make the game feel more real and interactive. Babies and baby items you can properly interactive with, more rabbit hole after school activities for children and teenagers that can impact the jobs and interests they have as adults, noticeable differences between teenagers and young adults, more food choices, more career choices with more branches to go into, and careers that can impact your Sims life on a daily basis and interests that impact whether a Sim likes their job. More playground activities, the ability to choose to go to the hospital when you're sick or to check up on a Sims pregnancy, Sims outside of the household proposing, asking Sims to be their partner, etc, and more life events like baby showers, funerals, sleep overs (and make sure they do actually go to bed and not wander around the house for hours), proms, parents evenings, getting a mortgage.
I know a lot of these may end up being a lot to implement, I'm not sure what goes into developing a game and I'm sure these would all take a long time, but these are my wants. I'd just like some more activities that make it feel like my Sim is really living a life with emotions and life events and things to do.
WHIMS
Reinvigorating whims - whims- have been ignored for years and they have serious potential. I think these could easily evolve into a new incarnation of Wants and Fears. Wants and goals give a sim personality but I think some fears mixed in really make them feel real. Fears like losing a spouse, having children, getting a low grade or suspension, getting fired, failing to pay bills, losing a pet or, peeing their pants make a sim feel more complex instead of only dreaming of wants and whims and would add more motive to each existing life stage. This could tie into skills, once a sim gets to a certain skill level or "likes" a skill they may have more whims/wants related to pursuing it either by doing it more often or choosing a related career/degree.
NEGATIVES
As an extension of this, -negative events- are needed for both challenge and depth. Perhaps these could be switched on and off in options but I think those that play for life simulation would enjoy the negative aspects of life as well (within the realm of PG13 of course). These could include burglars if an alarm or security system isn't present, a cheating spouse or non-played sims (NPS) initiated break-up if the relationship drops too far, teens being bullied at school, difficulty getting pregnant (remedied with a reward trait or expensive treatment), getting fired if work performance drops to a certain point (which would vary from career to career or at different levels), minor illnesses that cause a sick day from work or school and may be contagious if not treated and, occasional surprise expenses for household maintenance.
PERSONALITY
My third point is -personality-. Favourite colours and foods should return and would fit right in with other new preferences. Traits have grown with each pack but I think some smaller and less goal oriented ones (think chatty, clumsy, argumentative, shy) may add character to sims. Existing traits could also simply be adjusted to "show" more in game and increase difficulty or certain actions/goals. For example, Paranoid sims could avoid supernatural sims or random household appliances, Noncommittal sims could get whims to cheat or fear having children or getting married or, Slobs my lose hygiene faster and have more difficulty succeeding in charming or flirty interactions with non-slobs.
RELATIONSHIPS
And last but not least in my top four, -relationships-. These took a significant leap with the relationship panel update and I think that can be the platform for these improvements. Most notably, TS4 lacks an attraction system. Even if this was partially randomized or "invisible" there should be a system that makes it harder to build relationships with NPS (and not just Evil or Nonflirty ones) and an option for my sim to feel a notably strong attraction/connection to others that would show in their moodlets, social panel or a pop-up based on their individual preferences. One sided friendships and affection should be possible, as nice as it can be to have your pick of the townies, surely some of them won't like you back whether it be based in appearance and personality. Perhaps you'd need a full friendship bar to romance these sims or they just will always want to keep things platonic. These non-played sims should also be able to make the first move based on their attractions and even first kiss or propose once the relationship hits a certain point. In terms of family, family members outside of the household should autonomously drop by, offer to "babysit" or throw autonomous wedding and baby showers and children and teens should have interactions that will intentionally charm or anger their relatives (such as asking for an allowance or new toy or lying about a sibling or throwing a tantrum).
I think the main goal is to build dimension in played sims and NPS/townies to make personality and wants/fears stronger and to have some harder moments to add difficulty. All of these could work without packs as well as interact with different packs. Thank you again and I can't wait to see what's in store for TS4. I've been playing since 2003 and attention to details like these are what keep me coming back for more. <3
Depth
I would like it if traits and likes/dislikes have more impact on autonomy, tho it seems to have gotten better it is still lacking imho, for example sims that dislike dancing will still do it alot autonomously (dont know if this is a bug tho).
It would just be nice if the individuality would be more visible in their actions, for example loner sims should not be found in public spaces as much as non-loners and maybe decline invitations more often.
Emotions should be more meaningful, I find myself often not caring about how my sims feel cause emotions are easy to change/overwrite and have little to no real impact. I also feel like maybe there should be a limit as to how many emotions a sim can have at once.
I feel this way especially about negative emotions or moodlets, the game seems to be more biased towards the positive, I do not want it to be a depression party but it would be nice to also have to do something like mental care, if that makes sense.
For example I like how the mourning works, it has a good length and can not be easily overwritten, yet you can do things to ease the pain.
Challenges
I would like more negative traits for sims and more negative interactions and consequences.
I do not feel those have to be lifethreatening but rather hindering, so I as a player would want to do something about it or find a way arround or even exploid them with an evil sim.
For example: I really like the simple lot challenge, I use it for all of my households, cause it adds realism and makes cooking more interesting.
It also makes some other things more usefull (like the delicioso spell and food stalls).
And I really, really, really wanna be able to scare a sim to death
!!!NON-PLAYABLE SIMS IMPROVE!!!
I want to see how my neighbors live life in their homes. How they go to work, school. It is necessary to improve the non-playable characters on the streets. How they get married or hate each other, how ufo attack them.
!!!NEW OPPORTUNITIES!!!
It would be great to add open schools.
Improve witches, add spells where several sims need to cast it.
!!!CREATE A WORLD TOOL, quests, scenarios.!!!!
We need to add the ability to create worlds and quests / scenarios for each family. And share them in the gallery.
!!!MORE TOWNS LIKE STRANGERVILLE! and hidden lots like in base game cities!!!
!!!MORE EVENTS (HOLIDAYS) FOR SUPERNATURAL:
for example vamp day in bar; vamp vs witches day
Love the likes and dislikes and could use more, but I have very little idea which décor is which, so I never use those likes/dislikes. Would like to choose gay, straight, bi, physical attraction traits. Would like to have drinks, foods, pet breeds, dogs or cats, children, paper or plastic, meat or veg, more hobbies, just anything. I realize some of these are traits but for some people those traits are just likes or dislikes. Likes and dislikes make families interesting, fun and playable for years.
Compassion and empathy are emotions. Sims should show concern for other sims who are sick, feeling sad, comfort them, etc. Make them a hot beverage, Sheldon.
Would love more traits. Not just positive traits. I have a game full of geniuses and geeks but no below average intelligence. Evil is cartoonish and doesn’t really do anything evil. There’s vegetarian but no meat eater, jealous but no compersion. Green fiend but nobody who litters and pollutes/doesn’t recycle or someone who just doesn’t pay attention to environmental concerns. Self-absorbed but no selfless, etc.
Would like to have festivals when I want them and not have to hang around in game waiting for them to happen. I like getting married at the romance festival but unless I’m drinking tons of youth potion or unlimited life span this will hardly ever happen. Not sure why festivals can’t be scheduled like holidays, or why we can’t take elements of festivals to create our own festivals on a calendar like holidays.
More and better romance. Hotels for honeymoons, a wedding officiant, guests actually staying in their seats, new and special romantic gestures and so on. Sims holding hands, cuddling in bed, more and better dates. Stop timing me on the dates and keep the date going until I want it to end, give champagne bucket after requirements are met but keep date going with more interaction suggestions until I click the X (maybe just for same household dates). Give a gold champagne bucket if date ends in marriage.
Disasters. House actually burns down, burglars, storm blows down house, etc. Nothing ever happens. When the most fun I have in game is setting sims on fire it gets old quickly. Neighbors could gather to rebuild house, sims could stay with friends or have choice of grungy, mid range or luxury hotels while house is under construction, sims could have home insurance added to monthly bills and there could be consequences to having/not having insurance.
Toggle on/off for a lot of different gameplay aspects such as supernatural, cheats, eco, celebrity, seasons, and when you turn it off, it’s really off. I click the option for no rain but it still rains once every 2 weeks. Just have a button for all cheats on, don't make me type all that stuff every time or maintain mods.
Elders and generations in general need… everything. There’s too much elders can’t do and too much teens don’t do. Kids just make messes and babies just sit there until age-up, can even take them for a walk. Too much is centered on YAs and adults are no different from YAs. Need bigger & better family trees.
Would like some more fame characteristics in the fame panel. Not all stars act like snobs when you approach them. Would like maybe a “fame snob” for the ones who act like they do in game now and maybe add a “fame dame” for ones who will invite you to have a drink with them and chat with you. Maybe you choose which type of celeb you will be or let the game choose for you, or these could be quirks. Also have an option for having an entourage or something.
Even just more room in the text boxes to record my own thoughts, stories and character descriptions would be nice. Is limiting my text in my own game on my own hard drive really necessary? I’d also like to rename my worlds, neighborhoods and re-write descriptions for them.
I think personality should be a combination of Sims 2 and Sims 3. Psychologists have divided personality into 5 broad types. This is what Sims 2 does with their traits on a sliding scale. This should be the base of how a Sim reacts in general. Sims 3 traits might be more properly defined as likes/dislikes, skill aptitudes or quirks (don't really affect gameplay much, but add depth of character). So have a sliding scale of base tendencies with the addition of likes/dislikes, skill aptitudes (or lack, e.g. clumsy sims) and quirks.
2. Whims/Wants/Aspirations
In Sims 3, LTW were determined in part by a Sim's traits. In Sims 4, Aspirations are not affected or influenced by the sims' traits. From this a Sim's daily wishes/wants should be determined by personality and Aspiration.
3. Story Progression
I like the idea that the world is not static. Sims should marry, start families, get jobs, etc... without direct intervention from the player. A player could set up broad parameters regarding frequency.
4. World
Open vs. Lots. I like the open world concept of Sims 3. I understand that it is easier for lower end machines to handle load-every-lot model. I think a combination would work better. One reason I hate socializing in Sims 4 (personality aside), is that every single lot must be loaded before my sim can visit, making it much harder to bounce between sims visiting and any sims back at home. Smaller neighborhoods (10-20 lots) that are open with loading only between neighborhoods/worlds. So I could have parks and restaurants and houses in one neighborhood without constantly having load screens
5. Romance
I agree that romance should be more nuanced with likes/dislikes and general personality affecting how well the romance proceeds. Also, no more psychic sims! If a sim cheats on a significant partner, the partner should not instantly know if they don't actually witness it!