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I hope there are more "in-between" ages now.
adventfear
Posts: 1,766 Member
One of my biggest gripes with TS3 and all past Sims games is that there's no "in-between" ages for younger Sims. You have a baby, then the baby is a toddler which works, then SHOOM! Toddler's now a ten year-old child! SHOOM Ten year-old becomes 16 and learns how to drive!
We need just two ages to balance it out: Young Child, and Preteen. That way Sims don't go SHOOM again.
We need just two ages to balance it out: Young Child, and Preteen. That way Sims don't go SHOOM again.
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I can't find ANYTHING about the ESRB not allowing preteens in video games. oO
The Adults/Elders thing is ridiculous. It looks stupid that my teen has a wrinkly 80 year old mother. I hope the Elders are less stooped over and are provided with more young clothes.
And they wouldn't have to do all that, about what you're saying will go against ESRB, any more than they already do for teens in TS3 (mood swings, etc).
One of the main reasons I would like these ages is that I'm a storyteller. I use Sims to tell stories, and it's kinda hard to make a teen look twelve or a child look 5 when they're standing next to Sims of the same age. It would also, in a way, add to the family dynamic.
Or heck, they could be doing things in a different way and giving us gradual aging! Which I say "Go team!"
Tom and Annabelle
Tayna's talking about stuff that girls have happened to them every month, and its goes into a tricky category for the Sims games when teens can't do taboo topic. Some how even voice changes is risky for EA to do in the sims.
Or give us more of an option in the family selection. Why not allow "Adults" to be parents of Young Adults?
Tom and Annabelle
Ide also like to see sims grow. not just a stupid twirl animation then wala your older.
I want progression. i want to see sims get slightly taller. its way more realistic.
Considering I never said they didn't allow preteens, I don't see why that's a problem.
I asked what it would add.
Problem you're not seeing: They have limited time to do anything in this game. Each life stage is less content for all other life stages because it is less time spent on those life stages. Adding an additional one for Sims 3 base game is what helped cause the complete lack of content for babies and toddlers, as well as how little children had and how un-unique adults were until Generations. So, just one life stage negatively affected at least three others.
So, yes, this would detract from the game a bit; that's just part of the problem with having limited time to create a game. But, what would it add? They can't add the unique item for preteens, so what else is there? Simply doing things differently isn't enough; if anything, that's a very poor excuse for adding something.
That's the thing. You use the Sims 3 as an example, when The Sims 4 is built on a completely different engine and is, by all accounts, a completely different game using new technology. We don't know what kinds of limits they've set, and if the rumors are true they've been working on this game for nearly a year and a half already. We don't know what they're gonna do, how the game's gonna play, what ages they will add and what interactions they'll bring. This thread was me saying I HOPE they add them for a sake of realism and a sake of storytelling.
And you wanna know what kinds of actions they could have?
YC could have temper tantrums, draw on the walls, finger paint, make messes for the sake of making messes, run around the house until they tire out, try to do things that older kids can but failing, yet still learning skills through means of learning from their mistakes etc.
Preteens could have crushes which would go into the new relationship concept they're doing, more mood swings than normal teens, still play with toys, hang out with friends, write in diaries and journals, pester their parents to buy things, have more emotional attachments to certain things, etc.
There are a lot of things that they could do with these two ages, but we don't know if they'll even have them until Gamescom tomorrow. I'm just being hopeful.
Tom and Annabelle
Primary school - Child (4-8 )
Middle School - Pre-teen (8-12 but I believe it varies depending on where you live)
Secondary/High School - 12-18 )
I think that covers all bases, and the different stages of childhood.
I use Sims 3 as an example because of one reality of video game development: The game engine doesn't matter as much as long as everything else is still done the same way. And, sadly, everything else is still done the same way now as it was ten years ago. That is why Sims 3 is a great example; you can use it to demonstrate ways in which lack of time for development hurt the game and how that issue needs to be taken seriously.
And, no, it's not built upon a completely different technology; the hardware all works the same way now as it did ten years ago. The software all has the same underlying foundations, graphics programs have barely moved forward at all, and programming languages have not changed. Most of the technology that actually would have an impact on development is still pretty much the exact same as it was years ago.
As for realism and storytelling: Sadly, realism has never been a big concern for this series and actually is an argument for a lot of things the developers have stated are against the spirit of the game, so that one's out. Storytelling... well, I've never seen a time when a Sim dev actually had it as a priority concern, so that one's out.
As for all of the things you mentioned for YCs: Why can't toddlers have those actions? They would be great for that stage.
The preteens one... That basically is taking ideas from teens and children, then mixing them. That's not unique, and could easily be divided between those two groups to better shore them up.
And, seriously, if all you can come up with is items that better belong in other life stages... what makes you think the devs would do any better? Or that they wouldn't reject the two life stages for exactly the same reasons I just did?
When I ask what they would add... I'm asking for stuff that would be unique only to them. Stuff that would not be able to fit into any other life stage. It's a difficult challenge, I'll admit, but keep in mind the alternative is just to make other life stages less interesting.
Of course I didn't recognize my own children as "preteens". They were kids until they were 13 then they were teens.
Couldn't agree more!
baby 0-1 year. 2-3 toddler, 4-7 young child. child 8-9. (Sims children always have looked to be in Gr.3)
10-12 pre-teen
13-17 teenager
18-30+ young adult
?-? adult
? elder
The problem with more ages, of course, is that there will be fewer clothing options for each age, because each age (for the most part) will need its own clothing meshes, which means extra work for the EA developers.
Yes, it goes on and on, my friends
Some people started playing it not knowing what it was
And they′ll continue playing it forever just because ...
I didn't miss the point. I'm pointing out that the point isn't a good enough reason to add it to the game.
Maybe a preschooler?
I agree with adding those 2 ages. I say that the preschooler follows the child, and the child get the "younger child" to do things, and believe things (like my older siblings tried to do). lol Idk, but I do want that for kids.
Congrats. You just answered what's unique about the young child life stage
No, I'm not being sarcastic. Preschool, if treated properly, would be unique.
I think younger child and child can share same clothes, they just have to modify it to fit both. Like they do with teen and adult a lot of times. But my think is the animations. Like when they sit, or interact with other Sims, all have to be adding and height adjusted. That could be a lot of work.
I don't remember identifying as a preteen myself. I think it's more of a recent thing, probably a marketing ploy like most things these days!
It is. It was originally created as a marketing ploy for health information, certain products, and activities for people age 12-14 back in the 1980s and since became more well known.
However, the definition of it was also, back then, tied to the onset of certain physical changes in girls. These days, it would actually be considered to be ages 8-10.
Same thing with the whole "tween" thing. Young Child, Preteen, Tween, I think people like to make up words.
Tween actually exists! It was created in the 1950s by J.R.R. Tolkien. Of course, his definition is "hobbit in their twenties," so it doesn't apply like it does now...