I have been a Sims fanatic since the very first sims game, but since I only have access to a Mac, I am unable to download and play the Sims 4. I'm very upset about this and I hope the Mac version comes out soon!
What I like would be the new emotions and how smart they are, the game plays very good.
What I did not like was a lot of features were left out the Base Game, Weather, Toodlers and swimming pools. The worlds also need to be bigger like sims 3 (there is only one park)
Expansions to add asap Nightlife, seasons, and Generations
I have played all of The Sims games, including the much loved and MUCH missed "The Sims Online." Well I played the facebook Sims thing for like 5 minutes, but that was just ridiculous and I hated that one.
So... The Sims 4.
I have to say, I am really having fun with it. It should keep me quite entertained and procrastinating my RL activities until Archeage comes out on the 12th. Other than that, until there is an expansion pack, I feel like it is very limited. The neighborhoods are SOOO small. And the lots are also SOOO small. The building though, is really great!!! I still get lost spending hours with decorating and moving things around and adding on. But it is much easier, I feel, this time around. I am really disappointed in the amount of choices for each category though. And the colors themselves, seem, bad... on a lot of items. So much clashing colors and just hideous colors of a lot of items. I don't want it to look like I live in a circus tent. I really miss the option to recolor ANYTHING to ANY color. Basically the new building tools are fantastic, but the options that come with them are terribly limiting.
The game play itself seems basically the same as all the other games, and if you like The Sims, it's more of the same. I really MISS the repairman!!! I don't have time to actually repair things on my own, with my job and trying to stay green (and now I have a needy little boyfriend lol). I seem to spend too much money just clicking "replace" instead of being able to call the repairman for much less than buying a new object.
I would also like to see more than just the two neighborhoods. I like the "look" of the two, but I would like some more variety. I would LOVE to see a snow neighborhood!!
All in all, I am happy with my play time so far. I think the limited edition thing was a total waste of my money, but hopefully the expansion packs will be better. Though, it is EA, still charging out the wazoo for The Sims 3 games, so I am not all that hopeful at this point.
Why have 5 slots on a small table with one in the center if putting something in the center causes the sims not to use the table? We should be able to put flowers, etc. in the center without causing the sims to never use the table to eat. This needs patching and testing it before release might not have hurt either, eh? Such a small thing.
Also when sims are going to marry, they should hold off while all the invited guests find a seat if there's seating for everyone, and then they should watch the wedding, not stand around looking the other way complaining about trash on the ground somewhere... geez right?
It would also extend game play greatly if sims could order a plate of food off bartenders.
love the game first off. However more information on how to actually use the tools would be nice;a how to tutorial section on the forum wouldnt go astray. no moveobjects on cheat. the bookcases in game werent suitable for the look i was after;ie no moveobjects on tool to butt them up so thought i would use the wall shelves to design my own as there are lots of books in the clutter section only they dont fit. let me clutter GURUS and hang curtains over doorways and place pieces of furnture through each other to make new furniture.
Honestly if I could I would love to get a refund for this game I feel that it was a complete and total waist of $60 something dollars...I feel that it is nothing more than a major step back from TS3 for many reasons for many reasons, here are a few: ever dollar of the well over $200 put into TS3 is lost to this most basic game, the graphics are too "cartoony and blocky", load screens? I mean really? What year are we in? Load screens and not having the freedom to see and travel the entire town(not sections at a time) it just a massive, massive step back in the Sims franchise. I honestly can say that I will most likely revert back to TS3, it's pretty ridiculous that EA couldn't even add in pets(that we have had to buy separate for the last two games), pools and toddlers, I mean the first time in TS2 sure ok i'll pay for it, the second time in TS3 ok sure I guess I like the game and all, and now for TS4, it's just absurd, sure your going to add a few more details and things to do, but is it really worth having to buy all of these expansions again? The answer, ummm no, why buy anything when I have everything in a much better game TS3. Is it possible to get a refund? Because if so I would really, really appreciate it so I can use the money on a much more worthy game or anything else for that matter. :'(
A couple of things I thought were going to be bad, but ended up being fun:
1. Babies. I thought that they being 'objects' would be horrid, but you actually have a lot more interactions with them than you did in Sims3. The only thing really missing here is being able to choose something other than the bassinet for your baby. It would also be nice to have a Nanny and a Sitter added to the Services.
2. I thought I wouldn't be able to affect my Sim when they were at work, but I was wrong. If you click on their picture when they are at work, you get choices much like the ones in Sims3.
There are still things missing, in my opinion, but I'm finding that some worries were completely unfounded.
Does Sims4 still need work for buggy things and more content? Yes. But I'm actually having a lot of fun playing right now.
I really don't like that you can't switch households like in the sims 3. The sims 2 was almost perfect. You were able to leave one house, play another and nothing advanced and you can continue where you left off. I like to play different generations and age them when I want to. I'm hoping that EA changes this along with bigger neighborhoods, putting pools back in, putting back toddlers, cars, driveways, washing machines, dishwasher, and being able to walk out of your house and just walk around the neighborhood. From what I have read we are allowed to be pregnant in all the clothes. If that is the case, that is awesome and please don't change it. I like the graphics. It looks a lot better But I do miss pets, and weather.
I am so glad to see this feedback thread, although I'm hoping with this many pages to it, someone's still paying attention. I've played a few hours now and I have very mixed feelings about the game.
Things I like:
The part of Create-A-Sim that allows me to click and drag all the physical features is great! Very intuitive, saves time in the click-through menus.
The new build menus with the rooms are pretty good. Easier than the 'blueprint' feature in Sims 3.
Load times for everything are SO SHORT it's fantastic! Saving doesn't take 2 minutes anymore. I love the upgrade to the load times.
It seems really easy to visit new neighbourhoods.
Now, for the longer part - Things I dislike:
Why can't I change the eye and hair colour to something that's not a pre-set option? I can resize eyes to the nearest millimetre, but I can't decide if I want to make them a different blue? What's up with that??
Where did the create-a-style option go? Why can't I make clothes that aren't a pre-set colour? I hate that. Creating things is the BEST part of the Sims, IMHO, and with the Sims 3, I can modify with the colour wheel and the fabrics and all the great things. Ditto for the furniture, if I want my couch to be something that's not a pre-set, how do I change it? I feel trapped in styles that aren't exactly the way I want them.
Where did pools go?? Making pools is fun!
Does my Sim walk everywhere? Where are the transportation options? Why can't I have a car?
All in all, I'm on the fence with the game. Right now, I'd rather just play 3 until 4 lets me make it more my style.
Things I like: Crate a sim is way better compared to the previous sims More realism like Pregnancy tests and powering shutting of when you don't pay your bills More challenging (I've always loved the sims 1 the best because it was the most challenging. TS3 was waayyyy to easy to play and make money Sims overall look better The emotions make the sims come to life Performance wise great for good graphics Love how there's a lot of options for the baby instead of just 3 Love how colorful and vibrant the game looks Love how I can carry in multiple conversations and multitask at once
Things I don't like: The obvious No toddlers and pools. I have faith that toddlers will be back with some generations type EP When your sim goes to work or school you can't see there needs Loading times when going to different lots So times to many ppl on one lot can create lag for me
Overall the game is super fun and needs some tweaking. I think this will be the best sims when more expansion packs start to roll out.
I have about 12 hours in the game. Here are my thoughts.
THE GOOD:
+ Runs smoothly + Sims look great + More difficult and interactive careers. Let's try and make more common careers more interesting, as well - like the doctor in TS3 expansion Ambitions. + Children more interesting to play with their own aspirations and "career" goals in school + Dates are fun! + Pregnancy more realistic looking and feeling + Emotions generally a good addition + Load screens make the game run very quickly; I don't mind that it make the world seem more closed. If anything, I'd like to get rid of load-screens between locations within my neighborhood. + Challenging to manage multiple Sims. +Multitasking! Makes gaining social fun and more realistic. + Connection to online community in game works much better than previous attempts + Beautiful neighborhoods. + The housing design is MUCH IMPROVED. THANK YOU AND KUDOS. Especially wonderful is the new roof design and the option to change the height of walls, foundation. I've never had so much fun making homes. Too bad there isn't much room for me to make many houses.
THE BAD:
+ Unable to MEET OTHERS at work or school; for my young sims, particularly, "meet classmates" was a way for them to meet friends. While there are options to talk to friends/co-workers in TS4, this only affects the social need and doesn't actually introduce my Sims to their neighbors. Along with the closed world, this makes it difficult for my Sims to meet others - especially if they work often or have strange hours. + No Create a Style - it's getting difficult to keep my houses from looking all the same. + NEIGHBORHOOD AGING seems skewed. A few hours in, most of the people who I met at the bar or library were elders. Please don't make me wait for a great mod to come out to see this fixed. + NO CUSTOM LIFESPAN + No TODDLERS. It seems strange to age from bassinet to little, capable human. I'd like some more time with my kids. + Like all of the other games, I want the option to ask a Sim his or her age. + Teens need more Teen-specific goals/aspirations - maybe like the children? It feels too similar to YA. + FUN NEED is difficult to maintain. + NO FAMILY TREES - I'm a legacy player and this is killer. + BABY/BASSINET - It'd be good to be able to multitask with the kid - talk on the phone, watch TV, etc.
AND...OF COURSE...
+ There should really be MORE here for the price. I know that this is a new game, but come on guys. I have spent a lot of money in the last decade on TS1, TS2, and TS3 (I own every EP, most of which I bought near release. And all I got were some weird looking lamps ;). Please, as a gift to your very devoted fan base, include some of our general desires in an update rather than charging 40-60 dollars for another game. I do not want to wait for a "Generations" to get toddlers or family trees. I have faith that, despite its rather lack-luster introduction, this game will end up being spectacular. I'm sure that I won't be able to go back to TS3 after some expansions start to come out. Until then, it's going to be difficult to stay interested as a legacy player without toddlers, family trees, paintings/pictures of Sims.
You know what I'd love? I'd really appreciate emotional traits for all the emotions in the game. Like ones that makes you tense, energized, embarrased, or dazed (which I've only seen once yet). At least ones that affect these emotions. The Gurus have said they make the game more fun, and I'd appreciate as much variety there as possible.
The moods - they carry the game to a different level, and they keep the game a little more challenging than it's been in the past. The feel - The game feels so much smoother, I have not had any issues with crashing or graphics problems or cache issues like the Sims 3 brought to us. Sleeping - I LOVE how fast time moves when the Sim goes to sleep. Nothing worse than sitting there watching nothing while your Sim sleeps for 8 long hours. Multitasking - LOVE IT Parties - I love the party options, and that you get little tasks to do. I also like that I don't have to browbeat my Sim into socializing at the party.
What I don't like:
- I don't really miss pools, but they should have been in the game. - Toddlers - come on guys. - Relationship decay - It's crazy how fast relationships dwindle. If my friends were that needy, I'd be a hermit. - I want to be able to turn that tutorial off. It drives me absolutely insane. - I'd also like to be able to engage the traditional interface, maybe a toggle option? I don't like the drop downs/ups etc. - Not enough lots to choose from, definately not enough LARGE lots to choose from. There's like, 1 big lot that you can purchase. - Loading screens between every venue, props that they're quick but it's tedious. I miss open world. - The base game feels so boring after all the expansions. I absolutely understand not having ALL the content from Sims 3 right away, but I feel like there isn't much to do outside of going to work, going to a random lot, and throwing the occasional party. - I want more customization when it comes to ages and how long they stay in certain phases, i loved the sliders in TS3
What I want to see:
- Please don't release expansions we've already seen with minimal changes to the game we bought years ago. For pets, I really want to see truly exotic pets available.. like foxes. I really want a fox. Or a Sim with a high skill in animal taming or something can have a tiger or something crazy. Get creative and give us something we have not seen before! Natural disasters for seasons would be awesome. Not in place of what you've given us in TS3, but in ADDITION to.
It's hard to separate what I like and don't like. There are so many things where I think the basic framework is great, but in practice it is underdeveloped and boring. So, here goes (BTW, I have played for about 8 hours now, should have been more but I have to force myself to go for an hour at a time since I get so bored).
Create-a-Sim: 2 out of 5 I'm getting used to the new interaction, and I like the customization. I like the way the menus are laid out. I like the aspiration and trait system, in general. Hate the lack of options. No color wheel, OK, I can understand that, but if you're going to have only pre-set colors, give us more than four options for a given outfit. Hate the lack of choices in your traits. Either give us more options for our measly three traits or more slots to put traits into. As it is, unless I want to make an insane weirdo, my "normal" sims start to look all the same. Suggestion: more color options, more clothing options, more trait options, more of everything. (preferably without having to shell out more $$ but what's the chance of that)
Camera/Game Controls: 0 out of 5 Pretty much hate everything. Edge scrolling is slow, buggy and I have to use the keyboard to move down, especially if I have menus up in build mode. No camera tilt except for birds-eye (and that's only in build mode). Zoom in/out is either very slow or lightning fast, no middle ground. It's hard to see into small rooms. The pop-up menus get in the way. Don't get me started on the stupid, annoying tutorial system you can't shut off.
Social Interactions: 4 out of 5 There are a bunch more options, and they change with the "mood" you're in. I love all the extra stuff, and I love that you get different options depending on your mood. I like the fact that friendly and romance bars are now separate. I love/hate the group chat option. I like to have that option, but I hate the fact that it is the default whenever there are more than 2 Sims in the room. It makes it hard to focus on a specific Sim. I hate the fact that you can work hard at making someone your friend and then see them again 2 days later and you're not friends anymore. I don't have time to call my friends every single day.
Emotions: 3 out of 5 I love the basic idea of emotions. I love that emotions effect how you walk, different social interactions, and your whims and skills. The framework is excellent. In practice, they are dull and repetitive. For example, when I'm Happy I always seem to get "tell a joke" or "talk to someone on the phone" as my special whim.
The World: 1 out of 5 I'm OK with a world divided into neighborhoods because it keeps my overall load time down. But it is ridiculous that every single building needs its own load screen. I HATE the fact that when one Sim travels the other Sims are greyed out. You can't even click on them and ask them to join the active Sim wherever he is, and who know what they're actually doing back home. I tried to fix this by always bringing all my Sims with me when I went to the public areas, but if I didn't watch them all like hawks, at least one would inevitably decide to go home on their own, and then they were lost to me. I love the fact that you can travel from world to world. I hate the fact that there are so few lots available overall, especially the public lots. Much like with Create-a-Sim, I'm sure after 6 months and more money for expansions this will be better. Right now it sucks. Suggestion: have a load screen when you go from one "neighborhood" to another, but no load screen between the 4 to 6 lots in that neighborhood. My Sims could go "downtown" and my kid could go to the library while the parents had a date at the lounge. I could walk to visit my 3 neighbors, but would have a load screen to visit another neighborhood. Suggestion: give the option to switch between "traveling" Sims and "at home" Sims, or at least the ability to check on Sims at home and ask them to "join active Sim."
The Family: 1 out of 5 I like the fact that children have so much more to do: more social interactions, more skill options, more of everything. I hate the fact that the baby is basically an object rather than a person. You can't click on their portrait to see their wants/needs, they are glued to their bassinet. I like that you have the option to "rock", "bounce", etc. but is it so much to ask to be able to take the baby through the load screen to the neighbor's house? I like everything about the way pregnancy works, but then my Sim went into labor and it was nothing but a negative mood option. She broke off labor to go to the bathroom, wash her hands, fix a snack and watch TV. And the mother got a positive "new baby" moodlet but no one else did. Since the babies are little objects rather than people, it's all the more upsetting that there are no toddlers. Then kids are great, but teenagers are basically thrown together sloppily and almost completely indistinguishable from adults. Young adults and adults and seniors are all basically the same as well. So you go from object to kid to adult, basically 3 life phases. Suggestions: When the inevitable $40 to $50 expansion to allow toddlers comes around, fix the teenagers to make them more unique, add in some uniqueness to differentiate young adults and adults, something other than cosmetic differences for elders.
Summary: 2 out of 5 overall. This game is pretty, loads quickly and has some great features. But it is so empty of variety and customization options, so repetitive after awhile, that it is hard to play for any length of time. I know how EA works, I know this is just the foundation for $200 worth of expansion packs before the game becomes really fun. The difference this time is that the foundation is so shallow that I don't think I can stay interested long enough to stick around for any expansions.
Suggestions: It might help if EA shocked us all and started releasing some free content. Start throwing out some color combination options, new hair styles/colors, new furniture, etc. without making us pay extra for every tiny little thing. Maybe that would keep me going long enough that I would be willing to shell out $20 for a big "stuff" pack or $50 for an expansion to fix the missing or broken game-play options.
There are a lot of things I like, the sims themselves, is one. But I have a couple who both go to work and come home at the same time. I have to just sit there and do nothing until their schedule is over. Also if I pause my game and go build something on a different lot, when I come back, my sims are not where I left them, but have moved on to something else. In build mode, you cannot tilt the lot to see better. Controls for viewing what you are doing are extremely difficult to work. It is much too hard to navigate while building. This is my biggest dislike, so far. I do like all the options that can be put in or on a house. But I do not like that I have to use certain patterns for certain areas and cannot mix them around or change the prearranged color schemes. In addition, Sims 3 landscapes looked more real, Sims 4 looks like cartoon style landscapes, or drawn pictures, although they are very pretty. I like being able to move from one neighborhood to another and having a different playing family in each. I like the fact that the Libraries appear not to be on my computer, but on the Sims website, and they can be viewed during game play. I like that the CC that people put on their sims, does not download with them. That should stop a lot of computer problems caused by CC. Does anyone know if that also applies to houses. It does not appear that we can play offline, which at times is useful. That's about all I can think of now. I have not completely made up my mind if I like Sims4 better than Sims3, yet. Hopefully that will change for the better, sooner, than later.
I've been playing for a few hours, so far I'm liking it but I'm not loving it. I think it will get better with EPs and patches though so here's my feedback:
Positives
+ Emotions are a great addition & I like the interactions that come with them
+ The overall look of the sims and the world is beautiful, it is a lot more cartoony than TS3 but still manages to look great
+ The game runs very smoothly on high settings for me, so far I haven't experienced any lagging during gameplay (except when I first started due to a graphics card malfunction)
+ The animations and facial expressions of the sims are a lot more lifelike, it looks great!
+ Multitasking works really well
+ The new build mode and CAS are a nice improvement on previous games
+ Loading screens and save times are very fast
Negatives
- NO TODDLERS, this is the biggest downside for me because I love the little critters and I'm a huge family player. TS4 is good, but I don't think it can be great without basic life stages.
- No colour wheel. At first I wasn't bothered, but once I got into build mode I saw how limited I was. It's incredibly frustrating, I found that even with the new streamlined build tools I spent twice as long building because I had to look through every single item to find a colour swatch that would match (which was a rare thing anyway, hardly anything matches). PLEASE PLEASE ADD A COLOUR WHEEL!
- The camera controls are horrible. I changed to TS3 mode and inverted the controls but edge scrolling still doesn't work and the camera movements are so slow. Once again, I found it very difficult to build a house when I had grabbed hold of a room or a piece of furniture and couldn't edge scroll to put it where I wanted!
- No family tree
- The babies are tied to the bassinets, this really needs to change!
- No swimming pools
- SEVERE LACK OF CHEATS! Please give us a cheat for unlocking items/rooms, satisfaction points, and please expand on TestingCheats because it's so limited in this game. In TS3 I always used it for dragging up certain needs for one sim so I was always in total control, now I can't do that. I want to be able to cheat relationships as well, it's really important for storytelling!
- *EDIT* Forgot to mention the dark lighting inside houses, it's not a major problem but it doesn't look very nice.
At the moment, I'd give Sims 4 a score of 3/5. I like it, but not as much as Sims 3. I'm going to stick with TS4 in the hope that it will improve with a few patches and EPs, because it is a base game after all (and a solid one at that!).
Glad for this forum, it is helping me make up my mind about Sims 4. I will not buy it for now, I almost did yesterday. I just can't see so many loading screen that will probably get slower as more stuff is added, and I can't see paying that much for it. With 3 it may take longer to load because of all the EP's and items, but once loaded you can play for hours with no interruptions, I never had problems with 3 after the mods errortrap and overwatch, game runs like a charm. I can't see not being able to edit a town to my liking. I see there is not many empty lots. I love to build and customize everything to make it different. I will buy it sometime in the future just to have the collection of the Sims. I have them all 1,2 and 3 and mostly all the EP's. And Sims 3 I own half or more of the store. I only hope in the future 4 will get better over time. I have played with the create a Sim 4 demo, I missed the cast and the hair and eyelashes I really don't like, just my opinion. I am happy for those who love Sims 4, and I hope it gets better over time. When the price comes down I will buy it then to add to my collection. Happy Simming.
2/5 There is just too much missing for a base game - even for the game at half its price.
Emotions are nice - not game changing - and get repetitive.
Missing CASt REALLY hurts the game - I didn't think I'd notice it - but boy do you when building/buying.
I hit loading screens to go to my house even when I am standing outside it! Sorry but after TS3 it just seems so counter intuitive.
I genuinely thought I'd be ok with the losses but it really strains the gameplay beyond what I was expecting - it feels the TS4 is the ultimate advertisement for TS3!
I will download CC for TS4 and play TS3 instead until EA/Maxis or the UNPAID modders in the community make it worthwhile to play.
It makes me a bit frustrated to see all the people asking for open world again. I loathed open world. Yes, the neighborhoods could stand to be bigger. But the open world in Sims 3 was unplayable for me. Every 5-10 minutes, the game would freeze for up to 30 seconds until I used resetsim*. This is on a computer well able to play newer games, such as Elder Scrolls Online, without any issue.
What were you running on. Even my laptop could run that open world. As for Sims 4, I don't
Want to play this game anymore
The thing that frustrates me is when rotating the camera in buy/build mode I don't feel that it tilts enough or as much as it did in previous sims games. I like to get just the right angle to take screenshots and to see where I place objects but sometimes I find myself struggling, having to take walls down etc. which is not helpful if you want a screenshot with the walls up.
I know a lot of people are demanding cars but since money is so hard to come by, and considering the neighbourhood isn't open, I don't think cars should be a priority considering the other things people are demanding. PS, thanks for the patch to remove my demon baby, that thing was creepy.
I am enjoying the game so far but I do have a suggestion. In the career panel, add a progress bar for the daily task. As it is now, I have to hover my cursor over the performance bar in order to get a pop-up description of what the daily task is and how far along it is (in 25% increments). If a performance bar is too much to ask, at least give a notification that the daily task is complete.
My sim just got married but in the middle of festivities my uncontrolled spouse decides it's time to leave for work leaving my event goals incomplete. I mean, really? The wedding doesn't take priority?
I have played the Sims the last 14 years, and have enjoyed every minute of it. It saddens me about Sims 4. At first I thought it was some kind of a joke! NO MORE for me...such a waist of my money! If someone is on the fence about buying the Sims 4...consider your self warned!!!
Comments
What I did not like was a lot of features were left out the Base Game, Weather, Toodlers and swimming pools. The worlds also need to be bigger like sims 3 (there is only one park)
Expansions to add asap Nightlife, seasons, and Generations
I have played all of The Sims games, including the much loved and MUCH missed "The Sims Online." Well I played the facebook Sims thing for like 5 minutes, but that was just ridiculous and I hated that one.
So... The Sims 4.
I have to say, I am really having fun with it. It should keep me quite entertained and procrastinating my RL activities until Archeage comes out on the 12th. Other than that, until there is an expansion pack, I feel like it is very limited. The neighborhoods are SOOO small. And the lots are also SOOO small. The building though, is really great!!! I still get lost spending hours with decorating and moving things around and adding on. But it is much easier, I feel, this time around. I am really disappointed in the amount of choices for each category though. And the colors themselves, seem, bad... on a lot of items. So much clashing colors and just hideous colors of a lot of items. I don't want it to look like I live in a circus tent. I really miss the option to recolor ANYTHING to ANY color. Basically the new building tools are fantastic, but the options that come with them are terribly limiting.
The game play itself seems basically the same as all the other games, and if you like The Sims, it's more of the same. I really MISS the repairman!!! I don't have time to actually repair things on my own, with my job and trying to stay green (and now I have a needy little boyfriend lol). I seem to spend too much money just clicking "replace" instead of being able to call the repairman for much less than buying a new object.
I would also like to see more than just the two neighborhoods. I like the "look" of the two, but I would like some more variety. I would LOVE to see a snow neighborhood!!
All in all, I am happy with my play time so far. I think the limited edition thing was a total waste of my money, but hopefully the expansion packs will be better. Though, it is EA, still charging out the wazoo for The Sims 3 games, so I am not all that hopeful at this point.
Happy Simming!
Also when sims are going to marry, they should hold off while all the invited guests find a seat if there's seating for everyone, and then they should watch the wedding, not stand around looking the other way complaining about trash on the ground somewhere... geez right?
It would also extend game play greatly if sims could order a plate of food off bartenders.
That's it for now I guess.
1. Babies. I thought that they being 'objects' would be horrid, but you actually have a lot more interactions with them than you did in Sims3. The only thing really missing here is being able to choose something other than the bassinet for your baby. It would also be nice to have a Nanny and a Sitter added to the Services.
2. I thought I wouldn't be able to affect my Sim when they were at work, but I was wrong. If you click on their picture when they are at work, you get choices much like the ones in Sims3.
There are still things missing, in my opinion, but I'm finding that some worries were completely unfounded.
Does Sims4 still need work for buggy things and more content? Yes. But I'm actually having a lot of fun playing right now.
Things I like:
The part of Create-A-Sim that allows me to click and drag all the physical features is great! Very intuitive, saves time in the click-through menus.
The new build menus with the rooms are pretty good. Easier than the 'blueprint' feature in Sims 3.
Load times for everything are SO SHORT it's fantastic! Saving doesn't take 2 minutes anymore. I love the upgrade to the load times.
It seems really easy to visit new neighbourhoods.
Now, for the longer part - Things I dislike:
Why can't I change the eye and hair colour to something that's not a pre-set option? I can resize eyes to the nearest millimetre, but I can't decide if I want to make them a different blue? What's up with that??
Where did the create-a-style option go? Why can't I make clothes that aren't a pre-set colour? I hate that. Creating things is the BEST part of the Sims, IMHO, and with the Sims 3, I can modify with the colour wheel and the fabrics and all the great things. Ditto for the furniture, if I want my couch to be something that's not a pre-set, how do I change it? I feel trapped in styles that aren't exactly the way I want them.
Where did pools go?? Making pools is fun!
Does my Sim walk everywhere? Where are the transportation options? Why can't I have a car?
All in all, I'm on the fence with the game. Right now, I'd rather just play 3 until 4 lets me make it more my style.
Crate a sim is way better compared to the previous sims
More realism like Pregnancy tests and powering shutting of when you don't pay your bills
More challenging (I've always loved the sims 1 the best because it was the most challenging. TS3 was waayyyy to easy to play and make money
Sims overall look better
The emotions make the sims come to life
Performance wise great for good graphics
Love how there's a lot of options for the baby instead of just 3
Love how colorful and vibrant the game looks
Love how I can carry in multiple conversations and multitask at once
Things I don't like:
The obvious No toddlers and pools. I have faith that toddlers will be back with some generations type EP
When your sim goes to work or school you can't see there needs
Loading times when going to different lots
So times to many ppl on one lot can create lag for me
Overall the game is super fun and needs some tweaking. I think this will be the best sims when more expansion packs start to roll out.
Rating:8.5/10
THE GOOD:
+ Runs smoothly
+ Sims look great
+ More difficult and interactive careers. Let's try and make more common careers more interesting, as well - like the doctor in TS3 expansion Ambitions.
+ Children more interesting to play with their own aspirations and "career" goals in school
+ Dates are fun!
+ Pregnancy more realistic looking and feeling
+ Emotions generally a good addition
+ Load screens make the game run very quickly; I don't mind that it make the world seem more closed. If anything, I'd like to get rid of load-screens between locations within my neighborhood.
+ Challenging to manage multiple Sims.
+Multitasking! Makes gaining social fun and more realistic.
+ Connection to online community in game works much better than previous attempts
+ Beautiful neighborhoods.
+ The housing design is MUCH IMPROVED. THANK YOU AND KUDOS. Especially wonderful is the new roof design and the option to change the height of walls, foundation. I've never had so much fun making homes. Too bad there isn't much room for me to make many houses.
THE BAD:
+ Unable to MEET OTHERS at work or school; for my young sims, particularly, "meet classmates" was a way for them to meet friends. While there are options to talk to friends/co-workers in TS4, this only affects the social need and doesn't actually introduce my Sims to their neighbors. Along with the closed world, this makes it difficult for my Sims to meet others - especially if they work often or have strange hours.
+ No Create a Style - it's getting difficult to keep my houses from looking all the same.
+ NEIGHBORHOOD AGING seems skewed. A few hours in, most of the people who I met at the bar or library were elders. Please don't make me wait for a great mod to come out to see this fixed.
+ NO CUSTOM LIFESPAN
+ No TODDLERS. It seems strange to age from bassinet to little, capable human. I'd like some more time with my kids.
+ Like all of the other games, I want the option to ask a Sim his or her age.
+ Teens need more Teen-specific goals/aspirations - maybe like the children? It feels too similar to YA.
+ FUN NEED is difficult to maintain.
+ NO FAMILY TREES - I'm a legacy player and this is killer.
+ BABY/BASSINET - It'd be good to be able to multitask with the kid - talk on the phone, watch TV, etc.
AND...OF COURSE...
+ There should really be MORE here for the price. I know that this is a new game, but come on guys. I have spent a lot of money in the last decade on TS1, TS2, and TS3 (I own every EP, most of which I bought near release. And all I got were some weird looking lamps ;). Please, as a gift to your very devoted fan base, include some of our general desires in an update rather than charging 40-60 dollars for another game. I do not want to wait for a "Generations" to get toddlers or family trees. I have faith that, despite its rather lack-luster introduction, this game will end up being spectacular. I'm sure that I won't be able to go back to TS3 after some expansions start to come out. Until then, it's going to be difficult to stay interested as a legacy player without toddlers, family trees, paintings/pictures of Sims.
The moods - they carry the game to a different level, and they keep the game a little more challenging than it's been in the past.
The feel - The game feels so much smoother, I have not had any issues with crashing or graphics problems or cache issues like the Sims 3 brought to us.
Sleeping - I LOVE how fast time moves when the Sim goes to sleep. Nothing worse than sitting there watching nothing while your Sim sleeps for 8 long hours.
Multitasking - LOVE IT
Parties - I love the party options, and that you get little tasks to do. I also like that I don't have to browbeat my Sim into socializing at the party.
What I don't like:
- I don't really miss pools, but they should have been in the game.
- Toddlers - come on guys.
- Relationship decay - It's crazy how fast relationships dwindle. If my friends were that needy, I'd be a hermit.
- I want to be able to turn that tutorial off. It drives me absolutely insane.
- I'd also like to be able to engage the traditional interface, maybe a toggle option? I don't like the drop downs/ups etc.
- Not enough lots to choose from, definately not enough LARGE lots to choose from. There's like, 1 big lot that you can purchase.
- Loading screens between every venue, props that they're quick but it's tedious. I miss open world.
- The base game feels so boring after all the expansions. I absolutely understand not having ALL the content from Sims 3 right away, but I feel like there isn't much to do outside of going to work, going to a random lot, and throwing the occasional party.
- I want more customization when it comes to ages and how long they stay in certain phases, i loved the sliders in TS3
What I want to see:
- Please don't release expansions we've already seen with minimal changes to the game we bought years ago. For pets, I really want to see truly exotic pets available.. like foxes. I really want a fox. Or a Sim with a high skill in animal taming or something can have a tiger or something crazy. Get creative and give us something we have not seen before! Natural disasters for seasons would be awesome. Not in place of what you've given us in TS3, but in ADDITION to.
Create-a-Sim: 2 out of 5
I'm getting used to the new interaction, and I like the customization. I like the way the menus are laid out.
I like the aspiration and trait system, in general.
Hate the lack of options. No color wheel, OK, I can understand that, but if you're going to have only pre-set colors, give us more than four options for a given outfit.
Hate the lack of choices in your traits. Either give us more options for our measly three traits or more slots to put traits into. As it is, unless I want to make an insane weirdo, my "normal" sims start to look all the same.
Suggestion: more color options, more clothing options, more trait options, more of everything. (preferably without having to shell out more $$ but what's the chance of that)
Camera/Game Controls: 0 out of 5
Pretty much hate everything. Edge scrolling is slow, buggy and I have to use the keyboard to move down, especially if I have menus up in build mode. No camera tilt except for birds-eye (and that's only in build mode). Zoom in/out is either very slow or lightning fast, no middle ground. It's hard to see into small rooms. The pop-up menus get in the way. Don't get me started on the stupid, annoying tutorial system you can't shut off.
Social Interactions: 4 out of 5
There are a bunch more options, and they change with the "mood" you're in. I love all the extra stuff, and I love that you get different options depending on your mood.
I like the fact that friendly and romance bars are now separate.
I love/hate the group chat option. I like to have that option, but I hate the fact that it is the default whenever there are more than 2 Sims in the room. It makes it hard to focus on a specific Sim.
I hate the fact that you can work hard at making someone your friend and then see them again 2 days later and you're not friends anymore. I don't have time to call my friends every single day.
Emotions: 3 out of 5
I love the basic idea of emotions. I love that emotions effect how you walk, different social interactions, and your whims and skills. The framework is excellent.
In practice, they are dull and repetitive. For example, when I'm Happy I always seem to get "tell a joke" or "talk to someone on the phone" as my special whim.
The World: 1 out of 5
I'm OK with a world divided into neighborhoods because it keeps my overall load time down. But it is ridiculous that every single building needs its own load screen.
I HATE the fact that when one Sim travels the other Sims are greyed out. You can't even click on them and ask them to join the active Sim wherever he is, and who know what they're actually doing back home. I tried to fix this by always bringing all my Sims with me when I went to the public areas, but if I didn't watch them all like hawks, at least one would inevitably decide to go home on their own, and then they were lost to me.
I love the fact that you can travel from world to world.
I hate the fact that there are so few lots available overall, especially the public lots.
Much like with Create-a-Sim, I'm sure after 6 months and more money for expansions this will be better. Right now it sucks.
Suggestion: have a load screen when you go from one "neighborhood" to another, but no load screen between the 4 to 6 lots in that neighborhood. My Sims could go "downtown" and my kid could go to the library while the parents had a date at the lounge. I could walk to visit my 3 neighbors, but would have a load screen to visit another neighborhood.
Suggestion: give the option to switch between "traveling" Sims and "at home" Sims, or at least the ability to check on Sims at home and ask them to "join active Sim."
The Family: 1 out of 5
I like the fact that children have so much more to do: more social interactions, more skill options, more of everything.
I hate the fact that the baby is basically an object rather than a person. You can't click on their portrait to see their wants/needs, they are glued to their bassinet. I like that you have the option to "rock", "bounce", etc. but is it so much to ask to be able to take the baby through the load screen to the neighbor's house?
I like everything about the way pregnancy works, but then my Sim went into labor and it was nothing but a negative mood option. She broke off labor to go to the bathroom, wash her hands, fix a snack and watch TV. And the mother got a positive "new baby" moodlet but no one else did.
Since the babies are little objects rather than people, it's all the more upsetting that there are no toddlers. Then kids are great, but teenagers are basically thrown together sloppily and almost completely indistinguishable from adults. Young adults and adults and seniors are all basically the same as well. So you go from object to kid to adult, basically 3 life phases.
Suggestions: When the inevitable $40 to $50 expansion to allow toddlers comes around, fix the teenagers to make them more unique, add in some uniqueness to differentiate young adults and adults, something other than cosmetic differences for elders.
Summary: 2 out of 5 overall.
This game is pretty, loads quickly and has some great features. But it is so empty of variety and customization options, so repetitive after awhile, that it is hard to play for any length of time. I know how EA works, I know this is just the foundation for $200 worth of expansion packs before the game becomes really fun. The difference this time is that the foundation is so shallow that I don't think I can stay interested long enough to stick around for any expansions.
Suggestions: It might help if EA shocked us all and started releasing some free content. Start throwing out some color combination options, new hair styles/colors, new furniture, etc. without making us pay extra for every tiny little thing. Maybe that would keep me going long enough that I would be willing to shell out $20 for a big "stuff" pack or $50 for an expansion to fix the missing or broken game-play options.
But I have a couple who both go to work and come home at the same time. I have to just sit there and do nothing until their schedule is over. Also if I pause my game and go build something on a different lot, when I come back, my sims are not where I left them, but have moved on to something else.
In build mode, you cannot tilt the lot to see better. Controls for viewing what you are doing are extremely difficult to work. It is much too hard to navigate while building. This is my biggest dislike, so far.
I do like all the options that can be put in or on a house. But I do not like that I have to use certain patterns for certain areas and cannot mix them around or change the prearranged color schemes.
In addition, Sims 3 landscapes looked more real, Sims 4 looks like cartoon style landscapes, or drawn pictures, although they are very pretty.
I like being able to move from one neighborhood to another and having a different playing family in each.
I like the fact that the Libraries appear not to be on my computer, but on the Sims website, and they can be viewed during game play.
I like that the CC that people put on their sims, does not download with them. That should stop a lot of computer problems caused by CC. Does anyone know if that also applies to houses.
It does not appear that we can play offline, which at times is useful.
That's about all I can think of now. I have not completely made up my mind if I like Sims4 better than Sims3, yet. Hopefully that will change for the better, sooner, than later.
Positives
+ Emotions are a great addition & I like the interactions that come with them
+ The overall look of the sims and the world is beautiful, it is a lot more cartoony than TS3 but still manages to look great
+ The game runs very smoothly on high settings for me, so far I haven't experienced any lagging during gameplay (except when I first started due to a graphics card malfunction)
+ The animations and facial expressions of the sims are a lot more lifelike, it looks great!
+ Multitasking works really well
+ The new build mode and CAS are a nice improvement on previous games
+ Loading screens and save times are very fast
Negatives
- NO TODDLERS, this is the biggest downside for me because I love the little critters and I'm a huge family player. TS4 is good, but I don't think it can be great without basic life stages.
- No colour wheel. At first I wasn't bothered, but once I got into build mode I saw how limited I was. It's incredibly frustrating, I found that even with the new streamlined build tools I spent twice as long building because I had to look through every single item to find a colour swatch that would match (which was a rare thing anyway, hardly anything matches). PLEASE PLEASE ADD A COLOUR WHEEL!
- The camera controls are horrible. I changed to TS3 mode and inverted the controls but edge scrolling still doesn't work and the camera movements are so slow. Once again, I found it very difficult to build a house when I had grabbed hold of a room or a piece of furniture and couldn't edge scroll to put it where I wanted!
- No family tree
- The babies are tied to the bassinets, this really needs to change!
- No swimming pools
- SEVERE LACK OF CHEATS! Please give us a cheat for unlocking items/rooms, satisfaction points, and please expand on TestingCheats because it's so limited in this game. In TS3 I always used it for dragging up certain needs for one sim so I was always in total control, now I can't do that. I want to be able to cheat relationships as well, it's really important for storytelling!
- *EDIT* Forgot to mention the dark lighting inside houses, it's not a major problem but it doesn't look very nice.
At the moment, I'd give Sims 4 a score of 3/5. I like it, but not as much as Sims 3. I'm going to stick with TS4 in the hope that it will improve with a few patches and EPs, because it is a base game after all (and a solid one at that!).
Emotions are nice - not game changing - and get repetitive.
Missing CASt REALLY hurts the game - I didn't think I'd notice it - but boy do you when building/buying.
I hit loading screens to go to my house even when I am standing outside it! Sorry but after TS3 it just seems so counter intuitive.
I genuinely thought I'd be ok with the losses but it really strains the gameplay beyond what I was expecting - it feels the TS4 is the ultimate advertisement for TS3!
I will download CC for TS4 and play TS3 instead until EA/Maxis or the UNPAID modders in the community make it worthwhile to play.
What were you running on. Even my laptop could run that open world. As for Sims 4, I don't
Want to play this game anymore
⌠ Team Holy Hêll ⌡ [Currently playing TS4]
Trehek on the Sims 4 Gallery: