Don't forget lady's and Gent's, if you'd like to Tweet the #Thisismysimsvision on twitter, it is also another way of getting voices heard. Let the gaming world know how we feel and what we want from the game we all love so much!
Sorry I don't have Twitter and I don't want one. Will it work if we stay on the forums and just put #ThisIsMySimsVision in the post?
Don't forget lady's and Gent's, if you'd like to Tweet the #Thisismysimsvision on twitter, it is also another way of getting voices heard. Let the gaming world know how we feel and what we want from the game we all love so much!
Sorry I don't have Twitter and I don't want one. Will it work if we stay on the forums and just put #ThisIsMySimsVision in the post?
Oh no worries hun, It isn't necessary to have twitter. It was just an invitation to anyone who has twitter and would like to spread it further.
Hashtagging it on the forum is just as good, it will come up in the search results and can be linked back to this thread.
Penguin Party is a group made to encourage the community to share their visions, hopes and dreams for The Sims series, We as a group hope to get your voices heard and spread as far and wide as possible.
Don't forget lady's and Gent's, if you'd like to Tweet the #Thisismysimsvision on twitter, it is also another way of getting voices heard. Let the gaming world know how we feel and what we want from the game we all love so much!
Sorry I don't have Twitter and I don't want one. Will it work if we stay on the forums and just put #ThisIsMySimsVision in the post?
Oh no worries hun, It isn't necessary to have twitter. It was just an invitation to anyone who has twitter and would like to spread it further.
Hashtagging it on the forum is just as good, it will come up in the search results and can be linked back to this thread.
Ahhhh okay thanks. Appreciate it. And I hope they pay attention to this thread. And I mean REALLY pay attention to it. If not for Sims 4, then at least for an AMAZING Sims 5 base game.
Don't forget lady's and Gent's, if you'd like to Tweet the #Thisismysimsvision on twitter, it is also another way of getting voices heard. Let the gaming world know how we feel and what we want from the game we all love so much!
Sorry I don't have Twitter and I don't want one. Will it work if we stay on the forums and just put #ThisIsMySimsVision in the post?
Oh no worries hun, It isn't necessary to have twitter. It was just an invitation to anyone who has twitter and would like to spread it further.
Hashtagging it on the forum is just as good, it will come up in the search results and can be linked back to this thread.
Ahhhh okay thanks. Appreciate it. And I hope they pay attention to this thread. And I mean REALLY pay attention to it. If not for Sims 4, then at least for an AMAZING Sims 5 base game.
Well, Let's hope. It all starts with you guys and your ideas. I mean, Who would know the game better than the people who spend hours playing it
Including me... It's my... not guilty - guilty pleasure It's right up there with chocolate. Which reminds me of the chocolate machine in TS2 and the toddlers getting into the mess, My hubby used to show me that lol super cute and funny.
Penguin Party is a group made to encourage the community to share their visions, hopes and dreams for The Sims series, We as a group hope to get your voices heard and spread as far and wide as possible.
Because this thread is being advertised so heavily and is said to be visited by Gurus i wanted to add a list of relevant threads they might want to visit to get some VERY GOOD FEEDBACK about what us simmers mean when we say 4 should have been 2 and 3 combined or other threads that make very valid points http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819981/give-me-a-reason-to-go-out/p1
I love watching toddlers read. Here's a few pictures of Adrian.
Edit: Syntax
“I was so sure that I knew what they needed and what I wanted to sell them that I never stopped long enough to find out what it was they wanted to buy.”
― Chris Murray, The Extremely Successful Salesman's Club
Because this thread is being advertised so heavily and is said to be visited by Gurus i wanted to add a list of relevant threads they might want to visit to get some VERY GOOD FEEDBACK about what us simmers mean when we say 4 should have been 2 and 3 combined or other threads that make very valid points http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819981/give-me-a-reason-to-go-out/p1
well and there are others but I might look for and post them later. Enjoy reading.
Remember this project is very VERY important for us as community. We want our voices heard, but not to drift off topic. This is what we've all been waiting for and We need to continue with our hopes and dreams for the game.
Sorry. we really need to stick with the theme of the thread to continue to be heard. Don't want anything to be taken the wrong way.
Penguin Party is a group made to encourage the community to share their visions, hopes and dreams for The Sims series, We as a group hope to get your voices heard and spread as far and wide as possible.
Oh! Instead of them automatically knowing how to read can there be a teach to read interaction for toddlers? Something a little different than the "read to" interaction. Actually first off I think the interaction for "read to" should be something like this:
or this
or these
And then the option to teach to read would be like this:
OR even better! They have like 3 or 4 different animation types modeled after these and they just randomly cycle an choose one of them when they decide to "teach to read" or "read to."
This skill could just be a tie into what the toddlers already have to learn. And maybe if a toddler is lucky enough to learn it by the time they age up into a child it could effect like where the child starts in school or like in Sims 3 if your toddler had a great stage it would determine if you could choose their trait when they aged up (I really liked this feature).
Because this thread is being advertised so heavily and is said to be visited by Gurus i wanted to add a list of relevant threads they might want to visit to get some VERY GOOD FEEDBACK about what us simmers mean when we say 4 should have been 2 and 3 combined or other threads that make very valid points http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819981/give-me-a-reason-to-go-out/p1
well and there are others but I might look for and post them later. Enjoy reading.
Remember this project is very VERY important for us as community. We want our voices heard, but not to drift off topic. This is what we've all been waiting for and We need to continue with our hopes and dreams for the game.
Sorry. we really need to stick with the theme of the thread to continue to be heard. Don't want anything to be taken the wrong way.
Yup we really want to see your words and your pictures with your visions @Jenzup. You always have great ideas all the time We want to know those and we want the dev's to seem them. Those are great threads, yes, but this is your voice. I'm sure those ops when they're ready to will follow the same to this thread. If they want to.
First and foremost more space, cause space=freedom, no space=frustration and restriction.
look at those decorations for neighborhoods and that player created world, amazing. We know create a world is a hard tool to give to us, but some middle term compromise can be arranged I bet. Like a temporary ability to copy the worlds we have and just change the texture of the ground (like Sims 2 lush,dirt,etc...) and move and put more neighborhood common decorations and changing number and position of lots.
Then we have EPs, I think would be good if they add FUN activies that don't feel like tasks (like people complain about Sims 4 many times), for example:
Like the spas in SimsSuperstar, they were kinda useless in terms of achieving things, but it was amazing the mud baths, the saunas, the milk baths, bcs it added realism (kinda). I got a mud bath twice and it was wonderful and this spa reminded me of it and it added fun to the gameplay, made you feel like a real star (even in beginning of the star career lol)
At the same time, we had the catwalks that added the slapstick comedy and humor that the sims imo need. They had that fierce face but with low skills your model sim fell all the time and it was so entertaining to watch, never gets old. Sims 1 (especially) and 2 had this and I think we might be going on the RIGHT direction with Get to Work preview and the trailer we got of Malepractice lol.
Other fun and very detailed activities we lost in later Sims was for example the Recording Booth, I never understood why it was never added for singer careers in Sims 2 or 3 (that had Showtime). It was such a fun thing to do and you felt that risk of failing it but at the same time was like an achievement when you got your song out.
So I think my vision of sims is more flow and that detail level at the same time that is fun to play and funny to watch lol.
Thank you for doing this thread and starting positivity.
I think Sims 4 is going on the RIGHT direction with Get to Work, hope to see more and better creations in future for Sims 4! : )
Gallery ID: Gaia Puma (Click pic above if you would to download that exact building)
I made this picture for the 100 themes thread over at Simatography.
The butterflies in the pic are generated from the fog emitter included in The Sims 3. The fog emitter does emit fog, but it also emits other effects from the game and it's EPs, such as these glowy butterflies (from world adventures, I think). This fog emitter is definitely something I'd like to include in my vision of The Sims. There is many creative uses for it. Builders use it to create waterfalls, some unique fireplaces, really great spooky houses, and more. It's also very useful for making cool Sim pics and machinima. I'll try to make a creepy looking looking graveyardish type scene to further illustrate.
Another vision that the Sims games make it possible for Will Wright and SimGuruBChick to watch over the EA Executives as toddlers. I love all the toddler interactions in the Sims 2 and I hope they return.
CEO playing with butterflies is pretty adorable:
Then there are toddlers that cry about growing up:
This picture actually make me cry and bring out emotions in me when I play:
So my vision for that is having emotions be so good in a game that it makes you want to go aww and feel sad or happy while playing the game.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
@GaiaPuma Retrictions might as well be this game's middle name. So, for my sims vision, I'd really like those to go away and have options returned in their place.
I made this picture for the 100 themes thread over at Simatography.
The butterflies in the pic are generated from the fog emitter included in The Sims 3. The fog emitter does emit fog, but it also emits other effects from the game and it's EPs, such as these glowy butterflies (from world adventures, I think). This fog emitter is definitely something I'd like to include in my vision of The Sims. There is many creative uses for it. Builders use it to create waterfalls, some unique fireplaces, really great spooky houses, and more. It's also very useful for making cool Sim pics and machinima. I'll try to make a creepy looking looking graveyardish type scene to further illustrate.
Because this thread is being advertised so heavily and is said to be visited by Gurus i wanted to add a list of relevant threads they might want to visit to get some VERY GOOD FEEDBACK about what us simmers mean when we say 4 should have been 2 and 3 combined or other threads that make very valid points http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819981/give-me-a-reason-to-go-out/p1
well and there are others but I might look for and post them later. Enjoy reading.
Remember this project is very VERY important for us as community. We want our voices heard, but not to drift off topic. This is what we've all been waiting for and We need to continue with our hopes and dreams for the game.
Sorry. we really need to stick with the theme of the thread to continue to be heard. Don't want anything to be taken the wrong way.
Sorry wasn't trying to take away from this thread but there were some very good things said in these threads by A LOT of different people one even had videos that captured the kind of interactions people are talking about but not able to put their finger on what the magic is that made up 2 and these videos kind of summed up what people were saying but not saying if you get my meaning. I know there was some bickering in one but, to me anyway, the discussion of the two opposing ideas seemed only to bring about a more in depth definition of what the sims is about to many of us and that's why I even mentioned them. Well there is also a lot of criticism of EA and Maxis but if these companies want to really know why people are not buying the new game or even interested they're going to have to swallow a little bit of that pride.
For me what my vision is . . . I'm also one of those that is going to have to collect my thoughts or more accurately dig back through the forums to see all the many different things I shared because (well even though I said a lot of stuff many times) I can't quite remember everything and I know I had a lot of different ideas that I want to make sure they even make sense, well because a lot of times I shared stuff with people but they had a lot of reasons to dismiss what I said and so I want to go back and see if perhaps my ideas are too controversial or would fit in with what I see a majority of people saying if not then they might not actually be beneficial at all.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
I'm going to be looking for all kinds of things to add - discussion topics, concept art, whatever. Just PM me a link and I'll share it (so long as it's appropriate, and please put photos in link form as well, it'll make my job easier.) I also want to do interviews with simmers of all types. Builders, people who are experts in CAS, cc creators, modders, and all styles of players. Send me a PM if you're interested. Everything will be credited.
Being able to select from a color palette that is the same and available across all styles:
Being able to create my dream mountain home:
Or something curvier:
Or something reflective:
How about spiral stairs and ceiling beams?
L-shaped stairs, curved stairs, grand stairs...lots of stair options!
I could go on, and I (and other builders) do, in our Build Mode Feedback for EA thread, but the above would certainly be a good start towards my builder oriented sims vision.
Being able to select from a color palette that is the same and available across all styles:
Being able to create my dream mountain home:
Or something curvier:
Or something reflective:
How about spiral stairs and ceiling beams?
L-shaped stairs, curved stairs, grand stairs...lots of stair options!
I could go on, and I (and other builders) do, in our Build Mode Feedback for EA thread, but the above would certainly be a good start towards my builder oriented sims vision.
Love these, that one reflective house wow what an illusion! Those stairs would so fit in the Goths home or even a spanish style home.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
I was asked to adventure to the Dragon Cave to seek for something, I wasn't told what to look for but that I would know it when I found it. So I did what was asked of me and once there I beheld a vision; no, not of a mummy taking on a foreigner (never have run across that mummy in China yet) but of what I think a good Sims game would be.
Ok so I admit I'm kind of actually still happy with 3 and I only have two expansion packs. I even played 3 fine with no expansion packs for a good year or two. I played 2 (with 2 expansion packs) until it quite literally crashed my computer (of course it doesn't seem like I have as much success as others for making their computers last beyond 3-5yrs).
Even though I will admit to being a lover of 3 I can see it's flaws and that it indeed, as others have pointed out, does lack in interactions that should be in a simulation game. Meaningful interactions that would breathe life into my Sims and make me believe that they are "virtually" alive. That is what makes a simulation game to me is how closely it mirrors life.
I don't know how many times I will tell my friends or family, when encountering a similar situation in real life, "oh my Sims in my game do that or did that". From what feedback I've seen of 4 it doesn't seem like I would ever have game play opportunity that I could say that about. No toddlers, teens indistinguishable from adults (IRL you occasionally see this but is the exception to the rule and mostly because they make an effort to try to be so adult) no cars, no visible work places or schools.
Maybe if I pretend really hard those things can cease exist in the real world there's got to be a way to sync the two and if the people working on it can't make the game more life-like, I guess I'll have to use my imagination to try to do this (this would make a great Criminal Minds episode the schizophrenic psychopath who can't separate a game from RL and tries to make the Real world fit the game he/she plays oh wow think what mayhem that would cause if this mentally unstable individual played Sims4, I think even Mr. Sausages might have some competition on that one).
Speaking of Mr. Sausages that (Obnoxious Psychosausage) thread is an apt demonstration of a key feature that was sold to us Simmers as the new play foundation for 4 that doesn't quite live up to expectations. Emotions were not just featured in the game-play trailers but sort of thrown in our face about how much more intuitive and interactive they would be over other versions of the game and that this was something new or innovative.
So as a wary consumer (who is still quite happy with 3) I thought I might look at feedback to determine how people liked the "new" emotions. From the feedback I've read they didn't fix the quirks of the earlier games but also added NO new situational emotional interactions just emotions from objects with auras. Well the next time, in my life, I experience an emotional aura from a piece of furniture or object or hear musical tones to let me know I experienced this, me and my psychiatrist (he wears a bunny suit) will let you know.
A true computer Sims game DOES NOT play like a console version. The difference being that a console game (like Playstation,Nintendo or fill-in-the-blank) has limited re-playability. By this I mean that you only have a certain amount of actions, interactions and reactions that the game can do. In the console games there is a need for the player to fulfill certain pre-defined tasks or goals once you finish these there are no new actions,interactions or reactions that can be done.
Now I realize that it is impossible to have an unlimited amount of actions, interactions or reactions as there is a limit to what a computer can do but surely there could be more for a computer game and they could be tied to traits so that they could be randomized and would enable our sim to feel (to us anyway) more real. I don't want Pinocchio the puppet I want Pinocchio the REAL BOY! (hmm might make an interesting household to play Jim Carey whatever his character's name was in Liar Liar and his son Pinocchio and Jim's dad would be Cyrano De Berjiac, spelling)
What about having sims that actually react to situations (that in real life people would have real emotions to) like death of another sim, or being cheated on? In Sims 2 the (computer version) I had an Asian Sim family that had a grandmother, her daughter her husband their teen daughter, child son and toddler girl, the grandmother died. Everyone in the family cried and were upset even the toddler (her grandmother was after all potty training her earlier that day). These sims were sad for days (well sim days that is) and they would go on about their business but there would be something that reminded them of their beloved relative (or it seemed so) that set them off crying again.
This seemed to happen because one of their fears had been realized. I liked that in 2 when they would get fears that they could lose their loved one I thought that was such a nice touch it lent to the feel that they really cared for their family (I know just light patterns after all, psssst please don't let my cat know he's already upset about finding out the truth of the laser light this might send him to Psychosausageland).
Last time I played 3 (a few days ago) my Asian sims went to China (different family than the one in 2) The Special Merchant's (I think her name was Abi Yan Mat or something) husband had died and she was crying and crying and crying about it. She would go about her business but every so often she sobbed so bitterly I thought she was going to burst an organ. I had my sim introduce herself just so I could have her console the poor woman. (I actually took pictures of this one if anyone wants to see) I had my Asian family revisit China and there was Abi Yan Mat's son in her place and it really made me sad. I'm glad my photographer sim (the one I had comfort Abi Yan Mat) took a picture of her I'm going to have my Sim befriend Abi Yan Mat's son so she can give him that picture, I hope it will make him happy. Now I didn't need a game to tell me to do this but because the elements were there the game tricked me into thinking that the characters were really experiencing their emotions. This is what draws me as a player in and keeps me immersed in the game.
This is Abi Yan Mat (If it's something else could someone correct me)
This is her being extremely upset her husband died
My Sim trying to comfort Abi Yan Mat
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
@JGuy92 Don't worry. Just keep posting. You're classified as a "new member" right now, but the more you post and the more you have people liking and LOL'ing to what you say, the faster you can become a "member." Once you're a member then you can post pictures. So please do come back and post them once you are! I'm sure we'd all love to see them!
Both of them are on the exchange and contain no CC.
Absolutely gorgeous! You mean those blinds in the sleeping room are EA..!? Are they in the Store?
I'm sorry I'm really tired right now, so I'm being a most dense. You mean the blinds in the kids room in Illuminate-- those are from the base game. In the other bedrooms from that house I used Windows from island paradise with lights from the base game applied to them. In Modernity, it's Windows from Into the future with the holographic projectors from Into the future applied to them.
I meant Modernity and I see what you mean now. Looks great, you have a way of using stuff in very original ways! Inspiring, I'm going to try some of that (also how you did that beautiful mansion).
Comments
Sorry I don't have Twitter and I don't want one. Will it work if we stay on the forums and just put #ThisIsMySimsVision in the post?
Repose en paix mamie tu va me manquer :
1923-2016 mamie
Oh no worries hun, It isn't necessary to have twitter. It was just an invitation to anyone who has twitter and would like to spread it further.
Hashtagging it on the forum is just as good, it will come up in the search results and can be linked back to this thread.
Ahhhh okay thanks. Appreciate it. And I hope they pay attention to this thread. And I mean REALLY pay attention to it. If not for Sims 4, then at least for an AMAZING Sims 5 base game.
Well, Let's hope. It all starts with you guys and your ideas. I mean, Who would know the game better than the people who spend hours playing it
Including me... It's my... not guilty - guilty pleasure It's right up there with chocolate. Which reminds me of the chocolate machine in TS2 and the toddlers getting into the mess, My hubby used to show me that lol super cute and funny.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819078/i-finally-realized-what-was-bothering-me-about-how-sims-behave-in-this-game#latest
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/818929/the-life-simulator-vs-the-the-sims-4#latest
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/819219/how-closely-does-the-sims-4-adhere-to-will-wrights-ideas/p8
well and there are others but I might look for and post them later. Enjoy reading.
Edit: Syntax
― Chris Murray, The Extremely Successful Salesman's Club
Remember this project is very VERY important for us as community. We want our voices heard, but not to drift off topic. This is what we've all been waiting for and We need to continue with our hopes and dreams for the game.
Sorry. we really need to stick with the theme of the thread to continue to be heard. Don't want anything to be taken the wrong way.
or this
or these
And then the option to teach to read would be like this:
OR even better! They have like 3 or 4 different animation types modeled after these and they just randomly cycle an choose one of them when they decide to "teach to read" or "read to."
This skill could just be a tie into what the toddlers already have to learn. And maybe if a toddler is lucky enough to learn it by the time they age up into a child it could effect like where the child starts in school or like in Sims 3 if your toddler had a great stage it would determine if you could choose their trait when they aged up (I really liked this feature).
Yup we really want to see your words and your pictures with your visions @Jenzup. You always have great ideas all the time We want to know those and we want the dev's to seem them. Those are great threads, yes, but this is your voice. I'm sure those ops when they're ready to will follow the same to this thread. If they want to.
Awesome and congrats! I just finished catching up on the thread. Great posts!
look at those decorations for neighborhoods and that player created world, amazing.
We know create a world is a hard tool to give to us, but some middle term compromise can be arranged I bet. Like a temporary ability to copy the worlds we have and just change the texture of the ground (like Sims 2 lush,dirt,etc...) and move and put more neighborhood common decorations and changing number and position of lots.
Then we have EPs, I think would be good if they add FUN activies that don't feel like tasks (like people complain about Sims 4 many times), for example:
Like the spas in SimsSuperstar, they were kinda useless in terms of achieving things, but it was amazing the mud baths, the saunas, the milk baths, bcs it added realism (kinda). I got a mud bath twice and it was wonderful and this spa reminded me of it and it added fun to the gameplay, made you feel like a real star (even in beginning of the star career lol)
At the same time, we had the catwalks that added the slapstick comedy and humor that the sims imo need. They had that fierce face but with low skills your model sim fell all the time and it was so entertaining to watch, never gets old. Sims 1 (especially) and 2 had this and I think we might be going on the RIGHT direction with Get to Work preview and the trailer we got of Malepractice lol.
Other fun and very detailed activities we lost in later Sims was for example the Recording Booth, I never understood why it was never added for singer careers in Sims 2 or 3 (that had Showtime). It was such a fun thing to do and you felt that risk of failing it but at the same time was like an achievement when you got your song out.
So I think my vision of sims is more flow and that detail level at the same time that is fun to play and funny to watch lol.
Thank you for doing this thread and starting positivity.
I think Sims 4 is going on the RIGHT direction with Get to Work, hope to see more and better creations in future for Sims 4! : )
Gallery ID: Gaia Puma (Click pic above if you would to download that exact building)
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/789742/the-sims-4-create-a-world-petition-212-signatures-200-signature-celebration/p1
The butterflies in the pic are generated from the fog emitter included in The Sims 3. The fog emitter does emit fog, but it also emits other effects from the game and it's EPs, such as these glowy butterflies (from world adventures, I think). This fog emitter is definitely something I'd like to include in my vision of The Sims. There is many creative uses for it. Builders use it to create waterfalls, some unique fireplaces, really great spooky houses, and more. It's also very useful for making cool Sim pics and machinima. I'll try to make a creepy looking looking graveyardish type scene to further illustrate.
CEO playing with butterflies is pretty adorable:
Then there are toddlers that cry about growing up:
This picture actually make me cry and bring out emotions in me when I play:
So my vision for that is having emotions be so good in a game that it makes you want to go aww and feel sad or happy while playing the game.
@GaiaPuma Retrictions might as well be this game's middle name. So, for my sims vision, I'd really like those to go away and have options returned in their place.
@Memina11 , yes, I rememberred that. I would love it to be back
@petalbot , I am your new fan
Sorry wasn't trying to take away from this thread but there were some very good things said in these threads by A LOT of different people one even had videos that captured the kind of interactions people are talking about but not able to put their finger on what the magic is that made up 2 and these videos kind of summed up what people were saying but not saying if you get my meaning. I know there was some bickering in one but, to me anyway, the discussion of the two opposing ideas seemed only to bring about a more in depth definition of what the sims is about to many of us and that's why I even mentioned them. Well there is also a lot of criticism of EA and Maxis but if these companies want to really know why people are not buying the new game or even interested they're going to have to swallow a little bit of that pride.
For me what my vision is . . . I'm also one of those that is going to have to collect my thoughts or more accurately dig back through the forums to see all the many different things I shared because (well even though I said a lot of stuff many times) I can't quite remember everything and I know I had a lot of different ideas that I want to make sure they even make sense, well because a lot of times I shared stuff with people but they had a lot of reasons to dismiss what I said and so I want to go back and see if perhaps my ideas are too controversial or would fit in with what I see a majority of people saying if not then they might not actually be beneficial at all.
The Tumblr is up and running here:
http://thisismysimsvision.tumblr.com
I'm going to be looking for all kinds of things to add - discussion topics, concept art, whatever. Just PM me a link and I'll share it (so long as it's appropriate, and please put photos in link form as well, it'll make my job easier.) I also want to do interviews with simmers of all types. Builders, people who are experts in CAS, cc creators, modders, and all styles of players. Send me a PM if you're interested. Everything will be credited.
Being able to select from a color palette that is the same and available across all styles:
Being able to create my dream mountain home:
Or something curvier:
Or something reflective:
How about spiral stairs and ceiling beams?
L-shaped stairs, curved stairs, grand stairs...lots of stair options!
I could go on, and I (and other builders) do, in our Build Mode Feedback for EA thread, but the above would certainly be a good start towards my builder oriented sims vision.
Love these, that one reflective house wow what an illusion! Those stairs would so fit in the Goths home or even a spanish style home.
if you want a house built in the fashion of The Flintstones, well that's another story
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
Marcus Aurelius
Ok so I admit I'm kind of actually still happy with 3 and I only have two expansion packs. I even played 3 fine with no expansion packs for a good year or two. I played 2 (with 2 expansion packs) until it quite literally crashed my computer (of course it doesn't seem like I have as much success as others for making their computers last beyond 3-5yrs).
Even though I will admit to being a lover of 3 I can see it's flaws and that it indeed, as others have pointed out, does lack in interactions that should be in a simulation game. Meaningful interactions that would breathe life into my Sims and make me believe that they are "virtually" alive. That is what makes a simulation game to me is how closely it mirrors life.
I don't know how many times I will tell my friends or family, when encountering a similar situation in real life, "oh my Sims in my game do that or did that". From what feedback I've seen of 4 it doesn't seem like I would ever have game play opportunity that I could say that about. No toddlers, teens indistinguishable from adults (IRL you occasionally see this but is the exception to the rule and mostly because they make an effort to try to be so adult) no cars, no visible work places or schools.
Maybe if I pretend really hard those things can cease exist in the real world there's got to be a way to sync the two and if the people working on it can't make the game more life-like, I guess I'll have to use my imagination to try to do this (this would make a great Criminal Minds episode the schizophrenic psychopath who can't separate a game from RL and tries to make the Real world fit the game he/she plays oh wow think what mayhem that would cause if this mentally unstable individual played Sims4, I think even Mr. Sausages might have some competition on that one).
Speaking of Mr. Sausages that (Obnoxious Psychosausage) thread is an apt demonstration of a key feature that was sold to us Simmers as the new play foundation for 4 that doesn't quite live up to expectations. Emotions were not just featured in the game-play trailers but sort of thrown in our face about how much more intuitive and interactive they would be over other versions of the game and that this was something new or innovative.
So as a wary consumer (who is still quite happy with 3) I thought I might look at feedback to determine how people liked the "new" emotions. From the feedback I've read they didn't fix the quirks of the earlier games but also added NO new situational emotional interactions just emotions from objects with auras. Well the next time, in my life, I experience an emotional aura from a piece of furniture or object or hear musical tones to let me know I experienced this, me and my psychiatrist (he wears a bunny suit) will let you know.
A true computer Sims game DOES NOT play like a console version. The difference being that a console game (like Playstation,Nintendo or fill-in-the-blank) has limited re-playability. By this I mean that you only have a certain amount of actions, interactions and reactions that the game can do. In the console games there is a need for the player to fulfill certain pre-defined tasks or goals once you finish these there are no new actions,interactions or reactions that can be done.
Now I realize that it is impossible to have an unlimited amount of actions, interactions or reactions as there is a limit to what a computer can do but surely there could be more for a computer game and they could be tied to traits so that they could be randomized and would enable our sim to feel (to us anyway) more real. I don't want Pinocchio the puppet I want Pinocchio the REAL BOY! (hmm might make an interesting household to play Jim Carey whatever his character's name was in Liar Liar and his son Pinocchio and Jim's dad would be Cyrano De Berjiac, spelling)
What about having sims that actually react to situations (that in real life people would have real emotions to) like death of another sim, or being cheated on? In Sims 2 the (computer version) I had an Asian Sim family that had a grandmother, her daughter her husband their teen daughter, child son and toddler girl, the grandmother died. Everyone in the family cried and were upset even the toddler (her grandmother was after all potty training her earlier that day). These sims were sad for days (well sim days that is) and they would go on about their business but there would be something that reminded them of their beloved relative (or it seemed so) that set them off crying again.
This seemed to happen because one of their fears had been realized. I liked that in 2 when they would get fears that they could lose their loved one I thought that was such a nice touch it lent to the feel that they really cared for their family (I know just light patterns after all, psssst please don't let my cat know he's already upset about finding out the truth of the laser light this might send him to Psychosausageland).
Last time I played 3 (a few days ago) my Asian sims went to China (different family than the one in 2) The Special Merchant's (I think her name was Abi Yan Mat or something) husband had died and she was crying and crying and crying about it. She would go about her business but every so often she sobbed so bitterly I thought she was going to burst an organ. I had my sim introduce herself just so I could have her console the poor woman. (I actually took pictures of this one if anyone wants to see) I had my Asian family revisit China and there was Abi Yan Mat's son in her place and it really made me sad. I'm glad my photographer sim (the one I had comfort Abi Yan Mat) took a picture of her I'm going to have my Sim befriend Abi Yan Mat's son so she can give him that picture, I hope it will make him happy. Now I didn't need a game to tell me to do this but because the elements were there the game tricked me into thinking that the characters were really experiencing their emotions. This is what draws me as a player in and keeps me immersed in the game.