Open World?

Inna Minnit · August 2015

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

MoonandStars83 · August 2015

I think it mostly has to do with a lack of loading screens. For TS4, if you travel outside block neighborhood, you have loading screens, whereas in TS3, you don't.

lisasc360 · August 2015

You can watch your Sims get from point A to point B while they are either in a car, pedaling a bike, flying on a broom, walking/jogging without them teleporting from lot to lot. I loved TS2 when I started with the Sims and then I got TS3 and was completely in love with the open world since we can follow the Sims in their cars...

james64468 · August 2015

MoonandStars83 wrote: »

I think it mostly has to do with a lack of loading screens. For TS4, if you travel outside block neighborhood, you have loading screens, whereas in TS3, you don't.

Yep exactly. That part of why I don't like Sims 4.

moonandsixpens · August 2015

In sims4 you can't go into other lots without loading screens. In sims3 there is a whole world out there ready for you. While your sim is in the rabithole or in fact any place, you are free to move the camera to wherever you want to observe the life of sims outside your active family (except for the rabitholes and private homes), or just to enjoy the view that is highly textured (if you set the specs high enough). Moreover you can edit your world by placing objects such as trees, and even lots (or deleting them). You can make your own map with the create a world tool.

With mods, you can eliminate rabitholes to a large extend, and you can (your camera can) open the neighbors' homes to see what they are up to without sending your sim to visit them. There is no mod that allow you to visit different lots without the loading screen in sims4, nor can you go to different lots without your sim.

In sims3 the other sims in my opinion are less centered around your active family, they usually won't become obsessive stalkers and knock on your sim's front door every day. Together they form a living community instead of a fan club of your active sims. In a way in sims4 the world doesn't exist unless you sent out your sim to specific location and observe it. In sims3 the world is running regardless of your observation.

The relationships formed by your sim are shown on the relationship tab (not sure if this is the right name), alongside with the personal inventory, work/education, skills, and lifetime happiness tabs.

IreneSwift · August 2015

The thing I dislike most about the closed world of Sims 4 is that when I send one member of the household to a different lot, I can't go back and check on the one left behind. And, if I set them doing something I want them to keep doing while the other household member is out, so they can finish a goal for work, for example, when the other sim returns, the one left at home has not been doing what I left them to do and made no progress toward the goal.

SimKeats · August 2015

In sims 4, you cant meet new people at work, if you do, on an "active career" they are just NPC basically, if you marry a fellow scientist, guess what, they arent a scientist! On top of that you can only do one sim's job at a time.
Another one about open world, you can have all your sims doing different things in different places, there are SO many reasons to like open world, what are the reasons NOT to like it, you have a bad PC that can't run a game?

It sounds like OP started with sims 4, and tried sims 3, and obviously that will effect your preference, its hard to like an older game if you start with a newer one, even if the older one is better.

james64468 · August 2015

SimKeats wrote: »

In sims 4, you cant meet new people at work, if you do, on an "active career" they are just NPC basically, if you marry a fellow scientist, guess what, they arent a scientist! On top of that you can only do one sim's job at a time.
Another one about open world, you can have all your sims doing different things in different places, there are SO many reasons to like open world, what are the reasons NOT to like it, you have a bad PC that can't run a game?

It sounds like OP started with sims 4, and tried sims 3, and obviously that will effect your preference, its hard to like an older game if you start with a newer one, even if the older one is better.

It odd I started with Sims 4. Then Tried Sims 3. I like Sims 3 more. Even though my neighbor plays Sims 3. Ops I wake her up two nights in a row with my sub woofer and 2 speakers.

SimplyJen · August 2015

I can switch back to any household member and control them without having a limited menu of commands. It never gets old following my sims around town without loading screens. I don't mind the loading screens in 4 but I love open world.

SimplyJen · August 2015

It will take a lot before TS4 can top TS3 for me. It's not just open world that it lacks. Obviously it will get more packs but right now the previous series are the only sim games that I can spend hours playing without getting bored.

TreyNutz · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I see open world and rabbit holes as 2 different things. Open world means no loading screens as you bounce from one sim at the seasonal festival to another at a fishing hole to another at home as you queue up yet another to collect rocks (or seeds or insects).

A rabbit hole is a totally unrelated aspect of TS3 that gave EA a way to send sims to work or shopping without having to animate those activities.

All relationships your sims have are viewable in that sim's relationship panel (tab) in the UI. The UI design of TS3 is a totally different issue than the open world design, or the rabbit holes used.

suzses · August 2015

When I first started to play Sims 3, which was when the base game came out, it did seem as though every place my sims could go was a rabbithole, but as the game progressed that became less and less true. I truly don't care if when they go into a grocery store or book store that it's a rabbithole; they get what they need and come back outside, which is fine with me. I can give a sim a rabbithole career or a more active one, depending on how involved I wish to be with that sim all day long. The things I really want to be along for - the fun stuff in life like parks, beach, clubs, restaurants (with the Bistro) - is or can be all open lot. And like others have said, being able to easily switch from one household member to another is the big advantage. For instance, I can have a sim at home, say, gardening, another at a park, and another at the library studying something and switch back and forth between them to see what they're doing or queue up another activity without loading screens or any repercussions. They're all active the entire time. I find not being able to do that in Sims 4 just much too constraining after the freedom I've had with Sims 3.

Inna Minnit · August 2015

IreneSwift wrote: »

The thing I dislike most about the closed world of Sims 4 is that when I send one member of the household to a different lot, I can't go back and check on the one left behind. And, if I set them doing something I want them to keep doing while the other household member is out, so they can finish a goal for work, for example, when the other sim returns, the one left at home has not been doing what I left them to do and made no progress toward the goal.

Yes, you can switch between them.

Inna Minnit · August 2015

SimKeats wrote: »

In sims 4, you cant meet new people at work, if you do, on an "active career" they are just NPC basically, if you marry a fellow scientist, guess what, they arent a scientist! On top of that you can only do one sim's job at a time.
Another one about open world, you can have all your sims doing different things in different places, there are SO many reasons to like open world, what are the reasons NOT to like it, you have a bad PC that can't run a game?

It sounds like OP started with sims 4, and tried sims 3, and obviously that will effect your preference, its hard to like an older game if you start with a newer one, even if the older one is better.

You do realize that "better" is a preference, not an absolute truth.

Phantomflex · August 2015

In TS3, I can instantly switch between the wife watching TV at home, the husband hanging out with some friends at the bar, and the kids at the park playing with the dog as many times as I want without a single loading screen.The worlds are vast, and there is so much to explore within them. For people who like to have lots of sims living in their neighborhoods, TS3 worlds are a better solution. The default world in TS3 has more lots than all of TS4's worlds combined, and for a game that is supposed to be so focused on the sims' lives, TS4's worlds are simply way too small for me to enjoy the game.

TadOlson · August 2015

I love how I can switch between two sims at different lots and even different households with the use of NRaas Mods.I play my entire towns in TS3 and story progression functions more TS2 style with some help from the NRaas story progression Mod and the rest is manual story progression because of my settings being geared for rotational play.

GITTE2001 · August 2015

I feel jailed when I play sims4.

PalmArrow · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

As someone else already said, "open world" and "rabbitholes" are two completely different aspects of the game. Open world means that you can see your Sim walking, jogging, driving or sailing between the lots (and pass by other Sims on the way, who are also moving betwen lots). A rabbithole is just a type of lot, and there are still plenty of community lots in The Sims 3 that are not rabbitholes (parks, fishing spots, gyms, pools, beaches, libraries, museums, cemeteries in the base game, and many others in the expansions).

I agree that rabbitholes are not the most interesting thing in the world. They do actually have some advantages for the player: if you're playing a large household, sending a few member to rabbitholes means you don't have to worry about them for a while.

But the open world is just awesome! It gives you beautiful views of the world and a sense that the town is alive, with all the Sims going around about their business. Also, if you like collecting, there are gems, metals and seeds to be found on the way between lots.

igazor · August 2015

Open World was essentially an experiment with TS3. The way it was originally designed, you were supposed to be able to see inside all of the inactives' houses and watch what they were doing all of the time, with no transitional overhead. What the developers found around the time of one of the very early patches, back when TS3 couldn't even handle over 2 GB of RAM usage on Windows (it still can't on Mac), is that such a structure with all the sims in town almost always animated was too heavy on the game engine to be sustainable.

So they switched gears, closed off all the other residents' houses, and for the most part made inactive resident sims go into semi-hibernation while they are in their own homes rather than out and about, with the game taking care of their basic needs. NRaas mod users can still reactivate this "look inside and they are doing stuff feature" with MasterController's Lot > Open command or all of them at once with the HomeOpener mod, but it does take a lot of processor power for that to work well across an entire world, especially one with well over 100 residents.

But the developers did leave us with the rest of the Open World concept. I've never played TS4 and will have to take your word for it, but is it really possible to play a household of 6-8 (or more) sims, all doing very different things across town, switch between them seamlessly without any of their activities and action queues getting cut off midstream, and actually have them all accomplish things at the same time? Seems like such wouldn't really be possible or at least not in the same smooth manner.

There is no argument that TS3 in more evolved in its current state than TS4. That is as it should be at this stage. But these incessant debates over which is "better" are pointless. Open World speaks to many of us who devise town-wide intricate story lines without having to play every single sim in town unless we really want to; the benefits of TS4 speak more to others. They appear to be very different games from each other.

Windely · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

Omg, I can't even...

You can see your Sim travelling outside, without loading screens. Is it that difficult to get?
In TS4 we don't even have grocery stores and our sims can't even eat outside in restaurants.

IreneSwift · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

IreneSwift wrote: »

The thing I dislike most about the closed world of Sims 4 is that when I send one member of the household to a different lot, I can't go back and check on the one left behind. And, if I set them doing something I want them to keep doing while the other household member is out, so they can finish a goal for work, for example, when the other sim returns, the one left at home has not been doing what I left them to do and made no progress toward the goal.

Yes, you can switch between them.

Not as easily as in Sims 3, nor with the same results. You get another loading screen, and whatever you queued up for the one away from home will be lost, and if you set the sim at home back to doing what you want them to do again, as soon as you go back to the other, they'll drop it. It's not the same at all.

IreneSwift · August 2015

igazor wrote: »

But the developers did leave us with the rest of the Open World concept. I've never played TS4 and will have to take your word for it, but is it really possible to play a household of 6-8 (or more) sims, all doing very different things across town, switch between them seamlessly without any of their activities and action queues getting cut off midstream, and actually have them all accomplish things at the same time? Seems like such wouldn't really be possible or at least not in the same smooth manner.

No, it isn't. The ones you're not with accomplish nothing. Switching between them is totally useless.

igazor wrote: »

That is as it should be at this stage. But these incessant debates over which is "better" are pointless. Open World speaks to many of us who devise town-wide intricate story lines without having to play every single sim in town unless we really want to; the benefits of TS4 speak more to others. They appear to be very different games from each other.

I agree. Nobody has any business being critical of someone else's preference. Certain aspects of the previous sims games were made more prominent in Sims 4, other were made less prominent or left out altogether. Which aspects of the game appeal to you the most are going to determine which one you like best. The wiki says they made collecting much more prominent in Sims 4. Collecting is one of my least favorite things to do, and I don't do it at all anymore, except on very rare occasions. On the other hand, I love to send my sims on a jog, or on a stroll with their toddler, and follow along with them as they go, for at least a sim hour at a time. Your sim can only go on short jogs in Sims 4, and strolling is not an option at all. I hate that it's such a pain for sims to make friends in either one, and now use MC to help them out in Sims 3. And, in Sims 4, most of the careers require them to make and maintain ever increasing numbers of friendships. If I ever decide to go back and play Sims 4 again, I will still never have my sims do any of those careers.

Inna Minnit · August 2015

Windely wrote: »

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

Omg, I can't even...

You can see your Sim travelling outside, without loading screens. Is it that difficult to get?
In TS4 we don't even have grocery stores and our sims can't even eat outside in restaurants.

Ok. That was just rude. I asked for an e,planation of why you like it better. Not a condescending eyeroll.

I can have a look around in 4 just as well without loading screens. My sim is off to work or weeding the garden, I can take a birdseye view in the neighborhood. Shopping? I go to the "store" to get an order menu? Oooookkk.

And I just see the riding in the car as another loading screen. I have yet to see an advantage to "open world." I was looking for a discussion, maybe suggeztions I couldn't see. But it was turned into a better or worse discussion. Again.

moonandsixpens · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

Windely wrote: »

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

Omg, I can't even...

You can see your Sim travelling outside, without loading screens. Is it that difficult to get?
In TS4 we don't even have grocery stores and our sims can't even eat outside in restaurants.

Ok. That was just rude. I asked for an e,planation of why you like it better. Not a condescending eyeroll.

I can have a look around in 4 just as well without loading screens. My sim is off to work or weeding the garden, I can take a birdseye view in the neighborhood. Shopping? I go to the "store" to get an order menu? Oooookkk.

And I just see the riding in the car as another loading screen. I have yet to see an advantage to "open world." I was looking for a discussion, maybe suggeztions I couldn't see. But it was turned into a better or worse discussion. Again.

The birdseye views aren't exactly as the close up views you can have in the sims3. For example in sims 3 you can watch sims playing chess in the park and see the reaction of the winner and its opponent when your sim is having lunch at home. Riding in the cars you can see the changing views outside. The loading screen in sims4 just shows static geometric patterns. With all due respect, I don't understand how you can equate these features...

Windely · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

Windely wrote: »

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

Omg, I can't even...

You can see your Sim travelling outside, without loading screens. Is it that difficult to get?
In TS4 we don't even have grocery stores and our sims can't even eat outside in restaurants.

Ok. That was just rude. I asked for an e,planation of why you like it better. Not a condescending eyeroll.

I can have a look around in 4 just as well without loading screens. My sim is off to work or weeding the garden, I can take a birdseye view in the neighborhood. Shopping? I go to the "store" to get an order menu? Oooookkk.

And I just see the riding in the car as another loading screen. I have yet to see an advantage to "open world." I was looking for a discussion, maybe suggeztions I couldn't see. But it was turned into a better or worse discussion. Again.

Karritz · August 2015

Inna Minnit wrote: »

So I have heard ad nauseaum about how TS4 sucks because it doesn't have an open world. But I don't get it. I just started playing TS3. My sim can visit neighbors. Ditto in 4. My sim can visit venues. Ditto in 4. My sim goes to the grocery store, or to a diner, and I am left out in the street like some dog tied up on the curb waiting for him to come out. And while he is in there, he establishes a relationship with someone, but I don't know who they are.

I don't see how "open world" is better. At least in TS4, I can go where my sim can go. Am I missing something??

I just don't care. Sims is a game. Take the one you enjoy and don't worry about the one you don't.

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