As someone who never really cared for family play, much less any life stage outside of young adult due to only playing my self-sim in previous iterations.. I do agree it is odd that pre-teen and toddler disappeared, although it's not game breaking for me.. i can see how it is more bothersome for others.
However, this is the first iteration where I've played beyond young adults and my self-sim.. and I do enjoy what we have. I've always found the sims to be a game where you get what you put in. A game of the imagination.
I do have complaints that the game seems very party centered for young adults, but i've made clubs to counter that. dine out also added the new variety of going out to eat.
Another complaint I have is that there really is not a lot of variety with kid's clothes and hair. I also don't have the kid's pack, but I feel like it still wouldn't add enough to justify the lack thereof. Teens are also young adults with restrictions.. but that is far more believable since I know how i was as a teen.
Other than that.. I'm enjoying what we have. I try to make the most of it, creatively mind you, when I do family play.
an example:
--
The next day..
My brother must have ratted me out.. why else would mom be giving me the 'talk' and asking me about 'him'..
oh no.. this is getting weird..
please, just.. stop.. this so weird!
*internal screaming intensifies*
--
Lets make The Sims 4 great again!
-- Origin ID: Audio5urf --
Feel free to add me, and check out my gallery shenanigans.
family play is possible in Sims 4 but it is not completely fleshed out. And no you don't have to have toddlers for family play agreed.
You can play family play with just a single mom/dad and a child.
BUT here's where it gets interesting, say me the way I play, this is how its played; man or woman meets mate, they date, marry, first woohoo, work, and hobbies, life is full, but eventually they want children so they prepare for child or children. She gets pregnant, and has the child. Everything is going fine, and then its time for the infant to grow up and poof ! In Sims 4 they just jump out of the bassinet.
players mood ruined, break in immersion, flow of game
I liked teaching the toddlers how to walk, talk, and their parents got big lifetime reward points for those things.
That helped because they need a lot of points to get the rewards I always got them, which was steel bladder, & the one for cleanliness, (can't remember name right now, something dirt) hardly hungry, and they need the collectible finder i( I know not right name for it ) especially if they're going to do bot building, or fishing, gardening etc.
It also added challenge to the game, because it was not so easy to do while they were working & with hobbies and I liked teaching the Sims how to feed their toddler in the high chair, and I liked watching the parents take their toddlers for a stroll. I enjoyed watching the toddlers play in the toy box, watching parents chat with their toddlers after they've learned to talk. And I enjoyed watching them grow, then when they became a child, I enjoyed watching parents help with homework or letting them go to the park to play. I enjoyed letting them go to after school activities, watching them go from C grade in school to A, watching them trying to sell lemonade.
Then they grew up and became teens. I enjoyed watching them go to prom, do their homework, learn to drive.
But when an infant goes from infant to child instantaneously its like the player is robbed a little and also there is a void. From a players perspective it just doesn't feel complete, or fully accomplished. It always feels incomplete as if something is not finished.
Player gets over it and in Sims 4 the child is now living their life and you can play the father, mother, and child in Sims 4 but you have to click between them and see them individually, or when the child is home alone you have to click on the parents and say care for self, to play the child.
Again it ruins immersion. In Sims 3 they were all together and because of the open world, it didn't take that long after you clicked from one to another to see whichever one you clicked on so you could manage them all in a short amount of time, or you could do map & see where they were (with the help of tagger mod) but with Sims 4 you have loading screens, and again it feels as if something is not complete.
And the child seems to enjoy walking in on their parents in inappropriate situations like the bathroom, bedroom.
Sims 4 finally gave us locked doors so that helps, but, its weird & creepy. That rarely happens in Sims 3. I've never seen it happen.
Anyway not to make this post super long but just some thoughts on how I play as a family player & how Sims 4 affects the way I play.
I have played a child in Sims 4 but I didn't enjoy it so I didn't play that way anymore.
The whole point of a game is to have fun. If I don't have fun I'm not playing & I suspect its that way for many players.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
family play is possible in Sims 4 but it is not completely fleshed out. And no you don't have to have toddlers for family play agreed.
You can play family play with just a single mom/dad and a child.
BUT here's where it gets interesting, say me the way I play, this is how its played; man or woman meets mate, they date, marry, first woohoo, work, and hobbies, life is full, but eventually they want children so they prepare for child or children. She gets pregnant, and has the child. Everything is going fine, and then its time for the infant to grow up and poof ! In Sims 4 they just jump out of the bassinet.
players mood ruined, break in immersion, flow of game
I liked teaching the toddlers how to walk, talk, and their parents got big lifetime reward points for those things.
That helped because they need a lot of points to get the rewards I always got them, which was steel bladder, & the one for cleanliness, (can't remember name right now, something dirt) hardly hungry, and they need the collectible finder i( I know not right name for it ) especially if they're going to do bot building, or fishing, gardening etc.
It also added challenge to the game, because it was not so easy to do while they were working & with hobbies and I liked teaching the Sims how to feed their toddler in the high chair, and I liked watching the parents take their toddlers for a stroll. I enjoyed watching the toddlers play in the toy box, watching parents chat with their toddlers after they've learned to talk. And I enjoyed watching them grow, then when they became a child, I enjoyed watching parents help with homework or letting them go to the park to play. I enjoyed letting them go to after school activities, watching them go from C grade in school to A, watching them trying to sell lemonade.
Then they grew up and became teens. I enjoyed watching them go to prom, do their homework, learn to drive.
But when an infant goes from infant to child instantaneously its like the player is robbed a little and also there is a void. From a players perspective it just doesn't feel complete, or fully accomplished. It always feels incomplete as if something is not finished.
Player gets over it and in Sims 4 the child is now living their life and you can play the father, mother, and child in Sims 4 but you have to click between them and see them individually, or when the child is home alone you have to click on the parents and say care for self, to play the child.
Again it ruins immersion. In Sims 3 they were all together and because of the open world, it didn't take that long after you clicked from one to another to see whichever one you clicked on so you could manage them all in a short amount of time, or you could do map & see where they were (with the help of tagger mod) but with Sims 4 you have loading screens, and again it feels as if something is not complete.
And the child seems to enjoy walking in on their parents in inappropriate situations like the bathroom, bedroom.
Sims 4 finally gave us locked doors so that helps, but, its weird & creepy. That rarely happens in Sims 3. I've never seen it happen.
Anyway not to make this post super long but just some thoughts on how I play as a family player & how Sims 4 affects the way I play.
I have played a child in Sims 4 but I didn't enjoy it so I didn't play that way anymore.
The whole point of a game is to have fun. If I don't have fun I'm not playing & I suspect its that way for many players.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
family play is possible in Sims 4 but it is not completely fleshed out. And no you don't have to have toddlers for family play agreed.
You can play family play with just a single mom/dad and a child.
BUT here's where it gets interesting, say me the way I play, this is how its played; man or woman meets mate, they date, marry, first woohoo, work, and hobbies, life is full, but eventually they want children so they prepare for child or children. She gets pregnant, and has the child. Everything is going fine, and then its time for the infant to grow up and poof ! In Sims 4 they just jump out of the bassinet.
players mood ruined, break in immersion, flow of game
I liked teaching the toddlers how to walk, talk, and their parents got big lifetime reward points for those things.
That helped because they need a lot of points to get the rewards I always got them, which was steel bladder, & the one for cleanliness, (can't remember name right now, something dirt) hardly hungry, and they need the collectible finder i( I know not right name for it ) especially if they're going to do bot building, or fishing, gardening etc.
It also added challenge to the game, because it was not so easy to do while they were working & with hobbies and I liked teaching the Sims how to feed their toddler in the high chair, and I liked watching the parents take their toddlers for a stroll. I enjoyed watching the toddlers play in the toy box, watching parents chat with their toddlers after they've learned to talk. And I enjoyed watching them grow, then when they became a child, I enjoyed watching parents help with homework or letting them go to the park to play. I enjoyed letting them go to after school activities, watching them go from C grade in school to A, watching them trying to sell lemonade.
Then they grew up and became teens. I enjoyed watching them go to prom, do their homework, learn to drive.
But when an infant goes from infant to child instantaneously its like the player is robbed a little and also there is a void. From a players perspective it just doesn't feel complete, or fully accomplished. It always feels incomplete as if something is not finished.
Player gets over it and in Sims 4 the child is now living their life and you can play the father, mother, and child in Sims 4 but you have to click between them and see them individually, or when the child is home alone you have to click on the parents and say care for self, to play the child.
Again it ruins immersion. In Sims 3 they were all together and because of the open world, it didn't take that long after you clicked from one to another to see whichever one you clicked on so you could manage them all in a short amount of time, or you could do map & see where they were (with the help of tagger mod) but with Sims 4 you have loading screens, and again it feels as if something is not complete.
And the child seems to enjoy walking in on their parents in inappropriate situations like the bathroom, bedroom.
Sims 4 finally gave us locked doors so that helps, but, its weird & creepy. That rarely happens in Sims 3. I've never seen it happen.
Anyway not to make this post super long but just some thoughts on how I play as a family player & how Sims 4 affects the way I play.
I have played a child in Sims 4 but I didn't enjoy it so I didn't play that way anymore.
The whole point of a game is to have fun. If I don't have fun I'm not playing & I suspect its that way for many players.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
Please post pictures...i'll wait!
It took a combination of phone and computer with very slow internet and I'm never doing that again, but here are the screenshots.
Here are Reese and his big sister Hallie communicating and playing at an activities table together while their mother watches on, just talking and slobbering on blocks.
Here they are playing with a dollhouse together, chewing the heads of dolls and slamming them around grinning about almost creepily, but they're toddlers, lol.
Here they are in their playpen playing peekaboo together.
Like I said, not to the extent of Sims 2, but far more than Sims 4 at the moment with toddler/toddler interactions and toddler/anyone in general. I think they were so focused on what all the older sims could do with toddlers that they missed out on a lot of actions they could've had between toddlers but to say there's no communication or play between toddlers would be a lie. There's not a lot but there's a little bit.
My Sim families don't feel complete without toddlers, I really miss them. I also miss the way babies were in the sims 2, not connected to the bassinet. Another thing I miss is the childten being able to play together, hide and seek, cops and robbers, etc. I would also like to see more things for children to do.... Hopscotch, marbles... Things like that. Basketball, volleyball, picnics for family. Floats for the pool. I have enjoyed the many stuff packs immensely, because each come with more hair styles and clothes. I also love the GP's they all add extra content, I liked the careers In Get To Work. I would have rather had a retail system like sims 2 where you had to buy clothes, and where you could buy them off a rack, retail counter etc, like the sims 2. I like the group and club system that Get Together brought. And liked the world of Windenburg. I thought it was nice to include the special lots too. I wish the career lots in Get To Work would have been made where you could see them on the map and go to them even as a non worker. Even if you couldn't really do anything than look around the inside and outside of the lot, and use a few of the items there. But, we do need more family play, and toddlers are a big part of it for me.
I don't miss toddlers as much as I miss shorter teens. I liked to play a run a way teen, but it is not as much fun when they look like young adults. I sure hope they make pre teens smaller, and toddlers. I just can't get my head around the teens when they look like young adults. liked curfews and police bringing them back home. Now even kids are in the park a 1 am and no one cares, not even the parents. That needs to be changed.
I agree with you @Evalen seeing teens act and look like adults was a huge disappointment for me. I really enjoyed raising the kids to teens (baby, toddler, child) in the other games. It just makes me not even want to play families in TS4 at all. If we are going to have 'time of day' rules on when Sims can show up at the library (In a closed world for goodness sake) then might as well set a curfew to get kids and teens brought home by the police like in TS2 and TS3. I don't get how it's o.k. for there to be this hidden rule (in a closed world) that Sims won't show up due to what time it is in particular venues but then it's not o.k. the parents don't care where their kids are at 3:00 A.M.
One of the funniest things to me when I first played The Sims was Bella would come to collect her child if Casandra was out late( 6 or 8 p.m.) It made me think at least Mortimer and Bella cared about her and where she was. I have many teens in my saves (townies) I could have sworn were not just YA but Adults.
Having freedom and playing without curfew is one of the things I like best!
If they they bring it back it would have to be optional so that those of us who enjoy the freedom can continue to do so.
I don't miss toddlers as much as I miss shorter teens. I liked to play a run a way teen, but it is not as much fun when they look like young adults. I sure hope they make pre teens smaller, and toddlers. I just can't get my head around the teens when they look like young adults. liked curfews and police bringing them back home. Now even kids are in the park a 1 am and no one cares, not even the parents. That needs to be changed.
I agree with you @Evalen seeing teens act and look like adults was a huge disappointment for me. I really enjoyed raising the kids to teens (baby, toddler, child) in the other games. It just makes me not even want to play families in TS4 at all. If we are going to have 'time of day' rules on when Sims can show up at the library (In a closed world for goodness sake) then might as well set a curfew to get kids and teens brought home by the police like in TS2 and TS3. I don't get how it's o.k. for there to be this hidden rule (in a closed world) that Sims won't show up due to what time it is in particular venues but then it's not o.k. the parents don't care where their kids are at 3:00 A.M.
One of the funniest things to me when I first played The Sims was Bella would come to collect her child if Casandra was out late( 6 or 8 p.m.) It made me think at least Mortimer and Bella cared about her and where she was. I have many teens in my saves (townies) I could have sworn were not just YA but Adults.
Having freedom and playing without curfew is one of the things I like best!
If they they bring it back it would have to be optional so that those of us who enjoy the freedom can continue to do so.
I agree the curfew I don't like in Sims 3 game. Sometimes it just gets silly. The other Teens in the game will ask my sim for a date and it normal at a late time.
Oh yes, there is SO much more to family play than toddlers, I agree. Hopefully we'll get a nice Generations Expansion sometime. Also eager for Pre-teens.
The reasons I'm SO, so, so, so desperate for toddlers are:
1: I play the Sims for the romantic aspect, i.e. having my sims fall in love and build a family together. When their babies age into children I feel I've missed out on a massive chunk of their parent's lives. They were newly-weds and now it seems they're 9 years down the line with grown children in a matter of Sim days (So, minutes). I feel pressed with time, like now I have to leave the couple behind and instead concentrate on the children's story; like ending a good book, that depressed feeling of knowing 'that's it' for the characters. It really destroys my immersion in the game and connection to my sims, as well as making me more upset than I probably should be.
I already turn aging off in my game, and manually age sims when I think they 'should' grow up, so the short toddler life-span doesn't bother me.
2. I make a lot of odd looking sims indeed and when two odd looking sims come together they don't always mesh well, if it were left down to simple Sims 4 Genetics all of my Sims offspring would look like Frankenstein's Monster. So my typical process when my sims have a child is to open 'cas.fulleditmode' and delete their child.
Then I use the genetics tool to pick out the best looking child that the pair could have, and possibly alter its face a teensy bit till I'm happy with it, then name it the same thing as the deleted child and Voila! This is really my favourite part of having a child - seeing what it will look like and editing it, therefore I'm always eager to get to this part, which means I can't ever keep the baby as a baby for long as I'm itching to get to edit it. So age it up I regretfully do...
The problem is, once I'm finished making their child, planning what it will look like as a young adult, I age it down again, but it can only go down as far as a child.... no longer a baby (since babies are objects and you cant edit them in CAS) So I'm then stuck with a child and this reverts back to problem 1 again. If I had a toddler age, I could use that and it would fix my issues completely.
My style of play is family play, so I wish there were more family interactions. I miss the small things like being able to play catch or tag more so than I miss toddlers, though. I like toddlers because I don't feel as rushed with my generations, as there is an extra life stage. I hate taking care of babies so I'm always eager to age them up, but it's weird to give birth and three days later you have a fully grown child running around. Don't even get me started on teens
Omg I love this thread! I came in thinking it was gonna be another thread complaining, and not gonna lie, I was all about that lol but I was actually shocked and surprised that this was a positive thread! I do miss toddlers and hope they return (preteens I don't care about, if we get em cool if not, cool) but I will say I've been having a good time with TS4 as far as family play goes.
The one thing I did recently was pretty cool IMO (and it might've been mentioned, didn't go thru all the pages) but my current household had twins and I made them into a Club, just the two twins called Twins. Idk I love that they have a special handshake, I've always thought twins should have a "thing" in the games that let's you know they're twins and the club aspect from GT helps with that.
I think OP is only trying to point out that "no toddlers" does not equal "no family play". In that sense I agree.
Sims 4 has great family play for all ages, e.g. I love the children life state. The teenagers are perhaps a bit older in this iteration than what they were in the other ones, but still have plenty of basic "family play" interactions for their age. (I can understand their choice to make teenagers a bit older if they have been planning on adding preteens all along, which they probably have!). Family play isn't lacking, certainly not for a base game, but much like all other aspects of the game, there's always going to be things that you can add to it. I don't think you could ever reach to a point where you could say family play is complete.
As someone said before, Sims 4 has a far more sandbox family play, and that is very true. It's nice not to be restricted by curfew or babysitters etc.
Toddlers have left a huge gap in their absence though. Nothing can replace them. They weren't great in Sims 3 in my opinion, certainly far better in Sims 2. And I do believe they deserve an entire EP dedicated to them. We want them back, and we want them back better than they have ever been.
I don't understand why some think they'll never return though. They are just as important to the Sims series as many other favorite expansion pack additions: pets, seasons, toddlers, supernaturals, they will all be back one day. It just can't be tomorrow or yesterday or whatever time suits you personally.
This really is true for me. I have a great time playing my little family. For me it is a bonus not to have a nanny or curfew restricting me.
However there are things that would make me even happier when playing.
- preteens would be great! I can really feel that there is a gap there
- physical games and running around. Come on, I run and jump every day in the park with my little kiddo.
- step parents recognized somehow in the family
- that a family member dying can go unrecognized and destroy the family tree
In general I stay out of these threads since I feel that I don't really fit it when I am happy with that we have and just want improvements to make it even better.
The only thing I wanted out of this game was a Generations EP, I'm not even asking for toddlers, I think that at this point that ship has sailed. But I miss playing families so much, young adults and party life styles are so exhausting. And what about the elders? They are so left out.
I just wish kids had more things to do. The only slide is on one of those jungle gyms, and there's no swings, sandboxes, or seesaws. No ball to kick or toss back and forth (something that could be available to do with any other life stage older than them.) Can't play video games on the TV (I know I spent a good bit of time playing my Nintendo 64 as a child. Geeky child sims would love a game console, I'm sure.) I don't remember sims being able to talk to each other while fishing, which honestly seems like a waste to me, considering multitasking is a big part of the game.
It's just... I want my sim kids to do more than what they already have. I feel they don't have much to do, and it makes me sad because their childhood feels empty to me.
They can't even play tag! Kid sims should be able to play tag!
I don't miss toddlers as much as I miss shorter teens. I liked to play a run a way teen, but it is not as much fun when they look like young adults. I sure hope they make pre teens smaller, and toddlers. I just can't get my head around the teens when they look like young adults. liked curfews and police bringing them back home. Now even kids are in the park a 1 am and no one cares, not even the parents. That needs to be changed.
I agree with you @Evalen seeing teens act and look like adults was a huge disappointment for me. I really enjoyed raising the kids to teens (baby, toddler, child) in the other games. It just makes me not even want to play families in TS4 at all. If we are going to have 'time of day' rules on when Sims can show up at the library (In a closed world for goodness sake) then might as well set a curfew to get kids and teens brought home by the police like in TS2 and TS3. I don't get how it's o.k. for there to be this hidden rule (in a closed world) that Sims won't show up due to what time it is in particular venues but then it's not o.k. the parents don't care where their kids are at 3:00 A.M.
One of the funniest things to me when I first played The Sims was Bella would come to collect her child if Casandra was out late( 6 or 8 p.m.) It made me think at least Mortimer and Bella cared about her and where she was. I have many teens in my saves (townies) I could have sworn were not just YA but Adults.
Having freedom and playing without curfew is one of the things I like best!
If they they bring it back it would have to be optional so that those of us who enjoy the freedom can continue to do so.
Hm, then could you please tell them some people want the freedom to go anywhere at anytime of day and Sims show up.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I don't miss toddlers as much as I miss shorter teens. I liked to play a run a way teen, but it is not as much fun when they look like young adults. I sure hope they make pre teens smaller, and toddlers. I just can't get my head around the teens when they look like young adults. liked curfews and police bringing them back home. Now even kids are in the park a 1 am and no one cares, not even the parents. That needs to be changed.
I agree with you @Evalen seeing teens act and look like adults was a huge disappointment for me. I really enjoyed raising the kids to teens (baby, toddler, child) in the other games. It just makes me not even want to play families in TS4 at all. If we are going to have 'time of day' rules on when Sims can show up at the library (In a closed world for goodness sake) then might as well set a curfew to get kids and teens brought home by the police like in TS2 and TS3. I don't get how it's o.k. for there to be this hidden rule (in a closed world) that Sims won't show up due to what time it is in particular venues but then it's not o.k. the parents don't care where their kids are at 3:00 A.M.
One of the funniest things to me when I first played The Sims was Bella would come to collect her child if Casandra was out late( 6 or 8 p.m.) It made me think at least Mortimer and Bella cared about her and where she was. I have many teens in my saves (townies) I could have sworn were not just YA but Adults.
Having freedom and playing without curfew is one of the things I like best!
If they they bring it back it would have to be optional so that those of us who enjoy the freedom can continue to do so.
Hm, then could you please tell them some people want the freedom to go anywhere at anytime of day and Sims show up.
I didn't get what you were asking for. Unless you meant being able to walk into that bit of each map that is only background/visual. Irritating when you cannot change the background to match what you think should be present in your save. Working on making Windenburg look like a deserted planet. The Island work wonderfully, the inner city part not so much. Oh well, topic for another thread.
Back on topic. Playing tag and physical games! Still waiting for those, there is a rule for that in the club-system so I really really hope we will see it one day.
@aclavo You said that very sure that it would not happen.Sims 3 does have toddler interaction have tons of pics myself,since you said it in that paticular way I can ussume you never played 3 which is quite a superior sims game in comparison.You should have left it at "Please post pictures." meaning you were interested but you added the...."I'll wait" which was in poor taste as to take away the validity of @ApparentlyAwesome previous post and claim.
@ApparentlyAwesome Awesome pics really like that by trying to get the peekaboo screenie you also caught the dog rolling upside down with his bone toy Really cute
family play is possible in Sims 4 but it is not completely fleshed out. And no you don't have to have toddlers for family play agreed.
You can play family play with just a single mom/dad and a child.
BUT here's where it gets interesting, say me the way I play, this is how its played; man or woman meets mate, they date, marry, first woohoo, work, and hobbies, life is full, but eventually they want children so they prepare for child or children. She gets pregnant, and has the child. Everything is going fine, and then its time for the infant to grow up and poof ! In Sims 4 they just jump out of the bassinet.
players mood ruined, break in immersion, flow of game
I liked teaching the toddlers how to walk, talk, and their parents got big lifetime reward points for those things.
That helped because they need a lot of points to get the rewards I always got them, which was steel bladder, & the one for cleanliness, (can't remember name right now, something dirt) hardly hungry, and they need the collectible finder i( I know not right name for it ) especially if they're going to do bot building, or fishing, gardening etc.
It also added challenge to the game, because it was not so easy to do while they were working & with hobbies and I liked teaching the Sims how to feed their toddler in the high chair, and I liked watching the parents take their toddlers for a stroll. I enjoyed watching the toddlers play in the toy box, watching parents chat with their toddlers after they've learned to talk. And I enjoyed watching them grow, then when they became a child, I enjoyed watching parents help with homework or letting them go to the park to play. I enjoyed letting them go to after school activities, watching them go from C grade in school to A, watching them trying to sell lemonade.
Then they grew up and became teens. I enjoyed watching them go to prom, do their homework, learn to drive.
But when an infant goes from infant to child instantaneously its like the player is robbed a little and also there is a void. From a players perspective it just doesn't feel complete, or fully accomplished. It always feels incomplete as if something is not finished.
Player gets over it and in Sims 4 the child is now living their life and you can play the father, mother, and child in Sims 4 but you have to click between them and see them individually, or when the child is home alone you have to click on the parents and say care for self, to play the child.
Again it ruins immersion. In Sims 3 they were all together and because of the open world, it didn't take that long after you clicked from one to another to see whichever one you clicked on so you could manage them all in a short amount of time, or you could do map & see where they were (with the help of tagger mod) but with Sims 4 you have loading screens, and again it feels as if something is not complete.
And the child seems to enjoy walking in on their parents in inappropriate situations like the bathroom, bedroom.
Sims 4 finally gave us locked doors so that helps, but, its weird & creepy. That rarely happens in Sims 3. I've never seen it happen.
Anyway not to make this post super long but just some thoughts on how I play as a family player & how Sims 4 affects the way I play.
I have played a child in Sims 4 but I didn't enjoy it so I didn't play that way anymore.
The whole point of a game is to have fun. If I don't have fun I'm not playing & I suspect its that way for many players.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
Please post pictures...i'll wait!
It took a combination of phone and computer with very slow internet and I'm never doing that again, but here are the screenshots.
Here are Reese and his big sister Hallie communicating and playing at an activities table together while their mother watches on, just talking and slobbering on blocks.
Here they are playing with a dollhouse together, chewing the heads of dolls and slamming them around grinning about almost creepily, but they're toddlers, lol.
Here they are in their playpen playing peekaboo together.
Like I said, not to the extent of Sims 2, but far more than Sims 4 at the moment with toddler/toddler interactions and toddler/anyone in general. I think they were so focused on what all the older sims could do with toddlers that they missed out on a lot of actions they could've had between toddlers but to say there's no communication or play between toddlers would be a lie. There's not a lot but there's a little bit.
@aclavo You said that very sure that it would not happen.Sims 3 does have toddler interaction have tons of pics myself,since you said it in that paticular way I can ussume you never played 3 which is quite a superior sims game in comparison.You should have left it at "Please post pictures." meaning you were interested but you added the...."I'll wait" which was in poor taste as to take away the validity of @ApparentlyAwesome previous post and claim.
I said what I said and how you take it is none of my concern. BTW, TS3 is hardly a SUPERIOR game, TS2 still wins hands down.
I just wish kids had more things to do. The only slide is on one of those jungle gyms, and there's no swings, sandboxes, or seesaws. No ball to kick or toss back and forth (something that could be available to do with any other life stage older than them.) Can't play video games on the TV (I know I spent a good bit of time playing my Nintendo 64 as a child. Geeky child sims would love a game console, I'm sure.) I don't remember sims being able to talk to each other while fishing, which honestly seems like a waste to me, considering multitasking is a big part of the game.
It's just... I want my sim kids to do more than what they already have. I feel they don't have much to do, and it makes me sad because their childhood feels empty to me.
They can't even play tag! Kid sims should be able to play tag!
I loved the horseshoes and tossing the ball around (there was even a hacky sac introduced in TS3's University EP). They need to bring that into TS4.
I am a perfectly decrepit withered old hag who enjoys self-mockery.
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I play a lot of unconventional Sims, so toddler play wasn't a huge thing for me, even in Sims 3, I think I had two toddlers I played for a couple sim days before cheat levelling them up to kids, and I didn't play with kids too much either. But I love playing kids in Sims 4. I enjoy everything about kids in Sims 4. And all the stuff the OP mentioned plus the new Kids pack has gotten me really interested in family play more seriously than I had before. I'm sure toddlers were fun, but I'd just cheat age them up, I know it.
family play is possible in Sims 4 but it is not completely fleshed out. And no you don't have to have toddlers for family play agreed.
You can play family play with just a single mom/dad and a child.
BUT here's where it gets interesting, say me the way I play, this is how its played; man or woman meets mate, they date, marry, first woohoo, work, and hobbies, life is full, but eventually they want children so they prepare for child or children. She gets pregnant, and has the child. Everything is going fine, and then its time for the infant to grow up and poof ! In Sims 4 they just jump out of the bassinet.
players mood ruined, break in immersion, flow of game
I liked teaching the toddlers how to walk, talk, and their parents got big lifetime reward points for those things.
That helped because they need a lot of points to get the rewards I always got them, which was steel bladder, & the one for cleanliness, (can't remember name right now, something dirt) hardly hungry, and they need the collectible finder i( I know not right name for it ) especially if they're going to do bot building, or fishing, gardening etc.
It also added challenge to the game, because it was not so easy to do while they were working & with hobbies and I liked teaching the Sims how to feed their toddler in the high chair, and I liked watching the parents take their toddlers for a stroll. I enjoyed watching the toddlers play in the toy box, watching parents chat with their toddlers after they've learned to talk. And I enjoyed watching them grow, then when they became a child, I enjoyed watching parents help with homework or letting them go to the park to play. I enjoyed letting them go to after school activities, watching them go from C grade in school to A, watching them trying to sell lemonade.
Then they grew up and became teens. I enjoyed watching them go to prom, do their homework, learn to drive.
But when an infant goes from infant to child instantaneously its like the player is robbed a little and also there is a void. From a players perspective it just doesn't feel complete, or fully accomplished. It always feels incomplete as if something is not finished.
Player gets over it and in Sims 4 the child is now living their life and you can play the father, mother, and child in Sims 4 but you have to click between them and see them individually, or when the child is home alone you have to click on the parents and say care for self, to play the child.
Again it ruins immersion. In Sims 3 they were all together and because of the open world, it didn't take that long after you clicked from one to another to see whichever one you clicked on so you could manage them all in a short amount of time, or you could do map & see where they were (with the help of tagger mod) but with Sims 4 you have loading screens, and again it feels as if something is not complete.
And the child seems to enjoy walking in on their parents in inappropriate situations like the bathroom, bedroom.
Sims 4 finally gave us locked doors so that helps, but, its weird & creepy. That rarely happens in Sims 3. I've never seen it happen.
Anyway not to make this post super long but just some thoughts on how I play as a family player & how Sims 4 affects the way I play.
I have played a child in Sims 4 but I didn't enjoy it so I didn't play that way anymore.
The whole point of a game is to have fun. If I don't have fun I'm not playing & I suspect its that way for many players.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
Please post pictures...i'll wait!
It took a combination of phone and computer with very slow internet and I'm never doing that again, but here are the screenshots.
Here are Reese and his big sister Hallie communicating and playing at an activities table together while their mother watches on, just talking and slobbering on blocks.
Here they are playing with a dollhouse together, chewing the heads of dolls and slamming them around grinning about almost creepily, but they're toddlers, lol.
Here they are in their playpen playing peekaboo together.
Like I said, not to the extent of Sims 2, but far more than Sims 4 at the moment with toddler/toddler interactions and toddler/anyone in general. I think they were so focused on what all the older sims could do with toddlers that they missed out on a lot of actions they could've had between toddlers but to say there's no communication or play between toddlers would be a lie. There's not a lot but there's a little bit.
@aclavo You said that very sure that it would not happen.Sims 3 does have toddler interaction have tons of pics myself,since you said it in that paticular way I can ussume you never played 3 which is quite a superior sims game in comparison.You should have left it at "Please post pictures." meaning you were interested but you added the...."I'll wait" which was in poor taste as to take away the validity of @ApparentlyAwesome previous post and claim.
I said what I said and how you take it is none of my concern. BTW, TS3 is hardly a SUPERIOR game, TS2 still wins hands down.
I used to enjoy when toddlers actually communicated and played with each other...oops. That never happened in TS3, now guess where it did happen.
You may not like the ways in which they can communicate and play for one reason or another, you may hate there wasn't more added (I do too), but the fact is it did happen in The Sims 3. Those screenshots are proof that they do communicate and play with each other in the Sims 3. If you just dislike or hate Sims 3 that's fine. If you just want to rag on The Sims 3 that's fine too, it's your opinion, but your comment about toddlers never communicating and playing with each other in TS3 is simply false. That's all I was pointing out.
In regards to what @CravenLestat said, compared to TS4 when it comes to toddlers and toddler play by itself TS3 is superior simply off the existence of toddlers alone. You can't grade toddler play when they're no toddlers to play. I mean, unless we're talking about people that never want toddlers ever, lol. It's different for them.
It really is just based on a personal preferences. In my personal opinion weighing TS4 and TS3 against each other based on the base game and similar packs released or even just by base games by themselves, TS3 wins. It suits my style better and I feel like I create, control, and rule more so there than in Sims 4. Weighing 2 vs 3 while family play may be better in 2 I'm a customization freak, adore open worlds, love micromanaging all my sims, and prefer the 3's look so that strongly tips the balance in 3's favor making it superior to me.
I was hoping the Sims 4 would be even more customizable for the players giving us more options to better personalize our games. I wish we could have more of that mixed with the greatness of 2 and 3 perfected and expanded upon with even more in-depth gameplay, but I have a bit of hope should there be a Sims 5 and Sims 4 has a few great things to contribute as well. Why I still have that bit of hope, I don't know, but I have it. I feel like they've missed a lot of great opportunities now and in the past games.
Thanks @CravenLestat! I love taking screenshots then noticing things in the surrounding area of my main focus, like Charlie playing with his toy newspaper or Rowdey taking a tinkle while the kids are outside playing with blocks.
I said this on Reddit a while ago, but regarding the "teens are the same height as adults" thing...
Uh, duh. Teens are as tall as adults. If Maxis were to differentiate between teens and adults (which they absolutely should), there's more than one way to skin a cat:
Puberty! Teen boys could have their voices break, both genders could get random acne breakouts (leading to a day-long Embarrassed moodlet), and boys could get Flirty at the drop of a hat just from talking to a girl.
New behaviours: boys could slouch, girls could constantly be on their phones, they could get whims to throw parties when their parents go out of town, or could attend parties as well. Girls could even get the ability to pad their bras, which could (temporarily) give them the body type they're programmed to have when they become a Young Adult, except it only lasts until the next day.
Crushes! This would probably work best for children, but what if Sims could get a crush (ie. a one-sided romantic relationship) with another Sim? Pull a girl's hair often enough, and you develop a crush- the only problem is, she hates your guts, because you keep pulling her hair.
And if and when a University pack comes out, there's always the ability for Sims to study for their SATs (or the Simlish equivalent) and apply for college scholarships, sneak out to college parties... all sorts of stuff.
Comments
However, this is the first iteration where I've played beyond young adults and my self-sim.. and I do enjoy what we have. I've always found the sims to be a game where you get what you put in. A game of the imagination.
I do have complaints that the game seems very party centered for young adults, but i've made clubs to counter that. dine out also added the new variety of going out to eat.
Another complaint I have is that there really is not a lot of variety with kid's clothes and hair. I also don't have the kid's pack, but I feel like it still wouldn't add enough to justify the lack thereof. Teens are also young adults with restrictions.. but that is far more believable since I know how i was as a teen.
Other than that.. I'm enjoying what we have. I try to make the most of it, creatively mind you, when I do family play.
an example:
--
The next day..
My brother must have ratted me out.. why else would mom be giving me the 'talk' and asking me about 'him'..
oh no.. this is getting weird..
please, just.. stop.. this so weird!
*internal screaming intensifies*
--
-- Origin ID: Audio5urf --
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In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It may not have been to the extent 2 went but toddlers communicated and played with each other in Sims 3. I've seen them do it.
I'd post screenshots from a recent save of mine if I wasn't using my phone had better internet.
Please post pictures...i'll wait!
It took a combination of phone and computer with very slow internet and I'm never doing that again, but here are the screenshots.
Here are Reese and his big sister Hallie communicating and playing at an activities table together while their mother watches on, just talking and slobbering on blocks.
Here they are playing with a dollhouse together, chewing the heads of dolls and slamming them around grinning about almost creepily, but they're toddlers, lol.
Here they are in their playpen playing peekaboo together.
Like I said, not to the extent of Sims 2, but far more than Sims 4 at the moment with toddler/toddler interactions and toddler/anyone in general. I think they were so focused on what all the older sims could do with toddlers that they missed out on a lot of actions they could've had between toddlers but to say there's no communication or play between toddlers would be a lie. There's not a lot but there's a little bit.
Having freedom and playing without curfew is one of the things I like best!
If they they bring it back it would have to be optional so that those of us who enjoy the freedom can continue to do so.
I agree the curfew I don't like in Sims 3 game. Sometimes it just gets silly. The other Teens in the game will ask my sim for a date and it normal at a late time.
Maybe not but sims bonding with a baby/toddler/child is and there is none of that in sims 4
The monster under the bed is a start of a stumble in the right direction
The reasons I'm SO, so, so, so desperate for toddlers are:
1: I play the Sims for the romantic aspect, i.e. having my sims fall in love and build a family together. When their babies age into children I feel I've missed out on a massive chunk of their parent's lives. They were newly-weds and now it seems they're 9 years down the line with grown children in a matter of Sim days (So, minutes). I feel pressed with time, like now I have to leave the couple behind and instead concentrate on the children's story; like ending a good book, that depressed feeling of knowing 'that's it' for the characters. It really destroys my immersion in the game and connection to my sims, as well as making me more upset than I probably should be.
I already turn aging off in my game, and manually age sims when I think they 'should' grow up, so the short toddler life-span doesn't bother me.
2. I make a lot of odd looking sims indeed and when two odd looking sims come together they don't always mesh well, if it were left down to simple Sims 4 Genetics all of my Sims offspring would look like Frankenstein's Monster. So my typical process when my sims have a child is to open 'cas.fulleditmode' and delete their child.
Then I use the genetics tool to pick out the best looking child that the pair could have, and possibly alter its face a teensy bit till I'm happy with it, then name it the same thing as the deleted child and Voila! This is really my favourite part of having a child - seeing what it will look like and editing it, therefore I'm always eager to get to this part, which means I can't ever keep the baby as a baby for long as I'm itching to get to edit it. So age it up I regretfully do...
The problem is, once I'm finished making their child, planning what it will look like as a young adult, I age it down again, but it can only go down as far as a child.... no longer a baby (since babies are objects and you cant edit them in CAS) So I'm then stuck with a child and this reverts back to problem 1 again. If I had a toddler age, I could use that and it would fix my issues completely.
The one thing I did recently was pretty cool IMO (and it might've been mentioned, didn't go thru all the pages) but my current household had twins and I made them into a Club, just the two twins called Twins. Idk I love that they have a special handshake, I've always thought twins should have a "thing" in the games that let's you know they're twins and the club aspect from GT helps with that.
This really is true for me. I have a great time playing my little family. For me it is a bonus not to have a nanny or curfew restricting me.
However there are things that would make me even happier when playing.
- preteens would be great! I can really feel that there is a gap there
- physical games and running around. Come on, I run and jump every day in the park with my little kiddo.
- step parents recognized somehow in the family
- that a family member dying can go unrecognized and destroy the family tree
In general I stay out of these threads since I feel that I don't really fit it when I am happy with that we have and just want improvements to make it even better.
Happy simming everyone.
We have
Newborns
Child
Teen
Young adult
Adult
Elder
To think about to
Nice thread
It's just... I want my sim kids to do more than what they already have. I feel they don't have much to do, and it makes me sad because their childhood feels empty to me.
They can't even play tag! Kid sims should be able to play tag!
Hm, then could you please tell them some people want the freedom to go anywhere at anytime of day and Sims show up.
I didn't get what you were asking for. Unless you meant being able to walk into that bit of each map that is only background/visual. Irritating when you cannot change the background to match what you think should be present in your save. Working on making Windenburg look like a deserted planet. The Island work wonderfully, the inner city part not so much. Oh well, topic for another thread.
Back on topic. Playing tag and physical games! Still waiting for those, there is a rule for that in the club-system so I really really hope we will see it one day.
@ApparentlyAwesome Awesome pics really like that by trying to get the peekaboo screenie you also caught the dog rolling upside down with his bone toy Really cute
These are all interactions based on objects...
I said what I said and how you take it is none of my concern. BTW, TS3 is hardly a SUPERIOR game, TS2 still wins hands down.
I loved the horseshoes and tossing the ball around (there was even a hacky sac introduced in TS3's University EP). They need to bring that into TS4.
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Doop Dee Doop
You may not like the ways in which they can communicate and play for one reason or another, you may hate there wasn't more added (I do too), but the fact is it did happen in The Sims 3. Those screenshots are proof that they do communicate and play with each other in the Sims 3. If you just dislike or hate Sims 3 that's fine. If you just want to rag on The Sims 3 that's fine too, it's your opinion, but your comment about toddlers never communicating and playing with each other in TS3 is simply false. That's all I was pointing out.
In regards to what @CravenLestat said, compared to TS4 when it comes to toddlers and toddler play by itself TS3 is superior simply off the existence of toddlers alone. You can't grade toddler play when they're no toddlers to play. I mean, unless we're talking about people that never want toddlers ever, lol. It's different for them.
It really is just based on a personal preferences. In my personal opinion weighing TS4 and TS3 against each other based on the base game and similar packs released or even just by base games by themselves, TS3 wins. It suits my style better and I feel like I create, control, and rule more so there than in Sims 4. Weighing 2 vs 3 while family play may be better in 2 I'm a customization freak, adore open worlds, love micromanaging all my sims, and prefer the 3's look so that strongly tips the balance in 3's favor making it superior to me.
I was hoping the Sims 4 would be even more customizable for the players giving us more options to better personalize our games. I wish we could have more of that mixed with the greatness of 2 and 3 perfected and expanded upon with even more in-depth gameplay, but I have a bit of hope should there be a Sims 5 and Sims 4 has a few great things to contribute as well. Why I still have that bit of hope, I don't know, but I have it. I feel like they've missed a lot of great opportunities now and in the past games.
Thanks @CravenLestat! I love taking screenshots then noticing things in the surrounding area of my main focus, like Charlie playing with his toy newspaper or Rowdey taking a tinkle while the kids are outside playing with blocks.
Uh, duh. Teens are as tall as adults. If Maxis were to differentiate between teens and adults (which they absolutely should), there's more than one way to skin a cat:
- Puberty! Teen boys could have their voices break, both genders could get random acne breakouts (leading to a day-long Embarrassed moodlet), and boys could get Flirty at the drop of a hat just from talking to a girl.
- New behaviours: boys could slouch, girls could constantly be on their phones, they could get whims to throw parties when their parents go out of town, or could attend parties as well. Girls could even get the ability to pad their bras, which could (temporarily) give them the body type they're programmed to have when they become a Young Adult, except it only lasts until the next day.
- Crushes! This would probably work best for children, but what if Sims could get a crush (ie. a one-sided romantic relationship) with another Sim? Pull a girl's hair often enough, and you develop a crush- the only problem is, she hates your guts, because you keep pulling her hair.
And if and when a University pack comes out, there's always the ability for Sims to study for their SATs (or the Simlish equivalent) and apply for college scholarships, sneak out to college parties... all sorts of stuff.