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Two Years On – Is The Sims 4 Worth Buying Now?

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  • RoffeyGleshRoffeyGlesh Posts: 579 Member
    To me, yes, it is very much worth buying.

    Once I stopped comparing it to previous generations and enjoying its newness, I just had a blast. If we want all the things we had, we can play the previous games. This is ambitious and new and I enjoy it for what it is.

    I for one wouldn't want to spend money on things I already have, and I like the new opportunities we are being given. I enjoy the ambition. The previous games aren't going anywhere - people can still play The Sims 1, 2 and 3, and this is yet another new experience to add to the mix.
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    aws200 wrote: »
    The problem most of all with TS4 is; lack of depth. All Sims act the same no matter their traits. Only emotions define them and yet they all experience the same ones. So all happy Sims are happy and act happy while all sad Sims walk around moping. With the lack of favorites, turn ons and turn offs, and birth signs it also takes away from the depth we had with TS3 Sims. If they enjoyed country music they would play that more often on radios. If they found out they met a compatible sign they'd act happy and their would be a relationship boost. With turn ons and turn offs we had the ability to set what our Sims like and disliked. A Sim who liked redheads would find themselves attracted to redhead Sims. But formal wear was a turn off? Then anyone wearing that type of outfit was unattractive. Small things like that helped add to our Sims.
    There's also no challenges and perks for completing them like TS3. So if you gain a certain amount of friends you won't gain the ability to start off as friends instead of acquaintances. These type of things helped us define our Sims and make them more unique from each other. If they combined these things from past game CAS features into TS4 we would have diverse characters to play with and to create. Also there's no trial and error like in TS2 everyone just seems perfect and happy in TS4. Finally family play is next to none even with DLC. With no toddlers it hurts even more. I can't teach my kids important life lessons like walking and talking.

    This has become a meme, and it's It's simply not true.

    It's certainly fair to say that layering emotions on top of their traits clouds the issue and creates the illusion that all Sims act the same (regardless of traits) at times. But In real life we all do have the exact same range of emotions, regardles of traits so in a way it makes sense.

    It's also more than fair to say you don't like the way the system is implemented and the game would do better to lose the emotions system all together.

    You could even say that some traits could stand to be tweaked higher or lower.
    But to say they all act the same regardless of traits is false and misleading. They are most definitely defined by their traits.
  • SweetJealousySweetJealousy Posts: 362 Member
    IceyJ wrote: »
    @SweetJealousy Yes, you definitely need MC Command Center. It handles story progression and a whole slew of other things. But for what you described, you only need to install the main mod plus the Pregnancy module (and maybe Population) http://modthesims.info/d/551680

    Thank you both, @IceyJ and @SimsILikeSims. I will check it out!
  • SweetJealousySweetJealousy Posts: 362 Member
    @SweetJealousy You are not the only one who has gone back to TS3, many of us never even left in the first place :smile:

    Just take a look at the TS3 GD, there is a thread called 'what have you done in your game today?' And it has reached more than 900 pages making it one of the biggest threads on the forums, the second biggest I think.

    We have more and more players going back to TS3 daily. Players who maybe grew tired of the restrictions or issues with TS4, players who realise that there are no major issues with TS3.

    It does seem ironic really; many players think that TS4 is a step backwards, so players are actually going backwards themselves and playing a game that actually went forwards...

    :no_mouth:

    Hey, @king_of_simcity7! I've been lurking in the Sims 3 forum for a few weeks now and was using the Sims 3 Store daily deal rotation guide to find the best ways to use my Simpoints for maximum value.

    With the story progression mod that was brought to my attention, I will be trying to tackle Sims 4 again as well. Juggling both games. :p
  • colbyfromagecolbyfromage Posts: 268 Member
    Uzone27 wrote: »
    aws200 wrote: »
    The problem most of all with TS4 is; lack of depth. All Sims act the same no matter their traits. Only emotions define them and yet they all experience the same ones. So all happy Sims are happy and act happy while all sad Sims walk around moping. With the lack of favorites, turn ons and turn offs, and birth signs it also takes away from the depth we had with TS3 Sims. If they enjoyed country music they would play that more often on radios. If they found out they met a compatible sign they'd act happy and their would be a relationship boost. With turn ons and turn offs we had the ability to set what our Sims like and disliked. A Sim who liked redheads would find themselves attracted to redhead Sims. But formal wear was a turn off? Then anyone wearing that type of outfit was unattractive. Small things like that helped add to our Sims.
    There's also no challenges and perks for completing them like TS3. So if you gain a certain amount of friends you won't gain the ability to start off as friends instead of acquaintances. These type of things helped us define our Sims and make them more unique from each other. If they combined these things from past game CAS features into TS4 we would have diverse characters to play with and to create. Also there's no trial and error like in TS2 everyone just seems perfect and happy in TS4. Finally family play is next to none even with DLC. With no toddlers it hurts even more. I can't teach my kids important life lessons like walking and talking.

    This has become a meme, and it's It's simply not true.

    It's certainly fair to say that layering emotions on top of their traits clouds the issue and creates the illusion that all Sims act the same (regardless of traits) at times. But In real life we all do have the exact same range of emotions, regardles of traits so in a way it makes sense.

    It's also more than fair to say you don't like the way the system is implemented and the game would do better to lose the emotions system all together.

    You could even say that some traits could stand to be tweaked higher or lower.
    But to say they all act the same regardless of traits is false and misleading. They are most definitely defined by their traits.

    I have to object, unfortunately. "True" and "not true" are useless terms in this case. It would probably help if both of you said "It seems to me like they do/don't all act the same", because that's what this dispute is about.

    If we are talking absolute truth, then no, not all Sims are exactly the same in Sims 4, because if you choose traits they will have whims or occasional outbursts that go with their traits. This is true, but it has nothing to do with perception.

    Unfortunately, games are all about perception, not absolute truth. If a game is 100% truth but lacks the required perception, it is a terrible game.

    In my opinion, it appears to me as well that all Sims are exactly the same. This is my perception. Calling it a "meme" is demeaning someone else's opinion. A person's opinion is valid because it is theirs, and as long as they do it in a respectful manner there is nothing wrong with it, and it is not a "meme".

    I felt like all of the Sims in Sims 4 were exactly the same before I read anyone else feeling the same way anywhere on these forums. Clearly there are some differences coded in due to traits and so on, so why is this my (and many others') perception? I am comparing it to my experiences in past Sims games, where there were marked differences in personality between Sims that really made a difference in the game and the Sims' underlying behaviors. Sims 4 Sims seem to have all the same underlying behaviors with only shallow differences on top.

    However, I have no doubt this perception is not the same for everyone.
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited November 2016
    Uzone27 wrote: »
    aws200 wrote: »
    The problem most of all with TS4 is; lack of depth. All Sims act the same no matter their traits. Only emotions define them and yet they all experience the same ones. So all happy Sims are happy and act happy while all sad Sims walk around moping. With the lack of favorites, turn ons and turn offs, and birth signs it also takes away from the depth we had with TS3 Sims. If they enjoyed country music they would play that more often on radios. If they found out they met a compatible sign they'd act happy and their would be a relationship boost. With turn ons and turn offs we had the ability to set what our Sims like and disliked. A Sim who liked redheads would find themselves attracted to redhead Sims. But formal wear was a turn off? Then anyone wearing that type of outfit was unattractive. Small things like that helped add to our Sims.
    There's also no challenges and perks for completing them like TS3. So if you gain a certain amount of friends you won't gain the ability to start off as friends instead of acquaintances. These type of things helped us define our Sims and make them more unique from each other. If they combined these things from past game CAS features into TS4 we would have diverse characters to play with and to create. Also there's no trial and error like in TS2 everyone just seems perfect and happy in TS4. Finally family play is next to none even with DLC. With no toddlers it hurts even more. I can't teach my kids important life lessons like walking and talking.

    This has become a meme, and it's It's simply not true.

    It's certainly fair to say that layering emotions on top of their traits clouds the issue and creates the illusion that all Sims act the same (regardless of traits) at times. But In real life we all do have the exact same range of emotions, regardles of traits so in a way it makes sense.

    It's also more than fair to say you don't like the way the system is implemented and the game would do better to lose the emotions system all together.

    You could even say that some traits could stand to be tweaked higher or lower.
    But to say they all act the same regardless of traits is false and misleading. They are most definitely defined by their traits.

    I have to object, unfortunately. "True" and "not true" are useless terms in this case. It would probably help if both of you said "It seems to me like they do/don't all act the same", because that's what this dispute is about.

    If we are talking absolute truth, then no, not all Sims are exactly the same in Sims 4, because if you choose traits they will have whims or occasional outbursts that go with their traits. This is true, but it has nothing to do with perception.

    Unfortunately, games are all about perception, not absolute truth. If a game is 100% truth but lacks the required perception, it is a terrible game.

    In my opinion, it appears to me as well that all Sims are exactly the same. This is my perception. Calling it a "meme" is demeaning someone else's opinion. A person's opinion is valid because it is theirs, and as long as they do it in a respectful manner there is nothing wrong with it, and it is not a "meme".

    I felt like all of the Sims in Sims 4 were exactly the same before I read anyone else feeling the same way anywhere on these forums. Clearly there are some differences coded in due to traits and so on, so why is this my (and many others') perception? I am comparing it to my experiences in past Sims games, where there were marked differences in personality between Sims that really made a difference in the game and the Sims' underlying behaviors. Sims 4 Sims seem to have all the same underlying behaviors with only shallow differences on top.

    However, I have no doubt this perception is not the same for everyone.

    Oh you have got to be kidding me.

    So let me get this straight. If you are upset about something it's OK to lie about it as long as you call it an opinion?
    Don't even bother answering that it was a rhetorical question. If you read my post and fully understood it yet still have a problem with it then reasoning with you will probably get me about as far as reasoning with a Flat Earther B)
  • RamblineRoseRamblineRose Posts: 814 Member
    I play sims 3 more than sims 4. I love the adventures in sims 3 the toddlers, I like sims 4 but get bored with it
  • SimsCat84SimsCat84 Posts: 72 Member
    Sims 3 is my favorite , and I think it will ever be .
    I do really like my TS4 Sim, but the gameplay is boring .
    I play it from time to time , but most times after one hour I dont know what to do in the game.
    There are so many points

    1. The big topic . Toddlers. I´m a family player, I absolutely love it to tech the little ones walking and talking and so on.
    In Sims 3 its so 🐸🐸🐸🐸 cute how toddlers play with each other and how childs play with their toodler siblings . Yes, they are even able to give their little siblings the bottle. I cant stand it ( even after 2 years ) that a infant is jumping out of the crib as a child. It just doesn´t feel right. Incomplete.

    2. Even the infants are objects .... you cannot doing anything with them ... cannot walk around with them , cannot rock with them in the rocking chair, cannot not walk with them in a stroller ... It feels unloved

    3. Even little things ... why after two years we still dont get the slow dance back ? Sims 2 has it in it , Sims 3 has it in it ... SIms 4 not. It would be so perfect for dates and weddings. Love couples want to dance close to each other, and not like in a disco.

    4. The kisses in Sims 4 ... soooo boring ... there is no love or passion in it .... the lips are pressed tightly together. Especially the kisses on the couch or on the bed , they looks like 2 childs which want to try out how to kiss. Sometimes it even looks like they are disgusted to kiss each other. Wait , about the topic bed : Why sims cant anymore cuddle on bed ? In Sims 3, after woohoo, the Sims were holding their hands for a moment. And then they were sleeping closely cuddled. In Sims 4, both of them are on their own side from the bed. No love couple behaves like that.

    5. The wishes .... all Sims have the same wishes. There is no single sim who has individual wishes. And the wishes are boring , always the same. Meet someone new , painting, play an instrument , collect something, kiss someone , be friendly to someone and so on.
    I also miss the special wishes they have in sims 3.
    They want their children to be genius, come to the best in school, they scold with them when they behave badly.
    When their child closes the school, they are proud and they get the Moodlet "Proud Parent".
    If their child is a young adult, and became engaged --- the parents have the wish to see how she gets married.
    When she is married, hey get the Moodlet "Father or Mother of the Bride". And the wish to have grandchildrens.
    In Sims 3 you have the feeling that the Sims are interested in their family members, being happy with them and being sad with them.
    In SIms 4, it feels like they are not really interested in their children and their future. Thats sad ... I miss those wishes and moodlets .

    6. The reputation system is funny .... why they left it out in TS4 ?

    Sims 4 should become a whole new player experience.
    Unfortunately, the developers have taken that too literally.
    Yes, it is a whole new player experience. But has anyone ever asked the fans if they wanted to?

    Maybe the fans love exactly what the Sims series always stood for. The same content, the same expansions. Maybe most fans do not want any new expansions, which are not really good at the end, because they are unloved and it is only about party.
    I have nothing against new expansions that have never existed before. But not at the expense of beloved features .... for me it is a step backwarts ... Unfortunately. Because the game had potential
  • MaeraMaera Posts: 1,575 Member
    There were 12 careers in the base game of sims 3...scary that we still only have one more than that after more than two years and various xpac/sp/gp have been released. I really think it has so much to with the fact that the sims themselves are boring. Traits don't really do anything, every sim feels the same. Add on the missing lifestates & it's just not as in depth as we're used to.

    The whim system is a joke (really need a wish/fear system). There is no challenge to the game anymore (no random job scenarios where you could gain/lose money), no one ever gets hurt/killed (although I think the pufferfish has managed to take some lives). So there's no real risk/reward system.

    It feels like a mobile/facebook game where you're just doing the goals the game tells you to, so you can 'rank up'. There's no depth.

    I used to play the Sims 1,2 & 3 for hours/days/weeks/months on end, playing nothing else. I was never bored, my sims felt alive, there were enough risks that you felt you accomplished something when you finally had nice things or maxed a skill or a job...not only that but your sim FELT the accomplishment because the wants/wishes/fears systems were fleshed out & made them feel complex.

    Sims 4 I have a hard time playing for more than a couple hours and I definitely don't play everyday anymore. Even with double the mods I had in 3 it's still not enough to make my sims feel complex/deep/interesting.

    I was hoping that things would get better, but comparing where 4 vs. 3 (or 2 or 1) was in the same space of time, it's not looking good. At this point I hope they are already working on 5 & not trying to milk 5 years out of this series.
  • Starglitters9909Starglitters9909 Posts: 2,524 Member
    edited December 2016
    When Sims 4 touched down back in September 2014, an avalanche of criticism poured forth from gamers and critics. The game arrived in a less than stellar state; missing key features and was generally just a disaster for EA. I bought the game at launch, was horrified and never really came back after that. Why would I? Sims 3 was a great game, more feature packed and just better. Yet two years later I’m curious – has The Sims 4 improved enough in that time to be considered a worthy successor to one of gamings most beloved franchises? Sadly I still don’t think so.

    It’s clear from the huge amount of patches that EA has thrown into the mix that it understood the critique. Once downloaded I had access to a number of features that weren’t there before. Swimming pools and ghosts were much welcomed and should never have been left out of the launch game. other nice things to note are the improvements to loading times; EA clearly realizing that having gamers sit in loading screens after being allowed to explore the world openly was a terrible idea. While its far ideal; it’s a better situation than when the game launched.

    On top of this the core experience of the game remains as solid as ever. While there’s not as much to do within the game; what there is has been refined to a fine art. The enjoyment of playing with a family and living out their lives is as polished here as it ever has been. The process of building a house is easier and more detailed than ever before – the results looking more varied than in previous outings. It should also be said that this game looks stunning. The style of the game just oozes charm and the expressions of the world and the animations are hugely enjoyable across the board. The game runs so much better than Sims 3, a game that struggled on even the highest end of PCs to remain stable. The Sims team deserves praise for making this game more accessible and for making the moods system such an enjoyable facet in the games arsenal.

    Unfortunately this is where the praise abruptly ends. While Sims 4 has improved since launch it’s still very much a work in progress. It’s bizarre because the games received a fairly large amount of paid content that’s designed to bolster the games ranks – two expansion packs, three game packs and eight stuff packs. Yet even with all this installed the game feels lacking. “Get to Work” barely adds any new careers into the already shallow list of jobs your Sims can partake in; and while it’s nice that they brought back The Sims 2’s business mechanics – it still feels awkwardly limited by the framework of the game. As for “Get Together”; it brought in a number of social features like clubs and DJ sets – but really the additions don’t feel substantial enough. Even compared to The Sims 2’s version of this expansion – it still feels incredibly lacking.

    The entire situation around expansion and stuff packs seems hilariously poor. Fans are screaming for more content yet the last expansion pack was released on December 8th (in the US) while before June 7th’s “Dine Out” – “Spa Day” was released just shy of a year prior. If you’re one of the fans of the fans who’s sat on Sims 2 or 3 and waiting for an excuse to leap in, I’m afraid the lack of content or expansions may be a killer blow for you. Fans don’t even know what the next expansion pack is or when they can get their hands on it. Where are the pets? The seasons? The apartments? The magic? It’s not too much to ask these questions.

    And all this is even before touching the games core mechanics. The memories system is still bewilderingly underutilized – Sims seemingly don’t care. The whole point of the memories system in previous games was to keep the most important memories alive but here it’s just a bullet point hidden under a mountain of menus.

    Perhaps the games biggest critique, the lack of toddlers and lack of early-life content, has been entirely overlooked. For all the stuff they’ve added in; the decision to keep toddlers absent smacks of silliness. Yes this is a new game but the fact is that a lot of Sims more die-hard players enjoy living out the lives of their virtual creations from start to finish. By not even addressing the issue; it undermines the desires of fans and really leaves a big hole in part of the games experience and makes it feel lacking next to Sims 2 and 3.

    It’s hard to justify saying to people “Sims 4 is worth it” when the reality is that two years later – it still feels very much like its waiting for something big to spring out of the box. It’s such a frustrating shame that EA seem to be focused more on delivering Stuff Packs and Game Packs over filling in the holes that blight the games landscape. Coming in from Sims 3, it’s hard to get over just how much has been wholly cut out. Even next to Sims 2, the game feels lacking; in particular when you could edit and make your own neighborhoods in that game. Progress hasn’t come fast enough.

    Which ultimately leads me to say that this just isn’t worth the experience right now. There have been some whispers that Sims 5 may be coming a lot sooner than we anticipated; a probably response to this games poor showing. The fact EA haven’t ported the game to the consoles should underline just how shaky the grounds on which this game stand really are. If you’re wondering whether Sims 4 is worth diving into; I’d say it’s still worth sitting back waiting.

    What do you think? Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments!
    http://www.screengurus.com/2016/07/28/two-years-sims-4-worth-buying-now/

    I am patiently waiting for the sims 5. The sims 4 lost my interest a long time ago. It will never be the game the sims 2 and 3 are. I am hoping when they make the sims 5 that they take up where they left off with the sims 3 and improve on that game. I can't see how they could go from an open world back to a world like the sims 1 and 2. And to leave out toddlers was in my opinion the stupidest thing they could have done. The sims 4 was so messed up from the very get go. There was just too many things left out of the game. When you are use to coordinating your colors and playing with cars in an open world it is hard to go from all of that back to the bare basics. When I played the sims 1 that was all I knew so I thought it was wonderful. Then the sims 2 came along and added cars and better looking sims. That was really awesome. Then the sims 3 with it's open world and being able to make your own patterns that was to me mind blowing. Then the sims 4 comes and we go all the way back to the sims 1. That to me was heart breaking. I just couldn't play it.
    6cca377d-2512-4319-9ce5-8f4c646cf7f8_zpsa768ec53.jpg
  • NeiaNeia Posts: 4,190 Member
    edited December 2016
    Maera wrote: »
    There were 12 careers in the base game of sims 3...scary that we still only have one more than that after more than two years and various xpac/sp/gp have been released.

    You may have missed some of them then, there are 16 careers now (Social Media, Politic and Critic being the latest released) not counting the different branches of course. If you count the branches, we're at 29 now.
  • king_of_simcity7king_of_simcity7 Posts: 25,102 Member
    When Sims 4 touched down back in September 2014, an avalanche of criticism poured forth from gamers and critics. The game arrived in a less than stellar state; missing key features and was generally just a disaster for EA. I bought the game at launch, was horrified and never really came back after that. Why would I? Sims 3 was a great game, more feature packed and just better. Yet two years later I’m curious – has The Sims 4 improved enough in that time to be considered a worthy successor to one of gamings most beloved franchises? Sadly I still don’t think so.

    It’s clear from the huge amount of patches that EA has thrown into the mix that it understood the critique. Once downloaded I had access to a number of features that weren’t there before. Swimming pools and ghosts were much welcomed and should never have been left out of the launch game. other nice things to note are the improvements to loading times; EA clearly realizing that having gamers sit in loading screens after being allowed to explore the world openly was a terrible idea. While its far ideal; it’s a better situation than when the game launched.

    On top of this the core experience of the game remains as solid as ever. While there’s not as much to do within the game; what there is has been refined to a fine art. The enjoyment of playing with a family and living out their lives is as polished here as it ever has been. The process of building a house is easier and more detailed than ever before – the results looking more varied than in previous outings. It should also be said that this game looks stunning. The style of the game just oozes charm and the expressions of the world and the animations are hugely enjoyable across the board. The game runs so much better than Sims 3, a game that struggled on even the highest end of PCs to remain stable. The Sims team deserves praise for making this game more accessible and for making the moods system such an enjoyable facet in the games arsenal.

    Unfortunately this is where the praise abruptly ends. While Sims 4 has improved since launch it’s still very much a work in progress. It’s bizarre because the games received a fairly large amount of paid content that’s designed to bolster the games ranks – two expansion packs, three game packs and eight stuff packs. Yet even with all this installed the game feels lacking. “Get to Work” barely adds any new careers into the already shallow list of jobs your Sims can partake in; and while it’s nice that they brought back The Sims 2’s business mechanics – it still feels awkwardly limited by the framework of the game. As for “Get Together”; it brought in a number of social features like clubs and DJ sets – but really the additions don’t feel substantial enough. Even compared to The Sims 2’s version of this expansion – it still feels incredibly lacking.

    The entire situation around expansion and stuff packs seems hilariously poor. Fans are screaming for more content yet the last expansion pack was released on December 8th (in the US) while before June 7th’s “Dine Out” – “Spa Day” was released just shy of a year prior. If you’re one of the fans of the fans who’s sat on Sims 2 or 3 and waiting for an excuse to leap in, I’m afraid the lack of content or expansions may be a killer blow for you. Fans don’t even know what the next expansion pack is or when they can get their hands on it. Where are the pets? The seasons? The apartments? The magic? It’s not too much to ask these questions.

    And all this is even before touching the games core mechanics. The memories system is still bewilderingly underutilized – Sims seemingly don’t care. The whole point of the memories system in previous games was to keep the most important memories alive but here it’s just a bullet point hidden under a mountain of menus.

    Perhaps the games biggest critique, the lack of toddlers and lack of early-life content, has been entirely overlooked. For all the stuff they’ve added in; the decision to keep toddlers absent smacks of silliness. Yes this is a new game but the fact is that a lot of Sims more die-hard players enjoy living out the lives of their virtual creations from start to finish. By not even addressing the issue; it undermines the desires of fans and really leaves a big hole in part of the games experience and makes it feel lacking next to Sims 2 and 3.

    It’s hard to justify saying to people “Sims 4 is worth it” when the reality is that two years later – it still feels very much like its waiting for something big to spring out of the box. It’s such a frustrating shame that EA seem to be focused more on delivering Stuff Packs and Game Packs over filling in the holes that blight the games landscape. Coming in from Sims 3, it’s hard to get over just how much has been wholly cut out. Even next to Sims 2, the game feels lacking; in particular when you could edit and make your own neighborhoods in that game. Progress hasn’t come fast enough.

    Which ultimately leads me to say that this just isn’t worth the experience right now. There have been some whispers that Sims 5 may be coming a lot sooner than we anticipated; a probably response to this games poor showing. The fact EA haven’t ported the game to the consoles should underline just how shaky the grounds on which this game stand really are. If you’re wondering whether Sims 4 is worth diving into; I’d say it’s still worth sitting back waiting.

    What do you think? Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments!
    http://www.screengurus.com/2016/07/28/two-years-sims-4-worth-buying-now/

    I am patiently waiting for the sims 5. The sims 4 lost my interest a long time ago. It will never be the game the sims 2 and 3 are. I am hoping when they make the sims 5 that they take up where they left off with the sims 3 and improve on that game. I can't see how they could go from an open world back to a world like the sims 1 and 2. And to leave out toddlers was in my opinion the plum thing they could have done. The sims 4 was so messed up from the very get go. There was just too many things left out of the game. When you are use to coordinating your colors and playing with cars in an open world it is hard to go from all of that back to the bare basics. When I played the sims 1 that was all I knew so I thought it was wonderful. Then the sims 2 came along and added cars and better looking sims. That was really awesome. Then the sims 3 with it's open world and being able to make your own patterns that was to me mind blowing. Then the sims 4 comes and we go all the way back to the sims 1. That to me was heart breaking. I just couldn't play it.

    These are my concerns exactly

    Since when was a step backwards a step forwards?

    :disappointed:
    Simbourne
    screenshot_original.jpg
  • AfterMidnightAfterMidnight Posts: 1,020 Member
    edited December 2016
    I like TS4. I think it has vastly improved since it launched, but when you look at it and compare it to its predecessors, it's easy to get exasperated with its limitations.

    CAS is great. IMO, it's the best CAS we've gotten so far in terms of making a sim's appearance. There's more customization options than the first two games and you don't have to wait around for minutes at a time waiting for each outfit category to load like in TS3. However, without the color wheel, we're stuck with whatever presets the game offers without delving into CC. I do think the team has done a good job so far with the given options, but it's frustrating when you have something that you'd really like to use, but none of the presets look good on your sim. I find the accessories that come attached to hairstyles to be especially frustrating. I really like the long hair with the clips that came with DO (I believe), but because I cannot change the color of the clips, I have to find clothing it won't clash with or not use the hair at all.

    And then there's the personality aspect of CAS. I'll admit that sims aren't as memorable to me in the way they are for some simmers. I don't get attached to my sims unless they prove to have exceptional characteristics, but even so, the sims in TS2 and TS3 stood out to me more than the sims in TS4. The trait system is lacking and the aspirations become repetitive to play, and apart from giving the sims more expression in their faces, what does the emotion system add to a sim in terms of their overall personality? I think emotions in TS4 are great in theory, but in practice, I don't think it can stand alone without a better trait system like the one from TS3 or the personality points from TS2 (or both!) to back it up.

    The worlds in TS4 are beautiful. I like that it's all connected and that I don't experience an ungodly amount of lag when I visit a particular world (I'm looking at you, Isla Paradiso from TS3). I like that there are always sims on the lots I choose to visit, but I don't like that I have to sit through a loading screen if I want to visit a place that's right next door to where I'm at. I think I would have found the adjustment from TS3's open world to TS4's closed world easier if, say, you could load one section of the map and have whatever's in that section available for your sim to explore without having to sit through each individual loading screen. Same with apartments in City Living. While I think it's an improvement over TS3's apartments, TS2 is still the one that stands out to me as the best of the three. In TS2, you could visit your neighbors without having to sit through a loading screen. You could have one of your neighbors watch your kid(s) in a place of a babysitter if you were in good standing with them, and if the apartments were side-by-side, you could still get noise interference that would tank your sim's environment need. Granted, you didn't get your neighbors and friends popping into your apartment all the time unless you invited them in, but I actually consider that in TS2's favor. I haven't played CL myself, but from what I've seen in in LPs, I know having sims constantly popping over to visit would wear on me after the charm wore off. And another thing I find silly is the range in which sound can be heard among apartments. I can understand the shoddier apartments having thinner walls, but what about the high end apartments? And even if the apartment is shoddy, a sim living next door wouldn't be able to hear my sim singing in the shower if said shower was several rooms away from the next apartment over; my sims aren't opera singers. They can't be belting it out THAT loudly.

    As a beginner, I like building in TS4. It's the first game that's made me want to pursue building because of how easy it is. However, I can see why some builders of previous games find TS4 lacking. There's no CFE. There's no color wheel, which presents the same problem to what we have in TS4's CAS, especially with objects that go together as a set but don't actually match. I've seen that you can still make some outstanding builds in TS4, but on the flip side, I can see how it's creatively stifling for those who've been building since previous games and cannot adjust to TS4's limitations.

    As for gameplay, well, that's really up to your preferences. I'm a goal-oriented player. I like to take what the game offers me and achieve what I can. TS3 was my favorite in terms of gameplay because of how much there was to do. I do think TS4 is fun to play, but in terms of goals, there's only so much I can do before I feel like I've done it all. I never reached that point in TS3. And while it's practically tradition in the game's history to make generation-type players wait a few packs before receiving further content tailored towards their play style, I think cutting toddlers from the the original game was an especially poor move on EA's part. While I don't care for toddlers myself, I feel for generation players. Toddlers should have been included at launch—I would have been fine with waiting another year or whatever for toddlers to be developed if they'd been included in launch. It's jarring to go back to babies launching out of bassinets to children like in TS1 after having the toddler life stage in both TS2 and TS3. And if that's not enough of a similarity, babies are confined to their bassinet, just like in TS1! They might as well have gone full hog and had the social worker bust down my door after two minutes of the baby crying if they were really intent on going back to TS1's roots (though I'm glad they didn't. RIP all the TS1 babies who got nabbed because my sims were all too exhausted to attend to them the second they started crying).

    IMO, TS4 is a double-edged sword. For everything it thrives in, there's something it lacks. The sting is different for each individual player, but from what I've seen, I think the blades have been sharper for this game than for its predecessors. I personally am not discouraged by this, however. I believe TS4 still has its punches to pull. I don't believe we've reached the pinnacle of what TS4 has to offer. For me, it's not over until it's over, and from what I've heard so far, TS4 is far from over, and if you can live with its current limitations, it's worth the buy. If not, skip it until something (if anything) comes along that interests you.
  • xitneverendssxitneverendss Posts: 1,772 Member
    It's only worth buying if you prefer to look at games rather than play them. TS4 is like a pretty girl with no substance. Took a while, but I've finally uninstalled this game and couldn't be happier about it.
  • CrazyboutTheSimsCrazyboutTheSims Posts: 2,739 Member
    ts3 has always been my favorite. I have played the sims since the very beginning about 16 years. I will not be buying ts5 if they have one. I'm done. I will continue to play ts3 and ts4.
    ts4 was very disappointing to me and still is, I do play it but it is boring.
  • papersuitcasepapersuitcase Posts: 838 Member
    Short answer - No.
  • OEII1001OEII1001 Posts: 3,682 Member
    Of course this thread is old enough by now that the OP has no doubt made up his or her mind, but I'll add that I enjoy it quite a bit. I also feel like in the wake of City Living and with rumors of vampires coming the game is really starting to hit its stride. I would recommend it.
  • uo_aaronjduo_aaronjd Posts: 425 Member
    I recently got my claws on the Sims 2 ultimate collection and im having a absolute wonderful Sim experience!
    Yes its old but with the help of a few add ons for graphics and getting rid of the black square shadow it is fantastic
    Which makes me wonder what are they doing at Sim HQ??!!
    All they had to do was take the depth of sims 2 add open world of sims 3 and the graphics of Sims 4 and they would have a killer of a sims game!!
    While i have a love/hate relationship with Sims 4 and continue to support its growth and development I cant help banging my head repeatedly against the monitor with how backwards things seem to have gone
    Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup
  • Starglitters9909Starglitters9909 Posts: 2,524 Member
    When Sims 4 touched down back in September 2014, an avalanche of criticism poured forth from gamers and critics. The game arrived in a less than stellar state; missing key features and was generally just a disaster for EA. I bought the game at launch, was horrified and never really came back after that. Why would I? Sims 3 was a great game, more feature packed and just better. Yet two years later I’m curious – has The Sims 4 improved enough in that time to be considered a worthy successor to one of gamings most beloved franchises? Sadly I still don’t think so.

    It’s clear from the huge amount of patches that EA has thrown into the mix that it understood the critique. Once downloaded I had access to a number of features that weren’t there before. Swimming pools and ghosts were much welcomed and should never have been left out of the launch game. other nice things to note are the improvements to loading times; EA clearly realizing that having gamers sit in loading screens after being allowed to explore the world openly was a terrible idea. While its far ideal; it’s a better situation than when the game launched.

    On top of this the core experience of the game remains as solid as ever. While there’s not as much to do within the game; what there is has been refined to a fine art. The enjoyment of playing with a family and living out their lives is as polished here as it ever has been. The process of building a house is easier and more detailed than ever before – the results looking more varied than in previous outings. It should also be said that this game looks stunning. The style of the game just oozes charm and the expressions of the world and the animations are hugely enjoyable across the board. The game runs so much better than Sims 3, a game that struggled on even the highest end of PCs to remain stable. The Sims team deserves praise for making this game more accessible and for making the moods system such an enjoyable facet in the games arsenal.

    Unfortunately this is where the praise abruptly ends. While Sims 4 has improved since launch it’s still very much a work in progress. It’s bizarre because the games received a fairly large amount of paid content that’s designed to bolster the games ranks – two expansion packs, three game packs and eight stuff packs. Yet even with all this installed the game feels lacking. “Get to Work” barely adds any new careers into the already shallow list of jobs your Sims can partake in; and while it’s nice that they brought back The Sims 2’s business mechanics – it still feels awkwardly limited by the framework of the game. As for “Get Together”; it brought in a number of social features like clubs and DJ sets – but really the additions don’t feel substantial enough. Even compared to The Sims 2’s version of this expansion – it still feels incredibly lacking.

    The entire situation around expansion and stuff packs seems hilariously poor. Fans are screaming for more content yet the last expansion pack was released on December 8th (in the US) while before June 7th’s “Dine Out” – “Spa Day” was released just shy of a year prior. If you’re one of the fans of the fans who’s sat on Sims 2 or 3 and waiting for an excuse to leap in, I’m afraid the lack of content or expansions may be a killer blow for you. Fans don’t even know what the next expansion pack is or when they can get their hands on it. Where are the pets? The seasons? The apartments? The magic? It’s not too much to ask these questions.

    And all this is even before touching the games core mechanics. The memories system is still bewilderingly underutilized – Sims seemingly don’t care. The whole point of the memories system in previous games was to keep the most important memories alive but here it’s just a bullet point hidden under a mountain of menus.

    Perhaps the games biggest critique, the lack of toddlers and lack of early-life content, has been entirely overlooked. For all the stuff they’ve added in; the decision to keep toddlers absent smacks of silliness. Yes this is a new game but the fact is that a lot of Sims more die-hard players enjoy living out the lives of their virtual creations from start to finish. By not even addressing the issue; it undermines the desires of fans and really leaves a big hole in part of the games experience and makes it feel lacking next to Sims 2 and 3.

    It’s hard to justify saying to people “Sims 4 is worth it” when the reality is that two years later – it still feels very much like its waiting for something big to spring out of the box. It’s such a frustrating shame that EA seem to be focused more on delivering Stuff Packs and Game Packs over filling in the holes that blight the games landscape. Coming in from Sims 3, it’s hard to get over just how much has been wholly cut out. Even next to Sims 2, the game feels lacking; in particular when you could edit and make your own neighborhoods in that game. Progress hasn’t come fast enough.

    Which ultimately leads me to say that this just isn’t worth the experience right now. There have been some whispers that Sims 5 may be coming a lot sooner than we anticipated; a probably response to this games poor showing. The fact EA haven’t ported the game to the consoles should underline just how shaky the grounds on which this game stand really are. If you’re wondering whether Sims 4 is worth diving into; I’d say it’s still worth sitting back waiting.

    What do you think? Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments!
    http://www.screengurus.com/2016/07/28/two-years-sims-4-worth-buying-now/

    I am patiently waiting for the sims 5. The sims 4 lost my interest a long time ago. It will never be the game the sims 2 and 3 are. I am hoping when they make the sims 5 that they take up where they left off with the sims 3 and improve on that game. I can't see how they could go from an open world back to a world like the sims 1 and 2. And to leave out toddlers was in my opinion the plum thing they could have done. The sims 4 was so messed up from the very get go. There was just too many things left out of the game. When you are use to coordinating your colors and playing with cars in an open world it is hard to go from all of that back to the bare basics. When I played the sims 1 that was all I knew so I thought it was wonderful. Then the sims 2 came along and added cars and better looking sims. That was really awesome. Then the sims 3 with it's open world and being able to make your own patterns that was to me mind blowing. Then the sims 4 comes and we go all the way back to the sims 1. That to me was heart breaking. I just couldn't play it.

    These are my concerns exactly

    Since when was a step backwards a step forwards?

    :disappointed:

    I couldn't agree with you more. In all the years of playing the sims the sims 4 to me was the biggest let down ever. They never improved on anything in the game. You expect a new game to follow it's predecessor with new and different things added. I saw none of this in the sims 4. The sims 4 was what was left over from a failed online game. We got the bare essentials nothing more.
    6cca377d-2512-4319-9ce5-8f4c646cf7f8_zpsa768ec53.jpg
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