The height thing bothers me a great deal. A lot of people think it's more realistic (let me just say, this isn't the case in my family and a lot of the people I live around) but I really can't be bothered by the realism aspect. Don't care.
I like to play close to realism in my game, but I can acknowledge that this is the Sims, a game, and realism matters very little.
Also, as someone put it really well, the introduction of heights was to show the "transition" in life. That's what a lot of TS2 was advertised as, this full experience through life with each distinct age. You could see your sim grow with time.
Now? They're objects, then a small person (or maybe a far away adult ?), and then adult. 3 stages and 1 of them can be moved around in buy mode.
I haven't played TS4 for a while but I can't get past the teens as adults. Once the kids age to teen I lose interest. I love teens in the sims 2 and 3. I think this was my final straw.One of these sims is an adult, the other her teenage daughter. The teen has on less make up than her Mother, done deliberately to try and make her look younger. But no one including myself if I didn't know has ever got which is which correct.
I even tried giving them different hairstyles but the adult still looks the same age as the teen. That broke immersion for me. I know the Gurus have said why they made teens the same height but that aside they could still have done something to make them look younger!
FWIW, some general tips that I find help in creating the "teen" illusion:
- Smaller / more squashed together face and features on the face (you can click around the forehead to easily resize the entire head at once)
- More rounded face
- Smooth cheeks that aren't sunken in
- Skinniest body type with minimal muscles (it feels weird stereotyping them like that, as not all teens are skinny, but it's a stylized art thing with this game)
- Smaller bust
- Bushier eyebrows (also seems to help to slant the eyebrows upward a bit on the inside part for reasons I don't understand)
There's other, more subtle stuff that some do with makeup and little details that I don't really have a handle on. But the above is a pretty good template for making something that looks more teen-like.
EDIT: There's also clothing to take into account, but I would need to think about that more to write it in simple tips. I do it so intuitively at this point.
Thanks! Some of these tips are really useful!
My sim above was born in game so I had limited editing. Well without cheats
And I think you hit the nail on the head the teen "illusion" like everything else in the game!
The teenagers are one thing that put me off TS4 and that is a big thing to put me off as well.
Back in the TS2 days I was a teenager myself so I was really happy to see them in the game and had a lot of fun with them and it was no different in TS3 of course.
But in TS4 I have heard that not only are they the same height as adults which would be barley tolerable for me, but they don't even have their own voice, they use adult voices.
Also the teenage 'mess around' is meant to be the same as an adult 'woohoo' and they just renamed the interaction. Where is the innocence from the teens gone?
While some players miss toddlers, no one can deny that other life stages where removed as well. In the case of teens they are adults just named teens that go to school. There is no notable contrast within the aging whatsoever. A Sim goes from baby to child, child to adult and from adult to death.
Are you saying you didn´t mess around when you were a teen?
The teens do't feel like teens . I mean in sims 3 , when i first play as a teen .I had my teen sneak out , and was caught by the police . Se was brought home , and the elder scold her XD.
Agreed! Honestly, in earlier games all lifestages were different and unique in their own way, and now in TS4 the sims go from object to child to adult then they dead. I get so bored of the game cause I constantly play as an adult because adult is 90% of the sim's lifetime. teenagers are school-attending adults, young adults and adults are literally the same thing, and elders are white-haired adults with a slightly crooked back and wrinkles. All of them act the same and it's really really boring for family players. And object babies and missing toddlers does not make it better. literally the only playable lifestage that is not adult is child, which lasts for a very short time. it sucks.
Agreed! Honestly, in earlier games all lifestages were different and unique in their own way, and now in TS4 the sims go from object to child to adult then they dead. I get so bored of the game cause I constantly play as an adult because adult is 90% of the sim's lifetime. teenagers are school-attending adults, young adults and adults are literally the same thing, and elders are white-haired adults with a slightly crooked back and wrinkles. All of them act the same and it's really really boring for family players. And object babies and missing toddlers does not make it better. literally the only playable lifestage that is not adult is child, which lasts for a very short time. it plum.
i really feel like we need a generations game pack or expansion pack. and honestly i really feel like they need to adress the issue with teens the most. not just in terms of what they can do but how they look. like i really feel like teens need an overhall. like seriously the devs sacrificed a lot of features in the base game to give us teens that function pretty much as adults.
They look and act exactly like young adults and adults, except they go to school. There's no little quirks (for example like what toddlers have now). There's no teen boys slouching in their seats, being edgy little 🐸🐸🐸🐸, no teen girls who can't do anything without a phone in their hand. No acne (GTW's disease system would've been a perfect opportunity to implement it). The height I can handle. Teens IRL actually are as tall as adults these days. I've seen 12 year olds bordering on 6 feet. It's not unusual, but I could do with some personality to set my teens apart.
There's no goals. For me, this can be achieved with a University pack, where I'd have my teens actively work towards particular scholarships in order to get the most out of their adult lives. Right now, all they do is go to school, work on their skills, and if I bother to think of it, get them a part-time job. I'd like to see teens get a bonus trait for maxing out a teen career that benefits their adult careers in some way ("Experienced Employee", for example). That way I have a reason to give my teens a job, because let's face it, those jobs don't pay well enough for that to be any kind of motivational factor.
Hey for those on this tread who would like to see the sims team revamp the teen life stage, follow the second link on my signature and sign my petition. I believe if we put more of a community effort we could make it happen.
Best example that opinions can differ in completely opposide ways. I personally like these teens more than the ones in TS3 BECAUSE of their height and how they act. They don't seem to be 13-14 years olds like in the previous game, but more like 15-17 years olds, and teens this age are normally as tall as adults and act like adults, atleast in my experience. It could be completely different in the US, though.
The funny thing is, everytime I play TS3 now the height of the teens bugs me to no end because they seem too small for 16 years olds, they look like preteens, 11-13 years olds, maybe 14, but that's it.
Btw, as a teen myself I can tell you that the life of a teen is almost the same like from a young adult. The only difference is actually that we go to school instead of work, or is this just my enviroment that acts more adult like it should?
I agree with the first page comment that there's only one real life stage - adult, but now there's two: adult and toddlers, we desperately need a generations pack
Also the parenthood pack was absolutely awful, instead of making all kids and teens have bipolar disorder they should have focused on actually making these life stages fun and unique one from another
Also the parenthood pack was absolutely awful, instead of making all kids and teens have bipolar disorder they should have focused on actually making these life stages fun and unique one from another
Lol, they didn't give them bipolar disorder. They gave teens mood swings in a stylized manner because teens are known for being moody in RL.
Teens honestly wouldn't be so bad if they had some unique attributes. However they don't, and to make matters worse they share 99% of the available interactions with young adults. For anyone using the "in real life..." excuse, no this is not real life this is a game featuring highly exaggerated and heavily stylized animations. Teens were shoehorned in as far as I am concerned. Slimming down the model didn't do much for differentiating between teens and young adults, which should have been a clear indicator that something isn't working. That something has yet to be addressed. Parenthood did not produce realistic teenagers, it really didn't add much for any age group beyond YA&Adult who are the focus of the pack.
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
How can you say "nothing has changed" about teenagers? I take it you haven't played Parenthood. For me, that pack added most of what I missed about teens and made them a lot more unique as a life stage. Their cosmetic likeness to adults doesn't bother me, I can take control of that with CAS features and clothes.
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
This is why I feel I'll have to get Parenthood first before ever reopening the game. Height and appearance (even tall teens irl look like teens but not in the game; being able to adjust features in CAS doesn't solve anything for sims born in game) are still a big flaw in my opinion, but when they behave differently, that at least will be an important improvement. I will not pay $20 for it though, because I really feel basic behaviour of the life stages should be basegame. I'm going to wait for a sale.
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
It is more than clearly that they always find a way to talk bad and complain about the game, without even playing it themselves... #nohate
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
It is more than clearly that they always find a way to talk bad and complain about the game, without even playing it themselves... #nohate
You're saying @king_of_simcity7 doesn't play The Sims 4? Then why do I see them on Sims 4 threads so often, complaining about how the game hasn't improved since release? How bizarre.
Because to her I guess the game hasn't improved and so in the feedback section she would like to say that and as often as she would like to say that, which is her gaddam right...
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
It is more than clearly that they always find a way to talk bad and complain about the game, without even playing it themselves... #nohate
You're saying @king_of_simcity7 doesn't play The Sims 4? Then why do I see them on Sims 4 threads so often, complaining about how the game hasn't improved since release? How bizarre.
because he tries to make Sims 3 look better? I dunno, he clearly does not know what he is on about. Maybe he should play Sims 4 and then start complaining about it.
Because to her I guess the game hasn't improved and so in the feedback section she would like to say that and as often as she would like to say that, which is her gaddam right...
Old thread but sadly after all this time, nothing has changed what so ever.m
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
It is more than clearly that they always find a way to talk bad and complain about the game, without even playing it themselves... #nohate
You're saying @king_of_simcity7 doesn't play The Sims 4? Then why do I see them on Sims 4 threads so often, complaining about how the game hasn't improved since release? How bizarre.
because he tries to make Sims 3 look better? I dunno, he clearly does not know what he is on about. Maybe he should play Sims 4 and then start complaining about it.
Well TS3 is better in many ways and I did okay TS4 once and it was worse than I thought it would be but they say you cannot knock it until you tried it so I did try it...
Comments
I like to play close to realism in my game, but I can acknowledge that this is the Sims, a game, and realism matters very little.
Also, as someone put it really well, the introduction of heights was to show the "transition" in life. That's what a lot of TS2 was advertised as, this full experience through life with each distinct age. You could see your sim grow with time.
Now? They're objects, then a small person (or maybe a far away adult ?), and then adult. 3 stages and 1 of them can be moved around in buy mode.
Thanks! Some of these tips are really useful!
My sim above was born in game so I had limited editing. Well without cheats
And I think you hit the nail on the head the teen "illusion" like everything else in the game!
Are you saying you didn´t mess around when you were a teen?
i really feel like we need a generations game pack or expansion pack. and honestly i really feel like they need to adress the issue with teens the most. not just in terms of what they can do but how they look. like i really feel like teens need an overhall. like seriously the devs sacrificed a lot of features in the base game to give us teens that function pretty much as adults.
The funny thing is, everytime I play TS3 now the height of the teens bugs me to no end because they seem too small for 16 years olds, they look like preteens, 11-13 years olds, maybe 14, but that's it.
Btw, as a teen myself I can tell you that the life of a teen is almost the same like from a young adult. The only difference is actually that we go to school instead of work, or is this just my enviroment that acts more adult like it should?
I like to build stuff
In fact TS4 is one month away from three years old and one of the biggest issues that the game has always faced is those awful adult sized teens
How can you say "nothing has changed" about teenagers? I take it you haven't played Parenthood. For me, that pack added most of what I missed about teens and made them a lot more unique as a life stage. Their cosmetic likeness to adults doesn't bother me, I can take control of that with CAS features and clothes.
Have you done any research? You clearly do NOT know what you're talking about. While teens may be shorter (and tbh, the teen height is realistic, LOTS of teens are their parents height), that does NOT mean they have not gotten any new content. They got SO much new stuff in parenthood. I dunno what you're on about.
It is more than clearly that they always find a way to talk bad and complain about the game, without even playing it themselves... #nohate
I like to build stuff
You're saying @king_of_simcity7 doesn't play The Sims 4? Then why do I see them on Sims 4 threads so often, complaining about how the game hasn't improved since release? How bizarre.
because he tries to make Sims 3 look better? I dunno, he clearly does not know what he is on about. Maybe he should play Sims 4 and then start complaining about it.
Thanks but I am a guy...
Well TS3 is better in many ways and I did okay TS4 once and it was worse than I thought it would be but they say you cannot knock it until you tried it so I did try it...