Once again posters, in order to praise The Sims 4, criticise The Sims 3. Frankly if The Sims 4 was that good and did not have many flaws it would stand on its own merits and no one would have to say it is better because The Sims 3 was laggy etc.
The Sims 3 has no place in this thread; we are talking about The Sims 4.
That was not my intent at all. My point was that there are things that are "missing" from Sims 4 because of the performance issues those things caused in Sims 3. The discussion turned towards pc performance after that. Nice attempt at twisting what happened there, though.
Except, no, none of us actually know why things are missing from The Sims 4. You think it is because of performance.
Lots of people never experienced any issues with The Sims 3. Many issues were fixed with mods so obviously they were problems that the developers could have fixed had they chosen to do so.
I honestly don't know how the Sims 3 has got brought into this. The sims 3 has nothing to do with this thread. Its discussing the OP's unhappiness with the sims 4.
Heh, it's not like dissing the Sims 3 fixes the underlying issues with the Sims 4. And yes, Sims 3 had its own issues, but that really doesn't have anything to do with the Sims 4 and its brand new issues.
My main issues with the Sims 4 have to do with severe limitations. They don't bother all people, but they really bother me a lot. If they were able to make Sims who are off lot do useful things, or at least continue what they're doing when you left, that would go a long way into make the game a lot less claustrophobic for me.
One real pain since toddlers is mom and dad can't get away on a date night because of this. Toddlers need so much sleep time, and when you leave them behind, there's just no guarantee that they will continue sleeping. So I'm pretty resigned to yet again having to have my sims stay on the lot.
You're welcome to feel however you want, but Get Together and City Living are great EP's, that got great reviews from fans and critics.
You literally heard "can't build own Apartments" and decided to ignore everything else the EP had to offer. You didn't even watch all the trailers.
You walked in with that mindset. Neither The Sims 2 or The Sims 3 offered Custom High Rise Apartments.
The Guru's have said that's what they focused on for City Living and that other types of Apartments (ground level) may come in the future.
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Point is, had Get Together or City Living had come with The Sims 2/3 they would have been received much better than Late Night or Apartment Life, or Free Time which has some good objects but the system is SO annoying.
Apartment Life is the smallest EP to date by a long shot, Late Night provided an amazing city with nothing to do except base game stuff or being a "celeb" where the only type of celeb you can be is famous for being famous....
City Living and Get Together offer much more valuable gameplay, people just hear ONE bad thing and it's negative glasses on.
Well, I know how the OP feels. To be a longtime simmer, it hurts. For the next several years, we either play what we have until it doesn't play anymore, leave the Simosphere altogether until the announcement of Sims 5 and find some other game to play, or half heartedly play TS4 and hope it grows on us. Those are the real options. It's not just a matter of "if you don't like it, don't buy it." Being loyal simmers, it hurts more than that.
It's quite the same for those of us that struggled through sims 3 not loving it. It never grew on me. I always felt there was something very wrong with it in terms of playing it as a sims game and always something missing from it. It never had what the previous two did no matter what they added.
However, I absolutely LOVE 4 right up there with 2. And I am very glad it is nothing like 3 this time around. When they said they were going back to the roots of the sims it doesn't include 3, which is an anomaly.
Then you know what that feels like. It's a large gap of several years. For those of us that have been playing for 17 years or close to it, it's difficult when there's a gap. We ALL have had times when we don't like the direction the game is going, but we try to focus on the positive and overlook as much as we can. Sometimes it isn't enough.
For me, 4 is lacking in content and there's too many annoying autonomous behaviors. But I also remember I felt 3 was lacking in the beginning. So, I'm playing both games and waiting for 4 to be more fleshed out. I think there's quite a few of us doing that.
The Guru's have said that's what they focused on for City Living and that other types of Apartments (ground level) may come in the future.
I would like to know the source of that. I'm reading lots of interviews and the things the Gurus say since I like to be up to date with the game and its development but I've never seen this anywhere. Could you provide a link please? Because that would be awesome if this is true.
Once again posters, in order to praise The Sims 4, criticise The Sims 3. Frankly if The Sims 4 was that good and did not have many flaws it would stand on its own merits and no one would have to say it is better because The Sims 3 was laggy etc.
The Sims 3 has no place in this thread; we are talking about The Sims 4.
Something doesn't have to be perfect to be loved. Otherwise humanity wouldn't have progressed beyond their caveman days. If you can only love something that doesn't have faults I really pity you.
It is natural to try and find comparison points and since the OPs problems are with the game from the get go - well, what should we compare it to than other Sims games?
Where did I say something had to be perfect to be loved?
I love Final Fantasy XV, but that is one really flawed game, but the good is enough to outweigh the bad and the gameplay is actually fun and interesting. Therefore it fulfils its purpose: to be fun.
I have never found the gameplay of The Sims 4 interesting because there are just too many flaws with the A.I. Reactions were so bad in game the developers had to patch them a year after release. @EmberDahl did an entire thread showcasing his tests of the emotion system. It was hilarious because his sim could do anything - literally anything - and the sims around him would not react negatively at all. There is a screenshot of a house fire, sims burning to death, with sims standing around grinning.
No, The Sims 4 at launch was not merely a flawed game, it was a terrible game not fit for purpose. Yes, the patch improved things, but the A.I is still bad today.
With the return of toddlers, at least they have fixed that gaping hole in the game, but they still have a lot of work to do to make this game better.
Well, I know how the OP feels. To be a longtime simmer, it hurts. For the next several years, we either play what we have until it doesn't play anymore, leave the Simosphere altogether until the announcement of Sims 5 and find some other game to play, or half heartedly play TS4 and hope it grows on us. Those are the real options. It's not just a matter of "if you don't like it, don't buy it." Being loyal simmers, it hurts more than that.
It's quite the same for those of us that struggled through sims 3 not loving it. It never grew on me. I always felt there was something very wrong with it in terms of playing it as a sims game and always something missing from it. It never had what the previous two did no matter what they added.
However, I absolutely LOVE 4 right up there with 2. And I am very glad it is nothing like 3 this time around. When they said they were going back to the roots of the sims it doesn't include 3, which is an anomaly.
Then you know what that feels like. It's a large gap of several years. For those of us that have been playing for 17 years or close to it, it's difficult when there's a gap. We ALL have had times when we don't like the direction the game is going, but we try to focus on the positive and overlook as much as we can. Sometimes it isn't enough.
For me, 4 is lacking in content and there's too many annoying autonomous behaviors. But I also remember I felt 3 was lacking in the beginning. So, I'm playing both games and waiting for 4 to be more fleshed out. I think there's quite a few of us doing that.
That gap for me is the TS3 years. I never saw anything positive about it and I'm glad it's over and that 4 is here. I happen to like the direction of 4 and hope it continues to beat it's own drum. I think it can easily overtake sims 2 as the top sims series.
Those who have been around since the game launch know how initially I felt about the game when it was launched. I had high hopes for it and for its expansions even after the base game was released lacking a lot of the basics.
My first huge disappointment was with Get To Work EP and how shallow and superficial it was. Still I said this is the first EP and they might have missed the point so give them another chance. Then came Get Together EP and it felt empty except for the club system which is the only system so far offered by any EP of TS4 that has a replay value.
I was so pumped up and excited for the apartments when were announced for City Living EP but when more news were revealed how they stink big time and how they lack every thing we wanted in an apartment it just did it for me. It killed every bit of hope and enthusiasm I had for the game. Its like I have abandon the game completely. Since October 2016 I started the game for two times only. Yes I am saying started because in those two times I have not played. One was to check the patch prior to City Living and the other time recently when the toddlers were added!
Even for the toddlers and how much I wanted them in my game it did not help. I started the game went into CAS to check how they look and then quit it. I have not played to see how they are in game. I just have no desire!! This is a big surprise coming from someone who have been wanting them since game launch but once we have them have completely no desire to even try them!!
Okay, you didn't like the first couple of EPs. I myself have enjoyed the EPs and gamepacks, but I grant that other people will have different opinions.
But I don't quite get why you're complaining. You have played the game -- not even played, but loaded it up exactly two times since October. You haven't even played with toddlers. Why are you complaining now, if you're not even playing? If you haven't even seen the impact of the changes of the last few months?
I just started playing again after not having played for over a year. I added City Living, a few GPs, and a couple of SPs. And then recently Vampires. The difference in gameplay is actually pretty dramatic to me. I can tell they've been tweaking the AI and gameplay - sims are more reactive than they were a year ago. There's more to do, and it's gotten more interesting. Toddlers are amazing and so are vampires. While I do miss some of the quirky charm of Sims 2, I think Sims 4 is finally a very solid, enjoyable game.
I also think some of the longtime simmers miss the excitement of the newness of all things Sim. I mean, if you've been playing Sims for 5, 10, or 15 years, it's going to lose some of its luster. I played another, different game for 4-5 years intensely that I absolutely LOVED. But now I can't touch that game, because I'm completely burned out on it even though it still continues to evolve. That's not the game's fault, it's that people change and evolve and you can't always go back.
Everything is just too dependent on the emotion system and it doesn't feel natural. The sims in 4 just turn emotions on and off like a light switch. Another thing is that traits don't seem to have much impact on the game. I wish the personality traits were more fleshed out. A lot of little things bug me too....like crazy amounts of hand washing when my sim doesn't have the neat trait. Why are they leaving glasses of water everywhere? Canceling actions that i've queued up is another irritation.
For careers I wish you had an actual boss that you could suck up to for raises and promotions. I miss the workaholic trait and being able to increase your performance by working at home. Career driven sims just don't seem to have much of a place in TS4...or many options when it comes to succeeding. The game seems more geared to being some artsy hipster type.
Yes, the problem is a sim can only feel one emotion at once. It is incredibly basic and binary. There is no nuance and I think it was a mistake for them to take this direction.
@halimali1980 I have an idea how you feel, as I have been on a constant see-saw with this game. Like it, don't like it, like it, don't like it. And during the times I don't like it I feel really sad and upset. It 's like I need to enjoy it because it is the sims and I've always played each version through to the end. I want to have fun with it and take part in the forums with everyone getting excited over new packs.
I've taken a few breaks from it and have carried on enjoying ts3. But I really do think they are finally stepping up their game, the packs for ts4 are improving, the content is improving, missing things are being added. The bad points are getting less.
If you spent some time thinking of a good story line for yourself, one that you could get excited about, it might be an idea to give it a go now that it has changed somewhat. It does still have bugs and annoyances and things that are just not done well, but the more good stuff they put in it the easier (possibly) it is to overlook those things.
I honestly don't know how the Sims 3 has got brought into this. The sims 3 has nothing to do with this thread. Its discussing the OP's unhappiness with the sims 4.
Heh, it's not like dissing the Sims 3 fixes the underlying issues with the Sims 4. And yes, Sims 3 had its own issues, but that really doesn't have anything to do with the Sims 4 and its brand new issues.
My main issues with the Sims 4 have to do with severe limitations. They don't bother all people, but they really bother me a lot. If they were able to make Sims who are off lot do useful things, or at least continue what they're doing when you left, that would go a long way into make the game a lot less claustrophobic for me.
One real pain since toddlers is mom and dad can't get away on a date night because of this. Toddlers need so much sleep time, and when you leave them behind, there's just no guarantee that they will continue sleeping. So I'm pretty resigned to yet again having to have my sims stay on the lot.
I do agree with you that the game as severe flaws.
Since I obviously haven't kept up with the negative press, what exactly are the severe flaws? I am truly curious.
Perhaps it's in building since I don't do that. Gotta love that gallery!
- No open world
- No CASt
- unfinished base game shipped with $60 price tag at release
- no terrain tool
- no independent foundations
- no CAW
- the art style (this can be subjective)
- didn't progress from previous iterations (again this can be subjective)
- some Simmers feel alienated by this iteration due to their play style (Oh the irony of "You Rule")
I'm sure there are more "flaws" as you call them and before you mention open world being laggy, etc, I don't think people that want an open world in the game are asking for one that lags or is poorly optimised (for some), progression would have been a well coded world.
Although as someone pointed out, the content that is added, the slower the game will run, especially if not on a good computer. If anyone peeks into the tech section where people to ask the best computer to run the game, you won't see the Simmers that help in there suggest anything less than a gaming PC or laptop - that should say something.
I do agree with you that the game as severe flaws.
Since I obviously haven't kept up with the negative press, what exactly are the severe flaws? I am truly curious.
Perhaps it's in building since I don't do that. Gotta love that gallery!
The emotion system for one. It overrides traits. Traits are not very effective at all. Why does my slob, lazy, glutton sim get on very well with my neat, snob, materialistic sim?
Why is my slob having constant baths and cleaning up?
Why does nice furniture override emotions?
Why does my loner sim keep initiating conversations with strangers everywhere he goes and then cycle through emotions over and over? Tense, happy, fine, flirty.
Sim A.I. is flawed.
Why does my sim talk to everyone at the venue but the sims he is actually friends with? Why doesn't he or them acknowledge each other's presence?
Why does my sim constantly smile, enjoy, and engage in conversations with his enemy?
Why does my loner sim when put into the flirty emotion by the game behave exactly the same as any other sim?
Why is it impossible to have a one on one sim conversation? Sims constantly joining your conversations gets old and annoying very fast and there is no polite way to ask them to go away.
Why can't I set activities for my off lot sims?
Why can't sims be made aware of a sim's death if they are not on the same lot as them?
Why is the sim my played sim is currently talking to in person also calling me by phone to ask me to go out?
Why are NPCS once again terrible at their job?
Why can't sims recognise family members? Why can't we define family relationships in CAS?
Why does the game populate the town with a copy of the sim you are currently playing?
Why can't sims remember anything?
Why is there no consequence to anything?
Babies are stuck in bassinet.
There are no usable vehicles in game.
Why does the game think it is acceptable for sims to teleport everywhere? Even fantasy MMORPGs think it necessary to provide an in-game and lore appropriate explanation as to why characters can teleport/fast travel because they know it is immersion breaking.
The very nature of the close world structure means less control and freedom.
There is something that people are failing to understand here. The Open world concept does NOT cause performance issues. Many games with far better praises and more intensive graphics has achieved it with no lag whatsoever. The biggest fail is the engine, if you have an unstable engine running as TS3 running Open world, there are bound to be performance issues.
This being said, TS3 ran like a breeze on my pc and my games were riddled with CC. As a poster has said many people tried to run it from rigs that could not keep up with the game and all the features. The more features that were added the more performance issues would arise. Not saying everybody had bad computers. I do believe most players met the minimum to recommended requirements. I just think the more eps and sps got added the less the recommended requirements mattered. It needed to be adjusted far higher.
There is nothing wrong with the open world feature, its the execution.
Those who have been around since the game launch know how initially I felt about the game when it was launched. I had high hopes for it and for its expansions even after the base game was released lacking a lot of the basics.
My first huge disappointment was with Get To Work EP and how shallow and superficial it was. Still I said this is the first EP and they might have missed the point so give them another chance. Then came Get Together EP and it felt empty except for the club system which is the only system so far offered by any EP of TS4 that has a replay value.
I was so pumped up and excited for the apartments when were announced for City Living EP but when more news were revealed how they stink big time and how they lack every thing we wanted in an apartment it just did it for me. It killed every bit of hope and enthusiasm I had for the game. Its like I have abandon the game completely. Since October 2016 I started the game for two times only. Yes I am saying started because in those two times I have not played. One was to check the patch prior to City Living and the other time recently when the toddlers were added!
Even for the toddlers and how much I wanted them in my game it did not help. I started the game went into CAS to check how they look and then quit it. I have not played to see how they are in game. I just have no desire!! This is a big surprise coming from someone who have been wanting them since game launch but once we have them have completely no desire to even try them!!
It is a good thing that the team brought back the toddlers but what they really need to do is step up their game by offering what we used to call EXPANSION PACKS. EPs can make or break a game specially the sims. The expansion packs of this game has destroyed the sims 4 for me completely. If the trend continues it might do the same to others as well.
I am not going to say that "I hope the team do better EPs in future" because that is not how I feel now. I don't have that hope anymore or maybe I don''t care, but what I hope is that any one of the gurus read what I have written here to have a better understanding of how I am feeling and probably many other players feel about the game.
Sorry for being pessimistic here because this is how I feel about this game. Even some might say Sims 4's future might be bright because toddlers were released and vampires are coming but to me personally I still think these will not make any difference when the expansion packs are that horrible.
I might not reply to the comments immediately because I don't come to forums as often as I used to. But when I come back I will make sure to read all your replies. Thank you.
I agree with many of your points. I understand how you feel, I feel like that about many things about the game. I will be honest toddlers gave this game a new lease of life for me and before they were added I could take or leave them. So I strongly recommend you try playing with some. Now personally once the toddler ages up my interest starts to drop. I like the kids but I hate the "teens"
For me the issue isn't expansion packs. It's base game issues. I hate that my "good" sim gets a whim to fight with her neighbour who for whatever reason has angered her. I hate that if my evil sim picks a fight or is mean to someone, in a few sim seconds they will be telling jokes and laughing with the same person. Don't even get me started on the reaction (or lack of)'if a sim catches their spouse cheating.
Now when I play I try not to tell stories or blog because I find it frustrating when my sims don't care about events around them. When I feel that way I go back to the sims 1-3. I play the sims 4 sure, I enjoy it but it's still the weakest for me out of all the games.
To be fair, there is a reaction: The cheating spouse will get slapped a few times after woohooing with that other Sim. s/ How draaaaamaaaaaatiiiiic, how inteeeeeeense, oh my goooooood I literally can't even stay on my seeeeaaaat. /s
But of course the one who found out will only hate the husband/wife, not at all that other Sim though. "Oh brother, you just woohoo'd with my wife? Well... good for you, have a cup of tea and then let's talk about who has to move out of this house, hm?"
That entire emotions thing doesn't work in my opinion. I actually made a thread with my own ideas on how to improve it, but that would basically just deal with the part of "everyone is happy, or playful, or flirty all the time - negative emotions almost don't exist - and did you know there is a Bored emotion?". That part could be managed quite easily, for example with everyone's suggestions on that thread I mentioned (it's called "Bad things simply don't happen (or nobody cares)").
But the reactions (as I also mention occasionally in my thread)... nope, total rework necessary. Much more interactions, or at least more animations for those interactions. Certain interaction groups being completely impossible with Sims of a certain relationship value. Moodlets from bad things should have a much longer duration and be impossible to shorten by doing certain interactions. Moodlets, for example from having close friends die, should stack! There should be a lot of work necessary to get someone out of the Sad mood after their parents both just died. And that moodlet should appear on all friends and relatives, not just on those who were in the same room at the right time.
And all of that weirdly mixed up for the Insane trait please!
I'm sorry you feel like this about the game, OP. It's rough, I know. Though chances seem slim, I really do hope that the game provides something for you to really sink your teeth into this year.
I think I share a lot of your general feelings about the game. My response to it is just a little different. I refuse to give up on the game series. The Sims is sentimental to me, and it's been with me for a majority of my life. It's been a constant staple through a troubled childhood, all the ups and down of my teen years, and into adulthood. It's just on a different level to me than other games.
So even though I've been overall disappointed with this cycle of the game series, and maybe some people would say that this "just isn't the game for me anymore" or whatever, there is a very strong, stubborn part of me that feels like someone if going to have to pry this game from my cold, dead hands before I give it up. I will find a way to make it playable and interesting to me, because going simless is not an option.
Why do I feel so disappointed still? Well, it's kind of a love/hate, "it's complicated" kind of relationship.
With toddlers added in, the game does feel more homey to me now. I still long for open world and CASt, but I know those features aren't coming and I've made my peace with that. Cars hold nothing for me without open world, and with how a lot of the lots are positioned in game, I wouldn't use them much even if they were available because it wouldn't make sense to me design-wise to have a car on a lot that doesn't connect to a street. Weather and pets are almost guaranteed to come eventually, so I can wait for those with baited breath. Other features that I'm missing, such as the Actor career, having bands and pop/rock stars in game, and more family focused activities and interactions, are hit or miss with whether I will see them in TS4. I mostly just try to focus on what I do have at my disposal.
For me, it probably is the EP situation with this cycle that really irks me most these days. GPs are cool and all, as are SPs, but EPs are what really gives The Sims it's meat over time. With TS4, it feels like the EPs aren't nearly as, well, exspansive. GP content tends to steal their thunder, but GPs alone can't fill the void of an EP. GPs and SPs are being cranked out like hot cakes, which only seems to make the EPs feel slim and skimpy in comparison to all the bites of content in between.
I don't see that pattern changing though, so I just sorta deal with it. How content is released will change again with TS5, as it has for all past generations of the game, so it's just an annoyance of the current cycle we're on for me. C'est la vie.
Once again posters, in order to praise The Sims 4, criticise The Sims 3. Frankly if The Sims 4 was that good and did not have many flaws it would stand on its own merits and no one would have to say it is better because The Sims 3 was laggy etc.
The Sims 3 has no place in this thread; we are talking about The Sims 4.
That was not my intent at all. My point was that there are things that are "missing" from Sims 4 because of the performance issues those things caused in Sims 3. The discussion turned towards pc performance after that. Nice attempt at twisting what happened there, though.
Then your point was invalid. CASt didn't cause issues (really, none), open world didn't cause any other issues than routing problems in some worlds and the lack of a safety net kind of system like errortrap and overwatch and sims reacting properly and adressing each other and having some kind of a memory didn't cause any issues either. There are - and were, toddlers weeheee - missing things from Sims 4 for entirely different reasons than performance issues of Sims 3.
Even for the toddlers and how much I wanted them in my game it did not help. I started the game went into CAS to check how they look and then quit it. I have not played to see how they are in game. I just have no desire!! This is a big surprise coming from someone who have been wanting them since game launch but once we have them have completely no desire to even try them!!
Is City Living worth it? Haven't purchased it yet..
depens what you like to play i didn't play much in that city to tell the truth because i just can't build my own city. And Apartments with working elevators but the talking toilet is actually fun at least that something i use in my house. And well for me it was not worth it there is maybe something to have fun about but i didn't tried yet. But for me it wasn't worth the full price, so i did bought it just after a discount and well i don't feel like playing S4 at all now.
I guess so, sometimes we lose interests in things, OP. there are many games that I played & it turned out I didn't like them. it's best not to force yourself to enjoy things you don't like instead you should focus on things you enjoy.
Sorry that you don't like the best game in the world. You can't please everybody I guess.
Sorry but I have to disagree with you. The sims 2 and 3 are the best games in the world. To me, and it's my opinion , the sims 4 doesn't come close. So they added toddlers. There are still too many things missing from the sims 4 for me to like. From the very beginning of the sims 4, it was a step backward instead of forward. They may try to add a few things here and there but the game is still what it is. A boring lack luster game. There is so much more to do in the sims 3 the sims 4 can't even compare.
There is so much more to do in the sims 3 the sims 4 can't even compare.
And I got blasted for bringing Sims 3 into this. Yet it seems to be used for both sides of the debate. I wonder how much of this statement is colored by the number of EPs you have for Sims 3 in comparison to what's available for Sims 4.
There is so much more to do in the sims 3 the sims 4 can't even compare.
And I got blasted for bringing Sims 3 into this. Yet it seems to be used for both sides of the debate. I wonder how much of this statement is colored by the number of EPs you have for Sims 3 in comparison to what's available for Sims 4.
Yeah, I see this happening a lot. Statements being made by Sims 4 groupies about predecessors (on or off topic, that doesn't seem to matter) and when you react ("the best game in the world" - "well not for me, I prefer the old games") it's: "You're comparing, see what you're doing, you're comparing!!" Yeah, no, we're not comparing, we're counterposing. What do you expect, that you can make bold statements and everyone will read it and disapproves silently? This is a forum, people are debating. And when you make bold statements you can expect bold statements back. If you don't like that, stop making the bold statements. It's really that simple. See that first line of the post you quoted in such a crippled, taken out of context way? It starts with "I have to disagree with you."
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Except, no, none of us actually know why things are missing from The Sims 4. You think it is because of performance.
Lots of people never experienced any issues with The Sims 3. Many issues were fixed with mods so obviously they were problems that the developers could have fixed had they chosen to do so.
Heh, it's not like dissing the Sims 3 fixes the underlying issues with the Sims 4. And yes, Sims 3 had its own issues, but that really doesn't have anything to do with the Sims 4 and its brand new issues.
My main issues with the Sims 4 have to do with severe limitations. They don't bother all people, but they really bother me a lot. If they were able to make Sims who are off lot do useful things, or at least continue what they're doing when you left, that would go a long way into make the game a lot less claustrophobic for me.
One real pain since toddlers is mom and dad can't get away on a date night because of this. Toddlers need so much sleep time, and when you leave them behind, there's just no guarantee that they will continue sleeping. So I'm pretty resigned to yet again having to have my sims stay on the lot.
You literally heard "can't build own Apartments" and decided to ignore everything else the EP had to offer. You didn't even watch all the trailers.
You walked in with that mindset. Neither The Sims 2 or The Sims 3 offered Custom High Rise Apartments.
The Guru's have said that's what they focused on for City Living and that other types of Apartments (ground level) may come in the future.
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Point is, had Get Together or City Living had come with The Sims 2/3 they would have been received much better than Late Night or Apartment Life, or Free Time which has some good objects but the system is SO annoying.
Apartment Life is the smallest EP to date by a long shot, Late Night provided an amazing city with nothing to do except base game stuff or being a "celeb" where the only type of celeb you can be is famous for being famous....
City Living and Get Together offer much more valuable gameplay, people just hear ONE bad thing and it's negative glasses on.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Then you know what that feels like. It's a large gap of several years. For those of us that have been playing for 17 years or close to it, it's difficult when there's a gap. We ALL have had times when we don't like the direction the game is going, but we try to focus on the positive and overlook as much as we can. Sometimes it isn't enough.
For me, 4 is lacking in content and there's too many annoying autonomous behaviors. But I also remember I felt 3 was lacking in the beginning. So, I'm playing both games and waiting for 4 to be more fleshed out. I think there's quite a few of us doing that.
I would like to know the source of that. I'm reading lots of interviews and the things the Gurus say since I like to be up to date with the game and its development but I've never seen this anywhere. Could you provide a link please? Because that would be awesome if this is true.
Where did I say something had to be perfect to be loved?
I love Final Fantasy XV, but that is one really flawed game, but the good is enough to outweigh the bad and the gameplay is actually fun and interesting. Therefore it fulfils its purpose: to be fun.
I have never found the gameplay of The Sims 4 interesting because there are just too many flaws with the A.I. Reactions were so bad in game the developers had to patch them a year after release. @EmberDahl did an entire thread showcasing his tests of the emotion system. It was hilarious because his sim could do anything - literally anything - and the sims around him would not react negatively at all. There is a screenshot of a house fire, sims burning to death, with sims standing around grinning.
forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/13359936#Comment_13359936
No, The Sims 4 at launch was not merely a flawed game, it was a terrible game not fit for purpose. Yes, the patch improved things, but the A.I is still bad today.
With the return of toddlers, at least they have fixed that gaping hole in the game, but they still have a lot of work to do to make this game better.
That gap for me is the TS3 years. I never saw anything positive about it and I'm glad it's over and that 4 is here. I happen to like the direction of 4 and hope it continues to beat it's own drum. I think it can easily overtake sims 2 as the top sims series.
Okay, you didn't like the first couple of EPs. I myself have enjoyed the EPs and gamepacks, but I grant that other people will have different opinions.
But I don't quite get why you're complaining. You have played the game -- not even played, but loaded it up exactly two times since October. You haven't even played with toddlers. Why are you complaining now, if you're not even playing? If you haven't even seen the impact of the changes of the last few months?
I just started playing again after not having played for over a year. I added City Living, a few GPs, and a couple of SPs. And then recently Vampires. The difference in gameplay is actually pretty dramatic to me. I can tell they've been tweaking the AI and gameplay - sims are more reactive than they were a year ago. There's more to do, and it's gotten more interesting. Toddlers are amazing and so are vampires. While I do miss some of the quirky charm of Sims 2, I think Sims 4 is finally a very solid, enjoyable game.
I also think some of the longtime simmers miss the excitement of the newness of all things Sim. I mean, if you've been playing Sims for 5, 10, or 15 years, it's going to lose some of its luster. I played another, different game for 4-5 years intensely that I absolutely LOVED. But now I can't touch that game, because I'm completely burned out on it even though it still continues to evolve. That's not the game's fault, it's that people change and evolve and you can't always go back.
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
Yes, the problem is a sim can only feel one emotion at once. It is incredibly basic and binary. There is no nuance and I think it was a mistake for them to take this direction.
I've taken a few breaks from it and have carried on enjoying ts3. But I really do think they are finally stepping up their game, the packs for ts4 are improving, the content is improving, missing things are being added. The bad points are getting less.
If you spent some time thinking of a good story line for yourself, one that you could get excited about, it might be an idea to give it a go now that it has changed somewhat. It does still have bugs and annoyances and things that are just not done well, but the more good stuff they put in it the easier (possibly) it is to overlook those things.
Exactly.
- No open world
- No CASt
- unfinished base game shipped with $60 price tag at release
- no terrain tool
- no independent foundations
- no CAW
- the art style (this can be subjective)
- didn't progress from previous iterations (again this can be subjective)
- some Simmers feel alienated by this iteration due to their play style (Oh the irony of "You Rule")
I'm sure there are more "flaws" as you call them and before you mention open world being laggy, etc, I don't think people that want an open world in the game are asking for one that lags or is poorly optimised (for some), progression would have been a well coded world.
Although as someone pointed out, the content that is added, the slower the game will run, especially if not on a good computer. If anyone peeks into the tech section where people to ask the best computer to run the game, you won't see the Simmers that help in there suggest anything less than a gaming PC or laptop - that should say something.
I want to frame this post.
This being said, TS3 ran like a breeze on my pc and my games were riddled with CC. As a poster has said many people tried to run it from rigs that could not keep up with the game and all the features. The more features that were added the more performance issues would arise. Not saying everybody had bad computers. I do believe most players met the minimum to recommended requirements. I just think the more eps and sps got added the less the recommended requirements mattered. It needed to be adjusted far higher.
There is nothing wrong with the open world feature, its the execution.
To be fair, there is a reaction: The cheating spouse will get slapped a few times after woohooing with that other Sim. s/ How draaaaamaaaaaatiiiiic, how inteeeeeeense, oh my goooooood I literally can't even stay on my seeeeaaaat. /s
But of course the one who found out will only hate the husband/wife, not at all that other Sim though. "Oh brother, you just woohoo'd with my wife? Well... good for you, have a cup of tea and then let's talk about who has to move out of this house, hm?"
That entire emotions thing doesn't work in my opinion. I actually made a thread with my own ideas on how to improve it, but that would basically just deal with the part of "everyone is happy, or playful, or flirty all the time - negative emotions almost don't exist - and did you know there is a Bored emotion?". That part could be managed quite easily, for example with everyone's suggestions on that thread I mentioned (it's called "Bad things simply don't happen (or nobody cares)").
But the reactions (as I also mention occasionally in my thread)... nope, total rework necessary. Much more interactions, or at least more animations for those interactions. Certain interaction groups being completely impossible with Sims of a certain relationship value. Moodlets from bad things should have a much longer duration and be impossible to shorten by doing certain interactions. Moodlets, for example from having close friends die, should stack! There should be a lot of work necessary to get someone out of the Sad mood after their parents both just died. And that moodlet should appear on all friends and relatives, not just on those who were in the same room at the right time.
And all of that weirdly mixed up for the Insane trait please!
I think I share a lot of your general feelings about the game. My response to it is just a little different. I refuse to give up on the game series. The Sims is sentimental to me, and it's been with me for a majority of my life. It's been a constant staple through a troubled childhood, all the ups and down of my teen years, and into adulthood. It's just on a different level to me than other games.
So even though I've been overall disappointed with this cycle of the game series, and maybe some people would say that this "just isn't the game for me anymore" or whatever, there is a very strong, stubborn part of me that feels like someone if going to have to pry this game from my cold, dead hands before I give it up. I will find a way to make it playable and interesting to me, because going simless is not an option.
Why do I feel so disappointed still? Well, it's kind of a love/hate, "it's complicated" kind of relationship.
With toddlers added in, the game does feel more homey to me now. I still long for open world and CASt, but I know those features aren't coming and I've made my peace with that. Cars hold nothing for me without open world, and with how a lot of the lots are positioned in game, I wouldn't use them much even if they were available because it wouldn't make sense to me design-wise to have a car on a lot that doesn't connect to a street. Weather and pets are almost guaranteed to come eventually, so I can wait for those with baited breath. Other features that I'm missing, such as the Actor career, having bands and pop/rock stars in game, and more family focused activities and interactions, are hit or miss with whether I will see them in TS4. I mostly just try to focus on what I do have at my disposal.
For me, it probably is the EP situation with this cycle that really irks me most these days. GPs are cool and all, as are SPs, but EPs are what really gives The Sims it's meat over time. With TS4, it feels like the EPs aren't nearly as, well, exspansive. GP content tends to steal their thunder, but GPs alone can't fill the void of an EP. GPs and SPs are being cranked out like hot cakes, which only seems to make the EPs feel slim and skimpy in comparison to all the bites of content in between.
I don't see that pattern changing though, so I just sorta deal with it. How content is released will change again with TS5, as it has for all past generations of the game, so it's just an annoyance of the current cycle we're on for me. C'est la vie.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Is City Living worth it? Haven't purchased it yet..
P.s. that being said,
That's your loss then.
depens what you like to play i didn't play much in that city to tell the truth because i just can't build my own city. And Apartments with working elevators but the talking toilet is actually fun at least that something i use in my house. And well for me it was not worth it there is maybe something to have fun about but i didn't tried yet. But for me it wasn't worth the full price, so i did bought it just after a discount and well i don't feel like playing S4 at all now.
Edit
Sorry but I have to disagree with you. The sims 2 and 3 are the best games in the world. To me, and it's my opinion , the sims 4 doesn't come close. So they added toddlers. There are still too many things missing from the sims 4 for me to like. From the very beginning of the sims 4, it was a step backward instead of forward. They may try to add a few things here and there but the game is still what it is. A boring lack luster game. There is so much more to do in the sims 3 the sims 4 can't even compare.
And I got blasted for bringing Sims 3 into this. Yet it seems to be used for both sides of the debate. I wonder how much of this statement is colored by the number of EPs you have for Sims 3 in comparison to what's available for Sims 4.