If you complained about World configuration, customization or even graphic style i understand, but if there is something Thesims3 sims do not have is a good personality/AI/Autonomy system.
Agreed and it is alright, playing the same game non-stop is bound to go old, Thesims3 might have a lot of features but the lack of soul of sims, the bugs and the plain lack of replay value of some expansions such as World Adventure along with other problems can have a huge hit on the overall enjoyment of some people. Perhaps the reason i like Thesims4 so much is due to how bad the predecessor was to me.
I feel exactly the same way about TS4 Sims as you feel about TS3 Sims. I think the personality showed a LOT more with TS3 Sims when it came to gameplay, even though the Sims in TS4 they visibly act angry or sad, all the Sims act the same so it kind of defeats the purpose.
And I personally found a lot of replay value with World Adventures, especially when you could even buy a house. Just that one HUGE mansion in Champs Les Sims gave me at least 20 hours of gameplay.
Also, in regards to AI, I personally regard story progression of Sims outside your household and the way they act on public lots as better than random pushups and walking around the neighbourhood all day.
World Adventures lacked replay value because once you completed those quests with one sim, you could not do so with another one or another household because it was once per-save file system, and even if it did not, the whole tomp raiding system could get old really fast because after the first times it would not be new at all, it would be like replaying an RPG, House gameplay does not make up for a whole travel destination EP, even the small Outdoor retreat is better in this aspect.
Sims in Thesims4 do act inside community lots a lot better than they did in Thesims3, in Thesims3 i filled my whole town with different venues and enough sims to to be everywhere at once as they should if the AI worked, but instead everyone went to a horse-camp and stared into nothingness till day is over, when in both Thesims4 and Thesims2 sims do what they are supposed to do inside that lot and properly.
Story progression exists in Thesims4, but the game doesnt tell you, played with a second family for too much time and when i came back, babies were born, one sim got a new romance with an unplayed neighbor etc.
If do really feel for Thesims4 like i do for Thesims3 and like me your peeve is with sims personality then i hate to be that person but don't play the game, it most likely won't change at all as times goes by,at least not in that regard it will only build up .
It doesnt get any more soulless or robotic than TS3 . TS4 sims show you how they are feeling by sulking, crying, hiding in bed, or showing joy or happiness on their faces. In TS3 I had to pretend they had feelings. Thats why the sims 4 devs made such a big deal about sims in 4 having emotions now, because it wasnt very obvious the sims in 3 were simulating actual people with souls.But hey to each their own.
AMEN
Thesims3 problem possibly started in the development and so much focus on visuals (Open World,Cast,Realistic Graphics)instead of Simulation value (Rabbitholes, Souless sims,bugs etc), it might have not been so evident at first but with each EP, the feeling just stacks up.
I'm kinda facinated by the discussion about TS3 emotions vs TS4 emotions.
I liked TS3 emotions better than I do TS4, mostly because I find them very flawed.
In TS3 they would at least cry and stuff when family or loved ones died... They don't really do that much in TS4.
And even if they are more animated when they are angry or something, it doesn't make them seem more real to me. Especially since they get happy moodlets that just overrides the negative, and that's just not how it works. My sims are mostly smiling and happy, they don't feel much more than that in TS4.
I think the thing is that in TS3 you could sort of project your own emotions on to the sims your playing with. And I think I did that (maybe with TS2 and TS1 it's the same thing), so I didn't feel like they lacked emotions. But might be different if you zoom in on them alot? Because then they weren't smiling all the time so it was difficult to say they were happy.
Now I feel like the sims are mostly living how they want and making theire own stories without me, which I don't really like xD But it's more enjoyable for me to play now that we have toddlers at least. And it helps changing families from time to time
If it's truly boring, there's not much you can do. We've all been there I'm sure (been playing since Sim 1, and trust me, I've had plenty of monthly sprees, and plenty of months where I don't play at all).
I've really been getting into living with my Sims lately, you know? I have a family I've invested a bit of time with and I create a little "story", basically I just provide my own little commentary as I make them live their lives.
Also, don't just make your sims nice and happy all the time, SHAKE IT UP! Make a sim insult another, slap em, yell at them, etc! Make some rivals! Stop just trying to flat out skill build, don't make them have a normal relationship, etc etc. But above all, play how you want too!
If you play by fast forwarding all the time, OWN THAT. If you like to play on normal speed, DO IT. If all you really want to do is build skills and get to the top of a career, do it!!!
I used to fast forward ALL the time, and I began to question my play style... then I started slowing it down. Got bored, went back to fast forwarding.... then shifted back, and I love it now (going at normal speed). I went through a few phases where all I liked doing was building, so that's all I did....
P.S. I also recently finally got the Sims 1 to work on my PC (all expansions), and man, is it a blast from the past, but it really makes you appreciate how far the Sims has come... can you imagine not multitasking, horrible single interactions... mood maintenance (trust me, Sims 4 mood managing is SOOOOO much easier, which honestly is a good thing.)
I must say I am less bored but playing day in and day out can bring boredom and one must walk away for awhile and play something else until a new addition comes or the urge to play comes again.
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I'm kinda facinated by the discussion about TS3 emotions vs TS4 emotions.
I liked TS3 emotions better than I do TS4, mostly because I find them very flawed.
In TS3 they would at least cry and stuff when family or loved ones died... They don't really do that much in TS4.
And even if they are more animated when they are angry or something, it doesn't make them seem more real to me. Especially since they get happy moodlets that just overrides the negative, and that's just not how it works. My sims are mostly smiling and happy, they don't feel much more than that in TS4.
I think the thing is that in TS3 you could sort of project your own emotions on to the sims your playing with. And I think I did that (maybe with TS2 and TS1 it's the same thing), so I didn't feel like they lacked emotions. But might be different if you zoom in on them alot? Because then they weren't smiling all the time so it was difficult to say they were happy.
Now I feel like the sims are mostly living how they want and making theire own stories without me, which I don't really like xD But it's more enjoyable for me to play now that we have toddlers at least. And it helps changing families from time to time
I prefer the TS3 emotions too. I think it shows in their faces and body language, the emotions fit with the situation and it seems more realistic. There is also the fact that there is this big chunk of screen real estate taken up by ANGRY or HAPPY or whatever the game wants you to know they are feeling.
I had a game going with a couple in love. She had been married before but her husband had died. My guy decided it was time to propose and wanted to do it at sunset on the beach. They hopped in a cab and off they went.
Apparently they had an argument in the cab on the way. When they got to the beach he wasn't talking to her and there was that thought bubble of the wedding ring in a circle with the line through it. Did she tell him she was married before? Did they argue about something else?
I'll never know, but our heroine took off for the campground and stayed away from home for three days......yep that's how long it took him to forgive her. After that he did propose and she said yes.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
Because the game was originally designed to be an online multiplayer game, with an added story mode. Nothing about TS4 represents what the others have, because their vision for the game originally was something completely different that nobody was asking for.
IMO there are too many downgrades compared to The Sims 3. We were sold this game while being given the impression that it truly was a great successor, and as far as I'm concerned it falls flat. Everything is a grind, and it's super repetitive. CAS and Build mode are the only real improvements to me. Gameplay is incredibly over the top, boring, and the game operates in ways that truly put me off from playing.
Several of my simmer friends irl want nothing to do with 4, because it's subpar compared to what the other games offer. They stick with Sims 2 & 3.
Well said. The real killer for me is how lifeless and boring the sims themselves are, which would have made sense for an online game as you the player would have been giving life and personality to the sims interacting with other players. There just isn't any depth to the game play. Too many downgrades from TS3 combined with being the leftovers of an online game leaves the game feeling pretty hollow.
LOL, the sims in Thesims4 might not have the best personality system but if any thesims game had a souless and robotic sims it was Thesims3, autonomy and personality was so bad that even ThesimsMedieval did it better than it, Thesims3 itself was a huge downgrade in many areas compared to Thesims2, specially when it comes to sims themselves, IF anything this online backdraft Thesims4 suffered in development is to show that making Thesims online is a horrible idea, that said, Thesims in Thesims4 are much better than the ones in Thesims3.
If you complained about World configuration, customization or even graphic style i understand, but if there is something Thesims3 sims do not have is a good personality/AI/Autonomy system
TBH I have never had a game which I didn't get bored of. I can only play a game for so long till it starts getting repetitive. I have played all the Sims games and the worst was Sims 3and I play the Sims 4 far longer but after 1 - 2 months it'll start feeling old but I stop playing for a month and go back to it and enjoy it all over again. Right now im playing Runescape but I know that in a month I'll be over it and probably get back into another game.
Agreed and it is alright, playing the same game non-stop is bound to go old, Thesims3 might have a lot of features but the lack of soul of sims, the bugs and the plain lack of replay value of some expansions such as World Adventure along with other problems can have a huge hit on the overall enjoyment of some people. Perhaps the reason i like Thesims4 so much is due to how bad the predecessor was to me.
It doesnt get any more soulless or robotic than TS3 . TS4 sims show you how they are feeling by sulking, crying, hiding in bed, or showing joy or happiness on their faces. In TS3 I had to pretend they had feelings. Thats why the sims 4 devs made such a big deal about sims in 4 having emotions now, because it wasnt very obvious the sims in 3 were simulating actual people with souls.But hey to each their own.
The problem is that they are sulking and crying and hiding in bed or showing joy or hapiness on their faces when there's nothing to be sulky, sad, embarrassed, joyful or happy about. That to me makes them more robotic than a sim who at least shows those emotions for a relatable reason (sims in 3 are more often neutral in between animations; the sim creator can make sure that neutral look looks attractive and not 'dead').
This is a deeper question than it appears at face value. In a high level overview I suppose it comes down to challenge versus frustration. Many people voiced about frustration but I have yet to see anything about challenges.
Personal to me, Sims has no difficulty to call itself a game. I can't put sliders to make it harder. It's about as difficult as owning an ant farm. Sims interact but their risk of actual setbacks is nil. There is nothing making the game hard. Negative moodlets are so transient you could get electrocuted and just sleep it off. The game doesn't have a punishment for very much, and the only one it invented was death. The thing about death is, you're just likely to reload a save game.
I think my major issue with Sims is that since sims 2 there hasn't been much NEW about the game since sims 2. While they add perks, run through neighborhoods, or have emotions, they don't fundamentally re-imagine what it is to be a sim. Which is sad because Sims 4 is, by far, a much better game engine.
The lack of eternal loading bars. The way construction and layout works. Mod-ability behind the scenes has a better supported scription system in python instead of using .NET objects. But I feel like I'm paying money to simply put back into the game what other versions already had in the game.
"Hey, remember when you bought night life to get vampires in #2? Then you bought vampires in #3? WELL NOW YOU CAN BUY VAMPIRES IN #4!"
Hey, EA, how about a new idea? What a mod where every sim is nuts and prone to random acts where I have to constantly manage their troubles as some attending physician in an assylum or "Correctional Facility"? What if I had a bunch of inmates that did everything to get into fight, smuggle contraband and do whatever wild jail habits there was and I was a warden managing them? How about something simulated that has some actual challenge than eat -> Sleep -> Gain Skills -> Get money?
I thought the kung fu system was going to be great. LEARN MARTIAL ARTS?! Does that mean I can do some fighting and crap?! And it was just a bunch of animations with the game randomly rolling a winner and loser. Aesthetically I thought adding china to the game was incredible, but I hated how little there was.
If only they took some combat features from Sims Medieval and stuffed them into SIms 4. Why can't Injury be a need? Why can't we have a small system where gunfire happens? The game already has a teen rating.
It just has this cutesy air about the game that if they dropped it a little they might be able to do something than just watch best friends point fingers at each other angry, get negative feelings towards each other, watch those feelings decay, and then they're calling each other later. So much transient meaningless activity.
I'm kinda facinated by the discussion about TS3 emotions vs TS4 emotions.
I liked TS3 emotions better than I do TS4, mostly because I find them very flawed.
In TS3 they would at least cry and stuff when family or loved ones died... They don't really do that much in TS4.
And even if they are more animated when they are angry or something, it doesn't make them seem more real to me. Especially since they get happy moodlets that just overrides the negative, and that's just not how it works. My sims are mostly smiling and happy, they don't feel much more than that in TS4.
I think the thing is that in TS3 you could sort of project your own emotions on to the sims your playing with. And I think I did that (maybe with TS2 and TS1 it's the same thing), so I didn't feel like they lacked emotions. But might be different if you zoom in on them alot? Because then they were
n't smiling all the time so it was difficult to say they were happy.
Now I feel like the sims are mostly living how they want and making theire own stories without me, which I don't really like xD But it's more enjoyable for me to play now that we have toddlers at least. And it helps changing families from time to time
Nope, thesims3 lacked emotions, and instances where as you describes, sims beign happy and cheery while sims are people dying around them happened a lot in my game and with enough positive moodlets the negative moodlets just did not matter as well, and no, it is not at all like the previous games, specially not like in Thesims2, In thesims2 you surely had clearly emotions on their faces if the game did not tell you, at the end of the day they just felt like bad-programmed robots, at least Thesims4 sims act better on it.
Sims living on their own is the core of how Thesims works, since is why the original was called a "People Simulator", that was a major flaw in Thesims3 design that hindered the a whole series worth of features, if you do not like it you can simply turn it off on the options for autonomy, this is something Thesims4 has donne better than Thesims3 since beguining, and so did the games before Thesims3 and even it own spin-offs. Your argument sound like those people that say that the best RPG avatars are the silent protagonists, i honestly beg to differ, the less they behave like humans - even if in a cartoony way, the less enjoyable they are at all.
After all this time of playing Sims, I've learned over the years it's more fun building up in the game. No cheats (except maybe maxmotives on a off day occasionally). Going from rags to riches is so fun, seeing your progress in real time. Not getting engaged and married the next day. I hold off things in due timing. Now with the recent additions, and Maxis-match CC. I am able to play exactly how I want. It does get boring after a while, so I always leave my game at a good stopping point each time. Like waking in the morning, in the middle of a party, Dinner, etc. Makes me look forward to it the next time I play.
We do need more interactive activities, and events like funerals, baby showers, etc, a grocery system, a real shopping system. Exclusive things you can buy in game only (With simoleons!), like clothes, and jewelry. More NPC's, food delivery, Ice cream shops, etc.
ReverantBob - let me warn you now - the only ban warning I have gotten from a moderator on the Sims forum was when I shared game play from another sort of simlike game where they had fighting, gun violence, etc and was told it was against sims Tos and rules to show or discuss use of violence in the game or to show links, pictures or information of guns and injuring other characters. So just suggesting or talking about such things is very much against the rules for the Sims games. That was not all that long ago - but be warned - do not suggest actual weapons - actual crime - actual violence, bigotry or any such thing for the Sims - but do know when they do any type of action in a Sims series game that appears it could go violent like martial arts - keep in mind this is a sims series game and never expect the martial arts to turn into what you suggested but instead find another game out there and there are plenty that includes the type of play you are seeking - as it will not happen in a Sims series game. Suggesting anything in that kind of arena will end up badly for the one suggesting such a thing.
The Sims were always meant to be looked at as the lighter side of life and fantasy - not the way people really are. One is supposed to find the Sims as a more utopia type of society - perhaps even the way many people wish life was - as lets face it - the world itself is filled with hate and violence - and the Sims world is meant to be devoid of all that hatefulness.
So no - it will never feature the kinds of things you can find a dime a dozen in tons of violent games - the sims were actually meant to be funny, silly, and happy over all with just a taste of realism - much like good people wish it was.
Yes we had Vamps in other Sims games and because the supernatural characters are highly requested Sims with every rendition the devs are kind enough to always bring them back because we request it - but they are also very different every time they come back - other than being vamps - as there are certain thing vamps are associated with - it is always the twists with them and other characters that make it all continually be fun and light - hearted as we always expect sims to pretty much be.
If full on deviate play is what you seek you really need a different game. But do be warned - suggesting such kind of play in THIS game can get you a ban warning - as even I who has been with the sims since the beginning found out just by sharing another game that might be to the liking of another person such as yourself in a sims thread.
That said - I will say no more on this subject - but seeing you appeared a new forum member - I felt I should warn you.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
ReverantBob - let me warn you now - the only ban warning I have gotten from a moderator on the Sims forum was when I shared game play from another sort of simlike game where they had fighting, gun violence, etc and was told it was against sims Tos and rules to show or discuss use of violence in the game or to show links, pictures or information of guns and injuring other characters. So just suggesting or talking about such things is very much against the rules for the Sims games. That was not all that long ago - but be warned - do not suggest actual weapons - actual crime - actual violence, bigotry or any such thing for the Sims - but do know when they do any type of action in a Sims series game that appears it could go violent like martial arts - keep in mind this is a sims series game and never expect the martial arts to turn into what you suggested but instead find another game out there and there are plenty that includes the type of play you are seeking - as it will not happen in a Sims series game. Suggesting anything in that kind of arena will end up badly for the one suggesting such a thing.
Thanks for the warning. Didn't realize they were strict against the suggestions. I can imagine linking outside images and information could be bad, but hinting towards a deeper sort of gameplay didn't realize they were against it. The game does have a Teen rating after all
Too me the sims isn't boring, however I could understand why it would get boring after a while. Firstly the sims caters to many different play styles (builders, story tellers, just people playing, etc). For builders, you want good and easy to use tools, for story tellers you want variety and interesting sims, for people playing it depends on what kind of player you are, (family, party, etc.)
Builders At the time sims 2 had amazing build tools. You could mak foundations, multiple levels and mess around with the terrain. Unfortunately the tools can be a bit difficult now and it lacks some of the advancements made with the sims 3 and especially 4. The sims 3 improved upon build features slightly with easier off grid placement or free rotation of objects. The sim should 4 improved even more with moving and copying rooms, different wall levels, cheats to increase size of objects, and more.
Storytellers. Sims 2 was great for story telling. You had lots of different stuff to do, and sims reacted to the world around them. If you cheated on your partner, sims would get angry and their relationship would be really hard to fix. Sims 2 was great because it showed us rather than telling us. This made it more fun to create stories for your sims.
Sims 3 had traits which was nice, however sims themselves felt much more robotic. There was more diversity in appearance with the improvements with CAS (except for the round faces) and the traits allowed sims to be unique, however autonomy and sims reaction was much worse. You could create great stories in the game because the world was open, and each sims would have different sets of traits (5 for adults). The game also had story progression which worked okay but was much improved with Nass mods, making the neighborhood more alive. Unfortunately if you left sims to their own devices, than the stories creat d would be boring, and sims don't engage with others enough.
Sims 4 had both improvements and shortcomings. Sims had much better autonomy and felt less robotic. People,would flirt more often eith others, and clubs could be used to make the world feel loved in and alive. However, a lot of sims felt the same despite the traits given to them, and while the sims expressed their emotions really well in their voice and face, it didn't affect autonomy enough. Sims would look sad and you would feel for them as their lips quivered, but they still acted too similar. Now with toddlers, and very well done vampires, sims 4 with all its content can finally start to produce good stories.
Gameplay wise sims 2 is amazing. You get really atsched to your sims, and if you can get immersed in worlds and the sims, than you would love this game. Sims react to things around them, lovers and families feel like they really care and love each other, and all interactions have unique animations. However there are problems today with the game. First off each lot/ house it totally closed off with loading screens. It makes the neighborhood feel less lived in. However when visiting community lots, the place does feel alive with sims doing lots of different things. Also while personality traits truest make isms unique, there is less customization in CAS (both with faces sculpting and clothes).
Sims 3 is also really great depending on your play style. The world is completely open, which is nice, allowing for exploration of the neighborhood. It also allows people to control sims in multiple locations (play a date while directing kids to do homework at home.) The main problems are that 1. The sims feel robotic, standing around a lot and not spending enough time interacting with others. Furthermore community lots can end up being empty (especially the clubs). While there is a lot to do in this game, sims aren't as expressive EP which poses a problem for family and romantic players.
Sims 4 has varying gameplay. Without any content during its release sims 4 was really bad. Sims, while they expressed more emotions and interscted with each other more autonomously, had almost nothing to do besides talk or romance. There were instruments, painting and other things but little things to do together that are fun in nature ( esided partying). Over time the sims has remedied thi, and with the addition of toddlers, family players can finally rejoice. Furthermore neighborhood while semi-closed world feel really alive. Community lots are full of sims, and they react differently depending on what lot. Sims at bars drink, sims at resteraunts eat together, and clubs make this even easier and better. However there still is less to do than the sims 3 so that could cause problems
True Love
Terrific Family Play
Too fun The sims 2 forever
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The problem is that they are sulking and crying and hiding in bed or showing joy or hapiness on their faces when there's nothing to be sulky, sad, embarrassed, joyful or happy about. That to me makes them more robotic than a sim who at least shows those emotions for a relatable reason (sims in 3 are more often neutral in between animations; the sim creator can make sure that neutral look looks attractive and not 'dead').
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That doesnt happen in my game . My sims feel really embarrassed after their romantic gestures fail. Then I feel bad for them.Every emotion that my sims have in my game , it is always for a reason. I never had this emotional game playing experience in sims 3 . I personally love and prefer the emotions in this version of the sims.
That doesnt happen in my game . My sims feel really embarrassed after their romantic gestures fail. Then I feel bad for them.Every emotion that my sims have in my game , it is always for a reason. I never had this emotional game playing experience in sims 3 . I personally love and prefer the emotions in this version of the sims.
My two very much in love sims who are really fond of each other are always embarrassed after woohoo. I don't prefer that in no way to anything thinkable for this game. And a grown up man/woman hiding under the covers in embarrassement? I feel bad for them alright, in a get yourself together an grow up kind of way.
That doesnt happen in my game . My sims feel really embarrassed after their romantic gestures fail. Then I feel bad for them.Every emotion that my sims have in my game , it is always for a reason. I never had this emotional game playing experience in sims 3 . I personally love and prefer the emotions in this version of the sims.
My two very much in love sims who are really fond of each other are always embarrassed after woohoo. I don't prefer that in no way to anything thinkable for this game. And a grown up man/woman hiding under the covers in embarrassement? I feel bad for them alright, in a get yourself together an grow up kind of way.
Put the romantic lamp in your Sims' sleeping room to get better woohoo ! I'm also annoyed by some sorts of embarrassment. I wish they would cut this ridiculous being ashamed after seeing someone in the bathroom out of the game.
That doesnt happen in my game . My sims feel really embarrassed after their romantic gestures fail. Then I feel bad for them.Every emotion that my sims have in my game , it is always for a reason. I never had this emotional game playing experience in sims 3 . I personally love and prefer the emotions in this version of the sims.
My two very much in love sims who are really fond of each other are always embarrassed after woohoo. I don't prefer that in no way to anything thinkable for this game. And a grown up man/woman hiding under the covers in embarrassement? I feel bad for them alright, in a get yourself together an grow up kind of way.
Put the romantic lamp in your Sims' sleeping room to get better woohoo ! I'm also annoyed by some sorts of embarrassment. I wish they would cut this ridiculous being ashamed after seeing someone in the bathroom out of the game.
As it happens I did that! I'll see if that indeed helps, hope so (the plumbob shaped lamp that came with one of the Sims 3 packages)
I don't care for the emotions system in TS4 and hope that in TS5 it is replaced to an emotions system more like TS2. I would also prefer wants and fears (especially fears as wants are whims in TS4 and suffice somewhat). On my Sim's birthday, after a promotion, celebrating with his family he had a "SAD" emotion for being near an evil sim or something lame like that. I knew this was going to be an issue for story from day one, so I have a mod that handles these moodlets, still the pointlessness of TS4 sims manic emotions is rather frustrating.
On a positive note, I did like how originally only one of my sims kept getting sick--this is good for story telling. Unfortunately the whole family started getting sick every other day, so I reckon this game play requires more fine tuning. Nevertheless it makes for an interesting story plot. I also like how when my kids played the chance card at school and something went wrong they came home still upset about it.
I don't get any more bored with 4 than I did at some point in 1, 2, or 3. Usually, for me, it just comes down to changing up what I am doing, or creating a new save to do something else.
Okay so some people don't get the reason others don't like sims 3 so I'll list my reasons.
Weak emotion system
I never really liked feelings in sims 3 since they always felt a bit weak. It nevet felt that actions were consequential. If my sim loses her child shes uncomfortable, she gets hungry now shes uncomfortable and then she gets in a fight and is now uncomfortable. It didnt really feel like anything matterd and made the sims feel even more robotic.
Groundhog Day syndrome
Cause emotions had no real varients nothing ever really changed. Every day just felt the same nothing ever made any difference to my sim. They wake get breakfast go to work have dinner then sleep and this just went on only stopping on the weekends (which I'll adress). Nothing ever broke this so every day its the same, day in day out and you could try and change it with a holiday but you'd just have the same problem all over again. I like how emotions break the cycle and give something new to a day. In sims 2 you had micro tasks (like shopping) to add something to work towards and even though sims 3 tried with laundry it didn't matter since you would be fine without it.
No Reason to Leave
The last would be the worst which was I never had a reason to leave the house. Open world was great but there wasnt much going to really explore. Nearly all of the base game lots were rabbit holes which gave no new gameplay and would just be me looking at a screen for ages. You could try and fix this with store content but alot of it was buggy and overpriced. Again there were a few things to do (festivals, swimming in the ocean) but you couldn't do it every weekend without it getting boring.
This is how I see it though so I'm not stating fact here.
It seems they were a little confused with certain things in the development of 4. Like the sims needing incredible amounts of social interaction...yet they give you almost zero time to deal with it since they made the careers so grinding. Plus you have the annoyance of career "homework". My sims have to spend almost every morning making half a dozen phone calls just get social need up.
Comments
World Adventures lacked replay value because once you completed those quests with one sim, you could not do so with another one or another household because it was once per-save file system, and even if it did not, the whole tomp raiding system could get old really fast because after the first times it would not be new at all, it would be like replaying an RPG, House gameplay does not make up for a whole travel destination EP, even the small Outdoor retreat is better in this aspect.
Sims in Thesims4 do act inside community lots a lot better than they did in Thesims3, in Thesims3 i filled my whole town with different venues and enough sims to to be everywhere at once as they should if the AI worked, but instead everyone went to a horse-camp and stared into nothingness till day is over, when in both Thesims4 and Thesims2 sims do what they are supposed to do inside that lot and properly.
Story progression exists in Thesims4, but the game doesnt tell you, played with a second family for too much time and when i came back, babies were born, one sim got a new romance with an unplayed neighbor etc.
If do really feel for Thesims4 like i do for Thesims3 and like me your peeve is with sims personality then i hate to be that person but don't play the game, it most likely won't change at all as times goes by,at least not in that regard it will only build up .
AMEN
Thesims3 problem possibly started in the development and so much focus on visuals (Open World,Cast,Realistic Graphics)instead of Simulation value (Rabbitholes, Souless sims,bugs etc), it might have not been so evident at first but with each EP, the feeling just stacks up.
*Answers the Titled Question*
Lack of DIVERSITY
*drops mic*
I liked TS3 emotions better than I do TS4, mostly because I find them very flawed.
In TS3 they would at least cry and stuff when family or loved ones died... They don't really do that much in TS4.
And even if they are more animated when they are angry or something, it doesn't make them seem more real to me. Especially since they get happy moodlets that just overrides the negative, and that's just not how it works. My sims are mostly smiling and happy, they don't feel much more than that in TS4.
I think the thing is that in TS3 you could sort of project your own emotions on to the sims your playing with. And I think I did that (maybe with TS2 and TS1 it's the same thing), so I didn't feel like they lacked emotions. But might be different if you zoom in on them alot? Because then they weren't smiling all the time so it was difficult to say they were happy.
Now I feel like the sims are mostly living how they want and making theire own stories without me, which I don't really like xD But it's more enjoyable for me to play now that we have toddlers at least. And it helps changing families from time to time
If it's truly boring, there's not much you can do. We've all been there I'm sure (been playing since Sim 1, and trust me, I've had plenty of monthly sprees, and plenty of months where I don't play at all).
I've really been getting into living with my Sims lately, you know? I have a family I've invested a bit of time with and I create a little "story", basically I just provide my own little commentary as I make them live their lives.
Also, don't just make your sims nice and happy all the time, SHAKE IT UP! Make a sim insult another, slap em, yell at them, etc! Make some rivals! Stop just trying to flat out skill build, don't make them have a normal relationship, etc etc. But above all, play how you want too!
If you play by fast forwarding all the time, OWN THAT. If you like to play on normal speed, DO IT. If all you really want to do is build skills and get to the top of a career, do it!!!
I used to fast forward ALL the time, and I began to question my play style... then I started slowing it down. Got bored, went back to fast forwarding.... then shifted back, and I love it now (going at normal speed). I went through a few phases where all I liked doing was building, so that's all I did....
P.S. I also recently finally got the Sims 1 to work on my PC (all expansions), and man, is it a blast from the past, but it really makes you appreciate how far the Sims has come... can you imagine not multitasking, horrible single interactions... mood maintenance (trust me, Sims 4 mood managing is SOOOOO much easier, which honestly is a good thing.)
I prefer the TS3 emotions too. I think it shows in their faces and body language, the emotions fit with the situation and it seems more realistic. There is also the fact that there is this big chunk of screen real estate taken up by ANGRY or HAPPY or whatever the game wants you to know they are feeling.
I had a game going with a couple in love. She had been married before but her husband had died. My guy decided it was time to propose and wanted to do it at sunset on the beach. They hopped in a cab and off they went.
Apparently they had an argument in the cab on the way. When they got to the beach he wasn't talking to her and there was that thought bubble of the wedding ring in a circle with the line through it. Did she tell him she was married before? Did they argue about something else?
I'll never know, but our heroine took off for the campground and stayed away from home for three days......yep that's how long it took him to forgive her. After that he did propose and she said yes.
This is a deeper question than it appears at face value. In a high level overview I suppose it comes down to challenge versus frustration. Many people voiced about frustration but I have yet to see anything about challenges.
Personal to me, Sims has no difficulty to call itself a game. I can't put sliders to make it harder. It's about as difficult as owning an ant farm. Sims interact but their risk of actual setbacks is nil. There is nothing making the game hard. Negative moodlets are so transient you could get electrocuted and just sleep it off. The game doesn't have a punishment for very much, and the only one it invented was death. The thing about death is, you're just likely to reload a save game.
I think my major issue with Sims is that since sims 2 there hasn't been much NEW about the game since sims 2. While they add perks, run through neighborhoods, or have emotions, they don't fundamentally re-imagine what it is to be a sim. Which is sad because Sims 4 is, by far, a much better game engine.
The lack of eternal loading bars. The way construction and layout works. Mod-ability behind the scenes has a better supported scription system in python instead of using .NET objects. But I feel like I'm paying money to simply put back into the game what other versions already had in the game.
"Hey, remember when you bought night life to get vampires in #2? Then you bought vampires in #3? WELL NOW YOU CAN BUY VAMPIRES IN #4!"
Hey, EA, how about a new idea? What a mod where every sim is nuts and prone to random acts where I have to constantly manage their troubles as some attending physician in an assylum or "Correctional Facility"? What if I had a bunch of inmates that did everything to get into fight, smuggle contraband and do whatever wild jail habits there was and I was a warden managing them? How about something simulated that has some actual challenge than eat -> Sleep -> Gain Skills -> Get money?
I thought the kung fu system was going to be great. LEARN MARTIAL ARTS?! Does that mean I can do some fighting and crap?! And it was just a bunch of animations with the game randomly rolling a winner and loser. Aesthetically I thought adding china to the game was incredible, but I hated how little there was.
If only they took some combat features from Sims Medieval and stuffed them into SIms 4. Why can't Injury be a need? Why can't we have a small system where gunfire happens? The game already has a teen rating.
It just has this cutesy air about the game that if they dropped it a little they might be able to do something than just watch best friends point fingers at each other angry, get negative feelings towards each other, watch those feelings decay, and then they're calling each other later. So much transient meaningless activity.
Nope, thesims3 lacked emotions, and instances where as you describes, sims beign happy and cheery while sims are people dying around them happened a lot in my game and with enough positive moodlets the negative moodlets just did not matter as well, and no, it is not at all like the previous games, specially not like in Thesims2, In thesims2 you surely had clearly emotions on their faces if the game did not tell you, at the end of the day they just felt like bad-programmed robots, at least Thesims4 sims act better on it.
Sims living on their own is the core of how Thesims works, since is why the original was called a "People Simulator", that was a major flaw in Thesims3 design that hindered the a whole series worth of features, if you do not like it you can simply turn it off on the options for autonomy, this is something Thesims4 has donne better than Thesims3 since beguining, and so did the games before Thesims3 and even it own spin-offs. Your argument sound like those people that say that the best RPG avatars are the silent protagonists, i honestly beg to differ, the less they behave like humans - even if in a cartoony way, the less enjoyable they are at all.
We do need more interactive activities, and events like funerals, baby showers, etc, a grocery system, a real shopping system. Exclusive things you can buy in game only (With simoleons!), like clothes, and jewelry. More NPC's, food delivery, Ice cream shops, etc.
The Sims were always meant to be looked at as the lighter side of life and fantasy - not the way people really are. One is supposed to find the Sims as a more utopia type of society - perhaps even the way many people wish life was - as lets face it - the world itself is filled with hate and violence - and the Sims world is meant to be devoid of all that hatefulness.
So no - it will never feature the kinds of things you can find a dime a dozen in tons of violent games - the sims were actually meant to be funny, silly, and happy over all with just a taste of realism - much like good people wish it was.
Yes we had Vamps in other Sims games and because the supernatural characters are highly requested Sims with every rendition the devs are kind enough to always bring them back because we request it - but they are also very different every time they come back - other than being vamps - as there are certain thing vamps are associated with - it is always the twists with them and other characters that make it all continually be fun and light - hearted as we always expect sims to pretty much be.
If full on deviate play is what you seek you really need a different game. But do be warned - suggesting such kind of play in THIS game can get you a ban warning - as even I who has been with the sims since the beginning found out just by sharing another game that might be to the liking of another person such as yourself in a sims thread.
That said - I will say no more on this subject - but seeing you appeared a new forum member - I felt I should warn you.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Thanks for the warning. Didn't realize they were strict against the suggestions. I can imagine linking outside images and information could be bad, but hinting towards a deeper sort of gameplay didn't realize they were against it. The game does have a Teen rating after all
Builders At the time sims 2 had amazing build tools. You could mak foundations, multiple levels and mess around with the terrain. Unfortunately the tools can be a bit difficult now and it lacks some of the advancements made with the sims 3 and especially 4. The sims 3 improved upon build features slightly with easier off grid placement or free rotation of objects. The sim should 4 improved even more with moving and copying rooms, different wall levels, cheats to increase size of objects, and more.
Storytellers. Sims 2 was great for story telling. You had lots of different stuff to do, and sims reacted to the world around them. If you cheated on your partner, sims would get angry and their relationship would be really hard to fix. Sims 2 was great because it showed us rather than telling us. This made it more fun to create stories for your sims.
Sims 3 had traits which was nice, however sims themselves felt much more robotic. There was more diversity in appearance with the improvements with CAS (except for the round faces) and the traits allowed sims to be unique, however autonomy and sims reaction was much worse. You could create great stories in the game because the world was open, and each sims would have different sets of traits (5 for adults). The game also had story progression which worked okay but was much improved with Nass mods, making the neighborhood more alive. Unfortunately if you left sims to their own devices, than the stories creat d would be boring, and sims don't engage with others enough.
Sims 4 had both improvements and shortcomings. Sims had much better autonomy and felt less robotic. People,would flirt more often eith others, and clubs could be used to make the world feel loved in and alive. However, a lot of sims felt the same despite the traits given to them, and while the sims expressed their emotions really well in their voice and face, it didn't affect autonomy enough. Sims would look sad and you would feel for them as their lips quivered, but they still acted too similar. Now with toddlers, and very well done vampires, sims 4 with all its content can finally start to produce good stories.
Gameplay wise sims 2 is amazing. You get really atsched to your sims, and if you can get immersed in worlds and the sims, than you would love this game. Sims react to things around them, lovers and families feel like they really care and love each other, and all interactions have unique animations. However there are problems today with the game. First off each lot/ house it totally closed off with loading screens. It makes the neighborhood feel less lived in. However when visiting community lots, the place does feel alive with sims doing lots of different things. Also while personality traits truest make isms unique, there is less customization in CAS (both with faces sculpting and clothes).
Sims 3 is also really great depending on your play style. The world is completely open, which is nice, allowing for exploration of the neighborhood. It also allows people to control sims in multiple locations (play a date while directing kids to do homework at home.) The main problems are that 1. The sims feel robotic, standing around a lot and not spending enough time interacting with others. Furthermore community lots can end up being empty (especially the clubs). While there is a lot to do in this game, sims aren't as expressive EP which poses a problem for family and romantic players.
Sims 4 has varying gameplay. Without any content during its release sims 4 was really bad. Sims, while they expressed more emotions and interscted with each other more autonomously, had almost nothing to do besides talk or romance. There were instruments, painting and other things but little things to do together that are fun in nature ( esided partying). Over time the sims has remedied thi, and with the addition of toddlers, family players can finally rejoice. Furthermore neighborhood while semi-closed world feel really alive. Community lots are full of sims, and they react differently depending on what lot. Sims at bars drink, sims at resteraunts eat together, and clubs make this even easier and better. However there still is less to do than the sims 3 so that could cause problems
Terrific Family Play
Too fun
The sims 2 forever
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The problem is that they are sulking and crying and hiding in bed or showing joy or hapiness on their faces when there's nothing to be sulky, sad, embarrassed, joyful or happy about. That to me makes them more robotic than a sim who at least shows those emotions for a relatable reason (sims in 3 are more often neutral in between animations; the sim creator can make sure that neutral look looks attractive and not 'dead').
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That doesnt happen in my game . My sims feel really embarrassed after their romantic gestures fail. Then I feel bad for them.Every emotion that my sims have in my game , it is always for a reason. I never had this emotional game playing experience in sims 3 . I personally love and prefer the emotions in this version of the sims.
On a positive note, I did like how originally only one of my sims kept getting sick--this is good for story telling. Unfortunately the whole family started getting sick every other day, so I reckon this game play requires more fine tuning. Nevertheless it makes for an interesting story plot. I also like how when my kids played the chance card at school and something went wrong they came home still upset about it.
Weak emotion system
I never really liked feelings in sims 3 since they always felt a bit weak. It nevet felt that actions were consequential. If my sim loses her child shes uncomfortable, she gets hungry now shes uncomfortable and then she gets in a fight and is now uncomfortable. It didnt really feel like anything matterd and made the sims feel even more robotic.
Groundhog Day syndrome
Cause emotions had no real varients nothing ever really changed. Every day just felt the same nothing ever made any difference to my sim. They wake get breakfast go to work have dinner then sleep and this just went on only stopping on the weekends (which I'll adress). Nothing ever broke this so every day its the same, day in day out and you could try and change it with a holiday but you'd just have the same problem all over again. I like how emotions break the cycle and give something new to a day. In sims 2 you had micro tasks (like shopping) to add something to work towards and even though sims 3 tried with laundry it didn't matter since you would be fine without it.
No Reason to Leave
The last would be the worst which was I never had a reason to leave the house. Open world was great but there wasnt much going to really explore. Nearly all of the base game lots were rabbit holes which gave no new gameplay and would just be me looking at a screen for ages. You could try and fix this with store content but alot of it was buggy and overpriced. Again there were a few things to do (festivals, swimming in the ocean) but you couldn't do it every weekend without it getting boring.
This is how I see it though so I'm not stating fact here.