Some of the TS3 sims posted here look really good, like not TS3 sims at all. You're very skillful sim creators. I would have played the game if they all looked like that.
Here is a short video I seriously just made NO CC and sims in 3 do!!! look good with or without custom content so you should play the game.The clothing is very detailed the worlds are beautiful the game is really good.The sim in this video is just a premade ghost from Al Simhara revived with ambrosia.I didn't make her.The clothing,hair,objects,furniture all EA.
Thanks @CravenLestat , I really like the old style too. Well, once you get rid of that god-awful specular on everything EA creates, that makes it look like fake leather.
I got a mod to get rid of that rubbish. No more shiny plastic clothing in CAS. I can't believe how much better some stuff looks. I have my game open now, I will quickly take a screenie.
This is now one of my most loved mods. Back in one moment.
This is the French Lady Bodice from the Rococo Set in the store. It looks like plastic when you try to colour it black, and the horrible gold stencils / overlay are not re-colourable. I despaired of ever using it, because it looks utterly hideous.
This is the same blouse after using THIS MOD on it.
No more ugly "pleather" material, and no more hideous stencil in gold. The design is actually painted on to the blouse texture, I checked when I exported the images, as I was going to try to get it off, so it isn't entirely gone, but its the same colour as the blouse now instead of revolting baby sick mustard.
It's been a godsend to my sims wardrobe lol. And it isn't limited to clothing, it will get rid of stencils on furniture and whatnot too.
Edit - Just a note, under some lighting conditions, clothing unfortunately will still appear plastic-ish
@Pary, I keep meaning to get that mod, what a difference it makes! I'd get it now but... I am in the game and don't feel like restarting just yet. Soon though.
I prefer TS3's more detailed meshes. TS4's objects are too blocky.
I wish TS4 had more realistic skies and clouds and grass and tree bark textures. I mainly like TS4's sims.
Just adding to my earlier post from page 2.
I wish we had, what I consider, the best from both games.
I've come to like TS4 saturated colors, smooth resolution of graphics, and lighting effects.
But there is a lot about the art style is keeping me from preferring it.
My siggy is actually a protest against the art style and I am using anything I can find in Custom content to get the art style I want.
This image shows what I have replaced in the game.
I want hair that looks like hair.
-Textures that have detail, not blur or suggestions of texture.
-I want objects that are not all thick and blocky. There should be thinness to contrast with thickness.
-Just say no to cartoon bricks. I replaced then wherever I find them.
-More realistic trees.
I have replaced the grass with TS3 grass and added more realistic trees.
I have seen some sky replacements, but I am waiting for more options to choose from.
So...I prefer customized TS4 graphics.
But it's still TS3 over TS4. I just like the more realistic style.
Oh, and this is a major downer on the newly acquired toddlers.
Can I say both? I've never tried 4, yet, but both games look like they offer different enough experiences in style and gameplay that they'd balance each other out for me. I'm notoriously not picky on my entertainment. I really like Sims 3's look and I really like the more vibrant colors of 4. I imagine if I had both, I'd switch between them regularly, depending on what I was in the mood for.
Most of Sims 3's hair, though...That's my only thing.
"Fool," said my muse to me. "Look in thy heart and write." Wordpress
Origin ID: Hoshicake
@Pary How come I didn't know this mod's existence ?! This is fantastic ! Especially how it can remove that ugly specular effect. My sims will finally be able to wear black with EA clothes and look great ! Thank you !
@CK213 Wow, your game looks so beautiful ! I always had issues with textures and meshes used in TS4 but I love how you transformed the environment. And I totally agree with you about thick objects and clay hair. All the changes you've done look like truly make a huge visual difference.
What mods do you use exactly ? I'd like to install the same ! Especially default replacements and trees.
I definitely prefer Sims 4. TS3 tries so hard to be realistic that the discrepancies between it and real life are further exemplified, which to me makes it feel less realistic. TS4 never pretends to be something it's not (real life), and hence feels more lifelike, if that makes sense. Also, it is so much easier to make diverse sims. It's true that occassionally, you see pictures of Sims 4 sims that look very similar, but all of mine look very different (though that might be because I've made a concerted effort to make them diverse), whereas most of my TS3 sims looked very similar, with hair, skin, and eye colours being the only differences. TS3 is good too though (so's TS2).
I politely disagree. I don't think the sims in 3 are trying hard to be realistic. They fit perfectly into their world, which looks more realistic that sims 4. Each game's sims matches their surroundings. With expansions like Supernatural and Into the Future, Sims 3 is not trying to pretend it's actually "real life". But also remember the basics of Sims games have been about "life simulation", so I'm sure some will find realism in each sims game.
I also don't find it difficult to make diverse sims at all in my game (sims 3). After seeing this thread was brought back, and after reading your comment, I went into the game and made some sims. Granted I could spend hours making sims because I can be a perfectionist at times, but also because there are so many possibilities when creating a sim.
I'm not bashing Sims 4 in any way, I just know that the Sims games are different for everybody. Your description above does not describe my Sims 3 game in any way, so I am posting pics from my game.
This is the result of about 30 minutes or so in CAS. No CC edit:(a couple of these were made by me previously, I just removed CC)
My recent sim who resides in Monte Vista, is an adult female who is ageing a bit. She's trying her best to hold back the process. I tried to make her features look more like someone who's from that area (besides the bleach blond hair)
No CC
Some sims with minimal CC (skin, eyes, hair and maybe a brow) There may be a non-CC version of some of these in the first spoiler:
@Pary I'm interested in that mod, do I understand correctly it won't affect anything in your game unless you type a code (cheat) when in build/buy mode or CAS? And you can choose there to remove decoration OR the shiny overlay?
@Odonata68 Although I must say my own sims tend to look like brothers and sisters, I've always liked how I can recognize a simmer by looking at the sim. That isn't the case in Sims 4. Which means sims of different simmers definitely have something unique to them in Sims 3. I in fact did a test once on a forum where forum members knew each other's sims very well (by reading stories and following each other's screenshot topics). Every forum member created a new sim (one male and one female) and then other forum members had to guess who had created them. And I was right, the majority recognized the creator in almost every case. And this involved sims with and without CC. I like it CAS in Sims 3 apparently allows you to develop a personal style.
I love the Sims 3 style and prefer it over Sims 4, but I love everything else about the sims 4. I love the UI (minus a few layout patterns), I love the objects in game, the structure of them (the difference in TS3 and TS4 coffee makers, for example), and the interactions between the sims. TS4 is a better Sims game, it feels like a natural step up from TS2, but I am not a fan of cartoony, at least not over the cartoon type realism of TS3.
I disagree about the UI for TS4. I think it is a nightmare and is minimalist. Give me the nice wholesome interfaces of TS2 and TS3. It seems like everything is now tucked away behind menus. Whereas in TS2 and TS3 information about your sims were right there and you didn't have to hunt it out. It also bugs me how the sim face doesn't show up in the pie menus when clicking on items.
@CK213 Wow, your game looks so beautiful ! I always had issues with textures and meshes used in TS4 but I love how you transformed the environment. And I totally agree with you about thick objects and clay hair. All the changes you've done look like truly make a huge visual difference.
What mods do you use exactly ? I'd like to install the same ! Especially default replacements and trees.
Peacemaker of Simsationaldesigns: http://simsationaldesigns.blogspot.com.au/
I love his furniture, walls, floors, and rugs. This is the level of detail I want in a Sims game.
I just tossed in some objects in this room, no time to really design.
Various sources of content in this room, most from Sensationaldesigns.
Sims get reworked in my game despite liking them generally: Hair, eyes, 3D eyelashes, eyebrows makeup.
TS4 hair has improved and there are some styles I like, but I just prefer the Alpha look.
However, that does not include EA's alpha hair. Their TS4 clay hair is better quality than their past alpha hair.
@Pary I'm interested in that mod, do I understand correctly it won't affect anything in your game unless you type a code (cheat) when in build/buy mode or CAS? And you can choose there to remove decoration OR the shiny overlay?
Yes that's exactly right. You simply just open the cheat console while in cas or build / buy ( you MUST be in style mode, meaning have clicked on the item to open the colour wheel ) type deco ( corresponding letter here ) and it removes either the shiny specular, the overlay or stencil.
You can remove masks or multipliers too but I don't mess around with those.
Once you have made a change to your item, if you try to adjust colour or whatnot again, it will revert the changes, so use the cheat, then press okay without touching anything, and once out of the style window, simply just go again to restyle the object and you can make whatever other changes you want, and they will stick.
Last night when I was playing while taking those shots, I realised that when I got in game my sims shirt still looked somewhat shiny. I thought it was the lighting, but I took her back into CAS and used to code to remove the specular once more and the shirt was fine after that.
So I suppose it is probably preferable to just style your items right from within the game rather than in create a sim, so you wont have to double up.
On objects it doesn't matter, you style those from within the game anyway.
@JoAnne65 I agree, Sims 3 really does allow players to develop their own style. That's so cool that simmers can be recognized by their sims.
@CK213 Your game looks amazing! That's what Sims 4 needs, crispness and textures. (IMHO)
I'm coming across cool stuff that I just gotta have in my game.
I loved this window in TS2. Too bad Maxis never built a theme around it for other build items.
Such nice detail.
Oooh, I loved that window in Sims 2! Used it a lot and it looks great in 4. @CK213 has shown me how much more to my personal preference Sims 4 can be visually with the addition of a few mods. I especially love the look of the default grass replacement, what a difference!
The problem for me is that when I am done building and unpause the game, no amount of pretty set dressing can make up for the playstyle which I don't prefer at all.
Oooh, I loved that window in Sims 2! Used it a lot and it looks great in 4. @CK213 has shown me how much more to my personal preference Sims 4 can be visually with the addition of a few mods. I especially love the look of the default grass replacement, what a difference!
The problem for me is that when I am done building and unpause the game, no amount of pretty set dressing can make up for the playstyle which I don't prefer at all.
That's true for me too.
It's nice to look at, but something is missing from game play. My sims interact and make a good show of it, but I am always left with a so what? feeling.
I was testing out new CC, but your post made me curious and I dropped in on my Meadow Thayer sim.
She is in Social Media and can choose to work at home. But I have this checklist of tasks to work through:
-Be mischievous with 5 different sims.
-Check in at the Gym.
It's nice that I have some options between going to work or working at home, but I really dislike being directed exactly what to do. I wish our task were more general and game would let us decided what is we want to do to meet the general goal from a group of possibilities. That way we could role play what makes more sense to us and try different things instead of doing the same things all the time. I want to apply some strategy and use my creativity in meeting goals, not simply follow orders.
More de-clunking of TS4's art style.
I don't mind thick blinds, but I want some variety so everything doesn't look thick.
[Updated]
This was a little interesting actually.
I followed through on Meadow's career task to-do list by going to the gym and checking in with her job that she is there.
She had to do the 5 mischief activities, which I'm not really interested in doing, and I would rather have her be funny than be an annoying jerk.
After that was completed, I was thinking about having her get something to eat at the club and then party the night away, but a Humor and Hijinks festival started and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to work on her comedy skill.
She brought along Bastet, because my storyline for Meadow is that she wants to write an expose on the Cat Girl's of Windenburg, so she is befriending and taking pictures of them for her blog, or whatever.
Unfortunately Bastet had to check out because, as the black sheep of the cat girl's, she's always into something new and different. Vampireism is her thing now and she is burning, even though twilight is falling.
Still more doing what the game tells me to do, spamming comedy interactions. Meadow lost the challenge to the Pranksters. She did gain 3 comedy skill points though.
I did like the synergy of going from one event to the other, but I can't say it was really fun.
I would prefer TS3's art style for several reasons:
1. As others have mentioned, the saturated colours of TS4 are just a bit too much for me. It makes it difficult to create gameplay of a dark atmosphere with a crazy criminal or something, unless you purchase the vampire pack.
2. I really really don't like how everything is so oversized in TS4. I'm not sure if it's just me, but everything looks way too big? Like couches and stuff.
3. The cartoonish look of TS4 doesn't bother me insanely, but as with the furniture, it's just too over-the-top.
4. As already mentioned here, the textures of TS4 (or lack thereof). Everything is plastic. Everything.
5. Although it's not essentially the art style (although it is part of the art involved), I hate the fake backdrops in the surrounding scenery. I would rather just have the tiny neighborhoods surrounded by trees, the fake stuff is very creepy. It's claustrophobic too.
I've never seen the window in Sims 2 but it sure looks lovely in 4. It looks fairytale like and grand at the same time.
It felt like such an architectural tease in TS2.
I kept wishing for more content like it. I wonder what inspired it? I never played the original sims, but was it a window from that series?
I don't have TS2 anymore nor any of my pictures. It's hard to remember what I actually did with that window. I just remember using it a lot in period styled homes.
I came across some pictures in my TS4 thread that pretty much sums up the difference between TS4's art style and what I wish we had.
I like it as an object, but the simple mesh and textures get to me.
Especially now since it is sharing a space with more detailed objects.
@CK213 Ouch... I'd LOVE those CC books in my TS3 game as well I must add I hardly have any CC because I'm too lazy to find it (and buy mode is stuffed enough as it is anyway), but a lot of custom made clutter looks way more detailed in that game as well.
Comments
Here is a short video I seriously just made NO CC and sims in 3 do!!! look good with or without custom content so you should play the game.The clothing is very detailed the worlds are beautiful the game is really good.The sim in this video is just a premade ghost from Al Simhara revived with ambrosia.I didn't make her.The clothing,hair,objects,furniture all EA.
I got a mod to get rid of that rubbish. No more shiny plastic clothing in CAS. I can't believe how much better some stuff looks. I have my game open now, I will quickly take a screenie.
This is now one of my most loved mods. Back in one moment.
This is the French Lady Bodice from the Rococo Set in the store. It looks like plastic when you try to colour it black, and the horrible gold stencils / overlay are not re-colourable. I despaired of ever using it, because it looks utterly hideous.
This is the same blouse after using THIS MOD on it.
No more ugly "pleather" material, and no more hideous stencil in gold. The design is actually painted on to the blouse texture, I checked when I exported the images, as I was going to try to get it off, so it isn't entirely gone, but its the same colour as the blouse now instead of revolting baby sick mustard.
It's been a godsend to my sims wardrobe lol. And it isn't limited to clothing, it will get rid of stencils on furniture and whatnot too.
Edit - Just a note, under some lighting conditions, clothing unfortunately will still appear plastic-ish
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
Just adding to my earlier post from page 2.
I wish we had, what I consider, the best from both games.
I've come to like TS4 saturated colors, smooth resolution of graphics, and lighting effects.
But there is a lot about the art style is keeping me from preferring it.
My siggy is actually a protest against the art style and I am using anything I can find in Custom content to get the art style I want.
This image shows what I have replaced in the game.
I want hair that looks like hair.
-Textures that have detail, not blur or suggestions of texture.
-I want objects that are not all thick and blocky. There should be thinness to contrast with thickness.
-Just say no to cartoon bricks. I replaced then wherever I find them.
-More realistic trees.
I have replaced the grass with TS3 grass and added more realistic trees.
I have seen some sky replacements, but I am waiting for more options to choose from.
So...I prefer customized TS4 graphics.
But it's still TS3 over TS4. I just like the more realistic style.
Oh, and this is a major downer on the newly acquired toddlers.
Why?
Most of Sims 3's hair, though...That's my only thing.
Wordpress
Origin ID: Hoshicake
@CK213 Wow, your game looks so beautiful ! I always had issues with textures and meshes used in TS4 but I love how you transformed the environment. And I totally agree with you about thick objects and clay hair. All the changes you've done look like truly make a huge visual difference.
What mods do you use exactly ? I'd like to install the same ! Especially default replacements and trees.
My Sims 3 blog, Back to the Sims 3
I politely disagree.
I also don't find it difficult to make diverse sims at all in my game (sims 3). After seeing this thread was brought back, and after reading your comment, I went into the game and made some sims. Granted I could spend hours making sims because I can be a perfectionist at times, but also because there are so many possibilities when creating a sim.
I'm not bashing Sims 4 in any way, I just know that the Sims games are different for everybody. Your description above does not describe my Sims 3 game in any way, so I am posting pics from my game.
This is the result of about 30 minutes or so in CAS.
My recent sim who resides in Monte Vista, is an adult female who is ageing a bit. She's trying her best to hold back the process.
No CC
@Odonata68 Although I must say my own sims tend to look like brothers and sisters, I've always liked how I can recognize a simmer by looking at the sim. That isn't the case in Sims 4. Which means sims of different simmers definitely have something unique to them in Sims 3. I in fact did a test once on a forum where forum members knew each other's sims very well (by reading stories and following each other's screenshot topics). Every forum member created a new sim (one male and one female) and then other forum members had to guess who had created them. And I was right, the majority recognized the creator in almost every case. And this involved sims with and without CC. I like it CAS in Sims 3 apparently allows you to develop a personal style.
The graphics from TS2 look decent, but the sim design is pretty bad.
I disagree about the UI for TS4. I think it is a nightmare and is minimalist. Give me the nice wholesome interfaces of TS2 and TS3. It seems like everything is now tucked away behind menus. Whereas in TS2 and TS3 information about your sims were right there and you didn't have to hunt it out. It also bugs me how the sim face doesn't show up in the pie menus when clicking on items.
@Candyd
Use converted TS2 textures wherever you can find them.
Modthesims is a good start.
http://modthesims.info/browse.php?gs=0&u=3044163&f=380
Nostalgia overload in TS4:
You certainly need TS2 carpets in TS4:
http://modthesims.info/d/539135
http://modthesims.info/browse.php?gs=0&u=2141183&f=380
Kiwisims for grass replacelemts:
http://kiwisims4.tumblr.com/tagged/kiwisims4mods
Alf-Si trees:
http://alf-si.tumblr.com/tagged/ts4-trees
Also conceptDesign97:
http://conceptdesign97sims.tumblr.com/tagged/outdoor-ts4
But I am really picky about the particular trees I used.
Peacemaker of Simsationaldesigns:
http://simsationaldesigns.blogspot.com.au/
I love his furniture, walls, floors, and rugs. This is the level of detail I want in a Sims game.
I just tossed in some objects in this room, no time to really design.
Various sources of content in this room, most from Sensationaldesigns.
Sims get reworked in my game despite liking them generally: Hair, eyes, 3D eyelashes, eyebrows makeup.
TS4 hair has improved and there are some styles I like, but I just prefer the Alpha look.
However, that does not include EA's alpha hair. Their TS4 clay hair is better quality than their past alpha hair.
Hair: Nightcrawler among others on TSR:
https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/Nightcrawler_Sims/downloads/browse/category/sims4/skipsetitems/1
It seems the most friendly alpha hair to TS4's cartoonish style. However, the graphics engine does not like alpha hair as you will see when sims pass in front of certain transparency effects.
Eyebrows:
Most of my eyebrows come from S-Club as well as some makeup and accessories.
https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/S-Club/downloads/browse/category/sims4/skipsetitems/1
Eyelashes:
I do not like TS4's TS2 styled mono-lash. I prefer actual lashes on my sim like we have in TS3.
So I use 3D lasahes by Kijiko.
http://kijiko-catfood.com/category/the-sims4/ts4-makeup/
The default replacement eyes I use disappeared from the Internet.
My Sims 3 blog, Back to the Sims 3
Yes that's exactly right. You simply just open the cheat console while in cas or build / buy ( you MUST be in style mode, meaning have clicked on the item to open the colour wheel ) type deco ( corresponding letter here ) and it removes either the shiny specular, the overlay or stencil.
You can remove masks or multipliers too but I don't mess around with those.
Once you have made a change to your item, if you try to adjust colour or whatnot again, it will revert the changes, so use the cheat, then press okay without touching anything, and once out of the style window, simply just go again to restyle the object and you can make whatever other changes you want, and they will stick.
Last night when I was playing while taking those shots, I realised that when I got in game my sims shirt still looked somewhat shiny. I thought it was the lighting, but I took her back into CAS and used to code to remove the specular once more and the shirt was fine after that.
So I suppose it is probably preferable to just style your items right from within the game rather than in create a sim, so you wont have to double up.
On objects it doesn't matter, you style those from within the game anyway.
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
@CK213 Your game looks amazing! That's what Sims 4 needs, crispness and textures. (IMHO)
I'm coming across cool stuff that I just gotta have in my game.
I loved this window in TS2. Too bad Maxis never built a theme around it for other build items.
Such nice detail.
http://sims4designs.blogspot.ca/search/label/ts2 to ts4
I think I will design and build a house based on this one window.
I will eat up every bit of TS2 content I can find for TS4.
The problem for me is that when I am done building and unpause the game, no amount of pretty set dressing can make up for the playstyle which I don't prefer at all.
That's true for me too.
It's nice to look at, but something is missing from game play. My sims interact and make a good show of it, but I am always left with a so what? feeling.
I was testing out new CC, but your post made me curious and I dropped in on my Meadow Thayer sim.
She is in Social Media and can choose to work at home. But I have this checklist of tasks to work through:
-Be mischievous with 5 different sims.
-Check in at the Gym.
It's nice that I have some options between going to work or working at home, but I really dislike being directed exactly what to do. I wish our task were more general and game would let us decided what is we want to do to meet the general goal from a group of possibilities. That way we could role play what makes more sense to us and try different things instead of doing the same things all the time. I want to apply some strategy and use my creativity in meeting goals, not simply follow orders.
More de-clunking of TS4's art style.
I don't mind thick blinds, but I want some variety so everything doesn't look thick.
[Updated]
This was a little interesting actually.
I followed through on Meadow's career task to-do list by going to the gym and checking in with her job that she is there.
She had to do the 5 mischief activities, which I'm not really interested in doing, and I would rather have her be funny than be an annoying jerk.
After that was completed, I was thinking about having her get something to eat at the club and then party the night away, but a Humor and Hijinks festival started and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to work on her comedy skill.
She brought along Bastet, because my storyline for Meadow is that she wants to write an expose on the Cat Girl's of Windenburg, so she is befriending and taking pictures of them for her blog, or whatever.
Unfortunately Bastet had to check out because, as the black sheep of the cat girl's, she's always into something new and different. Vampireism is her thing now and she is burning, even though twilight is falling.
Still more doing what the game tells me to do, spamming comedy interactions. Meadow lost the challenge to the Pranksters. She did gain 3 comedy skill points though.
I did like the synergy of going from one event to the other, but I can't say it was really fun.
1. As others have mentioned, the saturated colours of TS4 are just a bit too much for me. It makes it difficult to create gameplay of a dark atmosphere with a crazy criminal or something, unless you purchase the vampire pack.
2. I really really don't like how everything is so oversized in TS4. I'm not sure if it's just me, but everything looks way too big? Like couches and stuff.
3. The cartoonish look of TS4 doesn't bother me insanely, but as with the furniture, it's just too over-the-top.
4. As already mentioned here, the textures of TS4 (or lack thereof). Everything is plastic. Everything.
5. Although it's not essentially the art style (although it is part of the art involved), I hate the fake backdrops in the surrounding scenery. I would rather just have the tiny neighborhoods surrounded by trees, the fake stuff is very creepy. It's claustrophobic too.
It felt like such an architectural tease in TS2.
I kept wishing for more content like it. I wonder what inspired it? I never played the original sims, but was it a window from that series?
I don't have TS2 anymore nor any of my pictures. It's hard to remember what I actually did with that window. I just remember using it a lot in period styled homes.
I came across some pictures in my TS4 thread that pretty much sums up the difference between TS4's art style and what I wish we had.
I like it as an object, but the simple mesh and textures get to me.
Especially now since it is sharing a space with more detailed objects.
Even my no CC 100 % vanilla game books look better than the CC sims 4 ones..
Took this a few hours ago.
Sorry Sims 4 you cannot compete.