Personally, I believe the lag in Sims 3 due to the large world is entirely EA's fault for bad coding/design. If I can run a game like Skyrim with minimal loading screens and no lag in the open world, I don't see how the graphics or AI in a Sims game could stress my game.
If EA can't manage a completely open world like Sims 3 without lag, I'd at least like to see what OP mentioned, explorable houses in an open neighborhood. It feels plum that I can lurk just outside someone's house but can't knock on their door without a loading screen. Tint the windows until we knock on the door or something, you don't have to load everything in the house unless we want it to!
Skyrim is an online game run on multiple servers. You cannot compare this type of game to offline single player games.
Err my husband used to play Skyrim at a time where we didn't have internet connection. I'm pretty sure it's an offline game
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Because maybe the backdrop is just that? Bsckground you can't interact with? For context the sims 2 has back drops. Do I Care? No. The game is amazing. It literally wouldn't bother me if my sims had nothing on either side of their lots but grass. (Sometimes they do for challenges!)
Background scenery is important but it shouldn't be at the sacrifice of gameplay. I mean yes that building over there is pretty but it frustrates me that i can't go up to it and go in it, it's just there for photographs and to provide the illusion, but sometimes it's not enough.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
It would be nicer if that bridge was a neighborhood object Sims could actually cross and you coud actually pick it up and place anywhere in your world as you draw the road leading to it...that's better than a row of houses across the street that never turn their lights off, because they are stagnant...never changing. Ever wonder why those immaginary people who live across from the library never switch all those lights off? I do. A little more immersion might have been to have a few lit, like someone is actually home, then one or two turning off at twelve, like someone left or went to bed....just sayin'. I had Sims living across from them in WC, pretty, but like looking back at a blank stare.
The lights are on, but no one's home...~~~ lol, and another thought like a horror movie, why is no one using the sidewalk across the street where that row of houses set? No, don't cross the street! Don't go there! Don't follow the lights. ROFL.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
It would be nicer if that bridge was a neighborhood object Sims could actually cross and you coud actually pick it up and place anywhere in your world as you draw the road leading to it...that's better than a row of houses across the street that never turn their lights off, because they are stagnant...never changing. Ever wonder why those immaginary people who live across from the library never switch all those lights off? I do. A little more immersion might have been to have a few lit, like someone is actually home, then one or two turning off at twelve, like someone left or went to bed....just sayin'. I had Sims living across from them in WC, pretty, but like looking back at a blank stare.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
You are missing my point entirely I'm afraid.
Then what else would you like? An ocean you can't swim in? A mountain you can't climb? What is the difference between a mountain you can't climb and a building you can't explore?
I don't understand the hate for backdrops. Every good game should have them.
Open World games have them too (Skyrim & GTA V both have them).
It's embarrassing and poor design when a world suddenly comes to a halt because the no one bothered to make backdrops. Your world literally stops as soon as you reach the playable area border.
The Sims 3 would have looked a lot better had their been backdrops surrounding the explorable area. The size difference wouldn't have changed. All they had to do was make the worlds bigger but keep the routable area the same.
It's grating to see a City like Bridgeport literally be an island the size of a small town. Had there been a city that continued around Bridgeport it would have looked a lot better.
The Sims 3 on Xbox/PS have backdrops in it's worlds alongside the normal world and it looks great. Not just distant terrain, but houses, objects, decorative pieces. Not just endless Ocean.
It was nice to play a Sims 3 world that wasn't a town on a random island.
Worlds in The Sims 3 had a 'distant terrain' object that honestly serves the same purpose as the backdrops in Sims 4. The 'playable area' did not extend to the border of the map in any world, nor did the camera. There was a point of collision between the DT object and the terrain that hid the connection.
Bridgeport wasn't an island, it was a peninsula. The distant terrain wraps around the side making the 'ocean' more of a gulf and continues backward.
I don't know what you were doing to see nothing but oceans in Sims 3, because that's not possible using the standard camera mode. Sure you can see that using camera-man mode and scrolling to the unroutable edges of the map, but you can see the same thing in 4 except it's not ocean it's nothing because Sims 4's world(s) are floating decorative pieces assembled to look like a world.
I never want to see error 12 again, so I think it would be better to have to load houses. But I think they could give us more open space, have a bigger world and section it off.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
TS3 has backdrops you place them yourself while in CAW. They are moutains etc. at a far distance once you have routed the world to where Sims can travel. They are layers upon a layer to hide all that white backdrop and to hide where the world's edge ends etc. The difference in that and TS4 is these are right next to your Sim's house...how about more space for played lots, and a lot less backdrop and if any backdrop then at a greater distance away from your Sims.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I don't like open world. I like to leave Sims and go play a different Sim, and not 'worry' about them, true TS3 Sims take care of themselves and if you told them to skill etc. they are still doing that when you get back (sometimes) but sometimes I get sick of the whole bunch and just want to go off with one, and explore their life, one at a time without the other running back home etc.
What I do like is open neighborhood, in smaller sections, but then the neighbors would probably never be home, lol, I doubt it would work the way I wanted it to work so all the games have their pros and cons and why modders improve them one way or the other.
Then stop worrying about them, they really don't need you. Focus on that one sim and leave the rest. Sims 3's open world may have its flaws but that aspect they took care of properly.
I'm a micromanager, I can't help it. If I see a red icon I have to check it out. I had Sims run back home (their motives were just fine) when I took several to places to enjoy. I have little patience with Sims, I have killed them for a lot less. It's just a personal choice. Open world and Story Progression were a huge turn off to me, after about six months, when TS3 was first released. We didn't have any toggles back then to turn it off etc. It did get better over the years, and I don't like completely closed world anymore, but I play four to eight Sims for years in these games so sometimes I need some of them out of my hair...away. They all have their pluses and minuses though, I like them all for different reasons.
Yes, I believe turning off SP was bugged in the beginning of TS3? That, added to the fact people were used to no SP in Sims 2, must have been extra annoying for rotational players and micromanagers. I do understand what you mean by the way. It is different when I play a sim at home (surrounded by family) or in some tomb all by him/herself. But I notice I get more and more relaxed concerning this because they do take care of themselves.
It's not possible to micromanage them all, that is true and if you like doing that, open world TS3 style is a problem. Ambitions vs GTW shows this (I only play Ambitions careers when I only have one sim to take care of, this simply does work better in the TS4 set up). I wonder though if it might be possible to find some kind of compromise there. It would make a huge difference if they at least would allow us to give sims staying at home instructions they would perform in the background in TS4. When I first heard about Sims 4 I was very enthousiastic, because we didn't know back then how small the neighborhoods were going to be, we didn't know every lot was seperated by a loading screen and we didn't know there was no way of controlling sims we didn't choose to follow. Back then the set up sounded like the best of both worlds to me. In reality though they didn't take the best of neither Sims 2 or 3 in this respect.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
TS3 has backdrops you place them yourself while in CAW. They are moutains etc. at a far distance once you have routed the world to where Sims can travel. They are layers upon a layer to hide all that white backdrop and to hide where the world's edge ends etc. The difference in that and TS4 is these are right next to your Sim's house...how about more space for played lots, and a lot less backdrop and if any backdrop then at a greater distance away from your Sims.
Well then you just want playable area outside of the lots? That has NOTHING to do with not being able to explore backdrops, lol. That has to do with the world size. If you have a small world, and the backdrops are RIGHT BEHIND the lot, then not a lot of playable area outside pf the lot will be able to be given to you.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real .
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real .
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
But that is the whole point of backdrops.. YOU CAN'T VISIT THEM. They are for scenery purposes. If you could GO TO THE BACKDROPS, what would be behind them? Just white space. Do you really want that?
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
How do you know the backdrop sacrifices gameplay? And everything added to the game sacrifices SOMETHING. If the developers decided to add in seasons, they are using those resources that could have been spent on preteens or something else, so that would be sacrificed. And the whole point of BACKDROPS is that YOU CANNOT GO IN THEM. IT IS FOR SCENERY AND FOR LOOKS. Would you rather have just a blank, white backdrop?
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
You are missing my point entirely I'm afraid.
Then what else would you like? An ocean you can't swim in? A mountain you can't climb? What is the difference between a mountain you can't climb and a building you can't explore?
As I have said earlier, backdrops are pretty yes. But as others have said also, it's a painful reminder looking out over the sims 4 world and again I will use San Myshuno as an example and seeing beautiful buildings. But these are all for show, I can't interact with them in any way nor do they serve any other purpose than trying to create an illusion. I feel for example there is more illusion of a city than actual city game play in a San Myshuno. When I play Bridgeport for example almost every building outside my sims window is an actual building they can visit. None of them are set dressing. I still get the illusion of being in a big city but because there are far less back drops it feels more immersive. It feels more like a city.
I would personally have more of a playable world than back drops. I like other on this thread, like to explore and when I see back drops I feel sad because it just reminds me it's just for show and show alone. It's a reminder of a limitation. I would like to see as Cinebar says lights going off and on at certain times rather than just static buildings around. It really does help immersion.
I agree with Joanne65 open world all the way for 5- no loading screens, no rabbit holes, no disappearing into the void. A proper Sims game.
I don't mind rabbitholes as such actually I do mind them when they are used out of 'laziness', standing in the way of potential awesome gameplay (prom, restaurant, shop and ridingschool come to mind). So I'd love a Skyrim kind of system. Open world galore, but for certain lots - visible from the outside though - a loading screen (the purely functional lots like city hall, school and some of the careers can stay rabbithole afaic).
A lot of those are actually because Open World limits how lots vary. When they explained the Rugs for the Savvy Seller Collection, they explained because the lots don't load separately, all lots are coded the same. So they had to use rugs which served as coding for the objects above to be have differently. I imagine it literally wouldn't be possible for them to have packs like Get To Work, Dine Out etc. that change the way the game plays.
Because you couldn't seamlessly switch from running a Restaurant to not and then back again. The game would have to change modes which would need to change how the whole game performs, which I'm guessing would require a loading screen.
I think Rabbit Holes weren't really laziness, but more a case of EA running into limitations of how these lots would work, because they can't code the lot any differently, all gameplay was based on object coding and attraction.
World Adventures alone proves you wrong there. I wouldn't mind an open world with loading screens leading you to such lots though, if it would be easier. Just not to each and every lot.
I don't hate backdrops as such by the way, of course they are inevitable. I do hate when backdrops limit gameplay though. I don't mind my sim in 3 can't travel to the empty mountains in the far back. I do mind they can't cross the bridge to go to those houses. I would mind less if they could at least go there through a loading screen but they can't. The house doesn't exist, it's just a painting. It's like Pinocchio's Gepetto painting a fireplace on his wall with a boiling pot over it, pretending to be cooking a meal because he's too poor to afford it.
Okay. Have a big world then with just white space in the background. It is like having a big stage when seeing a play, but no backdrop, just the back of the theater.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real .
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
But that is the whole point of backdrops.. YOU CAN'T VISIT THEM. They are for scenery purposes. If you could GO TO THE BACKDROPS, what would be behind them? Just white space. Do you really want that?
I don't think you fully understand what I'm exactly explaining. Like I said, time after time in that exact post. It's not the backdrops the simmers feel sad about. It's the overall serious focus on them. The same amount of focus they could have had on making an actual beach lot.
Like I said in my post, we still don't have beaches where we can go to. There's not many lots for housing (newcrest helped but even by now most of the lots for simmers are full) and we can't customize those choices. Yet it feels like they use the backdrops as "full" fillers for those things.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real .
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
Yes that's all I'm trying to say.
Back drops are fine but I kinda feel with the sims 4 there's too much backdrop and not enough playable space.
What is wrong with pretty backdrops being A focus though? If backdrops are impressive, people will be talking about them, lol. It is just, some people say, "NO BACKDROPS" and all of that nonsense.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real .
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
But that is the whole point of backdrops.. YOU CAN'T VISIT THEM. They are for scenery purposes. If you could GO TO THE BACKDROPS, what would be behind them? Just white space. Do you really want that?
I don't think you fully understand what I'm exactly explaining. Like I said, time after time in that exact post. It's not the backdrops the simmers feel sad about. It's the overall serious focus on them. The same amount of focus they could have had on making an actual beach lot.
Like I said in my post, we still don't have beaches where we can go to. There's not many lots for housing and we can't customize those choices. Yet it feels like they use the backdrops as "full" fillers for those things.
I don't think there is a big focus of backdrops. It is just, the world is closed and split into hoods, so it SEEMS like more backdrops than actual lots a lot of the time, since you can't see the rest of the world. Without A focus on backdrops though, we would have white space in the background. I would rather have what we have RN than a big world with just white space in the background.
I don't like open world. I like to leave Sims and go play a different Sim, and not 'worry' about them, true TS3 Sims take care of themselves and if you told them to skill etc. they are still doing that when you get back (sometimes) but sometimes I get sick of the whole bunch and just want to go off with one, and explore their life, one at a time without the other running back home etc.
What I do like is open neighborhood, in smaller sections, but then the neighbors would probably never be home, lol, I doubt it would work the way I wanted it to work so all the games have their pros and cons and why modders improve them one way or the other.
Then stop worrying about them, they really don't need you. Focus on that one sim and leave the rest. Sims 3's open world may have its flaws but that aspect they took care of properly.
I'm a micromanager, I can't help it. If I see a red icon I have to check it out. I had Sims run back home (their motives were just fine) when I took several to places to enjoy. I have little patience with Sims, I have killed them for a lot less. It's just a personal choice. Open world and Story Progression were a huge turn off to me, after about six months, when TS3 was first released. We didn't have any toggles back then to turn it off etc. It did get better over the years, and I don't like completely closed world anymore, but I play four to eight Sims for years in these games so sometimes I need some of them out of my hair...away. They all have their pluses and minuses though, I like them all for different reasons.
Yes, I believe turning off SP was bugged in the beginning of TS3? That, added to the fact people were used to no SP in Sims 2, must have been extra annoying for rotational players and micromanagers. I do understand what you mean by the way. It is different when I play a sim at home (surrounded by family) or in some tomb all by him/herself. But I notice I get more and more relaxed concerning this because they do take care of themselves.
It's not possible to micromanage them all, that is true and if you like doing that, open world TS3 style is a problem. Ambitions vs GTW shows this (I only play Ambitions careers when I only have one sim to take care of, this simply does work better in the TS4 set up). I wonder though if it might be possible to find some kind of compromise there. It would make a huge difference if they at least would allow us to give sims staying at home instructions they would perform in the background in TS4. When I first heard about Sims 4 I was very enthousiastic, because we didn't know back then how small the neighborhoods were going to be, we didn't know every lot was seperated by a loading screen and we didn't know there was no way of controlling sims we didn't choose to follow. Back then the set up sounded like the best of both worlds to me. In reality though they didn't take the best of neither Sims 2 or 3 in this respect.
Oh, I have my gripes for closed world systems, too. Like still in pjs when your controlled Sim returns home from work or out on town etc. Sims still in pjs, haven't cleaned up in TS1, TS2 or TS4, lol. I'm always willing to compromise what would make sense, like yes, I told you to learn how to cook while I'm gone, rofl, now darn it why didn't you do it? lol And yes, an open system within a district makes more sense to me than a closed one since it is 2017. Maybe the three closest houses all open like in TS3 (still have to knock on door to visit) etc. only a loading screen between districts. Or like The Sims Medieval totally open world but you can't see inside and not rendering them until you click 'look at' then you can see into any building and click stuff for your Sims to go do there.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I love Open World, so that's where my vote goes. Now for the people are saying they don't want open world because of lag, error 12, poor optimisation, I don't think anyone wants that. Try imagining an open world without all of those things and then rethink the question.
I don't get this whole white space argument *scratches head* I'm currently in game at in the University world and most everywhere I can see, my Sim can get there.
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Err my husband used to play Skyrim at a time where we didn't have internet connection. I'm pretty sure it's an offline game
Background scenery is important but it shouldn't be at the sacrifice of gameplay. I mean yes that building over there is pretty but it frustrates me that i can't go up to it and go in it, it's just there for photographs and to provide the illusion, but sometimes it's not enough.
Why are you shouting?
I've already explained about backdrops and that it wouldn't bother me when I play closed world games if my sims have no back drop around them.
We aren't talking about seasons or preteens. It's my opinion that I would rather have a more interactive world than a world that is more set dressing than playable. That's all.
It would be nicer if that bridge was a neighborhood object Sims could actually cross and you coud actually pick it up and place anywhere in your world as you draw the road leading to it...that's better than a row of houses across the street that never turn their lights off, because they are stagnant...never changing. Ever wonder why those immaginary people who live across from the library never switch all those lights off? I do. A little more immersion might have been to have a few lit, like someone is actually home, then one or two turning off at twelve, like someone left or went to bed....just sayin'. I had Sims living across from them in WC, pretty, but like looking back at a blank stare.
The lights are on, but no one's home...~~~ lol, and another thought like a horror movie, why is no one using the sidewalk across the street where that row of houses set? No, don't cross the street! Don't go there! Don't follow the lights. ROFL.
That's what I mean.
Great. So lets have some white space in the background of our worlds.
You are missing my point entirely I'm afraid.
Then what else would you like? An ocean you can't swim in? A mountain you can't climb? What is the difference between a mountain you can't climb and a building you can't explore?
Worlds in The Sims 3 had a 'distant terrain' object that honestly serves the same purpose as the backdrops in Sims 4. The 'playable area' did not extend to the border of the map in any world, nor did the camera. There was a point of collision between the DT object and the terrain that hid the connection.
Bridgeport wasn't an island, it was a peninsula. The distant terrain wraps around the side making the 'ocean' more of a gulf and continues backward.
I don't know what you were doing to see nothing but oceans in Sims 3, because that's not possible using the standard camera mode. Sure you can see that using camera-man mode and scrolling to the unroutable edges of the map, but you can see the same thing in 4 except it's not ocean it's nothing because Sims 4's world(s) are floating decorative pieces assembled to look like a world.
TS3 has backdrops you place them yourself while in CAW. They are moutains etc. at a far distance once you have routed the world to where Sims can travel. They are layers upon a layer to hide all that white backdrop and to hide where the world's edge ends etc. The difference in that and TS4 is these are right next to your Sim's house...how about more space for played lots, and a lot less backdrop and if any backdrop then at a greater distance away from your Sims.
It's not possible to micromanage them all, that is true and if you like doing that, open world TS3 style is a problem. Ambitions vs GTW shows this (I only play Ambitions careers when I only have one sim to take care of, this simply does work better in the TS4 set up). I wonder though if it might be possible to find some kind of compromise there. It would make a huge difference if they at least would allow us to give sims staying at home instructions they would perform in the background in TS4. When I first heard about Sims 4 I was very enthousiastic, because we didn't know back then how small the neighborhoods were going to be, we didn't know every lot was seperated by a loading screen and we didn't know there was no way of controlling sims we didn't choose to follow. Back then the set up sounded like the best of both worlds to me. In reality though they didn't take the best of neither Sims 2 or 3 in this respect.
Well then you just want playable area outside of the lots? That has NOTHING to do with not being able to explore backdrops, lol. That has to do with the world size. If you have a small world, and the backdrops are RIGHT BEHIND the lot, then not a lot of playable area outside pf the lot will be able to be given to you.
Well like I said in my last post. Wouldn't you rather go to the beach than see it? It's not necessarily the backdrop, it's the fact that we still can't go there. Which leads to another question that would eventually arise, "Why isn't there a beach yet?" and then other questions arise. and the simmer comes to the conclusion of "If they can paint it? Are they at least looking into putting it in the actual game?"
So It's not a "No backdrops", I just think some of us would simply like to go to those pretty places they paint. Honestly I've never really been excited for a backdrop, it's cute but it doesn't really get me excited. But I'm more interested in if/when they actually put those things in the game.
Like that pretty place on the side of willow creek that we can't go to (by the fairies)....or those 'other houses we can't use. Like I said it's cute and it does make the neighborhood look fuller, but in all honesty I could have actually used those lots for more of my families if those lots were real
That's just my little view on it though. So in a way, even though the backdrops are nice, I'd rather it not be the "full" focus because I'd also like to go to some of those places (in some way).
But that is the whole point of backdrops.. YOU CAN'T VISIT THEM. They are for scenery purposes. If you could GO TO THE BACKDROPS, what would be behind them? Just white space. Do you really want that?
As I have said earlier, backdrops are pretty yes. But as others have said also, it's a painful reminder looking out over the sims 4 world and again I will use San Myshuno as an example and seeing beautiful buildings. But these are all for show, I can't interact with them in any way nor do they serve any other purpose than trying to create an illusion. I feel for example there is more illusion of a city than actual city game play in a San Myshuno. When I play Bridgeport for example almost every building outside my sims window is an actual building they can visit. None of them are set dressing. I still get the illusion of being in a big city but because there are far less back drops it feels more immersive. It feels more like a city.
I would personally have more of a playable world than back drops. I like other on this thread, like to explore and when I see back drops I feel sad because it just reminds me it's just for show and show alone. It's a reminder of a limitation. I would like to see as Cinebar says lights going off and on at certain times rather than just static buildings around. It really does help immersion.
I don't hate backdrops as such by the way, of course they are inevitable. I do hate when backdrops limit gameplay though. I don't mind my sim in 3 can't travel to the empty mountains in the far back. I do mind they can't cross the bridge to go to those houses. I would mind less if they could at least go there through a loading screen but they can't. The house doesn't exist, it's just a painting. It's like Pinocchio's Gepetto painting a fireplace on his wall with a boiling pot over it, pretending to be cooking a meal because he's too poor to afford it.
I don't think you fully understand what I'm exactly explaining. Like I said, time after time in that exact post. It's not the backdrops the simmers feel sad about. It's the overall serious focus on them. The same amount of focus they could have had on making an actual beach lot.
Like I said in my post, we still don't have beaches where we can go to. There's not many lots for housing (newcrest helped but even by now most of the lots for simmers are full) and we can't customize those choices. Yet it feels like they use the backdrops as "full" fillers for those things.
Yes that's all I'm trying to say.
Back drops are fine but I kinda feel with the sims 4 there's too much backdrop and not enough playable space.
I don't think there is a big focus of backdrops. It is just, the world is closed and split into hoods, so it SEEMS like more backdrops than actual lots a lot of the time, since you can't see the rest of the world. Without A focus on backdrops though, we would have white space in the background. I would rather have what we have RN than a big world with just white space in the background.
Oh, I have my gripes for closed world systems, too. Like still in pjs when your controlled Sim returns home from work or out on town etc. Sims still in pjs, haven't cleaned up in TS1, TS2 or TS4, lol. I'm always willing to compromise what would make sense, like yes, I told you to learn how to cook while I'm gone, rofl, now darn it why didn't you do it? lol And yes, an open system within a district makes more sense to me than a closed one since it is 2017. Maybe the three closest houses all open like in TS3 (still have to knock on door to visit) etc. only a loading screen between districts. Or like The Sims Medieval totally open world but you can't see inside and not rendering them until you click 'look at' then you can see into any building and click stuff for your Sims to go do there.
I don't get this whole white space argument *scratches head* I'm currently in game at in the University world and most everywhere I can see, my Sim can get there.