The only way I can ever see a mall/upgraded retail aspect added to the game is if they update Get to Work, and I don't think they update old content in terms of large scale game play. I also seriously doubt they would make a whole new Mall system for a new pack, as I could see it not being all too different from the retail system we currently have. Maybe they can update the retail system we have now so things like food vendors automatically fill up with someone working there, and maybe even upping the maximum employee count, but again I doubt it.
And groceries, because I don't think I've ever seen groceries in a mall
Really?
Every mall I've ever been to has at least one major supermarket in it.
I live in a tiny city, and there's only one mall here, and it has two large supermarkets, one at each end.
I thought the purpose of a mall was for one-stop shopping.
Maybe I just never noticed, because whenever I went to a mall it wasn't for groceries. In the game, I like to keep my grocery stores separate from the mall. It's hard enough trying to cram the other store types in.
I only would like it if it would change your current system (with the magic dresser) into a system like we still had in Sims 2,
where you had to buy everything, including your outfits
I actually liked that you had to buy your clothes and other personal things (like MP3 players for jogging) and not automatically had them available for free
I think it would require too much overlap with the Get to work expansion, which already gives you shops and the ability to sell clothes. I'd love to see a few more commercial lot types though, things like hair salons, and maybe some kind of way to combine lot types. We might not be able to make a fully functioning mall (though I got pretty close with what we already have), but combining lot types could make one lot work as both retail and restaurant, for example.
Yes, thats a problem. THey cant be expanding on expansion packs. They should have included retail stores and pets in the base game to be able to do what they really want.
Very unlikely to happen in TS4 as large lots filled with tons of objects are bad for performance. The simulation lag would be awful as autonomy calculation would need to take everything in every shop into account at once. The current 20 Sims per zone limit is also way low for a mall. I mean, 20 probably isn’t even enough for the number of employees a decent sized mall needs. Spas in Spa Day aleady have like 6 employees at once.
Its could work if they made it kinda like San Myshune, with the fake apartments. They would just have to make a big mall shell and place lots inside of it were we could be able to place stuff, but without changing the mall layout.
No more useless shells,please. I already hate the current apartments because the shells prevent you from editing them...why not just have mulit-purpose lots again so people can build them wherever they want and edit them to their tastes, not EA's tastes.
We already have Magnolia Promenade which fills the same purpose. It's not all in one shell building, but it is in one plaza with no street running though it.
The large lot could be a big box store that sells furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. Everything for a home.
One of the middle sized ones could be a toy store (and hobbies if we get a hobby pack).
The other of the middle sized one could be a clothing store.
The small one could be a bakery/cupcake shop or cafe.
The problem is that no one seems to want to utilize MP and I'd be afraid that a shell mall store that we can't edit outside would get even less play.
We already have Magnolia Promenade which fills the same purpose. It's not all in one shell building, but it is in one plaza with no street running though it.
The large lot could be a big box store that sells furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. Everything for a home.
One of the middle sized ones could be a toy store (and hobbies if we get a hobby pack).
The other of the middle sized one could be a clothing store.
The small one could be a bakery/cupcake shop or cafe.
The problem is that no one seems to want to utilize MP and I'd be afraid that a shell mall store that we can't edit outside would get even less play.
With all due respect, a shopping street is not the same as a shopping mall.
I would love it if TS4 had a designated shopping mall venue. That would finally mean that all the different NPC spawners could be put on the same lot and actually work -- multiple food kiosks, bookstores, bars, cafes, clothing stores, bowling alleys, restaurants, art galleries, etc., all on one lot would be magnificent. Especially in a game where there is not enough real estate to begin with.
Not to mention, if all of those things were on one lot, there would be no need for loading screens between each store.
We already have Magnolia Promenade which fills the same purpose. It's not all in one shell building, but it is in one plaza with no street running though it.
The large lot could be a big box store that sells furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. Everything for a home.
One of the middle sized ones could be a toy store (and hobbies if we get a hobby pack).
The other of the middle sized one could be a clothing store.
The small one could be a bakery/cupcake shop or cafe.
The problem is that no one seems to want to utilize MP and I'd be afraid that a shell mall store that we can't edit outside would get even less play.
With all due respect, a shopping street is not the same as a shopping mall.
I would love it if TS4 had a designated shopping mall venue. That would finally mean that all the different NPC spawners could be put on the same lot and actually work -- multiple food kiosks, bookstores, bars, cafes, clothing stores, bowling alleys, restaurants, art galleries, etc., all on one lot would be magnificent. Especially in a game where there is not enough real estate to begin with.
Not to mention, if all of those things were on one lot, there would be no need for loading screens between each store.
With all due respect to you, you can build a "mall" and divide it up into different stores. As many stores as you like, but it would still be considered one store on one lot. You can place a food cart(s) in your store, however, currently, you must pay for someone to man it. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.
Also, you would be limited to a max of three clerks per lot, so a huge mall divided into stores would be a waste because sims will congregate in one or two spots near the register no matter how big your store is. If a sim does wander off to purchase something far from the register, if you see them, by the time your clerk reaches them, they are angry and walking off in a huff. Retail is meant for small shops, not huge malls.
If they gave us a mall building shell with several separate lots inside it (similar to apartments in CL but horizontal) they would still be separate lots with loading screens. Plus, with the limited number of lots allowed in a world, a third to a half of your lots are in one spot. However, the numbers tell the devs that retail isn't played enough to warrant building a mall of any kind, so we are back to MP.
I wouldn't mind if it came as a part of a large patch for GTW and all the other packs, sorting out the glitches caused by adding more Expansions, every Expansion pack getting a bonus for those of us who actually bought them. We need some perks!
There's already an option to open up a retail store, but I'd personally like them to bring things like grocery stores back since it's boring ordering things online as you get them instantly and it's no fun.
With all due respect to you, you can build a "mall" and divide it up into different stores. As many stores as you like, but it would still be considered one store on one lot. You can place a food cart(s) in your store, however, currently, you must pay for someone to man it. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.
Also, you would be limited to a max of three clerks per lot, so a huge mall divided into stores would be a waste because sims will congregate in one or two spots near the register no matter how big your store is. If a sim does wander off to purchase something far from the register, if you see them, by the time your clerk reaches them, they are angry and walking off in a huff. Retail is meant for small shops, not huge malls.
If they gave us a mall building shell with several separate lots inside it (similar to apartments in CL but horizontal) they would still be separate lots with loading screens. Plus, with the limited number of lots allowed in a world, a third to a half of your lots are in one spot. However, the numbers tell the devs that retail isn't played enough to warrant building a mall of any kind, so we are back to MP.
You assume a lot in the bolded portion. If a shopping mall venue were created, what makes you think that the present restrictions would remain? New features should and do mean adjustments to preexisting norms.
My whole reason for wanting a shopping mall venue is so that those restrictions will be abolished. IIRC, since the original game, TS4 is the only game in the series to be so restrictive regarding NPC spawn points. In addition, the community has been begging for proper cash registers and queues. (The way that sales are made now probably has a lot to do with why retail isn't so popular as it was in TS2.) A shopping mall venue would be a prime opportunity for EA to create cash register objects and to allow a register for each "store".
Finally, a shopping mall shouldn't have loading screens between stores. A shopping mall with loading screens would be anathema to the entire idea of a mall in the first place.
I was able to build functioning malls for TS2 and TS3. If it was possible over a decade ago, if the team is willing to put in the work, it should be a possibility now.
As for shells, I'm opposed to any kind of shell that resembles what we got in CL. I want options of how malls look and where they are located. Shells like those that were introduced in CL won't provide either option.
No, But I would like to see another City World, this time with a Downtown, Town Square area.
that way you could have all these retail, restaurants, and other venues.
I'd want probably 10-11 lots Sort of a Central Park set up, on a smaller scale. Central Park as the Central Hub, and 3 lots on the east and west sides of it. a bay/ocean to the south, and three lots to the north, "Main Street" side of the park, and then a penthouse overlooking it all.
My concern: Wouldn’t a big lot with tons of stores cause some lag?
I think a retail neighborhood with different stores is something we can already do. Maybe a new downtown shopping city?
ETA: Just have packs add more stuff our sims can sell, so we can more types of stores? A mall is pretty much a bunch of stores (with some stalls and some small events like visiting Santa and stuff like that) all connected together with hallways. I think a shopping city or a big house with multiple floors could make up for that.
With all due respect to you, you can build a "mall" and divide it up into different stores. As many stores as you like, but it would still be considered one store on one lot. You can place a food cart(s) in your store, however, currently, you must pay for someone to man it. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.
Also, you would be limited to a max of three clerks per lot, so a huge mall divided into stores would be a waste because sims will congregate in one or two spots near the register no matter how big your store is. If a sim does wander off to purchase something far from the register, if you see them, by the time your clerk reaches them, they are angry and walking off in a huff. Retail is meant for small shops, not huge malls.
If they gave us a mall building shell with several separate lots inside it (similar to apartments in CL but horizontal) they would still be separate lots with loading screens. Plus, with the limited number of lots allowed in a world, a third to a half of your lots are in one spot. However, the numbers tell the devs that retail isn't played enough to warrant building a mall of any kind, so we are back to MP.
You assume a lot in the bolded portion. If a shopping mall venue were created, what makes you think that the present restrictions would remain? New features should and do mean adjustments to preexisting norms.
My whole reason for wanting a shopping mall venue is so that those restrictions will be abolished. IIRC, since the original game, TS4 is the only game in the series to be so restrictive regarding NPC spawn points. In addition, the community has been begging for proper cash registers and queues. (The way that sales are made now probably has a lot to do with why retail isn't so popular as it was in TS2.) A shopping mall venue would be a prime opportunity for EA to create cash register objects and to allow a register for each "store".
Finally, a shopping mall shouldn't have loading screens between stores. A shopping mall with loading screens would be anathema to the entire idea of a mall in the first place.
I was able to build functioning malls for TS2 and TS3. If it was possible over a decade ago, if the team is willing to put in the work, it should be a possibility now.
As for shells, I'm opposed to any kind of shell that resembles what we got in CL. I want options of how malls look and where they are located. Shells like those that were introduced in CL won't provide either option.
The emboldened text is not assumptions, it is, however, based on my own experience and how retail works in this game.
I tried building a huge department store with three levels and setting many things for sale. The slowness of the checkout process along with the large store size and distance clerks needed to travel, it simply didn't work. The retail system is set up for shops, not departments stores or malls.
As for loading screens, in this version, a loading screen is needed to go from one lot to another. That's just a fact and not going to change in this version. It doesn't matter what we could or couldn't do in S2 and S3, this is S4 and completely different. If, after four years that's not apparent, then it never will be.
All this is mute because, as I said, retail in not the game barn burner they would have hoped it would be, so I don't see them recreating it to please the very few that use it.
I'd love to see a shopping mall expansion! I would also find it cool if there was a materials store to purchase items for crafting etc, like the stalls on the CL expansion :)
I don’t know if I would buy a mall pack. All clothes are already free so I don’t see what it would really add without heavily overlapping GTW’s retail. In general the game needs some multipurpose lots. A lot type where you can merge the functions of 2-4 different lot types. This would benefit retail by adding in a better format for mall making.
I don't think I would buy a whole game pack just to get a shopping mall, but I would certainly love to see more shopping items and activities in the game. My opinion of GTW is that the retail side was quite well done from the POV of the retailer, but was not properly considered from the POV of the shopper. I used to love to send my sims out shopping in Sims 1, because they had fun browsing the various displays, would do this autonomously, and they could buy things that were not already available in CAS or BB. It was a fun and worthwhile activity. Shopping in Sims 4 is pretty meh. I agree, though, that it would be a lot better if we could have multiple-use venues and vendors that would spawn automatically on these lots.
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Maybe I just never noticed, because whenever I went to a mall it wasn't for groceries. In the game, I like to keep my grocery stores separate from the mall. It's hard enough trying to cram the other store types in.
where you had to buy everything, including your outfits
I actually liked that you had to buy your clothes and other personal things (like MP3 players for jogging) and not automatically had them available for free
Yes, thats a problem. THey cant be expanding on expansion packs. They should have included retail stores and pets in the base game to be able to do what they really want.
Its could work if they made it kinda like San Myshune, with the fake apartments. They would just have to make a big mall shell and place lots inside of it were we could be able to place stuff, but without changing the mall layout.
The large lot could be a big box store that sells furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. Everything for a home.
One of the middle sized ones could be a toy store (and hobbies if we get a hobby pack).
The other of the middle sized one could be a clothing store.
The small one could be a bakery/cupcake shop or cafe.
The problem is that no one seems to want to utilize MP and I'd be afraid that a shell mall store that we can't edit outside would get even less play.
With all due respect, a shopping street is not the same as a shopping mall.
I would love it if TS4 had a designated shopping mall venue. That would finally mean that all the different NPC spawners could be put on the same lot and actually work -- multiple food kiosks, bookstores, bars, cafes, clothing stores, bowling alleys, restaurants, art galleries, etc., all on one lot would be magnificent. Especially in a game where there is not enough real estate to begin with.
Not to mention, if all of those things were on one lot, there would be no need for loading screens between each store.
With all due respect to you, you can build a "mall" and divide it up into different stores. As many stores as you like, but it would still be considered one store on one lot. You can place a food cart(s) in your store, however, currently, you must pay for someone to man it. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.
Also, you would be limited to a max of three clerks per lot, so a huge mall divided into stores would be a waste because sims will congregate in one or two spots near the register no matter how big your store is. If a sim does wander off to purchase something far from the register, if you see them, by the time your clerk reaches them, they are angry and walking off in a huff. Retail is meant for small shops, not huge malls.
If they gave us a mall building shell with several separate lots inside it (similar to apartments in CL but horizontal) they would still be separate lots with loading screens. Plus, with the limited number of lots allowed in a world, a third to a half of your lots are in one spot. However, the numbers tell the devs that retail isn't played enough to warrant building a mall of any kind, so we are back to MP.
so no
You assume a lot in the bolded portion. If a shopping mall venue were created, what makes you think that the present restrictions would remain? New features should and do mean adjustments to preexisting norms.
My whole reason for wanting a shopping mall venue is so that those restrictions will be abolished. IIRC, since the original game, TS4 is the only game in the series to be so restrictive regarding NPC spawn points. In addition, the community has been begging for proper cash registers and queues. (The way that sales are made now probably has a lot to do with why retail isn't so popular as it was in TS2.) A shopping mall venue would be a prime opportunity for EA to create cash register objects and to allow a register for each "store".
Finally, a shopping mall shouldn't have loading screens between stores. A shopping mall with loading screens would be anathema to the entire idea of a mall in the first place.
I was able to build functioning malls for TS2 and TS3. If it was possible over a decade ago, if the team is willing to put in the work, it should be a possibility now.
As for shells, I'm opposed to any kind of shell that resembles what we got in CL. I want options of how malls look and where they are located. Shells like those that were introduced in CL won't provide either option.
that way you could have all these retail, restaurants, and other venues.
I'd want probably 10-11 lots Sort of a Central Park set up, on a smaller scale. Central Park as the Central Hub, and 3 lots on the east and west sides of it. a bay/ocean to the south, and three lots to the north, "Main Street" side of the park, and then a penthouse overlooking it all.
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I think a retail neighborhood with different stores is something we can already do. Maybe a new downtown shopping city?
ETA: Just have packs add more stuff our sims can sell, so we can more types of stores? A mall is pretty much a bunch of stores (with some stalls and some small events like visiting Santa and stuff like that) all connected together with hallways. I think a shopping city or a big house with multiple floors could make up for that.
(She/her)
The emboldened text is not assumptions, it is, however, based on my own experience and how retail works in this game.
I tried building a huge department store with three levels and setting many things for sale. The slowness of the checkout process along with the large store size and distance clerks needed to travel, it simply didn't work. The retail system is set up for shops, not departments stores or malls.
As for loading screens, in this version, a loading screen is needed to go from one lot to another. That's just a fact and not going to change in this version. It doesn't matter what we could or couldn't do in S2 and S3, this is S4 and completely different. If, after four years that's not apparent, then it never will be.
All this is mute because, as I said, retail in not the game barn burner they would have hoped it would be, so I don't see them recreating it to please the very few that use it.