Sims 4 is so flawed that no efforts to repair it through Expansion packs, Game packs, and Stuff packs will ever succeed . Sims 4 is basically an updated version of Sims 2 , with none of the charm which Sims 2 possesses . Sims Mobile is simply Sims 4 translated to Mobile Devices , and involves exorbitantly high costs to fully enjoy . Sims Freeplay is a full on effort at extracting astronomical amounts of cash from users .
I luv Sims 3 !
You know I truly believe the disillusionment with the franchise overall would've never existed if they had thought to release each sims game generation in this order of logical progression:
TS1 <-- where all the madness of sims gaming addiction all began...
TS 2 <--adds family legacy concept from cradle to grave aka highly addictive 12hr gaming sessions non stop
TS 4 aka TS 2.5 <--adds superior and/or more intuitive sim customization CAS utility tool for both sims & pets alike. Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions. Ideally should NOT have removed prior gen content like ghosts & toddlers.....
TS 3 <-- benefits from all prior 3 generations of sims games like Sim's improved TS 2.5/TS4 multi tasking AI. Adds
vast/revolutionary improvement to the game mechanic i.e having the more realistic graphics, open & borderless world (to include the ocean/water bodies). Adds revolutionary new CAP/CAW and color wheel utilities. Adds ability to follow our sims off their lots & explore around the world in their cars, on foot/bicycle or yes HORSEBACK.
Releasing TS3 as 4th gen TS4 would've been the icing on the cake IMO. Less the pastel and forced cartoonish stylized look which is over the top TS2. That I immediately hated upon seeing that first trailer video. Because no one will ever convince me ST world could ever look superior with current TS 4 stylized graphics than the way it was when released in the TS3 store. TS3 graphics will ALWAYS beat TS4 based on this thread to date:
Why aren't there any HORSES in TS4 to date? When simmer modders added this as a WORKING FEATURE in farmhouse themed mod packs FFS? Seriously. This alone shows lack of progress i.e. de-evolution on part TS4 based on its current status to date.
TS4 is not a sims 1 or a sims 2 in a half. This is an other experience compared to the sims 3 and to the sims 2.
The sims 3 is an inner experience you embody your sims much more than before just because you have this freedom to go everywhere except inside rabbitholes that I hate but at least the sole improvement with that idea of rabbithole is we can see them, and we can interact with them. The sims as characters are amazing probably they are not the wonderful person physically spoken but their personalities are deeper than players think of.
The Sims 4 is you enjoy their life, just sit and watch almost ahaha, that's not a game you have to think a lot.
I think all of us who have decided to stay with TS3 have at some point considered TS4. Some of us have even tried to play TS4 but ultimately we have decided we prefer TS3. It is the closest of all the games to sandbox and we have real creative freedom. Admittedly some of the creative tools could do with improvement but the level of choice and customisation we already have is exceptional.
The physical freedom of the sims is a considerable part of the immersive element if TS3 and again I think it is enough for some TS3 players not to move on to a game which relies on loading screens. Talking about physical freedom one of my favourite things is seeing a witch flying along on a vacuum cleaner
I guess what I am trying to say is we all have things which bring us back to TS3 and some of them are not immediately obvious. I had forgotten how much I take the physical freedom of my sims fir granted and I know I could not do half the things I want in CAW without CASt.
Off to get some sleep but at least I have a date for my surgery now.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@Bettyboop55 I have never seen yet a witch riding a vacuum cleaner on my game but I saw them autonously cast a spell on people especially Karine she tends to like casting spell on people lol.
If I am always back it's because the sims 3 is special to me.
This is my universe, I built a story, I am attached to my Vallerians (not the sims of the original world), I changed Sunset Valley without the CAW because I understand nothing.
I love their personalities, there is always something to say about etc etc.
I just can't throw this to the bin just to follow the trend !
@Simsophonique you are not alone in loving TS3. There are a great many people here who do for a whole host of different reasons
o
I have a witch I created fairly recently and all she does is cast spells for bad apples. I shall keep her practicing. My witch who flies on a vacuum cleaner is high level. I don't know if that makes a difference or whether it is one of those random things the game does.
To redesign a world without using CAW is good going and it is great then having things exactly as you want them.
This game offers so much to a wide variety of players and makes it easy to move from one activity to another. It makes it possible for the player to take control of so much more of their sims lives, from how they look, their traits to the world they live in and the wall paper they have in their sitting room. For many of us giving up that level of control is not an option and therefore moving on to something else is not an option.
Anyway I must rest as ordered. You might want to post some of your pics of your redesigned Sunset Valley in the I still Love Scenery thread. People really enjoy seeing what others simmers have done with EA worlds.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@Bettyboop55: haha I am died. If your witch sleeping apple is benevolant, she casts the spell on pink apple when she is tired, or not in a good mood. If she is malevolant she casts the spell autonomously. The sleeping apple can be converted but their qualities as fertilizer is rotten.
Karine my witch is liking spelling cast of Luck. My simself always has the whim to cast the fire and the ice spell. Some witches and wizards are silent.
Rare are the SN who shows publicly they are special. Probably the difference between the broom and the vaccuum is the speed.
You are right about the game I just watched a video on youtube and I learn things I ignore. Do you know about the transmutation? omg !!
Almost 7 years of gameplay I never seen that ahaha.
There are too much stuffs this game hide and you want to see me goodbye to that? Now we got new toddlers animation on MTS3 and finally the todds that plays with the toilet ahaha.
@simsophonique nobody needs to move on if they have all they want from TS3. Most of us have given other games a great deal of thought and have decided to remain with TS3. Some do play both TS3 and 4 quite happily and others alternate with games outside the franchise. We all have our own ways of playing. We are lucky with the level of content we have with TS3 and that is before you take into account all the CC. That alone is a good reason not to move on.
Supernatural is one of my favourite packs and it has a lot a more than is immediately obvious. Did you know about casting a spell on the wardrobe? I learned about that through the forum.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@Bettyboop55 I have been thinking about what you said earlier when I said they should make an open world again but not as big as in the sims 3 to which you responded that a lot of simmers seem to want bigger. All I can say to them is that throughout the years I have come to expect less from the devs cause to me they have proven that they are not capable to achieve that. I would rather have a no loading screen town like pleasantview size that is stable and lag free and without routing errors than a huge world that craps on itselft with routing errors and lag. Also, there would be less empty spaces with no purpose in a more compact town:)
When I got TS3 and launched it for the first time I was amazed at the open world. It is one of the biggest reasons why I love TS3 so much more than TS2. To me the big empty spaces do serve a purpose, they provide a gorgeous landscape for my sims. Whenever I got a new world I would send my sim out to explore, not entirely without purpose because they would be looking for collectibles as well. The I love scenery thread is one of my favourite threads on the forum. So you see we are coming from opposite directions. I will say it can slow the gameplay, Sunlit Tides is particularly bad for that and some worlds the routing is totally plum, namely Isla Paradiso. However other clever simmers have come up with fixes and I am about to investigate one such which uses no mods.
As for bigger worlds I'm pretty content with the size they are now but we do have a lot of creatives who want to take bigger. I can't really comment on the current devs other than to say, with a few notable exceptions, most were not around when the worlds and the CAW tool were being created. Maybe that is part of the explanation as to why the open world system was junked from TS4. Given what you have said about TS4 performance maybe creating quick loading screens might be an issue as well ?
What I have seen from my nephew's Assassin's Creed is the scenery opening up in front of the avatar when he is out on the street and closing behind him as he moves along. I have absolutely no idea what this is called but suggest it might be a compromise which suits you while allowing others to create/use the bigger world they want. Perhaps it could be part of the optimisation ? Either way it remains academic for the moment. The company has not expressed any interest in making an upgrade for TS3. So we have TS3 with open worlds for now.
Absolutely that (bold), for me as well. Plus I think it’s awesome you can place new lots almost eveywhere you want to.
Sims 4 is so flawed that no efforts to repair it through Expansion packs, Game packs, and Stuff packs will ever succeed . Sims 4 is basically an updated version of Sims 2 , with none of the charm which Sims 2 possesses . Sims Mobile is simply Sims 4 translated to Mobile Devices , and involves exorbitantly high costs to fully enjoy . Sims Freeplay is a full on effort at extracting astronomical amounts of cash from users .
I luv Sims 3 !
You know I truly believe the disillusionment with the franchise overall would've never existed if they had thought to release each sims game generation in this order of logical progression:
TS1 <-- where all the madness of sims gaming addiction all began...
TS 2 <--adds family legacy concept from cradle to grave aka highly addictive 12hr gaming sessions non stop
TS 4 aka TS 2.5 <--adds superior and/or more intuitive sim customization CAS utility tool for both sims & pets alike. Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions. Ideally should NOT have removed prior gen content like ghosts & toddlers.....
TS 3 <-- benefits from all prior 3 generations of sims games like Sim's improved TS 2.5/TS4 multi tasking AI. Adds
vast/revolutionary improvement to the game mechanic i.e having the more realistic graphics, open & borderless world (to include the ocean/water bodies). Adds revolutionary new CAP/CAW and color wheel utilities. Adds ability to follow our sims off their lots & explore around the world in their cars, on foot/bicycle or yes HORSEBACK.
Releasing TS3 as 4th gen TS4 would've been the icing on the cake IMO. Less the pastel and forced cartoonish stylized look which is over the top TS2. That I immediately hated upon seeing that first trailer video. Because no one will ever convince me ST world could ever look superior with current TS 4 stylized graphics than the way it was when released in the TS3 store. TS3 graphics will ALWAYS beat TS4 based on this thread to date:
Why aren't there any HORSES in TS4 to date? When simmer modders added this as a WORKING FEATURE in farmhouse themed mod packs FFS? Seriously. This alone shows lack of progress i.e. de-evolution on part TS4 based on its current status to date.
*headdesk*
“Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions.”
The multitasking system is anything but seamless. It’s nothing but a system that forces your sim to do two things in turns. Like, when I order my sim to make a cocktail and dance to the music, they start making a cocktail. Then they stop making the cocktail and ‘dance’ (meaning they wiggle for a bit). Then they stop wiggling and continue mixing. Stop the mixing and wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Etcetera, endlessly, it takes hours and for me it’s mainly very very boring to look at. Or silly, when the ‘multitasking’ forces them to take their bowl of cereals outside and get the mail (the bowl disappears in thin air while opening the mailbox).
And as for emotions: sims have emotions in all the games. The difference is that in Sims 1, 2 and 3 those emotions are caused by what other sims do to them, or by what happens to them (like losing the lottery or being cheated on by their spouse). In Sims 4 emotions are triggered by auras, which means they can get totally flirty by passing by a waterfall or taking a shower. And it will make them jump on every sim they meet. When they are angry, they are angry with everybody. Unlike the other games where a sim can be angry with just the one person that made them angry.
I recently moved on from 3 to 4, The biggest and most important (to me) change i notice is performance, Even with a bunch of CC SIms 4 runs a alot smoother.
I recently moved on from 3 to 4, The biggest and most important (to me) change i notice is performance, Even with a bunch of CC SIms 4 runs a alot smoother.
Glad you are enjoying TS4 and that the experience is a positive one for you.
Can I ask if it was the poor performance of TS3 which motivated you into moving on to TS4 ? If an upgraded TS3 was offered which gives a smoother performance would you be interested or have you burnt your bridges ?
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@JoAnne65 we seem always to come back to open worlds. I would say it was the single most popular item in this thread and with good reason. Having experienced the freedom, the gorgeous scenery and the ability to view and control all your sims, very few of us would want to go back to loading screens. What puzzles me is why EA couldn't grasp this fact. The only conclusion I can come to is open worlds don't work well with mobile and console versions so were sacrificed for the benefit of the other platforms. For most of us prettifing the map view in TS4 and the gaudy cartoon backdrops are no compensation or incentive to play the game. Not when you have such beautiful EA worlds and equally beautiful, if not more so, custom worlds.
Note: if you have not already checked @Rflong7 latest worlds there are two threads in the CAW Tools section you should see
I loved your description of multitasking. Mixing, wiggle, Mixing wiggle That will stay with me all day. On a serious note having been used to queue tasks in both TS2 and TS3 the multitasking of 4 does not seem to be a noticeable improvement. Certainly not enough to leave TS3 behind.
You are right, the emotional responses of our sims in TS2 and 3 had both cause and appropriate response. Having had to rebuild relationships in TS3 I know how difficult that can be. The moods of the sims in 4 change at mercurial speed without any significant consequence. Most simmers want something recognisably human in terms of emotion. Not to be constantly confused by their sims' emotional response (or lack thereof). Another good reason then for staying on familiar ground with earlier iterations of the game.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
You know I truly believe the disillusionment with the franchise overall would've never existed if they had thought to release each sims game generation in this order of logical progression:
TS 4 aka TS 2.5 <--adds superior and/or more intuitive sim customization CAS utility tool for both sims & pets alike. Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions. Ideally should NOT have removed prior gen content like ghosts & toddlers.....
*headdesk*
“Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions.”
The multitasking system is anything but seamless. It’s nothing but a system that forces your sim to do two things in turns. Like, when I order my sim to make a cocktail and dance to the music, they start making a cocktail. Then they stop making the cocktail and ‘dance’ (meaning they wiggle for a bit). Then they stop wiggling and continue mixing. Stop the mixing and wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Etcetera, endlessly, it takes hours and for me it’s mainly very very boring to look at. Or silly, when the ‘multitasking’ forces them to take their bowl of cereals outside and get the mail (the bowl disappears in thin air while opening the mailbox).
And as for emotions: sims have emotions in all the games. The difference is that in Sims 1, 2 and 3 those emotions are caused by what other sims do to them, or by what happens to them (like losing the lottery or being cheated on by their spouse). In Sims 4 emotions are triggered by auras, which means they can get totally flirty by passing by a waterfall or taking a shower. And it will make them jump on every sim they meet. When they are angry, they are angry with everybody. Unlike the other games where a sim can be angry with just the one person that made them angry.
Oh wow. I'm confessing to ignorance on not watching any of the TS4 playthoughs on youtube. I saw LGR's review on only one (Pets) a while back because I was curious to see what new animals they would be introducing. Was surprised to discover they excluded horses --- when these were actual functional content in the game world as far back as TS2 via mods. Anyhow never really really paid attention to the finer points of multi tasking as that wasn't the focus of LGR's review.
That being said, I just learned something new (to dislike) about TS4. Given their typical ADHD since TS2, that sort of forced evolutionary queuing in a sims thought process is enough to drive anyone crazy. Can you imagine the horrors of trying to get your absent minded kid sim/teen ready to leave for school? Making the critical mistake of letting them watch TV cartoons (to raise their fun level & put them in a good mood) while trying to complete their late homework?? And then watching in frustration as the school bus leaves the lot so now they're late for school?
It would appear TS3 has the superior game mechanic when it comes to multitasking then. Because at least you can cancel whatever undesirable actions popup in their mental queue. Goodness.
By the Builder. Oh EA.
edit: Wait, both TS2 and TS3 are the more superior gen games when it comes to multi tasking features. Your sim can HOLD a drink while SPEAKING to another sim since LN came out.
With Uni EP in TS2, YA sims could raise both social and fun levels by hanging out while they were at college. My YA sims would lilne around/recline comfortably on the floor/sofa etc while chatting to each other in GROUPS late into the night.
So that' a huge step backwards with TS4 if this is the case with how multi tasking has evolved.
I recently moved on from 3 to 4, The biggest and most important (to me) change i notice is performance, Even with a bunch of CC SIms 4 runs a alot smoother.
Well this HAS TO be true by default of
1. Loading screens which recreate the insulated universe that was the TS2 game world. This signficantly increased your CPU life by eliminating routing/navigational failures and errors. No more sims getting stuck in transit to your location. Or an open waterfront which allow sim houseboats to drift to the edge of the world. Or horses/pets being able to use water taxis to compound routing issues. Missing toddler sims who wander off the lot. Or my personal favorite: lost sims who wander off and accidentally fall off the routable part of game world map---because the routing paint was improperly applied when the world was created.
2. TS4 being successor next gen to to TS3 means your gaming rig for TS4 is likely superior due to being newer hardware. Or if it's the same hardware you had for TS3, the performance enhancements by default of design constraints in #1 will make the game run far better in TS4.
You are right, the emotional responses of our sims in TS2 and 3 had both cause and appropriate response. Having had to rebuild relationships in TS3 I know how difficult that can be. The moods of the sims in 4 change at mercurial speed without any significant consequence. Most simmers want something recognisably human in terms of emotion. Not to be constantly confused by their sims' emotional response (or lack thereof). Another good reason then for staying on familiar ground with earlier iterations of the game.
Picturing one of my law enforcement sims in my (hypothetical) TS4 game.
Lecturing young elementary school kids on a school field trip to the police station.
Is teaching them safety from strangers and what actions to take if they're assaulted/attacked by strangers.
Walks past a deco painting of a scenic waterfall on a wall.
Is immediately hit by an aura triggered by SimCupid
Instantaneously and emotionally transforms into a SimoBear Satyr.
Yes. It's highly likely such a sandbox RPG scenario would not end well......
> Can I ask if it was the poor performance of TS3 which motivated you into moving on to TS4 ? If an upgraded TS3 was offered which gives a smoother performance would you be interested or have you burnt your bridges ?
Yeah! I do love the open world and create a style in TS3, if it ran better I would play more. I was one of the motivators (main one) for moving over.
@JoAnne65 we seem always to come back to open worlds. I would say it was the single most popular item in this thread and with good reason. Having experienced the freedom, the gorgeous scenery and the ability to view and control all your sims, very few of us would want to go back to loading screens. What puzzles me is why EA couldn't grasp this fact. The only conclusion I can come to is open worlds don't work well with mobile and console versions so were sacrificed for the benefit of the other platforms. For most of us prettifing the map view in TS4 and the gaudy cartoon backdrops are no compensation or incentive to play the game. Not when you have such beautiful EA worlds and equally beautiful, if not more so, custom worlds.
Note: if you have not already checked @Rflong7 latest worlds there are two threads in the CAW Tools section you should see
I loved your description of multitasking. Mixing, wiggle, Mixing wiggle That will stay with me all day. On a serious note having been used to queue tasks in both TS2 and TS3 the multitasking of 4 does not seem to be a noticeable improvement. Certainly not enough to leave TS3 behind.
You are right, the emotional responses of our sims in TS2 and 3 had both cause and appropriate response. Having had to rebuild relationships in TS3 I know how difficult that can be. The moods of the sims in 4 change at mercurial speed without any significant consequence. Most simmers want something recognisably human in terms of emotion. Not to be constantly confused by their sims' emotional response (or lack thereof). Another good reason then for staying on familiar ground with earlier iterations of the game.
Yes, I’ve got her topic bookmarked, love to follow the development (and your world as well)!
@yoshi_dragur2012 If only there were a schoolbus... (lol, I don’t want to rant about the game too much but you happen to accidently touch a few of my major peeves here And indeed, Sims 3 does have some multitasking, also when a sim holds their baby or toddler while making a call for instance. That’s real multitasking because they really do that at the same time (though I don’t think holding the kid does anything for the relationship at that point). In Sims 2 sims can eat and have conversations, which means their hunger bar is filled ánd their social bar.
> Can I ask if it was the poor performance of TS3 which motivated you into moving on to TS4 ? If an upgraded TS3 was offered which gives a smoother performance would you be interested or have you burnt your bridges ?
Yeah! I do love the open world and create a style in TS3, if it ran better I would play more. I was one of the motivators (main one) for moving over.
No game is ever perfect and TS3 certainly has it's issues. It can be extremely frustrating at times and can spoil the fun of playing it. Have you looked in the tech section to see if there are any tips which might help the game run better for you? Then you might be in the happy position to play both games
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
I loved the Sims 3 but I think the weather/holidays with Seasons in Sims 4 just does it for me. I love Christmas and snow, so being able to actually celebrate the holiday in game and seeing weather changes is enough for me to stay with Sims 4.
@JoAnne65 Yep. TS2 had far superior and TRUE multi tasking abilities than what you've described in TS4 to date. Being able to eat AND drink AND talk at the same time. All while trying to impress the Headmaster with a lvl 3 quality bowl of Mac n' Cheese. Which always made for a most memorable dinner date which was guaranteed to fail. Ah the good ole days.
Remember how simmers would complain about TS2 sim meal times being to 🐸🐸🐸🐸 long? How they complained even more when TS3 sims inhumanly gobbled up their food? Leaving the table before other sims could even sit down to eat? All with minimum socialization at meal times? Or how they kept annoyingly choking (which ironically, wasn't even coded to be related to the rate at which they inhaled their food during meal times)?
It was years later after we had the benefit of Twallan's mod suite and S3PE that I was able to permanently modify the game's gameplay.package file and permanently adjust sim's eating rate. Which eliminated the need for using mods which modified the same resources in this file. I guess I have to give the devs some credit for trying to patch this broken feature since base game release. But even with this AND after manually altering the gameplay.package AND adding several meal time enhancement/socialization mods, my TS3 sim mealtimes were LIGHT YEARS from approaching the wholesome family experience it was in TS2.
IMO, the de-evolution of the Sims franchise is largely due to the loss of talented devs and particularly the original devs who developed the the base game since TS1 under Will Wright. The franchise earned its recognition in the gaming community because of success of TS1. And true brand recognition with TS2 (including Spore and SimCity) which all got a lucky pass early on when EA first acquired them. Why? Because IMO EA was slower in assimilating Maxis than it was with other studios it acquired. So the decline in game quality wasn't evident by the time TS2 Apartments came out. This was also largely due to having producers the likes of Rod Humble former CEO of Second Life
who clearly lacked the creative genius and vision that Will Wright possessed. IMO this really affected the development for TS3. Which IMO, ended up being a stunted version of TS2 that was never truly able to realize its full potential. So it was never really designed to support future EPs and SPs. The addition of the TS3 store only validated this speculation for me, because it's was an extremely 🐸🐸🐸🐸 form of how Humble went on to brand and micro transaction Second Life to ad nauseum. You literally COULD NOT PLAY Second Life without first dropping $$$ of your real life cash into this greedy cash grab and virtual cesspool of a game. That interview with Humble pretty much sums up where EA may have envisioned The Sims to go. But were strongly resisted against by the sims community IMO.
Also this lack of vision on Humble's part, was certainly evident by WA release for TS3. This was when the community began catching on to the pitfalls of the non modular game design in TS3. Not the dreaded save game Error 12. But your sims going invisible and/or literally disappearing when they returned from vacation in WA. IMO if it hadn't been for the saving grace of Twallan and Awesome mod, a LOT of the fan base may have quit the franchise over that game breaking progression bug. To lose hours of game progression and sim development when returning from WA vacation was deal breaker. Then factor the poor replay ability of WA worlds, because you couldn't reset the 🐸🐸🐸🐸 tombs for subsequent sim generations. Compare that to the seamless vacation transition TS2 sims had when returning from their vacations. It all came down to how WA was poorly coded to integrate with the base game.
Then the breaking of fundamental game features. Like that whole ghost-graveyard sim dynamic being irreversibly broken when AMB came out. Apparently some dev(s) thought it would be a terrific idea to allow ghosts to roam free around the neighborhood. A really bad game design that had horrific results for simmer game play.
Unlike TS2, TS3 lacked proactive game design interoperability between its EPs & SPs. Especially where cross over content between EPs was concerned. e.g. If you had the Seasonal SP and Seasons EP in TS2, your sims got the chance to experience a "See Santa" event during Christmas time. Things like santa cookies would increase the chance of the event happening. If you had several items (I forget which exact ones) decorating your Sim's kitchen, then that would unlock the ability to cook the Roast Beast recipie at Thanksgiving. etc. etc. This sort of interactivity was possible in TS3 only if the devs proactively changed resources from former EPs to work with later EPs. Best example of this was the TS3 Seasons weather stone. This was explicitly coded to interact with SN supernaturals like werewolves, Vamps, witches and Fairies.
The base game was basically created WITHOUT any future plans to add expansion packs. So all EPs after the base game resulted in an increasingly horrific, and broken mess of original (working) base game features.
So unlike TS2, it was increasingly evident each succeeding TS3 EP was never truly designed to compliment or work with the one preceding it. And now there is TS4 which seems to have taken a light year step backwards where overall game play is concerned. Which, from looks of things, EA doesn't appear too keen to retire for a TS5 anytime soon...
Hello @yoshi_dragur2012 this is a thread about why people have chosen to stay with TS3 and the kind of things which might tempt them to move on to other games, not necessarily TS4. Most of the people here are very loyal and dedicated fans of TS3. Some have never played TS2. Even now we have players who are new to the franchise and have decided to start their sims experience with TS3.
Just as you have set TS2 as your gold standard, people here have made TS3 theirs. Speaking personally I like TS2 very much, I have some very happy memories of playing but I love TS3. I will not deny there are issues with the game because there are issues with any game. However most people here accept that along with the fact there is absolutely nothing which we, the players, can do to change the situation. When TS3 was launched most of us here could not wait to try TS3 and were compensated sufficiently with open worlds, cars, CASt, CAS and all the rest so as not to mind the loss of gameplay which was possible with TS2. Personally I resented the lack of babies' legs more !
Essentially TS3 players are here by choice and are choosing to stay with the game by choice. Just as TS2 players do and TS4 players. This is because we do have choice across the franchise. You will probably find issues with the game, game quality etc does not really matter that much once a player has found the game of choice. Hard to accept maybe but we are all different in what we want from our sims games.
I would suggest setting up a thread of your own to discuss some of the points you raise. I did send you a pm but received no acknowledgement.
Now I must go get some sleep.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
I would definitely move on if another game producer made a similar game, but without The Sims downsides.
I have played some RPG (final fantasy, star ocean) for their cuteness, Civilization for its pace, Elder Scrolls Skyrim for its beauty (modded the monsters away), but I dislike the all encompassing focus in computer games on conflict and fights, horror and monsters. It is too simple a mechanism and a lazy way of creating dynamics and The Sims seems to be fairly unic in not having it as its main core.
But I like closed systems, and delibarately bought The Sims 3, and not 4 (started playing 2016), because I do not want to be a test bunny for new games and the idea of selling the game 'in pieces', like EA does with the expansion packs and patches is crude and puts me off. As an example, if I would like to play The Sims 4, I would not buy it until an eventual follow-up game would be in the market, making me sure of what I actually would be spending money on. It is very clear that the market idea with The Sims 3 was that customers in general would buy the base game and maybe one or two expansion packs, not all of them like I almost have, since they do not really work together all that well. This is something I will not repeat doing when buying another game.
If this market group of game players that The Sims 'opened up' will be catered to in the future from other producers, it will only make me happy. The interesting complexity in The Sims, both in the game itself and the possibilities for the player, would have to be met, along with the esthetically pleasing graphics that The Sims have. But parcing up the game and not being clear about the specifications the computer needs to have is bad play, and would have to go.
Supernatural is one of my favourite packs and it has a lot a more than is immediately obvious. Did you know about casting a spell on the wardrobe? I learned about that through the forum.
omg no I iignore that ....that's amaaazing !!
I love supernatural so much I admit they are too much funny.
____
I am mainly a sims 3 player and yet guess who I am now improving my sims in cas.
I love the sims 2 mainly for decorating houses but I don't know if I'll play it someday because all the crashes I got I am very angry
I play the sims 4 to change my mind but I always lost my saves so I am not really feel ok to be back now and there is no funny events.
The sims 3 is probably the game the most stable I got ,so it's the game I can play and it's addicting. My old and my current computer got AMD processor never had huge problems playing the sims 3.
Hello @Auroraskies you have obviously used experience of other games to help you decide what you really like about the Sims. Funnily enough there is a discussion earlier in the thread where some players state they want TS3 to be more challenging and would expect that to be addressed should the company ever offer an upgrade to 64 bit. The other good thing is TS2 and 3 were designed to be open ended so you never quite know how a new story will end up. I am sure that is part of the fascination with this game and one of the things that keeps us from moving on.
The current trend towards the micro transactional is disappointing but should come as no surprise as it is a common business practice for the company. I think it would be fair to say the trend really started with TS3 with the introduction of a store but I don't think most of us minded that much because of the level and quality of content we were getting. I think it enhanced our game even though it could be expensive.
As for the future like you I want something extremely special which meets all my requirements. I have been playing the Sims for a long time now and I have a very clear idea of what I want. There is always room for improvements and surprises which are as yet unknown but whether there is a company capable of fulfilling the brief is debatable at the moment
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Supernatural is one of my favourite packs and it has a lot a more than is immediately obvious. Did you know about casting a spell on the wardrobe? I learned about that through the forum.
omg no I iignore that ....that's amaaazing !!
I love supernatural so much I admit they are too much funny.
____
I am mainly a sims 3 player and yet guess who I am now improving my sims in cas.
I love the sims 2 mainly for decorating houses but I don't know if I'll play it someday because all the crashes I got I am very angry
I play the sims 4 to change my mind but I always lost my saves so I am not really feel ok to be back now and there is no funny events.
The sims 3 is probably the game the most stable I got ,so it's the game I can play and it's addicting. My old and my current computer got AMD processor never had huge problems playing the sims 3.
The supes are funny. I prefer them that way. I always wonder what happens at the fairy parties in the fairy house. It is always incredible noisy and I assume there is a fair amount of nectar being imbibed.
I'm sorry you can't play TS2. The UC crashes every time I open it so I have given up. I don't have too many problems with TS3 now the graphic settings are sorted out. CAW is a different story so I keep backed up copies of my world on a EHD. So much depends on the computer specs though as to whether or not TS3 will be a good gaming experience for you. The last time I bought a laptop I knew exactly what I wanted but the man in the shop thought I should have a desk top Mac. In the end I simply walked away because he couldn't understand that a Mac was no use to me when I have sims disks for Win. Obviously the man was not a sims fan
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Comments
You know I truly believe the disillusionment with the franchise overall would've never existed if they had thought to release each sims game generation in this order of logical progression:
TS1 <-- where all the madness of sims gaming addiction all began...
TS 2 <--adds family legacy concept from cradle to grave aka highly addictive 12hr gaming sessions non stop
TS 4 aka TS 2.5 <--adds superior and/or more intuitive sim customization CAS utility tool for both sims & pets alike. Adds seamless sim multi tasking and emotions. Ideally should NOT have removed prior gen content like ghosts & toddlers.....
TS 3 <-- benefits from all prior 3 generations of sims games like Sim's improved TS 2.5/TS4 multi tasking AI. Adds
vast/revolutionary improvement to the game mechanic i.e having the more realistic graphics, open & borderless world (to include the ocean/water bodies). Adds revolutionary new CAP/CAW and color wheel utilities. Adds ability to follow our sims off their lots & explore around the world in their cars, on foot/bicycle or yes HORSEBACK.
Releasing TS3 as 4th gen TS4 would've been the icing on the cake IMO. Less the pastel and forced cartoonish stylized look which is over the top TS2. That I immediately hated upon seeing that first trailer video. Because no one will ever convince me ST world could ever look superior with current TS 4 stylized graphics than the way it was when released in the TS3 store. TS3 graphics will ALWAYS beat TS4 based on this thread to date:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/802147/i-still-love-scenery#latest
Why aren't there any HORSES in TS4 to date? When simmer modders added this as a WORKING FEATURE in farmhouse themed mod packs FFS? Seriously. This alone shows lack of progress i.e. de-evolution on part TS4 based on its current status to date.
*headdesk*
The sims 3 is an inner experience you embody your sims much more than before just because you have this freedom to go everywhere except inside rabbitholes that I hate but at least the sole improvement with that idea of rabbithole is we can see them, and we can interact with them. The sims as characters are amazing probably they are not the wonderful person physically spoken but their personalities are deeper than players think of.
The Sims 4 is you enjoy their life, just sit and watch almost ahaha, that's not a game you have to think a lot.
I have to think a lot when I play the sims 3.
on wordpress: thesimsophonique.wp.com / on dreamwidth: simsophonique.dreamwidth.org
Follow me on tumblr (sims only)
simsophonique.tumblr.com (please no triggers I am autistic asperger)
The physical freedom of the sims is a considerable part of the immersive element if TS3 and again I think it is enough for some TS3 players not to move on to a game which relies on loading screens. Talking about physical freedom one of my favourite things is seeing a witch flying along on a vacuum cleaner
I guess what I am trying to say is we all have things which bring us back to TS3 and some of them are not immediately obvious. I had forgotten how much I take the physical freedom of my sims fir granted and I know I could not do half the things I want in CAW without CASt.
Off to get some sleep but at least I have a date for my surgery now.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
If I am always back it's because the sims 3 is special to me.
This is my universe, I built a story, I am attached to my Vallerians (not the sims of the original world), I changed Sunset Valley without the CAW because I understand nothing.
I love their personalities, there is always something to say about etc etc.
I just can't throw this to the bin just to follow the trend !
on wordpress: thesimsophonique.wp.com / on dreamwidth: simsophonique.dreamwidth.org
Follow me on tumblr (sims only)
simsophonique.tumblr.com (please no triggers I am autistic asperger)
o
I have a witch I created fairly recently and all she does is cast spells for bad apples. I shall keep her practicing. My witch who flies on a vacuum cleaner is high level. I don't know if that makes a difference or whether it is one of those random things the game does.
To redesign a world without using CAW is good going and it is great then having things exactly as you want them.
This game offers so much to a wide variety of players and makes it easy to move from one activity to another. It makes it possible for the player to take control of so much more of their sims lives, from how they look, their traits to the world they live in and the wall paper they have in their sitting room. For many of us giving up that level of control is not an option and therefore moving on to something else is not an option.
Anyway I must rest as ordered. You might want to post some of your pics of your redesigned Sunset Valley in the I still Love Scenery thread. People really enjoy seeing what others simmers have done with EA worlds.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Karine my witch is liking spelling cast of Luck. My simself always has the whim to cast the fire and the ice spell. Some witches and wizards are silent.
Rare are the SN who shows publicly they are special. Probably the difference between the broom and the vaccuum is the speed.
You are right about the game I just watched a video on youtube and I learn things I ignore. Do you know about the transmutation? omg !!
Almost 7 years of gameplay I never seen that ahaha.
There are too much stuffs this game hide and you want to see me goodbye to that? Now we got new toddlers animation on MTS3 and finally the todds that plays with the toilet ahaha.
on wordpress: thesimsophonique.wp.com / on dreamwidth: simsophonique.dreamwidth.org
Follow me on tumblr (sims only)
simsophonique.tumblr.com (please no triggers I am autistic asperger)
Supernatural is one of my favourite packs and it has a lot a more than is immediately obvious. Did you know about casting a spell on the wardrobe? I learned about that through the forum.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
The multitasking system is anything but seamless. It’s nothing but a system that forces your sim to do two things in turns. Like, when I order my sim to make a cocktail and dance to the music, they start making a cocktail. Then they stop making the cocktail and ‘dance’ (meaning they wiggle for a bit). Then they stop wiggling and continue mixing. Stop the mixing and wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Mixing. Wiggle. Etcetera, endlessly, it takes hours and for me it’s mainly very very boring to look at. Or silly, when the ‘multitasking’ forces them to take their bowl of cereals outside and get the mail (the bowl disappears in thin air while opening the mailbox).
And as for emotions: sims have emotions in all the games. The difference is that in Sims 1, 2 and 3 those emotions are caused by what other sims do to them, or by what happens to them (like losing the lottery or being cheated on by their spouse). In Sims 4 emotions are triggered by auras, which means they can get totally flirty by passing by a waterfall or taking a shower. And it will make them jump on every sim they meet. When they are angry, they are angry with everybody. Unlike the other games where a sim can be angry with just the one person that made them angry.
Glad you are enjoying TS4 and that the experience is a positive one for you.
Can I ask if it was the poor performance of TS3 which motivated you into moving on to TS4 ? If an upgraded TS3 was offered which gives a smoother performance would you be interested or have you burnt your bridges ?
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Note: if you have not already checked @Rflong7 latest worlds there are two threads in the CAW Tools section you should see
I loved your description of multitasking. Mixing, wiggle, Mixing wiggle
You are right, the emotional responses of our sims in TS2 and 3 had both cause and appropriate response. Having had to rebuild relationships in TS3 I know how difficult that can be. The moods of the sims in 4 change at mercurial speed without any significant consequence. Most simmers want something recognisably human in terms of emotion. Not to be constantly confused by their sims' emotional response (or lack thereof). Another good reason then for staying on familiar ground with earlier iterations of the game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
That being said, I just learned something new (to dislike) about TS4. Given their typical ADHD since TS2, that sort of forced evolutionary queuing in a sims thought process is enough to drive anyone crazy. Can you imagine the horrors of trying to get your absent minded kid sim/teen ready to leave for school? Making the critical mistake of letting them watch TV cartoons (to raise their fun level & put them in a good mood) while trying to complete their late homework?? And then watching in frustration as the school bus leaves the lot so now they're late for school?
It would appear TS3 has the superior game mechanic when it comes to multitasking then. Because at least you can cancel whatever undesirable actions popup in their mental queue. Goodness.
By the Builder. Oh EA.
edit: Wait, both TS2 and TS3 are the more superior gen games when it comes to multi tasking features. Your sim can HOLD a drink while SPEAKING to another sim since LN came out.
With Uni EP in TS2, YA sims could raise both social and fun levels by hanging out while they were at college. My YA sims would lilne around/recline comfortably on the floor/sofa etc while chatting to each other in GROUPS late into the night.
So that' a huge step backwards with TS4 if this is the case with how multi tasking has evolved.
Well this HAS TO be true by default of
1. Loading screens which recreate the insulated universe that was the TS2 game world. This signficantly increased your CPU life by eliminating routing/navigational failures and errors. No more sims getting stuck in transit to your location. Or an open waterfront which allow sim houseboats to drift to the edge of the world. Or horses/pets being able to use water taxis to compound routing issues.
2. TS4 being successor next gen to to TS3 means your gaming rig for TS4 is likely superior due to being newer hardware. Or if it's the same hardware you had for TS3, the performance enhancements by default of design constraints in #1 will make the game run far better in TS4.
Lecturing young elementary school kids on a school field trip to the police station.
Is teaching them safety from strangers and what actions to take if they're assaulted/attacked by strangers.
Walks past a deco painting of a scenic waterfall on a wall.
Is immediately hit by an aura triggered by SimCupid
Instantaneously and emotionally transforms into a SimoBear Satyr.
Yes. It's highly likely such a sandbox RPG scenario would not end well......
> Can I ask if it was the poor performance of TS3 which motivated you into moving on to TS4 ? If an upgraded TS3 was offered which gives a smoother performance would you be interested or have you burnt your bridges ?
Yeah! I do love the open world and create a style in TS3, if it ran better I would play more. I was one of the motivators (main one) for moving over.
@yoshi_dragur2012 If only there were a schoolbus... (lol, I don’t want to rant about the game too much but you happen to accidently touch a few of my major peeves here
No game is ever perfect and TS3 certainly has it's issues. It can be extremely frustrating at times and can spoil the fun of playing it. Have you looked in the tech section to see if there are any tips which might help the game run better for you? Then you might be in the happy position to play both games
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Remember how simmers would complain about TS2 sim meal times being to 🐸🐸🐸🐸 long? How they complained even more when TS3 sims inhumanly gobbled up their food? Leaving the table before other sims could even sit down to eat? All with minimum socialization at meal times? Or how they kept annoyingly choking (which ironically, wasn't even coded to be related to the rate at which they inhaled their food during meal times)?
It was years later after we had the benefit of Twallan's mod suite and S3PE that I was able to permanently modify the game's gameplay.package file and permanently adjust sim's eating rate. Which eliminated the need for using mods which modified the same resources in this file. I guess I have to give the devs some credit for trying to patch this broken feature since base game release. But even with this AND after manually altering the gameplay.package AND adding several meal time enhancement/socialization mods, my TS3 sim mealtimes were LIGHT YEARS from approaching the wholesome family experience it was in TS2.
IMO, the de-evolution of the Sims franchise is largely due to the loss of talented devs and particularly the original devs who developed the the base game since TS1 under Will Wright. The franchise earned its recognition in the gaming community because of success of TS1. And true brand recognition with TS2 (including Spore and SimCity) which all got a lucky pass early on when EA first acquired them. Why? Because IMO EA was slower in assimilating Maxis than it was with other studios it acquired. So the decline in game quality wasn't evident by the time TS2 Apartments came out. This was also largely due to having producers the likes of Rod Humble former CEO of Second Life
who clearly lacked the creative genius and vision that Will Wright possessed. IMO this really affected the development for TS3. Which IMO, ended up being a stunted version of TS2 that was never truly able to realize its full potential. So it was never really designed to support future EPs and SPs. The addition of the TS3 store only validated this speculation for me, because it's was an extremely 🐸🐸🐸🐸 form of how Humble went on to brand and micro transaction Second Life to ad nauseum. You literally COULD NOT PLAY Second Life without first dropping $$$ of your real life cash into this greedy cash grab and virtual cesspool of a game. That interview with Humble pretty much sums up where EA may have envisioned The Sims to go. But were strongly resisted against by the sims community IMO.
Then the breaking of fundamental game features. Like that whole ghost-graveyard sim dynamic being irreversibly broken when AMB came out. Apparently some dev(s) thought it would be a terrific idea to allow ghosts to roam free around the neighborhood. A really bad game design that had horrific results for simmer game play.
Unlike TS2, TS3 lacked proactive game design interoperability between its EPs & SPs. Especially where cross over content between EPs was concerned. e.g. If you had the Seasonal SP and Seasons EP in TS2, your sims got the chance to experience a "See Santa" event during Christmas time. Things like santa cookies would increase the chance of the event happening. If you had several items (I forget which exact ones) decorating your Sim's kitchen, then that would unlock the ability to cook the Roast Beast recipie at Thanksgiving. etc. etc. This sort of interactivity was possible in TS3 only if the devs proactively changed resources from former EPs to work with later EPs. Best example of this was the TS3 Seasons weather stone. This was explicitly coded to interact with SN supernaturals like werewolves, Vamps, witches and Fairies.
The base game was basically created WITHOUT any future plans to add expansion packs. So all EPs after the base game resulted in an increasingly horrific, and broken mess of original (working) base game features.
So unlike TS2, it was increasingly evident each succeeding TS3 EP was never truly designed to compliment or work with the one preceding it. And now there is TS4 which seems to have taken a light year step backwards where overall game play is concerned. Which, from looks of things, EA doesn't appear too keen to retire for a TS5 anytime soon...
Just as you have set TS2 as your gold standard, people here have made TS3 theirs. Speaking personally I like TS2 very much, I have some very happy memories of playing but I love TS3. I will not deny there are issues with the game because there are issues with any game. However most people here accept that along with the fact there is absolutely nothing which we, the players, can do to change the situation. When TS3 was launched most of us here could not wait to try TS3 and were compensated sufficiently with open worlds, cars, CASt, CAS and all the rest so as not to mind the loss of gameplay which was possible with TS2. Personally I resented the lack of babies' legs more !
Essentially TS3 players are here by choice and are choosing to stay with the game by choice. Just as TS2 players do and TS4 players. This is because we do have choice across the franchise. You will probably find issues with the game, game quality etc does not really matter that much once a player has found the game of choice. Hard to accept maybe but we are all different in what we want from our sims games.
I would suggest setting up a thread of your own to discuss some of the points you raise. I did send you a pm but received no acknowledgement.
Now I must go get some sleep.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
I have played some RPG (final fantasy, star ocean) for their cuteness, Civilization for its pace, Elder Scrolls Skyrim for its beauty (modded the monsters away), but I dislike the all encompassing focus in computer games on conflict and fights, horror and monsters. It is too simple a mechanism and a lazy way of creating dynamics and The Sims seems to be fairly unic in not having it as its main core.
But I like closed systems, and delibarately bought The Sims 3, and not 4 (started playing 2016), because I do not want to be a test bunny for new games and the idea of selling the game 'in pieces', like EA does with the expansion packs and patches is crude and puts me off. As an example, if I would like to play The Sims 4, I would not buy it until an eventual follow-up game would be in the market, making me sure of what I actually would be spending money on. It is very clear that the market idea with The Sims 3 was that customers in general would buy the base game and maybe one or two expansion packs, not all of them like I almost have, since they do not really work together all that well. This is something I will not repeat doing when buying another game.
If this market group of game players that The Sims 'opened up' will be catered to in the future from other producers, it will only make me happy. The interesting complexity in The Sims, both in the game itself and the possibilities for the player, would have to be met, along with the esthetically pleasing graphics that The Sims have. But parcing up the game and not being clear about the specifications the computer needs to have is bad play, and would have to go.
I love supernatural so much I admit they are too much funny.
____
I am mainly a sims 3 player and yet guess who I am now improving my sims in cas.
I love the sims 2 mainly for decorating houses but I don't know if I'll play it someday because all the crashes I got I am very angry
I play the sims 4 to change my mind but I always lost my saves so I am not really feel ok to be back now and there is no funny events.
The sims 3 is probably the game the most stable I got ,so it's the game I can play and it's addicting. My old and my current computer got AMD processor never had huge problems playing the sims 3.
on wordpress: thesimsophonique.wp.com / on dreamwidth: simsophonique.dreamwidth.org
Follow me on tumblr (sims only)
simsophonique.tumblr.com (please no triggers I am autistic asperger)
The current trend towards the micro transactional is disappointing but should come as no surprise as it is a common business practice for the company. I think it would be fair to say the trend really started with TS3 with the introduction of a store but I don't think most of us minded that much because of the level and quality of content we were getting. I think it enhanced our game even though it could be expensive.
As for the future like you I want something extremely special which meets all my requirements. I have been playing the Sims for a long time now and I have a very clear idea of what I want. There is always room for improvements and surprises which are as yet unknown but whether there is a company capable of fulfilling the brief is debatable at the moment
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
The supes are funny. I prefer them that way. I always wonder what happens at the fairy parties in the fairy house. It is always incredible noisy and I assume there is a fair amount of nectar being imbibed.
I'm sorry you can't play TS2. The UC crashes every time I open it so I have given up. I don't have too many problems with TS3 now the graphic settings are sorted out. CAW is a different story so I keep backed up copies of my world on a EHD. So much depends on the computer specs though as to whether or not TS3 will be a good gaming experience for you. The last time I bought a laptop I knew exactly what I wanted but the man in the shop thought I should have a desk top Mac. In the end I simply walked away because he couldn't understand that a Mac was no use to me when I have sims disks for Win. Obviously the man was not a sims fan
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita