Like @Writin_Reg, I always used to take excellent care of every sim I played, and I'm afraid I hate-hate-hated having them killed in accidental fires, etc.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
I have a feeling it’s Sims 4 actually where moodlets (both negative or positive) are thrown like a curveball out of nowhere. Like my vampire sim who sometimes gets angry out of the blue (and I’ll have to interrupt my game, that’s how it feels anyway, to drag her to a mirror to get neutral again). Or that time why I really didn’t understand why my single, brand new sim who knew absolutely nobody yet (I’d just started the game with her) and suddenly went all flirty in the jungle. Later I learned it was the waterfall. It’s in fact those auras that keep throwing curveballs of moodlets to your sim from out of nowhere isn’t it?
Like @Writin_Reg, I always used to take excellent care of every sim I played, and I'm afraid I hate-hate-hated having them killed in accidental fires, etc.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
I agree. It's always so annoying when your sims react exactly the opposite to what you want. Once this happened and I almost cried (not joking). But I don't think I could ever abandon Sims 4 completely. Usually I play a lot for 2-3 weeks, and then just stop, and not come back for like 4 months. Usually in between I will play TS3, and some other games on Steam. And sometimes I won't burn out the game, but just a family. And I will stop playing that family either forever or for a year (ish). I'm currently playing The Duggar 2.0 Challenge (my first challenge! find it here) and I started, got bored, then returned, got bored again, and now I'm thinking of coming back.
My origin ID is quiverfullsims | My simblr can be found here. It follows the Rowan family- an extremely conservative clan with nearly 17 children.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine...Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.) :smile
I have to say, build/buy mode is the main thing that keeps me coming back to the game, and when I get an itch to play, it's usually to improve upon some lot lol. Right now I'm playing, and Alt-Tab'd the game to look for a replacement for the EA Selvadorada cantina (it...needs a lil' sum' sum' to liven it up a bit). I'm more interested in messing around with the lots than playing the family on vacation!
Custom content has been the saving grace for this game for me, from TS1, really. I've always been obsessed with it, to the point that it used to take TS2 nearly 30 minutes to load. I'd start loading it and go do something else for 25, 30 minutes, then come back ready to play. It was wild. TS3, in the end, was nearly 20 minutes even with a huge computer upgrade. But new cc build and buy items are just too much to pass up, and truly make the sim world more immersive for me.
One of the last lots I downloaded (earlier this year) was a huge museum complex. It is unbelievable the amount of detail that went into this 'work of art', pun intended. I mean...it's incredible. I would be over the moon if the lot could serve multiple purposes; be a museum AND a cafe AND a working gift shop. Or have a custom cc lot from Windenburg function as the bar/restaurant/hotel/shop it was built in the style of. Those things would make the gameplay, for me, worthwhile. That and Collections files...I...I cannot stress that enough.
As much as I adore TS3, it's a little tough to go back and be constrained by one wall height. I'd build or download these fantastical lofts or upscale houses or apartments, and the ceilings would be so low. There was always this dream of having sky-high windows. When I first saw that feature in TS4 I was floored. No indoor foundations? Fine. No round pool edges (or pool at all)? Cool, whatev. They could've left out rooftops and I still would've been stoked about the wall heights!
I still dream that someday, maybe for TS6 or TS7, we'll have half-length walls...sometimes you just need more wall, but not a full tile's worth...and round or curved walls, and true L-shaped stairs and real pool steps. And a water tool for ponds & lakes (coming with the new terrain tool?) and swimmable ponds and lakes. And art niches that you can stamp onto any wall. And designable ceiling tiles again.
And with TS15...Collections files.
"If you don't talk to your cat about catnip... who will?"
"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."
Like @Writin_Reg, I always used to take excellent care of every sim I played, and I'm afraid I hate-hate-hated having them killed in accidental fires, etc.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
OMG This is the biggest pet peeve ever. My simself finally grew up and moved out of her dads house to live on her own. Later she got married and had a daughter with her husband and they decided to move her father into their home. Once their father came into the home, He'd lost all relationships with ALL of his friends at the police station. I worked so hard on making sure he maintained those relationships just to go back and find that the game got rid of them all. And he was still in my played households category. This was my first attempt in rotating my families (Usually I don't) but this is a big problem in this game and I don't think it will ever get fixed...
"Bada su the gorn bada su the brawn bada bady oda aba donk donk donk gerbits gerbits vo gerbits".
@FurSimsOfficial the best advice I can give is maybe you should take a break from sims4 for a year 2019 2020 play other games and after a year load up the sims4 and if you still can not feel the flow of the sims4 extend your break from the game will not prevent you from being active on the forum if you still play sims3 and sims2
If you went the sims5 to remain offline feel free to sign this petition http://chng.it/gtfHPhHK please note that it is also to keep the gallery
Like @Writin_Reg, I always used to take excellent care of every sim I played, and I'm afraid I hate-hate-hated having them killed in accidental fires, etc.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
OMG This is the biggest pet peeve ever. My simself finally grew up and moved out of her dads house to live on her own. Later she got married and had a daughter with her husband and they decided to move her father into their home. Once their father came into the home, He'd lost all relationships with ALL of his friends at the police station. I worked so hard on making sure he maintained those relationships just to go back and find that the game got rid of them all. And he was still in my played households category. This was my first attempt in rotating my families (Usually I don't) but this is a big problem in this game and I don't think it will ever get fixed...
Tht was a big problem in all the Sims - once your sim retired the friendship went kaput that he had with other workers and moving to a different town would wipe out friendships from the town you moved from. In sims 2 I moved a Sim from Pleasantview to Strangetown and even lost all her relationships with her family as well as her friendships. I later found out I could reset relationships more or less using Simpe in Sims 2 and fixing their files - but have no clue in Sims 3 or 4.
But that has been an ongoing issue no dev has ever been able to stop since I can remember in the Sims games. The only friendships that seem to hold together is among the Maxis Sims for some odd reason. I have seen family relationships at least hold together in Sims 4 so that was a step forward compared to previous ones - I don't move my Sims from their town out of habit from past games - but they do change houses with in their town often so I have not experienced those issues in Sims 4 yet - just because of how I play.
ETA - I just remembered in my last save I did move a newly turned YA to the City in CL for a short time and he never lost his family relationships or most friend relationships except for a few I did not age up when he aged up. I just assumed tht was because they were still teens and he was now a YA. They were still on his friends list but real low on those lists.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I do get disappointed pretty much every time I play because of lack of detail, lack of interactions with objects, some things being cartoony and ridiculous looking like the machine they use now to pull weeds, and lack of connection with the outside world like how we don't even have to gather flowers to arrange them at the table etc...I hate how everything just appears out of thin air and how so many tasks are completed without much or any visible interactions.
Overall the game is in fact watered down and you can tell corners were cut to get things out faster. I play sims 4 way less than I played sims 2 and 3. Lately I only seem to play sims 4 after new content comes out just hoping it will help but the same lack of everything I spoke about above seems to be maintained throughout every expansion and pack, except vampires.
There are things I enjoy, the storms and snow are beautiful, the multitasking is essential, I love the photography, the restaurants run great both owning them and eating out with others, love the food stalls and learning new cuisine, love the yoga, I like how the sims themselves look like the graphics for them, love the toddlers, love the drag aspect of cas and build mode.
So, There are things I love about sims 4 but lack of detail and interactions, as stated above, make me feel disconnected from the game. Immersion is missing that I had with previous sims.
@soko37 Since I literally agree with 99,9% of what you’re saying, you make me curious for that 0,1 Why do you consider multitasking essential? (I ask because for me multitasking actually can be added to that feeling of being disconnected, everything takes way too long and seeing sims doing two things in turns looks too unrealistic for me to make a difference; I get triggered by the use of the word ‘essential’, what aspect would you miss so much that it would be a dealbreaker)
P.s. I doubt if the fact developers worked on previous games is very telling to be honest, because I could imagine it matters who’s in charge. People who were just helping to develop back then, seeing things/having to do things they perhaps didn’t like, might be in charge now and making decisions they consider good (and obviously a part of the fanbase does too), but another part of the fanbase was happier with the old point of view, of the people in charge back then.
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
Well, once the november patch hits I'm probably going to stop playing for a while until the script mods I like get updated, or learn script modding for ts4 to fix them myself. lol. I'm so tired of ts4. I refuse to buy more packs hoping it'll make it fun again. This whole thing about 'get famous' is more tiring and frustrating than exciting.
I'll... I'll just stop updating my game and play it as is. It's functional right now, there's no need to introduce all the bugs bound to be in the november patch.
I do get disappointed pretty much every time I play because of lack of detail, lack of interactions with objects, some things being cartoony and ridiculous looking like the machine they use now to pull weeds, and lack of connection with the outside world like how we don't even have to gather flowers to arrange them at the table etc...I hate how everything just appears out of thin air and how so many tasks are completed without much or any visible interactions.
Overall the game is in fact watered down and you can tell corners were cut to get things out faster. I play sims 4 way less than I played sims 2 and 3. Lately I only seem to play sims 4 after new content comes out just hoping it will help but the same lack of everything I spoke about above seems to be maintained throughout every expansion and pack, except vampires.
There are things I enjoy, the storms and snow are beautiful, the multitasking is essential, I love the photography, the restaurants run great both owning them and eating out with others, love the food stalls and learning new cuisine, love the yoga, I like how the sims themselves look like the graphics for them, love the toddlers, love the drag aspect of cas and build mode.
So, There are things I love about sims 4 but lack of detail and interactions, as stated above, make me feel disconnected from the game. Immersion is missing that I had with previous sims.
@soko37 Since I literally agree with 99,9% of what you’re saying, you make me curious for that 0,1 Why do you consider multitasking essential? (I ask because for me multitasking actually can be added to that feeling of being disconnected, everything takes way too long and seeing sims doing two things in turns looks too unrealistic for me to make a difference; I get triggered by the use of the word ‘essential’, what aspect would you miss so much that it would be a dealbreaker)
P.s. I doubt if the fact developers worked on previous games is very telling to be honest, because I could imagine it matters who’s in charge. People who were just helping to develop back then, seeing things/having to do things they perhaps didn’t like, might be in charge now and making decisions they consider good (and obviously a part of the fanbase does too), but another part of the fanbase was happier with the old point of view, of the people in charge back then.
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
Beg to differ. I don't sit writing at my pc and then have to stop to look at a picture, I would be aware of it already, and or stop to listen to music, I would be able to hear it and bob my head while I was writing, like in TS2 and TS3 they bob their heads and tap their fingers along with music while they are doing something else. TS3 gets a moodlet that TS2 doesn't (no moodlet system there because they can hear the music at the same time they are reading or whatever. TS2 Sims may not be able to eat and watch TV at same time, but it actually has multitasking that makes sense. TS4 Sims can't lay in bed and watch TV, nor can they lounge on couch and watch TV or listen to a stereo. TS2 Sims have conversations while watching TV or dancing, they don't stop to do it. And no they don't stand around and not realize someone is cooking but go sit at table and wait for meal to be served, I don't have to tell them to get food, if they are hungry. Lol, TS2 Sims have deeper conversations at the table than anywhere else. And that's how they find out a lot about other Sims, not just their actual real gossip. TS2 is different because Sims prefer the better table, better room, better chair, so if you didn't want them sitting at the low end table in the kitchen, you learned to put the better stuff in the dining room. ETA: And another myth, my Sims never lost a friend or BFF because they retired from a career. (Or changed jobs) The only way to break relationships in TS2 was to move a lot/house with Sims inside to a different main hood. You could move Sims to any subhood/but not in a house/lot. We all knew that.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Well, once the november patch hits I'm probably going to stop playing for a while until the script mods I like get updated, or learn script modding for ts4 to fix them myself. lol. I'm so tired of ts4. I refuse to buy more packs hoping it'll make it fun again. This whole thing about 'get famous' is more tiring and frustrating than exciting.
I'll... I'll just stop updating my game and play it as is. It's functional right now, there's no need to introduce all the bugs bound to be in the november patch.
That's a really good idea. I may not patch my game to avoid the inevitable bugs as well.
I do get disappointed pretty much every time I play because of lack of detail, lack of interactions with objects, some things being cartoony and ridiculous looking like the machine they use now to pull weeds, and lack of connection with the outside world like how we don't even have to gather flowers to arrange them at the table etc...I hate how everything just appears out of thin air and how so many tasks are completed without much or any visible interactions.
Overall the game is in fact watered down and you can tell corners were cut to get things out faster. I play sims 4 way less than I played sims 2 and 3. Lately I only seem to play sims 4 after new content comes out just hoping it will help but the same lack of everything I spoke about above seems to be maintained throughout every expansion and pack, except vampires.
There are things I enjoy, the storms and snow are beautiful, the multitasking is essential, I love the photography, the restaurants run great both owning them and eating out with others, love the food stalls and learning new cuisine, love the yoga, I like how the sims themselves look like the graphics for them, love the toddlers, love the drag aspect of cas and build mode.
So, There are things I love about sims 4 but lack of detail and interactions, as stated above, make me feel disconnected from the game. Immersion is missing that I had with previous sims.
@soko37 Since I literally agree with 99,9% of what you’re saying, you make me curious for that 0,1 Why do you consider multitasking essential? (I ask because for me multitasking actually can be added to that feeling of being disconnected, everything takes way too long and seeing sims doing two things in turns looks too unrealistic for me to make a difference; I get triggered by the use of the word ‘essential’, what aspect would you miss so much that it would be a dealbreaker)
P.s. I doubt if the fact developers worked on previous games is very telling to be honest, because I could imagine it matters who’s in charge. People who were just helping to develop back then, seeing things/having to do things they perhaps didn’t like, might be in charge now and making decisions they consider good (and obviously a part of the fanbase does too), but another part of the fanbase was happier with the old point of view, of the people in charge back then.
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
Beg to differ. I don't sit writing at my pc and then have to stop to look at a picture, I would be aware of it already, and or stop to listen to music, I would be able to hear it and bob my head while I was writing, like in TS2 and TS3 they bob their heads and tap their fingers along with music while they are doing something else. TS3 gets a moodlet that TS2 doesn't (no moodlet system there because they can hear the music at the same time they are reading or whatever. TS2 Sims may not be able to eat and watch TV at same time, but it actually has multitasking that makes sense. TS4 Sims can't lay in bed and watch TV, nor can they lounge on couch and watch TV or listen to a stereo. TS2 Sims have conversations while watching TV or dancing, they don't stop to do it. And no they don't stand around and not realize someone is cooking but go sit at table and wait for meal to be served, I don't have to tell them to get food, if they are hungry. Lol, TS2 Sims have deeper conversations at the table than anywhere else. And that's how they find out a lot about other Sims, not just their actual real gossip. TS2 is different because Sims prefer the better table, better room, better chair, so if you didn't want them sitting at the low end table in the kitchen, you learned to put the better stuff in the dining room. ETA: And another myth, my Sims never lost a friend or BFF because they retired from a career. (Or changed jobs) The only way to break relationships in TS2 was to move a lot/house with Sims inside to a different main hood. You could move Sims to any subhood/but not in a house/lot. We all knew that.
My sims 4 sims do bob their head to music when on the computer. They usually turn the music on themselves after I queue them to do something on the computer. I don't even tell them to listen to it. I stop and look at my decor all the time when I'm writing, but my point is we the player can make the sims do multiple things at once whereas in previous sims that is not the case. Yes sims 2 had very limited multitasking as did sims 3, but it wasn't fully developed yet.
The sims 4 not being able to lay in bed and watch TV or lounge and watch TV has nothing to do with multitasking but has to do with those options not being coded into the game. Sims 4 definitely needs more object interactions which was the whole point of my original post. Sims used to also be able to read in bed and cuddle other sims in bed etc...I really miss all that. BUT if they did bring those interactions back, I'm sure you could probably queue your sim to do those things PLUS other things because of multitasking being more developed. You could probably lay in bed, watch a movie, eat and talk to others....like irl.
And yeah, when I play sims 3 and one sim is cooking they always come over and stand next to the sim waiting quietly, tapping their feet wanting to talk but they can't. Eventually they walk away.
I do get disappointed pretty much every time I play because of lack of detail, lack of interactions with objects, some things being cartoony and ridiculous looking like the machine they use now to pull weeds, and lack of connection with the outside world like how we don't even have to gather flowers to arrange them at the table etc...I hate how everything just appears out of thin air and how so many tasks are completed without much or any visible interactions.
Overall the game is in fact watered down and you can tell corners were cut to get things out faster. I play sims 4 way less than I played sims 2 and 3. Lately I only seem to play sims 4 after new content comes out just hoping it will help but the same lack of everything I spoke about above seems to be maintained throughout every expansion and pack, except vampires.
There are things I enjoy, the storms and snow are beautiful, the multitasking is essential, I love the photography, the restaurants run great both owning them and eating out with others, love the food stalls and learning new cuisine, love the yoga, I like how the sims themselves look like the graphics for them, love the toddlers, love the drag aspect of cas and build mode.
So, There are things I love about sims 4 but lack of detail and interactions, as stated above, make me feel disconnected from the game. Immersion is missing that I had with previous sims.
@soko37 Since I literally agree with 99,9% of what you’re saying, you make me curious for that 0,1 Why do you consider multitasking essential? (I ask because for me multitasking actually can be added to that feeling of being disconnected, everything takes way too long and seeing sims doing two things in turns looks too unrealistic for me to make a difference; I get triggered by the use of the word ‘essential’, what aspect would you miss so much that it would be a dealbreaker)
P.s. I doubt if the fact developers worked on previous games is very telling to be honest, because I could imagine it matters who’s in charge. People who were just helping to develop back then, seeing things/having to do things they perhaps didn’t like, might be in charge now and making decisions they consider good (and obviously a part of the fanbase does too), but another part of the fanbase was happier with the old point of view, of the people in charge back then.
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
Beg to differ. I don't sit writing at my pc and then have to stop to look at a picture, I would be aware of it already, and or stop to listen to music, I would be able to hear it and bob my head while I was writing, like in TS2 and TS3 they bob their heads and tap their fingers along with music while they are doing something else. TS3 gets a moodlet that TS2 doesn't (no moodlet system there because they can hear the music at the same time they are reading or whatever. TS2 Sims may not be able to eat and watch TV at same time, but it actually has multitasking that makes sense. TS4 Sims can't lay in bed and watch TV, nor can they lounge on couch and watch TV or listen to a stereo. TS2 Sims have conversations while watching TV or dancing, they don't stop to do it. And no they don't stand around and not realize someone is cooking but go sit at table and wait for meal to be served, I don't have to tell them to get food, if they are hungry. Lol, TS2 Sims have deeper conversations at the table than anywhere else. And that's how they find out a lot about other Sims, not just their actual real gossip. TS2 is different because Sims prefer the better table, better room, better chair, so if you didn't want them sitting at the low end table in the kitchen, you learned to put the better stuff in the dining room. ETA: And another myth, my Sims never lost a friend or BFF because they retired from a career. (Or changed jobs) The only way to break relationships in TS2 was to move a lot/house with Sims inside to a different main hood. You could move Sims to any subhood/but not in a house/lot. We all knew that.
My sims 4 sims do bob their head to music when on the computer. They usually turn the music on themselves after I queue them to do something on the computer. I don't even tell them to listen to it. I stop and look at my decor all the time when I'm writing, but my point is we the player can make the sims do multiple things at once whereas in previous sims that is not the case. Yes sims 2 had very limited multitasking as did sims 3, but it wasn't fully developed yet.
The sims 4 not being able to lay in bed and watch TV or lounge and watch TV has nothing to do with multitasking but has to do with those options not being coded into the game. Sims 4 definitely needs more object interactions which was the whole point of my original post. Sims used to also be able to read in bed and cuddle other sims in bed etc...I really miss all that. BUT if they did bring those interactions back, I'm sure you could probably queue your sim to do those things PLUS other things because of multitasking being more developed. You could probably lay in bed, watch a movie, eat and talk to others....like irl.
And yeah, when I play sims 3 and one sim is cooking they always come over and stand next to the sim waiting quietly, tapping their feet wanting to talk but they can't. Eventually they walk away.
Well, once the november patch hits I'm probably going to stop playing for a while until the script mods I like get updated, or learn script modding for ts4 to fix them myself. lol. I'm so tired of ts4. I refuse to buy more packs hoping it'll make it fun again. This whole thing about 'get famous' is more tiring and frustrating than exciting.
I'll... I'll just stop updating my game and play it as is. It's functional right now, there's no need to introduce all the bugs bound to be in the november patch.
That's a really good idea. I may not patch my game to avoid the inevitable bugs as well.
I make a back up of all the gamefiles when I don't feel like updating or if I want to rollback to another version. Right now I'm still playing the patch after the first seasons patch because I made sure all my mods were compatible with seasons, so it runs really well. I don't feel like updating everything and dealing with the new bugs. You just need to backup everything, especially the ts4 folder with the save files since when you update them in a new patch you can't open them in a previous one.
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
@DesertSimmer1971 I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
Very poor analogy there ... none of what you mentioned are positive “motions” to remedy those events... so I won’t comment further on that..
I do understand your concern in terms of memory and how certain situations effects our sims but no moodlet even in past series was ever prolonged there would be a certain period of sadness till you did things to lift your sims spirits/mood... I do believe this is an area that could have been better developed, and not just mood changes as I think that is just the tip of the ice burg for a lot more reflection on how our sims behave.
It’s a Teen game and it’s meant to be fun and enjoyable ultimately, yes there will be tragic moments but life goes on ... just like real life we make new memories and learn to cope with certain emotions/feelings from past situations in order to sustain and enjoy our lives to the best we can! No one wants to live in misery... that’s not promotable to anyone in real life or in a game ...
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
Very well written. I completely agree.
To put in sim terms a sim shouldn’t be coming home from work or school and not be aware that a family member has passed away. The remedy should not be a nicely decorated home or a painting. It’s far too simplistic and far too shallow.
In the first three sims games, sims will mourn and their sadness can not be turned off by walking into the next room.
When Mortimer got turned into a zombie in the sims 1 and Bella lost her newborn baby, both her and Cassandra were sad for days. They were autonomously mourning and They refused to skill build as they were too depressed. Bella even lost her job.
Similar happens in sims 2. My sim got burgled and she cried about it for a few days after the event, she had nightmares about it and later on when her mood was low and she was bordering on aspiration failure, she thought more about it as she remembered it as a powerful bad memory.
When my sim in 4 lost her child she cried once, walked into her kitchen and got flirty. I kid you not. During dinner that day, within the hour she became inspired as she is a good cook. Her child’s death an apparent distant memory. Her emotions flip flopped like crazy but never back to sad. That’s very unrealistic.
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
@DesertSimmer1971 I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
Very poor analogy there ... none of what you mentioned are positive “motions” to remedy those events...
I do understand your concern in terms of memory and how certain situations effects our sims but no moodlet even in past series was ever prolonged there would be a certain period of sadness till you did things to lift your sims spirits/mood...
It’s a Teen game and it’s meant to be fun and enjoyable ultimately, yes there will be tragic moments but life goes on ... just like real life we make new memories and learn to cope with certain emotions/feelings from past situations in order to sustain and enjoy our lives to the best we can! No one wants to live in misery... that’s not promotable to anyone in real life or in a game ...
Then you missed the point I was making. Life is sometimes messy, sometimes sad, and yes sometimes joyful and happy. The previous Sims game were better at "allowing the player to play how they wanted". The Sims 4 does not allow for a player to play a sad story at all. It is basically a utopia that only allows for a "Happy dollhouse world where there is nothing unpleasant".
For example, I have tried to play a "Story" where my Sim's spouse cheated on her, and she kicked him out. As hard as I tried with every possible combination of traits, she never got "angry", "sad", or even stressed out. Realistic, I think not.
I once had a sim family, where after about a week of in-game time, I finally drowned the husband in the pool. The wife and his kids were home on the lot when he finally died. They didn't even react. Not at all. It was like the husband and father never existed. Yet my sims didn't even know Dennis Kim, and when he died randomly in front of one of the bars, they were sad for 2 days! Really?
@MidnightAura it isn't very realistic when negative moodlets are buried under a lot of positive moodlets caused by decorations. I'm probably in the minority, but i actually like it that way. No more having a good mood ruined by a negative moodlet that seemingly comes out of nowhere far too often in my opinion.
I like my sim being in a good mood and really dislike having to deal with negative moodlets that the game often likes to throw at my sim for no apparent reason. If I'm being negligent with my sim and his/her needs aren't being met, than i don't have a problem with having to deal with the resulting negative moodlets. It's when my sim is well cared for, and in a great mood, that it really upsets me when the game throws me a curveball with a negative moodlet from out of nowhere. So glad that i don't have to deal with that very often in TS4.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
Very well written. I completely agree.
To put in sim terms a sim shouldn’t be coming home from work or school and not be aware that a family member has passed away. The remedy should not be a nicely decorated home or a painting. It’s far too simplistic and far too shallow.
In the first three sims games, sims will mourn and their sadness can not be turned off by walking into the next room.
When Mortimer got turned into a zombie in the sims 1 and Bella lost her newborn baby, both her and Cassandra were sad for days. They were autonomously mourning and They refused to skill build as they were too depressed. Bella even lost her job.
Similar happens in sims 2. My sim got burgled and she cried about it for a few days after the event, she had nightmares about it and later on when her mood was low and she was bordering on aspiration failure, she thought more about it as she remembered it as a powerful bad memory.
When my sim in 4 lost her child she cried once, walked into her kitchen and got flirty. I kid you not. During dinner that day, within the hour she became inspired as she is a good cook. Her child’s death an apparent distant memory. Her emotions flip flopped like crazy but never back to sad. That’s very unrealistic.
@MidnightAura, This is exactly it. Personally, I think the problems stem from the base game. If a sims traits had been the focus of a sims personality (as I honestly feel that they were in the previous games), and then a robust and immersive emotions system being an enhancement to these sims, it would have been an amazing evolution.
Imagine if these sims could have 5 traits, that truly defined their personality? A good, romantic, family-oriented, perfectionist, loner. He/She could be a nice sim, that is driven as far as her job, desperately wants to find that special someone and start a family, but because he/she is a loner, feels awkward and nervous meeting new people so struggles with relationships. This sim would or may not be a great parent. He/She may be family-oriented, but being a perfectionist and loner may also be too controlling/over-protective with his or her children and the children may resent or rebel against the parents. If this sim was cheated on, he/she would be sad unlike a non-committal sim, and their children may or may not be upset with the situation. The conclusion is that whether it is a positive or negative event, the sims should act accordingly, and their emotions should be based on traits, not random buffs or specific objects producing those buffs.
Like @Writin_Reg, I always used to take excellent care of every sim I played, and I'm afraid I hate-hate-hated having them killed in accidental fires, etc.
But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
OMG This is the biggest pet peeve ever. My simself finally grew up and moved out of her dads house to live on her own. Later she got married and had a daughter with her husband and they decided to move her father into their home. Once their father came into the home, He'd lost all relationships with ALL of his friends at the police station. I worked so hard on making sure he maintained those relationships just to go back and find that the game got rid of them all. And he was still in my played households category. This was my first attempt in rotating my families (Usually I don't) but this is a big problem in this game and I don't think it will ever get fixed...
Tht was a big problem in all the Sims - once your sim retired the friendship went kaput that he had with other workers and moving to a different town would wipe out friendships from the town you moved from. In sims 2 I moved a Sim from Pleasantview to Strangetown and even lost all her relationships with her family as well as her friendships. I later found out I could reset relationships more or less using Simpe in Sims 2 and fixing their files - but have no clue in Sims 3 or 4.
But that has been an ongoing issue no dev has ever been able to stop since I can remember in the Sims games. The only friendships that seem to hold together is among the Maxis Sims for some odd reason. I have seen family relationships at least hold together in Sims 4 so that was a step forward compared to previous ones - I don't move my Sims from their town out of habit from past games - but they do change houses with in their town often so I have not experienced those issues in Sims 4 yet - just because of how I play.
ETA - I just remembered in my last save I did move a newly turned YA to the City in CL for a short time and he never lost his family relationships or most friend relationships except for a few I did not age up when he aged up. I just assumed tht was because they were still teens and he was now a YA. They were still on his friends list but real low on those lists.
I do get disappointed pretty much every time I play because of lack of detail, lack of interactions with objects, some things being cartoony and ridiculous looking like the machine they use now to pull weeds, and lack of connection with the outside world like how we don't even have to gather flowers to arrange them at the table etc...I hate how everything just appears out of thin air and how so many tasks are completed without much or any visible interactions.
Overall the game is in fact watered down and you can tell corners were cut to get things out faster. I play sims 4 way less than I played sims 2 and 3. Lately I only seem to play sims 4 after new content comes out just hoping it will help but the same lack of everything I spoke about above seems to be maintained throughout every expansion and pack, except vampires.
There are things I enjoy, the storms and snow are beautiful, the multitasking is essential, I love the photography, the restaurants run great both owning them and eating out with others, love the food stalls and learning new cuisine, love the yoga, I like how the sims themselves look like the graphics for them, love the toddlers, love the drag aspect of cas and build mode.
So, There are things I love about sims 4 but lack of detail and interactions, as stated above, make me feel disconnected from the game. Immersion is missing that I had with previous sims.
@soko37 Since I literally agree with 99,9% of what you’re saying, you make me curious for that 0,1 Why do you consider multitasking essential? (I ask because for me multitasking actually can be added to that feeling of being disconnected, everything takes way too long and seeing sims doing two things in turns looks too unrealistic for me to make a difference; I get triggered by the use of the word ‘essential’, what aspect would you miss so much that it would be a dealbreaker)
P.s. I doubt if the fact developers worked on previous games is very telling to be honest, because I could imagine it matters who’s in charge. People who were just helping to develop back then, seeing things/having to do things they perhaps didn’t like, might be in charge now and making decisions they consider good (and obviously a part of the fanbase does too), but another part of the fanbase was happier with the old point of view, of the people in charge back then.
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
Thanks for the thorough reply From my own perspective, I’d agree if it indeed would look realistic but to me it doesn’t. I think that might just come down to how different people experience and feel different things and how we process things differently. Like, I notice my brain sort of skips the neutral wait in between animations in Sims 3, while I know others are really bothered by that. I don’t mind a sim does something else first when it means they do everything a lot quicker anyway because there is no multitasking. I do agree though that it’s a different experience. I disagree Sims 4 multitasking functions how we operate, I feel they haven’t nailed that at all. Because they don’t do those things at the same time, they’ll stop cooking and talk, then cook, then talk, then cook. Which is why it takes so much longer.
But anyway, I do understand why it’s essential to you better now!
Regarding multitasking: in my game, the sims don't really multitask. At dinner, if I have 'em strike up a conversation, the sim who is talking stops eating (hunger bar starts moving down) and devotes 100% of its 'attention' to talking. Once the queued topics are completed (or, frequently, drop without completion), the sim starts eating again and the hunger bar starts to fill.
Ditto with 'most everything else. Only exception I can think of is using exercise equipment--tho if the objects aren't very close, unplayed sims will stop exercising and come stand beside your sim to talk...I think I've seen 'em do that even when they are exercising right smack next to your sim. (Edited for clarity.)
Can't walk the dog and talk (not even to the dog), any more than sims can jog together and talk. Queuing up a conversation makes the sim stop walking/jogging.
When my sims cook, if another sim starts talking to 'em, they stop cooking (no further cooking progress) and talk.
Basically, fundamentally, if one of the multi-tasking 'tasks' is talking, whatever else the sim is doing doesn't progress, and all that actually happens is talking.
You can see this when they watch the cooking channel and talk at the same time. Skill bar disappears while they talk.
At least, that's how it is in my game.
The multi-tasking is mostly illusion. What they're doing is pausing one activity (eating, walking, skilling), doing the second activity, and then re-starting the first activity when the second is finished. We can pretend that's multi-tasking; it's a pretty close representation, but it isn't really, and probably cannot be.
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But in TS4, so often my sims have the wrong emotional response to a situation I've set up, that I can't really enjoy playing with my stories. The only thing that sorta works right is if I play with EA's stories, and give up on mine.
So, in a situation like the one @MidnightAura so aptly described and analyzed, I would have to change my perception of my sim, and play the Mom as an unfeeling psychopath who's masquerading as a caring empath. That's not who Bella's supposed to be, but that's the only way I would have to explain away her abnormal emotional response.
Since all the sims are like this, I either have to spend all my time managing their emotional buffs so they react properly (harder now that I can't cheat in the right buffs), or I deliberately play 'em like they're evil. That way, I do.not.care. what happens to them.
Even then, when I go full-on #tortureyoursims, it doesn't work right. The teen who ran away from home to escape his grandfather's horrible new girlfriend did not recognize her the next time they met. Their relationship was so low, the game culled it; they were complete strangers. I stopped playing TS4 for months. No way would that kid have forgotten her and her bullying. I cheated their relationship back to where it should be, but the game culls it every time I rotate to another household. I've given up. She was supposed to be the most hated sim in town, but everyone is fine with her, and it's too much work to keep fixing that.
I still have a lot of families (I play a large rotational game) I'd set up as, y'know, normal families, that I can't stand to play as psychopaths. Playing them is frequently more like work than play. There's a kind of satisfaction in getting them all through a day, but it's ...grindy.*
That said, I want to thank you, @CeleSeraphym, for reminding me of some of the things I do really like about TS4 (build mode improvements for ex.) and now take for granted. The new terrain tool will be very welcome. (Unfortunately for me, I've had to put aside building as it aggravates an injury that isn't responding to treatment, but I hope to play with it someday...and meanwhile, will enjoy what others do with it.)
*ETA: it's not grindy because of any difficulty in skilling/leveling, but because of problems w/queue-dropping, etc.
I agree. It's always so annoying when your sims react exactly the opposite to what you want. Once this happened and I almost cried (not joking). But I don't think I could ever abandon Sims 4 completely. Usually I play a lot for 2-3 weeks, and then just stop, and not come back for like 4 months. Usually in between I will play TS3, and some other games on Steam. And sometimes I won't burn out the game, but just a family. And I will stop playing that family either forever or for a year (ish). I'm currently playing The Duggar 2.0 Challenge (my first challenge! find it here) and I started, got bored, then returned, got bored again, and now I'm thinking of coming back.
I have to say, build/buy mode is the main thing that keeps me coming back to the game, and when I get an itch to play, it's usually to improve upon some lot lol. Right now I'm playing, and Alt-Tab'd the game to look for a replacement for the EA Selvadorada cantina (it...needs a lil' sum' sum' to liven it up a bit). I'm more interested in messing around with the lots than playing the family on vacation!
Custom content has been the saving grace for this game for me, from TS1, really. I've always been obsessed with it, to the point that it used to take TS2 nearly 30 minutes to load. I'd start loading it and go do something else for 25, 30 minutes, then come back ready to play. It was wild. TS3, in the end, was nearly 20 minutes even with a huge computer upgrade. But new cc build and buy items are just too much to pass up, and truly make the sim world more immersive for me.
One of the last lots I downloaded (earlier this year) was a huge museum complex. It is unbelievable the amount of detail that went into this 'work of art', pun intended. I mean...it's incredible. I would be over the moon if the lot could serve multiple purposes; be a museum AND a cafe AND a working gift shop. Or have a custom cc lot from Windenburg function as the bar/restaurant/hotel/shop it was built in the style of. Those things would make the gameplay, for me, worthwhile. That and Collections files...I...I cannot stress that enough.
As much as I adore TS3, it's a little tough to go back and be constrained by one wall height. I'd build or download these fantastical lofts or upscale houses or apartments, and the ceilings would be so low. There was always this dream of having sky-high windows. When I first saw that feature in TS4 I was floored. No indoor foundations? Fine. No round pool edges (or pool at all)? Cool, whatev. They could've left out rooftops and I still would've been stoked about the wall heights!
I still dream that someday, maybe for TS6 or TS7, we'll have half-length walls...sometimes you just need more wall, but not a full tile's worth...and round or curved walls, and true L-shaped stairs and real pool steps. And a water tool for ponds & lakes (coming with the new terrain tool?) and swimmable ponds and lakes. And art niches that you can stamp onto any wall. And designable ceiling tiles again.
And with TS15...Collections files.
"If you don't talk to your cat about catnip... who will?"
"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."
OMG This is the biggest pet peeve ever. My simself finally grew up and moved out of her dads house to live on her own. Later she got married and had a daughter with her husband and they decided to move her father into their home. Once their father came into the home, He'd lost all relationships with ALL of his friends at the police station. I worked so hard on making sure he maintained those relationships just to go back and find that the game got rid of them all. And he was still in my played households category. This was my first attempt in rotating my families (Usually I don't) but this is a big problem in this game and I don't think it will ever get fixed...
Repose en paix mamie tu va me manquer :
1923-2016 mamie
Tht was a big problem in all the Sims - once your sim retired the friendship went kaput that he had with other workers and moving to a different town would wipe out friendships from the town you moved from. In sims 2 I moved a Sim from Pleasantview to Strangetown and even lost all her relationships with her family as well as her friendships. I later found out I could reset relationships more or less using Simpe in Sims 2 and fixing their files - but have no clue in Sims 3 or 4.
But that has been an ongoing issue no dev has ever been able to stop since I can remember in the Sims games. The only friendships that seem to hold together is among the Maxis Sims for some odd reason. I have seen family relationships at least hold together in Sims 4 so that was a step forward compared to previous ones - I don't move my Sims from their town out of habit from past games - but they do change houses with in their town often so I have not experienced those issues in Sims 4 yet - just because of how I play.
ETA - I just remembered in my last save I did move a newly turned YA to the City in CL for a short time and he never lost his family relationships or most friend relationships except for a few I did not age up when he aged up. I just assumed tht was because they were still teens and he was now a YA. They were still on his friends list but real low on those lists.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I say multitasking is essential because, to me, it makes the game flow more realistically. For example, sims can carry on a casual conversation while cooking a meal, eat AND drink at the same time WHILE watching tv and conversation, you have complete control over where your sims do everything because of multitasking.
Previous sims games had an odd robotic feel because a sim couldn't multitask. You couldn't interact with anyone while doing anything because interacting with sims itself was a separate task. Sims had eerily quiet meals and stood around in silence waiting to speak to someone that was busy cooking. I hated when I wanted my sim to just sit at a certain place with their meal and they would put their food down to go sit there!!!! And they had to finish their entire meal before turning the tv on...With multitasking the sims are more like how we actually operate.
I'll... I'll just stop updating my game and play it as is. It's functional right now, there's no need to introduce all the bugs bound to be in the november patch.
Beg to differ. I don't sit writing at my pc and then have to stop to look at a picture, I would be aware of it already, and or stop to listen to music, I would be able to hear it and bob my head while I was writing, like in TS2 and TS3 they bob their heads and tap their fingers along with music while they are doing something else. TS3 gets a moodlet that TS2 doesn't (no moodlet system there
That's a really good idea. I may not patch my game to avoid the inevitable bugs as well.
My sims 4 sims do bob their head to music when on the computer. They usually turn the music on themselves after I queue them to do something on the computer. I don't even tell them to listen to it. I stop and look at my decor all the time when I'm writing, but my point is we the player can make the sims do multiple things at once whereas in previous sims that is not the case. Yes sims 2 had very limited multitasking as did sims 3, but it wasn't fully developed yet.
The sims 4 not being able to lay in bed and watch TV or lounge and watch TV has nothing to do with multitasking but has to do with those options not being coded into the game. Sims 4 definitely needs more object interactions which was the whole point of my original post. Sims used to also be able to read in bed and cuddle other sims in bed etc...I really miss all that. BUT if they did bring those interactions back, I'm sure you could probably queue your sim to do those things PLUS other things because of multitasking being more developed. You could probably lay in bed, watch a movie, eat and talk to others....like irl.
And yeah, when I play sims 3 and one sim is cooking they always come over and stand next to the sim waiting quietly, tapping their feet wanting to talk but they can't. Eventually they walk away.
My sims 4 sims do bob their head to music when on the computer. They usually turn the music on themselves after I queue them to do something on the computer. I don't even tell them to listen to it. I stop and look at my decor all the time when I'm writing, but my point is we the player can make the sims do multiple things at once whereas in previous sims that is not the case. Yes sims 2 had very limited multitasking as did sims 3, but it wasn't fully developed yet.
The sims 4 not being able to lay in bed and watch TV or lounge and watch TV has nothing to do with multitasking but has to do with those options not being coded into the game. Sims 4 definitely needs more object interactions which was the whole point of my original post. Sims used to also be able to read in bed and cuddle other sims in bed etc...I really miss all that. BUT if they did bring those interactions back, I'm sure you could probably queue your sim to do those things PLUS other things because of multitasking being more developed. You could probably lay in bed, watch a movie, eat and talk to others....like irl.
And yeah, when I play sims 3 and one sim is cooking they always come over and stand next to the sim waiting quietly, tapping their feet wanting to talk but they can't. Eventually they walk away.
I make a back up of all the gamefiles when I don't feel like updating or if I want to rollback to another version. Right now I'm still playing the patch after the first seasons patch because I made sure all my mods were compatible with seasons, so it runs really well. I don't feel like updating everything and dealing with the new bugs. You just need to backup everything, especially the ts4 folder with the save files since when you update them in a new patch you can't open them in a previous one.
Well actually it is quite realistic because in life we do or think of positive things to outway the negative ... lol
Garethlex, I respectfully disagree. As an adult, I have been laid off, and I never came home stressed out about how I was gonna pay my bills and support my kids, and because their was a funny movie on the TV or my cat was doing something cute, suddenly everything was ok? Or when my mom passed away 6 years ago, because my house is "nicely decorated", I was not sad anymore and suddenly she never existed in the first place?
That is the problem with the Sims 4. The game is all about "Happy", and there is zero emphasis on what a life simulator should be. The previous Sims games were much more advanced as far as "Smarter Sims" and balancing failure and success for these pixelated people.
Very poor analogy there ... none of what you mentioned are positive “motions” to remedy those events... so I won’t comment further on that..
I do understand your concern in terms of memory and how certain situations effects our sims but no moodlet even in past series was ever prolonged there would be a certain period of sadness till you did things to lift your sims spirits/mood... I do believe this is an area that could have been better developed, and not just mood changes as I think that is just the tip of the ice burg for a lot more reflection on how our sims behave.
It’s a Teen game and it’s meant to be fun and enjoyable ultimately, yes there will be tragic moments but life goes on ... just like real life we make new memories and learn to cope with certain emotions/feelings from past situations in order to sustain and enjoy our lives to the best we can! No one wants to live in misery... that’s not promotable to anyone in real life or in a game ...
Very well written. I completely agree.
To put in sim terms a sim shouldn’t be coming home from work or school and not be aware that a family member has passed away. The remedy should not be a nicely decorated home or a painting. It’s far too simplistic and far too shallow.
In the first three sims games, sims will mourn and their sadness can not be turned off by walking into the next room.
When Mortimer got turned into a zombie in the sims 1 and Bella lost her newborn baby, both her and Cassandra were sad for days. They were autonomously mourning and They refused to skill build as they were too depressed. Bella even lost her job.
Similar happens in sims 2. My sim got burgled and she cried about it for a few days after the event, she had nightmares about it and later on when her mood was low and she was bordering on aspiration failure, she thought more about it as she remembered it as a powerful bad memory.
When my sim in 4 lost her child she cried once, walked into her kitchen and got flirty. I kid you not. During dinner that day, within the hour she became inspired as she is a good cook. Her child’s death an apparent distant memory. Her emotions flip flopped like crazy but never back to sad. That’s very unrealistic.
Then you missed the point I was making. Life is sometimes messy, sometimes sad, and yes sometimes joyful and happy. The previous Sims game were better at "allowing the player to play how they wanted". The Sims 4 does not allow for a player to play a sad story at all. It is basically a utopia that only allows for a "Happy dollhouse world where there is nothing unpleasant".
For example, I have tried to play a "Story" where my Sim's spouse cheated on her, and she kicked him out. As hard as I tried with every possible combination of traits, she never got "angry", "sad", or even stressed out. Realistic, I think not.
I once had a sim family, where after about a week of in-game time, I finally drowned the husband in the pool. The wife and his kids were home on the lot when he finally died. They didn't even react. Not at all. It was like the husband and father never existed. Yet my sims didn't even know Dennis Kim, and when he died randomly in front of one of the bars, they were sad for 2 days! Really?
@MidnightAura, This is exactly it. Personally, I think the problems stem from the base game. If a sims traits had been the focus of a sims personality (as I honestly feel that they were in the previous games), and then a robust and immersive emotions system being an enhancement to these sims, it would have been an amazing evolution.
Imagine if these sims could have 5 traits, that truly defined their personality? A good, romantic, family-oriented, perfectionist, loner. He/She could be a nice sim, that is driven as far as her job, desperately wants to find that special someone and start a family, but because he/she is a loner, feels awkward and nervous meeting new people so struggles with relationships. This sim would or may not be a great parent. He/She may be family-oriented, but being a perfectionist and loner may also be too controlling/over-protective with his or her children and the children may resent or rebel against the parents. If this sim was cheated on, he/she would be sad unlike a non-committal sim, and their children may or may not be upset with the situation. The conclusion is that whether it is a positive or negative event, the sims should act accordingly, and their emotions should be based on traits, not random buffs or specific objects producing those buffs.
Thanks for the thorough reply
But anyway, I do understand why it’s essential to you better now!
Ditto with 'most everything else. Only exception I can think of is using exercise equipment--tho if the objects aren't very close, unplayed sims will stop exercising and come stand beside your sim to talk...I think I've seen 'em do that even when they are exercising right smack next to your sim. (Edited for clarity.)
Can't walk the dog and talk (not even to the dog), any more than sims can jog together and talk. Queuing up a conversation makes the sim stop walking/jogging.
When my sims cook, if another sim starts talking to 'em, they stop cooking (no further cooking progress) and talk.
Basically, fundamentally, if one of the multi-tasking 'tasks' is talking, whatever else the sim is doing doesn't progress, and all that actually happens is talking.
You can see this when they watch the cooking channel and talk at the same time. Skill bar disappears while they talk.
At least, that's how it is in my game.
The multi-tasking is mostly illusion. What they're doing is pausing one activity (eating, walking, skilling), doing the second activity, and then re-starting the first activity when the second is finished. We can pretend that's multi-tasking; it's a pretty close representation, but it isn't really, and probably cannot be.