And I like explanations, because I am the inquisitive type. Why not ask why?
More information is a good thing.
I'm not huge into it, but it does intrigue me. If they add mechanics to babies that make them feel more like an alive being, kind of like toddlers, I think that can only be a good thing. Reason being, if any life stage in the process feels too much like an object (in the case of babies) or too much like a clone (in the case of teens) you can end up with this situation where you want to just skip it because it takes away from the illusion that they are real, rather than adding to it.
Toddlers as they are in game are, to me, probably the most alive feeling life stage in the game right now. Because they have extensive details to them that no other life stage has and it gives them a kind of distinctive personality that the other life stages are missing. I think Teen, YA, and Adult sims all have a kind of personality, but their personalities tend to blend together with each other, making them feel more like a blur, than three unique life stages.
Traits may be one of the most important details involved, though it is only one piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure if toddlers would feel as alive and unique without the toddler specific traits. Which is not to say that every life stage should have a unique set of traits, necessarily. I think part of the charm is that toddlers are the only life stage that has a unique set of traits.
In short: It's very much to do with the feel of it, for me, when it comes down to it. The gameplay would hopefully be fun if they expanded babies, but without that special feel of it, the gameplay can seem too mechanical and rote.
And I like explanations, because I am the inquisitive type. Why not ask why?
More information is a good thing.
And yet your first comment on this thread was "babies are boring and they will still be boring even if they add stuff to them". How is that helpful to anyone? Are you really surprised when people reply to you in the same vague and brief way? How about you give an explanation of why you think that way? What do you find boring about babies? How do you think the sims team can improve them to not make them boring to you? More information is a good thing indeed.
The toddlers are really giving me hope that some of these things might be possible, as they've gone beyond the bare minimum and even done things with them that I felt were missing in previous games, like being able to climb onto furniture, climb stairs, and having the highchair be able to be pulled up next to tables so they feel more like they're a full part of the world and the family than ever before. Also, I'm so happy they added back bathing, I was so sad that wasn't in TS3!
It would be wonderful if they could improve upon the some of the other life stages as well, and babies could definitely use some improvement. I've split the things I'd personally like to see into two groups, the first is what I think is the minimum that really should be added to make the babies feel real, alive, and an actual part of the world and their families, and not just annoying objects you shove into a room and forget about unless they cry. Some of these things have already been mentioned, but I figure that if more people say they want them, those are the things they'll be more likely to add.
Essential:
Be able to carry babies and hold them away from the bassinet
Be able to talk to other sims with holding/feeding babies
Be able to sit in chairs while holding/feeding babies
Be able to multitask while holding babies in general, in all the usual ways a sim can when their hands are full (watch TV, look at paintings, etc.)
Other sims (all ages) to be able to interact with babies that are being held
Be able to hand a baby to another sim
Be able to take babies to community lots
Strollers or carriers that you can use to take babies to community lots so that they won't just get put on the ground if the sim who brought them needs to put them down to do something
At least one object (blanket, carrier, baby swing) that can be put in other rooms in the home so that babies can be put there when they aren't being held or in their bassinet
Baby hair and eyebrows that match the color they will grow up with (multiple hairstyle options would be a bonus)
Baby skin and eye colors that match what they will grow up with
Changeable clothes and accessories
Bonus:
Usable baby toys (rattles, teething rings, stuffed animals) - usable by babies on their own or older sims (all ages) playing with babies
Baby gyms for babies to play with on the floor
Mobiles for bassinets
New styles of bassinets and matching furniture (dressers, toddler/single beds for siblings, curtains, etc)
Walkers they can move around in
Skills (roll over, sit up, scoot, crawl - the first two would be enough for me, but the others would be nice too - could be attached to a baby floor blanket object)
Babies that have learned to sit up able to drink from bottles or sippy cups on the floor
Interactions to sit on floor and play with babies on floor/blanket (all ages) (eg, grab their feet and move them around, let them hold onto your fingers, play peekaboo, tickle)
Sims able to take pictures of babies, or of sims holding babies
Older sims able to feed babies baby food in a highchair (including obligatory choo-choo or airplane noises of course!)
Rocking chairs
Child sims be able to hold/feed a baby on their lap while sitting in a chair (parents hand baby to them)
Babies falling asleep in parents arms
Parents falling asleep while sitting with sleeping baby in arms
Parents able to hold babies with one arm so they can do things with their other arm (eat, drink, read a book on the table, etc)
Bathe baby - in sink and/or separate baby tub object
Daycare playable career that let's you actually care for babies and toddlers that are living in the neighborhood
Baby traits (some babies need more social interaction, some are easy, some are fussy and difficult - this idea needs more fleshing out, but I really like the toddler ones and would like to see something similar for babies)
Create babies in CAS
So again, the essential list is for things I think really should have been in the game from the beginning, and that the lifestage feels incomplete and lackluster without the ability to do those things. The others would all be great, but I can understand if not all of them can be added, or if they are added more slowly over time, in different EPs for examples.
I so wish for more to the baby stage. My sim just had twin boys and I find myself wanting to hurry them to being a toddler. I think babies should have all that has been requested and more. Teething babies would be so much fun... I would spend more money on life stages and adding to "life" rather than super natural stuff. ( I mean I love vampires...vampire diaries is my thing but I don't really care to play them) That is just me though.. I am a family player for sure.
I personally think that there isn't enough variety when it comes to the babies appearances. I wish you could change their outfit and their hair in CAS (since not all babies are bald, lol). As you mentioned in your post there should definitely be more child-baby interactions.
I agree with everything in the OP. Babies need so much more to do. They don't feel like part of the family at all and that's just sad.
As for that tweet, for the life of me I have no idea why Grant would rather space out all of the updates to the life stages that need it, instead of just tackling it all in one go with a pack. It makes no sense to me, though I suppose I can guess a few reasons why he'd do that
Definetely agree with all of this. Would love babyshowerws,ultrasounds,changing table,baby/toddlerswing, strollers, playmats i want all of it and rather sooner than later
100% agree with you all. The babies are left out of everything, not being able to put them in prams for the family outings to and having to leave them at home is very frustrating. I'd love to be able to interact with the babies more.
I think "Food-Eating" should be a (hidden) skill too! You know, how babies progress from milk to pureed food to solids (there's stuff in-between, but eh). High Chairs should also be included. And I also think this should be a free patch! At most, a stuff pack.
God this is everything I've wanted, let's hope keeping this thread going will get there attention because babies are irl my fav part of life to meet and the way they are currently is really disappointing.
I still want babies to be free from the crib . And i am so glad this thread is still going . I had a lot of fun in sims 3 with babies . Did you know when a babie feel a sleep in a at park or some where they remember it ,in sims 3
I just had another thought. I used to have a baby blanket up until I started school. How cute would it be if babies and toddlers could have a blanket to carry about and snuggle for comfort?
Posting my own ideas since I didn't give any examples in my first post.
Real cribs-The bassinets are so small and boring, I'd like large cribs so they can have more space.
Baby mats and playpens-I want the babies to be able to have a space where they can be out of the crib, whether in their own room or anywhere in the house. It would be great if it was portable so the babies could be taken to the park or other places.
Baby swings- It would be cute to have this chair for them that you can put anywhere so you can always have a place to sit the baby with their parent(s) when they're doing certain actives like cooking or work from home.
Toys-rattles and small things like the rubber ducky the toddlers can play with would be so cute.
Traits-I think some of the toddler traits like charmer, angelic, and fussy can be used for babies to determine how much they cry, etc.
CAS-different clothing options would be nice to have. Like onsies, different types of shirts and pants, accessories for girls like bows. Also a little bit of hair so we can see their hair color. Also different eye colors.
Also, for a cute interaction, I think it would be adorable if toddlers could have an interaction where they could ask to hold a baby if their parent is holding one.
OP, your ideas are so well thought out and presented in a highly organized fashion. I would only add a couple of things. We need Sims to be able to pass the baby to another Sim, as we could do in Sims2. The second thing would be to play pat-a-cake with the baby whether it be a teen/YA/Adult or another Child. That's a basic game right alongside Peek-A-Boo.
Sooo, we all know how Grant felt about the "improve the babies" cause... I wonder how SimGuruDuke feels about it though.
@bythedreadwolf That's the first thing I thought of when I heard he was leaving. I seriously hope Duke is more interested in fleshing out babies and they'll give them an overhaul.
Comments
You are misinterpereting my use of the word junk. Junk also means stuff.
So don't get you knickers in a knot over my use of colloquialisms.
And I like explanations, because I am the inquisitive type. Why not ask why?
More information is a good thing.
Toddlers as they are in game are, to me, probably the most alive feeling life stage in the game right now. Because they have extensive details to them that no other life stage has and it gives them a kind of distinctive personality that the other life stages are missing. I think Teen, YA, and Adult sims all have a kind of personality, but their personalities tend to blend together with each other, making them feel more like a blur, than three unique life stages.
Traits may be one of the most important details involved, though it is only one piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure if toddlers would feel as alive and unique without the toddler specific traits. Which is not to say that every life stage should have a unique set of traits, necessarily. I think part of the charm is that toddlers are the only life stage that has a unique set of traits.
In short: It's very much to do with the feel of it, for me, when it comes down to it. The gameplay would hopefully be fun if they expanded babies, but without that special feel of it, the gameplay can seem too mechanical and rote.
And yet your first comment on this thread was "babies are boring and they will still be boring even if they add stuff to them". How is that helpful to anyone? Are you really surprised when people reply to you in the same vague and brief way? How about you give an explanation of why you think that way? What do you find boring about babies? How do you think the sims team can improve them to not make them boring to you? More information is a good thing indeed.
Oh. Sorry
It would be wonderful if they could improve upon the some of the other life stages as well, and babies could definitely use some improvement. I've split the things I'd personally like to see into two groups, the first is what I think is the minimum that really should be added to make the babies feel real, alive, and an actual part of the world and their families, and not just annoying objects you shove into a room and forget about unless they cry. Some of these things have already been mentioned, but I figure that if more people say they want them, those are the things they'll be more likely to add.
Essential:
Bonus:
So again, the essential list is for things I think really should have been in the game from the beginning, and that the lifestage feels incomplete and lackluster without the ability to do those things. The others would all be great, but I can understand if not all of them can be added, or if they are added more slowly over time, in different EPs for examples.
I personally think that there isn't enough variety when it comes to the babies appearances. I wish you could change their outfit and their hair in CAS (since not all babies are bald, lol). As you mentioned in your post there should definitely be more child-baby interactions.
Also because of this tweet from @SimGuruGrant :
So yes, I still want the poor babies to be improved. Please, gurus!
As for that tweet, for the life of me I have no idea why Grant would rather space out all of the updates to the life stages that need it, instead of just tackling it all in one go with a pack. It makes no sense to me, though I suppose I can guess a few reasons why he'd do that
And @crazycat_135, they did it in TS2.
Real cribs-The bassinets are so small and boring, I'd like large cribs so they can have more space.
Baby mats and playpens-I want the babies to be able to have a space where they can be out of the crib, whether in their own room or anywhere in the house. It would be great if it was portable so the babies could be taken to the park or other places.
Baby swings- It would be cute to have this chair for them that you can put anywhere so you can always have a place to sit the baby with their parent(s) when they're doing certain actives like cooking or work from home.
Toys-rattles and small things like the rubber ducky the toddlers can play with would be so cute.
Traits-I think some of the toddler traits like charmer, angelic, and fussy can be used for babies to determine how much they cry, etc.
CAS-different clothing options would be nice to have. Like onsies, different types of shirts and pants, accessories for girls like bows. Also a little bit of hair so we can see their hair color. Also different eye colors.
Also, for a cute interaction, I think it would be adorable if toddlers could have an interaction where they could ask to hold a baby if their parent is holding one.
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
Sooo, we all know how Grant felt about the "improve the babies" cause... I wonder how SimGuruDuke feels about it though.
@bythedreadwolf That's the first thing I thought of when I heard he was leaving. I seriously hope Duke is more interested in fleshing out babies and they'll give them an overhaul.