1. Super specific lifetime goals that start springing up as a teen
2. Story progression
3. More base game jobs + option to hop industries/job-rank mid-career
4. Roommates + real estate income
Depth and consequence. I.e my sim cheats on their spouse their relationship will take a hit.
Brilliant expansions with new objects and different ways to play.
Traits that mean something and have an impact and not a moodlet.
CASt
Random events like the burglar
Pets (s4cats and dogs are trash compared to S3 pets)
Horses
Customisation options like being able to change life stage length and seasons
Gorgeous worlds
The fact that all life stages got a bit of love and not just young adults
Teens and kids behave and act their age as appropriate I.e no children getting wishes to do laundry all.the.time.
1. Cars
2. Horses
3. Body hair
4. Beaches
5. Teens that looked like teens
6. Color wheel
7. Slow dancing
8. Martial arts
9. Rebellious teens
10. Tree houses
Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
I actually haven't played The Sims 3 before, besides at my friend's house, but I would love horses, driving, open world, university, etc. to come back!
Good topic. Thanks for starting the thread. There are lots of great suggestions. I'm new to TS3 and TS4, so I don't know much about them, yet, but I do have some suggestions of my own.
The ability to recolor everything, as we can in TS3. I don't know why they didn't incorporate that into TS4. One of my favorite things is making things look the way I want them to look. I can spend hours (days, really) creating fashions and room settings.
Another thing I'd like is the ability to make all similar objects have the highest values. In order to give my Sims the best of everything, I have to reuse the same items, in every house, or my Sims are uncomfortable, or sleep too long, or don't like their food, etc.
I like the open world concept in TS3, too. My Sim was jogging, and I thought it'd be fun for her to visit a neighbor, but she had to go home first. Bummer.
What I'd really like is more control over every aspect of the game. It's not much of a "god game" if I don't get to set the parameters the way that I want them.
I've realized I miss one thing: the ability to "drag out" the sleep to stay asleep until 2hr before they'd need to get up for their school/work so they remained asleep until the morning even if their energy bar was filled instead of sometimes getting up during the night.
I never really realized how much I missed from TS3 until I started reading this... I really miss being able to swim in the ocean. It might seem like such a small thing, but it was really nice to be able to have that option. And I just realized that yeah, we don't have newspapers? I mean, even if EA isn't going to put a physical newspaper back into the game, couldn't we at least get the option to receive news updates through our phones? Speaking of phones, it would definitely be nice to have an option to turn them off. I really don't like seeing my child sims walking around playing on their phones all the time. I know it's "realistic" but honestly, I wouldn't let my actual kids have phones, why should my virtual ones be any different?
I know that most people dislike rabbit holes and, in a way, I understand the argument. The thing is: almost all of TS4 is a rabbit hole and all of TS4 is completely fake.
In comparison, TS3 worlds seemed more functional and complete. There are municipal buildings which are accessible to all: town halls, police stations and fire stations. The military bases were real places, not just a 2D representation on a 2D map.
In TS3, each career had a physical destination and school was a real place. Each morning, there was a procession of Sims, going about their daily schedules, arriving at each location, as was expected. School buses arrived at schools and the kids piled out and queued up at the doors for classes. Professional athletes arrived for their shifts at the stadium and business people showed up at the professional building.
In TS3, every time that a cab or a private car drove by, there was actually a Sim inside. That Sim had some place that they were going: to work, to the park, to the club on a Friday night. Kids were out, riding their bikes, doing kid things.
In TS4, on the other hand, my Sims can't go to the hospital when they're sick. Even if they could, they wouldn't be seen by a Sim who I know is an actual doctor, no. The Sim that I know is a real doctor is somewhere, laying on a park bench in ratty t-shirt and slippers, covered in flies. The prize-winning journalist is hawking burritos in the Spice District. Little kids roam the streets, day and night and they have no problems shakin' their boom-boom, tang-tang right alongside the adults in the club. Apparently, each and every TS4 child is a truant and a reprobate.
In short, TS3 has a logic and order that TS4 still lacks.
TS3 Sims have schedules and genuine places to be. In TS3, I can have my Sim decide to meet a friend for drinks after work. I could make that Sim get in the car, drive to that friend's place of work, and once their shift was over, that Sim would walk out of their workplace, as expected.
Playing a Sim in TS3 is more realistic. TS4 is the poor man's Truman show. I expected so much better.
I hoped that TS4 would improve. Unfortunately, it seems that it never will. The development team is so busy creating the next great illusion that there seems to be no time left over for the actual simulation of life!
Maybe one day, there will be an expansion for that, because the essence of life sure hasn't made it to the base game.
Nothing actually - as when I miss something - well I go play the game it is in - now a days. Granted it does not allow my Sims 4 Sims to have that experience - but it does allow me - the player - to enjoy the experience bugging me. It's why I keep games from the other series on my pc and ready to jump back in them where I left off - when ever i feel like it.
I am actually playing IP stuff in Beach City in Sims 3 and playing Uni with 2 Universities with 8 Sims in each in Sims 2 - as well as playing in Strangerville in Sims 4.
It honestly doesn't help the Sims games missing those things as i said - but it satisfies "my missing" of that particular gameplay.
"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.....
What I miss: human behavior that makes sense. If the Sims 4 team had actually consulted with a few behavioral psychologists, I think we would have a much better game -- especially since the emotion system is so paramount.
- Beaches (swimming in the ocean, boating, jet skiing, etc.) - Dynamic interactions with other sims (playing soccer together, playing frisbee together, jamming together, tossing the football/ baseball, jogging together, walking together) - Drums, bass, electric guitar - Open World - Build World - Partners cuddling while sleeping, or cuddling on bed and chatting - Slow dancing - Nraas (I know, not an actual Sims franchise- but it enabled total control over everything) - Fruits/ Veggies/ Plants growing all on their own on public lots (no having to visit!) - Waaaay more build/buy items in catalog - Waaaay more choice for voices of sims (pitch) - Pool tables - Trampolines - Gem collecting/ gem cutting - Ability to place lots (especially 64x64) almost anywhere (when in world build mode), and ability to place trees anywhere you want (in world build mode). - Nice interactions ("Thank for cooking/ cleaning", etc.) - Grocery stores - Fairies (good ones) - Way more tree choices (and landscaping plants in general) - No 'awkward' interaction moodlets if a sim couple are chatting in the same group discussion - Ability to paint ceiling tiles - Pond tool - Cars, bikes, etc. - Waterfalls (for pools) - BuyDeBug effects (like waterfall effects, fog, etc.) - Sandbox (and that adults and elders could actually build sandcastles)
Hmmm... I could go on... Maybe I should soldier through an old sims3 save (even with the unbearable lag), because I really, really miss the dynamic play of it.
The ability to purchase on Steam! Less expensive, more sales, and a lot of people (that I know) refuse to get TS4 because it's not on Steam (not even when TS4 just did the free thing).
For a game that touted emotions as its key draw, TS4 has distilled emotions down to its most bare bones and most of them are positive.
There are no emotions like:
guilt
envy
jealousy (TS4's jealousy is more like insecurity and co-dependence than true jealousy.)
fear
worry
relief
pride
surprise
discomfort (That is, emotional discomfort, not the "uncomfortable" of TS4 that seems to represent physical discomfort)
It was possible for all of those emotions to be conveyed in previous games, even though they didn't have big, bold labels attached to them. TS4 hasn't been able to accomplish this. There's so much nuance in life and the emotions that the developers have chosen to represent in TS4 simply don't cut it. They're not even close.
In TS4, tense and uncomfortable are the catchall for the emotions that don't include smiling, crying, or scowling. Its so annoying when I can't seem to provoke an appropriate response in a Sim. Tense is not the same as worried. Physical discomfort is not the same as fear. I wish that the team would take some time to add some of these types of responses to the game. Without them, the emotion system will continue to fall flat.
I'm new to Sims 4, trying to give it a good honest go. I have really not got the hang of the game yet at all, particularly how the emotion system works with decor that supports different emotional states, etc. Things I miss immediately:
Base game hairstyles with colored ribbons and hair clips in them. Seriously, I don't get to accent an outfit with a hair bow? The colour picker - the ability to highlight my Sim's hair, give them yellow eyes, match my wardrobe how I like or style a whole bedroom in the colour of my choice without being restricted to one or two styles. And ditto the sims having the impulse to keep their attention on a fellow sim when having a conversation rather than ignoring them to check their phone. every. other. second. Any challenge to gardening?
...More to be added later, I'm sure.
Also, even in Sims 3, I really miss that sense of babies having life and animation to them rather than being objects which occasionally cry. Huge agreement to whoever said that, in this and other threads.
Most everything! Sims 4 is a major downgrade from 3 and I'm extremely disappointed with it. I know this will anger some but I've been playing Sims from the beginning with 1 and it got better with every installment until 4. Its fairly limited and boring now so I'm done. I'll just go back to playing the Sims 3 which was the best one in my opinion. Doubt I'll ever spend another dime on The Sims unless 5 is better than 3 (if there is a 5).
Whenever I play Get to Work careers, I really miss open world. Day care or the other parent sometimes does a horrible job if I have a toddler at home, and I have to go through loading screens, waiting, and lost work times if I want to make them better without cheats.
Something really strange I miss all the time is the normal and plain furniture. Sims 3 let you get normal bookshelves and normal couches and normal everything. In Sims 4 I have like two options for a normal desk and I can't find a decent chair to go with it. Everything is fancy, hipster, modern, and almost abstract art.
Other things would be: Aspiration rewards that actually helped Personality traits positively and negatively effecting skills Firefighters Police officers and burglars Spiral staircases, ladders, and elevators The color wheel
I have 99 problems and spiral stairs would solve at least 13
Origin ID: Emilissa
The game tracking which books a sim has read by title rather than by object. In Sims 4, this is tracked and deciding to read a book already read will show "reread" instead of read... but only if it is the same copy of the book. If I read "The Orbital Pudding" at a friend's house, the copy of "The Orbital Pudding" at the library, or for that matter at home, is not also marked as read.
Prom for teen sims, teaching teen sims how to drive, pranks, ability to trick o' treat by going to other houses, cars, more stuff for the younger sims to do especially teens. so much more.
Comments
2. Story progression
3. More base game jobs + option to hop industries/job-rank mid-career
4. Roommates + real estate income
Brilliant expansions with new objects and different ways to play.
Traits that mean something and have an impact and not a moodlet.
CASt
Random events like the burglar
Pets (s4cats and dogs are trash compared to S3 pets)
Horses
Customisation options like being able to change life stage length and seasons
Gorgeous worlds
The fact that all life stages got a bit of love and not just young adults
Teens and kids behave and act their age as appropriate I.e no children getting wishes to do laundry all.the.time.
2. Horses
3. Body hair
4. Beaches
5. Teens that looked like teens
6. Color wheel
7. Slow dancing
8. Martial arts
9. Rebellious teens
10. Tree houses
The ability to recolor everything, as we can in TS3. I don't know why they didn't incorporate that into TS4. One of my favorite things is making things look the way I want them to look. I can spend hours (days, really) creating fashions and room settings.
Another thing I'd like is the ability to make all similar objects have the highest values. In order to give my Sims the best of everything, I have to reuse the same items, in every house, or my Sims are uncomfortable, or sleep too long, or don't like their food, etc.
I like the open world concept in TS3, too. My Sim was jogging, and I thought it'd be fun for her to visit a neighbor, but she had to go home first. Bummer.
What I'd really like is more control over every aspect of the game. It's not much of a "god game" if I don't get to set the parameters the way that I want them.
I also like wandering the hills.
Speaking of phones, it would definitely be nice to have an option to turn them off. I really don't like seeing my child sims walking around playing on their phones all the time. I know it's "realistic" but honestly, I wouldn't let my actual kids have phones, why should my virtual ones be any different?
And many, many more things haha
In comparison, TS3 worlds seemed more functional and complete. There are municipal buildings which are accessible to all: town halls, police stations and fire stations. The military bases were real places, not just a 2D representation on a 2D map.
In TS3, each career had a physical destination and school was a real place. Each morning, there was a procession of Sims, going about their daily schedules, arriving at each location, as was expected. School buses arrived at schools and the kids piled out and queued up at the doors for classes. Professional athletes arrived for their shifts at the stadium and business people showed up at the professional building.
In TS3, every time that a cab or a private car drove by, there was actually a Sim inside. That Sim had some place that they were going: to work, to the park, to the club on a Friday night. Kids were out, riding their bikes, doing kid things.
In TS4, on the other hand, my Sims can't go to the hospital when they're sick. Even if they could, they wouldn't be seen by a Sim who I know is an actual doctor, no. The Sim that I know is a real doctor is somewhere, laying on a park bench in ratty t-shirt and slippers, covered in flies. The prize-winning journalist is hawking burritos in the Spice District. Little kids roam the streets, day and night and they have no problems shakin' their boom-boom, tang-tang right alongside the adults in the club. Apparently, each and every TS4 child is a truant and a reprobate.
In short, TS3 has a logic and order that TS4 still lacks.
TS3 Sims have schedules and genuine places to be. In TS3, I can have my Sim decide to meet a friend for drinks after work. I could make that Sim get in the car, drive to that friend's place of work, and once their shift was over, that Sim would walk out of their workplace, as expected.
Playing a Sim in TS3 is more realistic. TS4 is the poor man's Truman show. I expected so much better.
I hoped that TS4 would improve. Unfortunately, it seems that it never will. The development team is so busy creating the next great illusion that there seems to be no time left over for the actual simulation of life!
Maybe one day, there will be an expansion for that, because the essence of life sure hasn't made it to the base game.
I am actually playing IP stuff in Beach City in Sims 3 and playing Uni with 2 Universities with 8 Sims in each in Sims 2 - as well as playing in Strangerville in Sims 4.
It honestly doesn't help the Sims games missing those things as i said - but it satisfies "my missing" of that particular gameplay.
"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.....
- Dynamic interactions with other sims (playing soccer together, playing frisbee together, jamming together, tossing the football/ baseball, jogging together, walking together)
- Drums, bass, electric guitar
- Open World
- Build World
- Partners cuddling while sleeping, or cuddling on bed and chatting
- Slow dancing
- Nraas (I know, not an actual Sims franchise- but it enabled total control over everything)
- Fruits/ Veggies/ Plants growing all on their own on public lots (no having to visit!)
- Waaaay more build/buy items in catalog
- Waaaay more choice for voices of sims (pitch)
- Pool tables
- Trampolines
- Gem collecting/ gem cutting
- Ability to place lots (especially 64x64) almost anywhere (when in world build mode), and ability to place trees anywhere you want (in world build mode).
- Nice interactions ("Thank for cooking/ cleaning", etc.)
- Grocery stores
- Fairies (good ones)
- Way more tree choices (and landscaping plants in general)
- No 'awkward' interaction moodlets if a sim couple are chatting in the same group discussion
- Ability to paint ceiling tiles
- Pond tool
- Cars, bikes, etc.
- Waterfalls (for pools)
- BuyDeBug effects (like waterfall effects, fog, etc.)
- Sandbox (and that adults and elders could actually build sandcastles)
Hmmm... I could go on... Maybe I should soldier through an old sims3 save (even with the unbearable lag), because I really, really miss the dynamic play of it.
The ability to purchase on Steam! Less expensive, more sales, and a lot of people (that I know) refuse to get TS4 because it's not on Steam (not even when TS4 just did the free thing).
For a game that touted emotions as its key draw, TS4 has distilled emotions down to its most bare bones and most of them are positive.
There are no emotions like:
guilt
envy
jealousy (TS4's jealousy is more like insecurity and co-dependence than true jealousy.)
fear
worry
relief
pride
surprise
discomfort (That is, emotional discomfort, not the "uncomfortable" of TS4 that seems to represent physical discomfort)
It was possible for all of those emotions to be conveyed in previous games, even though they didn't have big, bold labels attached to them. TS4 hasn't been able to accomplish this. There's so much nuance in life and the emotions that the developers have chosen to represent in TS4 simply don't cut it. They're not even close.
In TS4, tense and uncomfortable are the catchall for the emotions that don't include smiling, crying, or scowling. Its so annoying when I can't seem to provoke an appropriate response in a Sim. Tense is not the same as worried. Physical discomfort is not the same as fear. I wish that the team would take some time to add some of these types of responses to the game. Without them, the emotion system will continue to fall flat.
Things I miss immediately:
Base game hairstyles with colored ribbons and hair clips in them. Seriously, I don't get to accent an outfit with a hair bow?
The colour picker - the ability to highlight my Sim's hair, give them yellow eyes, match my wardrobe how I like or style a whole bedroom in the colour of my choice without being restricted to one or two styles.
And ditto the sims having the impulse to keep their attention on a fellow sim when having a conversation rather than ignoring them to check their phone. every. other. second.
Any challenge to gardening?
...More to be added later, I'm sure.
Also, even in Sims 3, I really miss that sense of babies having life and animation to them rather than being objects which occasionally cry. Huge agreement to whoever said that, in this and other threads.
Something really strange I miss all the time is the normal and plain furniture. Sims 3 let you get normal bookshelves and normal couches and normal everything. In Sims 4 I have like two options for a normal desk and I can't find a decent chair to go with it. Everything is fancy, hipster, modern, and almost abstract art.
Other things would be:
Aspiration rewards that actually helped
Personality traits positively and negatively effecting skills
Firefighters
Police officers and burglars
Spiral staircases, ladders, and elevators
The color wheel
Origin ID: Emilissa
The game tracking which books a sim has read by title rather than by object. In Sims 4, this is tracked and deciding to read a book already read will show "reread" instead of read... but only if it is the same copy of the book. If I read "The Orbital Pudding" at a friend's house, the copy of "The Orbital Pudding" at the library, or for that matter at home, is not also marked as read.