It depends on which world I am in. I remove them and add my own for the most part but leave them in in Windenberg, Brindleton Bay and StrangerVille and the holiday worlds where they seem to fit.
I used to live on a "mock" Tudor estate surrounded by modern houses in the UK anyway and there are lots of estates side by side there that don't match up. I like that but would have liked Newcrest to have been a town surrounded by trees and farming land like some lots in Brindleton Bay are.
I like them, they add 'life' to the neighbourhood and makes it look like my sim isn't living in the middle of nowhere. Besides, I can still make one of the neighbourhoods modern or different style since most of them are separate from the hoods with shell buildings.
I do agree tho that I'm a bit bugged by what they did in Del Sol Valley, instead of having functional lots there's a lot of fake buildings instead. I'd love it if at least some of these were rabbit holes.
I hated how you had to manually decorate every world in TS2 or else it would look like you're living in the middle of nowhere. FX buildings, even if they dictate a theme you can't escape from, make the neighbourhoods look more populated. Easy for me to say, anyway, since I've given up on building and tend to just download houses from the gallery that somewhat match their surroundings, but yeah, I like to have those decorative houses here and there.
I hated how you had to manually decorate every world in TS2 or else it would look like you're living in the middle of nowhere. FX buildings, even if they dictate a theme you can't escape from, make the neighbourhoods look more populated. Easy for me to say, anyway, since I've given up on building and tend to just download houses from the gallery that somewhat match their surroundings, but yeah, I like to have those decorative houses here and there.
yeah I think the thing with ppl who love fx houses would be they like populated worlds
and people who don't like fx houses again want to make own theme worlds or have rural areas
the biggest issue is that they are too hung up on making highly populated worlds
like I wouldn't complain about already existing worlds because what been done has been done
(tho i still feel newcrest doesn't need fx housing)
but also they really need to start introducing more natural/rural areas
and just making space for people to use their creativity to come up with building styles intead of following set theme
for example at the moment there is nowhere to put old asian style houses?
they do not really fit anywhere? maybe if u really try u can use island in windenburg
because it doesn't have anything man built on it but?
I just find it very restricting
also as magic pack is coming I keep wanting to make fantasy stuff but that also can only be put on that island
and I just have too many uses for 5 lot island and tons of populated areas I can't use and it annoys me
I just wish they stop faking the F-U-N-K and give me more control on creating my creations and stop holding my hand as my systems can handle it.
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The only worlds where I find them particularly disruptive are Newcrest and MP. I've never really minded them in the others. I like when a world has some areas with them and some without any or very few (like WB)
I used to look for houses on the gallery that sort of match these FX houses in the neighborhood. Sometimes I want a neighborhood to be more modern and it throws it off when the surrounding FX houses don't fit in.
Now I do my best to block them out. Nothing is worse that the cheaper Del sol valley area because the FX house are literally right next to the lots. THEY are hard to ignore.
I used to look for houses on the gallery that sort of match these FX houses in the neighborhood. Sometimes I want a neighborhood to be more modern and it throws it off when the surrounding FX houses don't fit in.
Now I do my best to block them out. Nothing is worse that the cheaper Del sol valley area because the FX house are literally right next to the lots. THEY are hard to ignore.
Can’t stand that world!! I thought San Myshuno was bad, but holy that world takes first place for excessive use of decoration. The only regular-ish neighborhood in that world has like 3 lots mixed in among the decoration. They went overboard there. Wayyyy overboard, but the easily impressed people all screamed “it looks just like LA!!!!!” Without stopping to realize looks aren’t everything, but for the average Sims 4 player I guess that’s all that matters.
We should have customization and CAW but in the older games the only option was to have isolated towns in the middle of nowhere. I know I'm in the minority but FOR ME that usually breaks immersion more. That said the 'hoods aren't big enough in TS4 and the fake surrounding is too close to all the action. I'd prefer a mixed system and more options.
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I don't mind it too much as one, we can hop and live in any world we like at any time now in this game and two, it makes each world unique and more fun to explore as it feels like they have their own culture and way of life. Some worlds could have a bit more lots; but other than that, I am o.k. with this. Also you can just remove most buildings and lots.
In theory, this part sounds very nice. However, it's not exactly true. When almost all Sims show up in almost all places, it destroys the illusion that Sims are living in different cities, or that they have different cultures.
I really dislike that, when I'm writing about a Sim who has traveled to a different city for work or vacation, all of the usual Sims from their 'home town' show up in the new place as well. Invariably, their parents, their neighbor, or their friend will all put in an appearance. Sometimes, it's all three!
In order to get good pictures of an event, I have to make liberal use of the 'Just Go Away' function of one of my mods because Sims who shouldn't be there keep photobombing the pictures.
If your Sims live next to an off-lot park, forget about it. The entire universe of Sims will eventually make their way through that park. It totally ruins the immersion when a relative from an entirely different city is hanging out in that park and they never even bothered to drop by and say hello.
Honestly I am no fan of any fx as it is purely visual and is useless in a interactive game. This is not a movie or a television show. Sims cannot see or interact with FX period so I see no point but to encourage visuals to make simmers to like online play eventually because FX fools ones eyes into thinking the get more because they have the blanks filled in, but those blank keep your sims from interacting in those areas and then they fade when you get near. In a game you want more to interact with - not just see. That is online crapola and Sims should be an interactive game not built like an online game to keep your eyes busy. I just hate fake ness.
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I hate them! They prevent me from customizing my neighborhoods the way I want them. If my builds don't match the existing style, they just look ridiculous and it breaks my immersion. It's a huge reason why I don't play this version as much as I did the others.
I had started using Sims 4 Studio last year to remove the FX buildings in Willow Creek, but holy cow that's a long, time-consuming process and eventually I got distracted by something else and never finished. If I ever get enough free time again, I'm going to find the tutorial I was using and try it again.
One thing I always disliked about TS2 was that my sim were surrounded by nothingness which made it look like they were living in the middle of nowhere. I adore the TS4 neighborhoods for not being like that. It makes the neighborhood look alive, regardless of whether those houses are interactive or not. Removing them would destroy the world around my sim completely and I don't want to see that happen. I support them making it an option for people to turn it off if they want to, but I in no way support removing them completely.
I don't want vast emptiness around... and I don't want to fill it in myself for every world and every save. I like to work with the themes/styles presented and use the backdrops to tell my sims stories. It looks lively and I'd say real but that's not the word I want. It looks full and right to me... and runs beautifully to boot.
With the exception of Newcrest, which is supposed to be a blank slate but isn't truly, I really like the FX buildings, without an open world like Sims 3, the buildings add a lot of character and depth to the worlds. I like for example the highway in Oasis Springs with the dinosaur a lot.
I go with option D : sometimes, I like FX houses (like in CL for example) because they can help build atmosphere. I also enjoy them in Del Sol, BUT I think Del Sol should've had at least 5 of those shells be actual, livable houses because the amount of shells versus livable lots is downright depressing. But in some places, I want to see a LOT less of them, or even none at all. Like I'm extremely happy Glimmerbrook & Forgotten Hollow don't have any, and I wish Sulani didn't either (except for the community lot one).
So yes, it really depends. It can help give an area more character and fill in empty space (especially because we can't fill it in or build worlds ourselves), but sometimes it just destroys whatever vision you had in mind.
I would appreciate to be able to customize the shell houses in the background--not build them myself, but it would be cool if there were an extra layer of customization where you could be like "all modern shells in the background" or "all one specific type of architecture."
It especially bothers me in Newcrest, which is supposed to be a completely blank canvas of a world, except there is a definite style for the shell homes in the background.
I don't care. Either there will be FX houses which I can't visit, or some other terrain that I can't visit. I really don't care about what the backdrop is. I wish they would add more lots in place of the FX houses, but I already know that won't happen.
It will never happen in a million years, but I think it would be interesting for players to have the option of what style of shell house they see in the background of a neighborhood.
American Northeast, American Southwest, American West Coast, South American, UK, Scandinavian, Germanic, North African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, Pacific Islander - etc.
Ofc this could end up with strange(ish) results, but while I don't think Sulani styled background houses in Forgotten Hollow would look nice personally, someone might enjoy tropical looking vampires so who am I to judge.
It's such a tease. They give us these tiny neighborhoods, they have mainly tiny lots available for us to build and play on by default on a fresh save...and then they give us all of this "world" beyond that we can't even touch. I want my sims to go over to the big dinosaur at Oasis Springs! I want them to be able to ride the river boats and cross the water in that one neighborhood in WIllow Creek! I want WAY more Windenburg and San Myshuno!
I just learned a new term today. It's called "breadcrumbing," and it's the act of stringing a person along with a series of minor rewards while promising them something bigger. That describes a lot of things in a nutshell--a bad relationship with a partner who refuses to commit but keeps you thinking they're close to considering it, America's entire K-12 education system, that boss who keeps promising you a promotion and that they never intend to give you and keeps you working your butt off with a small raise here or an award there--and The Sims 4 is one of them.
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http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/924539/features-that-needs-depth-and-ways-to-improve
I used to live on a "mock" Tudor estate surrounded by modern houses in the UK anyway and there are lots of estates side by side there that don't match up. I like that but would have liked Newcrest to have been a town surrounded by trees and farming land like some lots in Brindleton Bay are.
I do agree tho that I'm a bit bugged by what they did in Del Sol Valley, instead of having functional lots there's a lot of fake buildings instead. I'd love it if at least some of these were rabbit holes.
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yeah I think the thing with ppl who love fx houses would be they like populated worlds
and people who don't like fx houses again want to make own theme worlds or have rural areas
the biggest issue is that they are too hung up on making highly populated worlds
like I wouldn't complain about already existing worlds because what been done has been done
(tho i still feel newcrest doesn't need fx housing)
but also they really need to start introducing more natural/rural areas
and just making space for people to use their creativity to come up with building styles intead of following set theme
for example at the moment there is nowhere to put old asian style houses?
they do not really fit anywhere? maybe if u really try u can use island in windenburg
because it doesn't have anything man built on it but?
I just find it very restricting
also as magic pack is coming I keep wanting to make fantasy stuff but that also can only be put on that island
and I just have too many uses for 5 lot island and tons of populated areas I can't use and it annoys me
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Now I do my best to block them out. Nothing is worse that the cheaper Del sol valley area because the FX house are literally right next to the lots. THEY are hard to ignore.
Can’t stand that world!! I thought San Myshuno was bad, but holy that world takes first place for excessive use of decoration. The only regular-ish neighborhood in that world has like 3 lots mixed in among the decoration. They went overboard there. Wayyyy overboard, but the easily impressed people all screamed “it looks just like LA!!!!!” Without stopping to realize looks aren’t everything, but for the average Sims 4 player I guess that’s all that matters.
Either way, nothing beats The Sims 3’s ability to let me make an open world from scratch and determine all of the rules myself.
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In theory, this part sounds very nice. However, it's not exactly true. When almost all Sims show up in almost all places, it destroys the illusion that Sims are living in different cities, or that they have different cultures.
I really dislike that, when I'm writing about a Sim who has traveled to a different city for work or vacation, all of the usual Sims from their 'home town' show up in the new place as well. Invariably, their parents, their neighbor, or their friend will all put in an appearance. Sometimes, it's all three!
In order to get good pictures of an event, I have to make liberal use of the 'Just Go Away' function of one of my mods because Sims who shouldn't be there keep photobombing the pictures.
If your Sims live next to an off-lot park, forget about it. The entire universe of Sims will eventually make their way through that park. It totally ruins the immersion when a relative from an entirely different city is hanging out in that park and they never even bothered to drop by and say hello.
"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 had started using Sims 4 Studio last year to remove the FX buildings in Willow Creek, but holy cow that's a long, time-consuming process and eventually I got distracted by something else and never finished. If I ever get enough free time again, I'm going to find the tutorial I was using and try it again.
I support them making it an option for people to turn it off if they want to, but I in no way support removing them completely.
So yes, it really depends. It can help give an area more character and fill in empty space (especially because we can't fill it in or build worlds ourselves), but sometimes it just destroys whatever vision you had in mind.
It especially bothers me in Newcrest, which is supposed to be a completely blank canvas of a world, except there is a definite style for the shell homes in the background.
American Northeast, American Southwest, American West Coast, South American, UK, Scandinavian, Germanic, North African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, Pacific Islander - etc.
Ofc this could end up with strange(ish) results, but while I don't think Sulani styled background houses in Forgotten Hollow would look nice personally, someone might enjoy tropical looking vampires so who am I to judge.
I just learned a new term today. It's called "breadcrumbing," and it's the act of stringing a person along with a series of minor rewards while promising them something bigger. That describes a lot of things in a nutshell--a bad relationship with a partner who refuses to commit but keeps you thinking they're close to considering it, America's entire K-12 education system, that boss who keeps promising you a promotion and that they never intend to give you and keeps you working your butt off with a small raise here or an award there--and The Sims 4 is one of them.