If you have ever played sims3 Island Paradise before, Island Living cannot call it as expansion pack!
Island Paradise for many (including me) was a buggy, laggy, almost unplayable pack, even with mods. The world was not even as nice as Sunlit Tides. Sulani, in contrast, is gorgeous, immersive and fun to explore, with an ocean that sims can actually interact with, changing sea life, a new culture with related traits and an aspiration, a place where Sims can live a very different lifestyle than they can anywhere else.
Unless I’m mistaken sims can basically do the same things with the ocean in this Ex Pack that they could in Sims 3, unless there’s something I’m missing? They can swim, snorkel, use watercraft, float, .... am I missing something? You could do these things in any Sims 3 world though, not just the EP world.
I didn’t think this EP changed the game very much at all, but that’s just my experience with it. I found my Sims living the same life here that they would in any other world, it’s not that different you can swim in the ocean and that’s about it.
It’s a £34 to enable ocean swimming and tanning. That’s about it for me.
I’m terms of game play Island Paradise wipes the floor with Island living. Performance can be argued. Although I’m lucky my island paradise runs fine. Ironically better than Island living at the minute!
TBH I fired up my Island Paradise a day ago and I could play it, surprisingly, although I do have Nraas. I would get the freezing lag in the beginning still, but 10 minutes after it stopped. Whenever there was any though, coincidentally, I always got a notification about the same sim being unroutable.
Well like someone mentioned, the budget clearly went on the map. There’s talk and questionable evidence this pack was initially intended as a game pack. All the gameplay elements are half baked so I’m guessing maybe they designed this map for something else?
Either a holiday destination game pack, party with the locals, and help them with their conservation efforts, or potentially some kind of cast away style game pack?
There’s the ship wreck, and a couple of items that made it into strangerville - the shower tub and plane wreck, that would have been perfect for this kinda game play with the off the grid trait. I’m guessing they ran into problems either programming or budget wise, and hashed away what they had made for both concepts, together?
Except this is now 2 (failed) game packs worth of work and resources being sold as one. Oh wait, wasn’t there all this grumble about occult’s? When strangerville came out, there was a lot of “this is not a supernatural pack, we still want occult’s”, which is enough time for them to rush mermaids together and throw that in for good measure lol. Bam now we have an expansion pack, and not 2 half baked game packs? Messy, but would explain some things lol....
What I really want to know is, if IL was planned as a game pack initially (under a different concept and title, or not), what happened to the true EP7?? Maybe that’s why this game changing update has been postponed? Coz the EP that needs this update, isn’t out yet??? Conspiracy theory or what lol?!
I don't know who made that review that was posted a few posts earlier in the thread, but to call that a review was a misnomer: to my ears, it just contained a lot of negativity about the pack and the game in general. I was left wondering why that simmer bothers to play the game or to make videos about it since it annoys him so much and he sees so much wrong with its basic mechanics, trait system and nearly everything else. Lgr's review was so much better: more informative, intelligent and balanced. There were things he didn't like, which he was honest about, and things he appreciated, and on top of that it was witty and interesting to watch. I mostly agreed with him about the pros and cons of the pack. All this particular review convinced me of was that how that simmer likes to play has nothing in common with how I do, which means he said a lot which just isn't applicable to me, and which kinda left me feeling sorry for him by the end.
If you're talking about the review by Carl's Sims, he's got a fantastic and very well known sims' guide site. He's a hard core simmer and I felt like he was honest about what he didn't like and what he liked game play wise.
So far my own personal exposure to gameplay has been through play testing and as I said, I'm here for the build/buy, but I watched a simmer who is a novice at gameplay, play through an entire aspiration in about 2 hours.
I am down for this pack. I love the floors, the windows, the doors, the walls, the objects. The swatches mostly match. I feel they work well with a number of existing packs. They work for what I like to build so I am happy as a clam, but gameplay is kind of basic. I don't feel this is an EP and I don't think Carl was wrong with his review. Again, I personally love the pack. Loving the world. Loving the items. I do less gameplay and more building these days, but I can see why people aren't universally over the moon about it.
I do have to agree that it is the rabbit holes that make this EP feel somewhat lacking for me.
I don't care that they didn't include house boats or resorts, but the fact that there are so many rabbit holes makes me feel like I'm being left out of certain island experiences. The biggest being scuba diving.
Also, as someone else mentioned, I wish mermaids felt more distinct from humans by having their own underwater woo-hoo, special urns, and the ability to eat raw fish; not to mention more unique interactions with people and other mermaids.
One other thing that bothers me is that both of the new traits are only useful if you are living in Sulani, and I think they would have been better as reward traits for completing an aspiration (also wish there was a mermaid aspiration). I wish the laid back trait that came with the beach bum aspiration was a regular trait, as I could see myself using that one more outside Sulani.
And, if I'm really being picky, I wish the treasure collection wasn't so easy to complete. It would be nice if you could only find the rarest treasures by diving, searching the cave, or by digging in the sand of isolated beaches (like the ones on the back side of the natural island).
Other than that, I really do love this expansion. CAS and BB are amazing, the world is stunning, mermaids are fun to make in CAS, I finally have my tropical island to play castaway and amazon challenges, and there are a lot of fun little things I'm glad they decided to add (waterfall woo-hoo, the clothing optional trait, dolphins, bioluminescent water, a seashell collection, etc).
So while I do feel slightly disappointed, I honestly never expected to even get an island expansion pack (especially one that leaned towards more natural living rather than tourism), so I'm just happy I now have this option in my game.
TBH I think if it had been released as a gamepack, people wouldn't be so disappointed in it. Flaws would still be there (limited gameplay, shallow mermaids, rabbit hole careers, rabbit hole scuba diving, no rental option, etc), but at least in terms of amount of content you receive, it would feel far more appropriate for the price.
TBH I think if it had been released as a gamepack, people wouldn't be so disappointed in it. Flaws would still be there (limited gameplay, shallow mermaids, rabbit hole careers, rabbit hole scuba diving, no rental option, etc), but at least in terms of amount of content you receive, it would feel far more appropriate for the price.
In reply to CommaSplice: I didn't realize that video review was by Carl. I love his guides and use them all the time, but I didn't know he did reviews. I do respect him and yet I still feel like he plays totally differently than I do. In fact, he says in the review, "There are some of us who play Sims 4 kind of like a tycoon game sim or an RPG hybrid, who like levelling up, getting abilities and combining bonuses to make really powerful combos." That is totally fine if he likes to play in that way, but it seems much more linear and goal-oriented than how I do it, or than the sort of thing I have ever expected from a sims game, which I usually play in a much more open-ended way, sandbox-style. I don't think either way is better or worse myself, but he clearly implied that his way of doing it is somehow "deeper" than other ways (unless I misunderstood him). And maybe it is, what do I know?
All I have been doing since the pack dropped is playing with an off-the-grid family who are supporting themselves entirely by fishing, beachcombing and selling stuff. Carl said in the review that he found collections and storing more stuff bothersome and tedious (he doesn't seem to acknowledge the useful storage chests), but I found the opposite: collecting stuff is great for selling items at the flea market or on your sim's own lot, using the JA table, and gaining incremental amounts of money to sustain poor sims. I have barely done anything in the pack in terms of conservation or mermaids, but have been having a blast with this survival-style living. I noticed that without a ton of objects (computers, stereos and tvs) the sims seem to interact with each other more, play in the sand and build sand sculptures autonomously, amuse themselves by autonomously singing or telling each other stories, and it is fun to watch. All this is just to say that there seems to me to be plenty of gameplay with generous sims coming over bringing Extra Food just in time to feed my hungry sims (who only had minnows in their inventory), elemental spirits giving boosts in skill to my derelict sims as they are wood carving basic objects, and all the new fishes and fishing improvements making this skill feel more real and fleshed out than ever before.
Anyway, I guess I am not surprised he was disappointed with IL if he is "hard core," but I am happy to say I am not, and I have barely done much with this pack. For me it feels like there is new gameplay, and I also find the aesthetics to be a really important part of this pack -- points to him since he does acknowledge how beautiful and well executed they are. I feel peaceful just playing IL, frankly.
If you have ever played sims3 Island Paradise before, Island Living cannot call it as expansion pack!
Island Paradise for many (including me) was a buggy, laggy, almost unplayable pack, even with mods. The world was not even as nice as Sunlit Tides. Sulani, in contrast, is gorgeous, immersive and fun to explore, with an ocean that sims can actually interact with, changing sea life, a new culture with related traits and an aspiration, a place where Sims can live a very different lifestyle than they can anywhere else.
Unless I’m mistaken sims can basically do the same things with the ocean in this Ex Pack that they could in Sims 3, unless there’s something I’m missing? They can swim, snorkel, use watercraft, float, .... am I missing something? You could do these things in any Sims 3 world though, not just the EP world.
I didn’t think this EP changed the game very much at all, but that’s just my experience with it. I found my Sims living the same life here that they would in any other world, it’s not that different you can swim in the ocean and that’s about it.
I think Ocean swimming has been improved in several ways over what it was in Sims 3. I was just playing Island Paradise the weekend before the latest pack came out so it is fresh in my mind. In TS3, the ocean was an empty blue swath of sameness as far as the eye could see, while in TS4, the water is clear and you can actually see well some animated fish of different varieties from the pack swimming around at random, as well as seeing dolphins, sea turtles, jellyfish, the occasional shark, water birds and sea gulls etc. These all look very nice, 3D and proportionate, through the first person camera, too. You can also interact with dolphins, whose animations are lovely -- so apart from the absence of the dive lot (which for me is not a big deal), it feels like a much more dynamic experience to swim in the ocean than it was in TS3.
TS3 sims could actually do very little in the ocean, too; they took ages to wade out, they could swim (very slowly using that weird breast stroke) and snorkel (with gear); that was about it. Unlike in TS4, they could not swim around, only swim here, they could not drown (at least I never had a sim drown in the ocean no matter how low their energy dropped), or pee in the ocean. All they could do with other sims in the water was to splash them; they couldn't really talk to each other or do anything else while actually immersed.
Now in TS4, with other sims, they can talk, kiss, splash, skinny dip alone or together, swim here, swim around alone, or swim around together, or back float. As their fitness improves, their swimming speed increases and they use different strokes (really nice animations there). Parents with high fitness can coach their kids at swimming (I love that: it is one of my favourite new things to do in water). They also get a few different new moodlets from swimming -- sims can get a cramp, a sudden chill, swim through something yucky, or feel at peace in the sea.
Since this pack was released, I now prefer swimming in TS4 to TS3; I think they have developed and improved the ability in some fun and realistic ways. (I just hope they eventually add it to a few of the other worlds -- that would icing on the cake).
Actually sims 3 sims in addition to swimming around in the ocean and snorkelling can scuba dive at dive lots (properly! Not a rabbit hole) can use boats, they can windsurf and sail and toddlers play in the ocean too. They also run the risk of being attacked by sharks which is more likely than in sims 4, not to mention the kraken. They can do this in all worlds and can fish anywhere.
The water in sims 4 is nice but once you see one FX fish your sim can’t interact with, you have seen them all. For me there are way too many moodlets that imply something has happened when actually nothing has. I don’t care if my sims pee in the ocean, an autonomous action (which it has been for me) isn’t game play I would consider.
Island Living looks beautiful, the game play is OK not that much to do and I really wanted to go underwater as it shows in the trailer! for me it just reminds me of a giant swimming pool with a few added features
Yay, I was expected we can dive underwater as shown on main menu too
I actually really liked the ability to scuba dive in dive lots in sims 3 too; I think they should have added it here. I only didn’t mention it before because the poster to whom I was replying had mentioned swimming, not diving. I also didn’t mention boats for the same reason and because I have only used the canoe for fishing, so my experience of them in TS4 is limited. To me, IP was more about vacationing and leisure activities, which is fine, but the emphasis in IL is just different.
However I have played with swimming in both games extensively and I feel confident in saying that I have found swimming much more satisfying and developed in TS4. Not only do sims have the full range of socials with each other in water, unlike in TS3, but (as I already mentioned) they can swim together, coach swimming, skinny dip and back float — these are all new as is the ability for dogs to swim in ocean water (a first for the series) and for sims to be tugged away by currents, which I forgot to mention before. (The ability to have sims peeing in water I mentioned only because it wasn’t at all possible in TS3 — sims just used to have bladder failure which used to annoy me considering how slowly they swam and how long it took them to come ashore).
In my game I have also seen a couple sharks, too, which have passed close by and scared away dolphins, so they do exist. They are beautifully animated. I haven’t had a sim attacked yet by a shark but only because they’ve all been immediately so scared that they autonomously swam for shore (an action I haven’t canceled but I know it is possible to do so). I do admit that TS3 had more varieties of shark (I think there were 4 types) while all I have seen in TS4 is the great white. It looks pretty good though.
As for the FX fish, I never get tired of them; it is much preferable to see them, in all their variety, than a blue expanse of nothing. I only wish sims could photograph them in water with a waterproof camera. That’s an ability I wish they’d add to swimming.
And finally the animations and levelling up of swimming is much better in TS4. It just looks better and is more fun to do, in my experience.
I'm enjoying it but yes, it is lacking. I agree with what Cupid said earlier: "There's always some feature that really doesn't need to be there, taking away from features that would have been better." I have to agree that, this time, the mermaids are it.
The world of Sulani is very pretty but gameplay took a big hit when someone decided to use rabbit holes for things like snorkeling, diving, new careers, and exploring. I also think that Sulani should have had its own cultural theme, something like Selvadorada.
I do like the build and buy items, as well as many of the CAS items.
My Sim, living on Key Point, got the call from Vlad welcoming him to the neighborhood. I was surprised to see Vlad swimming up to his lot about an hour later. Oh man, I had forgotten that Vlad wears a speedo on that svelte frame of his.
I just posted a reply in another post about how significantly lacking I think this EP is! Lol, the coincidence is just funny to me.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty world, nice additions. But, do I feel like it’s an EP? No, I honestly do not, if anything I feel taken advantage of because I love when EP come out because it means that the game will be significantly expanded. I don’t feel that way about this EP at all
They need (among many things) to at least add swimming to every other world, improve the way the lots work, make them be able to be vacation homes, add the capability to create resorts in Sulani, like. I am just wondering why that was not included in the first place. The fact that what was included are rabbit holes anyway, is like, I feel like you’re just taking advantage of us simmers if you think that is acceptable as something that is supposed to be expanding gameplay.
For me, it offers everything that I wanted out of the pack. However, I can see why others are a bit disappointed. For example, the lack of resorts etc.
The overall environment and map view is very lush and beautiful as so many here have already mentioned. Yet, there are so many facets that could have been included but were left out. This has been the ongoing trend of the Sims 4 -- to give us EP's that are only shells of new worlds that could be so much more.
1. Jet Ski/Waverunners: Need options for two people to ride one jet ski AND to ride them in groups.
2. Beach Volleyball? Why is this not a new activity?
3. Snorkling -- Why can't our sims explore the ocean depths to find treasures and hidden caves? (Not Rabbit Hole Style)
4. Where are the cultural aspects? Island Songs, Dances and Games?
5. Why can't our sims explore the remote islands to find treasures, island ghosts, etc?
6. Why do we not have more sports activities associated w/the beach/ocean? Surfing and tossing a frisbee on the beach?
7. Why can't two sims ride on the catamarans? The Sims Series is supposed to be a FAMILY game!
There is more but why bother? The devs and programmers continue to create objects and activities that are for SOLOISTS! As I recall, a large part of the simming community has been asking for more GROUP/FAMILY activities for years now. So frustrating and discouraging. C-
Lets face it "Island Living" is whats wrong with "The Sims 4" taken to the extreme.
1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
Lets face it "Island Living" is whats wrong with "The Sims 4" taken to the extreme.
1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
I cannot agree with you more.
I am worried about the rest of the EP’s coming out. I am absolutely not buying them at full price anymore.
I mean how much does it cost to hire moana's va to voice Nalani? The budget could surely be used for gameplay or animation(which they keep telling that this one is expensive)
Lets face it "Island Living" is whats wrong with "The Sims 4" taken to the extreme.
1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
I cannot agree with you more.
I am worried about the rest of the EP’s coming out. I am absolutely not buying them at full price anymore.
Same, I'm even trying to not play this game anymore. I'm going back to TS3.
I mean how much does it cost to hire moana's va to voice Nalani? The budget could surely be used for gameplay or animation(which they keep telling that this one is expensive)
THANK YOU!
Same goes for the Coachella party they threw a few months back. Like they can get all of the money in the world when they want to market the game but when it comes to making it they feel money is spent better when it isn’t spent on the game at all. Like they also took the game changers to Disney Land during the latest trip to EA Play. Money could have been better spent making the pack better instead of buying positive reviews!!
Lets face it "Island Living" is whats wrong with "The Sims 4" taken to the extreme.
1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
I cannot agree with you more.
I am worried about the rest of the EP’s coming out. I am absolutely not buying them at full price anymore.
Same, I'm even trying to not play this game anymore. I'm going back to TS3.
I am working on reinstalling all my sims 3 games. The sims 4 is just ridiculous. None of these houses can’t even have garages yet (like, for actually working cars, ik there’s cc that can let you add the doors and all)!! That is still blowing my mind that this game is lacking garage doors and cars!?!? XD
I'm disappointed that it is still isn't fully 64bit. I'd like to know why. It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts as it isn't their style.
Some of the extra depth might have had to be left out because it had to be 32bit compliant and because the Legacy Edition wasn't ready yet or the water tools weren't either. We might get a 64bit patch before Realm of Magic with more for it. Here's hoping.
I think my biggest critique of the expansions for this game is that the team manages their resources poorly. There's always some feature that really doesn't need to be there, taking away from features that would have been better. Island Living doesn't disappoint in that regard (I'm looking at you, mermaids)
I feel like they try to fit too much in, but come to where they don’t have enough. I don’t know their budgets, but they must suck.
I don't know if their budgets suck but the game sure does.
Lets face it "Island Living" is whats wrong with "The Sims 4" taken to the extreme.
1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
I cannot agree with you more.
I am worried about the rest of the EP’s coming out. I am absolutely not buying them at full price anymore.
Same, I'm even trying to not play this game anymore. I'm going back to TS3.
I am working on reinstalling all my sims 3 games. The sims 4 is just ridiculous. None of these houses can’t even have garages yet (like, for actually working cars, ik there’s cc that can let you add the doors and all)!! That is still blowing my mind that this game is lacking garage doors and cars!?!? XD
Yeah, if it would have come after 1 year I could have understood, but I mean nearly 5 years after and no word about it? I don't think this game will ever get all the missing features. It will be inferior to its predecessor forever. I'm also rediscovering TS3, it's an amazing game with tons of possibilities!
I'm disappointed that it is still isn't fully 64bit. I'd like to know why. It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts as it isn't their style.
Some of the extra depth might have had to be left out because it had to be 32bit compliant and because the Legacy Edition wasn't ready yet or the water tools weren't either. We might get a 64bit patch before Realm of Magic with more for it. Here's hoping.
All I can say is that the 64bits update wouldn't have changed anything in term of quality and quantity for future releases. Just look at how bad IL turned out to be, it's the worst ''EP'' ever made in this franchise in term of new gameplay.
Comments
TBH I fired up my Island Paradise a day ago and I could play it, surprisingly, although I do have Nraas. I would get the freezing lag in the beginning still, but 10 minutes after it stopped. Whenever there was any though, coincidentally, I always got a notification about the same sim being unroutable.
Either a holiday destination game pack, party with the locals, and help them with their conservation efforts, or potentially some kind of cast away style game pack?
There’s the ship wreck, and a couple of items that made it into strangerville - the shower tub and plane wreck, that would have been perfect for this kinda game play with the off the grid trait. I’m guessing they ran into problems either programming or budget wise, and hashed away what they had made for both concepts, together?
Except this is now 2 (failed) game packs worth of work and resources being sold as one. Oh wait, wasn’t there all this grumble about occult’s? When strangerville came out, there was a lot of “this is not a supernatural pack, we still want occult’s”, which is enough time for them to rush mermaids together and throw that in for good measure lol. Bam now we have an expansion pack, and not 2 half baked game packs? Messy, but would explain some things lol....
What I really want to know is, if IL was planned as a game pack initially (under a different concept and title, or not), what happened to the true EP7?? Maybe that’s why this game changing update has been postponed? Coz the EP that needs this update, isn’t out yet??? Conspiracy theory or what lol?!
If you're talking about the review by Carl's Sims, he's got a fantastic and very well known sims' guide site. He's a hard core simmer and I felt like he was honest about what he didn't like and what he liked game play wise.
So far my own personal exposure to gameplay has been through play testing and as I said, I'm here for the build/buy, but I watched a simmer who is a novice at gameplay, play through an entire aspiration in about 2 hours.
I am down for this pack. I love the floors, the windows, the doors, the walls, the objects. The swatches mostly match. I feel they work well with a number of existing packs. They work for what I like to build so I am happy as a clam, but gameplay is kind of basic. I don't feel this is an EP and I don't think Carl was wrong with his review. Again, I personally love the pack. Loving the world. Loving the items. I do less gameplay and more building these days, but I can see why people aren't universally over the moon about it.
I don't care that they didn't include house boats or resorts, but the fact that there are so many rabbit holes makes me feel like I'm being left out of certain island experiences. The biggest being scuba diving.
Also, as someone else mentioned, I wish mermaids felt more distinct from humans by having their own underwater woo-hoo, special urns, and the ability to eat raw fish; not to mention more unique interactions with people and other mermaids.
One other thing that bothers me is that both of the new traits are only useful if you are living in Sulani, and I think they would have been better as reward traits for completing an aspiration (also wish there was a mermaid aspiration). I wish the laid back trait that came with the beach bum aspiration was a regular trait, as I could see myself using that one more outside Sulani.
And, if I'm really being picky, I wish the treasure collection wasn't so easy to complete. It would be nice if you could only find the rarest treasures by diving, searching the cave, or by digging in the sand of isolated beaches (like the ones on the back side of the natural island).
Other than that, I really do love this expansion. CAS and BB are amazing, the world is stunning, mermaids are fun to make in CAS, I finally have my tropical island to play castaway and amazon challenges, and there are a lot of fun little things I'm glad they decided to add (waterfall woo-hoo, the clothing optional trait, dolphins, bioluminescent water, a seashell collection, etc).
So while I do feel slightly disappointed, I honestly never expected to even get an island expansion pack (especially one that leaned towards more natural living rather than tourism), so I'm just happy I now have this option in my game.
I agree.
In reply to CommaSplice: I didn't realize that video review was by Carl. I love his guides and use them all the time, but I didn't know he did reviews. I do respect him and yet I still feel like he plays totally differently than I do. In fact, he says in the review, "There are some of us who play Sims 4 kind of like a tycoon game sim or an RPG hybrid, who like levelling up, getting abilities and combining bonuses to make really powerful combos." That is totally fine if he likes to play in that way, but it seems much more linear and goal-oriented than how I do it, or than the sort of thing I have ever expected from a sims game, which I usually play in a much more open-ended way, sandbox-style. I don't think either way is better or worse myself, but he clearly implied that his way of doing it is somehow "deeper" than other ways (unless I misunderstood him). And maybe it is, what do I know?
All I have been doing since the pack dropped is playing with an off-the-grid family who are supporting themselves entirely by fishing, beachcombing and selling stuff. Carl said in the review that he found collections and storing more stuff bothersome and tedious (he doesn't seem to acknowledge the useful storage chests), but I found the opposite: collecting stuff is great for selling items at the flea market or on your sim's own lot, using the JA table, and gaining incremental amounts of money to sustain poor sims. I have barely done anything in the pack in terms of conservation or mermaids, but have been having a blast with this survival-style living. I noticed that without a ton of objects (computers, stereos and tvs) the sims seem to interact with each other more, play in the sand and build sand sculptures autonomously, amuse themselves by autonomously singing or telling each other stories, and it is fun to watch. All this is just to say that there seems to me to be plenty of gameplay with generous sims coming over bringing Extra Food just in time to feed my hungry sims (who only had minnows in their inventory), elemental spirits giving boosts in skill to my derelict sims as they are wood carving basic objects, and all the new fishes and fishing improvements making this skill feel more real and fleshed out than ever before.
Anyway, I guess I am not surprised he was disappointed with IL if he is "hard core," but I am happy to say I am not, and I have barely done much with this pack. For me it feels like there is new gameplay, and I also find the aesthetics to be a really important part of this pack -- points to him since he does acknowledge how beautiful and well executed they are. I feel peaceful just playing IL, frankly.
Actually sims 3 sims in addition to swimming around in the ocean and snorkelling can scuba dive at dive lots (properly! Not a rabbit hole) can use boats, they can windsurf and sail and toddlers play in the ocean too. They also run the risk of being attacked by sharks which is more likely than in sims 4, not to mention the kraken. They can do this in all worlds and can fish anywhere.
The water in sims 4 is nice but once you see one FX fish your sim can’t interact with, you have seen them all. For me there are way too many moodlets that imply something has happened when actually nothing has. I don’t care if my sims pee in the ocean, an autonomous action (which it has been for me) isn’t game play I would consider.
Yay, I was expected we can dive underwater as shown on main menu too
However I have played with swimming in both games extensively and I feel confident in saying that I have found swimming much more satisfying and developed in TS4. Not only do sims have the full range of socials with each other in water, unlike in TS3, but (as I already mentioned) they can swim together, coach swimming, skinny dip and back float — these are all new as is the ability for dogs to swim in ocean water (a first for the series) and for sims to be tugged away by currents, which I forgot to mention before. (The ability to have sims peeing in water I mentioned only because it wasn’t at all possible in TS3 — sims just used to have bladder failure which used to annoy me considering how slowly they swam and how long it took them to come ashore).
In my game I have also seen a couple sharks, too, which have passed close by and scared away dolphins, so they do exist. They are beautifully animated. I haven’t had a sim attacked yet by a shark but only because they’ve all been immediately so scared that they autonomously swam for shore (an action I haven’t canceled but I know it is possible to do so). I do admit that TS3 had more varieties of shark (I think there were 4 types) while all I have seen in TS4 is the great white. It looks pretty good though.
As for the FX fish, I never get tired of them; it is much preferable to see them, in all their variety, than a blue expanse of nothing. I only wish sims could photograph them in water with a waterproof camera. That’s an ability I wish they’d add to swimming.
And finally the animations and levelling up of swimming is much better in TS4. It just looks better and is more fun to do, in my experience.
The world of Sulani is very pretty but gameplay took a big hit when someone decided to use rabbit holes for things like snorkeling, diving, new careers, and exploring. I also think that Sulani should have had its own cultural theme, something like Selvadorada.
I do like the build and buy items, as well as many of the CAS items.
My Sim, living on Key Point, got the call from Vlad welcoming him to the neighborhood. I was surprised to see Vlad swimming up to his lot about an hour later. Oh man, I had forgotten that Vlad wears a speedo on that svelte frame of his.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty world, nice additions. But, do I feel like it’s an EP? No, I honestly do not, if anything I feel taken advantage of because I love when EP come out because it means that the game will be significantly expanded. I don’t feel that way about this EP at all
They need (among many things) to at least add swimming to every other world, improve the way the lots work, make them be able to be vacation homes, add the capability to create resorts in Sulani, like. I am just wondering why that was not included in the first place. The fact that what was included are rabbit holes anyway, is like, I feel like you’re just taking advantage of us simmers if you think that is acceptable as something that is supposed to be expanding gameplay.
The overall environment and map view is very lush and beautiful as so many here have already mentioned. Yet, there are so many facets that could have been included but were left out. This has been the ongoing trend of the Sims 4 -- to give us EP's that are only shells of new worlds that could be so much more.
1. Jet Ski/Waverunners: Need options for two people to ride one jet ski AND to ride them in groups.
2. Beach Volleyball? Why is this not a new activity?
3. Snorkling -- Why can't our sims explore the ocean depths to find treasures and hidden caves? (Not Rabbit Hole Style)
4. Where are the cultural aspects? Island Songs, Dances and Games?
5. Why can't our sims explore the remote islands to find treasures, island ghosts, etc?
6. Why do we not have more sports activities associated w/the beach/ocean? Surfing and tossing a frisbee on the beach?
7. Why can't two sims ride on the catamarans? The Sims Series is supposed to be a FAMILY game!
There is more but why bother? The devs and programmers continue to create objects and activities that are for SOLOISTS! As I recall, a large part of the simming community has been asking for more GROUP/FAMILY activities for years now. So frustrating and discouraging. C-
INFJ -A/-T
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1. Watered down or missing content from previous "Sims 3" packs.
2. Content moved to stuff and game packs as a money grab.
3. Looks over game play, ie. great looking non interactive set dressing.
4. Game pack content sold as Expansion packs/ Stuff packs sold as Game packs.
That's why I will not be touching this pack till there's a sale that drops it to at least Stuff packs/ Game packs level prices.
I cannot agree with you more.
I am worried about the rest of the EP’s coming out. I am absolutely not buying them at full price anymore.
Same, I'm even trying to not play this game anymore. I'm going back to TS3.
THANK YOU!
Same goes for the Coachella party they threw a few months back. Like they can get all of the money in the world when they want to market the game but when it comes to making it they feel money is spent better when it isn’t spent on the game at all. Like they also took the game changers to Disney Land during the latest trip to EA Play. Money could have been better spent making the pack better instead of buying positive reviews!!
I am working on reinstalling all my sims 3 games. The sims 4 is just ridiculous. None of these houses can’t even have garages yet (like, for actually working cars, ik there’s cc that can let you add the doors and all)!! That is still blowing my mind that this game is lacking garage doors and cars!?!? XD
Some of the extra depth might have had to be left out because it had to be 32bit compliant and because the Legacy Edition wasn't ready yet or the water tools weren't either. We might get a 64bit patch before Realm of Magic with more for it. Here's hoping.
Yeah, if it would have come after 1 year I could have understood, but I mean nearly 5 years after and no word about it? I don't think this game will ever get all the missing features. It will be inferior to its predecessor forever. I'm also rediscovering TS3, it's an amazing game with tons of possibilities!
All I can say is that the 64bits update wouldn't have changed anything in term of quality and quantity for future releases. Just look at how bad IL turned out to be, it's the worst ''EP'' ever made in this franchise in term of new gameplay.