They have saved money and time with this kind of recycling yet have not diverted that surplus money and time into creating more brand new content.
See, this is the thing you've said before and I can't agree with. We don't know how the money was redistributed. Maybe they didn't redirect it into brand new spells or potions but it still went into new things (for this iteration) like dueling or animations for potion brewing or familiars.
And maybe if they hadn't done the reinvention of previous actions and content, we would have had 5 spells and 5 potions altogether, but... they'd be shiny and new. There were already complaints about how there aren't enough spells and potions in the pack, imagine how that would go if we got a fraction of that amount.
When there's a budget of any kind, the decision is often either/or. At the end, I agree with what SilentKitty said: I don't know which parts of the rest of the pack's content would've been good to give up for new spells.
They have saved money and time with this kind of recycling yet have not diverted that surplus money and time into creating more brand new content.
See, this is the thing you've said before and I can't agree with. We don't know how the money was redistributed. Maybe they didn't redirect it into brand new spells or potions but it still went into new things (for this iteration) like dueling or animations for potion brewing or familiars.
And maybe if they hadn't done the reinvention of previous actions and content, we would have had 5 spells and 5 potions altogether, but... they'd be shiny and new. There were already complaints about how there aren't enough spells and potions in the pack, imagine how that would go if we got a fraction of that amount.
When there's a budget of any kind, the decision is often either/or. At the end, I agree with what SilentKitty said: I don't know which parts of the rest of the pack's content would've been good to give up for new spells.
I’m just going off what my computer programmer uncle (who is also a gamer though admittedly not a simmer specifically) has said - apparently recycling features tends not to be too taxing either in terms of time or money. But he does not program computer games so I admit that this may not be applicable here.
But if that’s true, then what with all the recycling, most of the spells and potions we have been given didn’t require all that much time and effort to produce. I don’t know their budget for a GP, but I’d imagine that would have left them with quite a bit extra.
I’d be surprised if coming up with 10 brand new items completely blew their budget since we have had packs with more (at the time) brand new features in them than that (especially thinking back to previous iterations of the sims)
Obviously though, I am not a computer expert so I just can’t say myself with any authority what the actual facts of the case are and I freely admit that.
On familiars... They have admitted that familiars work in the same way as drones from GF, so that’s another thing which is working off of existing functionality, saving them effort. Yes, familiars can do more than the drones obviously (although in my opinion it’s still disappointingly little)
> @Simmingal said: > i think they should have at least put in fortune telling or card reading or something like that since it would not even take loads of animations :(
They have saved money and time with this kind of recycling yet have not diverted that surplus money and time into creating more brand new content.
See, this is the thing you've said before and I can't agree with. We don't know how the money was redistributed. Maybe they didn't redirect it into brand new spells or potions but it still went into new things (for this iteration) like dueling or animations for potion brewing or familiars.
And maybe if they hadn't done the reinvention of previous actions and content, we would have had 5 spells and 5 potions altogether, but... they'd be shiny and new. There were already complaints about how there aren't enough spells and potions in the pack, imagine how that would go if we got a fraction of that amount.
When there's a budget of any kind, the decision is often either/or. At the end, I agree with what SilentKitty said: I don't know which parts of the rest of the pack's content would've been good to give up for new spells.
I’m just going off what my computer programmer uncle (who is also a gamer though admittedly not a simmer specifically) has said - apparently the recycling features tends not to be too arduous either in terms of time or money.
If that’s true, then what with all the recycling, most of what we have been given didn’t require all that much time and effort to produce. I don’t know their budget for a GP, but I’d imagine that would have left them with quite a bit extra.
I’d be surprised if coming up with 10 brand new items completely blew their budget since we have had packs with more (at the time) brand new features in them than that (especially thinking back to previous iterations of the sims)
Obviously though, I am not a computer expert so I just can’t say myself with any authority what the actual facts of the case are and I freely admit that.
On familiars... They have admitted that familiars work in the same way as drones from GF, so that’s another thing which is working off of existing functionality, saving them effort. Yes, familiars can do more than the drones obviously (although in my opinion it’s still disappointingly little)
One thing is that we don't know what their budget for a GP is. So we can only assume what amount of resources they had to begin with, let alone what was left after the recycling.
And the reuse of previous features still needed to be redone for the spellcasters: each one needed an animation (maybe some have the same or a similar one but those are all still brand new) for the casting, one with a wand and one without. That's not an insignificant amount of work. It's not the same as reusing the same animation for a different action (like, say, some of the poses in the Moschino pack). The result is the same, the action leading to it is different. The broomstick flying (and the vampire bat thing) is probably the one that's the closes and even that needed work to convert from what already existed.
As for the familiars: the gurus said that the familiars hover the same way the drones do. They have way more animation, including being summoned (unlike drones which lift from wherever they were on the ground or in the inventory) and engaging in the whole spellcasting process. It's not like they just put a new skin over the drone core.
All I'm saying is that the "well, they saved money by doing this" does read like you think that maybe they didn't use the allocated budget to its full potential and just saved where they could instead of using their resources. Which, considering how much stuff overall there is in the pack just from what we've seen so far, doesn't seem to be the case to me. It's just, they didn't use it on only new spells and potions.
(also, from a computer coding experience, yeah, it's easy to grab a piece of code that's already there and just plonk it somewhere else, provided it's not particularly dependent on its surroundings. It's a lot harder to take that piece of code and change it around to fit and work with a whole new surrounding code that works differently than where the code was first)
I do understand the disappointment (even if I don't feel it myself). I just disagree with the assumption that somehow the team had resources left and didn't use them.
They have saved money and time with this kind of recycling yet have not diverted that surplus money and time into creating more brand new content.
See, this is the thing you've said before and I can't agree with. We don't know how the money was redistributed. Maybe they didn't redirect it into brand new spells or potions but it still went into new things (for this iteration) like dueling or animations for potion brewing or familiars.
And maybe if they hadn't done the reinvention of previous actions and content, we would have had 5 spells and 5 potions altogether, but... they'd be shiny and new. There were already complaints about how there aren't enough spells and potions in the pack, imagine how that would go if we got a fraction of that amount.
When there's a budget of any kind, the decision is often either/or. At the end, I agree with what SilentKitty said: I don't know which parts of the rest of the pack's content would've been good to give up for new spells.
I’m just going off what my computer programmer uncle (who is also a gamer though admittedly not a simmer specifically) has said - apparently the recycling features tends not to be too arduous either in terms of time or money.
If that’s true, then what with all the recycling, most of what we have been given didn’t require all that much time and effort to produce. I don’t know their budget for a GP, but I’d imagine that would have left them with quite a bit extra.
I’d be surprised if coming up with 10 brand new items completely blew their budget since we have had packs with more (at the time) brand new features in them than that (especially thinking back to previous iterations of the sims)
Obviously though, I am not a computer expert so I just can’t say myself with any authority what the actual facts of the case are and I freely admit that.
On familiars... They have admitted that familiars work in the same way as drones from GF, so that’s another thing which is working off of existing functionality, saving them effort. Yes, familiars can do more than the drones obviously (although in my opinion it’s still disappointingly little)
One thing is that we don't know what their budget for a GP is. So we can only assume what amount of resources they had to begin with, let alone what was left after the recycling.
And the reuse of previous features still needed to be redone for the spellcasters: each one needed an animation (maybe some have the same or a similar one but those are all still brand new) for the casting, one with a wand and one without. That's not an insignificant amount of work. It's not the same as reusing the same animation for a different action (like, say, some of the poses in the Moschino pack). The result is the same, the action leading to it is different. The broomstick flying (and the vampire bat thing) is probably the one that's the closes and even that needed work to convert from what already existed.
As for the familiars: the gurus said that the familiars hover the same way the drones do. They have way more animation, including being summoned (unlike drones which lift from wherever they were on the ground or in the inventory) and engaging in the whole spellcasting process. It's not like they just put a new skin over the drone core.
All I'm saying is that the "well, they saved money by doing this" does read like you think that maybe they didn't use the allocated budget to its full potential and just saved where they could instead of using their resources. Which, considering how much stuff overall there is in the pack just from what we've seen so far, doesn't seem to be the case to me. It's just, they didn't use it on only new spells and potions.
(also, from a computer coding experience, yeah, it's easy to grab a piece of code that's already there and just plonk it somewhere else, provided it's not particularly dependent on its surroundings. It's a lot harder to take that piece of code and change it around to fit and work with a whole new surrounding code that works differently than where the code was first)
I do understand the disappointment (even if I don't feel it myself). I just disagree with the assumption that somehow the team had resources left and didn't use them.
Yeah I’ll admit that my uncle doesn’t program computer games specifically (edited my post above to make that clear) so his information may not be directly applicable to what has gone on with recycling in Sims packs. The animations would definitely take effort and time and that’s something which is highly relevant in a computer game.
I guess maybe their budgets for packs have decreased since TS2 and TS3 days - that would explain the lower amount of content in TS4 packs (although I admit that the fact that ROM is a GP makes it unfair to compare it to EPs from previous games)
You are no doubt correct that they were given a budget and used it all but I can’t help but think that they didn’t utilise it so well when it comes to the spells and potions. Whilst many of the spells and potions which involve recycling are still great to have, I would have preferred them to cull some of the more boring ones and substitute them for a few brand new features instead. I’d have preferred to have fewer spells and potions overall with less recycling. But that’s just me. I guess they were going for quantity and that’s fair enough.
Two of the new shirts (the shirt with the black shoulder patches and the shirt with the vest) are recycled from the game with some minor tweaks and that kind of bothers me....usually I don’t care but it was super obvious (to me).
For the shirt with the vest they just took away the scarf portion, and for the patches shirt the collar is slightly different. The swatches might be different but still....
I agree, unfortunately. All this reused emotion stuff... *shudder* why just why. This is what I was afraid of. Ugh. I hope ira possible for modders to make new spells with nice animations, somehow! Sims 4 has great promise, it looks beautiful and you can travel in any world, but the gameplay is so lacking. And animations especially. Sims 2 in comparison is so ahead of it, but I cant handle being confined to one lot for so long. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up.
@Angellulu in what way is Sims 2 so ahead of Sims 4?
Well, in family relationship animations. For example, limbed babies that could be washed in sink, children playing cops and robbers, hide and seek, being twirled around by parents, many types of hugs, different ways to propose, cuddling and such on bed, faces telling so much emotion, fear and sadness as well. I love the attraction system, the hobbies, the fears system, and memory system (they actually recall those memories and have emotions about them). Also marco polo pool games, holding breath in pool game, and well tons of more games together like soccer, hacky sack, football throw, etc. I always found they very expressionate. And music, is so amazing! I still remember all of it after many years.
I am sure the game developers are doing their best in terms of the time and resources available to them. However in watching the 2nd trailer, your comments did occur to me. Of course it does depend on the packs you have and how you play.
I would have liked to see some intergration with the occults, like cure vampire or fight to take its power ( making you a stronger witch) - ofcourse there may be interactions but I haven’t heard of any, and the problem with occult’s beings in seperate packs, is that EA don’t want one pack to rely on another.
We’re talking about pixels. The meals are all really the same thing but with different skins. My point is that the spell is piggybacking off a functionality which is already in the game (and which therefore they did not to spend effort recreating for this pack). They have saved money and time with this kind of recycling yet have not diverted that surplus money and time into creating more brand new content
Yes, agreed, technically they are the same thing. But you know, on the one hand, I've heard many people - myself included - say they wanted to see practical spells that make life easier. Like auto-cooking meals, cleaning, repairing stuff, .... It's the magic I've used most in 3 (repairing stuff and conjuring apples xD), and it's also partially what I associate with witches. That they can automate their daily lives with some extra-magical help, giving them more time to focus on crafting potions, foraging, raising magical families.
On the other hand, I feel it's important to point out (as you did yourself in a later post) that it's only a GP. And as far as I can tell without yet owning the pack, they did quite a lot with their budget besides the spells/potions, such as creating the world, the dueling grounds, the coding for the sages, the familiars, the beautiful new UI, the many new items, Glimmerbrook, new animations (like the one for reading anyway), ... Coupled with the (in total 40) new spells and potions we're getting, I feel my 20 will be well spent. And at least the trailers/stream didn't give me the slight sense of worry IL actually did give me.
Like I think I've said before, maybe they should've never included sooo many ways to "cheat" the game with their rewards store. It does put them in a bit of difficult spot for magic-related stuff ^^
I agree that, even if content is recycled, being a spellcaster will make those features easier to access. Currently, if you wanted all of these features, you’d have to go to a lot of effort: becoming a vampire, being a scientist, accumulating reward traits, completing certain aspirations etc. It’s nice to have it “all in one place” as it were. And that does make spellcasters a great asset.
Yes, that's a more eloquent way of saying what I wanted to say. Ironically, I didn't even know many of these things were already in the game And I'm glad I can now have one special sim who can do it all without needing to live 10-30 lives just to assemble all these skills.
I am very curious though what other spells you and other simmers can still come up with! I feel like my brain's not in mint condition today so I can't seem to think of many myself - that aren't already in the game one way or another - but yeah, I'm sure there must be many other things. Whether they would've all been better or more worthwhile, idk. All I do know is that I'm super glad about the plant, household, and elemental spells.
hmm overall i feel my biggest problem is they focused on "use magic to make things easy for your sims" rather than "oh no ooooooooh noooooo sims have magic and they are gonna use it wrong and its gonna get dangerous out here"
like stuff already is way too easy in ts4 so this just simply does not excite my brain
and I don't see reason to have familiar to guard me from death my sims never die "accidentally" in ts4 I have to force it if I want my sim to die other than old age
I am really hoping the silence on curses means there is something unique there
I'll probably load my sim with 3 curses at all times in that case lmao
@SimTrippy Actually we're getting 63 things 39 spells and potions counting both and 24 perks.
@MaggieMarley Regarding your OP criticism I want to point out what is new and a few other facts.
Witches have never had a talent tree course vampires never did either but this skill tree as my RPG nerd head refers to it as has 24 perks to use and I suspect a few of these are unique animations I suspect Discharge Mana will involve some unique animation to dispell your charges.
There are 11 familiars and cat/dog familiar if you have that EP will sparkle and can forage for potion reagents. These 'collectible' Familiars each have a unique personality and will comment with unique for each Familiar phrases based on your fails and general progress (some might even snap at you for them having to smack Death upside the head to save you from Mana Overcharge Death) Each familiar also has a unique animation as they float about. (or sparkle for animals)
As been pointed out Dueling is a new animation.
While those spells are technically in the game and are fairly recycled animations you must consider they did give new animations on how to use these 'same old same old abilities'. Your eyes burn with surging energy when you cast certain spells and flick your wand about to zap what(who)ever, and you also get two versions of each spell depending on if your using hands or wands.
Occultism in Sims is family-friendly and should not be watered down to cater to realism players
@SimTrippy Actually we're getting 63 things 39 spells and potions counting both and 24 perks.
@MaggieMarley Regarding your OP criticism I want to point out what is new and a few other facts.
Witches have never had a talent tree course vampires never did either but this skill tree as my RPG nerd head refers to it as has 24 perks to use and I suspect a few of these are unique animations I suspect Discharge Mana will involve some unique animation to dispell your charges.
There are 11 familiars and cat/dog familiar if you have that EP will sparkle and can forage for potion reagents. These 'collectible' Familiars each have a unique personality and will comment with unique for each Familiar phrases based on your fails and general progress (some might even snap at you for them having to smack Death upside the head to save you from Mana Overcharge Death) Each familiar also has a unique animation as they float about. (or sparkle for animals)
As been pointed out Dueling is a new animation.
While those spells are technically in the game and are fairly recycled animations you must consider they did give new animations on how to use these 'same old same old abilities'. Your eyes burn with surging energy when you cast certain spells and flick your wand about to zap what(who)ever, and you also get two versions of each spell depending on if your using hands or wands.
Good points, thanks. You mentioned some of the things which I am most excited for with this pack.
It may be silly of me but although “you’re getting 39 spells and potions!” sounds impressive, when you then consider how many of those recycle existing features it takes the shine off a little for me (I just counted and, at a push, those 39 spells and potions introduce 18 features which you might consider new even some of those work in much the same way as existing features). But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not glad to have them. I’m just less impressed than I would have otherwise been.
The familiars are nice. I’d have liked to be able to keep them as pets with needs and such too but oh well. Also, although all 11 look different there are no substantial differences between them in terms of behaviour. There is basically just 1 familiar with 11 different skins available and subtly different popups.
At least we get some new animations as you pointed out but I would have preferred those new animations to be clothing new features too. I’ll take it, though.
The perks are nice and I look forward to them It remains to be seen whether they recycle existing features or not.
Good points, thanks. You mentioned some of the things which I am most excited for with this pack.
It may be silly of me but although “you’re getting 39 spells and potions!” sounds impressive, when you then consider how many of those recycle existing features it takes the shine off a little for me. But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not glad to have them. I’m just less impressed than I would have otherwise been.
The familiars are nice. I’d have liked to be able to keep them as pets with needs and such too but oh well. Also, although all 11 look different there are no substantial differences between them in terms of behaviour. There is basically just 1 familiar with 11 different skins available and subtly different popups.
At least we get some new animations as you pointed out but I would have preferred those new animations to be clothing new features too. I’ll take it, though.
The perks are nice and I look forward to them It remains to be seen whether they recycle existing features or not.
Yes but they literally said that each of these 11 skins will have a personality and thus some will criticize you some will nurture you and some will probably laugh in your face after blowing yourself up with a failed Inferniate.
Occultism in Sims is family-friendly and should not be watered down to cater to realism players
Good points, thanks. You mentioned some of the things which I am most excited for with this pack.
It may be silly of me but although “you’re getting 39 spells and potions!” sounds impressive, when you then consider how many of those recycle existing features it takes the shine off a little for me. But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not glad to have them. I’m just less impressed than I would have otherwise been.
The familiars are nice. I’d have liked to be able to keep them as pets with needs and such too but oh well. Also, although all 11 look different there are no substantial differences between them in terms of behaviour. There is basically just 1 familiar with 11 different skins available and subtly different popups.
At least we get some new animations as you pointed out but I would have preferred those new animations to be clothing new features too. I’ll take it, though.
The perks are nice and I look forward to them It remains to be seen whether they recycle existing features or not.
Yes but they literally said that each of these 11 skins will have a personality and thus some will criticize you some will nurture you and some will probably laugh in your face after blowing yourself up with a failed Inferniate.
To me that’s not significant differences, sorry. Like I said, different popups. And ok a few different animations. But the different familiars don’t have different abilities or anything. If those differences are significant to you then great. I guess it’s subjective.
To me that’s not significant differences, sorry. Like I said, different popups. And ok a few different animations. But the different familiars don’t have different abilities or anything. If those differences are significant to you then great. I guess it’s subjective.
To me that is frankly better then I could've hoped for heck I'd figured they'd never say ANYTHING
Occultism in Sims is family-friendly and should not be watered down to cater to realism players
To me that’s not significant differences, sorry. Like I said, different popups. And ok a few different animations. But the different familiars don’t have different abilities or anything. If those differences are significant to you then great. I guess it’s subjective.
To me that is frankly better then I could've hoped for heck I'd figured they'd never say ANYTHING
Maybe my expectations were too high. I was hoping for them to function as proper pets rather than glorified drones but I’m happy to have them and I’ll definitely be collecting the cutest ones.
Well, this is a game pack so there are only so much that can be done.
Also @MaggieMarley You must admit having played Vampires a lot Realm despite costing the same is looking to have more content then any previous game pack imo least the two that I own.
Occultism in Sims is family-friendly and should not be watered down to cater to realism players
I think this thread is a bit premature to make. So many points you listed you said you either “don’t know for sure”, you “believe”, you “think”, you “assume” etc that things will be this way but really you have no clue.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to make this thread after you got the pack or after you at least were able to see in detail what the potions and spells do for sure?
- A spell that pauses time and freezes all the sims except your sim. Your sim can freeze time and mess with other sims before unfreezing time.
- A telekinesis spell
- Invisibility potion
- Accio (a spell to summon objects to your sim which would fly through the air to your sim from wherever they were)
- polyjuice potion
- proper broomsticks
- Change season
- turn objects into animals or vice versa
- levitate things
- Proper broomsticks which you can actually fly around (I.e. which don’t just work like the vampire bat form) and maybe even a sport like Quiddich
- predict the future
- spell which turns objects touched to gold (Midas touch)
- glamour
- Ability to fly without a broom (maybe even grow wings)
- Spell to change the size of objects or sims to minuscule (think fairy size) or huge
I could go on but I won’t.
There’s so many ideas for spells/potions out there which would have brought something new to the game. Just doing some research on popular fiction and folklore about magic brings up a lot.
Woooh boy, I figured.
Ok, I’m not trying to rip on you but I REALLY Think people should maybe research coding a bit or the process of making games before they have certain expectations.
To go over the suggested spells really quickly,
1: this would most likely break the game, or take a huge toll on coding. I honestly am trying to think of everything that would need to be done for this and, to be fair I’m a fairly novice game designer, but it makes my brain break. Because this would require the disabling of several features and big codes in the game, how it works, and it’s not as simple as ‘a pause feature but for your sim!” Basically: disable sim AI of non controllable sims while not disabling your sim’s AI if they have it on, pause the time cycle while allowing your sim to move, freeze all moments on lot for both sims and landscape objects and items- like. This is not even a quarter of what would need to be done.
2: I could see them doing something that would be like with ghosts that would cause objects to float a bit, buuut that would be pretty useless.
3: this would’ve been interesting, and something new. Not sure how the coding would work or if they had concerns about the sim going missing but... honestly it has limited uses. How would this effect actual gameplay outside of a visual effect? It would’ve been fun, but idk I can understand them prioritizing spells that have an effect on gameplay first and foremost.
4: they would have to animate. So many objects for this. Because the animation of them flying would have to occur. Plus to make sure it actually went from there to your sim and it’s inventory, and the limited number of items this could feasibly be attached to (only items that could be dragged into sim’s inventory, only items which already have a model, etc.) frankly speaking of copying- you could do this with the drag feature for practicality. Only the special effects are new, which could be applied to your own gripes.
5: honestly see the same as the invisibility potion. Fun looks, but doesn’t affect gameplay.
6: now, this one I do agree with a bit because it would’ve been fun to have a broomstick you could just bop around on the lot with, maybe giving you a small speed boost. But... outside of looks, functionally it would still be slower than the way they have it now. Functionally it’s a way to clear vast amounts of ground (gameplay bonus) within 2 seconds when it might take your sim 45 sim minutes to get there.
7: this to a lesser extent is same problem as spell one. The seasons are quite a bit more inflexible in this game than previous ones, and to change the season would be the literally change the month since it’s so tied to calenders. And it’s possibly game breaking.
8: uffda. Once again, all the coding. Especially the vice-versa. It would basically be a adoption feature but then basically destroy the object then destroy the pet in reverse. ... could probably go against their rating to as it could be seen as animal cruelty. The only way I could see this working is a buff that turns pets to objects for a time like with what they have with sims.
9: see telekinesis
10: see the previous broomsticks answer. I also never used the quidditch fields thing in sims 3 so honestly don’t REALLY miss it, but I can see why it would be fun for people to have... but honestly understand why priorities would be elsewhere.
11: this would really just be a buff, like what we saw in the sims 3 fortune telling houses. Sure it would be fun, but it would just be a copy of stuff already in game moreso than stuff you listed. There is literally no other way to code seeing the future when the player controls the game.
12: this would be fun, but basically see the issue with Accio. New animations for a ton of objects, coding them to take on more value, etc. unless they just made it so you could turn everything into a big chunk of gold instead of a golden copy of which would require a swatch to everything.
13; what does this mean, because glamour falls under a wide range of things. And if it’s a ‘make your sim prettier’ thing WHOO boy I could see that going badly with the wide range of skin color with sim types (I mean, the acting career for actresses makes me cringe sometimes). Also once again cosmetic without much real game use.
14: oh god all the animations. Plus no witches in popular lore grow wings to fly or fly without a broom.
15: this one is the only one I could see as being doable as a curse for making small, but then I thought of all the interactions that would need to be disabled and the potential ways for the sim to die with this aaaannd... it would be fun, but unless they overhauled several scripts it would really once again just be cosmetic.
Once again, I don’t mean to rip on people, but when I see these kind of complaints or critiques of the game I just boggle a bit because often times the stuff asked for are simply either not worth prioritizing over what they are including when it comes to actual gameplay effects, or they are game breaking in terms of the impossibility of coding it.
I personally would like more cosmetic stuff, always, but they are giving us wands, familiars, an uglification curse, magical duels, and so much more. That’s just what I can remember by half watching the stream and having watched closely the trailers. (Plus portals! Which are super cool!) and this is a game pack.
also your argument of THEORETICALLY being able to make a sim to make most of this stuff... yeah maybe on long lifespan with a ton of hours or massive cheats. The practical magic branch allows you to get a bunch of skills through one feature. Having a OP sim like that is a draw since you’ll be able to do EVERYTHING “copied” within the time it takes to progress in one or two spell branches.
Well, this is a game pack so there are only so much that can be done.
Also @MaggieMarley You must admit having played Vampires a lot Realm despite costing the same is looking to have more content then any previous game pack imo least the two that I own.
As I’ve said I expect it will end up being my favourite pack. And it does look like it has a lot of content. But it’s also important to distinguish between content and new content.
I think this thread is a bit premature to make. So many points you listed you said you either “don’t know for sure”, you “believe”, you “think”, you “assume” etc that things will be this way but really you have no clue.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to make this thread after you got the pack or after you at least were able to see in detail what the potions and spells do for sure?
What I’ve said is in many cases based off of the descriptions given of the spells and potions from the gameplay trailer and livestream. Obviously yes some of them may have a few extra twists but we already know what the essence of most of them will be and in many cases that’s been done before. That’s all I’m saying. And we’ll see what it’s like when it releases. I don’t doubt it will be good and I suspect it will be my favourite pack. But this is what I’ve been considering based on what we’ve seen so far and I wanted to share my thoughts. Maybe I should have waited until after getting the pack but I’m a human being and I’m fallible. I don’t always make perfect choices.
- A spell that pauses time and freezes all the sims except your sim. Your sim can freeze time and mess with other sims before unfreezing time.
- A telekinesis spell
- Invisibility potion
- Accio (a spell to summon objects to your sim which would fly through the air to your sim from wherever they were)
- polyjuice potion
- proper broomsticks
- Change season
- turn objects into animals or vice versa
- levitate things
- Proper broomsticks which you can actually fly around (I.e. which don’t just work like the vampire bat form) and maybe even a sport like Quiddich
- predict the future
- spell which turns objects touched to gold (Midas touch)
- glamour
- Ability to fly without a broom (maybe even grow wings)
- Spell to change the size of objects or sims to minuscule (think fairy size) or huge
I could go on but I won’t.
There’s so many ideas for spells/potions out there which would have brought something new to the game. Just doing some research on popular fiction and folklore about magic brings up a lot.
Woooh boy, I figured.
Ok, I’m not trying to rip on you but I REALLY Think people should maybe research coding a bit or the process of making games before they have certain expectations.
To go over the suggested spells really quickly,
1: this would most likely break the game, or take a huge toll on coding. I honestly am trying to think of everything that would need to be done for this and, to be fair I’m a fairly novice game designer, but it makes my brain break. Because this would require the disabling of several features and big codes in the game, how it works, and it’s not as simple as ‘a pause feature but for your sim!” Basically: disable sim AI of non controllable sims while not disabling your sim’s AI if they have it on, pause the time cycle while allowing your sim to move, freeze all moments on lot for both sims and landscape objects and items- like. This is not even a quarter of what would need to be done.
2: I could see them doing something that would be like with ghosts that would cause objects to float a bit, buuut that would be pretty useless.
3: this would’ve been interesting, and something new. Not sure how the coding would work or if they had concerns about the sim going missing but... honestly it has limited uses. How would this effect actual gameplay outside of a visual effect? It would’ve been fun, but idk I can understand them prioritizing spells that have an effect on gameplay first and foremost.
4: they would have to animate. So many objects for this. Because the animation of them flying would have to occur. Plus to make sure it actually went from there to your sim and it’s inventory, and the limited number of items this could feasibly be attached to (only items that could be dragged into sim’s inventory, only items which already have a model, etc.) frankly speaking of copying- you could do this with the drag feature for practicality. Only the special effects are new, which could be applied to your own gripes.
5: honestly see the same as the invisibility potion. Fun looks, but doesn’t affect gameplay.
6: now, this one I do agree with a bit because it would’ve been fun to have a broomstick you could just bop around on the lot with, maybe giving you a small speed boost. But... outside of looks, functionally it would still be slower than the way they have it now. Functionally it’s a way to clear vast amounts of ground (gameplay bonus) within 2 seconds when it might take your sim 45 sim minutes to get there.
7: this to a lesser extent is same problem as spell one. The seasons are quite a bit more inflexible in this game than previous ones, and to change the season would be the literally change the month since it’s so tied to calenders. And it’s possibly game breaking.
8: uffda. Once again, all the coding. Especially the vice-versa. It would basically be a adoption feature but then basically destroy the object then destroy the pet in reverse. ... could probably go against their rating to as it could be seen as animal cruelty. The only way I could see this working is a buff that turns pets to objects for a time like with what they have with sims.
9: see telekinesis
10: see the previous broomsticks answer. I also never used the quidditch fields thing in sims 3 so honestly don’t REALLY miss it, but I can see why it would be fun for people to have... but honestly understand why priorities would be elsewhere.
11: this would really just be a buff, like what we saw in the sims 3 fortune telling houses. Sure it would be fun, but it would just be a copy of stuff already in game moreso than stuff you listed. There is literally no other way to code seeing the future when the player controls the game.
12: this would be fun, but basically see the issue with Accio. New animations for a ton of objects, coding them to take on more value, etc. unless they just made it so you could turn everything into a big chunk of gold instead of a golden copy of which would require a swatch to everything.
13; what does this mean, because glamour falls under a wide range of things. And if it’s a ‘make your sim prettier’ thing WHOO boy I could see that going badly with the wide range of skin color with sim types (I mean, the acting career for actresses makes me cringe sometimes). Also once again cosmetic without much real game use.
14: oh god all the animations. Plus no witches in popular lore grow wings to fly or fly without a broom.
15: this one is the only one I could see as being doable as a curse for making small, but then I thought of all the interactions that would need to be disabled and the potential ways for the sim to die with this aaaannd... it would be fun, but unless they overhauled several scripts it would really once again just be cosmetic.
Once again, I don’t mean to rip on people, but when I see these kind of complaints or critiques of the game I just boggle a bit because often times the stuff asked for are simply either not worth prioritizing over what they are including when it comes to actual gameplay effects, or they are game breaking in terms of the impossibility of coding it.
I personally would like more cosmetic stuff, always, but they are giving us wands, familiars, an uglification curse, magical duels, and so much more. That’s just what I can remember by half watching the stream and having watched closely the trailers. (Plus portals! Which are super cool!) and this is a game pack.
also your argument of THEORETICALLY being able to make a sim to make most of this stuff... yeah maybe on long lifespan with a ton of hours or massive cheats. The practical magic branch allows you to get a bunch of skills through one feature. Having a OP sim like that is a draw since you’ll be able to do EVERYTHING “copied” within the time it takes to progress in one or two spell branches.
Interesting to know. That definitely helps me understand why they’ve recycled so much stuff.
What did you expect when sims keep making new versions of sims and repeating packs in general? There is only so much different things you can do and add, so you are bound to see a repeat of things, specially since those are lot of the features people want.
Apartments are a repeat, seasons are a repeat, etc....they add new things with all of them though along with some old classic features.
What did you expect when sims keep making new versions of sims and repeating packs in general? There is only so much different things you can do and add, so you are bound to see a repeat of things, specially since those are lot of the features people want.
Apartments are a repeat, seasons are a repeat, etc....they add new things with all of them though along with some old classic features.
Comments
See, this is the thing you've said before and I can't agree with. We don't know how the money was redistributed. Maybe they didn't redirect it into brand new spells or potions but it still went into new things (for this iteration) like dueling or animations for potion brewing or familiars.
And maybe if they hadn't done the reinvention of previous actions and content, we would have had 5 spells and 5 potions altogether, but... they'd be shiny and new. There were already complaints about how there aren't enough spells and potions in the pack, imagine how that would go if we got a fraction of that amount.
When there's a budget of any kind, the decision is often either/or. At the end, I agree with what SilentKitty said: I don't know which parts of the rest of the pack's content would've been good to give up for new spells.
I’m just going off what my computer programmer uncle (who is also a gamer though admittedly not a simmer specifically) has said - apparently recycling features tends not to be too taxing either in terms of time or money. But he does not program computer games so I admit that this may not be applicable here.
But if that’s true, then what with all the recycling, most of the spells and potions we have been given didn’t require all that much time and effort to produce. I don’t know their budget for a GP, but I’d imagine that would have left them with quite a bit extra.
I’d be surprised if coming up with 10 brand new items completely blew their budget since we have had packs with more (at the time) brand new features in them than that (especially thinking back to previous iterations of the sims)
Obviously though, I am not a computer expert so I just can’t say myself with any authority what the actual facts of the case are and I freely admit that.
On familiars... They have admitted that familiars work in the same way as drones from GF, so that’s another thing which is working off of existing functionality, saving them effort. Yes, familiars can do more than the drones obviously (although in my opinion it’s still disappointingly little)
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
> i think they should have at least put in fortune telling or card reading or something like that since it would not even take loads of animations :(
That would be so neat!
One thing is that we don't know what their budget for a GP is. So we can only assume what amount of resources they had to begin with, let alone what was left after the recycling.
And the reuse of previous features still needed to be redone for the spellcasters: each one needed an animation (maybe some have the same or a similar one but those are all still brand new) for the casting, one with a wand and one without. That's not an insignificant amount of work. It's not the same as reusing the same animation for a different action (like, say, some of the poses in the Moschino pack). The result is the same, the action leading to it is different. The broomstick flying (and the vampire bat thing) is probably the one that's the closes and even that needed work to convert from what already existed.
As for the familiars: the gurus said that the familiars hover the same way the drones do. They have way more animation, including being summoned (unlike drones which lift from wherever they were on the ground or in the inventory) and engaging in the whole spellcasting process. It's not like they just put a new skin over the drone core.
All I'm saying is that the "well, they saved money by doing this" does read like you think that maybe they didn't use the allocated budget to its full potential and just saved where they could instead of using their resources. Which, considering how much stuff overall there is in the pack just from what we've seen so far, doesn't seem to be the case to me. It's just, they didn't use it on only new spells and potions.
(also, from a computer coding experience, yeah, it's easy to grab a piece of code that's already there and just plonk it somewhere else, provided it's not particularly dependent on its surroundings. It's a lot harder to take that piece of code and change it around to fit and work with a whole new surrounding code that works differently than where the code was first)
I do understand the disappointment (even if I don't feel it myself). I just disagree with the assumption that somehow the team had resources left and didn't use them.
Yeah I’ll admit that my uncle doesn’t program computer games specifically (edited my post above to make that clear) so his information may not be directly applicable to what has gone on with recycling in Sims packs. The animations would definitely take effort and time and that’s something which is highly relevant in a computer game.
I guess maybe their budgets for packs have decreased since TS2 and TS3 days - that would explain the lower amount of content in TS4 packs (although I admit that the fact that ROM is a GP makes it unfair to compare it to EPs from previous games)
You are no doubt correct that they were given a budget and used it all but I can’t help but think that they didn’t utilise it so well when it comes to the spells and potions. Whilst many of the spells and potions which involve recycling are still great to have, I would have preferred them to cull some of the more boring ones and substitute them for a few brand new features instead. I’d have preferred to have fewer spells and potions overall with less recycling. But that’s just me. I guess they were going for quantity and that’s fair enough.
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
For the shirt with the vest they just took away the scarf portion, and for the patches shirt the collar is slightly different. The swatches might be different but still....
Well, in family relationship animations. For example, limbed babies that could be washed in sink, children playing cops and robbers, hide and seek, being twirled around by parents, many types of hugs, different ways to propose, cuddling and such on bed, faces telling so much emotion, fear and sadness as well. I love the attraction system, the hobbies, the fears system, and memory system (they actually recall those memories and have emotions about them). Also marco polo pool games, holding breath in pool game, and well tons of more games together like soccer, hacky sack, football throw, etc. I always found they very expressionate. And music, is so amazing! I still remember all of it after many years.
I would have liked to see some intergration with the occults, like cure vampire or fight to take its power ( making you a stronger witch) - ofcourse there may be interactions but I haven’t heard of any, and the problem with occult’s beings in seperate packs, is that EA don’t want one pack to rely on another.
Yes, agreed, technically they are the same thing. But you know, on the one hand, I've heard many people - myself included - say they wanted to see practical spells that make life easier. Like auto-cooking meals, cleaning, repairing stuff, .... It's the magic I've used most in 3 (repairing stuff and conjuring apples xD), and it's also partially what I associate with witches. That they can automate their daily lives with some extra-magical help, giving them more time to focus on crafting potions, foraging, raising magical families.
On the other hand, I feel it's important to point out (as you did yourself in a later post) that it's only a GP. And as far as I can tell without yet owning the pack, they did quite a lot with their budget besides the spells/potions, such as creating the world, the dueling grounds, the coding for the sages, the familiars, the beautiful new UI, the many new items, Glimmerbrook, new animations (like the one for reading anyway), ... Coupled with the (in total 40) new spells and potions we're getting, I feel my 20 will be well spent. And at least the trailers/stream didn't give me the slight sense of worry IL actually did give me.
Like I think I've said before, maybe they should've never included sooo many ways to "cheat" the game with their rewards store. It does put them in a bit of difficult spot for magic-related stuff ^^
Yes, that's a more eloquent way of saying what I wanted to say. Ironically, I didn't even know many of these things were already in the game
I am very curious though what other spells you and other simmers can still come up with! I feel like my brain's not in mint condition today so I can't seem to think of many myself - that aren't already in the game one way or another - but yeah, I'm sure there must be many other things. Whether they would've all been better or more worthwhile, idk. All I do know is that I'm super glad about the plant, household, and elemental spells.
Same here!
like stuff already is way too easy in ts4 so this just simply does not excite my brain
and I don't see reason to have familiar to guard me from death my sims never die "accidentally" in ts4 I have to force it if I want my sim to die other than old age
I am really hoping the silence on curses means there is something unique there
I'll probably load my sim with 3 curses at all times in that case lmao
🏡 Gallery 📖 Stories 🌍 World Project 🥔 MOD/CC Free
@MaggieMarley Regarding your OP criticism I want to point out what is new and a few other facts.
Witches have never had a talent tree course vampires never did either but this skill tree as my RPG nerd head refers to it as has 24 perks to use and I suspect a few of these are unique animations I suspect Discharge Mana will involve some unique animation to dispell your charges.
There are 11 familiars and cat/dog familiar if you have that EP will sparkle and can forage for potion reagents. These 'collectible' Familiars each have a unique personality and will comment with unique for each Familiar phrases based on your fails and general progress (some might even snap at you for them having to smack Death upside the head to save you from Mana Overcharge Death) Each familiar also has a unique animation as they float about. (or sparkle for animals)
As been pointed out Dueling is a new animation.
While those spells are technically in the game and are fairly recycled animations you must consider they did give new animations on how to use these 'same old same old abilities'. Your eyes burn with surging energy when you cast certain spells and flick your wand about to zap what(who)ever, and you also get two versions of each spell depending on if your using hands or wands.
Good points, thanks. You mentioned some of the things which I am most excited for with this pack.
It may be silly of me but although “you’re getting 39 spells and potions!” sounds impressive, when you then consider how many of those recycle existing features it takes the shine off a little for me (I just counted and, at a push, those 39 spells and potions introduce 18 features which you might consider new even some of those work in much the same way as existing features). But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not glad to have them. I’m just less impressed than I would have otherwise been.
The familiars are nice. I’d have liked to be able to keep them as pets with needs and such too but oh well. Also, although all 11 look different there are no substantial differences between them in terms of behaviour. There is basically just 1 familiar with 11 different skins available and subtly different popups.
At least we get some new animations as you pointed out but I would have preferred those new animations to be clothing new features too. I’ll take it, though.
The perks are nice and I look forward to them It remains to be seen whether they recycle existing features or not.
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
Yes but they literally said that each of these 11 skins will have a personality and thus some will criticize you some will nurture you and some will probably laugh in your face after blowing yourself up with a failed Inferniate.
To me that’s not significant differences, sorry. Like I said, different popups. And ok a few different animations. But the different familiars don’t have different abilities or anything. If those differences are significant to you then great. I guess it’s subjective.
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
To me that is frankly better then I could've hoped for heck I'd figured they'd never say ANYTHING
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
Also @MaggieMarley You must admit having played Vampires a lot Realm despite costing the same is looking to have more content then any previous game pack imo least the two that I own.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to make this thread after you got the pack or after you at least were able to see in detail what the potions and spells do for sure?
Woooh boy, I figured.
Ok, I’m not trying to rip on you but I REALLY Think people should maybe research coding a bit or the process of making games before they have certain expectations.
To go over the suggested spells really quickly,
1: this would most likely break the game, or take a huge toll on coding. I honestly am trying to think of everything that would need to be done for this and, to be fair I’m a fairly novice game designer, but it makes my brain break. Because this would require the disabling of several features and big codes in the game, how it works, and it’s not as simple as ‘a pause feature but for your sim!” Basically: disable sim AI of non controllable sims while not disabling your sim’s AI if they have it on, pause the time cycle while allowing your sim to move, freeze all moments on lot for both sims and landscape objects and items- like. This is not even a quarter of what would need to be done.
2: I could see them doing something that would be like with ghosts that would cause objects to float a bit, buuut that would be pretty useless.
3: this would’ve been interesting, and something new. Not sure how the coding would work or if they had concerns about the sim going missing but... honestly it has limited uses. How would this effect actual gameplay outside of a visual effect? It would’ve been fun, but idk I can understand them prioritizing spells that have an effect on gameplay first and foremost.
4: they would have to animate. So many objects for this. Because the animation of them flying would have to occur. Plus to make sure it actually went from there to your sim and it’s inventory, and the limited number of items this could feasibly be attached to (only items that could be dragged into sim’s inventory, only items which already have a model, etc.) frankly speaking of copying- you could do this with the drag feature for practicality. Only the special effects are new, which could be applied to your own gripes.
5: honestly see the same as the invisibility potion. Fun looks, but doesn’t affect gameplay.
6: now, this one I do agree with a bit because it would’ve been fun to have a broomstick you could just bop around on the lot with, maybe giving you a small speed boost. But... outside of looks, functionally it would still be slower than the way they have it now. Functionally it’s a way to clear vast amounts of ground (gameplay bonus) within 2 seconds when it might take your sim 45 sim minutes to get there.
7: this to a lesser extent is same problem as spell one. The seasons are quite a bit more inflexible in this game than previous ones, and to change the season would be the literally change the month since it’s so tied to calenders. And it’s possibly game breaking.
8: uffda. Once again, all the coding. Especially the vice-versa. It would basically be a adoption feature but then basically destroy the object then destroy the pet in reverse. ... could probably go against their rating to as it could be seen as animal cruelty. The only way I could see this working is a buff that turns pets to objects for a time like with what they have with sims.
9: see telekinesis
10: see the previous broomsticks answer. I also never used the quidditch fields thing in sims 3 so honestly don’t REALLY miss it, but I can see why it would be fun for people to have... but honestly understand why priorities would be elsewhere.
11: this would really just be a buff, like what we saw in the sims 3 fortune telling houses. Sure it would be fun, but it would just be a copy of stuff already in game moreso than stuff you listed. There is literally no other way to code seeing the future when the player controls the game.
12: this would be fun, but basically see the issue with Accio. New animations for a ton of objects, coding them to take on more value, etc. unless they just made it so you could turn everything into a big chunk of gold instead of a golden copy of which would require a swatch to everything.
13; what does this mean, because glamour falls under a wide range of things. And if it’s a ‘make your sim prettier’ thing WHOO boy I could see that going badly with the wide range of skin color with sim types (I mean, the acting career for actresses makes me cringe sometimes). Also once again cosmetic without much real game use.
14: oh god all the animations. Plus no witches in popular lore grow wings to fly or fly without a broom.
15: this one is the only one I could see as being doable as a curse for making small, but then I thought of all the interactions that would need to be disabled and the potential ways for the sim to die with this aaaannd... it would be fun, but unless they overhauled several scripts it would really once again just be cosmetic.
Once again, I don’t mean to rip on people, but when I see these kind of complaints or critiques of the game I just boggle a bit because often times the stuff asked for are simply either not worth prioritizing over what they are including when it comes to actual gameplay effects, or they are game breaking in terms of the impossibility of coding it.
I personally would like more cosmetic stuff, always, but they are giving us wands, familiars, an uglification curse, magical duels, and so much more. That’s just what I can remember by half watching the stream and having watched closely the trailers. (Plus portals! Which are super cool!) and this is a game pack.
also your argument of THEORETICALLY being able to make a sim to make most of this stuff... yeah maybe on long lifespan with a ton of hours or massive cheats. The practical magic branch allows you to get a bunch of skills through one feature. Having a OP sim like that is a draw since you’ll be able to do EVERYTHING “copied” within the time it takes to progress in one or two spell branches.
What I’ve said is in many cases based off of the descriptions given of the spells and potions from the gameplay trailer and livestream. Obviously yes some of them may have a few extra twists but we already know what the essence of most of them will be and in many cases that’s been done before. That’s all I’m saying. And we’ll see what it’s like when it releases. I don’t doubt it will be good and I suspect it will be my favourite pack. But this is what I’ve been considering based on what we’ve seen so far and I wanted to share my thoughts. Maybe I should have waited until after getting the pack but I’m a human being and I’m fallible. I don’t always make perfect choices.
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
Apartments are a repeat, seasons are a repeat, etc....they add new things with all of them though along with some old classic features.
Lets make this a reality!
Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*
Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*