I would prefer open neighborhoods in TS4 myself and I really don't mind the back drops. I'm actually used to them since they do give an insight to what it would feel like to be there. As far as the Sims 3 goes I had to use the NRAAS mods just to keep the lag down on it and I was running it on a high end desk top. It was pretty bad when my laptop could run it better. But then again I always used to play WOW on my laptop and that game was pixel heavy. Lol
@GoldenBuffy very true! Sims have never been at the forefront of technological innovation. Mainly because of the main player base (go to the tech sections. More people play below requirements than you think)
I guess it just surprises me that even today people are still playing on older computers. But I did that with Sims 2. lol Ended up frying my hard drive, went a year without a computer, finally got a new one, and the first thing I installed was the Sims 2.
I'm a terrible sim God, I leave households in the sims 3 and go out wandering with one or two sims. I never check on them. As long as their portraits are green I figure they are fine. If a fire broke out I would get a notification.
That's the one thing I do like about 3. I find it harder to do that with 4 when I can see the sims at home need bars are tanked. Sometimes they fix them themselves but always when I get back to the hole lot, if it's late at night every sim, elder, adult, child or toddler or teen will be out of bed. So you have to do the whole putting them to bed routine.
It's funny because I do that too. I will be off with one sim, having the work or collect things, forgetting about the others in the family. And for the most part, they are fine. And I love that. It's a hard habit to break when playing Sims 4. I want to switch from one family member to the other, and then I remember that I can't.
Another thing that really gets me is the fact that sims left on the home lot are frozen. At least with Sims 2 there is the community lot time mod, and when you return to the lot time passes and things go on. I hope someone makes a mod like that for Sims 4. Having a free flowing open world is so much funner in the long run.
Really? When I return to my sims 4 family with the sim I've been away with, the rest of the family are on the side walk or in various rooms with their needs low and if I've left them doing homework or I tell them to work on a skill in my absence they haven't!
I prefer the sims 2 where the lot does freeze and my sims are exactly where I left or the sims 3 where they are pretty independent and will take care of their needs.
That's strange, I wonder why your game does that. Though I just noticed last night while playing, when my sim returned from work her two teens were standing out in front of the house, and they were taking a photo together. Yet her husband was inside the house in the basement on the computer. So maybe it's a hit or miss thing. I'm not sure.
If I have them tidy up while my sim is on a community lot or at work, that never seems to work. My sim will come home to the same dishes on the table, or dirty toilet or shower. But if I have them work on a skill they will, or if I have them socialize on the phone they have no problem getting it done.
For me the most enjoyable is open world, and having all my sims available all the time.
I love Open World, so that's where my vote goes. Now for the people are saying they don't want open world because of lag, error 12, poor optimisation, I don't think anyone wants that. Try imagining an open world without all of those things and then rethink the question.
I don't get this whole white space argument *scratches head* I'm currently in game at in the University world and most everywhere I can see, my Sim can get there.
Yeah, if I could have open world without error 12, it would be great. But I don't know if it's possible. I would like a much larger world than they are giving us, something the size of Beach City in Sims3.
I would think that this day in age, it SHOULD be possible. TS3 was too technologically advanced for computers and both of moved on since 2009. EA just needs to tap into it!
What is this Beach City you speak of it? Is it a player made world?
I'm not sure what you mean by TS3 being too technologically advanced for computers? Way back in 2009? Maybe some computers, maybe some laptops? Not all. I never had problems on any of the desktop PC's I played on (and still don't) unless there are problems like some routing errors or other glitches that seem to be in certain worlds and those errors are on EA not my PC.
I meant that TS3 was way ahead of its time. You're right, maybe not the computers but the game not being properly optimised. TS3 was very ambitious I think.
I'd hate to think it was too ambitious! I wish they had done it better. And carried it on through into Sims 4.
I don't think it was to ambitious for its time. And I know I've been "jumped" upon in the past, but I can't help but going back to GTA IV. It, like Sims 3 is an open world. It was released in 2008. And it had no problems (lag, stuttering, etc.) like Sims 3. So I mean, if it is done right then there is no problem for the Sims to be an open world game. Especially now with all the advancements in gaming.
I'm not sure why. The sims standing outside the lot was bug that was fixed supposedly. I have the issue on my vanilla game and it's been repaired etc. I can handle that normally but at 2am in game it's a pain putting people back to bed.
I would like to see an open world but if done correctly. Given the troubles with the sims 3 and the fact that on specs alone it eliminated a lot of players I'm not sure we will see it return.
I will say that went a load a lot when I first play they won't be outside, but they will be standing beside their beds. Once I start the game, they all jump in bed and go back to sleep. I always end a play session with them sleeping. I wish that would get fixed as well.
They say that can't do open world because of all the problems they had. But that was just poor programming. I tried playing sims 3 on my brothers high end computer (which he can play GTA V with it's HUGE open world completely smoothly, whilst much smaller games than that are not playable on my computer). Other than being able to have better graphics, sims 3 played exactly the same on his computer. Sims still froze all the time, there was progressively more lag as you continued with a family. It became unplayable just the same, it just took a little longer than on my computer. EA is a huge company, if they can't program their games properly, then gaming shouldn't be the industry for them.
What I would be happy with though is a compromise between open neighbourhoods and open world. I would be happy playing in half the size of the Sims 4 map, if that was totally open, and the houses were compacted together (like any town i've been to ever). Different sections would have completely different things in them. And the world would not look like clip art. I want a warm inviting world, that has a bit of effort put into it. Below is how I would break up the sections of a world (All about half the size of the sims 4 worlds but a lot more compact).
- Poorer neighbourhood area with 10 to 15 houses, a corner store, another shop or two and a couple of cafe's. - More expensive neighbourhood area, with 10 houses or so and few higher end stores, grocery store and a couple cafe's/restaurants - Downtown city area (Bars, restaurants, shops, apartments, city hall, hospitals, schools, business work places). That would be 1 world broken up into 3 completely open sections. Of course sims would be able to travel to different worlds (preferably have 1 suburban, one country, one desert and one tropical world).
I want to see the effort placed back into the game EA.
They say that can't do open world because of all the problems they had. But that was just poor programming. I tried playing sims 3 on my brothers high end computer (which he can play GTA V with it's HUGE open world completely smoothly, whilst much smaller games than that are not playable on my computer). Other than being able to have better graphics, sims 3 played exactly the same on his computer. Sims still froze all the time, there was progressively more lag as you continued with a family. It became unplayable just the same, it just took a little longer than on my computer. EA is a huge company, if they can't program their games properly, then gaming shouldn't be the industry for them.
What I would be happy with though is a compromise between open neighbourhoods and open world. I would be happy playing in half the size of the Sims 4 map, if that was totally open, and the houses were compacted together (like any town i've been to ever). Different sections would have completely different things in them. And the world would not look like clip art. I want a warm inviting world, that has a bit of effort put into it. Below is how I would break up the sections of a world (All about half the size of the sims 4 worlds but a lot more compact).
- Poorer neighbourhood area with 10 to 15 houses, a corner store, another shop or two and a couple of cafe's.
- More expensive neighbourhood area, with 10 houses or so and few higher end stores, grocery store and a couple cafe's/restaurants
- Downtown city area (Bars, restaurants, shops, apartments, city hall, hospitals, schools, business work places).
That would be 1 world broken up into 3 completely open sections. Of course sims would be able to travel to different worlds (preferably have 1 suburban, one country, one desert and one tropical world).
I want to see the effort placed back into the game EA.
Did your brother have a lot of CC? Because I assure you I’ve never had annoying freezing on my high end computers other than in China and IP (before adjusting them) and lag I haven’t even had on my low end computer (basegame and the first few EP’s I must add). And NRaas Overwatch/Errortrap saved Bridgeport. I agree they programmed the worlds poorly and those two mods should have been an EA feature, but the game is far from unplayable when played on right equipment and not falling into the hands of a CC addict. The only thing that happens when I play more generations in one save is that saving takes hours at one point. I just take my family then and everyone who’s important and put them in a new game. You mention GTA: that’s right. There simply is no reason not to have open world, provided that they program it properly.
What I would love to see is a big open world where the world itself is one big lot! Forget about individual lots, just one big lot that you could build anything, anywhere! Think of the possibilities! One example would be that you could build your buildings in one continuous row, like town houses or an old west town! No spaces between! Boy, how I wish we could do that!
"If you build it, they will come." - Movie: Field of Dreams
For me it's open world rather than open neighborhood and it always will. Open world only contributed to difficulties due to lousy implementing. I'm not prepared to settle for less just because they messed things up that shouldn't have been messed up. And even messed up I love it.
People should compromise and meet halfway. Sims 4 runs better for more people because of the lack of open world. Not everyone can afford an expensive pc capable of playing high demanding games. *Cough cough* sims 3 open world. And people that can afford high pcs shouldn't have to put up with constant loading screens hindering their gameplay.
Lots in the same neigborhood should stay dorment until they are entered without having to face the loading screen. If an option could be implemented to remove loading screens in neighbourhoods then players could have the choice between a semi open world vs loading screens.
Or they could at least create a world where the lots can have several businesses/areas to get the illusion of a large open world. So you can do many things on the same lot instead of having the travel. Like a market town with a street full of shops. Terrace houses etc.
If it’s really true open world is impossible well implemented and playable on decent computers, sure, I’ll compromise. Slightly. Meaning: a Sims 3 world cut in three, with fitting backdrops and loading screens that make sense (crossing a bridge for example). I have no idea if that’s the case. I do know it’s bad routing that has always caused me issues with worlds in Sims 3, and the lack of a supporting background program to catch and clean hiccups (the way NRaas mods do). And I don’t want to compromise when it means people are expecting me to appreciate they want to play this game on a dilapidated laptop or a tablet. I want this game to be serious, grown up, in depth. That means that yes, you’ll need a proper computer. I won’t settle for less because I’m not interested in less. So if they deliver less, like they’ve done with Sims 4, I’m out. Why would I compromise when it means I’ll lose interest? My personal opinion is that this game needs open world. You don’t have to agree with that, but it will still be my opinion.
Why should people compromise? I mean it's common sense if your pc can't run a game you either get a pc that does or you don't get it. When the sims 3 was being released my pc at the time couldn't run all content, I got up to seasons I think before it wouldn't run. That was my issue, I knew I needed a better pc. I didn't expect the sims 3 to start making content to meet my pcs needs. In the end I got a new pc that ran the game better. And now two pcs later the difference for the sims 3 is like night and day.
I think that there should be world openness options, where you can choose from semi-open neighborhood (what we have now), open neighborhood (as the OP suggested, the active lot, surrounding lots, and space around them all being open to explore without loading screens), and full open world (everything just there to explore with no loading outside of entering the game). That way, there would be a setting for low-spec computers, one for machines in the middle, and one for those uber-beast gaming rigs that are just shy of becoming sentient beings. I know the last setting probably can't be implemented in TS4, especially this late in the game's life cycle, but it would be a good thing to consider for TS5...if we get a TS5. They might just milk TS4 for the next 10 years instead...
Why should people compromise? I mean it's common sense if your pc can't run a game you either get a pc that does or you don't get it. When the sims 3 was being released my pc at the time couldn't run all content, I got up to seasons I think before it wouldn't run. That was my issue, I knew I needed a better pc. I didn't expect the sims 3 to start making content to meet my pcs needs. In the end I got a new pc that ran the game better. And now two pcs later the difference for the sims 3 is like night and day.
This ^^ I've been saying the same thing for ages.
I think I already commented on this thread; however I'll say, maybe there's a pattern - Sims 2 & 4 closed, Sims 3 & 5(?) open?
> @JoAnne65 said: > (Quote) > I don't mind rabbitholes as such actually :mrgreen: I do mind them when they are used out of 'laziness', standing in the way of potential awesome gameplay (prom, restaurant, shop and ridingschool come to mind). So I'd love a Skyrim kind of system. Open world galore, but for certain lots - visible from the outside though - a loading screen (the purely functional lots like city hall, school and some of the careers can stay rabbithole afaic).
I don’t think an open world system for The Sims 4 would work. Definitely an open neighborhood style would suffice. Would have been nice if that existed since game launch.
As for open world, I’d like to see that for The Sims 5.
honestly this is exactly what i hope for. to me it makes a lot of sense without being too drastic, and frankly i just think at this point a fully open world is never going to happen for sims 4. but i do hate being able to walk around the neighborhood, seeing everything on a lot yet having to have a loading screen to interact with it.
Comments
I guess it just surprises me that even today people are still playing on older computers. But I did that with Sims 2. lol Ended up frying my hard drive, went a year without a computer, finally got a new one, and the first thing I installed was the Sims 2.
I will say that went a load a lot when I first play they won't be outside, but they will be standing beside their beds. Once I start the game, they all jump in bed and go back to sleep. I always end a play session with them sleeping. I wish that would get fixed as well.
What I would be happy with though is a compromise between open neighbourhoods and open world. I would be happy playing in half the size of the Sims 4 map, if that was totally open, and the houses were compacted together (like any town i've been to ever). Different sections would have completely different things in them. And the world would not look like clip art. I want a warm inviting world, that has a bit of effort put into it. Below is how I would break up the sections of a world (All about half the size of the sims 4 worlds but a lot more compact).
- Poorer neighbourhood area with 10 to 15 houses, a corner store, another shop or two and a couple of cafe's.
- More expensive neighbourhood area, with 10 houses or so and few higher end stores, grocery store and a couple cafe's/restaurants
- Downtown city area (Bars, restaurants, shops, apartments, city hall, hospitals, schools, business work places).
That would be 1 world broken up into 3 completely open sections. Of course sims would be able to travel to different worlds (preferably have 1 suburban, one country, one desert and one tropical world).
I want to see the effort placed back into the game EA.
"If you build it, they will come." - Movie: Field of Dreams
Compromise.
Lots in the same neigborhood should stay dorment until they are entered without having to face the loading screen. If an option could be implemented to remove loading screens in neighbourhoods then players could have the choice between a semi open world vs loading screens.
Or they could at least create a world where the lots can have several businesses/areas to get the illusion of a large open world. So you can do many things on the same lot instead of having the travel. Like a market town with a street full of shops. Terrace houses etc.
This ^^ I've been saying the same thing for ages.
I think I already commented on this thread; however I'll say, maybe there's a pattern - Sims 2 & 4 closed, Sims 3 & 5(?) open?
> (Quote)
> I don't mind rabbitholes as such actually :mrgreen: I do mind them when they are used out of 'laziness', standing in the way of potential awesome gameplay (prom, restaurant, shop and ridingschool come to mind). So I'd love a Skyrim kind of system. Open world galore, but for certain lots - visible from the outside though - a loading screen (the purely functional lots like city hall, school and some of the careers can stay rabbithole afaic).
yeah i agree
> For me it's a no brainer. Open world all the way. I just reinstalled Sims 3, and like always no lag at all.
100 % yep
As for open world, I’d like to see that for The Sims 5.
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