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Do you prefer open world or open lots?

peragogoperagogo Posts: 223 Member
Just curious where people land on this line.

In the Sims 3, we are able to follow our sims everywhere but a lot of lots (restaurants, grocery stores, movie theatres, career lots, etc) are rabbit holes. In The Sims 1, 2 and 4, the worlds are closed you’re able to follow your sim in a lot of lots, like grocery stores, restaurants, stores and even to work sometimes.

Overdue Edit:

The reason I asked is because I saw a post where someone really liked the rabbit holes. It gave them a chance to take a break from micromanaging their sims and that they knew their sims were having a great time at the movies or at a restaurant and watching the work go by.

I kept my post short to not bias the poll but probably too short. Sorry about that.
Post edited by peragogo on

Do you prefer open world or open lots? 216 votes

Open world
41%
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Open lots
37%
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In between (please explain)
21%
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Comments

  • somewhsomesomewhsome Posts: 910 Member
    Open lots
    We don't have real grocery stores or cinemas in Sims 4 though.
    But I can live without an open world, and I really appreciate TS4's ability to travel freely within all worlds. And also with closed worlds we can have more people on community lots.
    But I really wish neighborhoods were open, or at least apartment blocks. I hate loading screens in apartments, even Sims 2 had apartments open.
  • Vines12Vines12 Posts: 100 Member
    In between (please explain)
    I did love open world I’m TS3 but it was laggy and had its issues. So I believe open lots would be easier for the devs and should run smoother. But with better tech these days I can see open world making a come back. But I could see open lots with a world more like TS2, where there would be houses next to retail. So I’m in between, whichever would run smoother honestly.
  • ChadSims2ChadSims2 Posts: 5,090 Member
    Open world
    Easily open world just not 32 bit like Sims 3 so pcs can actually handle it. I'd actually prefer something like open neighborhoods of 10 or so lots within larger worlds just so there would be more Sims filling the space but I also dont want rabbit holes of any kind if there's a restaurant I want to see and play the Sims inside same goes for anything else.
    Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    Open lots
    Of course I would want both, which I think is possible with today's technology. But if I had to choose, then I would pick open lots.
  • dearie_blossomdearie_blossom Posts: 707 Member
    Open world
    It‘s 2020. It‘s really embarrassing to have a life simulation game without an open world at this point. If TS5 is going to be closed world then I‘m out. I just can‘t do it anymore.
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    In between (please explain)
    I liked the open world but i prefer it closed because this is the only sims game that im able to have almost all packs (every one that i want) and have no performance problems.

    On the other hand i miss some rabbit holes. Sometimes i just want to send my sim away and focus on others.
  • StrawberryYogurtStrawberryYogurt Posts: 2,799 Member
    Open lots
    I like open lot/neighborhood so much better. Open world looks pretty but the lots are so dead. With open neighborhood or lot theres so many more people and the world feels alive.
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  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    In between (please explain)
    I would love for my Sims 4 to have an open world like in Sims 3 without the freezing up. Also, an open lot would be a cool new idea.
  • drakharisdrakharis Posts: 1,478 Member
    It would depend on how it's done. I liked being able to skill build at work and different lots in Sims 3 even though they were rabbit hole events. However, I like having the options to move and travel to different worlds without penalty in Sims 4. I like that my sim can go to a restaurant with friends, family, date or alone and you get to see them interact while eating together and waiting for meal to arrive.
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  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    TS4 is only one world with neighborhoods. There's no choice on which to connect, like TS2. It's all or nothing.

    I play TS2, I build in TS3. I don't care if the world is open or not if the game play is good to me. TS4 lacks the one part of series I enjoy, me. It doesn't allow me to make their little worlds. I could in TS2, I could in TS3 but not in TS1 or TS4.

    So, I don't care as long as it's done well and with the player in mind.
  • GlacierSnowGlacierSnow Posts: 2,301 Member
    Open lots
    Loading screens don't bother me at all. Having my sims disappear and not being able to play them or view them during jobs or events does.
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  • MaggieMarleyMaggieMarley Posts: 5,299 Member
  • lovemy4slovemy4s Posts: 153 Member
    In between (please explain)
    I like both. I don't want every lot to be a rabbit hole but I like the ability to travel between places without a loading screen for every single transfer. I would be happy if the lots in each neighborhood were "open world" meaning I wouldn't need a loading screen to visit a friend's apartment or karaoke place in City Living, for example. If loading screens were required to travel to different neighborhoods would be fine with me. It's too restricted at the moment, for me.
  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    Open lots
    Voted open lots since I don't have the faith in them building a future sims game on anything other than dx9 which is not suited for open world simulation. Open lots is fine for me, a large enough neighnourhood with lots open is enough for me to be immersed.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    In between (please explain)
    Open neighbourhood. Kind of halfway between TS3 and what we have now with 4.

    Open world was pretty cool but it was a lag fest if you played a save for too long. Also sims could get stuck and good luck trying to find them to fix it. Everywhere you went seemed pretty empty too unless you added enough sims and made your lag worse.
    I like how it is now except for the load screens between things I can see (like my neighbour's house). If they could open that up, and keep it running smooth, I'd be good with that. I like how alive everything feels now too and seeing sims when I go places. Even with the few load screens, with my laptop, they never take more than 10 seconds. Small price to pay for a smoother running experience. ;)
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  • SimsLovinLycanSimsLovinLycan Posts: 1,910 Member
    Open lots
    Really, I prefer TS4's open lots to TS3's open worlds, but that's only because of how the open worlds and story progression work together to make setting up a big, multi-household storyline basically impossible (I like my grand, multi-household stories). What I would REALLY love, though, is a better away system for TS4 and in a future game, a system that allows you to seamlessly swap between sims in different households with minimal or no loading to coordinate important story events more efficiently. Now THAT would make the game world feel more open to me.
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  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    Open lots
    Open lots. I prefer not having open worlds, but if we were to get it, it owuldn't be a huge deal breaker for me, as I don't hate the feature either, just prefer it the way it is now. I like the idea of open lots though a lot.
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    Open world
    I like open lot/neighborhood so much better. Open world looks pretty but the lots are so dead. With open neighborhood or lot theres so many more people and the world feels alive.


    The only reason why it seems empty in an open world is because the sims are all spread around the world. The towns usually have too many clubs, too many fishing holes, beaches and parks to go to. So change the lot type of most of them to "No Visitors Allowed" so that the sims won't go to those and will only go to the fewer places. That fills the lots up quite a lot. Then if you want to change things up a bit, you can open up the ones that haven't been visited and close the ones that are. And your active sims can still go to those "No Visitors Allowed" lots if you want and bring their friends with them.

    Here are some other things I like to do to fill up an area:

    1) What I also like to do is place the house of my active sims right next to busy community lots like the grocery store, bookstore and bistro, club/bar/watering hole so that whole area is always lively!

    2) I always have an active career going with Zerbu's Ultimate Careers mod. That usually fills up my sim's workplace with a lot of sims and they actually autonomously use the skill building objects like they're suppose to!

    3) For the clubs, my favorite lot type is "Local Watering Hole" because that draws everybody to go there, including children, so whole families show up. I also use the other types of clubs but I only activate three of them at a time in any given world I play. That helps to fill up those community lots too. If I get bored of the same three clubs, I just close those and activate another set of three.

    4) I also found that combining lot types and building types and objects help too. For example, a beach can also have a diner or a bar or a disco or even all three! That fills up that lot pretty well too.

    Also, an open world has dynamic towns and has story progression. Every townie has their own careers, wishes and traits that govern where they go. So they don't always go to the same places your sims go, like in a closed world where townies don't have real profiles with careers, wishes and traits. So I much prefer townies that have real lives of their own, real families and real jobs, compared to towny NPCs that just pop up to walk down your sims' sidewalk or just fill up the community lots your sims are currently at.

    Another good feature of a fully open world system with an in-game travel system is that you can build any size world you want and would fit the specs of any computer. You said that you want an open neighborhood? You can do that with an open world system. It's really just a small world and you can link a whole series of neighborhoods to mimic TS4 (except it will have a lot more fun features and won't be buggy, lol!) including loading screens. But if TS5 has open world system, it can also lets those of us who want large open worlds (with just one loading screen) to play the game too.

    We already have so many closed world iterations: TS1, TS2 and TS4. Once I started playing TS3 and its open world (so freeing and gives you the ability to use the entire world without being constantly slammed with loading screens!), I really couldn't go back to TS2 or even touch TS4. We only have ONE open world game, TS3. If they make TS5 open world, Maxis had previous experience with TS3 and will be able to make it efficient and improved from before.

  • luxsylvanluxsylvan Posts: 1,922 Member
    edited May 2020
    In between (please explain)
    I really like open worlds, but it was just so rough in ts3 especially with an older computer. I don't know enough about computers to know how/if it could be better now. But even without that, I don't want to be limited to a single large world with a single landscape. I like the varying climes and regions neighborhoods give, but dislike having to travel to every lot in my neighborhood, especially one right down the street. Thus, I'm an advocate of the open neighborhood idea (not my own idea, saw it somewhere else on the forum but it's good and don't want to take credit). That way your entire neighborhood is open and easy to travel, while you only have a load screen for a completely different area, which makes sense to me.

    I don't think what we have now in TS4 is open enough--like how you can walk all the streets in the get together world but have to travel to the pub right down the lane by that small lot. That's annoying.
  • MortemTheModderMortemTheModder Posts: 13 New Member
    In between (please explain)
    I prefer something in-between. I like open lots because that's a lot less laggy and not as slow. but when your sim leaves the lot that's when it should load the openworld cell, which yeah will be slower but totally worth it. then when you enter a different lot, you go back to open lots again. Anyway that's what most other games are doing rn. And it makes a very good illusion in spite of the low LODS requirement.
  • ChampandGirlieChampandGirlie Posts: 2,482 Member
    I don't need open worlds. I'll play with them but when the loading screens are fast, I don't mind them or find them to break immersion for me.

    I would like it if we would see neighbors walking around their yards but I'm ok with seeing them walk along outside.

    Having the different worlds is more important than having an open world for me.
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  • alyssasim87alyssasim87 Posts: 1,277 Member
    i guess for me i prefer the open lots and the going to different worlds. however i feel like the neighborhoods themselves would be better open since everything is pretty much loaded anyway and cuz id like to be able to go next door without a loading screen. so in a way something a bit more open but not open like the sims 3 because that was to laggy and not many sims in the lots.
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  • MoonCrossWarrior22MoonCrossWarrior22 Posts: 719 Member
    Open world
    Open world because I prefer it that way.
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  • MortemTheModderMortemTheModder Posts: 13 New Member
    In between (please explain)
    why can't we just get chunks instead? that's neither open lots nor open lots in any way. it doesn't lag, there's not really any load time, and it's practically infinite, with the ability to modify each chunk. I don't see why we should be trapped with one of two very old methods of generating cell data.
  • monarchzymonarchzy Posts: 1 New Member
    In between (please explain)
    if they ever make a sims5, i'd be really disappointed if it didn't implement more of an open world like sims3, my favorite sims game. but as i saw someone else say, it does feel a lot more empty (or 'dead') with open world. so if they make neighborhoods, apartments etc open world but kept the community lots just an open lot, that would a pretty perfect balance. its 2020 so i know it probably isn't rocket science anymore to implement something like that. overall, i just hope a future sims5 takes more elements from sims3 than sims4.
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