I watched the review and it seems more like a builders pack. It rewards you more to build the place up instead of doing someting. Taking actions/having gameplay to make it green or polluted is lacking since carl mentioned that recycling is excluded. Some of it makes sence but i can see why people are missing out on gameplay.
I watched the review and it seems more like a builders pack. It rewards you more to build the place up instead of doing someting. Taking actions/having gameplay to make it green or polluted is lacking since carl mentioned that recycling is excluded. Some of it makes sence but i can see why people are missing out on gameplay.
I think one of the biggest reasons the gameplay this gen still falls so flat so quickly, is from JUST HOW MUCH they have split up content this gen that in previous gens were given to us in one pack.
Let's take TS2 Nightlife for example. I looked it up yesterday and was surprised at just how much came with that pack that I had forgotten. And how in TS4, the same content that came in that one pack has been split up and sold to us over multiple EPs GPs and SPs. Here's what was included in Nightlife that has been resold to us separately:
- Bowling alley (SP)
- Restaurant (GP)
- DJs and dance floors (EP)
- Karaoke (EP)
- VAMPIRES (GP)
- The OG Mrs. Crumplebottom who would hit your sims for PDA and lower your date meter (EP)
To get all of this content you would have to spend $160USD! And that's just the stuff that they've given us this gen! Nightlife also gave us ownable/drivable cars, photo booths, poker tables, romance systems with turn ons/offs and cheating, a new "fury" emotion (yes the older games still had emotions!), "contacts" (friends-of-friends), dance sphere, matchmaker, and a new "pleasure" aspiration.
So while I feel like there are certain aspects of TS4 that are good this gen (mostly QOL stuff and visual upgrades), we are still so lacking in things for our sims to actually DO that it can get boring so quickly, even if you have a story you've already planned out. And for players who have experienced these older packs, it's easy to get frustrated when you know what we've already had in the past (in one pack even!) that we are still BEGGING for today, but the team says they "can't do it" because it would be "too hard to implement" like C'MON 😭 If TS2 could handle it, I think it's safe to say TS4 can. Plus sims this gen really lack individualism or personality and it constantly feels like a fight to get them to behave the way you envision them in your head.
The other big reason I feel like gameplay falls flat is that this game REALLY focuses on single sim young adult households in terms of game play. Kids and teens are basically ignored (still can't get over that kids can't ride bikes or walk dogs 😭). So are elders. But at least elders have access to the content made specifically for that YA life stage. There's just not much to DO outside of the YA life stage. And the team is so adverse to implementing new systems and animations that we only ever see truly new features once in a blue moon. And even then those features just get recycled (which don't get me wrong from a development standpoint I understand it lessens the load on the code and resources to be able to reuse systems BUT if you are constantly only working around what you can do with what you already have, then how can we expect new or innovative things to come?)
Anyway, yeah. I don't HATE TS4 because it does have potential! But it feels like a battle to get the simplest of systems added that I don't know how much hope I have. Likes/dislikes are still a mess, lifestyles are frustrating, sentiments are completely random. I just want depth in my gameplay 😭
The lack of animations really bums me out. The sims don't seem natural because they don't interact with one another. Like the grocery delivery...why can't the person hand my sim the bag. They literally did this in TS2! Why can't kids play together. Why is it that the only thing to do is stand next to someone while interacting with something else and talk through the activity or just plain stand around talking. There is nothing to do. And kids...lawd, they got the short end. They can't play together. Like nothing. It's just play alone while talking.
Hey folks, thanks for the additional thoughts on this subject.
I'm locking the thread to prevent additional necro-posting, but feel free to create a fresh topic if you're unable to find a more recent thread on something you'd like to discuss, thanks!
Comments
Exactly!
Let's take TS2 Nightlife for example. I looked it up yesterday and was surprised at just how much came with that pack that I had forgotten. And how in TS4, the same content that came in that one pack has been split up and sold to us over multiple EPs GPs and SPs. Here's what was included in Nightlife that has been resold to us separately:
- Bowling alley (SP)
- Restaurant (GP)
- DJs and dance floors (EP)
- Karaoke (EP)
- VAMPIRES (GP)
- The OG Mrs. Crumplebottom who would hit your sims for PDA and lower your date meter (EP)
To get all of this content you would have to spend $160USD! And that's just the stuff that they've given us this gen! Nightlife also gave us ownable/drivable cars, photo booths, poker tables, romance systems with turn ons/offs and cheating, a new "fury" emotion (yes the older games still had emotions!), "contacts" (friends-of-friends), dance sphere, matchmaker, and a new "pleasure" aspiration.
So while I feel like there are certain aspects of TS4 that are good this gen (mostly QOL stuff and visual upgrades), we are still so lacking in things for our sims to actually DO that it can get boring so quickly, even if you have a story you've already planned out. And for players who have experienced these older packs, it's easy to get frustrated when you know what we've already had in the past (in one pack even!) that we are still BEGGING for today, but the team says they "can't do it" because it would be "too hard to implement" like C'MON 😭 If TS2 could handle it, I think it's safe to say TS4 can. Plus sims this gen really lack individualism or personality and it constantly feels like a fight to get them to behave the way you envision them in your head.
The other big reason I feel like gameplay falls flat is that this game REALLY focuses on single sim young adult households in terms of game play. Kids and teens are basically ignored (still can't get over that kids can't ride bikes or walk dogs 😭). So are elders. But at least elders have access to the content made specifically for that YA life stage. There's just not much to DO outside of the YA life stage. And the team is so adverse to implementing new systems and animations that we only ever see truly new features once in a blue moon. And even then those features just get recycled (which don't get me wrong from a development standpoint I understand it lessens the load on the code and resources to be able to reuse systems BUT if you are constantly only working around what you can do with what you already have, then how can we expect new or innovative things to come?)
Anyway, yeah. I don't HATE TS4 because it does have potential! But it feels like a battle to get the simplest of systems added that I don't know how much hope I have. Likes/dislikes are still a mess, lifestyles are frustrating, sentiments are completely random. I just want depth in my gameplay 😭
I'm locking the thread to prevent additional necro-posting, but feel free to create a fresh topic if you're unable to find a more recent thread on something you'd like to discuss, thanks!