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The Sims 4 has less advanced genetics than previous Sims games?

SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
Hey guys,
So this video by PleasantSims just came out and it is a comparison between Sims 2, Sims 3 and Sims 4 genetics. I clicked on it thinking that of course the Sims 4 genetics will be the most advanced, realistic and complex but was surprised to hear Pleasantsims state the opposite during the first few minutes of the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUJoRNEutRo

It's quite long so I summed up most of the things mentioned by PleasantSims:

So basically the Sims 2 had a really complex and realistic genetics system:

- It had recessive and dominant genes for hair, eyes, skin, face etc (for example black hair was dominant while ginger recessive)
- the sims had actual DNA, that had information of recessive genes in it that you couldn't see in their appearance. So for example if a sim with black hair had a baby with one with ginger hair and the baby got the black hair from the father, the baby would still have the ginger hair as a recessive gene in their DNA and there was a chance that this gene would be passed down as recessive through several generations.
- to an extent personality is also genetic (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree)
- a pretty complex alien genetics system which is explained better in the video

The Sims 3 are much simpler:

- dominant and recessive genes no longer exist
- features are randomly combined, 50-50 chance
- still random chance a child with inherit features from a grandparent or mutation chance
- inheritable traits sometimes

Now the Sims 4 which is unfortunately the least complex, advanced system of all:

- No recessive genes passed on from previous generations, parents must have them to be passed on (so no genes from grandparents, great grandparents etc)
- skintones are usually in between the ones from the parents (even if the tones completely differ)
- hair is either the mother's or father's and if one has an unnatural hair color the system often chooses the most random hair (ex. father pink, mother blond, child gets brown hair)
- But hair texture can be inherited (so that's neat) but only with the same color as the parent with the textured hair (which is again a big limitation)
- eye colors used to be inherited with a 50/50 chance but after new eye colors were added the system is messed up and generates random eye colors no relative has (explained in video)

If the info in this video is accurate and true then I have to admit that I am quite dissapointed that even the genetics system regressed in the Sims 4 compared to previous games. The genetics is one thing many of us, including me, don't really know if it works correctly or not since you have to do a lot of experimenting to see if it really works well and after this analysis by PleasantSims it's kind of a bummer to see it doesn't. You'd think the Sims 4 would have a more advanced system.
One positive thing is that it helps with the issue of neighborhoods ending up with just dominant black hair and brown eyes on everyone but still I am not a fan of this mindset "If something causes issues just remove it", what about trying to fix it though?

Anyway I just wanted to inform everyone of this new video and maybe hear your opinions on it, especially considering the Sims 4.
Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
Post edited by EA_Lanna on

Comments

  • Dannakyri1Dannakyri1 Posts: 207 Member
    I'm not sure this is completely true. I have had sim's with alien DNA in their family tree turn out Blue when their parent wasn't. But maybe that is just an alien thing.

    Sad about about the lack of recessive gene's though. I always really liked that about the sims 2. I liked to do legacy families and see what popped up throughout the ages.
  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,403 Member
    The sim genetics haven't really bothered me, but I'm super annoyed how pet genetics work. I usually end up with puppies/kitties that are exact copies of each other.
  • SharoniaSharonia Posts: 4,853 Member
    I want to say that I'm not surprised but I feel like I've been fairly negative on here lately and I'm trying to be better. :D
  • Simtown15Simtown15 Posts: 3,952 Member
    I’m a big fan of PleasantSims (I already saw this video! I gave it a like before even watching it!) I never considered the fact that some people genuinely think that Sims 4 is the most advanced. I thought that this video was made to shade TS4 like a lot of her videos do. (Tbh, I’m okay with that because I hate Sims 4; I just got bored of Sims 2 so I’m planning to play Sims 4 for a few days to remind myself how much better Sims 2 is!) :D
  • Simtown15Simtown15 Posts: 3,952 Member
    Anyways, good to see that you discovered my favorite YouTuber! If you wish to get to know her better, stop by her stream on Twitch! She’s currently playing Sims 2! https://m.twitch.tv/pleasantsims
  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    When I was still having ablast with Sims 4 back then, the genetic is one of the first thing i noticed, it's pretty difficulty to get a good looking sims, they were good when they were still a child but when they aged up to teen they have hideous looking face. An attractive parents != attractive children
    ihavemultiplegamertags
  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    Simtown15 wrote: »
    Anyways, good to see that you discovered my favorite YouTuber! If you wish to get to know her better, stop by her stream on Twitch! She’s currently playing Sims 2! https://m.twitch.tv/pleasantsims

    I like her, but people can be so cruel sometime, I believe she got a lot of hate comments iirc
    ihavemultiplegamertags
  • bella_gothbella_goth Posts: 1,770 Member
    when your boss tells you last moment, that you have to work with an engine that was meant for other purposes to adapt it to a life simulator, researching and coding genetics is not on top of your priority list. but it's good to give these details some attention as perhaps devs may be able to do something, especially now that they're reworking skintones and perhaps other cas features.
  • somewhsomesomewhsome Posts: 910 Member
    I miss Sims 2 genetic system! It was so great. I had a sim who inherited light blue eyes from her great-great-grandmother (or maybe it was even further), no one else in the family had such eyes.
    In Sims 4 genetics is not really existing. Gosh, children inherit whatever hair color their parents have at the moment, even if they weren't born with it and it's supposed to be “dyed”. So stupid.
    But, I like experimenting with parents and children in Sims 4. It's hit or miss really — two sims are either produce good and unique-looking children, or their offspring is weird with no chins and jaws. Some sims are just not compatible in that sense. 😅
  • CelSimsCelSims Posts: 2,270 Member
    There might be something wrong with genetics at the moment. Dad has afro texture black hair, mom has straight black hair, child has .. red hair?? What.
  • Simtown15Simtown15 Posts: 3,952 Member
    @CelSims Does one of your sims have the salt and pepper hair? If so, the child inherited that parents hair, but since children can’t have salt and pepper hair, it randomized it instead.
  • CelSimsCelSims Posts: 2,270 Member
    Simtown15 wrote: »
    @CelSims Does one of your sims have the salt and pepper hair? If so, the child inherited that parents hair, but since children can’t have salt and pepper hair, it randomized it instead.

    Thank you yes! I'll go ahead and change her hair colour to one that makes sense.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    Simtown15 wrote: »
    Anyways, good to see that you discovered my favorite YouTuber! If you wish to get to know her better, stop by her stream on Twitch! She’s currently playing Sims 2! https://m.twitch.tv/pleasantsims

    @Simtown15 Yes I discovered her like 2 weeks ago and I find her absolutely hilarious and nice.
    Yesterday I watched her whole 3 hour stream on twitch. Knut was hysterical haha
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • bella_gothbella_goth Posts: 1,770 Member
    edited December 2020


    it's NOT maxis fault, it's ea's. i'm very sure that the current maxis developers are not happy either, but they're not the ones dictating the rules like an independent studio. the big fault is on ea, the one getting richer is ea, the one "scamming" people are not the small companies but ea.
    the sims franchise is still selling big and unless sales drop like crazy or a better competitor gets all the attention, ea won't stop milking the game.

    people complains a lot and acts outraged yet still buys all their products.


    Removed quoted post. ~Rtas
    Post edited by EA_Rtas on
  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    I don't know about details like dominate and ressesive Genes and I'm sure sims 2 was more complex in this regard. But I always thought the genetics in ts4 were pretty good. I made sooooo many sims in CAS using genetics. Rather in CAS or born in game I do feel they throw this odd randomness in there but the facial features are always on point and I can easily change the hair or something.

    My sister has a lot of in game births and she's always sending pictures of how the kids look and they are on point. They always look like their parents. She's not a legacy player or anything so I don't know if they can take after their grandparents or other family members.


    And just yesterday I wanted a child sim that looked similar to another sim because I liked the way she look. So first I tried making her sister and she looked like her but not enough. So then I aged up the teen in CAS and made her child. The features were almost exact.

    Another thing that hinders genetics is the limited features children and toddlers have. Their options are SO limited compared to the adults it's sometimes hard to get any kids that doesn't look the same as eachother.
    Love making twins in CAS too.
    Overall I'm quite pleased with genetics rather it's complex or not 😌
    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    edited December 2020
    bella_goth wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    when your boss tells you last moment, that you have to work with an engine that was meant for other purposes to adapt it to a life simulator, researching and coding genetics is not on top of your priority list. but it's good to give these details some attention as perhaps devs may be able to do something, especially now that they're reworking skintones and perhaps other cas features.

    @bella_goth Then maybe make a new game instead of milking the ❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of a failed project?

    it's NOT maxis fault, it's ea's. i'm very sure that the current maxis developers are not happy either, but they're not the ones dictating the rules like an independent studio. the big fault is on ea, the one getting richer is ea, the one "scamming" people are not the small companies but ea.
    the sims franchise is still selling big and unless sales drop like crazy or a better competitor gets all the attention, ea won't stop milking the game.

    people complains a lot and acts outraged yet still buys all their products.

    Maxis is EA now, though. I think the developers are proud of what they've done - they said that about the Star Wars pack. The Sims 4 is the most successful Sims' game in the only metric that really counts, after all. I just hope that they want to continue to improve the game where they feel that they can.

    As for genetics, in Sims 2 there were only 4 hair colors. Skin colors and body types were also severely limited, so doing genetics was easier. It would be nice if Sims 4 genetics were more complicated, but I prefer the options we have now hair color, eye color, body type, etc. wise.
  • bella_gothbella_goth Posts: 1,770 Member
    edited December 2020
    haneul wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    when your boss tells you last moment, that you have to work with an engine that was meant for other purposes to adapt it to a life simulator, researching and coding genetics is not on top of your priority list. but it's good to give these details some attention as perhaps devs may be able to do something, especially now that they're reworking skintones and perhaps other cas features.

    @bella_goth Then maybe make a new game instead of milking the ❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of a failed project?

    it's NOT maxis fault, it's ea's. i'm very sure that the current maxis developers are not happy either, but they're not the ones dictating the rules like an independent studio. the big fault is on ea, the one getting richer is ea, the one "scamming" people are not the small companies but ea.
    the sims franchise is still selling big and unless sales drop like crazy or a better competitor gets all the attention, ea won't stop milking the game.

    people complains a lot and acts outraged yet still buys all their products.

    Maxis is EA now, though. I think the developers are proud of what they've done - they said that about the Star Wars pack. The Sims 4 is the most successful Sims' game in the only metric that really counts, after all. I just hope that they want to continue to improve the game where they feel that they can.

    technically, maxis has been part of ea since before making the sims, Wright had to make the deal in order to have budget for his idea. but then again, ea was not the company it is today and many of the people in charge 20 years ago is not the same as today. i mean i know maxis closed and now it's even more ea.. but it's still the new maxis studio, otherwise they would have removed the name.
    i was stating that maxis doesn't make the important decisions regarding the franchise. it's mostly ea who decides how they want to develop the products that they own.
    whether devs are proud or not it's an assumption. and if i was them i wouldn't be proud. where have you been on the latest controversies? do you think you can be proud of your product after all the backlash you have received for it? perhaps they are indeed proud and don't really care but i rather think they are better than this.
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,294 Member
    While I am disappointed to hear about the dominant/recessive genes being left out, Sims4 is the only iteration that allows you to create parents from another Sim, plus siblings. I generally have the Sim I created generate parents and from there have the parents generate any and all siblings for my original Sim.
    You can download (free) all three volumes of my Night Whispers Star Trek Fanfiction here: http://galacticgal.deviantart.com/gallery/ You'll need to have a pdf reader. New websites: http://www.trekkiefanfiction.com/st-tos.php
    http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    Exactly as GalacticGal said. That's what I do all the time. Sims 4 doesn't get enough credit for the things it really improved upon. I love that feature
    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    bella_goth wrote: »
    haneul wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    when your boss tells you last moment, that you have to work with an engine that was meant for other purposes to adapt it to a life simulator, researching and coding genetics is not on top of your priority list. but it's good to give these details some attention as perhaps devs may be able to do something, especially now that they're reworking skintones and perhaps other cas features.

    @bella_goth Then maybe make a new game instead of milking the ❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of a failed project?

    it's NOT maxis fault, it's ea's. i'm very sure that the current maxis developers are not happy either, but they're not the ones dictating the rules like an independent studio. the big fault is on ea, the one getting richer is ea, the one "scamming" people are not the small companies but ea.
    the sims franchise is still selling big and unless sales drop like crazy or a better competitor gets all the attention, ea won't stop milking the game.

    people complains a lot and acts outraged yet still buys all their products.

    Maxis is EA now, though. I think the developers are proud of what they've done - they said that about the Star Wars pack. The Sims 4 is the most successful Sims' game in the only metric that really counts, after all. I just hope that they want to continue to improve the game where they feel that they can.

    technically, maxis has been part of ea since before making the sims, Wright had to make the deal in order to have budget for his idea. but then again, ea was not the company it is today and many of the people in charge 20 years ago is not the same as today. i mean i know maxis closed and now it's even more ea.. but it's still the new maxis studio, otherwise they would have removed the name.
    i was stating that maxis doesn't make the important decisions regarding the franchise. it's mostly ea who decides how they want to develop the products that they own.
    whether devs are proud or not it's an assumption. and if i was them i wouldn't be proud. where have you been on the latest controversies? do you think you can be proud of your product after all the backlash you have received for it? perhaps they are indeed proud and don't really care but i rather think they are better than this.

    I may dig up quotes later, but the Sims team literally said that they were proud of the work they've done on Sims 4 and that no one at "EA" is telling them what to do. They make the decisions themselves.

    The game has tons of flaws, but it's still a game that millions of people worldwide find fun. I think the devs are proud of that - they worked on an extremely popular and financially successful game. Obviously, I hope they want to make it better, but I actually don't think it's a bad game.
  • bella_gothbella_goth Posts: 1,770 Member
    haneul wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    haneul wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    bella_goth wrote: »
    when your boss tells you last moment, that you have to work with an engine that was meant for other purposes to adapt it to a life simulator, researching and coding genetics is not on top of your priority list. but it's good to give these details some attention as perhaps devs may be able to do something, especially now that they're reworking skintones and perhaps other cas features.

    @bella_goth Then maybe make a new game instead of milking the ❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of a failed project?

    it's NOT maxis fault, it's ea's. i'm very sure that the current maxis developers are not happy either, but they're not the ones dictating the rules like an independent studio. the big fault is on ea, the one getting richer is ea, the one "scamming" people are not the small companies but ea.
    the sims franchise is still selling big and unless sales drop like crazy or a better competitor gets all the attention, ea won't stop milking the game.

    people complains a lot and acts outraged yet still buys all their products.

    Maxis is EA now, though. I think the developers are proud of what they've done - they said that about the Star Wars pack. The Sims 4 is the most successful Sims' game in the only metric that really counts, after all. I just hope that they want to continue to improve the game where they feel that they can.

    technically, maxis has been part of ea since before making the sims, Wright had to make the deal in order to have budget for his idea. but then again, ea was not the company it is today and many of the people in charge 20 years ago is not the same as today. i mean i know maxis closed and now it's even more ea.. but it's still the new maxis studio, otherwise they would have removed the name.
    i was stating that maxis doesn't make the important decisions regarding the franchise. it's mostly ea who decides how they want to develop the products that they own.
    whether devs are proud or not it's an assumption. and if i was them i wouldn't be proud. where have you been on the latest controversies? do you think you can be proud of your product after all the backlash you have received for it? perhaps they are indeed proud and don't really care but i rather think they are better than this.

    I may dig up quotes later, but the Sims team literally said that they were proud of the work they've done on Sims 4 and that no one at "EA" is telling them what to do. They make the decisions themselves.

    The game has tons of flaws, but it's still a game that millions of people worldwide find fun. I think the devs are proud of that - they worked on an extremely popular and financially successful game. Obviously, I hope they want to make it better, but I actually don't think it's a bad game.

    yes i saw their proud tweets as well, but it's honestly hard to believe them. they sometimes state that they make the decisions and sometimes they say it's ea. anyways the ones that give them the budget is ea and they have complained about it as well. saying "we can make this or this" "we used this pack budget to scrap x thing and focus it on the talking toilet" or how they could "remake ts2 or focus on adding more content to ts4"

    i didn't say the game was bad, i said the game engine is bad an it's a fact because it's a recycled one. what i think is, devs are proud on how they worked with a flawed engine and managed to make a sims sequel that has managed to sell more than previous iterations.
  • VentusMattVentusMatt Posts: 1,028 Member
    Personally I am okay with ts4 genetics even if some kids end up looking weird mostly because I've never considered any sims game to have amazing genetics. There is always that factor of features coming together and being a disaster. Yeah it would be nice if my sims kid got blue eyes because their great grandmother had blue eyes but add much to my game overall. I do think that the unnatural hair colors do need to be looked into. Maybe add a tab where you can pick your sims genetic hair or add in the option of being able to dye your sims hair so their genetic color doesn change. Personally I'd be okay with them removing the unnatural colors from cas and only have them be selectable from a dye hair interaction.

    The spoiler bit goes into my thoughts of the is maxis really proud convo.
    I'd like to add that whether or not they are or aren't actually "proud" or their product they can't go around saying that they aren't proud of it. They can say that they did make a mistake or that something was an oversite and it needs to be and will be corrected if they actually can correct it but they can't go around saying that they aren't proud of the game as a whole. Why? Because that is bad publicity, what company is going to want to keep a dev or allow a dev to do interviews/speak on twitter and interact with fans when that dev has openenly stated that they aren't happy/are disappointed with the game they are currently working on.

    As for the Star Wars pack, again they "have" to be proud of it and the only way they can go and say that they made a mistake is if they are referring to a specific aspect of the pack and it is something that they plan to correct but they can't say the pack as a whole was a mistake. That looks bad on them, on EA, and Disney Star Wars, less so from a public stand point, but more so from a corporate stand point.

    Lastly if you want the team to do better the only way is for a competitor to come or for ea to give them the needed resources and time. The former is more likely especially with paralive and some other simulator games in development. I've noticed in increase in returning/expanded features since paralive has been looming over. Stackable and free moving windows/doors, better platform then previous game even if a little buggy. Fan requested changes to skintones and relationships with the addition of sentiments. To me even if the game is buggy they seem to be trying to give players a better experience/game, they just need to slow down, fix the bugs, and look into doing some optimization.
  • netney52netney52 Posts: 1,214 Member
    Actually I disagree with this I see a lot of strong genetics in sims 4 and not much difference to sims 3. Certainly my goth household legacies I can see a lot of Cassandra and Alexander in their respective offspring families both grandchildren and yet to fully see great grandchildren. Sims 4 has its faults but genetics isn’t one of them. Now family links on family trees and in cas yes but not genetics. However I will admit pretty much all of pleasantsims opinions I disagree with so I don’t watch her videos anymore. I don’t hate her or anything my opinion of the game is just very different from hers and I get very little from watching her videos so I rarely watch them.
  • Simtown15Simtown15 Posts: 3,952 Member
    @netney52 I noticed that you failed to mention The Sims 2. Have you ever played it, even just to try it out?
  • netney52netney52 Posts: 1,214 Member
    Simtown15 wrote: »
    @netney52 I noticed that you failed to mention The Sims 2. Have you ever played it, even just to try it out?

    Yes I once had it when it first came out years ago and never played it much as it was so slow but I think that was my old family pc at the time and now my current laptop I don’t think would run it as it’s the latest windows 10. I can’t comment on what sims 2 was like to play with the genetics but I don’t think sims 4 is that much different from sims 3. I did play sims 1 and don’t remember any genetics from that.
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