The Sims 4 doesn't have worlds at all, really. It has small neighborhoods that float in the ether, separated from everything. Yet, all of the neighborhoods manage to feel the same due to the same faces, everywhere. There is no genuine sense of being a "world" -- not for me, anyway.
I prefer having a single, large world that consists of several neighborhoods, as I have in TS3. I always choose the largest worlds that have an urban area, suburban, and rural, as well as beaches with diving lots and boat landings. There's room for every type of lot that I could ever need. As a result, with TS3, I never feel the kind of claustrophobia that I experience with TS4. If I get tired of the home world, there are three full-fledged vacation worlds to visit and to explore (with mods and custom worlds, the options are nearly endless). Each of those worlds has its own population so that I won't have to see all the same faces. Plus, as a bonus, collectibles spawn randomly so that each stroll through a world provides new discoveries. No two visits are ever alike.
I also enjoy that with open worlds, everyone keeps a schedule. When I'm not actively playing them, other household members still go to work, they still go to school, they go to bed. If I know another Sim's schedule, I can have my Sim meet them at their workplace to go for drinks, an early dinner, or a movie. It feels more authentic and more accessible than the constant teleportation and the sense that most of the world is forever-off-screen-and-out-of-reach that I get with TS4.
As far as I'm concerned, the devolution of the series back to single-lot play was not worth the tradeoffs. A closed world doesn't save time, it doesn't provide for better mechanics, gameplay, or fewer bugs. So, I'd pick an open world every time. Barring that, I'd choose open neighborhoods. I doubt that I would ever choose to play another single-lot Sims game.
The Sims 4 doesn't have worlds at all, really. It has small neighborhoods that float in the ether, separated from everything. Yet, all of the neighborhoods manage to feel the same due to the same faces, everywhere. There is no genuine sense of being a "world" -- not for me, anyway.
I prefer having a single, large world that consists of several neighborhoods, as I have in TS3. I always choose the largest worlds that have an urban area, suburban, and rural, as well as beaches with diving lots and boat landings. There's room for every type of lot that I could ever need. As a result, with TS3, I never feel the kind of claustrophobia that I experience with TS4. If I get tired of the home world, there are three full-fledged vacation worlds to visit and to explore (with mods and custom worlds, the options are nearly endless). Each of those worlds has its own population so that I won't have to see all the same faces. Plus, as a bonus, collectibles spawn randomly so that each stroll through a world provides new discoveries. No two visits are ever alike.
I also enjoy that with open worlds, everyone keeps a schedule. When I'm not actively playing them, other household members still go to work, they still go to school, they go to bed. If I know another Sim's schedule, I can have my Sim meet them at their workplace to go for drinks, an early dinner, or a movie. It feels more authentic and more accessible than the constant teleportation and the sense that most of the world is forever-off-screen-and-out-of-reach that I get with TS4.
As far as I'm concerned, the devolution of the series back to single-lot play was not worth the tradeoffs. A closed world doesn't save time, it doesn't provide for better mechanics, gameplay, or fewer bugs. So, I'd pick an open world every time. Barring that, I'd choose open neighborhoods. I doubt that I would ever choose to play another single-lot Sims game.
I find it claustrophobic to play in one world only. No matter how many lots there are, you could never fit all the different nuances the different worlds offered, I could not send my sim on a tropical vacation because island paradise was its own world. Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip. Batuu in TS4 is the miniature version of what TS3 worlds were like and it still irritates me that I have to run all over the map to fulfill needs in oversized rabbit hole buildings, reason why I build living quarters under the cantina and the rebel and forces headquarters. Also, running after sims who had places to go to wasn't fun, you barely met them and they were like sorry but I have to go home to wash my hair.
The Sims 4 doesn't have worlds at all, really. It has small neighborhoods that float in the ether, separated from everything. Yet, all of the neighborhoods manage to feel the same due to the same faces, everywhere. There is no genuine sense of being a "world" -- not for me, anyway.
I prefer having a single, large world that consists of several neighborhoods, as I have in TS3. I always choose the largest worlds that have an urban area, suburban, and rural, as well as beaches with diving lots and boat landings. There's room for every type of lot that I could ever need. As a result, with TS3, I never feel the kind of claustrophobia that I experience with TS4. If I get tired of the home world, there are three full-fledged vacation worlds to visit and to explore (with mods and custom worlds, the options are nearly endless). Each of those worlds has its own population so that I won't have to see all the same faces. Plus, as a bonus, collectibles spawn randomly so that each stroll through a world provides new discoveries. No two visits are ever alike.
I also enjoy that with open worlds, everyone keeps a schedule. When I'm not actively playing them, other household members still go to work, they still go to school, they go to bed. If I know another Sim's schedule, I can have my Sim meet them at their workplace to go for drinks, an early dinner, or a movie. It feels more authentic and more accessible than the constant teleportation and the sense that most of the world is forever-off-screen-and-out-of-reach that I get with TS4.
As far as I'm concerned, the devolution of the series back to single-lot play was not worth the tradeoffs. A closed world doesn't save time, it doesn't provide for better mechanics, gameplay, or fewer bugs. So, I'd pick an open world every time. Barring that, I'd choose open neighborhoods. I doubt that I would ever choose to play another single-lot Sims game.
Completely agree. I have a hard time staying in one world with my sims because they are just a range of different neighborhoods anyway and there are not enough lots in the current world I'm staying in. I felt this with the recent world Tartosa, I can visit the beach and I can visit the nightclub and... that's about it. I placed down a bar and sims from all over the place, not in Tartosa showed up to visit it. What's the point? I often have to end up visiting a lot in a different, larger world anyway.
And we also have all these telephone invites, so I have to somehow believe that all sims are just teleporting around to different places without any cars that you can own or any available public transport that you can use.
I felt this kinda worked in the beginning, when we had Oasis Springs, Willow Creek etc and sims that I could accept that they sometimes traveled and visited each other, but now when they are dragging out the game, we have so many different worlds and sims that we are playing with, it becomes absurd. I have sims from all over different places in the world showing up at my gym in Oasis Springs while I'm getting invites to go to a romance festival with a sim from Sulani who are supposed to be working.
Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip.
You must not have had all the packs or something. I had restaurants you could sit and order. Tons of different types of bars and clubs. Shops, bakeries, toys stores, jewelry stores, a salon, museums, gyms, pools, honestly the list goes on.. You could even go to class at Uni, although I do think the Uni pack in 4 is better technically. But I am not trying to change your mind about what you prefer, I just wanted to clarify that in fact it was not all rabbit holes depending on what packs one had for their game.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I placed down a bar and sims from all over the place, not in Tartosa showed up to visit it. What's the point?
I heard, or read at one point that for Sims 4 they changed the way sims spawn on lots from 3. So in 3, the sims would be called to a lot based on their interests, and the lot characteristics. (e.g. someone who liked outdoors, and/or fishing would show up at parks with ponds). This makes sense, but if you don't have many sims in your world with these types of traits, not many sims would show up. A big complaint by some was empty lots. There was an easy fix for this, but not everyone deep dives on the net to figure these things out, so I can see the frustration.
For Sims 4, supposedly (like I said, this is just what I came across) instead, the focus on making sure sims show up wherever your active sim is, and that is the main goal, so if your active sim goes to another area even on the lot, for instance up a floor, then NPCs will do the same. This is to make sure your surroundings are active, but since the lot isn't as important, yeah, it means random sims any lots.
That said, I did also read that certain sims are "suppose" to be drawn to certain lots still, like outdoorsy to parks and such, but it is hard to tell.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I loved the worlds in sims 3 as I enjoyed being able to have plenty of residential lots and commercial. I was able to have a "town" and put in restaurants, bowling alley, roller skating and many more commercial lots to give my sims plenty to do. I always was able to meet other sims on these lots. I also loved going on world adventures on vacation. They also added where your sims could move to another of the worlds as well. One of my disappointments with Sims 4 from the start has been the limited room available in a neighborhood. I would love to add pizza shops, restaurants and more to make the towns a real town, but it would be at the expense of losing residential lots which I also don't want to do. Now I use Newcrest for most of my commercial lots so my sims have a place to go for fun. I have adjusted my gameplay to the way Sims 4 works and still enjoy playing, but still find it limiting.
Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip.
You must not have had all the packs or something. I had restaurants you could sit and order. Tons of different types of bars and clubs. Shops, bakeries, toys stores, jewelry stores, a salon, museums, gyms, pools, honestly the list goes on.. You could even go to class at Uni, although I do think the Uni pack in 4 is better technically. But I am not trying to change your mind about what you prefer, I just wanted to clarify that in fact it was not all rabbit holes depending on what packs one had for their game.
There were no restaurants you could sit and order the in TS3, unless they were mods. The closest they had to a restaurant was a cash register you could buy food from then go eat it at a table. The stores were also buy from a cash register and no real shopping and restocking gameplay attached. Bakeries were in a store set, not a game pack. I know you could make a lot of lot types, but they never functioned as they should. Bars especially, no one was there and the bartender usually closed almost as soon as my sim got there, sometimes it wouldn't even be possible to order a drink. Also, the opening and closing times of all these shops was annoying, many places were closed when you needed them and some places were deserted because everyone was at work.
Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip.
You must not have had all the packs or something. I had restaurants you could sit and order. Tons of different types of bars and clubs. Shops, bakeries, toys stores, jewelry stores, a salon, museums, gyms, pools, honestly the list goes on.. You could even go to class at Uni, although I do think the Uni pack in 4 is better technically. But I am not trying to change your mind about what you prefer, I just wanted to clarify that in fact it was not all rabbit holes depending on what packs one had for their game.
There were no restaurants you could sit and order the in TS3, unless they were mods. The closest they had to a restaurant was a cash register you could buy food from then go eat it at a table. The stores were also buy from a cash register and no real shopping and restocking gameplay attached. Bakeries were in a store set, not a game pack.
The Business as Usual Bistro was not a mod, and it is a restaurant, which you sit down and eat in, and you can own it and set the menu. I don't know why you are telling me that something I literally have in my game is not a thing. Yes it, and several other packs had to be purchased through the store, but they were made by EA, and sold as a packs (or sets if you prefer). They came with game play, cas, and decor, and several even have new worlds, so whatever you call them isn't really the point. The point is they were made for the game, by EA, and function with full game play. And yes, I have retail shops, with restocking and everything! I have farm animals. and a theme park with customizable roller coasters.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I think that the golden standard is somewhere between TS3 open world and TS4 closed neighbourhood. I would like to see bigger and more open premade neighbourhoods but with a possibility to create my own world and the possibility to edit the public area between the lots because sometimes EA does mistakes and due to that we have a gap between lots and streets for example.
Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip.
You must not have had all the packs or something. I had restaurants you could sit and order. Tons of different types of bars and clubs. Shops, bakeries, toys stores, jewelry stores, a salon, museums, gyms, pools, honestly the list goes on.. You could even go to class at Uni, although I do think the Uni pack in 4 is better technically. But I am not trying to change your mind about what you prefer, I just wanted to clarify that in fact it was not all rabbit holes depending on what packs one had for their game.
There were no restaurants you could sit and order the in TS3, unless they were mods. The closest they had to a restaurant was a cash register you could buy food from then go eat it at a table. The stores were also buy from a cash register and no real shopping and restocking gameplay attached. Bakeries were in a store set, not a game pack.
The Business as Usual Bistro was not a mod, and it is a restaurant, which you sit down and eat in, and you can own it and set the menu. I don't know why you are telling me that something I literally have in my game is not a thing. Yes it, and several other packs had to be purchased through the store, but they were made by EA, and sold as a packs (or sets if you prefer). They came with game play, cas, and decor, and several even have new worlds, so whatever you call them isn't really the point. The point is they were made for the game, by EA, and function with full game play. And yes, I have retail shops, with restocking and everything! I have farm animals. and a theme park with customizable roller coasters.
I suppose picnic tables must be restaurants too because you sit down and eat food at them too. I don't call that a restaurant, you need a waiter and maitre'd for that along with kitchen staff. Same with shops, selling from inventory is not a shop. I'm glad you enjoyed TS3 but for me it was major downgrade after TS2. Even with all the store sets it wouldn't come close to the type of detaild gameplay TS2 offered for community lots.
I loved the worlds in sims 3 as I enjoyed being able to have plenty of residential lots and commercial. I was able to have a "town" and put in restaurants, bowling alley, roller skating and many more commercial lots to give my sims plenty to do. I always was able to meet other sims on these lots. I also loved going on world adventures on vacation. They also added where your sims could move to another of the worlds as well. One of my disappointments with Sims 4 from the start has been the limited room available in a neighborhood. I would love to add pizza shops, restaurants and more to make the towns a real town, but it would be at the expense of losing residential lots which I also don't want to do. Now I use Newcrest for most of my commercial lots so my sims have a place to go for fun. I have adjusted my gameplay to the way Sims 4 works and still enjoy playing, but still find it limiting.
I agree with you, as for me that is the issue using the same layouts with no compromise on how to make them different from the last. No, I could not connect my worlds in Sims 3 and that was okay for me as EA/Maxis had not come up with that feature until Sims 4, at least I had plenty of room to do what I want, try adding lots or changing the sizes of the lots which can't be done in Sims 4. Instead of adding those features to be used with connecting neighborhoods in Sims 4, EA/Maxis I feel purposely did it like that to have the end user depend on them for more neighborhoods which you now have to buy with a GP or EP. I never cried for space in Sims 3 as it is done in Sims 4. I do like the connected neighborhoods, but I rather have space as I can't plan on keeping my plans in one neighborhood if I wish not to expand it into another neighborhood if I wish and for that is not true creativity and I look at it as a minus in certain situations.
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I placed down a bar and sims from all over the place, not in Tartosa showed up to visit it. What's the point?
I heard, or read at one point that for Sims 4 they changed the way sims spawn on lots from 3. So in 3, the sims would be called to a lot based on their interests, and the lot characteristics. (e.g. someone who liked outdoors, and/or fishing would show up at parks with ponds). This makes sense, but if you don't have many sims in your world with these types of traits, not many sims would show up. A big complaint by some was empty lots. There was an easy fix for this, but not everyone deep dives on the net to figure these things out, so I can see the frustration.
For Sims 4, supposedly (like I said, this is just what I came across) instead, the focus on making sure sims show up wherever your active sim is, and that is the main goal, so if your active sim goes to another area even on the lot, for instance up a floor, then NPCs will do the same. This is to make sure your surroundings are active, but since the lot isn't as important, yeah, it means random sims any lots.
That said, I did also read that certain sims are "suppose" to be drawn to certain lots still, like outdoorsy to parks and such, but it is hard to tell.
The game seems to spawn sims with similar interests, despite where they live and I suppose from a gameplay perspective that kinda works, you get a lot of sims that are visiting your lot instead of just a few ones, on gyms the game often spawns active sims etc. And it seems to be unique for some worlds, I placed down a gym in Sulani and only Sulani sims visited it. The bar in Britechester often have a lot of students visiting it.
But sometimes it feels like the worlds don't matter and you get the same sims visiting no matter in which world you placed it. I made a community garden (from eco lifestyle) in Henford on Bagley, but only sims from Evergreen Harbor showed up. So that didn't work, then I placed down a cafe (from Get Together) and sims from Henford on Bagley showed up. So sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't...
I suppose picnic tables must be restaurants too because you sit down and eat food at them too. I don't call that a restaurant, you need a waiter and maitre'd for that along with kitchen staff. Same with shops, selling from inventory is not a shop. I'm glad you enjoyed TS3 but for me it was major downgrade after TS2. Even with all the store sets it wouldn't come close to the type of detaild gameplay TS2 offered for community lots.
Preference between Sims 2 and 3 or 4, is just that, a preference, and we don't have to agree. I was just clarifying on your comment that there were no playable community shops or restaurants in 3, because there are. You may not care for their game play, and that is fine, but you also are not accurately representing the game play.
In a restaurant you sit at a table (whichever kind you as the builder choose to place in the restaurant) you use a menu (which is customized by you the player), to order, and your food is cooked and brought to you. It is true that the chef takes your order which is odd. I used a mod to have waitstaff. In general, other than the waitstaff, it functions as all the others in the sims series.
Also, in shops you can purchase at the counter with a menu, or right off the shelf when walking around the store. Different packs/sets brought different ways items can be bought and sold in shops. You may not have had the pack that allowed this, I don't know. But it is available.
If you don't like 3, or an open world, that is fine. You mentioned other reasons it didn't suite you. I am not here to convince you otherwise. I just wanted to point out that having playable lots is not a hindrance to having an open world, as Sims 3 does have fully playable lots.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
... sometimes it feels like the worlds don't matter and you get the same sims visiting no matter in which world you placed it. I made a community garden (from eco lifestyle) in Henford on Bagley, but only sims from Evergreen Harbor showed up. So that didn't work, then I placed down a cafe (from Get Together) and sims from Henford on Bagley showed up. So sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't...
I wonder if there just isn't enough sims in HoB with the traits needed to pull sims to an eco lifestyle community garden, since the Get Together lot worked. This is interesting. Makes want to do some experimenting.
I personally use clubs like crazy to control who shows up where. I don't play in the clubs much, but they are brilliant for having certain sims show up often at certain places, and even in certain outfits. The outfits can be used to make it look like employees on a lot.
Edited: Typo
Post edited by Chaotic_Moira on
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
Reading the comments here, both the pros and cons of open neighborhood, it appears to me that one issue a lot of people are worried about is technical. Lagging issues in open worlds, or long loading times in a more closed world. I think with sims 5 it would be safe to assume it will run on a more efficient gaming engine and that it will work better than both sims 3 and 4 as technology is so much better today, so for me, those issues are non-existent in a discussion on what I'd prefer.
For me these are my objections to both open and closed world (and why I prefer open neighborhoods).
An open world sounds in many way fantastic, but if it is a big world, your sim still needs to get from point A to B when going somewhere and that would take game time, especially if it's in another part of town all together. I'm not really interested in watching my sim drive (or take a bus/taxi) any more than I am watching a loading screen that takes forever. When going far I want to get there fast, and here I think a quick loading screen will be the faster option.
However, with a closed world we have other issues. For example, right now my sim lives next to her sister who is married to one of her best friends. They both have two children (girls), and get along really well and summer is coming up. Now I see a situation where the four girls run in and out of each other's houses and the sister, her wife and my sim chat over fences and move seamlessly from one household to the next. Only with a one lot system as in sims 4, they can't without loading screens and formal invitations. That breaks immersion.
Another example, I had a sim who loved to party and lived next door to a nightclub. Literary crawling distance home. Going there was one thing - they'd walk outside their door, disappear and show up at the club. Slightly annoying but manageable. Going home however was another matter. Every time my sim should go home, I'd have to watch him walk past his house to the end of the street before he'd vanish and then (after the loading screen) appear at the start of the street again so that he could go home. It looked ridiculous.
So for me, open neighborhoods are the solution. My present sim would be able to hang out with her sister's family without a loading screen, my party sim would be able to walk home at night without problems - but at the same time I don't have to watch sims take forever to get to places that are far away.
Other points I've seen in this thread has to do with being able to place things on the "empty" areas between lots and giving us tools to place lots there - and yes please! No matter the system we have this is something I want. I don't need full editing options, but the ability to put a playground, food stall or bench in an empty area would be wonderful. And I definitely want to have a say in how lots are placed. That, however, is how I see it an entirely different discussion and could work regardless of which type of world we have, open or closed.
Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
I suppose picnic tables must be restaurants too because you sit down and eat food at them too. I don't call that a restaurant, you need a waiter and maitre'd for that along with kitchen staff. Same with shops, selling from inventory is not a shop. I'm glad you enjoyed TS3 but for me it was major downgrade after TS2. Even with all the store sets it wouldn't come close to the type of detaild gameplay TS2 offered for community lots.
Preference between Sims 2 and 3 or 4, is just that, a preference, and we don't have to agree. I was just clarifying on your comment that there were no playable community shops or restaurants in 3, because there are. You may not care for their game play, and that is fine, but you also are not accurately representing the game play.
In a restaurant you sit at a table (whichever kind you as the builder choose to place in the restaurant) you use a menu (which is customized by you the player), to order, and your food is cooked and brought to you. It is true that the chef takes your order which is odd. I used a mod to have waitstaff. In general, other than the waitstaff, it functions as all the others in the sims series.
Also, in shops you can purchase at the counter with a menu, or right off the shelf when walking around the store. Different packs/sets brought different ways items can be bought and sold in shops. You may not have had the pack that allowed this, I don't know. But it is available.
If you don't like 3, or an open world, that is fine. You mentioned other reasons it didn't suite you. I am not here to convince you otherwise. I just wanted to point out that having playable lots is not a hindrance to having an open world, as Sims 3 does have fully playable lots.
My main complaint about the lots that were playable was that they were empty or closed when my sim got there and that was entirely due to the way the open world system was designed to work. The fact that they sold many community playable activities through the store is a different issue altogether. I bought all the packs but if I want a fully functional game I was expected pay more for that and store prices are not exactly cheap, and they would still suffer from the same issue as other playable lots and be empty or closed when you got there. If you are fine with that good for you.
I think that the golden standard is somewhere between TS3 open world and TS4 closed neighbourhood. I would like to see bigger and more open premade neighbourhoods but with a possibility to create my own world and the possibility to edit the public area between the lots because sometimes EA does mistakes and due to that we have a gap between lots and streets for example.
Yes. If functioning open worlds are to become a thing of the past, I'd settle for larger, open neighborhoods. So long as I have a variety of lots that I could access without hitting a loading screen. The ability to add and/or create new neighborhoods, with unique residents that generally remain there, is also key.
My main complaint about the lots that were playable was that they were empty or closed when my sim got there and that was entirely due to the way the open world system was designed to work. The fact that they sold many community playable activities through the store is a different issue altogether. I bought all the packs but if I want a fully functional game I was expected pay more for that and store prices are not exactly cheap, and they would still suffer from the same issue as other playable lots and be empty or closed when you got there. If you are fine with that good for you.
For me, TS4's problem is worse. There are a few Sims present before my Sim arrives, true. Yet, they're all lined up on the sidewalk as if they're waiting for the bus. This, among other things, bothered me so much that I stopped playing TS4. Now, I only use it when I'm in the mood to continue a story that I started there. I use the pose player mod and I set up screenshots to go along with the story. When I want to play a game, I go back to TS3.
For me, the tradeoff of the open world just wasn't worth what I eventually got with TS4. There's still lag, still bugs, and eight years later, there still isn't the same kind of functionality that I've come to expect.
But that's okay. We like what we like. I just hope that eventually a future installment of the franchise will provide a more modern version of the things that are important to me. This time, I didn't get them. Next time? Perhaps...
Open World and Open Neighborhood for me is one and the same except one is on a larger scale and the other is on a smaller scale and in Sims 4 which for me has one thing that it has going for itself is interconnecting neighborhoods.
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My main complaint about the lots that were playable was that they were empty or closed when my sim got there and that was entirely due to the way the open world system was designed to work. The fact that they sold many community playable activities through the store is a different issue altogether. I bought all the packs but if I want a fully functional game I was expected pay more for that and store prices are not exactly cheap, and they would still suffer from the same issue as other playable lots and be empty or closed when you got there. If you are fine with that good for you.
Yeah there were problems with empty lots due to the way they designed the "call to lots feature". I had that initially as well. And fixing it was annoying. I hope moving forward they make sure lots stay active. Although I still think it could use some fine tuning. I didn't like the store either. It was being forced to go to there to make my game complete that really bugged me, rather than just having optional cas and decor stuff. But then I wasn't a fan of Stuff Packs when they first started those either. I just had to learn to roll with it.
For me, TS4's problem is worse. There are a few Sims present before my Sim arrives, true. Yet, they're all lined up on the sidewalk as if they're waiting for the bus.
THIS drives me crazy! They often seem to spawn with you, and it is just weird. I recently came across a mod that is suppose to alter this so that they will be more on the lot. I haven't tried it yet, but I am planning to cause it bugs me so much.
I just hope that eventually a future installment of the franchise will provide a more modern version of the things that are important to me. This time, I didn't get them. Next time? Perhaps...
I have similar feelings about 4. I don't dislike it, but it didn't wow me. Rather with some time, it started to grow on me. There are things I really like, and that I think they did very well. Mostly with building... But I kinda see it as a floater for me. I am playing it, whilst waiting for the next one to come, hoping that one will be more to my taste.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
It would be nice to have smaller neighborhood areas that would be open when you're present, but not the entire world. That would most likely make the game way too laggy. I'm not a fan of the constant loading screens either, especially because I play on console and they take ages, so I definitely wouldn't mind if the sims team wanted to do something about it. But also it is what it is and I've gotten used to it
One thing about Sims 3 that I really loved was the open world and I really, really miss it in Sims 4. I used to like zooming out of my current lot to see my sims children come out of school, or have my sim meet their partner outside their workplace. I miss being able to see my sims driving out to a different area of the map because, as the player, you really did feel they were 'going out' somewhere, following them on their journey. The loading screen transporting your sims from place to place doesn't really give the same experience. In Sims 3 you could meet up with a sim on a date and watch them drive there - so much more realistic and absorbing than transporting to meet a date. I miss seeing my sim being able to run around the countryside ..... No, I much prefer the open world.
For me, TS4's problem is worse. There are a few Sims present before my Sim arrives, true. Yet, they're all lined up on the sidewalk as if they're waiting for the bus. This, among other things, bothered me so much that I stopped playing TS4. Now, I only use it when I'm in the mood to continue a story that I started there. I use the pose player mod and I set up screenshots to go along with the story. When I want to play a game, I go back to TS3.
This is one of my pet peeves. Interestingly, with my game, most of the base-game community lots load with sims already at the lot and using the objects which is how it should be. However, every other world that has come with a pack this doesn't occur and they are all lined up at the entrance and stand there for a minute or two before going off to do their own thing.
One of the things that I’m dreading about Sims 5 is them bringing back open worlds. I personally don’t like it at all.
I don’t mind loading screens at all. My Sims are always out and about.
My biggest complaint is worlds that I feel should be more populated and have more to do in between lots. Tartosa is the best example of this. Beautiful world but not much to do and no sims about. Stalls even close early. That breaks my immersion more than a loading screen.
For me, TS4's problem is worse. There are a few Sims present before my Sim arrives, true. Yet, they're all lined up on the sidewalk as if they're waiting for the bus. This, among other things, bothered me so much that I stopped playing TS4. Now, I only use it when I'm in the mood to continue a story that I started there. I use the pose player mod and I set up screenshots to go along with the story. When I want to play a game, I go back to TS3.
This is one of my pet peeves. Interestingly, with my game, most of the base-game community lots load with sims already at the lot and using the objects which is how it should be. However, every other world that has come with a pack this doesn't occur and they are all lined up at the entrance and stand there for a minute or two before going off to do their own thing.
Interesting. I never paid attention to which lots do this and which don't. I just knew it happened sometimes, and not others. I am going to have to observe this now. If that is the case, and it is only in the added worlds, I wonder why it happens that way.
Features I'd like brought back from the dead.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
Comments
I prefer having a single, large world that consists of several neighborhoods, as I have in TS3. I always choose the largest worlds that have an urban area, suburban, and rural, as well as beaches with diving lots and boat landings. There's room for every type of lot that I could ever need. As a result, with TS3, I never feel the kind of claustrophobia that I experience with TS4. If I get tired of the home world, there are three full-fledged vacation worlds to visit and to explore (with mods and custom worlds, the options are nearly endless). Each of those worlds has its own population so that I won't have to see all the same faces. Plus, as a bonus, collectibles spawn randomly so that each stroll through a world provides new discoveries. No two visits are ever alike.
I also enjoy that with open worlds, everyone keeps a schedule. When I'm not actively playing them, other household members still go to work, they still go to school, they go to bed. If I know another Sim's schedule, I can have my Sim meet them at their workplace to go for drinks, an early dinner, or a movie. It feels more authentic and more accessible than the constant teleportation and the sense that most of the world is forever-off-screen-and-out-of-reach that I get with TS4.
As far as I'm concerned, the devolution of the series back to single-lot play was not worth the tradeoffs. A closed world doesn't save time, it doesn't provide for better mechanics, gameplay, or fewer bugs. So, I'd pick an open world every time. Barring that, I'd choose open neighborhoods. I doubt that I would ever choose to play another single-lot Sims game.
I find it claustrophobic to play in one world only. No matter how many lots there are, you could never fit all the different nuances the different worlds offered, I could not send my sim on a tropical vacation because island paradise was its own world. Also don't see the benefits of open worlds when most community lots were rabbit holes, no wonder there were no loading screens because there was nowhere to go. Sending a sim to a restaurant or a resort for example was not a worthwhile trip. Batuu in TS4 is the miniature version of what TS3 worlds were like and it still irritates me that I have to run all over the map to fulfill needs in oversized rabbit hole buildings, reason why I build living quarters under the cantina and the rebel and forces headquarters. Also, running after sims who had places to go to wasn't fun, you barely met them and they were like sorry but I have to go home to wash my hair.
Completely agree. I have a hard time staying in one world with my sims because they are just a range of different neighborhoods anyway and there are not enough lots in the current world I'm staying in. I felt this with the recent world Tartosa, I can visit the beach and I can visit the nightclub and... that's about it. I placed down a bar and sims from all over the place, not in Tartosa showed up to visit it. What's the point? I often have to end up visiting a lot in a different, larger world anyway.
And we also have all these telephone invites, so I have to somehow believe that all sims are just teleporting around to different places without any cars that you can own or any available public transport that you can use.
I felt this kinda worked in the beginning, when we had Oasis Springs, Willow Creek etc and sims that I could accept that they sometimes traveled and visited each other, but now when they are dragging out the game, we have so many different worlds and sims that we are playing with, it becomes absurd. I have sims from all over different places in the world showing up at my gym in Oasis Springs while I'm getting invites to go to a romance festival with a sim from Sulani who are supposed to be working.
You must not have had all the packs or something. I had restaurants you could sit and order. Tons of different types of bars and clubs. Shops, bakeries, toys stores, jewelry stores, a salon, museums, gyms, pools, honestly the list goes on.. You could even go to class at Uni, although I do think the Uni pack in 4 is better technically. But I am not trying to change your mind about what you prefer, I just wanted to clarify that in fact it was not all rabbit holes depending on what packs one had for their game.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I heard, or read at one point that for Sims 4 they changed the way sims spawn on lots from 3. So in 3, the sims would be called to a lot based on their interests, and the lot characteristics. (e.g. someone who liked outdoors, and/or fishing would show up at parks with ponds). This makes sense, but if you don't have many sims in your world with these types of traits, not many sims would show up. A big complaint by some was empty lots. There was an easy fix for this, but not everyone deep dives on the net to figure these things out, so I can see the frustration.
For Sims 4, supposedly (like I said, this is just what I came across) instead, the focus on making sure sims show up wherever your active sim is, and that is the main goal, so if your active sim goes to another area even on the lot, for instance up a floor, then NPCs will do the same. This is to make sure your surroundings are active, but since the lot isn't as important, yeah, it means random sims any lots.
That said, I did also read that certain sims are "suppose" to be drawn to certain lots still, like outdoorsy to parks and such, but it is hard to tell.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
There were no restaurants you could sit and order the in TS3, unless they were mods. The closest they had to a restaurant was a cash register you could buy food from then go eat it at a table. The stores were also buy from a cash register and no real shopping and restocking gameplay attached. Bakeries were in a store set, not a game pack. I know you could make a lot of lot types, but they never functioned as they should. Bars especially, no one was there and the bartender usually closed almost as soon as my sim got there, sometimes it wouldn't even be possible to order a drink. Also, the opening and closing times of all these shops was annoying, many places were closed when you needed them and some places were deserted because everyone was at work.
The Business as Usual Bistro was not a mod, and it is a restaurant, which you sit down and eat in, and you can own it and set the menu. I don't know why you are telling me that something I literally have in my game is not a thing. Yes it, and several other packs had to be purchased through the store, but they were made by EA, and sold as a packs (or sets if you prefer). They came with game play, cas, and decor, and several even have new worlds, so whatever you call them isn't really the point. The point is they were made for the game, by EA, and function with full game play. And yes, I have retail shops, with restocking and everything! I have farm animals. and a theme park with customizable roller coasters.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I suppose picnic tables must be restaurants too because you sit down and eat food at them too. I don't call that a restaurant, you need a waiter and maitre'd for that along with kitchen staff. Same with shops, selling from inventory is not a shop. I'm glad you enjoyed TS3 but for me it was major downgrade after TS2. Even with all the store sets it wouldn't come close to the type of detaild gameplay TS2 offered for community lots.
I agree with you, as for me that is the issue using the same layouts with no compromise on how to make them different from the last. No, I could not connect my worlds in Sims 3 and that was okay for me as EA/Maxis had not come up with that feature until Sims 4, at least I had plenty of room to do what I want, try adding lots or changing the sizes of the lots which can't be done in Sims 4. Instead of adding those features to be used with connecting neighborhoods in Sims 4, EA/Maxis I feel purposely did it like that to have the end user depend on them for more neighborhoods which you now have to buy with a GP or EP. I never cried for space in Sims 3 as it is done in Sims 4. I do like the connected neighborhoods, but I rather have space as I can't plan on keeping my plans in one neighborhood if I wish not to expand it into another neighborhood if I wish and for that is not true creativity and I look at it as a minus in certain situations.
The game seems to spawn sims with similar interests, despite where they live and I suppose from a gameplay perspective that kinda works, you get a lot of sims that are visiting your lot instead of just a few ones, on gyms the game often spawns active sims etc. And it seems to be unique for some worlds, I placed down a gym in Sulani and only Sulani sims visited it. The bar in Britechester often have a lot of students visiting it.
But sometimes it feels like the worlds don't matter and you get the same sims visiting no matter in which world you placed it. I made a community garden (from eco lifestyle) in Henford on Bagley, but only sims from Evergreen Harbor showed up. So that didn't work, then I placed down a cafe (from Get Together) and sims from Henford on Bagley showed up. So sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't...
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Preference between Sims 2 and 3 or 4, is just that, a preference, and we don't have to agree. I was just clarifying on your comment that there were no playable community shops or restaurants in 3, because there are. You may not care for their game play, and that is fine, but you also are not accurately representing the game play.
In a restaurant you sit at a table (whichever kind you as the builder choose to place in the restaurant) you use a menu (which is customized by you the player), to order, and your food is cooked and brought to you. It is true that the chef takes your order which is odd. I used a mod to have waitstaff. In general, other than the waitstaff, it functions as all the others in the sims series.
Also, in shops you can purchase at the counter with a menu, or right off the shelf when walking around the store. Different packs/sets brought different ways items can be bought and sold in shops. You may not have had the pack that allowed this, I don't know. But it is available.
If you don't like 3, or an open world, that is fine. You mentioned other reasons it didn't suite you. I am not here to convince you otherwise. I just wanted to point out that having playable lots is not a hindrance to having an open world, as Sims 3 does have fully playable lots.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
I wonder if there just isn't enough sims in HoB with the traits needed to pull sims to an eco lifestyle community garden, since the Get Together lot worked. This is interesting. Makes want to do some experimenting.
I personally use clubs like crazy to control who shows up where. I don't play in the clubs much, but they are brilliant for having certain sims show up often at certain places, and even in certain outfits. The outfits can be used to make it look like employees on a lot.
Edited: Typo
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
For me these are my objections to both open and closed world (and why I prefer open neighborhoods).
An open world sounds in many way fantastic, but if it is a big world, your sim still needs to get from point A to B when going somewhere and that would take game time, especially if it's in another part of town all together. I'm not really interested in watching my sim drive (or take a bus/taxi) any more than I am watching a loading screen that takes forever. When going far I want to get there fast, and here I think a quick loading screen will be the faster option.
However, with a closed world we have other issues. For example, right now my sim lives next to her sister who is married to one of her best friends. They both have two children (girls), and get along really well and summer is coming up. Now I see a situation where the four girls run in and out of each other's houses and the sister, her wife and my sim chat over fences and move seamlessly from one household to the next. Only with a one lot system as in sims 4, they can't without loading screens and formal invitations. That breaks immersion.
Another example, I had a sim who loved to party and lived next door to a nightclub. Literary crawling distance home. Going there was one thing - they'd walk outside their door, disappear and show up at the club. Slightly annoying but manageable. Going home however was another matter. Every time my sim should go home, I'd have to watch him walk past his house to the end of the street before he'd vanish and then (after the loading screen) appear at the start of the street again so that he could go home. It looked ridiculous.
So for me, open neighborhoods are the solution. My present sim would be able to hang out with her sister's family without a loading screen, my party sim would be able to walk home at night without problems - but at the same time I don't have to watch sims take forever to get to places that are far away.
Other points I've seen in this thread has to do with being able to place things on the "empty" areas between lots and giving us tools to place lots there - and yes please! No matter the system we have this is something I want. I don't need full editing options, but the ability to put a playground, food stall or bench in an empty area would be wonderful. And I definitely want to have a say in how lots are placed. That, however, is how I see it an entirely different discussion and could work regardless of which type of world we have, open or closed.
My main complaint about the lots that were playable was that they were empty or closed when my sim got there and that was entirely due to the way the open world system was designed to work. The fact that they sold many community playable activities through the store is a different issue altogether. I bought all the packs but if I want a fully functional game I was expected pay more for that and store prices are not exactly cheap, and they would still suffer from the same issue as other playable lots and be empty or closed when you got there. If you are fine with that good for you.
Yes. If functioning open worlds are to become a thing of the past, I'd settle for larger, open neighborhoods. So long as I have a variety of lots that I could access without hitting a loading screen. The ability to add and/or create new neighborhoods, with unique residents that generally remain there, is also key.
For me, TS4's problem is worse. There are a few Sims present before my Sim arrives, true. Yet, they're all lined up on the sidewalk as if they're waiting for the bus. This, among other things, bothered me so much that I stopped playing TS4. Now, I only use it when I'm in the mood to continue a story that I started there. I use the pose player mod and I set up screenshots to go along with the story. When I want to play a game, I go back to TS3.
For me, the tradeoff of the open world just wasn't worth what I eventually got with TS4. There's still lag, still bugs, and eight years later, there still isn't the same kind of functionality that I've come to expect.
But that's okay. We like what we like. I just hope that eventually a future installment of the franchise will provide a more modern version of the things that are important to me. This time, I didn't get them. Next time? Perhaps...
Maybe with another developer? Who knows...
::fingers crossed, either way::
Yeah there were problems with empty lots due to the way they designed the "call to lots feature". I had that initially as well. And fixing it was annoying. I hope moving forward they make sure lots stay active. Although I still think it could use some fine tuning. I didn't like the store either. It was being forced to go to there to make my game complete that really bugged me, rather than just having optional cas and decor stuff. But then I wasn't a fan of Stuff Packs when they first started those either. I just had to learn to roll with it.
THIS drives me crazy! They often seem to spawn with you, and it is just weird. I recently came across a mod that is suppose to alter this so that they will be more on the lot. I haven't tried it yet, but I am planning to cause it bugs me so much.
I have similar feelings about 4. I don't dislike it, but it didn't wow me. Rather with some time, it started to grow on me. There are things I really like, and that I think they did very well. Mostly with building... But I kinda see it as a floater for me. I am playing it, whilst waiting for the next one to come, hoping that one will be more to my taste.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |
☆ she/her ☆
This is one of my pet peeves. Interestingly, with my game, most of the base-game community lots load with sims already at the lot and using the objects which is how it should be. However, every other world that has come with a pack this doesn't occur and they are all lined up at the entrance and stand there for a minute or two before going off to do their own thing.
I don’t mind loading screens at all. My Sims are always out and about.
My biggest complaint is worlds that I feel should be more populated and have more to do in between lots. Tartosa is the best example of this. Beautiful world but not much to do and no sims about. Stalls even close early. That breaks my immersion more than a loading screen.
Interesting. I never paid attention to which lots do this and which don't. I just knew it happened sometimes, and not others. I am going to have to observe this now. If that is the case, and it is only in the added worlds, I wonder why it happens that way.
| Picture in Picture mode | Custom Paintings | Preset scenarios for resident sims | Placing my own lots |
| Saving my own Buy Mode collections! | Saving an outfit in CAS | CaSt. Smaller is ok | Open World |