Worst Build-Mode Sims Game?

Kbobster · July 2022

I like that it has friezes. But build mode in Sims 4 is utterly the worst of the whole franchise. It takes me hours to build a building because if I decide to add one little extra element, I can't add floors or frieze or anything. So now I have to put extra walls to "make a room" and hope that they don't delete my columns. And when I remove walls, I have to hope my floors and friezes don't go with it. In all the Sims games I've played, all you have to do is add a column. It wasn't as complicated. So, I vote Sims 4 is the worst, even if it has cool elements like wall height. I made pretty cool stuff in Sims 2 and 3 without tall walls, thank you very much.

Kbobster · July 2022

Sims 4

This one small error wouldn't be a problem in any other Sims game. The floor can be extended OR I could add a column. Now I will spend 10+ minutes adding walls and rooms to this entire 2nd floor just so I can add 2.5 floor tiles. Lolz

SelinaKyles · July 2022

Sims 3

I’ve only ever played ts3,4 and very little of 2. Ts3 for me had the worst. Build mode and buy mode are separate modes. You can’t buy unless you exited build mode and and entered buy mode. Incredibly annoying. Ts4 has them connected into 1. Ts4has the possibility to make L staircases while ts3, you had to buy the item off their store.
Only thing I miss from 3 is auto roof, it was ugly at times but I’m too lazy to figure it out all the time in 4

Gamer_34567544 · July 2022

Sims 4

I can't believe you have to actually look underground to build the basement, then look back up with the basement still selected- to ensure you placed it correctly.

alanmichael1 · July 2022

I don't remember 1 & 2. TS3 was more intuive than 4 and had the giant advantage that we could simply add tiles to a floor. Also the fences with individual posts and the possibility of using more than one wallpaper on the roof level were great. But in almost all other aspects, 4 has outperformed 3 by now. I like building in 4 and I'm in love with ponds and platforms.

Chicklet453681 · July 2022

For me personally, there's good and bad in all of them.

There's are a few things that I really like about it TS4:

Pushing/Pulling walls
Roofing is "somewhat" easier for me in TS4 based upon manually placing a roof in other games
Adding a Foundation after building***
Raising/Lowering Objects***
Shrinking/Enlarging Objects***
Freely Placing Wall Decor***
Being able to move the lot to a different position***
How quick it is to place a lot*** (TS3 is horrible, it takes so long place a house when trying to check out the house you just D/L'd)

*** I really miss these when building in TS3

I would have said being able to place Windows/Doors off grid as another "Like" but for a long time now, I can't place windows off grid, only doors

What I don't like about it?

No ROUND POOLS!!!!!!!!
No Actual DIVING BOARDS!!!!
Not being able to see the floor below unless you delete the floor
Having to build a "room" to put the floor back down if you accidentally deleted part of it!
Not being able to build to the true edge of your lot and you get a stupid patch of grass between your front walkway (if you're using floor tiles) and the actual sidewalk that's in the world!
How easy it is to accidentally click a room (I can't tell you how many times I have wiped out the entire room on accident when trying to pick up an object!
No Auto Roof!
No Spiral Stairs!
Not being able to change the ceiling texture like in TS2 & TS3, so the underside of porch roof, dark creepy houses are FORCED TO HAVE THAT HIDEOUS WHITISH/GRAYISH CEILING!

I'm sure there's more, but those are what I can think of right off the top of my head.

amysim113 · July 2022

Sims 2

I've been getting stuck in build mode for a while because I run out of ideas. Besides getting new packs, any ideas as to how I can get back into the game rather than building? I really love building, though! I think this has been more so for Sims 4 rather than the others.

duriankind · July 2022

Sims 1

Sims 1, hands down, lol. For me it's not even close. In my opinion each game has been progressively improving on build mode, with sims 4 being the best by far. Which is why it boggles my mind that it's currently winning as the worst. To be fair, I never considered myself much of a builder in the previous installments and I've done the most experimenting/building in the sims 4. However, I did still dabble in building in all previous installments and I think that the sims 4 build mode is the least restrictive overall. I would say the only aspect of build mode that I miss from previous games is the auto roof function. 🤷‍♀️

Cangwen · July 2022

I've only played the sims 3 & 4, so I can't comment on the sims 1 & 2. Sims 4 run better overall but lacks customization. The sims 3 has an amazing amount of customization, but the controls are wonky.

crocobaura · July 2022

I wouldn't call TS 4 build system the worst, but it is clunky and not as easy and straightforward to use, which is funny because the room system and basements were added specifically to make it easier to build for those simmers who found building in TS2 and TS3 difficult. I like the stairs but they don't work to create T shaped stairs and you're stuck with double railings or nothing. You can't put wallpaper of your choice on the foundations. Building a basement with stairs under a foundation causes artifacts in the foundation. We had proper dormer windows in TS2. For roofs it would help if we had pieces like in TS2 second empire roof, with inside corner, outside corner, straight piece, etc. Trying to build roofs that follow the contour of a house is sometimes tricky with current roof shapes we have.

Onverser · July 2022

Sims 1

For me Sims 3 & 4 are easily equal best. Sims 4 is without doubt best for actual items, and it's incredibly user friendly and easy to use, 3 is more clunky to use but it's equal for me as it does have create a style so I can actually make items match.. + being able to place floor tiles by simply, placing floor tiles, rather than trying to use the room tool is a big benefit.

Sims 2.. haven't used it that much but it seems much the same as 3 just more basic. Sims 1, it's obviously the worst, no question about it. I feel like it's not even fair to include Sims 1 in this as it's on nowhere near the same level as the other games, so I'll say out of the 3 it's fair to compare 2 is definitely the worst

SimsLovinLycan · July 2022

I haven't done much building in TS3, to be honest. I have mainly built in TS2 and TS4. In my opinion, both games have their virtues and sins.

TS2 Sins:

To re-size a room, you must delete the offending walls.
To make a basement, you must cheat the terrain tools.
You can't place things at half-tile intervals, making decorating your built spaces a nightmare when you just want to center something, but can't because the thing you want to center is an odd number of tiles long and the thing you want to center it with is an even number of tiles long, or vice versa.

TS2 Virtues:

The tile-based flooring system makes building the upper floors of a build very intuitive and free-flowing.
You can delete a single floor tile instead of poofing the entire floor away all at once.
You can decorate the ceilings to match with the theme and architectural style of your build.
Spiral Staircases

TS4 Sins:

The room-based build system makes edits to upper floors, like inner balconies, a pain in the butt to make.
You are stuck with plain, white ceilings for all builds like some kind of savage.
The game does not adapt indoor-outdoor space designation well if you make certain kinds of edits.
You can't place fences at the very edge of a lot.
You can't add or delete the floor one tile at a time on upper floors.

TS4 Virtues:

The room-based build system makes re-adjusting room sizes very easy.
You can place items at half-tile intervals, to the elation of my OCD.
There is an actual basement tool instead of having to swindle one in with the terrain tools.
Customizable L-bend staircases.

If only there was a game in this series that gave us all of the virtues of both, with none of the sins...

CK213 · July 2022

Sims 1

2D homes in Sims 1.
I only became interested in building with The Sims 2 when the game went to 3D.

I have only good things to say about TS4 build mode.
It's so flexible and the many things you can do out-weigh the few things you can't.

I wanted to rebuild my old TS2 University dorm in TS4.

I just needed to decide on an aesthetic theme. I realized I already had it with this building.

And it was so simple to use this building as a starting point.
I just placed it on a larger lot and pulled it apart.

The ability to copy rooms and move them around saved me so much time.

Oh and the roof I have on the TS4 dorm is what I wanted to make it TS2, but it wasn't possible in TS2.

AncientMuse · July 2022

Sims 2

Sims 2 was the absolute worst for trying to build anything. I don't miss having to type out mile-long cheat codes and then typing another mile-long cheat code to turn it back off again. Ugh.

I eventually quit building in the Sims 2 completely and instead opted to download other people's builds, leaving me with only having to do minor alterations to my liking.

As much as I love building and decorating in the game, I'm a lazy builder and don't like spending hours/days/weeks on just one build.... So for me, the Sims 4 is the absolute best version for being able to whip through the building phase of my gameplay because of its simple, intuitive approach to the types of build mode tools they've given us this time around.

mitchiebanjo · July 2022

Sims 1

There was no game called Sims 1. The first game was The Sims.

SERVERFRA · July 2022

Sims 3

I've only played Sims 3 & 4.
Sims 4 has great build modes to the point where I was able to build starship homes 4 flights way, way above ground & 4 levels down deep below ground.

Whereas with Sims 3, I could color everything but not build the way I want to.

And as much as I miss the color wheel & textures for all build mode objects I still enjoy building better in Sims 4.

Simmingal · July 2022

Sims 2

I find it easiest in ts4

building in other games makes me crazy cause I'm just so used to ts4 now

like ts3 is basically torture mode even with the color wheel its like sitting there trying to decide if you want beige or beige

I voted ts2 cause its just kinda hardest in that game even though I love love love the items in b/b cause it was pure chaos and i lived for all of it

reason i didn't vote ts1 is cause I was just lowkey impressed by options in that game whenever i went back

surely it be just as much struggle but what can i say there is still build mode things in it i can't do in ts4 like curved freaking stairs which is just so wild to me

gc6164 · July 2022

Sims 4

Although the Sims 4 has arguably the best build mode out of all the sim's games, I've still voted it the worst and that's because you have to factor in the state of technology when each sims game was released.

Sims (2000) - Simple but did the job and had no precedent so it was amazing at the time and still is for its simplicity.
Sims 2 (2004) - Groundbreaking, so many new features, half walls, curved pools, constrainfloorelevation cheat, green houses, new roofing tools, spiral staircases, the list goes on.
Sims 3 (2009) - Everything the Sims 2 had but even better with create a style, alt and diagonal placement and the ability to drag out walls.
Sims 4 (2014) - We start losing features. Create a style, constrainfloorelevation cheat, curved pools, spiral stairs? Nowhere to be seen.

We got some nice new features such as the ability to move the lot and rooms at once, and window and door placement not constrained to tiles which are a godsend, and now curved walls but this is a game FROM 2014, 10 years after the Sims 2 (now 18) and we still don't have features that the previous games had? It's ridiculous especially when I think back to how build mode was back in 2014 with the absence of pools, basements, half walls and the moveobjects cheat.

Colton147147 · July 2022

Sims 2

The Sims 4 is superior in everything compared to its predecessors.

TheSpotted_C · July 2022

Sims 1

duriankind wrote: »

Sims 1, hands down, lol. For me it's not even close. In my opinion each game has been progressively improving on build mode, with sims 4 being the best by far.

This. Everything is far superior to the simplicity of The Sims and I really feel like the general hatred of Sims 4 is clouding people's judgement on this poll.

Kbobster · July 2022

Sims 4

Perhaps, I should rephrase, which one is more annoying to build with. I think SIms 4 build options are the best. The flexibility in options. The execution is the most annoying for me. My Sims 4 houses do look better than Sims 3 with all the details I can add. However, the actual mechanics of the build mode is frustrating. For example, if you had Sims 4 options with Sims 3 mechanics, Sims 3 would be better. If Sims 3 had the same features as Sims 4, I could build the same house in less time, is what I mean.

duriankind wrote: »

Sims 1, hands down, lol. For me it's not even close. In my opinion each game has been progressively improving on build mode, with sims 4 being the best by far. Which is why it boggles my mind that it's currently winning as the worst. To be fair, I never considered myself much of a builder in the previous installments and I've done the most experimenting/building in the sims 4. However, I did still dabble in building in all previous installments and I think that the sims 4 build mode is the least restrictive overall. I would say the only aspect of build mode that I miss from previous games is the auto roof function. 🤷‍♀️

Perhaps, I should rephrase, which one is more annoying to build with. I think Sims 4 build options are the best. The flexibility in options. The execution is the most annoying for me. My Sims 4 houses do look better than Sims 3 with all the details I can add. However, the actual mechanics of the build mode is frustrating. For example, if you had Sims 4 options with Sims 3 mechanics, Sims 3 would be better. If Sims 3 had the same features as Sims 4, I could build the same house in less time (well, I might take some time with the glorious color wheel/swatches, but that doesn't count)

Gamer_34567544 · July 2022

Sims 4

I also kinda liked how 3 let me bring stuff from the outdoors, in, like the clothesline and grill.

Clothesline is weird inside, but then your clothes are immune to rain- and it only leaves puddles to clean up. It strangely is a nice touch for someone faking off-the-grid in 3.

Captain_C · July 2022

Sims 2

I remember spending days creating a house in sims 2, then the save corrupted, I died inside

Ray_Trace · July 2022

Sims 4 has a search function which instantly elevates it above any Sim game.

I don't get the results that put 4 in the lead. Finding a specific item you want is a massive headache in prior entries.

icmnfrsh · July 2022

Sims 1

Sims 1:
- Had no foundations
- Only allowed up to 2 floors
- Only let you control the pitch and tiling of roofs. Otherwise it's forced auto-roofing
- Didn't allow complex structures like roof dormers that you see in a lot of suburban American homes
- Didn't allow doors or windows on diagonal walls

And so on. It's not even a contest

SimSpock · August 2022

Sims 1

Build mode is the one thing that I think has gotten a bit better each game.

The Sims Forums

Worst Build-Mode Sims Game?

Worst Build-Mode Sims Game? 99 votes

Comments