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Worst Build-Mode Sims Game?

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  • DTM_DerrickDTM_Derrick Posts: 26 Member
    Sims 4
    > @icmnfrsh said:
    > 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

    Part of me misses that simplicity though. By Sims 4, I am having a hard time finding the building creativity I had in the previous versions. But I did also just recently get back into 4, so maybe there's still hope! Haha.
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  • IamJIamJ Posts: 44 Member
    Sims 1
    Look, I play The Sims 2, and I strongly feel that sims 2 is hands down the best sim game (and I have played all of them), but when it comes to building it’s obvious to me at least that each game has gotten progressively better at build specifically (too bad that can’t be said for the gameplay itself and other aspects of the game). Sims 4 without a doubt has the best build mode. Sims 3 second best, Sims 2 second to last and Sims 1 without a doubt worst.

    The people who state any other than 1, have you even played the original? I mean sims 1 deserves all the credit, it was a revolutionary game at its time, but come on. Building was a nightmare compared to later sims games. If sims 4 deserves credit for anything it’s for the build mode. With sims 2 you can build absolutely beautiful builds, but it takes forever and you have to do everything manually and even when you have the most beautiful building in sims 2 it still doesn’t compare to the graphics of sims 4.

    Now, for everything _but_ build mode it’s another story, but at build sims 4 wins, no contest.

    I also notice many of the people who listed sims 4 as worst only complained about sims 4, but didn’t list why older sims games was supposedly better. Likely because they weren’t, and they simply haven’t played them. Just my guess, because if you actually played sims 1 there is no way you would think it has better build mode than sims 4.
  • icmnfrshicmnfrsh Posts: 18,789 Member
    Sims 1
    > icmnfrsh said:
    > 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

    Part of me misses that simplicity though. By Sims 4, I am having a hard time finding the building creativity I had in the previous versions. But I did also just recently get back into 4, so maybe there's still hope! Haha.

    For all its faults, Sims 4 does have a pretty decent build mode. I'm sure you'll find lots of options to inspire you
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  • LeGardePourpreLeGardePourpre Posts: 15,175 Member
    edited August 2022
    About TS2, by using cheat codes it could extend the possibilities :

    boolProp allow45DegreeAngleOfRotation true
    boolprop constrainFloorElevation false
    boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false
    setHighestAllowedLevel 16
    setQuarterTilePlacement on


    constrainFloorElevation allowed to change the shape of the room floor, it's impossible in TS3 and TS4.
  • SimsILikeSimsSimsILikeSims Posts: 1,634 Member
    edited August 2022
    Sims 1
    Kbobster wrote: »
    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)

    I still say The Sims (2000) was the worst build mode - although building was super easy...and its where I learned to build a box or a rectangle and put a roof over it...there WERE no basements. There WERE no friezes. There WERE NO foundations. Until Unleashed came along, there were no community lots, either. No elevators came with the game - elevators were added by a modder. No more than 2 floors could be added to any lots: the ground floor, and the floor above that. Sims 4 was the first and only to date to offer working ladders.

    The only thing TS1 really has over TS4 in terms of build mode, not including mods and custom content in either game, is spiral stairs. All the other games except Sims 4 have spiral stairs. I am still looking for a TS4 mod that adds them back in as more than a decoration. Also, a mod that has the elevator doors shut BEFORE the Sims are teleported downstairs. Even the first TS1 elevator mod by KillerSims had the doors shut first.

    As far as the ease of creating custom content build/buy mode stuff, Sims 1 hands down was the best game: it was not truly 3D, so all you had to do is map the object to a game object, then basically put in 4 pictures of the object facing 4 different directions, one for each direction. Color wheel did NOT exist in Sims 1 or Sims 2. There was also a third party program for Sims 1 and Sims 2 that let you enable items for community lots, vacation lots, AND residential lots. Sims 3 took that away but Sims 4 has brought that back as part of the game itself. :smiley:

    Sims 2 had foundations and basements, and up to 5 floors above ground level plus basements, but I found those nearly impossible to use basements with lots that had foundations. Same with Sims 3. I always use the basement tool on Sims 4.

    Sims 3 had a HUGE advantage with the color wheel and create a pattern. Sims 3 let you build more than one level down, but compromised by not letting you build more than 3 levels up.

    The most annoying thing I find about Sims 4 in build mode is actually the fact that you cannot put floor down then build the walls around it on upper stories. All the previous games you could do that. We built treehouses (sort of) and UFOs using that technique: add the support or walls, make the upper story, add walls, then delete the walls on the first story.
    At least now with the Fame EP for Sims 4 comes invisible walls, so you can at least draw rooms then use the invisible walls.
    (Now they just need transparent/glass floors like Caro created for Sims 1: not invisible completely, but clear, like the glass roofs they already have in-game.) There might also be some decorative options and storytelling options if invisible floors were actually added (high-wire act anyone?)
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  • IamJIamJ Posts: 44 Member
    Sims 1
    “Until Unleashed came along, there were no community lots, either.”

    Just noting: community lots came in Hot Date actually. Other than that I completely agree with you.
  • MareahMareah Posts: 792 Member
    Never played sims 1, but i based my opinion subjectively on which game i enjoy building with the least, and sims 2 comes here. It is just that 3 and 4 each have unique features that make them more fun to create buildings.
  • Gamer_34567544Gamer_34567544 Posts: 1,300 Member
    Sims 4
    I did find this question hard as TS3 was the first game I played with build mode.
  • Sorak4Sorak4 Posts: 3,934 Member
    Sims 1
    This is one of those cases where I'm going to have to say. The Sims 1 despite being the original classic has been built on better since in every game.

    I mean, the Sims 1 on the PS2 didn't even have multi floor houses or the ability to choose your roof tiles. The pools were preset shapes like an I only. Still. It gave us our foundations for the future.
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  • vulpdenvulpden Posts: 16 Member
    Sims 1
    Sims 1 100%. It was great for the time, but compared to the others... it's obvously terrible. My favourite is probably The Sims 4 but only for the interface. The modern graphics, the smooth camera rotation, easy to move walls and foundations etc, the features are neat. But then again, TS4 furnishings are a little lackluster unless you have a lot of packs or CC. Sims 3 is very close second just because of the customisable options and having a slightly better UI than Sims 2.
    But yeah, Sims 1 is the worst by a longshot, 2&3 are nice and 4 just has that tiny bit of edge over the previous games.
  • ehaught58ehaught58 Posts: 2,765 Member
    Sims 1
    The lack of diagonal walls was so frustrating in the Sims 1. I enjoyed building in every version after that.
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    "If you build it, they will come." - Movie: Field of Dreams
  • brizgalbrizgal Posts: 140 Member
    Sims 1
    It has to be the original however it was incredible for its time. Sims 4 is a very close second because even though it has some amazing features it is also very flawed and seriously limited in some areas of design and styling.
  • sunnycakessunnycakes Posts: 75 Member
    Sims 1
    The newer the Sims game is, the better the build mode. I have only played 3 and 4, but I have seen videos of people struggling to build in older games. Sims 4 has lots of features and shortcuts that make it easier to build. Sims 3 has loads of customization options that make building better. It really depends on whether you are talking about easier or better.
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  • LamaaaayLamaaaay Posts: 66 Member
    Sims 1
    I have played almost every version of the sims except sims 2 (including offshoots) and the Sims 1 has got to be the most annoying thing I have ever tried to build in!
  • octotigeroctotiger Posts: 64 Member
    Sims 1
    The Sims 1 is the most difficult to work with. I can make diagonal walls but not put stuff on them, and there are no foundations. If I place decor or lights on the wall, it will always be visible and block my view. There was no way to customize the colors and texture of the furniture and build items in game like the Sims 3.
  • DivorcedMarySueDivorcedMarySue Posts: 7 New Member
    Sims 4
    Obviously there is a huge difference in technology between games and also the question of what one is used to, but judging the games for what they provided in their time I had picked TS4 because although it has some nice stuff it is far from being a level-up from previous iterations it supposed to be, it even took some steps backwards. That said, I think building is one of the strongest aspects of the game.
  • CChoarder1494CChoarder1494 Posts: 9 New Member
    Sims 1
    Sims 1
  • DivinylsFanDivinylsFan Posts: 1,278 Member
    edited November 2022
    Sims 4
    The Sims 4. I don't like that everything is flat and plastic in 4, sorry, also babyish.
    In Sims 2 and 3 there was terrain, with detail and contour, although the alignment with the street needed to be easier with Sims 3.
    Create a Style in Sims 3 was the best, although it lacked the effect on sims like in Sims 2. Sims 2 walls and floors were customisable with the EA provided tool but not the objects, not without a mod.
    Creating a custom neighbourhood was the best in Sims 2, especially when using Sim City 4, although it chewed up a lot of RAM. And you couldn't put a smaller house on a bigger lot in Sims 2, like you can in 3 @CK213 . Sims 3's tool for making a new world is too complicated.
    The sims didn't go 3D in the middle of Sims 2.
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  • FinvolaFinvola Posts: 1,041 Member
    Sims 1
    Sims 1 for sure.
  • EgonVMEgonVM Posts: 4,926 Member
    Sims 1
    Well, the fact is that the build mode has improved with each game.

    To think back to The Sims 1, I remember these things:
    • The eyedropper tool was in build mode, not buy mode. This means that if I wanted to copy an object, I had to either find it or switch modes. And no, I remember that picking it up and placing it down while holding down shift key did nothing.
    • No alternative color swatches. What you see is what you get.
    • Limited to two floors only.
    • Speaking of two floors, you can't place objects down on the first floor while you are currently on the second floor. At first, being used to the next The Sims games, it was confusing to me.
    • There were only some fences you could place down like a wall. Most of them were placing them post by post like an object as they together formed a fence.
    • Limited buy mode in community lot with a little confusing categories. The Sims 2 had that too at first...
    • Forced to auto-roof with one roof style. Yes, you were able to choose the slant and color.
    • Difficult to make a large balcony that's unsupported by walls.
    • Diagonal walls just... were there. You couldn't put doors or windows there.
    • Speaking of that, no control+f to put the floor down as triangles. If you used the diagonal wall thing, the floor went to being a square as soon as you removed the wall.
    • If you wanted to change the room, enjoy taking down the walls, putting the new ones, and repainting them.
    • Build the house to a wrong spot? Either deal with it or tear the whole thing down and rebuild it.
    • No household inventory. Thus all the things you had in the previous house will be gone when sims move out. Welp, there goes my vacation award I worked so hard for...
    • I can't place dishwashers under the counters.
    • The cheat move_objects wasn't as powerful it became in The Sims 2. It allowed you to move objects you previously couldn't (sims, flies, objects outside the lot bounds etc). It didn't allow you to put the objects in places you usually can't (except out of lot bounds).
    • Ah, the times I had to think about the houseplant placement so my sims could get near it to water it...
    • Undo and redo buttons were only in build mode. If you accidentally picked up an object that was placed in an incorrect spot in buy mode, it is gone forever then...
    • No way to check the lot value without exiting to the neighborhood view.
    • No terrain paints. You could add or remove grass, but according to the game, the grass will grow back.
    • No day/night toggle. The time you're building in is the time you're stuck in.

    One thing that irks me in The Sims 2 is the stair system. You can't choose which railings to add. In addition, stairs by step can't be added next to walls in the latest versions and the full staircases (except spiral stairs) have a problem where one sim can use it at the same time.
    In addition, you can't place pools on the second floors.
    While it does have more floors, games that have University or later pack have a cheat code which allows you to raise make as many floors as you want. Though too many may crash the game...

    The Sims 3 brought the wall pulling system and create a style. Though one problem with create a style for me was that there were few pre-made swatches. Plus sometimes when switching to buy mode or build mode, my game would sometimes soft-lock, which was very frustrating.
    Though the floors cheat was gone, it brought the buydebug cheat. Plus it has shift-left click function that allows you to modify objects in buy mode. While it is usually used to build tombs or seasonally changing lots, it can be also used to set up the lights.

    The Sims 4 brought build and buy mode into one mode and allows to pick up rooms and whole buildings and move them. In addition, it is easier to change the rooms' shape. Though it did came out with less possibilities, more was added with patches (pools, ponds, separate buildings with separate foundation heights, stair shapes, terrain tools, cheats etc).
    In addition, by pressing certain keys you can resize the objects and you can also move them up and down with bb.moveobjects cheat.
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    Sims 4
    While TS 4 build mode does have some good additional features and refinements over the earlier ones, there are also limitations I didn't have before. Even though it is many years earlier, so was limited by the technology of the time, I find that TS 2 build is the best of the bunch. Simply because I can build things with it I can't even think of attempting to do in 4. Better terrain tools, too.
  • crocobauracrocobaura Posts: 7,342 Member
    While TS 4 build mode does have some good additional features and refinements over the earlier ones, there are also limitations I didn't have before. Even though it is many years earlier, so was limited by the technology of the time, I find that TS 2 build is the best of the bunch. Simply because I can build things with it I can't even think of attempting to do in 4. Better terrain tools, too.

    I feel the same too. In TS2 we had proper stages and foundation that we could paint with whatever wallpaper, and we could build basements under foundations without weird artifacts, and could chose which side the stairs railing goes. Also, walk out basements and bridges over rivers and swimmable ponds. Proper attic windows. Swimmable beaches wherever we wanted.
  • Sarah26CatSarah26Cat Posts: 169 Member
    Sims 1
    I won't pretend to be a Fan of TS 4, but if there's anything I'd take from it and use in future Sims games, it would be the build system. I'd go back to TS 1-3 for the whole control panel look. I kinda feel they were trying to recreate the wheel there. It's difficult for a seasoned Sims player like me, to learn how to do everything. But I love the way I can change a Stairs to an L-Stairs without the use of multiple cheat codes and wacky walls. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about you-tube search "Sims 3 L shaped Stairs tutorial." And I like Platforms. I almost built my Grandparents old Split Level Home in TS4 last week. I say almost because my grandparents had a basement stairs under the stairs going upstairs, from the lower, sunken level, and doing that was impossible with the stairs being on the platform above it. Part of the Platform wall didn't disappear with the stairs wall, and I gave up. But it's much closer than I was able to get with prior sims games.
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    Sims 4
    Am tempted to have the one for TS3 join with TS 4. Have been giving 3 a serious go of late and find build mode very frustrating. Am finding it often awkward to use, the floor and wall coverings are the worst of the franchise, it is often difficult to see what the various colors of doors, windows, and arches really are, and don't get me started on the nigh unto impossibility of identifying what item in build or buy comes from which pack.
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,289 Member
    Sims 3
    I almost chose Sims4, but after a long time, I believe I have finally learned how to use it. For me it has a very high learning curve, too. (Doesn't mean I'm great at it, but at least I can build something satisfactory, if only to me.) I thought I would never be able to build again. As the OP said, I have run into the lack of flat ceiling required in order to build a roof, at least twice now, in all of these years. The second time was not so long ago, too. I saved the incomplete build, just in case, and bulldozed the lot I was using. I was able to recreate the build, more successfully, this time, adding the little extensions that got me into trouble the first time, by having added them after the fact. Got the required flat roof after building the second floor. Yay.

    After the struggles I've had to get used to it, I like this one better than the others.
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