Ok it looks like we can only load one unit at a time, and that sucks. Imagine if you are a landlord, and there are like six units and you have to go through a loading screen every time, it’s gonna get real annoying, real fast.
I'm glad that customizable apartments have finally arrived. Still, the manner is very disappointing. This system would have been great nearly ten years ago. Now, all I can feel is, meh.
The new world still feels like the 'burbs. Will all of the options to customize and manage apartments be available in San Myshuno, the only urban world in the entire game? Somehow, I doubt it. That is, unless we use one of the few single lots that are available in that world. But what would be the point in that? SM has too few areas for community lots as it is.
It just doesn't feel right at all. Yet again, features are restrictive. TS4 remains the most compartmented and disjointed game in the series.
Since there isn't a new city available, I would have liked to see is an updated version of San Myshuno that is accessible in every new game.
functional elevators
lobbies and vestibules
customizable common areas such as the lobby and the corridors between apartments.
the ability for the player to adjust the size of an apartment and to edit the placement of the entry door. For example there's a huge triplex apartment in SM that could be transformed into several apartments.
the ability to use all of the features in the new pack on the apartments in the only actual city.
It’s such a disappointment that the apartments will have loading screens. Why must this game cater to potato laptops that are barely able to support the game in the first place? Why can’t they at least give players an option to test if their PC can handle a more open experience?
I’m sure plenty of players have PCs that allow them to avoid loading screens and still maintain decent performance, so why can’t those players have an option that is more suited to their PCs? Catering to lower end systems only holds back TS4 and limits the player experience.
I hope there's a select all tool. Selecting rooms individually for large builds sounds tedious with that method. Judging by the gameplay trailer, probably not.
~I just like lifestates. Is that too much to ask for?~
It’s such a disappointment that the apartments will have loading screens. Why must this game cater to potato laptops that are barely able to support the game in the first place? Why can’t they at least give players an option to test if their PC can handle a more open experience?
I’m sure plenty of players have PCs that allow them to avoid loading screens and still maintain decent performance, so why can’t those players have an option that is more suited to their PCs? Catering to lower end systems only holds back TS4 and limits the player experience.
I fully agree and was kind of thinking this as I found this news out. It really is disappointing to me because on Twitter a while ago a simGuru claimed they think they can do apartments better than The Sims 2 did, but even with a detailed tenant application thing, etc, that all gets swept under by the fact that we need loading screens to go to the apartment 2 feet away. And how will sims break into places? They click "break in" on the door and then we get a loading screen to reappear right where we just were? It breaks the immersion soooo badly. I really was excited for this pack, and I still slightly am, but this kind of dampered my mood for it.
I don't care about the loading screens, but if the rumors of us not being able to use Manage worlds to freely place our own households into the apartment units are true, then this is going to be a huge disappointment and no longer a gamechanger for my rotational saves. Did they really forget to give us the "FREEDOM" they promised or what? Is this what freedom is? Not being able to make a lovely new Sim family and move them into a custom created apartment unit? I want to cancel my preorder now unless they confirm the opposite
It’s such a disappointment that the apartments will have loading screens. Why must this game cater to potato laptops that are barely able to support the game in the first place? Why can’t they at least give players an option to test if their PC can handle a more open experience?
I’m sure plenty of players have PCs that allow them to avoid loading screens and still maintain decent performance, so why can’t those players have an option that is more suited to their PCs? Catering to lower end systems only holds back TS4 and limits the player experience.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I don't care about the loading screens, but if the rumors of us not being able to use Manage worlds to freely place our own households into the apartment units are true, then this is going to be a huge disappointment and no longer a gamechanger for my rotational saves. Did they really forget to give us the "FREEDOM" they promised or what? Is this what freedom is? Not being able to make a lovely new Sim family and move them into a custom created apartment unit? I want to cancel my preorder now unless they confirm the opposite
Where are these rumors coming from? They say we can easily be just tenants. It means we can move in without worrying about landlord gameplay.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
I don't care about the loading screens, but if the rumors of us not being able to use Manage worlds to freely place our own households into the apartment units are true, then this is going to be a huge disappointment and no longer a gamechanger for my rotational saves. Did they really forget to give us the "FREEDOM" they promised or what? Is this what freedom is? Not being able to make a lovely new Sim family and move them into a custom created apartment unit? I want to cancel my preorder now unless they confirm the opposite
Where are these rumors coming from? They say we can easily be just tenants. It means we can move in without worrying about landlord gameplay.
I meant with the ”rumors” that some people on social media (and these forums) are worried that we cannot place households or that rotational players are not able to enjoy this EP…and that there is still seemingly a lot of confusion that Sims team has yet to reassure for everyone…before I was convinced we could use Manage Worlds for placing our households like the other lots but this is making even me worried now…but I feel like they already confirmed many times we can place our own households into available apartment units if we want to. it is so confusing for no good reason I guess…
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
I agree that it's not ideal. Assuming that you have a high-end rig, I think the simplest thing for playing with large groups of Sims at once would be to create a larger household (20-40 Sims) with cheats or mods and just pretend the lot is divided into separate units or use the roommate system. It's not great and doesn't benefit from the new pack at all... Otherwise, we can use the UI to direct Sims from the household in the inactive units to build skills or socialize while we focus on those from the household who are in the active units. I played both Sims 2 and Sims 3, and I think I'll prefer this system (if it's not buggy) because Sims 2 didn't simulate enough for me. There was no global aging or story progression in that game. I love having hundreds of Sims aging and doing their own thing in the background for generations. Sims 3 had huge, wonderful open worlds but it didn't allow for back-and-forth traveling among them without having Sims lose all their relationships. I would love for these new apartments to be open and not limited to just a few Sims, but I know that would probably affect performance on most computers and not just the "potatoes". 3-5 seconds of loading doesn't bother me, but I'll probably experiment with mods and cheats to find a balanced amount of Sims that works for my computer (maybe I'll push the general lot limit to 50 but not have 50 in one household).
Several years ago, someone from the Sims 4 team explained why they didn't want to add a bunch of toggles. I will look for the source/explanation for that because I wanted them to give more options too, but I don't think creating a default would be that simple if many variables were introduced, especially since the game also has to work decently well on consoles.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
Although loading screens are annoying, they’re not a deal breaker for me. I thought it would be the case as TS4 is not open world.
There’s a lot of storytelling possibilities. The No Ghost rule was interesting.
What I’m thinking about is what wasn’t shown.
I’m sure there was a blip in Neighbourhood Stories where pets ended up as the sole resident. Can this occur in the rental agreement? What about horses?
Do children get taken away if all the adults die or can the property owner if living on the lot get an option to adopt them?
I do want to wait until the full livestream though before deciding.
The loading screen will probably be like the ones we see when we place lots, or the ones we see when the lots transform (e.g. Eco Lifestyle’s & High School Years’ special lots). My guess is the livestream will be two weeks from now (Dec 1st maybe?) and then we’ll see more.
~I just like lifestates. Is that too much to ask for?~
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
We don't know what the loading screens will be like and we'll need to wait for the livestream to find out. I will argue that rabbitholes are not gameplay, it's just a system to park your unneeded sims that are getting in the way of playing and are completely useless when you tend to play single sims. Depending on neighbourhood you're playing in TS4, you can still send your sim out there out of the house to do something else, while you focus on other sims cooking on their home lot. There is nothing you can achieve on another's sims home lot that you can't do on your own lot and just being able to check in on them once in a while on a whim doesn't make-up for the fact that your neighbourhoods and community lots are overall devoid of sims and many of the said community lots are in fact rabbitholes. Yes, you will need to load a community lot in order to play in it in TS4, but then you get a fully playable lot full of sims instead of just a rabbithole and in my opinion that's a plus. You can even earn money in several ways in self-employed type careers, without leaving your lot and neighbourhood if you want active type careers, so you only load other lots because you want to not because you have to.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
Having loading screens to load each unit does not sound ideal, it might be okay if you are just playing as a normal sim but playing a sim like in the trailer where they were a landlord while also having a family doesn't sound like it will work particularly well.
Every time you need to visit a tenant you have to leave your home lot and your sims will take care of their own needs, if you have a family then you know what that means, sims will not go to sleep or take care of their needs in a normal order, if you make anything like food then it will just stay there like it was frozen in time.
Just go back and watch the trailer again, every time you see the landlord not being on their home lot, everyone else is gone and are just a picture on the bottom screen.
I will probably still buy this pack because I would like a pack to play over the holidays and I hope will be able to place sims in their own apartments. I can't say that I am interested in playing as a landlord after hearing about these loading screens, but we will see.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
Having loading screens to load each unit does not sound ideal, it might be okay if you are just playing as a normal sim but playing a sim like in the trailer where they were a landlord while also having a family doesn't sound like it will work particularly well.
Every time you need to visit a tenant you have to leave your home lot and your sims will take care of their own needs, if you have a family then you know what that means, sims will not go to sleep or take care of their needs in a normal order, if you make anything like food then it will just stay there like it was frozen in time.
Just go back and watch the trailer again, every time you see the landlord not being on their home lot, everyone else is gone and are just a picture on the bottom screen.
I will probably still buy this pack because I would like a pack to play over the holidays and I hope will be able to place sims in their own apartments. I can't say that I am interested in playing as a landlord after hearing about these loading screens, but we will see.
That is the big issue more than the loading screens. The fact sims won't have full needs when you come back to them, similar to when toddler sims gonto daycare and come back a mess wih no ability to develop their skills. Sounds very control freaky (I don't have kids otherwise I'd be a massive helicopter parent probably) but my sims live on a schedule for their work and tend to be tucked up in bed with all needs met when I save and leave them. When I come back they are on schedule and ready to go. Its why I cannot play rotationally. It'd be great if the devs could tweak things so our sims aren't in chaos when we come back or send them away to daycare.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
Same here, this is what i assumed they would be doing also, not reuse a system from another EP. But it is TS4, so I am not surprised I guess. I am surely disappointed, but it hasn't deterred me from wanting the pack, I will just wait to try to get a good deal on it. (Also, yes I am one of the players who loves to play multiple sims on diff lots, so that's a huge downfall for me with this, because I always do it with TS3, and I thought maybe this EP would offer some form of that on the new apt lots.)
The loading screen is a necessary evil imo. Otherwise 48 sims would bork even the highest end computers after a while. Not to mention the AI isn't that smart to handle that long term.
the loading screens are becoming less of an issue for me as i look at some of the really awesome build simmers are making with alot of "shared" spaces for the residents to use together. Have seen some really cool little house developments that act as little communities on like the 50 x 50 and 64 x 64 lots.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
We don't know what the loading screens will be like and we'll need to wait for the livestream to find out. I will argue that rabbitholes are not gameplay, it's just a system to park your unneeded sims that are getting in the way of playing and are completely useless when you tend to play single sims. Depending on neighbourhood you're playing in TS4, you can still send your sim out there out of the house to do something else, while you focus on other sims cooking on their home lot. There is nothing you can achieve on another's sims home lot that you can't do on your own lot and just being able to check in on them once in a while on a whim doesn't make-up for the fact that your neighbourhoods and community lots are overall devoid of sims and many of the said community lots are in fact rabbitholes. Yes, you will need to load a community lot in order to play in it in TS4, but then you get a fully playable lot full of sims instead of just a rabbithole and in my opinion that's a plus. You can even earn money in several ways in self-employed type careers, without leaving your lot and neighbourhood if you want active type careers, so you only load other lots because you want to not because you have to.
I agree that rabbit holes aren’t really gameplay, but I’m saying TS3’s open world was amazing because you could have sims on multiple active lots at the same time. Everything that is a rabbit hole in TS3 is still a rabbit hole in TS4, so it’s not like TS4 has improved on anything. Bars, parks, hangouts, festivals, nectaries, etc. are all active lots in TS3. I can have one sim buying stuff at the consignment store, another checking out the festival, and then one at a bar. You just can’t do that in TS4.
A lot of people like TS3 because they can load multiple active lots at once, something that’s impossible in TS4.
And even the argument against rabbit holes equally applies to TS4 as it does TS3. TS4 has just as many rabbit holes (most careers, elementary school, movie theaters, etc).
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
We don't know what the loading screens will be like and we'll need to wait for the livestream to find out. I will argue that rabbitholes are not gameplay, it's just a system to park your unneeded sims that are getting in the way of playing and are completely useless when you tend to play single sims. Depending on neighbourhood you're playing in TS4, you can still send your sim out there out of the house to do something else, while you focus on other sims cooking on their home lot. There is nothing you can achieve on another's sims home lot that you can't do on your own lot and just being able to check in on them once in a while on a whim doesn't make-up for the fact that your neighbourhoods and community lots are overall devoid of sims and many of the said community lots are in fact rabbitholes. Yes, you will need to load a community lot in order to play in it in TS4, but then you get a fully playable lot full of sims instead of just a rabbithole and in my opinion that's a plus. You can even earn money in several ways in self-employed type careers, without leaving your lot and neighbourhood if you want active type careers, so you only load other lots because you want to not because you have to.
I agree that rabbit holes aren’t really gameplay, but I’m saying TS3’s open world was amazing because you could have sims on multiple active lots at the same time. Everything that is a rabbit hole in TS3 is still a rabbit hole in TS4, so it’s not like TS4 has improved on anything. Bars, parks, hangouts, festivals, nectaries, etc. are all active lots in TS3. I can have one sim buying stuff at the consignment store, another checking out the festival, and then one at a bar. You just can’t do that in TS4.
A lot of people like TS3 because they can load multiple active lots at once, something that’s impossible in TS4.
And even the argument against rabbit holes equally applies to TS4 as it does TS3. TS4 has just as many rabbit holes (most careers, elementary school, movie theaters, etc).
The only problem with TS3 active lots, was that they were empty. You went to the park, it was empty, you went to the bar, it was also empty, all the so called active lots were empty or almost empty with just a cashier or a bartender tending to the lot. And sometimes they were closed too. I said it before that this type of open neighbourhood is useless and not fun to me. If I want my sims to drink alone, they can do so at home. I take my sims to community lots to raise their fun and to socialize and meet and befriend other sims, and to busk for tips and sell their merchandise, how are they going to do that if there is no one else on the lots? I also get to see what my other sims are getting up to when I am not actively playing them and I may incorporate some event into their storyline next time I play them.
Comments
I guess they have to allow multiple rooms in one apartment, otherwise no apartment could ever have a bathroom
Ok it looks like we can only load one unit at a time, and that sucks. Imagine if you are a landlord, and there are like six units and you have to go through a loading screen every time, it’s gonna get real annoying, real fast.
The new world still feels like the 'burbs. Will all of the options to customize and manage apartments be available in San Myshuno, the only urban world in the entire game? Somehow, I doubt it. That is, unless we use one of the few single lots that are available in that world. But what would be the point in that? SM has too few areas for community lots as it is.
It just doesn't feel right at all. Yet again, features are restrictive. TS4 remains the most compartmented and disjointed game in the series.
Since there isn't a new city available, I would have liked to see is an updated version of San Myshuno that is accessible in every new game.
I’m sure plenty of players have PCs that allow them to avoid loading screens and still maintain decent performance, so why can’t those players have an option that is more suited to their PCs? Catering to lower end systems only holds back TS4 and limits the player experience.
I fully agree and was kind of thinking this as I found this news out. It really is disappointing to me because on Twitter a while ago a simGuru claimed they think they can do apartments better than The Sims 2 did, but even with a detailed tenant application thing, etc, that all gets swept under by the fact that we need loading screens to go to the apartment 2 feet away. And how will sims break into places? They click "break in" on the door and then we get a loading screen to reappear right where we just were? It breaks the immersion soooo badly. I really was excited for this pack, and I still slightly am, but this kind of dampered my mood for it.
I don't think the game is catering to "potato laptops" with the loading screens. I think this is a misconception. Even though TS4 works on lower-end computers which is good, the playing experience seems to center higher-end ones. For example, loading screens only appear for a few seconds on high-end gaming computers so they're not that big of a deal even with all packs and tons of mods/CC. However, for slower computers, I think it takes 30 seconds to a few minutes to travel between lots, which is probably annoying... It would be great if there weren't any loading screens and the game let us play with 50 Sims on a lot, etc. but many of the people concerned about this seem to be those with slow loading times. If it takes a long time to load lots, it's also likely that the computer might struggle with processing multiple units on a single lot if we were able to view them all at once. TS4 simulates a lot of different stuff in the background and it's not that easy of a game to run if there are 50+ Sims on a lot with a bunch of interactive objects.
Tons of toggles add complexity to the game and complicate listed system requirements, so there's probably reluctance to add a bunch of toggles in the option menu. Instead, they made the game easy to mod and more advanced users can use mods to increase household size or the number of Sims allowed on a lot.
I just hope that this pack isn't buggy.
Where are these rumors coming from? They say we can easily be just tenants. It means we can move in without worrying about landlord gameplay.
I think even the presence of the loading screens, however short, are kind of immersion breaking. They’re super jarring when you just want to visit your neighbor for instance. But even aside from that, they limit gameplay. If I want a sim to say hi to their neighbors, I can only load one lot. I can’t have some sims socialize at home, and then others greet their neighbors. I essentially have to choose only one sim to follow and let the rest of the household meander offscreen.
What if I want my teen sims to hangout at their friend’s house, while also having their parents work on skills, and the children socialize with a different household? In Sims 3 and Sims 2 Apartment Life, I could focus both on having certain sims socialize in different houses/apartments, while also focusing on developing other sims at home.
And I don’t think optional toggles would up the system requirements. They just have to list the minimum requirements, and these optional toggles are optional and not necessary so the system requirements wouldn’t be any more intensive than they are now. Have a certain default, and then if players want, they can up the default settings to match their system. Meanwhile, other players who can’t handle it can just keep their systems at the default minimum requirements without any hassle.
I meant with the ”rumors” that some people on social media (and these forums) are worried that we cannot place households or that rotational players are not able to enjoy this EP…and that there is still seemingly a lot of confusion that Sims team has yet to reassure for everyone…before I was convinced we could use Manage Worlds for placing our households like the other lots but this is making even me worried now…but I feel like they already confirmed many times we can place our own households into available apartment units if we want to.
Several years ago, someone from the Sims 4 team explained why they didn't want to add a bunch of toggles. I will look for the source/explanation for that because I wanted them to give more options too, but I don't think creating a default would be that simple if many variables were introduced, especially since the game also has to work decently well on consoles.
You certainly couldn't load multiple apartments at the same time in TS2. If you wanted to see your neighbours you had to either visit them or meet them in the shared space. As for TS4, it's possible to call your neighbours and friends to come over and visit you on your lot or some community lot, and you can also hang out with them in shared neighbourhood space. You don't need to go visit them on their lot if you don't want to deal with loading screens. Also, you often see and meet your neighbours in the street outside your house if you only want to say hi to them and many times they come and visit on their own. As for checking on several sims at the same time on different lots, that just isn't fun or easily doable, that's why TS3 enthusiasts loved the rabbithole buildings, because they could just send their sims there and get them out of the active lot while pretending they are doing something. In TS4 you can get pretty much a similar experience to TS3 if you try to make full use of the neighbourhood space, especially if you choose to play in a neighbourhood that offers plenty of activities with food stands, playgrounds and festivals.
There’s a lot of storytelling possibilities. The No Ghost rule was interesting.
What I’m thinking about is what wasn’t shown.
I’m sure there was a blip in Neighbourhood Stories where pets ended up as the sole resident. Can this occur in the rental agreement? What about horses?
Do children get taken away if all the adults die or can the property owner if living on the lot get an option to adopt them?
I do want to wait until the full livestream though before deciding.
I think what I was imagining and hoping for was like TS2’s apartment system where units that weren’t your’s were blacked out and not loaded, and only loaded once you knocked on their door. That way you save resources by only rendering your own active unit, but also avoid loading screens when you want to visit neighbors.
And I’d argue it is fun to check in on multiple sims on multiple lots. That’s why a lot of players loved TS3 Ambitions, they could follow their sims at work, and then when that got boring they could focus on the rest of the household. I myself used to have my household everywhere, with teen sims hanging out at parks, parent sims cooking meals at home, etc. A lot of people actually hated the rabbit holes in TS3. It just makes for smoother gameplay to send a sim somewhere without loading screens.
We don't know what the loading screens will be like and we'll need to wait for the livestream to find out. I will argue that rabbitholes are not gameplay, it's just a system to park your unneeded sims that are getting in the way of playing and are completely useless when you tend to play single sims. Depending on neighbourhood you're playing in TS4, you can still send your sim out there out of the house to do something else, while you focus on other sims cooking on their home lot. There is nothing you can achieve on another's sims home lot that you can't do on your own lot and just being able to check in on them once in a while on a whim doesn't make-up for the fact that your neighbourhoods and community lots are overall devoid of sims and many of the said community lots are in fact rabbitholes. Yes, you will need to load a community lot in order to play in it in TS4, but then you get a fully playable lot full of sims instead of just a rabbithole and in my opinion that's a plus. You can even earn money in several ways in self-employed type careers, without leaving your lot and neighbourhood if you want active type careers, so you only load other lots because you want to not because you have to.
Having loading screens to load each unit does not sound ideal, it might be okay if you are just playing as a normal sim but playing a sim like in the trailer where they were a landlord while also having a family doesn't sound like it will work particularly well.
Every time you need to visit a tenant you have to leave your home lot and your sims will take care of their own needs, if you have a family then you know what that means, sims will not go to sleep or take care of their needs in a normal order, if you make anything like food then it will just stay there like it was frozen in time.
Just go back and watch the trailer again, every time you see the landlord not being on their home lot, everyone else is gone and are just a picture on the bottom screen.
I will probably still buy this pack because I would like a pack to play over the holidays and I hope will be able to place sims in their own apartments. I can't say that I am interested in playing as a landlord after hearing about these loading screens, but we will see.
That is the big issue more than the loading screens. The fact sims won't have full needs when you come back to them, similar to when toddler sims gonto daycare and come back a mess wih no ability to develop their skills. Sounds very control freaky (I don't have kids otherwise I'd be a massive helicopter parent probably) but my sims live on a schedule for their work and tend to be tucked up in bed with all needs met when I save and leave them. When I come back they are on schedule and ready to go. Its why I cannot play rotationally. It'd be great if the devs could tweak things so our sims aren't in chaos when we come back or send them away to daycare.
Same here, this is what i assumed they would be doing also, not reuse a system from another EP. But it is TS4, so I am not surprised I guess. I am surely disappointed, but it hasn't deterred me from wanting the pack, I will just wait to try to get a good deal on it. (Also, yes I am one of the players who loves to play multiple sims on diff lots, so that's a huge downfall for me with this, because I always do it with TS3, and I thought maybe this EP would offer some form of that on the new apt lots.)
I agree that rabbit holes aren’t really gameplay, but I’m saying TS3’s open world was amazing because you could have sims on multiple active lots at the same time. Everything that is a rabbit hole in TS3 is still a rabbit hole in TS4, so it’s not like TS4 has improved on anything. Bars, parks, hangouts, festivals, nectaries, etc. are all active lots in TS3. I can have one sim buying stuff at the consignment store, another checking out the festival, and then one at a bar. You just can’t do that in TS4.
A lot of people like TS3 because they can load multiple active lots at once, something that’s impossible in TS4.
And even the argument against rabbit holes equally applies to TS4 as it does TS3. TS4 has just as many rabbit holes (most careers, elementary school, movie theaters, etc).
The only problem with TS3 active lots, was that they were empty. You went to the park, it was empty, you went to the bar, it was also empty, all the so called active lots were empty or almost empty with just a cashier or a bartender tending to the lot. And sometimes they were closed too. I said it before that this type of open neighbourhood is useless and not fun to me. If I want my sims to drink alone, they can do so at home. I take my sims to community lots to raise their fun and to socialize and meet and befriend other sims, and to busk for tips and sell their merchandise, how are they going to do that if there is no one else on the lots? I also get to see what my other sims are getting up to when I am not actively playing them and I may incorporate some event into their storyline next time I play them.