Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
True. Although honestly, for me, it doesn’t even have to be ‘The Sims’! I don’t play TS because of he name I play it for the type of game it is. If a better game comes along that does what TS games do and more; “bye bye sims, hello new life sim game”
I just want a good game at this point in the series, I don’t care who makes it. Just let it be good!
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
I am worried about using MCCC, being too dependent on it in my game. It is just so good.
If it is just going to be that one single person making it, the game feels a bit vulnerable. You are one sick parent away from derailment or really long waiting times. Hope there will be some backup added at some point.
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
Due to the fact we will have pets,and naturualy aging.I think Paralivians will be good . Or aleast decent.The creator has shown passion to this game . Sure it won't be the sims,,but it could be a good alternative .
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
Well I'm hopeful because the guy seem to have passion for it.As for the requirements.The guy did say he is planning to make a version or mode for low end computers as well .Just that they would loose graphical details.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
As you also know, a building exercise is exactly how the Sims series got started. Will Wright's reason for adding Sims was as a means to judge the quality of the builds. For Will Wright, the building came first.
Anyway, everyone's got to start somewhere. It's a good thing that no one judged The Sims by its elementary graphics. Its sprite-based graphics looked outdated, even at launch. The amazing gameplay is why people stayed with the series, not the initial graphics. Thank goodness for that or we would have never seen the incredible TS2 or the groundbreaking technological advances of TS3.
BTW, this is the feedback forum. I used a game under development to illustrate the type of innovative thinking that I would like to see from The Sims. If someone at EA feels some kind of way about that, oh well. Why ask for feedback then?
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Another game not made by EA or any of EA's studios shouldn't be on these forums unless Maxis or EA put the info there or gave permission on these forums from my understanding. Let them talk about it on their own forums. I come to EA forums and the Sims forums to discuss our games. That's all. If I was interested in that game I would surely go to the place that person shares their info on. I expect to see Sims related info on these forums and maybe even some of EA's other games now and then - but not some game that has nothing to do with the Sims or EA's games.
I am interested in what is coming for Sims 4 or future Sims games and that is why I am on the SIMS forums. Otherwise I would be on the forum for those other games not produced by EA's games.
Post edited by Writin_Reg on
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I've read a couple of posts here, and it seems like everyone is pretty optimistic about Paralives, which is good!
I wanted to share something that I have posted on YouTube as a comment multiple times, since most of the naysayers are there, but also so that people here can see things with a little bit more clarity if they think it's unreasonable for a single indie developer to make their mark on an industry.
League of Legends was started by 2 friends who loved gaming, and they were able to raise $1.25 mil from their family and other investors in order to fund their game. They legitimately revolutionised an industry and even released LoL before the official release of Dota 2 - which was developed by Valve, the developer that made Steam. Dota 2 still has a large user-base but we can't deny that League is competition as it is a widely played MOBA.
The Sims creator, Will Wright developed SimCity independently for 2 years by himself before Maxis was even founded. That was 4 years before the game was even released. By the time Maxis was founded by Will Wright and Jeff Braun, they were an extremely small software company. Will Wright had tried to get SimCity published by the big publishers at the time, but everyone said 'no', so Maxis published it as one of their main projects. The rest is history. By the time Maxis was acquired by EA, Will Wright still had to fight for The Sims to even be published as no one took him seriously, and it was released about a decade after SimCity.
Paralives may not be competition right now in its current state, but we have no clue what will happen in 5-6-10 years from now if Paralives gets some traction and better funding, more developers, etc.
There are so many examples of EA flopping on their games to the point that there isn't even a need for "competition" because people don't wanna play their games. There are a lot of examples of indie developers creating huge successes vs giant companies, who seem to churn out million dollar flops, such as SW Battlefront or Dragon Age.
Some titles like Minecraft, League, Cities Skylines, etc. were all made by indie developers. Actually, lets talk about Cities Skylines; it was produced by Colossal Order who is a developer made up of ... about 17 people. Due to the horrible release of EA's SimCity in 2013, Cities Skylines received huge success when it was released 2 yrs later in 2015 because it finally gave the players what they wanted.
So a developer made up of 17 people who had the backing of a publishing company that was made up of about 100 people - about 5% of the amount of people that EA has - and are worth about 1.5% (85 mil USD compared to EA's 5.15 bil) of EA's net worth ... effectively created a title that continues to win over users, and it has made its mark as one of the top city simulators that is out there. Not only that, but Colossal Order is a Finnish developer, so they aren't even American. When you think about how big the US is and how wide EA's reach is, it's crazy that a small developer was able to beat out such a giant. But it just adds to the realisation that money does not translate into quality, or even success.
So ... while I'm not really concerned as to whether or not Paralives makes it into its final stages of release, I am excited that someone is at least going for it, and I want that person to be successful, whatever that means to them. Because they are doing this essentially for nothing, and they are pretty much just running on "I think this is something cool that I want to create". There may be an opportunity to win over a market, but that isn't a sure bet for one person developing a game, so at the very least, I hope they are able to make a notable advance in their career with this project.
The whole point of this industry is to be creative, innovative, etc. If EA can't deliver, they can only ride their name for so long until they sink. Imagine if Will Wright had this idea for SimCity or The Sims and just played it safe, kept it simple and mediocre. EA would have never invested in them. The games probably would have earned them a decent chunk, but I highly doubt that it would have created the community that we have seen over the decades. The biggest thing that can make or break you is your community. Give them what they want, then you get what you want plus loyalty and longevity. Don't give them what they want ... well, people will catch on eventually. It happens everywhere. I'm serious.
Anyway, here's to looking forward and seeing what comes from Paralives. I'm genuinely excited to see what happens.
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Another game not made by EA or any of EA's studios shouldn't be on these forums unless Maxis or EA put the info there or gave permission on these forums from my understanding. Let them talk about it on their own forums. I come to EA forums and the Sims forums to discuss our games. That's all. If I was interested in that game I would surely go to the place that person shares their info on. I expect to see Sims related info on these forums and maybe even some of EA's other games now and then - but not some game that has nothing to do with the Sims or EA's games.
I am interested in what is coming for Sims 4 or future Sims games and that is why I am on the SIMS forums. Otherwise I would be on the forum for those other games not produced by EA's games.
That’s not a rule, that’s weird wishful thinking on your part. There have been other games that have been talked about here; Planet Coaster has its own thread all be it it wasn’t very successful- the thread not the game.
I see nothing wrong with people discussing Paralives. Believe it or not competition is what The Sims badly needs. At best it will inspire people to ask for more from the Sims and hopefully drive the devs to create new and exciting content people want. instead of recolouring another kitchen counter At worse it will cause people to jump ship to try out the new game. And if people leave the Sims in droves when Paralives does get released - and we are assuming the sims 4 will still be around by then- then I have to question how good the game was on the first place if it can entice people away.
At the top of this forum it says THE SIMS - not any other game - period. So in my opinion that should be the games being discussed in this forum.
If not then where do we go that want to discuss The Sims - and in particular the Sims 4?
If the mods of this forum wanted the thread to be closed, they would have done so days ago. I'm sorry if it bothers you to see something else being discussed in this forum but, please remember, once you read the first post, you knew exactly what you were getting into. You chose to post in this thread.
Having said that, can we please get back on track? This thread was about innovation and creativity in game development. Paralives may still be a one-man job and yet, IMO, it is showing the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that I haven't seen in the Sims series for a very long time.
For example, the community has waited five years for a lounge chair, for goodness sake! Now that it is here, it is arguably the most lackluster and obvious lack of effort put into that type of object in the entire series. In particular, since one of this installment's main draws was supposed to be multitasking, the coding for that chair continues to be an incredible disappointment. Instead of tackling the difficulty level and doing whatever it took to succeed in bringing that signature feature to the lounge chair, EA gave up. Likewise with whims, rather than fix the whims by tying them more closely to a Sim's traits or recent events withing that Sim's experience, EA/Maxis threw in the towel and made whims invisible, by default. The concept has been abandoned. If someone isn't ashamed of making that decision, they should be.
Adding more onto the list: the recent addition of modular stairs also has its limitations in comparison to what has come before. Worlds are becoming smaller and expansion packs are becoming anything but expansive. IL is the most self-contained expansion pack in my memory. None of its main features can be used anywhere else in the game -- not the conservation career, swimming, boating, etc. Diving has been demoted to a dull rabbit hole. And still, personalities are near non-existent and the new traits are nothing but marketing tools for a pack that has already been purchased. The primary purpose for traits should be to breathe life and individuality into each Sim. Instead, their new purpose is to handhold the player through the features of each new pack.
All of that is to say: my impression from EA/Maxis is that they feel that they don't have to try quite as hard anymore. As long as something is attractive and looks the part, it's good enough. However, looking the part isn't enough. Being 'good enough' isn't, well, good enough! At least, it's not from a company that used to provide excellence.
I would like to see Maxis remember its roots. Since Maxis allegedly has a great deal of autonomy, I would like to see the company go back to designing The Sims as if it were still a one-man operation with something to prove. I would like to see Maxis design features as if they've only got one shot at it and they need to make it as near to perfect as they can possibly make it, not as if they can always improve it or patch the issues later. I would like to see the game designed as if Maxis still has a passion for it, as if they love the game more than anything and can't bear to see it go out the door half-finished. Most of all, I'd like to see the game designed as if those at Maxis actually play it.
There is nothing in the forum rules saying we should only talk about the sims . There is also an off-topic thread . The devs could close this thread if they want too.Obviousely they don't seem to mind .
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Another game not made by EA or any of EA's studios shouldn't be on these forums unless Maxis or EA put the info there or gave permission on these forums from my understanding. Let them talk about it on their own forums. I come to EA forums and the Sims forums to discuss our games. That's all. If I was interested in that game I would surely go to the place that person shares their info on. I expect to see Sims related info on these forums and maybe even some of EA's other games now and then - but not some game that has nothing to do with the Sims or EA's games.
I am interested in what is coming for Sims 4 or future Sims games and that is why I am on the SIMS forums. Otherwise I would be on the forum for those other games not produced by EA's games.
Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune (to which you’re entitled too, of course), but IIRC it wasn’t too long ago you were quite vocal about not even touching TS4, or your numerous family members and wishing for a competitor. You can talk about The Sims all you like nobody is stopping you, but we’re speaking about something else here on this thread, you can leave, as I said. Just because you like the game now, you don’t get to chose what WE can like or be excited about, as I said, your bitterness is showing.
You know, I’m tired of people trying to dictate to what I or anybody can post or say. If the Mods wish us to stop talking then I’ll respect that. But with all due respect, you’re nobody to me, so... 🤷🏼♂️, yeah, I’m still gonna talk and be excited about another SIMS type game. You do you though, just don’t dictate to me.
—T
Edit; I won’t be replying again to refrain from derailing this thread. Stay on topic if you wish to post here.
I just find it interesting that it is 20 years before anyone even bothered to build anything like the Sims game that I play and it has to be done by one or a few people being supported on Patreon. I hope it is the first of many with the new game engines these days.
If EA/Maxis makes big profits from Sims 4 surely it will be an incentive to other companies to try their own? We are not doing ourselves any favours by knocking the brand are we? I don't want to have to wait another 5 years or more for a possible contender. I want just want Maxis to improve its' game.
I like to see people trying to do something in this genre. It doesn't matter if it's a big developer or a guy sitting in his living room doing it all alone, it's a big project and I imagine it's not an easy one. I hope Alex goes far with it to be honest. I welcome more life simulation games, they're fun. Is the game going to be good? Who knows but it's worth a try.
I haven't heard anything about it in a while but Rod Humble(former EA and Second Life) has been put in charge of a new studio opened by Paradox, Tectonic. I'm really hoping they are going to go for a life simulator as well. I think it's a market that has been dominated by The Sims for far to long and there definitely needs to be some other options out there for the players.
Build mode looks good in Paralives. The bed to bunk-bed transition is neat.
Frankly though, ever since the most recent stairs update, Sims 4 build mode is my favorite of all the Sims games now. I can do pretty much what I want - sure there are still enhancements/updates I want but it's come a long, long way and the build/buy items (especially now with the build cheats) are varied and plentiful. But what's important to me is gameplay and this is where the Sims 4 needs its attention now.
Since we haven't even seen any characters, much less actual gameplay from Paralives, there's no reason for me to think that Paralives will come close to Sims 4 in terms of gameplay, especially with just one developer. Despite people trashing the Sims 4 team as "lazy" etc., Sims 4 as a game is quite complex. The developer of Paralives will absolutely need to scale up and bring a number of people onto his team if he wants to begin to come anywhere close to Sims 4.
As an indie game with its own unique gameplay, it could be a good alternative (on the level of "House Flipper"). But I just don't see this as a Sims-franchise killer in any way, shape, or form yet.
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Another game not made by EA or any of EA's studios shouldn't be on these forums unless Maxis or EA put the info there or gave permission on these forums from my understanding. Let them talk about it on their own forums. I come to EA forums and the Sims forums to discuss our games. That's all. If I was interested in that game I would surely go to the place that person shares their info on. I expect to see Sims related info on these forums and maybe even some of EA's other games now and then - but not some game that has nothing to do with the Sims or EA's games.
I am interested in what is coming for Sims 4 or future Sims games and that is why I am on the SIMS forums. Otherwise I would be on the forum for those other games not produced by EA's games.
Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune (to which you’re entitled too, of course), but IIRC it wasn’t too long ago you were quite vocal about not even touching TS4, or your numerous family members and wishing for a competitor. You can talk about The Sims all you like nobody is stopping you, but we’re speaking about something else here on this thread, you can leave, as I said. Just because you like the game now, you don’t get to chose what WE can like or be excited about, as I said, your bitterness is showing.
You know, I’m tired of people trying to dictate to what I or anybody can post or say. If the Mods wish us to stop talking then I’ll respect that. But with all due respect, you’re nobody to me, so... 🤷🏼♂️, yeah, I’m still gonna talk and be excited about another SIMS type game. You do you though, just don’t dictate to me.
—T
Edit; I won’t be replying again to refrain from derailing this thread. Stay on topic if you wish to post here.
I am not bitter. Time is not my friend now a days and it has been since toddler and Vamps came to Sims 4 i have been back and strong in tSims 4 corner - not wavering too much - and very much enjoying some of the new stuff like a native island living and recently spellcasting. So yes i am enjoying Sims 4 since they brought all the Sims life stages to the game and finally started adding supernaturals.
As I said time is not my friend and I really cannot be concerned with competition not by EA and Maxis that looks at years down the road seeing I don't see years down the road - it is not realistic to me at this point and I have a need to concentrate on what hopefully may be in what time I have left and not something I may never and most likely ever see. So yes having a serious life threatening illness - well your future visions lessen extremely and I would just love to enjoy what I can now.
I understand not most are in my shoes - but then you never know. 3 years ago I was not here in this mind thought and like many had all the time in the world. Then real life hits you upside the head and you just have one day at a time - not years. I know not your problem - but it is where I am.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I hope so -- Paralives looks incredible, and with a strong community backing it, it could be absolutely amazing. I know Second Life is just fine, so I'm probably being alarmist here. But Sims needs some serious competition which Second Life is not. I have a feeling that Sims 5 is going to be more an MMO, but one with severe limitations to avoid the gross mess that the Sims Online was.
I was only using SL for RP purposes, but I never even once considered it anything at all related to the sims, let alone a sims competitor lol.
However, if Sims5 does ANYTHING AT ALL that's MMO style, or ONLINE gameplay, where OTHER PEOPLE are in my game, oh absolutely not!!!! I don't want a single other person anywhere NEAR my sims gameplay, or being able to influence my stories AT ALL. Taking a classically single player game to MMO is a TERRIBLE move that I hope EA stays FAR, FAR AWAY from. My god, just the thought of other people being in my sims game is awful. No thanks!!
I also would HATE to be forced to be online constantly. I can barely load the gallery fine on bad internet days, but to have to deal with loading in OTHER PEOPLE'S SIMS too?? No!!
"Sims5 might be an MMO" is literally my worse nightmare and 100% death of the series.
100% agree with this. I don't want other people in my sims game or always online. Definite deal breaker.
Have a super fantastic awesome splendid amazing day! -TheQxxn
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
If I understand you correctly, what you're actually saying is that you prefer TS4's personalities because the Sims don't actually have any, therefore, you're able to imagine and implant your own?
If that's the case, that's a whole 'nother discussion, totally different from what other posters have said. Oddly enough, your post seems to corroborate the feelings of many that TS4 Sims do not have personalities.
In any case, you can pretty much achieve the same results by turning autonomy off.
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
If I understand you correctly, what you're actually saying is that you prefer TS4's personalities because the Sims don't actually have any, therefore, you're able to imagine and implant your own?
If that's the case, that's a whole 'nother discussion, totally different from what other posters have said. Oddly enough, your post seems to corroborate the feelings of many that TS4 Sims do not have personalities.
In any case, you can pretty much achieve the same results by turning autonomy off.
I wouldn't say they have none.. For example an evil sim will constantly beat up my kids toys etc... But they are minimal and less involved so you can work with them easier. My sims stories are much less limited and confined to the personality that the Sims 2 etc. So yes it's a less is more type situation to me. Less personality = more freedom for me to be creative with the personalities given, and so for my gameplay style less = better.
I can totally understand why ppl prefer more but I also know that there are quite a few ppl that prefer Sims 4 personalities as well, usually for reasons I've described. It's just a matter of how you play. But the personality style of "less" is exactly what makes sims 4 the best live mod game in the series (for me)
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
If I understand you correctly, what you're actually saying is that you prefer TS4's personalities because the Sims don't actually have any, therefore, you're able to imagine and implant your own?
If that's the case, that's a whole 'nother discussion, totally different from what other posters have said. Oddly enough, your post seems to corroborate the feelings of many that TS4 Sims do not have personalities.
In any case, you can pretty much achieve the same results by turning autonomy off.
I wouldn't say they have none.. For example an evil sim will constantly beat up my kids toys etc... But they are minimal and less involved so you can work with them easier. My sims stories are much less limited and confined to the personality that the Sims 2 etc. So yes it's a less is more type situation to me. Less personality = more freedom for me to be creative with the personalities given, and so for my gameplay style less = better.
I can totally understand why ppl prefer more but I also know that there are quite a few ppl that prefer Sims 4 personalities as well, usually for reasons I've described. It's just a matter of how you play. But the personality style of "less" is exactly what makes sims 4 the best live mod game in the series (for me)
I couldn't play with autonomy off. Sims standing around waiting for me just ruins the flow of game play for me lol 😂
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
If I understand you correctly, what you're actually saying is that you prefer TS4's personalities because the Sims don't actually have any, therefore, you're able to imagine and implant your own?
If that's the case, that's a whole 'nother discussion, totally different from what other posters have said. Oddly enough, your post seems to corroborate the feelings of many that TS4 Sims do not have personalities.
In any case, you can pretty much achieve the same results by turning autonomy off.
I wouldn't say they have none.. For example an evil sim will constantly beat up my kids toys etc... But they are minimal and less involved so you can work with them easier. My sims stories are much less limited and confined to the personality that the Sims 2 etc. So yes it's a less is more type situation to me. Less personality = more freedom for me to be creative with the personalities given, and so for my gameplay style less = better.
I can totally understand why ppl prefer more but I also know that there are quite a few ppl that prefer Sims 4 personalities as well, usually for reasons I've described. It's just a matter of how you play. But the personality style of "less" is exactly what makes sims 4 the best live mod game in the series (for me)
That makes sense to me. To each his own, indeed. I just thought it odd that you said that TS4 personalities are better. In my mind, I translated that to mean that you believe that the simulation of personality is better. I think that I did an honest to goodness double-take, sitting at my computer. LOL.
I'm more of a player who enjoys playing, allowing the Sims to direct where things will lead. This is the first iteration where I have found myself evolving into the role of an active storyteller. The personalities are so poor, I had to supply them myself. I enjoy storytelling, after a fashion. However, it wouldn't have been my first choice. I do it as a means of getting something out of my investment. When I want to play a game in Live mode, I always return to TS3. Though TS2 has a better simulation of personality, by far, it's been difficult for me to go back because of how stagnant the world is.
If only there was a game with enough options so that there could be something for everyone.
EA/Maxis are keeping an eye on him. Probably making sure he doesn't use any of their programming.
More like worried he might make a better game, and by the way it’s going so far, oh boy, oh boy.
Ahhhh you guys, y’all need to join his patron, just saying
—T
I guess to each their own - but it looks like a bad mobile game to me on my very high end system. Not the least bit interested in games that look that poorly.
As a programmer yourself, you know that what we see now isn't necessarily the finished product. Paralives is years away still. Remember how low-res and terrible TS3 looked when screenshots first started coming out? The buy catalog objects looked flat and featureless. Pretty much how TS4's base game objects still look to this day. Things can easily change.
In any case, if the gameplay is there, other successful indy games have already proved that graphics won't matter to the bottom line. Fun and playability are the deciding factors for most gamers.
Well it needs some real serious improvement to get my attention - and preferably not here on the Sims forum. I find it a bit rude to be shown here, personally. But anyway - so far I haven't seen anything that draws my interest - especially with the kind of time line I have seen them talk about and looking like it looks now. Very washed out in my view - but to each their own. I am surprised not seeing characters - they are usually first. Looks like a lot building exercise for starter players to me more than anything else - but that is my opinion at this point.
How is it rude? I think it’s exactly what this forum needs, personally. A bit of competition never hurt anyone and I like the idea of people seeing how bare and soulless TS4 looks compared to Paralives already. Might make people open their eyes a little.
Careful, your bitterness is starting to show. You don’t *have* to like/buy it. And considering there is no other place to really talk about Sims type games, I’m not surprised people are talking about it here. Let them, I say. You also don’t have to even open any Paralive related thread 🤷🏼♂️
—T
Personally, Sims isn't bare to me at all. I'm a long time player since Sims 1 and the 4th is my favourite by far. It holds my attention for much longer than older ones did and I Love how the sims and their personalities are now. I play pretty much solely in live mode and I love that I can create any story with the Sims in this version without them fighting against me.
That being said, from what I can see of Paralives, it looks amazing too! I really love the art style of it and the build mode so far looks completely amazing. I'm really excited for it too, provided the Parapeople will be as good as the build mode. I'll hold off any real judgement on it until I can see that, but the descriptions sound good and the videos look fantastic.
I think that if this game gets finished and the people are as good as the build mode, I will proudly play both Paralives and Sims 4.
You speak as if the sims personalities have improved. They haven’t lol. Look, you may like the game. I don’t dispute that, but fact speaks for itself and TS4 is nowhere near as in-depth as TS2 let alone 3. The game has more stuff, yes, since launch. But the core of it is still the same. They’ll never change that. Not now.
I frankly don’t care who likes it. The game IS bare compared to the others, it handles less, it offers less. This is just a fact. And when you have THREE other iterations to go up against, you have to be better. Lack of open world alone makes TS4 lower than TS3. Open world in an evolution. You don’t have to like it, but open world is better than a closed world. It’s more advanced.
TS4 is just... bare.
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
Fully appreciating not everyone cares for open world when for me it’s essential, we all have our own preferences. But running smoothly and travelling between worlds isn’t ruled out just because a game comes with an open world. With a mod you can even travel between worlds in good old Sims 3, so there is no reason to assume it wouldn’t be possible in a successor or an alternative game. And running smoothly is only a matter of getting routing right. Also completely possible with an open game, regardless how they messed up that aspect in Sims 4’s predecessor.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
I understand your line of thinking and your argument and how that can work, but doesn’t that rather mean they suit you better as a writer because they actually lack personality (and therefore can be sort of moulded into any kind of storyline you come up with for them)?
(oh, oops @Cynna , should have scrolled first haha)
Comments
"We'll have lots of stuff" doesn't necessarily translate to "good game".
I do like what I've seen so far and I'd love to see how the build mode plays out when it's all done. So far, it's pretty.
But it's build mode and while it's making me curious, I don't think the simulation can be judged by that side alone.
The dev will very likely need more people on board eventually, or we'll all need to be very patient because it's going to take quite some time.
I hope, for his sake, that the AI and the game as a whole lives up to people's expectations. (meanwhile, I'll wonder what the minimum requirements will be for running it)
True. Although honestly, for me, it doesn’t even have to be ‘The Sims’! I don’t play TS because of he name I play it for the type of game it is. If a better game comes along that does what TS games do and more; “bye bye sims, hello new life sim game”
I just want a good game at this point in the series, I don’t care who makes it. Just let it be good!
—T
In my opinion, personalities have improved. To me, they are better in 4. You may not agree and you can play with other versions but i would hate to have a return to the personality style of earlier games where things are more limited. Yes, there are things previous games did better... Sims 2 animations are amazing and lifelike and i love them and sims did more together, but the game play just isn't there for me and it's mostly because of the personalities.
As for open world i agree it'd be nice to have... But it's a minor thing to me and I don't really care. I'd prefer a smoothly running game and being able to visit all worlds. If we could have it all then sure, i wouldn't complain about them adding it in. I don't really care if something is more advanced.. Just if it's more fun haha.
I am worried about using MCCC, being too dependent on it in my game. It is just so good.
If it is just going to be that one single person making it, the game feels a bit vulnerable. You are one sick parent away from derailment or really long waiting times. Hope there will be some backup added at some point.
Well I'm hopeful because the guy seem to have passion for it.As for the requirements.The guy did say he is planning to make a version or mode for low end computers as well .Just that they would loose graphical details.
As you also know, a building exercise is exactly how the Sims series got started. Will Wright's reason for adding Sims was as a means to judge the quality of the builds. For Will Wright, the building came first.
Anyway, everyone's got to start somewhere. It's a good thing that no one judged The Sims by its elementary graphics. Its sprite-based graphics looked outdated, even at launch. The amazing gameplay is why people stayed with the series, not the initial graphics. Thank goodness for that or we would have never seen the incredible TS2 or the groundbreaking technological advances of TS3.
BTW, this is the feedback forum. I used a game under development to illustrate the type of innovative thinking that I would like to see from The Sims. If someone at EA feels some kind of way about that, oh well. Why ask for feedback then?
Another game not made by EA or any of EA's studios shouldn't be on these forums unless Maxis or EA put the info there or gave permission on these forums from my understanding. Let them talk about it on their own forums. I come to EA forums and the Sims forums to discuss our games. That's all. If I was interested in that game I would surely go to the place that person shares their info on. I expect to see Sims related info on these forums and maybe even some of EA's other games now and then - but not some game that has nothing to do with the Sims or EA's games.
I am interested in what is coming for Sims 4 or future Sims games and that is why I am on the SIMS forums. Otherwise I would be on the forum for those other games not produced by EA's games.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I wanted to share something that I have posted on YouTube as a comment multiple times, since most of the naysayers are there, but also so that people here can see things with a little bit more clarity if they think it's unreasonable for a single indie developer to make their mark on an industry.
League of Legends was started by 2 friends who loved gaming, and they were able to raise $1.25 mil from their family and other investors in order to fund their game. They legitimately revolutionised an industry and even released LoL before the official release of Dota 2 - which was developed by Valve, the developer that made Steam. Dota 2 still has a large user-base but we can't deny that League is competition as it is a widely played MOBA.
The Sims creator, Will Wright developed SimCity independently for 2 years by himself before Maxis was even founded. That was 4 years before the game was even released. By the time Maxis was founded by Will Wright and Jeff Braun, they were an extremely small software company. Will Wright had tried to get SimCity published by the big publishers at the time, but everyone said 'no', so Maxis published it as one of their main projects. The rest is history. By the time Maxis was acquired by EA, Will Wright still had to fight for The Sims to even be published as no one took him seriously, and it was released about a decade after SimCity.
Paralives may not be competition right now in its current state, but we have no clue what will happen in 5-6-10 years from now if Paralives gets some traction and better funding, more developers, etc.
There are so many examples of EA flopping on their games to the point that there isn't even a need for "competition" because people don't wanna play their games. There are a lot of examples of indie developers creating huge successes vs giant companies, who seem to churn out million dollar flops, such as SW Battlefront or Dragon Age.
Some titles like Minecraft, League, Cities Skylines, etc. were all made by indie developers. Actually, lets talk about Cities Skylines; it was produced by Colossal Order who is a developer made up of ... about 17 people. Due to the horrible release of EA's SimCity in 2013, Cities Skylines received huge success when it was released 2 yrs later in 2015 because it finally gave the players what they wanted.
So a developer made up of 17 people who had the backing of a publishing company that was made up of about 100 people - about 5% of the amount of people that EA has - and are worth about 1.5% (85 mil USD compared to EA's 5.15 bil) of EA's net worth ... effectively created a title that continues to win over users, and it has made its mark as one of the top city simulators that is out there. Not only that, but Colossal Order is a Finnish developer, so they aren't even American. When you think about how big the US is and how wide EA's reach is, it's crazy that a small developer was able to beat out such a giant. But it just adds to the realisation that money does not translate into quality, or even success.
So ... while I'm not really concerned as to whether or not Paralives makes it into its final stages of release, I am excited that someone is at least going for it, and I want that person to be successful, whatever that means to them. Because they are doing this essentially for nothing, and they are pretty much just running on "I think this is something cool that I want to create". There may be an opportunity to win over a market, but that isn't a sure bet for one person developing a game, so at the very least, I hope they are able to make a notable advance in their career with this project.
The whole point of this industry is to be creative, innovative, etc. If EA can't deliver, they can only ride their name for so long until they sink. Imagine if Will Wright had this idea for SimCity or The Sims and just played it safe, kept it simple and mediocre. EA would have never invested in them. The games probably would have earned them a decent chunk, but I highly doubt that it would have created the community that we have seen over the decades. The biggest thing that can make or break you is your community. Give them what they want, then you get what you want plus loyalty and longevity. Don't give them what they want ... well, people will catch on eventually. It happens everywhere. I'm serious.
Anyway, here's to looking forward and seeing what comes from Paralives. I'm genuinely excited to see what happens.
(I’m not following you concerning the personalities aspect, Sims 4 sims don’t have any, that’s pretty factual)
That’s not a rule, that’s weird wishful thinking on your part. There have been other games that have been talked about here; Planet Coaster has its own thread all be it it wasn’t very successful- the thread not the game.
I see nothing wrong with people discussing Paralives. Believe it or not competition is what The Sims badly needs. At best it will inspire people to ask for more from the Sims and hopefully drive the devs to create new and exciting content people want. instead of recolouring another kitchen counter At worse it will cause people to jump ship to try out the new game. And if people leave the Sims in droves when Paralives does get released - and we are assuming the sims 4 will still be around by then- then I have to question how good the game was on the first place if it can entice people away.
If not then where do we go that want to discuss The Sims - and in particular the Sims 4?
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
If the mods of this forum wanted the thread to be closed, they would have done so days ago. I'm sorry if it bothers you to see something else being discussed in this forum but, please remember, once you read the first post, you knew exactly what you were getting into. You chose to post in this thread.
Having said that, can we please get back on track? This thread was about innovation and creativity in game development. Paralives may still be a one-man job and yet, IMO, it is showing the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that I haven't seen in the Sims series for a very long time.
For example, the community has waited five years for a lounge chair, for goodness sake! Now that it is here, it is arguably the most lackluster and obvious lack of effort put into that type of object in the entire series. In particular, since one of this installment's main draws was supposed to be multitasking, the coding for that chair continues to be an incredible disappointment. Instead of tackling the difficulty level and doing whatever it took to succeed in bringing that signature feature to the lounge chair, EA gave up. Likewise with whims, rather than fix the whims by tying them more closely to a Sim's traits or recent events withing that Sim's experience, EA/Maxis threw in the towel and made whims invisible, by default. The concept has been abandoned. If someone isn't ashamed of making that decision, they should be.
Adding more onto the list: the recent addition of modular stairs also has its limitations in comparison to what has come before. Worlds are becoming smaller and expansion packs are becoming anything but expansive. IL is the most self-contained expansion pack in my memory. None of its main features can be used anywhere else in the game -- not the conservation career, swimming, boating, etc. Diving has been demoted to a dull rabbit hole. And still, personalities are near non-existent and the new traits are nothing but marketing tools for a pack that has already been purchased. The primary purpose for traits should be to breathe life and individuality into each Sim. Instead, their new purpose is to handhold the player through the features of each new pack.
All of that is to say: my impression from EA/Maxis is that they feel that they don't have to try quite as hard anymore. As long as something is attractive and looks the part, it's good enough. However, looking the part isn't enough. Being 'good enough' isn't, well, good enough! At least, it's not from a company that used to provide excellence.
I would like to see Maxis remember its roots. Since Maxis allegedly has a great deal of autonomy, I would like to see the company go back to designing The Sims as if it were still a one-man operation with something to prove. I would like to see Maxis design features as if they've only got one shot at it and they need to make it as near to perfect as they can possibly make it, not as if they can always improve it or patch the issues later. I would like to see the game designed as if Maxis still has a passion for it, as if they love the game more than anything and can't bear to see it go out the door half-finished. Most of all, I'd like to see the game designed as if those at Maxis actually play it.
That...that is what this thread is about.
Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune (to which you’re entitled too, of course), but IIRC it wasn’t too long ago you were quite vocal about not even touching TS4, or your numerous family members and wishing for a competitor. You can talk about The Sims all you like nobody is stopping you, but we’re speaking about something else here on this thread, you can leave, as I said. Just because you like the game now, you don’t get to chose what WE can like or be excited about, as I said, your bitterness is showing.
You know, I’m tired of people trying to dictate to what I or anybody can post or say. If the Mods wish us to stop talking then I’ll respect that. But with all due respect, you’re nobody to me, so... 🤷🏼♂️, yeah, I’m still gonna talk and be excited about another SIMS type game. You do you though, just don’t dictate to me.
—T
Edit; I won’t be replying again to refrain from derailing this thread. Stay on topic if you wish to post here.
If EA/Maxis makes big profits from Sims 4 surely it will be an incentive to other companies to try their own? We are not doing ourselves any favours by knocking the brand are we? I don't want to have to wait another 5 years or more for a possible contender. I want just want Maxis to improve its' game.
I haven't heard anything about it in a while but Rod Humble(former EA and Second Life) has been put in charge of a new studio opened by Paradox, Tectonic. I'm really hoping they are going to go for a life simulator as well. I think it's a market that has been dominated by The Sims for far to long and there definitely needs to be some other options out there for the players.
Exactly. Thank you!
I am not bitter. Time is not my friend now a days and it has been since toddler and Vamps came to Sims 4 i have been back and strong in tSims 4 corner - not wavering too much - and very much enjoying some of the new stuff like a native island living and recently spellcasting. So yes i am enjoying Sims 4 since they brought all the Sims life stages to the game and finally started adding supernaturals.
As I said time is not my friend and I really cannot be concerned with competition not by EA and Maxis that looks at years down the road seeing I don't see years down the road - it is not realistic to me at this point and I have a need to concentrate on what hopefully may be in what time I have left and not something I may never and most likely ever see. So yes having a serious life threatening illness - well your future visions lessen extremely and I would just love to enjoy what I can now.
I understand not most are in my shoes - but then you never know. 3 years ago I was not here in this mind thought and like many had all the time in the world. Then real life hits you upside the head and you just have one day at a time - not years. I know not your problem - but it is where I am.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
100% agree with this. I don't want other people in my sims game or always online. Definite deal breaker.
Yeah i agree it could be added right. I have no issue with open world either way. I would like it if it was in Sims 4 if they did as you say and make it so we can travel between worlds still but if it doesn't come i won't be upset either. It's just not a big deal to me.
Personalities are better in Sims 4 imo because I can be creative with them. In Sims 2 they are very limited. I want my sim to fancy the guy next door and she ends up hating him because of a personality clash for example.
I am a writer and my sims are all created to be characters from my stories and I want them to live those stories. But when I ply earlier versions, the personalities cause them to fight against me and I can't do that. Sims 4 personalities are much less restrictive. They add fun interactions in certain moods but you don't have to use them so there's much more freedom to make your sim act anyway you want, giving them your own created personality
If I understand you correctly, what you're actually saying is that you prefer TS4's personalities because the Sims don't actually have any, therefore, you're able to imagine and implant your own?
If that's the case, that's a whole 'nother discussion, totally different from what other posters have said. Oddly enough, your post seems to corroborate the feelings of many that TS4 Sims do not have personalities.
In any case, you can pretty much achieve the same results by turning autonomy off.
I wouldn't say they have none.. For example an evil sim will constantly beat up my kids toys etc... But they are minimal and less involved so you can work with them easier. My sims stories are much less limited and confined to the personality that the Sims 2 etc. So yes it's a less is more type situation to me. Less personality = more freedom for me to be creative with the personalities given, and so for my gameplay style less = better.
I can totally understand why ppl prefer more but I also know that there are quite a few ppl that prefer Sims 4 personalities as well, usually for reasons I've described. It's just a matter of how you play. But the personality style of "less" is exactly what makes sims 4 the best live mod game in the series (for me)
That makes sense to me. To each his own, indeed. I just thought it odd that you said that TS4 personalities are better. In my mind, I translated that to mean that you believe that the simulation of personality is better. I think that I did an honest to goodness double-take, sitting at my computer. LOL.
I'm more of a player who enjoys playing, allowing the Sims to direct where things will lead. This is the first iteration where I have found myself evolving into the role of an active storyteller. The personalities are so poor, I had to supply them myself. I enjoy storytelling, after a fashion. However, it wouldn't have been my first choice. I do it as a means of getting something out of my investment. When I want to play a game in Live mode, I always return to TS3. Though TS2 has a better simulation of personality, by far, it's been difficult for me to go back because of how stagnant the world is.
If only there was a game with enough options so that there could be something for everyone.
(oh, oops @Cynna , should have scrolled first haha)