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NOSTALGIA: Things we miss from previous Sim games
towens07123
Posts: 36 Member
I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this lately, but I've been looking at photos and videos of game play from The Sims 1 computer game and feeling EXTREMELY NOSTALGIC. I've been playing TS1 all the way through TS4
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Does anyone else miss these game elements that are missing from TS4 (or others I've failed to mention) that were in the first Sim games? In no specific order:
1. NO PARTY END TIME. In previous Sim games, parties never had a distinct end time when everyone would go back to their respective homes. I remember throwing parties and having Sims stay for over a day and pass out on the floor. I think you should have the option to set an end time for a party or not in the Sims 4. That would allow for more interesting game play.
2. ROBBERS. Who can forget the terrifying music that would play in TS1 when your sims were being robbed and you experienced a mini heart attack? You could buy an alarm system to get the police involved. Bring robbers back to TS4 to allow for more spontaneity in the game.
3. RANDOM PHONE CALLS. In TS1 and previous games, you would get random phone calls. Some were prank calls, and some phone calls brought in extra simoleons. This added more unexpected thrills to the game. TS4 feels very routine.
4. TANTRUMS. Remember waking up your sim in TS1 before they got a full night's sleep, and they woke up screaming and stomping? Hilarious! Depending on the traits your sim has in TS4, this would be a realistic action to have.
5. YELLOW "BLADDER FAILURES". In TS1, bladder failures were actually yellow, adding to the comedy of it all. In later games, including TS4, bladder failures are blue--meaning you can't distinguish a bladder failure from a puddle caused by a broken sink. What the heck? The bladder failure actions are more realistic in TS4, but the color should be modified accordingly.
6. ORIGINAL MUSIC. Hands down, TS1 had the classiest music for Build/Buy Mode, CAS, etc. You should have the option in TS4 to play the original music in Build/Buy Mode, etc.
7. FIREMEN AND POLICEMEN. Why is this even missing from TS4? Who the heck is going to put out fires and arrest wrong doers. This was present in all of the previous games and should be brought back.
8. VERMIN. Remember when you'd leave food, garbage, dirty dishes, etc. out for too long and you would get flies, roaches, etc.? Your sims would have to spray for roaches or just live in filth. Totally realistic and should be brought back into TS4.
9. CARS, GARAGES and Driveways. Since TS4 is not open world (which I don't have any complaints about and don't miss) I'm not really sure where the sims would go, but it would at least be nice to have garage/driveway and a car that would pull out into the street before the loading screen.
10. SPONTANEITY. Overall, I've noticed a lack of randomness in TS4 that existed in TS1 and previous games. Was it TS2 or TS3 where a meteor could randomly fall from space and kill your sims/destroy their property? Its the random good and bad things that could happen to your sims that I miss. This led to hours of game play just wondering what the heck would happen next!
11. ACNE. Remember when your teen sim would randomly turn into a pizza face in TS2? Unfortunate, hilarious, and realistic.
12. CREATE CUSTOM DISHES. Technically, this element was present in the console (PS2) version of TS2 or TS3 (I don't remember which game). Basically, you could add random ingredients to a dish and have it turn into a meal (for example, using beef, potatoes, and vegetables would produce a beef stew). If you were too lazy to cook in real life, you could at least live vicariously through your sims by making them create new dishes. This would have been a great addition to TS4 Kitchen Stuff. I didn't purchase this Stuff pack because I thought, "Ice cream and new kitchen objects, who cares?" If you could create custom dishes in that Stuff pack I would have purchased it in a minute.
13. DILAPIDATED OBJECTS. In TS2 or TS3 (I'm not sure which) you could purchase dilapidated/dirty/cheap looking decor and objects for your sims. This is not present in TS4. I remember creating a poor family that looked shabby and lived in an equally shabby house that was permanently dirty with paint coming off the walls.
I hope this post gets noticed because I really want to hear from original simmers! If not, I'll continue this rant with myself and keep posting things I miss. Ideally, this post would be noticed by the game creators and be given some thought (ha, I know. Lofty goals).
> I agree, TS4 is missing a lot of randomness/silliness. Social bunnies, meteors, robbers, tantrums when they had low needs, and just a chance for bad events in general. I hope some things like firemen make it back in eventually though.
Yes! Someone understands. Glad to know I'm not alone! During the summers in middle school I would literally play TS1 all day just because of all the randomness/silliness.
They were blue in the original TS1.
> > 5. YELLOW "BLADDER FAILURES". In TS1, bladder failures were actually yellow, adding to the comedy of it all. In later games, including TS4, bladder failures are blue--meaning you can't distinguish a bladder failure from a puddle caused by a broken sink. What the heck? The bladder failure actions are more realistic in TS4, but the color should be modified accordingly.
>
> They were blue in the original TS1.
Really? Thanks for the correction. I thought it was in one of the previous games. Sorry for the mistake. I still stand by wanting the distinction in TS4 though. This brings up another point though:
14. REALISTIC BROKEN OBJECTS. In TS1, when your sims toilet broke you could literally see all of the brown/green mush in the toilet bowl. Your sim would have to take a plunger to fix it. Funny and realistic. In TS4 your toilet breaks every two seconds and water spews out of it--not as realistic. Maybe someone has experienced water spewing from their toilet but I haven't. Plunger problems are more common.
I was JUST doing this!!! I was looking for a specific old screenshot and ended up getting all nostalgic and soppy.
I obviously miss the BIG T WORD. But there are other things in there that I miss, like the junk car (mechanic's car) which was a huge part of that Sim's life since he had a garage in TS2 where he'd fix up the cars and then sell them on for a profit. And I miss the crafting benches, like the electronics' benches from TS2 and TS3, and the toy workbench in TS2 where you could make those little toy robots, and the flower arranging station!
I was actually looking for a screenshot of a sim who was a 'fashion designer' in TS3 and TS2, I'd love to have things like the sewing machine and fashion sketching back. She can already own a fashion store and dress the mannequins and use the GT wardrobe as a 'fitting room' but I miss the career and design aspect. I'd love a celebrity pack like TS1 Superstar too, with the modelling career and fashion runway. *sigh*
I think many of the things I miss are crafting objects. Also... soccer, basketball, ballet, the obstacle course from TS2 and a military career, being a fireman...
I just miss so many things!!! I know some people are probably thinking, 'Well... just go and play those games then.' But the point is I actually like the Sims themselves better in TS4, and I think it will be the better game in the long run. I just want my things back. XD
Game play-
-Open world (which I know will probably never happen)
-Vehicles
-More job options
-More aspirations and ones for each age
-Activities/interactions for teens
-More skills based on ages (teens/adults/elders)
CAS/Build/Buy-
-Body hair
-More tattoos
-Body piercings
-Outerwear
-More bathing suits
-Clothes for specific ages (Teens and Elders should def not wear the same clothes as YA and Adults)
-More little girl clothes (Most of their clothes are the same as the boys)
EP-
-Seasons
-University
-Supernatural
-World Adventures
GP-
-Island Vacation
-Apartments
-Celebrity
SP-
-Different Era's stuff
-Teen Stuff
-Kid Stuff
-Something like H&M Stuff they had before
these are just some of the things I've thought of haha.
> towens07123 wrote: »
>
> I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this lately, but I've been looking at photos and videos of game play from The Sims 1 computer game and feeling EXTREMELY NOSTALGIC. I've been playing TS1 all the way through TS4
>
>
>
>
> I was JUST doing this!!! I was looking for a specific old screenshot and ended up getting all nostalgic and soppy.
>
>
>
>
>
> I obviously miss the BIG T WORD. But there are other things in there that I miss, like the junk car (mechanic's car) which was a huge part of that Sim's life since he had a garage in TS2 where he'd fix up the cars and then sell them on for a profit. And I miss the crafting benches, like the electronics' benches from TS2 and TS3, and the toy workbench in TS2 where you could make those little toy robots, and the flower arranging station!
>
> I was actually looking for a screenshot of a sim who was a 'fashion designer' in TS3 and TS2, I'd love to have things like the sewing machine and fashion sketching back. She can already own a fashion store and dress the mannequins and use the GT wardrobe as a 'fitting room' but I miss the career and design aspect. I'd love a celebrity pack like TS1 Superstar too, with the modelling career and fashion runway. *sigh*
>
> I think many of the things I miss are crafting objects. Also... soccer, basketball, ballet, the obstacle course from TS2 and a military career, being a fireman...
>
> I just miss so many things!!! I know some people are probably thinking, 'Well... just go and play those games then.' But the point is I actually like the Sims themselves better in TS4, and I think it will be the better game in the long run. I just want my things back. XD
I completely understand where you're coming from. There are a lot of updates in TS4 that make it a lot better (updated looking sims, less laggy, etc.). To say "just play the old games" is also not realistic, because who has a computer that can accommodate TS1, TS2, TS3, and TS4 along with all the expansion packs? Commenting on the Superstar expansion pack, I agree there were a lot of cool careers/hobbies that your sim could get into. My favorite was having celebrities attend your parties if they were epic enough.
> I have been playing the sims since the 1st one came out, and as most things in life as time went on and we got newer games, they had their pros and cons. There is SOOO much I miss from each of the previous games, but at the same time there is a lot about the next one that is better. I find myself wanting to play ts3 more than any of them because of the open world and the 5 years worth of EP, SP and what not I added to it over the years. But when I find myself wanting to be disappointed with ts4 I remind myself we didn't have a lot of the great things we had in each game in just the base game. I feel like ts4 has a lot of potential, and will get better over time. We never really got that many free things in updates with the previous games, and these SP and GP seem to be alittle cheaper. But with this being said some of the main things I would love to see fixed or added to the game is...
>
> Game play-
> -Open world (which I know will probably never happen)
> -Vehicles
> -More job options
> -More aspirations and ones for each age
> -Activities/interactions for teens
> -More skills based on ages (teens/adults/elders)
>
> CAS/Build/Buy-
> -Body hair
> -More tattoos
> -Body piercings
> -Outerwear
> -More bathing suits
> -Clothes for specific ages (Teens and Elders should def not wear the same clothes as YA and Adults)
> -More little girl clothes (Most of their clothes are the same as the boys)
>
> EP-
> -Seasons
> -University
> -Supernatural
> -World Adventures
>
> GP-
> -Island Vacation
> -Apartments
> -Celebrity
>
>
> SP-
> -Different Era's stuff
> -Teen Stuff
> -Kid Stuff
> -Something like H&M Stuff they had before
>
> these are just some of the things I've thought of haha.
>
>
Very true! I also think TS4 has a lot of potential and I'm eager to see where it goes in the future. I also agree that the free content updates are a great addition to TS4 and the EP SP seem cheaper (or perhaps I feel that way because now I'm the one purchasing them instead of begging my parents). Good point about TS4 lacking clothing for little girls! Most are clothes for boys.
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The best idea I've seen is to have a SP just for toddlers. That way, if I don't want toddlers I have the option to not buy it.
On another note, one of my favorite things they brought from ts3 to ts4 is the photography, because as I said before I like to play through the generations, so it's neat to have childhood pictures and wedding pictures of my sims great grandparents. Sometimes I make my teens dress formal and take their pictures with a date for "prom" ;) haha
> I'm might get a slew of negative comments for sharing this viewpoint, but ideally this topic wont be a discussion solely about toddlers since there are topics dedicated to just toddlers. Toddlers were cute. I liked how they interacted with each other and with children. They looked so cute hugging each other! Other than that, I viewed toddlers as a waste of time. If you didn't teach them to walk, talk, potty train them, etc. then they grew up badly. They also needed a lot of assistance (getting taken out the crib, going up/down stairs, eating, etc). I didn't want my sims dedicating time to that unless they had a family aspiration. Perhaps I'm overly cynical.
>
> The best idea I've seen is to have a SP just for toddlers. That way, if I don't want toddlers I have the option to not buy it.
I liked the toddlers, I'm not like going to boycott the sims or start a war with anyone against them, but I def agree with you ! That would be the best option, but maybe more as a GP like one that would incorporate all stuff for kids as well and give you more game play, maybe add a daycare option if you have get to work, I'd say add schools for the kids but since they don't have building rabbit holes in ts4 that would be pointless. I just hate how the babies are pretty much useless, and I want to age them up asap, but hate that they go straight to a child, that's why I would like toddlers back. I've seen people also want pre-teens, as neat as that would be I feel like maybe that's asking too much. And unless their going to eventually come out with a University EP I don't really see the point in YA right now aha
15. PUNISHMENT. I also miss how TS3 allowed sims to ground their children. Young sims could do chores to win back their parents affections or flat out sneak out. I'll include the curfew in the punishment section because it was also hilarious to have your teen arrested and lectured.
On a side note, has anyone noticed a shift in "player interaction" in TS4 compared to its predecessors? I will describe what I mean by "player interaction:"
In TS1-TS3, your sims would sort of communicate with you as a player. When they'd run into issues/low needs they'd wave and try to get your attention in a way. Or throw up their hands in frustration and sigh/grumble when you tried to make them do something that they couldn't do (like if an object was blocking their path). In TS4, I feel like that "player interaction" has been removed to make the game seem more like you are the sim, rather than controlling the sim. Does anyone have thoughts or comments on that? I sort of miss the old way because it was kind of funny to have someone yell at you for ruining their lives. It also made me feel as if the sims acknowledged that you were in control of their actions and tried to "put you in check." Am I weird for feeling this way or did anyone else have those feelings present when playing the earlier games?
On pranks and punishments: I like the option of having those, but what frustrated me was that there was little discrimination over which sims did it. ALL teens would autonomously pull pranks. I'd be happy for my more rebellious teens to pull pranks because it suited their personality, but with my more serious teens it was very out of character. So I'd prefer it to be trait dependant. I had a similar issue with punishment, some of the Sims suited being harsher parents, but others I imagined to be much more lenient (or even uncaring). My point is that we should decide the characters of our sims. There were mods for these things, I particularly liked the mod for punishments by Icarus_allsorts at Mod the Sims which prompted the player to allow punishments or not, and made them available as directed interactions.
On the second point: I prefer the TS4 style of forgetting about myself and being much more engrossed in what my Sims are doing. TS3 felt way too user-directed and robotic for me. A lot of the gameplay was delivered by notifications, 'Sim is feeling this' or 'This happened to this sim'. I prefer being able to see what my sim is feeling or thinking. I feel like my sims have more personality now, they really do seem to think for themselves more, which I really like. I always felt like TS3 sims were standing around waiting for me to tell them what to do next. So, as I said before, I much prefer the mechanics of TS4, I'd just like the 'stuff' back from older games.
I'd love another game pack like Outdoor Retreat but with new destinations. A snowy mountain ski resort, and a tropical Castaway island would be fantastic!
WA was my favourite expansion for TS3 though, because I loved the interesting destinations, and the skills/harvestables/etc. If we could get game packs with liveable interesting worlds like China, France and Egypt (like WA), with a themed skill like nectar making or sim-fu, that would be fantastic!
[edit: apparently I use the word 'fantastic' too much]
18. WHISTLING. A small observation, but whistling existed in TS1. The paper delivery sim would whistle while delivering the newspaper. If I recall, sims would also whistle when doing idle tasks.
-Robbes/Policemen/Firemen NEED to comeback at some point. They're a big part of the Sims franchise in terms of NPC's.
-The hilarious tantrums were so funny and realistic. Not everyone wake up with happy moodlets and all smiles, that's ridiculous. Seeing my sims get angry because they had to wake up was pretty funny, and I could relate to them so much!
I don't think these things are really hard to do, in comparison to seasons, toddlers or pets. They are little details that could bring some nostalgia, and make the gameplay experience better.