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sims 3 or sims 4

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witch one is easy to play sims 3 or sims 4 i am new at everything now that i am adult lol

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  • Emily4331Emily4331 Posts: 10,850 Member
    Both games are easy to play. So it all comes down to which appeals to you more.
  • MiSFiT203MiSFiT203 Posts: 278 Member
    edited July 2019
    @Rashel1456

    if you want a game that doesnt leave you feeling enpty and bored, go with sims 3. sims 4 is better looking graphically, but gave up alot of features to make it happen. which leaves each pack addition feeling stale in a short period of time.

    if you want a game that will give you tons of customization and smarter sims, go with sims 3.

    also you can save alot of money if you get sims 3 packs thru 3rd party sites, ask around and you will find them.

    last night i happened to get my hands on a free 10$ card for one of one of those sites and i bought 2 expansion packs (seasons and island paradise) for 9$.

    just stay away from the site called G2A, they use illegal methods to get their games and lots of people dont even receive the items they try to buy from them.

    If you can afford it, go with Origin, but if money is an issue, their are cheap alternatives.
    Post edited by MiSFiT203 on
  • GraceyManorGraceyManor Posts: 20,079 Member
    I wouldn’t recommend going thru 3rd party sites unless it’s one that ea has approved such as steam.Like the above post sims 3 offers more content and feels more complete.There are still things I haven’t done yet.Sims 4 I find myself getting bored quite easily.However I do disagree with the comment about sims 4 looking better: sims 4 is too cartoony for me and I find sims 3 is visually pleasing; but that is all in the eye of the beholder.as for what is easier; which ever you decide to play first will probably be easier.I got hooked on sims 3 so I find the controls in sims 4 a little difficult to use
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    Hi :)
    TS4 will always have your heart. Play what you love and Enjoy life. :cookie:
  • AliceAngelisAliceAngelis Posts: 17 Member
    The Sims is not a very hard game. It's not an obstacle course, it's a dollhouse. People who are really good at the game and know all its secrets can optimize their household to make insane amounts of money in very short amounts of time, or befriend entire neighborhoods like lightning, or finish the game under an absurd number of self-imposed restrictions that disallow them from interacting with half the game's features, but people who are really bad at the game can just play normally and their Sims will still be pretty successful, even if it takes longer to get there (and even then, it doesn't take *that* long).

    So far as which is better, the Sims 3 or the Sims 4, it depends on what you want.

    The Sims 3's alleged big selling point is that the entire neighborhood is loaded at once, so you can then play the game with no loading screens, able to move organically from one lot to another. This is a technological achievement, but it hardly affects the play experience at all. It's not completely unnoticeable, in that having the neighborhood be a real neighborhood and not different lots silo'd off from each other means your neighbors feel more like neighbors because it is much faster to reach them for a chat, but that's not really a big deal. The lack of loading screens when changing locations is swapped out for the initial loading screen being an absolute monster, taking 2-3 minutes even on modern hardware.

    The *real* big selling point for the Sims 3 is the breadth of content available to it. The Sims 4 is still playing catch up on the Sims 3. For example, the expansion pack coming out soon for the Sims 4 will introduce magic into the game, which the Sims 3 has had for seven years. The Sims 4 will probably get werewolves eventually, but it doesn't have them yet. The Sims 4 still doesn't have as many vacation spots as the Sims 3 does (although it does have vacation spots that the Sims 3 doesn't). And so on.

    The Sims 3 also has a Create A Style system that allows for more flexibility in designing Sims and their houses than any other game, including the Sims 4. This is the kind of system that's only really useful in the hands of a really dedicated player, though, so if you're looking for something to play on autopilot, you probably wouldn't use this system anyway.

    The Sims 4's big selling point is that its emotion system is a minor but noticeable iterative improvement on Sim moods. All the different events that can happen to your Sim don't just add up to being in a good or bad mood overall, but contribute to specific emotions like "angry" or "excited," giving your Sim a dominant emotion, which affects their behavior and performance. It makes the Sims' emotions and behavior just a little bit more immersive, but it's not really a big difference.

    Ultimately, the differences between the two games aren't actually very big. There's very large differences in the underlying technology, but the game built on top of it was basically the same, so we, the end users, don't have much reason to care. The main reason why you'll get people giving such die-hard defenses of the Sims 3 is partly because the Sims 4 had a very rocky launch (critical elements of the game like the ability to build pools were missing at release, but it's been fixed), and partly because people who *already* own the Sims 3 and all its expansions have *still* not been given much of a reason to look at the Sims 4, even years after release.
  • SurrealSurreal Posts: 3,241 Member
    Ultimately, the differences between the two games aren't actually very big. There's very large differences in the underlying technology, but the game built on top of it was basically the same, so we, the end users, don't have much reason to care. The main reason why you'll get people giving such die-hard defenses of the Sims 3 is partly because the Sims 4 had a very rocky launch (critical elements of the game like the ability to build pools were missing at release, but it's been fixed), and partly because people who *already* own the Sims 3 and all its expansions have *still* not been given much of a reason to look at the Sims 4, even years after release.

    Sorry - going to have to take issue with this last bit. That's a very simplistic explanation as to why dedicated Sims 3 players don't like Sims 4. I could go on and on and on - but pick any thread about the differences between the two and you can read all about it ad infinitum. This explanation makes us sound like 1) we're holding a grudge and 2) that we're too emotionally undeveloped to realize content will eventually be released. Not even close to the actuality.
  • AliceAngelisAliceAngelis Posts: 17 Member
    > @Surreal said:
    > This explanation makes us sound like 1) we're holding a grudge and 2) that we're too emotionally undeveloped to realize content will eventually be released.

    How could you possibly get that out of "Sims 3 players have no incentive to re-buy essentially the same content that they already own?"
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited July 2019
    I would say get TS3. It's the most flexible for whatever your gameplay style and creativity. Don't like how a world was set up? You can change it. Want to make your own worlds? You can do that. Do you feel a lake needs an island at the center of it? You can add it! That's one of the first things I fell in love with. My first world was Sunset Valley and I liked it pretty much and didn't feel it needed much change. I didn't feel the same way about Riverview which is a free world you can download from the Sims 3 Store. But once I learned how to edit the world and changed things around to just the way I wanted, I fell in love with it.

    On top of that, each EA world has their own unique sim families. I really love the townspeople from Riverview, Sunset Valley and Isla Paradiso. All the sims in a world have their own lives and personalities- they have careers, they have families and friends of their own. So the activity in each world is truly organic. All the sims in the town have a real reason for going somewhere, for what they're doing - all governed by their traits and their careers and wishes. So you won't see the same sims in every lot - just the sims that would naturally be there. For example, a sim with the bookworm trait will go to the library and read because that's what they love as part of their trait. An athletic person is more likely to go to the park or beach or the stadium, but not to the library (unless they also have that trait).

    TS3 has more content and its more stable than TS4. A lot of the premium content has meaningful gameplay. You can also change the color and pattern of almost every decorative item - that means you can totally change the look of something by just changing these two things. What a modern chair to look worn out? Just change the pattern on it. Like a certain shirt but hate the color or pattern? Go ahead - you can change it!

    In terms of content also, the devs were just wonderful - there's so many environments you can create with build/buy items represented. Historial periods: colonial, medieval, 50s, 60, jazz age (roaring 20s). Different nations: Japan, India, Ancient Greece, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Russia. Also fantasy and fairy tale sets. Take a look at the Sims 3 Store for all of them It's really a wide variety!

    Another great thing about TS3 is also it's community - TS3 people are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the game and know it well that they can help you with any problems you might have with it. People who want you to buy TS4 will say it's so buggy like it's unplayable and can't be fixed, but none of that is true. All the bugs TS3 has have already been identified and documented. Not only that, they all have solutions too that either fix the problem or and work-arounds. So TS3 is very playable and fun - if it wasn't, the community wouldn't be as active and well populated as it is.

    If you want more bang for your buck, get all the TS3 packs on sale in the summer or Christmas season. The best places are Steam and Amazon. At Steam, sometimes they'll even bundle the entire collection for a very good price.

    I'm sorry to say that I don't recommend TS4 at all. It's based on a very weak engine that is incapable of doing much. It has far less content and meaningful gameplay and it is expensive. Each pack has added more bugs and the devs can't keep up with them so the pile of bugs just keep getting bigger and bigger. There used to be a section in the forum where you can post about any bugs you find, but they moved it off the forums because everybody was becoming too aware of its problems.

    Get TS3 because it's finished and all the bugs have been addressed. It doesn't have much lag anymore because computers nowadays have caught up to it. You will still have to get help in this TS3 section of the forums for updating some TS3 config file to recognize a new graphics card that aren't on it's list, but that won't take long.

    When you get TS3, you can also ask here in this TS3 forum about the many ways you can play TS3. There are challenges you can play, you can read other people's TS3 stories to inspsire your own gameplay stories. You can also convert any rabbithole career to an active one with a mod which opens up a lot of fun possibilities. Your imagination is your only limit and it doesn't even need to limited as you can turn to the TS3 forum for so many great ideas!

    Oh gosh, I'm just going on and on. I really love this game. If you're creative, TS3 has so many tools to setup the game any way you want. Get it! It's really the better choice!
  • MiSFiT203MiSFiT203 Posts: 278 Member
    @ClarionOfJoy great post, i couldnt have said it better myself.

    unlike what some people believe, im not a player who refuses to accept sims 4. i have over 1000 hours into the game. ive been a huge fan since the beginning of the franchise. i've bought sims 1, 2 & 3 with every DLC twice, i've given sims 4 more than a fair try on numerous occasions, the game having so much limitations on it is a deal breaker for me. i dont need to go into details, @ClarionOfJoy said it all. sims 3 we were told here are the tools to do everything you need, make it your own. sims 4 we were told, you will take what we give you, play with life. i just dont see or feel anything alive about it. i want customization. i want to move my lots around, i want open world, i want a game that feels alive. i want to feel like my sims have a purpose, i want to play with other people's worlds. i want larger worlds, i want to see what other sims are doing and how their lives change without my influence, i want to stop right here cause i can go on and on and on.

    now im to the point where im so fed up that i want to leave the franchise. I heard sims 4 is going the way of windows 10, it will continue on indefinitely with updates and dlc. if thats the truth, im closing the door. i've been waiting and waiting for sims 5 while all the die hard sims 4 can do no wrong fans have their fun, but apparently EA only cares about them and about stealing the little kids away from their barbie dolls than it does about us long time players who blindly followed them for the first 3 generations of the sims franchise. im not blind anymore, im keeping my money to myself from now on til they finally get it thru their thick skulls what people like me want.
  • SurrealSurreal Posts: 3,241 Member
    > @Surreal said:
    > This explanation makes us sound like 1) we're holding a grudge and 2) that we're too emotionally undeveloped to realize content will eventually be released.

    How could you possibly get that out of "Sims 3 players have no incentive to re-buy essentially the same content that they already own?"


    That isn't what you actually said so.... kinda hard to respond to that. Here's what you said:
    The *real* big selling point for the Sims 3 is the breadth of content available to it. The Sims 4 is still playing catch up on the Sims 3. For example, the expansion pack coming out soon for the Sims 4 will introduce magic into the game, which the Sims 3 has had for seven years. The Sims 4 will probably get werewolves eventually, but it doesn't have them yet. The Sims 4 still doesn't have as many vacation spots as the Sims 3 does (although it does have vacation spots that the Sims 3 doesn't). And so on.

    and:
    and partly because people who *already* own the Sims 3 and all its expansions have *still* not been given much of a reason to look at the Sims 4, even years after release.

    Nothing about not wanting to re-buy in any of that - I looked back through your post to find the sentence you quoted above, but I don't see it. Could be my eyes, but the point I'm making is that while these may seem, to you, like valid reasons for not moving on to the next Sims iteration, they aren't the reasons most of us have for not liking TS4. Most of us moved on from TS1 to TS2 and then from TS2 to TS3 with no real issue that we were playing a base game, and that we'd be buying content we essentially already had in the previous iterations. Having done it a couple of times, we're familiar with the drill. Some may grumble (and often do) that EA should put a bit more thought into their content and not just bang out the same ol' same ol' all the time - but grumble or not, we still buy it. We, and I think I can say we here, really, really wanted to like TS4 - and yes, re-buy anything and everything that was released for it - but the issues we have with the game itself cannot be corrected with EP's and stuff packs or whatever they're calling them these days, and therefore we aren't buying them. Has nothing to do with money or re-buying content we already own.
  • SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,823 Member
    edited July 2019
    Another option is to try out both games for a small fee. Origin access gives you access to a list of games they call the vault. This includes The Sims 3 Starter Pack + The Sims 4 (base game) if you go with the cheaper option - basic for $4.99/month.

    That's my suggestion if you have enough free time within a month to give both games a try. I honestly don't know what would appeal more to a new player. Sims 4 introduced an in-depth Tutorial mode that walks new players through the game last yr in November. See an article about it here: https://simscommunity.info/2018/10/23/the-sims-4-november-2018-update-article-preview/
    i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
    S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
    S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited July 2019
    They don't have to try TS4, they have it and they posted on their page -
    Rashel1456-
    the sims4 will always have my heart

    Becoming an adult doesn't make things all New again. I wish. :mrgreen:

    *TS4 is the Easiest to play.
  • AliceAngelisAliceAngelis Posts: 17 Member
    @Surreal

    Technically what I wrote was a paraphrase and not a direct quote, yes, but the direct quote you posted says that people who already own the Sims 3 have not been given any reason to play the Sims 4. What do you think that means? Like, really, I'm having difficulty understanding what you think the meaning of that sentence is, that you apparently think it doesn't involve buying things. People upgraded from TS1/2 to TS2/3 because those games represented significant improvements to the game. Having magic in TS3 is different from and better than having magic in TS1/2. TS4 didn't have those significant gameplay improvements.

    And where in any of what I wrote did you get anything about Sims 3 players being emotionally underdeveloped? I never said that Sims 4's content is going to be released eventually (it might not), never said that people should be buying a game that doesn't have content on the promise that it will later (they shouldn't), and very explicitly talked about Sims 3 players having reasons for their behavior, which is the opposite of acting out of emotional immaturity. This came out of nowhere and really feels like you're trying to pick a fight with me for no reason.
  • SurrealSurreal Posts: 3,241 Member
    @Surreal

    Technically what I wrote was a paraphrase and not a direct quote, yes, but the direct quote you posted says that people who already own the Sims 3 have not been given any reason to play the Sims 4. What do you think that means?


    I have no idea what it means. What is a sufficient reason? To whom?

    Don't know why you're getting all upset. I disagreed with your statement. That's it. Even if your intent was to say, as you clarified, that people don't want to spend money on a game that essentially is the same content they already had in TS3 - even that is incorrect, as I explained. This isn't a personal attack - I don't even know you. I'm pointing out that your reasoning for TS3 players not liking TS4 is simplistic, and in the one case, incorrect. It doesn't mean you're a bad person or that I'm trying to fight with you. Unfortunately, this is a topic that many of us get very passionate about.

    When you post on message boards you have to remember that some people will agree with you and some people won't. That's just the way it is - it's nothing personal.
  • MiSFiT203MiSFiT203 Posts: 278 Member
    edited July 2019
    i think @ClarionOfJoy did a great job (atleast for me) of describing why i dont wanna spend any money or why i dont like the sims 4. there is one thing i love about the sims 4, the push and pull feature of create a sim, i feel like i should atleast say that cause i dont often say anything i like about it other than it gets stale and boring too fast. i always loved all the ways to personalize the sims frachise but with sims 4 there is nothing personal about it. everything is decided for you. that takes away all thats fun. (for me) but there are also many more reasons perfectly described in the post i mentioned above. if their gonna take away what i need most from the game, im no longer gonna blindly spend my money like i did in sims 3 and earlier. i always bought stuff based on the fact that i knew that maxis was gonna make a better game than the previous version i didnt need to wonder if it was a pack that i was even interested in. i just bought it regardless. its just not like that anymore. now adays its like here's free this, and here's free that. i dont want your free stuff, i wanna pay you for a game that im gonna enjoy more than i did the last. but yo just dont seem to want my money bad enough.
  • AliceAngelisAliceAngelis Posts: 17 Member
    @Surreal So you have no idea what I mean, but you're very confident you disagree with me? And you still haven't explained where you got anything about being emotionally underdeveloped from. You are not really decreasing my confidence that you are trying to pick a fight for no reason, here.
  • SurrealSurreal Posts: 3,241 Member
    @Surreal So you have no idea what I mean, but you're very confident you disagree with me? And you still haven't explained where you got anything about being emotionally underdeveloped from. You are not really decreasing my confidence that you are trying to pick a fight for no reason, here.

    lol'ing - whatever.
  • SimsxZelda_fanSimsxZelda_fan Posts: 179 Member
    @ClarionOfJoy has said everything I could have in my explanation. Sims 3 is the obvious choice here.

    I can only tell you coming from my experience. I've been playing sims sims 02 when the first installment was new. Played 2 & 3 almost religiously. Sims 3 delivered and outdid Sims 2 by miles, especially if you're including the extra online store content. I have like a ton of save files, each very different from the last. There are so many different ways to play. I couldn't say the same for Sims 2. And Sims 4 seems more restrictive than Sims 3.

    I've yet to buy Sims 4. It may have had a rough start but they still haven't done much to improve it compared to Sims 3. And no matter what they do, Sims 3 will always have its open world and colour wheel to hang over Sims 4. Not to mention Sims 4 charges a lot for their stuff packs and won't give you a lot. I'm always looking for reviews when a new pack comes out. I read up on every new Sims 4 pack that comes out. It just doesn't look worth the money they're asking for.

    Honestly, I feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth with Sims 3, I feel like I got a great deal after all I've paid for Sims 3. Sims 4 on the other hand, I feel like I wouldn't play it free. I'm just having so much fun with Sims 3. And Sims 3 came out in 09, mind you!
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    @ClarionOfJoy has said everything I could have in my explanation. Sims 3 is the obvious choice here.

    I can only tell you coming from my experience. I've been playing sims sims 02 when the first installment was new. Played 2 & 3 almost religiously. Sims 3 delivered and outdid Sims 2 by miles, especially if you're including the extra online store content. I have like a ton of save files, each very different from the last. There are so many different ways to play. I couldn't say the same for Sims 2. And Sims 4 seems more restrictive than Sims 3.

    I've yet to buy Sims 4. It may have had a rough start but they still haven't done much to improve it compared to Sims 3. And no matter what they do, Sims 3 will always have its open world and colour wheel to hang over Sims 4. Not to mention Sims 4 charges a lot for their stuff packs and won't give you a lot. I'm always looking for reviews when a new pack comes out. I read up on every new Sims 4 pack that comes out. It just doesn't look worth the money they're asking for.

    Honestly, I feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth with Sims 3, I feel like I got a great deal after all I've paid for Sims 3. Sims 4 on the other hand, I feel like I wouldn't play it free. I'm just having so much fun with Sims 3. And Sims 3 came out in 09, mind you!

    That is exactly how I feel about The Sims 3 too. They gave us so much in that game!
  • LadyGreenEyesLadyGreenEyes Posts: 928 Member
    Rashel1456 wrote: »
    witch one is easy to play sims 3 or sims 4 i am new at everything now that i am adult lol

    I don't even own TS4, because the promotional videos, and all of the comments, left me not wanting it at all. TS3 is fun to play. It's a simulator, not "hard", as far as games go. Tons to do in TS3, with a lot of content, both official and custom, and you won't be bored! TS3 has the open world, which is better, and the CAS tool (create a style), so you can recolor almost everything, from clothing to furniture to walls and floors, and decorate as YOU want, and dress the sims as YOU prefer. TS4 took all that away.

    I actually still enjoy TS2, as far as that goes. You can get that cheaply used, and don't need to register, so it doesn't matter of the codes were already used. I collected all of that one, and still haven't fully explored all the game has to offer. Same with TS3. Tons of stuff the sims can do, and loads of fun building.
  • SimTrippySimTrippy Posts: 7,651 Member
    edited August 2019
    Easier? Neither are difficult.

    Which one you should pick...? I don't know. In my mind a large difference between 3 and 4 is the open world and how that affects gameplay. I love playing rotational and I find that TS3 simply makes that more difficult, even with mods. TS4 was set up to let you play with multiple families from the get go so if you think you might enjoy that it's the better choice. On the other hand if you like having one whole world open to you (but always only one, even if you have multiple expansions), TS3 is the better choice. The benefit there is that while rotational play is harder, the world does often seem more alive. Although there's always mods and solutions to many of these things, finding them can be work too (and in the case of a game that is still frequently updated like 4 a bit annoying).

    But that's just one of many factors. I think overall TS3 has more content and some of the content both have is better executed in 3 (not always though). Like vacations, TS3 WA is full of awesome content. JA simply doesn't compare. But 3 also comes with a whole host of optimization difficulties. So if you don't have a great PC or simply aren't in the mood to dab around with mods, I personally believe 4 is better for you. Because even though both have optimization issues (this is unfortunately a sims thing...) or things you might want to use mods for, I personally play with a vanilla TS4 game 90% of the time. In 3 I need at least NRaas to clean up the neighborhood or the whole thing will become unstable fast. So that's something you should consider as well. It's not necessarily hard to do but it can get annoying and some people simply don't want to constantly optimize their game :)

    But then there's other questions as well: how important is family play? Occults? Clothing style? Ease of creation (making pretty sims in 3 is a lot harder than it is in 4 but create a style is awesome)? Build options (there's more in 3 if you're into terrain and world editing)? Those are things you should look into as well because one game can be superior to another in those respects. Although of course 4 is not complete yet so some of these things might still be added, but it will always be less good at certain things than 3 - and vice versa. So I'd try to get an idea of what you'd enjoy playing with.

    As opposed to many people who answered here, I play 4 a lot more despite the love I have for 3. So I guess you won't really know unless you play yourself but I'd read everything everyone wrote here, look at the 3 and 4 "what happened in your game today" threads (there's one for each) and just try to ascertain what might appeal to you most. In the end, you'll probably enjoy either one (especially without in depth knowledge of the other 😀), so whatever you choose: enjoy!
  • TurjanTurjan Posts: 1,713 Member
    edited August 2019
    Just to add regarding the prior post: if you use mods with Sims3, you can at any time just switch between households with a simple right-click on any of the hundreds of sims in the city, play them for a bit, buy stuff for them, rebuild their houses, then right-click on a member of your original household again and continue with that one. I think quite a few Sims3 players play the whole town (or at least some subset) at once this way. It's not perfect, as some of the LTR's may not be active in families that you don't play at the moment, but it works well enough.
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    Personally prefer TS2 for way too many reasons to list here. In reference to the subject games, if you want gameplay depth and customization go with 3. If you're OK with shallow gameplay but pretty everything, then 4. Be prepared to get bored quickly and wonder why you got it.
  • affleck11affleck11 Posts: 33 Member
    the sims 4 was solely made to be played easier, and run smoother. imo the sims 3 is honestly 10x better than the sims 4, the only problem with the sims 3 is that it hasn't been updated in several years, and is slowly decaying.
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