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TS4 needs a difficulty system.
sam123
Posts: 4,539 Member
Okay I think most of us can agree this game is painfully easy so my suggestion is to add a difficulty system in the game. One mode can be the current mode of how the game is now however if you increase the difficulty you tend to have to work to unlock different types of features in the game. For example;
What if Aspirations could not be changed until you complete the one you originally chose for your sim? This makes it so the initial decision actually has some meaning and you can't just change aspirations to get points when it suits you.
Another idea is if one random bad lot trait is chosen for your house and you need to complete some type of quest to have it removed? And to add any lot traits yourself you will need to spend simoleans.
Also the infamous RoM spellcaster transformation.. The quest should be MUCH more difficult and you are required to do a series of tasks to prove your dedication to becoming a spellcaster.
What are some of your thoughts in making the game more difficult.
What if Aspirations could not be changed until you complete the one you originally chose for your sim? This makes it so the initial decision actually has some meaning and you can't just change aspirations to get points when it suits you.
Another idea is if one random bad lot trait is chosen for your house and you need to complete some type of quest to have it removed? And to add any lot traits yourself you will need to spend simoleans.
Also the infamous RoM spellcaster transformation.. The quest should be MUCH more difficult and you are required to do a series of tasks to prove your dedication to becoming a spellcaster.
What are some of your thoughts in making the game more difficult.
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Comments
I've tried a few of those challenges so far and your first example where you're not allowed to change your sim's aspiration whenever you like it is part of all challenges I've tried so far.
The idea with the lot trait sounds pretty cool, too! I can't think of a challenge where this might already be a rule but you could start your own challenge with it
I wouldn't even open the game once anymore if I didn't play challenges. That's the only way for me to play the game and enjoy it. Plus I write stories about the challenges which also helps to keep me interested.
But all this depends on what you expect from the game, of course.
If the challenges - or creating your own - doesn't work for you, maybe there are mods out there which add more difficult things to the game. But I wouldn't count too much on the feature being added by the devs
Legacy Bachelor Challenge - casting
As for your points, well my current issue with aspirations is that I think they need to be more than just tutorials of new pack features. I find them easy because they're literally just click-lists made to show off new pack features, rather than feeling like an actual desired goal for a sim's life. A lot of them seem really repetitive too. I do agree that I think it's weird that you can just change them on a whim, and personally I would make it so they can't be changed unless completed, but I'm sure there are players who like that they can jump from aspiration to aspiration whenever they want so, I feel like they'd never change that.
This. 100 times this. I’ve always said that this game is crying out for choice & consequence gameplay that extends beyond career performance boosts.
There are certain items, like the Wabbit Tablet for toddlers, I simply refuse to allow in my game. That thing is insane and anyone who uses it should probably stop reading this post at this point! Well, you have been warned. I also ban most of the positive lot traits from my builds and instead make great use of the "bad" ones. All of my Del Sol Valley is a Quake Zone, each lot in StrangerVille's has a Mean Vibe, Forgotten Hollow is all Cursed and there's Volcanic Activity all over Sulani, just to name a few.
The item called "Whole Hole Mouse in the Wall" from Cats & Dogs is a great way to bring some much-needed tension to all kinds of places. I even place it on some community lots or straight into the neighborhood zone with Twisted Mexi's TOOL mod.
If you're not averted to mods, then Meaningful Stories by roBurky is a must-have in my opinion. Not only does it make moods harder to change, but it also offers the option to completely remove those silly environmental buffs.
Realm of Magic stands at the apex of brokeness, both in terms of bugs and being ridiculously overpowered. All I'm saying is: Potion of Plentiful Needs. This item alone makes playing as a spellcaster like playing the game on baby-settings in god-mode with all cheats enabled. And it costs 1 apple. Seriously? Apples are always available as they're just a phone call away! I wouldn't mind if that potion cost one or more plumming death flowers instead. Because of this, I don't allow my spellcasters to get any of the normal reward traits, like Waterproof, Hardly Hungry, Seldom Sleepy and the like (ok, Always Welcome & Observant are the exceptions I make). They really don't need any of them. Especially Carefree (or its Island Living equivalent Laid-Back) which makes them completely immune to death from overcharge (and don't be mounting that alabaster crystal to a Celestial Crystal Crown there either). I also turned my Magic Realm into a horrible place for sims to endure, giving it the worst lot traits imaginable: Cursed, Grody and Volcanic Activity. In addition, I gave every spellcaster a voodoo doll and bound it to a rival spellcaster. They do use them autonomously, even if you don't play them, and it causes absolutely delicious havoc. I then went ahead and removed all toilets, sinks and showers, only leaving some woohoo-bushes outside and, of course, mouse holes, plenty of mouse holes. No beds/tents or any form of entertainment allowed either! It's hell - and it's great!
However, one development that surprised me was how challenging Discover University turned out to be, especially with a full course-load on top of a career with family. Now THAT's what I call fun!
I have some households where things are more complicated and then I have a number of happy and functional families that I like and don't necessarily need to add tons of difficulty to. It's not a case of being unable to play without cheats, but I sometimes use them to create different families at various socioeconomic levels.
I do think that sometimes the game can get overly childish or even too easy but at the same time, I like being able to have a certain light-hearted approach as well. I guess that I like being able to decide when to back off of intensity. I don't like everything to be bleak.
Generally, I want to see more to do in the game but I'm usually not that hard on my sims. I've always had them clean the lint filter rather than catch on fire, for example. I think there are ways to make this work but I don't want "very difficult play" forced on players like me. It's not that I want all sunshine but I like that if I want to change an outcome for a sim, then I can take certain steps like frantically searching for a cure for Selvadoradan poison, for example.
I know that some players get annoyed that those workarounds exist but they are also there to be ignored when someone wants.
I think that's the main issue here. There are multiple ways that people want to play the same game. Again, I think that TS4 can definitely be a bit "too easy" at times but at others, it can be surprisingly complex. I think the approach to University is a step in the right direction. Let players choose how much to take on.
Probably one of my hardest households was the astronaut with 5 and then 6 kids. Four to five of them were toddlers at once, one with the wild trait. I could have made it harder with fussy. They were constantly having meltdowns and just getting their basic needs met was challenging. The astronaut would work long hours. The house was constantly a mess. I know people have played concepts like the 7 toddler challenge and this was a bit like that. The wild toddler didn't learn basic skills until approximately the last day. I had to pause time to allow him to get potty-trained, etc, which also meant more time for chaos. Mayhem.
I like being able to do that and then to switch to Sulani islanders back-floating around at the beach. I want more to do though, definitely more to do.
I didn't know there was a cheat for that! My sim is a celebrity and has about 250k so I've literally been buying expensive items and donating them to get rid of her money haha.
The Sims is what you make it to be. You can impose all kinds of rules on your play to make it difficult - take on challenges and whatnot. Try a challenge on short lifespand, etc.
The Sims is like a virtual dollhouse. If you get bored playing, find a different game to test your limits. The Sims is not about difficulty. It's a game of creativity and living out ideas.
A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear
Time enjoyed is never time wasted
Exactly what I was thinking. One of the best things about S4 is being able to switch aspirations on the fly. You can always impose rules on yourself to make it more difficult - there is nothing stopping you from making a rule in your game that aspirations can't be changed. Just because a toddler or kid can take care of herself doesn't mean you have to play it that way - my parents spend most of their time teaching and caring for their toddlers, and they always help with homework and projects and have family meals together.
Will Wright imagined players as the director - it's not a game in which you cope with whatever the game throws at your Sim, but rather, a game in which you decide what to throw at your Sim.
People who seek a challenge will do so.
Because every time they do make something slightly difficult (eg. no kitchen in university dorms) this forum gets flooded with threads by simmers moaning it's too hard, we need a mod.
This isn't quite correct. Will Wright's original intention for The Sims was to explore states of failure because it was more interesting and engaging than consistent success. The purpose of the actual gameplay was for the player to decide if they would allow Sim needs and aspirations to bottom out, resulting in Sims having breakdowns or dying, ...or if they would care for their needs and goals, resulting in happiness and fulfillment. It put the player in the position of a God. The entire premise was to put the fate of the Sims in the player's hands, and when you activated live mode, the game would creep towards failure without player intervention. And there were higher chances of random failure and disaster from unskilled Sims. The player creativity came mostly from build mode and the extra content, but the essence and the core of the actual gameplay was to simulate ultimate failure if left to its own devices. It was more about getting through life's obstacles and the struggle to succeed and meet fulfillment while confronting fears and failures, so when the player finally got their Sim to reach their end goal in their aspiration, there was a sense of accomplishment and reward. It was satisfying because it had challenge and purpose.
The game used to be a lot more than a simple virtual dollhouse of happiness. It used to be an actual game. The devolution of the series has led it to become more of the opposite of what it used to be; it's now a Utopia simulator with the option of failures that actually need to be more forced into happening, which is why people get bored all the time. The challenges and obstacles have been neutralized. It has completely lost its way from Will Wright's original design. And I'm not saying many people don't enjoy Sims 4 for what it is or are wrong for doing so, but it's definitely not the kind of game that Will Wright had intended.
I hope you guys read the first paragraph!
I never really though of the sims as being a type of game that needed a difficulty setting. To me it's always been more about the experience of playing with artificial life and telling stories.
You say 'most of us', but you can really only speak for yourself. And 'painfully easy'? That's a personal opinion. Also, you already unlock stuff through careers and skilling up. Have you checked the list of in-game achievements as well?
I'm sorry, but I still disagree
A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear
Time enjoyed is never time wasted
You can disagree, but what harm would there be in having an increased difficulty as an option (as the OP is suggesting)?
I create stories for my sims and like to see them tackle a difficult situation and get past it. In the olden days I was a terrible builder and slowly learned how to decorate and fix up my sims houses. That is when I encountered the “Well Decorated”-buff. I plum that buff! What an excellent way for an player who is not observant on the buffs to completely skip out on bored, tense or angry. It took a while for me to figure out why my sims felt so weird when I started to decorate more. Then I threw away all the paintings and my sims were living in bare boxes until I started to use mods.
I feel like my sims are one-dimensional. There are a few negative traits but I would like to see more. Also consider the traits that you can buy with aspiration-points. Skill faster with that, let that need go down slower, avoid that weather-effect.
Stronger, Better, Faster.
I feel like that are the only stories to tell sometimes. How your sim gets better at something. What if you could do something and not get better at it. Or if you played a creative sim that just isn’t talented. Loves to paint but skills really really slow. A sim that loves to sing but is terrible at it.
I mod my game like crazy in order to make it interesting to me. Higher bills, all of Roburky, and several skills locked at different levels for individual sims so that all of them won’t be the same clone that has lvl 10 in fitness and singing just because I like going to the gym and karaoke.
I like to vary it, have some households that has it quite easy and some that has it challenging. The easy one are very, ehh, easy to implement. See before-mentioned reward-store. The household that gives me a sense of challenge have to be modded like crazy.
Stronger, better, faster. Do this to skip a lvl, do that to regain mana faster, how to remove this need. Do this for double xp.
No, I am trying to tell stories. Some of them are much much easier to simulate in this game than others.
Love these ideas the best. 🤭🤭🤭
I am speaking for myself and what I see when I read through the forums, comments on YT videos, and other media. I see many people stating that the game really is too easy. Have you seen many people complaining that the game is too hard? I have yet to see many of these types of comments... Having an OPTIONAL difficulty increase for players that want more challenge does not affect your game play at all.
“Instead of putting players in the role of Luke Skywalker, or Frodo Baggins, I'd rather put them in the role of George Lucas.” Will Wright.
It's never been a game to me - it's always been about telling stories through my Sims. In previous iterations, I used a number of mods to take out things that I found difficult or not suited to my storytelling. (For example, I always eliminated the requirement of making and keeping eight billion friends in order to get promoted. In S4, if you like that sort of challenge, you can try the 'Friend of the World' or serial-romance aspirations, or simply set a goal for your Sim to make a certain number of friends. Why does this have to be imposed on those of us who don't like that aspect of the game?)
That's what makes the Sims different from every other game - there are very few game-imposed requirements. You decide how to play, rather than the game making up scenarios for you to navigate. That's the difference between being the director and a role-player.