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I really hope we have 5 more years left.

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  • cheescaekscheescaeks Posts: 902 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    yuuuup.

    EA/maxis knows that many people do not play the sims on a gaming computer, they designed sims 4 to be flexible on older computers and laptops. its a mixture of that and its messy history of being designed for an online server environment that led it to what it is now.

    sims 4 has gotten more profitable as it ages, more player base, more people spending money on DLC. the more money they spend on DLC the least likely they are to abandon a game they invested in (and because sims 4 prioritized performance on older end computers the DLC they do buy do not completely destroy their game like what happened in sims 3, where they had to put a launcher in for the game to disable certain expansions just so their game could run). idk why they thought that carrying on a game for longer would kill playerbase when all statistics have shown is sims 4 doing better as its ages. hell, maxis re-opened another studio they're doing that good again after the early 2010s almost wiped them out as a studio.
  • HagfisherHagfisher Posts: 950 Member
    The game is a lot better than when it started but I don’t think five years would be a fantastic idea. Games age and the engines they’re in will age as well. I mean at the same time I’m not ready for them to abandon the game and start Sims 5.

    I think if Sims 5 is as complex as the other games then it won’t run on my ploopy laptop. But at the same time if it’s catering to lower end computers then it’s gonna be a ploopy game for the people who the monster state of the art modern PCs.

    I don’t think my computer could run Sims 3 because of all the stuff they piled on and didn’t fix. It’s a lovely laptop that I have but dang Sims 3 is a heavy weight game.

    I guess it’s performance issues I mean, Sims 3 they kinda just kept shoving more into the sandwich. Sims 4 is better at wedging more parts into the game. I wouldn’t say that makes it incomplete but like... it has less stuff so it is nicer to computers?

    But a decade of supporting a game would be pretty extreme — especially for a single player game. Maybe a few more years because the game is still fresh feeling, but that’s probably because I’m a stubborn person and I want my werewolves.
    125722018d2ffda673d70ee3796940a120b51e40.png

  • Horrorgirl6Horrorgirl6 Posts: 3,170 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited .One guru said it was balancing act.Thats why Del Sel valley was so small.They can't keep adding and adding to it.The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game.Its not going to make it too five more years .Sooner, or later their going run out of ideas.All public interested would not be good in five years?You see it on YouTube .More fans, and Simmers are gripping with four now .Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos .Than do something else.I do think we are going to get a few more years.But five no? That is not realistic.
  • Lady_BalloraLady_Ballora Posts: 784 Member
    I agree with you 100%,Horrorgirl6...we need to be realistic here. I think we can expect Sims 4 to end later this year or early next year.Then we will get Sims 5 when Sims 4 ends.
    Why do you hide inside these walls?
  • OnverserOnverser Posts: 3,364 Member
    edited March 2020
    Agree, I don't want a new version of the game. My biggest worry is computers haven't improved enough (or atleast the computers sims players use), the sims 3 is still laggy for a lot of players, a return to open-world gameplay would be a return to lag and waiting 30 minutes for the game to load up which I don't want.

    (Computers have improved, but the majority of sims players aren't avid gamers with $2000 gaming PCs. The PC market has very much died, 5 years ago people would've happily spent $500 on a computer, now the majority of new PC buyers spend around $100-$200 or still use their PC from 5 years ago. So the specs sims players have are pretty much exactly the same as when TS4 originally came out)

    And if they didn't return to open-world what would even be different between the sims 4 and sims 5? quite frankly I don't want to see the sims 4 rehashed with an alpha-y art style. the Sims 4 could be an amazing game if they stuck with it, added some more interesting stuff and fixed its problems so I hope they won't rush out another unnecessary instalment just because its been a few years.

    In the rest of the games time I'd like to see
    - The rest of the occults (fairies, werewolves)
    - A snowy paradise vacation world inspired by alpine resorts (Alpine Living?)
    - Island living needs a lot of tweaking to finish it
    - Some new CAS items like makeup? The existing makeup is bad, this is probably niche but perhaps a makeup brand collab (like moschino stuff but with makeup)
    - Some more cultural worlds - French inspired, Japanese inspired, Mediterranean
    - An Into the Future style pack - or perhaps an Into the Past style pack
  • favrielfavriel Posts: 72 Member
    It's unrealistic to expect Sims 4 to end this year... Sims 5 is not coming anytime soon, why would they choose to not release any content for 2-3 years if TS4 packs are still selling well?
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited March 2020
    Five more years? I'm not going to be interested in TS4 for five more years if I look at the last two or three. SV, a one time trick pony. GF, a one only career in an EP for goodness sake. Tiny House stuff pack..people paid for a lot trait after years of building tiny houses and holding tiny house, building contests for fun. I can't see that I would want more of that. Oh, and let's not forget IL, with watered down mermaids and the goal of the pack which was also an EP, I guess we forgot it's an EP, was to pick up trash. So, what did people pay for, the lecture to take care of the oceans, a mermaid that no one really likes and is less than before, some bugs that make some things impossible to do, or oversights, rabbit hole diving area, wow, the innovation!, and some foods like there aren't more of that to the point of overkill in this game.
    And then there is the university pack, with decorative dorms, Only. Bugs that make some tasks impossible, or overights, like the wants or wishes don't correspond to the area, or where they live, solution, instead of thinking and focusing on what they should be thinking about in a dorm, just hide the wishes ,now. Wow, that's innovative, isn't it? And oh, yes, the goal to graduate and or complete some tasks bugged on day one. I'm sorry, but no, I'm too spoiled by older iterations to want this game to continue just so they can mess up cars, or chemistry and or another non routable world filled with backdrops. And the one time play of the magic pack...where more money was spent on the illusion of a floating world, than the gameplay. No thanks. I don't need to repay for emotions and rewards they could do that were already in the basegame.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • Horrorgirl6Horrorgirl6 Posts: 3,170 Member
    Onverser wrote: »
    Agree, I don't want a new version of the game. My biggest worry is computers haven't improved enough (or atleast the computers sims players use), the sims 3 is still laggy for a lot of players, a return to open-world gameplay would be a return to lag and waiting 30 minutes for the game to load up which I don't want.

    (Computers have improved, but the majority of sims players aren't avid gamers with $2000 gaming PCs. The PC market has very much died, 5 years ago people would've happily spent $500 on a computer, now the majority of new PC buyers spend around $100-$200 or still use their PC from 5 years ago. So the specs sims players have are pretty much exactly the same as when TS4 originally came out)

    And if they didn't return to open-world what would even be different between the sims 4 and sims 5? quite frankly I don't want to see the sims 4 rehashed with an alpha-y art style. the Sims 4 could be an amazing game if they stuck with it, added some more interesting stuff and fixed its problems so I hope they won't rush out another unnecessary instalment just because its been a few years.

    In the rest of the games time I'd like to see
    - The rest of the occults (fairies, werewolves)
    - A snowy paradise vacation world inspired by alpine resorts (Alpine Living?)
    - Island living needs a lot of tweaking to finish it
    - Some new CAS items like makeup? The existing makeup is bad, this is probably niche but perhaps a makeup brand collab (like moschino stuff but with makeup)
    - Some more cultural worlds - French inspired, Japanese inspired, Mediterranean
    - An Into the Future style pack - or perhaps an Into the Past style pack

    Again the reason why Sims 4 is closed off.Is because it was meant to be a online.Sims 4 is just as buggy as sims 3.You don't have to pay 2000 thousand dollars for a game computer.They are ones that are 600-700 dollars
  • AedanStarfangAedanStarfang Posts: 272 Member
    I doubt we'll get five more years, but fortunately it seems we will continue to receive content so long as the game is supported (max guess is 2-3 years). It's one of those cases where I'm happy to have the publisher milk the title, I'm not done playing yet lol.
  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited .One guru said it was balancing act.Thats why Del Sel valley was so small.They can't keep adding and adding to it.The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game.Its not going to make it too five more years .Sooner, or later their going run out of ideas.All public interested would not be good in five years?You see it on YouTube .More fans, and Simmers are gripping with four now .Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos .Than do something else.I do think we are going to get a few more years.But five no? That is not realistic.

    I'm aware, but have you ever seen the size of an online game? They're huge. But I do agree with some of what you're saying.

    As I understand it, (and, again, full disclosure, I'm not a developer, just someone who has been trying to learn the ins and outs of game development,) the game limitations come from trying to incorporate single play game mechanics as we used to know them into a game designed for static worlds and multiple players online. Every game engine has limitations because every game engine is designed for specific types of performances. So the Sims 4's engine isn't particularly weak, in fact, early on, the devs were saying how robust it actually is. It was built with the intention of lasting many years, as online games usually do. The words "weak" and "limited" are two completely different things.

    Every Sims game, however, has a lot of intricate, moving parts and requires layers upon layers of coding that keeps getting piled on. This is why it's a "balancing act". Any game that expands will have this to a certain extent, but Sims games are particularly high. This also increases the chance for bugs. Every added DLC will increase the chance that new bugs will pop up, no matter what game you're playing. Since Sims games are extremely heavy on DLC and overlapping parts, these risks are multiplied at a fast rate. The quicker they pump out packs, the more likely bugs are going to pop up. We saw this happen also with Sims 3's DLC and the store, particularly in the latter half of Sims 3's life. This isn't exclusive to Sims 4 and it will probably be the same with Sims 5.

    Since EA intended for Sims 4 to have a longer life, it will. It could probably sustain itself a lot better and with fewer bugs if DLC releases slowed down, but that's not likely to happen because of money and demand. So it will get buggier as it goes. Not because the engine is weak, but because devs aren't getting the time they need to iron everything out. And it's a process that's very likely to repeat when Sims 5 comes.
    #Team Occult
  • alexandreaalexandrea Posts: 2,432 Member
    Not me. This iteration ruined my love for The Sims. I don't even play it anymore. Every time I check for new content it's just the same old stuff. The gameplay is boring.
    p6tqefj
  • kwanzaabotkwanzaabot Posts: 2,440 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited .One guru said it was balancing act.Thats why Del Sel valley was so small.They can't keep adding and adding to it.The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game.Its not going to make it too five more years .Sooner, or later their going run out of ideas.All public interested would not be good in five years?You see it on YouTube .More fans, and Simmers are gripping with four now .Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos .Than do something else.I do think we are going to get a few more years.But five no? That is not realistic.

    The "balancing act" was because people play this game on toasters. Go on the gallery sometime, and a good 80% of the Sims showing in the "newest" category have previews using Low graphics settings.

    They couldn't make Del Sol bigger because those people wouldn't be able to run it.
    wJbomAo.png
  • Horrorgirl6Horrorgirl6 Posts: 3,170 Member
    kwanzaabot wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited .One guru said it was balancing act.Thats why Del Sel valley was so small.They can't keep adding and adding to it.The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game.Its not going to make it too five more years .Sooner, or later their going run out of ideas.All public interested would not be good in five years?You see it on YouTube .More fans, and Simmers are gripping with four now .Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos .Than do something else.I do think we are going to get a few more years.But five no? That is not realistic.

    The "balancing act" was because people play this game on toasters. Go on the gallery sometime, and a good 80% of the Sims showing in the "newest" category have previews using Low graphics settings.

    They couldn't make Del Sol bigger because those people wouldn't be able to run it.

    It's not that people are playing game on tosters.Its that the code is limited, and even with a good game computer.Its going to get bloated.
  • cody6268cody6268 Posts: 643 Member
    edited March 2020
    I waited for 2 or 3 years until TS4 started getting heavy discounts in April 2018. Even then, it was probably not until fall of last year I started spending any money on packs. If TS5 came out, I'd have to probably wait a few years. And right now, with the circulating rumors, I think it will be even more underwhelming than TS4.

    This is the thing; while I've added a lot of packs, TS3 has plenty to see and do with just the base game. Clothing is pretty good as well. If there's a swatch you want that isn't available, it's as easy as recoloring it in Create a Style. TS4 may have 3 worlds, but there's not much to do in them. There really isn't a lot of non-tacky clothing; too few swatches; and so much of the outfits are full-body when they should not be. While they are rabbitholes, you've got the police station, hospital, lab, grocery store, book store, restaurants, and all the workplaces in TS3. The police station, lab, and hospital come in Get to Work and only exist on secret lots and can't be placed anywhere else. I had to get Dine Out to have restaurants my Sims could visit. I've also used GTW to make a few department stores for my Sims to visit. My Simself right now uses clothes from about 4-5 packs; and nothing fancy--just the clothes I wear everyday. Cars, NPC police and fire, among other things, don't exist at all in TS4.

    I think that if EA remastered and upgraded TS3 to use more than just two gigs of RAM; it would definitely blow TS4 out of the water. Right now, the only thing it seems to do is blow up my computer if I run more than one EP. And while not high-end machines, two of them have i7s, one has an i5. They all have 8 gigs of RAM but are eventually having that bumped up to at least 16GB.
  • NushnushganayNushnushganay Posts: 9,418 Member
    How about if Sims5 comes out about the time VR matures enough to make it not so niche? That would definitely be worth waiting for!
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  • SinaMegapolisSinaMegapolis Posts: 244 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years, people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that, the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle an open world or a full team for a soccer match, then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it? I imagine after 1 or 2 more years, the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine, then I could see it lasting for another 5 years. I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021, MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break, then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have an open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited. One guru said it was a balancing act. That's why Del Sel valley was so small. They can't keep adding and adding to it. The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game. It's not going to make it to five more years. Sooner, or later they're going run out of ideas. Is all public interested would not be good in five years? You see it on YouTube.More fans and Simmers are gripping with four now. Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos. Then do something else. I do think we are going to get a few more years. But five no? That is not realistic.

    I'm aware, but have you ever seen the size of an online game? They're huge. But I do agree with some of what you're saying.

    As I understand it, (and, again, full disclosure, I'm not a developer, just someone who has been trying to learn the ins and outs of game development,) the game limitations come from trying to incorporate single play game mechanics as we used to know them into a game designed for static worlds and multiple players online. Every game engine has limitations because every game engine is designed for specific types of performances. So the Sims 4's engine isn't particularly weak, in fact, early on, the devs were saying how robust it is. It was built to last many years, as online games usually do. The words "weak" and "limited" are two completely different things.

    Every Sims game, however, has a lot of intricate, moving parts and requires layers upon layers of coding that keeps getting piled on. This is why it's a "balancing act". Any game that expands will have this to a certain extent, but Sims games are particularly high. This also increases the chance of bugs. Every added DLC will increase the chance that new bugs will pop up, no matter what game you're playing. Since Sims games are extremely heavy on DLC and overlapping parts, these risks are multiplied at a fast rate. The quicker they pump out packs, the more likely bugs are going to pop up. We saw this happen also with Sims 3's DLC and the store, particularly in the latter half of Sims 3's life. This isn't exclusive to Sims 4 and it will probably be the same with Sims 5.

    Since EA intended for Sims 4 to have a longer life, it will. It could probably sustain itself a lot better and with fewer bugs, if DLC releases slowed down, but that's not likely to happen because of money and demand. So it will get buggier as it goes. Not because the engine is weak, but because devs aren't getting the time they need to iron everything out. And it's a process that's very likely to repeat when Sims 5 comes.

    Precisely. Even with a little bit of modding knowledge, one can see that the engine is designed for online games.
    The game has to parts.
    One "Server" part which syncs things across different mechanisms like the emotions system, the moodlet system, and the time management. It's coded in C++ and was supposed to run on servers that would host the game. And it's hardcoded a lot.
    Then there's the "Client" part which handles everything else, mostly rendering UI, Sims, Objects and the world. This was the part that we would buy and install on our computers to access the servers. And it's written in Phyton and XML. To this day the client-side has remained the only mod-friendly side of the game hence most TS4 mods dealing with Phyton code and XML, not C++.

    One of the big-name TS4 modders (i think it was TwistedMexi) shared this on SimsVIP a few years ago. You can still look for the article and see it for yourself. They theorized that its part of the reason simulation lag is so common in the heavier worlds like San Myshuno. Because "The Bridge" between the Client-side and the Server-side wasn't designed to transfer that amount of Data quickly.

    We have to note that the teams that make the packs now aren't the same team from 2017. SimGuruGrant and a handful of Devs from different teams were transferred to a TS5 team probably somewhere in late 2018 or early 2019 (TS5 will need a new Engine so it will need a lot of work). Hiring new devs to fill their place would mean unnecessary costs for EA because they would take a while to settle in. So EA didn't hire any.
    This means we have much smaller teams now.
    It partly explains why TS4 packs have been buggier and emptier starting with Get Famous and StrangerVile's bugs and continuing with Island Living, Realm of Magic, And Discover University being hollow. The workload is too heavy, the budget is tight, and the deadlines are too close.
    This means if we want better packs from now onwards we should either force EA into hiring new devs or just expect more silent treatment.

    At least we know that almost all of the bugs happen client side so modders will be able to make fixes for them.. in time
  • comicsforlifecomicsforlife Posts: 9,585 Member
    edited March 2020
    OEII1001 wrote: »
    As someone who is not areal simmer and all-around un-person, I welcome continued development of The Sims 4. I tire of the cycle. The Sims 2 introduced what a Sims game is all about, and then immediately The Sims 3 was released and I waited for those things from the previous title to be integrated. Then once that was done we saw The Sims 4 and then had to begin the process again. Personally, and I say this as an unwelcome aberration who should have no right to speak, I am tired of it. I don't want to buy the packs for The Sims 2 for a fourth time. Let the game continue as is. My wallet will breathe a sigh of relief.

    I welcome you @OEII1001
    more for sim kids and more drama please
  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    edited March 2020
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Sims 4 is built on an in-house game engine designed for online multiplayer running off a remote server. Obviously they rushed to eliminate the online parts, but that didn’t leave them with a game engine comparable to what they would have made for an offline game..

    Since then we’ve gotten ridiculous performance limiting, even after they upgraded the .exe to 64bit they still implemented ways to “improve performance” like when they leave the premade houses empty, or produce tiny nugget worlds with a couple lots. Just because the game loads the tiny areas quickly and doesn’t crash doesn’t mean it’s a super stable game that can handle years worth of additional content. I’ll LoL when Maxis implements a pack selector in this game like they did with Sims 3.. because that’s definitely on the table.

    ETA: The developers have said so many things about the technology running Sims 4 and frankly a lot of that has never proven to be true. Remember when Graham said they had tech to pump content out faster than ever before? How truthful is that? Remember when they said this game was designed to be easy to manipulate and change to be whatever we wanted? They said they could issue game patches SO quick.... Ya. So no offense I don’t care how robust the developers say the game engine is when they have done nothing to prove it and in fact have contradicted their own PR statements about what their technology is capable of. But the difference between “weak” and “limited” is really what’s most important when the game engine still fundamentally lacks various functions people have been asking for for 5+ years after the studio said it’s more than capable of handling it. Lol
  • kwanzaabotkwanzaabot Posts: 2,440 Member
    edited March 2020
    kwanzaabot wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited .One guru said it was balancing act.Thats why Del Sel valley was so small.They can't keep adding and adding to it.The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game.Its not going to make it too five more years .Sooner, or later their going run out of ideas.All public interested would not be good in five years?You see it on YouTube .More fans, and Simmers are gripping with four now .Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos .Than do something else.I do think we are going to get a few more years.But five no? That is not realistic.

    The "balancing act" was because people play this game on toasters. Go on the gallery sometime, and a good 80% of the Sims showing in the "newest" category have previews using Low graphics settings.

    They couldn't make Del Sol bigger because those people wouldn't be able to run it.

    It's not that people are playing game on tosters.Its that the code is limited, and even with a good game computer.Its going to get bloated.

    Yeah, let's blame the code for "Maxis can only place so many objects on-screen at once without preventing most of the playerbase from being able to play the game".

    Code does have something to do with the engine's ability to render objects, but even a fine-tuned, highly optimised engine can only do so much for a 1GB video card and 4 GB of RAM.
    wJbomAo.png
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited March 2020
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years,people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that,the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle open world or a full team for a soccer match,then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it?I imagine after 1 or 2 more years,the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine,then I could see it lasting for another 5 years.I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021,MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break,then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Sims 4 is built on an in-house game engine designed for online multiplayer running off a remote server. Obviously they rushed to eliminate the online parts, but that didn’t leave them with a game engine comparable to what they would have made for an offline game..

    Since then we’ve gotten ridiculous performance limiting, even after they upgraded the .exe to 64bit they still implemented ways to “improve performance” like when they leave the premade houses empty, or produce tiny nugget worlds with a couple lots. Just because the game loads the tiny areas quickly and doesn’t crash doesn’t mean it’s a super stable game that can handle years worth of additional content. I’ll LoL when Maxis implements a pack selector in this game like they did with Sims 3.. because that’s definitely on the table.

    ETA: The developers have said so many things about the technology running Sims 4 and frankly a lot of that has never proven to be true. Remember when Graham said they had tech to pump content out faster than ever before? How truthful is that? Remember when they said this game was designed to be easy to manipulate and change to be whatever we wanted? They said they could issue game patches SO quick.... Ya. So no offense I don’t care how robust the developers say the game engine is when they have done nothing to prove it and in fact have contradicted their own PR statements about what their technology is capable of. But the difference between “weak” and “limited” is really what’s most important when the game engine still fundamentally lacks various functions people have been asking for for 5+ years after the studio said it’s more than capable of handling it. Lol

    Good Points. I wonder if TS4 could load one of my TS2 worlds with all it's homes in it. I really doubt it, I think it would crash and burn. And both are similar as closed worlds. Everyone thinks it loads fast because of a superior engine, no it loads faster because it can't handle one hundred homes in a world. (2 homes in a 'district loads no faster than two homes in a newly created TS2 world/hood).
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • AquaGamer1212AquaGamer1212 Posts: 5,417 Member
    LiELF wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I hope Sims 4 has another 5 years as well. The game can be improved, added onto there are tons of ideas out there for sims games. I also look at it this way if S4 lasts another 5 years, hopefully Sims 5 will be really well developed.


    I don't think that would be a very wise decision on EA's part...making games last for TOO long usually results in people completely abandoning the game as it goes on and on and on and on and on. I have a feeling that if Sims 4 lasts for ANOTHER 5 years, people will keep leaving the fandom and moving on to other games. On top of that, the game engine will break sooner or later..if Sims 4 cannot handle an open world or a full team for a soccer match, then how will it be able to handle 5 more years of content being piled on top of it? I imagine after 1 or 2 more years, the Sims 4 engine will finally break and EA will not be able to fix it. If Sims 4 had been built on a really strong engine, then I could see it lasting for another 5 years. I think Sims 4 will end in late 2020 or early 2021, MAYBE sometime in 2022 IF the weak game engine doesn't break, then Sims 5 will be launched.

    You do know that a game engine is not an actual engine, right?

    Sims 4 isn't missing open world because the game engine is weak, it doesn't have an open world because it purposely wasn't designed for it.

    Yes, but it still has code and it's limited. One guru said it was a balancing act. That's why Del Sel valley was so small. They can't keep adding and adding to it. The game will not handle it
    This game was meant to be an online game. It's not going to make it to five more years. Sooner, or later they're going run out of ideas. Is all public interested would not be good in five years? You see it on YouTube.More fans and Simmers are gripping with four now. Sure they still review pack a, but only couple videos. Then do something else. I do think we are going to get a few more years. But five no? That is not realistic.

    I'm aware, but have you ever seen the size of an online game? They're huge. But I do agree with some of what you're saying.

    As I understand it, (and, again, full disclosure, I'm not a developer, just someone who has been trying to learn the ins and outs of game development,) the game limitations come from trying to incorporate single play game mechanics as we used to know them into a game designed for static worlds and multiple players online. Every game engine has limitations because every game engine is designed for specific types of performances. So the Sims 4's engine isn't particularly weak, in fact, early on, the devs were saying how robust it is. It was built to last many years, as online games usually do. The words "weak" and "limited" are two completely different things.

    Every Sims game, however, has a lot of intricate, moving parts and requires layers upon layers of coding that keeps getting piled on. This is why it's a "balancing act". Any game that expands will have this to a certain extent, but Sims games are particularly high. This also increases the chance of bugs. Every added DLC will increase the chance that new bugs will pop up, no matter what game you're playing. Since Sims games are extremely heavy on DLC and overlapping parts, these risks are multiplied at a fast rate. The quicker they pump out packs, the more likely bugs are going to pop up. We saw this happen also with Sims 3's DLC and the store, particularly in the latter half of Sims 3's life. This isn't exclusive to Sims 4 and it will probably be the same with Sims 5.

    Since EA intended for Sims 4 to have a longer life, it will. It could probably sustain itself a lot better and with fewer bugs, if DLC releases slowed down, but that's not likely to happen because of money and demand. So it will get buggier as it goes. Not because the engine is weak, but because devs aren't getting the time they need to iron everything out. And it's a process that's very likely to repeat when Sims 5 comes.

    Precisely. Even with a little bit of modding knowledge, one can see that the engine is designed for online games.
    The game has to parts.
    One "Server" part which syncs things across different mechanisms like the emotions system, the moodlet system, and the time management. It's coded in C++ and was supposed to run on servers that would host the game. And it's hardcoded a lot.
    Then there's the "Client" part which handles everything else, mostly rendering UI, Sims, Objects and the world. This was the part that we would buy and install on our computers to access the servers. And it's written in Phyton and XML. To this day the client-side has remained the only mod-friendly side of the game hence most TS4 mods dealing with Phyton code and XML, not C++.

    One of the big-name TS4 modders (i think it was TwistedMexi) shared this on SimsVIP a few years ago. You can still look for the article and see it for yourself. They theorized that its part of the reason simulation lag is so common in the heavier worlds like San Myshuno. Because "The Bridge" between the Client-side and the Server-side wasn't designed to transfer that amount of Data quickly.

    We have to note that the teams that make the packs now aren't the same team from 2017. SimGuruGrant and a handful of Devs from different teams were transferred to a TS5 team probably somewhere in late 2018 or early 2019 (TS5 will need a new Engine so it will need a lot of work). Hiring new devs to fill their place would mean unnecessary costs for EA because they would take a while to settle in. So EA didn't hire any.
    This means we have much smaller teams now.

    It partly explains why TS4 packs have been buggier and emptier starting with Get Famous and StrangerVile's bugs and continuing with Island Living, Realm of Magic, And Discover University being hollow. The workload is too heavy, the budget is tight, and the deadlines are too close.
    This means if we want better packs from now onwards we should either force EA into hiring new devs or just expect more silent treatment.

    At least we know that almost all of the bugs happen client side so modders will be able to make fixes for them.. in time

    Yea but what about the Maxis team in Texas? They’re the ones working on the new IP, so they had to hire more people for that. But we don’t know how big that team over there is though...
    ts4_blossom_meadows_world_icon_gif_fan_art_by_hazzaplumbob-d.gif

  • AquaGamer1212AquaGamer1212 Posts: 5,417 Member
    TLDR: Could the next Maxis IP be using the Unreal Engine instead of a custom one? 🤔🤔

    I do have a question for those in game development (or those studying it like @LiELF). So we all know that the Sims 4 uses its own custom made engine. But have they used aspects from other engines? Is it possible to use more than one engine? I ask because in one of the job descriptions for the new Maxis IP* at EA Austin it mentions having experience of the UnReal Engine. Is the Sims 4 Engine similar to the UnReal engine, is it using parts of the UnReal engine (if that’s even possible)? Could they be using the Unreal Engine for the next game in its entirety?

    *Assuming that it’s a Sims title which we obviously don’t have confirmation of.

    If anyone could explain anything it would be very lovely as I love learning new things and the ins and outs of game development is very intriguing.
    ts4_blossom_meadows_world_icon_gif_fan_art_by_hazzaplumbob-d.gif

  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    TLDR: Could the next Maxis IP be using the Unreal Engine instead of a custom one? 🤔🤔

    I do have a question for those in game development (or those studying it like @LiELF). So we all know that the Sims 4 uses its own custom made engine. But have they used aspects from other engines? Is it possible to use more than one engine? I ask because in one of the job descriptions for the new Maxis IP* at EA Austin it mentions having experience of the UnReal Engine. Is the Sims 4 Engine similar to the UnReal engine, is it using parts of the UnReal engine (if that’s even possible)? Could they be using the Unreal Engine for the next game in its entirety?

    *Assuming that it’s a Sims title which we obviously don’t have confirmation of.

    If anyone could explain anything it would be very lovely as I love learning new things and the ins and outs of game development is very intriguing.

    I'm honestly not the person to ask, as I'm still just learning about game engines and my perspective is still as much speculation as anyone's. I'd like to know the answer to this as well.
    #Team Occult
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    cody6268 wrote: »
    I think that if EA remastered and upgraded TS3 to use more than just two gigs of RAM; it would definitely blow TS4 out of the water. Right now, the only thing it seems to do is blow up my computer if I run more than one EP. And while not high-end machines, two of them have i7s, one has an i5. They all have 8 gigs of RAM but are eventually having that bumped up to at least 16GB.

    I run TS3 on an old 2014 computer with 4gb RAM and integrated Intel graphics card with several EPs and SPs and it still runs fine. I'm just puzzled why your more powerful computers aren't running it as well or better than mine. You should go to the TS3 forums here and ask for help about that - TS3 simmers there who have more powerful computers than mine are able to run TS3 much better without blowing them up.
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited April 2020
    TLDR: Could the next Maxis IP be using the Unreal Engine instead of a custom one? 🤔🤔

    I do have a question for those in game development (or those studying it like @LiELF). So we all know that the Sims 4 uses its own custom made engine. But have they used aspects from other engines? Is it possible to use more than one engine? I ask because in one of the job descriptions for the new Maxis IP* at EA Austin it mentions having experience of the UnReal Engine. Is the Sims 4 Engine similar to the UnReal engine, is it using parts of the UnReal engine (if that’s even possible)? Could they be using the Unreal Engine for the next game in its entirety?

    *Assuming that it’s a Sims title which we obviously don’t have confirmation of.

    If anyone could explain anything it would be very lovely as I love learning new things and the ins and outs of game development is very intriguing.

    Maybe they're using the UnReal engine for their next Anthem release, lol! :D

    Oh wait, that's BioWare! Still, that's quite intriguing! I really hope that TS5 is so much better than TS4. All the people saying they won't move on to TS5 will more than likely buy it if it is so much better than TS4! :)

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