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An epic battle: TS3 vs TS4. Which of these will end up entertaining me?
Feather91
Posts: 2,132 Member
I've always said I wasn't going to buy TS4, but recently I saw Dan and Phil play TS4 and I got exited about starting fresh with a new sims game.
So I just wanted to know from the people who've played both TS3 and TS4 what the pro's and cons are. And if the game is worth getting even with these cons.
What do you absolutely love about TS3 and 4 and what do you hate? Why should I buy TS4 instead of sticking to TS3?
I expect only brutally honest answers
So I just wanted to know from the people who've played both TS3 and TS4 what the pro's and cons are. And if the game is worth getting even with these cons.
What do you absolutely love about TS3 and 4 and what do you hate? Why should I buy TS4 instead of sticking to TS3?
I expect only brutally honest answers
0
Comments
Give The Sims Medieval a shot first.
I very much prefer TS4 to TS3.
TS3 for me was pretty much a symbol of everything that went wrong with the franchise. I'll give EA credit - they tried to introduce some new concepts (as annoying as it was for me to be faced with a bunch of grey textures until everything rendered, CASt was a fantastic inclusion and the open world would've been a whole lot better if it had actually worked properly) but despite all of the game's openness and an emphasis on the world I found myself consistently feeling bored, even when expansion packs were included I just found the game to be empty and lacking.
TS4 is like a breath of fresh air in comparison and reminds me much more of TS1 and a lesser version of TS2 (yeah, it isn't as good as TS2 was IMO, EA still haven't quite found all the magic that made that game great yet). I love how the sims look and no longer have to use slider mods to get them to look how I want them to, I love the fact I can go anywhere in the town and within less than a minute it will be populated with 10+ sims (no more ghost towns, hurrah!) and I love how the sims themselves seem to actually be a part of the world they're in instead of walking around like stoic robots that occasionally perform an animation then go back to being stoic again. The emotions are fantastic - it tugs on my heart strings when a child sim comes home from school after having a bad day and goes to their bedroom to cry under the duvet.
That being said; TS4 is not without it's problems. Like any EA game it's buggy (I'm personally fortunate enough not to have encountered many myself, but they are there and they might affect you) and the world itself is TINY. While I'm still having fun I will not deny there is a lot of content "missing" and depending on how you play you might find yourself limited in what you can do or even getting bored because of this.
I'd say if you're unsure you can see if the game is still covered by EA's great game guarantee and get it on Origin (you'll pay over the odds for it but you'll also be able to get a refund if you're not happy with the game provided you put the request through before 24 hours is up) or you can wait and get the game later when there are some expansion packs to supplement the gameplay. IMHO the foundations are there for it to be a really great game, but it's a base game with content that had previously been a staple of the franchise missing and you really do need to bare that in mind.
I have no regrets and I'm loving the game myself, but I will say it was not worth the £50 I paid for it. I'd personally price it more at £35 considering what you get so keep that in mind as well.
EA games - Mass Effect trilogy - has no bugs.
Dragon Age Origins? No bugs.
Not all EA games are bug-o-ramas.
Personally I feel in a lot of ways family play has been neglected in 4 and it's why I don't enjoy it. Not only toddlers are missing but the babies are tied to the bassinet so are very limited and so multitasking doesn't relate to them at all-at a stage where multitasking would be truly useful! Family trees aren't in game either and the game doesn't track family status as much as in 3.
I think this game is ideal for people who enjoy playing single sims and those who love being given specific tasks in order to 'succeed' in the sims.
They claimed at the time they announced the missing areas that they cut them from launch date to offer smaller things-but in a game where there are less NPCs and not even simple things like dishwashers I struggle to think where those 'smaller things' are.
I would be happier if we knew the missing areas were all being patched in as we paid full price for what they admitted was an incomplete game at launch. Currently we know careers are coming but still no word on the rest.
Also I have had more bugs in 4 than I ever had in 3. And they don't appear to have learnt their lesson from 3 where they didn't fix thing quickly or at all-a lot of bugs we are still waiting for fixes for. That doesn't give me terrific confidence in better customer service for 4 than 3.
Ultimately it's your decision and I'd hope you would be happier with it than I am :-)
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/781335/ck213-ts4-pictures-and-opinions-the-boys-pg-7/p1
I was initially delighted by some of the new features, but after two weeks I lost interest in this game. I have no intention of buying any EPs until the following happens.
- Toddlers and pre-teens are added
- Bigger neighborhoods with larger lot sizes, and more lots to choose from. I should be able to put lots where I want them and edit the neighborhood freely. Also, remove the need for load screens between lots in the neighborhood.
- We get some kind of recoloring tool for clothes, objects, floors, and walls
- I can find some more realistic build-mode textures and terrain paints. I will most likely have to go the CC route.
- They stop it with the linear game play, telling you exactly how to accomplish something. This makes the experience the same whenever you play it again.
- EA starts making more realistic looking trees
- That cartoon sky has got to go.
- We get a create-a-world tool. I want to make my own world because I really don't like this overly cartoonish art-style and I will need to build from scratch with all the things I can find to create what I want.
TS3 has plenty of flaws, but it's complete, works for me, and it's paid for. It also has features that I love which TS4 is skipping instead of improving. Now that the game is finished, I can deep dive in and make creative use of all the content I have gathered over the years. I am really having fun with it now.
Yeah, this is how I see it too. Except I'm not all that sure about the bugs. I think there are a whole lot of people out there with inferior machines and that is probably a big part of the problem. That said, there was an issue that I did have, but just one, not many. That was the sim was home from work, but the game acted like he was still at work. I found a work-a-round and haven't experienced it since.
Over all, t4 is a really fun game. They addressed in 4 what I hated in 3; like the rabbit holes, the empty community lots, dead eyed sims, and the sim behavior, no way to effectively use rotational game play, and that dreadful story progression.
I have each and every t3 expansion pack, stuff pack, and over a 1000 items from the t3 store and even with all that content, they couldn't' make that game fun for me and the way I play.
As Darkslayer said, the neighborhood is very tiny in t4. You can't add lots, you are stuck with what they made and have no way to make it bigger or to add things in the open areas of the game, they are off limits to the buy/build mode. You can knock down houses and make your own. You need the patches, b/c they address major things, like adding pools for instance.
I think that the people who loved the sims 2, seem to love this new game - generally. And going back to the way things were in that game, is okay b/c everything else is so much fun.
____________________________________________________________
Do you even have the sims 4? I thought you said you wouldn't buy it and I see you all over the t4 forums shooting it down. I just don't get it, what do you get out of constantly knocking this game? Is someone paying you to do this? Just wondering
Sims4 has LIVELY Sims again! That alone is worth it to me. I'm also hoping to get our toddler stage back, sooner rather than later, EA, please, oh, please, oh please. But, I'm loving this game, so far. I also played Sims Medieval and actually liked the "daily tasks", but I didn't like the truncated, half-hearted sandbox play allotted. And for the fact that we basically have to start from scratch all over again, once the aspiration has been achieved. I don't play it anymore. It bores me. Sims 4 gives us those "daily tasks" which some people abhor. But in some way or another, we've always had to work on skill-building to level up in careers. This just give a slightly different take on that. I also like the fact that charisma isn't friend-based. In fact, it does appear as if you have to work on your Sims' charisma in order to achieve friends more easily, in this game.
We have all kinds of interactions in this BASE game, too. I love the many and varied romantic interactions and the fact that we don't have to wait on some of these things to show up in a future EP. I think you'll be pleased with what you find in this BASE game. I know I was. And I went into this with the attitude if it didn't WOW me, I would not spend another dime on Sims4. I plan on purchasing EPs.
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
- I don't remember saying I wouldn't buy a game. I remember saying I had an opportunity to buy ltd edition with -23% off and I bought it then.
- I'm not working for EA nor for EA subsidiaries.
- I can't be bought.
What do you expect me to write? To lie to everyone and say that the game is a patchpolished masterpiece with brilliant graphics, outstanding design and no boring and annoying content? It is not.
It's a joke... ?
Please, tell me you're wrong.
These games have a lot of bugs at their release. It's why they had several patches
Unless you'll nitpick and say there is a bugged achievement in ME3... Impossible to complete. Yea, there is. One. Irrelevant. Achievement.
EDIT:
Several patches... For ME1? Maybe on Xbox. Not on PC.
I don't remember any kind of lot of bugs in these games I've mentioned on the release. If there were a lot of bugs, I'd remember. Or perhaps - THEY DIDN'T LET GAMES UNPATCHED FOR 2 MONTHS.
But you're wrong.
These games had many bugs at their release. And even now, you can find mods that fixes some bugs in the game.
The game is patchpolished and needs no mods.
Perhaps you've mixed these EA games with Skyrim?
Look, I'll stop here.
Link to these "bug-o-rama fixing" numerous patches or 3rd party bugfixing mods - if they exist.
Please, did a quick search about bugs on the Mass Effect Series then you can tell me whatever you want after that.
Thanks!
Some examples (may contain ME3 spoiler) :
Bug: Texture popping in weapon load out screen, character screen in submenu, armor screen in armor locker.
Bug: Long load times for armor sets, pieces, and casual outfits in the armor locker load out screen
Bug: During the Aria T'Loak missions the one where you go down to the Holding Area on the Citadel to talk to that guy who wants the turian General killed when FemShep's hand goes up to the side of her ear, the hand jumps up and down instead of staying at the ear. Also the fingers look really screwed up like they are very skinny almost the size of paper.
Bug: When in a star cluster NOT controlled by reaper forces and it has several systems within that cluster and you do scanning, reaper forces still show up when they should not if they do not control the star cluster.
Bug: Lighting issues on the Normandy in Javik's room. Whenever you click on him to hear his auto dialogue there is a blinking of the lights on the table where he washes his hands.
Bug: Lighting issues on the Citadel after the Cerberus attack. Shadows jump, objects seem to move.
Bug: In certain cutscenes if you are playing a class that does not use the assault rifle FemShep will reach behind her for an assault rifle but come up with a submachine gun instead. She should be reaching for her left hip for that gun.
Bug: When in certain animations FemShep reaches for a pistol she reaches to her left instead of her right for the gun.
Bug: When starting the game from the dashboard a black screen shows up and then white snow across the screen shows up temporarily
Bug: Liara's dialogue after completing the Mars Mission and the Citadel mission right after the dream sequence when you go to meet her in her quarters does not recognize rekindling the romance from LotSB
Bug: Head animations in Liara's room when talking about Glyph makes Shepard's head and even Liara's head turn away from one another and get stuck there following Glyph's movements even after he leaves the conversation.
Bug: Audio voices cut out in many of the auto-dialogue places.
Bug: Traynor's head does a 180 if you stand right behind her and click on her for auto-dialogue
Bug: If you leave the door going into the scanner between the war room and the CIC or leave the elevator and Traynor says something to you the VO does not trigger and you can only see what she says if you have subtitles activated.
Bug: When on Sur'Kesh going to go into the elevator and go down to meet the female krogan and Mordin the game freezes and a popup states that it cannot read disc and forces you back to the dashboard of the 360.
Bug: Texture popping on planets when go into orbit around them.
Bug: If you have an upgraded ammo clip in any weapon on SP you are always short at least 15 bullets unless you pick up a thermal clip.
Bug: Upgraded thermal clips for MP leave you with 1 less ammo if using default sniper for Infiltrator class.
Bug: Characters other than Liara seem to have their powers greyed out right before battle even with squad powers turned off. It takes at least a minute if not longer for them to come into full use if it ever does. There are entire battles that I cannot use their powers because of some battle glitch.
Bug: Journal Tracking for quests. Quests do not update and track properly. Finished quests do get greyed out but you are forced halfway down the list or farther depending on how many you have finished. You are then either forced to scroll up to the top of the list or press the Y button to re-order the list so you can get back to the top.
Bug: War assets from previous playthroughs carry over when starting a new "FreshShep".
Bug: Achievement progress randomly resets.
Bug: If autologin to EA servers is disabled, the "looking for DLC" prompt stays there no matter what, until you load up or start a new game.
Bug: In both MP and SP turrets disappear but still keep firing. Unable to lock on and destroy them.
Bug: When holding a assault rifle with FemShep the butt of the rifle tends to move into her breast while wearing armor during cutscenes.
Bug:Garrus/Tali engineering dialogue impossible if you have Kaiden. You only get this if you have Ashley at close friend/gf status.
Bug: If a system that contains an artifact (Pillars of Strength, Banner of the 1st Regiment, etc.) is scanned to 100% before the quests to find those artifacts become available, you will not be able to recover ANY of those artifacts, even if they are in systems that weren't available yet. This doesn't seem to affect the ones that aren't available until after the attack on the Citadel
Bug: Conrad Verner will act as if you already talked to him if you skip talking to him and get the medigel quest from the doctor. Also, after the quest is finished you can no longer talk to him about the dissertation.
Bug: There are many instances where Shepard or other squadmates stare off into space or dissapear during dialogues.
Huge annoyance/possible bug: Final paragon choice is greyed out regaurdless of paragon meter. There is a paragon choice on Mars that is hidden that must be completed in order to get the choice. It may not be a bug at all, but I thought I would mention it. As it is extremely frustrating to have max paragon and not be able to choose the paragon or renegade option.
Weird/unexplained: Some systems highlight (and later have Reapers over them) on the galaxy map even if you cannot travel to them.
Bug: Game often locks up when using the elevator on the citadel.
Bug: Sometimes you have to press the A button more than once for dialogue. Especially when talking to the reporter on the Normandy.
Bug: In the Med-Bay, where you can reassign your bonus powers, all of the options have disappeared. you can't change from Slam to Carnage, for example.
Bug: Ashley and James' Alliance Officer passives are grayed out on squad selection screen and I'm pretty sure the last upgrade - the ones that gives +health and shield for squaddies (James) and +weapon damage for squaddies (Ash) are not applied. Kaidan's passive seems fine.
Bug: Choosing the Paragon Route (not killing General Oraka) in Aria: Blue Suns sometimes does not add up the +50 to Terminus Fleet War Asset even though the quest is considered completed.
Bug: Hanar Diplomat quest: sometimes no marker to select the terminal appears.
Bug: For bonus powers I have just lost all the bonus powers that I unlocked. The med bay has none to re-assign. I have re-downloaded my profile from Xbox but there are still no bonus powers to reassign!
Bug: If you use the Recon hood then there is a random chance in various cut scenes that Shepard's eyes will be bulging out of their sockets if you have the no helmet in conversation enabled.
Bug: During the marauder shields/entire citadel end encounter, powers are still usable via kinect.
Bug: When you fire the last targeting laser at the Reaper on Rannoch Shep is facing a wall in the scenes between the fleets firing and the Reaper getting blown up.
Bug: If you have Tali or Garrus with you when you meet Jacob they are invisible at the part where Jacob says hi to them.
Bug: Sometimes squadmates will be running off the ground.
Bug: When you are trying to go to the Citadel (during the coup) and Joker is talking to Thane (or whom ever if you don't have Thane) Shep is wearing her (or his) casual outfit when standing behind Joker but has her (or his) guns equppied.
Bug: There is a major problem with Liara's and Garrus's doors. I used to think it was a loading issue, but all other doors open just fine on the ship except these two.
Bug: N7 Ops will randomly disappear form war assets, returning to multiplayer will occasionally fix this. Promoting a character also fixes this.
Bug: The game will freeze when transitioning to the shooting range.
Bug: Joker's dialogue sound is more muffled if he is saying anything but "Commander" .
Bug: Galactic Reading rating reseting to lower levels.
Bug: When going down ladders it is possible to have be stuck in objects.
Bug: Pressing resume sometimes restarts the level and then saves over the quicksave.
Bug: When running towards the Normandy at the game's beginning, Anderson can be seen popping out of no where instead of showing an animation of him vaulting over the cover.
Bug: Salarian Engineer Does not gain armor with proper Energy Drain at Max level
Bug: Firebase Hydra Glitch on Dam area near 3 Water Outputs which allows you to exit map area if you combat roll off a ledge and into the wall (Entire Team camps there resulting in partial extractions).
Bug: Vorcha audio played through Surround Channels when team member uses strong melee or grabs
as if you are playing as a Vorcha (Only sounds that should be that noticeable are Revives and Objectives sounds)
Bug: Enemies may insta-kill you upon medi-gel revive.
Bug: Black screen after ending. Displays the text saying time to go to new game plus, but never redirects to the new game.
.... [/spoiler]
Some are fixed with patches.
You want more?
Dragon Age Origin has no bugs? Are you kidding me? I spent the better part of a year making a mod to fix many of the bugs, and I didn't get them all.
Sorry, I really thought you didn't have it. I'm probably confusing you with someone else. And now that I see the limited edition and upgrade, I do remember you saying that. Again, sorry.
No, you can't lie, if you really feel that strongly about it, you need to say so, but please say exactly why. What is it that you hate. B/c random comments without an explanation doesn't tell the sims team anything. You need to say exactly what you hate. I'm sure that you are not alone about what you feel. I think if you assume the sims team never really play the game, so they don't know what you are talking about, you'll be better able to describe what it is they need to do to make it better, if they can.
I know the open world is out. One of them said they can't change that. But who knows what new technology will come up between now and then that may allow them to do just that. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they do.
I do posts on EA answers HQ (when an issue was not reported or when I can suggest a "fix") and I do posts in Ask a SimGuru – 11am to 12 noon PST Tuesdays and Thursdays thread.
I don't assume they never played the game and they pretty much always know what am I talking about.
I'll do another post there today, regarding social child aspiration design and borked gameruining sims downloadable from gallery.
As for bugs and loading screens -- it took 20 minutes or more for me to get into TS3; with TS4, I'm in the game in less than 2. All of the bugs I've experienced with TS4 resolve if I exit the game and return. With TS3, there were some things I never was able to do (exploring caves in Isla Paradiso being one). If you have a bug-free TS3, you'll probably be annoyed by TS4, but if not, you might enjoy the game.
Bugs - equal just different bugs (okay that one is a fact, they both definitely have bugs.)
Content - right now Sims 3 but that could (or may not) change as Sims 4 gets EPS/SPS, patches and maybe a store
Stability/Less Crashing - Sims 4 by a country mile.
CAS - Sims 4, this for me is the biggest advantage Sims 4 has over Sims 3. It's so amazing.
Building - Equal but different
Designing/Decorating - Sims 3, as there is CAST and a color wheel. Sims 4 you're stuck with the preset color choices (which are a good number, it's just you still have to choose from them.) I wanted a simple black speedo for my Sim but oh no....had to be multicolored.
The World - This is a tough one. Sims 3 is larger, more visually appealing with no loading screens - That works for some and not for others. to me it's better than the smaller world with loading screens Sims 4 has. But that might be your thing.
The Sims themselves, game play wise - Sims 4. Although it should be noted that they are not necessarily all that much "smarter Sims" as advertised. But the multitasking is great.
Soooo - 2 equal, 2 advantages for SIms 3, 3 advantages for Sims 4 and then The World breakdown which is tough to categorize. Again all just my opinion but take that as you will.
Even EA can't screw up all the time.
Those were some awesome games, by the way! Yes they did have some bugs, but for me they played fine.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:List_of_Bugs
http://forum.bioware.com/topic/72719-list-of-me2-bugs-and-known-solutions-if-possible/
http://forum.bioware.com/topic/304609-mass-effect-3-bugs-and-technical-problems-compilation-bioware/
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Bugs_(Origins)
I love that some of you compare TS4 to TS2, TS2 had that 'sims magic' that TS1 had and TS3 lacked in my opinion. I LOVE that sims and their interactions improved. Really disappointed that there's no colour wheel, considering I love building and custumizing my sims. But I actually cannot wait to give the new CAS a try.
If I end up buying the game, I think it will be very important to remember it's a base game and still lacks a lot. It's disappointing to hear there are no toddlers, but they were annoying as hell in TS3, so I doubt I'd really miss them. I've never been that keen on families anyway.
I'm going to keep looking for information and opinions on TS4, but I have to say I'm really tempted to buy it. I think right now, the biggest thing holding me back is the price.
Thanks guys, you comments are much appreciated