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Comments
If simmers put as much imagination into playing the game as they do "reading" into a single sentence, they might enjoy the game more.
The sad thing is I think I would honestly enjoy the Sims 4 far more if it was just a copy of the Sims 3 with improved graphics and a few new features.
Civ 6 is being built with a new engine. You could have found that out with a simple google search, rather than automatically assuming I don't know what I'm talking about.
Some of these same developers were doing TS3 and we got a Generations Expansion. You can't go by that.
I think there are quite a few people who would. And quite a few people who would love it if they'd just taken TS2 and updated for today's graphics. My question still stands, though--how many versions of the game do you want where they just reuse assets and update the graphics? Why would people want to keep purchasing the same game over and over with the same expansions, etc.?
I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
It's a game, of course it takes imagination. As for the cardboard box reference, how many times have you seen a very small child put the toy aside and play for hours with the box it came in. Cats can be satisfied with an empty box. Based on numerous posts I've read, many simmers seem to think if they turn on the game, it will entertain them. The game is a tool. If you don't know how to use the tool properly, don't get angry at the screwdriver because it's not sawing the wood.
If Sims 4 on release was nothing more Sims 3 and all of it's expansions with updated graphics then future expansions would be have to be completely new. The fact that Sims 4's base game doesn't include any previous expansion features is the entire reason we have to purchase the same stuff repeatedly.
The only reason people didn't mind so much with Sims 3 was that the open-world nature was a very large change from Sims 2 that really added a lot to the game, so they were buying something new. Sims 4, meanwhile, cut a lot more from Sims 3's base game and added very little. For all their talk of new and different stuff the Sims 4 still plays like a Sims 3 with better graphics and half the features.
Which means there is not supposed to be a "proper way" to play the game.
And toddlers!
That's my point. It's up to you to find a way to play that you enjoy, not to have the game do it for you.
Oh and the game does plenty of things without me. It can play itself so it takes no brain power to play. It even culls Sims and relationships itself too. Why the whole "You Rule" tagline is a big fat joke. The game rules and controls, not me. Funny how the use imagination is used, yet the Sims 4 requires so many scripts to follow for those that lack "imagination". I'm pretty sure the Sims 4 was designed for people who have the game tell them how to play step by step. Now how is that using imagination? Funny joke. If imagination means telling others how to play, then that isn't imagination at all. That's totalitarianism. Telling Simmers to do "challenges" to make the game interesting to them when there are Simmers that don't like the achievement style as it is, isn't a solution which I read a lot. Other common solution is modding things out. But how does that work for Simmers that don't like using mods or CC? That is when the whole alienation of play styles begins and when Simmers realize the newest iteration only appeals to a certain target market that doesn't include them.
I'm tired of customers being blamed for all of Maxis' mistakes by other customers. That is what happened to SimCity and I don't want it to happen again to the Sims. It is very unhealthy method and very sure way to kill any game or company. I know this isn't the way SimGuruDrake thinks. She actually holds Maxis responsible for part of the blame and I deeply respect that.
You like to use the tool analogy?
Well if the "right tools" aren't there, you can't "use them", now can you?
I am stuck compromising.
I'm playing the game, every so often, with what is there.
But there are things I'm missing, and can NOT do everything the way I would like to.
How I play, or how I feel, is not wrong.
I don't tell you how you should be playing your game, and you don't need to tell me how to play mine...
even answering the question builds hype around the new pack
It currently feels more like its gravel than sand.
I addressed the idea of getting everything from previous expansions in a new base game in my previous post. The game would be too rich for most people. Who's gonna want to spend $380 bucks on a base game? $200? No? Of course not.
And, personally, I don't feel like 4 plays like TS3 much at all. In fact, most people that I've seen on the forums wouldn't agree with that.
I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
It is an interesting question though. For me priorities for all Sims base games are all life stages, normal careers, ghost, transportation (carpools, taxis, school buses), optional smartphone with land line option, memory system, failure system, family trees, and basic kitchen appliances and bathroom needs. I think I also need that intimacy between Sims as well whether it is romantic or friendship. I like when Sims cuddle and do real make outs and even goose each other sometimes. I need to know that Sims care for one another. I think the priorities of the Sims varies from Simmer to Simmer. I'm actually ok with having seasons be in an EP.
Some of the main problems, in my opinion, are the rate of release of core content, the lack of depth of the gameplay, and whether it integrates well as part of the whole. I think that as players of past Sims games, many of us got used to big, meaty expansions being released fairly frequently, which kept things fresh all the time. These expansions added many facets of gameplay and interactions, building upon the flexible foundation that was already there, but also adding layers upon layers of new things to uncover and explore. And each expansion also managed to connect with and contribute to the others with a compatibility that made the whole thing a complete, single, extraordinary game.
I just don't feel that connection with our current expansions and game packs. They feel like they are all created as a stand-alone and not meant to merge together. When one is added, another is forgotten, and if you play the content of one, it doesn't tie in much or cross over with the rest. The exception to this is the clubs feature from Get Together, which is a great feature, but that expansion still feels like it should have had more to it.
Maybe part of the problem is that so many activities and interactions seem object-based, so that even if multiple sims are involved in a shared activity, they still don't feel like they are doing it *together*. They are merely doing it at the same time. It feels mechanical, superficial, and lonely. I want to see my Sims really INTERACT and REACT to each other.
Anyway, I hope I was able to explain my views in a way that made sense. I do love the Sims games, and I'm trying to keep from getting discouraged, and hold onto hope that the best is yet to come.
Challenge accepted !
The main points of Seasons were the change of scenery with each seasons, seeing the neighborhoods change and the various activities that helped define each seasons. I didn't like the temperature system (too obscure because nothing was shown in the UI). Gardening and fishing are already there so that leaves room for something else. Careers and Simplants were not as iconic to the Season experience so these could be replaced too. Instead of these, I would make the seasons customization more in-depth, and add new destinations to showcase them.
Here's how it could be, loosely based on how much content there was in the first two TS4 EPs because I don't know what kind of budget I have
Weather (expanded from TS2) :
- Different type of weather : rain, snow, thunderstorm, sun, cloudy, fog
- Gives various moodlets
- Can includes extreme versions
Temperature system (expanded from TS2) :
- Automatically switch to the outdoor clothing category if too cold
- Gives moodlets if too hot/too cold
- Displayed on the UI (external temperature near time, internal temperature covered by a moodlet/on the Sims)
- Can be tied in with various ways to heat/refresh the houses
New clothing category (like TS2) :
- Outdoor
Seasons (expanded from TS2) :
- Wheel of seasons for each world (like in TS2) to let the player choose the seasons in WC, OS, WB, etc
- Determine the frequency for each type of weather and the temperature range
- Determine the luminosity, the sunrise and sunset times
- Three dots (...) to open more customizations and allow recreating various climates : hot/medium/cold and wet/medium/dry sliders to make variants of each season, change the frequency of weather/temperature
- New options in the gameplay panel : length of each seasons or on/off switch for the passing of seasons, on/off switch for extreme weather
New traits (New) :
- Sentitive to the heat
- Sensitive to the cold
New skills (New) :
- Major : Knitting/Sewing (Craft clothes, some with moodlets)
- Minor : Swimming (New swimming animations and new tricks), is unlocked by children after motor
New collections (New) :
- Shells or fallen leaves
New activities and objects (Some old, some new) :
- Snowman, ice skating, rake leaves, search for leaves/shells
- Lounge chairs, swimming pool slide, sewing machine, basketball hoop
New worlds, about Granite Fall size (New)
- A summery world : either a tropical or beach world (with a wet season and a dry season)
- A wintery world : inspired by nordic countries or alpine/mountain
New venue (like TS2) :
- Hotel with rooms/buffet table/reception