Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Change the graphics!
EternalRose
Posts: 763 Member
The newer cartoon look is not good, reminds me of Play Station 2 graphic from games like Jax & Dexter & Spyro, even that is a over statement. Kind seems to childish looking like Loony Toons.
We have gone back in time with graphics this seems like it should of been released after Sims 1 not Sims 3! Yes you read that right even Sims 2 graphics are better!
We have gone back in time with graphics this seems like it should of been released after Sims 1 not Sims 3! Yes you read that right even Sims 2 graphics are better!
11
Comments
I love both ts3 and ts4 graphics, they both have awesome styles.
I also don't like it because it lacks versatility. Of course the 'happy happy joy joy' programming prevents it anyway, but it's really difficult to create diverse characters because of the way they all look like silly smiling clowns with eyebrows that jump up and down or diverse environments because everything looks like it is made of plastic; reminds me of a child's dollhouse.
I really hope with the next Sims game they go back to a more flexible art style.
Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?!
Repose en paix mamie tu va me manquer :
1923-2016 mamie
Download below ♛
--T
It's funny that you say that. Although I really like the way the sims look in ts4 being cartoony, they don't remind me of Pixar characters. Ts3 sims, imo, look more pixarish with the round faces.
I feel like the cartoony look of ts4 sims look more natural and progresses nicely speaking of ts2 to ts4. I couldn't get over the pudding look, sunken eyeballs and other things related to ts3 art style of the sims themselves. I did like the environment though and wish ts4 had a better sky and more detailed night.
I hope, if there is going to be a TS5, they maintain this art style but go way more detailed with textures.
I don't think that's a product of having this art style; it's more so a product of having designers who think the game should be La La Land, 24/7.
I really miss the grungy aesthetic of much TS2/TS3 furniture. It really made progression in the game feel genuine, as the interior of your Sim's home would vastly change as their economic standing improved.
Quoted from SimGuruNick in the Stop inviting my child sims to bars thread (in this section):
Disclaimer: this is a partial quote. I feel it may have been in jest and it is not my intention to twist the words around. It was related to toddlers, but that particular sentence rings true to me in this game. Like the part I bolded, it is a safe game. Being in La-la-Land has been increasingly expected from me.
Safer. Simpler. Etc.
The cake dancers and sims getting drunk were removed from S1. Sims slapping each other and getting into autonomous fights was toned down from S2 and removed from S3. The game has been increasingly friendlier with each iteration. In S3, I have nowhere near the number of enemies in the friendship panel without the use of mods. In S4, they have friendly chats right after an insult. The game is child-safe.
If you don't like it there is a ton of custom content you can use to update pretty much everything. You can get terrain overrides, lighting overrides, cc that changes the look of the Sims to make them more photo-realistic if that's what you want. You can basically change the entire look of the game with cc.
We all have different tastes and custom content supports that.
I would say that some items could be a little bit more detailed or have better textures, but this seems to have been improving as the game progresses.
My Mood:
If TS2 had TS4 CAS, I wouldnt touch any other game.
But yeah, I agree that it is cartoony. On one hand, I think it's good because it makes it look potentially less cringy then the realistic approach, and also the sims are more expressive. It gives a timeless look to the game as well, I think TS4 will age better in terms of graphics. On the other hand, it breaks immersion and gives the environments a fake look - most of the textures remind me of plastic.
You can make sims more realistic with the use of mods, by improving the textures and so on, but I think in the end the graphic style is just one factor. I think the other important factor is, indeed, the style of the game itself: immutable, sanitized, conflict-aversion world.
I liked the old school art style of the game, from TS1 - the textures were realistic within the world, even the low poly dolls had a more realistic approach. But it was easier then, since the objects were pre-rendered models - today its harder to make good textures without taxing the hardware. A compromise could be made between the realistic and cartoony look, maybe?
I have seen you write that before and I really don't understand what you mean. I have seen sims autonomously slap each other in TS3. Granted I use mods, but I don't believe they affect this interaction. Below is a shot I took of two townies on a community lot.
It's way too much trouble IMO looking up mods to fix the graphics in TS4, since the sims themselves act like little clowns. Nothing can fix that, I'm afraid. Plus they patch too often and break too much stuff and after going through that with 3, I am just not interested in getting on that merry-go-round again.
Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?!
And this happened when my lifeguard was a bit slow according to this gentleman in saving his life.
That's not to say that there weren't a whole lot of sim-to-sim interactions and animations as well as game play systems (such as OFB) in TS2 that I dearly missed in TS3, because there were. That's why I was hoping that 4 would be the best of both games, instead of some odd (to me) time management game about manipulating emotions. It's very disappointing - and even with the best toddlers of all the games, and I do think they are well done - I don't think it's ever going to be a game I can tolerate playing much. Unfortunately the art style is certainly part of the reason.
Where are we going, and why am I in this hand basket?!
Oh, I also loved the Jak and Daxter series, so that is not a problem for me, either. I love anime and all sorts of cartoons stuff, so this is a preference thing for me. I'm cool with it. Loony Toons is not an insult to me. Adults can like cartoons and anime, too.
What I have issues with were the chunky clay hairs early in the base game. They are starting to improve the details/textures on the hair so it's not a total undefined pixelated lumpy thing.
Personally, I like the general artstyle.
However, another thing I don't like is the extreme morphing/distorting of the faces with some expressions. Kind of destroys some of my sims' good looks at times, lol.
(She/her)