It looks like the photobooth pictures are the same as other pictures you take in game, meaning they come in that weird glass thing that I think makes no sense on a wall without a frame.
Unless they did add a Polaroid frame to the frame options ?
I was watching The Sim Supply's latest video on the pack. He got a chsnce card about his sim being in health class, and he selected the option to have his sim fake passing out and leaving class.
Except his sim didn't move from his seat. His needs didn't change. And he wasn't even in health class - it was art. And art doesn't even involve doing art, you just take notes.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
This EP looks more and more underwhelming. I wasn't interested before, now I am super uninterested. It sounds boring and who on earth needs prom every week? I play with immortality on, this doesn't take that playstyle into account. I'll be watching to see how other simmers incorporate this pack. Maybe it's better than I think it is. Yeah, I'm being absurdly optimistic, here.
I like the look of the world - this one would mesh nicely with Moonwood Mills with all the trees and such, but ugh, the gameplay is too lackluster. Even the CAS and BB is just meh. I might buy it eventually for the world, but it would have to be at a deep discount. Maybe in a year or two...
I need a high school refresh... What we can do in away actions is actually all the imagination.
It's funny you say that, I think even pre-refresh spa day was better than a bunch of the latest packs. Dream Home Decorator, My Wedding Stories, High School Years, at least Spa Day added as much as it could that fit the theme prior to nails being added.
From watching some of the EA Creator Network simmers, this pack is going to be extremely shallow and disappointing when it comes to high school play. Modders will have to intervene to save this.
All the other stuff like base game updates, socials, connectivity, CAS, buy mode, the community lot, traits, aspirations, are cool.
But the actual school game play seems so lame and a lackluster repackaging of Get To Work and Discover University.
Quite a few features will be useless to me personally.
I don't give teens careers because it takes up too much of the time they have to be teens. If the game gave them a personal bank account that added to what they would normally get when moving out, as well as personal object storage for things that don't fit in inventories, then yeah, I would have them work to boost what they will have to start their new life of independence. Also, some of these game play features are locked behind being in a career, so my sims will never see them.
Classes are extremely lack luster. Sims that you meet in school initially will probably disappear later, never to be seen again, so how can you play out any teen stories? You are going to get some random townies to replace the ones you are interested in seeing in school. Groups seems very limited while you are in school. The YouTubers are playing without Get Together, so who knows what we will be able do when Get Together is added. Hopefully it will add more flexibility to school play.
Career Day sounds like a feature that they just don't have the time flesh out.
It would be a perfect opportunity to familiarize yourself with all the careers, what skills are needed, what the pay is, so you can start thinking about what your sim will be doing after they graduate.
I myself, will be making over the career day function. I am going to plaster the room with Britechester and Foxbury content just for laughs. "This career day event is sponsored by Britechester and Foxbury Universities."
I believe the most enjoyment I will get out of the school setting will be replacing the high school with my own school and using Get Together club features to enjoy hanging out a few hours after school, with the sims I actually want to see in Copperdale High, for group activities, and then moving on to a community lot of choice for a few more hours before going home.
No no, not for laughs. This is a great idea. I was planning on doing the same. I’m excited to play through high school and then take my to University after. I’m hoping that with the DU pack installed that there will be more options for Career Day that involves the Uni’s that they just couldn’t show because it wasn’t installed.
By making over do you mean modding or just the decor, because if modding I would love that 💕✨
I'm really dissapointed and frustrated right now in the pack, so I have to write my feelings towards the new pack down.
The game is taking a direction that really isn't my playstyle at all...isn't the Sims promoted as a Play-Your-Own-Story kind of Sandbox game?
But...no. We CAN'T build schools wherever WE want, we CAN'T set the prom as an event in the calender whenever WE want. We CAN'T choose the classmates or teachers, instead they are randomized.
I really hate these restrictions. I'm not the typical task-player. I build my own world from scratch how I WANT it to be. I'm a sandbox player, and the Sims used to be a sandbox game, where the player chooses almost everything individually.
But more and more the Sims team is forcing THEIR playstyle and THEIR believes on us, and they are practically telling us, how we should play. If they don't like something they will not put it in the game inspite that others may think differently, just for example
no dog houses in the yard. They said it would be too cruel. But on the other hand they don't seem to have a problem with rats living their whole life alone in tiny, plastic looking cages with no organic materials. Sure, that is not cruel at all...it is obviosly just not something they personally have a problem with, so that makes it ok to put it in the game. But dog houses? God forbid!
I really dislike some of the choices they made for this pack! I expected from a High School Pack many new visual interactions like raising hand in class, asking questions, giving little notes to their fellow classmates, joke around or sleep in class. And for each interaction there would be a different consequence - good or bad.
But no, they just sit there not interacting with one another or the teacher. And reading these automatically generated popups is NOT gameplay for me! I wanna SEE my Sims doing stuff when I play them. I wanna play stories - a Sim that really loves to learn or a Sim, that does not care at all about school. But the "high school gameplay" does not give me any new interactions for that in class. I still have to make believe like before, even though there is official "high school gameplay".
Almost everything else except class is a rabbithole...what's fun about that?
Maybe I'm just an alien, but I expected some teenager-everyday activities like skateboard or forming/playing in a band.
But instead of that the new "gameplay" is a Social-Bunny-App, put some outfits together in CAS, a rabbithole Carnival, new wohoospots or sexual orientation. Are you serious?
These things are all just "cosmetics". At least for me, no offense to anyone who thinks the opposite. But I just write how I feel about it. And to me these things in the Sims Game are purerly cosmetics. They'll just stare at their phone even more and still talk with the same old animations to one another.
I LOVE that there are at least some NEW animations like throwing the football, cheerleading, drinking bobatea, pillowfight, sitting on the bed or floor while reading, sneaking out the window, shaving. THIS I expect from a Expansion Pack - new, fresh animations - not half-baked-gameplay-systems that are just "cosmetics",
just like DHD...to this day I don't understand that this is tagged und sold as a "Gameplay-Pack"! It's literally building with barely new animations - they just put a little system around it. For me that's "cosmetics". Just like Sims staring at their phone...they put a new little system around it called SocialBunny and there you have "new gameplay". I don't know...I always think of new visual animations and real activities when I think of new gameplay. New Systems around already existing features ingame are barely new gameplay for me.
And I don't believe a word when they say: "It's too hard/complicated to animate". No, EA is just greedy! They always say how well Sims 4 packs sell. So, then there should be plenty of money to pay good animators to make many new animations for new packs! If it was possible for Sims 2 and 3...then it is definitely even more possible for Sims 4!
I hate that prom is EVERY. WEEK. I could not believe my eyes when I read that. Excuse me, what? For players with short lifespan that might seem perfectly fine...but I don't play with any lifespan...at all. For example, my current teenager has been a teenager...for the last 2 real life years! If the prom is from now on EVERY WEEK, I'll go nuts. Why can't I set the date myself for the prom when I feel ready for it? And why can't I delete the prom event? I hate it when the calendar is cluttered up with events that I didn't set.
The same with school tests. They are every week? I want to set the dates for a school test, I don't want the game to put pressure on me and my playstyle.
Why is the question asked EVERY MORNING if I wanna join the school? We have the calendar...I could set the active school days there, so there would not be the annoying question every single morning.
EVERYTHING should be OPTIONAL, not forced on the player, just because someone thinks that this is fitting for everybody. There should be a toggle for many, many things in the game, so everyone can play THEIR OWN game with their OWN rules and imagination.
Neighborhoodstories are a good example, although they should've included the annoying phonecalls that make no sense at all (like parents asking the kid if they should get another baby...), so that they could be toggled of too
A bad example is the new small telescope. I can't use it inside or on the balkony when there is a roof on top. Why? Because they want to force me to place it outside so a meteore can kill my beloved Sims. Again, why no death-free-telescope-option? THEY are telling me HOW I SHOULD play the game...but isn't it supposed to be ruled by the player? What if I DON'T WANT to take a chance and kill my Sim by meteore? What if I WANT to put the telescope inside or on the balcony?
I'm all about options, because this way everyone can enjoy the game in their own special way.
My Mods Folder is starting to get bigger and bigger with every new pack, because Mods give me freedom to play like I want to play. They create the sandbox game that EA promised us.. but didn't deliver.
Ah, I know it's not worth it to stress over a game, but sometimes it's just too much...so it has to come out. Hopefully no one got offended. It wasn't meant to be so, I just needed to write my frustration down.
I LOVE this game so so much. And that's why I get so passionate from time to time, when something is going in a direction that may interrupt or threaten my favourite style of gameplay - the sandbox.
Now I'll silently wait and hope, that the school system will not be too aggressive for rotational/long lifespan players and that modders will save the game for me...again. Sigh.
---
Oh, just thought of another thing that annoys me with the new pack. In the new world there is this GORGEOUS forest-neighboorhood! Very beautiful and peaceful! I will NEVER understand why they decided to put the carnival with the colorful/unnatural colors in THIS neighborhood. It would have fitted much better in the other neighborhood, that has a more small town vibes to it.
But the carnival really kills the vibe of the nature around it. But that's just me I guess. And again, I don't have the option to costomize the neighborhood because we don't have some kind of a Create-A-World-Tool...
I'm guessing that with Parenthood installed, we could have our Sims forcefully fart and burp on command while they are sitting in class. That at least adds some sort of classroom interaction. lol
I myself, will be making over the career day function. I am going to plaster the room with Britechester and Foxbury content just for laughs. "This career day event is sponsored by Britechester and Foxbury Universities."
I believe the most enjoyment I will get out of the school setting will be replacing the high school with my own school and using Get Together club features to enjoy hanging out a few hours after school, with the sims I actually want to see in Copperdale High, for group activities, and then moving on to a community lot of choice for a few more hours before going home.
No no, not for laughs. This is a great idea. I was planning on doing the same. I’m excited to play through high school and then take my to University after. I’m hoping that with the DU pack installed that there will be more options for Career Day that involves the Uni’s that they just couldn’t show because it wasn’t installed.
By making over do you mean modding or just the decor, because if modding I would love that 💕✨
Just decor.
I saw in my head the modest displays of the career reps contrasted with overwhelming presentations of Foxbury and Britechester.
The whole show would just be a giant advertisement for the Universities. I want to put huge banners on the outside of the building so you see it from the high school.
I'm guessing that with Parenthood installed, we could have our Sims forcefully fart and burp on command while they are sitting in class. That at least adds some sort of classroom interaction. lol
My only complaint so far is the teens looking to old. I was rather hoping they might finally do something about that.
Can you imagine what the randomly spawned teens will look like? I'm thinking of the horrific roomies when you live in a uni dorm...
With this games track record for randomly generated townies this could get weird. I could see a teen thread similar to townie fashion police, only not limited to just fashion faux pas.
Sounds like I'm going to be editing a lot of NPC's, again. XD Not that I'm complaining, perfect thing to do when you don't want to play the game, but still want to. If that makes sense. XD
Give our Vampires back their fangs!!! Reverse the Nerf!!! Occult simmers should not be shoved aside for the "realism players"! It's time Occult lovers/players started to demand equal treatment. #JusticeForOccults
My main complaint with the pack so far is that it's so... Gen Z. I get that that seems to be the Sims' target demographic right now and the only generation that's in high school in real life right now, but I was hoping for something a little more generic that spans multiple generations. Prom, pranks, American Football, and Cheerleading are all generic enough and the kind of stuff was hoping for/expecting but pronouns (especially with one of the main characters having multiple she/they pronouns), the Trendi app, the thrift/boba tea shop and the whole "influencer" thing definitely feel like Gen Z concepts and I'm worried about the relatability of this pack since it seems so different than my own high school experience.
Now, before anyone comes at me and says that "everyone has pronouns" or that "thrifting has been around forever" or anything like that, I know they have but I'm simply saying that I feel none of these things were super relevant or ingrained into our culture until the past few years or so. Or at least they weren't where I grew up. I graduated in 2016 and live in a rather small, more rural town. When I was in school stating your pronouns simply wasn't a thing and I didn't even know Nonbinary was a thing, like existed even until about 2018 maybe? And thrift-shops weren't something "cool" or popular when I was in high school either. They were places you either shopped at because you were poor or because you were looking for costume pieces and didn't want to spend a lot. This whole "substantial fashion" movement I don't think even existed either. And influencers DEFINTELY weren't a thing when I was in school.
I also noticed a lack of cliques? (Except for maybe the cheerleaders and football team.) At least as far as the trailer goes. Maybe I'm just so out of the loop these days despite graduating what I thought was fairly recently but cliques were DEFINTELY still around when I was still in school.
I'm also concerned about how many of these things are going to be tied to the teenage lifestage directly. Some things of course should be like prom and sneaking out. But others like football, cheerleading, sitting cross legged... should be accessible by YA+ as well. Football and cheerleading for instance are still a big part of American colleges and although Britchester is supposedly British inspired I would like to have the option for cheerleading and football for my YA Sims as well, but I have a bad feeling I may need to depend on modders to do that.
I agree about the whole Gen Z thing, it feels like when producers were trying to market to kids back in the 90's-00's. Like I get it, as you said, target demographic, but you know what helps a product feel less dated? Keeping it timeless and not marketing to a single "type" of crowd. I'm really getting "How're you doing fellow kids" vibes from the trailer.
I digress, anyway. When I went to high school (04-08) "thrifting" wasn't a thing at all, in fact, you were kind of looked down upon if you were known to shop at OP/secondhand shops, even if the items you brought were practically brand new, you were still looked down on as being "poor". It was a sucky thing to do, but yeah, it was just how things were when I was in school. And cliques were definitely still a thing, I suppose we could make our own using the "Clubs" feature, but that's pretty boring. Pronouns weren't a thing either, being NB wasn't a thing either, at least how it is today anyway.
Give our Vampires back their fangs!!! Reverse the Nerf!!! Occult simmers should not be shoved aside for the "realism players"! It's time Occult lovers/players started to demand equal treatment. #JusticeForOccults
Sounds like I'm going to be editing a lot of NPC's, again. XD Not that I'm complaining, perfect thing to do when you don't want to play the game, but still want to. If that makes sense. XD
It does. Sounds like me and CAS. I've created a lot of sims that way.
Sounds like I'm going to be editing a lot of NPC's, again. XD Not that I'm complaining, perfect thing to do when you don't want to play the game, but still want to. If that makes sense. XD
It does. Sounds like me and CAS. I've created a lot of sims that way.[/quote]
Oh same, some of my favourite sims have actually come from making over randomly generated NPC's.
Give our Vampires back their fangs!!! Reverse the Nerf!!! Occult simmers should not be shoved aside for the "realism players"! It's time Occult lovers/players started to demand equal treatment. #JusticeForOccults
My main complaint with the pack so far is that it's so... Gen Z. I get that that seems to be the Sims' target demographic right now and the only generation that's in high school in real life right now, but I was hoping for something a little more generic that spans multiple generations. Prom, pranks, American Football, and Cheerleading are all generic enough and the kind of stuff was hoping for/expecting but pronouns (especially with one of the main characters having multiple she/they pronouns), the Trendi app, the thrift/boba tea shop and the whole "influencer" thing definitely feel like Gen Z concepts and I'm worried about the relatability of this pack since it seems so different than my own high school experience.
Now, before anyone comes at me and says that "everyone has pronouns" or that "thrifting has been around forever" or anything like that, I know they have but I'm simply saying that I feel none of these things were super relevant or ingrained into our culture until the past few years or so. Or at least they weren't where I grew up. I graduated in 2016 and live in a rather small, more rural town. When I was in school stating your pronouns simply wasn't a thing and I didn't even know Nonbinary was a thing, like existed even until about 2018 maybe? And thrift-shops weren't something "cool" or popular when I was in high school either. They were places you either shopped at because you were poor or because you were looking for costume pieces and didn't want to spend a lot. This whole "substantial fashion" movement I don't think even existed either. And influencers DEFINTELY weren't a thing when I was in school.
I also noticed a lack of cliques? (Except for maybe the cheerleaders and football team.) At least as far as the trailer goes. Maybe I'm just so out of the loop these days despite graduating what I thought was fairly recently but cliques were DEFINTELY still around when I was still in school.
I'm also concerned about how many of these things are going to be tied to the teenage lifestage directly. Some things of course should be like prom and sneaking out. But others like football, cheerleading, sitting cross legged... should be accessible by YA+ as well. Football and cheerleading for instance are still a big part of American colleges and although Britchester is supposedly British inspired I would like to have the option for cheerleading and football for my YA Sims as well, but I have a bad feeling I may need to depend on modders to do that.
I agree about the whole Gen Z thing, it feels like when producers were trying to market to kids back in the 90's-00's. Like I get it, as you said, target demographic, but you know what helps a product feel less dated? Keeping it timeless and not marketing to a single "type" of crowd. I'm really getting "How're you doing fellow kids" vibes from the trailer.
I digress, anyway. When I went to high school (04-08) "thrifting" wasn't a thing at all, in fact, you were kind of looked down upon if you were known to shop at OP/secondhand shops, even if the items you brought were practically brand new, you were still looked down on as being "poor". It was a sucky thing to do, but yeah, it was just how things were when I was in school. And cliques were definitely still a thing, I suppose we could make our own using the "Clubs" feature, but that's pretty boring. Pronouns weren't a thing either, being NB wasn't a thing either, at least how it is today anyway.
About the thrift shop, I grew up very poor. I'll never forget when I was in my 20s, I was at MacDonalds wearing a sweater I bought at the thrift store and these ladies commented on how they liked it. When I told them I got it for $5 at the goodwill, they acted like I had some disease and stepped back from me. I just laughed at them and the look they gave me was priceless. lol.
Oh same, some of my favourite sims have actually come from making over randomly generated NPC's.
I've made a few out of random townies. There are a couple of the randoms that pop up in CAS that I've remade several times. Most are ones that came about after clicking the dice until I find a really hideous one and then set about fixing them.
My main complaint with the pack so far is that it's so... Gen Z. I get that that seems to be the Sims' target demographic right now and the only generation that's in high school in real life right now, but I was hoping for something a little more generic that spans multiple generations. Prom, pranks, American Football, and Cheerleading are all generic enough and the kind of stuff was hoping for/expecting but pronouns (especially with one of the main characters having multiple she/they pronouns), the Trendi app, the thrift/boba tea shop and the whole "influencer" thing definitely feel like Gen Z concepts and I'm worried about the relatability of this pack since it seems so different than my own high school experience.
Now, before anyone comes at me and says that "everyone has pronouns" or that "thrifting has been around forever" or anything like that, I know they have but I'm simply saying that I feel none of these things were super relevant or ingrained into our culture until the past few years or so. Or at least they weren't where I grew up. I graduated in 2016 and live in a rather small, more rural town. When I was in school stating your pronouns simply wasn't a thing and I didn't even know Nonbinary was a thing, like existed even until about 2018 maybe? And thrift-shops weren't something "cool" or popular when I was in high school either. They were places you either shopped at because you were poor or because you were looking for costume pieces and didn't want to spend a lot. This whole "substantial fashion" movement I don't think even existed either. And influencers DEFINTELY weren't a thing when I was in school.
I also noticed a lack of cliques? (Except for maybe the cheerleaders and football team.) At least as far as the trailer goes. Maybe I'm just so out of the loop these days despite graduating what I thought was fairly recently but cliques were DEFINTELY still around when I was still in school.
I'm also concerned about how many of these things are going to be tied to the teenage lifestage directly. Some things of course should be like prom and sneaking out. But others like football, cheerleading, sitting cross legged... should be accessible by YA+ as well. Football and cheerleading for instance are still a big part of American colleges and although Britchester is supposedly British inspired I would like to have the option for cheerleading and football for my YA Sims as well, but I have a bad feeling I may need to depend on modders to do that.
I agree about the whole Gen Z thing, it feels like when producers were trying to market to kids back in the 90's-00's. Like I get it, as you said, target demographic, but you know what helps a product feel less dated? Keeping it timeless and not marketing to a single "type" of crowd. I'm really getting "How're you doing fellow kids" vibes from the trailer.
I digress, anyway. When I went to high school (04-08) "thrifting" wasn't a thing at all, in fact, you were kind of looked down upon if you were known to shop at OP/secondhand shops, even if the items you brought were practically brand new, you were still looked down on as being "poor". It was a sucky thing to do, but yeah, it was just how things were when I was in school. And cliques were definitely still a thing, I suppose we could make our own using the "Clubs" feature, but that's pretty boring. Pronouns weren't a thing either, being NB wasn't a thing either, at least how it is today anyway.
About the thrift shop, I grew up very poor. I'll never forget when I was in my 20s, I was at MacDonalds wearing a sweater I bought at the thrift store and these ladies commented on how they liked it. When I told them I got it for $5 at the goodwill, they acted like I had some disease and stepped back from me. I just laughed at them and the look they gave me was priceless. lol.
Omg, that's priceless, makes one wish for a camera. XD Very funny how they loved it until you mentioned it was second-hand.
Seriously though, I really don't understand why people have such an aversion to second-hand items. If an item is in a good enough condition then why not give it to someone less fortunate, be it clothing or objects? I'll never forget the cast iron cake tray that I got from an OP-shop a few years ago, the best baking tin I've ever owned and still use it to this day.
Give our Vampires back their fangs!!! Reverse the Nerf!!! Occult simmers should not be shoved aside for the "realism players"! It's time Occult lovers/players started to demand equal treatment. #JusticeForOccults
My main complaint with the pack so far is that it's so... Gen Z. I get that that seems to be the Sims' target demographic right now and the only generation that's in high school in real life right now, but I was hoping for something a little more generic that spans multiple generations. Prom, pranks, American Football, and Cheerleading are all generic enough and the kind of stuff was hoping for/expecting but pronouns (especially with one of the main characters having multiple she/they pronouns), the Trendi app, the thrift/boba tea shop and the whole "influencer" thing definitely feel like Gen Z concepts and I'm worried about the relatability of this pack since it seems so different than my own high school experience.
Now, before anyone comes at me and says that "everyone has pronouns" or that "thrifting has been around forever" or anything like that, I know they have but I'm simply saying that I feel none of these things were super relevant or ingrained into our culture until the past few years or so. Or at least they weren't where I grew up. I graduated in 2016 and live in a rather small, more rural town. When I was in school stating your pronouns simply wasn't a thing and I didn't even know Nonbinary was a thing, like existed even until about 2018 maybe? And thrift-shops weren't something "cool" or popular when I was in high school either. They were places you either shopped at because you were poor or because you were looking for costume pieces and didn't want to spend a lot. This whole "substantial fashion" movement I don't think even existed either. And influencers DEFINTELY weren't a thing when I was in school.
I also noticed a lack of cliques? (Except for maybe the cheerleaders and football team.) At least as far as the trailer goes. Maybe I'm just so out of the loop these days despite graduating what I thought was fairly recently but cliques were DEFINTELY still around when I was still in school.
I'm also concerned about how many of these things are going to be tied to the teenage lifestage directly. Some things of course should be like prom and sneaking out. But others like football, cheerleading, sitting cross legged... should be accessible by YA+ as well. Football and cheerleading for instance are still a big part of American colleges and although Britchester is supposedly British inspired I would like to have the option for cheerleading and football for my YA Sims as well, but I have a bad feeling I may need to depend on modders to do that.
I agree about the whole Gen Z thing, it feels like when producers were trying to market to kids back in the 90's-00's. Like I get it, as you said, target demographic, but you know what helps a product feel less dated? Keeping it timeless and not marketing to a single "type" of crowd. I'm really getting "How're you doing fellow kids" vibes from the trailer.
I digress, anyway. When I went to high school (04-08) "thrifting" wasn't a thing at all, in fact, you were kind of looked down upon if you were known to shop at OP/secondhand shops, even if the items you brought were practically brand new, you were still looked down on as being "poor". It was a sucky thing to do, but yeah, it was just how things were when I was in school. And cliques were definitely still a thing, I suppose we could make our own using the "Clubs" feature, but that's pretty boring. Pronouns weren't a thing either, being NB wasn't a thing either, at least how it is today anyway.
About the thrift shop, I grew up very poor. I'll never forget when I was in my 20s, I was at MacDonalds wearing a sweater I bought at the thrift store and these ladies commented on how they liked it. When I told them I got it for $5 at the goodwill, they acted like I had some disease and stepped back from me. I just laughed at them and the look they gave me was priceless. lol.
Omg, that's priceless, makes one wish for a camera. XD Very funny how they loved it until you mentioned it was second-hand.
Seriously though, I really don't understand why people have such an aversion to second-hand items. If an item is in a good enough condition then why not give it to someone less fortunate, be it clothing or objects? I'll never forget the cast iron cake tray that I got from an OP-shop a few years ago, the best baking tin I've ever owned and still use it to this day.
I bought a wooden serving tray the last time I went to a thrift shop and put it on top of a footstool I use as a side table beside my chair. It works really well. It holds my tv remotes, pens, etc. You can find some really good stuff there.
I like the idea of active school, but they focused too much on sitting at the PC or creating looks aka stylist career we already have in game. Almost every single creator who does early access videos, focuses on the clothes, bunny app (which I think looks the most fun) and influencer thing. Which makes me think there is not much else to do.
I finished my high school some time ago, but I do believe that kids nowadays still like hanging out with friends, do stuff together, obsessed about hobbies etc. And the hang out place they did for teens (aka lonely couch) doesn’t even have the depth of werewolves hangout (which I though could be done better as well). Form what I see, the offline activities are not very deep and after school stuff is rabbit hole. Not even one is a real thing. I would gladly trade that app or influencer PC for being able to sent my teen sim on real cheer practice.
Another thing is lack of other after school classes except for sports and logic/programming. What about teens who dream of being artists, singers, actors or cooks? It was also great opportunity to have voting for school president which could give teens point at politician career if one owns CL.
I do agree with others that focus is being placed on things that are sort of trendy now, but not necessary entertaining in video game. Also it forces all sims to be very similar which actually makes me remember not so good side of my own high school years.
Been watching early access videos to see just how exactly the school day will play out with trying to have multiple sims attend at the same time. In Fantayzia's LP, first she was unable to get her sims boyfriend to appear at the school (and said she tried multiple different ways to fix it but nothing worked), and now she's noticing that not even the same sims show up every day. There seems to be new premades and not even the team created townies like Molly are showing up every day. It was just Ash...
REALLY making me concerned. I was ready to look past a lot of frustrations I had because in the end I've been wanting more high school activities to expand my teen sims storyline. But if I can't get them all to show up every day? That defeats the entire purpose of the pack for me 😕
Been watching early access videos to see just how exactly the school day will play out with trying to have multiple sims attend at the same time. In Fantayzia's LP, first she was unable to get her sims boyfriend to appear at the school (and said she tried multiple different ways to fix it but nothing worked), and now she's noticing that not even the same sims show up every day. There seems to be new premades and not even the team created townies like Molly are showing up every day. It was just Ash...
REALLY making me concerned. I was ready to look past a lot of frustrations I had because in the end I've been wanting more high school activities to expand my teen sims storyline. But if I can't get them all to show up every day? That defeats the entire purpose of the pack for me 😕
Yes, I saw that video too. I thought the school would at least draw first from the town teens, then from other teens in the game, and only include random generated teens as a last resort. Hopefully they will change that before final release.
Something else I've noticed while trying to figure out what color palette to use for my remade high school, is that it seems there's no way to customize what the official school colors are? On the game page it shows a different school with a black and red color scheme, and the premade school has an orange and teal color scheme, but it seems like in every early access video I've seen and even the official livestream, that all the "school spirit" wear stuff the students show up in, and all the base uniforms sims get assigned, are a blue and red color scheme 🤔
Like, you can use CAS to choose different colors for uniforms and stuff (at least for regular outfits, I haven't seen it work for official uniforms yet), but it seems like the game automatically assigns the blue and red scheme regardless? It's probably my least favorite of the color options, and the trailer made it seem like you could assign school colors for the students to adhere to. But so far I have yet to see any other colors being used.
Really hope that I can officially change the scheme and that we just haven't seen how to do it yet. But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it was an oversight...
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Unless they did add a Polaroid frame to the frame options ?
Except his sim didn't move from his seat. His needs didn't change. And he wasn't even in health class - it was art. And art doesn't even involve doing art, you just take notes.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
And if so, why put it in the trailer if it’s not in the game ?
I like the look of the world - this one would mesh nicely with Moonwood Mills with all the trees and such, but ugh, the gameplay is too lackluster. Even the CAS and BB is just meh. I might buy it eventually for the world, but it would have to be at a deep discount. Maybe in a year or two...
While attending classes. (about 30% of a school day I guess).
In the rest of the time you can walk around, eat, talk and use items.
No no, not for laughs. This is a great idea. I was planning on doing the same. I’m excited to play through high school and then take my to University after. I’m hoping that with the DU pack installed that there will be more options for Career Day that involves the Uni’s that they just couldn’t show because it wasn’t installed.
By making over do you mean modding or just the decor, because if modding I would love that 💕✨
The game is taking a direction that really isn't my playstyle at all...isn't the Sims promoted as a Play-Your-Own-Story kind of Sandbox game?
But...no. We CAN'T build schools wherever WE want, we CAN'T set the prom as an event in the calender whenever WE want. We CAN'T choose the classmates or teachers, instead they are randomized.
I really hate these restrictions. I'm not the typical task-player. I build my own world from scratch how I WANT it to be. I'm a sandbox player, and the Sims used to be a sandbox game, where the player chooses almost everything individually.
But more and more the Sims team is forcing THEIR playstyle and THEIR believes on us, and they are practically telling us, how we should play. If they don't like something they will not put it in the game inspite that others may think differently, just for example
I really dislike some of the choices they made for this pack! I expected from a High School Pack many new visual interactions like raising hand in class, asking questions, giving little notes to their fellow classmates, joke around or sleep in class. And for each interaction there would be a different consequence - good or bad.
But no, they just sit there not interacting with one another or the teacher. And reading these automatically generated popups is NOT gameplay for me! I wanna SEE my Sims doing stuff when I play them. I wanna play stories - a Sim that really loves to learn or a Sim, that does not care at all about school. But the "high school gameplay" does not give me any new interactions for that in class. I still have to make believe like before, even though there is official "high school gameplay".
Almost everything else except class is a rabbithole...what's fun about that?
Maybe I'm just an alien, but I expected some teenager-everyday activities like skateboard or forming/playing in a band.
But instead of that the new "gameplay" is a Social-Bunny-App, put some outfits together in CAS, a rabbithole Carnival, new wohoospots or sexual orientation. Are you serious?
These things are all just "cosmetics". At least for me, no offense to anyone who thinks the opposite. But I just write how I feel about it. And to me these things in the Sims Game are purerly cosmetics. They'll just stare at their phone even more and still talk with the same old animations to one another.
I LOVE that there are at least some NEW animations like throwing the football, cheerleading, drinking bobatea, pillowfight, sitting on the bed or floor while reading, sneaking out the window, shaving. THIS I expect from a Expansion Pack - new, fresh animations - not half-baked-gameplay-systems that are just "cosmetics",
And I don't believe a word when they say: "It's too hard/complicated to animate". No, EA is just greedy! They always say how well Sims 4 packs sell. So, then there should be plenty of money to pay good animators to make many new animations for new packs! If it was possible for Sims 2 and 3...then it is definitely even more possible for Sims 4!
I hate that prom is EVERY. WEEK. I could not believe my eyes when I read that. Excuse me, what? For players with short lifespan that might seem perfectly fine...but I don't play with any lifespan...at all. For example, my current teenager has been a teenager...for the last 2 real life years! If the prom is from now on EVERY WEEK, I'll go nuts. Why can't I set the date myself for the prom when I feel ready for it? And why can't I delete the prom event? I hate it when the calendar is cluttered up with events that I didn't set.
The same with school tests. They are every week? I want to set the dates for a school test, I don't want the game to put pressure on me and my playstyle.
Why is the question asked EVERY MORNING if I wanna join the school? We have the calendar...I could set the active school days there, so there would not be the annoying question every single morning.
EVERYTHING should be OPTIONAL, not forced on the player, just because someone thinks that this is fitting for everybody. There should be a toggle for many, many things in the game, so everyone can play THEIR OWN game with their OWN rules and imagination.
A bad example is the new small telescope. I can't use it inside or on the balkony when there is a roof on top. Why? Because they want to force me to place it outside so a meteore can kill my beloved Sims. Again, why no death-free-telescope-option? THEY are telling me HOW I SHOULD play the game...but isn't it supposed to be ruled by the player? What if I DON'T WANT to take a chance and kill my Sim by meteore? What if I WANT to put the telescope inside or on the balcony?
I'm all about options, because this way everyone can enjoy the game in their own special way.
My Mods Folder is starting to get bigger and bigger with every new pack, because Mods give me freedom to play like I want to play. They create the sandbox game that EA promised us.. but didn't deliver.
Ah, I know it's not worth it to stress over a game, but sometimes it's just too much...so it has to come out. Hopefully no one got offended. It wasn't meant to be so, I just needed to write my frustration down.
I LOVE this game so so much. And that's why I get so passionate from time to time, when something is going in a direction that may interrupt or threaten my favourite style of gameplay - the sandbox.
Now I'll silently wait and hope, that the school system will not be too aggressive for rotational/long lifespan players and that modders will save the game for me...again. Sigh.
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Oh, just thought of another thing that annoys me with the new pack. In the new world there is this GORGEOUS forest-neighboorhood! Very beautiful and peaceful! I will NEVER understand why they decided to put the carnival with the colorful/unnatural colors in THIS neighborhood. It would have fitted much better in the other neighborhood, that has a more small town vibes to it.
But the carnival really kills the vibe of the nature around it. But that's just me I guess. And again, I don't have the option to costomize the neighborhood because we don't have some kind of a Create-A-World-Tool...
Just decor.
I saw in my head the modest displays of the career reps contrasted with overwhelming presentations of Foxbury and Britechester.
The whole show would just be a giant advertisement for the Universities. I want to put huge banners on the outside of the building so you see it from the high school.
Made my day!
Sounds like I'm going to be editing a lot of NPC's, again. XD Not that I'm complaining, perfect thing to do when you don't want to play the game, but still want to. If that makes sense. XD
I agree about the whole Gen Z thing, it feels like when producers were trying to market to kids back in the 90's-00's. Like I get it, as you said, target demographic, but you know what helps a product feel less dated? Keeping it timeless and not marketing to a single "type" of crowd. I'm really getting "How're you doing fellow kids" vibes from the trailer.
I digress, anyway. When I went to high school (04-08) "thrifting" wasn't a thing at all, in fact, you were kind of looked down upon if you were known to shop at OP/secondhand shops, even if the items you brought were practically brand new, you were still looked down on as being "poor". It was a sucky thing to do, but yeah, it was just how things were when I was in school. And cliques were definitely still a thing, I suppose we could make our own using the "Clubs" feature, but that's pretty boring. Pronouns weren't a thing either, being NB wasn't a thing either, at least how it is today anyway.
It does. Sounds like me and CAS. I've created a lot of sims that way.
It does. Sounds like me and CAS. I've created a lot of sims that way.[/quote]
Oh same, some of my favourite sims have actually come from making over randomly generated NPC's.
About the thrift shop, I grew up very poor. I'll never forget when I was in my 20s, I was at MacDonalds wearing a sweater I bought at the thrift store and these ladies commented on how they liked it. When I told them I got it for $5 at the goodwill, they acted like I had some disease and stepped back from me. I just laughed at them and the look they gave me was priceless. lol.
I've made a few out of random townies. There are a couple of the randoms that pop up in CAS that I've remade several times. Most are ones that came about after clicking the dice until I find a really hideous one and then set about fixing them.
Omg, that's priceless, makes one wish for a camera. XD Very funny how they loved it until you mentioned it was second-hand.
Seriously though, I really don't understand why people have such an aversion to second-hand items. If an item is in a good enough condition then why not give it to someone less fortunate, be it clothing or objects? I'll never forget the cast iron cake tray that I got from an OP-shop a few years ago, the best baking tin I've ever owned and still use it to this day.
I bought a wooden serving tray the last time I went to a thrift shop and put it on top of a footstool I use as a side table beside my chair. It works really well. It holds my tv remotes, pens, etc. You can find some really good stuff there.
I finished my high school some time ago, but I do believe that kids nowadays still like hanging out with friends, do stuff together, obsessed about hobbies etc. And the hang out place they did for teens (aka lonely couch) doesn’t even have the depth of werewolves hangout (which I though could be done better as well). Form what I see, the offline activities are not very deep and after school stuff is rabbit hole. Not even one is a real thing. I would gladly trade that app or influencer PC for being able to sent my teen sim on real cheer practice.
Another thing is lack of other after school classes except for sports and logic/programming. What about teens who dream of being artists, singers, actors or cooks? It was also great opportunity to have voting for school president which could give teens point at politician career if one owns CL.
I do agree with others that focus is being placed on things that are sort of trendy now, but not necessary entertaining in video game. Also it forces all sims to be very similar which actually makes me remember not so good side of my own high school years.
REALLY making me concerned. I was ready to look past a lot of frustrations I had because in the end I've been wanting more high school activities to expand my teen sims storyline. But if I can't get them all to show up every day? That defeats the entire purpose of the pack for me 😕
Yes, I saw that video too. I thought the school would at least draw first from the town teens, then from other teens in the game, and only include random generated teens as a last resort. Hopefully they will change that before final release.
Like, you can use CAS to choose different colors for uniforms and stuff (at least for regular outfits, I haven't seen it work for official uniforms yet), but it seems like the game automatically assigns the blue and red scheme regardless? It's probably my least favorite of the color options, and the trailer made it seem like you could assign school colors for the students to adhere to. But so far I have yet to see any other colors being used.
Really hope that I can officially change the scheme and that we just haven't seen how to do it yet. But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it was an oversight...