Ts4 destroyed my ability to enjoy ts2

So...you’re simply not used to TS2’s difficulty level I suppose or the gameplay. Also there’s a remarkable cheat you can use to freely place down things.

I don't know why people equate hard with better game play. I actually like the fact that sims can have multiple aspirations in TS4. The fact that it takes a herculean effort to complete an aspiration in TS2 & TS3 doesn't make for great game play for me, it makes for tedious game play.

There are some nice features about TS2 - but I will tell you what I didn't like:

• lack of diversity - majority of NPC spawns are white; majority of sim households in the game are white.
  
• most sims look like each other.
  
• Building is a pain, especially if you tried to build a basement.
  
• Time stands still for households you don't play.
  

Some things I did like:

• Pic in Pic - the little video window that popped up
  
• Mini movies like when a sim proposed.
  
• Households that are in game start with a story already in motion when you select that household.
  
• Expansions really expanded your game
  
• My sims created a band and would jam out in university.
  
• The Cowplant actually ate sims. I had a sim have one in university and it just ate all of the co-eds. That was hilarious.
  

All in all I see the progress from TS2 - TS4. I really dislike all of the loading screens in TS4 and miss the open world of TS3 and the customizations I could make to furniture, cabinets, floors, walls, etc. I miss the pattern maker.

But, I still have all three games installed on my computer and can play them when I choose to. I still play TS4 the most because the one thing I love the most about TS4 is that you can play all of the installed worlds. Imagine if we had that in TS3. Also, the graphics in TS4 is better.

I have a time traveling story I am playing The Adventures of Kylie and Magnus where they accidentally traveled back in time to TS2 and will make it to TS3 before they hopefully get back home to TS4. And yeah there are some things that are cool about TS2 like Bon Voyage and FreeTime where they go bird watching, toss the football, and go on tours when on vacation, and each vacation world has several different types of lots with tons of features. But at the end of the day, there are still tons of similarities and I can see the growth and development in the franchise.

I agree with the TS3 real estate thing tho. I do miss being able to invest in businesses - become a partner as a way to gain wealth. And I miss the cemeteries and the junk yards too.

But, at the end of the day I find myself playing TS4 the most. Same happened when I got TS3, I stopped playing TS2. And the only reason why I stopped playing TS3 and went to TS4 was because I just couldn't take the lagging anymore. Even with the mods like overdrive that was correcting the issue, EA just left the game broken and moved on to TS4. So, at least with TS4 they are fixing things they break.

I still do not understand how they broke the movies from the Movie pack, there is nothing in EL and Knitting that impacts the movies. But at least they work on fixing the bugs and I don't have to rely on modders like the great Twallan, who is MISSED.

All the folks who scream TS2 is the best game blah blah blah - I wonder if they are still playing the game or are just nostalgic?

Because I started this grand voyage playing Sim City 4 which I LUVED. But, recently I went back to playing it, and it felt really dated. Memories are good, but they can't be relived.

"SimsAddict_244;c-17613082" wrote:
S4's biggest strength is that it is a very casual-friendly game, especially compared to S2. There are more second chances (less accidents, you really have to try to be fired and you don't need a certain number of friends to be promoted), relationships are really easy to build and repair, needs go down much more slowly and it's way easier to keep Sims happy. But, the biggest strengths to me are its simplified CAS and build mode: any time I try to build something in S2 or S3, even simple shapes, it drains me so much of energy I don't want to play it anymore.

The CAS and build mode thing, yes I agree I have never built a thing in the Sims 2. Maybe just furnish but the building was so hard.
However the casual thing I don't view as a strength personally because it is exactly what makes the game so dull for me. It's not unpredictable or challenging so it's difficult to play long-term.

S4's biggest strength is that it is a very casual-friendly game, especially compared to S2. There are more second chances (less accidents, you really have to try to be fired and you don't need a certain number of friends to be promoted), relationships are really easy to build and repair, needs go down much more slowly and it's way easier to keep Sims happy. But, the biggest strengths to me are its simplified CAS and build mode: any time I try to build something in S2 or S3, even simple shapes, it drains me so much of energy I don't want to play it anymore.

However, I never stopped playing S2 and probably never will because of how much detail it has that is lacking in S4: more animations, memories that have sims constantly sighing or crying if they are bad, chemistry, wants and fears that are related to their aspirations and current actions, gossip and personality that actually does matter (nice sims will cry if being pushed around by mean sims while other grouchy sims will be more likely to push back and even fight each other without any prompting from me, neat sims will be angry to another sims after watching them pee on the floor), we no longer have that kind of detail in the game. Sims already had emotions (angry, disappointed, sad, disgusted, happy, and flirty) which is entirely depending on their personality. There is a few RPG elements but it's much less than in S4 in which aspirations are completed a certain way while in S2 it's entirely up to the player. Sure, there are still things that frustrate me like when I want to create really messed up storylines but I like how challenging the game is.

"TadOlson;c-17607763" wrote:
I played both TS2 and TS3 though I love switching between the two games because the each have features the other dosen't and I love each one equally for different reasons.

One of my fondest wishes is that EA/Maxis would pick the best features from each installment in the series and forge them all together into a huge behemoth of a successor. Unfortunately, they keep trying to reinvent the wheel instead of upgrading and refining it. That's the reason why I'm so set on giving someone else a chance to wow me this time.

It's sad that the series peaked more than fifteen years ago and that EA/Maxis don't seem to have a clue as to why that is. Instead, they're busy trying to come up with more ways to assume control over my computer, my game, and my playtime. They seem to be more focused on making a cloud-based platform for the next game rather than concentrating on making the game fun, first and foremost. Their insistence will likely also kill the modding community which has kept the series fresh and fun for twenty years. It's truly disheartening. I wish that we could get back to basics.

I played both TS2 and TS3 though I love switching between the two games because the each have features the other dosen't and I love each one equally for different reasons.

"Babykittyjade;c-17553818" wrote:
I really believe the reason the team aims for new and modern players is because the people who started with 1 on up is stuck in nostalgia.
I'm not denying how amazing certain aspects were like the complete well done animations and personalities but people flat out refuse to mention the flaws. And let's be honest there are a lot of things ts4 does better than the older games.

I go between sims 3 and 4 both have things to love and hate but ts4 does not get enough credit for the things it does well. So well I spend more time playing ts4. They only trash it, talk about the flaws and highlight the best parts of the older games.

That's why I look at them all very objectively. They all have flaws and highlights. And no one is wrong for loving whichever game they choose.
But very interesting to hear your opinion after going back ?

Agree and also people here act like liking Sims 4 more than older games (in many ways) is the wrong point of view as well . Like when anyone criticizes the sims 4 people just want you to agree and accept it, but talk about things you dont like from older sims titles and people become agitated. And go, "Oh but Sims 4!" :/

"Cinebar;c-17604496" wrote:

"Krueger;c-17592690" wrote:

"Sakia90;c-17592657" wrote:

"Mendota;c-17591512" wrote:

"SimmerGeorge;c-17553847" wrote:
@SimAlexandria of course there are exceptions but that is really not my point. Most people on the Sims 4 forums like the game that's how it goes. Look further than that and you'll see what I'm talking about.

If you are a veteran player that likes the Sims 4 the most you are the exception that proves the rule.

No, she is not the exception. There are many players, to include myself that started with the Sims 1 and played all of them and prefer the Sims 4. This troupe of "veteran players don't like Sims 4 needs to stop.

More veteran players prefer the older games to Sims 4. Not saying they don't like Sims 4, but the fact that they prefer the gameplay of the older games (like Sims 2 for example).

How do you know that, though? Forums aren't a good judge of majority opinion. What "most" veteran players think changes depending on what site, which section, and which thread you're looking at.

I will agree the official forums have never represented most Simmers who fall within that category here of buy no matter what. You would find those who don't on other fan sites. But I can judge how many veteran players actually show up on any TS4 forum whether official and or fan site. What I do know is many, many famous modders of the older games didn't move on to TS4. A few did and make content for it, too. But most of the well known ones that got thousands and thousands of downloads didn't. They may be with TS3 still yet, and actually no longer create content for TS2 anymore or they retired from modding but they didn't move on to TS4. The people who used their content and or liked their content also didn't move on to TS4. TS4 has an all new fan base, very few veteran players love it or even play it. This has to be true because EA says so. They say their fan base for TS4 increases yearly by a percentage of such and such...well that means all new players not veteran players. So, if EA is saying a large percentage are all gained yearly, then very few veterans remain. (Who started with The Sims). It's more like a few hunderd veteran players who play TS4 regulary compared to all new fan base who play TS4 in the thousands. In other words, they didn't make that billion from TS4 with veteran players but an all new fan base. They say it often in meetings their fan base is new, and growing.

You don't have any proof for much of what you are saying. The evidence actually points to very different conclusions from what you are claiming. At any rate I do know of many long time players who seldom come to the official forums as they got burnt out on the negativity early on. That is pretty much where I am. As for modders they often times for various reasons don't continue. Many of my favorites from Sims 1 didn't move on to Sims 2. Many from Sims 2 didn't move on to Sims 3, etc. The only sites that have stood the test of time are Sims Resource, and MTS.

I would happily play TS2 again if the wretched on line version didn't crash my laptop every time I load it. Apart from the loading screens which were always a pain in the proverbial I do miss the humour, babies with legs and the depth of gameplay which both TS3 and 4 lack. Considering I am a major TS3 fan that it is quite a statement to make. What is worth remembering is it is a product of it's time so perhaps comparison with later, more technically advanced versions is unfair.

I do hope you persist with TS2 OP. I should imagine there are still some sites with CC for babies and toddlers out there. As for loading screens there is not a lot to be done at this late stage other than strongly recommend to the developers that the feature is not repeated for TS5.

I have always loved TS2. TS2 was a huge step-up from TS1, where in TS1, it was all about trying to stay alive. So when TS2 came out, there wasn't much to compare it to. & things it offered, totally fit my game-play style. I loved the attraction system, & how Sims reacted to stuff. & there was just so much detail....to feed the baby, I remember having to take the baby out of the crib, walk to the refrigerator, feed it, and then put it back in the crib. In TS4, everything is done at the crib (& the baby isn't even a real Sim, just an object). & there were actual hybrids for every occult type. I do remember having some funny looking Sims that were half-alien/human or part witch/alien. & the memory system, all the NPCs like burglars, and the garden club NPCs. The game was quirky.....but it was also challenging. Bad things happened.....out of the blue random things. And if a Sim was angry at another Sim....with the system they added called 'fury'...good luck trying to even get that Sim to talk to you. & if a Sim wasn't attracted to you, you actually had to put in some work if you wanted a romantic involvement. & then in Open for Business, Sims actually had to stand in line to be rung up at the cash register. If they got tired of waiting, lost customer....they'd just drop their bags and leave. To sum everything up - detail & depth.

I have gone back to TS2 once - & I enjoyed it. Actually learned something new....my alien dude got bit by a wolf & he was part werewolf....& I had never played a werewolf before. So he was alien by day, and part werewolf by night & would 'savage' other Sims and turn them werewolf. I had a blast as I thought I had explored everything there was to explore in that game...but I hadn't.

However, with that being said, as great as TS2 was, I haven't gone back since and have no desire to. For me, TS2 was a great game for its time. But it's 2020 and seeing the graphics and how the Sims look....it just doesn't do it for me anymore. Same with TS3....I played the heck out of it when it was out, but have no desire to go back.

TS4 - I think TS4 had a huge challenge, as there was just so much to compare to. Like I said, TS2 was a step-up from TS1 and you're only comparing one version. With the amount of content, between TS2 & TS3.....I think TS4 had a huge challenge to be a step-up to is predecssors. However, for a game where features such as emotions was the big selling point, the emotions have no depth. You can look at a painting and get angry, 2 seconds later, you're happy. If a fight happens, your Sim is angry for 2 seconds and then goes and hugs the person they just fought. Cheating Sims, Sim is angry for a hot minute and boom back to happy with the cheater. So yes, I had a VERY tough time migrating to TS4 as I was used to something different from what we had before. Nothing bad really ever happens unless you make it happen. I have had some unexpected events happen that made me say, OMG.....but it's rare. As an occult player, I was disappointed with how Get To Work came out. Aliens were one way, people complained & the devs patched the aliens to the point where alien abductions just don't happen. I've never bought a game a certain way, and it's reworked to where the pack was totally different. & the lack of hybrids is frustrating - I mean, a vampire can get abducted by aliens and have a baby (it's part of the game and can happen) but you end up with a broken Sim.

With all that said, TS4 does shine in a lot areas, that I think it's what makes me stick with it. I love how the Sim looks. I like CAS, building is much easier than before. The graphics look great. I think TS4 has the best toddlers and vampires in the series. I play a heavily modded TS4 game, but I feel I can really unleash my creativity with the stories I want to tell. I feel like TS4 is an open canvas and it's up to the Simmer what they choose to create. I think if they brought back some elements where TS2 excelled (i.e. attraction system, unexpected events, etc.) I think TS4 would be perfect!!