5 years ago

Who else misses the randomness and challenge of the sims 2?

The sims 4 has gotten better over the years, but one thing I really miss is the randomness and challenge from the sims 2. I don’t like to purposely kill my sims, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want my sims to ever die or face hardship. Without challenges or randomness it makes sims lives more boring and predictable.

Here are several random things I miss

1. Fires were deadly if you got caught in them (couldn’t extinguishe self)
2. Cow plants would kill sims in one try.
3. Sims who were electrocuted would die if needs were low.
4. Certain interactions like printing money on the moneymaker could either cause your sim to get a fine or burst into flames the longer you used it. (Using aspiration objects also cause negative outcomes if sims aspiration was in the red)
5. Chance cards were more meaningful and could give great rewards but also lead to skill losses, fines, demotions, and even getting fired
6. Sims hit by lightning would die if needs were low.

And here are the challenges that I miss from the sims 2
1. Aspiration levels which show how well sim is doing and living life. (If it gets low sims would get upset, worry, and eventually act a little crazy)
2. Sims had fears that would lower aspiration level so you sometimes had to put off doing certain things
3. Sims had interests so when you talked relationships didn’t always go up
4. Sims were more likely to reject certain friendly or romantic interactions when friendship was low so there was a chance to fail interactions and loose relationship
5. Sims could get furious with others and would temporarily have a decreased relationship causing more mean interactions between the two sims.
6. Sims who didn’t like each other got into fights more often
7. Sims had a mood bar and would refuse to do certain skilling tasks if it got too low.
8. Sims could through bad parties if they didn’t attend to their guests.
9. Sims could have bad dates if the date meter went down and the time ran out
10. Various other things

While I understand the sims 4 is a different game and enjoy playing it. I still miss these things and that is why I still play the sims 2 for longer amounts of time.

discussion

Simmingal
Hero
5 years ago
idk actually I'm quite micromanagy myself with my sims like i have autonomy off and all but i liked the level of randomness and accidental discoveries in ts2

in ts4 it just feels like you never accidentally end up with anything except like vlad visiting which makes me happy cause it sort of reminds me of the burglar except like he burglars your plasma

and i also really dislike how i have to murder my sims if I want rid of them like there is no way id ever get my sims killed accidentally cause theres the "warning"
bsozz
5 years ago
This is probably my top criticism of TS4. Not much “happens” in the game. It’s less a simulation, more a sandbox (or a dollhouse). They should consider renaming the series, really.
ChampandGirlie
New Spectator
5 years ago
I like some randomness. I do like being able to decide to extinguish fires because I personally don't kill my sims early. If that's an option that you can set kind of like how you can decide whether a townie is cullable, I'd be fine with that. There are some sims that I might let go that way but I'm not into killing mine off. I am interested in more variable random events. I'd also like the game to be less childish, but I generally have happy sims with some random drama at times.

I would have interest in more surprises such as the ability to lose ones job and more reactions when sims do go to the Reaper. I like avoiding death for my playable households generally but I might allow occasional tragedy. Yeah, my style might be considered more like micro-management but I have a lot of fun. I generally guide my sims through whatever they are doing rather than just watching them. I mostly make functional households and play with various characters that develop, then I see how they interact in a large rotation. For variety, I switch the household.

I would like a "lifestyles of the rich" pack in which sims can make ... or lose ... money or jobs. I also allow some stress or some character quirks into the game; I might play with the new Salary Person job. I'm just not interested in playing a lot of tragedy or arguments. I have a few characters who are more villainous or create drama. Break ups and divorce might happen. Tragedy might happen every so often, but I'm not trying to kill off my sims. I do want better reactions to death and might have interest in a death-related pack depending on how it's done and whether there's anything for me.
smokn18
5 years ago
Grant has already said he doesn't play the game. I'm done with him. He's so out of touch!
OldeSimsFan
New Traveler
5 years ago
Technically speaking I don't miss TS2 because I have UC on my win10 machine and my disks version chugging merrily along on my ancient (built ~1998, before a lot of you were even born) XP machine. But I do see the point. There is no comparison between the two in depth and nature of gameplay and the level of detail. Yes, TS4 is pretty, and does have some good features (after all these years it should), but those alone do not a great game make. A game should have gaming, and this one lacks.
NikkeiSimmer
New Vanguard
5 years ago
@Oldeseadogge, I remember those times. Had my first computer in 1982, an Apple IIe clone (an year before high-school for me)...where we played such old goodies as PacMan and Zaxxon. And they kept us enthralled for hours. And the games got better and better...as people pushed boundaries. And then we got better games that had depth of gameplay... But now it's "let's play it safe...don't want to rouse the ire of "helicopter parents" who haven't realized that the age-ratings for these games actually mean something."

The sims games were never meant for toddlers and young children to play. They were meant for teenagers and adults...yet we keep catering to the lower end of the age scale which these games were not meant for and, I'll say it frankly, dumbing down the game and making the depth of gameplay shallower and shallower till all we're left with is fluff and set dressing with no sense of freestyle gameplay but a laundry list of items to tick off and be led around by the nose.
Cinebar
5 years ago
I don't miss TS2 because I still play it, often. It's why I know exactly what TS4 isn't.
peterskywalker
5 years ago
"Cinebar;c-17729668" wrote:
I don't miss TS2 because I still play it, often. It's why I know exactly what TS4 isn't.

This is literally me as well. I still play the sims 4 occasionally and am updating lots for snowy escape, but I play the sims 2 when I’m looking for more intimacy, romance, passion and randomness. The difference between the sims 2 and 4 is night and day, but the sims 4 still has somewhat nice features and mods that keep me playing,
OldeSimsFan
New Traveler
4 years ago
"Nikkei_Simmer;c-17729567" wrote:
@Oldeseadogge, I remember those times. Had my first computer in 1982, an Apple IIe clone (an year before high-school for me)...where we played such old goodies as PacMan and Zaxxon. And they kept us enthralled for hours. And the games got better and better...as people pushed boundaries. And then we got better games that had depth of gameplay... But now it's "let's play it safe...don't want to rouse the ire of "helicopter parents" who haven't realized that the age-ratings for these games actually mean something."

The sims games were never meant for toddlers and young children to play. They were meant for teenagers and adults...yet we keep catering to the lower end of the age scale which these games were not meant for and, I'll say it frankly, dumbing down the game and making the depth of gameplay shallower and shallower till all we're left with is fluff and set dressing with no sense of freestyle gameplay but a laundry list of items to tick off and be led around by the nose.

With you all the way! Like Cinebar and no telling how many others I'm still playing regularly, work and school permitting. That classic wacky wonderfulness is a great way to de-stress after a long hard day. I save 4 for when am too fried to properly enjoy 2.
Burnziie
Seasoned Novice
4 years ago
I don't miss it since I still actively play the first 2 Sims. Personally though, I'd want the randomness but *barely* toned down version of 1's difficulty. Like wow in 1 you never knew if you'd call someone and have them say they'll be over or yell at you for interupting their TV.

I don't really want more ways to die again like Cowplants or such since I'm leaning on the more realistic side of the Sims. But I absolutely so want fires to be deadly again, just without the "scream at the fire in panic and not move" idea Sims had for the first 2 games. Especially if the kids and pets weren't immortal, that's a layer of challenge, don't want Timmy or Fido in the flames? Build. Up. That. Cooking. Skill. Young me was always motivated to avoid some of the more unexpected deaths by always rushing cooking 3.

You know what would so work being brought back in the "randomness" department? Sims 1 parties. The fun of not knowing if you have a male ""entertainer"" or a bad Elvis knockoff pop out of your cake. Or if your parties going to go so bad a Mime that'll steal your flatscreen will pop by... Or party crashers... Maybe even Drew Carey pops by for a good party! TS1 parties were the definition of random.

Really, putting the Dollhouse back in Dollhouse is what's needed and the first 2 Sims games have it all there for some nice inspiration.