"Bettyboop55;c-16568989" wrote:
I'm going to assume the sims will be replaced with freezer bunnies or llamas :D
Over here it is known as having your two pen'orth worth which means essentially we speak our minds. So I am inclined to think a 2 bit solution is no solution even if 32 bit is a huge number by comparison. I think I am right in saying most modern games are 64 bit so it seems only fair that any tempting upgrade of TS3 would have to reach modern standard. If we are looking at a 3.1 as a way of moving forward then we may as well start with a reasonable, attainable standard.
As for engines as you know the only thing I know about computers is how to switch them on. Off is more tricky. I am assuming that an engine overhaul is the equivalent of a sebring modified car engine. They go like stink, I know because I had one. Is such an overhaul a reasonable expectation though for the possible end result? I am thinking cost here which would ultimately be passed on the consumer and would I fear be a barrier to some leaving behind TS3. EA spent a lot of money I assume on the new engine for TS4 and they might not see it as financially viable to backtrack to a previous model to overhaul it.
The 2-bit nonsense was my attempt at a pun. Long before anyone even thought up the concept of computers, a "bit" was 12 1/2 cents. Two bits was 25 cents, also known as a quarter or quarter dollar in the US. When we say something is worth (or not worth) two bits, we re not assigning a very high quality to it. :)
There are at least two choices for a conversion from a 32-bit program/game to one that is 64-bit. One is to slap a 64-bit scaffolding around the existing game engine so that should the RAM usage ever creep above the flash point of around 3.7 GB, the game won't crash or Error12 upon trying to save. It won't play any differently or better, it will just stop crashing as often. The existing TS3 engine is not designed to take more stress than it already does, so adding more to it by design is not a great idea. The last thing we need is a game that can use 6 or 8 GB of RAM if it calls for it, but sims can't route anywhere or do anything on their own because the game engine is still overwhelmed.
The other choice is to rewrite it so that the engine can seriously take advantage of more RAM. Not rewrite it as in replace it with a different game (like TS4), but rewrite it so that it extends the functions it already has or is supposed to have. This is what I mean by overhauled or retooled and would be the preferable route to take even if doing so causes some bumps in the road along the way or introduces new 64-bit friendly bugs that the current game does not have that will later need to be worked (or modded) out. In this case, larger more heavily populated worlds and extended features of a properly working story progression, whether it be EA's or someone else's, become more viable.
It's all theoretical anyway because, as said, only EA can do either one of these two things with the game and decide whether either represents an investment worth making.
