Looking for a pair of lost men's boots

"igazor;c-16420414" wrote:
I don't usually participate in TS3 vs. TS4 discussions (well, maybe a little bit now and then). But to address one point, continuing on with the development of TS3 as it was left may not have been such a hot idea. The game engine is barely holding together as if with scotch (cello) tape and string as it is now or as it was then at the end of 2013, even on perfectly capable computer systems. And, sorry to say unlike with other iterations of the game, the Mac version is a complete mess under the hood. With potentially more than the 11 EPs we already have in play, a meltdown couldn't really have been far away.

What TS3 needed more than anything if it were to have continued growing and developing from where it left off was a revamped, optimized, and 64-bit friendly game engine. Then perhaps there could be discussions about improving CAS, gameplay elements that could have been redone better such as running a store, fixing story progression so that it stops breaking down for those who actually prefer EA's over the modded versions, EPs we never got to see, hockey rinks, etc. ;)

Whoa! I remember most of those arguments now... (been away from TS3 for awhile, just started playing again in earnest a few months ago)... but TS4 was definitely not the answer. Back at the end of TS3 there was a lot of excitement about the new CAS they were building for TS3. But what makes TS3 magic is the imagination of the programmers, and that can be translated. While I was playing TS4 I searched for some spark of the brilliance of TS3, some often really funny true surprises, but nothing. Those things aren't a matter of speed, they're a matter of creativity.

If anyone should know the "Why?" of it, it's you guys with NRaas. But think what you're saying, you're saying better systems with better hardware aren't capable of running a program 5+ year old machines and operating systems could run. Why? Could it be "planned obsolescence"? Yes, the load got heavier and heavier, but we went from megabytes to gigabytes to terabytes being the norm. Still the game engine freezes on save if my neighborhood gets too heavy (error code 12), so I have to delete houses until the Save works. The explanation is that my machine ran out of memory. Nope, my current PC has a 64-bit i7 w 32GB of RAM, so it seems to be the game itself has limited the storage capability. Are game problems like that what you're talking about?

Is it totally unfeasible to consider modernizing TS3, wouldn't that have been cheaper than building a whole new game with a very un-simlike format? The Open World concept of all the previous Sims iterations is hard to live without and still feel like you're playing The Sims. The choice of playing with only a few of your favorite EPs seems a grudgingly acceptable band-aid for present.

Sorry to bend your ear, but I have so many unanswered questions and EA is NOT the place to go if you want real answers.