Smarter AI, How Many Would Really Like Independent Sims?

not for me, I like being in control :)

I would like to know what my sims are "thinking", thus there could be pop-ups (like in Parenthood) that tells me that my sim ex. wants a divorce or wants to marry their partner. As long as I get to choose yes/no etc and don't lose my control over a sim, this would be very interesting for me!

I do think that when people say they want smarter sims though, they mean sims that do minor things that are related to their traits and life experiences and react to different things according to their personalities, not just their emotions. The massive independence suggested in these ideas, would break the game for many people if they have certain stories or ideas in mind.

Option 1: No, only because I think seeing a strange object in my house would confuse me. But with regard to online purchases, I do believe Sims should be allowed to have credit cards and the possibility of debt should exist.

Options 2 and 3: Yes, weather we agree with it or not, these things happen in the real world. Thus, I believe it should exist in The Sims.

Option 4: The first thing I do for any Sim family is hire recurring maid services, but I prefer to build my Sims skills and that does include Handiness

Options 5 and 7: Yes, decorate as you see fit. I am in the minority here, but designing rooms and houses always drives me nuts.

Option 6: Yes, provided it still builds the respective Cooking skill.

Option 8: No, because where is the limit? A pet is one thing, but I do not want a zoo for a house.

Option 9: Yes, provided that they are studying towards my predetermined Career Aspiration. Though I suppose the option to "Change Majors" could also be added in order to reset this Aspiration.

Option 10: What would happen when a Sim moves out? Would I still have any control over that character? Typically we have lost that ability when Sims move out in past games. I would need more information before I pass my final judgment on this option.

I want more independent Sims, but nothing like what you mentioned. I just want them to autonomously do everyday things like go to a festival, visit a neighbour, go to the gym or bowling or to a club depending on their traits. I don't want them to change jobs, change their marital status, have kids, adopt a pet, renovate their home, or buy/sell a business.

As long as we have the last call on it, it would be OK to me. Maybe it could even add something random/different to my story.

I'm okay with 6 and 9 if I can approve it. The others would be frustrating.

"Masters_In_Simology;c-17046689" wrote:
Option 1: No, only because I think seeing a strange object in my house would confuse me. But with regard to online purchases, I do believe Sims should be allowed to have credit cards and the possibility of debt should exist.

Options 2 and 3: Yes, weather we agree with it or not, these things happen in the real world. Thus, I believe it should exist in The Sims.

Option 4: The first thing I do for any Sim family is hire recurring maid services, but I prefer to build my Sims skills and that does include Handiness

Options 5 and 7: Yes, decorate as you see fit. I am in the minority here, but designing rooms and houses always drives me nuts.

Option 6: Yes, provided it still builds the respective Cooking skill.

Option 8: No, because where is the limit? A pet is one thing, but I do not want a zoo for a house.

Option 9: Yes, provided that they are studying towards my predetermined Career Aspiration. Though I suppose the option to "Change Majors" could also be added in order to reset this Aspiration.

Option 10: What would happen when a Sim moves out? Would I still have any control over that character? Typically we have lost that ability when Sims move out in past games. I would need more information before I pass my final judgment on this option.

EA is building a new AI if you haven't heard about it that would make any of their games more intuitive. The character or maybe even a Sim will be able to think for themselves, react more effectively, scan an area and be able to think ahead of what they should do. I can see how this could possibly benefit or harm a game like The Sims. They have talked about how this new AI will change what happens in a player's game. Such as returning back to the game to find things have changed because of real world events, or whatever the flavor of the month is (anything happening) in the real world. Their world and lives (any of their games) would be changed every time you logged in. That made me think about a Sim, and how this AI could be used to smarten up Sims, and how it could affect what has changed (much more than story progression) since the last time we played our games. Thanks for answering the questions. I am curious to know if players would like any of this in any game, or the Sim having more control than they do. Or if we would enjoy the Sim thinking ahead for days at a time.

I would like completely unplayed sims to do these kinds of things so that when you meet a sim, they aren't just blank. They could have a home, relationships and, mainly, skills and careers that fit their personality.

However, I wouldn't like sims I'm playing doing this. If I spend a lot of time building a home and decorating it, I don't want it to suddenly change randomly. Same goes for "randomly" divorcing, abandoning pets, etc. This can make a huge change in the stories I'm trying to tell. I want control over that.

I like the current autonomous actions and only wish they were more influenced by traits, aspirations and relationships, rather than sims randomly deciding to interact with strangers or doing the same actions over and over again. That way, sims would fight with sims they don't like, flirt with sims they have already flirted with and such.