Whims System Overhaul
There's tons of content that I'm hoping for Sims 4, and I know some of it is on its way. Content aside, in my opinion, the biggest thing that Sims 4 needs is an update / overhaul of the whims and aspiration points system.
Although at this time I prefer to play Sims 4, occasionally I'll dip back into playing Sims 2 or Sims 3. Then when going back to Sims 4, for me personally I notice the lack of depth of the whims. There have been many threads about the weaknesses of Sims 4 whims, and I'm not wanting this to turn into a Sims 4 bashing thread. Instead, I am interested in proposing some specific ideas to potentially improve the system -- I believe it's possible! Whether the development team decides to focus their attention on this or not remains to be seen. So here are my suggestions:
More Whim Slots
One of the biggest differences is the number of whims available to a sim at any one time. In Sims 3, they are called "wishes" and there are actually 5 - four can be chosen /"locked" and there's an open slot where a wish can be selected from a group of wishes available at the time.
In Sims 4 there are only 3 whims, one of which cannot be pinned, and changes upon the changing emotion (all the time). In essence that leaves us with really only 2 whims we can work toward. So I recommend adding *two* more whim slots. See how this might look below.
Activity-Related Whims
At least one whim should be generated somehow from the most recent activity the sim was involved with. This happens in Sims 3 and I'd like to see this happen in Sims 4. In other words, the more a Sim does something, the more they will get a whim related to what they're doing. If they go bowling, a whim should be generated to bowl a strike. If they are gardening, a whim should be generated to evolve a plant. Etc.
Deeper Whims
There are some whims that are more significant than others, and these "deeper whims" should be distinguished from the more fleeting whims (similar to how certain Wants in Sims 2 also affected the Influence meter). I'd love to see a tweaking of the whim system so that for new sims, there is always at least some deeper whim:
Ideally there should always be at least one available "deeper whim."
It seems odd to me that I can move in a fresh Young Adult into a home and unless they have the trait of "Ambitious" or "Soulmate", they don't have any whims related to these major aspects of life. They will just happily exist in the here and now, perhaps wanting a dishwasher or dryer or to research Vampirism. Those whims are fine, but there need to be more significant ones, and not necessarily tied to their Aspiration, either. Just because my sim is an Outdoor Enthusiast doesn't mean they don't want a job or a family. And if the whim doesn't fit our story in mind, we can simply delete the whim.
My idea is this deeper Whim (maybe call it "Desire"?) would be distinguished from the others and outlined in a different color. How would this affect gameplay? If this whim is pinned, after a certain period of time, if it hasn't been fulfilled, the color of the outline might change, but more significantly, it will give a negative moodlet to the Sim, depending on their traits. A sim might get Sad that their Whim hasn't been fulfilled yet, or Angry, or Tense. Something like "Tense - from Unfulfilled Desires." And the moodlet might go away for a while, but come back again.
If players don't want to be tied down by these deeper Whims, or feel they are not going in the direction of the story they have in mind, all they have to do is delete the Whim. In this way it would more flexible than the Sims 2 (where if you didn't keep the Aspiration meter high enough the Sims would suffer from aspiration failure).
On the flip side, once a deeper Whim is fulfilled, it is worth significantly more points and/or there's a Happy moodlet from a Fulfilled Desire (similar to Sims 3).
Tied into this Whim upgrade is also adding more compelling Rewards for us to spend Reward points. I would also possibly tweak the points of these - for example, maybe make the Potion of Youth a bit more expensive, etc. This could be balanced with having more points available with the Deeper Whims.
Here's how the current Whim system looks now:
And how it could look with an upgrade, with the "Deeper Whim" outlined around the edge (disclaimer: this is just quick and dirty Photoshopping):
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Edited April 4th 2018 to update image links
Although at this time I prefer to play Sims 4, occasionally I'll dip back into playing Sims 2 or Sims 3. Then when going back to Sims 4, for me personally I notice the lack of depth of the whims. There have been many threads about the weaknesses of Sims 4 whims, and I'm not wanting this to turn into a Sims 4 bashing thread. Instead, I am interested in proposing some specific ideas to potentially improve the system -- I believe it's possible! Whether the development team decides to focus their attention on this or not remains to be seen. So here are my suggestions:
More Whim Slots
One of the biggest differences is the number of whims available to a sim at any one time. In Sims 3, they are called "wishes" and there are actually 5 - four can be chosen /"locked" and there's an open slot where a wish can be selected from a group of wishes available at the time.
In Sims 4 there are only 3 whims, one of which cannot be pinned, and changes upon the changing emotion (all the time). In essence that leaves us with really only 2 whims we can work toward. So I recommend adding *two* more whim slots. See how this might look below.
Activity-Related Whims
At least one whim should be generated somehow from the most recent activity the sim was involved with. This happens in Sims 3 and I'd like to see this happen in Sims 4. In other words, the more a Sim does something, the more they will get a whim related to what they're doing. If they go bowling, a whim should be generated to bowl a strike. If they are gardening, a whim should be generated to evolve a plant. Etc.
Deeper Whims
There are some whims that are more significant than others, and these "deeper whims" should be distinguished from the more fleeting whims (similar to how certain Wants in Sims 2 also affected the Influence meter). I'd love to see a tweaking of the whim system so that for new sims, there is always at least some deeper whim:
- to create/enhance a significant relationship (not necessarily romantic, but possibly)
- a whim/desire related to career/employment (depending on their stage of life)
Ideally there should always be at least one available "deeper whim."
It seems odd to me that I can move in a fresh Young Adult into a home and unless they have the trait of "Ambitious" or "Soulmate", they don't have any whims related to these major aspects of life. They will just happily exist in the here and now, perhaps wanting a dishwasher or dryer or to research Vampirism. Those whims are fine, but there need to be more significant ones, and not necessarily tied to their Aspiration, either. Just because my sim is an Outdoor Enthusiast doesn't mean they don't want a job or a family. And if the whim doesn't fit our story in mind, we can simply delete the whim.
My idea is this deeper Whim (maybe call it "Desire"?) would be distinguished from the others and outlined in a different color. How would this affect gameplay? If this whim is pinned, after a certain period of time, if it hasn't been fulfilled, the color of the outline might change, but more significantly, it will give a negative moodlet to the Sim, depending on their traits. A sim might get Sad that their Whim hasn't been fulfilled yet, or Angry, or Tense. Something like "Tense - from Unfulfilled Desires." And the moodlet might go away for a while, but come back again.
If players don't want to be tied down by these deeper Whims, or feel they are not going in the direction of the story they have in mind, all they have to do is delete the Whim. In this way it would more flexible than the Sims 2 (where if you didn't keep the Aspiration meter high enough the Sims would suffer from aspiration failure).
On the flip side, once a deeper Whim is fulfilled, it is worth significantly more points and/or there's a Happy moodlet from a Fulfilled Desire (similar to Sims 3).
Tied into this Whim upgrade is also adding more compelling Rewards for us to spend Reward points. I would also possibly tweak the points of these - for example, maybe make the Potion of Youth a bit more expensive, etc. This could be balanced with having more points available with the Deeper Whims.
Here's how the current Whim system looks now:
And how it could look with an upgrade, with the "Deeper Whim" outlined around the edge (disclaimer: this is just quick and dirty Photoshopping):
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Edited April 4th 2018 to update image links
