I'm sorry, but I don't like it at all.... I don't know if the creators wanted to go for the nostalgia effect (the blue color of the background) since we are celebrating 25 years... but I don't know, I don't find it neat or even intuitive. It's also not exactly the same as the one shown in the YT stream.It's choppy, it looks like it was created in 10 minutes... sorry...Also if they really cared they could have changed the logo in the initial video as well, since both The Sims and Maxis logos have changed.

Product: The Sims 4Platform:PCWhich language are you playing the game in? EnglishHow often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)What is your current game version number? 1.112.481.1030What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All the packs except for Journey to BatuuSteps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Launch the gameWhat happens when the bug occurs? The main menu elements look messyWhat do you expect to see? I expect the main menu to look like in the Behind The Sims livestreamHave you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? YesPlease describe the patch or change you made. I installed the 1.112.481.1030 patch,I'm not sure if this can be classified as a bug, but some elements in the new main menu are either missing or a bit messed up.Firstly, there's no day or time of day mentioned like in the picture Maxis shared.Secondly, some buttons are way too small and and there's inconsistent gaps between them.Thirdly, my young adult Sim looks much smaller than intended. For example, the Goth family adults are taller than the window on their right side, which is not the case with my Sim.Lastly, the Resume Game button was darker in the blogpost picture which makes the button stand out more, thus look better.Here's how the main menu looks now:Here's how it looked in the picture shared in the blogpost:I believe some changes are needed so that the main menu looks consistent and just better. Thank you a lot for the opportunity to share this here!

The new main menu of The Sims 4 looks great; however, it doesn't support ultrawide screens (mine is 21:9). While the game's interface works perfectly on ultrawide, this issue is specific to the updated menu. Previous versions had native support.

My biggest grievance with the new main menu is the color combination and the flashing right side sidebar (with scenarios etc.). The background is very dark and all the text and colors extremely bright, and I have my screen contrast + brightness already turned down way low to avoid headaches. Looking at the menu hurts my eyes and I don't want to make my screen even less bright or the game will look weird. The big mostly white "bubbles" on the right sidebar are switching in and out quite rapidly, and although this is intended to show more content, it's just annoying and also hurts the eyes. Minor grievance is that the household Sims aren't wearing all their clothes/hair. A lot of people use custom clothing and hair and those are not displayed, which kind of negates the point of having a nice big picture of your last played family.Suggestion to fix: change the blue background back to the previous shade and brightness. Reduce large white areas floating on a dark background and flashing icons. Avoid white text on dark background for better readability and less ouchie.The new design can trigger migraines and epilepsy. If it cannot be changed, at least give the users an option to revert back to old menu in the settings. It feels like the changes were made without sufficiently testing the new design, resulting in a "half-baked" product.

Honestly. thats just an excuse. theres no reason they cant edit the image to be larger and crop in so that it can work on all monitors.

With the addition of a mod to change the default background I hate it less. However I have one major issue.The hiding of the Options and Exit Game buttons. I mean I dislike the default background intensely, I am annoyed by the swapping of where the options are and I don't much like how empty everything looks with a small sim household but hiding the Options and Exit Game is the one that is most deeply annoying to me. I fiddle with my options more than occasionally and I often accidentally reopen the game after closing it so these two functions being hidden is the worst for a variety of reasons.Please give us those things back on the main menu instead of off in some weird submenu. Also making everything the same size again would be nice.

New Main Menu Feedback | EA Forums

26 Replies

LadyAofPineapple
Seasoned Ace
7 months ago
@SimsTime wrote:
@SimplyBuilds The main menu now features a real background image. If it were stretched to cover the entire screen, it would become distorted and lose its quality. To avoid this, black bars have been added around the image to define its boundaries. On larger monitors, such as ultrawide displays, these black bars are even more noticeable.
You mentioned that your screen resolution is 1920x1080 (Full HD), correct? I noticed you're playing in windowed mode. If you switch to fullscreen mode, the black bars will disappear. However, even in fullscreen mode, they would remain if the screen resolution exceeds the image's aspect ratio, such as on ultrawide monitors.
It's also worth mentioning that The Sims 4 loading screens are set to change soon, showcasing in-game images instead. As a result, black bars will appear on the loading screens as well. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid this.

(highlighting and bolding above is my doing)
I'm not disagreeing with you that there isn't a way to avoid this as a vanilla or console player, however, I have used a mod in the past to replace the loading screens with in game images, and those are scaled full screen/windowed with no issues. So I'm not sure why the Sims team couldn't do the same.
HALirious9k
Seasoned Hotshot
7 months ago
@simminchillinOMG, the first thing I’ve noticed is that the household is much smaller than the concept in the video! It definitely needs to be bigger — too much empty space otherwise. Also, all your notes on the inconsistencies with the concept shown are spot on. The concept looks good, but the shipped version looks baaaaad.
HALirious9k
Seasoned Hotshot
7 months ago
@y0nt3n Ultra wide letterboxing aside, how come your households looks so big? Using the yellow background window/plant as reference, my Sims are always shorter like on @simminchilling’s screencap, while yours are taller.

I wonder if there’s something to do with vertical resolution? I play on PlayStation 5 4K, and I also noticed @SimplyBuilding’s image (1080p) has a Sim who’s as tall as the yellow window/plant. 🤔
HALirious9k
Seasoned Hotshot
7 months ago
@SimsTime It baffles me how tiny the household looks in some screen captures, like yours (which looks very similar to my game on PlayStation 5), while others are taller than the yellow window/plant in the (quite low res) background image.
smichsmich
Seasoned Novice
7 months ago
I agree, the image looks very low quality and pixelated on my monitor (2560x1440 27 inch), and I usually only play with one Sim so for me the household size is way too small compared to the concept image that was shown. I have replaced it with a mod as I find the design quite ugly but hopefully there will be some tweaks to improve it as there are either people who like the design or who can’t use mods to get rid of it.
RASMUS_MASSIE
Rising Vanguard
7 months ago
Start menu is cropped on ultra-wide (21:9) monitor, it stays 16:9 with empty sides

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