Forum Discussion

AmaraRena's avatar
AmaraRena
Rising Scout
11 days ago

Sims 4 Forever?

So there's not going to be a Sims 5 as apparently Project Rene is filling that spot. And apparently The Sims 4 is just going to go on forever as is. What I had hoped Sims 5 would figure out was how to give us back the lovely open and LARGE worlds of The Sime 3 along WITH the improved Sims of Sims 4. Maybe that is what Project Rene will be. I certainly hope so. But, if not, the focus for the future of Sims 4 needs to be more worlds and BIGGER worlds/neighborhoods. 

And please bring back Store Worlds. There were SO MANY good ones in Sims 3! These were worlds that didn't add much to gameplay but the focus was on crafting the beautiful world itself. There was a lot of attention to detail that was just lovely to see. And there were many different cultural and time period  themes explored including fantasy themes.  I would absolutely LOVE to see these return!

  • I agree! The Sims Forever is silly. TS4's base game has always been a weak foundation for a Sims game. It was a definite step DOWN from TS3. That has plagued the game for a decade, now. Often, new packs or updates completely break the game. If they want to launch a sims forever game, then they need to launch one with a strong base game that is built to better accommodate add-ons. 

    Store worlds and/or blank worlds are also needed. There's Newcrest, but there are still distant building shells visible in gameplay, which throws an unnecessary constraint on build style. At the very least, we need completely blank slates without those shells. 

    • BENH8484's avatar
      BENH8484
      Seasoned Rookie

      I think something different might be going on. It's a hunch, but there's reasons why I think it. We know a bit about how the game is being updated with things like going to DX11 and 64bit, but I think there's more happening in the game logic we don't know about. The beneft of changing out the game logic is they can retain all of the expensive visual and audio assets they've made, and keep their TS4 player base intact without any risk of trying to sell us all a new game, but it's not the same old game inside the code any more. I think we're geting a sort of hybrid TS4/TS5 in the end with existing assets and new game code.

      I really get what you're saying about the shells. I love most the TS4 worlds, but also want more control over how they look and feel.

      • AmaraRena's avatar
        AmaraRena
        Rising Scout

        If it allows them to give us better, larger worlds, then I'm all for it!

  • logionX's avatar
    logionX
    Seasoned Vanguard

    I agree I don't think it's a good decision to keep The Sims 4 going forever and I strongly urge EA to reconsider and start working on a sequel. I have been with The Sims 4 since the beginning and you can feel that EA/Maxis wants to do a lot with the sims 4 packs but they can't because of limitations. In so many cases they resort to rabbit holes and notifications in the upper right.

    We the players are constantly reaching limits on what we want to do as well, we can't redesign worlds, we can only replace lots and the sims themselves. And these limitations comes into play with new packs as well, many reacted when they saw the new sims survey about pack ideas that a lot of them sounded like what we had before, or could be because of all the limitations. A water ocean world sounds great, but if diving is going to be rabbit holes and not much else then it's going to be just like Island Living.

    The players and Maxis are going to be creatively bankrupt. And when people want to be able to do more, is The Sims 4 going to be able to handle that? Didn't Lyndsay Pearson say that they are never gonna be able to do something like Newcrest or Windenburg again? Because those worlds are too large.

    Also, don't you want your community to grow? Don't you think you risk reaching a limit by not developing and improving? I understand you want to go for the mobile market, and by all means, do that with Rene, but don't leave the PC/IOS market in the dust with The Sims 4.

    And hey, I'm not saying to stop making sims4 content, a sequel will take at least 5 years to make, and isn't that what Laura Miele said? They wanted to keep the sims4 going for 15 years?

  • As an addendum, I'd love to see most of the worlds, both game expansions  and the store worlds reimagined for Sims 4 and brought back.

  • Right there with you logionX ! Fifteen years is a good run for a game. Sims 5 has never been as good in terms of the canvas we had to play on in Sims 3. Sims 3 had a LOT of problems but I would think by now it COULD be handled. Indeed, I'm pretty sure the tech exists at this point to  be able to have the more complicated Sims of Sims 4 AND the worlds we had in Sims 3. And that is all I've ever really wanted. And if that turns out to be what Project Rene is + co-op or multiplayer functionality, well and good. But I very much doubt it. I think it's more likely they are going to try to do "something new" and I don't have a lot of faith in EA's vision overall. So I am hoping someone at EA will wake up and reconsider this decision of "Forever Sims 4" and get to work on Sims 5 instead.

  • atreya33's avatar
    atreya33
    Seasoned Veteran

    I agree that keeping the sims going forever and ever is a bad decision for the following reasons 

    1. The game is limited by design choices made right at the start of the creation of the base game. For example the rigid worlds with zero freedom to change them. Sims 2 and 3 could do this but sims 4 never had this option. Some of these limitations can be remedied like toddlers but even then it then there are traces left. No toddlers spawn on community lots and no toddler playground equipment on any off lot playground. Other design choices that limit the game are things like swatches: even sims 2 had 2 color channels on objects so you could independently choose for example sheets and bed frames. Also the choice for emotions and how they override a sims personality are part of the game core. Lovestruck tried to fix this but it is a system attached to an existing system which makes it complex and doesn't feel very intuitive.
    2. Too much DLC makes the game unstable. The recent releases are full of bugs. And let's be honest, with so many features in DLC and so many possible configuration of DLC installed it is impossible to test all possibilities. That being said, quality testing should be done thoroughly for any release. 
    3. Older technology : the sims is upgraded to DX11 when my two year old non-gaming laptop has DX12. When it comes to computers , technology moves very fast. How far can this go before it becomes a problem? 
    4. Inspiration for releases : themes are revisited and redone in DLC. There's a lot of overlap. If every theme is going to be spread out over several DLC, it will become expensive to get the full experience. And let's be honest, the latest DLC is less beefy, less content for the same price. 
    • two farming EP (cottage living and horse ranch) , 
    • two educational EP (University and high school),
    • several vacation GP (outdoor retreat, jungle adventure and to some extent island living and snowy escape),
    • family DLC (parenthood, growing together, kids room stuff) 

    I think a fresh start every now and then (it's been over a decade!) can be refreshing. You can leave behind the flaws in the game behind you and enjoy something new. Take the best of the previous iterations and build on that. 

  • EA Is making a big mistake. 

    The Sims 4 is just old and out played. Regardless of updates or expansion packs, it lacks in many ways. The sims 3 was one of the best versions.  If EA does not offer a game  with an open world concept, a custom color wheel for builds and many other features we loved from the previous game the sims will slowly die out.  Project Rene AKA the game we believed was the sims 5, does not hold much interest any longer with this recent news update.

    I certainly have no interest in playing the sims 4 as a multiplayer... now if the game was more like minecraft without loading screens and an open endless world concept I would be interested.

    As it is I do not even have any interest in buying the new expansion pack, Life and Death.  In fact now that the sims 5 is dead and project rene doesnt seem very promising I no longer care to spend anything else on the sims unless EA gives some sort of hope for an open world no loading screens, creative customizable building features,  life simulator game.