Sims 5 - Speculations & Ideas

@Jerricet, I too really want Seasons for The Sims 4, 🥳 among other things, but the only problem with your comparison of TS3 to TS4 is that  with TS3 you are comparing a complete game, as it was at the end of it, as compared to TS4 which is nowhere near its end. 🤨  EA has said that TS4 will be more stretched out so we will get fewer Expansion Packs per year, but it will go on for years longer than TS1, TS2, or TS3 ever did! 🙂  And it isn't like TS3 had weather, college, or the generations packs from the beginning.  College Life and Generations came out more towards the end of the game.  (Although I seriously doubt they will give us cars in TS4, most of the other things will probably be implemented.) 

Also, while I can't be 100% certain, I'm pretty sure EA will make a Seasons/weather type EP since after Pets/Cats & Dogs EP, Seasons is the most asked for EP! ❤️  I remember the same thing happening with TS3 -- everybody said it wasn't as good as TS2 because TS2 had weather/seasons, pets, owned businesses, university,  vacation spots, apartments, etc.  But then TS3 eventually got all of these things. 😇

I do really miss the CASt color/pattern wheel from TS3 😢 , but I had so many colors and patterns that CAS/Build/Buy would grind to a halt when I opened them! 😞

However, with TS4 I absolutely love multitasking and more natural conversation positions.  And toddlers are far cuter than the ones in TS3 (and if you have the Parenthood pack, family life is more fun, challenging, and realistic in TS4)! 🥳❤️

As for buying every single thing, with TS3 I never owned everything even though I had all the packs, because there were so many items that were for sale singly in the Store 🤒 , which no longer exists, thank God! :eahigh_file:  That store nickeld and dimed me to death!  😠

So while I do understand why you prefer TS3, just remember that TS4 isn't anywhere near finished, so to have a fair comparison, you have to wait until TS4 is complete. 😉 For now we can compare things like CAS, Vampires, animals, jobs, neighborhoods, toddlers, (and next week we can compare adventure packs).  But I do agree that the one area that is really lacking in TS4 compared to TS3 (or even TS2 and TS1) is that we need more types of stairs like spiral, L-shaped, curved, and switchback! 🤨  Overall, my ultimate Sims game has elements from all the versions of the Sims from TS1 to TS4! 🤓❤️

Happy Simming! 

Edited for spelling mistakes! 😳

I have no idea, but personally, I think it would be better if The Sims had been something built upon rather than made into different generations. Rather than making all new versions, update the quality of the old ones. I keep seeing posts of people missing things from previous Sims generations, mostly things from Sims 2 and 3 and thus some won't even convert to 4. You'll even see people doing mod conversions of objects from the previous versions to implement into Sims 4. Before a 5 comes out, I think 4 could have a lot of tweaks and improvements. Otherwise, I'd hate to see how downhill 5 might go.

While my eldest brother got into the Sims when it first came out and has stuck with it all these years, I never really had any interest because life was already complicated enough as it was for me as a child and adolescent. The last thing I had time for was juggling virtual lives on top of my own. How The Sims and I crossed paths again, I have no recollection, but I was immediately impressed by the growth of the graphics compared to all the previous ones and with the demo CAS to play with, I eventually decided test the waters with Sims 4 even if it meant I might end up wasting money on something that let me down.

I'm still at it, albeit I am going slowly... nevertheless, the more I learn the more I cannot help but think therein lies flaws in the versions system. Sure you'll find familiar NPC from previous versions, but places, options, items and characters the like that Simmers love are never updated and transferred to the newer versions, which has led to a considerable divide. Unless Sims 5 takes consideration of these flaws, I see a Sims 5 having a poorer response than 4 has with veteran Simmers and they will remain strongly footed in the previous versions.

A Sims 5? I'm not really interested in seeing one anytime soon. I'd rather see the 4 version tweaked to the point it does appeal to both veteran Simmers and new Simmers alike. In managing to create that balance, they would have created a good equation to follow and hopefully be able to make a 5 that would have mass appeal again.

@Player_jp5s5eav, in theory I agree with you! ❤️ 😎  But this would have been impossible.  TS2 was soooo different from TS1 in most of its mechanical aspects, that I think it would have been impossible to just build on that original base (from a technical standpoint). 🤨 

And while I'm not sure about the reasoning for the changes between TS2 and TS3, I thought I read somewhere that they used a different engine for TS4?  But the biggest change for TS3 and TS4 was done on purpose because TS3 was completely unplayable for a lot of people, and almost unplayable for people like myself, at least by the end of its reign. 😞😢  The open world created havoc with some computers, causing overclocking, and a lagging, jumpy game at best and the game to grind to a halt at worst! 😠😢  What is the use of an open world if I need to do some task at 2:30 in the morning that requires people other than a Sim's family members, but when I travel to that commercial lot, there are no other Sims to be found? 🤔  At least with TS4, I am assured at least a few Sims to interact with at anytime of the day or night! 

My favorite TS3 feature was also one that gave me the greatest trouble... the CASt color/pattern wheel! 🥳❤️😢  I was addicted to it and couldn't stop adding to it, but it would take 20 min. or more for it to load CAS! 😮  (And that is after a ridiculously long time loading TS3 in general!)  Its a good thing I love to read, because I have never read so much in my life as I did during all the downtime spent waiting for my TS3 game to either load or catch up! 😃 We are talking large books, with small print, many of them non-fiction, that were read in a week or 2 while only waiting for my TS3 game! 🤨

So, the reason we don't have an open world is that while it was a fantastic and fun idea, it didn't really work for a lot of people.  I compare it to Da Vinci who had fantastic ideas for many inventions, but they wouldn't work properly at that time.  

Personally, I think my favorite version was TS2. ❤️ The graphics don't hold up today, and I would dearly miss stuff from TS4 like the ability to multitask, but from a story-making standpoint it was my favorite! That said, I love every version for its own reasons! 🥳❤️  And I do wish there was a way to combine them all!  But I really don't think there is, at least for now!  But who knows what the furutre holds?! 🤔 🥳

*Nods*

Indeed, I was fairly general in that post but yes, I am aware that there are many things behind the scenes that I know nothing about. I read about the open world thing, but that wasn't something I was thinking of when noting things being translated to the more recent versions. As it goes, the Sims legacy so far seems to change in play to a considerable degree. What I was indicating was transfer the overall positive things or at leas things that caused no or very little problems to the more recent versions.

For example, the Sims 4 didn't originally have the Tragic Clown, but the character came along eventually as well as had updated features. With how I see things, the previous things that were also associated to the character should have been added in at the beginning. For example: the game play could have had the aspect of Sonny the Clown being dead like in Sims 3, but you could summon his ghost as well as bring him back to life. Take that concept and the original aspect of the curse of the painting. Sims 4 could have made it where Sonny is a pain in the rear like in the first Sims with the need to either destroy the painting or calling exterminators and all included, but if he did die, there would be his grave and you could interact with his ghost. If you cared to you could even develop a good enough relationship to the point you could bring him back to life. Depending on his traits or your relationship, however, he could spawn back as the more affable 3 version in the top hat, or he could spawn back as the tragic clown. If brought back to life, however, he would only be the annoying Tragic Clown of the current version and  not the pain in the rear you either have to kill or call exterminators to take care of. I think that would be a good mesh of all aspects regarding him. Then of course there would be the addition of the Easter egg silly snow-clown representation of him either showing up somewhere in the game or you could get it as a object. 

In correlation,  the Sims 2 Social Bunny would still show up in later versions as well along with the items and Easter eggs related to it. Perhaps like how the Tragic Clown is in Sims 4 now, it would be able to become a playable character, join a household or whatever.

I remember seeing comments of things where those who enjoy raising Sims have missed the changing table aspect from Sims 2. That should mainly just be an animation thing, right? It could have been implemented in Sims 3 and Sims 4. Why it wasn't, I have no idea. Did the Sims 2 changing table cause many players problems?

Then as noted, there are lots of object mods I've seen popping up where Simmers have taken the time to convert items and objects from Sims 3 to Sims 4. Why couldn't the makers have done that with all the items from previous versions and made them into stuff packs?

Another example could be the Careers. Why couldn't they have moved over all the Careers from Sims 3 to Sims 4? I've seen complaints about the limited options on 4's base game and if you want ones that had been automatically base game in previous versions, you have to get expansion packs for them instead. Thus, again I see Sim modders doing their own conversions so careers from previous versions can be available in Sims 4... like the medical, law enforcement and military careers. Sure, they brought some of those careers via the Get to Work pack, and I wouldn't be too surprised if in time all the other missing careers will appear again in expansion packs like how the Political Career became available in City Living. Nevertheless, rather than that, why not keep careers from the previous versions available in the base game and make newer ones for the expansions?

All-in-all, I wasn't saying convert everything from the previous versions each time they start a new generation, but the things that were built upon, the things that worked, the things that a mass amount of Simmers miss from previous versions... Why not carry those things to the newest versions? In not doing so, veteran Simmers will not be investing in their newer versions.

I can definitely see the need of updated versions, hence why Sims 4 was needed: updating to better graphics, fixing the open world problem so it was limited to towns with other towns you can travel to, the added autonomy and such, but when it comes to things that were in previous games that didn't cause problems... again... why couldn't they have been converted over?

@Player_jp5s5eav, thanks for replying to my reply! 😉  I wish I knew the answer to why some things weren't carried over, at least the things that could have been without much trouble! 🤔  You mentioned 2 careers that they used to have that I wished they still had: military and teaching!  I like these careers because no matter what country you are from you are familiar with both of these careers!  Teaching is especially appealing to me because (using Sims2 terminology) I'm a cross between a family Sim and a Knowledge Sim, so I made a lot of these kinds of Sims in the past, and I felt teaching was a natural job for them.  But for a good story line, you could make a Sim that hates children and give them a job as a teacher!  I also liked military for some of my athletic Sims because I got tired of making them all athletes. 😃

Ah, I do really miss the Social Bunnies! ❤️😢  Also that doctor who would show up when your Sim went crazy! 😃  I guess they didn't continue these things for one of 2 reasons: 

1.) they felt that it had already been done and people wanted something new.

2.) new people were working on TS3 and TS4 and wanted to make their own mark on the game, and not just rehash something that had been done before.  

Some items could have also been lost when the creator of The Sims Will Wright was no longer working on the franchise.  

Another thing is that even when they continue with something from a previous version of the Sims (or add it later) it often doesn't work as well as it did in the original version!  For example, the Kleptomaniac Sims from TS3!  They gave them back to us in TS4 with an anniversary update, but there is usually not any items that a Klepto Sim can steal on any given lot!  This makes this trait almost useless! 😠  (I had the most success when I gave this trait to a child -- they would sometimes come home from school with random items! 😎 But often, they only stole dirty dishes! 😃 :eahigh_file: ) But if one of my Klepto Sims is an Adult who stays home painting, gardening, writing, etc. they often get very tense from not being able to swipe anything!  In the original version, there were many more items that they were able to steal.

Another example is the CowPlant!  I loved the CowPlant from TS2, and I used it all the time! 😳  But the version they gave us for TS4 usually dies before any Sim will take the cake-bait.  I 've only had one success at a TS4 CowPlant eating a Sim -- but I had to fence the Sim in with the CowPlant for it to work! 😞

I also wish they had kept the original functionality of coffee from TS1 and TS2.  I understand why they changed it (it was to make it more realistic) but in TS1 and 2 I relied on coffee to make my Sims functional.  But instead of filling the Sleep need, starting in TS3 coffee just made Sims more jumpy and unable to sleep (in TS4 it gives them and energetic moodlet, but doesn't actually replace any sleep.)  I wish it would go back to the old way! ☹️

I still can't figure out why they decided so many Sims will get out of the pool without steps or ladders. 🤨🤔  Most people I know get out of the pool either with the use of ladders or steps.  I only can think of one person that I know that gets out of the pool by hoisting himself up on the side of the pool -- he was always athletic, energetic, and a daredevil. 😃  Even his older, taller brother used the ladder or steps to get out.  I think some Sims should have this ability, but most Sims should opt for the ladder (since Sim pools don't have steps!) 😉

All in all, we will never know the reasoning behind most of these types of changes! 🤨 (Which was one of the reasons why in my original reply to you I mentioned reasons that we were actually told about!  The other reason I mentioned those other reasons is because those were the factors that most people lamented over.  But it is always nice to meet a fellow Simmer who appreciates many of the finer points and details of the old versions of the game! 😇🥳❤️ ) I still miss TS1's Claire the Bear! ❤️

@dipnsticky12, it does seem like the developers are trying to move more in that direction. 🙂  With the game mechanics introduced in the Parenthood GP, Sims families felt more like actual families and not just a collection of Sims of various ages who happened to live together!  Kids and teens even will go to parents and grandparents for advice, which is one of the things you are wishing for in TS5!  I don't know if you have the Parenthood GP or not, but this is a good example of the developers trying to make our Sims' lives run deeper! 😇

One thing that does need to be changed is how death is viewed in-game!  While we can direct a Sim to mourn, they won't necessarily do it on their own.  Also, a lack of real cemeteries is depressing (sounds oxymoronic, but I preferred the previous versions of The Sims where death was handled with more caring that it is now.) ☹️  Fortunately I usually rotate between a bunch of families in separate Save Games, so I haven't had much death in my game.  One of the reasons is how I play, but the other is that I didn't like how death and grieving were handled compared to other versions of the Sims.  It is difficult for me to explain what I mean, so here is a link that does so:

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/896917/death-in-ts4-many-changes-needed/p1

This thread starts from a year and a half ago, but the Original Poster has updated it since some changes have been made since she started this thread.  😉

Over all, I could definitely get behind your suggestions! 🥳 ❤️

I'm excited to see Sims 5, but having only purchased Sims 4 within the last year or two, I'm a little doubtful that I'll buy it unless it's super on sale. If 5 is supposed to be a revamp or fix a lot of the complaints with 4, might there be a discount for people who have previously bought the game? Even if not, I suspect I will buy it at some point, but probably only after the price drops a bit.

I never played 3 (or not much), so I can't speak to that, but while 4 isn't bad, I think there could be some improvements. I've recently been playing Sims Medieval and something that I really like about it is that you can see all the Sims in your world (your own and the computer's) roaming around and doing stuff even when you're not playing them, and when you return to your Hero Sims, you can see the changes that have come about from their autonomous activity. I think that's really cool, and I kinda wish the sims in 4 were similar. Maybe with varying degrees of free will, rather than off or on. I also really like the little thought bubble notifs that come up during the quests, giving a blurb about what the sim was gossiping about or their response to a quest objective. In a more free roam game, that might be a little tough, but that would be a neat thing.

I may consider looking at S3, though, especially after all I've heard about it. But, I don't usually buy EPs (Cats and Dogs was the only one), so I dunno. But I'd also like to look at 5 when it comes out, and might decide to buy it if it isn't ludicrously expensive. Probably I'll wait and watch some Let's Plays or something first, though, haha!

@alba_gu_brath0, while there might be a sale price if and when TS5 is released, it wouldn't be dependent on whether you owned a previous version of The Sims or not.  😉   I've had TS1, TS2, TS3, and TS4, but did not get any discounts for owning the previous versions.  But there are often other kinds of sales on The Sims, so keep an eye out!  🙂

However, there is no guarantee that there will even be a Sims 5! 🤨  Even if there will be, it won't be for a while since it has been stated that they are stretching out the run of TS4 (compared to the older versions' runs).  So, if there is a TS5, it probably wouldn't be for a few more years. 😉

I loved the Sims Medieval, but I don't have it on my current computer! ☹️  The world was more open than TS4 is ,but not as large as TS3, so Sims Medieval didn't have all the problems that TS3 had!  TS3 lagged so much (at best) and was unplayable for many people (at worst) especially after all the Expansion Packs were added. 😞😢

I think viewing a "Let's Play" is a good idea to see if you want the game.   Also the developers usually have a Livestream before EPs, GPs, and SPs are released, so they would more than likely have one if they ever release a TS5!  😉

I buy every EP, GP, and SP and have enjoyed them all!  (I'm not materialistic, unless when it comes to my Sims! ) 😃😳

Happy Simming! 🥳