Feedback: The Sims 4 is Lacking Details in Gameplay

I'm afraid I didn't read all the suggestions from previous games, but yeah... lately I just cannot get off the "Look back at the previous games"!

Learning that Sims 4 was originally supposed to be an online version, I think that is why so much of the details are lacking. They put it all in the graphics. Then when you think of the complexity of all the additional animations and random occurrences added into that... As opposed to how the open world made Sims 3 impossible for many players to use, The Sims 4 graphics would probably be fall if all of those wonderful animations and details are added. And this really sucks, because I love just how distinct you can make the simulations now. All shapes, sizes, skin tone and such! Many can truly make replications of themselves, people they know or even make crazy cartoonish characters.

Yeah, though... when it comes to the actual game play... it grows stale so quickly and not just from the lack of animations. There are are also little to no surprises. For there to be any drama in your game, you have to work at it. There is no surprise at all. I was lamenting over how much harder it is to cause Sim death in the game when you actually know the game. Heck, even when I didn't know the game, my first Sim led a boring, peaceful life and died of old age.

I've lamented the lack of surprises caused by jokes. You wrote a lot of nice examples from objects falling, Sims falling asleep in their food, breaking the fourth wall, the flush/shower freak out and so forth. All those details when it comes to babies up to teens: Yes! That would likely make me actually interested in playing with them! And again, just those little things you may never know of unless someone actually points it out to you because you didn't know of clicking Tab to get into camera mode.

Again, though... I go back to my original theory... They aren't adding in these details because it would end up with only those able to buy platforms that can handle so much data staying. Already we have the Legacy version bringing up a fuss. I am glad I didn't have to go to that, but with all the packs I've been adding to my poor lap top? I'm getting problems I didn't have before starting out. These days I have to shut down all other programs that might be up. Then I load the game, it pops up and shows the logo and then the window goes completely white. I hear the music, the game didn't crash, but all I have is white screen. I then have to use Alt+Ctrl+Delete, force it to close with Task Manager and try again. Usually it works the second loading. Getting out of the game sometimes requires a forced shutdown via Task Manager, too. -__- 

EDIT: Oh, yeah... the problem with the kitchen counter thing is because of their multiple use. They are slotted for bathroom and kitchen and then some builds use the things to make fancy television holders... It is all about the labeling. Family eating at tables meant to be desks? Nope, sorry... you are using a dining table for a desk, so they will use it to eat - which sucks since the only small desk they do have comes from City Living.

Here comes more!

onlyabidoang has released another video of things in TS2 that don't exist in TS3 and TS4!

Here's a list of the things mentioned in that video, starting at 50 (onlyabidoang was wrong about number 9 in the previous video, because the feature exists in TS3, but it's still correct that it doesn't exist in TS4):
50. If a broken plumbing objects, such as a bathtub, is broken the water leaks through the roof of the room below.

51. Babies can burp after being fed and then cuddled.

52. When playing with babies and toddlers, by for example throwing them in the air, they can throw up on the sim playing with them.

53. The food spins in the microwave.

54. When a sim goes outside on a sunny day they holds up a hand to their forehead until they get used to the light.

55. Sims have interests. They talk more about things they are interested in, and if two sims have different interests they may not like to talk to each other. The sims can buy magazines, and when they read a magazine about a specific subject their interest in that subject will gradually increase. (My note: WHY ON EARTH is this not present in TS4? When TS4 was released they marketed a lot that the sims now have personalities (i.e. traits), but then they don't even have interests???)
56. Children can jump on beds and all sims can jump on sofas. If a sim sits on a sofa, that another sim is jumping on, the sitting sim will bounce a little.

57. When sims take a snack, such as crisps or cookies, they eat directly from the package instead of eating them in a bowl.

58. When a sim gets up out of a pool they may try to get water out of their ears.

59. Sims with a sloppy personality eats food in a messy manner.

60. Romance interactions are steamier and more romantic, there are more types of kisses and they can even grab another sim's buttock. (My note: I mentioned this in my post above, and yes, I really, REALLY find it sad that there are so few and so lame romance interactions in TS4.)

61. Shy sims react in a shy way, and outgoing sims act cocky, when receiving compliments.

62. The grandfather clock is ticking, and it chimes every six hours. In three days it has to be winded up to continue working. The clock can be maintained, which gives mechanical skill and also adds to the clocks value if it's going to be sold. Sims with low mechanical skills may break the clock completely if they try to maintain it.

63. It's possible to propose when dining together.

64. Engaged and married sims will still wear their ring. The ring won't disappear after a proposal or wedding ceremony.

65. Sims can hand over a baby to another sim.

66. Social interactions starts when a sim is still walking towards the other sim.

67. There are cutscenes when important life events happens.

68. Shy sims dance in a timid fashion.

69. Delivery personnel take out the product from the vehicles trunk.

70. When visiting a barista bar your sim can take over the barista's work and will earn money from it.

71. When a sim makes a family serving of food they'll place out the plates one by one on the table, for the number of sims that are in the house.

72. If a sim with low hygiene gets up from sitting there'll be a green stench cloud staying for a while above the thing they sat on.

73. If a sim runs somewhere and has to go up an elevator they'll press the elevator button several times.

74. Family members can do the interaction "family kiss", which means that they kiss another family member. It can be done between sims of all ages.

75. When a boy stands up peeing it will make a xylophone sound.

76. When a sim's appearance is changed with the mirror they'll react to their new look.

77. When a sim buys something they'll hand the money to the cashier, who'll open the cash register and then put the money inside.

78. Active sims with high level of body skill can do yoga on top of coffee tables. Long coffee tables can be used for yoga by two sims at the same time.

79. When dining somewhere it's possible to skip the bill. A timer will start counting down and your sim has to avoid the restaurant's host until the timer has run out.

80. When playing a multiplayer video game on a TV, the TV will get a split screen. (My note: TS4 also has split screens in multiplayer video games, but those will always be split by four even when there are only two or three players.)

81. Some desserts have the finishing touch of being lit up by a match. There's a slight risk of setting the sim on fire though.

82. There are recliner chairs in buy mode. These can be used to take naps in.

83. There are commercials on the TV between shows.

84. When sims are eating together they can throw food at each other, and steal a bite from another sim. Also, a couple can hold hands on the table.

85. A sim can make a prank of turning on a lighter close to a sprinkler.

86. Sims can browse around in stores. When they browse they're interacting with the objects by taking them down from the shelves to look at them.

87. Sims has to buy clothes, except for those they have from CAS. At clothing stores they can try on the clothes in the fitting room.

88. Computers will stay on when a sim stops using them. The computers have to be turned off manually.

89. Sims don't have their own cellphones, but they can buy them in vending machines downtown. They can also buy mp3-players and handheld game consoles in the same vending machines.

90. Sims can order take-out Chinese food, which they'll eat with chopsticks. Children use the chopsticks in an odd way.

91. Sims can hang out by sitting cross-legged together on the ground talking. (My note: If I remember correctly, a total of eight sims can sit together like this in a circle.)

92. Bushes get overgrown after a while. They can be trimmed by the sims.

93. Weed can appear in random places. This is different from TS4 since weeds in TS4 only appear at the roots of harvestable plants.

94. A sim can tide up another sim by picking off fuzz of the other sim's clothes, the other sim's hygiene will increase a little bit.

95. Sims have turn-ons and turn-offs. They can look around a room to see if they notice any sims they find attractive. If they find someone they like that sim will start to glow.

96. The Unsavoury Charlatan is a character who can pickpocket other sims of money. The pickpock-victim can fight their money back, and they'll get their money back if they win the fight.

97. When and elder teaches a toddler to walk the elder might hurt their back.

98. Children can tease toddlers with toys.

99. Sims can get down on all four to smell garden flowers.

100. In some career positions the carpool will be a helicopter. It's also possible to own helicopters.

Observe, this is not my video. The video belongs to onlyabidoang.

@SqueamishNerdI couldn’t agree more. This game has no life. It has better graphics and build mode, but game play is beyond bad. They advertised this game as emotionally superior but the moodlets system from 3 was better. The detail from 2 was better. I mean the sim can’t even be scared. All of them do the same things, react the same way, they have no likes, dislikes, situation doesn’t matter, relationships don’t matter, achievements don’t really matter because none of it translates to gameplay. You just get “traits” which are basically just badges because they have no impact on game play. In previous games you could have introduced sims To each other, they actually got shared trait interactions and opposite traits, you could leave flaming poop on doorsteps and when they didn’t like each other you knew it without checking a stupid panel. My enemies now look more like friends. My snob likes the same stuff as any other sim. The emotional system hasn’t changes in 6 years. No updates. It was just abandoned. Instead creators are giving us naps that over write traits and any slimmer of individuality and makes these sim even more robotic. They are now clones, the game introduces no variations, no struggle, no clumsy actions, jumping on sofas, couple dancing, actual passion, cane havoc creating elders, lectures and mooches or schmoozers. No options to skip on a bill, get caught  doing something bad, no consequence to anything, my klepto gets embarrassed and that is it. They are lifeless clones.

@SqueamishNerd , TS2 is by far my favorite version of the Sims, so while I've seen these 2 videos in the past, I didn't even need to be sold on how much better TS2's gameplay is. 🥳 After TS2, I felt that TS3 felt rather empty ☹️ (though the level of customization in TS3 cant' be beat! 🙌 )  I do agree that TS4's personality system is lacking, as 3 traits for adults just isn't enough to make them feel different, and don't even get me started on how children feel the same unless you have one that is evil or mean. 😞  That said, one of my favorite things i love about TS4 is it's ability to multi-task! ❤️ I also love the graphics, CAS, and Build/Buy Mode, as well as the ability to live drag various small objects such as plates to the sink or trash. (One of my least favorite things about TS2 was that there were so many baby bottles everywhere that your Sim had to throw away one by one! 😞 )

However, I have had Playful Sims that play with toys and they love to play with the doll house even if the children aren't around.🥳  So, unless that is a more recent Bug, they should be playing with toys like the ones in the toy box and the dollhouse!🤔

@CircuitD and @Player_jp5s5eav , I like the moodlet system in TS4, but I don't like that it is at the expense of personality.  Most personality traits are tied to moods and whims and not behavior.  I had once seen a video testing Sims on what drives Sims behavior, and it is mostly what you have already directed them to do. So a music loving Sim straight out of CAS probably has as much chance picking up that guitar as a bookworm Sim or an athletic Sim.  But once you direct them to an instrument a couple of times and they have some skill  in that area, they will be more likely to do that behavior (even behavior that isn't tied to their personality.)  However, musical Sims will have whims more often tied to their love of music, and they can get special buffs from doing musical stuff.  It is a slightly different way of playing, and it isn't bad, even if it isn't as realistic as personality being the driving force of behavior. That said I think most people prefer more realistic behavior (meaning behavior that is driven by personality and not just mood or what you've had them do before). 

@SqueamishNerdI agree with everything you said. Though if I don't want my Sim to be given a certain trait there should be a pop-up window that lets you choose whether your Sim should get it or not (or whatever). ☺️

And pillow fights would be adorable, especially for couples. And allowing adults to play with toddlers/kids would be cool too. 😉

And I remember when they used to roast marshmallows at the fireplace in Sims 2 as well. ☺️

Also if I remember correctly, in TS3 for 3DS sometimes Sims would autonomously stand in front of a window and have a thought bubble of a butterfly over their heads. I forget the name of the action but you couldn't tap on the window or anything to make them perform it. I think it was a rare autonomous interaction or something. 😕

And I remember once in TS1 for console (which I still have since I still have my GameCube from maybe 6 or so years ago), I caught one of my Sims in a household I created autonomously tucking a child in (and there was no option to do that in the game). ☺️

But I remembered the window thing from TS3 for 3DS when I read your post about idling actions like looking out the window (and I think it happened when a Sim was idle, too, since I always play with free will off and when the action would happen the Sim would walk up to the window). 😉

Yaaay that playful (and childish?) sims can play with toys! 😃 I thought I had tested it, but I don’t have many playful or childish sims so I must’ve missed it. I must say that it’s annoying that those traits are compulsory for adult sims to be able to play with toys at all, I wish every sim could be directed to do it even though only playful and childish sims can do it autonomously.

I want to add something else. There are things that TS4 has done better than previous games, as you mentioned PugLove888, such as CAS and BB. Another thing that they’ve done better are the cats and dogs. I wonder if it’s because they made a Cats & Dogs expansion pack instead of a Pets expansion pack, so that the devs could give the cats and dogs more love. With the cats and dogs there are so many details. For example, did you know that cats can ride on the robot vacuums (“roombas”)? That’s my favourite small detail all time, in all the The Sims iterations. The cats and dogs act like real cats and dogs, they change sleeping position from time to time, they hide under the sofa, they go into heat, they get quirks (for example they can get afraid of certain objects, like the dishwasher) and a lot of other small details.

Another thing which is better than TS2 (I’m not sure about how this is in TS3 since I’ve played it so very little and not the supernatural pack) are the magicians and vampires! Though I would’ve wanted Realm of Magic and Vampires to be expansions, rather than a game packs, they’re still more complex than their TS2 counterparts. Note that I don’t think TS2 witches and vampires are bad in any sense, they’re just not as good as in TS4.

With this said, I do feel like TS4 needs more details, but I also want to point out that it’s not inherently bad. The reason I say this is because Twitter has been a sh*t-show for the past weeks, people say that they hate TS4, and I just want to point out that this thread is to give constructive criticism and feedback. I love TS4, but it needs an overhaul in the details and personality areas. Also, even though CAS is better than in previous games it needs an overhaul too, because clothing items are missing pack-tags, menus are in the way, sims can’t stand still etc.

@SqueamishNerdAbout cats going into heat, is that why people are reporting their cats continuously yowling (like in a post I saw here that mentioned the cat doing that)? 😯 'Cause I know cats in real-life do that when they're in heat because it's uncomfortable for them or something, so maybe the devs added that into the game too to make it more realistic (but people are probably mistaking it for something else). ☺️

@AprilTheSimmer96 , yes the cats and dogs will yowl when they are in heat, and little hearts float above them!  However I am not sure it this is what that post you read was referring to, as it could also be a glitch or bug if the pets are not in heat but are distressed about something else.  But most likely it is because they are in heat! ❤️

@SqueamishNerd , By playful Sims I take it to mean Goofball Sims (The description says these Sims are playful).   I can't be sure if it was Goofball or Childish Sims that played with the toys, as it just might mean one of those.  These traits are very similar in my mind so I could have gotten them mixed up, but at least one of them is able to play with toys from the toy box as well as the dollhouse.  I'm thinking that it was probably at least the Childish Sims who played with the toys.  Goofball Sims might be more inclined to joking. 😉  I'm sorry for any confusion. 😇

Yes, I also love the Pets in TS4!  Although I loved how in TS3 you could play as the cat, dog, or horse, I do love how in TS4 there are a lot of the realistic things that dogs and cats can do , such as the ones you mentioned!  One thing they messed up on was that dogs in the game do not jump on the bed to lay or sleep , but cats can get on the bed! 😠 I would think it was just because dogs come in two sizes, but they can jump on and sleep couches, so I don't understand why they can't do so on beds! 😢  But other than that I love how the dogs and cats in TS4 act!  If you have the Nifty Knitting SP then cats will play with yarn balls on the floor as well! ❤️  And the Roomba riding cats are one of my favorite features! 🙌🥳

And I do agree with you theory that the cats and dogs are so detailed in TS4 because they only had cats and dogs, and no other animals to worry about.  I"m sure this left them more time to focus on these pets, just like how the Vampires from the Vampires GP and the Spellcasters from the Realm of Magic GP are more detailed and fleshed out! 🙌  This can be seen by the Aliens from the Get to Work EP and the Merfolk from the Island Living EP! While I enjoy playing both of them, they seem shallow in comparison to the Vampires and Spellcasters who got a pack devoted to them, instead of just being one small part of a larger pack!  I know EA/Maxis gets a lot of flak for having Vampires and Spellcaster be each their own individual pack instead of lumped together in a Supernatural pack like TS3 did, but I really think this was the best way to treat these special Sims! 🙌  And I agree, while I love the Vampires and Magicians from TS2, they aren't as good as those from TS4!  TS3's Magicians and Vampires weren't as good as TS4 are either, and I think it is for the same reason that the Merfolk and Aliens from TS4 aren't' as good as the Vampires and Spellcasters!  In TS3 the Vampires came with a NitghtLife pack (or a pack with a similar name) and were just a small part of that pack.  Most of the other superantural Sims were introduced in the Supernaturals EP.  These had Werewolves, Zombies, Fairies, and I think this is where the Magicians entered the game as well. The pack was one of my favorites but after seeing how the Vampires and Spellcasters were handled in TS4, I have to say I much prefer the way TS4 did it! 🙌

And I forgot to mention that every version of the Sims has something missing from previous versions.  In TS1 there was a flower in a vase that your Sims would sometimes take the flower out and give it to their loved one!  I really missed that in TS2, and it has never returned in TS3 or TS4.  There have been so many wonderful touches in all the versions over the years so we are bound to miss them in newer versions.  If and when they make a TS5, there will be some things that people will miss from TS4, even if they end up liking TS5 better than TS4.  Each game has its own fun and charm! 🥳