April Patch Speculation 2020 (Available Now April 7th)

"SinaMegapolis;c-17438280" wrote:
Since EAxis people are working from home they don't have access to the motion capture equipment needed for new animations

They don't use motion capture

"SinaMegapolis;c-17438280" wrote:
Since EAxis people are working from home they don't have access to the motion capture equipment needed for new animations

This means that if they haven't finished anything by the time they began working from home then we won't see new feature until they get back to full work

In other words: We can only expect bug fix updates (and a new hollow pack if we're lucky) to come out during the quarantine state.

They are not using Motion Capture for Sims 4. All animations are still done by hand, that's why we can't have nice things in Sims 4.

"rudy8292;c-17438345" wrote:

"SinaMegapolis;c-17438280" wrote:
Since EAxis people are working from home they don't have access to the motion capture equipment needed for new animations

This means that if they haven't finished anything by the time they began working from home then we won't see new feature until they get back to full work

In other words: We can only expect bug fix updates (and a new hollow pack if we're lucky) to come out during the quarantine state.

They are not using Motion Capture for Sims 4. All animations are still done by hand, that's why we can't have nice things in Sims 4.

But some of the animations look so smooth?
I kinda guessed "EA wouldn't be crazy enough to hire like 40 animators to make animations together by hand so they probably use motion capture"

"SinaMegapolis;c-17438401" wrote:

"rudy8292;c-17438345" wrote:

"SinaMegapolis;c-17438280" wrote:
Since EAxis people are working from home they don't have access to the motion capture equipment needed for new animations

This means that if they haven't finished anything by the time they began working from home then we won't see new feature until they get back to full work

In other words: We can only expect bug fix updates (and a new hollow pack if we're lucky) to come out during the quarantine state.

They are not using Motion Capture for Sims 4. All animations are still done by hand, that's why we can't have nice things in Sims 4.

But some of the animations look so smooth?
I kinda guessed "EA wouldn't be crazy enough to hire like 40 animators to make animations together by hand so they probably use motion capture"

With the right software, I can make some pretty decent animation cycles at home myself. And I don't have nearly the skill other people do.

But if they're doing the animations by hand, it does explain why animations are expensive to produce, because they take so many man-hours.

"catloverplayer;c-17438016" wrote:
I really hope to see pool slides and pool waterfalls in the Next Update. I still cant believe we dont have pool slides.

Pool slides would be fun! :)

Not too sure about what is really going on but a little communication wouldn't hurt and maybe a small patch for some bug fixes would be nice. I'm not holding my breath to it though since everything has pretty much become a drag.

Probably worth remembering that:
A, Maxis are working from home,
and B, the next pack is in the "voice/sound recording" stage (usually the last stage of development before a game is ready to ship). (Source: https://simscommunity.info/2020/03/04/the-sims-4s-9th-expansion-pack-is-in-the-final-stage-of-production/)

So, a patch for April is most likely coming, and it's pretty likely to be a pre-GP patch (if not April, then the May patch will be the pre-pack patch)

Maxis, as far as we're aware, is continuing on, business as usual.
Coronavirus probably created a few bumps in the road (which is why we didn't get a March patch, but we did get Gallery maintenence), but I don't think we'll see any significant delays. Adjusting to working from home probably accounted for a bit of a delay in development, but it's not like the game's been cancelled or anything crazy.

"Gordy;c-17438149" wrote:

"kwanzaabot;c-17437781" wrote:

"Gordy;c-17437777" wrote:

"kwanzaabot;c-17437774" wrote:

"Gordy;c-17437305" wrote:
Obligatory guess that we'll get dragons or whatever. Eh.

Prettttttty sure the RoM familiars fulfill EA's definition of "we did dragons already".

I can't accept those glorified drones as a substitute for the Sims 1 dragons. I hope that my incessant wishing will plant a seed that I will see harvest.

I wouldn't hold your breath, buddy.

Hell, I was hoping we'd see some modded familiars (dragons in other colours, maybe, or the ability for dragon familiars to start fires), but RoM modding died within like a month of the pack dropping.

I can still have hope. Even if it's false hope, I'll still hold onto it. I will never give up on my boy, Torch.

You have at least one ally dreaming of dragons. :)

Best case scenario: We finally get cops, burglars, and firefighters patched in and alien disguises are finally updated with the same linking options as vampire dark forms.

Most plausible scenario: We get some bug fixes and a social distancing-themed T-shirt

Most likely scenario: We get some bug fixes.

Worst case scenario: A bug fix patch that breaks the game in such a way that you can't even launch it, causing already cabin fever-stricken simmers to riot in the digital streets and spam the forums and all of the Sims Team's social media accounts with angry rants and threats of oblivion.

"LeGardePourpre;c-17438730" wrote:
But they can't do a livestream from home... right ?

I mean from 3 or 4 SimGuru homes.

"@kwanzaabot;c-17438636" wrote:
Probably worth remembering that:
A, Maxis are working from home,
and B, the next pack is in the "voice/sound recording" stage (usually the last stage of development before a game is ready to ship). (Source: https://simscommunity.info/2020/03/04/the-sims-4s-9th-expansion-pack-is-in-the-final-stage-of-production/)

So, a patch for April is most likely coming, and it's pretty likely to be a pre-GP patch (if not April, then the May patch will be the pre-pack patch)

These news were before COVID-19, it's outdated now. The development process have been slow down since 2 weeks.

I don't know how voice/sound recording could be possible from home in particular the simlish songs with famous artists.

You're assuming there'll be music in the next pack. Not every pack comes with a new radio station.
You're also assuming the recording hasn't already been done. They're hiring a Voice Editor, ie one that edits (it's in the name) audio that's already been recorded.

Lots of voice actors also own their own microphones. It's not unreasonable to suppose they can record their lines from home, with voice direction given over Skype.