Carl's Guide: A History of the Sims 4

"CAPTAIN_NXR7;c-17838565" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17838409" wrote:

"CAPTAIN_NXR7;c-17838330" wrote:

The community had no easy access to these kind of tutorials back in the Sims Online days or even just before TS4 was released. Plus the software wasn’t as user friendly as it is nowadays.
I don’t know for a fact, but I feel confident enough to say that TS4 has generated a lot more content creators compared to the previous titles because of this easy access to resources. In fact, EA/Maxis will most likely use it to their own advantage and so they should if they had any sense from a business POV.

You are completely wrong about this. Guess who used to have tutorials for TS2...Carl. He's been around creating tutorials since forever. And CC creation was just as easy back then, too. I know...I ran a website for TS2 and created both mods, objects, recolors, and builds. We used the same tools back then that we use now. The only change is that people who kept on modding for the newer games skill level improved. TS2 still has an active community and mods are still being made for it. Same for TS3. TS4 is not unique in any way as far as modding goes. What is unique is seeing a modder getting paid $8500/month for creating mods that he doesn't update and have been broken since 2019. Heck, when I saw that I seriously considered getting back into modding because I would at least keep my stuff up to date and make it worth paying me for. But no...I'll mod for the indie game instead. That one is actually going to have tools built into the game for modding.

You're right...TS5 will probably have built in tools, too, because they saw the indie game doing it.

I get what you’re saying, although I still believe that due to the current player base being much larger, the modding community is bigger too and therefore more folks are creating cc. On top of that, the modding community has been getting a lot of attention, not just by simmers but by the company itself. This could possibly encourage simmers to create more custom content. Look at Spark’d. It’s the perfect example in which folks are encouraged by Maxis to create something. Next step is CC.

The game aesthetics have also changed since TS2, and no one can deny that TS4 looks that bit smoother. The next gen will (hopefully) even look more pleasing. “Pleasing” being of course subjective. Still, one needs the proper tools and skills to create assets that look at least similar in style to the official in game assets and the tools are there for people to do this. Sure they were always there, including 1 or 2 tutorials, but nowadays more folks may find it much easier to access them and learn how to use them, thanks to popular game changers pointing them in the right direction and what not. There’s gonna be bigger choice in CC content.

I’m not saying this will be the way, I’m just sharing my thoughts on what the next title may have in store for us.

"Lazzial;c-17838433" wrote:
Some are making 15k+ a month. I don't expect they'd be too eager to shut down their Patreon accounts to make mods directly for EA :D

No, I don’t expect most of them to shut down their patreon accounts either ( how am I supposed to get some of my favorite mods? Certainly not through EA ?).
I just believe that it’s possible that somewhere in the near future a system is put in place that gets us to somehow access (and pay for ) CC without needing to try and find it via other channels. Folks are willing to pay for ease of access. I don’t even know how EA will regulate this kind of business, but I definitely wouldn’t put it past them.

Again, I don’t know. Just thinking out really loud. ??‍♂️

The modding community has always been huge. Always. And it was always just as disoriented as now with websites all over the place and impossible to keep track of. Gurus used to visit some sites regularly and have candid discussions with us. There is still nothing new going on besides how much money modders are allowed to make off of the game.

Also, I'ma let you in on a little history here. Back in the day, lots of modders were trying to monetize. There was a group of us who believed that using game assets shouldn't be allowed to make money on the stuff. So we petitioned EA's lawyers to look into the trend. And you'll never believe what came next. Stuff packs! They released stuff packs once they realized how much money they were losing by not releasing more stuff for the game because the community was obviously willing to pay for it. This was also when the gurus took a more distant approach to players. They started praising subscription sites like TSR and even worked with them to build a modding platform. So then it was completely about the money. They left the free sites in the dust. Now with TS4 it is all about influencers with the game created for people that take pictures of the game and don't actually play it. Not to mention that the game was supposed to be an MMO to begin with.

And I can deny that TS2 looks aged. As someone who still plays it regularly, I can tell you that my game looks great. I actually have 90% of the same CC in TS2 that I have in TS4. And it works better in TS2 because doing something out of passion is a lot different from people just trying to make an easy buck. And I know that's how most of these influencers operate. I was part of many groups who's only motives were becoming influencers for the free games and easy money. I stopped modding because I was not ok with hosing people for their money. EA already does enough of that.