Carl's Guide: A History of the Sims 4

"Lazzial;c-17838117" wrote:
Considering Sims 5 is now in development and "well underway" apparently, we may just see the occasional pack now and then which, I'm actually fine with. I really don't think the game engine can handle any more expansions anyway. My game gets pretty laggy at times and I have a decent gaming computer. Thankfully they're using Unreal Engine for Sims 5. They should be able to do a lot more with it.

From what I’ve seen of the Sims 5 speculation so far it’s going to be way more of a disappointment to me than the Sims 4 ever could be. Multiplayer and competitive elements are a hard pass for me. None of these things interest me in the slightest. They are not something I have ever wanted to see in a Sims game and I will actually be quite sad to see the franchise go in this direction if it turns out to be true.

I’ve dismissed other players hopes for games like Paralives because I still had faith that the Sims franchise could improve in the future but what I’ve read of it’s future so far has made me rethink my dismissal of Paralives might have been a mistake.

I am a Sims veteran (been playing since 2002) and played all the games and owns all the packs. I think TS4 is the best in the series in so many aspects. Its got issues, but the older games have too. Ive recently been playing some Sims 2 (waiting for sims 4 expansions to release) but it feels so primitive compared to 4. Just so many aspects of it, 4 did much better. I really dont get why TS2 is so high on peoples pedestals, its so old and it shows.
Just my opinion, but guess Im in the minority.

Do I think Im a castaway?
Nope. Loving the game and buying all the packs. Yes I am what you could call “part of the problem”, but I love the game and can afford it, so why not.

Game going the right direction?
Yes, I actually like the kits and all the DLC (even batuu!!). Sims 4 is doing fine. Its a great game.

So I have to disagree with Carl and LGR, im still loving the series and 4 is the best.

"drake_mccarty;c-17837815" wrote:

"Nikkih;c-17837796" wrote:
When a game is still in development, there's time for improvement, the sims 4 is world's away from where it was at launch, there's also been talk of story progression possibly coming to the game (which I would personally love), the truth is nobody knows where this game will be going or when it will end apart from the developers, i don't believe the sims 4 will have every feature and detail as the previous games, at the end of the day its everyone's own personal opinion of what they think of the sims 4

Sims 4 era will be ending soon. EA wouldn’t have made kits a thing if this game weren’t wrapping up in the next year or two. They want to squeeze every last drop of money out of people who buy Sims 4 content while they still have an audience this size.

I don't know there's been a lot of hints of a generations like pack, a most requested pack and maybe because the sims 4 hasn't got ages left they will probably get their heads down, I agree 2020 wasn't the best year, the idea of kit's are very mixed in the community its like marmite I think, there's people really liking this idea and there's people that really dislike it

"Sharonia;c-17838130" wrote:

"Lazzial;c-17838117" wrote:
Considering Sims 5 is now in development and "well underway" apparently, we may just see the occasional pack now and then which, I'm actually fine with. I really don't think the game engine can handle any more expansions anyway. My game gets pretty laggy at times and I have a decent gaming computer. Thankfully they're using Unreal Engine for Sims 5. They should be able to do a lot more with it.

From what I’ve seen of the Sims 5 speculation so far it’s going to be way more of a disappointment to me than the Sims 4 ever could be. Multiplayer and competitive elements are a hard pass for me. None of these things interest me in the slightest. They are not something I have ever wanted to see in a Sims game and I will actually be quite sad to see the franchise go in this direction if it turns out to be true.

I’ve dismissed other players hopes for games like Paralives because I still had faith that the Sims franchise could improve in the future but what I’ve read of it’s future so far has made me rethink my dismissal of Paralives might have been a mistake.

They apparently don't know their player base well. Let's see, it's been a single player, life simulation game for over 20 years now, and they think making it multiplayer is a good idea? That seems like one extremely risky business decision if I've ever seen one. Yeah, I have zero interest in an online Sims game so, let's hope they are just rumors.

"Lazzial;c-17838145" wrote:

"Sharonia;c-17838130" wrote:

"Lazzial;c-17838117" wrote:
Considering Sims 5 is now in development and "well underway" apparently, we may just see the occasional pack now and then which, I'm actually fine with. I really don't think the game engine can handle any more expansions anyway. My game gets pretty laggy at times and I have a decent gaming computer. Thankfully they're using Unreal Engine for Sims 5. They should be able to do a lot more with it.

From what I’ve seen of the Sims 5 speculation so far it’s going to be way more of a disappointment to me than the Sims 4 ever could be. Multiplayer and competitive elements are a hard pass for me. None of these things interest me in the slightest. They are not something I have ever wanted to see in a Sims game and I will actually be quite sad to see the franchise go in this direction if it turns out to be true.

I’ve dismissed other players hopes for games like Paralives because I still had faith that the Sims franchise could improve in the future but what I’ve read of it’s future so far has made me rethink my dismissal of Paralives might have been a mistake.

They apparently don't know their player base well. Let's see, it's been a single player, life simulation game for over 20 years now, and they think making it multiplayer is a good idea? That seems like one extremely risky business decision if I've ever seen one. Yeah, I have zero interest in an online Sims game so, let's hope they are just rumors.

Yeah very bad idea. It isn't even their first attempt at online either. You would think after 5 failed attempts they would learn their lesson but nope. MMO is not profitable especially for simulation genres unless it is mobile. Thus why Sims Freeplay and Sims Mobile do so well. It is less costly to do a mobile game than PC multiplayer game and ends up a better return too. I tried the Sims Freeplay, the Sims Mobile, and the Sims Social and got bored of them after a week. Sims Freeplay does have the best babies and toddler I have to admit for the franchise. It is pretty funny found this mobile game through Youtube that is basically stealing Sims 4 assets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip8oHtAL0oc&t=333s

"Scobre;c-17838156" wrote:

"Lazzial;c-17838145" wrote:

"Sharonia;c-17838130" wrote:

"Lazzial;c-17838117" wrote:
Considering Sims 5 is now in development and "well underway" apparently, we may just see the occasional pack now and then which, I'm actually fine with. I really don't think the game engine can handle any more expansions anyway. My game gets pretty laggy at times and I have a decent gaming computer. Thankfully they're using Unreal Engine for Sims 5. They should be able to do a lot more with it.

From what I’ve seen of the Sims 5 speculation so far it’s going to be way more of a disappointment to me than the Sims 4 ever could be. Multiplayer and competitive elements are a hard pass for me. None of these things interest me in the slightest. They are not something I have ever wanted to see in a Sims game and I will actually be quite sad to see the franchise go in this direction if it turns out to be true.

I’ve dismissed other players hopes for games like Paralives because I still had faith that the Sims franchise could improve in the future but what I’ve read of it’s future so far has made me rethink my dismissal of Paralives might have been a mistake.

They apparently don't know their player base well. Let's see, it's been a single player, life simulation game for over 20 years now, and they think making it multiplayer is a good idea? That seems like one extremely risky business decision if I've ever seen one. Yeah, I have zero interest in an online Sims game so, let's hope they are just rumors.

Yeah very bad idea. It isn't even their first attempt at online either. You would think after 5 failed attempts they would learn their lesson but nope. MMO is not profitable especially for simulation genres unless it is mobile. Thus why Sims Freeplay and Sims Mobile do so well. It is less costly to do a mobile game than PC multiplayer game and ends up a better return too. I tried the Sims Freeplay, the Sims Mobile, and the Sims Social and got bored of them after a week. Sims Freeplay does have the best babies and toddler I have to admit for the franchise. It is pretty funny found this mobile game through Youtube that is basically stealing Sims 4 assets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip8oHtAL0oc&t=333s

Right? Multiplayer just isn't The Sims. You know who else thought making a game that was single player for over 20 years into a multiplayer game was a good idea? Bethesda. With Fallout 76. Well, Microsoft now owns Bethesda. So, yeah that went well apparently.

You mentioned they attempted an MMO 5 times. I didn't realize that. I think they just see "marketing potential" when it comes to MMO's these days and don't realize it's not always a good idea to stray off the path of a good thing. I think they call that blinded by greed. I personally think a single player sims game using the Unreal engine would do exceptionally well. An MMO, I have serious doubts about.

"Lazzial;c-17838145" wrote:

They don't know their player base well. Let's see, it's been a single player, life simulation game for over 20 years now, and they think making it multiplayer is a good idea? That seems like one extremely risky business decision if I've ever seen one. Yeah, I have zero interest in an online Sims game so, let's hope they are just rumors.

I don’t believe (and hope not) that a new Sims title will get rid of the Single Player system altogether. Bad move.
I also disagree that EA doesn’t know their player base. In fact, they know exactly what a majority of the player base has been doing during the lifespan of the franchise. Three words: Download Custom Content.

The sims modding community is it’s own planet and I can imagine a possible online feature to draw in cc creators, offering in-game tools to create custom content and place it directly in game. EA Land all over again. But what’s the difference? Why would they do this again?

One of the main differences is that these days it is incredibly easy for anyone to access and learn similar software that studios in the creative industry use, for free! Open Source creative tools such as Blender or Gimp or Krita are not only there for us to download and use (for free!!!) but thanks to YouTube there’s a huge library of tutorials just to learn the software. It’s so darn “easy” to create something “good” and authentic to the game’s own aesthetics if you set your mind to it. We don’t need expensive software like Maya or the Adobe Suite to build beautiful BB & CAS assets. The tools and online courses are practically handed to us. (For free!!).

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.

They know that for many players The Sims has only been half or less of what it can be without the modding community. So why not make gold out of them? Therefore I can also imagine this online part to be subscription based, perhaps a way for EA to finally make money out of popular modders, giving them a percentage in royalties based on downloads, but keeping a chunk for themselves for simply offering a relatively easy way to create and access cc.
No more Patreon accounts. Subscriptions for direct access instead. A “Win Win” situation, perhaps? Online systems are more secure these days? Maybe this time it will work?

In ways we’ve already been introduced to this by EA/Maxis involving content creators to create official content for TS4, may it be for builds or actual CAS/ BB assets. It’s a first and it won’t be a last.

The new slogan says: “You Make The Sims”.
Indeed, we may find out that “we” will actually be the ones creating most content for the “Sims 5”, which doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing if we’re offered amazing gameplay systems and AI to work with. But that’s another question. Will we get those amazing AI systems? Only time will tell.

As for the MMO aspect, personally I can do without all that nonsense, but I can also see a substantial percentage of the newer generation of players being interested in this. They grew up with MMOs and the story based quests the community has been doing since TS2 consoles, TS3 World Adventures, TS4 Strangerville, Jungle Adventure and JtB can be ways to bring part of that community online and engage in competitions and finish quests. The award? Simpoints. (I hear ya, not this again!!) What can you use those simpoints on? Buy “Kits” and CC. Build a nice house? ??‍♂️

I dunno. I have a wild and scary imagination and so does everyone else. Who knows.

"drake_mccarty;c-17837815" wrote:

"Nikkih;c-17837796" wrote:
When a game is still in development, there's time for improvement, the sims 4 is world's away from where it was at launch, there's also been talk of story progression possibly coming to the game (which I would personally love), the truth is nobody knows where this game will be going or when it will end apart from the developers, i don't believe the sims 4 will have every feature and detail as the previous games, at the end of the day its everyone's own personal opinion of what they think of the sims 4

Sims 4 era will be ending soon. EA wouldn’t have made kits a thing if this game weren’t wrapping up in the next year or two. They want to squeeze every last drop of money out of people who buy Sims 4 content while they still have an audience this size.

I agree and why in one of post that I posted Sims 4 is at its peak and some of the better features that was in Sims 3 will not make it into Sims 4 and for me I am sitting out the rest of this version and as far as Sims 5 goes no peps needed if it is mentioned for it has lost its drawing power to me. I just remember in the past versions how EA/Maxis promoted their upcoming packs and they do here with little fanfare and "Here you go" attitude.

@PreCiious I too do not like the direction the Sims 4 game took to be therapy for people - a video game should be entertainment - not therapy. It makes the game so dull - all the humor and unexpected that was in the previous sims games is gone and it is why so much gets nerfed. About the only thing that makes me laugh playing anymore is when a sim slips in a mud puddle!

I also have always disliked how they have no personality - traits rarely matter much at all and there are so few traits - definitely a doll house and not a life simulator. There should have been many more traits and aspirations added with all these packs that have come out, yet we rarely get them and have to keep using the same ones over and over again. Instead - we get sentiments and lifestyles - buggy, as with most things sims 4 has released, and usually make no sense at all - I turned off lifestyles as they just make the sims even more one dimensional. And the main selling feature - emotions - oy - always been a mess - basically every sim is really messed up as no one flips though so many emotions in so little time or has so many different emotions stacked at one time. In Sims 2 - I did not need a color coded texted buff to know what a sim was feeling - it was obvious by facial expressions and actions. The AI for autonomous behavior is a joke too - why do sims even drink water when they do not have a thirst need? Sigh. Think I have yet to ever have all the sims in a household actually sit and stay seated at a table to eat a meal - never an issue in sims 2.

I also get annoyed that so many things never get fixed - so much I avoid in the game due to bugs. Seems they have little to no QA as the packs and updates just roll out full of bugs. And I rarely like when they change something that I already paid for with an update - like gardening and vampires and other things that they consider "improvements". They also just stop doing things they once did and were a basic part of the game, like whims, and often "forget" to integrate features like adding to the club system or holidays system. They used to do challenges too and we never see those anymore.

This game has always disappointed to one degree or another because one naturally thinks that better technology and a later version of a game will be much better, not much worse. It may look good, but the AI and gameplay is inferior to previous versions of Sims game.

"telemwill;c-17837825" wrote:
I am torn. I finally listened to this video today, and I agree with a lot of it, especially about the early phases of Sims 4. Some things Carl wants, like story progression, I wouldn't want. Nor do I care about cars. I do want more personality though.

I never bought the base game as I was satisfied with Sims 2 at the time. I wouldn't even have considered it without toddlers, but actually I waited until it was free. So maybe I would be bitter also if I paid for the game.

I have paid for dlc, but almost always at half price sales. So my expectations may be different from someone who paid full price.

The truth is, in spite of all that is missing in terms of Sims personalities and animation, I enjoy the game. I play almost daily. I do use some mods to help, but those don't completely fill the gaps for me. Still I am having fun. I would have a difficult time going back to Sims 2 and not have the ability to travel between worlds or have time pass when I leave the home lot.

I hope the Sims team is serious about fixing bugs. It's discouraging when a brand new kit is released and is so buggy, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I also hope we get some serious attention to personality. Sentiments and lifestyles were a good attempt, but don't always make sense.

I am happy that I did not pay full price myself, however as far as bugs goes an developer is only as good as in how it addresses the bug issues and for me EA/Maxis has failed at it for it shows in the posts that is all over the place and also there bugs that was not addressed in previous versions and when this version cease to be produced, I am quite sure there will be bugs that will never be fixed.