Carl's review of Dream Home Decorator pack is out

"Naus;c-17900572" wrote:
So I decided to test how much dirty things / trash influence the final score in The Sims 3.

I made writing room renovation and saved the game. Then I added two dirty dishes my Sim had in her inventory. I got the lowest possible score and the client remarked how cruel I was being:
https://i.imgur.com/uXD3qBv.jpg

Then I reloaded the save and I tested it without the dirty dishes. I got a pretty decent score and even a bonus. It seems dirty things truly tank your score in The Sims 3, which is how it should be:
https://i.imgur.com/R7RMgi0.jpg

So yeah... This one active career (in a pack with five other active careers) has waaaaaay more depth and attention to detail than an entire $20 pack. It's just... sad. They truly messed it up this time.

Didn't Carl just proved that in a video? Like the one we're talking about? How about, since you made the effort to go back to TS3, make a comparative study of two iterations of one singular feature: the Home Design career.

Now THIS would be informative, right? Unlike 'How low can this Gamepack allows you to go', or 'everything wrong with the new Gamepack'.

Let's do this shall we?

The rule is simple. We don't put trash on the floor, just because we can. We assume the work is done propely, because if we wanna be informative, we have to cover players who want to do a proper build, and satisfy their client's wishes.

So TS3 Home decorator is by far my favorite profession, simply because I feel it has the most depth and impact in it. (Bare only the nanny one). For starters, you can improve other playable sims homes with a tangible result (boost to their environement score on a constant basis), unlike in TS4, because 2 years and 1 day ago (aka the eco-lifestyle patch), they removed permanent decor moodlets; therefore, TS3 wins it by TKO. TS4 can't compete with it, as, on that day (06/03/2019), TS4 chose to get rid of the singular thing that made 'the sims' 'THE Sims': Tangible house improvements.

TS3 played on traits. Not only the client's trait, but also, their partner's trait. You get boosts for let's say staying under budget if your client was let's say a bookworm, but their partner was frugal. We don't have that in TS4 cause traits don't matter nearly as much/It took them 6 years and a half to rework them... whatever, they don't matter in the review in TS4. Like, I won't get bonus points because I put a bookcase for bookworm Mortimer, if I want to use an example everyone can relate to. In that sense, TS3 offers you a much more personal sense of wotk.

TS3 did better the fact your off-work duties translate into your actual gigs. Case in point, you use the drafting table to increase your job performance by working on deigns at home, which you can display in your client's home, which they like because it's 'handcrafted' and 'personal' and give you a boost in your final grade. None of that in the TS4 iteration of it; there's no drafting table to begin with.

Looks like TS3 wins it right?

Hold It!

Let's talk about what TS4 did right, to be impartial, as a 'review' should be.

Let us start by two systems that TS3 doesn't have: The referal system, and the returning client system.
In TS4, after a very good gig, you can be recomanded to another household, who then will ask for your services. Folks you did right will ask for your services again, but they also can tell other sims that you're the one wheter they want to renovate their personal space. This adds more meaning to the career itself. THIS is reminescent of TS2 network system where befriending a sim would 'sometimes' prompt one of their friends to ask you on a night out, which prompts a friend of THIS friend to ask you later on. NETWORKING. Remember the 'we're basicly 5 people away to know everybody on earth'. TS4 offers you that.

Next, let's cover the renovation system. In Ts3, you work for one dude/gal and their partner -if relevant. Let's go to the Bachelor household in TS3 shall we? I work for Jocatsa. Simis is frugal, so I stay under budget and I got points for 'thanks for pleasing my partner' by Jocasta. But both Michael and Bella won't give a... 'poop?' (shout out to Carl) about it, despite living under the same roof. In TS4, you work for the ENTIRE family at once. Bella likes red, Jocasta likes gardening, Michael likes fitness... in TS4, you renovate for the FAMILY, not just for Simis and Jocasta.

And well... the elephant in the room. So in TS3, not only having too many items in your Personal AND Family inventory would glitch the game out, not allowing you to go back to live mode AFTER the renov.
BUT, you'd also have to deal with the fact that your TS3 renovations' budget will be taken from the household global funds. Like, if they give you 10,000§ budget, if you use everything, or worse, get beyond (shout out to Nancy Landgraab and other people who want you to go over budget), on a 40,000§ household funds, this will give them a 30,000§ after your work which well... realistic BUUUUUUUT... as you'd guess, gives you a limited budget in time, and just so many renovations you can do in a set neighbourhood. Remember, to validate your LTW, you have to ace a metric ton of these. TS4 doesn't take it away from the HH funds. Realistic for TS3? Yes! Is it better to be realistic in this case? No! Because it impairs you as a player.

With that in mind, now it's up to people to ponder wether they want it or not. That's beeing impartial, as a 'review' should be. If none of the TS4 additions/differences appeal to you... don't buy it. If it did, buy it.