"JoAnne65;c-16758275" wrote:
"luthienrising;c-16755400" wrote:
What if the only reason Sims, Sims 2, and Sims 3 ended when they did was because they couldn't handle more content? What if acres of ideas were left out because they just couldn't fit more in?
Right from the start it was evident with the design and structure of Sims 4 that longevity of the game had been considered and planned for. We don't "need" any Sims at all. But I'm excited to find out what's possible when a Sims game doesn't get stopped early.
I’m convinced that certainly is the case for Sims 3, but the fact remains that after four years of developing that game has tons of different things to do - even after years of playing after the last addition I find new things to do - and I still miss that in Sims 4. People are completely over the moon right now because they got something we had in Sims 2 and 3 right from the start. It’s “oh, yeah, and terrain tools, right, obviously” vs “yaaaaaaaay, weeeeeeeeeee, terrain tools, no waaaaaaaaay!!!!”, the old games simply can’t ‘win’ this can they, this hyping contest.
I totally understand why builders are ecstatic about the terrain tools by the way, but it’s beyond me why that had to take four years. What took them. I always assumed it wasn’t possible in Sims 4 for some reason, but apparently it was. More and more it seems the short cuts are caused by something else than “we can’t do this”. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on the gallery in the near future, can’t wait for a house on a hill in my game!
Compare early packs like GTW with later packs like Seasons -- or even compare aliens with vampires. The longer the game goes, the more the developers discover what is and isn't possible with the game structure especially the game engine. In some cases, they simply ran out of time; @SimGuruGrant mentioned on Twitter that the reason we have the object babies is that they ran out of time to develop them properly. We already know that was the same situation with toddlers, that and the game had a different focus under the previous game director. Not to speak ill of the departed but the game did seem to take a positive turn when Rachel Franklin left and Lyndsay Pearson (a longtime Sims veteran) took over the reins.
I'm okay with them taking extra time for features as long as they get them right, and they keep working to perfect them. Maybe they keep working with the terrain tools so that eventually we can use terrain paint to cover them, and we still don't know if we can use MOO to place shubbery, rocks etc. on the sides. I'm more likely to use the new tools for buildings with different foundation heights on the same lot, like a house on a foundation with a detached garage or outbuilding flat on the ground. And I hope they won't interfere too much with building basements and the like -- the ability to seamlessly add basements is my favorite feature; I can keep the house above ground a reasonable size while expanding quite a bit below ground.
