Game needs some serious TLC
The Sims has improved much over the past couple of years. It feels more complete, and many things have been fixed. But at the same time, I find it incredibly frustrating to play right now. Maybe because I'm trying to play as a family, when I usually play as a single sim, which is much easier to control.
So many interactions don't work in one direction or the other. I tell my sim to knit something, and they wave their arms around. I have to click on a piece of furniture. Telling my sim to read to a toddler is like asking them to perform brain surgery. Unless the sim and toddler are already positioned on a sofa together, forget it. More arm waving. I've given up on reading toddlers to sleep altogether. Give an infant a toy when they're lying on the floor is evidently dependent on the infant being in an open field with nothing nearby, body pointing precisely along some ancient laylines. And why the sim's interactions I'm controlling towards a toddler/infant are always overruled by the other parent is beyond me; should be set the other way around. There are quite a few other interactions that bring on the most used animation in the game, arm waving, but I'm not going to list them right now.
Another truly annoying aspect is the lack of the ability to totally turn off autonomy. You still have to deal with what's happening and random I'm just going to go to do this thing for no good reasons. And it started a few months ago, where you tell a sim to go to a spot, and they get there, only to run all the way back to where they started because some random sim wants to tell them a joke or something. Why can't they come to me? And until I put in a mod to stop it, my sims kept randomly waking up part way thru the night to...well, I have no idea why. They just did. And stop making tea and bar drinks already, then not drinking them!
There seem to also be so many interactions that are impossible to cancel out of the queue. The sims right now are really good at cancelling the things that you want them to do, and not letting you cancel the things you don't want them to do.
Overall, it just feels like the amount of gameplay available has expanded much, but that the mechanics to play it have deteriorated. It's a shame, because imo it's a fun and annoying game to play at the same time right now. I'm either smiling at my screen or yelling at it.
So many interactions don't work in one direction or the other. I tell my sim to knit something, and they wave their arms around. I have to click on a piece of furniture. Telling my sim to read to a toddler is like asking them to perform brain surgery. Unless the sim and toddler are already positioned on a sofa together, forget it. More arm waving. I've given up on reading toddlers to sleep altogether. Give an infant a toy when they're lying on the floor is evidently dependent on the infant being in an open field with nothing nearby, body pointing precisely along some ancient laylines. And why the sim's interactions I'm controlling towards a toddler/infant are always overruled by the other parent is beyond me; should be set the other way around. There are quite a few other interactions that bring on the most used animation in the game, arm waving, but I'm not going to list them right now.
Another truly annoying aspect is the lack of the ability to totally turn off autonomy. You still have to deal with what's happening and random I'm just going to go to do this thing for no good reasons. And it started a few months ago, where you tell a sim to go to a spot, and they get there, only to run all the way back to where they started because some random sim wants to tell them a joke or something. Why can't they come to me? And until I put in a mod to stop it, my sims kept randomly waking up part way thru the night to...well, I have no idea why. They just did. And stop making tea and bar drinks already, then not drinking them!
There seem to also be so many interactions that are impossible to cancel out of the queue. The sims right now are really good at cancelling the things that you want them to do, and not letting you cancel the things you don't want them to do.
Overall, it just feels like the amount of gameplay available has expanded much, but that the mechanics to play it have deteriorated. It's a shame, because imo it's a fun and annoying game to play at the same time right now. I'm either smiling at my screen or yelling at it.
