Going to the movies rabbit hole?

"LiELF;c-17401731" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17401676" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17401538" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17401338" wrote:
Playable lots sounds so awesome. Unless it’s as interesting as watching paint dry. I don’t see a difference between a rabbithole and a couple of sims sitting in a chair with popcorn. Some features really shouldn’t be rabbitholes, like restaurants or prom. But things like school and cinemas? Fine by me.

Great description! That's exactly how rabbit holes feel to me...like watching paint dry.

It absolutely is. The thing is, you can simply turn to another sim in your household and play with them while the paint is drying. That’s why I don’t mind. And if I play 1 sim (like now) I press 3 if a rabbithole comes along and the paint dries in no time. Or I look around in the world to see what everyone’s up to, that’s fun too.

Turning watching paint dry into ‘gameplay’ is where my issue lies. Like in the cinemas (or school). I do dislike how they turned restaurants and prom and riding schools into ones, those could have been made enjoyable imo. Or scuba diving in Sims 4. I recently did that in Sims 3 and it’s so much fun!

Yeah, the rabbit hole scuba was an epic fail, lol. So many people (myself included) were looking forward to underwater swimming and exploring. And even the cave in Sulani could have at least led to another secret lot. It's like they suddenly ran out of their allotted budget and said, "okay, we're done." Such a letdown.

Those horse shows and riding schools in Sims 3 were such a fun concept... When I tried out the game again last year I really, really wanted to play those out because I had never tried horses in a Sims game before but...alas. Rabbit holes again.

I tend to play multiple Sim households and I still just don't see the usefulness of a rabbit hole venue if I'm just going to play another Sim anyway. So I feel like it's a waste either way. If I send a Sim there and stare at it, it's boring and I'm not doing anything. If I send a Sim there and switch to another Sim, why send a Sim there in the first place because when they're done, I'll probably just have to fill their needs anyway and send them back home, in which case, it was a wasted trip because it didn't do anything and I could have had them doing something more interesting. And I know this doesn't make much sense, but I'd actually rather just send them into the standard rabbit hole off the lot, where if I lose track of time, I know they'll return right back after they're done without extra travel time or me forgetting and then dealing with them in need distress. I just find it more manageable. The University rabbit holes in Sims 4 drive me crazy and those are right next door or across from the dorms, lol. But I think that Sims 4's capacity for ADHD Sims who run off to drink water or use a computer or talk to a random Sim, etc. has a lot to do with that because they still end up late for class or never return to the dorm and just hang around napping on benches or staring into space. The behaviors are so nonsensical.

I think the rabbithole discussion is double:

Playing style, preference matters here. I love them myself because I need that building for immersion. The way it looks, but also the location. At the same time I genuinely understand how it will be the opposite for others (I remember Luthien explaining it once and yeah, it made perfect sense to me), how seeing a sim disappear will nót be an immersion stimulator but, on the contrary, a complete spoiler. To summarize: I see a building (and the invisible sim in it is part of the experience), others just see a disappearing sim and hate they can't see what they're doing. Believe it or not, but for me the sim isn't gone. For me a sim is gone in an unacceptable way when they disappear without there being a building (the way it works in Sims 1, 2 and 4). The same difference in approach and how we experience things we see with travelling/teleporting. For me travelling is immersive and a joy, part of gameplay even, for others it's just a waste of time and boring.

The game the rabbithole is in. I love rabbitholes (some) because I play the Sims version with the open world. That matters, because with the open world you will always and constantly control all your sims (again, a difference; some hate that, I love it). So it's even nice that you can 'park' some of them at times, them still doing something useful (learning a skill, work, go to school, buy a book) while you're playing with their spouse/kids/parents. The set up of Sims 3 - probably because of the open world - is that sims you don't focus on will take care of themselves once they leave the RH. I remember finding one of mine in the elixir store once, doing alchemy. I loved that, that she'd chosen something useful to do on her own. Or I find them interacting with someone, making friends or enemies. When they need to go to the toilet they do, when they need to eat they do. When I play one sim I actually hardly send them to rabbitholes. Only when I really have to (like when he needs to buy a book, or food; for me that's incomparably more fun and immersive than buying a book from a shelf or food from the fridge).


So, I think that defines the difference in opinion here. And where it comes to rabbitholes I think everyone will agree some features should definitely not be a rabbithole. But to return to the subject: the movies? Whether you send them into a rabbithole or you can see the sim sitting there eating popcorn, for me it will be all the same wheelhouse. Watching paint dry. Waiting till they're done. And in Sims 4's case in a game where you'll indeed have to wait because you can't switch characters. I'd wish they'd spend their time and money on something fun instead.

No. I have improvised in TS2 and TS4 to build my own theaters and they worked very well. In TS2 they are multi lots with a theater, an electronic store (where Sims browse) and a clothing store or next to a grocery store etc. I had Sims in all areas and enough Sims in the 'theater' part to be believable. My Sims enjoyed a movie, then shopped for clothes, then for the groceries and maybe a bite to eat from a grill and or used the bathroom before heading home. In TS4 I built one (on gallery) where they enjoyed the mini bar foods if hungry and watched a movie. Things are important to me to be able to suspend my disbelief. If everything becomes just point and click and fill a bar on a panel then there is no need for a life simulator at all. ETA: The differences are when you go out 'just for fun' in TS2 your mate/friend or aquaintance can build relationships as they watch that movie together. Just going through motions is never fun. No rabbit holes.

I was surprised there wasn’t a movie theater lot with Get Famous, where your famous sims could go to Premieres and any sims could go to the movies.

I'm confused; isn't that what the Movie Hangout Stuff Pack basically does but without the rabbithole? I just had a couple do this kind of thing for Valentine's Day:
https://i.imgur.com/J30WVBs.png

https://i.imgur.com/1g394nY.png
(Excuse the angry guy in the background. Who knows what his problem was, I've never seen him before :D ) And they do tend to get buffs from this.
Or was there something else you were wanting from that?