Honestly I feel like all the emotions are too over the top, but as a story creator nothing is worse then having to deal with the "constant" joker smile sims walk around with all the time. Forget about story telling, its just creepy. Nobody smiles that much, smiling actually requires a lot of muscles and your face would literally start to hurt.Regardless could you please make it so sims don't constantly smile or pout, or show exaggerated facial expressions ALL the time they feel said emotion. It should be more like off and on. More so if they smile occassionally while happy it would make them appear more natural, rather then walking around with this pasted on expression that looks like a mask.Its like emotions cranked up facial expressions to 1000%. I get the game has a visual style but this constant smiling is just unnatural to see and annoying as a story teller to deal with.

I really liked Zerbu's mod that uncomfortable buffs the negative traits. But I agree Sims smile too much, it has a Stepford robot vibe to it and sometimes it is hard to tell which Sims are possessed or not because of it. I would like emotions to be closer to how Inside Out handles it than how the Sims 4 handles them. It is a bit more complex and has the fear emotions which I badly wish the Sims had. But yeah sad when Disney can do emotions better given how kid friendly it is.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kRuZLGEnNBZCBOLs05bn2Oq9a88=/0x0:2281x2121/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2281x2121):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3824542/inside_out_emotions-03.png

Meaningful Stories is a good mod for balancing out the emotions. As the comment above pointed out, the Sims in this iteration have this Stepford vibe.

God, I agree completely. Part of the problem is that the game is set up to keep Sims in a Happy state. The default emotion is actually "Happy", not "Fine", which was a very bad decision. Sims should always default to a neutral state so that the player can decide the fate of their mood. Also, a Sim can just eat a good meal and get a happy buff. Like, why? If they were a Foodie or a Glutton, this would make perfect sense. But why is it a thing for all Sims? And the "nicely decorated" buff makes me bat-spit crazy. Again, why isn't that buff reserved for Sims with the proper traits, like Materialistic? I can't stand the "happy simulator" aspect of this game. It makes for very dull gameplay.

"LiELF;c-17377847" wrote:God, I agree completely. Part of the problem is that the game is set up to keep Sims in a Happy state. The default emotion is actually "Happy", not "Fine", which was a very bad decision. Sims should always default to a neutral state so that the player can decide the fate of their mood. Also, a Sim can just eat a good meal and get a happy buff. Like, why? If they were a Foodie or a Glutton, this would make perfect sense. But why is it a thing for all Sims? And the "nicely decorated" buff makes me bat-spit crazy. Again, why isn't that buff reserved for Sims with the proper traits, like Materialistic? I can't stand the "happy simulator" aspect of this game. It makes for very dull gameplay. I think that is why I like the rags to riches game play the most and tend to keep Sims in the rags direction because the nicely decorated buff is way too strong for the game especially with all the other positive buffs in the game with the tea and the Plumbob lights and MySims dolls. It is like having a poorly designed MMO game with all the buffs in the world, but not enough debuffs to make the game too easy to play when battling a boss, so kind of makes the challenge of the boss not fun knowing everyone else can beat it easily. Not sure if that makes sense.

"LiELF;c-17377847" wrote:God, I agree completely. Part of the problem is that the game is set up to keep Sims in a Happy state. The default emotion is actually "Happy", not "Fine", which was a very bad decision. Sims should always default to a neutral state so that the player can decide the fate of their mood. Also, a Sim can just eat a good meal and get a happy buff. Like, why? If they were a Foodie or a Glutton, this would make perfect sense. But why is it a thing for all Sims? And the "nicely decorated" buff makes me bat-spit crazy. Again, why isn't that buff reserved for Sims with the proper traits, like Materialistic? I can't stand the "happy simulator" aspect of this game. It makes for very dull gameplay. I totally agree with you! Moodlets should be related to traits. The way it is now it becomes dull for sure! Never felt like this on 20 years of siming! Ive really tried to enjoy this game. Ive tried for 4 years. But i can't if this can't be fixed :( i'm recently back to sims 3 because of this. And im happy cause, with a more capable computer, im really enjoying it without any lagging, which is the only complain i had of it.

Happy sims don't need to smile 100% all the time

35 Replies

xitneverendss
5 years ago
"Scobre;c-17377582" wrote:
I really liked Zerbu's mod that uncomfortable buffs the negative traits. But I agree Sims smile too much, it has a Stepford robot vibe to it and sometimes it is hard to tell which Sims are possessed or not because of it. I would like emotions to be closer to how Inside Out handles it than how the Sims 4 handles them. It is a bit more complex and has the fear emotions which I badly wish the Sims had. But yeah sad when Disney can do emotions better given how kid friendly it is.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kRuZLGEnNBZCBOLs05bn2Oq9a88=/0x0:2281x2121/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2281x2121):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3824542/inside_out_emotions-03.png

Man, I wish the Sims team would have done something similar to this. The constantly smiling and the lack of unique sims and emotions have been a struggle in my enjoyment in this game from the beginning. I need 4 different personality mods in this game alone to make the game even somewhat enjoyable for me.

While we may all experience the same emotions generally, we certainly don't portray them in the exact same ways. Every embarrassed sim wants to hide under the covers or tell a self deprecating joke. Every sad sim wants to call another sim or the sadness hotline. Happy sims want to hug someone. This is a major way in which the emotions system falls flat, imo.
Cinebar
5 years ago
They don't need to look any further than the Cheerful Sim, that is the one that will keep the joker grin all day long no matter what happens. Even during a death. It is the Sim trait that makes them keep that overly wide grin. I tested this way back in 2014 and it is the one that should be removed or changed to a different animation or toned down.
Purrloin9
5 years ago
The emotions are way too exaggerated for my liking most of the time. I really wish they'd tone this down for most sims, and leave the extreme emotions for sims with traits like hot headed and gloomy.
samsam713
Seasoned Newcomer
5 years ago
I’ve been advocating for an overhaul to the Emotions System, like, two or more years ago. In my opinion, one of the simpler ways to “correct” the overpowering happy emotion is to go over every moodlet and change most of the Happy moodlets to Fine ones.

To lay it out further, cancel the mechanic of Happy strengthening other positive emotions and make it a stand-alone emotion. “Fine” should be the base emotion, so I suggest most of the Happy moodlets that we have now (e.g., Have a Good Meal, Decorated, Cozy Fire, etc.) should be changed into Fine. And the points of the positive and negative moodlets should be increased to make Fine not overpowering.

I believe by doing this, the constant happy issue can be solved, and the emotional flip-flopping could be alleviated.
TeaAddictYT
5 years ago
"Scobre;c-17377582" wrote:
I really liked Zerbu's mod that uncomfortable buffs the negative traits. But I agree Sims smile too much, it has a Stepford robot vibe to it and sometimes it is hard to tell which Sims are possessed or not because of it. I would like emotions to be closer to how Inside Out handles it than how the Sims 4 handles them. It is a bit more complex and has the fear emotions which I badly wish the Sims had. But yeah sad when Disney can do emotions better given how kid friendly it is.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kRuZLGEnNBZCBOLs05bn2Oq9a88=/0x0:2281x2121/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2281x2121):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3824542/inside_out_emotions-03.png

Stop the press. This diagram is AMAZING. What do you mean.

Sims team, pay attention??

I love this.
astridentanja
5 years ago
"Sk8rblaze;c-17383027" wrote:
"Simmer_chiyen;c-17381491" wrote:
I’ve been advocating for an overhaul to the Emotions System, like, two or more years ago. In my opinion, one of the simpler ways to “correct” the overpowering happy emotion is to go over every moodlet and change most of the Happy moodlets to Fine ones.

To lay it out further, cancel the mechanic of Happy strengthening other positive emotions and make it a stand-alone emotion. “Fine” should be the base emotion, so I suggest most of the Happy moodlets that we have now (e.g., Have a Good Meal, Decorated, Cozy Fire, etc.) should be changed into Fine. And the points of the positive and negative moodlets should be increased to make Fine not overpowering.

I believe by doing this, the constant happy issue can be solved, and the emotional flip-flopping could be alleviated.

Yeah, I agree with this. I also think Sims shouldn't be stuck to the happy emotion if all of their needs are met -- that could be changed to simply being in the fine emotion.

As far as emotion flip-flopping, I don't know if it's something they'd really change. I mean, it makes sense that our emotions change multiple times within the span of 3 hours. The thing that makes it seem as if they're unstable is the fact that a lot of us play in double or triple speed, so that translates to emotions changing numerous times within seconds. So from a realism standpoint, it makes sense, but from a gameplay standpoint, it doesn't whatsoever, and it's a nuisance.

I hope the next Sims game is built with more focus on the gameplay and ensuring things make sense from a gameplay point of view. There is a distinct lack of game design in The Sims 4, and I don't know if it stems from conceptualization or poor Q&A. If I had to guess, I'd say both.

I never play on double speed and I still feel emotions ‘flip-flop’. The problem for me is that the reason the emotion changes hardly ever seems to make sense. I play with a friendly vampire, I try to take it from there and all of a sudden she’s angry. For no apparent reason (than some aura, obviously). When I have a sim in 3 that feels fine and suddenly looks mad or disgusted, I get triggered. It’s always interesting. Moodlets then tell me someone’s cheating nearby, or the sink is dirty. In Sims 4 it seems to me the reason why a sim feels an emotion is inferior to that they feel an emotion. And I care about the why.
Babykittyjade
Rising Observer
5 years ago
I really wish fine was the default.as a story teller the smiles do me in :s . Plus I notice emotions sometimes have no reason for them. Like hotheaded sims get constantly angry but without a reason. Just because they are hotheads. And I'm like ???are you angry AGAIN for no reason?
PERAL01
5 years ago
Aneutral facial expression should be the default setting, that can in turn be interpretated by the viewer who reads in the emotion he/she thinks the situation demands.
83bienchen
Seasoned Novice
5 years ago
There are actually two different problems discussed here.

One is Sims constantly beeing in a happy mood (which can be changed by using mods like RoBurky's True Happiness mod or any happybuffschangedtofine mod (e.g. http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=579603 and if one wants to go even further additionally lesshappyfoodanddrink and/or laundy buffs fix)

The other one are overtoned facial expressions (which has already been discussed in this thread
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/822154/please-adjust-the-ear-to-ear-happy-smile/p1
can be fixed by using mods like Shimrods Facial Overlay mod
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=574482
or a similar mod like my lessfacialoveraction
https://deichschafblog.de/bienchen/sonstige-mods-misc-mods/)
hestiah23
5 years ago
How is it that modders can make such fine fixes but we haven’t seen anything from the devs in regards to this situation? ?

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Happy sims don't need to smile 100% all the time

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