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

Rami_Samii
New Spectator
5 years ago
I don't mind it too much because of how goofy and cute some of the faces they make are, but I do agree the big toothy grins are a bit much 100% of the time.
hestiah23
5 years ago
"xitneverendss;c-17386389" wrote:
"83bienchen;c-17384817" wrote:
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/)

So we are just supposed to rely on the modding community to fix every shortfall this game has? I don't think so...this also doesn't help people who refuse or simply don't like to use mods in their game.

Modders: Have this gameplay improvement or fix for free with the option to support us via Patreon!

The Sims Studio: Lets release more DLC!

?
Joanne_Snow
Rising Traveler
5 years ago
"DeafSimmer;c-17377598" wrote:
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.

Yes indeed. Can't play without this anymore, it does a lot to counteract their ridiculous mood swings.
Lyoufln
5 years ago
"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.

I agree. Sometimes it's expected that a sim should look really happy, but in this game it's often a bit too much. I like making my sim's living space look nice, but I really dislike the Happy buffs that come with it. When sims older than toddlers are 'happy' it's almost always because of 'nice decor'. Sure, it's nice to have a nice clean space to live in, but that really shouldn't overwrite all your other feelings, especially the more serious ones like when a sim's loved ones die.

The default mood does seem to be happy, but it really should be fine. There's nothing wrong with being fine/content! My sims tend to feel 'fine' a tiny bit more often since I installed the Laundry Day pack, because there's a 'dry clothing' buff that gives +2 to wearing dry clothes. I like that buff a lot.
Cynna1065
5 years ago
Emotions are a sham in this game. TS4 Sims were never meant to have emotions or feelings, the player was meant to provide those.

It seems to me that EA has given up on the idea of providing Sims with believable emotions and reactions to stimuli. The proof is in the company's insistence (despite changing horses midstream on TS4) that the series must go the route of online multiplayer. That way, they officially don't have to keep up the pretense of simulating anything.

Forum Discussion

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

35 Replies

About The Sims 4 General Discussion

Related Posts

NPCs Make Me Smile

Happy 23rd Anniversary The Sims!

Happy Halloween

The Pronteran Builder - Happy 2018! (UPDATED)

Happy Valentines <3

Recent Discussions

Three New Kits Coming Thursday, January 16

What happened in your game today?

Patch 1/14/2025

Happy New Year Life & Death EP Giveaway (Winner Announced)

THE LAST SCREENSHOT YOU TOOK IN THE SIMS 4 (2.0)