I’ve been thinking about this for a while but never bothered to share the thought (not sure if it belongs over here). I realized that when playing in the worlds with neighborhoods, they doesn’t feel very alive to me. Sure, there are sims walking and jogging by, and sometimes if there’s one of those nearby play areas with a grill and a few tables, there will be sims spending time there, too. But I’m more focused on the houses in the neighborhoods. What if they worked like apartments? Meaning, you’d actually see your neighbors come out of their houses to take out the trash or check their mail. You’d see them leave and come home from work/school, and if they’re over at your house you’d see them actually go home rather than walking right past their home. All of that, just maybe without the noisy neighbors part. I think it would make neighborhoods feel a little more alive. Now, I know basically nothing about how things are done/things need to be done when it comes to these things so I’m not sure if it would be possible, but it’s just a thought. :) What do you guys think?

@FurSimsOfficial Yes, that is one of the fab things about sims 3 that I really miss in this version. But I think they would need to make an entire district loadable and visitable without separate loading screens to make this happen. And I can't see them ever doing that, which is a great tragedy.

This wouldn't be possible the way TS4 is designed. Neighboring lots aren't loaded and there's no processing happening except for on your current lot.The reason you can see your neighbors coming and going in San Myshuno is because the hallway outside their door is loaded as part of your lot.

This is actually the way I was hoping the neighborhoods would behave when they first announced the game. I'm okay with the non-open world (I had a serious love/hate relationship with it in TS3) and having loading screens but it would have been awesome if each of the little neighborhood areas were like mini open worlds.

The thing that really gets me is how we can't visit without the loading screen but can't see all the furnishings through the window.

That is a great idea and would make it feel more "real". Sometimes it can get redundant what the background Sims are doing.

I had a thought.. | EA Forums

13 Replies

babysquare
7 years ago
I've always wanted to see non-active sims go to/from their homes, also it would be nice to see them moving about, doing whatever inside their houses through the windows.
elliebreton
Legend
7 years ago
@FurSimsOfficial Yes, that is one of the fab things about sims 3 that I really miss in this version.

But I think they would need to make an entire district loadable and visitable without separate loading screens to make this happen. And I can't see them ever doing that, which is a great tragedy.
bsozz
7 years ago
This wouldn't be possible the way TS4 is designed. Neighboring lots aren't loaded and there's no processing happening except for on your current lot.

The reason you can see your neighbors coming and going in San Myshuno is because the hallway outside their door is loaded as part of your lot.
moxiegraphix
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
This is actually the way I was hoping the neighborhoods would behave when they first announced the game. I'm okay with the non-open world (I had a serious love/hate relationship with it in TS3) and having loading screens but it would have been awesome if each of the little neighborhood areas were like mini open worlds.
LolaLuvsSims
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
The thing that really gets me is how we can't visit without the loading screen but can't see all the furnishings through the window.
JaiSea
New Ace
7 years ago
I love this idea and it's kind of like how I always wanted to be able to see the neighbors walking around through their windows since we can already see their furniture.
SimsFinest1
7 years ago
That is a great idea and would make it feel more "real". Sometimes it can get redundant what the background Sims are doing.
N0VA42O
7 years ago
"EIisabetta;c-16735917" wrote:
This is actually the way I was hoping the neighborhoods would behave when they first announced the game. I'm okay with the non-open world (I had a serious love/hate relationship with it in TS3) and having loading screens but it would have been awesome if each of the little neighborhood areas were like mini open worlds.

Yes, this is exactly how I feel about it!
paradiseplanet27
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
"So_Money;c-16735915" wrote:
This wouldn't be possible the way TS4 is designed. Neighboring lots aren't loaded and there's no processing happening except for on your current lot.

The reason you can see your neighbors coming and going in San Myshuno is because the hallway outside their door is loaded as part of your lot.

What is really any different? When you find a Sim walking outside in the neighborhood, you'll find that they are registered as having loaded onto that lot that was visited; if you saw your neighbor walking out in the neighborhood while your sim was at home and then switch to the neighbor, it would say they're at your previous sim's home, not their own. This would be the same if you switched between apartment neighbors outside their apartment.

As well, you still have to load into an apartment if you're visiting your apartment neighbor. Just the semblance that they go out of their home lot would be enough to give me the impression there was something going on with your neighbors and their homes. It doesn't necessarily have to be them walking outside their home lot's doors because they can't seem to make that work (yet they can animate objects on other people's lots when we're not at their lot).
x4m1r4
7 years ago
"Kerwinkle;d-948307" wrote:

What if they worked like apartments? Meaning, you’d actually see your neighbors come out of their houses to take out the trash or check their mail. You’d see them leave and come home from work/school, and if they’re over at your house you’d see them actually go home rather than walking right past their home. All of that, just maybe without the noisy neighbors part. I think it would make neighborhoods feel a little more alive.

To be honest, my initial thought of TS4 was supposed to work like this. But, the only things that we got are the passerby, welcome wagon, cars that passing by, birds flying... I would love to see, the next door neighbours walk out of their house, collecting their newspapers ;) , saying hi (by just raising their hands) without interfering with my Sims life, other Sims visiting their neighbours, interacting with the season changes from their own Lot, etc.. It seems more lively..

p/s I once told my research supervisor that I want to use TS to observe a virtual neighbor interaction. Glad that we didn't do it.. Else, it will be meaningless for my paper... and I'll spend more time playing than actually testing my hypothesis.. :D