I want these UI changes
There's lots of great info accessible through UI, some could still be added but for the most I'm satisfied with the needed clicking routines. Here's some wishes, that shouldn't be very hard to implement.
#1. Name of save
In main menu, I wish we could see the name we gave the save. We need to load a full menu to see the name of the latest save, and that feels kind of wasted time and clicking, if we just want to make sure that we open the correct save. When making videos I often make temporary saves, but I guess most simmers have more saves, like back up or test saves etc. I understand a file name would disturb the visuals of the lay-out, but could it not be a pop-up when pointing at that big play arrow symbol?
In addition I some times wonder what save I am actually playing. Having access to the save name while the save is running, would be great also!
#2. Info on time and season
From world view, it would be smart knowing what season it is, what time of the day and maybe even weekday, without needing to fully loading a lot to see these things. This might be more useful to a few simmers who have many saves and/or a more technical routine, but I don't see why this kind of info can't be accessible from the world map as the time stamp is the same for the entire save, regardless of lots. With ECO lifestyle we got some new world info, but I still can't find any info on what time/season it is in my game.
#3. B/B Catalog
I wish we could choose to see more than 2 rows of the catalog at the time. In TS2 there was a small arrows symbol allowing to expand the number of rows. I was disappointed that this feature has not been in TS4. I can understand it is less needed when the game is new with a limited buy catalog, but with numerous packs (and CC), scrolling 2 rows feels a tad exhausting, and it gets harder to find what I am looking for. I normally see 1 row and 2 half rows. 5 fill rows would solve this. A bit harder to implement, but do we really need to see half icons? I think scrolling would be handier if we rather scroll a set number of full rows per "scroll".
#4. Traveling to another lot
Why must we always go via the world map? Again, in TS2 we could click on a lot while in game, and load that lot directly, without first seeing the full map. It would save us for some loading time. The game could still ask who we want to travel with, just skipping the world map.
#5. Career history
This might require more behind-the-scene programming, but I really wish we could see a sim's education and career record. We did that in previous series, and it was good because it says something about the person. I don't understand why Uni degree lists under Simology instead of under the career tab, as school info most definitely is under Career while being a student. This also goes for a retired sim - it feels very wrong that there are zero info on a retired sim's past career. You can't tell from the UI whether a sim was always unemployed or actually had a fantastic career until retirement. It's kind of wild that we need to make notes for ourselves outside the game if we want to keep track on a sim's career history.
Fix two of these 5 and I'll be saved for a lot of clicking ;)
#1. Name of save
In main menu, I wish we could see the name we gave the save. We need to load a full menu to see the name of the latest save, and that feels kind of wasted time and clicking, if we just want to make sure that we open the correct save. When making videos I often make temporary saves, but I guess most simmers have more saves, like back up or test saves etc. I understand a file name would disturb the visuals of the lay-out, but could it not be a pop-up when pointing at that big play arrow symbol?
In addition I some times wonder what save I am actually playing. Having access to the save name while the save is running, would be great also!
#2. Info on time and season
From world view, it would be smart knowing what season it is, what time of the day and maybe even weekday, without needing to fully loading a lot to see these things. This might be more useful to a few simmers who have many saves and/or a more technical routine, but I don't see why this kind of info can't be accessible from the world map as the time stamp is the same for the entire save, regardless of lots. With ECO lifestyle we got some new world info, but I still can't find any info on what time/season it is in my game.
#3. B/B Catalog
I wish we could choose to see more than 2 rows of the catalog at the time. In TS2 there was a small arrows symbol allowing to expand the number of rows. I was disappointed that this feature has not been in TS4. I can understand it is less needed when the game is new with a limited buy catalog, but with numerous packs (and CC), scrolling 2 rows feels a tad exhausting, and it gets harder to find what I am looking for. I normally see 1 row and 2 half rows. 5 fill rows would solve this. A bit harder to implement, but do we really need to see half icons? I think scrolling would be handier if we rather scroll a set number of full rows per "scroll".
#4. Traveling to another lot
Why must we always go via the world map? Again, in TS2 we could click on a lot while in game, and load that lot directly, without first seeing the full map. It would save us for some loading time. The game could still ask who we want to travel with, just skipping the world map.
#5. Career history
This might require more behind-the-scene programming, but I really wish we could see a sim's education and career record. We did that in previous series, and it was good because it says something about the person. I don't understand why Uni degree lists under Simology instead of under the career tab, as school info most definitely is under Career while being a student. This also goes for a retired sim - it feels very wrong that there are zero info on a retired sim's past career. You can't tell from the UI whether a sim was always unemployed or actually had a fantastic career until retirement. It's kind of wild that we need to make notes for ourselves outside the game if we want to keep track on a sim's career history.
Fix two of these 5 and I'll be saved for a lot of clicking ;)
