Is Sims 4 just pretty graphics compared to its predecessors?

Yep. Pretty to look at but not much substance.

"ScottDemon;c-17147444" wrote:

"Scobre;c-17147187" wrote:
Yep pretty much what it has going for it the most. I think it will become outdated even with graphics fairly soon just because games these days have better tech and graphics. I mean I'm even going to get the chance to try out cloud based gaming. They always raise price with each iteration and Sims 4 is the most expensive Sims game yet with the packs with packs totaling $600 so far and I wouldn't be shocked if it reached $1,000 to get the complete pack DLC experience.

Actually the Sims 3 is the most expensive. Back when the game was still supported it would cost $780 total for the Base Game, all EP's and SP's and if you throw in the Sims 3 Store well over $3000.

Yes, and Store stuff came out gradually and, of course one had to have the "Gold" pack and it was all in Simoleons so one didn't know the cost mounting up. Those Simoleons didn't go very far when you just want all the building stuff too. It's the mother of all Loot boxes for addicts.

I spent loads on Sims 3 and when trying it out again when Windows 10 came out I was not recognised as the owner of them. Was it the DRM? I don't play it anymore.

I love the graphics on Sims 4 and prefer them to earlier game ones. I collect screenshots and use them all the time as Windows slideshow backgrounds, changing them every day.

"ScottDemon;c-17147511" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-17147494" wrote:

"ScottDemon;c-17147444" wrote:

"Scobre;c-17147187" wrote:
Yep pretty much what it has going for it the most. I think it will become outdated even with graphics fairly soon just because games these days have better tech and graphics. I mean I'm even going to get the chance to try out cloud based gaming. They always raise price with each iteration and Sims 4 is the most expensive Sims game yet with the packs with packs totaling $600 so far and I wouldn't be shocked if it reached $1,000 to get the complete pack DLC experience.

Actually the Sims 3 is the most expensive. Back when the game was still supported it would cost $780 total for the Base Game, all EP's and SP's and if you throw in the Sims 3 Store well over $3000.

Actually that’s not true.

If you buy the sims 3 right now

Sims 3 expansions 29.99 x 11 = 329.89
Stuff packs 14.99 x 9= 134.91
= £464.80

Sims 4
7 expansions 34.99 x7 = 244.93
7 Game packs 17.99 x7 = 125.93
14 stuff packs 9.99 x 14 = 139.86

= £510.72

Not to mention sims 4 has an additional stuff pack and game pack on the way and three more years worth of content. Sims 4 is more expensive. That is a fact.


Excluding store content as that’s not essential and you actually get free sims points with every expansion registered. I should know as I have 8GB of free store content thanks to that and watching ads.

And that is today’s prices. During the original sims 3 run I didn’t pay those prices. I paid £10 for a stuff pack and £24 for an expansion.

Today's prices yes but as I said back when the game was still being supported EP's where $10 higher and the SP's $15 higher at least where I live. And I own everthing that was ever in the Store including all the Special Promotions and other stuff.

Not all regions where the same. Some had to pay more. So in my area it was in fact $780.

I’ll repeat: with Sims 3 (indeed a very expensive game) you have the full experience with just the EP’s. Nobody ‘needs’ the SP’s and on the forums I was active on back in the day when it was still under development, hardly any of the kids who played Sims 3 bought those SP’s. They didn’t even pay attention to it on that forum (which annoyed me because they did interest me, I wanted it all but that’s a different matter). What’s more, most of those kids didn’t even buy every EP. Not because they didn’t play the game, they did, they just didn’t have the money. Yet they played and enjoyed the game.

For Sims 4 I see a completely different pattern. People who like the game are clearly constantly hungry for more stuff, because what they have isn’t enough. They constantly need more, new, shiny stuff. And they buy it all, also because most GP’s are better than most EP’s for the game and they contain more than just stuff.

Sorry, but EA became smarter where it comes to marketing. You really think they left Sims 3’s sales strategy because they were concerned about your wallet?

Sims 3, basegame €59 + all EP’s = € 499. Sure you could buy a lot more if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. Like you don’t have to buy everything a store sells, you can choose.

Sims 4, all in, by now (following what @MidnightAura says) = €545 and they are not done yet. And fans don’t want them to be done, they even get angry when you suggest it’s time to round up because there’s still too much missing. I love and loved Sims 3 but I never had that feeling when they announced Sims 4 and that was even before we got IP and ITF.

Sims 4 is a very expensive game. And that is comparing different versions in the same franchise. The games my son plays are like €60/€70 and he gets the full experience for that price.

"Akl500P;c-17147798" wrote:
No I don’t feel this way. Yes it’s pretty but it has many other things that are great about it. CAS, build mode, multitasking, being able to easily travel to all worlds without mods. I like a lot about sims 4 in comparison to sims 3. Honestly tend to prefer it and I loved sims 3 when it was out and advocated for it when others didn’t. I just like certain things about 4 better and I have a hard time returning to sims 3 now. I find the systems like holidays, fame and even the vampire system are the best we’ve ever had. Toddlers are fantastic and I hated them in sims 2 and 3. Sims 4 has a lot going for it and it still has a few years to go.

Yes the game is buggy but so were it’s predecessors that’s just a common theme among sims games. We can only hope they don’t leave it a mess like sims 3.

I hate that people feel this way about sims 4 but not everyone will like every sims game and I know that. We all want different things. There were a lot on the dislike train for 3 as well because it was too different from 2. I guess I just accept each game for what it is. They are the same series but they tend to be drastically different in a lot of ways. I didn’t like 4 at first but after it was out for a few years (2017) I really started playing and haven’t stopped. Maybe sims 5 if it comes will be a perfect combo of all three games, taking the best from each. Wishful thinking for some I know but I’m hopeful.

I actually prefer having bigger worlds that we can change, over being able to travel to other worlds. But that's just me.

"JoAnne65;c-17147851" wrote:

"ScottDemon;c-17147511" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-17147494" wrote:

"ScottDemon;c-17147444" wrote:

"Scobre;c-17147187" wrote:
Yep pretty much what it has going for it the most. I think it will become outdated even with graphics fairly soon just because games these days have better tech and graphics. I mean I'm even going to get the chance to try out cloud based gaming. They always raise price with each iteration and Sims 4 is the most expensive Sims game yet with the packs with packs totaling $600 so far and I wouldn't be shocked if it reached $1,000 to get the complete pack DLC experience.

Actually the Sims 3 is the most expensive. Back when the game was still supported it would cost $780 total for the Base Game, all EP's and SP's and if you throw in the Sims 3 Store well over $3000.

Actually that’s not true.

If you buy the sims 3 right now

Sims 3 expansions 29.99 x 11 = 329.89
Stuff packs 14.99 x 9= 134.91
= £464.80

Sims 4
7 expansions 34.99 x7 = 244.93
7 Game packs 17.99 x7 = 125.93
14 stuff packs 9.99 x 14 = 139.86

= £510.72

Not to mention sims 4 has an additional stuff pack and game pack on the way and three more years worth of content. Sims 4 is more expensive. That is a fact.


Excluding store content as that’s not essential and you actually get free sims points with every expansion registered. I should know as I have 8GB of free store content thanks to that and watching ads.

And that is today’s prices. During the original sims 3 run I didn’t pay those prices. I paid £10 for a stuff pack and £24 for an expansion.

Today's prices yes but as I said back when the game was still being supported EP's where $10 higher and the SP's $15 higher at least where I live. And I own everthing that was ever in the Store including all the Special Promotions and other stuff.

Not all regions where the same. Some had to pay more. So in my area it was in fact $780.

I’ll repeat: with Sims 3 (indeed a very expensive game) you have the full experience with just the EP’s. Nobody ‘needs’ the SP’s and on the forums I was active on back in the day when it was still under development, hardly any of the kids who played Sims 3 bought those SP’s. They didn’t even pay attention to it on that forum (which annoyed me because they did interest me, I wanted it all but that’s a different matter). What’s more, most of those kids didn’t even buy every EP. Not because they didn’t play the game, they did, they just didn’t have the money. Yet they played and enjoyed the game.

For Sims 4 I see a completely different pattern. People who like the game are clearly constantly hungry for more stuff, because what they have isn’t enough. They constantly need more, new, shiny stuff. And they buy it all, also because most GP’s are better than most EP’s for the game and they contain more than just stuff.

Sorry, but EA became smarter where it comes to marketing. You really think they left Sims 3’s sales strategy because they were concerned about your wallet?

Sims 3, basegame €59 + all EP’s = € 499. Sure you could buy a lot more if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. Like you don’t have to buy everything a store sells, you can choose.

Sims 4, all in, by now (following what @MidnightAura says) = €545 and they are not done yet. And fans don’t want them to be done, they even get angry when you suggest it’s time to round up because there’s still too much missing. I love and loved Sims 3 but I never had that feeling when they announced Sims 4 and that was even before we got IP and ITF.

Sims 4 is a very expensive game. And that is comparing different versions in the same franchise. The games my son plays are like €60/€70 and he gets the full experience for that price.

At least you know what you will have to pay upfront with Sims 4 and not 3 unless you exercise control over the Store items. I don't regret what I've paid as I've built up the game from day one and played it almost every day. It's only roughly £100 per year for a hobby. I wonder what Lego packs cost or Fortnite addicts might pay out to get their loot packs per year or those who party and dine out? (Lego Dimensions... "The grand total comes to $334.85. And that's without tax." (IGN)

I might have bought a full game for £40 or over and only played it a week. I've done that with a few games in my long playing time. Sims4 still the prettiest and enjoyable for me! :)

Colorful at least. I like the new sims for the most part and clothing looks nice.
I still don't care for the low detail meshes and textures. They did do a good job making it look pretty however. Playing from a further distance helps a lot with that, but I usually play down in the game and all up in my sims faces with a lot of camera action, instead of from above and never moving around the camera much.

It has a lot of nice new features, but I would expect that in the next iteration of the game, but not while dropping a lop of great features from past games.

"JoAnne65;c-17147460" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17147192" wrote:
It goes beyond graphics. Build mode and CAS, for instance, are far better than TS3. And no multitasking in TS3 is a big step back.

You can’t take a step back when you came first. At most you could say multitasking in Sims 4 is a move forward. You could, if they’d done it properly.

I was talking about TS3 retrospectively. Meaning, when you play TS3 now, not being able to multitask like you can in TS4 is a big deal. Your mileage may vary.

"So_Money;c-17147993" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17147460" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17147192" wrote:
It goes beyond graphics. Build mode and CAS, for instance, are far better than TS3. And no multitasking in TS3 is a big step back.

You can’t take a step back when you came first. At most you could say multitasking in Sims 4 is a move forward. You could, if they’d done it properly.

I was talking about TS3 retrospectively. Meaning, when you play TS3 now, not being able to multitask like you can in TS4 is a big deal. Your mileage may vary.

Honestly I don't miss it when playing TS2 or TS3. As a matter of fact it makes me happy that sims actually do what I tell them lol

"Simburian;c-17147874" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17147851" wrote:

"ScottDemon;c-17147511" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-17147494" wrote:

"ScottDemon;c-17147444" wrote:

"Scobre;c-17147187" wrote:
Yep pretty much what it has going for it the most. I think it will become outdated even with graphics fairly soon just because games these days have better tech and graphics. I mean I'm even going to get the chance to try out cloud based gaming. They always raise price with each iteration and Sims 4 is the most expensive Sims game yet with the packs with packs totaling $600 so far and I wouldn't be shocked if it reached $1,000 to get the complete pack DLC experience.

Actually the Sims 3 is the most expensive. Back when the game was still supported it would cost $780 total for the Base Game, all EP's and SP's and if you throw in the Sims 3 Store well over $3000.

Actually that’s not true.

If you buy the sims 3 right now

Sims 3 expansions 29.99 x 11 = 329.89
Stuff packs 14.99 x 9= 134.91
= £464.80

Sims 4
7 expansions 34.99 x7 = 244.93
7 Game packs 17.99 x7 = 125.93
14 stuff packs 9.99 x 14 = 139.86

= £510.72

Not to mention sims 4 has an additional stuff pack and game pack on the way and three more years worth of content. Sims 4 is more expensive. That is a fact.


Excluding store content as that’s not essential and you actually get free sims points with every expansion registered. I should know as I have 8GB of free store content thanks to that and watching ads.

And that is today’s prices. During the original sims 3 run I didn’t pay those prices. I paid £10 for a stuff pack and £24 for an expansion.

Today's prices yes but as I said back when the game was still being supported EP's where $10 higher and the SP's $15 higher at least where I live. And I own everthing that was ever in the Store including all the Special Promotions and other stuff.

Not all regions where the same. Some had to pay more. So in my area it was in fact $780.

I’ll repeat: with Sims 3 (indeed a very expensive game) you have the full experience with just the EP’s. Nobody ‘needs’ the SP’s and on the forums I was active on back in the day when it was still under development, hardly any of the kids who played Sims 3 bought those SP’s. They didn’t even pay attention to it on that forum (which annoyed me because they did interest me, I wanted it all but that’s a different matter). What’s more, most of those kids didn’t even buy every EP. Not because they didn’t play the game, they did, they just didn’t have the money. Yet they played and enjoyed the game.

For Sims 4 I see a completely different pattern. People who like the game are clearly constantly hungry for more stuff, because what they have isn’t enough. They constantly need more, new, shiny stuff. And they buy it all, also because most GP’s are better than most EP’s for the game and they contain more than just stuff.

Sorry, but EA became smarter where it comes to marketing. You really think they left Sims 3’s sales strategy because they were concerned about your wallet?

Sims 3, basegame €59 + all EP’s = € 499. Sure you could buy a lot more if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. Like you don’t have to buy everything a store sells, you can choose.

Sims 4, all in, by now (following what @MidnightAura says) = €545 and they are not done yet. And fans don’t want them to be done, they even get angry when you suggest it’s time to round up because there’s still too much missing. I love and loved Sims 3 but I never had that feeling when they announced Sims 4 and that was even before we got IP and ITF.

Sims 4 is a very expensive game. And that is comparing different versions in the same franchise. The games my son plays are like €60/€70 and he gets the full experience for that price.

At least you know what you will have to pay upfront with Sims 4 and not 3 unless you exercise control over the Store items. I don't regret what I've paid as I've built up the game from day one and played it almost every day. It's only roughly £100 per year for a hobby. I wonder what Lego packs cost or Fortnite addicts might pay out to get their loot packs per year or those who party and dine out? (Lego Dimensions... "The grand total comes to $334.85. And that's without tax." (IGN)

I might have bought a full game for £40 or over and only played it a week. I've done that with a few games in my long playing time. Sims4 still the prettiest and enjoyable for me! :)

But with sims 3 you do know, the prices are clearly stated and the game is complete. I posted earlier the total cost for the sims 3. Store is irrelevant as you don’t need the store stuff and indeed you can get parts for free via registration of expansions.

Sims 4 we know is already over £500. We know it will be a further £30 if you want the dlc coming this year but we have no idea how it will work next year or even next quarter.

"Sigzy05;c-17148003" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17147993" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17147460" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17147192" wrote:
It goes beyond graphics. Build mode and CAS, for instance, are far better than TS3. And no multitasking in TS3 is a big step back.

You can’t take a step back when you came first. At most you could say multitasking in Sims 4 is a move forward. You could, if they’d done it properly.

I was talking about TS3 retrospectively. Meaning, when you play TS3 now, not being able to multitask like you can in TS4 is a big deal. Your mileage may vary.

Honestly I don't miss it when playing TS2 or TS3. As a matter of fact it makes me happy that sims actually do what I tell them lol

Same! That and no dropped queue interactions and no simulation lag!