Open Neighborhood Rather than Open World
In TS3 the entire world was open and i think this contributed to difficulty running the game. In TS4 the active lot and a portion of the neighborhood within the world is open. I'm not sure if this can...
Forum Discussion
"jackjack_k;c-16022052" wrote:"@JoAnne65;c-16020001" wrote:"cactusjuice;c-16019689" wrote:
I agree with Joanne65 open world all the way for 5- no loading screens, no rabbit holes, no disappearing into the void. A proper Sims game.
I don't mind rabbitholes as such actually :mrgreen: I do mind them when they are used out of 'laziness', standing in the way of potential awesome gameplay (prom, restaurant, shop and ridingschool come to mind). So I'd love a Skyrim kind of system. Open world galore, but for certain lots - visible from the outside though - a loading screen (the purely functional lots like city hall, school and some of the careers can stay rabbithole afaic).
A lot of those are actually because Open World limits how lots vary. When they explained the Rugs for the Savvy Seller Collection, they explained because the lots don't load separately, all lots are coded the same. So they had to use rugs which served as coding for the objects above to be have differently. I imagine it literally wouldn't be possible for them to have packs like Get To Work, Dine Out etc. that change the way the game plays.
Because you couldn't seamlessly switch from running a Restaurant to not and then back again. The game would have to change modes which would need to change how the whole game performs, which I'm guessing would require a loading screen.
I think Rabbit Holes weren't really laziness, but more a case of EA running into limitations of how these lots would work, because they can't code the lot any differently, all gameplay was based on object coding and attraction.
World Adventures alone proves you wrong there. I wouldn't mind an open world with loading screens leading you to such lots though, if it would be easier. Just not to each and every lot.
I don't hate backdrops as such by the way, of course they are inevitable. I do hate when backdrops limit gameplay though. I don't mind my sim in 3 can't travel to the empty mountains in the far back. I do mind they can't cross the bridge to go to those houses. I would mind less if they could at least go there through a loading screen but they can't. The house doesn't exist, it's just a painting. It's like Pinocchio's Gepetto painting a fireplace on his wall with a boiling pot over it, pretending to be cooking a meal because he's too poor to afford it.
