Please do something with The Sims
Hi, I’ve been playing The Sims for a long time since The Sims 2. I think it is the game I’ve played the longest time. I love, The Sims, but I’m sad watching the game getting into the direction it i...
Forum Discussion
Thank you all for your posts. Some of you do not understand some things that I said, so I will try to answer.
For me a sandbox game is not that you do not have goals at all. You could have goals... or not, you can do this... or that. You can choose what you do because there are not limitations. That's the point of all this: to not have restrictions and limitations . I don’t want the game to force me to do something, I want to play as freely as possible. I want to have control of anything I want and change it.
A sandbox it is not about how many objects we can get. That's the easiest way. It doesn't matter if we have 10 or 1000 different chairs. It is about what you can do with them. I really don't need 5000 clutter objects if I can't interact with them. Don't give me 10 jobs, give me a tool to make a job setting the money to get in each level, the text to send, etc. All those jobs like painter, writer, etc., those just makes the sim to leave... somewhere... give money, send some texts, and they all feel the same. They just differenciate in some aspects that can be changed with an "easy" tool.
TS4 is beautiful, indeed it is. Sims are very realistic, it is great… but boring. No legacy, no story progression, no control over anything, no customization of the world or any tiny aspect of it, you can’t customize the color or style of objects completely, just a few options there. You can’t.
Sims are almost always smiling, everything is so perfect, accessible and quick. It fits in a society where everything is at hand. You need food? OK, click on the fridge and get it by magic. You want to go to the gym? OK, just use your phone while sitting on the sofa and magically be teletransported there without even getting out of the house or take a car. You need to order pieces to upgrade something? Click on the computer and receive them magically in your inventory. The other day I did it and my sim didn’t even go to the computer.
I need something like: “Yesterday I was at home and when I was about to cook some dinner I realized that I ran out of tomatoes. I took my bike and went to the grocery store to buy some. There was a robbery in the grocery store and I thought it would be better if I just went back home and order some pizza. I was waiting for some time when I decided to check the front gate when I saw the delivery man running away while my dog was barking angrily at him. The pizza was on the floor but inside the cartoon box. I tried to get it but my dog was quicker and began eating it. It was late to order more pizza, so I went to bed hoping the next day would be much better.” That’s funny, that’s a story to live, these situations are not improvised or forced, they just flow. This story is not possible in TS4 because: there is no grocery store, or bike, you can get tomatoes magically from the fridge, there are no robberies…. You can’t live that. See what I mean? I don’t need a thousand clutter objects, please just make these stories possible.
San Myshuno is the best example for a non-sandbox game. Apartments are very restricted. You can’t build an apartment. You can’t distribute space between apartments, they are static. You can’t change some traits in apartments. Some objects and spaces in an apartment are static and can’t be changed. For example, the Spire apartment has a beautiful view but I don’t live there because the hall entrance with the elevator cannot be moved and it is at the side of the apartment with the best view. You can’t, you can’t, you can’t…
Isn’t it possible to do it? Yes, it’s possible, but it’s easier to restrict it than coding it properly to avoid bugs and test it thoroughly. With TS3 many modders fixed dozens or even hundreds of bugs that EA/maxis, or whoever, didn’t do at all. The game was ended and left by EA/maxis with a huge amount of bugs which modders continued fixing. If I were EA/maxis I should feel ashamed of my work. Fixes are possible, but it is easier to move to another game once you got the money and let others fix the bugs for you. You know The Sims customers are very loyal and many would buy the product anyway.
What’s the point of no having story progression in a life simulator? There was one day when my Sim was walking down Sunset Valley in TS3 in the middle of the night. It shocked me that in one house there was light in one room and I could see through the window that a sim was talking to another. I went to the house where a friend lived hoping he was awake or at least to see what was he doing. He must had been sleeping or out because lights were off. That’s what I mean with: a world ALIVE. I remember the amazing feeling I got that time walking in the night in Sunset Valley watching the world changing and living without my control. Live was there in front of you, sims were independent and progressed at the same time you did, with or without you. In the TS4 anything outside your current loading screen does not exist.
Customization was incredible in TS3. CAW was very difficult at first, but with some patience I manage to create beautiful specific worlds for different stories: a City plagued with insane and evil ghosts and vampires next to a neighbourhood where “normal” people lived with the constant threat of the previous, I completely changed Sunset Valley, Twinbrook and Bridgeport with all the community lots and objects available in all expansions. You could imagine anything and implement it according to a story. Now… you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.
Why I’m still venting? Because I L O V E The Sims. I do not want this game to end. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t even bother on posting here. Even if this post seems to be written in an angry mood, it is not. I want simgurus to read it and learn what we want. I think maybe a thousand vents like this would make them realize that a change should come urgently in order to keep this game alive.
Serve this post as positive one. Please, whoever is reading this post with the power to make a difference and change the game: do something. We love The Sims.
Thank you.
For me a sandbox game is not that you do not have goals at all. You could have goals... or not, you can do this... or that. You can choose what you do because there are not limitations. That's the point of all this: to not have restrictions and limitations . I don’t want the game to force me to do something, I want to play as freely as possible. I want to have control of anything I want and change it.
A sandbox it is not about how many objects we can get. That's the easiest way. It doesn't matter if we have 10 or 1000 different chairs. It is about what you can do with them. I really don't need 5000 clutter objects if I can't interact with them. Don't give me 10 jobs, give me a tool to make a job setting the money to get in each level, the text to send, etc. All those jobs like painter, writer, etc., those just makes the sim to leave... somewhere... give money, send some texts, and they all feel the same. They just differenciate in some aspects that can be changed with an "easy" tool.
TS4 is beautiful, indeed it is. Sims are very realistic, it is great… but boring. No legacy, no story progression, no control over anything, no customization of the world or any tiny aspect of it, you can’t customize the color or style of objects completely, just a few options there. You can’t.
Sims are almost always smiling, everything is so perfect, accessible and quick. It fits in a society where everything is at hand. You need food? OK, click on the fridge and get it by magic. You want to go to the gym? OK, just use your phone while sitting on the sofa and magically be teletransported there without even getting out of the house or take a car. You need to order pieces to upgrade something? Click on the computer and receive them magically in your inventory. The other day I did it and my sim didn’t even go to the computer.
I need something like: “Yesterday I was at home and when I was about to cook some dinner I realized that I ran out of tomatoes. I took my bike and went to the grocery store to buy some. There was a robbery in the grocery store and I thought it would be better if I just went back home and order some pizza. I was waiting for some time when I decided to check the front gate when I saw the delivery man running away while my dog was barking angrily at him. The pizza was on the floor but inside the cartoon box. I tried to get it but my dog was quicker and began eating it. It was late to order more pizza, so I went to bed hoping the next day would be much better.” That’s funny, that’s a story to live, these situations are not improvised or forced, they just flow. This story is not possible in TS4 because: there is no grocery store, or bike, you can get tomatoes magically from the fridge, there are no robberies…. You can’t live that. See what I mean? I don’t need a thousand clutter objects, please just make these stories possible.
San Myshuno is the best example for a non-sandbox game. Apartments are very restricted. You can’t build an apartment. You can’t distribute space between apartments, they are static. You can’t change some traits in apartments. Some objects and spaces in an apartment are static and can’t be changed. For example, the Spire apartment has a beautiful view but I don’t live there because the hall entrance with the elevator cannot be moved and it is at the side of the apartment with the best view. You can’t, you can’t, you can’t…
Isn’t it possible to do it? Yes, it’s possible, but it’s easier to restrict it than coding it properly to avoid bugs and test it thoroughly. With TS3 many modders fixed dozens or even hundreds of bugs that EA/maxis, or whoever, didn’t do at all. The game was ended and left by EA/maxis with a huge amount of bugs which modders continued fixing. If I were EA/maxis I should feel ashamed of my work. Fixes are possible, but it is easier to move to another game once you got the money and let others fix the bugs for you. You know The Sims customers are very loyal and many would buy the product anyway.
What’s the point of no having story progression in a life simulator? There was one day when my Sim was walking down Sunset Valley in TS3 in the middle of the night. It shocked me that in one house there was light in one room and I could see through the window that a sim was talking to another. I went to the house where a friend lived hoping he was awake or at least to see what was he doing. He must had been sleeping or out because lights were off. That’s what I mean with: a world ALIVE. I remember the amazing feeling I got that time walking in the night in Sunset Valley watching the world changing and living without my control. Live was there in front of you, sims were independent and progressed at the same time you did, with or without you. In the TS4 anything outside your current loading screen does not exist.
Customization was incredible in TS3. CAW was very difficult at first, but with some patience I manage to create beautiful specific worlds for different stories: a City plagued with insane and evil ghosts and vampires next to a neighbourhood where “normal” people lived with the constant threat of the previous, I completely changed Sunset Valley, Twinbrook and Bridgeport with all the community lots and objects available in all expansions. You could imagine anything and implement it according to a story. Now… you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.
Why I’m still venting? Because I L O V E The Sims. I do not want this game to end. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t even bother on posting here. Even if this post seems to be written in an angry mood, it is not. I want simgurus to read it and learn what we want. I think maybe a thousand vents like this would make them realize that a change should come urgently in order to keep this game alive.
Serve this post as positive one. Please, whoever is reading this post with the power to make a difference and change the game: do something. We love The Sims.
Thank you.
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