Sims 4 compared to Sims 3

The Sims 4 does not have the depth of gameplay and a laughable personality system in comparison. Traits have little to no effect for making unique Sims, at least partially because the emotion system was supposed to be what made the Sims smarter than ever (which was left aside and not improved upon).

Anyway, I believe the rumors that have been circulating since before launch that Sims 4 was supposed to be a whole other animal-- Something online only akin to Sim City. When the latter failed, they changed course far too close to launch leaving the current gen with a janky, limited base. It has persisted too long with discussions and datamines.

I do agree that it was probably toned down for laptops after 3, but that does not explain every single limitation. No open world? Laptops. No personality depth? Laptops. No color wheel? Laptops. Child stage limitations? Laptops. No pet slots? Laptops. No replaceable lots? Laptops. No create a world? Laptops. No pools, toddlers, etc. at launch? Laptops. I can continue, but it is too excessive.

Anyway, I like 4's toddlers, vampires, graphics, and CAS the best, but I get bored in live mode far more in 4 than 3. Plus my favorite packs are Pets packs. In my opinion, 3 has the absolute best and 4 has the worst (look great, play awful because they are NPCs that take up a family slot).

As for improvement, they need to make emotions and personalities better. Also, address some of the DLC weaknesses. Finally, just get rid of the bugs.

"Calico45;c-17593202" wrote:
The Sims 4 does not have the depth of gameplay and a laughable personality system in comparison. Traits have little to no effect for making unique Sims, at least partially because the emotion system was supposed to be what made the Sims smarter than ever (which was left aside and not improved upon).

Anyway, I believe the rumors that have been circulating since before launch that Sims 4 was supposed to be a whole other animal-- Something online only akin to Sim City. When the latter failed, they changed course far too close to launch leaving the current gen with a janky, limited base. It has persisted too long with discussions and datamines.

I do agree that it was probably toned down for laptops after 3, but that does not explain every single limitation. No open world? Laptops. No personality depth? Laptops. No color wheel? Laptops. Child stage limitations? Laptops. No pet slots? Laptops. No replaceable lots? Laptops. No create a world? Laptops. No pools, toddlers, etc. at launch? Laptops. I can continue, but it is too excessive.

Anyway, I like 4's toddlers, vampires, graphics, and CAS the best, but I get bored in live mode far more in 4 than 3. Plus my favorite packs are Pets packs. In my opinion, 3 has the absolute best and 4 has the worst (look great, play awful because they are NPCs that take up a family slot).

As for improvement, they need to make emotions and personalities better. Also, address some of the DLC weaknesses. Finally, just get rid of the bugs.

You’ve just put all my thoughts into real words and then some more?

I can’t get into 3 anymore. After spending ages to make a potato looking sim hot on the heels of spending ages to load the game, the sims go off, get jobs and then I stare at the neighbourhood for a while and shut it off.

I’d rather play Sims 2 over Sims 3.

Yeah, I heard they had a new engine for the sims 4. Like Calico45 said it was supposed to be an online game but, when sim city crashed and burned for being online they decided to go in the other direction with the sims 4. When I started I heard their weren’t ghosts or pools or toddlers. It was only half finished when it launched. Toddlers took years to get here, and babies still haven’t been fixed, they are objects, so much behind sims 2. I also think they should have used dressers to store clothes rather than doing premade outfits. If we had to buy the clothes piece by piece it would have made having clothing stores so much more fun. Also, I was so disappointed you couldn’t buy clothes off the rack, and had limited mannequins to buy off of, and someone has to own the store to set it up properly. No food from the fridge should be free, you should have to buy it. They limited children too much, they can’t garden, they can’t catch big fish, they can’t play with frogs or feed them. Babies are objects tied to the crib. And like I said, there were no toddlers for years. The ‘Smart Sims’ are not that smart. The towns are small. I like to have many community lots..... there is just not enough room for all the businesses I would like to make or download. I remember in sims 2 children could play tag, and cops and robbers together, and 8 people volleyball. It just seemed more real. There are also some stupid deaths in the sims 4, like laughing yourself to death. Apartments in other iterations were better too. I also wish we could live in vacation worlds and vacation in worlds we live in. I miss being able to change colors and patterns of furniture and clothes with the color wheel so much. It’s the little things that matter.

Now that being said, I have been able to play the same Sims 4 game for many years without it crashing which is great. Sims can move from world to world, and all my sims can become friends with each other, I do wish we could have more favorited, played sims by this time though. Some of the things they have added like being able to eat and watch tv at the same time is great too. I thought the 3 jobs in get to work were great, unfortunately a lot of people complained about them and I haven’t seen as good of jobs with work places in any of the packs since. That pack kept me really entertained for 6 months....., and I still like it. My doctor delivers all the babies in town. Sims 4 is not as exciting for me as Sims 2 was. I stopped playing 3 early ( after two packs.). My gamy game kept crashing and I hated all the rabbit holes it started out with. I heard it became really good later though.

I hope sims 5 can bring the best of all the sims games together...... I would love that!

Overall there are too many for me to get into. Bless those with the patience to try.

"peragogo;c-17593227" wrote:
I can’t get into 3 anymore. After spending ages to make a potato looking sim hot on the heels of spending ages to load the game, the sims go off, get jobs and then I stare at the neighbourhood for a while and shut it off.

I’d rather play Sims 2 over Sims 3.

Well, you didn't play long enough to learn how to make TS3 Sims or to populate your world enough. I love looking around the open world to see what everyone's/anyone's up to. They're REALLY up to stuff!!! A new world is less populated though, but just give it some time.

I love TS3 the most but TS4 has its perks too. I wish Eco Lifestyle weren't bugged and they coded the eco status to not decay (or confirmed whether that IS a bug, at least). That EP's potential was one thing TS4 could have had going for it because, aside from a few objects, it really seems like new gameplay we can't get elsewhere - in theory. Apparently, the EP barely works for now though. :( Sorry, a little tangent, sort of. :)

I have not play The Sims 3 since The Sims 4 came out.

I remember that when I went to venue in TS3 there would only be a few Sims there. Go to a venue in TS4 there are a lot of Sims around. It gets lively quickly.

I remember TS3 being empty and spread out. It might take a while for my Sim to go places especially on a bike or walking. Not much scenery either. I don't mind the loading screens in TS4 and it's pretty.

The Sims 3 was unstable crashed a lot. By the time I got the world populated enough the save would stop working. The Sims 4 never has crashed me back to the desktop. I find it unstable in legacy play also.

I never bought all the packs from TS3 because it crashed a lot. I have all the packs for The Sims 4. It's buggy and things break but it is playable. I have never lost game play with The Sims 4.

I think the toddlers are the best in TS4 but my daughter in law likes Sims 2 toddlers more. She never played The Sims 3.

When I played multiple households in TS3 nothing would change while playing another household. I don't play a rotation in The Sims 4 because things change while playing another household. The Sims grow romantic relationships when not playing even if they are married. I have to mod the game to keep marriages intact.

TS3 had maternity cloths. Most TS4 cloths look distorted on a pregnant Sims. The patterns or buttons look bigger around a pregnant belly. Clothing for men does the same thing. Put a button down shirt on a man with a pot belly and the buttons appear bigger around the belly area. (Father Winter) It bugs me! Now with cable knit sweaters in my game they do it too. The knit pattern becomes distorted around the belly.

That's all! I could sit here and write all night but not doing that.

For me, I think TS3 served its purpose for the time it was in. When it was out, I was completely invested. Loved the open world and I really liked the supernatural pack the best & I loved the houseboats plus the horses. I tried to go back to it, but just couldn't get into it....and even on a gaming laptop, my computer can barely run the game without constant crashes.

I don't have a desire to go back to TS3. But without mods, I couldn't play TS4, whereas I never needed mods for TS3 or even TS2. So I think that alone says a lot that TS4 just doesn't have enough 'meat' compared to the other versions. I've always felt that the next iteration was supposed to be a step up from the previous iteration and there might be some things that don't carry over, but generally the next iteration is supposed to be "better". I've always felt that TS4 was a step down from TS3 or TS2. The enhancements or new things in TS4 didn't overshadow all the things that was missing. It was hard for me to go from having babies in TS3 that my Sims could put in strollers, carry around, put in play pen etc. to having baby objects in TS4. My list can go on, on the things that didn't carry over, that made TS4 base game seem lacking. In addition, I think the emotion system, memory system and just overall depth is what TS4 lacks. & it's taken way too long to get basic NPC's which I believe should have been there from the start such as the firefighter. Still missing the burglar.

However, on the plus side, I do think TS4 has the best toddlers, vampires, CAS, and building system. & with my heavily modded version of TS4, I get what I need that I feel is lacking (story progression, emotions/jealousy reactions, memories, etc.) I have fun with the game.....I feel that I'm able to create some super creative and dynamic stories that I wasn't able to in TS2 or TS3. From what I recall with TS2....the game was actually really, really challenging, so I didn't have time to create a story, I was trying to survive lol. & TS3, I just played, really wasn't trying to create a stories or do challenges. So I don't know.....it's a hard one for me, to compare TS4 to the other versions. I can totally see both sides....of what is missing in TS4 and what is good.

There are a lot of things missing in 4 that were there in 3 and some other things that we have in 4 and are great, that we didn't have in 3. A lot of those things have already been mentioned above.

But to me the biggest difference is in how i play each game.

In 3 my play was driven by wishes. It was such an in depth mechanic, with wishes showing according to traits, skills and overall anything that happened in my sim's lifes. I loved that.

Well, when i started playing 4 i couldn't play like that... whims are just there, but they aren't deep, they don't evolve as the character evolves. It was disapointing and it made me stop playing for four years! When i got back i knew i had to play in a different way. So that was when i started inventing my stories without relying in any game's mechanics. And it ended being my favourite way of playing. Creating my own stories, throwing them on the game and embracing the unexpected events. It has led me to deeper stories than those i had in 3 and to a greater enjoyment of the game.

This doesn't mean i couldn't have played 3 like that, but it was in 4 that i found how to play this way and it's the game im enjoying the most in the series (i haven't played much 2 cause i was too busy with real life back then).

I have went back to 3 latelly and yet i couldn't connect to thi game anymore. Maybe cause im now used to 4's mechanics... maybe cause i can have such a big save with several played households and several generations and i can keep going cause the game can handle it...

"telmarina;c-17593364" wrote:
There are a lot of things missing in 4 that were there in 3 and some other things that we have in 4 and are great, that we didn't have in 3. A lot of those things have already been mentioned above.

But to me the biggest difference is in how i play each game.

In 3 my play was driven by wishes. It was such an in depth mechanic, with wishes showing according to traits, skills and overall anything that happened in my sim's lifes. I loved that.

Well, when i started playing 4 i couldn't play like that... whims are just there, but they aren't deep, they don't evolve as the character evolves. It was disapointing and it made me stop playing for four years! When i got back i knew i had to play in a different way. So that was when i started inventing my stories without relying in any game's mechanics. And it ended being my favourite way of playing. Creating my own stories, throwing them on the game and embracing the unexpected events. It has led me to deeper stories than those i had in 3 and to a greater enjoyment of the game.

This doesn't mean i couldn't have played 3 lile that, but it was in 4 that i found how to play this way and it's the game im enjoying the most in the series (i haven't played much 2 cause i was too busy with real life back then).

I have went back to 3 latelly and yet i couldn't connect to any of this games anymore. Maybe cause im now used to 4's mechanics... maybe cause i can have such a big save with several played households and several generations and i can keep going cause the game can handle it...

I bit agree With this. With the Sims 3 my playstylewas driven by the game or by the sims, but in The Sims 4 it is driven by the stories you tell. I know many people don;t want that bust as a writer, It really is great. Still I would like my Sims to have deeper personalities :)

To be honest I go between. Each game has its pros and cons for me. I feel like ironically Sims 4 premades have more personality than Sims 3 ones. All the Sims 3 ones look exactly the same!

The biggest pro for the Sims 3 for me is the storyline. For example in World Adventures there's tons of quests to do in the worlds, Into the Future has a quest, I think Island Paradise has a story quest aswell and the ambitions careers all have storylines and goals. Whilst in TS4 there isn't really anything like that. Closest thing to quests is the lifetime ambitions, even Strangerville the story pack is a lifetime ambition rather than a quest.

Sims 4 I enjoy CAS, build-buy, etc a lot more and as I mentioned above the premades have more diversity and personality which makes them more interesting to interact with (even if they all act the same atleast they all look different).