The Comparison Thread

"Oldeseadogge;c-17244850" wrote:
There is way too much clipping in 4. I routinely see things that in 2 could onlly be done by adding some ghost traits (walk through walls/objects/people) in Simpe. In 2 sims actually need to pick up dishes to wash, in 4 they levitate as soon as the sim is even remotely close by. Way too many areas of superiority to list, but the general feeling is that those devs watched how real people do things and then coded so sims would do it the same way. Don't have that feeling now in 4, too loose and sloppy.

I put some of the blame of the slot popping on players/consumers. They did read feedback, and over time I think Maxis got it into their heads that players felt too much time was spent on animations they could eliminate in a future game. I can't tell you how many times players would say they played in ultra speed. (They miss so much). They would say it took too long for this or that. So, TS4 shows up to leave out so many animations such as getting a pot out of the cabinet, getting clothes out of a drawer, actually touching and picking up dishes, actually having to walk to a trash can or a pc, having to walk to a phone (none in TS4) to answer a phone, no touching or using a car door handle in TS3 etc.

I can think those comments and gripes that changed the game came from those who played the games in ultra speed to be able to complete goals and never stop to smell the roses. They were never happy with the time it took to simulate an animation and here we are today, with games that have hardly any simulation in them and people seem quite content with those browser game/mobile game short cuts. Or TS4 wouldn't have made so much money. But for someone like me I don't see a point in a life simulator removing the simulation. A different type player they had garnered are who are driving developers to make such short cuts and they are happy with those short cuts or we would see more feedback, and to me if you start implementing every genre out there into The Sims you wind up with what we have now. Short cuts and fluff, and less gameplay. Others don't miss the simulation, I do. But this started in TS3, long before TS3 with complaints of the time it took to walk, and do something. They can say it was open world, and budget and performance and all that, but a different type player started playing back in 2004, and we started to see more and more complaints and mods to just cut out simulation and get to the goals and add in every questy genre there is to a life simulator.

ETA: and developers do look at mods consumers use. Never having to walk to a dresser (TS4 doesn't even need a dresser) and just clicking on the Sim to change outfit is from a mod created back in TS2. But Maxis goes even futher and just removes the animation of the dresser. The dresser, now, is just fluff and not even needed. Of course I appreciate not having to buy a dresser for my Sim since there is no point in it anymore, but it's a life simulator, the changing clothes of the Sim should have remained a cheat and the need for a dresser should have remained. But that is in direct feedback from players and they don't even realise their Sim doesn't need a dresser at all anymore and it's just decor in that respect. More clutter though you can click it, but even it's animations are removed. And no one but me is fussing about a float that a click instantly gives a Sim the sunblock they need...they don't even have to get off their duff. But no one complains about that one but me. That is the whole problem, no one cares anymore. Only a handful.