Things I enjoy:
- Create-A-Sim Mode
Despite the lack of color palettes, the CAS is so much better from TS3. Like always, spot on with that feature. It was also about 10x less laggy and glitchy than TS3's CAS.
- Build/Buy mode
Much more streamlined, it is much easier to navigate for what I want and need. Building new additions is much easier as well, and I'm not wasting money trying to fix issues that shouldn't have been issues in the first place.
- Separate Neighborhoods
Given how badly the neighborhoods were affected by lag and performance, especially in later additions to TS3 (coughlatenightscough), I'm grateful that there's a short load time going to and from different areas. No longer does my machine have to decide what Mary Sue across the town is doing.
- Skills
Skills, skills everywhere. I like that there's a lot more variance in skills and what you can do for/with them. The fact that certain emotions help build different skills makes me quite happy.
The problems:
- Working Characters
There are a lot of problems with working right now. The first is that people who are working are unviewable. You can't tell what their needs/wants are, you have to guess from their moodlets. You can't tell how they are performing at work, a feature that's been in place since the first Sims game (Reeallly... why?), the daily tasks are a chore at best, and an absolute waste of time at worst, and you need friends to advance levels in all jobs, really? Not a well designed feature, considering how core working is to any Sims game.
- Too much time spent on managing Sims needs.
It takes forever to eat. It takes forever to shower. It takes forever to pee. It takes forever... are we noticing a pattern? Everything takes too long, leaving you with little to no time in the day for learning skills or doing anything outside of the house. In fact, it was so bad I merely turned it off. I dislike cheating in the game, but frankly, it needs a fix before I consider playing normally.
- Loading screen
Is frankly awful. I liked the dynamic loading screens for TS3, as at least you were looking at something, rather than a shittily animated plumbob. If I have to spend so much time on load screens, at least let me know what the progress is, as well as giving me something to look at.
- Bare bones
In fact, I think you cut off a few of the bones. This is the most sparse Sims start, including the original The Sims. Very small amounts of furniture. Locked objects. No cars or bikes. No ability to modify your town. Very tiny amounts of lots per "town." I think the original Sims game had more lots on the first game than 4 does. No pools, no toddlers.
- Friendship is difficult
It seems like the half-life of a friendship is about one day, and it is extremely difficult to become friends with anyone. It shouldn't be nearly as difficult to have a person become a friend, and it shouldn't be next to impossible to keep them as a friend.
EA Staff (Retired)
