So I'm a big generational family player and this affects my gameplay a LOT, so some things I liked were:
+How much more the kids have to do
+The emotions system in general, and how well it really makes the interactions between sims seem more alive
+The neighborhood set-up, I thought I would be annoyed by how small it seemed, but actually I find the public spaces really nice in my own neighborhood
+The new jobs and skills are a lot of fun!
+Cas...just Cas...it makes making sims so much more fun, because the level of detail is so high
+I love how well it runs on my computer, Sims 3 actually wasn't too bad for me, I just did something else while waiting to load, and after I played for an hour, the lagging would actually almost disappear...or maybe I just got used to it idk, anyway the point was that I really liked how smooth this is, and how much better it runs on my pretty high end computer, and I love that all the lots are rendered, which is something that really annoyed me in the sims 3
+I love how all the sims talk to each other now? And the multitasking is brilliant!! Not only does it make it easier to do just about everything, but it adds a sense or realism to the game
+the base game, while lacking in a lot of respects, feels like a solid foundation for the rest of the sims 4 series, and i'm really excited.
Okay now on to things I didn't like...actually a lot of things I didn't like, I have suggestions for, and also comments on what I'd like returned to the game, SO I think I'll just tie all those in together. SO, starting with the obvious...
-Toddlers, of course, and the ability for sims of all upper ages to interact with them, as well as the ability to have toddlers interact with each other, and also strollers so that toddlers can be taken for a walk around the neighborhood public space.
-Washing machines and dryers, cause I liked the addition to game play, so maybe cheaper washing machines rumble and shake a lot, but if you have a sim sit on it it will run much smoother
-Bunk beds, bc I like a lot of family play, wish means a lot of sims and not necessarily a lot of space
-family trees, and maybe the ability to see cousins and grandparents all in one screen, without having to click to the next sim to see a chain. That part annoyed me in the sims 3.
-story progression that has the sims I’m not currently playing do the basest of things like get married and have kids, so my entire world will be multi-generational. At the very least I want two or three other households in world that will have kids and get married along with my sims. A little like sims 2 apartment life, where you could choose a sim to grow up with your sim. Except with families. Family Reunion parties!!!
-more careers, base game careers are cool, but business, police, medicine, education and other more mundane ones are really important too.
-Emotions like fear and jealousy, which are really important to game play... I heard a sim burned to death and no one reacted appropriately? And a sim wife caught her husband cheating and wasn't jealous?
-Firefighters would be good, if you don't have any sims home that can put out the fire, wouldn't the house just burn down?!?
-Preteens, that can have crushes, and tease younger sims, and get teased by older sims, and be all cliquey, and maybe have the first signs of puberty with the cracking voices and pimples and braces. And also the ability for preteens to babysit younger siblings, like they can't get a job, but they do get a little extra money for babysitting younger siblings.
-Separate money in the family. Like maybe an overarching amount of money as a whole for build and buy mode, and then smaller amounts? Like there's the money bar and then the wallet bar for each individual sim, from children up until teens? Lol, birthday money from grandma upon age up, and if younger sims want more money in their wallet bar, they have to beg their parents for it. Maybe only minor sims (teens, preteens, children) have wallets and adult sims just use all of the family money? And when teens get jobs they can choose how much of their paycheck goes into the family money bar and how much goes into their individual wallet?
--Then there should be places for children to buy things, so like maybe toy stores, or comic book shops, or an arcade? Maybe little additional things to ADD to the toys in buy mode, so maybe more furniture or dolls for the doll house, or things that can't be bought in buy mode? That would open up the option to give gifts on special occasions like birthdays or a good report card!! Also, child sims could have a higher happy emotion, or maybe one that lasts longer if they bought the toys at the toy store?? maybe it fills up their entertainment bar faster, idk.
---Also CHORES. So sim children/teens/preteens get a little more money to go into their wallet bar if they complete chores, and maybe get in trouble if they don't? Simple chores, like clean the toilet, take out the trash, throw out old newspaper, do homework, make beds, etc? And their parents can set their chores.
-And timeouts for child and toddler sims when they do something bad. Grounding!! grounding was great!! (can you tell I’m no longer young enough to be grounded?) (can you tell what my favorite sims 3 expansion pack was?) (hint: generations, but really I feel like a lot of that stuff should have made it to sims 4 base game)
-Cars. I really want the ability to see my sims drive off lots before the loading screen, having them just appear and disappear out of nowhere is so annoying. At the very least some kind of carpool thing like in the sims 1 would be better. And a school bus for children...and all the children who live in the neighborhood go to catch the bus, and bc public spaces are all throughout the neighborhood, the school bus stops somewhere in the neighborhood, not necessarily outside the sims house, and all the school-age minors in the neighborhood go there to wait for the bus? But carpools would pick up adults and teens right outside of the sims house. Maybe just a car that only appears when the sim family has to go to a lot? And only if there's an adult included, if it's just children or teens or preteens traveling, they get a bike. I'd really rather have some kind of carpool/non-usable car system in place then just having everyone appear places
-And if the lot they're traveling to is within the neighborhood, they just walk off the lot they're traveling from in the proper direction, and appear at the appropriate side of the lot they traveled to? Wait...bc it's public spaces, couldn't the sims (within a neighborhood) just walk up to the lot, and then a loading screen, and then they appear on the lot?
-And of course weather, and bc everything above is all stuff I really want in the expansion pack that will probably come out around Christmas, I don't necessarily want seasonal weather, which will probably be part of a bigger seasons based expansion, but more like...rain some days, cloudy others, sometimes bright and sunny! Simple weather not like snow or blistering heat.
So yeah! Those are all of my don't likes, suggestions and comments rolled up into a loooong bit of text. Sorry it's so long, but I just am so excited about this game and have so much hope and see so much potential!
EA Staff (Retired)
