Theory on The Sims 4 Seasons

"kmaria;15095025" wrote:
I think it's silly that so many people comment about the game engine not being able to do one thing or another, but how many of you really know anything about it apart from what you assume? I wish EA or a guru would weigh in on that to set people straight, if they haven't tried already.

The surveys all mentioned things (like seasons) that a lot of people seem to be under the impression the game just can't run... Why would they be questioning implementing those things if the "game engine" couldn't handle it? I know it has its problems, but can we stop talking pretend truths about things we actually don't know anything about? I mean, I'm not sure how many of you have experience in game development but unless you do, and you've take a look at the guts of it, you don't know what you're talking about.

I am really looking forward to seasons. The first time I noticed the puddles, I was excited that it could be a sign of weather to come! I need some autumn vibes, personally. I hope when it does come that it's full of seasonal recipes. Pumpkin spice lattes anyone? :D

But we do know. And I've tried to tell everyone again and again but maybe some people don't understand.

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/14988689/#Comment_14988689
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/14441474/#Comment_14441474

Then please review the all the information on Olympus, the canceled online game that was recast into Sims 4.

To summarize:

1) The minimum specs are incredibly important because EA guarantees that computers with the minimum specs will be able to run Sims 4. If they can't, then EA faces massive lawsuits from greedy class-action law firms who do nothing but troll around for these kind of things. That means the game must run on computers that are more than 10 years old. I don't think those computers could even run Windows 10 right now, but they have to be able to run Sims 4. I don't think people truly understand how limiting the minimum specs are to adding new features and content to the Sims 4.

2) EA/Maxis did the same thing for Sim City 2013, impose a ridiculously low minimum requirement. As one EA executive put it, they wanted grandma's laptop to be able to run Sim City. Well that tied the developers' hands as to what they could put in the game. These low requirements were a strategy that Maxis wanted to follow. Those strategies failed, which is why Lucy Bradshaw was fired (officially she left the company, but we all know the truth).

3) There is no reason why Maxis would ever intentionally put in relationship culling and culling in general unless they were desperate. The Sims are all about relationships and people interacting with others. For them to go to this step means that they are on their last legs, willing to do anything they can to reduce computing power so that it can still meet the minimum requirements.

4) No new EPs have been announced and none are set to be released anytime soon. This all fits the narrative. They're having massive issues with adding new features and assets into the game. Now they could just add a new minimum requirement for the EP, but all the free updates and the patches still must fall under the old minimum requirements. I think they are struggling with how to add a new EP. This last part is speculation, but I believe the next EP will be the last for Sims 4, whatever it is. The Sims 4 engine is the engine that never could in the first place. Maxis has a problem though, Sims 5 won't be ready until 2018 at the earliest. That means they must continue to get Sims 4 users to buy their products until Sims 5 is ready. I suspect there will be plenty of new SPs and maybe a few GPs, but I'm predicting only one more EP and they'll announce Sims 5 sometime in 2017-8.