This is what Sims 4 is lacking

"Babykittyjade;c-17414176" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17414137" wrote:

"Sk8rblaze;c-17413206" wrote:

Spoiler

"JoAnne65;c-17413180" wrote:

"Grynn;c-17413052" wrote:

"JoAnne65;c-17412693" wrote:

"SimAlexandria;c-17412451" wrote:
Honestly it doesn't matter if you prefer slow speed or ultra or the game play in 2 or 4 or another game. Preferring one style over another doesn't make anyone superior or more special. Just play your favourite way. That's why the choices are there.


Someone telling me 2 is the best isn't going to make me enjoy that game. If I tell someone 4 is best it won't make them like it. All of this is subjective to opinion. Saying one is better than another for gameplay clearly just won't convince someone who likes the gameplay off a diff one that it is so.

Everyone is welcome to a favourite and to state what it is and to play that one and I hope everyone has fun playing their preference cuz fun is what it should be about. Enjoy!

It doesn’t matter if you play the game on high speed and enjoy that. It doesn’t matter if you press play and go and fetch yourself a cup of coffee, read a magazine, pay some bills, cook dinner, eat dinner, watch Netflix, then return to your computer to see what your sims are up to. That’s all totally fine if that’s how you like playing the game. Play the game any way you want to, but you’ll have to appreciate that others draw the conclusion that if that’s what enjoying the game is about, it must miss certain aspects that matter to them.

This is not about not granting others their playing style. It’s about what the game should have to be enjoyable for us. And yes, opinions vary. Like, I reacted to someone who played Sims 3 on ultra speed and Sims 4 on normal speed. For me that’s the other way around. Something tells me it actually does mean I enjoy Sims 3 more and they enjoy Sims 4 more.

P.s. I must confess some details in Sims 2 made me press 3 as well. Like stepping into the car after a while, and taking away all the plates on a table after dinner, and having to go to the fridge to fetch a bottle. For me too much detail apparently can become a bit grinding. For me not every short cut means deterioration.

Watching this video the parts that hurt me most, are those where interactions with other sims are way more varied and detailed. And some of the details that don’t take time but simply look smoother, better.

I don't think that means The Sims 4 is a better game to me or anything, The Sims 4 is lacking in a variety of ways.

But credit where credit is due, the devs were smarter when it came down to gameplay decisions e how they affect the way people play the game, the problems The Sims 4 has are not because the developers can't learn or because they are take bad decisions or anything, but more due to constrains that EA has set them.

The way you play The Sims 3, it kind of sounds to me like you go out of your way to avoid the more frustrating aspects of The Sims 3.
And there are.
I've seen it plenty of times, how quickly people activate the teleport cheat in The Sims 3.

The Sims 4 solves a lot of the grind, leveling up skills is faster, there are plenty of ways to boost it and there is more variety in how to do it, usually you'll get to max just by regular usage of that skill alone; the possibility of working from home; multitasking makes it possible to take care of multiple needs at the same time...

The Sims 3 is the The Sims game that I've played for the longest time and were most attached to, that's why I have a long list of every nitty little thingy that I don't like about it.

At the end of the day, both 3 and 4 lack details. Sometimes I wonder if it's because of these missing details that things end up being perceived as "grindy" to me.

Example, buying food, in The Sims 3 your Sims go all the way to the store, when they disappear and come back with food, no fun to watch, or in The Sims 4 food just magically appears.
Compare that to The Sims 2 where Sims had the option to either go to the grocery store, where you could see the inside of it and the whole process, or you could order online and instead of food just teleporting to inventories a delivery man would actually come to your house to deliver it.

By removing details from the process and sometimes skipping it completely, both 3 and 4 over time created this idea that "only the end result of an action matters", Sims enter the elevator and just teleport outside, cars teleport to the road with Sims already inside of it instead of having animations to get out of the garage and Sims getting inside, the end result of those actions are maintained but the process itself was skipped, it's no wonder that over time people get conditioned to play at Speed 3 the whole time, and just like that The Sims becomes a game of merely making bars grow and without any soul, and the process definitely started during The Sims 3.

"The way you play The Sims 3, it kind of sounds to me like you go out of your way to avoid the more frustrating aspects of The Sims 3."

The only frustration I get from Sims 3 are and have always been its bugs, that's it. The only reason I play the game is because it grabbed me in 2009 and wouldn't let go. Sims 3 happened to me, it wasn't some decision I made. Becoming a simmer was never my intention, I was trying out the game because my daughter asked me to (it was her game). And to this day, ten years later, playing Sims 3 for me is hopping in and taking a ride. Playing just happens. The game carries me from the moment I open it to the moment I close it. That doesn't mean I never turn a blind eye or that I think the game is without flaws or shortcomings, it just means those sortcomings apparently aren't essential to me. The way they apparently are to you.

Travelling and the open world are most definitely not among those flaws. I never teleport. Though, indeed, you can. Which makes this whole "oh I hate travelling" argument sort of futile because when you use teleport, travelling in Sims 3 actually is faster than in Sims 1, 2 and 4 (because there's no loading screen and because you can pick any spot where you want your sim to travel). Do I ? Well, this was me playing today:

https://i.imgur.com/obJZ2YS.png

https://i.imgur.com/J832knk.png

And this was me playing last week:

https://i.imgur.com/me3EyVN.png

https://i.imgur.com/IMSCyiz.png

So no, I don't. Never. The guy's a drifter (with a dog). And nothing's more fun to me than playing a drifter in Sims 3 who has to walk everywhere. Though, as you notice, he did 'hire' a car for now because he's a drifter by choice, not because he's poor. And he is because I enjoy that so much (I hadn't realized scuba diving would be so rewarding when I did that with him first).

Levelling up skills is a grind you say. In a boring game yes, it is. But not in a game where you do a million things, skilling up your sims in multiple ways without even noticing they are. Till the notification pops up: your sim reached level 6 in athletics! Ah, yeah, that's right. I was scuba diving/diving into wells while exploring tombs/swimming/playing golf/playing soccer etc. Instead of running on a treadmill or reading a book, waiting. I don't play the game waiting for my sim to get skilled, they just do while playing their life. Because actually there are less ways to build up skills in Sims 4, not more.

I don't care my sim disappears in a rabbithole when buying food or books. It does matter to me they at least have to go to one, an actual building, instead of getting it through a fridge or a book shelf. I don't mind about short cuts as such, but Sims 4 for me went overboard with them. I do regret the riding school is a rabbithole, and prom, and restaurants (though I would mind less if the terrace would work properly, the fact they don't sit together is a bigger problem for me). When I say my sims hardly visit rabbitholes that's not because I avoid them, it's because there are a ton of open venues I rather go to with them. I don't send my sim somewhere when they don't need to go there. I can buy kelp for my mermaid to eat, I can also scuba dive and harvest it myself.

"...both 3 and 4 over time created this idea that "only the end result of an action matters"

That sounds rather contradictionary, considering "I've seen it plenty of times, how quickly people activate the teleport cheat in The Sims 3". What is it, is travelling and taking your time - the journey - a downside or an upside? For me it's indeed the journey that counts, not where I'm heading, but accoring to you the journey's "going out of my way to avoid the more frustrating aspects of The Sims 3". Sims 3 never gives me the impression only the end result matters. Sometimes I never even finish it. The game's actually all about taking your time and do what you like. Actually, when you consider 'leveling up skills is faster' an improvement, that goal must matter more to you than it does to me.

"cars teleport to the road with Sims already inside of it."

No. Your sim walks to the sidewalk, the car appears (empty), they open it with a remote key and only thén do they teleport into it. Indeed less detail, but then you get to drive and that is a detail none of the other games have and I love it. I wouldn't skip that part for the world.

https://i.imgur.com/SeFHJMv.png

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l512/Jo-Anne2/Zwerver/Zwerver_478_zpsx2mgkwa3.png

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l512/Jo-Anne2/Album4/Saul_028_zpsc7d72a19.png

Great post and screenshots.

It would seem that most Simmers actually want all sorts of complications in their game, and many of the ones that were simplified. For instance, on so many occasions I've seen people ask for The Sims 2's grocery system back, where your Sim actually has to travel to the store and back for groceries, or order on the phone, instead of the magical poofing groceries. And how about laundry, one of the most requested features and best selling stuff packs? Lots of players want more responsibilities to fill their Sims' days up.

Also that is a difference in playing style (though I do prefer my sim has to really go to a store to get it; if they order on the phone I'd at least want to see someone delivering it, that would be fine by me). I think I might be less interested in 'daily routine' stuff for my sims? Considering how I play? Right now a guy who inherited a houseboat, went scuba diving, discovered islands, met a mermaid, turned into one, then became a drifter with a dog and yesterday he tried to befriend a unicorn. I don't plan most of that, it happens. I just really don't miss the fact I can't go shopping with him. Though actually I did do that to some extent, when I made him buy his furniture in a mall I had built myself and made him do his laundry there, that was fun. But for me that's an on-the-side thing, not what the game's about. I've never had a problem to fill my sims' days and my sim doesn't have a washing machine. I think Sims 2 indeed has more of a 'domestic' approach and will appeal to simmers who like doing that the most?

You sim 3 players have talked about sims 3 so much I got tired of hearing about it. I went to try it out myself a while ago so I could come back and debate how much better sims 4 is. Long story short I fell in love, brought all packs and joined the dark side (or rather the light side lol).?
I still love sims 4 especially for story telling but when it comes to live play I totally related with this post. I didn't even get the time to play as much as I wanted yet and so much has happened in my sims life. Starting with a meteor that had hit a house I brought but I chose to keep it and clean it up. The fire fighter came to help me clean up and my adventure started from there.???. There is no daily routine something is always going down. And I like it.

Yes, I think that nails it for me. I don’t think there’s a factual argument to defend which game you favour. I do think there are factual arguments what all the games’ strong points are and what its flaws and shortcomings are, but we will all value those arguments differently. It just comes down to which strong points are important to us and which flaws we can or cannot live with while playing.

To be honest I mostly see Sims 3 players advertising their game here by the way to say that no it doesn’t look ugly to them and no there is no lag and it doesn’t crash all the time and yes it has annoying issues but they still love playing it and yes, believe it or not, we love our sims in the game and don’t find them creepy or pudding. The game gets attacked a lot, it’s been like that since I joined these forums in 2013. I’ve even been called a liar for stating my game runs smoothly, just as smoothly as Sims 4. I don’t see Sims 3 players calling their favourite version the pinnacle or hands down the best by many many long shots. I love the game, I favour it (I enjoyed Sims 2 for all the right reasons it has, then went back to the game I prefer playing myself) but it has too many flaws to label it like that. I suppose Sims 3 caters to a group of players that isn’t a majority? Doesn’t mean we don’t exist or matter.

I always compare Sims 3 to a grand old lady with an attitude and a manual :tongue: I just happen to find that grand old lady highly amusing and entertaining. The stories she can tell!

I like sims 2 and thinks way more of an improvement over sims 4. It's sad that a game from the early 2000s has more depth than the current game. However, I didn't grow up with sims 2 so I'm not super head over hills with the game even though I do like it.

"Grynn;c-17412327" wrote:

"Cinebar;c-17412244" wrote:
He could make another one with another 50 interactions and animations not in the others. He barely scratched the surface. I played TS2 because of the Sims. I think someone on a thread said we play this franchise because of the Sim. I have to agree. TS2's Sims are the best. TS4 made some improvements like watching TV while sitting on a couch while eating, but for everything gained in TS4 look how much they lost.

I think there is a difference in which generational players are playing today's games, and it matters. I never played live mode on ultra speed but to only speed up a walk to the end of a very long drive to the portal to go somewhere, and or to speed up the slow walk sometimes of university Sims. (to get to class). Used it just for a second now and then.
I think today's players play their games on ultra and don't really care about detail at all. I was shocked one time here to see a poll (long time ago) which asked how many play on ultra, some of us who like all the details and personality differnces never or rarely played on ultra speed. Maxis has no need to add in all the details again, if everyone is playing on ultra they would never see it anyway. :/

Playing on Ultra is a bad habit I got starting from The Sims 3.
Long travel times, rabbit holes, all the long nights while Sims sleep... most of the time spent while playing The Sims 3 was definitely not quality gameplay, but rather waiting for something to end, in a sense that was way worse than loading screens, instead of Sims disappearing at the border of the screen, I had to watch my Sim go all the way to the place and then still disappear.

Now while playing The Sims 4 I relearned to play on normal speed again, the game got way more fun since then.

But that's what you're still doing in sims 4 as well. You wait for them to finish sleeping, before get to work your sim just vanishes off the lot and you wait for them to come back. Whenever you want leave the lot you see a loading screen evertime regardless if they are longer and shorter...so why is that acceptable in 4 but not 3?

"BrittanyChick22;c-17414565" wrote:

"Grynn;c-17412327" wrote:

"Cinebar;c-17412244" wrote:
He could make another one with another 50 interactions and animations not in the others. He barely scratched the surface. I played TS2 because of the Sims. I think someone on a thread said we play this franchise because of the Sim. I have to agree. TS2's Sims are the best. TS4 made some improvements like watching TV while sitting on a couch while eating, but for everything gained in TS4 look how much they lost.

I think there is a difference in which generational players are playing today's games, and it matters. I never played live mode on ultra speed but to only speed up a walk to the end of a very long drive to the portal to go somewhere, and or to speed up the slow walk sometimes of university Sims. (to get to class). Used it just for a second now and then.
I think today's players play their games on ultra and don't really care about detail at all. I was shocked one time here to see a poll (long time ago) which asked how many play on ultra, some of us who like all the details and personality differnces never or rarely played on ultra speed. Maxis has no need to add in all the details again, if everyone is playing on ultra they would never see it anyway. :/

Playing on Ultra is a bad habit I got starting from The Sims 3.
Long travel times, rabbit holes, all the long nights while Sims sleep... most of the time spent while playing The Sims 3 was definitely not quality gameplay, but rather waiting for something to end, in a sense that was way worse than loading screens, instead of Sims disappearing at the border of the screen, I had to watch my Sim go all the way to the place and then still disappear.

Now while playing The Sims 4 I relearned to play on normal speed again, the game got way more fun since then.

But that's what you're still doing in sims 4 as well. You wait for them to finish sleeping, before get to work your sim just vanishes off the lot and you wait for them to come back. Whenever you want leave the lot you see a loading screen evertime regardless if they are longer and shorter...so why is that acceptable in 4 but not 3?

It's not more acceptable now, I should've specified that, I just learned to force myself to play in Speed 1 and that's for The Sims games in general, if I realize I'm speeding through everything and not really enjoying stuff I just quit the game, helps prevent getting burned out, which is a thing that is inevitable in the end.

"Karon;c-17413838" wrote:
@Camkat It can be worse haha I'm playing in normal speed because I have to keep an eye on a toddler, but there's nothing else happening and I spend hours and hours waiting that little ???? to sleep so that I can fast forward.
Besides that, I agree with you. I'm always fast forwarding for everything because there's nothing special going on to watch. My sim learning a skill on a book or objects is the same, there's nothing special that can happen. There's nothing gradual or hard that makes me worried to fast forward besides the toddlers.
So, hands down, the toddlers are the only challenge in this game, and I can even control them to live their own little lives.

You bring up a good point actually @Karon

Toddlers are the only time I slow my game down too. :D

"Camkat;c-17414744" wrote:

"Karon;c-17413838" wrote:
@Camkat It can be worse haha I'm playing in normal speed because I have to keep an eye on a toddler, but there's nothing else happening and I spend hours and hours waiting that little ???? to sleep so that I can fast forward.
Besides that, I agree with you. I'm always fast forwarding for everything because there's nothing special going on to watch. My sim learning a skill on a book or objects is the same, there's nothing special that can happen. There's nothing gradual or hard that makes me worried to fast forward besides the toddlers.
So, hands down, the toddlers are the only challenge in this game, and I can even control them to live their own little lives.

You bring up a good point actually @Karon

Toddlers are the only time I slow my game down too. :D

@Camkat We need more reasons to slow down hahahahaha

> @Grynn said:
> (Quote)
>
> It's not more acceptable now, I should've specified that, I just learned to force myself to play in Speed 1 and that's for The Sims games in general, if I realize I'm speeding through everything and not really enjoying stuff I just quit the game, helps prevent getting burned out, which is a thing that is inevitable in the end.

The loading screen when travelling between worlds, i feel is okay. Because the game need to load in another world. But i dislike the loading screen when you travel within your own neightboorhood.. I feel like when you are traveling between places in the same world, they should make it the same way as it was in sims 3. You drove ur car, took a taxi or even a bike and just went.
my sim roams around the neighborhood a lot in search of collectibles and stuff. And everytime i send her home , i get the loading screen. And it's starting to bother me a bit, because there is beginning to be sooo many loading screens just because of that. Get cars and stuff back instead :smiley:

"Sk8rblaze;c-17414959" wrote:

"Babykittyjade;c-17414285" wrote:

"Grynn;c-17414212" wrote:
My nephew started on The Sims 4 and really like mermaids and sea stuff in general.

You guys should have seen his face when I showed him Isla Paradiso shortly after Island Living's release, it's like he was discovering a complete new world.
When I went scuba diving and he realized you could see underwater he was straight out amazed.

Funny how a game that is 10 years old is so much more technically impressive than a newer iteration of that franchise.

By all means, do try The Sims 3 guys.

Specially to compare World Adventures to Jungle Adventures and Isla Paradiso to Island Living.

Yea. Everyone should give it a chance. Honestly I think it's the graphics that turn new players away. The pudding face sims kept me from trying it this long. I swore to myself I could never stand to look at them. How wrong i was. After getting into it, setting up cc and everything I realize how nice it actually is. It's still hard to make nice looking sims but once I do it's so refreshing to see my serious sims not have a goofy grin plastered on all the time. He actually looks serious and acts like his serious traits. And I noticed on high setting how much texture the furniture have. I just keep zooming in to look at everything. Doesn't look smooth and plasticky lol. Even the pet coats look so nice.
And I know I haven't even scratched the surface in terms of gameplay and worlds. But I'm loving it. Im so happy I gave it a chance and I know I will be playing this for years to come. ?

I think every Sims game 1-3 has their place. The Sims 2 is my game of choice because it caters to the way I play, the rich animations, old-school Maxis charm/humor, great/balanced gameplay, and so on. Every Sims game has their downfall, but tons of reasons to play one for a bit before hopping around to a different version.

Perhaps I'm jaded, but I cannot think of a reason for one to return to The Sims 4 after its successor is made (hopefully to the quality standard of The Sims 2). It really does feel as if it were a practice project for the My Sims developers to see how a PC Sims title works. And I'm certainly not glad I paid the amount I did for an experimentation/learning project. Maxis is far better and much more capable than what they put out, and continue to put out for TS4.

Let's all hope The Sims 5 has the depth a PC Sims game should and steals us all from our respective favorite versions.

Me neither. Not just because of my personal opinion or playing style (I quit playing Sims 1 years ago because it was too hard, not my kind of game; still I can totally imagine people loved it and if I had the chance I’d love to try it again), but because I can’t help seeing this focus on following gamechangers/youtubers (instead of playing yourself, how many hours do people spend doing that instead of playing?), creating sims and houses and uploading them to the Gallery where the amount of likes and followers seems to be essential and last but not least: the hyping and craving new content. It seems to be Sims 4’s main quality: getting new and shiny stuff. If that stops? What‘s left?

I have watched nearly 4 minutes of the video and my disappointment for TS4 has already increased.

I don't believe in the majority or minority argument with games. I was told when I joined forums that family players were the minority and that my play style didn't matter. Same with deviant and build play styles. What I've learned with time is that minority argument was just a troll way of people to tell me to shut up and that points were null and void. It is just a form of bullying. I do think that more straight guys attracted the Sims 3 and even Gurus supported it. As much as people disagree that Sims 4 attracts teenage girls, majority of people that it attracts I've noticed are and don't have experience with the other games. That is why Gurus are pushing that trendy route because they just want to appeal to teenage girls and couldn't care less about guys or cultures or other ages. As much as the Sims 4 claims to be inclusive, it is the most exclusive game and marketing for it doesn't help and neither does that majority of packs that support teenager girly girls help either. I'm not a girly girl and couldn't care about pastels and frills and the stereotypical shallow things that girls enjoy. I like sports and I like working hard period. Sims 4 doesn't support the more active and group and family and multi-cultural lifestyle and I don't think it will ever be. Stats did prove that most Sims 4 players are teenager girls too. I turn it off myself and if they want to go the stat route of marketing I am not supporting it. I won't let a computer do the work for them with marketing.

Sims 4 target market talked about:
https://simscommunity.info/2016/08/27/the-sims-4-simgurus-talk-game-development/
https://business.financialpost.com/technology/gaming/electronic-arts-the-sims-4-aims-to-prove-theres-still-a-market-for-pricey-pc-based-life-simulators
“Women are playing a lot of Candy Crush Saga, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and hundreds of other mobile and tablet games, as well as social games on Facebook,” explained Mr. Pachter. “ is clearly a social/role-playing game, and its addressable market has been cannibalized by other social games.”


How the Sims 3 attracts multiple genders and 16-24 year olds:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-sims-3-john-buchanan