To all the world builders, are you as unhappy as family players?

I've been stating my disatisfaction, my hopes, and my dreams since S4 was released. To keep it short. Yes. I feel it is just as big of an elephant as toddlers.

And No. I feel it will get as much attention as toddlers. No offence, but family players aren't the only ones picking sand out of their eyes.

I know @Rflong7 is. I tried building my own worlds, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. I do miss the town editor tools of the Sims 2 at least. I would love to see terrain tools and split foundations. Being a builder is one of my play styles and yes I do feel like it is lacking a lot with this iteration. Really impossible to make the settings I want in a plastic world that I can't edit. I would love to be able to make some more run down areas and neighborhoods. So yes building is limited for me in this iteration. I miss auto roof too. CAST was nice as well when building.

"Scobre;15097399" wrote:
I know @Rflong7 is. I tried building my own worlds, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. I do miss the town editor tools of the Sims 2 at least. I would love to see terrain tools and split foundations. Being a builder is one of my play styles and yes I do feel like it is lacking a lot with this iteration. Really impossible to make the settings I want in a plastic world that I can't edit. I would love to be able to make some more run down areas and neighborhoods. So yes building is limited for me in this iteration. I miss auto roof too. CAST was nice as well when building.

I have some awesome 'slums' in S2. I build in both 2 and 3. I know she preferred 3, but I prefer 2. I'm not a huge fan of the tool for 3. I like that I can layout the groundwork for 2 and then do the rest in the game. CAW is a bit clunky in comparison. It's easy enough to use, but way more clunky.

"kremesch73;15097405" wrote:


I have some awesome 'slums' in S2. I build in both 2 and 3. I know she preferred 3, but I prefer 2. I'm not a huge fan of the tool for 3. I like that I can layout the groundwork for 2 and then do the rest in the game. CAW is a bit clunky in comparison. It's easy enough to use, but way more clunky.

Did you use SimCity to build the Sims 2 worlds? How did that work out? Sometimes I wonder if the Sims 4 worlds are the way they are because SimCity failed. Like it was cool having the two series tie to each other, but with the PC version failing, that isn't even an option anymore.

I would love to see samples of your slums sometime even if privately. Cool seeing how other Simmers create worlds.

I never downloaded CAW in Sims 3 so I don't do my own worlds but I used the templates from Sims 2 and I've redone every World in Sims 2 and 3, especially in Sims 3 where I like to use buildings from other worlds in the one I'm playing. The inability to even edit the town the way I could in Sims 2 in 4 is a big turn off for me and one of the reasons I no longer play it. We will never have that ability I don't think in 4.

If there is a Sims 5 and open world, CAW, terrain tools, create-a-style and all the life stages and the rest of it come back...? Well, I don't trust Maxis "vision" enough for that to happen. I get the sense they all are happy with what they've given us in Sims 4 and despite all the feedback, they still have no sense of why some simmers don't like it nor do they care.

"nickibitsward;15097452" wrote:
I never downloaded CAW in Sims 3 so I don't do my own worlds but I used the templates from Sims 2 and I've redone every World in Sims 2 and 3, especially in Sims 3 where I like to use buildings from other worlds in the one I'm playing. The inability to even edit the town the way I could in Sims 2 in 4 is a big turn off for me and one of the reasons I no longer play it. We will never have that ability I don't think in 4.

If there is a Sims 5 and open world, CAW, terrain tools, create-a-style and all the life stages and the rest of it come back...well, I don't trust Maxis "vision" enough for that to happen.

Same. I've never really made a world in past games, but I still loved the ability to edit the existing worlds to my liking and we don't even have that. Open areas are filled with the same redundant objects that I can't change, I can't make my own lakes or hills, the fake backgrounds are unchangeable, I can't even place a bench or a trash can by the sidewalk...it's super frustrating

I spent a lot of time building worlds in TS3, I really enjoyed it. At first I was fuming that there was no Create a World for TS4, and not even any in-game world editing features.

But I'm not *just* a world builder, I'm also a player. I accept that I probably have to abandon any hope of getting something like CAW for TS4. I'm ok with this now, because I love the game and would rather they focus on adding more expansion packs like Seasons, Farming, Apartments, Superstar, etc. At this point, more gameplay content is more appealing than a CAW tool.

If I get the world building bug I can go back and use the brilliant tool from TS3 that has a TON of great world objects. Recently I've been wanting to make both the map from Stardew Valley with all the characters, and also a recreation of The Urbz. B)

"Polyrhythm;15097459" wrote:

"nickibitsward;15097452" wrote:
I never downloaded CAW in Sims 3 so I don't do my own worlds but I used the templates from Sims 2 and I've redone every World in Sims 2 and 3, especially in Sims 3 where I like to use buildings from other worlds in the one I'm playing. The inability to even edit the town the way I could in Sims 2 in 4 is a big turn off for me and one of the reasons I no longer play it. We will never have that ability I don't think in 4.

If there is a Sims 5 and open world, CAW, terrain tools, create-a-style and all the life stages and the rest of it come back...well, I don't trust Maxis "vision" enough for that to happen.

Same. I've never really made a world in past games, but I still loved the ability to edit the existing worlds to my liking and we don't even have that. Open areas are filled with the same redundant objects that I can't change, I can't make my own lakes or hills, the fake backgrounds are unchangeable, I can't even place a bench or a trash can by the sidewalk...it's super frustrating

If you use mods, there are quite a few which change the background, I think I saw some at Mod the Sims.

*wanders off to look*

This one removes the city backdrop (for History players, I think): http://modthesims.info/d/563293

This one has different cities like Rio: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=562837

http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/img/3/7/5/1/1/1/9/MTS_Bakie-1562728-Thumbnail_WillowCreek_CitySkylinesReplacements.jpg

Bakie has quite few to choose from. I hope that's helpful. Of course, an in-game editor would be fab!

CAW is a nice thing, I enjoyed using it, mostly because I love breathtaking landscapes, forests and such, and pre-made worlds were severely lacking plants as far as I’m concerned ;) I definitely prefer something more dense.


I’m not sure if I’d use CAW in TS4 for the same purpose, because everything looks too plastic to make me enjoy landscaping, but I’d surely like the possibility of creating my own worlds and downloading ones created by other players. I don’t want to be limited to EA worlds, especially given that there aren’t many of them in the game and I’ve seen people complaining about running out of space (it hasn’t happen for me because I don’t really play TS4, I gave it two tries, I’ll probably give it some more, but I can’t imagine myself playing it as much as older iterations, it’s just not a game for me). A CAW tool would solve that problem.
One of my biggest disappointments in the game is the lack of in-game world editing. I’d like to put more and/or different size lots, definitely more plants, decorations, and I’d rebuild those barbecue areas.

As for build mode, I don’t like it. Sure, it does have some nice features like different wall heights, but it’s too restricted and full of inconveniences. I miss CASt, I really liked transforming useless furniture/wallpaper/whatever to something nice and stylish, I liked infinite possibilities of customising my buildings, I liked being able to match everything I wanted... In TS4 if something matches with respect to colour it doesn’t with respect to style and the other way around, it’s pretty annoying and I’m not really tempted to download a huge amount of recolours.
One of the aforementioned inconveniences is how using the shift key while painting walls works – it was very convenient and logical in older games, but in TS4 it’s pretty messy really, and I’m basically forced to avoid it in most cases, to not let it mess anything up. It shouldn’t depend on what the game treats as a room, it should depend on already placed wall coverings like it used to in the past. And why on earth can’t I use those wall coverings with vertical stripes like I want instead of being restricted to corners? They don’t even work properly when I have a fancily shaped building.
I like the trim/cornice tool (I don’t remember its proper name, I hope it’s obvious what I mean), but then again, it’s pretty inconvenient – why can’t I draw it like a wall or a fence? It’s the same as those wall coverings, using the cornices on a fancily shaped building is extremely tedious; it was supposed to be easy but it definitely isn’t.
And don’t even get me started on terrain tools... Why can’t I build a house on a hill, add a pond, and a nice bridge using constrainfloorelevation false? TS4 really is terrible with respect to customisation options, especially compared to TS3. It’s sad, because I believe customisation is one of the reasons that made The Sims so popular – everyone can adjust various aspects of the game to their liking/taste.

"Cinderellimouse;15097621" wrote:

"Polyrhythm;15097459" wrote:

"nickibitsward;15097452" wrote:
I never downloaded CAW in Sims 3 so I don't do my own worlds but I used the templates from Sims 2 and I've redone every World in Sims 2 and 3, especially in Sims 3 where I like to use buildings from other worlds in the one I'm playing. The inability to even edit the town the way I could in Sims 2 in 4 is a big turn off for me and one of the reasons I no longer play it. We will never have that ability I don't think in 4.

If there is a Sims 5 and open world, CAW, terrain tools, create-a-style and all the life stages and the rest of it come back...well, I don't trust Maxis "vision" enough for that to happen.

Same. I've never really made a world in past games, but I still loved the ability to edit the existing worlds to my liking and we don't even have that. Open areas are filled with the same redundant objects that I can't change, I can't make my own lakes or hills, the fake backgrounds are unchangeable, I can't even place a bench or a trash can by the sidewalk...it's super frustrating

If you use mods, there are quite a few which change the background, I think I saw some at Mod the Sims.

*wanders off to look*

-snip-

Bakie has quite few to choose from. I hope that's helpful. Of course, an in-game editor would be fab!

I'm thinking more along the lines of the fake backdrop houses that are right outside the playable area. They make me feel shoehorned into building a particular style of house, or else they'll look terribly out of place. Newcrest especially, it's blank, but all the scenery and such is set in stone (and I really didn't want another Willow Creek orz)

I have used a couple of the skyline mods before though, they're neat.