I'm not really a world builder, but in Sims 3, I liked to put down large empty lots and just build mansions. I didn't kept to a theme for like an entire neighborhood, I just build. Sims 3 is when I really started building. All the console Sim games and Sim 2: Ultimate Collection, didn't really built anything amazing.
In Sims 3, it took really long and it was aggravating sometimes. I don't like how the stairs were like. Took forever to plop one down and if I mess up, I have to delete it again! I don't think I can go back to this. Sims 4 has made it too convenient. I need stairs for large buildings. I didn't had any expansions besides Pets for Sims 3, so I didn't have elevators. I did enjoy spiral staircase for one of my smaller buildings. Sims 4 definitely needs spiral staircases. Gimme (>OwO)>
Although, I did tried the Sim 2's stair and I was like.....what heck, this is easier than Sims 3?
The same with roofs....I can't go back to that again. Thank you Sims 4, for making it easier and simple. I never liked doing roofs in Sims 3. I either did flat roofs, autoroofs, or take an hour on building a roof. As I said, I had the Pets expansion, so roofs were important for barns. Oh geez, that took forever lol. Those large roofs man, won't miss them in Sims 3 lol. In Sims 4, I've been doing a lot with roofs. It's just really easy and makes sense. Although, I think Sims 3 had more variation in roofs because wasn't there an octagon roof? Sims 4 doesn't have one.
Also, rooms. This is like a godsend. I had to keep deleting rooms in Sims 3. Sims 4, resize, move. I did much more renovations in Sims 4 and it felt welcoming. The only thing is....Sims 4, you definitely need to watch videos or look at tutorials online to figure it out. Plopping down just one wall doesn't count as a room. I'm pretty sure you understand what I mean. It can get aggravating sometimes. I'm pretty confident to say I understand it well. I'm able to make open ceiling basements, do split floors, all these pretty cool things.
Wall decorations, this is amazing lol. Being able to resize things and adjusting the height of where the items, this is awesome. I don't think I could plop down a mirror on a tree in Sims 3. I might have to read up on tutorials. People might of thought Outdoor Retreat was boring, but I like the textures and objects and everything that came from it.
The thing in Sims 3, I never really used cheats. In Sims 4, I've been abusing them like crazy lol. I think in Sims 3, I was more of a fledging builder while in Sims 4, I've been adding more details and starting to grow more as a builder.
In Sims 3, I didn't really use the create a style. It just took forever to find what I want and if I did it for every build, I would be stuck building for days lol. It would be cool, but I like the default stuff as well. Although, I admit, I made a really cool green and black curtain in one of my builds.
The terrain tools are cool. It would look cooler in Sims 4. All that stuff I have on Sims 4, I want to suddenly build a hill house. I'm thinking of how to do it, but it definitely will look artificial and blocky...or a lot of rocks lol. I didn't really use terrain tools in Sims 3 for normal houses. I kept it nice and flat. Although, it doesn't always work well because the area around the lot isn't flat. Sims 4 didn't have any problems with that, of course....I made a really cool mansion with the stairs on the lower part of the terrain leading up to this massive mansion. It had a large pond/garden area thing, a library, etc. That is why I need a pond tool in Sims 4. I might not had abused all the terrain tools in Sims 3 to it's fullest, but I definitely abused the pond tool lol. The fountain tool is just ugh....please, get rid of the wall!! That is why I suggested getting a "get rid of wall" option for fountain tool. If they can't make a pond tool, at least do that. Coloring the wall into a natural color doesn't work. You need a million rocks and plants to cover it. (I did made a really cool natural stream out of it though using the petal pool water color lol). Sims 4 doesn't have terrain tools, but it did come with extra wall heights and foundation heights. OH, that's another thing I mentioned in another tread. Why can't we build different foundations of varying heights? They're all the same heights in the same lot! That would bypass a bit of missing terrain tools. You could create varying heights of terrain and put foundations. Then put stairs to connect them. Dang, this is something I want in Sims 4 because stairs feels like it takes so much space....
Idk, I just feel like I can do more in Sims 4 than Sims 3's house building, besides the other cool stuff that involves terrain. If you do flat lots only, Sims 4 looks better than Sims 3's.
So, my opinions of Sims 4....As my friend said (he doesn't actually play Sims though), get Sims 3 open world with Sims 4 cool building tools with terrain tools, and it's perfect. More Newcrest type of worlds please. I need them for my builds so I can build and share (btw, gallery is so much better than Sims 3's. I can't share lots with mods and creative content unlike in Sims 4 where it just says it has custom content. Rip dreams.) Also, being able to plop down lots straight from the gallery and browsing it while in game? Yes. Thank you.
As a builder, I would say get Sims 4 for the extra tools, but also keep playing Sims 3 because Sims 3 is still amazing despite some aggravation. Sims 4 does have some bugs, like idk what's the deal with the friezes. Make them like fences, yes, I agree with you. Thats something I will contest to about the new room deal in Sims 4. Sometimes, the rooms don't make sense at all and you have to fumble around with it. Sims 4....can get complicated with that sometimes :| And the lighting too....ugh. It's the nicest, but idk, it glitches out sometimes. Pretty sure we've experienced complete rooms with outside lighting.
