I agree with Simulationname. I find it a pretty sad state of affairs when list after list of desired Sims 5 features are actually features that we had years ago in previous versions of the game but they have since been dropped. This isn't how it ought to be when sequels to games come out. Yes, there are things that the Sims 4 has done better than previous Sims titles (Build Mode and CAS for instance), but personally, I don't think that leaving out what fans consider vital features and yet charging more than ever for these games, is acceptable. I started playing The Sims shortly after it came out (before Aspyr started porting it to Mac, I had to go to my friend's house to play as she had a PC - I was there solidly for weeks when I discovered this game) and have stuck with this game ever since. However, I really am not sure I could do another sequel that feels like a shiny downgrade. I never thought I would say those words, but there we have it; I am so tired of spending so much money on new Sims 4 content that barely hook my attention for longer than an afternoon because underneath the pretty shininess, it's a pretty hollow experience.
I personally feel that if EA wanted to produce an excellent, genuine sequel to the Sims franchise and take the game to the next level, they would need to bring back the best of the past games, but then move forwards significantly as well with features that ought to be possible considering the processing power most computers have these days.
Old features I would like to see return (including from Sims 4):
- Open World: yes, it was buggy. Yes, it lagged. Yes, it was deserted most of the time. If they do this right this time, this would be essential for me. I despise the loading screens of the Sims 4 and it means I hardly ever send my sims anywhere.
- Create a style OR a colour wheel: I know they say it caused lag/problems, but this was an excellent feature that is sorely missed.
- Create a world: I never played it as it wasn't available for Mac players, but it looked brilliant.
- All age states at the beginning of the game
- Teens to be proper teens, not strangely out of proportion narrow young adults.
- A wants/whims system that impacts the game
- Emotions: but a much more intelligent emotions system. The one we have right now doesn't seem fit for purpose.
- Active careers from the beginning
- Food/clothes shopping - where you can take them in to the shops rather than Sims 3's rabbit holes.
- Multi-purpose lots
- Calendar from Sims 4: it's brilliant.
- Clubs from Sims 4: another brilliant, useful feature.
- Cars
- Ocean swimming (and river swimming)
- The gallery
Features that have traditionally been expansions, but should be part of the base game because after paying for them four times (in most cases), I have no desire to do so for a fifth (especially seeing as expansion packs this time around have NOT felt like value for money - I feel pretty fleeced actually):
- Weather/seasons
- Pets
- University
New features I would like to see introduced:
- Gradual ageing. No more dramatic changes. I know this is a big ask considering what we have in game currently, but this is what I'm talking about; I feel the next game should have a few enormous changes like Sims 2 (true 3D, different ages) and Sims 3 (Create-a-style and Open world) offered (yet Sims 4 failed to deliver). There would be rough age ranges - newborn, baby, toddler, child, preteen, teen, young adult, adult, middle-aged, golden years, elderly - and your sim would be known as such, but within that range they would grow a little each day. This would also allow for babies to be more interesting than they ever have been. Babies would start to do more each day, start to move, crawl, roll, sit up etc. They would start off breast/bottle feeding, but you would move on to weaning them (either when you get a notification or the baby sim starts demanding solid food). Kids, preteens and teens would be much more fluid and their wants/interests/available interactions would change slightly as they grew. You could also then, in combination with the calendar, still have birthdays for your sims, but they don't suddenly pop from one age state to the next. I think introducing this would be so enormously more immersive.
- An actual world, not just 'open world' in the sims 3 sense, but a whole world with different regions: Instead of the current system where you choose one of the worlds to play in, instead, you would be faced with a Sims planet/world as the opening screen. It's a fictional world obviously, but with distant areas - coastal, desert, jungle, mountains, polar, islands etc. (even if they didn't have each area open at the beginning to allow to expansion packs). It's mainly just a viewpoint thing, to show how everything is connected, as there would be areas that are highlighted that you can visit - showing details about each settlement and which sims live there. In the beginning there wouldn't be many available, but as the game went on, you could open up new areas. This could also allow for 'Worlds' to be sold separately, to open up new areas - if weather were in the game from the beginning, this would work better. When you clicked on one of the settlements, it would probably need a loading screen, but it would be cool if it were a dynamic one that showed you a video of you zooming into that part of the world while it loaded and flowed seamlessly into the 'open world' (in the Sims 3 sense) view of that part of Sims world. Travelling to different areas would then require different modes of transport. If you were in a Windenburg style part of the world and wanted to travel to the tropics, you would need to take a plane etc. This would obviously be a rabbit/hole/off screen thing, but the loading screen could show a video of a plane travelling across the world etc. Different areas of the world could have distinct geographical features as well as unique building styles, as well as different collectables/plants/wildlife.
- Highly customisable personalities that actually impact gameplay: I remember how basic the sliders from The Sims seem now, but actually, in some ways, they had the right idea. Further up the thread people have discussed sliders for traits and I think that would be a great idea. Instead of static traits, you would have a set of sliders with two opposing characteristics - i.e. Neat VS Slob, Energetic VS Lazy, Uptight VS laid-back, Loves Kids vs Hates Kids, etc. You could also have an additional Quirks system that allows you to choose a few of the more quirks, but most of these would be acquired in game through your sim's repeated actions. This system would impact gameplay more than it has before and would interact with an upgraded emotions system. A sim more towards the slob end would never start tidying or cleaning up and would never be emotionally impacted by messy surroundings. When you made them clean up, they would do so reluctantly (the animation would be different) and it would affect their mood. Their wants/whims would change to suit the situation - they might get a 'Stop Cleaning!' want. Or let's say there is a sim that loves kids - when they're around kids, they would autonomously play with/care for kids when they are nearby, whereas a sim who hates kids, would have their mood affected where they feel uncomfortable or angry. Their behaviour would reflect this with them casting the nearby offending kids glares/furtive glances and moving away from the children. These more customised Sim personalities could also fit in with jobs. Job adverts now come with Sim Specifications that lists some traits that a sim should have for the role. Sims could now interview for jobs and they would be less likely to get the job if they had the wrong personality for it. Or if they did actually get it though they're not suited for it because you got them in a really good mood before the interview and you completed a list of tasks that would give you the most success of getting the job (let's say a Teacher who hated children), then it would be much harder to progress in that career and your performance would naturally decline.
- Gameplay affecting sims in the form of quirks and memories: Sims start customised, but become their own unique personality through gameplay. Your sim could form memories and fears that impact how they behave and how they feel for the rest of their lives (unless they take steps to address them in the case of fears). Let's say a sim burns down their kitchen - instead of a temporary fire buff affecting them for a sim day or two, they would have the permanent memory of how they once burnt down their kitchen. This wouldn't impact the game as directly in the rudimentary emotions system we have now, but it means that forever more, they feel nervous while cooking (or maybe it starts with cooking, then moves on to nervous while making that specific meal as time goes on). They may develop a fear of that particular meal and when they see it (someone else has made it or they're out at a restaurant and see it there) they get triggered and have an emotional response or they show a desire to leave (a want/whim flashes up expressing a desire to leave) or just autonomously leave the room. This could work with happy memories too. Let's say your sim gets engaged in a particular location (a waterfall view). Your sim would get a positive memory from that. They may frequently want to return to the same spot and they get happy from being there. Or they could take a picture and frame it - looking at the picture could cheer them up when they're sad etc. Along with this they could develop quirks - which are like one-off traits - from repeated behaviours you make them do. If you constantly make your sim develop their skills they may get a 'genius' quirk or if you always have them tidying up they may develop a 'neat freak' quirk. These quirks would affect their emotions in the same way and would change autonomous behaviour.
- Careers: As I mentioned briefly in a previous point, you would need to prepare for interviews now instead of just getting the job straight away. Similarly to the Audition aspect of Get Famous, you could improve your chances with having certain skills, or completed certain tasks. If university were embedded from the beginning, having a degree may be a prerequisite for the more specific jobs (i.e. doctor, lawyer, teacher). If university weren't included from the beginning, you may need to finish high school with a certain grade. Careers would also not automatically promote your sim anymore and you would need to instruct your sim to go for a promotion or a pay rise when their performance was high enough - there would also be more ways of progressing within the same career - so you don't have a fixed route. This would give more control to the player.
- CAS: even more customisation. As others have mentioned in this and other threads - items of clothing should be separate. You should be able to choose underwear, trousers/leggings/tights, socks, shoes, skirts, dresses, tops, jumpers/cardigans, coats/jackets, scarves, hats etc. all as separate categories for you to layer how you wish. I really thought we'd get this with Sims 4 and was surprised we didn't, as the way we created the sims themselves had improved so dramatically. Along with this the ability to save your own styled looks and share these with other simmers. Also, customisation with hair and facial hair would be expected (considering what you can do in so many other games now) - within a hairstyle you could change the length of hair, texture (wavy, straight, curly, frizzy), fringe presence/length, have highlight and low lights once more. Perhaps with make up, similar to current pet paint palette, you could customise your own sim's make up in game. As for the sims themselves, I would like them to be a tad more realistic (though not uncanny valley territory) and less cartoony. I'd also like a return of body hair. I find the sims men just look like kawaii cartoons half the time, they never seem terribly manly. As others have suggested, within CAS, it would be great to be able to pre-make your sim how you like. Level of education, wealth, skills, maybe some key memories, relationships to existing sims in world already etc. Simmers could still start with blank slates if they like (and I would start with a blank slate sim as my main sim), but the ability to make sims that have stories already would be so useful for when I am populating worlds with my main sim's would be friends, families, potential partners etc. Finally in CAS, I would like to see variable heights. I know it's not been done before, but we are talking about a sequel, it should achieve things that weren't possible before!
- Buy/build - Having glimpsed at some of the features in that new life simulation game that I forget the name of, I'd like to see even more intuitive, customisable build mode features. Circular walls, split level homes through different foundation heights, resizable windows and doors, flexible stairs (like we have now in Sims 4 at last), spiral stairs and lifts/elevators etc. As well as resizable objects (dragging to resize a bookcase/desk/table to make it work for your space. I'd also like to see an option to automatically populate your garden with plants/trees/decorations. I love landscaping my Sims homes, but I'm not always in the mood. Would be nice to click a button an a few trees and plants would appear artfully arranged in the open spaces.
Right, I have spent way too long on this. I have more ideas, but this post is ridiculously long! I don't for one second think we will get any of these features, but all it would take is for one or two of them (or things like them) to be present in Sims 5 for me to consider buying it. I really do need it to feel like an actual leap forward before I decide to buy it.
