Forum Discussion

New Spectator

5 years ago

Where Sims 4 Game Play gets it Right

Although the foundation of the Sims 4 is flawed when it comes to deep long term game play and unique personalities, there is an area of game play that Sims 4 (in my opinion) does a much better job at executing compared to previous games, and ultimately is the main reason why I prefer Sims 4 over previous titles.

I find that Sims 4 offers many different tools and game play features that make a sims external lifestyle extremely deep, detailed and unique. No two households feel the same in Sims 4 to me, even if the sims themselves may behave very similarly.

Lifestyle is the key word here. Which world my sim lives in, the varying game play opportunities in each world, what lot traits are applied to the lot, what career they pursue, what skills my sim has, what clubs my sim participates in, what NAP's are in place, what the eco footprint at the time may be, etc.

In Sims 4, I can create a sim that lives completely off the grid, no power sources whatsoever, this sim collects their own food through gardening and fishing, they make a living by completing odd jobs and selling collected/crafted goods by using a sales table. They can join a club dedicated to rejecting electronics. Using NAP's the neighborhood they live in can further deepen their lifestyle, and as a result of their simple low maintenance life, nature thrives. I can make a holiday dedicated to celebrating the simple things in life. - I can also create a sim whose lifestyle is the complete opposite, they live in a normal house outfitted with all sorts of electronic entertainment. They can pursue a variety of electronic related careers and skills. They can use alternative energy sources to lower their power bill because of how often they use electronics. They can be in a club dedicated to playing video games. NAP's and lot traits can be set in place to further deepen their lifestyle, etc.

I can create an extremely wicked evil sim. They live a life of dirt and crime. Using lot traits, NAP's, and the eco footprint, I can quite literally make a "bad" neighborhood, one which sims fight each other, wear bags and constantly cough because of the bad environment, where the lot traits promote anger, mean behavior and dirty surroundings. This sim can join a club dedicated to ruining other sims lives. I can create a holiday dedicated to being mean to everyone else. This sim can pursue careers and skills that expand their mischievous life - Again, I can also create a sim whose life is the complete opposite, where their entire life motto is living a life of good virtue.

These two examples can also have variations, the exact same sim (in either or both examples) would have different experiences living in a City compared to living in a desert, or any other world for that matter. Each world usually has some unique game play (San Myshuno with festivals, Sulani with the Island, etc.), each world experiences seasons differently too. I find Sims 4 to have the most variation in careers as well, the same career can be experienced differently if you decide to play with/without fame or with/without post secondary education, on top of the traditional careers there are also work from home careers, freelancer careers, odd jobs, businesses, self employed, and a variety of other ways to make a living outside of just careers.

In conclusion, there are many tools and features in Sims 4 that flesh out my sims lives in extreme detail and depth, in ways that Sims 2 and 3 just don't deliver. I find Sims 4 expansions expand lifestyle opportunities, while Sims 2 and 3 expansions expanded the core lifestyle that's been established in the base game. These are just my thoughts on Sims 4, giving credit where I think it deserves credit, It's just a shame that the sims themselves are flawed and shallow compared to the external life around them. If the developers ever manage to fix the shallow sims, where the sims themselves react appropriately to their lifestyle depending on their personality, the entire game would simply be better, everything would have that much more depth to it, and maybe at that point arguably deserve the title of best Sims game in the series.

MissyHissy
5 years ago
"Simburian;c-17635967" wrote:
It's the fact that I can fill whole worlds with houses and Sims without encountering any lag in my game. The fact that my Sims all meet one another in bars, restaurants, spas and stores if I use my limit of them.

For me the game is more about running communities than a single or one family's story and Eco Lifestyle tends to confirm that. That's probably why it wasn't an early pack but waiting until we had filled our worlds.

Ooh, this is me! I've created nearly all of the Sims I play in my main save game and I agree with the OP, no two households are the same. Each sim is pursuing a different career dream and they have different aspirations and goals for life. Their decorating styles are different and their neighbourhoods are different. Eco Lifestyle added a lot for me in terms of the communities my Sims live in, rather than an individual sim themselves. That makes a big difference for the way I play! <3
SimmerGeorge
5 years ago
I mean this is the difference between depth and surface. In the Sims 4 you can be a lot of stuff, but most of that stuff have little depth to keep you interested in the long run.
That's one problem I'm encountering right now playing a robot nerd in university. I played one term and now I have nothing else to do and can't wait for her to graduate.
Cinebar
5 years ago
"filipomel;d-980494" wrote:
Although the foundation of the Sims 4 is flawed when it comes to deep long term game play and unique personalities, there is an area of game play that Sims 4 (in my opinion) does a much better job at executing compared to previous games, and ultimately is the main reason why I prefer Sims 4 over previous titles.

I find that Sims 4 offers many different tools and game play features that make a sims external lifestyle extremely deep, detailed and unique. No two households feel the same in Sims 4 to me, even if the sims themselves may behave very similarly.

Lifestyle is the key word here. Which world my sim lives in, the varying game play opportunities in each world, what lot traits are applied to the lot, what career they pursue, what skills my sim has, what clubs my sim participates in, what NAP's are in place, what the eco footprint at the time may be, etc.

In Sims 4, I can create a sim that lives completely off the grid, no power sources whatsoever, this sim collects their own food through gardening and fishing, they make a living by completing odd jobs and selling collected/crafted goods by using a sales table. They can join a club dedicated to rejecting electronics. Using NAP's the neighborhood they live in can further deepen their lifestyle, and as a result of their simple low maintenance life, nature thrives. I can make a holiday dedicated to celebrating the simple things in life. - I can also create a sim whose lifestyle is the complete opposite, they live in a normal house outfitted with all sorts of electronic entertainment. They can pursue a variety of electronic related careers and skills. They can use alternative energy sources to lower their power bill because of how often they use electronics. They can be in a club dedicated to playing video games. NAP's and lot traits can be set in place to further deepen their lifestyle, etc.

I can create an extremely wicked evil sim. They live a life of dirt and crime. Using lot traits, NAP's, and the eco footprint, I can quite literally make a "bad" neighborhood, one which sims fight each other, wear bags and constantly cough because of the bad environment, where the lot traits promote anger, mean behavior and dirty surroundings. This sim can join a club dedicated to ruining other sims lives. I can create a holiday dedicated to being mean to everyone else. This sim can pursue careers and skills that expand their mischievous life - Again, I can also create a sim whose life is the complete opposite, where their entire life motto is living a life of good virtue.

These two examples can also have variations, the exact same sim (in either or both examples) would have different experiences living in a City compared to living in a desert, or any other world for that matter. Each world usually has some unique game play (San Myshuno with festivals, Sulani with the Island, etc.), each world experiences seasons differently too. I find Sims 4 to have the most variation in careers as well, the same career can be experienced differently if you decide to play with/without fame or with/without post secondary education, on top of the traditional careers there are also work from home careers, freelancer careers, odd jobs, businesses, self employed, and a variety of other ways to make a living outside of just careers.

In conclusion, there are many tools and features in Sims 4 that flesh out my sims lives in extreme detail and depth, in ways that Sims 2 and 3 just don't deliver. I find Sims 4 expansions expand lifestyle opportunities, while Sims 2 and 3 expansions expanded the core lifestyle that's been established in the base game. These are just my thoughts on Sims 4, giving credit where I think it deserves credit, It's just a shame that the sims themselves are flawed and shallow compared to the external life around them. If the developers ever manage to fix the shallow sims, where the sims themselves react appropriately to their lifestyle depending on their personality, the entire game would simply be better, everything would have that much more depth to it, and maybe at that point arguably deserve the title of best Sims game in the series.

I don't know, I think I have been playing a lot of what you discribe since TS1. With better exceptions in the other games (except TS3 and TS4 because of the infamous cellphones that break immersion) my Sims have no modern day equimpment or electronics and that includes an infamous phone.

I don't know, I remember back when careers were not piecemealed out like five parts of a fashion career or photographer. I don't know I can't see where Sims act appropriately to their lifestyle in TS4....I mean a Sim with a cooking skill can be just as confindent as someone with a moodlet/mood emitter. Not much difference there, nor my Sim in TS4 has no idea they don't have painted walls and or living on a lot without any furniture or anything on it, they seem perfectly happy even though they should be upset by it if they aren't an eco Sim personality, so what is up with that?

Evil, lol, no, no one evil wants to be friends with arch enemies.

But I can quarantee you Sims on a vacant lot in the other games are going to know it, show it, feel it, be aware of it, not be so 'full' when they eat nor pull imaginary food out of some hidden pocket, aren't going to enjoy a lowflo shower and or not one at all, and I'm going to have to save one of them or they will worry themselves to death if I don't take care of their kid who just passed out on the ground.

Now, nature has to be contained or there would be fires everywhere so I'm pretty sure a tree hanging over a campfire in a lot living off the grid might find out in the other games no, you don't build a campfire there. And a campfire isn't going to make a Sim as 'full' as an10+ oven so yeah, I'm not seeing how TS4 got anything right compared to the other games. where Sims are aware they have nothing and going to get nothing and aren't going to be as comfortable sitting on a rock, even if they believe the rock is a better choice for the earth. Misery is still a thing even if you conserve something, the bones don't lie, but TS4 does, that stump or rock just as comfortable as a chair, not necessarily but they won't care because someone placed a picture or object on the lot that makes them forget all about their back breaking. No, I'm sorry I just don't see how TS4 got any of this right.
filipomel
New Spectator
5 years ago
"Cinebar;c-17658496" wrote:
"filipomel;d-980494" wrote:
Although the foundation of the Sims 4 is flawed when it comes to deep long term game play and unique personalities, there is an area of game play that Sims 4 (in my opinion) does a much better job at executing compared to previous games, and ultimately is the main reason why I prefer Sims 4 over previous titles.

I find that Sims 4 offers many different tools and game play features that make a sims external lifestyle extremely deep, detailed and unique. No two households feel the same in Sims 4 to me, even if the sims themselves may behave very similarly.

Lifestyle is the key word here. Which world my sim lives in, the varying game play opportunities in each world, what lot traits are applied to the lot, what career they pursue, what skills my sim has, what clubs my sim participates in, what NAP's are in place, what the eco footprint at the time may be, etc.

In Sims 4, I can create a sim that lives completely off the grid, no power sources whatsoever, this sim collects their own food through gardening and fishing, they make a living by completing odd jobs and selling collected/crafted goods by using a sales table. They can join a club dedicated to rejecting electronics. Using NAP's the neighborhood they live in can further deepen their lifestyle, and as a result of their simple low maintenance life, nature thrives. I can make a holiday dedicated to celebrating the simple things in life. - I can also create a sim whose lifestyle is the complete opposite, they live in a normal house outfitted with all sorts of electronic entertainment. They can pursue a variety of electronic related careers and skills. They can use alternative energy sources to lower their power bill because of how often they use electronics. They can be in a club dedicated to playing video games. NAP's and lot traits can be set in place to further deepen their lifestyle, etc.

I can create an extremely wicked evil sim. They live a life of dirt and crime. Using lot traits, NAP's, and the eco footprint, I can quite literally make a "bad" neighborhood, one which sims fight each other, wear bags and constantly cough because of the bad environment, where the lot traits promote anger, mean behavior and dirty surroundings. This sim can join a club dedicated to ruining other sims lives. I can create a holiday dedicated to being mean to everyone else. This sim can pursue careers and skills that expand their mischievous life - Again, I can also create a sim whose life is the complete opposite, where their entire life motto is living a life of good virtue.

These two examples can also have variations, the exact same sim (in either or both examples) would have different experiences living in a City compared to living in a desert, or any other world for that matter. Each world usually has some unique game play (San Myshuno with festivals, Sulani with the Island, etc.), each world experiences seasons differently too. I find Sims 4 to have the most variation in careers as well, the same career can be experienced differently if you decide to play with/without fame or with/without post secondary education, on top of the traditional careers there are also work from home careers, freelancer careers, odd jobs, businesses, self employed, and a variety of other ways to make a living outside of just careers.

In conclusion, there are many tools and features in Sims 4 that flesh out my sims lives in extreme detail and depth, in ways that Sims 2 and 3 just don't deliver. I find Sims 4 expansions expand lifestyle opportunities, while Sims 2 and 3 expansions expanded the core lifestyle that's been established in the base game. These are just my thoughts on Sims 4, giving credit where I think it deserves credit, It's just a shame that the sims themselves are flawed and shallow compared to the external life around them. If the developers ever manage to fix the shallow sims, where the sims themselves react appropriately to their lifestyle depending on their personality, the entire game would simply be better, everything would have that much more depth to it, and maybe at that point arguably deserve the title of best Sims game in the series.

I don't know I can't see where Sims act appropriately to their lifestyle in TS4

I didn't say that Sims react appropriately to their lifestyles, in fact I agree that there is a severe lack of unique sim behavior and interaction with their environments and lifestyles, however I did say this, "If the developers ever manage to fix the shallow sims, where the sims themselves react appropriately to their lifestyle depending on their personality, the entire game would simply be better," it was a hypothetical statement hoping for a better game, I doubt we'll ever see such a grand change to The Sims 4 at this point.

Regardless, my post wasn't necessarily talking about the Sims themselves, rather more so about the environment in which they live in and my ability to manipulate it. I guess the best way I can explain it is I prefer The Sims 4's ability to create and customize entire communities, neighborhoods and households with such diverse variation, over the previous games ability to create incredibly dynamic, unique and personalized characters. I find in Sims 4 that although personal attributes don't have much affect on sims and how they live out their lives, the environment my sims live in very much does drive my game forward, presenting me with new opportunities on how I want to move forward with my Sims and their lives.

Of course, with the root of the game being as flawed as it is, I can understand why many aren't satisfied with the game play available. Whats it matter how diverse different worlds, neighborhoods, etc. are if the Sims themselves all act the same regardless of their physical, personal, and social situations? It's something I wish to see changed, because like I said in my original post, if they fixed the Sims in the Sims 4, everything else about the game would simply be better. I still play the previous games if I crave that classic Sims game play that the Sims 4 is very much missing, I'm just saying where Sims 4 does deliver on game play, in my opinion, I'd say it's pretty solid stuff.