Worlds are getting smaller
Looking at the Copperville leaked map, all I see are vast swathes of empty space and shell buildings. Look at that huge lake. It takes up half the map, but you can't use it for anything. It disguis...
Forum Discussion
Agreed. Small worlds (and the tendency of the devs to give their pre-made sims and buildings the biggest lots on the map more often than not, so players can't have fun building on them instead) have been plaguing this game since launch. We don't even have a simple, TS2-esque Create-A-World where we can pick a base map, a terrain type, and maybe a sky box to add our own blank worlds to the game! Every new world, we either get very few lots or our choice of starting lot is heavily restricted because of how the devs decided to allocate pre-built houses and empty lots in the worlds. We don't even get a "Clear Worlds" button or the option after creating a sim for a new save to decide whether or not to clear residential lots of buildings and sims.
The devs really want players to interact with their characters and their stories in TS4, and being able to build up our own casts, worlds, and plotlines is kind of an afterthought. This isn't just evident in world design, but the choices they made for the aspirations in the "Werewolves" GP too. All of the aspirations after the initial Werewolf Initiate aspiration that involve actually staying a werewolf revolve around the devs' two werewolf packs and Greg. They want so badly for players to center their attention on the world, characters, and lore they wove that they didn't even think that someone might want to form their own pack, or have a lone wolf that's also super chill. Using werewolf powers isn't even included as a GP-specific addition to the Get Together club system! And don't even get me started on the female werewolf beast form customization issue! No option for a real bust, having to push the hip and waist sliders to their limits to give them any curves...What were they thinking?! Didn't they even stop to think that maybe people WANT a female werewolf to look good in a smokin'-hot evening gown in werewolf form?! If they're not afraid of anti-LGBTQ+ backlash, they shouldn't get squeamish about anti-furry backlash...
The point is, the limited building space in worlds is a symptom of a bigger problem in TS4, and that's the dev team trying to get players to play their stories in their worlds with their characters and their lore instead of allowing players to build up their own. The Sims has always been about player freedom and player choice. With TS4, it's like they have a bunch of people working on this game who would rather be working on a narrative-focused game with a set world and cast of characters and a definitive beginning, middle, and end than an open-ended, player-driven experience. This series is always best when it gives us systems and a blank canvas to explore them on, not when it tries to tell the player a story the devs already made up for them.
The devs really want players to interact with their characters and their stories in TS4, and being able to build up our own casts, worlds, and plotlines is kind of an afterthought. This isn't just evident in world design, but the choices they made for the aspirations in the "Werewolves" GP too. All of the aspirations after the initial Werewolf Initiate aspiration that involve actually staying a werewolf revolve around the devs' two werewolf packs and Greg. They want so badly for players to center their attention on the world, characters, and lore they wove that they didn't even think that someone might want to form their own pack, or have a lone wolf that's also super chill. Using werewolf powers isn't even included as a GP-specific addition to the Get Together club system! And don't even get me started on the female werewolf beast form customization issue! No option for a real bust, having to push the hip and waist sliders to their limits to give them any curves...What were they thinking?! Didn't they even stop to think that maybe people WANT a female werewolf to look good in a smokin'-hot evening gown in werewolf form?! If they're not afraid of anti-LGBTQ+ backlash, they shouldn't get squeamish about anti-furry backlash...
The point is, the limited building space in worlds is a symptom of a bigger problem in TS4, and that's the dev team trying to get players to play their stories in their worlds with their characters and their lore instead of allowing players to build up their own. The Sims has always been about player freedom and player choice. With TS4, it's like they have a bunch of people working on this game who would rather be working on a narrative-focused game with a set world and cast of characters and a definitive beginning, middle, and end than an open-ended, player-driven experience. This series is always best when it gives us systems and a blank canvas to explore them on, not when it tries to tell the player a story the devs already made up for them.
