Forum Discussion

RememberJoy's avatar
RememberJoy
Seasoned Novice
6 years ago

Your Perfect Sims Game

There’s been a lot of talk about the potential of a Sims 5 game around here lately, and it has me thinking: what does the hypothetically perfect Sims game look like to you guys?

For me personally I would start off with the focus being on the sims themselves. Make them unique, make them complicated, but most importantly make them interesting.

Each trait should make them behave differently and react to their surroundings in unique ways (They kind of have this is Sims 4 but it’s surface level). Have their traits change how they autonomously act. A bookworm sim would be reading during their downtime, a social sim could be finding the nearest sim to chat with.

Make relationships more complicated and bring in a compatibility and reputation system. Likes and dislikes would also bring in more depth, and include fear in the emotions with specific fears we can choose to give our sims.

This is complicated, but bring in basic motivations that influence the sims decisions. If you’ve ever looked into the Enneagram, it describes the 9 basic motivations behind people’s actions (1-Doing the right thing, morals, ethics, fairness. 2-Love, relationships, being needed, helping others. 3-Achievements, titles, promotions, recognition. 4-Being special, unique, different, having purpose. 5-Knowledge, data, learning, education. 6-Safety, security, fear, comfort. 7-Fun, variety, options, adventure. 8-Challenges, control, power, justice. 9-Peace, harmony, collaborating with others.) This could be a core trait separate from other traits and would influence how the sim expresses them. So say a 3 sim with the bookworm trait would only read books that were popular or would make them look good and they could brag about the different books they’ve read. Again, complicated, but it would add a layer of personality that would make the sims more realistic.

As for the worlds, I like the option to jump from one world to another in Sims 4. But I would also like to see open neighborhoods so we can visit neighboring lots without a loading screen. Also no rabbit holes. I like how I can visit every lot on the map in the Sims 4. Some jobs could be rabbit holes, but it would be nice to make more open or semi-open careers so I could follow my sims to work if I wanted.

I’d love to be able to also choose the time period I’m playing in, but those could be expansions.

At the very least make cell phones optional and goals for adults and children that can be accomplished without modern technology.

Ultimately the perfect Sims game for me comes down to customization; allow each player to make their game as unique or realistic as they like. Bring in the toggle options from Sims 3 and CAW.

I could keep going, but I’ll open it up to you. What does the perfect Sim game look to you? I’m thinking base game, but you could include expansions you’d like to see as well. It doesn’t have to be realistic, we’re dreaming here and sharing ideas, so go as wild as you like.