Rene Speculation: Art Style, Graphics, and Lighting

I do like the Sims 4 style, but there are areas that I would like to see them take a few steps towards realism. Not all the way, as one of the advantages of a toon style is that the deaths seem more goofy than disturbing (though some of them are both...) which makes gameplay less traumatic... or encourages a certain level of Sims Sociopathy... or perhaps a bit of both, take your pick. :wink:

But I'd like to see more details in the hair (and maybe transparency painted, rather than clay), eyelashes rather than a solid block, more detailing in the clothes, etc. Someone a few year's back posted a picture of Victoria 4 from Daz Studio as a hypothetical "Next generation" of the Sims, and while not neccisarily Victoria 4, something that was a combo of Aiko/The Girl 4 (I don't have any of my Gen 4 stuff installed anymore, so I can't show what I'm talking about) in general style would be good. I'd still want the skins to be relatively clean, with hair and details being an overlay rather than on the base texture.

And then, of course, that be carried over into the environment.

Lighting... that's a hard call. I still find Life By You's lighting a little harsh for me, but it's also realistically harsh - about what I'd expect on a cloudless summer day while I was down visiting family that live further south than I do. It's just a level of lighting I don't like. But I get what Simmerorigin is saying about Sims 4 lighting being too ... Utopian. Maybe a little cooler, a little less Sitcom and a little more Drama style lighting would be a nice change.

I wouldn't mind staying with the TS4 art style.
But with more detailed meshes and textures, and also get rid of the doll house esthetic. Everything is so thick and blocky in The Sims 4.
It should be a mixture of thick and thin elements.

Roughly mid-way between the current cartoony and realish. Real enough to be taking advantage of the improvements in graphics technology, cartoony enough to stay light-hearted and fun. The 'sims' of in/enzoi are too close to looking like real people.