Sims 5: What would you like to see
I personally would like a cross between the Sims 4 and Sims 3. Small Neighborhoods/Worlds like the Sims 4 but each one is an open Neighborhood/World. So you only have to wait for the loading screen...
Forum Discussion
There's a lot of content ideas I could list, but I want to keep this simpler and more overarching.
* An easy first, I'd like to see as many traditionally-expansion-features squeezed into the base game as possible. Obviously, it's not practical for a new game to have as much development put into it as a game that's been out for years and years, and the other traditional response is something like "what would they sell later?", but I think it's important to do what they can. The Sims 4's bare bones launch dealt it a blow that it took years to recover from, and I think that's proof that there's only going to continue to be diminishing returns on the same expansions every time. I take it for granted when I'm playing, but when I look up other suggestions, I realize there is a lot the Sims can still do, or has never done. There's no lack of potential for expansion ideas.
* Regardless of how the first point is handled, the game needs a solid foundation that's built to be more modular from the beginning. What I mean by that is, by this point, we all know that there's a lot of past expansions whose features won't make it for launch, but they're going to eventually recreate. A better plan should be in place for these ahead of time. I only had a few expansions for the Sims 3, and still none for Sims 4, but I've heard horror stories of how poorly some of them end up interacting with each other, or how the games can start running poorly with too many of them activated. For instance, if you don't have an old staple like Seasons at launch, still design things with the idea that rain might eventually be added, so that when Seasons are added, they're properly backward compatible.
** As an addendum to that, make individual features themselves be more customizable. I've heard that the packs that add things like Vampires or Aliens either tend to dominate your neighborhoods or otherwise force you to deal with unrealistic situations you may not have wanted in your game, even if there was something else really important to you in that pack. At the very least, a toggle for supernatural elements could be added across the board.
* I want a massive pass on customization. The whole point of this game is to make simulated people (often yourself), so absolutely anything that could be added to allow you to get just that much closer can make a huge difference, even as something as simple as a height slider.
** The increased "social awareness" that has been patched into the Sims 4 is something that the Sims 5 could really embrace to add whole new layers of customization. One idea I believe I read on these forums a few years back was something as simple as adding wheelchairs. That alone could add a whole new dynamic to the game, with interesting considerations for things like wheelchair accessibility, and it could mean a lot to people who want to make a Sim of themselves, scars and all.
** I really want layered clothing. I want to pick an undershirt, then a jacket, then the scarf on top. Not just "pick a top, hope you like the combination". It's not too terribly difficult to put together if the game is built for it from the beginning, but it has a massive impact on customization. I also think it would actually make me more excited for new clothing options in packs, because each one could be paired with every other one, instead of one thing being off about a piece of clothing being enough to ruin it for an outfit you're going for. This could tie into other systems in fun, dynamic ways as well, like laundry and even work uniforms. Also, of course, let us color them however we want. If the limited options in Sims 4 were added to in expansions I would have been annoyed but at least understood why there was a change, but that didn't happen.
* This one is more subjective, but it means a lot to me. I'd like to see a less... extreme art style next time. The cartoony, "stylized realism" angle is something that works well and allowed even the first Sims game to age fairly well, but I think the Sims 4 went overboard with the expressions. No matter how long I spend customizing a character's facial features or their personality traits, the next moment they're posing, raising their eyebrows super high, and putting on this painfully self-satisfied smirk that instantly replaces all of the character I worked hard to put into their design with an appearance they share with everyone else in the game.
* An easy first, I'd like to see as many traditionally-expansion-features squeezed into the base game as possible. Obviously, it's not practical for a new game to have as much development put into it as a game that's been out for years and years, and the other traditional response is something like "what would they sell later?", but I think it's important to do what they can. The Sims 4's bare bones launch dealt it a blow that it took years to recover from, and I think that's proof that there's only going to continue to be diminishing returns on the same expansions every time. I take it for granted when I'm playing, but when I look up other suggestions, I realize there is a lot the Sims can still do, or has never done. There's no lack of potential for expansion ideas.
* Regardless of how the first point is handled, the game needs a solid foundation that's built to be more modular from the beginning. What I mean by that is, by this point, we all know that there's a lot of past expansions whose features won't make it for launch, but they're going to eventually recreate. A better plan should be in place for these ahead of time. I only had a few expansions for the Sims 3, and still none for Sims 4, but I've heard horror stories of how poorly some of them end up interacting with each other, or how the games can start running poorly with too many of them activated. For instance, if you don't have an old staple like Seasons at launch, still design things with the idea that rain might eventually be added, so that when Seasons are added, they're properly backward compatible.
** As an addendum to that, make individual features themselves be more customizable. I've heard that the packs that add things like Vampires or Aliens either tend to dominate your neighborhoods or otherwise force you to deal with unrealistic situations you may not have wanted in your game, even if there was something else really important to you in that pack. At the very least, a toggle for supernatural elements could be added across the board.
* I want a massive pass on customization. The whole point of this game is to make simulated people (often yourself), so absolutely anything that could be added to allow you to get just that much closer can make a huge difference, even as something as simple as a height slider.
** The increased "social awareness" that has been patched into the Sims 4 is something that the Sims 5 could really embrace to add whole new layers of customization. One idea I believe I read on these forums a few years back was something as simple as adding wheelchairs. That alone could add a whole new dynamic to the game, with interesting considerations for things like wheelchair accessibility, and it could mean a lot to people who want to make a Sim of themselves, scars and all.
** I really want layered clothing. I want to pick an undershirt, then a jacket, then the scarf on top. Not just "pick a top, hope you like the combination". It's not too terribly difficult to put together if the game is built for it from the beginning, but it has a massive impact on customization. I also think it would actually make me more excited for new clothing options in packs, because each one could be paired with every other one, instead of one thing being off about a piece of clothing being enough to ruin it for an outfit you're going for. This could tie into other systems in fun, dynamic ways as well, like laundry and even work uniforms. Also, of course, let us color them however we want. If the limited options in Sims 4 were added to in expansions I would have been annoyed but at least understood why there was a change, but that didn't happen.
* This one is more subjective, but it means a lot to me. I'd like to see a less... extreme art style next time. The cartoony, "stylized realism" angle is something that works well and allowed even the first Sims game to age fairly well, but I think the Sims 4 went overboard with the expressions. No matter how long I spend customizing a character's facial features or their personality traits, the next moment they're posing, raising their eyebrows super high, and putting on this painfully self-satisfied smirk that instantly replaces all of the character I worked hard to put into their design with an appearance they share with everyone else in the game.
