Which Sims game is the best?
Myself and a few other friends are arguing about which Sims game is the best. We want to settle this argument. Whichever game has the most 'votes' is the game we decide is best. Tell us your favorite ...
Forum Discussion
From a creators perspective..
The Sims 1 was definitely more difficult to play game wise, the game allowed for so much freedom in custom content, as you didn't have to deal with polygon counts of the objects created, only the characters. The interactions were rather basic, but I loved creating for Sims 1, despite the difficulty with z-buffers. This game wasn't originally designed to have interesting characters, that came later when, and forgive me for not remembering whom to credit, two of the new female members of the team recognized the potential of what was supposed to be primarily an architecture and design program and they saw Barbie's Dream House. Thank you to them for that because their input definitely took it to a fun game level. The difficulties that came along with the game play, the funny little annoyances, made the game fun. "Oops, Bob Newbie peed his pants again."
The Sims 2 game play was lacking, I found it to be more of an annoyance than anything. Aspirations were the worst...hated them. And someone should've thrown water on the Wicked Witch who came up with that idea. Creating custom content with the details was difficult as 3D is limiting on that. I actually didn't play the game as much because I didn't like the way it played. Still the expansion packs were well done and inventive But still created for it and found more enjoyment in that.
The Sims 3, I felt they almost hit the mark with the custom content, however I found limitations as well due to the plug-in textures and the usage of vector art, which to me was a bit too cartoon-like and plastic. I did create a few things for myself, but didn't share them as by that point, I was not impressed with the art, but the game play was much better than it's predecessors. I am still not a fan of aspirations, as I do not aspire to eat a sandwich or look in a mirror to gain charisma and ...
By the time I got to Sims 4, I learned to ignore the aspirations feature as would rather decide what my sims should do, rather than be told what they want, because it's the whole part of the storytelling aspect that made the first game fun. I was disappointed with the lack of content in the initial release and the limited color options, as it really isn't that difficult to provide more color swatches, I felt like Maxis cheaped out a little in that department. While the animators did a fantastic job with creating some realistic movement in the game, the clock is still way off. I understand there are things we do in our day that are skipped over and perhaps they are trying to fill our time by extending things like eating etc. I liked that my sims could eat and do other things, however, I do not spend my whole day eating, and neither should my sims. Sometimes less is more and I find myself waiting on these long animation sequences just to get something done, or wait for an action to cancel.
I have played with making custom content for Sims 4 and made a few things, though at that time, I found the tools provided to be inadequate for what I needed to do, as I can't bring myself to release things I consider to be sub par. I may revisit them again to see what improvements have been made, as I have made a few things here and there, that I would like to improve. The only thing I ever released was a wheelchair through a forum request.
With the expansion packs, game packs and stuff packs, I still feel like each one falls short a little bit. However, I do also recognize the work that goes into creating a brand new object with new interactions, but would it be so hard to throw in a few more paintings with each one, as I found that area to be lacking, playing a vanilla game. Even the floor textures, stone, brick, tile... really!?? one color items with no other options? They did a much better job with Vampires, so I hope this won't be a continued lazy tradition.
Some of the furniture seems so eclectic and as usually the mood boosters for objects just drive me to use the same objects for each house. THIS FEATURE NEEDS TO LEAVE the game, and has needed to since day one. In the days where millennials are re-purposing items, restoring old furniture and making streamlined houses, shabby chic is in... Why should one bed be more comfortable than another because of the design of the frame, all you need is a new mattress. If "Moods" are here to stay, than perhaps we could have some upgrade options for furniture to upgrade the comfort, room score, etc etc
The Sims 5... Now that the wicked witch is gone, I hope The Sims 5 will stretch beyond. I don't want my sims looking too real, it's still Barbie's Dream House. I want to be able to make custom content without the headaches of having to wait for some 3rd party to make tools that work, because Sims 1 proved that the custom content didn't slow down EA sales, if anything, it boosted it. Kept people playing while Maxis was creating interesting expansion packs. I liked the idea of letting people plug-in textures for recoloring, but we need good bump maps and shaders this time. And lets get rid of tile maps, good collision models should alleviate the need for those, unless I'm missing something.
Well, I didn't have much to say LOL I've been pretty quiet for the last few years, but I'm still here.
The Sims 1 was definitely more difficult to play game wise, the game allowed for so much freedom in custom content, as you didn't have to deal with polygon counts of the objects created, only the characters. The interactions were rather basic, but I loved creating for Sims 1, despite the difficulty with z-buffers. This game wasn't originally designed to have interesting characters, that came later when, and forgive me for not remembering whom to credit, two of the new female members of the team recognized the potential of what was supposed to be primarily an architecture and design program and they saw Barbie's Dream House. Thank you to them for that because their input definitely took it to a fun game level. The difficulties that came along with the game play, the funny little annoyances, made the game fun. "Oops, Bob Newbie peed his pants again."
The Sims 2 game play was lacking, I found it to be more of an annoyance than anything. Aspirations were the worst...hated them. And someone should've thrown water on the Wicked Witch who came up with that idea. Creating custom content with the details was difficult as 3D is limiting on that. I actually didn't play the game as much because I didn't like the way it played. Still the expansion packs were well done and inventive But still created for it and found more enjoyment in that.
The Sims 3, I felt they almost hit the mark with the custom content, however I found limitations as well due to the plug-in textures and the usage of vector art, which to me was a bit too cartoon-like and plastic. I did create a few things for myself, but didn't share them as by that point, I was not impressed with the art, but the game play was much better than it's predecessors. I am still not a fan of aspirations, as I do not aspire to eat a sandwich or look in a mirror to gain charisma and ...
By the time I got to Sims 4, I learned to ignore the aspirations feature as would rather decide what my sims should do, rather than be told what they want, because it's the whole part of the storytelling aspect that made the first game fun. I was disappointed with the lack of content in the initial release and the limited color options, as it really isn't that difficult to provide more color swatches, I felt like Maxis cheaped out a little in that department. While the animators did a fantastic job with creating some realistic movement in the game, the clock is still way off. I understand there are things we do in our day that are skipped over and perhaps they are trying to fill our time by extending things like eating etc. I liked that my sims could eat and do other things, however, I do not spend my whole day eating, and neither should my sims. Sometimes less is more and I find myself waiting on these long animation sequences just to get something done, or wait for an action to cancel.
I have played with making custom content for Sims 4 and made a few things, though at that time, I found the tools provided to be inadequate for what I needed to do, as I can't bring myself to release things I consider to be sub par. I may revisit them again to see what improvements have been made, as I have made a few things here and there, that I would like to improve. The only thing I ever released was a wheelchair through a forum request.
With the expansion packs, game packs and stuff packs, I still feel like each one falls short a little bit. However, I do also recognize the work that goes into creating a brand new object with new interactions, but would it be so hard to throw in a few more paintings with each one, as I found that area to be lacking, playing a vanilla game. Even the floor textures, stone, brick, tile... really!?? one color items with no other options? They did a much better job with Vampires, so I hope this won't be a continued lazy tradition.
Some of the furniture seems so eclectic and as usually the mood boosters for objects just drive me to use the same objects for each house. THIS FEATURE NEEDS TO LEAVE the game, and has needed to since day one. In the days where millennials are re-purposing items, restoring old furniture and making streamlined houses, shabby chic is in... Why should one bed be more comfortable than another because of the design of the frame, all you need is a new mattress. If "Moods" are here to stay, than perhaps we could have some upgrade options for furniture to upgrade the comfort, room score, etc etc
The Sims 5... Now that the wicked witch is gone, I hope The Sims 5 will stretch beyond. I don't want my sims looking too real, it's still Barbie's Dream House. I want to be able to make custom content without the headaches of having to wait for some 3rd party to make tools that work, because Sims 1 proved that the custom content didn't slow down EA sales, if anything, it boosted it. Kept people playing while Maxis was creating interesting expansion packs. I liked the idea of letting people plug-in textures for recoloring, but we need good bump maps and shaders this time. And lets get rid of tile maps, good collision models should alleviate the need for those, unless I'm missing something.
Well, I didn't have much to say LOL I've been pretty quiet for the last few years, but I'm still here.
