Sims 4

[trip]

I'm so torn. I really wanted this game to suck hard...like the new SimCity release hard.

The reviews seem to be leaning more towards the good outweighs the bad.

 

Not sure you'll find a bigger Will Wright/maxis/sim fan than me but I'm still burnt heavy from SimCity and still very ultra concerned about the omissions and cha ges in the release of TheSims.

 

Holding back from buying this right now is difficult.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Wait for the TotalBiscuit video. I guarantee you his video will put you in a certain direction, whether that be a purchase or not.

[NYC PATROL]

Saw this comment on IGN last night (giant list in spoiler). Looks like Sims 4 took two steps forward with their new create a sim and home building tools but took many many steps back in other areas.

 

 

 

I really do hope they pan Sim's 4, and really, really dig into it. Everything being removed, and chopped from the main game so we can get regular, incremental expansions is just consumer exploitation at it's finest.
Seriously 89 things from the previous 3 games have been removed, some things were standard items in the previous games (Pools, etc).

MAJOR MISSING FEATURES THAT WERE IN SIMS 3 (TS3):
No create a style (CAST) - NOT possible in future expansions (x)
No modifications to world/public spaces - The park in the demo is a mix of a community lot and public space (x1) (x2)
No “normal” careers - Law enforcement, Medical, Business, etc. were removed (x)
No open world - You must incur a loading screen between each active lot; each neighborhood has 1-5 lots total (x1) (x2)
No pools (x)
No terrain tools other than paint; everything is perfectly flat (x)
No story progression - Sims in the neighborhood age, but do not have
children, get jobs, move, get married…etc. without player intervention
(x)
No toddlers (x)
No way to create/place new lots - And you only have 2 empty ones at the start of the game!
No Mac version of the game at release

MAJOR CRIPPLED/LIMITED FEATURES THAT WERE IN TS3:
All buildings on a lot must have the same foundation. No mixing for sheds, garages, etc. (x)
Babies are mere objects - All interactions are through basinet.
There are no baby objects. Babies can only be lifted directly above
basinet. (x)
Backgrounds are illusions - The buildings in the background are not playable in the game. (x)
Completely FLAT lots - The entire build-able world is completely flat (x)
Fewer floors/levels, limited to three (x1) (x2)
SIGNIFICANTLY smaller “worlds” of <25 lots compared to 125+ lots in TS3 (x)
Smaller lots - Lots are limited to 50x50 instead of 64x64. (x)
Loading screens for individual lots (x)
The map is a one-dimensional picture (x)
Teens are same height as adults and they, along with elders, all look nearly identical. (x)

OTHER MISSING GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS FROM TS1-TS3:
No acne (x)
No aliens (x)
No animated hair (x)
No aspiration failures (x)
No babysitters (x)
No bartender (as NPC) (x)
No basements (x)
No bookstores (x)
No burglars (x)
No cars (not even as décor) (x)
No cemeteries (x)
No cutscenes (x)
No cleaning skill (x)
No clothes shopping (x)
No color wheel, predefined to ~20 colors (x)
No comfort need (x)
No curfew (x)
No customization of multi-tone hair color (users select only main color) (x)
No dinner proposals (x)
No diseases or illness (x)
No dreams (x)
No environment need
No eyelash length slider (x)
No favorites (food, color, music) (x)
No fears (x)
No full face make-up (x)
No garage doors (x)
No gardener for hire (x)
No ghosts (x1) (x2)
No grocery stores (x)
No male body hair (x)
No move object cheat (x)
No newspapers (x)
No opacity slider for makeup (x)
No party invitations from other Sims
No private school (x)
No rabbit holes at all - Sims move offscreen for work and school. There are no hospitals, work/school buildings…etc. (x)
No random or accidental deaths
No repairman (x)
No repo man - (x)
No restaurants
No skin slider (x)
No swimming/swimwear - Including lakes, fountains, etc. (x)
No tragic clown or social bunny (x)
No way to watch a Sim commute to work/school (x)
No website for browsing exchange or store (in-game only)
No zodiac signs

MISSING OBJECTS FROM TS1, TS2 OR TS3 BASE GAMES:
No bikes
No changing tables
No cribs
No dishwashers (x)
No highchairs
No hot tubs
No pool tables
No trash compactors (x)

MISC CRIPPLED GAME FEATURES:
32-bit executable - TS4 is not 64-bit, and cannot access more than
4GB of RAM. If you have more than 4GB then you are crippled.
Fewer traits in CAS (more traits must be unlocked/earned in-game)
Incompatible Simpoint currency - Sims 3 Store Simpoints do not work with TS4

LIKELY TRUE YET STILL UNCONFIRMED:
No cashiers
No Create a World
No exterminator
No swings
Premium Membership is REQUIRED to get certain sets on release day or at all
No inheritance
No interests
No magazines
No pinball machines
No way to water flower beds/bushes
No family trees

(Sources http://ts4news.com/post/945419... and

)

 

Edited September 2, 2014 by NYC PATROL

[Moth]

Ok, if that list is true, I have zero interest in TS4 now. It really seems they tried to make TS4 more like TS1, but with better graphics!

 

So can anyone tell me why I should get this? Cause I really don't see a reason.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Moth

[Flachbau]

Mmmmm, all of dem missing features.

 

Smells like EA's failure.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Quick non-review:

 

http://kotaku.com/my-first-few-hours-with-the-sims-4-1629722695/all

 

Every "review" I've seen about this game has been positive so far.

 

EDIT: And again, that list includes some stupid sh*t, or sh*t that was introduced in DLC.

 

I mean, c'mon...

 

No acne
No aliens

No cutscenes

No dreams

No eyelash length slider

No male body hair

No tragic clown or social bunny

 

Some of those are just idiotic and nitpicky to all hell.

 

THIS is a much more accurate list:

 

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/768914/accurate-list-of-new-and-not-returning-features-in-sims-4

Edited September 2, 2014 by TheMasterfocker

[NYC PATROL]

I skipped Sims 3 but after looking into 4 I might just go buy 3. 3 seems to offer a lot. The graphics in 4 look a little more cartoony and exaggerated too compared to the others in the series. Not necessarily a bad thing.

 

Also, when you buy any sims game realize that about 10-20 different DLC's will eventually come out. I hate that they do this. But I'll watch more gameplay of 4 and see how it is. Plus most of the major gaming sites haven't even put out reviews yet. (Due to EA not giving out early review copies)

Edited September 3, 2014 by NYC PATROL

[Audiophile]

Ok, if that list is true, I have zero interest in TS4 now. It really seems they tried to make TS4 more like TS1, but with better graphics!

 

So can anyone tell me why I should get this? Cause I really don't see a reason.

 

Most The Sims games are pretty lacking when they first launch. The base game is just a foundation. I remember back when TS3 launched, half the stuff people are listing as "missing" wasn't in the game either. Pretty much same thing that is going on right now happens at a new TS launch.

 

The expansions will come and add more substance. Patches do add new content. I believe one of the listed missing features was that there were no basements. Basements didn't come at launch with TS3, they were added for free in a patch. So was male body hair blah blah most of the other things listed.

 

When TS3 launched it was bare bones. Same with TS4 but I think it has slightly more potential than TS3 did because TS3 ran like sh*t pretty much at launch. TS4 doesn't.

 

Ball is in EA's court. Hopefully they don't cock it up because like trip, I am still burned by SimCity.

[El Dildo]

I am sure TS2 and TS3 felt like this when they only had the base game out, have to be fair. TS3 is what it is today, albeit a stuttery mess, after 5 years of patches, stuff packs and expansions.

yeah this is why I can't buy TS4 yet.

 

what if I really enjoy it?

just like I really enjoyed 2 and 3. you get to a point where you know it's only a matter of time; ok set your timers, you've got about 1 year to enjoy this sh*t until it becomes utterly unplayable. at which point it all feels like wasted time.

 

I still can't figure out what exactly makes TS4 different enough from TS3 to warrant its existence.

[Audiophile]

The game feels...optimized this time round but we'll see how it holds up after some expansions.

 

As I recall, Sims 3 ran like sh*t even at the base game. It just that sh*t compounded with each expansion until not even a super PC could run it without stuttering.

 

Like I said, it has potential and appears to be a good foundation. Don't cock it up, EA.

 

EDIT: Well TB is streaming Sims 4 on Twitch right now.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Audiophile

[Geralt of Rivia]

He decides to stream at 11:00 PM after hours of homework *sigh*

 

Sorry TB, hope you actually make a video.

[Audiophile]

I only watched the last, maybe, 10-15 minutes. Stream ended already.

 

He basically has no real opinion right now aside from "OMG LOADING SCREENS". Said he will continue to play and offer a real opinion later in the week.

[Geralt of Rivia]

What about the loading screens? That they take a long time? Or just that he prefers open world?

 

Because, I mean, the latter is obvious. Everyone would prefer an open world. But as long as the loading screens aren't that long, I can live without it. Especially with that performance boost.

[Audiophile]

The loading screens are literally a few seconds long and I am pretty sure he is playing on a much better PC than I am. I'm laptop I bought in late 2010. An i7 at 1.73 GHz, GTX 460M 1.5 GB's, 6 GB's ram. I am long overdue for an upgrade (going back to a desktop, at long last...never again will I get a gaming laptop).

 

I've been playing since the afternoon of the 1st so my game has gotten there quite a bit...loading screens still take maybe between 10 to 15 seconds. Really depends where you are going but they are not long at all.

 

He didn't like the fact that when you load into a neighbourhood (i.e. the lots grouped together in that particular world) you can walk anywhere you want...but...once you want to go to another house or venue, you have to go through a loading screen to load into that lot. So it's "open world" but it's not....

 

He also said he's never played TS3 but has played TS2. So I don't think he quite gets why it it had to go back to this way of loading things i.e. stutter clusterf*ck that is TS3. I don't really like the fact that he went from TS2 to TS4 but meh. You just have to experience the clusterf*ck that is TS3 to understand.

 

That was really the only negative thing he had to say but he hasn't made up his mind yet and will play more before he does.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Sweet. Everyone wrote this game off before release with that stupid list, and it looks like Sims 4 came out on top so far.

 

I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised.

[Rebel]

I've just been downloading it from last night. Just at work right now but I don't think it gets released until the 4th here in the UK. Looking forward to it though even if everything is a little dumbed down.

[Audiophile]

I am actually quite enjoying the "hobbies" like gardening and fishing.

 

Have not tried out woodworking yet but that's next, I think.

 

I am trying to get a cow plant. You can either find one when your sim is exploring space via the rocket ship (rare) or splice together a snapdragon and dragon fruit to create a cow plant seed. There is one other way, I think, but I don't remember.

 

Cooking is fun, too. They have some decent meals in there now and quite a lot. Once you reach level 6 or 7 of the cooking skill, you can branch off into the gourmet cooking skill. With gourmet cooking, you can make better use of your home-grown herbs, vegetables, fruits and caught fish.

 

Have to say, despite the feeling of a lot of stuff missing going from 5 years of added content in TS3 and some minor bugs, I am quite enjoying this game and looking forward to more content being added.

 

EDIT: Oh and another thing I noticed, the sim I am doing all this with his traits are basically: Loves the Outdoors, Foodie, Collector (from angler aspiration or whatever it's called) and Athletic.

 

Had him wake up one morning, take a brisk shower, which put him in an energized mood...that gave me the option to cook a protein meal in plate, family meal or party size serving. Cooked one protein meal for him, which added to his energized state....made him work out with that and had a nice boost. I found that interesting because I hadn't noticed it until earlier today.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Audiophile

[OysterBarron]

how in depth is the gardening hobbie is there a wide variety of crops and cross splicing? can you sell things you grow or even use them to create new food dish's?

[Audiophile]

http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/skills/gardening/

 

The above is pretty comprehensive but not complete as I know there are tomato plants in the game but he does not currently have it on his list.

 

This is probably going to give you a much better overview of the gardening than I can. I have not gotten that far into it but these are my initial impressions: I have several planter boxes for fruits, vegetables and herbs that require one plot. Apples, for example, require much more space because they grow into a tree. For those I use the single pot planter. You don't actually need to use a planter box or pot, you can simply plop it down on the ground and plant it that way. I just prefer the boxes/pots because it keeps things organized and looks nice.

 

It seems improved from TS3. You can evolve plants after a certain period of time and taking care of them. Splice, cut. Seeds are purchased via clicking on the planter box/pot or using the computer/tablet and ordering some online. You start off with basic packs for flowers, veggies, herbs and fruits. Once you get to a certain level, you can buy better packs and unlock more interactions like talking to your plants, fertilizing them, etc.

 

The thing is when you first start out, it's quite limited to the same array of veggies, fruits, etc that you can plant i.e. carrot, grape, etc. You have to go out into the world and find the plants yourself, harvest them and plant your new seeds at home. That being said, I did mention you unlock new packs as you progress in gardening.

 

I don't quite think you can create new food dishes. Maybe in an expansion or patch... When you are on the menu to select what meal you wish to cook, it tells you what ingredients the meal requires and if you have them, if you do they will be highlighted in green text. If you don't, they will be in greyed out text. But of course, if you don't have them you can just pay to purchase them for that one meal.

 

EDIT: Oh and yeah, I believe there is quite a bit of cross-splicing. I have not tried it out yet but from what I understand, you can splice to your hearts desire to see what comes out.

 

Lel reply 169.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Audiophile

[OysterBarron]

http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/skills/gardening/

 

The above is pretty comprehensive but not complete as I know there are tomato plants in the game but he does not currently have it on his list.

 

This is probably going to give you a much better overview of the gardening than I can. I have not gotten that far into it but these are my initial impressions: I have several planter boxes for fruits, vegetables and herbs that require one plot. Apples, for example, require much more space because they grow into a tree. For those I use the single pot planter. You don't actually need to use a planter box or pot, you can simply plop it down on the ground and plant it that way. I just prefer the boxes/pots because it keeps things organized and looks nice.

 

It seems improved from TS3. You can evolve plants after a certain period of time and taking care of them. Splice, cut. Seeds are purchased via clicking on the planter box/pot or using the computer/tablet and ordering some online. You start off with basic packs for flowers, veggies, herbs and fruits. Once you get to a certain level, you can buy better packs and unlock more interactions like talking to your plants, fertilizing them, etc.

 

The thing is when you first start out, it's quite limited to the same array of veggies, fruits, etc that you can plant i.e. carrot, grape, etc. You have to go out into the world and find the plants yourself, harvest them and plant your new seeds at home. That being said, I did mention you unlock new packs as you progress in gardening.

 

I don't quite think you can create new food dishes. Maybe in an expansion or patch... When you are on the menu to select what meal you wish to cook, it tells you what ingredients the meal requires and if you have them, if you do they will be highlighted in green text. If you don't, they will be in greyed out text. But of course, if you don't have them you can just pay to purchase them for that one meal.

 

EDIT: Oh and yeah, I believe there is quite a bit of cross-splicing. I have not tried it out yet but from what I understand, you can splice to your hearts desire to see what comes out.

 

Lel reply 169.

SOLD PRE PURCHASE

[Geralt of Rivia]

You can go to space!?

[Audiophile]

Yeah, like I said the game does have positives and enjoyable aspects. I find it quite fun, for a base game. It can only improve from here on out and thank the gods it runs well.

 

If you are in the video game hobby, as you level up you gain new interactions, unlock more games to play and can enter video game tournaments. Haven't explored this hobby much but I have had quite a few skill gains in it from a sim who was in the tech career.

 

While careers are lacking and I wish there were "normal" careers, the ones that are available are quite fun. And it's not as easy as just going to work to get a promotion now. You have to complete the at-home tasks on top of performance. So far I have only gotten to level 10 in the tech and culinary careers (entrepreneur branch and chef branch). You unlock interesting objects as you level up in careers and when in build mode, you can now go over to the styled rooms section and find pre-built rooms for each specific career and branch with all those unlockables in there. So if you reached the top level, you can just plop it down with all the unlocks.

 

So the careers are quite fun, too. Looking forward to exploring more of those because of all the various interactions, objects and tasks you receive from them.

 

There is still a lot left for me to explore in terms of hobbies and careers.

 

EDIT:

@TheMasterfocker

 

Your sim can purchase a rocket ship and gain the rocket science skill. Which each skill gain, you can upgrade new things on your rocket i.e. landing gear, fuel tanks that help you deal with the scenarios you get whole "exploring space" via the rocket. They just go off and you wait for them to return. You do deal with the scenarios I mentioned. They basically work like the flash cards in TS2 where you select what to do based on a situation. With exploring space, they compound tho i.e. you select to board a ship...well you will then be asked what to do once you have boarded. I think you get up to 3 of those before your sim finishes the rest of the journey and comes home.

 

When you first purchase the rocket, you just get the landing pad. You have to spend 1k to actually build it and as you do, you see it progress. If you are in the astronaut career path, you can unlock I think two career-specific rockets, one for each branch. I have brought back space rocks, space specimens, etc.

 

I've only hit started with most of these, so keep that in mind too.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Audiophile

[OysterBarron]

lol my guess of a 5gb download was a tad out it's 8.55gb

[Kirsty]

Damn, I'm getting that familiar Sims feeling...

 

Read lots of bad things about this, and I'm still pissed they removed swimming pools, but every time I see it I want to buy it so I might have to give in and give it a shot. I tried the C-A-S demo and it was cool.

 

Still over a day left for the UK though

[?!=+_-]

Never bought a sims before and thought might give it a go then I read about all this sh*t taken out and it's like a downgrade it puts me off.

[Audiophile]

Damn, I'm getting that familiar Sims feeling...

 

Read lots of bad things about this, and I'm still pissed they removed swimming pools, but every time I see it I want to buy it so I might have to give in and give it a shot. I tried the C-A-S demo and it was cool.

 

Still over a day left for the UK though

 

Yeah, they will add swimming pools back in though. They came out after all the backlash and said "lel well new engine and it's hard to do the animations for the pools we decided to focus on other stuff to make it deeper and the pools were a trade-off".

http://www.thesims.com/news/whats-out-and-whats-in

 

The above link is their explanation. I can't quite find where they said they will add stuff back in, I don't remember if it was from one of their live broadcasts on Twitch or an interview. I just remember it.

 

That being said, they did say they are listening to the fans and that they will add pools back in and probably toddlers. Whether in a patch or expansion, we'll see. I reckon the pools might come in a patch, just like basements were added to TS3 via a patch. And something as big as toddlers will come in an expansion...probably a generations themed one.

 

Yeah, stuff is missing but a lot of the stuff that is wasn't even in TS3 or 2 at base. It was all added in via patches and expansions.

 

If anyone has more questions, I can do my best to answer those and hopefully steer you in the right direction of deciding for yourself if it's worth it or not. All depends on your play-style, too. I am sure once more content comes out via patches, expansions it will be a game worth getting to more and more people.

 

EDIT: Finally got a cow plant seed! Managed to catch on fishing at a little pond in the Oasis Springs park.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Audiophile

[theNGclan]

Damn, I'm getting that familiar Sims feeling...

 

Read lots of bad things about this, and I'm still pissed they removed swimming pools, but every time I see it I want to buy it so I might have to give in and give it a shot. I tried the C-A-S demo and it was cool.

 

Still over a day left for the UK though

*cough*VPN*cough*

[Audiophile]

Yeah, you can use a VPN to play early.

 

I used Flyvpn (it has a free trial) back when NA didn't have it out yet but Korea did.

 

That was to play hours in advance though. I am not sure what would happen if you did it for a whole day. Probably nothing but I hear it's risky now with Origin's new ToS.

 

Might have just been trolling though since pretty much a lot of people use a VPN to activate early. A lot of people did it for Titanfall.

[Rebel]

Damn, I'm getting that familiar Sims feeling...

 

Read lots of bad things about this, and I'm still pissed they removed swimming pools, but every time I see it I want to buy it so I might have to give in and give it a shot. I tried the C-A-S demo and it was cool.

 

Still over a day left for the UK though

 

If you want it, you can pick it up from a CD key website for about £29 and have it pre downloaded before it gets released (at least I did that, got sent my Key yesterday and can pre download it via origin) To be honest, I'm looking forward to it even if they have some negative points.

 

Im actually looking forward to the cheats as well haha.

[OysterBarron]

 

Damn, I'm getting that familiar Sims feeling...

 

Read lots of bad things about this, and I'm still pissed they removed swimming pools, but every time I see it I want to buy it so I might have to give in and give it a shot. I tried the C-A-S demo and it was cool.

 

Still over a day left for the UK though

 

If you want it, you can pick it up from a CD key website for about £29 and have it pre downloaded before it gets released (at least I did that, got sent my Key yesterday and can pre download it via origin) To be honest, I'm looking forward to it even if they have some negative points.

 

Im actually looking forward to the cheats as well haha.

Please tell me that price wasn't for the digital deulex version?