What would make a Sims 4 worth it for you?

[parrot999]

I'm going to be honest here, I'm not looking forward to anything after The Sims 3. There is no way that EA isn't going to create tight deadlines for such a project, forcing the team to cut corners (like with The Sims 3). But for a moment, let's pretend EA didn't rush projects into a maximum of 2 year long development. What would make a Sims 4 worth the jump to you?

Here's my list:
-Credit system: Lets say your family is low on funds, but you know your sims will be able to afford the expense within the next 5 days. You would be able to charge to credit, and your next set of bills will contain the price of the object plus interest. It would be useful for things like when you first build a house, and forget something like a fridge, or toilet, or if your sims are consumerists (see below), and want new stuff.

-Personality revamp: It has always bothered me in The Sims 3, that traits are Black and White. (Good/Evil, Technophobe/Computer Geek, etc.) Then I thought back to The traditional Sims personality system, which is also far from perfect, Then I thought why not combine the two. There would be about 20 sliders, with opposites on either side of each slider. Some would be good vs. bad traits like kind vs. mean, others would be differences in opinion like Liberal (The belief that the individual is more important than any government or business) vs. Conservitive (The belief that the whole system is more important than the individuals within it.) These kinds of traits would introduce actual conflicting opinions, in which your sims will either have to learn get along with people of differing opinions, or develop a kind of phobia towards people of different opinions.

-Phobias: If your sims experience traumatic events or isolate themselves from certain events, for example a toddler getting bitten by a spider, then they can develop phobias which will show on the personality panel in the UI. There will be a bar that starts out filled, and the more they face their fears the more empty the bar gets until they are no longer afraid of it.

Wackiness: My idea of a sims 4 isn't all realistic and serious, sims will still have wacky items, creature states, and wacky NPC's but they will also have returning wackiness. For example, the tragic clown and therapist will be back.

-DIY: Sims will be able to create their own furniture, using parts. There will be two ways of accessing the DIY menu. In an occupied house, you can buy a workbench, which allows you to create furniture, using an interesting UI where you choose your furnishing type, and then choose from various parts of that type. Like a rounded chair back, and fancy chair legs, then you would use the much faster version of create a style to design the pattern on your furnishing, and perhaps create a style would even have stencils like the patterns in pets. This will be cheaper than buying prefabricated stuff, but your sims would be taxed with the labor, so give them frequent breaks (or just use maxmotives). As for the unoccupied houses, you can access it via buy and build mode.

-Regions: Each city and town in the game would be connected with an area of reconciliation, there would be no loading screens, instead you would have a limited view distance, and the game would load the distant terrain as you get closer to it, in small pieces like with Minecraft. This would have to be well optimized to work, but it can work. Also, you could terraform the landscape and build new cities and towns.

-Hair length: Hair would have a slider for length in CAS for each hair style, but it will also grow out on it's own, so you may have to visit the barber shop, or take your chances and cut it yourself.

-Online economy: What people buy effects the prices with supply and demand logic. This could be turned off for those without a steady internet connection.

So those are my ideas, what are yours?

[kayls42]

I like all of those except the idea of the online economy, just because it could get a little crazy - and how would CC fit in?
I especially like the idea of the credit system and the re-done personality. TS3 Sims kind of fall flat when it comes to personality; in my game at least, what traits they have really don't affect them very much (with a few exceptions, like Workaholic).
And the credit system would be great. Anything extra to add to my Simmies bills! :)

What I really want to see in TS4 is revamped gardening. Appropriate bushes, trees, vines, etc. for the appropriate produce. No more meat/burger/cheese bushes! No more apple trees to grow bananas!
It would also be pretty cool to have the option for Sims to "invent" their own meals, using various ingredients. Depending on their cooking skill, the result could be disastrous (stick to Hamburger Helper!) or really great (open a restaurant!)

[Periandre]

I wish people wouldn't just click the disagree button without expressing what they disagree with. Okay, maybe it works when the poster expresses one idea, but not when there are many ideas in one post...

That being said, I take it this is anything goes?

I agree with the Personality Revamp and like your ideas. What I'd like to see is sims getting ten traits, which would then be ranked, three greater, four middle and 3 lesser. I'd like to see the traits being modified by one another. For example: Flirty/evil would try to break up relationships, string people along, while flirty/good would be horrified to knowingly flirt with someone in a relationship. I'd also like to see the sim capable of a form of evolution. Create a sim with an athletic trait, but then never use it, trait gets weaker and weaker eventually falling away completely and is replaced with a trait more in keeping with their lifestyle.

I'd like the Sims 4 to come with two Control Applications that run outside of the game. One would manage content, assign categories, collections and search words. Allow you to change costs and modifiers, where it shows in the catalog, CAST from the application, change defaults and create sims. I'd also like to be able to assign modifiers to clothing, i.e. if an outfit is scandalous, I'd want sims with that gender preference to react, family to be outraged. The second application would allow you to create backgrounds and family relationships for sims, even allow you to create a sort of directive of future relationships.

Psychiatrist NPC, the game's artificial intelligence made manifest. Sims would be directed here in order to be brought in sync with any outside directives. Using Sims3 as an example. You have a couple, one has the brave trait, he is exposed to something like the mummy when he doesn't have the skills to defeat it. Brave is transformed into cowardly. This puts strain on the couple, resulting in him visiting the psychiatrist, who would prescribe activities (athletics, simfu) that would lessen the cowardly trait to the point where he could re-confront the mummy and regain the brave trait.

I've said elsewhere that I think Rabbitholes should remain, but that I'd like to see a new community lot, let's say an Active lot. Active lots with the appropriate objects could support a rabbithole career. For example, Police station would have a stand up reception desk, work cubicle, interrogation table, jail cells.The rabbithole shells should be more generic, in a variety of period and architectural styles. You would click on the shell and assign which career it supports. And some Active Career lots would by their nature support more than the assigned career -- allowing for administrative (business career) to function at hospitals, police stations etc. I'd like to see some trait / skills combine into different careers, artistic + computer wiz = graphic designer or web designer, genius + computer wiz = programmer. These could function working from home or freelancing from any appropriate rabbithole, or rather every appropriate rabbithole/active career lot.

Building
I'd like walls to be measured in quarter heights, and I'd like a new building shell that would allow you to build in four story, stackable implements that could each host it's own family. In addition to being stackable, they could also be placed sided by side allowing for the creation of highrises and rowhouses.

Better Relationships
More categories, now every relationship is based on friendship. But I'd really like the family relationship to be a separate relationship type. If the parent(s) not paying attention to the child, I would expect the child to start acting out and the teacher to be summoning the parent to PTA meetings. Should the relationship continue to deteriorate child's traits would be affected and for the entire family or a least the kid to have to seek counseling.

And last (at least for now), but definitely not least. Have weather in the game from the start so the rest of us can have some peace. :P

[itsamariokart]

More traits. I'd like a slider because I agree, things are too black and white in the Sims.

More social interactions. Telling the same jokes and making silly faces gets boring after a while.

Height sliders.

Hair sliders.

Less rabbit holes. I think the odd rabbit hole is effective but The Sims 3 takes the piss.

Weather -_____- for the love of all that is holy, GIVE ME WEATHER!

[zigersimmer]

I would like to see construction crews constructing houses and community lots in the game for me, rather than me having to take time out from the game to do the building myself. I would like to specify the lot and pick a blueprint for the crew to build, but then have it built over time as I play in live mode just as we see in the real world, rather than the completed lot appearing like magic. My sims could get jobs working on the lots, so there's a new career too! This would not have to eliminate players building lots, but we could pick any player built lot to be the blueprint to use.

[parrot999]

Yeah CC would be a tough one with the online economy idea... But perhaps have CC randomly increase and decrease in value. That could work... I think...

Anyways, great ideas keep them coming.

[Will Galen]

What would make a Sims 4 worth it for me?

Having bought Sims 1, 2, and 3, I've already decided not to buy Sims 4 because I don't like the way EA does things. The only way they could change my mind is if weather was included in the Sims 4 base game or at least in the first expansion pack. Having to wait until near the end for something that should be in the game at the start is a none starter for me.

What I'm going to do instead is finish the world I'm building, and then add the CC I want and then never be bothered by patchs and updates again.

Plus, I think they will do with Sims 4 what they are doing with Sim City, make you have to be online to play it. That just won't happen with me! How many people will be upset when they go to play Sim City and the site is down for some reason?

I deleted the rest of this irate post . . .

[Darthreven77]

If sims four made my computer magically up to par with the requirements that I know wont fit my current pc i would consider it lol

[ViolettaVie]

What would make it worth it?

1- It is built with a better game engine that can handle 500+ population

2- Maps can be 4 or 5x the size of Sims 3's largest map

3- NPC's can have homes and active sims can visit them when they aren't working.

4- Residential lots can be designated for NPCs.

5- Apartment buildings can have more that one playable family as well as units for NPCs to live in; and we can specify which.

6- Weather is base game. This is non-negotiable

7- Clothing and hairs are tagged (business, casual, trashy, futuristic, '20s, trendy, etc.) and we can choose which catagory or specific clothing is fit for random or if they will show up in CAST while playing a particular neighborhood.

8- Babies are more interactive but they also sleep more.

9- Babies also have about 3 clothing choices. If I am playing a tropical island, my sim baby can just wear a diaper. If I am playing an alpine town, my sim baby can be bundled up. Their clothing can also be CAStable.

10- Toddlers can mess with almost anything in the home, as long as they can reach it. They can also harm themselves if parents aren't watching.

11- Toddlers can interact with each other, play together, make mischief, or fight over toys.

12- Sims can get generic jobs that do not have a career ladder. So if I want to have a sim stuck in a deadend job, I can do that.

13- There is actually an economy with banks. Whatever the sims have other sims made it. Simple example: toys. Sims can make and sale toys. They can own a toy shop or just work in it. Another example: video games. Sims can work as video game developers. Others can work in electrinics jobs. Sims can shop to buy electronics and games. Grocery stores are open and sims can work or shop there. Also sims can buy freshly caught fish or produce from a farmer's market, etc. Taxis cost money. Clothing cost money. Cell phones have to be bought. If we click on a sim's friend within the UI to call, the sim will just walk over to the house phone and dial or use the payphone if they are not home.

14- Certain careers affect the town as a whole such as the political career, law enforcement, crimnal, etc. Other careers or jobs, not so much.

I think these are the major selling points for me. I can't think of anything else.

[medieval_simmer]

What would make it worth it?
7- Clothing and hairs are tagged (business, casual, trashy, futuristic, '20s, trendy, etc.) and we can choose which catagory or specific clothing is fit for random or if they will show up in CAST while playing a particular neighborhood.

I know a lot of people that would say that is generalizing.
What would make it worth it?
9- Babies also have about 3 clothing choices. If I am playing a tropical island, my sim baby can just wear a diaper. If I am playing an alpine town, my sim baby can be bundled up. Their clothing can also be CAStable.

Babies clothes are already CAStable with Mastercontroller(Twallan).
What would make it worth it?
10- Toddlers can mess with almost anything in the home, as long as they can reach it. They can also harm themselves if parents aren't watching.

Remember, EA, is trying to keep the game 12 rated and possibly killing toddlers would be a bad idea for that(even though you can kill a toddler in TS2)
What would make it worth it?
12- Sims can get generic jobs that do not have a career ladder. So if I want to have a sim stuck in a deadend job, I can do that.

I am pretty sure I saw an object that you can put in a sim's inventory so they no longer get promotions somewhere around here..

I agree with your other ideas :)

[eskie227]

What would make it worth it?

1- It is built with a better game engine that can handle 500+ population

2- Maps can be 4 or 5x the size of Sims 3's largest map

3- NPC's can have homes and active sims can visit them when they aren't working.

4- Residential lots can be designated for NPCs.

5- Apartment buildings can have more that one playable family as well as units for NPCs to live in; and we can specify which.



I'd love to see EA deliver a game engine that can deliver that kind of breadth and depth of game. Unfortunately, until Dell releases a Dimension Quantum computer desktop (for < $999) it might be beyond EA to come up with something that can run on even next year's computer models with the kind of detail we'd like.

Personally, I'd settle for a game engine that can handle a 200+ population on a larger map with more CAW "tools" incorporated right into edit town mode. And I'd really like to see more intelligent routing. One other thing that's been mentioned in other threads, but has really caught my interest, is asymmetric relationships, which could exist in TS2. Unrequited love could bring some needed drama back into sim relationships.

P.S., they would HAVE to move to a 64 bit engine to do even what I'd like, let alone more. I know that might leave some players out in the cold who aren't ready to update their systems, but it really is the only way they can get the memory footprint they would need to do anything even close to the degree of immersion we'd like to experience.

[ButchSims]

Honestly, at this point I don't even care if the Sims 4 comes out or not. Just the idea of starting over from the beginning AGAIN is enough to make me go "bleh". If it does come out, I think I may wait until a few EP's are released as well, assuming EA doesn't do anything foolish like make it online only or has way too many social aspects.

[zigersimmer]

6- Weather is base game. This is non-negotiable

Absolutely.


7- Clothing and hairs are tagged (business, casual, trashy, futuristic, '20s, trendy, etc.) and we can choose which catagory or specific clothing is fit for random or if they will show up in CAST while playing a particular neighborhood.

I know a lot of people that would say that is discrimination or (I don't really know a better English word for it)generalizing.
Have you seen some of the horrid clothing and hair styles EA forces into the expansions? Has anyone at EA ever actually seen how guys dress? Is it possible for EA to give us hair for men that does not look like it was whipped up with a cotton candy machine?

[QueenJimmyIV]

I have a document with over 20 pages worth of ideas for Sims 4 and what it would take to be worth it for me.

I'm tired of my families turning out to be the same, no matter what. I've even mixed it up, like having the mother of four cheat on her husband with the dashing vampire celebrity, but it was so difficult to play because, despite that she was charismatic and had a top relationship with her husband before she was caught, the relationship went down to zero as soon as he found out and he wanted a divorce that very night! What the heck?? No chance to get him back? No chance to change and smooth it over? No second chances? Ughhhhh...

Not to mention that most lifetime aspirations are either skill or career related. Yes, there are some that aren't, but most of them are. It bugs me that all a sim has to do to gain a lifetime achievement is to sit in their house all day and read books. Or go to their job enough. That's really, incredibly boring. I wish that we could read a book and then, for certain skills, we have to try out the methods that the sim learned before advancing. You can read all the way to the top of the cooking skill and know all these recipes but never come into the same room as the stove. What's with that? Sure, I know how to make pancakes, but have I ever made pancakes? Nope. I'd probably screw them up. And I'd like it so that, if you stop using a skill that it depletes a little over time. Not a lot, because you can't go from Da Vinci to crayon eater if you haven't practiced in a while but... yeah.

I also want to be able to have large populations, like 500+, and a way to keep family trees intact, even if a gravestone is missing.

I also want EA to give a good solid shout out to the previous games and include the gameplay from that, but to add a smidge of something new. I'll be honest. I wanted Sims 3 to be a combination of Sims 1 and 2 plus more stuff and more advanced gameplay and customization. Why? Because those games were FUN.

And throw all this social networking nonsense in the garbage.

[Sunshine021]

Better/more sliders, better story progression that didn't automatically spawn vanilla townies without mod intervention, and better emphasis on age groups (children, teens ect) that continuously get ignored by EA.

I'd type more, but I'm tired :|

[ViolettaVie]

I know a lot of people that would say that is discrimination or (I don't really know a better English word for it)generalizing.

Babies clothes are already CAStable with Mastercontroller(Twallan).

Remember, EA, is trying to keep the game 12 rated and possibly killing toddlers would be a bad idea for that(even though you can kill a toddler in TS2)

I am pretty sure I saw an object that you can put in a sim's inventory so they no longer get promotions somewhere around here..

I agree with your other ideas :)
I'm glad you like my other ideas but I really don't understand what you mean by discriminating. I'm talking about sorting clothing so that random sims do not walk around town wearing flippers for everday outfit. Or pirate boots for swimwear. I just want more control over themed clothing.

I do not want EA to make it easy to kill toddlers. All I would like to see is that toddlers act like toddlers and get into stuff. Having babies and toddlers in Sims 3 is too easy for me. And I would hope that if EA made Sims 4 that toddlers would present more challenging gameplay. Sim parents for example can't just go to the park with their toddlers and not watch them. In Sims 3 they put them on the ground and then go play hopscotch or play chess and the toddler just sits there like a mature adult and does nothing.

It is great that many modders have modded Sims 3 to give greater freedom but I would like to see Sim 4 provide more freedom from the beginning. Otherwise it would just be the same old thing and therefore make Sims 4 not worth it for me.

Have you seen some of the horrid clothing and hair styles EA forces into the expansions? Has anyone at EA ever actually seen how guys dress? Is it possible for EA to give us hair for men that does not look like it was whipped up with a cotton candy machine?
And that's another thing I would like to see. Clothing that men actually wear. EA has done a very bad job with this.

[Artimis]

More like sims 2 with the open world of 3, less rabit holes or make it so that we the player could see what was happening inside, better and realistic graphics, easier gameplay and eaiser to get loads of cc for.

[ViolettaVie]

I'd love to see EA deliver a game engine that can deliver that kind of breadth and depth of game. Unfortunately, until Dell releases a Dimension Quantum computer desktop (for < $999) it might be beyond EA to come up with something that can run on even next year's computer models with the kind of detail we'd like.

Personally, I'd settle for a game engine that can handle a 200+ population on a larger map with more CAW "tools" incorporated right into edit town mode. And I'd really like to see more intelligent routing. One other thing that's been mentioned in other threads, but has really caught my interest, is asymmetric relationships, which could exist in TS2. Unrequited love could bring some needed drama back into sim relationships.

P.S., they would HAVE to move to a 64 bit engine to do even what I'd like, let alone more. I know that might leave some players out in the cold who aren't ready to update their systems, but it really is the only way they can get the memory footprint they would need to do anything even close to the degree of immersion we'd like to experience.

I've played games with far bigger worlds so I know EA is just not using the best stuff to build the game or optimizing it. I've played Just Cause 2 and that map is the biggest I have seen yet. Driving through the towns, cities, and rural areas the game doesn't lag and buildings and people don't take forever to render and there is not load screens. I can actually go from one side of the map to the other. It might take a very long time since I would have to not just use a car (boats and helicopters, SWIMMING!!!). Plus these types of games have a blur effect for things in the distance. EA can do it but they are just cheap.

[Elphiron]

I think personality sliders to compliment the traits is a good one. I do generally disagree that traits aren't as good as the Sims 2 personality points however. On this Sims 2 my sims would always use the cycling machine regardless of what their personality or hobby was, and they'd use it until they'd pass out. Same goes for the piano, ballet barre etc. On the Sims 3 however, I find athletic sims prefer to work out, while painting sims go and paint autonomously.

It would be nice if you could choose the degree of the traits severity. For example, if you gave a sim the 'neat' trait, you could chose on a slider just how neat they are. Either that or have personality points, and traits, just get rid of the traits that were covered in personality points and have more traits like 'neurotic' and so on.

[High Plains Gamer]

For starters, I want everything we already have. I don't want to buy World Adventures, Late Night, Ambitions, Generations, Showtime, et. al. All over again. And I don't want to wait three or four years for the sims to get back to where The Sims 3 left off. Otherwise, I will wait that three or fou years for the Sims 4 to get back up to speed.

One big deal killer will be an inability to make and add our own custom content.

[splinterstar]

I agree with most of the original poster's ideas, although the online economy would blow up the limited/retarded AI of an average Sims town. Pets is one of my favorite expansions (I'm a horse nut), and I want for once in EA's damn life a functional glitch free horse that doesn't get stuck on fences and trees and RUNS NORMAL at maximum speed. Run on sentence my bad. Or maybe having pets that don't morph into hideous stretch out creatures upon expansion release! And height sliders for horses since not every horse ever is the same height. If they did ALL of that I would get Sims 4. Which EA probably wont because they are the two dollar whores of the PC gaming world, rant finished.

Oh and a crap tone more professions, slowly fazing out the more boring loading bar jobs. Crazy jobs like taxodermists, and dentists, and carnies, and white magic healers.

[zigersimmer]

Two dollars? Damn, you got 'spensive tastes.

[splinterstar]

lol i wants 2 dollars fer yer perty mouth LOL

[ani_]

When TS4 has pets, weather and a re-make of OFB, then it will be worth it for me. I don't mind waiting a few years for these things to come in an EP. I enjoy TS3 so much that I can wait to see what TS4 is all about, and if those things never make it to TS4 then I'll just play TS3.

[beebeebee]

When TS4 has pets, weather and a re-make of OFB, then it will be worth it for me. I don't mind waiting a few years for these things to come in an EP. I enjoy TS3 so much that I can wait to see what TS4 is all about, and if those things never make it to TS4 then I'll just play TS3.

I would want a lot more realism in the graphics. It needs to run smoother. Also, the genetics need to be a lot better. It should be easier to populate the whole town with your own sims. You should be able to assign your sims certain traits, on a scale, that effect the way some of the other sims treat them like - good looking, hostile, etc. I also think they need to make it a little more mature.

[minimogut]

I definitely agree with the Idea of Phobias, and a revamp of the trait system. Something that has always bothered me about the trait system is that 1: Nothing is as Black and White as the sims 3 makes it and 2: The largest amount of traits you can choose is 5, and (at least the way I create/play) 5 is not nearly enough.

Also having Regions (like the Biome system in Minecraft) would be epic, and hair length. Freaking awesome.

Now, this is just me spewing ideas, but religion and sickness could be pretty cool. I mean, it would become very controversial - especially if EA followed the most common religious stereotypes, or used real illnesses - but it would be... IDK, just more real.

At the moment, I'm definitely not going to get sims 4, unless they spend a very, very long amount of time "perfecting." Of course, knowing EA, that's probably not going to happen. So for now, I'm content with sims 3 (and possibly sims 2, although I would need a better computer to run it.)

[DigitalSympathies]

I'd replace Traits with Quirks/Tendencies or something. You know, left handed, right handed, ambidextrous, prefers this, likes this, doesn't like that. I'd keep the veggie/vegan stuff, though.

[KGirl]

Just a few off the top of my head comments from what I've read here and have been thinking about:

1) Absolutely have degrees of traits, and more than five traits per sim (I have more traits per sim through mods, but I shouldn't need the mods to do it). I like the idea somewhere in this thread of something like two extreme traits, three moderate traits, and two weak traits per sim, or just being able to set the traits as extreme, moderate, or weak.

2) Absolutely don't make too strict of an in-game economy. I disagree with the idea in one post that everything a sim consumes should be produced by other sims. I do think that the types of sims in the world should have effects (more criminals = more crime, more police = less crime and more criminals caught, and the like). I just don't want it to be so complex that one just can't buy content because no sim is making it or something.

3) I love the idea of making combinations of traits mean something. As someone stated, an Evil Flirty sim should actually prefer going after partnered sims to break them up, while a Good Flirty sim should be less likely to mess with partnered sims. It should also matter a lot how much the Flirty sim likes the partner of the sim they'd be flirting with.

4) In general, relationships between sims should matter much more. If a sim is best friends with another sim, they should actively help them achieve their goals. Instead, as it exists, they're glad to flirt/go much farther with sims their best friend has also targeted, just as one example.

5) Family should matter in relationships much more, too. While as in real life, it should be possible for family members not to get along with each other, they should at least make more of an effort to get along, and relationship decay should be much slower, and gain a little faster, than for non-related sims.

6) Bring back asymmetrical relationships, and long term/short term relationships. It should take at least a few sim-days with lots of interaction to get a LTR up to 100, and that's under the best of circumstances.

7) Also, bring back romantic chemistry in some form; some pairs of sims should just be unable to be partnered because they aren't attracted to each other, or one isn't to the other. Unlike TS2, where they had chemistry but it changed over time for best friends, chemistry should be pretty much immutable (though it might be based largely on things that can be set when creating the sims, such as astrological sign, so if you're making two sims who are intended to be together, you can still do that).

8) Intelligent action by non-controlled sims: When TS4 comes out, I expect the needed computing power to jump. Use those extra resources to have some real story progression: at least some inactive sims pursuing their wants while not on screen. Chances are we'll have to wait for Twallan and/or Pescado and/or some super-modder of the future for this, but I can hope.

9) This seems small, but it annoys the heck out of me: Make seated conversations work, to the point that it's the preferred posture to have a conversation, rather than way too slow to use as it is now. Especially with the comfort motive gone, sims don't sit enough, and one big reason is that conversations while seated are so difficult. I'd love to put couches and chairs together in an area so that sims would sit there and talk. As of now, it's much more practical not to have such areas so there is more standing space.

[Spiritbw]

I don't see it coming anytime soon but there are justa few things I want to see in any game.

No "must be online to play."

No "cloud saves"

No "social system" that tires to make this like a high end Sims social from facebook.

Anything else, I can adapt.

[kristie91]

The main thing I hope is that its not an online or have to be online to play type game. If I have to be online to play or if it is an mmo I will not play it.
Someone on the official forums wanted co op play with like a friend. I don't think I really want either. I'm afraid it would take away from the single player game play.

[sheridanhoughton]

I really like the ideas about improving the traits system, and also the relationships mentioned by KGirl. It is far more realistic for people to have asymmetric relationships.

I also really like the idea of being able to form some sort of clothing and hair collections, and have all the sims in a town conform to a selection. This way it would be much more realistic if we were playing some sort of themed town, e.g. futuristic or historical.

I really agree with people's thoughts on male clothes for sims 3. I think EA need to get a few decent designers to work on this. Unfortunately, even the CC creators don't give us enough variation in clothes for male elders.

One thing I would also really like would be the ability for sims to live above the shop, so to speak. I love the feel of the French town in WA, and it is good with Twallan's traveller to be able to have my sims live there. But it would be so much better if the sim that runs the cafe lived above the cafe, the sim that is in charge of the nectary actually lived there, and other members of the family harvested the grapes and made the nectar. and so on. Sort of like a much improved OFB.

[Lord Vetinari]

To me, it would be a different kind of "challange", if you want to call it that. In real life the "challange" is to have an happy social and romantic life and a satisfying career, while in the series, and particularly in TS3, the "challange" is to have enogh time to brush your teeth before going to work, the rest is pretty much smooth as oil as long as you bother to do it.

And no rabbit holes. Make them a place where something is going on.
With a large family, RH are kinda acceptable, because you have to babysit all your sims and pets, but when you are starting with a single sims, it's pretty boring to have to spend a large part of the simday staring at a building with nothing else to do.

[olomaya]

Waiting at least 2 years after it comes out. At this point, no matter what it has, I wouldn't bother with the The Sims 4 until the prices were reduced and a few EPs were out. I'm just getting to the point where I really like TS3 (after 3 years which is kind of sad to say) and if we are in fact getting 10 EPs for the game, then there's still a lot of gameplay in it for me.

I now regret jumping from TS2 to TS3 so soon after it came out because the first two EPs, WA and AMB, were really unfulfilling for me and I should have stuck with TS2 until LN came out. Won't be making that mistake again. If TS4 comes out in 2014, I probably won't get the game until the next Olympics! :anime:

[Bufu]

3 things really, thats all i need to go to the next version:


No stupid social media online type of play style, or at least only as an optional feature.
New type of start menu were i can play a world with 3 selection types (Scenario type of play (an EA Pre-set theme)/Free play (only get pre build world but without sims in it)/God Mode ? (Yup indeed all empty go ahead and craft your own version of this world) (maybe a 4th that generates a random map altho this might not be doable cause of the many variables needed).
Build/Buy mode changes, meaning in an actively played world you can only redesign upto a certain extend, lets call it expanding for the sake of giving it a name. While in the main menu you get the choice to enter a special "Design" Mode, this design mode should allow you to edit any saved game, but also make your own world layout and content in that world with less restrictions then the "Active world designer". Doing this allows for a more option in terms of house/world design, as you dont need to tangle it into the game play and thus creating loads of useless buggy cheats to achive this goal, and if done properly you wont need a world creator tool straight away to give that little extra to the players. Maybe with the extra time they gain, they can make a world creator tool that is a little more robust and not constantly flagged as a Beta tool with tons of bugs and loop holes.

Just my 2 cents tho, this would get me interested already as i barely play sims as a simulator but more as a designer tool, with a people building/simulator thingies as a bonus.

More EP content into the basegame would be cool to, but that just not gonna happen as they need a cow to milk.

Other then those 3 things, i like to be take on a tour by the game devs on what they think is still missing in the game, i mean looking at EA house designs alone i can only imagen them wanting to change somethings so they can bring more realistic design to us. Not to mention the way sims function from time to time, all other extra's i would not expect until a EP/SP arises anyways (Weather/pets etc).

[purexevil666]

One of the things i really want is car animation fixed -__- i mean i hate when sims just disappear into the car because it doesn't make any sense. Besides it would be amazing if we the players get to drive the cars manually.

[amora_selvagen]

Be able to place a lot more easy like in TS2. I still do not know how to place a lot in TS3... :(

[gege_sml]

- A decent base game with stuff like weather and open venues
- Open Rabbit Holes
- Non mutual relationship system.. bring back the love triangles !!!
- I seriously wanted that the CAS content looked better like hair, clothes etc

I just don't to start all over again, to wait for all EPs to make my game at least look "complete" and have to download all the CCs again :(

[morphius1]

6- Weather is base game. This is non-negotiable

Then you won't be buying it. Or will you?
EA is going to make you wait for it. We already know that. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see weather in the base game, but it won't happen. EA knows you will buy it and wait for it to come.
As for me, don't have any problems with TS3 and I am waiting for TS4.
Anyway...your ideas are good ones. :)

[DuskTrooper]

No Rabbit Holes, and the ability to easily create custom worlds in-game.

[SpookyOkyBatGirl]

I would want:

Sims 2 style relationships and animations towards each other: It's so dull playing TS3 when every single time I make somebody fall in love, become enemies or consider them a BFF, the other person is automatically on board. I have a friend I can't stand that just adores me, and my boyfriend liked me for a long time before I felt anything for him. I've wanted to do several "learn to love him" or "abusive husband but I still love him" type things but both of them are just so on the same level.

More things for toddlers-teens to do. I end up aging them up automatically because there is just nothing to do.

More things outside the house for my sims to do: They're like hermits because all there is to do it watch stupid SimFests, go to the movies or occasional concert and game. Something like maybe a family-friendly carnival, the beach, or something fun like that.

VACATIONS NOT ADVENTURES: I love the vacation expansions. But not when EA apparently thinks a nice, relaxing vacation is stressful running around ancient tombs.

More hobby stuff: Stuff like sewing, cars, ballet, stuff from TS2.

Banking! What if my Sim can't pay the bills this week but doesn't want a repo? Get a loan at the bank of course!

College and Open for Business: It would be PERFECT if college was now required for careers like scientists or doctor, but just gets you ahead in the game if you pick something like business or journalism. I'd also like to have a TS2 style of business.

Bigger family tree diagram: It almost pisses me off that I can't make the window bigger so I can see more of my lovely Sim legacy when I take a glance at the family tree.

Better traits

BETTER PARTIES. Goddamn the parties in TS3 SUCK. And the party guests are assholes if you would have thrown what would be an awesome party in real life.

There's probably more ,but I can't think of any right now.

[Nagasha]

Personally, I'd like a better aging system. Jumping from an Eleven year old kid to a Fiftheen year old teen just annoys the heck out of me, as well as the jump from Adult (say, 45) to Elder (at least 60). Ideally, I'd like a system where it's the years numbered rather than in stages: 0-1 for baby, 2-5 for toddler, 6-10 for Child, 11-13 for preteen, and so on. However, I would be willing to accept the same aging system if they added a Preteen, and possibly a middle-age stage.

[jthm_nny]

I would like the Sims 4 sims to be meshed much better, especially their body shapes. I've noticed they look horrifyingly skinny in Sims 3 until they're close to being fat on the slider. I'm skinny myself, but I'm not anorexic. I don't want my self sim to look like that. I also want the weight sliders to be separate for limbs, chest, bottom half, and shoulders. There should also be leg height sliders for sims with long legs and short torsos or short legs and long torsos. I personally have short legs and a long torso, so it's hard to make a perfect self sim.
Also, I want sims to look more unique, because for some reason no matter what facial feature, most of the sims ended up looking like they were of Irish or sometimes German descent even if they were black. I want black sims, not Irish sims with a tan!
I want piercings in the base game and ear piercing gauge sliders for the punk/scene/weirdo sims.
The hair length slider is mandatory and should include 4 separate sliders: Bangs, Left side, Right side, and back. Plus there should also be an option to reverse a hairstyle so bangs would face a different direction. That way every hairstyle is unique.
Sim height options
Pets in base game including unusual pets like bats, goats, and monkeys.
Hand sliders for hand size, hand width, finger length, finger width, and thumb shape. I have toe thumbs, so the option for sims to have toe thumbs would be cool. (they aren't real toes, they're just shaped like them) Here's what they look like : http://i47.tinypic.com/2hg4exc.jpg
2 color options for hair: the color your sim has and the color they would pass to their children. Than way a crazy hair colored sim would have children with normal hair. My children wouldn't get my firetruck red hair genetically, so why should my sims' children?

[lisfyre]

GIVE ME MY SINGLE PLAYER SANDBOX GAME BACK EA!!! That's the charm of the Sims series. No sharing, no online anything, just you and your game and your simmies. Of course we need the following in the base game:

- weather - not Seasons, just weather - rain, snow, cold, hot, temperate, thunderstorms, lightning storms. An EP can expand on that with the seasonal stuff and holidays - thanksgiving, hallowe'en, christmas, easter, etc
- swimming in the ocean
- pool slides
- TS2 style interactions with babies and toddlers - specially bathing them. Then my babies can be babies longer than 1 day.
- better interactions with elders
- larger family trees - i.e. please make it so that we can track more than 10 generations of our family
- better genetics
- height sliders
- a way to make it so that if my sim wanted to stay at a certain job level she/he doesn't get promoted. i.e. - medical career - I want my sim to be a nurse and not to be promoted to doctor, I should be able to let her/him stay as a nurse. Or the education profession - high school teacher, university professor, etc., The career progressions sometimes really suck because it's easy to get them to the top of their careers but if I want them to be a Nurse or a High School teacher, I can't because they end up being promoted to something else.

And basically what most of you have already posted for a base game that I might have missed.

Then the EP's can have:

- REAL VACATIONS - you can do a half and half BonVoyage/WA combo so that you have stuff to do when you go on vacation other than just soaking up the sun and relaxing
- REAL Educational System - college professors and the like go to work and teach at university, high school teachers teach in the high schools/boarding schools, elementary teachers teach in elementary schools/middle schools/boarding schools.
- going to college to specialize in certain professions - medicine, science, education, theatre, art (painting, sculpting, photography), politics, music
- going to the firefighter/police academy to be a firefighter/cop
- farming so we can have no more meat/poultry/eggs/dairy grown from plants - unless you're vegetarian/vegan
- OFB and FT type EP's - to include farmer's market for our farmers to be able to sell their produce/dairy/livestock and hobbyists can sell their home crafts
- REAL APARTMENTS that can house multiple families like in TS2 AL

Then I might buy Sims 4 right out of the gate. That's all for now. I might edit to add more later.

[Captain THPS4]

Here's a few things that come to my mind:

1. Direct control mode. The console versions of TS2 had this amazing feature where you could directly control your sim's movements just like in a 3rd person game. To perform actions you made your sim walk towards an object and press a button to bring up the choice menu. It really made me feel more immersed in my sim's world. Another great thing about it was that with the press of a button you could switch between direct control and the classic control we're used to. I'd love to see this in TS4. Of course, there would need to be support for game controllers to make this feature work on PC to its full potential.

2. Make the online features optional. Do not force us to always be connected to Origin. Do not force the crapiness of other players' towns affect ours if we don't want them to.

3. Do not go the destructive freemium route of The Sims Social. I don't want to constantly have to bug my friends to get materials required to build a sofa just so my sims can finally use it, or otherwise pay crazy amounts of real money to have it right away. This caused the dozen or so friends I had playing the game to stop completely. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them were turned off to The Sims entirely.

4. Better collision detection with objects. With TS4, plants and arms going through walls and furniture should be a thing of the past.

5. Rain and some pets should be in the base game. I understand EA needs to make money but they can still include things without having to sacrifice a potential EP idea. Especially for those of us who've been playing The Sims since the first game it would be ridiculous to go back to endless summers and pet-less games yet again. How about including rain so we have weather but not be stuck with sunny weather until the Seasons EP? We could also have cats and dogs in the base game, but save horses, llamas, and a bunch of new pets for a later EP.

6. Larger maps. For the scope of the neighbourhoods I hope they can be 4x the size of what we have now. Maybe we could have sub-hoods again but make the journey to them more interesting. Even if it was something like going through tunnels ala Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, anything is better than an old fashioned loading screen. Make them feel like they really are part of the main city.

7. Make more game features customizable. EA seems to be finally getting it now with populations controls with Supernatural, fully disabling memories with Seasons, and what sounds like a good system for controlling what weather we want in each town. We just have to hope we don't get pushed back to square one when TS4 is released.

8. The trait slider idea sounds good. While not perfect, personally I greatly prefer TS3's trait system to the personality points system of the earlier games.

9. Have more interesting interactions available from the start. TS3 has too many variations of the talk interaction and not enough unique animations.

10. Improve the launcher. Seriously, TS3's launcher is terrible with organizing stuff. There's so much room for improvement in that area.

11. Ability to customize what clothing what appears in what categories. I'm sick of townies and aging sims appearing with the most hideous combinations of clothing.

12. Rabbithole room markers. The TS3-style buildings could still exist for those who don't feel like building their own place, but room markers could be a good compromise for more advanced players.

13. For goodness sake, make the Mac port run natively like TS2. Even if you have to outsource it to Aspyr again it's better than the terrible Cider emulation.

[moniroxxx]

:bunny: Well... everything that would make TS4 worthwhile for me has already been named... lol but I would like to see height sliders. :bunny: Cute bunnies :)

[aGOLDENbox]

Better system for the inheritance of genetics, seasons in the base game, more things for babies to do (and bringing back legs and hair) and private schools.

[jeffrompas]

- Better launcher/content manager.
- Bring back/develop better hair physics.
- Better vehicle that doesn't ghost through another vehicle and tires that doesn't clip on slopes.
- Mobile phone needs to be bought manually.
- All the previous game music and a mix and match playlist for: build, buy, town view mode.
- Paintings can be placed off center with alt key.
- Round walls.
- Non-CFE half landing stairs.
- Adjustable wall/floor height.
- Shiftable windows.
- Sidewalk higher than the road.
- Umm... Grass? I was expecting for 3D grasses when the first Sims 3 trailer came out. Guess It's too resource demanding...

[sweetswami77]

What I'd like to see in TS4 (either base game or EP's/SP's):

-More skill items. More varieties of skill items. And maybe an option for more generalized skill sets for those who would rather focus on their sims social lives than their career advancement (e.g. "Creative" rather than "Artistic" or "Virtuoso", so that any creative endeavor counts toward gaining skill points.) And more common sense skilling, like dancing or riding your bike around town should count toward the athletic skill.

-More realistic abilities as determined by traits. For instance, a handy sim should be adept at fixing sinks and toilets (and cars that break down, please) but that shouldn't make them an expert on fixing computers, too. That requires a different knowledge base and skill set.

-For that matter, more realistic traits, as others here have mentioned. And more realistic cash flow. Make us pay for things, dammit!!

-More quality content, less crap that I will never use

-TOOLS FOR MAC!!!! Partitioning does not work for CAW.

-Better sliders/controls in CAS. Less pudding.

-Better lighting in-game.

-More challenges, like town mysteries where we have to hunt for clues in houses and lots around the neighborhood, or radiation leaks from the science facilities that turn half the residents into mutants. Something to liven up the game and keep our interest if we opt to participate. And bring back the quirkiness of TS2!! It is sorely missing.

[misslaheela]

- a way to make it so that if my sim wanted to stay at a certain job level she/he doesn't get promoted. i.e. - medical career - I want my sim to be a nurse and not to be promoted to doctor, I should be able to let her/him stay as a nurse. Or the education profession - high school teacher, university professor, etc., The career progressions sometimes really suck because it's easy to get them to the top of their careers but if I want them to be a Nurse or a High School teacher, I can't because they end up being promoted to something else.

I would think this wouldn't be hard for EA to accomplish. I would think you'd just need to put a pop-up option as soon as a Sim is about to be promoted asking, "Would you like to be promoted to this job?" If you say no, then you remain in good standing at your current position. I'm no modder, so I don't know the difficulty of such a thing, but offhand it doesn't sound that hard. :blink:

[Volvenom]

The fact that it's new is probably my only requirement, oh yea ... and works.

[sundazzle]

I've always wondered why the NPC careers aren't available for playable sims, especially after Ambitions was released. I'm talking about the maids, pizza-delivery guys, bouncers and so on. I would love to have those careers available for part-time jobs, it would feel more realistic
I totally agree with the personality revamp as well as the lenght sliders and hairgrowth. Also curious why hairgrowth has never been included in any sims game except for the console version of castaway...
And I would like inactive sims to be even more "intelligent" when you give them free will cause I love to create big families but am not capable at taking care of more than one or two sims at a time. What I mean with more intelligent is for example raising children, I don't want the child to just survive but learn a little walking and talking before they grow up, but my sims just play with and feed them. All the time. I think this could be accomplished with a personality rewamp, for example the familyoriented man should be more inclined to perform actions such as child development, and the friendly and outgoing person would be able to make a friend on their own instead of me telling them to repeat the same interactions over an over... But I don't really know much about the gamemechanics so maybe it isn't possible :P
Either way, I will probably buy sim 4 just because I am a sims fan, but not until sims 3 completely loses my interest haha

[McNum]

Built in modding tools
Oh, I'm not asking to be able to pry open the game's core while the game is running, even though it'd be awesome, I'm thinking more along the lines of giving CAST the Spore treatment. When I want a shirt, I pick "Shirt" and then I can choose style, neck, length, sleeve type, fabric, pattern, and so on. And, of course, the shirt would automatically have all morphs just work.

The ability to change small things that we use mods to tweak in Sims 2 and 3 would also be nice. Like how we got the Aging menu in Sims 3. I want that, but superpowered. Even if it's a cheat. We probably won't get a MasterController level toolbox out of the box, but it'd be nice to have. The Keys to the City where you can tweak anything in the running game. Sim stuck? Teleport! NPC in really ugly clothes? Instant stylist!

Easy to mod
I'll be honest, a major part of my fun with The Sims is finding just the right set of mods to make the game do what I want. And in some cases breaking out S3PE and doing it myself if no one else has made it exactly as I want. The core mod limit of Sims 3 is annoying, but at the moment, I'm running a stock core anyway, so it's not like it's a problem for me. Still, I want it to be easier to take the game apart and put it back together my way.

Of course, it's almost a given that EA is going to try something online with the game. In that case, I just want this: Modding your game disconnects you from any shared game.
Because meeting a Sim with a mod added trait or some other part of it that's impossible in a stock game will probably mean Bad Things. Mod incompatibility is annoying when it just happens to you. If it happens online, it's ugly. Like how mods got stuck with lots in Sims 1 and I think Sims 2. It's why I'll never send out a Sim on Simport or accept a visit from any other Sim.

The rest of the game, I have faith will work itself out. I don't want a repeat of Sims 1, 2, or 3. They are what they are, and that's pretty good. Sims 4 should be its own. Taking direct control of a Sim sounds interesting. Could be fun to see in a mainline game. Also, try to get the Pets and Weather expansions done fast, if they aren't already core.

[misslaheela]

Honestly, Sims 4 would have to be MILES above my grandest expectations for the Sims in order for me to catch on. I've spent so much money on Sims 3 and its expansion packs that I really wouldn't want to just leave it all behind and start on something new. If it comes out and starts getting rave reviews from everybody, then I might check it out. But otherwise, I'm pretty resistant. There's a part of me that actually hopes Sims 4 doesn't come out for a long time.

[pinkfishegg]

Built in modding tools
Oh, I'm not asking to be able to pry open the game's core while the game is running, even though it'd be awesome, I'm thinking more along the lines of giving CAST the Spore treatment. When I want a shirt, I pick "Shirt" and then I can choose style, neck, length, sleeve type, fabric, pattern, and so on. And, of course, the shirt would automatically have all morphs just work.

This was sort of used on the console version of TS2. Sort of. Some shirts or pants would have different collars or sleeves. Im not sure if its the same on PC. It would obviously have to be improved and have length sliders or some sort of different options for different collar types, etc.


I would LOVE a DIY system. Where you have to find or buy the raw materials for building a house and see it progressively being built. Or like with Sims Social on FB you need to have certain items to have a sofa built.(and handy/inventor sims can work on them with the inventors table) only these items will be easily available in game like at a hardware store or hobby store. It would need to have the option of buying pre-made objects though, for slightly more simoleons.

Definitely have pets and weather at least base game or first EPs. We all know thats not gonna happen though.and more exotic pets. nothing super crazy like owning an elephant, but maybe goats or rabbits or cows. Dragons with a supernatural type EP (dog or horse sized ones)
BETTER INTERACTIONS WITH PETS!! I dont know how many times an oversized dog has crawled on my lap while Im sitting on the couch, or jumped on me in bed. Cats and dogs should be able to sleep in the same bed as their owner. Even if that owner has a partner asleep next to them. Also better traits for the animals. Nervous dogs/cats wont just be startled easily but also become distressed when their owner is out of the house. They'll be more likely to destroy things, especially with the destructive trait.
They also need better aging for animals. infant, adolescent, adult, elder. Large dogs do not magically go from teeny tiny puppies to big adults overnight. SIZE SLIDERS! no way a pit bull is the same size as a Pomeranian. and no way a Great Dane is the same size as a golden retriever. Horses also are not all the same size. I want tiny minis and huge giants without mods that mess up graphics. And children should be able to ride horses and large dogs.

Hair growth and length/thickness sliders. None of these toddler hair styles that are just mini versions of adult styles. I've never seen a toddler with thick luscious shoulder length hair. Also more outfit spots. I know I own more than three outfits. And maybe a chance of your sim's hair/makeup failing horribly if they are having a bad day. something like that. And if they add hair growth, obviously male sims will need to shave to have that baby face. :D

I think we should have different life states in CAS from the start. Not base game but when there's a new life state in an EP, you can make it in CAS in that EP. I was expecting that with vampires in LN.

With a new trait system that others suggested, I think if you instruct a sim to do something that betrays their trait(and all or most trait options should be readily available to ALL sims) they are likely to refuse and drop the action. (if you have high freewill on) for example, trying to make your good sim steal something from a friend's house. They could possibly do it, but they would resist more.

Also, EA needs to revamp babies-children. teens have almost the same freedom as adults, so no complaints there from me. But as someone said, more ways for tots to get in to trouble. Maybe if they implemented some sort of working cupboards(sims will just stash clean dishes in them or something) a toddler can open them up and play inside or have their fingers shut in the door and get a bad little moodlet/cry a bit. and give them more interactions PLEASE!! even if they haven't learned to talk yet, they can still play together.

Optional social networking PLEASE! no matter how many times i click "do not remind me again, play without loging in" it pops up every freaking time. Sure, being able to play with friends in an MMO way would be way cool, i don't want it every time i play, and i definitely don't want to be reminded every single time i play! Not everyone has internet connection EA!

I cant mention OFB or vacation type EPs because i never had those. but maybe with a vacation EP, add a % chance of ship/plane wreck and having a castaway type adventure? :D or bring back a castaway side game, because that was so much fun! OFB sounds like something TS4 definitely needs though!And higher education. I swear most of my sims can become top surgeons without more than two skill points in "required" skills. That's just wrong...

That's all i can think of for now. I probably wouldn't get Sims 4 until they already started making Sims 5 though, since i only got TS3 last December.

[moniroxxx]

:alarm: :!: :alarm: Oh, I almost forgot. I think they should give the option to save dying sims. You know like if one is drowning, and a 'brave' or 'good' sim is around, they should be able to help. Not just sit there and let the other sims die. And if they allowed paramedics to come and try to save dying sims. It would be like a little second chance. Like how it is in real life. Also they should have a thing where you can go in and see you sim in action at work or school and give you the option to do things such as talking or using the bathroom, etc. I just would like a more realistic game.
It would be pretty epic to see what kind of expansion packs they would have for it, though. Oh I'd also like to see visible aging of sims.. like a toddler doesn't just grow 2-3 ft on a certain birthday in 6 seconds. And adults don't burst into white-headedness over night, lol. They should have barber shops and let elders get their hair dyed. I know plenty of old people who still like to look youthful. They should incorporate it in their games.
:anime: :bunny: I can't wait to see what they'll do next. :bunny: :anime:

[moniroxxx]

I've always wondered why the NPC careers aren't available for playable sims, especially after Ambitions was released. I'm talking about the maids, pizza-delivery guys, bouncers and so on. I would love to have those careers available for part-time jobs, it would feel more realistic
I totally agree with the personality revamp as well as the lenght sliders and hairgrowth. Also curious why hairgrowth has never been included in any sims game except for the console version of castaway...


Haha, I totally agree with the jobs especially when most teens and young adults have little jobs like that :)

[TullyKat1]

I would love hairgrowth and males have to shave and your clothes get dirty if you wear them too long (like they did on castaway) and you picked what to wear each morning.
And you have to mow lawns, clip bushes and wash windows and you have to maintain your house - a slob's house would look the worst on the street with grass up to the dirty windows! (of course the time issues with trying to get your sim feed, peed and rested enough in a day would have to be alot easier)
And more free-will from uncontroled sims like waving at each other, a nosey friend looking through your window, the neighbors barking dog keeping you up at night and you having to complain to get them to shut it up - or report them and they get fined.
And that you didn't have to 'discover traits' you could actually tell some of them by how the sim acts and looks - a slob dosen't care if they are abit grabby when they go out, but a snob wouldn't be seen dead in anything but perfection! a friend who is handy would help you fix your broken fence or a friendly trait sim would pop over for coffee and family orientated sims would bring their kids over or met in the park.
And your parenting skills show in how your kids behave - no discipline or nurturing and your kids draw on the walls, pull pots out of the cupboards and leave toys all over the back yard, they don't do homework until the parent tells them too if they care.
I think the town would look neat if the dysfunctional 'Smiths' kids were tearing up the park while the 'Jones' children sat perfectly with their noses in the air. Basically more human! lol

[kawaiipd]

NO ONLINE COMPONENTS
or at least no manditory ones required to access certain things in the game like unlocking items.

Better faces.

Friendlier modding.

Keeping more stuff from expansions instead of just dolling it out again. Otherwise I might wait until the first combo packs and save some money to get the full game. :P

[matrix54]

NO ONLINE COMPONENTS
Keeping more stuff from expansions instead of just dolling it out again. Otherwise I might wait until the first combo packs and save some money to get the full game. :P

The Sims 3 made it perfectly clear that a Base Game can do so much without the need for expansion packs. Over the years, the base game has gotten quite a few improvements. We can even make basic nightclubs with the wall speaks and bars (if only someone would serve drinks -_-)

I say have a bunch of pieces put in place - the basics, and later on, elaborate on them to flesh out the game, and add more to it, on top of many other new features. Like how the Sims 2 handled Open for Business - sure, Sims could shop for item, but they EP took shopping to en entirely new level, simply by EXPANDING on a basic feature already in the game.

[TullyKat1]

The Sims 3 made it perfectly clear that a Base Game can do so much without the need for expansion packs. Over the years, the base game has gotten quite a few improvements. We can even make basic nightclubs with the wall speaks and bars (if only someone would serve drinks -_-)

I say have a bunch of pieces put in place - the basics, and later on, elaborate on them to flesh out the game, and add more to it, on top of many other new features. Like how the Sims 2 handled Open for Business - sure, Sims could shop for item, but they EP took shopping to en entirely new level, simply by EXPANDING on a basic feature already in the game.

I loved OFB and remember playing Sims 2 all the time and to the small hours of the morning Sims 3 just has never grabbed me the same, its boring and predictable. And now we are back to throwing a whole lot of werdio things at it - Zombies - Really? Sims 4 should be Life Simulation!

[FREEDOM_55]

Just off the top of my head...

-to be able to import textures and images directly

-APB stencil customization (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohxUbsiA1Y)

-support for real world textures and high rez detail for custom skins

-pose mode: which allows hands on posing of sim using a mouse. built in osmp,be able to move objects and accesories freely and 360 degrees.

-CAS: touch sculpting using mouse >example< (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvv3yMi1qw&list=PLB184E9F4D69F5E92&index=41&feature=plpp_video)
- to be able to save presets of facial features and have slider preset numbers like the sims 2
-be able to adjust height

-Physics engine: you would be able to wind swept hair and movable clothes and fabric. this would apply to sims bodies and other game objects as well. no animations would be the same.(ex euphora)

-Advanced crowd AI: imagine crowded rave party, or audience, or at a mall, or on a busy street. This would mean no more 8 sim lot limit

-Better Atmosphere: street well populated,people and going about heir business, it should be rare to look down the street and not to be able to find a wide range of hussle and bussle in the area.people talking about current events, fame, news, etc(meaning sims 2 interests coming back). good example La Noire

- more tones of voices,pitches and accents

-being able to remove CC in game and while game is running , like in the sims 2

-gradual aging before your eyes

-it would be pretty cool if thoughts,wants,needs circle sim head like in heavy rain

- sims 2 or even more advanced genetics

- sims 1 and 2 type music

-better child and toddler morphs

-layers,movable and custom fit clothing:meshes could be also editable in game. you could choose an assortment of collars, sleeve types and lengths, styles,etc.
-movable clothes ie. zips and hoods can move up or down, clothes can crumple , sleeves can be rolled up,shirts can be tied,pants can be tucked in. etc.

- to be able to edit hair meshes in game, this also means hair length

-must stay as a single player experience. If I wanted to play second life I would have done that already. If they go online they will lose their main market to competition

- must have buildings,weather, ability to use all bodies of water ,functional apartments, little to no rabbit holes in base game

- new modes of transportation- preferably public transport that are not rabbit holes. like buses, trains, subways, airplanes, etc. you able to do things and interact with ppl while crossing the large map(like a movable community lot in a way)

-better and advanced build mode- be able to change wall heights,lengths and curves. be able to make multilevel homes. be able to move windows where ever on walls and also to be able to adjust size and dimensions by a dragging of a mouse. basically all the abilities of cfe without having to use cfe

--CAW built in game

-a big city map where neighborhoods would smaller regions(or called subhoods) of the large map(like in real life).Expansions would add more landmass to the districts for sims to explore freely. That way sims also stay connected and don't lose relationships. then it would be truly seamless
-To be able to actually see the advancement or decline of the city based on who lives there,upkeep and the type of area it is. kind of like sim city

-Better quality animations- use superior motion capture
-Facial expressions should be more varied, no hooked flared noses,less cartoony, glitchty and ugly. It should at least appear sims have muscles and bones in their faces.
-new animations and not just recycled ones from the previous game.
-5 to 10 different ways to do one animation
-could be based on the sims,envoiroment and situations, so nothing ever happens the same twice.
-evolving animations based on skill set, mood,memories and age. this just adds to the animation varieties on a micro level and makes sims more individualized.
-multi-linked/ multitasked animations. would save players alot of time while. not losing benefits of certain interaction.ex. reading a magazine while eating cereal and talking to friend...while traveling.
-more ,better, individualized walking animations-- variety based on several factors like height,personality,age etc, different speeds. for example a sexy sims would have a sexy walk. An elder sim might be slower than average

-Advanced Lighting Engine:to not underestimate the power of good lighting , it goes past being just being able to see what you are doing. it effects the overall feel of the game in its entirety and smart use of lighting can reduce the amount high ploy meshes needed.
-cinematic/theatrical/dramatic/moody lighting
-more vast lighting styles and options

-a overall better asthethic


-And most importantly. The game must be finished, well done, and mostly glitch/patch free :!:
Think through and polish the game, EA, before releasing it. and no false promises

[olomaya]

Oh I'd also like to see visible aging of sims.. like a toddler doesn't just grow 2-3 ft on a certain birthday in 6 seconds. And adults don't burst into white-headedness over night, lol.

Personally, I think gradual aging is a must have/deal breaker. If TS4 BASEGAME doesn't have it, then I would not continue with the series. And I wouldn't want any kind of HotDateLateNightlife EP if there wasn't some kind of crowd simulator or some way to have large numbers of Sims (I'm talking more than 30) in a venue at the same time.

They should have barber shops and let elders get their hair dyed. I know plenty of old people who still like to look youthful. They should incorporate it in their games.

You can change the hair color for elders in TS3 base game. Just take them to the mirror. If you have AMB, you can take them to the salon and get their hair changed there so it's like going to a barber shop for a makeover.

[KGirl]

And I wouldn't want any kind of HotDateLateNightlife EP if there wasn't some kind of crowd simulator or some way to have large numbers of Sims (I'm talking more than 30) in a venue at the same time.

I disagree strongly with that. Late Night and Nightlife were my favorite EPs of their respective series, and I'd have wanted Hot Date had I been playing back when it was at TS1.

Sims have to be able to go out on the town. Doing all socializing at residences doesn't work for me. I actually think that sort of thing should be in the base game, although I'm sure they'll make us buy it in a separate EP again to make more money from us.

[olomaya]

Obviously EA is going to make a TS4 iteration of HotDateLateNightlife but I WOULDN'T WANT IT if it didn't have some way for us to have to full bars/clubs. Just having a bar available isn't going to be good enough reason for me to get such an EP since the technology is available and TS4 should be advanced enough so that we can have large numbers of Sims in a venue to give the feel of a real bar/club/whathaveyou.

[spotlight-shure]

Ok, the Sims 2 was great for me. I love just playing through generations and all the little touches the game has to offer. I have absolutely become overwhelmed with the amount of gameplay the Sims 3 has to offer, especially with the EPs. I still haven't done everything that came right with the base game, let alone make my sim a fire fighter, acrobat, pet keeper, rockstar, etc. It's just tooooo much for me all at once, I hate it, and all of it really takes a toll on my computer as well. I'm so sick of seeing these threads that either say, Sims 3 isn't a demanding game or nothing can make your game run better, you need a better computer. It's contradicting and the only computers I have seen that can REALLY handle ALL EPS on HIGH settings with NO LAG WHATSOEVER are $1000+. I'm not going to drop that kind of cash for one game, sorry. I'd love to, if I were born a Kardashian maybe, but I wasn't, so it's just absolutely ridiculous that my already $1,000 computer can't handle the game. Why should I have to buy another? I LOVE MY MAC, DEAL WITH IT EA.

[misslaheela]

When I went to buy my new laptop at Best Buy, the computer assistant dude (whatever you call him) helped me with looking at a computer that could handle Sims 3 stuff, since he and his wife played frequently so they got a feel for it. He told me Macs don't actually work very well with Sims games. I can't remember why he said that was, but that Macs were great for a bunch of other stuff but not gaming.

My Toshiba Satellite cost me about $550 and it seems to run my games just fine. I have every EP except World Adventures and Showtime, so it handles the EPs pretty well. Deleting the "DC Backup" folder and the CompositorCache and the SimCompositorCache in my EA folder also cleared up what little lag I had. So you can get a laptop for less than $1,000 that will handle the Sims pretty well.

[AngelicScot]

There is absolutely nothing that could be done to compel me to RE-invest in a Sims series. I don't care what features they include. I've already invested in The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. I'm done.

[Zerbu]

-Regions: Each city and town in the game would be connected with an area of reconciliation, there would be no loading screens, instead you would have a limited view distance, and the game would load the distant terrain as you get closer to it, in small pieces like with Minecraft. This would have to be well optimized to work, but it can work. Also, you could terraform the landscape and build new cities and towns.

That's a feature I always thought would be great too. I would have suggested the same thing, but I guess you beat me to it lol.

[ocorreia]

Not a single bug or glitch!

[moniroxxx]

It's contradicting and the only computers I have seen that can REALLY handle ALL EPS on HIGH settings with NO LAG WHATSOEVER are $1000+.

I totally agree with that. They should make computer and laptop friendly high settings so people can get the most out of their game. It's ridiculous. My computer must be really crappy. Because I can't even run in on the lowest of the low of settings and get it running as fast as it should.
T_T Why sims 3... whyyyyy??? :cry: :cry:

[Tzigone]

I wasn't playing when the first Sims game came out - how good did it require your computer be? I'm just curious because we seem to have a split between people who want the game to have top-end graphics and features (which will most likely require a gaming/high-end PC) and people who want the game (with multiple expansions) to work on mid-range laptops.

[jesusismyairbag]

this might sound strange, but the option for sims 2 like neighbourhood, or sims 3 a more open kind. originally i thouight more age groups [just before teenager, etc] DIY sound good, too. also, a height slider would be nice too.
sorry for the type, english isnt my native tongue ;)

[moniroxxx]

Well, this was a nice thread :)

[shadedgrey63]

I wasn't playing when the first Sims game came out - how good did it require your computer be? I'm just curious because we seem to have a split between people who want the game to have top-end graphics and features (which will most likely require a gaming/high-end PC) and people who want the game (with multiple expansions) to work on mid-range laptops.

As far as I recall, I don't think Sims 1 required anything special. I played it on the same computer the entire time and don't recall ever having problems. It was on a computer my parents picked out, pre-built, as a gift.

[Mootilda]

What would make Sims 4 worth it to me? A fun game with no spyware or forced social features. Being forced online is a deal-killer, since my gaming machine contains personal information which will never be allowed to see the internet. Other than that, I just want a game that's fun to play. Guess that I'm pretty easy to please; although my current requirements seem to mean that I'll never buy another EA game.

[Bufu]

so it's just absolutely ridiculous that my already $1,000 computer can't handle the game. Why should I have to buy another? I LOVE MY MAC, DEAL WITH IT EA.

Cause its a MAC and there known not to run most games at a awesome rate ?
And FYI MAC has a reputation to not be a gaming rig, just in case you dint already know, and its not just The Sims 3 that it has issue with most of the time.

Most MAC designs look awesome tho, and there good at many things .... just not gaming :cry:

[aeval99]

Extensive beta testing!

[Zokugai]

No online or player-to-player "shared" component. That's mandatory or I will not be purchasing it.

Which is why I'm pretty sure I won't be purchasing it.

[crocobaura]

Ooooh I just came up with another thing for sims 4! Someone to wed our sims, and some base game churches or at least one weddingfriendly venue. With churches they could keep the religions from the Sims Medieval. In reality almost everyone believes in something so they could have some sort of choice to make in cas where you can choose what to believe in, for example Jacoban, Peterean or Science and of course a neutral opinion. And the possibility to get married at city hall for those couples who doesn't want to make a fuss would be nice.


I vote for the Church of Elvis! If they can't bring Elvis because of copyrights and stuff, I rather like it the way it is, makes sims appear more committed when they don't involve some invisible guy.


No online or player-to-player "shared" component. That's mandatory or I will not be purchasing it.

Which is why I'm pretty sure I won't be purchasing it.

If they do include online components I hope they will at least make sure they work properly and as intended. Personally, I don't like the facebook style notifications they have included in TS3 but, thinking back to Sims Online, I quite liked going to different lots and seeing how people decorated the places and some of the things people got up to trying to make the gameplay interesting. It mihgt work nicely with comunity lots like a coffee shop or restaurant or maybe a gym or pool or bowling.

[caolve]

I would like to have more depth in personality system. Mix of some basic sliders and huge amount of traits would be nice. For example, outgoing personality (slider) with a mean spirited trait would be really different person than outgoing sim with a good trait. Mean-spirited sim with a outgoing-slider set to zero would hate the whole world, but would be too reserved to ever express it in front of public.

One thing I really want is huge towns, where it would be almost impossible to know or even meet all the sims before they die of old age. But I fear and I'm almost sure that it's the point where online features come along, and I'm not touching that stuff, not even if EA payed for me and not the other way around.

But really, I'm done with the series. I feel no need to buy Pets/Seasons/Magic/Celebrity/University/OFB/whatever expansions for the 4th time. Really major things should come with the base game (less money for EA, I don't see that happening )and expansion packs should cover all the fun things from previous Sims games and add lots of new stuff to be appealing. For example, TS4 Pets should have cats, dogs and minor pets and pet competitions from TS1, horses and wildlife from TS3 and improve it all, maybe even add in more farm animals, functional zoo or something. I'm getting tired of missing stuff and features from older games, and of course with every Sims generation it becomes worse.

I'm also fed up with Store, just because of my town rebuilding OCD. You know, all of my towns just have to have all expansion pack features and venues. But I don't want my towns to look or feel cramped, and I want to keep the original feeling of the town. Now that they shove new venues in store every other week, this rebuilding is getting really tiresome :help:

Edit:
Well, maybe if TS4 would last longer than previous games, I would consider buying it. Not if TS5 comes 5 years after it with 10 expansion packs again. Instead, they could add more and more gameplay elements to TS4 and offer graphic patches or even improve game engine every now and then, when things start to get seriously outdated. I understand nothing about programming so I have no idea if it is even possible.

[Zokugai]

thinking back to Sims Online, I quite liked...
Someone liked Sims Online? Lies, lies I tell you.

[crocobaura]

Someone liked Sims Online? Lies, lies I tell you.

There were people who liked it. If EA rethinks the online component and its marketing strategy a new online sims game may not flop this time.

[Spiritbw]

There were people who liked it. If EA rethinks the online component and its marketing strategy a new online sims game may not flop this time.

EA killed "Earth & Beyond" a MMO I rather liked and turned it's marketing budget over to the Sims Online*. I rather they didn't start considering that they might make it work a second time around thank you very much.

*Use to be friends with on of the people working at Westwood studios before they were liquidized.

[CinderEmma]

Nothing I think, I like Sims 3 and don't think my computer will handle a Sims 4 any time soon xD Sims 3 is already going in an online direction that kinda sucks, see Sims 4 going full throttle into it.

[crocobaura]

EA killed "Earth & Beyond" a MMO I rather liked and turned it's marketing budget over to the Sims Online*. I rather they didn't start considering that they might make it work a second time around thank you very much.

*Use to be friends with on of the people working at Westwood studios before they were liquidized.


Well, they seem bent on including online components, we might as well suggest things that we can use or live with. :bunny:

[GnatGoSplat]

IF they didn't go backwards or remove features that are already in TS3, there is really one thing that would make me upgrade to TS4: Faster load and save times. MUCH faster. Like if they could through some kind of magic, get it to go from zero to saved game loaded and ready for play, in under 10-seconds like almost every other game. I'd even be happy with under a minute. Then I'd also like saving as fast as most other games, where I can save by just hitting an "F5 Quicksave" button and it saves so fast the only indication is a little disc icon spinning in the corner and it doesn't disturb my gameplay.
I'd also like it to be more mod-friendly. Rather than users having to reverse-engineer the game and come up with their own modding tools, I would like to see them release a Creation Kit type program that lets you easily add your own CC into the game.
Finally, I don't wanna go online to play single-player.

[Mootilda]

Well, they seem bent on including online components, we might as well suggest things that we can use or live with. :bunny:Or else make it clear that we intend to boycott any game which forces us online.

[sundazzle]

Okay, my last suggestion was a little stupid after some thinking, but now I have a good one. I was building and got to thinking how i wished that I could make round walls, fences and stairs. Especially for building mansions and castlelike buildings. We have round roofs (and pools for that matter) why not walls?

[PortiaRaven]

I like many of the suggestions here. I think one thing I'd like to see though is for there to be a "school" outfit selection for the kids. That way, they have something that they wear only to school, just like the adults have their career outfits. So if someone wanted to have all their kids-teens wear uniforms, they could do that without seeing that outfit everyday all day.

[rian90]

Release Sims 4 with all the features of the entire series of Sims 3 EPs with promises of more...THAT is all that will make me buy it. I am tired of starting with nothing.

[bassoon_crazy]

A playable bassoon, of course!

No, but seriously... I need:

- Some benefits for being a The Sims player for so long and spending all of that money. I don't know what exactly they could do, but they've got to throw us some kind of bone for being loyal. Those Expansion Packs are expensive, and to go back to step one without any of those features everytime is really getting on my last nerve.

Nowadays, some fans are spending phenomenal amounts of money thanks to the overpriced store, so I'm sure there are going to be other Sim fans agreeing with me this time.

- Seasons either being a part of the base-game, or being promised to be the very first Expansion Pack.

- Open restaurants/stores right off the bat.

- For a move forward... Perhaps height adjustment in CAS.

Gameplay wise I really don't know. Probably could have made a longer post here, but I've got to go. lol

[moniroxxx]

I think I would like to see the option to go shopping for clothes reappear again. I kind of miss that realness of the game.