My first day playing The Sims 4, random people dying infront of my door O.o.

Second day playing The Sims 4, my guy never gets lucky because of the lack on social interactions, beeing good at the job, managing 2 babys and getting enough money to feed someone who has the trait foodie (The Wife), she just eats all day not going to work at all...
There is no parenting time anymore

Sorry for bad english (German).

Really the loading times, it took me sometimes 10mins + to load the world in Sims 3 it take me 10 sec to load anything in Sims 4.

I'm so disappointed with this game :<

-no story progression
-no Create a style
-lighting (it's so dark inside and colours are weird)
-graphic
-I don't like a new CAS
-there isn't anything to do really

back to the sims 3.

Those annoying tutorial tips, mainly because I couldn't find a way to turn them off

I think these might be on purpose. The game is set between The Sims (TS1) and Sims 2 (TS2) so late 90's. The computer looks more 1980's though, but I guess if you were buying a "cheap" computer in the mid 90's it might look like that.

I don't like the babies. They scare me, even though I have yet to see Slenderman baby in my game. They are just creepy.

I was really disappointed the first time I crossed the street to visit a neighbor and got a loading screen. I was expecting each little cul-de-sac to be its own open world. So, for instance, we'd have one loading screen to access the museum, gym, bar, and library.

Babies always have been creepy. I've never seen a cute baby, not in a sims game, not in real life.

You know after playing The Sims 4 for awhile I really miss The Sims 2. That's why I have The SIms 2 Ultimate Collection open right now. There's so many good memories from The SIms 2 I could get tears of joy

I don't have the game, but... I really dislike the whitewashing of previously established Sims i.e. Dina and Nina's mother. Dina and Nina themselves also looked pretty pale in the pictures I saw of them. Also, I saw this post on Tumblr with pictures of Cassandra and Alexander:

http://jenba.tumblr.com/post/966036...h-in-the-park-i

Cassandra is so white now. Why. What is wrong with you, EA?

I've been looking for CC for the game, because at the 36 hour mark that's more amusing than playing it, and I'm constantly irritated by what they did to the female pelvis to produce that ridiculous 'thigh gap'.

https://33.media.tumblr.com/47b7a75...5spgqo1_500.jpg

It's not even attractive.

Hehehe, (s)he looks lovely. But as soon as they start crying I'm ready to run... But pics look nice, sometimes even cute.

Continuing a previous post: That damn Uncomfortable "emotion". Again, since emotions don't have a dead zone and high motives don't serve as a buffer, Sims tumble into this distress state too easily.

Has anyone used the "Complain about Problems" social? What's the purpose of this? Does it make them feel better or something? Do other Sims like listening to it? Does it make the other Sim sympathize with the problems? If not, my text changes will call it "Whine about Discomfort".

(he says, complaining about a game problem)

And do you feel better?
I don't find this to be true. There was one time I kept getting it, but then I found an unmopped puddle. I have used the complain social, and it helped. There may be different outcomes depending on relationship, but I haven't explored that yet.

Oh, I'm doing something about it. I'm going into the string tables and replacing a lot of things that are misnamed (Bro to Douche, Tech Guru to Gamer, Criminal's paths from Boss and Oracle to Gangster/Mobster and Hacker).

Complaining about the cause of the problem might work. If that puddle is from a spilled drink, chew out the drink-spiller! But there's not much you can do when crappy/unreliable furniture, appliances, electronics, and plumbing conspire to wreck your day except whine in vain and curse the makers.

@Moogle Luv - That's an adorable baby! Enjoy every minute. They grow so quickly.

Oh, do you mean like if you complain to slob, will they clean their stuff up? No, that doesn't happen, but that would be cool.

Can't wait to see your changes, they sound good.

Sorry for the big ol' pic, it's just that my opinion of babies and your opinion of babies seem to mesh and made me remember this >_>

I figured they wouldn't track the source of a puddle. Did complaining make the offending moodlet go away quicker or something? I imagine it wouldn't work with motive distress.

My changes are just text. I can't do tuning because they're not in nice neat XML files.



And here's where I'm putting the quibbles.


Yeah, the facial structures are different, but now the basic skin texture is flawless and baby-soft - even for YA/adult/elder. The differences in facial structure become much more subtle now that the skin is the same. Makes telling YAs from teens difficult, and makes adults/elders look younger.


Too bad the job selection stinks. I have a feeling they tried to make fun-to-play at the cost of realism.


They couldn't make it easier for Sims to have friends. They just had to make relationship decay so much nastier.


Would be better if the "run-down neighborhood", "nice neighborhood", "downtown/shopping district", etc. had more than five lots.

First of all, let me excuse for my bad english in advance. I am german and live in germany, so I am unfortunately not a native english speaker. Never the less I wanted to voice my opinion in a place where it will (hopefully) be heard and since SimGurus read here once in a while, I figured my chances are better here than elsewhere. But of course this post is not only adressed to EA but to fellow sim-players as well. Since this will probably be a very long post I will structure it into subtitles. That way you can just skip to the parts you are interested in.

A short explanation who I am
I am a 32 year old,physically disabled woman, but this should not be of too much interest. The more interesting fact about me is, that I am a Sim-Player from the first our. I have played Sims 1 with all expansion packs except for Hokus Pokus since Sims 2 was released. I played and still play Sims 2 with every expansion pack and stuff pack and a lot of custom content. I have The Sims 3 and every expansion pack but two or three. Actually, I wasted my money on that game, because as a rotational player, generation-player and family-player I never really warmed up with that sequel of the game. I felt ignored in the way I play by EA. Sims 4 should have been a new start.
(On a side note: I hardly play any other computer games except some time-management games and one or two simulations).

The positive things
This should not only be a rant, because there are some parts in The Sims 4 I really like. For example I appreciate that the rotational game play is supported again! It supports and favors my way of playing and was one of the reasons I gave Sims 4 a chance. I also like the emotions since they offer a new depth to the Sims as pixel-persons. The Sims in general seem more life-like as in Sims 3 and I personally like the look of them so far. The options for clothing is great and modern and looks awesome.
I really like the new career-system that is not based on friends but based on tasks you have to do. This is a lot more realistic in my opinion, so I give thumbs up for that. And I love the huge diversity in the interaction-menue. The new interface takes a bit of getting used to and I am not completely used to it yet, but I already thing that it is a huge improvement towards Sims 1 - 3 .
Last but not least the CAS and the new Build Mode is indeed very powerful and the last named feature seemed to be developed by people who really play The Sims Games. I wish I could say that in other expects of the game as well...

The little things missing
First of: We all know that this is a base game and we can not expect the depth of a game boosted up with countless expansion packs from the last years. But there are a lot of little things that are missing in the game which makes me feel like the people who programmed the life mode of The Sims never really played the game themselfes for more than a few hours. So let me just list some little things of life that where in EVERY other Sim Game ever since Sims 1 but are missing in The Sims 4 and lead to a downgrade in gameplay.

• Doorbell : Seriously, how can they forget about that? I hardly ever hear the knocks on the door of my house and I do not understand why the neighbors can not use a doorbell anymore.
• Fireman: Ever had a single-Sim on fire? It is their death. Why on earth do we not have a fireman anymore?
• Policeman: Well, you can be a criminal in Sims 4, but you do not need to fear anything when being a naughty guy. There is no police anyway.
• Burglar: Yes, they were annoying. But they brought the game to life.
• Maid: When my Sims are busy with working on their career I like it when someone else is taking care of the hard work at home. Well, in Sims 4 I can't relay on someone else...
• Postman: They did not do much, but again, they brought life to the game. I don't like my (extremly high) bills to appear in my mail box like magic. Because they are not magic, I can tell you!
• Repairman: Another fellow Sim form all other games that sadly disappeared into nothingness. Why?
• Dishwasher: A household of eight Sims and all have to do their dishes? Again I feel like the programmer never played The Sims themself or otherwise they would have realized the lack of this object.
• Telephone: I know these days a lot of people only have a cellphone. However, as a family player I like it when there is a family phone. It was pretty lifelike when the phone rang and my Simself answered and got told that this was a friend of my Sim-Child wanted to chat. Now my Sim-Children will either have their own cellphone or can not call friends at all. (I did not play with children as of yet, so I can not tell for sure which way it will be.)

This is NOT a life-simulation
The subtitle of this section might sound a bit harsh but this is exactly how I feel about The Sims 4. The missing small features above are already a hint that the center of creating Sims 4 was not being as lifelike as possible - Sims 1 to 3 followed this route, Sims 4 does not. And that is where I come to the main reason of why I am writing this post. I sighed when realized the above things in the list but could deal with it. Now my Simself got a baby and my anger actually knows no limits anymore.
This is not a baby!! It is a lifeless, creepy-looking doll bount to a crib. Yes, I knew that before but seeing something in a video and actually feeling it while playing is a difference. And the humor of it is, even my Sims don't feel like this creepy creature is a pixel-life. My Sim-husband has the family trait and he got sad because his sister moved out the other day - he does not care the least that he is now father of a baby girl. But well, making a good breakfast made him confident. We all know that making scrambled eggs can make you happier than becoming a parent, don't we? Actually, it seems like Yannik (the Sim man) does not even know the baby is there. Although he was there when the girl was born and the crib is standing in the bedroom.
Let me just not get started about the missing toddlers but move straight forward to some strong, personal feelings.

EA does not care about family-players
Ever since Sims 2 players wanted to dress-up their babies and have more to do with them. To be fair, we have a little more to do with them now and I appreciate that we can also breast-feed. But this simply does not make anything better anymore when the babies do not even look like their parents. They have a totally different skin texture and are drawn terribly! Since they are bound to the crib they are not even a real part of the family life - and obviously should not be since the mom or dad do not even get some days off from work to care for the baby. They can still not be dressed, being hold while sitting, cuddled on the sofa and now not even put into different cribs or being carried around or lied down to play with a baby-gym or whatever.

The fact that there are no toddlers should have told me right from the start that EA is not interested anymore in my group of players. The players that like to simulate a normal life with a bit of humor and drama added. (Even the option of jobs should have told me that the life-simulation players are not addressed with this game. There are almost none "down-to.earth.jobs.)

I even go that far that I say that Sims 4 will never be a game for players who love to play with the younger life-stages, even when toddlers will be added. The baby-stage can not be improved anymore and will always look as awkward as it does now.

My last words on this
I was a true sim-fan that spend a lot of money on the game for years. I am not anymore. I will not buy anymore EPs just for purpose of collecting. No deeper family-gameplay in the future = no more Sims for me. And I feel extremely sad and disappointed about that but the way EA is treating us family players just tells me that they do not care for us and our money anymore. Let alone our opinion of the game. NEVER did a receive any feedback in the past nor did EA apologize ever to the fans for the lack of toddlers, the critic for object babies or anything else. All they say is, that they can not serve every player.

Well, my fault, I think. I thought with a life-simulation it would be possible to simulate life. Normal, colorful, fun life. But instead of this weirder stories are possible now - normal stories not anymore.

@Swjosdotschka

I agree with a lot of your review of the game. This doesn't feel like a life simulator anymore. It feels like a game in which you control a bunch of dudes. It may seem like a fine line, but the omission of all the ordinary, life-life things that you mentioned (pretty much to a one, the NPCs, the dishwasher, etc) really make this installment feel video-gamey. The lack of realistic careers, like business, medicine, science, etc, the lack of interactable babies...EA really lost their way with this installment...but not even just this installment. It's been a long time coming.

Look back to the Sims 2. What was the first expansion they released? University. They added a new life stage, let your sims go to college, educate themselves, grow as people and build a better life.

What was the Sims 3's first expansion? World Adventures. You could be Indiana Jones.

Granted, that could be construed as a "vacation" EP, but let's face it, EA has been stretching this franchise to appeal to the broadest audience possible. While in many ways, this isn't a bad thing, ultimately they've been losing the identity of the game as a result. The Sims should, at its core, be a life simulator, not an adventure game, not a cartoony mockery of what life could be (though some cartoonishness can be forgiven). In the Sims 4 you can be a super spy but you can't be a doctor or a lawyer. This may be a small nit-pick, but it's something, a direction that's been bothering me for a long time now. And it makes me sad.

At least, in many ways, the core gameplay of this game feels pretty enjoyable even if it's lost its way in a huge way. I think the next few months, if EA decides to get their heads out of their butts and tells us the overall plan of attack for the series (if they can pry themselves away from their yachts and caviar and...private...sports teams and...I dunno, what else do wealthy people buy?), will really tell us if this installment will be worth it. For my part, I really wish I could go back to the Sims 2. It was my favorite of the series by far. But it feels so dated to me. And unfortunately, the Sims 3 is a hot, steaming mess and plays like crap, so...this is kind of my only option.

I hope you can continue to enjoy TS2, however. I'm sorry for your disappointment in the newest installment

Regarding the ease of dying by embarrassment: The pose in the portrait for a "Mortified" Sim looks like an expression of fright, not shame.



A fear emotion would have been good. Brave = higher threshold, Coward = lower threshold. Scary things would amplify Energized unless fear overtakes energized-ness. Fire would be scary, not tense.

Being scared to death was annoying, but it was a tradition from the Sims 2 days.

Yeah, @DrChillgood -- I can't understand why, with all this emphasis on emotions, sims can't be afraid. It's such a basic emotion, and "very tense" just doesn't capture how I'd feel about a bonfire in my kitchen. :P

I hate the internet requirement. We were promised internet connection would only be needed for activation ONCE, but everytime I shut down my computer the game yells for internet access before I can play again. I refuse to keep my machine in standby mode while I sleep or leave the house.