Do You Wish TS2 was an Open World? Your Thoughts.

[starryeyedSim]

I have wished this for 3 years now. I know this is totally impossible because the game engines are totally different in TS3. But I wonder if there really isn't anyone out there brilliant enough to make at least two lots across from each other or side by side interactable? Is that a word? I doubt it.

I miss my TS2 Sims when playing TS3, and I know it is totally impossible to put TS2 Sims in TS3. Heck I wouldn't even want Story Progression in TS2...but how I wish my Sims could go across the street and interact with Goopy, or my own made Sims on the next lot. I am wondering if there is really No way at all for this to ever happen even on a small scale? Granted EA doesn't allow the change of the game engine, but isn't that exactly what mods do?

[DasRabennest]

Hi there,

hm...really...I don't think I'd want it. I love the game just like it is and a Mod as big as this would almost 100% destabilize the Game and that's something I'd rather not risk for mine. Probably I'm just too retro to think out of the box. ;)

DasRabennest

[Clashfan]

Actually someone has created a mod that allows you to visit Sims on their home lots. Chris Hatch over at Back Alley Sims created one, it is an adult only site however so I don't ever link to it on here.

I don't use it myself as it requires AL, if you are able and decide to check it out it would be found in Chris's Creations forum. Heads up the site is pretty graphic as it is 18+ and not everyone is comfortable with that even if you are an adult.

As for myself the open world aspect of things doesn't appeal to me all that much. I've got enough neighbors walking by that my Sims can always talk to them if they so desire. I also think I would find it frustrating to go to another playable's house and not be able to control any of their actions. Completely doesn't appeal to the control freak that lives inside me.

[starryeyedSim]

Ya, I always have crazy ideas. Like I was thinking it would work better in Uni since Uni blocks out regular mainhood Sims from entering that world. But then again, your Uni Sims can go back to the loading screen to go home or other subhoods for awhile.

[starryeyedSim]

Oh! Clashfan, thanks! I will check it out but I might have to look with one hand over one eye as I am quite shy about looking at adult fan sites! Thank you!

[NollemD]

I have wished this for 3 years now. I know this is totally impossible because the game engines are totally different in TS3. But I wonder if there really isn't anyone out there brilliant enough to make at least two lots across from each other or side by side interactable? Is that a word? I doubt it.

I miss my TS2 Sims when playing TS3, and I know it is totally impossible to put TS2 Sims in TS3. Heck I wouldn't even want Story Progression in TS2...but how I wish my Sims could go across the street and interact with Goopy, or my own made Sims on the next lot. I am wondering if there is really No way at all for this to ever happen even on a small scale? Granted EA doesn't allow the change of the game engine, but isn't that exactly what mods do?

It depends on what kind of mod you are talking about. There are the posing mods, which are mostly for aesthetic storytelling purposes. There are the glitch-fixing mods, which are mostly for repairing behaviors or animations or visual glitches in the game. There are the mods that expands gameplay in a way or limits gameplay in such a way but keeps the actual game in tact by inhibiting or producing certain behaviors or re-arranging certain behaviors to form a new interaction. No mod that you would find would change the game engine or override the loading screens. In order to do that, you would have to change the entire game architecture to allow one Sim to immediately go to another household as if it's in an open neighborhood. One can, however, just play The Sims 3.

[starryeyedSim]

Yes, but I like my TS2 Sims better just wish EA had given the TS2 Sims fans an a better option. Once you play the openworld you begin in some small, very small way to miss it once you go back to playing TS2. Granted not everyone likes the confinement of the Open world....Not being able to switch Sims fast as in TS2 or micromanage them. But I just would like to see my TS2 Sims roaming around and sometimes even doing things that is out of my control so I can go zap that and put an end to them moving on without me. Insert evil grin.

[ginrouken]

No, I don't. I don't particularly love the open world of TS3/TSM and the limitations that come with it, and I don't want those on TS2 too. The "closed world" matches my gameplay better and it's one of the reasons I still prefer TS2 over the newer titles, the open world is very nice and sparkly to look at but ultimately it doesn't work with my game at all.

And this is not the WCIF, but Chris Hatch has a mod that allows visiting neighbours' residential lots if you desperately want that. It's complex and somewhat unstable (you must read the documentation before toying with it), and it doesn't really add much in the long term after the novelty wears off, but it exists.

[M.M.A.A.]

the problem with open worlds is that they require high system specs to function properly and to be kept updated ingame, and some people dont own PCs with such high and strong specs, some people claim that they cant run the sims 3 on computers they used to run all EPs and SPs of sims 2...

[Babahara]

I'd love to, but my PC wouldn't handle it for sure. So I'm happy with TS2 the way it is :)

some people claim that they cant run the sims 3 on computers they used to run all EPs and SPs of sims 2...
They can't even launch it or does it work too slow? TS3 worked ok for me at first, but after the full patch my PC started to randomly reset almost each sim day. I'm pretty sure that something started to overheat from the added contents. No EPs, just vanilla game and a full patch. I guess those people might actually find it possible to play TS3, provided that they don't patch the game and don't use any EPs. Which kind of kills the point a little.

[punkrockgoth1988]

Honestly, I don't think I would be all that crazy about the game if it were open world like TS3 is. First off, it would take away the control I have over my Sims. The way the Sims you aren't playing in AL behave is bad enough. It is impossible to keep a Sim with the aspiration of Romance happy if you have him or her fooling around with the tenants/landperson. They will be in hot water before you can do anything about it.
Of course, I wouldn't mind being able to send my Sims to visit their friends for the sake of visiting. However open world is a bit over the top.

[starryeyedSim]

Just a thought: Remove the Story Progression features where your Sims don't have babies, get married without you etc. (Since this doesn't even work in TS3 anyway they don't even get married anymore but go steady all thier lives etc.) and then would you consider an open world where they all stay the same age until you choose for some to age up, and they live out their lives just the way you last played them but you can see your Sims and them roaming around and doing things as in TS3 then would any of you consider it to be 'fun'?

ETA: sorry, insert commas where needed

[Orilon]

I'm not happy with the open world in TS3 and wish it worked like TS2. I have a Ghost Hunter Sim and it takes him a Sim hour to get to houses on the edge of the map to do his job. (Don't get me started on the stupidity of trying to bike everywhere in China.)

[Peni Griffin]

But I just would like to see my TS2 Sims roaming around and sometimes even doing things that is out of my control so I can go zap that and put an end to them moving on without me. Insert evil grin.

They do that on community lots and at parties. Many a fight and caught cheating event has occurred while I'm playing a totally different household from the one affected!

It would be nice if you could click to visit inhabited lots, but if they can't make it work any better than the AL visit apartments, I can live without. What I wouldn't mind, though, in fact what I would love, would be an algorithm that adjusted the liklihood of a sim doing a walk-by based on how near the lot is to his own home and possibly how many friends he has in the neighborhood. So Clovis Point, who lives downtown, is less likely to walk by Mary Munny's house in Drama Acres than he is to walk past Leslie Gay's downtown; but the fact that he's friends with Mary's next-door neighbors might boost that chance by 5%; the fact that he's friends with her son two blocks away might be worth 2%; and now that he has in-laws on the next block that might be worth another 1% even though he doesn't get along with his in-laws. Because he might be visiting any one of those people and drop in on Mary on the way; or might have come down to Drama Acres with his wife, chickened out of seeing her folks, and gone for a walk instead.

[Clashfan]

What I wouldn't mind, though, in fact what I would love, would be an algorithm that adjusted the likelihood of a sim doing a walk-by based on how near the lot is to his own home and possibly how many friends he has in the neighborhood.

There is a hack at MATY for this "localwalkby" you can find it in the hack directory. Works great, in addition to it keeping it to only locals walking by it also increases the odds of it being a friend or family member walking by. Even better one you might need to see in order to improve or keep your relationship high.

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7.0.html

[ginrouken]

Just a thought: Remove the Story Progression features (...) then would any of you consider it to be 'fun'?

No. It's not the story progression, it's that the open world sucks. I hate having to go fifty three ways across Sunday and back to find one stray sim lost in town (and then finding him standing around doing nothing, just staring blankly at other sims also standing around doing nothing - the autonomy isn't even fun, just distracting), I hate how the professions completely suck one sim's time in a way that makes the rest of the household unplayable, and don't even get me started on how ~fun!~ it is staring at rabbitholes for hours while a stream of pop-ups tell me about all the crazy hijinks my sim is up to inside the building.

None of that is fun, all of that is frustrating and time-consuming, and watching Sims roam around and interact with other sims is nothing I don't already have - that's what community lots are for. And at least in closed-world lots I know my sims won't be taking off on their own to go stand around and stare blankly at a wall all the way over the other side of town.

[Orilon]

And then get error messages from Twallan's ErrorTrap that the Sim got stuck trying to stare blankly at a wall on the other side of town.

Argh. I wish I could play Sims 2 again.

[crocobaura]

But I just would like to see my TS2 Sims roaming around and sometimes even doing things that is out of my control so I can go zap that and put an end to them moving on without me. Insert evil grin.

TS2 sims do roam around, but they do it a lot more on community lots because they are not programmed to visit home lots. If you have a neighbourhood populated mostly with your own playables, then whenever you go to a community lot you can see some of them there, and you can even make them selectable with a cheat.

[Mootilda]

When I heard about the "open world" in Sims 3, my first thought was that it would be difficult to play more than one sim at a time and impossible to play more than one family. I was right.

Why would I want to destroy TS2 by making it more like TS3?

[dieKristina]

Yes, I would like my sims to be able to visit other sims. I have never played Sims 3, so I don´t know exactly how it works there, but I would say that´s one of the few things about S3 that attracts me. But I can totally live with how it works in sims 2, instead of visiting other sims you can invite their household over for dinner or something, and if you like to you can even temporarily make the visiting sims selectable while they are visiting. I think I´ll go and look for the mod Clashfan mentioned however.

[Vimpse]

No, I don't. The open world gameplay is, in fact, one of the things I didn't like about The Sims 3. I really do prefer the almost forced rotation system in The Sims 2 and I really don't mind not being able to go to other lots (or maybe all my sims are just homebodies :lol: ). I also find it a bit pointless to ponder things like these: things from TS3 that could be good in TS2: I like The Sims 2 because it's The Sims 2. If I wanted a function from The Sims 3... well... I'd play The Sims 3. Sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too, so I'm glad there isn't anything I'd really want from one game to the other.


...would be an algorithm that adjusted the liklihood of a sim doing a walk-by based on how near the lot is to his own home and possibly how many friends he has in the neighborhood. So Clovis Point, who lives downtown, is less likely to walk by Mary Munny's house in Drama Acres than he is to walk past Leslie Gay's downtown; but the fact that he's friends with Mary's next-door neighbors might boost that chance by 5%; the fact that he's friends with her son two blocks away might be worth 2%; and now that he has in-laws on the next block that might be worth another 1% even though he doesn't get along with his in-laws. Because he might be visiting any one of those people and drop in on Mary on the way; or might have come down to Drama Acres with his wife, chickened out of seeing her folks, and gone for a walk instead.

Not really super-relevant to this thread I suppose: but yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes - a million times yes, this would be awesome if executed correctly. Especially in my Megahood, where I sort of imagine how far away the different neighborhoods are from each other, say Strangetown and Bluewater Village... there I am, minding my own business playing Sir Landgraab and Pascal Curious trots on by outside on the street! In my mind all I can think is "dude, did you seriously WALK all the way over here?"

[Bwinney43]

I don't want an open world so much as I just wish the graphics outside of your lot were better. I love that I can see the neighborhood as I pan the camera around my lot but I hate that everything is blurry even with my awesome computer system(smug) and the graphics turned on high. I just wish that everything outside the lot looked like it does inside the lot.

[Julieryc]

No, I don't. The open world gameplay is, in fact, one of the things I didn't like about The Sims 3. I really do prefer the almost forced rotation system in The Sims 2 and I really don't mind not being able to go to other lots (or maybe all my sims are just homebodies :lol: ). I also find it a bit pointless to ponder things like these: things from TS3 that could be good in TS2: I like The Sims 2 because it's The Sims 2. If I wanted a function from The Sims 3... well... I'd play The Sims 3. Sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too, so I'm glad there isn't anything I'd really want from one game to the other.




Not really super-relevant to this thread I suppose: but yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes - a million times yes, this would be awesome if executed correctly. Especially in my Megahood, where I sort of imagine how far away the different neighborhoods are from each other, say Strangetown and Bluewater Village... there I am, minding my own business playing Sir Landgraab and Pascal Curious trots on by outside on the street! In my mind all I can think is "dude, did you seriously WALK all the way over here?"

Well, as someone pointed out upthread, the localwalkbys hack would definitely help you with that. It won't stop sims in the same 'hood from walking by even if they're at opposite ends of the map, but it will prevent your Downtown-living sims from walking by your Shopping District-living sims.

Back on-topic, no, I really don't wish for the open world. It's the sort of thing that sounded neat in theory, but hearing about its implementation in Sims 3 and realizing that it makes the rest of the family much more difficult to play, I'm perfectly happy with Sims being confined to their homes. I actually prefer not following Sims to work: it lets you play with other Sims, particularly when playing a large family with wildly varying schedules.

[Firelira78]

No, I wouldn't actually. Because everything comes at a price and we would have to pay the same price for a TS2 open world, as we've had to pay in TS3 open world. The sims would be dull lifeless drones. Text messages would replace animations and little picture boxes would replace emotions. The community lots would be empty, everyone you're trying to interact with will be "going to another place".

It would be very difficult to play large families, and monitor the activities of different sims in different locations.

We have something of an "open world" with AL. Many of my single sims or newly made CAS couples without kids live in apartments, which have at least 6 different families living in them. There're lots of drama causing interactions between the various families which make the game entertaining.

My large familes who live in houses always greet and interact with the walkbys, so the houses are always full of guests. I also make it a point to take my sims to community lots regularly. The much hated loading screen only lasts for 30 seconds in my average computer which causes constant CTD issues in TS3.

So between a loading screen which lasts a few seconds, vs an open empty neighborhood devoid of life and non-interactable sims who're forced by the game to be "going somewhere", I'll choose the loading screen any day. Though, I do wish the game could be saved at unowned community lots too.

Also, an open neighborhood will place severe restrictions on lot placements and decorations like in TS3. I recall the frustrations of the countless "you can't place a lot here" messages in TS3.

[mangaroo]

I've been playing Simsample's TS3 world Jericho since Christmas (my TS3 weakness: tomb exploring), and honestly the only time my Sims visit another residential lot is when the game calls them to a party. At which everyone stands around with routing issues or has to go to the bathroom or complains about being hungry. I...don't see the appeal of visiting other residences. I don't see myself using them the way I fantasize about in TS2, where I know every Sim in every populated house in the neighborhood, because I *don't* know (i.e., don't play) the other households in TS3 due to what I perceive as huge flaws in game design (Story Progression, the loss of promised wants + possible loss of inventory). Someone will drop by and say all this can be fixed with the right mods. I need to like TS3 beyond Jericho before modding it any further than Twallan's overwatch and error trap.

Really, even in TS3, you're only playing one location at a time. When I send SimA to dance at a club, I set him up on teh dance floor and zoom right back to the house to manage 4 other Sims' activities. I'm sure someday soon we'll be on superpowered computers with monitor banks and the player can watch all members of the household in 5 different locations. And as soon as that's released, we'll have moved on to full immersion holographic gaming and be right back to one location at a time.

[ani_]

An open world and being able to visit your friends are two different things. EA could have implemented it in TS2, without having to re-do the whole engine to enable an open world. The same way EA could have disabled visiting neighbours in TS3 even though it has an open world. Mods have proven that the TS2 engine can bend to things EA didn't implement, like community time, and obviously visiting.

A close world and an open world, both have their pro's and cons. The pros of a closed world is that you can concentrate on one lot at the time, and your computer can also concentrate on giving it's resources to this lot alone. The cons, at least with the way EA implemented community time, is that you can't live parallel lives.You can't send the husband to the pub, and have the wife have an affair while he's out, because time doesn't move forward on the home lot, which messes up Sim needs quite badly when they return.

The pros of an open world is being able to actually see the neighbourhood while you are driving, or walking, but as it's mentioned, you can't be in seven different places at once, so you need to choose who to focus on. But usually it's very unlikely that you actually have split your whole household that everybody is on a different lot. Mostly you'll have some at home, and the rest on the same community lot. Sometimes having an open world is a blessing, like once in a household of 7 where I was going crazy with so many Sims at once, I would send the grandfather to the bar, the kids and their dad to the park and concentrate on grandmother, her daughter and grand-son who stayed at home.

If you want to get the feel of an open neighbourhood, you could always download or build those apartment lots that were built to look like a patch of street, with real houses as apartments, instead of them being blocks of houses. Just embrace yourself to horrible lagging, unless you have a real good computer. At least horrible lag was my experience with them on my older computer, which is why I couldn't use them, even though some were really well built.

[Simsica]

The real irony with this open world thingy is that TS2 AI would work so much better in a TS3 open world setting. I played TS3 for a while and eventually abandonded it when i realized that I've reduced the game to TS2 settings. Why play TS3 then , if their AI isn't what I want?
I agree with Peni - TS2 community lots and parties (and parties on community lots!) are quite enough for me and my desire to see them cause mayhem and have fun. I love how TS2 com lots function. Most of my Sims' lives happen there - I have com lots for everything, and combined with OFB, this game has so much more to offer with regards of what "open world" ideally should be that I'm content with what I have.

[123blissb]

some people claim that they cant run the sims 3 on computers they used to run all EPs and SPs of sims 2...

Is there a problem with that?


Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I think that the open world for Sims 2 would be amazing, because I was drooling over Sims 3 "open world concept", but since I never got to try it, my opinion is bias. Maybe, just maybe the Sims 4 ( oh gosh the horror! not 8 more expansions!) will have the best of Sims 2, and the best of Sims 3! *sarcasm* Oh well, one can dream, and EA can crush.

[M.M.A.A.]

Is there a problem with that?

Well, not to me, i guess, but it is, to them/some.

[TychoH]

I don't like the open world as it is in Sims 3. I just want to control everything in the 'hood, not just one household :P .

[Mrmo]

A open world would be nice. Visiting friends or at least chating whit the neighbours for example. But, as alredy told, the computer must be good enough to hadle it. Sims 3 is made for the computers of today, sims 2 for the computers made back then. I think the game is fine as it is.

[LordHoramun]

I must admit that I wish that The Sims 2 had tombs and an in-game feature that could recolor things like objects, structural features, and sim parts. Real basements would also be nice, but that would probably be hard to do. It seems that tombs could be a lot deadlier in The Sims 2, but many things would have to be made before such a thing is even remotely possible.
:( :( :(

[Liv Lukas]

I've been reading this thread for some time now and while I agree with most of the viewpoints, I must say that I would like an open world in TS2 and I do think it can be done to appease us control freaks, errr... storytellers.

I would love to have my Sim look up from his desk in his office which overlooks the park and see other playable Sims hanging out, walking the dog, throwing a Frisbee. But I would want very little that happened to those Sims while I was not controlling them to be "tracked" while I was not playing them. Say Luke is out walking his dog while I am playing another Sim. If Luke meets and chats with a new Sim, the next time I play Luke that interaction would show in his memories, like it is now. But Luke would be **limited** to what he could do with his new acquaintance until I was playing him again. That way some things are happening outside my control, for surprise and variety, but nothing that I would not want to happen - like Luke sells his dog and mysteriously ends up with a larvae baby on the floor.

I've spent so much time on making a close knit little village that I would love to see that village come to life outside my Sim's windows.

[omglo]

I do wish the game had an open world, but the summoning hacks replicate that enough for me to be content with what we have. The only thing that would make me happier would be a way to send Sims out at any point without me having to go with them. I'd really like Sims of all ages to have the "Go out" option similar to the ones teens have. It would be nice to have Sims pack up their kids and send them off to the aunt and uncle's house or something. Then the parents could have time alone and the kids would walk back onto the lot the next day with increased/decreased relationship scores with their aunt, uncle and cousins that they visited.

[BurgundyStars]

Eh, I'm pretty happy with the way TS2 operates in that respect. Having random Sims walk by the household I'm playing or milling about on community lots is enough for me. The concept of an open world is an interesting one but I don't necessarily need/want it, personally. I learned about TS3's open world set-up a while ago and it makes me quite happy that I chose TS2 instead.

[Simsica]

The only thing that would make me happier would be a way to send Sims out at any point without me having to go with them.

I'm almost positive that there are mods that prolong or diversify the "take a spin" interaction, for this very purpose. I'm not using them, so I wouldn't know for sure. Maybe someone else?

[Liv Lukas]

Got it: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,8887.0.html

Cruise as long as you want mod. I use it to simulate a Sim who travels for a living for her imports business - she cruises for a day and a night and when she comes home, I increase her funds to simulate earning. Of course, there are other Sims in her household, so while she is gone on business trips there are lots of other things to do.

So yeah, it's really good for simulating that one Sim is gone on vacation or a business trip when you need them off the lot for awhile.

[LilGeek]

No! I do not want an open world, in fact I was so profoundly disappointed by TS3 (everything from graphics to game play) that I don't want anything that even smells like TS3! :cry:

On a more serious note, open world game play wouldn't really improve my gaming experience in TS2. I find it easy enough to have my Sims socialize with other Sims as it is, and in TS3 I didn't find the open world to be something that vastly enhanced my fun. Rather found it quite annoying, since my Sims suddenly spend a lot of time just getting to places, time that I could have spend on actual game play, instead of just watching my Sims get to/from work or whatever..

[starryeyedSim]

I was more in thought about this, I don't mean the TS3 engine, I mean our beloved TS2 Sims in a very small world/hood. I am with the other poster that has made their small, tightknit village. I have made one lot all medieval to the max. It has several buildings and does look like a very small village. But only eight Sims can live there. I really don't want a hack to increase the number living there, I just wish a tiny world/hood with TS2 Sims (not my pudding faces and all their hangups) coould roam around and interact (I have already stated remove Story Progression) and my playable Sim could watch what they are doing from high in his/her tower balcony. And if they wanted to just call over one of those Sims or go down the road to a pub without loading screens.

I already have the hack/mod that allows apartments above stores, so that is fun, but still not the same. I would want all my little mideval characters to be seen and interacting (not reading) in my TS2 hood.

[omglo]

Thanks, Simsica and Liv Lukas. That will help a lot.

[Simsica]

I was more in thought about this, I don't mean the TS3 engine, I mean our beloved TS2 Sims in a very small world/hood. I am with the other poster that has made their small, tightknit village. I have made one lot all medieval to the max. It has several buildings and does look like a very small village. But only eight Sims can live there. I really don't want a hack to increase the number living there, I just wish a tiny world/hood with TS2 Sims (not my pudding faces and all their hangups) coould roam around and interact (I have already stated remove Story Progression) and my playable Sim could watch what they are doing from high in his/her tower balcony. And if they wanted to just call over one of those Sims or go down the road to a pub without loading screens.

I already have the hack/mod that allows apartments above stores, so that is fun, but still not the same. I would want all my little mideval characters to be seen and interacting (not reading) in my TS2 hood.

I don't think that such a thing is possible in TS2. I mean, I don't think the game supports it. If it were possible, it would be done. The hackers have combed through the exe file of this game very thoroughly. It can't be done. It's just about what the game is, how it's structured, what is its coding, and what is not.

So it's not possible, though it would be desirable. Much more so than TS3.

[LordHoramun]

There are room fogs that hide things in dorms, hotels, and apartments. These could be used as the basis of room hiders in places in The Sims 2 intended to be used as tombs.

An open world would be a wonderful addition to The Sims 2 game if such a thing was possible. There could be settings that dictate how other households and other sims behave. Excluding college regions and vacation regions, there are many neighborhoods that sim families can live in. Some of the worlds that come with The Sims 2 and its expansion packs would be fun to run around in.

As of the moment, I have both The Sims 2 and all of its expansion and stuff packs (excluding Glamor Life, Happy Holidays, and Store Edition) and The Sims 3 and its World Adventures and Ambitions expansion packs installed on my computer. I use The Sims 2 for family life and storytelling and The Sims 3 for adventuring and exploration. I have Pleasantview as the base world in The Sims 2 and Sunset Valley as the base world in The Sims 3. I am creating a storyline that involves both games, so to this end I have linked the vacation worlds of the two games together. Seeing what the exotic areas are like, my story links France with the mountain region, China with the Far East region, and Egypt with the tropical region. The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 can be viewed in the manner that light and dark are in the yin and yang symbol.

[HoodieDoodie]

I'd die if there was a seamless neighbourhood like there is in TS3 for TS2

If there was a sims 4..... I'd love the sims to be from TS2 and the rest from TS3.

[sims3dude]

I like the sims 2 the way it is:)

[crocobaura]

The cons, at least with the way EA implemented community time, is that you can't live parallel lives.You can't send the husband to the pub, and have the wife have an affair while he's out, because time doesn't move forward on the home lot, which messes up Sim needs quite badly when they return.

Sometimes having an open world is a blessing, like once in a household of 7 where I was going crazy with so many Sims at once, I would send the grandfather to the bar, the kids and their dad to the park and concentrate on grandmother, her daughter and grand-son who stayed at home.



TS2 also had bits of "open world". If you wanted a sim off the lot you could send them to walk the dog, jog, or go for a spin in the car or intall a car alarm. Sure, you couldn't see what those sims were doing while away, but it shows that such activities are possible. And then they could always cheat on the spouse while he/she were at work. For TS2 I wish it were possible to see the neighbouring lots in better detail. Visiting other sims on their home lots would have been nice too, they could have programmed the game to treat the host family as if they were on a community lot.



I have made one lot all medieval to the max. It has several buildings and does look like a very small village. But only eight Sims can live there. I really don't want a hack to increase the number living there, I just wish a tiny world/hood with TS2 Sims (not my pudding faces and all their hangups) coould roam around and interact (I have already stated remove Story Progression) and my playable Sim could watch what they are doing from high in his/her tower balcony. And if they wanted to just call over one of those Sims or go down the road to a pub without loading screens.


Actually loading screens are faster than moving around in an open neighbourhood. I find it strange that people who never used community lots in TS2 suddenly find TS3 community lots so appealing, especially when there's so little activity to be had there.

[akksgurl]

No. As nice as the open world idea sounded, in practice it's pretty terrible IMO. Sims in TS3 spend 90% of their day going somewhere, you can hardly ever find who you're looking for because they're always going somewhere and good luck finding a person who isn't already involved with someone else. :lol: Not to mention that it's hard on computers that aren't high end and next to impossible to adequately control a family larger than 3 or 4 (and even that is pushing it, especially if you're playing two adults with jobs that really need to be micromanaged - like the ones that come with Ambitions). Plus I find that the open world aspect really creates a distance between you and your sim. I hardly ever really like any sim I've played in TS3. I love all my TS2 sims. I like having them "trapped" in their house. :lol:

[Saturnfly]

I have to say I would hate it. x.x I don't like change and to be honest, I'm not bothered at all by loading times but I am bothered by extreme lag.

[Orilon]

Actually loading screens are faster than moving around in an open neighbourhood. I find it strange that people who never used community lots in TS2 suddenly find TS3 community lots so appealing, especially when there's so little activity to be had there.

Exactly. Try waiting 3 Sim hours for your Sim to bike from one lot to another in China and then tell me that's better than waiting on a load screen. Blah.

[vhanster]

I would only be okay with open worlds if I can control ALL the households at once, instead of just once at a time.

[starryeyedSim]

If you are like me, then yes, you want to control all Sims in the world. So, let's say Story Progression isn't there.

The other Sims in the TS2 'open world' that aren't being played wouldn't be getting involved no more than they do in TS2, already.

Even your playable Sims in TS2 get 'involved' 'cheat', 'flirt' make friends etc. when you aren't playing them when you see them on a community lot. So, that much would be out of your control, but not to the extent that Story Progression plays that for you.

And let's say it is the TS2 Sims, with all their little habits and traits, not the TS3 Sims.

O.K. at least you wouldn't be getting the notice that Jack thinks Jane is being fliry, or rude. :report: and all things TS3 related as in their personaility notices to you would no longer be there, it would be the TS2 Sims and all their interactions, not TS3 Sims in no way shape or form. (not even what they think or feel would be remotely to TS3 Sims) because EA woke up and realized Simmers don't want to be told what their Sims are thinking....they want to imagine what that is by the thought bubble over the Sim head and that's it. They make the story in their own minds, just as in TS2.

Unlike the beginning of TS3 where Sims sometimes went running off to fish at a spot (not actually a community lot placed in the open world) near by in the world, they mainly stay home now if you don't send them somewhere.

The open world for TS2 could have worked the same way. Sims wouldn't leave the home lot unless you made them. Yes, if you stopped playing that Sim you would see them at any of your venues, like browsing for clothes (not available in TS3) just like when you see them come to a community lot in TS2, now.

It would just be that you would see your TS2 Sims walking down the street, or driving their car to work or the car pool. And a new added twist, you would see the ocean waves behind your TS2 house (the distant terrain/effect objects in TS2) without a BV beach lot. That was something I wished for before BV, where we could see moving water/waves when you placed a house near any of the water in the TS2 hoods. Little did I realize that was what would be happening in TS3.

I have heard the Devlopers of TS4 have said people will be pleasantly surprised, I sure hope so. But what ever that means I am sure it won't be a return of the animations, interactions and Sims of the TS2 games.

ETA: And just like other games a limit of how many lots and Sims could live in this open world could be done just like any other game maker places on pc specs. Examples of this are already in game: Low end pc/3 visting Sims, Midgrade GraphicRule.Sgr 14 or so etc. And just like MS games, many different genres, a number of how many simulated Sims can be generated could be clamped. I love the TS2 community lots I build or premade or others make...therefore, rabbit holes would have to be ruled out in my version of an open world of TS2, and because the trait system and other such matters wouldn't be there, Sims would go to community lots when your Sim goes there Just as they do now due to TS2 coding and not the coding of TS3.

[starryeyedSim]

Concerning lag in TS3, that is due to poorly made worlds by EA that have broken routing lines and too many spawners and a whole host of other things. If a simple template like in TS2 was used with a closer network for roads, it wouldn't be that lagging, considering you left out spawners and other things. That's just my own thoughts about all that lag, but true to a point in a lot of respects.