The video title makes that picture even funnier


I can't wait to put that to the test just to see how elastic those para's are.

I still don't understand why it's like this. It's an odd choice because TS4 prioritized pouring personality and interaction types into the Sims vs building focus... For some reason. Yet decided to go the lazy route with a prime interaction opportunity by not allowing blocked Sims to interact with the blocking Sim. I wonder if this is just a consequence of having no true physics in the game or if it's just lazy problem solving (Sims never have to worry about physically blocked by other Sims when walking).

At the very least the Sims respect personal space when waiting their turn. Usually.

Routing aaide, as of late I manage to get and install The Sims 1 complete collection cause of annoying TS2 crashing I can't get to fix on my rig, but.... let me tell, the things the sims 1 has in terms of objects and some fewture bits are far more... interesting and refreshing than what you get with TS4. Like especially things outside of your home.

Like the choices for each pack that's been added are well calculated and chosen carefully for each pack that makes it fun. Don,'t get me started on complicated objevts with snimation. And while I know it's probably be easier to implement due to graphics and simplified looking artstyle/graphics/whatever its called, it's still absurd knowing how TS1 packs look well refine and feature-ess then what TS4 has offered. Compare Unlesshed petobjects-venues to Cats&Dogs, SuperStar activities to Get Famous, and Makin Magic's spell system to Realm of Magic. And we don't even have a proper Hot Date take for TS4 (maybe that's a plus, since Family Content is still lacking and that's something should be priority-above). Although haven't tried it, but On Vacation have more treatful leisure activities on each three destination location to Outdoor Retrest, Island Living and Snowy Escape respectively. Like what the hell? Shouldn't pack focusing on one single vacation trip be flesh-out on its own merit than a pack that does all three which was made in early 2000's? Mind blown

To be honest I do not think there were any date mechanics in TS3 either. I do have all packs and the only thing my sims can do is to pick a place to have the date, whatever happens after that is hidden (due to rabbit hole community lots). I loved arranging dates in TS2 (even if I have no experience from dates irl ) and in most cases they turned out well. Following a list like in TS4 just feels stupid. That combined with the fact that the ingame time runs very fast, that service in restaurants and bars are very slow and that the needs of a playable sim drops like a rock does not make it better. (OK, I did have a mod in TS2 making the needs drop slower but even without it the dates were somehow doable). I hope this game solves this better.

Dates aren't hidden in TS3, but they're not as nice as the TS2 dates where you get an obvious meter on how the date is going. You don't have to take a sim to a rabbit hole for a date, you can do pretty much anything with them. I don't actually know the mechanics to make a perfect date each time (I like playing the game kinda blind even after all these years), but I usually make sure they eat whether it's in a restaurant, at their house, or at a restaurant outside.

After that, I try to pick one or two activities they can do together that gives tons of fun. Depending on the park you have in the neighborhood, they can do things like play soccer/football together or maybe throw water balloons at each other. They can go see a movie. Or, if they're already super into each other, you can just have them woohoo for almost a verified good date at the least. But time is also important, make sure they spend a few hours together at least.

Dates in TS3 aren't measured by a meter because it's supposed to be more open-ended in how you approach the date. The idea is that you decide what to do and as long as you show them a good time, then you'll have a successful date. That may include taking them to one or more venues, spend some time talking or flirting, etc. If they have to leave early or you cut the date early, they'll get annoyed because you hardly did anything with them.

I prefer it that way honestly. TS2's take on it wasn't that bad, but I'm the opposite in that I don't really like having an obvious measure of how well I'm doing placed in front of me. I absolutely abhor TS4's date system though. Just going through a checklist of things I may or may not want them to do, all to get a better "reward".

It is actually very easily fixed. I did a mod for it myself a while back. The XML for DJ Dancer/Observer has the minimum distance to stand set at zero. (Maximum at 5 which some sims do choose.) Hence most sims pack into the booth like sardines. An obvious oversight. Altering that minimum factor to anything else other than zero, 0.5 - half a tile - 1, whole tile, 2,3,4 whatever, makes sims stand further away and, consequently, more spread out. Maxis could fix this oversight in a blink of an eye, a two minute edit job to XML, nothing major about it, - I know this as I did this. But they don't fix, despite this being a topic already reported to them because of its ridiculousness, but they don't fix because they don't care. A two minute edit job avoided for six-odd years? They don't care at all.

I'm pretty sure the corporate structure and bureaucracy inside the studio is to blame here. Even a minor 2-minute fix probably has to go through many, many stages before it can be included in a patch. Indie or medium-sized studios are much more effective with fewer employees and resources than big studios.

It's impossible to have a romantic date in TS4, unless you just invite them to your room or something, as your sim immediately walks off from their date and starts talking to everyone else.

And it better be an empty room at that.
A whole ago I gave Sims another try and I tried to build up a romantic relationship between a Sim and his guest... and they both constantly kept walking off to do other things (getting books from the shelf and reading them, playing with their phones/tablets, sitting down, changing seats etc etc) it was...tiresome.

Paralives has made this post about modular objects public: https://www.patreon.com/posts/modular-objects-50984237

Does it still have the homing missile npcs? When your sim is on a public lot and you get this interaction pop up in your queue that you can't click away. And it turns out to be this random townie just freshly spawned on the lot. There is no line of sight between this townie and your sim, but they still know exactly where your sim is and will go for them, no matter what. And only when they reach your sim, you get to cancel their interaction? And because it is in the queue all the time, your sim kissing their date becomes an awkward encounter, even though they were never in a position to actually see the kiss. If this mechanic was made up by a developer with the intention to troll players, I would believe it.

Two days ago, my sim was with his intended girlfriend in a part of a large room away from the other sims in the room. They were not part of the group conversation. So I instructed him to "confess attraction". As part of carrying out my instruction, he walked over to the group the other side of the room, she followed. His interaction changed to chatting with group, with the little "confess attraction" tag against it. So like he deliberately wanted to say it so everyone could hear. So basically the code is written to make it almost impossible to have a private chat if there is another sim anywhere on the lot, since it makes it seem that as soon as your sim wants to say anything, he has to try and make it part of a group chat if at all possible. So what's the thinking behind that? Yes it really does look as if some developer has made up their mind to have the game frustrate the intention of the player wherever possible. You expect that in an arcade-style game or shooter, but surely not in a game described as "sandbox"

Considering early TS4, even after release, had such a heavy focus on partying and outings and young adult interactions, it definitely wouldn't surprise me at all if they deliberately coded it that way to make venues or house parties seem more lively.

Remember how everyone said venues were dead in TS3 and nobody ever showed up to talk to your Sim? It's like they took the polar opposite of that and made TS4 Sims literally unable to function without being in a group. Be careful what you wish for I guess.

The whole grouping definitely feels forced yes. I think that this also lead to the chair dance while chatting and sitting.
But I think this has also to do with how the queue is programmed. There seems to be something off with its priority list. Like how your action cancelling is sometimes waiting for something else to finish first. I also remember that when your sim is walking somewhere and you add an interaction with another sim to the queue, the sim sometimes first completes walking to destination to then walk back to the location where you added the interaction.To then resolve that action. Or when trying to chat to a sim and both are sitting, instead of checking if you are sitting within chatting distance and stay put, itll make your sims stand up and sit again by default. There are also these moments (maybe when animations first need to be finished I think?) where you simply can't add an interaction to the queue. But maybe that is just lag somehow.
I think the whole action queue is an unreliable mess anyway with the way it works.

The Paralives team has relased a Q/A on their patreon page.

I will buy this game, no matter the price (almost); life simulation is a neat game concept and one of the few I find entertaining, so whatever the end result I want to encourage the variation in that genre. I like the sims' games, but they are not made with me in mind, and I would like games to be more mature. I did read that the game is to have the same 'rating' as TS4, which is a bit disappointing, but the themes listed to be avoided I am not interested in anyway and there are perhaps ways of dealing with serious subjects without making so called adult material. I am thinking of becoming a patron, being able to communicate wishes during development is tempting, but I agree with the doubts put forward in this thread about the principle of it, and I'm also very put off by the employee argument. I'll see.

I'm pretty much in that same boat as far as buying it regardless of price. I mean I'm already paying $70 for some of my PS5 games anyway. I have a Sims 4 game that I haven't even bothered to fire up in over a year because I think it's a subpar game and no fun. It'll be nice to have an alternative.

Yes, I do get enjoyment from TS4, and pay for my own sake; but I agree, it is not a price in par with product recieved. Any game produced with an intention to market a similar idea is welcomed by me.

I did watch a review of the other two games mentioned in this thread, and agree with that youtuber about lgbt+ aspect being important; but then it seems to me almost impossible not to include that in a life simulation anyway, so that if it isn't, the game is not in the right genre, and not interesting to me.

Yeah I'm also pretty committed to buying this game at the moment. Of course we will have to see how it develops but...in a way I'm a lot more willing to cut the Paralives team more slack, since they are a very small indie-team and not backed by a huge publisher like EA. So even if there end up to be a few things that aren't my taste I'd still be interested in the game.



With Paralives I'm 100% sure that we will have LGBT+ content. They are so in touch with the community, and the community has many LGBT+ people. Plus they're from Canada, a country that is very good about LGBT+ rights and visibility of LGBT+ people in mediua, so no danger there.

Yeah, I read so in the FAQ linked here as well, and I have been following the game a little bit for a while now. This thread has been helpful with links too.

I also like this smaller production, it gives a much more favourable impression of the game somehow, silly to say, but on a more personal level I appreciate it more just for being new, small and not EA; and on principle it is for me important that EA *should* not be sole producer of such a widely liked game concept as life simulation, and to my knowledge the sims' games are the most complex game in that genre.

Paralives team relased a new post on their Twitter page (you can see the evolution of the Paras' appearance).

They should release some gameplay.

I know I am in the minority here, but for me there is too much of a disconnect between the Para and the environment. One is somewhat realistic and the other looks like a cartoon. Unless this is fixed by release I will pass on this game. I know this is a WIP so hope is better later.

This is years from release. If I had to guess, at least another 5 years if not more. A lot can change in that time.