The interesting point of this discussion is that some people hate it and others love it (and everything in between), but everybody agrees that the game has "a style". This is good because it distinguishes it from other games, and, of course, its style will change with time - if the developers will be smart enough to leave the game wide open to modders. TS2 Sims which I am playing now don't have much in common with dear old Goopy and their houses are looking quite different from what was available at the beginning; the same will (or at least should) happen to Paralives.

Yes. I guess that is what I'm trying to say. This wasn't hobbled together. Even if it doesn't appeal stylistically to some people, it IS an intentional design choice and not a mistake or oversight. There are plenty of people who love it and plenty of people who don't have a preference so that is who will buy Paralives.

But anyway, about 24 hours from now, they will be having a live mode showcase: https://youtu.be/xIIy4CuGDyU

I was just coming to post that Kira! I hope it's good... or to temper my expectations at least better than meh. Either or, I'm excited.

Patreons have seen a lot of stuff already but they said there will still be surprises in there even for us. Very much looking forward to it all together~

The artstyle is not for everybody, but I am sure that the game will look good with alpha cc. That is because the furniture looks realistic, at least in my opinion. I think that the black outline around the paras can be modded out, which is also great, and there will be custom skins for those who like more realistic characters. Modders should not compensate the artstyle of a game, but every sims game had more realistic cc than what was included in the game itself. I think that is because modders are passionate and they want to put online the best stuff possible.

This (the gameplay video) is what everybody has been waiting for, including me. I am looking forward to see the gameplay because everything that the paralives' team has shown about the game is interesting, new and sometimes a bit challenging. Also, this will draw in new supporters which is great for them. I just cannot wait for 22 hours, but I tell myself to be patient.

It's looks like they'll be showing off a coffee shop and bakery judging by the community objects from their "Over 800 New Objects" pic and the coffee cup sign you can just make out on their thumbnail? Would be pretty sweet if they had some group interactions to show off or maybe NPC's?

It's so nice to speculate and look forward to a game again. It's how I used to feel about the Sims.

ETA: They also have gym equipment in that pic! So maybe they'll show a gym too. And the video is 7 minutes and 34 seconds long according to SimMattically on twitter.

Unfortunately I can't speculate because I already know too much 😣 Let me think... what might I not know... maybe they'll be setting their early access date? I don't remember how much they've shown about the genetics system so maybe they'll show some of that?

Even though I'm not keen on the way it looks, I'm pretty sure that this is going to be one of those games where I'll grow to love it once I play. I've had lots of those- for example I didn't like the screenshots of Life Is Strange, but loved it once I played. And it's really exciting to see how much care and detail they are putting into the game. It's looking really polished.

A very exciting time, where we have lots of new games being developed, and we get to participate and experience this! Imagine if we'd been able to see the development of Sims 2, 3 and 4 as they happened, and to have an input.

I do not wish this game ill in any way, but when posts are made about the art style, the reactions (agrees, disagrees, etc.) are usually split about even, and that is not good for them. And also, the art style is pretty much the only thing where I have seen comments about concerns about the game. That seems to be the one area where some people are shaking their heads. IMO that is a shame as people universally seem to be onboard with this game otherwise. They have made decisions regarding one aspect of the game that will hurt them for some sales. Comments generally from people who like it at least somewhat are not that they love what is being done, but they expect/hope modders will come along so it can be changed. And again, that is not good when people say before it even releases that they will want to mod the characters to play them.

We all can pick and choose which games we will ultimately try, and that is good. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong. We all get to and should play the games that interest and entertain us. It is good that we have some new options coming.

What I do notice is that this game is starting to get closer to the vibe of the sims 1-2, and I like that!

2 had the best animations so if they can do something on that level it is a plus.

I'm not strictly referring to the graphics or animations, which are obviously weird, I'm referring to the interactions, the voices or some old characters with wrinkles and hats, I don't know, it gave me that Sims 1-2 vibe. jazz music and sunsets also help

2 had the most detailed animations with objects and other Sims. Some of that took a backseat when 3 was developed to shift resources to open world and CASt and so on, as we know. I do like that Para speak, and this is my biggest aaaargh about LBY at the moment. That they do not.

Exactly, at the moment what I have seen, although it is little, tells me that they are going in that direction, which would be very good.

Unfortunately, they've already decided to take animation shortcuts so we're not getting another Sims 2 in that regard. Someone from the team made a comment about it around the time the Autonomy and Death video came out where you see the fridge door just swing open as they approach--the team was too small, would take to much time to animate properly bla bla... you know the usual spiel. Which in this case is probably the correct decision even if I don't like it.



I'm still holding out hope there's proper routing and collision detection at least and the paras pick up and put down items!

The animatons still look pretty good though.

The fridge animation was temporary. Pretty sure I read that in the patreon post related to it. They hadn't created it at the time time of this showcase (the death showcase)

I agree, they do look good, daisylee. Not stiff, lifeless or overdone at all--they just look expressive and really nice. And I'm so exited to hear that, kirabook! I adore how the Sims 2 Sims interact with the objects in their environment so if they can recreate that sort of detail it would be a dream.

I found the pateron post (it's been made public) and I didn't see anything in regards to the fridge door from the devs--only that they chose an apple because the animation was done? But I couldn't find them confirming the fridge animation was done either anywhere so I'm going to trust either I miss remembered or I completely made it up! The closest thing I could find about what I thought I remember reading was completely unrelated about a new paramaker feature someone wanted in a dev chat.

"This one is trickier since it changes the animations and Alice is already overwhelmed with the quantity of animations needed for the game! We are a very small team, with a big game to create."

Hm, maybe it wasn't in that particular post. I'll have to take a look later. But I vaguely remember them discussing some the challenges of procedural animation and making sure things "click", such as opening a fridge. Or the example they once posted publicly but have since deleted, sitting in chairs and whatnot.

Looking forward to the Live Mode demo--my joy from playing this type of game comes primarily from the things that happen when the simulator is on. Even though the feelings and opinions of the end users are obviously all valid, I've started to believe it can be a little dangerous for developers to rely too much on that, specially because players are not (and don't have to be) necessarily precise or articulate about what they expect to experience as they play. You can demand better graphics, you are given better graphics, you feel the game is not quite "there" and you can not tell why. Over the short-term it might seem wonderful to test games of high polygon count — they're all a pleasure to the eyes when taking snapshots — except that, in the long-term, it can pay the price of looking retrospectively shallow if the visual realism isn't complimented by some behavioral substance for the characters and environment. I function better at the idea that the immersion in Sim games does not come from choosing the "right" aesthetic, but from choosing whatever aesthetic you fancy dedicating to, and adjusting the engineering/sound/UI/animation departments in a way that is in the exact wavelength as the graphics, be it pixel art or photorealistic —— in doing so, people will embrace your concepts more easily. My vision of a good Sim game involves the characters being able to appropriately respond to things around them, where each and every object that you buy with your game cash serves a true purpose. Of course, our imagination plays a super big and important role as you're Simming so we can fill the story/conceptual hole that the engine can not handle given the games' absolute non-linearity, but to me it is quite a downer that, for example, I spend hours designing a fancy roof pattern at my character's lot because the human me thinks it's pretty neat and resonates to a real-world model of a fancy roof, yet the AI isn't developed enough so they likewise have resources to go ahead and recognize the layout as something notable (even if it means extra Environment points!), do ya know what I mean? And I think that's the problem to be resolved by the sim games of today---most of their coolest features are elements that only are perceptible from the end user standpoint, while they don't benefit the game world (plus its inhabitants) at all. Creators have been taking McCloud's "what you receive is what you give" line on Understanding Comics a little too seriously! =P

@LUCPIX I think it is really true that any creative project can be very distorted and boring if you try to make it appeal to everyone, especially through superficial aspects such as graphics, it is important to have the general vision and stay faithful to the true goal. It really seems like a very ambiguous and endless topic to convey in words, although at the same time it is very simple, but I really liked what you said and I agree.

I'm also really excited about the Live mode video later. As a patron, this will be new to me too as it's new content. I might be familiar with some of the things they will show, but I hope there will be surprises to us as well.

About the art style, personally I like it, more so after they softened the lines on the skin. Maybe there's a couple of things I'd mod eventually, but overall it's pretty cohesive to me. They had clear influences and things they were going for. Just speculating, but I'm used to this visual style. I've watched a lot of Japanese animation and played various games with completely different styles, including stuff like Life is Strange, "Tales of" series, Atelier Ryza, and more indy games. To my mind, this style is familiar to look at and works. It's not anime, but I can see the influence of the direction. The background and characters being different is very normal within the genre. The only difference is that Parafolk are more human and realistic in proportions.

And also since I've never played Sims without modding it (my Sims 2 folder has over 6Gb of CC with tons of default replacements) I'm not so bothered by it not looking 100% to my liking. I'm always shopping for CC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN2sU0D6FDI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIIy4CuGDyU

It looks like they’ve done a really good job with differentiating themselves from The Sims.

I like the social interaction card idea and the chances of success based on the relationship being included. The personality system is super interesting to me as well; they’ve combined a points system with traits!

This might actually be the first game I try out in early access

What has caught my attention the most is that I see that the environments and characters are always intended to tell a story or transmit some vibe or emotion. Which is something I love, even though it still looks very simple, the intention is there. They just need to polish everything, but it seems to me to be a very Sims 2 technique. They created characters and stories quickly to be able to develop tools around that, and this way the player could later use that to create their own stories. Playing with stereotypes and the concepts and use them to your advantage.

I also liked the tool for selecting several "Paras" to interact with. I thought it was very original and a very good idea that others may copy in the future. It can give rise to group animations and other types of things that would give a lot of life!

Call me superstitious, but although I like what I've seen in personality options for the sim, I miss the horoscope! xDD