Author Topic: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?  (Read 31825 times)

Offline lindsaysoderberg

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #15 on: September 04, 2014, 03:58:52 PM »
I've noticed a number of additional simple but significant improvements:

- You don’t have to wait until your sim is completely out of bed before telling them to “sleep” again.

- Your writer sim can have more than one partially completed book at once. They don’t have to scrap the current one to start a new one!

- It is very easy to WooHoo. Before it was like an orchestration getting everything just right and in place…

- Due, in part, to multitasking, it is much easier for your sim to help a child with homework, read to someone, etc.

- I was quite surprised to find out how very significant the quality of objects are now. Sims get very upset (uncomfortable) when you buy them cheep furniture. It's nice to see those "comfort" ratings actually meaning something now.

Offline Simsperience

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #16 on: September 04, 2014, 04:13:02 PM »
I'm really enjoying the higher bills/lower pay aspect of the game!  In Sims 3 it took an incredibly short amount of time to have an overabundance of money. 

I am kind of enjoying that I actually have to think about what I'm buying, and what I need to upgrade first in terms of furniture, etc.  I also like that the handiness skill is actually handy!  It hurts the household funds if you are just lazy and don't want to fix things!

My sims second pregnancy unexpectedly resulted in twins, and I actually had to work pretty hard to get the money to get a second room set up (originally baby 1 and 2 were going to share a room, but 3 in one room was too many)!

I also really like that when you complete one aspiration, you can pick another one and start completing that one! 

The emotions really tickle me sometimes!  Like when my firstborn got caught passing a note at school and came home angry and wanted to punch his giant stuffed animal, or when my sim's family oriented husband was sad because he had been working hard and hadn't seen his kids enough, or even when a mean sim neighbor stopped by and deviously broke the dollhouse in my kids room!

I love that the neighborhoods are so lively.  There are always people around!  Always people stopping by to say hi and socialize with your sims!  You don't even have to go greet them, you can just yell for them to come in...I love that!

The multitasking is just unbeatable.  It happens so naturally, and so often!  The twins were working on mental skilling up when dad walked into the room with a plate of food and sat on the bed talking with both of them!  Then the firstborn comes in and starts doing his homework and also socializing.  Then mom comes in and everyone is happily chatting away, all while doing their own things!




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Offline Carl

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #17 on: September 04, 2014, 04:18:33 PM »
Disappointed: I was SO excited that in TS4 moms could now breastfeed their babies. What I am upset about is that it's PIXELATED OUT! Like as if it's obscene or something? Why even bother EA? Just to offend breastfeeding moms? I can have my Sim wear revealing lingerie, but actually using the boobs for what they're meant for, is censored? For shame. It's bad enough our society is so messed up about breastfeeding, they should not have included it in this way, just to make it out as if it's something to be hidden.

A breastfeeding mom in public would be discrete about it and make sure no one saw anything they shouldn't, but in-game I think it could show nudity for a brief moment. It is likely if the pixels for breasts were fully there, it could have gotten a mature rating. It is likely blurred just because those pixels weren't ever even designed.. but I'm not sure. I'm 100% with you on the fact our society overreacts to something so simple and natural, though. I just doubt it was EA taking a stance on it either way - it is good they included the feature, period. It is as much a convenience in-game as it is in real life to be able to do it whereever you are with the baby. This game has done a lot in that area.

I typed a paragraph when I realized how great multitasking was. It will go in the guide later, but I had to share when I saw this thread:

While eating his breakfast in the kitchen, my Sim stood watching his walll-mounted TV as a bowl was in the way on the only counter space with a seat. I directed the Sim to sit after moving the bowl with the hand tool, and neither the Eat nor Watch TV commands were removed from his action queue. He sat, watched TV, and ate his breakfast. I was impressed. If another Sim had been present, he may have even talked with them during the show. This is a good example of how Sims' ability to multi-task aids us in gameplay, while also creating options to fill Sims' needs or meet their Aspiration goals efficiently. The Sims 4 is, in part, a time management game if you want your Sims to achieve things quickly, and multi-tasking offers you that strategic edge.  Another example was my Sim running late for work. I brewed coffee for him, and he took it with him to the bathroom. This resulted in him getting the Energized Moodlet, which should help him at work! Before Multi-tasking, he would have had to sit the coffee down and miss out on the energy to choose to go to the bathroom.

Emotions are flat more realistic. You can have your needs met, but have one bad thing pulling you down.. whereas in Sims 3 you could have all those positive moodlets and have a death or something not capable of dragging your Sim to a low mood. They will act sad, but they were still getting happiness points. Now, one little moment can cause a Sim to be embarassed, sad, or whatever, and it's not tied to the accrual of Satisfaction. It's good to have emotion and satisfaction disconnected this way. Being in a bad mood may lead to whims that ultimately help your Sim get more satisfaction, anyway.

I think this game only seems simple if you have come off TS3 having several (or all eleven) expansions installed. This is just an example but to not have gems, space rocks, and metals all scattered around is better to me. I can train my eye to spot the dig areas easily and may get anything out of them. That simplification is good - but I miss seeds, as my Plant List is still not ready for completion. I don't know how often the plants in other areas respawn, but it's way too long.


Offline jesirose

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #18 on: September 04, 2014, 04:38:50 PM »
A breastfeeding mom in public would be discrete about it and make sure no one saw anything they shouldn't, but in-game I think it could show nudity for a brief moment. It is likely if the pixels for breasts were fully there, it could have gotten a mature rating. It is likely blurred just because those pixels weren't ever even designed.. but I'm not sure. I'm 100% with you on the fact our society overreacts to something so simple and natural, though. I just doubt it was EA taking a stance on it either way - it is good they included the feature, period. It is as much a convenience in-game as it is in real life to be able to do it whereever you are with the baby. This game has done a lot in that area.

The mom isn't even in public, you can't take the babies out of the house! This has nothing to do with nursing in public.

I am a breastfeeding mom. My youngest is 6 weeks old. I've been playing the game WHILE breastfeeding. I'm definitely not playing any more. In fact, the more I think about it, the angrier I get at EA. I've started a letter to them explaining what is wrong with this. But my opinion is it's NOT good that they included it, only to treat it this way. It sends a message that sure, it's okay to breastfeed, but NO ONE can see anything having to do with it. Until you've had person after person compare what you're doing when you feed your baby to peeing, pooping, having sex, and tell you to do it in a car, in a toilet, under a blanket - you probably can't understand what a slap in the face it is to see a huge pixelated blur where you thought you were going to see a cute animation of a loving interaction. (And for the men, substitute "you" with "your wife".) They should not have included it if they weren't going to be respectful.

The pixelation of the breastfeeding covers up MORE skin than the lingerie does. There is no reason that they couldn't have done something other than CENSORING it and kept the T rating. They did cute animations for Woo Hoo. They could have made an animation for a cover, a blanket, or any number of things. Had little happy hearts like with woo hoo. But instead, they treated it like the toilet.



(Carl, I'm not mad at you, I'm just trying to explain what is so wrong about what they did)
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Offline jesirose

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #19 on: September 04, 2014, 04:39:19 PM »
Oh and up until then I was loving the game. Unfortunately I'm past the insanely small 24 hour refund period.
- Jessica

Offline saltpastillen

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #20 on: September 04, 2014, 04:55:13 PM »
Just realized I can move paintings back from inventory to the easel, that's a nice upgrade from sims 3 :)

Offline _Annika_

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #21 on: September 04, 2014, 06:39:50 PM »
Jesirose, I'm also an avid supporter of breastfeeding, and was irritated that they added pixels.



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Offline ManiSims

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #22 on: September 04, 2014, 09:32:10 PM »
One thing I dislike is that whenever a sim is done with their homework it doesn't go back into their inventory. Or when they are partially done with it, it doesn't go back into their inventory. And I can't tell how complete it is just by hovering over it.  There could've at least been a thing saying "So and So's Homework" or something, I have a house with 7 teens and one elder so there are homework books just lying around everywhere! I can't tell whose is whose...(yeah, playing a full house as my first household wasn't the brightest idea but...  ::) )

Offline TheGoat

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #23 on: September 04, 2014, 09:50:10 PM »
Oh and up until then I was loving the game. Unfortunately I'm past the insanely small 24 hour refund period.

Jesi, I'm not one to normally go out of my way to defend EA, who I do think can be awfully wimpy at times, but it's worth noting that creating an animation for breastfeeding that doesn't look ridiculous would have likely been an insane task, and probably not possible at all. The way 3D modeling works, a Sim can't just lift their shirt, or pull down their bra. I think from a technical point of view, it was only possible to add to the game because it was censored.

There is one thing that bothered me, although I'm not sure why. When my Sim got sad for being away from her family for too long, she rolled a Whim to "Call the Sadness Hotline." That made me uncomfortable.

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Offline Playalot

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2014, 01:36:34 AM »
My sim had a really embarrassing multi-tasking moment. He was eating scrambled eggs when a neighbourhood kid came to visit. I queued him up to 'invite in' and 'brighten day', but he took his scrambled eggs and ate them while umm, sitting on the toilet (as in using the toilet), the the neighbourhood kid came into the bathroom so he could 'brighten her day'... ohhh, embarrassing emotions all round, as well as highly inappropriate. lol   ;D I was in stitches, it was just too funny. Like a social train wreck in slow motion!
You could just imagine him trying to explain the situation to the little kids mom.  ;D
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Offline Pam

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #25 on: September 05, 2014, 02:29:59 AM »
The mom isn't even in public, you can't take the babies out of the house! This has nothing to do with nursing in public.

I am a breastfeeding mom. My youngest is 6 weeks old. I've been playing the game WHILE breastfeeding. I'm definitely not playing any more. In fact, the more I think about it, the angrier I get at EA. I've started a letter to them explaining what is wrong with this. But my opinion is it's NOT good that they included it, only to treat it this way. It sends a message that sure, it's okay to breastfeed, but NO ONE can see anything having to do with it. Until you've had person after person compare what you're doing when you feed your baby to peeing, pooping, having sex, and tell you to do it in a car, in a toilet, under a blanket - you probably can't understand what a slap in the face it is to see a huge pixelated blur where you thought you were going to see a cute animation of a loving interaction. (And for the men, substitute "you" with "your wife".) They should not have included it if they weren't going to be respectful.

The pixelation of the breastfeeding covers up MORE skin than the lingerie does. There is no reason that they couldn't have done something other than CENSORING it and kept the T rating. They did cute animations for Woo Hoo. They could have made an animation for a cover, a blanket, or any number of things. Had little happy hearts like with woo hoo. But instead, they treated it like the toilet.

(Carl, I'm not mad at you, I'm just trying to explain what is so wrong about what they did)

We understand that you are upset and the reason for it.  However, please remember that we do not allow EA bashing here on the Forum and that is almost what you're doing.  Everyone just calm down.  It's going to be ok.  :)
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Offline hotwateracres

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #26 on: September 05, 2014, 04:12:23 AM »
Hi, everyone! Long time listener, first time caller here. I just wanted to pop in to say how much I love this game and all the new features and improvements over 3. I'm going through kind of a dark time in my life right now and it's a very welcome respite. I was surprised to browse the internet and see so many negative reviews and comments elsewhere harping over the lack of pools and toddlers. I mean, really? These two things were so desperately essential to the experience? The only thing I ever used the pool for was drowning my enemies and eventually they figured out they could just climb out of the pool anywhere along the edge, as in real life.  :P Toddlers are cute and all, but--and it sounds like this is unusual based on all the baby & family talk in this thread--I often eschew child-rearing in favor of jobs, skills and socialization.

So I was pleasantly surprised to come here and learn that they added nursing to the game, and predictably annoyed with the pixels. I laughed when someone upthread noted that much more time and care was put into custom animations for sex, whereas nursing = the toilet. I'm not unsympathetic to EA given the nature of the predicament posed--despite the facts of the situation people are still weirdly prudish/misogynist about nursing & the female body in real life and even a brief glimpse of breast could have endangered that valuable T rating, which is totally not EA's fault and just reflects the wacky world in which we all live. Pleasing the arbitrary and dogmatic censors is something the entertainment industry is constantly having to dance around, alas. I also agree that they could have made a custom animation with a discreet blanket, and I'd like to hope the reason that didn't happen is because of development resources etc. and not primitive political views. So it's a question of whether it's better to have the half-measure executed poorly vs. not having it in the game at all.

But enough about a feature it may have taken me months to notice otherwise and on to the many amazing features I noticed right away:

--I love the dynamic emotions system! I made an Insane sim and it's hilarious to watch her emotions swerve all over the place. One minute she's placidly examining samples under the microscope, the next minute she's furious and kicking over the garbage can (for her poor, responsible sister to clean up.)
--Agreed that the socialization system is much more fluid, fun and easy to use, though it can occasionally lead to odd moments (though hilarious, sometimes unintentional oddities are a trademark of this series.) I'm thinking in particular of a moment when my sim and her bestie were having an intimate chat on the side of Bestie's bed, when Bestie's roommate comes into the bedroom and joins the conversation--via sitting down on the other edge of the bed, face to the wall, back to the others.
--I love how much more intricate jobs and skills are! While there's only 8 jobs, they each have two separate career tracks, so it's really more like there's 16. I agree with the poster who mentioned above that it's neat that lifetime aspirations now come with sub-goals, they also added similar features to careers to make job performance more complex, including the ideal mood and  daily tasks. I'm having lots of fun trying to master controlling my programmer sim's mood--when she's in her house, it's like a Hive of Focus with mathematical diagrams and all the neat career rewards (also an awesome addition,) but the second she steps outside she forgets all about that and is just happy she won the Blikblok Tournament. I'll get the hang of it eventually. & skills! So many neat new ones--comedy, mischief, programming, video games, gourmet cooking, mixology in the base game, multiple musical instruments in the base game. I was also really pleased by how every new skill point usually meant a substantial and interesting new feature. It's not always a biggie--sometimes just something new to talk to others about--but it really makes it feel worthwhile to put the time in developing the skill.
--It's a small thing, but I enjoy the unique & witty capsule descriptions of individual books. The Sauntering Dead, indeed. Hilarious flavor text in The Sims is another thing that makes this franchise great--my brother and I still crack each other up by describing my mom's living room as having carpeting that just has to say West Coast.

Two other random notes--I love how the sedate, realistic telescope from previous games has been replaced with a comically enormous steampunk home observatory at the low low cost of $1,500 simoleons. I was surprised to hear that other people's Sim families are having trouble making ends meet and that they've apparently made bills more expensive and paychecks smaller--the recession comes to Willow Creek, or whatever--because my Sims always seem to be flush with cash for whatever crazy thing they desire. Maybe things will be different now that my new Sim is a materialistic snob married to an art lover who will surely want to start a personal collection--and of course, her hoity-toity husband simply won't approve of her buying bargain basement kitsch, and he'll frequently get the urge to splurge his own self. We'll see.

Finally, and this might be another thing for the charming oddity category, but my art lover sim was enjoying herself at the museum, only to be confronted by my ultra-focused computer programmer greeting her rudely, with a crazed gleam in her eye--which I didn't even know Programmer knew how to do! But that's not the crazy part. The programmer was inexplicably clad in a full-body hot dog costume, complete with mustard.  And she's not even the insane one. Oh, The Sims.

Offline Pam

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #27 on: September 05, 2014, 04:24:18 AM »
Welcome to our Forum, hotwateracres.

What a wonderful review of this new game!  Thank you for sharing so much detail.  It really is a fun experience if we let ourselves enjoy it for what it is and not bother comparing it to other Sims games.  I'm glad you registered to post and hope you'll continue doing so.
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Offline Katluvr

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #28 on: September 05, 2014, 10:11:13 AM »
I have to say that the more I play the more I like TS4.  I never played just base TS3 - I started with base plus the first 3 EPs - so I keep reminding myself that I can't expect the same level of content right out of the gate as I was used to with TS3.

For the most part I think the changes from TS3 really enhance the game experience with a couple of notable exceptions:

- The UI is very confusing for me.  I know I will get accustomed to it the more I play, but right now it is a source of frustration.
- On my computer my game is laggy and the load screens take minutes, not seconds, as others have experienced.  I have turned down my graphics settings and am not running anything else in the background and have been able to get the lag down to something playable, but the load screens are a major pain.  I am saving up to get a new graphics card and power source and hopefully that will help.

Offline EleLL

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Re: Changes from Sims 3 to 4: Fun, Interesting, Weird and/or Disappointing?
« Reply #29 on: September 05, 2014, 11:18:00 AM »
Try checking your inventory on your sims Katluvr. I know my loading screens went to insane amounts of load time, partially due to the almost 1,000 items from gardening I had in there. Took me almost an hour to clean it out yesterday. The other thing I've noticed, is if I play for 7-8 hours and start going to other places, the load times pick up, so I started monitoring... as with all games, there is a slow memory leak with TS4, so it behooves you every once in a while to completely shut down the game and restart it for your load times. Hopefully those two things might help you out.