• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Sims 4 |OT| Behold its true form and despair!

You'll have 24 hours to return it apparently through Orgin guaranteed great games policy.

Just give a detailed review :)

The content that's actually in the game is GREAT.

I see a real difference with the AI compared to The Sims 3 and it's so pleasantly refreshing. Having to minimise the whole micromanagement thing allows me to take the game at my own pace.

The graphics are very clean and stylised...cartoony but polished. I've really grown to appreciate their direction and how they contribute to the game's engine.

Speaking of the engine...I am so incredibly happy about the buttery-smooth UI and the rock-solid gameplay. It's a delight to buzz around the world cranked up to the max and do everything effortlessly.

With The Sims 3 I used to run into hiccups and performance problems...none of that in The Sims 4. You really start to appreciate how well the game runs when you've been playing the old iteration for 5 years now.

And the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal. Wonderful...absolutely wonderful. No complaints in the slightest.



However, the lack of content does get bit old. It's a real treat to play the game, but I still find myself restricted by how much they've taken out.

My biggest gripe with the game is the incessant load times when you go anywhere. They get annoying fast. I really miss The Sims 3's seamless, open-world approach.


The game itself is great...but it feels unfinished...not in terms of how the core game runs or operates, but in terms of all the features they've stripped out of it.

If we had The Sims 4 + many of the things they took out...it would be the perfect successor to The Sims 3. There are lots of things to be positive about here and I'm glad I purchased it.
 

Sayers

Member
I just spent 3 hours making my sim and putting up the walls to my house. I think I'm going to get my money's worth.
ZCJu9Jq.png

My bizarre floor plan. I was going to go with a plain old square house but decided to go a little nuts.

What's with the triangle rooms?
 

zychi

Banned
Ive enjoyed watching people stream this. Super funny to watch. Not something id play, but the gf wants it soon.
 

DarkFlow

Banned
So I finally got the mexican deal to work, but for some reason it would not let my GF's account but it, but it worked fine with mine. Anyway Once I activate it on her computer with my account, she no longer needs my account right, meaning keep her in offline mode to use mine.
 

Delio

Member
My one big complaint atm is how many times people show up at your house. A guy left my house after a night over and came right back over a few mins later. Also people love to butt into your conversations in this game.
 

Kccitystar

Member
Sims 4 Minimum Specs:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (2.0 GHz Dual Core required if using integrated graphics)
CPU Speed: Info
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows XP
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon X1300 or Intel GMA X4500
Sound Card: Yes
Free Disk Space: 10 GB


Sims 4 Recommended Specs:


CPU: Intel Core i5-750 or AMD Athlon X4
CPU Speed: Info
RAM: 4 GB
OS: 64 Bit Windows 7,8, or 8.1
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or better
Sound Card: Yes
Free Disk Space: 10 GB


What specs do you have?

She actually has this exact laptop. I don't know if it will run.
 

Meier

Member
Okay, I know about all the shit they removed from reading a bit in the lead up.. is the game that was released any good? My wife definitely is still interested.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Can't believe I ponied up for this, but 35 bucks and some change is hard to beat. Certainly better than 60. Does this game support resolutions higher than 1080p? Just want to make sure.
 
She actually has this exact laptop. I don't know if it will run.

Okay.

She has a Lenovo IdeaPad S400, which has the Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics card.


According to tests from Notebook Check, it can run The Sims 3 at:

Above 35 fps / fluently at Low settings
33 fps / okay at Medium settings
21 fps / poorly at High settings


We don't have tests from The Sims 4 yet, but I assume it will run worse than that.


Your computer has:

1.8GHz Intel Core i3-3217U Dual-Core processor

4GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM

A Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics card




Minimum requirements:

2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (for computers with integrated graphics cards like yours)

At least 2 GB RAM

The equivalent of a NVIDIA GeForce 6600



Your 1.8GHz Intel Core i3-3217U Dual-Core processor meets it because it has about the equivalent power as a 2.35 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, you meet the RAM requirement, and you meet the graphics card requirement (Intel Graphics HD 4000 is ~76% better than the NVIDIA GeForce 6600)...so your Intel HD Graphics 4000 card should be able to handle The Sims 4 at low settings at the very least. Maybe medium.

But that laptop really is abysmal for anything gaming-related...that's not what it's meant for at all. So don't be surprised if you can only play it well on the lowest graphic settings.
 
Played for about 2 hours and I am enjoying it a bit (haven't really went to many locations as a single Sim). The multitasking really helps take less time to do things and the game runs smoothly on my weak laptop (even though it did change some things to Low for me) compared to Sims 3. I didn't even need Laptop Mode to make it perform better.
I'll continue playing the next day to say more about it and do more things.
 

MrBali

Neo Member
Screenshots look great, will definitely buy it after some expansions come out (yes I want you ambitions)
 

krizzx

Junior Member
I cannot comprehend why someone would want to buy this when it offers so much less than its predecessor.

I guess namesake recognition makes the biggest different.
 

-Stranger-

Junior Member
My girlfriend picked up her preorder of this today, we just got home and installed it.
However the game is not booting up at all, anyone else having this problem?
 

Zona

Member
I cannot comprehend why someone would want to by this when it offers so much less than its predecessor.

I guess namesake recognition makes the biggest different.

The game actually running without hitching every two seconds is something it has over it's predecessor, for me at least.
 

Kinokou

Member
Is the create a sim demo still out? Thats honestly the only thing I'm interested in and would have gotten it before if I knew about it.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
Is the create a sim demo still out? Thats honestly the only thing I'm interested in and would have gotten it before if I knew about it.

It's still out on Origins.
Funny thing, I've already spent about 4 or 5 hours on the demo alone. And I know that if I eventually buy the full game one day, I won't even import any of those families into the game. >_>
 

Kinokou

Member
It's still out on Origins.
Funny thing, I've already spent about 4 or 5 hours on the demo alone. And I know that if I eventually buy the full game one day, I won't even import any of those families into the game. >_>

Thanks!

For some reason the origin pages show as German for me anyone know how I can force it over to English? I already tried looking at the language selection but I only got German as a choice.
 

Kabouter

Member
I just spent 3 hours making my sim and putting up the walls to my house. I think I'm going to get my money's worth.
ZCJu9Jq.png

My bizarre floor plan. I was going to go with a plain old square house but decided to go a little nuts.

Looking at how small I had to make my house to actually be able to put something in it, I think your ingame finances are probably going to be an issue (unless you cheat, obviously) here :p.

For cash though, writing is still awesome. I have aging turned off and royalties seem to be infinite length now rather than six weeks like in the Sims 3 (and daily rather than weekly). I'm clearing something like $3k a day now :p.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
Looking at how small I had to make my house to actually be able to put something in it, I think your ingame finances are probably going to be an issue (unless you cheat, obviously) here :p.

For cash though, writing is still awesome. I have aging turned off and royalties seem to be infinite length now rather than six weeks like in the Sims 3 (and daily rather than weekly). I'm clearing something like $3k a day now :p.

Yeah, I made a big single story house and wiped pretty much all my funds barely being able to put much in.

Aaaaand the first thing that happened was a fire while cooking, which ruined the stove and will cost me ~$1000 to replace while I'm down to $50. Nothing but cereal and microwave food that makes my sim feel like crap while I try to build up a better job.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
I have aging turned off and royalties seem to be infinite length now rather than six weeks like in the Sims 3 (and daily rather than weekly).

Speaking of which, how does aging look in TS4?

I remember in TS3 Sims aged way too fast for my liking and if I wanted to keep aging on (especially for pre-adult stages), I had to use mods.
 

Sub Zero

his body's cold as ice, but he's got a heart of gold
Wish they had more normal careers. Since they removed rabbit holes, it would be very easy for the game to have a large selection of careers like TS2. Also I can't get behind their decision to include some whacky jobs like e-sports gamer and space smuggler over the standard ones like business, medicine and athletic..

They were decent to patch in a lot of missing and new features for free in the Sims 3. Let's see if they do the same this time around
 
Accidentally stayed up until 5am playing.

Oops.

Well, it's a Sims game alright.

Can someone create a thread for we can request custom made sims from other users?

I love this idea! I have GOT to get some rest or else I'd make the thread right now. If no one else does by tomorrow afternoon (when I wake up, haha) I'll make it then.

I'm pretty proud of the Sims I've created (six, so far) and I'd love to get some cool new ones from you guys to add to my neighborhood!
 

McNum

Member
It's a Sims game alright. I played it as it unlocked at midnight and went to bed at 4am. Just wanted to create a Sim and move her in.

I really like the speed of it. Coming from Sims 3, the fact that fast forward is actually fast is just crazy. In fact, this seems to be the actual keyword of the game. Not "emotions", but "speed". This game is crazy fast compared to any game in the series.

I do miss sane careers. Got a secret agent married to an astronaut, but I'd rather have a law enforcement person married to an military grunt like in the earlier games. Losing Create-a-Style is... well I do miss it, but it's not as bad to not have it as i thought. Also, the ability to just hire the maid for one day is neat. Can't remember if that was in Sims 3.
 

JoeBoy101

Member
Wish they had more normal careers. Since they removed rabbit holes, it would be very easy for the game to have a large selection of careers like TS2. Also I can't get behind their decision to include some whacky jobs like e-sports gamer and space smuggler over the standard ones like business, medicine and athletic..

They were decent to patch in a lot of missing and new features for free in the Sims 3. Let's see if they do the same this time around

That's one of the bigger issues I have with the game, but here's hoping that add more into it or the community adds them into the game. If you look at Sims 2 for instance, there's a large handful of community created jobs.

Mr_Zombie said:
Speaking of which, how does aging look in TS4?

I remember in TS3 Sims aged way too fast for my liking and if I wanted to keep aging on (especially for pre-adult stages), I had to use mods.

I turned it up to long lifespan (which has ~50 days at young adult) because I am playing a low wage chef. Its a pity you can't manipulate the age length like you could in Sims 3 (though I recall they patched that functionality in), but you can choose preset age lengths and there is a nice option where Sims won't age unless you activate them to do so. My guess is they will sit at the end of the age meter until you give it the go-ahead.

McNum said:
Also, the ability to just hire the maid for one day is neat. Can't remember if that was in Sims 3.


It was recurring only, though you could always call and cancel after one day.
 

Kabouter

Member
Yeah, I made a big single story house and wiped pretty much all my funds barely being able to put much in.

Aaaaand the first thing that happened was a fire while cooking, which ruined the stove and will cost me ~$1000 to replace while I'm down to $50. Nothing but cereal and microwave food that makes my sim feel like crap while I try to build up a better job.

Yeah, I just built a very small house to begin with and then kept expanding it whenever I had money. It looks pretty terrible now as a result :D. (Well, that and the plain walls and ugly windows)

 

artsi

Member
Wish they had more normal careers. Since they removed rabbit holes, it would be very easy for the game to have a large selection of careers like TS2. Also I can't get behind their decision to include some whacky jobs like e-sports gamer and space smuggler over the standard ones like business, medicine and athletic..

They were decent to patch in a lot of missing and new features for free in the Sims 3. Let's see if they do the same this time around

I guess they didn't have time to include the appropriate NPC's and then removed the careers as well, so they can sell an "Emergency services" expansion that includes:

* New career options! Be a policeman, doctor or fireman
* Burglars, uh oh, they will steal your stuff, but now you can...
* Call the police or buy an alarm system for your house!

Only for $39,99

Anyway I'm still enjoying the game, 9 hours in.
 

JoeBoy101

Member
I guess they didn't have time to include the appropriate NPC's and then removed the careers as well, so they can sell an "Emergency services" expansion that includes:

* New career options! Be a policeman, doctor or fireman
* Burglars, uh oh, they will steal your stuff, but now you can...
* Call the police or buy an alarm system for your house!

Only for $39,99

Anyway I'm still enjoying the game, 9 hours in.

If they expanded the gameplay of being a cop so it was not just rummaging through trash and/or had you as a burglar sneaking into houses, that would be worthwhile. Doing the fireman career in Ambitions for TS3 was generally interesting and different.
 

artsi

Member
If they expanded the gameplay of being a cop so it was not just rummaging through trash and/or had you as a burglar sneaking into houses, that would be worthwhile. Doing the fireman career in Ambitions for TS3 was generally interesting and different.

True, if they added enough depth to it I'd purchase that for sure.
 

Kuntz

Member
Gracias Mexico!

My first serious Sims game, time to create that evil lady popping evil all over the neighbourhood (is that even possible?).
 

Necrovex

Member
It took me a few minutes to find out EA combined Buy Mode with construct mode. Delio had to tell me the typical Buy Mode no longer exist.

I only had time to play a half hour of the game (and believe me, if I didn't have to wake up at 6 am today, I would have played so much more), and I had a really fun time. I am liking it more than Sims 3 almost immediately. Having a non-shitty running game does wonders. Excited to play more later today!
 

Tiu Neo

Member
holy crap, ur sims can get fat D:

I missed that on The Sims 3.

The Sims 4 really is more of an alternate sequel to The Sims 2 than a sequel to The Sims 2, huh.

Yesterday I played a bit with the build tools. I wasn't much of a builder, but man, this game makes it really easy to make something decent. It helps that it is VERY easy to change room placements. I'll probably play a lot more with it on this game.

The only things I really missed from this game is the Fireman. My Sim almost died once because of that. Is that cheap fire alarm worthless?

Also, on the first day I was waiting for the newspaper, to get a job, and when it never arrived... at least that absence is realistic, heh.
 

Avixph

Member
Accidentally stayed up until 5am playing.

Oops.

Well, it's a Sims game alright.



I love this idea! I have GOT to get some rest or else I'd make the thread right now. If no one else does by tomorrow afternoon (when I wake up, haha) I'll make it then.

I'm pretty proud of the Sims I've created (six, so far) and I'd love to get some cool new ones from you guys to add to my neighborhood!

Oh okay, and if you or anyone gets to create it name it something like The Sims 4 Request-A-Sim.
 

Necrovex

Member
The addition of mods to Sims 4 was also a major selling point. I am so excited to see what the mod community does for this game a year or two down the road.
 
I remember there being a shit ton of career mods for Sims 3, and seeing as it looks like this game is even more mod friendly, the lack of sensible career options shouldn't be an issue for much longer. Not excusing EA by the way, it should have been their responsibility
 

red731

Member
Your PC is upset with your purchasing decisions.

It took me a few minutes to find out EA combined Buy Mode with construct mode. Delio had to tell me the typical Buy Mode no longer exist.

...Excited to play more later today!

a-HA! A convert! Glad you are enjoying it..

Shit me too... just spending the whole working day reading about Sims, then I'll come home and play Sims.

It's been since Dark Souls 2 since I've been this obsessed :)

KuGsj.gif


Soon, soon! I am already thinking of recreating my flat there, throw images up where I would like them for inspiration IRL. I think this may have some real life impact in a sense.

As I've said, this is my first Sims game and man, it is fun!
 

ConceptX

Member
Whilst this is somewhat hardware specific, with above/far above the recommended specs what are the load times like in game? Generally of course.

The Sims 3 had terrible loading times in so many areas that constantly made me end the play session out of sheer annoyance, I treat Sims quite casually in terms of playstyle, so spending half the time waiting for short bursts of play aren't worth it.

May pick this up soon, I'm not an early adopter of The Sims titles for various reasons, but they are usually enjoyable games, you can certainly put the hours into them.
 

kubus

Member
;_; you all make me want to buy this...

Mexico is looking attractive today...




No! I will not give in! You're just all a bunch of EA employees trying to trick me! :<
 

Comandr

Member
Whilst this is somewhat hardware specific, with above/far above the recommended specs what are the load times like in game? Generally of course.

The Sims 3 had terrible loading times in so many areas that constantly made me end the play session out of sheer annoyance, I treat Sims quite casually in terms of playstyle, so spending half the time waiting for short bursts of play aren't worth it.

May pick this up soon, I'm not an early adopter of The Sims titles for various reasons, but they are usually enjoyable games, you can certainly put the hours into them.



So I reluctantly picked up the game, and one thing that has truly impressed me is how buttery smooth everything is. The Sims 3 ran terribly on my computer. Everything froze frequently, or there was outrageous load times for everything.

Sims 4 is totally different. From launch to game play is like ~30 seconds. Loading a new world or changing areas is ~10ish seconds. Saving is ~4. Tremendous leap over the previous game.

If I had to give up open world for fast loading that I have now, well so be it. I gladly take it.

For all the people saying there's so much less content-- of course, it's the base game. The original sims 3 was pretty bare too, but 4 FEELS robust. So far I haven't felt like I was missing anything. Pools, kids, fine. Maybe in a content patch ala simcity (offline mode)

TL;DR it's fun, fast, and worth the purchase.
 

Bittercup

Member
Nice to read some positive impressions. And with the cheap price from Mexico I just bought the game.

If anyone wonders about supported languages when buying on the Mexican store:
You get the normal multilingual version and can select which language you want when downloading the game. English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Russian etc. Pretty much all languages the game supports worldwide are included.
 
Top Bottom