The Sims 4 | Discussion

If you’re a Sims fan, you may or may not know that The Sims 4 was set to be released early this year but has now has been delayed until the third or fourth quarter in 2014. The news may have disappointed some fans, but in all honesty, I think it’s a good thing.

The Sims is a fun series, no doubt about it. You get to create and customise houses, create families and pretty much control their lives—your Sim’s fate lies in your hand…literally. As a fan of the franchise, my love for the series remained strong, but unfortunately, that love turned into a love-hate relationship when it came to The Sims 3.

What I found most troubling with it was the amount of bugs I experienced throughout my gameplay. There were many times when my game froze, when items went missing, when an object wouldn’t work, when textures took a while to load, when my Sim would take forever to get changed, when my Sim would die because they randomly froze, and the list goes on. I even experienced odd glitches. Take a look for yourself.

Odd Glitch

I felt that almost every expansion pack was rushed which resulted in many annoying glitches and bugs, and at times it seemed like the developers relied too much on the patches to fix them due to their deadlines. I really hope this isn’t the case for The Sims 4 because it would be a huge disappointment. After all, nobody wants a faulty, bug filled game so perhaps this delay will allow the developers to make The Sims 4 as perfect as possible before it is released…I hope so, anyway.

Now, let’s go back in time for a moment, back to the moment when, or if, you played the original Sims—those were the days.

The Sims vs The Sims 3

When we were introduced to The Sims 2 in 2004, it was a massive change—one that left fans amazed and excited. Then five years later The Sims 3 hit the shelves. Apart from the graphics and some of the expansion packs and some of the gameplay, the only three major things that were completely different compared to The Sims 2 was the layout of the menus, being able to roam around the neighbourhood and customise almost everything except for rabbit holes. The Sims 3, for me, was a slight improvement of The Sims 2 and a bit of a letdown.

So, what’s new with The Sims 4? Check out the trailer below if you haven't already and be the judge!

The creation tools for both building houses and creating Sims has definitely improved, and having your Sim have emotions will be interesting. My main concern for The Sims 4 is the quality of the graphics. It seems like Maxis is trying to avoid making the Sims look as realistic as possible by adding a cartoonish feel to the game and sadly, it isn’t winning me over.

I think it’s about time the developers added something completely new to the franchise, something I’ve wanted in the game for a while now which is to customise and adjust the height of your Sim! It hasn’t been confirmed or rumoured, but it would add more fun and realism to the game and it would also be a step up from the previous games. Another thing I’m hoping The Sims 4 will include is to be able to enter every rabbit hole—such as restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, cinemas etc. Even having the option to enter your Sim’s workplace/school and being able to control what they do there would be new and interesting, but that’s just me. And lastly, I want to be able to completely edit my town and add trees and other objects—including lot spaces like in The Sims 2—in each neighbourhood.

But what else could possibly make The Sims 4 different from the rest? Apart from my hopes listed above, it would be awesome if you had to buy or grow ingredients in order to prepare food instead of instantly being able to cook them when you click the fridge. If you played The Sims Makin' Magic, you will remember having a cookbook where you had to add certain ingredients—such as butter, sugar and baking mix—in order to prepare cakes.

The Cookbook

The concept of the cookbook can be used in The Sims 4 and it can contain a large range of different recipes and drinks—some known and some unknown—and it would be up to you to decide what to add and what recipes you can create. It would add a more creative and new feel to the game in terms of cooking, and it would be just like real life. I really hope they add this.

Of course, these are my opinions and what I want to see in the game, but now it’s over to you. What are your thoughts for The Sims 4, and what do you hope they will include in the game? Let me know in the comments!

It’s a little early to judge since it’s still in development, but let’s hope The Sims 4 is a big step up from The Sims 3…it has to be.