Sims 4 Create A Sim demo impressions

[Himu]

I've got a shitload of Sims games on my Origin account and still have yet to have the demo in my library. So I torrented it because EA are idiotas who have awful marketing for the largest selling pc franchise ever.

It's okay. The creation tools are the best they've ever been, but the lack of good clothing, hairstyles, and just general customization options beyond body and face type leave the thing  a little lacking.

I really like how the Sims look this time around. They look awful in Sims 3; almost all Sims look the same and they have awful fat cheeks.







JESUS WHY DO YOU ALL LOOK THE SAME?!?!

Not only are the Sims more stylized, they're far more animated and lively, and extremely reminiscent to their Sims 2 counterparts.

So I start with a family oriented Sim. This bad gal wants to have lots and lots of babies. I went with this because it's a nice challenge. All the other aspirations are lame. Shit like, be the best ______ in the world and crap, as if The Sims is an RPG like Skyrim or some shit; it's not.  This is a direct continuation from Sims 3. It was bollocks then, it's bollocks now. So I went for something interesting. We're already on the wrong foot.



So I start crafting my Sims traits. Traits have always been a mixed bag for this Simmer. In The Sims 2, you have room for subtlety. Your Sim could be lazy, but also outgoing. They could be playful and active, but not very nice people who still desire to be social butterfly. How do you manage a social butterfly who's not a particularly good person? Sims 2 would let you decide. You could mix and match and choose them in any way you want, befitting a true dollhouse creation tool.



Now we just pick a trait. Borrrrring. Oh, and this time we have less of them than in Sims 3. We went from 5 of them to 3. Downgraaaaade.

I picked family oriented trait, because it's a natural compliment when you want to have a big ass family.



I'm immediately told by EA that they only allow certain playstyles.



Remember that fluidity and subtlety I mentioned that was in Sims 2? Welp. Thank you for telling me how to play my dollhouse sim.

Perfect Sims are boring. I like to make flawed people. So I made her overly self-assured and a money grubbing demon. How will these traits affect her ability to have a family? Who knows, but hopefully she's buying expensive shit instead of baby formula while telling her children why they're wrong and why they'll never be better than her.




So I made her reflect yours truly. Especially with them high cheekbones. Oh my. *dusts self off*





So now that she's looking okay, let's check out the ethnic hair selection. I bet you there will be about 4 types: a caesar, medium sized afro, high afro, and maybe some dreads, because those are the only ethnic hair styles in existence according to every video game with character customization ever that's not Saints Row The Third and IV.









....



I go with this because it's slightly less than boring as fuck.



This demo is going further and further on the wrong foot, it's tripping over itself.

Makeup makes me feel better though. A little better. Maybe.



I start on my clothes and - what's with that crotch gap?







Much better.

Anyways,  clothes. They're....pretty boring. The base game clothing selection - going by the demo - is awful.

Everyday:



Formal:



Athletic:



PJs:

These are the only tops for PJs...again, awful.



I go with this.



Party:



Summary:


- Terribly downgraded customization features. The new Sim shaping features are great, but the lack of ability to customize clothing feels like a giant step back. Its clothing customization options are literally what was available for Sims 2. So Sims 4 has gone down back in time 10 years in terms of clothing. It's terrible when you like a top, but you're limited and can't use it because you are restricted to only 4 crappy colors. Finding a top that matches a skirt is impossible. Lack of create a style is a huge step back.

- Traits system has been downgraded to only have three traits. They'll definitely have you to pay far more than three in some expansion.

- Aspirations STILL emphasize goal-oriented RPG gameplay over sandbox gaming.

- Awful clothing selection.

If you pay full price (70 dollars at launch) for this game, I don't know what to say.

I'll definitely be pirating it.

[Himu]

The highest praise I can give the cas demo is the music.

I really like how it makes callbacks to previous Sims music. It feels like a great blend of 1-3 in a blender. Fantastic.

[Himu]

I didn't say I like it. But I want to try it out and see if it's worth playing despite the cut out features. The game costs 70 dollars.

[Himu]

Because there are ideas in the game that have potential and I liked the developer walkthrough for the most part, and I'm willing to give it a shot, but I'm not willing to pay 70 dollars, and there's no option for rental. If there were a demo of the actual game, I wouldn't need to pirate.

[tiesto]

I really like how the Sims look this time around. They look awful in Sims 3; almost all Sims look the same and they have awful fat cheeks.

(Image removed from quote.)

Man, Rinoa put on some weight...

[Himu]

Heh.

Looks more like Garnet.

She's taking after her mother.

[thisismyusername]

Because there are ideas in the game that have potential and I liked the developer walkthrough for the most part, and I'm willing to give it a shot, but I'm not willing to pay 70 dollars, and there's no option for rental. If there were a demo of the actual game, I wouldn't need to pirate.

Wait for Origin to put it on "Gametime" then. It'll happen eventually.

[Himu]

Gametime?

[brob]

The Indignant Pirate is a look best left to teens

[Himu]

What if you use piracy to see if it's worth buying? People do that all the time. I certainly didn't make the thread to discuss the merits of piracy. To hear such defenses for a 70 dollar piece of software is shocking. The way you guys are framing it, I pirate all the time. I rarely pirate. But if I'm not sure on a title that shows promise, I'm not ashamed of doing it, especially if it costs 70 bucks. I certainly don't need to be told I'm acting like a teen.

[brob]

Your posturing at how you "need to pirate" is decidedly teenaged imo

You seem fairly convinced it isn't going to be a better iteration than 2, so idk why you just don't let it lie until EA does a free weekend or whatever it is that they do to promote post-launch

[Himu]

I think you're taking my use of need too literal. I don't need it at all. But the game looks to be both a step back and forward from 3 and I'm interested in seeing the results for myself and whether or not it will be worth purchasing down the line.

And yes, I doubt it will be better than 2. But it could very well be an improvement on 3 and I put over 100 hours into that game.

I didn't know EA does free weekends for their games. If they do I'll do that instead of pirating.

[Himu]

http://kotaku.com/adding-pools-to-sims-4-isnt-easy-says-ea-1619634727

Graham: "The game's engine, as is, simply isn't built to support things like digging into ground or Sims easily moving up and down within it."

Read the comments

Big companies are experiencing strange regressions lately. It's too hard for Ubisoft to create a female assassin, even though they have before. It's too hard for EA to make pools work, even though they have before. I'm waiting for Activision to announce the next Call of a Duty won't have guns because guns are now too hard to implement.

[Great Rumbler]

I downloaded the demo for Sim City and had enough fun with it that I bought the game and its expansion for $30.

[Himu]

You're part of the problem.

[Great Rumbler]

[Himu]

Did you buy it before or after it had online only?

[Great Rumbler]

I just bought it today.

[Himu]

Okay you're not part of the problem and we can be friends again

[pilonv1]

Thought this was Sims 4 cac demo and expected something else

[G The Resurrected]

Could you tell if this is running on the same Sims 3 engine or if its something different?

Also is there a way to get access to the creator legitimately?

[Himu]

Have to wait for EA to release into officially despite the thing going around the past entire month. Should be out this or next week.

And no, this uses modified glassbox (SimCity) engine.

[G The Resurrected]

Ok good to know I was just wondering what to expect spec wise from it. Hope it plays on the Surface Pro 3 we got. Otherwise I think I'll be giving up the gaming pc to missus. I've got a few people on my origin friendslist that are using the creator so I thought it was out. Regardless once it's out I hope it gives a good idea of the performance we can expect from it. The game looks a like a lot of fun even if it's just another sims game.

[Himu]

Maxis' and EA's goal was to allow it to run on low end computers well after the clusterfuck that was Sims 3.

[nachobro]

Yeah it'll run on anything, or at least the demo will. My gf was able to run the CAS demo on her $250 laptop with no issues or hitches.

Also the creator is out for everyone today. Origin -> Store -> Demos and Betas

[Himu]

Yeah, dled, this morn.

Made new Sim. Feel more @ home after getting used to the tools.

Close up:



Everyday:




Formal:



Athletic:




Sleepwear:



Party:



Personality:

Feminine walk

Legacy aspiration
Mean trait
Materialistic trait
Family-oriented trait

Sim description:

A true Mean Girl. She wears pink on Wednesdays, and wears makeup to bed. Despite having the dream of having a family, family is the last thing on her mind, especially on sales day. The stereotypical upper class Angeleno, she wipes her nose with cash. A shallow, callous, and mean human being. Will she ever learn to drop the credit card for her families well being?

I have to give credit where it's due. When trying to make rich sims, and not every day sims, you get much, much better results for what you want to do. This sim also looks to be a very flawed person, which is my personal Sim signature. I actually want to try her out right now. Dammit, I'm succumbing.

[Himu]

I tried to make the dorkiest guy ever to try and see how pro-super model/hipster the creation tools/clothing options are. Not too impressed. Thoughts?

Close up:




Everyday:



Formal:



Athletic:



Sleepwear:



Party:



How'd I do? I still think the clothes are incredibly limited if you don't wanna make a hipster or fashion model. Like, that's the most dorky thing available for party men's clothes.

[Himu]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/12201-The-Sims-4-Review?

[Stoney Mason]

Once your Sim is out in the world, you'll notice that the "world" itself isn't exactly a land of opportunity. Your chosen town will be broken up into various sections, and you'll need to sit through a loading screen every time you want to go from your home to the park, or from the park to the nightclub. In an industry that strives for bigger and better with every sequel, it's surprising to see a game that's chosen to erect more walls and impose further limitations on its environment. It's now a hassle to move from place to place, and the world consequently feels smaller as a result of the division.

I watched a few videos and this was very immersion breaking. I understand that you have to load things but this seems like the very worst way possible. I don't think they really understand how to advance the game anymore and take steps that are forward thinking in the design.

[Himu]

Even in Sims 2, where you still have load screens, you call up a taxi or something for instance, say where you're going, and have to wait for them to come pick you up. In Sims 4, you just get teleport instantly to the map and select where to go. No cars, no bikes, no taxis. Just straight to a map menu. It's very pathetic and backwards and doesn't feel like a simulation.

[Great Rumbler]

it's surprising to see a game that's chosen to erect more walls and impose further limitations on its environment.

This is pretty much the same thing that EA did with Sim City. What's more frustrating is that there other city-building games from the past few years that don't force you to build within an incredibly small tile.