Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:29 PM
Default Why did they make the worlds so small?
I got the game 2 days ago and I haven't really missed any of the cut features.
Apart from the world size.

Why did EA limit the world to five "suburbs"?
I don't get why they had to do this - surely since only one lot is loaded at a time, there could be tons of suburbs?

There should have been like 20 suburbs per world. Now, if I have to make a new bar, I have to delete a house.
It makes no sense.
Advertisement
Instructor
#2 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:33 PM
Yea, I really hate that too and I really hate the way it looks. Like how it's all white 3D blobs until you mouse over them. Why couldn't we see what everything looks like properly like in all the other versions at the very least?
Lab Assistant
#3 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:36 PM
Quote: Originally posted by melbrewer367
Yea, I really hate that too and I really hate the way it looks. Like how it's all white 3D blobs until you mouse over them. Why couldn't we see what everything looks like properly like in all the other versions at the very least?


Agreed. I'd rather it to show full colour for the maps, white 3D blobs makes it less attractive... and I'll echo on bigger towns. I'm not asking for Sims 3 size, but rather bigger than what we got in Sims 4! Sims 2 towns would be perfect size.

Currently Playing:Last of Us Remastered, Final Fantasy XIV, Rare Replay - Blast Corps, The Sims 2, 3, 4
Field Researcher
#4 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:49 PM
I want Sims 3 size! Why can't they give us what we got 5 years ago?

you mean you don't lust after death? you don't wanna go on a romantic cruise to hell with death? you don't wanna give death an oil massage?
Top Secret Researcher
#5 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:53 PM
Many things in The Sims 4 makes no sense.

Long-term, the worlds will become crowded. You will either have to limit the number of children per generation or turn extended family into homeless Sims.

Incest was already a problem in TS2 and 3. It's gonna be a religious cult orgy now.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
Instructor
#6 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nurny
I want Sims 3 size! Why can't they give us what we got 5 years ago?


If we have to keep the load screens between houses then I say they should at least give us S3 sized worlds. I had a world that I wiped out all of the existing families, and then went house by house and made a family, moved them into the house, and then had them get the jobs I wanted them to have, and then moved on to the next one until the entire town was only populated with what I had created and then played a main family but would just "check in" on the other families to see how they were doing and kinda steer them in the right direction if needed. That obviously only lasted a few generations though before the save time was taking so long I decided to move on. With the load screens we have though, there's no reason why I wouldn't be able to successfully do that now without the lag.
Is Claeric
#7 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 8:59 PM
It takes time to make worlds, you know. The two worlds that exist in the game right now are significantly more detailed than Sunset Valley. Sunset Valley is a single mesh in the distance (the mountain/coastline), a lumpy terrain (the ground), some painted roads, lot placements, and plants/terrain textures/rocks.

Sims 4 worlds are 12 separate chunks, all with their own distant details, all with 3 dimensional non-painted actually modeled roads built into the landscape, various road textures, various ground textures, various types of trees and vegetation, a bunch of house models, tons more water and water effects, more terrain, more terrain objects, more terrain details...More work went into every detail. Look at a curb in Sims 3 with plants by it. It's a flat texture from the flat road texture painted on the ground, a few bushes, and a sign. Compare to Sims 4, where each curb is edged with plants and fences, lightposts, a median, the train tracks for the tram, the tram itself, etc.

Do you want 5 worlds with 6 neighborhoods each that all look as simple and bland as Sunset Valley, or do you want two gorgeous worlds to start and more with each expansion? I'm gonna go with "Two gorgeous worlds". More lots means nothing when it doesn't look good.
Field Researcher
#8 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:06 PM
It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

"Find something to believe in, and find it for yourself. When you do, pass it on to the future".
Top Secret Researcher
#9 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:24 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simify
It takes time to make worlds, you know. The two worlds that exist in the game right now are significantly more detailed than Sunset Valley. Sunset Valley is a single mesh in the distance (the mountain/coastline), a lumpy terrain (the ground), some painted roads, lot placements, and plants/terrain textures/rocks.

Sims 4 worlds are 12 separate chunks, all with their own distant details, all with 3 dimensional non-painted actually modeled roads built into the landscape, various road textures, various ground textures, various types of trees and vegetation, a bunch of house models, tons more water and water effects, more terrain, more terrain objects, more terrain details...More work went into every detail. Look at a curb in Sims 3 with plants by it. It's a flat texture from the flat road texture painted on the ground, a few bushes, and a sign. Compare to Sims 4, where each curb is edged with plants and fences, lightposts, a median, the train tracks for the tram, the tram itself, etc.

Do you want 5 worlds with 6 neighborhoods each that all look as simple and bland as Sunset Valley, or do you want two gorgeous worlds to start and more with each expansion? I'm gonna go with "Two gorgeous worlds". More lots means nothing when it doesn't look good.


That "simple and bland" world allows for Sims to travel nearly anywhere in it. That "simple and bland" world allows for much more growth and lot placements. You think decorative items are improvements over space? To play along with your delusion, making worlds do require time. They had five years. Five years is plenty time.

If you're gonna lie to promote TS4, at least do it well. Come on, you're not even trying @Simify.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
Theorist
#10 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:36 PM
@Simify, I'm curious. Did you ever use the Create a World tool to create a custom world for TS3? I've only dabbled with it myself, but I've tested and played dozens of player made worlds for TS3 and can tell you they were also a ton of work that took months and months to complete. Everything in them had to be created by the player, other than the Rabbit Holes, and unless you just copied or downloaded someone else's lots, all those had to be designed and landscaped also.

For that matter, have you ever played TS3? Because I find it hard to believe that anyone who has played it would try to claim that TS3 worlds were somehow easier to make than TS4 worlds.

To the OP: I think the worlds are so small in terms of the number of 'hoods included because initially each 'hood was designed to run on EA's servers, back when it was an online game. It will be interesting to see if they ever expand on either the size of the neighborhoods or the number of them they include in each world. I suspect they might not, unless lots of people complain, because larger words would require more time to make and I think they intend to churn out the DLC like a leaky faucet.

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
Top Secret Researcher
#11 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:48 PM
Create a World was hard as fuck. I created an unusable monstrosity and never used it again.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Mumty
I got the game 2 days ago and I haven't really missed any of the cut features.
Apart from the world size.

Why did EA limit the world to five "suburbs"?
I don't get why they had to do this - surely since only one lot is loaded at a time, there could be tons of suburbs?

There should have been like 20 suburbs per world. Now, if I have to make a new bar, I have to delete a house.
It makes no sense.


The small worlds are pieces of neighborhood. Is like they divided the same city in more stages. I think they did it to make the game run smoother, and at the same time with all details needed.
I think the map is ugly to see, but very easy to manage. I remember in Sims 2 I used to get lost, especially in my huge custom metropolis.

I think they will add more suburbs. I hope in a CAW, because i want to create my own worlds.

Che il sultano mantenga le tradizioni nella propria terra, ma non tenti di imporle ad altri regnanti.
That the sultan may keep his tradition in his own land, but not attempt to force them on other rulers.
(Vlad Țepeș)
Test Subject
#13 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:50 PM
That is a good question. I really hope it is because they plan to expand on the worlds when they start releasing the expansion packs later down the road rather than adding a ton of new worlds like they did with Sims 3. Better integration of expansions into existing worlds, I think, will be a lot better. I hated having to start over in an entirely new land just to take advantage of the new buildings and features offered with the xpac. Even with saving the family to the library you have to remake all your friends again in the new land.
Alchemist
#14 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:51 PM
Because EA
Theorist
#15 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:59 PM
Quote: Originally posted by BruderJ
That is a good question. I really hope it is because they plan to expand on the worlds when they start releasing the expansion packs later down the road rather than adding a ton of new worlds like they did with Sims 3. Better integration of expansions into existing worlds, I think, will be a lot better. I hated having to start over in an entirely new land just to take advantage of the new buildings and features offered with the xpac. Even with saving the family to the library you have to remake all your friends again in the new land.


But the difference with TS4 is that you don't have to start over. Every "world" they add will be connected to every other world and your sims can travel in any 'hood in any world at any time.

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
Is Claeric
#16 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:02 PM
Quote: Originally posted by happycowlover
That "simple and bland" world allows for Sims to travel nearly anywhere in it. That "simple and bland" world allows for much more growth and lot placements. You think decorative items are improvements over space? To play along with your delusion, making worlds do require time. They had five years. Five years is plenty time.

If you're gonna lie to promote TS4, at least do it well. Come on, you're not even trying @Simify.


And this gorgeous and detailed world allows the game to not run like a centipede with 50 broken legs and 50 gimpy ones. So yes, I do consider "GORGEOUS AND FUNCTIONAL" better than "BORING AND NONFUNCTIONAL BUT WITH MORE LOTS". Sims 3 ran like shit. The open world was a non-functional burden on the entire game for the entire length of its series! Who would want to go back to that?! A crazy person! And that crazy eprson is free to delete Sims 4 from their computer and go play Sims 3 the rest of their life at 22-34 frames per second with constant stuttering and slowdown. There's nothing stopping them.

Also, Sims 4's development time was not five years, and even if it was, the systems of world travel and optimization and separation of neighborhoods and whatnot in Sims 4 guaranteed took longer to make the two existing worlds than the one world in Sims 3.

Quote: Originally posted by tangie0906
@Simify, I'm curious. Did you ever use the Create a World tool to create a custom world for TS3? I've only dabbled with it myself, but I've tested and played dozens of player made worlds for TS3 and can tell you they were also a ton of work that took months and months to complete. Everything in them had to be created by the player, other than the Rabbit Holes, and unless you just copied or downloaded someone else's lots, all those had to be designed and landscaped also.


Of course they take a long time, but the in-game worlds weren't built with Create a World. They were built with proprietary tools and whatnot. They didn't develop CAW, use it to make the game, and then release a gimpy broken half-finished version to the public. Sims 3 wasn't made in create a world. I guarantee you it was a lot easier for them than it was for us. Even then, once someone knew how to use CAW efficiently, they could pump out a gorgeous world in pretty short time. But all the pieces already existed for them. They didn't have to model and texture roads. They didn't have to model and texture decorative features and plants and whatnot. They didn't have to model and texture false houses for the background. They didn't have to do any of that stuff.
Mad Poster
#17 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simify
It takes time to make worlds, you know. The two worlds that exist in the game right now are significantly more detailed than Sunset Valley. Sunset Valley is a single mesh in the distance (the mountain/coastline), a lumpy terrain (the ground), some painted roads, lot placements, and plants/terrain textures/rocks.

Sims 4 worlds are 12 separate chunks, all with their own distant details, all with 3 dimensional non-painted actually modeled roads built into the landscape, various road textures, various ground textures, various types of trees and vegetation, a bunch of house models, tons more water and water effects, more terrain, more terrain objects, more terrain details...More work went into every detail. Look at a curb in Sims 3 with plants by it. It's a flat texture from the flat road texture painted on the ground, a few bushes, and a sign. Compare to Sims 4, where each curb is edged with plants and fences, lightposts, a median, the train tracks for the tram, the tram itself, etc.

Do you want 5 worlds with 6 neighborhoods each that all look as simple and bland as Sunset Valley, or do you want two gorgeous worlds to start and more with each expansion? I'm gonna go with "Two gorgeous worlds". More lots means nothing when it doesn't look good.


It's nice that they made the non-functional, deco road look nice, I guess - if you want to spend hours looking at the deco road that's cool - but again, Sims 3 came out 5 years ago, so why keep harping on how 'bad' it looks.
Instructor
#18 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:10 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simify
...

Of course they take a long time, but the in-game worlds weren't built with Create a World. They were built with proprietary tools and whatnot. They didn't develop CAW, use it to make the game, and then release a gimpy broken half-finished version to the public. Sims 3 wasn't made in create a world. I guarantee you it was a lot easier for them than it was for us. Even then, once someone knew how to use CAW efficiently, they could pump out a gorgeous world in pretty short time. But all the pieces already existed for them. They didn't have to model and texture roads. They didn't have to model and texture decorative features and plants and whatnot. They didn't have to model and texture false houses for the background. They didn't have to do any of that stuff.


Huh? CAW is a proprietary tool. CAW is the tool they used to make Sunset Valley and all the other TS3 worlds. Also, you have no idea what tools were used to make TS4's worlds.
Scholar
#19 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:15 PM
Decoration is great, but it's not playable. I'd rather have more playable space than more decoration.

Though they said they might be able to raise the limit...Hoping that this means 20-lot segments. The "one lot loaded at a time" system should mean bigger, not smaller, worlds. Just another remnant of the online game - lessening the load on the player (because not everyone has European/Japanese style super high speed Internet access...blame the US's greedy telecom companies and Australia's geographic isolation) and on EA's toasters - I mean servers.

Townies suck. With no story progression, you either get Sims that age up to get replaced like shark's teeth (leading to waves of elders right up to when they all die off at the same time*) or eternally youthful frozen-in-time Sims who will know you, and your great-great-grandchildren.


* In SimCity 3000, this was a problem. Cities with more retirees and children than working-age inhabitants went into economic depression.

1/8/2016: New avatar! Pre-censored for EA's approval.
3/19/2015: Teens are too close to YAs. EA needs to either shorten the teens, or add preteens and make YAs look older.
Top Secret Researcher
#20 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:16 PM
True. TS3 ran like shit most of the time, even on high-end computers. The solution to this was not limit the size to a literal sandbox. They traded one problem for another. Why couldn't they recreate TS2's neighborhood size for TS4? Yes, it eventually became cramped, but that was within seven generations or so, give or take.

Four generations in TS4, your family rules the worlds. Friends and neighbors? Tis but petty vagrants.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
Test Subject
#21 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:23 PM
I suspect it was a design choice, made with consoles in mind.
Forum Resident
#22 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:24 PM
I would have been happy with the smaller neighborhoods if they were actually more alive... IE.. walk by your neighbors house and peek through the window to see them making dinner.. or throwing pots and pans at each other. But I have to load each house i walk by if i want to visit it, or see what is happening inside it.. I find that a drawback and not an improvement. Why are the high society kids traipsing through willow creek to go to school? where is the school? Nothing makes any sense!

In TS3 you could have a little house near the school where your kids could easily meet friends as they come out. You could watch them come out and pick them up if you wanted. All of this is gone. Life seems more meaningless and empty for these poor digital souls.
Lab Assistant
#23 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:30 PM
I've had the game for only two weeks and i'm sick of Willow Creek and Oasis Springs
already. *Sigh* I wish EAxis would have at least made it possible for us to make our
own worlds. The first modder who figures out how to make new and different worlds
will definitely have my thanks.

Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
Simblr
Theorist
#24 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:39 PM
Quote: Originally posted by sarduchi
I suspect it was a design choice, made with consoles in mind.


Maybe

I find it odd that they'd talk about TS4 for consoles when they've been tight-lipped over when and if it will be released for Mac.
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 10:39 PM
One acronym: DLC
Page 1 of 6
Back to top