The Sims

[watermelon sugar]

It’s been a long long time since I played Sims 2 but on Sims 2 pets couldn’t you play as the dog or cat? I liked that

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

 

[NP]

I always play with the motherlode cheat

I’m really sad and never cheat. I love playing rags to riches. Then I buy all the expensive stuff, get bored and move on to the next poor family

 

[HelloStereo]

They really need to bring back a lot, sims 3 had so much an they keep saying that the sims 4 will be just as much but it never seems like they will do it

Am going wait till they have fixed the age thing, am onto the 7th generation of my family an I've never used cheats cause am trying get the achievements but I'd be disappointed if my sims all aged up especially cause I max out all toddler an child skills before they age

The Sims 3 definitely had more depth. They just seemed more rounded and I was actually fond of some of them and got sad when they died, whereas in The Sims 4 I am not as attached. There seemed to be just so much more you could do with them too. I would go back to playing it but wonder if I have grown too used to The Sims 4 graphics.

What does everyone think of the new wants / fears update. It does add depth to the characters I think and they seem to be more shaped by the world around them now. It was quite a good update I think.

 

[Sally1993]

Out of interest, how old is everyone who plays on the Sims? I’m 28 and have been playing on/off since I was about 11 (right from the beginning with the original Sims). I used to have huge binges and play for most of a day if it got really good. Now I play every few weeks when my kids have gone to bed if there isn’t anything else to do!

 

[Bubblesandflowers]

Me waiting for Cottage Living to be on sale rather than paying full price because I'm currently buying an actual real life house and can't use motherlode for it

Same haha. I'm hoping my sister will buy it so we can share

I made the house I was buying on the sims to help me think about the floorplan and decorating. The sale has now sadly fallen through so I plan to go set the house on fire

 

[anniemouse]

The Sims 3 was a lot better in the sense that anything could happen. Burglars, random deaths, pregnancy etc. The Sims 4 lacks these

I really miss burglars, seeing one sneak in to steal something random like your toilet and being unable to do anything about it.

 

[Dwightschrute]

So glad I’ve found this thread!
I’ve played Sims since I was probably 12.

Did anyone else have the Makin Magic expansion pack? That was my fave and the vacation expansion pack.

I currently play Sims 4 and have the Jobs and Pets expansion packs!

I used to have loads of mods but they ended up messing my computer up

 

[georgiecait]

I think the build/buy items are beautiful, and you get loads of things, there's at least 6 new bedroom sets with loads of matching items and knick knacks and good Art Deco/1930s style items for building old fashioned houses and retail lots. The world is charming looking too.

The high school lot itself is far too big for comfortable gameplay, it takes a Sim 2 in game hours to get from task to task within the enormous school (most gamers bulldozed it and built their own and it worked far more smoothly) . The school day itself is very repetitive, you sit in class and don't have the option to slack off or work hard or do anything bar go on your phone. Which doesn't seem to affect your grades anyway.

Prom comes around far too frequently and is too short an event to do all the tasks in, which is frustrating. And graduation is frequently bugged out.

The Tunnel of Love and the Ferris Wheel at the boardwalk area are all rabbitholes, which I found very disappointing. It is a very charming area for teens to hang out and socialise at though.

The thrift thing of designing outfits for townies to wear is pretty good fun, and a good money maker if playing Rags to Riches. The Social Bunny app is very limited and repetitive.

I think if you like building/decorating or adore teens as a life stage, it's great. But gameplay is a little shallow, and the bugs are frequent.

Thank you for the in depth review this is really helpful. I’m a gameplay player rather than a builder so I’ll give this one a miss I think.
Wish they’d bring back private schools like in Sims 2!
I remember i was always so stressed when the headmaster came round for dinner

 

[openbook1]

Can't remember if I posted this before so sorry if I did. But I LOVE The Sims 2 soundtrack, I will listen to it while cleaning or trying to concentrate. I think my favourite original Sims expansion pack was Makin Magic and Sims Vacation. But overall, The Sims 2 is my favourite. I played 3 too and thought it was ok. I was so cruel as a kid... I would put the sim in the pool then remove the stairs put them in a room with a microwave, start a fire and remove the door. WTF was wrong with me.

 

[WellJenelle]

So excited to find this thread 31 years old and still living my best Sim life.

I really want to play but don’t want my sims to age up

I thought I had all the expansions but I don’t.
Is cottage living worth it?? I also thought eco living was tiny living - is ex living worth it? As I’ve said before tiny living is my favourite I didn’t realise it was only a stuffs pack, thought it was an expansion.
I’ve just bought the high school pack.
Also forgot sims 4 seasons doesn’t have snow days I miss that from sims 3

I really rate both Cottage and Eco Living. Love the build/buy mode items and the added gameplay is really decent in my opinion.

 

[watermelon sugar]

Thank you for the in depth review this is really helpful. I’m a gameplay player rather than a builder so I’ll give this one a miss I think.
Wish they’d bring back private schools like in Sims 2!
I remember i was always so stressed when the headmaster came round for dinner

Omg remember that and if they were naughty and didn’t do their homework they’d go to military school

 

[TravellingPants]

Omg how do you turn them off for good?!

On reflection I think maybe I’m confusing it with Sims 3 where you could turn the occults and celebrity system off… I probably just don’t do the interactions that turn occults and I haven’t bought the packs that focus on them

I loved Sims 3 open world and the job/school/life missions that you could complete by talking to certain people etc. They have tried to do it with Cottage Living but it just doesn’t work when you have to find the person through visiting other lots/going through the load screen and some of them you have to basically spend days away from home waiting for stupid mushrooms to grow. World Adventures was great for that too, I loved exploring the lots and solving puzzles. I would be happy not to have the colour wheel/unlimited swatches back if it meant we could have open world

Sims 2 genetics will never be beaten, you could really see features that carried through families and the storytelling was so strong. Sims 4 I find their faces do that a bit but something goes really off with the body proportions after a couple of generations and especially if there is a townie involved.

Intrigued by the new pack but will never pay full price. It’s a shame they are so money grabbing and split out basically everything Generations added to TS3 between Wedding Stories, Parenthood and this Teen one.

 

[HelloStereo]

I miss the open world. I honestly hardly bother to go out of my neighbourhood lot in the Sims 4 because the loading screens

Me too. In the Sims 3 I loved playing single person households where they'd just go and explore the neighbourhoods every day and meet so many people. Sims 4 feels like it took a step back because now the lots feel a bit isolated and it has taken away from the game. I'm seriously considering repurchasing the Sims 3 again

 

[Meezy]

Living for this, I might have to crack it out on the weekend

I got Eco Living and Cats and Dogs, they're quite fun! I made a sim and gave him no money, just an empty lot with a dumpster on it. They can nap in the dumpsters and also dive in them for food and random items, so he survived this way and even managed to scavenge enough furniture to start a basic house, and veg to plant and grow etc. Now he's a bloody gardening master and makes so much money off his plants! If only that's how it worked in real life!

 

[greenvelvet]

lmao you make my ‘make people i know and don’t like then make them stuck in the pool till they die’ look boring

Nooo see like I rarely go there! That is impressive to me. I feel too guilty lol. there’s this story online of someone who tried to make a functioning graveyard and got told off by the grim reaper (it said “this is supposed to be a life simulator” apparently) and I always thought how could you kill off an entire town of sims.

As far as human sims, I only have a Theresa may sim photographed from like 5 years ago which wasn’t my best work, but to be honest neither is this. Believe it or not they’re dogs (surprise surprise). They are my first attempts at making horrible bastardised dogs and are nightmare material esp because they’re a bit shit. There being loads is just an Instagram filter but the small ones are what the main one looks like at a distance

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Has a update added more interactions between sims? I’m sure there’s new ones I’ve not seen before like ‘encourage sim to do for their dream job’ or ‘discuss life goals’. Also sims are calling more often? Asking me if they should hang out with another sim or go on a date with another, then a few days later they’ll phone like ‘thanks for suggesting I hang out with (name) they are so funny’ or ‘thanks for saying I should go on a date with (name) I think I’m in love’. My sim also got engaged by the woman phoning his kid saying ‘I found a ring in his bag I think he is going to propose should I say yes?’. Also he cheated on her so many times in front of her and she was still best friends with him, they lost their romance but I quickly built it back each time. Annoying thing is I was going to get him to marry her but then he became besties with a global superstar celeb so I ended up getting them two married thinking he’d get famous but he didn’t get any stars. They are divorced now and I don’t know how I move her out

 

[Meezy]

I’m constantly fighting the urge to not play the sims since this thread

I started playing the Sims again because of this thread, and even treated myself to 2 expansion packs!!

 

[bettybutler]

Out of interest, how old is everyone who plays on the Sims? I’m 28 and have been playing on/off since I was about 11 (right from the beginning with the original Sims). I used to have huge binges and play for most of a day if it got really good. Now I play every few weeks when my kids have gone to bed if there isn’t anything else to do!

32 and same as you was around 10/11 and a friend introduced me to the sims OG, loved it had every expansion pack for sims 2 was deffo my fave loved having MODS ! Made the game ! I remember having a PC and my bro would always get my a decent graphics card in order to play the game as best I could ! Re installed the sims 2 in the first lockdown was gutted my laptop couldn’t hold the expansion packs tho my childhood was the sims remember playing through the night and making legacy story books id upload to the sims website

 

[TravellingPants]

I got Dream Home Decorator in the sale and I’m enjoying it but seems a bit hit and miss on whether the client likes the room. I do find it frustrating that I don’t have all of the packs so when I try to filter for Boho or Island decor items to meet their likes nothing is there! It should only let you have the options for the content you own.