Sims 4

I’m Loving Sims 4, Here’s Why

stargrace September 7, 2014 No Comments

There has been a lot of discussion lately on what Sims 4 is missing. Things that were in previous versions of the games, beyond toddlers and swimming pools, that you won’t find in Sims 4 (yet). Many people comment about how the game is sure to be a cash grab offering players extra features in DLC. It has stirred up quite a lot of controversy, and many of the discussions include reference to people returning to Sims 3 which has an incredibly robust world and is full of features. Of course that happens after so many expansions are released.

For myself, I am completely smitten by The Sims 4, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Are there things missing? Sure. Does it take some getting used to (especially the loading screens) yes, yes it does. Is the game fun? Incredibly.

I love that they have opened up things with the gallery features. Being able to create, save, and upload entire families, houses, or rooms, (as well as download others creations) is fantastic. There are some days I don’t really want to build an entire home, or I need some inspiration. The gallery feature makes this incredibly easy to do within game, and you don’t have to download items from an awkward UI before you load in (or from a web site, as example).

The worlds do initially feel smaller because there are loading screens between almost every location you travel to including your neighbours but now that I have played a few hours it’s starting to fade a bit more into the background and it’s by no means a game breaker for me. The locations you do travel to feel like they have a higher population of people wandering through and there’s loads of interactions to do. Plus there are collectibles in every corner of the map, fishing, dig sites, and frogs. I started breeding them and now my house is overrun. There’s a TON of interaction, and I can’t help but think that now that the major things are taken care of the dev team can focus on adding those little things that we all feel are missing from the game.

I have ran into one major issue, and that’s with the screen going black any time I build / purchase an item from the build screen. It has to do with dual monitors, and there is a work around that includes alt-tabbing and changing the resolution of the game a few times, then swapping it back to the normal resolution. I’m able to continue to play the game normally after this, and it doesn’t prevent me from playing (though I do need to ‘fix’ the game every time I play). Aside from that, I haven’t encountered anything major.

TL;DR? I’m loving the game. It’s fun, intuitive, and I’m willing to overlook the small things that annoy me. I wouldn’t go recommending the game to others quite yet, because I do think a majority of people may feel the game is too lacking, but I think that the game will be even more amazing in a few months time.

What Happened Next?!

stargrace September 6, 2014 No Comments

I made it to August 31st and posted every single day – and then something happened, and I stopped. Since I moved to BC my PC has been giving me issues. Nothing big, just the odd program not working here and there (microsoft outlook, for one). Problem was that the program that wasn’t working ended up being The Sims 4. One of my most anticipated games for the year. I was pretty heart broken. I got the game to run just fine on my laptop and another computer in the house, but no matter what I tried, it simply wouldn’t run on my main desktop. I tried pretty much everything. I re-installed windows (three times), re-installed Origin, The Sims 4, disabled all firewalls and anti-virus programs. I swapped out the ram, I swapped out my video card, you name it and I tried it.

After attempting almost every possible solution I could, and even talking to an actual person at EA (I know, they exist!) I decided that the last thing it could possibly maybe be, was an issue with my aged first generation i7. In other words it was time to replace my motherboard and processor. There hasn’t been a BIOS update available since 2010, and lets face it, it was time.

So I ordered the components from Newegg.ca, they arrived the next day (I love their prices and prompt service) and after a few stressful hours (I have a watercooler that needed installing too) I was faced with a new PC. It was time for the moment of truth. After ALL of this, would The Sims 4 finally run? One thing that I really liked was that I didn’t need to re-install windows when I added the new components. I had to activate it again, but aside from installing new motherboard drivers, it ran perfectly fine.

I swear I held my breath while I loaded the game.

IT WORKED! Finally, days after launch, I was able to get in-game. Everything runs like a dream. I wouldn’t suggest if a game doesn’t work that people should run out and purchase upgrades but in my case it worked. I honestly did attempt every possible solution first (did clean boot, couldn’t launch it in safe mode, attempted cleaning my registry, etc etc, you name it, I did it). Now my computer is MUCH happier, which of course in turn makes ME much happier. So. Expect LOADS of Sims 4 stuff over the next little while. I know, the game is lacking some features, but I have been having a lot of fun playing with it so far, and I know it will only get better and gain more features as time goes on. Maybe I’m just using rose coloured glasses, but oh well.

Counting Down Till Sims 4

stargrace August 27, 2014 1 Comment

As we get closer and closer to September 2nd I get more excited. I’ve been watching some videos for the game which have included a bunch of Let’s Play created by the Sims team and they are just awesome. The game includes classic cheats like #motherlode to grant your family more money and while I haven’t played with cheats in Sims 3 for quite some time (legacy family rules discourage it) I might look into it for Sims 4 so that I can play with all the pretty bits and bobs. I can’t wait to see what everyone creates, and what sort of houses will be out there. I’m also excited to see how Sims interact and what their stories will be like.

It has been a little while since I’ve gotten this excited about a game coming out, and I know, there are lots of people who say hype is a bad thing and that we should refrain from building up our expectations – but honestly, I say build up the hype. Get excited. Smile, laugh, and giggle.

Have you been planing out what you’re going to create? Have any ideas on what sort of house you want to see your Sims living in? I think my first house will be a country-esc type house, maybe with a wide porch. Side note as I’m watching this video, you can add foundation after the fact, and I am so excited about that. I love that there are different heights for the walls, that not everything is a square, and a LOT of other awesome things that are built into the tools (this is from the video that’s linked above, it was released two days ago).

Have I mentioned I’m excited? Just once or twice? Well, I am. SO EXCITED.

Bring on the Sims 4..

Create a Sim Demo

stargrace July 14, 2014 No Comments

EA was kind enough to send me an invite to try out the Create a Sim Demo for The Sims 4. I was incredibly excited. Not only have I been following the game since it was announced, but I have been a huge sims 3 fan for years (and years). I ended up streaming it on my twitch channel, but for some reason my microphone was on mute or not working, so even though I spent a glorious 30 minutes squealing and chattering about everything, you’ll have to be content with the game music.

Stream located here

Right now you’re only able to create young adults (male and female), and while I DID enjoy creating sims, I REALLY wanted to play the game.

Anyway. There’s no real tutorial in the demo, but that didn’t stop me from exploring. Everything is very intuitive and easy to figure out but I did have a few issues with a lack of options. Men get fewer options than females, at least in the demo. I didn’t particularly care for many of the items that were options for either sex (clothing, shoes, accessories), but I did really like the enormous possibilities in character creation as far as body / hair / eyes go. I also found attributes were severely lacking but because this is just a demo, I don’t expect to find everything there.

Having 7 different styles of walk is neat, but I’m sad that it came at an expense (losing toddlers and pools for now at least).

You can adjust everything. I mean, everything. Just click on a body part and you can zoom in and drag any body part any which way. There are also some traditional sliders if that is more your thing. Once you have created a family you’re able to upload it into their gigantic database, complete with hashtags. There are categories for different types of sims, like celebrities, and you can go through and import other sims from the gallery or add yours to the collection.

I found the demo fun, but again it just made me want to play the game, and I lamented over the fact that if you’re coming from a game like Sims 3 where there have been numerous expansions and ‘stuff’ packs, you may find the options available slightly lacking. You may want to wait a few months for the game to get a little more robust (and perhaps go on sale) before investing, and keep playing Sims 3 in the mean time.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!