The article is quite detailed, and in it he discusses the genetics tool (that automatically generates relatives based on a Sim), and how the game is no longer about “just making everyone happy” by doing the same things – different Sims will need treating differently to make them happy, and that’s much more what real life is like.
On the subject of the non-open world, he writes:
The houses you build will occupy plots in one of several neighbourhoods, each with a different purpose. At first, this seems a bit like a technological step backward. […] Now, you’ll live in one area and use a menu-driven fast travel system to warp to others. […] By driving more Sims into denser areas, interesting events are more likely to occur – the AI has more material to work with, essentially.
In other words, there will be more Sims in an area at the same time, and the game’s AI will be more inclined to get them to interact – so the game seems more alive as Sims chat, joke and argue all around.
On sharing rooms online:
- Go online. Download a room template. It’ll include furnishings already, and you’ll have to pay for it up front. [PlatinumSimmers: ‘pay for it’ means in Simoleons for the furniture!]
- Make changes. Fiddle with the dimensions of the room to make it fit your house.
- Feng shui. Add or remove furniture to suit. If you’ve enlarged the room, you might need to add stuff.
- Ctrl-S. Save your new room for later use – you’ll also have a backup if you need it later.
This sounds great to us! Easy to save a room you like for your own use, share rooms you’re proud of, and download other people’s awesome rooms to just add on to your house! Here’s a bit of the build mode video that shows this:
His conclusion might provide some comfort to Sims fans worried about so much being “cut” from the game.
The game seems remarkably complete, content-wise. Maxis promises to do more stuff on day one than with any prior Sims launch – so perhaps there’s time to get on top of the issues I saw [PlatinumSimmers: he notes in the article that the version he saw was alpha software]. I hope so, because what I’ve seen of The Sims 4 has rekindled my affection for the series. I’m looking forward to getting to make myself again.
While I’m unsure as to how much of the day one extras will be free for everyone, and how much will be day one DLC, I’m honestly thrilled to hear, once again, that the game seems “complete” or “full” content-wise. I’ve heard this from multiple reviews now, and it’s really encouraging. I can’t wait for September…
For the full article, check out August’s PC Gamer.
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