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Theorist
Original Poster
#1 Old 30th May 2014 at 10:58 PM
Default Open World / Neighborhoods
Although sims had their own personal lots in TS3, if you think of the entire world as one ginormous "WorldLot" (a term I am calling it to help describe what I mean), it helps to understand why it was so difficult for some computers to process. That's a heck of a lot of sims and lots to render and have doing things in the background. With TS4 it looks like we are getting smaller neighborhoods, with "backdrops" in the near distance to make it seem a little larger than it's actually going to be. This, along with the simpler graphics they are using, should make playing the game a lot easier on our PCs. Presumably the sims will have other interesting places to visit outside of their immediate neighborhoods.

But it won't solve all the problems that come from having one "WorldLot" in the game. In order to customize our experience, we're going to need more control over any kind of SP (if they add that); we need options to turn it all the way off, and options to turn it off for selected households. We also need a way to select which clothes/costumes should be used autonomously in each saved game. Otherwise our neighbor on one side might be wearing Medieval clothing while our neighbor on the other is wearing clothes from the future, just like in TS3.

Anyone have any ideas on how they could implement controls over these things so that we can better customize our games?

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
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Alchemist
#2 Old 30th May 2014 at 11:04 PM Last edited by Original_Sim : 30th May 2014 at 11:15 PM.
What I would like is an "open" world that allows your sims to visit community and residential lots without having to go through a loading screen, but I don't want the world to be a "WorldLot" like in the Sims 3. I'm fine with the occasional jogger or visitor. I just don't like the entire neighborhood being processed at once when I'm only playing one household. I find that unnecessary.

For example, when loading the Goth house, I want the game to focus only on the Goth house and whatever lot the Goths are currently visiting. It should leave other homes closed and simulate pedestrians instead of reducing the player's GPU into a burning pile of melted plastic by worrying about every Tom, Dick and Harry in every part of town.
Alchemist
#3 Old 30th May 2014 at 11:07 PM
Maybe we will have an open world with different sections that will require loading screens?
Alchemist
#4 Old 30th May 2014 at 11:11 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ZenGarden
Maybe we will have an open world with different sections that will require loading screens?

That's perfectly fine with me. Skyrim has different sections that require a very short fade-to-black loading screen.
Theorist
Original Poster
#5 Old 30th May 2014 at 11:39 PM
All the build mode screenshots make it appear as if there is going to be a compromise between 'home lot only' and one large 'WorldLot'. So I do think it will be a partially open world or probably more accurate to say open 'zones'. I'm OK with that as long as they give us more customization options.

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
Forum Resident
#6 Old 30th May 2014 at 11:48 PM
Nah, I think Sims 3 is quite a clever solution. There is not just one world lot that gets simulated all the time. Residential homes get loaded on the fly when you zoom in on them, the interior gets loaded when you open them. I'm not quite sure what inactives do in their homes all day, but I believe they don't do CPU intensive stuff like shooing each other from the bathroom all day.
As often, EA shot themselves in the foot. They have this clever solution developed for x million §§§ but don't bother fixing routing problems in their worlds, leaving Sims stranded somewhere trying to route somewhere again, and again, and again, and again...

Find my Mods: Here at MTS, over at Simlogical
Theorist
Original Poster
#7 Old 31st May 2014 at 12:10 AM
I agree that some sims were always in a non-rendered status - these are often the sims that the NRASS mods spits out a notice about because they're not moving. They're not supposed to be moving!

But there were always a certain number of sims out in the world actively being rendered and doing things. At least this is true if one has a computer good enough. And the larger the world, the more sims there were out and about doing things. And the more lag you would eventually get!

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
Forum Resident
#8 Old 31st May 2014 at 12:30 AM
Yea well, If you zoom in on a playground you kind of expect to see a kid from the neighborhood on a swing or something. That's not something I would want to miss. On the hardware we have these days some bit of life simulation shouldn't bring a life simulation game to a grinding halt.

Find my Mods: Here at MTS, over at Simlogical
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#9 Old 31st May 2014 at 12:35 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Consort
Yea well, If you zoom in on a playground you kind of expect to see a kid from the neighborhood on a swing or something. That's not something I would want to miss. On the hardware we have these days some bit of life simulation shouldn't bring a life simulation game to a grinding halt.


Except that they never write the game to actually use the hardware available

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Forum Resident
#10 Old 31st May 2014 at 12:58 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Inge Jones
Except that they never write the game to actually use the hardware available


Games used to be designed for hardware that was not even available when production started or was unaffordable for the target audience. Times have changed and EA said they want to aim at "low spec" machnines.
Performance of an average computer these days should be enough to not worry about simulating this and that in the background. I find it reasonable to have expectations that a brand new game will be more complex and way faster compared to its predecessor.

Find my Mods: Here at MTS, over at Simlogical
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 31st May 2014 at 10:27 AM
In sims 3 I have all the expansions except the last one. The only way to play the game is in a very very small world, it is an island actually. There are always wild horses that the game spawn and strays and even people that the game spawns. The community lots are empty and my sims stand like zombies and they’re not doing anything with each other. Also I had to give my horses for adoption, because I couldn’t go fishing with my boat, I had to stay to the house, or come back to fulfill their needs. So now I play sims 2 and I wait for sims 4. My point is that maybe if the game didn’t spawn like crazy, it would be possible to have an open big world. But EA didn’t even bother to check the fraps in sims 3… I lost a graphic cart to that, before I could figure out the problem.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 31st May 2014 at 11:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Inge Jones
Except that they never write the game to actually use the hardware available


I wonder if it would make a difference to allow a game setup for 32 bit and one for 64 bit, would that be too hard for EA to institute? I am asking first because I remember games in the past had different setups according to the processor, like 128k or 256k.

Although the Story Progression mods are more processor intensive than EA's, I'd rather see a town with activity than one dead. When I started using Twallan's SP mod, I nearly cried seeing my sim's neighbors come out the house and use the objects I placed on it. The father was throwing the football with the daughter and mom was pushing the son on the swings. It was thrilling to have my sim's little girl go next door and play with their child. The parents came over and talked to the new neighbors. Gosh, I would really hate to give that up.

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Field Researcher
#13 Old 31st May 2014 at 12:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Original_Sim
What I would like is an "open" world that allows your sims to visit community and residential lots without having to go through a loading screen, but I don't want the world to be a "WorldLot" like in the Sims 3. I'm fine with the occasional jogger or visitor. I just don't like the entire neighborhood being processed at once when I'm only playing one household. I find that unnecessary.

For example, when loading the Goth house, I want the game to focus only on the Goth house and whatever lot the Goths are currently visiting. It should leave other homes closed and simulate pedestrians instead of reducing the player's GPU into a burning pile of melted plastic by worrying about every Tom, Dick and Harry in every part of town.


In other words you want The Sims 2 with high-quality backgrounds.
Alchemist
#14 Old 31st May 2014 at 3:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by JackieSmith
In other words you want The Sims 2 with high-quality backgrounds.

A "high quality background" doesn't allow you to visit neighbors without loading screens, genius.
Mad Poster
#15 Old 31st May 2014 at 4:27 PM
I would not mind it if they had the same system that Fallout 3 has, Fallout 3 loads as you go so there is no loading screen in the open world, only time you get a loading screen is when you enter a building.

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All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
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Field Researcher
#16 Old 31st May 2014 at 4:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Original_Sim
A "high quality background" doesn't allow you to visit neighbors without loading screens, genius.


You're the one who wants this dumb shit in the game so don't point at me pal.
Alchemist
#17 Old 31st May 2014 at 4:56 PM
Quote: Originally posted by JackieSmith
You're the one who wants this dumb shit in the game so don't point at me pal.

From another thread :
Quote: Originally posted by JackieSmith
Anyway, I'll support any adult expansion if it gives me my guns.
Field Researcher
#18 Old 31st May 2014 at 8:36 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Original_Sim
From another thread :


I can has relevance?
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