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Scholar
#2226 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 1:36 PM
Yeah, the temples has 5 layouts that is randomized, and then the traps and the solutions are random aswell. I don't really see a problem with that, as it's a game pack not an expansion. However it's kinda lame that there aren't actual puzzles. It doesn't require any kind of involvement from the player beyond clicking on things, which is really non-inspirational.

So be it. Move. ~Jason Bourne
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dodgy builder
#2227 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 1:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Apsalar
Yeah, the temples has 5 layouts that is randomized, and then the traps and the solutions are random aswell. I don't really see a problem with that, as it's a game pack not an expansion. However it's kinda lame that there aren't actual puzzles. It doesn't require any kind of involvement from the player beyond clicking on things, which is really non-inspirational.


I agree on that, it's very small as well. At least it felt very small.
Mad Poster
#2228 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 3:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Goldbear
I thought the tomb lay outs changed? They said there are 5? But the traps may not be the same. Either way 5 isn't s great number. WA has nearly 30.

Maybe they tried to squeeze it in to make the game more "dangerous" there has been lots of justified criticisms about the game being too safe and boring.

I did have to laugh when the skeleton just wandered by them, not a care in the world and never to be seen again in the temple. Danger? I think not.

Well, was there really a critical reason to expect a whopping 20-40 tombs to appear in a game pack when in retrospective the iteration suffers to have more than 7/8 lots (or whatever approximately max number of them is).

When will somebody put the team that produced Parenthood/Vampire/JA Gamepacks in charge of expansion packs?
Scholar
#2230 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 4:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Unsearchably
It's not exactly "packed" either. And when they said randomly generated I was expecting actual new layouts not just different answers to these so called "puzzles". The ones from World Adventures were both big and packed, this is just... nothing, $20 jungle set dressing.

There are different layouts aswell as different answers and different traps. 5 layouts, not sure how many iterations of answers and traps.

So be it. Move. ~Jason Bourne
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Field Researcher
#2231 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 5:52 PM
So I guess most of this pack's exploration and adventuring is accomplished through those jungle rabbit holes... sigh.... well, at least the world looks pretty, even if most of it is basically a cardboard cutout that you can't actually explore, being there only for looks and to incite violent and murderous thoughts within simmers.
Field Researcher
#2232 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 8:36 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Teostar
Ok so, I just skimmed through their latest livestream, the one with the temple (since I don't wanna spoil myself too much)... and wow....I am extremely disappointed. Those tombs have zero atmosphere, they are so empty and barebones with minimum tomb decor, and those atrocious "puzzles" are just plain straightforward and banal. It's both absolutely horrendous and insulting that they're going to release this and call it "feature-packed" or other such synonymous words. (I guess they wasted the majority of their budget on those new dancing animations) Plus they probably don't even have actually dangerous traps that can cause death and stuff, such as how World Adventures had true fire and lightning traps that could potentially kill your Sims, or the Mummy's curse which, if not cured, caused death. The lack of danger and death must have something to do with their child-friendly, all happy and colorful, no gloom and doom, sensitive snowflake agenda that they have been pushing with TS4. I AM BEYOND SICK OF THAT MENTALITY!
Fuck me for actually hoping they'd deliver on the exploration/tomb raiding aspects, but NOPE! Sadly, this is just another downgrade from Sims 3.

And Jesus Christ, that SimGuru and her truly remarkable college-level vocabulary - "And like this", "So like that", "Like, you know what I... like.. mean", "And like, my Sim's like, an archaeologist, and she can like, go and like...", "We can't see inside, but like, if you were to like, go down to like, the next floor, like, you won't be able to see anything that's, like, below this..."
Makes me wanna, like, fling myself of like... a cliff or like.. something. Goddess preserve me.


This is soooo Spot on, and just more justification as to why I uninstalled the game and stopped buying all their pointless crap. I too attempted to watch this livestream... ended up basically turning the sound off and skimming through just to see what moronic thing that had done to this game...again. I don't know why I torture myself with it....I think because the sims in general is something I've always loved but am so angry with EA for ruining it...I just can't stop watching the train wreck.

And you are absolutely right about these gurus....I can't stand to listen to them talk.... if they aren't insulting us, they are over the top way too happy or just boring as hell with limited vocabulary all around. That's why I turn the sound off.
Mad Poster
#2233 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 8:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by matrix54
Then what was Ambitons?

Then what was Open For Business?

Inb4 TS3 had variety.

Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry

Mad Poster
Original Poster
#2234 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 10:11 PM Last edited by matrix54 : 24th Feb 2018 at 10:53 PM.
Why is a theme that’s too big to he a game pack an excuse for a lack of content in a game pack that should have benefit an expansion pack?

They should have stuck to small locations, lots, and supernaturals. Honestly, after watching it, it doesn’t even look like something I want to engage with. It’s so shallow. An entire adventure in a game pack? That doesn’t even sound right.

->> Check Out Checkout: Journey To Employee Of The Month! <<-

~ Just a click a day is nothing short of helpful! ~
Top Secret Researcher
#2235 Old 24th Feb 2018 at 10:34 PM
I'm gonna buy this just for new vacation world, new clothes, new objects and that new dance. Ok I'm gonna admit mostly its for the new dance. I don't think I would even bother with tomb raiding, considering I never bothered with them in World Adventure either.

Kinda surprised they offered adventuring because all these while gamepacks are more focused on smaller scaled themes, so seeing that this one has way more than typical gamepack already tells me the adventuring part gonna be shallow.
Mad Poster
#2236 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 1:56 PM
Disappointment already?? Lol. Seems like they were heading the right direction until.... what did they done wrong? (I'm a bit out of the loop, so care to fill in?). I haven't yet watched the second stream fully.
Scholar
#2237 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 2:05 PM
I'm still waiting for the greyed out icon to appear on my startup menu, and it hasn't yet, I have taken no notice of the release date,
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#2238 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 2:33 PM
Quote: Originally posted by SneakyWingPhoenix
Disappointment already?? Lol. Seems like they were heading the right direction until.... what did they done wrong? (I'm a bit out of the loop, so care to fill in?). I haven't yet watched the second stream fully.


The main event of the pack, the tomb, is lackluster. The whole thing is lackluster. It is 5 randomized tombs that appear with pedestrian puzzles. There is not much in the way of raiding before that. Looks more like padding.

->> Check Out Checkout: Journey To Employee Of The Month! <<-

~ Just a click a day is nothing short of helpful! ~
Forum Resident
#2239 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 3:14 PM
Looking at the XMLs, it seems like it might be possible to create additional layouts for the temple. Also stray cats and dogs can appear in the jungle, possibly with a unique appearance.
Mad Poster
#2240 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 3:40 PM
Perhaps this is what it is missing.

Quote:

Don't get me wrong, this pack will still probably be the third best GP off the concept alone. This game really lacks in gameplay and the two Aspirations and skills, the artifacts, the new harvestable and misc things like learning dances still have the potential to provide some. I can absolutely see players getting more use out of this pack than stuff like Spa Day, Outdoor Retreat and Dine Out.

However, it's just disappointing because if done right, this concept had the potential to be the best one yet. This is a pack concept that, when done right, can fall into the same group as Vampires and Parenthood. If this were Sims 2 or Sims 3 and we had this pack announced for them, I'd just look forward to it cause the concept itself is solid. Those two games delivered whenever the concept itself was a winner. With Sims 4, I've long learned even a good concept can be done completely wrong, so I'm always skeptical leading to release. The only pack I've shown practically zero skepticism towards was Vampires, specifically because it's design mirrored an actual suggestion I'd made on the forums. (aka powers to provide customization and personality)

As I said, at times it just feels like the team lacks creativity. They always return to the same mechanics and aspects instead of acknowledging that "this doesn't make sense for this theme," or "people have complained about this feature," or "we already have this mechanic in game," or whatever else the problem may be. It sometimes feels as if all of the planning regarding packs was done on day one of release, and they're just completely unwilling to adapt and see what works and what doesn't, what people are sick of and what they aren't, etc etc.

I think the best news we could hear now is if the artifact powers were good. Anything that's a unique, totally-new function would be a welcome addition. A skeleton maid disappoints because at the end of the day, it's functionally identical to a maid I can hire. Becoming a skeleton temporarily disappoints because it doesn't seem to do much to change how the sim is played. (permanently could matter if it did things like provided immortality and froze needs, but that doesn't seem to be the case)

To me, the goal of every pack should be to develop game concepts that currently don't exist. The temple kind of does that (though in a rather disappointing way), but everything else does not. The sales tables were recycled, the concept of new food dishes was recycled, the food stands are recycled, much of the methods used to explore the temple feel recycled since we already have enough of that gameplay, and I fear the artifact rewards themselves might serve functions that fail to be new too. Things like new life states have been my favorites because it's very very difficult to make a completely new life state that just recycles an existing concept. It's pretty much a promise for something new. Sims 4 though seems to have developed a talent for just reusing old assets, right down to the goals and the rewards themselves.


Quote:

They didn't. Nothing but wishful thinking.

I actually just got around to watching the stream because...well, whoever scheduled having two shy introverts with soft voices as the hosts should probably rethink their future scheduling. Recognize both of them and they do fine as side-hosts to actual extroverts, but two together...? Dunno why they thought that would be a good idea.

This stream actually makes me lose some hope for the pack specifically because:

-The amount of temple layouts sounds really limited. Traps always popping up in the same locations sounds boring too.

-So far, the reward does seem like "lolmoney" since they got some rather obscene amounts of cash for their travels. This honestly looks like it could rival painting in wealth, and I personally find piles of money to be a really boring reward incentive. Heck, I enjoy it when I have a poor sim because actually managing to remain poor is actually difficult in these games.

-Seems I wasn't too far off when I expressed fears they'd convert a dangerous temple into typical Sims 4 "LOL WEIRDER STORIES XDDDD #BlameSteve" brand of 'diet danger' in a happy-go-lucky world where nothing goes wrong. Seeing a statue "poison" one of the explorers and all it makes them do is pee their pants? Seeing the skeletons just casually walking around and hanging out, providing no sense of danger whatsoever and probably just functioning as something our Sims won't stop queueing up social chats with? Yeah, that's a bit disappointing. I get that there was electricity and fire and poison there, but all of those seem like things you can easily avoid if you just play smart. That's not too different from how it was in World Adventures, but World Adventures at least took itself seriously while this pack does not. People that send their sims on a dangerous adventure probably want a serious tone for the story they're crafting, and yes it's annoying as all heck when EVERY single aspect of this game insists your story be happy or "funny" 24/7. I suppose for me, this is less a criticism of this particular pack, and more a concern that the Sims 4 team is completely incapable of tackling serious topics, tragic stories and somber moods. Here's a life-threatening temple, and we have Sims chatting up skeletons and pooping their pants. It suggests we will never see content catered towards other types of stories and will only be spammed to death with more of the same tone that so many of us have already complained about. I mean seriously, a sim pooped their pants in a "dangerous" temple...I once said I thought Rachel thinking Sims needs to reflect reality TV absolutely missed the mark, and the true target should be Soap operas. People like drama in their game. They like when their sims cheat, steal, die or get struck with sudden misfortune. It gives them a new goal, it gives them something new to overcome, and it makes things interesting. They like seeing a sudden twist that spices up the story. When the sudden twist is reduced from DEATH to pooping your pants though, yeah, of course I'm going to voice disappointment.

-It almost feels like there's too many insta-win buttons. I expected shower in a can and I feel a can being able to satisfy hygiene is fine since hygiene doesn't take too long to fill, but there's energy in a can too? That combined with the recent patch, it's like they don't even want us playing the game anymore. "Why actually simulate life when we could make our Sims immune to every need ever and spend all day staring at fashion?" seems to be the philosophy here, and I for one would rather keep playing a game with reasonable and balanced strengths and weaknesses.

-Perhaps this is more of a personal pet peeve and perhaps people will actually agree with me, but I've complained many times that I think the mood system plum and multitasking does nothing but lead to endless, unwanted socializing. To see the temples themselves demand certain moods or socializing to solve puzzles....? Like honestly, are we not capable of coming up with anything else? Is this entire game just a one-trick pony that constantly sticks to the exact same concepts? As I said with the recent patch: this complaint is less about this particular feature being lacking, but rather when you get 20,000 features all looking exactly the same and feeling copy-pasted, it gets dull and it makes you question if the team is just lacking in creativity.



I'm still where I was before though: I wanna know the rewards. Good rewards could save the pack, bad rewards...? If the rewards are bad or bland and they're all just 10 different ways to interact with a skeleton, then I can't see myself having much motivation to want this pack. It's a shame too, since the pack did indeed touch on some good concepts. (skills governing outcomes of random events, a randomized temple, two new skills and aspirations are gameplay content)
Theorist
#2241 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 3:50 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Volvenom
I like the outdoor fireplace. The kitchen isn't quite the same as the other parts in the pack, but I guess we don't have that many modern kitchens. I don't really like the chunky style though.

Wait, are you telling me there is actually some stuff in TS4 that isn't obnoxiously chunky?
Mad Poster
#2242 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 4:08 PM
Gurus: Nonsense! Everybody likes the huge stuff!
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#2244 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 11:23 PM
What’s missing is depth. :D

->> Check Out Checkout: Journey To Employee Of The Month! <<-

~ Just a click a day is nothing short of helpful! ~
Forum Resident
#2245 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 5:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SneakyWingPhoenix
Perhaps this is what it is missing.
Where did you find these two posts? They're completely spot-on. If they're from the official forums then I would actually like to read the discussion.
dodgy builder
#2246 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 8:27 AM
They said the tomb objects and traps was just being run by scripts, does that mean our modders can make something similar?
dodgy builder
#2247 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 8:46 AM
Quote: Originally posted by ShigemiNotoge
Wait, are you telling me there is actually some stuff in TS4 that isn't obnoxiously chunky?


yes some of the sofa's are very squared and thick, while others are a bit more "chamfer'd".
Mad Poster
#2248 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 9:10 AM
Quote: Originally posted by hiabara
Where did you find these two posts? They're completely spot-on. If they're from the official forums then I would actually like to read the discussion.

Correct.
Mad Poster
#2249 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 9:11 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Volvenom
They said the tomb objects and traps was just being run by scripts, does that mean our modders can make something similar?

I hope so.
Forum Resident
#2250 Old 26th Feb 2018 at 10:27 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SneakyWingPhoenix
Correct.
Let me rephrase that - Do you still remember which thread it was?
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