They should just get over trying to forget sims 2, go back to it - capitalize on it - fix all their bugs, update it for windows 8, and release more expansions for it. Here's to dreaming

I'm reminded of when I first picked up Sims 1 for the first time and those I knew who played similar games tried to tell me there was no point in playing Sims 1 because it was old (and I had an "old" computer with integrated graphics and was fortunate to be able to run Sims 1 even).

IMO, there's no need argue. If you like Sims 4 then by all means play it and enjoy it. If you like any of the older versions and feel they're a better use of your recreational time, then feel free to play them instead.

All of what you said sound good ,VerDeTerre but still My Sims 2 can do "Call To Meal and with guests and they all sat around the table and eat and talk and if you want to have a toast and drink you can do that as well.
Sims 2 have group conversation ( Like at the Bar counter in their house ) they talk to each other as a group while talking and holding the glass drink. Or a group converstion with the option of "Group Outing"
Sims 2 also have an option to introduce another Sims to another Sims.

Also I have watch the "Let Hang Out" feature if the Sims is in a place like a club or community lot where all other Sims are there I have seen more than one Sims join in the let hang out feature
In Sims 2 a Sims can get closer to a family member as they watch TV this is done with a Sims parent and child or two parents or a couple that is dating.
The EP NightLife open the door for Sims being "sociable" in a big way on many levels. Sims 4 sound to me more like a "Hyper" game of what Sims 2 already have, It's like been there done that, so what different ?

It's not the same, I wish I knew how to explain it. When the Sims sit together in Sims 2, whether around couches or at the dining table, they spontaneously have a conversation. In Sims 3, they also have a spontaneous conversation, but, you can also direct it. It's dynamic in the way conversations that you direct between two Sims are in S2. This dynamic conversation can include more than two people. In S2, when they raise a toast (an animation that I really love!), it's part of a set scenario. In sims 3, when they drink and eat and talk all at the same time, they alternate between a dish you had a Sim cook, a drink they selected from the refrigerator, and have that dynamic conversation I was just talking about. When they sit near each other, it's not always at a table. If I have a Sim working on the computer, my other Sim will bring his plate over to her to continue a conversation. When they help themselves to a meal, if one sits down at the table and another at the couch, the one at the table will come up and sit next to the one at the couch with her plate and join her. Often they watch a tv show at the same time. Sometimes, two Sims will go into the bedroom for a more private conversation while they have their meal. *edit* Replace "Sims 3" with "Sims 4" in the above paragraph. I didn't have enough sleep and I wasn't talking about Sims 3.

But it's more than that. Sims 2 are very social, I agree, and it's far easier to get them to socialize effectively than it was in Sims 1. There's another layer to it all in Sims 4 and I wish I could explain it. It feels very different, very dynamic, and real. The Sims almost feel like they live and think on their own to a degree that is greater than Sims 2. It's hard to explain.

I agree, there's no need to argue and this isn't an argument. The OP asked what the difference was and I am attempting to explain it. And, btw, I don't discriminate between the games. I like them all. Although, after going back and reading some of the comments in this thread, I can see it's become more of a "I hate Sims 4" thread. I thought there was a genuine question. My mistake.

I think that it irritates some of us when this game is touted as an offshoot to Sims 2. Some reviewers have implied that if you like 2, of course you'll like 4.

No, no and oh, yes ... no. Sims 4 is not similar to Sims 2, except perhaps for the loading screens, as joandsarah77 pointed out

Let's face it, Sims 2 has its own flaws and bugs. It needn't be compared to 4, with its flaws and bugs.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if Sims 4-ers get annoyed with being compared with Sims 2!

From watching Let's Play's there is a difference. The sims might grab a plate and sit on the sofa eating, but they also talk together and watch TV. Sims 2's could not watch TV at the same time. They could sit and eat and talk or they could sit and talk and watch TV, but not all four at the same time. They can also talk while they are cooking or reading. A sims 2 sim who is skilling from a book would only be skilling. They would lift their head to watch another sim pass but they could not also talk to them. From what I have seen this multi tasking has added a lot more talking, they talk all the time no matter what. I also saw a sim who had a drink in their hand continue to hold and drink it while on the toilet. If that is cool or not depends as I thought that was kind of gross. They also seem to play musical chairs which looks darn annoying. I was watching a dinner party and her sim changed chairs 3 times and other sims would get up and change chairs taking their plate of food with them. They seem rather ADHD.

@>>VerDETerre>> You have no "Mistake" I ask the different and you explain it as best as you could, thank you. Also thank you joandsarah77 for your input on the different in Sims 4 & Sims 2.
I don't want this thread to turn into " I hate Sims 4" my main goal was to find out the "different" aspects or features of Sims 4. Only because from what I read from all of the Sims 4 highlights, it just seem to me that Sims 2 already had those features. Each versions of the Sims offer something different that maybe the other version did not have, starting with Sims 1 to Sims 2.

I honestly think Sims 2 was a "major" change for the Sims game it open doors to build on for the next level of the Sims game style and play.
I just wish that the "same people" at EA / Maxis that did all the work on Sims 2, could have work on Sims 3 and Sims 4, than perhaps it would not be any kind of this and that and what not is.
Instead it would have been more of a game that had form join collaborate, maybe some of those people have retire from the Sims, but it would have been a great idea to have ask or get their input.

Then maybe we would not have things like the toddler or even a pool left out of the Sims 4. No matter what one may say we have to give credit where credit is due those people who got together and work on Sims 2 and made it a great game Is really miss. In my personal opinion at this moment and time I do not feel or think EA can live up to surpassing the sales in profit that Sims 2 gave to them. ( that remain to be seen )

I feel Sims 3 & 4 is just a mirror of the Sims 2. To be plain and simple the Sims new versions of the game seem to have become just like the fairy tale "Alice Through The Looking Glass". Everyone have a choice to go with what is new or what may be old or just play all versions because we do have that options. Just be happy. But please try not to fight like "Cats and Dogs" like they are doing over there in Sims 4 forum.

Well, I get annoyed, but that's because I love TS2 and they seem to use that comparison as some sort of insult. You right, I think they're only thinking of loading screens, or lack of color wheel. They don't seem to realize that is a different game, that TS2 is packed full of great stuff, or that TS4's world is more restrictive than TS2's.

I do not see the comparison to TS2 as being an insult - I absolutely ADORE TS2. I tried TS3, for several months, and never warmed to it, and was happy to come back to 2.

Now I've been playing TS4 for a couple of days, and I'm liking it, quite a bit. It DOES remind me of 2 - in a good way, and no, it's nothing to do with loading screens. TS4 is what I hoped TS3 would be. The Sims themselves are more reminiscent of TS2 Sims, in that I actually find myself getting attached to them, and thinking about my story even when I'm not playing. With TS3, I just couldn't form any kind of attachment to those soulless, dead-eyed lumps. TS4 Sims, and the way they react to each other and the world around them is far more similar to TS2 Sims. The warmth and humour of TS2 is more a part of TS4 than it ever was in TS3.

I'm not trying to bag out TS3 here (ok, maybe a little bit), I understand that some people cannot cope with the lack of open world or the colour wheel (two features I was always a bit 'meh' about anyway), but for me, and my playstyle, I'm liking TS4 so far. Probably more than I thought I would, considering it's only base game, and comparing base game TS4 with TS2's metric shitload of EP's is futile. I'm certainly not about to give up TS2, but fortunately I have room in my schedule for both right now.

The problem is some people are using it as an insult and often they have not played sims 2 but they say it's sims 2 redone because of the loading screens. Which I find very annoying. From watching let's plays, it's nothing like sims 2. The Sims 4 is the Sims 4 and needs to be seen as a separate game. The sims seem more likeable than sims 3 sims but they tend to do their own thing and ignore direct orders, take longer to do everything like showers and cooking and seem very ADHD with all the moving from one chair to another. I would say the sims themselves from 1,2,3 and 4 are each quite different from each other.

The Sims 4 may end up being what Sims 3 should have been, but it isn't there yet. They made a huge mistake by giving an open world and casT for Sims 3 and then removing it.

Thank you. Everything you said is exactly how I feel. I love Sims 2 and I to feel that a lot of what made Sims 2 great is reflected in Sims 4. If they just bring back the toddlers and add a preteen stage, it would be heaven. I too hated the Sims 3, and I couldn't be placated with the Barbie doll play of CASt. The lack of effort put into the Sims with their pudding look alike faces, and the worthless story progression left me cold. You have summed up my feelings perfectly.

I have. They do not ignore orders any more than any of the other Sim games, not even as much as Sims 3. They do not suffer from ADHD either. In social settings they tend to move around more and socialize on their own. Takes a bit of getting use to, after the more static responses of earlier Sims, but it is not illogical. Again you are assuming that everyone must like and play as you do. I hated the so called open world, and I hated being forced to play only one family at a time which was a by product of the open world.In addition I had no interest in CASt. Sims 2 sold over 20 million copies without either CASt or open world. Sims 3 sold only 10 million. Many of the 10 million left were people like me who dropped out never to return. So you see despite what you want to believe CASt and open world were not universally desired.

Mostly I agree with this, although I'm not sure what you're trying to say about joeandsarah77. I wouldn't say she is assuming anything about other players and feel that she made a valid point when she said Sims 4 should not be likened to the other Sims games, but seen more as it's own. I also agree that giving an open world and Cast in Sims 3 and not having it in Sims 4 has caused a lot of problems with fans of those features. She wasn't talking about the set of fans who loved Sims 2 and never embraced Sims 3.

I especially agree with you that the Sims are controllable and do not have ADHD. The problem with the Let's Plays is that the players did not know how to manage or direct the Sim's actions and queues. It's easier than they made it seem, as easy as it is in S2. Also, the dinner scene may have messed up (with musical chairs) because of the AI coding of the Sims which causes them to want to sit near one another and they move until they are together. They don't normally eat dinner that way in their own homes.

Sims 2 does have the ability to change topic while you're having a conversation, so you can direct the conversation a bit.

I never liked the open world either. Only one family at a time sucked and so did other families going off and doing stuff without you. I admit that I would have loved CASt for Sims 2 though. So much less CC needed if you can make your own recolours.

LOL, what are they fighting about on the Sims 4 forum?

The ability to direct conversations is expanded in Sims 4 in terms of both topic and what else you can have your Sims do while you are holding a conversation. You also can direct the topics in a group conversation.

CASt is a neat feature, at least in the realm of ideas. I can only use it when I have unlimited time and loads of patience. As you move the curser from the thing you want to copy color/pattern/design from to the thing you want to bring the color/design/pattern to, the curser bounces around slowly and doesn't always end up where it's supposed to. Then everything is all grayed out and takes forever to load into the screen. I spent a whole morning redoing a couple's bathroom. Each floor tile had to be done individually because of the intricate pattern using different tiles. Of course, I was excited with the new bathroom, but really? A whole morning? I probably should have just deleted everything and started from scratch, but the couple was poor. Then I looked at my work and thought, "Is that really the right shade of marble for the pluming fixtures?". P-a-t-i-e-n-c-e is what you need to use CASt. I think I prefer the tools in Sims 2 and Sims 4 for redesigning items with the swatch and the eyedropper.


I can easily see why those who love Sims 2 would not want to switch. They shouldn't have to, it's a great game. And there's nothing wrong with deciding that one game works for you, or if you're like me and like too many Sims games, deciding that all of them work for you.

I wasn't saying anything about other players and only what I observed in a few let's plays. I admit I have not played it as I refuse to buy it at $88 AUD without toddlers. I am only going by what I see. I personally find sims switching around seats while they are eating at a dinner party/ at the bar as annoying, your millage may vary. As far as open world and casT are concerned I never said I prefer it. I do have Sims 3 but I rarely fire it up. I'm a sims 2 player who plays a self sufficient hood via rotation through about 30 houses. I said it was a mistake for EA to include it in a third sequel and then remove it in a fourth. I think they could have made a semi open world like Skyrim which I find really good. There is no lag, the towns are bustling and the loading screens don't feel intrusive. You can go exploring out in the world but large towns and individual houses/buildings get loaded. The open world of Sims 3 could have been designed by a monkey it's so bad. Same thing with casT, a good idea badly implemented. Sims 2 is the best game, but it's getting old and my fear is it will soon not be able to run on current hardware and then we may be up the creek without a paddle, so we better hope sims 4 turns into something good. if you like it than great, but I refuse to play a sims game without toddlers. It sticks in my family craw. So long as sims 2 keeps going along I am old and suborn enough to wait, but I don't have to enjoy waiting. *waves walking stick impatiently at EA to get their young butts moving*

Well, Sims 1 didn't have toddlers, but I know what you're saying. Sims 2 was an improvement on Sims 1 with more ages available. Removing an age group feels like a step back.

I wouldn't give up on computers being able to run Sims 2 though. I just recently found my GTA 1 CD and with backwards compatibility it still worked!

Who said the Sims 2 is getting old? Was that you "joandsarah77" ? hahaha please don't insult my little pixel Sims, they are very emotional right now because of the new Sims 4 they just got over Sims 3 throwing them under the bus.
In fact Don Lothario and a few townies from Pleasantview are protesting at this very moment. And old man Goth was rush to the hospital he's passed out, when he heard about the Sims 4 invasion, he already have a weak heart condition, since the invasion of Sims 3.

Even Veronaville is protesting and StrangeTown "Aliens" :cylon: is planning on a major invasion of Sims 4. I have had NO luck in trying to stop these neighborhoods from all what is happening there. It's like "Doom Day" there. right now I had to stop and calm my nerves down and take a drink because my Sims are in an crazy uproar. even the police can not control the neighborhoods at this point.

Most good computer now days can play games that are old or outdated I know people who are playing games that are really,really old, also you can setup a "Virtual Machine" that is a way to run a computer-within- a - computer. It allow you to run a completely different operating system within window. That one option for a game that may be consider old.

The Sims 2 is still the best game for me, and with that I am going to stick. Maybe someday I will give TS4 a chance, just like I gave TS3 a chance. and the newest Sims seems to be a pretty cool game.

It's just that I've always been TS2 fan and there's no way out of it. And the fourth game is awfully expensive even tho so many good things are missing.

I'm talking from a hardware point of view. It is a ten year old game which yes in gaming terms makes it old, that is just a fact not an insult. People now have troubles getting it to run on Windows 8, so how is it going to be on Windows 9 or 10? That concerns me as I don't want to suddenly find I can't play my sims any longer. I can't install sims 1 except for the base game although I tried multiple ways.

This. Absolutely. It would have been one feature that would have actually perked up my ears with Sims 4 (once that price got knocked down significantly ... $60 = ouch for me.) I believe it would have had some appeal to both Sims 2 and Sims 3 fans. And it's not like there wasn't a Sims precedent, though admittedly, it was on console (The Urbz). A few more houses in each district, the ability to stick even one or two user-made community lots of one's own choosing in each, and I think EA might have been more on the right track. And I don't see how anyone could compare that setup with Sims 1, 2 OR 3.

Now I do admit that the loading screens between districts could lag very noticeably in The Urbz, but as many have echoed on like topics, we are talking about a 2004-era Game Cube. PS2 or XBox. Surely, EA could have improved on that for more modern PCs?

Well, I guess that would explain why they're filtering language for content used in The Gallery...

Newsflash, EA: Rating a game T for Teen and then blocking out "naughty words" is counterproductive if you ask me...

@>> joandsarah77 >> Don't take me saying you insulted my Sims personally, I was joking and yes we all know that computer hardware on each windows system that comes out can make a big different , as to how game can run well or not at all. There are ways to get around that, one way I did mention it on my post # 44 about Virtual Machine which can be another way to get around new hardware with future windows operation system.

And still play old games, you can run an older applications within window. What cool about using Virtual Machine is you do not have to use window operating systems. You can run Linux, MS DOS, even window 98 anything that runs on PC hardware. That is just "one" of others options to play an older game on a new system. When I first started playing the Sims 2 you could play it on windows system Vista, XP, ME, 2000 or 98, but time have change. I will worry about if I can still play my Sims 2 in the future, when I cross that bridge.

I'm willing to believe that your experience is more positive than what could be seen in the lets plays, but I can't believe that the sims ignoring commands and switching from one task (like playing the violin) to the next within a couple of seconds when left to their free will can all be blamed on player inexperience. If you order a sim to go pee, he should go pee, whether you're an experienced or inexperienced player. The devs explicitly ordered Mortimer to use the toilet, and the action queued up repeatedly out of his own free will as well, and yet he did not pee. He was glitched. The lets plays were so embarrassing because a lot of the problems were obviously caused by the game itself being broken. When I watch a LazyGamerReview lets play I know that the ensuing chaos is due to him goofing around and not properly guiding sims' behavior. Sims 4 was a whole different story.

Again, if your experience with Sims 4 has been positive so far, that's nice. But it's still baffling to me that so many people laughing at the lets plays turned around on the first day of release and went "well, I caved and bought it". LOL. To each their own, but for me those videos made it very clear the sims series already died with Sims 3 and now is only a shell of its former glory.

My Sims always go pee when I tell them to. There are some actions that need to be "x" ed out before another queued action will start. I believe this is some of the problem. Another problem is that Sims will not do certain things because a) like all Sims games, if they are unable such as when the object is facing the wrong way or blocked or b) some other need is pressing more intensely or c) they are having some sort of emotional failure state, as is similar to other types of failure state seen in Sims 2 and Sims 3. So, if a Sim did not pee when he was told to, he may have had another action already in progress or in the queue first, the toilet may have been stopped up, or he may have been exhausted. All of those can be resolved by how a player handles their Sim. As far as I know, there is no emotional reason to not pee.

If I remember correctly, the devs put out their "Let's Play" while the game was still in beta? I thought they said something about that at the beginning and they emphasized that it was still a work in progress. Even so, the game does have hiccups and glitches. I don't think that's a reason to reject it out of hand given that all of the Sims games still have hiccups and glitches years later. It doesn't happen in every game, but there is a percentage of error.