Now I just want to be clear that I love The Sims. I found the Sims 3 in thrift shop a couple of months ago and I fell in love despite having never played a Sims game before. I was a huge Sims city fan back in the day(before 300 stopped working on modern computers)I bought Sims city 3000 on the day it was released and that meant saving my money for four months when I was a kid. Still I am a history buff and that game let me live out my fantasy of being one of history's great leaders and building a great city for my citizen who were depending on me. I didn't expect to get the same enjoyment out of The Sims, so I was surprised.

Still there are a few things I would change and since I am no good with mods(I can build computers, not program them)and I am pretty sure some of this stuff goes beyond what I mod can do I just thought I would list a few things I would change.

First I would have the ghosts act like ghosts, that means no eating and no need to keep a job or bath.

Second I would let kids do more chores and help look after toddlers. When I was a kid I did laundry,helped with my younger brother and sister, and I helped my grandmother with her garden and it didn't do me any harm so I would love to see the kids be able to do that in this game.

Third I would have Zombies act like Zombie. The player would still have control of them but they couldn't change back and they could only eat by eating other Sims and those Sims could kill them, plus they would gain lifetime happiness by turning other Sims into zombie.

Forth I would have the aliens not act like normal Sims. Some of them would be hostile and either seal your stuff or take Sims up and harvest their organs and some would be friendly but these aliens would be clueless about life on earth and your sim would have to teach them about it. For instance if the first time an alien saw I human go to the bathroom they may think that is where humans go and your sims would have to teach them about toilets. They would also need to be taught about pets, books, and fun stuff like snowball fights and when they took you onto their ship there would be all sorts of cool games and stuff your Sims would learn from them. This way they would seem alien and you would form a bond with them and maybe have some fun.

Any way those are my ideas, what do you think?

Is there anything about The Sims 3 you would change if you could?

I would have more child/toddler interactions, and toddler/toddler interactions. I believe in ts2 toddlers could interact with each other, that was cute.
Also I wish the jobs in the sims had some kind of effect on the sim world. Like..politicians could do something about laws or taxes. Teachers would get letters from old students, maybe. Etc.

I would've liked more tuning options from EA. Right now I have literally dozens of mods that either tune down, increase or completely remove things that EA implemented too aggressively and without giving players an easy option to modify. For example, a tuning option for alien abductions/appearances; maybe the player wants a more alien-oriented game, or wants them to be super rare to spot. Or maybe the player wants to donate a custom amount to charity. Or the ability to create and remember only certain types of memories (important life events instead of "The Most Glorious Crap I Took This Week"). I know you can select which memories you want to keep, but why the unnecessary work? Lag and game corruption aside, I just grabbed a mod to eliminate them completely.

I also wish we had an option to move actions around in the queue. Nothing more frustrating than queuing up 10 interactions and realizing you need to add one at the start after the fact.

In addition to this, the ability to cancel scoldings and kids/teens being grounded. No, EA, if I'm playing a family that doesn't give a crap about their kid and that kid will grow up to be a criminal mastermind, I don't want the dad/mom scolding them when they set foot outside the lot after 10 PM.



I just realized I really want this now

I like all of those ideas. I think it would be great if once your sim became mayor it opened up a light zoning mini game and Sims could be happy with you or made at you. For instance a lone Sim may get mad at you if you zone things so a popular store goes up next to their house. If you rezone public space to turn a park for horses into a school, then you can run into Sims who like horses who will hate your guts but Sims with kids will love you because less crowding means better grades for their kids and they would be more likely to invite you to parties and be friends with you.

I think that would be great.

As a mayor it'd be nice if you could collaborate with sims from different areas of employment in order to modify the city.
e.g. if you talk to another sim and they're in the Education career, you get a "Propose School Improvement Project" interaction with them and if your relationship score is high enough you can build something on the school grounds, like a playground or recreation area.
Or talk with a sim in the Business career to improve the lot of a local business like the bistro, diner or grocery store.

It'd also be neat if you had a budget every week and could use it to support local businesses or modify the neighborhood (build houses, community lots etc.). You could also increase this budget through fundraising parties and asking other sims for donations (we already have those options but they don't do much aside from going to a career metric).

hm - basicly - I'd be delightful if I could see "more sims 2 in sims 3" Like animations & interactions. You know - most of them are just simply copied from s2. Why not copy them all? I mean: these cute animations between dating sims like holding hands, kissing, "surpsising engagement" when they're sitting and talking by the table, interactions connected to a "slow dance" - In Sims2 my sims often dates just because of this. Dates in sims 3 are... boring in comparisation.
Not mentioning all stuff connected with toddlers, babies, kids interactions about which I grumped enough elsewhere.
And - according to animations - change of "dance" - please - for now it often looks like sudden epilepsy strike.

More options - raised by sweetdevil - would be great too. For now I'm forced to manually exterminate any sign of EA-supernaturals in each world (because I don't like the way they were made), why just not "turn on/off"? Ok, I know - it mostly means: "guys, if you're lazy just incorporate Nraas into game!"

Also - more complex relationships and I don't mean Sims4-like ones. Just - disconnection sim-to-sim relation from "long-term-relationships". You know - you may know and even trust somewhat someone, and still beign not liked by this person at all. It's mostly game about "sit-com dramas" and there's no ability to trivial drama "I love her but she does not love me?"

Another thing - ability to create real rowhouses (even if in sim2 it was able only because incredible Mootilda's work), sims2-like apartaments - I miss ability to interact with wall-by neighbours.

Not mentioning refreshing game engine... Guys - in this field you sc*wed up, really...

I'd change the relationship system so that it isn't always mutual: Sim A is smitten by Sim B, Sim B doesn't like Sim A.

If Sim A doesn't like Sim B, then Sim A (say, an alien) shouldn't be overcome with grief when Sim B gets killed by a meteor. (Bawwaaahahaha!)

Clothes, like decorations, should have an associated boost to a buff... like how pictures give you a "decorated", "nicely decorated" etc. buff. When Sim A sees sim B in a pair of baggy sweat pants it should be neutral, but from little poka-dot bikini some other buff like "eye candy", "harlot", or "jealousy" buff if Sim B can pull it off. As is, a Sim could be wearing something ... attractive, but it doesn't have any effect at all.

There needs to be more ways for a sim to die. I guess EA stopped the killing of sims via pools without ladders with some update; now they just hop out of the pool ladders or not. Even the walled in Sim didn't work for me last time I tried it, the sim got out.

I would like an option to take out the game-breakers: Science station (University), Tiberium (World Adventures), Relationship transmorgraphier (University), Young again, fountain of Youth potion... etc. These make it too easy.

Girl sims who go into science should get the "Geek Goddess" trait, and able to command boy geeks to do their homework, clean their houses, give them food and money, etc. I guess that's too real and not politically correct, tho.

Then there's the "M" EP I want to write. Not as crass as some mods out there... I mean, "Teen" Rating? My gawd, ever notice what real teenagers are doing? Like Hamsters! Instead of calling it "teen" it should be called "old nerd guy" rating, because my real life is much more "Teen" rated than most teenagers.

@stuart-grey: TS3 sims have always been able to climb out of the pool without a ladder. You're thinking of TS2 And yeah, I think non-controlled sims teleport out if you try to imprison them.
I'm a bit sad that sims' appearance doesn't influence those around them. I mean I have demons strolling through my neighborhood in broad daylight and no one even bats an eye! Meanwhile, they freak out at a simbot while they have technology like the moodlet manager...


This could be nicely implemented into the Charismatic or Snob traits - a sim can use their power of persuasion for good or bad, and have other sims do stuff for them.

@nitromon: if you want two toddlers to interact aside from the dollhouse or blocks table, I highly recommend Cherry92's Toddler Interactions, it's awesome.

-It'll be nice if they can scoot over when they are sleeping on big beds. I heard this feature don't even exist on sims 4!

-If it can be build in build mode or place in buy mode without the use of cheats or mods, then sims should be able to use it!

-Here's a thing I've seen a lot. Most sims don't really know how to interpret their surroundings. If they grab a book, they might go to read at the front yard instead of a chair that is RIGHT NEXT to the bookshelf. If they want to put their baby in a crib, they have to walk to a wide area to do so. Maybe a better pathing would be great.

-If I make a big stairway, then they should know how to walk on the middle spaces instead just on the far left or the far right!

-Why can't witches use spells or potions on babies & toddlers? If you can brew a Fountain Of Youth, then why can't you use it on babies? If you can cast charms, then why can't you use them on babies & toddlers? Aren't being witch supposed to make life easier? Then why can't they make their life on raising their own children easier? Sure, you can make your child skip out on childhood & get right to adulthood or elder by lobbing Fountain Of Youth at them a couple of times, but to turn babies to toddlers? Nope! Why do I have to buy birthday cakes? Birthday cakes leave wastes & that Restoration Ritual could ruin food quality & shelf life. So even the cake was still good, but it could rot by tomorrow.

-So can toddlers walk in the basements or not? This confuses me. I had a save where my sims live in a basement of an apartment & their toddlers don't know how to walk because the game can't make a route for them. I ended up placing toys as waypoints because they have no problem walking to play with toys, but to walk anywhere? NOPE! Then I don't have this problem on the other save at all, what?

-Why can't children look after babies & toddlers, cook, do laundry, practice simfu, meditate & gardening? These stuff are like bread & butter in my country. (Well, not the simfu, but the meditate) But nope, teens and above ONLY!

-Sims have terrible mind, they can't meditate for crap. "Oh no, I'm hungry", "Oh no, I have to pee" "Oh no, meditating makes me sleepy" What? So you can tear up wormholes through meditation, but you can't control your mind & your body? Are you serious?!!!!!

-Stop going home just because it's night time. You are about to go on a date, you said hi to your date & just went home? You're not hungry or sleepy. What's wrong with you?! And now you wish to kiss or woohoo your date right after you got back home, wonderful! Now you have a "Bad Date" moodlet, I didn't tell you to go home, didn't I!

-The "Ask to sleep over". So why is it that some sims considered it inappropriate if your sim use their bathroom right AFTER the house owner said they can stay? What's the timespan for the permission? Until the sun rise?

That's all from the top of my head. For some reason I feel like there's more but I just don't know what...

EDIT
Oh also, since The Sims is an EA game, then why can't my sims play Command & Conquer?! Also, what about MMOs on the PC!

Was that a regular basement or a houseboat basement? Because the routing on houseboats is all sorts of messed up. I suspect Island Paradise is guilty of this. Sims couldn't place their kids on the ground on any floor in a houseboat and toddlers couldn't walk around unless they had to interact with something.

Agree with enabling martial arts for children. Most martial artists start practicing as kids. In that same vein, it's stupid how kids can't play instruments.

well - (continuing dreaming 'bout )

mixing up Sims2 and Sims 3 "personality build" would be interesting - you know: this "character point system" from sims2 *and* traits from sims3. With both proper and reasonable in used resources coding that would allow to create very complex "sim-psyche" (beign ambitious and lazy and incompetent? why not - how many times you've had seen this in real world? Just turn on TV!?).

AI with *memory* - at last some imitation of it - past actions and experiences should affect sims behaviours. You know - even if you're "born to be flirty", if you fail constantly (because you're also moron?) that surely have some impact on you, right? I want to see my sim, whos pathetic fails in romance, work, or whatever leads him/her to desire "Let's go to Proxima Centauri, I have enough!" and want "Experimental Cosmonaut" Career for example :D

I understand the reason why babies, toddlers and kids are "protected by Great Eye Of The Great Sim" - but some turns on/off would be nice. ANd this strange force-field which surpress toddler movement when they met stairs is... absurd. My nieces ran on stairs before they even stood up. Well.. ok, they "crawled on the stairs". Very fast!

From my endless list of small things - additional tabs (hands/legs... so on) within Accessory tab of CAS would be great. The clutter I have there makes me crazy.

What is meant by AI here? All of the interactions of the NPCs, and some of the PC responses, are all hard programmed. Did you want the game to learn?

You could make it like an ant-farm or fishbowl, just create charters and see how they interact. I don't think I'd play that, tho'.

Regular. Well, the waypoint 1 is a basement of an apartment, while the other is just a normal house. None of them are houseboats & I have Island Paradise by the time I made these 2 saves.

Oh right, instruments, too. That's just bull. Come to think of it, I don't get why sims need to know martial arts in order to meditate. Why can't they just meditate & let zeneport be a thing if they get higher level in martial arts.

I´d like to have an easier method to add actions/interactions and new animations. I have so many ideas for objects and activities, but the coding stuff is too hard for me. That would make it the perfect game - new "expansion packs" made by players

Toddlers can interact though. It's just not a direct option. If they were both taught how to talk they will talk to each other while playing with the toys in the chest or sometimes play peekaboo in the playpen together (might also be true for the blocks toy but I can't recall). If an adult sim is playing with toys they can talk to them too, so I wouldn't be surprised if children had that same option, but I'd have to test it out and see.

As for the topic besides what was already said and having an actual lag-free working game... I'd be interested in seeing sims actually grow and age more properly instead of suddenly transforming into a new age state. Hair growing and needing to get it cut or shaved might be fun too and give more purpose to the salon. Variations on the animations for interactions instead of always doing the same one over and over would be great or even better if certain traits had their own special animations for things.

I have always, always wanted male Sims to grow beards overtime, and would have the option to shave them off. I feel like it would add so much more realism to the game. That would probably be really irritating for some players, though Maybe one day a mod will surface with these sorts of interactions

Anyway, I completely agree with ghosts actually acting like ghosts. Really? My ghosts need to shower? They don't have skin and can walk through walls, how are they getting dirty? More kid/toddler interactions, too, for sure. I also hate how the faces on TS3 Sims don't stay consistent as they age. A child with a nose that's too far up with age up into an adult with a nose that's too far down. A Sim child that looks completely normal will age up into some sort of squished up mutant. They really watered down how kids look in TS3 and how well sliders work on them. I feel like if you can make a cute kid, they should age into a cute adult. Not a slider-mangled monster.

I changed the tuning for toddler hug, so they can hug each other. Although, I admit it does look a little bit off, I don't really mind.

What I want in Sims 3 isn't much, I'm not picky. Just give back all interactions that were available in Sims 2, asymmetrical relationships and less buggy game and I'll be happy.

The band part of Late Night was a bit of a disappointment for me. First of all why didn't they have a proper electric base? A bull fiddle is fine for jazz, but rock?! I think not. We could have done with more instruments altogether, and more musical genres, (I'm no big fan of country music, but a hill billy band would have been fun). And seemingly only one number per genre at gigs. Boring! And how about vocalists? It would have been great, when Showtime came out, if singers could have had backing bands. I've no idea if any of this would have been even possible, but I'm just saying.

This! Why have I never thought of this?! That would be awesome.

As for me, I always wanted sims to have more preferences -- things they disliked as well as favorites. It's cool they can like a certain music or food, but I want them to also dislike certain things and act like it.

I just want a 64 bit port of the game engine so I don't hit the dread 3.2 GB limit so easily during play. Sure, I could just toss most of my cc to keep my games smaller, but where's the fun in that?

To add on to complex and one sided relationships for Sims, I also want minion and leader relationships.Like the henchman might not necessarily like their boss but they would respect them and still follow orders. Same for office politics. Basically a social hierarchy is much needed. I want to create Sims that only want to hang out with certain characters, to really help with Story Progression too.

Supernaturals need a huge overhaul. I don't need to really state the issues for each supernatural, but we can all agree that they are too human like, and often boring. I of course have mods to help, but none can add much needed animations.