SimGuruGraham decided to explain some features and facts we saw in The Sims 4’s new Gameplay Video.
Figured I’d chat a bit about a few things I’ve seen people discussing about today’s video… — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
1st up – there is a full world map, it simply wasn’t in our E3 build. When traveling you choose a lot from the map, not from that list. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
Party goals are optional. When you set up the party you select if you want goals to accomplish or just have fun doing whatever you want. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
The interaction queue is still there and you can queue up a bunch of stuff. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
The box to the left side of the Sim shows which interactions are currently happening; it can show more than one when a Sim is multitasking. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
Queued interactions sit above that box and then drop down when the Sim starts doing them. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
The traditional info panels are all in the bottom right corner (Aspirations, Needs, Skills, Relationship, Career, Inventory, Simology). — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
I just tend to play with the UI panels minimized; personal preference. We’ve also changed the order they’re listed in since then. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
A lot of the visual information that moodlets are communicating has been changed since the E3 build. For example… — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
Emotion strength of a moodlet will show exact numbers instead of vague dots (easier to understand why your Sim is in their current emotion). — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
The green plusses above the moodlets were swapped to a gradient fade (just wait until I try and explain what a chameleon moodlet is to you). — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
@Candacis Energy, Hunger, Bladder, Hygiene, Fun, and Social. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
@Matthewplays45 Yup! You can save wherever you currently are, and your household’s Sims can be on different lots when you save. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
@Matthewplays45 When you load the save you’ll select which Sim you want to start playing with and you’ll load to the lot they’re on. — Graham Nardone (@SimGuruGraham) July 19, 2014
The idea of a “chameleon buff” will be much easier to explain and understand with the game running in front of you. I’ll try and give an overview though. The Happy emotion is special in that it can modify other positive emotions. If your Sim only has a +10 Happy moodlet, then they’re Happy. But if they have a +10 Happy moodlet, and a +5 Playful moodlet, then they’re Playful (even though the Happy moodlet is stronger). This is because the Happy emotion acts as a boost to any other positive emotions your Sim is feeling. You can see examples of this throughout the demo – the moodlets with the green plus symbols above them are actually Happy moodlets that were modified to boost another positive emotion. What we’ve changed since then was to make the moodlet’s color a gradient, so the background would look like green fading to purple to show happy -> playful. I know that all sounds complicated and confusing – it was overwhelming when it was first explained to me as well. Once you play with it in-game though it feels totally natural and easy to understand.
