Speaking of Clint, he could use some love and moral support. A tree fell on his house from Hurricane Helene.

https://www.youtube.com/@LGR/community

Sad to hear that his (extraordinary) collection is most likely completely wrecked, but I'm very relieved that he and his family and friends are safe and well! Must have been scary, and I hope they can recover from this as smoothly as possible.

Another set of leaks for Project Renee! Apparenty there will be a single-player mode which is good news! I still have my doubts though. Please, read this article because some of it is good!

I have a feeling like they are copying Paralives just a little bit because Project Renee will also have clothing layering. There will also be voice accents and height sliders. Mobility aids will be included as well.

It's all alpha and in a testing or developmental state. I wouldn't get excited about anything yet.

For example - Sims in wheel chairs. I'd like that, but am well aware it'll be a development nightmare. Same with Simlish accents.

Aging sliders in Project Renee...

There are more technical information in the article that I do not care about. My hype has died out and I am waiting for another life simulation game...

I'm not at all interested in this project Renee "game". Still, I can appreciate that they seem to do something about Sims 4 missing features like age detail and height. Maybe the teens in project Renee won't be as tall as adults. If there even is going to be teens. Knowing EA, I half expect a new game to only have young adult stage... seems to be their focus group considering the lack of things to do for other age groups. Tho EA's experiment with "age sliders" has caused some bugs where kids are pregnant/bodybuilders.

I agree about the features being included in Project Renee while missing in TS4. However, the microtransactions, that the game will probably have, the cross-platform aspect and the multiplayer really put me off. This is not a proper TS5 game; Project Renee is more of a spinoff.

I remember when Lindsay Pearson said that PR (Project Renee) would have weather, but seasonal activities would be sold in separate packs. I am not going to lie that this mindset angers me as a customer.

I mean, we can call inZoi The Sims 5 at this point.

Does Project Renee have cars? No.
Are there any reasons Project Renee/TS5 should not have cars? Also no?

So why do we still want TS5 from EA? It’s not like it will many jump from TS3!

Is Project Renee still a thing?

I’m trying to determine what the major draw of Renee is that makes it distinct from 1-4 after the play test announcement.
I’m aware it’s not 5, but it’s a major release and looks hollow.

1 was the experiment.
2 brought generations, aspirations, wants and fears, and memories.
3 brought traits, the open world and create a style.
4 brought emotions and innovations in build mode/CAS.

What’s Renee’s thing?

In-game microtransactions?

Multi-platform? That you could play it anywhere? Kinda. Like you could make sims or furnishings on your mobile phone, while on the bus on your way home from work, that you can then import to the main game on your PC or Console when at home. Isn't it supposed to be an extension of TS4 too? But it's right to question just what the heck it's meant to be, because at this stage I don't think even Maxis fully know.

Multiplatform is great, but what is the draw to get players to engage with systems that they can't get from another game in the series.

Even though emotions suck as a mechanic, the gameplay loop is still distinct from the rest of the games in the series. With 3, many systems from older game was modified within the scope of 3's open world and its design - You can't run a business (effectively), but you can use the consignment shop to sell items, or engage in real estate transaction to make money based on venue upgrades, or go club hopping in Bridgeport.

There doesn't appear to be a baseline core feature in Renee except for multiplayer and cross platform play, which I'm assuming is at the expense of innovations within the simulation.

I haven’t seen anyone really getting excited for Project Renee ever since their mobile-looking Sim screenshot leaks. Mhhh… could it be that maybe, EA, it is as if nobody wants that kind of game? Just a hunch…

@matrix54, hello! Moving cushions from one side of the couch to the other! That’s what EA trying to sell it because that’s what players continue to play TS4 for and nobody gives a rats about live mode no more.

After a decade, live mode has nothing more to give. They’ve resorted to padding out content. Build Mode is great but they still cut corners.

I always felt like Freeplay got better content, and the recent lighting overhaul proves that. It made an okay looking game look 10x better.

Items in Freeplay are far more contemporary than 4, and varied. In 4, asking for innovation feels like pulling teeth. That base game vending machine says all that needs to be said about quality and consistency. A slice of cake and edamame.

I'd bet money when Rene first went into production over five years ago it was most definitely aimed at being Sims 5, for release in 2025, for 25th anniversary. An absolute golden marketing opportunity not to be missed. But somewhere along the way they faffed it. It just had nothing new to offer. Then of course, through the industry grapevine, they got wind other life/people simulator games, from triple A devs and producers, were in the pipeline. They've long since known about Paralives, and probably never saw it as much of a threat. But then Inzoi came almost from nowhere, and that was cause for concern. So the original intention of Rene being Sims 5 was abandoned, as it just wasn't up to snuff for being the next iteration, never mind the competition. Rene will not stand up against Inzoi, not as Sims 5, not a snowball's chance in hell. So now it's some side project that now has no real explicable reason for existing in the first place. They made the pathetic excuse to keep TS4 going longer, because we've all invested so much time and money in it, it just has to keep going. Phooey. Utter shit-stinking phooey.

If TS4 falls flat against Inzoi, or even Paralives, So what. They got a good ten years out of it. If Sims 5 falls flat against it, bye-bye EA Sims forever, off to the graveyard to be buried beside Sim City franchise. So they'll drag out Sims 4 and watch and wait to see what Inzoi brings to the table. Even the new innovations in Paralives, as there will be some. Taking notes all the way, at least 18 more months of that before were hear any official news about a Sims 5.

That’s completely true. Mobile was not a good direction for the series as that just causes them to compete with themselves. Freeplay is clearly doing well enough, so let them have that space to thrive.

Somehow, Renee is the best they could offer? There was no one there than could think of a more innovative concept than Sims 1 base game but worse with multiplayer?



If I had it my way (lol), a proper Sims 5 would build up from what 2 did but use stronger computers to further enhance and refine the open world structure and simulation. I’d focus on the simulation and invest in the packs that focus on social dynamics & community engagement and the results of that, rather than just plopping Sims in an open world.

Instead of “Sims who live in a world together”, we shift to “How do sims influence and shape the world around them together?”

Instead of “How Sims interacting with each other”, it moves towards “How do your neighbors respond to each other?”

Instead of “My Sims is going to work”, it transitions to “What is my Sims impact on their family and world?”

While aspiration directly benefit the Sim personality, we don’t see how their dreams shape their world around them and how other Sims can support these endeavors. Reaching level 10 in a career or skills comes with prestige. What does that look like for a Sim, or the world?

Imagine the expansion packs we get. Dating packs are inherently popular. Naturally, dating would be Sims to Sim, but how would a Sims respond to the player on a date dependent upon their reputation within the community? How does reputation popularity influence your dating prospects? Does your social network improve the quality of your relationship prospects?

This extends to other aspects: How do Sims interact outside of their home town while traveling? Is this Sims known for anything? Has their work gone global? What is the Sims’ impact on society?

Then… is this Sim part of a group of Sims? Is this group known for anything? What has the group done to improve society? What opportunities are available to the group?

Humans are social and somewhat tribal. It feels natural to transition to a place where reputation and social contributions also a core facet of the game’s social system. Shift away from the “Opportunity” system of traditional open worlds and let the sandbox dictate how Sims respond (but not as chaotic as Late Night’s Fame - oh GOD).

Andrew Wilson is obsessed with mobile games. Not for the games themselves of course, but rather all the revenue they continue to rake in.

*Numbers vary depending on the source used. These are the numbers for the "Top10" games in 2024. I stopped the screenshot when the numbers got out of the billions.



https://mobilegamer.biz/the-top-gro...-games-of-2024/

Those that know about Tencent, know about Tencent. They are are Chinese company that has their tentacles all in the US gaming industry. PUBG is of course a game by Krafton. For as many times people have crawled up my butt about being suspicious about microtransactions coming in Inzoi at some point, there is a good reason for it. I digress.

A couple of years ago Lindsey Pearson stated that Andrew Wilson has no say / push on what Maxis does; they're free to go about business as if they still operate as Maxis. Did anybody really believe that then or now?

Mobile is a very big industry but the Sims has never had a large multiplayer following. The core of the game is single player. As a player, the time investment for a game like the Sims is to steep for it to be multiplayer.

Make a Sims (or several)... Build a house.... You've spent may 20-30 minutes doing just these. Now, you play with another person... and do what? Take care of needs, go to work, talk, woohoo... okay, and then what? That's why it doesn't work unless they change the core idea of the series, which is why they push it to being like other multiplayer games.

Andrew Wilson and Maxis as we know it today doesn't care about those things. Just look at the state TS4 is in. There is nothing there to suggest that there is any kind of caring involved. They are telling people not to use all of the DLC they have purchased. They are telling people to not have as many sims in game because those sims use up resources. All the pixel stuff and pixel people have been using resources in TS4 for 10 years. I know nothing about video game development, but even I know that much.

Why would they care about this game or treat it any different? They're not going to. There is already how many sims mobile games and here they are wasting time, money and resources on yet another. It isn't about how people feel about it. They stopped giving a rats ass about feelings a long time ago.

All Andrew Wilson cares about is his million-plus dollar check at the end of the year. All Maxis cares about is living in the wallets of people preferably as young as possible as people in that age group don't know any better and won't give Maxis crap when things go sideways. Maxis wants in with the Roblox crowd. Parents of those children seem not to have a problem handing over their credit card.

Sims Mobile has been broken for years; people continue to throw money at it. For all the money spent on that POS game, those that complain that a laptop or desktop is too expensive, they could have bought themselves a decent laptop or desktop. Sims Mobile has been around since 2018. That is a lot of money at $80.00 ( and more) per campaign. This doesn't include all the extra junk people buy to speed up the clock, for color swatches, ect...

Nobody has ever said any of this makes sense. Any kind of logic was dumped at the front door of EA's Redwood campus a long time ago. I'm legit confused when I see somebody claim that Maxis cares. The words don't match all the hot mess.

What terrifies me about those mobile games numbers is that people will waste money on freaking Monopoly!!

Why would you play Monopoly on a virtual device when you can't chuck the board in the air when you lose?

Also, IMHO InZOI will (in time) have microtransactions 100% and Maxis are already charging $5 for "kits" that used to be free fan-made CC. No sales discount on those, I'm guessing that price point is where Mum will say do the dishes and it's yours

Sims Live (5) is just a matter of time....

I spend a lot of time in the financial space of YouTube. While people go broke for all kinds of reasons, more often then not, there is a issue with addiction to mobile games somewhere in the proverbial pile of mess.

For all the things that are said about mobile games ( they are designed to be like slot machines, they trigger the reward system part of the brain ( dopamine) ect...)they are true. People will buy gems or whatever it is without even being aware of what they are doing. It is not like using cash to buy something which sends messages into the feedback loop. People have to get their wallet and watch the money leave their hand. Mobile gaming skips that feedback loop entirely. There is no 'friction' telling the person to stop. All people have to do is sign up and save their credit card info. After that, they can click themselves into whatever the end is of the persons available credit.

It is no different than things like loot boxes, except there is a additional giant red flag. People can't cram a PC into their back pocket, but their phone can be a portable lottery machine. Those big, square, clunky buttons in the screenshots of Project Nay-Nay are not a design 'flaw'.

EA has a entire hired and paid for team of people to figure out how to suck people into this nasty cycle. One of those people is a licensed, practicing psychiatrist that once upon a time had a game addiction himself. Said person has a YT channel called HealthyGamerGG.

EA and Maxis are just being "kind and generous" to the masses that can't put their phones down. [/s] It's disgusting.