Sims 3 better than Sims 2?

[Vagrant0]

The only improvement that I can see is that the world is integrated and it is more streamlined. Several of the sims 2 expansion features are placed in sims 3 but like I said it sounds illogical to me to make a game about life.

Are you telling me you never played with dolls/legos/action-figures as a kid?

 

The only place where it becomes illogical is where people put their real lives on hold, ignoring their own bathing, eating, sleeping, socializing in favor of doing those things in a game... But this can also be applied to some MMOs and Online games, and is a separate debate entirely.

[verly]

there are several websites that do contests involving using the Sims games. From modeling shots...to long drawn out stories where they take pictures to help tell the story. Some people make movies with the Sims while others use the picture taking idea to tell multi-chapter stories.

 

As for the game itself it can be fun as well. (at least for me it is)

 

in answer to the question. I only have the Sims 2 and a bunch of expansions. the Sims community is still working on good mods for the Sims 3 the last time I heard. It's not as mod friendly as the original Sims or Sims 2. Mod the Sims just broke the animation code for the Sims 2 a couple years ago...so just the idea of how long it will be to do that with the Sims3 if it's even possible. I'm sticking to the Sims 2.

 

At the moment I'm busy playing Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Dragon Age to give my Sims a life at the moment.

[Vagrant0]

there are several websites that do contests involving using the Sims games. From modeling shots...to long drawn out stories where they take pictures to help tell the story. Some people make movies with the Sims while others use the picture taking idea to tell multi-chapter stories.

What I was referring to was not stories done with screenshots, and the like, but rather the scripted elements within the game that exist with the default families. The most obvious one that comes to mind is the two sisters who lived in the same neighborhood as the Goths in The Sims 2. When starting them, there are a number of specific events which occur during the first few days which are very likely to happen unless you avert them though foreknowledge; one of the other default guys shows up to have a fight, they get robbed, food catches fire, and a few other things which causes one of the sisters to go crazy. One of the other families, a single mother of two boys has a few other similar scripted events as the elder son starts trashing the house (kicking over the garbage can) and eventually running away. Most of the other default families have similar starting stories which are built into them within the game but don't immediately come to mind, are more of a built in dynamic (the alien kid's birthday) or are more easy to subvert unknowingly. The Sims 3 had a similar thing present from what I remember, where all the default families either had pending events or conditions which forced them down a specific path from the start and weren't something which could either be setup/imported with the family, nor setup at family creation.

 

Meaning that these families were either setup from outside the game to have all those conditions present, or there were scripted behaviors related to these families which were executed at specific times. In both cases however, this little addition is not available to the player, making all new families play virtually the same every time (build a house, get a job, buy some crap, have some kids, die). Sure, you can go a bit more into it by imagining that certain sims have certain relationships with other sims, but there isn't anything which actualizes those relationships beyond a "friendliness" score.

[verly]

oh, yeah, I know what familys you are talking about. I myself delete all made characters before I play the neighborhoods. ( I don't know if that is even possible with the Sims 3) I use face default overrides because the maxis faces are so ugly. so I created everyone... there are tutorials on how to make your own townies as well.

 

 

The question I was answering was the original question if the Sims 3 was better then keeping the Sims2 + expansions.

 

I was also referring to why people would play the Sims games. :) I was just explaining that some people use them for more then they were originally created for.

[testeure]

Not to mention that sims 3 is really well optimized compared to sims 2.

 

i have a 920 core i7 , a lot of RAM and 4850 radeon and I still lag and get like 5-10 FPS in mode ultra fast in sims 2, but in sims 3 I don't lag at all.

[Vagrant0]

Not to mention that sims 3 is really well optimized compared to sims 2.

 

i have a 920 core i7 , a lot of RAM and 4850 radeon and I still lag and get like 5-10 FPS in mode ultra fast in sims 2, but in sims 3 I don't lag at all.

Erm, that doesn't mean a whole heck of alot considering. Any performance loss you're getting with the Sims 2 is likely related to having hardware which is far too many steps above what the game was built for. The Sims 2 wasn't designed for a multi-core system because at the time of release most people were running single core pentium III's or similar. Meaning that it can only fully use a single core at any time. I believe this was fixed with one of the more recent patches/expansions to allow for dual core processing... But yeah, it's not a matter of optimization but rather hardware being moved from a basis of 1 powerful core to 4-6 less powerful cores. The total processing is better, but individually, 1 core from a multi-core system is running at about 50-75% the speed of 1 core from a single-core system. There's a similar thing going on with your videocard, but this could also be due to having drivers which don't work well with the game. Furthermore, using the "Turbo" mode for an older game, any older game, has also been shown to actually decrease performance because the game wasn't designed for it.

 

The Sims 3 isn't really that optimized. If you try running it on a system which is just barely above the minimum requirements, you soon notice how badly things are handled. On a less modern system, glitches are frequent, and actions can be delayed by several minutes (real time). Compared the Sims 2, the game could run perfectly fine on minimum spec as long as you didn't try to crank up all the settings.

 

I have no doubt that you're getting the performance you're reporting, but I assure you, it is not related to any sort of "optimized coding". About the only thing which is "optimized" with the Sims 3 is the way textures are handled (baked on), and most would agree that in this regard it's something which wasn't broken and was only made worse by being "optimized".

[dudutz18]

The differences were explained ...

 

For me, both Sims are good since I'm still able to create my own cemetery

This is what I mean:

- New family

- Build labyrinth

- Kill them all (set fire and let them find their way out of the labyrinth)

- Collect their gravestones

 

*evil laughter*

 

Howeva, Sims 2 is better since it has less glitch n bugs (based on my exp) compared with Sims 3

One more thing, Sims 2 is cheaper in store xD

[brokenergy]

Are you telling me you never played with dolls/legos/action-figures as a kid?

 

The only place where it becomes illogical is where people put their real lives on hold, ignoring their own bathing, eating, sleeping, socializing in favor of doing those things in a game... But this can also be applied to some MMOs and Online games, and is a separate debate entirely.

 

I loved playing with lego as a kid but that is not the point. What I'm trying to say that this is something you buy in a moment of excitement, play for 10 hr and finally realised that there is no point in playing this game (this also implies with MMO and online games also). So yes I loath dolls and action figures and that is why I don't like sims that much (a sibling of mine has sims on the computer) but there are people out there who love it to death so I'm not crying foul or ridiculing others for sims or any other far open ended game. I'm just not a fan of far-too open ended games such as sims and spore and MMOs. It ruins the experience and feel of the game in my opinion.

[SaturnC]

oh, yeah, I know what familys you are talking about. I myself delete all made characters before I play the neighborhoods. ( I don't know if that is even possible with the Sims 3) I use face default overrides because the maxis faces are so ugly. so I created everyone... there are tutorials on how to make your own townies as well.

 

You certainly can delete them. Using mods you can even change the EAxis made sims face's and gender if you want to keep them.

 

The question I was answering was the original question if the Sims 3 was better then keeping the Sims2 + expansions.

 

The games are simply different. Sims3 is as different as the Sims2 was from the Sims1--they are all very, very different and it's not fair to compare them. Each Sim's game that comes out does so with new technologies. I started playing the Sims1 back then they came out on up to the Sims3 and everytime I needed to upgrade my computer was because of the higher requirements of each new Sim game realease. Although I do need to say I haven't played the Sims3 as much as I have the other series simply because there are so many other games now I am more interested in. I slowed down playing the Sims2 when Oblivion and Fallout came out, Fallout took over my time EXCEPT for one reason I stayed with the Sims2 during those couple years. I work from home and can have a game running in the background. Fallout and Oblivion were not condusive to playing in window mode and switching back and forth to from the game to my work program like Sims2 was, so I always played the Sims2 while I worked. Same goes for the Sims3 EXCEPT when I started playing Dragon Age and now Mass Effect, I can play those games in window mode while I work so they have taken precedence over the Sims. I still never ever get tired of building houses.

 

I was also referring to why people would play the Sims games. :) I was just explaining that some people use them for more then they were originally created for.

 

I play the Sims for a few reasons. ALL my neighborhoods are male only, I delete all female characters--except for a few that I keep to torture, either physically or mentally. I play the Sims for the building and creativity of the game. With the Sims3, you have the Create a World which I'm not very good at but I love the idea and there are some really fantastic worlds made by players out there, just don't get stuff off the EAxis sites, there are far more Sims sites with really excellent quality mods than the Exchange. I play to vent my frustrations as with any games I stay with for awhile. I played Oblivion for the really HOT Xivilai's I used, Fallout for the really HOT guys I made and the violence, Sims for the all male neighborhoods I make and the creativity of the game both in clothing and lots, Dragon Age for the romance, and now Mass Effect cause Kaidan's cute. I play games, any of them to work out my frustrations from daily life, I use games to escape. And what better way to escape than to pack up my teenage lover and head for France, China or Egypt?

brokenergy, your reply was very respectful and I really understand your point. I had a friend say once that the Sims was the ultimate RPG. In a way, he was right. Many players find it boring, the Sims3 does implement some very fun quests to do in the vacation worlds and the new expansion Ambitions has just been released. The Sims2 really hit it dead on with their Bon Voyage, Seasons and Apartment Life expansions as far as I'm concerned. Sims movies are huge and really well made. I have many I host for a friend of mine on my site, the time and depth put into the making of these movies boggles my mind! It can take months to make a complex movie, this is dedication! I'd like to leave you with The Highwayman. This is one of the first really big Sims2 movie to be made. It's really good and shows the dedication of a sims movie maker. ;)

 

http://www.archive.org/details/KheriMichelleTheHighwayman

 

Smooth Operator is made by my friend, Kere, it's really excellent also!