I think this is great. Acknowledge the talent and give them an opportunity.
Maybe Sims 5 will hire the wickedwhims creator and add their skills to the next game…haha
I’m kind of surprised that The Sims doesn’t have more competition.
It’s been many years that the series has been kind of the only entry in the genre.
Yeah, a lot of the other classic Sim games don’t have analogs either (though Sim City does), but The Sims is pretty commercially successful.
There’s The Sims at work by Paradox called Life by You.
Also Paralives.
Much like Bethesda games, they take quite a lot of work to make for what is essentially a position that has been unchallenged for years. Very high risk, but only like somewhat high reward.
Like just breakdown what the Sims into its fundamental components. The characters, the fashion, the homes, the skills, the jobs, social interactions, possessions. It’s a lot of work.
Like just breakdown what the Sims into its fundamental components. The characters, the fashion, the homes, the skills, the jobs, social interactions, possessions. It’s a lot of work.
That’s the thing that gets me is the core life sim gameplay loop is actually pretty simple, mostly because it was originally an architecture simulator with people you could play house with and then Maxis realized playing with the people was a ton of fun so they built onto that gameplay.
Basically you just need several values which count down over game ticks for the needs, modifiers on how much it each goes up and down and then add a bunch to the value when the sim does something to satisfy the needs
Social interactions are purely plus/minus a few points with a bit of RNG and modifiers for the traits, mood, hygiene level, etc.
Careers are basically just bad quests from an RPG. Your sims happiness (is the average need level greater than or less than X) chooses whether their career performance value is increasing or decreasing per game tick while at work, skills and work style (working normally, working hard, etc.) will modify the value that’s added or subtracted per tick, add in a skill check when that value reaches promotion and you have rabbit hole careers
Tons of games have structure building mechanics which I won’t pretend to understand from a game engine level but I’d say that’s a pretty well solved issue
Really the hard part is the graphics but if games like Minecraft, Terraria and Stardew Valley can be such hits with 8-bit inspired graphics, I think a strong core gameplay loop can outshine average Steam shovelware-grade graphics
So basically, if you want to create a Minecraft mod to play the sims, there’s the recipe. Honestly if I was any good at programming I’d take a crack at it but I don’t have the patience nor skill to do that at this stage
So basically, if you want to create a Minecraft mod to play the sims, there’s the recipe
The recipe is easy. It’s the fact that you’re cooking it for a thousand people is the difficult part and you’ve to got source all the ingredients for it. And to keep the metaphor going, there’s actually like 30 variations on the recipe you need to serve up.
It’s a conceptually simple game, but making it is difficult. You’re not a genius who just cracked the secret code behind the Sims.
Why so salty? I never claimed to be a genius who cracked the code, in fact at a few points I specifically said I lack the knowledge and skills to even begin to implement what i described.
What I was trying to say is that the core gameplay loop is pretty simple, so it’s surprising with the sheer number of game development studios and hobbist programmers that nobody has cloned it since the hardest part is the graphics.
Chill out man!
I meant to imply “genius” sarcastically. Everybody with brain understands how the Sims works conceptually, you just have to think about it. You’re going on about how nobody has made a Sims clone when all someone needs to do is “this and that.”
Not knowing the formula for the Sims isn’t the problem. The problem is that the Sims is a significantly larger undertaking than anyone actually expects. Just look at the food in game. You need to make all these different kinds of foods and then the food as it’s being partially eaten. And then because cooking is a staple skill, the player character should learn how to cook. So you now need the implement the various stages of cooking that particular food. And to top it all off, there will always be more food you can add.
A lot of simulators exists that cover bits and pieces. Mostly just people simulators without house building, often entirely without a house view with decorations you have free control over. Most try to fit in more complicated stories and relations, which might force them to restrict many other choices, like character progression far beyond simple skill points and career level.
One man can only dream!
That’s awesome! Elianora’s mods have been basically a mandatory download for me for years because the quality is always incredible. She absolutely deserves this.
I wonder who they hired to do the facial modelling. The environments look really good but the faces look like games from 15 years ago. I really expected more from the game that Microsoft has been making so much fanfare over.
TBH the faces look fine for me. At least on major NPCs that have a role. All of the NPCs out in the cities are the ones that look wonky. I give it a pass though considering you’d have to be fucking staring at them immensely to actually notice.
Either way, modders will take care of it. That’s the beauty of these games. Anything remotely dumb that Bethesda overlooks, (which is every game) will be fixed.
Still having a ton of fun.
In Fallout 4 and Skyrim, modders did ultimately put out high-poly-count heads, high-detail eyes, etc. I imagine that if tradition holds, there will be modders doing the same in Skyrim.
And also probably Starfield 😉
Oops, thanks, yes.
You are not wrong though, they will do the same for the next release of Skyrim.
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But eventually they lose all credibility and everyone abandons the Xbox platform. It’s really getting to the point where Steam is the only one worth using. And I’ve bought every Xbox at launch, except for the Xbox One. Playstation tends to cater to people who like turn based games, aka interactive slideshows. Xbox has just been stagnating for the past few years, and this was supposed to be the game to finally prove to us once and for all that they can put out a good modern game. Overall the game itself is pretty good and I’m not seeing much bugginess at all. But the way the devs speak about this game, I really expected something they could actually be proud of. They can always improve things with patches, of course. But at this point Starfield is a first party game, so I really expect it to showcase what the Xbox hardware can do. It’s as if Microsoft has nothing to do with the QA process of all of the studios they’ve acquired.
Playstation tends to cater to people who like turn based games, aka interactive slideshows.
Huh.
I’m a few generations out of date on consoles, but I was kind of disappointed with console turn-based games.
I normally think of the PC as the place to go, because the mouse and high resolution are often good partners for that.
Turn-based strategy games, stuff like Paradox titles especially seemed to be a PC thing.
Do you mean relative to the other console platforms, or relative to all other platforms in general? If so, what titles?
Maybe turn-based RPGs or something, stuff in the vein of Final Fantasy? Is that what you mean?
Yes all of the Square Enix games are massively popular PlayStation titles and turn based. And most of them are PlayStation exclusives. There’s a lot more than just Square Enix. The PlayStation is rife with them. I understand some people like them, but a menu based combat system is not my idea of a fun time.
Playstation tends to cater to people who like turn based games, aka interactive slideshows.
What games do you have in mind that are turn based?
Have you ever played a PlayStation?
Meh, being able to build your own ship like Skyrim and kerbal space progran had a baby sounds like it makes up for that but I haven’t played the game so idk. Most space games are either a massive ripoff (think Star Citizen) or a major grindfest (Elite Dangerous) so it’s good to see someone try to make a space game that isn’t like that.
No Man’s Sky and Stationeers are almost similar games that are good but in those games the space ship game mechanics and functionality just aren’t there.
I’ve been playing it and it’s a great game. I just wish they could have gotten the faces good enough for the game to showcase what the Xbox and PC are capable of. The environments even look great. They really dropped the ball considering it’s Microsoft’s biggest first party launch in something like 5 years.
The shipbuilding is limited in order to try and not break the game.
You can only have one cockpit, warp drive, fusion generator, and shield generator. You can’t have dual core and double shielded guns with an cockpit strapped to them that obliterates anything in sight.
It is more like Fallout meets Cyberpunk 2077 in space with a complex loading screen mini game that doubles as a remote inventory, which you can spend hours customizing somewhat.
NMS’s use of ships is far better, like being able to fly around from place to place instead of loading screen around. NMS’s ship flying with SF’s shipbuilding would have been ideal.
Hopefully modders will be able to fix the shipbuilding.
Have no real interest in playing it, but do they still do the Skyrim thing where they have like 5 wildly different voice actors, so it feels like the guards are following you from town to town?
Anybody remember the Deadly Reflex Oblivion mod that Bethesda essentially based Skyrim’s combat on?
Oh yeah I do. Wow that takes me back. Stamina, kicks, acrobatics, finishing animations and beheadings. That was a great mod.
The lung collapse from a piercing arrow blew my mind. The gasping and desperately grabbing at the arrow while they collapsed was so advanced.
The Skyrim animations were smoother and more polished. The Deadly Reflex mod was more gritty and badass.
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Pssh, I fucking wish they based combat on that mod. Skyrim’s combat is still a little too basic comparatively.
I agree with your sentiment, maybe the word I should have used was ‘inspired.’ The mod was definitely better than Skyrim’s system imo.
Why do you think Bethesda is so supportive of the mod scene?
It’s a job application.
A few folks who worked on Skyrim worked on Oblivion mods.
Folks who worked on Fallout made Skyrim mods.
Id software (Doom) also hired modders.
Everyone hires modders. Bioware has been hiring them since 2005. Mods are basically a portfolio.
At a recent talk at Exilecon, one of the creators of Diablo 1 and 2 said that the best thing you can do to get into the game industry is to mod, the first thing they look at is modding experience.
Not just a job application, it’s basically also free training and familiarity as well.
Why do you think Bethesda is so supportive of the mod scene?
Because it creates content for their game without them having to spend money.
Think of more of a platform being sold. I can’t think of any other studio that openly embraces the modding community like Bethesda does.
Is that why Bethesda goes after modders so much with legal action?
The only mods that Bethesda has ever gone after are those that re-use audio from other games. It’s a licensing thing. They’ve been basically a top 5 company in terms of supporting mods in general. Hate their formula if you like, but they don’t threaten original modders with legal action.
In 2050, when Bethesda releases TES 7, it will be just a launcher to Creation Engine editor with half-assed models and a single empty map where modders collaborate to make the game themselves.
In 2127 with the early-access TES 8 it will be just a README file where they say that game should be ready for Christmas of 21XX, if modders won’t fuck around and finish making the damn engine.
hiring modders, which is what folks have been telling bethesda to do since skyrim, is bad and lazy actually
You joke, but I think a collaborative game project like that would be interesting. Maybe not good, but I’d love to see what would happen with such a thing.
Ooooh… What if the SCP community collectively build the best damn SCP game possible? 🤤
Skyblivion is showing a lot of promise.
Twitch plays game dev
I think Starfield has the best lighting I have ever seen without ray tracing. The reflections in puddles of water on Neon are so good.
Better than Cyberpunk without RT? Note, I haven’t played both games, just a question
I haven’t played Cyberpunk yet, so I can’t say.
I found it the worst.
It felt like everyone was sitting under their own personal spotlight. And it’s so harsh on the eyes.
Really? I’ll have to look at the puddles when I get there; I was disappointed to see that mirrors don’t work.
I was on an icy moon today orbiting an orange gas giant that had full sun. The colour of the planet was reflected in the dark blue ice - it was stunning!
The lighting I. Star citizen is pretty epic
Cool to see Bethesda being inspired by modders’ work and even hiring them
It’s a welcome change from when they tried to charge money for people to use Skyrim mods
Ohhh I knew there was something different about the clutter placement in Starfield! There’s so much of it I catch myself triple checking areas to make sure that I didn’t miss anything worth picking up.
Like your 345th plant or cup? Just me?
I gotta make sure I collect all the foam cups.
I was surprised to see all of the styrofoam still being used in the future.
It’s actually all the old styrofoam that never decomposed.
I actually just noticed that it isn’t styrofoam. It’s “synthofoam” which, for all we know, is an advanced, biodegradable foam.
I had to come back and find your comment to tell you.
I feel moderately better now then lol. My dumb brain just sees S***foam
There are those of us who finished highschool, graduated college, and started careers in the games industry since Skyrim was released. I’m sure there are plenty of developers who cut their teeth on Skyrim mods now working for Bethesda.
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Game looks like the most boring pile of trash ever made
It’s a standard Bethesda game, some people love their style.
It’s the white-trash comfort food of games.
Like Frito Pies and Hot Dish, some people love their jankiness. I was actually comforted by my adoring fan getting stuck in the chairs and table in my ship.
Classic Bethesda bugs make me feel right at home. Also, having the spell system repurposed was classic BGS.
Also, having the spell system repurposed was classic BGS.
Whoa what? Is there space magic?
Not really Space Wizarding, but using the magic system to apply buffs. Similar to how Fallout handled Armor as hidden spells and enchantments.
sorry for the delay, but Starfield is quite easy to get lost in the exploration
To be fair, why make an entirely new system that does the exact same thing? For instance, I don’t see anyone complaining that the Action Points in Fallout 4 essentially function as Stamina in Skyrim.
Exactly my point. It’s a good system that they’ve been using for decades. It’s comforting to see that everything has stayed the same on the inside.
Yes. It’s fucking awesome.
