(I thought I had left a comment here??)

Better than not getting a larger budget, otherwise we be having another Love Struck situation.

I feel like maybe its a new concept and didn’t want it to look like a flop, while Lovestruck was done countless of times in the sims series.

Lovestruck is barren and devoid of any real content. What is there could have been significantly improved with the simple inclusion of having things to do. Literally just that. It didn’t seem like there was a solid theme or consistency outside of “love” - dating isn’t an experience, just an activity.

Despite using the existing 3 (technically 4) main social lots in the base game, the pack doesn’t enhance them. Just one tandem date activity in each would have been 10x better, but I like inclusion of the board game. I would have having a world just to have more dating activities.

1. The woo-hoo blanket was perfect for park settings, but a picnic basket to pair with it would be better than magically spawning food. A larger group picnic blanket would also be great.

2. Any bar game would be great for bars. Poker, Shuffleboard, Billiards, Arcade cabinets, Bingo… anything.

3. Couple specific styles of dance would be a great addition to nightclubs as well as the ability to do certain dancing based on the music playing. There’s not really much else they can add to nightclubs that doesn’t already exist, outside of dancing on bars/tables.

4. Music instruments to learn or for NPCs to play would be a great addition to lounges, which you could also use to woo a love interest. If it must be in Mexico, a mariachi band NPC group would be great with maracas, or someone playing violin to couples on dates at dinner.

5. Obviously, dumbbell racks, but having a bench press machine to spot someone would have been perfect, or helping a partner do sit ups. A spray tanning booth at a gym would be great for woo-hoo.

Or that canoe from TS3 store.

These personality changes from Grow Together is driving me nuts. Oh a romantic interaction failed? I guess I'm Unromatic now! Oh it's storming outside? I guess I'm Paranoid now! One tiny thing shouldn't make a Sim throw a part of their personality out the window. I also hate the Fear emotion. It throws all my control out the window. Not only that, they run outside and into another building... you were already under a roof!

Ever since TS3, they were very unsubtle about gameplay additions. In TS3, they eventually tuned many of them, but 4 does not get this treatment. Everything is in your face at all times, all at once.

But TS4 sims are so much smarter... according to Rachel Franklin.

The Sims 4: E3 2014 Gameplay Presentation

https://youtu.be/kAh9NXJg5ZU?feature=shared&t=243

Maxis is going to up their game with their sales pitches if they want any kind of success with Project Nay-Nay....

Gameplay trailer dropped. 100% better than whatever Lovestruck was.

Is that darker/foggier area (like at 3:08 in the gameplay trailer) a part of the world or is it a separate underworld? I assume the former, but I would love for it to be the latter. Having an underworld would be really cool.

Edit: So it does seem to be a part of the world. But it's so deceptive because a lot of the world they have shown is show green in comparison. Honestly, I think it would have been better to give us an Underworld subworld (or whatever) rather than a regular new world. But what do I know?

Thumbing through the catalog, this will be the first time we get a matching swing and monkey bar set.
Wow... how do we not have any new playground equipment?

Also, as a builder, I hate the fridge so much. I hate when they add unnecessary details or motifs to otherwise things. Like, why is there a freezer bunny skeleton in my fridge? It turns a great item that would be tucked neatly into a cabinet (which Simmers love) into something I'm inclined to use less frequently.

But does it give any difference when theres no open world? Or we can suspect we can just pan the camera over there?

As always, I'll be waiting to hear actual impressions when the pack is released...

But so far it does look to be the most inspired pack they've done for a long time.


It looks like the Grim Reaper lot is in its own underworld area. It doesn't look very big though.

I decided to audit the trailers for gameplay items. Far more than we’ve gotten in a while - even repurposed items.

*stares at Lovestruck*

It would be nice if we could pick a reaping outfit and sythes but life will go on. Having the crow not be one of a few reskinned birds or not having more than one stand is such a missed opportunity, so hopefully the bird cage is functional. Like, imagine the bird variety would could have but don’t.

Everyday Items:
Tarot Cards Activity
Crow Stand
Bucket List Journal
Casket [Covered, Uncovered]
Deceased Sim Photo + Decorative Memorial Tables
Grave [Stone, Wood & Dirt]
Mausoleum
Will
Music Box
Funereal Incense Burner
Well Of Longing And Regret

Returning & Updated Items:
Coffin [Stone, Wood]
Podium
Rocking Chair
Funereal Canon
Fire Pit
Swing Set [Wood, Iron]

Career Items:
Reaping Fountain
Reaping Portal
Reaping Dummy

Potential Gameplay Objects:
Tarot Reading Booth (Shown, but never used)
Bird Cage (Shown, but never with a bird)
No Ghosts Sign (Uncertain if this is functional)

From the coding they released for modders to have an early look at, it seems there will be a lot of old occult cheats now made into game features in Cas. Whenever a new occult has hit the game, players could use cheats to add an occult life state to normal sims, or remove it. Also MC has long made use of those cheats in its cheat features.

Now it looks like players will be able to add and remove occult status in Cas as a feature. So not a new feature at all, if its the stuff Gurus have been hyping on these last few weeks. Just converted from a cheat to a feature.

Also the colour of ghosts can be altered, similar to the way lights can be altered. With ghosts, their colour is representative of the manner in which the sim died. So changing the colour would then, I'm guessing, change the way in which the sim died? Rewriting - by recolouring - their history? Again that was always easy to do by adding the ghost trait of another manner of death and removing the original ghost trait. Now that's just another occult feature, too.

Seems like they're making a few occult cheats of MC redundant. Was that what their big mod-breaking warning was all about? The cheats will still be needed more so in the long run, as they are just far more quicker to do than drag a family into Cas. Especially if there are more than eight sims in the household. So I hope Maxis don't make a terrible judgement call and remove those old occult cheats from the game!



It reminds me of the Sims 3 Sims Store "Ghastly Manor" lot. - https://store.thesims3.com/productD...=OFB-SIM3:70060

@coolspear1 I thought the color of a ghost in TS4 depended on their emotion, no?

Yeah, could be. Point being. either way the colour is representational of something specific. So changing it on the fly like house lighting is doing something against the grain. Though come the winter holidays, having a rainbow assortment of ghosts on the dance floor will at least match the lights on the Christmas tree., and players be damned if they can no longer make any sense of which ghost's sim died in which way and what each their current emotions are. It's a party, they should all be frikken happy! Just keep the ghosts away from the bar, though. Not unless you got a mod to prevent them making all those drinks puddles.

That creator kit is probably the best kit of the bunch because of how mundane it is. It actually embodies the vibe Maxis was going for, which is TV shows. The set feels very FRIENDS, with the bold colors. It’s also nice to have a poof, matching couch, sofa, AND armchair.

I also loved the vibe of the Slumber Party Kit, but it’s one of those themes I think it better as a Build Kit. I can also see the draped metal canopy bed, plush rugs, bean bag chairs, and tattered pillow features.

This is probably the first time I've seen us get patch notes before the patch...

Edit: Never mind lol but it's good to have confirmation of being able to pick an occult as well as cause of death. Much needed update a decade in.

Edit 2: These weekly challenges are something else...

This week, one was literally:
"Complete a want."
"Buy a potion of youth."

And the other was to cook two meals...



Edit: 3 Unless I'm missing it, I'm not seeing the graveyard in the base game. I don't understand patching in the wedding venue from my wedding stories, but not the graveyard as a place to keep headstones & urns with the new patched up features. Additionally, there's a whole new category in the base game for life events. There are new base game headstones in this category, patched over from Vampires, but there's no graveyard to put them in... it's not like the pack doesn't have new headstones. It does.

Additionally, the content in the new category isn't consistent. Content for parties, funerals, wedding, proms, etc. is befitting, but then there's random bars and missing items, like sales tables and party chairs and other things. And where are there so many food carts...? We can't build our own festivals.

Edit 4: You can actually be a ghost-occult. That's cool. I'm not sure how the powers will overlap with Life & Death, but we'll see.

Edit 5: They changed how Sims react to death, but not urns. So, an evil Sim was 100% emotionless her romantic partner passed, but it now autonomously in shambles at their urn. I don't know.

EA put out surveys and at the end, they asked what brands we’d like to see in the game as kits. How we haven’t had IKEA again is madness as it’s probably the most popular and well known stuff pack, even if it wasn’t branded. Not only are the lower end base game items in 4 inspired by IKEA, IKEA is still wildly popular today. It would sell as well now as it did then.

Although, I’d prefer an IKEA stuff pack instead of a kit. I can see the vision…

- Viewing an online store front to purchase heavily discounted (but new) Chairs, Couches, Beds, and Surfaces, Bookcases, etc. from select packs that resemble IKEA items, which is great for dorms, apartments, or sims moving homes.
- The items come shipped in large boxes.
- Players drag them out of the Sims’s inventory and where they want them based on the size.
- Sims proceed to construct the item (in about an hour or two) and it appears when completed.
- Sims can hire an NPC to build their items for them, and much faster.
- Sims with low body skill can fail and be left with a poorly constructed version of an item.
- Limited-To-No CAS to focus on build buy.
- A selection of IKEA dishes, including Swedish Meatballs to sell on retail lots.
- An IKEA style retail fridge to purchase new foods from that Sims autonomously eat from on retail lots.

Baby Ariels and Moschinos or whatever is on their mind when it comes to popular name endorsements. It’s like expecting EA to release McDonalds or idk… Zara clothing shop, Starbucks lot or Taylor Swift / Dua Lipa. It’s not fans want.

They for some reason choose expensive unknown brands than what players fan and probably would reason as it deem to “expensive” to collaborate on their cheap budget behalf.

I'd also be on board with getting fast food branded content and a lot type if we get items to make a variety of eateries, even if the lot can't be owned outright. Despite having both a restaurant and cafe system, the game lacks distinct furniture for these lot types. It's odd. The Bowling Pack would have been a great opportunity to creating a commercial dining area at a bowling alley, but we got mid centurry decor that can't really be used anywhere because most of the swatches are of random, obscure colors.

Considering it took them over an hour to cover things without repeats, I'd say the content on offer is decent.

Unlike lovestruck, which was basically a single date for an hour...

It is, the different causes of death just give ghost Sims special effects. I don't know if it'll still change with the mood, maybe this setting is just for the default when a ghost isn't experiencing strong emotions.

The more I see this pack, the more I wonder what was going on from Werewolves to now. Lovestruck is probably the most barren of expansion packs since launch. Months after that, this launches. Quite odd.

Not only does the pack appear to be relatively bug free, the majority of the content is new, non disruptive to day to day gameplay, while adding layers to the series overall that are tastefully appropriate. This was a great way to add a form of purgatory and reincarnation into the game that doesn’t offend anyone at all.

What’s missing? A new build feature. That’s the biggest standout to me as every other piece of the game got a lot of attention. While the build mode content is great, along with a new architectural style, a new build feature would have been perfect.

And likely out of budget. #justiceForSpiralStairs

According to Satch, Maxis skirted around the whole event part of this pack. For a pack that is supposed to be filled with game play, it is sus they would rush through that part. What other game play is there other than check lists? Picking a color of a ghost? This is not ground-breaking game play. Playing as a kind-of a grim reaper? I guess so. The world itself looks like what they did with Midnight Hollow in TS3; turned that saturation off in Photoshop.

For those that are excited / like this pack, you do you. I don't see what is worth $40.00. I'm highly skeptical of the hype train and all of those that try to cash in on fake promises and things that don't actually exist...

Satch video...

The Sims 4 Life & Death... The good, the bad, the ugly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTwaLreUz2w

Outside of Ghosts and being a reaper, a lot of the gameplay is stuff you opt into. Being about death, it’s stuff you experience later in their life.

The most consistent thing you would you do is fulfilling bucket list items, as a human being would be.

“Before I die, I want to…”

Sure, it’s a list, but it gives Sims the ability to be fulfilled and to extend their lifetimes goals into death with the opportunity to be reborn. I believe some of them are basic and would make for better milestones, but it is what it is. These wins over a lifetime also result in various but minor perks to improve their everyday lives. As I mentioned above, the ability to exist in a purgatory state and have a chance at reincarnation is actually a great idea, especially with the ability to take on traits and such from a past life.

There are lots of minor things, that are all late game.

I wish they introduced birds as a pet not just crows but it’s still fine.

I’m not sure of the extent of tatot card reading, but it’s both an activity and a collection. There’s quests to find them all, but the basic deck should be fine.

Wills and heirlooms are something needed in the game, especially with families with lots of assets which can be given to various Sims. There don’t appear to be any expensive new things to give an heirlooms, like those expensive egg things. It’s still fine.

Of course, funerals are here but they seem low key. I assume go avoid the issues with dates and weddings.

There’s also world specific stuff, but I’ve never cared for an event I can’t make myself. Festivals, haunted houses, city hall, etc.

Cemeteries are not gameplay but mausoleums can house the dead, and have a dungeon to explore. Sims can be a mortician if they’d like but that’s a rabbit hole career.

But ghosts and reaping are a big part of the pack. This is more than we got with For Rent and Lovestruck. I would love more activities and gameplay items but I can say we got nothing.

Also, Satch even says there a lot of stuff in the pack. That’s objective, but it’s not all thrown at you. It takes time.

I do agree we need a separate trait category for challenge traits, and existing traits are replaced by something else. Vegetarian is not a trait, but can be replaced by Good or whatever the hell.