From sims 3, I know that with a lot of effort you can create pretty sims, and it might just be my computer, but they look pretty in CAS and hideous in-game. In sims 2 they stay the same! (unless it gets corrupted and no one has eyebrows, I see you Strangetown...)

I really like Sims 2 AND Sims 3. A plus to Sims 3 is that it actually runs on my main computer, but that’s my experience, not yours. I really love Sims 2’s art style, and you can even make some realistic looking sims if you get enough CC sliders and are willing to put the effort into it, if you’re into it. If you’re not, hey, the default style is really charming too. The animations are really quirky and feel unique, and pretty much everything about sucked me in for ages on end. I play Sims 3 in short bursts.

One thing in Sims 3’s favor is the open world. I’ve also worked a lot on making my sims look good there, and they look great. There’s also the whole thing with Sims 3 not being really prone to data corruption, which is really nice! Unfortunately, the default Sims in it kinda look weird unless I’m willing to bring each one into CAS to fix them, which, by the way, I’m not! Meanwhile, I open up Sims 2, update the default guys to have a better outfit, plug in some default replacements, and suddenly, they look nice and updated. I think Maxis tried too hard to make Sims 3 seem realistic.

Wow! This was a really long ramble with no point. Basically, I like Sims 2 more, but Sims 3 is still neat.

@alljoj, don't worry about it. Where else are you going to ramble on about sims, the games, and the franchise if not in places like this? I think threads like this are made for that. Every once and a while simmers just have to let out their likes and dislikes about each installment in the series.

And @nolajamon, agreed about the looks! That's probably one of my biggest pet peeves about TS3--the drop in graphics from CAS/CAST to live mode. I guess it's just a limitation of the game and the open world, but it's still annoying to spend hours in CAS creating the perfect sim only to have their features blurred or have the colors of their clothes downgraded/washed out, for lack of a better term, when you actually play. That issue and the fact that in TS3 (and TS4), the inside of houses are just waaaay too dark are the biggest visual drawbacks for me. I'm not usually the type of gamer/player that really cares about graphics or notices visual details even, but those two things are so noticable that it really bugs me. I personally prefer a consistent look and would've accepted a dip in graphical quality if it meant the transition was more seamless.

Overall, though, Sketching really did sum it up well; TS3 has great worlds and the amount of stuff you can do in it is what makes it great, if not a little overwhelming. I don't mind the loss of fears, as I rarely fulfilled them anyway, and quite like the moodlets and traits. I don't think they're a substitute for aspirations, however, and would've prefered a system that combined aspirations, traits, and then the moodlets, because that would give sims more depth and personality. Unlike a few simmers, I never really wanted more aspirations--I think Maxis got them spot on and anything they added to it would've been a sub division of an existing aspiration (especially if you consider Fortune as the Power aspiration), which is where the traits come in. They would give nuances to the different aspirations, making for truly unique and complex sims without the need for personality points. On the other hand, I can see why a game designer might cut aspirations and go with a slightly simplier set up. If there's anything that bothers me about traits, it's that a few seem... half-hearted/not fully developed. (Daredevil, I'm looking at you. Why Eaxis didn't wait to fully implement that trait with World Adventures or Generations, I'll never understand).

But yeah, every now and then I go back to play TS3--I have quite a few expansions now, since I try to catch them on sale (which isn't always easy, thanks to EA. But don't get me started on paying more than $10 bucks for stuff packs that came out years ago. That's another topic in itself. ). Anyway, I haven't installed them all because I'm trying to fully explore the features of the ones I already have. Just this weekend I was playing a werewolf whose main income was collecting and cutting gems. It was really fun and I played parts of the game I've never explored before. But I think that's the main difference for me--TS3 is like a series of little mini games, be it collecting, following a career or profession, or adventuring, or gardening, or becoming a rock star/being in a band, etc., etc. The list literally goes on and on and on.

Whereas Sims 2 is more of a sandbox and reminds me of how I used to play dolls. It's not so much what you do, it's about the story you tell. And that's what pulls me back to TS2. It's crazy when you consider the amount of content in TS3, but for me, I can get more depth out of TS2 and, yes, the gameplay is more fluid. It still looks pretty good after all these years, there's little lag on a decent computer (though maybe it'll take a while to load), and the game clock is good, striking a pretty good balance in how much time passes and how long it takes to complete tasks/fufill needs. Technical things like that make for a tighter, better gameplay experience and you don't even notice how great they are in TS2 until you miss them in other games.

I had already posted this on Reddit but I used to really enjoy playing Sims 3 a lot back when new expansions were coming out but after playing Sims 2 since the past five to six years every time I play Sims 3 I couldn't help but to feel disappointed with all the features,interactions and details that were left out and with how bland the sims in 3 are so I had been playing Sims 2 a lot recently. I'll eventually play Sims 3 again to play around the open world and the Create a Style tool but even those don't hold my interest as long as they used to.

I really love how much the pets in Sims 3 can interact with each other. It's the feature that inspires the Warrior Cats themed gameplay and/or challenge, and the stunning greenery makes for pretty convincing settings. Meanwhile, the toddlers are more like infants, and so are as compelling characters as Sims 2 infants (that is to say, they're just props). The children too... the children have some amount of socialization, but the lack of things they're allowed to say or do makes me feel frustrated, when in Sims 2 they're my favorite age group. I do like the adults in Sims 3, I think they're the age given the lion's share of effort, and the conversation topics make for more autonomous, nuanced, detailed conversation than the vague "chat" "joke" and occasional "hang out" that make up the bulk of Sims 2 chatter.

Game speed... the Sims 3 feels both too slow and too fast, so I modded time so that there's actually enough time in the day to take care of their needs, which unfortunately (or fortunately?) also makes each day looong. Similarly I spend Sims 2 on speed 3 most of the time, and it still feels too slow, but that's the fastest it goes so too bad!

One of my main problems with Sims 3 is that the toddlers and children weren't given or allowed very much to do although they gotten a little better with Generations they're still very lacking compared to their Sims 2 counterparts. I liked the treehouse,afterschool programs and the costume trunk that came with Generations but they've improved on by giving them more social interactions and give them a wider range of things to do and bring back old things like Mary Mack,Punch me,Punch you Cops and Robbers and Red Hands but they had never did made a return so overall I thought it was an okay pack with a lot of lost potential. Sometimes I get so bored with them that tend to just age them they're that boring and forgettable but I never seem to get bored playing with the Sims 2 children but who knows maybe it's just me. At least Sims 4 as much as it had disappointed had made them better to play around with more interactions for them to do other than the measly selection that 3 has for them but it still doesn't hold a candle to the Sims 2 though.

I think TS3 has a lot of great features, many of which I wish we had for TS2!

But I spend my time on TS2 because I like to build cities. I like to have a close connection with my sims and TS2 makes it feel like each one is separate and distinct, and has its own life. Each family feels really connected to both their community and to other sims. It feels like I have more control over those relationships too.

When I first played TS3 I was having my one allowed playable sim talk to other sims she met, and none of them liked her! I was shocked - it was really difficult for her to meet and talk to other sims, and I didn't want to just make a bunch when there were already all these NPCs walking around. In the end I just quit it. I still have it installed somewhere, but I prefer the way that relationships develop in TS2.

Even on my new fancy-shmancy computer which has pretty much zero problems running the game, I'd probably blow it up trying to make a hood even half the size of Oakbrook in TS3.

Recently I've found out that some of TS3 animations (e.g. talking animations) are the exact animations from TS2! Come on, EAxis, you could share with us how to extract animations from TS2. I've been playing TS2 for many years now, so I'm much more comfortable with TS2, especially when it comes to the buy mode. I think effects in TS3 look so much better. On the other hand, editing neighbourhoods in TS2 feels more natural, I would say. In TS3 it's hidden under 'Edit Town' menu. But what I like about TS3 (and TS4) is the freedom of movement - Sims are not limited to one lot. Still, I enjoy TS2 gameplay better, because I'm control freak, while in TS3 whole town lives their lifes without my interference.

I have TS3 but it's so demanding on any system I don't play it. The last time I played it was on my old I5 and I blew out the graphics card with it. All settings at minimum. If only there was a way to make it more compatible with newer systems.

It is quite a demanding game. Hopefully when I get a new computer when I get a job and start earning money it'll stop lagging then I'll start enjoying it better but not as much as 2 though.

There's even a bone on either the sims 3 skeleton or objects called the Sims 2 convert bone. I can see why they didn't want to remake the animations from scratch if they didn't have to.

I think the Sims 3 landscapes are the most beautiful of the series. The way the colors of the sky gradually shift throughout the day is something I want badly in TS2.

This might be stupid one, but every time i try to get into TS3 and play it, the moment i see the sims watching TV (has TS2 characters in it), i start missing TS2 and start playing it again instead

I felt the same way when I see the Sims 3 sims on Sims 4. It made me think of how much better Sims 3 is but when I see the Sims 2 sims on 3 it would have the same effect on me. It made me wonder why they keep putting in stuff that would remind you of how much better the older Sims games are if their intent is to keep selling more content to you. All it really does is made me go back those like the picture that Bulbizarre had posted.

I bumped this topic instead of creating a new topic.

Even with all the expansion packs I seem to like The Sims 2 better currently mainly because I'm more used to the sims 2 than 3 and I don't like the money system the sims 3, it seems forever to be able to make any kind of money in the sims 3. I LOVE the create a style mode in the sims 3 and it's my favorite part of this game, I don't really care too much for the rabbit holes in the sims 3 either. I love how you can create a neighborhood in the game of the smis and don't need to use the Create A World tool unlike in the sims 3.

If one day someone makes an open world and autonomous neighbors mod for The Sims 2 I won't play any other game for the rest of my life.

I tried to get into The Sims 3, I really did, on multiple occasions. I just can't. My Sims-playing was at one of its peaks when it was announced, and later released and I looked forward to it a lot, and it's the first and only game I've ever pre-ordered, so I really wanted to like it more than I did. Of course, some of it is probably habit, having played The Sims 2 pretty much since it came out, and just having gotten into my longest-running family, the one I'm still playing to this day, in 2008.
But also, in some ways it's just off to me, the sims themselves in particular. There's something stiff about the whole thing, probably largely due to the slightly more realistic look it has, which doesn't really allow for as much expressiveness, and when it's there, it becomes uncanny valley. The people seem less alive. Even the simlish seems somehow stiffer and "off" to my ears, but I can't put my finger on why or how.
The traits were a novel idea but I don't really like them as a replacement for the personality points. As it is now they seem a bit uneven, with personality stuff that the old system otherwise covered mixed with random quirks, perks, fears and so on. Having a base personality system similar to the first two games with a selection of traits as an add-on would have worked so much better.
Create-a-style and the open world didn't do much for me. I prefer the smaller scale of unplayed sims interacting in the background when on community lots like in The Sims 2. The one thing I'm not too keen on is how it's the same time as when you left when going back home as it can throw everything off (in terms of vanilla game). There are the loading screens too, but then in The Sims 3 sims need time to get to wherever they're going, so there's still waiting time.
There are some activities, actions, social interactions in The Sims 3 that I would've liked to have in The Sims 2, but nothing major. The water, too. I was genuinely impressed with The Sims 3's water, I recently found my folder with pictures I'd taken in the game and most of them were of the sea. And with the different expansions and such there seems to be a lot to see and do and find.
But in many areas, I think The Sims 2's relative simplicity/sparseness/ambiguity in some areas works in its favour. As the creators themselves have said, it's a game that takes place as much in the player's head as on the screen, particularly with making connections between events and interpreting things. Filling in the gaps. And in The Sims 3 (and possibly The Sims 4, but I haven't played enough of that to have an opinion) I feel the creators tried a bit too hard filling in some of these gaps, leaving less space for the player's imagination and almost telling the story to the player in some respects.

There are a lot of differences between The Sims 2 and 3, in mechanics and sometimes down to very small things like how certain icons and such look. I feel like they tried to reinvent the wheel with some things, or making them different just for the sake of being different, but that might just be bias because I prefer the The Sims 2-way for most things. The general atmosphere feels really different as well. But because of that, I can hardly see The Sims 3 as building off of The Sims 2. To me, it almost feels more like another take on the next step from the first The Sims (though bigger and more advanced, of course). Like it's The Sims 2 a) and The Sims 2 b). And that's probably a good thing. The Sims 3 didn't replace The Sims 2 or make it obsolete, it's just a different experience for different players and playstyles.