@matrix54 They don't show everything they do publicly - patrons get a lot of more insight into the development and they definitely have been working on the foundations for simulation and planning for it for along time now. Ofcourse they're not gonna show things publicly until they're ready. Ofcourse things are bound to change, but it's incorrect that they're not working on the simulation aspect of the game.

I’m not implying they aren’t, but we’ve been seeing the same things over and over again (but better looking of course), and small additions.

As I’m incorrect, please tell me what has been shown that I am not aware of. Has what I complained about been shown (not simply discussed)? WIP content is the bread and butter of patreon.

Nothing regarding gameplay has been shown. All the content is about paramaker and build mode. Which worries me to say the least. If those were what I truly cared about I would be fine with sims 4.

Gee, it's almost as if the game isn't finished yet...And they aren't pretending to be finished either.

Well, when you create a life simulation game, what people expect is how the simulation works, just like creating an RPG game that we expect to see how the combat, stats and battle system work, not goes straight to polishing character creation.

Yes, would be nice to see some indication of how the simulation and gameplay is working out. I love making characters and building in Sims 4, but gameplay is what lets it down in my opinion, so I wouldn't want another game like that! I agree with you on that @tysika !

NO ONE is asking for a finished version of the game. We're just asking to see SOMETHING... ANYTHING that's related to the core gameplay of the game. Building and creating characters is just a tiny component of a LIFE SIMULATOR. We haven't even seen a Para interact with their environment (other than that fake Sebastian's summer video. We know it was faked because they haven't even started working on the simulation basics when that video was released).

What about Maggie going to the drawer?

The development process is transparent (as it needs to be with crowdfunding) and I don't see anything wrong with the order of development. They've been brainstorming gameplay ideas with the community for the last year and they're taking baby steps but still making progress on the simulation--the game is pre-alpha.

My expectations just might be a lot lower than everyone else but pulling out some gameplay bits from the progress summary and this looks like "something" to me:

March 2021
???? Recruited Étienne (programmer)

April 2021
????️ Made progress on the character action and interactions systems and its mod support

May 2021
????️ Researches and design of features related to the personality of the Parafolks

November 2021
????️ Worked on locomotion animations as well as other new animations

Current Status - January 2022
➡️ Designing and implementing the animation system and its mod support

Next Steps
???? Simulation mode basics: interactions, animations, pathfinding

https://www.paralives.com/development

I too do really think they're quite stalling with gameplay footage. But alias, maybe in few years they start working on it. If it doesn't end up being a succesful simulation game, then how well - it fails, and the description of it will change to designer game. It's not really a big of a deal. Expectations won't be met, that's all. But hey - I'm sure it offer and win over the same level as I said like before - being a better Build and Create A Character Game that be out in. And maybe, the project will restart again for another attempt at a life simulator, with the team learning from their mistakes (which is often the philosophy how projects get achieved, for being better than the previous work).

Game has been in development since 2019. I'd expect to see some basic systems, with placeholders etc. As Naus said, this a life simulation game. Kinda expected the focus to on that. I really want it to come to fruition but I'm starting to feel like I'm not sure it will.

I am not holding my breath about this and as said before unless the Para are changed drastically odds are I may not want this.

Maybe there is no interesting gameplay to be shown yet. Creating the assets (art, objects, animations,etc) takes the most man-hours for a 3d game anyway. And some of the game logic would not work without the intended assets anyway. Unless you want some abstract representation of the gameplay or ugly assets with the risk that many people might not understand that they are looking at placeholders. Any kind of demonstration setup also means extra work. Which for a small team might not be the best idea.

I am not sure if we are in the best position to judge here from these forums. We are not talking about a decades old franchise here.