So Rod Humble is now the lead of the new Paradox studio. Also, paradox has released a survey about strategy games.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php

I did it and started dreaming of what would the sims concept look like if it was managed by Parabox. If it was even as a fraction as good as Cities and skylines, I'd be ever so happy. Oh well, one can only dream.

I've been hearing rumors about this the past few days. Are they working on something? I'm inclined to say yes. It's almost too obvious.

I'd imagine so but I doubt it is the sims replacement even though I really, really want it to be so.

The survey was about strategy games - and then in the last question, along with strategy titles, they ask how much time we've played the Sims. I thought that was... curious.

I wasn't surprised to see that. For an earlier question, when they asked what strategy games I played in the last two years, one of my answers was The Sims 3. After all, one can play a life simulator as a strategy, if one plays it mostly for achieving goals (like, from rags to riches, from single to family tree etc.). I mentioned TS3 another times in the survey as well: I wanted to show them, that those who are interested in life simulations, can prefer the older version of the game to the current one.

Yes ... I'm not very good with boxes. I just assumed they meant sims as a strategy game. I had played many of the games on the last page, and played them a lot.

I guess Sims could be a strategy game, meaning you decide what you want to do, and then decide on a strategy for your goal.

What kind of a box would you put Sims into really?

A life simulator? Yea well, I also wrote about being creative, the importance of modded content, and playing as I want the way I want it to be.

oh... just no.

Imagine clunky, Unity based, not optimised, with absurdly overpowered demands Sims. We already have broken Sims3. Why another?

Besides, personally I really lost the trust and faith in the company. HOI IV is just awful (you know, the game about the war in which crucial part was oil as a resource and strategy outline without actually the oil in the game... just brilliant), "The City Simulator" without any resemblance of simulating the population and with nonsense managing every "agent" possible instead doing that in the abstraction layer (which leads to absurd overtaxing on any hardware). yeah... And also that rather disgusting DLC policy (just look at the CKII, EUIV content) quite well embracing the EA-kind way of being jerk.

Thanks. I think I'll sit down that one.

The Sims isn't a stradegy game per say... Let's not overhype it.

Who is overhyping anything? Nobody is claiming they're making the Cims 1.

The fact was that there were couple of sims questions which lead to me filling couple of boxes with answers with TS3 and TS2, and of cource, cities and skylines. I didn't say I played TS4 tho cos I don't. Cities and skylines is simulator, but it could as easily be classified as a stradegy. Can't see why sims couldn't either, you can play were goal orianteda after all, especially WA. In fact, I think years ago some sim mobile games were classified as a stragedy, I remember as I downloaded some from that category on my nokia smartphone.

I also took sometime to explain that having control over the game down to smallest detail was very important to me, also the possibility to mod and have mods available and to be creative. There was a 4th thing, that I forgot already.

@Floraflora2 Exactly, I wanted to show them that I still play TS2 and TS3 but not TS4.

Well you posted in the sims section, so sincere apology for making such assumtion for making me believe so. The Sims isn't really a stradegy game, but one can make so (like any game) If played so. Like minecraft or GTA, If the player decides to put careful planning than how the game was intended or thought to be played by the creators. I just really doubt they're taking The Sims concept directly and calling it a stradegy when it isn't. There too many specifications as to what fits the description to call it rpg. I'm not forbidden to calling that, but If published like they're saying, than it's likely that's the genre the game will be. I guess I'm trying to say it's the the focal point of what actual stradegy games are and have in them, so people who took The Sims as such can easily misinterpet the teaser from their expectations. Pretty much how players of a "casual game" can get infuriated and take it as insult for taking the term by literal word definition.

Actually, I rather stop here. I'm having trouble expressing my thoughts into verbal text form. Probably did now already above. Ignore it If it's not intelligible.

Perhaps the my motive of posting this here isn't clear. So we have Rod Humble, big boss from TS2 era who then went to second life (clearly intetrested/experienced in life simulation), is the lead of a new paradox studio. Now, we also have a survey that is asking about sims and cities skylines directly, even if it is under "strategy" which is a pretty ambigous term, at least to a casual player. Also, how many players actually are interested in classifying games like that? I personally couldn't care less and seems there are a few people in this very thread who also do not care about labels.

To me this is an excellent chance to demostrate interest for a better, single-player life simulation or whatever game. I think some other people might feel the same and write their thoughts and hopes down on that survey.

Who knows, if there are enough people mentioning life simulations, maybe they even release a survey about life simulation games as a measure to cater to those who care more about labels? Then I would be somewhat hopeful.

The Sims as a strategy game? So... A Sims 1 competitor?

The Sims just isn't the Sims if it isn't the Sims. As much as EA sucks and all that. Knowing how paradox games are, this Sims competitor would be like trying to play SimCity in a game like Civilization. It just doesn't work because they're too different at their core and only share similarities.

If Ts3 can be classed as a strategy game then so can Gradius, or any game at all. And Sonic The Hedgehog can be an RPG cos you're playing the role of Sonic.

pLaYeRs JuSt Do NoT kNoW wHaT tHeY wAnT, @nitromon you simpleton.

I've always felt like King's Valley II, a game I used to play on our retro-cool MSX computer, had a lot of strategy in it. You could hide from the mummy, attack the mummy, collect all the coins and then attack the mummy.....

I guess parts of the sims play like a strategy game. You manage resources , upgrade and expand buildings You build new units (CAS and babys) to conquer your whole neighbourhood (buying lots). You can play different factions (families).

But on a serious note. I don't really see TS3 as a simulation either. More of a combination of genres. It never really tries to be an actual life simulation. It is more like a mixed genre. Part simulation, part tycoon (the whole neighbourhood editing and buying lots etc) and some strategy involved. But some players also approach it like a roleplaying game when they identify with their sim characters and focus on making a story and develop skills (character progression) as part of it.

A flght simulation is a simulation. It simulates flying an actual plane and tries to make that as real with as much detail as possible. Without sillyness and gimmicks. There is too much sillyness and lack of detail in the sims to call it an actual simulation.

Apart from that, there is no telling how a sims like game would turn out if Paradox would make it. They are already familiar with complex character AI (Crusader Kings II). Also world editing (Cities Skylines) and simulating a lot of agents (their grand strategy games and City Skylines). I am quite confident they would be capable of doing this. Although I have no clue if they would want to.

Looking at new popular game types like Prison Architect and Rimworld. Prison Architect is a tycoon game, but with a high emphasis on characters that have names etc. Rimworld is like a mix of sims (with max free will), survival strategy and tycoon that tries to create emergent stories. Games that mix certain genres to create a new combination. So,it could just as well that they are planning something entirely new, but then with a bigger budget. Kind of like how upcoming Satisfactory tries to become a 3d higher budget version of Factorio.

Well, there is a new Vampire the Masquerade game coming from Paradox, but from 'Hardsuit Labs' (apparently headed up by the main designer of the original Bloodlines), rather than themselves or the new studio Rod Humble is creating in California. So we don't know what the latter is going to make yet.

That is not being made by Paradox, but published by Paradox Interactive. So it is not the developer that also made Crusader Kings II etc. It is a bit confusing with them, with their name being used for a developer and a publishing company. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to that sequel. I really liked the original.

Yes, they're not making the VtM game in house, just as they don't make Cities: Skylines in house.

ETA: Of the three games PI have announced as coming, one they are making themselves (Imperator: Rome), and two they are just releasing (Bloodlines 2 and Planetfall).