I'm finally going to buy a Sims game after 20 years

[Doublezero]

The only Sims game I ever played was the first game. I enjoyed it but I didn't buy the sequels because I saw EA turning the franchise into a cash grab. But thanks to JoshQ my interest in the game is growing. I know nothing about The Sims sequels, so before I throw money at EA I have a few questions:

• Which version do you recommend?
• What mods do you recommend?
• Are mods compatible with all versions?

I could find this information myself but I'm going to be lazy and ask here.

[ritualclarity]

I only played the Sims 4... So I have limited experience (however I have the complete Sims 3 though) 

Origin subscription has both ready to use if you want to give that a try. Then you can determine which one you want for yourself   Then unsubscribe if you don't like that. (I have it from a gift so ... )  I would strongly suggest that.. as it is loads of $$$ to get what you need to really start to play to find out you might not be interested in the game after the newness wears off. I know there is going to be hate for advising subscription but you can always walk away anytime.

Mods are subjective. Not enough info. There are adult sex mods for Sims 4 and I am pretty sure for Sims 3 as well as mountains of outfits and such for both.

Sims 3 mods go to Sims 3 and same for Sims 4. Also some mods seem to need various add ons to get it to work properly so that is something to consider.

[Kendo 2]

You're going to have to mod it or the base game will be unplayable.  For Sims4 the devs add effects and behaviors that will make life impossible...and they stack on top of one another.

Sims 4 is to expensive (for what it is) unless you can get a bundle deal where everything is half price.  I was able to get Sims4 deluxe edition, Get To Work and Get Together for about $60.  Everything after that was a waste of money at full price.

AND it's an EA game so you'll be giving your money to pay the bills of woke people.  Food for thought.

[ritualclarity]

4 hours ago, Kendo 2 said:

You're going to have to mod it or the base game will be unplayable.  For Sims4 the devs add effects and behaviors that will make life impossible...and they stack on top of one another.

Sims 4 is to expensive (for what it is) unless you can get a bundle deal where everything is half price.  I was able to get Sims4 deluxe edition, Get To Work and Get Together for about $60.  Everything after that was a waste of money at full price.

AND it's an EA game so you'll be giving your money to pay the bills of woke people.  Food for thought.

you forgot  that the game itself has many woke elements as well. At least as I experienced it.  The more I learned about the "woke movement" the more I seen this in the game. However, good luck on not finding elements in all the games now.  I am sure there will be some if not alot even in the new Cyber Punk game as well.

[Doublezero]

The woke elements in Sims 4 was a deal-breaker for me so I bought a cheap copy of the Sims 3: Starter Pack. I'm not sure if there is any in Sims 3 but it was released in 2009 so I'm hopeful there is none.

Having to mod Sims 4 just to make it playable would have been a deal-breaker as well, but after playing Bethesda games since Morrowind I'm not going to hold that against it.

 

[JoshQ]

Sims 1 and 2 are limited in color/pattern customization and lack the liberty of movement that 3 has but each one is fun on its own.

4 as I said several times is boring and lacks pretty much everything that made their predecessors shine, wokeness aside.

Now for Sims 3 these are the basics:

1) Update the game to version 1.67 using the superpatch which will also update your installed expansions. 1.67 is the minimum required for mods like the nraas suite, passion, okw, etc; you might hear of 1.69 which is exclusive for origin and not necessary at all and 1.7 which added 64 bit support for Mac OS

2) Install the framework for enabling mods as .package files. Content like clothes, furniture, worlds and alike could also be installed using the game’s launcher (as .sims3pack) but in resume it’s a piece of half-assed crap so better to avoid it

3) From nraas the bare minimum is to install overwatch and errortrap, both will take care of some programming errors that could ruin your game

4) Every time you add or delete a .package you have to clear the caches so the databases are refreshed with the new content

I wrote this and more about optimizing this game here, you can also go here and here for more tips

Also welcome!

[LadySmoks]

@Doublezero, so after 1 1/2 years, have you played any Sims? Certainly, TS4 has several good woohoo mods, probably better than TS3, but as @JoshQ said, 4 just isn't really that fun from what I hear. TS3 really does run okay with a few helper mods. IF you can keep CC to a minimum (I can't ), also helps, and I'm sure your machine can handle things.

 

[Doublezero]

2 hours ago, LadySmoks said:

@Doublezero, so after 1 1/2 years, have you played any Sims? Certainly, TS4 has several good woohoo mods, probably better than TS3, but as @JoshQ said, 4 just isn't really that fun from what I hear. TS3 really does run okay with a few helper mods. IF you can keep CC to a minimum (I can't ), also helps, and I'm sure your machine can handle things.

 

I bought Sims 3 but couldn't get into the game, but I'll give it another go once I catch up on some FO4 and Skyrim mods. Earlier this year I bought Sims 4 to give Devious Desires a try and I had quite a bit of fun with it for a while. Although I haven't played much of Sims 3, I believe JoshQ is correct about Sims 4. The game feels like a chore but that could be my lack of experience with the newer Sims games.

[LadySmoks]

1 hour ago, Doublezero said:

I bought Sims 3 but couldn't get into the game, but I'll give it another go once I catch up on some FO4 and Skyrim mods. Earlier this year I bought Sims 4 to give Devious Desires a try and I had quite a bit of fun with it for a while. Although I haven't played much of Sims 3, I believe JoshQ is correct about Sims 4. The game feels like a chore but that could be my lack of experience with the newer Sims games.

Games without preset goals can be a challenge. Although, the field is somewhat open, depending on interests and mods to suit. It can be as being a child and make your Sim a prince or princes, good or evil, etc. I have vampires, demons who kill other Sims! Of course my FemmeBots!!! Kinky World has a few options aside from woohoo, although it tends to try to dominate. I wish it modular, as Nraas mods are. It has drug dealing, grow your own, prostitutes, run a brothel, the high school options, most use existing EA functions to some extent.

For me, it is a bit of "dress my dolls". TS4 uses preset swatches. I can choose colors, patterns, etc in TS3. Also, many enjoy "open world". My Sims can walk or jog from one place to another, ride a horse or drive. My understanding is TS4 does similar to TS1 when Sims leave their lot... a screen for traveling, then they are there.

Biggest problem with 3 is the 32 bit. What seems to lack most with 4 is they don't use the 64 bit, and it could probably run on 32 bit with all the restrictive measure they took to prevent the lag and crashes from an over stuffed TS3. ) And Mac 64 bit is an Origin download only.