Issues of The Sims 3: Can It be Saved?

The Sims 3 was, without a doubt, one of the most widely anticipated game releases in the last couple of years. But upon installing the game, players were shocked to learn of all the bugs and issues.

Image by włodi via Flickr

The Time Issue

The Sims 3 is supposed to be completely playable on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Mac. When first loading the game, the casual player marvels at the seemingly improved graphics. However, they quickly learn something very annoying: there’s an issue with time.

The game plays alright for most people with a DC computer and graphics card upon initial inspection, but when the player speeds the game time up to the highest level, level three, which is supposed to be the fastest, time moves just the same as when the game speed is set to “normal”. It caused an outcry in the Sims player community, because it would literally take most players fifteen real-life minutes for their Sim to shower, which is another time issue.

In the two previous installments, the Sims 1 and Sims 2, game time (at normal speed) was scaled to be slightly faster than real time. Speedy real-life people might be able to take a thorough shower in five minutes. In game time, at normal speed in the Sims 1 or Sims 2, the Sim might shower for one or two real minutes. At the highest speed, the shower would only last a few real-time seconds.

In the Sims 3, however, things were a bit dodgy (to put it mildly). Time wasn’t scaled properly. Certain tasks, such as conversations, moved far quicker than in Sims 1 or Sims 2.  Conversely, other tasks, such as showering or sleeping, took what seemed to be at least five times longer than in the previous installments. Players grumbled about how they would go pour themselves some cereal just so they would merely have something to do while their Sims slept. Other players used cheats to keep their Sims’ needs constantly at maximum so that the Sim would never have to sleep, eat, or practice hygiene. (This writer was definitely part of the latter category, in case anyone was wondering.)

EAxis, as it has been dubbed by its fans, released a patch a couple of weeks later to address the time issue. At first, the time issue was fixed for most people and the whole community breathed a great sigh of relief. But, flash-forward a few weeks later, when most players have piled a bunch of custom content into their game and have created multiple families, the time issue has returned. It almost seems as though the game, once it’s loaded up with all the goodies the players enjoy, reverts back to its old, terribly slow self. Many players, including myself, are hoping this will be addressed in time.

The Custom Content Issue

As all players of the Sims games know, the Sim clothing and hair that are packaged with the games are extremely tacky and of poor quality. The Sims 3 definitely saw an improvement in prepackaged items to customize Sims with. However, there were still issues with custom content.

The biggest issue of all was, initially: how do we do it? The developers of the Sims series don’t give players a roadmap on how to create custom content; instead, they give the vaguest hints and leave players to figure it out for themselves. Player communities, such as the high quality (and free to use) Mod the Sims, are very savvy and often figure out issues such as this very quickly.

But the Sims 3 was a bird of a different feather. The system used for creating custom content for the Sims 2 didn’t carry over into the Sims 3. It took awhile to figure things out. The bigwigs at the Mod the Sims community must definitely be applauded for their early and continuing efforts. The brainiacs (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) there were able to figure out many of the problems rather quickly, such as the fact that custom content had to be placed in a different folder than before, and also had to have a special file that allows the game to read custom content. It was very tricky business from where I, a custom content illiterate person, am standing.

Initially players were able to create simple content modifications, such as stencils on shirts to change the overall look of them. Finally, people figured out how to make meshes, which totally revolutionized Sims 3 custom content. Then, at long last, custom hair became available, much to the delight of everyone who was sick of looking at Sims with atrocious included-in-game hairstyles.

Still, creating hair and clothing for the Sims 3 remains tricky for two reasons: weight scaling and CAS (Create-a-Style) re-coloring. The weight scaling is difficult, because custom content creators were forced to figure out how to make the clothing so that they would fit every Sim of that age, no matter what size they were. And again, it’s really difficult because the game allows you to create Sims so scrawny they look like they need to be fed, and other Sims who are so fat, they look like they need to go to Weight Watchers. (However, it should be noted that I applaud EA for finally saluting human diversity.)

CAS really hampers custom content creators in regards to clothing and hair textures. Gone are the days when you could create hair and clothing so realistic, it was jaw-dropping – at least they are gone for now. The textures in the Sims 3 for clothing and hair really, as of now, don’t match up to what was achieved with the Sims 2. I have faith in brainy custom content creators, though. I believe they will eventually be able to work around the problem.

The Social Interaction Issue

With the impending arrival of the Sims 3, players were very excited to learn that Sims would now be able to have up to five different personality traits, as well as favorite foods, colors, and music. The problem was: it didn’t mean very much in game.

In the Sims 2, it was very hard to make your Sim get along with another Sim whose astrological sign (and ergo personality) clashed with their own. But, in the Sims 3, it’s very rare that your Sim doesn’t meet a Sim that they can’t get along with. This doesn’t make for interesting game play. I’ve yet to have a Sim kick over my Sim’s garbage can, and I find it rather depressing.

Another thing about personality traits is that they mainly affect moodlets, a new feature in the Sims 3. In other words, for most traits to matter, such as “hates outdoors”, the player can’t use the “static motives” cheat or else it won’t negatively impact their mood enough to make the game a challenge. Certain traits, such as “great kisser” affect moodlets even if the cheat is being used. Still, it doesn’t make for interesting game play, which is another downside. In the Sims 2, even if you kept their motives static, certain problems could still occur. For instance, if you have Seasons installed (and are using the same cheat), and you let your child Sim play in the snow too long, the Social Worker will still come and take them away.

The main trait I find interesting that’s not really dependant on moodlets or that affected by the “static motives” cheat is the “kleptomaniac” trait. All Sims get a special little extra thing to do depending on their traits and most of these extras are really boring, such as when a Sim is “evil”. An “evil” Sim can’t really do anything other than “evil dance” which is really the same dance all Sims do, wash with “evil soap”, and donate money to undermine charities (which is basically giving your Sims’ money away and the only possible benefit, which occurs rarely, is fulfilling their want of undermining a charity). But the “kleptomaniac” trait is different. With that one, you actually get to do something: you get to steal things from your Sim’s friend’s homes.  The “mooch” trait is slightly similar in that you can actually DO something: mooch things (such as money) off of other Sims.

Create-a-Sim Issues

Most players are delighted to be able to effortlessly recolor their Sims’ clothing and hair. However, there are some glaring problems with Create-a-Sim. The main complaint of Sims 3 players is that the Sims are ugly; descriptions of “bubble-faced” Sims are the most common. And it’s true; the Sims pretty much all look alike. Their faces are very bubble-like.

To add to the problem, the facial sliders are nowhere near as powerful as the ones in the Sims 2. This makes it impossible to create Sims with drastically different features from one another without the help of a modification such as “Rick and Delphy’s CAS Slider Hack”. With a slider hack, such as Rick and Delphy’s, players are able to create Sims who don’t look so bubble-headed. Still, the problem is: powerful sliders should’ve come prepackaged with the game. Users shouldn’t have had to go to the trouble to create something EA should’ve already done themselves.

And then there is the ever-annoying eyebrow issue. In the Sims 2, the eyebrow tool was very powerful, allowing Sims to take a basic eyebrow shape (either a default game one or a customized one) and alter every bit of it to suit their personal taste or their Sim’s facial features. Now, however, there are only three sliders to alter eyebrows and NONE of them allow for a change in eyebrow thickness. Almost all of the default eyebrows are either too thick or thin to suit most Sim’s faces (and common sensibilities in general). Players are remedying this by creating eyebrows (or else magically converting old Sims 2 eyebrows to Sims 3 brows) that are somewhere in the middle, to allow their fellow players some normality in terms of eyebrows.

Then there is the question of the female body. A male body is very straight forward and comes in three basic shapes: straight, inverted triangle, or round.

The female body on the other hand, realistically, comes in many different shapes and sizes. Female Sims in the Sims 3 only look realistic if they are thin. Thin female Sims have a straight body with a small bust-line, typical of real-life thin women.  As you scale the body slider towards a larger size, the player will notice that the body shape isn’t changing – it’s merely growing wider and rounder through the tummy and thighs.

And that’s a big problem. Most women do not accumulate fat only on their tummy or thighs. Breasts and buttocks are also a big source of fatty deposits. Large female Sims are very flat-chested, which is terribly unrealistic.

It used to be thought that the average cup size of American women is a B cup, because that’s what bra manufacturers were selling. However, 80% of women were a bra size that is drastically wrong. It’s now known that the average American woman wears a 34D. And that makes sense. On the very vast spectrum of bra sizes, a D is pretty much right down the middle.

And that’s a really big problem that many people are having with the game. The busts of female Sims don’t scale accordingly to their weight. The result is female Sims that look just plain weird. It’s almost like it’s a subliminal thing or something, a conspiracy orchestrated by the flat-chested minority out there, to perpetual the myth that the average American woman has no bust.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that it seems as though the developers of the Sims 3 put out an unfinished product. The patches addressed so many common issues, only an ignorant individual would assume that the developers didn’t know about these flaws before they released the game. Honestly, they should make it up to their customers. After all, if it wasn’t for the fans, they would be out of jobs.

The first expansion pack should carry with it major fixes to CAS, time issues, and other things that the patches have failed to address or can’t address. Also, the impending expansion pack should remind us, the players, of why we wanted to buy the game in the first place (and that, my friends, will be a very tough task for EA Games).