Unreal Engine Abandoned LifePlay [v2023.04 Stable] [Vinfamy]

[PhazeUFO]

Unfortunatly, I didn't know about the Sims back then. I heard the previous games had a lot more content than the Sims 4.

Played the original Sims and it was nice. I imagine they are talking about with the expansions though as it has been years since I played The Sims 2.

 

[Icebird]

Remaking it from scratch? That's actually what, as a matter of fact, I already guessed was the only way to get it done. The animations, which I believe might need some rework as well on some level, the sounds and a few more assets were most likely the only things I would have saved from the original author's project. Adult animations and sounds are, in particular, one of the hardest resources to find when developing an adult game... definitely not the kinda assets we can find on FAB, right?

PS: "Spaghetti code" the reason of the for abandoning the development of the game? I kinda agree with that too. I can imagine that guy waking up one day and going back to work on his project to suddenly find out he was lost into the same deadly web he created! Luckily I'm one of those clean-organized-codes-maniacs who never gets caught in there.

Hi!
I'm still sharing my experimental facelifted UE5 source on the game's discord chanel under the modding-chat (2024.08.31).
So if it count to decide which way you start maybe worth look at it.
I'm a bit a clean code maniac too, so this material can become handy for you.

 

[Icebird]

Get a group!!!, You need two coders, an animator, and a 3D modeler.
Do not be greedy Patron destroyed Lifeplay!
Also your comments on assets are not correct, most people who can do basic animation, could make sex animations. They are not that hard, look at loverslab on the sims pages! also I believe some of the sex animations in Lifeplay were from Skyrim/fallout. Sounds, contact someone who plays with AI speech. The sounds and speech could be made in a couple of days, again this isn't difficult.

Just for a note what Vin wrote about this part in the game's FAQ file:

///
The character models are so ugly. The uncanny valley is real!
I'm a coder by trade and have to rely on others for character models. The same guy that made these models is making a new set of more detailed models which hopefully I can use for the game when they are done. For now, if you cannot stand the models, go Esc > Settings > tick Toon Shading to turn the game into a fake-2d Borderlands-style graphics - this helps with the uncanny valley. It's also important to remain realistic: the game is being made by one dude working part-time (at least for now, until my Patreon grows to a liveable income), don't expect AAA graphics! Also, don't compare the models with the Daz3d ones used in RenPy/ RPGMaker game, these Daz3d models are not for real time rendering - there's a huge difference between taking minutes or hours to render one still image and rendering 60 frames per second - that level of photorealistic details are just not meant for in realtime rendering, not unless it's a game for only extremely beefy PCs anyway.
///
The animations are so shite!
Again, I'm a coder by trade, not exactly the best at animating. I do know some of the best sex animators from my LoversLab connection though. Maybe one day, when my Patreon grows enough to have a decent budget, I can then commission animations made by these pros.
///

Anyway, from this we can conclude this can be costly. I think noone makes sex animations for charity, and this game had a plenty of it (if not the most of it). Vin's source is free, so this is a great source to get or reuse animations.
Assets are the other. There is a lot of clothing within the game too, but isn't used well, because only a short template define it. Waste of potential.

 

[Anteron]

Unfortunatly, I didn't know about the Sims back then. I heard the previous games had a lot more content than the Sims 4.

I only had a (modern) computer right before 2 came out (had a Commodore 64 1985-19954.) Didn't like how cartoony Sims 3 or 4 Sims were and wasn't subjecting my computer to EA's malware/spyware/trojan required for them.

 

[Lewdboys]

Not really. Such a game on mobile is very unlikely to happen, maybe if the game was run on a cloud server and streamed to the mobile device, but even then you'd have to come up with a very slick UI to make it satisfying.

InZOI looks very promising, and the Nvidia AI feature for NPC decision making seems like it could add a lot of depth to interactions. But I wouldn't get too excited just yet.
Simulation games like this are extremely hard to pull off in a satisfying way. Remember that even professional studios with experience in this genre have failed. Just look at "Life by You" getting cancelled by Paradox. LBY was supposed to have everything we would want from a Sims competitor, with huge customization options and a way to make your own stories for others to play. But it was cancelled because the development wasn't going as expected.
The Sims 5 codenamed "Project Rene" seems to have been cancelled now. To think that even Maxis would scrap the development of a new Sims game is wild to me, but I think it just confirms how difficult games in this genre are.
The only other Simlike game apart from InZOI is Paralives, which is still being developed at a slow pace cause of its small team.

I don't blame the LifePlay devs for abandoning this project. It's incredible that a bunch of amateurs managed to make the game as functional as it is. Indie developers can do a lot, but at some point the scale of certain projects necessitates a large team of professionals to maintain and expand the codebase. It sucks but I think any attempt at reviving this project would require a huge pooling of money to get some experienced devs to even look at the codebase.

You know tbh nothing can beat sims game until the competitor shows up 13 years later like inZOI

Life Simulator game tbh hard to find when many makes mod in Sims game and that's it

i just hoped one day H+Life simulatoris not only possible at best but same time feels like a good sequel of Sims

 

[Lostlegends]

Just for a note what Vin wrote about this part in the game's FAQ file:

I do believe that model quote is from the old models(makehuman), and the FAQ was not updated. I don't think makehuman every did the new set he was waiting for so he used Daz3d instead. Not that it matters either way, the models and animations were not what made the project special, it was the flexibility of the whole thing. But I will stand by what I said about the animations, anyone starting a project like this would need to team up with an animator, trust me, they are not as difficult as you think, I have personally made and edited many human animations (Although not sex ones lol). Also I believe the assets (Clothing) are purchased, reusing them could probably get you in trouble.

 

[Icebird]

But I will stand by what I said about the animations, anyone starting a project like this would need to team up with an animator, trust me, they are not as difficult as you think...

I believe you, but in case it's a new project. You also have to take into account keeping this team together, need promising something to keep they interest. As I see the most successful games here has one main developer who manage the things together and mostly the project rely on them. I seen many new project what failed on the start and I avoid to dive in the why.
And at last, this game's biggest problem isn't the animations, I think. But I believe in a continuation, IMHO a good coder can rid of problems with the bugs on the new engine. I tried, I made it to run on UE5.3, but I cant deal with tracking down the code problems (yes I gave up). If it will done a lot of new possibilities come up, like replacing or upgrading the old daz models, animations, assets, other visuals, etc. It's still sounds easier to me as remaking something from scratch.
(I did a quick count, there are roughly over ~1000 anim files (the part of full anims what isn't the same) within the game's folders, it is a lot)

 

[Lostlegends]

I believe you, but in case it's a new project. You also have to take into account keeping this team together, need promising something to keep they interest. As I see the most successful games here has one main developer who manage the things together and mostly the project rely on them. I seen many new project what failed on the start and I avoid to dive in the why.
And at last, this game's biggest problem isn't the animations, I think. But I believe in a continuation, IMHO a good coder can rid of problems with the bugs on the new engine. I tried, I made it to run on UE5.3, but I cant deal with tracking down the code problems (yes I gave up). If it will done a lot of new possibilities come up, like replacing or upgrading the old daz models, animations, assets, other visuals, etc. It's still sounds easier to me as remaking something from scratch.
(I did a quick count, there are roughly over ~1000 anim files (the part of full anims what isn't the same) within the game's folders, it is a lot)

You probably lasted longer than me with the code! I think I spent more time downloading it than I did checking through it. It took less than an hour looking at the code I think, before I just laughed and deleted it. There are too many features that I think were done wrong, that is a personal opinion. Too much that made little sense when it could have been designed far better. I have been Peeking and Poking in computer code for a very long time, there is a joke in there if your old enough lol. And I know when to walk away, we are both right btw. To do a game like this, you will need several people. The game is too broad and has way to much potential for one person to do alone. You are however correct that if you get a team of people, inevitably the project will fail due to people getting bored or leaving. Most of the good projects here are single person projects, but that also comes down to the fact that the projects are way more simplistic than Lifeplay. I did consider starting a project similar to Lifeplay, and I believe it would be far faster than getting this in a proper state, however after the planning and calculations on time, I gave up as well! lol I very much doubt I could finish it before my heart gives up!

 

[Grootbeast]

I only had a (modern) computer right before 2 came out (had a Commodore 64 1985-19954.) Didn't like how cartoony Sims 3 or 4 Sims were and wasn't subjecting my computer to EA's malware/spyware/trojan required for them.

I recently got a laptop a little over a year ago, but I played the sims 4 on my Xbox and then later on my Playstation before I eventually played it on my laptop with mods. I honestly like the look of the Sims 4, I feel it fits with the wackiness that the game has.

 

[Taftarat]

Want to try this game, but i only get loading sxreen when i launch it... I downloaded main game + pasted update on it - same shi...

 

[Anteron]

Want to try this game, but i only get loading sxreen when i launch it... I downloaded main game + pasted update on it - same shi...

It does take a while to load up, especially first of the day.

 

[turnerpike20]

Wait so there is rape in this game? I haven't seen such examples yet or any option so I might not know how to do it.

I will say though there's no frottage when it comes to gay sex. I just had a time where my character watch 2 guys have sex and yeah no frottage option.

 

[Anteron]

Wait so there is rape in this game? I haven't seen such examples yet or any option so I might not know how to do it.

I will say though there's no frottage when it comes to gay sex. I just had a time where my character watch 2 guys have sex and yeah no frottage option.

You have to turn on the "non consensual" option.

 

[cesa210]

Is there any other game like this?

I already play Sims 3 with Adult mods and Sims 4 with Adult mods, they get somewhat close in the level of perversion and depravity but is not the same.

So any other game similar to this?, i can be 2D or 3D.

 

[Grootbeast]

Is there any other game like this?

I already play Sims 3 with Adult mods and Sims 4 with Adult mods, they get somewhat close in the level of perversion and depravity but is not the same.

So any other game similar to this?, i can be 2D or 3D.

Maybe Influencing by Golden Crow? It's 2D and fairly new. It doesn't have too much right now, but I think it has potential.

 

[PhazeUFO]

Is there any other game like this?

I already play Sims 3 with Adult mods and Sims 4 with Adult mods, they get somewhat close in the level of perversion and depravity but is not the same.

So any other game similar to this?, i can be 2D or 3D.

There is a different kind of perversion in those games. Since they aren't lewd games by themselves, they lack some of the kink that you get from a game like this.

 

[cesa210]

There is a different kind of perversion in those games. Since they aren't lewd games by themselves, they lack some of the kink that you get from a game like this.

Yeah, i mean Sims 3 can get pretty close, but still does not allow you to do some of the more heavy stuff (R4p3, M0rd3r, etc..).

And in Sims 4 there are mods that allow to do some really bad stuff, but the AI of the sims is pretty horrendous, by example you can pretty much be cheating on your spouse with all sims on the neighborhood and she/he never realizes unless they catch you having sex right in front of them.

 

[Anteron]

Didn't like anything I ever saw about Sims after 2. Too cartoony, hard to mod and missing important things. And needing to have EA's malware/spyware/trojan.

 

[Giantguy8854]

Yeah, i mean Sims 3 can get pretty close, but still does not allow you to do some of the more heavy stuff (R4p3, M0rd3r, etc..).

And in Sims 4 there are mods that allow to do some really bad stuff, but the AI of the sims is pretty horrendous, by example you can pretty much be cheating on your spouse with all sims on the neighborhood and she/he never realizes unless they catch you having sex right in front of them.

I'm not here to hype up The Sims 3 sex mod, but you’ve got it all wrong. There was rap involved, and even m0rder! In the game rap could occur anytime when alone or at night for player or NPC, rap would also leave bruises on the sim, sims (that goes for player as well) could break into houses or NPCs will attack you or other NPCs while you were out at night, and your success in those situations depended on your Athletics and Martial Arts skills. Plus, magical characters like genies and witches could use their powers to control others (aliens as well could do this), bending other sims to do what they want, mess with their fertility, give them STDs or curse them so everything in game aggro rap them. Finally random Sims in your neighborhood getting pregnant from rap instead of their actual partners, which gave them the cheat trait or significant other or family member could seek revenge (aggro fighting person on sight) happened a lot but you could always join in to help the rapper or help the person being attacked (especially handy if it was a family member or friend). One lead to sex and the other lead to friendship. I forgot to add there were assigned robbers and rappers in town but random people could do it to depending on personality and attraction for a particular sim. All these actions were even better after The Sims 3 added the memory system because sims would always hate mor remember you until they aged and die.

As for m0rder, there was a mod that introduced guns into the game, and you could actually aim and shoot them yourself, which made for some pretty wild gameplay especially if you had zombies in your game or when sims were aggro at you!

 

[PhazeUFO]

you can pretty much be cheating on your spouse with all sims on the neighborhood and she/he never realizes unless they catch you having sex right in front of them.

Did you want your sim to get shot instead of catching the stove on fire?