Sims 3 vs Sims 4

[laish95]

So I've modded both of these games to hell and back before, but I wanted some opinions.

Basically I'm a sucker for sandboxy simulations, where characters have their own wills, their own wants, their own sex lives etc. I love games like Artificial Academy for that reason, and I'm wanting to mod the sims into something similar.

My main question is, which one handles it better? I've got all the dlc for Sims 3 and can do more with it, whereas I have next to no dlc for 4. The closed off lots also seem antithetical to what I'm trying to mod the game into. That said, Sims 3 runs like crap with mods.

Suggestions, experiences, and ideas much appreciated.

 

[SeventhVixen]

Emotion and wills focused I felt sims 4 better, but when playing with various characters, the problem of Not being to play at the same time with various characters in different locations, fucks my ability to handle well their emotions and wills...

I really like the ability that the Sims 3 worlds are a continuous one where you can switch between different locations and characters seamlessly. The Sims 4 lacks that feature the same way is built, and for some playstyles has big problems in my opinion.

 

[Agent HK47]

I don't have sims 4 (have seen a lot of reviews and gameplay of it though), and while it's been a few years since I played sims 3, I vastly prefer sims 3 because of the open nature of the game. The entire world is connected and open, and there is just so much stuff going on all the time.
That being said, this open aspect also causes the game to run pretty bad, and lag is a pretty big issue for the game. If you use a lot of mods, I would probably say that you should stick to S4. If you prefer to stay mostly vanilla, then I would say that S3 definately gives you the most appealing content.

 

[forzato]

Sims 4 is 2 step backwards. Majority of the core fan base hate it for a reason. The sims 4 is just a spin-off to the sims 2 because the developer team screwed up and had to scrap the original idea for an online sims sequel. That's the real reason we open world was dropped and the emotion system isn't new, it's already available in the previous 2 titles. Emotions don't bring about any extra features except creative inspiration etc big whoop. The sooner The sims 5 comes out the better.

 

[VictorHayes]

Assuming that you're comparing the sex mods of both games:
Sims 3 has more in-depth mods like those that raise arousal of people, Beastiality (if you're into that), rape (if you're into that), teen (if you're into that) and the like. You can set npc rapists into the lot (or do the deed yourself), spawn in animals like horses or dogs, there are even options to have gloryhole fences or closets.
Sims 4 only regards the sims as characters and while there are some aspects of beast, rape, teen, etc., they aren't as fleshed out as they are in Sims 3.

TL,DR: Sims 3 has fleshed out sex mods and many add-ons, Sims 4 has limited.

If you mean performance wise:
Sims 3 has massive hits in performance especially if you have all dlcs and a tonne of mods installed. Even with my 16gb or ram, there are times when Sims 3 freezes for what seems like forever.
Sims 4 doesn't seem to have any performance issues (as far as i've seen) but it does chug up RAM and gpu usage.

TL,DR: Sims 3 has freezes and lags, Sims 4 is heavy on the RAM and GPU

 

[khumak]

I've never tried any of the adult mods for The Sims. I did play The Sims 2 for awhile but really couldn't get into it because there is no antagonist and no questline. You just kind of fuck around with it for a few hours and it doesn't matter what happens. I need there to be some sort of struggle against an opponent or threat of some sort. I need to have some sort of goals or quests to work towards.

I would like to have seen some sort of achievement system where you could either pick a scenario that had particular achievements for you to work towards or have a randomized set to work towards. An antagonist of some sort (or even a series of them) for you to overcome would also have been nice. Maybe a mob boss moves in and you can drive him out/send him to jail/etc or maybe you let him establish his empire and can work for him. Maybe the town votes to establish an HOA and the HOA president is a douchebag that you need to deal with. Maybe the mayor of the town moves in and he's corrupt.

There's plenty of different options for things the player could struggle against like that. A mode where you play without any of that would be fine as well for people who just want to mess around building stuff without any goals but for me that's boring.

 

[White Bomber]

played both,

sims 3 is better, it has more freedom and randomness & advanced kinky sex mods tend to have random events with family/step family members that triggers randomly, and you have control over how or where those events play and what ending do you want,

sims 4 even with all those expansions and updates, still feels stale & empty with nothing to do and the sex mods romantic as it is, its barebone & buggy.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

While i agree sims 3 is beter.
I enjoy sims 4 alot more.

Personal preference's.

My arguement why you shoud make a mod for sims 4 instead of sims 3:
Emotions effecting sims.
From smiling to sadness, to hate(tho for some reason they didnt add fear .)
Stuff like club pack, vampire pack, realm of magic, etc.
Your sim being able to do push ups with energized or programming skill is used for hacking instead of a sims trait.

Sims 3 was more, expensions effect eatchother and plumbots dont short circet in water.
Future travel, alchemy is used to create potions to turn sims into occult.
Really in terms of sheer stuff the sims 3 flat out destroy's the sims 4.

But(and this is the only reason to favor sims 4 over sims 3) the sims themselves are emotionless puppets.
I enjoy sims 4 far more because of the focus on the sims.
From gaining dancing skill to seeing the walking like a zombie when tired.
The sims 4 just feel more alive.

Also i would recommand getting the dlc's.
Sims 4 has several dlc(get to gather, get to work, seasons, vampire's, get famous, realm of magic and discovery university) that greatly enhance the game.
Without the dlc i would indeed suggest sims 3.
Simply because for sims 4(and all sims games accauly) You need the dlc for them to be fun.

Sims 4 is easier to install mods and run them.

Basically I'm a sucker for sandboxy simulations, where characters have their own wills, their own wants, their own sex lives etc. I love games like Artificial Academy for that reason, and I'm wanting to mod the sims into something similar.

Sims 4 is better for this.
Your sim can hate someone and love him at the same time.
For example: You could create a mind control mod that turns mind control sims into mindless drones.
Daze emotion would usefull for that.
Or make a rape mod where the rape accauly damage's your relationships instead of improve's it.
Or create a prostitution mod.
Hoe it up doesnt work.
The sims just do some stupid dance and ignore the costumers requests.
Also you cant pimp properly with hoe it up.

Sims 4 has alot of room for improvements.
Sims 3 is a buggy mess but fun buggy mess.

 

[Hadley]

Sims 3 is sadly not really playble. If you mod it heavily its crashing and lagging.

 

[mickydoo]

I started my modding "career" on the sims 2, lost complete interest on the sims 3, the gameplay was good, characters were horrible and lifeless. Sims 4 is where I really started to mod it but then found DAZ and porn games.

Sims4 was the best from a modder point of view.

 

[echoesofsilence]

 

[MeganAutumn]

overall sims 4.

 

[taglag]

If you can jump through all the hoop's with getting good with Nrass, and getting your vid card identified,(Nexus has a mod now that will do that for you) learning to annihilate with Nrass sims that keep having the same routing issues. Get ellacharmed map fixes, and learn to use s3pe to merge your mods. Lock your FPS at 60.

Then Sims 3 is light years ahead of sims 4 in enjoyment, I mean the Island paradise maps moving your house boat around the island, and taking it out to sea discovering new Islands, and building your own resort playgrounds, scuba-diving for real and finding lost treasures, and secret tunnels to hidden Islands. Being a mermaid makes a huge difference in fact all the Occult changes really make a difference.

Real vacation's with lots of stuff to do in them. The open worlds, and the huge number of fan made maps. And I keep finding more of them.

Sims three can be really great. But it takes quite a bit of effort. That thanks in part to EA basically sabotaging sims3 or ignoring the things that needed fixed in sims 3 so people would buy sims 4.

Sims 3 had all the right Idea's, and the right style of game play, it is just hard to get it to run well because of its 4 gig limit, and that is debatable if you load it up with a lot of scripted mods.

It is fun, I really enjoy it, but took me some time to get a grip on everything you need to do to have a smooth game play on newer systems.
I have sims 4 also and I do play it, but I feel so handicapped playing sims 4, with all the Beam me over here Scotty stuff in it, I mean I can't cross the street in sims 4 to a place I can see with out a loading screen.

One other good thing about Sims 3 is that EA is done fucking with it so once you get your mods like you like them, you don't have to worry about them breaking them again with another do nothing update.

 

[Faeriie]

Sorry this is so late, but I wanted to input. Sims 3 is definitely better in the way that there's much much more to do, but I feel the Sims 4 is better with emotions, like the others said. Plus, TS3 on PC is strictly 32 bit, so for me, it doesn't play correctly and crashes a lot. They just released 64 bit for mac tho! I hope they bring a 64 Bit to PC! Many people say the sims 2 is the best, which I agree with for stories, especially the backstories of the townies, but I like a lot of customization, so its not as fun for me.

I hope this helps a bit!

 

[Taak]

If you can jump through all the hoop's with getting good with Nrass, and getting your vid card identified,(Nexus has a mod now that will do that for you) learning to annihilate with Nrass sims that keep having the same routing issues. Get ellacharmed map fixes, and learn to use s3pe to merge your mods. Lock your FPS at 60.

Hi! Is there some guide to all that you listed here?