Not a game developer disclaimer, but I really think it's not that crazy to ask for less loading screens in Sims 4 apartments, there's many open world games that run on pretty low-spec devices (Nintendo switch, Phones) with much more seamless transitions. I'm not saying that neighbours should be constantly loaded as that would create a lot of lag, but I'm pretty sure that having the other houses unloaded and then appear when you visit without a loading screen is not unfeasible.

I am fully convinced the sims 4 is a house building game pretending to be a life sim

Of course the Sims 2 did it better ✨✨✨

As soon as Plumbella loaded into a Sims 2 apartment, I saw a spiral staircase and I thought to myself they missed another opportunity to include spiral staircases 😢

also easily forgetable detail was the dorm system in university life - like 20 of the little fuckers could live on one lot with individual rooms, they managed to sleep in their own beds properly and all care for themselves reliably and no loading screen between parts of the giant lot I made so many cults with apartment life, I love the sims 2

The animations alone kick sims 4 in the knee caps

Funny how gurus were so confident they were gonna top the Sims 2 apartments

I would pay so much money for a remake of Sims 2 in Sims 4 graphics

Sims 2 was the *peak* of sims gameplay. I want the sims 2 team working on the new game 🫵EA!

Every Sims 4 expansion pack reminds us how good we had it back in the Sims 2.

fun fact bc I’m sure someone out there is replaying the sims 2 and could use this info: if you want to rent a fully furnished premade apt in the sims 2 use the boolprop cheat, then right click the apt door and click ‘rent furnished apt’ there’s also mods that allow you to do this Edit: I'm glad people are finding this useful ^-^

honestly i feel like the loading screens are a bit of a psychological thing too. like i wouldnt mind if the game just paused for a moment to render the new apartment in, but the loading screen makes it feel like more of a chore. the outside is the same so its surely only loading the interiors, right?

I loved in the Sims 2 that the kids in the apartment, in different households, all get on the school bus in the morning. Also the BEST part of the Sims 2 is that sims can just talk and hang out and build social. They could play pool in college and make friends without me having to select a million convo topics, or sit on the same couch or dining table and just TALK. I can’t speak simlish, why do so many ways to talk exist in Sims 4 just to build shallow relationships??

I'm mad that they didn't make sims 4 for rent load like sims 2 because they've shown us they can do it. In city living there's festivals that appear and dissappear without a loading screen. Even furniture and other things. How can they not include that?

I never been able to move on from sims 2 it’s just everything for me! And the mod community are keeping it strong ❤

One cool feature about apartments in The Sims 2, if you had a good relationship with your neighbor, you could ask them to babysit your child/baby and no need to call and pay for a nanny.

the wild thing to me is that Sims 2 Apartment Life not only featured the apartment/townhouse/whatever architecture and gameplay, but it *also* added a whole-ass magic system/occult type. That blew my mind when I was recently looking at my physical collection of Sims 2 addons and I remembered the magic gameplay but couldn't see a magic-focused expansion. It took me a while to remember that sometimes they just put other big features in unrelated expansions to give as much value as possible...

The problem with loading screens is not about the time, it's about MANAGEMENT. When I heard about this pack I was excited because I would like to have my sim meet the other neighbours WHILE controlling my other sim doing their own thing.

I'm currently playing in an apartment slot in 2 and I love watching my NPC and playable neighbours just do their stuff, go with their daily lives: ordering pizzas, making noise, dressing as French fries before heading for work, etc

All of the versatility in dedicating different rooms to different households in The Sims 4 is stifled by loading screens. I have 0 motivation to build anything other than whole and completely separate units.

the elephant in the room is that the Sims 2's engineers and designers built a rock-solid game engine that had upward-scalability in mind. just like 4 it uses a fully original engine. Hence, no loading screens, ability to make apartments, etc. Sims 4 either doesn't have the talent or foresight, neither of which are good things.

Feeling so nostalgic for Sims 2 and 3 now! Speaking of loading screens, my Sim travelled to the Night Market in Tomarang-when I clicked ‘go home’ she literally WALKED all the way to her house and the loading screen appeared when she arrived at her front gate! What a waste of time😂

I so relate to the chore thing for leaving your home. I don't even have this pack, but just the sims 4 in general, I find it so hard to leave my house. I just recently went back to the sims 3 and I think I'll stay here a little while :)

But in sims 3 you can build your own apartment. Only downside is though that you can only have 1 ”actual” apartment on a lot whereas you can set up npc apartments to have neighbors be active on the lot but they are only ”fake” apartments. But the best part of sims 3 is the ability to build actual big skyscraper apartments though you were locked to using a fairly large number of shells which had like premade floors that you could build on. So often like 1-2 floors that were fully customizable. In that way you could make like a big city which with sims 2 and 4 you can’t really cause you can only add a limited number of floors.

Katya’s fucking affinity for blunt bob wigs

Sims 2 being better than Sims 4, not a new😶

The story progression mod by lazyduchess also unlocks visiting residental lots. It also syncs the time. It is honestly like the only mod you need

An experienced The Sims 2 builder here (also have detailed some findings in The Sims Forums in Residential Rental Preparation thread), roofs aren't necessary. The doors were simply placed the wrong way round. The Sims 4 has more simpler and flexible tools indeed, The Sims 2 requires a cheat after all. However, once you get a grasp in The Sims 2 limitations, then it becomes simple to do. The Sims 2 unit system begins with the apartment door and will go into every room it can access to through doors and stairs. Step-over fences don't count, so if you wall an area in unit off with it, it becomes a shared area. And if you have an outdoors area, spiral stairs are advised as the regular stairs will leave an opening to the fence the game doesn't like. About The Sims 3, there are actually two types of apartments there: Late Night mock-apartments and University Life apartment lot type. University Life apartments are dorms in your regular world, but also with rent. But the more known are Late Night mock-apartments. The only similarity with City Living is that they are in a shell (most of the time, some aren't in The Sims 3). Other than that, they aren't same. In The Sims 3, there is only 1 main unit. The other units are hidden rooms that you cannot visit and are not even filled in. You can knock on doors to invite NPC sims out, but they will never cause noise nor will they complain about noise your sim makes. They are never seen throwing trash out or checking mail. The lobbies in The Sims 3 are mostly dead. So, on The Sims 3 apartments being similar to City Living apartments, I heavily disagree. On some technical aspects on The Sims 2, every time you move a sim into an apartment, the lot is copied as hidden apartment sub-lot. The lot that was there before and is shown in the neighborhood view is the apartment base-lot. Every time you visit a sim, some loading without loading screens is done. If you visit an unit occupied by one of your families, the loading is done from their sub-lot. Otherwise, it's done from the base-lot. This also means that letting all sims die in apartments is not advisable, as the lot will be destroyed. The game will move the graves to a random lot, but they might be lost. When sims move out, the unit is reset to the state it was before, unlike with houses where wallpapers and flooring you put stay. Though for me, The Sims 2 wins because it doesn't have that 100 unit limit. Though I like that in The Sims 4, you can have more than 4 households live in one Residential Rental lot.

I’ve been playing Sims 4 For Rent for the last 2 days and it is SO bugged it’s literally unplayable. The biggest problem is that the “justly evict” option doesn’t work.. and you’ll always get negative repercussions for kicking someone out after their lease runs out. And whenever you select “ask tenant about rental conditions” it starts a pet adoption event which is SO annoying. And no matter how much you maintain appliances and plumbing, the maintenance score still stays at “poor”. Hope they patch this expansion ASAP.

Sims 2 is just B E T T E R, if sims 2 could've done it without loading screens, but still be grayed out, i dont understand why sims 4 can;t do it also about sims 4 trying to be 50/50 but its being more of a build simulator, its really true tbh, sims 2 was so rich in gameplay that its even hard to compare

All I want for Christmas, every Christmas, every birthday is for the sims 2 to be remastered❤

The sims 4 one is just so weird. I moved my household into a lot that I built apartments on it and then couldn’t own the building my sim paid for???

I think you just struggled to shift from 2 to 3 because 2 is just objectively **really good** I wouldn’t worry about switching to 5, unless it’s no good. If it’s not good, I don’t think anyone would mind if you stick with 4

Sims 2 Apartment Life is an ICON she is

belladonna cove was my life…. my world, and my universe …. ugh sims 2 literally takes over a chunk of my soul and always will

I had high hopes for For Rent, but damn I got so sick of having to go through a loading screen every time I visit my neighbour. Got so annoyed I just opened Sims 2 instead because Apartment Life is ✨perfect✨

I was so impressed when I saw the For Rent trailer because I thought we'd finally be able to control one sim at home and another sim in a neighbour's home simultaneously. Instead, the apartment system works exactly like the existing Lot system. So what is the benefit? Why would I buy a pack to sit through 2 loading screens to visit my neighbour when I can already visit my neighbour with just one loading screen?

As far as game engines/coding, wasn't that why they did such a big game update several years ago, changing/updating the coding to work better? Moving forward with updates (and breaking basically every mod ever in the process)? I'm not sure what the difference is between a game engine and game coding. But if they could update the entire code of the game, I don't see why they couldn't FIX STUFF. (other than the obvious: someone doesn't want to spend the money on it. This isn't even a slight against the devs, but the people writing their paychecks.)

"If the Sims 2 asked me to lay down my life to defend her, i would say...i'm already dead" Plumbella omg i CACKLED 😂😂😂

I LOVED the apartments in The Sims 2. Once I had that pack, my Sims always lived in Belladonna Cove.

Previous Sims games understood the focus should be on the SIMULATION. Building was a great aspect (and in fact what originated the idea for the game), but what made The Sims a global phenomenon was the life simulation aspect. The Sims 4 seems to be only good for building. The simulation lets a lot to be desired.

🌟 sticker for plumbella being brave!

I loved the Sims 2 because I was able to set up a happy vampire family where someone could go out to a bar and sims wouldn't run away or hate them immediately in Sims 3 and 4.

TS4 code is probably a mess, that's why they take a whole pack for apartments alone

12:34 The fact that they didn't create separate subsets for objects in TS4 is one of those early red flags 😅 Like sure, they made a case for the TS3 colour wheel and pattern catalogue being too much, but why not have subsets? Why not up to three or four per object? Why no texture referencing? As an example, every bedding texture you add to TS2 can be used on any bed. In TS4 every recolour of every bed is its own separate texture file, which is both a massive waste of resources, and a limit on creativity. It's just painfully inefficient from a development standpoint, and for anyone who downloads a lot of CC. And if you create CC it's a ton of extra work!

I really liked some of the features of TS4 For Rent - like the idea of being a landlord, and being able to assign rooms/spaces to units without them having to be next to one another or depending on a single door - but *The Sims 2 is stil superior* like ALWAYS. I do *understand* why they put the loading screens though, in TS2 all objects are loaded all the time, even if invisible they are still eating up your memory and on big lots it can cause lag, but i think this loading all units at once should have been an option for TS4. PS: you CAN have apartments without basic furniture in TS2. I made some tenements of many single empty rooms with a communal kitchen and bathrooms, and the units all work fine and act like they have all the necessities but Sims still use the communal spaces regularly, it's really nice.

I only played sims 3 as a child but your videos have encouraged me to go back and play sims 2 and it’s such a detailed game with so much heart!! So ty for the introduction

Btw! The rugs don't need to be inside. By the hallway the Google results meant that the rug should be in the hallway that's inside the apartment building because the doors to apartments are usually inside. So yeah, rugs outside of apartment :D

I’m used to Sims 3 no loading screens but it also took my sims 5 years to get to anywhere so it felt like a loading screen 🤣

I'm pretty sure you could build apartments on sims 3, you could edit the tall buildings (more freely than in sims 4 city living), but you could also build a custom one, just like in sims 2 (or sims 4 for rent). In Bridgeport, the apartments near the film studio were like that!

Honestly another thing about the sims 4 loading screens is that now thatwe see how apartments will work, multi-purpose lots are also way less desirable too. Like if I wanted to run a restaurant and have a home upstairs I would probably still have to sit through those loading screens, and it sucks that the idea of it ultimately turns me away from wanting that. The problem with the sims 4 is that it prides itself on set dressing and fun concepts, but it never bothers to feel fully fleshed out or have a smooth, constant flow of quality gameplay.

I was so excited to buy this pack, almost bought it before release, but now I am so glad I didn't! The loading screen takes all the purpuse of it away 😢

I remember that it was possible to build apartments in TS3, it just involved a bunch of cheat codes and intricate knowledge of how the silver orbs work. At least we could... which is more than TS4 City Living/Eco Lifestyle type of apartments. There is no comparison between the two that I will let stand.Except for load time and lag. Then I just hide my eyes and keep walking.

Yeah the sims 4 for rent just makes me want to replay the sims 2 apartment life 😭

I feel called out, lol. I know it’s silly….they’re just pixels, but I don’t like killing my sims, lol. That being said, if they die during the course of play, I let the story go on. I don’t fight to keep them alive or brimg them back.

Not the Katya jumpscares 😭😂

I love seeing that flag in the background 🖤❤🤍💚

i cant believe how much II still Love the Sims 2. I know its out dated but its sooo much better gameplay and details and things to do. I just freaking love TS2.

I honestly relate so hard to the Sims 4. With my social anxiety, I also have to sit through a loading screen before visiting my neighbors 🫠 but yes, no more loading screens pls fr

At this point just scrap Rene and work on remastering 2 or 3

i have never struggled more than with this pack, i spent a full day figuring everything out on my own because the in-game tutorial and and the livestream wasn't helping 😭 i appreciate the people who worked on this efforts but omg it's so frustrating sometimes

Same problems with Sims 4 Uni!! It really does drive me insane that Sims 2 can have apartments and dorm rooms hidden until you knock on their door but sims 4 can't. It really really bothers me in sims 4 Uni too. Why can't I dib my own dormroom and keep everyone else's hidden til I knock like sims 2?!

The Sims 2 was and still is that girl 💅

if it’s one thing jesse gonna do it’s make sure everyone knows she is a day ONE simmer. and she’s so real for that

05:31 omg the H&M window!! This just unlocked memories for me lmao! I grew up in a very rural part of the UK where the closest H&M was like 400 miles away (and considered a VERY COOL brand by preteens...). I thought that stuff pack was the coolest thing ever. I used that window in EVERY build 😭

Sims 2 apartments is one of the first ones I got - was a sims 2 girlie but I’m a bit younger so those latest expansion packs were strong in my mind… belladonna cove was my sunset valley

5:03 This little meltdown rant is why I love these videos, you’re like a kindred spirit.

I still haven’t made the change to sims 4 i still go back to sims 2 and 3

loading screens on the same lot is CRAZY

Sims 2 basically figure out how to efficiently do apartments in the first expansion (university) and the sims 4 did not manage to do dorms very well so the writing was already on the wall..

4:10 We can build apartments in the sims 3 I do it all the time. You just have to enter buy debug and you can place 2 objects: Public room marker Hidden room marker The hidden room is for the apartments of the neighbours so you cant see it inside them The public room is for the shared space. The cost of the apartment is considering of only the spaces that have no markers and are behind the door of yours sims apartment. I give it to you that it’s not like the sims 2 where you can build all the apartments, in the sims 3 you have to choose one. But I mean, you can build it haha (just more of a hustle)

I got bloodwork done too! And I was also brave! Anyway Sims 2 will always be superior in almost every way forever

The answer really is just how shite Sims 4 engine is by 2023 (heck, just weeks from 24 lol) standards. The game was never intended to be what EA made Maxis turn it into from the original online multiplayer. TwistedMexi, who is pretty knowledgeable regarding the game's code and a big modder in the Sims 4 community, confirmed they could not make rental units without loading screens.

The rug on the apartment door is meant to be in the hallway. Apartments don’t just open onto the street usually.

The only time it really sucks that you can't have your character visit someone else's house in Sims 2 is when they have a home business. I had three witches build and stock an amazing magic shop, but then I couldn't direct my other witches to go shop there. All I could do was play the household where the shop was, and hope the right people showed up in a buying mood. For that reason, I always open businesses on a separate or stand-alone community lot.

I played sims 2 from when sims 3 came out till 2018. I did not wanna move on to a new game. I loved sims 2 so much. And i still do to this day.

I've filed my first bug/glitch report in the many MANY years because For Rent for me is having a LOTTT of issues, like I want to play this so BAD!!

Agreed, being able to visit other sims in their home is not necessary. Nice in theory, but unless it's a sim I've made and I've furnished and decorated their home meticulously it just ruins the immersion for me. Why would I want to visit random townies who have like 20 pieces of furniture total?

Thank you for doing this video!!! 🙌🏻❤️ I'm sure the door did work automatically in the old days 🤔 cos i was making hella apartments and using them without cheats

It also takes me a while to fully embrace new Sims games. When Sims 3 was released, I initially stuck with Sims 2 due to comfort. It wasn't until 2020 that I really got into Sims 4. With Sims 2, I only had Apartment Life, Free Time, and Open for Business - getting an expansion pack was a significant event. In contrast, for Sims 4, I feel compelled to get expansion packs because the base gameplay feels sparse. It wasn't until well into Sims 3 that I discovered custom content. So, I can definitely relate to what you're saying.

Would love a video comparing "for rent" and the SimRealist mod! Thanks flower

Back when I played TS4 in 2016, the loading screens killed me bc they lasted so freaking long. I would listen to 5 5 minute songs on that first loading screen. Nowadays, the loading screens are like nothing, I barely notice they’re there.

i have a friend thats born on 14 September 2004 (the day the sims 2 came out) and I always make a big post about how its happy birthday to the sims 2 and put a very small ps that its also their birthday

0:09 Same girl I had to have a blood test the other day I almost fainted. The nurse was trying to keep me talking but I could not get through my second sentence

I really wish they added the details they had in the sims 2, like the landlord greeting you, checking out your apartment before renting and finally signing an agreement. I find it so weird in the sims 4 that as soon as you load into the lot you already own the place without even meeting the landlord or the landlord telling you what the unit rules are, they dont even show up during the welcome wagon.

You COULD build apartments in The Sims 3 (using room markers). The only difference between Sims 2 apartments and Sims 3 apartments is that you couldn't visit your neighbors in The Sims 3. You'd knock on the door and they'd appear outside their apartment.

My mom bought me the Sims 2 from our local Walmart when I was like 8. When I say I spent so much time playing the Sims 2 from 8-12, I mean it. I STILL miss it so much. These videos bring me so much nostalgia.

not the katya pics😭✋

Not Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova 😭 I always have been and always will be a Sims 2 girlie, nobody does it like her ✨

The loading screens between different units is absolutely crazy tbh 💀 must be an engine limitation, there’s no other way it makes sense…

To be fair, you could leave out the expansion name and be correct like 95% of the time. Though I guess making apartments in TS4 is just a tad more intuitive since you don't need to mess about with making sure the apartment door's mat is in the common area and that it is the only exit to the common areas for that unit (you could do balconies and back yards with normal doors, but they have to be fenced in) - and then doing a couple of cheat commands to properly change the lot type. :)

I think we have the same Sims2 and Sims 3 experience! I also had the same packs you did, and could NEVER dream of owning every single pack back then. I think we're similar ages, I'm 30 and from North West England :)

not to be a broken record but apartment life was such a good expansion i remember everything about it so fondly. i used to always live in trailer parks bc i loved the community vibe of it, i loved the new modern cord phone, the way you could ask your neighbours to babysit your children for free while u worked,,, just real community vibes idk! 😭😭😭

I think there needs to be an acknowledgement that if it’s a new sims game that I needs to grow not regress and that’s why sims 4 feels lacking. Because we have had more before

My friend gave me their sims 2 apartment life and freetime CDs because they got sims 3. They lent me sims 3 for like a week or month or smth too but ... I was fully playing sims 2 until i got sims 4 september 2014. I played with apartment life and free time for like 5 years

Wifi wouldn’t work for about a month 1 summer, I couldn’t play sims 4 so I decided to play sims 2 since I knew I didn’t need wifi to download it & I had a lot more fun playing that than I’ve ever had playing sims 4. It’s honestly so gr8.

I absolutely loved Katya making a couple appearances in this video.

i grew up with playing the sims 2 super pack on my moms computer lol.. i think i played it for year even after the sims 4 came out

i think you can make custom apartments in the sims 3 with debug room markers? I have never tried it and always thought you couldn't but lilsimsie made a video doing it recently

I was 100% expecting it to be like 2 and 3 where it would be a greyed out shell until you knocked on the door 😭. The shared spaces is the only thing I would be interested in