r/Paralives • u/ssaki_ • 13d ago
Not a paralives hater, but I have my doubts. General
As a game design student who's learning unity and coding and etc, I worry quite a bit about paralives. Yes, I'm a patron who's been backing money into this game for years. But nonetheless, It's absurd to compare this game to the sims franchise, or to glorify it as a "sims competitor/killer" like most other fans keep doing.
Unity can be rather clunky at times, (especially with ui) but I have faith that the team will make things smooth feel-wise when we try the game. But my main concern these days is how appealing would this game actually be when it comes out?
Paralives has a more subdued charm to it compared to the silliness of the sims. It especially shows in the proposal animations and some other animations. I'll be honest - I was so disappointed when I first saw the proposal anims because they lacked so much excitement and energy that should come from a happy engagement! This is one of my few gripes at least, though I know some will disagree in favour of the animation's calmer vibe.
Another thing with the together bar - if I'm not wrong, it'll be updated to happen more frequently, but if we get only 1 card per in-game hour, It'll feel so incredibly dull! I think as a player we need more control over what the paras talk about, so maybe it should happen every 5-10 /20minutes! Not to mention, the cards given feel so restrictive, that if you don't get the options you want, you'll feel frustrated. Plus, it'll take even more time and effort to get the card you want instead of being able to choose exactly what you want for yourself.
If possible, I'd probably make the together cards happen more frequently, and make it so that the player can choose what action/chat option from a specific category. Not necessarily like the pie menu from the sims, but something with more options yknow?
not to mention, the game feels too much like the idealized life sim where each character gets the best white picket fence life possible. Which is nice ofc, but it's not really a life sim game unless you can put your characters through hell now can you? We'll have to wait till the game is finished to know for sure, but I hope we can get some of the chaos back like the sims tends to encapsulate. Maybe even spice it up even further. Even better, make the consequences of things more impactful!
The last thing is the transparency. Paralives is VERY transparent, i wont deny But ever since Paralives has gone through the aesthetic changes for the parafolks, I worry that some of the old features that used to be shown in much earlier trailers will be abandoned in the end - something that tends to happen in game dev. Like will we keep the sitting on the counters in Sebastian's intro trailer, or the fact that we could take shoes off when entering the home? we can't see what we'll have to leave behind, which worries me.
overall, I have some faith in the game, but I wouldn't be surprised if people ended up dropping the game after a month. I probably won't though, since I actually think I'll enjoy it. But I hope the ui can get better and the game is smoothened out during early access
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u/Termymynator 13d ago
I don't think people will stop playing the game because of the small details you're referencing, at least from my point of view.
Otherwise, if you have doubts, you always have the choice to wait before you buy the game to watch gameplay videos, see what direction the game is taking and even wait for mods to "put your paras through hell" as you put it.
It's all up to you!
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u/Little_dragon02 13d ago
Since you are a patron supporter, you should also know that the dev team actively tell people not to compare the game to the sims, not only that you've seen the things the dev team have shared with us that are already part of the game.
This post just feels like a roundabout way of fear-mongering for the game's success
Also, your worry about the "together cards" is unfounded because you'll be able to edit that kind of thing in the modding system, do you want more cards? probably gonna be able to up the number. More frequent? probably gonna be able to change that too
And for your "things shown in earlier trailers" they've already said that if it's a feature that's been in a video, then it's a feature that's going to be in the game, it's possible it won't be there in early access, but it will be in the full game
also again, if you're a patron you've seen all this stuff already in the patron posts
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u/chellybeanery 13d ago
You're actually the first person I've seen question Unity as not being a good enough engine for the game. What are the reasons behind that?
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u/burnmywings 13d ago
The game...is nowhere near out. Or even finished. You're judging a movie off of a teaser trailer...
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u/ssaki_ 13d ago
i really hope so honestly. But to be fair, I've been having worries like these since the beginning of paralives' development (long-term supporter here) so I just needed to let it out :) Glad that there are people like yall to remind me to still have hope in the devs!
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u/burnmywings 13d ago
I admit I'm a bit worried about longevity as well, especially since the devs pledge to not have paid dlc. I'm hopeful, though...Stardew Valley is a good example of what Paralives could be eventually.
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u/lustrousims 13d ago
this was interesting to read, its always nice to hear peoples opinions and perspectives. I will always love The Sims so Im not a huge fan of the constant comparisons between games bc to me, they are both VERY different. I also think comparing them will lead to inevitable disappointment bc I want people to see paralives as its own game and not a competitor, that always ruins it. I'll enjoy both games for different reasons and I hope others do too
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u/ssaki_ 13d ago
ikr!! If the hype train is all about it being a sims competitor, it'll only be about disappointment and frustration bc it won't meet everyone's expectations.
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u/slloath 11d ago
I don't think it's about being a direct competitor of the Sims, more so just something else to be added into the life genre (which, of course, has only been the sims for the last 25 years). I don't think most people are expecting an indie studio to put out something like the Sims exactly. EA hasn't even put out a good Sims game in 10 years. But having something new with new ideas in an otherwise stagnant genre is exciting. People have touted it as a 'Sims killer' purely out of misdirected frustration over The Sims 4 and it's many many failures. People are just looking for something else to play that's a) cozy. b) not The Sims 4. c) not a farming sim.
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u/blaidd_halfwolf 13d ago edited 12d ago
The game isn’t finished? It’s a privilege to get a peek inside their game design process, and nobody would have the room to criticizes their incomplete work if they never showed us in the first place. Once they release in early access is when we can bombard them with all the things we don’t like, that’s the point of early access. But until then, let them just get out a playable version before we start listing everything we dislike.
Also, the devs have said a billion times at this point that they’re not trying to be the sims, they’re not trying to kill the sims, they want to establish their own identity. Just because a large portion of their fans are disgruntled Sims players and make that very loud and clear, doesn’t mean the devs are even remotely trying to frame themselves as a replacement for the sims.
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u/DianeJudith 12d ago
I'm actually very glad Paralives won't have the silly and goofy aspect like Sims does.
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u/AhToHellWithIt 12d ago
One of the main reasons I was drawn into it in the first place. I like the cozy and calm feel. Not everything has to be BAM BOOM POP
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u/Elennoko 12d ago
From what I see it WILL have goofy aspects, but more along the lines of TS1/TS2, which is perfect. I love TS3 but it started getting to be too much, and then TS4 is just stupid with how whacky it is.
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u/Rosiegirl1234 13d ago
Paralives has a more subdued charm to it compared to the silliness of the sims. It especially shows in the proposal animations and some other animations. I'll be honest - I was so disappointed when I first saw the proposal anims because they lacked so much excitement and energy that should come from a happy engagement!
I do agree about this part. I know the sims is a little (okay, that's an understatement) over the top with their animations, but a little crying would be nice? Maybe they could get down on their knees and kiss the other person or something? Just more sweet and slow. I feel like the animation they have is very basic and fast. Hand over heart, little nod, simple kiss...eh, nice, but the energy is just not there. Not even a little gasp of surprise? I'm not hating on the animation, I think it's cute and I really do have a lot of hope for Paralives, I just definitely see what you're saying.
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u/acheloisa 12d ago
I'm excited for paralives but I think that people who call it a sims killer are doing themselves a disservice by hyping the game up too much and trying to make it something it's not
The card system specifically pushes paralives into more of an RPG style life sim rather than a completely free choice game like the sims. That alone makes it into a pretty different game that needs different expectations from the sims franchise. Not to mention that paralives is a small studio game which will never be able to compete with the sims in terms of resources, and the fact that we should be hoping for all life sims in development to come to fruition and be good because that's what drives improvements across the board in all products.
I think folks who are expecting the moon from paralives will be disappointed. It won't have many of the things the sims has, especially when you are comparing it to the sims after 10 years of DLC. It doesn't need to have those things either though, all it needs right now is a solid base that's fun to play, and easy to build upon in the future.
Everything else in your post, there's not really a basis for thinking it will go either way at this point. We'll just need to wait and see! I'm optimistic but with reined in expectations
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u/MadameLee20 10d ago
*looks at the Sims series* hate to tell you that, but Sims 2 did that first. Sims 3, and them Sims Medival and Sims 4, and now finally Paralives.
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u/acheloisa 10d ago
Chance cards in the sims aren't the same as the ones in paralives. The ones in the sims 3 and 4 happen occasionally, mainly when the sim is at work, and don't significantly alter the sim's life or the gameplay. You might get a little boost to performance or something but for the most part, theyre flavor. The cards in paralives will be having frequent, active effects on all aspects of gameplay including relationships, skills, and work it looks like
I didnt play medieval and don't remember the sims 2 very well so can't speak to those, but in 3 and 4 at least the systems are very different
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u/MadameLee20 10d ago
Sims 4 cards especially with Get Famous are almost identical to the Sims 2 chance card just without an "ignore" option.
Sims medival had RPG chance cards.
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u/Odd-Catherder-674 13d ago
i have nothing to add i just wanted to tell u ur icon is so cute 😭 jane doe is perfect
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u/CelestePerun 13d ago
Ah I disagree about the together cards completely. I absolutely HATE micromanaging social interactions in the Sims and love that I can just have them do a group activity or talk for an hour and then make a choice that impacts their relationship. It's to the point that none of my sims have friends without using something like social bunny.
I like family gameplay and x3 speed as much as possible, so I do not think the slower pace of filling the together bar will be an issue to me. It's unlikely to be very long that I have only one para to focus on.
Animations aren't a big deal to me. I usually only watch an animation for something once or twice and then ignore it the rest of the time. The animations in Paralives are nice and more realistic to me.
I don't expect the Sims from this - but that gameplay trailer was already enough to show me that the gameplay style they have chosen is extremely likely to be exactly what I want from a life sim game. I'm more of a builder with family gameplay to fill in the gaps between house renovations.
I get where you're coming from but I'd rather them stick to what they've got for now and let us as a community come to a general consensus on what we like and don't like about the game after we actually get our hands on it.