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There has always been a debate about which version of The Sims franchise the players should choose, which leads to the never-ending question “Is Sims 3 or 4 better?”. There’s no such guarantee that just because Sims was launched after Sims 3, that makes it better.
Both versions have their share of advantages and disadvantages. Some features have been added in the new version, while some of them have been deleted, so it all depends on the simmers as to which version suits them better.
However, today we’d try to put an end to this long debate of Sims 4 vs. Sims 3 and offer a better idea as to which version of The Sims is better. So let’s jump right into it.
Difference Between Sims 3 and 4
Now when we talk about the comparison between these two versions, you’ll notice various points where they are different from each other, and these differences between the two would clear this argument.
1. Loading Screens
One of the foremost differences between Sims 3 and Sims 4 is the loading screens that pop up. The Sims 3 offers players the feature of venturing from one world to another without any loading screens. This open-world feature has made it easier for sims to play the game without having to wait for the game to load.
However, Sims 4 has removed this option of a connected world because this version of the game has faster loading screens, unlike Sims 3. The players who are too impatient would find this quite an excellent feature. In Sims 3, the game takes a lot of time to load, which becomes annoying for the players.
2. Customization
The Sims 3 offers the CAS or Create A Style feature to the players where they can customize their sim’s clothing, furniture, etc., in terms of colors and textures. But the customization was limited in this version as you can only use the sliders to adjust different features. There are a few features that this version has and Sims 4 doesn’t, such as,
- Teen sims aren’t of the same height as adult sims
- There are no predefined colors for the clothes.
But when it comes to Sims 4, it has upgraded this customization into Create A Sim, where simmers can make adjustments in the way their sims look from head to toe, giving them a realistic appearance. The excellent graphics of the game also create a huge difference when customizing.
They can create them based on a celebrity look or resembling family or friends. Instead of sliders, they can make small adjustments such as their face structure or physique just by dragging the cursor up and down to make them taller or shorter, or side to side to make the belly fat or thin, etc.
3. Lot Space
On one hand, Sims 3 has numerous lots, and sims can add more wherever they find free space. They can choose from the 170 lot options available to them
But in Sims 4, the lots have already been placed, and there’s limited space for more. San Myshuno world is the largest in the Sims 4: City Living pack with only 30 lots.
4. Gameplay
When it comes to gameplay, Sims 3 lacks in providing compelling and smooth gameplay. As mentioned earlier, since there are open worlds, it causes several glitches and slows down the game’s speed.
Furthermore, Sims 3 follows an emotion driven gameplay, and it’s easier to notice when a sim isn’t feeling good. Still, due to the ambitions reward, even unpleasant behavior of the sims is rewarded, along with the good behavior perks.
But in the case of Sims 4, the game runs smoothly and offers a stable gaming environment because it’s a newer version. Moreover, if the sims are feeling low, then they’d have to be cheered up first before they can continue with tasks that require them to be happy or ambitious.
This avoids interaction spamming in the game, unlike Sims 3. Ghost interaction is a new addition to the Sims 4 game, and its attributes are –
- Ghosts can possess any object in the house.
- Angry fire spirits can cause fires.
- Electric ghosts would break appliances when angry and repair them when they are happy.
- A playful electric spirit can electrocute other sims.
- Emotional ghosts can spread the emotion they died from to other sims.
- Exhaustion ghosts relax and don’t do much.
5. Story Progression
Sims 3 offers the simmers an option to start a new family and not focus on what the other families are currently doing. However, the story keeps progressing for them as well. So if your sim returns, they’d find several changes in the household, such as the children might have grown, or one of the elders might have died, and so on.
The Sims 4, however, doesn’t offer this feature. Instead, it introduced SmartSims, where every sim’s emotion and personality enhance and increase their chances of being affected by the changes in their surroundings. For instance, the things you place in the house might have an impact on their mood. This provides more realistic gameplay.
6. Build/Buy Mode
The Sims 3 is popular for its integration of cars and other vehicles in the game, as it makes for an exciting gameplay. However, it’s challenging to access or search for things when it comes to using the Build and Buy mod for items or using the gallery. There are some useful traits of this mod in Sims 3 as well –
- Steps have different railings on each side
- Objects are available in all colors instead of predefined ones.
If we talk about Sims 4, it offers numerous decorative items that can be placed outside the sim’s house, but they aren’t of any use. For instance, if the sims have a car parked outside their home, they can’t get in and drive.
But Sims 4 does provide a better build/buy mod, which is easily accessible. Even the gallery feature is incorporated so that all the lot and family creations are uploaded there for others to use.
The gallery button is also given to optimize the sim’s ability to find things. Furthermore, it offers the feature of adjusting, rotating or moving objects according to the player’s whims. Other features that Sims 4 offers are –
- You can save rooms for sharing, copying, or shifting purposes.
- Players can also enlarge objects by clicking Shift + [ or Shift + ]
- You can place windows at any height.
- Curved fences and railings are also available. You can adjust the curved section’s size, but it should be in multiples of 90 degrees, and the smallest size can be 2×2.
- Simmers can also adjust the size of the floors, but there are only three heights available to choose from, and all the floors would have the same height.
- The same lot can have different roof patterns.
- The pillars would have the same height as the floors, but when they are placed on the ground, they’d have the height of the ground floor only, so you’d notice a gap above it.
7. Expansion Packs
Every simmer understands the value of expansion packs and what all it has to offer to the game. Both the versions have 11 EPs to offer the players. Sims 3 came up with the best expansion packs for the base game initially, but as soon as you add too many EPs, the game would start becoming glitchy and might even crash at times.
Sims 4, on the other hand, has recently released its new pack, Cottage Living, which is quite unique. Furthermore, their game engine is stable enough not to face issues when using several expansion packs.
But the EPs offered by Sims 4 lacked basic items like the pool and toddler phase of the sims, which were added later on. Also, whenever you’d update the game, the player-built mods would require an update.
8. Personalities
In the Sims 3 version, the diversity in personalities and character attributes were brought down from five to four.
However, Sims 4 offers better traits and features that directly impact the life of the sim, and the gameplay. It has also introduced an animation style, such as a confident swagger or a primitive hunch, to provide more depth to the characters.
9. Building Tools
Players who prefer Sims 3 on Sims 4 would agree that the building tools in Sims 3 are quite impressive, but it has its share of problems. For instance, if the simmers decide to swap their bathroom for a bedroom, they’d have to drag every single object one by one. Also, players can use the prefabricated rooms only if they download the concerned expansion pack.
On the other hand, Sims 4 has the feature of prefabricated rooms in the base game, so you don’t need an EP for it. In addition, rearranging items in the house would be an easy task because you can even remove all the main structures from the rooms to design it according to your preferences. So there is no need to switch items one by one to change the house’s layout.
10. DLC
The Sims franchise is known for its downloadable content, and both the versions have a lot to offer. The Sims 3 provides 11 expansion packs, 9 stuff packs, along with 10 independent neighborhoods and several objects. However, these DLCs aren’t compatible with Sims 4, and vice versa.
The Sims 4 can’t compete with the previous version of the game in this matter because Sims 3 offers a wide variety of downloadable content and makes the game richer. Sims 4 does offer several DLCs, but they aren’t compatible with Sims 3.
Conclusion
No matter how much we compare Sims 4 vs. Sims 3, there would always be areas where one excels and the other lacks. It’s up to the players to decide which version do they like better despite its drawbacks because, at the end of the day, both the games are available to the simmers to choose from. The question of “What’s better Sims 3 or Sims 4?” can never have a concrete answer because both the games are updating and improving themselves with time.
Even though both the versions were launched five years apart from one another, they have still maintained their value over the years, and for the right reasons. So, you can’t choose if Sims 3 is better or Sims 4. However, we hope that this article gives you an insight into which version would suit you better.
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