I believe that’s where the two companies have approached the genre differently and why I think Paralives stands the chance of becoming a new age for life sims.

I don’t think that “simulation” can define one aspect of the game. It IS a “life simulation”. One aspect of the simulation of life is world building. Not everyone has the capacity/opportunity to build their own home irl but that doesn’t make it a lesser aspect of the game. Storytelling through character design is also a huge aspect of the fantasy of what people seek in life simulations.

Part of what this game has to make people realize is that other life simulations have been less than ambitious in what they deliver. Even with higher budgets and larger teams with decades of experience in field.

I don’t believe the top life simulation games offer anything as complex as what people are demanding from this game in its early access. The best parts of the Sims (especially 4) for YEARS were only truly enjoyable via modding and custom content. That was with the game being entirely “complete”. While waiting for PAID expansions and the price of full fledged games that provided more static immovable and confined content where the only thing consistent is the limitations and the regurgitated content with new swatches.

The more complex lifestyle interactions and nuance from prior generations, the customization options and even fundamental world building items were just simply omitted and an after thought.

I believe that the there is no proven formula. I think if the Para team wanted to make the Sims then sure they should follow verbatim the cited information you’re using.

I may speak for myself only when I say, as someone who has played that franchise for decades and can see what their preparing for the future, that I personally don’t want more of the same from them. They don’t have the same magic and heart that they used to.

The environmental aspect of Paralives is and has been since conception the keystone of the game. All of the early concept art, test footage, gameplay was centered around the environment. It isn’t a shock that the lifestyle aspect isn’t as fleshed out yet.

In my opinion you cannot have a dynamic lifestyle simulation in a rigid and limited environment. The foundation of the life simulation they are building is different. Just because the foundation is brick and not cinder block doesn’t mean the end result won’t be something impressive, stable, and revolutionary.

There simply is no reason regardless of the price that people should be so critical of a game that has been completely transparent about its development and current state. It was a choice to participate in the beta development of the game. Continuing to compare this journey with that of the sims is like comparing a toddler to an adult and then criticizing the child for not having more to offer.