LBY | Let's Talk Gameplay Questions!
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- čas přidán 17. 08. 2023
- Join Life by You GM Rod as he talks through some of the design decisions we're making around gameplay and tuning and asks ✨you✨ all some questions to help us make key choices heading into Early Access. Rod talks about the depth of dishwashing and looks ahead to the starting economy for your humans. Let us know your thoughts below!
Want to skip ahead to the questions? Find the questions starting at 17:34 💜 - Hry
When it comes to the economy - since the player can basically type in the currency to make the budget whatever they want from the start, I think the best way is to have some pre-defined drop-list levels of the budget, like "poor", "modest", "rich", "custom", etc. This would free up the trait slot for something else, while still giving the player some freedom, almost like choosing a difficulty setting. 🤔
absolutely agree, great idea!
I love this idea !!
it's great to have the freedom to choose how much money we have but I find it easier to also have pre-made choices like these rather than having to calculate by ourselves how much we would need to have a "poor" "modest" or "rich" character etc
This is a nice idea! As @ghostly.illusion said, gives folks the options without having to calculate what it should be. It's all rather a BIT of a moot point, being as we can literally just set it to be whatever we like as we create our humans, but for those who like just a quick "start here and you can expect this" kind of choice at the beginning, I think it would really add to a great user experience.
As for tuning on skills (of any kind, really), I'd say whatever you devs consider a "mid-point" level of tuning might be best and give everyone decent access to some depth without over-doing it and overwhelming players with way too much to learn/improve/upgrade, etc. I think modders can then dig in and tune to their hearts' content, to the Nth degree if they like! Then players who want super in-depth, detailed game play can download mods, but other "basic" style players still have a good level of game play without getting bored. Hope that generalization helps. :D
i agree with this!
Love this idea!
Regarding the Cleaning Skill discussion:
I think it would be really nice to have Core (Primary) skills and associated Subskills. A core skill would include things like Cleaning and Creativity. They could range from 1 to 10. But subskills are more specific and are related to a core skill. An example would be Painting as a subskill for Creativity. Painting on the easel would build up your Painting Subskill but simultaneously build up the core Creativity skill at a slower rate. Core skills build slowly over time when its subskills are being worked on. Building a core skill might allow you to unlock benefits for its subskills: High Creativity skill could increase the dollar value of a piece of creative work, that includes painting, pottery, and other related subskills. I see Cleaning as a Core skill and laundry as a subskill.
Great idea!
Thanks for your feedback James, love the examples!
I would really like a system working like that James.
Brilliant idea!
I absolutely love this suggestion thank you!
Even a starter home or tiny cottage is a privilege to afford in real life for most people! I would LOVE if you made available apartments or flats ranging in quality that you paid for weekly (perhaps to a landlord). This would open up the way for a more realistic start with as little money as possible, but require you to get a job or start from 0 right away. Also, an option to simply have no home lot and sleep wherever in a tent would be even more of a challenge for Rags to Riches type players.
would also be nice to have public housing too, where it's like apartments but no landlords to pay to
Maybe coop housing scenario where part of your rent can be applied towards future purchase?
To Add to these ideas.. Starting poor housing, tents, trailers.. Motels... Apartments / flats ranging in size / cost.
Apartments should definitively be a part of the game. Maybe it should be like that, instead of buying a house in character set-up, the player can pick an apartment and be allowed to live in it rent-free for the starting phase of live mode.
It would be great if rentals could be implemented into the game. Folks don't always go out into the real world with $200k to throw down on a starter home. Some may want to rent to start out or potentially go into debt in order to purchase a home.
That's what i said then I wondered if they plan to do an apartment style expansion later on.
Yeah, I think with just basic UBI and nothing else, you shouldn't be able to buy a house. A small run down apartment is all you should be able to afford.
I agree :-)
Very much agree. I want my "people" to climb to the top from the bottom, but not just be restricted to being homeless and jumping from the gym for a shower to a cafe to eat until I've saved up 200k for a house.
Seeing Rod talking about his game is by far one of my favorite things. Given the rarity of seeing an industry veteran taking the time to share his work in such a humane and personal way... It's a huge privilege for me! I really appreciate Rod for making this video and for showing so much! I left the video happier than I entered it and felt that every minute of my time reacting and checking was worth it. You've been adding a depth I've always wanted, and I just love it!
Having a cost on clothes within the character creator is GREAT! And have a real-time rendering of the lot that will be chosen too. Also, I hope to see more videos with Rod in the future, because for me, he is the best presenter. The crew is wonderful, but Rod is Rod. Thank you to all of you who are involved in adding such depth and complexity, with amazing new mechanics. Follow that path, because it's been a long time since I've seen a game good enough to challenge our minds.
Answering questions, background traits can add some financial bonuses, especially if one of them is "heir" or "mafia son" or whatever crazy thing that can be invented. Starting out as an average citizen sounds interesting to me. Another thing that would be interesting is to start with debt. Starting in the negative for having made bad choices and having to deal with paying off loans, interest, etc. on what you chose in the character creator, can be a very interesting mechanic too!
And about depth, I would really like to see a house cleaning and organization mechanic that makes me want to organize it. Something like sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, all that would be wonderful. Especially if we can work as a cleaner for example!
Big yes to the background traits having affects like that!! Something like "wealthy family" or "royal lineage" would be so cool to add some story and gameplay to characters without having to cheat them into being rich. You guys could create one to start a character off with less money as well like "impoverished" Maybe you guys could add a little more to those traits as well so it doesn't just feel like a money buff in those examples if that's a concern? Maybe a "wealthy family" could get easier access to loans as well
I like the background traits idea a lot.
I like the idea of tidying together with dusting and vacuuming. If your human doesn't have time to do this then hiring a maid would be an option. If the house is dirty, your human would feel unhappy - if clean, this would make your human happier and much less likely to sink into depression 😃😲
I think it would be nice to have an option to seperate those things. Like, maybe you don't have the time or energy to vacuum and dust right now, so you'll just dust or maybe you have friends coming over, so light dusting would be enough where if you partner comes to visit you, you'd want your place to look really nice, so tidy up, dust AND vaccum! :D
And I’d love to see different humans reacting differently to the level of cleaning. Maybe they are embarrassed when their neighbor pops over but don’t truly care. Maybe some humans are unhappy when things aren’t cleaned.
@@stephiebella Yes! The "slob" type that lives in squalor or the extra tidy type that freaks out over a spec of dust 😃
unless your character is a slob or a hoarder, in which case they would love the mess.
As far as starting money, the funnest part of a life simulation for me has always been the "struggle" it also makes eventually buying the biggest house in town so much more rewarding. also, I'd love to see a more balanced economy. I always found it a little ridiculous that in the sims you can buy a decent house for 30k but the cheapest coffee maker is like $300.
I never actually was in it for the struggled, yeah I am in it for a little bit of challenge but the big houses are a pain to play in. Too many rooms and too many floors. I have as often made characters who cared about ending up in the biggest house as I have made characters who just wanted a comfy home life in an ok sized house and to raise kids successfully. And to be honest, I play the middle class family goal more than I play the ‘get to the biggest house on the lot’ goal. I have also played ‘how far do I get in life with a slacker character’ or how difficult is it to make money with ‘insert skill that isn’t an official job but makes money’ like gardening or painting. Shaping starter funds for these stories based on head canon family backstories is fun. Like perhaps my artist has inherrited money, but if it’s starts running out I am not allowed to increase by any cheats. So watching and playing through those financial tipping points is fun.
Setting the paramaters of the starting point for gameplay and not having it always be the same starting point or even life goal is the fun for me and with sims it was hard to accomplish that starting setup having variety without some cheats to make it fit my starting headcanon.
Yes! I’m really looking forward to a more balanced and real economy.
I think instead of a background trait taking up a personality slot, there should be it’s own reserved spot where everyone chooses a background. The default is what you displayed, just enough to start off. Or you can choose something different such as a sole inheritor of an extremely wealthy grandparent or something like that.
In Rimworld, every character has a background “story”. It’s used to describe why they may have already existing traits or why they are proficient/lacking in some skills. An example would be like this character was raised on a rural,secluded farm. +3 animals and plants skills, -3 social skills. Life by you could do something similar with skills, or just leave it to determine starting wealth.
I love the RimWorld suggestion, can't wait to abuse my characters in Life By You as well. Now all we need is mental breakdowns.
I love this idea. It always feels odd to me in the Sims to have an adult character (or even a child or teen) starting with 0 skills. A separate background trait would give them reasonable starting skills for the story you want to tell.
For me this is the way to go! Love how Rimworld covered this so well in their colonist creator and yeah it makes a bunch of sense for adult characters to start with at least some skill points.
This is a great idea. I don't know Rimworld (will check it out) but it makes sense to choose backgrounds separate from traits, which can inform skill levels or even determine which traits you can or can't choose at the start (as opposed to develop over time)
@@swamp_rose Definitely check it out, it is worth every cent! Graphics-wise it is very simple but cute, but simulation-wise, the social simulation is top notch, way better than The Sims 4 could ever be. The relationships are also amazing and not the same between two people, as in, I can love someone because they have a soothing voice and I'm attracted to their scars from their time in the military, but they'll hate me because my personality isn't compatible with their traits.
It is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it is a sci-fi colony simulator in a harsh world with no laws (although you can customize the difficulty with settings and certain mechanics mods), as it can get really violent sometimes, especially when someone loses their mind, but that is part of the fun, characters are simulated so well with their needs and personalities that they can literally have a mental breakdown and start fights, binge on foods or alcohol, and even burn their house down. It legit even helped my mental health as I started noticing how tiny things can greatly affect your mood, and sometimes a tiny event can be the final straw.
As for backgrounds, they are amazing for that exact reason. It gets even better if you use the mods from the Vanilla Expanded series, as they add hundreds of traits and revamp many mechanics. Regardless, in the base game every character has a child background and an adult background, some are very traumatic, and some are great for them. The best thing is that these backgrounds will also influence not only your traits, but also your skills, as someone who was a nurse before they crashed on this planet isn't capable of violence, and thus can't get any combat skills. Someone who had a luxurious childhood may also outright refuse cleaning and other menial tasks. Traits are also much more specific, with only a couple of effects, so there's a lot more variety on what to choose.
Also wondering, will we be able to get buildings that connect? Like when you go downtown and you have a strip of bars, restaurants and clubs all lined up and joined together. I think this will be great for realistic world building purposes.
Since you can change the size of the lots and put alot of them anywhere it's probably possible. In the world tour there were alot of closeby buildings 😏
Well at least you can build to the edge of your lot and then move the lots right next to eachother but I also want to know if you can have multi purpose buildings
@@Te3time I guessed that would be the way to do it, but I noticed on their videos no buildings were connected, even in the downtown area with bars etc. When I thought about it I realised every downtown area I know in real life is built this way, all connected. The only exceptions are villages where everything is spaced out and rural. But for 99% of world building, these connected buildings are required for a realistic representation, thats why I was hoping they could confirm it
Exactly what I need! Terraced/Adjoined/Connected lots or some type of lot/area zoning like TS5 is doing
Well, in the building video she was building to the edge of the lot and beyond. I'd say that's probably an answer to this...
Hello Rod, thank you for the answers. The level system is perfect.
I think fewer skills that are deeper are better.
Make a "Background" tab different from traits?
Noting the feedback and suggestion! Thanks for watching 💜
I think the start money should be minimal to get yourself a starter house, but give you that challenge to earn money (or UBI) from a job or crafting. For me personally the less the better. But as you say, you can change this whenever 🙌
Yes, I agree. Making it a challenge would be so much better than having everything handed to you on a plate, as they say.
Not even a starter house, but a rented dorm room or a small apartment. Please, who moves right into his own house when moving out from the parents?! That's "The Sims" stupidness. What even is a "starter house"? Is this a US thing? Buying like 5 houses in your life, each time a bigger one? If at all, most people will buy exactly one house or flat in their life ...
@@vomm starter homes are def a US thing
@@vomm Houses be expensive yo.
@@vommEhhh I doubt starter home are a Us thing, most of us start in an apartment with 72 roommates cus nothing is affordable 😂
Well Personally I think in real life most people dont start adulthood by buying a house. So lets simulate that we all mostly start out in smaller apartments with little money, then move into maybe a duplex or condo when we have built up our cash a bit and make our humans as well build a savings to get a house, or implement mortgages to be able to buy a house when needed if you dont wanna wait to buy a house. Apartments and little cash makes the gameplay more like real life instead of starting life out with a house! Add roommates as well to the apartments so people could live in an apartment with roommates, add various types of apartments from cheap to penthouse expensive! This level of gameplay is what makes a simulation fun and entertaining for long-term gameplay!
I like the idea of room mates and similar stuff. Sharing a flat with a few people bringing the price down and allowing you to have a more lavish lifestyle in other respects. I wonder how you would solve "build mode" for that scenario? Maybe you could only modify your own room of the house/apartment, or there could be a common bank account to which all tenants add some amount each month.
I like these ideas, but I also want enough flexibility to not be at the start of adult life. In sims 1 and 2 characters looked at least 30-40 years old yet STILL started the game with no job and no skills. I would love to create an established adult who could very well afford a house, but maybe isn’t as far along in their career as they would like. Also a rental system. Plenty of people rent as opposed to buying a house.
@@98ZaiI believe this was implemented in The Sims 3 University. The only part of the dorm or house you could edit was your own bedroom. I would LOVE something like, but maybe the editable part would be the general living space also.
@@xx-bu1hx If, when new people move in, they change the wallpaper and furniture in that room - that would be pretty cool. Otherwise I think I would want the option to edit the whole flat.
For starting economy, how about tiers for players to choose from? For example if you want to have a 20yr old human, maybe you want them to afford only the cheapest of homes. And for 45yr old could select a tier that can affors a car as well. And the rich tier as well. So a couple of selectable amounts for players to choos from.
Of course you can always go to the tool and edit, but this would give players more options, and you dont need to gove edit the starting amount every time you want to do something different
On the subject of starting out, one thing that concerns me is the lack of objects speciffically created for the start of a rags to riches. A lot of people like to start out without money, but where is the cheap plastic bucket toilet, or the makeshift shower that is really just a pole holding a bucket with holes on the bottom? I would really like to see this as craftables, like, buy a very cheap plastic bucket and a toilet seat to make a makeshift toilet or buy the bucket, then obtain a pole to make a makeshift shower. I'd like to see old, falling apart cheap furniture that would make the 'rags' part of Rags to Riches more realistic.
I like the idea of starting off with any amount of money I choose since usually I like starting off rich lol option should be there to decide for the individual player. Also I like the idea for cleaning skills and would like seeing more advance options to clean like vacuums for example, but not to where you "have to" clean. Please add in the ability to swim, theaters, more traffic and population in the world and maybe something like sports? Since its a beach town would like to see surfing or some type of activity going on in the beach to add to that realistic game play.
Thanks for showing this Rod, really enjoy watching these intricate details in the game. For me personally I would like to see a starting cash amount where you're able to purchase at minimum a starter home and or car. I feel that would be a good starting point 😊
Also regarding intricacy I feel like there is a huge gap in the market for games to incorporate in-depth homemaking activities, so things like tidying around the house, adding dishes to the dishwasher and even vacuuming I think would go down really well
Thanks for your thoughts! 💜
I love his voice, it's so calm and friendly
I had a very stressful morning and now listening to Rods voice in my pause directly calms me down, that's crazy! I need a Rod Podcast or he needs to read books for me 😂...
I just LOVE the idea of background traits. Also, I LOVE how you’re constantly posting videos about the development of the game and asking about how it should be done. It makes me feel part of the game.
I love the idea of mundane homemaking/cleaning activities, especially with associated animations. However, I'm not so sure I would want a Dishwashing Skill and a Laundry Skill vs a general Cleaning Skill. Perhaps with one Cleaning Skill have this progression be a little bit slower per activity since so many activities feed into building that skill.
As for Dishwashers, make them like Washers. I have had many a crappy and decent dishwashers in my life and I would definitely like that type of gameplay featured.
Love the way the dev team continues to communicate and ask for feedback!!! Personally, i would love the starting funds to be more fluid.. say you have room to grow, but you can also make a human that has some wealth already like they moved from the "big city" to settle down type thing.
Hi Rod. Love the questions you are bring to us. Question 1 dishwasher progression start of low as you need to learn packing and rinsing. Oh and please make dish washing only in the kitchen sink. Homemaking activities laundry, sweeping, vacuuming & moping, dusting ect to become faster over time. Question 2 I think tied to their background.
I mentioned the sinks as well, there should be different coding in a bathroom sink so they don't take dishes in there to wash them, I really hate when they do that.
Regarding starting gear, maybe starting situation can be its own pick separate from the background and personality traits. You could call it an inheritance trait. So you can choose between a car, little extra cash, a bigger house but needs to be fixed up, old heirlooms you can keep or pawn etc. That would let mods can add crazy things like gold stolen from a bank vault or magic boxes and curses etc.
Nice! A video of Life by You with the voice of Rod! ASMR time 💜💜💜
I belive there should be a cleaning system that is reasonablly deep, such as dusting , i think a dishwasher is a great idea (dishwasher could clean more dishes ,better and faster than sink ) . Dusting mechanics could help improve humans moods ,and give something for player to do when idling at homes. A dirty place could also lower opinion of visitors etc.
I’d like to see a progression system based on both finance and skills.
It would be great to get to play a character as they get promoted and advance within their careers, being able to afford more expensive goods and homes. Think of how other games such as first person shooters or rpgs like baldurs gate influence our dopamine by letting us “unlock” or find better items and have a good kinetic reason to continue playing the game. The feeling of working towards something important can often be missed by simulation games. Maybe having a realism mode where you can’t just modify the money folks have etc would be welcome.
I’d love to see rental housing while you save up for a down payment on a house as this is very realistic. It would also be cool to be able to purchase investment properties to be a landlord.
This might be asking a lot but being able to invest your humans money would be cool.
I think that tidying the house/vacuuming/wiping counters would be fantastic. Let them do the chores we do in real life.
It would be really cool if you could set a list of goals per day for your characters. Kind of like a “to do” list that I use in real life.
For example, if you want your character to do specific chores, and prioritize different activities over others, it would be great to be able to plan this out as a daily priority list.
Maybe even just have overall categories of prioritization, such as “clean, relax, focus on hobbies”, but the ability to get very granular is welcome.
Id love if you build modding support for character voices. Just being able to record audio and play it back during conversations for story telling could incredible.
Will the game have the ability to potentially interact with LLMs and generative ai? I’d love to see AI being able to talk and answer real text questions (even if this was subscription based to handle the fees in regards to server costs, I’d pay for this).
So I’ve been crying a bunch bc I’m so happy- I’m not even done watching the video. Thank you for allowing us to mod and make changes to this extent. This is going to add so much customization to gameplay and challenges.
They are seriously changing the genre with this game. I've been dreaming of a life simulator with this much customization for almost a decade, and I think LBY has potential to be that and more.
Show the phone UI!!
Thanks Rod & Rocio I loved the town tour video as well!! Dishwashers are great.
The configuration is so in depth. Way different than what we have seen in any life sim before!
I want to make a Barbieland 🌸😍
We definitely will show that UI 😊 And can't wait to see your Barbieland! 💜
1 - I would love cleaning and homemaking activities to be very intricate (with object progression for cleaning supplies!). There's a lot of different levels of cleaning in our real world, so I'd love that to be reflected in the game to differentiate between sanitizing a hospital room and cleaning up your bedroom.😊 I dont mind it just being tied to just one cleaning skill. 2- Tied to background sounds amazing! I'd love it if newly generated agents started off with money that reflects their background and maybe partially their traits (e.g. maybe a genius sim has a random chance to have a bonus to their starting amount since they might be better at financial planning than the average agent).
I love seeing the inner workings of of things like this. The deeper and more varied, the better. I miss life sims having details that actually matter and let me make vastly different families! (So I am glad cheap furniture matters more than just having a bad mood for a few hours.) I want their economics, and everything, tied to the background I give them, because how I want to play always changes.
As for homemaking activities, it depends. Surface level, I love depth and letting dishes/laundry stack should punish me like IRL. However, it is a regular maintenance activity so it cannot be too tedious or take up a large portion of every in game day. I do think there should be hand wash options, if not already available. We do not generally think of them as such, but automatic machines are technically luxuries. Perhaps a filth system that caps at a point where you do actually have to dedicate an entire day to catch up? (It'd also be really funny if your lot was truly that awful for a long time that the local government threatens to condemn your home. What a game over.)
I think for the cleaning thing it's better to have a general one cuz for some stuff you actually don't need a skill but as a general a cleaning Skil could mean you're faster and Less sloppy? For all type of cleaning Unless that's part of your traits
I hope the game have some preset to choose from, or download a preset other people created. Otherwise we will spend a lot of time changing all this stuff.
Hi, Rod and Team. I really like the progress you are making on this game. My question deals with home-based businesses. Would we be able to customize home-based businesses and how far could that go? For instance: I want to be a doctor who has an office downstairs, but an apartment upstairs. Is that possible?
sounds a lot better and thanks for the caption of words.
For the starting funds, maybe if peoples opinions differ greatly there could be an option you could select at the start of the game that dictates how generous starting funds are. (maybe offer 3 different options) So it gives people some control over it without having to go really in-depth and start editing the money themselves. Personally I'd be happier if the starting funds weren't too generous by default, since cheats exist for boosting it if we want anyway.
Question 1. Dishwashers can be on the same line as washers. I would like some more in terms of cleaning. I would think a neat chr would clean differently than a slob or lazy chr.
Question 2. I would like the background traits idea but not sure losing a trait slot would make it worth it. Can you be homeless? Truthfully my chr can live without a car or bike. They can catch the bus or walk.
Hello everyone. I think the cleaning skill is last day! This is a routine that should not take a lot of time from the player to think or plan. I realized what attracts Sims 2 players all over the world. It's not about the depth of one skill or another. As we remember, there were few skills in Sims 2, but it was the detail of what was happening, the detailed animation of interactions, that delighted! For example: When cooking, Sim took tools from the drawer, if we think that this is an unimportant detail, then we are mistaken! Therefore, our unconsciousness takes this into account. The accuracy of the animation allows us to believe in the reality of what is happening. I hope you understand me. It is not the number of skills that is important, but the quality of interaction execution. We have to believe what is happening on the screen! This also applies to emotions. Artificial men, too sharply change in the face depending on the animation they lost, it's also worth working on. The mood change happens smoothly. A large number of skills leads to a feeling of incompleteness. All the time the thought comes that we did not have time or missed something.
Yes, I definitely agree that gameplay and all the details (especially with Sims 2) are more important than skill-building. Building skills should just be a means to be able to do more stuff; for example, a human who has skill 10 of cooking can cook more of a variety of dishes than a human with skill 5.
Less likely to cause a fire as well!
@@magicmonster6877LOL! Yes, and that! 🤣🤣
I'll add to this the fact that you need the tasks (and their animations) to take a real life length of time. In the Sims 4 you can spend way too much time on mundane things, like taking an hour to go to the loo while not sick... Things that take five minutes in real life must take five minutes in game.
Personally don't feel the need to go too deep with dishwashers...
The fact that we'll have them at all and they would function as you (I) would expect, in that you can put dishes into it, and then start it separately, really is enough for me. The only thing that I would suggest to improve opon the current system that I didn't see is to have an option to "put clean dishes away" and the I inaccessibility to put dirty dishes in if the contents are clean, and vis versa.
I loved that as you were asking about them you pulled up the washing machine as a comparison, so thank you for that it was really helpful.
When you mentioned money and mansions how many can live on lot, can you acquire fixed staff to do work there like maid, chef, gardener and butler like really rich households usually have? As for tuning think been nice if you could buy used to maybe afford car, but then maybe having higher gas price and maybe some more issues coming up with the car you need to address if you buy used car or bike or something. But would be nice if you could buy used stuff and kinda play handy man with in general or buy a sorta handyman's job house in bad repair but for much less you could fix up essentially as you come to money. That I think could also be fun to rags to riches gameplay, sorta going from owning nothing to maybe owning a little buying a home in bad shape and fixing it up as you go along.
On the cleaning stuff -- I would divide it up between the skill and some kind of mood boost. The skill would drive how fast you clean based on skill level and the mood boost wood be like a pat on the back for getting daily chores done (dishes, laundry, mopping, scrubbing bathroom etc - out of a whole list getting a boost for getting like three of them done). For me I would say enough options on the dishwasher to cover three levels of efficiency and various decor options is fine.
Economy -- are there apartments available? I think letting folks pick really small options with little or no land and enough money to meet daily needs for 2 days would be the lowest limit. It might actually be nice to give folks the option to specify how they want to start - allow them to specify their starting challenges.
I can see some changes in the character 👀👀 Especially his legs!
I like the background idea. IRL someone who grew up poor with no financial education, is likely to make bad financial decisions even if he become rich (lottery winners for example). And I would really like to have the rich people, vs the working class vs the proletarian/poor. My idea is to make politicians who will discuss the universal wage or unemployement etc...
I think being able to modify everything down to basic universal income is awesome. I plan on setting up the entire town person by person, house by house so being able to customize it all before really starting would be ideal. As far as the writing career, I hope the work pays correctly. In other sims I’ve maxed out my writing skill to play as a famous author and I got every few days, for a book. Terrible. I hope life by you offers better compensation for that kind of work. Be cool to set it myself also
I will do the same before I even play the game, I want all types of characters especially a Nosy Old Lady In my Vintage Styled Nantucket Fisherman Town. I'm afraid auto generated Humans will have neon colored socks, etc!
@@simday1396 Lol that's a fun idea. I'll have to have an old Karen type myself.
I like lots of depth and crunchiness. As for household chores depth is good, but it needs to balance well with the pace of the day in the game. There should always be some time for fun. I like it to be a challenge to be able to buy luxury items. You should feel like you could always use more money because in reality nobody ever seems to think they have enough.
1. Our house is somewhat divided on the household chore stuff - one person says that stuff doesn't matter to them at all; the other person would like the ability to go in with some depth, if one had traits like "neat," "homemaker," "neurotic," etc. And it would be nice if the mechanical dishwashers were as detailed as the clothing washers are.
2. For the economic tuning, it would be wonderful to have the ability to choose "economic background," so that you could make someone who just graduated from college and doesn't have enough money on their own to get a house (has to rent a room from someone else, perhaps) or someone who is in the middle of a very successful career whose company just moved them to town (quite a bit of money plus a housing stipend) or someone who is retired from a steady job that didn't offer a lot of promotion (so comfortable, but not well off). Of course, that might be too complicated for a game ^^; so tying it to a background trait would also be okay.
Thank you for another interesting look behind the scenes! :)
Hi, Rod. I like the idea of a general cleaning skill. In The Sims 3, we also had challenges for skills that unlocked a few extra benefits. I really liked that, maybe we could have something similar in LBY?
As for starting money, I like the idea of a very simple start and working my way to the top during the game. And I love the idea of background traits influencing the starting conditions. Like a "Scion" or "Noble" background giving you a ton of money, or a "Raised by Wolves" so I can start with nothing (and roleplay Mowgli / Romulus)
When it comes to cleaning and household chores It would be lovely if there was some gameplay planner type "task board" you could place on the wall for your household if you wanted like an intractable cork or blackboard where you could click on and plan chores, e.g if you just wanted to assign cleaning tasks to specific characters, like one character does all the dishes on the lot or the laundry etc. And have the option to "clean everything on the lot" as a one click thing as it isn't super fun to have to separately click on everything you want cleaned and fixed, so someplace to assign tasks could be fun, the chore board could also be good for maybe planning routines. I would really love some kind of tool like that in the game as I would like some autonomy for doing chores but I also want it customized in case I want lazier characters etc.
this would be amazing!!
Yeeess
Thank you Rod and Dev Team for giving us the opportunity to be part of this amazing project.
I’d prefer cleaning skills to be realistic based on human’s traits and background. Cloths dusters sponges mops buckets vacuums etc "Oh My!"
Not everyone is capable of doing chores adequately some may hate chores which could mean cleaning activities skilling can take longer but those that love chores especially cleaning are more productive and quicker than those that don’t want to do chores so skill ups are quicker. Washing machines wash clothes for you but you could be a clueless human that ruins the laundry because you’ve mixed colours with whites. On the opposite spectrum the human who is adept at doing laundry skills up.
Dishwashers are objects that wash dishes for humans so should not really require a skill set. If you can afford to buy a dishwasher you’re lucky enough to be able to just bung the dishes into the dishwasher. I’d rather prefer it if hand washing dishes in a sink be tied to a skilling up for example some humans are lazy a slob hates chores etc so skilling is much slower. But I think linking certain activities to traits would also be fun and realistic imho.
The Economy system for me I’d prefer this being reliant on a human’s background or traits. Starting out (if renting furnished/unfurnished apartment) money will last you anywhere from 1-4 weeks. For example in rl you have to pay a month in advance on rental properties. So money for that and enough to eat for 1-4 weeks). During this time you better get yourself a job. Some humans are good at managing their finances while others aren’t. They might squander their money or be better at managing (saving) their own money. It would be nice to have frivolous humans who just can’t resist spending even if they can’t afford to. I’d prefer a poor middle class and rich/heirs type humans. Will there be Landlords or will your humans be able to become one?
Keep up the good work can’t wait to see more.
1. Personally I don't have a preference for the dishwasher thing, but seeing as how good the game looks so far from what you've shared with myself and other viewers who have been following the progress you guys have been making, I'm sure whatever you guys choose to go with will be good!
2. Now this one I do have an opinion on. Personally I think all the pre-made households that you guys will add to the starter world of the game should have different types of current economic situations. Some should be homeless or on the poorer side, some should be working class type people who have a more modest household economic situation, some should be a touch wealthier and have nice things but not be like living in mansions or any of that extravagant wealth, and some should be absolutely loaded and really rich with large plots of land and mansions. As for our player household that we would start with if we create our own, I think they should be more modest with room for growth as the default since that would give us stuff to have our family work towards in the game when playing with a default start up situation. I like the idea that you seem to of gone with making it more realistic to let us afford a starter house and a bike or scooter.
Sorry if this didn't make sense, hopefully I typed it in a way that was coherent enough, thanks for all the work you guys been putting into the game. As a former The Sims player who is entirely unhappy with the state of things with The Sims 4 and wants something more realistic and less goofy/childish to play that is still a life simulator, I appreciate the fact that you guys are working on giving this alternative to us!
Rod is back Yey I really like the timbre of your voice
1. As Deep as you can go! I love in game mundane tasks!
2. I prefer Rags to riches, but any in game generated character should start modest.
3. Please add Terraced/attached lots!
xoxo
Personally, I reckon if it's been coded, it's best to leave it in the game. It's better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it. I for one really appreciate an extensively in-depth creator, however I understand some prefer a more basic approach, which that in and of itself could be an overall tool with advanced settings for those who choose to use them. Other than that, keep up the good work! 💜
Starting funds could be tied to multiple things in character creator- personality background (RPG elements - character story/background?), Job Title (maybe you get more the higher job level?).
What if you had a toggle for money based on a particular district and you get funds for a starting home there - so three districts give you three different starting cash.
"How deep do you want this game to go?"
Yes.
This
It's amazing to see the game evolving as we see any new videos uploaded by the company from time to time!
Question 1: I honestly think it would be cool if there were more skills rather than fewer skills. Tidying, washing dishes, and laundry actually do feel like different skills in real life. Some people are really good at organizational skills like laundry - washing, drying, folding, putting away. Other people are not good at it and all laundry. These skills could also tie into traits, and not just the obvious.
A slob might not do their housework regularly, for example. But let's say a perfectionist type might be upset when housework is poorly done, and be happy when they gain skill to do it correctly.
Question 2: I think starting with minimal money to buy a house and get started is a good starting point.
Background traits - I think this is amazing! I think every character should have at least one background trait that has major gameplay effects. Such as a person moving to town because they are being transferred for their job - I think they should get extra money but also get a few skill levels based on whatever job you choose in the character creator that makes sense for that job. I don't know how complicated that would be. Or maybe just a few skill levels in general, but something so that it makes sense they are not just starting out. Also, they should start higher in the job track than level 1, so it makes sense they've had that job for a while. That way it also doesn't feel like you're wasting a slot. (I feel the same way about potions, I'm such a hoarder in games because I worry I will use something at the wrong time. This is very relatable.)
But like if the background trait is Wealthy Family then they get a lot of money but also something else in the background that would be effected by growing up rich. Or opposite - Poor Family - a person that grew up poor would have different starting skills. And it doesn't need to be a lot of levels, just maybe within 3 levels.
I really enjoyed this video and the level of transparency how the game is being built from the inside. Thank you so much!
question 1: Yes I think it should be a similar level of detail for a washing machine. Sewer skills that have more depth sounds better than more shallow skills.
question 2: I think it should default to somewhat similar economy as the real world, as you already have it with starting wealth. The player can change that at any time they want.
aside: There are going to be a lot of different kinds of users (I say users rather than players for a reason) of this, some you won't be able to predict until it actually comes out. There are going to be people who want to play in a fairly realistic modern world, there will be those who want to simulate different previous time periods, there are going to be those who want a completely fantastical world that changes with their whims.... There may even be some who instead of wanting to simulate life as a game, will want to use it as a story telling or movie making tool.
It would be cool if you can choose from a few set ammounts of starting money. 0 (for gags to riches style gameplay) ('moderate ammount' enough to get a starter house) and (well off, enough to get a reasonably sised family home for the sake of hopping into family gameplay.) background traits would be amazing. Some ideas could be 'wealthy family. You come from a wealthy family that gave you a car as a move out gift' 'low income family, you have a nack for haggling and finding deals' 'Ancient family. You are given a family heirloom at the start of the game.' or some other things like that. On a side note, please add a dark mode or other color options for the ui as its still a bit much for some folk. Love that yall are asking for feedback directly, gives me a lot of hope for the game.
The skin on the character looks much better.. I think the characters are starting to look bit better with this one change, but I feel like they still lack a bit skin and body details. The movements are still very stiff and statue-like. We still have a lot to be change before early access good work!
I've noticed the proportion is also better now
Thanks for the video Rod! It's really interesting to see how things are put together. Regarding the question about dishwashers, I guess I'm in the middle. I liked the setup for washing machines and think if all appliances and electronics were similar to those levels I'd be thrilled. Maybe cleaning can be split into what can be done by different age groups. "Basic chores" could be things a child could do: make their bed, put away their toys, clear the table of dirty dishes and put them on a kitchen counter, dusting shelves or cleaning counters, etc. "Teen level" could include mowing lawns, basic cooking, operating washers, dryers, microwaves, vacuums, etc. And from there "homemaking plus" skills could involve making repairs, preparing more elaborate meals, etc. and could also meld with other skills like handiness, craft making, creative/artistic and multitasking. As for economy, I usually like to start with a slight struggle, so the way you currently have it set up looks good to me. It might also be nice to have the option of buying a house either furnished or unfurnished except for bathroom and kitchen fixtures like major appliances and sinks. I also like the idea of background traits having an influence on the amount. "Inheritance from wealthy relative," "raised by a struggling single parent," "disowned by family," "received a grant to start a certain type of business," or "given a moving allowance if relocating for a job" could add to or decrease what we start out with. EDIT: Another thing that would be great as far as housing goes is having the ability to sleep in vehicles (with consequences of poor sleep, body aches, tiredness) That way, if someone wanted to start out as a "drifter" or "nomad," they could have the option to forego the house and get a van or camper to live in until they get their feet under them. Maybe have a campground lot or two around where they could park and a post office where they can get a PO box to receive mail.
I think the background traits should not only have an effect on starting money etc, but most importantly on the behavior of the character. For example someone with creative background is more likely to chose a creative career or likes to work on creative skills. Someone with a criminal background might be unfriendly to police officers, or someone with a turbulent childhood will have difficulties with building up and staying in a relationship
I think adding depth is fine, so long as there are default settings so if a player chooses to adjust these, they can but if they are not interested in this aspect, they can safely ignore it and not be penalized.
Forever and always, just because I am or am not interested in a certain aspect of a game doesn’t mean it should/shouldn’t be in the game; therefore, the more things in the game that are adjustable to the players play style, the more people who will enjoy the game
1 - The more intricate and detailed things are the better, but I shouldn't necessarily have to babysit my folks constantly. (Though I can if I choose.) At minimum people should be able to handle their own basics, like cooking and going to the bathroom without my micromanaging them.
2 - Tied to their background! For sure. Give someone more money if they come from a wealthy family.
I like the idea of an 'inherited a second-hand car' trait, but I'd like to be able to replace that trait with something else when the car was sold (to buy a newer car or just to have money for something else).
I'd also like the traits to be somewhat dynamic and change due to gameplay, like the turbulent childhood could be toned down (or even be replaced with a more positive trait) if they go to a therapist's office.
Somewhat contradictory, but I would also like the players to have the ability to freeze certain traits, so they couldn't ever be changed through gameplay. So for instance, awkward couldn't be changed in a certain youbie no matter how much they tried, but for another youbie they could change it once they had high enough charisma.
I’m loving what I’m seeing, but one of my biggest worries is that the final version that turns into Early Access will be too dev-like in terms of controls and UI. What I mean is that the UI is not friendly enough to someone playing the game for the very first time and that it may prove to be overwhelming. Hopefully this is something you can guys can integrate into the development!
It's something to get used to over time, as the player adapts they plays with what knows at first and then discovers new things constantly
They already are improving the UIs, so i hope they add more images and icons, one of the examples are when we choose our vehicle and house, maybe images can be more intuitive.
I'm with you on this, totally agree
@@maurilio123fra Yes! I personally like all the in-depth dev text, but people LOVE images!
PLEASE WE NEED CURVED AND DIAGONAL POOLS, STAIRS AND WALLS. ALSO CORNER STAIRS!
Yes pools!!! I really want pools!
L stairs and U stairs please 🙏
I love videos like this, also how you make (not so) hidden spoilers, like the arcade feature, this game have so much content, like?!!!!
EDIT: I would like the current money be tied to their background trait or others traits.
I love how technical you can get with this game. Thank you for trusting the players in deciding for themselves how they want their game to be tuned.
Money starting tight would be nice and let people who want more at start just add money or use a background. Apartments/renting would be neat for having to work your way to having a house.
I think the cost should allow for a car, but maybe used or a lemon that has issues which would encourage you to get a job to fix it or buy a new car. It would also allow for story telling because if your car breaks down on your way to work or a date there will be consequences. You either lose pay for that day or you have to smooth things over with your boss. That part should be a chance card and depending on your traits and charisma skill will determine the outcome. Same with being late to a date it should depend on the traits of you and your date and your skills of finessing people. Like kind people or empathetic will be more understanding and give you a break whereas if your boss or date are impatient or narcissistic they won’t be as understanding. I know this sounds very complicated it’s just an idea.
I hope we will learn more about regions and sub regions.
I think that you could have branching abilities.
As you said, a "cleaning" abilitie that works for all. But then a sub abilitie that helps speed up/save resources in that particular activity. Washing plates, washing clothes, brooming, ...
And they could help with electrodomestics. A high brooming skill could help programing a good path for the roomba or something so it consumes less electricity.
On the topic of money, background oriented starting points could be fun. Specially if you can allready place a trayectory. Like from riches but fell into poverty.
I like the idea of the background trait determining starting money and coming with additional gameplay traits. Like a background "poor" person has more anxiety over large purchases for the rest of their life, the "rich" kid is entitled, etc. If the background traits have enough depth to continue into later gameplay they would be worth it. Also, I think a general "cleaning" skill is fine - it doesn't take any real skill to do laundry or dishes for the average person.
I love the idea of having a background trait (maybe as a "set" trait that you have to pick, like a class in an RPG rather than traits you can mix and match for a more custom human ie you get one background slot and have to choose between several options)
I can imagine things like rich family/parents (start with more funds), nepotism ( start with a better more high paying job) , famous or infamous family/parents (maybe you get a skill boost if your parent was a famous writer for instance), inheritance ( either house or car), average (just basic start) ophan (start with little or no money for a challenge)
I feel there are loads more; this could also change with generational play. Generation 1 started as an ophan for example then generation 2 could be average then maybe generation 3 could be famous parents then neoptism for gen 4, etc.
Okay off topic, but I saw many arcade game machines👀 I love arcade lots and have always wanted more full ones in a life simulation so seeing all of those objects is so so exciting. It'd be cool if there was a ticket system where tickets go into the human's inventory after playing and they could redeem those tickets at a counter in the arcade to get some small or big prizes depending on the number of tickets they have!! Also- yes, I think dish washing can be with cleaning skill in my opinion! The adjustable economy seems cool, but for someone like me, I probably won't touch that, so it would be nice to have some preset options. For the ending questions: for me, I do enjoy the homemaking aspects of gameplay. Things like cleaning, making the bed, using the dishwasher, little details are nice.
2. I think the current default starting economic situation is good. A modest start where you can buy a basic house and some simple items. Furthermore, since the player is able to adjust their economic situation, I don't think that there should be a trait to determine that. Adding a trait that affects something that can be changed like money seems redundant to me. I much prefer traits that are deep personality traits of the characters. A stereotypical "wealthy" trait for instance, could be broken down into some personality traits like "arrogant" or "stingy" or "entitled", which are all financially-agnostic.
I also want to say that I'm really happy with this transparency and the way that you guys are including the fans in the process of making the game great! I am particularly happy with the fact that you guys seem to be thinking deeply about the level of freedom that players will have in the game. I'm all for the ability to change a lot of things in the gameplay, but I do feel worried that if given too much freedom, the game will feel too 'sandboxy' for me or too overwhelming for other players.
The character model looks good
I love the idea for background traits, especially ones that don't necessarily have to do with money! For the skills I think this level of detail is enough and doesn't have to go too deep, it also could be a little less detailed on things like cleaning, laundry if the gameplay on other more "major skills" is more detailed!!! And for the economy, I think it's a perfect starting point, I especially like that you don't have enough money for a car so that it adds a little more challenge but not in an annoying kind of way, since you still can buy a skateboard or a bicycle!😍 All in all I love the level of customization and how the game looks so far! You guys have so many cool ideas.
Keep up the great work, can't wait to play early access😍❤
I love the idea of the background traits affecting the character starting finances or perhaps add a family/history trait that could determine starting money so as not to use up a background trait. For example, someone could have "privileged" family trait as well as a turbulent childhood. Thanks for the video
I looooove the background trait idea (and it being limited to just a few traits). Starting off with enough money for a starter home and bike with the option to have different backgrounds that give you more money or a car is the perfect balance in my opinion. Especially if those background traits also affect personality :)
1- Dishwashers, I would think should be time savers. Washing by hand should take more time and use more water than a dishwasher
2- I personally love the economy gameplay in life sims. I love the ultra hardcore rags to riches challenge so please let us set residual/ no job income to $0/week. I like the idea to have selectable levels, poor, middle, rich etc…
IDEA 💡- One of the complaints I have with life sim appliances and purchases is that there is a limited number of models and qualities so for each iteration of a new game you are basically going to choose your favorite appliances and it’s the same for every play through. What if the “store” had inventory that changed every week or two. For example, one week you might find a level 9 appliance that is very expensive and then the next week the level 9 might be out of stock and you might have a quality level 5 but it is on a great sale. It might make it fun to visit the store to see what kind of deals you can get … I don’t know, but that sounds interesting to me. You could think back, remember that ultra efficient washer I had that one play-through?
Omg i am in love. Economy set up, real background traits, better characters! Also as far as cleaning skills i would keep dishwssher with a very minor cleaning skill bounce and would definitely add some kind of handyman skill for repairs.or logical skill.
I am hoping for tutorials and stuff to help you with these kinds of editing tools! Also options for people who don't want to go to deep into the creating. Some people just wanna start the game and play without wasting too much time on stuff like this.
I'm with you on this, it's looking a bit too detailed right now. I prefer to plug and play like you.
Love the concept of people starting off with whatever money you input . I don’t have to input a cheat, set them up , then leave the household.
Question One Answer: I'd be happy if dishwashers were set up like you set up the washing machines in the video. For me tidying up is not fun gameplay, e.g. I would have liked a single magic laundry gathering basket in Sims 4 instead of having to have one in every room they could possibly change clothes in (or you have to pick up 500 individual piles of laundry), but I know some other players seem to like the idea of hoovering and tidying up.
Mopping up dozens of puddles from rain isn't fun, but it's fine if it's "a" puddle from broken appliances or messy showering humans. Same for raking leaves, I can cope with raking a single leaf pile, but if faced with more than that I'm not going to bother. Hope that answers the cleaning question? Also I don't mind if they're putting back books but I like them to do it straight away :P
I love the customization and level of tuning! An idea is to show a “recommended amount of money for the household in question at character creation. That way people can free choose around from the many options, while also seeing how close they are to the “designed” experience. I personally enjoy a more struggling start, but especially enjoyable is the slow, steady climb, not just an exponential shoot-up in cash. Really looking forward to March!
For the gameplay, I personally want to start in middle class and stay in middle class, without too much effort. I'm very happy that the ultracapitalistic "american dream" is not the only possible playstyle
I would love to see some functionable safety net and other social features of society. Get a loan from an uncle, have parents pay for their adult kids (and the other way around), get unemployment benefits etc etc etc
The advantage of having such advanced and detailed tuning abilities is that people 'can' use it if they want to. Personally, I don't expect to personally 'change/fix' the tuning whatever you guys come up with, aside from disabling the basic income and starting of entirely broke. It would be awesome if you could make this 'from rags to riches' a single button, btw. As for the rest of the tuning... At best, I'd download a mod which does it for me. As for the 'tightness'... You should have enough to last three days without working for extra income, so that you can look around and decide what you want to do to make money in game. So, three days worth of food and bills is plenty left over after you've bought the house and mode of transport.
Hey Rob - thanks for the hard work of you and your team! Here's a request: I would love 'macro actions'. For example, a Sim is instructed to clean the entire house, and they then mop, clean coungters, dishes, etc., without the player having to instruct them to perform each action individually. They just clean until the place is spotless.
Thank you so much for the video!! I would like to have renting included, because being able to afford an 200k house is already pretty luxury. So it would be amazing if we could either rent a house or apartment/flat, then the starting founds could also be lower.
Also I'd like presets for starting money, like "very poor", "normal" and "rich" etc!
I for example never really have fun cleaning in real life, as well as in games. That's why it would be great if the cleaning or chores in general doesn't take too much time in the game. For the cleaning skill, I think it's fine if dishwashing, tidying and laundry is included. But for the creativity skill I'd like to have some differentiation, for example between painting and different instruments!
The amount of time and effort that went into designing and creating this is tremendous. My suggestions may not fit into your already established system(s).
1) Expanding on the comments that suggest tiers of money: poor, medium class, and rich, I would suggest creating several so-called "starting/household profiles".
Why force us to choose only one starting money amount with how much a teen/child adds to the household?
Why not have several predefined profiles, and when a gamer starts a new household, he/she can choose among them (for example: broke, poor, medium class, business class, rich/VIP), or make one (or many) custom ones.
Besides that, I would very much like to be able to import effortless these profiles from other gamers/modders/creators. Note, that I only want the ability to import the household profile, not an entire household with members.
Arguments:
- if I am a storyteller, I would like to quickly use an already existing profile and start the game;
- again, maybe I want to very quickly set up an entire community with different households in a blink of an eye;
2) On the matter of cleaning traits and how much depth it should have I have no opinion on that. But what I would like for you to consider, is there are people who will play in depth with all the cleaning traits and activities and never get bored, then there are a good amount of people who will eventually get bored (cleaning is a repetitive task after all),
and there are people who hate this kind of activity and want to focus in something else. No matter how in-depth/granular the cleaning system is, please, please consider a bail-out (maybe not for Early Access)!
Like calling a maid, hiring someone arbitrary, or a butler (or several!). And let the household that hires the maid decide the working hours and days, please.
Thank you so much for sharing the game details and asking our opinions! Cheers to the entire team working hard on-screen and behind the scenes to bring this game to a whole new level!
I love all the details! Bring ‘em on for sure. I also love that you’re asking about the cleaning skill. To me, there’s Cleaning and there’s Organization. I feel like laundry and some other home skills are really an organizational skill.
Hi, thank you for all the hard work and dedication, I'm very excited for the game and very happy with what you and your team is doing so far, personally I would love to have 1 cheap old car that breaks often and always needs fixing 😅
I would like to see the option for a loan system / mortgage. So if the player wants they can have minimal money in the beginning and to have house/car they would have to take a loan. More realistic and gives the gameplay of having to plan your finances in more detail. :)
So much to unpack! I absolutely love the potential for as much or as little depth with any respective gameplay system, the flexibility seems truly endless.
I also have to admit that I'm a complete sucker for crafting systems in games, so I'm looking forward to all of the crafting. My only question is will all items be craftable? Or will some be exclusively craftable, while others exclusively available from the buy mode?
Great work as usual!
loving the new character design! 💗
It would be better if dishwashers were combined with a trait, e.g. a lazy and frugal person automatically uses a dishwasher and a thorough or environmentally conscious or technophobic person uses a sink.
Actually, it's more environmentally friendly to use a dishwasher. A dishwasher uses about 4 gallons per run, while washing dishes in the sink uses roughly 15 gallons
@@princecharmingthemerman
Depends on how you wash your dishes. If you’re running them under water the entire time, then of course it’s a huge waste, but it’s still possible to save water if you only wet the dishes as needed, and use buckets to keep the water instead of letting the sink fully drain.
Also, depends on where you’re getting your water from. From my understanding, the only ones complaining about water waste are people who live in deserts. If you live in an area with a lot of rain and your sink water is natural and unprocessed, it’s not in the remotest bad for the environment to use a lot of water. It’s actually best to use as much water as possible in those areas because otherwise you’ll get mold and snail slime from the lack of rotation.
To kill two birds with one stone, I feel like the intricacy of activities such as homemaking and eco-mix situations should be optional. Meaning this should be assigned a level of difficulty. If I didn’t want home-making to be as intricate and didn’t want my human to start on a tight budget, I could select "casual gameplay". Now if I wanted intricate gameplay with tighter economic restrictions, I could select something like "advanced gameplay". I feel like it’s always important to have options instead of choosing one over the other. I hope this is something that can be utilized, and again, thank you, LBY, for your dedication and transparency!
A lot of games have adjustable difficulty settings these days. I really like that idea for LBY. So in my idea you would create your human and get a menu that says: What difficulty setting do you want. With a drop-down menu that says: super-easy, easy, normal, hard, impossible. These load pre-made difficulty settings. Super-easy means you start out rich, skills are easy to get, friendships are easy etc. Impossible means you’re really poor, taxes are higher, job is harder to advance, friendships are hard etc. Below that can be a button that says customize or advanced so you can set each setting individually. Maybe you want money to be really easy to get and taxes to be low, but really hard relationships; find the settings change ‘m! Maybe I want skills to be super hard to build but relationships should be easy to maintain and jobs should be normal difficulty; okay, find those settings and change them. In this way you can give people easy fast options with the ability to make specific changes if they want to. Without overwhelming players who want a more casual experience with a thousand menu options. You could also add a menu like that in the options, so people can change the difficulty on the fly. Rimworld is a good example of the sort of difficulty menu I’m talking about.
As for laundry and cleaning. I think that quite a few people would like things crunchy.(cool term) Those are also the people who will mod things in. From my own perspective, yes I would like the laundry skill to be separate. Also I don’t mind modding that in. Myself if need be. As a modder I would like the tools to do that. I can’t make those tools, you can. With the steam workshop, my general experience is that these sorts of mods (separate laundry skill) are the ones on the workshop on day one, maybe two, three if it’s a hard game to mod. Please focus on making things that modders find difficult or impossible to make.
Also I saw that you can change your humans mood etc. in the game while you are playing. I know for a fact I will accidentally click on that and it will annoy the hell out of me. Maybe add a padlock somewhere on screen so you can’t accidentally change values in the UI during gameplay? Padlock 🔓: you can change stuff in the UI. Padlock 🔒:nope, cant change anything in the UI. Padlock 🔐: you have to go into the options to turn the UI changing on.
To really solve the individual preference of money at the start of the game is just leave the ability to customize the amount the way the player wishes to (just like we already have) players who want rags to riches can start with a default amount, but players like me who don't want to spend a huge amount of time building up to riches can simply add more funds any time. Just makes things more simple than having to add cheats or change everything to poor, rich, etc. The option is there to change and I like that custom ability. LBY is a game that focuses on your preference and that's what I like about it. So if I choose to start off with a fancy car and nice home I definitely want that ability available. Last but not least please add ability to drive with more than one person in the car!