Townie Generation in Life By You is under your control

[Momo]

"I think there's a whole generation of people who are sick of gender roles being shoved down their face.

Rod Humble"

"By default, all of the settings for gender, skin tones, and sexual preferences are set by me," Humble said. "But when you create your game, you can change those any way you want by percentages. So if you're like, hey, 'I want to make a world where it's full of people who just fall in love with me, and I'm the only sexual interest in this world,' you can do that."

Or, you could make a world in which everyone is gay, or everyone is non-binary—whatever you want.

"I think there's a whole generation of people who are sick of gender roles being shoved down their face," said Humble. "And so we're like, hey, you get to define it any way you want. We hope people like that."

Regarding skin tones, towns default to an "Olympic Village," according to Humble—an even mix—but again, players can decide for themselves who inhabits their city.

"If you live in Brazil, and you're like, 'Well, people don't look like this in Brazil,' just go ahead, change that spread, and you've got it," said Humble. "You can do that with age as well, and, as I said, gender. And so by doing that, we want people to be able to make places that look like where they live, that resonates with them, as opposed to Northern California, which is what we'll naturally make."


Source: much.https://www.pcgamer.com/life-by-you-interview/

I. LOVE. THIS

I hate that the Sims forces the sexuality of your townies and forces their generation their way. I should be in control of my person, single player game. Not the way the sims wants me too. So you have full control of what your world looks like. Im glad, because while Sims 4 does allow a lot of things, the game is structed to play a certain way. Not much freedom in that especially when some of the games focus is more on activism or their storytelling instead of you having control.

More power to the people 😁

[Xautos]

so there is a potential world creator? good, because while i don't mind one world in the USA in default, i'm tired of seeing american centric universes in general when there are other countries, cultures and peoples out there that can have their say.

i'm sure the Russians or Ukrainians or other northern european countries aren't happy that they haven't had representation in TS4 for example, or in fact at any point and only recently have there been middle-eastern and north African influences working their way into TS4, but that's peripheral, the same with south america, nothing there either.

Most recent pack is Growing Together in San Sequoia which is San Francisco. I only recently learned after being told for a while that Discover University is one based in the UK between Oxford and Cambridge, only to find out it's based in yet another American area.

I'd like to take a break from it for a while and take in a desert region cities like Doha, Jeddah or Cairo, hell even Tel Aviv. Or More towards Greece with nice picturesque Islands between Turkiye and Greece, the Balearic Islands, particularly Ibiza or maybe Hawaii instead?

[Red]

I'm really pleasantly surprised by this interview and by this game in general.

The more I learn about it the more hope I have for it and the more I want to support it. It feels like it's an honest to god passion project that the people who are working on it have always wanted to make (Much like TS2 just feels like it's full of love and passion) and just the fact that they are trying to give players as much control and customization for their own personal experience as possible makes me want to ease up on my skepticism and practically throw my wallet at the screen.

Sorry for the longer post but a few things that stuck out to me personally when reading:

1. Exactly what you mentioned above.
The game simply gives you the tools to customize whatever kind of world you want in YOUR game, whether it be realistic, fantasy or a mixture of both. There are other life simulators such as Tiny Life out there which despite (probably) having the best intentions, was actually the first time in my 32 years of recreating myself in games that a game has actually made me feel like I should despise myself for simply being a dude who's happy with being a dude. It just feels wrong and I don't need to feel like that when trying to have some wholesome entertainment and in my personal opinion, it just feels like the game excludes males and females for the sole purpose of pushing an agenda and is just being discriminatory for the sake of discrimination. If you are going to make a life simulator based around people, then make it as inclusive as possible and let everyone express themselves freely!
I personally will have my Life by You game be something that makes me feel like everyone, no matter their race or sexuality is welcome, but I also respect anyone who wants to have their own personalized experience because it's not being forced on anyone else and it's certainly not hurting me.

2. No illness.
I am not really sure I agree with this as I think getting things like cold and flu are perfectly normal parts of life and adds a dynamic to gameplay that forces you to switch things up, like trying to recover by staying warm and resting at home as opposed to going to work and doing the daily grind (which I am worried may actually become more repetitive due to the need of completing specific tasks instead of having rabbit holes, such as the ones seen in TS3).
However, theres a chance that this probably just wasn't explained fully and I can absolutely respect if smaller illnesses are in the game but bigger ones such as pandemics, mental and physical disabilities are out, as I do want to have a degree of realism, but I also want my game to be an escape too, for example, I don't need to constantly be reminded of my own depression and anxiety in a game that is supposed to help me forget about those things and give me a more wholesome experience in my own personal world.

3. Embracing adult content.
Correct me if I am wrong but to me the interview reads like there's going to be actual nudity already in the game if people want it? However, LBY won't be including graphic sex in the game for obvious reasons (it's simply marketed as a life sim and not a porn game) but when modders inevitably add it, it's fully supported.
I think that's awesome and surprising honestly, because having nudity included (even if optional) will no doubt push the rating up to at least mature which in turn tells me that they are they are fully confident in the product they're selling and are more concerned about giving absolute control and customization to the players to create the type of experience they want out of their dream life sim game over EA's concern of simply selling as many copies as possible while also trying to appeal to as many kinds of people as possible.

I am 100% on board with all of this.

As someone who hates censorship and thinks nudity is a completely natural and normal thing and doesn't understand the stigma behind it while things that actually harm and kill people are instead widely considered as acceptable and normal, I will personally have have nudity enabled in my game and if other people don't want to, then it's perfectly fine and what LBY is all about. Freedom of choice and giving you the Life Sim that YOU want.

The inclusion of optional adult themed content leads me to believe that things like alcohol and some of it's effects may also make it into the base game without needing to worry about censoring it and calling it something like "nectar" in order to keep the rating as low as possible, It will probably, like everything else, also be optional too.

Drugs however, I will be surprised if they are included. That's where you are getting into illegal activity territory and if their stance on violence is anything to go by, the game will support it if the modders make it but it likely won't be a part of the game.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by Red:

3. Embracing adult content.
Correct me if I am wrong but to me the interview reads like there's going to be actual nudity already in the game if people want it? However, LBY won't be including graphic sex in the game for obvious reasons (it's simply marketed as a life sim and not a porn game) but when modders inevitably add it, it's fully supported.
I think that's awesome and surprising honestly, because having nudity included (even if optional) will no doubt push the rating up to at least mature which in turn tells me that they are they are fully confident in the product they're selling and are more concerned about giving absolute control and customization to the players to create the type of experience they want out of their dream life sim game over EA's concern of simply selling as many copies as possible while also trying to appeal to as many kinds of people as possible.

I am 100% on board with all of this.

As someone who hates censorship and thinks nudity is a completely natural and normal thing and doesn't understand the stigma behind it while things that actually harm and kill people are instead widely considered as acceptable and normal, I will personally have have nudity enabled in my game and if other people don't want to, then it's perfectly fine and what LBY is all about. Freedom of choice and giving you the Life Sim that YOU want.

The inclusion of optional adult themed content leads me to believe that things like alcohol and some of it's effects may also make it into the base game without needing to worry about censoring it and calling it something like "nectar" in order to keep the rating as low as possible, It will probably, like everything else, also be optional too.

Drugs however, I will be surprised if they are included. That's where you are getting into illegal activity territory and if their stance on violence is anything to go by, the game will support it if the modders make it but it likely won't be a part of the game.

if there is nudity as you mentioned it would be done on the basis of it being an artistic representation, as nudity by itself doesn't set the rating +18 by itself. When there is a sexual component to the nudity then it becomes +18. It would also likely be an option set in options, probably behind a parental control.

As with drugs, there are so many different drugs and you all think of the hard stuff grown from plant material. Yet the human body has a range of drugs working within, the same with pets, the same with car tires or anything you eat. drugs exist in many different forms and it don't mean the hard stuff has to be represented.

Put it this way, if there is a career in medicine, when your sim prescribes an anti-depressant or painkillers, which by themselves are not hard drugs, it can benefit a sim who is ill and needs assistance to get better. Hospitals would use more powerful drugs like Ketamine as an anaesthetic when regular anaesthesia is not enough, those are used to set bones that have broken on a sims leg or arm or other serious injuries that too painful for regular anaesthesia. So long as no one at the hospital steals the stuff, it's kept as a restricted drug and thus only found in the hospital.

Unfortunately there are junkies out there, people who have injected themselves from A to Z on the issue, if you are gonna create a world where they exist, then you'll have little choice but to put hard drugs out there, painkillers and amphetamines as well. that could push the rating right out if handled incorrectly.

[Red]

Originally posted by Xautos:

Originally posted by Red:

3. Embracing adult content.
Correct me if I am wrong but to me the interview reads like there's going to be actual nudity already in the game if people want it? However, LBY won't be including graphic sex in the game for obvious reasons (it's simply marketed as a life sim and not a porn game) but when modders inevitably add it, it's fully supported.
I think that's awesome and surprising honestly, because having nudity included (even if optional) will no doubt push the rating up to at least mature which in turn tells me that they are they are fully confident in the product they're selling and are more concerned about giving absolute control and customization to the players to create the type of experience they want out of their dream life sim game over EA's concern of simply selling as many copies as possible while also trying to appeal to as many kinds of people as possible.

I am 100% on board with all of this.

As someone who hates censorship and thinks nudity is a completely natural and normal thing and doesn't understand the stigma behind it while things that actually harm and kill people are instead widely considered as acceptable and normal, I will personally have have nudity enabled in my game and if other people don't want to, then it's perfectly fine and what LBY is all about. Freedom of choice and giving you the Life Sim that YOU want.

The inclusion of optional adult themed content leads me to believe that things like alcohol and some of it's effects may also make it into the base game without needing to worry about censoring it and calling it something like "nectar" in order to keep the rating as low as possible, It will probably, like everything else, also be optional too.

Drugs however, I will be surprised if they are included. That's where you are getting into illegal activity territory and if their stance on violence is anything to go by, the game will support it if the modders make it but it likely won't be a part of the game.

if there is nudity as you mentioned it would be done on the basis of it being an artistic representation, as nudity by itself doesn't set the rating +18 by itself. When there is a sexual component to the nudity then it becomes +18. It would also likely be an option set in options, probably behind a parental control.

As with drugs, there are so many different drugs and you all think of the hard stuff grown from plant material. Yet the human body has a range of drugs working within, the same with pets, the same with car tires or anything you eat. drugs exist in many different forms and it don't mean the hard stuff has to be represented.

Put it this way, if there is a career in medicine, when your sim prescribes an anti-depressant or painkillers, which by themselves are not hard drugs, it can benefit a sim who is ill and needs assistance to get better. Hospitals would use more powerful drugs like Ketamine as an anaesthetic when regular anaesthesia is not enough, those are used to set bones that have broken on a sims leg or arm or other serious injuries that too painful for regular anaesthesia. So long as no one at the hospital steals the stuff, it's kept as a restricted drug and thus only found in the hospital.

Unfortunately there are junkies out there, people who have injected themselves from A to Z on the issue, if you are gonna create a world where they exist, then you'll have little choice but to put hard drugs out there, painkillers and amphetamines as well. that could push the rating right out if handled incorrectly.

Yeah sorry, when saying Mature rating I was specifically referring to the US rating system and their stance on stuff like nudity and alcohol etc. The game has already been advertised to be targeting a PEGI 16 rating, which is higher than any Sims game and allows for non sexualized nudity on the characters, as well as alcohol and drugs (to an extent). While, I don't believe illicit drugs will be in the game, you make a good point in mentioning the hospital, but at the same time illnesses are confirmed to not be in the game, so I don't think there's going to be much reason for a hospital to exist, outside of say offering appearance altering surgeries or something, which I guess could make for an interesting enough career XD

[Haruspex]

The customization is pretty great.
In The Sims, when a male sim would hit on my heterosexual sim, and he would reciprocate, it sort of pulled me out of it. I mean, I could always cancel that interaction and prevent him from further contact, but just having to keep an eye on it wasn't really ideal.

In LbY, I expect we'll be able to set it up however we want. Straight, gay, and everything in between. Anyone could just as easily make a traditional "Leave it to Beaver" town as they could some kind of gender-fluid free-for-all love fest. Something for everyone.

[Momo]

Originally posted by Red:

I'm really pleasantly surprised by this interview and by this game in general.

1. Exactly what you mentioned above.
The game simply gives you the tools to customize whatever kind of world you want in YOUR game, whether it be realistic, fantasy or a mixture of both. There are other life simulators such as Tiny Life out there which despite (probably) having the best intentions, was actually the first time in my 32 years of recreating myself in games that a game has actually made me feel like I should despise myself for simply being a dude who's happy with being a dude. It just feels wrong and I don't need to feel like that when trying to have some wholesome entertainment and in my personal opinion, it just feels like the game excludes males and females for the sole purpose of pushing an agenda and is just being discriminatory for the sake of discrimination. If you are going to make a life simulator based around people, then make it as inclusive as possible and let everyone express themselves freely!
I personally will have my Life by You game be something that makes me feel like everyone, no matter their race or sexuality is welcome, but I also respect anyone who wants to have their own personalized experience because it's not being forced on anyone else and it's certainly not hurting me.

Yes is a big peeve of mine. People should have the options they want, I should have the options I want. Nothing forced on me and as many things customizable as I want. Thats a life sim. Especially when it comes to a single-player game. This is a sandbox simulation, Im not interested in being taught anything through activism or social issues. I should be able to play my single player game my way, its no one elses business. This isnt the worst issue of TS4 but its a big negatjve for me.

I personally dont want any nudity. As long as its optional id like to keep mosiacs. I wouldn't mind seeing illnesses of any kind, i will respect whatever they choose to do according to that.

[Momo]

Originally posted by Xautos:

Most recent pack is Growing Together in San Sequoia which is San Francisco. I only recently learned after being told for a while that Discover University is one based in the UK between Oxford and Cambridge, only to find out it's based in yet another American area.

I'd like to take a break from it for a while and take in a desert region cities like Doha, Jeddah or Cairo, hell even Tel Aviv. Or More towards Greece with nice picturesque Islands between Turkiye and Greece, the Balearic Islands, particularly Ibiza or maybe Hawaii instead?

Yes it would be so cool. I wanted to create my own ancient asian city before in TS4 but the way the townie generator works its so noncustomizable. It was very immersion breaking. I cant imagine TS4 letting that happen. Id get a speech about not being "inclusive" enough, taking the "moral highground". Diversity is amazing, but when I play my sandbox game I should have authority over all my storytelling.

[Momo]

Originally posted by Harusp3x:

The customization is pretty great.
In The Sims, when a male sim would hit on my heterosexual sim, and he would reciprocate, it sort of pulled me out of it. I mean, I could always cancel that interaction and prevent him from further contact, but just having to keep an eye on it wasn't really ideal.

In LbY, I expect we'll be able to set it up however we want. Straight, gay, and everything in between. Anyone could just as easily make a traditional "Leave it to Beaver" town as they could some kind of gender-fluid free-for-all love fest. Something for everyone.

Yeah i didnt like that. I should be able to choose what my sim is attacted to. and what romantic advances they would accept. Whether my sim is hetereo, gay etc.

I didnt like in Get Famous if you did a acting romance scene, you never got to choose your love interest's sex. This really annoyed me. I get as an actor you may not be able to influence who your costar is, but me as a player am I not all the actors, director and management? I should be able to choose which townie was my romantic partner. Especially since in my game my married couple were both actors, i wanted them to be able to play in movies together but i couldnt.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by Momo:

Originally posted by Xautos:

Most recent pack is Growing Together in San Sequoia which is San Francisco. I only recently learned after being told for a while that Discover University is one based in the UK between Oxford and Cambridge, only to find out it's based in yet another American area.

I'd like to take a break from it for a while and take in a desert region cities like Doha, Jeddah or Cairo, hell even Tel Aviv. Or More towards Greece with nice picturesque Islands between Turkiye and Greece, the Balearic Islands, particularly Ibiza or maybe Hawaii instead?

Yes it would be so cool. I wanted to create my own ancient asian city before in TS4 but the way the townie generator works its so noncustomizable. It was very immersion breaking. I cant imagine TS4 letting that happen. Id get a speech about not being "inclusive" enough, taking the "moral highground". Diversity is amazing, but when I play my sandbox game I should have authority over all my storytelling.

Yep. i'm a control freak in my gaming, i like to have control over the way everything works, right down to the smallest detail. The diversity of different worlds and cultures would be nice to get into so they work with the characters i'd put out there. Really get immersed in it, that would be fantastic.

[Octavus]

The Sims franchise is done. They are too busy sending social messages and forgot about making game play fun. Not to mention the game has so many broken mechanics I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

The Sims WAS an amazing game once. It was fun, innovative and seemed to have endless possibilities. Sooo, I guess we should thank them for handing off the torch to Paradox who will no doubt keep that innovation going. It looks like they have some amazing ideas so far.

[Momo]

Originally posted by Devon Kane:

The Sims franchise is done. They are too busy sending social messages and forgot about making game play fun. Not to mention the game has so many broken mechanics I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

The Sims WAS an amazing game once. It was fun, innovative and seemed to have endless possibilities. Sooo, I guess we should thank them for handing off the torch to Paradox who will no doubt keep that innovation going. It looks like they have some amazing ideas so far.

It was an amazing series before. Now i celebrate their downfall. Sick of them nickle and diming their customers and changing everything that made the game work.

[GemSixx]

Originally posted by Devon Kane:

I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

Funny you should say that. In Sims 3, the clocks told actual sim time but somehow they forgot how to do that because the clocks in 4 are static and only right twice a day. I mean, things like that don't really affect gameplay, but the attention to detail that Sims 3 had is completely absent from Sims 4.

Here's to hoping the clocks in LbY work.

[Red]

Originally posted by Momo:

Originally posted by Red:

I'm really pleasantly surprised by this interview and by this game in general.

1. Exactly what you mentioned above.
The game simply gives you the tools to customize whatever kind of world you want in YOUR game, whether it be realistic, fantasy or a mixture of both. There are other life simulators such as Tiny Life out there which despite (probably) having the best intentions, was actually the first time in my 32 years of recreating myself in games that a game has actually made me feel like I should despise myself for simply being a dude who's happy with being a dude. It just feels wrong and I don't need to feel like that when trying to have some wholesome entertainment and in my personal opinion, it just feels like the game excludes males and females for the sole purpose of pushing an agenda and is just being discriminatory for the sake of discrimination. If you are going to make a life simulator based around people, then make it as inclusive as possible and let everyone express themselves freely!
I personally will have my Life by You game be something that makes me feel like everyone, no matter their race or sexuality is welcome, but I also respect anyone who wants to have their own personalized experience because it's not being forced on anyone else and it's certainly not hurting me.

Yes is a big peeve of mine. People should have the options they want, I should have the options I want. Nothing forced on me and as many things customizable as I want. Thats a life sim. Especially when it comes to a single-player game. This is a sandbox simulation, Im not interested in being taught anything through activism or social issues. I should be able to play my single player game my way, its no one elses business. This isnt the worst issue of TS4 but its a big negatjve for me.

I personally dont want any nudity. As long as its optional id like to keep mosiacs. I wouldn't mind seeing illnesses of any kind, i will respect whatever they choose to do according to that.

100% agreed.

As for the second part, that's the beauty of Life by You, if you want the teen rated experience then it's probably enabled by default, or at the very most is just a couple of tick boxes to enable censorship in the options menu.

They are really pushing this game to be what the title suggests, literally, Life by YOU. Your own personal Life Sim, that can be whatever you want it to be.

Originally posted by GemSixx:

Originally posted by Devon Kane:

I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

Funny you should say that. In Sims 3, the clocks told actual sim time but somehow they forgot how to do that because the clocks in 4 are static and only right twice a day. I mean, things like that don't really affect gameplay, but the attention to detail that Sims 3 had is completely absent from Sims 4.

Here's to hoping the clocks in LbY work. :happystar2022:

I'm pretty sure even TS2 had working clocks, and it had even more attention to small details than even TS3 did.

As for how it's gone so backwards in the newest entry, it likely just comes down to lack of passion and inspiration from the team and the overall greed from EA.

Originally posted by Devon Kane:

The Sims franchise is done. They are too busy sending social messages and forgot about making game play fun. Not to mention the game has so many broken mechanics I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

The Sims WAS an amazing game once. It was fun, innovative and seemed to have endless possibilities. Sooo, I guess we should thank them for handing off the torch to Paradox who will no doubt keep that innovation going. It looks like they have some amazing ideas so far.

Originally posted by Momo:

Originally posted by Devon Kane:

The Sims franchise is done. They are too busy sending social messages and forgot about making game play fun. Not to mention the game has so many broken mechanics I'd be surprised if they could even program a coffee pot clock.

The Sims WAS an amazing game once. It was fun, innovative and seemed to have endless possibilities. Sooo, I guess we should thank them for handing off the torch to Paradox who will no doubt keep that innovation going. It looks like they have some amazing ideas so far.

It was an amazing series before. Now i celebrate their downfall. Sick of them nickle and diming their customers and changing everything that made the game work.

I don't necessarily want The Sims to fail, but the genre has needed healthy competition for years and life sim games such as LBY and Paralives, should at the very least inspire The Sims to try to innovate more and hopefully be great again.

[Aturchomicz]

Finally I can make a City for only Neurodivergent people, very based👍🏻

[AntonioKingsley]

I honestly love what's in this article. It's basically Rob's way of saying "Do whatever the hell you want in this game" Hopefully the systems to do just that are user-friendly and allow players to do just that.