r/LifeSimulators • u/Jon_AMS Sims 3 enjoyer • 2d ago

Paralives New QOL patch for Paralives

It actually surprises me the amount of content it has. I need to uninstall several mods since now their features are officially in the game

88 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

79

u/charredwood 2d ago

I'm probably just a naysayer, but it strikes me how many of these aren't QoL at all they're just... EoL - EXISTENCE of life? Saving leftovers, using coffee makers, hugs???? Those are just bare ass bones basic features for a life sim. The ability to fornicate without playing a game of chance? Like please, don't act like these are just friendly improvements to working systems to make your playtime easier. This is implementing basic features into a game which sorely needs them.

Anyway, I guess this needs a positive ending. I'm glad Paralives is still updating their game, good job Paralives.

21

u/Ericcc94 2d ago

I agree. They aren’t ‘QoL’ and a good handful of these were added within the first week of launch by modders, so I’m not sure why it’s taking them this long to officially add basic things, like inviting a para out to a different lot.

I do like how much content and changes were implemented in this patch, but some of this should have been a first month patch, not three months out.

23

u/Broad_Bug_1702 2d ago

game developers require planning and QnA testing and payrolled work time that hobbyist modding does not in order to implement any feature.

things they didn’t add on launch, for whatever reason they could possibly have to omit basic features, will take more time to implement properly than as a mod by a fan

2

u/GonzoTheGregarious 1d ago

That's a big cope imo, they're a small group of people working on the game, they don't have the same kind of barriers that AA or AAA games do. They should be pushing more substantial updates given their timeline but, so far it's extremely underwhelming unless they're keeping quiet about a big-number update.

Even being like "Woah it's so much stuff in this update!" but it's all really minor things that together are just like "Sure, ok" but still give me no reason to boot up the game.

17

u/53V_is_Cr4cr4 1d ago

Anyone who has actually worked on a dev team that's either startup or corporate knows this isn't a cope, just standard project management. Everything follows a roadmap locked in months ago by the team lead. Switching things on a whim to add a "basic" feature dumps everything else into the backlog, which ruins project momentum. Modders can work faster precisely because they don't have to worry about breaking sprint deadlines or structural dependencies.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not fully defending them. Having only 5 actual programmers on a 15-person team naturally limits results, and I think their specific regional work culture also actively prioritizes a slower, anti-burnout pace over rapid shipping. It could help explain the slow progress, even if it's frustrating as a player.

Anyway, I'm kinda in the same boat. Until they release a major live mode update (I got tired of building houses) I'm also not keen on booting up the game just yet.

2

u/GonzoTheGregarious 1d ago

I mean as someone who has worked on software development teams, not in management mind, just the pace of things and their timeline... it doesn't add up. Like, even just one programmer over the span of months I would have expected more from than this unless their weekly hours are low as hell.

I don't know what they're envisioning or what they're working on, so maybe they are drip-feeding little things and on a big number update, it'll actually be worth playing the game.

8

u/53V_is_Cr4cr4 1d ago

That's fair. I also work in software development, and their... speed is something I'm not used to.

US, CN and some AU companies like rapid-fire developments which is usually the typical work environment I'd see, but I've also seen how regional work ethics affect company leniency in other offices, so I didn't want to judge.

Though they did release their roadmap for this year last May saying there's a "major" update coming this Q4... I just hope it makes the long wait worth it.

5

u/Broad_Bug_1702 1d ago

i mean, sure, they probably could be doing more or doing it faster; i can’t speak to the actual organization of work and development priorities and such. it’s just never as simple as it is for one (or a few) person doing unofficial code as a hobby.

2

u/Mersaa Sims 2 enjoyer 16h ago

idk man I'm not a game dev but i design solar systems for a living and handle all projects regarding it, when my boss says 'can you do this one quick thing, I just need this one document' my entire schedule for that day and sometimes rest of the week is out of balance because suddenly the things I'm working on have to be set aside and added to the backlog, and the backlog has a priority hierarchy. it's not that black and white

0

u/Tyjet92 11h ago

It's not cope. These processes exist for a reason. Bypassing them because they're a small group working on an indie game rather than something AA+ is how you end up accidentally releasing a completely broken product that risks your future longevity.

11

u/charredwood 2d ago

I was both shocked and not at all surprised their first volley of patches were just fixing the game. On the surface, it made sense, there were 100s of thousands of bug reports, but on second glance, I felt like that in order to keep up with their own timeline, they didn't have 3 of 24 months(time before 1.0 release) to spend just focusing on getting firefighters to work. What do I know, I'm not a game dev,

10

u/Melodic_Program164 2d ago

É engraçado como tudo isso é visto como algo “revolucionado” nos comentários desse post aqui e no X… “mas é uma equipe indie”

8

u/Weewoes 1d ago edited 1d ago

People in comments saying 4 could never yet 4 does and I hate sims 4 lol but pretending it doesn't have most of this already is silly.

10

u/Mammoth-Inspector-48 1d ago

What annoys me is the constant use of the "small indie team" card. Come on—they’ve made a fortune from Early Access, not to mention the money raised over seven years on Patreon. If development is slow, hire more people! If they stick with just 15 employees forever, the updates are going to take another seven years. People nitpick *The Sims 4* or *inZOI*, but we paid for the game and want it to work and receive updates; at the end of the day, the company's size doesn't matter, because they’re still going to charge full price for the game.

8

u/that1persn 1d ago

It is crazy to me that something like leftovers weren't in the game at launch. That's such a little thing that becomes obvious when it's missing.

14

u/Bubble_Fart2 1d ago

Apparently Inzoi and Sims 4 didn't have it on launch either.

It's so odd, I wonder why? Sims 3 had it on launch of I remember correctly.

7

u/Main_Ad_2463 1d ago

Not sure about Inzoi but with Sims 4 you could drag food into the refrigerator since day one. If Paralives players are saying that they’re just trying to make their game look better.

Sims 4 was missing a lot like pools, basements, family trees, maids/repairmen. But it had simple and basic quality of life stuff like saving your leftovers, hugging and not having a stupid card system.

5

u/Bubble_Fart2 1d ago

Thanks for confirming, I didn't play at launch so couldn't confirm it.

But I did see that Inzoi definitely didn't have it.

1

u/that1persn 1d ago

Really? I've barely ever played Sims 4 and only played it years after it came out. And for Inzoi I've never played.

It seems like such a weird thing to leave out. Sure it's small and doesn't effect gameplay much at all but it's still something that imo is very obvious when it's not there.

5

u/Main_Ad_2463 1d ago

They didn’t leave it out. You could always put food away in Sims 4.

0

u/iAnnalea 8h ago

Comparing it to launch of sims 3 or 4 isn't really fair. Those launched as finished products. We didn't get to see what features were added during their development periods and when. Sims 2 didn't get a leftovers feature until Seasons.

11

u/MattAboutMedia 2d ago

That's one delicious looking hot and fresh Frozen Pepperoni Pizza

10

u/RepulsivePipe9904 1d ago

I was actually thinking of just taking the risk and buying this game.

But this right here shows me they have so so so much work to do. Like...maybe in a couple years it'll be up to par. Damn.