Paralives Just Dropped and We Have Thoughts

Becca Hartwell: Welcome back to the Plumbob Report. I'm here with Danny Reyes and oh my gosh, this week is a lot. Danny Reyes: Laughing, Becca Hartwell, that is the understatement of the century. Like, where do we even start? Becca Hartwell: Okay, so here's the thing. Paralives just launched on Steam Early Access and the numbers are wild. Danny Reyes: Wow. Becca Hartwell: We're talking 250K copies in eight hours and 78K players online at once. It's Danny Reyes: With surprise. Wait, really? That's not indie numbers. That's like actual blockbuster territory. Becca Hartwell: Right? So we are going all in on that. The launch reaction, what it means for the life sim genre, all of it. Danny Reyes: And then we go hands-on with the actual features, parameter sliders, build mode tools, the career system. Honestly, I have thoughts. Becca Hartwell: Chuckling, you always have thoughts. Danny Reyes: I do. Speaking of which... We are also covering Sims 4 Patch 2.34, which dropped May 21st. Becca Hartwell: With a sigh, the CAS fixes, the Gallery stuff, and a Producer interview about future Quality of Life updates that is either very reassuring or very not, depending on your mood. Danny Reyes: Plus, two community mods doing the things EA just hasn't. Becca Hartwell: You know what I mean? And then to close it out, we've got some big industry news. Sims Medieval got quietly pulled from sale after 15 years. Danny Reyes: No warning, just gone. Becca Hartwell: And alleged Project Rene screenshots showing open world neighborhoods, so the community is fully in speculation mode right now. Danny Reyes: With energy. Okay, I am ready. Let's get into it. Becca Hartwell: Let's go! Paralives just changed the game, so we're starting there. We want to hear from you. Submit questions via the web form in the description or give us a call at 747-677-1037 and leave your question. Don't be shy. Our AI assistant makes it super easy. Okay, so 250K copies, eight hours. Wait, eight hours? Danny Reyes: Eight hours, Becca Hartwell. Sims Community reported it yesterday. Paralives hit Steam Early Access and just... went. Becca Hartwell: That's wild, right? Like, we knew the hype was there, but that's a real number. Danny Reyes: And it topped global sales the same day, 78,000 simultaneous players at launch, according to William Chan over at Tech Times. Becca Hartwell: To put that in context, that's not a small indie quietly dropping on a Tuesday. That's a statement. Danny Reyes: Right? And the reviews landed very positive on Steam. game, Becca Hartwell: Wow. Danny Reyes: which for Early Access is not a given. Becca Hartwell: No, absolutely not. Early Access can go sideways fast. I've seen some launches that made my Sims 3 legacy save situation look organized. Danny Reyes: Okay, so the number is unhinged, but here's the thing. What's actually driving it? Because hype gets you day one. It doesn't get you very positive reviews. Becca Hartwell: Right, right. And GamesRadar was covering this today, Anna Koselkes piece, and players are out there saying they'll probably never go back to Sims 4, which, I mean, come on, that's a big claim. Danny Reyes: I mean, I'm on both sides a little bit. Like, I get the frustration with Sims 4. My Sims autonomously mop floors during fires. That's not a bit. That's just Tuesday. Becca Hartwell: It really is just Tuesday. Danny Reyes: But the community has been hungry for a real competitor for years. for years and Paralives has been in development since like forever. People have been waiting. Becca Hartwell: And what's interesting is the creator pipeline showed up immediately. Sims community covered launch day CC and Paramaker content already going live on day one. Danny Reyes: Day one CC? That's honestly kind of a flex. Becca Hartwell: It really is because a game can have great bones, but if the community doesn't pick it up. It fades. The fact that creators were already in Paramaker on day one, that tells you something. Danny Reyes: Yeah, and speaking of Paramaker, like, that's the character creator for anyone who hasn't followed Paralives closely, people are losing it over the customization options. Becca Hartwell: Rich, you know, as someone who spends way too long in Create-a-Sim, I feel that on a personal level. Danny Reyes: Oh, same. I've spent 40 minutes on cheekbone placement before. Or Becca Hartwell: 40 minutes is conservative. Danny Reyes: Totally. So the hype has some real substance behind it. But, and I do want to be honest here, it's early access. Becca Hartwell: Yeah, there's that. Danny Reyes: William Chan's piece actually noted that The Gamer and PC Gamer had mixed warnings from critics. Like they're not saying it's bad, but they're saying it's not done. Becca Hartwell: Right, which is, you know, accurate. Early Access means you're buying into what it's becoming, not- Not what it fully is yet. Danny Reyes: And the developers put out a post-release roadmap. Sims Community covered it on Friday. June through September is a really focused push. Lots of bug fixes and feature building. Becca Hartwell: That's actually reassuring. A clear roadmap with specific windows is way better than vague we're working on it energy. Danny Reyes: No kidding. Motherlode can't fix a missing roadmap, you know what I mean? Becca Hartwell: That is very true. Danny Reyes: 250,000 in eight hours and a launch discount still pulling people in? The momentum is real. Becca Hartwell: And here's the thing about that never going back to Sims 4 take. I don't think it means Sims 4 is dead. I think it means players finally have options and options change how you relate to something you've been stuck with. Danny Reyes: That's actually a really good way to put it. Competition does something to a space that nothing else can. Becca Hartwell: Right? Like, EA has had basically no real competition in the life sim lane for years. And now there's a game clearing a quarter million units before dinner. Danny Reyes: Before dinner. That's the timeline. Becca Hartwell: So, okay, the number is real, the community showed up, and the reviews are positive. But everyone's asking the same question now. Danny Reyes: Which is? Becca Hartwell: What is Paralives actually doing that has people this fired up? up like what's under the hood that makes it feel different? Danny Reyes: And I think that's exactly the conversation we need to have, because the sales number is exciting, but the features are where this gets really interesting. Becca Hartwell: So now that the hype is real, let's actually talk about what you're getting when you boot it up. Right, okay, so Paramaker first, because I think that's where people's jaws are hitting the floor. Danny Reyes: The character creator? Becca Hartwell: Yeah, like Sims Community put out a full guide this week on the sliders alone, and I'm reading it going, this is just built in? No mods required? Danny Reyes: That's the thing. You know how in Sims 4 we've had slider mods and body proportion overhauls basically forever because the base game just doesn't cut it. Becca Hartwell: For years, years! Danny Reyes: And Paralives ships with that stuff on day one, face shape, body proportions, the whole thing, fully adjustable. Becca Hartwell: It's not just sliders either, Sims Community also covered the identity and personality options in Paramaker, and there's real depth there. You're not just picking traits from a list. Danny Reyes: Does it feel overwhelming though, like is it too much? Becca Hartwell: Honestly, probably for some people, yeah. But as someone who has spent way too long in Create-a-Sim installing Speaker 3: mods in Sims, I have no problem with the amount of customization. Becca Hartwell: Installing mods to get exactly one eyebrow shape right. I'm not complaining. Danny Reyes: Fair. Okay, build mode, because this is where I personally started having a moment. Becca Hartwell: Oh, build mode is where it gets wild. GamesRadar had a piece today. Miri Teixeira wrote it, basically titled, I Might Not Have to Mod The Sims Anymore. And as a gallery creator, I read that headline and felt something. Danny Reyes: Okay, so here's what she's talking about. Object resizing. Like, you can grab furniture and resize it freely, not snap to grid nonsense-actually resize it. Becca Hartwell: Which Sims 4 players have had to mod in. Danny Reyes: Yep. Becca Hartwell: Custom styles on objects, too, according to the Sims Community Object Customization guide that dropped Friday-you can apply different color schemes and patterns to individual pieces. Danny Reyes: Wait, so it's not just a recolor system? Becca Hartwell: It's more flexible than that. The article calls them custom styles and describes being able to Being able to mix and match in ways the base Sims 4 engine just doesn't support natively. Danny Reyes: Im not even mad. Im just tired. Becca Hartwell: Same. Like, Ive accepted modding as part of my routine, but theres something about seeing these features just exist in another game. Danny Reyes: Built in from the start. Becca Hartwell: From early access, thats what gets me. This is the floor, not the ceiling. Danny Reyes: Okay, careers, because I feel like thats actually the The best signal for where the full game is going. Becca Hartwell: Yeah, Sims Community put out a careers guide Thursday, and what stands out is that the system feels like it has actual structure, not just a job you leave for and come back richer. Danny Reyes: So more active than Sims 4s rabbit hole jobs? Becca Hartwell: Seems like its designed to be. The place is called Melino, the town in the game, and the careers feel woven into that setting rather than just a stat. That you manage. Danny Reyes: That's the detail that makes me think they're building something that actually hangs together as a world. Becca Hartwell: Right. And remember, this is early access. The post-release roadmap Sims community covered Friday shows them focused on expanding this stuff through September. Danny Reyes: So the foundation is there. They're building up. Becca Hartwell: The floor is already higher than where some games end. Danny Reyes: Okay, speaking of games doing the work to patch their foundations. The Sims 4 dropped patch 2.34 last week, and I have notes. Becca Hartwell: Oh, no. Danny Reyes: Oh yes, we'll get into what actually got fixed and what a producer is saying about quality of life updates going forward. That's next. Okay, flip side of Paralives Week because Sims 4 also dropped something. Becca Hartwell: A patch. They dropped a patch. Danny Reyes: Patch 2.34, May 21st, and honestly, it's fine. Becca Hartwell: I mean, according to MP1st, it fixed the Kaz bug where opening clothing categories wasn't jumping to what your Sim was already wearing. Which, okay, that's been annoying me for months. Danny Reyes: Right, and Sims Community covered the hotfix notes too. Two. Gallery fixes, eyedropper tool issues, CAS stuff, the kind of patch where you're like, cool, thank you, moving on. Becca Hartwell: It's the Sims 4 experience in a nutshell. You wait 10 minutes for it to load and the reward is a clothing category bug got fixed. Danny Reyes: That's so accurate though. Becca Hartwell: I've accepted it. I've made peace. This is my life now. Danny Reyes: Okay, but the more interesting thing from this week was the Gamespot interview. Sims community covered. Producer Morgan Henry talking about future quality of life updates and the marketplace. Becca Hartwell: Oh yeah, what did they actually say? Danny Reyes: So basically it's more QOL coming, they're aware what players want, the marketplace is going to keep growing, the usual reassuring language, you know? Becca Hartwell: I mean, I get it, but it's a little hard not to read that interview against the Paralives news from the last two segments. Danny Reyes: As a gallery creator, I'll say whenever producers talk about Talk about the marketplace-I pay attention. There are real creators putting real work in there, and how EA supports that infrastructure actually matters. Becca Hartwell: Totally. And like the QOL stuff has been genuinely good this year. That's not nothing. Danny Reyes: No, it's not. It's just, it's the contrast a lot this particular week. Becca Hartwell: Right, right. Speaking of community filling the gaps, the open apartments mod from modder TyJoker on Sims Community? That's a big one. Danny Reyes: Wait, for Rent? Becca Hartwell: For Rent. Unlocking open apartments so neighbors actually feel like they share a building. That's a thing players have wanted since that pack launched. Danny Reyes: And the Origins mod is also making the rounds this week. Sims Community had a whole guide up today. It's from Ellesimsworld and basically lets your Sims have a cultural background, like actual roots and identity built into the game. Becca Hartwell: And that's not in the base game. Like EA hasn't done... hasn't done that? Danny Reyes: Nope. Modder did it. Becca Hartwell: Classic. Modders really are out here patching EA's vision before EA ships it. Danny Reyes: You know what I mean? The community just builds what it wants. Becca Hartwell: And honestly, that's the thing about Sims 4. The game is whatever the community makes it at this point. Danny Reyes: Which is either a strength or a warning sign, depending on how you look at it. Becca Hartwell: Yeah, both probably. Danny Reyes: Both. Okay, so while all this is happening, EA has also been making some questionable moves. Some quieter beefs on the franchise side, and some of them are genuinely strange. Speaker 4: Strange how? Danny Reyes: Like pulling games from sale and leaking new ones at the same time strange. Okay, so EA's been making some quiet moves this week. Becca Hartwell: Oh, we're going here? Good. Danny Reyes: First one, Sims Medieval. Just gone. Pulled from sale without any announcement or warning. Becca Hartwell: Since community reported it, and like no press release, no farewell post, nothing, EA just quietly retired it. Danny Reyes: That game came out in 2011. 15 years and it gets a silent exit. Becca Hartwell: Not even a moment of acknowledgement, that's wild. Wild, right? Danny Reyes: I mean, it wasn't a mainline Sims game, but it had a real fan base. People loved that one. Becca Hartwell: And here's what makes me think about it more. EA has been clearing the back catalog. What does that signal about where the franchise is heading? Danny Reyes: I think it could just be licensing cleanup. Or it's making room, which Becca Hartwell: Room for what, though? Danny Reyes: brings us to the other thing. Becca Hartwell: Okay, yes, the Project Rene screenshots. Danny Reyes: GAMINGbible and Sims Community both covered this. An anonymous tip, alleged screenshots, actual gameplay. Becca Hartwell: Alleged. I love that word in this context. Danny Reyes: Right? So what are we looking at? Becca Hartwell: The screenshots show something that looks like open-world neighborhoods, Sims walking around outside without load screens, Real-time street activity. Danny Reyes: Okay, if that's legit, that's a big deal. Becca Hartwell: The community's going absolutely feral over it, Danny Reyes: Yeah. Becca Hartwell: split between this is fake. And EA finally listened. Danny Reyes: So I want to ground this a little, because I attended EA Play a few years back, met the dev team. These are people who genuinely care about the game. They know what players want. Becca Hartwell: But knowing and shipping are different. Danny Reyes: Completely. And leaked screenshots from an anonymous email are not a roadmap. Becca Hartwell: Right, right. But it does tell us something that these images exist at all, even if they're early. Danny Reyes: The timing is not subtle either. Paralives just launched to massive numbers. Open neighborhoods are basically the thing players said Sims 4 needs most. Becca Hartwell: Competition does funny things to roadmaps. Danny Reyes: It really does. So here's what I'd actually want to know from our listeners: If Project Renee turns out to be real, what's the one thing it has to get right for you to care? Becca Hartwell: For me, load screens. If my sim can walk next door without a three-minute cutaway, I'm in. Danny Reyes: That's the bar-not drama, not careers-just functional neighbors. Becca Hartwell: The bar is on the floor and I'm still hopeful-that's the Sims experience. Danny Reyes: Drop your answer in the community tab. We want to know what would bring you back. Okay, that's a wrap on a big one! Becca Hartwell: Paralives dropping two hundred fifty thousand copies in eight hours and we're just supposed to act normal? Danny Reyes: Totally wild; and that moment where we talked about players finally having options, that stuck with me. Becca Hartwell: Right? The Life Sim genre just got a lot more interesting. And honestly, the modding community showing up on day one over there? That's a healthy sign. Danny Reyes: Thoughtfully, Meanwhile, EA is quietly retiring Sims Medieval. Medieval and leaking Project Rene screenshots into the void, it's a lot. Becca Hartwell: A lot. So the takeaway this week: competition is good, actually. Danny Reyes: Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Seriously, if you liked today's episode, subscribe and leave a review. It helps other Simmers find the show. Becca Hartwell: And share your wildest Sims stories with us over at Socials. We're at Plumbob Report. Danny Reyes: Sul sul, everyone! Becca Hartwell: Sul, sul.