Life By You developer Paradox Tectonic has uploaded its latest Q&A videos, focusing on answering questions from viewers following September’s build mode showcase and a recent developer livestream:
Now, I usually don’t like to lean too hard on The Sims comparisons when discussing a new Life Sim game, even if the juxtaposition is pretty much inevitable given EA’s titan of franchise recently. I never had a big competition. But Life By You is helmed by Rod Humble, the former Sims studio head who rose through the ranks during The Sims 2 and led early production on The Sims 3, and clearly in Life By You. There’s plenty of The Sims 3 DNA. So it doesn’t feel too impolite to put them together at this point.
Life By You is, apparently, set to cheer up The Sims 3 fans who were disappointed by the changes made to The Sims 4, which came well after Humble left EA in 2010. But one thing most Sims seem to agree on is that TS4 has the best build mode in the Sims franchise so far, so you’d think Paradox’s rival product would face an uphill battle in that department. may fall
However, this latest Q&A video shows that Life by You is committed to keeping up with or surpassing The Sims wherever it can. Overall the build mod works like it does in The Sims 4, to be honest, but there are a number of smaller mods on display here that Sims fans will be very excited to see.
The video demonstrates the ability to place a perimeter fence directly on the edge of the lot as opposed to a square within the boundary, which has personally bothered me since I started playing The Sims in 2001. curtain height and width, and the ability to add air conditioning as an active feature for those who want an authentic experience of Southern California architecture (but no word yet on whether those (For those who live in colder places, central heating will do). There’s also no limit to the number of floors in your buildings – other than what your computer can handle, that is.
Paradox Tectonic has been making a point of listening to player feedback in response to the development footage it regularly shows, but I can’t help but feel that hearing player feedback about an entirely different game is a little off-putting. A bit extra. And I say this as a longtime Summer who seems to be a little happier than average with The Sims 4.
However, in the name of balance I would say that most of the compromises made in The Sims are probably made for a reason. We already know that Life By will be a resource-eating monster on the UPC, which The Sims 4 was designed to prevent where possible. And there’s no word yet on how far you can truly customize everything before breaking some key aspect of Life is You’s simulation. However, Paradox is being refreshingly honest about leaving some small AI tweaks in these development videos, so I’m sure we’ll learn more about that in the coming months.
Life by You is expected to launch into Early Access via Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 5, 2024, a six-month delay from its originally planned release in September.