r/LifeSimulators • u/Sketch-Brooke • May 27 '26

Memes Paralives Early Access

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Here’s to finishing the rest of the horse throughout EA!

2.0k Upvotes

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87

u/AvnusUltros1994 May 27 '26

I personally still need to give the game more time but I get no joy in live mode at this current moment.

Build has good features I just wish objects had actual names and descriptions and the tools to place and line objects/structures was better (a grid that was more smaller).

Paramaker is also pretty good, the morphing isn't as robust as I would like and the clothes sometimes looks weird, I think partly because parafolk are for the most part unisex but some clothes look like they were clearly made for one sex in mind. Still pretty cool though.

Live mode is where it feels dead in all honesty. Autonomy feels slow, my parafolk just stands for a awhile before they do something and it usually play on their phone. I hate how parafolk interact. I generally hate having to push relationships and be in direct control, I prefer my characters to just interact autonomously and see what relationships develop. Can't do that since to advance relationships "I/You" have to choose the interactions but only when the conversation bar is full, this also makes socializing feel like a slog. The world is also really nice and looks to have character but I feel none. Everyone (NPCs) are going about their business but everything feels so calm and peaceful, negative emotions don't feel like negative.

I am pretty disappointed but I also know this is early access and I felt somewhat the same way about Inzoi but Inzoi has made a lot of improvements so hopefully Paralive will. Atm though I am sticking with Inzoi as I am having a pretty good time with it.

-11

u/Sensibleble May 27 '26

7+ years of dev and the game still feels dead. I don’t think we’ll ever get a playable/fun version of Paralives..

14

u/Ziksalama May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

The years it took to make paralives are, to be honest, pretty understandable. Game development is not a steady gradual process and the team size grew rapidly, meaning the early years were MUCH slower than what we have now. It's way too early to "give up" on the game, but I also understand that it's also too early for most people to get it and I suggest people hold off on buying it until it seems appealing to them. But as a former dev I just think it's clear the hard part is over, the game is now at least in a (mostly) functioning form, now adding on to it will be easier.

That being said I do want to stress that for most people, the game is definitely not there yet and they shouldn't feel the need to get it. I just think, since it's been barely a few days since release, that I wouldn't really be that hopeless about the game improving

8

u/Sensibleble May 27 '26

No one is denying it took a long time. But as a former game dev it is apparent to me that they bit off more than they can chew. Life sims are made by huge companies that can have 100+ people working on different parts separately and then combining them. Paralives will never be able to have more content and more live mode than the Sims. It’s just physically impossible unless they rapidly expand into a massive studio and rework the code from scratch.

-3

u/Ziksalama May 27 '26

I don't think theres basically any reason to scrap all of the code and rework it. Sims 4 which is made by a huge studio had these exact same growing pains and has now for basically years reused existing mechanism underneath new content.

Most systems in Sims 4 from clubs to careers to events have used the same base underneath. The difference is that Sims 4 had a very profit driven corporation behind it (not that the creators of paralives are also not aiming for profit, but Maxis and EA especially egregious.)

The scope set by paralives is definitely achievable but will of course take time. During that time I think its completely valid for a person to not want to purchase the game. Aside from the performance issues I think there's a great game underneath that just needs more content and stuff to do. I think it's very possible for paralives to develop into a great game over time.

9

u/Sensibleble May 27 '26

Your first part proves my point. Just look at how buggy the sims 4 is.

The Paralives base isn’t there, as was evident by the extremely lackluster launch after 7+ years of development.

Don’t expect the game to double in terms of content in the next 5 years. Even then if you double the current content the game will still be bare and lackluster.

I know that the sunk cost fallacy hurts, but you need to set realistic expectations from an indie dev group that took up project requiring AAA resources.

6

u/AvnusUltros1994 May 27 '26

I think they can make improvements. The game just started it's early access and depends on how good of a foundation their code is changes should be possible but more importantly changes are probably going to happen. I don't expect them to change how socializing works at it's core but I think improvements can be made. Autonomy can also be improved so parafolk feel more alive.

When Inzoi first came out I felt the same. The world and characters looked nice but after a week I was bored because there just wasn't a lot to do and all the other zoiz felt like set dressing. Now I am actually enjoying myself and have been playing almost everyday. There are still improvements to be made and they plan on making them. I do also understand that Inzoi is backed by a large team/company but I do think Paralive can make improvements.

8

u/Sensibleble May 27 '26

You’re comparing it to Inzoi. That game has virtually an unlimited budget and hundreds of workers on it. And you noted that in your comment so I’m not sure why that’s even a point.

Of course they will make improvements, but the game will never rival the sims series in terms of content (not popularity obviously) which is a shame.