New Live Mode Features + Funny Bugs + Get a Postcard Signed by the Team!
Added 2024-11-29 14:25:19 +0000 UTCHey everyone!
This week’s post contains updates from Gab, Alex and Richard. Let’s get started! Note that this Patreon post is for Patrons only so please don’t share it, thank you! 🔒
Get an Exclusive Paralives Postcard Signed by the Team! 💌
Hii ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა Gab here to remind you that it’s that time of the year again! Don’t forget to upgrade your current pledge to Hero or Legend before December 1st, 2024 if you would like to receive an exclusive postcard signed by the Paralives team!
If you would like to change your pledge tier, you can do so here. As always, it’s also possible to upgrade your tier just to get the postcard and then downgrade again after a month. Finally, if you are already on the Hero or Legend tier and are eager to receive your postcard, don’t forget to check if your address is up to date on your Patreon profile!
This artwork featured in our last postcard from June 2024 is by Mario Miravalles! You might recognize the Crème Café from our live mode gameplay video. The illustration for this upcoming card is still a secret but I can spill a little detail about it… it was created by one of the artists on our team 🤭🤭
Characters Reacting to Their Environment
Hi, Alex here! Alejandro, Jérémie and I developed a system to make it so items or characters can apply effects to other nearby characters. This will allow us to do all sorts of gameplay mechanics in the live mode.
This Para gains the Disgusted emotion when getting near a dirty toilet.
Other examples of what this system could allow:
🚿 A Para that has a low Hygiene need will disgust other Paras nearby
🎹 A skilled piano player could make nearby Parafolk curious, happy, inspired or moved.
💻 A Para could be sad or angry when near their computer if it’s broken.
☀️ A joyful character could have a trait that propagates joy to nearby Parafolks.
😷 When a character has a cold, they could transmit it to other people nearby.
💔 A Para surprising a lover cheating on them could become angry or sad.
I’m looking forward to the many exciting situations we will be able to create with this feature!
Funny Live Mode Bugs
Who says code says bugs! Here are a few good ones we encountered recently. Don’t worry, these have already been fixed or will be soon!
There’s a hill blocking the front door? No problem!
When it’s 11:59am and you are waiting for lunch to be served… This toddler Parafolk is sitting a bit too low!
After lunch, this toddler has a surprising amount of energy and is now doing push-ups, which is an interaction that small children can’t normally do! Thanks to this bug, now they can!
They say working in a standing position can help with back pain.
This would be a cute parent-child interaction if it were not for some position and rotation issues!
Richard - Social Situations in Rooms
Now that we're back on the live mode, I’m back on working on social situations (Remember this Patreon Post?). I’m adding a system to make sure everyone in a group is together in the same room to avoid having them chat together but being separated by a wall, for instance. Rooms can have all sorts of shapes which makes my work harder :). Here are some screenshots to show where I’m at:
The green shape is created automatically around the position where I asked my Parafolks to dance, creating a zone where they can hang out together without the group being split by a wall.
This shows the issue of rooms that are too small. We then need to fall back to places that are nearest to that room, even if that means that you are on the other side of a door.
With this system, we have some code that could be used to make a system to figure out if you are alone in the bathroom, for instance. This way, Paras could refuse to use the toilet unless they are alone.
Thank you for reading. We hope you like our progress 🙂.
Don’t forget to eat your vegetables!
Richard
Comments
Would love to see a sickness system!
Hana Chuang
2024-12-21 18:23:17 +0000 UTC"Oh yeah... it's all coming together" - Kronk, Junior Chipmunk
Íris Sól Þrastardóttir
2024-12-11 20:24:40 +0000 UTCI will do so as soon as I get on my pc! Im not as familiar with the mobile app. Thank you!
Ashley Ailshire
2024-12-08 05:50:51 +0000 UTCMay I ask approximately when the postcards are sent out? The only reason I'm asking is so I can get an idea of when the postcard arrive. By the way, greetings from Germany 🤗❤️
Josephin01
2024-12-07 21:47:01 +0000 UTCThe baby doing pushups under the high chair had laughing a little to much, all in all the whole team has done me proud
Francis McDonald
2024-12-07 10:31:27 +0000 UTCDM us on Patreon and we'll see what we can do about that :)
Gabrielle Boyer-Antoni
2024-12-06 15:58:31 +0000 UTCHi Ashley! Sorry to hear about your missing postcard, would you mind DMing our page directly so our team can take a look and make sure we get you the June postcard? Thank you :)
Gabrielle Boyer-Antoni
2024-12-06 15:57:00 +0000 UTCFor me it's the musical chair thing. Having characters speaking to eachother and constantly standing up to do 1 interaction, then sitting down in different spot, then up again, then down, etc. 😵💫
Minimouette
2024-12-05 04:51:35 +0000 UTCHello! Love the updates and thank you all for all your hard work. I am beyond excited! I did want to mention, I've been a hero tier for a while and I didn't receive the June 2024 postcard, was I supposed to sign up for it somewhere?
Ashley Ailshire
2024-12-03 16:39:11 +0000 UTCi can't wait to tell my own story with this game. Good luck on polishing Live Mode.
JossGun Shipper
2024-12-03 04:16:08 +0000 UTCLil toddlers/kids doing push-ups if their parents work out is very life-like and something I'd love to see tbh, but indeed brocoli thing goes a bit too "funny" for my taste personally 🤣😅💜
Star Zoë
2024-12-02 18:51:45 +0000 UTCOh no I changed to Hero but it's one day too late for the Postcard 😭
Grace Prince
2024-12-02 17:43:22 +0000 UTCAs long as you were on the Hero tier on the day of December 1st (yesterday), you will get a postcard. Also, make sure your address is on Patreon: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002832686-How-do-I-update-my-shipping-address The last postcard was sent to all Patrons who were on the Hero tier on June 1st 2024 so if that is your case, please send us a DM here on Patreon so we can send you that previous postcard as well :) Thank you!
Alex Massé
2024-12-02 15:32:42 +0000 UTCSorry, I didn't catch your question before the weekend! When you upgrade to a higher membership tier, your billing date remains the same. You'll be charged the outstanding amount immediately and gain access to the higher tier for the remainder of your billing period. You'll be charged the upgraded membership amount on your next billing date Now that it's December 2nd, it's too late :/ But if you upgrade now and send us a DM here on Patreon, we can make an exception and send you a postcard. Thank you for your support!
Alex Massé
2024-12-02 15:30:33 +0000 UTCThanks so much! I will change it back to my PO Box then
Thaaeroprincess87
2024-12-02 15:29:12 +0000 UTCWe are looking at the situation closely and we will wait before sending the postcards if the strike is still ongoing. After that, both your PO Box and your physical address should work
Alex Massé
2024-12-02 15:28:08 +0000 UTCI was subbed with Hero status for a bit but I’ve never gotten a postcard. Do you have to sub as Hero for more than a month?
Taradactyl
2024-12-02 02:31:48 +0000 UTCIt's funny because we see a lot of awesome stuff in previous posts and then except some of the features like the social situations in rooms to already being implemented, but no. Really makes you think about how every features are related to eachother, either way, I love seeing it being worked on and I'm veeeery thankful for the transparency of paralives. We truly don't deserve y'all 😭😭
Ghislain Pedro
2024-11-30 21:27:55 +0000 UTCAlways a great job!
Giammarco Victor Venturi
2024-11-30 20:58:10 +0000 UTCOh yes! It would be great!
Giammarco Victor Venturi
2024-11-30 20:57:08 +0000 UTCNo please not XD, I know it's funny but I have enough of the no sense of The Sims 4! Hahah
Giammarco Victor Venturi
2024-11-30 20:56:16 +0000 UTCI love the idea of yawning propagating to others 🥱
Eduardo Rocha
2024-11-30 11:13:41 +0000 UTCI forgot to add that. I would also think it would be good if you could switch the menstrual cycle and contraceptives on and off, because there are people who don't want that in the game or because not everyone wants this feature in every game, including me. I would also like to see teenage pregnancies, ultrasound pictures, gynecologist visits, etc., on the one hand because these features are good for playing stories, but also because it brings more realism into the game and so does the other paras (family members, friends, etc.) be more involved when it comes to pregnancies. I think it would be good if the features could also be switch on and off. Of course, these are all just ideas and suggestions.
Josephin01
2024-11-30 09:37:14 +0000 UTCif i up my pledge now for the postcard, won’t i just get charged again on the 1st? just asking for clarity!
Chance
2024-11-30 05:30:36 +0000 UTCJust a heads up, that there are options to turn off the pads and tampons feature with that mod and just have pregnancy chance based off the day in the cycle the sim is in or to change it back to generic settings like the vanilla game has.
Thaaeroprincess87
2024-11-30 01:04:22 +0000 UTCIf I'm in Canada do I need to change my address to my physical address instead of the PO Box for the postcard, due to the Canada post strike?
Thaaeroprincess87
2024-11-30 00:59:47 +0000 UTCI hate that in sims 4! Super immersion breaking
Sofia Eichelmann
2024-11-29 23:02:07 +0000 UTCThis brings back memories of The Sims 1, when they would yell "boo" if Sims attempting to play guitar or piano had no musical skills.
Derek Warren
2024-11-29 22:11:21 +0000 UTCWe had a bug similar to that and we fixed it so this issue shouldn't happen!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 22:06:57 +0000 UTCI hope that we won't have Paras talking to each other while one has their back turned to them, this happens all the time in The Sims 4, which is so annoying and unrealistic. I mean even if they are standing in the same room, instead of turning around to talk to another Sim, they stay facing away from them and talking to them instead. Sure sometimes they turn their heads back a bit like they are trying to look at them, but they won't just turn their whole body around. So i hope that will be prevented from happening in Paralives.
Clara M Johnson
2024-11-29 21:54:34 +0000 UTCMenstrual cycle, nope, I don't want that in a game, if they do it better be optional, because I'm not sure I would want the game if I had no choice. The mod for The Sims 4 that has menstrual cycles with tampons and pads all that, there is no choice, and when playing with a female, I spent most of my time just trying to make sure they don't ruin their clothes because they don't have a pad or whatever. Which is also why I don't use that mod or any with that. I don't need that kind of realism in my game for it to be a realistic life simulation game.
Clara M Johnson
2024-11-29 21:42:28 +0000 UTC„A joyful character could have a trait that propagates joy to nearby Parafolks“ That’s so cute! And great work, Richard! That’s a difficult and important task. But from what we can see, the system creating the zones is really good at it ^^
chantal99
2024-11-29 20:18:24 +0000 UTCThat's absolutely wonderful!! Thank all of you for the great job!!
Millena Xavier
2024-11-29 20:16:14 +0000 UTCThanks for the feedback! We haven't started to work on the locking system and for now, doors simply open and close right away but there's certainly room for improvement there for the future!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 20:01:19 +0000 UTCYes, these settings are tweakable through the modding tools!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 20:00:02 +0000 UTCThanks for the good suggestions, I like them!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 19:59:35 +0000 UTCThanks for the reply! Oh I know there was some issues with that on the development page and we might be able to fix it soon, thank you!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 19:58:30 +0000 UTCThank you! We are working on an emotion system currently and it will help the player understand everything that happens, a bit like moodlets! I'm looking forward to sharing more about that soon
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 19:57:10 +0000 UTCCool
Sláine Sheils
2024-11-29 19:53:16 +0000 UTCI would like to see other/more illnesses and injuries. For example, a broken leg or arm, a gastrointestinal illness. Dizziness, nausea, headaches and stomach aches etc and please also abdominal pain, as well as a menstrual cycle with tampons, period underwear, cups and pads, as well as contraceptives for more realism.
Josephin01
2024-11-29 17:55:00 +0000 UTCSeeing them talking to their friends through the closed door... I don't know if you're planning to allow for lockable doors any time, but if so I wondered whether a door could remain open permanently if it's unlocked, and closed if restricted access. I remember the effort of having to click on doors in The Sims to check if I remembered to set the locking menu. So that you don't get paras walking through open door flaps, it could open back flat against the wall or just disappear until closed. Anyway just thought it might be nice not to have the doors slam shut every time a para goes into a room.
I JONES
2024-11-29 16:40:53 +0000 UTCYes, this is the kind of nonsense that I love in this games!
Panthro Samah
2024-11-29 16:39:08 +0000 UTCHi, Richard! Can you set the reaction radius too? I'm asking thinking about mods.
Panthro Samah
2024-11-29 16:37:44 +0000 UTCYawning would be a great one, when a para yawns it makes others yawn. Burning your mouth on drink could make other paras around you blow on theirs to make sure it's not too hot. A para seeing someone eating ice cream on a hot day might make them want one. Fancy/famous paras drawing attention would be cool. Some PDA averse paras might get upset seeing people kiss. Nervous paras might be afraid by Halloween costumes. That system will probably open up a lot of dynamic reactions. Looking forward to getting into modding myself eventually.
Leonard Meagher
2024-11-29 16:15:47 +0000 UTCAmazing post!! Thank you Richard ! Love you guys ✨👏🏻
Becky
2024-11-29 16:03:13 +0000 UTCIt is such fun to see the bugs! 🤭 I really like the toddler push up bug and as someone already mentioned, I would also love it as an autonomous action for toddlers. Toddlers are always trying to imitate their parents or sibs IRL, and it is always endearing to watch a toddler try to clumsily exercise along side them. This is also true of older kids following by example not so clumsily, because it is part of their learning and growing. And another thing I witness on a daily basis is the spontaneity toddlers and kids have when watching TV or hearing a song, and they really don't care who is watching! Lol. This is such great progress the Devs are making in Paralives and in being so faithful in sharing with us! I know the best is yet to come. Thank you, Devs!! ✨️
tey711
2024-11-29 15:52:38 +0000 UTCThanks for the reply, Alex ! Oooh, reworked live mode UI, I'm looking forward to the result ! I do like having full sentences (especially spoken in first person by the Para, it's so much more immersive than the game addressing ME as if the character wasn't in the room with us XD ), but I know it's a divisive topic and now I wonder if it's being retooled to take that feedback into account. In any case, really curious to see the result. With work being dedicated to the live mode now, the UI certainly is going to be a more important character of the Friday posts ! Ah, yes, the room is small XD Of course, that makes sense. I was just thinking that in a situation where the green zone is close to a door (or the small room has a second door that leads to somewhere, or whatever else), this could be an issue. But I'm sure pathing will be an ongoing effort as more features are being worked on ! EDIT : completely unrelated, but when I look at the "Development" page on the official website, and try to jump to a specific year, I'm sent back to the homepage (the url seems to be missing the path "/development"). Maybe something to communicate to Gabrielle ? For what it's worth, I'm on desktop Firefox.
ladyteruki
2024-11-29 15:42:00 +0000 UTCnever thought a para toddler would remind me I need to hit the gym 😭
ZLoves
2024-11-29 15:37:35 +0000 UTCAmazing as always! I have a question relative to this (tho it may haven't being planned so far or aren't suppose to exist in this game, and that's okay), but couldn't we got some system similar to "moodlets"? It's that some awesome details like paras reacting to the world around them might pass unnoticed for a player wich household have so many parafolks to take care, and getting informed about the latest situations occurring with one of them sounds pretty cool to understand what they're feeling at the moment. Also, it can be an inventive way to overcome the lack of animations for specific reactions like "the food is burnt and don't taste good", "the food is okay", "the food spoiled and make them sick", "this is their favorite meal and they're excited to eat". I know the wants system kind of works the same way, and that's already impressive, however it's interesting to get to know their feedback after fulfilling their desires
Millena Xavier
2024-11-29 15:37:04 +0000 UTCThanks so much for the feedback! The emotions will be displayed on the left of the screen. We are currently reworking the live mode UIs and we will be able to show it soon and share more details! Someone from outside the group probably won't be able to enter the room because there's no spot left inside it. But we are still working on all these details!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 15:21:48 +0000 UTCi will keep my fingers crossed. i love the idea of paras getting the cold and passing it on to others... and even people trying to avoid them. :D
Stewby
2024-11-29 15:13:00 +0000 UTCHi Paradevs ! Team work makes the game work, this week, as a lot of features seem to be team efforts \o/ "This Para gains the Disgusted emotion when getting near a dirty toilet. Other examples of what this system could allow:" ...I went through this list going : "Yes. YES. YEEESSSS !!! OH YEAH THAT'S THE SPOT !". I remember asking a question a few months ago about Paras reacting to music and that's really great to see how the system could be used for that, among other things. Those are really the mechanisms that make a life simulation feel alive : when characters react to their environment without waiting for their cue from the player. Life simulation is really all about making us believe that a bunch of pixels has an inner life, at the end of the day ! If we don't believe it, we have very little interest in what happens to them, and they remain a bunch of pixels to us. The cold thing certainly is interesting too, even though as I write this I notice a comment where Alex says it's not confirmed. Well, what can we do to get it confirmed then ? XD A bit of a tangent, but how are emotions displayed ? The same way as wishes/wants in the left-hand column ? Also quick question regarding the door : if someone outside the group wanted to walk through that door, how would pathing deal with it ? "but I can spill a little detail about it… it was created by one of the artists on our team" Wait a minute... <_<
ladyteruki
2024-11-29 15:10:46 +0000 UTCColds would be good. Something a bit different/harsher would also be nice. Like parapox for instance (like chicken pox but not).
Gina Ayars-Ritchey
2024-11-29 14:54:43 +0000 UTCHehehehe!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 14:54:39 +0000 UTCI love the reaction to the dirty toilet! Maybe if a Para is a slob or even not so bothered about that stuff there could be a unique reaction. Love the stuff you're working on with reactions and emotions in general. The idea of a happy/joyful para making others around them happy makes me smile. I'm also excited to see the cheating reactions. Would love if family/friends could also react.
Trisha
2024-11-29 14:48:22 +0000 UTCYou should add baby pushups into the game officially as some quirky reward for the baby eating special broccoli (special as if the broccoli is homegrown in the highest quality level coming from the gardening system)!
Tauras Giedraitis
2024-11-29 14:46:44 +0000 UTCOkay but the toddler doing pushups is pretty funny
Renikee
2024-11-29 14:45:58 +0000 UTCThose baby bugs are HILARIOUS!!! xD
Tauras Giedraitis
2024-11-29 14:44:11 +0000 UTCThat would be really cool! But it's not planned for now, maybe in the future though, after we have finished the core features of the live mode
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 14:43:44 +0000 UTCThanks for the feedback! The first internal playtest will be about emotions, needs, skills and jobs and the next one will be about social interactions. Then, we will have more playtests as we improve all these features to make sure they are as good as possible before release
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 14:42:55 +0000 UTCAh ok! Still that’s a cool little mechanic in the works!
Morgan V
2024-11-29 14:42:20 +0000 UTCThank you! The toilet will still be useable if it's dirty but not if it's broken
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 14:41:40 +0000 UTCFor the autonomous reactions for cheating in particular, will there be some kind of observation system? For instance, if a para sees their best friend's partner cheating on them can they then go back and tell their best friend what they saw later on?
Thaaeroprincess87
2024-11-29 14:39:39 +0000 UTCIt would be great if you could make sure that other paras don't stop what they're doing for a short while when you select a group interaction. Do you plan to include empathy as a character trait? What's next for live mode after the playtest? Keep up the good work 👍
Lucie Baha
2024-11-29 14:39:19 +0000 UTCa joyful para spreading joy is such a cute detail, i love that idea! i'm curious, will paras be able to use dirty objects like toilets (and just feel disgusted for example) or do they have to be cleaned first? of course if something is broken it's unusable but if a para really needs to use the bathroom it might be a necessary sacrifice
Melina W
2024-11-29 14:39:18 +0000 UTCHaving a cold is not 100% confirmed yet but we are testing stuff like that right now!
Alex Massé
2024-11-29 14:33:03 +0000 UTCI love that paras react to their environment autonomously, it's small things like that, that make the game feel so alive! You guys are doing amazing!! 🤗
jokerlady02
2024-11-29 14:32:29 +0000 UTCAhhh I love the cold features and the social stuff added!
Morgan V
2024-11-29 14:31:23 +0000 UTCThese live mode bugs look CUTE! 🥰 so adorable. I Like the social situations as well. Could make compact living for a large household a good challenge. Time to add another postcard to my collection!
Julio Saliba
2024-11-29 14:30:53 +0000 UTC
