Life by You aims to be the most “open-ended and moddable life sim” as stated by developer Amanda Heaton. A live gameplay preview has revealed its potential to achieve this goal. The game is developed by Paradox Tectonic, a subsidiary of Paradox Interactive known for publishing titles like the Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings franchises. Rod Humble, the director of Life by You, previously worked on The Sims franchise during his time as an EA executive. His influence is evident in the gameplay showcased during the Gamescom demo, as reported by Screen Rant.
The Life by You demo introduces the controlled character Ronnie, highlighting specific traits like Athletic and Troublemaker that will impact gameplay. Ronnie starts her work day as a yoga instructor and can navigate the entirely open world on foot, without any rabbit holes. Her work day resembles the active careers in The Sims 4, with a list of work-related tasks displayed in the corner. Players can choose the specific tasks by interacting with different objects, some of which offer optional tasks.
After teaching a yoga class, Ronnie engages in a conversation with her coworker, showcasing the game’s detailed relationship mechanics. Notably, characters speak in English instead of a fictional in-game language like Simlish. The dialogue options vary depending on the relationship between the characters. For example, due to Ronnie’s slightly romantic relationship with her coworker, even an antagonistic speech option has a flirty undertone. NPCs also engage in their own conversations, which can be eavesdropped on for amusing results.
Later, Ronnie leaves work early, resulting in an angry email from her boss. She then heads home to do some gardening, utilizing the game’s detailed crafting system. Ronnie harvests flowers and enters the bouquet crafting menu, where specific flowers can be selected and set recipes can have substitutions that affect the final product. The crafting system is also present in cooking, with each recipe requiring specific ingredients. Heaton mentioned that each food has its own animations, a departure from The Sims 4’s generic mixing and chopping.
Upon returning home, Ronnie decides to change her outfit, leaving her previous clothing on the floor. Heaton explains that the clothes will remain there until cleaned up, and this element of messiness applies to objects like the bookshelf, which is shown in disarray. These small details aim to create a lived-in and dynamic world, where messiness affects characters with different traits in various ways. Naturally messy characters, for example, will be less bothered by stinky clothes piles.
2023-08-29 09:00:05
Link from screenrant.com
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