Summary
Many players of life simulation games such asThe Sims 4will have encountered the barriers to gameplay that loading screens bring, especially if they’re so prolific that they interrupt gameplay and movement from place to place.Life By You,a life simulation game by developer Paradox Tectonic, has showcased in its launch trailer an open world without loading screens.
This is instrumental in the life simulation genre because, while open worlds have become the norm in other genres of video games, loading screens can create a massive break in immersion.Life By You’s decision to remove loading screens also makes it stand apart from its competitor,The Sims 4. With the ability to not only create entire worlds and have characters live out 75 years, players will be able to watch the other characters who exist in the town live their lives. This is important for creating a game world that feels alive and lived-in.
Life By You and The Sims
Loading screens are necessary for video games to process and render large video games, and are especially important for PCs at the lower range of the required specs to run the game. As technology improves, this has become less necessary.Life By Youwill give players a complete open worldexperience. This may mean that loadingLife By Youon older PCs will take longer, but some gamers may be happy to make that concession if it means removing loading screens within the actual game.
Eliminating loading screens will fundamentallychange the experience of playingLife By Youbecause the player will have access to the entire world at once. The announcement trailer forLife By Youshowcased switching control of different characters from across the world, with the characters living in the game freely moving rather than being locked behind a loading screen. All of these aspects make the gameplay experience feel more natural, while the game world itself should feel like a living world where the player is able to see the impact of their actions. While this is possible on a smaller scale in a game with loading screens, removing them creates a world of potential.
The Impact of Removing Loading Screens in Life By You
Life By Youis one of the few life simulators that have launched asdirect competitors toThe Sims, a series which has changed significantly over its many iterations. While many of the changes have been positive forThe Simsas a whole, some of the changes that were positively received have been reversed.The Sims 4has walked back many of the innovations thatThe Sims 3made, notably the open-world that came with minimal loading screens.
DespiteThe Sims 4launching with loading screensto minimize loading times, the number of loading screens that have been added in the years since mean that much of the time playingThe Sims 4is spent triggering and watching loading screens. With the introduction ofThe Sims 4: For Rent, loading screens are worse than ever, rivalingThe Sims 2in creating delays when switching or traveling between lots.
Life By You’s removal of loading screens is a bold step forward thatsets it apart fromThe Sims 4. Committing to an open world in a life simulation could set a new precedent for the genre, and set expectations for some that other games in the genre such asProject Renewill follow suit.
