Cahaya is not a very large city, which in my opinion makes the performance better. However, I do miss “actors” — if I can call them that. I mean those non-interactive NPCs that make the map feel more alive, such as simple car drivers who exist only to help tell the story of the environment.
I am from Brazil but currently living in Portugal, and Cahaya reminded me a lot of the Brazilian coast: simple buildings, but full of personality.
This new DLC/update introduced pets, but only in a very basic way. It is possible to interact with them, but I would like to see animals moving freely around the city. So far, I have only seen a cat wandering in the big city. I have not yet played in Cahaya because I record videos for YouTube and like to take things slowly. To be able to give this feedback, I had to open a new save and explore the new content (my channel is: www.youtube.com/@w1tch6763).
Note: My feedback will not focus solely on Cahaya. Even though it is a new map and DLC, I do not think it makes sense to provide feedback only on that. I am not disregarding Krafton’s work, but in my view, it would be more important to prioritise improvements to the base game.
I believe you should not worry about releasing DLCs while the game has not even officially launched yet. The focus should be on improving the base game, for example:
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CAS: The CAS already has a good range of customisation, but I miss being able to adjust the height of my Zois. Unfortunately, there is also no genetics in CAS, nor babies — it would be great if this could be implemented. In addition, personality traits and lifestyles could make more sense in gameplay and actually affect how the game plays, as at the moment I feel they do not make much difference.
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NPCs: NPCs could feel more alive, with some lore behind each family and more coherent interaction with players. For example, it feels strange when an NPC waves at the player without having any sort of connection. Height variation could also be applied to NPCs, along with the addition of physics to Zois (both players and NPCs), to prevent that odd situation of characters walking through one another. It would be nice to see them truly living their lives, not just wandering around the city.
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Interactions: Interactions between players and NPCs often do not make much sense. For example, why would I teach a Zoi yoga if my character has never practised yoga in the gameplay? It would also be good to add actions that genuinely affect gameplay, such as stargazing. At the moment, Zois only talk to each other, but there is no interaction where they lie down and look at the stars. On that note, improving the game’s sky (for instance with volumetric clouds) would add much more realism. This suggestion applies not only to this specific action but to several others as well.
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Animations: The animations are well made, but I miss seeing personality traits influence them too. So far, only emotions affect how a Zoi walks, sits, and so on.
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Cahaya (additional feedback): I would like to see more NPCs at the beach, or even have the option to edit the beach and choose which Zois go there — similar to what already happens in other areas, such as the football pitch.
I apologise, Inzoi team, for not bringing more feedback, as I am honestly quite tired of constantly thinking (not in a bad way). I do have many ideas to share, but when I saw this event I wanted to take part. I won’t lie — I really want to win, but I am happy to help even just a little.
My final feedback: The Sims 4 and The Sims 3 are not good references for life simulation games.