Next Location DLC: let's talk about our wishes for what kind of location

[StarryMountain]

The last paragraph you wrote, so far it seems like most people do agree and want those things too, maybe it’s just what I’ve seen.
I definitely wouldn’t want those places to just be vacation destinations with not much to do if you choose to play there. But a naturey world would be cool as an option.

I do agree with what you’re saying here.
I think it would be cool to include at least a couple things that are unique to each region, but to have also balanced things. But I mean, most things that could be included would be applicable all over the place.
However I still don’t really like the idea of combining widely and entirely different regions into one region, and since so far they are going for the realistic route of basing locations very accurately off of real-world places, I don’t want future ones to break the feel of that by being a combination of multiple places.
I understand what you are saying about money and that they might not be intending to make that many DLCs or that many regions, but I do hope they dare to represent some regions that the Sims and many other games shy away from, like subsaharan Africa or north Asia or the Middle East
and do hope like I’ve seen a couple other people hope that they include at some point a naturey forested world (by “naturey” i mean where buildings are spaced out a small bit and nestled amongst the forest, like many real-life rural towns in heavily forested and mountainous areas. I personally would be happy whether it was Canada or the Alps or somewhere else, I just hope they don’t combine them

But I respect your wishes if you do, I’m not trying to say any ideas are bad, im just discussing for the benefit of the team to see what people want, and if more people want something different than me, thats fine and cool, and fun to talk about

[StarryMountain]

I definitely agree with you!

[Samuriko]

Personally, I really want a “bread-basket” small village in the center of the map, surrounded by large farming lots as far as the eye can see.
Think for reference of “Kansas” or “Smallville” from the show of the same name (without the Man of Steel).
Everyone have farms, except maybe the families living in the village (mostly merchants and services).

Typically, the village would have a central bar and a restaurant, a school teaching up to middle-school only (kids go to larger towns for more studies),
a Firefighter/police station and a townhall. Obviously a shop that sells farming equipment and other hardware to fix one’s farm/equipment and house.
Probably a garage/car repair shop that also sells/repair heavy machinery. Maybe the railroad and a passenger station, and a cargo station for farming produce…
but not all villages have that. We’re talking remote here !

Around the village is only small roads, and lots of large farms (with animals coming later, maybe cows roaming fields), endless fields of wheat/corn and whatever
you plant or NPCs have planted in it. Free lots should be full of corn (decorative) until selected to be built upon (then are automatically cleared).

As an example of Smallville I am talking about :

Obviously no need for that reservoir (though the dam is a nice touch !), and “Lexcorp” properties would be other farming lots, maybe keep the water treatment plant.
And the town itself is pretty small, but could be shrunk a bit more in game to half the width (After school/stadium) and focus on more farmlands.
Also more farming lands and less forests (then again, maybe not if the map is made larger, like Bliss bay size) !

It’s just an example, but to illustrate what I want.
Of course the devs could make those farmlands interesting, no sharks or stuff like in Cahaya, but tornadoes could happen, who knows.

[GDfromRivendell]

@Samuriko

It’s just an example, but to illustrate what I want.
Of course the devs could make those farmlands interesting

Fully on board with this well-crafted idea. Small town, rural, farms with machinery and animals are a personal favorite — I’ll advocate for them anywhere. They’re absolutely central to simulators aimed at a broad audience, especially when paired with variable storytelling, strong micromanagement, and replayability.

I remember discussing these thoughts back in spring on Discord, and we’ve covered a lot about farms here too. Hopefully the developers will take all the nuances into account and dive into farmland once they wrap up the core feedback fixes and base cities.

[GDfromRivendell]

No one’s saying a naturey world would be out of place, I’m just focused on making sure core mechanics take precedence over location.

Often when the fanbase plans a DLC and describes the world, you ask what mechanics will support it, and the most common answers are “I want this dish,” “I want to see animals,” and so on. But when developers release a DLC that makes you a guest rather than a creator, it loses its audience quickly. Players visit, look around, try this and that, and then don’t know what to do.

Looking at Cahaya, it’s clear the location was prioritized over the core mechanic. And what could that mechanic have been? Ownership and operational management of a hotel , spa (not just in Cahaya), getaway customisation, ownership of watercraft (including in Bliss Bay), surfing/windsurfing/snorkelling competitions, coastal rescue careers – but the DLC just lets you be a guest, trigger animations, gather a few things, grow and sell them yourself (which is base game patch content). Creatively, it gives you two weeks of tinkering, and that’s it.

Based on all the Sims 4 insider info, Maxis had long wanted to do Africa (likely sub-Saharan), but EA pushed for compromises to attract a broader audience. And I get why. Their new deep Getaway system has serious potential, and let’s be honest, it’ll sell to more than a million people (up to 5-7M). Instead of asset “painting”, resources were redirected toward a strong gameplay core and customisation, and that’s what retains players.

Without robust customisation, worlds can be sold separately in the Store (like Roaring Heights, Aurora Skies, Dragon Valley, Monte Vista). But within a DLC, they have to ensure that major mechanics, freeform storytelling, and management systems take precedence over the author’s vision for the world.

[LennyOgg]

I love and appreciate the Developers chose lesser seen spots for two of the worlds (Indonesia for Cahaya and South Korea for Dowon).
There are so many overlooked beautiful places in this world I’d love my Zois to visit or live in.
And since the Team also kind of teased smaller places, I’d love smaller worlds (with ~7-10 residential lots) that combine:

• • small city vibes, cultural monuments, shopping streets
  • rural area/nature for farming,keeping animals, hiking and stuff
  • and a small beach with a restaurant, a bar

For the setting, my wishes would be:

Croatia in Europe

Cuba in the Carribean Sea

or off-tourist spots in Spain (Europe)
(Spain is actually a country I expect to come to inZOI sooner or later because of South Korea and Spains mutual love for each other ^^’)

This is a pic I took at the meetup last month, great things are coming!

I don’t know if this is a teaser from Kjun (?)
Found at the end of this video.

[GDfromRivendell]

@LennyOgg

This is a pic I took at the meetup last month, great things are coming!

Could you tell us a bit more about Small Town? Are these suburbs connected to the main cities (locations that complement them rather than overwrite them)?
Feels like such a dream that I might start loving the game’s development direction even more

[LennyOgg]

The pic says all I remember (I was way out of my comfort zone on that day ^^’).
The slides were about the ‘Top Development Priorities’ and the locations are not necessarily in the same area.
I think it’s just to show their plans to be able to travel borderless from Dowon to Bliss Bay and from each of the cities to the ‘small, independent spaces that interact with each other’.
But since the video about gamescom (I linked above) is out now, I hope one of the next ones is one about the Meetup and we get more information soon.
Also, inZOI is still early access and these might be the current priorities, but that does not mean they are not going to change.
But accoring to the AMA Part 1 (on discord → here) we can look forward to December, when the first of these small places is planned to be released:

Quote: ‘In December, we also plan to introduce a “Small City,” which, even if it comes with some loading, will allow smoother play on lower-spec PCs. This is another area where your feedback will be really valuable.’ /End Quote

[Aeradic]

I want the next city to be the industrial center of the Inzoi universe. I want it to have a factory, a plant, a power plant, an airport, a train station, an industrial warehouse, a port and a dock, garages and auto repair shops, a garbage dump, a road and a railway bridge over a river. I want the map to have residential areas for rich people - business sharks. And also for there to be slums for ordinary workers, the poorest strata of the population and immigrants. I want future cities in Inzoi to be big, even bigger than those that exist now.
An attempt to convey the beauty of nature, to give characters the opportunity to mine ore and shells - this is, of course, great. But since one of the main distinguishing features of Inzoi is realism, let’s not forget about the scientific, technological and industrial progress of mankind. Let one city be the center of heavy industry, another - light and textile. Let another map be a place for growing and producing food. In the next city, let there be a research center and the most prestigious university in Inzoi. Somewhere there may be a hidden military base and a space research center with a launch pad for space rockets and satellites.
In fact, we can invent new cities endlessly. I wish the Inzoi developers health and strength to implement all our coolest ideas.

[StarryMountain]

I see what you are saying. = )
For me Cahaya I have loved playing in and haven’t gotten bored, so don’t relate to that bit, but understand that perhaps for many others it has felt this way.
[I’m adding this here in an edit, I wanted to say that I have felt how you described about a lot of the locations in the Sims 4, that it was fun to look at for a while, and I do still like the places and still play there, but it also felt lacking and kind of boring when there wasn’t much way to interact or participate or create in those worlds. so while I haven’t felt that way in Cahaya, i do understand what you’re saying]
And I see what you mean here better and feel like I understand better.
I just wish they could or would do both, I mean, give attention to the local things that help the place feel more alive and authentic to the location it’s inspired by, but also have things like you are saying.
I hadn’t heard of Maxis planning or wanting to do an African location, that is cool but I’m sad they decided not to. I’m also massively turned off from that game since they announced they just want to continue it forever and not make a new game with what modern tech can do. I had heard rumors it was planned to be even more cartoony than past sims games, I don’t and wouldn’t mind that at all and feel like they could have done that just fine because there are games like inzoi for people who don’t like cartoony, but a lot of people would appreciate the variety, I know i would and doubt I’m the only one.
I haven’t done much research into the latest release due to that

I agree that strong gameplay core and custimization is what I’d like best, but I also don’t want to see the potential in locations and the authenticity of them or aliveness of them sacrificed, or for the same regions always ignored by games to continue to be ignored because it’s seen as less able to introduce those things, or because of an assumption that players wouldn’t want it, which I don’t think is accurate, but maybe I’m in a minority and don’t realize it, with wanting locations like sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and north Asia (currently occupied entirely by Russia, but there are more cultures there than just Russian, and many beautiful locations, though I’m not saying I would be upset by a location based in Moscow, but it would be really cool to see Siberia or something, though I might be in a minority there, not sure about any of this how many others would want it, I just think probably many do, but not sure if it’s a minority still)

Thank you so much for taking the time to continue explaining, I feel I understand what you are saying much much better now. And feel I’ve been educated a bit, so thank you for that<3

[StarryMountain]

I really like your ideas, I think this would be really cool and have a lot of potential for the game. Thank you for contributing your thoughts!!!

[StarryMountain]

This is amazing, thank you for sharing the information from the meet and this video!!!
Your idea for there to be some smaller town destinations, and the locations you suggested for them, sound awesome!!!

[StarryMountain]

Wow, thank you for this information!!

[StarryMountain]

Oh, one more thing. This you said here:

@GDfromRivendell

Without robust customisation, worlds can be sold separately in the Store (like Roaring Heights, Aurora Skies, Dragon Valley, Monte Vista). But within a DLC, they have to ensure that major mechanics, freeform storytelling, and management systems take precedence over the author’s vision for the world.

got me thinking, maybe a good way to kind of meet both wants from players (many unique and fun locations to play in, plus the partially-contradicting-desire for strong game mechanics and fluidity and focus on that rather than things looking pretty, maybe they could kind of do something similar to this. The worlds released with DLCs could be the most fleshed out and go along with everything else you were saying to optimize and enhance gameplay overall, and then on the side make locations that don’t add much new besides stuff unique to the location, on the side as smaller DLCs that are just about adding the location and that’s it, kind of like how EA had those locations in the Store for Sims 3. Just a thought

[GDfromRivendell]

@StarryMountain

For me Cahaya I have loved playing in and haven’t gotten bored, so don’t relate to that bit, but understand that perhaps for many others it has felt this way.

It’s objectively a solid setting, but I’d still prefer if this DLC were brought up to the expected quality standard before Early Access ends. Since the game isn’t planned to leave EA until late 2026–2027, there’s still time. You’ve already enjoyed it, and with future updates, I think you’ll enjoy it twice as much.

I hadn’t heard of Maxis planning or wanting to do an African location, that is cool but I’m sad they decided not to.

Oh, and those involved in the discussions didn’t seem too concerned. One group complained there were no hotels, the other wanted music bands. I was probably the only one ready to stand up for the unusual setting. Still, I get it… the broader Sims audience has already shaped a very specific gameplay demand, especially after investing up to $1K into the game. So hearing that Adventure Awaits might be the final curtain for this era of Sims, without getting what they hoped for… that’s painful.

I think EA has solid analysts, I noticed their DLCs are topping the PS5 charts, and Maxis is heading to Korea to meet with Krafton/inZOI Studio. So a peacefully divided market heading in different directions is a win-win. Honestly, I’ve always thought that having different games in the same genre is awesome — no need to attack anyone over it.

@StarryMountain

I also don’t want to see the potential in locations and the authenticity of them or aliveness of them sacrificed, or for the same regions always ignored by games to continue to be ignored because it’s seen as less able to introduce those things

Let’s set aside the political part (for our region near Russia, it’s a sensitive and painful topic). Thanks for understanding, and sorry if that part felt uncomfortable. Still, all of this is relevant: it’s absolutely possible to build a large, authentic world, and to attach new Small City zones to the base cities (that new feature in the game). Or go the other way — create several unique Small Cities so players can explore different places. That’s great too. It could even be offered as a store bonus.

The key is not to lock things behind artificial barriers — like making water transport, hotels available only in Cahaya, but not in Bliss Bay. As a big fan of the Bliss Bay setting, I’d be genuinely disappointed if it doesn’t get the full freedom it deserves — Hollywood studio lots, mansions, cinematic sun-soaked/neon-lit/nightlife LA vibes… Or if Dowon doesn’t get its K-pop/K-drama/youth/idol culture flair. There really should be a balanced solution.

[Gadg8eer]

This. Every time a new feature is added by a DLC, it should be added to all previously-added worlds. This would require more careful design considerations, such as a pass over to update Bliss Bay and Dowon to a “final” state that includes (or can have added) objects relating to the planned new features.

I think rather than dividing DLCs purely by place, they should also have the relevant time period within that place that is adhered to. Bliss Bay honestly feels like mid-2000s Los Angeles to me, while Dowon is a lot like 2010s South Korea. I would like to see location-time pairings progress not just back to the 1890s or earlier, starting with the 1990s and working backwards, but cover the same time period in different locations.

I understand inZOI will likely need a rework at some point, but I worry assuming inZOI will be that temporary is as short-sighted as assuming it is permanent. It almost certainly won’t last forever, no, but the GPU market is reaching the ultimate limits of Moore’s Law in that technological field. It is possible that 10 years from now, there will not be a possibility of making an “inZoi 2” with better graphics, and so backwards compatibility becomes extremely desirable as a feature of computers, as does longevity of individual major game titles.

[LennyOgg]

They are already working on it
(From → this video)

And Kjun also mentioned it at the Meetup

[GDfromRivendell]

@LennyOgg

And Kjun also mentioned it at the Meetup

Wow, thanks Kjun’s such a cool guy — now he’s doing exactly what you really need and keep talking about, while you still don’t know he’s already doing it.

[GDfromRivendell]

@Gadg8eer

It is possible that 10 years from now, there will not be a possibility of making an “inZoi 2” with better graphics, and so backwards compatibility becomes extremely desirable as a feature of computers, as does longevity of individual major game titles

When talking about games, we shouldn’t forget that graphics are just one part and not always the heaviest load. UE5 renders visuals using very clever methods (Lumen, Nanite LODs, TSR…), which makes them look stunning at first glance. But under the hood, there are many simplifications and conditional tricks that can make the render even cheaper than a simpler but more honest pass.

Performance issues usually stem from the architectural and logic-level complexity (engine core, native C++ code, world partition, actor-based and Blueprint logic, bottlenecks caused by async/time-slicing complexity, proxy, scalable logic, state management, etc). tbh it’s not the graphics that break performance, it’s mostly architectural overhead. Especially since Kjun himself said that the problems are caused by having too many Zois in a cluster. That means the simulation domain needs to be reduced by limiting active Zois, grouping logic into pooled systems, or restructuring reactive chains to avoid runtime fragmentation.

UE6 will use Verse as its primary scripting language (reportedly designed for scalable simulation logic and reactive systems) so InZOI 2 will likely just adopt the new engine version.

[Paris_TeslaModelS]

PARIS !!! It would be cool to have some French gameplay, right?