InZOI's graphics are so realistic that developers made compromises to avoid awkwardness
The realism of inZOI forced the developers to make quite a few compromises to The Sims to avoid awkward and suggestive scenes.
The realism The Sims series, which the creator of the new competitor to the iconic series regrets.
Missing family after marriage
The last few days have brought a lot of news about the inZOI Studio project, mainly in the context of the game's release in Steam's Early Access. As we previously mentioned, this proved to be highly successful for the game, which reached the Steam bestseller list (currently in 3rd place at the time of publication) and received positive reviews from players.
Of course, there were some childhood problems, as is usually the case with early access games. Players came across many bugs, including some particularly odd ones, like "ZOI" families vanishing when characters marry too often. Such an issue is on the official list of inZOI problems on Krafton's website (via PC Gamer).
Such errors are nothing strange in modern games, full of complex systems. Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim, the director of inZOI, recently expressed his great respect for the creators of "The Sims" after encountering challenges in developing a life sim himself.
Of course, the inZOI Studio team also faced their own difficulties, which resulted from differences compared to the EA Maxis studio series (and sometimes, from moral and "philosophical" dilemmas). "Kjun" mentioned in an interview with PCGamesN about the challenge resulting from more realistic graphics: the need to limit funny moments.
The price of realism
Even though the action seems set in a dull reality (particularly in the first game without expansions), "The Sims" always featured plenty of cartoonish humor. This is especially noticeable in the over-the-top animations that accompany many of the characters' actions (not to mention the entertaining gibberish of the Sims, called "simlish").
The devs of inZOI have always focused on greater realism, at least in of graphics. However, the team had a dilemma from the beginning: how far should their game go in realism? It was not just about the gameplay, which can cease to be fun if the developers stubbornly stick to their vision of a "realistic" world and don't make certain compromises.
As Kim explains, the developers of inZOI considered adding humorous, comical elements from The Sims to the game, but decided that they didn't fit with the realistic, down-to-earth visual setting. They simply didn't look as good as in the more "goofy" and unserious world of the Sims.
For similar reasons, ZOI wear towels while taking a shower. Reason? With realistic graphics, even the pixelation of characters known from "Sims" was "too" suggestive. As Kim put it: "we tested it ourselves, so you can trust us."
Of course, the realism in inZOI also has its advantages, which "Kjun" pointed out. First and foremost, it's about improving the sense of immersion, but there's also the option to incorporate real objects into the game, which might not blend well with more cartoon-like graphics. As the director recently mentioned, inZOI gives a lot of room for creative players who have already impressed him in early access.
- Realistic life sim was eating its own tail, devs had to intervene. No more long sleep and funny difficulties with childbirth inZOI
- inZOI characters no longer look like they came from a nightmare. That's thanks to realistic shadows and lighting, which players have been asking for
- InZOI life sim reduces awkward conversations and fixes one particular pregnancy problem
