inZOI Another Life Simulation Game in Early Development

[Firestaar1]

I also downloaded it and played around with it.  I thought I saved a couple pictures of her, however I sure can't seem to find them anywhere so I may go back in today, load her up and try again.

I actually like how very realistic they look!

[Kimi]

Oh my gosh, Klinn! I didn't even think about WW until you said something.  But thank you for those tips! I have time tomorrow so I will probably do that then.

[RedMallie]

@Firestaar1 I thought I knew where the pictures were saved from the Character Studio, but I couldn't find the AppData folder. Internet / Reddit helped me with that. Here you go.

 

@Klinn thanks a lot!!! I did pull and push controls, but that article is helpful. It's also useful to know that I must decide if I want to save Trina and Mallie on Canvas because, from what I understand, if I don't, I may never find them again.

Hmmh. I've said I'm considering buying InZoi, and I am, but I keep watching videos from people who have the access to the game and those animations of joy, sorrow, etc., look very, but almost extremely Korean. I think they are making a great product, but I cannot see Mallie Red reacting with those very particular gestures to situations in her pixel life.  

 What a dilemma!!!

[Firestaar1]

so much RED! I found em!!

My Zoi:

 

 

I had lot of fun playing around with the creator and I LOVE that I could input Hex numbers to be able to get specific colors I was looking for.

[RedMallie]

Glad you found your pictures!!!!

She looks pretty!!!

[Loralie0512]

@Klinn That's exactly what I was thinking! I don't think I'll be comfortable watching them kiss and than woohoo regular. I think this game is great for the people that really wanted realistic sims, its just not for me.

[FzzyDg8]

16 minutes ago, Loralie0512 said:

I think this game is great for the people that really wanted realistic sims, its just not for me.

Ditto!  As much as I would like to have an alternative to the Sims, I don't think I'd be happy with something that realistic.

[Kimi]

I had a chance to play with this a little this morning and I made a character. While there are a LOT of sliders to chose from, I found a couple that I would love to have. Mainly, the waistline. As far as I could see, you can change the hips, lets, chest area, but not the waist. Please let me know if you found that different. I also would love to spend more time on the hair colors, but I was being impatient. I took a screenshot in Steam, which we all know is f12 which saved that into my screenshots in Steam. Then I uploaded to Canvas as well.

[Klinn]

@Kimi There's a body control point just below the belly button. Move that to adjust the waist.

So this particular Zoi seems to have strong feelings about legacy games.

I was playing around with custom textures for clothing.

[RedMallie]

Looooooove it, @Klinn !!!!!!  

 

I love your Kim Baleena, @Kimi!!! She looks very friendly!!!!!  Oh, and yes. Klinn beat me to mention the control for the waist.

 

[Firestaar1]

HA! LOVE that shirt Klinn!!

[RedMallie]

@Klinn was asking about how well the hat fitted Trina. At the time, I just kept the hat from the preset outfit (a nice beret), but today I tested other hats to see how much clipping really happens.

With most caps or brimless hats, that lovely hair looks fine and does not clip through, but there are some where the hair is visible through the hat.

This bucket hat is one.

 

And this nice fedora also gets some clipping.

 

This is the beret from the preset outfit; I changed its color to be able to notice if there was clipping, and there is some.

 

And then, there is this kind of summery hat; the hair clips through a bit more clearly.

 

She still looked cute in that hat, though. 

 

I think that the worst cases of clipping, in terms of how visible they are, happened with the bucket hat and this last summery hat.

With the beret and the fedora, I think one could make sure to take shots from the best angles so that the clipping is not noticeable, and it would still look good.

Of course, this all depends on each person's tastes and levels of 'acceptability'. 

Also, one can only hope that testers like us and other players can be heard when we mention these issues and by the time the game is released, the issues might have been fixed?

[Klinn]

Thanks for experimenting with hats Red, it's good to see what happens.

Would be a nice feature if you could adjust the diameter of the hat, at least the part sitting closest to the head. Probably wouldn't eliminate all clipping but might minimize some of it. Even better would be something to "squish" the upper hair so it fits inside but that would probably be more difficult to program.

[Kimi]

Thank you for letting me know, @Klinn. I was clicking every single little button.  

[Klinn]

 Glad to help Kimi.

This was an interesting video covering build mode fairly quickly and completely with a minimum of "squee!". Right at the end she demonstrates the "3D Printer" feature which allows you to bring real-world objects into the game. Looks pretty cool.

[Firestaar1]

Oh wow thanks for linking the video Klinn!  I got excited for a minute there when she mentioned cars, only to be deflated right after when she said was decor only

I seriously see this game in my future! LOVE the blueprint option!

 

[Klinn]

Yes, those cars were decor only but notice that later on in the video when she's heading somewhere (to her job?) she buys a car which acts as a real driveable vehicle. Unfortunately she was stuck in traffic and decided to abandon the car and fast travel to the destination. Too bad we don't have that option in real life.

[tgdry6]

I played around with it a bit too and was quite impressed with all the customization of all the things! Most of which I'd probably never use but it's nice to have available regardless.  Looking forward to the continued development of this game since I've basically given up on Sims 4. 

[KayBee]

I played around with it but  I couldn't do very much with customization due to the graphics card but it was neat. I watched Sacrificial's video and he started making a guy. I think he was trying to do a self-ZOI and it ended up looking like Richard Ramirez. As soon as I saw it, he said what I thought. He said "Oh no, he looks just like the Night Stalker!" and then he switched to making a female.

[RedMallie]

6 hours ago, Firestaar1 said:

when she said was decor only

Inzoi does have functional cars as @Klinn pointed out. However, from what I saw in people's videos of game play, driving is quite difficult. There is traffic that actually blocks your car from moving forward, and if you don't stop in the traffic, you get crashing left, right, and in the middle. The people whose videos showed this, mentioned that there were no consequences for fender benders or even for running over a pedestrian (I think Emma Nicol said her sim died like this, though?), at least no consequences for the one causing the crash or the accident.

In TS3, it may have looked funny and unrealistic to go in a car and 'run over' a cyclist, or completely drive through a slower car, but those were not really incidents since the sims and cars on the road were sort of in a different dimension from the active sim we were controlling. We actually did not run anyone over like that, and there was no issue of getting stuck in traffic and having to abandon one's car.

I am truly hoping for an option to have minimum traffic or no traffic at all so that I get to actually enjoy driving in InZoi .

[Firestaar1]

I totally did NOT notice her heading to work in the car lol

[Kendrana]

That game looks pretty amazing. And it actually has cars! If they're able to successfully expand sales of the game beyond the Asian markets, it may be able to compete with The Sims. That would be a good thing, in my opinion. It might "encourage" EA to put a bit more effort into bug fixing and other aspects that are lacking in TS4 (and any future Sims game).

Judging from the pictures people have posted, the computer system requirements are probably pretty high. Since I don't understand technical details very well, I don't know if my PC would run it. One of my brothers knows pretty much all there is to know about computers, so I'd have to ask him.

[Klinn]

You're right, I suspect to run the game in all it's glory we'll need a pretty beefy system. Even in the one of the trailer videos they released you can see a spot where the frame rate drops, and the devs probably recorded that on a high end computer. Granted, that was many months ago and I'm sure they'll work on optimization but it's still concerning.

Hey, maybe part of the optimization will be reducing the number of cars displayed on-screen at the same time, and then we won't be fighting traffic jams as much!

[RedMallie]

One can only hope!!! 

[Klinn]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:32 PM, Loralie0512 said:

@Klinn That's exactly what I was thinking! I don't think I'll be comfortable watching them kiss and than woohoo regular. I think this game is great for the people that really wanted realistic sims, its just not for me.

On 8/24/2024 at 10:50 PM, FzzyDg8 said:

Ditto!  As much as I would like to have an alternative to the Sims, I don't think I'd be happy with something that realistic.

The initial announcement video had a brief section where they quickly showed the available rendering modes. There were nine of them listed including:

• Realistic
• Cartoon
• Pixalate
• Posterize

Amongst others. I never paid too much attention to them since I'm interested in realism, but maybe one of the other styles would make the zoi's more "artsy" than realistic and therefore more enjoyable for you to play. Something to keep an eye on if another demo is leased in the future.

[FzzyDg8]

@Klinn Thank you!  I'd be more inclined to buy it with another kind of rendering.  Too much realism isn't always better.

[RedMallie]

Thank you for reminding us of this, @Klinn!!!

I also like realism within certain limits, and it is great that there are these options already included, or they will be when the game launches. 

[Firestaar1]

For anyone that may still be looking into this (I for one am with GREAT anticipation), our Sims content leaker also had this article on their site and of course I HAD to read it.

Thinking I'll be in line to preorder if it's available

[Klinn]

Thanks for the link @Firestaar1 and especially for the post's link to the new video created in collaboration with nVidia. It will be interesting to see how "smart ZOIs" work out in practice. Will they truly be natural, or instead repetitive? Will the NPCs "hallucinate", i.e. make errors, as generative AI systems often do these days? I also wonder if this means the game will run best on computers with nVidia video cards which support those AI features? Questions, questions.

[Firestaar1]

Well, they DO show minimum and recommended specs in the article... my rig is pretty much a monster, but it lies better then minimum but not quite recommended... guess we'll see what the impact will be

 

[Klinn]

Yup, my system comfortably exceeds the recommended specs, but the thing is that nVidia tends to arrange technology partnerships to benefit nVidia. No real surprise there I guess, but it can have an impact on users.

For example, nVidia creates, supports, and controls a rendering engine called IRay. It produces wonderful results and a popular 3D Rendering app I use incorporates the IRay engine to produce its best quality output. But to use that rendering pipeline I must use an nVidia video card. AMD users are out of luck. You are locked into buying nVidia whether you want to or not.

So my worry is that the same situation will arise with nVidia's AI NPCs. That is, to get the best result out of Smart-ZOIs you'll have to be running an nVidia video card. Will nVidia's history repeat itself?

Please note that I fully expect to get inZOI. It looks cool and I want to play with it and see how well it works. I'm just trying to go in with eyes open.

[Firestaar1]

Most of my specs exceed the recommended as well; my processor and graphics card are like one model below the recommended, but above minimum so I'm thinking it's going to play more then decent on my rig.

I'll be getting this also, in fact I think I'll load up Steam and see if can preorder yet.

[RedMallie]

Thank you for the info!!!

I am also very much thinking of getting InZoi. My graphics card is the minimum, but my processor is the recommended one, and my PC also meets the other recommended requirements. The Demo ran well. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will run the whole thing well, too.

On 1/29/2025 at 2:36 PM, Klinn said:

So my worry is that the same situation will arise with nVidia's AI NPCs. That is, to get the best result out of Smart-ZOIs you'll have to be running an nVidia video card. Will nVidia's history repeat itself?

With a brand name such as "Nvidia", I could not expect less than pristine greed from the company!!  

I understand the concern, though. It sounds and will probably be quite a business promoting situation. Now, from my very personal perspective, I prefer Nvidia cards than others, and have always bought Nvidia when I have been able to afford it, so it would not be a deal breaker for me. 

[Firestaar1]

4 hours ago, RedMallie said:

Thank you for the info!!!

You are most welcome Red

I was always a die hard Nvidia fan also, until my family put this computer together for me 2 Christmases ago and my sons contribution was an extra AMD Radeon graphics card he had that he wasn't using (he bought himself a much higher end graphics card); and it really played WELL on my computer- til I was dumb and forgot to check the bottom part for cat hair and burned it out.  Because I enjoyed the experience so much with that card, when I bought my new card last year it is also Radeon RX 6600 and plays all my games SO well.  It also has 2 fans (the other only had one), so less heat.

If Nvidia doesn't allow their feature to play nice with Radeons, I guess I just won't be using that feature.

[Klinn]

The InZOI devs have released more info about system requirements, this time dividing them up into 4 levels: Minimum, Medium, Recommended, and High. There's a chart in a blog post on their Steam page. My system sits between Recommended and High.

That blog post also includes a video showing the visual differences between the 4 performance levels. Direct link to video here. There's a noticeable jump in quality from Minimum to Medium, but to my eyes there are only relatively minor tweaks beyond that. I guess we'll find out for sure when the early access release drops near the end of the month.

[Firestaar1]

Cool mine is between medium & recommended... funny that I have enough RAM for High, but the rest is not quite there

As you said I see big difference between minimum & medium, but not much after that.  Thanks for the link!  Can't believe it's supposed to launch in 2 weeks!

[Kimi]

Perfect! Thank you! I think I'm sitting at recommended for the most part. 

[Firestaar1]

I'm SO close to recommended, like one processor & graphics card model shy

I'll probably start with medium, then try recommended to see if will play nicely with my computer.

[Klinn]

Another little teaser from the inZOI devs, which was released a couple of weeks ago but I had not seen before.

"What's Your Dream Life?"

Warning: contains lots of dancing.  

 

[RedMallie]

Wow!!! It's very soon now for the launching of the Early Access game!

My computer is within the Recommended values for everything except Graphics card, which is in the Minimum, since I have an Nvidia RTX 2060.  

I wonder how this will affect the quality.

That teaser is good!

[Firestaar1]

I really like that teaser, thanks for sharing Klinn!

[Klinn]

More news trickles out:

Quote

Kjun revealed Inzoi will launch in early access for $40 and "until there's a full launch all updates and DLCs will be provided for free". The director also revealed Inzoi's roadmap for the rest of the year: (spoilered for size)

Spoiler

Update 1, May

    Mod kit (Maya, Blender)
    Changes to weight, muscle adjustment
    In-game cheat codes
    Relationship improvements
    Adoption system
    Build mode improvements & new furniture
    Create a Zoi improvements
    Outfit updates

Update 2, August

    Ghost play
    Swimming & pools
    More resources for edit city
    AI build mode
    Freelancer jobs
    Improvements to text messages & skills
    Parenting improvements

Update 3, October

    Family time
    Hotkey customisation
    Build mode—adjust object size
    New furniture
    Moving homes UX improvements
    Create a Zoi improvements
    Mod updates

Update 4, December

    Memory system
    Move cities
    Interaction responses based on traits
    Build mode improvements and new furniture
    Create a Zoi improvements
    Mod updates
    New outfits
    Indoor temperature

A lot of the updates are basically filling out the existing features of the game, but there's some new stuff too. It's a little pricey for an early access version but I'll probably get sucked in. I have no willpower.

Further info from PC Gamer includes an amusing note:

Quote

the August update will include a "cat-themed city" to tie into International Cat Day on August 8.

OK, they got my money!

[Kimi]

@Klinn, does that mean $40 when it is on the page? I'm not seeing anywhere to get it now, unless I'm blind. 

[Klinn]

Yes I believe so. There's no option to pre-order an early access title so we have to wait until the 28th. In fact, I think Steam forbids that.

[RedMallie]

5 hours ago, Klinn said:

I have no willpower.

I definitely do, at least for The Sims and other games these days, but I am quite ready to jump in the wagon and order InZoi a.s.a.p. 

[Klinn]

Krafton is running a promotional event to allow you to try a brief demo of parts of inZOI.

Note that this is NOT a demo of the actual game, just the Character Studio and the Build Studio. You have to jump through some hoops to try it.

1. You need to create an account with Krafton. Yes, if you decide to get the actual game later, you'll need this account (booo!) but here they're trying to force you to create an account even if you're not sure if the game is for you.
2. You need to watch a stream of the game for at least half an hour on Steam before they give you a code to activate the time-limited demo.
3. The demo of parts of the game will only be available for 5 days from March 23rd to March 27th.

More detailed info is available on their Steam announcement here.

Why on earth couldn't the company have just simply made a demo freely available the way that most companies do? It's bizarre that they're doing it this way rather than letting potential players check it out, and allowing interest in the game build organically.

[Firestaar1]

20 hours ago, Klinn said:

Quote

the August update will include a "cat-themed city" to tie into International Cat Day on August 8.

OK, they got my money!

Mine too

14 hours ago, RedMallie said:

I am quite ready to jump in the wagon and order InZoi a.s.a.p.

YES! I can't wait to try it!

 

[Klinn]

@Firestaar1  Downloading the demo now. Won't be able to use it for a few days I guess but I'll stare at the icon intently.

With all the build mode vids I've watched, still haven't seen any sign of curved walls. Angled, yes but no curves. Have to try it out to be sure.

[Firestaar1]

So far I also haven't found curved walls, which means my Queen Anne Victorian may have to wait

[TechCat]

it works perfectly on the laptop-

 

it works perfectly on the laptop-