Sims4News

According to Graham Nardone, “No, the trait that comes paired with your aspiration choice in CAS is with your Sim for life. If you change your aspiration later on you don’t also change the paired trait. The paired traits don’t only work with a select aspiration though; they’re just tailored to match well with particular ones.”

Essentially, you can always change your aspiration, but then you’re at a disadvantage because you’re missing the trait that was supposed to come with that aspiration to make it easier. I guess I won’t be changing my Sims’ aspirations!

Graham Nardone has confirmed that “we won’t have a 64 bit exe” for TS4.

This means that even if you have a computer with more than 4GB of memory (not hard drive space, but RAM), the game will only utilize up to 4.

Glad I invested in a $3,500 computer with 16GB of ram…

Private schools won’t be making a return in TS4.

Graham Nardone has also confirmed that basements won’t be in the game either!

Did I mention that streetcars and steamboats don’t function at all? Yep- they are just decoration.

Oh, oh, oh…this is a good one: teens, young adults, adults and elders are all the same height and model, so there are essentially only 3 unique models in the game (baby, child, adult)…like THE SIMS 1!

A new article on The Sims official website reveals that the final life stages in TS4 are: babies, children, teens, young adults, adults and elders.

I can deal without Create a Style. I can deal without pools. I can deal without an open world. The game looked good enough that the new features still outweighed what was removed from previous generations. However, this news is honestly quite shocking.

I don’t know how I’m still surprised when EA does something disappointing…I just thought that toddlers were so important and basic that it was completely unrealistic to assume they wouldn’t be in the game. Clearly, I was wrong.

Graham Nardone tweeted, “Babies and Toddlers were not combined. We know they’re distinctly different and didn’t want to shoehorn them in.” Toddlers were in The Sims 2, which came out a decade ago. There is no excuse for this. The studio must be extraordinarily screwed up for them to leave out staples of The Sims series like pools and toddlers. This might be the last straw for me.

I don’t know if I’ll even bother purchasing The Sims 4, but I do know one thing: I will never underestimate EA’s capacity for mediocrity again.

• The reward trait for the Bestselling Author aspiration is “Poetic.” Poetic Sims can capture life itself in a book, and wield it to bring back someone they’ve lost!

• There is a virtual reality device called the “motion gaming rig” which increases the Video Game skill.

• The 20-Sims-per-lot cap will be easy to increase for modders.

• The Music will be softer while creating a Sim, and have more rhythm when choosing their clothing.

• There are 25 Simlish songs in the game.

• The maid can be hired for one time cleaning or as a recurring service.

• There’s a gardener that tends to public gardens out in the public spaces, but they aren’t hirable for your home.

• There is still a bar showing how many days until a Sim ages.

• Sims cannot have NPC jobs.

• Sims uploaded to The Gallery will not keep memories but will keep careers and skills

• Evil Sims feel positive emotions when bad things happen.

• Pregnant Sims can be edited in CAS but they cannot be created from scratch in CAS.

(Info compilation from SimNation Blog…I edited some of it for clarity)

Sims

• Sims in your social group who you are having conversations with have a white PlumbBob:

• Pregnancy lasts a “few days”.
• Teen represents a 13-16 year old approximately. Young adults are in their mid 20s.
• There will be no turn ons/turn offs like in TS2.
• There is a list of Sims to choose from when adopting.

• WooHoo skill is no longer in the game. There may be some new skills we did not see in The Sims 3.
• Culinary career is confirmed.
• Gardening - herbs, vegetables, fruits, and flowers! You can get seeds sent via mail through various methods including ordering them. Seeds have different qualities, just like in TS3.
• Sims maybecome fatigued if they exercise for too long without breaks.

• Sims in good moods will sing in the shower.
• There will be 6 motives: Bladder, Hunger, Energy, Fun, Social, Hygiene. Others are subtly integrated into the system.

Tutorial

• The game tutorial is done with Sims that you create.

Objects

• Sims cannot purchase different cell phones.

Wishes, Whims, Moodlets and Moods

• Wishes have been replaced with Whims, the main difference being that Whims appear like thought bubbles and will persist until you satisfy them or when you click it off to get a new one.
• Moodlets are back and each one contributes to emotions. For example, if a low mood causes a Sim to get a certain moodlet, that moodlet will put them in an uncomfortable emotion.

Money

• All Sims in a household will have a “shared wallet”, like previous Sims games.

Camera

• There will not be a auto-moving camera to allow you to just watch the Sims go about their lives, however there is a function to lock your camera on an NPC.
• All of the features from cameraman mode are back - FOV, rotation, pre-set camera positions, etc.

Censorship

• The censor for when Sims are nude will still be in game.

Sims

• No celebrities in the base game, however many are likely to be uploaded to The Gallery.
• The postman NPC will be an adult.

Outfits

• You can change between multiple outfits at any time, or take your Sim back into CAS to plan new outfits. You can access CAS anytime to change clothes, make-up etc.

Skills

• Skill levels go from 0 to 10 just like in previous Sims games. Children’s skills also go from 0 to 10. There will still be skill bars.
• Children have different skills than adults.

• No Shopping- Despite the recent news that new clothes will have to be purchased at a clothing store venue, Sarah Holding has confirmed that all outfits are free and unlimited, like in TS3. Sorry shoppers, but this also means no clothing stores in TS4!

• Pools, Toddlers, and Drivable Cars Still Unconfirmed- This one is both self-explanatory and inexcusable.

• No Editing Public Spaces- Graham Nardone has confirmed that public spaces cannot be edited. Community and residential lots can, as always, be edited in Build/Buy Modes, but public spaces like parks cannot.

• Even Less Lots- Sarah Holding has reported that each neighborhood will contain 2-5 lots. We already knew that each of the five neighborhoods would contain at least 5 lots, but now we know that some will have as few as two. This means that there are around 13 to 22 total lots in TS4; this includes both community lots, occupied and unoccupied residential lots, and empty lots. Not-So-Fun Fact: The Sims 3’s Sunset Valley contained 92 lots in the base game!

• Developer Events Cancelled- Several events for European Sims fan sites and the press were scheduled by EA for July 1st. At each event, attendees would have access to the full game and would be able to speak freely with developers. At first there was news that several of the events were delayed, but it has now been confirmed that all of the events have been cancelled with a week’s notice. This is both unprofessional and troubling, as EA is clearly still not ready to show a game that is expected to arrive in a little two months.

• Day-One DLC- It has been leaked that EA is looking to hire people to develop downloadable content that will be available on The Sims 4 Store on September 2nd. So, if you still have any cash left in your wallet after shelling out $60 or more for The Sims 4, you can use it on content that is purposely being left out of the game! EA is so thoughtful!

What a fun day it’s been! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds for Sims fans! 

So much secondhand embarrassment for EA right now…

Many have worried that players will have to face two loading screens when switching neighborhoods…one to load the neighborhood, and one to load the active lot. Graham Nardone clarifies how this works below:

"There is always an active lot. You’ll never hit a load screen when moving between neighborhoods and then have to hit another loading screen to move onto a lot. You always select the lot you want to go to and then the neighborhood and its public spaces are also loaded around it."