A fully detailed addition of Burglars for The Sims 4
Carl’s Sims 4 Guide is a known member of the simming community, mostly for his extensive guides and videos covering certain topics for the game. But, did you know that he’s also gotten into modding over the last couple of months?
He is the perfect definition of the “fine, I’ll do it myself” saying. After doing multiple video essays on what’s wrong with The Sims 4 and how the game is too easy, he simply put the matter into his own hands through modding.
Over the last couple of months Carl has been working extensively on his Gameplay Overhaul Mod for The Sims 4 which focuses on adding difficulty in certain aspects of the game. That includes Skills, Careers, Money, Relationships and everything in between. Imagine The Sims 4 finally having an option to choose between Easy and Hard difficulties – that’s just one of the many features and improvements included with Carl’s Gameplay Overhaul.
We definitely plan to come back to the general overhaul at a later point for a different article here on Sims Community as there’s more than it meets the eye. But for now I want to focus on one major feature included with this Mod – Burglars!
Burglars in Carl’s Gameplay Overhaul
After 8 years The Sims 4 is still officially missing one of the most iconic NPCs in The Sims Franchise – Burglars. There have been a few rumors on why they still haven’t been included in the game yet. However, SimGuruGrant who’s been working on The Sims 4 since all the way until 2018 has confirmed that they’re not in the game simply because they haven’t made them yet. Fast forward to 2022 and Burglars are still nowhere to be found in the game – at least if you’re playing The Sims “vanilla” style.
The Gameplay Overhaul from Carl has an addition of a whole new Burglar system to the game. That’s right – random thieves can break into your home in the middle of the night while your Sims are sleeping. The whole Burglars aspect of this Mod is carefully polished, meaning that you have everything you’d expect from Burglars – and I’ll break it all down here!
Burglars are drawn to your lot on a random basis after 10PM after your Sims go to sleep. You can of course play with these odds and modify your chances with a new Lot Trait and Lot Challenge. The Good Neighborhood Lot Trait will lessen the chances of Burglars ever coming to your home. If you want to challenge things up there’s a Bad Neighborhood Lot Challenge with double the chances of your belongings getting swiped in the middle of the night!
For the sake of making this article I couldn’t just wait countless nights to see how Burglars work in the game – I had to check their features immediately! Luckily Carl included a handy cheat with this Mod which lets you spawn Burglars after 10PM. Note that it will only work if all of your Sims in the household are asleep!
The cheat in question is Carl.Burglar.
So I did just that – I sent off the Baker Household to go to bed and after 10PM applied the cheat. It immediately spawned a Burglar on my lot, all with a proper “Burglar” NPC Tag and Burglar Clothing created by the talented Ravasheen!
Immediately all of my Sims on the lot woke up Teriffied with a strong Scared moodlet – they were aware that a Burglar was on their lot.
Focusing more on the Burglar, I also noticed a cute little detail that Carl has added for Burglars. Whenever they approach the entryway of your house there’s going to be some terrifying violin music playing. It’s not exactly as scary as the music from The Sims 1 – but it’s definitely a welcoming nod to the good (and terryfing) old days.
If you don’t remember how scary the Burglar music was, check out the recap below of Burglar Themes from The Sims 1, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3!
Going back to modded Burglars in The Sims 4 – they will swipe anything they come across – both outdoors and indoors. Doors won’t be a problem for Burglars as they just go through them! They can steal more than just 1 object, but I’ve normally noticed that they tend to take 2 objects per lot visit. After they’re done they’ll wait for a few Sim seconds (confidently) on your lot for your reaction.
Even the dog is scared.
Considering that your Sims will probably wake up by the time they’re done stealing objects, you have an option to select the Burglar and Fight for Stuff. It just so happened that one of the Burglars that visited my lot was a celebrity, so I was also able to fangirl before getting into the fight.
The fight, just like in previous Sims games, turns into a game of odds. If your Sims win the fight they’ll be able to retrieve all of the stolen items back into their Household Inventory.
However, if they lose the fight not only will the Burglar keep the items they’ve stolen, but they’ll also steal one more thing before heading out.
How to prevent Burglars?
The Gameplay Overhaul just recently got updated with an awesome addition – an Alarm System!
That’s right, if you prepared your lot beforehand you’ll be able to catch the Burglar immediately. Ravasheen has designed a special “Stop! Thief! Burglar Alarm Model X” object that you can find in the Alarms section of Electronics. It costs a whooping 1,500 Simoleons, but it’s definitely worth its price.
The moment a Burglar invades your home the alarm will sound off. Sure, the Burglar might steal an object or two before the Police arrive, but it’s always guaranteed that you’ll get your objects back. And that the Burglar will get their justice served.
Carl has made sure to add unique ways of preventing Burglars for different type of Sims! For example, Vampire Sims are able to use a certain set of Vampire abilities to prevent burglarly. After the effects of a spell weans off the Burglar should return the items and leave your lot.
Are burglars trying to intrude your Spellcaster household? Don’t worry – you can just freeze the Burglar – in a literal way!
Carl mentions that there are over 20 unique ways to stop a Burglar. Even Mermaids can put a stop to them, and the most afflicting negative buffs will take over the Burglar and prevent the situation from developing further.
I couldn’t believe that all of this was added as a side thing for a project that’s bigger than life. Burglars are so detailed within the Gameplay Overhaul Mod, and Carl has added so much value to the game not only with this addition, but the entire Gameplay Overhaul as well.
The Gameplay Overhaul touches on many different aspects of The Sims 4, not only just the difficulty and Burglars part. There are major improvements to Dine Out, Fishing Revamp, Gardening and Relationship improvements and so much more. The Mod is absolutely HUGE that I couldn’t just cover everything in one article.
We’ll be doing a lot more on the Gameplay Overhaul and what it includes. But, for now if you’re interested in playing with Burglars, they’re a part of the Early Access tier on Patreon and will be made available to the public soon. The Dine Out Fixes are going public next with Burglars sometime after that – but we’ll make sure to keep you posted on the developments of the Gameplay Overhaul here on Sims Community!
There are currently two versions that you can get of the Gameplay Overhaul:
Public VersionEarly Access Version
You can also follow the developments of The Sims 4 Gameplay Overhaul Mod on Carl’s Sims 4 Guides Twitter!
