The truth is out there, Scully…
The Sims 4 has added so many new scenarios to the game recently that we’re still working our way through them all! The scenario we played through this time, Extraterrestrial Researcher, is a permanent scenario that’s here to stay for good, so start it anytime you like!
Here’s how our Extraterrestrial Researcher scenario went!
Getting Started
You’ll notice the scenarios have gotten a bit of a revamp. Along with lots more new scenarios, there are now difficulty ratings on each scenario to give you an idea of the time and effort it will take players to complete them. The Extraterrestrial Researcher scenario is listed as an Intermediate scenario.
This is a permanent scenario so there’s no need to rush to start it before a certain date. It will be available in the game forever so start it whenever you like!
The scenario description states that your Sim has a fascination with outer space and truly believes that there is extraterrestrial life out there to be found. They want to be the one to find it and take it back to Earth. You’ll need to build a rocket ship and collect five unique living alien specimens from your space missions. The household requirements are simple; you just need one Young Adult or older Sim.
We just couldn’t bring ourselves to randomise any old Sim for this scenario. This time, we needed to call in Agent Fox Mulder! We downloaded an amazingly realistic Fox Mulder from ErenSparkles in the Gallery for our playthrough!
The Truth is Out There
We knew the perfect place to get Mulder all set up. In StrangerVille. In a seedy roadside motel. To make things harder on ourselves and provide more of a challenge, Mulder would be renting the motel and wouldn’t be able to work while “vacationing” in StrangerVille. How long can he chase his dreams of discovering alien life before his funds run out? We’ll have to see!
We did cheat a tiny bit just to unlock the motel for editing so we could place a rocket ship pad on it. Otherwise, this playthrough was cheat-free.
IMPORTANT!
Currently, the rocket ship is bugged. Sims cannot start building the rocket. The action cancels itself every time, sometimes resulting in the Sim doing a T-pose before resetting themselves. We had to use a mod fix by simvasion to do this scenario. You can download the fix from their website.
First order of business was to get the rocket built. Mulder ended up spending two full days working on the rocket, only stopping when he was smelly and exhausted. He went right back to the rocket as soon as he took care of his motives. Once the rocket was built, it wasn’t quite time to rush into space, yet. The rocket needed at least two specific upgrades just to make it worth our while to traverse space in the first place. Installing landing stabilizers will lower the chances of Mulder coming back to Earth in a crash landing… and potentially dying in a fiery inferno. He needs the extra help there considering his low Rocket Science skill. If he’s going to be bringing back aliens, he’s going to need to expand the cargo bay, too. Otherwise he won’t be bringing back much of anything from his space missions.
So another couple of days goes by for Mulder as he works on getting the most essential upgrades on his rocket. By this point, it’s been almost a week, his vacation is due to end soon, and he still hasn’t even gone on one space mission. He’s also already almost out of money after sinking so much into building and upgrading the rocket. He won’t be able to afford to stay another week.
There’s also the problem of his social motive. He’s resorted to chatting with Erwin Pries to avoid becoming so lonely that he can’t function. Mulder might be in trouble…
I Want to Believe
Until he got the phone call! Come on, it’s not really a Sims Community scenario playthrough without a marriage for inheritance money, right? The small amount from asking about the conditions wouldn’t have been enough to keep Mulder afloat so it was time to say I Do! But just anyone wouldn’t be good enough for someone as iconic as Fox Mulder! It was clear who he needed to call.
Enter Agent Dana Scully! Yes, the entire X-Files fandom is going to see its favourite ship sail. This spot-on recreation of Scully was created by TheSimEmporium in the Gallery! We added her to the household and Mulder made his way over to put the moves on her. Except… she wasn’t exactly impressed with him at first, which is hilariously fitting for them if you’re familiar with the TV show. It was time to help Mulder out a bit. We had Mulder and Scully freshen up in the motel lobby’s mirror and added the Romantic Aura trait to the lot. Ah yes, a dirty motel with a crime scene in one of the rooms. So romantic.
Well, it must do the trick for them because they were head over heels for each other quickly after that. We don’t have time to plan a fancy wedding. We have aliens to find, so Mulder and Scully eloped in their PJs in their grungy motel room, putting about 10k in Mulder’s pockets. Ah, love…
Okay, now it was finally time to go into space! Mulder waves goodbye to Earth as he blasts off… and finds absolutely nothing. And blasts off again… and again… and again… Nothing. Or more accurately, lots of things that are not aliens. Several more days go by, Mulder extends his vacation, and manages to collect a cowberry, a UFO plant, and plenty of upgrade parts but no aliens.
Until he comes back from one of his space missions with an alien! A… dead one. Great, that won’t work. Or will it!? The goal for this scenario clearly states that the aliens Mulder brings back must be alive but this dead alien still counted towards the goal. Interesting. Hey, we’ll take it. Mulder hasn’t been having the best of luck and could use a break. He later brought back his second dead alien that somehow still counted towards the goal.
Speaking of Mulder not having the best luck, one of his missions went terribly wrong and he came back to Earth in a pile of fiery rubble. Thankfully he survived the crash landing but now he had to rebuild his rocket and start over from scratch. Oh well, at least he has Scully to help him out this time. Things go much faster with an extra pair of hands on board and Mulder is back in outer space before long!
At long last, the universe decided to be nice to Mulder and he collected the rest of the aliens needed to complete the scenario in 8 days! Funnily enough, only one out of his five alien specimens were alive even though he was supposed to find five live ones.

Our Thoughts
We had a lot of fun with this scenario, especially since we tied The X-Files into it. It added an extra layer of amusement to the whole thing but the only reason we could play this scenario at all is because we downloaded a mod to fix the rocket ship glitch. Console players who can’t use mods won’t be able to make any progress at all on this scenario until EA fixes that glitch. It does make us wonder why they released this scenario at all knowing it can’t be played right now.
As far as the actual scenario itself goes, we enjoyed it. Space travel and completing the aliens collection is a base game feature a lot of players haven’t really explored in-depth so it’s a good way to get out of your comfort zone and play a different way you might not have immersed yourself in before. Your Sim doesn’t start with any skills or a career so having to figure out how to fund your space missions adds a nice element of challenge to the scenario.
Credits
- Fox Mulder Sim by ErenSparkles in the Gallery
- Dana Scully Sim by TheSimEmporium in the Gallery
- Seedy Roadside Motel available in my Gallery under the ID SnarkyWitch
- Reshade by sunflowersyrup
I love it! It’s hilarious on so many levels, in addition to being very fitting!
Where is the motel from?
It was built by me and available in my Gallery. All info is in the Credits section.