Welcome to a festive edition of The Sims Community Challenge!
The December challenge if you haven’t already guessed is going to be full of Winterfest cheer! While we know many of us will be busy with real life and preparing to spend our time with friends and family, we are going to keep things simple but fun at the same time!
This is the first build challenge that we have done for a couple of months, however if you’d like to check out the November challenge you can click here!
The Challenge
Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to simply furnish our house shell and make it as festive as you want! Seriously, we want to see just how festive and creative our shell can become!
Challenge Rules
You must use a 40×30 lot.
You have a total budget of $115,000.
No Custom Content.
You can use DEBUG items and T.O.O.L.
You are not allowed to change any of the existing internal or external walls. You may add additional walls if required.
You can not add additional floors or basements.
You may change the doors/windows as well as their placement
Have fun and be creative!
As always, the shell is Base Game friendly, and you are allowed to use any packs that you own.
Shell Overview
Here’s an overview of the shell as well as how it is laid out. The order in which you have the rooms is up to you, as well as which room goes where. Remember, you are not able to change any of the current internal or external walls.
The idea behind this build is that it would be a cosy, festive family home, so there would two bedrooms alongside the open living/dining area, kitchen and bathroom before taking the outdoor space into consideration.
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Downloading The Shell
You will need to head over to The Gallery and use the information below to find the challenge shell and add it into your game.
Lot Name: SC Winterfest Shell
Gallery ID: LeeksEverywhere
Uploading your Entry
All entries will need to be uploaded to The Gallery and include the hashtag #SCWinterfest in the description.
One entry per person. Additional entries will not be included.
Closing date for entries: Monday 20th December 2021 at 10am PST/6pm GMT/ 7PM CET. The Spotlight post will be released a few days after entries have closed.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below, or head over to our The Sims Community Challenge channel on our Discord server! If you aren’t a member of our Discord Server, you can click here to join.
Click the button below to join The Sims Community Discord
In case you don’t know me – I’m Jovan, and I’ve been running the Sims Community website since 2013! Truth be told, I have been obsessed with The Sims way before that. My first ever Sims Game was The Sims 2 on PS2 that I played at my friend’s house. I was captivated by how much control I have over a video game, which only inspired me to pursue my interest in The Sims Franchise more. I fully indulged in all of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 games, and after The Sims 4 was announced I knew I had to take it to the next level. Just days after the announcement of the game I started this website out of multiple passions I pursued – video games, journalism, graphic design and English language.
I’m celebrating the Season of Selves for multiple reasons, but the main one being that I discovered a lot about myself through this game. Just about a year ago I marked all the amazing self-discoveries and friendships I’ve made with a Plumbob tattoo. You could say that The Sims follows me wherever I go…in every meaning of that sentence.
But enough about me or my inked right leg. Let’s dive deeper into my personal playstyle!
My Playstyles
There are various playstyles that I’ve dabbled with in The Sims 4 and that I still like to play with from time to time. One of those being a builder. would I consider myself to be a builder? Most definitely not. I’m not ashamed to admit that most of my builds that I’ve made in this game are every architect and interior designer’s worst nightmare. Still, it’s fun to let my creativity let loose with builds that just wouldn’t make any sense in real life. This is The Sims after all!
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I will always be the first to vouch for, promote and use builds created by the community instead. The Gallery is a perfect gold mine of amazing talented creators who keep pushing the boundaries of what you can do with Build Mode tools.
Instead, most of my time playing The Sims 4 is spent in Live Mode. (and it’s pronounced live as in living, not live as in going live! this is a hill I’m willing to die on)
When I’m playing this game I usually sway into these 3 different playstyles, including:
The Achiever (who doesn’t cheat!)
It’s a tale old as time. You start out as a single Sim with a primary goal to become wealthy, successful and find love so you can pass all of your achievements onto future generations. Being an achiever in The Sims 4 doesn’t mean solving all of that in a matter of seconds through Shift + Control + C and entering motherlode. And no, that doesn’t include just plopping down the wishing well from the Romantic Garden Stuff Pack and wishing for simoleons until you’re rich. Trust me, I’ve tried many easy ways to become successful in the game but the final outcome never turns out to be fully satisfying.
To me, being an achiever means taking all the slow steps in the game that you’d also probably take in real life in order to learn skills, become successful and earn money. That includes graduating in a University, finding a job and eventually finding your Sim the perfect spouse so you can splurge all of that hard-earned Simoleons onto a big mansion that you’ve oh-so rightfully earned.
For this type of playstyle I would recommend the Discover University Expansion Pack, as it’s one of the most rewarding prospects in this game for the long road. Your Sim will get a huge jump in a Career that’s related to their Degree and ensure their bright future. Good luck chasing that diploma though, as the road to graduation is full of spikes and thorns – or in the case of The Sims – bladder failures and passing out in public from sleep deprivation.
The Manager
There’s something about managing multiple live beings with a mind of their own in this game that just keeps me coming back for more. Whether it’s a house full of needy toddlers, farm full of animals or a restaurant filled with hungry customers. Making sure that everyone’s needs and requirements are met is nerve-wrecking – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Having multiple toddlers is all fun and games until you have to let each one out of their high chairs.
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If you also like to play the game on Normal Speed without having to fast-forward the time (because that would just be disasterous for all the living Sims and animals involved) I suggest packs such as Get to Work (for its retail system), Dine Out (which lets you own a restaurant) and Cottage Living (cute, sometimes chaotic animals). Choosing to go down the farmer’s route in Cottage Living is an interesting experience from the The Manager’s perspective – especially if you add an extra layer of complexity with the Wild Foxes Lot Challenge.
Cleaning up the Chicken Coops and Animal Stalls, making sure all animals on the lot are well-fed and socialized while earning Simoleons through their produce and excess wool is one of the finer examples of what being The Manager in The Sims is all about. That’s of course if you choose to solely survive off of what Animals give you in return.
The Chaos Provoker
Okay, maybe not exactly the type of chaos you see in the screenshot above (don’t worry – I’ve used cheats to replicate that one) but still. Seasons is probably one of my favorite Expansion Packs that I find essential when it comes to causing chaos and mayhem in the game. Not specifically because of the lighting strikes, but more because of how much control you get over the worlds themselves.
The ability to customize each day to your liking with activities you want to be surrounded with is exactly the type of behavior I want to see as a Chaos Provoker. Just maybe don’t go overboard like I did with the number of “Holidays” as seen below…
Nudity day? Sure, why not!
As a Chaos Provoker if I find myself to go down the path of The Achiever playstyle, I always tend to mix things up with the unexpected. Such as cheating on my husband with the scarecrow. Don’t worry – he doesn’t mind…because he doesn’t know.
Going down the path of The Chaos Provoker and breaking down the same old path that I would take as an Achiever always brings in unexpected, but often worthy results.
Being a Chaos Provoker in The Sims 4 doesn’t necessarily mean it should be chaotic for your own household but rather the households surrounding you.
By the way – that’s a good looking couch, mind if I steal it? It’s all fair game when your Sim is a Mischevious Kleptomaniac. If you play your cards right and don’t let your neighbor notice you’re definitely looking at profit! Just make sure you play it right by making sure that the Sims in the house you’re visiting aren’t there…or awake.
I’ve found that being a master kleptomaniac in The Sims 4 definitely works out as a side career – especially if you have multiple Sims in your household who are Kleptos.
You can turn up the mischief with Realm of Magic through the Burgliate Spell that allows you to steal without being a Kleptomaniac. The chances of getting caught stealing through a Spell are much lower – at least from what I’ve noticed. If you do get caught just distract the surrounding Sims with a flame through the Inferniate Spell. They will be too caught up anyways to catch you again…
That about sums up my playstyles when playing The Sims 4!
On Sims Community we cover a lot more playstyles than what I like to play with in my spare time. If you’d like to stay updated on the latest from both The Sims and The Community (and the ways they play) check us out on these outlets:
The Sims Team has just dropped a brand new Delivery into The Sims 4 Base Game!
Through Sims Delivery Express you are able to download new Create A Sim Content, Build Mode Content and small bug fixes and improvements into your game straight through The Sims 4. Simply open up The Sims 4 and your game should automatically check for new content.
If not, go into Game Options > Sims Delivery and Check for new Content. This method of bringing new content into your game works both on PC and Consoles! Note that you will have to restart your game in order to obtain new content. You can select “Yes, Restart Now” for the game to restart automatically for you.
Sims Delivery Express – December 7th, 2021 Content
NEW HAIRSTYLE!
The Sims Team has added in a new Adult Feminine Hairstyle. Check out the previews below:
The Sims 4 Modern Menswear Kit launched earlier this week, and I finally found some time to sit down and take a look at the Kit. After spending a little time going through the new Create A Sim additions, I came up with several different looks. There was a lot of trial and error before finding looks that worked well together, but in the end, I’m happy with how these looks came together. My aim was to create looks I knew I could see my Sims wearing in my own game.
The first three focused on using items from the new Modern Menswear Kit, Base Game and one other pack, whereas the latter two looks were a combination of the new Kit and several other packs.
Red
Smart, casual with a twist of colour!
Outfit
Hair: Swept Left Hair (Base Game)
Top: Sleeveless Patterned Top (Modern Menswear)
Bottom: Leather Look Trousers (Get Famous)
Shoes: Colourful High-Tops (Get Famous)
Accessories: Ring (Base Game) Watch (Get Famous)
Casual and Comfy
A cool but casual everyday look that is perfect for any moment!
Outfit
Hair: Swept Left Hair (Base Game)
Top: Moschino Unicorn Tee (Moshchino)
Bottom: Textured Trousers (Modern Menswear)
Shoes: Green High Tops (Base Game)
Let’s Go!
Take to the open road with this dark and mysterious look!
Outfit
Hair: Swept Left Hair (Base Game)
Top: Textured Button Up Jacket (Modern Menswear)
Bottom: Ripped Jeans (Realm of Magic)
Shoes: Lace Up Boots (Realm of Magic)
Accessories: Sunglasses (Base Game)
Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!
Layer upon layer of different patterns and textures, all coming together to create this one off, unique look!
Outfit
Hair: Beaded Locks (StrangerVille)
Top: Faux Fur Jacket and Turtleneck Combo (Get Famous)
I’m a huge (and I mean HUGE) fan of The Sims Medieval. I might actually be borderline obsessed with this game but that doesn’t mean The Sims Medieval is perfect. The game is primarily a fantasy RPG and has a heavy focus on quests rather than a true life simulation like the main Sims series. It has a lot of limitations that The Sims games don’t have, even in sandbox mode. I’ve always longed for a medieval life simulation exactly like The Sims in every way, just in medieval times.
The problem is, The Sims 4 never really had any worlds that made sense in a medieval setting. You could build all the medieval buildings you wanted but the non-editable sidewalks, roads, cars, and big skyscrapers in the background really killed the vibe. Until Cottage Living came along, that is! While Henford-on-Bagley does have touches of the modern world here and there, it’s largely a step backwards in time, making it an ideal setting for a medieval world. My dreams could finally come to life!
Refer to this map for lot placement!
I spent weeks rebuilding Henford-on-Bagley from the ground up with CC-free medieval builds! All the builds are functional off-the-grid and are actually livable, usable spaces for your Sims so you can play normally in them. Before you check these builds out yourself and go “Hey Snarky, this isn’t actually 100% authentic to medieval history,” you’re absolutely right. I’m not a historical expert by any means and I also had to work within the game’s limitations but I love this (mostly) medieval world I’ve created, anyway. It does its job bringing my imagination back in time while I’m playing.
I had a few rules for myself when designing my medieval Henford-on-Bagley to make sure I was keeping things as low-tech as possible while still creating fun and functional spaces for my Sims:
All plumbing and appliances had to be functional Off-the-Grid and look rustic and/or old.
No electricity or items that generate electricity, so no wind turbines, solar panels, or generators.
If an item/activity would have been enjoyed in medieval times but The Sims version is slightly more advanced, I can choose to include it. Such as darts even though the dart board has an electronic scoreboard on it and candle-making even though it requires a recycler and uses an electric heating element for the wax.
Anything children need for fun, happiness, and their well-being can be used as long as it’s not blatantly high-tech, like the Voidcritter battle station or the Wabbit Tablet.
With all that in mind, let’s get on with the medieval tour, shall we?
Spirit’s Solitude
This 29-tile microhome is also a starter home and perfect for a single Sim in tune with their spirituality. It comes with a little garden, a séance table, a washtub with clothesline, and a coop for some chickens so your Sim can be self-sufficient off-the-grid.
Fruitful Harvest
This starter cottage is suitable for a young pair of newlyweds expecting a baby soon! It may be a small plot of land but it has everything a budding farmer needs to build a successful life for themselves. The house may need expanding as the little one grows, though.
Ye Old Playground
This (mostly) medieval park is a great spot to enjoy an afternoon with the entire family. It has outdoorsy activities for all ages, including toddlers, so everyone can take a break from toiling in the fields once in a while and have some fun.
Knight’s Stronghold
This small, fortified manor fit for a knight puts safety first. With thick stone walls, narrow windows, guards and cannons on the roof, training yard, animals, and crops secure inside strong courtyard walls, and a moat running along the back of the building with a hungry alligator in it, only the bravest souls would dare try and infiltrate this stronghold.
Neth Tathar Homestead
This mid-priced family farm is the largest plot of land in Henford-on-Bagley and isn’t for anyone who’s afraid of hard work. With six animal sheds, four chicken coops, 50 garden plots, birds, bees, insects, and bunnies to tend to, anyone living here will have their hands full. Good thing there’s three bedrooms that can accommodate up to five Sims.
Village Square
This medieval community space offers plenty for local residents to do. The default space has some generic fun activities for Sims to enjoy, but if you need something more specific, you can vote to turn this lot into a marketplace, a community garden, or a maker space. Community spaces have special instructions for being placed properly so make sure you read the Gallery description for this lot carefully.
Smithy’s Paradise
This is a revamp of an older lot I built many years ago before Off-the-Grid was an official feature in the game. It’s been updated to be fully compatible with the Off-the-Grid lifestyle and include Cottage Living content as well as other newer packs. This lavish medieval manor is attached to a blacksmith’s forge. It’s listed as a retail lot with items already set for sale but if you do have retail mods, you can change the zoning to residential and use your mod’s retail system to live here more easily. Without mods, purchase an empty lot as your “home,” then purchase the business. Travel there and stay there!
Struggle for Survival
This starter farm for a family of eight is nothing more than a peasant hovel. The one room shack with beds and a kitchen crammed inside offers little comfort for the large family struggling to make a living here. They don’t even have an outhouse; only a bath outdoors under a tree and a bush to do their business in. But with animal sheds, a large garden, chicken coops, and a pond large enough for fishing, this run-down hovel has everything this family needs to make a better life for themselves with some dedication and hard work.
Tavern and Inn
What would a medieval village be without a tavern?! Inspired by the tavern from The Sims Medieval, this popular village hangout boasts a bar, stage, and ample seating on the first floor, with a nice selection of inn rooms on the second level to accommodate weary travelers. Or perhaps just some Sims who’ve had too much ale and can’t stumble their way back home.
Nobles on Holiday
This cozy rental in the heart of the village is perfect for housing a family of nobles taking a holiday in the countryside. It can accommodate up to five Sims, including a child and a toddler, and has plenty of activities for the family to enjoy, including cross-stitch, knitting, picnics, horseshoes, and a wishing well. The coop and garden ensures they’ll eat nothing but the freshest eggs and produce on their trip.
Clinic & Apothecary
Sick during medieval times? Getting better isn’t as easy as ordering medicine on the computer. What is a computer??? Not to worry, the local clinic has medicine for sale and healthy treats to keep your livestock in good health, too. The apothecary next door is a great place for farmers and magic users to visit, too. It sells a variety of seasonal seeds, mandrake and valerian root, wraith wax, sacred candles, familiars, potions, and other herbs and trinkets. It’s a retail lot with items already set for sale but has a teeny tiny living space for a single Sim, too.
A Henford Handfasting
I built this quaint little wedding park when Cottage Living first came out but I realised it was the perfect spot for my medieval Sims to tie the knot too, so it went into my medieval world. The version in the Gallery is slightly different from the version pictured here but you won’t have to do much editing to this space at all. I swapped out the public bathroom for a medieval outhouse, replaced some lights with candles, and removed the stereo and microphone on the stage. Otherwise, this park is exactly the same.
I hope you’ll enjoy playing with these medieval builds as much as I enjoyed building them! I’m having a lot of fun living out my medieval fantasy in The Sims 4 without any of the limitations The Sims Medieval has.
You can find all these builds in the Gallery under the ID SnarkyWitch! Search the hashtag #snarkygoesmedieval to find them easier!
I just love the holiday season. So many different religions and cultures have beautiful traditions to celebrate the shortest days of the year and I love them all. Last week, we built a cute little Christmas cottage. This week, we thought a cozy room build honouring the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah would be a lovely way to send off this heartwarming holiday. Hanukkah ends on December 6th this year but that doesn’t mean the joy and spirit of Hanukkah has to!
We’ve built a dining room honouring the traditions of Hanukkah! Let’s check it out!
Blue and white are the traditional colours of Hanukkah which is a beautiful combination no matter the occasion so we really stuck with that colour scheme wherever we could. A long dining table with a blue plaid tablecloth and silver garlands acts as the centerpiece of the room, topped with blue and white candles and a silver tea set.
However, the front window is where the heart of Hanukkah is. The menorah stands proudly in the centre of the window with Hanukkah cards and family photos lovingly arranged nearby. More Hanukkah cards from friends and family are strung up in the window above the menorah. During Hanukkah, small gifts are exchanged during each night of the eight day celebration so a small pile of gifts sits next the menorah in the corner of the room, waiting to be distributed and opened.
Around the rest of the room, blue and white winter décor is paired with Hanukkah streamers featuring dreidels; a four-sided spinning top that’s a popular game to play during Hanukkah.
We chose a dining room to honour Hanukkah traditions because food is really where people of many different walks of life come together as a family to bond and create cherished memories together over a delicious meal. While the meal itself may be different around the world, the sense of community and togetherness around the dinner table is something that ties us all together. The weekly Jewish tradition of a Shabbat family dinner embodies this kind of community and togetherness. We thought it’d be perfect to tie into a room honouring Hanukkah.
Other touches of seasonal winter décor include a snowflake ceiling lamp with blue ribbons strung from it and a small corner table with a blue and white snowflake pattern, topped with a beautiful glass snowflake sculpture. The underlying theme of snowflakes remind us that while this time of year may be cold and dark, there is always light to be found in the darkness.
We hope this Hanukkah dining room fills you with both joy and inspiration this holiday season! This build has no custom content and uses only the base game, Seasons, and the free holiday collection that downloads with the base game.
One of the most appealing things about The Sims series is the freedom to play your own way. It’s the ultimate sandbox life simulation, allowing you to live out whatever virtual life you want. For some people, that’s creating lots and lots of exciting drama. For others, it’s escaping to a fantasy world full of magic and monsters. For occult players, the base game sadly won’t have much to peak your interest; it’s your standard run-of-the-mill suburbia simulation devoid of anything fantastical or otherworldly… unless you count ghosts and PlantSims. Both of which are limited in gameplay. You’ll need to expand your collection with DLC packs to get occult-themed gameplay.
Vampires
Vampire lovers, this is the pack for you! The Vampires game pack comes with, yup, you guessed it, vampires! These plasma-sucking creatures of the night are immortal and as unique and customisable as you want them to be! With each individual vampire having their own skill tree, no two vampires are exactly alike and possess the same abilities. Some may be monsters completely ruled by their thirst for plasma while others have learned to tame their thirst and live peacefully alongside humans, for example. This kind of flexibility allows you to tell your vampire story the way you want! Recreate that Twilight romance or reject modern vampire love stories in favour of pursuing a more Dracula-like plot. You decide what kind of vampires you want in your virtual world.
Realm of Magic
Potterheads will love Realm of Magic, which bears a distinct parallel to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Create your very own spellcaster and learn spells and potions to make their lives easier… or make the lives of others more difficult, if you’re feeling mischievous. Purchase tomes, brooms, wands, and potion ingredients at Caster’s Alley in the secret Magic Realm, seek out the three Sages for knowledge in the different schools of magic. Master one school of magic or all three. Or reject fancy spellwork in favour of becoming a master of potions. Pass your magical bloodline down to your descendants, creating stronger spellcasters over many generations. If you love witchcraft and magic, this pack is for you.
Get To Work
What’s so supernatural about going to work, you ask? Well, let’s just say the truth is out there. Do you want to believe? In aliens, that is! These intergalactic beings from the planet Sixam like to come and visit earth every now and then and if your Sim is a Scientist, they might come face to face with them more often than regular folk. If you own Get To Work, you can create your own aliens in CAS or meet them out in the world. Certain lucky (or unlucky) Sims may even get abducted by aliens in the dead of night and come home with a little space bun in the oven… if you know what we mean. Aliens have an array of abilities, like mind reading, empathy, wiping memories, and being able to revive dead alien collectibles. Oh, and you can visit their home planet. If you want intergalactic Sims, Get To Work has you covered.
Island Living
If only mermaids could be part of our world. Oh, wait. They can be if you own Island Living! This tropical expansion pack adds mermaids as a new occult type to the game. Create your own mermaids in CAS or discover them out in the new ocean world of Sulani. Mermaids come with a variety of abilities that make them more similar to sirens than Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. They have the ability to control the emotions of other Sims through their siren’s song, they can summon or disperse thunderstorms at will (if Seasons is installed), they can call dolphins and encourage more fish to show up at fishing spots. They can even lure unsuspecting Sims out into deep waters and drag them under the surface to drown them. They are beautiful, terrifying, and almost limitlessly powerful while they are in water. Mermaids are a lot of fun and you should check them out.
Discover University
Wait, wait, wait, a university expansion pack comes with occult gameplay? Yup! Sure does! Looking for some sci-fi occult gameplay? You’ll want to pick up Discover University for the addition of servos! Servos are humanoid robots that are fully playable Sims. They can be built at the robotics workstation by Sims skilled in the Robotics skill. Once brought to life, Servos become a playable member of the household and can do almost anything a real Sim can do. Except Try for Baby and anything involving water. Water will cause Servos to break down. Servos can receive upgrades that allow them to autonomously perform different tasks. They can become your handyman, maid, nanny, and even your personal bodyguard! They can also learn to become more efficient over time. If you want to play with robots, pick up Discover University.
Paranormal Stuff
While Paranormal Stuff doesn’t come with a new occult type, it still adds a lot of spooky goodness to your game! Sims can live in haunted houses where playful and mischievous spectres will either bless your Sims with paranormal goodies or unleash misery upon them. Sims can host seances and build the Medium skill. Sims skilled in matters of the paranormal can get a Paranormal Investigator’s license which will allow them to join the Paranormal Investigator freelance career! Visit other Sims’ homes to rid them of pesky spirits and all things that go bump in the night for handsome rewards. If living in a haunted house or becoming a Paranormal Investigator has always been your dream, this is the pack for you!
Spooky Stuff
Like Paranormal Stuff, Spooky Stuff does not come with an occult type but it does offer some pretty great décor and costumes to elevate your occult gameplay. Dress your Sims up as witches, pirates, superheroes, gladiators, faeries, zombies, and more. Throw Spooky Parties to impress your friends. Carve pumpkins and get the plumbob scared out of you by a candy bowl that comes with a trick along with a treat and deck out your house with glowing spiders, cauldrons with a ghost light show, fog-emitting gravestones and all manner of other spooky goodies. Oh, and speaking of goodies, you can also make zombie cakes and spooky cookies to serve at your next Spooky Party.
Base Game???
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the base game does have some occult Sims. Sort of. Ghosts and PlantSims are part of the base game but ghosts aren’t much different from regular Sims and PlantSims are a temporary life state with limited gameplay. I wouldn’t exactly rave about either of them but they’re worth mentioning in case you’d like to explore them.
When Sims die, they become ghosts attached to an urn or tombstone on the lot. You can summon the ghost to appear and ask it to join the household after maxing out your relationship with them which will give you a playable ghost. Don’t get too excited, though. Your playable ghost is basically just a transparent Sim. For whatever reason, the game treats them the exact same way as living Sims and so they still need to eat and sleep and shower and… why? They’re dead. What do they need those things for? They do have a handful of amusing ghost-like interactions like possessing objects and scaring Sims but these interactions get old fast. That’s basically it for ghosts. When you inevitably get tired of them, click their tombstone to release them to the netherworld, never to be seen again.
PlantSims were added in a free update a few years back for a limited-time event challenge. Sims would have to collect magic beans to fill up a stump, then water the stump to sprout a big tree. They could then explore the tree to find the Forbidden Fruit of the PlantSim. The fruit could be eaten or planted to grow into a tree that produces more forbidden fruit. Eating the forbidden fruit would temporarily turn your Sim into a PlantSim for about 5 days. The journey to become a PlantSim is more interesting than being a PlantSim. PlantSims have a water motive instead of a bladder motive and they can replenish their Hunger motive with sunlight or by absorbing solar energy from plants. They can also talk to plants to fill their Social motive which isn’t any different from a Sim skilled in Gardening.
You can still become a PlantSim even though the event is over. The magic beans required for the stump can be acquired from rare seed packets, which unlock at level 10 of the Gardening skill. The stump can be found in Outdoor Activities in Build/Buy.
Do I recommend bothering with ghosts and PlantSims? Not really, but hey they’re in the base game so you might as well check them out sometime.
It’s officially the holiday season and whether you’re in the festive spirit or not, it’s time to get out those colourful lights and winter decorations and exchanging gifts with loved ones… in The Sims, at least! To kick off this holly jolly winter season, we’ve built a cozy cottage all decked out for the holidays! This house is perfect for a grandparent who can’t wait to have all the kids and grandkids over for Winterfest dinner! And all the hard work of decorating is already done for you.
So let’s take a tour!
As we take a stroll through the village of Finchwick in Henford-on-Bagley, we come across a warm and inviting cottage beckoning us to step inside. With traditional tudor-style stone and wood panels dressed up in hanging icicle lights, garlands, and wreaths galore, it looks like the perfect place to spend the holidays with loved ones. There’s even reindeer on the roof and a friendly snowman under a light-covered tree to welcome you!
The front foyer is just as festive as the outside. Accent table with holiday tablecloths display nutcrackers, garlands, and a lovely glass snowflake structure. The walls are adorned with garlands and wreaths, even the archways leading to the rest of the house!
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As we step into the kitchen, the festive cheer continues. A long dining table seating a large family of six is decorated with garlands and green plaid tablecloth with candles and holly in the centre. Seasonal cards are strung from the kitchen cabinets and little bell garlands decorate the backsplash. A nutcracker watches the festivities from the corner of the countertop.
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Of course, the living room is the main place where everyone gathers for gift exchanges and good conversation so we now enter a spacious but comfortable sitting room with a fireplace adorned in garland and bows. Above it, a cheery wreath welcomes everybody around the hearth. A beautiful holiday tree with piles of lovingly wrapped presents beneath it steals your attention right away when you enter. An old-fashioned record player makes it easy to listen to your favourite Winter Holiday tunes while opening gifts and snuggling up by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa; extra marshmallows, please!
If you’re wondering whether the upstairs has been decorated, worry not! Every square metre of this home looks like a scene out of a holiday movie! The bedroom has red plaid bedcovers and garlands adorning the walls with a wreath over the headboard. An extra pile of presents hidden from the nosiest of the grandkids is kept safe in the corner of the room. Even the bathroom has gotten the holiday treatment, with a snowflake-patterned bathmat and pinecones and holly hanging above the mirror.
Yes, this quaint little cottage home is truly the place for a tight-knit family to spend the holidays together. It might be a little crowded but that’s okay; it just means the whole family is even closer together for the festive season. If you’re celebrating with loved ones this year, we hope our holiday cottage will help you experience all that joy in the game. And if you’re struggling this holiday season because you’re missing loved ones you can’t be with, you’re not alone. We hope our holiday build brings you some comfort and puts a smile on your face even if just for a little while.
Today, The Sims 4 added to its rapidly growing collection of bite-sized portions of DLC called kits. This kit is called the Modern Menswear Kit. It’s a collection of 23 CAS pieces for adult masculine Sims that challenge gender boundaries, inspired by London fashion designer, Stefan Cooke.
The kit does not come with any accessories or any CAS pieces for feminine Sims. It also does not contain any pieces for young Sims. All the pieces are for teen-elder Sims.
Tops (10)
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Bottoms (6)
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Full Body Outfits (5)
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Shoes (2)
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Styled Looks (4)
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And that’s everything in the Modern Menswear Kit! It’s available now worldwide on all platforms and costs $4.99 USD.
The Sims Team has started rolling out their latest Kit for The Sims 4 – the Modern Menswear Kit!
This Create A Sim Fashion Kit, just like previous Kits, is retailed at $4.99USD – or a price equivalent to your local currency. You can get it from the official stores linked below:
We recently revealed our second Fixer Upper challenge, and we were blown away by how many people took to the challenge and helped us fix our overgrown and neglected Daisy Hovel!
The aim of the challenge was to renovate the build and turn it into a First Home for an individual/couple of Sims. You can read the full challenge details here.
Thank you to everyone who came to the rescue! There are some absolutely amazing renovations created, and here are some of our favourites that were shared to The Gallery!
Don’t worry if you didn’t upload your Lot to The Gallery before the cut-off for the showcase, you can still download the lot and renovate at anytime by searching for LeeksEverywhere on The Gallery and downloading the Daisy Hovel Fixer Upper build!
Hlgale92240
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What caught my attention for Hlgale92241’s build was how they used the new All The Rage Plant Cage from the Blooming Rooms Kit to decorate the driveway as well as the addition of the conservatory to the lot as well. Of course, I wasn’t ready for all of smaller details and use of Debug items throughout the lot, but everything came together so nicely and this isn’t honestly a plant lover’s dream home!
This renovation by SmallFries535 is a lovely first home for Sims wanting to live in Mt. Komorebi. I love how the entrance was moved to the side of the lot and how everything flowed together nicely. There are plenty of smaller accents throughout the build that really makes this lot feel like a home and the garden space is beautiful too!
From the outside, this lots by ShazzaUK70 looks like a modern renovation of the previous Daisy Hovel. However, when you take a closer look, you will find the addition of the bedroom being moved into the newly added basement! This works really well and really gives the upper floor plenty of space and variety! Add a very colourful garden and I’m sure Sims would be jumping at this renovation to be their first home!
You can find all the builds featured in this post and many more over on The Gallery by searching the hashtag #SCDaisyHovel.
What would you like to see in our next Fixer Upper build? Let us know in the comments below or over on social media!
Note:The Fixer Upper Challenges are not a part of our monthly Sims Community Challenges. To find out more about the Sims Community Challenges, click here.
One of the most appealing things about The Sims series is the freedom to play your own way. It’s the ultimate sandbox life simulation, allowing you to live out whatever virtual life you want. For some people, that’s creating lots and lots of exciting drama. For others, it’s going back to another period in time and imagining themselves in another lifetime. It’s pretty difficult to find historical gameplay in the base game but there are quite a few packs that offer worlds, Build/Buy items, or CAS pieces that can help us imagine our Sims living in a time period from before.
Get Together
Get Together comes with a huge, beautiful world called Windenburg based on a few different European countries. It’s old cobblestone city square, crumbling ruins, and chalet gardens make for an impressive historical urban backdrop. It also features plenty of Tudor-style Build/Buy wall coverings, flooring, and objects to create the old world builds of your dreams. There’s also a lovely old-fashioned gown and a suit of armour in CAS for your Sims to wear.
Cottage Living
If you’re looking to go back to medieval England, Cottage Living is perfect for that. The picturesque rural town of Henford-on-Bagley is a great backdrop for an older way of life and it offers loads of Build/Buy content reminiscent of medieval times. It boasts a wide array of humble cottagecore CAS pieces. For gameplay, the addition of chickens, cows, and llamas which all provide food or crafting materials really enhance this medieval way of life. So does the Simple Living challenge this expansion comes with, requiring your Sims to have the ingredients for a meal on-hand in order to cook it.
Island Living
The gorgeous world of Sulani is a relaxing escape from the rat race even in modern times but this scenic tropical location is also fantastic for historical gameplay thanks to all of its preserved natural beauty. It comes with plenty of thatch and woven textures in the Build/Buy catalogue as well as kava bowls, pit BBQs, and outrigger canoes which can be enjoyed off-the-grid by your Sims. Sulani’s also an ideal location for fishing and swimming.
Eco Lifestyle
We wouldn’t really recommend the Build/Buy catalogue, CAS catalogue, or the world of Evergreen Harbour from Eco Lifestyle for historical play but Eco Lifestyle has a lot of gameplay that makes it perfect for your historical Sims. Sims can raise a variety of insects in insect farms and harvest them for food and fuel. They can craft candles using wax and dyes. Grow soybeans to turn into candle wax or harvest beeswax from beehives if you own the Seasons expansion. Build community spaces where Sims can come together to craft, garden, or sell their homemade wares. And if your Sims are excellent stewards of the land, they can turn their eco footprint green which will offer benefits and positive moodlets to all the Sims living in the neighbourhood. It pairs really nicely with packs like Cottage Living.
Get Famous
You might not think an expansion about the glitz and glamour of celebrity life has anything to do with the ancient past but don’t be so quick to scoff at this suggestion! Get Famous comes with an Acting career which means this expansion has a huge variety of set pieces and costumes from many different time periods! Medieval castles, pirate ships, prehistoric set pieces, apocalyptic stuff, Victorian England, French Renaissance, even futuristic sci-fi set pieces if you want to go in the complete opposite direction! There is so much historical content to repurpose and work with in this expansion.
Realm of Magic
If you’re looking for a more whimsical, art-nouveau, fantasy take on history, look no further than Realm of Magic! With some delightfully rustic CAS pieces and plenty of ornate furnishings, Realm of Magic is a great pack for players looking for historical gameplay that’s a little more on the fantastical side. Of course, the addition of actual spellcasters and magic brings a lot to the table for this style of gameplay, too. All my elves in my medieval fantasy save are spellcasters, for example.
Jungle Adventure
While Selvadorada can’t be lived in full-time, making it difficult to incorporate it into historical saves, Jungle Adventure still comes with plenty of rustic and ancient-looking pieces to decorate your historical worlds. From crumbling ruins to ancient, weathered stone, to dense foliage to unearthed treasures and more, Jungle Adventure’s décor can really add a lot to take your historical builds to the next level. I’m a big fan of the wooden market table. It’s the only market table in the game that blends in well with historical saves so I use it all the time in my historical builds.
Outdoor Retreat
Outdoor Retreat is probably one of the best packs for rustic and historical gameplay! Not only does it come with so much furniture in stone and weathered wood textures but it offers plenty of activities for Sims to enjoy off-the-grid, like horseshoes, campfires, stargazing, and cloudgazing. The Herbalism skill can be great for playing a healer from ye olden days, too. Have them gather herbs and berries to brew up tinctures and remedies to treat all kinds of common ailments in Sims. It’s really a great pack that I use a lot in my medieval builds.
Vampires
If the Victorian period is more your style, you’ll want to pick up Vampires. This pack comes with a gloomy Victorian world called Forgotten Hollow and it really is like it’s been forgotten by the modern world. Cars don’t drive around here and the cobblestone streets are eerily devoid of activity. The Build/Buy catalogue is filled with ornate Victorian furnishings with a gothic feel to them. The CAS catalogue harkens back to the Victorian period as well with lacy gowns and button-up vests and trousers.
Laundry Day Stuff
Living way back when in history means there were a lot more chores. Like washing laundry by hand. If you want your Sims to toil and struggle just a little bit more to live out that rustic dream of yours, Laundry Day Stuff comes with a wash tub and a clothesline for Sims to do their laundry by hand completely off-the-grid. I love this little touch of realism in my medieval save and always make sure to put a wash tub and clothesline on every residential lot.
Paranormal Stuff
Maybe the distant past isn’t really your thing. Maybe you’re more interested in decades. In that case, you might like Paranormal Stuff, which has a Build/Buy catalogue reminiscent of the early 1900s up to the 1920s. The perfect crossover between the Victorian period and the modern age, Paranormal Stuff is full of odd and quirky antiques to clutter up your vintage home. Floral patterned wallpaper, ornate wooden floor designs, and curved edges give this stuff pack a distinctly vintage feel.
Nifty Knitting Stuff
Apart from the rocking chair itself that this pack comes with, we can’t really say the Build/Buy catalogue is good for historical saves. However, knitting very much suits an older way of life and provides both a fun and practical activity for Sims in your historical worlds to enjoy. I love to put a rocking chair and knitting basket in my medieval homes so my Sims can earn a living from their craft or provide their family with warm, cozy things to wear.
Vintage Glamour Stuff
Couldn’t get enough of the 1920s with Paranormal Stuff? Vintage Glamour Stuff’s got your back! Unlike Paranormal Stuff which focuses on the 1900s up to the 1920s, Vintage Glamour Stuff dives right into the midst of the Roaring Twenties’ art nouveau, avantgarde style. Clean lines, geometric shapes, and lots of glitz and shine are at the core of this pack. It’s a fun, colourful pack that’s perfect for your wealthy Sims living in the Jazz Age.
Bowling Night Stuff
Care to fast-forward a few decades? Sure, no problem! You can do that with Bowling Night Stuff. Harken back to a mid-century retro style with this stuff pack stuffed with plenty of funky patterns, rounded furniture pieces, and bright, neon colours! Seriously, your eyes will be assaulted with neon everything. Of course, we can’t forget about the actual bowling that this pack comes with as well. Hit the bowling lanes in your finest retro attire and relive the days of swing dancing and drive-in theatres… without the swing dancing or drive-in theatres. But there’s bowling!
At this point it’s become a tradition for us to write these articles on a yearly basis regarding The Sims 4’s content lifespan. Still, many players of The Sims 4 appreciate the reassurement that EA and The Sims Team don’t plan to halt the production of the game.
As the game approaches its 8th year of development and content releases EA is still confident in the game’s longetivity and potential. Their latest big job opportunity that they’ve posted proves just that!
In this new job listing EA is looking for a Director of The Sims’ Global Brand Management, in which they’ve vaguely stated their plans for the future of The Sims 4. The lisitng suggests that the game still has a multi-year roadmap, along with plans to grow player engagement and brand loyalty.
It’s also mentioned that their plans for the future will be focused towards catering both to the players’ and business needs.
Of course, don’t confuse the current development of The Sims 4 with EA’s future plans of The Sims Franchise and the next Generation Sims Game, which we refer to as The Sims 5. There are multiple Maxis studios and teams involved in multiple projects.
You can find the full listing below along with a full list of responsibilities and expectations.
In service of our players, GBM is the singular team who “sees the entire pitch” at the heart of the business. From informing product development with consumer insights, to briefing the marketing teams on go-to-market priorities and performance targets, to developing new business models and ways for our players to interact with the brand, GBM is at the center of business and brand strategy.
In partnership with our development team, you will lead our Sims 4 business (HD-Live Service) to excite players with innovative ways to experience The Sims not only for the current product year, but with an additional focus on the multi-year experience roadmap. Additionally, you will inspire cross-functional teams to execute a compelling strategy that takes the franchise to new heights. Reporting to the Senior Brand Director of The Sims/Lifestyle, you will be an essential contributor to the broader Sims and Lifestyle Global Brand Management teams.
Without a doubt, you are also passionate about entertainment, creative culture, video games and The Sims.
Responsibilities
Product and Business Strategy: In partnership with the development team, drive the data informed, multi-year product and busines strategy for The Sims 4, growing player engagement and ongoing brand loyalty.
Player Focus: Work closely with the research and analytics teams to mine the most important insights to inform clear action for product developers and the broader business.
Drive Brand Vision: Drive the near- and longer-term vision for The Sims 4 through the business. Champion highly integrated, cross functional planning to ensure that player needs are met and business goals achieved.
Inspire and lead a team of industry experts: Drive an unassailable sense of shared purpose across functional teams and equip, empower and enable them
This one is for everyone who’s looking forward to spice up their masculine fashion!
The Sims 4 Modern Menswear Kit is the latest Kit release in the Franchise that’s set to come out today – December 2nd, 2021 on PC, Mac, Xbox and Playstation consoles.
Just like previous Kits this one is retailed at $4.99USD – or a price equivalent to your local currency. The Kit has the same release time as all of the previous Kits, which is at 10AM Pacific Time.
Since there are many time zones to be covered we’ve included a handy countdown below. As soon as the timer hits zero you’ll be able to purchase the Kit from official stores such as Origin, Steam, Microsoft and Playstation Stores.
Today, we said goodbye to the limited-time Perfectly Well-Rounded scenario and welcomed a new scenario called Surviving the Holidays! This scenario is also available for a limited time, only sticking around for the holiday season. It’s a relationship-based scenario; two Sims who hate each other are stuck together over the holiday season and have to either set aside their grudges and become friends, or spice up their rivalry with some unlikely romance.
We’re going to be honest right away; we weren’t able to complete this scenario. We were playing with an empty Mods folder and we can’t say for certain whether we were affected by a glitch or if we did something incorrectly. Still, we’re going to describe what happened to give you some insight into this… issue? If it even is an issue? Again, we’re not totally sure.
Getting Started
So we started the scenario in a new save via the Main Menu. The scenario requires a household of two Young Adult or older Sims who are not related to each other. We used the CAS Stories, randomize button, and styled looks to quickly slap together a couple Sims for this scenario and away we went! Since every “good” Hallmark Christmas movie involves a city slicker travelling to a small, close-knit town for the holidays, we moved our Sims to Henford-on-Bagley and started in Winter. And since the place didn’t look very holiday-ish, we spent some time decking the halls to set the scene.
Not A Very Holly Jolly Winterfest…
As part of the scenario, the two Sims will start out as Enemies and have the Festering Grudge sentiment with each other. There are two possible ways to complete this scenario; we can have our Sims become friends with no negative sentiments towards each other, or we can become “enemies with benefits” by building the romance bar while simultaneously tanking the friendship bar. The second option sounds far more interesting so that’s the outcome we tried to achieve.
Their negative relationship made it difficult for our Sims to have any positive interactions with each other at first. Decorating the tree together did yield some positive results but it was mixed in with a few autonomous mean socials as well. We decided we were going to get nowhere fast unless we swayed things to our favour, so we added the Romantic Aura trait to the lot. Once we did that, romantic socials were almost too easy. Despite hating each other, they were Flirty all the time and more than willing to accept romantic socials with each other. The trouble was, all the romance improved their friendly relationship to the point where our Sims were no longer enemies. Well that wasn’t going to work…
So after a romp in the bedroom to max out the romance bar, we decided it was time to start some more drama. Luckily for us, drama was right around the corner. Our Sims soon discovered that their bedroom activities had resulted in a bun in the oven! Is it a holiday miracle or a holiday curse? Well, we were still trying to get the Enemies with Benefits outcome so we settled on curse! Naturally, finding out that you’re having a baby with someone you don’t like is a very tense situation, made even more stressful during the holiday season. These lovebirds went from WooHooing to fighting all over again!
It wasn’t long before they were enemies again… except their romance bar took a huge hit from all the mean socials. Oh boy. This was going to be a tricky balancing act. We noticed that WooHoo drastically improves the romance bar but affects the friendship bar very little, so we started alternating between WooHooing and insulting each other until our romance bar was completely pink and our friendship bar was completely red.
That should have completed the scenario, except… it didn’t. We were confused as to why the scenario didn’t complete. Our Sims were max enemies and max lovers, they’d kissed and WooHoo’d and fought plenty. We tried playing through until the end of Winterfest in case this scenario requires you to actually play that holiday if you have Seasons. No luck there. Winterfest came and went. Our Sims even had their baby on Winterfest evening while Father Winter was paying his visit. Then we thought perhaps we had to wait for the Festering Grudge sentiment to go away, but that didn’t complete the scenario, either.
In the end, our Sims were both enemies and lovers, Winterfest and New Years had come and gone, Spring had begun and their baby was about to grow into a toddler… with no end to the scenario in sight. That’s when we finally decided to just give up. We couldn’t think of anything more we could do to get the Enemies with Benefits outcome. We just cheated their friendship to instantly complete the scenario with the No Hard Feelings outcome, instead.
Our Thoughts
It goes without saying that any scenario we can’t complete without resorting to cheats to achieve an outcome we didn’t want isn’t going to get a good review from us. Maybe we missed a step somewhere along the way but if that’s the case, the goal should be written much more clearly. According to what was written, we satisfied the requirements for the Enemies with Benefits outcome but still weren’t able to complete the scenario.
Had the scenario worked properly, we probably would have had quite a bit of fun with our playthrough, especially with all the drama of the baby that we threw into the mix. But nothing we did seemed to work so in the end, we were left very disappointed. It’s a shame because a holiday-themed scenario sounded like a lot of fun to kick off the holiday season.
Which brings us to our next criticism; despite the scenario title and description being holiday-themed, the scenario itself really doesn’t have anything at all to do with any winter holiday at all. It’s up to the player to set the holiday scene but none of it has any bearing on the scenario goals themselves. It’s just glorified set dressing. Players who own the Seasons expansion will no doubt have an easier time getting into the festive spirit with winter holidays on the calendar, a variety of holiday activities, and of course, snow. For players without Seasons, they’ll pretty much just have to rely on the handful of décor pieces that come with the free holiday addon and pretend like it’s the holiday season in their game.
Honestly, this scenario could be played any time of the year with no connection to any holidays whatsoever.