COMMUNITY POLL: The Sims 4 Kits

The Sims 4 Kits

Jovan

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January 17, 2022

2021 brought the introduction of a new DLC type for The Sims 4 that you’re all probably already familiar with – Kits.

In the past year The Sims Team has published 9 different Kits focusing on different aspects of the game – primarily on new Create A Sim and Build Mode items. There was only one Gameplay Kit (Bust the Dust) unfortunately, and after the leak of the upcoming Carnavale Streetwear Kit and a tease for the next one, it feels like we’re not seeing a Gameplay Kit anytime soon.

Below is a list of 4 questions regarding The Sims 4 Kits and your current opinions on each Kit type. Since it’s also been more than a year since we’ve had a new Stuff Pack for the game, there’s also a question regarding if you prefer the current method of Kit releases or ocassional Stuff Pack releases over Kits.

The last question is a list of all the Kits released for The Sims 4 so far in order of their release date. Considering we have more than one Kit type you can choose up to two of your favorite Kit releases for this iteration of the Kit Community Poll.

Want to drop in your vote on the favorite Expansion Pack, Game Pack and / or Expansion Pack or just want to see how others voted? Click the polls below:

[totalpoll id=”105413″]

The Sims 4: Four Lesser Known Facts About Aliens

The Sims 4 Guides

SnarkyWitch

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January 16, 2022

3

The Sims 4: Four Lesser Known Facts About Aliens

Aliens have been around in The Sims 4 for quite a while now. They were introduced in the very first expansion pack released for the game, Get To Work. While later occults have put aliens to shame in the level of detail and gameplay they have, aliens do still have a few tricks up their sleeves that many players might not know about.

Here are four lesser known facts about aliens in The Sims 4!

Aliens Can Revive Dead Space Aliens

If you’re trying to complete the base game space alien collection, having an alien Sim in your household can come in handy. There are a total of 10 space aliens; 5 live aliens in a terrarium and 5 dead ones in a jar. Each alien in the collection has a live and a dead version. If you have duplicate dead aliens in a jar but are missing the live version of that alien, your alien Sim can bring one of the dead ones back to life for you!

Just click on the jar with your alien Sim active and select Revive. Your alien will direct some psychic rays from their minds towards the dead alien and POOF! Your dead space alien is now a live space alien! Pretty cool, right?

There Are Hybrid Aliens! Well… Sort Of

With most occult and human pairings, the resulting offspring has a 50/50 chance of being either a human or the occult type of their other parent. You might assume this is the case for aliens as well, but not so! When an alien Sim and a human Sim have a baby together, the baby will never be an alien. They will always be human; however, they will be born with an alien skin tone. This is evident by the lack of alien bassinet or alien clothes on the baby when they are born. They also won’t have the signature alien baby echo-y cry.

Previously, “hybrid” aliens had a few limited alien interactions with aliens but like many other happy accidents in this game, the devs decided to “fix” this in an update rather than any real glitches that are actually annoying. So your human Sims with alien skin tones used to be kind of cool and hybrid-like. Now they’re just humans with alien skin tones. Thanks for “fixing” that, EA…

In fact, the only way to get a real alien child from a human/alien pairing is through alien abduction. Your played human/alien pairings will always have human children with alien skin tones.

Aliens Have A Secret Handshake

Aliens have a special handshake that they can only do with other aliens. The secret handshake interaction can be found under the Friendly social category. Your aliens will do an amusing little hand gesture that involves waving their palms in a circular motion and then touching the tips of their fingers with a funny little sound effect.

The handshake doesn’t have any kind of effect on the Sims but it will build friendship between the aliens like any other Friendly social. It’s also a fun little animation to watch. I definitely recommend seeing it for yourself at least once just for the novelty of it.

How to Spot an Alien in Disguise

Aliens have human disguises to avoid being detected in public so you could be chatting up an alien at the bar and not even know! They look just like a human! However, these human disguises aren’t infallible; there is one tell-tale giveaway that aliens will sometimes display even while in their human disguise.

When aliens experience strong emotions, they start glowing in the colour of that emotion. Aliens that are Very Happy will glow green while aliens that are Very Angry will glow red and so on. This is one thing they cannot hide, even in their human disguise.

So next time you’re at the nightclub flirting with a cute Sim and all of a sudden, they start glowing pink… you’ll know you’ve caught an alien red-handed!

What other facts about aliens do you find interesting? Let us know in the comments or come chat with us on social media!

A Day In The Life of a Scientist Sim

The Sims 4 Guides

Krista

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January 15, 2022

0

Meet Colten, one of the newest residents to move to Oasis Springs.

Having completed university life at Foxbury Institute, it was time for him to take his first steps into the adult world.

Before settling on moving to Oasis Springs, Colten had considered city life in San Myshuno and living in an apartment there. While he loved the idea of living in the city, he decided that it wasn’t quite what he was after. Colten also considered moving to StrangerVille, but there was something peculiar that he just couldn’t put his finger on. However, with a job opportunity at FutureSims Labs as an Apprentice Inventor popping up, he took the chance and moved to Oasis Springs.

With a new home and a new career, things were coming together nicely.

While another Monday had rolled around again, it was now Colten’s first day at FutureSims Lab. Even though his shift doesn’t start until 10am, he wanted to make sure he gave himself plenty of time to get ready and commute to his job. With an alarm set for 6am, Colten eventually got up just before 6.30am. There was a weird sense of calm as the sun began to peek through the windows. It was also very quiet, which was a huge difference to how things were when living in the Foxbury Dorms.

Colten decided to take things slowly while he got ready for his first day. After a quick shower, it was time for some breakfast. Something he didn’t want to skip out on, as he wasn’t sure how his induction day was going to go. Sadly, breakfast wasn’t as good as Colten had hoped. With overcooked eggs and toast and a questionably tasting coffee, cooking definitely was something he needed to work on and soon too!

There was no point dwelling on breakfast, as it was time to focus on leaving for work and the day ahead.

The walk to work was pleasant, it was a beautiful Fall day, and it was also the first time Colten had ventured further than the path leading to his house. It didn’t take too long to get to work, either, but it also allowed Colten to reflect on his move and his new career.

After his induction to FutureSims Lab, Colten got started on his daily tasks. As he was working on his first experiment, he overheard some senior colleagues talk about how people believed Bella Goth was still missing in Strangetown. They were discussing how they seemed to be close to proving that she actually was and unravelling the secrets of Strangetown. This was a place Colten was led to believe never actually existed. There had been so many different reports, rumours and even conspiracy theories over the years that it was hard to tell what was the truth and what wasn’t. Was it actually all a lie after all this time?

After a quick break for lunch, Colten returned to his work. He couldn’t help but hear the same group of colleagues talk about similarities between Strangetown and StrangerVille. He tried not to dwell too much on what they were saying, but maybe that peculiar feeling Colten had about StrangerVille wasn’t so peculiar after all?

The day continued without any issues. Colten was getting used to his new surroundings at the lab, as well as getting to know his colleagues. It was still unclear what Colten would be working on in the long run, but for now, a series of smaller experiments and plenty of research projects would keep him busy.

With his first work day coming to an end, Colten took some time to explore the rest of FutureSims Lab as well as tend the plants out in the greenhouse, tidy up and get ready to head home.

Overall, Colten’s first day seemed to go pretty well. Even though it is still early days, he’s excited to see what else is in store for him. Perhaps it won’t be long until he creates his first invention, who knows what it might be?

Upon returning home, there is one moment that stood out in Colten’s mind from his first day at FutureSims Lab, and that was all that talk about Strangetown and StrangerVille. Maybe he could research more about it himself to understand what is already known about the two towns. Surely, there is no harm in doing so if no one knows? If not, he would have to try and get in on the project somehow, but who would even consider an Apprentice Inventor?

For now, it was clear what Colten needed to do, but first a good well-earned sleep was in order. After all, tomorrow is a new day!

The Sims 4: Walkthrough of the Easy Peasy Lumen Squeezy Lighting Mod

SnarkyWitch

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January 15, 2022

0

The Sims 4: Walkthrough of the Easy Peasy Lumen Squeezy Lighting Mod

Have you ever noticed how dark everything is in The Sims 4? Do you find yourself sizing down those saucer lights and sticking them inside of other lights just so your Sims’ homes don’t look like a dimly lit dungeon? Me too! That’s why I was so excited when I saw that Ravasheen released a new lighting mod for the game and, of course, it has an adorably catchy name like all her other amazing mods; it’s called the Easy Peasy Lumen Squeazy Hidden Lighting mod!

This mod adds four new objects to your Sims 4 game; three different types of hidden lights and a light switch controller object you can use to control all of the hidden lights on the lot at once. The mod is also base game compatible!

Getting Started

Of course, you will have to install the mod, first. You can get it from Ravasheen’s website. The current version is in early access for patrons only but will be released to the public on January 29th, 2022. If you need help with installing mods, check out our article Getting Started With Mods and CC.

Once the mod is installed correctly, all you have to do is load up the game and go into Build/Buy. Searching the term “lumen” in the search bar will bring up the four custom objects that come with this mod; the Hidden Floor Spotlight, Hidden Ceiling Light, Hidden Under Shelf Light, and the Hidden Light Switch Controller.

Here’s a catalogue overview of each object included with the mod:

Using the Hidden Lights

Using the hidden lights is as simple as using any EA light. Just grab it out of the Build/Buy catalogue and place it wherever you would like to have a lit area on your lot. The lights are small and in the shape of a cone indicating the direction the light is facing. The ceiling and under shelf light have the light spreading out in a downwards cone. The floor light can be rotated to have the light facing any direction you want on the ground.

When you place the hidden lights, they will remain visible until you also place a light switch controller on the lot. This light switch controls all of the hidden lights on the lot. Click on the light switch in Live Mode to bring up new options. You can hide or unhide all the hidden lights. You can also control the intensity and colour of the hidden lights the same way you can with the EA lights.

Every time you load a lot with the hidden lights on them, the game runs a check to see if there is also a light switch controller on the lot. If there is, all the hidden lights will automatically be invisible. If there is not, the hidden lights will remain visible. So if you’re on a lot in Build/Buy without an active family there and would like to hide all the hidden lights, just place a light switch controller, exit and reload and all the hidden lights will now be invisible.

Why use the hidden lights instead of the EA lights? Well Ravasheen’s lights are much brighter and cast a more even level of lighting across a much wider distance. Instead of hiding multiple lights inside of each other to get the kind of brightness you want, all you need is one of these lights placed where you want them. The under shelf light is especially useful for illuminating the undersides of kitchen cabinets, which are always difficult to light properly.

Lighting Comparisons

Below you can see the comparison between Ravasheen’s lights and a similar EA light from the base game. All lights were compared in a bare 5×5 room with no other light sources to give you an accurate picture of the lighting level.

Remember, the lights are super bright because you can adjust the brightness. If you think the lights are too bright, you can dim them down but having a wider spectrum between dim and super bright gives you more freedom in how you want to light your space.

Our Thoughts

Yet another simple but brilliant mod from Ravasheen! She always thinks of even the smallest details to make our games more enjoyable. My personal aesthetic has always been very bright and colourful in my game so the lack of ultra bright lighting in the game drove me crazy. I was always sticking lights inside of other lights to try and brighten up my Sims’ homes but the lighting was never even so I’d end up with blinding white in some areas and not quite enough light in others. I could never find a perfect solution, even using the dimmers on the EA lights.

All it took was one of Ravasheen’s lights to light up an entire large room evenly and to my preferred brightness. And the light switch controller it comes with is so cute! It doesn’t look out of place in any home and I’m definitely going to be putting one in every room of my homes now. Not just for easier access to the lighting controls when I need them but just for a touch of realism in every room.

Guide to Rotational Play in The Sims 4

The Sims 4 Guides

SnarkyWitch

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January 14, 2022

4

Try a brand new play of playing with Sims 4 Rotational Play!

Have you been looking for a different way to play The Sims 4? Have you ever found yourself scratching your head about what you want to do with the kids of your Sims when they grow up and leave the nest? Do you want to play with multiple families in the same save but you’re worried about the Sims you’re not playing with growing old and dying while you’re playing with another household?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, rotational gameplay might be for you!

What is Rotational Play in Sims 4?

Rotational play is a style of gameplay where you play multiple households for a scheduled length of time so that all Sims are aging and progressing in life at the same pace. The length of time spent in each household varies according to the player’s preference but it’s usually either one week or one season. Rotational play is ideal for generational players who want to be able to play multiple branches of the same family as it expands. It’s also a good option for people who want to create an MCU-style universe with many different Sims and households that are all interconnected with each other.

Rotational play has been around for a very long time. In fact, rotational play was the only way you could play The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 back during their hey days. It wasn’t until The Sims 3 that the gameplay shifted more towards playing a single family while the Sims around them went about their lives on their own. The good thing about The Sims 4 is that it’s perfect for playing either way. You can play with just one family forever or you can rotate between multiple families. It’s very versatile in this way.

Setting Up Your Game for Rotational Play

The Sims 4 can be played rotationally very easily but in order to maintain control over so many households, you will have to make some changes in the game settings. Keep in mind that I will be showing you how to set up your game for rotational play in a way that I feel works best. This means we will be setting the game up to work very similarly to The Sims 2, where Sims will not age or progress while you are not playing them. If you don’t agree with my recommendations, by all means set the game up to your own preference! There’s no right or wrong way to play rotationally as long as you are having fun. I just find I have more fun when things are organized in a particular fashion.

Before beginning this new style of play, open up the Game Options while loaded into your save and open up the Gameplay tab.

The most important setting in this tab is the Auto Age (Played Sims) setting. This determines whether or not your played Sims will continue to age while you are not playing in their household. If you are playing rotationally, it is best to set this to Only Active Household. This means that only the household you are currently playing with will age.

The next setting you will want to pay attention to is the Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) setting. This determines whether Sims in unplayed households will age or not. This is entirely up to you. If you only want to rotate between a handful of households and leave everyone else to their own devices, you should check this box. If you do not want any Sims in your world aging up without you at all, ever, uncheck this box.

Next, select your lifespan. This is also completely up to your own personal preference. If you disable aging completely, you don’t even need to worry about the previous two options at all. Just set aging to off and go. If you want Sims to age, the previous two options become important. Select the lifespan you want to play with and the game will take into account the auto-aging options you’ve just set.

Everything else on this page is optional so just do up the rest of the settings however you like. The only really important thing is to make sure that if aging is enabled, that you have your Played Sims set to Only Active Household.

Next, you’ll want to make sure that the right households are set as played/unplayed. Go into Household Management under Manage Worlds and find all the households you want to play with on rotation. Move them into the My Households tab if they aren’t already. Look at the plumbob icon in the top left corner of their thumbnail. If it is solid green, that household is a played household. If it is greyed out, that household is an unplayed household.

You want all your rotation households you plan to cycle through to be played so they won’t age while you’re not playing with them. Quickly go into all their households in Live Mode to mark them as played.

If you have households that are marked as played but you do not plan to play with that household in your rotation cycle, click on that household and click the plumbob icon to mark them as unplayed. Then move them into the Other Households tab so you don’t get them confused with your played households.

And now your game is all set up for rotational play!

Tips for Rotational Play

Keep to a Schedule

Chances are, you’ll want to play an even length of time in each of your households so that everyone is aging at the same pace. Remember, we disabled aging for inactive households to give us a chance to play everyone without them growing old and dying on us. It’s easiest to remember the schedule if you’re playing one week or one season in each household but pick whatever length of time works best for you. Just make sure you remember it and stick to it. If you don’t, you may end up with grown kids who are older than their parents and other odd things like that.

Keep Your Households in Order

Before you start playing your rotations, come up with an order for your households. It’s okay if you have to change the order as kids start moving out into their own households but make sure you are keeping the households in a specific order. It will make it easier for you to know who to play next. I also find it’s helpful for forcing you to play those households you don’t find as interesting as your current favourite. You can use any way that’s easiest for you to keep track of the order; a notebook, a word document, a spreadsheet.

I like to put a little tag at the end of the household bio in game that tells me which rotation and round I’m on. Rotation is the current household in the order I’m playing. Round is how many complete cycles I’ve done through all my households. [RT 1* | RD 0] means this is the first household in my rotation order and I have not yet completed a full cycle through all my households. The asterisk tells me this was my last played household so at the end of their rotational period, I should move on to the household marked RT 2.

Of course, that is just my personal way of doing it. If that makes absolutely no sense to you, disregard it. It’s important that it makes sense to you so any method you come up with for keeping track of your household order and your last played household is what you should use.

Pick a “Dead” Time to Switch Households

One issue with The Sims 4 is that if you switch households in the middle of a Sim’s work shift, all the Sims will be at home and they’ll lose work performance. To avoid this, pick a time to switch households when Sims are not likely to be at work. I find 3am or 4am is best because even the night jobs in the game usually end their shifts before this time. Just something to keep in mind.

Try to Time Your Pregnancies

Even though your Sims are not aging while you’re playing them, any pregnancies in progress will continue. So if your Sim gets pregnant on a Saturday and you switch over to a new household on Sunday, that pregnant Sim will give birth on Tuesday while you’re playing in a different household. When this happens, you don’t get to go to the hospital with your Sim if you own Get To Work, which means you won’t get a birth certificate for the baby. It also means you won’t get to name the baby. The game names the baby for you. To avoid this, make sure you plan your pregnancies for closer to the beginning or middle of the week. That way, all babies will be born while you’re in the household.

Don’t Let Uni Get You Down

A lot of rotational players were annoyed with Discover University when it came out because it greatly complicates their rotational play style. It doesn’t have to be complicated, though!

The thing you have to remember about university is that semesters don’t pause when you leave the household. This means when you come back, your uni students will be on academic probation or expelled because they weren’t completing their finals and homework or attending their exams while you weren’t playing with them. The only way to successfully play a Sim all the way through university is to only play that household from the first semester all the way through until graduation.

But what happens to all your other households while you’re busy getting your Sims through university? And what if you have multiple Sims you want to send to university at the same time? Here’s how I deal with this problem:

When I send my Sims to university, I make sure I don’t have more than one household in university at a time. I will either have multiple Sims as roommates in the same household if I have more than one Sim going to university at the same time, or I will stagger the order of households going to uni. One Sim goes to uni with their siblings and graduates, then the next household, etc. Of course, this also creates the problem of having ages wildly out of whack between your households because your uni Sims will be much older than everyone else by the time they graduate. So I pull somewhat of a Sims 2 move here; I temporarily disable aging for everyone while I am playing a Sim at university.

When the Sim returns home, they will be the same age they were when they left and so will everyone else. Your Sims will have their degrees and you won’t have any weird age skewing going on. Just remember to turn aging back on once they leave university if you do play with aging on normally.

Why All This Effort?

You might think rotational play is too complicated and you have a point; it can be a bit complicated, especially for new players who aren’t used to The Sims 2 and The Sims 1 but for us oldies, it’s the classic way to play. It’s the way we played growing up by default. Now we just have more options to customize that experience to our liking with The Sims 4.

So to answer the question of why all this effort, it can bring back pleasant feelings of nostalgia for many of us. It can also be a fun way to keep your game fresh and exciting even after many generations. You’re always moving on to the next household so you don’t get bored with day-to-day monotony that never really changes. Rotational play can also keep you invested in not just your main family but their entire extended family and all their friends as well. It’s a way for you to create a whole universe within the game and widen your bubble. And of course, it’s great for control freaks who cannot leave a single thing to chance and people who enjoy obsessively documenting and cataloguing their entire playing experience.

So give rotational play a try sometime if you ever feel like doing something different!

The Sims 4 teases 3 Upcoming Releases

The Sims 4

Jovan

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January 14, 2022

3

And yes – it seems we’re definitely getting a Wedding Game Pack!

Just a few days ago The Sims Team published their roadmap for The Sims 4 releases from January to March. The roadmap gave a few vague teases of what we’re getting, including a new Game Pack and two Kit releases.

Today TheSims.com got updated with teasers for each paid release:

It’s now certain that the upcoming Game Pack for The Sims 4 is themed around Weddings thanks to the teaser. We know that the “Party Everyday” Kit is probably the Carnaval Streetwear Kit that got leaked a couple of days ago. All that’s left is to find out what the “Extra to The Max” teaser is about.

Until then stay tuned on our website for all the latest updates on the releases of this Simthing to Celebrate season!

The Sims 4: Building With Modern Teen Room CC Pack

Krista

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January 13, 2022

0

The Sims 4: Building With Modern Teen Room CC Pack

I’ve recently been inspired to create some new rooms which would perfect for any teen or tween Sim. It’s actually been a little while since I’ve sat down and done some room builds, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. Of course, for these room builds, I’ll be using Sixam’s latest Custom Content Pack, Modern Teen Room.

The Sims 4 Modern Teen Room Custom Content Pack is the latest creation from SixamCC. With over forty new items including new neon lights, beds and frames, two new computers, plenty of clutter and more, there are plenty of ways to create the perfect space for Teen Sims!

The CC Pack is currently set to Early Release on Patreon. Public Release is expected later this month.

The first room that I decided to create was for my Teen Sim, Spencer. A lover of sports and technology, this was bound to be pretty easy to create.

I wanted to use a lot of the new furniture from the Modern Teen Room Custom Content Pack to bring this room alive. The shelving unit actually worked really well on the platform, as not only does it double as a storage space for clothes, it also allowed me to fill it up with different items that you would typically find in a bedroom. The lower part of the bedroom focused more on the technology side of things, with a computer area and then a small television and games console area. I really enjoyed using clutter to bring this half of the room together, and the MySims statues worked well to fill a few empty spaces.

The second room that I created was for Spencer’s sister Gina. She is creative and a quick learner, but also a lover of pink and a good book.

I had a lot of fun making this second room. I started off with creating a closet area, but after it didn’t work out as planned, I swapped over to using the modular items from Dream Home Decorator. Thankfully, that idea worked out perfectly, and it helped me shape the rest of the room. Having kept the platform, it gave a nice divide between the two areas of the room. With a little reading area, a shelf full of everything a girl needs as well as a space for a desk and computer, mirror and lots of plants. I really loved how this came together overall.

Altogether, I loved creating these rooms for my Sims and have ideas for more rooms to add into future builds soon. I loved exploring Sixam’s Modern Teen Room Custom Content pack and using a number of the items from the pack in these room builds. My favourite items would have to be the Plumbob and SulSul neon lights, but overall all the items are brilliant and work well alongside the existing in game content.

You can find out more about the Modern Teen Room Custom Content Pack here but be sure to check out more of Sixam’s creations here.

EA might bring Cinematic Storytelling to The Sims

Jovan

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January 13, 2022

4

EA might bring Cinematic Storytelling to The Sims

The Sims is working on adding significant new Cinematic Story aspects!

Now, before we begin with this post let me state the obvious – nothing is officially confirmed and it could take some time before we see the development of these features come to life.

The official EA Careers website has published a new Career Opportunity for the Maxis Studio. The latest published opportunity is looking for a Storyboard Artist who will help visualize everyday life moments into a video game. We of course presume it’s for The Sims considering that described scenarios that they’re looking for fit perfectly into gameplay and features that you would expect from The Sims.

The initial description of this job opportunity requires for a Storyboard Artist to visualize body language, relationship dynamics and timing and spacing between important characters.

Check out the full description below:

We’re looking for a gifted visual storyteller to help us visualize our designs, gameplay experiences, and technology solutions through animatics and storytelling. Maxis creates life simulations that tell stories through characters in every-day or extravagant situations. As such, we need someone who can help us explore body language, visualize relationship dynamics and play with timing and spacing between characters.

We’re interested to know:

How do a couple watch a romantic movie together when one is upset with the other?

How does a husband engage in a conversation with his wife, while he almost breaks a new record on his favorite video game?

How does a family cook together in the same kitchen while carrying out a conversation?

Our ideal candidate is someone who is thrilled to contribute visually and share ideas, in a collaborative environment with several disciplines, and who loves telling stories about every-day life.

The responsibilities for this opportunity share more about the potential Story-driven features for The Sims. The Storyboard Artist will have to bring to life characters with emotion, humor and dynamic actions and gestures for each character. Check out the full list of responsibilities below:

Responsibilities:

Creatively tackle challenges in story and explore ways in which to bring characters to life, visualize game dynamics and support story expectations.

Brainstorm and create storyboard panels against a specified vision or problem space.

Produce illustrations and sketches evoking the project’s style and aesthetic.

Apply emotion and humor to characters.

Apply dynamic action and exaggerated gestures.

Work within staging and composition of the scene.

Emulate character designs, from our character team, within boards.

Bring life to each character and emphasize on their personas.

Translate storyboards into Animatic sequences that highlight and bring the characters to life.

Edit and refine the timing of Animatic sequences to maximize emotional impact and convey appropriate audience response.

Partner with peers from different disciplines to understand challenges and suggest improvements.

Team up with creative supervisors on deliverable goals within the limitations of the story/script.

The Storyboard Artist will also have to bring in some examples and sketches of given scenarios, including:

Qualifications:

Excellent foundation in art production, and experienced in developing drawings and sketches that demonstrate:

Characters that portray emotion, humor, and appeal.

Clear storytelling with action, mechanics, and interaction.

Expert sense of camera, staging, perspective, and composition skills.

Expert sense of anatomy, dynamic motion posing and exaggerated gestures.

A high level of experience with digital editing software

Experience in hands-on timing and editing of focused animatics to create lively and dynamic story sequences that inspire gameplay implementation. For example:

A conversation between multiple characters

A dinner sequence involving an extended family

A lively sidewalk scene outside a store

So, what does this all mean for The Sims?

Last year in March we published an article how EA is planning Story-driven and Narrative Features for The Sims. Their job opportunity looking for a Senior Narrative Designer described that The Sims project that they’re working on is going to have a “narrative” aspect.

It’s been a while since this job opportunity was published and Maxis now finally has its Senior Narrative Designer, considering they now want to visualize and bring these Story-Driven aspects of the game to life.

This part is purely speculative as we don’t have any official information or confirmation yet – but all this preparation and development hints to features and game modes that we could expect from the next Generation Sims Game. Or as we call it (at least for now) – The Sims 5.

The Sims 4 already has its Scenarios which, compared to what EA is working on here, is nothing alike. Of course keep in mind that there are multiple studios within EA and Maxis working on multiple projects. The Sims 4 still has years of content planned out!

We’ve published plenty of news findings and reports on the next Generation Sims Game, including an official confirmation from EA’s CEO that the game is in the works. For more information catch up on all The Sims 5 News!

The Sims 4: Stepping Into The New Year Lookbook

SnarkyWitch

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January 13, 2022

0

The Sims 4: Stepping Into The New Year Lookbook

Okay, maybe New Year’s Eve has come and gone but that doesn’t mean our Sims can’t still ring in the new year in their best party attire! Kick off 2022 with some of these ultra-fabulous party looks that will make sure your Sims greet the new year in style!

As usual, all our looks for this lookbook are CC-free and only use the base game and two other packs.

Happy New Year! Or, as they say in Simlish, SHASHOOBIE!

Making My Way Downtown

Heading out to the club to dance the night away and ring in the new year with a glass of expensive champagne? You’ll turn heads with this stunning black dress accented with gold jewellery. Nothing says New Year’s Eve like black and gold and little black dresses so when you hit up the club, make sure all eyes are on you as the clock strikes midnight.

Hair: Side Part Afro (Base Game)

Body: Layered Mini Dress (Moschino Stuff)

Shoes: Strappy Heels (Luxury Party Stuff)

Accessories: Necklace (Luxury Party Stuff) / Earrings (Moschino Stuff) / Nails (Base Game)

Makeup: Eyeshadow & Eyeliner (Luxury Party Stuff) / Lips, Contour, & Highlight (Base Game)

It’s Called Fashion, Look It Up

Is he trying too hard or is it high fashion? Who cares? It’s New Year’s Eve! Whether the stares you get in this flashy outfit are impressed or perplexed, there’s no doubt everyone will be looking at you at this year’s big bash. And remember, it’s not what you’re wearing. It’s how you wear it. So strut into that New Year’s Eve party with confidence in all your shiny sequined glory.

Hair: Swept Back Volume (Get Famous)

Top: Shiny Sequined Suit Jacket (Get Famous – CAS Unlock)

Bottom: Shiny Sequined Suit Pants (Get Famous – CAS Unlock)

Shoes: Gold-Studded High Tops (Get Famous)

Accessories: Glasses (Seasons) / Necklace (Base Game – CAS Unlock) / Nails & Socks (Base Game)

All Grown Up

Picture It: It’s your very first New Year’s Eve party. Your parents are finally letting you stay up until midnight and hang out with all the grown ups downstairs. You want to feel just as grown up as them, right? Your space cat tee and paint-splattered jeans just aren’t going to cut it for a milestone as important as this. Those grown ups won’t take you seriously at the party unless you look the part, so impress your parents and all their friends in this sophisticated black and white party attire.

Hair: Layered Comb Over (Vintage Glamour Stuff)

Top: Layered Suit Jacket over Vest and Tee (Vintage Glamour Stuff)

Bottom: Straight-Leg Slacks (Get To Work)

Shoes: White Sneakers (Get To Work)

Accessories: Glasses & Nails (Base Game)

Midnight Nap

This poor lil munchkin wanted to stay up until midnight like her big siblings but her parents knew she’d never be able to make it to midnight without falling asleep so they put her in her comfy new PJs she just got for Winterfest and let her run around the party until she tired herself out. Sure enough, she rung in the new year napping on the couch. Oh well, maybe next year, little one!

Hair: Top Bun with Fringe (Snowy Escape)

Body: Winter Patterned Onesie (My First Pet Stuff)

Shoes: Slippers (Base Game)

Accessories: Nails & Socks (Base Game)

Credits

Poses: KatVerse, atashi77, & SnarkyWitch
Reshade: sunflowersyrup
Special thank you to Ravasheen for her backdrop resources!

Don’t forget to show us your New Year looks over on social media!

LEAK: The Sims 4 Carnaval Streetwear Kit

The Sims 4 Kits

Jovan

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January 12, 2022

13

LEAK: The Sims 4 Carnaval Streetwear Kit

This is the second time a Kit has leaked this way!

@Alumia_Italia, a reliable source who reported first on the leak for The Sims 4 Blooming Rooms Kit is back with another leak from the Microsoft Store database.

This time around it’s for the upcoming Kit titled The Sims 4 Carnaval Streetwear Kit!

According to the source the Carnaval Streetwear Kit is releasing on February 3rd, 2022. Check out the leaked screenshot down below featuring new Create A Sim items:

Shortly after we reported on the leak the tweet has since been deleted. When a twitter user asked if they know anything else regarding upcoming releases, they replied with this:

I’m not going to ruin the fun 😜

— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) January 12, 2022

The leak fits perfectly with the official description from The Sims Team for their current roadmap, calling the next two Kits “Vibrant that Celebrate Fierce Design”.

What is the other Kit all about? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Until then stay tuned on our website for all the latest news and updates on future releases!

The Sims 4: Encanto Community Showcase

Krista

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January 12, 2022

1

There is no denying the Disney’s latest animated movie, Encanto is everywhere! Even if you haven’t watched it, you have probably seen someone talk about it, posts online or possibly heard snippets of the incredibly catchy songs! After recently watching the movie myself, I can see why everyone loves it and why many players have been inspired to create content in The Sims 4 based around the movie!

Here is a selection of Encanto inspired content from the community!

Inspired by the promotional posters for Encanto, PlumbobKingdom has recreated a beautiful fully furnished versions of Casa Madrigal!

Click here to view on The Gallery

Another fabulous recreation of the Madrigal’s home comes from PlaySimsWithDee! Not only have they created this beautiful shell of the Madrigal’s home that you can furnish, they has also created a number of the characters from the movie too!

You can find all of PlaySimsWithDee’s creations on The Gallery here.

While we might not talk about Bruno, you can also find him on The Gallery!

Don’t see your favourite character here? Don’t worry! You’ll find all of your favourite characters from Encanto on The Gallery.

While many players have been uploading their creations to The Gallery, many were also sharing their creations on social media.

“we don’t talk about bruno, no, no, no.”#Encanto 🚪✨@TheSims @EncantoMovie #sims4 pic.twitter.com/pnLYp5pbnL

— marc (@Marc_Coronado) January 9, 2022

I’m getting back into enjoying building in the Sims 4 and since I’ve watched Encanto waaaayyy too many times this last week, working on Casa Madrigal seemed fitting💜 Still a long way to go though#TheSims4 #TS4 #ShowUsYourBuilds #DisneyEncanto pic.twitter.com/8pIVAzZYfU

— Susie 💜 (@ScoozieSue) January 3, 2022

New speed build is up on my YouTube channel. I built the magical casita from the upcoming Disney movie Encanto. 💖
✔ Sims 4 Speed Build
✔ Player tested
✔ No CC
✔ Gallery ID: MissyMotion
👉🏼 https://t.co/eZ7TPoD1GD #ShowUsYourBuilds #Sims4 @TheSims pic.twitter.com/0ioWJqSUww

— Missy Motion (@missymotion) November 7, 2021

Encanto pic.twitter.com/QFe9qHJOZd

— shooby (@ShoobySims) December 28, 2021

Are you looking for some Encanto inspired gameplay instead? Why not take a look at these gameplay challenges!

The Sims 4 Encanto Challenge by Simswrapped
Encanto Challenge by Junebug203

Have you created either the characters from Encanto or even the Madrigal’s home from the movie? Let us know in the comments below or over on social media.

The Sims 2 Revisited: 5 Things I Liked (And 5 I Didn’t)

The Sims 2 Guides

SnarkyWitch

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January 12, 2022

9

The Sims 2 Revisited: 5 Things I Liked (And 5 I Didn’t)

Even though my first love is The Sims 4, I sometimes find myself wanting to revisit a simpler time in The Sims’ history. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of remembering what life was like back in 2004. Maybe it’s because The Sims 2 is still a solid game that holds up remarkably well even nearly two decades later. In reality, it’s probably both those factors combined.

I decided to put away The Sims 4 for a little bit and start a legacy in The Sims 2. I’ve been having a blast playing The Sims 2 again and wanted to share all my favourite parts of it with you guys. However, The Sims 2 is also… well, a product of its time. There are a multitude of little annoyances that drive me so far up the wall, I went on a mod hunt to fix them. I’ll be sharing some of those with you as well to hopefully help other lovers of The Sims 2 improve their experience.

Things I Love

Real Babies!

It seems downright ridiculous that I would be praising an 18-year-old life simulation game for having real babies in it while the newest installment of the series relegates babies to being objects, but here we are. Yes, babies in The Sims 2 are easily the best in the series. They have limbs, they can be carried around, be bathed in the kitchen sink, and they have plenty of objects to make this life stage fun. The Sims 2 Store had a baby bouncy swing and a baby play mat that can now be downloaded as free CC since the Store is no longer running. Adults can play with the dangly toys with the baby on the play mat, too. Babies and toddlers both also have real, proper cribs and changing tables! Whoah, so revolutionary! (cc link)

Milestone Events Camera

To be honest, I both love and hate this feature but the only reason I hate it is because I’m a storyteller and the events camera renders me unable to take nice shots of important moments in my Sims’ lives. However, from a general gameplay perspective, the events camera is fantastic. Whenever an important moment happens in your Sim’s life, like a first kiss, first woohoo, proposal, wedding, or the birth of a child, a cinematic cutscene plays. This makes all those important milestones feel that much more special.

Family Albums

This is a feature that my little storyteller heart loves! Every household in your neighbourhood has their own family album. Take a picture with the C key and then go to the family album to organize and sort through your photos. Add pictures to the album with captions. This lets you document your Sims’ entire lives directly in the game! I am obsessed with this feature. I only wish we could write longer captions to really let my imagination run wild with storytelling. While The Sims 4 attempted to reintroduce this with the Screenshot Manager, it’s really just a shallow copy of The Sims 2’s album system and doesn’t have the same kind of functionality.

Individual Bios

The Sims 1, 2, 3, and 4 all have family bios you can write in the household descriptions which is great, but The Sims 4 seems to have forgotten about individual bios. This was something I really enjoyed in previous games, including The Sims 2 so I felt its absence strongly in The Sims 4. Having the ability to write both a household description and a Sim description allows players to write more nuanced stories for their Sims. Instead of having to lump each household member together in a vague family bio, you can summarize everything in the family bio and then go into more detail with each individual Sim.

Attention to Detail

When I went back to The Sims 2 from The Sims 4, I felt like there wasn’t as much gameplay in terms of number of things to do but I did notice that there was a lot more detail in what was there. That kind of detail counts for a lot because in spite of not having as many things to do, I was still completely enchanted with this game and drawn into their world. Kids jumping on the bed, sliding down banisters, playing make-believe in the bathtub, teens giving their younger siblings noogies, I could go on and on. All of these little things that the Sims do plays a large part in the emotional connection you make with them. That’s something that I think later Sims games have really lost sight of.

Things I Don’t Love

Smelly Baby Bottles

I downloaded a mod to stop this nonsense SO fast. What sane human being proceeds to chuck an empty baby bottle on the floor after feeding their infant? I’m a family player, too, so my Sims’ houses would just be littered with these smelly baby bottles all over the floor. It may be a small thing to nitpick at, but if you’ve experienced this yourself, you’ll know what a massive annoyance it can be. I have a mod that causes the bottles to self-destruct after a few moments of being on the floor. (mod link)

Route Failures on the Stairs

My current legacy family has 8 Sims, all child-aged and older so everyone inevitably needs to use the stairs at the same time to go downstairs in the morning when they wake up. This resulted in an absolute nightmare for me every day. While two Sims can use the stairs at the same time when going in opposite directions, only one Sim can be going up or down the stairs at a time. Everyone else trying to go up or down the stairs the same way has a route fail tantrum. Imagine this happening 8 times every single day. It makes no sense that you can’t just follow someone up or down the stairs and it made me angry enough to quit playing the game… until I found a mod to fix this. Now all my Sims can follow each other down the stairs each morning with no tantrums or issues. (mod link)

Less Travel Freedom

Some people might disagree with me on this one and I get it; it comes down to realism versus convenience. In The Sims 2, you can’t just travel to anyone’s house that you want. In fact, you can’t go to anyone’s house at all as a visitor. If there’s another Sim in town you want your Sims to meet, you have to hope they live close enough to you to show up during the welcome wagon or be lucky enough to run into them at random somewhere on a community lot. I’ll admit this is a more realistic way of meeting new people; you wouldn’t be likely to just knock on the door of a random house and be like “Hi stranger! Wanna be friends?” You’re far more likely to meet a new neighbour when you first move in or run into someone while out somewhere. Still, I kind of prefer the convenience of just being able to do what I want when it comes to this.

Lots Feel Confined

The Sims 2 and The Sims 4 both have loading screens in between lots but what really sets these games apart in this area is The Sims 4 also has neighbourhood space around the lot that loads. The Sims 2 does not. My Sims in The Sims 4 can take a jog around the neighbourhood, fish in the pond behind their house, or enjoy an afternoon playing at the nearby playground, all from their home lot. This makes the lots feel more open and I find myself forgetting that it’s a closed world since there is ample space to explore around every lot. In The Sims 2, the only thing you can access apart from the confines of your home lot is the sidewalk and the road directly in front of the lot. This creates a very confined, closed-in feeling and I’m constantly reminded that I’m trapped on this square of land unless I want to go through another load screen.

Clunky Sim Customization

This may be another instance of realism versus convenience and I guess I prefer convenience. I hated having to go to the store to buy new clothes for my Sims so much that I downloaded a modded coat rack that lets me “purchase” the entire clothing catalogue for free. I’m very big on customizing my Sims exactly to my liking and The Sims 2 makes it very difficult to do that. Without mods, I can’t dress my Sim how I want if they aren’t wealthy enough to afford the clothes. I can’t easily pop into CAS whenever I want to make all of my changes at once; I have to awkwardly queue up Plan Outfit interactions for every clothing category. Then I have to go to the mirror to edit their hair and makeup separately. It’s a whole ordeal I would just rather not deal with. I also can’t edit NPCs until they’ve moved into my house which means my Sims are stuck dating some ridiculous-looking townies. I’ve been spoiled with the convenience of having all of this stuff at my fingertips in The Sims 4. (mod link)

So what’s the final takeaway here? Do I love The Sims 2 or hate it? Well, in spite of its somewhat awkward and clunky mechanics and lack of things to do in comparison with later titles, The Sims 2’s charm and attention to detail really keep this game relevant almost 20 years later and that’s a difficult feat for a video game to accomplish. I’m nearing my 2nd generation in my current playthrough and I don’t intend to stop playing anytime soon. I say there isn’t as much gameplay as there is in later titles but that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to still be fun and enjoyable. I still have plenty I want to do in the game. And truth be told, The Sims 2’s greatest strength is its ability to make you fall in love with your Sims without even trying. Those small everyday moments between Sims that happen spontaneously without you having to dictate every single interaction are what make The Sims 2 the most authentic life simulation experience even to this day.

The Sims 4 might be my #1 game now but I always have and always will love The Sims 2 with all my heart. It’s just… special.

The Sims 4 Scenario Playthrough: New Year New Hustle

SnarkyWitch

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January 11, 2022

0

The Sims 4 Scenario Playthrough: New Year New Hustle

With a new year comes a brand new scenario to play through! The New Year New Hustle scenario lets you choose between career success or having a successful hustle business of your own. It’s a timed scenario that ends on February 2nd, 2022 so if you want a chance to play this one, make sure you start it before then. You can continue to play timed scenarios that are already in progress after they expire so there’s no rush to finish once you’ve started as long as you start the scenario before February 2nd.

Getting Started

As usual, start from the main menu and select New Scenario to get this show on the road. Select the New Year New Hustle scenario from the list and jump into CAS to make your household of 1 Young Adult or older Sim.

I went with the default Sim the game spit out at me and decided to go down the Painter route with her so I gave her the Painter Extraordinaire aspiration and the Art Lover, Creative, and Perfectionist traits to help with her painting skill and the quality of her paintings.

Don’t do what I did and misread the scenario summary! My silly self obviously did not have enough caffeine this morning and misread the outcomes. There are two potential outcomes for this scenario; your Sim can reach level 3 in any career, or they can make $25,000 and reach level 5 of any skill. It’s one or the other, so you’re basically deciding whether you want your Sim to pursue a career or a full-time hustle. For some reason, I thought we had to complete all three tasks. Don’t ask. I don’t know, either.

Anyway, I moved my new Sim, Serena, into the starter home in Mt. Komorebi. I thought Mt. Komorebi was a suitably inspiring place for a creative, artistic person. I bought her an easel with her leftover funds and then immediately had her join the Painter career. Then I sent her inside to paint.

Making Those Simoleons

Since we were simultaneously working towards both outcomes even though we didn’t have to, I had Serena painting every moment of every day to try and make that $25,000 and to build her Painting skill up to level 5. She reached level 5 of the skill the same day she moved in thanks to Snowy Escape’s Surge Emotions feature. After painting for a certain length of time, Serena became Emotionally Mindful, which allowed her to put herself into the Very Inspired emotional state for the next 12 hours. This helped her build the Painting skill very fast and also helped her produce better paintings that sold for more simoleons.

While in the process of making money and improving her Painting skill, Serena was also going to work. She got her first promotion on her very first day with very little effort, although I did choose the Work Hard option for her while she was there. It was helpful that her job tasks were just to complete paintings and build the Painting skill which she was already doing, anyway. It meant I didn’t have to go out of my way to focus on her career too much.

A Plot Twist

Just a couple days into this playthrough, Serena got that random inheritance call. I meant to click the Under What Conditions option to just get some quick cash but I accidentally clicked the Money Money Money option so all of a sudden, Serena now had to marry someone within 7 days to get the payout. This scenario just got a lot more interesting. Or so I thought.

The only people Serena knew were her neighbours, the Itos. I was too lazy to invest much time into meeting a new single day so I sent her over to her neighbours’ house to be a homewrecker. The plan was to seduce Naoki and convince him to divorce his wife so he could marry Serena but neither Naoki nor Megumi were home. Just their kids, Kiyoshi and Nanami. I thought I’d wait around for their parents to return so Serena had a nap while Nanami watched TV. Yeah, not weird at all for a stranger to walk into your house while you’re not home and sleep on your couch. Totally normal.

By the time Serena left, I had come to the conclusion that Naoki and Megumi were terrible parents because Serena stayed there all night and they never returned home. Kiyoshi never even bothered to check on his little sister once the whole night. He stayed in his room playing video games while Nanami had her face practically glued to the TV until 3 in the morning on a school night.

Oh well. Not my problem. I sent Serena home to paint some more before her next work shift. I could always invite Naoki over after work.

Oh… That’s It?

Or that was the plan but Serena got promoted to level 3 that day which completed the scenario. That was when I realized my blunder in misreading the outcomes. It was a very anti-climactic moment because I’d been expecting to continue to sell paintings and break up a marriage for money in order to earn the $25,000 and all of a sudden, the scenario was over just like that. Totally my fault for not reading the scenario properly but I can’t help but think this outcome is a little bit of a cop-out. It’s incredibly easy to get promoted twice in 3-4 days. You don’t even really have to try. You could go out of your way to do the bare minimum at work and still get promoted in The Sims 4.

Had I read the scenario properly, I wouldn’t have chosen a career. It’s laughably easy even for newbie players. I would have just focused on the Painting skill and earning money through that. I’m also disappointed I never got to play out all that drama with the Itos. Oh well. Live and learn.

Bottom line: if you’re looking for a longer, more interesting scenario playthrough, don’t join a career. Go for the first potential outcome and focus on making simoleons through a skill. If you just want to rack up an easy 5,000 satisfaction points in a couple days with almost no effort whatsoever, go for the career option with this scenario.

The Sims Community Challenge: January

Krista

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January 11, 2022

1

Welcome to the first The Sims Community Challenge for 2022!

Continuing on from our December theme, this will be another build challenge. However, this time we want you to get creative with the outdoor space with the shell we’ve created. If you’re a part of our Discord, you may have also seen me share a few sneaky teasers for this challenge recently, too!

The Challenge

It’s time to get your gardening Sims ready, as we want you to furnish our greenhouse and create a beautiful outdoor space. While there are two aspects to essentially work on, your main focus will be the outdoor space. Utilize the space to the best of your ability and pay attention to the smaller details that you would normally find in a garden environment.

Challenge Rules

You must use a 20×15 lot
You have a total budget of $20,000 (this includes the lot value)
No Custom Content
You can use DEBUG items and T.O.O.L
The pond can not be removed
The roof must be one of the six Glass Roof Swatches that come with the Base Game
You are allowed to change the windows, doors, wall paint and flooring
You must not move the greenhouse from where it is placed or change the greenhouse shape or size
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

The lot comes with the Greenhouse shell ready to furnish, a pond and a tree with a few flowers surrounding its base. The rest of the lot is empty and up to you how you fill it. The lot itself is listed as a Generic Lot, so you will not have any lot specific criteria to fill. Before furnishing, make sure to read the challenge rules carefully.

The shell itself is simple and straight forward. As we mentioned earlier in this post, there are two aspects to this build challenge. Firstly, you will be furnishing the Greenhouse itself. Secondly, the outdoor space. You can be as creative as you want with the outdoor space, just make sure you stay within the $20,000 budget. Ultimately, have fun creating this outdoor space for your Sims!

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 Greenhouse Challenge
Gallery ID: LeeksEverywhere

Uploading your Entry

All entries will need to be uploaded to The Gallery and include the hashtag #SCGarden in the description.
One entry per person. Additional entries will not be included.

Closing date for entries: Sunday 23rd January 2022 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

[mks_button size=”large” title=”Sims Community Discord” style=”squared” url=”https://discord.gg/6kRVv4h2je” target=”_blank” bg_color=”#4e62ac” txt_color=”#FFFFFF” icon=”” icon_type=”” nofollow=”0″]

Good luck, have fun, and we can’t wait to see your builds soon!

New Scenario Now Available for a Limited Time in The Sims 4

The Sims 4 Scenarios

Jovan

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January 10, 2022

4

New Scenario Now Available for a Limited Time in The Sims 4

New Year, New Scenario!

The Sims Team has just dropped a brand new Scenario in The Sims 4 with the latest SDX!

This limited-time Scenario is titled New Year New Hustle and can be played right now in The Sims 4 for both PC and Consoles.

The Scenario is somewhat rather similar to the previous ones we’ve had with a focus on upping your Sim’s Career Level / Skill.

It’s never too late to start a new hustle. After moving to a new place and making a New Year’s resolution to focus on building marketable skills, can your Sim channel that momentum and keep making big changes for a more prosperous future?

New Year, New Hustle will be playable from January 10, 2022 10AM PT to February 2, 2022 10AM PT.