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The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: All About the Séance Table!

SnarkyWitch
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0
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: All About the Séance Table!

Presented by EA Game Changers

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff comes with one new gameplay object; the Séance Table. Children and older Sims can use the Séance Table to build the new Medium skill and converse with those beyond the grave. At first, there are only three interactions available on the table, but as Sims level up in the Medium skill, they will unlock new interactions on the Séance Table.

Build/Buy Details

The Séance Table comes in two varieties in the Build/Buy catalogue; just the table by itself, and a set that also comes with matching chairs and a crystal ball. The standalone table costs §333. The full set costs §648. Each catalogue entry has six swatches, pictured below.

Despite the table’s small appearance, it actually takes up a 3×3 tile block, most likely because the floating chair animations for it require some space. The chairs and crystal ball are not attached to the table sets. You can remove them and swap them out with different chairs and décor as you please. The crystal ball does not need to be placed on a Séance Table, but it does glow while the table is being used if it is on a Séance Table.

Séance Table Interactions

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: All About the Séance Table!

The following interactions are available on the Séance Table. Some interactions require a specific Medium skill level to unlock.

  • Commune with the Departed: Sims will converse with spirits from beyond the grave and receive a message from the beyond. The messages range from positive to negative. Sims can either become scared from this interaction or receive a positive moodlet, depending on the type of message received. Lights may flicker and spooky sound effects may play.
  • Sense Spiritual Volatility: Gives an information popup informing your Sim of the state of the home’s spiritual activity. It will tell your Sims whether the specters inhabiting the lot are friendly or not, how frequent paranormal events will be on the lot, and how concerned your Sims should be about the specters there causing problems.
  • Perform Ceremony: If the home’s spiritual volatility is high, Sims can use this interaction to calm the specters and improve the spiritual balance of the home. Depletes Energy at a rapid rate for Sims who have not mastered the Medium skill. This interaction has a chance of failing and making the specters angrier, instead. If the ceremony gets interrupted, the attempt will fail. Specters can interrupt ceremonies. Ceremonies can also be interrupted when the Sims involved in the ceremony become too tired. Make sure your Sims’ motives are high and that they are in a good mood to increase the odds of a successful ceremony.
  • Group Séance: Requires Medium skill level 2. Sims can host seances with up to three other Sims. The other Sims do not need to have Medium skill level 2 to participate; only the Sim leading the seance needs to have Medium skill level 2. There are several sub-interactions under the Group Seance interaction:
    • Commune with the Dead With…: Same as the solitary Commune with the Departed interaction, just with more Sims.
    • Perform Ceremony With…: Same as the solitary Perform Ceremony interaction; however, more Sims increases the chances of a successful ceremony. It is still important to ensure all Sims participating have high motives and are in a good mood. The ceremony can still be interrupted if any of the participants’ motives drop too low.
    • Invoke the Dead With…: Requires Medium skill level 3. Same as the solitary Invoke the Dead interaction, just with more Sims.
    • Ghastly Ritual With…: Requires Medium skill level 4. Same as the solitary Ghastly Ritual interaction, just with more Sims.
  • Invoke the Dead: Requires Medium skill level 3. Spawns either a ghost or specters. If there are no ghosts in your worlds to be summoned, specters will show up, instead. The ghost or specters may or may not be friendly.
  • Summon Bonehilda: Requires Medium skill level 3. This interaction summons Bonehilda the skeleton maid. Bonehilda is friendly but her presence does have a chance at giving nearby Sims a Tense moodlet. She will cook and clean for your Sims. Bonehilda can be romanced and WooHoo’d with, but cannot be moved into the house as a playable Sim without the use of cheats. Bonehilda can also help you deal with Temperance, an evil ghost who shows up on haunted lots. Bonehilda will stay for about a day before disappearing, but she can be summoned again at any time. You cannot summon Bonehilda while Bonehilda is already on the lot.
  • Ghastly Ritual: Requires Medium skill level 4. Performing this ritual will turn your Sim into a ghost for 4 hours. While in their ghost form, Sims will have all of a real ghost’s abilities. They can possess objects and scare Sims. Other Sims in the household will receive a “What Happened To You?!” moodlet and become scared if they see your Sim as a ghost.
  • Summon Guidry: Only available on non-Haunted House Residential lots. This interaction summons Guidry, a friendly ghost with a lot of information on the paranormal. He can help your Sims satisfy their needs when they’re too scared, as well as give you information about haunted houses, specters, being a medium, becoming a Paranormal Investigator, and how to deal with Temperance. On Haunted House Residential lots, Guidry will visit on his own every night, so there is no need to summon him at the Séance Table.

The Sims 4 Paranormal: Everything NEW in Build Mode! (Video Overview)

Jovan
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0
The Sims 4 Paranormal: Everything NEW in Build Mode! (Video Overview)

Want to know everything that The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack has to offered? I’ve covered that and more in the video coverage that you can check out above.

In the video you’ll first find the regular objects catalog, followed by an overview of the new Haunted House Residental Lot and a brand new premade house that you get after installing the pack! At the end of the video there’s also a full rundown of the BuyDebug objects – most which can be obtained through the pack’s gameplay.

Everything We Learned From The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Deep Dive!

SnarkyWitch
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Everything We Learned From The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Deep Dive!

In case you missed it, The Sims Team hosted a deep dive livestream for the upcoming stuff pack, The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff. The stream was hosted by SimGuruRad, SimGuruNinja, SimGuruFrost, and art director Stephen. SimGuruConor was not on the stream but he was credited for having a large role in the creation of the pack, including writing most of the text.

We were taking notes during the stream and we have all the details from the deep dive right here!

CAS

  • Several new styled looks in CAS.
  • Lots of heavy, flamboyant patterns but also some muted swatches.
  • Clothes have a boho bayou feel; gives a sense that the Sims are more are attuned to the spiritual world.
  • No new clothes for toddlers, but toddlers do get some new hairstyles.

Build/Buy

  • New prebuilt library house! When loading the game for the first time after installing the pack, the game will prompt you to place this lot somewhere in your worlds. The house was built by Doctor Ashley, an EA Game Changer.
  • New Lot Type: Haunted House Residential. This is not a lot trait; you can still assign up to 3 lot traits to your haunted houses.
  • To avoid confusion, the Haunted lot trait has been renamed to Spooky, but still has the same functionality.
  • Build mode objects were inspired by the New Orleans spiritualist scene. Pieces have a Queen Anne style reminiscent of the New Orleans French Quarter. Everything has an eclectic thrift store/antique vibe. The build items were designed to look like someone had put together bits and pieces of mismatched furniture from various thrift and antique stores.
  • Small touches of multi-cultural influences from around the world have also been added to support the eclectic style.
  • LOTS of clutter to go with the eclectic antique vibe.

Gameplay

  • Haunted Houses don’t seem haunted during the day, but at night, they get spooky.
  • New Gameplay Object: Séance Table
  • Multiple Interactions on the Séance Table, including:
    • Sense Spiritual Volatility – Tells the Sim what kind of specters are haunting the lot and how concerned they should be bout paranormal activity taking place on the lot
    • Perform Ceremony – This will calm the spirits if the lot is becoming more volatile and being inhabited by not-so-nice specters
    • Commune with the Departed – Just a fun interaction where Sims can receive messages from the beyond
  • Séance Table is a standalone object; you can put any dining chair with it and place different decorative pieces on it. The crystal ball is not attached to the table.
  • Base Game Feature: New Scared emotion with two levels; Scared and Terrified. Many base game and cross pack moodlets have been converted to trigger the Scared emotion.
  • Scared Sims can scream at other Sims. This can have two outcomes; either the other Sim will calm your Sim down, or the other Sim will become scared themselves.
  • If sims become too Scared, they’ll be unable to remove cursed objects on the lot or deal with the specters.
  • New Skill: Medium. The Medium skill is a minor 5 level skill.
  • Sims will unlock more Séance Table options as they level up in the Medium skill.
  • Sims with higher Medium skill will float in their chair while using the Séance Table.
  • Skilled Mediums can create a Séance Circle anywhere; they don’t need the Séance Table placed down. This is useful on Paranormal Investigator career gigs when the Sims you’re visiting don’t have a Séance Table in the home.
  • Invoke the Dead is an unlockable interaction on the Séance Table through the Medium skill. This will either summon ghosts or specters. If you don’t have ghosts in your worlds to summon, specters will show up instead.
  • Children can learn the Medium skill and use the Séance Table. Skilled child Mediums will also float in their chairs when using the Séance Table, just like adults do.
  • Summoning Bonehilda is unlocked at later levels of the Medium skill. Bonehilda is a returning character from previous Sims games. She is a skeleton maid.
  • Bonehilda is friendly and will clean and cook for you. She will stay for a day or so before disappearing, but she can be summoned again anytime you like.
  • A lot of audio cues in the pack; spooky sounds and eerie noises happen at night on haunted lots. Lights will occasionally flicker.
  • Some of the paintings and décor in the pack will change their appearance when paranormal activity is occurring. Unlike the dynamic portraits from Spooky Stuff, these decorations do not phase back and forth on a continuous loop; they are tied to the paranormal activity in the home. They will only change when certain happenings in the home trigger it.
  • The point of a haunted house is that there is a level of spiritual volatility you’re trying to keep balanced; dealing with the cursed objects, performing ceremonies, and having positive interactions with the specters will help tone things down. When things start becoming really scary, your Sims will be too terrified to deal with anything so it becomes harder and harder to live there if your Sims are not regularly working on keeping the spirits happy
  • Setting a lot as Haunted House Residential will begin a gradual tutorial where your Sims will receive popups and advice on how to deal with living there as things progress in the house over a period of several days.
  • On your 1st night in a haunted house, you’ll get a welcoming popup introducing you to the fact that the lot is haunted.
  • There is a ghost named Guidry who can provide aid to your Sims, but he does not appear on your first night in a haunted house. He will show up on the second night to help guide your Sims.
  • Guidry is eternally Flirty and an overall friendly ghost. He has his own Guidry social category where you can ask him all kinds of things about living in a haunted house. He will help you out and give you information.
  • Three types of specters: friendly, mysterious, mischievous.
  • Mischievous specters can be more playful or aggressive; they can sometimes start fires.
  • There is a “secret” fourth type of specter who is an “easter egg;” SimGuruRad referred to this specter as a “she.”
  • New Career: Freelance Paranormal Investigator
  • There are two ways to become a Paranormal Investigator. You can max out your Medium skill, then tell Guidry you want to become a Paranormal Investigator. He will give you a Paranormal Investigator License, which you can see in the traits section of your Sim’s info panel.
  • If you want to jump right into the career as you build your skill and figure things out on your own, you can also purchase a Paranormal Investigator License for 3000 Satisfaction Points in the Rewards Store.
  • Once you have your license, join the Freelance career using a phone or computer, then choose the paranormal branch. There are beginner, adept, and expert level gigs to choose from.
  • Living in a haunted house teaches you how to deal with the career, so it’s recommended to live in a haunted house for a week or so before joining the career.
  • When you travel to a Paranormal Investigator gig, your first step is to knock on the front door to be invited into the home.
  • Once you travel to your gig, you have a progress meter and a time limit. Various actions you take will help fill the progress meter: removing cursed objects and symbols, asking specters to leave, and giving them offerings will all help to exorcise the home. You can also create a Séance Circle on the ground and perform a ceremony if your Sim is a skilled enough Medium.
  • You can also offer your soul to specters but the Gurus warned this may not be advisable. They hinted that doing this shortens your Sim’s lifespan.
  • Paranormal Investigator gigs can happen on any residential lot; you’ll get gigs all over the place.
  • Every night you survive in a haunted house, you gain Satisfaction Points.
  • There is a villainess in the pack. Her name is Temperance. She is a mean ghost and has a bad history with Guidry. She can show up on haunted house lots after a while, as well as on expert Paranormal Investigator gigs. She will greatly increase the spookiness of the home and try to sabotage your efforts to calm the paranormal activity going on.
  • Specters will drop neat items, like ectocake and forbidden candy. Don’t be scared of eating the ghost foods they drop. They have positive effects.
  • You can place Sacred Candles in the house to help protect you from the specters. They’ll help Sims feel less scared so they can handle the specters. They can be purchased in the Rewards Store for 500 Satisfaction Points.
  • New Reward Trait: Brave. You can purchase this trait for your Sims from the Rewards Store, which lessens how often and how long your Sims are scared. Very helpful for Paranormal Investigator gigs.
  • There is a hand décor piece you can use to stop Guidry from visiting. You can also enable “Heroic Mode” which will make the lot a LOT more haunted but also reward you with more Satisfaction Points every night you survive in a haunted house. This can be a good way to save up for the Brave Reward Trait. Once you enable that mode, you can’t disable it for a while.
  • There are reward objects for playing through the new career; harmless versions of the cursed objects as well as various other oddities like soul pieces and jarred specters.
  • There is a jarred Cowplant that can be named. Jarred specters can also be named.
  • Reward objects can be sold to oddity collectors which is a good way to make some money back if you get duplicate objects.
  • Specters on a haunted lot will attack the welcome wagon.
  • There are some cross-pack easter eggs to discover so depending on what packs you own, you might notice some extra little perks and details. Some examples the Gurus revealed included Spellcasters being able to build the Medium skill faster and pets having negative reactions to cursed objects.

If you want to watch the full deep dive yourself, you can catch the replay right here!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff will be coming to PC and consoles on January 26th, 2021!

OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM: The Sims 4 Paranormal Deep Dive

Jovan
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0
OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM: The Sims 4 Paranormal Deep Dive

The Sims Team is doing their first official livestream in 2021 today, January 22nd!

The first livestream of this year is all about The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack! The development team including SimGuruFrost, SimGuruConor, SimGuruRad and SimGuruNinja will be doing a deep dive of the Stuff Pack, showcasing different segments of the pack including Create A Sim, Build Mode and the new Gameplay Features that come with this pack.

The livestream is set to begin January 22nd at 11AM Pacific Time, or 8PM CET / 7PM BT. Considering there are a lot of time zones involved we’ve included a full countdown to the beginning of the livestream down below, right above the official YouTube livestream window.

Make sure you stay tuned on Sims Community as we’ll begin with the rollout of the exclusive coverage on Paranormal Stuff Pack including videos and articles!

[janky target_time=”1611342000″ color=”#248402″]

The Sims 4: Introduction to the new Scared Emotion

Krista
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2
The Sims 4: Introduction to the new Scared Emotion

With today’s patch for The Sims 4, we see a brand new emotional state introduced to the game which, is available to all players. The new scared emotion has been worked on by SimGuruConor and sees over sixty buffs converted.

Players will now find that instead of finding their Sims becoming tense at selected in-game events, they will now become scared instead. One example is when Sims would become tense during a thunderstorm whereas now they will become scared instead. You may find that they will attempt to either sleep or nap while feeling scared or even hide under the covers while the feeling passes.

In response to a question asked by Twitter user NandoandStitch, SimGuruConor revealed that buffs that contained either “scared” or “phobia” in them had more than likely been converted.

Another example of a buff that has been converted is from when a Sim uses the Spooky Candy Bowl from The Sims 4 Spooky Stuff. While most of the time your Sims will laugh off the encounter they will keep the buff for a short time.

The Sims 4: Introduction to the new Scared Emotion

There are two different variants of the Scared emotional state.

The first variant will just show that your Sim is scared.

The Sims 4: Introduction to the new Scared Emotion

While the second variation will cause your Sims to be terrified.

The Sims 4: Introduction to the new Scared Emotion

Our member SnarkyWitch also took a look into the game files to help create a list of many of the converted buffs that will now list under the scared emotion.

  • Scared of Thunderstorms
  • Super Spooky
  • Irrational Danger!
  • Scared of Monster
  • Scared of Magic
  • Scary Decor
  • They’re Planning Something!
  • Island Fear
  • Molten Mania
  • RIP Tide
  • Deep Sea Entity
  • Fin Fear
  • What Was That?!
  • Tectonic Terror
  • Thalassophobia
  • Claustrophobic
  • Obsessed Fan
  • Scarecrow Shock
  • Climate Change is Real!
  • Ghostly Meows
  • A G-g-g-ghost?!
  • Ghostly Howls
  • Tremor Terror!
  • Spooked Out!
  • Seismophobia
  • First Order Might
  • Fear the Dark Side
  • Did They Just Explode?!
  • It’s Chasing Me!
  • Botanophobia
  • They’re Out To Get Us!
  • Chased Through Jungle!
  • Haunted by Visions
  • Terrified by Vines!
  • Thoroughly Scared!
  • Jaguar Scare!
  • Fanged and Frightened!
  • Claustrophobic Nightmare
  • Daymare
  • Bowl of Frights
  • Don’t Fear The Reaper
  • Mind Controlled: Panic
  • Probe Panic
  • Hydro… NO!
  • That Was Too Close..
  • Startled by Ghost
  • Scary Toy

While this is not a complete list, it gives you an excellent idea of the buffs that have been converted across The Sims 4 base game and additional content!

The Sims 4 adds Dynamic Lighting Feature for Supported PC Peripherals

Jovan
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17
The Sims 4 adds Dynamic Lighting Feature for Supported PC Peripherals

The Sims 4’s latest update brought a shiny new feature for those who play The Sims 4 on PC!

As explained in the patch notes:

Simmers with a Razer Chroma enabled setup (Single Zone Chroma RGB Lighting is not supported) can get more immersed in The Sims by extending the experience to your desktop. The Razer Chroma lighting will reflect the moods of your selected Sims*, colors that match the theme of the secret world you are visiting and more. You can disable the dynamic lighting in Game Options > Other if this is something you don’t fancy as well.

There’s now a brand new option in Game Options > Other called Enable Keyboard Dynamic Lighting. This feature will make supported peripherals light up in the color of The Sims 4 and the emotions of the Sims that you are playing!

The Sims 4 adds Dynamic Lighting Feature for Supported PC Peripherals

At the moment the only supported brand of PC Peripherals is Razer – which goes beyond just the “Keyboard” that they’ve mentioned. I’ve got a chance to test out this feature myself on my PC Setup and it works both for my Razer Keyboard and Mouse. I’ve also seen a few reports saying that Razer Headphones also support this new feature!

When in the Main Menu your Razer setup will have a spinning plumbob effect with bright green and white spinning all across your peripherals! Check out the preview below:

The Sims 4 adds Dynamic Lighting Feature for Supported PC Peripherals

You can also see what it looks like in action down below:

As soon as you load up your saved game the peripherals will correspond to the emotion of the Sim you’ve selected. Did you select an Angry Sim from your household? All of the supported peripherals will turn red immediately!

razer2

Here’s to hoping that RGB Peripherals from different brands get this cool feature in the near future!

The Sims 4 PC & Console: New Update + Patch Notes! (January 21st, 2021)

Jovan
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2
The Sims 4 PC & Console: New Update + Patch Notes! (January 21st, 2021)

The Sims 4 PC & Console: New Update + Patch Notes! (January 21st, 2021)

The Sims Team has released a brand new update for The Sims 4 on PC, Mac, Xbox One and PS4!

To download the latest version of The Sims 4, simply open your Origin program and if the game doesn’t update automatically, right click on The Sims 4 and select ”Update”.

In case you have Mods or Custom Content, the game will automatically disable them for you after first launching The Sims 4 after the update. To re-enable all your Mods and Custom Content, select the Settings option in the Menu and select Settings. Under the ”Other” section you’ll find the ”Enable Custom Content and Mods” option. Check it and restart your game in order for it to take effect!

Patch Notes

PC: 1.70.84.1020 / Mac: 1.70.84.1220
Console: Version 1.37

Something paranormal this way comes…

There are a number of new terrifying and spooky creatures waiting to make your acquaintance. Not all of them will try to scare you, and some are just downright cute. Still, your Sims’ lives are about to become a little otherworldly. It’s time to enjoy letting things get a little paranormal.

Boo! Were you Scared? Probably not…

But what you might be interested in hearing is that there is a new emotion that you may see your sims in starting with this patch. There are two levels to this emotion, Scared and Terrified. When you find that your sim is too scared to do things they will be able to try and calm themselves through a few methods… ones that I would obviously know nothing about… *shifty eyes*

There are a few different ways that your sims can try to rid themselves of their fear, things like hiding under the covers or screaming incoherently can put them on the track to being fine once again. A number of buffs from previous packs will now be updated and classified as scared or terrified. It should give a whole new dimension to your sims, it’s like they’re 4d! *hushed whispers* Ohh… that’s not what 4d is? Nevermind.

As a bonus, Simmers with a Razer Chroma enabled setup (Single Zone Chroma RGB Lighting is not supported) can get more immersed in The Sims by extending the experience to your desktop. The Razer Chroma lighting will reflect the moods of your selected Sims*, colors that match the theme of the secret world you are visiting and more. You can disable the dynamic lighting in Game Options > Other if this is something you don’t fancy as well.

*Please note that you will need to be running Windows with Razer Synapse installed and running to make use of the dynamic lighting.

-SimGuruRad and SimGuruRusskii

Now onto the fixes:

Sims 4

  • Fixed an issue related to game freezing or hanging related to Platforms usage that made the game unrecoverable.
  • For our Xbox One Simmers, we have fixed an issue in which the audio was distorted after several hours of gameplay.
  • Empty plates left on the counter will no longer have the “Load Dishwasher” option greyed out. Honestly, this was the universe telling you that you probably shouldn’t use the dishwasher for one plate, but you’re welcome.
  • This editor and the Localization team fixed a few typos, capitalization issues, tweaked and enhanced (ENHANCE!) some translations across all packs as it is customary in all updates.

Get Famous

  • Sims can now be opted out of Fame in the Options Menu once again. Don’t care about the bling or the hi-life, ‘cause Simoleons ain’t mean thing if ya ain’t Simming right.

Snowy Escape

  • Fixed an issue in which Snowy Escape-locked CAS items were showing up when randomizing clothing in Create a Sim. And thus concludes the Window Shopping experience =(

Journey to Batuu

  • We fixed an issue that made the game crash if you were idle for a while in Batuu. I know I am all for doing all the activities all the time, but taking a breather (or well, staring… I mean admiring Kylo for a while) and having the game crash? I can only take so much at one time, you know?

Tiny Living

  • Child Sims will no longer levitate or perform the “Warn about Bed Safety” interaction on Murphy Beds. Turns out the Child Sims had joined a levitating class, so things are looking up!
  • The Media Marathoner will now properly display Power Consumption Ratings. When you waste electricity in the game, you’re wasting electricity in real life!
  • Simmers who own Seasons will now see the “Egg Hunt” interaction on the Media Marathoner and the Media Marathoner All-on-the-Wall.

Nifty Knitting

  • Cat owners rejoice! Now balls of Yarn made by pet Cats are able to be kept as owned. Whew! Toys for life! Until the next item of interest appears…
  • Fixed an issue in which Sims that didn’t have the Kleptomaniac Trait were able to have the “Attempt to Swipe” interaction available on balls of Yarn and Yarn Baskets. Kleptomaniac Sims rejoice on having their interaction for themselves…
  • Fixed an issue that made the notification for acquiring the Aspiration Lord/Lady of the Knits was not being displayed.
  • Sims’ feet will no longer sink into the ground if they decide to abruptly end (cancel the interaction) their Rocking on the Rocking Chair. I… Never mind, carry on.
  • After Sims Teach to Knit, other interactions such as Knit will be able to be performed. This means that after teaching to knit, you can actually knit. That seems like it should happen!

Maxis is deep in development of The Sims 5; will be prototyped in Unreal Engine

Jovan
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33
Maxis is deep in development of The Sims 5; will be prototyped in Unreal Engine

We’ve first reported back in September 2018 that Maxis has finally started working on a new Sims Title (or The Sims 5 as some might call it). The report came from Maxis’ official Career listings that offered job positions for talented Concept Artists who would help create The Sims 5’s first initial look. This is something that’s usually done in the first steps of creating a brand new video game.

Back then Maxis published several job listings including Environment Concept Artist, Character Concept Artist, Gameplay Software Engineer and more which all gave clear ideas that The Sims 5 has started with production. You can read more about those initial listings HERE!

Then, about a year later in 2019 we got more clues that Maxis is shifting the gears for The Sims 5 by making Grant Rodiek who was there for the full development cycle of The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 to a brand new Maxis project. All of our suspicions were fully confirmed afterwards by EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson who confirmed that Maxis is definitely planning a whole new generation of The Sims, with possible aspects of the game having both single player and multiplayer features.

With the brief history of what we know about The Sims 5’s development so far, we’ve got a whole lot of new information today regarding The Sims 5’s development from Maxis’ official Careers Listing website which opened up plenty of new job positions for the next Sims Game. One of the most interesting things that they’ve listed is the fact that the next Sims Game will be prototyped in Unreal Engine – a powerful software used by many game developers which helped bring many games to life. Some of those include Fortnite, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Final Fantasy and many more!

Now let’s clarify something – this doesn’t mean that the final product of the next Sims Game will be completely reliant on Unreal Engine. What this means is that Maxis is looking for folks who can bring the prototypes of The Sims 5 to life using C++, Python and Unreal Engine.

If you’re unsure what a prototype is, think of it as what The Sims 4 looked like in some of the leaked material from the game’s production. The developers were using a different engine to prototype various simulation features such as the graphics, objects, characters and the environment around them. You can check out some of the early prototypes of The Sims 4 HERE! Most of the 3D prototypes shown in the linked article have been created in the Unity software.

Maxis is deep in development of The Sims 5; will be prototyped in Unreal EngineMaxis is deep in development of The Sims 5; will be prototyped in Unreal Engine

So what are the new job listings, who is Maxis looking for and what will the growing team for the next Sims Game be doing in the upcoming period? Check it all out in the listings that Maxis has published below. These are only a few of many that are available on the official Maxis Careers Website, but we’ve pointed out a few that talk about building a whole new coding infrastructure, prototypes, sim behaviors and well –  a whole new Sims game considering that careers listing for The Sims 4 are marked as job opportunities for TS4 and not “for The Sims” in each of the offered job opportunity.

Before I sign off this post with the quotes from the Careers Listing note that this won’t impact the development of The Sims 4 at the time being considering that different teams at Maxis are working on different Sims Titles. The careers page also suggested that the new Maxis Austin studio might also be involved in the development of the next Sims Game – who we know is working on an entirely different IP video game (aka a whole new title that is not The Sims).

Maxis is deep in development of The Sims 5; will be prototyped in Unreal Engine

Software Engineer – Automation

Job Summary

Maxis is looking for a talented engineer that can amplify our ability to rapidly develop our games with the help of automation. This engineer will work with an experienced team that has collectively built almost all Maxis games in the past two decades. You will actively work with engineering, art, design, and quality verification groups to prototype and ship various features that expand the featureset of Sims games. Most of the work is expected to be done in Unreal Engine, both in C++ and blueprints.

As an Automation Engineer for a game at Maxis, you will

  • Implement quality control tools, test automation and analysis systems for various stages in the creation of a Sims game.
  • Enable the designers, producers, artists, and other engineers to build a framework that brings designs to life.
  • Demonstrate excellent technical problem-solving skills under iteratively changing requirements during game development.
  • Author technical design documents detailing software requirements.
  • Be a critical partner to driving innovation in tools and processes to achieve the highest quality standards. Use appropriate programming and scripting languages to design, develop, and maintain automation test tools; statistical analysis and dashboards; and other tools that help drive quality in our products.

Software Engineer – Gameplay/UI

As a Gameplay Software Engineer on The Sims, your job will be to develop user-facing content for The Sims.

Qualifications:

  • You will use Python, C++ and ActionScript 3 to implement data-driven gameplay and UI systems.
  • You will create new Sim behaviors: interaction with the world, other Sims, and objects.
  • You will build creative aspects of real life within a simulation game (e.g. socialization, careers, weather).
  • You will work with designers, producers, artists, and other engineers on improving the data-driven framework that brings designs to life.
  • You will write technical design documents detailing software requirements.
  • You will build unique content for a game that supports a large demographic of simulation player patterns.
  • You will write code with performance and memory usage in mind.
  • Excellent technical problem-solving skills under iteratively changing requirements during development.

Core Engineer – Animation (C++)

High Level

Animation Engineer will work on the animation system subsystem within the game. The work will range from rapid prototyping to production development. Most of the work is expected to be done in Unreal Engine, both in C++ and Blueprints. Some prototypes and features may be done completely in C++.

Core Engineer – UI/UX

High Level

UX Engineer will work on UI and UX within the game. The work will range from rapid prototyping to production development. Most of the work is expected to be done in Unreal Engine, both in C++ and Blueprints. Some prototypes and features may be done with different tools and frameworks.

Senior Software Engineer – Client (C++)

As a Client Senior Software Engineer on The Sims, you will work on the client systems within the game. The work will range from rapid prototyping to production development. Most of the work is expected to be done in C++.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Architect and implement client features and systems in C++.
  • Extend existing client systems and create new ones.
  • Work with designers, producers, content creators and other engineers to design and develop game features.
  • Write technical design documents detailing software requirements.
  • Write cross-platform code with performance and memory usage in mind.
  • Debug code to document and fix bugs.
  • Provide a mentorship to other engineers.
  • Solve challenging technical problems in a dynamic environment to support active live service.

Client Software Engineer

As a Client Software Engineer on The Sims, you will work on the client systems within the game. The work will range from rapid prototyping to production development. Most of the work is expected to be done in C++.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Implement client features and systems in C++.
  • Extend existing client systems and create new ones.
  • Work with designers, producers, content creators and othe
  • r engineers to design and develop game features.
  • Write technical design documents detailing software requirements.
  • Write cross-platform code with performance and memory usage in mind.
  • Debug code to document and fix bugs.
  • Solve challenging technical problems in a dynamic environment to support active live service.

The Sims 4 Paranormal: Developer’s Blog (Part 2)

SnarkyWitch
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1
The Sims 4 Paranormal: Developer’s Blog (Part 2)

SimGuruConor has released the second part of a behind the scenes developers blog post for The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff.  Take a look at the blog post in full below.

You can read Part 1 of the blog right here!

via The Sims Forums

Welcome back to another dev blog about our latest Stuff Pack! This week let’s talk about the Seance Table, Paranormal Investigator Career, and an interview with our Art Director!

So let’s just get right into it!

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Thanks Doctor Ashely for this horrifying scene.

Seances for Everyone!

The Seance Table is here! Talk to ghosts! Scare your friends! Summon the unexpected! This thing is capable of all sorts of spiritual meddling, and functions on any lot!

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Your Seance Table can be decorated too! It’s a table surface, so feel free to put a Crystal Ball on top, or maybe a Sacred Candle? Slot any chair you want too!

When you use a Seance Table you’ll develop your Medium Skill, unlocking new Seances, the ability to host Group Seances, and the ability to draw chalk Seance Circles anywhere in the world! And if you’re a Spellcaster Sim, you’ll gain skill much faster due to your familiarity with the mystical arts. This skill and the Seance Table are available for Children and older too!

One of the main purposes of the Seance Table is to perform a ceremony that strengthens the spiritual serenity of the house, making it a little less creepy. However, if the Seance is interrupted for any reason, it might have the adverse effect, so make sure your Sims are protected (Hint: Sacred Candles!).

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Seance Circles for the Medium on-the-go.

Other Seances include the ability to commune with the dearly departed. Hopefully, they’ll offer some sagely wisdom, or perhaps they’ll just insult you. Who knows? Great for parties.

Or if you’re really looking to stir up some trouble, you can also invoke spirits from the Seance Table too. Kind of like a ghostly grab bag, just reach in and pull out something deceased. A great way to spice up any lot, or completely ruin it. Honestly, this Seance isn’t entirely recommended, but since when has that stopped anyone?

Bonehilda!

Bonehilda is back! She’ll clean, fix your electronics, garden, fight fires, lay out snacks, and more! Summon her on the Seance Table or Seance Circle whenever or wherever you need her!

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She’ll also be your buddy! As long as your Sims don’t mind being around a fully sentient skeleton that is, but I hear they’re pretty open-minded. Bonehilda won’t ask for anything in return either, she’s just here to have a good time.

Summoning Bonehilda is extremely useful while living in a Haunted House, she can help take care of the place while your Sims are preoccupied with other pressing matters. Bonehilda also has a great protective instinct, and will swiftly and enthusiastically show harmful Ghosts the door (with her fists of course).

Paranormal Investigators Wanted

The last feature I’d love to talk about is the Paranormal Investigator Freelance Career. This career is kinda special, and only available for elite Sims with a Paranormal Investigator License. Sims can get the License by becoming a master Medium and becoming certified by Guidry, or by purchasing one in the Reward Store.

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A properly certified Paranormal Investigator.

This career is aimed for Sims who have mastered the paranormal and will have to use everything they’ve learned while living in a Haunted House to their advantage.

The gigs for this career are pretty straightforward. You’ll be sent 3 gigs to choose from, either an Easy, Normal, and Hard Investigation. Once you select your preferred difficulty, you’ll be instructed at 9:30 pm to go out on an investigation to an undisclosed location.

Where will the investigation take you? Anywhere! (Well any residence at least!)

Sometimes the Pankcakes will have a bit of a Specter infestation, sometimes Goth manor will need an exorcist. It’s your job as a Paranormal Investigator to go wherever the action is, and snuff out any unwanted spirits.

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It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.

You also won’t just be sent to premade Sim houses, but also your own created households! Your other played Sim families might be in need of a spooky exterminator too! And don’t worry, the house won’t be permanently haunted either (You’ll have control over that with the Haunted Lot Type!).

Finishing these gigs on time leads to all sorts of weird and strange rewards. Feel free to hang up your Specter-in-a-Jar as a trophy. Or amass a collection of exorcised dolls! There’s tons of strange stuff to acquire!

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Name them too!

Since this is a freelance career, feel free to take these gigs whenever you feel inspired to snuff out some spookiness. These gigs can be demanding on your Sims psyche, but thankfully they pay fairly well.

Art Direction

This pack has a ton of both fictional and real-life inspiration. To go over where these influences come from, and how they manifest in-game, I’ll take it over to our Art Director Stephan Edwards!

Conor: Can you tell us what an Art Director does on The Sims 4?

Stephen: The AD works initially with Production, Design and Marketing to define the visual direction. Once we have moved into production their role is to maintain and inspire that vision by providing direction and feedback to artists, from concept through to the final asset.

Conor: What goes into the creative process when concepting for the Sims?

Stephen: Once the general theme and tone is locked down and approved, the team then refers to the key visuals and goes broad on gathering reference that reflects that direction. We begin on concepting out room views/clothing to investigate different narratives and moods, identifying elements of style, construction, pattern and color. At this stage, we are still working loose to make sure we explore all options and don’t box ourselves in. As the team iterates on designs, we start to narrow down the selections and then turn to final renders. We draw on those early investigations to help inform our palette, material and pattern choices.

Conor: What sort of real-life examples were used for the Paranormal Stuff Pack?

Stephen: Reference gathering is a huge factor in designing assets and so it’s fair to say that all the content is based on real life to some degree. The team tends to deconstruct styles and translate them through a SIMS lens, the simplified and stylised art of SIMS4 has a further impact on the final result.

Conor: If you had to choose, what was your favorite feature to work on across all of the Sims?

Stephen: Aaarg! That’s a really tough question. Because the packs are so diverse each one has its own set of unique challenges. I would say the supernatural aspect of this stuff pack was a lot of fun and allowed the artists to get a little more fantastical and creative. Storytelling is such a fundamental part of the SIMS and that permeates through CAS and BB designs. While curating all the eclectic pieces we stuffed into this pack I was constantly making up little stories in my mind. Where the characters may have found it, what relevance does it have to them and ultimately is there enough depth in the design to spark the same questions in the players. Oh, and Guidry, he’s a composite of eras and characters. I would be really interested whether the players can pick apart the influences.

Thank you!

That about concludes our look at our latest Stuff Pack! Big thank you again to the SP18 team, working with everyone was an amazing experience and made the later part of 2020 a little less awful. Watching this pack come to life was an absolute thrill.

The prepatch including the new Scared Emotion is coming out January 21st, and the Paranormal Stuff Pack comes out January 26th!

Until next time,
SimGuruConor

The Sims 4 Paranormal: Preview of the Haunted House Lot Type

Jovan
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The Sims 4 Paranormal: Preview of the Haunted House Lot Type

SimGuruNinja has shared a brand new preview from The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack.

In the preview he has shown some of the characteristics that the brand new Haunted House Lot Type brings! You can check out all of the Lot Features that the lot type brings down below:

The Sims 4 Paranormal: Preview of the Haunted House Lot Type

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

Krista
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3
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

SimGuruConor has released the first part of a behind the scenes developers blog post for The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff.  Take a look at the blog post in full below.

via The Sims Forums

Hello Simmers! Welcome to a small 2-part Dev Blog about our newest Stuff Pack, Paranormal Stuff! This pack has been an absolute blast to work on, and I’m excited to share what this pack is all about!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

I’ll try not to reveal too many spoilers for the pack either, so I’ll keep things somewhat brief.

Our topics for today are the new Scared Mood and the Haunted House Lot Type, plus an interview with our Audio Artist too!

Get Scared

Sims can now relish in the mortal dread of the Scared Mood!

The Scared Mood affects Sims in a variety of ways, with my personal favorite, the new Scream Incoherently interaction, where a Scared Sim runs up to another Sim to scream their lungs out. This can result in the other Sim calming down the Scared Sim, or resulting in both Sims becoming Scared. This can create a Scared Mood wildfire if you’re not careful!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

Whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s okay!

Sims afflicted with the Scared Mood also have trouble communicating with others, the urge to panic-run everywhere, and are slightly more prone to accidents. If no other Sims are around to help calm down a Scared Sim, they might just have to Hide Under The Covers for a while.

But if being Scared just isn’t your Sims style, consider purchasing the new Brave Trait. This Satisfaction Reward Store Trait will rapidly reduce the incoming fear a Sim feels and help Sims regain their composure faster. While no Sim is totally fearless, this trait should help mitigate some of those creepy feelings.

The Scared Mood and the Brave Reward Trait are all base game features coming with the Paranormal Stuff patch on January 21st. Tons of previous Uncomfortable Buffs are now becoming Scared Buffs, such as the “Startled By Ghost” Buff or the “Thalassophobia” Buff from Island Living.

While being Scared might not be a common occurrence in your everyday Sims life, living in a Haunted House is a whole different story…

Happy Haunts

Introducing the Haunted House Lot Type!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

The Duplantier Dwelling, created by Doctor Ashley! This “canon” Haunted House will be available in the gallery!

They’re like regular houses, only haunted! Although unassuming during the day, at night, these places get super weird. Your Sims may notice things like flickering lights, pipes rattling, or even creepy dolls staring at them in the corner. All are totally normal occurrences in a Haunted House, but it may take some time for your Sims to adjust to their new surroundings.

Sims living in a Haunted House will also be introduced to floating apparitions known as Specters. They’re cute little critters, but their motives aren’t entirely clear. You can try talking to them, or even offer them presents in hopes of establishing a good rapport. If they like you, they’ll drop special loot for you and your family. If they don’t like you, well, you’ve been warned.

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)o o o (> ‘ u ‘ )>

Learning to get along with your new ghostly inhabitants is crucial in a Haunted House. Things like botching seances, neglecting Specters, or letting accursed objects invade your house will have a negative impact on its spiritual serenity. There is a delicate art to co-existing with the entities of the house, and thankfully you’ll have an expert on the matter to assist you!

Meet Guidry

Claude René Duplantier Guidry was a seasoned Paranormal Investigator in his previous life, but now he exists to help anyone brave enough to live in a Haunted House! You’ll probably run into him eventually living in a Haunted House, but don’t worry, he’s a nice ghost!

Guidry will gladly offer his wisdom to those who seek it. If you’re confused, alarmed, or slightly uncomfortable by your new haunted surroundings, give Guidry a holler and he might be able to help. He can also offer valuable objects to help your Sims, too; all you need is to reach out!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

Still got it.

All Guidry wants in return is to crash at your place for the time being. Sounds like a fair deal, right? But if you’d prefer to fly it solo, you can always disable his nightly visits—he won’t be too upset, maybe.

As mentioned before, Guidry was a Paranormal Investigator before his untimely demise. If he sees potential in you, he can certify you with a Paranormal Investigation License, granting access to the Paranormal Investigation Freelancer Gigs. Only those who are qualified enough can join the ranks of Paranormal Investigators, but more on that next time!

Be Brave!

Living in a Haunted House adds a layer of risk and reward for your Sims, and each successful night yields Reward Store Satisfaction Points for everyone in the Household. Specters can also drop treasure that can also be collected, consumed, or sold to an Oddity Collector. So although your Sims might go through a bit of peril, they’ll thankfully be compensated.

One of my favorite pieces of haunted treasure is the new Sacred Candle. Not only do they look cool, but they also help protect Sims from paranormal influences. Place them around your house to make sure Sims are properly shielded!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)
A properly protected Sim.

Things like Sacred Candles and performing ceremonies at the Séance Table are integral to keeping your Sims happy in a Haunted House. Without using these paranormal tools, the entities of the house might get a little bossy.

And while it might be in your Sims’ best interest to keep the spirits of the house in check, watching things go horribly wrong in a Haunted House can be just as fun too. So whatever works for you!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)

With this Lot Type activated, your house is now a paranormal epicenter.

Like Tiny Homes, this Lot Type can be toggled on or off at any time. So whether you’re a casual thrillseeker who wants to spend a couple of nights in a Haunted House, or a seasoned Paranormal Expert who wants to take on a new challenge, this Lot Type should offer something for you!

Crosspack Stuff!

Pets get to share the fun too! They especially love the accursed objects that show up!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Developers Blog (Part 1)
I think they’re gonna get along great.

As mentioned before, a ton of old Buffs from multiple packs are now being converted to the Scared Mood. I think 70 something Moodlets were converted? Honestly, I lost count. Anything that seemed more appropriate for the Scared Mood was transferred over.

Oh, and you might remember an old Lot Trait from City Living called Haunted. For clarity’s sake, it needed a name change, so now it’s the Spooky Lot Trait. It also benefits from being combined with the new Haunted House Lot Type and will have an increased chance of spawning Ghosts at night. So use both for maximum haunted-ness!

Audibly Frightened

Last but not least, I’d love to turn it over to our Audio Artist for this pack, Briana Billups! She did a killer job bringing Haunted Houses to life! Trust me!

Conor: Can you tell us what an Audio Artist does on The Sims 4?

Briana: Big, broad picture: an audio artist decides what everything in The Sims 4 sounds like. We record, create, and edit sounds to the art and animation of the game. Little, very detailed picture: creating the actual sounds is usually one of the smaller aspects of our job. We are meeting with other departments, like design, animation, and VFX, to understand the overall vision of new game features and how we can fit in sonically. We are meeting with each other to make sure all our new content still keeps the very fun and quirky vibe of the Sims. We come up with new tools and implementation where necessary.

Conor: What sort of things go into the creative process for creating audio?

Briana: Every audio artist/sound designer has their own creative process, but I like to make a “sonic mood board” of sorts. I typically like to have a good idea of what I want something to sound like in my head before I record or edit it, so it’s nice to have sound effects or music to refer to that represents my original inspiration or ideas. When I was in college, I would make Spotify playlists for whatever I was working on. I would listen to them once a day, adding and editing as necessary, so when I actually got to work, I was in the right headspace. Now I’m usually less formal about this sort of stuff, but for this pack, I would refer back to things like Vincent Price’s demonic laugh from Thriller or Casper the Friendly Ghost Cartoons and the looping soundtrack from the queue of a horror ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Ghost Blasters)

Conor: What were you most excited to work on for this pack?

Briana: Definitely all the haunted house sounds! Good sound design is the crux of so many horror movies and video games, so even if we were keeping things more “Casper” and less “Poltergeist,” I still wanted to give a good scare here and there. I actually scared myself one day while playtesting another feature in the game!

Conor: If you had to choose, what is your favorite audio clip you’ve ever added to The Sims 4?

Briana: I would say my favorite SFX were the sports arena loops in EP08: Discover University. When you visit the arena for the soccer/esports match or graduation, you can actually listen to the whole game or ceremony. It was great to craft a whole story from start to finish using just sound. I also snuck in a lot of developer names when writing the scripts for our voice actors.

Thanks, Briana!

More To Come!

That about covers this first foray into the Paranormal Stuff Pack! This pack has been a ton of fun to work on, and watching my Sims flee in terror has been more enjoyable than I’d like to admit.

Next blog, we’ll focus on the Séance Table and developing your Medium skill, as well as the new active freelance career Paranormal Investigator.

Big thanks to the Stuff Pack team for helping this pack come to life, and thank you, Doctor Ashley, for building our featured Haunted House!

Until next time,
SimGuruConor

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Meet the Artist Behind the Music! XY&O

SnarkyWitch
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0
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: Meet the Artist Behind the Music! XY&O

Yesterday’s reveal trailer for The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff had the whole fanbase buzzing! It seemed like we were finally getting the long-hoped for Happy Haunts stuff pack concept that only narrowly lost to the Arts & Crafts theme during the last community voted stuff pack polls.

But Simmers were grooving to The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff‘s reveal trailer for another reason. Simmers were quick to point out that the song used in the trailer was well… amazing! Of course, the trailer and the video description made no mention of who actually sings the song.

Sims Community shazam’d it and we’ve found the artist! The song in the trailer is called Haunt Me and it’s by a relatively unknown (until now) band called XY&O. You can listen to the full song below:

XY&O is also on Spotify, so click the playlist below and give them a follow if you want to check out more of their stuff!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: SimGuru Q&A

Jovan
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6
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: SimGuru Q&A

The announcement of The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack revealed a lot, but also brought in plenty of questions revolving what this pack has to offer.

Several SimGurus have already started answering some of the players’ questions over on Twitter. I’ve compiled all of the information that’s been revealed by the SimGurus so far and will be updating this post as new tweets surface so make sure you bookmark this article!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: New Screens

Jovan
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0
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: New Screens

SimGurus have started sharing new screens from The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack! They’ve started rolling out new Twitter profile pictures and cover photos featuring some new elements from the upcoming pack. Check them out!

The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: New ScreensThe Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff: New Screens

The Sims 4 Base Game is getting a new “Scared” Emotional State

Jovan
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0
The Sims 4 Base Game is getting a new “Scared” Emotional State

It’s definitely been a while since we’ve gotten a brand new Emotional State in The Sims 4!

Other than getting Possessed thanks to The Sims 4 Strangerville Game Pack there haven’t been any other significant Emotion additions to the game since the release of the Base Game.

However, it seems that things are about to change with the upcoming The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Pack.

SimGuruConor shared a new image of a brand new Scared emotional state that’s getting introduced with Paranormal Stuff. You can check out the preview down below:

The Sims 4 Base Game is getting a new “Scared” Emotional State

Not only that but SimGuruConor also confirmed that the new Scared Emotional State will be introduced for free in the upcoming Base Game content update!

He later confirmed what went behind creating the new Scared Emotion. Some of the buffs that we’ve gotten from the Base Game and Sims 4 Packs will now give your Sims the Scared Emotional State. For example – Thunderstorms will now properly make your Sims Scared instead of Tense!

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