The Sims Team has released a brand new Update for The Sims 4 for Console devices – Xbox One and PS4!
Update: 07/16/2019 – v1.16
It seems like only yesterday when we added Mouse & Keyboard support to The Sims 4 but that hasn’t stopped us from making improvements based on your feedback while preparing for Island Living. The team has also been hard at work on new features and have addressed some long standing issues so let’s dig in, starting with the new stuff.
What’s New?
New Console Features
- Mouse & Keyboard can now be used to bypass the “Press START” screen rather than requiring a controller to get to the Main Menu. That means you can start and finish your Simming session using the control scheme you prefer. Now, where’s the any key?
- I’m on a boat… Oh I’m not?!?! Seems that going into First Person view didn’t agree with all Simmers and left some feeling a little ill. Worry not, head to Options > Game Camera and Disable First Person Head Bob for that more on rails feel while you are inside your Sims’ heads.
- When entering cheats, Sims would continue their day as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Using a controller, adding cheats could take most of a Sim day if you were unlucky. Now, when entering cheats, the game will pause letting you add all the cheats you want without missing a second of Sim life.
Randomize Traits Button
We all get creative block sometimes, other times we just look for a challenge. Whatever your approach you can now hit the Randomize Traits button in CAS to get a set of traits you might not usually pick for your Sim. Will your Sim be a Jealous, Lazy Goofball or a Genius, Slob who Hates Children? Let the dice decide.
Lounge Chair
Everyone (even you) gets a FREE LOUNGE CHAIR! That’s right, we’ve added a delightfully Portable Lounge Chair, so you can now lounge by the pool they way you’ve always wanted and you don’t even need to wake at the crack of dawn to put your towel down.
Pride Content
Created in partnership with the It Gets Better Project you can show your pride with some fantastically colorful new clothing. From the rainbow leggings to the body suit and new t-shirts your Sim can show their Pride. In addition, we’ve also included a selection of decorative Pride flags for hanging on your Sims’ walls. Finally, we’ve updated our bathroom door sets in-game so that every bathroom door also includes a gender-neutral version for builders, and includes a full suite of color swatches for mixing and matching to your heart’s content. Happy Pride Month everyone, even if we did get here a little late!
Stilt Foundations
Or as we like to call them, High Heels for your House. Or House Heels. These things don’t need to be limited to just the tropics. Stilts are a great partner in crime to terrain manipulated and flat lots, in any biosphere. You can find them in Build Mode alongside all the other regular Foundation types. Now go get your stilt on.
Further Eaves Extension
Now you can pull your Eaves… further.
Freelancer Career
Freelancer is a brand-new type of career. Sims can choose to be a Freelance Artist, Programmer, or Writer, and will work through an agency that will connect them with a variety of gigs. Unlike other careers, there’s no defined work schedule to worry yourself over. Need some extra Simoleons? Smash through a few gigs in a single day and get paid! Need some time off? No problem – plenty of gigs will be waiting for you when you’re ready to get back to work. Your office is wherever you want it to be. Perhaps a quiet corner in the local library, or maybe you’d prefer a home office decked out in the new set of office furniture? You’re your own boss, so the choice is yours! Completion of gigs across the different agencies will lead to a variety of rewards, and ever-increasing pay.
New Objects
This free set of home office furniture and decor is ideal for your burgeoning Freelancer Sims!
- Bookcase: Edgier LadderCase
- Desk: Anglette Desk
- Desk Chair: The Professional
- End Table: A Cute Anglette
- Decor: Not So Simple Pen Holder
- Decor: Hand Reference Model
- Decor: Robo, The Friendly Circuitry Kit
- Decor: The Note Book
- Laptop: FreeRoam Portable Computing Device
- Wall Decor: Better As A Pair Of Paintings
- Wall Decor: Supreme Freelancer Award
Doors of many Colors
Knock knock! Who’s there? Color! Color who? 350 new color swatches spread across all of the doors. Yeah, maybe the future as a stand up comedian isn’t in my future after all.
New Lot Traits
- Clothing Optional: This new venue-only lot trait will inspire your Sims to — you guessed it — get nude.
- Off-The-Grid: Now you can live out your nomadic fantasy on any lot. Applying this lot trait will remove your Sim’s use of power and running water, but on the upside it keeps your bills down. Keep a lookout for existing objects with the “Works Off-The-Grid” note in the Buy Catalog.
New Clothing
Freelancers tend to want comfy, but professional outfits. We’ve got them covered with the following new pieces of clothing.
- Women
- A cable knit cardigan outfit
- A sweater and skirt outfit
- A layered sweater
- A pair of flats
- Men
- A collared sweater
- A button up shirt
- A crewneck sweater
- A pair of drawstring pants
Immaculate White Shelf
According to SimGuruGraham, Simmers really REALLY wanted a plain white version of “The Immaculate” shelf available in Buy Mode. Who are we to argue with what SimGuruGraham tells us?
More Toddler Diaper Colors
We added some L’il Swimmies Splashy Diapers! You don’t necessarily have to use them for splashing in the water, but that’s where our brains were at when we made them. We made these not only in anticipation for Island Living, but we also thought you’d appreciate more swimming options for your toddlers to use in the Seasons Kiddie Pool.
Back Float
A new Back Float interaction is available for Sims swimming in the pool. Select the water. Try it out. Take a load off.
Fishing Additions
Brace yourself, we’re about to cast you into a deep dive…
- We added several new interactions to allow players to fish in different ways and interact with other Sims around fishing activities.
- Sims can perform a few new Fishing-based socials to gain useful info (via UI TNS/Notebook) and push NPCs to Fish.
- Fishing is now joinable.
- Improved fishing interaction tuning and autonomy to make the interaction more efficient and fun.
- Upper skill levels now provide more meaningful rewards, with new Interactions added to Fishing skill levels
- New high skill cast interaction “Angle for Big Catch” increases chance of getting rarer fish.
- New high-skill VFX visuals on Rare fishing spots.
- Ability to now “Mentor Sims in Fishing.”
- Fishing UI has improved information, including Notebook info with Bait information.
- Tuning for fish that can be caught is unique per world & more fishing spots added to some of our previously shipped worlds.
- New bait preference system applied to most existing fish that modify catch chances.
Ceiling Fan Updates
Ceiling Fans will now cool a room if you have Seasons and the fan is on. Oh yeah, speaking of which, we also added the ability to turn them On and Off. And while we were at it, we figured we’d make them dry off damp Sims too.
Ceiling Objects Build Sort
We also added a new Ceiling Objects Build sort category to make things like Fans easier to find.
Swimming Things
There is now a chance for interesting things to happen to your Sims while swimming, like getting a cramp or losing their suit (eek!). Swimming also now gives your Sims a boost in Fitness skill gain.
Part-Time Jobs Update
And last but not least (you still with me?) all existing Part-Time Jobs are no longer just for Teens. That’s right, now elders could work as Fast Food Employees. Young Adults could be Babysitters if they want. Why not? The Part-Time world is your oyster. Oh oh oh — and one last thing on that note: You can now have two Part-Time Jobs at once and pick between shifts. Wowee.
General Issues
- The green pulsing of the snap cursor would previously appear every 20-30 seconds for some players even if you were using a Mouse & Keyboard. That pulse is under control now, unless you are using snap cursor in which case you should expect to see it.
- Rooms can now be resized with the Mouse & Keyboard control scheme.
- Talking of Mouse & Keyboard, if you use them you can live drag objects now.
- Simmers using a Mouse & Keyboard can now make use of edge scrolling. We had the option before but it didn’t work as you might have thought.
- The Virtual Cursor may be virtual but it doesn’t mean it was meant to disappear after you came out of build mode.
- Sims will travel to the correct venue when invited out to an event by a NPC Sim.
- Fixed an issue where the UI would occasionally indicate that a Sim was at work, when they were actually at home, which would block access to the Sim’s inventory.
- Note: If a save file created prior to this update contains a Sim that’s already in this bad state, simply traveling to another lot with that Sim will permanently fix this issue.
- Sims will no longer receive random phone calls from other Sims between the hours of 8pm and 10am, allowing them to enjoy a full – and speedy – night’s sleep.
- Fixed an issue where multiple music tracks could end up looping and playing simultaneously.
- Expecting parents will once again be able to “Take Family Leave” via their phone to take time off from work.
- Fixed an issue where a Sim who had cheated with another Sim romantically, were then unable to successfully propose to that Sim and get married.
- Fixed an issue where Sims in the eSport Gamer branch of the Tech Guru career were not earning money when programming video games.
- The Pick Up Serving Together interaction will no longer cause one of the Sims involved to fail to route to the food.
- Fixed an issue where interactions on the Digitalistic Sketchpad object would disappear if a Sim’s actions were canceled while they were picking up the Digitalistic Sketchpad.
- Updated the Digitalistic Sketchpad object so that creating paintings on it will satisfy Aspiration goals and work tasks that involve painting.
- Fixed an issue with the Lin-Z Smart Speaker, where the interaction to hire a Gardener would remain unselectable, even when the home had a garden that needed tending.
- Sims will now look at the Lin-Z Smart Speaker when speaking to it.
- The “Pre-Owned Painter’s Easel”, that’s unlocked via the Painter career, will now provide an Inspirational emotional aura, instead of a Focused emotional aura.
- Fixed an issue where staircases were not rendering properly while held by a mouse cursor.
- Adjusted icons of Lunar New Year recipes to better display what food you’re looking at within an inventory.
- The children’s Yin & Yang Necklace will no longer clip into their neck when wearing a shirt that’s tucked in.
- The “CleanRoom” wall pattern, which was previously missing a name for its 5th color variant, has now had that specific color variant named “Like Sand”.
- As far as I’m aware, this is the only instance in the game where a color variant has been given a unique name. Huh… neat!
- A new content alert icon has been added to individual careers within the Select a Career panel, to help players find new careers that have been added to their game.
- “Shift clicking” with the controller (X and Circle (PlayStation 4) or A and B (Xbox One)) at the same time on the Age Up menu will no longer cause menus to overlap.
Get To Work
- Scientists will once again wear an appropriate outfit when going to work even if StrangerVille is not installed.
- The “Chemical Analyzer” object can now be purchased from Build Mode without having to use a cheat.
- Made updates to the list of valid objects that can be selected as the outcome of the SimRay’s “Transform Object” interaction.
City Living
- Fixed an issue where objects from multiple festivals were appearing on top of each other in the neighborhood simultaneously.
- Apartment landlords will now leave the apartment immediately after addressing a tenant’s complaint.
- Added the ability for Sims with the Vegetarian trait to hire a Vegetarian Caterer by clicking on Stoves or Refrigerators.
- Vegetarian Sims will no longer enjoy eating Mud Carp.
Cats & Dogs
- Fixed an issue where hungry pets would not eat from food bowls autonomously.
- The pet toy box will no longer have its position rotated in a random direction when a Sim returns home from an active career.
- Fixed an issue where the “Litter-Matic Scoop-Free” litterbox wasn’t looking clean after cat poop had been removed.
- Fixed an issue with the Pet Adoption Agency, where they would occasionally show up at a Sim’s home without any pets to adopt, and would simply stand at the home’s front door and not do anything.
- The Hide/Show filter now does as you’d expect while using the Simstagram pet interaction.
- Fishing in Brindleton Bay shouldn’t have your Sim facing the wrong direction. No more fishing the land and wondering why the fish aren’t biting.
Seasons
- Updated the Gardening career so that Sims will earn more than 10 Simoleons per completed work shift.
- Fixed an issue where on days where no holiday was set to occur, a Sim’s work schedule would update to falsely indicate that the day was a Holiday just prior to going to work, causing the Sim to stay home for the day.
- Fixed an issue where NPC Sims were not autonomously using the skating rinks that appear in certain neighborhoods.
- Toddlers will no longer attempt to queue up behavior to “Run Inside” during bad weather conditions if they’re already inside.
- Fixed an issue where Sims voices could not be heard when Singing Together around a Holiday Tree if City Living was not installed.
- You’ll now be able to cancel the Compel to Drink interaction after choosing to feed on a Scarecrow.
Get Famous
- The Acting career task to “Get Into Hair and Makeup” can be successfully completed once again.
- Fixed an issue where celebrity Sims who had been set to use their normal walkstyle were switching back to using the celebrity walkstyle after traveling to certain types of venues.
- Three star celebrity Sims will no longer use the celebrity walkstyle.
Outdoor Retreat
- Your Sims can now pester… er… visit, any campers of their choosing in Granite Falls.
- Fixed an error where Sims would get stuck in the Forest Hideaway lot in Granite Falls.
Dine Out
- Simmers who have City Living installed can now put the Siopao and Ensaymada dishes on their restaurant’s menu.
Vampires
- Bat!
- Grand Master Vampires know all, or so they thought. Now they can continue to earn points. Does that make them a Grand Grand Master?
- Vampire NPCs shouldn’t get appear at a venue and prevent you from saving.
- Vampire NPCs shouldn’t have their Vampire Energy drained after a load which allows them to continue with their expected autonomous behavior.
- Sim Form!
StrangerVille
- The following environment objects, which were created for StrangerVille, have been added to the Build Mode debug catalog to allow placement on lots. Players must enter the bb.showhiddenobjects cheat before they can be seen in the catalog.
- 10 different cacti
- 3 different Joshua trees
- 3 different RVs
- 2 clusters of rocks
- 2 junked cars
- A group of desert flowers
- A military truck
- A tire
- A parking stop
- Added proper images to the Officer and Covert Operator branches of the Military career.
- Removed the “Question about Spores in Lab” interaction for Sims who have already acquired the Modified Hazmat Suit.
- Removed the “Heart of the Pack” styled look from Create a Sim, as it was authored using clothing that’s only available to Sims that have joined the Military career.
- Updated the pack information panel on the main menu to not display world objects under the Build Mode Items.
Holiday Celebration Pack
- The Crown Roast platter will now show a partially eaten state when half of its servings have been taken.
PlayStation 4
- Some makes of keyboard are extremely fancy with lots of features, one of those features appears to have been the ability to prevent the mouse from being used. We’ve made improvements in this area.
As usual, we have new creations which were created and shared by members of the Sims Community. You can find them in My Library.
There we are, a lot of changes to take us further into 2019. Now I’m off to get my Sims some sun, sea and fun in The Sims 4 Island Living.
