Experience the challenges that come with your Sims’ first apartment, then work your way up the penthouse of their dreams.
The Sims Blog: 9 Ways Apartments in The Sims 4 City Living Are Different (and Awesome!)
Via TheSims.com!
Welcome to San Myshuno, the new World in The Sims 4 City Living* (coming November 3, 2016). Here, a Sim’s dreams can be made, or broken, at the sight of yet another cockroach outbreak. When you live in the city that means apartment living, which is a completely different experience to the residential lifestyle. Press the button on the elevator for your floor, and let’s go through why apartments are unlike anything you’ve played yet in The Sims 4.
It means living in a community. We wanted to focus on the community aspect of apartment life, which is oh-so familiar to many members ofThe Sims team. In suburbia it’s easy to ignore your neighbors, but not in apartments! You’ll see them in your Sim’s apartment common area checking the mail, yelling at your Sims or the other neighbors, or merely coming by to visit. Or maybe borrow your Sim’s things, like a shower, or a taste of your Sim’s dinner. First and foremost, the apartments are about other Sims and how they affect your life. San Myshuno has some of the most interesting, diverse, and exciting Sims we’ve created. We cannot wait for you to meet them!
The walls are… sort of thin. Community is nice, but living in such close quarters has its downsides. Or upsides, depending on how you view things. Some apartments are noisy with late night music and… let’s call it romance. If things really get out of hand, you can send your Sims to bang on their neighbor’s door to tell them to “turn it down!” But, this isn’t a one-sided affair! Your Sims neighbors have ears as well and they also value a little solitude. Really, it’s about volume control and being considerate, right?
They’re full of wacky characters. We didn’t want to just fill apartments with people, we wanted interesting people! Inspired by our favorite television sitcoms, we tried to drizzle every apartment complex with strange, eccentric, enthusiastic, and overly neighborly Sims that will make the lives of your Sims all the richer! Mostly.
They have their own quirks. While designing The Sims 4 City Living, we frequently recounted to one another stories of bizarre landlords, strange roommates, and apartments that seemed cursed. Well, we wanted all of that in the expansion pack! Apartments in the game can have quirks, almost like personality Traits for Sims, that range from cursed, to haunted, to earthquakes! Every Sim’s apartment is unique, and as a result, we think you’ll have more fun than ever moving between apartments until you find the one that’s just right for your story.
Apartments can have some problems. Some apartments have issues that veer wildly away from “quirk” into outright problem territory! Leaky pipes, faulty electrical wiring, and pests! Look, nobody said moving to the big city on a budget would be easy. Your Sims will need to move to San Myshuno, get a hot new career, and work their way out of the lower quality apartments. This is a good thing! These problems drive stories, build characters, and will let you be more familiar with your landlord.
You’ll need to deal with your landlord. Speaking of the landlord, every apartment has a well-meaning, overalls adorned steward of the leaky pipes and hallway complaint. If something breaks, give the landlord a call if you don’t have time or interest in fixing it yourself. Be careful to stay on their good side, and be doubly sure your Sims pay their rent on time, else your Sims will find themselves on the landlord’s bad side!
The view of the city is fantastic. Apartments come with a hiccup or two, but they also provide one of our favorite benefits – the view! Your Sims can look out the window to see a huge, vibrant city that is jam packed with things to do. We’ll cover this more soon, but your Sims will see festivals begin, protests initiate, or friends begin a pickup game of basketball downstairs at the park. Apartments give a window to all the things your Sims could be doing.
Space is limited. Want more space in your house? Knock out a wall or build another level! That doesn’t work with apartments. Apartments are snug, especially if your Sims are sharing it with a few roommates! On one hand, roommates help pay for the rent, but on the other, there’s no room! Your Sims will need to prioritize the things most important to them, learn to love their fellow Sims, or simply get out of the apartment to find their fun at the festival. We wanted our low-end apartments to feel low end, both to help you tell a great story, but also to give you something to strive for with your Sims – more space!
Close to everything. San Myshuno itself is as jam-packed as the apartments your Sims inhabit. We’ve never created a world with more to do for your Sims! By simply taking the elevator down, they’ll find themselves right in the thick of great, wonderful, spicy, exciting things. But, that’s for another day. Just know your Sims have never lived anywhere quite like the apartments in The Sims 4 City Living. They’re amazing, at least according to the landlord, and we cannot wait to hear your stories of apartment living.
We can’t wait for you to move your Sims in to their first apartment in San Myshuno, with The Sims 4 City Living, coming this November.
Sims Community Site Update: New Commenting System
I’m happy to announce that Sims Community has implemented a new system for commenting – Disqus!
The Disqus commenting system not only lets you post a comment, but also provides the following features:
- Real-time comments
- Upvote / downvote other comments
- Share other comments on social networks
- Share discussions on social networks
- Recommend articles
- Easier way of customizing your profile picture through Disqus
- Ability to comment as a guest
- Categorizing comments through newest, oldest and best rated
If you don’t have a Disqus account just yet, you can join by signing up down below or simply by associating your Twitter, Facebook or Google+ account with Disqus. Those who don’t want to go through a process of signing up can easily post their comments as guest (username and e-mail will be required).
Previous comments have been successfully transferred to the new Disqus system. You may experience a few glitches with comment count numbers in the next few hours though, so give it some time to adjust.
Hope you like the new feature!
The Sims 4 Mod Spotlight: Slumber Parties, New Veggies and more!
Creator Membership on SC Social brings plenty of awesome benefits for Custom Content Creators, Modders and Builders. For more information about it, CLICK HERE!
Before continuing, please note the following:
- EA does not pre-screen Custom Content /Mods and players should always exercise caution when adding Custom Content to their game files.
- Make sure your mods are up to date. For a full list of broken and fixed mods CLICK HERE!
- After each The Sims 4 Update your game will automatically disable Mods and Custom Content. You can re-enable them by going to Game Options > Other > Enable Custom Content and Mods.
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Slumber Party Mod
Your Child Sims can now have a sleepover with this Mod.
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Have a Mod suggestion? Post it here!
The Sims 4: New Content + Fixes Update Coming This Month
SimGuruDrake, YouTube Community Manager for The Sims, has confirmed that there will be a new update for The Sims 4 by the end of this month that will include new content and fixes. She wasn’t able to reveal more about the update but we’re definitely hoping that The Sims Team will fix some of the Dine Out bugs!
@alexabotello219 There will be a patch this month ☺️
— Drake (@SimGuruDrake) September 17, 2016
@alexabotello219 no problem! ☺️ some fixes and content but that’s all I can say
The Sims 4 City Living: Raccoon GIF
The Sims Spain shared a new GIF from The Sims 4 City Living, showing a Sim in a raccoon costume playing a portable piano.
The Sims 4: SimGuruTrev Talks Toddlers and Community Feedback
SimGuruTrev took some time to talk with The Sims community members on The Sims Reddit. One of the very long responses he wrote was about the community feedback and how The Sims Team is taking implementing Toddlers very seriously, meaning that they don’t want to rush something out the door just because everyone wants it.
Down below you’ll find his full response on this topic:
We do listen. We hear you, we listen and, more importantly, we take note of what the community is telling us. It’s tough for us because if we could give everyone what they want we’d do it. In a heartbeat. It’s not like we sit there going “They want X but who care, let’s give them Y instead.”
We release things in packs and we like those packs to have a theme. When we get a lot of little suggestions, it’s hard to find the right place for them. But, we have boat loads of little puzzle pieces of ideas that we’ve gathered from the community and from the development team. When we’re brainstorming ideas for a new pack, we’ll dig through our little puzzle pieces and see if any of them fit with our current idea. And hell, sometimes we’ll try and jam those pieces in even if they don’t quite fit (for instance, Aliens coming with Seasons in Sims 3). But, by and large, we want it to feel like one cohesive pack and not just a bunch of odds and ends stuck together.
On the flip-side of that, when people give us broad ideas, like “I’d like more family gameplay” or “we want toddlers”, we want to make sure we fill in all the those missing puzzle pieces in a way that everyone will enjoy. If we polled 100 different people about what they’d like to see with regard to toddlers, for example, we’d get 100 different answers. So we certainly don’t want to rush something out the door just because everyone wants it. If we tried to rush some sort of family pack out the door it might only satisfy 5% of the people that wanted more family gameplay. So we like to take our time with it. We have a lot of discussions about what it actually means to play with family, or what it meansto have a toddler. What new objects do we need? What interactions and socials would you have? Would there be new skills? Would there be any new careers? What sort of CAS parts and clothing do we want to add? These are the questions we ask ourselves about every feature. We don’t like to add a big feature to the game just for the sake of adding it. We want to take our time, make sure we do it right. And if we don’t think we can, then we hold off until we feel like we can.
So, long story short, we hear you. We listen to every idea we see. When it’s an idea we can get behind, or something everyone clearly wants, we write it down. It does not go unnoticed! We really do care about our community. Most people don’t realize it but these SimGuru accounts aren’t required. Random people on the team want to reach out to the community, so they make a SimGuru name. We’re never told what to say. We genuinely care about the experience our players have with the game. It matters to us. A lot.
Guest Article: Top 10 of the Worst Sims Packs
Please note: this is an opinon article written by our guest author NightSimmer. It states his opinions about the packs listed down below and does not reflect the overall thoughts and opinions of the community.
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The Sims, a series that has many iterations over the last decades, has not only several sequels to the original life simulator but a plethora of DLC to accompany each addition to the franchise. While the series has seen many incredible additions to the game, it has also seen some pretty terrible ones. Here is a list of the Top 10 Worst DLC released!
This list does NOT include content available in limited edition versions of games, content from The Sims 3 Store or any third-party creations. Furthermore, this list excludes base games.
#10: The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff (Stuff Pack)
Let me begin by saying this pack is, by no means, terrible. The reason why I’m placing it on this list is because I personally don’t care for cars. Most of the use I got out of this pack comes from the furniture which I’ve repurposed as furniture for kids’ rooms. However I can see the appeal for car lovers because there are a variety of vehicles available. Unfortunately there isn’t exactly a point to this pack because any car you can possibly want is available in the form of Custom Content (which is free).
In retrospect, I definitely took this pack for granted. Who would’ve thought that years later cars would be an obsolete concept in The Sims 4 while its older cousin, The Sims 3, would have an entire stuff pack dedicated to it.
#9: The Sims: Makin’ Magic (Expansion Pack)
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel bad putting any Sims 1 DLC on this list solely on the nostalgia factor but the truth is this pack started a very irritating trend in The Sims franchise that alone justifies its position. While many enjoy the inclusion of the supernatural and occult in the everyday lives of their Sims, I for one find it annoying. When I play The Sims I want to simulate life – I want to simulate scenarios or events that are possible. Admittedly, supernatural-themed content is fun at first but the charm (no pun intended) disappears quickly. This pack feels gimmicky and in a lot of ways feels like a regression for the series.
#8: The Sims 3: Movie Stuff (Stuff Pack)
To enjoy this pack means one of three things: You’re either a very optimistic person, a fan of comics or simply a very creative person who can find a purpose for any object. However I feel as though if you fall outside of those realms you will not enjoy this pack. When this was announced as the final stuff pack for The Sims 3 I was confused. Out of all the directions to choose to be The Sims 3’s “swan song” they chose… movie stuff? It’s a questionable decision because this pack tries to do many things. It dabbles in broad movie genres such as Wild West, Horror and Action but overall it falls short because it never really commits to anything. Offering a few themed items tailored to those aesthetics is lame. The idea of “movies” is too vague of a concept to restrict it to a stuff pack. The “a little bit of everything” format can be an effective approach to creating content, but not for a theme as big as “movies”.
The CAS and Build/Buy items have the same problem as many of The Sims 3’s DLC additions; they’re all horribly gimmicky and generally just unneeded because they require a very specific context to fit into the everyday life of your Sims. As a final curtain call for The Sims 3 era, it’s truly disappointing.
#7: The Sims 4: Luxury Party Stuff (Stuff Pack)
The Sims 4 Luxury Party Stuff is a pack that I initially enjoyed. I thought the inclusion of interactive objects, a few vibrant CAS items and uniquely designed Build/Buy objects were a sign of good things to come for The Sims 4. Looking back, I can’t help but see this pack as a red, flashing ALERT because it would mark the beginning an era in The Sims’ history characterized by horrible stuff packs. This is the first of many stuff packs in The Sims 4 which is why I initially praised it. However once the smoke cleared and I could see the items for what they really were, I brought into question the morality of The Sims team; how could you package together a collection of items so horribly tacky and charge real, human money for it? Granted, the price point of this pack is only 10$ but that doesn’t excuse the poor choices made.
Aside from one or two CAS items, everything else is virtually unusable because the items are tainted by weirdly textured “jewels” or wacky designs. There is a difference between luxury, high-end couture clothing and tacky pieces. The clothing is quirky, it’s flamboyant but one adjective you can’t use is luxurious.
#6: The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff (Stuff Pack)
It’s amazing how when compiling a list of all the DLC available for The Sims, this pack didn’t enter my brain once until I checked on the Internet to verify that I covered everything. For this reason, this pack finds itself high up on the list. Unlike most on this list, it isn’t necessarily bad; its vague theme, exuberant amount of objects we already had iterations of in the game itself and overall restrictive “family” aesthetic keeps it from being anything other than meh. In other words, it screams “filler content”. Objectively speaking, people should not be paying for such an uninspired piece of content and, in retrospect, this pack serves as foreshadowing for The Sims 4 series (which is essentially a ton of filler stuff packs). It doesn’t take a risk and the series would not be shaped in any way by its absence. Additionally, when compared to the rest of The Sims 2 content which was stellar, charming and full of character it further supports the idea that this is a pack that should’ve been left on the drawing board. It really shouldn’t have ever seen the light of day.
Now Available: City Living School Timetable
Want to keep your class schedule clean and organized? Look no further!
In a collaboration with DOTsim, we managed to create a City Living-themed Timetable for all you students out there! It’s free of charge and you can even print it as it’s made in A4 format.
To download this Timetable, click on the picture below and select Download on the lower left corner.
The Sims 4 City Living: Desktop & Smartphone Wallpapers
Excited for The Sims 4 City Living and want to theme your desktop / smartphone in colors of the new expansion pack? You’ve come to the right place!
We created 2 kinds of wallpapers in 2 different styles: two for desktop background and 3 for smartphones (2 are for lock screens and one for home background). All of these wallpapers come in super high quality, so you don’t have to worry about wallpapers getting blurry if your desktop / phone screen is in higher resolution.
To download these wallpapers, simply click on the wallpaper of your choice and select download on the bottom left corner.
Desktop Wallpapers
2560×1600 (16:10)
2560×1440 (16:9)
Smartphone
1440×2560 (9:16)
The Sims 4 City Living: New Flow of News starting Next Week
If you’re afraid that it’ll take us weeks before The Sims Team starts with releasing videos, blogs and images showcasing The Sims 4 City Living’s features, don’t be!
SimGuruDrake confirmed that they’ll be in full swing of releasing The Sims 4 City Living news, starting next week!
@thesimplynando no other blogs this week but we will be in full swing starting next week!
— Drake (@SimGuruDrake) September 15, 2016
Origin: Get ANY released game 50% off!
Origin is currently having a promotion where you can get absolutely ANY released video game on Origin for 50% off! This also includes The Sims 4 packs, including Stuff Packs that you can now get for 5$ each!
To apply this offer, select the games you want to purchase and in the check-out page, find the promo code section and enter the ORIGIN50 code.
Offer expires on September 22nd, 2016 at 10AM PDT.
EA is merging Maxis into EA Worldwide Studios
Andrew Wilson, EA’s Chief Executive Officer has announced that Maxis, along with EA Mobile will soon merge into one, EA Worldwide Studio.
The world is changing around us – games are now a part of the lives of nearly three billion people, while a convergence of technologies is opening up even more ways to play. Now more than ever we have a responsibility to put our Players First. We have already made a number of important changes over the past year that have helped reshape marketing and publishing, and launch new initiatives in competitive gaming. Today, we are announcing additional updates to our organizational structure that are designed to strengthen our studios and technology platform:
The formation of EA Worldwide Studios. At a time when players are engaged in games across more devices, the tenets of making great HD and mobile experiences are converging. Our ability to blend our strengths to deliver amazing games across genres, geographies and platforms, in a networked environment, is central to our future success. EA Worldwide Studios will bring together our top creative talent in all of our great studios to work on EA’s powerful brand portfolio and new IP. EA Mobile and Maxis will join this central studios organization led by Patrick Söderlund. Samantha Ryan, who will now report to Patrick, will continue to lead our Mobile and Maxis teams. Sam will also take on leadership of BioWare, where her love for RPGs and experience with open-world adventure games is an outstanding fit to work with Aaryn Flynn and his great team.
The Frostbite team joins our Technology organization. Our drive to power everything we do at EA with world-class technology has never been stronger. Players expect innovative, stable and secure experiences, and the strong combination of our Frostbite engine and our digital platform will make this possible. As a result, our central Frostbite Engine team will move to the CTO group led by Ken Moss.
Rachel Franklin, who left Maxis a few days ago, will be replaced by Samantha Ryan, who’s now Maxis’ and EA Mobile’s Senior Vice President.
The Sims 4 City Living: No New Life States Featured
SimGuruDrake confirmed on The Sims Official Forums that there won’t be a new life state with The Sims 4 City Living expansion pack. This is the second time an expansion pack in The Sims Franchise doesn’t come with a new life state, with The Sims 4 Get Together being the first.
There are no new life states featured in the new EP.
I think you will find there is a lot of stuff in this EP and I hope you give us a chance to share that information with you throughout the coming weeks 🙂
