With an expected preview of The Sims 4 Create A Sim mode at this year’s E3 2014, the new feature has added even more anticipation to the latest version of The Sims franchise. As we learned a few months ago, The Sims 4 will focus on characters, making sure that each Sim living in your neighborhood is a unique and unpredictable person.
From what little we’ve already seen in the preview trailer from EA, we get some detail about Create A Sim mode, but if we dig a little deeper, we can get a lot more detail that, although may not be directly mentioned in the video, is very much implied.
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Say goodbye to your neighbor clone
If there’s one thing I didn’t like about The Sims 3, it was that, in the end, all Sims were way too similar, especially those that the game randomly generates to be your neighbors.
This will mostly likely end in The Sims 4, as the new (and easy to use) Sims editor will let you modify every inch of your Sim’s face and body. Just like in real life, Sims can have prominent hips but narrow shoulders, or be a bit chubby with thin legs. Different ethnic groups are also much more visible, each with their own traits, creating realism and countless combinations that are rarely seen in a game.
At last, the Sims will look like real people.
Their physical traits could influence their character
The attention to detail in Create a Sim goes as far as changing the way they smile or walk. This, together with their new physique, might even influence their personality. For example, a Sim that walks with vigor and its head held high is likely to be more confident, while those with a nice smile will be more attractive to the rest.
Now, let’s take it one step further. Isn’t it true that in real life, our body has an impact on our level of physical activity? A Sim with a slim but strong frame is more likely to be good at sports and can, perhaps, eat whatever he/she wants without gaining weight. On the other hand, one that is chubbier won’t be very good at running, even if he/she is a sports enthusiast, and could gain weight the minute he/she stops dieting and exercising.
How much will the Sims’ physique influence their character?
Fewer features, but more accurate
It makes sense that the physical traits of the Sims influence how they behave, especially if you take into account that, from what I can see in the video, you’ll only be able to choose three traits per character (instead of five like in previous versions).
Everything seems to point to the fact that the personality traits we’re able choose have more to do with intellectual interests and tastes, not the same as those things influenced by physical appearance. So, it doesn’t matter what you look like: this won’t have an impact on whether you’re a bookworm, whether you’re passionate about science, or whether you’re a hopeless romantic.
Similar to The Sims 3, your traits will have an impact on your life’s desire, that elusive goal that gives you a great reward. In The Sims 3, the reward was happiness points, but this time, the game will give you something better: a great skill for your daily life. From the examples I can see in the video, it looks like once you fulfill your life’s desire, the Sims will get a special skills like, being quick learners, or being good at relating to other characters.
Only three features per Sim? I’m sure this hides a few surprises
The importance of fashion
In The Sims 3, the Sims editor already had a lot of options to customize your character’s style. You could choose tops, pants and skirts, coordinate outfits, and accessorize. I don’t suspect any really big changes in The Sims 4, but I hope there are.
In the past, it’s been complicated to change the predefined colors and prints of clothes and save them for later. This meant that every time you wanted to customize a Sim, you basically had to start from scratch. The Sims 4 will feature the new Style Book function, which seems to be an option with previously set and saved outfits, available not only for that particular Sim, but for all of your characters. This will save you a lot of time changing and choosing the perfect outfit for you Sim.
If EA wants us to spend less time with boring actions, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a similar function for the Buy and Build modes, allowing us to save furniture combinations beyond the current collections or the already set rooms we’ve seen in The Sims 3.
Fashion lovers will enjoy the new StyleBook
The Build mode has been simplified, at last
Speaking of Build mode, the trailer ends with a small preview of it, and although it’s hard to see much, I’ve seen enough to notice that it’ll be easier to edit your home. It looks like a new option lets you drag entire rooms, and there’s no need to delete individual walls or move objects one by one, which is especially convenient if you want to extend a house that’s already furnished.
If we add to this an easier customization of objects, we’ll have a breakthrough in The Sims. We’re looking forward to seeing more of this in the next trailer.
Building will be much easier than in The Sims 3
What to expect at E3 2014
At Gamescom 2013, I was able to get my hands on a first demo of The Sims 4, where we briefly saw the Create a Sim mode that we know a lot more about now. Maybe at E3 2014, we’ll be taken one step further and see what the Build and Live modes are like.
Are you excited for The Sims 4?
