Sul Sul Simmers!
26 July was Patch Day for The Sims 4. This is the patch that prepares for the High School Years expansion, plus some new features were added and many bugs were squashed. This is a huge patch, and many, many mods are broken. Mods have been disabled by default. If you have mods in your game, check with the creators of your mods for updates. If you update and leave your mods in, your game likely will not work.
Bug Fixes
The bug fixes are far too many to list here, so I’ll direct you to the Patch Notes.
Now, onto the new features!
Updated Teen Age Span
Teen age span has been extended. Teen age span is now 21 days on normal lifespan, up from 14. The age span for teens on short and long lifespans has been increased proportionally.
Sexual Orientation
Sims have not previously had defined orientations – it’s always been developed through gameplay. You can still do that – if you don’t change your Sims’ orientation they will still shift via gameplay as they always have – but if you wish to give your Sims specific preferences you can now do so. In CAS under gender options there’s now a tab for orientation, as shown below:
What’s shown is the default, and this is how it previously worked. Sims had no set orientation and it would shift through gameplay. If you deselect the exploring romantically option, your Sim will not change their orientation through gameplay and will refuse romantic socials from genders they are not interested in. There is also a new option for Sims to woohoo without any romantic attachment at all. Sims can ask their friends to be “Woohoo Partners”. So if you want to make an aromantic Sim that is not asexual (awoohoo?) you can! You can read more details about the new orientation options in SimGuruJessica’s Deep Dive Blog on the subject.
Curved Walls!
Ever want to have a castle with a round tower? Now you can! Curved walls are here! They work the same as curved decks, fences, and platforms, so if you’re familiar with those, it’s the same mechanic to place them. There are doors and windows that best fit the curved walls, and you can filter in build mode to show only those doors and windows.
New Floor
One new wooden floor pattern has been added to base game – the Antique Wood Strip Flooring
New Phone Interface
The phone interface has changed…rather a lot. It has app looking icons and generally looks a lot more like a smart phone screen than it used to. I’m going to be honest, I am not a fan of the change. I know I’ll get used to it because I feel about this the exact same way I felt about changing from my old Nokia phone to my first smart phone, waaay back in the day. But for now, I’m going to grumble until I do get used to it.
Body Hair
I was actually expecting this to be in the Werewolves pack, but I guess it makes sense to tie it to the high school pack because that’s when getting body hair often happens. The Base Game body hair can be added in CAS, either when Sims are created or by using the Change Sim option on the mirror. Both male and female Sims teen and older can have body hair.
Wants and Fears
Whims have been replaced with Wants and Fears. Wants are similar to Whims in that they are things your Sim will want to do, but there are now also Fears, which your Sim will “want to overcome”. I haven’t actually seen a fear yet, but the description reminds me of how it worked in The Sims 2. The wants I have seen so far seem to draw from Sims personality traits and their needs – a hungry sim will want to eat, for example. Like Whims, Wants and Fears can be turned off in gameplay options.
In conclusion, so many changes! I am excited about the sexual orientation changes, and hope to see them develop further in future updates. Body hair is also great – I have been wanting that for a long time. As I mentioned, I’m less excited about the restyled phone, but hopefully I’ll get used to it eventually.
Remember, this patch broke pretty much all the mods, including some of the utility mods that usually don’t need updating. So check with the creators of all your mods before you put them back in.
Happy Simming!
Leave a Comment