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The Sims 4: Life In A Day



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SOME HIGHLIGHTS

Possible American frontier themed world or neighborhood: “a humble rural shack, surrounded by rolling framland, livestock and mountains in the distance”

Collectibles: “fossils, treasure and other hidden artifacts to be discovered”

A homeless man?

Two Sims with the same trait can energize each other. Showers can energize too.

Venues mentioned: Park, gym, Gothic museum, nightclub, library

Act Appropriate

“One of [the] things we wanted to do in The Sims 4 that we haven’t done very well in the past was to completely restructure the AI so that when you go to places they actually behave like they’re supposed to,” Rodiek explains. “They act like they’re at the gym; they act like they’re at a nightclub; they act like they’re at a library. And what this does is create very realistic situations.”



Parties

“Elsewhere, we’re given a quick demonstration of how to put together a party: set-up an event type (be it a party, date or wedding) and select guests from a contact book (these can fill roles such as bartender or supply music). You can even outline random objectives to be fulfilled at the event (such as socialising with a certain number of guests).”

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The Sims 4: A Life In A Day

We’ve given birth to them, nurtured them through existence and watched them shuffle off this mortal coil. But now Maxis is bringing to life the world of The Sims like never before. With exclusive access to The Sims 4, GamesTM spends a day in the life of a Sim.



In the beginning there was Sim and it was to be sculpted in the image of its creator. But what of this almighty deity’s own parentage? Was its father a slim, erudite gentleman cultivating a tidy soul patch and sporting a beret? Was its mother a frumpy Hispanic lady with a well-meaning perm? Wait, that doesn’t sound right. GamesTM doesn’t need to postulate of this existential quandary for too long; inside Maxis’ Redwood City studio we find The Sims 4 endeavouring to answer that question before our own very eyes. We’re tinkering inside the sequel’s character creation suite (Create-A-Sim mode; largely where The Sims experience begins for most players) and find that, after we’ve tweaked and sculpted our character, the game takes a punt at visualising the Sim’s parents. The outcome is horrifically fashionable and downright laughable due to the in-game logic. In generating the character’s genetic make-up, the game takes into account not only the physical properties of your own creation but also its fashion sense and attitude.



You see The Sims 4 isn’t just about directing soulless vessels to enact whichever menial task you have queued up for them today. It’s about integrating a sense of personality and purpose into each denizen of the virtual world, making each feel unique to the other in the way they appear, behave and interact with their surroundings. Given that The Sims has defined the simulator genre over the years, it’s a testament to the studio’s ambition that it continues to push the legacy of its franchise into more interesting directions. As we delve deeper into the game’s creation tools we find that it’s not just a logical progression of what has come before it, but a much more complex and deep simulator at the core of the experience.



“It’s the Create-A-Sim we’ve always wanted to make,” enthuses Maxis’ Rachel Franklin, VP and general manager at the studio. “We’ve completely revamped our creative tools. Our Create_A-Sim is now tactile, it’s powerful, and it allows you to create unique Sims with personality. It’s not about what they look like but who they are on the inside." In one example we’re shown a Sim being customised with a walk that endows him with a self-confident swagger, another Sim is tailored with a dainty stroll. These miniscule details are implemented to let anyone gain a snapshot of each Sim’s personality when viewed even from the game’s widest camera perspectives.



But, as it’s pointed out to us, this is still superficial. Further defining your character is the option to define its traits and longtime goals. You’re able to select an aspiration, which then give you three traits to choose from. Here’s a clear disparity in the previous systems. Whereas in previous games in the series your Sims would mostly obey your omnipotent commands, occasionally throwing a temper tantrum if the fridge was on the fritz or their bladder was in desperate need of relieving, here their traits define how they’ll approach a situation. There’s both a broad and astonishingly specific series of traits that can be paired with your Sim, each interlocking with your chosen aspiration. Intend to pursue a lifelong path of knowledge? Then your chosen traits might be computer whiz, nerd brain and renaissance kid. These would them unlock specific interactions with other like-minded Sims, while also enabling your Sim to learn certain skills faster.



Of course, you might opt to take a less determined approach. There are other traits that reflect social anxieties and personality quirks, the idea being to create organically dynamic scenarios with those that populate your neighbourhood. "In Sims 4 we’ve gone back to the Sims themselves,” states senior producer Lyndsay Pearson. “We’re giving you the ability to create and control these Sims that have emotions and purpose and really tell different stories. What you create and who you create influences what you can do and where you can go.”



Willow Creek is a location you might expect to find in a Disney film. Even without the perceptible air of whimsy that surrounds the quaint township in perpetual wholesomeness, there’s elegance to its design that creates a sense of style that has been absent from the series’ mundane apple-pie-suburban-America locales to date.



Take a look at The Sims 3 today and much of its landscape is flat and lifeless, its colours cluttered and noisy, its features bleeding into one another. By comparison, Willow Creek (the first of five districts revealed to date) is bustling with interesting focal points and architecture that draws the player into its grasp. The tonal touchstone here is Southern American states, evoking the lush green bayou of Mississippi, and the enrapturing gaze of New Orlean’s colourful streets at night. Its houses stretch out with wide porches, tethered to tall buildings by thin wooden columns.



It’s not just the Sims that have been endowed with personality, it’s the world itself, now brought to life with an endearing sense of identity. “It’s more thought out and more designed,” says lead concept artist, and all-round hyper-enthusiasm machine, Albert Truong, talking up the craftsmanship of the world. “There’s more thought put into the textures; more thought put into the details of objects like trees. We’re not really using photos [of trees]; we’re actually designing them, giving them a little bit of character.”



In the gaze of sunlight (unremitting as The Sims continues to not include a weather system) it’s a blissful hamlet both larger than anything that has come before and, in its own way more intimate. For the first time, you might feel obliged just to take a confident stroll around the block (or dainty stroll if that’s your chosen walk), absorbing the architectural nuance and immaculate balance of colours and features that make if feel like a legitimate location.



It’s not the only one, either. We press Truong about how other districts will continue to diversify the Sims universe: “You’ve seen the colour palettes, that’s what is distinctive about [the districts],” he coyly answers. “Each district will have its own colour palette. In The Sims 3, they all kind of looked the same, but here each will have its own colour palette. One might be lush and green; another might be warm and orange. You’ll be able to tell apart the different areas of it.”



We spot a drawing on a nearby whiteboard of a humble rual shack, surrounded by rolling farmland, livestock and mountains in the distance. Could the American frontier be another location in The Sims 4? Truong and his colleagues refuse to comment. But it’s a clear indicator that wherever else Maxis is taking its simulator, the world of The Sims is about to get much bigger. Expansion has always been a cornerstone of the franchise, though. From the humble foundations of your one-bedroom apartment to the construction of an imposing mansion that dominates the region, The Sims is just as much about leaving your own mark on the world as it is assimilating with it.



Certainly the aim here is to widen the tools with which the player can imprint something of their own personality into their designated allotment. Following from Create-A-Sim, the next step is Build Mode, where players are able to put their architectural knowledge to the test. The big difference here is the continuation of the tactile philosophy that forms the bedrock of the new approach to character creation. Rooms can be pinched and stretched to fit your creative whims, while the rest of your abode intelligently snaps into position, recognising quick iterations and structural changes you’ve implemented. However, it’s the small enhancements that really emphasise the flexibility of the new system. Simple additions such as the ability to individually place windows and adjust their height; raising the foundations of your building; roofs behaving like other rooms (with changes to curvature and other adjustments made on the fly). Whereas in The Sims 3 it often felt like you had to have a precise vision in place before you began building, The Sims 4 is about letting your creativity run rampant.



“What we really wanted to capture is the feeling of playing with blocks as a kid,” reveals veteran The Sims designer John Berges, imparting sage-like wisdom as we haplessly try to erect a two story townhouse that somehow looks like an aircraft hangar. “[In The Sims 4] you can pick stuff up, move them around – the game is always going to adapt to what you do, it’s not going to tell you to do anything – and you can keep placing things. It’s really about exploring the possibilities and letting that guide your creativity. It should be fun to make mistakes." Without sacrificing the depth that was already present (such as the wall tool or basic decoration tools), instead it’s about stripping back the routine and making it both exciting and accessible. More interesting is how the studio is giving the player the power to circumvent the entire build process entirely.



The Sims Exchange was an overlooked feature of The Sims3, enabling players to share their creations online and, in a convoluted process, download and place buildings and items into their own game. It’s a feature that has been promoted as a major tenet of The Sims 4, here titled Gallery, allowing players to simply browse the online catalogue and select fully-formed structures to be placed straight into their game. But even on a smaller level, those that don’t have any particular flair for interior design can furnish their house with any of the game’s Styled Rooms. These are created by Maxis; a selection of top-to-bottom decorated rooms that can be slotted together like building blocks.



There’s a significant portion of The Sims fanbase that simply enjoy the game for the simulation rather than incessant tinkering but Maxis aren’t ignoring the potential risk of these features nerfing creativity. "I’m hoping that players who are uncomfortable with Build Mode – who maybe found it a bit daunting in The Sims 3 – will use styled rooms and manipulate rooms and that will get them into Build Mode,” says Berges. “I want everyone who plays The Sims 4 to be building.”



It’s hard not to get caught up in the studio’s enthusiasm for creation in The Sims 4 and it’s a testament to the sheer volume of augmented options that the thought of getting your hands dirty in the sandbox remains alluring. While initially being liberated from the shackles of drawing simple lines and working within the rigid parameters that previously existed can be confusing, there’s no question that the process is much more gratifying. Even as we stare at what we’d describe as the Frankenstein’s Monster of houses that currently sits on the end of a tidy cul-de-sac in Willow Creek, it’s encouraging that all its quirks and flowed design options weren’t caused by limitations but the exact opposite.



Each district in The Sims 4 is comprised of three regions: residential, commercial and community. Maxis’ goal was for each of these areas is to dispense with zones isolated in purpose, but for each to cater for multiple activities. Stepping outside of our Sim’s house, we’re surrounded by lush willow trees, a river flows directly past the backyard and the rattling of a train heading into the industrial district can be heard in the distance. Much like The Sims 3, the local area will be packed with fossils, treasure and other hidden artefacts to be discovered, but there are also your neighbours and people walking around.



“The Sims 4 is a great game for people watching,” smiles producer Grant Rodiek. “One of the things I love about The Sims 4 is that we’ve generally taken the approach that we should enrich the simulator in general. We should enrich the Sims and everything about how they look. One of the things I love is that you can tell someone’s emotions just by looking at them; you can tell what type of person they are.”



Our Sim is feeling slightly peeved right now. He’s still reeling from a heated exchange he had with a bedraggled homeless man in the park earlier that day. Previously in The Sims when you had a negative emotional reaction to someone, you could often flip those feelings back into positive after a few canny dialogue choices. Here, things are much more pervasive. Not only will your Sims hold a grudge, but the impact of those interactions will have a direct effect on the way that your Sim continues to behave with the world around it. We’ve seen before how emotions can create a range of unique interactions with items in the world (in this case a red indicator on gym equipment enables the Sim to perform angry reps) but it also enables other Sims to have distinctive exchanges tied to its feelings. More so, tow Sims that share the same trait can energise each other through conversation and actions.



The neighborhood will always provide new dynamic relationship opportunities to engage with and there will be focal points within the community that drive together the locals. It could be a children’s climbing frame shaped like a pirate ship that sits in the center of a small grass patch surrounded by houses, or a BBQ pit that sits on the edge of the riverbank. Rather than having to switch between regions to satisfy the type of interactions you want to have, each area is crafted to support a diverse range of activities. Still, we drop into the commercial district to check out what’s on offer. Our Sim heads to the gym, but there’s a nearby museum and library that also offer a range of recreational activities that Sims can engage with either solo and, yes, even in a group.



“When your Sim starts out, your Sim doesn’t have a lot of money,” says Rodiek. “They might want to do stuff and it’s not really fun to sit at home and stare at the wall. I remember getting out of college – it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. So what we have are venues where you can go and meet people and use all sorts of cool, exciting objects that you can’t afford at home.”



After a shower that energises our Sim’s workout session, she takes to a treadmill. The Sims 4 strives to create social situations that, for all intents and purposes, reflect real life; the goal being to dispense with the static and limited interactions that previously existed in favour of something more organic. So this allows our Sim to flirt with another gym patron while getting her workout on and elsewhere, she enjoys saoking in the history of a gothic museum with the Goth family patriarch.



“One of [the] things we wanted to do in The Sims 4 that we haven’t done very well in the past was to completely restructure the AI so that when you go to places they actually behave like they’re supposed to,” Rodiek explains. “They act like they’re at the gym; they act like they’re at a nightclub; they act like they’re at a library. And what this does is create very realistic situations.”



Much of what has been achieved has been a gradual clean-up of the game’s mechanics and systems. The studio emphasises that this enables the Sims’ personality to take precedence and, indeed, there’s certainly more freedom of personal expression. But there’s also a noticeable clarity to the interface, menus driven by simplicity without compromising comprehensiveness (Rodiek reckons there’s 80% less UI than in The Sims 3, but can’t confirm that). When building and decorating property, a new search bar function enables players to quickly find the items they’re looking for without having to figure out their nebulous classification. Elsewhere, we’re given a quick demonstration of how to put together a party: set-up an event type (be it a party, date or wedding) and select guests from a contact book (these can fill roles such as bartender or supply music). You can even outline random objectives to be fulfilled at the event (such as socialising with a certain number of guests).



But it would be a party without a little drama and as the night draws in and our day with The Sims 4 comes to a close we’re given another glimpse into some of the interesting ways that the Sims will interact with one another. “You actually have two different relationship tracks in The Sims 4,” reveals Ryan Vaughn, producer on The Sims 4. “Not only do you have a friendship track but you also have a romantic track. This is what is allowing us to have brand new relationship types in The Sims 4. We have these amazing brand new Sim-to-Sim interactions." We’re shown an example. Our Sim starts talking to its introverted flatmate. While their friendship track is in the red, indicating the two are enemies, the romance track is high, meaning that the two are in an amusing state of being ‘enemies with benefits.’



By now the party is in full swing: the homeless guy that terrorized our Sim the previous day has somehow found himself a tuxedo and is socialising in one corner, while Elton John (not an official character) plays the piano on the other side of the room. Some people are dancing, a group of five are having what appears to be a compelling conversation, while a pair of guests are watching television while Kim Jong-Un observes. Wait. Kim Jong-Un – who invited that guy? We let bygones be bygones with the homeless guy, but we draw the line at communist dictators. Our Sim moves towards the supreme leader of North Korea, throws a drink in his face and gets into a scuffle.



As the camera pans back and we watch the rest of Willow Creek get on with its daily life, it’s clear that The Sims 4 is succeeding in creating life in a torrent of chaos and complexity. When The Sims 4 launches in September this year, it’ll engage with its audience in richer and more rewarding ways than the series has ever come close to before. We decided to hit the gym, pick a fight with a nefarious dictator and build a hideous aircraft hangar. But in The Sims 4, much like life, the possibilities are endless.



The Making of The Sims 4



GamesTM chats to Maxis’ VP and general manager Rachel Franklin, senior producer Lyndsay Pearson and producer Ryan Vaughn about the evolution of The Sims.



What have been the major developments since the game’s announcement almost a year ago?

Franklin: [The fans] have had pretty deep exposure when we ran the Sims Camp last year. We had about 40 people that were exposed to Build Mode (that wasn’t at Gamescom) and the purpose was to get them deeply into it. They loved the features, even the little enhancements like spandrels. It’s those details that they get very excited about. So really, we’ve been finding out how Build Mode felt, what it’s like to place a room down. We’ve been refining that experience and spending our time on making sure it feels great.



Pearson: In addition to that, it has been opening up that vibrant neighbourhood we’ve been talking about and all those opportunities out there. We’ve been looking at all the potential out there and we’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback. Pushing that forward was definitely something we’ve spent a lot of time on since the announcement.



How have you made the world more unified than in previous Sims games?

Pearson: We wanted these places to feel very real and believable just like the way we invest in the Sims themselves. You want the commerical district to feel like it could be just down the street from your house. You want to feel like that’s an actual believable place. So you’ll [have] that theme throughout the different neighborhoods that’ll tie that theme together. It makes it clear why you see that same guy down the bar that you saw in the park earlier that day – it feels like one connected place.



Vaughn: We had those really big open worlds in The Sims 3 and while they were great they often felt sparse and empty. We really wanted to hone on that experience and tie it back to The Sims. We wanted to make sure that those relationships you’re having – whether with your neighbour or the guy down the street – felt natural. You go across the street and meet the mailman and strike up a conversation and then later you’ll see him at the bar playing piano. It’s a lot of fund and bringing that sense of community has been a key push.



What sort of opportunities does this wider neighbourhood offer on a gameplay level?

Pearson: The fact that you could take your Sim out at any point and go to the park, you could get there and there’s a different person each time and that person is going to have a different emotion and a different story to tell. It’s something you see a lot in pop culture and in movies, that magic moment where someone meets and their lives change forever. It’s that kidn of thing where Sims are going to run into each other and they’ll have things going on in their lives and bounce off them in interesting ways. That’s going to be different each time you go out into that world; each time you go into that park or into a bar. You’ll get to see that continuity. One day there will be a sad girl crying on the bench, the next day she’ll be strolling along happy or really confident and you can jump into that story and decide to learn more or just watch it happen.



Vaughn: In previous iterations you could have an interaction that was negative between two Sims and ten minutes later they are best friends. With emotions and then combine that with new neighborhoods, you get into a fight with your neighbour one day and then tomorrow you head down to the park and they’re there too and they’re in that angry mood against each other. Their relationship state persists through the day and is reflected in a way that is much more natural and believable.



Franklin: I want to point out that the player control is all there. Even though we’re allowing for these wonderful situations to happen outside in the neighbourhood or in your home, it’s to give the player – who is actively driving their Sim – just different opportunities to story tell with.



What about for the insular players who like to keep things about their own creations. How have you catered for them?

Pearson: The combinations we’ve talked about, the way you set their personalities, set their traits, that for the people who want to play within their little story, that changes the way you strategise what you want to do there and the choices you make on that path. So if you want to tell the story of the tortured painter, you can make the gloomy Sim who is also a loner but very creative. You can spend his days refining his skills and getting him in the mood to make sure he’s painting the best possible paintings. Only inviting certain people to be his friends so they help him in certain ways; bringing in other artists that are highly skilled to mentor him – you can use all of those influences to tell any size story. If you want it to be the epic across-neighourhood story you can, but if you want it to be focused on your Sim and its family then it’s about the dynamics between them.



How are you making sure that all these ready-made homes won’t inspire builder apathy, considering their depth and range?

Pearson: We see players inspiring each other regularly. In the forum they set daily challenges – it’s one of the most inspiring parts of our community. I think a lot of it will be them driving each other to try new things. We see them drawing inspiration from pop culture events and things going on in the world, so because it’s a game about life they pull inspiration from everywhere.



How would you guys say the simulation genre has evolved since the last game?

Franklin: As far as the simulation genre is concerned, when we were talking about those need states – creativity, humour and the escape – there really is no other game that satisfies those as deeply as The Sims does. We do put time and passion into making the best creation tools, the best life simulation and our sharing experience – all of these things together are a unique experience. I would venture to say that there’s no other game like The Sims. –GamesTM

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