We heard a while back that there will be loading screens in between certain areas of the world. But where and when is still a bit fuzzy for a lot of us. Luckily @SimsVIP has asked the SimGuru’s to clarify when exactly the loading screens appear. @SimGuruGraham has also said that loading screens will be shorter than 30 seconds. E3 didn’t represent accurate loading times. Though you don’t really travel to another world or neighborhood, you just choose a lot in another world or neighborhood. So technically it’s just all lot to lot.

Loading screens will occur when going:

Active lot -> non active lot

Public space -> non active lot

Neighborhood -> neighborhood

World -> world

Loading screens will NOT occur when:

Active lot -> public space

Public space -> active lot

Public space is the space between lots. It’s a lot more interactive as it was in The Sims 3. Sims will also notice items in public spaces, so if they want to do a certain activity that’s not available on your lot, they could do that in the public spaces (if it’s available there).