The Sims 4

The Sims 4 is the fourth installment in The Sims franchise. Like the previous games in the series, The Sims 4 focuses on creating and controlling a neighborhood of virtual people, called "Sims". The Sims 4 boasts an overhauled and intuitive Create a Sim, updated building tools, and deeper, more complex Sims through the addition of emotions and new traits.

The Sims 4 was released in North America on September 2, 2014, and in other places worldwide shortly thereafter for PC. A Mac version of the game was announced at the same time but a release date was not specified until early 2015. It was released on February 17, 2015, several months after the PC version. Console versions of The Sims 4 were released on November 17, 2017, for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This is the first time the full base game and content packs are available for consoles, unlike previous iterations in which a watered down version of the game was used.

Official description
The Sims 4 is the highly anticipated life simulation game that lets you play with life like never before. Control smarter Sims with unique appearances, personalities, behaviors, and emotions. Experience new levels of creativity when you sculpt Sims with the powerful Create A Sim and design beautiful homes with tactile, room-based Build Mode. Use The Gallery to browse, share, and download new content without ever leaving your game. Control the mind, body, and heart of your Sims and explore your new gameplay possibilities in vibrant neighborhoods that bring your stories to life.
 * Smarter Sims. Weirder Stories


 * Features
 * Smarter Sims – Create and control smarter Sims with unique appearances, personalities, and emotions in The Sims 4.
 * Create unique Sims and customize their appearance, fashion styles, personality traits, skills, careers, and walk styles. For the first time, Sims both feel and express emotions. Your Sims experience a range of emotional states driven by your actions and influenced by other Sims, events, and objects within the game. Emotions offer you more choices and give you the opportunity to create gameplay moments with even more possibilities. Enjoy how your Sims interact and express their distinct personalities in social settings within the game.


 * Create and control the mind, body, and heart of your Sims and bring your stories to life like never before in The Sims 4.


 * Powerful, Creative Tools – Create A Sim and Build Mode are more powerful, intuitive, and fun than ever before. You have the control to sculpt Sims with tactile precision. Effortlessly construct the home of your dreams with the all new, room-based Build Mode.
 * Vibrant Neighborhoods – Experience new gameplay opportunities brought to life within vibrant and dynamic neighborhoods. Choose among beautiful and diverse lots for your Sims to build their homes and explore activities. Expand your social circle and interact with other Sims in the neighborhood and hang out in community parks and venues.
 * Rich Rewards – Earn new objects, outfits, and traits by completing events, discovering collectibles, and unlocking achievements.
 * Share Your Creations – The Gallery allows you to browse, share, and download new content without ever leaving your game. Get inspired by rich content created by The Sims community and add new experiences to your game.

Create a Sim
Create a Sim is revitalized, making it more intuitive, flexible, and detailed than in previous games. Sims' physical features are customized by clicking-and-dragging on different parts of the body. It is described as being like clay by multiple people in the community. Overall body size and amount of muscle are adjusted by sliders, but the size and shape of individual body parts can be adjusted individually, allowing players to make Sims with unique body shapes. Sims' facial features are also customized by the same click-and-drag mechanic. There is also a "detail mode," which allows more precise modification of certain facial features. All changes made to one side of the body or head are automatically made to the opposite side.

Emotions
Sims in The Sims 4 have more emotional depth than in any previous game in the series. A Sims' emotional state affects which actions they perform and how the actions are performed. One Sim's emotions can affect other Sims around them. Sims in extreme emotional states can even be killed by their emotions. The emotions that a Sim can or will experience are affected by their moodlets, traits, and life stage.

In-game Gallery
The gallery is an in-game exchange feature, allowing players to share their Sims, families, and buildings with other Sims players. Players can add their creations to the gallery, or pull other player creations into their game quickly. The gallery is fully integrated into The Sims 4; everything added to the game through the gallery is immediately playable, without the need to restart the game. An internet connection is required to access the gallery. The console versions of The Sims 4 do not have the gallery.

Build mode
The Sims 4 features a revitalized, room-based build mode. Rooms are placed down and then stretched in all directions until they reach the desired size and shape. Rooms and entire houses can be picked up and moved around the lot, including all objects, floor and wall coverings, doors and windows. The Sims 4 improves upon the blueprint mode of The Sims 3, allowing players to place down fully-furnished rooms in a variety of styles; these rooms can then be resized, moved and adjusted as well. Players can also upload their rooms to the Gallery or download rooms from the Gallery to add to houses.

Several pre-existing build mode features have also been updated. Walls and half walls now have one of three different heights, set on each individual level of a building. Windows placed on walls can be moved up or down vertically along the wall. Windows can be automatically added to rooms, then adjusted by the player as needed. Columns automatically stretch or contract to match the height of the walls on a particular level, and can be added to railings without the use of the moveobjects cheat. Foundations are no longer treated as separate levels on a building. Foundations can be added to or removed from a building, even if the building is already built, and the height of the foundation can be adjusted.

Creatures

 * In The Sims 4, ghosts exist after a Sim has died. They will float around either possessing objects, spooking Sims, or acting out based on how they died. They also can acquire abilities in death based on how they died; such as a ghost who died by fire can start fires when angry. Ghosts can be revived through a multitude of ways through ambrosia, book of life, etc.
 * Aliens are introduced in The Sims 4: Get to Work. They can be naturally found by venturing in the scientist career, exploring Sixam, or creating them in Create a Sim. Aliens have an assortment of abilities such as erasing minds, empathizing, and even transmuting metals, crystals, and elements. Aliens have a human form in order to blend in human society and can be caught as an alien by other Sims.
 * Vampires are introduced in The Sims 4: Vampires. Sims can be turned into a vampire by vampires who have the "Vampire Creation" perk or can be created in Create a Sim. Vampires have a large array of powers and abilities through their own powers menu. but at the same time they have to acquire weaknesses to balance out. Vampires can train and learn from other vampires to rise in the ranks and become even more powerful.
 * Dogs, Cats, Foxes, and Raccoons are introduced in The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs. Pets count as a part of the Sim's household, unlike The Sims 3: Pets and more like The Sims 2: Pets, they cannot be controlled.
 * Skeletons are introduced in The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure. Skeletons are mostly NPC's however Sims can temporarily become skeletons via relics found within the tomb.
 * Rodents are introduced in The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff. There are multiple rodents and can be tended to by Sims, they can be given special treats to add features or make them less intelligent. They also can cause rabid rodent fever which can cause death in Sims who are bitten.
 * Mermaids are introduced in The Sims 4: Island Living. They are naturally found in the world of Sulani, but Sims can become mermaids thorugh "Mermadic Kelp" or can be created in Create a Sim. Mermaids flourish in the water and have many water based abilities as well as the ability to hypnotically effect other Sim's emotions through siren songs.
 * Spellcasters and Familiars are introduced in The Sims 4: Realm of Magic. Sims can become spellcasters through the three sages in the Magic Realm, through magical lineage, or created in Create a Sim. Spellcasters are magically imbued Sims who can cast spells, concoct potions, and grow in their own ranks and perk system much like vampires. Familiars are magical creatures that aid spellcasters in duelling and spellcasting as well as can protect them from death.
 * Servos are introduced in The Sims 4: Discover University. Students that reach level 8 of their robotics skill can build one, it then joins the active sim’s household. Its name, traits and color can all be customized. They have less needs and are efficient in gaining skills; they are however, afraid of water (including rain) and will turn into a pile of scrap should they encounter water for too long.

Worlds and neighborhoods
In The Sims 4, the classic concept of neighborhoods has been replaced with worlds. Each world consists of multiple distinct neighborhoods. Sims can be in any or all neighborhoods within a world at a given time, but the player can only fully control interactions and actions within whichever neighborhood is loaded at the time. Sims outside the loaded neighborhood can still be controlled to a limited degree. Players can switch between which neighborhood is loaded, though this brings up a loading screen.

The Sims 4 was initially released with two worlds—Oasis Springs and Willow Creek. An additional free world, Newcrest, was added in a subsequent base game patch.

Most expansion packs of The Sims 4 introduced new worlds to the game. Get to Work introduced Magnolia Promenade, which is a standalone neighborhood and not a full-sized world. Get Together came with Windenburg, a European-inspired world. In City Living, San Myshuno was introduced—a city that has a variety of apartments. It is the first world that has named neighborhoods, though they are more commonly referred to as districts. Cats &amp; Dogs introduced a coastal world called Brindleton Bay. In Get Famous, a Los Angeles-inspired world called Del Sol Valley was introduced. It is mainly created for players to experience the acting career included in the pack and watch their Sims rise up in fame. Island Living has a tropical world named Sulani, a fully residential world inspired by Polynesian islands. Discover University introduces Britechester, a campus world with two rival universities. Eco Lifestyle added the coastal world of Evergreen Harbor, a sustainable development-focused world that can change from polluted to lush with sim intervention and conservation.

A number of game packs for The Sims 4 also came with new worlds, albeit mostly smaller than the expansion pack worlds. Vampires introduced Forgotten Hollow, a one-neighborhood world created primarily for the game pack's new life state, vampires, to live in. StrangerVille introduced StrangerVille, a desert-like residential world inspired by the American southwest. Realm of Magic introduced an alpine wooded small world named Glimmerbrook, as well as the secret world of The Magic Realm. Outdoor Retreat and Jungle Adventure introduced the vacation-only worlds of Granite Falls and Selvadorada, respectively.

The Sims 4 contains many references to worlds in The Sims 3 despite being in a parallel universe. One example would be for a Sim to receive a postcard from Sunset Valley, which is a world in The Sims 3.

Expansion packs
Like previous entries in the The Sims series, expansion packs have also been released for the game. So far, eight expansion packs have been released, with a ninth in development. The first expansion for the game, The Sims 4: Get to Work was released in March 2015 and includes following your sims in the doctor, detective and science careers, open their own retail business and the alien lifestate. Its second expansion, The Sims 4: Get Together was released in December 2015, with a major focus on socializing, parties and joining clubs as well as its North Europe-inspired world of Windenburg. The Sims 4's third expansion, The Sims 4: City Living was released in November 2016. It centers on life in the city world of San Myshuno as well as apartments, karaoke and festivals. The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs was released in November 2017 as the game's fourth expansion pack - it allows the ownership and care of cats and dogs, building/managing your own vet clinic as a business as well as the coastal world of Brindleton Bay. The fifth expansion, The Sims 4: Seasons was released in June 2018 and introduced weather, seasonal progression, holidays and a gardener career. The Sims 4: Get Famous was released in November 2018 as the game's sixth expansion, with its focus on celebrity life, fame, an acting career and the Los Angeles-inspired world of Del Sol Valley. In June 2019 the game's seventh expansion, The Sims 4: Island Living was released. It primarily focuses on the Polynesian-inspired tropical world of Sulani with features such as relaxation, ocean swimming, water vehicles, beaches, a conservationist career and the mermaid lifestate. The game's eighth expansion, The Sims 4: Discover University was released in November 2019 and allows sims to attend two rival universities in Britechester, as well as features such as roommates, law, education and engineering careers and Servo robots. The ninth and most recent expansion, The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle is due for a June 2020 release and focuses on sustainability, green energy, crafting and its industrial-based world of Evergreen Harbor.
 * The Sims 4: Get to Work
 * The Sims 4: Get Together
 * The Sims 4: City Living
 * The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs
 * The Sims 4: Seasons
 * The Sims 4: Get Famous
 * The Sims 4: Island Living
 * The Sims 4: Discover University
 * The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle (in development)

Game packs
New to The Sims 4 are "game packs". Game packs are generally smaller than full expansion packs, but have more content than stuff packs. So far, eight game packs have been released.
 * The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat
 * The Sims 4: Spa Day
 * The Sims 4: Dine Out
 * The Sims 4: Vampires
 * The Sims 4: Parenthood
 * The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure
 * The Sims 4: StrangerVille
 * The Sims 4: Realm of Magic 

Stuff packs
As with previous The Sims titles, stuff packs have also been released for the game. So far, sixteen stuff packs have been released, with a seventeenth stuff pack in development:
 * The Sims 4: Luxury Party Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Perfect Patio Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Cool Kitchen Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Spooky Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Movie Hangout Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Romantic Garden Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Kids Room Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Backyard Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Vintage Glamour Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Bowling Night Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Fitness Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Toddler Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Laundry Day Stuff
 * The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Moschino Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Tiny Living Stuff
 * The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting Stuff (in development)

Free packs
Free Packs are content packs available on Origin to download for no additional price. Only one free pack has been released for the game.
 * The Sims 4: Holiday Celebration Pack is a free downloadable add-on that features festive decorations and clothing which was originally released on December 16, 2014. Since then it has been updated five times with extra content, for the Holiday seasons in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Bundle packs
Bundle Packs are released periodically and include multiple titles from The Sims 4 for a reduced cost than buying them all separately.
 * Bundle Pack 1: Spa Day, Perfect Patio Stuff, Luxury Party Stuff
 * Bundle Pack 2: Outdoor Retreat, Cool Kitchen Stuff, Spooky Stuff
 * Bundle Pack 3: Dine Out, Movie Hangout Stuff, Romantic Garden Stuff
 * Bundle Pack 4: Vampires, Kids Room Stuff, Backyard Stuff
 * Bundle Pack 5: Parenthood, Bowling Night Stuff, Vintage Glamour Stuff
 * Bundle Pack 6: Jungle Adventure, Fitness Stuff, Toddler Stuff

Patches
The Sims 4 receives game updates through Origin. Game updates may consist of bug fixes, minor additions, and new features. Some patches are notable for including major additions or features to the game.
 * The October 1, 2014 patch added the ghost life state and Star Wars costume set.
 * The November 4, 2014 patch added swimsuit clothing category and swimming pools.
 * The December 16, 2014 patch added two new careers, athletic and business.
 * The February 3, 2015 patch reintroduced the use of family trees.
 * The March 26, 2015 patch added the basement tool
 * The June 11, 2015 patch added a new empty world, Newcrest, and the custom room tool.
 * The July 9, 2015 patch added half walls and lockable doors.
 * The August 6, 2015 patch added dishwashers.
 * The September 24, 2015 patch added a new trait, jealous, as well as the option for a Sim to "claim" a bed.
 * The November 3, 2015 patch added a new repairman Service to the phone who will come to the Sims house and repair items. The patch also added 6 new items from the Halloween #TeamTreat and #TeamTrick event; 3 #TeamTreat items and 3 #TeamTrick items comprising of 2 Doors, 2 Fish Bowls and 2 Storage Chests each themed after Team Treat and Team Trick.
 * The December 4, 2015 patch introduced a 64-bit version of the game. Bartenders, caterers, and masseuses can now be hired. New group behaviors were introduced. A new pool venue and pool coloring were also added.
 * The February 4, 2016 patch introduced the Tragic Clown painting, gardener NPC, Grilled Cheese aspiration and kleptomaniac trait.
 * The March 22, 2016 patch introduced Jasmine Holiday with the Spring Challenge and Growfruits.
 * The April 21, 2016 patch reintroduced the Tragic Clown as an NPC.
 * The June 2, 2016 patch expanded CAS gender customization options allowing both genders to wear any clothing and hairstyle, masculine or feminine body frame, whether they can get pregnant, and if they use the toilet standing. As well as updating and improving UI.
 * The June 23, 2016 patch returned the monsters under bed feature for children's beds as well as the feature for the child to befriend the monster.
 * The July 14, 2016 patch returned nannies as a hirable NPC, and added new UI changes.
 * The August 16, 2016 patch returned customisable phone skins in a variety of colours and styles. As well as, Grim's Ghoulish Guitar if the player signed up to the Sims Newsletter.
 * The September 27, 2016 patch added a new recipe "Pan de Muerto" and many new outfits and objects to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
 * The October 27, 2016 patch added lot traits and the copy room tool.
 * The December 1, 2016 patch added more objects to the Holiday Celebration pack, as well as new interfaces for alien Sims such as an alien icon above traits in CAS, switch between disguise and alien form within CAS, and a metal plate around the middle of their plumbob in-game.
 * The January 12, 2017 patch added toddlers, loads of toddler items in buy mode, new kids toys, new teeth options, new skin colors and a new "Creepy" walk style.
 * The February 2, 2017 patch redesigned the main menu and added a new celebration shirt.
 * The March 23, 2017 patch added the new lot trait "Teen Hangout".
 * The May 25, 2017 patch redesigned the load game menu and added 3 new ceiling lights to build mode.
 * The September 12, 2017 patch added a new gallery interface, and 21 new CAS and build mode items.
 * The November 7, 2017 patch added new roof styles and options, abilities to control Sim culling and the photography skill that was originally from Get to Work.
 * The February 6, 2018 patch added one new female hairstyle, a new T-shirt and 10 new skin tones.
 * The February 22, 2018 patch upgraded and added new reward traits, as well as a new toddler bed.
 * The March 8, 2018 patch added the Noctis Lucis Caelum costume from Final Fantasy XV, due to EA's game crossover partnership.
 * The June 19, 2018 patch added glass roofs, two new clothing categories and overhauled the gardening system.
 * The July 31, 2018 patch overhauled The Gallery.
 * The August 16, 2018 patch added various Caribbean-inspired clothing, hair, makeup and furniture, along with sliding doors and decorative ceiling fans.
 * The November 13, 2018 patch added terrain tools, updates to foundations, additional basement levels and half wall heights, the Style Influencer career, self-employment, first person camera, a brand new tutorial and new clothing to Create a Sim.
 * The February 5, 2019 patch added new objects, clothing and food recipes themed around the Chinese New Year.
 * The April 16, 2019 patch added three new freelance careers, new objects and clothing, and a Freezer Bunny hoodie made in collaboration with Italian Fashion House, Moschino.
 * The June 18, 2019 patch added a randomize traits button to Create a Sim, a portable lounge chair, 350 new swatches for doors, stilted foundations, clothing optional and off-the-grid lot traits, part-time jobs for Sims older than teens, new interactions to swimming, new additions to fishing, and various new pride month related objects and clothing.
 * The July 16, 2019 patch added more clothing and accessories to the base game, a Create a Sim stories feature that allows players to create Sims with more starting conditions, a new cheat in build mode to unlock previously inaccessible world decoration objects, and a rebrand to the entire game.
 * The August 8, 2019 patch changed the new loading screen to a darker tone and added more options to photography.
 * The September 5, 2019 patch added more customization options for stairs, allowing for configurations such as L-shaped and U-shaped stairs, as well as new Create a Sim and build mode content in celebration of the game's 5th anniversary.
 * The November 12, 2019 patch added the ability to stretch out columns over multiple stories as well as UI scaling, updated the Holiday Celebration Pack with more clothes for children and toddlers, and made the Hip-Hop radio station available in the base game.
 * The December 12, 2019 patch added music to the alternative radio station.
 * The January 16, 2020 patch added the ability to upgrade beds to upgrade their comfort and energy gain, as well as added more slots to accent tables for objects to be placed.
 * The February 4, 2020 patch added a new base game hot tub and new music.

Legacy edition
On March 19, 2019, EA announced that it was ending support for versions of The Sims 4 running on non- Macs and on 32-bit operating systems in June 2019. However plans for this were pushed back with no further announcements. However, on November 12, 2019, /Patch 88/ officially discontinued support for 32-bit and non-Metal systems, requiring all The Sims 4 content released after this date to be 64-bit or Metal compatible. The Sims 4: Legacy Edition was released on the same date - it is available only to players who run The Sims 4 on non-Metal Macs or on 32-bit PCs. All The Sims 4 content released before November 12, 2019 is compatible with Legacy Edition, but no content or game patches are compatible after that date. The Gallery, game banners, and social integrations are also disabled in Legacy Edition.

Create a Sim demo
On July 7, 2014, Rachel Franklin (SimGuruRachel) announced the debut of The Sims 4 Create a Sim Demo. Starting on July 8, a limited number of Sims players were given early access to the demo. A week later, on July 15, the public was able to sign up for access to the demo, though not everyone who signed up received access. On August 12, the demo was made public and available to everyone, through Origin.

The demo allows players to create only young adult Sims, and features the body sculpting tools in the base game Create a Sim. The demo also gives access to the Gallery. Sims created by other players or by Maxis can be downloaded into the demo and adjusted, and players can add their own Sims to the gallery as well. Sims created in the demo are exportable to The Sims 4.

Other Information

 * The Sims 4 is set in a new time period and has no continuity to previous games. However, some Sims from previous games (such as the Goth family) appear; the timeline for The Sims 4 therefore exists in an "alternate universe" from the timeline of the first three games.
 * The Sims 4 had an autosave feature which was removed in Patch 50.
 * Toddlers did not initially appear in The Sims 4 base game. The life stage was completely left out of the game, and was not combined with the baby stage. However, they were added in with the January 12, 2017 update after two years of the game's initial release.
 * Swimming pools were not included in the base game, however, they were re-added in Patch 7.
 * The Sims 4 is playable in a single player offline mode and the core of the game is intended to be played offline. The game doesn't require a constant internet connection. However, the Origin client is required in order to install the game, and an internet connection is required to access the in-game content Gallery.
 * Voice-over content in the game is completely new; there are no recycled Sim voices from previous games.
 * The Sims 4 uses a new game engine that bears little to no resemblance to the engine used in The Sims 3.
 * The soundtrack for The Sims 4 is composed by English film composer Ilan Eshkeri.
 * The Sims 4's original loading screen was changed in a patch.
 * The Sims 4 receives free content updates every month, with the exception of January. However, in January 2017, a free update brought in toddlers to the game.
 * Similarly to the previous games, players can add custom music to the game.

Announcement
On Monday, May 6, 2013, Maxis confirmed that it will be released on Mac and PC in 2014. The original game announcement reads:

The Sims franchise is fueled by the passion and creativity of its millions of fans around the world. Their continued devotion to the franchise ignites the fire of creativity of the team at The Sims Studio, driving them to continually improve and innovate on one of the world’s most successful simulation game that has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

The Sims 4 celebrates the heart and soul of the Sims themselves, giving players a deeper connection with the most expressive, surprising and charming Sims ever in this single-player offline experience. The Sims 4 encourages players to personalize their world with new and intuitive tools while offering them the ability to effortlessly share their creativity with friends and fans.

They say that the eyes are the window into the soul, let’s just say that these eyes are a window into our future. We can’t wait to show you more.

Gamescom Reveal and Leak
The Sims 4 had a major reveal, including a trailer, at Gamescom on August 20, 2013 (14:00 UTC) and a further preview on August 22, 2013 at (15:00 UTC) containing a live gameplay demo. The preview was shown at EA channel in Twitch, instead of streaming via TheSims channel on YouTube.

Meanwhile, SimsCamp was an event planned for late August, 2013 in Cologne, Germany. It was centered around 'The Sims 4' reveal at Gamescom. Many well-known fansites and personalities (called the "YibSims", meaning best friends in Simlish) were invited to be part of the event. They had the opportunity to ask questions and play the game for the first time.

Before the Gamescom reveal, multiple fansites created articles which leaked the game's previews and information, which was found on the servers running on thesims.com website. There were many renders leaked as well and the leak also included an article from PC Powerplay, a gaming magazine.

The reveal was presented by Rachel Franklin, the executive producer on The Sims 4. She explained "SmartSim", a feature which enriches emotions for the Sims. In the game, the Sims' emotions are affected in many ways, for example, relationships, furniture, etc.

She also showed "creative tools", like the familiar Create a Sim and Build Mode, which was reinvented to make them "intuitive, powerful and flexible". She also showed new and returning objects like a voodoo doll, a violin and a punching bag. At the end of the reveal, she stated that the official website for The Sims 4 was ready, and pre-orders for Limited Edition and Digital Deluxe could be made.

Release information
The game was to be released early in 2014, but the date was pushed back to late 2014. At the 2014 E3, an official North America release date of September 2, 2014 was confirmed.

Gallery
Official images=

References and notes
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