The Sims 4

The Sims 4

Fourth main title in The Sims series

The Sims Wiki's Featured Article for September 2014.

The Sims 4

Smarter Sims, Weirder Stories
Development
Developer(s)	Maxis, The Sims Studio
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Ratings	CERO: C ESRB: T ^[1] FPB: 13 ACB: M ^[2] PEGI: 12 Federal Law of Russian Federation: 18^[3]
Series	The Sims
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows ^NA September 2, 2014^[4]^[5]^[6] ^GB September 5, 2014 ^EU September 4, 2014 ^JP September 4, 2014 ^AUS September 4, 2014 macOS ^INT February 17, 2015 Xbox One, PlayStation 4 ^INT November 17, 2017
Technical information
Platform(s)	Windows, macOS
Mode(s)	Single-player
System requirements	Minimum system requirements on TheSims.com
Game features
Genres	Life simulation
Creatures	Sim, Ghost, Grim Reaper, PlantSim
Worlds	Oasis Springs, Willow Creek, Newcrest
Related pages
Patches and updates
Cheats

Shortcuts

4
TS4
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 dumb traits.

The Sims 4 was released in North America on September 2, 2014,^[4] 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.^[7] Console versions of The Sims 4 were released on November 17, 2017, for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.^[8] 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

Smarter Sims. Weirder Stories

Features^[9]

Stupid 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.

Game features

Create a Sim

Main article: Create a Sim#The Sims 4

File:Sims 4 - Character Customisation E3 2014

One of the most groundbreaking aspects of The Sims 4 is its intense character customization options

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

Main article: Emotion

Sims in The Sims 4 have more emotional redtard 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

Main article: 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 Gallery was added to console versions on January 16, 2020. Subscriptions are not required to access the Gallery; only an EA account is required. Console players are freely able to share content with PC and Mac players, and vice versa.

Build mode

File:The Sims 4 Build Mode Official Gameplay Trailer

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

Main article: Life state

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 ag 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.
The June 3, 2020 patch added ladders, firefighters, (base game) repo-men, an expanded inventory system, free placement of windows and doors on walls, expanded bills & utilities, an off-the-grid build mode category, and updated pre-City Living worlds to have neighborhood descriptions.
The November 10, 2020 patch added platforms and more half walls in build mode, new music in S-Pop, sentiments, Sim profiles and vacationing in any world.
The December 8, 2020 patch added sliders for skintones and make-up.
The January 21, 2021 patch added the Scared emotion and retrofitted 60+ tense moodlets to be scared.
The March 23, 2021 patch added bunk beds, two improved hairs, and extra swatches to decor art posters and paintings.

Legacy edition

On March 19, 2019, EA announced that it was ending support for versions of The Sims 4 running on non-Metal Macs and on 32-bit operating systems in June 2019.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]
The Sims 4 had an autosave feature which was removed in Patch 50.^[15] However, it's still available in the console versions of the game.
Toddlers did not initially appear in The Sims 4 base game.^[16] The life stage was completely left out of the game, and was not combined with the baby stage.^[17] However, they were added in with the January 12, 2017 update after two years of the game's initial release.^[18]
Swimming pools were not included in the base game,^[16] 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.^[19]^[20] However, the Origin client is required in order to install the game,^[21] 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.^[22]
The Sims 4 uses a new game engine that bears little to no resemblance to the engine used in The Sims 3.^[23]
The soundtrack for The Sims 4 is composed by English film composer Ilan Eshkeri.^[24]
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.^[25] 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.

Development

Announcement

On Monday, May 6, 2013, Maxis confirmed that it will be released on Mac and PC in 2014.^[26] 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.^[27]

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.^[28] 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.^[5] At the 2014 E3, an official North America release date of September 2, 2014 was confirmed.^[4]

Notes

The Sims 4 was released for OS X on February 17, 2015, over five months after the Windows release of the game. The Sims 4 was the first game in the series since The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories to have separate release dates for Windows and OS X.
Unlike The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval, digital versions of The Sims 4 will work on OS X, but not DVDs. This is the opposite of The Sims 3, where DVD versions could be played on OS X, but digital versions could not, although this was changed when Origin came out on Mac in 2013.
The Sims 4 is the first base game to require activation with Origin.
The price of The Sims 4 ($60 to $80)^[29] is higher than The Sims 3 (originally $50 to $70; currently $20) making it slightly more expensive. However, The Sims 3 can cost up to $340 or more, if all the current game and store content is bought. However, all the content for The Sims 4 would cost a lot more than all of The Sims 3 content, with all packs costing over $1000 in most countries.
- With the Premium Edition costing $80, it is the most expensive The Sims title released, beating The Sims 3 Collector's Edition at $70. However, in Australia, The Sims 4 costed $80 on release while The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 costed around $99.95 on release, making The Sims 4 one of the cheapest releases of the series in Australia, although the pricing of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 quickly dropped in price once more expansions for the game were released.
The Sims 4 is the second game in the series to include more than one neighborhood/world in its initial release, after The Sims 2. The original release of The Sims only included Neighborhood 1, and the original release of The Sims 3 only included Sunset Valley.
Pools, toddlers, basements, ghosts, family trees, repairmen, nannies, gardeners, Latin radio station, hip-hop radio station, and firefighters were not initially in the game, but were added in subsequent patches or content packs.
The Sims 4 is the only game in the series to not currently feature burglars, police officers, or R&B radio stations.
Like The Sims, The Sims 4's PlumBob is opaque (non-transparent).
With patch 34, The Sims 4 became the first game in the series to feature gender customization as well as the option to have all types of clothing and hair types be available for use by both genders.
Upon release, The Sims 4 supported Windows XP and Vista, despite support for XP finishing several months before release. However, in 2017, support for XP and Vista ceased, with players having to update their operating systems in order to continue to play. However, strangely enough, The Sims 4: Island Living, released in 2019, supported Windows XP and Vista but quickly became unsupported.
There's a computer game on every computer named "Sims Forever" that contains footage from The Sims, with music playing and Simlish language. Mortimer and Bella can even be seen kissing in a hot tub for one scene. It largely uses footage from The Sims: Vacation.

Gallery

White version of the current logo
Current official The Sims 4 logo
Second official logo (now replaced)
First official logo (now replaced)
The Sims 4 Premium Edition
Alternate cover art
PlumbBob version 2
First teaser image
An example of multitasking ability. Sims can chat and run on the treadmill at the same time
Weddings in The Sims 4
Children playing in TS4
Fishing in TS4
Fire breathing in TS4
Painting in TS4
Two new costumes In TS4
Sims having a BBQ in TS4
A mansion in TS4
Willow Creek, one of the worlds shipped with TS4 base game
The Goth home in the trailer.
Some of the content unlocked with Origin
The Sims 4 self photo of Sims from E3 livestream (with a person resembling former US president Barack Obama at back)
The gym
The Sims 4 spinning Plumbob.
Promotional image for Patch 72.
Promotional image for Patch 72.
Promotional image for Patch 72.
Promotional image for Patch 73.

Mortimer and Bella Goth
Pre-order content render
Laser light show limited edition content

The graphics of these screenshots are of early pre-production of The Sims 4 codenamed "Olympus" from 2010.
The game's final graphics differ greatly from these images.