Author: Kenneth

The second world of The Sims 4 has been revealed! You may want to dress lightly.

Oasis Springs is a desert world filled with many of the things you’d expect. The landscape isn’t all sand, dust, rocks, and cacti though.

As you may have guessed by the name, this world is home to a lovely oasis where Sims can chill out and take in the scenery. According to gamesradar, they saw a western-style diner, huge air conditioners, and cacti abound.

That’s all the details we have for now. The Live Mode footage should arrive any day now, so stay tuned!

There is a new post on the official Sims blog today that addresses the outcry regarding the omission of pools and toddlers in The Sims 4. With less than 60 days until launch, it appears these features will not be added to the base game despite the many Facebook comments requesting them. However, the post specifies that these features will not be included at launch, suggesting that they may be added in a future update or expansion pack. According to the post, sacrifices had to be made due to the new systems and technology that were built for the game, including but not limited to:

• New AI system.
• New animation system.
• New audio positioning tools.
• New locomotion logic.
• New routing intelligence.

Speaking of the animation system, The Sims 4 boasts seven walk styles spanning about 75 different animations, approximately 320 emotion-based animations, and more than 600 reactions to objects. Your Sims’ emotions will cause a clear reaction and possibly a special walk style.

In order to focus on creating new and interesting emotions, animations, interactions, behaviors and Create A Sim tools, toddlers were unfortunately not included. Pools suffered the same fate due to all of the new features that have been added to Build Mode.

On a brighter note, a Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo is on its way later this summer and fifteen minutes of Live Mode gameplay footage will be released within the next two weeks.

Worlds will be split up into different neighborhoods. This means that unlike The Sims 3, the game will not feature an open world. Willow Creek, for example, will contain five different neighborhoods as well as one large park lot. Each neighborhood can hold up to five lots. This may not seem like much, but the public spaces (areas not part of a lot) will have various interactive objects. Even when on a lot, Sims may autonomously interact with objects in a public space, leading to more populated areas outside of lots. As for the lots themselves, you’re free to convert them from residential to community lots and vice versa.

“Counting the number of lots in a single world is a rather arbitrary number in The Sims 4 though, as you can freely travel, move, work, visit, etc, any world, neighborhood, or lot while still retaining the information about who your Sim is, their belongings, their relationships, their family, etc. That’s right, unlike The Sims 3, your Sim can live in one world, and work in another. “You may only have one active lot at a time and will encounter a short load upon traveling between lots, neighborhoods, and worlds. Up to twenty active Sims may appear within your neighborhood at any time within your active lot and the public space. When you travel to a different lot within the same neighborhood, they will remain and continue as they were.

Additionally, the game will feature in-game video capturing via the Cameraman Mode. In this mode you will be able to easily hide the user interface and change the field of vision.

The Sims website was updated yesterday and with it comes some juicy new screenshots and information.

The first neighborhood of The Sims 4 has been revealed! Willow Creek promises “lush, garden-filled hills” and a variety of unique lots to explore.

One of these lots is a community park where you might partake in some fishing or go for a morning jog. Starving Sims will rejoice at the return of the barbecue grill for their outdoor cooking needs.

We also got our first peek at the child life stage of The Sims 4, and a couple of the outdoor objects they’ll be able to interact with!

The Sims 4 will have its own version of The Exchange called The Gallery. Like The Exchange, you’ll be able to upload and share your Sim and lot creations for all to view and download.

We finally got our first glimpse at the Service Sims including the maid and the pizza delivery boy. I’m sure the repo-man isn’t far behind. The image also suggests that gardening will return in some form.

In addition to the update, there was a new blog post about Build Mode. Most of this information was covered previously, but some new tidbits were included.

• Chairs can be centered against tables.
• The freedom to vertically place wall objects anywhere on a wall.
• Direct placement of columns within a wall or fence.

It was said that your Sims will accurately direct their heads in accordance with your placement!

That about does it for now. Next up, E3 coverage!