The second world of The Sims 4 has been revealed! You may want to dress lightly.
Is that a dinosaur in the background?
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.
No swimming allowed.
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.
Yesterday there were a few major announcements as to what wasn’t coming in the base game. Even though this news is disappointing, it doesn’t mean these features will only show up in an expansion pack. Recall in The Sims 3 where features “intended” for an expansion appeared for free during a base game patch. We can’t confirm if this will be done for The Sims 4, but it’s something to keep in mind after the game’s release.
Anyone looking to make a splash are lucked out as pools will not be entering the base game. In relation to that, swimming and swimwear are out too! And as cool as it is to edit the foundation, basements will not be arriving by launch.
As for your Sim’s family, though you can still have babies, you won’t see any toddlers in the base game. Lastly, don’t expect to see weather anytime soon, you’ll just have to wait patiently for further announcements.
One extra tidbit; the woohoo skill which was previously a hidden skill during early development, it was removed from the game entirely and doesn’t look like it will be coming back.
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.
Gameinformer recently got a hands-on session with The Sims 4, which provided us with some more information on how The Sims will express themselves through their daily lives. Below is a summary of what was posted in the article.
Sims will let you know how they feel through their facial expressions and actions. This means, if a conversation is going sour, you’ll see it evidently on their faces. The game even gives you the option to change the course of conversation once it goes downhill.
They’ll have access to certain interactions based on their current emotional state. Like when a Sim is feeling flirty, they’ll gain access to striking a seductive pose. You can influence a Sim to a particular emotional state by socializing with others or interacting with objects. Their environment also lends a hand in influencing their emotions too.
As you play your Sims, you’ll typically run into 1 – 3 emotional states throughout the day. The mood shifts are supposed to feel natural, so you won’t see Sims bouncing around emotions so quickly.
The relationship status indication has changed. There’s now two bars, one bar for friendship, and another for romance level. Due to this, you can have situations where a Sim could be romantically involved with someone they detest.
Aspirations are back! A similar concept to wishes will be brought over as well. However, they’re going to be called “Whims” which are short-term goals the game generates for your Sim. These might be easy or hard to complete depending on the goals.
One final tidbit we’ll leave with you was this line from the Gameinformer article. “Your Sim is no longer attached to one neighborhood, they can work in one and live in another.” It appears The Sims is getting closer to bridging the gap between itself and Simcity.
E3 is currently in progress, and we hope to provide you with even more information later this week. (Like the Caliente Sisters and Don Lothario returning!) But until then…farewell.
Rachel Franklin, executive producer of The Sims 4, kicked off the E3 festivities by introducing us to new gameplay footage. It’s apparent that the focus on The Sims in this iteration are their varying personalities and emotions. Are they ambitious and perfectionist? Or are they clumsy and hot headed? These are just a few of the personalities you can explore in The Sims 4! These personalities don’t just exist in a bubble, they may even influence other Sims to respond in particular ways.
For example, Rachel introduced a hot-headed, active bookworm Sim named Chuck. One day he was reciting poetry to his eccentric neighbor Gladys. Due to his low skill levels, his poems were terrible, and Gladys hated them so much that she attacked him.
After losing the fight, Chuck got so mad that the next day at the gym, he was enraged, pushing his workout to the limit.
In another scenario with the same two Sims, Chuck is having a house party, schmoozing with the guests. Gladys (who’s still mad from the previous day) stopped by and crashed the party. In this situation, her foul mood made the party guests feel uncomfortable, some of them face palming at the horrid turn in events.
One very notable aspect of The Sims is how expressive their emotions are. You can see the differences in the way people work out when they’re happy, depressed, or energized.
Sometimes these emotions can take a turn for the worse, where a Sim can die literally from laughter. Lyndsay Pearson, senior producer of The Sims 4, stated that there are multiple types of emotion-based deaths. This doesn’t seem to be sitting well for the fan community, but hopefully we’ll have more information soon on how we’re able to avoid it
The Sims 4 will be releasing on September 2nd in North America, and September 5th in Europe.
The Gallery is pretty much an updated version of “The Sims Exchange,” where you can download Sims, Lots, and Rooms in one convenient location! The Gallery is fully integrated into the game, there’s no need to exit to the desktop. According to the previews, it looks like you’re able to leave comments, bookmark, and favorite any of the content listed there.
New Sims 4 gameplay footage will be streaming from the EA Conference on Monday June 9th at 12:00 PM PDT. We’ll be watching the stream live and capturing all the latest news and footage. See you then!
