Here's Why The Sims 4 May be Downright Unpalatable to Virtual Builders (and How EA Can Fix It)

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

I have a lot of questions about The Sims 4. There are things I'm worried about, things I'm excited about, but above all a slew of things I still have no idea about at all. As time creeps slowly forward towards release, all I want to do is finally get my hands on it to satisfy all those needling little unknowns. 

One popular and outspoken Sims content creator had the opportunity to do just that at a recent Creator Camp, an official event designed to familiarize and promote the upcoming game to the franchise's most ardent (and productive) fans. She went in to Creator Camp with one question on her mind, and came out with some unpleasant answers...

Ruthless_kk is a name that should be recognizable to most Sims 3 modders. She's known for creating some of the most flawless Sims houses you'll ever see, from oblique modern mansions to cozy little cottages. At Creator Camp, Ruthless was specifically interested in how easy it would be to build and design a space well without the Create-a-Style menu, a Sims 3 fixture which gave players the ability to match every item seamlessly (but was also responsible for some heinous load times.) Many fans are upset that Create-a-Style was not included in The Sims 4, but Ruthless realized that it could be a good thing as long as it's done right. But is it? After some hands-on building, she shared her thoughts:

The curtains are a prime example. For a base game, there is a nice variety of styles.  The ability to move them up and down is incredibly helpful.  However, they do not tie back to most of beds in the catalog.  I chose a pink bed for one room and there were no pink curtains...which could have been ok if there had been a white option.  But there was no white.  There was a lamp in the same pink as the bed, but the chairs and  sofa that come in pink are a whole different shade of pink.  There is a very cute children/teen style bed in the catalog but there are no curtains that match any of those options.  

Ruthless also has a potential solution in mind:

If you are going to have presets, fine.  Have presets.  But it would be more effective to have a uniform, overarching color scheme that isn't style driven. Continuity of color across all objects would be incredibly conducive to creativity. Decide what colors you are going to use and then make sure that everything comes in those shades.  Not just some things. Everything. If you are going to have olive green as one of your colors, everything could have an olive green option and it could be the same hex code olive green.  That will give the most flexibility to the player and create a more enjoyable experience.

Be sure to read her full post here for more about her experiences building in The Sims 4, and check out her full blog for some broader perspectives on the upcoming game.

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Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart on Twitter, Iris Ophelia in Second Life) has been writing about virtual worlds and video games for nearly a decade, and has had her work featured on Kotaku, Jezebel, and The Mary Sue.

Comments

[Arcadia Codesmith]

I don't know what's going on with Maxis these days. "Now our Sims are even independent, and by the way, we torched your sandbox!"

If I wanted to just kick back and watch drama ensue without even the joy of customizing the set and costumes, there's a magic box in the living room for that.