We have more teasers on what you can expect for The Sims 4, courtesy the Gurus. Unfortunately, we are talking about a lot of what the game is lacking in, but there's good news too.
First off, Guru Grant revealed his kid Nikolai got into crafting furniture. When asked if this works towards a skill tree, he explained that it ties in with Handiness.
Moving around neighborhoods will not be seamless, it seems, as it will lead to a loading screen. Fortunately, you can click on other neighborhoods and lots without going to Map View, at least as long as you’re coming from your current neighborhood.
Speaking of lots, do not expect to see people cleaning them since they get autocleaned. I feel like this is a missed opportunity for players to volunteer as neighborhood clean patrol, but there we are.
Another thing you won’t get to experience in The Sims 4 is teaching children how to walk or talk. Toddlers aren’t in the game, so those stages of growth will not be either. Babies grow into children and know all the basics.
You know what else will not be in the game? Food stands and ice cream vans. Forget recreating those summer childhoods. You know what will be in the game? Controlling aging. You can toggle, in a sense, whether your Sim ages or stops aging, with several options available for within your household, other households, and for NPCs. So, if you want a family to stuck around while everyone gets old around them, you can do that.
Furthermore, if a Sim in the neighborhood gets pregnant, they will give birth on their own.
A fan brought up an interesting conundrum. Since children don’t really grow up, and families won’t have kids unless the player butts in, towns could run out of children. Maxis’ solution to this is to have children be autogenerated in families that move into empty homes.
Moods are color coded. As revealed in the situational picture on our cover image, you have white, which represents a neutral mood. Yellow, in contrast, indicates embarrassment. However, the plumbobs do not change based on their emotion, but according to their needs.
Now we get to the important stuff. This did not really need to be asked, but to be clear, The Sims 4 is not an always online game. Furthermore, downloading Gallery content, such as homes and rooms, costs simoleons and not real money.
Finally, Guru Sarah shared an extra tidbit regarding Map View. You can see only one world map at a time, but you can move between maps, without using Map View, with a single button for each world. If you opt to switch worlds this way, there will be no loading.
The Sims 4 is coming to Windows September 2 and on an unannounced date for Mac.
