The Sims franchise celebrated its 21st birthday earlier in February, but also made an announcement that there are more birthday surprises on the horizon for the most recent iteration of the game, The Sims 4. The developer worked with 21 different CC (Custom Content) creators for a Sims birthday surprise that drops on February 25. So far, there haven’t been any hints as to what the surprise will be, but that hasn’t stopped Sims fans from wishing for some long sought-after features being implemented in The Sims 4.
Working with CC creators for this birthday surprise was definitely a good move for the developer, as many Sims 4 fans have been vocal about wanting the developer to collaborate with CC creators for new projects. A similar move happened with The Sims 4: Snowy Escape, where the developer chose EA Game Changers to help design all the lots in the expansion pack. This kind of community collaboration with the developer is what many Sims fans have been waiting to see, and the upcoming birthday surprise could mean big things for Create-a-Sim (CAS) and Build/ Buy mode items.
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CC creators have made tons of CAS items and improvements pretty much since the inception of The Sims franchise itself. Sims 4 CC creators have notably made more natural-looking Black hairstyles compared to those found in-game, as well as taking apart notoriously layered clothing items and separating them as individual pieces. While The Sims 4 has gotten better at its inclusion efforts, it would still be nice to see more realistic Black hairstyles for Sims included in this birthday surprise.
Another item Sims 4 players have been asking for is the return of body hair to The Sims games. Though body hair didn’t make an appearance until The Sims 3: Generations expansion pack, it quickly became a fan favorite to many Sims players. It would be a nice surprise to see the developer work with CC creators who have already created body hair in The Sims 4 and integrate it on a base game level for all players to use.
When The Sims 4 rolled out its big skin tone update, it did more than add over 100 new skin tones to the base game. It also introduced color sliders for makeup, so the hue and opacity (among other things) could be adjusted to complement Sims’ new varying skin tones. Modders for The Sims 4 have already implemented color sliders onto other things like hair and clothing, for more variety in CAS. Though modders aren’t the same as CC creators, it would be a great move for the developer to apply color sliders to hair and clothing in-game so all players can use them.
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Perhaps at the top of The Sims 4 Build/Buy mode wish list is bunk beds. CC creators have made functional, incredibly customizable bunk beds for a while now, but some of them have some animation issues when it comes to Sims using them. With ladders being introduced in the base game, this animation could be recycled for Sims climbing up or down a ladder to a bunk bed, so this sleep item may not be too far off - especially because bunk beds have been made by tons of CC creators.
Though there’s not been much else teased about the upcoming birthday surprise, odds are this project will go over with The Sims 4 community a lot better than last year’s birthday “celebration.” As players were quick to point out, adding a hot tub to the base game didn’t exactly celebrate the fact that The Sims franchise turned 20. Despite there being little information to go off of, it already seems to be a good sign that the developer partnered with CC creators to maybe bring some items to life that players have been missing in-game.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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