That was two separate thoughts strung together in a short tweet. The Sims 4 has some trailer park homes in it as well, but not anywhere I'd truly consider "poor". Beyond that though what I'd like to see in the game and what it hasn't had is Sims who recognize things like being rich or being poor in meaningful ways. I'd personally be really interested in exploring something in-game where if you have 500 simoleons to your name compared to 5,000,000 then that Sim acts differently and has different priorities in life. Maybe a poor Sim values family more and finds happiness in the small things while the rich Sim is always chasing the next big purchase to fill a void. How do their traits play into it? How does a Sim feel about being broke? What if the game had genuine homelessness and you weren't forced to own a lot? I wish money was more meaningful past the first few weeks of gameplay. I'd find it really interesting if I could decide the level of wealth of my family in CAS and then depending on your selection the way you started the game would vary in things like the neighborhood you live in, the people who would associate with you, the job opportunities available, etc.

One small thing I pushed for in Sims 4 that's different than Sims 3 is you can no longer just go bulldoze a lot next to a mansion and expect to be able to afford it with your new family. Property value has a more significant impact now.

Anyway, many people appreciate the lighthearted nature of The Sims, but personally I often find myself wanting a life simulation that explores some of the darker themes of life as well. Maybe those nasty parts of life could also get subverted in humorous ways as The Sims is known to do. I feel like there's a ton of untapped material to explore there. As is though, Sims are pretty happy-go-lucky no matter what slice of suburbia they exist in.

Hello

Did I miss any bad news today?

Edit: interesting thoughts, Graham. I'd love for Sims to be aware of their financial status.

Oh Graham, wouldn't it be lovely to expand the autonomy system so a Sim who is poor (and set to full autonomy), depending on personality (lazy sim may not bother) to pick up the wretched paper and get themselves a job? Or for that matter, a Sim who has a "whim" to eat mac&cheese actually choose the make mac&cheese interaction from the fridge instead of spag bol? But yeah for 14 years Sims have had no clue about their socio-economic needs

Graham, you may not be able to answer this, but are the 'darker' kinds of things you're discussing elements that get seriously discussed among the Sims team? Or does that veer too far from the goals that are in mind for building the game?

I ask because it seems there are a lot of themes that could expand the game in interesting ways, and that could attract more of an audience. I'm not expecting Sims to suddenly be able to murder other Sims, but I think a lot of people are getting the idea that the game is being geared towards a happy-sunshine-unicorn audience only.

From what I've heard you'd not actually be able to implement this in TS4 (or any of the previous games) without a deep code change because in all of them you are forced to open a lot in order to start Live mode. And that is how the active household is selected in the first place.

On a side note related to money stuff (and I'm going to keep this short - the spacebar on my keyboard broke today and it's really annoying typing), the consequences of not paying your bills is more severe now. Let your bills go without paying them? First your power gets shut off. Next your water gets shut off. It's a fun scenario to put your Sims in on occasion (they recognize it and get some unique socials about it). The bill upkeep on more expensive homes is harsher than it's been in the past as well, so you truly better be earning enough to support living in one. I hope both those things contribute to greater challenges when you put your Sims in those situations.

This is good news! Just one caveat - in TS3, being a famous rock star hardly got you much richer than just working in the bistro! I wasn't able to buy my rock star a much better home than my chef! So I hope there is more difference between lower and higher income in TS4 to cover all this

Thanks for your posts, Graham. Unpaid bills resulting in cut-off power and water supply sounds brilliant, honestly. And I agree with Inge, real-life differences between wages should be present in the game as well.

Sorry for the old quote, but I still need to vent about this...

He's working on a Sims game and talking to Sims fans about it - and he doesn't think that maybe those fans want him to use Sims terminology?

Our water being shut off wouldn't be an issue if we had pools, we could just get water from them.

I'M SORRY I HAD TO

On a serious note, I'm loving a lot of the little details. I will say, once you guys get the 'generations' EP and the 'pools' EP out, and bundle them with the sims 4 like the ambitions bundle, I might be interested in this game.

Just, good work on the idea of electricity and water being shut off. That's something that I really do like and find intriguing.

@Graham no poor sims? So there will be no Brandi Broke? She was always one of my favorites.

Are we even going to get any gameplay video? Before the launch of The Sims 3 we had a lot of gameplay videos but The Sims 4 has none.
And the forbidden question: why was toddlers not a priority in the game?

I really like the sound of that. I still have reservations about TS4, but I hope there's more stuff like this in the game (and also to be included in future EPs).

So, Will we see some non-staged gameplay from TS4 soon? @SimGuruGraham

Ba dum tss!

Part of me wonders they're holding off on doing that, because if they did, people would see through the game for what it really is.

Well said. Difficulties and conflict are the spices of life. Might as well just have a machine that the sim straps themselves into and increases all their wants and needs. Yay, no difficulties!

I loved the dark and depressing atmosphere of TS1. Especially the music that played if a sim died or skipped work. Now, everything is happy "bubble cum" and roses and bunny rabbits. Blech.

Pretty much from the looks if it.

Aaargh!! If only my toddlers were in the game, I'd buy it in a flat second!!

Not typically. On occasion I've seen designs or choices that push the current boundaries but they usually get reeled back in. It's a tough situation... you've got an extremely popular and established franchise that you need to protect, and with that comes "rules" that have been established over the years about what you can and can't do. Some of those rules were established by people who haven't been at EA for years, but it almost becomes tradition passing them down to new people.

Here's one of the less serious examples... the plumbob isn't supposed to exist in the Sim's world. A Sim should have no knowledge of it. That rule has been broken many times in the name of self-referential humor, but it's definitely a rule that still comes up in discussions.

(really stopping now - this keyboard is miserable to type on atm with the broken key)

that was one of those things that made the Singer career from SHT so attractive compared to rock star. Once you got to lvl 10, your singer could make 20K to 30K in one performance in a big venue. Far more realistic than the "awesome concert and you made 620 simoleons" for the rock star..



Well, they did want some continuity to prior games, so we still get an 8 sim max limit.



Well, that's a relief. At least sleep made the cut to remain in the series. Although, have we actually seen any beds yet? Maybe that will be the first premium Store item to be offered. "Get your sims a place to lie down and rest that's more comfy than the couch!"



You mean there wasn't supposed to be a plumbob?
Then again, while I knew WE can see their plumbob, I didn't know the sims were aware of the plumbob over their heads until now, either.

And really Graham, given the amount of tweeting that's required for your position, EA should really pony up for a replacement keyboard for you. Hell, if you post your Amazon wish list, I'll even get you a new one (but not the $100 lit up gaming keyboard from Razer I know you had your eye on, but a nice Logitech is OK).

I wouldn't, although it certainly would help inch me towards the "sort of want" crowd instead of the "how about no" crowd. They're stripping more and more features from the game, yet the price remains the same, at a whopping $80.00. That ain't chump change.

I'd also love this.



This is a really awesome development. I like this a lot. A LOT.



LOVE THIS BIT.

Oh Graham, I wish Sims 4 would also show the bad sides of life. When i played the Sims 1 I was really afraid of thieves and I was really sad when a Sim died. Now everything seems so ridiculous. Sims can die of laughter and live in a Katy Perry fluffy unicorn world.

Emotions are the main point of the game? Really? To be honest, all the Sims act like children now. Last year i thought we will get a deep emotional game, which is so emotional that i have to blink my tears back when my Sim die or smile when my Sim fall in love. I want an affectionate relationship and connection to my Sim and not feeling awkward because of all the weirdness.

Do we get this connection in the Sims 4? Please tell me

Quick couple of questions, Graham, there are crime-related aspirations so I assume there is a crime career? Aannnddd...will burglaries still occur? It's a silly question but we'd love piece of mind :3

@manueldog To be fair the weirdness thing is just a marketing ploy to show you can do whatever the flip you want with the game. Pretty sure it won't be THAT weird and luchador stripper-like parties won't break out lol. At least I hope they won't cause they kinda scare me.

Thanks for answering; I appreciate it. Your earlier tweet suggested that Sims shies away from difficulties, but I'm going to chalk that up to tweets being short by necessity (and perhaps not your general thoughts as to the nature of conflict in the Sims world). After all, I think having your electric and water shut off is pretty difficult.

I understand the idea of this being a franchise to protect, but I believe there must be a way to get a balance. Things like having your utilities shut off, or having furniture repossessed (will that make a return in TS4?), deals with the more serious side of life. Sims having an idea of their own finances would be great. There are a lot of things that could be done, and until we can see the game for ourselves, have no idea how much of it has been done. The marketing has been a lot of wrestling masks and rocket ships, and it sounds like it could be doing the game a disservice.

I do hope that toddlers and pre-teens get added, and that there's gameplay that makes those life stages worthwhile (pre-teens could have sleepovers or doodle in notebooks, teens could go to prom and have "the talk" and learn to drive, etc). There's a lot I want to like about the game, and maybe having those missing elements included and done well could really sell me on it down the road.

Yes...I know

I definitely will not pay to have toddlers back in game - they should never have been removed.

Seconding this. :3

Damn cockin' straight.

If E.A.'s plan is to remove them and have us pay to get them back, I certainly know I will not be privy to such a dastardly and despicable scheme.

Emotions have been in the game since 2000; wants and needs go down, they get upset. They go up, they're happy. It's just marketing, and not even good marketing at that. Quite simply, it's an insult to the consumer's intelligence if E.A. think's they're going to fall for that.

TS2 had full 3D. TS3 had open worlds. TS4 has, emotions? Daphuck?

That was the freezer bunny and if I had bought/would buy/might have bought* this game, I would never ever use that horrible thing.

*look - I'm not buying it.