The Simsseries has had different iterations of Sims creation, from the extremely basic pre-made, swap-in-swap-out templates ofThe Sims, toThe Sims 4where players can create Sims by clicking and dragging different features to adjust them to their hearts' content. It gets more complicated when going further than skin deep, with players expecting Sims to have interesting personalities, interests, and quirks that make them unique.
No matter how basic or advanced the structure, Create-a-Sim has always been an important part ofThe Simsand is pivotal in creating a gameplay experience that’s not repetitive or boring.The Simsis a game designed to be played for hours at a time, and so when Sims begin to repeat behaviors or behave in a way that’s predictable, gameplay can become incredibly boring; even worse is when Sims act like copies of each other and any traces of individuality is erased the more the game is played. Ideally, the more Sims are explored, the more interesting they should get with hidden traits, behaviors, and unique responses to other Sims.
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Issues in The Sims 4’s Create-a-Sim
Many players believe thatThe Sims 4took a step back in its Create-a-Sim for several reasons, particularly at launch. While many of the issues have been fixed, such as only being able to assign three traits, these issues were only addressed in recent patches, years after launch.
Worse still were thecontroversies surroundingThe Sims' skin tones and hairstyles, where darker swatches looked unnatural and players were unable to create Sims that reflected real life. It was only after a movement of prominent players in the community calling for change that more hairstyles for Black Sims were added, along with skin tones that reflected the diversity of real life.
The Sims 4has succeeded in other areas of Create-a-Sim, giving players the ability to edit pronouns, romantic and sexual orientations separately, dynamics between family members, a system of comprehensive likes and dislikes, hearing aids, and scars. These are all wins thatneed to be carried over toThe Sims 5’s Create-a-Simat launch, rather than launching without established features and reintroducing them years down the line, a pattern thatThe Sims 4has fallen into thatThe Sims 5should avoid at all costs.
What Create-a-Sim Could Look Like in The Sims 5
Players should instead be able to look forward to having these features as an established part of Create-a-Sim inThe Sims 5launch, with other features that they’ve been asking for years, such as more clothing and hair options for male-framed Sims, Children, Toddlers, and Infants. Other issues, such as being unable to establish family dynamics between Sims who are engaged but not yet married, should be possible at launch.Like other issues inThe Sims, these basic functions need to be in place and prioritized before considering new, more flashy features that Sims may not need.
One aspect of Create-a-Sim that has been requested by players repeatedly ismore disability representation inThe Sims, such as canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. Hearing aids and glucose monitors were recently added in 2023, and were well-received by the community. The franchise has been leaning more and more towards giving players the ability to create Sims that are as diverse as people in real life and, as a life simulator,The Simscharacter creator system should reflect a variety of life experiences, especially considering the positive reaction these small but significant additions have received.
If all of these basic considerations are established in Create-a-Sim, innovations such as height adjustments and new personality systems and dynamics would feel even better rather than hollow, asa lot of the features ofThe Sims 4feel without basic functions in place. Perhaps looking back toThe Sims2 orThe Sims 3’s Create-a-Sims and integrating some of those features would pushThe Sims 5to be something truly exceptional.
The Sims 5is in development.
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