Re: 7 ideas for updates - please consider!

@purpleinmyblood you can do some of these things already in the game, yay!

So, you can indeed make outdoor kitchens and have outdoor music. I regularly do both of these things particularly in warm Sims worlds. Sometimes just a bbq set up but sometimes with a stove too. There are some kitchens that look just right for outdoors. The one from Island Living looks good but for me, the base game ones that have matching bars are perfect so you can have an outdoor kitchen and integrated bar with bar stools. Place your music player on the bar and you're ready for a party! I do that or add a wall mounted speaker. Sometimes I use a cover but sometimes I don't. I've attached a example of an outdoor kitchen and dining space in my vineyard.

I forget which skill books I've read too. So I delete the ones I finish. Otherwise I accidentally pick them up again.

You can capture bugs in Outdoor Retreat. I used to like capturing them in Sims 3 wherever you went. I used to do that to earn extra cash, but I miss the lizards 😞. You can pick flowers and break rocks in the base game. It's seasonal though if you have Seasons installed. Shell collecting is a fun hobby that was added with Island Living. You just point at the sand to start beachcombing and find shells and...other surprises!

You can build your own community lots and shops anywhere (shops with Get to Work). You can turn any lot into a park just by changing the lot type in the top left hand corner of the screen. Each lot type has required items you'll need to add but by clicking on the little warning notice that you need say, a chess table it will take you to the right build catalogue section.

City Living and Snowy Escape have the best festivals. Island Living has some too. You could create a specific lot of your own to add festivals too. It would just mean manually putting up and taking down decorations. You'd use the Social Event tab on the phone to invite attendees and bar staff, etc. With the other festivals created by the game the decor appears and disappears automatically and staff turn up to serve food and drink.

Some of these things require additional content but if it's content you already have and you have questions just ask!

Edit: I've attached a couple more outdoor kitchen setups with a clearer view, there's no cheats used for these ones. For PC players I've seen some amazing ones done with CC.