Why is there still no Edit Town/Neighborhood tool in the Sims 4?
Anyone else still holding out hope for some version of an Edit Town/Neighborhood tool to be patched into the Base Game?
Note: For added emphasis, this post is about an in-game Edit Town Tool like the one seen in the Sims 2 & 3. This is NOT about an external Create a World (CAW) tool.
I still have a gut feeling Edit Town could make an appearance. The release of all world decor objects for players to use via the bb.ShowLiveEditObjects cheat back in a 2018 base game update gave me hope that they may be slowly working on an Edit Town feature. Prior to that, the majority of those objects were not accessible. While it made sense to release a lot of these items for lot decor purposes, some of the objects seem superfluous to give to players. That is unless all objects in the town environment needed to be converted to user-facing objects to support eventual in-game placement and movement within the town environment. Is this an optimistic take? Maybe. But there is also some sense to it.
A full-on Create a World tool, of course, seems unlikely at this point in the game's progression. That being said, we should be able to, at a minimum, move world objects like trees, rocks, street lights, picnic tables, easels, market stalls, decor (i.e. ruins), etc. It's surprising that we still don't have this functionality, considering how significant of a feature it was in previous Sims iterations and how much creativity it unlocks for various play styles. Preferably, we would be able to add lots, terrain paint, and edit festivals. Although, I doubnt lot placement will come, considering it would require two new systems: One to place lots in the actual neighborhood and a second to place the lot display square on the "world" map. But, even if we can't place new lots or manipulate/paint terrain, it'd be great to at least see a basic tool that allows us to remove/add decor items from the bb.ShowLiveEditObjects category in the world environment.
All I'm really pushing for at this point is the ability to control world decor. That is a streamlined and straightforward thing and there is no reason the game framework shouldn't be able to support that.
Trying to build lots to blend in with the world's sometimes odd environment design choices can be jarring. And even in areas where the world design is beautiful, we should still be afforded the ability to make it our own in some capacity. I considered the Sims 2 and 3 sandbox-style games. But in its current state, the Sims 4 does not earn a spot in that genre. I spend most of my in-game time anymore thinking about how game-changing of an addition Edit Neighborhood/Town would be for a number of playstyles, but who knows if it'll ever appear.
Note: For added emphasis, this post is about an in-game Edit Town Tool like the one seen in the Sims 2 & 3. This is NOT about an external Create a World (CAW) tool.
I still have a gut feeling Edit Town could make an appearance. The release of all world decor objects for players to use via the bb.ShowLiveEditObjects cheat back in a 2018 base game update gave me hope that they may be slowly working on an Edit Town feature. Prior to that, the majority of those objects were not accessible. While it made sense to release a lot of these items for lot decor purposes, some of the objects seem superfluous to give to players. That is unless all objects in the town environment needed to be converted to user-facing objects to support eventual in-game placement and movement within the town environment. Is this an optimistic take? Maybe. But there is also some sense to it.
A full-on Create a World tool, of course, seems unlikely at this point in the game's progression. That being said, we should be able to, at a minimum, move world objects like trees, rocks, street lights, picnic tables, easels, market stalls, decor (i.e. ruins), etc. It's surprising that we still don't have this functionality, considering how significant of a feature it was in previous Sims iterations and how much creativity it unlocks for various play styles. Preferably, we would be able to add lots, terrain paint, and edit festivals. Although, I doubnt lot placement will come, considering it would require two new systems: One to place lots in the actual neighborhood and a second to place the lot display square on the "world" map. But, even if we can't place new lots or manipulate/paint terrain, it'd be great to at least see a basic tool that allows us to remove/add decor items from the bb.ShowLiveEditObjects category in the world environment.
All I'm really pushing for at this point is the ability to control world decor. That is a streamlined and straightforward thing and there is no reason the game framework shouldn't be able to support that.
Trying to build lots to blend in with the world's sometimes odd environment design choices can be jarring. And even in areas where the world design is beautiful, we should still be afforded the ability to make it our own in some capacity. I considered the Sims 2 and 3 sandbox-style games. But in its current state, the Sims 4 does not earn a spot in that genre. I spend most of my in-game time anymore thinking about how game-changing of an addition Edit Neighborhood/Town would be for a number of playstyles, but who knows if it'll ever appear.
