Forum Discussion

Emmahiiii's avatar
Emmahiiii
Seasoned Newcomer
2 days ago

Expansion pack idea: Health & Disease

Background: When playing, I noticed that the deaths a Sim can die from are either old age, or unnatural deaths. This feels very unrealistic because most people won't drown or die from a fire but from injuries and diseases. Also, "old age" is so incredibly broad - no one dies from old age but actually from different diseases that are simply more common on old age, such as alzheimers, heart failure, cancer, etc.

I would give anything for an expansion pack where the health of a Sim matters. Sims can get diseases, anything from a flu to a chronic condition. They can get treatment, and for some diseases, Sims can die, especially if left untreated. Lifestyles should interact with a Sim's health: A sim that eats badly and never exercises should be more prone to develop metabolic or heart diseases than a sim that is active, spends a lot of time outside, and eats well. Until now, all Sims have the same lifespan and well-being whether we take wonderful care of them or whether we lock them up and only feed them once every two days to not let them starve. A health expansion pack would make our decisions for them much more meaningful. 

Dying from old age should not happen out of nowhere after a certain time lived but should be due to certain diseases that are more common the elder, just like in real life. Give them heart problems, metabolic issues, cancer. Give them dementia. Make the experience of elder Sims more realistic and unique, instead of just making them grey-haired versions of their younger selves. 

Introduce hospital stays, retirement homes. Maybe even make some conditions genetic - until now, the only heritable thing are the looks of Sims. There is so much more potential of the genes. 

And please introduce reproductive care!! Give female Sims a reproductive cycle with varying fertility. Maybe even let their health influence their fertility. There is so much unused potential even though having children is such a central part to the game. 

Another idea would be to introduce or expand on mental health as well. 

---

I would like to hear what other ideas you guys have! And if someone knows how to directly reach out to EA and suggest this idea, please let me know! I am very passionate about this. 

  • Briana2526's avatar
    Briana2526
    Seasoned Traveler

    I would disagree while I do like realistic gameplay this is just too realistic for myself I play the Sims to escape the real world I took care of my grandma to the best of my abilities until her dying day and when she died there was trauma I didn't know I had I'm glad Sims die cartoonist then being sick and heart problems.