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plur2hardstyle's avatar
plur2hardstyle
Seasoned Traveler
8 months ago

Need an option to press the down key instead of holding button on the mouse.

As someone with chronic wrist and neck pain I have had to implement ways to make this game more accessible for myself. One of the things I have to do is limit the repetitive use of the mouse especially when it's concentrated on a small area such as just scrolling down in a line for a long extended amount of time. One of the unfortunate things with the Sims 4 is the huge lack of accessibility when it comes to options in how we access the game. There are virtually no options for accessibility to reduce wrist movements like changing keys. We should have this option offered to us. Yes for others this is pure convenience but for disabled individuals like myself, this is gaining independence we lost in other parts of our lives. This is making us feel like we are equal enough to play this without exacerbating our symptoms. It may seem trivial to some but for those with chronic pain these little efforts can have a lasting impact on our experience and enjoyment. We shouldn't have to download other programs to have the function provided to us, if that's even feasible to attempt. I saw people post about this years ago and it's sad not only was the request publicly denied but also nothing has changed since it was originally posted almost 7 years ago. When I play the game I have to ensure my wrist is positioned correctly having a bunch of pillows for support with other things that would seem unnecessary to the average user. However, this is the reality for many that are silent about it. Why because it's frankly embarrassing to admit our vulnerability, so please consider this a problem and find a solution. It would reduce the irritation to my wrist and neck if I pressed on the arrow key instead of having to move the mouse so much or pressing the scrolling button when viewing small menus that pops up for objects in a store (not the actual buy/build menu) or even when viewing your households having to constantly scroll. Honestly, if this could be applied to other avenues like viewing the large catalog for the buy menu with pressing the arrow down that would also be more convenient and supportive for our needs. There are so many things this could actually be applied to, I couldn't think of them all here.

Not to mention there are so many other keys that need to be changed and we should have the ability to change that ourselves. We pay for a game with a tremendous amount of bugs and we can't even change the buttons. Also is it too much to ask to please change the open gallery button with the map view button? I can't express how many times I accidentally exited out of my current build when I was not done by pressing that stupid map button. Those buttons should be switched or not next to each other. 

4 Replies

  • plur2hardstyle's avatar
    plur2hardstyle
    Seasoned Traveler
    8 months ago

    When I was researching this I saw you could do things like autohot keys and other keybinding stuff but seriously who has the time to 1. learn this technical stuff lol and 2. why is it something we even have to do in the first place just to have a more user friendly game. It's really dismissive on EA's part. We shouldn't have to keybind or remap this stuff just to reduce our chronic pain etc.

  • plur2hardstyle's avatar
    plur2hardstyle
    Seasoned Traveler
    8 months ago

    I'm glad to have the support of another. I seriously hate where the button is I pressed it so many times not finishing something and then having to go back in, it's so frustrating. Maybe there's a mod to change that interface but then again that's just another additional component I have to add due to Sims 4 negligence of implementing a functional accessible game :(.

  • Yes!!! 

    With a degenerative condition, I can only work around the game's mechanics so much before I'm capped on what I can do with the game and its controls externally.  

    CUSTOM HOT KEYS PLEASE. 

  • Wildstripe's avatar
    Wildstripe
    Seasoned Vanguard
    8 months ago

    As one of those "disabled individuals" I agree 100%. And speaking of the map view button, there's been times where I accidentally press it while using the rotating buttons in Live Mode.

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