Suggestion - Sims 4 - Sims with Disabilities
I honestly believe Sims 4 is the perfect environment to represent people with disabilities. There are very few major games which do so. Elements that could be put in include: Wheelchair Bound Sim...
Forum Discussion
Can I suggest an idea for an expansion packs?
I used to be a nanny for a child with special needs. We still remain in contact. I was showing her Sims 4 and she took a huge interest in it. One of the questions she asked me about the Sims 4 is..."Is it wheelchair accessible?"
The answer is decidedly, no, it really isn’t.
Here is a list of ideas in which could be used in such an expansion pack.
Ramps (as an alternative to stairs)
Wheelchairs (fitness points go to a sim who uses a manual wheelchair)
Walkers and gait trainers
AAC Devices (Alternative Augmented Communication devices. These come in various forms, tablets that have speaking by tapping on the right words. Or computers that can sit on tables, desks, floors or be mounted to a wheelchair and can be controlled by eye movement (aka Eyegaze)
Sims could have various physical disabilities such as Cerebral palsy which could have various symptoms, unable to walk (without assistance, thus the various walkers, gait trainers and wheelchairs) unable to speak (thus the AAC Devices)
This would be a great opportunity to tie in the Cats and Dogs pack. Pets could be upgraded to service animals with special training. And then they can assist the sim whether they are at work, university, on a date, or on the town.
This could also introduce animals with disabilities and we could have dogs and cats with little wheelchairs for paralyzed back legs.
There could be public buildings set up for sims to have occupational and physical therapy.
Sims with wheelchairs can join in playing basket ball, or riding their wheelchairs in skate parks.
Another condition could be that the sim is blind. I certainly think that this would make things very interesting. I used to play the game Spore and sometimes for my creatures I would not give them eyes and so I would play them that way. It certainly was interesting.
Gameplay for a blind sim would be very different. Everything could be blacked out except for a ring of light around the sim which would show immediate objects or people.
Going into build mode would be just as normal as you design the house and objects and things inside. But in live mode everything is limited until the sim nears it. Perhaps after a certain amount of time being in that area, maybe after a few days in the same area that circle of light or visibility widens as the sim gets more familiar.
Other sims around the blind sim will get more clear the more times they meet or the stronger the friendship becomes, or if they are enemies and really hate each other.
The blind sim could have a service dog that provides more visibility to the sim as well.
The service animals in both scenarios can do much more on command then with the pets. Such as bringing things to the sim, like food, or leading them through the park, city festivals, museums, to the right university building, or sniffing out caves to explore in outdoor retreat.
Anyway that was my idea. Even if none of this comes to fruition I would very much like ramps, at least, to be added to sims 4.
Are there sim characters or sims objects such as wheelchairs or crutches? I feel at this time in 2022 since we can make our sims look how ever we want there should be an option for that. I say this since sims is going into the neurodiversity route they could also go into the physical diversity route
Wheelchairs are not possible as it would be impossible to get above ground level.
The Sims Team confirmed on a stream while ago they are making a research for mobility aids and how they could be implemented in game. SimGuruGrant also said in 2018 they are actively making research on disabilities, wheelchairs, deafness, etc. I have no idea if this will ever come to game, but lets hope so.
I see no real limitations for wheelchair except budget. There's no in-game thing that would somehow make impossible the limitation. Obviously, there are valid concerns like stairs, but that can be solved by having wheelchair that can go itself up and down stairs. Terrain also does not feel like something that would limit their function as it is question of animations.
- @PatrickClSim3Low With the implementation of elevators in City Living, it's entirely possible to make these elevators more useful for different lots which would help resolve the stairs issue
