Suggestion - Sims 4 - Sims with Disabilities

@ChristianOtaku Personally, I would love to see a disabilities pack! But... though I in no way imagine I would even know a fraction of the details that would be involved in such a pack, and as @jpkarlsen and @PugLove888 pointed out so well, we do know of so many aspects that would not be feasible or would be so extensive we don't see it happening, I would still love to see a a pack. I'd buy that pack.

If there was a way to move past the 'include everyone' aspect and hope, wouldn't it be great if we could get a compromise in a pack? For instance, If there was a base game & pack change to all worlds where all public/community buildings had a (yes, not fully realistic, but that's okay) rabbit-hole elevator to each floor other sims can visit. And all public buildings had a rabbit-hole entry door on bathrooms where the sim could enter and their bladder need would be met. 

Then in the pack could maybe just include accommodations for wheelchairs? For instance,  the pack would include several wheelchair-accessible houses that could be placed in the worlds, a wheelchair-accessible restaurant if they own Dine Out, and a companion/service dog if they own the Cats & Dogs pack?

The pack could include enable the sim in the chair to enter through normal doors in community lots. It could also include the ability to hire a live-in nurse/aid, several work-from-home or career options that are workable, and special items to add to a home you make for them that make features wheelchair friendly items.

Just a thought. 

@ChristianOtaku As @Bluebellflora pointed out you give great feedback and as much as I would like to see more inclusion options in The Basegame I doubt if all disabilities would have a place in The Sims.

The disability and illnesses inclusion is an ongoing debat in this forum and I would like to also point you at another thread in which it is discussed: https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-Feedback/Inclusion-Ideas-for-Sims-4/m-p/8777390/highlight/true#M23724 

If there would be an Extension Pack as @SheriGR suggested I am not sure if i would buy it. It would definitely depend on a lot of factors. Wheelchairs may be yes, but other disabilities, I am not so sure I would like to play with these type of Sims.

I fully agree with the remarks that @jpkarlsen and @PugLove888 made about the rabbit holes and difficulties developers would have to incorporate such an accessibility into the game. So i wont repeat that line. 

I like to play The Sims to escape from reality. So I like the fantasy lines like PugLove888 does. I can also understand fully why inclusion of all situations would help the younger players in their needs to really 'Play with Life'.  

On the other hand I would also like to point out that the Sims is by no means a game about real life as we experience it. It is still a game and therefor 100% fantasy. Take for instance the interactions between 'normal' Sims and the Grim Reaper, Mermaids, Magicians, Aliens and Vampires. So all in all I doubt if such a gameplay would be feasible.

I assume this thread was aimed at the Feedback aspect of this section, perhaps in the hopes that The Sims Team would notice; but since you did get a couple of answer anyway from players, I just wanted to say that I would like such features myself in the game, whether they'd be added or not. I am guessing prosthetics in CAS wouldn't be that resource demanding for instance. 

It is a bit confusing that this section of the forum are both for 'General Discussion' and 'Feedback'; since it creates some borderline threads, with initial feedback  - to the developers - but with players from the forum posting and discussing. I am actually not sure if AHQ CM's have thought about what conflicts stir because of that. I'm hoping they would separate these two categories into their own sections. Then again, the reason they haven't could be of course that it isn't wrong by players to discuss the ideas of feedback.

This particular thread caused some commotion in crinrict's Gaming World, with a heated discussion, that you sadly did not get to take part of. I'm unsure if you wanted the thread to become a discussion, or to be discussed yourself. 

I guess I just wanted to say that it was a good initiative, but perhaps this forum isn't organized and handled in a way for it to be recognized. I have many times seen The Sims Team, the developers responsible for different DLC packs for The Sims 4; post in discussion threads at The Sims Official Forum. So perhaps that would be a better place for you to be heard, and perhaps for more players to dare to chime in. Perhaps I will as well. 🙂

@ChristianOtaku I've been doing some surveying of the various Sims worlds (for the ones I own at least- which is all of the large worlds and all of the smaller worlds except for StrangerVille) and there might be a way to make almost all of the game wheelchair accessible without EA having to completely redesign everything. Many of the common areas already have ramps for varying terrain levels rather than stairs. The more I looked the more I realized how scarce stairs are in these common areas. Like the Uptown and Fashion Districts in San Myshuno, and the Myshuno Meadows park, the Lykke Centre and Olde Platz in Windenburg, or Starlight Boulevard in Del Sol Valley, they all feature ramps in the common areas. Of course many neighborhoods in the various worlds are flat so no ramps or stairs were ever required in the first place. The only neighborhood I've seen so far that would be a problem is the UBrite campus in Britechester. The Foxbury campus had many stairs as well but if you look carefully it appears that there are alternate routing options for all of the buildings using ramps.

So that leaves the residential and commercial lots as the biggest problem. All of the public buildings like the libraries and museums currently only have stairs and no ramps at all. As an alternative to EA having to redesign every one of these lots in all of the worlds, maybe they could simply give up wheelchair-access ramps in Build/Buy and let players redesign the lots ourselves. All of the libraries and museums I checked had the stairways as part of the editable lot, meaning if we had the ramps in Build/Buy we could replace them. It might even make some fun game-play challenges on how to incorporate the ramps in the best & most functional way. It would not take long for players to upload Gallery creations for players who would like to have these features without doing all of that building. I don't think the existing elevators in San Myshuno would be a problem leaving them as they are now. If they work fine for Sims who can walk then they should be fine for wheelchairs as well. The wheelchairs themselves would still need to be added but seeing as Sims 4 already has other alternate modes of transportation, like bicycles, creating functional wheelchairs shouldn't be too much of a technical challenge. Maybe a few new door options would be nice too.

Anyhow, that's just how I look at all of this. I'm sure there are a million things I overlooked but I've been trying to be careful. I'd love to see this added to the game & I'd certainly be willing to pay for it if it was an option in a Stuff Pack.

Good luck, I hope all of this works out for you :D

@RandomBuzziness I was just thinking, considering your comment and the comment information/thoughts I shared also, that maybe if they did a basegame update where they tweaked some of the public buildings to make them 'wheelchair accessible', they could add some type of signage in front of the building to indicate they were wheelchair accessible, and maybe even create lot trait or something? Maybe the lot trait could come with the pack to indicate a lot has the needed features, but maybe the 'public' buildings that they had prepared would indicate by a sign out front if the lot trait came with the pack? Anyway, the more I think about this the more I think it could be a great enhancement in the game! 🙌

Hi @SheriGR  All of the public buildings I checked had their exterior stairs as part of the editable lot, so if we had the correct items in Build mode then we could update those lots ourselves. Perhaps it would not be necessary for EA to update the base game at all. I think with a variety of ramp styles and maybe some other new items in Build/Buy, we players could update the community buildings wherever we choose. I do love the idea of adding wheelchair-access signs to the buildings so if they ever did make a pack like this, those signs would be a very cool addition.

For areas where it's not practical to replace the stairs with ramps they could add a stair railing system that could act as a lift mechanism to transport the Sim in the wheelchair up the stairs and to the next floor. So instead of a Sim walking up the stairs the platform simply carries the wheelchair along the stairway to the floor above or below. Platform lifts for wheelchairs using a rail system mounted alongside the stairs already exist in real life.

They could also add the City Living-style elevators in Build/Buy so we could place them wherever we need them. They already exist in the game anyway just not in Build/Buy. If the elevators in San Myshuno can perform the basic function of getting a Sim from one floor to another (without using stairs) I do not think it should matter if that Sim was walking or using a wheelchair. Whatever works for one should work fine for both.

All these items plus the wheelchairs could be part of a stuff pack & I think many players would be willing to buy it. Players who choose not to have any of this in their games could just skip the pack and their base game and EP/Game Pack worlds will stay the same as they are now.

@RandomBuzziness , well that is some good news in case they decide to do this.😉  The only problem is at Discover University's Foxbury Institute ... I know there are some ramps there, but the trick is getting Sims to recognize and use those ramps and not just sit at the edge of the stair and wave their hands like they can't go anywhere!😞  If they can make the wheelchair bound Sims always choose ramps, then  this could work! 🙂

@PugLove888 @RandomBuzziness Great points and ideas!! I also think that it's a valid option to have a 'black hole elevator' that can be added, and perhaps have the ability to then choose what floor it goes to. I would love having a wheelchair accessibility option - as has been pointed out, perhaps it could also be something certain elders could use also - plus, as I mentioned, making some type of black hole bathroom needs/use option may also be a nice semi-realistic/interactive option. Now I want a new pack!! 🙌

@PugLove888 @SheriGR I know the elevators currently available in Build/Buy are not usable for residential lots (though I suppose that could be cheated) but I do see they can be placed for other lot types. Have you used them in any of your builds? Are they functional elevators? I imagine they're only good for two stories rather than multiple floors like the elevators from Sim 3?