Forum Discussion

simsplayer818's avatar
4 years ago

Sims 4 Animal Sheds and a world of possibilities for new animals

So I know horses are a complicated idea. But that animal shed from Cottage Living is easily big enough to stand a lovely horse outside. I know you wanted your llama there first and I'll give you that one. A cow too of course, but why limit it to that?

Riding a horse is something I accept would be problematic... especially given the issues with bike riding. I mean my Sim literally just got on a bike in Aunties fabulous kitchen and peddled home via the living room. So maybe we can't ride the horse. But it would still be a beautiful thing to have and to care for. We could still enter our lovely horse in a village fair, style it's mane, add fancy saddles, etc. Bigger free stuff has been added to the base game before. How about a horse shed?

Because the countryside looks strange without horses. And I know this because I'm in it. I can see horses from my window and actually nobody rides them either. Sometimes people just keep horses here. And there's me just envying them like a horse stalker.

We could have a classic ranch style stable and build a ranch, or a regular shed the same as in CoL.

But it could also be goats

Or dare I suggest Alpacas?

I've just reached the milestone of 100 bugs/glitches in my game and I could easily look the other way if someone gave me a horse! Ooh or a unicorn for magical worlds too! Too much??

9 Replies

  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero (Retired)
    4 years ago

    @simsplayer818 , horses🐴 would give us the most unique gameplay, compared to goats and alpacas, as the purpose of those is too similar to llamas.  The same goes for sheep.

    Yes, riding a bike can be glitchy, but depending where you are, it can work correctly.  If they make horses (and unicorns! 🦄) then they could make an Equestrian pack and have us do show jumping and dressage routines .  That way we might be able to avoid the traveling glitches that bikes have.  🤷‍♀️😀  

  • @simsplayer818 Hmm, horses, goats, alpaca's.... okay. But what about the rest of the farm menagerie? Where's our sheep? Our swine? Our ducks? Okay, yeah, something's might be a graphics nightmare (horses being the obvious one) but sheep ... not really. just a smaller, somewhat different shaped Llama (ditto for goats). Pigs ... hmmm, maybe a terrain issue there. Ducks, geese, turkeys .... shouldn't be a problem.
  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero (Retired)
    4 years ago

    @taffster74 , I addressed some of these in my reply to @simsplayer818 .  Sheep, alpacas, and goats would serve the same purpose as llamas.  So there really isn't any reason to add them to the game, other than looks.  Which isn't a bad thing, but that would be a lot of work for the developers and many players might find those animals too similar to what we already have with Cottage Living. 

    Same goes for turkeys, geese, and ducks (other than the decorative ducks we have in the game). 

    Pigs would have a different purpose, but most farming situations have pigs only for food, and that would be too sad for the game.  We could have them as pets, but we already have pets in the game.

    Horses are used for transportation, but with how glitchy the bikes are (as mentioned by @simsplayer818 ) I suggested they could have an equestrian pack were we have horse jumping and dressage competitions. That would give horses a reason to be in the game other than just a pet, and would make for a fun pack! 

    So I think that is why those other animals are not in the game, even though some of them could have been introduced in the CotL pack!  Then again, I don't work for EA, so this is just a logical guess! 😉


  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    4 years ago

    Yes to all these ideas. I approached it in a small way as I thought it's harder to say no to lol. I've seen discussions before that horses aren't practical or feasible and unlikely to happen but I see a llama outside a shed and think that could easily be a horse.

    I'd also love geese and more interactive ducks because the ducks in my pond do nothing much. Geese can be quite aggressive (a neighbour keeps a goose and it has quite the temper) so seeing a Sim being chased around by one would be highly amusing...just as it is IRL. I left out pigs as I thought what do we get from pigs in terms of produce, etc...and then I didn't want to think about that anymore!

    I'd love an equestrian pack but I've been critical of new packs before bug fixes. Although additional animals using the sheds could almost be a kit, depending entirely on the functionality. Or a small companion pack like My First Pet which expands on Cats and Dogs.

    For an equestrian pack I can picture it being set in a small world similar in appearance to Glimmerbrook or even Strangerville. Both have features that would be perfect for horses in a country setting or those canyons in Strangerville. I just look at that and want to build a ranch. It could also be a similar world to Henford on Bagley, if it had it's own world that is. I mean in the way that some worlds look as if they fit together. The equestrian centre I've visited IRL was in a similar kind of setting as Granite Falls or Glimmerbrook (which I find quite similar). I immediately wanted to go home and build one myself!

    I'd compromise on a small addition just to have them but yes I'd love an equestrian pack too.

  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero (Retired)
    4 years ago

    @simsplayer818 , putting the sheep, alpacas, ducks, etc. in a kit might be a better way to go if they ever were going to have a more expanded selection of farm animals.  But they would have to give us a new-styled barn because if they didn't it would be My First Pets all over again with a pack that needs another pack to use some of the content.  I don't think they would go that route again , since they got a lot of complaints about it. 

  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    4 years ago
    @PugLove888 Yes, agreed. It took me until late last summer to even get my first pets because of a bug with purchasing it. I love it but seeing how the furniture fits with cats and dogs furniture was an annoyance.
    With the animal shed as it is, my slight issue is that the farms can all end up very similar. A little more variety in livestock would be great.
    My current farm is all birds and bugs just because they've all got cows or llamas and it's just for something different. He's got the bees and all the eco living bugs along with his crops, wild birds and chickens. Otherwise it's different colour llamas and cows for variety.
    CoL has got quite a bit of what our countryside has IRL, but our foxes and birds don't give us gifts. We have deer too and bats, we also have a lot of wild peacocks. But these are all background wildlife which could maybe be a part of an equestrian rural pack. It's just thoughts but it probably won't come to anything. Still you never know, I might get my horse one day!
  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero (Retired)
    4 years ago

    @simsplayer818 ,I can see what you mean by how your farms end up looking similar.  I  am a person that likes variety, so I would like to have sheep, goats, ducks, geese, alpacas, donkeys, and horses (and unicorns!).  But I was just trying to be practical, in that other than looks, most of these animals are rather redundant, so I don't think EA will spend more resources on them, except maybe horses/unicorns since those can bring some different gameplay!  But if they had a bonus farm pack with these animals, I would want it and get! 🤪🤣  I certainly want horses in the game! 🥳

    I haven't played much with the bugs... I keep forgetting them since I don't like the idea of eating food made out of crickets and grubs, no matter how nutritious they are.  😅

    We have deer, rabbits, and bats near where I live (I live in the suburbs, but not too far from both the city and rural areas.  I have never seen foxes but I think we might have those as well, at least nearby.  I have seen the other 3 I have mentioned, as well as possums, skunks, raccoons , and coyotes!  But I've never seen wild peacocks! 😮😍


    it didn't bother me that the My First Pets Stuff SP had items that could have gone in the Cats & Dogs EP because everyone overlooks one fact... Cats & Dogs had more Build/Buy items than any other EP , except for Get Together!  🤨

    Get Together, was the second EP and we desperately needed more B/B items at that time! The only EPs and GPs that came before Get Together were Get to Work (EP) , Outdoor Retreat (GP), and Spa Day (GP).   But Get Together is the only EP that has more B&B items than Cats & Dogs, and it was only 5 more items! 

    Here is the breakdown of Build & Buy item amounts for EP's:
    Seasons - 158
    Cottage Living  - 160

    Island Living - 164

    Eco Lifestyle - 170

    Snowy Escape - 178

    Discover University - 181

    Get Famous - 255

    City Living - 271

    Get to Work - 282

    Cats & Dogs - 325
    Get Together - 330

    So, with Cats & Dogs you got over twice as many B&B items as Season or Cottage Living, and 2 shy of doble the amount of B&B items as Island Living, plus a new beautiful world, many CAS items for people and pets , including a custom fur/painting tool.  They had more ideas than they had room or probably time for, so instead of letting these ideas go to waste, they put them in a Stuff Pack. I don't have a problem with that.  If the pack was very sparse I would understand, but the pack was almost tied with the pack that has the most B&B items to date!  C&D has the most "bang for your buck" for Build & Buy objects, right after Get Together! 🤨 The only real drawback to me is that people who don't care about dogs and cats but love small pets that MFPS has were left with a pack with a bunch of items that they aren't likely to use, or that don't match anything. 😥  I feel bad for them if they really love small pets but have no interest in buying the Cats & Dogs EP. 

    Also, there have been several times throughout all the versions of the Sims where we see the developers' ideas for a pack (either before the pack gets made like with the community votes on some of the Stuff Packs) or after the packs come out, where I have heard players saying they wish they would have still released those ideas, because they would have bought them even if it was in a different pack.  While those players might be smaller in number, they do still exist. 

    So don't feel too bad about buying My First Pets Stuff if you like the items in it. 🥳 Cats and Dogs already had plenty of content and these items would have just been a waste of good ideas! 😉

  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    4 years ago

    Donkeys! Now there's an awesome idea! If I can't have a horse I'd settle for a donkey!