Sims 4: Farm Life - Idea
Farm Career
The farmer career is an active career that requires you to live and work on a farm. You can build your own farm and buy and sell animals and produce using the computer or farmers' market, which is on Wednesdays and Sundays in the town centre or park. The farmers' market sells all sorts of produce, from new livestock which the sim can buy and transfer to their farm, to milk and wool which anyone can buy.
Farmers must attend to their livestock everyday and ensure they are all well fed and happy. This can be done through 'checking' on individual animals or an entire herd. This will highlight any issues an animal has, so the farmer can sort it. A farmer must manage their farm efficiently and effectively to make it profitable. They can take a horse out and ride around the fields to check on livestock not on the farm lot, and take a dog for efficient herding.
A farm vet career is a sub-option of the vet career and they can be called out at any time of the day or night to help on a farm, whether it is delivering a new calf or lamb, to treating sick or elderly livestock. Farm diseases can spread quickly, so it is important to treat infected animals with speed and accuracy.
A farmer also has the option of growing crops in fields not on the farm lot. This requires a tractor or a horse for ploughing the fields. They must plough, plant and harvest fields with a variety of crops to choose from. These can then be eaten or sold at the farmers' market.
At a high level of the riding skill, farmers can teach others how to ride a horse. This creates the idea of a riding school, where sims run a farm for horses and have other sims pay them to teach them to ride. Ads can be sent out using the computer for a riding school and bookings received for unplayed sims to come to the riding school.
Sometimes, a school trip may come to the farm, and a farmer must teach the children about the animals and how the farm works.
Livestock
Farmers have a range of livestock available to them. These livestock are not playable and do not appear as part of the household, so an unlimited number can be owned. Sims can name each one of their livestock if they so wish, and tag them with a personalised ear tag in case a thief attempts to steal them. Livestock comes in different colours depending on the animals, so they are all individual. The livestock would be genetically similar to the parents, so farmers can strategically breed desirable characteristics and create new breeds. It must be remembered that livestock don't live forever, and can die from old age, disease or for the meat. In these circumstances, they are removed from the care of a sim in the same way a sim death would appear. Livestock includes:
- Chickens - farmers can collect eggs from the coops. They can also keep a rooster for breeding. Sims need to be careful not to collect eggs that contain chicks!
- Sheep - farmers can move sheep around so that they can be on the farm lot, or in a separate field. They can be sheered and bred; a farmer may want to keep one or two rams, but they can be a bit of a handful. Sheep can only be moved from fields to farm lots and vice versa whilst contained in a herding pen.
- Cows - cows can be milked in the milking sheds and can be moved from the farm lot to separate fields. Bulls can be kept for breeding. Cows can only be moved from fields to the farm lot and vice versa when contained in a herding pen.
- Pigs - pigs can be kept in pigsties on the farm lot and can be bred to be sold.
- Horses - draught horses such as shires and Suffolk punches, can be kept to pull ploughs and do other heavy farm work, although some farmers may choose tractors over horses. Horses can be bred and can also be ridden around farms. Other breeds of horse can also be kept in the stables and used for farm work, though heavy horses are the most efficient. There should be different sizes of horse, so the biggest such as shires are used for farm work, medium horses such as warmbloods and thoroughbreds can be used for riding, and small ponies such as Shetlands can be used for children who are learning to ride. Horses can also be put into separate fields when not being used.
- Dogs - dogs can be trained to herd sheep and cows, though this may take a few tries. Sims and dogs can learn the herding skill where the sim teaches the dog whistle commands to herd livestock into pens for checking and moving around. Farmers now have the option to remove a dog from a playable household and let it become a full-time working farm dog. They live in kennels on the farm and can be trained to herd livestock.
- Cats - farm cats can be owned to lower the rodent population on the farm lot. Sims now have the option for cats to be removed from playable households and become full-time farm cats. They choose their own place to live, whether it be in a barn, stable or pigsty, and will learn the hunting skill. Kittens may unexpectedly appear after a cat has returned from a wonder from the farm. Stray cats may also take up residence on the farm. Sims have the option to chase away farm cats to remove them from the farm. They then become strays again.
- Llamas - as with the tradition of Sims, llamas should finally become part of the active game and be bred for their wool. Though sims should be careful with these or they could be spat on which causes a drastic change of mood.
Occasionally, youngstock that a farmer has bred get abandoned by their mothers, meaning the sim must take them into their house to care for them individually, bottle feeding and keeping them warm. It is rare, but in this event, a lamb or calf may take a particular liking to a sim and has the option to become part of the household as a pet.
Build/Buy
Farm lots are bigger lots and off site fields are available to the farmer where they keep livestock. Each farm site and fields must be purchased, much like the restaurants and shops. Farmers can buy as many fields as they would like to expand their farm, but must remember that they must attend all of them.
Farm lots can have pigsties, chicken coops, barns, cow sheds, milking sheds and stables built on them. Kennels are also available for farm dogs.
A riding arena is another thing that can be built for a particularly horse mad family, possibly paving the way to a riding school rather than a farm.
Farmers can buy tractors to help in the fields. These are expensive, but are more efficient than horses. Alternatively, they can buy a manual plough for a draught horse which is cheap, but less efficient.
Farmers can buy a milking stool for manual milking, or an automatic milker.
Skills
Farmers can learn new skills on the farm:
- Riding skill - farmers can ride horses and must learn how to ride well. At a high level, they can teach others to ride, and can ride a horse whilst leading another one. This is particularly useful when teaching a child to ride. Sims can keep small ponies for toddlers and children. Toddlers can only be sat on them, but children can begin to learn to ride, which helps build the motor skill. Sims can learn to jump, do dressage and perform tricks with their horse. A riding arena can be built for sims who want to ride properly, rather than just around the farm.
- Herding skill - farmers can learn to herd livestock with the aid of a dog so that they can transfer livestock from the farm lot to separate fields and vice versa. They will learn certain whistles and cues that the dog follows to herd them into a pen.
- Crop skill (like the gardening skill) - farmers can learn how to effectively plant and grow crops. They will learn to plough well.
- Sheering/Milking skills - sheering sheep is not easy, so a farmer must learn how to sheer a sheep properly. The start of this skill may result in some hilarious sheep and llama hair cuts. The milking skill for cows will also aid when manually milking, if an automatic milker can not be afforded.
