What would you recommend if someone wanted to delve back into Sims 4? Is Wedding Stories working? What are the perks of High School Years?
I’d love to hear which packs you’d recommend and why, I feel tempted to dabble 👀😂
I suggest you get growing together each gameplay gives not only family new life,but also sims nee life as well.
Thank you!
That's really helpful, I haven't modded Sims 4 yet so I'll definitely explore that!
Thank you so much this is really helpful info, I think I know which I need next!
For High school years wait for the sale. I got it as a gift, and I do enjoy it a lot, but it has it's flaws. One thing that I suggest for gameplay-wise is rags to riches. A Sim can buy clothes at the thrift store, and sale it for a higher price.
If you like occults, Werewolves is a good pack. They have a toggle that can keep werewolves in their own world if you want. They also have a system similar to Vampires. The only real flaw is that they can be a bit too cutesy or cat-like.
Horse Ranch would fit with Cottage Living, and is one of my favorite packs. I got it on sale, and started playing it recently, so it is still new to me. I have slowly started to move in horses. The horses have horns to make them unicorns if you want to add a little occult. The horses I have moved in are a mixture of horses my Sims buy in-game, or from the Gallery. The gameplay can be repetitive, but for me the fun comes with Sims interacting with the horses, and riding them.
My Wedding Stories isn't working...yet. There are 3-4 major bug fixes coming up in a patch later this month. Not sure if you saw the July 9, 2024 Laundry List but it's going to fix the town hall, call off the wedding interaction, sims not sitting on the floor during a wedding ceremony, and hungry sims not eating the wedding cake before the bride & groom can cut it. That's going to fix some of the bigger grips of the pack.
As for packs after Cottage Living, High School Years does work for the most part now. The upcoming patch will fix one of the new teen aspirations that came with that pack so that'll be nice. The perk is being able to see your teen live in school and control them during the school day. You get prom, social bunny app, and some really cute build/buy & CAS items.
The pack I'd recommend the most though is Growing Together. It's the Sims 4 version of Generations (kind of, you still need Parenthood for the rest), but it gives family dynamics and social compatibility. It adds the challenge and makes legacy/generation gameplay a bit more challenging. Sims have to work to make their families close or jokesters. Your sim can experience burnout, midlife crises, and workplace rivalries. Traits can be acquired through gameplay, giving sims an option to have 6 traits (3 acquired through gameplay and 3 set in CAS). I think it's a more subtle EP because the gameplay isn't so easy to see from a trailer or just quickly playing through the EP. But like Seasons, Growing Together changes your Sims' day to day lives and interactions.
I'm not a big animal player in the Sims 4, but there were a lot of folks that liked Horse Ranch.
Oh wow thank you, I loved Generations the most so Growing Together sounds perfect (I do already have Parenthood). Sounds like there’s been a lot of problems but I’m glad the fixes are coming in new patches soon!
That’s really handy about the thrift store, I think I’ll get any packs in the sale now since there’s always one at some point! 😂 I agree that werewolves gave me flashbacks to the newest Cats film - it’s the only time I didn’t love something with Taylor Swift in 😂😳 but I’ve heard good thinks about the functioning and am glad they can be cordoned off to a separate world if needed!
Werewolves and Horse Ranch are some of my favourite packs! I love how detailed the werewolves are and I love horses IRL. I also like Growing Together as I enjoy the systems it adds, especially milestones.
I got HSY in a sale and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I like the option of going to school and meeting other teens. Career day and prom are nice too. However it's not essential to me.
For Rent I can't really recommend. For me there haven't been many bugs and while I enjoy the option of "splitting" lots for several families, I'm just not vibing it overall. Maybe on a sale.
It depends on what playstyle you prefer.
My personal favourite of the releases after cottage living would be werewolves. I love playing occults and werewolves are implemented very well. I like how they look and can be customised (only thing missing is a feminine body type) Their powers are useful and they pose a challenge with their rampages.
Horse ranch is also a nice pack. It goes well with cottage living. Combining both gives you more options for a farm with not only horses but also sheep and goats which give wool and milk respectively.
Growing together is great for family play. I like the milestones because sims finally feel like they have a bit of a memory of passed events. It adds a lot of small things to enjoy like bikes for kids, new board games, sleepovers, family members coming to stay for a few days to help out with the kids,... Playing with infants is quite different with this pack.
