Incorporating "Religious" Content
Hi all, I'm here with yet another idea suggestion.
This time I'd like to address the concept of having some type of soft religious play in the game. Now, I know this is a sensitive topic, but I'm not referring to any actual real life religion because I do think that could get abused and there is too much risk of it being disrespectful. But since the Sims games have a history of mimicking real life topics, I think that this is something that's been avoided and empty for too long.
The Sims 4 is well known for its lighthearted humor. And there are consistent icons that have turned up throughout the series, so I feel like this could work in a way that keeps Sim spirituality in the fictional realm enough that it might actually be feasible. Take, for instance, the Freezer Bunny and the Llama. These figures are practically a brand to the Sims name, and throughout the franchise, there has been a reverence to these characters within the game world. What if we could leave offerings to the Great Llama or the Freezer Bunny, and eat Grilled Cheese in their honor? When we got the Seasons pack, we got the strange little holiday Gnomes that have to be appeased, and I think that was a very interesting angle that bordered on the same concept. Seasons also touched on a lot of traditions that could be incorporated for this purpose.
But I'd like to take it just a little bit further and say that I'd really like to be able to create cults as well as individual spirituality. One of my favorite Influencers is a builder, Simproved, who creates a lot of "dark side" builds. She always uses the Lionfish because it has such a sinister appearance, and her followers have come to jokingly be referenced as the Lionfish Cult. I would love a way for my Sims to choose an icon like this within the game to hold in reverence and "celebrate" with other Sims, as well as choose attire and attend a small ceremony. Having the ability to do this would give each player the freedom to create something that resembles a religion or cult or spiritual habit without it infringing on real life Faiths. Just look at the beautiful animation we have that came with the Day of the Dead event, where the Sims kneel at the grave and appeal to their ancestors. This is one of my absolute favorite animations in the entire game, I just think it's beautiful and so well implemented and I'd love to use it more. And with all of the holiday items we have, people who enjoy realistic play could actually choose some of those items as a religious focus, and it would give them a way to have something in their play that allowed for religious flavor. But flexibility would be a must, so even nonsensical objects and items should be considered also. We'd just need a little system added that would allow us to click on an object or item and select it as a spiritual focus. We should also be able to have more than one, and be able to have our Sims interact with ceremony both individually and in groups. For those who don't want anything to do with religious concepts, it would not be invasive because they simply wouldn't select anything.
This is merely one simple idea for giving us something brand new that we've never been able to do before, but there could be other ways to bring spirituality/religion/Godhood to the game as well. There is a fantastic thread here: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/949995/do-you-incorporate-faith-religion-in-the-sims/p1 started by @paradiseplanet where people have shared some extraordinary examples of gameplay that uses fictional religions. I think it would be an incredible new angle for Sims 4.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and if anyone else has some good ideas for incorporating some neutral religious play (or even why you don't think it's a good idea), please chime in, I'd love to hear them. Just remember to please keep this thread respectful and free of real life religious argument, as per forum rules. :)
This time I'd like to address the concept of having some type of soft religious play in the game. Now, I know this is a sensitive topic, but I'm not referring to any actual real life religion because I do think that could get abused and there is too much risk of it being disrespectful. But since the Sims games have a history of mimicking real life topics, I think that this is something that's been avoided and empty for too long.
The Sims 4 is well known for its lighthearted humor. And there are consistent icons that have turned up throughout the series, so I feel like this could work in a way that keeps Sim spirituality in the fictional realm enough that it might actually be feasible. Take, for instance, the Freezer Bunny and the Llama. These figures are practically a brand to the Sims name, and throughout the franchise, there has been a reverence to these characters within the game world. What if we could leave offerings to the Great Llama or the Freezer Bunny, and eat Grilled Cheese in their honor? When we got the Seasons pack, we got the strange little holiday Gnomes that have to be appeased, and I think that was a very interesting angle that bordered on the same concept. Seasons also touched on a lot of traditions that could be incorporated for this purpose.
But I'd like to take it just a little bit further and say that I'd really like to be able to create cults as well as individual spirituality. One of my favorite Influencers is a builder, Simproved, who creates a lot of "dark side" builds. She always uses the Lionfish because it has such a sinister appearance, and her followers have come to jokingly be referenced as the Lionfish Cult. I would love a way for my Sims to choose an icon like this within the game to hold in reverence and "celebrate" with other Sims, as well as choose attire and attend a small ceremony. Having the ability to do this would give each player the freedom to create something that resembles a religion or cult or spiritual habit without it infringing on real life Faiths. Just look at the beautiful animation we have that came with the Day of the Dead event, where the Sims kneel at the grave and appeal to their ancestors. This is one of my absolute favorite animations in the entire game, I just think it's beautiful and so well implemented and I'd love to use it more. And with all of the holiday items we have, people who enjoy realistic play could actually choose some of those items as a religious focus, and it would give them a way to have something in their play that allowed for religious flavor. But flexibility would be a must, so even nonsensical objects and items should be considered also. We'd just need a little system added that would allow us to click on an object or item and select it as a spiritual focus. We should also be able to have more than one, and be able to have our Sims interact with ceremony both individually and in groups. For those who don't want anything to do with religious concepts, it would not be invasive because they simply wouldn't select anything.
This is merely one simple idea for giving us something brand new that we've never been able to do before, but there could be other ways to bring spirituality/religion/Godhood to the game as well. There is a fantastic thread here: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/949995/do-you-incorporate-faith-religion-in-the-sims/p1 started by @paradiseplanet where people have shared some extraordinary examples of gameplay that uses fictional religions. I think it would be an incredible new angle for Sims 4.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and if anyone else has some good ideas for incorporating some neutral religious play (or even why you don't think it's a good idea), please chime in, I'd love to hear them. Just remember to please keep this thread respectful and free of real life religious argument, as per forum rules. :)
