The Sims: Why we need "interests" to return.

One of the biggest problems that I see with the Sims 4, is that there is nothing that really dictates gameplay apart from, well, me. While that may be good in some respects, I would prefer a balance of my directions & the personality of the Sim to dictate what happens in game.

I’ve seen many people mention that we need more depth to the Sims, because all of the Sims in the game tend to turn out the same. They react to things in the same way, they have no real defining characteristics (apart from how they look and dress) that sets them apart from one another.

Here’s my idea for how to add that depth: We need the Sims to have interests.

In the Sims 1 and the Sims 2, each Sim had an interests panel. These interests differed slightly between games.

In the Sims 1, the categories were:

Adult Interests:

Travel, Money, Politics

The 60's, Weather, Sports

Music, Outdoors, Exercise

Food, Parties, Style

Hollywood, Technology, Romance

Child Interests:

Toys, Aliens, Pets

School, Weather, Sports

Music, Outdoors

More information: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Interest

In The Sims 2, we had:
https://pleasantsims.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sims-2-Interest-Panel.jpg

These interests dictated how well the sims would get along with other Sims – if they could have a decent conversation, if they were compatible as friends or romantic interests. The player had the power to change a sim’s interests through various gameplay elements, like reading magazines and sharing interests with other sims.

In the Sims 4, basically nothing dictates this aspect of the game. Anyone can get along with pretty much anyone, as long as they’re in a positive emotional state. This isn’t fun. There is fun in the challenge of finding compatible sims for your sim to get along with. There is fun in having sims disagree. If I tell my Sims 4 sim to argue, what are they arguing about? In the Sims 1 and 2, an argument would most likely be based on opposing interests.

In my ideal Sims game, interests would dictate:

• What my sim wants to do (with an upgraded wants system, #WhimsSuck)
  
• Who they get along with, and who they don’t
  
• What hobbies they’d like to pursue
  
• What mood they’re in – i.e. if a Sim loves sports and is engaging in sports activities, they’re happy. If they hate sports and they’re engaging in those activities, they’re unhappy
  
• What direction expansion packs, game packs and stuff packs would take – each of the categories could provide a framework for exploring further gameplay. You could have a “Living the High Life” EP which centres around politics, money, business – uptown apartments, custom careers and objects for my Sims who are interested in that life. You could have a “Schools” EP where we could build our own custom schools that focus on sports, drama, magic, the arts, etc. You could do an Environmental pack (hello, Eco Lifestyle) which focuses on that element of things. So on, and so forth.
  
• Interests could also interact with traits. There could be traits such as “stubborn”, or “open-minded”, or “traditional” / “old-fashioned”, “artistic”, etc etc, which then interacts with interests. A stubborn sim could be very opposed to accepting new ideas about the world or changing their interests, whereas an open-minded Sim could be ready and interested in looking into new ideas. You could also make is so that “charismatic” sims or “schmoozer” sims were better at sharing their interests with others.
  

With The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle coming out soon, I find myself thinking – Okay, but what is going to dictate if my Sim cares about the environment, or not? A trait? You know what would be better? An INTEREST score. Will every Sim in the neighbourhood be ready to hear what I have to say about the environment? What if there were some Sims who slammed the door in your face? Now that’d be funny.

Imagine the possibilities: if my Sim has a low environment interest, they walk outside into the smog and trash, and they’re just fine and dandy. They don’t care.

If my Sim has a high interest score, they could react in different ways:

- As a self-assured Sim, my Sim could become determined to provoke change in the neighbourhood, go door-knocking and clean up the streets.
- As a shy Sim, my sim could feel sad, or anxious about the situation.

So on, and so forth.

Let’s look at other aspects of the game:

If my Sim has a high interest in school or education, they would want to go to University and do well. They would be devoted to their studies, would get grumpy / anxious / angry if they fail. If they have a low interest, school could make them bored, or uncomfortable.

If my Sim has a high interest in weather, they could become excited at thunderstorms instead of tense. They could want to go outside and play in the snow, or host season-themed events like pool parties and outdoor BBQs.

If my Sim has a high interest in Hollywood, or culture, fashion, fame and fortune, they may want to pursue a path of fame and fortune.

Animals interest… they want pets.

So on, and so forth.

This is the kind of gameplay depth that I want to see in a Sims game.

A cohesive interplay of Character Traits + Interests + Aspirations / Careers, which dictates how my Sim reacts to different people and situations, and what my Sim wants do to (AND doesn't want to do... fears are important!!) so that each Sim is truly unique.

If this is not possible for the Sims 4, I hope that it will be considered for the Sims 5.

Thank you for coming to my Ted-Talk. Please feel free to leave any of your own thoughts below.