[Info] Sims 4 - Patch Notes [Updated April 6th]

Happy 16^th Anniversary!
Yep, 16 years this February 4^th! Amazing! And we have a few throwbacks to celebrate the 16 years of the Sims!

From the early days… when you were amazed your Sims didn’t burn to death just pouring a bowl of chips, we bring you memories of those trying times with the Tragic Clown Painting!

• A “new” old friend can be found immortalized in print in the Build catalog. Search up the Tragic Clown and you’ll come across the ol’ clown’s likeness. Viewing his print may place you in a sad mood however as you reflect upon the deeper meaning of balloon animals, bulbous red noses, and tragic kitchen fires.

…as we step forward, looking into the second iteration of the Sims, you will find the Grilled Cheese Aspiration!

• You can unlock this aspiration by eating a grilled cheese… or three.
• Once you finish the aspiration, you’ll unlock the Melt Master trait, where you will learn:
  • To Paint Grilled Cheese on the Easel
  • Summon Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with but a thought
  • And unlock the ability to evangelize about Grilled Cheese Sandwiches… because cheese!

…and into the third installment, we bring to you, The Kleptomaniac Trait!

• Available now as a selectable trait in Create A Sim

• Your mischief skill will guide your ability to swipe various objects, but be careful to do so alone...
• And if you do end up feeling guilty for taking that valuable do-whaty-a-thingo from your neighbor, you can always return it… or sell it.
  • “What ‘do-whaty-a-thingo’ were you referring to?”

In addition to our throwback memories…

You can now Hire a Gardener from the Hire a Service option in the phone menu.

• If you have some garden plants that need tending, you can hire the gardener for a one time “help me out” or as a re-occurring scheduled service.
• So get out there, buy a planting pot, drop some seeds, and eat the fruits of their labors!
• There are also a couple of new socials available on the Gardener: Ask for Gardening Advice and Discuss Gardening Techniques

And there is a new 16^th Anniversary print found in Build Mode. Search up “Let there be Plumbobs!” and you’ll find this high gloss print with its’ 15 plumbobs staring right back at you!

• …the 16^th … it’s there… I think if you close your eyes you can probably sense its presence… a presence not felt since…
  • And then he just sort of turns away. I mean, he was in mid-sentence, and then he just stops and walks away. Why was he talking to himself to begin with? I know it’s the classic… but I always thought that part was strange…

Also Twitter! Share screenshots, gallery uploads, and achievements directly to Twitter.

And we have also improved your ability to find and filter modded content.

• Now you can easily identify modded content in Create A Sim and Build Mode with some handy icons we’ve added!
• We have also made it easy to separate modded from Maxis content with a new filter available in both modes.

Oh yea, almost forgot – we liked the trick items far too much not to give them away also! You can now find the Boneyard, Buyer Beware, and Stoar the Bearded Trickster Door in Build Mode.

But we can’t have just new stuff, not without cleaning up some of the old stuff. So what’d we do to the old?

Issues Addressed

General Issues

• Sims invited to spend the night will no longer spend the night standing around not sleeping. They will now behave in a way that makes sense for someone who has been asked to spend the night.
  • They will sleep. It’s a little strange and unusual… but we figured, let’s give it a go. See what happens.
• We fixed an issue with the Activities and Skills filter in Build Mode that was preventing the gold “something is new” highlight from properly clearing itself.
• Sims will no longer autonomously choose to drink potions or herbalism drinks.
• Wedding plates and cake will no longer disappear during the Share Wedding Cake interaction.
• We fixed an issue that was causing Sims to react as if most food was spicy.
• Fixed an issue that could result in some floor tiles failing to rotate along with the lot when rotated.
• Sims should no longer find themselves unable to exit the hot tub after autonomously woohooing.
• Playing with the Lump of Clay will now properly satisfy the "Play with 3 Toys" aspiration goal in the Artistic Prodigy aspiration.
• We addressed an issue that could result in the player receiving error code 533 when attempting to save the game.
  • Thank you to our players who sent us your save files, as it greatly assisted us, and we were able to identify the problem and address this issue.
  • Players who have received error code 42, just know you have the answer.
• Hacking notifications now properly address the Sim, and not the player…
  • You there! Get outta my code...
• We have added an option in the Audio options called “Match Speed Stereo Music”
  • When checked on, in game stereo music will play at the same speed as the game.
  • When checked off, in game stereo music will always play at normal speed, regardless of game speed.
  • When checked checkered, black goes first.
  • When checked plaid, check flannel status.
  • When chalked, hit the cue ball with a medium stroke at the center, to top stop it dead after hitting the object ball.
• The Princess Cordelia's Galleon Bed may now properly be found under the Queen Anne style sort.
• Fixed an issue in which it was possible to resize the Sim and Object inventory panels beyond their minimum constraints, which could result in them being unusable.
• Fixed an issue during the move in new household flow that could cause the "moving household" dialog to reappear and prevent the user from taking any further actions.
• Sims carving pumpkins or working at a woodworking table will no longer ignore Sims who die near them.
  • Sims dying near a pumpkin carving or woodworking station will no longer have as their last memories the face of an uncaring carver.
• Babies will no longer send text messages congratulating your Sims on their marriage, engagement, or pregnancy…
  • "Hey mom, we haven’t met yet. How are you doing? I just wanted to say congratulations on your pregnancy. Talk to you later."
  • "My what?!"
• Sims who sabotage their own belongings will no longer be kicked out of their home by another Sim of their household.
• Maids will no longer attempt to put away toys or books if there is no Toy Box or Bookcase on the lot.
• Sims will no longer immediately cancel their shower or bath, if there is an infant anywhere on the lot.
• Sims with the jealous trait will no longer send congratulations on engagement/marriage messages to their ex'es.
• Item titles, descriptions, and player bio information can now be copied/pasted within the Gallery.
• Sims near a child who finishes reading or doing their homework will no longer improperly reset.

The Sims 4 Get to Work

• Paint by reference will no longer override your ability to take photographs of differing sizes and orientations.
• The “Straight Bizoleons Neon Sign” business perk sign can now have its emotional aura disabled.
• Food set for sale on retail lots was being improperly cleaned up by the midnight cleaning services under some circumstances … this should no longer occur.

The Sims 4 Get Together

• We fixed the Brickwall brick texture variants to no longer improperly dupe the Up-Bricking wallpaper variants.
• Club gatherings will no longer start autonomously on the active Sims home lot.
• Children in club outfits will no longer "distort" when aging from child to teen…
  • Their behavior upon becoming teens however is completely out of our hands.

The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat

• The Rejuvenated! Buff acquired from camping should no longer keep returning indefinitely. Now once it expires, you will have to go camping to again feel Rejuvenated!

The Sims 4 Movie Hangout Stuff

• Cuddle while watching a movie was not queuing for both Sims… it should now properly appear in the queue for both Sims.
• Popcorn does indeed satisfy the club rule for Eat, and now should show the icon indicating such.
• Cleaning the popcorn popper does indeed satisfy the club rule to clean, and now should show the icon indicating such.
• Reading release notes does indeed satisfy your need to know, and now you have been properly informed.

Happy Anniversary, happy Simming, happy, happy, joy, something something… and thank you for everything!
-SimGuruGnome

Happy year of the new, Simmers!

We have a short and sweet release this fine 7^th of January, like a New Year’s Eve peck – just a quick welcome to 2016!

Around the corner, I hear Sims are prepping the popcorn for their movie relaxations (just remember, if the bunny in the woods is too much, just call on the super kids to battle the dancing undead).

And with that warning out of the way, we have a bit of NEW…

• We have modified the way in which Sims react to those acting inappropriately in their neighbors’ homes. Beware, for you might find your Sim asked to leave if they get out of line.

• We have also modified the behavior of Sims when a fight occurs.
  • Your friends may cheer you on, but your enemies may cheer when you’re down.

• There are 8 new wall decorations to decorate your décor! (ok, well, they don’t decorate the décor, they add to the décor… I really just wanted to ignore the conventions of grammar and write what I wanted to write. There… I admitted it, I ignore grammar!)
  • Movie posters for It’s Amber!, Stay Weirder, Cow Plant Love, Cop and Llama, Malpractice, Epic Wood, Sul Sul, and Still Life, are all now available in the Build catalog.

… And have addressed a few Issues…

• The repair service will no longer become unavailable if the player switches active households while the repair service was in progress.

• The repair service is no longer available to not service a retail lot.
  • It is now not available, as it was not repairing. Thus, the service will now not charge you for not repairing, when you attempted to have a repair service, service your repairs.

• We fixed an issue that could result when connecting or reconnecting online, in an interface misalignment in the My Library tab of the Gallery.
  • Essentially, interface elements were not redrawing properly, and were overlapping in ways that made parts of the interface inaccessible.
    • In-acc-sess-ible is so much more fun to say when you accent each syllable.

• We have addressed an issue that could allow users to modify existing lots and upload them as their own.
  • Without going into too much detail, through a means of saving, deleting, and re-uploading, it was possible for the owner ID to be “lost” and thus allow the owner modification to occur.

• Sims can now chat with children playing on a jungle gym without route failing.
  • … of course I thought the whole purpose of the park was to let your kids run free, while you found peace in the nature inspired sanctuary of silence…
    • “Dad?!”
  • Blissful, golden silence…
    • “DAD!!!”
  • SILENCE!
    • “DAD?!”
    • “What?!”
    • “Nuh-thing.”

• We fixed an issue with the DJ booth that could result in the upgrade action failing to perform, but still deducting the parts from the Sims’ inventory.

I hope you had a pleasant December, and wish you joy as we move into the beginnings of this new year.

-SimGuruGnome

Update: 12/17/2015 – PC Version 1.13.106.1010 / Mac Version 1.13.106.1210

Hey Simmers!

This is SimGuruGnome on the Issue-Chop Express and I’m writin’ to whoever’s readin’.

It’s like I told the last public relations rep, I says “SimGuruDrake, I never write more than I can read. Besides that, it’s all in the spellchecker.”

But just listen to the Issue-Chop Express and take the Gnome’s advice. When some wild-eyed Sim wanders by, knocks on your front door and asks you “Sul sul, plerg majah bliff?” You just stare them back in the eye and remember what the Gnome always says.

“Plerg majah bliff? Neeshga, voo oonapa oonsosh…”

So, what have we done?

• We have addressed a few PC 64 bit specific issues that were quickly identified by the community.
  • Videos will no longer be blank when played back on some video players.
  • Sims will no longer flicker in dim light.
• Telling your Sim to use the toilet will no longer cancel other actions already in their action queue.
• It has been noted that our Sims have taken to WooHoo a bit more frequently than has been the norm. Perhaps it is the winter months, perhaps it is the coming of Spring… perhaps it…
  • Yea… it’s too much. Autonomous woohoo is allowed, but we have reduced the frequency at which Sims choose to, increased the restrictions for “why they are allowed to”, and generally have requested that Sims seek hoo in less wooful ways.
• Description hashtags (#hashtag) in the Gallery are once again clickable.
  • And as a result, trending hashtags are back in the Gallery.
• We have also fixed an issue with mp3 playback in custom music that was causing some mp3 files to not be recognized.
• Club outfits will now work better with Custom Content.

Thanks again for listenin’ to the Issue-Chop Express, and take this advice on a stormy night, when the game’s playin’, the music’s roarin’, and the data’s downloadin’ in sheets as thick as a bunch of streaming green numbers, letters, and symbols (because that’s what the pattern looks like). Remember what old SimGuruGnome does when the neighborhood shakes with life, and the abductions come from the sky, and the pillars of the Goth’s estate quake. Yeah, SimGuruGnome just looks that big old storm right square in the eye and says “Gimme your best ob-la-di pal. Ob-la-da… ob-la-da.”

Until next time,

SimGuruGnome

Simmers!

How is everyone? It’s the holiday season… have you been good?

…you know, nobody ever really defined for me the limits of good in the context of the holiday seasonal question of naughty or nice. I was mostly good… I hope.

Anyway, given that I have also failed to define “good” for you, we have plenty of gifts to pass around no matter what your naughty/nice standing may be with the polar ice powers.

So, on with the unwrapping… what’d you get?

THE NEW!

• There is now a 64 Bit executable for 64 bit Windows users.
  • Players with 64bit Windows do not need to do any extra action, you will automatically be using the 64bit executable.
  • To learn more, please visit the FAQ - http://help.ea.com/article/when-to-use-the-sims-4-64-bit-or-32-bit-version
• For those players that use Mods and may not realize that an update has occurred, or that their Mods may conflict with the new update, we now automatically Disable Mods when we patch.
  • To turn them back on, open up Game Options, select the Other tab, and check on the Enable Custom Content and Mods option.
  • Please use caution when re-enabling your Mods, as Mods have been known to modify your game.
  • To learn more about this update, visit this FAQ - http://help.ea.com/article/mods-and-the-sims-4-game-updates
• We have made significant changes to the behavior of groups.
  • You will now have the option to add (or remove) Sims to groups.
  • When a Sim is added to a group you will be able to pull groups of Sims around with ease.
  • In addition when you travel with a group of Sims they will automatically be put into a group with each other.
• Create A Sim has had the underlying structure of how relationships are built and remembered overhauled.
  • This has allowed us to close many issues that could result in the relationship data becoming lost or corrupted, which could break existing relationships (brothers could forget their sisters) and allow invalid relationships to exist.
• There is a new Hire [NPC] interaction available on several objects, such as Hire Bartender (on the bar), Hire Caterer (on the fridge), or Hire Masseuse (on the massage table).
• Sims will have more relevant greetings. You now may see parents and children hug each other when they greet, or Sims might shake hands if they are acquaintances.
• We have spent some time fixing up the Fire and Death reaction systems. Sims will now behave in a more expected manner when either occurs near them.
• Looking forward to spending the holiday season with your Sims? Good news! We’ve updated the free* Holiday Celebration Pack with new snowflake decals, a lighted tree, piles of presents, a tree centerpiece, and new formal outfits that are perfect for wearing to holiday parties.
  • *Requires internet connection, The Sims 4 (sold separately) and all game updates to play.
    • The Sims 4 - sold separately at participating sellers of things and stuffs.
      • Sellers and cellars – homonyms
        • Homonyms, hymns, and yeoman… not the same.
          • Yeoman reminds me of yeti…
            • We had a yeti in MySims™ Agents…
              • Sold separately.
• There is a new venue type: Pool Venue
• There is a new option to color your pool water – default or purple! Because… purple!
  • That’s such a weird word... puuur’pull, purple, purple, people, purple, purple people. Weird.
• We have made several interface updates:
  • The World Maps have been updated!
    • First and probably the most noticeable, they are now in glorious color.
    • In addition we have also updated all of the interface elements of the map! (pst… the play button is in the bottom right… I know right, it took me FOREVER to remember).
    • There is also a Return to Map button in Live Mode.
  • The relationship inspector (when two Sims are talking, it is the UI that appears in the middle top of the screen) has been updated.
    • You can also right click on the Sim portrait in the inspector to center the camera on that Sim.
  • We have updated the Screenshots & Memories interface.
    • We have also improved the quality of pictures your Sims take, so that they look better when in the screenshot viewer.
  • The interface used when an NPC calls your Sim has had been updated.
    • As well as… Sims may now call to offer condolences, or congratulate you on that new job or promotion.
  • We have updated the Events display for non-goal oriented events. They will now have a bar with the event name and the remaining time countdown.
    • This should help with those stealth Welcome Wagon events that would suddenly yell at you for not paying attention to them.
  • The camera controls have a new button option to swap between Sims 3 and Sims 4 camera styles.

But wait… there’s more!

More, Billy?

…we have a few issues we have been looking into as well.

But that’s not all?

Issues Fixed

General Issues

• Sims who are sitting next to each other (such as at a 2x1 table or picnic table) can now converse with other Sims directly next to them without feeling the need to reposition themselves.
• We fixed an issue that could result in all saved games disappearing if an individual save slot was found to be corrupted. We now ignore the corrupted save, allowing the remaining save to be available.
• Players who use IME, will now find that that it works properly with Windows 10.
• We fixed an issue that could result in employees not showing up for work.
  • Do you think they were watching ‘Kung Fu’?
• Doc Sweet's Luke-Warm Tonic Dispenser (from Get to Work) and The Chillbox 2100 (from Spa Day) will now properly appear broken when they are broken, rather than being stealth broken. Because broken is broken, no matter how the visual broken'ness may appear.
• Convincing a Sim to leave their spouse while the spouse is present, will now cause the ‘leaved’ spouse to lose relationship with the ‘leaving’ spouse, should the action succeed.
• We fixed an issue that could result in event timers becoming out of synch with the actual time remaining.
• Super speed 3 will no longer trigger when there are still NPCs present during an active event.
  • In addition, super speed 3 will no longer attempt to run when there are NPCs on the active lot.
• Bring Here is now an available option on household ghosts when traveling... Because Ghosts are Sims too!
• Should the TV turn off when the Sim is no longer watching or should it stay on? The polls are in, the votes counted, and … I lost. Sims will now turn off the TV when they are finished watching.
• It turns out that a dancing tense Sim was not performing some crazy move called the "hold the invisible box." They were actually attempting to rub their temples from the stress… they just couldn't reach them. We have helped them out and allowed them to reach their temples.
  • So long “hold the invisible box” dance move… you were a good friend when I needed one.
• The BLT will no longer sit in a pile of unappetizing grey when on your plate.
  • Grey food and unappetizing grey food… pretty much the same thing.
• We fixed an issue where Sims would occasionally react to fire once, then just watch it burn.
  • I suppose this is just an issue in a game… but it feels like a societal commentary put forth by the engineer. Life isn’t about just sitting back and letting it happen. You have to get out there, dig your feet in, and put forth some effort.
  • Of course… I may be reading too much into it.
• Sims should now appear surprised to see the Grim Reaper.
  • Unless of course the Grim Reaper is there to see them… and then they will appear dead.
• Instant Upgrade and Insta-Repair interactions are now available on the Dishwasher.
• We fixed an issue that could result in an unplayable Sim when switching between Sims who are on and off lot.
• You can now put your Grills in your inventory.
  • The kind you cook on, right? Great, online chat has ruined my ability to understand the basics of language…
• We fixed an issue that could result in the game freezing when a Sim attempts to repeatedly socialize with another Sim who is currently unable to multitask a socialization action (such as showering or bathing).
• You will no longer be allowed to ask a working bartender, to star or cloud gaze with you. They just have no idea how to multi-task the action, and found themselves flailing about in conflict with the desire to gaze, and the desire to mix drinks… it wasn't pretty. Don't do it!
  • Interesting note, this action violated the forgotten rule #4 of the provisos (or quid pro quos) “you can lead a bartender on, but you can’t make him mix and gaze.”
• Sims with a significant other, will now lose the relationship with both the initiater and the initiated when they observe a jealous action betwixt their SO and their SO's not so SO.
• We fixed an issue that could result in low fat Sims not properly displaying muscle tone when going from Create A Sim to Live Mode..
• We fixed an issue that could result in teens, sometimes, holding their cellphone backwards when using it.
  • “Hey Marge! This here phone is telling me to ‘afpao a;lodu3’ myself.”
  • “That’s just Alexander backwards texting you again George!”
  • “Dern that whippersnapper and his backwards cellphone!”
• We fixed an issue that could result in a Sim seated at desk, near a wall, first walking outside when performing their next action.
• We fixed an issue where Sims returning home with low motives, could cause them to fail to perform autonomous actions and just stand idle.
• Loading a saved game will properly focus the camera on the currently active Sim. This was primarily an issue when the Sim was on a floor other than the ground floor.
• Ambient critter effects (insects, fireflies, or similar) will no longer play on the buildable portion of the Comfy Cubby lot.
  • We have vigorously applied ample amounts of bug spray in order to keep them at bay*.
    • *no actual bugs were harmed in the eradication of the bugs on the Comfy Cubby lot.
• Sims were floating above ground on parts of the Crick Cabana lot in Willow Creek. We have addressed this issue by attaching gravitational stabilizers to the bottoms of all Sims feet which should keep them more firmly attached to the ground. Should the problem persist, please replace the batteries in yours Sims gravitational stabilizers. Thank you.
• Adding the Repair Service or Maid Sim to your household while in the performance of their duties could leave the "work tone" icon permanently attached to their portrait. This issue has been fixed.
• Sims will no longer spin in place when attempting a sneak up on (approach from the side) an ice cream machine.
  • Also, it is not true that food that is unaware of your presence will not add to your waist line. Eating from someone else’s plate does not equal zero calories. And eating after midnight will not cause Stripe to get “grumpy”.
• The reach level 5 of the Tech Guru career goal for the Computer Whiz aspiration will no longer complete when you reach level 6… it will now complete when you reach level 5.
  • You know, we could have just changed the text but that would change the whole dynamic. And if you haven’t got your dynamic, then you haven’t got anything.
• Previously the maid misunderstood the concept of Sunday and Monday, and turned their Sunday into a Monday, which meant their Monday was their Sunday… and really the whole point of a weekend is to have TWO days consecutively in order to refresh and recharge... breaking up and reversing your Monday and Sunday is just unfortunate… for all involved.
• Sims should no longer flash light and dark while washing dishes at the Pure Simplicity sink.
  • …who washes dishes? I just throw them away.

General (Build)

• Objects (such as ceiling lights or cabinets) will no longer pop out of the view of the camera when dragging them to a lot edge.
• Cabinets are no longer sent to the household inventory when an action would cause them to change models (such as moving them from a corner to a flat wall) while automatic counters is on.
• Sims will no longer ignore the existence of the foundation when attempting to use a door along a diagonal wall on a raised foundation.
  • Creatures with the power of flight however, will be able to enter the door without issue… so long as they are able to open the door, exist in the game, and have the proper permissions to enter.
• Rugs will no longer appear above the fog.
  • Fog being the highly technical term used to denote the “greyish fuzziness” that occurs when the game graphics settings are set to low (greyish fuzziness is also highly technical…).
• Corner Cabinets can now be placed on left wall corners that are adjacent with right wall corners.
  • Fun Fact: A corner adjacent to a corner, depending upon direction, is also called a U-turn.
• Placing a tall window on a roof wall should no longer cause an empty space to appear beneath the window
  • I did that once, was not easy to fix... Of course, I also had an empty space where the window was… and a lot of glass shards on the ground.
• Circular Neon Tiki Sign and Neon Parrot Sign are now visible from both sides.
• Floor tiles placed in a block that has had its floor removed can now be removed with the sledgehammer tool.
• Placing a basement should now only clobber the objects on the floors above it that should be clobbered when a clobbering action is warranted.
  • Clobber: to pound merci… no, um... to defeat overwhelm… no. Maybe go with “to defeat easily”? That one is pretty close… but it is definitely not “someone’s clothes, supplies, or equipment” – because that would just be weird.
    • “Did that basement just clobber your room?”
    • “Yes, and I had no idea it would look so good in a dress.”
• Wall decoratives placed in a room that is above a basement, will no longer vanish when changing wall heights.
  • Spellchecker does not like the word decoratives. What does it expect the plural of a decorative to be? Decoratice?
• Several build objects that are available pursuant to the bb.showhiddenobjects cheat, were only available on specific lots. We have removed the lot restrictions for these objects
  • I’ve always wanted to misuse the word ‘pursuant.’
• Dishwashers will no longer tell you that they "must be placed on a larger surface” when attempting to place them in an invalid location. Now they will tell you "must be placed on specific objects."
  • It’s much clearer this way…
• The flat square block named “Rounded Deck” in the build catalog will no longer be known as the flat square block named “Rounded Deck”. It will hence forth be known as “Flat Square”, or, if you favor nostalgia, the flat square block formerly known as “Rounded Deck.”
• Rugs placed on the ground on certain lots will no longer disappear as the camera was brought closer to them.
  • A shy rug… huh… I’ve seen stranger.
• The audio during Build Mode will now play even when the audio quality is set to low.
• The Quaking Aspen tree is now visible at all angles on low graphics settings.
• Using MOO to place objects will no longer improperly position the objects when moving the lot/room to a larger sized lot.
  • MOO – move objects… on, except that we don’t use the “on” part in the current cheat. So, it’s really more of a MO.
• We fixed an issue where sometimes when deleting the deck of a home, it would leave behind floating objects, which would then allow the Sim to use those floating objects and get into all sorts of odd animation situations.
• Basement dirt floor is now an available floor pattern in Build Mode, named Bottom of the Basement.

General (Create A Sim)

• Changing the hair color of an alien child will no longer also change their eye color.
  • I suppose, being a color, one might be confused as to the intent of the desired outcome. After all, being an alien, it is hard to determine the motivations behind the color change… perhaps the desire was indeed to change all colors to be uniformed. Well, we’ll never know now, will we?
• We fixed an issue, whereupon resizing the male Aliens feet, their pinky toe would not resize.
  • Not kidding… their pinky toe would not resize.
• Randomizing your Sims sleepwear will no longer add a hat (or cap) to your Sims sleeping attire.
  • We will also not be applying a kerchief to your mother no matter how quickly you throw up the sash.
• The yfTop_BlazerRound is once again tucked in.
• cfHair_longStraight is now available for male and female children.
• Randomizing Sims from the gallery should no longer result in a baby being added to the household… surprise!

General (Gallery)

• Uploading a room to the gallery with a raised foundation will no longer cause the foundation pattern to appear floating in the preview image.
• We fixed an issue with objects outside of a room, being uploaded to the Gallery as part of the room if the MOO (MO?) cheat had been used.
• You will no longer be able to upload a lot to the Gallery if it is on fire.
  • For your safety while using the Gallery, please keep your flames and embers inside your game at all times. Young children should not be playing with burning lots, unless accompanied by an adult. Please honor curated content. Also, for the comfort of those who seek to download your lot, we request that there be no flash photography, eating, or drinking while uploading. Thank you, and enjoy your game.
• In the case that a player replaces a Sim in a household with a gallery Sim, or randomizes a Sim from the gallery into their household, and then re-uploads the household the original ‘created by’ data will be remembered.
• Shared items with Custom Content will now show in the Player Profile.
• Lots will no longer be allowed to be saved as rooms.
  • Turns out there is a difference between a room and a lot… and in California that is small fortune.
• Rooms cannot be placed from the Gallery if created using MOO (MO!) when wall height is set to short and the cheat is not enabled.
  • This change fixes a general issue where users could not place a room whenever a parent object would be suppressed. An example being, windows are not allowed on exterior walls of a basement room. If you attempted to place a room in the basement with windows and curtains, you would find you were unable to do so – because the curtain’s parent object (the window) was being suppressed.
• Players will no longer become stuck in Create A Sim, when downloading Sims from the Gallery who have traits that are not present in that player’s game.

General (Interface)

• Adding custom mp3 music files will now properly display in and play from the options panel.
• Exiting the game without closing the Game Options panel after applying changes, will no longer not apply the changes upon restart.
• You will no longer need to zoom all the way out in order to use the Design Tool on the rocket ship.
• We now allow edge scrolling along ALL of the edges!
  • Discriminatory bottom edge practices have been outlawed, and those practicing the practices shall find no safe haven within our borders.
• The cursor shall no longer flicker when you hover over the Play with Genetics button in Create A Sim.
• The Reset Tutorial option has been moved from the Gameplay tab to the Other tab. Why?
  • A fundamental question posed to development… are tutorials gameplay? or are they interruptions prior to gameplay? As you can tell we are still in debate over this one... however the result of the latest internal debate has given victory to the Not-Gameplayers Party, and has pushed their agenda to the forefront. Thus the shift in the options panel. Ultimately we are lucky the Marketeers Party (an independent third faction) didn't get ahold of the victory, or this would be a modal interruption upon relaunch, asking "What are your thoughts of the tutorial system?" with a 5 part multiple choice question, and optional essay.
• We have made various updates to the lessons in the Lessons panel.
• You will no longer be informed that "A maid cleaned your house while you were away…" when your hired NPC was the repair service.

The Sims 4 Get to Work

• Alien mannequins now also have access to the styled looks… just like their human counterparts.
• Downloading a retail room from The Gallery, with mannequins placed inside, will no longer have a chance to crash your game.
  • Mannequins in a retail space… how absurd!
• We have addressed several issues when placing hats (or helmets) on the mannequins that could result in transparency or missing texture issues.
  • It’s odd that every time I write hat (or lid), I feel compelled to offer an alternate form of the word.
• Doctors that are at work, will no longer leave work to go to work, preventing others at work from asking the Doctor to take care of their patient because they aren't at work.
  • Aka: If you were unable to transfer a patient to a doctor, you should no longer run into this issue.
• We fixed an issue that could prevent the user from entering Build Mode, or saving their game, if they had 11 or more mannequins on their lot, and had deleted several of them with the Sledgehammer Tool.
  • That’ll teach you to sledgehammer a mannequin… everyone knows you are supposed to take them to your nearest nuclear test facility for set dressing… or was that just the 1950s?
    • …I’ve been playing too much in the post-apocalyptic wasteland…
• The "For Your Protection Chain Link Fence” no longer has a reversed texture on one end.
• Sims in the Science Career will now find they can properly order their co-workers to invent, rather than the coworker having the option to ignore the issued directive.
• Replacing the rounded fence portion of the rounded fence deck with the “Be Prepared Security Fencing” will now appear as expected.
• Out of stock objects will no longer cast a shadow.
  • The Shadow will still cast a shadow however.
  • However it should be noted that only The Shadow knows why The Shadow casts a shadow.
• We have added the alien plants as additional collectibles to the gardening collection.
• Visual effects will no longer persist for the following objects after they have been sold: Stereo, Bonfire, Fireplace, Dartboard, Frogs, Butterflies, Tiki bar, Cloning machine, Waterfall, and the Arcade machine.
  • It should be noted that one of the above items exists in the game. As well as the other items. In fact, all of the above items exist in the game. There is no item above that doesn’t exist in the game. If there were an item above that didn’t exist in the game, then it wouldn’t be there… as it doesn’t exist.
• Sims tending bar will no longer be allowed to use the Sim Ray on the bar…
  • If you didn't like tending bar, you could just walk away… you don’t have to ruin it for the rest of us.
• It will now cost you 875 Simoleons to purchase the Crime Map.
• We fixed an issue that could result in the APB guilty Sim not matching the Sim described in the notebook.

The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat

• Sims should now be able to join a game of horseshoes when attempting to Join a Game… of horseshoes.
• The Bee, Walking Stick, and Blue Morpho Butterfly insects can now be found.

The Sims 4 Spooky Stuff

• Light Candle and Extinguish actions on a pumpkin worn by a ghost are now available Everywhere.*
  • *Everywhere is limited to places the ghost can actually travel, walk, or otherwise route to. Everywhere is exclusive to locations within The Sims. Everywhere does not include different game modes, such as Create A Sim, Build Mode, or the Gallery. Everywhere is a trademark of the Everywhere for All and All for Everywhere slogan corporation.
• Skeleton face paint will no longer paint on top of a Sims beard.
• Sims should find themselves to be far more comfortable in the hot tub once they have situated themselves, and will decide to reposition themselves far more infrequently.
• The Spooky Party will now count towards the Throw 3 Parties objective of the Welcoming Host milestone for Party Animal aspiration.

MAC

• Fixed several lot seam issues when on low graphic quality setting.
  • It may seem odd, but if you leave a seam un-seamed, it is unseemly, and it seems, can allow a Sim to fall through the seam, into a seemingly endless void. Seems like a good stitch.

Well, that’s about it for now… I hope that you have a wonderful December.

[/sappiness warning] Remember that it is better to give than to receive. Go out and give. [/end of sappiness]

Thank you for your time and attention… and Happy Holidays to you!

-SimGuruGnome

---------------------------

Oops, I guess there is more… some post Release Notes notes…

Hey folks,

I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to one of our most important issues.

We have listened to your feedback on culling and performance. And we have been, and will continue to address these issues, and have a group dedicated to them.

Some of the work they have been doing recently has been focused on optimizing load times, reducing memory usage, and increasing performance… but what about culling? Well, it turns out culling happens because of the need of those three items: load times, memory usage, and performance.

• Outdoor Retreat was over using our compatibility region filters (when a Sim is requested for a “thing” we use a filter to determine who). Such that when the filter failed to find someone that fit the requirements exactly (male, bartending skill 5, young adult), it created a new Sim to fit the role rather than allowing for some flexibility (bartending 4 or 6 is probably just as well).
  • Along the same lines, we took the above fix and made it general – rather than always creating exactly what was requested by the game, we allow flexibility. Reducing the number of new Sims being created, that more often than not, would just come and go without the player realizing.
• Get to Work added aliens, and one of the requests of the spawning system was to create disguised aliens. Turns out we were creating A LOT of disguised aliens. Not on purpose, but there was a cool down assigned to the spawned Sim that would then prevent them from spawning again in a given period of time. Sadly, the system was requesting ‘in disguise’ aliens more frequently than the cooldown’s timer… and thus creating brand new Sims on each request. We adjusted the tuning, and saw an increase in performance.
• We have spent some time optimizing lighting draw calls, to assist with framerate issues while in Build Mode.
• We removed some data duplication between the game side code and Create A Sim code, saving around 50kb per Sim data (also known as SimInfos).
  • The smaller the size of a SimInfo, the faster it is to load a given Sims information.
• We discovered a large memory and performance spike as a result of inventories. Turns out that NPCs, who don’t need to know exactly what is in their inventory when they are an NPC, were carrying around large amounts of data and in some cases could have many hundreds of inventory objects, resulting in slow load times, and memory/performance spikes when the NPC was created.
  • Now NPCs do not instantiate most of the objects in their inventories until needed. This provides a much needed relief in the runtime performance spikes in our test environment.

These are some of the specific issues we have addressed recently, all with the goal of making the game stable, performant, and enjoyable. Please know that we are always looking at performance, culling, memory, and load time optimization issues among our highest priority issues. And while we can’t always speak to them, we are always appreciative of your feedback.

Thank you,

SimGuruGnome

Hey Trick and Treaters!

Did your team win? Did your Sims trick, treat… or a little bit of both?

I know what I wanted to win!

I didn’t win…

It’s alright though... I’ll… *sniff*… I’ll carry on. Maybe someday…

But wait, have you seen the Gummie Fish in your game yet? Or the Bonefish? No? Why are you reading this?! Go play now!

Oh… but you only got one? I’ve heard rumors that Gummies and Bone fishies are natural enemies, and can often be found in the same fishing spots…

Well, I hope you had fun with the challenge. And now - The rewards!

• A new door, Edgar the Generous, offers lionhearted thanks to #TeamTreat, and can be found in the Buy catalog, eager to greet your friends and neighbors.
• The Gumber Fesh Bow is now available in the Buy catalog, with a lifetime supply of Gummie Fish to fill your bowls.
• The Ornate Beauty storage chest can be found in your Buy catalog. Open it up and let it store all of your collections for you.
• We also are going to say goodbye to the Trick and Treat interactions. Thank you for spending time with us… and maybe we’ll see you again.

But wait – is there more?

We’ve heard tell that repairing is tedious, tiresome… now, you can call the Repair Service any time, day or night, to fix up your broken this and that’s… for a small fee of course.

• Found in the phone menu, the repair service will send over a speedy repair technician to quickly repair your brokenings.
• There are also new socials that are available on the repair person to gain Handiness skill for your handiless Sims.

We have also addressed a handful of issues (if you could figuratively hold a single issue upon a finger, then there is literally a handful of addressed issues in this release).

• We fixed an issue that could prevent the maid from arriving during their normally scheduled work hours, if they attempted to arrive for work on a weekend.
  • Maids should now properly work their Mon-Fri shifts, and will no longer attempt to work overtime on the weekends.
• As we were introducing the repair service to the game, we noticed long periods of time where the repairperson would stand doing nothing – this also occurred for other repair services (such as the maid). We have adjusted the ‘do-nothingness’ for the service NPCs, and are happy with the lessening of the nothingness time.
  • “Hey Bub? Fella?! HEY! BUB?! Hey! I’m paying you by the hour here fella!! BUB!?!”
• You can now remove a fish from a fish bowl if the power is off.
  • Apparently our fish were afraid of the dark, and would cat clamp themselves to the sides of the fish bowl if you attempted to remove them when the power was off. We fixed this, and now you can shove as many fish as you want into your pockets regardless of power state.
• We addressed several foundation issues that would result in Sims being unable to properly route over foundations within some lots in Willow Creek.

EP01 Issues

• The Booking Station and Interrogation Table will now properly function even when they are not in their default colors.
  • Somehow these two objects lost all functionality if their colors were altered… yep, that happened.

Thank you so much for all of your participation in the October Challenge! I hope you had as much fun with it in game, as we did watching the challenge play out.

Until next time,

-SimGuruGnome

Update: 09/24/2015 – PC Version 1.11.64.1020 / Mac Version 1.11.64.1220

An early Boo for you Simmers!

There seems to be some Spooky Stuff skulking in the shadows just around the corner, but before we peek into the candy bowl, we have a few treats for you in today’s release!

---

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Boo!
Boo who?
Don’t cry… I’ll tell you what’s new.

• Sims have a new social trait to choose - Jealous!
  • These Sims get Jealous more easily than other Sims. They gain a boost of Confidence from being around their significant other, but get Tense if they haven’t seen them recently.
  • Be wary of those jealous tendencies however – we spent some time encouraging Sims to react more consistently in situations where jealous reactions are warranted.
• Two new interactions have snuck their way into your social options along with a special icon next to them…
  • The icon is there to indicate that these are limited time interactions.
  • Limited? Yup, for a limited time only, we’ve introduced “Trick” and “Treat” interactions in preparation for that spooky festival at the end of October. We will be sharing more info on why being a Tricker or a Treater might matter in the coming weeks.
• A new interaction “Claim” can now be found on beds. Choosing this interaction will cause Sims to prefer the chosen bed when sleep comes to claim them.

---

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Ya.
Ya who?
I know, I’m excited about the fixed issues too!

General Issues

• We fixed an issue that was causing some users to be unable to progress past acquaintance relationship status, no matter how high their relationship.
  • This would be most obvious as players attempted to progress up the Friend of the World aspiration track – finding they were unable to complete several of the milestone tracks.
• The creative juices are flowing, the melody is visualized, and you are ready to write that song! And then you aren't… you just want a snack, chat with your friends, or maybe it's just time for work. But wait, you can't stop writing the song! “Why!?” you scream silently.
  • Fear not my little song writers. We have defeated the unseen entity that bound you to your song writing – now, you can stop writing that song (whether from a guitar or violin) any time your little Simmy heart desires.
• We fixed an issue that could be caused when using a trackpad, resulting in the cursor becoming stuck (most often while in Create a Sim), and leave users in an unplayable state.
• The Clayblob and Microscope slides are now live draggable.
  • We were creating inventory issues by allowing items in the inventory that could not be live dragged, resulting in some bad behaviors.
• Sims that are soulmates prior to reaching the "Achieve Soulmate Relationship with Spouse" aspiration goal, will now auto complete that goal.
  • New and Improved Soulmate 2.0! …when your first soulmate just doesn’t cut the aspirational mustard.
• Nothing says completed Space Rock collection like an Orchid! Aren’t space rocks and orchids practically synonyms for one another?
  • "Hey mom, did you see this cool orchid I got from space camp?"
  • "The bouquet of space rocks you gave me for mother’s day are beautiful sweetie."
  • ...see?
  • Fine, we changed this. Now, you get a plaque. A commemorative plaque... are you happy? Space Rock Commemorative Plaque... it hurts just to say it.
• Elder Sims hair color no longer changes to grey when modifying their eye color.
  • I knew it! Eye color, grey, hair, changes – it all adds up! Elders are old!
• We have added more lot sizes to the gallery filters in order to properly filter lots into their own sorts.
  • The 40x30 and 50x40 sizes now have their own filter.
• We fixed an issue that was incorrectly locking the male beige cardigan (ymTop_CardiganCollar_Beige) from being worn by Sims.
• Sims now prefer to wash their dishes in a dishwasher rather than a sink.
• Divorced Sims, who live in the same household… really? Because that's not a tiny bit awkward… will no longer autonomously sleep together in the same bed.
• The level 3 Criminal reward interaction “Pick Pocket” is once again available under the Mischief category after being unlocked.
• The “Go on 2 Dates” goal of Amore Amateur milestone will now properly track for all dates, no matter who initiated them.
• The help text for teen careers will no longer reference school performance tips.
• You will no longer be able to upgrade a broken refrigerator.
  • I suppose, technically you can upgrade a broken refrigerator, since repairing it could be considered an upgrade from the broken state. So, it should have read “You will no longer be able to choose the interaction named upgrade when the refrigerator is broken.”
  • But it was probably fine not going into that extra level of detail.
• The "Make a Friend" goal for the child Social aspiration will now properly satisfy… when you make a friend.
• Rugs now properly resize with the "[" and "]" keys when using the resize cheat.
  • This has just opened up an entire new world of home decorating possibilities for me!
• Tense Sims can now resume their wood working crafts.
  • I always find that when I'm feeling stressed out and tense, that wielding a hammer and a saw do wonders for my tension.
    • I'm sure it'll be fine.
• Fixed an issue where some sculpture objects were not able to be cloned with the eyedropper tool.

Get to Work

• The Lice Cold Freezer will now allow Sims to properly route to it in order to make a purchase.

Outdoor Retreat

• Placing a home from the gallery on top of a rented home in Granite Falls will no longer make the game unplayable.

Spa Day

• Yoga is definitely good for your health and fitness, but you should no longer expect your Sim to become hulking masses of pure muscle tone madness by doing Yoga alone.
• We fixed an issue that was preventing the use of Saunas when placed in a basement.

Perfect Patio Stuff

• The Hot Tub control panel should no longer hide for no apparent reason.
• The Buy a Hot Tub whim will now only complete when you buy a hot tub… not when you buy anything other than a hot tub.

Cool Kitchen Stuff

• Restocking an ice cream bowl will now also include ice cream in the bowl.
  • I’ve often found that when bringing my children to an ice cream shop, having ice cream as the end result often yielded greater positive results over simply stepping in to grab a spoon.
• Dragging a carton of ice cream onto a counter will no longer cause the carton of ice cream to disappear.
  • Leaving a carton of ice cream on the counter however does increase its probability of disappearance through natural causes.
• The Steam Catcher (a ceiling light) has been made easier to find by sorting it within the stove sort.
  • That made more sense when we fixed it than it does when we read about the fix.
• Ice Cream tubs can now be live dragged into the refrigerator for safe keeping.
  • Now you can make tubs and tubs of ice cream without feeling guilty as you watch them melt away on the counter tops. Just place them in a fridge for a dozen nights of ice cream delights!
• Dragging a partially eaten bowl of ice cream will no longer refill the ice cream bowl magically.
  • Why can’t this be true!? Whyyyyyyyy!?

MAC

• The game will now properly launch when Origin is set to offline.

---

Thank you for your feedback, keep the tricks and treats coming, and happy Simming,

-SimGuruGnome

Posted on behalf of SimGuruGnome who is plotting on how to steal candy from that tricky Spooky Candy Bowl

Howdy Simmers,

We've got a small handful of fixes to share this week. Now rest assured more fixes are _always_ in progress, but since these were ready to release we wanted to get them out. 

General

• Sims should now be able to change their relationship status normally with all other Sims. Wait... didn't we already fix this? *GRRR* Well we fixed more cases of stuck relationship levels. The Friend of the World aspiration should also be working for any new friends you make.
• Fixed an issue where produce grown from seeds appeared all black. Existing black produce will stay that way, but new plants should appear properly.
• Growing up with Italian family I always had plenty of Panettone every holiday season. If you've ever had this Italian version of the fruitcake you will agree that there is nothing to hate about this delicious pastry. Unfortunately the fruitcake our Sims share when welcoming a new Sim to the neighborhood is not delicious Panettone. It is some cursed monstrosity that has a chance to make your Sim hate all food. Well, we un-cursed the fruitcake. Your Sim may still hate it, but at least they shouldn't hate everything else.

That's it for this week. Thank you again for all your reports. All of these issues were pulled from community feedback and there are many more in the pipeline. Together we're making the game better.

-SimGuruJanitor

I-scream’immers!

Happy August everyone! Summer heat abounds, ice cream is afoot, and it’s patch day!

We are days away from Cool Kitchen Stuff, and delivering frozen treats to Sims of all ages! And what could be better than bowls and bowls of half-eaten, melted ice cream littering the counters and tabletops of your Sims? Ice cream cones of course! …and maybe a dishwasher to help clean up the place.

So, you said Dishwashers?

Indeed, found within the Kitchen Appliances sort, or by searching for “dishwasher”, you can add to your Sims home an appliance made for the sole purpose of washing your dishes – a Dishwasher!

The dishwasher is slotted easily within your already manicured homes into any non-island counter.

Scrubbing at the sink is for the powerless!

Did you fix my issue?

I hope that we did, but if we didn’t please let us know. Here are the issues we did look into however…

General

• Mail will now arrive at your residence even if you are not there! No more lost packages... stolen by some hunger-need-failing Sim looking for the tart of the month package delivery. No, now your mail will safely arrive to your home... even when you aren’t there.
  • The hunger-need-failing Sim is ok, he’ll probably just grab a bite from your fridge.
• Male eye colors - alligator green, gray-green, deep blue, dark grey, purple - will now properly save on male Sims both while in Create a Sim, and after exiting.
• Original by creator lot information will no longer be lost when a downloaded lot is modified via manage worlds and then re-uploaded to the Gallery.
• We fixed the issue that caused several lots to display black/missing textures as a result of overlapping roofs (most noticeable in complex roof creations, and sometimes would cause roof objects to also appear incorrectly in shadow).
  • We hope to see your beautiful structures continue to enhance the Gallery.
• Searching hashtags in the Gallery will no longer reset the advanced filter settings. Search away searchlings… search away.
• Randomly placed poles at the park near Rippling Flats are no longer randomly placed, but instead have been purposefully removed, and will be thoughtfully considered before we once again decidedly place them in any future location.
• Alien ears will no longer change in size or shape as the Sim ages up.
  • …outside of the normal “I aged up so my heads bigger” type of size and shape changes.
• Using the interaction "Send Neighbors Home" will now properly end the Welcome Wagon event, and send the neighbors home.
• Turns out, in the code, all non-played Sims are considered ready to age up at any time. Which means, whenever the code would say "I want to start an NPC hosted birthday party. Is there anyone available to host it?" The answer was always yes. Oddly enough, it also turns out that this was causing players non-played Sims to age up quite often if the player went to the birthday parties they were invited to. We've fixed the availability for non-played Sims to host their own birthday party to properly check against their age.
• Cereal is no longer grungy looking and unappetizing, but is now vibrant, colorful, and quite appetizing. And as a cereal lover of many varieties... I have to say I agree with the vibrancy.
• Custom music tracks will no longer choose to play silently for no apparent reason when listening to them on the stereo.
  • However, I have to wonder if it was just the game deciding it didn’t like a particular track.
• Sims shadow detail once again includes extremities and not just an odd blob beneath their feet. Because Sims are more than just blobs to us... they are arms, legs, and the whole package.
  • *sniff* bring it in here big guy… I’m feeling a hug coming on.
• Sims will no longer reset when attempting to clean up spoiled food in their inventory while in a hot tub or pool… because it's completely normal to carry spoiled food in your pockets when you go swimming.
  • You don’t mind if I respectfully decline that pool party you were inviting me to, do you?

Luxury Party

• Sims will no longer reset when attempting to resume eating a garnished chocolate covered strawberry, caramel covered apple, or cheese dipper. Great… now I'm hungry.

Perfect Patio

• Sims who are cuddling in a Hot Tub, will no longer leave their intimate positions to awkwardly ask to woohoo from a friendlier position, only to get back to cuddling before then secretly slipping beneath the jets.
• Applying the hair best described as ‘Swept Frosted Black’ to a child Sim will now actually give the child black hair… and not some other randomly selected hair color.

Spa Day

• Note the following tuning Change: Teleportation from stools has been moved from level 5, to level 7.

Get to Work

• We fixed an issue in which…. before we continue, I feel that I must legally ask that you take a moment to stretch your facial muscles. Do some warmups (ah-oh’s, face pops), really get ready. Ok? Ok, let’s continue...
  • Restocking a multi-object (like the drink tray) while a 3rd object (like a chair slotted into a table) was blocking the restocking, was resulting in a partial object restocking but a full charge for the restocking. Restocking should now fully restock an object, whether or not another object was blocking the restocking.

May you always find ice cream when you seek it, garnish when you need it, and toppings for all your flavors,

-SimGuruGnome

Hey Simmers

 

Today we are releasing a small, but focused update to address two specific issues that have been affecting some folks.  This update would not have been possible without your help and support.  To everyone who contributed save files and participated in bug threads on the forums and Answers HQ, you have our sincere thanks!

 

"Can't Make Friends" a.k.a. "Relationship Stuck At Impartial"

Sims should now be able to change their relationship status normally with all other Sims.  

 

"Map Reload Issue" a.k.a. "Loading a lot kicks me back to the map"

This should be fixed for most players, and you should now be able to visit problem lots once again.  This actually turned out to be a few different issues that all had the same result.  In each case some sequence of events would put a lot into a 'bad' state, and the game would essentially run back to the safety of the map screen.  We believe we've fixed the most common causes of this effect, but there may be other methods that might scare the game away.  If you encounter a new one, please share! 

 

Thank you again for your continued support and participation!

 

SimGuruJanitor

 

Welcome Simmers,

 

Please relax. If you desire, grab a towel, be comfortable. Have some herbal tea. The music is set to zen. And our minds are free to mingle with the universe, as we contemplate the mixing of 1s and 0s in this update. We allow ourselves to submerge into our subconscious, as we along with the data, flow together to form all new outcomes.

 

Ahhhm feeling very one with you right now. The time is ready. Let us find out “the new”.

 

*sneezes* Whelp, there goes my zen. Oh well…

 

 

The New

Half Walls! Not Full Walls!

I’m not sure why we call them half walls, as that would imply we are just giving you one size… a half wall. But we’ve got five sizes for you! So they really are more like Not Full-Wall Walls.

 

To begin building with your very own Not Full-Wall Walls:

• Open up Build Mode, and click on the Build sort.
• In the picture, select the deck (near fences and doors) called Walls and Empty Rooms
• From here, you can find Half Walls and Half Wall Trims in their similarly named sorts
  • Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to change their names in game… so sadly they are still called half walls. But you and I know better.

 

You can replace existing walls or draw your own half walls, similar to fences. Once you have placed a half wall, you can texture the wall using Wall Patterns, or modify the trim piece from the Half Wall Trims catalog.

 

Door Locking

Sims can now lock their doors!

• Click on a door, choose Lock Door For… and select who you want to keep out.
• Once you have chosen who doesn’t get to use the door, you can modify the access list by choosing Allow Access For… and select who gets to come in.
• Or you can unlock the door.

 

Some new things!

• The King’s and Queen’s Door (allowing only just the men or women to pass through it)
• The Seeing Glass door
• The Smooth Keeper fence
• The Subtle Saucer ceiling light
• 6 new Wall Decals (4 arrows and a male/female decal)
• A male and female Towel full body outfit for all ages
• A pair of slippers for the kids

 

Gallery Updates

• Updated the organization for and added all new sorts for your Households, Lots, and Rooms
  • Size, Room Type, Lot Type, Price, # of Sims
• Funds and Lot Size for your current lot is now visible when placing a lot from within Live Mode
  • This is incredible! To not have to guess what lot size I was playing on, or how many Simoleons I had left to build with… so nice!
• A large assortment of new lots can be found in the My Library tab, from library to park, and residential to lounge (over 25 lots added).
• A new option to place lots from Manage Worlds without entering Build Mode.

 

World and Venue Interface Oooverhaul

It’s been proven through statistical manipulation that if you use really big sounding words to describe something, it sounds awesome! That said, this is pretty awesome!

 

The Lot Info Panel layout has been updated

• Residential lot bedroom / bathroom fields are now text entry fields rather than drop downs
• Lot Value and Dimensions are easier to find
• And there is a new button, View Venue Type in Gallery, which takes you to lots of that type in My Library for quick placement.
  • This option also exists within the venue type drop down

 

The World Maps have a new button next to them to View World Info. From within

• Add / edit the world description
• Click View Lot Types to see which lots already exist with the current world, and again easily find within the Gallery if you wish to place a specific lot type.

 

 

Issues Fixed

 

General (Crash / Performance / Critical)

• We have continued to improve performance through various optimizations.
• The cas.fulleditmode cheat will no longer allow a pregnant Sims to switch age or gender.

 

General (Tuning / Interface)

• The unbreakable PrioPerfection Motion Sensor Game Mat is now unbreakable.
  • The unsinkable Molly Brown is not.
• Child only households are no longer allowed to move directly into a lot without an existing household from the gallery.
• The Gallery description fields not only allow you to type 500 characters, but now they also let you read 500 characters!
• Joining a play date with a Sim that is playful will now properly satisfy the hidden playful goal for the event.
  • Sometimes goals that are “obvious” to an event are hidden in order to streamline the way an event is presented.
• Roof trims are now free!!!
  • Well, they've always been free, but now they also SAY they are free.
• Items flagged as “New” will no longer be “New” once you know them.
  • Or I could just say “Clicking on a new flagged item will clear the flag.”
• Phone options in the phone menu will no longer crawl their way off screen when switching tabs.
  • Because that was creepy.
• Fixed an issue in Create a Sim that could cause facial features to incorrectly modify if a Sim was first randomized from Gallery and then switched ages.
• Burned stereos will no longer continue to visually act as if they are still functional.
• We fixed an issue that would prevent you from being able to rotate an object after using the "M" key to swap which slot the object was resting in.
  • Did you know about the "M" key?
  • I didn't.
  • And I’m all about keyboard shortcuts (WASD for life!).
• The riverside curb found in the neighborhood containing Fern Park, Beech Byway, Oak Alcove, and Midtown Meadows will no longer allow your Sims to contemplate life, existence, everything… fish… by being able to see through to the infinite void.
• Fixed an issue that could cause photos and paintings to turn black if they were first placed into the Household Inventory, and then placed on the lot.
• 2560 x 1440 resolution will now be remembered when switching between fullscreen and windowed modes.
  • Also, if you are playing at 2560 x 1440, I’m jealous. So…yep, there it is.
• The thumbnail loading animation in The Gallery will now actually animate, rather than appear as if you have frozen… once again freeing you to contemplate life, existence, forty-two…

 

MAC

• Pressing "B" will now properly select the Wall Tool, and not the basement tool.
  • Because Wall starts with B! It’s silent.
  • And invisible.

 

Outdoor Retreat

• Several flowers and shrubs recently became incorrectly hidden behind a cheat. We have fixed this issue and returned the foliage to their proper place in the catalog.
  • I love the word foliage.
• Players can no longer choose to move their household into Granite Falls… since that corrupted their save file…
  • … and the other Sims 4 save files on their system
  • But that’s it!
  • Except there was that one designer… supposedly he went a little, you know, as a result of working on the issue. But that was unconfirmed. Completely unrelated. I mean, I’m not one to talk… but, well, his family has a “history” you know. He lived with his mother at this motel on the interstate. And well I don’t want to bore you with the details, but there was talk about how his mother had passed under mysterious circumstances and you know, he was finding it difficult to accept her passing. Spending his days listlessly working his motel desk, cleaning the showers… it is true that ‘we all go a little mad sometimes,’ his words not mine of course, but I’m not sure he’s put the past behind him. And well, I think it’s affecting his work. Maybe I’ll head over to his place, and talk to him about it. Should be fine… it’s not prying you know, I’m just concerned.
• Choosing to "Join Vacation" will no longer use a llama icon in the action queue.
  • The llama does have a name, it's Dolly.
• You will no longer receive the Unbearable buff if you run into the bear when the bear is not in character.
• Sims will no longer become stuck with the dirty clothes look if they were grungy while on vacation and took a shower/bath to clean up.
  • They will however maintain the look if they are LARPing 90s Northwest bands.
• Using the Fireweed Spray on a bed will now have visual fx when using it.
• The forest ranger now has an icon of their very own when asked about their career.

 

Get to Work

• We fixed an issue that prevented the hiring of new employees if a former employee had died while on the job. And while we are concerned for the safety of all employees, it is equally, if not more important to ensure that you can keep your store running. What you do with your employees, at your store is not for us to worry about, we just want to make sure you can keep hiring.
• The Memory Erase interaction now increases mischief skill. We just forgot.

 

 

Perfect Patio

• Now when you search for Hot Tub, you will find… hot tubs.
• Also, hot tubs now provide fun for your Sims.

 

 

Much appreciation, happy relaxation, and thank you for your continued dedication to The Sims,

-SimGuruGnome 

Hey Simmers,

It’s Thursday! There’s some exciting Stuff happening just around the corner, and we have a release to release to you… in this release. So, stretch out to a new world, welcome your Sims with a little fruitcake, and draw up a room where you can place a chair to sit in, in order to relax, if that is your inclination, or perhaps you’re more of an on the edge of your seat type of person, in which case you shouldn’t sit back, because that wouldn’t really make sense…

…well, anyway.

Um, what’s new!?

 

We have heard the cries from the mountain tops for space (“My Sims need space!” <- see right there). And so, welcome to Newcrest! Fifteen lots await your creative hand to build to your desire. OR if you are less inclined to build from scratch, jump into the Gallery and populate your world from your fellow Simmers’ creations. Some have already built some amazing lots, just search for #BuildNewcrest.

The return of the Welcome Wagon! Have you been finding it difficult to break the ice with your neighbors? Can’t seem to get anyone to come to the door and engage in a deep conversation about dinosaurs or your insecurities? Now when you move in to a new lot, your neighbors* will arrive with a welcoming smile and a pound of fruitcake.

*Please note: fruit cake, welcoming smile, and inviting neighbors require neighbors.

And to answer the unanswerable question of where does a lawn ornament go when their time is up, the Reagnomper gnome has been seen skulking about the Build catalog.

Tutorials have been given a facelift! Introductory dialogs now provide context as to the mode or lesson being taught, and allow you to skip a portion of the tutorial that you may already be familiar with.

A new tool, the Custom Room Tool, is now in Build Mode. This tool will allow you to draw your own room shapes.

• You can find the tool in the Walls and Empty Rooms sort in Build Mode.
• As you draw, each click will place a new wall segment, an indicator of the last clicked position, and a starting position. To complete the room, click back to the starting position.
• The last clicked position provides information to you in regards to the undo behavior.

And what about issues we’ve fixed?

 

Issues (General)

• We fixed a plagiarism issue that was allowing the “Original by” creator information associated with a lot or room to become lost after using the placement option via Manage Worlds and then re-uploading the lot to the Gallery.
• Sims in inactive households will no longer find themselves conscripted into unwanted jobs.
• You! Yes you ‘in the inactive household’ behind the ‘build structure that approximates the appearance of a’ grandstand. Stand still, Simmie!
• We fixed an issue that could cause corruption of the save files when players attempted to share their save files with one another.
• Using the “Enchanting Introduction” while running on a treadmill will no longer cause the Sim to sink into the treadmill.
• Working Out will no longer satisfy the Mentor Fitness or Study Opponents daily tasks from Professional Athlete and Bodybuilder career branches.
• Hungry Ghosts will no longer be informed that they might drown while they are swimming... mostly because we couldn’t quite agree from a philosophical approach about what it means to die when dead.
• I suppose if you consider the ghost as a reanimation of former life, it is possible that the re-death would result in a termination of that animation. But not all agree that the ghost is a reanimation, but rather a reflection of the former Sims spirit housed in a ghostly apparition. In which case, death of a reflection no longer made sense.
• Discussions on a Sims development team can get quite odd sometimes… 
• don’t ask me about woohoo.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the player from editing the relationships of a household that was downloaded from the Gallery and merged with a currently non-played household.
• Candles will no longer be impacted by the paying of or lack of paying bills.
• Much to our dismay, it turns out that candles don't actually draw their fuel source from the power grid, but instead rely upon a rudimentary combustion for their fuel, or in some cases battery power. Neither of which are impacted by payment of bills. Huh, crazy I know.
• Ask on Date was available as an option earlier than intended, resulting in many Sims hopes being dashed without any possibility of success.
• I remember those times. 

Issues (Get to Work)

• Aliens have begun to adjust to the strange and scary visiting Sims to their home world and are more likely to venture from their homes, if only to catch a glimpse of a Sim.
• Male Sims that reach level 10 in the detective career will now properly unlock the prison jumpsuit in Create a Sim.
• Fixed an issue that was failing to save the mannequin outfit, resulting in the mannequin display reverting to another outfit rather the players setting. 

Issues (Luxury Party Stuff)

• Fruit Punch Fountain will now appear charred when charred.
• Ok, you probably didn't run into this (crosses fingers)… but if you ran into the "why doesn't it burn issue" that was briefly possible in late May, and you have installed Luxury Party Stuff and you then attempted to upload to the Gallery or bulldoze the lot that had the burn issue, you may have found yourself in a “my lot is corrupted, life has ended, I see a light” state of mind, or maybe not to that extreme. This issue has now been fixed.  

Much appreciation for your time, feedback, and patience,

-SimGuruGnome

Hey Simmers,

We know it’s only been a short while since our most recent release. We have just a small update here as we are getting ready for the up and coming release of The Sims 4 Luxury Party Stuff Pack.

So, what have we got for you?

What’s New?

Sims that your household knows can call you up and invite you to some of their events!

Sims in a relationship might get a phone call to go on a date. Your child’s friends might ask them over for a play date. Or your “ready to age up, but not yet aged up” friends can call to ask you join them for their birthday party*.

*If you have aging turned off in the options panel, this will not invalidate that option. However, if you attend the birthday party, the Sim throwing the party will age up as a result of the party.

And we addressed a couple… well I mean, a couple is two, right? Yea, and a few is more than a couple, while some is more than a few? And several is greater than… yea ok, I got it. We fixed some issues. Some, yea, some is good.

Issues Fixed

• We fixed an issue where the social Ask on Date was working correctly, however if you chose the same action from the Relationship Panel or the Phone, it was 100% guaranteed to succeed. The Relationship Panel and Phone options now have the same chance for success and failure as the social.
• We fixed an issue that was preventing the Create a Sim tutorial from advancing properly in some cases when the Genetics panel was active.
• We fixed an issue that could cause the phone to ring only when the game was paused.
  • I’m picturing a family of frozen Sims, unable to reach the ringing telephone. The parents, they’re fine, they’ve long since taught themselves to ignore the phone… the teens? The teens are silently screaming, unable to claw their way to the ringing phone. It’s a movie, called “The Unanswerable.”
• We fixed a few text errors in the chance card for level four of the Writing career. Ironic?

Thank you,

SimGuruGnome

Btw, did you know that if you add just one letter to a sentence with ‘few’, it alters the meaning significantly:

• I have few friends vs. I have a few friends.

Thanks again!

-SGG 

 

Hey Simmers,

It’s May, and I’ve got a bag full of fixes… wait that’s more of a December reference. I’ve got a shower of fixes for… that’s April.

May is Autumn and Spring (depending on where you live). It’s the beginning of the end of another school year. It’s the end of an egg-citing challenge. It’s May the 4th be with you! And it’s when I have a whole bunch of updates to share with you in this release!

I’m really sorry about the egg pun. It’s best if we both could just forget it ever happened and move along…

What’s on the New side of things?

• We have replaced the loading screen with a lighter more lively loading screen.
o “Going with the loading screen right out of the gate on the notes, huh?”
o “Yep.”
• The Bunny Egg Hunt is no longer available in game. Your logs will once again contain no eggs, but frogs. Your mailboxes, the home of drab, eggless bills. And collectible confection creations will no longer be found beneath the weeds of your gardens.
o All of the object rewards (eggs and bunny) are yours!
o And, all of the object rewards can be found in the Build catalog (unlocked or behind the hidden objects cheat).
o Thank you for your participation!
• Sims can now influence the gender of their offspring!
o Strawberries and Pop music (one, the other, or both) seem to lead to more baby girls.
o Carrots and Alternative music to more baby boys.
• A new “?” icon is available in the Plan a Social Event interface. Hover over it to learn about the requirements that a particular Role has for the event being planned.
• Some new outfits are in Create a Sim. Open up Styled Looks to quickly find Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and Aayla Secura!
o And May the 4th be with you!
• Aliens have adapted to the Simish ways and are now have access to the full Create a Sim catalog!
o And by full we mean everything except skin details, because they are aliens after all.

Issues (Crash / Freeze)
• Fixed a crash that could occur when using the wall block tool in Build Mode.
• We fixed an issue stated that "Normal gameplay cannot be resumed if user Exits to Main Menu while aging up an infant." We fixed this issue, but I have to wonder… were you able to resume abnormal gameplay?
• Fixed a memory leak that was keeping too many audio resources loaded in memory which could have caused crashes during extended game sessions.
• Fixed a freeze that could occur if two transitions were set to occur on top of one another, such as one Sim is about to travel, while the other Sim is about to enter Create a Sim to plan an outfit.
• I know that part of my responsibility is to interpret the issues for you in a way that makes sense but sometimes… We fixed an issue that could "… cause the client to enter a hang when trying to move a not currently in the world household that was previously transferred into a new household via household management onto an already occupied lot via the Move In option." You're welcome.

Issues (General)
• Dragging an Activity Table drawing from the table to a wall, will properly display the drawing against the wall.
• Cancelling an interaction will now properly satisfy the tutorial request to cancel an interaction.
• Testing cheatsare now saved per household.
o This means that once you turn on ‘testingcheats true’ they will remain enabled until you decide to turn them off with the 'testingcheats false' command.
o This includes through travel, save, quit, restart, a weekend at your grandmothers, an afternoon at the beach, or just because you needed some space. Because you were tired of always having to come up with new answers when your Sims would look at you and ask “What are you thinking about?”
• Child labor laws have required that we remove the ability for children to throw away food from the grill.
o Turns out that the current labor laws have difficulty with children working with potentially dangerous outdoor open flame grilling appliances… even if it just makes sense for little Billy who is right next to the grill to clean it, rather than dad having to put down his beverage, get up from his comfortable chair... oh for the…
• Sims with the Fresh Chef trait will no longer make food that spoils, just like the trait says… turns out they have all just been lying to us!
• Maids should be more responsive while on the job, and no longer stand around doing nothing while they charge you an hourly wage.
• You will no longer be required to watch your hired maid perform their duties in order to ensure you are getting the service you paid for. Maids will now properly clean your home, even if you aren't there! It's like a whole new world out there folks…
• Maids will no longer appear at work in their everyday outfit, but will be dressed appropriately.
• Be aware that Maids have long wanted to clean up those salvage piles left everywhere, and have decided to forgo your desire to "get around to it" and will now just throw it all away.
• Tend Garden will no longer bully its way to the front of your action queue, but instead will wait its turn like all the other actions… except for that pesky death one, and the fire one, oh oh and the bladder fail one. And maybe a few others. But other than those, it will wait its turn like all the rest.
• Treadworthy stairs that are placed indoors will no longer have a missing bottom step.
• Pool lights will now consistently illuminate nearby Sims, rather than blinking them in and out of shadow.
• Sims that you invited to play chess with you will no longer remain stuck at the chess table for an unusually long period of time after you leave.
• Using the fence tool to place a fence, will now properly preview when hovered over a wall that has a counter against it.
• Sims will no longer think of an empty thought bubble upon returning from adoption.
o While we understand the adoption process can be mentally draining, emotionally challenging, and physically tiring, we felt that the Sim would still have a thought to express upon returning.

On a side note, does anyone know if the rule of three is still in effect when expressing an idea? I only recently learned of the Oxford comma change, and the single space vs double space debate, that I feel the need for a refresher course.

• It is now possible to re-enable super speed 3 when your Sim is at work, if you had previously slowed the speed.
• Hosting a dinner party will now allow you to hire a caterer.
• The hidden achievement (which I can neither verify nor deny the existence of), Problem Child, will now properly be rewarded to teen Sims who have reached level 10 in the Mischief skill… assuming this is a real achievement.
• The Mod Pod Twin Sleeper will no longer re-energize the sleeping Sim as quickly.
o The uncomfortable craftsmanship was only recently discovered beneath the mattress.
• The eyedropper now properly highlights floor tiles within a block.
• Child Sims who are already “A”student’s will no longer be required to slack off at school in order to successfully satisfy the Achieve a Grade of "A" at School aspiration goal.
• Fixed an issue where switching from low graphic settings to higher graphic settings without restarting was causing shadows to become blocky.
• We fixed an issue where a Sim, who was on their way to take a bath, that encountered a pool in their way, would decide to skinny dip their way to the bathtub. This will no longer occur.
• The Cutlass of Light color choices now properly reflect the objects color when placed in world.
• Professional Athletes using the Study Opponents interaction will no longer build random skills while doing so.
• All trash cans in Willow Creek should now allow Sims to place trash within their waiting maw.
• Fixed an issue that was loading the incorrect save file after all the Sims had died in a household, and the player chose to save their game.
• Be aware that we fixed an issue with relationship decay between household Sims.
o Sims in the same household were not showing any relationship decay between one another unless one of them traveled. We fixed this issue, and now relationship decay will occur as intended.
• Fixed an issue with the male jaw tagging that prevented randomly generated Sims from having diversity in their jaw shape.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the Sims arm to become stuck, if they were told to throw away the same bag of trash they were already throwing away.
• We fixed an issue in Create a Sim that was causing one particular female asset (a sweatshirt wrapped around the Sims waist) to appear graphically corrupt when paired with some boot assets.
• You will no longer have the option to throw away everything on a salvage pile, if it is the only salvage pile available. It turns out throw away and throw away everything are the same thing when there is only one thing. Things you learn.
• The whim to "Write a Jingle" can now also be completed by using the "Write a Jingle" interaction on the violin.
• Fixed an issue that was causing mirrors to lose their reflectivity when they were too close to the camera position. This was easily seen when using the Take Photo option, but could also occur in 1st person mode.
• Sims will now become jealous if the target of the jealousy was not the initiating Sim, as well as if they were.
o Meaning Sims will become jealous if the Sim they are jealous of is the kissee or the kisser.
• Fixed an issue with the selection tool in build mode that would create invalid pick options when the camera was zoomed all the way out.
• Fixed an issue that could result in your lot becoming zebra stripped if you attempted to move the lot after changing the wall height of a selected basement room.
• Fixed an issue that was pushing corner columns out of the corners if the block they were attached to was divided by the wall tool.
• OK, we fixed an issue where *takes a moment to contemplate how to explain* if a room is placed on the second sub-basement floor beneath a fountain on the ground floor, and a Sim is standing on the sub-basement floor, and then you remove that floor, the Sim would become stuck inside the fountain. The Sim will no longer become stuck in the fountain.
• Fixed an issue that was resetting Sims seated at the bar if the player modified the lot via Build Mode.
• The Photo Studio will now properly appear charred if it has been or is currently on fire. But not if it will be on fire.
• Fixed an issue that could result in the Sim route failing when told to Dig a rock collectible.
• Placing a lot from the Gallery on a lot larger than the originally uploaded lot, while the Move Objects cheat is active, will no longer cause the objects inside of rooms to shift out of place.
• The Watch Fireplace Channel whim can now be properly completed.
• Fixed an issue that could fail to load to a Gallery Room when clicking on a Spotlight Banner for that room.
• We fixed an invalid romantic relationship issue
o The Kiss Quick action is what is referred to as a "quick" social that occurs autonomously between Sims in a relationship, and between family members. The social was mistakenly tagged with a romantic relationship bump, which resulted in the incorrect behavior. The romance bump has been removed.
• Fixed a Gallery connection issue that could occur as a result of the interface getting into a bad state. Pretty vague, huh? Yep.
• Fixed an issue that would cause pools to attempt to place on the basement level, if you picked one up and rotated it.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing you from changing the hair or eyebrow color if the "Match Hair" option was on.
• Fixed an issue that could result in a bill being delivered to a household but no notification appearing.
• You should no longer see the "Visit My Packs to learn more about The Sims 4 packs." tutorial if you have already seen it. By the way, did you know you can Visit My Packs to learn more about The Sims 4 packs?
• Cook books can now be published.

Issues (Interface)
• Fixed an issue with the Sim Inventory scrollbar that would cause the inventory to become inaccessible in certain circumstances. You should now be able to scroll up and down.
• Text and name fields in the Gallery can now be copied, pasted, and cut…ed.
• Notifications that end in punctuation will now properly fit in the chat bubble, rather than the punctuation appearing ostracized outside of the bubble.
• The relationship panel will sort the most recently interacted with Sim to the front of the panel.
• The Sim Aged Up dialog that appears when… um, Sims age up, will no longer be four times as large as it needs to be.
• Now when a child or teen is missing school, we no longer show a briefcase icon… because apparently not every school child carries a briefcase to work, despite the fashionable appearance and ease of accessibility that make them perfect for just about any occasion.
• Chess interactions that are not available when the Sim is very uncomfortable will now properly grey out in the pie menu. Or... will now properly gray out in the pie menu. Your choice really.
• Tooltips for actions your Sim can take while at school will now properly reference school in their descriptions.
• Hovering over a Sim in the relationship panel will now change the background color to indicate that there is a clickable action available.
• We removed the tooltips from the painting interactions that all said the same thing
o The purpose of a tooltip is to provide additional information about a thing that you could not already get from the original expression of the thing.
o In this case the tooltip essentially said Thing? Thing.
• Opening the load game dialog will no longer default to the auto save, it will now default to your last explicitly saved game.
• The ‘Include Custom Content’ filter will now remember its setting when the gallery is closed and reopened.
• The career information that appears in the relationship panel for Sims who do not have jobs, will not show that they are working 24/7.
• Career and Miscellaneous Styled Rooms now have their own sort in the Styled Rooms catalog.

A random pause…
I was reading to my child the other night and he looked up to me confused after this one part I had read, and I realized… he had no idea what a record was.

Issues (Get to Work)
• Fixed an issue where parts of a basement ceiling placed beneath a pool or fountain would disappear.
• We added a “flair” to the Perks button in the Retail Panel to indicate that you have enough points to spend on your first perk purchase.
o I think this finally puts us above the 15 pieces of flair requirement.
• Customers will now browse more often when they come to your retail establishment, rather than using it as the new socialization hot spot.
• Retail perks that you can't afford will now explain to why you can't afford them.
• Selling photos using the Sell Photo interaction will now sell the photos for the same value as listed in their hover tip.
• Perhaps you noticed that when you apply a filter to your photography the image would shift by half a pixel. Fear not friends, you can no longer notice that half pixel shift, for it has been removed.
• The Sim taking the picture will no longer leave floating objects in front of the camera lens.
• Fixed an issue that could result in S.O.U.P’s (Sims of Unusual Proportions) if a child Sim was aged up while it was a patient at the hospital.
• Cancelling the Get Confession action will no longer prevent the Interrogate a Suspect goal from properly completing.
• Fixed an issue that could result in duplicate options appearing under the "Assign Task…" menu for employee Sims.
• Employees who run out of work tasks to perform will no longer behave in ways that make it confusing to know if they are still working, or just hanging out at work.
• Employees and customers are now less chatty and more buy-ey.
• Sims at their careers will no longer be abducted by aliens.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent a new advertising campaign from being purchased when the previous one ended.
• Your Sims can now use their purchases immediately upon purchase.
• Sims will no longer be allowed to set a Cupcake Factory for sale that is currently in use.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Sims from decorating their baked goods when they want to do so.
• Employees will now proactively clean any object that can get dirty, take out trash, and mop when they have been instructed to Clean the Store.
• The ability to purchase new advertising was appearing while the old advertising was still active, thus allowing the Sim to purchase an indefinite number of times without any added benefit. This is issue is now fixed.
• Objects that are set for a sale price of zero Simoleons will now have customers showing up to purchase them.
o Oddly enough, customers were under the impression it was a marketing ploy, and that the bait and switch was going to have them signing up for a time share in some far off land, after sitting through a seven hour presentation on the up and coming Arctic opportunities.
• Fixed an issue that could result in no suspects being shown with some clue combinations.
• Customers will no longer swipe twice when making a purchase from a retail shop, or shoppe, or … well I guess it really depends on the presence you were hoping to create. Perhaps what you were really going for was an emporium of sorts. Ah, now that's the way to go.
• You will no longer be able to buy a retail lot while on an active career lot.
• Sims will no longer buy lots autonomously. They just don’t have those kind of privileges yet, not until they can prove that they understand how to manage their finances, and not just frivolously spend all their money on candy, video games, and three story retail business parks.
• Aliens are now possible to hear when audio settings are set to Headphone, 5.1, or 7.1 Speaker settings. "Understanding Alien 1.0" is only available for a limited time however, so please call now, operators are standing by.
• Changing the lot type of any lot will no longer invalidate the employment of all employees at owned retail lots.
o “The library is now a museum? Great… there go all the jobs in the neighborhood.”

Issues (Outdoor Retreat)
• Sims will no longer roast a large yellow blocky looking object when roasting veggie dogs at the campfire.
o It’s not a tuber.
• Adding a campfire to a lot will no longer break auto lights.
• Child Sims will no longer electric slide backwards 1/2 a foot after exiting the tent.
• Fixed an issue that could result in an odd looking visual FX ribbon following children after performing the Tell Adventure Story interaction.
• Sims playing with the Campfire, will now place the stick in the fire, rather than just wave it nearby in a semi-threatening fashion, “I’ll get you fire! You and your little embers too!”

Issues (MAC)
• Fixed an issue on where zooming in on medium quality graphic settings would cause shadows to disappear.
• Fixed an issue that could occur on some configurations that resulted in a crash after changing graphic quality to high.
• You will now be able to scroll with the mouse wheel when in the game options on the Mac.

And as always, you have our deepest gratitude and appreciation,
-SimGuruGnome

Hey Simmers,

It’s the end of March and Get to Work is inches away from your fingertips. However, but before you work your way into a new expansion, we’ve got a release full of stuff.

We’ve got NEW! We’ve got UPDATES! We’ve got Bunny Eggs? We’ve got performance improvements! We’ve got fixes! And hopefully you are comfortable as you read on.

So, let’s jump in with…

What’s New?

What’s new for building?

• Basements!
  • Build 2 levels down to create the ultimate in underground excellence.
  • The Basement Tool is found in the Build sort, next to the Wall tool. Dig in and start building.

• An additional above ground floor is available for a total of 4 up and 2 down
  • For the mathematically challenged, that is SIX FLOORS!

• Move Lot is now an option under Move Lot & House in Build Mode, and can be used to pick up and rotate the entire lot. You can also use the shortcut key [Y] to access the tool

• You can now download lots from the Gallery that are larger than your current lot, and crop them to fit.

 

What’s new in the game?

• Paint from Reference is a new option on the Easel that lets Sims paint family portraits, landscapes, or whatever else you want!

• We have added a Notebook, found in the phone menu, under a tiny button at the top of the menu (we tried to make the button even smaller, but some folks wanted you to find this new feature).
  • Now as your Sim is gardening or fishing and they make discoveries (such as splicing recipes, or what bait caught what fish) these discoveries will be catalogued in your Notebook.

• Your Sims will now meet and build relationships with their co-workers and schoolmates.
  • Actions that you can take while your Sim is at work/school have been updated to allow you to gain relationship with or meet more co-workers/schoolmates.

• Non-played Sims (sometimes referred to as townies) now have jobs!
  • The “Ask about Career” interaction has been updated to provide career information for Sims that you meet.
  • The career information discovered will be found in the Relationship panel. Hover over the Sim portrait to see their career, schedule, and, if they work at a venue (like the bartender), where they work.

• Overmaxing!
  • When you reach the top of a career, there is a reason to continue to perform well, as you can now continue to gain rewards and promotions.

• We have revised the interface for traveling to and choosing worlds to play. Click on the icon in the upper left corner of the map to take it for a spin.

 

What’s new in content?

• Our first challenge rewards are hair… um, here! A new hair for Female and Male Sims. Look for them in Create A Sim, because if you are looking for them elsewhere, we should consider having you talk with someone.

• Gnomes are new! Well, these gnomes are new! Gnomes are old, I mean historically speaking they are quite old, but in our game they are older, I think, though I guess we’ve never really asked how old, but we can talk about that another time.
  • Floppy the Gnome is available for home decoration
  • And if you dare… Guardian of the Gnomelaxy is also hiding in our catalog.

 

What’s new in The Gallery?

• Now you can see who is following you from the Player Profile page.

• The file size for downloads is now available in The Gallery.

A Challenge you say?

The Bunny Egg Hunt is on! For the month of April, you will be able to hunt and search out 10 decorative eggs, each with a different design – found in various locations in the world (some might say an egg lays with the frogs). As you collect each egg, your collection information will update in the Household Collection panel. You can collect multiples of the same design but they don’t contribute to your Collection.

Collect all 10 of the different designs to unlock a reward… it’s big, it’s stuffed, and it might be a bunny. But I’m not confirming this information.

Well, that’s about it. Except, there is more… do you want the rest? Better start reading.

Performance

The development team has been hard at work making performance improvements to various systems in the game. Some are the low level, under the hood type that will shave a millisecond here or there, some are a bit more. I’ll do my best to keep the technical jargon to a minimum.

• Gameplay decision making has been made more responsive.
  • Posture decision making has been optimized – this would be something like how the Sim decides whether to Sit or Stand.
  • Autonomy decision making has been improved in determining the time it takes for a Sim to decide what to do next.
  • Broadcasters have been optimized – a broadcaster is something like a plate of food that has spoiled, and it is just sitting in the corner of the lot yelling “Hey, I’m here! I’m spoiled! I offend, don’t I? Yes, yes I do. Pay attention to me!”
• Memory optimizations have been made to the amount of memory the game is using during runtime.
  • Memory use is a leading cause of thoughts, actions, and software crashes.
• Addressed a large performance spike that was caused by hovering your mouse cursor over the pool and pool edge.
• Improved the performance of the View Screenshots section of the memories interface.
  • Users should not experience excessive hang times when loading this screen.
• Made several improvements to the visual creation of the Family Tree when opened to view
• Fixed a performance issue that was resulting in too many unique Sims being created due to a previously created Sim being added to a "Don’t use me" list for far too long when they were needed. We have shortened the "Don't use me" list length.
• Save Time optimizations have been made which will speed up save operations as well as travel times.

Issues

In addition to all the new content, features, and performance improvements being added with this release, we have fixed a few issues.

Build (General)

• If you place two blocks next to one another, and then place a column on the shared wall between them, then set the walls to cutaway view, which will hide the columns, and then you move one of the blocks, the columns that were left behind were remaining invisible. This is now fixed.
  • Have you noticed how issues with building lots are incredibly complex when describing their reproduction? Yea… me too.
• Stairs placed parallel to double doors should no longer clobber the double doors placement.
  • Yes, “clobber” is a proper technical term – to clob, clobbing, or the act of being clobbed.
• Fixed an issue that was causing an objects shadow to remain stationary while the object was being rotated.
• Fixed an issue that resulted if you deleted a light and then chose to undo that deletion, it would kill the ability for the light to ever turn on again.
  • 3 out of 4 teen sweethearts agree we should never have fixed this issue.
• Counters placed diagonally will now appear visually correct, rather than leave a gap.
• Placing objects on a roof will no longer clobber objects in the room below it.
  • “Clobber” must be the proper term, I keep using it over and over again.
• Fixed an issue that would reset adjustments made to the eaves, after using the Move Whole House tool to rotate the house.
• Mailboxes can now be deleted from a venue lot, or re-added from the catalog if one does not exist.
• Wall visual settings will now properly respect donut block creation and deletion.
  • Donuts are however not respected, and will be devoured on sight.
• We fixed an issue where walls built near pool edges were sometimes creating odd routing issues, which were preventing Sims from being able to use objects placed on the walls such as mirrors or paintings.
• Stairs now move with the supporting block when using the Move Whole House tool.
• Fixed a z-fighting issue that would result when friezes of different colors would overlap.
• Sharing lots or rooms to the gallery with craftables (potions, wood working objects, or similar) and player planted plants will no longer remove the crafted objects and plants.
• Fixed an issue that was causing all seats at the edge of a pool to become momentarily invalid when entering and exiting Build Mode, which would result in Sims resetting if they were on the way to use the pool.
• Fences enclosed within a block built using the wall tool should no longer be improperly lit.
• Fixed an issue where undoing the action of drawing a wall next to a staircase was causing gaps to appear in the stair geometry. Young Harry is pleased.
• The Rattlesnake Juice lot is apparently not flat. This resulted in pools that were placed upon this lot being non-routable. We have corrected the issue.

Content

• The trash plant will no longer change soil type throughout its growth cycle.
• Sim can now fish at all posted fishing spots near Willow Creek Archive.
  • Sims rejoice. Fish swim.
  • Did you think I was going to say fish panic? Or run for cover? Have you talked with a fish lately? They don’t do much, kind of swim left and right, open and close their mouth… that’s about it.
• Updated some of the fishing spots to provide greater variation in rarity.
• Fixed an issue that would cause paintings to appear self-illuminated on some graphic cards.

 

Gameplay

• Sims have a handedness that is set by the game, yep, surprised me too. We fixed an issue where if that Sim was shared to the Gallery they could lose the information that told them which hand they preferred.
• School will no longer count as a career when attempting to complete the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration.
• Sims will no longer route fail when multiple craft actions are queued up on the Woodworking Bench.
• There is now a thought balloon that will inform you that you are overfeeding your baby if you overfeed your baby.
• We fixed an issue that was disabling Build Mode if you queued up travel and then cancelled the travel action before the map screen.
• You can now go into Create A Sim and change the name of any of your Sims.
  • So go ahead, download Mr. Fluffy URox0r, because, well... you can change his name.
• Sims will no longer talk to the dead space that was previously occupied by a traveling Sim.
  • They tried to smile it off, as if the other Sim was really still there listening, but we knew and we snickered a little when they weren’t looking.
• Fixed an audio issue that could occur when attempting to re-connect online that resulted in the background audio track playing on top of itself.
• Objects will no longer fade in Camera Man Mode (aka the camera that is accessed when using [TAB])
• Fixed an issue that was preventing the correct price from showing when attempting to sell a stack of items from the Sim Inventory.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent ultra-speed from being available after the Maid had left the lot.
• We fixed an issue that could occur if a household was split via Manage Worlds. It was not properly handling the relationships of the Sims in the household, and parents were not properly being remembered in their child’s relationship panel.
• Babies no longer will have an unknown trait in their relationship panel display.
• You can now edit Teens in Create A Sim if they are the only member/s of a household.
• Tranquilized Sims will now gain energy while they are sleeping.
• Fixed an issue where food that was left to spoil inside a microwave would prevent a Sim from being able to use or clean the microwave. In some cases this would also prevent the Sim from being able to clean up dishes anywhere on the lot.
• Sims are no longer allowed to Try On Outfits at a mirror placed over a pool.
• Sims can now eat food that was placed into the household inventory through a move out or clobber function once that food had been replaced on the lot.
  • So in the real world this would be…I cooked a turkey pot pie, and left it on the counter. And then moved out of my house, leaving my belongings behind for the new owners. The new family that is moving in unpacks and finds the turkey pot pie. And now... they can eat it. That’s… yuck.
• We fixed an issue that could result when downloading several items (household, lot, or room) to My Library that was causing the ID of the items to conflict with one another, eventually resulting in the inability to place them.
  • Or as auto-correct would have you believe, the id, because, as we know, The Gallery has no ego or super-ego of its own.
• We fixed an issue that would cause the Sim to place a book on the ground while seated at a desk, and as a result, then reach through the desk to pick the book up if they wanted to read it.
  • And then they might step to the left, and then to the right. They might put their left foot in. And they might pull it back out. And sometimes, though not often, they might put it back in again and shake it all about.
• Swimming in the pool will now clear the singed state of a singed Sim after being singed by a fire.
• Sims will no longer walk on water if they were seated close to the edge of the water when instructed to Swim.
• Sims can now choose to clean up spoiled food from their inventory while swimming. They will not clean up the spoiled food in the pool, they will get out of the pool in order to clean up the food.
• Fixed several issues with validating object use while swimming in a pool that could manifest in ways such as attempting to use a bed while swimming would result in a route fail.
• Teens should no longer lose muscle mass from aging from Teen to Young Adult… don't worry teens, you have plenty of time to lose muscle mass later.
• Sims who went into labor while on a vacation lot, and went home, were finding they were in a perpetual state of labor. They will now be able to give birth as desired.
  • We're very sorry, and deeply regret the trauma imposed upon the Sims who had to endure an unusually elongated labor period.
• Turns out the fire protection coating applied to babies upon birth was being absorbed by the bassinets, preventing them from burning when no baby continued to reside within them. Sadly, due to a licensing agreement with the Baby No Burn Fire Proofing Protection System, we are not legally allowed to maintain this level of protection when the baby is no longer present in the bassinet and as a result, the bassinets can now burn, turn to ash, and be utterly destroyed by the ravages of a burning inferno.
• The “Own a Bar and 2 Barstools” goal for the Master Mixologist aspiration will now actually check to ensure you own a Bar.

Interlude

A moment of randomness. I feel every day should have at least one. Stand up and cheer for no reason. Go ahead, do it. Have you ever walked near someone, and just said something completely random (“oh, the salad fork has two tines!”) as if it were a forgone conclusion, smile to yourself as though you had solved a significant issue by coming to this conclusion, and walked on without further need to speak? It’ll make you, and them, smile.

And now back to our release notes currently in progress…

• Fixed an issue with the Audio Focus option. If checked, the game audio will now properly duck when the game is minimized, rather than just get really, really quiet.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the pay bills action to become unstable if the player queued up Pay Bills more than once in a row.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the Mourning buff to remain stuck on the Sim, resulting in unnecessarily long streaks of sadness, which could cause death, which could cause other Sims to acquire the Mourning buff, which … well you see where this is going.
• Children, when directed to draw shapes at the Activity Table, will no longer stand, sit, stand, and then sit again before performing the action.
  • They may however still have hidden desires to twirl three times before lying down to sleep.
• You now can now turn the Spooky and Holiday speakers back on after turning them off, because that would be silly to not allow them to be turned on more than once.
• Revised the eating vs. idle choice for Sims to weigh more heavily upon the eat side than previously.
• Sims will no longer believe that toilets will increase their Fun need, causing the Sim to use the toilet excessively when it is the only "fun" thing on the lot.
  • Sitting is fun, sure, but flushing is IN-CRAY-DA-BELL!
• Fixed an issue that could result in a Sim that was supposed to be at work to show up at home but behave as if they were at work.
• If you delete your current save while in game, you will no longer be booted to the main menu.
• The option to "Create New Household to Move In" is no longer available in Granite Falls.

Interface

• Hovertips are now less blurry.
  • If you find they continue to look blurry, eat more carrots.
• Attempts to comment on the content of a user who has blocked you, will now tell you.
• Fixed an issue with the cursor in Build Mode, where it was not properly updating as you click on various objects in the catalog.
• Changing the relationship of Sims in Create A Sim who have the same last name, will no longer remove their last name.
• Notification messages will no longer show a Sim of a different age than the Sim who drank a Potion of Youth
• This is not easy to do, I tried it, so if you ran into this issue, congratulations on your issue finding skill! We fixed an issue that could occur if, while live dragging an object (your mouse is down to do this), you dragged the object over the Sell option in the Sim Inventory, and then quickly clicked sell multiple times (which requires you to click the mouse button, thus releasing the mouse down state), the sell confirmation dialog that appeared would appear for each click made.
• Switching the age or gender of a Sim in Create A Sim while viewing an outfit category other than Everyday will no longer reset the Everyday outfit to a seemingly random outfit.
• In order to avoid any further confusion, all references to "Go Here" shall henceforth be known as "Swim Here" for all swim related travel actions.
• Crafting a flirty sculpture on the woodworking bench will now inform you that it is a flirty sculpture when you hover over it.
• We fixed an issue where clicking on the dimmer bar, rather than dragging the button, was not dimming the lights.
• Fixed an issue where long names were being cutoff in the Genetics panel in Create-A-Sim.
  • This should help anyone who has named their Sim “WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” but could only see the name as “WWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"
• Fixed an issue in The Gallery that prevented Show Custom Content and Show Unowned Content filters from being present if the online access was disabled.
• Spamming Go to Work will no longer grow infinitely in the action queue.
  • Jack, the queue is not your beanstalk.
• Placing a room from the gallery when you do not own the objects contained within, will now yield an in game message as to the removal of the unowned content.
• [Mac specific issue] You can now use the left and right command button when attempting to alter the camera angle.

As always, we are greatly in awe of the Sims community. Thank you for your time and feedback.
-SimGuruGnome 

Hey Simmers,

March is upon us, Get to Work is pushing against the door, and the color green shall soon reach a pinnacle of popularity, if only for a day. And we have an update ready to release.

It’s a small update that fixes a few crashes for Mac and PC that the community has helped us track down and reproduce. And a little bit of content.

What’s new? It’s St. Patrick’s Day or St. Paddy’s Day, (as I learned this week, it’s not St. Patty’s… who knew?)! Top off your Sim with a bit o’tha green by plopping on a new hat for your male and female Sims, found in Create a Sim. And a new gnome has joined us! Search for the Bare Essentials Gnome to adorn your abode.

Thank you all for the save files, feedback, and help we get in narrowing down issues, and improving on The Sims 4 experience for everyone!

Crash / Performance (General)
 

• We fixed a ‘failed to load object’ error that was returning the player to the neighborhood map when attempting to load into a lot.
  • This error was the result of an invalid fallback being called when we ran into a load error. Essentially, if we were looking for a sofa and we couldn’t find the sofa, we would say “Hey, there is no sofa” and kick the request back. Which would then say “But I need a sofa.” And this would go back and forth until finally someone would just give up, storm off angry, and say “Fine, if there is no sofa, there is no game, and you can forget about dinner, cuddling, and now we are going to go visit my mother, and yes, you ARE coming with me!”
• Players who have Nvidia GTX 960, 970, or 980 video cards should no longer get the "Unrecognized Video Card" error upon launching the game.
• We fixed a crash that could occur on load due to “lot caching,” which was fixed… by removing the cache. Au revoir.
• We fixed an issue that could lead to an infinite load when travelling that was due to certain world objects (trees, rocks, or similar) failing to load. Rather than hanging, we now just advance the load.
  • And by advance the load, it is meant that we step over the request, and move on to the next. Like when you are reading your daughter’s Christmas wish list, and you just ignore the “pony” and “little brother” line items.
• Fixed an issue where browsing the gallery could lead to a crash.
• We fixed a few crashes that were affecting some users on both Mac and PC… yea, that’s pretty generic. To be specific, we fixed crash category 0xd12c29, 0x4518fe, 0xb72d33, and 0x34bc94. Maybe that was too specific? I’m not sure I can do better in this case, um… we fixed a Graphics::Texture, Pathplanner:containsFast, FamilyManager, and SetNotificationFunction crash. Totally not helpful. Let’s just go with “Mac and PC are now more stable as a result of these fixes.”

Crash / Performance (Mac)
 

• Fixed an issue that was preventing the game from launching, and display an “Unable to start, initialization” error if the players save file had lots of custom content installed due to a file handle issue on OSX. This fix should allow you to comfortably have approximately ~1000 pieces of custom content as opposed to 20 which was the case previously.
• Fixed a crash that was the result of using a mouse with more than 5 buttons. It is once again safe to use these mice! It should be noted however, that no mice were harmed in the testing of our fix, all mice were handled with the utmost care, treated with respect, and held for only the shortest amount of time, before we released them once again to live amongst their own kind. Not that we are against mice and human cohabitation, only that without understanding the desire of the mouse, it can only be considered inhumane to force the mice to remain in our environment.
• We fixed a texture loading issue that was causing some systems to have Sims appear without texture upon loading into Create-a-Sim.

Interface (Mac)

 

• It is now possible to change the refresh rate in the Game Options, Graphics tab.
• If you launched the game in fullscreen and then exit fullscreen, the yellow minimize button was disappearing upon exiting fullscreen. As a side note, if you are aware of the official name for the “yellow minimize button,” that would be great, because our bug report referred to it as “the yellow minimize button in the top left of the window” and I have to wonder if it has a simpler name, like the minimize button or maybe they just call it Bob. Click on Bob to minimize. Did you click Bob? Have you seen Bob? He minimizes things for you. Takes away your cares, shrinks them away… Bob.
• If you launched the game in fullscreen and then exit fullscreen, the green fullscreen button was disappearing upon exiting fullscreen. As a side note, if you are aware of the official name for the “green fullscreen button,” that would be great, because… didn’t I already write this note? So, yea… Bob Junior. Okay, this is just weird. Why do I have 2 bug reports about 2 buttons that are right next to each other in screen space? They’re fixed now, Bob and Bob Jr.
• You should no longer be able to edge scroll while the options menu is open.

Much appreciation and admiration,
-SimGuruGnome

Hey Simmers

The Sims 4 has been released for the Mac! Woo-yea! But you knew that, and we’re really happy to see folks having fun with the Sims on their platform of choice!

We have also been listening to feedback, and have heard the reports of some players using Mods and Custom Content that are experiencing problems (polite way of saying crashes), and we have some fixes ready to go!
 

• Fixed an issue where the Use of Script Mods was causing the game to crash on boot.
• Fixed an issue where some Custom Content was crashing when selecting it in Create A Sim.
  • Since there is so much custom content available, we cannot say for certain that the patch will fix *every* instance of this type of crash, but we expect it will correct a significant majority of them.

More details about these fixes and some workarounds for other custom content issues can be found in the forum post “Issues with Mods and CC in The Sims 4 on Mac.”

Thank you,
SimGuruGnome 

Greetings Simmers and Happy 15 Anniversary!

Let us set the clock back to the early days of The Sims 4, when times were simpler…. when…

…our fore-coders released upon the digital landscape light on the Sims, and their brothers, their sisters, mothers, fathers, step-relations, half-brothers and sisters, and spouses. And the Sims, for a time, were happy. But only for a time, for soon their families grew. Brothers and sisters moved out, parents passed on, and grandparents were surprisingly spry and long lived. New members of the family were showing up every day (the loved and un-loved alike). And the Sims called to one another lost, seeking guidance…

“Are you my brother? I have forgotten your face, and don’t remember your name.” The Sims were unable to claim connection to one another, for their memories had become as holes in a block of Swiss cheese.

And thus it was, until now…

Genealogy is here! Explore the lineage of your Sims, their names, faces, and relationships! Remember who they are to one another!

Return with your Sim, and travel through the branches of their family … David from down the street is a half-brother to Stephanie, the long lost granddaughter of Two-chins, the homeless guy in the park who is the father of Angelina the bartender, who is your sister... and there was much rejoicing.

In addition to traveling through the lineage of your Sims, with this update you can now dress up Grandma Betty in some new Valentine’s clothing, or just hang around with a gnome and a bear.

We’ve also addressed a few bugs, including the map bounce issue, and, for all those Sims who spent their lifetimes waiting to be served, bartenders are fixed!

We greatly appreciate the feedback, the save files, and all the help in narrowing down issues as they arise.

What’s New
 

• Genealogy is now available. You’ll be able to look at your Sims’ family history, including brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents (and some greats, and great greats, and…), step relationships (like Step-Father), half relationships (like Half Brother), and of course, Spouses.
  • Open up the Simology panel (or use the [Y] shortcut key) and click on the Show Sim’s Genealogy button.
  • Track 10 generations (4 up and 5 down) from the active Sim (yes 5 + 4 = 10)
  • Click on other Sims in the view to focus on their genealogy
    • If you have a large number of Sims in your view, you can click in any empty space within the genealogy panel, and drag to see more.
  • Hover over the Sim portraits to see their relationship to the active Sim, their current career, how they died, and who they are married to.
• The Main Menu has had a facelift. Browse the in-game banners to find out what’s new in The Sims, what’s next down the road, what’s hot in the Gallery, tip & tricks, and more!
• We have updated the Whims
  • Whims now refresh automatically when you sleep for more than 4 hours, become dazed, or return home from work
  • Hover over a whim and click on the Pin button to pin the whims you want to keep (sorry, you can’t pin Emotional Whims).
  • Or click the X button to get a new whim.
• There are new achievements for playing with generations.
  • Legacy Player, Alphabet Legacy, Legacy Leader, and Legendary Legacy!
• There’s new content in Create A Sim!
  • Male and Female Valentine’s Day shirts can be found under t-shirts
  • Male Valentine’s boxers can be found in the underwear category
  • Female Valentine’s lingerie can be found in the underwear and brassieres categories
• There’s new content not in Create A Sim!
  • The gnomes have sent an emissary to ring in the 15 year celebration, look for the Happy Gnomiversary!
  • The “Lots of Love” Bear is ready to spend his Valentine’s Day with you.
  • We found the Bearly Gnome hiding in the forests of Outdoor Retreat, coerced him gently from his den, and plopped him into your game.
  • A venue version of the Winter Holiday Speaker has been added to the audio sort.

 
Crash / Performance
 

• Some players were reporting that they were continuing to be unable to load their lots after the 1/13 release and we have fixed additional issues with being bounced back to the Neighborhood Map.  Thank you for the save files that helped us track this issue down, we love looking at your save files!
• In addition, we fixed an infinite load issue that resulted if the player attempted to load into a lot that had been split via Manage Worlds, with a baby.
• We have spent time optimizing load times.  It should be noted that the amount of improvement is dependent on machine spec as well as the size and content of the save file.
• Additional fixes were made to reduce save game bloat which will help lower the amount of memory required in order to load the save file, and provide stability.
• Fixed a crash that resulted if the player attempted to 'Save to Library' an item they had previously reported.
• We fixed an infinite load… I’m sorry to interrupt myself, but honestly as we have not yet been able to test if it really is infinite, the best we can do is assume, although given the lifespan of your average computer, the decay rate of the plastics and metals contained within, and the generally low longevity of even the high end hard drives, I have to imagine that we are being quite disingenuous by saying infinite. None-the-less… we fixed an infinite load issue when favoriting items on the gallery that had been reported.

Build / Graphics
 

• Fixed an issue that was causing seated Sims to shift to the T-pose when attempting to clean a stack of dishes on the surface in front of them.
  • A Moment at DevCorner: T-pose is what is meant when a Sim fails to play an animation, and instead reverts to their default position, which is shaped like a T (standing with arms outstretched).
• We have adjusted the Sim lighting when Laptop Mode is active to be less unfriendly to the “I need light to see” players.
• When visiting the Rattlesnake Juice Bar, Sims will no longer take an oddly long path to avoid the front edge of the lot.
• The Landgraabs did not run a proper geological survey of their homestead before moving in. This resulted in their inability to go swimming in some pools, on some parts of their lots, some of the time. The sum of these issues have been fixed.

Gameplay / Tuning
 

• There is a reward store to spend your satisfaction points on consumables and traits – go spend them. There is now a tutorial tip that will remind you.
• Fixed an issue with the way that relationship decay was functioning that was causing recently acquired friends to quickly un-friend. A buffer has been added to keep friends as friends, and provide the player the ability to react to negative outcomes as they happen.
• Titan and Titanic will no longer be blocked by the Gallery profanity filter.
• Sims were not informing their partners if they were pregnant after taking a pregnancy test. Thus leaving the partner in the dark until the "Whoa, where did they come from?" moment. Now, if the pregnancy test-takers partner is on the current lot, they will share the big news with them. If they aren't... well... what the Sim doesn't know...
• NPCs will now wave goodbye when they leave the lot, and nearby Sims will return the wave (if they aren't busy eating, showering, sleeping, smashing doll houses…)
• We fixed an issue where newly made households from Create A Sim, that had their future homes edited before moving in, would lose their relationships to one another upon moving into the lot.
• Adults that were asked to read to children would often times become so engrossed in the story that they would forget to actually read to the child.  We’ve fixed this issue by informing the adults that the purpose of reading to their children is to connect with them, creating a lasting bond of love and trust, and not so much about finding out just how far Spot can run.
• It is no longer possible to use the Play with Genetics option in Create A Sim to create a child of a child or teen. The Play with Genetics Sim selector was incorrectly, in some cases, allowing a child or teen to be selected as the parent.
• In addition we fixed a few other issues with the Play with Genetics selector that were creating confusion when setting relationships.
  • It should no longer be possible to create a child and parent of the same age.
  • An order of operations issue was fixed that prevented the player from setting sibling relationships that were valid to set.
  • And we fixed an updating issue that prevented the drop down from properly displaying relationship options.
• The Grim Reaper is no longer available to age up from the Sim selector. Grim is in fact ageless, as you know, and the option was a test of The Reaper. Congratulations you passed, one additional year has been added to your life.
• Children will find the computer less accommodating to…um, if two consenting adults should happen to be in a rocket… I mean, if there is a rocket in space, and you are at the computer, you can listen to the launch, and the broadcast from space. But if the adults are in the rocket… well, if the child tried to use the computer… and the consenting adults were to, that is to say, if they became friendly then… the child can’t listen at the computer anymore.
• The second milestone of the Rambunctious Scamp aspiration has been changed to practice typing for 4 hours.
• The Gym Rat trait was confusing, and has been updated. Gym Rats build fun and don't lose additional (does not affect the normal rate of hygiene decay) hygiene while exercising.
• Now 50% less tutorial, because... well, you know.
• We fixed an issue that would cause Sims to lose work performance unfairly if… here we go… Sim A and Sim B traveled to a non-home lot. Sim A (the non-working Sim) traveled to another lot just before Sim B (the working Sim) went to work, and then Sim A returned to the lot they just left, which would then cause Sim B to return from work early and thus lose performance.
  • If you could follow that bug, I should show you some of the bugs we fixed with generational game play… create an 8 Sim household, marry 2 of them, have step children, and some adoptions, then kill somebody. Re-arrange the family through manage worlds and splitting, and re-enter live mode. Notice that the Earth has stopped rotating…
• We fixed an issue that was causing Gallery lots to break that was the result of saving a new lot on top of a pre-existing lot in the player’s library that had been shared to the Gallery.
• Angry pregnant Sims will no longer choose to Take an Angry Poop when taking a pregnancy test (yep, you read that).
• Updated the text when clicking on a Sim in the relationship panel to Travel With… instead of Invite To… The latter option was confusing and did not properly inform the player that they would be taken to the Neighborhood Map in order to travel.
• Sims will no longer use the Observatory until they are near death. Rather, they will now exit after a reasonable time.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing the Technically Adept goal “Maintain Focus for 2 Straight Hours of Video Gaming” of The Computer Whiz branch of the Knowledge aspiration from completing properly.
• Sims can now have dates on their currently active lots.
• Bartenders are back on the job! Autonomous and player requested beverages are once again being served.
• Sims will no longer believe they can mourn their loved ones while they are doing other actions, such as cooking, which was causing the Sim to cancel the non-mourning action.
• So fire… recently we informed you that fireplaces could catch nearby objects on fire and well they did. Including ceiling lights, objects on the mantelpiece… and apparently they did it a lot. We’ve lowered the chance of fire spreading to nearby objects and made the way in which fire spreads from the fireplace to be cone shaped, which should prevent mantel placed objects from catching fire…. which you couldn’t put out anyway. So yeah… oops.
• As a result of bad hygiene, Sims were getting dirty, and then dirty and stinky. Now Sims will get stinky, and then dirty and stinky.
• Sims will no longer get a whim to know themselves… that is to say to introduce themselves to themselves.

UI / Interface Updates
 

• Using the game options to change resolutions will now properly save.
  • Btw, did you know you can also drag the window to resize it? (including very small sizes)
• Hovering over the skills in the skill panel will now display example objects that you can use to help build those skills.
• The “It’s Not Brain Surgery” achievement now has an icon when it slams your screen… SCREEN SLAM!
• It’s 2015, did you know? We totally knew that... now. (patch notes now have the correct year)

The Sims Outdoor Retreat
 

• Adding a log to the campfire while seated, will no longer cause the log to appear too soon, spin around, and then… feels like I’m watching some sort of talent reality show just before the really good talent arrives and they’re warming you up with the “you’re just not cut out for this” crowd.
• The Bramble Patch is no longer available to explore if you are uncomfortable.
• The horseshoe pit is no longer an exclusive hot spot for the focused and undistracted. Sims are now allowed to queue Join Game on the horseshoe pit no matter what they were doing previously.

Thank you for all your feedback, your help, and your time,

-SimGuruGnome 

Hey Simmers!

Happy Holidays, Decemberings, and other end of the year tidings! The office illnesses have come and gone (for me) and things are looking up for a festive year end. And just for you, we have an update filled with new careers, holiday goodies, Gallery fun-ness, some cheats, a gnome on the go, a few holiday tunes, interface updates, and a bug or two squashed!

As this is a bit long on the details, and in an effort to keep it brief, I’ll cut my monologue short. So, without further ado, on with the datums!

The Big NEW

• Business Career
  • Climb the corporate ladder, choosing between Angel Investor or Business Tycoon
  • New Career Outfits
  • New Reward Objects and Interactions
  • New Career Reward Rooms
• Athletic Career
  • Kick, punch, and swing your way through the Athletic career, choosing between Hall of Famer or Mr./Ms. Solar System
  • New Career Outfits (did someone say Llamacorn mascot outfit?)
  • New Reward Objects and Interactions
  • New Career Reward Rooms

• Paid Time Off (PTO)
  • Sims now accrue PTO by going to work, and can use their PTO to take a paid day off without losing work performance
  • Sims also want to take time off, and may get tense if they don’t
  • Sims will start off with 3 days PTO already accrued, so they can start work and immediately take a long weekend to recover.

• Family leave
  • Parents can now take paid time off for the birth of their baby
  • Moms can take time off during the third trimester. Sorry dads, you have to wait until after the birth to take time off
  • Family Leave is separate from PTO, and does not affect your PTO balance.

• Thanks to great player feedback, we made some pretty important changes to Career and Aspiration objectives. Please take a moment to review your Aspirations and Careers, as some of the objectives have possibly changed. Our main goals with this update were to:
  • Get rid of objectives that were too specific or repetitive
  • Fix objectives that were too difficult and/or too big of a jump from previous steps (e.g., going from requiring 2 friends to 6 friends)

 

• The Holiday Celebration Pack is available for you to unlock, completely free!
  • New Objects, including a wreath, wall decorations, and a grinning holiday snowman!
  • Some new Holiday Sweaters for your Sims (including winner of the fan voted sweater, #4)!

• Here are the instructions for how to get your Holiday Celebration Pack:
  • The Holiday Celebration Pack can be unlocked by logging into Origin and launching The Sims 4.
  • Banners within the main menu of The Sims 4 and in The Gallery will show the option to redeem the “Holiday Celebration Pack”.
  • Click on the respective banner to surface an in-game pop up that will place the Holiday Celebration Pack in your shopping cart.
  • No payment information will be required to check out.
  • You will then be directed to an order confirmation page. Click the “Close” button.
  • After closing, you will receive a notification that your content is preparing for download. Click the “OK” button.
  • Once the download is complete, a notification will inform you that the Holiday Celebration Pack has been successfully installed.
  • You will need to restart The Sims 4 in order to see content from the Holiday Celebration Pack in your game.
  • Alternatively, you can also redeem the Holiday Celebration Pack via Origin.com here. Simply follow the instructions to download and install the pack into your game.

 

The Not Quite as Big New

• A new Holiday themed speaker can be found in the Audio sort of Build mode, with all new Winter Holiday songs!
• The Strictly Business Gnome is ready for action! Maybe he’s late for an important business meeting, or maybe he’s just left the bank with an unexpected withdrawal. Only he knows!
• When your Sims get grungy from low hygiene, they will now look the part! Grunge is in, well in the 90s it was, so like 15 years ago, practically yesterday.
• Sims can now EAT the fruits and veggies they harvest from Gardening!
• Warning! Sims can now die at venues! You have been warned… We didn’t increase the chance of death or anything like that, it’s just you can die now. So it’s not so much a warning, as a public service announcement. Announcement served.
• New colors have been added to several existing doors, windows, and roof trims.

The Gallery New

• Gallery Build Improvements: We’ve made it easier than ever to grab rooms from the Gallery by placing a big ol’ button in the Saved Rooms sort. We’ve also re-arranged the tabs to be friendlier. They were pretty friendly before but now they are downright social.
• Gallery in CAS: We’ve integrated the Gallery into your Create a Sim experience in two ways.
  • The first is a Randomize button at the center bottom of the screen. Click the button to randomly pull in new Sims from the Gallery without leaving CAS!
  • Secondly, when creating new family members, you have the button right there to look for them in the Gallery.
• Objects resized using cheats now preserve their status when uploaded to the
• Custom Content and Mods will no longer display by default in the Gallery. To see them, check the “Include Custom Content” flag in Advanced filters on the left.
  • Custom Content and Mods uploaded will now be automatically flagged as Custom Content.
  • You can also mark them as such to help your fellow community members better navigate this content.
• Want new neighbors? Simply click on an empty house next door and select “Move in Household From Gallery.” You’ll be taken to the Gallery where you can pick your new neighbors. Move in a great family or some total weirdo, then go visit them seconds later.

The Cheaty-Face New

• Have you satisfied your Sim today? Whims and Aspirations, both give satisfaction! And now, so does this cheat: sims.give_satisfaction_points #! Spend time working on whims and aspirations, OR just forget the whole thing and cheat your way to victory! (Don't forget to use testingcheats true first).
• Speaking of cheats, well, if these two release notes remain side by side, then this will totally make sense, but if they get re-ordered, then this is really going to be confusing, but let's assume they stay side by side. So, speaking of cheats, bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement is now available to immediately unlock all career rewards! (I tried to get them to add at least 20 more characters to the cheat title, careerrewardunlockgoodiesforfree, but the engineers were afraid we'd overflow a sock, or stack, or something like that).
• Set as Head cheat is now actually usable. This was a cheat we shipped with base game but required a Sim and Object ID, which oddly, is not accessible. This is now a shift click option on the object. Turn on testing cheats, select a Sim, shift click on an object and choose Set as Head. Have fun!
  • Hint: Sims will still use objects when oddly placed.
• Can you say MOO?  The Move Object cheat is now available!
  • Use bb.moveobjects to ignore placement rules, and push the limits of your home creativity!
  • In addition, while holding the object, you can use the “0” key to move an object down, and the “9” key to move the object up*. The object doesn’t have to be against a wall
    • *For those of you that use saved camera positions, we are aware of the shortcut key conflict, and are working to fix this. But we felt the up/down behavior was just too awesome not to mention it.

-------------------------

 

Build / Graphics

• Walls were not appearing correctly in cutaway view if placed near a stairway.
• Fixed an issue where setting a non-1st floor door as the Front Door would not persist after entering Live Mode and returning to Build.
• The violin will no longer fade at inappropriate distances while the Sim is playing it.

Crash / Performance

• Fixed a crash that could occur if the game was exited while a move in sequence was in progress.
• Game will no longer crash when attempting to place a roof nowhere near your lot. Um… yea, the roof, drag it really far away from your lot, and then click. You won't crash now.
• Doing edge case-y things has a chance of confusing our codebase. In this case, if you, by way of the merge household dialog, completely swap two families (basically house swap), you will no longer infinitely load as you attempt to return to the game.

Gameplay / Tuning

• When loading a lot, you will now load into the correct lot for the Sim you have chosen, rather than load into their home lot where they may not currently be.
• Fixed an issue in which killing a Sim in a 1x1 enclosure was preventing the Reaper from completing their task of soul collection, which in turn resulted in the Sim remaining married to their living spouses, which in turn prevented the living spouse from being able to remarry... yea, well you'd be surprised how common this actually is among Sims players.
• NPC Sims leaving an event or job were not returning to their normal attire, which resulted in Sims wandering around in their work outfits, sleepwear, workout outfits, at inappropriate times. Sims should now appear in more appropriate attire for when and where they are.
• Switching between Sims who are on different lots will remember where the Sims were when last you left them (more like a modern day drama, as opposed to an 80’s sitcom that has no memory of what happened last time), rather than stacking up on the sidewalk.
• Fixed an issue where if a plant was on a location other than the ground of the 1st floor, it would cause the Sim to wander to a seemingly random spot on the lot when requested to weed.
• You no longer need to click on the sign post to fish, just click on the area near the fishing spots to begin angling!
• Fireplaces were not starting nearby objects on fire… now should a fire erupt, they have a chance to do so. Makes you re-think that stack of books on the mantel piece, doesn't it?
• The chess piece is connected to the chess table, which is connected to the chair, which is connected to the Sim. And now there is a tooltip that explains this symbiotic relationship if you attempt to play chess at a table without a chair. Please be warned, there is currently no tooltip that explains why you can't play chess if there is no Sim.
• Updated the text that explains the benefits of the Premium Prima Ballerina, to now say Inspiring Décor: 9, rather than Environment.
• The Astro Model Rocket now allows you to View Focused Work which will give the Sim a Centered by Art buff.
• Find a Collectible whims are now 150% more satisfying!
  • Find a Collectible whims will now give you 25 satisfaction points instead of 10.
  • Nah, I'm sticking with - 150% MORE AWESOMER! (feels like there should be an explosion here… go turn on something furious or fast, and then reread this)
• Sims can now paint different quality Focused paintings.
• Insane children can now talk to themselves. What? No, I didn't tell them anything, shh.
• If you cancel cooking before the Sim takes the ingredients out of the fridge, you will now be refunded the Simoleons and the Ingredients.
• Sims who choose to autonomously solve for social on the computer will continue to do so until they reach a satisfactory level (green) or another motive becomes more pressing.
• Children have begun to understand the finer points of the Card Table, and now get Mental skill while playing cards.
• If your Sim chooses to shower immediately after taking a bubble bath in the Double Delight shower tub, they will no longer shower in their clothes.
• You can no longer drag a dirty plate into a broken sink and expect it be cleaned… yea, we're tough on dirt like that.
• Sims will no longer clean up books that were being read to a child by another Sim.
  • "You were done with that."
  • "No, I…"
  • "Not a question!"
• The Honorary SimGuru achievement will now properly award you for playing the game for 100 hours. No quitters! Sit down, and achieve! See you in 5 days.
• Prepared Sims, who have pre-purchased a bassinet, will no longer be misinformed that their newly adopted child is at daycare upon returning home.
• Sims can now Point Out Constellations all the way until 6am… an extra 4 hours of "There it is!" "Where?" "Right there next to that really bright star." "The moon?" "No, the star! The moon isn't even a star!" "Wait, which star?" "Oh, for the love of... look RIGHT there!" "What are we looking for?"
• Reading aloud in a spooky voice, and gently shaking your monitor, would really help to sell the feeling I'm going for here.
  • It's a dark and spoooooky night (or day, or really the bug can happen at any time).
  • Your parents have left you all alone (they left to go adopt a child, and you, a baby, have found yourself at day care while they are away).
  • Time passes, your parents return, but you neeeeever do! Oooooooo! Woooooo!
  • … until…  NOW, because we fixed the bug. (But are you, really you? Oooooo? Wooooo?).
• There is something about saying voodoo that makes you want to say the phrase 'Who do? You do' immediately after, which says absolutely nothing about the bug that was fixed. Which is that you can now live drag the Voodoo Doll.
• Nature aspirations (Freelance Botanist, Angling Ace, and The Curator) will now count towards the Over-Achiever achievement.
• The Own a Microphone goal for the Joke Star aspiration will now complete with all microphones, and not just the default choice.
• The unbreakable Princess Cordelia's Bathtub will no longer break.
• Sims with the Hilarious trait were finding their jokes falling flat more often than they should. We have increased the chance of success significantly, though even the funniest of Sims can have an off day.
• It came to our attention, that the Self-Cleaning Upgraded Toilets Union (SCUTU) has expressed concern that Sims are not treating them with respect. Their grievance is that they are taken for granted. And as such, in a silent protest of porcelain solidarity, have refused to allow themselves to be cleaned should a Sim vomit within their bowlish confine. We have approached this matter with the greatest of care, allowing each side to air their issues, and in the end, SCUTU has agreed to keep themselves clean of all things foreign and domestic, in exchange for the occasional nod of recognition from a nearby Sim.
• Practice Fighting can now be cancelled while in the action queue.
• Sims who are at maximum for a given skill will no longer be able to incorrectly build that skill while off lot using the Away Actions.
• Children can now travel to the Forgotten Grotto! One less forgotten.
• Platonic romantic relationships were not allowing the Sims to sleep in the same bed… not many of our players ran into this issue.
• Decreased the rate of weight gain by 1/2. However, Sims will still get fat at the same rate as before, if they eat when not hungry.
• Sims will no longer autonomously drink from the fridge, which was resulting in them getting autonomously fat.
• Sims can now complete the WooHoo! Achievement… so what are you waiting for? Get out there and get those Sims achieved!
• The Hidden Bookcase Door unlocked from the Secret Agent career, now allows you to knock on it. Which means it is less secret and less hidden by roughly 20%.
• Fixed an issue that was initiating relationship decay immediately upon travel, leaving our Sims with a yearning to understand the phrase 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' as it was most certainly not the case.
• Promised or Engaged to a Sim that dies will now clear their promised and engaged bit, so that you don't have to wait around for their ghost in order to find a new love.
• The rate at which objects break has been decreased, and high end objects will break even less often than previously.
• Elders will no longer be the primary age group found at the lounge.
• Fitness will now play a role in determining who wins a Fight.
• Farmer Flower and Fruit seed pack will now give you flower and fruit seeds.
• Farmer Veggies and Herb seed pack will now give you veggies and herbs.
• Neither seed pack will give you farmers.
• You can now invite “at work” Sims to your parties.
• Plantain has been added as a collectible in the Gardening section of collections.
• Retired Sims will no longer receive two paychecks each day… thieving ol' timers!
• Gardening skill interactions Research Gardening, Fertilize, and Splice now unlock at earlier levels.
• More drinks are now available to make at level 1 Mixology, including the Angry, Flirty, and Focused emotional drinks.
• The chance to find the cowplant while fishing has been increased. Which lends credence to the popular phrase, "You can lead a cowplant to water, but you can't make him not offer cake to the first lure that passes by, thusly ripping him from the watery depths, only to be unleashed within the soils of the Sim filled land, where essence, gloriously effervescent essence, awaits their frosting-filled gullets.”
• Successful mischief actions now give 50% more mischief skill!
• Fish stored in the refrigerator will no longer decay as if they were sitting on a marble slab, at noon, outside, beneath a blistering mid-summer sun.
• Sims will no longer autonomously salvage your TV’s, stereos, and other electronics for spare parts.
• Sims will now swim at pools placed at venues.
• Bladder motive will now decrease at a slower rate while Sims are sleeping.
• Ideal mood for Interstellar Smuggler is now Energized.
• Working out at home no longer satisfies the workout at the gym goal of the Athletic aspiration, unless you have gone through the effort to convert your home into a gym venue, in which case, working out at home will totally satisfy this goal and I just lied to you.
• Punching bag now counts as a piece of workout equipment when solving for the Bodybuilder aspiration goal.

UI / Interface Updates

• All Information panels in the bottom right are now viewable for all Sims all of the time! Including while your Sim is at work!
• The Career panel has had a face lift, pulling some hidden information out of the tooltips, changing the layout, just a little spritz.
• The Collections Panel will no longer rearrange itself every time you open it.
• Sims now advertise their age in the Nameplate. No more “are you a teen?” mishaps.
• The Phone Menu, jealous of the Career panel’s body work, has also had a face lift. A little tuck, tightening, and primping all around.
• Screenshot taking is now available in Create a Sim! Once you have everything set up the way you want, hit “C” to take your shot!
• Late for Work icon has been moved so it is now visible in the Sim skewer portrait (Yep, we call it a skewer. Go back to Sims 2 and look at it again).
• Filters for the purchase dialog were sometimes confused about which purchase dialog was being displayed - seed filters would show when purchasing a book and likewise.  Fixed this.
• You can now use the mouse wheel to scroll in the Lessons menu. The Lessons are found in the ESC menu. It's the 3 dot icon in the upper right. Where the options are…
• The credits scroll bar will no longer fight against your desire to scroll with it. The Aspiration panel has been given more prominence in the UI.
  • We’ve asked that the Aspirations panel works harder to make it better for you to access them (at any hour), and provide a faster and stronger presence while doing it.
• The Sims portrait will no longer continue to say your Sim is asleep if you cancel their autonomous sleeping action.

Thank you for all your feedback, keep it coming!

-SimGuruGnome

Hey S(w)immers!

It’s time to go swimming! November, sunshine, swimming, splashing, the warmth of the su… well, we are international, so it’s sunny for some. Anyway, Pools are here! And your Sims are ready to jump in and splash around!

• Jump into Create a Sim to customize your Swimwear!
  • Choose from the Styled Looks to quickly swim up your Sim; or choose the perfect one or two-piece bikini, swim trunks or budgie smugglers!
  • Top off your creation with a hat, some sandals, and a dab of sunscreen down the bridge of your nose, and you are ready to go!
• Build out your pool in Build Mode by clicking on the Build tab, and the Pools image in the home portrait
  • You can place pre-fashioned pool blocks (triangle, square, diagonal, or octagon), or you can use the Pool Tool to draw your own pool.
• Pools can be built on any floor of your home or venue.
• Decorate and enhance your pool with pools lights, install a ladder, customize the wall and floor textures to your liking then plop down some decals or add some windows for that aquarium’esque experience!
• Sims can enjoy the comforts of your newly built pool, whether they are socializing as they dangle their digits in the water, splashing the kids, or putting themselves out after being set on fire by an angry ghost who had died from a tragic poolside grilling accident.
• Be wary of the hungry and fatigued, a moment too long in the pool has been known to cause a lack of living. The Reaper will gladly accept your pleas, though he may not always oblige them.

Build out your dream home (with pool included) or head to the Gallery to find the wondrous creations of your fellow S(w)immers , and spend the day with your Sims by the poolside!

--------------------------------

In addition to releasing Pools in this update, we have also spent time fixing some bugs and continuing to enhance the game:

Our players have been instrumental in helping us track down the small eye, wide jaw issue that was interfering with some Sims as they aged up both in Live Mode and in Create a Sim. Working with the community, and our internal quality assurance group, we have reverted the tuning as Sims changed ages that resulted in a shrinking of the eyes, and a widening of the jaw. It is intentional that Sims change slightly as they age but the tuning we were using wasn’t performing as we expected as of yet. Thank you once again for your patience and diligence in helping us resolve this

Crashes / Performance

• Several performance issues were found and addressed with this release, and we will continue to look into improving performance across the board.
• Fixed an issue that could result in the player being unable to place a room from the gallery if it contained a slotted object.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent you from loading an older save with an updated version of the game.
• Sometimes the game crashes in a completely logical fashion and sometimes…
  • We fixed an issue that would cause household members to delete themselves, but only if a household of more than one began their existence at the Potters Splay lot, one member of the household then traveled to visit the Pique Hearth or Rindle Rose household, and then returned home to find their other household members have gone missing. The Potters Splay lot has been thoroughly exorcised and made safe for Sim living once again.
• On a similar note, there was a counter and an oven at Yuma Heights that could cause a crash, these too have been fixed.
• We fixed a freeze that could occur when attempting to move in with a homeless Sim if you changed your mind (having realized they don’t have a home) and attempted to back out of the move-in flow.
  • Rejoice! You can once again choose to move in with the homeless even though they don’t have a home. You can decide to not move in to their homeless home, but rather choose to move into a new home with them, or move the homeless Sim into your home.

Tuning / Graphics

• Fixed an issue that resulted in a placed counter sink being deleted when the player moved the counter.
• You can now search for “TV” in Build Mode, because it turns out nobody uses the word television.
• Fixed an issue with newly created Sims made from an older shared household overwriting the original household.
• Fixed an issue where Sims refused to clean up books if the action was initiated through the bookshelf. It seems Sims prefer to be told directly, rather than the bookshelf leaning over and whispering "Hey, my books are showing."
• Fixed an issue that resulted in elder female Sims forgetting they had two legs, and instead walking with a one-legged stutter step, “Pardon me m’lady, but you have two legs.”
• Fixed an issue that could occur during the swapping of the Urn and Tombstone models that would result in the urn/tombstone forgetting what it was and losing all functionality.
  • On a side note, why use the word “could”? It turns out that bugs do not occur for all people, often due to the complexity of what is happening in the code. In this issue, the reproducible case that allowed us to verify the issue as resolved required you to perform an action an unreasonable number of times in succession, in order to see the issue occur once.
• Fixed an issue where Sims were choosing to kneel at improper moments, being socially awkward, kneeling at the dining table, or similarly strange occurrences.
• Children will no longer levitate when attempting to blow out the candles of a cake on a counter. Nobody believed the levitation really occurred anyway, and those who “saw” the levitation are no longer available for comment.
• Fixed an issue with Ghosts possessing Grills, that would cause them to open the grill, examine the contents, close the grill, and then jump in.  We have informed the ghosts that the contents of the grill will have no bearing upon their dietary preferences, nor will they be viewed any differently for choosing to possess a grill when they just feel like possessing a grill.
• Fixed an issue that would result in multiple Sims standing in the same place when they chose to play as sea monster.
  • It was noted that this bug made them look like a sea monster, so… an internal debate rose regarding the believable nature of the issue. Were the Sims expressing their inner monster as they played Sea Monster?  Should we take that away from them?  Did we even have the right to?  As the producers were busy debating the philosophical merits involved, planning meetings, and contemplating the social ramifications… the engineer fixed it. And well here we are, with our Sims sea monsterly expression ripped from them.

 

Build Mode

• The simple way to state it:  We fixed an issue where auto counters would stop working correctly after modifying the nearby architecture.
• The not so simple way: When placing a counter perpendicular to a wall, and placing a second counter opposite to it, then placing a third counter positioned in front of the second one as if you were attempting to create a corner with auto-counters, then deleting the wall, and then once again attempt to create a corner piece, was resulting in auto-counters losing functionality.  We fixed this.
• Fixed an issue that would cause undo and redo to stop working if the undo action undid a foundation doing.
• Fixed an issue when deleting an object with other objects slotted to it, with the sledgehammer that prevented undo from returning the slotted objects (or, if you deleted a table with a vase on it, and then chose to undo the action, the vase would not come back).
• Fixed a “quick-click” issue. Delete floor, exit Build Mode, Sim is floating!  Ta-dah!
• Fixed an interface issue with the remove ceiling button flickering when the cursor hovered over it.
• Fixed an interface issue that would result in the Build Mode catalog failing to properly open when switching between Build and Live Modes.
  • Learning time: By the way, in case you were curious on the correct pronunciation of Live, simply say to yourself “I Build in Build mode, and I Live in Live mode.”

Thank you for everything

-SimGuruGnome

Hello Simmers, readers of patch notes, and other developers who just happen to be searching the internet for examples of how other teams are writing up their release notes!

We had a few issues we felt needed to be addressed sooner rather than later, and have tackled them in today’s patch! Many of these issues were brought forth by the community through the forums. We thank you for your efforts, your posts, and your focus in helping us create a better experience with The Sims 4.

Some bugs you might be keen to know were fixed: The “Eye and jaw width looks funky” bug! The “I can’t get married if my fiancé died” issue! And the “My Sims can’t age up anymore” bug.

The other issues which we have fixed are detailed below, and we are always dedicated to fixing performance and gameplay blocking issues in order to provide the best gaming experience possible. Please keep posting on the forums. We do read them and we are tracking issues that you are finding.  Thank you!

Crashes / Performance
 

• Fixed an issue where the game could enter into an infinite load after all Sims in a household had died.
• Fixed a performance issue resulting in too many hidden Sims being created for "just in case" scenarios. Resulting in a large number of Sims being loaded that were not needed.
• Scrolling left in the Memory timeline will no longer freeze your game. Yea… we just… don't ask…
• Fixed an issue that was caused by placing a Sim from the gallery into multiple households that could result in either simply causing the appearance to revert to the original Sims appearance, or could cause the household to become unplayable.
• Fixed an issue that would result in the player being unable to place a Room from the Gallery if the room had been uploaded with a single plate of food.

Tuning
 

• Fixed an appearance issue that caused Sims to incorrectly appear with small eyes and wide jaws on age up. This was a result of a modifier value being improperly ignored for one age group, that resulted in the value being incorrectly applied, and was exacerbated if a Sim moved into or out of that age group.
• The grieving period is over… Sims can now attempt to marry again if their fiancé has died.
• Players can once again tell their Sim to age up with a cake, regardless of the Auto Age setting. On a side note, I feel strongly as though I should have used the word irregardless, if only to anger my co-workers who contend that the word is not a word. I feel however, that it is a perfectly fine word, irregardless of their feelings.
• Fixed an issue where Widows and Widowers were not being properly given their relationship status as Widows and Widowers.
• Sims made from the same Gallery Sim will now properly populate the world as desired, rather than secretly kill off their clones before moving into the world.
• Fixed an issue where Ambrosia was "sort of" allowing itself to be copied in Build Mode, however, while it was charging full price for the copy, it was only delivering an empty plate with FX.
• Resurrected Ghosts by way of Ambrosia, will properly age up upon their return to the land of the living… which is unfortunate because they are just going to die again.
• Fixed an issue with the Throw 5 Parties goal not counting thrown parties correctly, making it impossible to throw a party that would satisfy the Throw 5 Parties goal. We have thrown together a few lines of code, talked to all parties involved, and verified that it is once again possible to throw a party that satisfies the Throw 5 Parties goal.
• Fixed an issue preventing Ghosts from showing up as valid targets in some Sim Picker dialogs, such as Write Love Email or Send Spam Money Request to.
• Teens can now write Love Emails to other Teens.
• Ghostly Repair will now satisfy the Repair an Object whim.
• Added a venue wall speaker for the Spooky station into the debug catalog.
• Fixed an issue that would cause a Sim to attempt to repair a working shower, if the broken shower was on the 2nd floor.

UI / Text
 

• Manage households will no longer show empty households as a result of Sims dying from old age.
• Fixed an improper string update which resulted in the 1st goal of the Writing aspiration informing you that you should "Read 1 Book at the Library," rather than the correct goal of "Beat Writer's Block". Odd that the writing aspiration had an error in the text.

-SimGuruGnome

Welcome to October 1^st, Patch Day!  First off we would like to say thank you for all of the help we have received from the community in identifying and tracking down issues. We love listening and learning from all that you do, and are always striving to make The Sims 4 the most solid game it can be. We love your stories and we greatly appreciate all your help!  We have a lot to share about what’s new, some fixes, and what have we done to your game? So, let’s go!

The New

Ghosts! Ready to go and in your game, just jump in and start killing your Sims! Well, I mean, you can… nicely kill them? Or just lock them in a room for a couple days, um, without any food or water. That’s one way to do it, but will take a while so if you’re really impatient maybe just set them on fire. Oh, this isn’t going well. Look, if you happen to see a ghost, however he or she got there, and we aren’t judging, then you can experience all new interactions like “Ghost Scare,” “Ghost Repair,” or “Pass Through”, new whims, and new behaviors as they float happily, angrily, or howeverily about!

• When a Sim dies, they become a non-playable ghost
• Use the “Invite to Household” interaction to make a ghost into fully playable member of your household!
• Ghosts can have relationships, get married, woohoo, hold jobs, build aspirations, earn traits, or just be!
• Ghosts have a unique post life experience based upon how they died…
  • Sims that died by hunger seek to satisfy their hunger in the after life
  • Sims that died by overexertion and old age find they prefer to take it easy in the afterlife
  • Sims that died by fire have a new interaction available to them… my advice, try and not make them angry
  • Sims that died by an emotional death can radiate their emotion onto other Sims
  • Sims that died by electrocution, when angry, have a unique interaction to break electronic devices.  They also seem to really enjoy the “Hand Buzzer” social.
  • Sims that died by Cowplant have the desire to harm and help the plant world.  They can cause plants to die when in a negative emotion, but will care for plants when in a positive emotion.
• Ghosts can possess objects, and they can repair broken objects when possessed
• Ghosts have new interactions available to them, such as "Ghost Scare," "Pass Through," and "Talk About Death"
• Level 10 Gourmet cooks have a new recipe “Ambrosia”, which can be used to bring a Ghost to life (or give a Sim renewed life)!
• There is a new gardening flower type, the Deathflower, which can be used by a Sim to save themselves or another when visited by the Reaper!

Before you go out hunting for ghosts, why not head into Create a Sim where you can find some incredible costumes from the Star Wars universe! How can you go wrong with a Yoda child ghost Sim in a Happy mood sitting on a rooftop balcony looking down upon a young adult who has just completed some sort of epic universe saving event?  You can’t.  Yoda, Leia, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader costumes await you in Create a Sim!

With the addition of ghosts, even the gnomes are not safe from the call of the Netherworld. “The Ghastly Ghostly Gnome” has scared his way into your Build catalog, eagerly awaiting a place in your home!

The Fixes

We have identified a few more of our harder to track down crash issues, some tuning fixes, a couple new cheats, and a smattering of other fixes! Here are the details…

Cheats / Assets

• We have added a cheat to show hidden objects, such as the ponds, channel specific stereos for venue use, and many other items. Open up the cheat console ([CTRL]+[SHFIT]+[C]) and type “bb.showhiddenobjects”.  You can use the Build Filter pane to find the Debug objects under the Content drop down.
• 5 new eye colors!  Dark blue, dark blue hazel, gray brown hazel, olive green hazel, and purple!  Create a Sim, go NOW!
• A new Spooky station can be found on your stereos! It’s scary how good the music is! It’ll BOOm… your boxes. It’s funnier if you make the “m” silent in that last one.
• A new Create a Sim clock speed cheat allows you to speed up and slow down your Sim’s animation in Create a Sim. Use the cheat by typing “cas.clockspeed [0-10]” in the cheat console window.  0 is pause, 10 is not!

Crashes / Performance

• Corrected an issue where the interaction to "Write a Book" was not properly saving, causing the save file to error
• Loading a lot and selecting Sim to play who is off lot now loads to the correct Sim
• Fixed an issue where the UI might forget that a household exists and not allow the player into Build Buy
  • This primarily was a result of the player deleting all households in their neighborhood, but could occur as the result through other means
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to become non-responsive if the user uploaded an unfinished venue from their home lot and then attempted to reenter Build via Manage Worlds from the lot
  • The household Sims were incorrectly being removed from the world, leaving the player in a bad state and unable to play
• Some in game circumstances can lead to the product ID becoming lost, resulting in a possible crash.  The crash has been fixed by adding a Null Guard (he's a pretty good guard).
• Fixed an issue where the Off Lot actions were not always available after loading an existing save file
• Sims who are reading or eating should no longer reset when changing wall heights of rooms that are nowhere near them
• Lowering the foundation will no longer cause cabinets to be placed into the household inventory in certain circumstances
• Fixed a floating Sim issue that would sometimes occur when the Sim decided that the direct "air" path was shorter than any of the alternate options
• Sims will no longer route fail when attempting to perform the "Sell to the Simsonian Museum" action on an Unnaturally Large Space Rock
• The Sims 4 default refresh rate is now the same setting as the windows refresh rate

Graphics

• ymBottom_PantsLoosePajamas and ymBottom_PantsLoosePajamasSatin were merged into a single asset in Create a Sim.  They are now 2.
• Some hair and hat combinations created bad geometry along the Sims scalp, we have adjusted the geometry to correct the issue
• yfBody_CocktailStrap_Red is now a selectable color for the Bombshell dress found in Create a Sim
• "Mega Stairs (Ooh Fancy)" stairs now have color variants that are actually different than one another
• "Stack of Canvases" career reward item will no longer disappear when placed next to a wall and the wall cuts away
• Fixed graphical issues with the highlight and back-facing state of the "Captain Chaz MacFreeling Elegant Mirror."
• "Malva - Square" ground plant will no longer place underground
• The "Barnish Bed" will no longer find that its pillow becomes possessed when a Sim gets in bed - a LOD (level of detail) issue resulted in the pillow bouncing around on its own when Sims went to sleep

Tuning

• Sims now have more painting variety at all levels - high level Sims will paint "beneath" their level at a chance of higher quality
• Sims can now listen to music and play chess at the same time!
• Librarians can now also be young adults and can be either male or female. Previously they were always female elders. Stereotyping… don’t do it!
• The “Enable / Disable Emotional Aura” interactions now have tooltips explaining what they do
• "Try to Calm Down," "Vent," "Complain about Problems," and "Take Bath" actions will now help resolve the "Not Enough Exercise,” "Need Video Games!," "Conception Tension," "Stale Surroundings," and "Cooped Up" buffs that Sims get when feeling tense
• Fixed an issue where Sims with a high Cooking skill were guaranteed to never start fires while cooking. It is true that our Sims are quite intelligent, however it is also well documented that even the best Sim is still a little prone to the accidental setting ablaze of their luxurious mansion.  Sims above level 3 cooking skill can once again start fires while cooking... it is just unlikely.
• The final Milestone of the Nerd Brain aspiration now only requires that a Sim read 10 (not 15) books in order to complete
• "Earn Money Turking" was providing a large amount of Simoleons within a short amount of time, this was not the intention and the amount you earn has been reduced
• Toys that say they increase a Childs creativity, now actually do
• "Writing a Jingle" will now pay your Sim for doing so. There was a bug with writing a jingle on the guitar that could result in no Simoleons being paid
• The Serenade’er will no longer get all the buff benefit from the Serenade.  The Serenade’ee will now also receive a positive buff from the Serenade when being Serenaded to by the Serenade’er
• Time based achievements and buffs were not always tracking correctly.  Fixed a visual issue with the tracking, as well as fixed the "Just Getting Started" and "In the Game" achievements
• The "Fridge of Steel" and "Fresh Maker" upgrades on the refrigerator were completing too quickly, they have been tuned a little slower
• Gym Rats will no longer lose hygiene while doing a "Zero G Workout"
• Science table emotion potions will now provide positive buffs, rather than just make you uncomfortable
• Autonomous Sims were finding it impossible to die by Cowplant because they would, during the moment of death, attempt to queue a Get Comfortable interaction, which, not being compatible with the Cowplants attempt at eating the Sim, would cause the Sim to reset, thus saving the Sim from death (woo!).  We're sorry to say, we fixed the issue, once again putting our Sims in jeopardy with the Cowplant digestive desires.
• Intergalactic Growth Pods will no longer be resistant to your attempts to water and weed - the pods have decided life is good. Water and weed as needed
• Sims with unpaid bills will no longer find that the water & power has been shut off everywhere they go - you can properly mooch from your neighbors
• Fishing interactions now correctly display emotional context in the Pie Menu.
• A collectibles rarity will now affect its value
• Adopting a baby will now give all the parents adopting a proper buff for doing so
• Sims with spoiled food in their inventory will no longer find the option to clean spoiled food from the bar... that was just weird.
• Sims were able to feed dead cow plants. While interesting and slightly morbid, it did not actually do anything.  We have removed the action.
• Removed fitness gain for digging rocks.
• Fixed an issue where bills were incorrectly double counting objects when calculating the household value
• We addressed a negative current issue, where Sims were dying after being electrocuted just one time. It was shocking for us all. Our hair was on end when we learned of the problem.  We have quickly zapped the bug with thunderous attention and we're a-buzz with this fix.
• The "Commercial Kitchen" styled room is now unlocked when the user reaches level 10 of the Culinary career while in the Chef branch
• Gardening plants will no longer broadcast their emotions onto nearby Sims. They have been counseled and have learned to bottle up their emotions inside... deep deep inside.
• Repair and Upgrade interactions now correctly display emotional context in the Pie Menu when your Sim is Focused
• Thank you to the community for helping to identify two issues where Child Sims were incorrectly allowed to get into the Flirty emotion, we have corrected both instances.
  • Children who had maxed their social skill were incorrectly able to Flirt with themselves in the mirror
  • Child Sims with the Insane trait and in the Confident mood, were incorrectly allowed to flirt with themselves in the mirror
• Romance filter option is no longer available for children while traveling (nobody ever showed up in the list, but it was odd that it was there)
• Venues converted to residential lots via Manage Worlds, will no longer prevent you from beginning the action of adding a new household to the lot if the venue value is greater than the starting funds of the new household.
  • You still won’t be able to place the family on the lot if they can't afford it, but now you are allowed to create a new household using this flow.

UI

• Gallery notification timestamps will no longer incorrectly list your last activity as "more than a month ago" when it has been less than that
• Commenting on gallery items with the "<" character, followed by any text will no longer cause the text to disappear
• Event Major Goals now have hover tips with text explaining how to complete the goals
• Fixed an issue with Neighborhood Map context menus appearing off screen in some supported resolutions.
• Corrected an issue where the Build filter panel was being hidden when performing an open search. 

TIP: If you are not being prompted to download the September 25th patch for The Sims 4, please exit completely out of Origin and then restart the client, this should then prompt you to download the latest patch.

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Bug Fixes / Issues:

• It has been brought to our attention that some of our cute and adorable babies have had difficulty expressing themselves without… well… distorting.  There was an issue with some integrated chipsets causing the poor little ones to appear in their own “unique” way. We have corrected the problem and pulled everyone back together. Thank you for helping us identify, and track down this issue. 

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Severe Issues / Crashes:

• Fixed a crash in Build Mode by preventing the game from thinking fences were rooms.
• Fixed a crash in Create A Sim that could occur after the you lock and unlock your computer.

Bug Fixes / Issues:

• Fixed an issue with “Shine on Men’s Suit”, “Glitter and Abs”, “Big Hat of Shame”, “Star-Spangled Glasses” and the “Tiki Bar”, not remembering their unlocked state upon reload.
• Fixed several issues with Sims attempting to go on dates with the Reaper, resulting in non-responsive game states.The Reaper still loves ya baby, he is just too busy to go on a date with every lovelorn Sim that vies for his attention.
• Fixed several issues where babies were incorrectly hibernating within household inventories resulting in several issues:
  • You can now exit Build Mode when not on your home lot if a baby was incorrectly left in the home lot inventory.
  • Game no longer hangs if you attempt to split a household with a baby on the lot and in the household inventory.
  • Splitting and merging households no longer results in unplayable households due to babies being left in household inventories.
  • Babies are no longer left locked in the household inventory if all the other Sims in the household die.
  • Babies no longer multiply if left in the Household Inventory while editing the lot via Manage Worlds.
• Fixed an issue where Gallery households that have been merged with another household were preventing Live Mode from loading.
• Adding a new Sim to a played household via Create A Sim by going from Manage Worlds will now allow you to modify their face and body.
• Lots with scaled objects (via the shift + [,] cheat) that are shared to the Gallery will now remember their enlarged state for others to enjoy.

Gallery Issues:

• Fixed an issue where the game would become non-responsive when attempting to save a lot to the your library.