The jump from The Sims 1 to The Sims 2 was massive in every conceivable way. Suddenly, Sims could grow up, own vehicles, graduate university, rent apartments, and have more personality than ever before. Some of the biggest changes, though, were made to the neighbourhoods that Sims called home. Specifically, we were suddenly able to create neighbourhoods however we wanted to.
One of the most significant additions to The Sims 2 was the option to edit, customise, and even create entirely new worlds. Previously, we were limited to Stepford Wives-esque rows of white picket fences, meticulously perfect green lawns, and, well, a whole lot of nothing. But, The Sims 2 introduced us to the dusty deserts of Strangetown, a mini-metropolis called Belladona Cove (complete with tiny townhouses), and most importantly, we were given total flexibility over what we did with these worlds.
Customise neighbourhoods or create all new worlds
While playing The Sims 2: Legacy Edition, I was surprised by just how much I could customise each map. Sure, I had played it back in the 2000s. But, having spent the past decade mostly with The Sims 4, I forgot just how much freedom its predecessor offered. I immediately dove into the Houses Bin, AKA the Gallery/Library’s older sibling, and started placing extra lots wherever Strangetown’s road system would let me.
Once I was done borderline gentrifying Strangetown with flats, electronic stores (Sony Discman, anyone?), and, um, an actual H&M, I realised I could also add cosmetic items to the map. A rainbow? Another crashed UFO? Or maybe an errant hot air balloon, perhaps hoping for a quick glimpse of alien life from above? Of course, I added all of them.
If I had wanted to, I even had the option of making a neighbourhood entirely from scratch. All I had to do was pick a texture, or load one in myself, and get going. From there I could place lots wherever I wanted, add custom sub-neighbourhoods, and build whatever I felt like. The system is hugely freeing and has so much potential to play with.
Should The Sims 4 have customisable worlds?
Going back to The Sims 4 after a stint with the Legacy Edition makes it feel like something’s missing. Specifically, I want more control over where my Sims live. Making custom maps in The Sims 2 adds a rich layer to gameplay that isn’t really offered in The Sims 4, even for all the ways it improved the series. (I appreciate this is a hot take, but The Sims 2 is still deeply flawed when you take the nostalgia goggles off. What do you mean time is lot-specific?!)
Adding a Create-a-World system back into The Sims 4 – or to Project Rene – would expand the franchise’s horizons massively while being a nice callback to the series’ earlier generations. Plus, some of its competitors like InZoi have already added map customisation. Has leaving these features in the past put The Sims 4 at a disadvantage?
Maybe. I mean, every life simulator shouldn’t become a carbon copy of the other. The differences between one simulator and another are important for so many reasons. From a marketing perspective, games need Unique Selling Points (USPs). USPs give you the reason to choose which title to play. For example, one of TinyLife’s USPs is its pixel art style, which sets it apart from life sims with 3D modelling. Without USPs, every game just ends up being riffs on a theme, and there’s no real reason to pick one title over another.
Moreover, sometimes developers remove features to deepen other gameplay aspects. Or, they limit features to make sure they can run well on a variety of setups. The Sims 4 can already be janky, so cramming a huge new system into the game could cause problems.
The Sims 3 also had world-building functionality
Worlds changed hugely between The Sims 3 & 4 more generally, even besides customisation. For example, The Sims 3 had a largely open world set-up. The Sims 4 moved to having partially open worlds constricted to neighbourhoods instead. Sims can wander off-lot to look for collectables (or to make another autonomous trip to the coffee kiosk) but they can’t directly access other neighbourhoods.
This change was massive, and although it feels like a step backwards in some ways, it kind of makes sense. The Sims 3 is notoriously hard to run, so future releases should improve on that. The Sims 4 did exactly that. And, the open world element of The Sims 3 sometimes feels superficial thanks to there being more rabbit holes than a petting zoo.
But, given its previous prominence in the franchise, The Sims 4’s return to the more rigid worlds and neighbourhoods of The Sims 1 is a curious choice. As well as The Sims 2’s custom neighbourhoods, The Sims 3 introduced Create-a-World, where you could make new worlds complete with terraforming and terrain painting. So, removing customisation options that were in two previous generations of the series makes The Sims 4 feel comparably limited.
The Sims shouldn’t shy away from SimCity
It feels like The Sims 2 & 3 were both inspired by SimCity, while The Sims 4 left its city-building roots behind. For example, textures from SimCity 4 could be loaded into The Sims 2 to create custom neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, the terraforming abilities in The Sims 3’s Create-a-World were also reminiscent of SimCity. Bringing the SimCity influence back when customising worlds would be a welcome direction for The Sims 4 as it would give us a lot more freedom to play however we like.
The closest thing we have to custom world or neighbourhood functionality in The Sims 4 right now is Newcrest. Newcrest is a blank slate that comes with Base Game crammed full of empty lots for you to build on. It’s a great canvas for making a bespoke world without having to evict a single Sim. However, it brings back the same problem The Sims 1’s maps had: more sprawling, grassy suburbs and cookie-cutter shells. What if that doesn’t look like the world you want to build at all?
Play with life… With a catch?
Sure, you can add buildings, but you can’t change biomes, atmospheres, or the world’s foliage. In fact, you can’t even alter any spaces that are off-lot. So, you’re pretty stuck with what Newcrest has to offer. Of course, The Sims 4 has a lot of extra worlds to choose from, but they come at a price – literally. Besides Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, and Newcrest, every world in The Sims 4 comes with DLC. Meaning, you’ll have to buy it.
Similarly, if you can’t create custom worlds and neighbourhoods, you’ll have to work with whatever maps are already available. You can’t edit some sections of maps at all, meaning that no amount of bulldozing gives you a completely clear area to work with. So, you can only create from the blueprints that EA have made available.
Considering that most worlds in The Sims 4 are based on North America and Europe, this creates some real problems with inclusivity. In turn, it places huge limitations on what you can create. A wider variety of worlds should be added to The Sims 4, and being able to create totally custom worlds would make sure that any possible outcome is possible. We’re supposed to be able to play with life in any way we want to, after all.
Modders are adding Create-a-World to The Sims 4
Thankfully, as usual, Modders are to the rescue. TwistedMexi, who makes many popular mods like Better Build/Buy, is adding Create-a-World to the Sims 4. So, even if custom neighbourhoods are never officially added to The Sims 4, we still have that to look forward to.
The mod, sometimes known as Project Raven, has been in development for years and looks to be a gargantuan undertaking. It could revolutionise The Sims 4 by letting us fine-tune worlds with lighting editors, terrain editing, and more. Whenever it drops, it’s going to completely change the game (literally).
