#for a feature to be added in the game shouldn't be to use mods

[apricote]

can't believe that in 2023, almost 9 years after its release, the sims 4 still doesn't have burglars

[olomaya]

More Activities Activity Table

Eat, Play, Learn! Family Fun for Everyone!

2-Sep Update: Thank you @jeebeehey for the French translation. Please redownload if you'd like them.

Updated for redownload (27 July):

Fixed an issue where the interaction cancels out if a toddler doesn't like the food. Thanks to @zemyna for catching!

Added the non-English stbls. Sorry, I swear I'm not one of those Anglophones that thinks English is the only language (I actually speak 3!), it's just a small step in the upload process that's easy to forget.

This is the final part of my little Kids and Toddlers mod series. It's meant to complement the Coloring Book and the Toddler foods mods so you will need those for this.

When I started this, I didn't think through how many new animations or custom details it would entail and I as continued, I kept having to add more and more. There are like 60 animations and 40 image assets 😭 hence why the two main files are so large for a mod.

What I've done is added more activities to the Activity Table after years of being annoyed that the Activity Table we have in TS3, despite being the EXACT SAME table from TS2, does not in fact allow your Sims to draw on it. EA, so lazy!

Anyway, what this does is add 4 new interactions to the Activity Table: Coloring, Arts & Crafts, Puzzles and the ability to serve toddlers food so they can eat there.

The activities are for toddlers and kids only but Teens+ can join in the puzzles if it's already been started by a toddler or child.

Note this will work with any of the Activity Tables in the game or Store but the puzzle will look weird as it's placed in the same spot as where the blocks are. You can use it with custom/cc activity tables provided only the mesh has been edited (for example, if slots are changed or removed, it may not work).

Credits/Thanks: The glue bottle, crayon, CAS paint items and one of the arts and crafts image assets are from @aroundthesims. Thanks as always to Sandy for her generosity and creativity in making Sims content! I originally only wanted to add the option to color/draw but this set of hers inspired me to add in more features. (hmm, maybe I shouldn't be thanking you then considering what a pain that was 🤔😅) All other objects and images are from TS4. Custom animations are by me using TS4 and TS3 as bases.

All buyable objects (table, crayons, puzzles) can be found in Kids Room/Toys.

Check out my other mods in the Kids and Toddlers series: Coloring Book for Kids, Toddler Bed, Toddler Foods and Snacks.

If you run into any issues (and YOU'VE READ THROUGH THE INSTRUCTIONS) please let me know!

Please read below the cut for all the details on features and how to play.

Download here | Alternate Link: SFS

Coloring: Toddlers and Kids can color if there is a crayon box on the lot. Just like using a coloring book, coloring a picture will take up one crayon. Coloring increases painting skill for both. When completed, the final project will be in their inventory.

Arts & Crafts: Toddlers and Kids can do an arts and craft project. Not additional object is needed. They go pretty crazy with the glitter and glue so it can be dirty stuff if they don't have the neat trait. This activity decreases their hygiene and they will get covered in glitter paint when done. Similar to coloring, when completed, the final project will go in their inventory and they get painting skill while playing.

Puzzles: You need to buy a puzzle box and have it on your lot to do puzzles. There are two puzzle boxes but they do the same thing. And they stack! (I love stackable things) There are 3 puzzle types: Easy, medium and Hard. Toddlers can only do Easy puzzles. Children can do either easy, medium or Hard puzzles depending on their Logic skill (for Hard, logic needs to be 3 or higher). The puzzle difficulty will also determine how long it takes to complete the puzzle. Teens+ can help with puzzles but they can't start a puzzle on their own. Toddlers can kids can start a puzzle on their own or help another Sim with a puzzle. Puzzles increase Logic skill for all those playing it but will increase faster for whoever starts the puzzle. If a puzzle is completed, everyone who helped put it together will get bonus skill points. If there is already a puzzle on the table, there is no option to start another, you can only help with the current puzzle. There are different puzzle images (15 in total) but there's no difference between them. The only thing that matters is puzzle difficulty. If the Sim who started the puzzle stops for whatever reason (you or the game cancels the interaction), everyone else helping will stop as well.

Eating: Children+ can serve toddlers meals or snacks. It works the same as my Toddler Foods and Snacks mod. They will place the tray/bowl on the activity table and then call the toddler to eat. If the toddler is hungry, they will go over and start eating. Otherwise, they can always eat it later.

Known Issues:

Animations aren't perfect (but what in life is?) so there's some clipping, especially on the toddlers when they kneel.

The comically large puzzle piece accessory jumps around a little and sits kind of weird in the toddler's hand. I suspect this is because the game is using the adult version of the object animation. I've noted it for fixing whenever I do a second pass on the mod.

The food tray is upside down. Setting object rotation in-game messes up the routing for the table so I'm leaving it as is as it doesn't really bother me.

If there is a food tray or bowl on the table, you shouldn't be able to do anything else there because that slot/part is being used but I had this happen once where my tester child started coloring there. It didn't happen again but if it does happen in your game, simply cancel out the interaction and route them to another part of the table.

The puzzle leaves a shadow even when it's pile form because the shadow mesh is there but you only see it until the geostate changes.

This is not an issue but the alternate material states for objects are only available in high so if you play with graphic settings for objects on medium or low, you're going to see the default image for the puzzles or pictures.

Tagging for reblogs: @kpccfinds @katsujiiccfinds @pis3update

[edwardos]

Be careful what you wish for.

Dud Minecraft Wishlist

Things of no real necessity that I wish were in the game anyway:

Rubies

Handsaws

Shadow Monsters

Osmium

Passive Moth Creatures

Void Fog Again

A New Mechanical Redstone Device-Block That Has Something To Do With Normal Stone Blocks

Frogs

Coffee

Beer

A Darker Version of Normal Stone That Generates In Caves

More Mushrooms

Chocolate

Real Life-Looking Wood Fences That You Probably Are Sitting Within Fifteen Meters of Right Now

Dirt Slabs

[vyletbunni]

A while back you made some tweets criticising Undertale BnP for going off the rails with scope creep and how it would probably have had problems even if the lead dev hadn't turned out to be a creep, but since you've basically deleted your Twitter (and I've abandoned that shithole as well) I can't read them anymore. Would you like to spill the beans on what went down here for posterity's sake?

Cause I never played it but from watching playthroughs of it I was always kinda confused by how much new stuff was getting added (entire new areas in the Ruins, new bosses, a whole side plot with Undertale's version of Susie) for something I thought was just supposed to be an "Undertale with nicer graphics" mod and I was wondering if you knew how far it was going to go ultimately now the dust has settled around it.

It really came down to the fact that Blaize had no real foresight for any of the new features they came up with for the project. They introduced the EN mechanic, which was basically an Undertale equivalent of TP, and it was going to appear outside of the Suzy side story with zero use outside of giving extra gold. They had the connections system that had no purpose, nor did they really think of a purpose for it. It mostly just ruined the pacing of the scenes it was added to; SPECIFICALLY the Asriel scene at the end of the game.

They would frequently add Deltarune elements to the game, some of which would be removed for being stupid (notably the Spamton thing and the Monster Kid proceed thing). The Suzy side story especially was basically a Deltarune fanwork in disguise. You were going to run into Noel and Birdly (who you previously met in Snowdin and the Ruins respectively), and there was legitimately an area of Hotterland that was going to be called the "Meat Factory". That latter part really made me realize how strange the Deltarune additions were. Also, I was told that Suzy would be willing to kill because she didn't know she was killing them, thinking they were running away. It came from the same mind that thought Deltatraveler Obliteration route was bad because Susie went along with it.

Regarding scope creep, Suzy ended up not being the only side story planned for BnP. They wanted to go back to the other areas and give them their own side areas and side stories with the characters you travel with in those sections (Monster Kid and Papyrus). I was told the idea didn't get very far, but it's still like... Shouldn't you focus on finishing the main parts of the mod, first? Especially when all the other team members want to do that?

I always dog on them for the whole Meat Factory thing because I'm of the belief that not everything that is tangentially related to Gaster needs to be used, and "Meat Factory" is such a terrible name for what is allegedly supposed to be a normal area in the Underground. But yeah, that's the tea from my perspective.

[swisccfinds]

Kiss-n-Grind Mod by UTOPYA_cc

This is a good ineractable romance mod! I like that is gives more physical interactions with your sim's partner.

Creator's Notes-

Hey guys, hope you all are doing well. Quiet excited about this one,

The main idea was to make a mod that will focus on adding more romantic interactions to the game. to add more realistic moments between couples. I wanted to add what I feel is missing from the game.

So After some searching and looking at what should I make first, I have decided to start with a passionate grinding/dancing interactions, There is too much stuff to cover in the club life. that the game didn't manage to add, other than some silly dances. Your Sims couple can't even dance together.

Therefore I ended up turning These new animations into their own mod, It will be a great foundation for all the ideas that I want to add!!

The mod For now will introduces two new interactions with their animations and emotions/buffs

The new pie menu will appear in the Romance category under the name Kiss and Grind, all the new interactions will appear on it:

The interaction won't appear if your sim hasn't had their first kiss yet, or the level of romance is too low

Features Of the Mods:

New highly detailed animation with their own sounds

New pie menu for the new interaction

New icons for each Interaction/animation that will suit their own animation

A new dynamic buff system which increases with the romance bar

These interactions will give you a buff for both the actor and target sim.

There is a chance to get some notifications/comments from your partner

The animations were made to have a more romantic feel to them. to give the player the freedom to use them in any game style they want. All the icons used are custom-made by me, I did put extra time into them to be more visually pleasing and match their original content

Possible outcomes:

I have implemented in this mod a new buff system that will depend on the relationship between the Sims and some other factors:

First of all The outcomes will be highly randomized for both the actor and the target to keep the game more exciting.

The higher the romance level between your sims the higher chance of getting more intimates outcomes with stronger emotions:

Obviously, this is a club-based mod, you take your sim there to meet up with new Sims, So Even with a low romance, The outcomes may be higher and unique If your sim has high charisma.

When the romance bar is higher the 90% there is a small chance to get a notification/comment from your partner.

The mod will be enhanced further in the future, with New animations, New mechanics, and features.

I still love the original idea. So once I have decided all the interactions for it, I will start making them into their own mod, and leave this one just for the club-related animations.

The interactions shouldn't be played autonomously,

Better to wait until the animation is finished and the queue is clear before playing another one.

Requirement : This mod needs the XML injector by Scumbumbo. You can download it here : https://scumbumbomods.com/xml-injector

How to install :

Just put both my mod and the XML injector script into your Sims 4 Mods folder.

Please visit UTOPYA_cc and show some love and support for this amazing mod!

download

[daydreaming-scheming-demon]

in one episode of the simpsons, lisa simpson is shown to despise billionaires. in another, elon musk is being praised by lisa simpson. this is not a case of a nuanced character being shown to be hypocritical by the writers, this is simply a case of inconsistency on the writers' part.

the main reason for this inconsistency, as i can only suspect, is because of the simpsons' long list of writers. the simpsons has gone on for so long that it was almost inevitable for it to fall into inconsistency with how many writers it's had. that's what happens when something goes on for so long.

minecraft is a similar case, but instead of separate episodes written differently, it's one singular game being incredibly inconsistent and incoherent. and it bothers me so damn much.

you have a fluidly animated giant monster next to some of the shittiest and simplest animated monsters ever. you have chickens who lay eggs that you can throw and sometimes hatch a chicken, but the eggs they lay don't actually have anything to do with breeding, and their main way of breeding is like any other animal. and you also have fluidly animated turtles who do in fact breed by laying eggs like irl turtles, and the game expects you to take care of the eggs until they hatch because turtles are a real animal and you shouldn't hurt turtle eggs.

many of modern mojang's design principles directly conflict with things added in minecraft's past. did you know they're not supposed to add any traditional fantasy mobs? no ogres, no goblins, nothing. despite the fact that we already have many fantasy mobs from old minecraft.

for fuck's sake, their modern design philosophy would've never been able to construct a good survival game without relying on fictional animals, since one of their modern rules is making sure all real life mobs don't give the player any reason to kill them. but like, that conflicts with the very idea of a fucking survival game. if these people were designing minecraft from the beginning, what would we have eaten? would they have forced all players to be vegetarians? or would they come up with their own stupid fictional animals like The Clucker™ or The Snorter™?

and with the happy ghast, people seem to mostly like the happy ghast, but you've gotta admit it kinda defeats the original idea of the ghast being some unknowable crying entity.

and the pale garden is just atrocious in this regard. minecraft is already a relatively scary game, its lack of ambience has caused many myths surrounding the game. they're working on fixing that ambience (fucking finally) but nevertheless, minecraft can still be generally pretty spooky, just listen to the infamous cave noises. and now they've gone and added a special spooky biome. a themed biome?? a biome with a spooky theme no less??? that sounds ridiculous for minecraft. that sounds like a thing terraria would do, not minecraft. it feels really out of place amongst all the other biomes that're just regular ass places. (and its name is stupid too ofc)

but i think the most offensive thing about it is the lack of any attempt at biome blending. not only does it not fit in with other biomes thematically, it doesn't fit in with them visually either. i was legitimately disgusted the first time i saw it, just this big blob of grey cancer corrupting the scenery. minecraft's always had its issues with biome blending, but this is a whole other level.

and you may say that not every biome has been just a regular ass place, what about the mushroom biome? and well, yeah. but the mushroom biome spawns on its own little island off from the mainland. they did this because it'd look super fucking ugly if they just plopped it down next to the other biomes. and also be really out of place among other biomes. but now with the pale garden they just did this, and guess what? it looks ugly.

i used to think people who called new updates mod-like just didn't like the new stuff, but now i think they've got a point.

a mod-like feature is something that protrudes unnaturally from the main game, because that's what mods are mostly like. but minecraft has gone past the point of just a few features protruding unnaturally, it's built a whole other thing on top of an existing game. and that's resulted in one of the most incoherently designed games ive ever seen. i don't need to mod the game to feel like the game was made with a lack of communication.

a lot of people's preference for old minecraft usually just comes back to nostalgia, but something old minecraft did actually do better was actually being a coherent experience.

[kaidanworkshop]

Workshop Progress: Post Summer Update

Hello Workshop followers! We've been hard at work over the last few weeks separating and voting on the second set of lines from our VA, as well as completing another commissionship session with Mr. Warren this past Sunday. While usually we feature the work being completed by all three teams separately, we'll be summarizing the current state of the mod in a single long post for this update; as we approach the finish line in wrapping up the framework rebuild, more and more of our staff are working with the CK & Assets team to assist with build testing and finalizing various features.

So firstly, the benchmarks we're most proud of:

All assets have officially been replaced with high texture models! Everything from Kaidan's physical appearance, to his armor and weapons, to the little cherry tree you can marry him under, have been updated.

The CK & Assets Team have completed their rebuild on all but two quest frameworks -- specifically for his personal quest 'Blood and Fire' and his Mehrunes Dagon quest commentary. Our nickname, pronoun, and outfit systems are all functional as well. All of these quests are now ready for line implementation and beta testing.

As of our most recent VA session, we are officially over 50% done with the total script revoice, with 836 lines out of the original 1400 projected lines recorded. The final total of lines will fluctuate a bit to accommodate the extra lines being added for the aforementioned new systems, as well as the new platonic Autumnwatch acquisition route, but it shouldn't be by very much. We will update the community with a final total in a future 'community receipt' post detailing our full business expenditures.

We continue to operate solidly under budget! Using the formula outlined in our budget breakdown post, we have enough money for approximately 7 1/2 hours of Mr. Warren's services ($1885/$250), but the remaining scripts should be completed in approximately 5 hours. As we get closer to our final sessions with Mr. Warren and the final total for that budget surplus becomes more concrete, we will be able to hash out the details of what else the community can vote to have added in the 1.0 launch. You can read about a few of those ideas here, but feel free to submit your own ideas via our inbox or on our Discord.

So what's next on our plate?

Completing the last of the framework rebuild

Continued line implementation as voting and splicing permits, as well as necessary subtitle corrections and emotive animations to match the new lines

Staff bug and beta testing to tweak new system functionality, as well as editorial reviews by the Writing Team to tweak in-game journal updates and other miscellaneous text

Finalization of new dialogue for acquisition of Autumnwatch

Scheduling our final 2 - 3 VA sessions (woo!)

Getting distracted by Baldur's Gate 3

Our Community Team will be setting up another series of livestreams to feature lines from our third commission in the coming weeks. This round of scripts included his commentary on the main quest & factions (College of Winterhold, the Companions, etc), the dialogue associated with gifting him books and having him read some of them back, as well as his personal quest involving Shadowgreen Cavern.

Thank you again for all of your continued interest and support!

[woolieshubris]

my tamagotchi UNI review:

im so sorry its going to be long...

TL;DR it's good :3 if u want a color tamagotchi and don't mind spending 60 dollars (about what you'd pay for an after market tamagotchi ON/MEETS) i'd highly recommend it!

full review below cut

Aesthetics:

Let's be honest, the aesthetics make sense, but are still a tad disappointing none the less. they are going for a more gender neutral vibe this time around + trying to make it more similar to the way that the original tamagotchi shells look, rather than going for the hyperfem aesthetic, which I can appreciate. I just wish they made them more interesting. give me my glitter!!!!!!!!

Form Factor:

It is very much built to be played with the watch case on. Not a bad idea- but outside of the case, the buttons stick out quite a bit. I just hope they produce an official case that doesn't have the watch band attached- I'd love to be able to clip it onto my belt loop! I'm sooooo glad they continued with the rechargable battery, because it makes it so much smaller and better. It's even smaller than the smart- which to be honest, I wasn't expecting.

Engineering:

I'm so fucking glad they brought back the 3 buttons. They make it so much easier to navigate the menus. I got pretty used to the Pix's touch capacitive buttons though, and I wouldn't have minded them here- but I do understand that they were extremely hit or miss with people. (I do miss being able to do swipe gestures though. I guess that just means I need to play with the pix more.) I'm honestly incredibly glad they didn't do the touch screen here, because after playing with my smart for about a year on and off, the screen gets really dirty really fast. (not to mention the discoloration.) I'm also glad that on the official tamagotchi shell they didn't include any silicone- this pretty much solves the discoloration issue, and I hope that they sell more watch bands in even more colors. I dislike the placement of the lanyard/charm hole, I never really liked it being on the back, it should be on the side- otherwise it has a tendency to hit things, but I can understand putting it there. I do wish they upped the speaker quality though, the 16 dollar gigapet shouldn't have better speakers than the 60 UNI. I'll probably turn off the sound after a while. The speakers do their job regardless, since the tamagotchi has continued to stick to their guns and not have it play any noise other than beeps at various pitches. ALSO. USB C CHARGING IS A GAME CHANGER FOR REAL.

UI Design/Region:

The fact that this tamagotchi is not region locked is amazing. all tamagotchi UNI's share the same programming, and on startup you can pick whatever language and whatever server you want. The menus are pretty simple and not confusing, and I like a lot of the choices they made. It's not my favorite UI from a tamagotchi, but it's perfectly serviceable.

Gameplay:

It's cute! It's tamagotchi gameplay. Seems like they brought a bunch of fan favorite features back- having pets, marriages ect. I also like that each tamagotchi has a specific personality that you help them develop. I think that's really sweet. Also, being able to hold 4 accessories at once is a great way to be able to decorate the tamagotchi! I like that they added more places to go- the pix was really missing that. The games are fun and interesting, and I really like the way they use the gyroscope in some games. The growth chart seems like theres elements we haven't discovered yet which cause certain characters, so I'm curious as to see how it pans out. There's still a lot of mystery surrounding the gameplay!

Online Functionality:

The online functionality is scary to me, since I'm worried about the ability to push out updates. I haven't run into any bugs, so it seems like it'll mostly be used to push content updates? But I'm not entirely sure. I do like having the codes be exclusive, (I'm sure the modding scene will be able to find ways to automatically hack in certain items) because the PIX's QR code system made me a little bit sad with how easy it was to get any item in the game. It seems like there are also more items in this game as well. I do think the online functionality could be a really useful gateway for the modding scene, and the fact that the tamagotchi can download updates and items from the internet (not just backgrounds like the ON/Meets) is super exciting. I'm very excited to see what comes next. It is slightly worrying that bandai could in theory patch out any modding/hacking entrances, but also this is bandai we are talking about and they only really care about each tamagotchi model for about 2-3 years before phasing it out. (Though to be fair the Pix and Smart were smaller releases- they kept support for the Meets for 4 years)

OVERALL REVIEW: it's good :3 if u are a tamagotchi fan and have the money it's a must buy imo! I can def see it becoming a fan favorite down the line, esp if they release some extra lines with fun designs.

[rosyynik]

Escapism, Creativity, and Connection in The Sims Community.

Gaming often gets a bad reputation, with some people viewing it as a waste of time. And yes, gaming addiction is real and shouldn't be dismissed. But when done in moderation and without neglecting responsibilities, gaming is simply a hobby that many enjoy or a fun bonding moment with friends. In fact, for some, it's even a full-time job through streaming and content creation on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

Personally, I love playing video games and watching streamers and Let’s Plays. This interest has deepened my appreciation for both games and the vibrant communities that surround them. 

The gaming community today is vast and diverse, but in this post, I want to focus on a game that many of us grew up with: The Sims. As an avid simmer myself, I find it to be the perfect game to pass time.

If you're unfamiliar with the game, here's a quick introduction:

What is The Sims?

A game with no rules where you get to play god, live out your dream life, or if you’re into something darker you can even trap your Sim in a pool with no ladder. The Sims franchise developed and published by Maxis and Electronic Arts (EA), an iconic life simulation game that has been around since the early 2000s and sold almost 200 million copies worldwide, is still very much relevant today (The Sims | EBSCO, 2025). Whether you’re building your dream home, decorating every inch of it to perfection, chasing your dream ambitions, or even watching them do laundry because you’ve been procrastinating on your own-The Sims has it all.

But what makes this game so special is the culture and community surrounding it. From their chaotic Simlish (a language with jumbled up words), their iconic Plumbob logo (a green diamond that floats above a Sim’s head), to a global community filled with creative mods, memes, and legacy challenges- The Sims is more than just a game.  The franchise has been constantly evolving with their main titles such as The Sims, The Sims 2, The Sims 3, and the current The Sims 4. Each of these titles have their own charms and perks making it unique from one another. Fan favorites would be The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 due to the amount of gameplay and details it offers, not to mention the nostalgia as well. Moreover, the franchise offers a variety of Expansion Packs where players can purchase to enhance their gameplay and add even more features, builds, and interactions into the game. As of now, they currently have over 41 Expansion Packs excluding game packs, stuff packs, or kits for The Sims 4.

More than just a community

As mentioned, the Sims community is active due to many reasons. Firstly, the modding or custom content (cc) community where freelance artists or independent creators create free to download mods and custom content for Simmers to play. As Drayson (2012) explains modding is the act of creating and adding custom content, mods, known as modifications, are added by players themselves into an existing game. With the existence of mods, players won't have to break their bank in order to get extra gameplay or aesthetic cosmetics, making it accessible for anyone.

Many of these creators or modders use platforms like Patreon to share their work and receive support from the community. While downloading their content is often free, players have the option to donate or subscribe as a way of appreciating the creators’ efforts. This voluntary support system has helped foster a culture of mutual respect between modders and players. Simmers can also download mods and custom content from other platforms like Tumblr and the notable website The Sims Resource (TSR).

A great example of a strong and dedicated gaming community is The Sims Resource (TSR), a fan-created website that has been active since 1999. Run by a small team of passionate Sims creators and players, TSR has grown to become the largest and most well-known site for downloading free mods and custom content (The Sims Resource, 2025). It serves as a central hub for Simmers worldwide, offering thousands of user-created items ranging from clothing and furniture to entire gameplay overhauls.

HOW ABOUT LET'S PLAYS CREATORS!

The Youtube gaming community also signifies as another example of how games connect people worldwide and players can share their interests or gain inspirations from each other.

Compared to other gameplay content on YouTube, The Sims stands out for its creativity and variety. Sims gameplays often go beyond just playing the game. For instance, they include building challenges, story-driven Let's Plays, custom content reviews, and helpful guides for both new and experienced players. This flexibility allows creators to showcase their imagination and connect with audiences in unique, engaging ways that set The Sims apart from more linear or combat-focused games. Popular Sims YouTubers like lilsimsie, Vixella, Kelsey Impicciche, and Syd Mac have built strong fanbases through their cozy gameplay and consistent engagement with the Sims community online. Aside from that, they often have weekly and monthly build challenges where Simmers and YouTubers are able to participate and share their creations with each other.

Not to mention, The Sims gameplays are always soo cozy to watch and great to fall asleep to! ✨

So how does this all tie into building a strong community?

As Saldanha et al. (2023) describe, a community is formed through

“a great diversity of experiences and people with different identities meeting together, mostly in a voluntary way, and moved by a common interest and feelings of affinity.”

This perfectly reflects the Sims entire fandom, where players from various backgrounds come together driven by their shared love for the game. The Sims community thrives on inclusivity, creativity, and mutual support.

In today’s digitized world, gaming reminds us that building community knows no boundaries as it takes effort, creativity, and shared passion. And through games like The Sims, we see just how easily people from all over the world can connect, collaborate, and create something meaningful both online and offline.

Okayy that's all for today, time to hop back into Sims and live my dream life. 🌴

--

References

Drayson, H. (2012). Players Unleashed! Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming by Tanja Sihvonen. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, Holland, 2011. 224 pp., illus. Paperback. ISBN: 978-90-8964-2011. Leonardo, 45(5), 491–493. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_r_00457

Saldanha, L., da Silva, S. M., & Ferreira, P. D. (2023). “Community” in video game communities. Games and Culture, 18(8), 155541202211500. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120221150058

The Sims | EBSCO. (2025). EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | Www.ebsco.com. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/sports-and-leisure/sims

The Sims Resource. (2025). The Sims Resource. https://www.thesimsresource.com/about/index

[aeondeug]

Saw a post that while I understand it I ultimately disagree. The notion that there is no worth or merit in limited save systems just isn't for me. I do think that unlimited saves are nice and I do like when games include difficulty settings that offer them. But I do think that limited or even punishing save systems have their purpose. Especially in genres like horror or dungeon crawlers. We'll use Fear and Hunger 1 as an example because it's what I've been playing lately. Fear and Hunger does not allow you to save anywhere. You may only save at beds. Furthermore, when you choose to rest you are given a coin flip. If you guess correctly you get to save the game and nothing else happens. If you guess incorrectly you do not get to save and are attacked by an enemy (or subjected to a game over in at least one case). There are a total of two/three beds in the game that never ask for a coin flip, allowing for a free save. One only allows this once. The other only after defeating a fairly tough boss fight. To add to this the coin flips are true 50-50's which feels very unfair to most. This can be turned into a 75% chance at success with rare consumable items.

You can also get items that allow you to save for free and anywhere in the dungeon and can be most commonly obtained through random loot from bookshelves. Bookshelves themselves are also a coin flip, failure of which nets you nothing and with some shelves on the harder difficulties a negative status effect. To many this sounds miserable. Many who have played the game also think it is miserable. Some have given up on it in part because of the save feature working the way it does. Others make use of an infinite Book of Enlightenment mod to give themselves unlimited free saves anywhere in the game world. These are valid reactions to the save system, I think. And I do believe that Miro should have at the very least added a suspend feature to the game. But I don't think that the save system itself shouldn't work how it does or that there is no real merit behind it as a system. Because there is merit. Quite a bit of it, actually.

So let's start with the easiest bit of why this system is "good": tone and atmosphere. The Dungeons of Fear and Hunger are awful. They are infamous even before their descent into god influenced madness with many stories of their horrors being told. We are entering them after they have fallen and defeated several attempts to stem the darkness. Those who have survived them are those who have become monsters in one form or another. And the save system helps bring this across! There is a danger and uncertainty to sleeping in Fear and Hunger. You don't just instantly enter combat after failing the flip either. You get to hear the sound of the enemy and to see them appear looming over your sleeping form. There is a deliberate slowness and intention to it. And that free save you get once? It's located at a bed many will find first and sleeping in it after that will summon in a very difficulty enemy to defeat.

This in itself is kind of terrifying. And it makes you go for stretches of the game without saving after a point. Dying after going on a long stretch hurts. It feels fucking awful. Especially if you found something cool that you've since lost. Losing your things to a coin toss while trying to save feels worse. It feels cheap. But this is where I think the other big boon to this system comes into play.

Fear and Hunger is ultimately a game about the acquirement of knowledge and wisdom. You can see this in the story of the game, but you can also see this in the gameplay. Fear and Hunger is a tough game to learn but once it's been learned it can be made very easy. The save system is just one more case of this in action.

So beds are unsafe to sleep in, yes, but you may have noticed that after killing a few guards that enemies do not respawn. And that there seems to be a limited number of them. So why not find a level of the dungeon where you have killed or can kill everything on it? If you do this you'll get safe saves!

What about the bed with the boss fight? Well, you're in the city of Mahabre and you have likely played with the time travel mechanic a bit. So if you're in the past Mahabre why not try traveling to the present? If you do this you'll get a free save. Free saves forever, actually! No fight needed. The boss fight is only needed to get the save point in the past version of the city.

Now what about the books? Well there's a few things we can do here. They are lootable and you can save your lucky coins for bookshelves. That's still only a chance after a chance though. If you'd like another chance though and you have the steal skill you can potentially steal them from the priest enemies near the game's starting location. You can get a few of these guaranteed too. One close to the guy you're looking for and one in Mahabre. If you're heartless you can also trade a child for one. If you are really, really hurting for one you can use an empty scroll to get one. I would suggest using your empty scrolls for something else, but if you really need one you can do this.

Knowing these things makes the game a lot less terrifying and a lot less frustrating. It's also very satisfying because you can start bending the game over your knee instead of it doing that to you. And this compounds with literally every other bit of accumulated knowledge you get which fucking rules.

This will not be to everyone's taste. I understand that and I don't shame those who use the Book of Enlightenment mod. But there is a beauty and a worth in the way saves work in Fear and Hunger.

[vyxated]

Hi! Thank you for all that you are doing. I'm using your mod "The Sims 2 Inspired UI for The Sims 4", I love it! And I just wanted to notify you that after yesterday’s update, when dx11 support appeared, something is going wrong. When this mod is in the mods folder and I run the game in this mode, it starts as normal (without dx11), but when I extract it, everything works again. Otherwise the mod doesn't seem to be broken, but it doesn't support the new version of dx. Thanks for the answer!

Elo! UI mods break every time a game update happens (due to new UI textures/features being added in preparation for an upcoming pack, causing UI textures made for older patches/game versions to load instead of the new ones and producing the UI glitch effect you often see after updates) so this is just something that is to be expected and will be fixed once I've updated the mod.

The change from DX9 to DX11 shouldn't have any effect on the mod since they both run on the same game version.

[utopya-cc]

SIMS4 MOD | Kiss-n-Grind

Hey guys, hope you all are doing well. Quiet excited about this one,

The main idea was to make a mod that will focus on adding more romantic interactions to the game. to add more realistic moments between couples. I wanted to add what I feel is missing from the game.

So After some searching and looking at what should I make first, I have decided to start with a passionate grinding/dancing interactions, There is too much stuff to cover in the club life. that the game didn't manage to add, other than some silly dances. Your Sims couple can't even dance together.

Therefore I ended up turning These new animations into their own mod, It will be a great foundation for all the ideas that I want to add!!

The mod For now will introduces two new interactions with their animations and emotions/buffs

The new pie menu will appear in the Romance category under the name Kiss and Grind, all the new interactions will appear on it:

The interaction won't appear if your sim hasn't had their first kiss yet, or the level of romance is too low

Features Of the Mods:

New highly detailed animation with their own sounds

New pie menu for the new interaction

New icons for each Interaction/animation that will suit their own animation

A new dynamic buff system which increases with the romance bar

These interactions will give you a buff for both the actor and target sim.

There is a chance to get some notifications/comments from your partner

The animations were made to have a more romantic feel to them. to give the player the freedom to use them in any game style they want. All the icons used are custom-made by me, I did put extra time into them to be more visually pleasing and match their original content

Possible outcomes:

I have implemented in this mod a new buff system that will depend on the relationship between the Sims and some other factors:

First of all The outcomes will be highly randomized for both the actor and the target to keep the game more exciting.

The higher the romance level between your sims the higher chance of getting more intimates outcomes with stronger emotions:

Obviously, this is a club-based mod, you take your sim there to meet up with new Sims, So Even with a low romance, The outcomes may be higher and unique If your sim has high charisma.

When the romance bar is higher the 90% there is a small chance to get a notification/comment from your partner.

The mod will be enhanced further in the future, with New animations, New mechanics, and features.

I still love the original idea. So once I have decided all the interactions for it, I will start making them into their own mod, and leave this one just for the club-related animations.

The interactions shouldn't be played autonomously,

Better to wait until the animation is finished and the queue is clear before playing another one.

Requirement : This mod needs the XML injector by Scumbumbo. You can download it here : https://scumbumbomods.com/xml-injector

How to install :

Just put both my mod and the XML injector script into your Sims 4 Mods folder.

Reblogs are super appreciated!

DOWNLOAD

[simplyanjuta]

CAS Mod: Presets Selection for Randomized Sims

In my attempt to create more decent looking randomized sims, I went through the various body & facial presets (as well as eyebrows, beards and skintones) and picked those that, at least in my opinion, look decent on most sims, thus, hopefully, making for more decent looking randomized sims on average. In addition to the presets selection, I adjusted some parameters used for adding variation to the body presets. Kids and toddler presets are not included in this mod, and I also didn’t bother with occult specific presets.

Update as of August 1st 2022: Added the option to exclude body hair.

You can use this mod simultaneously with the mod "No Make-Up & No Accessories On Randomized Sims".

Download and more info below the cut.

Some elements I focussed on:

One thing I was trying to do are stronger and more natural looking facial features. For example, I went for stronger jaws and wider noses, but then also deselected a lot of the eye presets that look somewhat crooked or cartoon-like to me. I also selected the more smooth looking chins, cheeks and foreheads presets.

Eyebrows and beards also make a huge difference, in my opinion. I only left a few neutral options for both. This, by the way, also makes it more likely for a randomized sim not to have a beard. (Per default, the game just picks randomly from all of the beard options, therefore, almost all randomized male sims show up with a beard.)

And yep, the skintones. I think the texture of many skintones looks either patchy or is otherwise poorly made (although I'm not sure if this is partly an issue with certain graphic cards/computers). I actually deselected a bunch of the lighter skintones from the neutral and the cold panel, because they look somewhat unnatural to me with the very grey or even purple undertones. As well as a few others. (As you can’t disallow skintones for randomization like you can with other body presets, I used a workaround by reassigning those skintones as vampire skintones, so they won’t show up randomly on normal sims anymore.)

Besides, a huge frustration factor for me has always been the poor posture on (for the most part) male sims. There are actually only two male body presets with a decent posture. I used them (as well as a third one) but adjusted both to some degree to look more like the average human body. I also only used three of the female body presets and adjusted one of them (the skinny curvy one) to be a bit heavier than the default. Edit for clarification: I didn’t change the underlying ‘physical part’ (the mesh) of the preset but only changed some variables in the preset settings for the default fit/heavy (slider) values that are used when applying the preset for the first time. So there shouldn't be any impact on preexisting sims.

Overall I'm quite happy with the result for female sims and, well, I did my best for the male sims under given circumstances :D At some point I needed to call it a day, so here it is:

SFS | MF

I provide the mod as a zip file (you need to unzip it with a free program like WinRAR or 7-Zip) containing the following parts as package files:

Body Presets Selection & Tuning (Body, Cheeks, Chins, Eyes, HeadShape, Jaws, Mouths, Noses)

Deselected Eyebrows

Deselected Beards

Deselected Skintones

Deselected Body Hair (All)

All of those parts also work standalone and in any combination! (The files do not rely on each other.)

Recommended in addition:

No Make-Up & No Accessories On Randomized Sims

No Reaper Reward Eyes by Mrluigibear

You can also take a look at these outfit configuration files for MCCC: 1 | 2

Updates:

July 5th, 2025: Update for patch 1.116 (Fairies). Added fairy tags to the body presets and updated the tuning file with new references. Also provided the subfiles 1-5 on SFS, if you want to avoid downloading zip files.

March 3rd, 2025: Updated the Alien tag in Body Presets (other presets are not affected). The files referenced an outdated alien tag, preventing the body presets to show up in CAS for aliens. Also updated the alien tag in Body Hair, however, the tag there doesn't seem to make a difference. Excluded a beard from randomization that was added with the Life & Death pack.

July 23rd, 2023: Update for patch 1.99/Horse Ranch EP to account for new presets as well as a new tag that was introduced for the Native American archetype.

August 1st, 2022: Added the option to exclude body hair (5.) and updated the files 1. & 3. with items that were added to the game since the time when I created the mod.

Notes regarding the files:

The files with the deselected eyebrows, beards, body hair and skintones will count as cc and trigger the cc flag. Besides, the deselected eyebrows, beards and body hair will be also excluded for genetic randomization (other presets are not affected based on my testing). So I provide those files separately for easy removal (and in case you only wanna use some parts of the mod).

For more experienced users: You can also unmerge the body presets package file with S4S to receive the sub-files for body, cheeks, chins, eyes, headshape, jaws, mouths and noses as well as the tuning file, if you want to pick only certain parts of the mod here, as well, or adjust the files. (Half of this enterprise was actually looking up the items and organizing them into categories.) Please note, if you mess around with the files in S4S, don't save over the tuning file, it's a certain type of file that needs special handling when saving in S4S (I used a workaround so that the decimals would actually be saved correctly).

Clarifications, conflicts and TOU:

This mod only disallows certain items to be picked when a sim is randomized. All items are still "there" and can be picked manually in CAS.

I was asked how this mod affects genetics, so I'm adding this info here. I can only go by my observations as this part of the game code is not accessible to me but I didn't mess with anything specific to genetics. I'm assuming there must be some sort of mapping for inheritance as well as a random element to it. I didn't change anything about the inheritance part and nothing about how kids are randomized (in particular, I didn't exclude anything specifically for kids). So if there is a link/mapping between adult to kid presets or gen1 to gen2 presets, it shouldn't be affected by the mod. And based on my observations, presets that are excluded for randomization are still inherited. However, as mentioned in the notes above, I did notice that deselected eyebrows, beards and body hair seem to be excluded and are not inherited. Feel free to let me know if you notice anything different or peculiar though (so far, I'm not aware of any issues).

The "Body Presets Selection & Tuning" part (specifically the tuning part of it) will conflict with Menaceman44's Auto Shorter Teens mod. However, although the tuning file is one of the main parts of my mod, you can also exclude it if you would like to use the shorter teens mod at the same time.

The mod will also conflict with SimulForge by Crilender and probably any other mod overriding CAS presets.

Please, contact me in case you intend to use the mod or parts of the mod for other creations.

@maxismatchccworld @luthsthings

[justashamwithwastedpotential]

Stardew Mod Ideas I'm Working On

(And a few I'm thinking about)

1. Skylar NPC (WIP)

This is just me adding my farmer OC into Stardew as a friendable NPC. I started it as a personal thing for fun, but then people convinced me to actually share it so

Completed Things

Ridgeside Village Compatability

Generic Dialogue

A basic schedule

Gift Tastes

Festival Additions

Festival Dialogue

Dynamic Outfits (Seasonal/Location Based)

Sprite Animations

Things I need to add

Movie and Concession Tastes

Movie Dialogue

Dynamic Dialogue

Dynamic Schedule (don't want them hanging out in their friends' houses if you married their friends)

Schedule/Animation Dialogue

Heart Events (Still working on backstory/storyline details)

A map for their farm house (Sky just lives with Victor right now)

Compatability with East Scarp?

Compatability without Ridgeside Village (I made it to work with both Expanded and Ridgeside Village. Expanded is necessary, but RSV shouldn't have to be)

Future Plans

Adding Rhys the Fruit Bat as an NPC (I see many of you are fond of him)

Adding an event with Abby post her family event

Dynamic Festival Dialogue

Compatability with following mods

2. Foods I really want rn

(Call it a working title if you will.)

This mod is me adding foods that I like to the game. Most of it being Asian dishes + a few drinks I like.

Featuring

Foods

Spring Rolls

Summer Rolls

Pho

Bánh Mi

Bao Buns

Tofu (not sure if this is part of another mod already or not)

Green Bean Cassrole

Lychee Jelly

Chocolate

Potato Soup

Drinks

Hot Chocolate

Mocha

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Peppermint Mocha

Peppermint Tea

Crops I'll probably need to add

Soybeans (Maybe? Might also be in another mod)

Mint

Carrots

Cucumber

Lychee

Persimmon

Cocoa Bean

That's all I've got for that one. It will take me a lot of research so it's very much on the back burner for now.

3. Rival Heart Events

I've gotten kind of fond of these for other characters so I figured it would be fun to do it for mine.

Featuring

Sam and Sky

Lance and Sky (Don't expect anyone to use this. I mean why wouldn't you want to date him yourself)

Sam, Lance and Sky (don't expect this to be used for the same reason as above)

Victor and Sky (but Queerplatonically)

Each of these contains a few events and schedule/dialogue changes for the characters involved, eventually resulting in them moving into Sky's farmhouse.

4. Add Lance to Festivals (WIP)

I know Lance joins festivals when you're married, but since I'm making rival heart events, I think it would be cool to add him in once he reaches 6 hearts like some of the other NPCS.

This also leaves him open for more dynamic dialogue.

Featuring

Generic Dialogue

Dating Dialogue

Engaged Dialogue

Married Dialogue

Rival Heart Dialogue

Addition to Resolution of Embers Festival

Commentary from Skylar

Here are some images from when I was testing. (Please ignore their incorrect positions and the fact they Skylar's sprite is wrong lmao)

Skylar's Spirit's Eve Dialogue

Lance at Festivals Dialogue

5. Skylar to NPC Adventures (Almost Complete)

I know I've talked about this one before, but adding Skylar as a companion for the NPC Adventures mod!

Featuring dialogue for multiple locations including Vanilla Areas and Expanded.

Currently working on adding dialogue for Ridgeside and East Scarp, and determining if Skylar should be a spiritual pacifist (keeps monsters from attacking for a period of time) or a warrior to help with combat.

6. Kent to NPC Adventures (low-key abandoned wip, but I might pick it back up)

Same thing as above tbh, but for Kent because he's a member of the Adventurer's Guild and my dad and I want to go on expeditions and fish, and he deserves it! [End rant]

Things I still need to do

Write dialogue for more locations (difficult because I don't see Kent as someone who talks a lot)

Add a fishing animation (idk how to do this, someone please help if you know)

That's all I have going right now. I hope this was enlightening for anyone who was curious.

[roguemonsterfucker]

Good news on the minimaps in games front: I called out the fact that people were being disparaging towards folks who need minimaps and the mod called a stop to the arguments, saying the channel was for offering suggestions for the game and not arguing over them and the mod apologized for the treatment I and the others received for saying we needed minimaps. And even the person who was talking the most shit apologized.

And while the game developer hasn't commented, she did add a heart reaction (this is on discord) to my comment and many others added reactions indicating they agreed with me.

So I think I managed to communicate that some folks were being pretty ableist on the subject without using that word (which tends to put people on the defensive).

So I count that as a win.

Whether the minimap is added or not, I at least managed to get some people to think about how they view features like that. Some features you may think are unnecessary and ruin immersion could be accessibility features for others. And as long as it can be turned off, you shouldn't talk shit about it or disparage those who may need the feature.

[tau1tvec]

What do you recommend that’s a good base pc to build off of over time, one that’s cost effective but good enough to run ts3 and ts4 simultaneously but I can add better graphics cards and ssds later on?

I think it depends, it's hard to really recommend any specific one bc, I've only ever used one, and they don't manufacture them anymore. I also got my PC to play Fallout 4, bc my old PC crapped out, and I was over sims at the time. Considering its open world, and all the mods I would likely cram into it, I didn't wanna waste money on just anything, so I did some research on gaming PC's ( which I'd never bought until then ) and ended up getting an Acer Predator for about 1299$ at the time.

When I bought it, it had a 1060 GTX, 500GB SSD, 1TB HD and 16GB RAM, dealt with 6 years of my bs with not an issue.

Now the reason I say it depends is bc, many games can run on anything honestly, a lotta them these days want to get in as many hands as possible, so making them work well on lower end systems, esp laptops and consoles, is the best way to do that, since a lot of gamers honestly couldn't give chicken noodle soup about how great a game looks, just that it doesn't lag. However if you plan to play on high to ultra settings, with mods and cc, esp high texture cc, you're going to have to keep some things in mind.

Processor

Intel i5's are pretty powerful for the cost, but I'd recommend an i7 if you can fit the bill. Replacing it shouldn't be too difficult, so long as you find one that's compatible with your motherboard, and they tend to cost a little less, and be more readily available than GPU's for instance.

GPU

I've seen some mid-high gaming rigs run on a 1660 GTX which I hear is a pretty good card, they also run a bit cheaper than the 20 or 30 series RTX, and honestly... you don't need a 20 or 30 series RTX to play The Sims 3 or 4, it doesn't even have any built-in options to utilize a lotta the innovative features these cards have.

I played The Sims 4 on ultra on my 1060 GTX, and it ran and looked fine. Though should you decide to upgrade, understand it might be quite costly, and also a bit difficult to find considering we're still technically in a chip shortage.

Memory

16GB is pretty standard these days, anything more is for those into heavy multi-tasking, however some games are beginning to suggest 32GB.

SSD

Main drive needs to be a 500GB SSD minimum... 250 will absolutely get you nowhere with how Windows updates gobble that shit up. You'll also be storing all your saves, mods, and cc on this main drive, so honestly if you can, go for the 1TB, you won't regret it, especially since upgrading mine to a 1TB was an absolute nightmare.

You'll likely need a second drive as well, and although it's common a second drive will be a regular ol' hard drive ( HD ), which is fine, you've gotta install your Spotify app somewhere, do absolutely consider getting another 500GB or larger SSD installed later, games these days basically start at 80GB install size easy, this doesn't include updates and dlc added later, and a drive doesn't run well when it's almost full.

Brands

I've had my Acer Predator desktop for roughly 7 years now, and it's an absolute champ... my husband's Acer Predator Helios on the other hand... crapped out like two years in, he only ever played Skyrim, and only ran it on medium-high settings. So when it comes to brands it's kinda... eh, I would just try to avoid anything that's like HP or Dell... they're kinda iffy and difficult to upgrade unless you're willing to drop 2k+ on an Alienware, I hear a lotta pretty good things about Lenovo tho, and MSI, if a laptop is more your thing.

Finally, a lotta straight out the box gaming rigs are outfitted with AMD processors and cards these days, and they've come a long way over the years. They're pretty powerful now, almost equal and at times even better than their Intel or Nvidia counterparts, but can be more cost effective if price is a big concern.