The Sims 4, the latest in EA's life simulation game, has only been out or three weeks and there are already a ton of different mods to change up the game. While most of the mods that are found on modthesims.info mainly focus on new clothing options, some of them are incredibly hilarious, or just downright useful. Here's a short list of the nine most helpful mods (well, eight mods and a mod manager) to help you get started creating the game you truly want to play.
A quick warning about mods for The Sims 4, and any other game, READ THE MOD DOCUMENTATION AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE INSTALLING ANY MOD. This should save you from a few headaches as you wonder why a mod doesn't seem working or even crashes your game. If you do make a fatal mistake and The Sims 4 just isn't running the same, simply uninstall all game files, and re-install them back to the base game with no mods at all. You'll be back to square one, but you at least have a working game again.
The Sims 4 Mod Manager
While this isn't a mod for The Sims 4, this guy will help you keep all of your other mods sorted out. The mod manager keeps all of the mods you download in a separate folder, and with the click of a checkbox, activates whichever mods you wish. No having to dive through game folders, no having to replace files that may or may not cause permanent damage, the mod manager takes a great deal of hassle out of experimenting with changing gameplay.
Graphics Tweaks
While not as extensive as say, the mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, there are a few graphical tweaks that can be made in The Sims 4. The first one helps improve the lighting, both indoors and outdoors. From the mod's description: "This mod improves the lighting primarily indoors, and alters outdoor lighting a bit also. Indoors will be brighter than the default overall and Ambient light is spread throughout so walls will not be as dark and sims facing away from the light source will not be as dark. Sunlight entering through windows is greater than the default. Also the SS Ambient Occlusion is increased such that objects everywhere have a little more contrast and/or depth; the washed-out look of the entire game graphics is reduced a bit." Basically, the lighting should appear more natural.
Do you get annoyed that your Sim cannot wistfully stare off into the distance? Well, now they can! By using this mod, the draw distance for The Sims 4 is greatly increased, reducing the blur found on the edges of locations. So for all you philosophizers out there, put on your thinking caps.
Helpful Mods For The Home
While it's fun to plot your Sim from low-level pencil pusher all the way up to corporate CEO, some of the more mundane household tasks can be a little dull. This first mod helps greatly reduces the chance that an object in your house will break. At default, The Sims 4 features a 67% chance that an object will break, which is really high. By using this mod, the percent chance of breakage can be set at either 5%, 15%, or 30%. This lets your Sim spend less time tinkering away at the bathroom sink, and more time exploring more gainful pursuits like art or relationship building.
This second mod is actually just a new item that has been created for The Sims 4. Labeled as the "Super Hamper," this new clothes bin will automatically collect all of the piles of dirty clothes thrown on the floor, saving you time and making your Sim happier.
Call Your Family To Dinner
This mod is pretty extensive, and offers a wide variety of options. By clicking on any group meal that has been created, a new command called "Call to Meal" will be available. When selected, players can manually select who will come eat from a list of those in the area. Once the dining guests are selected, the sim who you commanded to perform the "Call to Meal" action will then dish up one serving of food for each person. The Sims who have been summoned will sit down at a place setting and start to eat.
Changing Your Sims
The last three mods on the list all work to change features about your already-created Sims family. The first one allows you to modify both the names of Sims as well as their genders. This works for both the Sims you control and have created as well as on neighbors. Make sure you read the description on this mod especially, as there are a few warnings about stability. According to the mod's creator, there shouldn't be an issue with using this mod, but full testing hasn't been done yet. Proceed with caution.
So we can change any Sim's name and gender, what else is there? Age! Want to watch your kid grow up right in front of your eyes? Simply turn on this mod, and watch little Timmy shoot through puberty and start preferring being called "Timothy" like an adult. Do your virtual neighbors have a baby that just won't shut up? Easily make that child a young adult and get him or her shipped off to college. That takes care of THAT noise problem!
For the last mod on this list, it is now possible to change how long our Sim's pregnancy can last for. There are four different versions of this mod, with each one changing the length of the pregnancy to different time increments. Pregnancies can now last for either 1 day, 9 days, 18 days, and 30 days, depending on which version of the mod is installed. Even better, this mod will work with the Babies For Everyone mod that allows any Sim to become pregnant.
So there you have it. Nine different mods for The Sims 4 that should both improve gameplay, and make your life a little easier. Seeing as how The Sims 4 hasn't even been out for a full month yet, expect to see more helpful and time-saving mods added in the future. Do you think you'll be using any of these additions? Is there something you would like to see modded that hasn't been yet? Let us know in the comments section below.
