If you didn’t think the Sims 4 Eco Living voting could get harder than the 100-plus pieces of clothing and objects to choose from, you were wrong. Choosing the gameplay features was even more difficult. Needless to say, there’s a lot at stake, too. It’s the last vote before the Sims team goes off on their own to finalize everything in the pack. The only decision we players have left is the pack icon and the pack title and that vote doesn’t take place until September.
The options included Off the Grid, Carbon Conscious, Laundry and Food Preserves. I think it’s a safe bet laundry is winning, considering that's the feature everyone was asking for in the first place. But to humor the Sims team, let’s go over which option would actually be the most meaningful with gameplay in mind. Unfortunately, that option is not laundry.
What Laundry will do will make homes and apartments look and feel more realistic. There aren’t many larger objects to fill the nooks and crannies of a home and make it look dirty and lived in. Laundry will accomplish this. The features included in the Laundry option are a washing machine, dryer, hamper, clothes line and wash tub. I still can’t get the picture out of my mind of shirts hanging on a clothesline blowing in the wind, however, the clothesline and the wash tub are the only things that would make this option ‘eco living.’ Just mentally prepare yourself for piles of clothes all over the floor… I’ll leave it at that.
Off the Grid may be the second most popular option and would definitely have a lot of gameplay for a stuff pack. It gives players the ability to solely live off the land. Gameplay-oriented players can only hope this is the option that ends up winning. With it comes a new lot trait, which will remove electricity and water from the lot. The pack will come equipped with a well pump or water well, which your Sims will have to collect water from. Solar panels will also be included, and your Sim will be responsible for calibrating and cleaning the system to ensure it works properly. Same goes for the wind turbine. This option would be as much as you make of it. You could decorate your home with the new objects, or you could go all in by applying the lot trait. This is definitely the most comprehensive feature included in the survey, and maybe the hardest for the Sims team to bring to fruition.
Then there’s Carbon Conscious, which was maybe the least enticing option. The Freegan trait allows Sims to rummage through trash cans to scrounge for ingredients like apple cores, banana peels and more, which can be used in new recipes. These Sims will also want to use the composter to dispose of trash, spoiled food and dead plants. The fertilizer from the composter can be used in accordance with the gardening skill. The pack would also include recycling cans, which function separately from trash cans. When your Sim takes out the recycling, they will disappear of the lot and return with simoleons.
Last but not least is Food Preserves. I’ve got a sweet spot for canning and nectar making because activities for the Sims to do inside the house are always welcome. The main object would be a counter-top electric canning pot which allows Sims to harvest plants and preserve them for long-term storage. This includes making jams, which brings with it new recipes like scones with jam! With the canning comes nectar making, a separate object. Use grapes and other berries to age nectar. The Sims team is also thinking about a superfood plant, which would be nice to have for the vegetarian Sims in the game. While this pack description isn’t as exciting, it may have the most potential. Don’t underestimate this simple idea; it means the Sims team can perfect every element.
If there’s one thing that’s clear after seeing these gameplay options, it’s how hard it is for the Sims team to put together a stuff pack. This process is excruciating. Weighing big features that only offer shallow gameplay against small features that have huge potential for meaningful gameplay before you can even see the finished product from the design team is enormously stressful. While players have had laundry in mind for this stuff pack since the beginning, a better option, in my opinion, would be food preserves or off the grid. They not only better fit the Eco Living theme, but I think the Laundry gameplay could end up being quite disappointing as there are no lasting effects of giving your Sim the ability to do their own laundry. I’d rather have laundry come as extra objects in a game or expansion pack.
It’s important to note the Sims 4 blog post where the gameplay options were revealed says the features, as described in the survey, aren’t set in stone. The Sims team says players will hear about any changes that are made.
“After the votes are tallied we’ll start writing those full designs, which will comprehensively detail the entire experience that these features will offer. A full design means that each discipline on the Stuff Pack team can provide more accurate estimates of how much time they’ll need to work to implement these features. If estimates change, we have to go back and re-evaluate the features that have been approved. When full development of this pack ramps up in August, we’ll finally know if we need to make any cuts, or if we have room for any further additions.”
Which option did you vote for and why? Let us know in the comments and check out the remaining Eco Living vote schedule below.
Schedule
-Pack Icon Vote (Sept. 6-8): Peruse different icons and select the one that will appear in the pack's box art and within the in-game catalog.
-Pack Title Vote (Sept. 13-15): Select a title that best summarizes the pack's atmosphere and content.
