Inside Maxis: Courtyard Oasis Kit, Improved Bunkbeds, Hair Colors, Personality, and Pronouns!

5/18/2021

Lately, the Sims 4 team has waded waist-deep into the process of updating its base game assets.

While some players may have tuned into May 18th’s Inside Maxis Livestream for glimpses of downloadable content to come, what they got was perhaps arguably better.

The Sims Team is largely mum on the themes of the upcoming Game Pack and Expansion Pack, but this Maxis stream revealed a team hard at work to slowly improve what many players have called a lackluster base game.

What are these game-changing improvements that are on the horizon? Sim Gurus revealed the following base game updates that are in the works:

Pronoun Updates
Updated black hair
New Cultured Clothes

Personality Trait add-ons
Story Progression
Improved Bunkbed Functionality

Pronouns

With Pride just weeks away, Sims 4 has finally breached the subject for which many Simmers have advocated: varied pronoun availability

Why does this matter?

It is difficult to properly explain the mental acrobatics and roiling, physical discomfort that come from being misgendered. The unsettling twinge from deep in one’s soul after hearing “she” when perhaps longing for “they/them” can be triggering for some.

As the world begins to better embrace gender representation and the fluidity of gender expression, players have come to rightly expect such fluidity and representation in their chosen life simulator. This update, one that would allow Simmers to choose pronouns for their gender fluid/agender/bigender/transgender Sims is but another necessary step toward radical inclusivity.

Back in Black

Grayscale black hairs will soon be gone! Maxis developers have revisited the infamous “gray-black” of many available black hairs in Create-a-Sim. After repainting many of the problem hairs, Sims developers are asking players to be on the lookout for any other hairs that may need similar attention.

Cultural Inspirations

Outside City Living, many of Sims 4’s existing CAS options are culturally limited. Maxis plans to update these options in the very near future, leaning on the rich colors and bold patterns of northern African and the Middle East for guidance. The bold robe as pictured above will be available in game in a future basegame update.

Bunkbeds

Bunkbeds are also receiving an update. Soon, Simmers will be able to place desks, loveseats, and even double beds beneath a lofted bed in either parallel or perpendicular position while keeping the items functional!

Story Progression and Personality Add-ons

The Sims Team also revealed that the game will add a fresh nodule to the personality trait widget. Could this be an additional trait slot? Is it something more closely related to a given Sim’s aspiration? We’ll find out more May 25th for the next Inside Maxis Livestream!

While on that subject, Maxis developers assured Simmers that the “hates children” trait, which previously allowed baby-making activities with such Sims while “dazed,” will be corrected in the next patch.

Sims 4 developers are also looking into better story progression for the game. “Story progression” is a phenomenon in which unplayed households live their little pixelated lives without input from a player. A household may choose to have another child, get a new job, or enroll in university without the player actively playing that household. Such a change would add an unpredictable dynamism to Sims 4 that some Simmers have craved for years.

Courtyard Oasis

The star of today’s Maxis livestream was, of course, Courtyard Oasis. Brimming with colorful mosaic tiling in all manner of awe-inspiring, saturated colors, Courtyard Oasis embodies the stunning sanctuary of Moroccan riads.

The pack, now available on Origin for $4.99 USD, brings the hand-carved chairs, massive tiled fountains, fresh potted plants, eye-poppingly detailed archways, incredible keyhole doorways, gilded tea sets, and gold-plated lanterns of northern Africa to Sims 4. This rich kit has already proved a delight to builders around the globe. Check out the screens we took of the pack assets below: