Sims 4 developers have collaborated with famed custom content creators to bring 21 pieces of fresh furniture, fashions, and features to the Sims 4.

This long-awaited announcement came just an hour before the official Twitch premiere of Sims 4’s 21st anniversary surprise, While Simmers knew something was a-brew at Sims headquarters, none were quite sure what to expect from the new collaboration.

Custom content creators have long enriched the Sims by creating their own clothes, furniture, and more to the game, but these additions until now were limited to PC players, leaving console players sadly out of the loop. However, by working alongside EA, custom content creators are able to bring versatile looks and styles to all Simmers.

The fresh content is available NOW for all players!

This includes furniture by HeyHarrie and Peacemaker_ic:

Clothing by AHarris00Britney, Feral Poodles, and Story Legacy Sims:

Striking make-up by GrimCookies—

New CAS details from peachyfaerie and Lumia:

Delectable new foods from icemunmun

What are you looking the most forward to? Tell us in the comments!

A Quick Overview 

As the Covid vaccine rolls out worldwide, humanity is beginning to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. While much of the northern hemisphere braces beneath a last ditch winter chill, change is coming.  As we hold on to hope that things will get better, even the Sims community shows signs of a brighter future.  This week, Sims FreePlay launched their Art Deco update; Sims Mobile plunged into a player-pleasing party update, and Sims 4 honored its Black players in a sensational Black History Month tribute.  

On February 15th, Sims FreePlay launched their roaring twenties Art Deco live event: Belle Hotel.  During this event, players send their Sims to craft candles, glassware, jewelry, and pottery in return for ritzy black and gold prize packs.  These packs include such twentieth century digs as geometric, gilded wallpaper, gleaming gold light fixtures, luxurious quad-sized windows, fresh jazz instruments, elaborate black bars, and more.  The grand prize for this sumptuous event is the Belle Hotel, a multi-story lot replete with a reception desk, lobby, outdoor pool, hotel rooms, and a grand gold dining room perfect for swinging jazz performances. 

Sims Mobile began the week with a fresh Wumples, which offered players a laundry list of tasks to complete in return for two new children's clothes options - a t-shirt for both sexes and a skirt for just female children. 

But the biggest news of the week by far was a long anticipated gameplay update to Mobile parties.  Until now, mobile parties have been limited to player "main lots," but after February 16th, players gained the ability to throw parties on any lot they choose.  Game Changers collectively demonstrated this ability with a series of "alt-lot" parties which also showed off upcoming anniversary event prizes.  Simmerdown Mal's Edgewater Quay party, for example, featured the DJ BobPlum Booth and karaoke machine.  

To continue highlighting this fresh feature, Sims Mobile rolled out a new anniversary-themed competition on Twitter.  To win prizes such as SimCash, a luminous dance floor, or diamond-studded head gear, players should follow the Sims Mobile on Twitter, take pictures of their partying Sims, and then upload them to Twitter with the hashtags #TSMHouseParty and #EAGiveaway.  Don't forget to tag the official Sims Mobile account! This competition closes Friday, February 26th.  Sims Mobile will announce the winners on March 5th.  

If this were not enough, Sims Mobile Game Changers also dropped more information about the upcoming Sweet Treat Showdown.  This event, triggering on February 22nd, will offer cake-baking players party items like a disco ball, heart-shaped glasses, a fashionable men's military-style jacket, a smoke machine, a colorful DJ Booth, a new banged hairstyle, and a karaoke machine.  

Players can look forward to two new Wumples events on the horizon: Wumples Wishlist #51 will offer a poster and a glass of strangely colored milk as prizes, while Wumples #50 will offer two snowglobes. 

Bugs addressed and squashed this week included a strange phenomenon in which the Sims Mobile app mysteriously disappeared from the United Kingdom app store.  It has now reappeared, much to the relief of thousands of UK players. 

​In a heartwarming tribute to its incredible Black players, the Sims 4 team highlighted several game changing people of color this week to celebrate Black History month. Among the honored were Xviva, Spring_Sims, XMira, EbonixSims, Foreign Simmer, Oshin, and many others. The developers also reported that they finally pinpointed the issue plaguing console skin tones. They expect a fix for the blotchy, reddened tones in March. Sims 4 players can look forward to a special anniversary gift from the Sims team, in collaborating with custom content creators, February 25th.

That's all for now, but keep it locked on the Simmer's Digest website for more detailed information!

Until next time, stay safe, love your loved ones, and happy Simming.

​In Sims FreePlay, both Influence Island and the newest SimChase are in full swing! This season of Influence Island, aptly named "Rustic Wedding," encourages players to cajole and convince neutral NPC Sims into "clan mates."  These efforts are rewarded with network tokens, and players may use these network tokens to spin for prizes.  The prizes are, of course, wedding-themed with a farmhouse chic twist: quaint wooden barrels filled with flowers, a romantic wedding aisle, simple but elegant wedding chairs, a wooden gazebo hung with flowers, and far more. SimChase:Wedding Wrangle leads players through a dizzying gamut of events.  Beat the NPC "rival" at these events, and players win more wedding prizes such as long reception tables, a vintage camera, drinking tables, a dance floor, and more. Players can look forward to more wedding-themed events in the future with Art Deco events on the March horizon. 

​Sims Mobile stunned its players February 4th with an enormous gameplay overhaul.  For years, Sims Mobile players have begged Gurus for more playable Sims and the ability to hold parties on any lot.  The Sims Mobile February update, triggering on February 8th, provides just that.  Now, players will be able to make any Sim "passive," freeing up a playable Sim slot, and then essentially "promoting" any Sim they'd like in the former Sim's place.  This change essentially allows players to have 60 playable Sims at their disposal.  

Additionally, as long as an active Sim is on a given lot, Simmers will now be able to throw parties on any lot they own.  This encourages Simmers to spruce up their homes and gussy up those spare lots to show off their varied build skills. 

This is, of course, not all.  This update brings a heaping helping of new events --the Royal Romance Treasure Hunt on February 8th, three new Wumples Wishlists, and an Anniversary Sweet Treats event on February 22nd.  

These events offer players the chance to dig, investigate, bake, and mix their way to elaborate, royal items such as crystal chandeliers, gilded bookshelves, glass slippers, royal beds, gothic tables and heavy curtains, queenly dresses, and outfits fit for princes. Female Sims can even win a hairstyle befit with a crown.  The anniversary Sweet Treats event offers such party-worthy items such as heart-shaped glasses, a new bar, a karaoke machine, a new DJ booth, a straight-banged female Sims hairstyle, and more.  

​Sims 4 Gurus celebrated Black history this week by highlighting its unforgettable Black players.  Gurus exalted Ebonix, XMira, It'sMeTroi, and the many more wonderful game-changing Black players who make the game what it is.  Gurus also teased they have an anniversary surprise for their players on February 25th, a surprise they worked closely with its fans on.  

That's it for now, but keep it locked on the Simmer's Digest website for more detailed coverage of the latest events. 

Stay safe, get vaccinated, and remember that you ARE Black history. 

The world is changing, and the Sims community is not immune to the constant change.  As players worldwide grapple with coronavirus, with political change and unrest, with the changing seasons and times they continue to lean on their beloved games to navigate the world.  This week, FreePlay unleashed news of updates for the next two months; Sims Mobile wound down their latest Sweet Treat Showdown, and Sims 4 rolled out their newest stuff pack: Sims 4 Paranormal. ​

Easily the most demanding of the three games, Sims FreePlay Game Changers revealed the mobile game's newest slew of events this week.  Players can now look forward to a rustic wedding update in February and a glitzy Art Deco update in March.  In fact, the brand new Influence Island event, Rustic Wedding, began January 27th.  Players are currently cajoling and charming their ways into the hearts of several Sim NPCs to gain network credits. These credits earn, this time around, such romantic prizes as quaint barrels overflowing with flowers, rustic folding chairs with pastel upholstery, simple suits and maiden-like dresses, and awnings swaddled in flowers. The adjoined SimChase, which begins on February 3rd  and offers wedding seating, a dance floor adorned with fairy lights, a rustic wedding camera, elegant loveseats, and long banquet tables for the perfect wedding reception. 

Mid-February and March will bring a daring Art Deco update gilded in gold. The Belle Hotel Live event begins on February 15th, the Influence Island: Suite Success begins on March 15th, and the fresh SimChase: Bar Brawl, begins on February 27th.  Throughout these events, Simmers can expect to win stunning works of geometric, Jazz-inspired, early 20th century bliss.  Suite Success will offer diamond-shaped mirrors, luxury vanities, glittering archways, and the lights and storage pieces of the swing generation.  Bar Brawl's prizes include stunning gold fountains, impressive Art Deco bar stools, bars, barbacks, and other shining pieces perfect for a Sims speakeasy. The Belle Hotel live event offers a tantalizing set of roaring twenties prizes complete with a huge 20th century hotel as a grand prize.

The Sims Mobile wound down the final event in its most recent update this week.  The current Sweet Treat Showdown: Charming Crafts, began January 25th and gives players the opportunity to mix and bake their way into Sweet Treat fame.  Correctly baked rounds give sweet and royal tokens as a reward.  Players exchange these tokens for crafty comforts such as hobby shop shelves, hobby carts and pinboards, mannequins, rocking chairs, sweater dresses for females, and more.  The grand prizes for this event are a crafty sewing table, a long bangs hairstyle for men, and a 50's flip curl hair style for women. 

Mobile players are looking to the horizon for the next big update.  

​Simmers in the Sims 4 community are absolutely a buzz about the newest Paranormal stuff pack.  Released on January 26th, Sims 4: Paranormal has shocked players with robust gameplay, stunning build/buy items, and Create-a-Sim items that suggest the effortless, haunting beauty of New Orleans. Even players who didn't purchase the pack received a free update to their games: Sims can now experience the fear moodlet, adding a fresh aspect to gameplay. 

Gameplay for this pack is enormously robust.  Simmers can hold seances to summon spirits and the infamous Bonehilda. They can also earn a paranormal license through Guidry the Ghost, visit and build haunted houses, and dispel naughty spirits with their wits and skills.  Sims can master the medium skill, search for haunted items, and find frightening thrills in every corner of this pack.  

That's all for now, but stay tuned on Simmers Digest's website for more in-depth coverage. 

Stay safe, wash your hands, and happy (haunted) Simming!

Speculation about Sims 4’s upcoming stuff pack swirls feverishly in the Twitterverse.

It wasn’t long after the Sim Gurus dropped a haunting gif of glowing green ghosts and the date January 12th that Simmers gabbed about a possible Happy Haunts pack.

After Nifty Knitting narrowly edged out Happy Haunts as a community-voted stuff pack, many Simmers lamented the choice. Some cited the pack’s suggested content— Ghost Hunting, Seance reading, and Grim Reaper freelancing as a much needed shot of fresh gameplay for the Sims 4. Developers, then, assured disappointed Simmers that anything was possible.

On the eve of the reveal date, SimGuruNinja tweeted the name of a featured, top-hat-wearing Sim ghost.

“Claude Rene DuPlantier Guidry.”

The French name “Guidry” sounds remarkably like “Guédé” the name of a family of loa, or Haitian spirits.

​The ghost in question may be a reference to Baron Samedi, the head of the Guédé household. The rich culture of American Louisiana, fused with Haitian, Spanish, and French lore, represents Baron Samedi as a tall, often Black man, who loves cigars and rum. He occupies the space between the living and the dead, often making deals with the living who find themselves in desperate situations... for a price.

What do you think is coming? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter!

The highly-anticipated skin tone update arrived early for both PC and console Sims 4 players today, and it’s been a long time coming.

For years, Sims 4’s lack of accurate skin tones, particularly for Sims of color, was a glaring omission that garnered plenty of criticism. Modders like the incredible XMira noticed that not only were the darker-skinned Sims in Sims 4 poorly represented, but even the available custom content skin colors were limited.

Xmira was among the first custom content creators to address this issue with rich, realistic skins of her own. The skins, included in her “melanin pack” were both warm and cool, with red, yellow, and blue undertones. This triumph of a creation was downloaded thousands of times by thousands of Simmers, but it was not until the summer of 2020, when American police brutality against people of color reached a fever pitch after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, that EA stopped turning a blind eye to the issue. They no longer could.

Happily, on December 7th, players received the base game skin tone update that they deserve. Not have Sims 4 devs added hundreds of new skin tones to the game, but they have also introduced sliders that allow players to fine tune the skin color they choose.

The truth is this: not all colors are created equal. A warm pink differs from a “true” pink or a “cooler” pink. In the same manner, people come in these varying hues too. A brown-skinned person might have a rich warm tone, with undertones of red or yellow. Another person may have a “blue” brown, or a “cooler” brown. These hues change the way make-up appears on a certain person’s skin,

​

After choosing a color in one of the hue categories, Simmers can now slide a widget to customize their chosen color’s saturation.

If this were not enough, Simmers can also change the saturation, brightness, tint, and darkness of a certain make-up swatch by sliding the new widget to their desired settings. This way, Simmers can create the colors they need that look best on their Sim. Warmer skinned Sims look best in warmer colors, cooler-skinned Sims in cooler colors and so on.

These changes will help Simmers everywhere better see themselves in the Sims. And that is no small thing.

Not long after the most recent Sims Spark’d Challenge — Creature Creation— a new Sims Spark’d Challenge has gone live to keep creative Simmers styling, building, and storytelling to new creative heights.

This newest Sims Spark’d Challenge, deemed “Holiday Magic,” encourages Simmers to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year through Create-a-Sim, Build Mode, and Storytelling.

As always, interested Simmers will choose one of the aforementioned categories and create something that fits a holiday theme. Entries are judged according to four criteria: creativity, craftsmanship, originality, and aesthetics.

Those selected as a Top Spark’d Creator are spotlighted on the official Sims Spark’d website at the end of the challenge. “Holiday Magic” will run from November 23rd- December 14th.

Of course, contestants must adhere to rules as they participate, and they are as follows:

Will you participate? Tell us in the comments below!

Sims Spark’d is a large scale competition in which every day Simmers can compete. After choosing a category — stylist (create-a-Sim), builder (build mode), or storytelling (often videos or comics, Simmers respond to a certain prompt within that caregory.

The latest Spark’d prompt from the Sims team was Halloween. Stylists created brand new creatures “never seen before” in the world of Sims, builders created stunning haunted houses, and storytellers wove terrifying tales.

The winners of this competition were announced November 23rd, 2020.

Check them out here:

​https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/sparkd/challenge/archive/creature-creation?utm_campaign=sims4_hd_ww_ic_soco_twt_creature-creation-tw&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cid=66569&ts=1606158551943

In a patch as massive as the one which preceded the Snowy Escape expansion pack, there are bound to be pesky bugs and persistent glitches, but on November 10th, what many Simmers received in this patch was a game-breaking headache.

Soon after patch release, both PC and console players witnessed their game audio suddenly sputter and their gameplay screech to a halt. For many Simmers, this glitch prevented them from playing at all.

On November 17th, PC Simmers received a patch to correct the rampant crashing, though even this patch wasn’t without issue: some players reported experiencing and endless loading screen afterward. But console players had to wait until the Sony and Microsoft Gods gave their exalted permission before before they could receive the patch.

On November 18th, console player prayers were answered.

Console players should update their games and keep developers in the loop about any more issues.

Stay warm and Sim on, players.

The Snowy Escape pre-patch, released on November 10th, folded highly-anticipated features in-game such as build-mode platforms, a “sentiments” system that enriches Sim relationships, new half-wall heights, and rental lots in every Sims 4 world.

This patch was massive, over 2MB, and had players squirming with glee in their gaming chairs. However, this massive patch caused some, perhaps unexpected set-backs. Almost on cue, Simmers’ joy dissolved into unmitigated frustration as their beloved game- both on PC and console— sputtered and coughed to a grinding start, only to crash unexpectedly mid-game. The game-changing patch had become a game-breaking one, and many Simmers took to Twitter to grumble about it.

Happily, the Sim Gurus both recognized and moved to remedy the crashes. After advising a workaround which involved fiddling with the game’s launch settings, the Sims 4 development team finally rolled out a hot fix patch for PC on November 17th.


​

After downloading the much needed patch, some players experienced new glitches such as an infinite loading screen. SimGurRuskii quickly intervened.

Players should remove their mods just in case they become incompatible with corrected game code, download the patch through Origin, cross their fingers, and pray.