The Sims 4 Official Information

[Bri]

There is now an official FAQ for Sims 4.  Obviously it will be sparse, but there are some changes as well to expect:
Sims 4 FAQ

Some highlights include:

What platform is The Sims 4 available on?
The Sims 4 will be available for PC.Will

The Sims 4 be available on Mac?
We are currently focused on the PC version. We have no updates on Mac at this time.

What languages are supported in The Sims 4?
The Sims 4 will support English, German, French, Russian, Polish, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, and Korean

Will I be able to use SimPoints to purchase additional content in The Sims 4?
SimPoints will not be supported by The Sims 4, but will continue to be a form of payment for The Sims 3 content in The Sims 3 Store.


So, my recommendations, especially on the last part I highlighted, be careful on the amount of SimsPoints you might buy at the Sims 3 Store since it looks like they won't be transferrable to the Sims 4.

[Bri]

The actual machine specifics haven't been released yet, but SimGuruGraham did say the Sims 4 will use a 32 bit executable.
(Source:  SimGuruGraham on Twitlonger)

Now, I could be mistaken, so the more technical minded feel free to correct me, but I believe this means that the Sims 4 will only use up to 4 GB of RAM, even if you have access to more. 

[Bri]

There is a new trailer out for the Sims 4.  Much of this has already been seen such as in E3 footage.

You can see it here:
The Sims 4: Smarter and Weirder Official Gameplay Trailer

Corrected the link so it leads to the right page.  Sorry about that.

[Bri]

SimGuruGraham posted a little bit of stuff about bills at Mod The Sims:

On a side note related to money stuff (and I'm going to keep this short - the spacebar on my keyboard broke today and it's really annoying typing), the consequences of not paying your bills is more severe now. Let your bills go without paying them? First your power gets shut off. Next your water gets shut off. It's a fun scenario to put your Sims in on occasion (they recognize it and get some unique socials about it). The bill upkeep on more expensive homes is harsher than it's been in the past as well, so you truly better be earning enough to support living in one. I hope both those things contribute to greater challenges when you put your Sims in those situations.

(Source:  Mod the Sims)

I admit, I like the idea of power, and then water being turned off if bills aren't paid, rather than just the regular old Repo Man we've come to know and love.

[Bri]

A few more tidbits from SimGuruGraham.

First, it looks like if you do the roofs right, you will be able to make attics:

Ironically attics were something I put decent time into. Yes you can build them in #TheSims4; they work well with the new roofs.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham Twitter)

Jobs don't act like the traditional rabbitholes from Sims 3, but more like Sims 2:

I talked about this a bit in the interview with @SimsVIP – we don’t have the traditional rabbitholes that players are familiar with from Sims 3. Instead the game treats careers more like Sims 2 where the Sim leaves for the day and returns after their shift.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham Twitlonger)

However, even when away, they can still do a variety of activities:

Yup, that's part of the new system called Away Actions. When your Sim is off lot you can still have them do a variety of things

It also looks like the more you proceed in your career, the more unlocks you get for your house:

One of the big benefits of the careers is that as you progress through them you get lots of rewards that can be used in your Sim's home so that it's a greater reflection of who they are. Many of the skills also have similar unlockables. If your Sim loves painting, shouldn't they be able to build themselves an art studio that actually looks like a studio to make art in?

(Source:  SimGuruGraham Twitlonger)

Sims are not really left or right handed, but hand agnostic :

Sorry. Perhaps it's more accurate to say they are "hand agnostic." What hand they use is purely...

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)
(Sorry, I included this because it amused me ).

[Bri]

Just a minor note, but the Tram and Steamboat they showed in earlier pictures (like the Demo at 3) are just for appearance purposes only, and you won't be able to interact with them.

@SimsVIP Tram/Steamboat are in the neighborhoods but not interactive. Decorative flavor for the atmosphere of the world. @SimGuruTrev

(Source:  SimGuruGraham)

This is a bit understandable if one considers Sims 4 is going to have their world split into 5 zones, and a set amount lots per zone.

[Bri]

A few more tidbits of news.

It looks like we will be limited to three floors/stories on a lot, but if you build a roof right, you could make an attic for a quasi-fourth floor.

This is the question someone asked:

@SimGuruGraham Is the max height for houses still 3 levels/stories/floors?
@SimGuruGraham:  @_lovcat_ Yes.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham)

Also, as of the next tweet, Create-A-Style won't be returning at all:

Create a Style is the kind of thing that technically needs to be in the base game for it to happen. It won't be added later.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham)

[Bri]

Just a few more tidbits from the SimGurus on Twitter.

•  The first is the largest lot size:

The biggest lots are 50x50. The Sims 4 does not have 64x64 lot at this time.

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

•  Your Sim can write loveletters:

You can write love letters to other Sims via the PC; there is not a specific online dating feature though.

(Source: SimGuruGraham)

•  Mixology makes its return (though this was shown in the video)

It is a skill AND a branch in the Culinary career.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)

•  Stand-up Comedian is a viable job as well:

Your Sim can totally have a career as a stand up comedian!

(Source:  SimGuruAzure)

[Bri]

Some more information, most of it via Twitter:

•  Houses don't require foundations to be built.

@SimGuruGrant @SimGuruSarah @SimGuruGraham does a house have to have a foundation?

@SimGuruGraham  ·
@Liamer01 @SimGuruGrant @SimGuruSarah Nope.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham)

•  Pregnancy lasts as long as Sims 3.

@OKrasnokutskiy About as long as in The Sims 3.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)

•  Libraries, bars, and museums will be in game.

@roaminthattown @SimGuruSarah Libraries, Bars, Museums, and more.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)

•  At the moment, there are no basements or circular stairs.

@Studio954X Right now, The Sims 4 does not contain basements or circular stairs.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)

•  The Cooking skill will have Homestyle and Gourmet tracks.

@SimnationBlog @Tash1216 Yes! There are lots of new recopies for both tracks. I like gourmet, b/c it's fancy food I would never make IRL :p

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

•  While tattoos will be in the game, there won't be any tattoo jobs.

There are tattoos in CAS, but there is no Sim that applies tattoos like in The Sims 3 Ambitions.

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

•  For gardeners, some seeds can be bought in the mail, others can be found.

You can order things in the mail. Some you can find.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant)

•  There are no grocery stores at the moment in Sims 4.

@Libra_Style @JoeParkinson6 There is no grocery store in The Sims 4 at this time.

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

•  There are no visible schools.  Jobs and schools will route off-screen

@John_Alves82 There are no work rabbitholes in The Sims 4. Sims simply route off the lot the same way they did in The Sims 2.

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

[Pam]

Some of us have never played Sims 2, so it doesn't help to describe something as being like Sims 2. Can we be sure to keep this in mind when giving updates for Sims 4? Thank you, Bri for keeping this going.

[Bri]

Some of us have never played Sims 2, so it doesn't help to describe something as being like Sims 2. Can we be sure to keep this in mind when giving updates for Sims 4? Thank you, Bri for keeping this going.

I will do so then Pam; however, to be fair, the comparisons to the Sims 2 were actually in the various SimGurus' words, not mine.  I admit I didn't put the full quote in the last post, but that has since been rectified. 

However, I will also try to elaborate, where necessary, in the future for when the comparison is to the Sims 2. 

[Bri]

Not really news, just the Sims 4 Team wishing people a Happy 4th of July (a holiday for those in the U.S.)

What is your Sim grilling this 4th of July? #TheSims4

(Source:  The Sims Twitter)

[Bri]

Just a little bit of information from some questions people asked in the discussion thread, and these are the best answers I can find.

If you want families on other lots to drastically change, you will have to micromanage them:

If you want unplayed families to continue beyond their current generation you'll need to try for a baby with them or play as them.

(Source:  SimGuruGraham)

This is as much information as I can find on Story Progression.  At the moment, there really isn't a lot of information:

Yes&no. There is Auto Aging that you can turn on&off. If NPC Sims die new Sims move in. But it doesn't work exactly like TS3

(Source:  SimGuruSarah)

As for whether time passes for other lots or not, the best info I come up with is from a video interview SimsVIP did with SimGuruGraham.
(Source:  The Sims 4:  E3 SimsVIP Interview w/SimGuruGraham)
Additionally, SimsVIP put up a transcript of their interview with SimGuruGraham:  Transcript of E3 SimsVIP Interview w/SimGuruGraham
 
To summarize, people on your home lot will still age, even if they are at work or wherever.  However, generally time doesn't pass for the other lots, not unless you enable Aging for the whole world.  However one part of the transcript does imply you may be able to fine tune some of the aging:

The entire world can age, that's an option and that'll all happen no matter if you're loaded there or not, they're going to continue to age. Now, let's see, I do wanna clarify something, because we do support that rotational gameplay now. The difference there between played households and NPC households? Played households are families that you have played so I can jump between my household and another household and they can both be aging if I want them to, or I can turn that back off, that's kind of where the distinction is.

Bear in mind this information may be different upon the Sims 4 release.

[Bri]

One way to run emotions:

SimGuruGrant had a series of comments on emotions that I am copying over here:

I want to share one of my favorite moments in The Sims 4. We call it the perpetual Emotion machine. Ingredients: 1 Good Sim + 1 Evil Sim.

This is going to take a few a few Tweets, so stick with me.

So, let's say you have an Evil Sim and a Good Sim near each other. The Good Sim becomes Sad, because she is in the presence of Evil.

Because the Good Sim is Sad, the Evil Sim becomes Happy. He loves being around the misery of others!

But, Good Sims love it when those around them are happy. So, the Good Sim is Happy that the EVIL Sim is Happy.

This can be even more hilarious as you mix up other Traits, like Family Oriented, or Hates Children.

I'm feeling frisky. You guys want to know one more of my favorite emotional moments?

The Musical instruments in our game are just awesome. Very tied to Emotional gameplay. Let's say a Perfectionist is learning the Violin.

When the Perfectionist first starts, she's TERRIBLE. Because she expects the best from herself, she's suddenly Embarrassed. Wants to hide.

She isn't the only one who is disappointed! Other Sims around her? They also hate her music. The screeching of the strings makes them Tense.

Emotions matter. In some of our videos you see the goofy jokes that work in a video. Yeah. But, they make storytelling so much better.

(Source:  SimGuruGrant Twitter)

[Bri]

There is some pretty big news out today on the Sims 4 front.

The following content came from the The Sims News:

Hello Simmers,

We’re less than 60 days out from the launch of The Sims™ 4, and I have so much I want to talk about. But let me start with a bit more about the decision we made not to include pools and toddlers in The Sims 4, as we’ve seen some of you have concerns about this.

The fact is, we owe you a clearer explanation for why pools and toddlers will not be in The Sims 4 at launch, so here goes. It begins with new technology and systems that we built for this new base game for The Sims – a new AI system, new animation system, new audio positioning tools, new locomotion logic, new routing intelligence and much more are all entirely new in this game. The vision for The Sims 4 is a new experience that brings your Sims to life in deeper and uniquely personal ways – through emotions, personality traits, behaviors and interactions. To do that, our technology base needed a major upgrade.

So the bottom line is that when we sat down and looked at everything we wanted to do for this game, all the new tech we wanted to build into it, the fact was that there would be trade-offs, and these would disappoint some of our fans. Hard pill to swallow, believe me, but delivering on the vision set out for The Sims 4 required focus. Focus on revolutionizing the Sims themselves. So, rather than include toddlers, we chose to go deeper on the features that make Sims come alive: meaningful and often amusing emotions; more believable motion and interactions; more tools in Create A Sim, and more realistic (and sometimes weird!) Sim behavior. Instead of pools, we chose to develop key new features in Build Mode: direct manipulation, building a house room-by-room and being able to exchange your custom rooms easily, to make the immediate environment even more relatable and interactive for your Sim.
       
But now the upshot: The Sims 4 is a completely new game, and it feels different to play. You’ll notice the new technology base the first time you play.

I’ll give you one example that continually jumps out at me as we talk about how to make The Sims 4 feel uniquely personal to you, our players. I mentioned Create A Sim – which, to me, is still one of the single most impactful features of the entire game. Not only is it hilariously entertaining, now you’re building in real personality. In The Sims 4, there are seven unique walk styles that you can choose from to help your Sims express themselves. To make those walk styles come to life, we had to create around 75 distinct animations. And it doesn’t stop there. Every emotion in The Sims 4 comes with a visible reaction or even another special walk style. No more looking at the UI to figure out how your Sims are feeling – just look at their faces, posture, movements. That’s where you’ll see about 320 new emotion-based animations, as well as over 600 reactions to objects.

There’s so much more depth in The Sims 4. For the first time, the Sims act like real people. They can interact with groups, not just one-to-one. A standing Sim can talk with a sitting Sim. They can multi-task (eating, watching TV and talking? Sounds like my typical evening!). You can even put a hat on any hairstyle or pair boots with any pants… well, maybe that’s just me that cares about that.
       
That’s the thing about The Sims 4, though – you do care about things like that. Because you can now.  Emotions touch every single system in our game, and every single experience you have inside it. Multi-tasking completely changes how your Sims go through their day and interact with the world around them. The new Create A Sim and Build Mode tools completely changed the way we think about creating Sims and homes.

But let us show you this instead of just talking about it: The Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo will be available later this summer for absolutely everyone to play. We are currently rolling out an early trial experience and invitations are going out very soon to a limited number of fans to help us test it. After that, you’ll all get your hands on it and see firsthand the depth, personality and emotion that are part of your new Sims.

And another thing - we were thrilled that more than 1200 people came through our E3 demo room last month to see The Sims 4 in action, but we want all of you to see it as well. We’ll be releasing over 15 minutes of in-game Live Mode footage (with complete UI) in the next two weeks. We can’t wait to hear what you think.

So from the entire development team here at The Sims Studio, thank you for your feedback and support. Our hearts are being poured into every line of code, every single piece of art, and every single Sim that is created. We’re building a brand new Sims experience with a foundation we can build on and evolve based on your feedback. We think you’re going to love playing with life all over again.

Another bit of big news is that the Create-A-Sim will be free:

@SimGuruAzure  ·
The CAS Demo will be available for free. <3

(Source:  SimGuruAzure Twitter)