The Sims 4 rolls out three huge changes in new base game update
The Sims 4 has rolled out three significant changes in its latest base game update, which is free for all players.
The newest patch, coinciding with this week's launch of the For Rent expansion, sees tweaks that improve gameplay immersion, including one that has been hugely requested by the community for years.
Arguably the most notable addition is that sinks can now be assigned a type, with the options being Kitchen, Bathroom, or All.
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In the past, Sims would use any sink to do the dishes. That includes moments where they would autonomously go to the bathroom to wash up — even if there was a spare sink in the kitchen to use, and even if somebody was already using the bathroom.
This should happen no more, as Sims should now only use sinks that you have marked "Kitchen" (or "All") to do the dishes.
Another change that improves immersion is the fact that Sims can now take off shoes in the base game. This feature was previously exclusive to the Japan-inspired Snowy Escape expansion, but it always seemed strange that it was restricted to that one pack.
Back in 2020, we said in our Snowy Escape review: "Households around the world don't wear shoes indoors, and so it doesn't strike us as a feature that should be behind a paid expansion when inclusivity is such a core part of the game."
The team acknowledged this during last week's For Rent gameplay demonstration, with producer Rebecca Doyle saying: "We've pulled forward that no-shoes option from Snowy Escape. We've pulled that into the base game.
"On the base game shoe rack, you should be able to choose that for your Sims, because we felt like that was something that was a little bit broader culturally."
Simmers can turn on the no-shoes option via one of the shoe racks or, with For Rent, a no-shoes sign.
The third big addition is a feature that allows Simmers to switch control to a different household by clicking on their front door.
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For players who love to switch between different families, this is a nice quality-of-life change that means you won't have to back out to the Manage Worlds screen every time.
All of these changes can be enjoyed now, provided the latest update has been downloaded and installed.
For Rent, the game's latest expansion, adds landlord gameplay, the Residential Rental lot type, and Tomarang, a new Southeast Asian-inspired world.
The Sims 4 For Rent will be released on December 7 on PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox.
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