The Sims 4‘s upcoming enlargement pack, Journey Awaits, has all types of recent options that I might like to mess around with: summer time camp for youths, useful health club tools, the return of Imaginary Associates, and maybe most fun, a actuality TV-style competitors operate that enables Sims to compete towards one another for cash, bragging rights, and even love. The Journey Awaits launch trailer even exhibits off a Getaway lot referred to as “Love Highland,” an apparent reference to the hit actuality TV present Love Island.
On paper, this enlargement pack is completely my kind. However given my latest experiences with The Sims 4, I am beginning to really feel a bit mugged off, and I get chilly toes once I take into consideration choosing up one more enlargement pack that will or might not really work as marketed.
The final time I sat down with The Sims 4, I had a grand previous time exploring every little thing the sport’s most up-to-date DLC, Enchanted by Nature, needed to supply. However the day after I might printed my ideas on the latest DLC, issues instantly began falling aside. First, my Sim’s pals got here by her house for a pool occasion, however the festivities had been shortly derailed by the return of the White Cake bug, a difficulty that causes any Sims with free will on the lot to raid the closest fridge and begin making (however by no means really end) White Cake. My Sim’s complete kitchen was coated in half-baked pans of White Cake, and I ultimately needed to disband the occasion and ship everybody house. Did I point out that each time somebody raided the fridge, my Sim’s checking account was charged for the components? Pretty.
However like many Simmers, I’ve handled the White Cake bug earlier than. It disappeared at one level, and I may play the sport sans cake-based chaos, however the bug is now again with a vengeance. It seems to be linked to the Eco Life-style enlargement pack, which permits gamers to pick sure initiatives that can lower their eco footprint after they carry out sure actions (like cooking). I figured it was finest to maintain guest-Sims off the lot, since my fairy-Sim couple had a pair of new child twins to take care of anyway.
Moments later, I seen I could not get my Sim-couple to work together romantically in any respect anymore. I used to be baffled. The 2 of them had been new dad and mom who had just lately gotten engaged, however I could not get them to even kiss one another on the cheek. Upon opening Create-A-Sim (CAS), I found that by some means, my Sims’ relationship had modified from romantic companions to siblings, and tweaking their relationship in CAS did nothing. A bit googling revealed that this, too, is a typical bug, and it has been round for at the least two years. I ultimately managed to right their relationship label, however I needed to utterly reset my Sims and erase their relationship utilizing the MC Command Middle (MCCC) mod, which is the one mod I exploit. I spent the remainder of the afternoon speedrunning their romance, earlier than lastly repairing their relationship and logging off for the night time.
EA just lately added a “DLC disabler” to The Sims 4, which permits gamers to selectively disable any DLC packs they do not need to use for no matter purpose. Whereas this feels like an answer to my Eco Life-style White Cake bug downside, it is actually not. Disabling the Eco Life-style pack may repair the bug, however it might additionally stop me from utilizing any of the outfits, hairstyles, equipment, furnishings, and Construct Mode gadgets included in that pack. Even worse, many gamers have reported that utilizing the DLC disabler has completely corrupted years-old save information, so I am not eager on touching it. Then again, some DLC packs can corrupt your save file, so frankly, I am not eager on touching the sport itself, both.
EA has addressed the save file points — notably, it was addressed by way of the EA Assist Boards versus any official Sims 4 social media web page, the place most Sims 4 information is shared — however gamers are nonetheless having points, particularly with enlargement packs like For Hire (launched in Dec. 2023) and Excessive Faculty Years (launched July 2022). Personally, I’ve additionally had fairly a little bit of hassle with the Cottage Dwelling DLC (launched July 2021) — it doesn’t matter what I do, I can not submit a pie for judging on the Finchwick Honest. In order excited as I’m on the prospect of attending to play out a Love Island-style state of affairs with my Sims, I am unable to say I am notably assured that I will really have the ability to have interaction within the actions Journey Awaits is bringing to the sport, not to mention take pleasure in them.
As a lifelong Sims fan, the introduction of the DLC disabler seems like a little bit of a slap within the face. Disabling a DLC pack I paid for is not a remedy for The Sims 4′s issues, it is a band-aid. What this sport desperately wants is a recent begin, however since EA believes that releasing The Sims 5 would not be “player-friendly,” it seems to be like my solely possibility is to attend for EA to repair the boatload of bugs at the moment affecting The Sims 4, pray that Mission Rene lives as much as the hype, and anxiously await extra information on upcoming Sims competitor Paralives.
I hope I am fallacious about Journey Awaits, however since EA traditionally appears to take three to 5 enterprise years to handle game-breaking bugs (if it addresses them in any respect), I believe I will wait this one out, and let braver Simmers check the waters earlier than I get my coronary heart damaged by an enlargement that might introduce extra bugs, and will very effectively destroy my save utterly.
