For Sims 4 newbies, here’s what you need to know.
Sims 4 can feel daunting at times when it comes to getting started. In the latest and most detailed edition of The Sims, there’s a lot to get to grips with, whether you’re a first timer or returning veteran.
Here are some guides to get you started making money in The Sims 4. We have a collection of cheats for Sims 4 if you’re looking for shortcuts right away. Check out some general Sims 4 beginner tips and tricks to guarantee success if you’re a first time Simmer.
Physical Appearance of your Sim
When you’re given free reign to design your character, this is usually the most time-consuming part of the game, but if your household consists of people you know, such as characters from John Carpenter’s 80s movies or staff from online gaming magazines, then the process will be somewhat easier.
You can customize the name, sex, age group, gait, pitch and tone of your Sim’s voice, and the relationship between your Sim and other Sims in the same household using the top left panel. It’s a random avatar, so if you want to change its appearance, just click on whatever part of the body you want to change to bring up the next menu.
After selecting a body part, click and drag to amend the size of the selected body part. All of the features have a number of pre-set sizes to choose from. Large body parts such as legs, arms, etc. can also be clicked and dragged. After extensive grabbing, pushing, and pulling, it seems that the crotch is the only part of the body where this does not apply.
In the right panel, you can prepare outfits for your Sim for 5 different occasions, which they will change into at the appropriate time. Unless you decree it, giant hotdog outfits won’t appear at formal affairs.
Sim Personality Creation
The next step is to imbue our chosen vessels with a variety of character traits that will make them feel personal. They can then be deliberately at odds with other household members for a bit of excitement, or they can complement them perfectly to avoid conflict. Drama comes from appliances blowing up and rogue flames from an open fire.
Our journey begins with the mysterious hexagons adorned with equally mysterious question marks. Your Sim’s lifelong goal is represented by the large one on the left. Deliberating over it will not cause a hernia, so don’t worry.
Ten categories are available, but you’ll need to narrow it down from their subsets. When you select an Aspiration, you’ll receive a bonus trait. Love Aspirations grant the Alluring bonus trait, increasing the success of Sims in romantic situations.
Adult Sims can choose 3 traits from 4 categories. We have 9 Emotional traits, 6 Hobby traits, 11 Lifestyle traits and 9 Social traits. Sims will behave and desire differently based on these choices, which will affect their compatibility. Domestic drama is most likely to occur in households containing good and evil Sims, as well as neat Sims living with messy Sims.
Sims are also affected by their environment and what goes on around them. If there’s a mess around, a neat Sim will be unhappy. As slob Sims make things dirtier faster than Sims without the slob trait, their dynamics differ from any other combination. Simply pairing up the right personality types together should lead to all sorts of interesting scenarios. Think of it as a domino effect between what upsets a Sim and what makes it happy.
The Sims 4: Building and Buying a House
You can move your Sim into a house so they can find jobs, meet people, or be entombed in a box room with orange juice in the fridge, no toilet, windows on every vertical surface, and no door.
Your choice is whether you will move them into Willow Creek or Oasis Springs, into a vacant house (furnished or unfurnished) or onto an empty plot of land. If you have the cash and a mean streak, you can evict existing residents and move in on their turf.
From the World Select screen, you can visit residents or establishments in a different neighbourhood and see vacant houses, empty plots, and places for your Sim to mingle.
If you’re running out of ideas, you can build from the ground up using preset ‘styled’ rooms. With the top icon, you can view exterior items by clicking on the corresponding areas on the house, i.e. walls, doors, roofs. You shouldn’t get too bogged down scrolling through furniture options.
It’s inevitable that your household will split or merge at some point. You can switch between the 2 neighbourhoods, view the options for the lots or choose the Household Management tab from the top right panel to make changes to your current household by selecting Manage Worlds in the menu. Newlyweds can form their own families, enemies can sulk in their own neighbourhoods, or you can spread your Sims out like a virus.
Sims 4 Secrets
Secret areas are hidden in each neighbourhood, accessible through certain actions and questions. By navigating the perilous text boxes correctly, you’ll be rewarded with verdant, pink forests and crystalline-illuminated mines where you can catch frogs. Maybe some fish to sell.
Oasis Springs’ Forgotten Grotto
After your Sim spawns in Desert Bloom park, move the camera straight up and left of the picnic area to find an abandoned mine entrance. In order to break down the entrance boards, your Sim’s Handiness skill must be maxed out (level 10). Encourage them to buy and read books about handiness and to repair things around the house.
When your Sim is a DIY god, send them to the mine and choose the answers:
- Take the wide path
- Climb the ladder
- Step onto the ledge
Willow Creek Sylvan Glades
Visit Crick Cabana in Willow Creek, then select view from the gnarly tree on the right. Continue until a door appears. Choose the following answers when it appears:
- Follow the sound
- Follow downstream
- Enter the mist
Make sure they’ve been to the toilet before embarking on these escapades.
