“Sims”, literally translates to simulation. Trust me, I expected something more complicated than that! The 4th instalment of the Sims franchise, Sims 4, was released in North America on September 2, 2014, and in other places worldwide shortly thereafter. Like the previous games in the series, Sims 4 focuses on creating a virtual neighbourhood and in this particular instalment, they’ve introduced more interesting human complexities, emotions,  traits and physical appearances.

In my (plain, honest, candour) understanding, The Sims is a life simulation video game that allows the audience to feel more engaged and to view themselves in perfect light, away from the awful or not so awful lives they lead. In the  Sims 4, the player can create homes through the Build Mode. The Sims 4 designer John  Berges, while talking about the new Build Mode, said he was inspired by “playing with blocks as a kid”. He later proceeded to add that he wanted “everyone who was playing the Sims 4, to be building in the Sims 4”. To give the credit where it is due, Sims 4 is impressively detailed. He has added new architectural details, wherein the players, while building these homes, can create a plan or pre-design their homes making it essentially more personalised and satisfying. These buildings can be erected with enough ease, so much so that even the base foundation of their homes can be elevated by a couple of inches, as and how the player wants it.  

I found myself googling what Sims 4 was and I realised that it had first come into being with the Sims back in 2000, which is almost 20 years ago. The designers had to be absolutely brilliant to come up with something like this. A community solely created by the audience that allowed control over people’s minds and bodies and even their hearts which happened to be an additional feature of Sims 4.  

Sim-lish is the language spoken by the people of the Sims Nation. Yes, it has an official language.  

Sims 4 – Transmedia Storytelling, And Large Audience Engaging Platforms 

Transmedia storytelling is a story that’s systematically told across multiple media platforms for a kind of integrated effect. Transmedia Storytelling enables the audience to build a deeper understanding of the larger story world, as they continue to engage with the different elements of the story. Transmedia storytelling is the appropriate use of different technologies to disseminate the story to a wide range of audience around the world. A fiction, with these elements, allows the audience to build a deeper understanding and get the feeling of belonging somewhere. They enthusiastically engage with these elements and create new ‘theories’ around it, mainly to feel like they’re a part of this fictional universe.  

The Sims 4 is a video game developed by the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The player is building fantasy fiction story worlds in video game design. Worldbuilding is the art of creating a fictional world or a universe.  Authors, filmmakers, video game designers build fictional worlds in which to engage readers, viewers and players in constructing and building meaning and relevance with the stories they’re telling. 

While these individuals create their stories and personalities, they also have to pay attention to how the other players are gonna react to it.  

The Sims 4 is exceptionally popular as there’s so much they can do. Multitasking, when they’re creating and designing their homes, makes it more engaging. It allows them to experience certain things – looking and feeling a certain way, having a certain job, leading a fairly stable life- anything that isn’t for real, that isn’t their truth. Interested in fashion?  Well, you can create your own style using the Gallery feature. You can also make, remake and make over all the Sims using the CAS feature, just how you want!  “Gamers don’t have a life, we have thousands”, said one enthusiast. You can lead additional lives, all of the fragments of your imaginations and fantasies.  “Feels like we have extra fantasy lives and it lets us live and possibly ‘real’ life we want in so many different configurations, and with good humour and a sense of fun but still allows for a level of surreal experience to augment it from the reality”, said another.  

It has also faced serious backlash by some. The CAS (the physical part where you create a sim), deciding the appearance of the sim is an excellent feature but some say that the characters lack intense personality traits. Another issue is the lack of difficulty. “Fires don’t get out of control. The emotional deaths are just silly. Why can’t our sims lose all their money in the business career for investing poorly? Why can’t doctors be sued for malpractice? Every career should have a minor and major set back that could happen if you perform poorly. I want a chance of unexpected failure or set back in my sim’s lives.”,  one said.  

Despite all, negative PR is still effective, so it’s safe to conclude that the Sims 4 is a grand success, all in all. 

Also check out our latest updates!

Halo Vs. Call Of Duty, This Went Seriously Real!

Gaming Leagues In India 2020

In Case You Missed It, Facebook Has A Gaming App Too

The post Sims 4 – A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood? appeared first on Yodoozy®.