Maxis showed off The Sims 4’s emotion based gameplay alongside new character and home customization options.
One of the trickiest parts of being a fan of The Sims franchise is figuring out just how substantial the changes made in new iterations really are, and if they’re worth abandoning the features being left behind. After all, if you love your current Sims game, why would you leave it for one that potentially changes a mechanic you enjoy? Speaking at GamesCom today however, Maxis’s Rachel Franklin tried to shed light on what new elements The Sims 4 will bring to the table and why fans should be excited for its arrival.
According to Franklin, The Sims 4 will feature “emotion-based gameplay.” From what was shown during her presentation, this would seem to mean broadening the complexity of a Sim’s emotions and what can affect them. In a sequence narrated by Franklin two male Sims, vying for the attention of a female Sim, are affected both by the player’s guidance and their surroundings. The two male Sims are able to manipulate each others’ emotional states through in-game actions, effecting how the female Sim responds to them. Similarly, the decor of the female Sim’s house has an affect on their feelings. A suggestive painting of a woman riding a rocket, for instance, amplifies the chemistry between the female Sim and her chosen suitor, leading them from friendly flirting to…other stuff.
The presentation also showed off new character and home customization options that should greatly diversify how players craft their Sims and the buildings they live in. The Sims 4 will allow players to click on specific areas of a Sim’s body that they can then precisely modify to their tastes. Likewise, home building is being made easier with new drag and drop options that will allow players to relocate rooms at will if they don’t like the current layout of a building. Franklin’s presentation was reiterated (pretty much verbatim) by a video released by Maxis following the presentation. The Sims 4 is set for release in 2014.
Source: Kotaku
