Yomoshoto National Stadium - NO CC

Watching the World Cup really made me want to make a football lot of some sort, and despite its scale and $1M+ pricetag, this stadium came together astonishingly fast. So, hopefully any of you who have been similarly inspired to turn your Sims into footballers or spectators at a World Cup-level event can enjoy a timely upload with this football stadium!

I wanted a vaguely East Asian / global urban feel to this, to differentiate it from my earlier stadium projects, as well as potentially being part of my efforts to “urbanize” a possible Far East vacation destination using my Mt. Hyaltitoud terrain map. I tried to make sure this lot would have a little more for Sims to actually do besides just being decoration too though. So, in addition to the football pitch itself being functional at both ends, you’ll also find an arcade, a noodle bar, and a team merch shop on the concourse close to the front of the lot, as well as a bar in one of the skyboxes at the end of the pitch. I also made sure there are a number of restrooms accessible at multiple location throughout the lot, smaller VIP boxes at midfield (one side is standard couches, the other has in-floor Jacuzzis) and a much larger VIP box in the other skybox. If you choose to play this from a more “professional” standpoint, you’ve also got fully-equipped team locker rooms on the far side of the lot, and an operations nerve center in the center of the arch over midfield, just above the jumbotron.

The stadium seating and staircase towers necessitated there being two dummy levels, so elevators unfortunately can’t work from the ground floor, but I did make sure routing would generally work, and I think it’s about as good as can be hoped on a lot of this size. I also tried to minimize the NPCs generated (something I swear I’m trying to get better at considering!), so this should only generate three NPCs (Noodle shop chef, merch shop cashier, and skybox bartender). It’s still a large lot (5x5 and $1M+ total lot value), but much of it is just empty space or the 1,104 seats (by my calculations) that make up the stadium seating, so hopefully there’s not too many things to confuse your visiting Sims. Most of the stadium seating is also actually accessible- the only exceptions are the seats that are at the very front of a stage, which will still lead to foot-stomping if you try to direct Sims to sit there.

As always, playtesting and screenshots were done on a clone of the lot, so the file as uploaded has never been occupied or visited by Sims, and should be clean of any unwanted Sim references.

I think that covers all the main points I wanted, so if that’s all you’re looking for, you should be able to drop this open-air stadium right into your downtown and start playing. Of course for those of you who want more scene-setting though, I’ve included my usual storytelling vignette alongside a few screenshots below!



I always feel like there’s a special quality to the atmosphere inside Yomoshoto Stadium when it’s empty. Of course, most people are interested in coming when the floodlights are blazing, when the noodle shops and arcades along the concourse are open, and when our team is playing on the pitch to the roar of thousands of fans. And of course I enjoy those moments too, but I also enjoy these moments. There are no games scheduled here now, everyone’s attention is focused on the World Cup on the other side of the globe, but the grass here is cool and green under the dimmed lights, and the silence has its own power, making the huge empty space feel almost like standing in a temple.

Even earlier today, the stands had already been empty aside from a few other workers and groundskeepers like me, repairing broken seats in some of the upper levels, or tending to the audio equipment or lighting systems in the operations center high over the pitch. I spent most of my day tending to the irrigation that keeps the playing surface green and healthy, and finishing a few minutes later than the others though. And now, it seems as though I have the stadium to myself.



I could leave now, my work for the day is finished, and the thought of the noodle bar on my way home has been tempting me all afternoon. Still, smiling slightly to myself, I walk out onto the center of the pitch, slowly turning in place and looking up at the thousands of empty seats. Even dimmed to minimum power, the spotlights still give a special feeling to that spot in the center of everything. I was never a skilled footballer, even as a child, and those days are long behind me now, so I never had any realistic hope of standing there during a game, but I still enjoy the sensation of standing on that grass, imagining the roar of the crowd.

After a moment’s indulgence, I turn towards the gates, only to realize I’m not alone. A young boy in an oversized national jersey, not more than 10 years old, is standing near the gates beneath the skybox, looking onto the pitch with longing, clearly imagining his own version of athletic triumph and glory, just like I had been. He startles when I see him though, and gives a small hurried bow in apology before running back out to the street. By the time I leave the pitch and lock the gates behind me, he’s long gone.



The next morning, I spend a few moments commiserating over the World Cup with one of my coworkers as we get our tools for the day. Neither of us had really expected our team to make it far in the knockout stage, but still, it was a disappointment to see in the news this morning that they had been eliminated in the first round. He joked that maybe they’ll start recruiting new players for the next Cup soon, and he’ll have a chance to try out. Then, of course, he complains good-naturedly about the ‘grievous insult’ I’ve given him when I laugh and suggest his chances are as good as mine, and point out how mine are terrible.

Much of my morning is spent tending to the green walls above the stadium’s main entrance, instead of the grass of the pitch itself for a change. Yomoshoto was one of the first automakers to sell electric cars in SimNation when the whole push for ‘going green’ began, and as part of that push they decided to add green walls to many of their buildings here as well, so two panels on the front of the upper concourse are now filled with climbing vines and leafy bamboo stalks instead of just green paint. I appreciate the concept, though it is difficult to keep the plants there happy, high up in the city center like this. Still, working up here gives me a breeze, and I can smell the salty air from the harbor instead of just the smells of the streets crowded with office workers down below.



A few days later I once again manage to find myself possibly the last groundskeeper to leave the stadium at the end of the day, preparing for our national team’s official homecoming in a few days’ time. There are still lights on in some of the upper boxes as others are finishing preparations, but I’m just finishing putting away a few of my tools. I’m already wondering whether I might still be able to catch the second half of one of the Round of Sixteen games at one of the nearby noodle bars when I again feel that sensation of not being alone. I turn to see the young boy once again staring into the stadium. This evening his eyes are drawn up to the circle of lights surrounding the jumbotron over the center of the pitch, and he doesn’t notice me approaching until I’m fairly close. He nearly jumps out of his skin, and once more tries to bow in apology, but I stop him with a smile, opening the gate and gesturing him onto the pitch.

He walks slowly, treating the grass as almost a sacred site. It seems like he’s almost too nervous to step over the touchline, so I tell him it’s alright, and then quickly pull open one of the equipment lockers nearby, grabbing a spare ball. I give it a kick towards him- my aim isn’t great, but the ball at least makes it near him at the top of the penalty box. He stops the ball with a lot more skill than I have, so I gesture towards the open net waiting under the lights ahead of him. I don’t even have to encourage him this time- the boy takes a few running steps and then makes a perfect penalty kick, high in the top right, just inside the post.

I start to clap, but before I can, I hear another quiet round of applause from up above somewhere. The boy and I both look up, and in the skybox over the goal there’s a man silhouetted against the spotlights, clapping for a few moments more. He then stops and bends into a respectful bow, and with the change in angle I can recognize the right forward from our national team. My young friend is still standing, just staring up at this star footballer in awe. Then I see the man reach down and pull something large out of his bag, tossing it forward to land on the pitch in front of us. As it bounces on the grass, I recognize an official World Cup match ball, and it’s clear the boy recognizes it as well. He picks it up reverently, and then remembers his manners, bowing deeply. The footballer smiles, and from the look on the boy’s face it’s clear that this moment will last forever. In another few years, maybe he too will get the chance to stand under the full glare of those lights, and show his skills in front of a stadium filled with cheering fans.