You know, I can remember, when I was a child, I found some website that made fun of the many expansions Sims games get and proposed such expansions as "The Sims: Mow the Lawn" and "The Sims: Do their Taxes"

Now, in 2020, this has become a reality, since they are seriously selling "The Sims: Vacuuming the Floor"

But will "preventing content droughts" give us the same sense of pride and accomplishment as "surprise mechanics" do?

Would these action kits like the dust busting one prove more damaging to mods than normal packs would? They might be wanting to use the same code?

Not a modder myself though.

If anything kits just go to show whatever “content drought” these people are referring to was intentional and they are full of shit.

I do miss TS3 days where releases where very consistent. 2 EPs a year until 2012 and 3 EPs a year, 2 SPs a year (except for 2012 where there were 3) and Store content monthly. There were no "content droughts." There was always an EP, SP, world or set/venue to look forward to.

If the content was actually good (like replayable and what not), TS4 would just be fine even with inconsistencies. How does the vacuum gonna "help (them) stop content droughts", as they explained why they started kits?

With every new addition to this game I find myself more and more content with the fact that I haven’t touched this game in months (probably closer to a year).

I’m waiting for the inevitable architecture kit (s).

Also, the Sims 3 store often had better content than the later stuff packs. I can’t even remember them all, but Movie Stuff was definitely useless.

I just want more contemporary inspired furnishings, honestly.

And it wasn't even close. I still don't understand how "Town Life" and "Movie Stuff" were released instead of "Futureshock" or "Ultra Lounge."

The Ultra Lounge Kitchen is stunning:


The Futureshock bedroom with a new special bed is amazing too:


"Animals Abound" would've been great as a Stuff Pack for kids/toddlers:



"Stäncké" is a personal favorite of mine, although it only has items for bedroom, office and living room:


If you're a builder, "BahHaus" is a MUST HAVE:

So they want to explain this "kit" behavior by using terms applicable to disasters? "Content Drought." The subconscious reasoning for it is understandable, I guess, (What with nigh on a year of Covid.). Perhaps now since they've set the mood, they can start addressing the "imagination famine" the game has long, long suffered. The ongoing "patch pestilence" that acts just as much as a sickness to our games as it is the attempts to be a cure. Jeez, makes it all sound like it's part of a war! The Four Horsemen cometh! Which perfectly explains the "war profiteering" prices they ask for these kits of doom and destruction. Yes, I see it all clearly now. Indeed, the egalitarian, humanist, pacifist inside my own subconscious will be avoiding these kits like the plague.

If a good architecture kit came out that's the one that I would buy. I love building. I only bought those in the Sims 3 store anyway. I'm not a fan of small objects cluttering surfaces in kitchens and suchlike as they got in the way of the game.

I succumbed to buying the kitchen kit for Sims 4 though and it's quite good. The only annoying thing about it is that it doesn't follow Snowy Escape in allowing clutter to be put under counters on the shelves. The overhead cabinets have a good variety that can be used anywhere.

There is a drought because there are still things I cannot effectively build.

For example: In the Sims 1, 2, and 3, I was able to build a diner that looked like a diner. I looked played and functioned like a diner. The aesthetic was there. Sadly, I cannot say the same in The Sims 1. Dine out does not adequately cover this aesthetic and the retro pieces aren’t intended to be used as a diner.

That is a small basic thing they’d have covered and move on from. Diner were introduced with restaurants in each game as well (EP3, EP2, and early in the The Sims 3 store). For bigger things, I still cannot have a business that is not retail, a restaurant, or a vet. Maybe I want an arcade? Movie theater. Amusement park? Country Club/Golf course? Nectary/Vineyard?

Where is the content? The ELEVATOR still doesn’t even open up. It’s sad.



Architecture is still an issue the base game didn’t ship with common item used in most homes. For example: If we got Colonial instead of (or in addition to) Double Gallery or Double Gallery.

Architecture made sense in TS3 & TS2’s Base Games. Both feature Colonial, Victorian, Mission, Bungalow/Craftsman, Mission, and Tudor. Lots of design styles could be made with these styles (especially combining Mission & Colonial) because their influence is seen in many other styles. TS4’s Base Game features Shotgun, Double Gallery, Mission, Modern, and now Moroccan. These styles are quite limiting to build with. A window or a door can get the job done, but it could be much better.

Yes, the "I Heart the 50s" set was introduced VERY early on in The Sims 3's life cycle (February 2010). I used this set with the Food Cash Register that came with World Adventures for the longest time to have a functional diner.



Yeah. TS2 did business so well it set the bar really high. The Sims 3 had a lot of cool businesses, but nothing as good as Open for Business. Resorts came close though. I do like that you can use that system to have all kinds of venues like a casino or a country club. In The Sims 3 you can own any community lot, upgrade it, and get weekly profits from it. That's a cool, hands-off approach to running a business without having to actually do anything. There's also multiple Store sets and mods to run all kinds of business. With the Bakery Store Set, you can even run a grocery store if you want.


That IS sad, but I don't think they'll be revisiting elevators in The Sims 4.



I feel like with the styles that came with the game + Create-A-Style you can do A LOT. You don't have to buy Laundry Day to get wicker items. Just grab an appropriate mesh and put a wicker pattern on it and that's it.

What is it about a classic diner you can not emulate in The Sims 4 that you could in the past games?

I've recreated a couple of lots from The Sims 1 Hot Date in The Sims 4, with the old diner aesthetic still in place. Of course, I had to download/make some CC. Is that the problem we're having here, that the aesthetic is available through CC only?



(Yes, the booths need work to match)

You had to download CC to get a diner. That’s the issue. CC should not be used to fill in gaps for a 6-7 year old game about life. I can download CC for a lot of things, but this is what the developers should be adding to the game, not CC creators.

A diner was only an example of what was missing: it was a no brainer for TS1, 2, and 3. Not sure how the boat was missed in TS4.

There a lot missing - mechanically, aesthetically, conceptually...

I see. I guess to me, CC has always been integral to my The Sims experience, and if there is something I want but is not in the official game, then I search for (or more recently, convert) CC for it.

I guess... I just don't see the lack of the classic diner aesthetic as too bothersome. There are plenty of aesthetics that EA creates in one game and then they are absent in the next game. Now, as you stated, it has been an aesthetic in every The Sims game, but, still, I am not too bothered by finding/creating CC for it. At least the restaurants are there. We waited half an eternity for restaurants in The Sims 3.

I suppose you mean non-rabbit hole restaurants, because the base game came with two types of restaurants: diner and bistro. You can eat inside (you don't see the Sim), or outside (you do see the Sim eating). And then when the first EP came along (World Adventures), we were able to build fully functional resturants using the Food Cash Register (sans the lack of waiters and chef).

Yeah, I'm not counting the rabbit hole restaurants. I never used the Food Cash Register, but that seems kinda... eh. I don't consider open restaurants to have been a thing until that bistro set was released on The Sims 3 Store, and that was really late in the game IIRC. And the feature is broken. I have always had problems with the NPC workers not showing up for their shifts, and thus the restaurant isn't functioning.

Anyway, this is off-topic.

Who knows, maybe you'll get your classic diner aesthetic from a Kit. (since restaurants are already a thing I can't see EA releasing it anywhere else. =/ And then it might be a Kit that requires a Game Pack kinda deal. but they could always just do it like TS3 Store pack mentioned last page, I guess)

This is off topic lol but to address that last point, TS3 never had an opportunity to have a diner build because it was a base game rabbit hole, unlike what happened in TS2.

Nightlife’s limited build/buy items made some for many very interesting lot designs. The usage of modern club motifs, a retro design for a bowling alleys, and items for an Irish pub style restaurant made for a great pack for builders, and it worked with the base game very well. The items blended so many and covered a variety of themes and could be used well together. Look at the vast amount of lot types they produced with a very smart allocation of versatile build items. We don’t see that type of design anymore in the game.

Get Together tried to do that, mixing Tudor & Modern but it didn’t always work. They still try that now, with an item here and a small set of things there in a pack, but it doesn’t work as well as it didn’t in Nightlife.

Wasn't there some kind of diner made for Sims 3? I haven't played it for years but remember a download that never worked for me properly. I'm not sure if it was a store item or not but I certainly had one.

ani_'s revamp of the Bistro set is amazing btw and I use it in every game

Yeah, the Business As Usual Bistro. EA never tried to make a restaurant because they were in the base game. For what it lacked in functioning restaurants, eateries could be made with the Buffet object in the base game, Food Register in World Adventures, or the Cafeteria Lot in Into The Future. TS3 has options but it’s not an actual RESTAURANT.

I only see the diner aesthetic returning in a pack about arcades or dating, and the only way to get food is from a food vendor.

That’s just a buzzword they throw around to ignore the actual problem with their packs. After a week or two people are over it, and they have a serious wait in store for another “big” pack. So they call it a drought.

I’m gonna agree that with 40 packs they aren’t in a literal drought, but when most of every single one of those packs is junky filler it’s not surprising players write that stuff off and want something else.

I’m personally sick of hearing how console players are victims for reason A B or C that usually revolve entirely around their inability to use mods or custom content. I can’t mod Leon’s magnum with infinite ammo on my Xbox but I’m not whining about that to people who can do it on their pc.

So I just thought of a reason why ea thinks the community would of been okay with this: patron. Alot of cc creators have one & they use range from 1$-5$ to get access. So, I guess these kits are ea’s version of that, it's still shitty this.

So apparently "Bust the Dust" is so broken/unbalanced even Yibs can't defend it:



I personally don't understand the logic behind "search for valuables." The LAST thing The Sims 4 needs is MORE ways to earn a lot of money without having to work an actual job. "What is the point of working in this game anymore!?" is the best thing James said and it couldn't be truer. It's already UNFATHOMABLY easy to get rich in The Sims 4, but with the "Dust the Bust" kit you pretty much have a money printing machine (except you don't face any consequences for using it). They even made it so the Dust Bunnies can find extremely rare collectibles from "Jungle Adventure." I think they didn't test how well this pack worked with all DLCs installed.