Horse Ranch Early Access Preview

Disclaimer: This article, in its entirety, has been written by TheNumbersWoman. The early-access software shown in this preview is not final, and may change before release.

Sul Sul Simmers!! So what everyone has been waiting for, Horses!, is coming to Sims 4. Thanks to the EA Creators Network we have a preview for you before the launch date. Thank you, EA, for letting us get an early look at this epic EP!

Chestnut Ridge

Let’s start with the world itself. The world has 3 sections and is based on a USA western State and Ranch Life. Before we go further let’s just confirm that horses can be in any world. They are not limited to Chestnut Ridge, and it has been confirmed if you own the vacation packs they can go on vacation with your sim. The only world they cannot go to, or be in, is Batuu. But really most will be worried about Cottage Living, am I right? I know I’m right! Well, yes, the answer is they can be in that world.

There are 2 starter homes, 2 empty homes under 25,000 Simoleons, and of course, some new residents.

There is a 50 x 50 lot in Galloping Gulch, but if you are a story player, and I know I am, do not bulldoze that park until you play through a little rabbit hole puzzle in a Cave Called Dreadhorse Caverns. While it’s not directly on the 50 x 50 lot, the lot adds to the ambiance. Dreadhorse Caverns is a puzzler in a rabbit hole. I don’t’ DO spoilers so that’s all I will say about it. Seek it out, it’s fun. You will walk through a small creek to get to it.

Gameplay & CAS

I bet you’re wondering about gameplay…of course you are! So let’s get into it shall we? We can start with the horses themselves.

In CAS you can make just about any combination you like. You can choose from several breeds or create a hybrid monster, which barely resembles a horse creation to a Fantasy Horse. Unfortunately for you all, I am a traditionalist. So, no weird freaked out barely horses here.

Much like pets (if you own that expansion) horses are customizable. I counted 35 different horse types you can choose and customize from there. Clicking on the head brings up the head details much like a sim.

As you can see, I couldn’t resist a little skeleton action there on the stencils. You can make pretty much any type of horse you want. 

Unicorns

Let’s talk unicorns, shall we? EA included an accessory so that you can make a “unicorn” however, this is not an occult sim. Kind of a cross between occult and normal. If you have a foal (baby horse) this accessory shows as a stump that grows once the horse becomes an adult. So, you can kind of have a unicorn, but it’s not genetic. Ctrl-shift-c cas.fulleditmode baby.

Moving on from…ahem…Unicorns, let’s talk about traits. Horses have a personality and as such have traits you can choose if you create a horse in CAS. Adopting a horse comes with its own traits predetermined.

You are going to want to be a bit careful because these traits determine the horse’s temperament. Things like how fast you and your horse bond, how they treat you in the saddle. Will the horse throw you off? Yes, that happens. Your Sim might also dislike or be scared riding horses after being thrown a few times. If this happens, they will not ride a horse.

Now, since Sims 4 isn’t my only Jam, I have seen a load of in game horses and let me tell you EA did their homework. From mounting a horse to riding it’s as real as it gets in a game. Down to the sims little bottom bouncing in the saddle. The horses themselves mimic real life with a bit of Sim mixed in. However, overall they eat, walk, run, and do all things horse, like well….a horse. The interactions with a horse have normal sims things (talk, joke, whisper) but also horse maintenance.

Training & Toys

Let’s look at horse training and toys. Horses are happiest when they are training or playing and can get bored. When they get bored, they get really bored and mope around. Well, we all get bored when we have nothing to do, don’t we? So, let’s see what we have for them to do. 

All the interactions and horse care help in bonding the horse and your sims. I mean, who doesn’t want a horse bestie? We should all have one.

Talking with your horse at least daily assures you have a happy horse. Horses have personalities and quirks. Things like rolling on the ground are common. 

You can purchase a large horse ball for them to play with. They will throw it in the air and lay on top of it rocking back and forth. You can call your horse to come and play.

Barrel Racing and Showjumping are the 2 trainable interactions that are available. Be a bit careful because while your horse may get bored, training them until they drop can make them a bit testy. I know, I know, you want to level up fast. You’re one of THOSE people. Well, if you read this entire thing, I will be nice and leave some cheats at the end.

Barrel racing is based on American Rodeo Sport barrel racing. You will start slowly and eventually be able to run barrels. You can knock barrels over as you are training which will end the training session.

Showjumping is another sport you can train with your horse to do. Again, careful training is the best way to train. A little at a time. There is an English Saddle in the CAS option for horses.

If you cannot afford the equipment to train you can find loads around the world there are set up for free to train your horse. Horse competitions can make you money. (more about that in a bit) Galloping Gulch has plenty of places to train.

Toddlers can babble at horses but cannot ride. Which is probably better for the horse. I mean those tiny feet in the stirrups would annoy the heck out of me, let alone the horse. However, children CAN ride. The horse will accommodate the child by going to the ground so the child can get in the saddle. Children cannot do any jumps or barrels, only ride.

Foals

Let’s talk about foals. This should be short and sweet. I don’t like playing with baby anything :p. Anyway, you can get a foal by breeding or adopting, and they take the work of a baby needing socialization. If you adopt a foal and have an adult horse, then the adult horse becomes the surrogate Mom. Horses don’t seem to have a specific gender.

There is a new grass specifically for horses, goats and sheep called prairie grass. It’s worth it to plant some in the corral with the horses so they can snack. It can also be harvested to use to feed horses. You can hand feed fruit to your horses as well.

Now there is a load of pooing going on and for some reason I got obsessed with poo! It can be sold for fertilizer, but there is so much of it, like constantly. There isn’t enough time in MY day let alone the Sims day to deal with this poo-pooing going on. Even the town has a no pooing sign! Then there is the mucking out the stalls. You must clean the horse’s bedding!

What to do. What to do! Well, we have the answer. Hire a Ranch Hand. A ranch hand will come and take care of the feeding, mucking the stalls, taking care of goats and sheep and picking up the poo! You can call on the phone, hit the community board up, or use a computer to hire a ranch hand.

Although I did find the maid also picked up poop. Told you I was obsessed!

There is an advantage to poo. You can sell it as fertilizer. Premium poo brings in the Simoleans let me tell you. You could make a living off poo!

Moving on (and washing my hands) to the rest of our horse business……

You can adopt a horse from the main hub in the downtown area (middle of the map). This is a rabbit hole building where you can also have competitions, win prizes and awards.

This building is in the “downtown” area of the middle of the map.

You can also train your horse downtown if you really don’t want to. But let’s talk about that, really? I mean it’s a HORSE pack. Train your own horse. Where’s the fun if you don’t do it yourself? The stuff in this pack will not only be limited to this world. Including the horses.

Horse breeding is possible, but I didn’t get that far in the pack. All horses can be sold. One word of caution though……The more horses, the more work in game. You could easily get caught up in only doing horses. I found a happy balance in having 2 horses, or no more than one per sim (older than child). 

Horses do have lifespans. But dead doesn’t have to be the end for you and your horse. The afterlife for a horse is much like life except you can’t corral them. Locking a gate for a normal horse keeps them in their pens. With a ghost horse, well, it is a ghost you know.

Unlike Cottage Living, you can build your own horse stalls or horse barn. Just use the buyable bed for each horse (not one for all) so they can sleep. Be sure to muck the beds if you have not hired a ranch hand as I talked about a bit above. Horses will make friends or dislike each other.

Horses will run off so lock the gate. You can call them to you, and they will come, the times you must call depends how far they went. If you don’t take care of the horses the Agency will come to get them.

Well, we have spoken about horses about as much as we can here. That they are awesome is what I can leave you with.

Sheep & mini goats

Moving on, goats and sheep. To be clear MINI goats and MINI sheep. Cute, really cute. You can buy mini goats and mini sheep by calling the exchange from other worlds or in Chestnut Ridge the community board will work. So will the arena.

These are the cutest little creatures I have ever seen. The bouncing they do is hilarious. 

Goats and sheep will interact with all horses on the lot. They can become “friends” with your horse. The little ones will hang out with the horses and use their beds to sleep. They don’t have their own beds. Since we only test with base game and the new pack I cannot tell you if pets’ beds will work for them. I would imagine not.

Again, words of caution, they are so cute that you may want 20 of the little things and become a goat/sheep hoarder. They take work and even with a ranch hand too many is too many. Don’t become the goat lady. 

How do I know this, you ask? I couldn’t leave the ranch. Look at this poor dirty little thing.

Poor little thing. So, after rehoming (selling) a few animals they became a bit more manageable. I kept 2 goats and one sheep. Well, to be fair, I had about 8. Eight total goats and sheep and 3 horses. With one adult in the house. I went into this with gusto!

You can do a variety of things to make money on a ranch. Selling poo (I know here we go again with poo), milking goats or shearing sheep. I find it a little unfortunate that you can’t keep goats’ milk for maybe goats milk cheese, but I’ll take the Simoleons.

Interacting with the goats and doing social interactions has benefits. There is an interaction to help gardening, however, I didn’t have enough time to make my little ones want to help during this early play through. They can be quite ornery! Don’t pick them up until you have made friends. You may be sorry! You will be able to bottle feed the little cuties. 

Mini goats and mini sheep do not reproduce, but they do age.

So you may ask the question, “can these animals interact with other packs animals”? The answer to that is YES! Yes they will. Horses will also react to weather if you have Seasons, they can be scared of thunder and hate getting wet. 

If you have Cats and Dogs, you will not be able to call a vet for a horse. Vets are pack specific to Cats and Dogs.

Nectar

Now we’re going to talk about the new nectar making activities that come with this pack. There are many varieties of nectar you can make. A nectar making “machine” and some new nectar storage containers.

If you own other packs like Vampires, Werewolves, and Realm of Magic you will have even more recipes. As with everything sims you must practice to up your skills. Having a garden now serves another purpose. You can make nectar out of different fruits, herbs, and if you are lucky, you can find and make friends with Roberto Crinkletop to get a special nectar recipe to raise the dead.

I decided to go in with my sim and have her make some, pushing her bare little tootsies into the fruit. I used grapes to start off with and basically, they do smash the fruit without shoes. And oopsy! She tripped. Nectar flying all around. Embarrassing, really embarrassing.

Me and my sim (because of course I had to click on it, so I helped) made several different types of bottles of nectar. Aging the nectar makes it more valuable when you need to sell it. The best place to age it is in the (you guessed it) basement. So, it’s worth building a basement if you wish to go into the nectar making business.

The Nectar Boxes are stackable so that you can fill a wall with places to store your nectar.

Events

Now on to events. There are 2 new events you can have to party hardy with your Simmies.

Both can have goals, but I’m a wuss so I just unticked the goals bit to see how they went. 

• Ranch Gathering: Enjoy some Ranch Music, Cowpoke Dancing, Grilling, and Nectar drinking with neighbors.
• Ranch Animal Day: Bring Sims together to enjoy your animals.

There is a new country station for the radio called Ranch Music. A new dance called the Cow Poke. I set my sim on the dance floor to practice before her big shindig. Yah Hooo!

So here I am, having my shindig, happily talking to everyone and meeting new people being new to the neighborhood and WHAT happens? Before I can even start dancing BOOM, some old lady I hadn’t met yet dies on me. At my party. My first ever party in this neighborhood. I mean, these Sims don’t even know me yet! How embarrassing. But seriously, the Grim Reaper came to my rescue and after the body was gone, he got right in there and got everyone dancing again! Thank you Grim! You are a lifesaver.

Both events are ranch style events even though you can have them anywhere. 

Downtown

Downtown there is a general store where you can buy things like flour, sugar and needful things. HINT: This store is important for the cave I mentioned at the beginning.

Base Game Update

 So what’s included in the base game update?

More East Asian facial features

Three hairstyles inspired by Native American styles

Three Sisters Chili: If you are into plants, the concept of “three sisters” is worth looking up!

A version of “Simple Single-Panel Door” that includes ranch-friendly woods and paints.

Ceilings that you can customize!

Ceilings

Let’s talk about the ceilings! We will be able to paint the ceiling any floor tile you have by using a tool in build to do it. Grateful for that one. I think a load of people will be grateful for it.

Community Jobs

There are some off property ways to make some extra money specific to the pack. 

Through the Ranch Community Board, Sims can take on Community Jobs such as training a neighbor’s Horse. Some require a Horse (like to haul hay) or Mini Goats (grazing a neighbor’s field) or Mini Sheep (being in a kid’s party). Some pay more with higher Horse Skills.

Conclusions

That about wraps things up except to answer some questions about the game and show the new goodies. Oh, wait. I did say if you read this, I would give you some cheats. Let’s see now…

Cheats

Nectar Making:

• stats.set_skill_level AdultMinor_RanchNectar 5

Horse Riding:

• stats.set_skill_level AdultMajor_EquestrianSkill 10

Courtesy of onlyabidoang

For horses

Temperament

• stats.set_skill_level Horse_Temperament 10 [SimID]

Agility

• stats.set_skill_level Horse_Agility 10 [SimID]

Jumping

• stats.set_skill_level Horse_Jumping 10 [SimID]

Endurance

• stats.set_skill_level Horse_Endurance 10 [SimID]

Note: SimID is a bunch of numbers that is unique for each sim, including horses. To get a horse’s ID, use this cheat (without brackets):

• sims.get_sim_id_by_name [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]

Build/Buy

Clothing & Hair

TSR VIP Questions (taken from our Discord)

Is there specific horse breeds or is it just gonna be generic horses?

You will be able to make any horse your little heart desires! Doesn’t even have to be a specific breed.

Will unicorns actually be a thing or is it just an accessory?

It’s not just an accessory, but it’s also not genetically possible to have one. The unicorns are created by specific “extra” thing when you click on the head. Foals will have a stump and when they grow up it will be a horn. They won’t be occult sims.

Will we be able to build our own barns, or are we stuck with whatever they’ve got like the stuff in cottage living?

You will be able to make your own barns and stalls anyway you please. Just like building a house. I strongly suggest a fence around it.

Is it going to have a different currency like many of the other EP’s (Star wars etc…)?

Nope, Simoleans all the way.

Are we getting ceiling paint? And if so how many?

As stated, ceilings can be any floor tile, just click on the new ceilings tool.

How will the riding work? Is it open world for only one world or will it be just the horse teleports you to places? Can you call the horse to come you? Will we have magical horses?

Ok, so it is open for riding in any world you choose. You can ride all over the world on your horse and can take it places. The horse has a call back option, and no, no magic horses.

Can horses drink from pond ? Will they count like a member of the household like dogs ?

Horses do not drink from ponds. But they do count like a dog does and it’s sort of like having a pet.

Unlike cows or lamas, will they have a personality ?

Yep.

This article was written by TheNumbersWoman, curtesy of the EA Creator Network. Software shown in this preview is not final and may change before release.