Inside Maxis Livestream and Patch Notes – April

Another day, another patch! Today’s patch is relatively small – mostly bug fixes, and some more of the recent and ongoing CAS content updates. A full list of updates and bug fixes can be found here.

If you have not seen today’s Inside Maxis & Sims 411 Livestream, you can replay it at anytime over on The Sims’ official Twitch channel.

Content Updates

The smaller “flat” afro has been revitalized – huzzah! Significant texture and silhouette improvements have resulted in a night-and-day difference for this particular style:

Lots of detail has been worked in – especially around the hairline, both front and back:

An entirely NEW hairstyle has also been added! Curls and volume for days!

Both hair updates are available for all genders/frames, as well as for toddlers, children, and adults.

Ongoing Issues

One of the biggest ongoing issues currently being investigated is general simulation lag. This results in:

• General lower FPS, and/or inconsistent drops in FPS
• Sims not responding to queued actions in a timely manner
• Sims frequently standing around, doing nothing
• Sims going to/arriving from scheduled events late (work, school, etc)

Some known factors that can affect this:

• Too many items in Sims’ inventories
• Too many items on a lot, or around your sim

It sounds like part of the problem may be a mix between routing calculations becoming too complex, combined with the sheer number of interactions available.

It is suggested that playing on a smaller lot, or in an emptier house can help resolve these issues until the actual solution is found. Having less clutter around the lot results in both more efficient pathing for sims to get where they are going, as well as limiting the number of interactions that are possible at any given time.

If you experience any issues or bugs, The Sims team encourages everyone to check out The Sims 4 section of EA Answers HQ.

Future Updates

Although no specific details have been given yet, there is both a new Kit and a new Game Pack on the way!

There’s lots of speculation about what the new Game Pack is going to be – we’ve heard farming, worlds, and werewolves, oh my! EA HAS NOT YET RELEASED ANY INFORMATION ON WHAT THE GAME PACK IS ACTUALLY GOING TO INCLUDE.

The next patch HAS been confirmed to include another hair-related update, in the form of 6 new colors! One of the most requested colors is a less-blue shade of black, as well as as a warmer shade of white, as seen in the new colors here:

The next patch is also going to include 16 new eye presets aimed at helping increase the diversity and representation of Asian sims! A few examples:

A full list of updates and bug fixes can be found here.

If your game has not automatically updated, you can manually update by right-clicking on the game in your Origin Library and choose the “Update Game” option.

After any game update, be aware that any existing mods or custom content in your game may become disabled, or depending on the contents of the patch, some content may no longer function as intended until updated by the original creator.

If your Mods/CC have been disabled by an update, you can re-enable them by going into the Options panel, and there is a checkbox under the “Other” section to “Enabled Custom Content and Mods.” Once you turn mods back on, close the game without saving. (You don’t want it to save the state with all CC missing!) When you restart the game, your CC will reappear.