Fans ofThe Simsfranchise have a lot to celebrate with the release of the new Cottage Living expansion pack. The pack expands on gardening and animal care by introducing several new mechanics and items that allow players to operate their own farms.
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While the excitement around Cottage Living has yet to die down, players also have the option of trying out the new Farmland Mod as well. TheFarmland mod is developed by Arniewho also goes by The Sims Plus. The Farmland Mod features a semi-open world, new farming and gardening skills, and a story mode.
Both the Cottage Living pack and the Farmland Mod were released around the same time. This means players will have the chance to play each individually or even combine elements from both to embrace their inner farmer.
11Cottage Living: Create-A-Sim
The Cottage Living expansion pack introduces severalnew traits as well as a new aspiration to the game. The country caretaker aspiration is for sims who want to tend to the countryside and take care of all the different animals in the game. Several of the new traits introduced to the game are lifestyle traits. Sims can now be lactose intolerant, vegetarian, or animal enthusiasts.
Players have fifteen new hairstyles to choose from for adult sims, though several are similar if not the same as far as style. The expansion pack also added several new outfits that scream cottage living.
10Farmland Mod: Create-A-Sim
The Farmland mod does not add any additional outfits or hairstyles, however, the mod does introduce new aspirations. The Farmland mod currently does not add any additional traits to sims.
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Players can select the Country Farmer aspiration, which sets the sim’s lifetime goal to living the simple life surrounded by their farm. There is also the Country Farmer Challenge aspiration, which focuses on becoming the best farmer a sim can be, as well as helping George with quests.
9Cottage Living: Henford-on-Bagley
The Cottage Living expansion pack takes players to the neighborhood of Henford-on-Bagley. Players canchoose between five available lotsto move a new sim into the neighborhood or they canselect one of the four existing families.
Players can also participate in the new errand system for residents of Henford-on-Bagley. Completing these tasks will reward people with rarer items and materials. Sims can also enter competitions to showcase their harvests.
8Farmland Mod: Eden Hills
While Cottage living offers a pub, the Farmland mods semi-open world has a lot more when it comes to exploration. Players areable to visit a horse ranch, a farmers market and supermarket, a bank, a jazz bar, and more.
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Traveling to each of these venues is completely free of loading screens, making for a more immersive experience. Eden Hills replaces an existing neighborhood in Brindleton Bay, so that is something to keep in mind when adding the mod.
Players are able to buy land and continuously expand their farms. The world is inspired by Italian, Slovenian, Swiss, and American Landscapes which allows for a unique melding of cultures.
7Cottage Living: Build Mode
There are plenty ofnew items for players to combine in build mode from the Cottage Living pack. Players can find new furniture, appliances, and decorative items such as mushroom chairs and hay bales.
The pack also adds a couple of fences and paint and flooring options. The Cottage Living item aesthetically works well with multiple other items from existing packs, especially the Country Kitchen Kit.
Forplayers looking for more items to work with for decorative purposes, go into the debug menu using the bb.showhiddenobjects and bb.showliveeditobjects cheats. These cheats allow players to find things like mill wheels and outdoor lighting for trees.
6Farmland Mod: Build Mode
After downloading the Farmland mod, players willfind a few new items in build modethat should come in handy once they purchase land. This mod does not currently add any furniture or appliances. However, players can find a tractor, a large greenhouse for the 64x64 lots, several farm animals, a pond, and more.
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The lots available for farming in the mod currently only allow players to purchase the build mode items by clicking on a sign in the middle of the field. Those purchased items will appear on the lot, in the correct placement without user interference. Players can still add these items to the lot they live on, and use them there as well. Animals such as pigs, cows, and horses can also be added to the home lot.
5Cottage Living: Gardening
Gardening inThe Sims 4was previously a bit lacking, however, the new expansion breathes some fresh air into the hobby. Several new plants have been added including, lettuce, pumpkins, and watermelons.
Sims cangrow and sell or use these itemsin cooking recipes. New dirt squares allow players to bypass some of the limitations the gardening boxes had, by directly planting crops on the ground. However, depending on the crop yield an oversized crop will take up an entire square. Small to large crops will also still grow four to a dirt plot.
4Farmland Mod: Gardening
Gardening in the Farmland mod is slightly different compared to Cottage Living. Once players purchase plots of land either from the Bank, City hall, or George, they can choose to grow one type of crop on each section.
Players can choose to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even seeds from other packs on these lots. Once the crops are down, players can purchase a greenhouse, watering system, and insect repellant system. The game will bill the household for each item and for recurring upkeep costs.
The patches of soil can be purchased in build mode to add onto household lots, otherwise farming and gardening are designated to the Eden Hills area.
3Cottage Living: Animal Care
TheCottage Living pack adds plenty of new furry friendsto interact with. Players can fill their farms with llamas, cows, and chickens by purchasing them at a shed or coop. One downside is that llamas and cows are limited to one per shed, while players can have eight chickens to a coop.
The game also introduces wild rabbits and foxes that sims can attempt to befriend. Farm animals can also provide sims with eggs, milk, and wool. These animal products can also be influenced by giving the animals special treats to influence their mood. Toddlers and children are also able to interact with all types of animals now, allowing those bonds to form early on.
2Farmland Mod: Animal Care
There are a lot more animals available in the Farmland mod in comparison to the expansion pack. Players can befriend and care for horses, pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, rabbits, fish, bees, and ducks. Each animal type can be purchased at one of the farming lots.
Each animal offers different products to collect; cows produce milk, pigs can collect clay, and sheep provide wool. Horses do not produce a collectible, however, they can be used as a mode of transportation. It is important to note that each animal type requires different types of care. Chickens need to be fed every day, while cows and sheep eat grass and do not require daily feeding.
