Summary
The Sims 4’s Create-a-Sim, or CAS, has come a long way since the game’s launch in 2014.The Sims 4already had several innovations fromThe Sims 3, including the ability to click and drag features on Sims in a detail edit mode, described by Maxis as “Sculpting a Sim”. Additional features such as editing pronouns, romantic and sexual orientation, and other gender customization makeThe Sims 4’s CAS a major step up from its previous iterations. IfThe Sims 5launches with the current features of CAS, it could become a serious game-changer, even in the wake of life simulator competitors in development.
As technology develops and video games are better able to combine realism with creative art direction, character creators will better be able to create characters that both mimic life while being able to attain a distinct art style. This is important especially forThe Simsseries and its CAS, which has never aimed to look realistic, but still needs to capture the diversity of people in real life across various intersections.
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The History Behind The Sims 4’s CAS
The Simsfranchise has improved on its CAS with each iteration, and the jump from one iteration to the next has been incredibly noticeable.The Simsrequired players to create their Sims by choosing one of a selection of premade faces, with only one body type available.The Sims 2introduced customization options that became the foundation for future games, with these options just becoming more detailed inThe Sims 3.
The Sims 4built on these optionsand included click and drag, the detail edit mode, and many more options for editing gameplay options that went beyond appearance. Some of these options include whether the Sim could breastfeed, their romantic and sexual orientations, editing pronouns, and relationship dynamics with family members. Many of these features were included in updates after repeated calls from the player community.
How The Sims 4’s CAS Will Affect The Sims 5
An example of an improvement to CAS thanks to pressure from the community is therange of skin tones now available inThe Sims 4’s Create-a-Sim. WhenThe Sims 4launched and for many years afterward, there were only a few skin tones available, with the darker skin tones looking unnatural in-game. It was only after a collective effort from the community and demands for more representation that more skin tones were added. More representation options for disabilities have also since been added, such as hearing aids and glucose monitors. The sexual orientation and pronoun update was also welcomed by many as a step for a more inclusive and representational CAS.
These are all good additions toThe Sims 4’s CAS, and they all need to be present inThe Sims 5’s CAS. Anything less would be a step backwards for the franchise. To be a true innovator in the field,The Sims 5CAS needs to have all of these features and make the same noticeable jump from one game to the next that all the other games in the series had. It also needs to addressconcerns about disability representation inThe Sims 4CAS,as well as more clothing and hair options for masculine-framed Sims, Children, Toddlers, and Infants, and options to create more dynamic and interesting personalities and relationships so that Sims feel more unique.Simshas gone in some good directions, but it can’t stop pushing itself now.
