The neighborhoods of The Sims 4 are now alive again. A new update for March 15, 2022 brings back the much-anticipated neighborhood stories that were part of everyday life in The Sims 3. And this time, you even have a significant impact on the life changes that Sims can experience that you don’t actively control. We have all the important information for you.
The complete patch notes for version 1.85.203.1030 are also full of bug fixes and small changes. You can find them on page 2 of this article.
This is how the neighborhood stories work
For a while it has been possible to influence your neighbors directly so that they look for a new job, for example. But it’s only with the new update that neighborhood Sims are making their own decisions again, even if you’re not interacting with them. This should bring your environment back to life.
The Sims now experience the following life changes in the background:
- They adopt young Sims (babies and toddlers).
- They become pregnant and have children of their own.
- You adopt a dog or a cat.
- They start a new career or leave their job.
- You retire when you are old.
- They move.
- They die from “various types of accidents, depending on age, characteristics, and career” (quoted from EA’s official description).
In addition, there are other possible neighborhood stories, which, however, were not all mentioned individually. Only recently did the new Wedding DLC put the Sims in a romantic high spirits:
3:06
The Sims 4 – Trailer introduces the new My Wedding Stories gameplay pack
You are in control
If you don’t want kids being born or Sims dying in your neighborhood without your hand in the process, don’t worry. You have plenty of options for tweaking settings here. The neighborhood stories can be deactivated completely or for specific households. You can also specify that only certain changes are prohibited.
To do this, select »Manage Households« and click on »Other Households”. EA explains in one own blog post the exact options.
In this menu you will find many settings for the neighborhood stories after the update.
In the game you keep track of the stories about your mailbox. There you will be informed about what is happening around you.
The Sims has always lived from its expansions, and of course it’s no different with the fourth part of the series. We have put all DLCs, content packs and so on in a large ranking – here you can find which purchases are worthwhile for everyone and which only hardcore fans need:
more on the subject
The Sims 4: Which expansions are really worth it?
How do you like the surprise update? Did you also sorely miss the neighborhood stories from part 3 or do you switch off the new (old) feature straight away?
