“The Sims 4” is looking funky fresh with new branding and lots of free content in their newest update, coming to PC this week.

Can you believe it? The Sims 4 will celebrate its 5th anniversary this September! The Sims creators are adamant that they won’t be finishing The Sims 4 any time soon, so why not a facelift? After all, change is as good as a holiday. Instead of sticking with the same box art for another few years, the graphic artists have updated The Sims 4 to bring a fresh look to their branding. Keeping the iconic greens and blues, everything has a new look. This includes loading screens, front page, box art and even the famous “plumbob” has had a makeover.

Do you start up a game with good intentions, get to the Create-a-Sim screen, then suddenly go cross-eyed and draw a blank? Rejoice! The developers have added a new feature called Story Mode. This funky new feature allows you to “answer questions” about your upcoming “creation” and your responses will determine how they should live through their simulated life. Choices affect traits, aspirations, and even provide your new sims with skills to get ahead of the game.

The Sims Team also have news for the console Simmers out there. “The Sims 4: Island Living” (the latest expansion, released last month) will be available on console this week.

If this isn’t enough to get you excited about pixelated people again, how about 1000 new (sort of) unlocked OBJECTS!? Or… maybe 350 new swatches for doors? Some weird things are happening over at The Sims studios, but hey, I’m happy for free content.

Check out The Sims 4 Live Streams here; TheSims – Twitch

The Sims 4 latest update and Get Famous Expansion Pack are both expected this week. Get ready, the stars are about to shine.

The Sims 4 Dev Team (also known as the SimGuru’s) have been quite productive in the last few months. Monthly streams provide information. They have also demonstrated some of the new (and FREE) additions to The Sims 4 on PC in the Get Famous update which will be available this week. Some new features were announced a few weeks ago; including a new Active Career; Fashion Stylist, Terrain Tools and the new Point of View Camera.

Style Influencer Career

Your sims can now work in design in the Style Influencer Career. Similar to the Social Media, Politician and Critic Career that was introduced in The Sims 4 City Living Expansion Pack, this career is “work at home”. Creative sims will flourish in daily tasks and assignments to take them from “Rag Reviewer” to the equivalent of Style Superstar. A new sketchpad item will also be available that works like a “portable easel” which is a great way for artists to take their work with them. The artwork can be dropped into any sims inventory, or onto walls like normal. The best part of this new addition is the option to literally “influence” other sim’s style. Sims can now discuss outfits, start trends and even offer make-overs to other sims.

Terrain Tools

One of the major elements missing from The Sims 1, 2 and 3 Build Mode was the ability to edit the ground that your sims stand on. With the new Terrain Manipulation Tool coming in the latest update, builders can take it to the next “level” and build on hills, slopes, ledges anything you can think of. It looks like a simple “push and pull” manipulation, so hopefully, there can be some great creations on the gallery soon.

First Person View Camera

Brand new to The Sims 4 is the new First Person View Camera. We can now see into The Sims mind… sort of. By pressing SHIFT while in game, will bring up a new camera mode, similar to a “First Person” mode. For the first time ever we can see what our sims are doing from their perspective. Woohoo!

The new update will be available from the 14th of November. Please make sure to do the usual “back up” and remove CC prior to starting your game after updating.

If the weather has you feeling chilly in Australia, then warm up with the new Caribbean Themed items that are included FREE with The Sims 4 latest update.

The Sims 4 team are always spoiling us with new content through patches, and the content included in the last update is no exception. New hair styles, clothes, build mode and buy mode items are included free when you update your game next. Check it out!

This and more from the update — please see the patch notes below taken straight from the EA Games Website.

UPDATE: 08/16/2018 – PC 1.46.18.1020/ Mac 1.46.18.1220

Hey Simmers!

Summer will be over soon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the warm weather with some free content for the community. The Sims community is truly global, which means we have so many fun stories to tell with events like Diwali, Day of the Dead, and more. Through our Sims’ clothing, furniture, food, and activities, we are trying to celebrate the diversity within our community.

With summer in full swing, we shifted our gaze towards the sunny Caribbean and its vibrant, colorful clothing and styles. With Carnival taking place throughout the region, we took inspiration from the traditional patterns to craft some hip, modern clothing for your Sims to wear to a party, or perhaps the last picnic of the summer.

In this pack you’ll find three new hairs, two of which have beautiful curls & textures! There are also numerous new clothing assets, some makeup, and even a little furniture. We should mention that it includes a ceiling fan and sliding door…

Check out the new assets, tell us what you think, and be sure to share your stories and creations in the Gallery!

Now for this month’s patch notes.

Grant Rodiek, aka SimGuruGrant

The Sims 4

• Screenshots taken using the C key are no longer fuzzy. We had some schmutzle on the lens we had to clean off.
• There are now three new hairs, as well as a head wrap.
• In case you are looking for even more hair, there’s a new stubbly beard!
• There is an abundance of new clothing! We added two feminine tops, two skirts, snazzy sweatpants, a new suit, and some sandals.  And if you can’t decide how to set it up, there are new Featured Looks to kickstart your ideas (one male, one female).
• Can’t we makeup? There are new lipsticks, new eyeshadows, and new eyeliners.
• There are now four sliding doors.
• There is now a ceiling fan, in case you were curious about that breeze.
• We have added a new wallpaper – look for its leafy goodness!
• There is a new coffee table, potted plant, living chair, loveseat, and painting.
• We fixed an issue where thought bubbles would overlap and never go away. It should be fixed now, at least, that is our thought. Bubble. Get it.
• The word “Queer” is no longer banned by the profanity filter. As language evolves, it’s important we stay on top of these things, so thank you for the feedback.
• The Walls Down and Cutaway View options function as expected if an additional active Sim is added to your household when visiting an NPC home.
• Two Sims can no longer try to pick up/wrangle a toddler at the same time.
• Family Trees should accurately represent a Sim’s lineage now with non-blank thumbnails.
• Build Mode and Gallery music will no longer collide for dominance. We accidentally introduced a bug that was more or less the worst version of Battle of the Bands.
• Expansion Pack, Game Pack, and any Stuff Pack fish types now count towards the Collect 20 Types of Fish goal from the Angling Ace Aspiration.
• You can now live-drag microphones and place them in a Sim’s inventory.

Get to Work

• Employees now deduct funds when restocking, so it’s no longer free. But also, the cheaper restocking perk now works for employees. We giveth, we taketh away.

Romantic Garden Stuff

• The Wishing Well now gives you a soulmate with the gender of your Sim’s romantic preference.

City Living

• Sims walking around San Myshuno now act like it’s cold outside, or hot, as you’d expect, if Seasons is installed.

Seasons

• Sims now dress appropriately for the weather to mourn.
• Sims conducting athletic activity like basketball and jogging will no longer freeze to death. Sporting is once again safe.
• If you have Laundry Day Stuff, seasonal clothing changes won’t generate so many clothing piles.
• There was an issue where Sims you created, but weren’t currently playing, would be affected by weather, and therefore might immediately freeze to death when trying to play them. This seemed like a poor way to play The Sims, so we fixed it.

Miscellaneous

• Various Text and Translation changes and improvements.