Old apartments are now more editable than ever, and I really hope it's on purpose.
Ahead of The Sims 4: For Rent expansion launch tomorrow, Maxis has published a routine patch with small updates and fixes to the base game. But players have spotted at least one change that wasn't listed in the patch notes: We can finally edit the walls and windows on apartments from current game packs. It may even be an unintended bug, but we're all hoping that it's actually a feature.
Tomorrow's For Rent expansion is adding truly multi-family lots to the game, but it won't be the first time apartment life has made it into the game. Some neighborhoods, like the one from the City Living expansion, added individual apartment-like units for our Sims to live in. We've been able to renovate the interior walls and furnishings in those lots, of course, but windows have always been off limits.
As spotted by some Sims 4 content creators, and shown in Pixelade's video above, the premade apartment units in The Sims 4's City Living expansion are more customizable than they were previously. Pixelade shows how windows can be moved, added, and removed, and exterior wall finishes can be changed too, though the exterior walls understandably still can't be moved. As noted in SatchOnSims' video though, you can also hang wall decor like mirrors and curtains on the exterior of those apartments, which is a bit silly. So is it a bug or a feature? Or a feature with a bug? Sims players, and I as a building freak among them, are really hoping it's a feature.
Of course, you can't go moving your windows around and installing curtains on the side of a high rise in real life, but this is The Sims. If it ain't broke, maybe it should be. Working around existing windows was part of the challenge in furnishing an apartment unit before. Now that we're about to have the ability to build our own custom apartment units, I say let us mess with the existing ones too.
I've reached out to EA to confirm whether this is indeed a new base game feature and will update if I receive the good word.
Of course there were quite a few other nice changes in this week's patch notes. Sinks can now be designated as kitchen or bathroom so that Sims aren't constantly washing dirty dishes in your ensuite. Shoe racks now have a toggle that will make Sims remove their shoes while indoors, so I've finally got an incentive to pick some socks for each Sim. Related to the upcoming apartments, you can now click on the door to a lot and choose the "Switch Control to this Household" option to swap to playing that family.
Now that the base game update is out, The Sims 4: For Rent is set to launch tomorrow, December 7 for the usual $40 expansion price.
