REDESIGNING THE EXPERIENCE
OF SOCIAL REALITY
THROUGH THE SIMS 4
EMULATING A LIVELIER
PARTY SCENE
The Sims, being a friendly-family game, has a very censored take of real-world experiences. For instance, though drinking is an experience replicated in the game through a select choice of alcohol, when Sims consume it, they enter a state of "juiced" with no real-world consequences.
The Basemental mod allow players to fully witness their Sims go through the different stages of drunkenness through animations where Sims stumble about in their state of intoxication, or even through moodlets where Sims become chattier or even angry, livening any situation that calls for drinking, such as parties.
Paired together with actions that allow for Sims to partake in recreational drug use, Basemental bring these important components of people's everyday lives into the game, allowing exploration of themes such as consequence where Sims who abuse substances or battle with addiction, go through rehab and withdrawal. Mods help players visualise and play out these narratives that they would otherwise have to make up in their heads.
In recent years, The Sims pushed out an update to broaden the range of skin tones and though it is easier for POC Sims to be created as compared to before, there's still dissatisfaction present. For instance though the developers have included religious article of clothing such as the Hijab, players feel that the designs are rather caricature, due to its limited options and clothing colours that are too bold.
For some players, they have yet to see representations of themselves and their culture. Though mods are a solution to this issue, they strongly believe that the game developers should do better.
AESTHETIC MODDING FOR
BETTER REPRESENTATION
In The Sims' character creation screen, the presets that allow players to customize their Sims' from hairstyles to clothes, have a glaring lack of options available to POCs. Black, South Asian and Latino players lament at the limited range of skin colours, to hair texture and ethnic/cultural clothing that best represent them, compared against their non-POC counterparts. Feeling disdained, many POCs turn to mods that allow them to design a broader variety of Sims that better reflect their race and culture.
However despite being a real-life simulator, there are parts of the game that players find lacking, as these virtual realities do not portray a reality that they experience. In order to create virtual characters that better represent people-of-colour (POC), POC players turn to mods to make Sims look like themselves. On the other hand, other players use mods as a way to re-create a more realistic version of their everyday experiences, that help to strengthen the narratives of their virtual stories.
To make a game experience one that mirrors social reality, game developers curate and borrow elements from the real world to implement them into the virtual world. The Sims is a classic example where players to govern the lives of avatars from a third person perspective with a click of their mouse. From forging relationships with other Sims, to selecting their Sims' careers and lifelong goals through an aspiration system, players are able to control every aspect of their character's day-to-day activities.
Players are able to control what their Sim does daily, from eating to personal hygiene. If Sims fulfil a goal that contributes to their aspiration, they earn satisfaction points that makes tasks easier.
Sims are able to seek careers through computers, and certain jobs that are actionable on the system are writing or streaming. Such jobs allow Sims to work from home.
Mixology is a skill in the Sims that allow Sims to make and consume alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. When Sims drink, they enter a state of "Juiced", a moodlet that shows a player of how much alcohol they've consumed.
Players can access the games' social media, Simstagram through the game's User Interface where they can post photos or Simstagram Stories, and earn points if they have a Social Media career.
HOVER TO
LEARN MORE
SOCIAL MEDIA SUPERSTAR
Being a long standing game, the Sims has also expanded its world to move on with the times. In recent releases, they have included more modern day career options such as streaming or being a social media influencer. However compared against existing jobs such as being an author, not much is done to simulate the differences between these careers. With mods like Plumfruit or Switch Streaming, they enhance gameplay by mirroring social interactions that one would experience whilst streaming or participating in social media activities.
Simulating an online stream environment, Switch Streaming allows "viewers" in the form of programmed chat boxes that react to a Sims' action. If Sims were to do an eating stream for the day, comments amongst the sea of love and hate messages acknowledge these actions saying, "I love mukbangs!"
Simstagram is a feature that has been included in later versions of the Sims, where its closely designed to mimic social media site, Instagram. On this platform, Sims are limited to uploading posting photos of themselves or their pets.
Plumfruit expands on these features and simulates one's social media habits by having Sims mirror how everyday people interact on social media, through likes, comments and DMs (Direct Messaging) functions.
Players who turn to mods in order to make their game realistic, do so because of the growing attachment to their Sims. They are able to view their Sims as actual people and recreate world experiences similar to theirs, instead of viewing these characters as blocks of code. As for mods that simulate realistic interactions within the social media careers and platforms, these additional features have allowed players to view their Sims engage with their fictional communities.
