It's A New World Order

When I discovered TwistedMexi's Create A World mod, one thing immediately came to mind. I wanted to create a city, but not a nice one. You see, the thing with the Sims 4 is that everything is too clean-cut, pretty, and perfect. We have beautiful family homes with large yards and cascading views of the natural forest that surrounds a small town. I have an issue with this.

You see, it goes deeper. Everything is nice, we all love each other and I'm working my dream job. Great. But, it is not great. I want the drama. I want the lore behind the characters. I want to know why this specific piece of furniture has a history. I want realism in a way that is not fun. I want the actions sims take to have a long-lasting effect on the world and other sims around them. Which I will say, EA has been much better with this aspect. I could go on all day about what I want in the Sims. But for now, I am talking about the actual world, and world-building.

One of the most iconic features in the Sims 3 was the create a world aspect. I played with this so many times, one may assume I made a nice little town. No. The first thing I wanted to make in TS3 with Create a World was actually a cave. I wanted to make sims that lived near a beach and fished all day, so I could make them go back home to a cave and cook their fish over an open fire. Needless to say, it did not work out how I wanted. But it was to be expected, this is TS3 after all. But damn were those three-hour loading screens worth it for the open world.

Anyway, I use to love the outdoor rustic idea of living in the Sims. Which I still do, don't get me wrong. But the Sims 4 has done a really good job for the most part with aesthetics for that kind of play style, but I wouldn't say the gameplay is much different. But thankfully we have occult inspiration which feeds my need for these kinds of objects in the game.

But the world we're playing in has so much potential for history. I know that the Sims 4 and Lore don't really mix well, but I can dream. So what do I want in a Sims town?

I want the dirt. I want the grime. I want the shutdown subway because of an earthquake that fucked up the railing. You know what I really loved? That big ass crater in StrangerVille. To be honest, The Sims 4: StrangerVille is one that made gave me some hope for this generation. It had so much lore, and the world is pretty awesome. It's really good if you're wanting a grimy suburban town, and I love how the military is pulled into the story. Oh, that sweet sweet drama that I crave. I could almost taste it.

Basically, I want more ways to live a shitty life in the Sims. Because it is not always the area that you live in that matters, it's the sims in your world that really build the story. But an interesting world brings good inspiration. If only we could have a world that is something other than America or England-inspired. My favorite place to live in TS4 is a lot which is in San Myshuno. It is part of the spice district. I seem to always come back to this area. The other reason is the apartments, but that is a whole other story. Apartments really do make the world feel more alive. I love being able to hear my neighbors fighting. Oh, the drama.

I have been wanting to play a new save for my sim, Joel Linton. With the release of infants, and the update that introduces family dynamics. Relationships in the Sims are a big thing for me. I loved that it gave us sentiments and other things that actually make our actions remembered. Hey, that one time you insulted me when I was seven when we were waiting for the wedding to actually work, yeah. I will remember. You might not, but I do. I will always remember.

I knew what I wanted. The only thing I really hate decided for Joel's childhood before was he had eventually ended up in foster care and met Andie. Which leads to a life that Joel was living before that happened. How old was he? Why did they not have a family? Is either of their parents still around? So. Much. Potential. So we have Joel, who is family-orientated and wants to raise children differently than his life growing up. Clearly, the poor guy has abandonment issues. Not to mention he also has ADHD. Joel is prone to addiction, and bad choices. Why? There has to be a reason. So that's what my focus was when creating this world.

What kind of world did Joel live in that influenced him to be like this? Somewhere chaotic. Fast pace. There weren't pretty lakes he could go fish at to get away. Or even anything remotely outdoorsy. This boy was a city boy at heart, but he craved for a more comfy feeling. He wanted to feel like home. But home was where you would hear traffic loudly all hours of the night. Home was the place where you look outside your window and see a guy getting mugged at the bus stop. Home was the place that he dreaded at the end of each school day. It's bad when he felt safer in the custody of the foster system, in the homes of strangers. At least these strangers had a nice house usually if he was able to be placed with a family. But most of the time, he seemed to have gone foster care center. He knew that at least until he was 18, he would have a bed there.

I wanted him to grow up next to a busy gas station. Lots of people coming and going. I wanted a low-end motel in the area that shady people went to. I wanted this world to looked lived in, and in some ways lived in as in the way of not having enough affordable housing. I wanted to make a small community where the people were close, even if it felt a little scary at times.

The spice district in San Myshuno has this tiled mosaic that curves all around this concrete park. It has always given me the vibe of what should have been a skate park. So with this in mind, I wanted to make this area a place where people go and hang out to skateboard. This is what lead to my idea of who Joel's father was, and what he was like. Basically, Dad was a skater boy who said see you later boy. Sk8te for life bruh. But also, he was involved much deeper with shady things.

Joel's dad, Jayden, met Joel's mother, Kari, in high school. Before both Jayden and Kari were able to graduate, they ended up not making the best decisions when it comes to birth control. Kari wasn't able to graduate high school, and Jayden wasn't going to let her feel alone. So he also dropped out and decided to try and get his shit together so Kari and he could be okay.

This create a world is still very much a work in progress, but I am excited to see how it turns out!