The Sims 4
Developers | |
---|---|
Maxis | |
Publishers | |
Electronic Arts | |
Engines | |
SmartSim | |
Release dates | |
Windows | September 2, 2014 |
macOS (OS X) | February 17, 2015 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 70 |
OpenCritic | 70 |
IGDB | 67 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | Sponsored, DLC, Expansion pack |
Genres | Life sim |
Series | The Sims |
The Sims | |
---|---|
Subseries of Sim | |
The Sims | 2000 |
The Sims Online | 2002 |
The Sims 2 | 2004 |
The Sims Stories (series) | |
MySims | 2008 |
The Sims 3 | 2009 |
The Sims Medieval | 2011 |
The Sims 4 | 2014 |
Key points
- A special Legacy Edition has been made available for users of affected systems. It can be freely downloaded using the Origin client.
- Built-in modding support.
General information
- Official forums
- Answer HQ for The Sims 4 at EA.com
- Answer HQ for The Sims series at EA.com (OS X)
- The Sims 4 Legacy Edition FAQ
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | Expansions were provided on DVDs until the first expansion in the United States and at least the third expansion in Europe. After that, all retail copies came with download codes. Only the Windows version was available on the game install DVD, the Mac version required a download code. Retail copies are no longer produced as of the Snowy Escape expansion. |
|||
Amazon.com | ||||
Origin | Digital Deluxe Edition also available, included with EA Play. | |||
Steam | Included with EA Play (Steam). | |||
(unavailable) | Digital Deluxe Edition also available. | |||
Green Man Gaming (unavailable) | ||||
Humble Store (unavailable) |
- All versions require Origin DRM.
- A Sims 4 Create A Sim Demo is available.
Version differences
- List of all different versions and regions can be found on Wikipedia.
- Legacy Edition has disabled online features and does not support any downloadable content released after September 2019.[1]
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Life of the Party | Included in all but the Standard editions. | |
Awesome Animal Hats | Included in all but the Standard and Limited Editions. | |
Up All Night | Included in all but the Standard and Limited Editions. | |
Digital Soundtrack | Included in all but the Standard and Limited Editions. | |
Digital Deluxe Upgrade | Includes the above free DLC and the soundtrack. | |
Rewards | Bonus content for the owners of The Sims 3 expansion packs. | |
Family Portrait | Bonus content. Could be obtained by signing up for The Sims Mobile at launch. | |
Holiday Celebration Pack | Free Stuff Pack. | |
Grim's Ghoulish Guitar | Bonus content. Can be obtained by signing up for the newsletter. | |
Get to Work | Expansion pack 1 (EP01). | |
Get Together | Expansion pack 2 (EP02). | |
City Living | Expansion pack 3 (EP03). | |
Cats & Dogs | Expansion pack 4 (EP04). | |
Seasons | Expansion pack 5 (EP05). | |
Get Famous | Expansion pack 6 (EP06). | |
Island Living | Expansion pack 7 (EP07). None of the expansion packs below are supported in Legacy Edition. | |
Discover University | Expansion pack 8 (EP08). | |
Eco Lifestyle | Expansion pack 9 (EP09). | |
Snowy Escape | Expansion pack 10 (EP10). | |
Cottage Living | Expansion pack 11 (EP11). | |
Outdoor Retreat | Game pack (GP01). | |
Spa Day | Game pack (GP02). | |
Dine Out | Game pack (GP03). | |
Vampires | Game pack (GP04). | |
Parenthood | Game pack (GP05). | |
Jungle Adventure | Game pack (GP06). | |
StrangerVille | Game pack (GP07). | |
Realm of Magic | Game pack (GP08). None of the game packs below are supported in Legacy Edition. | |
Journey to Batuu | Game pack (GP09). | |
Dream Home Decorator | Game pack (GP10). | |
My Wedding Stories | Game pack (GP11). | |
Werewolves | Game pack (GP12). | |
Luxury Party Stuff | Stuff pack 1 (SP01). | |
Perfect Patio Stuff | Stuff pack 2 (SP02). | |
Cool Kitchen Stuff | Stuff pack 3 (SP03). | |
Spooky Stuff | Stuff pack 4 (SP04). | |
Movie Hangout Stuff | Stuff pack 5 (SP05). | |
Romantic Garden Stuff | Stuff pack 6 (SP06). | |
Kids Room Stuff | Stuff pack 7 (SP07). | |
Backyard Stuff | Stuff pack 8 (SP08). | |
Vintage Glamour Stuff | Stuff pack 9 (SP09). | |
Bowling Night Stuff | Stuff pack 10 (SP10). | |
Fitness Stuff | Stuff pack 11 (SP11). | |
Toddler Stuff | Stuff pack 12 (SP12). | |
Laundry Day Stuff | Stuff pack 13 (SP13. | |
My First Pet Stuff | Stuff pack 14 (SP14). | |
Moschino Stuff | Stuff pack 15 (SP15). None of the stuff packs below are supported in Legacy Edition. | |
Tiny Living Stuff | Stuff pack 16 (SP16). | |
Nifty Knitting Stuff | Stuff pack 17 (SP17). | |
Paranormal Stuff | Stuff pack 18 (SP18). | |
Throwback Fit Kit | Kit 1 (SP20). None of the kits are supported in Legacy Edition. | |
Country Kitchen Kit | Kit 2 (SP21). | |
Bust the Dust Kit | Kit 3 (SP22). | |
Courtyard Oasis Kit | Kit 4 (SP23). | |
Industrial Loft Kit | Kit 5 (SP25). | |
Fashion Street Kit | Kit 6 (SP24). | |
Incheon Arrivals Kit | Kit 7 (SP26). | |
Blooming Rooms Kit | Kit 8 (SP29). | |
Modern Menswear Kit | Kit 9 (SP28). | |
Carnival Streetwear Kit | Kit 10 (SP30). | |
Decor to the Max Kit | Kit 11 (SP31). | |
Little Campers Kit | Kit 12 (SP33). | |
Moonlight Chic Kit | Kit 13 (SP32). |
Microtransactions
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Cosmetic | Game Packs, Stuff Packs and Kits are sold, which consist of additional clothing, furniture and extra game elements. |
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
Instructions[citation needed] |
---|
Add -nointro parameter in Origin |
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\ |
macOS (OS X) | ~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Options.ini |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\saves\ |
macOS (OS X) | ~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/saves/ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Origin | ||
OneDrive | Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. | |
Steam Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | |||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | FSAA. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | FPS cap defaults to 200, see Frame rate limit to adjust the cap. | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
Frame rate limit
Modify Options.ini[2] |
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|
Modifying UI Scaling manually
- UI scale can be changed under the accessibility options.
Modify Options.ini[3] |
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|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | Can be remapped with tools such as AutoHotkey. The script/tool must be run in Administrator mode. | |
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | Can be inverted by selecting the "Invert Vertical Camera Rotation" option in the Game Camera section of the options menu. | |
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
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Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Master Volume, Object Music, Music, Voices, Sound Effects, UI Sound | |
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | No intelligible dialog. All in-game dialog uses the fictional Simlish language. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | Can be turned on or off via the "Audio Focus" option in the Audio section of the options menu. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Simplified Chinese | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Czech | ||||
Danish | ||||
Dutch | ||||
Finnish | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Norwegian | ||||
Polish | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Swedish |
Issues fixed
Unresponsive and stuck sim
Instructions[citation needed] |
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RivaTuner OSD does not display on Windows 10
Instructions[citation needed] |
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Run the game in Windows 8 compatibility mode. |
Game does not launch
- The game will not launch on 32-bit Windows systems and macOS (OS X) systems without Metal support after the 1.58.63.1010 (PC) / 1.58.63.1210 (Mac) update, released on November 12, 2019.
Instructions[1] |
---|
Install the free Legacy Edition update, available in the Extra Content tab of the Origin client. |
Game keeps minimizing on launch
- The game will minimize a few seconds after a black screen appears, any subsequent attempts to restore it will lead to the same problem.
- The issue appears to happen when the game resolution mismatches the desktop resolution.
Instructions[4] |
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|
Oversensitive/unresponsive camera rotation
Disable Origin and/or Discord overlay for the game[5] |
---|
The Origin and Discord overlays have been sighted to have an interference with the Sims 4 game, where the mouse becomes oversensitive (especially when rotating the camera) or unresponsive. |
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list. |
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9 | |
OpenGL | Only macOS (OS X) in Legacy Edition. | |
Metal support | ||
Shader Model support | 3.0 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows | 32-bit support only in Legacy Edition. | ||
macOS (OS X) | 32-bit support only in Legacy Edition. |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 7 SP1 | 7 SP1, 8, 8.1, 10 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ 2.1 GHz |
Intel Core i5 series AMD Athlon X4 series |
System memory (RAM) | 4 GB | 4 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 15 GB and 1 GB for saved games 22 GB for Legacy Edition |
18 GB |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X1300 Intel GMA X4500 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible Shader model 3.0 support |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 DirectX 10, 11 compatible |
macOS (OS X) | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 10.11 (El Capitan) | 10.11 (El Capitan) |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz | Intel Core i5 series |
System memory (RAM) | 4 GB | 8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 15 GB and 1 GB for saved games 22 GB for Legacy Edition |
22 GB |
Video card (GPU) | AMD Radeon RX 560 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 256 MB of VRAM | AMD Radeon RX 560 Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 |
- A 64-bit system is required.
- For laptops with integrated graphics, a minimum of Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0 GHz or AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 2.1 GHz CPU is required.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (1222670) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.