Welcome to the wonderful world of The Sims 4. Those returning from The Sims 3, or even 2,will find some similarities as well as some new things in-game. This guide will take you through the process of setting up your Sim to be the best Sim it can be.
Steps to Create a Sim
- Give the Sim a name.
- Choose the gender.
- Choose character age.
- Choose the walking style.
- Set the Sims voice.
- Give the character an aspiration to achieve.
- Define the Sim with traits.
- Create the character’s physical looks.
Step One: Give the Sim a Name
In the real world, if we do not like our names, we have a massive hassle to go through to get it changed. In the world of the Sims, players can give their Sims whatever name they like and think fits the best. Characters are giving a first and last name for play like real people. Want to name your character Sally Slipstick or Maverick Goose? Go right ahead. The sky is the limit.
Having trouble deciding on all or part of the name? Next to each field is a little dice icon that can choose names at random from the game’s database. Give it a try and see what combinations you can come up with.
Step Two: Choose a Gender
This step is pretty self-explanatory. You only have two options to choose from: Male or Female. Pick one and go on to the next step.
Step Three: Choose Character Age
Age is important in The Sims 4. There are 5 age ranges to choose from. These are:
- Child
- Teen
- Young Adult
- Adult
- Elder
The character’s age determines how old they look as well as what aspirations and traits are available to them.
Step Four: Choose the Walking Style
The Sims like to move and groove so you are in control of how they look when they are moving around the house or from place to place in the city. The game has lots of styles to choose from:
- Default
- Perky
- Snooty
- Swagger
- Feminine
- Tough
- Goofy
- Sluggish
- Bouncy
The game will demo each walk for your approval. Then just click the check mark at the bottom to confirm your choice.
Step Five: Set the Sim’s Voice
Want to have the deepest bass to your voice or sound like the most sultry lady? The game provides you with controls to make the right voice for your Sim. First, you have three options: (Check male choices before publishing)
- Sweet (candy icon)
- Melodic (music note icon)
- Lilted (bird icon)
After you have chosen a base style, the slider beneath the icons controls the actual pitch of the character’s voice. If you slide it left towards the longer wavelength, the character’s voice will drop lower. If you slide it to the right towards the shorter wavelength, the character’s voice will be higher.
Step Six: Give the Sim an Aspiration to Achieve
Aspirations are life-long goals that your Sim is working towards. The game has 10 categories of choices for you to pick from. Each aspiration category has their own goals with them. You can only pick one aspiration and each gives you a bonus trait connected with the aspiration.
The categories are:
- Athletic
- Creativity
- Deviance
- Family
- Food
- Fortune
- Knowledge
- Love
- Nature
- Popularity
For children Sims, this list is much shorter to choose from:
- Creativity
- Mental
- Motor
- Social
The goals attributed can be something like Bodybuilder or Bestselling Author. For a full look and list of Aspirations and their associated goals, please check my Aspirations Guide here.
Step Seven: Define the Sim with Traits
Traits get into the nitty-gritty details about the Sim’s habits. A Sim can be neat or dirty, evil or good. There are lots of different choices in a list of four categories. These categories are:
- Emotional (from active to self-assured)
- Hobby (from art lover to perfectionist)
- Lifestyle (from ambitious to snob)
- Social (from bro to outgoing)
How many traits a Sim has will depend on the age of that character. Children start off the game with 1 trait. Teens are allow 2 traits. Young adult through elder all have the max of three starting traits.
For more on traits, please see my complete Beginner Traits Guide.
Step Eight: Create the Character’s Physical Looks
Now comes the fun part for a lot of us, detailing out how our Sim looks and choosing their clothing. The Sims 4 gives players lots to choose from as far as customization is concerned. If you would like to skip this part, you can either go with the default outfit or hit the dice at the bottom of the screen to get random looks displayed.
Want big biceps? How about small thighs? Or do you want a little junk in the trunk? The game allows you to customize your sim to your complete satisfaction. Just hover over the body part you want to change until it is highlighted. Then move the your mouse to the left or the right to decrease (left) and to increase (right).
The rest of the body such as hair color and clothes can be changed using the icons to the right of the character model. Just click the appropriate icons and go through the screens.
All Done?
You are now finished creating your own personal Sim. In the bottom right hand of the screen is a check mark. Just click that to allow the game to save your character and enter the game. Enjoy!
Want more Sims information? Check out all the guides available for The Sims 4.
