When it comes to the Sims franchise, there is no shortage of career opportunities for your sims.

Between base game careers, expansion pack careers, career branches, pet careers, part-time jobs, self-employed careers, and freelancing careers among the choices, there are many to choose from.

Let’s see which game among the four has the most career options between all these factors!

The Sims (1) Career Total: 21

Starting with The Sims, they started with 10 base game careers, and added 11 more with the expansion packs. Thus, making the game have a total of 21 careers. They included:

• Business
• Entertainment
• Law enforcement
• Life of Crime
• Medicine
• Military
• Politics
• Pro Athlete
• Science
• Xtreme
• Animal Care
• Circus
• Culinary Arts
• Education
• Fame
• Fashion
• Hacker
• Journalism
• Musician
• Paranormal
• Slacker

The Sims 2 Career Total: 25

The Sims 2 started off with the same amount of base game careers as The Sims, which is 10 base careers. Then they added 15 additional careers with expansion packs. They also added 3 pet careers for your furry friends, which makes for a total of 25 careers in The Sims 2 (excluding pets). They include:

• Athletic
• Business
• Criminal
• Culinary
• Law Enforcement
• Medicine
• Politics
• Science
• Slacker
• Adventurer
• Architecture
• Artist
• Dance
• Education
• Entertainment
• Gamer
• Intelligence
• Journalism
• Law
• Music
• Natural Science
• Oceanography
• Paranormal
• Show Business

The Sims 3 career total: 29

The Sims 3 has the most careers in any sims game so far, totally 29. The base game included 11 careers, and by the time they finished adding content there were 18 expansion pack careers.

They also added part-time careers, self-employed careers, and career branches. The careers include:

• Business
• Criminal
• Culinary
• Journalism
• Law Enforcement
• Medical
• Military
• Music
• Political
• Professional Sports
• Science
• Acrobat
• Architectural Designer
• Art Appraiser
• Astronomer
• Bot Arena
• Daycare
• Education
• Film
• Firefighter
• Fortune Teller
• Ghost Hunter
• Investigator
• Lifeguard
• Magician
• Singer
• Sports Agent
• Stylist
• Video Game Developer

The Sims 4 career total (currently): 21

Currently The Sims 4 is catching up in the number of careers. They have 11 base game careers, and the expansion packs have added 10 more careers.

They also have part-time jobs, children’s scouts, drama club, and freelancer careers. The careers include:

• Astronaut
• Athlete
• Business
• Criminal
• Culinary
• Entertainer
• Painter
• Secret Agent
• Style Influencer
• Tech Guru
• Writer, Detective
• Doctor
• Scientist
• Critic
• Politician
• Social Media
• Gardener
• Actor
• Military
• Conservationist

The Sims 4 just released a new expansion called "Island Living" a few days ago, adding the Conservationist career. Assuming more content is coming for The Sims 4, the total careers for the game should increase.

EA continues to add more career content with every game since the first Sims game, but as it stands now The Sims 3 has the most career choices available. So no matter what you want to be, The Sims series has you covered.

All these new worlds offer new stories and new in-game characters that make them worth playing. Riverview is the only world that you can download without paying. For all other worlds, you will have to buy SimPoints, or Sims 3 store currency, to download them. The cost ranges from a $19.99 bundle, up to 2,426 SimPoints per world.

There are also Gold Editions available for some of the worlds, which include premium content. Gold Editions cost more SimPoints. You will also need to log in the website to download anything.

If you are looking for new content for your Sims 3 game, I suggest getting a new world. 

Roaring Heights

Roaring Heights is a town for those living in the fast lane. It comes with a cool Fixer-Upper Car that you can repair, customize, and then drive. This town seems to have an oldies theme to it, with the hair styles, clothing, and houses. On the website, it recommends that you get the Boardwalk premium content with it, which includes a roller coaster. The Gold Edition comes with the world, Fixer-Upper Car, Boardwalk Attire, and 1900 SimPoints.

Download Roaring Heights here.

Midnight Hollow

Midnight Hollow is a dark town where creativity comes to life. It has a Victorian theme to it. The Gold Edition comes with a Toy Machine and the Savvy Seller’s Collection, which is all you need to get started to start your own business.

Download Midnight Hollow here.

Dragon Valley

Dragon Valley is a town full of fantasy that adds dragonlings to the mix. Included in the Gold Edition are red dragons, green dragons, and purple dragons. There are some great new sims and stories to be played in this town, too, as its denizens must decide between tradition and progress.

Download Dragon Valley here.

Aurora Skies

Aurora Skies is a town with a lot of scenery and nature. It also has a multi-colored night sky to enjoy. The Gold Edition includes a Toddler Walker, Playpen, and Hot Air Balloon. Great for families!

Download Aurora Skies here.

Monte Vista

Monte Vista is a quiet little town that's full of charm. Centered on cooking and art, it is a great place to call home. Included in the bundle is the Monte Vista world, a Wood Fire Oven Premium Item, and 100 SimPoints. This town has great museums, too!

Download Monte Vista here.

Sunlit Tides

Sunlit Tides is a great town for vacations. With waterfront homes, new objects, sims, and stories, this is a great town to have. The Gold Edition includes a Sauna, and Zen Massage Table. This is the place to relax!

Download Sunlit Tides here.

Lucky Palms

Lucky Palms is a town ready for rest and relaxation. New content, stories, and sims are included as well. The Gold Edition of this world includes a Wishing Well, Black Jack table, and Slot Machine. Great for casinos!

Download Lucky Palms here.

Lunar Lakes

Lunar Lakes is a town that's out of this world. This colony was created on another planet, and it is thriving. There are new objects, clothing, and locations for you to explore. Explore the Crystal Mine and discover rare rocks and gems. There are bio-dome parks to invoke the feel of other towns. This world truly is unique!

Download Lunar Lakes here.

Hidden Springs

Hidden Springs is a mysterious place that is said to hold magic. There are exclusive new items, sims, stories, and the fountain of youth. The town holds lots of secrets that you will have to discover.

Download Hidden Springs here.

Barnacle Bay

Barnacle Bay is an adventure island in the sea. It comes with the Buccaneer’s Bounty Set and two new staircases. It also adds 20 new items and clothing, a pirate ship, watering hole, and gallery. This town is made for the pirate adventure!

Download Barnacle Bay here.

Riverview

Riverview was the first world released after The Sims 3 came out. And it's currently available for free on the Sims 3 store. It offers a sleepy little town that is more relaxed than city life, with farming and gardening at its heart.

Download Riverview here.

The Sims 3 is an older game, but it's still very fun to play. It comes with a lot of content, and expansion packs to install if you wish. But let’s not forget that there is still a lot of stuff on the Sims 3 store that is still available to purchase and play. There is premium content, houses, and worlds to download.

Currently, there are 11 new worlds that you can still download through this website. Let's take a look at what they are and what they have to offer your Sims experience.

The Psychopathic Serial Killer

A YouTuber is intent on finding and killing other Sims at the park by electrocuting them with a hand buzzer. It doesn’t work the first couple of tries. Although annoyed, he is determined to successfully kill someone. When he finally figures out why the action isn’t working, he is thrilled to kill, and his excitement can be visibly heard in his voice.

He laughs when his first murder occurs and calls it "amazing." He kills another, laughing again, in a room full of several other Sims. He even makes his Sim have sex with a woman only to promptly kill her after. What a charming guy.

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There you have it. From child abuse to prostitution, I can't imagine what must go through someone's head to think of these stories. I can't believe we all play the same game. But that's The Sims for you: the ultimate life simulator, where everything and anything is possible -- no matter how illegal it is. 

What do you think is the craziest story here? What is the worst you have done to your Sims? Tell us in the comments!

The Painting Slave

One player anonymously reveals his secret to his Sims' financial success -- his "painting goblin":

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Every time I play the Sims, I start my family with a "painting goblin."

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I make him/her morbidly obese with green skin. I make sure to give him the following traits:

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• Likes to be alone
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• Likes art
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• Hates the outdoors
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The first thing I do once I have enough money, is build a small room in the basement, send him down there, and then remove the stairs. I set him up in a tiny little area with only an easel, a toilet, a refrigerator, a bed, a shower, and a trash bin.

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All he does all day is paint. That’s it. He paints and paints and paints and paints.

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Eventually, his paintings become very good and worth a lot of money. Every few minutes I go downstairs and sell whatever painting he has finished, and then I return to playing the game.

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My family always ends up feeling blessed because of their fortune, and they never find out about the horrible secret living beneath their home.

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After this story of the "painting goblin" spread on Reddit, one user admitted to creating their own variation: not just one, but two goblins. They made the mistake of creating a male and female who got to know each other a little too well.

When they had a baby, it was raised by the family, living off their artistic talent. The couple saw their child's growth without being able to interact with him or her. Some say the child still doesn't know its true parents. 

A Teacher Has a Relationship With a Student

In this subtitled story, a Sims art teacher, Mr. Davidson, is crushed on by all of his students. The teacher talks to one student named Emily in private. He tells her that she can stay after class to improve her work. Narration reveals that Emily also has a crush on Mr. Davidson ... because of course she does. 

When Emily finishes her assignment, she is the last student there. Conveniently, Mr. Davidson had told every student they could go home when they were done. Now alone, he approaches Emily and compliments her on her work before promptly kissing her. They snap a picture together while kissing. Emily sends this photo to all of her classmates.

The next morning -- when all of Emily's classmates shun her -- she goes to Mr. Davidson. He reassures her that everything is going to be okay. He then asks to take their relationship to the "next level," and they have sex in a photo booth.

The following morning after class, Emily informs Mr. Davidson that she’s pregnant. He responds by proposing to her in their classroom. The video ends with Emily’s confession of love.

Now, there are many elements of this story that are just plain wrong. But the YouTuber said she was only 12 when she created this story. Can she be forgiven?

The Man With the Torture Chamber

This YouTuber designed a basement in a "normal" Sim's house. Why? To lure and trap innocent civilians. The door to the basement is locked to all except the home owner.

He traps 14 Sims there. 

The YouTuber chillingly refers to the prisoners as his "subjects." He is excited about watching the prisoners urinate in their pants because they are locked in a dark room with no food, water, bed, or toilet. In addition, he brags about how easily he's able to lure Sims to his basement.

What may be most revolting is not the video content, but the top comment (seen below). Synaps koenigkill suggests: 

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Make a big room and put them all together into it. Get them to [im]pregnate themselves and create a whole new community in your basement.

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There are some truly weird people playing The Sims ... and this just proves it. 

The Hunger Games: Sims Edition

It's cruel enough to kill one's Sims. It's even crueler to make a game out of it, one loosely based off the popular book and movie, The Hunger Games. But that's just what this YouTuber did. 

In this reenactment, there is a "death house" that contains several test rooms:

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1. The Swimming Test -- Six Sims are forced to swim through an elaborate pool maze. The last Sim to get to the end is blocked from exiting, eventually drowning.
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2. The Test of Fire -- In a room full of cheap stoves, fireplaces, and camp fires, the first Sim to die by fire loses.
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3. The Test of Electricity -- Like the test of fire, the first Sim to repair enough equipment with no skill level will electrocute themselves to death.
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4. The Relaxation Test -- The Sims are given a chance to recover from their trials and tribulations, but there’s a catch. There’s a sauna where they won’t be able to leave once they enter, which means one Sim must die from overheating.
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5. The Test of Hunger -- A cowplant lures unsuspecting Sims with a piece of chocolate cake -- to swallow them whole. It is the only food in the area for Sims to eat.
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The last Sim standing that has not died from hunger, cowplant, or any of the other tests has won the Sim Hunger Games. Man, that's brutal ... 

The Mother Who Committed Negligent Homicide

A YouTuber wrote a subtitled Sims story about a mother who never wanted her child -- even during her pregnancy. When the infant is born, she is locked her in a room with no furniture. She is neglected of basic Sims (and real-life) needs, such as food, cleanliness, and human stimulation. The user even places rotting garbage that reeks as much as she does next to her. 

What is most terrifying, however, is the disturbing written dialogue of verbal abuse. The child is compared to garbage, told to keep screaming, and that the mother can do whatever she wants to the child because no one knows she exists. I shiver to think about the (maybe?) moral-less YouTuber having written that last line -- that anything can be done to another as long as it is isn’t known.

The writer has a twisted imagination, proven by the mother spraying her child with pest-control spray when cockroaches appear in the horrendous living conditions. She narrates the child crying and begging for relief from the pain and starvation. The child finally collapses and dies from starvation at the end of the video.

Yeah ... it's creepy, to say the least. 

The Obsessed, Jealous Murderer

In this story, a Sim -- based off the creator himself -- has the unfortunate luck of being rejected by every woman he wants to sleep with. He spies on a woman through her window and waits outside her house for hours. He stalks her when she leaves, trying to talk to her. He even goes through her trash to find items she’s thrown out, which he can then use as conversation starters.

In short, he’s obsessed. He enters her house without an invitation and they start to argue. He insults her about her weight before she kicks him out. This Sim knows no social boundaries.

When he fails to sleep with another woman, he devises a plan to burn her house to the ground. His plan is successful, and the resulting fire kills two women. A man survives, and he falls into a deep depression. He will never recover from the trauma he's experienced.

Where is the murderer Sim? He is a confident, flirty musician at the bar, with no regrets whatsoever. And definitely a Grade-A creep still living somewhere out there in Sim-land. 

The Sims series (2000 - present) is one of the most well known video game series to date. Over the years, people of all ages have enjoyed stimulating life events for people they know, and those they create themselves. 

As the game has developed, it has only gotten more complex. For example, in the original The Sims, to have a baby, a player simply had to select the right option and the child would pop into their Sims' arms. By contrast, in The Sims 4, players must actively try for a baby and go through pregnancy and labor to have one.

This increased complexity makes for much more interesting Sims tales, to say the least. And this increased complexity has led to players to get, um, creative in the ways by which they control their Sims' lives. Read on to discover the craziest, cruelest, and creepiest Sims stories shared on the internet. 

Sims fans eagerly awaited for the release of the Sims 4 in September of 2014, but have found nothing but disappointment at the lack of content ever since. Even fan favorites--such as pools and toddlers--were missing from the original base game. Many fans, myself included, hoped that an expansion would soon release that would fill in those holes but the last three expansion packs have offered little to fix the lack of content. Here are four reasons the Sims 4 is no longer worth the investment.

A Closed Off World

In Sims 3 you could send your son to the neighbor's to play, make your husband go fishing, and work on your garden all without seeing a single loading screen. With Sims 4 you're stuck facing that annoying spinning crystal every time you leave your home lot and you can't interact with any of the other sims while you're away. 

Pathetically Small "World" Sizes

Here we have the Sims 3 base pack town, Sunset Valley. There are around 14 empty houses (only 2 or 3 of which you can afford right away), 19 empty lots for those who like creating their own homes, and 21 community lots (all of which you can visit without running into a loading screen).

This is one town you get with the Sims 4 base pack. While you start off with 3 towns, you get less overall. A single town only has around 20-30 lots total. Of the 21 shown here, there are only 4 community lots, 9 available houses, and 3 empty lots. Now with the 3 towns combined you get a somewhat decent start (minus the lack of community lots), the issue comes with the expansion packs. Instead of getting a new 60+ lot world, we only get a new town with a few extra lots. When the expansion costs about the same as the base game, this makes each one a waste of money just for the lack of towns.

Tiny Expansion Packs

With each expansion pack fans hope they might finally get their money's worth, but every time we get yet another reason to uninstall the series. Just to compare what we get now vs what we got with Sims 3, let's compare the one game EA remade for Sims 4 thus far.

Ambitions VS Get To Work

Both games allow the player to play their sims while on the job. Get To Work does a bit more interaction on the job than Ambitions but it still gave limited career options compared to its predecessor. Here is the quick and dirty rundown between the two.

Ambitions 

New town: Twin Brooks

New career tracks: doctor, investigator, scientist, ghost hunter, architectural designer, and stylist

Ability to be self-employed (thus increasing the career tracks even more)

New trait: eco-friendly

New skills: sculpting, investing, and detonation

Get To Work

New Town: Magnolia Promenade

New career tracks: doctor, detective, and scientist

New skills: baking and photography

New trait: Sick resistant

Limited Traits

Sims 4 took away our ability to create complex people by limiting the number of traits to only 3. Sims 3 gave us a base of 5 with the ability to expand that if our sims worked hard and graduated college or reached level 10 of certain careers. At least there are mods to fix this oversight, unlike most of the other issues.

Sims 3 left some pretty big shoes to fill. It expanded the series, increased the capabilities of the player, and even gave us some new adventures to take our sims on. Sims 4 gave fans with high expectations a massive let down. Even the staples, like Ambitions, have released in Sims 4 in small quantities for the same large price tag. I think it’s time we quit letting the Sims 4 take up space on our computers and upgrade to Sims 3.

What's your take on Sims 4? What do you think could save the game and the franchise? Let's talk about it in the comments below!

Are you going to be relying on any of our ultra-lazy cosplays for a costume party this year? Let us know how it went, and be sure to recommend us some other easy Halloween or convention costumes in the comments below!

Missing DLC Costume

This one's too perfect. It's lazy, it's funny, and it's a statement on the despicable practice of incomplete games relying on extra money from already-finished DLC that should have been part of the base experience.

Image source: Missing DLC Costume 

Red Ring Of Death

The terror of many just a few years back, you can resurrect this old enemy of gamers the world over in some really easy ways.

A couple of those flexible short red glow sticks with connecting pieces sold at dollar stores everywhere are a simple method, or if you're being really lazy, a t-shirt and some markers will always do.

Image Source: Deviant Art

Pac-Man Ghost

A monochromatic sheet of fabric, umbrella, and poster board cut into the eye shapes give you any Pac-Man ghost you want! Of course this one's ultra lazy if you don't actually get anyone to play the game's title character...

Image source: Pac-Man Ghost

Barbara

OK, so you got me on this one – kind of. There are two Stranger Things games, but neither of them let you play as Barbara, which is, honestly, quite a shame.

The unsung hero of Stranger Things, unceremoniously murdered too early and deserving of a better fate, Barb's not too hard to put together if you've got a red wig and access to a thrift store: freckles, glasses, frilly plaid shirt, and jeans. This cosplayer had the nice touch of missing Barb flyers!

Image source: Barbara

Walter White

Alright, I'm stretching credulity here on the video game front, but I've got a surprise wild card: there was actually a lame official AMC mobile game version of Breaking Bad!

This one's simplicity itself. A green shirt, tightie whities, no pants, and glasses are all it takes to become a recognizable meth kingpin. Maybe don't wear this one while taking your kids out trick or treating, though.

Image source: Walter White

Arthur Dent

Pajamas, bathrobe, towel: done! A big, friendly “Don't Panic” sign sure spices it up a bit and lets people know you aren't just a dude on the way to the shower.

Before anybody gets all snarky and tries to tell me Hitchhiker's Guide was a novel series that made it to movies and television but was never a video game, go ahead and put on the breaks real quick: a little known interactive text game was in fact released in 1984, so there!

Image source: Arthur Dent

Showering Sim

There are a ton of cosplays for these nude showering characters from The Sims floating around the web with varying degrees of effort. Really all you need is poster board and markers (or if you're feeling particularly lazy and have a ton of ink, just print off squares of the different colors).

The head icon is easy with some green craft foam and a headband. For a more authentic feel, be sure to have someone dressed as God following you around and constantly messing with you.

Image source: Showering Sim

Stormtrooper

White bucket, black marker, white pants, and duct tape give you bucket head stormtrooper (maybe they were going for the Lego Star Wars version?), which is officially my new favorite thing.

Now you just need to fire a blaster wildly and utterly fail to hit anyone who looks like a main character.

Image source: Stormtrooper

Bookworm

Green or brown pants, green shirt, baseball cap with googly eyes, and a book under arm: boom, you're the perfect Popcap Games' Bookworm!

There are lots of variations on this idea for different games featuring bookworms. This cosplayer above has added in a clever Silent Hill element, riffing off the bookworm class found in Silent Hill: Book Of Memories.

Image source: Bookworm

Happens every year: you always mean to put together your perfect Halloween cosplay on time, but it just never quite works out that way.

You had grand (and doomed) plans to put together the perfect outfit from your favorite game or anime, and you started plotting it out well in advance so time wouldn't run out this year like all those times before.

Then wouldn't you know it, it's time for the Halloween party and you've got nada. It's not your fault: you were binge watching Black Mirror or are still shocked from that Walking Dead season opening and couldn't do anything.

For the lazy among us who didn't budget their time properly, here are some great cosplays to put together quickly on minimal effort!

EA offers two great subscription services; EA access for Xbox One, and Origin access for PC. Both services are $4.99 a month and offer great deals for players. I think that they should combine those services into one service, and one subscription.

EA access for Xbox One offers over 20 games in their vault that you can play instantly with their subscription. Some of the games included are Dragon Age Inquisition, FIFA 15, Battlefield 4, and Madden 15. The subscription also includes Play First, which allows you to play games before they are released. Subscribers also get 10% off all EA digital purchases.

Origin access has about the same deals, but for PC. You get access to the vault, which has over 25 games. Some of the games included are; FIFA 16, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age II, and The Sims 3 Starter Pack. You also can play games before they are released, and get 10% discount on all Origin purchases.

Both EA access and Origin access are $4.99 a month. I think the subscriptions are a good deal. But, if you are a gamer like me and play on both on your PC and Xbox One, you might not want to pay for both subscriptions to have access to all games.

This makes players like me have to make a choice. I don’t want to pay $10 a month for both subscriptions and have two separate memberships. I think that EA would benefit if they combined their services and had one membership for both EA access and Origin access.

The price of the two subscriptions is about $10 total. I am not suggesting that they combine both subscriptions and only charge for the price of one, or $4.99. But, if they were to combine services and then reduced the price by a dollar or more, so that it was less than $10 for one subscription, I think more people would want to buy it.

With one price and one subscription, players might be more inclined to subscribe because they would have access to all games across both platforms. EA needs to make it simpler; they could even give a discount for players that have both subscriptions now when they switch.

EA has a good start; they just need to build on it. I like the direction they are taking with subscriptions.

1. HDoom mod

You know what I always thought would make Doom better? Turning it into a hentai-like sex game that featured tons of naked female demonic creatures, a dildo-equipped chainsaw and a load of human-on-demon interspecies humping. If only someone would make a mod that could do that...

What? Someone actually did? Awesome! Yes, HDoom really does bring those dodgy anime sexy-demon fantasies to life. The mod’s actually a very impressive piece of work, technically, as it overhauls the whole game. There's plenty of new (usually sex-based) weaponry and a whole host of big-breasted monsters to kill and/or make love to. Be warned – this is pretty graphic, even with the low-res visuals.

HDoom gets the number one spot because it's so imaginative, the creator has obviously put loads of work into it, and it's very, very filthy. 

Download HDoom from creator hdoomguy's official blog.

Have you used any of the mods on our list? Which mods would you add? Let us know in the comments!

2. Saints Row 4 naked mod

Considering that Saints Row 4 featured the mighty Dildo Bat (aka the Penetrator), it’s a bit surprising that there wasn’t a nudity option already included in the base game. For those who prefer to carry out their open-world shenanigans in the guise of a totally naked, large-large breasted woman, then check out the mod below.

There’s also a link to the YouTube video showing the mod in action. If you watch it (not at work, remember), you’ll notice that it’s actually very well done. Rather than have her body resembling various textures that have obviously been overlaid onto clothes, the lady in question does really look like a naked character designed by the game-makers. I watched the video several times and paused it often, just to make sure.

Get the Saints Row 4 nudity mod from this Deposit Files link.

Or just watch the YouTube video of the mod here

3. Adult Borderlands 2 texture mod

Most people know that if you type ‘video game sexy images’ into a search engine, half the results you’ll get back will be of Borderlands’ Mad Moxxi in various stages of undress, usually manipulating a variety of...things.

This mod shows more imagination than merely revealing more of Moxxi’s already fairly exposed chest; instead, it replaces a number of the textures around Pandora with content of a more ‘adult’ nature. This includes plastering vending machines, signs, posters and walls with things such as sex cards, adverts for adult toys, naughty graffiti and, naturally, pictures of Moxxi’s fully exposed boobs.

Make Pandora that little more dirtier by downloading the mod from this Nudemod page.

4. Mass Effect mods

The Mass Effect series is not only the greatest game trilogy of all time, but it shows that intergalactic sexual relations with aliens can be a very beautiful thing - something I’ve argued for years. Unfortunately, many believe the one area where the game is lacking is when it comes to showing off some alien (and human) boobage. Time for the modders to step up and make things right.

There are a selection of nude mods on offer here, including a particularly impressive naked female Shepherd one - holding humanity’s fate in her hands while running round like she’s at a nudist colony makes for an interesting juxtaposition. There are also several other mods which ‘improve’ the romantic cutscenes and give the female characters a variety of outfits that wouldn’t be suitable for wearing to church.

Get yourself a selection of naked Mass Effect characters from Girl Plays Game.

5. The Sims naked mods

The problem with ‘life-simulator’ The Sims is that it doesn’t represent every aspect of real life - like walking around naked or dressing up as if you’re on the set of a Ron Jeremy movie. Now, thanks to the magic of modding, you can add some harsh, jiggly reality to your Sim’s existence.

There are numerous mods available for the Sims 2, 3, and 4. They range from dressing your tiny avatars up like they’ve just escaped from a S&M dungeon, to having them walk around completely butt-naked. If, like me, you want to justify your filthy actions by telling yourself it adds realism, then only download the mod that removes the shower mosaic grid.

You can download this and a whole host of other naughty Sims mods from the Sims2xsims website.

Or download a nude mod directly from File Planet here.

6. Skyrim Better Males mod

Seeing as every other mod on this list is based on women losing their clothes, here’s something where the gender being stripped bare is male.

Taken from the insanely popular Sex and Violence: The top 10 Best NSFW Skyrim mods list, the ‘Better males mod’ lets the testosterone-fuelled beefcakes of Skyrim walk around like they can’t even feel the biting cold. You even get the option have your men smooth skinned or seventies-style hairy monsters, now that’s some attention to detail.

See the naked men of Skyrim strut their stuff by downloading the mod from the Nexus Mods website.

7. Half-Life 2 Naked Alyx Vance mod

With Alyx Vance, Valve showed how to make a strong, smart female character without putting her in a bikini and a pair of glasses. She was the cool girl-next-door who you wanted as a girlfriend, the kind of lady you could bring home to meet your mother – then the Internet came along and decided she would be better off without clothes.

If you’d like to see Alyx strutting around wearing nothing but her birthday suit, then download the mod below. I’ll have you know I only did it for research purposes, you dirty, dirty people.

See Alyx sans clothing by downloading the mod from File Planet.

8. Fallout 3 nude Hi-Rez patch

Few things get the blood pumping to the nether regions like the thought of mutated creatures, death by radiation poisoning and a bleak, post-apocalyptic society - which obviously makes Fallout 3 a damn sexy game. But if that’s not enough for you, then there’s a whole slew of mods out there that gives Bethesda’s RPG a more... porny feel.

Out of all these mods, it’s this ‘nude patch Hi-Rez’ one that’s considered the best - and by best I mean dirtiest. Basically stripping every female character in the game of their clothing, the mod can be made all the more sinister by utilizing V.A.T.S to have a long, lurky look at them. How do they manage to find so many razors in the wasteland?

Want more nudity in Fallout 3? Then download the mod from Nudemod.

9. Dead or Alive 5 nude mod

The thing about Dead or Alive 5 is that the female characters in it are flashing a fair bit of flesh as it is. But that’s just not enough for some people, especially those who want to see these ladies fighting au natural.

Luckily for those gamers who want to see more of Momiji, Ayane, Marie Rose, and Kasumi, a series of nude mods are available that will make concentrating on fighting all the more difficult.

Surely these outfits are massively impractical for hand-to-hand combat?

Find the various nude character mods at this Game Vixen Zone.

Editors Note: No longer available.

10. Catwoman nude mod for Batman: Arkham City

If you’re the kind of person who looks at Catwoman’s sexy catsuit in Batman: Arkham City and thinks: “Niiiiice. But is there any chance we can remove the chest, ass and crotch parts?” Then this very, very graphic mod will be right up your alley.

If you look closely, you can see it’s a just a simple texture change, but it certainly makes for a pretty 'detailed' effect. Install this mod and the opportunity to make countless p***y jokes and will be yours - as well as being able to see Catwoman’s bits, of course. You pervert.

You can download the nude Catwoman mod at Nudepatch.

Game mods really are an amazing thing. They allow creative people to alter a number of aspects of a game - from the graphics to the gameplay - and come up with something totally different, and often better, than the original product. This can lead to the development of entirely new titles that become more popular than the base games they spawned from, like the way Defense of the Ancients did with Warcraft III. Mods can also keep a game looking fresh for years after its release date by adding new graphical updates; Skyrim, for example, has had its visuals updated frequently by modders since its 2011 release. Modding is a truly wonderful thing.

And, of course, it’s often used to take video game characters' clothes off.

Yes, it may be seen as a bit seedy, but a lot of mods do revolve around getting people in games (usually females, let's be honest) naked. Whatever your thoughts on this matter, you have to applaud these modders' technical skills, imagination, and ability draw a massive pair of boobs.

So, whether you’re here for research purposes, to laugh at others, to download these mods, or to show utter disdain at the fact that this kind of thing goes on, here are the 10 best NSFW nude mods ever made.

It's been announced that the portable Steam machine device formally known as the Steamboy will be available for pre-purchase on November 10th, but the shipping will be post-dated until the fourth quarter of 2016. Smach announced that the new project name is the Smach Zero.

The pre-purchase date may already be marked on your calendar because yes, it is the same day that the other Steam Machine products manufactured by Alienware and Cyberpower hit the stores. It is truly an important day for Valve.

Details from Smach, producers of Smach Zero

The company that will be producing the Smach Zero is known as Smach, has given out a few details on the arrival of the "Steamboy". But during Gamescom this past weekend they announced that the price will be $299 and €299 in Europe.

That price tag is only for the pre-purchase amount and it is unknown if the price will fluctuate upon the public release date. Smach announced that there will be over 1,000 games that will play on the Smach Zero upon its release in 2016.

Hardware and Functionality

Some of the hardware that is known to be put on the Smach Zero includes:

• Two touch pads
• Control stick
• Seven buttons on the front
• Six buttons on the back
• AMD embedded G-Series SoC "Steppe Eagle" with Jaguar-based CPU and GCN-based Radeon graphics
• 4 GB memory
• 32 GB internal memory
• SD card slot
• USB OTG
• 5-inch Touch Screen - 720p Resolution
• Tacticle configurable gamepads
• HDMI video output connection
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth

With all of the above coming with the basic model, a PRO model will be available with the option of 4G mobile network connectivity. As a handheld gamer I'm very impressed with the idea of a portable Steam machine, and will be following it personally for when it releases in 2016. It'll be very interesting on the games that will be playable on it, and hopefully some high-end games such as the Sims 3 and the Assassin's Creed series will be available. 

What do you think of this portable Steam machine? Will it be on your wishlist? 

Sims love to eat, right? It's a great way to sit and socialize with friends and family. A love for eating doesn't necessarily mean it comes with a love for cooking (depending on skill level, mood, traits, and age), but on August 11, Sims everywhere will be able to cook foods of a different variety - and with an assortment of new kitchen appliances (stainless steel, for example) and furnishings for both dining rooms and kitchens.

According to TheSims.com, the new The Sims 4: Cool Kitchen Stuff  will make breakfast, lunch and dinner so much better now that Sims will be able to cook new dishes. Also, the expansion comes with new outfits and hairstyles for the chef in your Sim and an ice cream maker with 30 flavors and toppings like sprinkles, banana slices and whipped cream that will affect Sims' moods and feelings in 30 different ways, whether it be with gelato or soft serve.

An upcoming update for Sim enthusiasts will grant their Sims a brand new dishwasher. So if players decide not to get the expansion, they can at least have a way for their Sims to clean just a little bit faster in the kitchen, which comes in handy for Sims who aren't too fond of cleaning.

Meanwhile, some Sims fans are waiting for expansions similar to those from The Sims 3 that have cities, beaches, pets, toddlers, schools, and some variety in weather and seasons. There's a lot of universal ideas floating around from international Sims players about what would make the game so much better to play.

What kinds of expansions would you like to see for your Sims?

This comes as no surprise, but EA just announced that the account formally known as Origin will be renamed to the EA Account in the coming weeks.

Should Have Saw it Coming

Since Origin launched back in 2011, they've been a leader in selling EA games. They do sell games by other publishers, but they are "powered" by EA which is why it's very understandable that a name change is in order.

Last year in 2014, Origin announced that they would no longer sell/ship boxed physical copies of their games, taking on the same mentality that Steam has had, where you own games on a personal account. 

Complications along the way?

This name transition will be very smooth, and require no aid by those who have Origin, or EA accounts. In the upcoming weeks, the name change will take full effect, and your log-ins will remain unchanged. No reason to get worried over this transition.

Does this come as a surprise to anyone?

Sharing Is Caring

What are some of the creepiest glitches you've witnessed in a non-scary game?

 Legs for Miles

We all know that Saint's Row is a crazy game. funny even but not well....whatever is going on in this image. The glitch isn't entirely scary game wise but just imagine standing on the street late at night and suddenly a spider lady six legs short is coming up behind you. Yeah, no thanks. 

Leather Face Glitch

We're afraid of what we don't understand which makes this Mafia II glitch scary at first glance. One minute you're talking to a sweet old Italian lady and the next thing you know you're talking to what looks like a mannequin. 

It really isn't that bad if you realize what you're looking at though. The glitch is a simple texture swap which causes the leather jacket to overlap the skin of the old woman's face for a few seconds. Unlike other glitches, this one fixes pretty quickly.  

Assassin's Creed Not So Unity

If you were to look up the latest gaming glitches, without a doubt this glitch from Assassin's Creed Unity would show up. In fact, it shows up anytime the game doesn't properly load textures and while it provides a good laugh it also makes things kind of weird.

Black Flag Does The Rapture

I'm not talking about the Bioshock Rapture, I'm talking about the biblical one that has people flying up to the sky all willy-nilly. This Assassin's Creed doesn't give a sinking ship about physics or stealing your entire crew while it is at it. Not sure if we should blame a bad patch, Moses or global warming. 

Fallout 3 Reanimated NPC's

If you thought the Fallout 3 head glitches were terrifying than you're going to absolutely get a scare out of these reanimated NPC's. The glitch occurs when you've killed an NPC, save your game, and reload it. The system grabs bits and pieces trying to put the previously killed NPC back together but instead of getting the full picture, we literally end up getting blood and guts. Gross. I'll take the floating heads. 

Fallout 3 Floating Heads

No, Floating Heads isn't some kind of Talking Heads cover band, it is just an eerie glitch that happens in Fallout 3. There's no real reason for this, it kind of just happens. 

The Witcher Goes Edvard Munch

I've always said that video games should be looked at as art but I never thought it would be taken so literally. Thanks to an unexplained glitch, The Witcher's otherwise fairly decent looking Geralt channels Munch's popular The Scream painting. It is both hilarious and disturbing. 

Laying The Smackdown in WWE2K15

WWE games are the absolute worst when it comes to glitches but to be fair, they're the most creative. I don't know what's going on in the glitch above but for WWE games that's the norm. 

From Cradle to the Glitch

If you ever wondered what having a kid would be like Sim's 3 is not the place to get that idea. A number of players have reported their babies hitting some seriously freaky growth spurts but luckily the glitch can be avoided.

According to forums, the glitch is the result of users using a nude skin mod which corrupts the game. 

Skyrim's Headless Heroes

We've heard of the Headless Horseman but Skyrim isn't bothering to save face with a pumpkin replacement. This glitch, thanks to a previous in game beheading, isn't as scary as it is disturbing but is quick to make a fantasy into a nightmare. 

Ah, the video game glitch.

Every gamer's worst nightmare at least, when it messes up the progress of your game. Other than, it is usually just a few seconds of creepy. And boy do I mean creepy. 

Who knew the sudden distortion of 3D polygons could be so scary? It is even scarier when it is in a game not meant to have you covering your eyes.

Despite what we may think, game developers aren't perfect and neither are the games they create which means every once in a while there will be a hiccup in the system. Unfortunately, sometimes those little hiccups turn into a 'kill it with fire' moment.

There are happy accidents and then there are 'what did I just witness accidents.' Check out these glitches that unintentionally turned our games over to the dark side. 

The Sims 4 is getting a lot of new features that fans seem to love and the anticipation for the game is high. The creators even have a list of press releases compiled together fill with buzz words assuring the customer how awesome the new game is.  However, a group of fans on the Sims 3 forum have made a list of the variety of features are missing or cut completely from the game. This post has made it all across the internet and now it's finally getting a little press attention from us here at GameSkinny.

User bflury is managing the user compiled list of all the features confirmed missing from the product. It is a massive effort from those in the community to find sources confirming all the missing elements from the game. 

Some of these features have been in the game since the first The Sims game such as pools, which are suspiciously missing in this newest iteration of this life simulator game. The major confirmed objects that were missing according to the community are:

MAJOR CONFIRMED MISSING: (All were in base versions of Sims 3) 

• No create a style (CAST) - NOT technically possible in future expansion (x)
• No modifications to public space - The park in the demo is a mix of a community lot and public space (x1)(x2)
• No "normal" careers - Law enforcement, Medical, Business, etc. were removed (x)
• NO OPEN WORLD - You can't just walk from house to house without loading screen...(x1)(x2)
• No pools(x)
• No terrain tools other than paint - REALLY !?!?! (x)
• No story progression - Aside from Sim's aging its out! (x)
• No toddlers (x)
  

 

Parts of this list have already been known by the public for some time, but it is constantly updating which makes this far more troubling than just a few missing features. These are major changes that no one expected nor probably wanted to happen. There is less customization in the game without the terrain tools and how else are we going to drown our Sims we don’t like without a pool? A little dark I know, but let’s be honest, we’ve all allowed a Sim to die once or twice after they peed on the floor for the umpteenth time.

None the less, it seems that Maxis is cutting out a massive amount of features that have been in the game since day one without really justifying why they took those features out. The producer just said it was a small amount but they users have since proven them wrong. Bflurry put it best when he quoted the Sims 4 Producer Graham Nardone:

Graham Nardone (Sims 4 Producer) wrote: "But the conversation then changes into discussing what is or isn’t there and the minutiae of differences in each feature along some scale because the easiest way to try and understand something new is to compare and contrast it to what came before."

Graham,
Every series from Mario to Grand Theft Auto typically will cut a feature or two from one installment to the other. That said, I don't believe we, as in most of the people you want to sell this game to, consider these a "minutiae" of differences...

With these features missing, among the others listed on the page, one has to wonder why the developers decided to do this. Unfortunately, it might be due to the fact that The Sims have always had a multitude of expansion packs and this might be a way for EA to sell back features they had the default in other entries in the franchise.  If we are lucky this won't happen, but with EA’s track record despite their attempts at redemption, it’s more than plausible.

Two days ahead of the launch of The Sims 3's newest world, Roaring Heights, @SimGuruTatertot and @SimGuruBrett treated fans to a cheeky peek at the 1920s and 1930s inspired world. Bringing together art deco elements of New York, Chicago, and Miami in their heydays, it actually looks rather splendid.

Style and Substance

Art deco fans will go mad for this world. It includes a whole new array of art deco Build/Buy objects and Creat A Sim (CAS) fashions. Game designers have already been dabbling a lot with 1920s/1930s CAS fashions with the Fifth Avenue Fashions and Jazz Age packs, and a Bauhaus Build/Buy set, to name but a few purchasable add-ons. But from the looks of what's available in Roaring Heights, it appears to have more scope to build you perfect art deco home AND town like never before. The new world includes period toppers for your skyscrapers and community buildings, curved building corners, neon lights, Bauhaus-style windows, art deco patterns to customise your objects with, to enable you to build that perfect Jazz Age paradise without having relying on custom content.

Making Cars and "Whoopee"

The Fixer-Upper car that comes with both the standard harks back to a similar item in The Sims 2: Free Time expansion. Buy piecing together bits of an old wreck, you can build your own car as well as your handiness skill. There's also a level of customisation available to galvanise the activity, namely in being able to choose the exact colour of the paint work.

The car itself, once built, also includes new interactions that aren't available with any other cars. Being a convertible, you can gaze at the stars with your lover, or even "Woo Hoo"! Woo Hoo-ing in cars is a much missed feature from The Sims 2 and its great to see it make a reappearance, although very late to the party. It's such a shame that it looks like it will only be available for this particular vehicle.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollercoasters!

By buying the gold edition, you will also be given enough SimPoints to buy the new venue that is being released to compliment the world: The Boardwalk Venue. This will also include the ability to build rollercoasters!

Rollercoasters are not new to the franchise, making their first and, until now, only appearance in The Sims: Making Magic expansion pack for the original game. They were incredibly wacky and a lot of fun to play around with, and it looks like these will be very much in the same spirit. Specific set pieces, such as waterfall drops and chicanes can be assigned one of three themes; Haunted, Wonder, or Thriller. This changes the animations that go with the ride at that particular section of track.

But it was not made clear in the Twitch broadcast whether these rollercoasters will be available on only community lots, leaving players wondering if they can incorporate them into their homes. It would be odd that if rollercoaster parts didn't appear on a residential Build/Buy screen as a default that they won't be available in buydebug mode. So even if there's no intended capacity, there most probably be a way around it.

Like Rollercoaster Tycoon (RCT) it appears that you will be able to create your own routes for your coaster using pre-made sections that snap together. However, RCT fans should probably stick to RCT if it's realism they're after as these are pretty zany and silly. But none the less, it's really nice to see Maxis bring back another feature from previous games that players miss.

All That Jazz!

Overall, this looks like a well designed and dedicated addition to TS3 and looks amazing. In fact, we'd go as far to say that Roaring Heights will probably outshine the buggy and lacklustre result that The Sims 3: Into the Future was. It just goes to prove, that the oldies are indeed goodies.

The Sims 3 Roaring Heights world will be available to purchase direct from The Sims 3 Store from December 12th 2013.

In this part my exploration of The Sims 3: Into the Future, we look at triggering Utopia, and then how to repair the timeline to the “normal” future, thus completing both “Made the Most of My Time” LTW and “The Time Keeper” legacy statue. 

Part 1 (of 2) of my video supplement for this walkthrough.

Triggering Utopia 

Once back in the present, use your Almanac of Time and select “Trigger Event” for the appropriate version of the future. Remember, if this is your first time triggering an alternative future, in order to do so you must have a minimum of level 1 for your Advanced Technology skill. NB If you’ve come back from the future, make sure you’ve cleared any other active opportunities from Emit in order to receive these ones.

Then, follow the opportunities as follows:

1. Measure Cheerfulness - Whilst the opportunity says you’ve been given a device “cobbled together”, nothing will show up in your inventory. Go up to three Sims and you’ll see a new interaction, “Measure Cheerfullness”. You do not need to build up any relationship with Sims for this to be succesful.
2. Dew Yourself! – You’ll then find three vials of “Mysterious Black Dew” in your inventory, and an opportunity where you’ll need to use it on yourself. Click on the stack directly and select the option to “Use Dew On Self”. You’ll then have your Sim change into a random colour, and received a nice moodlet that gives you +10 mood for 3 hours.
3. Dew Onto Others… -  Next, you need to use the dew on six other sims. This is not an interaction like when measuring cheerfulness. To use dew on others, go into your inventory and click on the stack of dews, select “Use Dew On Sim” and then select any Sim from the list. Again, you do not have to build relationships for this to be succesful.
4. Release Dew Into Atmosphere – Lastly, a simple and quick rabbit hole event. Go to the Military Base, and get them to release dew into the atmosphere. 

Exploring Utopia 

For completing both the “Made the Most of My Time” LTW, and “The Time Keeper” Legacy Statue, you don’t have to hang around long. But if you do, whilst there really isn’t as much to explore here compared to dystopia, here are the main things to look out for are as follows.

Dew Fight

This works like a water balloon fight, except you use dew. You don’t have to have any dew in your inventory to initiate one. Just find the interaction option on a Sim, or click on the ground: just like you would a water balloon fight. You’ll get all the benefits of being dew-ed (skin change colour and +10 moodlet) whilst building your “fun” need simultaneously.

Giant Flowers

Although these might look a bit like Triffids, they’re actually harmless! You can click on these and select “Collect Dew” to collect various numbers of specific coloured vials of dew to use on yourself and others. NB The colour of the flower does not denote the colour of dew that you’ll get from it. The colours are always random.

Rainbow Dew

If you’re lucky enough to get a vial of Rainbow Dew from a giant flower, whilst using it won’t change your skin colour, it will give you a moodlet called “Rainbow Wretching”. If you don’t mind that it gives you a negative mood stat, and causes actions to be interrupted whilst you go and throw-up, it hilariously makes your vomit rainbow coloured!

Random Actions of Kindness

Apart from all the other Sims walking around goofily, there’s also spontaneous self-hugging and silly waving.

BUG ALERT!

If you’ve changed the future to utopia after changing it to dystopia, you’ll still get the random meteor strikes in utopia. This is a real shame, as it means you can’t really stay outside for too long at the risk of being hit and possible killed by a meteor. Haven’t figured out how to get around this yet, but hopefully a fix for the bug will come out soon. 

Part 2 of my video supplement for this walkthrough.

Repairing the Timeline 

To complete “The Time Keeper” Legacy Statue, or have just gotten bored with utopia/dystopia, you can repair the timeline to return the future to the normal state. Again, trigger the opportunity to do so from selecting the option from you Almanac of Time.

Changing from Utopia to Normal

Easy enough, go back to the Military Base and replace the dew sample that they’ve released into the atmosphere. Then, you’ll be able to travel back to a normal future. 

Changing from Dystopia to Normal

This is a two-part quest. First, a quick rabbit hole event at the Science Facility, where you'll attend an anti-apocalypse meeting. Then, speak to four Sims to convince them that the sky isn’t falling and everything is okay. Again, the interaction can be found just by clicking any Sim, and there’s no requirement to build a relationship with them for it to be successful. 

“Made the Most of My Time” LTW/”The Time Keeper” Legacy Statue 

You must return back to the normal future for these to complete. Before you do so, make sure you’re best friends with Emit. As I noticed you get significant gains to your relationship with him just for accepting his opportunities, this shouldn’t have been too difficult. However, if not, I’d highly recommend using the time portal to summon him and build up that last bit of relationship. 

This is because there is a BUG where sometimes the LTW will not fullfil, even though you’ve done everything correctly. I’d go as far in taking the precaution to make sure he’s your best friend before even initiating repairing the timeline. 

From what I’ve noticed, this bug doesn’t affect getting the legacy statue, just completing the LTW. No idea how to fix it. Hopefully this will be patched soon. 

Next Time…

Next time we’ll look at the “High Tech Collector” LTW, whilst simultaneously looking at the new Astronomer career.

Although I am a big fan of The Sims, I have noticed how psychology and capitalism play a big part in the gameplay. I'd like to argue that The Sims—particularly The Sims 3— allows players to live through their Id, which is a term coined by Freud to mean the source of our needs, wants, desires and impulses.  In addition, I want to point out how the game can exclude players from their social life and how the gameplay teaches us about capitalism.

Alienation

To begin, players can become so wrapped up with their Sims that they may slowly start to disregard their own life. In other words, The Sims game becomes a source to live a life full of people or "sims," but in turn removes players from their own social life or ties.

Personally speaking, when I started my first Sims family on The Sims 3, I created people I knew. I challenged myself to recreate my house and family for instance. This caused me to become alienated, and I'm sure that other Sims players I know have, too. 

By becoming alienated, the function of family and friends becomes replaced by the Sims family the game generates, because the player spends more time playing with the Sims family than their real family and friends. In my case, family and friends became replaced by the family and friends I recreated in the game. 

Living out your Id

First, let me further explain what I mean by Id. There are three parts of the structural psyche Freud coined. There's the Id, the ego and the super-ego. The Id is the dark side of our personality. The Id is considered the "dark side" of our personality by our society because it holds no judgments of value. For instance, it doesn't understand good from evil or morality, whereas our super-ego is the part that controls our sense of morality and our sense of right or wrong. 

To sum it up, the Id is what our society would consider "socially unacceptable behavior" and the super-ego would be considered socially acceptable behavior.  Get it?

Okay, so essentially I want to argue that The Sims is a place where players can live out their Id because it's not a real world, so there's no sense of real consequences that our super-ego can disallow us from doing.

This comes to play with several different games. For example, we have all read articles on violence in games and how society believes that if you play a violent game, you will do something terrible outside of the gameplay. However, I don't think this is the case. I think that at the heart, players love the world of games because subconsciously, it is a place where they can live through their Id... or their wants, desires, etc. 

In turn, by living these out, it becomes therapeutic because you are subconsciously releasing these desires within gameplay. 

How do players live through Id in the Sims?

For one, a player can choose to explore different characters and personalities they may not have in real life; for instance, a villain. Players can also play through Id by using cheats.

By using cheats, players are able to fulfill their desires by easily taking what they want through a simple code. Cheats allow several different Id options. For instance, you can kill your Sim character several different ways and you can easily make another Sim fall in love with you.

Capitalism and Id

The Sims 3 is driven by the world of capitalism. This is one of the most realistic components from our real-world that is integrated into the video game. How? The game teaches players how to become consumers and also integrates players with false consciousness. False conciousness comes from Marxism and it's part of a capitalist society. This is where the media subconsciously tells people that if they do not succeed or become "rich"  it is because they weren't smart enough or did not work hard enough.

In a similar way, The Sims 3 shows this idea because if your character does not obtain the skills they need to become promoted, or they do not show up to work, do their homework, or miss school... they have essentially "failed." In addition, this comes to play through the lifetime wishes players choose for each character. If you are unable to fulfill a character's lifetime goal your character essentially "fails." 

Moreover, capitalism is part of the Sims world because as you purchase your house, you become tempted to fill that home with stuff. If you want money to get these things you need a job. 

However, this is also where the Id can come to play. Getting a hold of money is easily manipulated through the player's Id if they use a cheat.  With cheats like "motherlode" and "kaching," players are able to steal money and become part of the Sims "high-class." 

How do you play Sims?

Have you tried any of the things I have mentioned in this article? Also, how do you play the Sims? Do you create your own family or friends or do you create a completely different family or both? Share your thoughts!

Hitting the news this week was EA Games' announcement that The Sims 4 will not be released until "Fall 2014". This essentially means that it's another full year until we see more emotionally diverse and neurotic Sims, and more powerful personalisation tools than ever before.

Although the prolonged wait has undeniably disappointed many fans, here's some tips for what to in the meantime in The Sims 3 and beyond.

Go "Into The Future"

Just released a few days ago is the latest and LAST expansion pack for the The Sims 3, was The Sims 3: Into The Future. Interestingly, there could well be a few elements in here that will be a precursor to The Sims 4. For example, out in the wasteland, you can grow "Crystal Flowers" which you can charge with an emotion, making them objects that give other Sims specified moodlets: much like certain items are reported to do to emotions in The Sims 4. Whilst it most definitely is NOT The Sims 4, getting a glimpse into how things might work in the next installment may be the next best thing. 

Create A Legacy

Legacy challenges can be found around the internet. Essentially what these are is an attempt to have a single Sim beget a line of 10 generations, after starting on a large empty lot with minimal funds.

There are many variations on a theme and countless different ways to play and score a legacy. One of my particular favourites is "The Random Legacy", where you let fate decide what generation goals and gameplay rules/parameters that you must adhere to. This adds further ways to "fail" making it a bit more interesting than just breeding Sims ad infinitum.

Compete In A Challenge

Some online communities offer competitive challenges. Carl's Sims 3 Guide's forum has a particularly good programme of competitions. Compete in more than three over the course of a calendar year and you can climb up their world rankings. With the scoreboard being wiped clean for 2014, there'll be ample opportunity to reach the top before The Sims 4 comes out. I myself am currently attempting the "Thank You For Your Service" challenge, so look out for seeing my (terrible) score up there in the next few days.

But even if you feel shy about submitting a score, the challenges themselves offer new ways to play The Sims 3 if you're a little bored.

Play In A Whole New World

Lets face it, not all of the EA Games/Maxis worlds are brilliant (I'm looking at you, Bridgeport). So why not improve on them?

This really is only for the most tenacious of players. The official Create A World tool is an absolute pig; unintuitive, user unfriendly, and needlessly fiddly. However, aside from bulldozing every lot and reconfiguring them yourself, a quick search on the internet will find you plenty of players who have already created blank version of EA Games/Maxis worlds, or blank custom worlds, giving you the freedom to just build.

Or, even easier, revel in the creations of other players and communities, such as the wonderful amount of worlds found at My Sim Realty. Evansdale County (pictured), in particular, is the most comprehensive of their worlds, including content from all expansion packs up until The Sims 3: Island Paradise.

Give SimCity Another Chance

First off, this really applies for people who originally bought the game but ragequit, like me and countless other players, over the hideously broken and game-breaking AI. I wouldn't willingly convince someone to buy the game purely to experience what might still be a brilliant masterclass in the art of trolling. But there have now been a lot of changes and, who knows, it might actually be playable.

It might be time to give this disastrous title another chance because, as a concept, there was always a huge scope of potential for it to be fantastic. With (more) traffic tweaks, and the ability to add bridges and tunnels where you please on flat ground, it might finally be good enough to function. Plus, if you're really brave, you could try the upcoming SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow expansion pack, out in November.

But if you're still unsure, there's always the rather brilliant SimCity 4 which is cheap and easy to run.

None the less, we at GameSkinny will endure to keep you abreast with any further The Sims 4 news for the next 12 months!

The Sims 4 will be released on PC and Mac in Fall 2014. To pre-order (if you're REALLY keen), visit www.origin.com.

505 Games has announced that How to Survive is now available for PC and Xbox 360, and that the PS3 and Wii version of the game will be available later this year. 

About How to Survive

In the game, you play as a character who has been shipwrecked. You need to figure out how to survive, and in order to do so, you must collect pages of a Survival Guide. You have three main priorities: find water, food and shelter. 

As you try to survive, you can craft your own tools so that you can build new things, and you can also craft your own weapons to defend yourself and others. The gameplay seems pretty interesting and it looks like something I would love to play!

The graphics and the concept of "survival" reminds me a lot of The Sims 3. Although I'm a big Sims gamer, How to Survive looks much more appealing because you can actually explore different islands and create different things in order to survive.

 Zombies

If you thought finding food, water and shelter were the only challenges you would be facing on the island think again. The island you are on has been infested with zombies. Okay, I know what you might be thinking: "Great...another zombie game." But this isn't the typical zombie game where your goal is to just kill all zombies. This game is about survival in general. You need to survive against zombies, and survive by fulfilling your three main needs.

Missions

As you explore the four islands in the game, you will meet new characters. Each character will give you a mission to fulfill and for each mission and zombie you kill you will be rewarded with EXP points. As you continue to level up you'll be able to unlock some sweet skills like acquiring the ability to light campfires, display animals and plants on the map, and more!

Will you be a survivor?

Is this a game that you might be interested in purchasing? If so, what do you find appealing about the game? As for those who are hesitant as to whether or not you want to purchase the game, you can always try the trial of the game for free.  

The Sims (TS) 4 may still seem like an age away for dedicated fans of the series, especially as an official release date is still uncertain (although, supposedly March 25 2014 after an accidental slip-up was spotted on GameStop's website). For me, I've decided to pass the time by getting back into playing TS3.

Over the last week and a bit since I last wrote about TS4, I've been "Woo-Hoo"-ing, rubbing dusty lamps (not a euphemism), and sending magicians on tour to my heart's content. During this time I've remembered something that my fondness for the series made me forget pretty quickly: TS3 is still a very buggy game, despite the cockroaches that used to appear if the house got too dirty no longer being a thing. So can we expect TS4 to be any different?

Destrolyn.Bechgeddig Changed His Relationship Status With EA Games/Maxis to "It's Complicated"

TS3 is very complicated game, and technically a big step up from TS2. For the first time, you family's world/town would live on around you, rather than just log the interactions that would happen when you saw them.

The programme processes interactions such as marriage, birth, death, people moving in together or out, or sims just simply going about their business; all without you necessarily seeing these happen. So there was bound to be issues along the way, especially with additional packs and DLC adding more and more interactions and animations to the already thick soup of code.

I'm an experienced gamer, and I know that sometimes the course of a great game never did run smoothly. I've already sat through the mess that has been the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn launch and observed the debacle that has been Grand Theft Auto Online.

But what astonished me is that some of the issues still in TS3 are years old! There's still the "Free Vacation" opportunity where adult household sims go but never return. Sometimes using the mirror to change your clothes or style can end up resetting your sim's age counter for your age bracket. Countless weird things, freezes, and sims simply getting stuck. And even unnecessary judgments by the game about your performer's custom costume causing you to no longer perform a show.

You don't have to delve deep into the game's official forums to find outpourings of grief from players about how annoying, and in some cases game-breaking, these bugs and glitches can be.

You don't have to delve deep into the game's official forums to find outpourings of grief from players about how annoying, and in some cases game-breaking, these bugs and glitches can be. And then there's the following ire that EA Games/Maxis seem to be do very little, if anything, after players first report them. So what faith can we have in them for this next installment?

Lessons Learned?

If you're cynical and jaded like I am, it's easy to think that the problem is that The Sims franchise is too successful and profitable for EA Games - officially the worst company in America - to really care about how stable and playable the game actually is. The Sims has always been a huge money sink for gamers, with the base game never being the be all and end all, with the inevitable umpteen expansions packs that follow. I've probably spent somewhere around £500 on these damned games, being a dedicated fan since the original. With TS4 looking to set fans back $59.99 (or £44.99 here in Blighty) for the standard edition, it doesn't look like EA Games are going to be any less shamelessly avaricious.

And not everything EA Games/Maxis has done with The Sims franchise has been brilliant. The Sims Medieval wasn't the classic (pun intended) some were expecting, and can anyone remember The Sims Online? Thought not.

However, EA Games/Maxis have recently received a shocking reality check with their much-touted and highly anticipated SimCity relaunch. Expensive and hyped to the nines, it was, and still continues to be, a colossal failure. But here it wasn't a bug that kept reappearing, it was that the entire simulation engine, specifically traffic and the AI, was outright flawed and insufficiently tested, making it literally unplayable. There have been no less than seven desperate attempts/patches by the development team to fix these, reconfiguring the simulation patterns and other resorts to solve them. And let us also not forget the scandal of the game requiring you to be online even to play solo, which is still a  problem for players.

The embarrassment caused by worldwide damning of the game was spectacular, and EA was shown that there's only so far they can exploit the loyalty of their customers. Direct download purchases of the game meant that many fans essentially were unable to return the game, and had essentially spent up to $80 (£60) on a broken game, which fueled and justified the community's anger. Origin has since introduced a returns policy for direct download purchases through its platform; the "Great Game Guarantee". Despite its name, it guarantee's a refund, but not necessarily a great game!

The embarrassment caused by worldwide damning of [SimCity] was spectacular, and EA were shown that there's only so far they can exploit the loyalty of their customers.

Hopefully, this will mean that EA Games/Maxis will be taking a bit more care in releasing a product that is robust, but also ensure better support and continued development post-release like they've been forced to with SimCity.

The Future of The Sims 3 After "Into The Future"

The other big concern will be The Sims fans who will be sticking with TS3 and not buying TS4, at least not straight away (me being one of them). With only one more expansion pack to be released for the series, TS3: Into the Future, means that there will be maximum of two more possible patches; one that will come with the expansion itself which may fix older issues too, and another possible one to address any issues that may arise from that pack itself.

It's sad to say, but any issues that are not fixed after that will probably never will be, and that's a shame because TS3 is likely to still have a thriving and playing community long after TS4 is released. But why would EA/Maxis bother fixing an old game when a more popular and potentially more lucrative one is just around the corner? It seems like a case of them knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing.

Is There Hope?

With the world economy still shaky, and gamers finding themselves more and more strapped for cash, EA Games/Maxis should be weary about taking their customer's fandom for granted again. Their reputation has received a near mortal wound after SimCity and it would be utterly insane to let that sort of thing happen again.

However, you can't make a leopard change its spots. With all the genuine best intentions I'm sure the individual developers have for the game, trying to make TS4 as great as it possibly can be, I wouldn't hold my breath that it's going to be perfect when it first hits the shelves, and wouldn't be surprised if these issues aren't fixed quickly, or at all.

But I'm very willing to be proved wrong. Nay, hoping that I will be.

One of the first gaming related panels at New York Comic-Con also happened to be one of the smallest. Some of both games designers were on hand showing off their latest expansions. Both focusing their games into the future. The panel was short but very interesting as it described the creative process that went behind their futuristic designs.

The Future is Now

Not technically. SimCity decided the expansion should only be 50 years into the future, so technology could advance but not be over the top. The developers decided jumping too far into the future (i.e. flying cars, tall stacked buildings) would be jarring to the gamer and not feasible to accomplish.

Design

The most amazing part of the game's design to me was how much it relied on pop culture. They spent several minutes discussing the films that inspired the games. Films such as Wall-E, Looper, The Fifth Element or 2001: A Space Odyssey all help shape the environments in each game. Whether the end result was discarding the film's futuristic ideals (Looper was deemed not different enough from present day, also depressing) or a big influence (Gamers are allowed to create a town like BnL in SimCity aka mine resources and drive the city into the ground).

***Magrails will also be a thing in SimCity and The Sims (kind of pictured?)***

Results

When it comes to The Sims, the design team decided to create a future Utopia. The world is clean, bright and full of friendly robots. This was done so current Sims players didn't have to, A.) have long load times when "portalling" to the new area; B.) once in the new area, it still seemed familiar; C.) When you do "dirtier or more promiscuous things," it still maintains its sense of humor.

SimCity had similar reasons for its changes. They wanted to add a lot of content without polarizing current fans. It added futuristic things such as hydro power plants and a place where sewer water can be recycled into drinking water (yummy).

Both expansions seem to be adding enough content worth a look if you're a fan of either game series. Anyone think they're picking up the expansions when they release on October 22nd (Sims) or November 12th (SimCity)?

Closing on 28th of August, the EA Humble Origin bundle brought in a grand total of $10.5 million from the sale of more than 2.1 million bundles.

Humble Bundle announced on Twitter that the bundle had made Humble Bundle history with its sales. These staggering statistics make it the most successful Humble Bundle by far with more than double of the previous best-selling Humble Bundle.

Nearly all of the $10.5 million will go to charities such as the Human Rights Campaign, Watsi, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, American Cancer Society, and American Red Cross.

Gamers only had to pay a minimum of $1 for Dead Space 3, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Crysis 2: Maximum Edition,Medal of Honor, and Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box.

Paying more than the average entitled gamers to Battlefield 3,The Sims 3: Starter Pack, as well as the standalone expansion pack for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising and the classic god game Populous.