December 7th a new Expansion Pack is released for The Sims 4. I am excited, although I'm not yet sure whether it will be a release day grab, or not. More about that further down. Main reason for this post is to highlight a few of the features I'm looking forward to, the most. Well, with the upcoming gaming stream session hosed by EA, we will probably learn more about features we did not yet know about...
My biggest ahoy is the world Tomarang. It looks tropical, colorful, bright and inviting. Like a more urban Sulani, with more focus on builds and street life, and less beach life. The main selling point is the management of rental units, meaning you can play as a Landlord or Tenant. To many of us this will be a game changer, because households will be more diverse, and it will also be a fun build challenge creating a functional lot wit multiple rental units and shared areas etc. It's fun having a feature that won't get repetitive so soon, because there are so many sorts of complexes that can be built, and there might be more to it than what we know today. Another big thing for me is the new culture that I can't wait to explore.
The lovely picture below is from a guru's SoMe heading, it's shared all over the forums. fun fact - when you compare to the previous picture - is that the guru must have mirrored/flipped the picture horizontally. On the picture above the yellow boat is to the left if the three... and the bridge is to the right.
Hopefully such builds are playable, but it looks very nice even if we can't enter.
Tomarang is lush, but it is also a busy city.
The "night market" is an attraction when you visit Tomarang. I expect local food, music and a noisy street, and lots of lights everywhere. With all those pink and yellow umbrellas, it looks like there will be plenty of outdoor serving, hopefully a mix of food carts and bars etc. where we can walk inside. Perhaps we can buy something more than food, too.
All the cultural elements are exciting. I liked Mt. Komorebi (Snowy Escape), and I like that Tomarang offers something different. In my game both Komorebi and Tomarang are located far away from my main area, in an empire. I like the possibility to visit multiple regions of that empire, and I already have my head full of ideas for details tat includes "protected families", the Yacothian faith (that you might recall from Sims Medieval), and of course the imperial family.
Tomarang is said to be a mix of various cultures in southern Asia, so you won't find an exact Real Life culture in this pack. And, because of this, we can easily add elements as we wish - it's our game, our sandbox. We do what we like!
I'm glad to spot at least one local wearing what looks like a traditional dress, below. With a few swatches, and a few more clothes, I might also find something that goes well with my plans :)
There are several market tables, like the one above. I chose this because it sells something else than food. Are those elephant mugs/souvenirs? And those colorful things, are they spices or powder stuff to add local makeup? Or something to eat? Tea? There are what looks like necklaces hanging in the background, and on the table is what looks like earrings. All can be decor, and maybe we can buy something that is not yet spotted in the picture...
Le's talk about he new death instead! Mold is the new cool "pet", especially if you reside in a filthy rental unit an could not care less about cleaning. I'm not sure if the tenants can do the needed cleaning themselves, or if this is a result of the Landlord neglecting the rental conditions.
Anyway, you probably watched he trailer that most of these pictures are from, and know hat the poor tenant died. But did you know that someone in the video seems to keep calm with mold?
Check out the new Gnome - is he not affected with yellow mold? He looks a bit worried, but knowing our gnomes well, they veeery rarely die from anything beyond our control.
A very interesting detail regarding mold, is that the ghost might be able to spread the bad stuff...
The elderly tenant, pictured above, is enjoying her meal (that's a very hungry old woman...). Then the ghost of the guy who just died blows some stuff at her. It might be just an annoying animation, but hopefully those ghosts can actually spread the stuff...? And it might explain why the Landlord can add a rental unit rule like "Ghosts not allowed!".
A minor thing technically, but a huge step forward for the Minors! Or should that be NINE steps? Hopscotch is finally here! This is definitely something to spread to all worlds!
Hopefully kids can draw their hopscotch if we add some chalk in their inventory - because EA won't add this new community ground features to worlds that are not part of the For Rent pack. And we can not adjust those community grounds. But with a well prepared kid inventory, magic might happen anywhere - just like we can practice Paranormal stuff almost anywhere (Paranormal pack). Hopscotch could be like that.
Kids can also play with marbles. I wonder if teens and adults can play with these things too, or must they have the Playful trait?
Picture below is edited by me, but somewhere along our walkabouts there are more sales tables.
The one to the right is the same that was pictured already, but seen from a different angle.
Still not sure what those colorful things are. If they sell jewelry, it seems weird mixing it with spices, but hey-ho, why not :) The elephants might be teapots, but most likely non-functional.
There is also a new dance!
Spotted this little group of four sims, and it might be rigged, but it looks like they dance together, and I don't see any dance mat on the ground. Will this be the new annoying thing? Sims in all worlds dancing like tis regardless of where they are, who they are with or what we directed them to do? They don't need a mat, and maybe they don't even need music? Or do they simply sing?
Anyone thought the mold was bad? How about nonstop dancing? ;)
Or how about the return of burglars?
The sim pictured
did break into a rental unit in the trailer. But it might be connected to one of the new traits rather than being a pro thing. We already have the criminal career track, so I doubt this is a new profession. But in a week or so, we'll all know for sure!
Map leak suggests 2 hoods and 9 lots. That is a rather small lot, but because we can have several households residing the same lot, I think it will be quite busy. My plan is to have the business in the top hood, while the lower hood will be more reserved their sae religion, the Yacobian faith. Looks like there is a temple down there, but the religion will need a cathedral of some kind. The animal sanctuary might be on top of the top hood. But what is the bare island to the right - if it can be accessed at all?
So, what could make me not grab For Rent on or about release day? Well, I need to learn more about those rentals, which seems to be the main feature. I just need to trust that the Landlord thing is not like a game within the game, but can be played out in many ways without even playing the Landlord. I know we can play whatever role we like, or none at all, but all those details are still a bit vague.
If my main take is Tomarang and the local culture, I will still get the pack eventually, but waiting for a period when RL is less busy than this Winter.
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