The Curse Of Randomized Townies

The Curse Of Randomized Townies

This is just a perspective forged of my own experiences. If anybody else out there likes the random townie system in The Sims 4, your stance is valid. Keep enjoying yourself 💕

But for myself and others who feel the same way, I will be breaking down my stance on Sims 4 randomized townies, and the curse I find them to be on my game.

I have fond memories of a certain open world sims game. One of the most beautiful things to me about this game was the life it captured at all times. The idea that your sim was never alone in their world. All it took was a single button to instantly zoom out and gaze upon the entirety of the city your sim was part of.

The townies were evidence of that. They were alive. You could pan across town, click a random sim you had never seen, and follow them anywhere. The store rabbitholes, the public pool, their own home. There was life and movement around your own sim at all times. These townies had names. They had stories going on. They lived and walked in the same fashion as the player’s own.

Sims 4 did away with that. Gone are the days of community amongst modern sims. Now, we find them sealed away to derelict pocket dimensions known as “lots.”

And a pathetic amount of lots there are. To make up for the meager quantity of livingspace, Electronic Arts unleashed worldbuilding hell upon everyone.

Random Generated Townies. Strange and disoriented wanderers of the sims landscape, sporting an unregulated mash of Maxis assets and a few tragically enabled-for-random pieces of Custom Content. To populate the wasteland that is a town that can only house ten whole families, these corporately-deployed skinwalkers wander the sidewalks outside of homes and the halls of the few communal lots, eradicating any sense of consistency with their strange powers to pop into existence one day then vanish the next.

Have you ever made the mistake of falling in love with a random townie? Ask to move into their home, and you will be met with the eerie truth: there is no “home” for them. They are birthed from the void, and they return to the void.

The “life” they live is merely an illusion centered around you, to keep you feeling like you live in a world that is alive. But this illusion is not even skin-deep. A mere papercut is enough to sunder the suspension of disbelief in twain.

And for us worldbuilders: what of the world we wanted to make? The stories we wanted to tell? The lives we wanted to place in our worlds? They are unceasingly drowned out by a torrent of artificial, lifeless faces, destroying all semblance of theme, atmosphere, and continuity.

We need more weird Alpha CC

Everybody has their preference, and I personally enjoy making realistic sims. There’s something really satisfying about designing a creature that looks real.

But more than Alpha CC, I enjoy weird CC. I love stuff that lets me make strange critters. Tails. Horns. Wings. Antenna. All of that.

Unfortunately, it is surprisingly rare I find a combination of these two, and I think it’s a real missed opportunity. I suppose it’s a matter of common tastes, with hyperrealism fans preferring to stick to base humans, and a lot of Occult Sim fans preferring Maxis Match. Oh well. It’s a shame.

Finally finished my sim for @angel-cake120's sim-swap! The 27th Specimen (aka "Livard") was present at the bastion during the collapse. During the breach of security by infected entities, they fled their containment and awaited the aftermath, which allowed them to gain freedom. On their escape, they looted a few items from or nearby faculty corpses, including the cardigan of Dr. Livard (who's name-tag was attached. Entity 27 would appropriate the name for herself.) "Livard" the entity is immune to the outbreaking pathogen, but due to experimental biology, mutated a form of the pathogen which can spread to machines. They are immune to this strain, but still a carrier.

A secondary stolen article of clothing can be seen tied around their waste. (CC links and Tray file will be posted sometime soon. Keep a look out.)

Tell Me About Your Sim Worlds!

Hey there worldbuilders! You’ve got a world brewing inside your head, and I wanna hear all about it! Comment. Reblog. Anything. Just tell me about your shit!

They’re lesbians, your honor.