#Upcoming sims 4 expansions 2016 update
#Upcoming sims 4 expansions 2016 full

Now, the company and developers, like the update's design lead Jessica Croft (also known as SimGuruJessica), seem to finally be tackling the technical possibilities of Sims sexual orientation. More importantly, it established a strong presence and game identity among LGBTQ players, who have often used The Sims as a meme-adjacent modifier to LGBTQ online identity. Twenty years ago, that advocacy wasn't necessarily met with a radically LGBTQ-diverse game, but it did ensure that the original release offered players representation of same-sex relationships and prevented erecting gender-aligned barriers for actions, careers, and the like. Documents from these decades-old conversations, released by programmer and artist Don Hopkins in 2019, showed many advocating for a more complex determination of sexual orientation, suggesting custom scales players could use to determine same-sex attraction responses and additions to early relationship trees for Sims interactions. Regardless of public opinion, early game developers still sought out ways to include same-sex relationships in-game, intending to circumvent the early homophobic responses same-sex interaction between Sims would illicit, removing 'violent negative interactions' between same-sex characters on romantic storylines, and adding in 'LGBTQ easter eggs' in early versions. This is due in part to the technical limitations of a virtual world designed around a gender binary and its associated, 'expected' social interactions, as well as parent companies and developers that have faced related criticisms about LGBTQ inclusion since the games' initial launch. The Sims, the original version of which launched in 2000, has a long, somewhat complicated history with representing the complete spectrum of LGBTQ identity in its game play. If you'd like to play your Sims as they've already been designed, the game will continue to default to whatever settings players have already selected. Instead, they're available to all players upon the July 28 update, and the new settings (intentionally) can't be turned off. You won't need to purchase the expansion pack to be able to use the new features, either. Sims 4 adds both romantic and sexual attraction options to its customization. To set these parameters for your characters, Sims 4 players will have access to various romantic and sexual ('woohoo') options directly in the game's Create-A-Sim customization menu, alongside a Sim's gender. The new feature can be used so players' Sims can experience same or different-sex attraction, experiment with different attraction naturally over game play, feel physical but not romantic attraction (and vice versa), or not feel any sexual or romantic attraction at all.

#Upcoming sims 4 expansions 2016 update

It's not lost that the combined update and expansion pack could more accurately embody a difficult period of time for many LGBTQ youth, even in virtual gaming worlds. The changes were unveiled alongside the release of the new Sims 4 High School expansion pack, which lets you play as a teenager going through the trials and tribulations of high school.

#Upcoming sims 4 expansions 2016 full

The Sims 4 is set to release its most in-depth update for LGBTQ game play on July 28, with an entirely new way to represent the sexual identities of its players and their virtual characters.ĭesigned in collaboration with LGBTQ organizations the It Gets Better Project and GLAAD, the game's sexual orientation update adds two new customization scales for players interested in exploring a more full range of sexual and romantic identities.