I'm going to be honest, I'm not too impressed as of yet from The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle, however, instead of bashing it, I wanted to make this post to outline what I think it should have been.
To start off with, I want to clear Eco Lifestyle's name, metaphorically and literally - she got off to a bad start and so, The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle is now Eco Living... rolls off the tongue better, fits with the other packs.
New World:
- I have no issues with Evergreen Harbour, she pretty, she can stay
New Careers:
- I think the 'Maker' career fits nicely...
but I'm going to call it 'Inventor' instead, because it sounds less childish (I'm slightly worried it's too similar to the Scientist career and Inventor career, but hey ho)
Thank you to
@DaWaterRat for correcting me on this, being a 'maker' is an actual profession, so she stays
- Secondly, I think there should be a 'Town Planner' career - you start off as an activist trying to make your town more environmentally friendly, and eventually you can become the town mayor and make new rules and town ordinances
New Traits:
- Eco-Friendly: This is very much like The Sims 3 version, you sim is very conscious about the environment
- Ignorant: Contrary to this, Ignorant sims don't believe in climate change and are very reluctant to change their ways because of it (in many ways this may also act like The Sims 3 trait absent minded)
- Vegan: I know we have the vegetarian trait, but I feel like this could also work too (maybe this as well as vegetarian could just be part of a free patch, because shouldn't they already be in the game anyway?)
Main Features:
-Every world now changes around you. I have a feeling that Evergreen Harbour is the only world that becomes polluted or eco-friendly and I don't like this, I also don't like the narrative that goes along with this either, that it starts bad and you have to make it clean. Instead, all worlds now change and they all start at a default stage and depending on your household's actions the world will either become better, worse or stay the same - the townies will follow your lead so as the player can decide what the world is going to look like.
-
Cars... cars are just an obvious here... Get a cheap car and fill it with petrol, the world will suffer, get an electric car and the world will benefit from it. Carpools are also an option (this time you have to book them and see if your lot is illegible for one depending on if you have a road in front of your lot) and these help reduce CO2 emissions as well.
- Return of various NPCs including
Police Officers (and burglars) as well the introduction of refuse collectors who'll come to collect your rubbish. If you're off the grid these NPCs won't arrive, and so, you're going to have to find a way to get rid of your own rubbish (and fight off any unexpected intruders). Police officers will also show up around town and fine your sims for littering and any unruly behaviour, because why should your sims be allowed to fight other sims and woohoo in public and get away with it... If you don't like the police ruining all your fun, why not become a town activist.
- The Town Planner career allows you to work your way up to truly change the world around you. You start off as an activist campaigning for what you believe is wrong in the world, gain followers and eventually become the mayor. As a mayor you can work on local town projects (such as the community space) and enforce how much is spent on town services. Before you start, a neutral amount is spent on anything, not perfect but not awful, but you can change this to give police more money so more police officers will show up around town, keeping it a safer and greener space, or decrease their funds to cause havoc around town making it messier and less environmentally friendly.
- Solar Panels and wind turbines are a good addition to the pack, they can stay. The community lot is also a good idea and works really well with the town activist career.
These are kinda all the ideas I have - it focusses less on a narrative, and more on a mechanic to expand each world, and more importantly, your game. It also kinda became more about town planning, but hey ho, I guess that's more impactful
Comments
Wikipedia article here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture
I mean, yes, they are DIY inventors, but they're not really what I think of when I think Inventor. They're not so much making things as finding new ways to make old things new again. Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) is a big proponent of the Maker movement (He also advocates that Crafters, Writers, Artists, and Cooks are also makers in our own way.)
I do like a lot of your other ideas. (Though I might limit pollution to worlds that add the Community Multi-Purpose Lot/junkyard.)
Oh wow ok, did not know being a Maker was actually a thing, thank you for that! I just thought it was a childish name for inventor, whoops I'll correct the original post in that case
Also I think that's a good idea about worlds / neighbourhoods that have the communal lot in are effected by pollution, that way you can opt out of that mechanic if you don't want it!