Country Lifestyle pack instead of Farming? «12...Next Go

MeowchaFrappe

I know that Farming is one of the most requested packs in this community and while I wouldn't have an issue with having farming in my game (despite the fact I'll never use it most likely) I can't see how we could have anything more than a stuff pack based solely around farming. And not only that, but I feel farming would be a super niche pack in the realm of Eco Lifestyle and Journey to Batuu.

So I was wondering... what would you guys think of a general country lifestyle pack that features farming rather than just a straight up farming pack?

Other features that could be included are

Horses & Horseback Riding
Buyable Mechanical Bull that Sims can ride (+ a related skill that can affect how long they ride before getting thrown off)
HoeDowns & Line Dancing
Cows, Chickens, Sheep
Country Music Station
County Fair/ Farm Festival
Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)
County Style CAS (including more cowboy boots and hats)
Country Style Build-Buy

I'd like to imagine a pack like this comes with a new world that has land for farming, as well as a downtown sort of area with bars (can you imagine a bar with a mechanical bull?) and other venues. And of course, just a normal residential area for non-farmers.

Feel free to discuss your opinions here, but do it in a civilized manner please. And please do feel free to contribute some ideas if you have any more, I'll add them to list.

DaWaterRat

From what I've seen, a decent portion of the people who want "farming" really want ranching/animal husbandry. I've seen a few people who want huge lots that they can fill with crops (and new crops) and some way to harvest it quickly, but I've seen more who want cows, horses, chickens, sheep, llamas, etc.

I mean, the American Country/cowboy/southern aesthetic isn't really my thing, but I wouldn't mind having additional animals to take care of, or a County Fair. And I would like Horses.

Large plots for farming... eh, only if there's a combine or harvester, as Sims already take too long to do almost anything compared to real life farming.

MeowchaFrappe

DaWaterRat wrote: »

From what I've seen, a decent portion of the people who want "farming" really want ranching/animal husbandry. I've seen a few people who want huge lots that they can fill with crops (and new crops) and some way to harvest it quickly, but I've seen more who want cows, horses, chickens, sheep, llamas, etc.

I mean, the American Country/cowboy/southern aesthetic isn't really my thing, but I wouldn't mind having additional animals to take care of, or a County Fair. And I would like Horses.

Large plots for farming... eh, only if there's a combine or harvester, as Sims already take too long to do almost anything compared to real life farming.

I could defintely get behind the caring for horses, cows, sheep, llamas, chickens, etc. But I always assumed when people said "Farming" they meant well, the boring kind, lol. The animals though... THAT I could get behind.

And I mean, I don't blame you, the cowboy stuff isn't really my aethestic either, but something I would enjoy much more than straight up farming (which is what I thought most people were asking for.)

Movotti

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

How about some proper country style food, like cottage pie, scones, hearty soups, and yeasty brews made from barley and hops?
Or some Aussie country style food, like damper, roo tail, billy tea, and trucker scones?

StrawberryYogurt

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

Its a popular southern food. And its delicious!! I grew up eating it sweet with butter and sugar until i moved to the south and realized most here actually eat it salty 😂 they call me a heretic lol

StrawberryYogurt

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

I can't see how we could have anything more than a stuff pack based solely around farming.

Really? But there are so many video games based around farming, or it being a major feature. Farming Simulator series, Stardew Valley, My Time At Portia,Story of Seasons, Rune Factory etc. It appeals to a lot of people. But the things you listed are too much to be in a farming gp, but could work in an expansion pack.

StrawberryYogurt

I also really love vintage pioneer dresses and mens clothing from that time period too, ive downloaded a lot of CC for it. Be really cool to see something like a wagon like we are playing Oregeon Trail

MeowchaFrappe

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

How about some proper country style food, like cottage pie, scones, hearty soups, and yeasty brews made from barley and hops?
Or some Aussie country style food, like damper, roo tail, billy tea, and trucker scones?

See, now I never heard of cottage pie. But my suggestions were based on American Country food. Scones are amazing, but we do already have them in Sims. So unless they added more flavors, I doubt they'd be included.

StrawberryYogurt wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

I can't see how we could have anything more than a stuff pack based solely around farming.

Really? But there are so many video games based around farming, or it being a major feature. Farming Simulator series, Stardew Valley, My Time At Portia,Story of Seasons, Rune Factory etc. It appeals to a lot of people. But the things you listed are too much to be in a farming gp, but could work in an expansion pack.

I have literally never even heard of any of those games... and well, I was designing the thread as if talking about an expansion pack. Since I've only ever heard of people talking about it as an expansion pack and not a gamepack.

Movotti

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

How about some proper country style food, like cottage pie, scones, hearty soups, and yeasty brews made from barley and hops?
Or some Aussie country style food, like damper, roo tail, billy tea, and trucker scones?

See, now I never heard of cottage pie. But my suggestions were based on American Country food. Scones are amazing, but we do already have them in Sims. So unless they added more flavors, I doubt they'd be included.

The uneducated often call cottage pie 'shepherds pie' But a true shepherds pie has to contain lamb or mutton.
Cottage pie is usually not containing cottages, but beef.
It it's topped with crumbs, then it's a Cumberland pie.

Since when did the game have scones? What pack did they come with? Are they Devonshire, or are they Cornish?
They could add the other, so that we could have a war between sims who have theirs in the Devonshire style, and those who have theirs in the Cornish style.
Here in Australia, with typically do ours in the Cornish style.

RememberJoy

I want farming in the game and including it in a larger theme like country living (as opposed to City Living) would be fine by me as I'm mostly just interested in raising animals and crafting stuff with what they produce. What I'm not interested in though is having it set in the American South. Instead I'd like to see it in a world that's more European, anywhere from Ireland to Italy would be fine with me.

Movotti

RememberJoy wrote: »

I want farming in the game and including it in a larger theme like country living (as opposed to City Living) would be fine by me as I'm mostly just interested in raising animals and crafting stuff with what they produce. What I'm not interested in though is having it set in the American South. Instead I'd like to see it in a world that's more European, anywhere from Ireland to Italy would be fine with me.

I'd love a country world, with a vaguely English feel to it. Something with hedgerows, laneways, stiles, dry stone fences, cottages, lots of green growth, and mud. Stuff we don't have in my part of the world.

It could have 3 neighbourhoods, one with large lots, one with medium ones, and a village made up of small lots, with one of them being a local pub, and it could also have a village green, which could be used for weekly farmers markets.

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

HoeDowns & Line Dancing

I'd prefer OECD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_4W7ApcE4

Country Music Station

I'd prefer modern folk rock/baroque pop
Like The Amazing Devil
Or Patrick Wolf

County Style CAS (including more cowboy boots and hats)

oh dear.
I'd prefer a more classic style.

(can you imagine a bar with a mechanical bull?)

I'd prefer not to.

RememberJoy

Movotti wrote: »

I'd love a country world, with a vaguely English feel to it. Something with hedgerows, laneways, stiles, dry stone fences, cottages, lots of green growth, and mud. Stuff we don't have in my part of the world.

It could have 3 neighbourhoods, one with large lots, one with medium ones, and a village made up of small lots, with one of them being a local pub, and it could also have a village green, which could be used for weekly farmers markets.

Yeah, something like this would be great!

MeowchaFrappe

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

How about some proper country style food, like cottage pie, scones, hearty soups, and yeasty brews made from barley and hops?
Or some Aussie country style food, like damper, roo tail, billy tea, and trucker scones?

See, now I never heard of cottage pie. But my suggestions were based on American Country food. Scones are amazing, but we do already have them in Sims. So unless they added more flavors, I doubt they'd be included.

The uneducated often call cottage pie 'shepherds pie' But a true shepherds pie has to contain lamb or mutton.
Cottage pie is usually not containing cottages, but beef.
It it's topped with crumbs, then it's a Cumberland pie.

Since when did the game have scones? What pack did they come with? Are they Devonshire, or are they Cornish?
They could add the other, so that we could have a war between sims who have theirs in the Devonshire style, and those who have theirs in the Cornish style.
Here in Australia, with typically do ours in the Cornish style.

Oh, I see. That's not really a common thing where I'm at, which is probably why I had no idea.

And they came with Get Together. You can buy them in the Cafes. I'm not sure which type they are in the game. But that's actually not a bad idea,

RememberJoy wrote: »

I want farming in the game and including it in a larger theme like country living (as opposed to City Living) would be fine by me as I'm mostly just interested in raising animals and crafting stuff with what they produce. What I'm not interested in though is having it set in the American South. Instead I'd like to see it in a world that's more European, anywhere from Ireland to Italy would be fine with me.

Movotti wrote: »

RememberJoy wrote: »

I want farming in the game and including it in a larger theme like country living (as opposed to City Living) would be fine by me as I'm mostly just interested in raising animals and crafting stuff with what they produce. What I'm not interested in though is having it set in the American South. Instead I'd like to see it in a world that's more European, anywhere from Ireland to Italy would be fine with me.

I'd love a country world, with a vaguely English feel to it. Something with hedgerows, laneways, stiles, dry stone fences, cottages, lots of green growth, and mud. Stuff we don't have in my part of the world.

It could have 3 neighbourhoods, one with large lots, one with medium ones, and a village made up of small lots, with one of them being a local pub, and it could also have a village green, which could be used for weekly farmers markets.

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

HoeDowns & Line Dancing

I'd prefer OECD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_4W7ApcE4

Country Music Station

I'd prefer modern folk rock/baroque pop
Like The Amazing Devil
Or Patrick Wolf

County Style CAS (including more cowboy boots and hats)

oh dear.
I'd prefer a more classic style.

(can you imagine a bar with a mechanical bull?)

I'd prefer not to.

I'm actually loving your guys' ideas. Much better than mine actually since I do wish we would have more Non-American worlds in the Sims. It's just I had to base it around American country life since I have no knowledge of the country lifestyle in the UK. I can defintely update the thread with your ideas if you'd guys like though. I'll even put it above mine.

DaWaterRat

The basic concept of a county fair where you show off the size of your crops applies to both, I think. An English one just wouldn't have barrel racing and Demolition Derbys.

logion

I could see it happening, I would rather that they focus on the farming gameplay if they make a farming pack though. If they could add tools so we could basically play Stardew Valley in the sims4, then I could see myself playing the game for hours and hours trying to maximize my farm and making it as profitable as possible.

But if they wanted to focus more on the whole world and country living, then yeah. I guess they could do that. They better give me a 1969 Dodge Charger though, so I can pretend to live in Dukes of Hazzard...

bookish_sammy

I lived in a farm town a few years ago, and I'm still within driving distance of some large farms. I agree that a country living pack is more accurate to what most people want. People in my area wear a lot of tucked in plaid shirts. Cowboy boots and hats are definitely popular. During rainy months, I see a lot of Sperry duck boots as well.

We went to a lot of festivals (my favorite is a large BBQ festival), but I also went to craft fairs and the rodeo. During the summer, it was popular to go watch live bands at a local distillery. A coworker and I liked to drive to a vineyard for wine tastings on the weekends. Livestock is big business here. I know people who own chickens and goats, but I also know people who have cows, horses, pigs, and rabbits. September is for apple picking. In the fall, we go to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. Everyone I know makes jellies, jams, and preserves. My mom makes one or two pies every month (blackberry, strawberry, rhubarb, blueberry, peach, pumpkin, pecan, custard, and derby) . They spend weeks jarring vegetables and making pickles. People make their own soaps too.

I don't know what direction the dev team would take with this, but I would really like to see Southern American food introduced at some point. Biscuits and gravy, green beans and potatoes with cornbread, BBQ ribs and brisket with sides like coleslaw, potato salad, or collard greens, fried catfish with hush puppies, fried chicken... Everyone around here eats fried potatoes with onions. All the potatoes and onions sold out when the pandemic first hit. In fact, I think most stuff around here is either deep fried or smoked lol.

bookish_sammy

StrawberryYogurt wrote: »

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

Its a popular southern food. And its delicious!! I grew up eating it sweet with butter and sugar until i moved to the south and realized most here actually eat it salty 😂 they call me a heretic lol

I moved to the South from the Southwest (Las Vegas specifically). People thought I was weird for eating grits with butter and sugar lol. I tried cheese grits and those are pretty tasty too.

keekee53

I want to take care of animals but I want off screen slaughter to be a thing. I don't want to keep the same animals. I want them to feed my sims or sell at a farmers market. I want a reason to breed the animals.

I also want chopping wood to be a thing for possibly a wood stove and fireplace.

Loanet

I think we'll get Horses in a Game Pack that provides a kind of County Fair, because Horses will probably also turn out donkeys and mules. Maybe a full horse riding show and a world to ride them in, rather than farming.

StrawberryYogurt

bookish_sammy wrote: »

StrawberryYogurt wrote: »

Movotti wrote: »

MeowchaFrappe wrote: »

Country Style food and Drinks (Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Sweet Tea, etc.)

What the heck?
Grit? Who the heck want's to eat that?

Its a popular southern food. And its delicious!! I grew up eating it sweet with butter and sugar until i moved to the south and realized most here actually eat it salty 😂 they call me a heretic lol

I moved to the South from the Southwest (Las Vegas specifically). People thought I was weird for eating grits with butter and sugar lol. I tried cheese grits and those are pretty tasty too.

I also tried it with the cheese but I think sweet is best

Movotti

bookish_sammy wrote: »

Biscuits and gravy

What? Why?

DaWaterRat

Movotti wrote: »

bookish_sammy wrote: »

Biscuits and gravy

What? Why?

Not British biscuits. American - specifically southern - buttermilk biscuits. Sorta like scones, I understand. And with Pork Sausage gravy.

I'm not a big fan of most things Southern, but this is a breakfast delight.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216391/easy-sausage-gravy-and-biscuits/

Movotti

DaWaterRat wrote: »

Sorta like scones, I understand. And with Pork Sausage gravy.

That doesn't make it any better.

Simmingal

I think what would really sell farming pack to me is if you pair it with past themed pack like medieval

i wouldnt mind horses or mechanical bull
i actually have fake stable venue and unfinished saloon in case they add those

but what i really want is dragons which would just be perfect to eat some sheep and sims and burn down your crops

or actually aid you with things i guess

I also think they could add lots of cool things like for example:

• archery/hunting

(sims could shoot at moving bushes in forests and gain objects like meat or skins basically that shouldn't be too bloody for the game)

•butter churn
•nectar making
• spinning wheel
•loom
• blacksmithing (farming and hunting tools)
•goody old lute for the bard
• a ball party option and some couple dances
• royalty ?
• lambs, pigs, cows, chickens etc.
•recipes to use things you farm for obviously
• old style off grid objects


just idk i feel like if they did the farming old style (horses and pitchforks and big haystacks) it would be more fun to watch but im not big on the machines thing with like tractors and whatever

then again i probably added too much content for one ep already and i didnt even get to the world yet

Dannydanbo

In a farming pack you could get all that stuff plus farm animals and growing veggies. If you don't want farm animals and crops, don't use that part of the farming pack and you have your "country living" (which just sounds like living away from a town area like in the counrtyside neighborhood in Windenberg).

No, I want crops and farm animals, not just a fancy equestrian world where horses would be limited in travel like a bicycle. Just circling the neighborhood on horseback sounds boring and a waste of time and resources.

I DO want horses but they will be difficult to add to this version like cars. So, to make them worthwhile, they need to be well-thought-out and their track record for "well-thought-out" isn't that great of late.

Thetford

One of the problems I foresee with a farming pack is that gardening would require a massive nerf (in both yield and income) to justify any crop farming equipment- your sims can already make thousands a day just out of a small garden. Though to be fair, I'd be in favour of a massive overhaul to gardening anyway so it would be more like TS1 things grow in the correct manner (for example, in the ground for carrots, on a vine on a trellice for grapes), some crops being required to be planted each time like carrots and lettuces were, and overall being barely able to exceed self sufficiency for food for a small garden plot. Plus, recipes made more complex by requiring more ingredients.

In terms of animal farming, I'm guessing it would have to be like TS3 store content where the animals are restricted to an object to avoid issues with routing etc.

Ultimately I could see a farming EP being more akin to a small holding or homesteading pack focussed on more small scale farming and self sufficiency including other skills such as preserve making, cheese making, and clothing crafts similar to knitting.