It's the description of the pack shown on the first page for those who are curious.
And I think this is the part that brings this thought:
The New Lot Type in Town - New Residential Rental lots give you the chance to get creative with multi-family dwellings. Give your Sims a basement suite to rent out, create a duplex to keep 2 families close or even build apartments.
For me, this isn't confirmation that only up to two households only, but rather as one of the examples on what can you do with the lot type. I guess we could take this as a confirmation that multiple playable households can occupy this lot type, but yeah, this is just an example as you could build and place duplexes in The Sims 2 too.
Though I might be bad at reading between the lines, I really don't think that two households only thing is true. I'll rather wait for the official info on that.
I agree with your take.
Did you notice the way they worded the new lot type “in town”? Why didn’t they just say New Lot Type? It makes me worry we can’t just use the new lot type anywhere.
Yeah this is bothering me and many people too, the way they put the duplex mention before the last one makes everyone confused and worried. They better confirm if it will be only 2 houses per lot, in that case this EP will be worse than Horse Ranch because LOL...
I am so scared and worried it will be just 2 houses next to each other because in that case the "building apartments" feature in the description is false advertising like what? Hopefully they will prove us wrong and it will be better than what we expect right now
I am so scared and worried it will be just 2 houses next to each other because in that case the "building apartments" feature in the description is false advertising like what? Hopefully they will prove us wrong and it will be better than what we expect right now
Maybe it's going to be two houses on top of another.
The most important question for me is can we make multi family lots in all worlds? I hope this feature won't be restricted to the new world. It would be a great solution to some of the small worlds like moonwood mill and glimmer brook.
I am so scared and worried it will be just 2 houses next to each other because in that case the "building apartments" feature in the description is false advertising like what? Hopefully they will prove us wrong and it will be better than what we expect right now
@ULIBABA66 They explicitly mention renting out a basement. This means that you can divide a single building among separate households. I'm more concerned with how the interplay between different households works. I've mentioned earlier my concern with having to go through a loading screen to visit the neighbors. There's also the issue of how you switch between them. Would be nice if you could click on their entry door and have a choice between "Ask to Come Out," "Ask to Visit" and "Switch Control to the ______ household."
-No, my almost-elderly mother, I don't think it's a good time for you to try for a baby.
-Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
-No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
A guru said they hope they will be better apartments than TS2 so my guess is:
1. You can place multi family lots on any world.
2. You can visit apartments without going through a loading screen.
The real question is: Does the new snooping gameplay include an actual Secrets fearure where the game generates secrets based on a sim's behavior or it will be sonething similar to the secrets you learn from the Strangerville listening device?
I'm hoping that we don't have to do the management stuff if we don't want to. I want to be able to build and have my Sims live in duplexes and apartments without having to own them. I also want to be able to have the families I want move in, so I can create my own neighborhood stories.
Agreed. I want to be able to just build apartments and duplexes without having to own them for them to work. Those three oversized lots in Del Sol Valley definitely need to be row houses or apartment buildings.
I'm curious how it will work. You technically can have two houses inhabitated by two families on one lot. I play like this quite often actually. But it can be a chore sometimes because the door locks keep resetting for some mysterious reason and it drives me crazy.
While I am in LOVE with the concept, because Sims 2 apartment life was a really enjoyable experience, I'm afraid that the Sims 4 take on Apartment life is going to focus only on one main feature whereas Sims 2 added way more in terms of content : the whole apartments system with a landlord NPC and all the neighbor interactions, a reputation gauge (we got that in get famous), roommates system (got added to base game alongside University EP), witches and magic (got that in realm of magic).
The leaked description of the sims 4 EP make it seem like we're only getting the apartments with the twist being that we can both be renters AND landlords, which sounds cool but.. That's pretty much it.
So just in terms of pure content/new systems to explore and discover, Sims 4 EP are kinda underwhelming when compared to their TS2 and TS3 counterparts because instead of adding more than what we are used to we are getting only a fraction of it.
Purely based on the leaked description, it seems to be a City Living refresh hidden behind a new world to justify slapping a 40€ price tag on it. We already got apartments and it was the main feature of the EP it appeared in, lol.
Don't get me wrong, I am going to buy it regardless but I just wanted to point this out and this is in no way the fault of the sims team but EA allowing less and less budget for packs most likely, it's an old game after all and the decline in sales is probably showing in their results and budget allocations.
As someone else pointed out in this thread, this seems to be the perfect opportunity for future hotels mod, because there's no way we're getting it in this EP otherwise it would be part of the key features list and EA wouldn't miss the opportunity to re-use a whole system created for a pack, tweak/enhance it just a little bit and sell it as part of another full price pack lol.
Well, since the pandemic almost everything has gone up. So EA is either going to give us a bit less or charge us a bit more. They are going to have to increase the salaries of their workers, just like everyone else…..
I'm curious how it will work. You technically can have two houses inhabitated by two families on one lot. I play like this quite often actually. But it can be a chore sometimes because the door locks keep resetting for some mysterious reason and it drives me crazy.
I play without cheats and with a storyline, also don't want to play two households at one time. So for me , its better to have actual multi family housing as a system than pretend its there in that way. I wouldn't want two separate families to control OR sharing money.
If we have a loading screen to see our neighbors, the pack will literally be useless.
I would not consider it useless. I don’t consider city living useless, and I can’t even build my own apartments in city living, just change the inside. It will not bother me to see a loading screen between apartments, or town houses, however it sounds like we will be able to make common areas where our immediate apartment neighbors will show up. And for pot lucks I bet the neighbors will bring something to eat, just like sims in the dorms bring home food to the dorms. But, at least like in the dorms our neighbors will be there instead of sims from other lots. I assume we will be able to make the common areas, as well as the apartments. To me this sounds great! I’m just hoping we will be able to make up at least 4 apartments on a lot. If we get to enter a neighbors lot without a loading screen, I would see that as an unexpected bonus.
I worry most for how the tenants will pay their rent. I assume it will happen weekly, every 7 days. Playing rotationally that will mean my landlords will practically never get paid, as I often stop just a couple simdays in each household. I wish we could claim daily pay, but I guess that will never happen, so I might need my spreadsheets still.
If we have a loading screen to see our neighbors, the pack will literally be useless.
I would not consider it useless. I don’t consider city living useless, and I can’t even build my own apartments in city living, just change the inside.
@SheriSim57 I don't consider City Living useless either. I also don't consider it a successor to Sims 2 Apartment Life. The apartment complexes are a completely different experience. The ones in City Living are basically mini neighborhoods with some additional neighbor interactions. Each apartment still functions as a separate lot, just like neighboring lots in the suburbs of Oasis Springs. Now, creating them as fixed lots allowed us to have the high-rise/pent house fully urbanized experience, which we never had in Apartment Life, nor will we have it in For Rent. This is why For Rent doesn't replace City Living. At the same time, if you need to pass through a loading screen to visit your neighbor I just don't see how For Rent brings enough to the table that City Living doesn't already give us.
I'm fine with Eco Lifestyle adding a few apartments because apartment weren't the main selling point. Being able to live in an apartment outside of San Myshuno was a nice little bonus feature. For Rent has apartments as the main selling point. It needs to be a substantively different experience from City Living.
Post edited by Eleri on
-No, my almost-elderly mother, I don't think it's a good time for you to try for a baby.
-Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
-No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
Would be nice to tie in San Myshino with this and become the landlord of one of those tower blocks. I doubt they'll do that though. All these new packs mess up past ones for me. Even my old favourite Sims families change sex and colour when I try to use them.
I worry most for how the tenants will pay their rent. I assume it will happen weekly, every 7 days. Playing rotationally that will mean my landlords will practically never get paid, as I often stop just a couple simdays in each household. I wish we could claim daily pay, but I guess that will never happen, so I might need my spreadsheets still.
I agree, daily pay would be great for rotational play, I too play rotationally and I do not play on a standardized schedule , so daily pay would be best for my owners. Hopefully the pay will not really come out of the renters pockets because some of those will be renters that I play rotationally also, and I would only want the rent to come out of their pockets only on the days I am paying them, same with the owners, I would only want to collect when I am playing them.
If we have a loading screen to see our neighbors, the pack will literally be useless.
I would not consider it useless. I don’t consider city living useless, and I can’t even build my own apartments in city living, just change the inside.
@SheriSim57 I don't consider City Living useless either. I also don't consider it a successor to Sims 2 Apartment Life. The apartment complexes are a completely different experience. The ones in City Living are basically mini neighborhoods with some additional neighbor interactions. Each apartment still functions as a separate lot, just like neighboring lots in the suburbs of Oasis Springs. Now, creating them as fixed lots allowed us to have the high-rise/pent house fully urbanized experience, which we never had in Apartment Life, nor will we have it in For Rent. This is why For Rent doesn't replace City Living. At the same time, if you need to pass through a loading screen to visit your neighbor I just don't see how For Rent brings enough to the table that City Living doesn't already give us.
I'm fine with Eco Lifestyle adding a few apartments because apartment weren't the main selling point. Being able to live in an apartment outside of San Myshuno was a nice little bonus feature. For Rent has apartments as the main selling point. It needs to be a substantively different experience from City Living.
Well, for me just being able to build my apartments anywhere on any lot, in any world, and being able to build the common areas as well ( such as a pool area, or recreation room area, with coffee maker, gym equipment, sauna, buffet table etc ), and having the other apartment renters show up in the common area at times would actually be good enough for me. I’m assuming the pot luck would be something like a dinner party, only with the invited guests being other apartment tenants from the complex. I would however like to be able to build at least 4 apartments per complex.
Would be nice to tie in San Myshino with this and become the landlord of one of those tower blocks. I doubt they'll do that though. All these new packs mess up past ones for me. Even my old favourite Sims families change sex and colour when I try to use them.
We will probably be able to buy the penthouse lots and set them as apartment lots. The others I am not sure, as I think some you can only rent.
I so hope we're getting T2-style apartments. I started to lose faith in The Sims 4 when city living came out and we didn't get T2 apartments. I feel like this could renew my faith. Fingers crossed!
There is a controversial issue that exist with the "basement apartment" aspect of For Rent EP.
1-
While commonly practiced, in most states, including the one I live in at the moment, a basement apartment is entirely illegal. You owe $0 for a basement apartment. While that is the law, what is practiced is another story. Most courts will turn a blind eye on the issue, and favor the landlord because they bring in so much revenue for the city in taxes.
2- There is a Universal Standard Of Building Code. There are standards to building like space and clearance requirements. Again, it exist, but often not practiced. Most standards are often ignored due to profit margins. For example, every glass window is supposed to me made with safety glass, in case it breaks, and yet I doubt any are.
If you have ever know anyone who lived in one of these basement apartments during a flood, all of their life is wipe out in a moment. The is an actual life threatening danger that occurs if someone, was unaware, say in their sleep, once the water meets the electricity level.
"Water can rise and come into contact with electrical outlets, cords, and appliances. Water can become energized by electricity and electrocute you when you touch it." https://www.cahillheating.com/blog/electricity-concerns-during-a-flood#:~:text=Never ever step into a,shut it off by yourself.
While we dont have floods in the sims, its still rather educational for children growing up and spreads the messages to the common unaware public. I don't feel it's not something that should be promoted as a "norm" however even though it does exist. In the sims you can build up to 4 floors, so there really is no reason to lock someone in the basement, unless you hate someone and are trolling them in your game.
3-Basement apartments are not entirely underground. They are half way above ground and half way below. Looking out the window of a basement apartment, you should still be able to see the ankles of pedestrians walking by. I have already tried to build an townhouse and brownstone like this and I could not lift the basement level up to peek above ground. It would the exactly lined up level of a pool, completely underground. Unless they make an update to adjust that, it would not be authentic to these types of out-of-date housing types.
@LeucosiaX Basement suites are legal here but have to conform to a specific building code. That code includes the safety issues like proper exits and size of windows etc. and may be different for each province (not sure on that). Of course there are lots of illegal ones here as well plus so many now use theirs are air b/b sadly.
"Every child matters. If we fail our children, we are bound to fail our present, our future, faith, cultures, and civilizations as well."
@Bluegayle the used to be completely illegal, but lawmakers are always making adjustments for more revenue. It's called universal standard of building code, because that is what is universally supposed to be the standard. Politicians and landlords can make their own rule, but should it be introduced to the game, so should a new death type- electrocution and or drowning by unexpected flood. It could be triggering for some who may have experienced this in real life.
There is a controversial issue that exist with the "basement apartment" aspect of For Rent EP.
1-
While commonly practiced, in most states, including the one I live in at the moment, a basement apartment is entirely illegal. You owe $0 for a basement apartment. While that is the law, what is practiced is another story. Most courts will turn a blind eye on the issue, and favor the landlord because they bring in so much revenue for the city in taxes.
2- There is a Universal Standard Of Building Code. There are standards to building like space and clearance requirements. Again, it exist, but often not practiced. Most standards are often ignored due to profit margins. For example, every glass window is supposed to me made with safety glass, in case it breaks, and yet I doubt any are.
If you have ever know anyone who lived in one of these basement apartments during a flood, all of their life is wipe out in a moment. The is an actual life threatening danger that occurs if someone, was unaware, say in their sleep, once the water meets the electricity level.
"Water can rise and come into contact with electrical outlets, cords, and appliances. Water can become energized by electricity and electrocute you when you touch it." https://www.cahillheating.com/blog/electricity-concerns-during-a-flood#:~:text=Never ever step into a,shut it off by yourself.
While we dont have floods in the sims, its still rather educational for children growing up and spreads the messages to the common unaware public. I don't feel it's not something that should be promoted as a "norm" however even though it does exist. In the sims you can build up to 4 floors, so there really is no reason to lock someone in the basement, unless you hate someone and are trolling them in your game.
3-Basement apartments are not entirely underground. They are half way above ground and half way below. Looking out the window of a basement apartment, you should still be able to see the ankles of pedestrians walking by. I have already tried to build an townhouse and brownstone like this and I could not lift the basement level up to peek above ground. It would the exactly lined up level of a pool, completely underground. Unless they make an update to adjust that, it would not be authentic to these types of out-of-date housing types.
I'm so glad I live in the UK, rather than the third world USA, where courts turn a blind eye to people breaking the law....
There's no problem with people owning or renting basement flats here, as long as they conform to the building regulations.
Also the consumer unit (fuse board) will automatically trip should water be introduced to the electrics, as it will cause a short circuit. As these would be installed at high level in a basement, the live feed entering it should stay dry.
I'd also be interested in seeing where these controversial issues are being discussed?
I worry most for how the tenants will pay their rent. I assume it will happen weekly, every 7 days. Playing rotationally that will mean my landlords will practically never get paid, as I often stop just a couple simdays in each household. I wish we could claim daily pay, but I guess that will never happen, so I might need my spreadsheets still.
I'm not terribly concerned about this. I'm a rotational player, too, but my sims still earn money from the retail lots they own, so I would assume this would be the same. I would think that when the tenants pay rent, either it would automatically flow into the owner's funds, OR the funds could flow into an "account" where you, as the owner would have to open that panel and click a "collect rent" fund to move the funds into their household funds. It could either be one of the sim tabs (like skills, needs, etc.), or that sim could have to actively travel to the rental property (as you do with retail lots). The latter option would be very similar to how it worked for hotels and resorts in TS3. Either way, the funds would be accruing, so whether you play the landlord's house once per week or once a year, the accumulated funds would flow to you once you collect them.
Obviously we don't know yet how they did set it up, but there are definitely good options for how they could do it, with precedent set by how they've done other things, so I wouldn't assume the worst at this point.
Comments
Yeah this is bothering me and many people too, the way they put the duplex mention before the last one makes everyone confused and worried. They better confirm if it will be only 2 houses per lot, in that case this EP will be worse than Horse Ranch because LOL...
Maybe it's going to be two houses on top of another.
I hope not either.
@ULIBABA66 They explicitly mention renting out a basement. This means that you can divide a single building among separate households. I'm more concerned with how the interplay between different households works. I've mentioned earlier my concern with having to go through a loading screen to visit the neighbors. There's also the issue of how you switch between them. Would be nice if you could click on their entry door and have a choice between "Ask to Come Out," "Ask to Visit" and "Switch Control to the ______ household."
-Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
-No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
1. You can place multi family lots on any world.
2. You can visit apartments without going through a loading screen.
The real question is: Does the new snooping gameplay include an actual Secrets fearure where the game generates secrets based on a sim's behavior or it will be sonething similar to the secrets you learn from the Strangerville listening device?
Agreed. I want to be able to just build apartments and duplexes without having to own them for them to work. Those three oversized lots in Del Sol Valley definitely need to be row houses or apartment buildings.
Well, since the pandemic almost everything has gone up. So EA is either going to give us a bit less or charge us a bit more. They are going to have to increase the salaries of their workers, just like everyone else…..
I play without cheats and with a storyline, also don't want to play two households at one time. So for me , its better to have actual multi family housing as a system than pretend its there in that way. I wouldn't want two separate families to control OR sharing money.
I would not consider it useless. I don’t consider city living useless, and I can’t even build my own apartments in city living, just change the inside. It will not bother me to see a loading screen between apartments, or town houses, however it sounds like we will be able to make common areas where our immediate apartment neighbors will show up. And for pot lucks I bet the neighbors will bring something to eat, just like sims in the dorms bring home food to the dorms. But, at least like in the dorms our neighbors will be there instead of sims from other lots. I assume we will be able to make the common areas, as well as the apartments. To me this sounds great! I’m just hoping we will be able to make up at least 4 apartments on a lot. If we get to enter a neighbors lot without a loading screen, I would see that as an unexpected bonus.
I'm fine with Eco Lifestyle adding a few apartments because apartment weren't the main selling point. Being able to live in an apartment outside of San Myshuno was a nice little bonus feature. For Rent has apartments as the main selling point. It needs to be a substantively different experience from City Living.
-Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
-No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
I agree, daily pay would be great for rotational play, I too play rotationally and I do not play on a standardized schedule , so daily pay would be best for my owners. Hopefully the pay will not really come out of the renters pockets because some of those will be renters that I play rotationally also, and I would only want the rent to come out of their pockets only on the days I am paying them, same with the owners, I would only want to collect when I am playing them.
Well, for me just being able to build my apartments anywhere on any lot, in any world, and being able to build the common areas as well ( such as a pool area, or recreation room area, with coffee maker, gym equipment, sauna, buffet table etc ), and having the other apartment renters show up in the common area at times would actually be good enough for me. I’m assuming the pot luck would be something like a dinner party, only with the invited guests being other apartment tenants from the complex. I would however like to be able to build at least 4 apartments per complex.
We will probably be able to buy the penthouse lots and set them as apartment lots. The others I am not sure, as I think some you can only rent.
1-
While commonly practiced, in most states, including the one I live in at the moment, a basement apartment is entirely illegal. You owe $0 for a basement apartment. While that is the law, what is practiced is another story. Most courts will turn a blind eye on the issue, and favor the landlord because they bring in so much revenue for the city in taxes.
2- There is a Universal Standard Of Building Code. There are standards to building like space and clearance requirements. Again, it exist, but often not practiced. Most standards are often ignored due to profit margins. For example, every glass window is supposed to me made with safety glass, in case it breaks, and yet I doubt any are.
If you have ever know anyone who lived in one of these basement apartments during a flood, all of their life is wipe out in a moment. The is an actual life threatening danger that occurs if someone, was unaware, say in their sleep, once the water meets the electricity level.
"Water can rise and come into contact with electrical outlets, cords, and appliances. Water can become energized by electricity and electrocute you when you touch it."
https://www.cahillheating.com/blog/electricity-concerns-during-a-flood#:~:text=Never ever step into a,shut it off by yourself.
While we dont have floods in the sims, its still rather educational for children growing up and spreads the messages to the common unaware public. I don't feel it's not something that should be promoted as a "norm" however even though it does exist. In the sims you can build up to 4 floors, so there really is no reason to lock someone in the basement, unless you hate someone and are trolling them in your game.
3-Basement apartments are not entirely underground. They are half way above ground and half way below. Looking out the window of a basement apartment, you should still be able to see the ankles of pedestrians walking by. I have already tried to build an townhouse and brownstone like this and I could not lift the basement level up to peek above ground. It would the exactly lined up level of a pool, completely underground. Unless they make an update to adjust that, it would not be authentic to these types of out-of-date housing types.
AHQ Champion
I'm so glad I live in the UK, rather than the third world USA, where courts turn a blind eye to people breaking the law....
There's no problem with people owning or renting basement flats here, as long as they conform to the building regulations.
Also the consumer unit (fuse board) will automatically trip should water be introduced to the electrics, as it will cause a short circuit. As these would be installed at high level in a basement, the live feed entering it should stay dry.
I'd also be interested in seeing where these controversial issues are being discussed?
I'm not terribly concerned about this. I'm a rotational player, too, but my sims still earn money from the retail lots they own, so I would assume this would be the same. I would think that when the tenants pay rent, either it would automatically flow into the owner's funds, OR the funds could flow into an "account" where you, as the owner would have to open that panel and click a "collect rent" fund to move the funds into their household funds. It could either be one of the sim tabs (like skills, needs, etc.), or that sim could have to actively travel to the rental property (as you do with retail lots). The latter option would be very similar to how it worked for hotels and resorts in TS3. Either way, the funds would be accruing, so whether you play the landlord's house once per week or once a year, the accumulated funds would flow to you once you collect them.
Obviously we don't know yet how they did set it up, but there are definitely good options for how they could do it, with precedent set by how they've done other things, so I wouldn't assume the worst at this point.