It really does feel odd to think that it’s already been 4 years since The Sims 4 was released. It seems like only yesterday I was marveling at how much amazing new stuff was included in The Sims 3! Unfortunately, when the newest installment of the franchise was released, people started complaining about the opposite: there were a lot of things missing from the game. While it’s hard to tell if some of these features were considered during the development of the game and then cut, it’s obvious that a lot of things that were in previous games were deleted from The Sims 4.
For instance, when the game was first released in 2014, there was an outcry, as toddlers and swimming pools were excluded from the game. Considering how much richer toddlers made the gameplay and how Simmers love ending their poor Sims in pools (don’t lie, we’ve all done it), it’s hardly surprising that EA eventually put these deleted features back into the game.
There are lots of other features that were deleted and will probably never see the light of day, however, and some are more puzzling than others. Of course, I’m well aware that not everything from the past installments of The Sims series could have made it into The Sims 4; the game would have been incredibly difficult to run and taken forever to develop had EA tried to do that. Still, here are 25 great things that were deleted in The Sims 4.
25 No Create-A-Style
This is probably one of the features that was present in The Sims 3, but then deleted in The Sims 4, that players miss the most. With Create-A-Style, you could customize absolutely anything, from your Sims’ clothing to their floor and their dining room table.
The worlds you could play in were unequivocally yours because there was almost nothing you couldn’t personalize.
Compared to that feeling, The Sims 4’s world felt very restrictive, and for some players, incredibly frustrating.
24 No Open World
Talking about being restricted… Another feature that was deleted in The Sims 4 was the open world. Sure, we traded it for faster loading times and technically, smoother gameplay, but there’s no denying it was aggravating to lose the freedom of movement we had in The Sims 3. Just imagine how incredible The Sims 4 could have been if EA had kept that feature! It’s one of the many reasons some simmers snubbed The Sims 4 and kept playing The Sims 3 instead.
23 No Usable Vehicles
This is a feature that was present in earlier Sims games, but deleted in The Sims 4. It may seem unimportant, but vehicles were one of the ways The Sims felt more realistic. If your Sims didn’t have a car, they would get picked up and carpool to work, and take taxis to communal lots. If they did, they could drive it around town, and, in The Sims 3, even become friends with their car. In that sense, it was not only a realistic touch, but also a humorous addition that would have been very welcome in The Sims 4.
22 No Story Progression
Alright, granted: story progression never worked very well, so it’s not entirely surprising EA did away with it in The Sims 4. But if you think about it, wouldn’t it have been amazing if they had tried to improve on the system instead? Sims from The Sims 4 are meant to have more complex emotions and relations to other Sims than in previous games, which would have made story progression amazing. EA chose to focus on other aspects of the game, but story progression would have really helped The Sims 4 come alive.
21 No Rabbit Holes
The Sims 3 introduced “rabbit holes”, buildings such as schools, hospitals, restaurants, etc. that your Sims would go into during parts of the game when the player doesn’t control them—such as work or school.
In The Sims 4, the rabbit hole mechanism was deleted along with the open world.
Your sims simply disappear from the world when they go to work. The thing is, rabbit holes gave you additional, sometimes amusing interactions, such as exploring a mausoleum or going to a football game—and it’s something that would have been great in The Sims 4.
20 No Automatic Roof
This may seem like a very minor feature; you’ve probably never really thought about it until you actually had to build a house without it. The automatic roof feature was present in The Sims 3 and deleted in The Sims 4, and it’s a shame, because it really made our lives easier—especially for simmers like me who aren’t the most patient builders. It seems like an odd thing to omit too, considering EA tried to make build mode in The Sims 4 easier to use…
19 Beloved Traits Were Taken Out
While lots of amazing things were added to Create A Sim, some aspects that players had come to expect after playing earlier games were deleted.
For instance, you can now choose only three traits for your Sims, and many beloved traits were taken out.
Sure, other interesting traits were added (I’ll admit, the “bro” trait is pretty funny), but overall, it feels like we as players have fewer options to customize our Sims’ personalities. Three traits are just not enough!
18 No Grocery Shopping
Another feature that made previous installments of The Sims feel realistic but was deleted from The Sims 4 was grocery shopping. It may seem trivial but there’s a big difference between getting Sims to go to the store and choosing which groceries to buy and buying your groceries automatically when you select a recipe for your Sim to make. Sure, you can still collect resources and fish but it’s just not the same… It really is surprising that this was taken out of the game, considering even The Sims Medieval has a form of shopping!
17 No Bikes
Just like cars, bikes are among the deleted Sims 4 features that we all miss. Bikes in the Sims 4 could have been really fun! The neighborhoods in the game seem to be fairly eco-friendly, with one of them boasting a (sadly decorative) streetcar system, so bikes could have made sense. Not to mention, these new neighborhoods are small, so while it may make sense that your Sims don’t need cars to get around, bikes would have been a great way to add more dynamism to the game!
16 No Trash Compactor
Another seemingly random object that’s missing from The Sims 4 is the trash compactor. Sure, it’s not like you can’t live without it, and you can definitely download a mod if you really miss it, but it seems like an odd feature to take out. Were trash compactors really that hard to put into the game? Just like the auto-roof feature, they really would have made our lives easier. At least a patch was released in 2015 to add dishwashers to the game! Unbelievably, they weren’t part of the base game at first.
15 No More Repo Man
Sure, he may seem like an odd feature to miss. But the repo man has been a part of the Sims franchise since the first game, and, just like the Tragic Clown in The Sims, the Social Bunny in The Sims 2 and the Grim Reaper, he adds drama to the game. I remember playing the original game as a child and being terrified of him! As an adult, though, it’s fun to see him use his vortex gun to repossess our poor Sims possessions. Imagine how cool it would have been to have him in The Sims 4!
14 You Can’t Place Empty Lots
In The Sims 4, EA deleted a lot of features that had to do with customization. The most obvious was Create A Style, but they also cut down on neighbourhood customization. For instance, you can’t place new lots and tinker with your neighbourhood like you could in previous installments of the game. Just like the open world, it seems like they deleted this feature so that neighbourhoods would be smaller and therefore would load faster, but it still feels like a shame.
13 Don’t Get Too Comfortable: No More Comfort Need
The comfort need is another feature that players took for granted, until it was deleted in The Sims 4. It was great, because it was quite easy to fill, and it gave the impression that Sims are complex characters, not just bunches of pixels. In The Sims 4, there’s a lot of focus on a Sims’ mood, and they’re meant to be more complex than they used to be. With that in mind, wouldn’t the comfort need be awesome?
12 No Favorites Or Preferences
This was another feature that made Sims feel more like “real” (if somewhat strange) people. In The Sims 2, players got their option to give their Sim “turn ons” and “turns offs”, which made things really interesting when you tried to romance other Sims. In The Sims 3, you could give them favorites (food, colour, etc.), which, again, gave them more dimension. Despite the new emotions they can feel, Sims in The Sims 4 tend to feel a bit one-dimensional without these options. It’s a small thing, but it would have changed the game a lot!
11 They Deleted The Opacity Slider For Makeup
While you got amazing new possibilities in Create A Sim in The Sims 4, some things were deleted. Among these was the opacity slider for makeup, which is one of these little details that could have actually changed the experience of creating Sims even more. With the makeup opacity slider, we could have made sure a Sim’s makeup matched their overall look and created Sims that would have felt even more unique. It may not seem like much, but when you create a Sim and play without it, you realize how important it was.
10 And The Skin Tone Slider
The same goes for the skin tone slider! In a more obvious way, because customizing your Sims’ skin tones was a much more important part of Create a Sim than makeup.
In The Sims 4, we got a bunch of different skin tones, but there were no sliders, meaning you only had a few predetermined options to pick from.
Of course, for those who want more options, there’s always the possibility to download custom content, but it would have been a great feature to include in the base game.
9 And Multi-Tone Hair Colours
We also lost many hair customization options. Yes, the graphics are better in The Sims 4, and the hair generally looks better, but I do miss having the option of fully customizing my Sims’ hair. In The Sims 3, Sims could have multiple tones in their hair; combine that with Create A Style, and you could do pretty much whatever you wanted, from dyed hair with apparent roots to crazy multi-coloured hair. Just imagine what you could have done with this option and The Sims 4’s graphics!
8 And Astrology Signs
Just like favourites, turn ons, and turn offs, astrology signs were a great way to add more depth and detail to your Sims’ personalities.
Astrology signs were a fun way to learn more about Sims when your characters were socializing.
If you wanted to create a Simself, a Sim replica of yourself, astrology signs were one way you could make sure your Sim avatar more like you. In short, they were great! There’s, of course, a mod for it, but we can’t help but wish it had been included in the base game.
7 No Way To Swim In The Ocean
The Sims 3 and The Sims 2 had a great feature that let your Sims swim in the ocean, and this was deleted in The Sims 4, much to players’ dismay. While a patch introduced swimming pools into the game, we never did get the option to swim in the ocean. And this time, there’s not even a mod for it! It’s in development, but not released yet. This is one feature that would really be welcome in the game; it could create different moods for your Sims and would make the beaches so much more realistic.
6 What Happened To The Neighborhoods?
I’ve briefly talked about the neighborhoods earlier, but let’s address the elephant in the room—or rather, the lack of room. Not only are The Sims 4 neighborhoods not as customizable, they’re also way smaller than what players were used to. This particular deleted feature is especially frustrating for players who enjoy managing not just one family but also taking care of a busy, bustling neighborhood. Not that the neighborhoods could truly be that busy, since there is no story progression…
