The Sims franchise didn’t always have cars, but because of the progress demonstrated in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, it seemed natural for players to expect the return of cars in The Sims 4. However, the game has been out for almost 7 years at this point, so it seems fruitless to continue to wish for the return of cars to the franchise.
The Sims 4 has a lot of good qualities, some of which were implemented at a base game level. Vehicles, however, were not part of this equation. In fact, players can only use “vehicles” (boats or bikes) after purchasing DLC like Island Living, Discover University, or Eco-Lifestyle. The sad reality is that usable cars are probably not coming in The Sims 4 – but that’s not inherently a bad thing.
The Sims 2 base game didn’t start out with players having personal cars, but the possibility was always there, even in the base game. NPCs, like the adoption agency or pest control, would show up in their own vehicles, and to go to other lots Sims would have to call a taxi to pick them up. Tweaking those mechanics to introduce personal cars with The Sims 2: Nightlife wasn’t a tall order for the developer and added new gameplay options once personal vehicles were added to the game.
The Sims 3 seemed to turn a new leaf for the franchise, introducing personal cars at a base game level instead of waiting for a DLC. However, this design choice made sense considering The Sims 3 was open-world by design. Players could still get taxis to take their Sims places, but it was equally beneficial to have a personal vehicle at the ready. If players wanted more vehicle options, they could always purchase The Sims 3: Fast Lane stuff DLC. But vehicles were always accounted for in the design of The Sims 3, probably because of its open-world nature.
The Sims 4 still has content planned through 2021, but the game also turns 7 this year. For all intents and purposes, it’s kind of old. That’s not a bad thing, but it does mean that the developer may start turning its attention away from The Sims 4 to focus on other projects, like The Sims 5. At its core, The Sims 4 wasn’t designed to have usable cars – if it was, there would probably still be a taxi interaction that shows the vehicle picking up the Sim and driving away, like in The Sims 2.
Clearly, though, this isn’t the case. When players want their Sim to travel, they simply use the cell phone and have them ask whoever they want to meet them wherever they want and then, one loading screen later, they’re there. If usable cars were meant to be in-game, there would probably be some sort of animation in the base game that could then be tweaked and changed to match new car content – but there isn’t. The Sims 4 wasn’t designed with usable cars in mind, but even this decision was intentional.
As far as neighborhoods go, it can be argued that The Sims 4 is the most advanced because it allows Sims to travel to any neighborhood at all, and is the first Sims game to allow this. Both The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 locked players in one neighborhood only, where they had to live out their whole Sim lives. The one exception was that players could move neighborhoods in The Sims 3, but their household would forget everyone they knew in their home neighborhood. The Sims 4’s all-access neighborhood design could have been a great opportunity to redesign the taxi pickup of The Sims 2, but the developer chose not to do that.
It seems pretty bleak to keep wishing for usable cars in The Sims 4 based on these game mechanic designs, but there may always be hope yet for The Sims 5.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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