While details about The Sims 4 are still just trickling in, that has not stopped me from pondering about what shape the Legacy Challenge will take for the new incarnation of the Sims.
The first question I asked myself, “Will I update the Legacy Challenge for The Sims 4?” was answered very quickly. “Yes”.
That lead me to my next question: “What are my sacred cows?”
Having nothing to do with the fire-alarm tripping costumed college mascot (who is anything but sacred), a sacred cow refers to gameplay systems that make up the heart and soul of the Legacy Challenge. If I were to change or remove a ‘sacred cow’ the resulting updated challenge would no longer feel like the Legacy Challenge.
On the flip side, if I cling to too many sacred cows the resulting challenge could feel like a shoe-horned The Sims 3 challenge that was pulled and stretched in unnatural ways to fit the framework of The Sims 4. The trick is to both make a challenge that feels like it was built specifically for The Sims 4, yet also make it feel like the Legacy Challenge that you know and love.
So to address this, I have started to compile my list of sacred cows. My list of features that I will do my best NOT to change for TS4 in order to preserve the feel of the Legacy Challenge. This is by no means a complete or final list; as more information about the game is released, things could change.
1. A founder
The heart and soul of any Legacy Family is the founder. The idea of the founder has not, and will not change from the original version of the challenge back in The Sims 2. You will have 100% freedom in making and detailing your founder to your heart’s content. Their look, their gender, their personality traits, their clothing… everything can be hand-picked by you. Want to crunch the numbers and pick the most statistically beneficial aspects for your founder? Be my guest! Want to give them a weird looking nose to see if it gets passed down the family line? Go for it! The only restrictions will be that they must start the game alone and be of breeding age (Young Adult or Adult).
2. 10 Generations
The Legacy Challenge is meant to take a LONG time to play to the end and quite a bit can be built up over 10 generations of play. Simply reaching the end is a goal in and of itself. There is nothing in the preliminary information about The Sims 4 that would make me want to change the 10 generations length of the challenge. While nothing is stopping you from ending the challenge early or playing it past 10 generations, the points will be balanced based on a 10 generation game.
3. Early-Game Poverty
Being dumped on to a massive yet empty lawn with very little money to your name has been a hallmark of the challenge and I aim to preserve it for The Sims 4. This aspect is sacred in spirit, but not necessarily in execution. The ideal is to purchase a giant plot of land, emptying the player’s starting cash while providing you with a massive space to build on over 10 generations. However, The Sims 4 may do things differently with their starting conditions so the challenge will be adapted to fit the game.
There may be other aspects that make it over to The Sims 4 untouched, but I want to keep as many options open as possible as there are ton of details we have yet to learn about The Sims 4. Keep checking back as I will be posting updates to the site as my challenge takes shape between now and release. Until then, happy simming!
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