For the reason that starting of the last decade, The Sims 4 has proven a constant preoccupation with sustainable residing and reclaiming industrial areas.
Its most up-to-date add-on, July 2025’s Enchanted by Nature growth, is simply the most recent DLC to sort out a theme that was already current within the aptly-named Eco Life-style growth pack, in addition to the Cottage Residing and Horse Ranch packs, the Tiny Residing stuff pack, and the Werewolves recreation pack (that final title sounds a bit of left-field, however belief me, it matches the theme).
To study extra about this rising design pattern inside The Sims 4 and its participant group, I spoke to Eva Rotky, a Sims YouTuber who describes herself as “an inside designer by day and a Sims builder by evening”.
She has been gaming as a pastime since childhood, but it surely wasn’t till the pandemic lockdowns that pals inspired her to start making YouTube movies of her Sims builds, which ultimately led to her becoming a member of the EA Creator community in 2022. “If my seven-year-old self may see or know these items,” she says, “She’d be like, completely not! I do not imagine it!”
Eva has been a Simmer because the days of the unique recreation again within the early 2000s, so naturally she’s well-positioned to understand the modifications which have come to the collection over its 25-year historical past – particularly, the growth of construct mode, one of many few options which the vast majority of gamers appear to agree has improved with each new gen of the franchise.
“I do suppose that there’s a pattern for the time being outdoors of The Sims to return to nature and to need to reconnect with nature,” Eva agrees. “I feel that is particularly since COVID and lockdown that persons are cherishing nature a bit extra and eager to embrace it, not be caught in a concrete metropolis and a one-bedroom residence. I feel it is undoubtedly reflecting a pattern in society as properly, however clearly additionally these are options within the recreation that The Sims group has all the time needed to have.”
So does this lengthen to simulated residing too? “I do not know what it’s about The Sims, however being open air is a lot extra enjoyable in The Sims than simply being indoors in your home,” Eva explains, including that: “Certainly one of my favorite issues to do in The Sims is the landscaping, and it isn’t one thing I am significantly fascinated by outdoors of The Sims, I do not actually know vegetation!”
Regardless of some Sims expertise making use of to actual life greater than others – Eva’s day job is in inside design, and she or he even mentions together with Sims builds in her portfolio when she utilized for the position she holds now – there is not any denying that The Sims 4’s whimsical imaginative and prescient of the pure world has a maintain on her.
“Creating landscapes in The Sims is so satisfying, simply making a backyard or an area that appears pure with vegetation rising out in all places and never completely pristine on a regular basis. In my Enchanted by Nature construct I went heavy on the landscaping, I spent most of my time on it simply within the landscaping instruments. Despite the fact that the construct/purchase is beautiful, the outside was form of the place it was at with the brand new roof colors and with the ability to place vegetation on roofs with the brand new base recreation replace.”
Updates to The Sims 4 – whether or not free or paid – are of explicit curiosity to Eva, who makes a degree of not utilizing customized content material (CC) in her builds, and retains her use of mods to a minimal. This ensures her designs are extra accessible for gamers on console, for instance, in addition to including an additional layer of artistic problem; and it additionally implies that Eva could be very attuned to critique of what is new in each DLC launch.
“I’ve loved it extra lately due to the construct/purchase and the standard of the objects actually altering and bettering for my part, and there being extra of a concentrate on the precise design of the objects that actually makes it simpler for me to make use of no CC in my builds,” she says. “It is all the time a problem and I do take pleasure in it. Generally it is a bit of irritating, however lately I’d say it has been a lot simpler due to the actually stunning objects that the group have been creating.”
This looks as if an excellent time to deal with the elephant within the room – or ought to that be the spiral staircase very prominently not within the room? – and ask Eva what’s nonetheless on her wishlist for future updates. “My first thought was spiral staircases!” Eva confirms. “I miss these so desperately! That might be my primary wishlist merchandise. In all probability it is so small, but it surely makes such a distinction.”
On condition that spiral staircases nearly go with out saying, although, Eva additionally provides that: “One factor I’d additionally actually love could be to have the ability to create not-full-length partitions – so you may create just a few extra shapes, do half the size of the wall or one thing like that. I feel that’d be actually enjoyable!”
Eva can be fast to level out that, regardless of not carrying its eco credentials on its sleeve fairly so blatantly as Enchanted by Nature, the earlier Sims 4 growth pack – March’s Companies & Hobbies – nonetheless quietly carries the theme.
Nordhaven – the world that shipped with the pack – attracts its major inspiration from a combination of Stockholm and Copenhagen; and whereas the title of town could also be a bit of on-the-nose, EA deserves credit score for avoiding the plain one-note Ikea jokes in favour of a extra genuine strategy to designing a contemporary Scandinavian city surroundings, each when it comes to public areas and residing areas.
To show the purpose, Companies & Hobbies options a few of Eva’s personal work, within the type of two pre-made heaps in Nordhaven: a neoclassical museum within the Gammelvik historic district and a transformed foundry in Iverstad, the latter styled as a previously industrial neighbourhood the place defunct manufacturing unit buildings are being repurposed as residential dwellings.
The builds are, as you may anticipate, very distinct from each other, demonstrating each the breadth of Eva’s design pursuits and the flexibleness of what may be created within the recreation because it stands.
“Scandinavian mid-century is form of my bread and butter to be trustworthy, and industrial as properly, so it was good to create one thing that felt so reasonable,” Eva says of her Iverstad construct. “And each time I am in [Nordhaven], I really feel like I am the place the inspiration got here from. I really feel like I am not in The Sims, I really feel like I am really in Copenhagen or someplace, which is basically beautiful.”
All of this ties neatly into Eva’s overarching design philosophy: “I feel the steadiness to strike in any design is all the time to not be one-sided,” she explains. “When you solely concentrate on nature then that may include challenges and limitations. And what I really like doing (additionally in actual life design) is combining pure supplies with man-made supplies. I feel that form of mixture and distinction between the 2 is definitely the way you create one thing that is actually timeless.”
One closing factor that strikes me about Eva’s Sims content material is that, whilst you may anticipate her pursuits to be very grounded in aspirational design, she’s by no means afraid to let her extra whimsical facet present.
By her personal admission, her favorite amongst her personal builds will not be a high-end mansion however a recreation of one of many post-apocalyptic fortresses seen in The Final of Us – which is, in any case, nothing if not a defunct area being repurposed by people and reclaimed by nature on the identical time.
Whether or not it is a luxurious mansion, a zombie-proof stronghold, or a fairytale cottage, Eva recognises that the unifying theme – the one factor that maybe attracts collectively most Simmers, regardless of being an extremely various participant base – is the want success. “What I actually like about The Sims is that you are able to do no matter you need,” she explains. “You may by no means be capable to stay in any of those homes in actual life, however you may create your personal little actuality in The Sims and do it there.”
