Highlights
- Project Rene has the opportunity to bring back the community aspect of festivals and make them a key feature of gameplay.
- The festivals in The Sims 4 are limited in gameplay and lack cultural diversity.
- Project Rene should tap into the community and incorporate multiplayer activities, as well as allow players to create and share their own culturally significant festivals.
Project Rene supposedly has a return to The Sims 3's emphasis on community, where Sims-based communities were more possible thanks to the seamless transitions from Sims' houses to community lots. When The Sims 3: Seasons was launched, it introduced seasonal festivals, which took place at a large, outdoor community lot, and featured different activities. The Sims 4 closed off the open-world, and with The Sims 4: Seasons, the community aspect of festivals was removed in favor of at-home, family-oriented holidays.
The Sims 4: City Living, The Sims 4: Snowy Escape, and The Sims 4: Cottage Living reintroduced community festivals. Rather than being based on the weather or the time of year, they tend to be more cultural or regional. While the themes of these festivals are a step in the right direction, the gameplay is often limited to buying food or items from festival stalls. Project Rene has the opportunity to overhaul festivals and make them a key feature of community gameplay, especially if it makes festivals truly international and multicultural.
Every Disturbing The Sims Event That Project Rene Shouldn't Explain
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Project Rene Should Become More International
Different Festivals in Different Worlds
Seasonal events should take into account different hemispheres, which could be implemented in different worlds in Project Rene. For example, much of the Global South and its cultures celebrate holidays that are similar to the winter holidays in the Northern Hemisphere, but these holidays take place in the middle of summer. While The Sims 4's leaning into multicultural festivals and neighborhoods has been a good start, The Sims 4 hasn't done enough to be culturally diverse. There is very little, if any, content inspired from Africa, and the vast majority of the worlds, festivals, and events in-game are America-centric.
The Problem With The Sims 4 Festivals
Festivals in The Sims 4 suffer from the same problem seen across other areas of its gameplay, in that it focuses on one aspect of gameplay and sorely neglects the rest. For example, festival days in The Sims 4: Cottage Living involve a judging contest and possible discounts on the permanent garden stalls, while other festivals feature themed food and some limited themed activities. Festivals in The Sims 4 also behave strangely in that few Sims show up to festivals, giving the festival grounds a dead atmosphere, or Sims from completely inappropriate or different worlds, such as celebrities or Sims from Sulani, the island world from The Sims 4: Island Living, will appear.
How Project Rene Can Revolutionize Festivals in The Sims
Project Rene Needs to Tap Into Community
Like The Sims 3, holidays need to become community-centered once more, with a community lot becoming a hub for festival activity. Project Rene should take inspiration from both The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, in terms of the scope of The Sims 3 and the multicultural aspirations of The Sims 4, and combine them to make culturally significant festivals with meaningful gameplay. Another important aspect to consider will be community: the festivals should be a hive of activity, and incorporate the multiplayer component of Project Rene, with festivals behaving as a possible hub.
Creating a More Diverse World in The Sims
As Project Rene seems to be shaping up to be a collaborative game where friends can design spaces together, borrowing aspects of The Sims 4's holiday creation feature could be possible. Players should be able to create their own holiday events as in The Sims 4, and share those events with their friends, but also design their own festivals for specific worlds. Combined with more powerful creator tools, this would be a massive step forward in making The Sims more multicultural, as Simmers from all over the world would be able to create and share festivals that reflect their own, real world cultures.
