Sims 4 Build Mode - First Look
Next up was the Texture tool, another WOW moment. We are used to Create A Style and though the team would not be drawn into any C-A-Style questions they were able to show us the new Texture Tool in action, which now uses intelligent filters. You can filter by colour, style or texture, so you could look for yellow textures, or brick textures, allowing you to create or follow themes easily. This is great for people like me that don't have the artistic eye for colour or pattern matching things so you don't feel sick or giddy looking at them for a long time! The paint tool has a preview icon on the cursor so you know what you are working with and you can preview texture fills as you mouse over them.
Another powerful new tool allows you to add windows to rooms very quickly and easily. Select a window style you like and flood fill a room or multiple rooms with it. Windows will be placed on all outer walls with just the right amount of spacing to give good light while keeping an aesthetic balance. Of course, each window can be grabbed and dragged afterward like any other object but it made adding windows to a 5 room floor simple. Again, this is making building less time consuming and more 'gamified' if you want it. There are 5 types of windows that we saw in this build; Short, Medium, Long, Wide and Narrow. Similarly, Doors come in 3 different heights and width and that's necessary because....
There are 3 different wall heights which can be set floor level dependant! WOW moment. Imagine creating a ground floor with impressively high ceilings in your grand hallway or great room, but lower more cozy ceilings upstairs in your bedrooms. This is now possible and was shown off with some stunning results. Tall versions of a window downstairs, short version of the same upstairs, it just looked so much more realistic on big houses.
Before we could catch our breath, Aaron started talking about objects and the way that Build/Buy modes have been combined to be effectively one tool. The most stunning new feature was the "Magazine" filter. This allows you to browse by a catalogue of scenes and when you find what you want, apply the whole setup into your room with a single drag and drop! Let me explain using one of our Featured Artist creations. Magazines show you a preview of a style like you would see in a fashion magazine, and exactly like you see in our Sets downloads database. Let's say you are browsing content using the in-game Magazine and like the look of our set "Asian Fusion" by Ung999. You would see it displayed just like this (above). By dragging that 'magazine' and dropping it into your newly created room, the wall coverings, floors, objects and decorative items will all be applied to that room in a well-considered place. Tables and chairs will be centred, pictures will be hung on walls and you instantly get a well-considered, furnished and decorated room. Voila! You still have the freedom to move things, turn things, delete things etc., but it's a great starting place. Every item on the magazine preview is clickable, so if you only wanted the table, drag that from the image and put it in your game. Amazingly powerful and yes, this justified extra WOW!
Until you see it in action you can't imagine how quick and easy it was to snap together a beautifully furnished house using premade room sets, using similar styles and being instantly 'playable'. Of course, cost to furnish a room will vary on size and amount of objects needed to fill it but similarly, deleting an entire room in one click will refund all object values within it too.