Reviews | Basegame

I am one of those simmers who doesn't own all packs. This is a deliberate decision, as I am very picky about what I want to have in my game. Not every pack suits my style and therefore I don't need every pack.

Since I do own a lot of packs though, I would like to share my thoughts on every one of them over the course of the next year. I will build a house with each of them individually, to showcase what items it has and how I personally use them.

The natural thing to me, was to start with the basegame.

Since I am mainly a builder, I did not create sims to showcase the items the basegame offers when it comes to clothing, genetics and so on. There are a few thing I would like to point out though.

I bought The Sims 4 right when it came out, and I remember how the game looked in the beginning. Apart from toddlers and pools missing, the furniture and clothing options were about half of what they are now. The basegame has improved so so much in the last few years so I am very appreciative of that.

Coming from The Sims 3, the options for creating a sims' appearance look very limited. There are not that many skin tones, eye colors and hair colors, and the options of weight and fitness are also not too impressive. BUT I really like the body sliders that let you just click a body part and pull it in the direction you want it to go, so you can correct posture, the size of the feet, the arch of the eyebrows, really everything.

As I said before, hair options are not overwhelming. I honestly don't like many of them, I feel like they all look very old and just not realistic.

The same goes for eyebrows and beards, even though I don't often create men with facial hair so I'm totally okay with the number of beards we have.

There are also not too many kinds of hair color, and to be frank, there is not one version of blond that actually looks good. And I really like that they offered colorful options like blue, green or pink, but those colors also don't really look good on anyone because they chose weird shades...

If you know me, you know I love body art. I am a sucker for tattoos so I am especially disappointed that the options in the basegame are so so limited. I really resort to custom content at that stage, because I need my sims to have ink!

I am a lazy person when it comes to CAS so I don't always bother to put on bracelets or glasses or earrings or anything like that. And to be honest, the basegame doesn't offer much of that anyways. The glasses are a bit outdated, but there are some nice options for earrings and necklaces I think.

The clothing section is the one I am absolutely sure it improved so much since the game came out initially. Some items that originally were part of an expansion pack are now just basegame, and with that some new, more fashionable items came into the pack.

I think the clothing options are okay, they are mostly basics and have a decent number of swatches. The thing that bothers me the most (and please forgive me but I am a girl so I really only have strong opinions on women's fashion) is that there are no good high heels and there are almost no highwaist pants and skirts, even though there are so many tops that, in my opinion, would only look good with high waist bottoms.

Firstly, please bear in mind that when The Sims 4 first came out, there were no pools and no terrain tool. Yes, I am serious. There also were no debug items not too long ago. This is really a game changer that makes building and furnishing with just the basegame so much easier and more fun!

In my opinion, when building, landscaping is everything! With the right amount of terrain paint, plants and maybe some use of the terrain tool, your build looks better immediately. And the basegame offers so many good options for plants and flowers, I honestly use mostly the basegame items when landscaping myself! By the way, I have a whole post about landscaping too, check it out by clicking here.

In the basegame mansion I made, I did a lot of landscaping and used a lot of debug items to make the house look interesting and luxurious.

The basegame build and buy items give you many beautiful options to make suburban, old and modern houses, as well as everything in between. There are items for every style you want, but there mostly just is one piece for it. So when I build something more traditional and suburban looking, I always use those same windows and the same pillars and the same doors. Of course, you can change up the swatches, and if you don't build as much as I do, that really is enough.

Even though the number of items for creating a beautiful exterior is sufficient in my opinion, I really struggle with furniture and decor. There are some beautiful options and everything has a number of swatches you can try out, but I feel like it is just not enough to fill a big house.

This is the point where the debug items go into action again. I myself am not the most creative when it comes to creating my own furniture, but I know some amazing simmers who are. Using debug items and normal basegame furniture, you can create the most beautiful and also functional new items that will elevate the design of your house so much! Summerrplays for example has some beautiful DIY furniture tutorials on her youtube channel, and I am S. (Nerdypanda on Instagram) also makes the most beautiful pieces in her builds. Please click on their names to check out their videos!

I try to take inspiration from them and make some furniture myself, like I have done in this build, but none of these designs were my own ideas so I take no credit for them.

For example, the fire place, the shelving in the master bathroom, and the headboards of all the beds are made with debug items and the use of the move objects cheat. I also like to use the cheat to place decor items where they normally shouldn't go and size them up and down to have a different look. 

In conclusion, I think the basegame itself has evolved an incredible amount and it offers many possibilities to build something beautiful you can be proud of. I have been building basegame only houses from time to time and I think they are just the same quality as my other builds where I use more packs. Check them out on the gallery, on TSR and on my Instagram page and tell me what you think of them!