Creators Spotlight

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Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today.

For those reading this who may somehow not know who you are, can you introduce yourself?

If you never heard of me in the Sims community, then you're lucky. I'm TURBODRIVER, I've been around since 2016, I’m the creator of WickedWhims and a few other trash mods you might find here and there.

Can you tell us a bit about how you first got into The Sims?

I played the original The Sims when I was younger, and I found the game to be quite interesting, but it never kept my attention. Only years and years later, my friend told me about his adventures in The Sims 3, which convinced me to get the game and a few expansions. That's when I truly got into The Sims, spent a lot of time playing it, some of my best time with the entire series.

What would you say draws you in the most?

At the time, it was the freshness, the discovery of what the game has to offer. Like a lot of other games, you experiment and explore the possibilities. Having more and more content to play around with was the main thing that drew me in and kept me playing. It's hard now, after I saw so much, but I still have fun with new packs and updates that come out, when I have the time.

Did you have any experience with coding or modding before you started making mods for The Sims 4?

Of course, without some kind of experience modding this game is hell, but I like learning new things and the challenge of it. I've developed games and mods since around 2007.

Oh wow, can you share any details about those?

Not much to talk about, a lot of it was just experimenting and having fun, it would be embarrassing to show today. That stuff is long gone, shared on forums that no longer exist. Oh, and I modded Minecraft for a few years.

WickedWhims obviously makes up a huge portion of your body of work. It’s become somewhat of a behemoth, with so many plug-ins and features. Was that your first modding project for TS4? How did it all start?

Yes, that was the first mod I started, it grew quite a bit since 2016. I had absolutely no knowledge of modding The Sims when I started, but I looked around and found that mods for the game exist and they are capable of doing some interesting things. Because I didn't have a job at the time, that's what I invested my time into, two months of learning how to do anything before I released WickedWhims.

WickedWhims allows for anatomically-correct Sims to engage in sexual acts above the covers, as well as on other objects. TURBODRIVER and a talented community of animators keeps things interesting with constant additions to the mod.

 What was the community reaction like when you first published it?

Huge huge support, it was finally happening, someone did it! The adult modding community for The Sims 4 was almost nonexistent so having someone show up with an already working mod, showing what's possible and what will be possible, seemed exciting. If response was anything else, I would probably not be working on it to this day.

There's a pretty active and imaginative sub-community of animators for WW. Do you have a lot of back and forth with them? What has it been like to work with so many animation creators to get features like the playlist just right?

I don't tend to bother animators, I just let them do their thing and offer something new from time to time. I usually handle things on my own unless they really need input from the technical perspective, as that's what mostly concerns animators. For the most part, I need to think about the player experience, so people can use animations the way they want, which I would assume makes animators happier too.

What part of the modding process comes easiest to you?

People tend to hate cleaning, but I like cleaning, whether in real life or in programming. I'm happy to improve and rework anything that can be done better. Coming up with ideas and creating new content is fun too, but I cannot be sure the first time that I do something will yield the best result. Thankfully I can go back and improve it, constantly iterate on an idea until it's as good as it can be. Somewhat of a perfectionist quality, but it can waste a lot of time too. I'm glad the community appreciates me going back to older stuff I made and making it better.

What has been the hardest part of modding so far? Any memorable obstacles?

Oh no, there's so much, but it's actually the same story. Sometimes you can go too far in attempting to improve existing features and you end up ruining everybody's game. I remember implementing a new system of body parts for Sims, so players have the choice to pick what kind of body parts Sims have, offered by creators in the community. Unfortunately, it turns out that new system would put random irremovable tattoos on Sims and I panicked. I had to make a whole new system and find a way to fix affected saves very quickly. Lesson learned.

Which WW feature or separate project are you most proud of? Either as a fun gameplay addition or a technical feat.

I have no idea, there's so much, but nothing is as perfect as I wish it could be. There's always more I want to do but the game prevents me from doing it. I'm proud of everything I made, but everything I made still can be better.

In the recent skin tone update, EA changed some of the fundamental code in how skins work and display in game. It caused a somewhat amusing, but headache-inducing bug in WW where Sim’s genitals turned pitch black. This seems to have been one of the biggest stumbling blocks you’ve had to face so far, going so far as to put out a special notice asking for patience. What was it like working around this issue and did you reach a satisfying solution?

I did reach a satisfying enough solution, but not one I hoped for. The changes to the Sims skin tones were pretty major and affected way more than that. I was hoping a developer from Maxis would reach out and help solve it, but that still has not happened. I found a few trick solutions that helped make the mod playable, but these were not good enough. Fortunately, this community has insanely knowledgeable people, specifically CmarNYC, who solved the problem for good.

Last year, you released a spin-off of WickedWhims called WonderfulWhims which includes many of the non-sex features of the mod such as attraction and personality traits. What made you decide to split it off into a separate mod?

The community just wouldn't shut up about it. But actually, I knew that the number of people who knew about WickedWhims but wouldn't use it had to be growing faster and faster. I would get asked about it all the time, which only kept confirming my suspicions. If they won't use WickedWhims, then why not offer them something they might use.

As someone who uses WonderfulWhims, let me express my appreciation for the mod.

The cleverly titled WonderfulWhims is a spin-off mod of WickedWhims. It removes the explicit features but keeps many of the other gameplay elements of the original mod, such as the attraction system and birth control.

 Knowing what you know now, what’s a project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

I would change everything and nothing. Everything I made is the way I want it to be, but I'm sure there's so much I will still change. In particular, I made a feature called Private Pictures or otherwise known as SimHub which is about taking pictures of your Sim and sharing them online in the game. I tried to make this feature reflect reality but turns out the reality is mundane and unfair, which made the feature really bad, at least in my eyes. I'm hoping to completely scrap it soon and start over. 

Is there something from a previous Sims game you’d like to see as part of TS4?

Actually no, realistically I can't think of anything more that was in the previous games that I would like to see in The Sims 4. I would rather see more new ideas than repeats. Of course I would like to have an open world or at least open neighborhoods, but I'm not expecting that to happen. The ability to color clothing would be pretty cool too, but that's already happening with mods right now, so I'm satisfied with that. I would add, though, I would like to see a world editor. Currently we don't have a lot of options to add new worlds so an official world editor would be wonderful.

Is there something from a completely different game franchise you’d like to see brought into TS4?

I don't know of a different game that has it, but I would like to see a furniture creator. Building is a big thing in The Sims and I don't understand why we didn't get a tool like CAS but for furniture. An ability to create basic furniture out of building blocks would have been great, especially with mod support.

Interesting idea. The closest thing I can think of is how the decorations editor works in Planet Coaster.

Who is another creator you admire/subscribe to?

Anybody contributing to this community with tools and tutorials is somebody I admire. Without them I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing. CmarNYC made a bunch of incredibly useful tools, Andrew for Sims 4 Studio, Scumbumbo for his essential tools and tutorials, and Fogity for his decompiler.

What would you say to someone looking to get into modding for the first time? Any words of wisdom?

I get asked about it quite often actually, and I'm always glad to point into some direction that might be helpful. Modding The Sims isn't easy, there's very little official information on it, so learning from how the game works and how other creators make their mods is the key. That's how I started, weeks and weeks of looking at all of these strange files, trying to understand them, how do they connect, how does it all make sense. Once you have the tools, you only need a lot of time and patience, because there's so much to this game. It's not easy to know everything right away. I still waste time trying to do things because I don't know how exactly something works and you should too, because that's how you will learn, by trying, by testing, and attempting to achieve your idea.

If you’re willing to share, what are you working on currently? What's next for WW?

Right now, nothing interesting, trying to make everything work smoothly, but once April comes, farts, lots of farts.

Any parting comments?

Thanks for talking to me! I hope some of the words I shared here can be a useful insight to how I work as a creator, as I don't get to talk about it a lot. Try my trash mods.

Haha! Thank you so much for sharing. It's always fun talking to other creators and hearing their thought processes. Looking forward to the fun you're conjuring up for April.

Have a good one!

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To find TURBODRIVER and his mods, you can visit him at these websites:

Main WickedWhims page: https://wickedwhimsmod.com/

WonderfulWhims page: https://wonderfulwhims.com/

itch.io page: https://turbodriver.itch.io/

ModTheSims: https://modthesims.info/m/9833124

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WickedWhims

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wickedwoohoo

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This is the first time we've done an interview with multiple subjects. Can you introduce yourselves and explain your roles in SimRealist?

Nichole: My name is Nichole. I'm the creator and Mod Producer for SimRealist.

Victor: My name is Victor Andrade, and I'm in the Mod Development team of SimRealist.

In addition to you two, your development team also includes Roburky, correct?

Nichole: Yes, they are currently unavailable right now. We also have another joining the team but we've yet to announce them.

Victor: Well, that's new!

Nichole: Victor you know who it is. :)

Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve just released as part of your quarterly update?

Nichole: Yes, it is a Bills feature update that incorporates a robust child support, alimony, and welfare system. Child Support is a popular feature of Deaderpool's MCCC mod. We originally tried to make that work with our Bills mod but when a patch occurred that kind of wiped out our Bills system, we had to start almost from scratch. We couldn't make it compatible at that point. Thus we added in our own version of it plus some additional benefits and services.

We also did a minor update to SNB so to allow additional avenues of income into our Direct Deposit feature. This feature allows income to deposit into a Sim's individual account or household account at a custom percentage.

Here's the question I ask everyone. How did you two get into The Sims? When did you start playing?

Victor: I got into The Sims when I was just a child and it quickly became my favorite game. I started playing the original The Sims game, but it was on The Sims 2 that I really got engaged with it. I always loved creating little stories in my head on the games I played, and The Sims 2 was the pinnacle of that for me.

Nichole: I started playing the Sims when I visited my godparents. Their daughter had just gotten the first Sims and I was addicted to it. I think I played it my whole visit. Ever since then I've played each version and their packs. Basically, my parents had it easy when it came time for my Birthday and Christmas. Just give me books and Sims packs and I was one happy child.

What is it about the game that keeps you engaged with it and working on mods for it?

Nichole: The fact that I can simulate any situation I have in mind. If the game can't provide, there are mods I can add to facilitate that scenario or story I have in mind.

Victor: For me, it's all about the ability to create your own interactive stories and shape the lives of these little people. And mods are tools made to improve upon that premise and give players like me even more opportunities of storytelling.

Had you ever done any coding or modding before The Sims 4, or for games outside The Sims?

Nichole: No, I hadn't. I was always just a user of mods until now.

Victor: I have plenty of experience with programming. I started coding when I was 10 years old, and I loved making my own little games during my teenage years.

So I've made plenty of games already, and I was actually a modder on GTA IV, GTA V, and Minecraft.

I started out modding The Sims 3 last year, and now I'm on The Sims 4 with SimRealist.

How did you first get into modding for The Sims? What was your first project?

Nichole: Mine was SNBank. I was frustrated with the offerings the game provides in regards to a financial system and wanted something more. I was too impatient to learn the code part myself so I started SimRealist to help fund this project since I was initially paying out of pocket to have someone help me create it.

Victor: My first The Sims mod was the New Lifetime Goals for The Sims 3. I was a bit frustrated that the game didn't provide the ability to choose another lifetime wish after completing the first one, so I went looking for mods to fix that. I didn't find any, so I just decided I would make it myself.

Sim National Bank allows you complete control over your individual Sims’ finances. SNB-Bills goes even further, adding complexity to how your households decide to pay their bills.

The name is a bit of a giveaway, but what is your main goal as modders? What problems or gaps in the game are the most fulfilling to fix up?

Victor: For me, it’s again storytelling. I like to make mods that provide more opportunities to create new kinds of stories in the game, that's my main drive.

Nichole: Yes, the name is a big giveaway to the direction of our mods. The mod projects we focus on provide a realistic simulation of everyday life as we can feasibly do. Me being a Banker, adding in financial situations into the game is the most fulfilling for me. I get super excited about adding in more to SNB, SNB-Bills, and the Financial Center. Though I love all that we've done so far.

Oh, you work as a banker in real life?

Nichole: Yes, I'm in loans now! But I started as a sort a Teller/Customer Service Rep and made my way up to Ops.

That's certainly enlightening! With all the intimate knowledge you have of the field, I can see why the simplistic finance system used in the game would annoy you.

Which part of modding would you say comes easiest to you?

Nichole: I start out our projects with gathering requests from Discord and Patreon. Then seeing how those request match up to our next feature item(s). I then do the research and preliminary planning for it. This I find comes easiest for me. The whole planning part is just my thing. Then I hand it over to Development.

Victor: I work as Game Designer and Programmer in real life. So coding is definitely second nature to me. And I also love taking ideas and working on them as if I was a developer of the actual game. So thinking in game design ways to make the mods play efficient, easy to understand, and ultimately making them fun to play.

Conversely, what has been the hardest part of modding so far? Any memorable obstacles along the way?

Nichole: The game and our own knowledge limitations. We are always learning and trying to find ways around roadblocks in our mod design.

I think the EA patch that obliterated Bills was most memorable. All that time and effort was just demolished in one update…

Victor: Working on the Direct Controls mod I made outside of SimRealist was definitely one of my most challenging projects. Just getting the Sims to walk around using the keyboard WASD keys was a huge problem to solve, given the game was not meant to be played like that. And as my first project on The Sims 4, it was definitely very ambitious. I do remember almost giving up at one point.

Oh, and that Bills update, too…

What kept you going to see that project through?

Victor: Just the sheer amount of love and support I got from the community. That really helped push through the hardest times. There were really a lot of people wanting to see this done, more than I've ever got from any other project, and I was not about to disappoint them.

Which modding project are you each most proud of?

Victor: SNB Bills for me. I just loved how that one turned out. And I just went full game designer on it, which resulted in a really good interface on the SNB Bills App. The storyteller side of me is also very proud of how Mortem turned out.

Nichole: Yes, Mortem is Victor's baby.

My proudest project is the whole SNB suite. It was a dream of mine at the start of this whole thing and to have others to support these mods and others blows my mind every day I log onto our Patreon, Twitter, or Discord.

The mods you have published are all quite large endeavors with intricate systems. Does it ever get unwieldy from your perspective? You've mentioned it a little bit already, but what kind of research and planning do you have to do at the outset, especially for the mods outside your personal profession?

Victor: We do joke around a lot that Nichole always comes up with these wildly ambitious ideas with tons of features that could fit into a fully-fledged game pack. And then I'm the one responsible for trimming everything down to meet our deadlines.

Nichole: What Victor says is very true. He likes to bring me back down to Earth. Full crash and burn experience. And then he's like "but wait...". That's why I call him the Wizard.

I currently have a goal list of features that we need to cover. I take a basic idea of what that is and then look into the real world applications of those additions. Like Private Practice's blood pressure measurement. Just thinking about all that we need to cover on that and all the illnesses and diseases affected by low and high blood pressure is overwhelming. I have to take that in stages since it isn't something I know professionally.

Most mods in our community are made or curated by a single person. While there are some collaborations here and there, you all are pretty unique as a true modding team. How did you start working together?

Nichole: SimRealist was created so that any of our mods can be taken up by another easily without worry of who is going to maintain our mods through patches or add in new features if a creator retires. Even I can be replaceable... hopefully. I usually try to find likeminded modders to join our team based on how well made their current mods are and how they treat others. roBurky and Victor were such modders that graciously accepted my invitation to join the team. This team consists of not just Mod Developers but also our Linguists (translators) and Mod Support.

For Victor, I saw what he did for Direct Controls and had to reach out. I piqued his curiosity I guess and here we are.

How do you all keep in touch and share your progress with the group?

Nichole: Discord. We have project channels for our major projects that we post updates, questions, suggestions, etc. I also DM roBurky and Victor to death. (Just kidding... no really J)

For progress updates, Developers normally just DM where we are and sneak peeks if I don't have part of the update yet.

I share the progress to those that support the Development process on Patreon and then trickle it down in our Community Monthly Re:Cap.

Victor: We do keep a very large list of testing versions and source code of all our mods in a Discord channel so that we can always go back to it if something goes wrong.

Or so that other developers can come in and pitch some updates.

SNB and Private Practice are examples of mods that always goes back and forth between me and roBurky on developing updates, so we need to keep everything organized so that we don't get ourselves lost in the process.

You’ve been working on these mods for a few years now. How has the process changed between the early days and now, especially as the team makeup has changed?

Nichole: I would say minor process changes have occurred as the team grows. Like for instance, we added in an animator for an unannounced project. We don't do a lot of animations, so expectations from this person and how we design and plan are tweaked as we build this addition.

And then I would say that each Developer has their own process of creating and managing their code that can slightly affect how things progress. Overall, we try to keep things consistent for everyone's sanity.

You’ve touched on this already, but let’s talk about Sim National Bank and the bills system. What was your initial reaction to the bills overhaul when they showed it off on the livestream, and when they eventually shipped it with the Eco Lifestyle patch? There are certainly a few similar ideas between your mods and the new system in the base game. How hectic was it there for a while responding to the massive changes that Maxis made?

Victor: Yeah, I remember watching that livestream and going "yep, we're definitely doomed". And then when the update hit, turns out I was right. We were doomed! The update simply shattered our entire code, we had to rebuild a lot of the core systems from scratch because of it.

Nichole: For me personally, I was notified of these changes through our server chat since I was at work. I think was in shock for a bit. I literally got up from my cubicle and walked the building because I couldn't focus. And then I started to think that it was actually kind of awesome that they agreed that this was a needed addition. After that, it was mostly what can we do to fix this and make it better.

Was there any new stuff they added that you were able to use as a good foundation or was it a complete wash?

Victor: We did find the whole Utility usage system to be a good fit for our mod, one that we were actually thinking about implementing in the future. So we took that and made it compatible with the mod, even putting in a new section on the SNB Bills App for it.

Are you satisfied with the newer version of the bills mod now or are you still recovering in some ways?

Victor: I do like it better now, it's much more stable than it ever was. But it was a very steep climb to get where we are now.

Nichole: Yes, we are now moving forward to add in more features as our last update for the year, after Private Practice.

Maxis reworked their own bills and utilities system as part of the June 2020 patch, with disastrous consequences for the SNB-Bills mod.

Knowing what you know now, is there any project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

Victor: There's definitely a lot of stuff on my first projects that I would make differently. Especially on that Third Person Control for The Sims 3 and on Direct Controls for The Sims 4.

Nichole: Organic. Initially we started it out as a random hairstyle progression. It took the next major update to add in a customized tool progression. Let 's just say that we underestimated how much Simmers like to control the look of their Sim in all aspects. I think we should've pushed to add in customization at the beginning even if it made us push the deadline out.

Victor: I even consider revisiting those earlier mods of mine once I get the time.

The temptation to redo old mods is very real, but I often find myself sticking to new mods personally, at least once we're far enough away from game patches. Time is always in a shortage.

What’s something from a previous Sims game you’d like to see added to TS4?

Nichole: The ability to invest into other businesses without actually owning them. Maybe a better business management system as well.

Victor: Open World from The Sims 3. But then Arnie came to the rescue.

Is there anything from another game franchise you’d like to see integrated into TS4? Can be as mundane or wild as you want.

Nichole: I loved the SimCity series and would love to see more of the tools and city management in the Sims 4. I also like what Humankind is doing and have a period progression in the game and creating a civilization from beginning to end would be awesome. I think Simmers are sort of doing this anyways with their Period Challenges. I would love to see this in a story progression built-in.

Victor: You know modern decision based adventure games like “Life is Strange”? I always thought a mod like that would be amazing. Like you would be able to understand what your Sims were saying in some particular life events, and even chose what to say next. And that would affect their relationship and overall flow of the story in a way.

I did try to replicate that feature on my Deep Conversations mod for The Sims 3, but it wasn't really coming together like I wanted. And I was running out of time. So I just released it as it is. I do intend on coming back to this concept one way or another. I would also love to see other modders giving their shot on this.

Who is another creator you admire or want to give a shoutout to?

Victor: I already gave a shout-out to Arnie, so definitely him.

Also LittleMsSam, love her work.

Nichole: Other than Victor? Actually it is LittleMsSam for me, as well. She was one of the first modders I followed and then supported thereafter. She is super nice and always willing to help.  There are many others that I follow, but she is amazing to me.

Is there anything about the game you’d like to see tackled by other modders that you don’t feel suited to do, either as creators or as a realistic "brand"?

Nichole: Well I don't normally play with mods that are outside that subject to be honest. However, the few things that I've thought of were quickly taken care of by others.

Victor: Create a Style maybe? Yeah, I know it might be too much to ask for a modder, but hey Open World is here.

What words of wisdom do you have for someone looking to get into modding for the first time?

Nichole: I'm going to leave this one for Victor. He does this so well. He actually helps a lot of the new devs that join the group and he gives some good advice.

Victor: I would say just don't give up, no matter how big or how ambitious the thing you want to do is. Modding is hard, it requires time and effort and it can be very challenging at first. But hey, some of the most fulfilling things in life are just like that.

You've been pretty tight-lipped about it so far, but is there anything you’re willing to share about this new thing you're working on currently?

Victor: Oh, I'm working on something so cool right now, and it's not even The Sims related, but I'm hopeful that it will blow everyone's minds in this community, too. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to share anything else, though.

Nichole: For SimRealist, we are working on the Private Practice medical clinic addition. After that it will be a credit account update for the SNB suite to close out the year. We don't go into specifics because we don't like to give guarantees until it is coded in.

Where can people find you? What is your website/Patreon/etc?

Nichole: For SimRealist, we are on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SimRealist),

Discord (https://discord.gg/W8Erfqu),

our website (https://www.simrealist.com/)

or follow us on Patreon as a patron or free supporter (https://www.patreon.com/simrealist).

Victor: You can find me in a couple places.

itch.io: https://victorandrade.itch.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/victo8r

I do not have a Patreon anymore, so if you want to support me financially, you can contribute to SimRealist's Patreon.

Any parting comments before we conclude?

Victor: I loved the interview. Love what you guys are doing here. And I just love this community so much. So yeah, just lots of love.

Nichole: I just want to thank you for this opportunity to talk with you and share a little more about our team and what we do. I also want to thank all our supporters, both patron and non-patron, who encouraged us through our ups and downs. Those little words of encouragement and feedback meant so much to us when we were going through hard times.

Thank you both for your time today and for everything you do. Best of luck to you on your future projects!

Nichole: Thanks and you too!

Victor: Thank you, best of luck to you too!

—

—

Thank you for joining me! I'll start with the questions I ask everybody. How did you get into The Sims? When did you start playing?

I am one of the late starters for The Sims. I did play The Sims 3 as my first Sims Game but I never did really get hooked by it, to be honest. The long loading screens and the graphic style did not make me want to play it. The Sims 4 was the one of the series that I actually did enjoy, especially because of the graphic style, though not at the beginning when just a few packs were out. I really started playing after I got back into the game in the beginning of 2017.

What is it about the game that draws you in most?

The graphic style and the fact that it is moddable. I love games that allow me to use mods! The gameplay is also something I really enjoy, especially since Cats & Dogs came out! It is really relaxing to just sit back and watch your little Sims family & their pets do their thing. As a modder, I feel like I am more into modding than playing, though. Being able to mod the game myself is a big factor.

That sounds very familiar! I know my play time drastically dropped once I figured out how to mod. Too many ideas, not enough time.

Absolutely!

How did you first get into modding the game? What was your first project?

That is probably a pretty boring story. When I played the game it always felt "too easy" in some way. In my case, I always play Sims that are Writers or Artists but writing a book in four hours or painting a whole canvas in thirty minutes was way too boring for me. So I wanted a mod that actually does increase the time it takes for these interactions, but all I could find was the opposite. Mods that did those even faster. So I would say I was forced to do it myself. I did start to read tutorials by Scarlet and did my first mods: Slower Writing, Slower Painting and Slower Songwriting. And after that it kind of escalated!

I've made a few mods to make the game harder, too, and I'm always surprised at how well they do. I started out thinking no one would go out of their way to download something to make the game harder, but it does seem like there is a genuine hunger for such things.

Had you ever done any coding or modding before, outside The Sims?

No, never. The Sims was my first time. Before that I was just a normal player who always thought "How the hell are they (modders) able to do that?!"

What inspires you the most as a modder? What problems or gaps in the game are you most often looking to fix?

Hm, that is a good question. I would say I am not really into fixing the game. There are of course real bugs I fix but I don't really enjoy fixing EAs Errors. I would say I am more into tweaking the Game. Most of my mods are tweaks of features where I felt something was missing. Like the Call to Meal Mod for example. EA often makes things too simple. I use Call to Meal and every Sim comes. Why can't I choose who I call to meal, EA?

Then I do mods that add something new to the Game. Like SimDa, the Social Activities or the Foster Family Mod. I think I can say tweaking the game to improve my own gameplay and adding new gameplay to make it even more enjoyable inspires me to continue to make something new and keep my mods updated.

Your collection of mods is quite extensive. Do you have a tally of how many exactly you've published? How do you keep up with updating all of them, and so quickly too? What’s your secret?

Well, let me see… I have around 165 Mods so far plus my Random Small Mods Collection which are 60+ mods and some bug fixes. Then I update a few mods from retired modders as well, ones that I want to keep using. So yeah there are a lot of Mods to keep updated especially when EA drops a patch that literally breaks everything. But I did build myself a good system to be able to check the game files more effectively to see which mods are affected by the patch so I don't have to check one by one. This system works pretty well so I am usually able to check and update what needs to be updated in a few hours or 1-2 days maximum.

Is it possible for you to pick a favorite one out of all of them?

Let me say I use almost all of them but if I have to say which ones I am really proud of then I go with the Ultrasound Mod & the Foster Family Mod. You could say those are my favourites but I use and enjoy all of them.

The Ultrasound Scan mod allows your pregnant Sims to visit a gynecologist to find out the sex and number of babies, as well as collect a heart-warming keepsake.

What do you find are your biggest challenges while modding?

Scripting! Definitely scripting! I am a 100% noob when it comes to scripting. I am incredibly grateful for all the script modders that help me whenever I have an idea I need a script for. And I will forever be grateful for Scumbumbo who did so much for us modders with his script tutorials and help with scripts!

Note: Script mods refer to ts4script files made with the coding language Python. They’re used to cut down on mod conflicts and to create new kinds of features not present in the game already.

Which project are you most proud of as a technical feat?

I think I will go with my "More Buyable Venues" mod. It was my first big mod which I did from scratch without help. Digging into the game files to figure out how to be able to buy other venues beside the normal EA Retail, Restaurant, and Vet Office lot types was a huge challenge. And when I finally had the in-game moment where I could buy a Bar, Club or whatever was such a big moment for me. I really felt like a modder for the first time back then.

You’re well known for your overhauls, bug fixes, and tuning mods, but you’re just as well known for a number of mods that add brand new features to the game, such as SimDa or the Ultrasound mod. What is the design process like when you set out to “break new ground” with those?

I try to build the mod basics in my head first, like what do I actually want in-game and how do I reach this goal. Sometimes I write things down but mostly I just open Sims 4 Studio and start putting something together. When I know what I want, then I usually know what I need to make it happen. Sometimes there are new tunings that I need to learn, how those work, or where I need to check which tunings in-game might help me to accomplish what I want. I can't really say I have a real process. I start building the mod and while doing so imagine in my head if it would work like that or if I need to add more tunings into it like Buffs, Loots etc. After the first test, it takes a little bit more fine tuning in the end before it is done.

Note: Tuning refers to a game file that provides the information for a single element in game, such as a trait or a moodlet. Buffs are temporary properties that a Sim has, usually a moodlet or hidden cooldown. Loots are anything that gives something to a Sim or triggers an action in game, like collecting an item or starting a party.

Some of features of your mods have eventually ended up in similar forms as part of the base game, such as roommates and personal computers. How did you feel when you saw those features were integrated by EA?

I was totally okay with it. I mean, I would have been happy if they did exactly the same as me so I would not have to keep my mods updated, since they would have been obsolete. I personally still keep my own versions, though. Most features that EA added are bound to packs and not everyone has them all. So I do keep some of my mods updated that I don't even use myself anymore. Like my "Give Gift" mod for example, where EA’s version of “Give Gift” is only available when you have Seasons installed. Or the new Plopsy system which a lot of people have said replaces [my] "Simbay", but it is still bound to the Nifty Knitting game pack so I will keep Simbay updated, of course. I personally don't even use EAs new computer lock system and still use my own Personal Objects version for that instead, to be honest, since I feel like that is a bit more stable to keep Sims away from my Sims’ PCs. Sorry EA!

Are there any of your mods that you wish EA would fold into the base game, either for your sake or console players?

ALL! Or almost all... Really, the more they would add the better for me and console players if they actually would want them in-game. At the very least, [I would want them to add] the tweaks I added to the game, and the bug fixes of course. Come on EA, fix all those bugs!

Some of my mods though I want to "keep" as my own, like Ultrasound, Foster Family, Live in Business etc. those are "my babies". That sounds weird, but I think you get what I mean.

You mentioned that your time with TS3 was brief, but is there anything from that game you’d like to see return as part of TS4?

Yes! Two main features actually. One, the Design Tool or “Create-A-Style”, where you could individually change the texture for each object. That was amazing. And then of course Open World. I don't even need the whole world to be open but at least give me an open neighborhood. Having a lifeless park right next to my house or getting a loading screen just because I want to visit the park? Come on EA! You can do better than that!

Is there something from another game franchise you’d like to see added into TS4? It can be as wild as you want.

Hm, no, I don’t think so. I think Sims is great in its own way. I don't need anything crazy from other games. That's what those other games are for! I am a pretty low key player who just chills in-game, so I don't think there is anything from other games I would like to have added.

Who is another mod or CC creator you admire/subscribe to?

Before I became a modder myself, I was absolutely amazed by so many modders no matter how "small" or "big" they were. When I found my way into modding myself and then joined the MCCC Discord server, I met so many talented modders and scripters that it does not feel fair to just list some of them. So let me say that I am grateful for every modder I was allowed to meet though this and for every single one that helped/helps me in any way possible. There is one name though that I want to mention (again): Scumbumbo. Without him and his talent I would not be here today and be able to do what I do!

Knowing what you know now, what’s a project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

You know, that is actually what I am doing all the time! I learn new tuning codes or EA adds new tuning codes which could improve older mods and I go back into those mods to tweak and improve them. There are two mods I would like to rework or improve at some point when I have time to do so. One is the "More Buyable Venues" mod. I learned so much between making this mod and now that I am sure I could improve it some more here and there. Especially getting rid of original game resources is one of my goals when tweaking "older" mods and this one has a lot of game resources in it!

Another one would be "Live-In Services". I used the "Butler" NPC tuning to make this mod, but it is not so flexible since you cannot choose which NPCs you want to hire. So my plan is to change it completely into a new system where you can choose who to hire and to tie the hired Sim to your Sims instead of the lot so they will "follow" you to your Holiday Home for example.

The “More Buyable Venues” mod allows your Sims to buy nearly any kind of lot and run it as a business yourself. Additionally, you can use it to buy a second home.

Is there anything about the game you’d like to see tackled by modders that you don’t feel suited to do yourself?

Two things jump into my mind for that: 1) Open Neighborhood. I do hope and feel like there are magicians out there who might be able to do this and 2) When you open a [Sim selection] menu I would like to be able to see the age of the Sims. I may be getting help with that from an amazing script modder out there (you know who you are) but we are not sure yet if we are able to do it.

What would you say to someone looking to get into modding for the first time?

I recommend to actually learn modding from scratch instead of using tools where you don't actually see what is happening "behind the scenes". This way you'll learn much more about modding and when a patch breaks your mod, it will be a lot easier to update it. Whenever I get asked how I learned to mod I always tell people to go and check Scarlet's Tutorials on SimsVIP. Start small. Make small edits of game files first. And then work your way up until you make a new gameplay mod from scratch with your own custom files. Modding is a lot of learning by doing. Don't give up when a mod fails or you get stuck at some point. Continue to try and in the end it will work out!

If you’re willing to tell us, what's the next big project you are working on now?

That is probably not a secret anymore, but I am working on the last parts of the "Sul Sul Weather App". This mod lets you check the weather in another World before travelling there. I cannot actually foresee the weather since it gets generated when [your Sims travel] there so I had to do a little workaround. But I love doing workarounds to get to my goals! I do hope I can finish and publish this one in the next few weeks.

Where can people find you these day? What is your website/Patreon/etc?

Tumblr is my main site: https://littlemssam.tumblr.com/

You can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/littlemssam

And if you want (only if you want!), you can check my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LittleMsSam

Oh and of course feel free to join my Discord server and say hi: https://discord.com/invite/KpZsvRM

I plan to get my own webpage too, but that's not really 100% done yet. I am slow in such cases but maybe one day.

As a fun aside, how often do people confuse you with LittleSimsie? Any funny interactions from that?

No, not from that. I think when I do get confused with others it is more likely KawaiiStacie. I sometimes get support questions about her mods. What I find really funny, though, is when I lurk in MCCC Support channels and can see how often people are confused by my own nickname "LMS". Hey hellooo, LMS that is me. :)

Huh, I'm surprised by that! I've definitely seen people refer to the SimsieSave as "LittleMsSam's save file" before, I thought it would happen more often.

Any parting comments before we conclude?

Yes. Thank you for this nice chat. It was an honour and pleasure to answer your questions and I do hope I did not mess it up too much. Feel free to keep all my errors! And to all of you who took the time to read this: Thank you so much for using and enjoying my mods. It means a lot to me that people actually do use them and not only good old me. And to the Discord Community over in my Little Cozy Corner: Thank you for making sure my Discord is such a nice and safe place to chill in.

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Thank you for joining me! First things first, can you tell us how you originally got into The Sims? When did you start playing?

I started playing The Sims in 2001 with The Sims 1. I actually got it as a gift from my father along with my first laptop. He started my love for The Sims.

What was it about the game that drew you in the most? Is that still what keeps you playing today?

I have always loved the fact that you can have a perfect world in The Sims if you choose to. I had a hard life growing up, and to me The Sims was a way to escape from all the chaos that was going on in my life. It was somewhere I felt accepted and safe, even if it all was just in a game. Today I still find comfort in The Sims, and it gives me the ability to express myself in ways that I would not be able to in my life.

How did you first get into modding the game? What was your first project?

The first thing I ever created for The Sims was actually for The Sims 2. I never shared it, but it was the first time I had dabbled with trying to create for The Sims. It was just some things for personal use. I didn't actually start modding until the Sims 4. My first creation was a pair of pants. Something simple, to see how hard creating for this game was. I was excited that it seemed less time consuming than creating for The Sims 3, and I was excited to finally maybe be able to create for the game I played the most instead of where I currently was modding. My first mod for the game was “Dessert as Baking”, which simply just moved all of the cakes and desserts from the "Cooking" pie menu in the game, to the "Baking" menu we received with the Get to Work expansion. Cakes and stuff sitting in cooking actually drove me a little nuts. Why have a baking skill if everything isn't baking, ya know?

That definitely bothered me when I first starting playing TS4. It's such a strange distinction, but I suppose I understand why they did it that way from a developer standpoint. Still, it's interesting to see how that simple project blossomed into a full cooking rework.

What kind of modding would you say is your favorite thing to work on, generally? What comes to you easiest?

Creating as a whole. Conversions. I love the assets of past installments of The Sims series and with a little re-texturing they fit so nicely in The Sims 4’s world. As for actually modding though, creating recipes and altering existing ones comes to me easiest. I have altered and made so many recipes, sometimes I feel like I have tunnel vision when I start. It’s soothing to be able to put your time into something and to have it function as a proper item in the game.

Which project of yours are you most proud of, whether as an addition to gameplay or as a technical feat?

My pride and joy is my complete cooking overhaul. I have learned so much from a modding standpoint creating it that I actually feel accomplished in my abilities to create. It has helped me branch out to do other things that I once never thought I would be able to with the knowledge I had. The SCCO project really drives me as a creator.

Your Complete Cooking Overhaul has definitely become a big hit in the modding community. Was it an organic sort of growth off of the baking dessert project, or was there something that led up to you starting the project in earnest?

I have used cooking mods in all of the past Sims games, starting with The Sims 2, which in my opinion was the game that did cooking the best. I had used other cooking overhauls as well for The Sims 4 in the first couple years after the game was released, but everything I tried just felt like it was missing something. I had already made the Dessert as Baking mod, which lead to me wanting to change the skill requirement for the dishes I moved. That way if something was actually a baked good/dessert that it would give the baking skill. After that I decided that I wanted to start creating custom recipes, but I wanted something different from that then the other food creators at the time, which all made harvestables alongside their foods as ingredients. I decided to make grocery items, so recipes would call for more ingredients like the good old The Sims 2 days. After that, I talked with many recipe creators in the community about the ins and outs of recipes and finally created my first testing recipe and ingredients. Once I made that recipe for the 20th time it felt like, it worked! I was ready to do so much more. The following weeks is when I started finally making SCCO what it is today.

SCCO has grown a lot since its initial release, with new dishes being added all the time and the recent addition of the grocery subscription services. Have there been any unique challenges or stumbling blocks that you faced along the way as you added more to it and changed existing features?

The biggest hurtle I have faced with SCCO is learning Python. Haha! When I decided to make custom ingredients I wanted the ability to purchase them. Since we don't have grocery stores I wanted to give a few different ways for your Sims to be able to buy anything they would need to cook. With SCCO, you have the ability to purchase your ingredients from a few different objects in the game, as well as your Sims phone. In these purchase menus, there are categories you can use to narrow down your shopping. When SCCO was first being created, the only way to add the custom tags to food needed to override EA files, and that meant they had to be updated every single patch. I didn't want to have to worry about my mod breaking every time the game was updated and anything new was added, so I reached out to the Sims4Studio forum looking for help, to see if anyone had found a way to make custom tags, but not override that file. After a few days I got a reply from Andrew saying the only way to do it would to be to use Python. Then one day I was talking with my good friend KingZaceofSims and he told me to go ask Scumbumbo. I was so nervous that Zace actually set in the DM with me while I talked about my project with Scumbumbo. With his help I was finally able to make custom tags in Python, and he taught me the basics on my road to learning Python.

[note: Python is the coding language that modders use to create script mods for the game]

I feel like every week or so I learn about something new he did to help the community. I'm glad you were able to make that connection with him.

He was such a kind and wonderful person. He was so willing to help so many and never missed a beat when he was trying to figure something out. I was always in awe of his creativity and dive in the community over the years. To this day I still have our DM here on discord opened.

Srsly’s Complete Cooking Overhaul adds dozens of new grocery store items and ingredients to change how your Sims interact with the cooking skill.

In addition to a modder, you’re also a staff member of the Sims Community website, one of the biggest fansites for The Sims around. What is your history with the site?

I have happily been part of The Sims Community team since September of 2015. I started off writing guides in The Sims Community forums, which have since closed down to add some amazing features for content sharing to the site. Over the years I have created many "how-to" guides from everything from installing programs, keeping your game clean, and even diving into teaching others to create their own content. I have meet some amazing people who provide so much knowledge and help to the community, that I am so happy to be part of it. Sometimes it just amazes me to see how far The Sims Community has come over the years. These days you can usually find me lurking and helping others with issues in their games on The Sims Community Facebook page.

What do you find are your biggest day-to-day challenges? Both about modding and administering the website.

I have a few day-to-day challenges as a creator, same as most. It is a process to juggle all of the social responsibilities as a creator. Most of us are not just here to keep Simmers entertained with our creations, but to help the community learn and grow. With all the different social media we have these days to be able to interact with those in the community, sometimes it is hard to keep up with it all. This is why I created my own website and Discord server. Discord on its own is another beast entirely, but thanks to YourFalseHope and the rest of my team at Srsly's Lounge, most of the time it's pretty much smooth sailing.  When it comes to creating, sometimes I lack the inspiration to make something new. I often reach out to the community for suggestions for new recipes to be added to SCCO. Sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day to get so much more done.

You mentioned you made conversions so maybe this is something you've already made, but what is something from a previous Sims game you’d like to see as part of TS4?

I would really REALLY love to see more gardening related things, they go hand in hand with cooking and there is so much opportunity to be had that The Sims team could make something really wonderful. I hate to be on that "We want FARMING" bandwagon, but I guess I am! Haha! I also wish they would go back and touch up on Plant Sims. They are actually my favorite life state in the game and sadly there are so many people that were not been able to experience the life of a PlantSim in The Sims 4 when the event for them was released. I am working on a PlantSim overhaul to make them have a more permanent impact on the game.

The Sims Community website has its finger on the pulse of the fan community. From reading the comments or interacting with the users there, do you have any insight into recent trends or certain needs that fans want fulfilled by the game that we might not expect? Obviously farming is something we hear a lot, but I imagine you hear from more segments of the community than I do.

Most of the uproar from The Sims Community’s fans is the same as most places it seems. There are those that are just excited for new content but most express their longing for fixing existing features of the game. Be it actual bugs that have yet to be addressed by The Sims team, or features that with the current packs and capabilities of the game that we have could be touched up on, or expanded upon.

Knowing what you know now, what’s a project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

There is not really a project that I would directly change with what I know now. Usually if I feel like something can be done better I try to go back and update it further. Immersion is always my #1 priority in The Sims, but if I could go back in time and change any project it would probably be my "Bonehilda Lives" project where I planned to have a live-in maid version of Bonehilda from The Sims past games in The Sims 4. I ran into a road block with it and ended up only releasing it as a Create-a-Sim outfit and scrapped the rest of the project. I'd love to give it a go again with what I know now and the features we currently have in the game.

Bonehilda was a magical, undead maid first introduced in The Sims: Makin’ Magic. She later returned in The Sims 3: Supernatural. She has been a long-time fan favorite.

Who is another creator(s) you admire that you'd want to give a shout out to?

I'd love to give a shout out to the recipe creators that I have worked with over the years to bring compatibility between their recipes and my cooking overhaul. SCCO has been such a big project, and knowing that they enjoy my project enough to make changes along with me for further compatibility for the community is the best part. I love that we all can work together to make content for everyone. Thank you to Icemunmun, KingZaceofSims, BrazenLotus, Littlebowbub, and Oni for putting up with all my compatibility pestering over the years!

What would you say to someone looking to get into modding for the first time?

Planning is half the job and don't be discouraged if it doesn't work the first... or fifteenth time. We've all been there, and we all do that from time to time. I can't count how many ideas I have scrapped or needed assistance on over the years. Do not be afraid to reach out for help in this community, there are people here willing to teach and assist if you ask.

If you’re willing to say, what are you working on currently?

I am currently working on a few new projects. One being the next few updates for SCCO, where I will be bringing Batuu's food to life with recipe changes and new ingredients. I also have been working on revamping the price system that SCCO uses to make EA and custom recipes/ingredients more realistic. As well as making a "hard mode" version of the mod that will 100% require all ingredients for dishes or you cannot craft them. The second project I am working on is a PlantSim overhaul which I have been working on for about half a year now. I am not sure when I will be releasing it, but it will be bringing more life into the PlantSims that we currently have in game.

Where can we find you? What is your website/Patreon/etc?

You can find me on my website http://srslysims.net/, my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/SrslySims, my Twitter https://twitter.com/srslysimsguru, and my Discord https://discord.gg/kDVe56d.

Any parting comments?

Thanks so much for choosing me for this interview! I am happy to be able to participate! I hope that all those that love the game and want to try to create will take a chance and give it a go. Your game can be whatever you want it to be. ~

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Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, I'll get straight into the questions.

How did you first get into The Sims? When did you start playing?

I was always interested in The Sims as a kid (younger than ten) but I did not get into it until around ten years old. First on console and then I moved over to PC. I used to see it in the store and I thought it looked really interesting.

What was it about The Sims that drew you in most, and what keeps you playing these days?

I was always really big on time management games and games where I could run businesses. So looking at it, and seeing that you could play out the lives of little simulated people, it really looked like something I would like. Especially if you could run businesses lol.

Mods and creating content are what keep me playing. Being able to find new mods that add longevity to my gameplay and showing others what I found is really fun for me.

I definitely get that. I grew up playing a lot of Maxis's other business simulators before I got into the Sims, and Open for Business remains one of my favorite packs in the franchise.

Same!

I was glued to my computer for days when that pack dropped.

You’re best known for your Melanin Pack skintone mods. You spoke about this a bit on Spark’d, but what led up to that project?

What led up to me creating the first Melanin Pack was, around 4 or 5 years ago, when I began to make Let’s Plays on YouTube. I realized I couldn’t make Sims that accurately depicted me and people who looked like me, with things like skintone and makeup. The darker EA skintones have always been really grey and unappealing.

Was it something you knew immediately as “This is something I’m going to have to fix”, or was there a final straw moment?

There was a final straw moment. One day after going through over 50 pages of CC skintones and still not finding anything that looked appealing for darker Sims, I realized that not only was this an issue with EA, but the CC/Modding community as well. So I sat down and tried to figure it out myself.

Had you ever done any modding before this, or was this your very first project?

Up until that point I had only made recolors of things like hair, clothing and paintings.

Once you got it working and released it for download, what was the initial response from the community like?

Everyone seemed to be happy, they liked it. It opened a lot of discussion about how the Sims space needed more diversity and culture through its content. A lot of people looked at it and were like “Hey, she’s right.” And they began to create content of their own.

Was there a particular thank you message you received or a community moment you saw that really resonated with you, and made you realize you had created something special?

It was so long ago and my memory is foggy, but one particular thing I remember was a message that a friend and I (Ebonix) had received from a member of the community who made a Sim using one of Ebonix’s hairs and one of my skintones. She had told us that her daughter saw the Sim and began to cry. She was happy. Happy because the Sim looked like her. I think that moment was when we realized that this is a whole lot bigger and more important than we thought it was.

The Melanin Pack mods add dozens of new skintones and makeup items to the game.

In addition to the skintones you've made, you mentioned you've made some CAS assets and objects, and you've also made some really entertaining trait mods. What would you say is your favorite thing to work on? What comes to you easiest?

My favorite thing to work on is traits. Making super wild moodlets and watching the community react and respond to them when I release the trait lol. I wouldn’t say it comes to me easy, though. I tend to have ideas just pop in my head and I take notes as they come to me. Another thing I really like to do is find beautiful art work by black artists, put them into the game, and credit the artist. I think it’s really cool and flattering to see something you created in someone else’s game.

You’ve received a lot of outside recognition from social media and fansites for your mods, especially lately. What has that experience been like?

Pretty overwhelming. Nowadays I just post a Sim and run back to my private account. I edited my notifications and it’s still a lot. It’s pretty cool, though. People generally have been really positive. I’ve also become so much better with ignoring the little bit of negativity I do see. The mute button is my best friend.

You’re pretty unique as someone who is both a mod creator and a streamer. Each of them must come with their own challenges. Modding is typically a pretty isolated activity, and most of us really only interact with bug reports. What’s it like to show off your mods to a live audience and talk to your fans on a daily basis?

It’s pretty cool. It’s a fun feeling to know that while I show people fun new ways to play the game, I can also help by creating content to do that as well. My audience looks forward to me creating new things and it’s a good feeling.

So this season of Spark'd just came to a close, which you took part in (congrats again on your win!). Reality TV is known for its “creative editing”. How accurate would you say was the show's depiction of the team tension, the time crunch of the challenges, and the overall drama of the show?

Spark’d lol ooh.

A lot of things weren’t seen. It was set up to look a bit more dramatic than it was. I wasn’t spoken over so blatantly, but I did have issues at first with the team because a lot of things I had initially suggested were not being included.

The time crunch was a lot. The challenges were a whole lot faster than what they appeared to be. You had to create content and you had to create it fast. Other than my team trying to get it together, the show had no drama in my view. Everyone was cool. The confessionals you see with me in the beginning were done after we won.

And thanks!

On a side note, when was the show actually filmed?

It was filmed in winter 2019.

How much of your skillset as a live streamer would you say helped you on the show? To a viewer at home they look pretty similar, but I’m sure it’s different once you're in the hot seat.

I’d say that because I was a stylist, being a streamer didn’t really help in that regard, but it did help when I contributed ideas to the overall storyline, and when I had to come up with a fashion line name and tagline for the head-to-head stylist challenge. As a streamer you have to be quick with your words, thoughts and ideas, which I’m pretty decent at.

Xmiramira, along with DrGluon (left) and SimLicy (right), formed “Team Llama” on The Sims Spark’d.

What has the win on the show meant for you? Have you seen a jump in engagement on your streams or CC downloads after the show aired?

The win meant a lot to me! Seeing so many people react to it positively, people telling me that they feel represented seeing me on the show, and constantly having my mother and father tell me how proud they are of me is a great feeling. It showed that anything really can be achieved if you put your mind to it and you work as a team.

Engagement has increased, especially on Twitter lol. A lot of people have checked out my YouTube page looking for channel updates so that’s what I’ve been working on, even right now as we speak lol.

Sim Guru Lyndsay has recently announced that Maxis is going to be re-examining and improving their dark skin tones in game. I think it’s fair to say you and other creators of color had a huge part in getting this brought up and have built quite a portfolio for them to compare to. What were your initial thoughts about Lyndsay’s announcement?

My initial thought: “FINALLY!”

I hope that this time around is much better than the last time, and that there are no issues with blotchy skintones in and out of CAS.

Speaking more generally, what’s something else about the game you’d like to see worked on, whether by yourself in the future or other creators or even Maxis?

Let me whip out my list. We need cops and robberies back, we need more personality depth, more trait impact, more details in gameplay. A lot of the early packs need overhauls. Like if I own a restaurant I should be able to cook or serve in it. Bring back Sims covering the register [on retail lots]. Cars, minimal loading screens. There is so much lol. Like I could be here all day explaining features that they need to put in The Sims 4.

Who is another creator (or creators) you admire and want to shine a light on?

I’d definitely like to show love to my sis Dani (Ebonix), we have been through a lot together in these past 4/5 years in the Simming community. She is definitely a driving force and a huge influence on helping to diversify the Simming space. I’d also like to shout out Savvy Sweet who is just as sweet as her name and is also very vocal about the changes that should be made in the community while consistently putting out excellent content as well. There are a whole bunch of people I love and admire in this space, I always do my best with telling people where and how I got something going in my game because all of these these people (you included) help me to continue playing the game and making content.

Knowing what you know now, is there a project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

If I would do anything differently. I would try creating and editing videos I’ve made in the past in a different way, in different formats. I learned so much during Spark’d from the other creators and testing new things and seeing how they can turn out.

Do you have any words of wisdom for someone looking to get into modding or streaming the game for the first time?

If I have any advice, I would say to be consistent, do research and if you can’t find what you need, create it. Study analytics and don’t just mindlessly make content. See what works and see what doesn’t.

If you’re willing to say, what are you working on currently?

Currently I’m working on a new Let’s Play: Shady In Simlish. I’m trying to refine my current YouTube content and revising my F-boy trait to be gender neutral. I’ve been also streaming a lot of The Sims (and variety) content from my Twitch channel.

Where all can we find you online? Do you have a website or Patreon and all of the social media platforms?

Here is my current link for all socials: https://xmiramira.carrd.co/

I have a website, Patreon (support only), Twitch, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube. Everything is Xmiramira. I stream a lot on Twitch, and you can catch me either on Twitter or on Discord as well.

Any parting comments?

Thank you for the opportunity. I really hope things change. Not just for Sims but for the gaming industry overall. It needs a HUGE overhaul.

Thank you for answering all my questions! It's been an absolute pleasure.

Thank you!

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Thanks for taking the time out of your day to talk with me, I’ll go straight into the questions.

How did you first get into The Sims? Around when did you start playing?

I have been playing them since the The Sims 2.  I probably only spent a couple of months on that version, but I spent a great deal of time playing The Sims 3 and alternated between using Twallan's Master Command mod and Pescado's AwesomeMod pretty much the whole time I played it. I have a hard time with vanilla Sims games.

That's fair, I feel like a lot of us do.

I don't really know of a reason I got into it, other than it seemed like a game I MIGHT like.  

How did you first get into modding? What was your first project for The Sims?

I did no modding on previous versions of the Sims.  It looked like it was always very well covered by other modders.  When Sims 4 came out, I waited several months to see if we would get a "big mod" like we had on Sims 3.  When I didn't see one happening, I started playing with modding for my own gameplay.  It’s the whole, "I have a hard time with vanilla Sims games" thing.  

The first two mods I did were tuning mods to allow Friendly "Ask to Spend the Night" and "Ask if Single".  Those two have since been folded into MCCC's MC Tuner functionality.  The first script modding I did was for MC Dresser as the random clothing on Sims games drives me crazy!

Had you ever done any modding before that for other games or your work, or was this a case of you diving in head first?

I've done some personal modding for some other games, MMOs really.  World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls Online, mostly.  Also, back in the day I did some UI modding for Everquest to get the UI look-and-feel I liked.

[note: MMO stands for Massively Multiplayer Online game, an online game where players interact with other players on a large server]

Did you publish any of those? Did anything ever take off quite like MCCC has?

No, everything before was just for my own use.  I shared some of them with my friends that I was playing with at the time, but never anything published.  I have really never had any desire to be "in the spotlight" as it were, as anyone that has talked to me for any length of time will tell you.  

Well in that case, I apologize for sort of putting you in the spotlight with this then.

MC Command Center really only saw the light of day as I just felt like there was a big gap there and thought maybe... just maybe, it would make other peoples games more fun.

What inspires you the most as a modder? As MCCC was first growing, what gaps in the game did you think needed filled the most?

Well, that was always the thing, in the beginning I just added features that were things I liked or things I thought were missing the most.  MC Dresser was a big first start.  MC Woohoo was a close second because the mods that had the same functionality modified hundreds of tuning files and, as any modder will tell you, the more files you modify, the greater the chance something will break after a game update.  So MC Dresser was for game gaps and MC Woohoo was to try to fill the need of the player-base that wanted that functionality and make it easier on everyone with updates.

Later, I started asking people more what features they want, which is more of where we are now.  I try to look at any feature request and decide

1) Is this something a significant percentage of the player-base will use or is it pretty "play-style specific",

2) Is it worth adding this feature for the player-base that will use it based on difficulty, and

3) Is it something that fits in well with the MCCC structure or is it something that is better, and more easily, done as a tuning mod by one of the many talented tuning mod authors that are out there?

There's also the 4th category which is "Does EA even allow that to be modded?" but that's USUALLY a pretty easy thing to know.  

Your change logs do a good job of letting people know when requests were impossible due to hard-coding or too likely to break things to be worth it, but have there been features in the past that sort of straddled the line? Anything you've gone back and forth with for a while before deciding either to add or scrap?

Game Time Speed is an awful setting.  The Sims 4 does NOT intend for time to be changed in any way.  It has way too many pieces that expect it to be what the default is.  Allowing players to change that has always been something that I'm not a huge fan of, a lot of support isn't a fan of, but it's one of those that a large enough percentage of the player-base uses it that I just don't feel right removing it. Too many people have it always in use. So I have to support it even though I don't like it and just tell everyone, "Use at your own Risk!!"

Last Exception notifications are another that I get regular requests to turn them off.  This one is more of just a nuisance due to that and not to the implementation or anything.  It was originally added to make things easier for us to support players due to spending hours helping someone in the past only to find that their actual issue was due to a 4-year old mod that they were using and a Last Exception that they weren't even aware they were getting.  That moved us to trying to be more proactive in letting people know they have broken mods that can affect their game and, could eventually, corrupt or crash their game.

Other than that, there are probably some that the support team don't like that I'm more ambivalent towards, but none come to mind off the top of my head.

Is there any part of the modding process that you would call your favorite, or anything that comes easiest to you?

I've tried to streamline a lot of the process in MCCC for my development.  I have the settings implemented in a pretty standardized way. I manipulate the game behavior for tuning-type settings in a standard way.  So those type of changes are generally the most straight-forward and easiest to implement.  My favorite are the ones that I do just because I've always wanted to do it, and maybe it wasn't possible in the past due to gaps in the script-implementation we have in the core Sims 4 code.  Or sometimes it's just because I didn't think of it before or have time to research it. The MC Control option of giving interaction commands immediately to NPCs is an example of that.  Never thought of it, but when I did it was like, "Hey, I bet I can do that!"  That's always fun.  Changing random Sims into imported Sims from the player's library is another like that.

Conversely, do you have a least favorite or most difficult part of the process?

Tracking down a single setting that is breaking something in very particular circumstances is the worst. A lot of pregnancy behavior falls into that camp.  And, a lot of times now, it is complicated enough that I need a save file from the player to allow me to reproduce it to even start tracking it down.  Those are probably my least favorite.  They aren't usually that difficult, once I can reproduce, but they're not fun for me until then.  

I can honestly say MC Pregnancy issues are some of my least favorite problems to deal with in support, too. So many little settings to take into account, and the randomness of partner selection and timing of everything make it difficult to confirm if your suggestions worked.

Sometimes implementing something that someone has requested that comes from a tuning mod that they've used in the past can be very difficult.  Due to the timing in when Sims 4 loads tuning files versus when it loads and runs the scripts, sometimes things don't behave in a one-to-one manner and those can be really hard to work-around.

What part of MCCC would you say you're most proud of? Whether as a technical feat, or as a fun and meaningful addition to the game.

Just the fact that it mostly all works together well is what I'm probably the most happy with technically. I'm always happy when I add something and people in support say, "Hey, this really helps us a lot giving people support!" or some feature that just a lot of people give me feedback that it was something they're super excited to have in their game and always wanted.  Those are always shining moments for me!  

So many of the features are something that one person requested and, maybe a lot of people use, but it's not a game-changing sort of thing for them or anything.

You recently released version 7.3.0 of MCCC. What goes into finalizing a release build? Is there any point in time where you know it’s “ready”?

Usually, [I'm ready when] I get all the TO DO list items done that I had planned for a release and there are no known new issues... about every 5 or 6 weeks per release.  At that point, I create English placeholder strings for all of the new strings I've added to all the other languages.  It’s one of the things that is manual enough that I created a tool to help me do it!    

[note: strings are any form of readable text shown by the game, as opposed to numbers or raw code]

Then I have to update a table of settings/descriptions I keep that goes to my website to allow searches to be run there to find them among the other settings.  Bonxie in our support team does the same thing for the commands, which takes as much if not more work sometimes to maintain.  I have to create release posts, final build versions to link to the posts, do some website updates, and like magic, a release comes out.  

How do you decide the version numbers? Or to put it another way, what was the big jump between 6.6.3 and 7.0?

I used to do it when EA released an expansion, so I tried to time a big number update so it went with a Sims 4 expansion.  EA started increasing their expansion releases to a couple a year, so I don't do that anymore. Now it's more like I just do a number increase each year.  So maybe I'll do a Microsoft at some point and say "Here's MCCC 2021.1!!!"

The correct programming way to do it is when there's major changes to something within the mod itself, which I did some in the past when there was a major overhaul to the way I did the UI or something.  That's not happening so much anymore at this point, and I don't want to keep going on with 7.25.604 or anything, so I've just taken the once a year updated number approach now.  

What's a feature of a previous Sims game that you'd like to see added to TS4, whether by a mod or an official EA patch?

Well, coming from the technical side, I know that the framework of Sims 4 is way different than Sims 3 so technically, this is something we'll probably never see, but I have never really been thrilled with the active careers [currently in The Sims 4]. I loved the fire-fighting/ghost-hunting type jobs in Sims 3, and probably the most fun I had was doing a singer career.  Hitting the changes and watching all of the crowd react and loving the song performance was really fun!  Just a difference in the way the scenarios work with Sims 4.  I am not sure how they did that in Sims 3 since I never really looked at the code, but I get the feeling it was not like this!  

As an MMO player, are there any gameplay elements or quality-of-life features from Warcraft or Everquest that you think would be fitting for TS4 (or future Sims titles down the line)?

The thing I want them to add to The Sims 5, as I know it's not really feasible to do with The Sims 4 now, that MMOs and other games they're releasing tend to do now is for them to look at using an existing framework for the game rather than writing it all from scratch.  Use the Unreal engine or the Unity engine.  I think EA has the Frostbite engine of their own, internally.  Use one of these frameworks because there are already a lot of graphical editing tools out there for them and you can port-over outfits or character appearances or whatever between games.

Another BIG thing that the Unreal or Unity engine would allow as well is VR support.  Here's something I think EA is really missing the boat on.  Let a player jump into any of the Sims from a 1st-person VR perspective.  Let them use the VR controllers to open the menu wheel and interact with objects and other Sims. That's what I hope they'll consider when they go forward.

It’s something I would have already done myself mod-wise if the engine allowed it, but with their propriety engine, not so much.  

Knowing what you know now, is there a project you would make differently? What would you change about it?

If I had time to do something over from scratch, it would probably be the first two I did: MC Dresser and MC Woohoo.  I could probably streamline them quite a bit.  Functionality-wise, nobody would see any difference, though, so nothing I'll ever have time to do!  

Is there something you’d really like to see tackled by modders but that you don’t feel suited to do yourself?

No, I can't really think of something along those lines.  There are really a lot of good modders out there and a lot more things than I am even aware of... I find out about new ones all the time!  I try to be very careful when I add new functionality because of this.  If there's already a really good implementation of something out there, I usually don't implement it in MCCC or I implement it in a different way altogether. I don't like to reinvent the wheel if it's not needed.  I'm not trying to replace anyone else's hard work, and, in a lot of cases, these people have spent more time so it will be implemented in some more specialized way than I would have time to do.  An example of this is miscarriage, which LittleMsSam implemented [in her own mod] with a lot of variables and functionality behind it.  If I did it, it would only be a "% chance to miscarry" setting, which is pretty boring in comparison to her mod.  

Another example is the last exception HTML that I added in MCCC 7.3.0. TwistedMexi has already spent a lot of time on his “Better Exceptions” mod, which does way more than I ever intend to implement within my own functionality.  I just wanted to implement something specific to our support team and what they primarily use to help people with their error reports.  His mod really goes a long way towards letting people figure-out their OWN issues without needing to come to support.  So different approaches to the same issue, I guess.  In the end, hopefully it's the players that benefit.

What would you say to someone looking to get into modding?

I would say that there are a lot of resources out there for them out there.  Read the FAQ's.  Read the tutorials by such stellar teachers as Scumbumbo (miss ya, buddy!) that are on ModTheSims and the official EA forums.  There's probably videos out there for a lot of it now, as well.  For tuning mods, there are mod-generator programs that you can use to make your own mods even if you have no experience doing modding. Lots of useful tools.  There are some good discussion places like our own #creators_workshop channel on Discord where people talk about how to do things in mods. Unfortunately, I am not a teacher. I don't have the patience and I don't get the fulfillment out of it like some others do.  Those people are great!  They have my respect.  I will never be them.  So I don't really have much advice other than all that.

If you’re willing to say, what are you working on currently?

At this exact time, nothing! I'm breathing between the 7.3.0 release and beginning the planning for 7.4.0.  I'll have to come-up with my list of planned features for that in the next few days.  I have an overall list of everything that anyone has requested that meets the criteria I talked about earlier.  It probably has around 80+ items on it.  So I go through those and try to determine what I can fit in within a 5-6 week period of development.

It's a continual cycle for me.  I don't see that changing until Sims 5 comes out!  Then it will just change focus a bit but still be the same!  

Where can we find you? What is your website/Patreon/etc?

There’s my website at https://deaderpool-mccc.com/, my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/mccc_deaderpool/, my Tumblr at https://deaderpoolmc.tumblr.com/, and, of course, I peek my head up on occasion here on our Discord server as well.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks to our support team, who help countless people and have way more patience than I do!  Thank you to the people who support me on Patreon! I appreciate it!  And just thanks to those who have told me they appreciate my work and give me words of encouragement, which keeps me going!  

Awesome, thank you so much for your time today and your illuminating answers! I'll let you get back to your well-earned break!

Thanks!

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