#it's kinda fun to judge what the ts4 devs have done for the urbz characters... i hope they do more

[thesimquarter]

TS4Urbz SimNews Update: theories confirmed & we learn more!

(These are from LilSimsie’s video; it was the first one I found with a dedicated Neighborhood & Townies section)

[Transcription: A Sims 4 family named "Urbane Housesharers" with three Sims. The description reads: "When Cannonball moved to Nordhaven, he first made his coin performing at the Rouge Note. Locals loved his music, and it wasn't long before he set his sights on buying the venue and fulfilling the old dream of running his own jazz lounge—alas, he was still a few coins short. A new opportunity came around when Cannonball met Crispin, who in his own youth had spent a little too much on post-modern art sculptures, but was now looking to save some Simoleons for his adoptive kid Ollie. Before long, they all moved in together and have been splitting the bills since. Now yes, Crispin can sometimes be too pompous, and sure, Cannonball can't afford the lounge quite just yet, but our dreamer has never really found his groove in this new city. And as a man who's never had a chance to be a father, he's grown quite fond of having Ollie in his life."]

First of all, that’s a super cute backstory. Second of all, I can’t believe they canonized Coleman’s first name as “Cannonball.” (… I mean, he introduces himself as "Cannonball" Coleman, not Cannonball Coleman!) Third of all, it’s just a roommates situation, and they’re in different life-stages. but you know what? I’ll ship it. Why the heck not?

It’s still absolutely surreal to me that they put Sims based off of the Urbz in their modern TS4. I can know it consciously… but when will it ever penetrate my soul?

I’ll still stand by that the ~new Crispin Black design~ is a downgrade from the original design. There is NOTHING to break up his pants, turtleneck, and shoes and it looks so much less interesting than his original design.

I do want to point out about Crispin's kid. The old Urbzville cityguide describes the Foundry as being "surprisingly close to the kids down at Kicktail Park," and Crispin Black specifically is the only Foundry member with any pre-set relationship with any member of Kicktail Park (a 40 with Rolanda Skye). So, Crispin is hinted to have... strong fatherly instincts. Anyways, I think this was a great development for his character. I like that!

Anyways, I did look at TheEnglishSimmer’s townie overview and caught a peek at Crispin’s personality (Coleman’s was skipped… probably on accident). Apparently, he’s a perfectionist (perfectly fine & kinda has some interesting implications on his original character), shady (new trait; huh?), and hot-headed (WHAT?).

Shady & Hot-headed just seem like strange choices for this character. Crispin’s original character… I mean, the Foundry took inspiration from Emo, right? And Crispin himself is shown to be very reserved. Gloomy would’ve fit a LOT better than hot-headed.

I’d have to learn what ‘shady’ means to have a concrete opinion on if that fits him or not. There are definitely shadier characters than Crispin across both versions of The Urbz, though. The Foundry had no crime associations, but Crispin does consider himself ‘cruel,’ and he runs a factory. So, meh?

Edit: I did find someone showing off Coleman’s traits. Outgoing, Good, Music Lover. Which are alll… completely fine.

I’m not going to comment on their skills (which I did see all of their skills) and other elements because they seem fine (+ are much more up-to-interpretation than traits are).

[Transcription: A Sims 4 family named "Loden" with five Sims. The description reads: "Since Gammelvik's founding, there's always been a Koffiebook cafe, and it's always been the Lodens behind it. When it was her turn to run the business, Nora stepped in happily, but who will step in after her? Nora's daughter, Freya, never had much interest in inheriting the cafe, much preferring her deep love for dancing. Meanwhile, the younger son, Erik, shows a lot more aptitude for crafting with clays and paints than he does business. Now, Nora's feeling pressured to not disappoint the legacy of her late father and the many Lodens before him, even despite reassurances from her mama, Hattie. Thankfully, she has her wife Dahlia there to support her—and provide an escape or two through her critically acclaimed, titillating romance novels."]

My weird comment on this is that. I just had a feeling that Hattie was, 1. going to have a daughter and 2. that daughter would be gay married. So, that’s not just AN option to do for her, but, to me, THE option to do for her. So, kudos to the Sims team for matching my brain-cell on this.

The Lodens also apparently have an unmentioned-in-this-description feud with another family (can't be asked to look up their names; they run the candy-making business). I'm curious to learn what that's about. And if I should care.

I do hope that we'll get a "Nordhaven Secrets"-kinda thing like we've gotten for a lot of previous recent worlds, and we'll get to learn more about why the characters came here and stuff.

I’m probably going to take the ‘Lodens’ as part of Sims 2 Miniopolis when I add the Sims. I was already thinking it would be awfully weird for Gramma Hattie to just be there, alone. It just doesn't make much sense for her character. If I take the Lodens as her relatives… I won’t have to make up one myself!! Yay! :) Although… I have a feeling I might change them beyond recognizability lmao. This very much seems like a family that Hattie was added onto rather than one that is ABOUT her (which, I mean, she did marry in). The overall vibe of the rest of the Lodens don't really match Hattie's nor the city of Miniopolis either.

Unlike my last post, I’m not confused about why Gramma Hattie is in this pack. I mean, I kinda still am, but the pack as a huge focus on learning from your elders and, I mean, her name is Gramma Hattie for a reason. I get it. She wasn't a bad choice for this pack.

For her traits… she has Foodie (ok), Family-Oriented (…ok), and Idealist (new trait; sure!). Foodie does make sense, given the aforementioned +4 relationship gain from talking about cooking and the fact she talks about cooking with Dandelions, which implies that she's also very experimental with her cooking. Family-Oriented makes sense. I just think that there would be more... befitting? traits to give her. And Idealist seems fine. Obviously, I can't judge a trait if I don't know what it does

I also want to point out that Hattie only has a charisma skill of three... which seems awfully low for a political activist. I'm only complaining a little.

Anyways! My conclusion: I'm glad they're here (over not being here). I am probably sticking with the original texts for most of their characterizations (even within TS4), but I'll acknowledge the character developments. I hope some TS4 players get interested in learning about these old spin-offs from their inclusion. And finally, these are probably going to make these characters' tags... harder to navigate. Given, I don't think any of these characters are going to become popular TS4 premades, but I guess I'll see!