EA said it couldn’t be done… one Sims 4 Modder says otherwise.
Loading screens, loading screens, and more loading screens. Even with improvements in load times between lots (In exchange for a longer initial load time into the game itself), a critique players still have of the Sims 4’s gameplay flow is that there are too many loading screens. Loading screens happen any time your Sim travels to another lot; This can include visiting a community lot, traveling to an entirely new world, or just visiting your neighbor who lives right next to you.
This has been the case since The Sims 4 came out, in 2014, which was a stark contrast to its predecessor, The Sims 3, which had entirely open worlds in 2009. In exchange for improved performance across platforms and individual computers, The Sims 4 was built around loading screens between all lots.
Previous Sim Gurus and developers have addressed that it is a choice to preserve performance, and that open neighborhoods and open worlds cannot or will not ever be a possibility. However, we also know that this same rule was applied to The Sims 4: For Rent residential rentals system, and modder Tyjokr has already made a functioning Open Apartment mod.
And now, some new and interesting information has dropped; A modder has seemingly built a working Sims 4 Open Neighborhood, with all lots in a single neighborhood being fully loaded simultaneously. No visible loading screen between lots, your Sims continue to live instead of being frozen in time, and they can actively move between lots just as if the homes themselves were all sharing a lot.
We don’t have an exact date or expected period of release, but this proof of concept means something could be out very soon.
Sims 4 Open Neighborhood Mod Teaser
User Sérgei – The Sims mods/Frooot_Simmer, who is recently known for making one of the few mods that add cars to The Sims 4, posted this teaser fairly recently, both on Youtube and shared on social media.
Details of the Sims 4 Open Neighborhood Mod Preview 
The video shows a two-sim household, initially on a lot in Willow Creek’s Foundry Cove neighborhood. There is no narration, and the only sounds are from the game itself.
It initially shows two lots, both showcasing the first floor view and both seemingly loaded in. They then showed proof of this concept, having one Sim walk from the original home to the neighboring home to sit at a counter, showing that the lots are simultaneously loaded, and that there is no trick of the eye.
If you notice, not every lot is loaded off the bat. Even with the mod adding Open Neighborhoods, what lots actually get loaded seems to be completely up to the player, similarly to the Open Apartments mod by Tyjokr. There is no loading screen, but there is a period of time after clicking to visit the lot that the game must still load it, which can lead to performance drops. However, after that, the lot is loaded alongside your initial lot, so long as you do not travel to another neighborhood or lot (In Open Apartments case).
As the modder shows around the neighborhood, new lots are visited, leading to some frames dropping but the world opening up much more, ending up with 5/6 lots in the neighborhood fully loaded simultaneously.
Obviously, performance hits are likely going to happen; The modder may be able to do some work to negate these hits significantly, but it will likely and ultimately be on the player to know what their computer specs can handle, or to be mindful while playing with it. This is also similar to mods like Open Apartments, but performance and corruption issues are event the reason why EA placed restrictions on For Rent’s Residential Rentals.
While we don’t know exactly how this will work and the specifications for it just yet, this proof of concept looks like an incredibly promising new addition to the mods available for The Sims 4, and it looks like it will give players much more control over their save files, world, and overall gameplay.
Do you plan to check out The Sims 4 Open Neighborhood mod once we see it released? Let us know your thoughts about it down below, and make sure to follow the Sims Community for new The Sims 4 modding news, breakthroughs, releases, and teasers!