The March 2021 patch is one of the most anticipated updates of The Sims 4. With bunk beds finally arriving in the base game and traits getting a makeover, too, there has been a lot of hype. So much hype that The Sims team will even host a live stream after the update to walk everyone through the changes.
There is also plenty of speculation that the patch is setting the game up for a Generations-style expansion or game pack. The Sim Gurus themselves have said that they do not view Parenthood to be on the same level as Generations and there are references aplenty about lore, heritage history and generations in the object descriptions of the Sims 4 Country Kitchen Kit.
The Sims 4 update for March 2021 is live now for PC and console players. Don’t forget to back up your saves, mods and custom content since all these changes might interfere with existing content.
This is a whopping update – totalling 2GB in size, so there are likely to be a lot of changes and complexities and problems with mods and custom content. If you have all the packs – don’t be alarmed by the initial 8GB total you see – that’s the total of your install files for The Sims 4 and shows as part of the game “preparing” for the patch.
What exactly are those changes, we hear you ask? Well, let’s take a read through the patch notes. Of course there are the bunk beds – and they’re modular by the way. But there are also huge improvements to traits and relationships as well as more improvements to textures for console players.
Sims 4 March 2021 update: Official patch notes
The official patch notes for the latest Sims 4 update will appear below as soon as they are available and are taken verbatim from the official Sims site. The only edits are for style and brevity.
PC: 1.72.28.1030 / Mac: 1.72.28.1230
Console: Version 1.39
Happy Spring, Simmers! We hope you are well wherever you are in the World.
Today we bring to you a plethora of updates and bug fixes. There is something for everyone, so we hope that you all enjoy these additions.
As always we thank you for your continued support and feedback.
Happy Simming!
-SimGuruJill and SimGuruRusskii
What’s New?
We made some updates and improvements to a couple of hair options in Create a Sim. Now cfHair_Puffball and ymHair_ShortAfro not only look fabulous, but we also provided conversions for Adults and Toddlers for cfHair_Puffball and to Children and Toddlers for ymHair_ShortAfro. Screenshots below for maximum reference.
We have taken the following paintings and posters and given them a few more variants to not only provide more choices in customization for your Lots, but also to add diversity in the designs to broaden representation.
Portrait of a Marriage
In addition to adding these spectacular variants, we have also edited some of the text to reflect these changes. We hope you love them as much as we do!
We made some improvements to the visuals of our Sims for Simmers that were affected by improper-looking textures, particularly with Skin Tones in Live Mode for Console players. You should see improvements with how your Sims appear in live mode… This change will also benefit Simmers running Minimum System Requirements on PC/Mac. Thank you for your patience on this issue, and as always, we will continue to improve over time.
On the Gameplay side, we have made some targeted improvements to a selection of Base Game personality Traits to make them more meaningful in gameplay. The idea is to provide these Traits a noticeable improvement so that Simmers can identify the specific Traits with more obvious visual cues and apparent, unique behavior.
The Traits that we have improved are Bookworm, Cheerful, Clumsy, Genius, Gloomy, Glutton, Good, Goofball, Hates Children, Hot-Headed, Jealous, Mean, Neat, Noncommittal, Perfectionist. We also made some Reactionary Trait changes to Slob and Ambitious. We think this selection captures a proportional set of positive and negative Traits. But wait? there’s more! We also made some changes to daily activities, such as Taking a Shower or Eating a Meal, that would allow them to be completed in less time. We hope that you enjoy playing with these changes and we look forward to hearing from you about them.
And I think that is it, ya? Hold on? let me check my notes for a sec? <looks at her bunch of sticky notes> Hairs? check. Some tweaks to traits and everyday activities? check. Painting variants? check. Backend stuff? oh! I knew I had forgotten something!
OK, there is one more thing?
B-B-B-BUNK BEDS!
Yes indeedy, Bunk Beds have been added to The Sims 4. You can now cram twice as many kids, teens, young adults, full-grown adults, and elders into their sleeping quarters than ever before. Why share the same horizontal space when you can literally sleep??above? Let this be one more way to show whoever gets the lower bunk that you are superior in every way, including elevation.
We’ve included a basic style Bunk Bed that matches with the existing Mod Pod Bed from Base Game, as well as a Metal Framed Bunk Bed to carry out all of your twisted or industrial Bunk Bed story-telling needs.
What’s more, we?ve added a new Relax posture to all beds so your Sims can now relax in bed while doing relaxing things like watching TV, even from the top bunk. I may never want to leave my bed again!
You may see on first glance of the Bunk Beds in the catalogue that they have two ladders. ?That was very generous of you and all, but I really only needed one ladder?, you might say. We’re with you! By default, when you place a Bunk Bed against a wall, the extra ladder will be automatically and cleanly removed. This automatic ladder removal can also be toggled off via the ?Auto Bunk Beds? button in the Comfort Sort UI.
But wait, what is that Top Bunk thing I see sitting next to the Bunk Beds in the catalogue, you might ask? Good eye. We can?t forget the Top Bunk! Hyphen over-use-incoming: The all-in-one Bunk Bed is intended for ease-of-use for the more grab-and-go builder. But for those of you who want to further control your bed’s makeup, this one’s for you. You can use this on its own for the visual interest and excitement of simply sleeping higher up (and without having to share your bedroom), and you might notice a sprocket icon next to the Top Bed’s colour swatch UI. Clicking this sprocket will also turn off the ?Auto Bunk Beds? toggle for ladder placement and offer you options to have the ladder on the left, right, or keep 2 ladders. Additionally, you can slot in any existing single bed below the Top Bunk if you want to get a little more creative with your Bunk Bed style.
For this first iteration of Bunk Beds, placement of other objects beyond single beds will not be supported. But for those of you who want to experiment, we?re excited to see what kind of creative things you come up with from leveraging the MOO cheat!
Bug Fixes
Sims 4
- Toddlers will now eat the food your Sims have prepared for them. My mom used to say when my siblings and I were children that ?this is not a restaurant, you eat what I cook for you all? so yeah? a lot of times I saw my sister stay at the table until she finished all her veggies? her nemesis was spinach. Bet my Mom wishes she had this fix? yup!
- Is your Sim creating puddles as they drink water? We have tweaked and duct-taped every leak your Sims could have so this should no longer occur.
- Auto Solving for Hygiene should no longer queue a drink in the interaction queue. OK.
- Elder, Adults, Young Adults, and Teen Sims can now Play Dolls With Toddlers. Aww, adorable. ^_^
- 21st Birthday Create a Sim assets puTop_EF28TankScallop and puBottom_EF28JeansCuffed are now properly displayed with the Special Birthday icon and tooltip.
- As always this editor and the Localization team made some adjustments and perfected some of the text in-game across all packs and previous updates. #fabuloso
Get to Work
- Scientists Sims can now complete the Transform Some Grass task.
Cats and Dogs
- Kittens will now Age Up when given Age Up Treats. Now, why would you have your kittens age? Who wannnntttsss kittensss to live foreverrrrrrrrrrr? – Oh ooo oh – Who dares to be a kitten foreveeeerrrr?
- Pet Poop is now able to be used properly as a Fertilizer. This means that no, you are not storing Pet Poop forever in your Sims inventory, it will now be used again? as intended.
Seasons
- Ever heard that saying ?it is as useless as plowing the sea?? What? Is that a Venezuelan saying only? Well, those Maids that were mopping puddles while in a thunderstorm? That’s a thing in the past? the immediate past? yes.
- For those who are Polar Bear enthusiasts, we have great news! The Polar Bear Plunge Tradition is now able to be celebrated.
Get Famous
- Global Superstar Sims will no longer get the React with Disgust from other Sims – especially on their wedding? really? This was a thing? <clutches pearls> – Reacting with Disgust will be left for those Celebrity Sims that are not famous and they appear on the Lot – Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
Eco Lifestyle
- Fixed an issue with Insect Farms that were displaying?Ready to Collect?when they actually were not. Hold yer tiny insect horses little guys!
- What? Vertical Gardens are evolving! Fixed an issue in which Vertical Gardens didn?t Evolve when they were both in the?Ready to Evolve?and?Ready to Harvest‘state.
- The Community Voting Board has been found and reinstated in Build Mode! However, Caf’s, Restaurants, and Vet Clinics will have to wait for a future update as it will be still missing for these lot types.
- Loving that Off the Grid life but suddenly plumbing is required? Wait, what? Say no more? We have now made it so that eating/drinking Cereal, Milk, Juice, Yogurt, and Water doesn?t require plumbing. Wait, why would Milk – well even Cereal – require plumbing? Is there a Cereal bar plumbing system I don’t know about that is in the game? Wouldn?t that be filled with soggy Cereal? I have questions!
- The best way to keep Cricket Flour is to store it in the refrigerator! Now you can have your flour ready to use extra fresh and crisp (crisp? crunchy?). We have also made it possible to store Beetle Nuggets, Bombardier Beetle Nuggets, and Grub Meal. Buen Provecho!
Parenthood
- Parent Sims, were your Teens misbehaving? You grounded them, but they keep doing mischievous things? We have fixed an issue with Teens misbehaving stealthily while Grounded via the Phone. My parents grounded me in person, but hey, whatever works.
Journey to Batuu
- We fixed an issue in which Batuu alien residents did not have the correct look. However, this fix is not retroactive and will be seen fixed in New Saves.
Nifty Knitting
- Sims can resume Knitting after being interrupted while Knitting.
- The Beginner’s Yarn Basket is now properly tagged under Skill-Building Objects in Sims? Inventories.
Bust the Dust
- We retrained our adorable yet filthy Dust Bunnies to not appear quite so often. We also made some tweaks to the dust situation and we hope now that it doesn?t accumulate as frequently as it has. What’s your favourite name for your Dust Bunny? Mine is Furthur! (Italian Simmers? hope you know what I am talking about).