The most recent Sims 4 expansion pack, High School Years, is set to release in late July of 2022, but there are some Sims mods players can right now to get ready for it. The DLC will overhaul how teenage Sims function, and will also add high school as a fully playable experience rather than a rabbit hole as has been the case for every other Sims game. Although The Sims 4's gameplay should be significantly refreshed with the addition of another major pack, there are still quite a few areas in which it might be lacking. Fortunately, The Sims 4 has an expansive collection of mods to help fix that. Here are a few that should work well in tandem with the High School Years DLC.
High School Years was officially announced in late June, shortly after EA teased a new Sims 4 expansion pack. Rumors regarding a DLC centered around teenage Sims had been circulating for about a month prior. The pack's first trailer, while not showcasing absolutely everything coming to High School Years, did show off an impressive amount of the gameplay additions, including a new world and a clothing creation feature. After-school hangouts, extracurricular clubs, prom, and graduation should make every part of a teen's life cycle - not just their school days - more worthwhile for players to actively engage with.
The latest DLC is The Sims 4's twelfth major expansion since its release in 2014. Although there are a wide variety of other The Sims 4's biggest problems have otherwise been solved thanks to a mixture of add-ons and mods from the Sims fan community.
Mods To Get More Best Friends In The Sims 4
Although LittleMsSam's More Best Friends mod only changes one relatively small thing about The Sims 4, it does quite a bit in of making the game's relationships feel more realistic. In the Sims 4 base game, Sims can only have one best friend. With the addition of this mod, Sims can now have several, more accurately reflecting how a real person might view their friendships. It also decreases the cooldown for best friend status in The Sims 4, allowing Sims to progress their friendships more quickly. It's a useful mod to have ahead of High School Years' release, given how important friendships can be to teenage Sims.
The Sims 4's Families Improve With Better Babies & Toddlers
Although The Sims 4's High School Years expansion pack focuses almost entirely on overhauling teenage Sims, that's no reason to not improve the other Sims life stages. Parents in The Sims 4 can oftentimes feel surprisingly disconnected from their children, and this mod by Caradriel aims to fix that by making the experience of raising young Sims feel more realistic. It adds custom moods, actions, and conversation options for Sims who are raising infants. Given that babies in The Sims 4 have very few interactions in the base game, even the smallest improvements make the Better Babies & Toddlers mod worthwhile. Toddlers in The Sims 4 also receive a significant upgrade with the aid of this mod, adding in new chances for both parents and toddlers to improve skills and change moods.
Pre-Teen Mod Adds A New Life Stage To The Sims 4
To help better prepare for the changes to high school teens in The Sims 4, players can add in an entirely new life stage with the addition of The Sims 4's Pre-Teen mod by ItsKatato. Sims can now age from a child into a preteen rather than a teenager, a process that comes with its own unique challenges and gameplay features. Sims can start attending middle school, which functions the same as elementary school in The Sims 4. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as interactive as the overhauled high schools in The Sims 4's High School Years pack aim to be. The Pre-Teen mod also comes with a simple hygiene system, and Sims will need to apply things like deodorant and body spray to slow down their hygiene decay and gain a confidence boost.
The creator of the Pre-Teen mod has released one add-on so far, with plans to create more, which comes as little surprise given it's one of The Sims 4's biggest mods. The First Crush pack allows preteen Sims to form crushes on other Sims their age, follow or even stalk them on social media, and go on chaperoned dates. Preteens can also form semi-serious relationships by becoming sweethearts with another Sim, exchanging numbers, and writing about them in their journal. The First Crush add-on makes the preteen life stage feel like a well-developed part of The Sims 4, and it's a great way to ease players into getting more interactive with their Sims before the full High School Years experience.
Meaningful Stories Sims 4 Mod Makes Sims Feel More Alive
The High School Years expansion pack allows teenage Sims to feel more fleshed-out, but there are mods that go even further as far as making all Sims characters feel almost human. The Meaningful Stories mod by moods and emotions in The Sims 4, adding more weight and meaning to large events in their lives. Emotions will more smoothly lead into one another, such as uncomfortable Sims eventually becoming embarrassed or tense depending on the context of what's affecting them. Environmental effects are more subtle, as well, and happiness is no longer the default emotion for Sims 4 characters. Instead, they'll only become genuinely happy when faced with significant life events, such as a job promotion or having a baby.
How To Bring Cars Back Into The Sims 4
Getting a driver's license and owning a car for the first time is an important staple in many teenagers' lives, and The Sims 4 should be no exception. Cars, like those included in The Sims 3, are one of many missing features in The Sims 4. The Ownable Cars mod by Dark Gaia fixes that, adding five drivable cars to the game for players to purchase. Using them will allow Sims to access the map and travel to their destination in style. They even gain a positive moodlet from traveling via car. Although the High School Years expansion is taking big steps to make The Sims 4 more engaging, there's still more that could be added or fixed, and modders have stepped up to the plate to bridge that gap.
Sources: LittleMsSam/Tumblr, Caradriel, ItsKatato, roBurky, Dark Gaia/Mod The Sims