Hey Simmers! Big news today: The Sims 4 is getting a huge base-game update from Electronic Arts, hitting live today, with 150+ bug fixes. This isn’t just a small tweak; it’s a serious overhaul targeting many of the community’s long-standing frustrations.
Here’s a rundown of what to do before you update, followed by what’s been fixed.
1. Why you should back up now
Whenever a major patch drops – especially one targeting so many bugs – there’s always the risk of secondary issues (mod compatibility, save-file quirks, tray files going weird). While you shouldn’t panic, a little caution goes a long way. Backing up means you can revert if something unexpected happens.
2. What to back up and how
Here’s a step-by-step checklist:
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Save files – Go to your “Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Saves” folder (PC), copy out everything (save files, slot information).
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Mods and Custom Content (CC) – If you run mods/CC, move your Mods folder somewhere safe (desktop or external drive) so you have a vanilla version ready. Some fixes may change game behaviour and could temporarily clash with older mods.
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Tray files – The Gallery/tray files folder (“Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Tray”) is worth backing if you have lots of builds/rooms/households you don’t want to lose.
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Caches – Clear your caches (the localthumbcache.package and cache files) before and after patching; sometimes residual data causes odd behaviour after updates.
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Profile and settings – If you’ve tweaked UI or game options, make note of them (or screenshot) so you can restore them if the patch resets anything.
3. What to do just before and after installing
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Make sure your game is fully updated, and the launcher/EA App (or platform) has installed the patch completely.
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Disable mods before launching after patch. Start the game vanilla first to ensure everything loads fine. EA will automatically disable mods for you if using the EA App.
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If all is good, re-enable mods/CC one at a time or in small batches (especially big script mods) to watch for issues.
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Keep an eye out for messages on the EA forums if you run into weirdness – you’re not alone.
4. What this patch is really about
According to EA’s roadmap, this update is part of a “Community Prioritised Fixes” initiative: they’re using the votes on the official bug-report forum (the EA Forums) to decide what to fix first.
So yes – your votes matter, and this is likely the largest “bug sweep” the game’s had in a while. In other words: this update is all about polishing, stabilising, making your game feel smoother and less glitchy.
5. The top 5 most-voted fixes
Here are the five bug-fixes that got the most upvotes and are being addressed in this patch:
- Identified and resolved some cases of photos turning black in inventory when taken with the camera. Applies to new saves only
- Sabotage interaction is no longer available on objects without completing Deviance aspiration
- When the Mixologist is in conversation with NPCs, they’ll break out of it if a drink order is queued up and be more responsive
- Children should now more clearly inherit some features from their parents
- Relationship decay after having a baby was too fast and was destroying relationships. It has been slowed.
See the full list of bug fixes here: A List of 150+ Community Chosen Fixes Coming on November 4
Final thoughts
This update is a big deal – it shows EA listening, prioritising community-reported issues, and pushing for a cleaner play experience in The Sims 4. That said: no update is perfect, so backing up is wise. If all goes well, you should have a much smoother game from today onward.
