The Sims 4‘s latest expansion pack, Eco Lifestyle adds a range of new features to the game including neighbourhood pollution, eco-sustainability and community action plans. The expansion encourages players to lead a green lifestyle with a new ‘eco footprint’ and community system you’ll need to master.
While you should focus on your own household to reduce your eco footprint, your final score depends on your community. Here’s how you can use your influence to create the perfect, eco-friendly neighbourhood.
If you choose to move to the new neighbourhood of Evergreen Harbour, you may notice there’s a bunch of trash around. Each of the three boroughs (Conifer Station, Grims Quarry and Port Promise) is littered with garbage, the sewers spew green liquid into the river and the streets are filled with empty lots. While trash is only found in the Evergreen Harbour region, all Sims neighbourhoods are now given a visible eco footprint score you’ll need to manage. Here’s how you can improve your neighbourhood’s eco footprint.
Vote on a Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP)
Neighbourhood Action Plans (NAPs) are new neighbourhood-wide directives Sims can vote on. They initiate a range of actions within a neighbourhood such as reducing energy consumption, becoming self-sufficient or developing gardening skills. NAPs are split into two categories: green actions for environmental sustainability or industrial actions for a more ‘gentrified’ neighbourhood.
Not all action plans benefit the neighbourhood and many, like the ‘roughhousing’ action plan, can create a negative atmosphere and cause your eco footprint to rise. On the opposite spectrum, voting for the greener action plans in your neighbourhood can remove the presence of trash and pollution while lowering your eco footprint score.
To make sure your neighbourhood is consistently improving itself, Sims need to vote on appropriate ‘green’ actions. Alternatively, they may need to repeal an existing plan. To do either, they’ll need to accumulate influence points.
How to gain influence points
Voting can be completed via the new community board fixture in your Sims’ neighbourhood or by mailing in a vote. Each time a Sim votes, it will cost 10 influence points.
Influence points are earned by Sims performing a variety of neighbourly actions. Having a chat with your neighbours will earn your Sim influence points. Holding a party and inviting neighbours will also add to your Sims’ influence points.
There’s a variety of actions Sims can undertake to earn these points including:
- Initiating a friendly introduction
- Following established community rules
- Uploading photos to social media
- Becoming best friends with a Sim
- Joining the Civil Designer career and being promoted
- Participating in holidays
- Becoming famous (if you have the ‘Get Famous’ expansion
- Donating money
- Giving a speech in public
Influence points are easy to come by and your Sims can earn them simply by going about their everyday lives. To push your preferred NAP through and make sure it wins the weekly vote, your Sims will need to maintain a steady stream of influence points and vote regularly.
To clean up Evergreen Harbour, you’ll want to focus on creating effective NAPs in every one of the three boroughs. By initiating green movements, you’ll be able to clean every area of visible trash, boost happiness in the neighbourhood and create a far more pleasant locale. This will also introduce gorgeous environmental events like local auroras.
Once you master this brand new system, your neighbourhood will become your oyster.
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