Create-A-World Alpha v0.26  

[Exclusive]

  

Hello, I'm TwistedMexi. This is Create-A-World, a mod I began years ago under the name Project Raven. It is undeniably the most intricate mod in the Sims 4 community. There are many misunderstandings about what CAW does and what the "alpha" process entails.

Let's clarify what CAW is and isn't. People who have seen previous CAW videos often think it only allows object placement. While the final version will indeed offer customizable terrain and lot placements, the "how" might differ, but the end results will be similar. We must work within the game's limitations, which leads to the next point—CAW is not an open world mod. Open world functionality is not available in TS4, and only EA could implement it. You can create a "pseudo-open-world" experience by placing a single lot and allowing sims to access various off-lot areas. I have prototypes for both terrain and lot placement, but creating a user-friendly tool requires completing all in-game aspects first.

Here is proof of concept, showing I've reconstructed EA terrains inside of Blender - a 3d modeling program.

What is an alpha, and why isn't it free? For those who have followed my work, you know my mods are always free once they're complete. By "complete," I mean they've passed my rigorous quality assurance (QA) process. Most of my mods only need about a week of QA before they're ready for public release. Occasionally, bugs do slip through, but these instances are rare. About 95% of support questions I receive are due to user errors or installation mistakes. I don't want to become the modder that support teams despise, with their channels flooded with issues every time a new release hits.

Early access serves as a perk for patrons and also allows me to have a dedicated group of volunteers testing my mods. Create-A-World (CAW) is far more complex than any other mod I've worked on, so a few weeks of testing just isn't enough. In fact, CAW's complexity means it needs testers long before the mod is fully complete. This is the alpha stage, where the mod is actively being developed with new features added in each release. Bugs may occur, things might not work as intended, and saves could potentially be corrupted. That's why testers are crucial. If I assume an existing system is working perfectly and build new features on top of it, I could face a major setback if I discover the base system is unstable. Having testers provide feedback during development helps avoid these issues.

There's no set deadline for CAW's completion because I can't predict how long each feature will take. The lighting update I thought would take a few weeks ended up taking me two months. Since the alpha began, I've implemented features like the Preset Tool, Pack Requirements Tool, Group Rotation, Improved WorldBuilder Camera, Better Preset Visualizers, an In-Game Help Menu, and an in-game world lighting editor. Future plans include more lighting improvements, apartment support, Visual FX tools, enabling the exporter for world sharing and gameplay, and a dedicated terrain and lot editing tool.

Create-A-World is my ambitious project, and I hope the community is as excited about it as I am. While the alpha stage may seem long, remember I kept this project to myself for over two years. I didn't want to announce something I wasn't sure I could deliver. In September 2021, I became confident I could, which is why I decided to share it publicly. If you want to test the mod during this phase, that's great! But if you prefer to wait until it's complete, I encourage you to do so. I always make my mods free upon completion, as I have done with all my previous projects.