Innovations abound around The Sims 5 as EA patents a new system that would make creating houses easier. There's still plenty to enjoy when it comes to The Sims 4, as the Growing Together expansion is right around the corner, but many fans are also looking towards what they can expect from the next iteration in The Sims franchise. Throughout the last few months, there have been both official and unofficial pieces of information shared when it comes to The Sims 5, aka Project Rene.
Fans got their first look at The Sims 5 during the Behind the Sims Summit in October 2022, which teased multiplayer and cross-platform play. Furthermore, exciting details have been revealed when it comes to customizing individual details of furniture, such as colors or shapes of the foot of a bed and its bedding. Beyond official information, hackers also got to Project Rene, reporting that EA hopes to build it using Unreal Engine 5, and even some play test screenshots made their way to the internet for a while.
In the meantime, EA has patented a system that will allow players to give the desired dimensions of their house, and based on that a layout of rooms will be created. This AI will create a floor plan, assigning areas as various different rooms. But that's not all. Even more amazingly, after creating the layout, the system will also furnish these spaces appropriately, taking into account the space needed between each object, so there's no disruption in their function. Players will be able to assign a theme to the items, so the AI will know to create rooms with "modern" or "traditional" furniture in mind. Finally, as fans know, budget is a very important concern to those who play The Sims without cheats. So when designing the interior space, players will be able to assign a limit on spending as well. It should be stressed that just because EA has filed this patent, it does not mean it will actually be used in The Sim 5 or any other game, though it's easy to see how it would greatly benefit fans.
If implemented, this new system could certainly revolutionize creating houses for players who don't care for building in The Sims. They will be able to solely focus on making their families and building their relationships On the other hand, there's also a large chunk of The Sims fandom that thrives on building. Those players participate in building challenges of form, function, and budget or simply let their imaginations fly by using cheats and custom content to create unique houses. If this tech ever makes its way to a Sims game, hopefully it's optional.
It already seems certain Project Rene will shake up the possibilities of The Sims, but hopefully more information comes soon.
The Sims 5 is currently in development.