Social Class and Subcultures Survey
Hi everyone! I’m back and I’d be very happy to hear what you think about our current approach to the Social Classes mod. Before sharing it with you, I wanted to make a brief introduction to modding.
Some of the most popular mods in The Sims community are Script-based. A good metaphor for this is: imagine you have all the tools you need to build an asphalt road between City A and City B. So you build it. The advantage here is that no one can build another road over yours (most of the time). People could build a bridge above it, or a tunnel below it, but your road would remain safe and, in theory, stable. Of course, it may crack over time, but it’s usually fixable.
On the other hand, building Itun/XML mods (which is all I know how to do) is more like finding a path in the forest and walking along it day after day until the path is naturally formed. Here the only tool we have is the idea. You have the environment and the idea. You can’t pave this area after all, since you don’t have the tools(and the knowledges), but you can shape it slowly and consistently by walking through it one day at a time. Itun/XML is about taking what already exists and giving it new meaning.
The problem is, if someone else decides to redefine that same path, over time you might lose it. In other words: you can’t use more than one mod that changes the same itun/xml file. And here’s the irony: to build Social Classes, I’m redefining the path I’ve traced so far. Meaning that, for everything to work ideally, I’ll need to redesign some older mods to make room for this new concept. Don’t worry, I’ll make the download process as efficient and practical as possible, only requiring you to replace a few of my previous mods if you already have them installed.
Now that we have this introduction, I want to share a bit of what I’ve been doing behind the scenes. And I really need your feedback to help shape this mod.
There are two ways to assign a Social Class to a Sim:
– You can give them a trait (these traits are reinterpretations of the Social Group traits from The Sims 3 University Life. Their names were changed via STBL and their icons modified via S3PE. In other words, they are not new traits but a reinterpretation of something that already exists)
– You can climb through persistent actions within the classes
The main difference: by choosing a trait, you assign a fixed Social Class. You can change it anytime simply by swapping the trait. Meanwhile, in the second approach, you need to develop that class through consistent actions. This means using a specific set of objects or visiting a specific set of lots.
The second approach allows Sims around you, when story progression is enabled, to evolve within their Social Classes (I haven’t confirmed this yet, but SP files suggest that when progression is on, Sims may progress in these Groups).
You recently voted in the latest poll I made and chose approach 1 (Approach 1 I'm referring to is the research in the link and not the one I mention in this post.). And honestly, I’m really happy with that, because even though it’s the most labor-intensive, it’s also the most meaningful!
So, I’m here today to present you with a Spreadsheet.
In this spreadsheet I classified each Social Class into 3 Subcultures. Inspired by the approach of The Urbz: Sims in the City, I’m organizing the traits as follows:
Each personality trait, whether available in CAS or a Lifetime Reward trait, will be assigned to only one Subculture (this way it becomes clearer which Subculture each character belongs to based on their most consistent action, the one they repeat the most).
Let’s get to the Classes:
Lower Class:
– Working Class (manual labor, survival, simplicity)
– Marginal (criminal/illegal behavior, social exclusion)
– Alternative (against the norm, street culture, urban underground)
Middle Class:
– Creative (intellectual/artistic/digital maker)
– Traditional (family, stability and routine)
– Urban Youth (consumerism, trends, social life, adaptability)
Upper Class:
– Old Money (elitism, conservative, strict family values)
– New Money (showing off, meritocracy, entrepreneurship)
– Celebrity (hedonism, public image, intense social life)
How I’m organizing everything:
Each of these traits/subcultures will have preferences for Primary/Secondary Locations and will avoid certain ones.
Lower Class:
– Working Class prioritizes routine, affordability, and simple leisure; avoids luxury or elitist places.
– Marginals prefer freedom, anonymity, and alternative spaces; avoid formality and tradition.
– Alternative Sims seek creativity, alternative culture, and unique experiences; avoid rigid or corporate places.
Middle Class:
– Creatives are always looking for inspiration and artistic expression; avoid rebellion and excessive luxury.
– Traditionals prefer classic, calm, and educational environments; avoid excessive modernity or urban rebellion.
– Urban Youth seek urban energy and intense social life; avoid rigid, traditional, or unwelcoming places.
Upper Class:
– Old Money is found in refined and exclusive spaces; avoids popular or alternative areas.
– New Money seeks sophisticated leisure and networking opportunities; avoids humble or gloomy places.
– Celebrities seek high visibility, stages, and fan interaction; avoid places lacking prestige or social exposure.
What I need from you: Before I continue my work, I’d like you to take a look at the spreadsheet I created where I collected and organized all this data. I’d love your feedback based on:
❗️CHECK THE SPREADSHEET HERE❗️
– Is there anything you think should be different?
– Do you disagree with the placement of any trait within a Subculture? If so, why?
– Do you disagree with the primary/secondary/avoided lots of any Subculture? If so, where do you think they fit better?
– Did I forget any personality trait along the way?
(I've created a survey above, so you can share your opinion and remain anonymous if you don't feel comfortable commenting on this post. Regardless of where you choose to respond, your help and perspective are welcome!)
I’ve already begun editing some files to determine where each Social Class will gather, but I’ve only done that for the social groups (now Social Classes). I want to go further. I want to add these tendencies/preferences to each trait and place. The Sims 3 did a great job over time, but it has always been more neutral regarding mass behavior, so my work here is to further detail where each Sim will tend to go according to their traits.
Your help would be welcome to understand whether you like the path/approach I chose and if you agree with the traits/lots that make up each of these Subcultures.
Fun fact: Each Subculture was inspired by The Urbz subcultures, the main difference being the naming, since in The Urbz the names referred to the places and not the Sim groups. So I changed the names to something easier to identify. These names will not be visible in the game, but you’ll be able to observe and identify these Subcultures based on the places they go and the actions they choose.
I’m studying ways to build even more contrasting behaviors so that groups of Sims belonging to different Subcultures may react negatively to others, making their behavior even more evident.
Thank you to everyone who read this far and chose to support us in some way! Have a great weekend, I’m curious to hear what you think!
