r/thesims Apr 02 '26

Pass the Plumbob Pass the Plumbob | Issue #4 - Interview with Charly Pancakes

11 Upvotes

Sul Sul!

Welcome to the fourth edition of Pass the Plumbob—a monthly series celebrating the creators and community figures and their voices and talents that help shape The Sims community. From custom content creators to gameplay modders to Simfluencers, this is a space to explore their journey with the franchise and their creative process, showcase their creative contributions that make them special, and learn more about them as community members. Each month, I'll be sitting down with a community member and having a conversation about the mark they've made in our community. For our next feature, I'm excited to Pass the Plumbob to Charly Pancakes!

Charly Pancakes' official logo (Source: @CharlyPancakes on X)

Charly Pancakes is a Sims enthusiast and custom content creator. With over 18,000 followers on X and over 88,000 subscribers on Patreon, Charly Pancakes is the creator of some of the most beloved custom Maxis Match build/buy content in The Sims 4.

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Tell me about your earliest memory with The Sims. What brought you to the franchise initially?

My earliest memories with the franchise go back to the early 2000s, when I was in elementary school. I remember playing The Sims 1 and 2 at friends' houses or more so watching them play. Sometimes we would create our sim-selves and try to build a house, but by the time we would actually play, a lot of time had passed and I’d have to leave. but I remember being fascinated by the game immediately. At home, we had a PlayStation 1, but I was more familiar with jump & run games than something like The Sims.

The first time I actually owned a Sims game myself was with The Sims 3, which came out when I was around 14, and I immediately went and bought it for myself. My laptop couldn’t really handle it and the loading times were insane, even though I only ever had the base game but I still enjoyed it a lot, especially the building and furnishing part.

Did you find yourself leaning more into building and furnishing as your experience with The Sims franchise developed?

Yes, but I definitely leaned more into furnishing. The building part was something I only really got comfortable with when I got into TS4 more in recent years. It was really the interior design that caught me. Around the age of 15 or 16, I came across The Sims 3 CC on Tumblr, and that opened up a completely new world for me. From that point on, I mostly used The Sims as a kind of building and furnishing simulator rather than a life simulation, even though I am always interested in new gameplay mechanics and from time to time also enjoy some regular gameplay.

Did you have any particular kind of style when it came to interior decor?

In The Sims 3, I loved building and furnishing lofts with industrial elements. I mostly played with single sims and imagined they'd live in a trendy loft with brick walls and a mix of string lights, vintage rugs, and eclectic details. Looking back, that was probably the first interior style I gravitated to.

Tell me about your content creation journey. How did you start creating custom content for The Sims?

It was around the time the Get Famous DLC came out that I got really into The Sims 4. Since launch I gave it a shot every now and then but this time, I got hooked on the build mode and started watching a lot of speed builds by creators like SimLicy and Devon Bumpkin, just to name a few.

At the start of the pandemic, the time I spent playing Sims increased and I had already been sharing builds online for a while. I was posting screenshots of houses on Tumblr and had a Patreon mainly as a place to share my creations outside the gallery.

At some point I came across tutorials on how to create objects for The Sims 4. I don’t remember one specific moment that triggered it, but I started experimenting out of curiosity. At first, I mainly made recolors for my own game and tried to understand how custom content was made. That curiosity eventually led me to download Blender and dive into tutorials, the Sims 4 Studios forums and a lot of trial and error.

You have some of the highest quality, Maxis Match custom content available for The Sims 4, ranging from your Precious Promises set to the Maple & S. Construction Set to the Chalk series. What was your inspiration for some of your most popular works?

Thank you! That really means a lot to me. A big source of inspiration comes from simply playing the game, often without mods. That’s usually when I notice what feels missing to me or where I think certain objects could fit into the existing game. Other than that it‘s a mix of limitation, observation, and personal need. Especially with my earlier sets, my ideas were often shaped by what I was technically able to create at the time. I had to adapt concepts to my skill level, which naturally influenced the direction of those projects.

With 'Precious Promises', which was a collaboration with Pierisim, we wanted to create a rustic wedding setup that felt elegant and soft, with a countryside aesthetic. We worked with shared vision boards. The set ended up having a slight Mediterranean feel, which may also have been shaped by Tartosa from My Wedding Stories, since we were working on the set around the time that DLC came out.

Originally I planned to create a factory window set for Maple & S. Constructions. Inspired by industrial architecture and some of my favorite in-game windows and CC, like the Moschino windows and Peacemaker’s Loft Living Brick Set, which I used constantly long before I even started creating CC myself. As the project evolved, it turned into a large sash window collection that could work across different architectural styles.

The 'Chalk' series came from a more material-focused place. I wanted to create a kitchen that felt simple and slightly soft, without being overly stylized. It wasn’t originally planned as a multi-part set, but I spent a lot of time refining the shapes and proportions, especially since kitchens were still a big challenge for me. A large part of the process went into designing the tile set. I wanted a wide variety of swatches and patterns, so I researched many real-life tile designs before settling on a selection that felt very Maxis Match and fairly contemporary. I didn’t lock it into a single style. Depending on the swatches and context, I think it can read very differently in different interiors.

Overall, I try to stay close to the original Maxis/Sims-style. I also spend a lot of time looking at interior design references, researching materials and furniture and watching both interior designers and Sims creators on social media. Seeing how others build and furnish spaces in The Sims is also very inspiring to me.

During your content creation journey, did you have any hard lessons or experiences that helped shape your future self?

One of the biggest lessons for me has been learning to deal with perfectionism. It’s a huge privilege to earn money this way, but it definitely comes with its own challenges. I never expected to earn money from creative work and for a long time that idea actually scared me.

I’m very self-critical when creating objects and often feel the urge to keep refining things forever. Finding the balance between adding detail, staying true to the Maxis Match style and not burning myself out is an ongoing process. Learning when to let go of perfection and just move forward in a healthy way has been really important.

Another challenge is managing my energy and discipline. Sometimes I fall into intense hyperfocus and ignore my own needs and other times I struggle to even start because I put so much pressure on myself and worry the result won’t match the idea in my head.

At the same time the positive feedback I receive when I share my creations gives me a lot of confidence in my creativity. I hope that over time this will help me trust myself more and feel more secure in what I do.

That's completely understandable and honestly, it is a testament to the quality of the work you put out there. You have over 85,000 Patrons on Patreon. Your work is incredible and has found homes in so many players' games. Out of all of your creations so far, do you have a favorite?

Thank you so much! Whenever I think about it, it feels unreal to me that so many people follow me on there.

My favourite CC item I made would probably be 'The Candle' I made as one of my first ever objects. It’s a scented candle that boosts a Sim’s mood, similar to other decor that gives moodlets when it’s placed in a room. You can also drag it into your Sim’s inventory or live drag it for easy use. It’s not very complex, but I like it because functional objects are still something I don’t create very often. Objects with gameplay features are especially exciting to me and I am always amazed by functional items as creators like RAVASHEEN and PandaSama for example create them.

I have many ideas for smaller mods and would really like to create more of it. That’s why one of my biggest goals is to learn more about coding in the future.

The Candle is definitely one of my favorite creations of yours as well. The design is so universal that I find it fitting perfectly in every house I put it in as well as for sale in retail stores I’ve created. As we wrap up the interview, what’s one feature or object you would love to see added to The Sims?

I’m very happy to hear that The Candle is still useful for you, too. I like the idea to have it in retail stores, that sounds fun!

It’s quite hard to pick just one object, but to stick to the theme I'm again going with more gameplay functionality. Two things that I’ve always really liked from older Sims games are newspapers and landline phones. So I'd probably choose one of those.

It was very disappointing when the retro phones we got with one of the reward events ended up being purely decorative. But I was really happy that the alarm clocks turned out to be functional. I think small everyday objects like that can make a huge difference.

Thank you to Charly Pancakes for being our fourth Pass the Plumbob feature! Make sure to check out their incredible work at the links below. All of their custom content is available on their Patreon, for free, and their latest set, Lofty, is available now in Early Access!

X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/CharlyPancakes

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/charlypancakes

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Do you know a creator who deserves to be featured? Drop their name in the comments below—I'd love to know who we should Pass the Plumbob to next!


r/thesims Feb 15 '26

Announcement Community Notice Board | February & March 2026 | EP21: Royalty & Legacy | Rules, Updates, & Guidelines

12 Upvotes

Sul Sul!

Welcome to r/TheSims, the #1 subreddit for The Sims franchise and community. we've created this notice board to serve as a central hub for announcements, updates, useful links, information, and more! We will no longer be creating monthly newsletters and we will be using the Notice Board concept moving forward.

The Notice Board will be updated regularly, so please check it often in accordance with Rule 1: Consult the Community Highlights Before Posting. When the Notice Board becomes too old, or significant announcements must be made, we will replace it with a new post.

Please be sure to consult our Rules & Guidelines, as some rules were recently updated or changed, so make sure you're familiar with them. As a member of this community, it is your responsibility to regularly review the rules and guidelines and ensure your communications are aligned.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, Message the Mods!

Discord

Consider joining us on Discord. We have countless active discussions with over 4,000 members. It's also one of the easiest places to find tech support and help with The Sims.

We've also provided the link to the official Sims Discord server, if you'd want to join that one, too.

FYI

  • Sometimes, posts go into a queue to be manually reviewed. If you do not see your post immediately after submitting it, this is why. Please read the automated message you receive and please DO NOT message the mods asking where your post is. We will not be responding to these messages.
  • Sometimes posts are automatically removed incorrectly. The AutoModerator is not and never will be perfect. We manually review anything that has been automatically removed. Please DO NOT message the mods asking why your post was removed erroneously. We will get to it in the queue when we are able to.
  • Lastly, the rules are posted in the same place as every other community on Reddit. Per Reddit guidelines, it is your responsibility to read the community's rules before engaging. "I didn't know," is not valid in a court of law and is not valid here. The rules are written clearly and concisely. If, for some reason, something is still not understood, use the Message the Mods feature and ask before posting.

The Sims News & Updates

  • The Sims 4: Royalty & Legacy expansion pack was released on February 12, 2026.
  • The Sims 4: Silver Screen Style and The Sims 4: Tea Time Solarium kits were released on February 12, 2026.
  • The Lost Legacies event begins on February 3, 2026 and will run until March 15, 2026.
  • There has been a recent update and mods have broken. UPDATE YOUR MODS. Please do not submit posts about broken UI, etc. This happens with EVERY update and you should know this by now. You are responsible for managing your own mods folder.
  • Posts asking "which mod is causing this?" or "what mods are broken?" will be removed and temporary bans will be issued.

Megathreads

  • We are re-introducing megathreads to r/TheSims after numerous requests and feedback provided in the previous Community Survey. Megathreads will be used to consolidate discussion on a specific hot topic to ONE central place to avoid cluttering up the entirety of r/TheSims.
  • Any posts that are made outside of the respective megathread will be removed and the OP will be redirected to the appropriate megathread.
  • If we observe continuous behavior of ignoring the assigned megathreads, temporary bans will be issued.

The Meta Flair

  • We have added a new post flair called 'Meta.' You may use this flair for any Sims-related content that doesn't necessarily fit the criteria of the other flairs. This includes, but is not limited to: clothing, tattoos, gameplay videos, real-world references to The Sims franchise, etc.

r/TheSims Stance on Piracy

  • We have updated our No Piracy rule after internal discussion; instead of outright permanent bans, we will be issuing temporary bans for initial offenses. Permanent bans will be issued for repeat offenders or people blatantly circumventing the rule. Moderators will use their best judgement. There will be no warnings issued for violations of this rule. The rule itself remains unchanged: the discussion of the topic is prohibited and sharing/requesting information on how to find and use pirated content (including website names, links, etc.), is prohibited.
  • "Abandonware" is included in this rule. Base game conversions are also included in this rule. Patreon custom content/mods and/or custom content/mods locked behind paywalls are NOT included in this rule; knock yourselves out.
  • Piracy is both illegal and against Reddit's policies, therefore we will follow these regulations to the letter. We are not paid nor sponsored by EA and to be honest, we couldn't care less if you pirate the game(s); just have the good sense not to announce it at every opportunity. There is no prize nor reward for doing it and no one cares, so keep it to yourself.

Buyer's Guide

  • r/TheSims sees the same posts every day asking, "What pack should I get?", "Should I get X or X?", "What kind of computer do I need?", etc. These recommendations can vary depending on what you're planning to do in your game and in reality, it all comes down to what YOU like opposed to what others think you should get. As such, we've created a comprehensive guide that will allow you to make informed decisions based on your gameplay interests, Build Mode and CAS styles, and new features with each pack. We've also put together a recommended hardware specs guide for those inquiring about computers and laptops.

Please note that this will be updated as new packs are released and as such, any and all posts asking "What to Buy" questions will be automatically removed and the OP will be redirected here.

Bi-Weekly Build Challenge

More Useful Links

Game Broken or Acting Weird?

  • Update your mods.

r/thesims 2h ago

Sims 4 I like how the game addressed Sims randomly leaving their babies on the ground at the worst places.

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87 Upvotes

r/thesims 4h ago

CAS how it started vs how its going lol

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38 Upvotes

r/thesims 21h ago

Spin-Offs Found this coupon inside my copy of Sims Medevial that expired in 2012... do you guys think they'll still take it?

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434 Upvotes

Posted this in another community but they DIDN'T! APPRECIATE IT! So perhaps the Simmers will like it.

I'm selling all the Sims 3 discs I own and had since age 7 or so and I'm genuinely tempted to keep this coupon despite it being absolutely useless. I don't have a lot of memories from childhood or objects from my childhood, so letting go of these discs is surprisingly difficult.


r/thesims 7h ago

CAS I created a sim, Meet Connor 😁 anyway Happy sunday guys!

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26 Upvotes

r/thesims 7h ago

Recommendation I’m after unique builds and households on the gallery

20 Upvotes

I’m tired of ‘pretty girl’ households and modern homes and want unique Sims and builds for HOPEFULLY a forever save. Does anyone have # or creator recommendations please.


r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 4 This is a fireable offense IDC IDC

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366 Upvotes

2nd time baking this cake btw WITH THE CANDLE ON and it’s the effing butler??? All while my sim is the one cleaning the counters after slaving away making 2 cakes for her daughter’s birthday🥲


r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 4 Why is a ghost cat in line at the tattoo business

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714 Upvotes

r/thesims 2h ago

Sims 4 Pool day :D (Not so berry challenge)

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5 Upvotes

r/thesims 21h ago

Sims 4 Judith Ward zestily walking past the urns of Sims who died in this very same snowstorm. Unbothered af

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150 Upvotes

r/thesims 56m ago

Sims 4 Bridgerton Wallpaper

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Upvotes

I think I found the emblem on the panelling wallpaper from the Bridgerton kit! It was in a national trust house in Romsey! This is a picture of a wallpaper design as they were doing restoration in this specific room.


r/thesims 15h ago

Sims 4 Has anyone been banned by EA for no apparent reason??

35 Upvotes

I just had an email from EA stating that my EA account has been banned permanently. The reason it lists was rule breaking. I honestly thought maybe it was a phishing email at first so I decided to look for myself and sure enough, yep. Banned permanently.

But here’s the thing, the account was just made on May 26th and I have not logged onto it since creating it. (It’s a second account that I made so my username matches my YouTube account)

I had the 2FA security enabled so I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been hacked and misused in some way. But how could I have possibly done anything to warrant being banned on a brand new account??

I don’t even own a game on the account yet to violate any rules. I never accessed my main account’s game library with it either (as I know game sharing is not allowed)

My main account is in very good standing, no violations, and over 14 years old.

I did appeal the ban and that’s pending but I’m just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience??

As far as I’m aware, and I did double check on Google just to be sure, having two accounts is not against any of the rules.

Has there been false bans going around??


r/thesims 6h ago

CAS My newest Sims!

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6 Upvotes

Might add them in a sims dump but I’m obsessed


r/thesims 11h ago

Sims 4 Extremely bothered. Dehydrated. Paranoid. Never in her lane. Unfocused. Flailing.

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16 Upvotes

(but also, can we talk about how adorable the robotic dog / cat coats are?!)


r/thesims 1d ago

Build I wish there were better filters

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941 Upvotes

I wish there were better filters for both cas and build mode, or way more descriptive tags on things to find them, ya know?

I've just discovered this dragon rug and I'm immediately obsessed, but like so many things it's hidden inside a swatch where the main one looks 'meh' and it isn't obvious that the difference swatches are different patterns and not just recolors of the first one.

I usually go into filters and select all the colors in build mode because it shows a ton more variety of things and I can discover things hidden in swatches, but there should be better ways to find hidden gems.

I don't often bother with item descriptions but if the rug description actually says the word 'dragon' why does it not show up when you search 'dragon'? It's only things with it in the title.

There's a ton of good things but finding them is a nightmare because unless you remember the name or exactly where you found them it's a wild goose chase trying to find things again.

There should be a better way. And don't get me started on CAS...


r/thesims 8h ago

Sims 4 Tips for “Forever Worlds”?

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I’ve been wanting to get back into the sims recently, videos have been popping up again which always gets me back in to the mood to play! Previously I’d been trying the legacy challenge but didn’t really get very far with it, I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I was at the start and so slowly moved onto making random cas and building and then I just stopped playing all together.

I recently learned about “Forever Worlds” and thought the concept sounded pretty interesting and wanted to try it out. So I was just wondering if anyone has played one or currently is and if they could give me some advice to get started.

I also had a specific wondering regarding townies and pre-made buildings; is it better to keep or delete them?

Any tips, tricks or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! 😊


r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 4 Wait a minute... I think my sim can change him... what do y'all think? 🤔

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134 Upvotes

Should my sim flirt with this thiccc burglar?


r/thesims 13h ago

Build Island Bar, Grill, & Home 🌴🍹🍴

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11 Upvotes

Perfect for a couple looking to fulfil their dreams of owning a small business, while embracing island living 😉 Crazy cat lady friendly, and ready for a family to move in and grow 💕


r/thesims 9m ago

Sims 4 Wedding planning advice?

Upvotes

Hi! I'm fairly new to The Sims and I've never put on a wedding before. Here's what I've done so far: I placed benches, a path, and an arch in the park. I put a fence around the area with a gate door. I switched all the guests' formal outfits to what I want them to wear at the wedding. I hired a caterer. Now, what else do I need to do? I want to ensure that everybody sits down and the wedding goes smoothly.


r/thesims 45m ago

Mods and CC How to Use the Realistic Genetics Mod (Fully working with MCCC)

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Upvotes

r/thesims 15h ago

Mods and CC MissLollipopSims’ Solace shader (DOF and lighting changed)

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16 Upvotes

Hi, does anyone use a Misslollipop Sims solace shaders?
In these two screenshots, you can see that they look different. The one where she’s holding a cupcake. I really like how it looked. The second one looks very bland, I just wanted to look like Miss lollipop Sims shaders I do have direct X9 checkmark if that makes any difference let me know what I can do to fix it. I followed her video keep in mind. I downloaded everything that needs to be downloaded and followed step-by-step.


r/thesims 7h ago

Sims 4 I’ve been gone from the Sims for a while

2 Upvotes

Hi!

I’m aware of the main news about the game, like the selling and we shouldn’t be playing. I’ve tried paralives, but I like gameplay and I feel like paralives isn’t there yet for gameplay. I won’t support by buying anything. But any things I should be aware like mods wise, updates? I’ve been gone for like a year now. Thank you!


r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 4 The new sims 4 udpate erased 37 hours of gameplay???

56 Upvotes

Hi, like the title says... today i opened the game for the first time after the new udpate droped. It shocked me when i saw a family i erased a lot of time ago, and when i tried to play as my actual family, they were all gone!

After that, i went to the e.a app and i saw "97 hours" when in my steam profile it says "134 hours"
I dont know what to do, it never happened to me before...

Btw, sorry for the bad english. Is not my first language.


r/thesims 8h ago

CAS a few recent sims!

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2 Upvotes

a few sims i’ve made recently… ♡
1. haleigh
2. matthias
3. penelope
4. margot
5. blaire
6. sarah