Fans of The Sims franchise have a lot to celebrate with the release of the new Cottage Living expansion pack. The pack expands on gardening and animal care by introducing several new mechanics and items that allow players to operate their own farms.
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While the excitement around Cottage Living has yet to die down, players also have the option of trying out the new Farmland Mod as well. The Farmland mod is developed by Arnie who also goes by The Sims Plus. The Farmland Mod features a semi-open world, new farming and gardening skills, and a story mode.
Both the Cottage Living pack and the Farmland Mod were released around the same time. This means players will have the chance to play each individually or even combine elements from both to embrace their inner farmer.
11 Cottage Living: Create-A-Sim
The Cottage Living expansion pack introduces several new traits as well as a new aspiration to the game. The country caretaker aspiration is for sims who want to tend to the countryside and take care of all the different animals in the game. Several of the new traits introduced to the game are lifestyle traits. Sims can now be lactose intolerant, vegetarian, or animal enthusiasts.
Players have fifteen new hairstyles to choose from for adult sims, though several are similar if not the same as far as style. The expansion pack also added several new outfits that scream cottage living.
10 Farmland Mod: Create-A-Sim
The Farmland mod does not add any additional outfits or hairstyles, however, the mod does introduce new aspirations. The Farmland mod currently does not add any additional traits to sims.
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Players can select the Country Farmer aspiration, which sets the sim's lifetime goal to living the simple life surrounded by their farm. There is also the Country Farmer Challenge aspiration, which focuses on becoming the best farmer a sim can be, as well as helping George with quests.
9 Cottage Living: Henford-on-Bagley
The Cottage Living expansion pack takes players to the neighborhood of Henford-on-Bagley. Players can choose between five available lots to move a new sim into the neighborhood or they can select one of the four existing families.
Players can also participate in the new errand system for residents of Henford-on-Bagley. Completing these tasks will reward people with rarer items and materials. Sims can also enter competitions to showcase their harvests.
8 Farmland Mod: Eden Hills
While Cottage living offers a pub, the Farmland mods semi-open world has a lot more when it comes to exploration. Players are able to visit a horse ranch, a farmers market and supermarket, a bank, a jazz bar, and more.
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Traveling to each of these venues is completely free of loading screens, making for a more immersive experience. Eden Hills replaces an existing neighborhood in Brindleton Bay, so that is something to keep in mind when adding the mod.
Players are able to buy land and continuously expand their farms. The world is inspired by Italian, Slovenian, Swiss, and American Landscapes which allows for a unique melding of cultures.
7 Cottage Living: Build Mode
There are plenty of new items for players to combine in build mode from the Cottage Living pack. Players can find new furniture, appliances, and decorative items such as mushroom chairs and hay bales.
The pack also adds a couple of fences and paint and flooring options. The Cottage Living item aesthetically works well with multiple other items from existing packs, especially the Country Kitchen Kit.
For players looking for more items to work with for decorative purposes, go into the debug menu using the bb.showhiddenobjects and bb.showliveeditobjects cheats. These cheats allow players to find things like mill wheels and outdoor lighting for trees.
6 Farmland Mod: Build Mode
After downloading the Farmland mod, players will find a few new items in build mode that should come in handy once they purchase land. This mod does not currently add any furniture or appliances. However, players can find a tractor, a large greenhouse for the 64×64 lots, several farm animals, a pond, and more.
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The lots available for farming in the mod currently only allow players to purchase the build mode items by clicking on a sign in the middle of the field. Those purchased items will appear on the lot, in the correct placement without user interference. Players can still add these items to the lot they live on, and use them there as well. Animals such as pigs, cows, and horses can also be added to the home lot.
5 Cottage Living: Gardening
Gardening in The Sims 4 was previously a bit lacking, however, the new expansion breathes some fresh air into the hobby. Several new plants have been added including, lettuce, pumpkins, and watermelons.
Sims can grow and sell or use these items in cooking recipes. New dirt squares allow players to bypass some of the limitations the gardening boxes had, by directly planting crops on the ground. However, depending on the crop yield an oversized crop will take up an entire square. Small to large crops will also still grow four to a dirt plot.
4 Farmland Mod: Gardening
Gardening in the Farmland mod is slightly different compared to Cottage Living. Once players purchase plots of land either from the Bank, City hall, or George, they can choose to grow one type of crop on each section.
Players can choose to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even seeds from other packs on these lots. Once the crops are down, players can purchase a greenhouse, watering system, and insect repellant system. The game will bill the household for each item and for recurring upkeep costs.
The patches of soil can be purchased in build mode to add onto household lots, otherwise farming and gardening are designated to the Eden Hills area.
3 Cottage Living: Animal Care
The Cottage Living pack adds plenty of new furry friends to interact with. Players can fill their farms with llamas, cows, and chickens by purchasing them at a shed or coop. One downside is that llamas and cows are limited to one per shed, while players can have eight chickens to a coop.
The game also introduces wild rabbits and foxes that sims can try to befriend. Farm animals can also provide sims with eggs, milk, and wool. These animal products can also be influenced by giving the animals special treats to influence their mood. Toddlers and children are also able to interact with all types of animals now, allowing those bonds to form early on.
2 Farmland Mod: Animal Care
There are a lot more animals available in the Farmland mod in comparison to the expansion pack. Players can befriend and care for horses, pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, rabbits, fish, bees, and ducks. Each animal type can be purchased at one of the farming lots.
Each animal offers different products to collect; cows produce milk, pigs can collect clay, and sheep provide wool. Horses do not produce a collectible, however, they can be used as a mode of transportation. It is important to note that each animal type requires different types of care. Chickens need to be fed every day, while cows and sheep eat grass and do not require daily feeding.
1 Cottage Living vs Farmland Mod
The main difference between Cottage Living and the Farmland mod is price. Cottage Living will cost players $40, while the Farmland Mod is free though players can support Arnie's work and find the download for the mod through Patreon.
When it comes to getting the most authentic farming experience, it depends solely on the type of farm players want to have. The Farmland mod will appeal to players who want a more open-world experience. While Cottage living will appeal to players who seek a more private farming experience.
If players download the Farmland mod, it does require that they have the Cats & Dogs and Seasons packs installed to work properly; on the other hand, Cottage Living only requires the base game. The mod is also not supported by EA and may have a few glitches here and there.
Both the mod and the expansion pack bring great additions to the base game, and if combined, players can make a more custom farming experience to suit their playstyle. Both options have similarities, but a lot of things the other does not have. Combining the two would allow players to build the experience they want.
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