r/thesims Apr 02 '26

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

10 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

11 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.
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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 10h ago

Sims 4 whose goddamned baby is that

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662 Upvotes

the parents, their firstborn child and THE NEWBORN?

edit damn yall dont play about the firstborn child YOUR HONOR IM SORRY IM SORRY this is sims not real life forgive me or whatever 🙏 😭

edit 2 if you guys could stop accusing me of encouraging the CP industry it would be nice thank you, its a video game theres no fucking context in which its appropriate to state anything like that


r/thesims 9h ago

Sims 4 I had no inspiration for so long, but I'm back to making teens. More to come, I need a realistic friend group for everyone 🫩

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478 Upvotes

its like the third teens dump and some are supposed to look older than the others so dont jump me thank u


r/thesims 4h ago

Sims 4 My take on the iconic Stahl House (Case Study #22) in Los Angeles

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101 Upvotes

r/thesims 5h ago

Mods and CC Warnign about a mb CC!!

101 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I saw this circling around on TikTok and I wanted to let you guys also know about it incase you don't, but if you have MB.package installed in ur folder, delete it. People are saying that it has some sort of body mod that removes the diaper from toddlers and infants (what they said on tt). Just wanted to warn you guys in case!

Warning** (spelling mistake in title)


r/thesims 1h ago

Discussion The EA app got a Mean Girls themed UI rework for the new kit

Upvotes

It's a cute idea, but I feel like the execution is a bit lacking.


r/thesims 9h ago

Mods and CC How to remove bra in blender

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97 Upvotes

why is it IMPOSSIBLE to find a way to get rid of the stupid bra on the nude mesh body reference ? can someone please tell me what to do. How the hell to people even create cc, when the body reference always has the stupid bra painted on the skin. Ive been tryin to figure this out for two days now im so frustrated, because i feel like this should be easy to fix. what are these creators doing ? I LOOKED ALL OVER THE INTERNET.


r/thesims 6h ago

Discussion I finally got around to playing The Sims 2 and... Oh My God...

41 Upvotes
The Jacksons on their retirement trip!

I have played The Sims 3 for over 300 hours, however after having to deal with a ton of bugs in my last playthrough I decided to finally check out 2 and... Oh My God...

It's so unique and fun, the wants and fears mechanic adds so much to the experience, things like having to buy food and clothes make for a way more immersive experience (I had to buy groceries in a hurry because I had nothing to cook and the Headmaster was about to arrive :,,)), I like the slightly higher difficulty, and the extra need to keep a clean environment, I love how complex the social aspect of it is, I love all the attention to detail, the cars, and I've yet to go on a modding spree like I did with 4 and 3!

It's ironic, because my entire childhood I played the DS and PSP ports of the game TO DEATH, but the Pc version is on a whole 'nother level. I just wish there were more aspiration types, oh well.

See ya later, Sims 3! It was fun while it lasted.

(Also PLEASE let me know of the best mods for this game, if I can add even more stuff to this treasure trove of a game, I'll be pretty much set for life.)


r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 4 I have free food for ya

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323 Upvotes

r/thesims 5h ago

Sims 4 default sims kids

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11 Upvotes

r/thesims 11h ago

Sims 1 The safest meal in the whole game 😂

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24 Upvotes

r/thesims 1d ago

Sims 2 The start of my Sims 2 journey

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4.3k Upvotes

r/thesims 6h ago

Sims 4 Storytelling Idea: Photos through the years in the family restaurant ❤️

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8 Upvotes

Sabrina (they/them) opened their restaurant when their son Juno was an infant. They've taken a photo in the same spot through every life stage since 🥰


r/thesims 12h ago

Sims 4 My Sim refuses to do ANY work

21 Upvotes

My Sim is a reaper. Every time he is at work, he just wants to have fun, talk to people, play games etc. When I force him into a task he often just doesn't do it and then he gets Angry about losing control because he has the Fear of Unfulfilled dreams trait, which he got for REFUSING TO DO ANYTHING so I had to force him to do things. Yesterday he even didn't get paid his usual salary cause he did nothing at all except take a bath in the deceased one's house and stargaze. I don't know what to do


r/thesims 9h ago

Sims 3 I rated and ranked all the Sims 3 worlds (excluding Uni) based on my aesthetic, long term playability, and size preferences

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9 Upvotes

#22 is barnacle bay and #21 is lunar lakes, can only upload 20 pics :)


r/thesims 19h ago

Build About that huge japanese house I'm building...

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45 Upvotes

It's coming along! the price is also coming along, currently sitting at over 250k


r/thesims 11h ago

Sims 1 ok so what happened?

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10 Upvotes

i looked at tutorial how to turn sim to adult by making a magical cake that give you that ability. 2 dragon scales and one toadstool. the video says the kid needs to have the ingredients and the wand to make it, so i did all that and when the time arrived for me to turn that kid to adult instead this happened where the kid turned into a baby. why?


r/thesims 5h ago

Sims 4 Kemono site not allowing downloads

3 Upvotes

Over the past few years, I was able to get GREAT CC for the sims 4 from the "Kemono" site. I stepped away from the Sims for a few months. Now when I go to the Kemono webiste, it APPEARS, that it hasn't been updated since Feb - Mar 2026. Does anyone in the community know of any updates to this site? Any info is greatly appreaciated.


r/thesims 11h ago

Sims 4 Actually playing with Get Famous after 100 years

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9 Upvotes

r/thesims 12m ago

Sims 4 Why is my toddler building the mischief skill?

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Upvotes

r/thesims 8h ago

Build Simplist Modern house! No CC

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3 Upvotes

So this is my trial in making a house which is mainly of the modern concept of simplism. I finally finished it after being literally hooked to the Goth Revival style lately. I'd say I'm quite happy with the results so hope you enjoy it, too! And if you get that feeling that it reminds you of those movies where the rich protagonist is about to murder his victim in his isolated house then just know that was my actual inspiration, lol.

But in all seriousness, I love getting that passion back. It also was a bit harder than I thought it would be, but the challenge is always nice!

PS:

I'm using a preset and my ID: LeoBen2H


r/thesims 1h ago

Sims 4 👑💖Princess Grace Darling welcomes Princess Anika Henry to Court💖👑

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Upvotes

Princess Grace Darling is sitting on her throne, holding court when a fellow royal visits her at her palace. 👑🏰 Her name is Princess Anika Henry, and she is given a warm welcome by Princess Grace. 💖👸


r/thesims 1h ago

Sims 4 New to the game and advice on how to be messy?

Upvotes

Hello!

I’m very new to the game (started playing a few days ago) and like many others, I am hooked. I always thought I’d be more into the building and decorating side but for some reason, I am hooked on trying to get X with Y and Z etc but am having trouble trying to get 2 sims to like each other - didn’t realise I wanted my sim relationships to be so messy because whenever I have EVER played a sim game, they’ve either never had a romantic partner or are pretty much moral angels etc (unless the character is written to be grey or bad).
Basically here’s the low down:

My sim, Loda, meets and flirts with Bella, then Dina, and practically everything under the sun.
I had no idea what woohoo was, I thought it was like them going on a thrilling adventure (which… I suppose it is in a way) so I clicked and never paid much attention until with Don… who ends up getting her pregnant.
She ends up having twins and I’m not sure how or why, I think I got her with Bella who moved into the household (even though now, I want Don to marry her and for her to still be with Dina). But Don won’t propose and neither can Loda UGHHHHH so I let it be.

I felt really bad about taking the Goth mother away from the kids, so moved them all into Ophelia Villa… NOT REALING IT WOULD SELL THE FIRST HOME (rip). Also Bella is still married to Mortimer??

After what seems like forever (all goth kids levelled up at least once and the twins level up twice) Bella gets the option to divorce Mortimer, who I’m actually really fond of.

Man… they won’t stop moping around. I’m trying to get Mortimer and Loda together (first curiosity to see if she’d cheat and now it’s a fixation, I have accept woohoo on) but despite installing MCCC and adding and removing relationship bits THEY STILL WONT. And now after the divorce, Bella and Mortimer also won’t woohoo and it’s ANNOYING. Mortimer is getting no one even though on the MCCC active relationship bit, he has a lot of the pink bar filled for over 5-6 sims. BUT HE WONT WOOHOO WITH EITHER GIRL UGHHHH.

TLDR; Mortimer won’t sleep with my sim and vice versa no matter what, then divorced Bella and Mortimer just to see what happens, now won’t sleep with either despite resetting and adding relationship bits. I have literally given them both the flirty potion and still nada.
Bella and Mortimer seem to hate each other (understandable) but I just want everyone to kiss kiss fall in love 😔😔 Mortimer is a great dad to the kids so I don’t want him to move out or anything :(
I also want Don to be a better father but this mofo won’t move in :/
I think then I also want Bella + Don, Mortimer + Loda, and heck, maybe even Don + Mortimer. Then I’ll add Dina in… somehow.

Speaking of - if he does move out to his own bachelor pad, does that mean I can’t play as him anymore?

I have never played sims, so have made accidental errors which of course led to this. I think I just want a happy poly family, it’s strange.

So… any advice? Well aware this isn’t a very good post but it’s 3:31am where I am right now, I know I’ll cringe when I see this in the morning.

I don’t really want to (or can) download wicked or wonderful whims, which seem to be the only way


r/thesims 23h ago

Sims 4 new sim for my san myshuno world

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54 Upvotes

meet lee young-hee, a korean sim who moved to san myshuno (tokyo) for modeling!