How to Change Outfits for Sims Not in Your Household
As an avid Sims player for over 10 years now, discovering ways to customize and refresh the looks of my sprawling neighborhoods and community lots has become a cherished ritual. While your active household Sims are easy to dress up via the wardrobe and Create-A-Sim, have you ever wondered if you could also give those background NPC townies walking around a fashion makeover as well? Read on as I share expert insights into selecting and updating outfits for any Sim wandering through your save file!
Why Customize Townies?
Before jumping into the process, let‘s briefly explore why you might want to edit and upgrade the outfits that come default on those pre-made Townies populated into your worlds. After all, if you don‘t add them to your household, you‘ll rarely even see what they‘re wearing!
Over 50% of Sims players report frequently giving Townies makeovers. The most common motivations include:
- Breathe fresh life into stale saves: Changing up those stale default looks makes worlds feel vibrant again!
- Roleplaying inspiration: Use certain outfit aesthetics to better envision backgrounds and stories.
- Fix bizarre style choices: The randomization can generate some questionable combinations…
Personally, one of my favorite activities is to fully remodel the wardrobes of different NPC Sim groups to match their characteristics and community roles. For example, I‘ll put corporate uniforms on all the Sims working in business careers or trendy club wear on the local party scene frequenters.
But enough motivation – let‘s get into the fun stuff!
Step 1 – Make the Sim Selectable
The first key in being able to access and change a Sim‘s wardrobe is to temporarily make them a playable Sim under your control. Here‘s how:
- Enter Manage Worlds and visit the lot where the Sim lives via Edit Town. Alternatively, you can directly travel to a lot from Live Mode.
- Once there, shift + click on the Sim and select "Add to Family" from the pie menu.
| Advantage | Disadvantage |
|---|---|
| Full wardrobe/CAS access | Can only edit Sims on played lots |
| Changes save automatically | More steps vs. household Sims |
This seamlessly merges the Townie Sim into your household without needing to reload the lot! Now you have the ability to fully control and customize them.
Pro Crafting Tip: If you‘re hoping to use CAS Full Edit Mode for more advanced styling, enter the "testingcheats true" + "cas.fulleditmode" cheats before selecting a Sim. This unlocks all clothing, traits, and creative tools for extreme makeovers!
Step 2 – Accessing the Wardrobe
Next, pull up their wardrobe and outfit options:
- Click on the Sim‘s avatar icon in the bottom left corner
- Select "Change Outfit" from the menu
You should now have full access to browse or create any type of outfit your heart desires! Feel free to spend as much time as you want customizing their unique style.
Key Options to Explore
Take advantage of these powerful tools for maximum customization access:
- Paint color swatches onto any clothing item – discovers hidden combos!
- Utilize any DLC packs you own – access expansion content
- Save creations to their outfit library – name and save all looks
I cannot stress enough what a game-changer the color wheel is for spawning truly original pieces! Once finished personalizing an outfit, be sure to add it to their closet for safekeeping.
| Outfit Category | Pack Unlocked In |
|---|---|
| Hot and Cold Weather | Seasons |
| Swimwear | Island Living |
| Career Uniforms | Various |
| Occult Forms | Vampires, Realm of Magic |
Explore rare gems like mermaid swimsuits or career-specific gear based on the packs you own!
Step 3 – Save the Changes
After unleashing all of your fashion creativity on your unsuspecting subject, it‘s time seal their updated style permanency into the universe of your save:
- Save your game progress by hitting escape and selecting the save option. This commits the changes!
- Travel back to your home lot or exit to Manage Worlds
- Finally, shift + click on the Sim again and select "Remove from Family"
The Sim will now revert to being a regular NPC Townie – but dressed way better thanks to you! Their saved outfits and makeup choices will persist forevermore unless changed again later.
Repeat Endlessly for World Domination!
Rinse and repeat these steps to continually shape the aesthetic of your neighborhood to match your vision. Before you know it, you‘ll have signature styles defined for all the locals; in my game I now can spot who party animals vs. corporate drones are just by their fierce looks!
What will your townie transformation masterpiece look like? With so many tools at your disposal, the possibilities are endless. Now get out there and stake your claim as head stylist chic overlord! Need any more guidance? Let me know in the comments below.
