Two Diving Boards for Crinrict

Introduction

When Sims 4 was released without a diving board, just like Sims 3, I was pretty disappointed. In Sims 3, the missing board was finally added with the Seasons patch: A diving board for Crinrict. With Sims 4, I had to wait 11 years for real boards, but now the time has come: Crinrict is getting a diving board again—in fact, not just one, but two. A low board and a high board are available in the new expansion pack Adventure Awaits! in different design and in many swatches.

The version of The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits that I tested is not the final software. This means that changes may still be made before the pack is released. I would also like to thank Maxis for the early access opportunity.

Diving boards through the Sims years

All the way back to Sims 1, all my pools had diving boards. You can’t do without them. The animation was simple, and the Sims basically only knew two jumps: the swan dive and a foot jump. Jumping required the body skill.

Sims 2 also came with the obligatory diving board. This time, Sims can perform three jumps: belly flop, cannonball, and 1 1/2 somersaults. If a Sim’s body skill was low, they would sometimes get off the board without jumping in.

Sims 3 was the first game that initially came without a diving board. However, this was added later in the Seasons patch – this time with its own hidden skill. Originally a level 5 skill, it was later downgraded to level 2. There were two options: either the Sim could jump into the water to splash as many people as possible on the side, or they could perform dives. As in the other two parts, this was pretty random, but the skill influenced the outcome (success or belly flop). The jumps were: Belly flop, cannonball, forward dive, and 1 1/2 somersaults.

Springboard Diving in Sims 4

Sims 4 again without a diving board… the disappointment was huge, but so much was missing at launch – so I just had to wait and see. With the Get Together expansion pack, there was something similar to a diving board – a kind of rock/platform – whatever you want to call it. But it’s not the same. At least there are four different jumps and the player can choose which one they want to perform. There’s even a backward jump.

Island Living then added the possibility to dive from docks. Only forward dives are allowed though.

Next week Adventure Awaits! will be released and the first teaser pictures showed: We’ll get a real diving board back. I have tested the feature thoroughly and I’m blown away. For a Sim simulation, it’s the best we ever had.

The new pack comes with the following features for diving

Level 5 skill. More difficult dives can only be performed with higher skill levels.
5 jumps from the classic menu: Backflip, Swan dive, cannonball, belly flop, and jump.
4 new jumps: Revers pike dive, front pike flip, forward twister flip, lounger jump.
The dives from Get Together and Island Living are available as a separate category even without skill
Option to practice diving, which then randomly performs dives from those already learned.
2 new fail types
Low and high boards in two different designs and various textures.
Correct heel position for backward jumps
Children can also perform all dives and improve their skills

Conclusion

Diving in the new pack is right up my alley. I could watch the Sims perform their dives for hours. The animations look smooth (except for the reverse dive, which lacks a bit of body tension), and new skills always add to the game. I also think the integration with the existing feature is quite well done, even though I would have liked to see the skill added to the rock platform as well.

Thanks to Maxis for giving Crinrict a board again. Now he just needs the right swimming trunks.