The Sims 5 might be in the works but The Sims 4 is still going strong, partly because of all the DLC EA is putting out. There’s a new patch out, too and if you’re wondering what that does, here are all The Sims 4 October 31 update patch notes.

Here’s What The Sims 4’s Latest Patch Does For the Life Sim

The patch may have come out on Halloween but there’s nothing nightmarish about this update. The good news is that there is one Halloween-specific freebie, and that’s the Spooky Day Pyjamas.

But there are some non-spooky additions, too. This patch adds “Discovery Quests,” which give you rewards for exploring The Sims 4 and the things you can accomplish within it. Basically, it’s like a refresher/tutorial that can earn you Simoleons in game.

Then there are a whole host of bug fixes. Given how regularly this game gets content it’s not surprising that new bugs, that weren’t there before, can crop up.

Related: How to Fix The Sims 4 Not Updating – Common Issues and Fixes

There are some real doozies, too. It turns out that, prior to the patch, if you plugged a mouse and keyboard into your console and tried accepting the user agreement, the game could “..enter an unrecoverable state.” By which I assume you had to delete and reinstall the game.

Another console issue was that the shoulder buttons weren’t switch between recipes, while a Sim was cooking. That’s now been fixed.

My favourite bug, however, has to be this bug: “Starting the Finding Love After a Breakup Scenario will no longer drop you to the map with exception error code 121:8a89078a:d528d17c.”

Yes, after breaking up with your partner, there was the real possible that reality would crumble around your Sim. That’s some nightmare fuel right there. As for the other fixes, here’s everything that this new The Sims 4 patch fixes, as per the patch notes.

What’s New?

• Today we begin rolling out a new feature: Discovery Quests! What is a Discovery Quest you ask? So glad you did! Discovery Quests are Quests that help you Discover more cool things about the game! You want to know even more? Sure thing! These Quests will point out key parts of gameplay and help you learn about features and activities key to a great Sims 4 experience.
• But wait! There’s more! If you play through a Discovery Quest, you can claim some in-game rewards! You can add more to your Sim’s household from Simoleons to potions and even satisfaction points. What all can you do and claim? You’re so inquisitive! We love that! Here are some quests you’ll be able to play through:
  • Scoring Simoleons – Explore different ways your Sims can earn money, complete this quest and earn some, you guessed it, Simoleons!
  • Navigating Needs – Understand the different Needs your Sims have and how to keep your Sims happy
  • Skillful Sims – Navigate and learn how to help your Sims gain new skills and level up their lives
  • You and Your Phone – Phones offer your Sims many capabilities, explore this quest to learn more about everything you can navigate through your phone
  • Lifelong Aspirations – This quest is all about how Sims can work through and eventually complete their aspirations
  • Always on the Move – Your Sim would love to see the world beyond their home, let them experience new Worlds

You can find the Discovery Quests settings in Game Options under Tutorials & Tips.

• We are also bringing a new context aware profanity checking system for all Gallery Uploads, Comments and Player Bio in all languages that The Sims 4 supports. While this is new for The Sims 4, the systems are currently used beyond The Gallery so they have been battle tested.

Bug Fixes

Base Game

• Backpacks are great for storing things but having one in your lot won’t prevent your Sim from putting books away on the shelves. Leaves more room in your backpack for important things like snacks.
• Korean – During the “Aliens Stole My Parents” scenario, the “take a vacation” option will be unavailable and the correct tooltip displayed explaining why now isn’t a great time to take a vacation.
• English – Custom pronouns will be correctly reflected in the Odd Job Freelance Career
• Loading into your home lot should greet you with your household and not error code 123:4a01697a:4adea999; prepare to accept the Welcome Wagon neighbors to your home.
• Completing the Au Revoir, Lewis! In the Stuck in their Shadow Scenario will progress to the next goal instead of getting stuck. Now, time to go check that mail box.
• Speaking of the Stuck in their Shadow Scenario, ever get those Mysterious Phone Calls? Nope? Well you should get them now without needing to take your Sim into Create-a-Sim and back.
• Toddlers grow up so fast, but for right now, they will be able to grab a snack or drink from the Always Has A Snack-Bag lunchbox without going through a dramatic and sudden growth spurt first.
• Starting the Finding Love After a Breakup Scenario will no longer drop you to the map with exception error code 121:8a89078a:d528d17c.
• Sims that gain an extra trait can now be edited in Create-a-Sim.
• Talking of procrastinating, when your Sim sits down to write a book or term paper they should do just that and not pick up the nearest book and start reading instead. Now, where is our basketball?
• After a caterer has made food for your social event, you can drag this around now to place it where you like, useful for getting candles on a cake if your caterer isn’t great at placing the cake somewhere useful.
• Dirty dishes can go anywhere, especially during student life. Who hasn’t found that one plate and multiple forks or spoons under their bed after detecting that odd aroma? Ohh, just us? Anyway apparently that isn’t where you should put them, and now neither will Sims who used to put them in the most distant parts of the home. Now they should show a bit more home pride and place dirty dishes in appropriate locations.
• Removing skin details in Create-a-Sim should no longer generate a lastUIException for (AS)widgets.CAS.Customizer::CatalogPanel and instead will remove the skin details from your Sim as expected.
• Stereo and Radio objects upgraded to Unbreakable shouldn’t break, no matter how hard you try. Problem was that the more determined Sims were finding the one weakness. These have been repaired free of charge and your Sims taught not to bend it that way again.

Console

• The game should no longer enter an unrecoverable state when launching the game for the first time and accepting the User Agreements using a Mouse and Keyboard.
• For Simmers using the Controls Legend, the callouts on the Gallery will be easier to read.
• The Controls Legend in the Gallery will no longer display that you can block/unblock a player while navigating your Connections and not highlighting another Simmer.
• For players that have disabled the Controls Legend in Game Options > Other, the Gallery will now respect those settings.
• The Controls Legend being enabled will not display the Sim switch prompts (PlayStation – L1/R1, Xbox – LB/RB) in CAS if you only have a one Sim household
• Opening the Cheats panel while on the Main Menu won’t keep it stuck open when you are done. The cheat panel can now be closed again.
• While cooking, the shoulder buttons (PlayStation – L1/R1, Xbox – LB/RB) will switch between recipe filters as expected.

Gallery Server

• Entering a stop word (AND, WITH, OR etc.) in your Gallery search will no longer return zero results. For example: “Cat with Dog” will show you results for you to bring into your game. We will be continuing to update the Gallery search functionality to better handle stop words in the future, but you should get results now.
• Viewing an upload was only displaying one page of comments meaning you couldn’t view everything if there were lots of responses. Now you can keep scrolling to read all the available comments.

City Living

• You know when you have something important to work on and then you procrastinate, and maybe play a little basketball before getting back to it before… basketball? Well we told the Sims that if they didn’t focus we’d take their basketball away, they can play later. So now Sims should no longer stop their important tasks to autonomously go and play basketball.

Discover University

• Russian – A typo on the “Accept as new Roommate” interaction has been addressed, thanks to AHQ Heroes for raising this issue.

Seasons

• Sims that celebrate Neighborhood Brawl Holiday will no longer have negative sentiments towards each other afterwards, such is the power of the holidays.

Island Living

• Mermaids tend to like the ocean, or the streets of New York City if our 1984 movie history serves us right. What you might not know is that they enjoy the odd mud bath too, or rather they do now since they will stop complaining about a routing error when trying to take one.
• Thalassophobia, or the fear of deep water, is real and some Sims were becoming tense even when not near the ocean. Now the moodlet should only apply if the Sim is swimming.

Eco Lifestyle

• The Juice Fizzer (juiceFizzer_EP09GEN_set1) will do what it’s expected to do, fizz your juice and not get stuck on the fizzing part of the function.

Snowy Escape

• Yamachan will no longer enter your homes even if you use a Neighborhood Action Plan. If Yamachan is already in your home, you can tell them to leave using the Send Home interaction.

Cottage Living

• Rabbits can be very thoughtful; one in particular was giving away items tagged as DEBUG for PC and Mac Simmers or UNKNOWN for console Simmers,as gifts like the Cow Flower. This gift has been removed from the rabbit’s stash and will not be presented to your Sims.

High School Years

• Sims attending the Copperdale Pier together can enjoy the attractions, they can even ride solo or together. The tunnel of love is still reserved for potential love interests though.

So, no more strange rabbit gifts and no more broken fizzers. And those are all The Sims 4 October 31 update patch notes.