The Sims 4 is not set in an alternate universe. It takes place before The Sims 2
Update to The Sims Mysteries: The Timeline of the Sims
I've never been convinced by the alternate universe explanation for The Sims 4's lore, and I'm confident that it can be explained as a prequel to The Sims 2 without resorting to a multiverse cop-out. I’ve personally always thought this, and from watching Gonz’ lore videos lately, I’ve never been more compelled by a one-universe explanation. At the risk of giving The Sims 4 team too much credit for attention to lore which was definitely missing in the early years of the game, when you break down the supposed "conflicts" between entries, you begin to see that all the games in The Sims franchise can be explained as part of one whole with a little bit of creative reasoning.
For the record, the only “official” indication that The Sims 4 is set in an alternate universe ever stated came once in the form of a brief Tweet from a Sim Guru who suggested that they “would call it an alternate universe.” This was obviously not definitive, and an easy way to justify reproducing the most popular Sims while seemingly discarding their lore. At present, there’s been a concerted effort with recent packs to clean up and enrich the lore, so it’s definitely worth looking at more closely, even if the franchise itself is taking a nosedive. Unless the developers make any more serious lore mistakes that shake my theory, for the moment it holds up better than the alternate universe explanation. Keep reading to find my explanations with evidence, my proposed timeline with calculated time jumps, and reconciled "conflicts" listed in the Alternate universe article on The Sims Wiki.
In general, it seems like a lot of people repeat this alternate universe explanation without questioning why it's necessary. Something else that I hear way too often is that there is a 25 year gap between each of the first three games, which is not true. This is only confirmed for the gap between TS1 and TS2, not between TS3 and TS1. The supposed 25 year gap between TS3 and TS1, although often taken as absolute fact, is not canonical, nor does it work with Sim aging.
The traditional view of The Sims timeline holds that the canon order of the base games is TS3, TS1, and TS2, with TS4 in its own timeline. However, the lore in the vast majority of The Sims 4 packs actually seems to comfortably precede The Sims 2, with exceptions for Get Famous, Discover University, Adventure Awaits, and Royalty and Legacy, which seem to be sequels. This has convinced me that not all worlds in The Sims 4 occupy the same point on the timeline (although most do). This also wasn’t the case for worlds in The Sims 3, and just because a player can travel between worlds in The Sims 4 does not have to mean that their stories are temporally linked in the canon.
Therefore, I recognise the canonical order of the games as being TS3, TS1, TS4, and TS2 (with exceptions for specific worlds in TS3 and TS4). I calculated the necessary time jumps between the games in this order by following Sim aging using the following age cutoffs: childhood is 5-12 years old, teenage years are 13-19, and young adulthood is 20-35 (pushed to 35 to preserve Bella being a young adult in TS4). As a result, the necessary time jumps between the games for this model to work are as follows:
TS3 < 9 years > TS1 < 14 years > TS4 < 11 years > TS2
Overall, the timeline turns out to span 34 years from beginning to end, not 50 years as is often thought. These time jumps are necessary because they are anchored by the the Goth’s ages, and specifically by Cassandra. The 23 year gap from TS3 to TS4 allows Cassandra to go from the youngest possible child in TS1 to the oldest possible teen in TS4 (following normal aging rules), while simultaneously satisfying Bella’s young adult cap in TS4. Effectively, this means that Bella and Mortimer must have had Cassandra as teens. The 14 year gap allows Bella and Mortimer to have Alexander from TS1 to TS4 (while capping the Caliente’s age at 32 in TS4). This model works with the ages of other Sims (with interesting exceptions) and reconciles the confirmed 25 year gap between TS1 and TS2. However, there is one notable outlier: Alexander Goth. Alexander being a child both in TS4 and TS2 is incompatible with the 11 year jump. We would therefore have to consider Alexander as aging non-linearly.
So there are two options: reconcile his age with an interesting lore explanation, or diverge the timeline for just one Sim out of thousands. To me, it’s clearly more worthwhile to come up with an in-universe reason for Alexander’s age. Anyway, his slowed aging creates an interesting vacancy for lore theories, especially considering his implied association with time travel in TS3. I’ve not yet come up with a theory for his age, but I’m very interested to hear if any of you have ideas!
To convince you about my proposed timeline, I’ve directly addressed every conflict listed in the Alternate universe article on The Sims Wiki, explaining why these supposed contradictions are not only moot, but even reaching in some instances (some have been combined/separated where relevant). After consulting my explanations for the conflicts, I hope you’ll be convinced that the alternate universe explanation becomes redundant. The only binding, critical conflict remains the age of Alexander. All that said, here's my reconciled explanations below. For each, the format follows the Main Timeline, "Alternate Timeline", and my explanation. Let me know what you think!
Attention: The post from here downwards is very long.
Main Timeline: In TS3, Mortimer, Bella, and Malcolm are children.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, Mortimer is an adult, Bella is a young adult, and Malcolm is a teen.
Explanation: If we take Bella and Mortimer to be at most 12 years old in TS3, 23 years to TS4 would bring them to 35 years old, which is the oldest young adult Bella could be while having Cassandra be a teenager in TS4. This necessitates that Bella had Cassandra at only 16 years old. Also, this effectively places TS1 9 years after TS3, making Cassandra 19 in TS4, and allowing for Nina, Dina, and Don to be as young as possible in TS2 while still being young adults in TS4. To account for Mortimer's older age/appearance in TS4 and even older age/appearance in TS2, it's possible that before TS4 he was already tinkering with his invention of the Elixir of Life. Perhaps he consumed a faulty version of the Elixir which backfired to speed up his aging, leading to him having a substantially older appearance compared to Bella by the time of TS2.
However, this breaks Malcolm’s aging, as for him to be a child in TS3 and a teenager in TS4 would allow for a maximum gap of 14 years. His age in TS4 should be 27, a young adult, yet he is a teenager. But have you also noticed that Nancy looks younger in TS4 than TS3? What if, by offering a handsome sum, Nancy was able to get her hands on a functioning version of the Elixir of Life to make herself younger? And what if by accidentally taking said Elixir (maybe thinking it was “nectar”), Malcom poured himself some for a good time, drank it, and aged down into a teen? Interestingly, this would also explain why Johnny Zest is not present in the Landgraab family in Sunset Valley even though he’s “older” than Malcom; he was only born after TS3!
Main Timeline: Holly Alto is a teenager + and has light skin, brown hair, and green eyes.
"Alternate Timeline": Holly is a young adult + and has tan skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
Explanation: The two Holly’s mentioned here look nothing alike, and should be considered as separate characters altogether. Although they would belong to the same family, Holly Alto from TS4 actually looks more like Holly Alto from TS3 for the Nintendo DS. However, we do now have the uncomfortable situation where TS4 Holly is implied to be TS3 Holly due to Vita and Enzo being shown as her parents in her family tree, despite not looking like her. For all intents and purposes, this is a mistake, but there could always be an in-universe plot to explain it.
Main Timeline: In TS3, Bert and Nick Alto are living adults.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, Bert and Nick died as elders.
Explanation: Yeah. Because TS4's Ondarion from Royalty and Legacy is set after the events of TS2. It makes sense that they’re long gone after 34 years.
Main Timeline: Bella Goth was abducted by aliens, allegedly in 2004.
"Alternate Timeline": The Copperdale Class of ‘00 is a household on TS4 gallery, depicting Bella, Mortimer, Nancy, Geoffrey, Bob, and Eliza as high school seniors.
Explanation: This one is totally pushing it. Gallery households are famously not canonical, so there’s no reason why the existence of a household on the Gallery should have ramifications on the lore. Especially when it’s placing well-known characters in a clearly hypothetical setting. The Copperdale Class of ‘00 was made to promote the High School Years pack, not to diverge the timeline further.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Don, Cassandra, Nina, and Dina are adults and Alexander is a child.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, Don, Nina, and Dina are young adults, Cassandra is a teen, and Alexander is a child.
Explanation: This makes sense considering that they are all younger in TS4 than in TS2. Since Cassandra is 19 in TS4, she would be 30 in TS2. In TS4, Don, Dina, and Nina, are 20 and would age to 35 in TS2. Alexander ages non-linearly after TS4.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Dirk Dreamer, Dustin Broke, and Angela and Lilith Pleasant are teenagers.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, all of them are young adults.
Explanation: The best solution to this is to sever Del Sol Valley and Britechester from the basegame, considering them as set after the events of TS2, to match up with these Sims' ages.
Main Timeline: In TS3, Vincent Skullfinder is a ghost. In MySims Vincent was alive at the same time as Travis, Summer, Liberty, DJ Candy, and Yuki.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, all of them are young adults, and Vincent is suggested to be alive.
Explanation: To make this work, there are two satisfactory solutions. One is that TS4's Vincent is a descendant of TS3's Vincent who continued his archeological pursuits. More interestingly, still taking TS3's Vincent as an ancestor, maybe TS4's Vincent is a ghost. Considering that Vincent has the Spooky interest in MySims and is linked to all things macabre, maybe he died between MySims and TS4 and continues his archeological work as a ghost or other undead life state in TS4.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Olive Specter married Hugh Thanasia and Ichabod Specter as an elder. Her adult son, Nervous Subject, was taken from her by a social worker as a baby + Olive and Nervous live in separate households and Olive’s previous husbands are all deceased.
"Alternate Timeline": In Life and Death, Olive is an adult and was already married to Hugh and Ichabod. Nervous is a teen and was “never taken away from Olive” + Olive and Nervous live in Ravenwood and her deceased husbands are buried there.
Explanation: This is nitpicking not just the actual ages of Sims, but their ages in their memories, which should not be taken as the be-all and end-all. Even if we go by TS2’s original ages, Olive would have been an elder when becoming pregnant with Nervous, which is illogical even if his father is supernatural. And just because Nervous was taken by a social worker, does not mean he could not have been returned to Olive, and eventually moved to Ravenwood with her. After living there, Olive presumably disinterred the graves of her deceased husbands on moving back to Strangetown with Nervous. She grew old and Nervous grew up in Strangetown, where he eventually volunteered (or was coerced) to be a test subject for the Beakers (thank you Gonz for untangling this mess).
Main Timeline: In TS2, Skip Broke drowned in a “suspicious pool ladder accident” + and was married to Brandi Broke.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, Skip is alive + and is single and homoromantic.
Explanation: This one is frustrating because it doesn’t actually consider the new lore that Adventure Awaits introduced. SPOILER ALERT: the pack literally follows the story of how and why Skip is alive, namely that he faked his death because he was in a lavender marriage with Brandi, starting a new life in Gibbi Point (crazy stuff).
Main Timeline: In TS2, Tybalt and Juliet Capp are teens + Consort Capp is an elder.
"Alternate Timeline": In TS4, Tybalt and Juliet are adults + Consort is dead.
Explanation: Again. It makes perfect sense that the teens aged up and the elder died seeing as how TS4's Royalty and Legacy is set after TS2.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Dirk Dreamer has dark skin, black hair, and blue eyes + Dustin Broke has light skin, blue eyes, and is fit.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Dirk has tan skin, brown hair, and brown eyes + Dustin has tan skin, green eyes, and is fat.
Explanation: Considering how much Sims have changed between entries, it’s reasonable to conclude that they’re the same people and it does not make sense to single Dirk and Dustin out as looking substantially different, especially when looking at other Sims’ appearance changes between entries. TS2 only included four colours for skin, eyes, and hair each so changes were bound to be made for TS4.
Main Timeline: In MySims, DJ candy has blonde hair, green eyes, and freckles + Yuki has black hair, tan skin, magenta eyes, and fangs + DJ Candy has the Geeky interest + Yuki does not have the Geeky interest + DJ Candy and Yuki are not said to be related.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Candy has blonde and pink hair, brown eyes, and no freckles + Yuki has teal hair, light skin, brown eyes, and no fangs + Candy does not have the Geek trait + Yuki has the Geek trait + Candy and Yuki are sisters.
Explanation: These two do not look like their supposed MySims counterparts at all, so I’m convinced that they are entirely separate characters with only their names being referenced as Easter eggs, unlike the BFF household from Willow Creek which do appear to be the same characters as their counterparts.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Olive Specter has no eyebrows.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Olive Specter has eyebrows.
Explanation: Eyebrows famously grow back if you shave them off.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Nervous Subject has light skin.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Nyon Specter (the real name of Nervous) has dark skin.
Explanation: This discrepancy is more obvious, but not continuity-breaking. Before remembering that Nyon/Nervous had lighter skin in TS3 as well, I was going to suggest that he may have developed vitiligo. However, when you look at him in TS3 and TS2, neither version is considerably lighter than he is in TS4. It proves plausible that he had lighter skin as a toddler (TS3) which became slightly darker as he grew up (TS4), before he became paler again (TS2). This even makes more sense considering that the conditions he was kept in as a test subject would have made him emaciated and pale.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Oberon has dark skin and curly red hair.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Oberon has lighter skin and straight black hair.
Explanation: Oberon’s skintone actually looks consistent, while his hair in TS4 was likely a phase.
Main Timeline: In The Sims Life Stories, Agora Tchotchke has light skin and short hair.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Agora Tchotchke has medium tan skin and long wavy hair with baby hairs.
Explanation: These two are without a doubt intended to be the same character. Considering TS2’s customization limitations, the hair, eye, and skin colors of Agora in the two games could not be a better match.
Main Timeline: In TS2, the Goths, Calientes, Pleasants, Brokes, Dreamers, and Don live in Pleasantview.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, the Goths live in Willow Creek, the Calientes and Don live in Oasis Springs, and Lilith and Angela Pleasant live in Britechester.
Explanation: It goes without saying that moving houses and towns is not a continuity error. While the nuclear Goth family would have lived in Willow Creek during TS4, they eventually returned to their ancestral home in Pleasantview where their family cemetery is. The Calientes and Don moved there as well, possibly together due to Don and Katrina’s involvement (after which she dropped out of the picture without a trace). Lilith and Angela are evidently studying in Britechester while their parents presumably still live in Pleasantview.
Main Timeline: Before TS2, Bella disappeared from Pleasantview, and was found in Strangetown with her memories and relationships wiped.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Bella lives with her family, and her “mysterious disappearances” allude to her Secret Agent Career, not her infamous abduction.
Explanation: The central plot of Bella’s disappearance works seamlessly with this version of the timeline. While Bella was living with her family in TS4, in the 11 year gap up to TS2 they moved to Pleasantview where she disappeared before the start of the game.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Agnes Crumplebottom is deceased while her relative Mrs. Crumplebottom is an elder.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Agnes Crumplebottom is an elder, appearing to have merged with Mrs. Crumplebottom.
Explanation: The confusion here is due to the fact that TS4’s Agnes Crumplebottom resembles TS2’s Mrs. Crumplebottom in appearence and behavior, although they are different, but related, Sims. It is perfectly logical that Agnes Crumplebottom was an elder in TS4 and passed away by TS2. Maybe it was the loss of Agnes that prompted her relative (potentially her niece?) Mrs. Crumplebottom to carry on her tradition of prudishness, or maybe it’s an ethos that runs in the family.
Main Timeline: In TS2, the Summerdreams live in Veronaville + In TS1, Mara and Todd Attenberry live in Magic Town.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, the Summerdreams live in Innisgreen + Mara and Todd live in Innisgreen.
Explanation: This is very simple: the Summerdreams started out living in Moonlight Falls (TS3), then lived in Innisgreen (TS4) where they raised Mara, and finally moved on separately to Veronaville (TS2) and Magic Town (TS1). Todd would have moved from Innisgreen to Magic Town as well.
Main Timeline: In TS3, Malcolm is good, ambitious, and a bookworm.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Malcolm is an evil snob, referencing the original Malcolm from TS1 for console.
Explanation: While this is likely a consequence of the confusion of different Malcolm Landgraabs, it also works because it’s fairly reasonable that Malcolm’s personality changed drastically over the 23 year gap between the TS3 and TS4.
Main Timeline: In MySims, Liberty never mentions reading, avoids book parties, and dislikes the Studious interest.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Liberty Lee is a bookworm.
Explanation: Character growth!
Main Timeline: In TS2, Don is engaged to Cassandra after he was rejected by Bella.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Don does not know Cassandra or Bella and cannot not romance Cassandra until she ages up.
Explanation: Besides the fact that Sims in TS4’s basegame did not originally have relationships outside of their households, they have never had relationships with Sims from other worlds. It makes sense that Don’s and the Goths’ stories only converged once they both moved to Pleasantview.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Olive Specter’s husbands don’t include Layne Coffin.
“Alternate Timeline”: In Life and Death, Olive has an additional fiancée named Layne Coffin.
Explanation: Olive either ended her engagement with Layne, or he passed away, but she left his grave alone instead of adding it to her collection. Otherwise, their split may have been what prompted Olive to return to Strangetown. If Layne did pass away, maybe Olive felt like death followed her everywhere, even in another town across the world, and prompted her to return to Strangetown instead of trying to escape it.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Titania and Oberon are in love but are not married + In TS1, Mara is an adult.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Titania and Oberon are married + Mara is a child.
Explanation: To add on, they were also married in TS3, the earliest iteration. This is obviously a continuity error, but it does have a very elegant solution. Could it have something to do with Titania having commitment issues in TS3? Perhaps she ended their marriage after TS4, only to end up back in a relationship with Oberon in TS2. This could also explain why they had a “second” set of children in TS2 who didn’t overlap with Mara.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Nighat Caliente is the mother of Nina and Dina and died as an elder before the start of the game.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Katrina Caliente is the mother of Nina and Dina and is a living adult.
Explanation: Nighat is the twins’ late mother who died while they were children. This is confirmed by their memories in TS2 and makes sense with the story (unlike some of Olive Specter’s memories). My theory is that Katrina is actually a relative who was their foster or adoptive mother as they grew up, and Nighat simply did not appear in their TS4 family trees due to the fact that both could not technically be shown (that and the fact that the developers tried to bury her). Based on hints from developers, Katrina may have actually been a clone of Nighat, simultaneously explaining both their similar appearance and difference in age.
Main Timeline: In TS2, Titania and Oberon have two children: Puck and Bottom.
“Alternate Timeline”: In TS4, Titania and Oberon have one child: Mara, who appears in TS1 as an adult.
Explanation: Enchanted by Nature’s Innisgreen fits best after the events of Moonlight Falls and before Veronaville. Titania and Oberon begin as a married couple, then are shown with young Mara, and finally have Puck and Bottom (with Mara having grown up and moved out). Due to the timing, this places each of these three worlds separately from their respective basegames in the timeline order.
