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The problem of video games poorly representing Black skin goes beyond The Sims 4. Now there’s Black folks in the art, there’s people of color in the art. “EA actually overhauled their base game with more inclusive art.

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“It was like an exchange.” The mod became so popular it drew the attention of The Sims 4 developers, causing them to look at the art options they were offering. “I’d highlight them, put in the game, then they got like traction on their stuff,” she said. She’s particularly proud of a poster mod she made that features artwork from her favorite Black artists. Virgil’s desire to mod The Sims 4 so that it better reflected Black culture and community spiraled out from skin and makeup to clothes and art. “So for the skin tones that I made, I would create makeup ” “A lot of the makeup wasn’t made for darker skin tones in mind,” she said. Makeup is another pet peeve of hers and The Sims 4 makeup options also left a lot to be desired. Virgil didn’t stop with her skin color mods. When we want an expression of joy or health, we make references to being moisturized. When we want to insult someone, we call them ashy. More than the physical condition of dry skin, ashiness has a deep cultural significance for Black people. We pride ourselves in the vibrancy, variety, and richness of our skin, an emotion born in defiance of white supremacy’s ceaseless efforts to shame Black and dark skin.

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With the help of a Sims 4 modding program called The Skininator, Virgil created a pair of mods called the Melanin Pack 1 and 2, which feature over 50 different skin tones players can download and use to create Black and brown characters free of the scourge of ashiness.Īshiness is a cardinal sin in the Black community. “I would use Photoshop to edit the skin tones, edit the files, and then use the programs that the community made to export and test.” “I got tired of not being able to create the type of content that I wanted to create in The Sims 4.” Daunted by the prospect of needing to learn a programming language to mod the game, Virgil was pleased to learn the modding community had already created tools that would make her project a simpler one. The Sims 4 boasts an expansive modding community dedicated to creating and sharing mods for just about anything a player would want in a life simulation game. She wanted to create characters that “fit what I know people look like in real life.” “I got tired of not being able to create the type of content that I wanted to create in The Sims 4,” she said. Though likely unintentional, Virgil thought the way dark skin was represented in The Sims 4 didn’t live up to the game’s ethos. It was one of the first games to feature homosexual relationships and more recent updates focus on everything from inclusive pronouns to adding items from cultures all over the world. The Sims 4 has a reputation for being a game that allows players to express their most authentic selves whoever they are and wherever they’re from.

“We always like to make jokes about how sims look ashy as hell all the time,” Virgil said. “Where’s the undertones? Where is the contrast? Where’s the vibrance?”Īccording to Virgil, The Sims 4 has a problem with “ashiness,” wherein a Black sim’s skin appears so washed out or gray that it looks afflicted with dry skin or “ash.” It’s a problem that’s aggrieved Black and brown Sims creators (known as Simmers) for a long time.